Impacts of temperature on evolution of char structure during pyrolysis of lignin.

This study investigated the pyrolysis of lignin pyrolysis in a temperature region from 200 to 800 °C, aiming to understand influence of pyrolysis temperature on evolution of structures of the resulting char. The results showed that fusion of the ring structure initiated at 200 °C, where the C/H ratio in the char was equal to that in naphthalene (two fused rings). The C/H ratio in the char obtained at 350 °C corresponded to that in pyrene (four fused rings), while the char produced at 550 °C was equivalent to 20 fused benzene rings in terms of C/H ratio.

Comparison of ethanol production from corn cobs and switchgrass following a pyrolysis-based biorefinery approach.

Background: One of the main obstacles in lignocellulosic ethanol production is the necessity of pretreatment and fractionation of the biomass feedstocks to produce sufficiently pure fermentable carbohydrates. In addition, the by-products (hemicellulose and lignin fraction) are of low value, when compared to dried distillers grains (DDG), the main by-product of corn ethanol. Fast pyrolysis is an alternative thermal conversion technology for processing biomass.

Lipid accumulation from pinewood pyrolysates by Rhodosporidium diobovatum and Chlorella vulgaris for biodiesel production.

This study evaluated the suitability of pinewood pyrolysates as a carbon source for lipid production and cultivation of the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium diobovatum and the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. Thermal decomposition of pinewood and fractional condensation were used to obtain an oil rich in levoglucosan which was upgraded to glucose by acid hydrolysis. Blending of pyrolytic sugars with pure glucose in both nitrogen rich and nitrogen limited conditions was studied for R.

Pyrolysis based bio-refinery for the production of bioethanol from demineralized ligno-cellulosic biomass.

This paper evaluates a novel biorefinery approach for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass from pinewood. A combination of thermochemical and biochemical conversion was chosen with the main product being ethanol. Fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomasss with fractional condensation of the products was used as the thermochemical process to obtain a pyrolysis-oil rich in anhydro-sugars (levoglucosan) and low in inhibitors.

A combined disease management and process modeling approach for assessing and improving care processes: a fall management case-study.

Objectives: To propose a combined disease management and process modeling approach for evaluating and improving care processes, and demonstrate its usability and usefulness in a real-world fall management case study.

Methods: We identified essential disease management related concepts and mapped them into explicit questions meant to expose areas for improvement in the respective care processes. We applied the disease management oriented questions to a process model of a comprehensive real world fall prevention and treatment program covering primary and secondary care.

Bioproduction of p-hydroxystyrene from glucose by the solvent-tolerant bacterium Pseudomonas putida S12 in a two-phase water-decanol fermentation.

Two solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas putida S12 strains, originally designed for phenol and p-coumarate production, were engineered for efficient production of p-hydroxystyrene from glucose. This was established by introduction of the genes pal and pdc encoding L-phenylalanine/L-tyrosine ammonia lyase and p-coumaric acid decarboxylase, respectively. These enzymes allow the conversion of the central metabolite L-tyrosine into p-hydroxystyrene, via p-coumarate.

Optimization of the solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas putida S12 as host for the production of p-coumarate from glucose.

A Pseudomonas putida S12 strain was constructed that is able to convert glucose to p-coumarate via the central metabolite L: -tyrosine. Efficient production was hampered by product degradation, limited cellular L: -tyrosine availability, and formation of the by-product cinnamate via L: -phenylalanine. The production host was optimized by inactivation of fcs, the gene encoding the first enzyme in the p-coumarate degradation pathway in P.

Functional aspects of membrane folate receptors in human breast cancer cells with transport-related resistance to methotrexate.

Two methotrexate (MTX)-resistant human breast-cancer cell lines with impaired transport via the reduced folate carrier (RFC), one established in vitro (MTX(R)-ZR-75-1) and another inherently resistant (MDA-231), were adapted to grow in medium containing 2 nM folic acid. This induced the expression of previously undetectable membrane folate receptors (MFR) to levels of 8.2 and 2.