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High-solids simultaneous saccharification and fermentation integrating single-stage anaerobic digestion was designed for bioenergy conversion from steam-exploded Pennisetum purpereum , a perennial C 4 grass. Three scenarios for ethanol production, methane production and ethanol-methane co-production were investigated and compared in terms of production yield. A terminal ethanol titer of 62.6 ± 1.9 g/L with the highest ethanol yield of 90.9% was achieved when the fed-batch mode was carried out at a final substrate loading of 35% (w/v) dry matter content. The ethanol stillage was used for methane production in a semi-continuous CSTR system operated with different organic loading rates (OLRs) at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 30 days. The high performance was achieved at OLR of 6.0 g VS·L −1  d −1 , average yielding 358.7L CH 4 per kilogram volatile solid (VS) with a total VS removal rate of 73.8%. On the basis of mass balance, the overall production yield achieved in this study was: 121.6 g ethanol + 110.6 g methane per kilogram grass with a finally 89.6% of cellulose recovery + 62.5% hemicellulose recovery. These results indicated that the high-solids ethanol fermentation with single-stage methane anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass is a valid approach to maximize the holocellulose bioconversion and improve the bioenergy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal strain rate, derived from GPS velocities from the Tibetan Plateau and the India Plate, shows that the Himalayan tectonic belt exhibits compression deformation in a NE–NS–NE direction from the west to the east. The GPS velocity profiles reflect that the distribution of strain accumulation is uneven: there is a 17.1 mm/yr. compressive deformation distributed over 400 km along 85° E longitude, a 20.9–22.2 mm/yr. compressive deformation dispersed across 400–500 km along 79° E longitude, and a 15.3–16.9 mm/yr. compressive deformation spread across 500–600 km along 91° E longitude. The M W 7.8 Gorkha earthquake occurred at the edge of an intense compression deformation zone of about 6.0 × 10 − 8 /yr. in a north–south direction, and an about 90% compressive strain is absorbed in the 300 km region near the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT). Coseismic displacements, larger than three standard deviations (3SD), are mainly concentrated within 360 km from the epicenter. The nodal plane of the main shock divides the areas where tensile strain release in an exponential attenuation pattern is dominant to the north, and where compressive strain with upward movement is dominant to the south. The results inversed by the SDM program reveal that the maximal slip of the Gorkha earthquake is 5.33 m, and its moment magnitude is M W 7.85, and the largest stress drop is 4.21 Mpa. Slips larger than 0.5 m are mainly distributed in a region approximately 135 km × 105 km, which show that the rupture of the Gorkha earthquake does not reach the surface. Finally, we estimate that the recurrence period of this earthquake is about 166 ± 20 years according to the strain accumulation before the earthquake and the coseismic release feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]