Experimental evaluation of a Chinese sulfur-containing lean iron ore as the oxygen carrier for chemical-looping combustion

A series of chemical-looping combustion (CLC) tests were conducted in a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reactor to investigate the potential of a Chinese sulfur-containing lean iron ore as the oxygen carrier. Two main products of solidfuel pyrolysis and gasification, namely, CH4 and CO, were selected as the reducing gases. Consecutive reduction−oxidation cycles were first carried out in the TGA reactor to evaluate the cyclic stability and agglomeration tendency of the oxygen carrier. The effects of the temperature, fuel gas concentration, and reaction gas composition on the reduction reaction were further investigated. Increasing the reaction temperature or fuel gas concentration enhanced the reduction rate and reaction degree of the oxygen carrier. Meanwhile, CO showed much higher reduction reactivity than CH4. A comparison of the rate index of the iron ore used with those of high-grade minerals indicated that the iron ore had adequate reactivity for its application in solid-fuel CLC technology. The side reaction of carbon deposition was also discussed. Finally, the shrinking-core model with chemical reaction control was adopted to determine the chemical kinetics

Using Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) to Improve Romantic Relationships Can Be a Promising Approach

The romantic relationship refers to the specific relationship in which partners are dependent upon each other to obtain satisfactory outcomes and facilitate the pursuit of their most important needs and goals. Satisfying romantic relationships is a strong predictor of better psychological well-being, better physical health, and longer life expectancy. However, romantic relationships are not all smooth-sailing and lovers are often confronted with a variety of unavoidable issues that constantly challenge the stability of their romantic relationships. Dissatisfying romantic relationships are harmful and even destructive. Dyads of lovers engage in a variety of efforts to protect and maintain their romantic relationships based on qualitative research methods including theories- and psychological consultation-based approaches. Unfortunately, those existing approaches do not seem to effectively improve romantic relationships. Thus, it is necessary to seek an efficient approach regulating dyads of lovers in romantic relationships simultaneously. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with advantages over existing approaches satisfies this purpose. We discuss the practicability of tACS in detail, as well as why and how tACS can be utilized to improve romantic relationships. In summary, this review firstly introduced the concept of romantic relationship and the necessity of enhancing it. Then, it discussed methods to improve romantic relationships including some existing approaches. This review next discussed the practicability of using tACS to improve romantic relationships. Finally, it shone a spotlight on potential future directions for researches aiming to improve romantic relationships

Different Growth Responses of an Invasive Weed and a Native Crop to Nitrogen Pulse and Competition.

Resource pulses are a common event in agro-ecosystems. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the effects of nitrogen (N) pulses and competition on the growth of an invasive weed, Amaranthus retroflexus, and a native crop, Glycine max. A. retroflexus and G. max were planted in pure culture with two individuals of one species in each pot and in mixed culture with one A. retroflexus and one G. max individual and subjected to three N pulse treatments. The N treatments included a no-peak treatment (NP) with N applied stably across the growing period, a single-peak treatment (SP) with only one N addition on the planting date, and a double-peak treatment (DP) with two N additions, one on the planting date and the other on the flowering date. N pulse significantly impacted biomass and height of the two species across the whole growing season. However, only the relative growth rate (RGR) of A. retroflexus was significantly affected by N pulse. A. retroflexus had the greatest biomass and height in the SP treatment at the first harvest, and in the DP treatment at the last three harvests. Pure culture G. max produced the greatest biomass in the DP treatment. In mixed culture, G. max produced the greatest biomass in the NP treatment. Biomass production of both species was significantly influenced by species combination, with higher biomass in mixed culture than in pure culture at most growth stages. Relative yield total (RYT) values were all greater than 1.0 at the last three harvests across the three N treatments, suggesting partial resource complementarity occurred when A. retroflexus is grown with G. max. These results indicate that A. retroflexus has a strong adaptive capacity to reduce interspecific competition, likely leading to its invasion of G. max cropland in China

The Coordinated Development and Regulation Research on Public Health, Ecological Environment and Economic Development: Evidence from the Yellow River Basin of China

The dual problems of the public crisis from the global epidemic and the deterioration of the ecological environment constrain the economic development in the Yellow River Basin. To promote the sustainable and balanced development in the Yellow River Basin, this paper takes public health, ecological environment, and economic development, as a whole, to study the coordinated development of the Yellow River Basin. Based on coupling coordinated theory, we use the SMI-P method to evaluate the coordinated development index of public health, the ecological environment, and economic development in the Yellow River Basin. Moreover, we use the coordinated regulation and obstacle factor diagnosis to identify the main influencing factors and design regulation methods to optimize the coordinated development index. The results found that (1), during the research period, there is spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the coordinated development level in the Yellow River Basin. From 2009 to 2019, the overall development index increased steadily, while the regional disparity in the coordinated development level was obvious. (2) The ecological environment indicators contribute more to the relevance and obstacle factors, such as the average concentration of fine particulate matter, per capita arable land area, afforestation area, etc. (3) After regulating the overall development level of the Yellow River Basin, we prove that Path 4, which comprehensively considers the relevance and obstacle factors, performs better

F-values for the effects of nitrogen pulses (N) and sampling date (D) on relative yield per plant (RYP) and relative yield total (RYT) in <i>A</i>. <i>retroflexus</i> (A) and <i>G</i>. <i>max</i> (G) (Two-way RMANOVA).

<p>F-values for the effects of nitrogen pulses (N) and sampling date (D) on relative yield per plant (RYP) and relative yield total (RYT) in <i>A</i>. <i>retroflexus</i> (A) and <i>G</i>. <i>max</i> (G) (Two-way RMANOVA).</p

Changes in root, shoot, and total biomass of <i>A</i>. <i>retroflexus</i> (<i>A</i>. <i>r</i>) and <i>G</i>. <i>max</i> (<i>G</i>. <i>m</i>).

<p>Plants were grown in pure culture (pure) or mixed culture (mix) in the three N pulsed treatments (SP, single-peak treatment; DP, double-peak treatment; NP, no-peak treatment). All values are the average ±S.E.</p

Changes in height of <i>A</i>. <i>retroflexus</i> (<i>A</i>. <i>r</i>) and <i>G</i>. <i>max</i> (<i>G</i>. <i>m</i>).

<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0156285#pone.0156285.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> for abbreviations. All values are the average ±S.E.</p

F-values for the effects of nitrogen pulses (N), competition (C), and sampling date (D) on root, shoot, total biomass (Total), height (H), and relative growth rate (RGR) in <i>A</i>. <i>retroflexus</i> and <i>G</i>. <i>max</i> (Three-way RMANOVA).

<p>F-values for the effects of nitrogen pulses (N), competition (C), and sampling date (D) on root, shoot, total biomass (Total), height (H), and relative growth rate (RGR) in <i>A</i>. <i>retroflexus</i> and <i>G</i>. <i>max</i> (Three-way RMANOVA).</p