1,527 research outputs found
Improved Sugar Production by Optimizing Planetary Mill Pretreatment and Enzyme Hydrolysis Process
This paper describes an optimization of planetary mill pretreatment and saccharification processes for improving biosugar production. Pitch pine (Pinus rigida) wood sawdust waste was used as biomass feedstock and the process parameters optimized in this study were the buffering media, the milling time, the enzyme quantity, and the incubation time. Glucose yields were improved when acetate buffer was used rather than citrate buffer. Initially, with each process variable tests, the optimal values were 100 minutes of milling, an enzyme concentration of 16 FPU/g-biomass, and a 12-hour enzymatic hydrolysis. Typically, interactions between these experimental conditions and their effects on glucose production were next investigated using RSM. Glucose yields from the Pinus rigida waste exceeded 80% with several of the conditions tested, demonstrating that milling can be used to obtain high levels of glucose bioconversion from woody biomass for biorefinery purposesopen
E-beam-enhanced solid-state mechanical amorphization of alpha-quartz: Reducing deformation barrier via localized excess electrons as mobile anions
Under hydrostatic pressure, alpha-quartz undergoes solid-state mechanical
amorphization wherein the interpenetration of SiO4 tetrahedra occurs and the
material loses crystallinity. This phase transformation requires a high
hydrostatic pressure of 14 GPa because the repulsive forces resulting from the
ionic nature of the Si-O bonds prevent the severe distortion of the atomic
configuration. Herein, we experimentally and computationally demonstrate that
e-beam irradiation changes the nature of the interatomic bonds in alpha-quartz
and enhances the solid-state mechanical amorphization at nanoscale.
Specifically, during in situ uniaxial compression, a larger permanent
deformation occurs in alpha-quartz micropillars compressed during e-beam
irradiation than in those without e-beam irradiation. Microstructural analysis
reveals that the large permanent deformation under e-beam irradiation
originates from the enhanced mechanical amorphization of alpha-quartz and the
subsequent viscoplastic deformation of the amorphized region. Further,
atomic-scale simulations suggest that the delocalized excess electrons
introduced by e-beam irradiation move to highly distorted atomic configurations
and alleviate the repulsive force, thus reducing the barrier to the solid-state
mechanical amorphization. These findings deepen our understanding of
electron-matter interactions and can be extended to new glass forming and
processing technologies at nano- and microscale.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure
DeepHealthNet: Adolescent Obesity Prediction System Based on a Deep Learning Framework
Childhood and adolescent obesity rates are a global concern because obesity
is associated with chronic diseases and long-term health risks. Artificial
intelligence technology has emerged as a promising solution to accurately
predict obesity rates and provide personalized feedback to adolescents. This
study emphasizes the importance of early identification and prevention of
obesity-related health issues. Factors such as height, weight, waist
circumference, calorie intake, physical activity levels, and other relevant
health information need to be considered for developing robust algorithms for
obesity rate prediction and delivering personalized feedback. Hence, by
collecting health datasets from 321 adolescents, we proposed an adolescent
obesity prediction system that provides personalized predictions and assists
individuals in making informed health decisions. Our proposed deep learning
framework, DeepHealthNet, effectively trains the model using data augmentation
techniques, even when daily health data are limited, resulting in improved
prediction accuracy (acc: 0.8842). Additionally, the study revealed variations
in the prediction of the obesity rate between boys (acc: 0.9320) and girls
(acc: 0.9163), allowing the identification of disparities and the determination
of the optimal time to provide feedback. The proposed system shows significant
potential in effectively addressing childhood and adolescent obesity
Evaluation of Maternal Toxicity in Rats Exposed to Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes during Pregnancy
SYNGAS PRODUCTION WITH A DUAL FLUIDIZED BED GASIFIER FOR POLYGENERATION
A pilot scale dual fluidized bed gasification system was developed for polygeneration with biomass. The gasification system is designed for supplying syngas for Fischer Tropsch (F-T) synthesis of bio-diesel and power generation with a syngas engine. Characteristics of biomass steam gasification were investigated in a lab scale bubbling fluidized bed, and hydrodynamics of a dual fluidized bed were investigated in a cold flow model. Based on the results from the lab scale test and cold flow model, a pilot scale dual fluidized bed gasifier was designed. In this paper, the developing process of the gasifier and preliminary results of system operation will be presented
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