Production of bio-oil by catalytic pyrolysis of microalgae using Li-LSX-zeolite and alkali silicates

Microalgae are promising feedstock for bio-fuels due to high productivity, fast growth rate, and for not being in competition with food crops. Also, catalytic pyrolysis couples a cost effective thermo-chemical conversion process to produce fuels and chemicals from biomass. In this work, different species of microalgae were investigated to assess their potential as pyrolysis feedstock. Pyrolysis of Isochrysis sp. produced the largest bio-oil yield (37 wt.%) with a low content in aromatics and N-compounds compared to the other microalgae bio-oils, suiting the requirements for producing bio-oil. Isochrysis microalgae therefore selected for catalysts screening study; Evaluation of Li-LSX-zeolite, microsilica, LiNa-FA and Na-FA for the bio-oil upgrading. The bio-oil yield reduced but its quality improved in the presence of the catalysts. Li-LSX-zeolite showed a good catalytic performance, principally for bio-oil denitrogenation and good activity for olefins and aromatics production. Since the catalyst resulted the most promising material for enhancing the quality of Isochrysis pyrolysis, a detailed parametric study was carried out. The optimum conditions for producing bio-oil include temperatures close to 500 °C, residence time of ~ 8 secs and a catalyst: microalgae ratio of 1:1. However, N content in bio-oil can be reduced from 3.9 wt.% (non-catalytic) to barely 0.8 wt.% by increasing the catalyst ratio to 3:1, which also boosts the aromatics to five-fold those non-catalytically obtained. Due to high ash contents in the microalgae, chemical pre-treatment was carried out before pyrolysis. Pre-treatment of the algae in acid able to increase the bio-oil yield (38 wt.%) while base pre-treatment favoured gas production (61 wt.%). The acid pretreated microalgae increased the formation of aliphatic in bio-oil simultaneously reduce N-compounds. The use of catalyst over several regeneration cycles on Isochrysis sp. microalgae was studied. The pre-treatment greatly affects the catalyst activity over cycles by enhanced the bio-oil yield and tuned the composition of the bio-oil with high aliphatic compounds. However, the denitrogenation capacities wasd low due to the deactivation of the acid sites of the Li-LSX-zeolite. In conclusion, Li-LSX-zeolite showed a very good denitrogenation activity, with mild deoxygenation capacity which can be useful for the production of olefins and aromatics from microalgae

Fundamental study of pulse electric field effects on hela cell cultured over extracellular matrix protein micro-patterned surface

Electroporation (EP) is a method of controlling cell function by using pulses of electrical fields to create pores through cell membrane and causes other substance around it to be absorbed into the cell. This method has led to a variety of medical applications, particularly in cell studies. In this study, a high voltage of 2 kV/cm with pulse duration of 30 µs was applied on HeLa cell (human cervical cancer cell) to investigate the electroporation process. In addition, this study focused on the effect of protein coated surface, combined with the pulse parameter mentioned above, to look at its effect on HeLa cell when exposed to high voltage. Thus, will lead towards cell surface attachment factors interrogation plus the presence of electric field as the stimulator for an aggressive growth rate of the cells. This was achieved by using the micro contact printing (μCP) method. The result showed positive respond on the effect of EP on protein printed surface combination where HeLa cells were grown. The 50µm was chosen as the best-pattern size for cell alignment by using fibronectin. From the cell guidance study we could clearly see the cell responses on the protein patterned surface are much elongated in comparison to the control. In addition, the cells plated on this patterned surface were further investigated with electroporation technique, in order to see the effect of electroporation on the cancer cell proliferation and other cellular activities. The result shows that the cells aligned and elongated on fibronectin pattern with PEF than without PEF exposure. The combination of these two techniques will contribute towards understanding the cell surface interface and cell surface attachment factors which may lead towards a new method for guiding cell towards wound healing process

Stability of Li-LSX zeolite in the catalytic pyrolysis of non-treated and acid pre-treated Isochrysis sp. Microalgae

This paper investigates the use of Li-LSX-zeolite catalyst over three regeneration cycles in presence of non-treated and acid pre-treated Isochrysis sp. microalgae. The spent and regenerated catalysts were characterised by surface analysis, elemental analysis (EA), SEM-EDS, and XRD to correlate their properties with the bio-oil yield and quality. The acid pre-treatment removed alkali metals, reducing gas yield in favour of bio-oil, but, at the same time, led to catalyst deactivation by fouling. Differently, the non-treated microalgae resulted in a bio-oil enriched in C and H and depleted in O, compared to the pre-treated ones, denoting higher deoxygenation activity. After 3 pyrolysis/regeneration cycles, the analyses suggest that there are no major changes on catalyst using non-treated microalgae. Regeneration at 700 °C has been shown to be able to remove most of the coke without damaging the Li-LSX zeolite structure. In summary, Li-LSX zeolite was effective in maintaining deoxygenation activity over three cycles in the pyrolysis of non-treated Isochrysis microalgae, while the algae pre-treatment with sulphuric acid was detrimental on the catalyst activity

Optimization of Pulse Duration Parameter for Hela Cells Growth Rate

To introduce a cell or tissue with a gene or DNA, electroporation parameter plays the most important role. Research on electroporation parameters is still in its early stages. Different researches have used different parameters while performing their research. Electroporation is a mechanism of temporarily disrupting the bilayer membrane, in such a way that a hydrophilic pore is established, allowing a pathway into the cell for molecules such as DNA, which then heals up, once again protecting the cell from the outside. There are many theories as to how this can occur, but the simplest view is that a short pulse creates an increase in the trans-membrane potential which if it exceeds a certain threshold (dependent on size and shape of cells) can lead to a thinning of the bilayer, either due to a local dislocation in the membrane. In this study, cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells) was used to expose to single pulse electric field. Thus, for the purpose of this study, the field strength of 1kV/cm was selected and the pulse duration was varied (30µs, 70µs, 100µs, 200µs, 300µs and 600µs) to obtain higher proliferation for a growth rate of HeLa cells. From this study, it is determined that, HeLa cell exposed to 1kV/cm with a pulse duration of 100µs and single pulse revealed the highest and fastest percentage confluence when compared to growth rate of HeLa cell exposed for 30µs, 70µs, 200µs, 300µs and 600µs pulse duration

Combined effect of neolamarckia cadamba leaves and electroporation method on hela cell anti- proliferation process

This study suggests that natural sources may become an important tool in treating cancer. Neolamarckia cadamba (NC) leaves also well-known as “Anthocephalus Cadamba”, is a precious plant in Ayurvedic medicine. HeLa cells are one of the examples of eukaryotic cells type. It is derived from human cervical cancer cells. This experiment is conducted in different concentrations of NC Leaves (1μg/ml, 5μg/ml, 10μg/ml, 20μg/ml, 30μg/ml, 40μg/ml, 50μg/ml, 60μg/ml, 70μg/ml, 80μg/ml, 90μg/ml and 100μg/ml) for 48 hours. This experiment’s result proves that the anti-cancer properties of the extract of NC leaves are by increasing the concentration of extract, the numbers of cell viability will decrease. For contribution, the process of NC leaves extract will be combined with the electroporation process to investigate the effect on HeLa cell. Electroporation parameters used for this study were (voltage 600v/cm, pulse duration 5ms, single pulse)

Return on investment from educational research grant funding: deliverables and measurement

This paper investigates the return on investment (ROI) paradigm from fundamental educational research grant funding perspectives. The researchers conducted a wide-ranging literature search regarding the educational research grant funding ROI from public policy and economics viewpoints. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) were utilized to identify and analyze research articles and original reports related to ROI from educational research grant funding. The research data were screened through a literature review based on the inclusion criteria, namely study focusing on return on investment of educational research funding and study published between 2001 and 2021 (as of December 2022). This study found evidence that ROI calculation from fundamental educational research grants is not straightforward and varies. Besides, most available research focuses on research impact rather than economic and intrinsic research value. Based on the compiled literature on research-related performance attributes, this study identified three distinct deliverables of educational research funding: tangible output, intangible output, and research outcome. The present research proposes more robust and reliable methods for measuring the ROI of fundamental educational research impact, potentially generating a much-inform decision-making and resource allocation in educational research grant funding

Combined effect of Neolamarckia cdamba leaves and electroporation method on HeLa cell anti- proliferation process

This study suggests that natural sources may become an important tool in treating cancer. Neolamarckia cadamba (NC) leaves also well-known as “Anthocephalus Cadamba”, is a precious plant in Ayurvedic medicine. HeLa cells are one of the examples of eukaryotic cells type. It is derived from human cervical cancer cells. This experiment is conducted in different concentrations of NC Leaves (1μg/ml, 5μg/ml, 10μg/ml, 20μg/ml, 30μg/ml, 40μg/ml, 50μg/ml, 60μg/ml, 70μg/ml, 80μg/ml, 90μg/ml and 100μg/ml) for 48 hours. This experiment's result proves that the anti-cancer properties of the extract of NC leaves are by increasing the concentration of extract, the numbers of cell viability will decrease. For contribution, the process of NC leaves extract will be combined with the electroporation process to investigate the effect on HeLa cell. Electroporation parameters used for this study were (voltage 600v/cm, pulse duration 5ms, single pulse)

Investigation of Pulse electric field effect on HeLa cells alignment properties on extracellular matrix protein patterned surface

YesCell behavior in terms of adhesion, orientation and guidance, on extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules including collagen, fibronectin and laminin can be examined using micro contact printing (MCP). These cell adhesion proteins can direct cellular adhesion, migration, differentiation and network formation in-vitro. This study investigates the effect of microcontact printed ECM protein, namely fibronectin, on alignment and morphology of HeLa cells cultured in-vitro. Fibronectin was stamped on plain glass cover slips to create patterns of 25μm, 50μm and 100μm width. However, HeLa cells seeded on 50μm induced the best alignment on fibronectin pattern (7.66° ±1.55SD). As a consequence of this, 50μm wide fibronectin pattern was used to see how fibronectin induced cell guidance of HeLa cells was influenced by 100μs and single pulse electric fields (PEF) of 1kV/cm. The results indicates that cells aligned more under pulse electric field exposure (2.33° ±1.52SD) on fibronectin pattern substrate. Thus, PEF usage on biological cells would appear to enhance cell surface attachment and cell guidance. Understanding this further may have applications in enhancing tissue graft generation and potentially wound repair.Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and UTHM Tier 1 Research Grant (U865

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security