Direct numerical simulation of settling of a large solid particle during bioconvection

Settling of a large solid particle in bioconvection flow caused by gyrotactic microorganisms is investigated. The particle is released from the top of the bioconvection chamber; its settling pattern depends on whether it is released in the centre of the bioconvection plume or at its periphery. The Chimera method is utilized; a subgrid is generated around a moving particle. The method suggested by Liu and Wang (Comput. Fluid 2004; 33 :223–255) is further developed to account for the presence of a moving boundary in the streamfunction‐vorticity formulation using the finite‐difference method. A number of cases for different release positions of the particle are computed. It is demonstrated that bioconvection can either accelerate or decelerate settling of the particle depending on the initial position of the particle relative to the plume centre. It is also shown that the particle impacts bioconvection plume by changing its shape and location in the chamber. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entrapped mixed microorganisms to treat organic wastewater from food industry

Limited land and insufficient technicians to operate a wastewater treatment system are main restrictions for many factories. Therefore, an ideal wastewater treatment method for a small or land-limited factory must possess merits such as high performance efficiency, high organic loading rate, little odor, simple operation, easy maintenance, and little land required (simultaneously). An entrapment technique to immobilize mixed microorganisms to treat organic wastewater, which was developed in the present work, possesses these characteristics. This project was done on a laboratory scale. The microorganisms were activated sludge (an undefined mixture of microorganisms obtained directly from a domestic wastewater treatment plan) and the mixed microorganisms were immobilized in cellulose triacetate by means of an entrapment technique to treat organic wastewater from food industry. After wastewater was treated by this system, the SCOD (soluble COD) removal efficiency of 81% evaluated samples exceeded 80% in 1.5 ± 0.9 g SCOD/L/d of the volumetric loading rate and 7–10 h for the hydraulic retention time. This wastewater treatment method can be applied to other organic industrial wastewater.     

自振荡凝胶的仿生运动

定向运动是生命体最基本的功能,是其进化、生存和繁衍的前提。近年来为了研究生命体的运动机制,许多人工系统被相继开发并用于模拟部分生命体的运动行为。在诸多人工仿生系统里,自振荡凝胶由于同时具有内部驱动产生动能、运动定向性、无缆化和环境自适应等性能而备受瞩目。本文介绍了自振荡凝胶仿生运动的化学-机械能转换的理论根源并综述了仿生运动模式研究近期的进展,在此基础上展望了自振荡凝胶运动研究面临的机遇、挑战和未来发展方向。     

Chemometric Optimization of Biologically Active Compounds Extraction from Grape Marc: Composition and Antimicrobial Activity

The article focuses on the optimization of the extraction process of biologically active compounds (BAC) from grape marc—a by-product of the wine industry. The influence of temperature, specifically 30 °C, 45 °C and 65 °C, and ethanol concentration in solutions, specifically 0–96% (v/v) on the extraction yield of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins and anthocyanins, were investigated. The composition of individual polyphenols, anthocyanins and organic acids, antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS) and CIELab chromatic characteristics of the grape marc extracts (GME), were characterized. The microbiostatic and microbicidal effects in direct contact of GME with pathogenic microorganisms, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, were determined in vitro. The influence of extraction parameters on the total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), tannin content (TC), total anthocyanin content (TAC) and their interdependencies were studied using information analysis. A mathematical model was developed on cubic spline functions. The analysis of individual compounds showed the presence of a wide range of flavonoids (procyanidin B2, procyanidin B1, hyperoside and quercetin), flavones (catechin), hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives (gallic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic acids, m-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid), hydroxycinic acid derivatives and ferulic acid methyl ester. The malvidol-3-glucoside was the main anthocyanin identified in the extract. A high amount of tartaric acid was also found. GME showed significant antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and lower activity against Gram-negative bacteria.     

曲面相机阵列多分辨成像方法

针对现有成像系统因数据冗余而无法兼顾大视场、高分辨、高效性的问题,结合人眼视网膜变分辨成像和并列式复眼成像原理,设计一种多分辨率成像的复合仿生成像系统.该成像系统按照球面和平面兼顾的曲面布局方式,利用11个相机镜头构建相机阵列,组成了四个等级分辨率的子眼拍摄模块.通过物距100 m的远景实验和物距10 m的近景实验发现,该系统在实现高分辨成像的同时,获得总视场达150.8°×37.8°.多分辨率成像实验结果表明,该系统获取的图像的分辨率从中心视场到边缘视场逐渐降低,并且相较于中心清晰全视场成像,四级分辨率成像的拼接图像数据量减少了17.2倍的数据冗余.     

基于仿生设计的风力发电机叶片力学性能的实验研究

根据风力机的基本理论和相似理论设计了一个翼型为SG6050,半径为1m的小型风力机叶片。运用结构仿生学原理,对所设计的风力机叶片进行了仿生物中轴铺层设计。通过模态实验与应变实验,比较了传统设计与仿生设计两种不同风力机叶片的力学性能。模态实验结果表明,基于仿生设计的叶片的前六阶固有频率比传统叶片的前六阶固有频率减少约8％;两种叶片的固有频率均满足设计要求;仿生设计的叶片几乎不会改变叶片的动态特性。而应变实验表明,仿生设计的叶片在各种工况下的应变均大于传统的叶片约10％～20％。新设计的叶片具有较好的柔性,有效减小了叶片的应力,提高了叶片的疲劳寿命。     

Cascaded quasi-zero stiffness nonlinear low-frequency vibration isolator inspired by human spine

Human motion induced vibration has very low frequency, ranging from 2 Hz to 5 Hz. Traditional vibration isolators are not effective in low-frequency regions due to the trade-off between the low natural frequency and the high load capacity. In this paper, inspired by the human spine, we propose a novel bionic human spine inspired quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) vibration isolator which consists of a cascaded multi-stage negative stiffness structure. The force and stiffness characteristics are investigated first, the dynamic model is established by Newton’s second law, and the isolation performance is analyzed by the harmonic balance method (HBM). Numerical results show that the bionic isolator can obtain better low-frequency isolation performance by increasing the number of negative structure stages, and reducing the damping values and external force values can obtain better low-frequency isolation performance. In comparison with the linear structure and existing traditional QZS isolator, the bionic spine isolator has better vibration isolation performance in low-frequency regions. It paves the way for the design of bionic ultra-low-frequency isolators and shows potential in many engineering applications.

     

仿生非光滑表面铸铁材料的常温摩擦磨损性能

模仿动物体表形态,在试样表面通过激光雕刻出有规则分布的凹坑以及条纹等非光滑单元体,研究了具有非光滑表面材料的摩擦磨损性能.结果表明:非光滑表面材料的耐磨性较光滑表面提高1倍以上,摩擦系数提高66%以上;当非光滑表面的单元体硬度越高、直径越大和间距越小时,其耐磨性能越好,摩擦系数越大.这是由于激光加工的单元体相当于在母体上增加了许多强化质点,比母体具有较高的硬度和致密性,能够提高抗磨性,增加表面粗糙度,所以其耐磨性提高,摩擦系数增大.     

南极海洋芳香烃低温降解微生物的拉曼光谱分析

激光镊子拉曼光谱技术可以实现在自然状态下对单个细胞或细胞器较长时间的观察研究.应用激光镊子拉曼光谱技术实时观察南极微生物低温降解芳香烃过程中单个南极细菌的细胞生长和胞内生物大分子的动态变化过程,收集、分析其拉曼光谱,结果发现:单细胞的拉曼光谱反映了其细胞内部的生命物质组成,南极动球菌 NJ41 和希瓦氏菌 NJ49 生...     

Recent developments in microbial inulinases

Microbial inulinases are an important class of industrial enzymes that have gained much attention recently. Inulinases can be produced by a host of microorganisms, including fungi, yeast, and bacteria. Among them, however, Aspergillus sp. (filamentous fungus) and Kluyveromyces sp. (diploid yeast) are apparently the preferred choices for commercial applications. Among various substrates (carbon source) employed for their production, inulin-containing plant materials offer advantages in comparison to pure substrates. Although submerged fermentation has been universally used as the technique of fermentation, attempts are being made to develop solidstate fermentation technology also. Inulinases catalyze the hydrolysis of inulin to d-fructose (fructose syrup), which has gained an important place in human diets today. In addition, inulinases are finding other newer applications. This article reviews more recent developments, especially those made in the past decade, on microbial inulinases—its production using various microorganisms and substrates. It also describes the characteristics of various forms of inulinases produced as well as their applications.