Heterogenised Molecular Catalysts for the Reduction of CO2 to Fuels.

CO(2) conversion provides a possible solution to curtail the growing CO(2) levels in our atmosphere and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. To this end, it is essential to develop efficient catalysts for the reduction of CO(2). The structure and activity of molecular CO(2) reduction catalysts can be tuned and they offer good selectivity with reasonable stability. Heterogenisation of these molecules reduces solvent restrictions, facilitates recyclability and can dramatically improve activity by preventing catalyst inactivation and perturbing the kinetics of intermediates. The nature and morphology of the solid-state material upon which the catalyst is immobilised can significantly influence the activity of the hybrid assembly. Although work in this area began forty years ago, it has only drawn substantial attention in recent years. This review article gives an overview of the historical development of the field.Financial support from the EPSRC (EP/H00338X/2 to E.R; Doctoral Prize to C.D.W.), the Christian Doppler Research Association (Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development) and the OMV Group (to E.R.) is gratefully acknowledged.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Swiss Chemical Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2015.43

Epithelial cell specific Raptor is required for initiation of type 2 mucosal immunity in small intestine

AbstractIntestinal tuft cells are one of 4 secretory cell linages in the small intestine and the source of IL-25, a critical initiator of the type 2 immune response to parasite infection. When Raptor, a critical scaffold protein for mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), was acutely deleted in intestinal epithelium via Tamoxifen injection in Tritrichomonas muris (Tm) infected mice, tuft cells, IL-25 in epithelium and IL-13 in the mesenchyme were significantly reduced, but Tm burden was not affected. When Tm infected mice were treated with rapamycin, DCLK1 and IL-25 expression in enterocytes and IL-13 expression in mesenchyme were diminished. After massive small bowel resection, tuft cells and Tm were diminished due to the diet used postoperatively. The elimination of Tm and subsequent re-infection of mice with Tm led to type 2 immune response only in WT, but Tm colonization in both WT and Raptor deficient mice. When intestinal organoids were stimulated with IL-4, tuft cells and IL-25 were induced in both WT and Raptor deficient organoids. In summary, our study reveals that enterocyte specific Raptor is required for initiating a type 2 immune response which appears to function through the regulation of mTORC1 activity.</jats:p

Antibodies and protein misfolding: From structural research tools to therapeutic strategies.

Protein misfolding disorders, including the neurodegenerative conditions Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) represent one of the major medical challenges or our time. The underlying molecular mechanisms that govern protein misfolding and its links with disease are very complex processes, involving the formation of transiently populated but highly toxic molecular species within the crowded environment of the cell and tissue. Nevertheless, much progress has been made in understanding these events in recent years through innovative experiments and therapeutic strategies, and in this review we present an overview of the key roles of antibodies and antibody fragments in these endeavors. We discuss in particular how these species are being used in combination with a variety of powerful biochemical and biophysical methodologies, including a range of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques applied not just in vitro but also in situ and in vivo, both to gain a better understanding of the mechanistic nature of protein misfolding and aggregation and also to design novel therapeutic strategies to combat the family of diseases with which they are associated. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Recent advances in molecular engineering of antibody.This is the final version. It was first published by Elsevier in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570963914002222

Bore collapse and wave run-up on a sandy beach

Wave run-up on beaches and coastal structures is initiated and driven by collapsing incident bores, this process is often considered to define the seaward limit of the swash zone. It is hence a key feature in nearshore wave processes as extreme run-up can lead to structure overtopping and coastal inundation during storm conditions. In addition, the turbulent nature of incident bores and their collapse suspends and advects sediment, resulting in a highly morphologically dynamic swash zone. The cross shore bore collapse location varies from wave to wave and the process is very limited in both spatial and temporal extent, making direct measurement problematic. This paper presents high spatial-temporal resolution LiDAR field measurements of the evolving free-surface in the surf and swash zone which enable the bore collapse detection for 166 waves. These measurements are used to investigate the link between broken wave properties at bore collapse and wave run-up. Incident bores are identified at the seaward boundary of the LiDAR profiles and tracked through the inner surf and swash zones to the run-up limit. It is found that the vertical run-up height exceeds that which would be expected for a perfect conversion of potential to kinetic energy during bore collapse for 24 % of the bores measured. By returning to an existing ballistic-type model to describe the run-up of individual waves, we show that wave run-up can be divided into three components: the bore collapse, terminal bore celerity and their non-linear interaction. For the present dataset, the contribution of the bore collapse and terminal bore celerity is 26 % and 27 % respectively, while non-linear interactions between the two dominates and account for 47% of the measured run-up. By including the terminal bore celerity, the ability to predict run-up is increased by 30 % with the determination coefficient r increasing from 0.573 to 0.785. Likewise, the RMS-error for the wave run-up shows an approximately 10 % reduction from 0.325 to 0.295 m.</p

Resilience and Leadership in Dangerous Contexts

Daniel B. Cnossen was born and raised in Topeka, growing up on a small farm. He spent his childhood reading, running, playing sports, and working on the farm. Cnossen enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1998. He had never before seen the ocean and did not know how to swim, but he asked his new friends at the academy to teach him; he would often skip lunch to spend time in the pool. Cnossen joined the Navy triathlon team to strengthen his swimming. By his senior year, he had been elected captain of the team, which he helped lead to a national championship. After graduation, he headed to San Diego to undergo training as a Navy SEAL. Cnossen served several tours overseas. On September 6, 2009, less than thirty-six hours on the ground in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he activated a landmine, losing both legs and suffering internal injuries. Lieutenant Cnossen is now back in the United States facing new challenges. He is doing so with the same dedication and enthusiasm that he used to surmount previous challenges. He is positive and appreciative of his friends and family, and he is happy to be alive. Described by some as stoic, Cnossen is seen by those who know him best as soft-spoken and humble. No one as full of curiosity, zest, and humor as he is could be described as stoic. As Cnossen began his rehabilitation, he noted that now he would be able to do even more pull-ups. While at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Cnossen and other troops were visited by President Barack Obama. As the president was leaving, he noticed a copy of War and Peace on Cnossen\u27s bedside table. The two men joked that merely lifting the book would be another form of physical therapy

Bore collapse and wave run-up on a sandy beach

Wave run-up on beaches and coastal structures is initiated and driven by collapsing incident bores, this process is often considered to define the seaward limit of the swash zone. It is hence a key feature in nearshore wave processes as extreme run-up can lead to structure overtopping and coastal inundation during storm conditions. In addition, the turbulent nature of incident bores and their collapse suspends and advects sediment, resulting in a highly morphologically dynamic swash zone. The cross shore bore collapse location varies from wave to wave and the process is very limited in both spatial and temporal extent, making direct measurement problematic. This paper presents high spatial-temporal resolution LiDAR field measurements of the evolving free-surface in the surf and swash zone which enable the bore collapse detection for 166 waves. These measurements are used to investigate the link between broken wave properties at bore collapse and wave run-up. Incident bores are identified at the seaward boundary of the LiDAR profiles and tracked through the inner surf and swash zones to the run-up limit. It is found that the vertical run-up height exceeds that which would be expected for a perfect conversion of potential to kinetic energy during bore collapse for 24% of the bores measured. By returning to an existing ballistic-type model to describe the run-up of individual waves, we show that wave run-up can be divided into three components: the bore collapse, terminal bore celerity and their non-linear interaction. For the present dataset, the contribution of the bore collapse and terminal bore celerity is 26% and 27% respectively, while non-linear interactions between the two dominates and account for 47% of the measured run-up. By including the terminal bore celerity, the ability to predict run-up is increased by 30% with the determination coefficient r increasing from 0.573 to 0.785. Likewise, the RMS-error for the wave run-up shows an approximately 10% reduction from 0.325 to 0.295 m

Resilience and Leadership in Dangerous Contexts

Daniel B. Cnossen was born and raised in Topeka, growing up on a small farm. He spent his childhood reading, running, playing sports, and working on the farm. Cnossen enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1998. He had never before seen the ocean and did not know how to swim, but he asked his new friends at the academy to teach him; he would often skip lunch to spend time in the pool. Cnossen joined the Navy triathlon team to strengthen his swimming. By his senior year, he had been elected captain of the team, which he helped lead to a national championship. After graduation, he headed to San Diego to undergo training as a Navy SEAL. Cnossen served several tours overseas. On September 6, 2009, less than thirty-six hours on the ground in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he activated a landmine, losing both legs and suffering internal injuries. Lieutenant Cnossen is now back in the United States facing new challenges. He is doing so with the same dedication and enthusiasm that he used to surmount previous challenges. He is positive and appreciative of his friends and family, and he is happy to be alive. Described by some as stoic, Cnossen is seen by those who know him best as soft-spoken and humble. No one as full of curiosity, zest, and humor as he is could be described as stoic. As Cnossen began his rehabilitation, he noted that now he would be able to do even more pull-ups. While at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Cnossen and other troops were visited by President Barack Obama. As the president was leaving, he noticed a copy of War and Peace on Cnossen\u27s bedside table. The two men joked that merely lifting the book would be another form of physical therapy

Reversible interconversion of CO2 and formate by a molybdenum-containing formate dehydrogenase.

CO2 and formate are rapidly, selectively, and efficiently interconverted by tungsten-containing formate dehydrogenases that surpass current synthetic catalysts. However, their mechanism of catalysis is unknown, and no tractable system is available for study. Here, we describe the catalytic properties of the molybdenum-containing formate dehydrogenase H from the model organism Escherichia coli (EcFDH-H). We use protein film voltammetry to demonstrate that EcFDH-H is a highly active, reversible electrocatalyst. In each voltammogram a single point of zero net current denotes the CO2 reduction potential that varies with pH according to the Nernst equation. By quantifying formate production we show that electrocatalytic CO2 reduction is specific. Our results reveal the capabilities of a Mo-containing catalyst for reversible CO2 reduction and establish EcFDH-H as an attractive model system for mechanistic investigations and a template for the development of synthetic catalysts.This is the final version. It was first published by ACS at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja508647

Safe Positively Invariant Sets for Spacecraft Obstacle Avoidance

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140643/1/1.g000115.pd