Comparative Production of Bio-Oil from In Situ Catalytic Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Catalytic upgrading of fast pyrolysis bio-oil from two different types of lignocellulosic biomass was conducted using an H-ZSM-5 catalyst at different temperatures. A fixed-bed pyrolysis reactor has been used to perform in situ catalytic pyrolysis experiments at temperatures of 673, 773, and 873 K, where the catalyst (H-ZSM-5) has been mixed with wood chips or lignin, and the pyrolysis and upgrading processes have been performed simultaneously. The fractionation method has been employed to determine the chemical composition of bio-oil samples after catalytic pyrolysis experiments by gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy (GCMS). Other characterization techniques, e.g., water content, viscosity, elemental analysis, pH, and bomb calorimetry have been used, and the obtained results have been compared with the non-catalytic pyrolysis method. The highest bio-oil yield has been reported for bio-oil obtained from softwood at 873 K for both non-catalytic and catalytic bio-oil samples. The results indicate that the main effect of H-ZSM-5 has been observed on the amount of water and oxygen for all bio-oil samples at three different temperatures, where a significant reduction has been achieved compared to non-catalytic bio-oil samples. In addition, a significant viscosity reduction has been reported compared to non-catalytic bio-oil samples, and less viscous bio-oil samples have been produced by catalytic pyrolysis. Furthermore, the obtained results show that the heating values have been increased for upgraded bio-oil samples compared to non-catalytic bio-oil samples. The GCMS analysis of the catalytic bio-oil samples (H-ZSM-5) indicates that toluene and methanol have shown very similar behavior in extracting bio-oil samples in contrast to non-catalytic experiments. However, methanol performed better for extracting chemicals at a higher temperature

Constraints on the Charged Higgs Sector from the Tevatron Collider Data on Top Quark Decay

The top quark data in the lepton plus $\tau$ channel offers a viable probe for the charged Higgs boson signal. We analyse the recent Tevatron collider data in this channel to obtain a significant limit on the $H^\pm$ mass in the large $\tan\beta$ region.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX file; 2 figures included (PS files

Lessons from the pandemic: new best practices in selecting molecular diagnostics for point-of-care testing of infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa

Introduction: Point-of-care molecular diagnostics offer solutions to the limited diagnostic availability and accessibility in resource-limited settings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, molecular diagnostics became essential tools for accurate detection and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2. The unprecedented demand for molecular diagnostics presented challenges and catalyzed innovations which may provide lessons for the future selection of point-of-care molecular diagnostics. Areas Covered: We searched PubMed from January 2020 to August 2023 to identify lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic which may impact the selection of point-of-care molecular diagnostics for future use in sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated this in the context of REASSURED criteria (Real-time connectivity; Ease of specimen collection; Affordable; Sensitive; Specific; User-friendly; Rapid and robust; Equipment free; and Deliverable to users at the point of need) for point-of-care diagnostics for resource-limited settings. Expert Opinion: The diagnostic challenges and successes during the COVID-19 pandemic affirmed the importance of the REASSURED criteria but demonstrated that these are not sufficient to ensure new diagnostics will be appropriate for public health emergencies. Capacity for rapid scale-up of diagnostic testing and transferability of assays, data, and technology are also important, resulting in updated REST-ASSURED criteria. Few diagnostics will meet all criteria, and trade-offs between criteria will need to be context-specific

Top quark pair production via polarized and unpolarized photons in Supersymmetric QCD

QCD corrections to top quark pair production via fusion of both polarized and unpolarized photons are calculated in Supersymmetric Model. The corrections are found to be sizable. The dependence of the corrections on the masses of the supersymmetric particles is also investigated. Furthermore, we studied CP asymmetry effects arising from the complex couplings in the MSSM. The CP violating parameter can reach $10^{-2}$ for favorable parameter values.Comment: 26 pages, LaTex, including 12 figures in 12 eps files. submitted to Phys. Rev.

SUSY-QCD decoupling properties in H+ -> t \bar b decay

The SUSY-QCD radiative corrections to the \Gamma (H+ -> t \bar b) partial decay width are analyzed within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model at the one-loop level, {\mathcal O}(\alpha_s), and in the decoupling limit. We present the analytical expressions of these corrections in the large SUSY masses limit and study the decoupling behaviour of these corrections in various limiting cases. We find that if the SUSY mass parameters are large and of the same order, the one loop SUSY-QCD corrections {\it do not decouple}. The non-decoupling contribution is enhanced by \tan \beta and therefore large corrections are expected in the large \tan \beta limit. In contrast, we also find that the SUSY-QCD corrections decouple if the masses of either the squarks or the gluinos are separately taken large.Comment: LaTeX, 33 pages, 7 figure included. Uses cite.st

Development of a fuzzy logic-based solar charge controller for charging lead-acid batteries

Este documento se considera que es una ponencia de congresos en lugar de un artículo.International Conference on Computer Science, Electronics and Industrial Engineering (CSEI 2019), Oct. 28-31 2019, Ambato (Ecuador)The design and implementation of a solar charge controller for lead-acid batteries is intended to supplement a component of the water purification module of the water treatment unit for natural disaster relief. This unit contains a solar panel system that supplies power to the module by charging batteries through a controller comprising an Atmega 328 processor. The solar panel feeds voltage to the batteries through fuzzy logic-based software, which allows up to 6 A DC to pass through the controller's power circuit. Consequently, the battery was charged in less time (an average of 7 h to reach maximum capacity), wherein battery lifespan is related to the charge wave frequency. Thus, our software may be adapted in different control algorithms without having to change hardware

The SUSY EW-like corrections to top pair production in photon-photon collisions

We studied the one-loop contributions of the gaugino-Higgsino-sector to the process of top-pair production via $\gamma \gamma$ fusion at NLC in frame of the Minimal Supersymmetric Model(MSSM). We find that the corrections to $\gamma \gamma \to t\bar{t}$ and $e^+ e^- \to \gamma \gamma \to t\bar{t}$ are found to be significant and can approach to a few percent and one percent, respectively. Furthermore, the dependences of the corrections on the supersymmetric parameters are also investigated. The corrections are not sensitive to $M_{SU(2)}$ (or $|\mu|$) when $M_{SU(2)}~>>~|\mu|$ (or $|\mu|~>>~M_{SU(2)}$) and are weakly dependent on the $\tan{\beta}$ with $M_Q$ (or $|\mu|$) being large enough. But they are sensitive to the c.m.s. energy of the incoming photons.Comment: LaTex, 33 pages, 8 Eps figuer

Charged Higgs- and R-Parity-Violating Slepton-Strahlung at Hadron Colliders

It is shown that the radiation of a charged Higgs boson off a third-generation quark (charged-Higgs-strahlung) provides an important channel for the discovery of the charged Higgs at hadron colliders. Equivalently, in supersymmetric models with explicit lepton-number (R-parity) violation, sleptons may also be produced in association with quarks (slepton-strahlung). Higgs- and slepton-strahlung production cross sections are given for both the Tevatron and the LHC. The LHC cross sections imply that heavy ${\cal{O}}$(TeV) charged Higgs bosons can be produced via charged-Higgs-strahlung and that strahlung production of charged sleptons is possible even for small R-parity violating couplings. The possible discovery of sleptons through this channel offers a surprising handle on models of neutrino masses.Comment: 23 pages, LaTex + RevTex, 11 figures (included). Title modified. (Published version.