In Silico Investigation of Potential Applications of Gamma Carbonic Anhydrases as Catalysts of CO2 Biomineralization Processes: A Visit to the Thermophilic Bacteria Persephonella hydrogeniphila,Persephonella marina,Thermosulfidibacter takaii,and Thermus thermophilus

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) have been identified as ideal catalysts for CO₂ sequestration. Here, we report the sequence and structural analyses as well as the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of four γ-CAs from thermophilic bacteria. Three of these, Persephonella marina, Persephonella hydrogeniphila, and Thermosulfidibacter takaii originate from hydrothermal vents and one, Thermus thermophilus HB8, from hot springs. Protein sequences were retrieved and aligned with previously characterized γ-CAs, revealing differences in the catalytic pocket residues. Further analysis of the structures following homology modeling revealed a hydrophobic patch in the catalytic pocket, presumed important for CO₂ binding. Monitoring of proton shuttling residue His69 (P. marina γ-CA numbering) during MD simulations of P. hydrogeniphila and P. marina’s γ-CAs (γ-PhCA and γ-PmCA), showed a different behavior to that observed in the γ-CA of Escherichia coli, which periodically coordinates Zn²⁺. This work also involved the search for hotspot residues that contribute to interface stability. Some of these residues were further identified as key in protein communication via betweenness centrality metric of dynamic residue network analysis. T. takaii’s γ-CA showed marginally lower thermostability compared to the other three γ-CA proteins with an increase in conformations visited at high temperatures being observed. Hydrogen bond analysis revealed important interactions, some unique and others common in all γ-CAs, which contribute to interface formation and thermostability. The seemingly thermostable γ-CA from T. thermophilus strangely showed increased unsynchronized residue motions at 423 K. γ-PhCA and γ-PmCA were, however, preliminarily considered suitable as prospective thermostable CO₂ sequestration agents.     

Densities and Viscosities of Oleic Acid at Atmospheric Pressure

The densities of oleic acid were measured over the temperature range from (293 to 459) K at atmospheric pressure using a densimeter based on the modified hydrostatic weighing method. The dynamic viscosities of the same oleic acid sample were measured using a capillary viscometer (VPZ-2 m) in the range from (293 to 363) K at atmospheric pressure. The combined expanded uncertainty of the density, atmospheric pressure, viscosity, and temperature measurements at the 95% confidence level with a coverage factor of k = 2 is estimated to be 0.15%, 1.0%, 3.5%, and 15 mK, respectively. The values of uncertainty for density and viscosity include the effects of purity and calibration (total expanded uncertainty). These experimental data were used to develop wide-range correlations for the density and viscosity based on theoretically confirmed Arrhenius–Andrade and Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher (VTF) models. The value of the glass temperature ( T _g= 179.78 K.) for the oleic acid was estimated using the VTF parameters derived from the present viscosity measurements. To additionally validate the reliability of the measured density data, the same oleic acid samples were measured using the pycnometric method. The present study showed that the densities measured using the modified hydrostatic weighing densimeter (HWD) agree with the values obtained using the pycnometric method within 0.09% for Sample 1 and 0.25% for Sample 2.     

一种新型注入剖面组合测井仪及其应用

为了提高注入剖面测井的准确性，研制了一种新型注入剖面组合测井仪。该仪器由流量处理单元、伽马处理单元、井温处理单元、磁性定位处理单元、调制式传输、电源电路六部分组成。一次下井可同时测取流量、伽马、井温、磁性定位四组参数。具有测取资料精度高、单芯电缆传输、流量可单点测量也可连续测量以厦现场监测和维修方便等特点。     

彩色AC-PDP运动图像仿真系统的开发

开发了彩色AC-PDP运动图像仿真系统,通过利用本系统的运动图像仿真功能可以对现有的各种显示技术、与子场有关的各种因素进行仿真及比较,为人们开发提高彩色AC-PDP图像显示质量的新型技术及子场提供了理论上的依据;通过利用本系统的Gamma特性研究功能可以对彩色AC-PDP中视频信号的反Gamma特性进行研究,并对反Gamma相关编码进行子场逼近,为选择符合要求的子场编码提供了判据.     

Simultaneous Measurement of Viscosity and Density with an Oscillating-Disk Instrument: The Effect of Fixed Plates

The period and damping of the free motion of a body oscillating in a fluid depend on the fluid's viscosity and density. Commonly, a working equation which expresses the damping as a function of the viscosity and density is solved for the viscosity, the damping being measured and the density being treated as an independently supplied parameter. Another working equation exists for the period, and, in general, the period depends on a combination of the viscosity and the density which is linearly independent of the combination that appears in the damping equation. It is, therefore, in principle, possible to determine both the viscosity and the density by a simultaneous solution of the two coupled working equations, since the period also is measured. In this paper, the working equations that describe the oscillating-disk viscometer are reviewed and their simultaneous solution is considered. The effect of fixed plates symmetrically located above and below the oscillating disk is of specific interest. The paper's main result is that fixed plates can dramatically increase the independence of the damping and period working equations, so that it becomes indeed feasible to determine the viscosity and the density of a fluid simultaneously from the damping and period of oscillating motion. A price is paid, however, because the instrument's working equations when plates are present have multiple solutions. Under special conditions, these multiple solutions can coalesce, and then one can only deduce the viscosity from the damping equation if the density is known a priori.     

Retrograde Amnesia Induced by Drugs Acting on Different Molecular Systems.

The gamma aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) agonist, muscimol, the glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, D-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP5), and the inhibitor of the extracellularly regulated kinases (ERKs), UO 126, cause retrograde amnesia when administered to the hippocampus. In the present study, the authors found that they all cause retrograde amnesia for 1-trial inhibitory avoidance, not only when infused into the dorsal CA1 region of the hippocampus, but also when infused into the basolateral amygdala or the entorhinal, parietal, and posterior cingulate cortices. The posttraining time course of the effect of each drug was, however, quite different across brain structures. Thus, in all of them, NMDA receptors and the ERK pathway are indispensable for memory consolidation, and GABAA receptor activation inhibits memory consolidation: but in each case, their influence is interwoven differently. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

同位素中子源活化瞬发分析装置

一、基本原理自六十年代中期以来,中子活化瞬发γ射线元素分析技术(PNAA)得到人们广泛重视。与通常的中子活化分析(NAA)技术相比,它分析的是样品中的主要成分,若用同位素中子源,还可进行实时在线连续测定及现场分析。PNAA技术是用热中子与待测元素发生中子俘获反应,处于激发态的产物核在瞬间     

判断油气藏非均质性的新方法

非均质性是油气藏的基本特性,也是影响油气面采收率的重要因素.它是反映油气藏的渗透率、孔隙度、有效厚度及其连通性的综合特征参数.不同油气藏在投入开发后,其产量随时间变化的分布曲线与油气藏自身的非质均性有密切关系.利用伽马分布描述油气藏产量随时间的变化,研制了典型曲线的理论图版,通过拟会求解,可判断油气藏的非均质程度.     

油砂地层中子-伽玛能谱Monte-Carlo模拟

本工作应用自行研制开发的中子 伽玛能谱测井的中子 伽玛射线随空间、能量、时间分布的蒙特卡罗模拟软件包计算了裸眼井、井眼里无下井仪器、油饱和砂岩地层、井眼注油条件下沿井轴和井壁的中子 伽玛射线随能量、时间分布及沿井轴和沿井壁的中子 伽玛射线能谱 ,研究了源距对中子 伽玛射线随能量、时间分布以及井轴与井壁中子 伽玛射线能谱的影响。     

Effect of dose rate and length of storage on the ESR signal strength in irradiated chicken bone

One hundred and twenty-five pairs of chicken drumsticks were randomly allocated to one of five dose rates: 5, 10, 15, 20 or 600 kGyh-. The highest dose rate was obtained using a linear accelerator whilst the remaining dose rates were provided using a ⁶⁰Co gamma source. Each batch of 25 pairs was further divided into groups five of which were stored at 4°C for 0, 7, 14, 21 or 28 days. ESR spectroscopy was used to measure the intensity of the radiation-induced signal. There was a quadratic relationship between ESR signal strength and dose rate, which although statistically significant is unlikely to be of practical importance. The magnitude of the ESR signal declined by about 20% over the first 14 days of storage at 4°C and thereafter the decrease was minimal.