A New Generation of Smart Amine Donors for Transaminase‐Mediated Biotransformations

The application of ω‐transaminase biocatalysts for the synthesis of optically pure chiral amines presents a number of challenges, including difficulties associated with displacing the challenging reaction equilibria. Herein, we report a highly effective approach using low equivalents of the new diamine donor, cadaverine, which enables high conversions of challenging substrates to the corresponding chiral amines in excellent ee. This approach paves the way for the design of self‐sufficient fermentation processes combining transaminase biotransformations with existing strategies for cadaverine production by decarboxylation of endogenous lysine.     

Detoxification of Chemical Warfare Agents Using a Zr6‐Based Metal–Organic Framework/Polymer Mixture

Owing to their high surface area, periodic distribution of metal sites, and water stability, zirconium‐based metal–organic frameworks (Zr₆‐MOFs) have shown promising activity for the hydrolysis of nerve agents GD and VX, as well as the simulant, dimethyl 4‐nitrophenylphosphate (DMNP), in buffered solutions. A hurdle to using MOFs for this application is the current need for a buffer solution. Here the destruction of the simulant DMNP, as well as the chemical warfare agents (GD and VX) through hydrolysis using a MOF catalyst mixed with a non‐volatile, water‐insoluble, heterogeneous buffer is reported. The hydrolysis of the simulant and nerve agents in the presence of the heterogeneous buffer was fast and effective.     

In situ migration of tritiated water and iodine in Grimsel granodiorite,part II: assessment of the diffusion coefficients by TDD modelling

Diffusive transport of iodine (I) and tritiated water (HTO) in granodiorite is studied in the framework of the long term diffusion project (LTD) at the Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland. In this paper we modelled the tracer profiles measured in a long term (780 days) in situ diffusion test was carried out as part of LTD. The main outcome of the modelling tends to prove that the in situ apparent diffusion coefficients of I and HTO are close to the reference apparent diffusion coefficient determined in the laboratory (D _a = 3 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹).

     

Synthesis of Zn/Al mixed-oxide catalyst for carbonylation of glycerol with urea

Zn/Al mixed oxide was prepared by the coprecipitation or the hydrothermal method under different conditions and used as catalyst for synthesis of glycerol carbonate by carbonylation of glycerol with urea. The physical properties of the prepared Zn/Al mixed oxide particles were investigated, as well as their activity as catalyst in the mentioned synthesis. The dried Zn/Al mixed-oxide particles prepared by the coprecipitation method showed higher activity in synthesis of glycerol carbonate than those prepared by the hydrothermal method. The Zn/Al mixed oxide prepared by the coprecipitation method without NaNO₃ showed the highest catalytic activity in synthesis of glycerol carbonate.     

Phase transition characteristics of Ge–Sb–Te pseudobinary alloys in laser irradiation measurement

Optical switching and structural transformation of GeTe–Sb₂Te₃ pseudobinary alloys, Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, Ge₁Sb₂Te₄, and Ge₁Sb₄Te₇, were studied for data storage application. As-deposited Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, Ge₁Sb₂Te₄, and Ge₁Sb₄Te₇ thin films were amorphous and they crystallized to FCC and HCP upon heat treatment. Crystallization was accelerated by increasing the proportion of Sb₂Te₃ rather than GeTe in Ge–Sb–Te compounds; this was observed by reflectivity changes under nanosecond laser irradiation in static tester. The different crystallization kinetics according to composition might be affected by the structural incompatibility of GeTe under the ‘Umbrella Flip’ theory.     

Spatial Fourier-decomposition optical fluorescen tomography-theoretical investigation

A new three-dimensional (3D) optical fluorescent tomographic imaging scheme is proposed with structured illumination and spatial Fourierdomain decomposition methods for the first time. In this spatial Fourier-decomposition optical fluorescence tomography (SF-OFT), the intensity of focused excitation light from an objective lens is modulated to be a cosine function along the optical axis of the system. For a given position in a two-dimensional (2D) raster scanning process, the spatial frequency of the cosine function along the optical axis sweeps in a proper range while a series of fluorescence intensity are detected accordingly. By making an inverse discrete cosine transformation of these recorded intensity profiles, the distribution of fluorescent markers along the optical axis of a focused laser beam is obtained. A 3D optical fluorescent tomography can be achieved with this proposed SF-OFT technique with a simple 2D raster scanning process.     

Volumes of Hyperbolic 3-Manifolds of Betti Number at Least 3

This paper provides a new, simpler proof of the fact that thesmallest volume hyperbolic 3-manifold has betti number at least3. In the process, the best known lower bound on the volumeof such a manifold is improved.     

-Weyl's theorem for operator matrices

If is a upper triangular matrix on the Hilbert space , then -Weyl's theorem for and need not imply -Weyl's theorem for , even when . In this note we explore how -Weyl's theorem and -Browder's theorem survive for operator matrices on the Hilbert space.