Analytical characterization of products obtained from slow pyrolysis of Calophyllum inophyllum seed cake: study on performance and emission characteristics of direct injection diesel engine fuelled with bio-oil blends

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the characteristics and properties of the fractions obtained from slow pyrolysis of non-edible seed cake of Calophyllum inophyllum (CI). The gas, bio-oil and biochar obtained from the pyrolysis carried out at 500 °C in a fixed bed batch type reactor at a heating rate of 30 °C/min were characterized by various analytical techniques. Owing to the high volatile content of CI biomass (72.61%), it was selected as the raw material in this present investigation. GC-MS and FT-IR analysis of bio-oil showed the presence of higher amount of oxygenated compounds, phenol derivatives, esters, acid and furans. The physicochemical properties of the bio-oil were tested as per ASTM norms which imply that bio-oil is a highly viscous liquid with lower heating value as compared to that of diesel fuel. The chemical composition of evolved gas was analysed by using GC testing which revealed the presence of combustible components. The FT-IR characterization of biochar showed the presence of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons whereas the elevated amount of carbon in biochar indicates its potential to be used as solid fuel. The performance and emission characteristics of CI engine were assessed with different CI bio-oil blends and compared with baseline diesel fuel. The results showed that addition of bio-oil leads to decreased brake thermal efficiency and increased brake specific energy consumption. Meanwhile, increase in blend ratio reduces harmful pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen and smoke in the exhaust. From the engine testing, it is suggested to employ 20% of CI bio-oil blends in CI engine to obtain better operation.

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Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in Soils and Sediments of “La Zacatecana” Lagoon, Mexico

Anthropogenic activities have greatly increased heavy metal pollution worldwide. Due to inadequate waste management, mining is one of the chief causes. One particularly affected area in Mexico is the “La Zacatecana” Lagoon, in the municipality of Guadalupe, Zacatecas. From colonial times until the mid-nineteenth century, about 20 million tons of mine tailings were deposited at this site. Here, we catalogue the heavy metal content and their distribution in soils and sediments of La Zacatecana. The mobility of lead in soils was also assayed by sequential extraction. Concentrations of the different metals analysed were as follows: Pb > Cr > As > Ni > Hg > Cd. Site VIII accumulated the highest amount of Pb (3070 mg·kg−1) sevenfold more than the limit established by the Mexican standards for agricultural soils (i.e., 400 mg·kg−1). On the other hand, the contents of Cd, Cr, and Ni were within the levels accepted by the above normativity, set at 37, 280, and 1600 mg·kg−1, respectively. Concentrations of Hg and Pb were highest in the north-northwest zone of the lagoon and decreased towards the southeast. Except for Site VIII where 30% of the Pb was in an interchangeable form or bound to carbonates, most Pb in La Zacatecana soils was present in an unavailable form, associated with Fe-Mn oxides.

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Mesoporous Silica Loaded with Molybdenum Phosphide Nanoparticles for Hydrogen Evolution

A mesoporous silica loaded with molybdenum phosphide nanoparticles (MoP@MSN) was synthesized using Pluronic F-127 as a hard template. Using the method of XRD and HRTEM, the crystallinity, the phase structure, and the morphologies of the MoP@MSN were investigated. The results showed that the MoP@MSN were composed of nanoflakes with approximately 100 nm. Through the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), the Tafel slopes of 100 and 341 mV were yielded for MoP@MSN and pure MoP, respectively, meaning that the composite of MSN can significantly improve the conductivity of the products. Meanwhile, the mesoporous MoP@MSN presented excellent electrochemical activity and stability toward hydrogen evolution compared with those of bulk MoP nanoparticles, showing a promising prospect in hydrogen production.

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Tiotropium for the Treatment of Asthma: Patient Selection and Perspectives

Asthma is a chronic disease of airway inflammation with a large global burden. Despite established, guideline-based stepwise therapy, a significant proportion of patients remain symptomatic and poorly controlled. As such, there is a need for additional safe, effective, convenient, and cost-effective therapies that can be broadly applied across a range of asthma phenotypes. Tiotropium is a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) that leads to bronchodilation by blocking endogenous acetylcholine receptors in the airways. Tiotropium has long been approved for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and it has recently been recognized for its safety and efficacy in improving lung function and controlling asthma. Evidence from several Phase III trials in the adult and paediatric population has shown that tiotropium is well tolerated and significantly improves a range of endpoints as an add-on treatment to ICS therapy, regardless of baseline characteristics and clinical phenotypes. Consequently, regulatory authorities worldwide have recently licensed tiotropium as the only LAMA approved for the treatment of asthma. This review provides an overview of safety and efficacy data and discusses the use of tiotropium in patients across the range of asthma severities, ages, and phenotypes.

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Injected Human Muscle Precursor Cells Overexpressing PGC-1α Enhance Functional Muscle Regeneration after Trauma

While many groups demonstrated new muscle tissue formation after muscle precursor cell (MPC) injection, the capacity of these cells to heal muscle damage, for example, sphincter in stress urinary incontinence, in long-term is still limited. Therefore, the first goal of our project was to optimize the functional regenerative potential of hMPC by genetic modification to overexpress human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (hPGC-1α), key regulator of exercise-mediated adaptation. Moreover, we aimed at establishing a feasible methodology for noninvasive PET visualization of implanted cells and their microenvironment in muscle crush injury model. PGC-1α-bioengineered muscles showed enhanced marker expression for myogenesis (α-actinin, MyHC, and Desmin), vascularization (VEGF), neuronal (ACHE), and mitochondrial (COXIV) activity. Consistently, use of hPGC-1α_hMPCs produced significantly increased contractile force one to three weeks postinjury. PET imaging showed distinct differences in radiotracer signals ([18F]Fallypride and [11C]Raclopride (both targeting dopamine 2 receptors (D2R)) and [64Cu]NODAGA-RGD (targeting neovascularization)) between GFP_hMPCs and hD2R_hPGC-1α_hMPCs. After muscle harvesting, inflammation levels were in parallel to radiotracer uptake amount, with significantly lower uptake in hPGC-1α overexpressing samples. In summary, we facilitated early functional muscle tissue regeneration, introducing a novel approach to improve skeletal muscle regeneration. Besides successful tracking of hMPCs in muscle crush injuries, we showed that in high-inflammation areas, the specificity of radioligands might be significantly reduced, addressing a possible bottleneck of neovascularization PET imaging.

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ADRB2 Arg16Gly Polymorphism and Pulmonary Function Response of Inhaled Corticosteroids plus Long-Acting Beta Agonists for Asthma Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background. The beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) Arg16Gly polymorphism may alter the bronchodilation response to long-acting beta2-agonists, thereby influencing the clinical effectiveness of LABAs plus corticosteroids (ICS) treatment. But the results of individual studies are inconclusive. Methods. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Database, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and VIP databases. The meta-analysis was performed with RevMan statistical software (version 5.2), and potential publication bias was estimated by Egger’s test using STATA (version 12.0), with indicating significant publication bias. Results. We found 5 cohort studies with a total of 632 patients and included them in the meta-analysis. There are no significant differences in pulmonary function response between patients with the Arg/Arg and Arg/Gly phenotype (SMD −0.04, 95% CI −0.45 to 0.37; ). There were also no significant differences in the pulmonary function response between patients with the Arg/Arg and Gly/Gly phenotype (MD −0.03, 95% CI −0.07 to 0.02; ). Conclusions. Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that ADRB2 Arg16Gly polymorphism is not associated with pulmonary response to asthma treatment with ICS plus LABAs.

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Stress Corrosion Behavior of Ungrouted Pretensioned Concrete Beams

Prestressed concrete beams of size 150 × 150 × 1000 mm were designed, and two bonded cold-drawn 7 mm steel wires were stressed at 70% UTS under service conditions before concreting. The beams were cast with M40 grade concrete mix with various percentages of chlorides ranging from 0, 1, 2, and 3% by weight of cement and cured for 28 days. After 28 days, the stretching forces were released, the prestressing steel wire was allowed to regain its original length, the tensile stresses were transformed into a compressive stress in the concrete, and the stress corrosion behavior was assessed. Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is due to the simultaneous action of stress, corrosive media, and material properties. The stress corrosion behavior of ungrouted pretensioned steel was assessed by using various electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical noise, open-circuit potential measurement, AC impedance, and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. The same experiments were conducted for rebars embedded in the concrete beam with various percentages of chlorides ranging from 0, 1, 2, and 3% by weight of chloride. After 30 days of exposure, the beams were tested for their flexural strength measurements to find out the load-bearing capacity.

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