No abstract

The slow balancing speed of switched-capacitor (SC)-based equalizers makes this structure difficult to apply in series-connected battery strings. In order to reduce the number of energy conversion processes and achieve leapfrog transmission of energy, a hybrid-structured voltage equalizer (HSVE) is developed in this work for battery strings to achieve high-speed any-unit-to-any-unit (AU2AU) equalization, in which each unit can also achieve internal balance in any arbitrary imbalance status. Compared to the conventional equalizers using complex monitoring and control strategy, the proposed equalizer does not need any cell monitoring circuits-all MOSFETs are triggered by a pair of complementary pulse signals with a fixed switching frequency and constant duty ratio, and electricity can automatically and directly exchange among all battery cells. Hardware experiments on super-capacitors and Li-ion batteries are conducted in this study, which prove the feasibility of the proposed voltage equalizer. The proposed battery management strategy will have wide applications in modern battery-related industries such as electric vehicles (EVs).

Under conditions of low pH, the conformational states of holo-YADH and apo-YADH were examined by protein intrinsic fluorescence, ANS fluorescence, and far-UV CD measurements. The results obtained show that a low ionic strength, with the addition of HCl, the holo- and apo- YADH denatured gradually to reach the ultimate unfolded conformation in the vicinity of pH 2.0 and 2.5, respectively. With the decrease of pH from 7.0 to 2.0, the fluorescence emission decreased markedly, with its emission maximum red-shifting from 335 to 355 nm, indicating complete exposure of the buried tryptophan residues to the solvent. The far-UV CD spectra show the loss of the arrayed secondary structure, though the acid-denatured enzyme still maintained a partially arrayed secondary structure. A further decrease in pH by increasing the concentration of HClO4 induced a cooperative folding of the denatured enzyme to a compact conformation with the properties of a molten globule, described previously by Goto et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 573-577 (1990)]. More extensive studies showed that although apo-YADH and holo-YADH exhibited similar behavior, the folding cooperative ability of apo-YADH was lower than that of the holo-enzyme. From the above results, it is suggested that the zinc ion plays an important role in the proper folding of YADH and in stabilizing its native conformation.

The conformational changes of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase during unfolding at alkaline pH have been followed by fluorescence emission and circular dichroism spectra. A result of comparison of inactivation and conformational changes shows that much lower values of alkaline pH are required to bring about inactivation than significant conformational change of the enzyme molecule. At pH 9.5, although the enzyme has been completely inactivated, no marked conformational changes can be observed. Even at pH 12, the apparently fully unfolded enzyme retains some ordered secondary structure. After removal of Zn2+ from the enzyme molecule, the conformational stability decreased. At pH 12 by adding the salt. the relatively unfolded state of denatured enzyme changes into a compact conformational state by hydrophobic collapsing. Folded states induced by salt bound ANS strongly, indicating the existence of increased hydrophobic surface. More extensive studies showed that although apo-YADH and holo-YADH exhibited similar behavior. the folding cooperative ability of apo-enzyme was lower than that of holo-enzyme. The above results suggest that the zinc ion plays an important role in helping the folding of YADH and in stabilizing its native conformation. 0 Munksgaard 1996.

The kinetic theory of the substrate reaction during irreversible inhibition of enzyme activity described previously has been applied to a study on the kinetics of the course of inactivation of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) by o-phthaldehyde (OPTA). The microscopic constants for the reaction of the inactivators with the free enzyme and with the enzyme-substrate complexes were determined. The inactivation is a monophasic pseudo-first-order reaction with OPTA. The apparent rate constant A is independent of the OPTA concentration, indicating that the inactivation is a noncomplexing inhibition. The marked protective effect of substrates on the inactivation of YADH by OPTA has been observed. This result suggests that the modification of the enzyme by OPTA may occur at the active site.