Bioinformatic characterization of the extracellular lipases from Kluyveromyces marxianus

Lipases are hydrolytic enzymes that break the ester bonds of triglycerides, generating free fatty acids and glycerol. Extracellular lipase activity has been reported for the nonconventional yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus, grown in olive oil as a substrate, and the presence of at least eight putative lipases has been detected in its genome. However, to date, there is no experimental evidence on the physiological role of the putative lipases nor their structural and catalytic properties. In this study, a bioinformatic analysis of the genes of the putative lipases from K. marxianus L-2029 was performed, particularly identifying and characterizing the extracellular expected enzymes, due to their biotechnological relevance. The amino acid sequence of 10 putative lipases, obtained by in silico translation, ranged between 389 and 773 amino acids. Two of the analysed putative proteins showed a signal peptide, 25 and 33 amino acids long for KmYJR107Wp and KmLIP3p, and a molecular weight of 44.53 and 58.23 kDa, respectively. The amino acid alignment of KmLIP3p and KmYJR107Wp with the crystallized lipases from a patatin and the YlLip2 lipase from Yarrowia lipolytica, respectively, revealed the presence of the hydrolase characteristic motifs. From the 3D models of putative extracellular K. marxianus L-2029 lipases, the conserved pentapeptide of each was determined, being GTSMG for KmLIP3p and GHSLG for KmYJR107Wp; besides, the genes of these two enzymes (LIP3 and YJR107W) are apparently regulated by oleate response elements. The phylogenetic analysis of all K. marxianus lipases revealed evolutionary affinities with lipases from abH15.03, abH23.01, and abH23.02 families.     

Identification of vivianite,an unusual blue pigment,in a sixteenth century painting and its implications

Vivianite, a blue pigment employed in the past practically only in Northern and Central Europe, but with very limited use, was identified in an early sixteenth century painting, stylistically with Flemish features, from a church in Portugal. The identification of this iron phosphate mineral was made by SEM‐EDS based on the atomic ratio between phosphorus and iron in layers of blue paint (area analysis) and in particles of these same layers (spot analysis). This painting, about which there is no document to prove its authorship, becomes the first case, known in detail, of a sixteenth century painting containing vivianite. Moreover, this find and the presence of a chalk ground, also identified, strongly support the hypothesis of being a Flemish painting.     

Coexistence of three ferroelectric phases and enhanced piezoelectric properties in BaTiO3–CaHfO3 lead-free ceramics

Perovskite ferroelectrics possess the fascinating piezoelectric properties near a morphotropic phase boundary, attributing to a low energy barrier that the results in structural instability and easy polarization rotation. In this work, a new lead-free system of (1-x)BaTiO₃-xCaHfO₃ was designed, and characterized by a coexistence of ferroelectric rhombohedral-orthorhombic-tetragonal (R-O-T) phases. With the increase amount of CaHfO₃ (x), a stable coexistence region of three ferroelectric phases (R-O-T) exists at 0.06 ≤ x ≤ 0.08. Both large piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃～400 pC/N), inverse piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃^*～547 pm/V) and planar electromechanical coupling factor (k_p～58.2%) can be achieved for the composition with x = 0.08 near the coexistence of three ferroelectric phases. Our results show that the materials with the composition located at a region where the three ferroelectric R-O-T phases coexist would have the lowest energy barrier and thus greatly promote the polarization rotation, resulting in a strong piezoelectric response.     

基于进化算法的常减压装置模拟

提出了基于优选优生进化算法（Select—best and prepotency evolution algorithm，SPEA）的常减压装置模拟方法。以各塔的温度分布为目标，基于生产过程和分析数据，采用SPEA确定各塔板Murphree效率，从而精确描述各塔板平衡偏离程度。在实际应用中，获得具有良好精度的常减压装置模型。系统分析了SPEA算法的关键参数——优选领域大小与计算复杂性及寻优性能之间的关系，结果显示其取值为群体规模的10％最为合适。     

H型丝光沸石催化剂催化甲苯与叔丁醇的烷基化反应

针对合成对叔丁基甲苯传统工艺中存在的缺点,采用环境友好、可重复利用的H型丝光沸石催化剂(以下简称催化剂)进行了甲苯与叔丁醇的烷基化反应,并用X射线衍射和氨程序升温脱附等方法对不同焙烧温度下得到的催化剂的物相结构和酸性质进行了表征,研究了各种反应条件对催化剂的催化性能的影响。实验结果发现,在适宜的操作条件下,即催化剂的焙烧温度823K、反应温度180℃、反应时间3h、初始压力1.0MPa、原料与催化剂的质量比为8、叔丁醇与甲苯的摩尔比为4、溶剂环己烷与甲苯的摩尔比为5时,甲苯转化率达42.73%,叔丁基甲苯的选择性为96.30%,对叔丁基甲苯的选择性为80.37%。     

微机械热对流倾角仪温度补偿技术研究

介绍了微机械热对流倾角仪的工作原理和结构设计,利用有限元分析软件,计算了在不同倾斜状态下二维密闭腔中点热源引起的对流场和温度场,提出了环境温度对热对流倾角仪影响的模型。根据仿真结果,在电路中增加了加热丝恒定温度控制电路,建立了基于软件的环境温度补偿算法,实现了对温度影响的补偿。经测试,环境温度从-40℃变化到60℃时,倾角仪0°输入的温度稳定性为0.07°,10°输入的温度稳定性为0.02°。