A mutation in the COX5 gene of the yeast Scheffersomyces stipitis alters utilization of amino acids as carbon source, ethanol formation and activity of cyanide insensitive respiration

Scheffersomyces stipitis PJH was mutagenized by random integrative mutagenesis and the integrants were screened for lacking the ability to grow with glutamate as sole carbon source. One of the two isolated mutants was damaged in the COX5 gene, which encodes a subunit of the cytochrome c oxidase. BLAST searches in the genome of Sc. stipitis revealed that only one singular COX5 gene exists in Sc. stipitis, in contrast to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where two homologous genes are present. Mutant cells had lost the ability to grow with the amino acids glutamate, proline or aspartate and other non-fermentable carbon sources, such as acetic acid and ethanol, as sole carbon sources. Biomass formation of the mutant cells in medium containing glucose or xylose as carbon source was lower compared with the wild-type cells. However, yields and specific ethanol formation of the mutant were much higher, especially under conditions of higher aeration. The mutant cells lacked both cytochrome c oxidase activity and cyanide-sensitive respiration, whereas ADH and PDC activities were distinctly enhanced. SHAM-sensitive respiration was obviously essential for the fermentative metabolism, because SHAM completely abolished growth of the mutant cells with both glucose or xylose as carbon source.     

An iterative approach for the evaluation of delamination stresses in laminated composites

A computational strategy for the evaluation of delamination stresses in multilayered fibre-reinforced composites is presented. The approach uses special inter-laminar shear elements and an iterative procedure in the calculation of out-of-plane stresses. Both regular and singular elements for the free edge are presented. The solutions are carried on by switching between direct matrix solution methods of small systems of equations and an iterative conjugate gradient method. The proposed discretization avoids ill-conditioning problems, modelling difficulties and large computational cost associated with three-dimensional analysis of delamination of holes, cut-outs, joints and areas of complex stress states.     

Single edge-crack stress intensity factor solutions

Weight function arguments and a boundary collocation technique are used to re-examine the stress intensity factor solutions to several classic two-dimensional linear elastic single edge-crack configurations. Limits to applicability and the solutions to the three and four-point bend, pure bending, eccentrically loaded tension, and other boundary condition problems are extracted from the solution to the uniformly loaded single edge-cracked configuration. A simple representation of the asymptotic behavior is proposed and a common expression that captures the full range of crack length to specimen width ratio is presented.     

Influence of wastewater treatment on sludge production and processing

The challenge of stricter wastewater standards is resulting in configuration changes to wastewater treatment. As facilities upgrade, the type of sludge produced is changing, with growing quantities of secondary and chemical sludge at the expense of primary sludge. It is already understood that secondary sludge is harder to treat than its primary equivalent; therefore, increasing the quantity of this type of sludge will have detrimental impacts downstream. As legislation tightens further, extended aeration times may be required during processing to remove more nutrients. Work has shown that extended aeration further exacerbates the treatability of secondary sludge. This paper explains how tightening wastewater legislation fundamentally alters the nature of the sludge produced, and how these alterations impact further processing, especially with respect to sludge production and type; sludge energy content; performance of anaerobic digestion and dewatering, and potential for thermal energy recovery.