Coordination Polymer to Atomically Thin,Holey, Metal‐Oxide Nanosheets for Tuning Band Alignment

Holey 2D metal oxides have shown great promise as functional materials for energy storage and catalysts. Despite impressive performance, their processing is challenged by the requirement of templates plus capping agents or high temperatures; these materials also exhibit excessive thicknesses and low yields. The present work reports a metal‐based coordination polymer (MCP) strategy to synthesize polycrystalline, holey, metal oxide (MO) nanosheets with thicknesses as low as two‐unit cells. The process involves rapid exfoliation of bulk‐layered, MCPs (Ce‐, Ti‐, Zr‐based) into atomically thin MCPs at room temperature, followed by transformation into holey 2D MOs upon the removal of organic linkers in aqueous solution. Further, this work represents an extra step for decorating the holey nanosheets using precursors of transition metals to engineer their band alignments, establishing a route to optimize their photocatalysis. The work introduces a simple, high‐yield, room‐temperature, and template‐free approach to synthesize ultrathin holey nanosheets with high‐level functionalities.     

Enantioselective Gas Chromatography with Derivatized Cyclodextrins in the Flavour and Fragrance Field

This article deals with enantioselective gas chromatography (Es-GC) utilizing cyclodextrin derivatives as chiral stationary phases (CSPs) for chiral recognition in the flavour and fragrance field. It consists of two main parts. The first one concerns cyclodextrins and their use in Es-GC, and it deals with their introduction and evolution as CSPs in GC, together with some theoretical aspects involved with enantiomeric separation and their consequent influence on routine chiral recognition. The second part reports on the strategy of chiral recognition in routine analysis with cyclodextrin derivatives as CSP, illustrated with examples from the authors’ everyday experiences. This part describes how to identify enantiomers or to measure their excess or ratio determination in complex mixtures; in particular, it discusses the opportunities offered by multidimensional and fast GC techniques, the role of mass spectrometry, and the application of total analysis systems to chiral recognition.     

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/Au-nanoparticles composite as electrode coating suitable for electrocatalytic oxidation

Composite materials consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) including Au nanoparticles, encapsulated by citrate anions, have been firmly deposited on an electrode surface through a simple method, taking advantage of the interaction between Au metal and thiophene polymeric backbone. A series of similar electrode coatings, also including different amounts of nanoparticles inside, has been characterised in terms of thickness and surface morphology, through different microscopic techniques. The electrocatalytic properties have been studied with respect to the oxidation of glucose in alkaline media, which is prevented from occurring on the pure organic material.     

Blue Cone Monochromatism with Foveal Hypoplasia Caused by the Concomitant Effect of Variants in OPN1LW/OPN1MW and GPR143 Genes

Blue cone monochromatism (BCM) is an X-linked recessive cone dysfunction disorder caused by mutations in the OPN1LW/OPN1MW gene cluster, encoding long (L)- and middle (M)-wavelength-sensitive cone opsins. Here, we report on the unusual clinical presentation of BCM caused by a novel mutation in the OPN1LW gene in a young man. We describe in detail the phenotype of the proband, and the subclinical morpho-functional anomalies shown by his carrier mother. At a clinical level, the extensive functional evaluation demonstrated in the proband the M/L cone affection and the sparing of S-cone function, distinctive findings of BCM. Interestingly, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography showed the presence of foveal hypoplasia with focal irregularities of the ellipsoid layer in the foveal area, reported to be associated with some cases of cone-rod dystrophy and achromatopsia. At a molecular level, we identified the novel mutation c.427T > C p.(Ser143Pro) in the OPN1LW gene and the common missense mutation c.607T > C (p.Cys203Arg) in the OPN1MW gene. In addition, we discovered the c.768-2_769delAGTT splicing variant in the GPR143 gene. To our knowledge, this is the first case of foveal hypoplasia in a BCM patient and of mild clinical affection in a female carrier caused by the concomitant effect of variants in OPN1LW/OPN1MW and GPR143 genes, thus as the result of the simultaneous action of two independent genetic defects.     

A Fibonacci control system with application to hyper-redundant manipulators

We study a model for snake-like robots based on the Fibonacci sequence. The present paper includes an investigation of the reachable workspace, a more general analysis of the control system underlying the model, its reachability and local controllability properties. In addition, we establish some fractal properties of the reachable workspace by means the theory of iterated function systems.