Parameter identification of thermophilic anaerobic degradation of valerate

The considered mathematical model of the decomposition of valerate presents three unknown kinetic parameters, two unknown stoichiometric coefficients, and three unknown initial concentrations for biomass. Applying a structural identifiability study, we concluded that it is necessary to perform simultaneous batch experiments with differenitial conditions for estimating these parameters. Four simultaneous batch experiments were conducted at 55°C, characterized by four different initial acetate concentrations. Product inhibition of valerate degradation by acetate was considered. Practical identification was done optimizing the sum of the multiple determination coefficients for all measured state viariables and for all experiments simultaneously. The estimated values of kinetic parameters and stoichiometric coefficients were characterized by the parameter correlation matrix, the confidence interval, and the student's t-test at 9% significance level with positive results except for the saturation constant, for which more eperiments for improving its identifiability should be conducted. In this article, we discussekinetic parameter estimation methods.     

Minimum order of loop networks of given degree and girth

Behzad, Chartrand and Wall proposed the conjecture that any regular digraph of degreer and girthg has ordern r(g – 1) + 1. The conjecture was proved in [3] for vertex transitive graphs. For Loop Networks the conjecture is equivalent to a theorem of Shepherdson in additive number theory. We show that, except for graphs of a particular structure, Loop Networks, and in general Abelian Cayley graphs, verify the stronger inequalityn (r + 1)(g – 1) – 1. This bound is best possible.Supported by the Spanish Research Council (CICYT) under project TIC 90-0712 and Acción Integrada Hispanofrancesa, TIC 79B.     

On the convergence of solutions of degenerate elliptic equations in divergence form

It is studied the convergence of solutions of Dirichlet problems for sequences of monotone operators of the type — div (a_h (x, D·)), where the functions a_h verify the following degenerate coerciveness assumption

The μSR facilities at PSI

TheSR Facility Instruments presently available at PSI and the envisaged medium- and long-term developments are presented. The plans focus on further upgrades of the existing instruments and the development of new techniques using the very high fluxes becoming available at PSI, in particular the setup of a beamline with a fast kicker for muons on request (MORE) and the development of very low energy muon beams.     

On the extreme spectral properties of Toeplitz matrices generated byL 1 functions with several minima/maxima

In this paper we are concerned with the asymptotic behavior of the smallest eigenvalue ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ of symmetric (Hermitian)n ×n Toeplitz matricesT _n (f) generated by an integrable functionf defined in [–, ]. In [7, 8, 11] it is shown that ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ tends to essinff =m _f in the following way: ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ –m _f 1/n ^2k . These authors use three assumptions:A1)f –m _f has a zero inx =x ₀ of order 2k.A2)f is continuous and at leastC ^2k in a neighborhood ofx ₀.A3)x =x ₀ is the unique global minimum off in [–, ]. In [10] we have proved that the hypothesis of smoothnessA2 is not necessary and that the same result holds under the weaker assumption thatf L ¹[–, ]. In this paper we further extend this theory to the case of a functionf L ¹[–, ] having several global minima by suppressing the hypothesisA3 and by showing that the maximal order 2k of the zeros off –m _f is the only parameter which characterizes the rate of convergence of ₁ ⁽ⁿ⁾ tom _f .     

How to improve transmissive optics in the very far infrared?

Conclusion We have presented the possibility to make optical coatings on quartz in the FIR and we have got a transmission coefficient as high as 97% at room temperature. It will rise probably close to 100% at liquid helium temperature where the quartz two-phonon difference processes are frozen. The use of polyethylene or TPX is also possible to make plates and lenses. The reflectivity losses are smaller because the refractive index is much smaller, but they cannot be further reduced by any coating because there is no transparent material with n1.2 in the FIR. These lenses are very useful in the FIR (except around 60 cm^–1 if they are made of polyethylene). TPX is quite transparent over the whole FIR range, and also in the visible with nearly the same refractive index as in the FIR. Alignments can be made with visible light, and still work in the FIR.     

Dynamics of an enzymatic substitution reaction in haloalkane dehalogenase

Reactive flux molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out using a combined QM/MM potential to study the dynamics of the nucleophilic substitution reaction of dichloroethane by a carboxylate group in haloalkane dehalogenase and in water. We found that protein dynamics accelerates the reaction rate by a factor of 2 over the uncatalyzed reaction. Compared to the thermodynamic effect in barrier reduction, protein dynamic contribution is relatively small. However, analyses of the friction kernel reveal that the origins of the reaction dynamics in water and in the enzyme are different. In aqueous solution, there is significant electrostatic solvation effect, which is reflected by the slow reorganization relaxation of the solvent. On the other hand, there is no strong electrostatic coupling in the enzyme and the major effect on reaction coordinate motion is intramolecular energy relaxation.     

Synthesis of tridimensional polymers by the copolymerization of phenylglycidylether with aromatic diglycidylethers

Copolymers from phenylglycidylether and several aromatic diglycidylethers are prepared using different ratios of difunctional comonomers and the AIP/ZnCl₂ initiator system. It is found that the percentage of incorporated comonomer depends on the nature of the aromatic moiety introduced. The copolymers are characterized by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy and turn out to be completely regular and with a high degree of isotacticity (about 80%) that confirms the high degree of regio- and stereoselectivity of the initiator system used. The thermal characteristics of copolymer networks are investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. Two fusion endotherms are observed which vary with the degree of crosslinking. By thermogravimetric analyses the thermal stability is found to increase when the crosslinking degree does. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Direct, two-step synthetic pathway to novel dibenzo[a,c]phenanthridines

Novel dibenzo[a,c]phenanthridines are prepared regioselectively by the application of a straightforward synthetic pathway, starting from new 3,4-diaryl- and 3,4-dihydro-3,4-diarylisoquinolines prepared via Ritter-type heterocyclization and the more classical two-step reductive amination/Bischler-Napieralski cyclization of triarylethanones, respectively. A comparative study of nonphenolic oxidative coupling methodologies provides a highly efficient procedure, based on the hypervalent iodine reagent phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA), to accomplish the final coupling step.