Modified NASA-Lewis chemical equilibrium code for MHD applications

A substantially modified version of the NASA-Lewis Chemical Equilibrium Code was recently developed. The modifications were designed to extend the power and convenience of the Code as a tool for performing combustor analysis for MHD systems studies. The effect of the programming details is described from a user point of view

Weak exponential stability for time-periodic differential inclusions via first approximation averaging

Published online: 20 June 2012In this work we propose a method to study a weak exponential stability for time-varying differential inclusions applying an averaging procedure to a first approximation. Namely, we show that a weak exponential stability of the averaged first approximation to the differential inclusion implies the weak exponential stability of the original time-varying inclusion. The result is illustrated by an example.FC

Use of approximations of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman inequality for solving periodic optimization problems

We show that necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality in periodic optimization problems can be stated in terms of a solution of the corresponding HJB inequality, the latter being equivalent to a max-min type variational problem considered on the space of continuously differentiable functions. We approximate the latter with a maximin problem on a finite dimensional subspace of the space of continuously differentiable functions and show that a solution of this problem (existing under natural controllability conditions) can be used for construction of near optimal controls. We illustrate the construction with a numerical example.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figure

Testing TIP Open Source Solutions in Deployed Optical Networks

Standardization in optical networking enables operators to benefit from using open source components. We investigate quality of transmission of open source hard- and software in the Deutsche Telekom RandD SASER network and optimize the working point

Profiling of external metabolites during production of hantavirus nucleocapsid protein with recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Recombinant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, producing hantavirus Puumala nucleocapsid protein for diagnostics and as a candidate vaccine were analyzed for uptake and excretion of intermediary metabolites during process optimization studies of fed-batch bioreactor cultures. Concentrations of glucose, maltose, galactose, pyruvate, acetaldehyde, ethanol, acetate, succinate and formaldehyde (used as a selection agent) were measured in the culture medium in order to find a metabolite pattern, indicative for the physiological state of the producer culture. When the inducer galactose was employed as a growth substrate, the metabolite profile of recombinant yeast cells was different from those of the non-recombinant original strain which excreted considerable amounts of metabolites with this substrate. In contrast, galactose-induced heterologous gene expression was indicated by the absence of excreted intermediary metabolites, except succinate. A model strain expressing a GFP fusion of hantavirus nucleocapsid protein differed in the excretion of metabolites from strains without GFP. In addition, the influence of alkali ions, employed for pH control is also demonstrated

Modeling the electron transport chain of purple non-sulfur bacteria

Purple non-sulfur bacteria (Rhodospirillaceae) have been extensively employed for studying principles of photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport phosphorylation and for investigating the regulation of gene expression in response to redox signals. Here, we use mathematical modeling to evaluate the steady-state behavior of the electron transport chain (ETC) in these bacteria under different environmental conditions. Elementary-modes analysis of a stoichiometric ETC model reveals nine operational modes. Most of them represent well-known functional states, however, two modes constitute reverse electron flow under respiratory conditions, which has been barely considered so far. We further present and analyze a kinetic model of the ETC in which rate laws of electron transfer steps are based on redox potential differences. Our model reproduces well-known phenomena of respiratory and photosynthetic operation of the ETC and also provides non-intuitive predictions. As one key result, model simulations demonstrate a stronger reduction of ubiquinone when switching from high-light to low-light conditions. This result is parameter insensitive and supports the hypothesis that the redox state of ubiquinone is a suitable signal for controlling photosynthetic gene expression

ASME 88-1CE-6, presented at the Energy-Source Technology Conference and Exhibition

Fig. 5 Velocity versus anguiar dispiacement (V8 engine) attained from the inertia value using the least squares method is consistently smaller than the reference data, and eventually leads to larger velocity estimation error than the average method Some precautions are needed when applying the least squares method to compute the engine inertia value. For engines operating at high speeds, the velocity related term in Eq. (1) could be very large compared with the other terms. This could result in some confusing situations. For instance, engines might decelerate over some portion of the engine operation cycle while the net external torque accelerating the engine is positive; or engines might accelerate while the net external torque is negative. These operation situations might make negative engine inertia value estimations possible, which is not feasible. In other cases, engines might have very small accelerations or decelerations while net external torque is moderate to large. For these cases, the calculation might lead to very large engine inertia values, which is not feasible either. The cases mentioned above are most likely to occur when engines operate at high speeds. Those erroneous data corresponding the situations above must be Altered out before applying the least squares method to the engine inertia value computation. The criterion used in this study to decide whether data should be used to calculate the engine inertia values is to check the quotient of the net external torque divided by the engine acceleration. This quotient should not be too large or too small relative to the average engine inertia value. Those data whose quotient are significantly away from the average engine inertia value are likely to fall in the situations mentioned above, and those data should not be used in the engine inertia value computation. V Conclusions The engine inertia values calculated by the least squares method guarantees minimum acceleration and velocity estimation errors for engine operating at constant average velocities. As for monotonically accelerating and decelerating engines, simulations in the study show that the engine model with an inertia calculated by the least squares method leads to smaller estimation errors in acceleration but larger estimation errors in velocity than the constant inertia engine model with an average inertia. It is important that the user knows the type of engine, its range of operation, and the type of loading in order to calculate an optimal engine inertia for the control purpose. This study has provided guidance in understanding the effects of engine performance variables and in calculating an appropriate estimate for the engine inertia. Acknowledgment

The Photosynthetic Apparatus and Its Regulation in the Aerobic Gammaproteobacterium Congregibacter litoralis gen. nov., sp. nov

BACKGROUND: There is accumulating evidence that in some marine environments aerobic bacteriochlorophyll a-producing bacteria represent a significant part of the microbial population. The interaction of photosynthesis and carbon metabolism in these interesting bacteria is still largely unknown and requires further investigation in order to estimate their contribution to the marine carbon cycle. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we analyzed the structure, composition and regulation of the photosynthetic apparatus in the obligately aerobic marine gammaproteobacterium KT71(T). Photoheterotrophically grown cells were characterized by a poorly developed lamellar intracytoplasmic membrane system, a type 1 light-harvesting antenna complex and a photosynthetic reaction center associated with a tetraheme cytochrome c. The only photosynthetic pigments produced were bacteriochlorophyll a and spirilloxanthin. Under semiaerobic conditions KT71(T) cells expressing a photosynthetic apparatus showed a light-dependent increase of growth yield in the range of 1.3-2.5 fold. The expression level of the photosynthetic apparatus depended largely on the utilized substrate, the intermediary carbon metabolism and oxygen tension. In addition, pigment synthesis was strongly influenced by light, with blue light exerting the most significant effect, implicating that proteins containing a BLUF domain may be involved in regulation of the photosynthetic apparatus. Several phenotypic traits in KT71(T) could be identified that correlated with the assumed redox state of growing cells and thus could be used to monitor the cellular redox state under various incubation conditions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In a hypothetical model that explains the regulation of the photosynthetic apparatus in strain KT71(T) we propose that the expression of photosynthesis genes depends on the cellular redox state and is maximal under conditions that allow a balanced membrane redox state. So far, bacteria capable of an obligately aerobic, photosynthetic metabolism constitute a unique phenotype within the class Gammaproteobacteria, so that it is justified to propose a new genus and species, Congregibacter litoralis gen. nov, sp. nov., represented by the type strain KT71(T) ( = DSM 17192(T) = NBRC 104960(T))