Production of ethanol from winter barley by the EDGE (enhanced dry grind enzymatic) process

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>US legislation requires the use of advanced biofuels to be made from non-food feedstocks. However, commercialization of lignocellulosic ethanol technology is more complex than expected and is therefore running behind schedule. This is creating a demand for non-food, but more easily converted, starch-based feedstocks other than corn that can fill the gap until the second generation technologies are commercially viable. Winter barley is such a feedstock but its mash has very high viscosity due to its high content of β-glucans. This fact, along with a lower starch content than corn, makes ethanol production at the commercial scale a real challenge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A new fermentation process for ethanol production from Thoroughbred, a winter barley variety with a high starch content, was developed. The new process was designated the EDGE (enhanced dry grind enzymatic) process. In this process, in addition to the normal starch-converting enzymes, two accessory enzymes were used to solve the β-glucan problem. First, β-glucanases were used to hydrolyze the β-glucans to oligomeric fractions, thus significantly reducing the viscosity to allow good mixing for the distribution of the yeast and nutrients. Next, β-glucosidase was used to complete the β-glucan hydrolysis and to generate glucose, which was subsequently fermented in order to produce additional ethanol. While β-glucanases have been previously used to improve barley ethanol production by lowering viscosity, this is the first full report on the benefits of adding β-glucosidases to increase the ethanol yield.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the EDGE process, 30% of total dry solids could be used to produce 15% v/v ethanol. Under optimum conditions an ethanol yield of 402 L/MT (dry basis) or 2.17 gallons/53 lb bushel of barley with 15% moisture was achieved. The distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) co-product had extremely low β-glucan (below 0.2%) making it suitable for use in both ruminant and mono-gastric animal feeds.</p

Guide to Magellan image interpretation

An overview of Magellan Mission requirements, radar system characteristics, and methods of data collection is followed by a description of the image data, mosaic formats, areal coverage, resolution, and pixel DN-to-dB conversion. The availability and sources of image data are outlined. Applications of the altimeter data to estimate relief, Fresnel reflectivity, and surface slope, and the radiometer data to derive microwave emissivity are summarized and illustrated in conjunction with corresponding SAR image data. Same-side and opposite-side stereo images provide examples of parallax differences from which to measure relief with a lateral resolution many times greater than that of the altimeter. Basic radar interactions with geologic surfaces are discussed with respect to radar-imaging geometry, surface roughness, backscatter modeling, and dielectric constant. Techniques are described for interpreting the geomorphology and surface properties of surficial features, impact craters, tectonically deformed terrain, and volcanic landforms. The morphologic characteristics that distinguish impact craters from volcanic craters are defined. Criteria for discriminating extensional and compressional origins of tectonic features are discussed. Volcanic edifices, constructs, and lava channels are readily identified from their radar outlines in images. Geologic map units are identified on the basis of surface texture, image brightness, pattern, and morphology. Superposition, cross-cutting relations, and areal distribution of the units serve to elucidate the geologic history

Calibration and performance of the Galileo solid-state imaging system in Jupiter orbit

The solid-state imaging subsystem (SSI) on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Galileo Jupiter orbiter spacecraft has successfully completed its 2-yr primary mission exploring the Jovian system. The SSI has remained in remarkably stable calibration during the 8-yr flight, and the quality of the returned images is exceptional. Absolute spectral radiometric calibration has been determined to 4 to 6% across its eight spectral filters. Software and calibration files are available to enable radiometric, geometric, modulation transfer function (MTF), and scattered light image calibration. The charge-coupled device (CCD) detector endured the harsh radiation environment at Jupiter without significant damage and exhibited transient image noise effects at about the expected levels. A lossy integer cosine transform (ICT) data compressor proved essential to achieving the SSI science objectives given the low data transmission rate available from Jupiter due to a communication antenna failure. The ICT compressor does introduce certain artifacts in the images that must be controlled to acceptable levels by judicious choice of compression control parameter settings. The SSI team’s expertise in using the compressor improved throughout the orbital operations phase and, coupled with a strategy using multiple playback passes of the spacecraft tape recorder, resulted in the successful return of 1645 unique images of Jupiter and its satellites

Calibration and performance of the Galileo solid-state imaging system in Jupiter orbit

The solid-state imaging subsystem (SSI) on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Galileo Jupiter orbiter spacecraft has successfully completed its 2-yr primary mission exploring the Jovian system. The SSI has remained in remarkably stable calibration during the 8-yr flight, and the quality of the returned images is exceptional. Absolute spectral radiometric calibration has been determined to 4 to 6% across its eight spectral filters. Software and calibration files are available to enable radiometric, geometric, modulation transfer function (MTF), and scattered light image calibration. The charge-coupled device (CCD) detector endured the harsh radiation environment at Jupiter without significant damage and exhibited transient image noise effects at about the expected levels. A lossy integer cosine transform (ICT) data compressor proved essential to achieving the SSI science objectives given the low data transmission rate available from Jupiter due to a communication antenna failure. The ICT compressor does introduce certain artifacts in the images that must be controlled to acceptable levels by judicious choice of compression control parameter settings. The SSI team’s expertise in using the compressor improved throughout the orbital operations phase and, coupled with a strategy using multiple playback passes of the spacecraft tape recorder, resulted in the successful return of 1645 unique images of Jupiter and its satellites

Protein stability in crowding and confinement

In ihrer natürlichen Umgebung sind Proteine von einer Vielzahl verschiedener gelöster Stoffe umgeben (Crowding durch Cosolvens-Moleküle). Außerdem kann das verfügbare Volumen des Proteins innerhalb von Poren oder durch Membranen eingeschränkt sein (Confinement). Beide Effekte werden im Allgemeinen mit Hilfe der Volumenrestriktion beschrieben. Diese Arbeit behandelt die Frage, in welchem Ausmaß die Proteinstabilität durch Crowding und Cofinement beeinflusst wird. Die Proteinstabilität wird durch Messungen der Freien Enthalpie der Proteinfaltung quantifiziert. Die Freie Enthalpie wird in die enthalpischen und entropischen Beiträge aufgeteilt, um die zugrundeliegenden Protein-(Co-)Solvens Wechselwirkungen zu beschreiben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Volumenrestriktion nicht die Ursache für die veränderte Proteinstabilität ist. Das Verständnis der veränderten Proteinstabilität verlangt eine Analyse aller chemischen Wechselwirkungen unter expliziter Berücksichtigung des Lösungsmittels