Characterization of products from fast and isothermal hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae

We investigated nonisothermal (fast) and nominally isothermal hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Nannochloropsis sp. microalgae for the production of biocrude. Biocrude yields ranged from 36 to 45 wt % (dry weight), with fast HTL with low mass loading giving the highest yield. This condition also gave the biocrude with the lowest heating value, which indicates there are compromises to be made between biocrude quantity and quality. The aqueous phase and biocrude product fractions were characterized using elemental analysis and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT‐ICR MS). This detailed level of analysis identified more than 30,000 unique molecular products. The aqueous phase products included compounds with the same molecular formulae as known herbicides, which may inform efforts in genetic engineering of algae and/or bacteria for cultivation on the aqueous phase. This detailed molecular‐level characterization provides some clues regarding the types of reactions that may take place during HTL. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 815–828, 2016     

Behavioral Evidence for Olfactory-Based Location of Honeybee Colonies by the Scarab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oplostomus haroldi</Emphasis>

The Afro-tropical scarab Oplostomus haroldi (Witte) is a pest of honeybees in East Africa with little information available on its chemical ecology. Recently, we identified a female-produced contact sex pheromone, (Z)-9-pentacosene, from the cuticular lipids that attracted males. Here, we investigated the kairomonal basis of host location in O. haroldi. We used coupled gas chromatography/electroantennographic detection (GC/EAD) and GC/mass spectrometry to identify antennally-active compounds from volatiles collected from honeybee colonies. Antennae of both sexes of the beetle consistently detected seven components, which were identified as 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, 2,3-butanediol, butyl acetate, isopentyl acetate, butyl butyrate, hexyl acetate, and methyl benzoate. In olfactometer bioassays, both sexes responded to the full seven-component synthetic blend over solvent controls, but chose honeybee colony odors over the blend. These findings suggest that the seven compounds are components of a kairomone from honeybee colonies used by O. haroldi.     

Development and Validation of an Artificial Mechanical Skin Model for the Study of Interactions between Skin and Microneedles

Microneedles are small needle‐like structures that are almost invisible to the naked eye. They have an immense potential to serve as a valuable tool in many medical applications, such as painless vaccination. Microneedles work by breaking through the stratum corneum, the outermost barrier layer of the skin, and providing a direct path for drug delivery into the skin. A lot of research has been presented over the past two decades on the applications of microneedles, yet the fundamental mechanism of how they interact, pressure, and penetrate the skin in its native state is worth examining further. As such, a major difficulty with understanding the mechanism of microneedle–skin interaction is the lack of an artificial mechanical human skin model to use as a standardized substrate. In this research news, the development of an artificial mechanical skin model based on a thorough mechanical study of fresh human and porcine skin samples is presented. The artificial mechanical skin model can be used to study the mechanical interactions between microneedles and skin, but not diffusion of molecules across skin. This model can assist in improving the performance of microneedles by enhancing the reproducibility of microneedle depth insertions for optimal drug delivery and biosensing.

     

A revision of the Job Diagnostic Survey: Elimination of a measurement artifact.

The dimensionality of the original Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and a revision were investigated. Factor analyses of two data sets identified six dimensions underlying the original JDS. Five of the factors correspond to the pattern expected for the JDS items; the sixth was identified as a measurement artifact. Five of the JDS items were subsequently rewritten to eliminate the artifact. The revised survey was administered to employees of a printing company (N?=?134) and the a priori five-factor solution was obtained with no artifact factor. Scale–factor correlations were also computed. The resulting coefficients suggest that the revised JDS scales are measuring their underlying constructs with reasonable accuracy. As a result of the measurement artifact in the original JDS, it is recommended that the revised JDS should be used in future research concerned with task characteristics. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impacts of a GTL plant on Brazil's oil products supply and refinery expansion

This paper assesses the impacts of a GTL plant on the expansion of Brazil's oil refining segment. The GTL plant (50,000 bpd) was sized to start up operations in 2015, producing diesel and naphtha through the indirect route (FT-synthesis). This plant will consume the non-associated natural gas production from the recent discoveries at the Santos Basin (around 419 Bm³), and the associated gas production from the Campos Basin. Both basins are located in the Southeast of Brazil, the most populated, rich and industrialized region of the country. Two different criteria for refinery expansion were simulated in order to meet oil product demand scenarios. Findings show that depending on the refinery expansion criteria considered GTL will play a fundamental hole to meet the oil product demand forecast to Brazil in the next 10 years.     

Longitudinal study of cognitions, life events, and depression in psychiatric inpatients.

Administered the Beck Depression Inventory, Attributional Style Questionnaire, Social Readjustment Rating Scale and an irrational beliefs inventory to 47 psychiatric inpatients (mean age 32 yrs) when they were admitted to the hospital, to 32 of them when they were discharged, and to 20 of them 7 mo later. The study tested the models of depression of A. T. Beck (1972) and of L. Y. Abramson et al (see record 1979-00305-001) that predict that stressful life events interact with certain types of cognitions (irrational beliefs in Beck's model; attributions in the Abramson et al model) to produce clinical depression. Results of multiple regression analysis show that severity of depression was related to irrational beliefs, attributions, the interaction of Attributions and Life Events, and the interaction of Attributions and Session. There was no relationship between depression and the interaction of Irrational Beliefs and Life Events. The Attributions?×?Session interaction indicated that the relationship between attributions and depression changed over the period studied; the relationship between irrational beliefs and depression was stable over time. Attributions and irrational beliefs changed over the period studied, indicating that they are not stable, unchanging aspects of personality. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A randomized controlled trial of the therapeutic workplace for community methadone patients: A partial failure to engage.

The Therapeutic Workplace is an employment-based treatment for drug addiction that uses wages for work to reinforce drug abstinence. The Therapeutic Workplace has promoted abstinence from heroin and cocaine in treatment-resistant mothers in methadone treatment. This study attempted to replicate that effect in crack cocaine users recruited from community-based methadone programs. Participants were randomly assigned to a Therapeutic Workplace (n=22) or usual care control (n=25) group. Therapeutic Workplace participants were invited to work in the workplace and earn vouchers every weekday for 9 months contingent on documented opiate and cocaine abstinence. The two groups did not differ significantly on measures of cocaine or opiate use collected during study participation. Daily attendance and urinalysis results of the Therapeutic Workplace group were analyzed, and only 7 of the 22 participants initiated consistent periods of abstinence and workplace attendance. Two individuals gained access to the workplace on a few days, and 9 participants attempted to gain access to the workplace but never provided a drug-negative urine sample. Possible reasons for differences between the current study and the previous Therapeutic Workplace study are considered. Procedures that increase participant contact with the Therapeutic Workplace and its reinforcement contingencies might increase the likelihood of these individuals being successful in the treatment program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Economic Comparison of NdFeB and Hard Ferrites in Automotive Applications

With the increasing use of electric motors in automobiles—in some cases as many as 100 electric motors per vehicle—alternatives to ferrite magnetic materials are under consideration. If more powerful magnetic materials could be implemented, size reductions in these motors could result in curb weight reductions that lead to improved fuel economy. NdFeB magnets are attractive as potential replacement materials, due to their higher flux density and thus smaller required size; however, high material costs have limited their implementation. To investigate the economic competitiveness of alternative magnetic materials, technical cost models (TCMs) were developed and used to examine the manufacturing economics related to the production of both NdFeB and ferrite magnets. Results from the TCMs are used to identify the cost drivers and opportunities for cost reductions. Subsequent investigations will include effects on vehicle fuel efficiency, and the environmental impact of magnet manufacture and disposal.     

Galanin receptor antagonist M40 blocks galanin-induced choice accuracy deficits on a delayed-nonmatching-to-position task.

Galanin is a 29-amino acid neuropeptide that coexists with acetylcholine in the medial septum/diagonal band in the rat and impairs choice accuracy on an operant delayed-nonmatching-to-position (DNMTP) working memory task. M40, a peptidergic galanin antagonist, has previously been shown to block several physiological actions of galanin. The present experiments tested the ability of M40 to block the effects of galanin on DNMTP performance. M40 completely blocked choice-accuracy deficits induced by galanin administration in both the lateral ventricle and ventral hippocampus, at doses of M40 approximately 5-fold the molar dose of galanin. M40 appears to be an effective galanin antagonist in a rodent memory paradigm, indicating that this compound may prove useful in investigating the role of endogenous galanin in learning and memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)