Abstract: Hydrotalcite/metal carbonate combinations are partially or fully thermally decomposed to provide catalysts useful for the conversion of ethanol to a reaction product comprising 1-butanol.

Abstract: Wholly aromatic synthetic fibers spun from liquid-crystalline polymer solutions, having a crystal size (110 plane) of not greater than 50 Å and an ionic substance content of no more than 1.0 wt % are disclosed. Said fibers having a low ionic substance content while retaining the inherent high heat resistance and high Young's modulus, and are useful particularly for electrical and electronic parts.

Abstract: A new method for the identification of useful promoters is disclosed. The method is capable of identifying bacterial promoters sensitive to a particular cellular insult and may be modified to identify promoters sensitive to herbicides and crop protection chemicals. Constructs comprising promoters upstream of a luminescent reporter genes are placed in transformed hosts. Transformants grown in liquid media to a predetermined growth stage and contacted with a cellular insult are assessed for regulatory region activity by measurement of the resulting change in bioluminesence. The method is able to identify promoters undetectable by standard methods.