Characterization of sulfate-reducing bacteria in yeast industry waste by microcalorimetry and PCR amplification

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were isolated from anaerobic sludge of yeast factory wastewater treatment plant by cultivation on Postgate C medium. Microcalorimetry was used to monitor the anaerobic digestion processes and to measure the growth rates of sulfate-reducing bacteria. The maximum growth rates determined by microcalorimetry and ATP analysis were different—μ_max(dQ/dt) = 0.165 ± 0.008 h⁻¹ and μ_max(N_ATP) = 0.207 ± 0.013 h⁻¹. Experiments on the cultivation of SRB from yeast industry wastewater treatment plant in batch culture showed that during the first 20 h the concentration of sulfate decreased from 78.3 mM down to 62.2 mM while the increase of sulfide production was negligible. Perceptible amount of sulfide (7.82 mM) appeared on the 33.5 h of fermentation together with a peak on the power–time curve and considerable increase in the cell count (1.26 × 10⁹). First steps of sulfate metabolism (activation of sulfate by ATP sulfurylase, production of H₂) are accompanied by endothermic heat effects, therefore the values of thermal power remain moderate until the evolution of sulfide starts. The influence of green microalgae Chlorococcum sp. (preparation Biotreat 100) on the growth characteristics of microorganisms was also studied. Identification of one SRB strain was started by sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene. Two sets of primers were used for PCR amplification, both specific for domain Bacteria but giving different gene fragments. PCR-products were purified with JETQUICK kit according to the manufacturer instructions.     

Temperature coefficient of NH chemical shifts of thioamides and amides in relation to structure

NH chemical shift temperature coefficients have been measured in a large series of N-substituted-3-piperidinethiopropionamides in which the NN distances are short but of varied length, as well as in a couple of the corresponding amides and in some simpler amides and thioamides. Geometries are calculated by means of ab initio DFT methods. The N-substituted-3-piperidinethiopropionamides show in most cases strong intramolecular N–HN hydrogen bonds according to IR spectra and ab initio calculations. For compounds with rather short NN distances the S=C–N–H moiety is non-planar. Dihedral angles as small as 160° are found. The NH chemical shift coefficients measured in non-polar solvents in all the N-substituted-3-piperidinethiopropionamides are more negative (−8 to −17 ppb/K) than in non-hydrogen bonded thioamides. For the latter in non-polar solvents like CDCl₃ and toluene the temperature coefficients are as small as −1 to −4 ppb/K. The large negative effects can be related not only to the non-planarity of the thioamide group in a way that the more pronounced the non-planarity the more negative the temperature coefficients, but also to strong hydrogen bonding and the fact that the acceptor is a nitrogen. For similar amides with non-planar amide groups and nitrogen acceptor large negative temperature coefficients are likewise seen. In polar solvents like DMF the effects in simple thioamides are uniform and close to −6 ppb/K, whereas in the more complex compound like 4p(t) the temperature coefficient is close to 0. An essential feature of measuring temperature coefficients of compounds without strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds in non-polar solvents and at low temperatures is to keep the concentration low enough to avoid dimerisation.     

Catalysis by ionic liquid: a simple, green and efficient procedure for the Michael addition of thiols and thiophosphate to conjugated alkenes in ionic liquid, [pmIm]Br

A room temperature ionic liquid, 1-pentyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide, [pmIm]Br efficiently catalyzes Michael addition of thiols and diethyl dithiophosphate to a variety of conjugated alkenes such as α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, carboxylic esters, nitriles and chalcones without requiring any other organic solvent and catalyst. The ionic liquid can be recycled for subsequent reactions without any appreciable loss of efficiency.     

Composite Silica Particles Using a Mixture of Organosilane Monomers

Composite silica particles were synthesized by a two-step (acid-base) process in an aqueous solution with a mixture of organoalkoxysilane monomers. The two-step process separates the hydrolysis and condensation procedures to easily control condensation rate. In this study, the silane monomers used were phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMS), vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), and tetraethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS). The physical properties of the resultant composite particles were investigated with the change in the molar ratio of monomers. The size of the particles increased with increasing the molar ratio of R_aSi(OR)₃/R_bSi(OR)₃ or R_aSi(OR)₃/TEOS (R_a: phenyl; R_b: vinyl, methyl).     

用格林函数法计算量子点中的应变分布

自组装量子点材料作为一种新型的光电材料无论在理论和实际应用都成为当今物理学界的研 究热点.由GaAs包围的InAs小岛，由于较大的晶格失配（≈-0.067），应变效应在量子点 的 形成过程中起主导作用.大部分计算量子点结构应变分布的方法都是基于数值解法，需要大 量的计算工作.给出用格林函数法推导各种常见形状量子点应变分布的解析表达式详细过程，讨论了弹性各向异性和形状各向异性对量子点应变分布的影响程度.结果表明对于不 同形状量子点结构中主要部分的应变分布都是相似的，流体静压变部分的特征值随量子点形状的变化不 关键词： 自组装量子点 格林函数 应变分布     

溶胶-凝胶法制备小颗粒(Y,Gd)BO_3∶Eu及其表征

用溶胶 凝胶方法制备了平均粒径为 1～ 2 μm的小颗粒、高发射效率的 (Y ,Gd)BO3 ∶Eu红色发射荧光体。用XRD、SEM、粒度分析和PL光谱对荧光体作了表征和研究。常规固相反应合成 (Y ,Gd)BO3 ∶Eu需在 1 2 0 0℃以上才能形成均一的固溶体。而溶胶 凝胶法制取稀土正硼酸盐 80 0℃灼烧已可形成均一的单相 (Y ,Gd)BO3 ∶Eu,在 1 1 0 0℃可得到发光亮度最高的荧光体。它的亮度是常规固相反应于 1 2 0 0℃制得的荧光体的 1 2 0 %。采用溶胶 凝胶法制取 (Y ,Gd)BO3 ∶Eu荧光体 ,可在相当宽的实验条件范围内得到小粒径、窄分布和高亮度的荧光体 ,且有良好的颗粒形貌。     

Study on the covalence of Cu and chemical bonding in an inorganic fullerene-like molecule, [CuCl]20[Cp*FeP5]12 [Cu-(CH3CN)+2Cl-]5, by a density functional approach

The electronic structure and chemical bonding in a recently synthesized inorganic fullerene-like molecule, [CuCl]₂₀[Cp*FeP₅]₁₂[Cu-(CH₃CN) ⁺ ₂Cl⁻]₅ has been studied by a density functional approach. Geometrical optimization of the three basic structural units of the molecule is performed with Amsterdam Density Functional Program. The results are in agreement with the experiment. Localized MO’s obtained by Boys-Foster method give a clear picture of the chemical bonding in this molecule. The reason why CuCl can react with Cp*FeP₅ in solvent CH₃CN to form the fullerene-like molecule is explained in terms of the soft-hard Lewis acid base theory and a new concept of covalence.     

Study on the covalence of Cu and chemical bonding in an inorganic fullerene-like molecule, [CuCl]_(20)[Cp~*FeP_5]_(12)[Cu-(CH_3CN)_2~+Cl~-]_5, by a density functional approach

The titled inorganic fullerene-like molecule (hereafter abbreviated as IFM) was recently synthe-sized by Bai et al.[1], which attracts a lot of interests from inorganic and organometallic chemists, and questions are raised for this smart molecule: (ⅰ) Why CuCl can react with Cp*FeP5 in solvent CH3CN to form IFM? (ⅱ) What is the nature of chemical bond-ing? (ⅲ) What is the covalence of Cu in this mole-cule? In this paper we intend to answer these questions in terms of the soft-hard …     

Harnack inequality for some classes of Markov processes

In this paper we establish a Harnack inequality for nonnegative harmonic functions of some classes of Markov processes with jumps. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): Primary 60J45, 60J75, Secondary 60J25.This work was completed while the authors were in the Research in Pairs program at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach. We thank the Institute for the hospitality.The research of this author is supported in part by NSF Grant DMS-9803240.The research of this author is supported in part by MZT grant 0037107 of the Republic of Croatia.