Various parameters in the catalytic hydroconversion of triglycerides (palm oil) were carefully investigated for maximizing the production of biojet fuel. The results showed that the deoxygenation of triglyceride via hydrotreatment should be carried out in a separate reactor prior to the hydrocracking step (i.e., two-step reaction process). Otherwise, the CO generated during deoxygenation can poison the metal components in the metal/acid bifunctional catalysts (Pt/zeolites), which can cause significant imbalance between the metal and acid functions in hydrocracking. This leads to fast catalyst deactivation via coke formation, heavy formation of aromatics, and overcracking of hydrocarbons, resulting in the reduction of final biojet fuel yield. In the two-step process, the second hydrocracking step mainly determines the final biojet fuel yield, and thus, a rational design of the hydrocracking catalysts that can suppress overcracking is essential. The diffusion characteristics of the multibranched hydrocarbon (e.g., 2,2,4-trimethylpentane) in the hydrocracking catalysts could be correlated with the yields of the jet fuel-range C8–C16 hydrocarbons and the iso/n-paraffin ratios. The result indicates that the facile diffusion of multibranched isomers out of catalysts before excessive cracking is important for the suppression of the formation of light hydrocarbons (≤C7). Consequently, Pt supported on nanocrystalline large-pore BEA zeolite showed the largest biojet fuel yield with the highest iso-paraffin content. Under the optimized conditions, 55 wt % of biojet fuel with respect to palm oil was achieved after final distillation, which satisfied all the required fuel specifications.

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.

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Insects have a great potential to be used as feedstocks for biodiesel production due to their intrinsic high lipid contents. In particular, biodiesel production from black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) is promising because of its advantages in engineering aspects such as a rapid proliferation, more lipid storage due to long-development time in larva stage, self-separation from organic waste. In this study, biodiesel was synthesized through (trans)esterification of BSFL grown on food waste to achieve both biofuel production from organic waste materials. In addition, all fuel properties of the biodiesel were examined to evaluate its feasibility as a potential transportation fuel in Korea. The highest yield of biodiesel obtained in this study was 86.51%. All the parameters of biodiesel produced from BSFL satisfied the Korea fuel standard (KS M 2965) except oxidation stability. The quality criterion of oxidation stability met the fuel standard with an addition of small quantity of tert-butylhydroquinone.

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