Wine into vinegar: It is possible to selectively oxidize ethanol into acetic acid in aqueous solution with air as the oxidant and a heterogeneous gold catalyst (see TEM image of supported gold particles) at temperatures of about 423 K and O2 pressures of 0.6 MPa. This reaction proceeds readily in aqueous acidic media with yields of up to 90 % and CO2 as the only major by‐product.

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) plays a critical role in development and plasticity of the nervous system and is involved in the mechanisms of learning and memory. Here, we show that intracerebroventricular administration of the FG loop (FGL), a synthetic 15 amino acid peptide corresponding to the binding site of NCAM for the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), immediately after training rats in fear conditioning or water maze learning, induced a long-lasting improvement of memory. In primary cultures of hippocampal neurons, FGL enhanced the presynaptic function through activation of FGFR1 and promoted synapse formation. These results provide the first evidence for a memory-facilitating effect resulting from a treatment that mimics NCAM function. They suggest that increased efficacy of synaptic transmission and formation of new synapses probably mediate the cognition-enhancing properties displayed by the peptide.

Formation of appropriate neural circuits depends on a complex interplay between extracellular guiding cues and intracellular signaling events that result in alterations of cytoskeletal dynamics and a neurite growth response. Surface-expressed cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) interact with the surroundings via the extracellular domain and bind to the cytoskeleton via their intracellular domain. In addition, several CAMs induce signaling events via direct interactions with intracellular proteins or via interactions with cell surface receptors. Thus, CAMs are obvious candidates for transmitting extracellular guidance cues to intracellular events and thereby regulating neurite outgrowth. In this review, we focus on two CAMs, the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) and N-cadherin, and their ability to mediate signaling associated with a neurite outgrowth response. In particular, we will focus on direct interaction between NCAM and N-cadherin with a number of intracellular partners, as well as on their interaction with the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR).

Bayesian analysis is applied to the problem of estimation of hyperparameters, which are necessary for indirect Fourier transformation of small‐angle scattering data. The hyperparameters most frequently needed are the overall noise level of the experiment and the maximum dimension of the scatterer. Bayesian methods allow the posterior probability distribution for the hyperparameters to be determined, making it possible to calculate the distance distribution function of interest as the weighted mean of all possible solutions to the indirect transformation problem. Consequently no choice of hyperparameters has to be made. The applicability of the method is demonstrated using simulated as well as real experimental data.

Two methods for performing indirect Fourier transformation of small‐angle scattering data have been introduced by Glatter [J. Appl. Cryst. (1977), 10, 415–421] and Moore [J. Appl. Cryst. (1980), 13, 168–175]. These two methods are here compared to one using maximum entropy. The methods have been applied to simulated as well as experimental scattering data. The comparison of the three methods for the simulated data shows that the maximum‐entropy method and the method of Glatter give similar results, which agree well with the original distributions. The method of Moore occasionally gives results which have artificial oscillations.