Aqueous Enantioselective Aldol Reaction of Methyl- and Phenylglyoxal Organocatalyzed by N-Tosyl-(S a)-binam-l-prolinamide

The direct aldol reaction between methylglyoxal (40% aqueous solution) or phenylglyoxal monohydrate and ketones or aldehydes is catalyzed by N-tosyl-(S a)-binam-l-prolinamide to afford the corresponding chiral γ-oxo-β-hydroxy carbonyl compounds, mainly as anti isomers with enantioselectivities up to 97%.

Evaluating Taphonomic Bias in a Storm-Disturbed Carbonate Platform: Effects of Compositional and Environmental Factors in Lower Jurassic Brachiopod Accumulations (Eastern Subbetic Basin, Spain)

In order to evaluate taxonomic and environmental control on the preservation pattern of brachiopod accumulations, sedimentologic and taphonomic data have been integrated with those inferred from the structure of brachiopod accumulations from the easternmost Lower Jurassic Subbetic deposits in Spain. Two brachiopod communities (Praesphaeroidothyris and Securina communities) were distinguished showing a mainly free-lying way of life in soft-bottom habitats. Three taphofacies are discriminated based on proportion of disarticulation, fragmentation, packing, and shell filling. Taphofacies 1 is represented by thinly fragmented, dispersed brachiopod shells in wackestone beds. Taphofacies 2 is spatially restricted to small lenses where shells are poorly fragmented, rarely disarticulated, usually void filled, and highly packed. Taphofacies 3 is represented by mud or cement filled, loosely packed, articulated brachiopods forming large pocket-like structures. Temporal and spatial averaging were minimally involved in taphofacies 2 and 3. It is interpreted that patchy preservation implies preservation of primary original patchiness of brachiopod communities on the seafloor. The origin of shell-rich taphofacies (2 and 3) is related to rapid burial due to episodic storm activity, while shell-poor taphofacies 1 records background conditions. The nature and comparative diversity of these taphofacies underscores the importance of rapid burial for shell beds preservation. Differences in preservation between taphofacies 2 and 3 are mainly related to environmental criteria, most importantly storm energy and water depth. In contrast, the taxonomic-specific pattern of the communities is a subordinate element of control, controlling only minor within-taphofacies differences in preservation.

Extension circular - University of Idaho, College of Agriculture, Extension Division.

Some no. issued by the division under a variant name: Extension Service.

Report of the Dept. of Mines of Pennsylvania

Mode of access: Internet.

Biennial report of the director - Agricultural Experiment Station, Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science.

Mode of access: Internet.

Report of the Department of Mines for the fiscal year ending ...

Contains the Annual report of the Geological Survey, Victoria Memorial Museum, Mines Branch, Explosives Division, Editorial Division, Accounting Division and Administrative Division.

Bulletin. Technical series

Vol. 10, no. 4 never published; also v. 18, no. 3

Annual report by the State Inspector of Mines to the Governor of the State of New Mexico

Title varies slightly

Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Mines

Mode of access: Internet.

The Socioeconomic Background of the Divergence of Belarusian and Ukrainian Political Systems

The aim of this paper is to analyze the political, social and economic background of the divergence of Belarusian and Ukrainian transitions. We focus on Belarus in order to find explanation for questions such as why could Lukashenko remain the authoritarian leader of Belarus, while in Ukraine the position of the political elite had proved less stable and collapsed in 2004. On the theoretical framework of elite-sociology, we seek to determine whether the internal factors (as macroeconomic conditions, standard of living, the oppressive nature of the political system and the structure of the political elite) play a significant role in the operation of the domino effect. This article emphasises the determining role of immanent internal factors, thus the political stability in Belarus can be explained by the role of the suppressing political regime, the hindrance of democratic rights and the relatively good living conditions that followed the transformational recession. Whilst in Ukraine, the markedly different circumstances brought forth the success of the Orange Revolution.

The influence of study and travel abroad on the personal and professional development of students in architecture design programs

International travel has significant implications on the study of architecture. This study analyzed ways in which undergraduate and graduate students benefited from the experience of international travel and study abroad. Taken from the perspective of 15 individuals who were currently or had been architecture students at the University of Miami and Florida International University or who were alumni of the University of Florida and Syracuse University, the research explored how international travel and study abroad enhanced their awareness and understanding of architecture, and how it complemented their architecture curricula. This study also addressed a more personal aspect of international travel in order to learn how the experience and exposure to foreign cultures had positively influenced the personal and professional development of the participants.^ Participants’ individual and two-person semi-structured interviews about study abroad experiences were electronically recorded and transcribed for analysis. A second interview was conducted with five of the participants to obtain feedback concerning the accuracy of the transcripts and the interpretation of the data. Sketch journals and design projects were also analyzed from five participants and used as data for the purposes of better understanding what these individuals learned and experienced as part of their study abroad.^ Findings indicated that study abroad experiences helped to broaden student understanding about architecture and urban development. These experiences also opened the possibilities of creative and professional expression. For many, this was the most important aspect of their education as architects because it heightened their interest in architecture. These individuals talked about how they had the opportunity to experience contemporary and ancient buildings that they had learned about in their history and design classes on their home campuses. In terms of personal and professional development, many of the participants remarked that they became more independent and self-reliant because of their study abroad experiences. They also displayed a sense of global awareness and were interested in the cultures of their host nations. The study abroad experiences also had a lasting influence on their professional development.^

Novel Synthesis of Carbocycles and Heterocycles Employing Zwitterions Derived from Allenic Esters

Carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formations constitute the central events in organic synthesis. In view of this, much of the research in organic synthesis has been focused on devising novel and efficient methods for such bond constructions. In general, polar, pericyclic and radical methodologies are employed for this purpose. The polar and radical reactions proceed via reactive intermediates such as carbanions, enols/enolates, enamines, carbocations, radical cations, radical anions, carbenes, zwitterions etc. In recent years, there has been enormous interest in the chemistry of zwitterionic species largely from the standpoint of their applications in multicomponent reactions (MCRs) and organocatalytic reactions. Zwitterions formed by the addition of nucleophiles to electrophilic π-systems such as acetylenic esters and azoesters have been the subject of extensive investigations; their synthetic utility, however, remained largely unexplored. Investigations in a number of laboratories, including our own, have shown that zwitterions of the type mentioned above on reaction with electrophiles give rise to carbo- and heterocyclic products by 1,3- or 1,4-dipolar cycloadditions. Recently, allenoates, another class of active π-systems were introduced to this field. Against this background, a systematic investigation of the reactions of various zwitterions derived from allenoates with different electrophiles especially 1,2-diones, were carried out. The results of these studies are embodied in the thesis entitled “Novel Synthesis of Carbocycles and Heterocycles Employing Zwitterions Derived from Allenic Esters”.

Development of N N SMRT for N a power of 2 and its Applications in Image Enhancement

Digital Image Processing is a rapidly evolving eld with growing applications in Science and Engineering. It involves changing the nature of an image in order to either improve its pictorial information for human interpretation or render it more suitable for autonomous machine perception. One of the major areas of image processing for human vision applications is image enhancement. The principal goal of image enhancement is to improve visual quality of an image, typically by taking advantage of the response of human visual system. Image enhancement methods are carried out usually in the pixel domain. Transform domain methods can often provide another way to interpret and understand image contents. A suitable transform, thus selected, should have less computational complexity. Sequency ordered arrangement of unique MRT (Mapped Real Transform) coe cients can give rise to an integer-to-integer transform, named Sequency based unique MRT (SMRT), suitable for image processing applications. The development of the SMRT from UMRT (Unique MRT), forward & inverse SMRT algorithms and the basis functions are introduced. A few properties of the SMRT are explored and its scope in lossless text compression is presented.