Sequence-Based Prediction of Promiscuous Acyltransferase Activity in Hydrolases

Certain hydrolases preferentially catalyze acyl transfer over hydrolysis in an aqueous environment. However, the molecular and structural reasons for this phenomenon are still unclear. Herein, we provide evidence that acyltransferase activity in esterases highly correlates with the hydrophobicity of the substrate-binding pocket. A hydrophobicity scoring system developed in this work allows accurate prediction of promiscuous acyltransferase activity solely from the amino acid sequence of the cap domain. This concept was experimentally verified by systematic investigation of several homologous esterases, leading to the discovery of five novel promiscuous acyltransferases. We also developed a simple yet versatile colorimetric assay for rapid characterization of novel acyltransferases. This study demonstrates that promiscuous acyltransferase activity is not as rare as previously thought and provides access to a vast number of novel acyltransferases with diverse substrate specificity and potential applications.     

Ueber L. v. Uslar's und J. Erdmann's Methode zur Nachweisung der Alkalo?de

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Sputtered Zn(O,S)/In2O3:H window layers for enhanced blue response of chalcopyrite solar cells

A combination of undoped ZnO and ZnO:Al is the most commonly used window layer stack for chalcopyrite solar cells. The high carrier density and thickness required to achieve a sufficiently low sheet resistance lead to optical absorption and cause losses in photocurrent, in particular in monolithically interconnected modules. Additionally, the band gap of the CdS buffer layer and of un‐doped ZnO limit the blue response. These losses could be avoided by using a transparent conductive oxide with high carrier mobility and wider band gap in combination with a buffer layer which also has a wide band gap. We propose a stack of Zn(O,S) and In₂O₃:H and report on our first results concerning its implementation. This stack is Cd‐free, highly transparent over a wide range, and can be deposited completely by sputtering which is an industrially proven dry process. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mathematical Reasoning Requirements in Swedish Upper Secondary Level Assessments

We investigate the mathematical reasoning required to solve the tasks in the Swedish national tests and a random selection of Swedish teacher-made tests. The results show that only a small proportion of the tasks in the teacher-made tests require the students to produce new reasoning and to consider the intrinsic mathematical properties involved in the tasks. In contrast, the national tests include a large proportion of tasks for which memorization of facts and procedures are not sufficient. The conditions and constraints under which the test development takes place indicate some of the reasons for this discrepancy and difference in alignment with the reform documents.     

Über die Umrißbestimmung von allgemeinen Schraub-und Drehflächen in zentral- und parallelperspektiven Darstellungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Ueber die Prüfung des Glycerins auf seine Verfälschungen mit Zuckersyrup

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry -