Ethanol production from agroindustrial biomass using a crude enzyme complex produced by Aspergillus niger

This study investigates ethanol production from simultaneous fermentation and saccharification (SFS) and separated hydrolysis and fermentation (SHS) using enzyme complexes produced by Aspergillus niger strains (ATCC 16404, ATCC 1057, ATCC 9029). The enzyme complexes were produced by solid-state fermentation (SSF) on inexpensive and readily available agroindustrial products: rice byproduct (composed of AFEX-treated rice rust and rice bran), whey and sugarcane bagasse. The ethanol was produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y904 using whey and rice byproduct as the substrate and the enzyme complex produced by A. niger. The best result for solid-state fermentation (40 U/g of dry substrate, A. niger ATCC 16404) was obtained in a 0.5 L rotating drum bioreactor at 40 °C filled half filled with solid biomass composed of rice byproduct (86% wt/wt), whey (12% wt/wt) and CaCl₂ (2.0% wt/wt). The best result for ethanol fermentation (11.7 g/L of ethanol) was obtained after 12 h of SFS at pH 4.5 and 35 °C. A comparative study of ethanol production by Trichoderma reesei CCT 2768 and A. niger ATCC 16404 complexes under the same optimised SFS and SSF conditions was also performed, revealing that ethanol production by the A. niger enzyme complex was 2.25 times higher than that by T. reesei. These findings suggest that the ethanol production using crude enzymatic complexes produced by A. niger and agroindustrial biomass described in this paper is very promising in terms of disposal of the whey produced by cheese-making and other dairy food processing.     

Optimizing external voltage for enhanced energy recovery from sludge fermentation liquid in microbial electrolysis cell

Waste activated sludge (WAS), which is rich in organic substances, provides an energy resource. To recover hydrogen from the organic wastes, microbial electrolysis cell may be used as an efficient device. Since different extra applied voltages have significant effects on the efficiency of microbial electrolysis cell, this paper explores different extra applied voltages (0.6 V–1.2 V) affecting the utilization of sludge fermentation liquid (SFL) that is treated with synchronous double-frequency (28 + 40 kHz) and alkali coupling 72-bacth mesothermal anaerobic fermentation (35 °C). It is found that 0.8 V was the optimum extra applied voltage. With this voltage, the highest energy recovery efficiency will be 169 ± 1% and the peak of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) removal efficiency can be found at 51.4 ± 0.6%; Coulombic efficiency is 98.9 ± 1.0%. The order of complex matter consumption is found to be HAc > HPr > nHBu > nHVa > total carbohydrates > protein. The processing methods of synchronous double-frequency, alkaline, coupling with anaerobic fermentation are feasible for microbial electrolysis cell to transform large amount of waste activated sludge into energy.     

Hydrogen production from oxidative steam reforming of ethanol over rhodium catalysts supported on Ce–La solid solution

The catalytic behaviors of Rh catalysts supported on Ce–La solid solution in H₂ production from the oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of ethanol were studied for the first time. 1%Rh/Ce_0.7La_0.3O_y exhibits 100% ethanol conversion at 573 K with H₂ yield rate 214 μmol g-cat⁻¹ s⁻¹, which is 150 K lower than that required for comparable performance with 1%Rh/CeO₂. La doping also enhanced the stability by accelerating CH₃COCH₃ conversion and gave low CO selectivity due to the high water gas shift activity. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy characterizations indicate the formation of Ce–La solid solutions and oxygen vacancies. H₂ temperature-programmed reduction and thermo-gravimetric measurement results confirmed that the redox properties of Rh/CeO₂ were greatly enhanced by La doping, which accelerated ethanol conversion, promoted H₂ yield, and maintained good long–term activity for the OSR reaction.     

Molecular differentiation of the species of two squid families (Loliginidae and Ommastrephidae) based on a PCR study of the 5S rDNA gene

The present study aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the 5s rDNA gene for the identification of commercially-valuable species of cephalopod belonging to the families Loliginidae and Ommastrephidae. Our results demonstrate distinct banding patterns in each of the six species sampled (Loligo surinamensis; Loligo sanpaulensis; Lolliguncula brevis; Sepiotheuthis sepioidea; Ornithoteuthis antillarum; Illex argentinus), as well as diagnostic traits at the genus and probably family levels. The results emphasize the efficiency of the 5s rDNA marker as a low-cost and rapid forensic technique, which not only permits the identification of species, but also differentiation of members of the Loliginidae and Ommastrephidae.     

Identification of UV photoproducts and hydrolysis products of butachlor by mass spectrometry

The photoproducts and hydrolysis products of butachlor in water were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. When exposed to UV light, butachlor in aqueous solution was rapidly degraded, giving at least 11 photoproducts as a result of dechlorination with subsequent hydroxylation or cyclization processes. The chemical structures of nine degradation compounds were identified on the basis of mass spectrum interpretation and literature data. Major photoproducts are identified as 8-ethyl-1-butoxymethyl-4-methyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-quinoline, 2-hydroxy-2',6'-diethyl-N-(butoxymethyl) acetanilide, and a compound related to butachlor. Minor photoproducts are identified as 2,6-diethylaniline; 1-acetyl-7-ethylindole; N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(butoxymethyl)acetamide; 2-oxo-N-(2,6-diethyl-phenyl)-N-(butoxymethyl)acetamide; 1-hydroxyacetyl-2-butoxyl-3-methyl-7-ethylindole; 1-acetyl-2-butoxyl-3-methyl-7-ethylindole; and two compounds with the chemical structure unknown. The half-lives of butachlor UV photolysis were 7.54, 10.56, and 12.22 min in deionized water, river water, and paddy water, respectively. The half-lives of butachlor hydrolysis at pH 4, 7, and 10 were 630, 1155, and 1155 days at 25 +/- 1 degrees C, respectively. A hydrolysis product at pH 4 was identified by GC/MS to be 2-hydroxy-2',6'-diethyl-N-(butoxymethyl) acetanilide.     

A Derivative-Free Hybrid Optimization Model for Short-Term Operation of a Multi-Objective Reservoir System Under Uncertainty

Short-term operation of a multi-objective reservoir system under inflow uncertainty has been receiving increasing attention, however, major challenges for the optimization of this system still remain due to the multiple and often conflicting objectives, highly nonlinear constraints and uncertain parameters in which derivative information may not be directly available. Population-based optimization methods do not rely on derivatives while generally have a slow convergence. This study presents a hybrid optimization model for short-term operation of multi-objective reservoirs under uncertainty that is derivative free and has a relatively fast convergence. The model incorporates a local improvement method called Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) into a population-based method NSGA-II and has no requirement for differentiability, convexity and continuity of the optimization problem. The operation of a multi-objective and multi-reservoir system on the Columbia River under inflow uncertainty is used as a case study. Overall, the hybrid model outperforms optimization models based on either the NSGA-II only or the MADS only. The model is intended for conditions where derivative information of the optimization problem is unavailable, which could have a wide array of applications in water resources systems.     

Contour diagram fuzzy model for maximum surface ozone prediction

A contour diagram approach is presented for the identification of surface ozone concentration feature based on a set of rules by considering the meteorological variables such as the solar radiation, wind speed, temperature, humidity and rainfall. A fuzzy rule system approach is used because of the imprecise, insufficient, ambiguous and uncertain data available. The contour diagrams help to identify qualitative ozone concentration variability rules which are more general than conventional statistical or time series analysis. In the methodology, ozone concentration contours are based on a fixed variable as ozone precursor, namely, NO_x and as the third variable one of the meteorological factors. Such contour diagrams for ozone concentration variation are prepared for six months. It is possible to identify the maximum ozone concentration episodes from these diagrams and then to set up the valid rules in the form of IF-THEN logical statements. These rules are obtained from available daily ozone, NO_x and meteorological data as a first approximate reasoning step. In this manner, without mathematical formulations, expert maximum ozone concentration systems are identified. The application of the contour diagram approach is performed for daily ozone concentration measurements on European side of Istanbul city. It is concluded that through approximate reasoning with fuzzy rules, the maximum ozone concentration episodes can be identified and predicted without any mathematical expression.     

Using artificial neural networks to map the spatial distribution of understorey bamboo from remote sensing data

Understorey vegetation is a critical component of biodiversity and an essential habitat component for many wildlife species. However, compared to overstorey, information about understorey vegetation distribution is scant, available mainly over small areas or through imprecise large area maps from tedious and time-consuming field surveys. A practical approach to classifying understorey vegetation from remote sensing data is needed for more accurate habitat analyses and biodiversity estimates. As a case study, we mapped the spatial distribution of understorey bamboo in Wolong Nature Reserve (south-western China) using remote sensing data from a leaf-on or growing season. Training on a limited set of ground data and using widely available Landsat TM data as input, a nonlinear artificial neural network achieved a classification accuracy of 80% despite the presence of co-occurring mid-storey and understorey vegetation. These results suggest that the influences of understorey vegetation on remote sensing data are available to practical approaches to classifying understorey vegetation. The success here to map bamboo distribution has important implications for giant panda conservation and provides a good foundation for developing methods to map the spatial distributions of other understorey plant species.     

X-ray reflectivity investigation of near-surface density changes induced in Al–Au multilayers by high-current ion beam bombardment

Alternating Al–Au multilayers (typical thickness of each layer 150 nm) were deposited on polished glassy carbon substrates by evaporation under high-vacuum conditions at 278 K and subsequently interdiffused with high-current 2.0 MeV ⁴He⁺ ions. After ion beam bombardment, non-destructive X-ray reflectometry measurements reveal a significant decrease of the density in the near-surface region from 19 to 12 g/cm³. This change in density is caused by the Al–Au interdiffusion during ion beam bombardment, as measured with RBS and X-ray diffraction. Based on the advantage of X-ray reflectometry of no specific sample preparation, detailed integral information of the surface roughness is achieved, additionally. For example, the surface roughness of the interdiffused Al–Au layers increases from 3.1 to 4.1 nm accompanied by the appearance of a gradient layer at the surface that even increases in thickness after irradiation. In addition, the density of this gradient layer decreased from the as-deposited to the irradiated state.     

Bioactive Molecules in Soil Ecosystems: Masters of the Underground

Complex biological and ecological processes occur in the rhizosphere through ecosystem-level interactions between roots, microorganisms and soil fauna. Over the past decade, studies of the rhizosphere have revealed that when roots, microorganisms and soil fauna physically contact one another, bioactive molecular exchanges often mediate these interactions as intercellular signal, which prepare the partners for successful interactions. Despite the importance of bioactive molecules in sustainable agriculture, little is known of their numerous functions, and improving plant health and productivity by altering ecological processes remains difficult. In this review, we describe the major bioactive molecules present in below-ground ecosystems (i.e., flavonoids, exopolysaccharides, antibiotics and quorum-sensing signals), and we discuss how these molecules affect microbial communities, nutrient availability and plant defense responses.