Purification and characterization of extracellular chitinase from a novel strain Aspergillus fumigatus CS-01

Twelve samples derived from different locations in south central area of China are treated by enrichment and spread-plate technique for initial screening. Seven chitinase-producing strains are isolated. The chitinase present in the culture supernatant of strain CS-01 possesses the maximum activity of 0.118 U/mL. Analysis of the morphological feature and the ITS rDNA sequence reveals that strain CS-01 belongs to Aspergillus fumigatus. Production of the chitinase is regulated by a inducible way and the maximum activity appears at 36 h in colloidal chitin culture. Purification of the chitinase is carried out by salting out, gel filtrate chromatography and anion exchange chromatography sequentially. Native-PAGE and SDS-PAGE indicate that the chitinase from A. fumigatus CS-01 is a monomer with the relative molecular mass estimated to be 4.50×10⁴. Its maximum activity appears at pH 5 and 55 °C. The chitinase is stable at pH 4.0–7.5 and below 45 °C. Foundation item: Projects(50621063, 50674101) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Isolation, identification and characterization of cadmium-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain E1

Strain E₁ with resistance to 18 mmol/L cadmium (Cd), isolated from Cd-contaminated soil was identified by morphological observation, biochemical and physiological characterization and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The resistance to heavy metals Cd, Cu, Co, Mn, Pb, Zn and 12 antibiotics was examined. The ability of removing Cd from solution was studied. The characterizations show that strain E₁ is affiliated to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). Strain E₁ has high resistance to heavy metals and the order is found to be Cd>Mn>Zn>Cu>Pb>Co in solid media. Strain E₁ also exhibits the resistance to 12 antibiotics. Both living and non-living cells of strain E₁ can remove Cd from solution, and living cell has better biosorption than non-living cell. Foundation item: Project (50621063) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project (2004CB619204) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China     

Dynamic recrystallization behavior of 35CrMo structural steel

1　ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＤｕｒｉｎｇｈｏｔｗｏｒｋｉｎｇ ,ｓｅｖｅｒａｌｍｅｔａｌｌｕｒｇｉｃａｌｐｈｅｎｏｍｅｎａｓｕｃｈａｓｗｏｒｋ ｈａｒｄｅｎｉｎｇ (ＷＨ ) ,ｄｙｎａｍｉｃｒｅｃｏｖｅｒｙ (ＤＲＶ) ,ａｎｄｄｙｎａｍｉｃｒｅ ｃｒｙｓｔａｌｌｉｚａｉｔｏｎ (ＤＲＸ )ｏｃｃｕｒｓｉｍｕｌｔａｎｅｏｕｓ ｌｙ[1 5 ] .Ｅｓｐｅｃｉａｌｌｙ ,ｔｈｅｏｃｃｕｒｒｅｎｃｅｏｆＤＲＸ ,ｃａｎｒｅｆｉｎｅｇｒａｉｎａｎｄｒｅｄｕｃｅｄｅｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎｒｅｓｉｓｔａｎｃｅｉｎｐｒａｃｔｉｃａｌｈｏｔ ｗ…     

Delay-independent decentralized H ∞ control for multi-channel discrete-time systems with uncertainties

A robust decentralized H∞ control problem was considered for uncertain multi-channel discrete-time systems with time-delay. The uncertainties were assumed to be time-invariant, norm-bounded, and exist in the system, the time-delay and the output matrices. Dynamic output feedback was focused on. A sufficient condition for the multi-channel uncertain discrete time-delay system to be robustly stabilizable with a specified disturbance attenuation level was derived based on the theorem of Lyapunov stability theory. By setting the Lyapunov matrix as block diagonal appropriately according to the desired order of the controller, the problem was reduced to a linear matrix inequality （LMI） which is sufficient to existence condition but much more tractable. An example was given to show the efficiency of this method.     

Synthesis and coloring properties of Cd（S1-xSex） pigments by precipitate-hydrothermal method

Cd（S1-xSex） pigments （red to yellow） were synthesized by precipitate-hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and hue of the powder were characterized by X-ray diffractometry （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDAX） and CIE chromaticity. The optimum synthesis conditions were obtained and reaction mechanism was further analyzed as well. The results show that molar ratio of S to Se, pH value and hydrothermal reaction conditions have great effects on the hues of the pigments. Pigments with vivid hues are obtained under the conditions that pH value is about 13.0, hydrothermal reaction condition is at 140 ℃ for 4 h or at 160 ℃ for 6 h. The reaction mechanism is that Se^2- of Cd（S1-xSex） substitutes S^2- of CdS and then forms a continuous solid solution.     

Separation of baicalin from Scutellaria Baicalensis Georgi with polyamide

Separation of baicalin from Scutellaria Baicalensis Georgi with polyamide was studied. The adsorption isotherm, kinetic equation and desorption law were investigated by static and dynamic adsorption methods. The results show that the kinetic behavior is mainly controlled by the liquid film diffusion process and obeys the Boyd film diffusion equation. Equilibrium data for the adsorption of baicalin are correlated with Freundlich isotherm equation, i.e. q=3.8Ce2.057, suggesting that the relative capacity of polyamide to baicalin is somewhat small. The desorption results indicate that the baicalin with mass fraction of 33.86% and the least impurities can be obtained by chromatography using 60% ethanol as the eluant at room temperature.     

Non-fragile delay-dependent H ∞ control of linear time-delay system with uncertainties in state and control input

The problem of designing a non-fragile delay-dependent H∞ state-feedback controller was investigated for a linear time-delay system with uncertainties in state and control input. First, a recently derived integral inequality method and Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory were used to derive new delay-dependent bounded real lemmas for a non-fragile state-feedback controller containing additive or multiplicative uncertainties. They ensure that the closed-loop system is internally stable and has a given H∞ disturbance attenuation level. Then, methods of designing a non-fragile H∞ state feedback controller were presented. No parameters need to be tuned and can be easily determined by solving linear matrix inequalities. Finally, the validity of the proposed methods was demonstrated by a numerical example with the asymptotically stable curves of system state and controller output under the initial condition of x（0）=[1 0 -1]^T and h=0.8 time-delay boundary.     

Biosorption mechanism of Cr （Ⅳ） onto cells of Synechococcus sp.

The biosorption mechanism of Cr （Ⅳ） ions on Synechococcus sp. biosorbent was studied by analyzing the biosorption kinetics as well as speciation change and bond formation during the biosorption process. The kinetics study shows that the adsorption process of Cr （Ⅳ） consists of a very fast stage in the first several minutes, in which more than half of the saturation adsorption is attained, and a slower stage that approximately follows the first order kinetic model, basically Freundlich isotherm models were observed. Comparative studies of FT-LR spectra of K2Cr2O7, free cells of Synechococcus sp., and Cr-bound cells of Synechococcus sp show that the speciation of chromium that binds to the cells ofSynechococcus sp. is Cr （Ⅲ）, instead of Cr （Ⅳ）, and the carboxylic, alcoholic, amido and amino groups may be involved in the binding of Cr （Ⅲ）. Integrative analyses of the surface electric potential, the effect of pH value on adsorption behavior of Cr （Ⅵ）, and the results of FT-IR show that the biosorption of Cr （Ⅵ） follows two subsequent steps, biosorption of Cr2O7 ^2- by electrostatical force at the protonated active sites and reduction of Cr2O7^2- to Cr^3＋ by the reductive groups on the surface of the biosorbents.     

Characterization of tricalcium phosphate solubilization by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia YC isolated from phosphate mines

The phosphate solubilizing characteristics of a strain YC, which was isolated from phosphate mines (Hubei, China), were studied in National Botanical Research Institute’s phosphate (NBRIP) growth medium containing tricalcium phosphate (TCP) as sole phosphorus (P) source. The strain YC is identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (S. maltophilia) based upon the results of morphologic, physiological and biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA sequences analysis. The results show that the strain S. maltophilia YC can solubilize TCP and release soluble P in NBRIP growth medium. A positive correlation between concentration of soluble P and population of the isolate and a negative correlation between concentration of soluble P and pH in the culture medium are observed from statistical analysis results. Moreover, gluconic acid is detected in the culture medium by HPLC analysis. It indicates that the isolate can release gluconic acid during the solubilizing experiment, which causes acidification of the culture medium and then TCP solubilization. S. maltophilia YC has a maximal TCP solubilizing capability when using maltose as carbon source and ammonium nitrate as nitrogen source, respectively, in NBRIP growth medium. Foundation item: Project(2004CB619201) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China; Project(Z200515002) supported by the Key Project Foundation of the Education Department of Hubei Province, China; Project(GCP200801) supported by the Open Research Fund of Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, China; Project(Q200811) supported by the Youths Science Foundation of Wuhan Institute of Technology, China     

A new method of characterizing equivalent strain for equal channel angular processing

In order to establish the quantitative relationship between equivalent strain and the performance index of the deformed material within the range of certain passes for equal channel angular processing (ECAP), a new approach to characterize the equivalent strain was proposed. The results show that there exists better accordance between mechanical property (such as hardness or strength) and equivalent strain after rolling and ECAP in a certain range of deformation amount, and Gauss equation can be satisfied among the equivalent strain and the mechanical properties for ECAP. Through regression analysis on the data of hardness and strength after the deformation, a more generalized expression of equivalent strain for ECAP is proposed as: ɛ=k ₀exp[−(k ₁ M−k ₂)²], where M is the strength or hardness of the material, k ₁ is the modified coefficient (k ₁∈(0, 1)), k ₀ and k ₂ are two parameters dependent on the critical strain and mechanical property that reaches saturation state for the material, respectively. In this expression the equivalent strain for ECAP is characterized novelly through the mechanical parameter relating to material property rather than the classical geometry equation. Foundation item: Projects(50471102, 50671089) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Coating of Fe, Ni on α-alumina microspheres by heterogeneous precipitation

1INTRODUCTION Themagneticmetal coatedceramicoxides,core shellstructuralcompositematerials,inwhichthinmetallicfilmsarecoatedonaceramicoxide matrixwithmicrometerparticlesizes,areattrac tiveduetothecombinationofthefunctionalchar acteristicsofmetalsandmechanicalpropertiesoftheceramicmatrix.Theceramic basedtransition metal coated,core shellcompositessuchasNi coatedAl2O3[1],Fe coatedAl2O3[2],FeNi coated Al2O3[3]orCoFe coatedSiO2[4],havebeenfoundtoexhibitinterestingfunctionalperformancesdue…     

Effects of extra-cellular polymeric substances on organic pollutants biodegradation kinetics for A-step of adsorption-biodegradation process

The features of organic pollutants degradation mainly characterized by bio-flocculation for step-A of adsorption-biodegredation（AB） process were studied. By investigating the relationship of extracellular polymeric substances（EPS） with bioflocculation and introducing kinetic model of organic pollutant degradation into EPS, the kinetic model of organic pollutant degradation for step-A hioflocculation was deducted. And through the experiments, the kinetic constants were calculated as follows： k1 =0. 005 3; kc1 =1 710.7 and vmax1=10 min^-1.     

Synthesis of calixarenes and their extraction performance for ester catechins

A series of extractants (tert-butylcalix[6]arene, tert-butylcalix[8]arene and octeacetate of tert-butylcalix[8]arene) were synthesized, and their structures were identified by IR and 1H-NMR. The distribution behavior of ester catechins monomer in the aqueous and chloroform two-phase system containing one of calixarene was studied. The influences of different extractants, concentration of tert-butylcalix[8]arene and extraction temperature on the partition coefficients and the separation factors were investigated. The experiment results show that tert-butylcalix[8]arene is the best extractant that forms a more stable supramolecular compound with gallocatechin gallate (GCG) than with epigallocathechin gallate (EGCG) or epicatechin gallate (ECG). When the concentration of p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene is 3.79 mmol/L, the extraction temperature is 4 ℃, the partition coefficients of KGCG, KECG, KEGCG are 0.987, 0.629, 0.449,the separation factors of α1 and α2 are 1.450 and 1.596, respectively. The important factors influencing the extraction properties of calixarene are discovered to be its cavity size and hydrogen bonding.     

Isolation and characterization of YNTC-1, a novel Alicyclobacillus sendaiensis strain

A heterotrophic acidothermophilic bacterial strain, YNTC-1, was isolated from an acidic hot spring in Tengchong, Yunan, China. YNTC-1 grows at pH value of 1.5-8.0 and temperature of 40-70 ℃, with optimal pH and temperature at 3.0 and 55 ℃, respectively. The cells of the strain are in shape of short rod, with 1.0-1.2 μm in length and 0.7-0.8 μm in diameter, and with distinct spores at both poles of each cell. The predominant fatty acids in cellular membrane of the strain are C18：1 ω7c. 16s rRNA gene analysis reveals that this strain is closely related to Alicyclobacillus sendaiensis, with over 99% sequence similarity. Based on phenotypic and genotypic analyses, YNTC-1 is identified as a member ofA. sendaiensis. Considering some important morphological and biochemical differences between strain YNTC-1 and A. sendaiensis ATCC 27009T, YNTC-1 may be proposed to be a novel subspecies of A. sendaiensis. However, this viewpoint has to be confirmed by further studies. Co-bioleaching of pyrite and chalcopyrite with strain YN22, Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, shows that strain YNTC-1 has no evident influence on bioleaching rates of these two sulphide minerals.     

Strength and elastic properties of sandstone under different testing conditions

A laboratory experimental program performed on Wuhan sandstones was presented under monotonic loading, partial cyclic loading during loading path and sine wave cyclic loading with different strain rates to compare uniaxial compression strength and elastic properties （elastic modulus and Poisson ratio） under different conditions and influence of pore fluid on them. When the loading strain rates are 10^-5, 10^-4 and 10^-3/s, uniaxial compression strengths of dry sandstones are 82.3, 126.6 and 141.6 MPa, respectively, and that of water saturated sandstones are 70.5, 108.3 and 124.1 MPa, respectively. The above results show that the uniaxial compression strength increases with the increase of strain rate, however, variation of softening coefficient is insignificant. Under monotonic loading condition, tangent modulus increases with an increment of stress （strain） to a maximum value at a certain stress level, beyond which it starts to decline. Under the partial cyclic loading during loading path condition, unloading or reloading modulus is larger than loading modulus, and unloading and reloading moduli are almost constants with respect to stress level, especially unloading modulus. Under the sine wave cyclic loading condition, tangent modulus and Poisson ratio display asymmetric ‘X＇ shape with various strain, and the average unloading modulus is larger than the average loading modulus.     

RobustH ∞ controller design for a class of uncertain systems

TheH ^∞ control problem for a class of systems with time-varying and nonlinear uncertainties is considcred. A new sufficient condition based on LMI is provided to judge their robust stability andL ₂-gain finiteness. Solvability conditions are presented for both state feedback and output feedback cases, which are all reduced to solutions of LMIs. The design procedure is also discussed via LMI approach. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 59704004).     

A novel scale-free network model based on clique growth

A novel scale-free network model based on clique (complete subgraph of random size) growth and preferential attachment was proposed. The simulations of this model were carried out. And the necessity of two evolving mechanisms of the model was verified. According to the mean-field theory, the degree distribution of this model was analyzed and computed. The degree distribution function of vertices of the generating network P(d) is 2m ² m ₁⁻³ (d − m ₁ + 1)⁻³, where m and m ₁ denote the number of the new adding edges and the vertex number of the cliques respectively, d is the degree of the vertex, while one of cliques P(k) is 2m ² k ⁻³, where k is the degree of the clique. The simulated and analytical results show that both the degree distributions of vertices and cliques follow the scale-free power-law distribution. The scale-free property of this model disappears in the absence of any one of the evolving mechanisms. Moreover, the randomicity of this model increases with the increment of the vertex number of the cliques. Foundation item: Projects(60504027, 60573123) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(20060401037) supported by the National Postdoctor Science Foundation of China; Project(X106866) supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China     

Screening, identification and desilication of a silicate bacterium

The strain Lv（1- z） isolated from the Henan bauxite was characterized by morphological observation, biochemical and physiological identification, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The influences of temperature, initial pH value, the volume of medium, shaking speed and illite concentration on the desilicating ability of the strain Lv（1- z） were investigated. The results show that the bacterium is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium with oval endspores and thick capsule, but without flagellum. The biochemical and physiological tests indicate that the strain Lv（1- z） is similar to Bacillus rnucilaginosus. In GenBank the 16S rDNA sequence similarity of the strain Lv（1- z） and the B. rnucilaginosus YNUCC0001（AY571332） is more than 99%. Based on the above results, the strain Lv（1- z） is identified as B. rnucilaginosus. The optimum conditions for the strain L（1- z） to remove silicon from illite are as follows., temperature is 30℃ ;initial pH value is 7.5; medium volume in 200 mL bottle is 60 mL; shaking speed of rotary shaker is 220 r/m ; illite concentration is 1%.     

SCGM(1, m )c model with time-lag and its application in deformation analysis

Originated in the early 1990s, SCGM(1,m)_c model has enjoyed widespread application in the fields of urban planning, society economy prediction and modal control in recent years. However, none of these applications have taken account of time-lag effects in the modeling process. Aiming at overcoming the defect, the authors introduced time-lag items into SCGM(1,m)_c model and developed a SCGM(1,m)_c model with time-lag, then discusses in detail some principal problems in the model, such as parameters estimation, model verifying, model prediction, etc. The model was used on a real slope monitoring project and compared with the conventional SCGM(1,m)_c model. The results show an improvement of average models precision from 1.321 to 0.238 and total average of relative prediction errors from 12.41% to 7.98% when the modeling data length ranges from 29 to 48 in the slope monitoring case. Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 49774209) Biography of the first author: LI Zhi-wei, doctoral student, born in Aug. 1974, majoring in surveying data processing, synthetic aperture radar interferometry.     

Ascertainment of the hybridization states of Fe atoms in austenite and martensite

Based on Yu Ruihuang's theory of electron structure calculation, applying the boundary condition that "the electron density of the contacting surface between atoms must be continuous" advanced by Cheng Kaijia, the hybridization states of Fec and Fef atoms in C-containing structure unit of austenite and FeⅠ, FeⅡ and FeⅢ atoms in C-containing unit of martensite are ascertained. The hybrid levels of Fec and Fef atoms in austenite are 13 and 14, respectively; and those of FeⅠ , FeⅡ and FeⅢ atoms are 12, 10 and 9, respectively. When the C content is low, the 11th, 10th and 9th levels are also the probable atom, state in martensite.