Experimental studies of immobilized-yeast,packed-bed reactors with reduced CO2 entrapment

A horizontal packed-bed reactor with baffles (HPBR) and a continuously stirred tank reactor with intermittent paddle agitation have been shown to considerably reduce the CO₂ entrapment when glucose is fermented with immobilized baker’s yeast in calcium alginate beads. Using high cell contents in the gel resulted in internal mass transfer hindrance. The highest productivity was obtained with the HPBR giving 29 g EtOH/Lh at an ethanol yield of 90%. The substrate used was 100 g/L glucose. Fermentation of lactose and deproteinized whey by coimmobilized baker’s yeast and |3-galactosidase resulted in much lower productivity-about 5 g EtOH/L.h because of the slow fermentation of galactose.     

Error estimates for Galerkin methods for quasilinear parabolic and elliptic differential equations in divergence form

Summary Conditions are given for the validity of long range quasi optimal error estimates of the Galerkin method for quasilinear parabolic equations. If the corresponding nonlinear elliptic operator satisfies a coercivity condition, the stationary problem may be approximated by the numerical solution of the parabolic problem when the time variablet is large enough, starting with an arbitrary initial function. Some practical applications are discussed.     

Evidence for a new low-lying resonance state in 7He

Low-lying resonance states in 7He(6He+n), formed after fragmentation reactions of a 227 MeV/nucleon 8He beam on a carbon target, have been studied. Coincidences between 6He nuclei and neutrons, corresponding to the one-neutron knockout channel in 8He, were selected. The relative energy spectrum in the 6He+n system shows a structure, which is interpreted as the 7He ( Ipi = 3/2(-)) ground state, unbound with 0.43(2) MeV relative to the 6He+n system and a width of Gamma = 0.15(8) MeV overlapping with an excited ( Ipi = 1/2(-)) state observed at 1.0(1) MeV with a width of Gamma = 0.75(8) MeV.     

Laser-induced incandescence for soot particle size and volume fraction measurements using on-line extinction calibration

A novel technique for two-dimensional measurements of soot volume fraction and particle size has been developed. It is based on a combined measurement of extinction and laser-induced incandescence using Nd:YAG laser wavelengths of 532 nm and 1064 nm. A low-energy laser pulse at 532 nm was used for extinction measurements and was followed by a more intense pulse at 1064 nm, delayed by 15 ns, for LII measurements. The 532-nm beam was split into a signal beam passing the flame and a reference beam, both of which were directed to a dye cell. The resulting fluorescence signals, from which the extinction was deduced, together with the LII signal, were registered on a single CCD detector. Thus the two-dimensional LII image could be converted to a soot volume fraction map through a calibration procedure during the same laser shot. The soot particle sizes were evaluated from the ratio of the temporal LII signals at two gate time positions. The uncertainty in the particle sizing arose mainly from the low signal for small particles at long gate times and the uncertainty in the flame temperature. The technique was applied to a well-characterized premixed flat flame, the soot properties of which had been previously thoroughly investigated. Received: 21 June 2000 / Revised version: 11 September 2000 / Published online: 7 February 2001     

Quantitative three-dimensional imaging of soot volume fraction in turbulent non-premixed flames

A three-dimensional (3-D) imaging system for studies of reactive and non-reactive flows is described. It can be used to reveal the topology of turbulent structures and to extract 3-D quantities, such as concentration gradients. Measurements are performed using a high repetition rate laser and detector system in combination with a scanning mirror. In this study, the system is used for laser-induced incandescence measurements to obtain quantitative 3-D soot volume fraction distributions in both laminar and turbulent non-premixed flames. From the acquired data, iso-concentration surfaces are visualised and concentration gradients calculated.     

Inhibition of Insulin-Regulated Aminopeptidase (IRAP) by Arylsulfonamides

The inhibition of insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP, EC 3.4.11.3) by angiotenesin IV is known to improve memory and learning in rats. Screening 10 500 low-molecular-weight compounds in an enzyme inhibition assay with IRAP from Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells provided an arylsulfonamide (N-(3-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)phenyl)-4-bromo-5-chlorothiophene-2-sulfonamide), comprising a tetrazole in the meta position of the aromatic ring, as a hit. Analogues of this hit were synthesized, and their inhibitory capacities were determined. A small structure–activity relationship study revealed that the sulfonamide function and the tetrazole ring are crucial for IRAP inhibition. The inhibitors exhibited a moderate inhibitory potency with an IC₅₀=1.1±0.5 μm for the best inhibitor in the series. Further optimization of this new class of IRAP inhibitors is required to make them attractive as research tools and as potential cognitive enhancers.