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This Review provides an overview of valuable metals, the supply of which has been classified as critical for Europe. Starting with a description of the current state of the art, novel approaches for their recovery from primary resources are presented as well as recycling processes. The focus lies on developments since 2005. Chemistry strategies which are used in metal recovery are summarized on the basis of the individual types of deposit and mineral. In addition, the economic importance as well as utilization of the metals is outlined.

Background With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic surging and new mutations evolving, trust in vaccines is essential. Methods We explored correlates of vaccine hesitancy, considering political believes and psychosocial concepts, conducting a non-probability quota-sampled online survey with 1007 Austrians. Results We identified several important correlates of vaccine hesitancy, ranging from demographics to complex factors such as voting behavior or trust in the government. Among those with hesitancy towards a COVID-19 vaccine, having voted for opposition parties (opp) or not voted (novote) were (95% Confidence Intervall (CI)opp, 1.44–2.95) to 2.25-times (95%CInovote, 1.53–3.30) that of having voted for governing parties. Only 46.2% trusted the Austrian government to provide safe vaccines, and 80.7% requested independent scientific evaluations regarding vaccine safety to increase willingness to vaccine. Conclusions Contrary to expected, psychosocial dimensions were only weakly correlated with vaccine hesitancy. However, the strong correlation between distrust in the vaccine and distrust in authorities suggests a common cause of disengagement from public discourse.

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The enantiopure (2S,5S)-hexanediol serves as a versatile building block for the production of various fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. For industrial and commercial scale, the diol is currently obtained through bakers' yeast-mediated reduction of 2,5-hexanedione. However, this process suffers from its insufficient space-time yield of about 4 g L(-1) d(-1) (2S,5S)-hexanediol. Thus, a new synthesis route is required that allows for higher volumetric productivity. For this reason, the enzyme which is responsible for 2,5-hexanedione reduction in bakers' yeast was identified after purification to homogeneity and subsequent MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy analysis. As a result, the dehydrogenase Gre2p was shown to be responsible for the majority of the diketone reduction, by comparison to a Gre2p deletion strain lacking activity towards 2,5-hexanedione. Bioreduction using the recombinant enzyme afforded the (2S,5S)-hexanediol with >99% conversion yield and in >99.9% de and ee. Moreover, the diol was obtained with an unsurpassed high volumetric productivity of 70 g L(-1) d(-1) (2S,5S)-hexanediol. Michaelis-Menten kinetic studies have shown that Gre2p is capable of catalysing both the reduction of 2,5-hexanedione as well as the oxidation of (2S,5S)-hexanediol, but the catalytic efficiency of the reduction is three times higher. Furthermore, the enzyme's ability to reduce other keto-compounds, including further diketones, was studied, revealing that the application can be extended to alpha-diketones and aldehydes.

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Fabrication of biomimetic materials and scaffolds is usually a micro- or even nanoscale process; however, most testing and all manufacturing require larger-scale synthesis of nanoscale features. Here, we propose the utilization of naturally prefabricated three-dimensional (3D) spongin scaffolds that preserve molecular detail across centimeter-scale samples. The fine-scale structure of this collagenous resource is stable at temperatures of up to 1200°C and can produce up to 4 × 10–cm–large 3D microfibrous and nanoporous turbostratic graphite. Our findings highlight the fact that this turbostratic graphite is exceptional at preserving the nanostructural features typical for triple-helix collagen. The resulting carbon sponge resembles the shape and unique microarchitecture of the original spongin scaffold. Copper electroplating of the obtained composite leads to a hybrid material with excellent catalytic performance with respect to the reduction of p-nitrophenol in both freshwater and marine environments.