Production of bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of biomass using a pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed reactor and its characterization.

To circumvent the adverse impacts arising from an excessive use of fossil fuels, bioenergy and chemical production from a carbon neutral resource (biomass) has drawn considerable attention over the last two decades. Among various technical candidates, fast pyrolysis of biomass has been considered as one of the viable technical routes for converting a carbonaceous material (biomass) into biocrude (bio-oil). In these respects, three biomass samples (i.e., sawdust, empty fruit bunch, and giant Miscanthus) were chosen as a carbon substrate for the pyrolysis process in this study. A pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed reactor was employed for the pyrolysis work, and biocrude from the fast pyrolysis process at 500 °C were characterized because the maximum yield of biocrude (60 wt% of the original sample mass) was achieved at 500 °C. The physico-chemical properties of biocrude were measured by the international standard/protocol (ASTM D7544 and/or EN 16900 test method) to harness biocrude as bioenergy and an initial feedstock for diverse chemicals. All measurements in this study demonstrated that the heating value, moisture content, and ash contents in biocrude were highly contingent on the type of biomass. Moreover, characterization of biocrude in this study significantly suggested that additional unit operations for char and metal removal must be conducted to meet the fuel standard in terms of biocrude as bioenergy.

Pyrogenic transformation of Nannochloropsis oceanica into fatty acid methyl esters without oil extraction for estimating total lipid content.

This study fundamentally investigated the pseudo-catalytic transesterification of dried Nannochloropsis oceanica into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) without oil extraction, which was achieved in less than 5min via a thermo-chemical pathway. This study presented that the pseudo-catalytic transesterification reaction was achieved in the presence of silica and that its main driving force was identified as temperature: pores in silica provided the numerous reaction space like a micro-reactor, where the heterogeneous reaction was developed. The introduced FAME derivatization showed an extraordinarily high tolerance of impurities (i.e., pyrolytic products and various extractives). This study also explored the thermal cracking of FAMEs derived from N. oceanica: the thermal cracking of saturated FAMEs was invulnerable at temperatures lower than 400°C. Lastly, this study reported that N. oceanica contained 14.4wt.% of dried N. oceanica and that the introduced methylation technique could be applicable to many research fields sharing the transesterification platform.

Orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 translocates to mitochondria in the early phase of apoptosis induced by synthetic chenodeoxycholic acid derivatives in human stomach cancer cell line SNU-1.

Apoptosis-inducing activity of synthetic CDCA derivatives, HS-1199 and HS-1200, on gastric cancer cell line SNU-1 cells was explored. CDCA derivatives demonstrated various apoptosis hallmarks, such as mitochondrial changes, activation of caspase, DNA fragmentation, and nuclear condensation. Importantly, the orphan receptor Nur77 (TR3) was shown to translocate from the nucleus to mitochondria at the early time points after CDCA derivatives treatment. These data support the theory that CDCA derivatives-induced apoptosis of SNU-1 gastric cancer cell lines is mediated by mitochondria and caspase, and, at least in part, by Nur77.

Synthetic chenodeoxycholic acid derivative HS-1200-induced apoptosis of p815 mastocytoma cells is augmented by co-treatment with lactacystin.

The antitumor activity of a synthetic chenodeoxycholic acid derivative, HS-1200, on the p815 mastocytoma cell line was investigated. We present several lines of evidence indicating that HS-1200 at 35 microM induced apoptosis of p815 cells. Reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential, the release of cytochrome to cytosol, activation of caspase-3, nuclear condensation, production of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, generation of DNA fragmentation and nuclear condensation were demonstrated. Importantly, HS-1200 inhibited proteasome activity. Next, the combination treatment of HS-1200 or a proteasome inhibitor lactacystin was undertaken. Although the single treatment of 20 microM HS-1200 or 1 microM lactacystin induced apoptosis slightly, the combination treatment of them augmented prominently the extent of apoptosis. The combination therapy of HS-1200 and lactacystin could be potentially a therapeutic strategy reducing the extent and severity of treatment-related toxicity.