A new family of sugar-inducible expression vectors for Escherichia coli

A set of 11 expression vectors was constructed, each of themharbouring a cloning cassette under the control of the promoter.Some of these vectors enable expression of foreign proteinsin the cytoplasm, while others include a synthetic sequencecoding for a very efficient secretion signal sequence. Otherfeatures are an fl origin of replication (in plus or minus orientation)and a promoter^up mutation that enhances the already very highlevel of expression from these vectors. With such a versatilevector family, cloning, sequencing and sitedirected mutagenesiscan be performed on the same vector, and the level of expressioncan be defined according to the specific constraints of a givenprotein.     

New developments in speciality polymers: polymeric stabilizers

Many new speciality polymers have been developed in the last few years. In this paper polymeric stabilizers (antioxidants, flame retardants and ultraviolet stabilizers) will be discussed. Polymeric antioxidants of the hindered-phenol type, copolymers of 2,6-ditertiarybutyl-4-vinyl(or isopropenyl)phenol with styrene, methyl methacrylate, or more importantly butadiene or isoprene have been prepared; hydrogenation of the latter copolymers gave copolymers of the two polymerizable phenolic antioxidants with ethylene or ethylene/propylene. The polymeric antioxidants have been blended with diene polymers and selected polyolefins and have improved the long-term oxidative stability of these polymers. Polymeric flame retardants have been prepared by copolymerizing styrene and/or acrylonitrile with acrylates and methacrylates of aliphatic bromine-containing alcohols or bromine-containing phenols. Polymers with polymer-bound flame retardants have a higher limiting oxygen index compared with the original polymer. A new class of polymerizable ultraviolet stabilizers has also been developed; these stabilizers are styryl, α-methylstyryl, acryloyl and methacryloyl derivatives of 2(2-hydroxyphenyl)2H-benzotriazoles. These monomers have been copolymerized with styrene, acrylates and methacrylates. 2(2-Hydroxyphenyl)2H-benzotriazoles substituted in the 4 position of the benzotriazole ring with hydroxyl, acetoxy or carboxyl groups suitable for incorporation into polyesters, polycarbonates, polyamides and epoxy resins have also been synthesized. All 2(2-hydroxyphenyl)2H-benzotriazole ultraviolet absorbers and the polymers into which they are incorporated have high light absorbency with γ_max between 330 and 350 nm and extinction coefficients in some cases as high as 4.5 × 10⁴ 1 mol^?1 cm^?1.     

Magnetic separations in biotechnology—a review

Magnetic separation technology has a broad range of potential applications in both small and large scale biotechnology. This review considers a selection of magnetic techniques and their possible uses.     

Bioprocess applications of model-based estimation techniques

The last decade has seen the development of a number of approaches for estimating those variables which are difficult to measure on-line in industrial process situations. Whilst a range of techniques is available, a common element is the use of process knowledge in the form of a system model. In the case of bioprocess systems, although a large range of models has been presented in the literature, their use in estimation schemes on an industrial scale has been limited. A number of reasons can be identified for their low level of utilisation. Of particular significance is the uncertainty which exists in quantifying system performance and the process-model mismatch which inevitably results. The level of ‘pre-defined model’ uncertainty, together with the knowledge gained during the course of the fermentation, serves to dictate estimator structure. The paper considers a range of estimation strategies and contrasts, through industrial applications, their performance characteristics and utility.     

Use of 3D modelling and several ultrasound sensors to assess overflow rate.

A new instrumentation mode has been put in place in order to determine the overflow rate of five complex CSOs of the system in Sélestat (French), which are subject to self monitoring. 3D and 1D models have made it possible to predict the shapes of the water lines and suggest a location for the ultrasound sensors. In order to validate the instrumentation principle, three overhead sensors were placed on a weir. The overflow laws suggested are of the type Q(overflow) = a1h1b1 + a2h2b2 + a3h3b3. Early results of the overflow rate that have been obtained by applying the law are close to 10 % of the flow measured in the physical test bench. On the actual site, the ultrasound sensors were assembled on a rail covering the entire weir in order to be able to change their position in future after models calibration.     

Graft copolymerization of different mixtures of acrylic monomers on amylopectin. Swelling behavior

Hydroxylic and nonhydroxylic acrylates—methyl acrylate (MA), ethyl acrylate (EA), butylacrylate (BA), hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA), ethylenglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), and mixtures of HPMA–MA, HPMA–EA, HPMA–BA in a 50/50 feed composition—were grafted onto amylopectin with different amounts of crosslinking agent, EGDMA. Percent of total conversion, percent crude grafting, and influence of pH in water content were studied. In this sense it was only at pH 10 when a real variation in the water content could be seen. It was also proved that the highest values were obtained when one of the comonomers was EGDMA with a 34 mol% of the initial feed composition. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Mechanical properties and thermal stability of rice husk ash filled epoxy foams

Mechanical properties and thermal stability of epoxy foams filled with white and black rice husk ash were studied. Epoxy foams were prepared from a commercial system and filled with different amounts of both the ashes (0, 6.8, 12.8, 18.0, and 22.7 wt %). The incorporation of both the ashes modified the final morphology of the foam, decreasing the average cell size and increasing the number of cells per volume unit. For all filler percentages used, the specific modulus and strength results showed that the white ash is more effective as reinforcing agent than the black ash. The initial degradation temperature was not affected by the content and type of ash used as the filler. The integral procedure decomposition temperature, weight loss, and char residue results were related to the ash type and atmosphere used in the thermogravimetric analysis. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006     

Self-efficacy and work-related performance: The integral role of individual differences.

The present study estimated the unique contribution of self-efficacy to work-related performance controlling for personality (the Big 5 traits), intelligence or general mental ability, and job or task experience. Results, based on a meta-analysis of the relevant literatures, revealed that overall, across all studies and moderator conditions, the contribution of self-efficacy relative to purportedly more distal variables is relatively small. Within moderator categories, there were several cases in which self-efficacy made unique contributions to work-related performance. For example, self-efficacy predicted performance in jobs or tasks of low complexity but not those of medium or high complexity, and self-efficacy predicted performance for task but not job performance. Overall, results suggest that the predictive validity of self-efficacy is attenuated in the presence of individual differences, though this attenuation does depend on the context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preliminary irradiation test results from the Yankee Atomic Electric Company reactor vessel test irradiation program

The Yankee Atomic Electric Company test irradiation program was implemented to characterize the irradiation response of representative Yankee Rowe reactor vessel beltline plate materials and to remove uncertainties in the analysis of existing irradiation data on the Yankee Rowe reactor vessel steel. Plate materials each containing 0·24 w/o copper, but different nickel contents at 0·63 w/o and 0·19 w/o, were heat treated to simulate the Yankee vessel heat treatment (austenitized at 982°C (1800°F)) and to simulate Regulatory Guide 1·99 database materials (austenitized at 871°C (1600°F)). These heat treatments produced different microstructures so the effect of microstructure on irradiation damage sensitivity could be tested. Because the nickel content of the test plates varied and the copper level was constant, the effect of nickel on irradiation embrittlement was also tested. Correlation monitor material, HSST-02, was included in the program to benchmark the Ford Nuclear Reactor (University of Michigan Test Reactor) which had never been used before for this type of irradiation program. Materials taken from plate surface locations (versus 1/4T) were included to test whether or not the improved toughness properties of the plate surface layer, resulting from the rapid quench, are maintained after irradiation. If the improved properties are maintained, pressurized thermal shock calculations could utilize this margin. Finally, for one experiment, irradiations were conducted at two irradiation temperatures (260°C and 288°C) to determine the effect of irradiation temperature on embrittlement. The preliminary results of the irradiation program show an average temperature effect of 38°C for a 28°C difference in irradiation temperature. The results suggest that for nickel bearing steels, the superior toughness of plate surface material is maintained after irradiation and for the copper content tested, nickel has little effect on irradiation response. No apparent microstructure effect on irradiation response was noted and the HSST-02 material's response to irradiation was similar to results from power reactor and other test reactor tests, thus qualifying the Ford Test Reactor for irradiation experiments such as those conducted for the Yankee Atomic program.     

Mortar finite element discretization for the flow in a nonhomogeneous porous medium

Darcy’s equations model the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in a rigid porous medium. One of the parameters of the system depends on the permeability of the medium and, when this medium is not homogeneous, the variations of the parameter could be very high. To handle this phenomenon, we propose a discretization of the model that relies on the mortar finite element method. Indeed, the idea is to construct a decomposition of the domain such that the permeability is constant on each element of the partition and to use independent meshes on the different subdomains. We perform the a priori and a posteriori analysis of this discretization and present some numerical experiments which are in good coherency with the results of the analysis.