Evaluation of Serum Volume Losses During Long-Term Storage

Aliquots of serum collected in a large case-control study of cervical cancer were stored at −70°C for up to 4 years during implementation of the study. When 500 μL serum aliquots were thawed in preparation for carotenoid and vitamin A assays, volumes were noticeably variable and fell below 500 μL in the majority of the samples. We were concerned about evaporation/sublimation during storage of the samples because loss of water would concentrate the analytes of interest. We evaluated the use of density and sodium ion concentration measurements to confirm its occurrence. We found that serum density was an unreliable indicator of extent of volume loss since the anticipated increases in density due to evaporation were of the same magnitude as inter-individual variation in serum density. In contrast, Na⁺ concentration is tightly regulated and would rise if water had been lost from the samples. In a representative sample of serum aliquots from the case-control study, 24 of 25 vials contained less than 500 μL of serum. The mean sodium ion concentration (138.1 ± 3.6 mmol/L) was within the normal range for human serum of 136–145 mmol/L, and no correlation was observed between serum volume and Na⁺ concentration. These results strongly suggest that the observed low volumes were not due to evaporative losses. Instead, the variably low volumes of serum aliquots were probably due to pipetting errors in the initial aliquotting resulting from the use of air-displacement pipettes.     

Effects of growth with ethanol on fermentation and membrane fluidity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae HSc was grown with ethanol at concentrations up to 10% (v/v). The immediate effects of additions of externally added ethanol on CO₂ production and O₂ consumption of washed organisms were studied by stopped-flow membrane inlet quadrupole mass spectrometry. Fermentative activities of organisms grown with ethanol (0–5% v/v) showed similar sensitivities to inhibition by ethanol, whereas those grown with 10% (v/v) ethanol had become protected and were markedly less sensitive. The fluidity of subcellular membrane fractions was measured by determination of the temperature dependence of the rotational order parameter of the spin label 5-doxyl stearic acid (free radical) by electron spin resonance. Mitochondria prepared from yeasts grown with 0, 7 and 9% (v/v) ethanol showed similar overall fluidity, although differences in temperature-dependent behaviour indicate altered lipid composition or lateral phase separations. On the other hand the microsomal fraction from organisms grown with 9% ethanol showed a remarkable increase in fluidity. These data suggest that the protective effects of growth with ethanol near the limit of tolerance on fermentative activities may arise from altered plasma membrane fluidity properties.     

工业发酵的生物学属性对发酵过程最优控制的制约与对策

从工业发酵过程计算机控制的历史和现状出发，探讨了工业发酵过程的生物学属性对发酵过程最优化控制的制约，以及解决这个难题的对策。在论证了工业发酵具有明显的生物学属性的基础上，阐明了发酵的生物学原理及其在发酵过程最优化控制中应用的重要性。     

Mathematical modelling of the alcoholic fermentation of glucose by Zymomonas mobilis mobilis

The kinetics of alcoholic fermentation of a strain of Zymomonas mobilis, isolated from sugarcane juice, has been studied with the objective of determining the constansts of a non-structured mathematical model that represents the fermentation process. Assays in batch and in continuous culture have been carried out with different initial concentrations of glucose. The final concentrations of glucose, ethanol and biomass were determined. The following kinetic parameters were obtained: μ_max, 0·5 h^?1; K_s, 4·64 g dm^?3; P_max, 106 g dm^?3; Y_x/s, 0·0265 g g^?1; m, 1·4 g g^?1 h^?1; α, 17·38 g g^?1; β, 0·69 g g^?1 h^?1.     

EM发酵饲料中主要微生物类群的动态变化

对EM发酵饲料中乳酸杆菌、酵母菌、大肠菌群、腐败菌等微生物类群的动态变化进行了研究。结果表明 :饲料经EM发酵后 ,乳酸杆菌大量增加 ,发酵第4天达到最大值(9.5×108CFU·g-1 饲料) ,大肠菌群与腐败菌被明显抑制。并认为细菌总数与酵母菌数量不能作为评价EM发酵饲料质量好坏的指标。     

考虑温度变化和长期变形的面板堆石坝模拟

面板裂缝是影响混凝土面板堆石坝安全和性能的关键因素之一。本文基于ABAQUS软件,开展了堆石体长期变形与混凝土水化热、时空不均匀分布温度场边界施加等二次开发,以老挝某混凝土面板堆石坝为研究对象,研究了堆石体长期变形、混凝土水化热、环境温度变化的联合作用机制。分析了堆石体长期变形量值、面板浇筑时间过程、环境温度数值和分布模式等对面板应力变形的影响,揭示了混凝土浇筑后早期水化热温升和环境温度影响导致面板表面较大顺坡向拉应力是面板大量早期水平裂缝的主要原因;同时也发现,即使对于浇筑后较长时间,考虑温度变化情况下计算出的面板拉应力也高于不考虑温度变化情况。计算分析可为面板浇筑时机选择,面板温度裂缝、变形裂缝分类防控等提供技术依据。     

Characterization of the Functional Cross-Talk between Surface GABAA and Dopamine D5 Receptors

The γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABA_AR) plays a major role in fast inhibitory synaptic transmission and is highly regulated by the neuromodulator dopamine. In this aspect, most of the attention has been focused on the classical intracellular signaling cascades following dopamine G-protein-coupled receptor activation. Interestingly, the GABA_AR and dopamine D5 receptor (D5R) have been shown to physically interact in the hippocampus, but whether a functional cross-talk occurs is still debated. In the present study, we use a combination of imaging and single nanoparticle tracking in live hippocampal neurons to provide evidence that GABA_ARs and D5Rs form dynamic surface clusters. Disrupting the GABA_AR–D5R interaction with a competing peptide leads to an increase in the diffusion coefficient and the explored area of both receptors, and a drop in immobile synaptic GABA_ARs. By means of patch-clamp recordings, we show that this fast lateral redistribution of surface GABA_ARs correlates with a robust depression in the evoked GABAergic currents. Strikingly, it also shifts in time the expression of long-term potentiation at glutamatergic synapses. Together, our data both set the plasma membrane as the primary stage of a functional interplay between GABA_AR and D5R, and uncover a non-canonical role in regulating synaptic transmission.     

细菌纤维素合成过程中的影响因素

研究了接种量、pH值、培养液深度、培养液表面积和发酵时间等因素对形成细菌纤维素膜的产量、厚度及比表面积的影响。结果表明:接种量在7%、初始pH值在5～6范围内细菌纤维素的产量最大;厚度主要取决于发酵时间和初始pH值;培养液表面积对单位面积细菌纤维素产量有比较大的影响;膜的比表面积与发酵时间的长短无关。     

Phosphorus content in soil, uptake by plants and balance in three European long-term field experiments

The fate of phosphorus (P) derived from mineral fertilisers and organic manures, and the effective P balance, have been assessed in three long-term field experiments at Rothamsted (UK), Bad Lauchstaedt (Germany) and Skierniewice (Poland). This paper discusses the plant availability, uptake and overall utilisation of P over the last 30 years, based on soil test P availability indices and crop analyses determined by the standard methods used in each of the three countries. The data suggest that differences in soil type significantly influence the dynamics of P at the three locations, but most significantly between a loess Chernozem at Bad Lauchstaedt with a high organic matter content and the soils at the other two locations which have a low organic matter content. The application of P either as inorganic fertiliser or organic manure had a considerable influence on the availablity, uptake, leaching or fixing of P, but the crop recovery rate of P from mineral fertiliser did not exceed 35% with the smallest recovery (average 18%) occurring in the soil with the highest clay content at Rothamsted. At Bad Lauchstaedt and Rothamsted the most efficient utilisation of P (averages of 47% and 37%, respectively) was from soils treated with farmyard manure (FYM), with the greater quantity of P either leached or fixed (8 and 25 kg ha^-1 y^-1, respectively) occurring in soils treated with superphosphate. At Skierniewice, however, the reverse was true. Overall, the most efficient crop utilisation from mineral P (30% average) was from the loamy sand at Skierniewice. P balances for the three locations show that quantitatively, for the same P input, the amount of P either leached from or fixed in the plough layer of Broadbalk field, Rothamsted, was 2–3 times greater than at Skierniewice and 3–6 times greater than at Bad Lauchstaedt. The results suggest that differences in the soil physico-chemical properties, climate, the availability of other major nutrients, and the form in which P is applied, all influence the effectiveness of P fertilisation and P balance. The investigation highlights the importance of maintaining long-term field experiments and archived soil and crop samples on a world-wide basis for understanding nutrient cycling and fertility dynamics.     

玉米秸秆生物法制取酒精的中间试验

建立了玉米秸秆采用蒸汽爆破预处理、纤维素酶水解和戊糖己糖同步发酵技术制取酒精的中间试验装置。玉米秸秆在1.6～2.0 MPa条件下蒸汽爆破预处理,在提高玉米秸秆对纤维素酶可及度的同时,玉米秸秆中纤维素、木聚糖和木质素损失分别为4.08%、40.02%和9.91%。里氏木霉以10%的原料制备纤维素酶,并用于降解剩余的90%的原料,滤纸酶活力和纤维素酶水解得率分别为2.27 FPIU/mL和71.3%。初始还原物浓度为43.65 g/L的水解糖液经树干毕赤酵母发酵16 h,还原物利用率和酒精得率分别为87.17%和0.43 g/g(酒精/消耗的糖)。