Renewable building blocks for polyurethanes

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Neff ◽  
Agnieszka Gajewski
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Market Penetration ◽  
New Developments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural Oils ◽  
And Performance

Abstract For the past 60+ years, polyurethane chemistry has been used to make a wide variety of everyday consumer products such as mattresses, automotive interior parts and foam insulation. Today, the vast majority of polyurethane products are made entirely from petroleum. Although polyols made from natural oils have made inroads during the past decade, cost and performance, as well as the presence of a large-scale established infrastructure around petroleum-based materials, remain as barriers to significant market penetration. Promising new developments such as sugar-derived raw materials have the potential to shift the balance of cost and performance, but they are at an early stage. While not a comprehensive review of the large volume of academic literature on renewable polyurethane chemistry, this article discusses several routes to renewable, commercially viable building blocks for polyurethanes, considering both established and emerging technology.

Use of enzymes as catalysts to promote key transformations in organic synthesis

1989 ◽  
Vol 324 (1224) ◽  
pp. 577-587 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Synthesis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Immobilized Enzymes ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Optically Active ◽  
The Past ◽  
Small Proteins ◽  
Areas Of Interest ◽  
Oxidation Of Benzene ◽  
Reduction Of Ketones

The field of biotransformations has developed rapidly over the past eight years. The use of esterases and lipases is now widespread; these enzymes are of particular importance in the production of optically active building blocks for organic synthesis as well as in large-scale processes involving the transesterification of fats. The latter area (i.e. the catalysis of esterification processes) has stimulated research into the properties of immobilized enzymes and the use of enzymes in low-water systems. In related work, enzymes have been used for the preparation of peptides and small proteins. Redox enzymes have been investigated extensively, particularly with regard to the stereocontrolled reduction of ketones to secondary alcohols. The methods for using commercially available enzymes of this type have become increasingly ‘userfriendly’. The controlled oxidation of hydrocarbon units is another area that has deserved increased attention. For example, oxidation of benzene and simple derivatives by Pseudomonas sp. has been researched by a number of U.K. groups. These recent advances in enzyme-catalysed reactions (using both whole-cell systems and partly purified protein) for the transformation of unnatural substrates is discussed and some areas of interest for the future are outlined.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Problems of Micro-enterprises in Dibrugarh District of Assam: An Empirical Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 097084642110424
Author(s):  
Rubab Fatema Nomani
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Skilled Labour ◽  
Manufacturing Enterprises ◽  
Institutional Marketing ◽  
The Government ◽  
Obsolete Technology ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Training Programmes

Small-scale industries play a crucial role in industrialisation of India. These industries face numerous problems, some of which are peculiar to them, while others are common to both small-scale and large-scale industries. The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed unprecedented threats as well as opportunities on this sector. This article tries to analyse the problems affecting the entrepreneurs associated with 141 micro-manufacturing enterprises in the Dibrugarh district of Assam and puts forward some policy suggestions. In order to identify the most pressing problem faced by the entrepreneurs, the Garrett ranking method is employed in the study. It is found that dearth of skilled labour is the most acute problem encountered by the sector. Lack of proper marketing arrangements, shortage of quality and cheap raw materials, obsolete technology and lack of timely finance are other important hindrances. The significance of skilled labour points to the intense need for continuous skill development of the local workforce by establishing more technical institutes, training programmes, etc. Furthermore, the government should provide special assistance for technological upgradation, develop institutional marketing facilities, and supply cheap and quality raw materials. Further, simplification of procedures in banks’ lending policies, relaxation of requirements like collateral security and margin money may go a long way in enhancing both confidence and performance of small entrepreneurs.

scholarly journals Clinical Trials: New Developments

2000 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 443-443
Author(s):  
Louis-Philippe Boulet
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Collaborative Activity ◽  
New Developments ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Projects

Canadian respiratory health research is recognized as being among the best worldwide. Many Canadian researchers are leaders in international projects, including large scale clinical trials. There is, however, a need to develop a structure that could foster the collaboration of Canadian investigators in joint projects of this sort. In the past few years, discussions have taken place on what could be a Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) Clinical Trials Group. This is a wonderful opportunity to put forward such an initiative, in the context of the new Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), where this type of collaborative activity fits quite well with the goals of this new institution.

scholarly journals Island Britain – Peninsula Britain: Palaeogeography, Colonisation, and the Lower Palaeolithic Settlement of the British Isles

2000 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. White ◽  
Danielle C. Schreve
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
The Past ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Glacial Periods ◽  
Second Wave ◽  
European Populations

Britain's geographical status has fluctuated between an island and a peninsula of Europe several times over the past 500 kya, as sea-levels rose and fell in response to global climate change. In this paper, we outline the currently available lithological and biological evidence for these fluctuations and use it to help construct an heuristic biogeographical framework of human colonisation, settlement, and abandonment, proposing mechanisms that are coupled with both regional palaeogeographical evolution and global climatic change. When used as a means of interpreting the archaeological record, the implications of this framework suggests not only that large-scale socio-culturally relevant patterns may indeed exist in the lithic record, but that these may possibly be understood as part of the ebb and flow of different regional populations, measured against the backdrop of changing climates and landscapes. It is suggested that the Clactonian and Acheulean may represent separate pulses of colonisation, possibly by different European populations, following abandonment during the height of glacial periods: the Clactonian reflecting an early recolonisation event during climatic amelioration, the Acheulean representing a second wave during the main interglacial. This phenomenon is recurrent, being observable during the first two post-Anglian inter glacials. Other patterns in the lithic record are argued to reflect specific endemic technological developments among insular hominid populations during periods of isolation from mainland Europe. These represent some of the few patterns in the British Acheulean that cannot be interpreted more parsimoniously in terms of raw materials.

scholarly journals Parallel Spatial-Data Conversion Engine: Enabling Fast Sharing of Massive Geospatial Data

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Zhang ◽  
Manchun Li ◽  
Zhenjie Chen ◽  
Tao Huang ◽  
Sumin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Data Conversion ◽  
Dynamic Task ◽  
The Past ◽  
Data Formats ◽  
And Performance

Large-scale geospatial data have accumulated worldwide in the past decades. However, various data formats often result in a geospatial data sharing problem in the geographical information system community. Despite the various methodologies proposed in the past, geospatial data conversion has always served as a fundamental and efficient way of sharing geospatial data. However, these methodologies are beginning to fail as data increase. This study proposes a parallel spatial data conversion engine (PSCE) with a symmetric mechanism to achieve the efficient sharing of massive geodata by utilizing high-performance computing technology. This engine is designed in an extendable and flexible framework and can customize methods of reading and writing particular spatial data formats. A dynamic task scheduling strategy based on the feature computing index is introduced in the framework to improve load balancing and performance. An experiment is performed to validate the engine framework and performance. In this experiment, geospatial data are stored in the vector spatial data defined in the Chinese Geospatial Data Transfer Format Standard in a parallel file system (Lustre Cluster). Results show that the PSCE has a reliable architecture that can quickly cope with massive spatial datasets.

Fluidised bed and steam drying news

2013 ◽  
pp. 522-524
Author(s):  
Gerald Caspers ◽  
Klaus Nammert ◽  
Holger Fersterra ◽  
Hartmut Hafemann ◽  
Andreas Lehnberger
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Water Evaporation ◽  
Fluidised Bed ◽  
Drying Process ◽  
The Past ◽  
Beet Pulp ◽  
Steam Drying

The drying of pressed sugar beet pulp in a pressurised fluidised bed with superheated steam is widely used in the sugar industry and can be considered to be state of the art for energy-efficient drying concepts in combined plant systems. The process has been used on a large scale in the sugar industry for more than 20 years. In the past campaign, BMA subjected existing drying systems at various locations to a number of refinements. These systematic, process engineering modifications allow the driers to work more efficiently and reliably. Feeding pressed pulp into a fluidised-bed drier is a critical phase in the drying process and can lead to malfunctions. The ability to determine the fluidisation conditions in the first drier cells provides more detailed insights into the process so that critical situations can be detected at an early stage and therefore malfunctions can be avoided. Further investigations have shown that the height of the fluidised bed has a considerable effect on adequate product transport and on the degree to which the heat from the circulated steam is utilised and, consequently, on water evaporation.

scholarly journals Applications of Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA) Hydrogels in Microfluidic Technique-Assisted Tissue Engineering

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (22) ◽  
pp. 5305
Author(s):  
Taotao Liu ◽  
Wenxian Weng ◽  
Yuzhuo Zhang ◽  
Xiaoting Sun ◽  
Huazhe Yang
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Microfluidic Chip ◽  
Production Line ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Microfluidic Devices ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Large Scale Integration ◽  
Scale Integration ◽  
Microfluidic Technique

In recent years, the microfluidic technique has been widely used in the field of tissue engineering. Possessing the advantages of large-scale integration and flexible manipulation, microfluidic devices may serve as the production line of building blocks and the microenvironment simulator in tissue engineering. Additionally, in microfluidic technique-assisted tissue engineering, various biomaterials are desired to fabricate the tissue mimicking or repairing structures (i.e., particles, fibers, and scaffolds). Among the materials, gelatin methacrylate (GelMA)-based hydrogels have shown great potential due to their biocompatibility and mechanical tenability. In this work, applications of GelMA hydrogels in microfluidic technique-assisted tissue engineering are reviewed mainly from two viewpoints: Serving as raw materials for microfluidic fabrication of building blocks in tissue engineering and the simulation units in microfluidic chip-based microenvironment-mimicking devices. In addition, challenges and outlooks of the exploration of GelMA hydrogels in tissue engineering applications are proposed.

scholarly journals Applied translation studies and transdisciplinary action research: Understanding, learning and transforming translation in professional contexts

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 443-461
Author(s):  
Gary Massey
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Use Case ◽  
The Past ◽  
Home Institution ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Professional Contexts

Proceeding from accepted shared definitions of applied linguistics that stress its practical, real-world orientation and instrumentality, this article seeks to move the focus from the interdisciplinarity that has been identified as the nexus of translation studies in the past to how its applied branches should systematically engage with an emerging transdisciplinary research paradigm. It argues that the shift can and will be a key factor, challenge and opportunity in the onward development of applied translation studies as it seeks to adequately address the situated realities of professional translation. The article reveals how transdisciplinarity, operationalised as action research, offers a viable framework for investigating, understanding and learning about what translators really do in working contexts and settings, with a view to identifying issues, improving practices, processes and performance, and ultimately transforming the profession for the good of those it employs and serves. In doing so, it considers approaches from cognitive translatology, based largely on a 4EA cognitive paradigm, and translatorial linguistic ethnography, where researchers are gradually but progressively going out into the field to explore and describe the complex socio-cognitive, socio-technical activity of translation in situ. After presenting a use case from a large-scale research project on translation ergonomics at the authors home institution, the article puts forward a model for transdisciplinary action research in professional settings to guide the necessary transition from interdisciplinarity to transdisciplinarity. Such a model would allow professional processes and practices to be investigated, and the findings productively and transformatively applied, in the situated socio-cognitive and socio-technical contexts of translators workplaces - within, for, with and by the organisations that employ them.

scholarly journals The Block Object Storage Service (bossDB): A Cloud-Native Approach for Petascale Neuroscience Discovery

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hider ◽  
Dean M. Kleissas ◽  
Derek Pryor ◽  
Timothy Gion ◽  
Luis Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Application Programming Interface ◽  
Web Based ◽  
The Past ◽  
Manual Inspection ◽  
Object Storage ◽  
Storage Service ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Programming Interface

AbstractLarge volumetric neuroimaging datasets have grown in size over the past ten years from gigabytes to terabytes, with petascale data becoming available and more common over the next few years. Current approaches to store and analyze these emerging datasets are insufficient in their ability to scale in both cost-effectiveness and performance. Additionally, enabling large-scale processing and annotation is critical as these data grow too large for manual inspection. We provide a new cloud-native managed service for large and multi-modal experiments, with support for data ingest, storage, visualization, and sharing through a RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) and web-based user interface. Our project is open source and can be easily and cost-effectively used for a variety of modalities and applications.

Molecular Epidemiology and Biomarkers in Etiologic Cancer Research: The New in Light of the Old

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lungwani Muungo
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cancer Research ◽  
Molecular Epidemiology ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Cancer Epidemiology ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Generation

The purpose of this review is to evaluate progress inmolecular epidemiology over the past 24 years in canceretiology and prevention to draw lessons for futureresearch incorporating the new generation of biomarkers.Molecular epidemiology was introduced inthe study of cancer in the early 1980s, with theexpectation that it would help overcome some majorlimitations of epidemiology and facilitate cancerprevention. The expectation was that biomarkerswould improve exposure assessment, document earlychanges preceding disease, and identify subgroupsin the population with greater susceptibility to cancer,thereby increasing the ability of epidemiologic studiesto identify causes and elucidate mechanisms incarcinogenesis. The first generation of biomarkers hasindeed contributed to our understanding of riskandsusceptibility related largely to genotoxic carcinogens.Consequently, interventions and policy changes havebeen mounted to reduce riskfrom several importantenvironmental carcinogens. Several new and promisingbiomarkers are now becoming available for epidemiologicstudies, thanks to the development of highthroughputtechnologies and theoretical advances inbiology. These include toxicogenomics, alterations ingene methylation and gene expression, proteomics, andmetabonomics, which allow large-scale studies, includingdiscovery-oriented as well as hypothesis-testinginvestigations. However, most of these newer biomarkershave not been adequately validated, and theirrole in the causal paradigm is not clear. There is a needfor their systematic validation using principles andcriteria established over the past several decades inmolecular cancer epidemiology.

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