Improving the catabolic functions of desiccation-tolerant soil bacteria

Bacterial strains were selected from a desiccated polluted soil for their drought tolerance and their ability to grow on diesel oil in view of incorporating them in a bioaugmentation product. These products are useful in case of recal citrant xenobiotic pollution, where there is no intrinsic biodegradation activity in the soil. These strains grow on the easily degradable components of diesel oil. In troduction of new catabolic genes into these desiccation-tolerant bacteria in order to improve their catabolic functions was considered. Plasmid-borne catabolic genes coding for enzymes in volved in the degradation of more recalcitrant compounds (Isopropylbenzene, trichloroethene, 3-chloroben zoate, 4-chlorobiphenyl, biphenyl) were successfully introduced in some of the desiccation-tolerant strains by means of natural conjugation. Strains exhibiting good tolerance to desiccation and able to grow on the new carbon sources were obtained. The frequencies of integration of the plasmids ranged from 2×10⁻⁸ to 9.2 10⁻² transconjugants/acceptor. Drought-tolerance is indeed important for bioaugmentation because of its in trinsic ecological significance and because a bioaugmentation starter has to be conditioned in a desic cated form to ensure good shelf-life. The conservation of the properties during storage was evaluated by accelerated storage tests.     

New spline spaces with generalized tension properties

The paper describes a new space of variable degree polynomials. This space is isomorphic to ℙ₆, possesses a Bernstein like basis and has generalized tension properties in the sense that, for limit values of the degrees, its functions approximate quadratic polynomials. The corresponding space of C ³, variable degree splines is also studied. This spline space can be profitably used in the construction of shape preserving curves or surfaces. AMS subject classification (2000)  65D07, 65D17, 65D10     

Explicit Volume-Preserving Splitting Methods for Linear and Quadratic Divergence-Free Vector Fields

We present new explicit volume-preserving methods based on splitting for polynomial divergence-free vector fields. The methods can be divided in two classes: methods that distinguish between the diagonal part and the off-diagonal part and methods that do not. For the methods in the first class it is possible to combine different treatments of the diagonal and off-diagonal parts, giving rise to a number of possible combinations. This paper is dedicated to Arieh Iserles on the occasion of his 60th anniversary.     

Expected thermal deformation and wavefront preservation of a cryogenic Si monochromator for Cornell ERL beamlines

Cornell energy‐recovery linac (ERL) beamlines will have higher power density and higher fractional coherence than those available at third‐generation sources; therefore the capability of a monochromator for ERL beamlines has to be studied. A cryogenic Si monochromator is considered in this paper because the perfect atomic structure of Si crystal is needed to deliver highly coherent radiation. Since neither the total heat load nor the power density alone can determine the severity of crystal deformation, a metric called modified linear power density is used to gauge the thermal deformation. For all ERL undulator beamlines, crystal thermal deformation profiles are simulated using the finite‐element analysis tool ANSYS, and wavefront propagations are simulated using Synchrotron Radiation Workshop. It is concluded that cryogenic Si monochromators will be suitable for ERL beamlines in general.     

Advanced Materials in Cultural Heritage Conservation

Cultural Heritage is a crucial socioeconomic resource; yet, recurring degradation processes endanger its preservation. Serendipitous approaches in restoration practice need to be replaced by systematically addressing conservation issues through the development of advanced materials for the preservation of the artifacts. In the last few decades, materials and colloid science have provided valid solutions to counteract degradation, and we report here the main highlights in the formulation and application of materials and methodologies for the cleaning, protection and consolidation of works of art. Several types of artifacts are addressed, from murals to canvas paintings, metal objects, and paper artworks, comprising both classic and modern/contemporary art. Systems, such as nanoparticles, gels, nanostructured cleaning fluids, composites, and other functional materials, are reviewed. Future perspectives are also commented, outlining open issues and trends in this challenging and exciting field.     

The Applicability of Essential Oils in Different Stages of Production of Animal-Based Foods

Essential oils (EOs) have been used for centuries, and interest in these compounds has been revived in recent years. Due to their unique chemical composition as well as antimicrobial, immunostimulatory, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, EOs are used in pharmacology, cosmetology and, increasingly, in animal breeding and rearing, and processing of animal raw materials. Essential oils have become a natural alternative to preservatives, taste enhancers and, most importantly, antibiotics, because the European Union banned the use of antibiotics in metaphylaxis in animal husbandry in 2006. In the animal production chain, EOs are used mainly as feed additives to improve feed palatability and increase feed intake, improve animal resistance and health status, and to prevent and treat diseases. Recent research indicates that EOs can also be applied to sanitize poultry houses, and they can be used as biopesticides in organic farming. Essential oils effectively preserve meat and milk and, consequently, improve the safety, hygiene and quality of animal-based foods. Novel technologies such as encapsulation may increase the bioavailability of EOs and their application in the production of food and feed additives.     

Structure preserving model order reduction of shallow water equations

In this paper, we present two different approaches for constructing reduced‐order models (ROMs) for the two‐dimensional shallow water equation (SWE). The first one is based on the noncanonical Hamiltonian/Poisson form of the SWE. After integration in time by the fully implicit average vector field method, ROMs are constructed with proper orthogonal decomposition(POD)/discrete empirical interpolation method that preserves the Hamiltonian structure. In the second approach, the SWE as a partial differential equation with quadratic nonlinearity is integrated in time by the linearly implicit Kahan's method, and ROMs are constructed with the tensorial POD that preserves the linear‐quadratic structure of the SWE. We show that in both approaches, the invariants of the SWE such as the energy, enstrophy, mass and circulation are preserved over a long period of time, leading to stable solutions. We conclude by demonstrating the accuracy and the computational efficiency of the reduced solutions by a numerical test problem.     

Effects of pressure and temperature on the survival rate of adherent A-172 cells

Preservation of cells under high pressure is an important alternative to cryopreservation. We studied the effect of temperature (4, 25, 37°C) and pressure (0.1–350 MPa) on the survival rate of A-172 glioblastoma cells. The survival rate was not changed by brief (10 min) pressurization of up to 150 MPa, but the survival rate began to decrease from 150 MPa, and most of the A-172 cells died when treated with over 200 MPa. Lengthy pressurization (4 days) at lower pressure (upto 20.1 MPa) without medium exchange showed complex results. The survival rate of cells preserved at 25°C showed two maxima at 1.6 and 20.1 MPa. After preservation, cells adhered and proliferated in the same way as normal cells when cultured at 37°C in a CO₂ incubator. The other two temperatures, 4° and 37°C, showed no maximum survival rate. Therefore, a high survival rate can be maintained with high pressure treatment.     

激光天线设计与光斑保持的角量法原理

为了满足船舶激光多环检测和自动跟踪目标多环补偿技术匹配天线的需要,用简便的角量法设计了激光天线.通过三次代数方程进行天线主镜和副镜的设计,并通过检测误差信号对角量的控制来调节主、副镜的双镜距以达到激光传播过程中光斑保持稳定不变.设计原理与实验数据符合,适用于工程应用.     

传统古村落的保护与发展--以宁波余姚柿林村为例

针对古村落发展面临的现实和潜在的问题，以四明山腹地宁渡余姚柿林村为例，探讨了古村落在市场经济条件下的管理制度与保护机制．