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Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Strategic Resource for Next-Generation Energy Innovations
No full textpeer reviewedBiomass currently accounts for 59% of renewable energy supply within the EU-27. In Belgium, this figure stands at 60%, representing 6% of the country’s total energy supply. This situation aligns with international statistics, with wood and certain agricultural products (including dedicated energy crops) being by far the most exploited renewable materials (73%) for bioenergy production, primarily aimed at the industrial sector (power supply) or electricity generation (which is fed into the grid for domestic use).
While these figures may appear promising in the context of energy and environmental transition goals, it is important to note that biomass—especially lignocellulosic biomass—suffers from very low energy efficiency. Significant energy losses, reflected by the EROI (Energy Return on Investment), are reported in many biomass conversion pathways into usable energy forms, including biofuels. Additionally, there are problematic traditional uses, particularly in rural areas (such as direct combustion for domestic heating).
This presentation will provide an overview of alternative uses of biomass for energy applications. It will cover frontline direct-use options (TRL9), as well as second-line direct-use options, including liquid fuels and gaseous vectors (TRL6-8). Indirect conversion options (TRL1-4), such as the use of certain biomass components in batteries or photovoltaic panels, will also be discussed.
The lecture will conclude with three case studies:
1) The production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and its anticipated drawbacks, notably the failure to meet expected volume targets;
2) The development of energy communities in rural areas of developing or emerging countries through better valorization of local biomass resources (which are typically burned in the fields or used for cooking and heating);
3) The use of lignin for its energy storage performance in mobile or stationary batteries.9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure11. Sustainable cities and communities12. Responsible consumption and productio
Thermal Processing of Oilseeds: Multidimensional Impacts on Maillard Reaction Chemistry, Nutritional Safety, and Technological Innovations in Quality Control
Get PDFpeer reviewedBackground: Oilseeds are essential global food resources, frequently subjected to thermal processing to enhance functionality and shelf stability. However, these thermal treatments trigger complex biochemical cascades, notably the Maillard reaction, which significantly impacts the nutritional and sensory properties of oilseed-derived products. The formation of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) introduces both beneficial bioactive compounds and potentially harmful advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), necessitating a balanced processing approach.
Scope and approach: This review critically examines the interplay between thermal processing parameters and MRP evolution in oilseed matrices, emphasizing their implications for food quality. The study explores modern analytical approaches, including AI-driven predictive modeling and hyperspectral computer vision systems, for real-time monitoring of MRP formation kinetics and color changes during processing. Furthermore, the review discusses the dual impact of heat exposure on bioactive compound degradation and the generation of potentially harmful AGEs, such as acrylamide
and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.
Key findings: Progressive thermal exposure induces nonlinear degradation of heat-sensitive phytochemicals while promoting AGE formation, highlighting the need for precision thermal engineering. Optimized processing conditions—temperatures below 140°C with dwell times under 30 minutes—are recommended to balance bioactive retention and mitigate MRP-associated risks. Emerging machine learning techniques and computer vision-enhanced automation present opportunities for next-generation smart processing frameworks. These advancements lay the foundation for nutritionally
optimized oilseed products by intelligently modulating Maillard reaction pathways while addressing key food safety concerns in lipid-rich matrices
Flood experience and access to insurance contribute to differences in homeowners’ post-disaster adaptation in a cross-border region of Western Europe
Get PDFpeer reviewedThe July 2021 floods in Europe stand out as one of the most devastating flood-related disasters to impact the continent in recent years, affecting multiple countries at once. As climate change intensifies, such cross-border disasters are expected to become more frequent. Here we use unique crosscountry survey data from flooded homeowners to understand the patterns and limits of how households in different nations respond to shared flood crises. We find evidence of financial, institutional, and psychological limits to household adaptation. Insurance compensation is associated with private adaptation actions shortly after flooding. Households that suffered flood damage are more likely to mitigate future risks to their homes. Yet, this intention encounters limits for extreme flood damage. Once experienced flood damages exceed a threshold of around 60% of the home reconstruction value, homeowners begin to view private adaptation efforts as less effective, prompting a shift toward relocating to safer areas.JCAR projec
Se faire objet. Poésie et éthique de l’existence objective de Michaux à Tournier
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Use of PEM Fuel Cell Stack as power supply in French Guiana: mitigation of poisoning from coastal tropical environments.
No full textPCSK9 drives sterol-dependent metastatic organ choice in pancreatic cancer.
No full textpeer reviewedTo grow at distant sites, metastatic cells must overcome major challenges posed by the unique cellular and metabolic composition of secondary organs1. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive disease that metastasizes to the liver and lungs. Despite evidence of metabolic reprogramming away from the primary site, the key drivers that dictate the ability of PDAC cells to colonize the liver or lungs and survive there remain undefined. Here we identified PCSK9 as predictive of liver versus lung colonization by integrating metastatic tropism data of human PDAC cell lines2, in vivo metastasis modelling in mice and gene expression correlation analysis. PCSK9 negatively regulates low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol import and, accordingly, PCSK9-low PDAC cells preferentially colonize LDL-rich liver tissue. LDL-cholesterol taken up by liver-avid PCSK9-low cells supports activation of pro-growth mTORC1 activation at the lysosome, and through conversion into the signalling oxysterol, 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol, reprogrammes the microenvironment to release nutrients from neighbouring hepatocytes. Conversely, PCSK9-high, lung-avid PDAC cells rely on transcriptional upregulation of the distal cholesterol synthesis pathway to generate intermediates-7-dehydrocholesterol and 7-dehydrodesmosterol-with protective action against ferroptosis, a vulnerability in the oxygen-rich microenvironment of the lung. Increasing the amount of PCSK9 redirected liver-avid cells to the lung whereas ablating PCSK9 drove lung-avid cells to the liver, thereby establishing PCSK9 as necessary and sufficient for secondary organ site preference. Our studies reveal PCSK9-driven differential utilization of the distal cholesterol synthesis pathway as a key and potentially actionable driver of metastatic growth in PDAC
Temporal compression in episodic memory for real-life events: the role of event features
Get PDFThe continuous flow of information that constitutes daily life events is temporally compressed in episodic memory, so that the time needed to remember an event is generally lower than its actual duration. Recent studies suggest that the rate of event compression during remembering is not constant, but the specific characteristics of events that influence their temporal compression remain poorly understood. In the present study, we used wearable camera technology to investigate how different event features, including duration, familiarity, importance and emotionality, shape their temporal compression in memory. Over three days, participants wore the camera during three distinct daily-life events, each lasting between thirty seconds to seventy minutes. After a delay of 2 to 4 days , participants were asked to mentally replay each recorded event. On each trial, images extracted from the videos representing the beginning and end of the event were presented, and participants had to remember everything that happened between these two moments, in as much detail as possible; the time needed to remember the event was recorded. After their mental replay, participants rated the subjective quality of their memory and verbally described everything that had come to mind during the mental replay. After completing the memory task, participants rated each event on several dimensions, such as familiarity, importance and emotionality, and provided a retrospective duration estimate. The results showed a significant non-linear relationship between event duration and remembering duration: remembering duration increased as a function of event duration for events lasting up to 10 minutes, beyond which the time required to recall events remained more stable. Beyond event duration, event characteristics significantly influenced remembering duration, with unfamiliar, unpredictable, positive, social and events with a high degree of change being less compressed in episodic memory. In addition, both subjective memory quality and objective measures of the amount of detail in memory representations -computed by analyzing verbal narratives using an automated scoring method - were predictive of remembering duration. Finally, retrospective duration estimates were predicted by remembering duration. Taken together, these results provide new insights into how the temporal compression of daily-life events is shaped by their intrinsic characteristics
La migration de l’autorité interprétative dans les genres vidéoludiques : des producteurs aux joueurs
No full texteditorial reviewedCette courte présentation de mes travaux de thèse revient sur les origines de mon projet, notamment les raisons qui me poussent à investiguer la classification, notamment générique, des jeux vidéo à travers le discours des joueurs. La présentation explique d'abord quelques-uns des phénomènes à la source de la migration de l'autorité interprétative des producteurs vers les récepteurs, avant de donner quelques exemples de catégorisation par les joueurs de la saga "Resident Evil"
Identification of volatile flavor substances in four key muscle portions of five Tibetan sheep breeds.
Get PDFpeer reviewed[en] BACKGROUD: To clarify the variations in flavor characteristics among various Tibetan sheep breeds (Gangba, Huoerba, Sewa, Duoma and Awang) across different mutton portions (M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum, topside, thick flank and shoulder fillet), HS-SPME-GC-MS and HS-GC-IMS were performed with multivariate statistical analysis to characterize the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Tibetan sheep mutton.
RESULTS: The results identified 89 and 75 VOCs using HS-SPME-GC-MS and HS-GC-IMS, respectively, with aldehydes, ketones and alcohols as the primary compound classes. The main flavor characteristic substances were 1-octen-3-ol, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, 2,3-pentanedione, acetone, octanal, 2-pentylfuran, nonanal, hexanal, 1-hexanol, 2-butanone, 1-pentanol, heptanal, 2-pentanone, 1-penten-3-ol and benzaldehyde, contributing notes of fruity, floral, grassy, caramel, baking and creamy aromas. The contributing compounds of odor activity value > 1 were successfully determined, enabling the characterization of Tibetan sheep mutton flavor profiles. Fingerprints were applied to distinguish common and unique VOCs across different mutton portions from the studied breeds. Samples were effectively categorized by principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) according to their aroma characteristics, and a stable model (variable importance in projection (VIP)) was established through PLS-DA, highlighting hexanal, 1-hexanol, 2-butanone, 1-pentanol, heptanal, 1-octen-3-ol, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, 2-pentanone, octanal, ethanol, acetone, 1-penten-3-ol, 2,3-pentanedione and acetic acid with VIP > 1.
CONCLUSION: The findings reveal the VOC profiles of various mutton portions of Tibetan sheep breeds, offering insights for product development and enhancing the understanding of flavor in Tibetan sheep meat products
Ionized calcium and ionized magnesium disturbances in dogs and cats with septic peritonitis
Get PDFpeer reviewedIntroduction Hypocalcemia and magnesium disturbances are linked to vasoplegia, cardiac arrhythmias, gastrointestinal ileus, and coagulopathies. In human critical care patients, these imbalances are associated with higher mortality and longer hospital stay. Little is known about such associations in companion animals. Our study assessed the prevalence of ionized calcium (iCa) and ionized magnesium (iMg) disturbances in dogs and cats with septic peritonitis at presentation, and their association with administration of antiarrhythmics, vasopressors, prokinetics, and plasma, hospitalization duration and mortality.MethodsMedical records of patients with septic peritonitis from January 2018 to December 2023 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were confirmed septic peritonitis and blood gas analysis with ionized calcium and magnesium values at admission. Data collected included signalment, diagnosis and cause, calcium and magnesium levels, administration of vasopressors, antiarrhythmics, prokinetics, and plasma, length of hospitalization, and survival. Comparisons were made using Chi-square, Fisher exact test, and ANOVA. Correlations were assessed with the Spearman coefficient.ResultsSixty-one dogs and 17 cats were included. Hypocalcemia (iCa 0.6 mmol/L in dogs; >0.7 mmol/L in cats) in 15.4% of dogs and 60% of cats. Hypocalcemia and hypermagnesemia were significantly more common in dogs and cats, respectively. Ionized hypocalcemia was associated with plasma administration in dogs (p = 0.038). No significant correlation was found between iCa and iMg disturbances and length of hospitalization in dogs (respectively p = 0.62 and p = 0.62) or cats (respectively p = 0.62 and p = 0.27). The survival rate was 50%, with no association between iCa and iMg derangements and survival in dogs (p = 0.30 and p = 0.38 respectively), nor in cats (p = 0.29 and p = 0.29 respectively). A significant difference was observed in the mean iMg values between survivors (0.49 ± 0.09 mmol/L) and non-survivors (0.55 ± 0.11 mmol/L) in dogs (p = 0.042).DiscussionIn this population with septic peritonitis, about half of the dogs and a quarter of the cats had ionized hypocalcemia. Hypo- and hypermagnesemia were rare in dogs, while hypermagnesemia was common in cats and hypomagnesemia was not seen in cats. Dogs and cats with hypocalcemia were more likely to receive plasma. Mean iMg values were lower in survived dogs than dogs that did not survive