An investigation of the catalytic abatement of emissions from the combustion of diesel/bioethanol blends

In this study, we investigated the activity of pre-sulfated 1%Pt–2%Sn/γ–Al₂O₃ on the catalytic abatement of the combustion emissions of three fuels: pure diesel E(0), pure bioethanol E(100) and bioethanol blended diesel containing 10% bioethanol E(10). The emissions generated, by each blend combustion, were conducted continuously to the catalyst sample. The catalytic activity was determined by following the evolution of the outflow emissions concentrations by FTIR gas spectroscopy as a function of the catalyst temperature. Results showed that the addition of bioethanol to diesel may be necessary to enhance the catalytic oxidation of diesel unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter on pre-sulfated 1%Pt–2%Sn/γ–Al₂O₃.     

Surfactant-like Properties of Alkaline Extracts from Wastewater Biosolids

In order to assess the potential for utilizing wastewater biosolids as a source of useful substances, the surface activity of materials extracted from wastewater biosolids (activated sludge) by simple incubation with sodium hydroxide solutions at room temperature was assessed. The surface activity, measured by surface and interfacial tension methods, of the extracts was shown to be dependent on the extraction pH and the concentration of the organic matter solubilized in the alkaline solution. Increasing the extraction pH increased the surface activity of the extract (lower surface tensions), which is linked to the presence of more hydrophobic species in the extract. After adjusting the pH to more acidic values (e.g., pH = 4), the extracts retained their surface activity. The apparent CMC (critical micelle concentration) of pH 12.6 extracts was approximately 1,000 mg/L (based on total organic carbon or TOC), and the surface tension after CMC approximately 35 mN/m. While the CMC of the extract is significantly higher, when compared to a conventional surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS, CMC ~ 25 mg/L), its surface tension at CMC was comparable. Above its CMC, the pH 12.6 extract had similar interfacial tensions than SDBS against toluene, heptane and hexadecane. Furthermore, the extract and SDBS had similar detergency performance for the removal of hexadecane from cotton. Skin corrosivity tests of the neutralized extracts show that they have comparable toxicity to conventional anionic surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate. The potential use of these extracts in commercial products is discussed.     

Ethanol-Modified Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of the Bioactive Lipid Components of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Camelina sativa</Emphasis> Seed

Camelina sativa seed is an underutilized oil source that attracts a growing interest, but it requires more research on its composition and processing. Its high omega‐3 content and growing demand for clean food processing technologies make conventional oil extraction less attractive. In this study, the effect of extraction methods on the bioactive lipid composition of the camelina seed lipid was investigated, and its bioactive lipid composition was modified at the extraction stage using ethanol‐modified supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO₂). Ethanol‐modified SC‐CO₂ extractions were carried out at varying temperatures (50 and 70 °C), pressures (35 and 45 MPa), and ethanol concentrations (0–10%, w/w), and were compared to SC‐CO₂, cold press, and hexane extraction. The highest total lipid yield (37.6%) was at 45 MPa/70 °C/10% (w/w) ethanol. Phospholipids and phenolic content increased significantly with ethanol‐modified SC‐CO₂ (p < 0.05). SC‐CO₂ with 10% (w/w) ethanol concentration selectively increased phosphatidylcholine (PC) content. Apparent solubility of camelina seed lipids in SC‐CO₂, determined using the Chrastil model, ranged from 0.0065 kg oil/kg CO₂ (35 MPa/50 °C) to 0.0133 kg oil/kg CO₂ (45 MPa/70 °C). Ethanol‐modified SC‐CO₂ extraction allowed modification of the lipid composition that was not possible with the conventional extraction methods. This is a promising green method for extraction and fractionation of camelina seed lipids to separate and enrich its bioactives.     

An Overview of Synergistic Data Tools for Biological Scrutiny

A network of biological databases is reviewed, supplying a framework for studies of human genes and the association of their genomic variations with human phenotypes. The network is composed of GeneCards, the human gene compendium, which provides comprehensive information on all known and predicted human genes, along with its suite members GeneDecks and GeneLoc. Two databases are shown that address genes and variations focusing on olfactory reception (HORDE) and transduction (GOSdb). In the realm of disease scrutiny, we portray MalaCards, a novel comprehensive database of human diseases and their annotations. Also shown is GeneKid, a tool aimed at generating novel kidney disease biomarkers using systems biology, as well as Xome, a database for whole-exome next-generation DNA sequences for human diseases in the Israeli population. Finally, we show LifeMap Discovery, a database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine, which links to both GeneCards and MalaCards.     

Design of a General‐Purpose European Compound Screening Library for EU‐OPENSCREEN

This work describes a collaborative effort to define and apply a protocol for the rational selection of a general‐purpose screening library, to be used by the screening platforms affiliated with the EU‐OPENSCREEN initiative. It is designed as a standard source of compounds for primary screening against novel biological targets, at the request of research partners. Given the general nature of the potential applications of this compound collection, the focus of the selection strategy lies on ensuring chemical stability, absence of reactive compounds, screening‐compliant physicochemical properties, loose compliance to drug‐likeness criteria (as drug design is a major, but not exclusive application), and maximal diversity/coverage of chemical space, aimed at providing hits for a wide spectrum of drugable targets. Finally, practical availability/cost issues cannot be avoided. The main goal of this publication is to inform potential future users of this library about its conception, sources, and characteristics. The outline of the selection procedure, notably of the filtering rules designed by a large committee of European medicinal chemists and chemoinformaticians, may be of general methodological interest for the screening/medicinal chemistry community. The selection task of 200K molecules out of a pre‐filtered set of 1.4M candidates was shared by five independent European research groups, each picking a subset of 40K compounds according to their own in‐house methodology and expertise. An in‐depth analysis of chemical space coverage of the library serves not only to characterize the collection, but also to compare the various chemoinformatics‐driven selection procedures of maximal diversity sets. Compound selections contributed by various participating groups were mapped onto general‐purpose self‐organizing maps (SOMs) built on the basis of marketed drugs and bioactive reference molecules. In this way, the occupancy of chemical space by the EU‐OPENSCREEN library could be directly compared with distributions of known bioactives of various classes. This mapping highlights the relevance of the selection and shows how the consensus reached by merging the five different 40K selections contributes to achieve this relevance. The approach also allows one to readily identify subsets of target‐ or target‐class‐oriented compounds from the EU‐OPENSCREEN library to suit the needs of the diverse range of potential users. The final EU‐OPENSCREEN library, assembled by merging five independent selections of 40K compounds from various expert groups, represents an excellent example of a Europe‐wide collaborative effort toward the common objective of building best‐in‐class European open screening platforms.     

Electroreduction of organic compounds. 31. Electroreduction of 2- and 3-Chlorodibenzofuran in Deuterated Methanol

The cathodic reduction of dibenzofuran ( 2 ), 2-chlorodibenzofuran ( 4 ), and 3-chlorodibenzofuran ( 1 ) in deuterated methanol is investigated. The Birch-type reduction product 1,4-dibenzofuran ( 3 ) is formed from 1 via 2 , whereas 2-chloro-1,4-dihydrodibenzofuran ( 5 ) is obtained as by-product besides 3 from 4 as starting compound. Deuterium is only incorporated into the reduction products if CH₃OD or CD₃OD but not if CD₃OH are used. This observation is strongly indicative of a polar mechanism involving protonation rather than a radical mechanism with hydrogen atom abstraction to be operative.     

Mechanism of the electrochemical deposition of samarium-based coatings

Samarium-based films have been shown to form from aqueous solutions on the surfaces of metallic substrates such as steel or aluminum, and their presence has been reported to decrease substantially the corresponding corrosion rate of the underlying metallic substrate. Based on previous reports on the deposition of oxides or hydroxides of the closely related element cerium, this work demonstrates that samarium films are formed following a similar mechanism, which involves as the fundamental step an increase in interfacial pH resulting from cathodic oxygen-reduction or hydrogen-evolution reactions. With cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical quartz-crystal microbalance (EQCM) measurements, rotating-disk electrode (RDE) tests, and surface characterization techniques, namely, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray surface microanalysis (EDX), the postulated mechanism was verified, and the surface morphology of the resulting films was correlated with the nature of the reduction reaction that triggers film formation.     

Nonparametric analysis of clustered data in diagnostic trials: Estimation problems in small sample sizes

In diagnostic trials, clustered data are obtained when several subunits (e.g., organs or vessels) of the same patient are observed where no, several, or all subunits may be diseased or non-diseased as classified by a gold standard. In such a design, repeated measures appear in a natural way since the same patient is observed under different conditions by several readers and the repeated measures may have a quite involved correlation structure. A nonparametric method for clustered data in multiple reader studies to estimate the area under the ROC curve has been previously considered. The disadvantage of this procedure is that the test statistic (a quadratic form) can become negative in case of small samples. Therefore, a slightly different approach by weighting the estimators of the areas under the curves (AUC) is proposed. It is shown that the proposed new estimator of the covariance matrix of the weighted AUC estimators is always positive semidefinite. Simulation studies show that the new statistic maintains the pre-assigned type-I error level quite well even in case of small sample sizes. The method is motivated by a real data example where the previously suggested statistic becomes negative. This example demonstrates the advantage of the new method.     

An integration architecture for the automation of a continuous production complex

The development of integrated automation systems for continuous production plants is a very complicated process. A variety of factors must be taken into account, such as their different components (e.g., production units control systems, planning systems, financial systems, etc.), the interaction among them, and their different behavior (continuous or discrete). Moreover, the difficulty of this process is increased by the fact that each component can be viewed in a different way depending on the kind of decisions to be made, and its specific behavior. Modeling continuous production complexes as a composition of components, where, in turn, each component may also be a composite, appears to be the simplest and safest way to develop integrated automation systems. In order to provide the most versatile way to develop this kind of system, this work proposes a new approach for designing and building them, where process behavior, operation conditions and equipment conditions are integrated into a hierarchical automation architecture.