TiO2-Supported Re as a General and Chemoselective Heterogeneous Catalyst for Hydrogenation of Carboxylic Acids to Alcohols

TiO2-supported Re, Re/TiO2, was found to promote selective hydrogenation of carboxylic acids having aromatic and aliphatic moieties to the corresponding alcohols. Re/TiO2 showed superior results compared to other transition-metal-loaded TiO2 and supported Re catalysts for selective hydrogenation of 3-phenylpropionic acid. 3phenylpropanol was produced in 97% yield under mild conditions (5 MPa H-2 at 140 degrees C). Contrary to typical heterogeneous catalysts, Re/TiO2 does not lead to the formation of dearomatized byproducts. The catalyst is recyclable and shows a wide substrate scope in the synthesis of alcohols (22 examples; up to 97% isolated yield)

Variational analysis of drifter positions and model outputs for the reconstruction of surface currents in the central Adriatic during fall 2002

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (2008): C04004, doi:10.1029/2007JC004148.In this paper we present an application of a variational method for the reconstruction of the velocity field in a coastal flow in the central Adriatic Sea, using in situ data from surface drifters and outputs from the ROMS circulation model. The variational approach, previously developed and tested for mesoscale open ocean flows, has been improved and adapted to account for inhomogeneities on boundary current dynamics over complex bathymetry and coastline and for weak Lagrangian persistence in coastal flows. The velocity reconstruction is performed using nine drifter trajectories over 45 d, and a hierarchy of indirect tests is introduced to evaluate the results as the real ocean state is not known. For internal consistency and impact of the analysis, three diagnostics characterizing the particle prediction and transport, in terms of residence times in various zones and export rates from the boundary current toward the interior, show that the reconstruction is quite effective. A qualitative comparison with sea color data from the MODIS satellite images shows that the reconstruction significantly improves the description of the boundary current with respect to the ROMS model first guess, capturing its main features and its exchanges with the interior when sampled by the drifters.Four of the authors are supported by the Office of Naval Research, V.T. and A.G. under grants N00014-05-1-0094 and N00014-05-1-0095, P.M.P. under grant N00014-03-1-0291, and S.C. under grant N00014-05-1-0730. CNR-ISMAR activity was partially supported by P.O.R. ‘‘CAINO’’ (Regione Puglia), VECTOR (Italian MIUR) project, and ECOOP (EU project)

Design and Synthesis of a Quintessential Self-Transmissible IncX1 Plasmid, pX1.0

DNA exchange in bacteria via conjugative plasmids is believed to be among the most important contributing factors to the rapid evolution- and diversification rates observed in bacterial species. The IncX1 plasmids are particularly interesting in relation to enteric bacteria, and typically carry genetic loads like antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors. So far, however, a “pure” version of these molecular parasites, without genetic loads, has yet to be isolated from the environment. Here we report the construction of pX1.0, a fully synthesized IncX1 plasmid capable of horizontal transfer between different enteric bacteria. The designed pX1.0 sequence was derived from the consensus gene content of five IncX1 plasmids and three other, more divergent, members of the same phylogenetic group. The pX1.0 plasmid was shown to replicate stably in E. coli with a plasmid DNA per total DNA ratio corresponding to approximately 3–9 plasmids per chromosome depending on the growth phase of the host. Through conjugation, pX1.0 was able to self-transfer horizontally into an isogenic strain of E. coli as well as into two additional species belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. Our results demonstrate the immediate applicability of recent advances made within the field of synthetic biology for designing and constructing DNA systems, previously existing only in silica

Unique establishment of procephalic head segments is supported by the identification of cis-regulatory elements driving segment-specific segment polarity gene expression in Drosophila

Anterior head segmentation is governed by different regulatory mechanisms than those that control trunk segmentation in Drosophila. For segment polarity genes, both initial mode of activation as well as cross-regulatory interactions among them differ from the typical genetic circuitry in the trunk and are unique for each of the procephalic segments. In order to better understand the segment-specific gene network responsible for the procephalic expression of the earliest active segment polarity genes wingless and hedgehog, we started to identify and analyze cis-regulatory DNA elements of these genes. For hedgehog, we could identify a cis-regulatory element, ic-CRE, that mediates expression specifically in the posterior part of the intercalary segment and requires promoter-specific interaction for its function. The intercalary stripe is the last part of the metameric hedgehog expression pattern that appears during embryonic development, which probably reflects the late and distinct establishment of this segment. The identification of a cis-regulatory element that is specific for one head segment supports the mutant-based observation that the expression of segment polarity genes is governed by a unique gene network in each of the procephalic segments. This provides further indication that the anterior-most head segments represent primary segments, which are set up independently, in contrast to the secondary segments of the trunk, which resemble true repetitive units

The Ocean Reanalysis Intercomparison project (ORA-IP)

Uncertainty in ocean analysis methods and deficiencies in the observing system are major obstacles for the reliable reconstruction of the past ocean climate. The variety of existing ocean reanalyses is exploited in a multi-reanalysis ensemble to improve the ocean state estimation and to gauge uncertainty levels. The ensemble-based analysis of signal-to-noise ratio allows the identification of ocean characteristics for which the estimation is robust (such as tropical mixed-layer-depth, upper ocean heat content), and where large uncertainty exists (deep ocean, Southern Ocean, sea ice thickness, salinity), providing guidance for future enhancement of the observing and data assimilation systems

Intercomparison and validation of the mixed layer depth fields of global ocean syntheses

Intercomparison and evaluation of the global ocean surface mixed layer depth (MLD) fields estimated from a suite of major ocean syntheses are conducted. Compared with the reference MLDs calculated from individual profiles, MLDs calculated from monthly mean and gridded profiles show negative biases of 10–20 m in early spring related to the re-stratification process of relatively deep mixed layers. Vertical resolution of profiles also influences the MLD estimation. MLDs are underestimated by approximately 5–7 (14–16) m with the vertical resolution of 25 (50) m when the criterion of potential density exceeding the 10-m value by 0.03 kg m−3 is used for the MLD estimation. Using the larger criterion (0.125 kg m−3) generally reduces the underestimations. In addition, positive biases greater than 100 m are found in wintertime subpolar regions when MLD criteria based on temperature are used. Biases of the reanalyses are due to both model errors and errors related to differences between the assimilation methods. The result shows that these errors are partially cancelled out through the ensemble averaging. Moreover, the bias in the ensemble mean field of the reanalyses is smaller than in the observation-only analyses. This is largely attributed to comparably higher resolutions of the reanalyses. The robust reproduction of both the seasonal cycle and interannual variability by the ensemble mean of the reanalyses indicates a great potential of the ensemble mean MLD field for investigating and monitoring upper ocean processes