Establishing a commercial, lignocellulose-based, second-generation ethanol process has received several decades of attention by both researchers and industry. However, a fully economically viable process still remains a long-term goal. The main bottleneck to this achievement is the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic feedstocks, although there are several other factors, such as the huge investment required for second-generation ethanol facilities. An intelligent alternative solution discussed in this thesis is an integrated approach using firstgeneration ethanol plants for second-generation processes. Wheat is the major feedstock for first-generation ethanol in Europe; therefore, wheat-based lignocellulose waste, such as wheat straw, bran, and whole stillage fiber (a waste stream from first-generation wheat-based ethanol plants) was the primary focus of the integration model in this thesis. Since the major share of first-generation ethanol plant economics focuses on the animal feed DDGS (Distillers’ dried gains with solubles), the integration of lignocellulose should be designed in order to maintain DDGS quality. An ethanol-producing edible filamentous fungus, Neurospora intermedia, a potential protein source in DDGS, was considered for use as the fermenting microbe. The morphological and physiological aspects of this fungus were studied in the thesis, leading to the first report of fungal pellet development. An alternative approach of using dilute phosphoric acid to pretreat lignocellulose, as it does not negatively affect fungal growth or DDGS quality, was demonstrated in both the laboratory and on a 1m3 pilot scale. Furthermore, the process of hydrolysis of pretreated lignocelluloses and subsequent N. intermedia fermentation on lignocellulose hydrolysate was also optimized in the laboratory and scaled up to 1 m3 using an in-house pilot-scale airlift bioreactor. Fungal fermentation on acid-pretreated and enzyme-hydrolyzed wheat bran, straw and whole stillage fiber resulted in a final ethanol yield of 95%, 94% and 91% of the theoretical maximum based on the glucan content of the substrate, respectively. Integrating the first- and second-generation processes using thin stillage (a waste stream from first-generation wheat-based ethanol plants) enhanced the fungal growth on straw hydrolysate, avoiding the need for supplementing with extra nutrients. Based on the results obtained from this thesis work, a new model for integrated first- and second-generation ethanol using edible filamentous fungi processes that also adds value to animal feed (DDGS) was developed.

When discussing Asian Indian population in the U.S. their economic success and scholastic achievement dominates the discourse. Despite their perceived economic and scholastic success and their status as a “model minority”, Asian Indians experience discrimination, exclusion, and marginalization from mainstream American society. These experiences of discrimination and perceived discrimination are causing second generation Asian Indians to give up on total assimilation and re-ethnicize. They are using different pathways of re-ethnicization to re-claim and to create an ethnic identity. This thesis provides evidence, through secondary sources, that Asian Indians in the U.S. do experience discrimination or perceived discrimination, and it is historic, cultural, and systemic. This thesis also uses secondary sources to explain several pathways of re-ethnicization utilized by second generation Asian Indians who have given up on complete assimilation. The process of re-ethnicization provides second generation Asian Indians agency, positionality, and placement in American society. Asian Indians through re-ethnicization occupy and embrace the margins that separate mainstream American society and the Asian Indians community in the U.S. It allows them to act as “go –betweens”.

Árvore de componentes é uma forma hierárquica de representar imagens em níveis de cinza baseada nas relações de inclusão dos componentes conexos da imagem. A escolha da vizinhança utilizada para gerar os componentes impacta diretamente na árvore resultante, de forma que uma alteração na escolha da vizinhança pode acarretar em uma alteração na árvore de componentes obtida. Em particular, quando uma sequência de vizinhanças crescentes é usada, os nós das árvores obtidas a partir dessas vizinhanças satisfazem uma relação de inclusão, de forma que se é possível estabelecer relações entre nós de diferentes árvores. Assim sendo, o principal objetivo desta dissertação consiste no desenvolvimento de um algoritmo eficiente para a construção de uma sequência de árvores de componentes. Para tanto, será introduzida uma classe particular de sequências de vizinhanças, que não apenas satisfaz a propriedade crescente como também permite que as árvores de componentes associadas a ela sejam construídas de forma incremental. Com base nestas propriedades, um novo algoritmo de construção de árvores de componentes associado a esta classe de vizinhanças será proposto. Para analisar a eficiência do algoritmo proposto apresentamos, ao final do texto, alguns resultados práticos e teóricos obtidos com relação ao consumo de tempo e à complexidade computacional. / Component tree is a hierarchical way of representing gray-level images based on the inclusion relation of the connected components of the image. The choice of the neighborhood used to generate these components directly impacts in the resulting tree: changing the neighborhood used may cause a change in the resulting component tree. In particular, when considering a sequence of increasing neighborhoods, the nodes of the obtained from these neighborhoods will also satisfy an inclusion relation and that will make it possible to link nodes from different trees. Therefore, the main goal of this dissertation is the development of an efficient algorithm to build a sequence of component trees. In order to do that, we will introduce a class of sequences of neighborhood that not only satisfy the increasing property but also makes it possible to incrementally build the trees associated to it. This additional property will guide us to a novel algorithm, that will build the component trees associated to this class of neighborhoods. To show how efficient the proposed algorithm is, we present some experimental and theoretical results regarding time consumption and computational complexity.

Introduction: More than one-third of adults and 17% of children/adolescents in the US are overweight or obese contributing to significant morbidity and mortality, and healthcare costs. Studies have reported the persistence of adolescent obesity to adulthood, resulting in increased risk of chronic diseases such as asthma, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular, and liver diseases. Little is known about obesity patterns in subethnic populations in the US with high prevalence of obesity or overweight reported in Hispanic youth (21.9%) compared to non-Hispanic blacks (19.5%) and non-Hispanic whites (14.7%). Several genetic, uterine, and nutritional factors, and unhealthy behaviors were identified as risk factors. Evidence is emerging about the possible role of generational status in influencing adolescent obesity. The purpose of this study is to assess the association of generation status with adolescent overweight or obesity in Hispanics in the US. Methods: Data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)were used to conduct this study. Only Hispanic adolescents aged 10 to 17 years were included as study population. Using the age-sex-race specific cut-off points, we defined adolescent as being overweight or obese if they were above 85th or 95th percentile cut off point values for BMI. Generation status of an adolescent was categorized into three groups: a) generation 1 for those who were not born in US or to US citizens abroad, and migrated to US as children, b) generation 2 are those born in US but have at least one parent who is foreign born, and c) generation 3 or higher adolescents are those born in US to native-born parents. Multivariable models were conducted to test the association of generation status with adolescent obesity in Hispanics, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: A total of 5,217 Hispanic adolescents were included in the study. Approximately 1,650 and 31.7% of adolescents reported being overweight or obese. Approximately 857, 2,216 and 2,144 of adolescents are 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanic youth. Comparing to 3rd generation adolescents, those belonging to 1st and 2ndgenerations were associated with increased odds of adolescent obesity in Hispanics OR1.48, 95% CI 1.177 – 1.867 and OR 1.405, 95% CI 1.227-1.610 for 1st and 2nd generation, respectively. Conclusion: Generational status is associated with increased relative odds of overweight or obesity in Hispanic adolescents. Aggregated estimates not accounting for nativity or county of origin of an adolescent contribute to significant heterogeneity or disparities in obesity prevalence or patterns, with implications for generation-specific interventions.

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La vitesse de flamme laminaire représente une grandeur physique clé à mesurer car elle permet d'obtenir des données fondamentales sur la réactivité, la diffusivité et l'exothermicité du carburant. Elle est également un des paramètres utilisés pour le développement et la validation des mécanismes réactionnels détaillés ainsi que pour la modélisation de la combustion turbulente. Bien que cette grandeur physique ait fait l'objet de nombreuses études expérimentales depuis plusieurs décennies, sa méconnaissance sur des carburants multi-composant dans des conditions haute-pression et haute-température similaires à celles existantes dans les chambres de combustion reste un sujet d'actualité pour les industriels des secteurs automobile et aéronautique. Au cours de cette thèse, un brûleur de configuration bec Bunsen fonctionnant avec un prémélange gazeux combustible/air a été conçu pour produire une flamme laminaire à pression élevée tout en permettant la mesure par voie optique de la vitesse de flamme laminaire de carburants multi-composant (kérosène, biocarburants de seconde génération...). La mesure est basée sur la détection du contour de flamme par diverses diagnostics optiques comme la chimiluminescence OH*, la PLIF-OH et la PLIF-acétone/aromatique. En premier lieu, les mélanges de carburants purs gazeux (CH4) ou liquide (acétone) avec de l'air ont été étudiés pour valider le brûleur expérimental et la méthodologie de mesure de la vitesse de flamme laminaire par voie optique. Les évolutions de la vitesse de flamme laminaire pour des carburants de type kérosène (composants purs, surrogate LUCHE et Jet A-1) en fonction de la pression, température de préchauffage et richesse ont été ensuite étudiées et comparées avec des simulations numériques utilisant un mécanisme réactionnel détaillé. La dernière partie de la thèse est consacrée à l'étude de l'influence des composés oxygénés présents dans un biocarburant de seconde génération de type d'essence sur la vitesse de flamme laminaire. Après avoir mesuré la vitesse de flamme laminaire de différentes molécules oxygénées, les effets d'addition de ces composés oxygénés dans le carburant ont été quantifiés / Laminar flame speed is one of the key parameters for understanding reactivity, diffusivity and exothermicity of fuels. It is also useful to validate both the kinetic chemical mechanisms as well as turbulent models. Although laminar flame speeds of many types of fuels have been investigated over many decades using various combustion methodologies, accurate measurements of laminar flame speeds of multicomponent liquid fuels in high-pressure and high-temperature conditions similar to the operating conditions encountered in aircraft/automobile combustion engines are still required. In this current study, a high-pressure combustion chamber was specifically developed to measure the laminar flame speed of multicomponent liquid fuels such as kerosene and second generation of biofuels. The architecture of the burner is based on a preheated premixed Bunsen flame burner operated in elevated pressure and temperature conditions. The optical diagnostics used to measure the laminar flame speed are based on the detection of the flame contour by using OH* chemiluminescence, OH- and acetone/aromatic- Planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF). The laminar flame speed of gaseous CH4/air and acetone/air premixed laminar flames were first measured for validating the experimental setup and the measurement methodologies. Then, the laminar flame speeds of kerosene or surrogate fuels (neat kerosene compounds, LUCHE surrogate kerosene and Jet A-1) were investigated and compared with simulation results using detailed kinetic mechanisms over a large range of conditions including pressure, temperature and equivalence ratio. The last part of the thesis was devoted to study the effect of oxygenated compounds contained in the second generation of biofuels on the laminar flame speeds. After measuring the laminar flame speeds of various oxygenated components present in partially hydro-processed lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis oils, the effect of these oxygenates on the flame speeds of these fuels were quantitatively investigated

This diploma thesis aims to examine the phenomenon of second-generation immigrant associations in Italy and focuses on their efforts to change the 1992 Citizenship Law between 2005 and 2014. The goal of the thesis is to determine whether the style of their argumentation is nationalistic or multicultural. The nationalistic style would point to their identification with Italy as a classical nation state, reflecting an acceptance of Italy's autostereotypes. The multicultural argumentation style would show that their primary frame of reference is the culture of their parents' country of origin and reflect a desire to see Italian society transformed according to multicultural principles, where all cultures are equally respected and esteemed. Christian Joppke's theory of three-dimensional citizenship (status, rights, identity) serves as an instrument for research. Anne-Marie Thiesse's national identity checklist serves as a guideline for distinguishing between nationalistic and post-nationalistic argumentation style. The analysis shows that the dimension these associations refer to the most is identity, which they use to prove their "Italianicity." They conduct their argumentation in a very classical nationalistic style, using themes such as Italian language, national territory, and national cuisine....

The impact of social media in tourism industry is significant. This study examines the role, impact, and relationship of social media platforms among second generation Iranian Swedish in Stockholm as a segment of tourism market when travelling to Iran. In addition, the purpose of this study is to explore if social media has a motivational role for diaspora tourism on second generation of immigrants’ trip to their origin country. The study uses content analysis and online questionnaire to collect data of 22 second generation Iranian diaspora who have traveled to Iran at least once during their lifetime. Three themes were identified from the collected qualitative answers based on the objectives of the research: Iranian diaspora motivations to visit homeland, feelings, and traveler experience by social media. Findings demonstrate the social media platforms are working as a motivation-pull factor influencing second generation immigrants to visit Iran, in much the same as other pull factors do. Also, the results show the User Generated Contents (UGC) such as travelers generated reliable travel information and introduction of new destinations can persuade second generation of diaspora immigrants to go back to their origin country for another visit. Finally, the findings of this research have revealed that two outcomes of trip to Iran by second generation of Iranian immigrants are Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) and visiting tourism attractions. Such outcomes can highly affect the diaspora members’ decisions in planning their travel to their origin country.

Immigration is a contributing factor to population growth in the United States. Ethiopian immigrants who are residing in the United States constitute the second-largest African immigrant group next to Nigeria. The effect of immigrants' identity formation and acculturation process on their social and emotional wellness has drawn behavioral and social scientists' attention. Still, limited research has been devoted to exploring Ethiopian immigrants' acculturation and identity formation processes and how these processes shape 1.5- and second-generation immigrants' perceptions of mental health-related issues. This phenomenological study explored identity formation, acculturation processes, and mental health beliefs in 1.5- and second-generation Ethiopian immigrants. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants. Inductive analysis was used to determine the emergence of 4 themes: (a) participants' acculturation struggle, (b) ethnic identity challenges, (c) protective factors that helped participants to sustain and overcome the challenges and difficulties they faced through the acculturation and identity formation processes, and (d) heritage-based mental health perceptions. These findings have the potential to generate multicultural awareness among immigrants' parents, social workers, educators, policy makers, and mental health providers regarding the challenges young immigrants encounter during the acculturation and ethnic identity formation processes

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