Enzymes in organic synthesis. 2. Synthesis of enantiomerically pure prostaglandin intermediates by Enzymatic Hydrolysis of (1SR, 5RS, 6RS, 7RS)-7-acetoxy-6-acetoxymethyl-2-oxabicyclo[3.3.0]octan-3-one

Subtilisin DY as well as alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis 41 p catalyze the hydrolysis of (1SR, 5RS, 6RS, 7RS)-7-acetoxy-6-acetoxymethyl-2-oxabicyclo[3.3.0]octan-3-one ( rac-1 ) with practically useful enantio- and regioselectivity. Under the hitherto found optimal conditions (1S, 5R, 6R, 7R)-7-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-2-oxabicyclo[3.3.0]octan-3-one ( 4 ), an important intermediate in prostaglandin syntheses, could be prepared in a yield of 16% with an enantiomeric excess of 99%. The enantiomer ( ent-4 ) was obtained with the same enantiomeric excess in 20% yield. The chemical yields are related to the racemic starting material rac-1 .     

X-ray and thermal studies of the Na-U-Mo-O system

In the Na-U-Mo-O system, five compounds with composition Na₂UMo₂O₁₀, Na₂U₂Mo₂O₁₃, Na₂U₂Mo₃O₁₆, Na₂UMo₄O₁₆ and Na₂U₂Mo₄O₁₉ were prepared by solid state reaction of Na₂MoO₄, UO₃ and MoO₃ in the required stoichiometric ratio. The compounds were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, infrared and thermal analysis techniques. The XRD data of all the above-mentioned compounds were indexed on the orthorhombic system. All the compounds showed thermal stability up to 600 °C in air and decomposed at 950 °C to form Na₂U₂O₇. Infrared spectra of all the compounds show strong spectral bands in the range 700-950 cm⁻¹ due to tetrahedra and the group. A pseudo-ternary phase diagram of Na₂O-UO₃-MoO₃ was drawn using the quaternary compounds and information available on Na-U-O, Mo-U-O and Na-Mo-O ternary systems. The various phase fields prepared during this work were established by XRD analysis.     

Fracture behavior of glass-cloth-reinforced composites

The fracture behavior of glass-cloth-reinforced composites has been studied. Fracture of these composites proceeds by tensile failure of fibers rather than by the shear failure of the matrix or the interface. Although the spread of damage in these composites is restricted to small distances away from the crack path due to the interweaving of the fibers, this distance is found to be appreciably larger for the samples with smaller initial crack lengths. Characteristic distances associated with the Whitney-Nuismer criteria are, in turn, found to be smaller for these composites than for the angle ply laminates or randomly oriented short-fiber composites reported in literature in which the spread of the damage is much greater. Analysis through the crack growth resistance also supports this correlation with the extent of damage spread and indicates that the critical crack length for these composites may be equal to the best fit value of the characteristic distance of the average stress criterion.     

Three-dimensional simulation with a CFD tool of the airflow phenomena in single floor double-skin facade equipped with a venetian blind

Nowadays different kinds of double-skin facades are developed and used in new architectural projects. The aim of these facades is, on the one hand, to increase internal comfort and, on the other hand, to decrease energy consumption. In order to optimise the overall performance of the double-skin façades, their detailed behaviour needs to be better understood. The prediction of the airflow within the channel (between the two glazings) is very important for understanding of the double-skin facades behaviour, especially in summer conditions. A comprehensive modelling of a compact double-skin facade equipped with a venetian blind and forced ventilation is proposed here. The modelling is done using the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) approach to assess the air movement within the ventilated facade channel. Three-dimensional airflow is modelled using a homogeneous porous media representation, in order to reduce the size of the mathematical model. A parametric study is proposed here, analysing the impact of three parameters on the airflow development: slat tilt angle, blind position and air outlet position. The distance between the blind and the external glazing was found to have a major impact on the velocity profiles inside the double-skin facade channel.     

Linear correlation between pH value of stimulated beef and electrical current intensity

The aim of the present study was to determine mathematical relationships between pH changes in beef 24 h post-slaughter and changes in the intensity of electrical current flowing through bull and heifer carcasses during high-voltage electrical stimulation. The electrical stimulation was applied 40 min postmortem for 120 s. The pH values of m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum were analyzed in the function of electrical current intensity changes and its change during electrical stimulation. Mathematical linear correlations of the y = ax ± b type were demonstrated between pH values at 2, 6, and 24 h postmortem and the initial (I_i) and ultimate (I_u) electrical current intensity values, the difference between them and the initial pH values determined before electrical stimulation. High multiple correlation coefficients (R² = 0.416, α ≤ 0.001) between I_u and pH values 24 h post-slaughter enabled concluding that there is a possibility to predict a pH value of stimulated carcass with high accuracy, and thus also beef quality, based merely on the ultimate electrical current intensity values.     

A novel electronic micro-viscometer

Microsystem Technologies - This paper reports the development of a novel electronic micro-viscometer capable of measuring viscosity of different Newtonian fluids using less than 100 µl which...     

Hydroxyl Group Separation Distances in Anti-Freeze Compounds and Their Effects on Ice Nucleation

Since the discovery of biological antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs), which can inhibit ice nucleation, there has been considerable interest in understanding their mechanisms and mimicking them in synthetic polymers. In this study, we used molecular dynamics simulations of modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) compounds to show that the hydroxyl (OH) group distance is a key factor in whether certain compounds promote or inhibit ice nucleation. A hydroxyl distance smaller than ~2.8 Å but greater than ~7.1 Å in modified PVA (MPVA) compounds was associated with the promotion of ice nucleation, while a hydroxyl group separation distance of approximately ~5.0 Å was correlated with a delay in ice nucleation, owing to changes in the energy of the system. Thus, these results may help explain some of the mechanisms of current known anti-freeze compounds and may have implications for designing new anti-freeze compounds in the future.     

Thermal conductivity measurement of erythritol,xylitol, and their blends for phase change material design: A methodological study

This work presents and discusses a detailed thermal conductivity assessment of erythritol, xylitol, and their blends: 25 mol% erythritol and 80 mol% erythritol using the transient plane source (TPS) method with a Hot Disk Thermal Constants Analyzer TPS‐2500S. Thereby, the thermal conductivities of xylitol, 25 mol% erythritol, 80 mol% erythritol, and erythritol were here found for respectively in the solid state to be 0.373, 0.394, 0.535, and 0.589 W m^?1 K^?1 and in the liquid state to be 0.433, 0.402, 0.363, and 0.321 W m^?1 K^?1. These obtained results are comprehensively and critically analyzed as compared to available literature data on the same materials, in the phase change materials (PCMs) design context. This study clearly indicates that these thermal conductivity data in literature have considerable discrepancies between the literature sources and as compared to the data obtained in the present investigation. Primary reasons for these disparities are identified here as the lack of sufficiently transparent and repeatable data and procedure reporting, and relevant standards in this context. To exemplify the significance of such transparent and repeatable data reporting in thermal conductivity evaluations in the PCM design context, here focused on the TPS method, a comprehensive measurement validation is discussed along various residual plots obtained for varying input parameters (ie, the heating power and time). Clearly, the variations in the input parameters give rise to various thermal conductivity results, where choosing the most coherent result requires a sequence of efforts per material, because there are no universally valid conditions. Transparent and repeatable data and procedure reporting are the key to achieve comparable thermal conductivity results, which are essential for the correct design of thermal energy storage systems using PCMs.