Study on pyrolysis kinetics of walnut shell

Slow pyrolysis of walnut shell which is a cheap and abundantly available solid waste was carried out using thermogravimetric analysis. The effects of raw material heating rate on the pyrolysis properties and kinetic parameters were investigated. A two-step consecutive reaction model were used to simulate the pyrolysis process. The kinetic parameters were established by using the pattern search method. Comparison between experimental data and the model prediction indicated that the two-step consecutive reaction model can better describe the slow pyrolysis of walnut shell as the formation of an intermediate during the pyrolysis process was taken into account.     

Molecular conformation search by distance matrix perturbations

Three-dimensional molecular structure is fundamental in chemical function identification and computer-aided drug design. The enumeration of a small number of feasible conformations provides a rigorous way to determine the optimal or a few acceptable conformations. Our contribution concerns a heuristic enhancement of a method based on distance geometry, typically in relation with experiments of the NMR type. Distance geometry has been approached by different viewpoints; ours is expected to help in several subtasks arising in the process that determines 3D structure from distance information. More precisely, the input to our algorithm consists of a set of approximate distances of varying precision; some are specified by the covalent structure and others by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments (or X-ray crystallography which, however, requires crystallization). The output is a valid tertiary structure in a specified neighborhood of the input. Our approach should help in detecting outliers of the NMR experiments, and handles inputs with partial information. Moreover, our technique is able to bound the number of degrees of freedom of the conformation manifold. We have used numerical linear algebra algorithms for reasons of speed, and because they are well-implemented, fully documented and widely available. Our main tools include, besides distance matrices, structure-preserving matrix perturbations for minimizing singular values. Our MATLAB (or SCILAB) implementation is described and illustrated.AMS subject Classification: 92E10 Molecular structure, 92C40 Biochemistry, molecular biology, 65F15 Eigenvalues, eigenvectors, 15A18 Eigenvalues, singular values, and eigenvectors     

Hybrid genetic algorithm–tabu search approach for optimising multilayer optical coatings

Constructing multilayer optical coatings (MOCs) is a difficult large-scale optimisation problem due to the enormous size of the search space. In the present paper, a new approach for designing MOCs is presented using genetic algorithms (GAs) and tabu search (TS). In this approach, it is not necessary to specify how many layers will be present in a design, only a maximum needs to be defined. As it is generally recognised that the existence of specific repeating blocks is beneficial for a design, a specific GA representation of a design is used which promotes the occurrence of repeating blocks. Solutions found by GAs are improved by a new refinement method, based on TS, a global optimisation method which is loosely based on artificial intelligence. The improvements are demonstrated by creating a visible transmitting/infrared reflecting filter with a wide variety of materials.     

Cavity search: An algorithm for the isolation and display of cavity-like binding regions

Summary A set of algorithms designed to enhance the display of protein binding cavities is presented. These algorithms, collectively entitled CAVITY SEARCH, allow the user to isolate and fully define the extent of a particular cavity. Solid modeling techniques are employed to produce a detailed cast of the active site region, which can then be color-coded to show electrostatic and steric interactions between the protein cavity and a bound ligand.     

修正PRP共轭梯度方法求解无约束最优化问题

基于著名的PRP共轭梯度方法,利用CG_DESCENT共轭梯度方法的结构,本文提出了一种求解大规模无约束最优化问题的修正PRP共轭梯度方法。该方法在每一步迭代中均能够产生一个充分下降的搜索方向,且独立于任何线搜索条件。在标准Wolfe线搜索条件下,证明了修正PRP共轭梯度方法的全局收敛性和线性收敛速度。数值结果展示了修正PRP方法对给定的测试问题是非常有效的。     

供应商不确定情景下药品物流多中心选址优化研究

根据国家4+7药品带量集中采购评审标准,基于药品生产企业生产质量、供应能力、相关资质和同类药品参标结果等数据进行梳理和分析,针对药品供应商不确定情景下药品物流多中心选址问题,构建药品物流整体费用最优的多中心选址模型,设计多阶段改进禁忌搜索算法,最后通过4+7带量集中采购具体算例对模型和算法进行验证,结果显示该模型和算法是可行和有效的。     

Lattice models of peptide aggregation: evaluation of conformational search algorithms

We present a series of conformational search calculations on the aggregation of short peptide fragments that form fibrils similar to those seen in many protein mis-folding diseases. The proteins were represented by a face-centered cubic lattice model with the conformational energies calculated using the Miyazawa-Jernigan potential. The searches were performed using algorithms based on the Metropolis Monte Carlo method, including simulated annealing and replica exchange. We also present the results of searches using the tabu search method, an algorithm that has been used for many optimization problems, but has rarely been used in protein conformational searches. The replica exchange algorithm consistently found more stable structures then the other algorithms, and was particularly effective for the octamers and larger systems.     

β微管蛋白中紫杉醇(Taxol)结合腔的性质分析

采用多拷贝同时搜寻法(MCSS), 并结合现有微管抑制剂的SAR及3D-QSAR对β微管蛋白中Taxol(紫杉醇)结合腔的性质进行了分析. 结构研究结果表明, Taxol结合腔以疏水性质为主, 并指出官能团分布的具体位置: 在Phe270上方(Leu361-Pro272-Leu273-Leu228之间)的弧形区域、Asp26羧基下方及其与Glu22羧基之间、M-loop的中部, 以及Asp224内侧且靠近Arg276的胍基的位置. 而Asp224的内侧又是新提出的结合位点. 研究结果符合现有微管抑制剂的SAR, 为现有抗肿瘤药物的结构改造以及小分子微管抑制剂设计提供了理论依据.     

A window fourier domain search system

A search system is presented that utilizes Fourier domain data. This system removes dominating features from the infrared absorbance data, transforms the data into the Fourier domain and performs a complete library search. The actual matching algorithm is very simple and excellent search results were attained using 16 cm^–1 resolution infrared absorbance spectra before transformation. This method can be used to distinguish very similar spectra that cannot be distinguished by many other search methods.