Effects of Pellet Characteristics on L-Lactic Acid Fermentation by R. oryzae: Pellet Morphology,Diameter, Density,and Interior Structure

The effects of pellet morphology, diameter, density, and interior structure on L-lactic acid fermentation by Rhizopus oryzae were characterized for different inoculum sizes and concentrations of peptone and CaCO₃. Inoculum size was the most important factor determining pellet formation and diameter. The diameter decreased with increasing inoculum size, and larger pellets were observed for lower inoculum sizes. Peptone concentration had the greatest effect on pellet density, which increased with increasing peptone concentration. L-lactic acid production depended heavily on pellet density but not on pellet diameter. Low-density pellets formed easily under conditions of low peptone concentration and often had a relatively hollow structure, with a thin condensed layer surrounding the pellet and an extraordinarily loose biomass or hollow center. As expected, this structure greatly decreased production. The production of L-lactic acid increased until the density reached a certain level (50–60 kg/m³), in which the compact part was distributed homogeneously in the thick outer layer of the pellet and loose in the central layer. Homogeneously structured, denser pellets had limited mass transfer, causing a lower overall turnover rate. However, the interior structure remained nearly constant throughout all fermentation phases for pellets with the same density. CaCO₃ concentration only had a slight influence on pellet diameter and density, probably because it increases spore germination and filamentous hypha extension. This work also provides a new analysis method to quantify the interior structure of pellets, thus giving insight into pellet structure and its relationship with productivity.     

Purification and Characterization of a Urethanase from Penicillium variabile

Urethanase produced by Penicillium variabile was purified through ultrasonication, concentration by polyethylene glycol 20,000, and Superdex G-200 gel filtration chromatography. The molecular weight of urethanase was determined to be around 96 kDa by gel filtration. The purified enzyme showed a single band in SDS-PAGE with the molecular weight of ~13.7 kDa, which suggests that the enzyme has a multimeric structure composed of the same subunits. Peptide map fingerprinting analysis was then carried out by MALDI/TOF-TOF MS. Within the known sequences in NCBI, glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase get high score as compared with urethanase. Sequence analysis informs that N-terminal sequence of urethanase is GTNTADNDAA. The Minchaelis constant (K _m) and maximum reaction rate (V _m) of urethanase are 27.2 mmol/L and 156.25 μmol/L min, respectively.     

pH-responsive star-shaped functionalized poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) with amino groups

Functional star-shaped 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly[(ε-caprolactone-co-γ-amino-ε-caprolactone)] (4-arm PEG-b-P(CL-co-ACL) was synthesized through ring-opening polymerization. The structure of the copolymer was confirmed by ¹H NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). To further understand the copolymers, the difference of the conversion rate between ε-caprolactone (CL) and γ-(carbamic acid benzyl ester)-ε-caprolactone (CABCL) and the detailed deprotection condition were studied. The thermal property of the copolymer was analyzed by WAXR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which demonstrated that the thermal property could be well adjusted. The pH-responsive behavior of the copolymers was studied in detail by dynamic light scattering (DLS), pH titration, and pyrene fluorescence methods, which indicated that it could form micelles and exhibit pH responsibility. Moreover, the copolymer was nontoxic and had good biocompatibility according to the results by 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay.     

Role of gas cooling time on crystalline morphology and mechanical property of the HDPE parts prepared by gas-assisted injection molding

In this study, the hierarchical crystalline structures of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) samples molded by gas-assisted injection molding (GAIM) with different gas cooling times were characterized via scanning electron microscopy, two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray scattering, tensile testing techniques, and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. It was found that the shish-kebab, the oriented lamellae, and common spherulite structures orderly distributed from the skin region to gas channel region of samples. More importantly, the wider area with highly oriented structure (shish-kebab) was obtained in the samples with longer gas cooling time, in that the longer gas cooling time tends to increase the cooling rate of polymer melt, and then much more stretched chains are retained. Although lower crystallinity, the higher degree of orientation, and much more shish-kebab structures lead to significant reinforcement from 28 to 785 MPa of the samples with gas cooling time of 0.5 s to 32 and 879 MPa of the samples with gas cooling time of 20 s for tensile strength and modulus, respectively. Finally, combined the HDPE molecular parameter with characteristic of the GAIM temperature field and flow field, the formation and stability of crystalline morphology in different regions of sample were discussed.     

Nitrobenzene degradation by micro-sized iron and electron efficiency evaluation

The effect of pH, temperature, zero-valent iron (ZVI) dosage and reaction duration on nitrobenzene (NB) degradation by micro-sized ZVI was investigated in batch experiments and the electron efficiency (EE) was evaluated at constant pH. The experimental results showed that the reaction rate constant attained 0.616 min^?1, which was far higher than reported in previous studies. The decrease in pH and increase in temperature of the reaction bath promoted the reaction kinetics. ZVI dosage and reaction duration were two key factors affecting NB reduction and EE. A lower ZVI dosage and a slightly longer reaction duration could afford an optimised EE and optimum NB removal. A prolonged reaction or too high a ZVI dosage resulted in increased ZVI waste.     

ChemStable: a web server for rule-embedded naïve Bayesian learning approach to predict compound stability

Predicting compound chemical stability is important because unstable compounds can lead to either false positive or to false negative conclusions in bioassays. Experimental data (COMDECOM) measured from DMSO/H₂O solutions stored at 50 °C for 105 days were used to predicted stability by applying rule-embedded naïve Bayesian learning, based upon atom center fragment (ACF) features. To build the naïve Bayesian classifier, we derived ACF features from 9,746 compounds in the COMDECOM dataset. By recursively applying naïve Bayesian learning from the data set, each ACF is assigned with an expected stable probability (p _s ) and an unstable probability (p _uns ). 13,340 ACFs, together with their p _s and p _uns data, were stored in a knowledge base for use by the Bayesian classifier. For a given compound, its ACFs were derived from its structure connection table with the same protocol used to drive ACFs from the training data. Then, the Bayesian classifier assigned p _s and p _uns values to the compound ACFs by a structural pattern recognition algorithm, which was implemented in-house. Compound instability is calculated, with Bayes’ theorem, based upon the p _s and p _uns values of the compound ACFs. We were able to achieve performance with an AUC value of 84 % and a tenfold cross validation accuracy of 76.5 %. To reduce false negatives, a rule-based approach has been embedded in the classifier. The rule-based module allows the program to improve its predictivity by expanding its compound instability knowledge base, thus further reducing the possibility of false negatives. To our knowledge, this is the first in silico prediction service for the prediction of the stabilities of organic compounds.     

硫脲络合–火焰原子吸收光谱法测定低硅铝合金中的银含量

采用硫脲络合–火焰原子吸收光谱法测定低硅铝合金中的银元素含量。实验探讨了酸度及硫脲用量对银测定的影响及铝合金中基体元素与共存元素对银元素分析线的干扰情况。结果表明:选用9%的盐酸和3%的硝酸溶解试样最好,加入5 mL 50 g/L硫脲溶液可消除氯离子对试验结果的影响,基体铝元素和其它共存元素不干扰银的测定。根据低硅铝合金中银元素的含量范围,合成系列标准溶液,建立工作曲线,工作曲线的线性范围为0.05%~0.50%。银元素含量为0.30%的样品测定结果的相对标准偏差为0.15%(n=8),标准加入回收率为96.8%~98.5%。该方法操作简便、重现性好、测量结果准确可靠。     

Pressure-Suppressed Carrier Trapping Leads to Enhanced Emission in Two-Dimensional Perovskite (HA)2(GA)Pb2I7

A remarkable PL enhancement by 12 fold is achieved using pressure to modulate the structure of a recently developed 2D perovskite (HA)₂(GA)Pb₂I₇ (HA=n-hexylammonium, GA=guanidinium). This structure features a previously unattainable, extremely large cage. In situ structural, spectroscopic, and theoretical analyses reveal that lattice compression under a mild pressure within 1.6 GPa considerably suppresses the carrier trapping, leading to significantly enhanced emission. Further pressurization induces a non-luminescent amorphous yellow phase, which is retained and exhibits a continuously increasing band gap during decompression. When the pressure is released to 1.5 GPa, emission can be triggered by above-band gap laser irradiation, accompanied by a color change from yellow to orange. The obtained orange phase could be retained at ambient conditions and exhibits two-fold higher PL emission compared with the pristine (HA)₂(GA)Pb₂I₇.     

Machine-Driven Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Glycopeptide

Historically, researchers have put considerable effort into developing automation systems to prepare natural biopolymers such as peptides and oligonucleotides. The availability of such mature systems has significantly advanced the development of natural science. Over the past twenty years, breakthroughs in automated synthesis of oligosaccharides have also been achieved. A machine-driven platform for glycopeptide synthesis by a reconstructed peptide synthesizer is described. The designed platform is based on the use of an amine-functionalized silica resin to facilitate the chemical synthesis of peptides in organic solvent as well as the enzymatic synthesis of glycan epitopes in the aqueous phase in a single reaction vessel. Both syntheses were performed by a peptide synthesizer in a semiautomated manner.     

Asymmetric Coupling of Carbon-Centered Radicals Adjacent to Nitrogen: Copper-Catalyzed Cyanation and Etherification of Enamides

The first copper-catalyzed asymmetric cyanation and etherification reactions of enamides have been established, where a carbon-centered radical adjacent to a nitrogen atom (CRAN) is enantioselectively trapped by a chiral copper(II) species. Moreover, the asymmetric cyanation of vinyl esters was disclosed as well. These reactions feature very mild reaction conditions and high functional group tolerance, and give a series of chiral α-cyano amides, α-cyano esters and α-hemiaminals in good yields with excellent enantioselectivity. The chiral α-cyano amides can be easily converted into enantioenriched 1,2-diamines and amino acids.