Characterization of biosynthesized P(3HB-co-3HA)s swellable in organic solvents

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymers consisting of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and medium-chain-length (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoate (3HA), P(3HB-co-3HA), are usually solved in chloroform. However, we found that some of the P(3HB-co-3HA) aged for more than 1 month under ambient conditions were not solved in chloroform, but instead swelled when the 3HA fraction was over 14 mol%. On the basis of differential scanning calorimetry and wide-angle x-ray diffraction analyses, we predicted that swellable P(3HB-co-3HA) contained numerous P(3HB) microcrystals, which may form physical crosslinks between adjacent PHA polymer chains.     

The development of a knowledge base for basic active structures: an example case of dopamine agonists

Background  

Chemical compounds affecting a bioactivity can usually be classified into several groups, each of which shares a characteristic substructure. We call these substructures "basic active structures" or BASs. The extraction of BASs is challenging when the database of compounds contains a variety of skeletons. Data mining technology, associated with the work of chemists, has enabled the systematic elaboration of BASs.     

Synthesis of mesoporous PtCu film modified with Ru submonolayer as catalyst for methanol electrooxidation

A mesoporous PtCu catalyst modified with a Ru submonolayer is successfully synthesized by a facile electrochemical process of electrodeposition, dealloying and Ru underpotential deposition. The material has a large specific surface area comparable to nanoparticles (11 m(2) g(-1)) and exhibits a promising catalyst activity for the methanol oxidation reaction.     

Modification of flexible part in Cu(2+) interdigitated framework for CH(4)/CO(2) separation

The structural flexibility of Cu(2+) interdigitated layer type framework was controlled and the compound represented clear separation property of CH(4)/CO(2) at range of 0-1.0 MPa and recovery of adsorbed CO(2) above 0.1 MPa.     

Equilibrium and structure of the Al(III)-ethylenediamine-N,N'-bis(3-hydroxy-2-propionate) (EDBHP) complex. A multi-method study by potentiometry, NMR, ESI MS and X-ray diffraction

The equilibrium and structure of the complex formed by Al(III) and ethylenediamine-N,N'-bis(3-hydroxy-2-propionate) (EDBHP2-) have been studied using pH-potentiometry, 1H and 27Al NMR, ESI MS and single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The EDBHP ligand is a strong Al-binder in aqueous solution for pH between 4 and 8 and for c(Al) = c(EDBHP)> or = 0.1 mmol dm(-3). The dominating complex identified by ESI MS and potentiometry is a neutral dimer, Al2L2(OH)2, with logbeta(22-2) = 14.16 +/- 0.03. In the solid Al2(EDBHP)2(OH)2.2H2O the Al(III) ions are connected through a double hydroxo bridge. Both four-dentate organic ligands are coordinated terminally through two carboxylate groups and two N-donors forming three five-membered chelate rings. The hydroxyl groups of the ligand EDBHP remain protonated and are not coordinated to the aluminium ions. The structure and composition of the dimer are very likely the same in solution and the solid state.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a beauveriolide analogue library

Synthesis of beauveriolide III (1b), which is an inhibitor of lipid droplet accumulation in macrophages, was achieved by solid-phase assembly of linear depsipeptide using a 2-chlorotrityl linker followed by solution-phase cyclization. On the basis of this strategy, a combinatorial library of beauveriolide analogues was carried out by radio frequency-encoded combinatorial chemistry. After automated purification using preparative reversed-phase HPLC, the library was tested for inhibitory activity of CE synthesis in macrophages to determine structure-activity relationships of beauveriolides. Among them, we found that diphenyl derivative 7{9,1} is 10 times more potent than 1b.     

On the (in)efficiency of non-interactive secure multiparty computation

Secure multi-party computation (MPC) enables multiple players to cooperatively evaluate various functions in the presence of adversaries. In this paper, we consider non-interactive MPC (NIMPC) against honest-but-curious adversaries in the information-theoretic setting, which was introduced by Beimel et al. at CRYPTO 2014. Their main focus is to realize stronger security while completely avoiding interaction, and succeeded to show that every function admits a fully robust NIMPC protocol. In this paper, we further develop the study of NIMPC. We first present a simple lower bound on the communication complexity derived from the correctness requirement of NIMPC. Secondly, we present an efficient NIMPC protocol for indicator functions, which is an important building block of NIMPC protocols. An NIMPC protocol for arbitrary functions is also constructed from the proposed NIMPC for indicator functions by using the generic compiler introduced by Beimel et al. in CRYPTO 2014. The communication complexities of NIMPC protocols presented in this paper are much more efficient than the previous ones. In fact, the gap between the lower and upper bounds of the communication complexity is reduced from exponential in the input length to quadratic. Finally, we show some improvements on the efficiency in the so-called offline-online model. Specifically, for some sets of functions, the exponential amount of offline communication reduces the online communication to almost optimum amount in the standard model.