A contribution to the ternary phase diagram Co-Sb-Te

The melting behaviour, some phase boundaries and the lattice parameters in the region of the NiAs-type phase in the ternary system cobalt-antimony-tellurium have been determined by differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction. A projection of the liquidus surface and the phase relationships in different sections with constant antimony/tellurium ratios are presented. The peculiar variation of the lattice parameters with the composition of the nonstoichiometric NiAs-type phase is discussed in terms of the defect structure.Dedicated to Prof. K. L. Komarek on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Multiplicities of interpoint distances in finite planar sets

What is the maximum number of unit distances between the vertices of a convex n-gon in the plane? We review known partial results for this and other open questions on multiple occurrences of the same interpoint distance in finite planar subsets. Some new results are proved for small n. Challenging conjectures, both old and new, are highlighted.     

Microbial Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation of Ketones by Cyclohexanone and Cyclopentanone Monooxygenase – A Computational Rational for Biocatalyst Performance

Summary. Recombinant Escherichia coli overexpressing Pseudomonas sp. NCIMB 9872 cyclopentanone monooxygenase (CPMO, EC 1.14.13.16) and Acinetobacter sp. NCIMB 9871 cyclohexanone monooxygenase (CHMO, EC 1.14.13.22) have been utilized in whole-cell Baeyer-Villiger biotransformations of prochiral bicycloketones. A significant difference in substrate acceptance and stereoselectivity was observed for bicyclo[3.3.0] and bicyclo[4.3.0] substrates. A plausible mechanism of these transformations was established by means of high level DFT/B3LYP calculations suggesting an essential difference in electronic requirements for a successful enzymatic conversion, which was similarly encountered in recombinant whole-cell mediated biooxidations. Some of the lactones produced in the biocatalytic Baeyer-Villiger oxidation represent key intermediates for the synthesis of indole alkaloids.     

Studies of the kinetics of the reduction of chromate by glutathione and related thiols

The reduction of chromate by glutathione, its mono- and diethyl esters, -cysteine, 2-mercapto-propionic acid and mercapto-succinic acid has been studied. The empirical rate law k_obs = ab[Thiol]²/(1 + b[Thiol]) is obeyed by all of these thiols, at neutral pH. No evidence could be obtained for a first-order pathway in glutathione under these conditions. These observations are used to comment on the stability of intermediates potentially important in explaining chromate toxicity.     

Near-optimal design of Global Positioning System (GPS) networks using the Tabu Search technique

This paper describes an optimization technique based on an heuristic procedure which is applied to analyse and improve the efficiency of the design of Global Positioning System (GPS) surveying networks. GPS is a valuable survey tool because of its ability to increase the accuracy, speed and flexibility of a survey. A GPS network can be defined as a number of stations, which are co-ordinated by a series of sessions, formed by placing receivers on stations. The goal is to select the best order in which these sessions can be organised to give the best possible schedule. Generally, solving large networks to optimality requires impractical computational time. This paper proposes a Tabu Search technique which provides optimal or near-optimal solutions for large networks with an acceptable amount of computational effort. Computational results for several case studies with known and unknown optimal schedules have been presented to assess the performance of the proposed technique.