Assembly of a DNA Origami Chinese Knot by Only 15% of the Staple Strands

As a giant leap in DNA self-assembly, DNA origami has exhibited an unprecedented ability to construct nanostructures with arbitrary shapes and sizes. In typical DNA origami, hundreds of short DNA staple strands fold a long, single-stranded (ss) DNA scaffold cooperatively into designed nanostructures. However, large numbers of DNA strands are expensive and would hinder applications such as pharmaceutical investigations because of the complicated components. Therefore, one challenge is how to reduce the number of staple strands needed to construct DNA origami. For a DNA origami structure, the scale-free folding pattern of the scaffold strand is determined by staple strands at the branching vertexes. Simple duplex regions help to define the size-related features of the origami geometry. In this study, we hypothesized that a scaffold strand can be correctly folded into a designed topology by using only staple strands involved in branching vertexes. After assembly, any remaining, flexible, single-stranded regions of the scaffold could be converted into rigid duplexes by DNA polymerase to achieve the designed geometric structures. To demonstrate the concept, we used only 18 staple strands (covering 15 % of the scaffold strand) to assemble a porous DNA nanostructure, which was visualized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). This study helps understanding of the role of cooperativity in origami folding, and provides a cost-effective approach for small-scale prototyping DNA origami.     

Crossing the Border: From Keto- to Imine Reduction in Short-Chain Dehydrogenases/Reductases

The family of NAD(P)H-dependent short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (SDRs) comprises numerous biocatalysts capable of C=O or C=C reduction. The highly homologous noroxomaritidine reductase (NR) from Narcissus sp. aff. pseudonarcissus and Zt_SDR from Zephyranthes treatiae, however, are SDRs with an extended imine substrate scope. Comparison with a similar SDR from Asparagus officinalis (Ao_SDR) exhibiting keto-reducing activity, yet negligible imine-reducing capability, and mining the Short-Chain Dehydrogenase/Reductase Engineering Database indicated that NR and Zt_SDR possess a unique active-site composition among SDRs. Adapting the active site of Ao_SDR accordingly improved its imine-reducing capability. By applying the same strategy, an unrelated SDR from Methylobacterium sp. 77 (M77_SDR) with distinct keto-reducing activity was engineered into a promiscuous enzyme with imine-reducing activity, thereby confirming that the ability to reduce imines can be rationally introduced into members of the “classical” SDR enzyme family. Thus, members of the SDR family could be a promising starting point for protein approaches to generate new imine-reducing enzymes.     

"砼"趣 ——记清水混凝土建筑荣成青少年活动中心设计施工点滴

从清水混凝土材料特点、空间适用性、肌理、细节和工艺等方面总结了荣成青少年活动中心复杂异形清水混凝土工程从设计到建造的全过程,展现了本土设计理念和地域环境的融合、创新型施工工艺的成功应用及项目最终呈现的高品质完成度.     

Effect of hyperbranched poly(citric polyethylene glycol) with various polyethylene glycol chain lengths on starch plasticization and retrogradation

A series of hyperbranched poly(citric polyethylene glycol) (PCPEG) materials with varied polyethylene glycol (PEG) chain lengths as plasticizers were mixed with maize starch (MS) via cooking and film‐forming. The structure, pasting property, plasticization, aging property, moisture absorption and compatibility of plasticized starches were studied by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, rapid viscosity analysis, tension testing, moisture absorption measurements and scanning electron microscopy. Compared with PEG and citric acid, PCPEG was more effective in promoting starch chain movement and inhibiting the retrogradation of starch film. Also, PCPEG/MS had smaller moisture content. The longer the plasticizer chain, the better were the aging resistance and moisture resistance of starch. But with an increase of PEG chain length, mechanical properties of PCPEG/MS deteriorated and the compatibility between PCPEG and MS decreased. The hyperbranched derivative of PEG with longer chain exhibited improved plasticization and compatibility with starch. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

尿素装置液位仪表失真分析及处理

介绍了尿素装置中3起液位仪表失真案例,分析了故障现象和设备工况,确定失真原因,采取了相应的处理措施,解决了仪表故障。     

Enhance cycling performance of LiMn2O4 cathode by Sr2+ and Cr3+ doping

Spinel LiSr_0·1Cr_0·1Mn_1·8O₄ was synthesised by high temperature solid state method in order to enhance the electrochemical performance. The LiSr_0·1Cr_0·1Mn_1·8O₄ (LSCMO) materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical tests. The XRD and SEM studies confirm that LSCMO had spinel crystal structure with a space group of Fd3m, and the particle of LSCMO shows irregular shape. The cyclic voltammetry data illustrated that the heavy current charge–discharge performance of LMO was improved by Sr²⁺ and Cr³⁺ doping. The galvanostatic charge–discharge of LSCMO cathode materials was measured at 1, 5, 10 and 20 C. The results indicated that LSCMO improved the capacity retention.     

鸡西盆地太平普查区岩浆活动特征

通过对普查区喜山期玄武岩喷发分布范围、形态的分析,对燕山晚期闪长玢岩分布范围、与构造关系、对煤层的影响等方面的分析,阐述了太平普查区岩浆活动特征。     

Study on the removal of olefins from naphtha by clay loaded with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid

Journal of Porous Materials - In this work, a trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFOH) modified clay (TFOH-Clay) was developed for the removal of trace olefins in heavy naphtha. 5%TFOH-Clay can...     

A spatio-temporal fusion method for remote sensing data Using a linear injection model and local neighbourhood information

This paper presents a spatio-temporal fusion method for remote sensing images by using a linear injection model and local neighbourhood information. In this method, the linear injection model is first introduced to generate an initial fused image, the spatial details are extracted from the fine-resolution image at the base date, and are weighted by a proper injection gains. Then, the spatial details and the relative spectral information from the coarse-resolution images are blended to generate the fusion result. To further enhance its robustness to the noise, the local neighbourhood information, derived from the fine-resolution image and the fused result simultaneously, is introduced to refine the initial fused image to obtain a more accurate prediction result. The algorithm can effectively capture phenology change or land-cover-type change with minimum input data. Simulated data and two types of real satellite images with seasonal changes and land-cover-type changes are employed to test the performance of the proposed method. Compared with a spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model (STARFM) and a flexible spatio-temporal fusion algorithm (FSDAF), results show that the proposed approach improves the accuracy of fused images in phenology change area and effectively captures land-cover-type reflectance changes.