Alibaba –a chinese giant planning to take on the world of retail, cloud computing and others

In this report, we are going toresearch on one of the largest companies in terms of market capitalization in the world, Alibaba Group. Under its huge size, Alibaba is also growing rapidly, especially in cloud computing and other new business segments. We will forecast its revenues, costs and other relevant elements that have an influence on the company’s valuation, for a period from 2020 to 2029. We evaluate that the stock price of Alibaba in March 2021 will be around $233, 6% higher than its current price, so we would like to suggest a “Hold” strategy

Advancing fundamentals and applications of X-ray birefringence imaging

This thesis is mainly focused on the new technique of X-ray Birefringence Imaging (XBI). It reports applications of XBI in different research areas and also presents some developments of the fundamental theory of XBI analysis. At the end of the thesis, work on crystal structure determination directly from powder X-ray diffraction data is also included. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 provide the theoretical background of XBI and introduce the other techniques used in this thesis. As XBI is analogous to Polarizing Optical Microscopy (POM), the introduction begins with a discussion of general optics, which is then expanded to specific case of polarized X-rays. The methodology for structure determination directly from powder X-ray diffraction data is also described. Chapter 3 demonstrates the application of XBI to study liquid crystalline materials, representing the first investigation of liquid-state samples by XBI. The experimental results show that the XBI technique is successful to elucidate the molecular orientational ordering in different liquid crystalline phases, demonstrating that characterization of molecular orientations by XBI is not limited to the solid-state. Chapter 4 explores a novel type of material – bending crystals. As an effective technique to investigate molecular orientations, XBI is shown to provide clear information on the crystal curvature. Both plastic and elastic types of bending crystal are analysed in both static and dynamic experiments. A theoretical analysis of XBI behaviour of a material containing multiple molecular orientations is also established. In Chapter 5, XBI is used to study composite organic materials. The experimental results vindicate the ability of XBI to characterize spatial distribution of molecules in composite samples. Chapter 6 reports XBI behaviour for the novel case in which two different crystals with independent orientations are present in the X-ray beam. The development of an experimental set-up for recording XBI data using a transmission-based polarization analyzer is also reported for the first time. Chapter 7 is focused on structure determination directly from powder X-ray diffraction. Three crystal structures are determined – two different urea co-crystals and one poly-aromatic compound. Chapter 8 summarises the work in this thesis, gives an appraisal of the strengths and limitations of the XBI technique, and proposes some potential research directions for the future

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of germacrene A, a precursor of beta-elemene

Beta-elemene, a sesquiterpene and the major component of the medicinal herb Curcuma wenyujin, has antitumor activity against various types of cancer and could potentially serve as a potent antineoplastic drug. However, its current mode of production through extraction from plants has been inefficient and suffers from limited natural resources. Here, we engineered a yeast cell factory for the sustainable production of germacrene A, which can be transformed to beta-elemene by a one-step chemical reaction in vitro. Two heterologous germacrene A synthases (GASs) converting farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) to germacrene A were evaluated in yeast for their ability to produce germacrene A. Thereafter, several metabolic engineering strategies were used to improve the production level. Overexpression of truncated 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase and fusion of FPP synthase with GAS, led to a sixfold increase in germacrene A production in shake-flask culture. Finally, 190.7 mg/l of germacrene A was achieved. The results reported in this study represent the highest titer of germacrene A reported to date. These results provide a basis for creating an efficient route for further industrial application re-placing the traditional extraction of beta-elemene from plant sources

Multiple genetic analyses to investigate the polymorphisms of Chinese Mongolian population with an efficient short tandem repeat panel

Aim To determine allele frequencies and forensic statistics of 22 autosomal short tandem repeat loci in Chinese Mongolian population. Methods Blood specimens were collected from 134 unrelated healthy Mongolian individuals, and 22 short tandem repeat loci were co-amplified and genotyped. Allele frequencies and forensic parameters were calculated, and population genetic differences were analyzed among Mongolian population and other eight Chinese populations: Northern Han, Guangdong Han, Chengdu Han, Xinjiang Hui, Xinjiang Uygur, Hainan Li, Qinghai Tibetan, and Hainan Han. Results All the loci were in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and after Bonferroni correction there was no linkage disequilibrium between them. The allele frequencies of these 22 loci were between 0.0037 and 0.3657. This panel had high discriminating power and genetic polymorphism in the Mongolian population, with combined power of discrimination of 0.999999999999999999999999998399 and combined probability of exclusion of 0.9999999999566925. Structure analysis showed no evidence that these nine Chinese populations had different component distribution. However, genetic distance analysis showed significant differences among them (P < 0.05). Conclusion The combined application of these 22 loci could be useful for forensic purposes in the Mongolian population. Mongolian population had smaller genetic distances from the populations in northern China (Northern Han, Xinjiang Uygur, and Xinjiang Hui) than from the populations in Hainan province (Hainan Han and Hainan Li populations)