Evaluation of a Yarrowia lipolytica Strain Collection for Its Lipid and Carotenoid Production Capabilities

The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is capable of accumulating large amounts of fatty acids in the form of lipids which can serve as a platform polymer for a variety of applications. Additionally, through heterologous gene expression, Y. lipolytica is capable of producing carotenoids. Due to the observation that Y. lipolytica exhibits a high phenotypic inter‐strain variability, robotics and microwell scale cultivations are applied to examine 12 wild type strains of a Y. lipolytica collection. The strains are characterized with respect to their metabolic capabilities for fatty acid production as well as genetically manipulated to produce beta‐carotene. Furthermore, growth and production behavior of the strain collection at different temperatures as well as initial pH are assessed. A molecular discrimination between the strains is achieved by internal transcribed spacer (ITS)‐sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based methods. The best performing strain with respect to lipid production produces ≈2% lipids per dry cell weight (DCW) and 8 mg g^?1 beta‐carotenoids in yeast nitrogen base (YNB) media. All strains show robust growth from 28 to 34 °C. Practical Applications: Unlocking nature's potential by screening natural isolates shows that even on inter‐strain level sufficient phenotypic diversity may arise. Automated growth‐based characterization of beta‐carotene‐producing strains in terms of media composition, effect of initial pH, and temperature tolerance shows that with modern cultivation techniques, rapid characterization of strain collections is feasible. Combining results of beta‐carotene and lipid formation could help to balance both pathways to improve the storage of hydrophobic compounds in the lipid droplets. The generalized findings could be further transferred to improve the production of any valuable compound, derived from the mevalonate pathway.     

Kraftbestimmung in Schrägseilen durch dynamische Messung

Force Determination in Stay Cables by Means of Vibration Measurements The knowledge of the actual tensile forces in the cables in the ropes or cables of cable‐stayed bridges or in external tendons is required for the examination and assessment of these elements. The determination of these forces by lift‐off tests with hydraulic jacks is connected with considerable expenditures as well as the danger of damages. But also the accuracies achieved by vibration measurements were, however, not satisfying. For high cable forces and short cables in some cases errors of up to ± 10% of the actual cable force could be determined. Therefore fast and non‐destructive methods for the determination of the forces are required. In this paper, a practicable technology to determine the cable force by means of vibration measurements is illustrated at the Viennese cable stayed bridge crossing the Vienna Donaukanal.     

Die Geschichte der San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge

The history of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The San Francisco‐Oakland Bay Bridge is an eminent example of american bridge engineering. It consists of a twin suspension bridge and a cantilever truss bridge which are connected by a tunnel through Yerba Buena Island. This article describes the way from the feasibility studies to the present time. In addition, it details some specific design and construction features, for example the steel construction work and the foundation of the central anchorage which connects the two suspension bridges. Recent reinforcement measures, and the plans for the replacement of the East Bay Crossing by a self‐anchored single tower suspension bridge to improve earthquake safety, are also discussed.     

Aging and Thermal Conditioning of Modified Heat Exchanger Surfaces—Impact on Crystallization Fouling

ABSTRACT

In many research studies diamond-like-carbon coatings are used to change the wetting behavior by varying the solids´ surface free energy of heat exchanger surfaces to mitigate crystallization fouling. For future industrial application, the stability of their specific surface properties, exposed to fluidic, thermal, and chemical stresses, determines their efficiency. Therefore, fluidic thermal and cleaning stresses applied to the coating are investigated. Cleaning procedures with acid, base, and heat treatment over multiple cycles were conducted in order to investigate the solids´ surface free energy over time and thereby the stability of the coating. From this information an optimal conditioning to set constant surface properties was derived. Furthermore, the fouling behavior of CaSO₄ on new and conditioned coatings was investigated in order to identify repeatable and favorable surface properties for fouling reduction. For all coatings the cleaning treatments and fouling experiments provided changes in the energetic surface properties, dominated by the change of polar/γ^? content. Most probably these changes originate from varying elementary composition and structure of the coating.     

Ene Reactions and [2+2]Cycloadditions of Nitrilium Salts with Alkenes

N-Alkylnitrilium salts ( 1 ) undergo ene reactions with electron-rich di- and higher substituted alkenes 2 to afford either 2-azoniaallene salts ( 3, 6, 9, 11 ) (the nitrilium salt reacting as ene and the alkene reacting as enophile) or 1-azonia-1,4-pentadiene salts ( 10, 12 ) (the alkene reacting as ene and the nitrilium salt reacting as enophile). Competing with ene reactions tri- and tetrasubstituted alkenes and N-alkylnitrilium salts undergo [2+2]cycloaddition to furnish azetinium salts ( 8, 13 ). In solution, alkyl substituted 2-azoniaallene salts tautomerize to 2-azonia-1,3-butadiene salts ( 4, 5, 7 ). The constitutions of the 2-azoniaallene salt 6c and the azetinium salt 8 were secured by X-ray crystallographic analyses.     

Time-Dependent Molecular Motifs of Pulmonary Fibrogenesis in COVID-19

(1) Background: In COVID-19 survivors there is an increased prevalence of pulmonary fibrosis of which the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood; (2) Methods: In this multicentric study, n = 12 patients who succumbed to COVID-19 due to progressive respiratory failure were assigned to an early and late group (death within ≤7 and >7 days of hospitalization, respectively) and compared to n = 11 healthy controls; mRNA and protein expression as well as biological pathway analysis were performed to gain insights into the evolution of pulmonary fibrogenesis in COVID-19; (3) Results: Median duration of hospitalization until death was 3 (IQR25-75, 3–3.75) and 14 (12.5–14) days in the early and late group, respectively. Fifty-eight out of 770 analyzed genes showed a significantly altered expression signature in COVID-19 compared to controls in a time-dependent manner. The entire study group showed an increased expression of BST2 and IL1R1, independent of hospitalization time. In the early group there was increased activity of inflammation-related genes and pathways, while fibrosis-related genes (particularly PDGFRB) and pathways dominated in the late group; (4) Conclusions: After the first week of hospitalization, there is a shift from pro-inflammatory to fibrogenic activity in severe COVID-19. IL1R1 and PDGFRB may serve as potential therapeutic targets in future studies.     

新拌水泥浆体中邻近胶凝材料粒子表面最近间距分布的解析解

依据Torquato的最邻近表面函数公式, 推导了新拌水泥浆体邻近水泥粒子表面最近间距分布的解析解, 并采用计算机模拟生成了1个水泥浆体结构模型, 选取邻近粒子表面最近间距概率密度分布曲线、 区间概率曲线和累计概率分布曲线这3个函数检验模拟结果与理论结果之间的差别。结果表明, 该解析解与计算机模拟实验结果吻合良好。利用该解析解, 以Rosin-Rammler分布为例, 研究了胶凝材料细度以及水胶比对邻近水泥粒子表面最近间距分布及其平均值的影响。结果显示, 水泥细度对邻近粒子表面最近间距平均值的影响高于水胶比的影响。邻近粒子表面最近间距解析解的获得, 不但为基于不同粒径分布以及尺度范围粉体之间搭配的高粉体初始堆积密度的实现提供了依据, 而且对多尺度模拟方法中选取各级模型的尺度、 量化粉煤灰浆体中粉煤灰颗粒的微集料效应、 了解邻近集料间的交互作用程度以及界面重叠程度等问题具有参考价值。     

产业用纺织品轧光工艺优化的可能性

产业用纺织品,例如降落伞材料或先进的户外运动服为达到规定的低透气率必须经过轧光工艺将其压实.标准的轧光辊的最大线压力为300N/mm.通过选择适当硬度的轧辊包覆层,可使线压力提高33%,不仅如此轧光效果也可大幅度提高使织物的压实度和透气性能满足要求.     

Dry Polymerization of 3′,5′‐Cyclic GMP to Long Strands of RNA

Recent progress in the synthesis of nucleotides from prebiotically plausible precursors has opened up new ways to explain the origin of genetic matter. Mechanisms for the polymerization of nucleotides without the help of catalysts are, however, rare. Complementary to the experiments done by Costanzo et al., we found that drying 3′,5′‐cyclic GMP leads to poly‐G RNA strands with lengths of up to 40 nucleotides. We also show that the polymerization to long RNA strands is considerably more efficient under dry conditions than for cGMP polymerization in water. The length depends on the incubation time of dry nucleotides at temperatures of 40–80 °C. No enzymes or other catalysts are needed for successful polymerization.