Catalytic deoxygenation of triolein to green fuel over mesoporous TiO2 aided by in situ hydrogen production

The greenhouse gases contributed by combustion of fossil fuel has urged the need for sustainable green fuel production. Deoxygenation is the most reliable process to convert bio-oil into green fuel. In this study, the deoxygenation of triolein was investigated via mesoporous TiO2 calcined at different temperature in the absence of external H2. The high conversion of fuel-liked hydrocarbons showed the in situ H2 produced from the reaction. The mesoporous TiO2 calcined at 500 °C (M500) demonstrated the highest activity, around 76.9% conversion was achieved with 78.9% selectivity to hydrocarbon. The reaction proceed through second order kinetic with a rate constant of 0.0557 g−1trioleinh−1. The major product of the reaction were diesel range saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbon (60%) further the formation of in situ H2. It is interesting to observe that higher calcination temperature improve crystallinity and remove surface hydroxyls, meanwhile increase the acid density and medium strength acid site. The conversion of triolein increased linearly with the amount of medium strength acid sites. This result suggests that medium-strength acidity of catalyst is a critical factor in determining deoxygenation activities. In addition, the presence of mesopores allow the diffusion of triolein molecules and improve the selectivity. Hence, mesoporous TiO2 with Lewis acidity is a fascinating catalyst and hydrogen donor in high-value green fuel

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

The critical importance of old world fruit bats for healthy ecosystems and economies

FIGURE 6 | Pteropodid-plant interactions that are potentially double mutualisms, in which a pteropodid species might act as both pollinator and seed disperser for the same plant species. Double mutualisms were assessed at the species level for both plants and bats. The graph shows the number of species-species interactions within each plant family and pteropodid genus. Only families with more than one interaction are shown. Plants in an additional 13 families were recorded for overall pteropodid diet, but only one interaction was recorded for each, and thus not included here.Published as part of Aziz, Sheema Abdul, McConkey, Kim R., Tanalgo, Krizler, Sritongchuay, Tuanjit, Low, Mary-Ruth, Yong, Joon Yee, Mildenstein, Tammy L., Nuevo-Diego, Christine Ely, Lim, Voon-Ching & Racey, Paul A., 2021, The Critical Importance of Old World Fruit Bats for Healthy Ecosystems and Economies, pp. 1-29 in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 on page 15, DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.641411, http://zenodo.org/record/467563