The increased use of biofuels in place of fossil fuels is one strategy to support the transition to net-zero carbon emissions, particularly in transport applications. However, expansion of the use of 1st generation crops as feedstocks is unsustainable due to the conflict with food use. The use of the lignocellulosic fractions from plants and/or co-products from food production including food wastes could satisfy the demand for biofuels without affecting the use of land and the availability of food, but organisms which can readily ferment all the carbohydrates present in these feedstocks often suffer from more severe bioethanol inhibition effects than yeast.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe starch in waste bread (WB) from industrial sandwich production was directly converted to ethanol by an amylolytic, ethanologenic thermophile (Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius strain TM333) under 5 different simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) regimes. Crude α-amylase from TM333 was used alone or in the presence of amyloglucosidase (AMG), a starch monomerizing enzyme used in industry, with/without prior gelatinisation/liquefaction treatments and P. thermoglucosidasius TM333 fermentation compared with Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Art-making can pose significant risks to the health and safety of artists. Some art materials and equipment are hazardous.
Objective: This article highlights the various hazards caused by the use of these materials in art-making and actions that could be taken to prevent it.
Objective: A primary drawback to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) processes is the incompatibility of the temperature and pH optima for the hydrolysis and fermentation steps-with the former working best at 50-55 °C and pH 4.5-5.5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objective: The study's objective was to determine the efficacy of guided internet-assisted intervention (GIAI) on depression reduction among educational technology students of Nigerian universities.
Methods: The design of the study was a 10-weeks group-randomized trial (GRT) which involved a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessment. A total of 192 educational technology students who were identified as having depression formed the sample of the study.
Objective: The study objective was to investigate the impact of an educational digital storytelling intervention (EDSI) on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk perception and knowledge among Nigerian adolescents.
Methods: Using a randomized controlled trial design procedure, we recruited 98 Nigerian adolescents who were college students. Data were collected using the Perceived Risk of HIV Scale and the HIV Knowledge Questionnaire and were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance.
A novel lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment reactor has been designed and tested to investigate pretreatment efficacy of miscanthus grass. The reactor was designed to optimize the transfer of highly oxidative species produced by dielectric barrier discharge plasma to the liquid phase immediately after generation, by arranging close proximity of the plasma to the gas-liquid interface of microbubbles. The reactor produced a range of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species, and the rate of production depended on the power source duty cycle and the temperature of the plasma.
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