High temperature pyrolysis of solid products obtained from rapid hydrothermal pre-processing of pinewood sawdust

A sample of pinewood sawdust was rapidly pre-processed in a torrefaction-type procedure, separately in subcritical water (neutral) and with added Na2CO3 (alkaline compound) and Nb2O 5 (solid acid) in a batch reactor. The original sawdust and the three friable solid recovered products from the hydrothermal procedure were characterized in detail. The solid recovered products (SRPs) gave higher C/O and C/H ratios, higher calorific values and reduced moisture contents compared to the original sawdust. The four solid samples were then subjected to rapid high temperature pyrolysis in a fixed-bed reactor to investigate the effect of the pre-processing routes on the yields and compositions of the pyrolysis products. With increasing pyrolysis temperature, the pre-processed samples produced more CO and H2, far more char and less tar than the original sawdust. The trends in the composition of gases and the yields of char suggested a combination of Boudouard reaction and CO2 dry reforming as the predominant reactions during pyrolysis. For all samples, increased temperature led to reduced tar production with an increase in the aromatic oxygenates and aromatic hydrocarbon contents of the tar. At 800 °C, the ratio of aromatic hydrocarbons increased dramatically particularly from the sample pre-processed with Nb2O5 indicating possible deoxygenation catalysis

Adsorptive removal of Pb (II) using exfoliated graphite adsorbent:influence of experimental conditions and magnetic CoFe2O4 decoration

The worm-like exfoliated graphite (EG) based adsorbents prepared from low-cost natural graphite flakes via facile synthesis processes have been found to be efficient adsorbents when it comes to removing Pb (II) from aqueous solution. EG was fabricated by chemical intercalation and microwave assisted exfoliation. Furthermore, the magnetic exfoliated graphite (MEG) was developed by incorporating CoFe2O4 particles into the EG layers using the citric acid based sol-gel technique. Adsorption behaviour of Pb (II) on the as-prepared adsorbents was investigated by taking several experimental conditions into consideration such as contact time, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, and pH value. The results with initial neutral pH indicated that the adsorption isotherms for Pb (II) on the EG and MEG were well consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model revealing the maximum adsorption capacity of 106 mg/g and 68 mg/g for EG and MEG, respectively. The adsorption kinetics of Pb (II) was found to adhere to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The chemical interaction between ? electrons on graphite sheets and Pb (II) ions was suggested to play an essential role in the adsorption mechanism. The introduction of magnetic CoFe2O4 to the EG was found to induce the shift of optimal pH value to a more basic condition. The characterization of the adsorbents was performed using relevant analysis techniques such as Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X–ray powder diffraction (XRD), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR). The results of this work suggest a high possibility for application of the as-prepared modified graphite to remove hazardous substances in practical wastewater treatment systems. ABSTRAK:  Penyerap Pengelupas Grafit (EG) yang berupa seperti cacing dihasilkan dari grafit semulajadi yang murah melalui proses sintesis serpihan, ia juga merupakan penyerap yang bagus dalam mengasingkan Pb (II) daripada larutan akues. EG direka dengan tindak balas interkalasi kimia dan pengelupasan melalui gelombang mikro. Tambahan, pengelupas grafit magnet (MEG) telah dihasilkan dengan memasukkan zarah CoFe2O4 ke dalam lapisan EG menggunakan teknik sol-gel yang berasaskan asid sitrik. Tindak balas penyerapan Pb (II) pada penyerap yang disiapkan ini, dikaji dengan mengambil kira beberapa keadaan eksperimen seperti waktu disentuh, konsentrasi awal, dos penyerap dan nilai pH.  Hasil keputusan pH neutral awal menunjukkan bahawa isoterm penyerapan bagi Pb (II) pada EG dan MEG adalah konsisten dengan model isoterm Langmuir. Ini menunjukkan kapasiti penyerapan maksimum 106 mg/g dan 68 mg/g bagi EG dan MEG, masing-masing. Penyerapan kinetik Pb (II) didapati mematuhi model kinetik pesudo-order-kedua. Interaksi kimia antara elektron ? pada helaian grafit dan ion Pb (II) memainkan peranan penting dalam mekanisme penyerapan. Pengenalan magnet CoFe2O4 kepada EG didapati telah mengubah nilai pH optimum kepada keadaan asal. Pengelasan penyerapan dilakukan menggunakan teknik analisis yang relevan seperti Mikroskop Elektron Pengimbasan (SEM), Difraksi Serbuk sinar-X (XRD), Magnetometer Sampel-Getaran (VSM) dan Inframerah Perubahan-Fourier (FTIR). Hasil kerja ini mencadangkan kemungkinan besar bagi penggunaan grafit ubah suai yang disediakan bagi membuang bahan berbahaya dalam sistem rawatan air sisa praktikal

Chemical composition and antibacterial property of Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.

Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. belonging to the Astearaceae family has been long used worldwide by various communities as a traditional medicine. We studied the antibacterial activity of different extracts from Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. against Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas dhakensis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus . The processing of this extract using repeated column and thin layer chromatographic techniques resulted in the isolation of three compounds including luteolin (1), kaempferol (2), and kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (3), which were identified by NMR. Among them, kaempfreol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside was isolated for the first time and shows good antibacterial activity against Aeromonas hydrophila which is major pathogen for the aquaculture industry. The results demonstrate the beneficial effects of E. prostrata as an antimicrobial and bioactive compound for medicinal usages.

Enhanced Near-Infrared Fluorescent Sensing Using Metal-Dielectric-Metal Plasmonic Array

This work presents a numerical study of metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) plasmonic structure used to enhance a near-infrared fluorescent sensor. The MDM plasmonic structure consists of silver (Ag) subwavelength disk arrays on a thin silica (SiO2) spacing layer and 100-nm-thick-Ag film on a silicon (Si) substrate. The MDM plasmonic arrays with various structural parameters are designed and numerically investigated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Results show that the optical properties of designed structures are slightly dependent on the height of the Ag disk and strongly dependent on the Ag disk diameter and SiO2 thickness. In the near-infrared wavelength range, the proposed MDM plasmonic array has low ohmic loss and shows the high fluorescent emitting enhancement and directivity of about 16 times and 625.0, respectively, thus making MDM plasmonic array an alternative approach for near-infrared fluorescence bioimaging and biosensing devices

Extraction of anthocyanins from Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L. Flowers) in Southern Vietnam: Response surface modeling for optimization of the operation conditions

In this paper, the Response Surface Methodology (RSM), in conjunction with Central Composite Design (CCD), was used to optimize the extraction of anthocyanins from Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.Flowers) cultivated in Southern Vietnam. The effect of extraction temperatures of solvent ethanol (50-70 °C), duration of extraction (40-50 min) and solid-liquid ratios (20:1-30:1) was measured as independent variables on the total extraction anthocyanins in the response function. The highest anthocyanin content of 132.756 mg/L of butterfly pea anthocyanin was collected at the solid liquid ratio of 23:1, extraction time of 46 min, and temperature 60.6°C. Butterfly pea anthocyanins yield detailed significant correlation with high F values, low P values (<0.0001), and desirable determination coefficient (R2 = 0.9994)

Host Transcription Profile in Nasal Epithelium and Whole Blood of Hospitalized Children Under 2 Years of Age With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.

BACKGROUND: Most insights into the cascade of immune events after acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection have been obtained from animal experiments or in vitro models. METHODS: In this study, we investigated host gene expression profiles in nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs and whole blood samples during natural RSV and rhinovirus (hRV) infection (acute versus early recovery phase) in 83 hospitalized patients <2 years old with lower respiratory tract infections. RESULTS: Respiratory syncytial virus infection induced strong and persistent innate immune responses including interferon signaling and pathways related to chemokine/cytokine signaling in both compartments. Interferon-α/β, NOTCH1 signaling pathways and potential biomarkers HIST1H4E, IL7R, ISG15 in NP samples, or BCL6, HIST2H2AC, CCNA1 in blood are leading pathways and hub genes that were associated with both RSV load and severity. The observed RSV-induced gene expression patterns did not differ significantly in NP swab and blood specimens. In contrast, hRV infection did not as strongly induce expression of innate immunity pathways, and significant differences were observed between NP swab and blood specimens. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that RSV induced strong and persistent innate immune responses and that RSV severity may be related to development of T follicular helper cells and antiviral inflammatory sequelae derived from high activation of BCL6

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio