Mechanism and potential applications of bio-ligninolytic systems in a CELSS

A large amount of inedible plant material, generated as a result of plant growth in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS), should be pretreated and converted into forms that can be recycled on earth as well as in space. The main portion of the inedible biomass is lignocellulosic material. Enzymatic hydrolysis of this cellulose would provide sugars for many other uses by recycling carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen through formation of carbon dioxide, heat, and sugars, which are potential foodstuffs. To obtain monosaccharides from cellulose, the protective effect of lignin should be removed. White-rot fungi degrade lignin more extensively and rapidly than other microorganisms.Pleurotus ostreatus degrades lignin effectively, and produces edible and flavorful mushrooms that increase the quality and nutritional value of the diet. This mushroom is also capable of metabolizing hemicellulose, thereby providing a food use of this pentose containing polysaccharide. This study presents the current knowledge of physiology and biochemistry of primary and secondary metabolisms of basidiomycetes, and degradation mechanism of lignin. A better understanding of the ligninolytic activity of white-rot fungi will impact the CELSS Program by providing insights on how edible fungi might be used to recycle the inedible portions of the crops.     

The stochastic Boltzmann equation and hydrodynamic fluctuations

Based on the assumption of a kinetic equation in space, a stochastic differential equation of the one-particle distribution is derived without the use of the linear approximation. It is just the Boltzmann equation with a Langevin-fluctuating force term. The result is the general form of the linearized Boltzmann equation with fluctuations found by Bixon and Zwanzig and by Fox and Uhlenbeck. It reduces to the general Landau-Lifshitz equations of fluid dynamics in the presence of fluctuations in a similar hydrodynamic approximation to that used by Chapman and Enskog with respect to the Boltzmann equation.This work received financial support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.     

微波等离子体炬发射光谱法去溶系统性能的研究

用微波等离子体矩（MPT）作激发光源，等离子体的工作气体为氩气，研究了气动雾化进样去溶系统的工作参数对分析性能的影响，探讨了水冷凝与浓硫酸吸收二者协同去溶的相关性，结果表明，OH （Q1带，带头谱线为308.520nm）的发射强度即可判别样品去溶效果。     

Chloride-catalyzed oxidation of phenol in pulsed-laser irradiation titanium dioxide sols

The kinetics of photolysis of phenol in presence of two kinds of TiO₂ colloid in acid aqueous solution medium was studied by transient absorption spectroscopy. The absorbance and quantum yield of the phenoxyl radicals is strongly influenced by the chloride ions. The process of laser flash photolysis of phenol in the presence of chloride has been discussed.     

Progress in the realisation of an autonomous environmental monitoring device for ammonia

Progress in the development of a micro-fluidic system for colorimetric monitoring of ammonia in drinking and wastewater is described. The ultimate goal is to have a miniaturised instrument that can produce accurate, reliable measurements, is easy to operate, has minimal power consumption, and can operate autonomously for a year. In this study, the indophenol reaction is incorporated into a simple, reliable analytical micro-fluidic system. Absorbance measurements for the blue ammonia-indophenol complex formed in the micro-fluidic system are shown. A key issue is the limiting stability of hypochlorite, a reagent used in the assay. The effects of hypochlorite concentration and impurities on the stability of hypochlorite are investigated and discussed. Decomposition is shown to be very dependent on the presence of heavy-metal impurities. With low levels of these catalytic metals and careful storage, hypochlorite has been shown to be stable for over a year.     

298.15K下Li2B4O7-H2O体系水蒸汽分压及渗透系数的等压测定和离子相互作用模型

在已有研究含硼体系的文献中仅考虑了硼酸根B4O7^-2或B(OH)4^-和H3BO3的存在，而对Li2B4O7-H2O体系具有多种硼物种聚合平衡体系的热力学性质的研究尚未见报道．本文用等压法研究了Li2B4O7-H2O体系于298．15K下浓度由稀到过饱和溶液的平衡气相蒸汽压及渗透系数．考虑了水溶液中多种硼物种的存在，以Pitzer方程为基础，建立了可描述该含硼体系的离子相互作用模型。     

氧化-还原低温引发甲基丙烯酸甲酯/丙烯酸丁酯超浓乳液聚合研究

以乳化剂十二烷基硫酸钠 (SDS)和共乳化剂十六烷醇 (HD)作为复合乳化体系 ,过氧化二苯甲酰(BPO)和N ,N 二甲基苯胺 (DMA)作为氧化还原引发体系 ,甲基丙烯酸甲酯 丙烯酸丁酯 (MMA BA)作为混合单体 ,制备了分散相占 83 %以上的稳定的超浓乳液 ,然后在低温下引发聚合 .探讨了引发剂浓度、氧化剂与还原剂的摩尔比、乳化剂的浓度、液膜增强剂的种类、聚合温度等因素对聚合稳定性和聚合速率的影响 ,测定并计算得到了聚合速率的公式 ;用激光散射粒度分布仪测定了聚合物乳胶粒子的大小及粒径分布 ,用透射电子显微镜观察了聚合物乳胶粒的形态 ,讨论了乳化剂浓度、聚合温度等对乳胶粒形态、大小的影响     

Bola型阴离子表面活性剂与溴化十二烷基三乙铵混合体系的表面性质与聚集行为

研究了具有简单结构的bola型阴离子表面活性剂二十酸二钠（C_(20)Na_2)与 阳离子型普通表面活性剂溴化十二烷基三乙铵（C_(12)Et_3）混合体系的表面性质 ，发现混合体系的cmc和γ_(cmc)比C_(12)Et_3单一体系未有显著降低。以负染色 ，FF-TEM，动态光散射（DLS）及粘度方法研究了混合体系的聚集行为，发现混合 体系中同时形成球形囊泡和管状聚集体，提出了产生这种聚集行为的机制。     

Synchrotron-radiated X-ray and neutron diffraction study of native cellulose

Precise determination of d-spacings and compositional ratio of cellulose I_α and I_β in various native cellulose samples was successfully carried out by synchrotron-radiated X-ray diffraction and time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffraction from quasi-powder specimens. X-ray diffraction peaks were separated by the deconvolution method using six types of profile function: Gaussian, Lorentzian, intermediate Lorentzian, modified Lorentzian, pseudo-Voigt, and Pearson VII. In terms of R-factors, the pseudo-Voigt function gave the best fit with the observation, and was used for determination of d-spacings. The numerical results for Valonia cellulose were: dI_α (1 0 0) = 0.613 nm; dI_β (1 1 0) = 0.603 nm; dI_β (1 1 0) = 0.535 nm; dI_α (0 1 0) = 0.529 nm; I_α content = 0.65. The differences determined between dI_α (1 0 0) and dI_β (1 1 0) and between dI_β (1 1 0) and dI_α (0 1 0) were similar to those previously reported. Comparison between unresolved peaks for the two types of cellulose samples revealed a small but definite difference between dI_α (1 1 0) and dI_β (2 0 0). The TOF neutron diffractometry using deuterated samples confirmed this difference. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Kinetic and stability characterization ofChromobacterium viscosum lipase and its comparison withPseudomonas glumae lipase

A kinetic study ofChromobacterium viscosum lipase was undertaken, and compared withPseudomonas glumae lipase. Optimum operation conditions were pH 9.0 and 50°C for both enzymes. A substrate specificity study was also developed. Both enzymes showed higher activity on triglycerides with a long chain of fatty acid; the specific activity was always higher for C.viscosum lipase. Stability of both enzymes in aqueous medium at 60°C and pH 9.0 was evaluated. C.viscosum lipase was three times more stable than P.glumae lipase, with at _1/2 value of 0.75 h. In addition, the activity of C.viscosum lipase with substrate concentration was studied with a triolein emulsion. A dependence of the intrinsic characteristics of the emulsion was observed. Therefore, stability ofC. viscosum lipase B with reaction products was assayed in a micellar system. Acid products reduced the specific activity of the enzyme. Glycerol and high buffer concentration were stabilizers of enzyme deactivation. Finally, substrate specificity ofC. viscosum lipase B in a micellar system was developed with tributyrin, tricaprylin, and triolein. Only tributyrin showed an apparent Michaelis-Menten kinetic with V_max ^app = 958 U/mg and K_ma ^app = 75.5 mM. Tricaprylin and triolein showed diffusion limitations at low substrate concentration and substrate inhibition at high substrate concentration. Diffusion parameters were calculated for both these substrates. Mass transfer coefficients (k₁) were 0.314 Å/min and 1.53 Å/min for tricaprylin and triolein, respectively. Effectiveness factors (η) were 0.536 and 0.768 for tricaprylin and triolein, respectively.