Tool use influences perceived shape and perceived parallelism, which serve as indirect measures of perceived distance.

Targets presented just beyond arm's reach look closer when observers intend to touch them with a reach-extending tool rather than without the tool. This finding is one of several that suggest that a person's ability to act influences perceived distance to objects. However, some critics have argued that apparent action effects were actually due to effects on the judgments rather than on the perception. In other words, the target does not actually look closer, but participants report that it is. To help counter this argument, the current experiments used an indirect measure of perceived distance: Participants reported perceived shape or perceived parallelism. The results revealed that triangles looked shorter and lines looked more horizontal to participants who reached with a tool, and therefore could reach the targets, than they did to participants who reached without the tool. These results demonstrate convergence across multiple types of judgments, a finding that undermines alternative, judgment-based accounts and suggests that the ability to reach an object changes the perceived distance to the object. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Service employees give as they get: Internal service as a moderator of the service climate–service outcomes link.

We lend theoretical insight to the service climate literature by exploring the joint effects of branch service climate and the internal service provided to the branch (the service received from corporate units to support external service delivery) on customer-rated service quality. We hypothesized that service climate is related to service quality most strongly when the internal service quality received is high, providing front-line employees with the capability to deliver what the service climate motivates them to do. We studied 619 employees and 1,973 customers in 36 retail branches of a bank. We aggregated employee perceptions of the internal service quality received from corporate units and the local service climate and external customer perceptions of service quality to the branch level of analysis. Findings were consistent with the hypothesis that high-quality internal service is necessary for branch service climate to yield superior external customer service quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gehry Partners' Fondation Louis Vuitton: Crowdsourcing Embedded Intelligence

The complexity of the mass-customised forms of Gehry Partners' new art museum in Paris, the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création, has taken high-definition simulation techniques and embedded intelligence to a new level. Tobias Nolte and Andrew Witt of Gehry Technologies describe how the realisation of the Fondation required the development of a 3D concurrent design system that could synchronise hundreds of participants. This self-optimisation system has enabled both ‘intricate collaboration and unprecedented engineering’. The benefits have been far reaching, ranging from the detailing of tolerances to material constraints.     

Horizontal reactive distillation for multicomponent chiral resolution

A novel horizontal reactive distillation apparatus and a new overall process scheme are proposed for continuous multicomponent chiral resolution via reversible enantioselective acylation of a chiral (racemic) substrate by a chiral (racemic) acyl donor. The process enables simultaneous production of up to four enantiomers with enhanced chiral purity. Kinetic studies, miniplant experiments, and process simulation results are described for a model lipase‐catalyzed reaction: (R)‐enantioselective transesterification of (R,S)‐1‐n‐butoxy‐2‐propanol with (R,S)‐1‐methoxy‐2‐acetoxypropane to produce (R)‐1‐n‐butoxy‐2‐acetoxypropane, (R)‐1‐methoxy‐2‐propanol, and the two unreacted (S)‐enantiomers of the (R,S)‐reagents. A horizontal, compartmentalized reactive distillation vessel is specified instead of a conventional reactive distillation column to provide longer liquid‐phase residence time needed for adequate conversion. Low vapor‐traffic pressure drop allows operation under vacuum at reduced temperatures for good enzyme stability and enantioselectivity. The general technology has potential as a means to producing a wide range of chiral synthons used in asymmetric syntheses of chiral pharmaceuticals and other biologically active products. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2603–2620, 2013     

Diagenetic transformation of dissolved organic nitrogen compounds under contrasting sedimentary redox conditions in the Black Sea

Remineralization of organic matter in reactive marine sediments releases nutrients and dissolved organic matter (DOM) into the ocean. Here we focused on the molecular-level characterization of DOM by high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) in sediment pore waters and bottom waters from contrasting redox regimes in the northern Black Sea with particular emphasis on nitrogen-bearing compounds to derive an improved understanding of the molecular transformations involved in nitrogen release. The number of nitrogen-bearing molecules is generally higher in pore waters than in bottom waters. This suggests intensified degradation of nitrogen-bearing precursor molecules such as proteins in anoxic sediments: No significant difference was observed between sediments deposited under oxic vs anoxic conditions (average O/C ratios of 0.55) suggesting that the different organic matter quality induced by contrasting redox conditions does not impact protein diagenesis in the subseafloor. Compounds in the pore waters were on average larger, less oxygenated, and had a higher number of unsaturations. Applying a mathematical model, we could show that the assemblages of nitrogen-bearing molecular formulas are potential products of proteinaceous material that was transformed by the following reactions: (a) hydrolysis and deamination, both reducing the molecular size and nitrogen content of the products and intermediates; (b) oxidation and hydration of the intermediates; and (c) methylation and dehydration.     

An architecture for processing graph-grammar applications

We propose a six-layer architecture for processing graph-grammar applications. The layers and the transformations between them are formally described and concepts for their implementation are given. Especially we introduce the syntax and semantics of a graph-grammar implementation language. Graph-grammar productions will be translated into programs of this language to have a basis for their implementation into programs written in commonly available programming languages.     

Design and Synthesis of Dihydroxamic Acids as HDAC6/8/10 Inhibitors

We report the synthesis and evaluation of a class of selective multitarget agents for the inhibition of HDAC6, HDAC8, and HDAC10. The concept for this study grew out of a structural analysis of the two selective inhibitors Tubastatin A (HDAC6/10) and PCI-34051 (HDAC8), which we recognized share the same N-benzylindole core. Hybridization of the two inhibitor structures resulted in dihydroxamic acids with benzyl-indole and -indazole core motifs. These substances exhibit potent activity against HDAC6, HDAC8, and HDAC10, while retaining selectivity over HDAC1, HDAC2, and HDAC3. The best substance inhibited the viability of the SK-N-BE(2)C neuroblastoma cell line with an IC₅₀ value similar to a combination treatment with Tubastatin A and PCI-34051. This compound class establishes a proof of concept for such hybrid molecules and could serve as a starting point for the further development of enhanced HDAC6/8/10 inhibitors.     

Rue and Brazilian peppertree essential oils inhibit the germination and initial development of the invasive plant lovegrass

ABSTRACT

Lovegrass (Eragrostis plana) is the most important invasive plant in pastures of southern Brazil. The research evaluated the potential of Ruta graveolens (rue) and Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian peppertree) essential oils (EOs) to inhibit germination and initial development of lovegrass. The in vitro treatments tested were control (distilled water), alcohol control, 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1% (v/v) of both EOs. Higher concentrations of these EOs were applied to germinated plants under greenhouse conditions. The EOs of both species were effective in reducing lovegrass germination, with emphasis on rue. Height and shoot dry mass, at greenhouse conditions, were significantly reduced by both EOs, especially when applied at a concentration of 1%. The results point to the potential of rue and Brazilian peppertree EOs for the formulation of natural herbicides.     

Teacher judgments concerning the acceptability of school-based interventions.

Investigated the influence of behavior problem severity, interventionist, and modality of case presentation on teacher's judgments of school-based interventions. 54 regular and special education teachers attending a university summer course used an intervention scale and the Semantic Differential to rate all possible combinations of 2 interventions (principal or teacher implemented) applied to 2 behavior problems (daydreaming and destruction of others' property). Ss read about or viewed a videotape of a 5th-grade boy engaging in 1 of the 2 problem behaviors. An ANOVA of Ss' ratings of intervention acceptability showed that behavior problem severity and interventionist significantly affected Ss' judgments of intervention acceptability. Findings show that interventions that could be implemented by the teacher were more acceptable. In addition, Ss rated interventions as more acceptable when applied to behavior problems of greater severity. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural and kinetic properties of nonglycosylated recombinant Penicillium amagasakiense glucose oxidase expressed in Escherichia coli

The gene coding for Penicillium amagasakiense glucose oxidase (GOX; beta-D-glucose; oxygen 1-oxidoreductase [EC 1.1.3.4]) has been cloned by PCR amplification with genomic DNA as template with oligonucleotide probes derived from amino acid sequences of N- and C-terminal peptide fragments of the enzyme. Recombinant Escherichia coli expression plasmids have been constructed from the heat-induced pCYTEXP1 expression vector containing the mature GOX coding sequence. When transformed into E. coli TG2, the plasmid directed the synthesis of 0.25 mg of protein in insoluble inclusion bodies per ml of E. coli culture containing more than 60% inactive GOX. Enzyme activity was reconstituted by treatment with 8 M urea and 30 mM dithiothreitol and subsequent 100-fold dilution to a final protein concentration of 0.05 to 0.1 mg ml-1 in a buffer containing reduced glutathione-oxidized glutathione, flavin adenine dinucleotide, and glycerol. Reactivation followed first-order kinetics and was optimal at 10 degrees C. The reactivated recombinant GOX was purified to homogeneity by mild acidification and anion-exchange chromatography. Up to 12 mg of active GOX could be purified from a 1-liter E. coli culture. Circular dichroism demonstrated similar conformations for recombinant and native P. amagasakiense GOXs. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 968 U mg-1 and exhibits kinetics of glucose oxidation similar to those of, but lower pH and thermal stabilities than, native GOX from P. amagasakiense. In contrast to the native enzyme, recombinant GOX is nonglycosylated and contains a single isoform of pI 4.5. This is the first reported expression of a fully active, nonglycosylated form of a eukaryotic, glycosylated GOX in E. coli.