Comparative performance evaluation of a diesel engine run on diesel and biodiesel produced from coconut oil

Using renewable alternative fuel such as biodiesel in the diesel engines has long been advocated for. The aim of the study was to experimentally investigate and compare the performance in terms of fuel consumption rate, brake power, mechanical efficiency of a diesel engine individually fuelled by sole coconut oil biodiesel and diesel. All the tests were conducted using a test rig at different engine loads of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. Results of the test revealed that fuel consumption rate of the engine when it was fuelled by coconut oil biodiesel were 3.651, 4.058, 4.465, 3.113 and 1.76litres/h and were 2, 1.55, 1.10, 1.06 and 1.02litres/h when the engine was fuelled by sole diesel at the respective aforementioned engine loads. The brake powers of the engine when biodiesel was used were found to be lower than when diesel was used at each load The mechanical efficiencies of the engine when biodiesel was used were found to be slightly lower at each load than when diesel was used. The fuel consumption rates of the diesel engine when fuelled individually with sole biodiesel and sole diesel were found to vary with load, brake power and mechanical efficiency of the engine. Brake power was also found to vary with load when the engine was fuelled individually with sole biodiesel and sole diesel.Keywords: Diesel engine, diesel, biodiesel, fuel consumption, performanc

Insights into Autism Spectrum Disorder Genomic Architecture and Biology from 71 Risk Loci

Analysis of de novo CNVs (dnCNVs) from the full Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) (N = 2,591 families) replicates prior findings of strong association with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and confirms six risk loci (1q21.1, 3q29, 7q11.23, 16p11.2, 15q11.2-13, and 22q11.2). The addition of published CNV data from the Autism Genome Project (AGP) and exome sequencing data from the SSC and the Autism Sequencing Consortium (ASC) shows that genes within small de novo deletions, but not within large dnCNVs, significantly overlap the high-effect risk genes identified by sequencing. Alternatively, large dnCNVs are found likely to contain multiple modest-effect risk genes. Overall, we find strong evidence that de novo mutations are associated with ASD apart from the risk for intellectual disability. Extending the transmission and de novo association test (TADA) to include small de novo deletions reveals 71 ASD risk loci, including 6 CNV regions (noted above) and 65 risk genes (FDR ≤ 0.1). Through analysis of de novo mutations in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Sanders et al. find that small deletions, but not large deletions/duplications, contain one critical gene. Combining CNV and sequencing data, they identify 6 loci and 65 genes associated with ASD. © 2015 Elsevier Inc