Microvawe pyrolysis of biomass: control of process parameters for high pyrolysis oil yields and enhanced oil quality

The oil yield and quality of pyrolysis oil from microwave heating of biomass was established by studying the behaviour of Larch in microwave processing. This is the first study in biomass pyrolysis to use a microwave processing technique and methodology that is fundamentally scalable, from which the basis of design for a continuous processing system can be derived to maximise oil yield and quality. It is shown systematically that sample size is a vital parameter that has been overlooked by previous work in this field. When sample size is controlled the liquid product yield is comparable to conventional pyrolysis, and can be achieved at an energy input of around 600 kWh/t. The quality of the liquid product is significantly improved compared to conventional pyrolysis processes, which results from the very rapid heating and quenching that can be achieved with microwave processing. The yields of Levoglucosan and phenolic compounds were found to be an order of magnitude higher in microwave pyrolysis when compared with conventional fast pyrolysis. Geometry is a key consideration for the development of a process at scale, and the opportunities and challenges for scale-up are discussed within this paper

Defence Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to Infection by Pseudomonas syringae Are Regulated by the Circadian Clock

The circadian clock allows plants to anticipate predictable daily changes in abiotic stimuli, such as light; however, whether the clock similarly allows plants to anticipate interactions with other organisms is unknown. Here we show that Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) has circadian clock-mediated variation in resistance to the virulent bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000), with plants being least susceptible to infection in the subjective morning. We suggest that the increased resistance to Pst DC3000 observed in the morning in Col-0 plants results from clock-mediated modulation of pathogen associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity. Analysis of publicly available microarray data revealed that a large number of Arabidopsis defence-related genes showed both diurnal- and circadian-regulation, including genes involved in the perception of the PAMP flagellin which exhibit a peak in expression in the morning. Accordingly, we observed that PAMP-triggered callose deposition was significantly higher in wild-type plants inoculated with Pst DC3000 hrpA in the subjective morning than in the evening, while no such temporal difference was evident in arrhythmic plants. Our results suggest that PAMP-triggered immune responses are modulated by the circadian clock and that temporal regulation allows plants to anticipate and respond more effectively to pathogen challenges in the daytime

Pathogen and Circadian Controlled 1 (PCC1) Protein Is Anchored to the Plasma Membrane and Interacts with Subunit 5 of COP9 Signalosome in Arabidopsis

The Pathogen and Circadian Controlled 1 (PCC1) gene, previously identified and further characterized as involved in defense to pathogens and stress-induced flowering, codes for an 81-amino acid protein with a cysteine-rich C-terminal domain. This domain is essential for homodimerization and anchoring to the plasma membrane. Transgenic plants with the ß- glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene under the control of 1.1 kb promoter sequence of PCC1 gene display a dual pattern of expression. At early post-germination, PCC1 is expressed only in the root vasculature and in the stomata guard cells of cotyledons. During the transition from vegetative to reproductive development, PCC1 is strongly expressed in the vascular tissue of petioles and basal part of the leaf, and it further spreads to the whole limb in fully expanded leaves. This developmental pattern of expression together with the late flowering phenotype of long-day grown RNA interference (iPCC1) plants with reduced PCC1 expression pointed to a regulatory role of PCC1 in the photoperiod-dependent flowering pathway. iPCC1 plants are defective in light perception and signaling but are not impaired in the function of the core CO-FT module of the photoperiod-dependent pathway. The regulatory effect exerted by PCC1 on the transition to flowering as well as on other reported phenotypes might be explained by a mechanism involving the interaction with the subunit 5 of the COP9 signalosome (CSN).This work was funded by grants BIO2008-00839, BIO2011-27526 and CSD2007-0057 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion of Spain to J.L. A fellowship/contract of the FPU program of the Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (Spain) funded R.M. work. 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Treatment of frequent ventricular arrhythmia with encainide: Assessment using serial ambulatory electrocardiograms, intracarciac electrophysiologic studies, treadmill exercise tests, and radionuclide cineangiographic studies

The effects of encainide on ventricular arrhythmia and left ventricular function were studied in 21 patients with chronic, high-grade ventricular arrhythmia using a prospective, 3-month, placebo-controlled, single-blind trial design. Encainide caused a 96% decrease in the average hourly frequency of ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) and comparable reductions in salvos of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) and episodes of sustained VT. Intracardiac electrophysiologic testing showed prolonged intraatrial and intraventricular conduction times and increased atrial, atrioventricular nodal, and ventricular refractory periods with both i.v. and oral encainide without His-Purkinje block, despite marked prolongation of HV and QRS intervals. Induced repetitive ventricular beating after ventricular extrastimuli in 15 patients showed persistent repetitive ventricular beating with chronic oral encainide in seven patients, four of whom had sustained VT within 2 months of treatment on encainide. Encainide did not reduce exercise capacity or left ventricular ejection fraction at rest or during supine exercise. Minor adverse effects of encainide in 11 of 21 patients included dose-related visual disturbances, dizziness and sinus pauses (\u3c3 seconds). Major adverse effects included the new apearance of sustained VT in three of 20 patients (15%). Oral encainide effectively reduces the frequency and grade of VPCs, prolongs intracardiac conduction times, and does not impair left ventricular performance. However, it is associated with frequent minor side effects and uncommon but potentially severe major side effects (sustained VT), both of which apparently have a direct relationship to the size of the dose