Performance of a Yeast-mediated Biological Fuel Cell

Saccharomyces cerevisiae present in common Baker’s yeast was used in a microbial fuel cell in which glucose was the carbon source. Methylene blue was used as the electronophore in the anode compartment, while potassium ferricyanide and methylene blue were tested as electron acceptors in the cathode compartment. Microbes in a mediator-free environment were used as the control. The experiment was performed in both open and closed circuit configurations under different loads ranging from 100 kΩ to 400Ω. The eukaryotic S. cerevisiae-based fuel cell showed improved performance when methylene blue and ferricyanide were used as electron mediators, rendering a maximum power generation of 146.71±7.7 mW/m³. The fuel cell generated a maximum open circuit voltage of 383.6±1.5 mV and recorded a maximum efficiency of 28±1.8 % under 100 kΩ of external load.     

Defensive secretion of rice bug,Leptocorisa oratorius fabricius, (Hemiptera: Coreidae): A unique chemical combination and its toxic,repellent, and alarm properties

Defensive secretion produced by adult males and females ofLeptocorisa oratorius, Fabricius (Hemiptera: Coreidae) living on the host plant,Oriza sativa, was analyzed by a combined gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy technique. Both male and female secretions consisted of two major components: (E)-2-octenal andn-octyl acetate, 76% and 16% (w/w), respectively. The remaining 8% were trace compounds, some of which were identified as hexyl acetate, 3-octenal, 1-octanol, and (Z)-3-octenyl acetate. In a survey among 38 coreid defensive secretions, (E)-2-octenal andn-octyl acetate were found to occur rarely in addition to coreid-specific compounds, while their combination as primary constituents was found to be unique. Toxicity and repellency of this secretion were evaluated using two household pests,Anoplolepis longipes andSitotroga cerealella, as test insects, and lethal concentration (LC₅₀) values of 0.24 ppm and 0.14 ppm, respectively, and repellencies of 63% and 58%, respectively, were obtained. Comparing the above values with those of a pentatomid bug,Coridius janus, evaluated under the same conditions, it was apparent that this secretion has potential as a repellent to enemies ofL. oratorius but not as a toxicant to attack them. Bioassay on the alarm activity of this secretion revealed that it elicits alarm responses, alerting and dispersing aggregated male and femaleL. oratorius: this is followed by self-coating activities. In addition, some unique behaviors were also noted among alarmedL. oratorius.     

Split-sum correlator simplifies range computations in GPS receiver

A novel correlator architecture for handling the satellite-to-receiver time skew in a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver is presented. The correlator's signal integration and numerically-controlled oscillator updates are referenced to receiver time epochs rather than satellite epochs as in traditional architectures. To avoid straddling navigation data bits, the correlation is split into two parts. The technique was successfully implemented and integrated into a field programmable gate array-based multichannel software GPS receiver     

Investigation on microstructure and tensile behaviour of stir cast LM13 aluminium alloy reinforced with copper coated short steel fibers using response surface methodology

Copper coated steel fibers reinforced LM13 aluminium alloy composites have been prepared using stir casting process. Experiments have been designed using response surface methodology by varying wt% of reinforcement (0–10), stirrer speed (350–800 rpm) and pouring temperature (700–800 °C). Microstructure, tensile strength and fracture surface of composites have been investigated. Analysis of variance, significance test and confirmation tests have been performed and regressions models have been developed to predict the tensile strength of composites. Response surface plots reveal that tensile strength of composites increases with increasing wt% of copper coated steel fibers reinforcement up to 6 wt%. Further increase in wt% of steel fibers decreases the tensile strength of composites. However tensile strength of composites increases with increasing stirrer speed due to the uniform and homogeneous dispersion of steel fibers in matrix. Optimum stir cast process parameters for obtaining higher tensile strength are found to be 5.9 wt% of reinforcement, 753 °C pouring temperature and stirrer speed of 633 rpm. Fracture mechanism is dominated by steel fiber pullouts in composites with higher wt% of reinforcement and dimples are observed in the surface of composites containing lower levels of wt% of reinforcement.     

Reaction Kinetics and Coking Behavior for Furan Deoxygenation via Catalytic Pyrolysis Using Methane

The effective deoxygenation of oxygenates remains a major challenge that needs to be overcome for industrial‐scale conversion of biomass to fuels. Present technology uses expensive gaseous hydrogen for deoxygenation. This work looks at the possibility of using methane or natural gas as an alternative for the deoxygenation process. Catalytic pyrolysis studies were carried out using furan as the model oxygenate in the presence of methane in a fixed‐bed reactor over 5 % Ni/HZSM‐5 as catalyst. The effects of temperature and space velocity on the catalyst activity, reaction kinetics, and deactivation behavior were studied. It was found that the deoxygenation of furan was first and second order with respect to furan and methane concentration, respectively. Deactivation studies suggested that catalyst deactivation takes place through poisoning, fouling, and sintering.     

Significant full reference image segmentation evaluation: a survey in remote sensing field

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Image segmentation is a crucial step in remote sensing application, as it breaks down a larger image into smaller chunks, which contains useful information....     

Inequalities and externalities of power sector: A case of Broadlands hydropower project in Sri Lanka

The objective of the paper is to estimate environmental externalities related to a run of river project in Sri Lanka and to investigate inequity in distribution of impacts among different social groups. Diversion of the river resulted in loss of water sports (for high-income groups both local and remote), loss of historical monuments (for remote high-income groups) and recreation losses (for local poor). Removal of forest cover leads to loss of non-timber products (for local poor) and carbon storage (for remote high- and low-income groups). Loss of home garden productivity was borne by local poor groups. Benefit of the project, generation of 145 GWh annually, was a gain for the grid connected groups. The impacts were valued using various valuation methods. The base case of the cost benefit analysis resulted in NPV of US$ 11,335,730. When distributional weights are applied for different income groups, both the sign and magnitude of net benefits change. In order to be viable, the project needs diversion of at least 9% of generated electricity to the poorest households in the country. Implications for energy policy towards reducing externality and inequality impacts are also discussed.     

Design of Deep Convolution Neural Networks for categorical signature classification of raw panchromatic satellite images

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Remote Sensing categorical signature classification has gained significant implications on spatial resolution image analysis due to differences in the...     

Analysis of variance in spectroscopic imaging data from human tissues

The analysis of cell types and disease using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging is promising. The approach lacks an appreciation of the limits of performance for the technology, however, which limits both researcher efforts in improving the approach and acceptance by practitioners. One factor limiting performance is the variance in data arising from biological diversity, measurement noise or from other sources. Here we identify the sources of variation by first employing a high throughout sampling platform of tissue microarrays (TMAs) to record a sufficiently large and diverse set data. Next, a comprehensive set of analysis of variance (ANOVA) models is employed to analyze the data. Estimating the portions of explained variation, we quantify the primary sources of variation, find the most discriminating spectral metrics, and recognize the aspects of the technology to improve. The study provides a framework for the development of protocols for clinical translation and provides guidelines to design statistically valid studies in the spectroscopic analysis of tissue.