SASRIN™, a Versatile Tool in Peptide Synthesis and Solid-Phase Organic Chemistry

The synthesis of the 4-(3-methoxy-4-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxymethyl) derivative of polystyrene-co-divinylbenzene (SASRIN™), its derivatives and its application in solid-phase peptide synthesis will be briefly reviewed in this paper. Solid-phase synthesis of fully protected peptide fragments may be the most important, but by far not the only application, as cleavage with nucleophiles or solid-phase synthesis on SASRIN derivatives will yield a range of useful C-terminally modified peptides, such as peptide hydrazides or p-nitroanilides

Gemtelligence: Accelerating Gemstone classification with Deep Learning

The value of luxury goods, particularly investment-grade gemstones, is greatly influenced by their origin and authenticity, sometimes resulting in differences worth millions of dollars. Traditionally, human experts have determined the origin and detected treatments on gemstones through visual inspections and a range of analytical methods. However, the interpretation of the data can be subjective and time-consuming, resulting in inconsistencies. In this study, we propose Gemtelligence, a novel approach based on deep learning that enables accurate and consistent origin determination and treatment detection. Gemtelligence comprises convolutional and attention-based neural networks that process heterogeneous data types collected by multiple instruments. Notably, the algorithm demonstrated comparable predictive performance to expensive laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis and visual examination by human experts, despite using input data from relatively inexpensive analytical methods. Our innovative methodology represents a major breakthrough in the field of gemstone analysis by significantly improving the automation and robustness of the entire analytical process pipeline

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Comparison of continuous background in-situ and column integrated CO2 observations at Jungfraujoch with an urban site in the city of Bern

A six and a half year (January 2005 to May 2011) comparison of CO2 concentration observations has been performed at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland and the city of Bern using two different measurement techniques run by the University of Bern (UBE) and the University of Liege (UL). The UBE systems at Jungfraujoch and Bern are both combined systems for atmospheric oxygen and CO2 measurements. The cryogenically dried air is analysed for CO2 with a Maihak analyser based on the broad-band infrared absorption technique. The measurement frequency is every second but the final reported data are averages of six minute periods. UL is measuring the solar infrared spectrum since 1950 at Jungfraujoch. On its way through the atmosphere, the solar spectrum is modulated depending on the abundant gas species and their amount in the column. Since some gases like CO2 absorb the solar infrared radiation at particular wavelengths and the extinction is proportional to the gas concentration, it is possible to determine the gas concentration in the column above the sensor. At the conference, we will present the three observational records for the six and a half year period. The results show for all three records a distinct, but different seasonality. The seasonalities of the UL and UBE record at Jungfraujoch are lower than the seasonality in the city of Bern, i.e. 4.5 ppm per year and 9 ppm per year for the column and the in- situ record respectively, whereas the seasonality in the city of Bern is 31 ppm per year. Also the maxima and minima of the Jungfraujoch measurements are delayed by several weeks compared to the measurements in the city of Bern. The annual increase of the CO2 concentration of the UBE and UL records of Jungfraujoch are in good agreement with 1.94 ppm per year and 1.90 ppm per year, respectively. The annual increase of the CO2 concentration at the urban site is a bit higher at 2.01 ppm per year

Increased Productivity through Dynamic Process Optimization in Sterile Facility 303 at Novartis Pharma Stein AG

Pharmaceutical production processes are subject to a multiplicity of regulatory requirements regarding the product quality. Since economic aspects (e.g. productivity) also have to be considered, process optimizations have to be carried out. In Building 303 at Novartis Pharma Stein AG new technologies have been implemented, which are constantly reviewed and optimized to increase the productivity and to keep up with the state of the art and the requirements

Erste Erkenntnisse zur Prospektion und Charakterisierung des Aquifers der Aroser Dolomiten, Schweiz

In urbanen Orten des alpinen Raums gewinnt die Nutzung der Geothermie aus mehreren hundert Metern Tiefe zunehmend an Bedeutung. Dabei stehen vor allem offene Systeme im Vordergrund. Die vorliegende Arbeit präsentiert die ersten Erkenntnisse zur Prospektion und Charakterisierung des bisher unerforschten, nutzbaren und ergiebigen Aquifers der Aroser Dolomiten. Neben der Anwendung von etablierten Methoden und Verfahren, wie seismischen Messungen, einer Erkundungsbohrung, bohrlochgeophysikalischen Messungen und Pumpversuchen, wird auch die Anwendung des KARSYS-Ansatzes zur geologischen und konzeptuellen hydrogeologischen 3D-Modellierung des Aquifers aufgezeigt. Zudem wird die Entwicklung eines Viewers zur 3D-Visualisierung von Bohrungen dokumentiert. Das methodische Vorgehen, bestehend aus hydrogeologischen und messtechnischen Ansätzen auf regionaler und lokaler Ebene, ermöglicht eine lithologische Faziesdifferenzierung der Aroser Dolomiten sowie eine Differenzierung der geklüfteten und verkarsteten Bereiche innerhalb des Aquifers. Die Ergebnisse bilden die Grundlage für eine weitergehende, auf Fündigkeit optimierende und Risiken minimierende Explorations- und Bohrplanung sowie für eine nachhaltige Nutzungsplanung.ISSN:1432-1165ISSN:1430-483

First insights in the prospection and characterisation of the aquifer of the Arosa Dolomites, Switzerland

ISSN:1432-1165ISSN:1430-483

Identification of ERGIC-53 as an intracellular transport receptor of α1-antitrypsin

Secretory proteins are exported from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by bulk flow and/or receptor-mediated transport. Our understanding of this process is limited because of the low number of identified transport receptors and cognate cargo proteins. In mammalian cells, the lectin ER Golgi intermediate compartment 53-kD protein (ERGIC-53) represents the best characterized cargo receptor. It assists ER export of a subset of glycoproteins including coagulation factors V and VIII and cathepsin C and Z. Here, we report a novel screening strategy to identify protein interactions in the lumen of the secretory pathway using a yellow fluorescent protein–based protein fragment complementation assay. By screening a human liver complementary DNA library, we identify α1-antitrypsin (α1-AT) as previously unrecognized cargo of ERGIC-53 and show that cargo capture is carbohydrate- and conformation-dependent. ERGIC-53 knockdown and knockout cells display a specific secretion defect of α1-AT that is corrected by reintroducing ERGIC-53. The results reveal ERGIC-53 to be an intracellular transport receptor of α1-AT and provide direct evidence for active receptor-mediated ER export of a soluble secretory protein in higher eukaryotes