SFILES 2.0: Extended Text-Based Notation for Chemical Process Flowsheets with Open-Source Tools
Researchers have developed SFILES 2.0, an improved text-based notation system for representing chemical process flowsheets, addressing limitations in the original SFILES format. The new version can describe complex flowsheet configurations and control structures that the original could not, and includes open-source software for automated conversion between flowsheet graphs and text strings. This advancement aims to establish standards for a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) database of chemical process flowsheets to support future data analysis and research.
SFILES 2.0 extends a text-based notation system originally inspired by SMILES molecular notation to represent chemical process flowsheets in machine-readable format. The original SFILES format had significant limitations: it could not unambiguously distinguish between different product streams (such as top versus bottom products) and lacked the ability to describe control structures necessary for safe chemical process operation. The new version resolves these issues with extended notation and naming conventions. Accompanying the specification, the researchers have released open-source software enabling automated conversion between flowsheet graphs and SFILES 2.0 strings, removing a major barrier to adoption. The authors hope this standardization will encourage wider publication of flowsheet topologies in this format and ultimately enable the creation of a comprehensive, FAIR-compliant database of chemical process flowsheets for computational analysis and machine learning applications.
What different sources said
- arXiv cs.LGCenter
SFILES 2.0: An extended text-based flowsheet representation
Related
Gut Bacteria Enzyme Found to Break Down Heat-Processed Food Compounds, Producing Novel Biogenic Amines
Researchers have discovered that an enzyme in common gut bacteria can degrade N-epsilon-carboxymethyllysine (CML), a compound formed during thermal food processing, producing previously unknown biogenic amines. The enzyme, ornithine decarboxylase SpeC from enterobacteria, acts on CML and related modified lysine derivatives through a low-level 'underground' catalytic activity. This finding suggests a previously unrecognized communication axis between thermally processed dietary compounds and gut microbial physiology, with potential implications for host health.
Full-Length Gene Sequencing Reveals Two Distinct Bacterial Communities in Black-Legged Ticks Expanding Into Canada
Researchers used Oxford Nanopore full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the microbiome of Ixodes scapularis black-legged ticks collected in Nova Scotia, Canada, distinguishing between tick-adapted bacteria and environmentally acquired bacteria. The study comes as I. scapularis — the primary vector of Lyme disease — is rapidly expanding northward into Canada due to climate change. The findings suggest that environmentally derived bacteria in tick microbiomes are not mere contamination, which has implications for how tick microbiome data is collected and interpreted across surveillance studies.
Study Identifies Metabolic Link Between Cell Envelope Stress and Biofilm Formation in Bacteria
Researchers have discovered that the metabolite acetyl-CoA directly inhibits enzymes that degrade the bacterial signaling molecule c-di-GMP, connecting cell envelope biosynthesis stress to biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The study found that sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics targeting early peptidoglycan biosynthesis — but not other antibiotic classes — elevate c-di-GMP levels by reducing phosphodiesterase activity, with acetyl-CoA competing for the enzyme active site. Because the relevant enzyme domain is broadly conserved across bacterial species, this checkpoint mechanism may be widespread and could have implications for understanding antibiotic-induced biofilm responses.