Effect of Weir Face Angles on Circular-Crested Weir Flow

The standard circular-crested weir is often found in engineering applications and is used as a discharge measurement device or as an overflow structure. This research determines the discharge coefficients for ten circular-crested weir configurations with various combinations of up- and downstream angles. Two different weir heights and four different overflow depths are considered for each weir shape. For free overflow, the discharge coefficient is determined experimentally by using the total head of the approach flow. The results indicate that the upstream weir face angle has only a small effect on the discharge coefficient. In contrast, increasing the downstream weir face angle increases the discharge coefficient notably. A new formula for the discharge coefficient is presented, including both the up- and downstream weir face angles. Further, the hydraulic performance of the circular-crested weir, the resulting discharge reduction from tailwater submergence, and transition flow are discussed.     

Thin‐Film Electrodes: Microscopic and Nanoscopic Three‐Phase‐Boundaries of Platinum Thin Film Electrodes on YSZ Electrolyte (Adv. Funct. Mater. 3/2011)

Agglomerated Pt thin films have been proposed as electrodes for electrochemical devices like micro‐solid oxide fuel cells (μ‐SOFCs) operating at low temperatures. However, comprehensive studies elucidating the interplay between agglomeration state and electrochemical properties are lacking. In this contribution the electrochemical performance of agglomerated and “dense” Pt thin film electrodes on yttria‐stabilized‐zirconia (YSZ) is correlated with their microstructural characteristics. Besides the microscopically measurable triple‐phase‐boundary (tpb) where Pt, YSZ and air are in contact, a considerable contribution of “nanoscopic” tpbs to the electrode conductivity resulting from oxygen permeable grain boundaries is identified. It is demonstrated that “dense” Pt thin films are excellent electrodes provided their grain size and thickness are in the nanometer range. The results disprove the prevailing idea that the performance of Pt thin film electrodes results from microscopic and geometrically measurable tpbs only.     

Near-Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy as a Tool to Discriminate Two Cryptic Tetramorium Ant Species

Correct species identification is a precondition for many ecological studies. Morphologically highly similar, i.e., cryptic, species are an important component of biodiversity but particularly difficult to discriminate and therefore understudied ecologically. To find new methods for their rapid identification, thus, is important. The cuticle's chemical signature of insects often is unique for species. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can capture such signatures. Imaging NIRS facilitates precise positioning of the measurement area on biological objects and high-resolution spatial capturing. Here, we tested the applicability of imaging NIRS to the discrimination of cryptic species by using the ants Tetramorium caespitum and T. impurum. The classification success of Partial Least Squares Regression was 98.8%. Principal Component Analysis grouped spectra of some T. impurum individuals with T. caespitum. Combined with molecular-genetic and morphological evidence, this result enabled us to pose testable hypotheses about the biology of these species. We conclude that discrimination of T. caespitum and T. impurum with imaging NIRS is possible, promising that imaging NIRS could become a time- and cost-efficient tool for the reliable discrimination of cryptic species. This and the direct facilitation of potential biological insight beyond species identification underscore the value of imaging NIRS to ecology.     

Policy strategies and paths to promote sustainable energy systems—The dynamic Invert simulation tool

The European Union has established a number of targets regarding energy efficiency, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and CO₂ reductions as the ‘GREEN PAPER on Energy Efficiency’, the Directive for ‘promotion of the use of bio-fuels or other renewable fuels for transport’ or ‘Directive of the European Parliament of the Council on the promotion of cogeneration based on a useful heat demand in the internal energy market’. Many of the according RES and RUE measures are not attractive for investors from an economic point of view. Therefore, governments all over the world have to spend public money to promote these technologies/measures to bring them into market. These expenditures have to be adjusted to budget concerns and should be spent most efficiently. Therefore, the spent money has to be dedicated to technologies and efficiency measures with the best yield in CO₂ reduction without wasting money.     

The Ketosynthase Domain Controls Chain Length in Mushroom Oligocyclic Polyketide Synthases

The nonreducing iterative type I polyketide synthases (NR-PKSs) CoPKS1 and CoPKS4 of the webcap mushroom Cortinarius odorifer share 88 % identical amino acids. CoPKS1 almost exclusively produces a tricyclic octaketide product, atrochrysone carboxylic acid, whereas CoPKS4 shows simultaneous hepta- and octaketide synthase activity and also produces the bicyclic heptaketide 6-hydroxymusizin. To identify the region(s) controlling chain length, four chimeric enzyme variants were constructed and assayed for activity in Aspergillus niger as heterologous expression platform. We provide evidence that the β-ketoacyl synthase (KS) domain determines chain length in these mushroom NR-PKSs, even though their KS domains differ in only ten amino acids. A unique proline-rich linker connecting the acyl carrier protein with the thioesterase domain varies most between these two enzymes but is not involved in chain length control.     

Metallization and investigation of electrical properties of in vitro recrystallized mSbsC-eGFP assemblies

Surface layer (SL) proteins are self-assembling nanosized arrays which can be recrystallized in solution or on surfaces. In this paper, we investigate the metallization, contact potential difference and conductivity of in vitro recrystallized mSbsC-eGFP tube-like assemblies for possible applications in nanobiotechnology. Treatment of mSbsC-eGFP tube-like structures with 150 mM Pt salt solution resulted in the formation of metallized SL assemblies decorated with Pt nanoparticles (? > 3 nm) which were closely packed and aggregated into metal clusters. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measurements revealed that metallized and unmetallized SL templates showed different surface potential behaviours, demonstrating that the metal coating changes the electrostatic surface characteristics of SL assemblies. In situ conductivity measurements showed that unmetallized SL assemblies were not conductive. Metallized samples showed linear I-V dependence between - 1 and + 1 V with a conductivity of ～ 10(3) S m( - 1).     

Formal firewall conformance testing: an application of test and proof techniques

Firewalls are an important means to secure critical ICT infrastructures. As configurable off‐the‐shelf products, the effectiveness of a firewall crucially depends on both the correctness of the implementation itself as well as the correct configuration. While testing the implementation can be done once by the manufacturer, the configuration needs to be tested for each application individually. This is particularly challenging as the configuration, implementing a firewall policy, is inherently complex, hard to understand, administrated by different stakeholders and thus difficult to validate. This paper presents a formal model of both stateless and stateful firewalls (packet filters), including NAT , to which a specification‐based conformance test case generation approach is applied. Furthermore, a verified optimisation technique for this approach is presented: starting from a formal model for stateless firewalls, a collection of semantics‐preserving policy transformation rules and an algorithm that optimizes the specification with respect of the number of test cases required for path coverage of the model are derived. We extend an existing approach that integrates verification and testing, that is, tests and proofs to support conformance testing of network policies. The presented approach is supported by a test framework that allows to test actual firewalls using the test cases generated on the basis of the formal model. Finally, a report on several larger case studies is presented. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solution‐NMR Characterization of Outer‐Membrane Protein A from E. coli in Lipid Bilayer Nanodiscs and Detergent Micelles

X‐ray crystallography and solution NMR of detergent‐reconstituted OmpA (outer membrane protein A from E. coli) had shown that this protein forms an eight‐stranded transmembrane β‐barrel, but only limited information was obtained for the extracellular loops. In NMR studies of OmpA in two different detergent micelles, “NMR‐invisible” amino acid residues in‐between the extracellular loops and the β‐barrel prevented complete structural characterization. Here, we show that this NMR‐invisible ring around the β‐barrel of OmpA is also present in lipid bilayer nanodiscs and in mixed micelles with a third detergent, thus suggesting that the implicated rate processes have a functional role rather than representing an artifact of the protein reconstitution. In addition to sequence‐specific NMR assignments for OmpA in the nanodiscs, the present results are based on a protocol of micro‐coil TROSY‐ and CRINEPT‐type NMR diffusion measurements for studying the hydrodynamic properties and the foldedness of [²H,¹⁵N]‐labeled membrane proteins in nanodiscs. This protocol can be applied under conditions closely similar to those used for NMR structure determinations or crystallization trials.     

Improved Synthesis of Buprenorphine from Thebaine and/or Oripavine via Palladium‐Catalyzed N‐Demethylation/Acylation and/or Concomitant O‐Demethylation

An improved preparation of buprenorphine via palladium‐catalyzed N‐demethylation/acylation is reported. Three routes were investigated and compared in overall yield. The first involved N‐demethylation/acylation of an advanced intermediate obtained from thebaine followed by hydrolysis of the N‐acetamide and alkylation with cyclopropylmethyl bromide and/or reduction of the N‐acetyl group with the Schwartz reagent followed by N‐alkylation. The second route employed cyclopropylcarboxylic acid anhydride in the N‐demethylation/acylation protocol and subsequent reduction of the cyclopropylcarboxamide by either lithium aluminum hydride or under hydrosilylation conditions. Both of these routes originated in thebaine and therefore required O‐demethylation as a final step. The third route employed an N‐demethylation/acylation sequence starting from oripavine rather than thebaine, thus avoiding the O‐demethylation. The routes are compared for overall efficiency and experimental and spectral data are provided for all new compounds.