Little is known about the origin and long-term evolutionary mode of retroviruses. Retroviruses can integrate into their hosts' genomes, providing a molecular fossil record for studying their deep history. Here we report the discovery of an endogenous foamy virus-like element, which we designate 'coelacanth endogenous foamy-like virus' (CoeEFV), within the genome of the coelacanth (Latimeria cha...

Endogenous retroviruses provide important insights into the deep history of this viral lineage. Endogenous foamy viruses are thought to be very rare and only a few cases have been identified to date. Here we report a novel endogenous foamy virus (CaEFV) within the genome of the Cape golden mole (Chrysochloris asiatica). The identification of CaEFV reveals the presence of foamy virus in the plac...

Knowledge of the solubility characteristics of an oiVrefrigerant mixture is important when analyzing the lubrication system behavior in refrigerant compressors since the solubility significantly affects the viscosity of the mixture. For an operating compressor, the lubricant is a mixture of oil and refrigerant and the viscosity of the mixture is a strong function of the refrigerant concentratio...

Diesel is a fossil fuel that is getting depleted at a fast rate. So an alternative fuel is necessary and a need of the hour. Neem oil, which is cultivated in India at large scales, has a high potential to become an alternative fuel to replace diesel fuel. Direct use of Neem oil cannot be done, as its viscosity is more than the diesel fuel, and hence affects the combustion characteristics. The N...

Used cooking or frying oils are of increasing interest as inexpensive feedstock for biodiesel production. In this work, used frying oils obtained from 16 local restaurants were investigated regarding their fatty acid profile vs. the fatty acid profile of the oil or fat prior to use. The fatty acid profiles were analyzed by gas chromatography and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. B...

Dynamic force measurements have been made between an oil drop and a silica particle in surfactant and sucrose solutions with viscosities that range up to 50 times that of water. These conditions provide variations in the shear rate and the relative time scales of droplet deformation and hydrodynamic drainage in a soft matter system. The results obtained indicate that soft deformable boundaries ...

The main objective of this work is to upgrade a diesel oil sample from Shiraz Oil Refining Co. (SORC) to reduce the sulfur content, as well as break the kinematic viscosity of the feedstock. Effects of several operating parameters including volume of hydrogen peroxide/acetic acid as an oxidant mixture, amounts of tetraoctylammonium bromide as a phase transfer agent (PTA) and phosphotungstic aci...

In biodiesel preparation from vegetable oils and alcohol through transesterification process in the presence of a catalyst, excess alcohol, typically 100% more than the theoretical molar requirement, is used in existing batch and continuous-flow processes in order to drive the reversible transesterification reaction to a high enough conversion rate. The excess alcohol needs to be recovered in a...

A rheometer system to measure the rheology of crude oil in equilibrium with carbon dioxide (CO2) at high temperatures and pressures is described. The system comprises a high-pressure rheometer which is connected to a circulation loop. The rheometer has a rotational flow-through measurement cell with two alternative geometries: coaxial cylinder and double gap. The circulation loop contains a mix...