Decomposition of changes in energy intensity : A comparison of the Divisia index and other methods

The desirability of separating the effects of underlying shifts in the composition of the economy from changes in energy use patterns has been recognized by many researchers. The similarity between this decomposition of aggregate measures of energy intensity into its component parts and decomposition of aggregate output (cost) data into price and quantity indices is less well known. This paper makes some comparisons between energy intensity decomposition and the formulation of economic indices. We illustrate the useful properties of one particular index, the Divisia index in performing energy intensity decomposition.     

Lachnumon and lachnumol a, new metabolites with nematicidal and antimicrobial activities from the ascomycete Lachnum papyraceum (Karst.) Karst. II. Structural elucidation

The structures of two new biologically active chlorinated metabolites isolated from submerged cultures of the ascomycete Lachnum papyraceum have been elucidated by NMR and mass spectroscopy. The compounds, lachnumon (1) and lachnumol A (2), which structurally are related with mycorrhizin A that also is produced by the fungus, contain an unusual chlorinated epoxide group.     

Self‐Assembly of Mechanoplasmonic Bacterial Cellulose–Metal Nanoparticle Composites

Nanocomposites of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and bacterial nanocellulose (BC) enable fabrication of soft and biocompatible materials for optical, catalytic, electronic, and biomedical applications. Current BC–NP nanocomposites are typically prepared by in situ synthesis of the NPs or electrostatic adsorption of surface functionalized NPs, which limits possibilities to control and tune NP size, shape, concentration, and surface chemistry and influences the properties and performance of the materials. Here a self‐assembly strategy is described for fabrication of complex and well‐defined BC–NP composites using colloidal gold and silver NPs of different sizes, shapes, and concentrations. The self‐assembly process results in nanocomposites with distinct biophysical and optical properties. In addition to antibacterial materials and materials with excellent senor performance, materials with unique mechanoplasmonic properties are developed. The homogenous incorporation of plasmonic gold NPs in the BC enables extensive modulation of the optical properties by mechanical stimuli. Compression gives rise to near‐field coupling between adsorbed NPs, resulting in tunable spectral variations and enhanced broadband absorption that amplify both nonlinear optical and thermoplasmonic effects and enables novel biosensing strategies.     

Artificial Light Regulation of an Allosteric Bienzyme Complex by a Photosensitive Ligand

The artificial regulation of proteins by light is an emerging subdiscipline of synthetic biology. Here, we used this concept to photocontrol both catalysis and allostery within the heterodimeric enzyme complex imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase (ImGP‐S). ImGP‐S consists of the cyclase subunit HisF and the glutaminase subunit HisH, which is allosterically stimulated by substrate binding to HisF. We show that a light‐sensitive diarylethene (1,2‐dithienylethene, DTE)‐based competitive inhibitor in its ring‐open state binds with low micromolar affinity to the cyclase subunit and displaces its substrate from the active site. As a consequence, catalysis by HisF and allosteric stimulation of HisH are impaired. Following UV‐light irradiation, the DTE ligand adopts its ring‐closed state and loses affinity for HisF, restoring activity and allostery. Our approach allows for the switching of ImGP‐S activity and allostery during catalysis and appears to be generally applicable for the light regulation of other multienzyme complexes.     

Gas temperature measurements using fibre Bragg grating during fire experiments in a tunnel

Gas temperature measurements with thermocouples are affected by radiation. This effect means that the temperature measured by a thermocouple can be far from the actual gas temperature. To study this effect and to compare the thermocouple readings with the readings of a fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensor, fire experiments were performed in a model-scale tunnel. In this paper the results from two such fire experiments are presented. The temperatures measured using thermocouples with different diameters and the FBG sensor are compared and discussed. The “true” gas temperature, corrected for radiation effects from the thermocouples, was calculated from the results from the thermocouples with different diameters. The results show that the temperature measured by the FBG sensor is closer to the “true” gas temperature than is the case for any of the thermocouples used in these tests.     

Photoderivatized polymer thin films at quartz crystal microbalance surfaces: sensors for carbohydrate-protein interactions

Photoderivatized polymer-coated gold surfaces have been developed following a perfluorophenylazide-based double ligation strategy. Gold-plated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) crystals were initially covalently functionalized with a monolayer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), using photo- or thermolytic nitrene formation and insertion. The polymer surfaces were subsequently used as substrates for photoinsertion of carbohydrate-derivatized photoprobes, yielding different recognition motifs for selective protein binding. The resulting robust and biocompatible sensor surfaces were applied to a flow-through QCM instrument for monitoring lectin-carbohydrate interactions in real time. The results clearly show the predicted lectin selectivity, demonstrating the applicability of the approach.     

On the distributed stable full information H∞ minimax problem

We study the distributed parameter suboptimal full information H^∞ problem for a stable well-posed linear system with control u, disturbance w, state x, and output y. Here u, w, and y are L²-signals on (0,∞) with values in the Hilbert spaces U, W, and Y, and the state x is a continuous function of time with values in the Hilbert space H. The problem is to determine if there exists a (dynamic) γ-suboptimal feedforward compensator, i.e., a compensator 𝒰 such that the choice u = 𝒰w makes the norm of the input/output map from w to y less than a given constant γ. A sufficient condition for the existence of a γ-suboptimal compensator is that an appropriately extended input/output map of the system has a (J,S)-inner–outer factorization of a special type, and if the control and disturbance spaces are finite-dimensional and the system has an L¹ impulse response, then this condition is also necessary. Moreover, in this case there exists a central state feedback/feedforward controller, which can be used to give a simple parameterization of the set of all γ-suboptimal compensators. Our proof use a game theory approach. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.