21 research outputs found
Co-pyrolysis of Rice Husk with Underutilized Biomass Species: A Sustainable Route for Production of Precursors for Fuels and Valuable Chemicals
In this study, co-pyrolysis of rice husk with
underutilized biomass, Napier grass and sago waste was
carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 600 �C, 30 �C/min and
5 L/min nitrogen flowrate. Two-phase bio-oil (organic and
aqueous) was collected and characterized using standard
analytical techniques. 34.13–45.55 wt% total boil-oil yield
was recorded using assorted biomass compared to pure risk
husk biomass with 31.51 wt% yield. The organic phase
consist mainly benzene derivatives with higher proportion
in the oil from the co-pyrolysis process relative to the
organic phase from the pyrolysis of the individual biomass
while the aqueous phase in all cases was predominantly
water, acids, ketones, aldehydes, sugars and traces of
phenolics. This study has demonstrated a good approach
towards increasing valorization of rice husk in a single
reaction step for the production of high grade bio-oil,
which can be transformed into fuel and valuable chemicals
Effects of pretreatments of Napier Grass with deionized water, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide on pyrolysis oil characteristics
The depletion of fossil fuel reserves has led to
increasing interest in liquid bio-fuel from renewable biomass. Biomass is a complex organic material consisting of
different degrees of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin,
extractives and minerals. Some of the mineral elements
tend to retard conversions, yield and selectivity during
pyrolysis processing. This study is focused on the extraction of mineral retardants from Napier grass using deionized water, dilute sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid and subsequent pyrolysis in a fixed bed reactor. The raw biomass was characterized before and after each pretreatment
following standard procedure. Pyrolysis study was conducted
in a fixed bed reactor at 600 o�C, 30 �C/min and 30 mL/min N2 flow. Pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) collected was analyzed using standard analytic techniques. The bio-oil yield and characteristics from each pretreated sample were compared with oil from the non-pretreated sample. Bio-oil
yield from the raw sample was 32.06 wt% compared to
38.71, 33.28 and 29.27 wt% oil yield recorded from the
sample pretreated with sulfuric acid, deionized water and
sodium hydroxide respectively. GC–MS analysis of the oil
samples revealed that the oil from all the pretreated biomass had more value added chemicals and less ketones and
aldehydes. Pretreatment with neutral solvent generated
valuable leachate, showed significant impact on the ash
extraction, pyrolysis oil yield, and its composition and
therefore can be regarded as more appropriate for thermochemical conversion of Napier grass
The integration of dilute acid hydrolysis of xylan and fast pyrolysis of glucan to obtain fermentable sugars
Bioanalytical Application of SERS Immunoassay for Detection of Prostate-Specific Antigen
We demonstrate the possible application of the sandwich type surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SEES) immunoassay using antigen-antibody binding for detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in cancer cells. In this sandwich type of SERS immunoassay, to capture antigens onto the immobilized layer of antibodies on the gold substrate we prepared the monolayer of gold nanoparticles on the A PTMS-derivatized surface of a glass slide by using the SAM technique. This sandwich type of SERS immunoassay in which antigens on the substrate specifically capture antibodies on a Raman reporter (DSNB coated gold nanoparticles with R6G) could successfully detect PSA at low levels. A strong SERS spectrum of Raman reporter was observed only with a substrate in which PSA is present.X111815sciescopuskc
Molecular cloning of multiple splicing variants of JIP-1 preferentially expressed in brain
Stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (SAPK/JNK) is activated by a variety of cellular or environmental stresses. Proper regulation of the SAPK/JNK pathway may be critical for cell survival or death under various conditions. In this study, we report the molecular cloning of novel isoforms of JIP-1, which harbor a putative phosphotyrosine interaction domain and a helix-loop-helix domain, as well as an SH3 homologous region in the C terminus. Northern analysis indicates that transcription variant jip-1 is expressed in brain and kidney and transcription variants jip-2 and jip-3 are specifically expressed in brain. In situ hybridization data showed that the hybridized jip messages were heavily concentrated in adult brain, and were particularly enriched in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, the brain regions vulnerable to pathological states such as hypoxia-ischemia, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease. All the deduced protein products of the jip transcription variants appear to have a similar property in that they inhibit the SAPK/JNK stimulation when overexpressed. Inhibition of SAPK activation by overexpression of the novel isoform JIP-2a resulted in suppression of etoposide-induced cell death in a neuroglioma cell line, N18TG. These findings suggest that JIP may play an important role in regulation of the SAPK pathway that is involved in stress-induced cellular responses.X1145sciescopu