Sugar-Pucker Force-Induced Transition in Single-Stranded DNA

The accurate knowledge of the elastic properties of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is key to characterize the thermodynamics of molecular reactions that are studied by force spectroscopy methods where DNA is mechanically unfolded. Examples range from DNA hybridization, DNA ligand binding, DNA unwinding by helicases, etc. To date, ssDNA elasticity has been studied with different methods in molecules of varying sequence and contour length. A dispersion of results has been reported and the value of the persistence length has been found to be larger for shorter ssDNA molecules. We carried out pulling experiments with optical tweezers to characterize the elastic response of ssDNA over three orders of magnitude in length (60–14 k bases). By fitting the force-extension curves (FECs) to the Worm-Like Chain model we confirmed the above trend:the persistence length nearly doubles for the shortest molecule (60 b) with respect to the longest one (14 kb). We demonstrate that the observed trend is due to the different force regimes fitted for long and short molecules, which translates into two distinct elastic regimes at low and high forces. We interpret this behavior in terms of a force-induced sugar pucker conformational transition (C3′-endo to C2′-endo) upon pulling ssDNA.     

Immiscible PHB/PBS and PHB/PBSA blends: morphology,phase composition and modelling of elastic modulus

This paper reports the thermal, morphological and mechanical properties of environmentally friendly poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and PHB/poly[(butylene succinate)-co-(butylene adipate)] (PBSA) blends, prepared by melt mixing. The blends are known to be immiscible, as also confirmed by the thermodynamic analysis here presented. A detailed quantification of the crystalline and amorphous fractions was performed, in order to interpret the mechanical properties of the blends. As expected, the ductility increased with increasing PBS or PBSA amount, but in parallel the decrease in the elastic modulus appeared limited. Surprisingly, the elastic modulus was found properly described by the rule of mixtures in the whole composition range, thus attesting mechanical compatibility between the two blend components. This unusual behavior has been explained as due to co-continuous morphology, present in a wide composition range, but also at the same time as the result of shrinkage occurring during sequential crystallization of the two components, which can lead to physical adhesion between matrix and dispersed phase. For the first time, the elastic moduli of the crystalline and mobile amorphous fractions of PBS and PBSA and of the mobile amorphous fraction of PHB at ambient temperature have been estimated through a mechanical modelling approach. © 2021 The Authors. Polymer International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Industrial Chemistry.     

Elastic modulus of nanocrystalline cemented carbide

The purposes of this work were to obtain the accurate elastic modulus of the nanocrystalline WC–Co cemented carbides, and to propose the mechanism for the difference of elastic modulus between the nanocrystalline and conventional polycrystalline cemented carbides. The nanocrystalline cemented carbide was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The conventional polycrystalline cemented carbides were prepared by SPS and sinter-HIP techniques as references, respectively. The sintered cemented carbides were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy with precession electron diffraction technology. The elastic modulus was obtained by averaging the values measured with the continuous stiffness measurement method of the nanoindentation technology. The results show that the nanocrystalline cemented carbide has a relatively low modulus, which could be attributed to the more interface area and higher fraction ratio of the hcp cobalt phase caused by the rapid heating and cooling process during SPS.     

Electro-magneto temperature-dependent vibration analysis of functionally graded-carbon nanotube-reinforced piezoelectric Mindlin cylindrical shells resting on a temperature-dependent,orthotropic elastic medium

Vibration smart control analysis of a temperature-dependent functionally graded-carbon nanotube-reinforced piezoelectric cylindrical shell embedded in an orthotropic elastic medium is investigated. The mixture law is used for obtaining the material properties of the structure. The structure is subjected to a 2D magnetic field. Considering the first-order shear deformation theory, the motion equations are obtained. Based on an analytical method and differential quadrature method, the frequency is calculated. The effects of applied voltage, magnetic field, volume percent, and distribution type of carbon nanotubes, temperature, orthotropic elastic medium, and length to radius ratio of the shell are shown on system frequency.     

多分量数据全波形反演在气藏检测中的关键问题——以苏里格气田为例

苏里格气田是中国典型的致密砂岩气藏，构造简单、平缓，横向非均质性强，有效储层与围岩声学特征差别小，地震响应不明显，常规地震监测方法预测难度大，但气田含气砂岩泊松比低，是地震气藏检测的有效参数。利用弹性全波形反演精度高和能处理复杂非均质介质的优势，反演地层拉梅常数、剪切模量和密度，并计算泊松比，从而进行气藏预测。重点阐述了苏里格气田多分量数据全波形反演初始模型建模、先验模型建模和地震数据预处理3个关键问题的处理方法。二维三分量数据反演和"甜点"预测结果表明：①对于具有强非均质性的苏里格气田，利用全波形反演获得精度较高的地层弹性参数能显著提高气藏预测的准确度；②苏里格地区构造简单、平缓，利用常规叠加速度并结合构造解释可以建立比较好的初始模型，从而有效地解决了周波跳跃和局部极小的难题；③先验知识的约束和地震数据的预处理是全波形反演成功应用于苏里格气田气藏检测的关键。     

高强度堵水剂裂缝细管模型堵水模拟实验

在裂缝性致密储层中，裂缝既是油流通道又是水驱窜流通道，在注水开发中由于裂缝的存在导致水驱波及效率低，从而形成无效注水开发。此外，裂缝性储层的封堵又存在大裂缝封堵效果差、有效期短等问题。鉴于此研制了水溶性酚醛树脂冻胶和单体地层聚合高强度堵剂体系，测定了堵剂在70℃下的成胶性能、稳定性以及封堵强度等。通过细管模拟裂缝研究了不同因素对堵剂突破压力的影响；通过可视化细管研究了堵剂在管中的突破方式以及影响因素。研究结果表明，水溶性酚醛树脂冻胶的突破压力随着冻胶强度的增加而增加，随着管径的增加而减小，随着注水速度的增加先减小、后增加，最后稳定；单体地层聚合堵剂的突破压力随着堵剂强度的增加而增加，随着管径的增加先增大、后减小。在可视化细管实验中，堵剂突破时并不完全沿细管中心突破，其堵剂的强度与黏附性等因素有关。     

A rapid method to quantify casein in fluid milk by front-face fluorescence spectroscopy combined with chemometrics

Casein in fluid milk determines cheese yield and affects cheese quality. Traditional methods of measuring casein in milk involve lengthy sample preparations with labor-intensive nitrogen-based protein quantifications. The objective of this study was to quantify casein in fluid milk with different casein-to-crude-protein ratios using front-face fluorescence spectroscopy (FFFS) and chemometrics. We constructed calibration samples by mixing microfiltration and ultrafiltration retentate and permeate in different ratios to obtain different casein concentrations and casein-to-crude-protein ratios. We developed partial least squares regression and elastic net regression models for casein prediction in fluid milk using FFFS tryptophan emission spectra and reference casein contents. We used a set of 20 validation samples (including raw, skim, and ultrafiltered milk) to optimize and validate model performance. We externally tested another independent set of 20 test samples (including raw, skim, and ultrafiltered milk) by root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), residual prediction deviation (RPD), and relative prediction error (RPE). The RMSEP for casein content quantification in raw, skim, and ultrafiltered milk ranged from 0.12 to 0.13%, and the RPD ranged from 3.2 to 3.4. The externally validated error of prediction was comparable to the existing rapid method and showed practical model performance for quality-control purposes. This FFFS-based method can be implemented as a routine quality-control tool in the dairy industry, providing rapid quantification of casein content in fluid milk intended for cheese manufacturing.     

Möbius变换下四次有理抛物-PH曲线的C2 Hermite插值

目的 曲线插值问题在机器人设计、机械工业、航天工业等诸多现代工业领域都有广泛的应用，而已知端点数据的Hermite插值是计算机辅助几何设计中一种常用的曲线构造方法，本文讨论了一种偶数次有理等距曲线，即四次抛物-PH曲线的C² Hermite插值问题。方法 基于M bius变换引入参数，利用复分析的方法构造了四次有理抛物-PH曲线的C² Hermite插值，给出了具体插值算法及相应的Bézier曲线表示和控制顶点的表达式。结果 通过给出"合理"的端点插值数据，以数值实例表明了该算法的有效性，所得12条插值曲线中，结合最小绝对旋转数和弹性弯曲能量最小化两种准则给出了判定满足插值条件最优曲线的选择方法，并以具体实例说明了与其他插值方法的对比分析结果。结论 本文构造了M bius变换下的四次有理抛物-PH曲线的C² Hermite插值，在保证曲线次数较低的情况下，达到了连续性更高的插值条件，计算更为简单，插值效果明显，较之传统奇数次PH曲线具有更加自然的几何形状，对偶数次PH曲线的相关研究具有一定意义。     

弹性地基处周期性圆形钢筋混凝土管道振动特性分析

针对弹性地基处周期性钢筋混凝土管道的波动特性,基于声子晶体理论和Flugge壳体理论,建立了圆形管道环径向轴对称波动微分方程,利用传递矩阵法建立了相邻胞元间的传递矩阵,数值分析了周期性管道结构的能带特性。结果表明,振动波在传播过程中存在禁带域和通带域,弹性地基对弯曲波在特定频率范围内的传播具有抑制作用,长度比的变化对周期性圆形混凝土管道禁带的幅值、宽度和个数影响显著,因此可通过调整结构尺寸参数改变结构中波的传播特性。