Overall Evaluation of Combustion and NO_<i>x</i> Emissions for a Down-Fired 600 MW_e Supercritical Boiler with Multiple Injection and Multiple Staging

To achieve significant reductions in NO_<i>x</i> emissions and to eliminate strongly asymmetric combustion found in down-fired boilers, a deep-air-staging combustion technology was trialed in a down-fired 600 MW_e supercritical utility boiler. By performing industrial-sized measurements taken of gas temperatures and species concentrations in the near wing-wall region, carbon in fly ash and NO_<i>x</i> emissions at various settings, effects of overfire air (OFA) and staged-air damper openings on combustion characteristics, and NO_<i>x</i> emissions within the furnace were experimentally determined. With increasing the OFA damper opening, both fluctuations in NO_<i>x</i> emissions and carbon in fly ash were initially slightly over OFA damper openings of 0–40% but then lengthened dramatically in openings of 40–70% (i.e., NO_<i>x</i> emissions reduced sharply accompanied by an apparent increase in carbon in fly ash). Decreasing the staged-air declination angle clearly increased the combustible loss but slightly influenced NO_<i>x</i> emissions. In comparison with OFA, the staged-air influence on combustion and NO_<i>x</i> emissions was clearly weaker. Only at a high OFA damper opening of 50%, the staged-air effect was relatively clear, i.e., enlarging the staged-air damper opening decreased carbon in fly ash and slightly raised NO_<i>x</i> emissions. By sharply opening the OFA damper to deepen the air-staging conditions, although NO_<i>x</i> emissions could finally reduce to 503 mg/m³ at 6% O₂ (i.e., an ultralow NO_<i>x</i> level for down-fired furnaces), carbon in fly ash jumped sharply to 15.10%. For economical and environment-friendly boiler operations, an optimal damper opening combination (i.e., 60%, 50%, and 50% for secondary air, staged-air, and OFA damper openings, respectively) was recommended for the furnace, at which carbon in fly ash and NO_<i>x</i> emissions attained levels of about 10% and 850 mg/m³ at 6% O₂, respectively

DataSheet_1_Inflammatory bowel diseases, interleukin-6 and interleukin-6 receptor subunit alpha in causal association with cerebral cortical structure: a Mendelian randomization analysis.pdf

BackgroundNeurological involvement and psychiatric manifestations have been documented in clinical cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, the presence of a causal relationship remains elusive. The objective of this study is to investigate the modifications occurring in the cerebral cortex as a result of IBD.MethodsA compendium of data extracted from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving a maximum of 133,380 European subjects. A series of Mendelian random analyses were applied to exclude heterogeneity and pleiotropy, ensuring the stability of the results.ResultsNeither IBDs nor inflammatory cytokines (IL-6/IL-6Rα) were found to have a significant causality with surface area (SA) and thickness (TH) at the global level. At the regional functional brain level, Crohn’s disease (CD) significantly decreased the TH of pars orbitalis (β=-0.003mm, Se=0.001mm, pivw =4.85×10-4). IL-6 was observed to reduce the SA of middle temporal (β=-28.575mm2, Se=6.482mm2, pivw=1.04×10-5) and increase the TH of fusiform (β=0.008mm, Se=0.002mm, pivw=8.86×10-5) and pars opercularis (β=0.009mm, Se=0.002mm, pivw=2.34×10-4). Furthermore, a causal relationship between IL-6Rα and an increase in the SA of superior frontal (β=21.132mm2, Se=5.806mm2, pivw=2.73×10-4) and the TH of supramarginal (β=0.003mm, Se=0.0002mm, pivw=7.86×10-37). All results passed sensitivity analysis and no heterogeneity and pleiotropy were detected.ConclusionThe correlation between IBD and changes in cerebral cortical structures implies the existence of a gut-brain axis at the organismal level. It is recommended that clinical patients with IBD prioritize long-term management of inflammation, as changes at the organismal level can lead to functional pathologies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be considered as an additional screening option for IBD.</p

DataSheet_1_Rational design of antibodies and development of a novel method for (1–3)-β-D glucan detection as an alternative to Limulus amebocyte lysate assay.docx

With advances in medicine, increasing medical interventions have increased the risk of invasive fungal disease development. (1-3)-β-D glucan (BDG) is a common fungal biomarker in serological tests. However, the scarcity of Limulus resources for BDG detection poses a challenge. This study addresses the need for an alternative to Limulus amebocyte lysate by using BDG mutant antibody for chemiluminescence detection. The wild-type BDG antibody was obtained by immunizing rabbits. An optimal V52HI/N34L Y mutant antibody, which has increased 3.7-fold of the testing efficiency compared to the wild-type antibody, was first achieved by mutating “hot-spot” residues that contribute to strong non-covalent bonds, as determined by alanine scanning and molecular dynamics simulation. The mutant was then applied to develop the magnetic particle chemiluminescence method. 574 clinical samples were tested using the developed method, with a cutoff value of 95 pg/mL set by Limulus amebocyte lysate. The receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.905 (95% CI: 0.880–0.929). Chemiluminescence detected an antigen concentration of 89.98 pg/mL, exhibiting a sensitivity of 83.33% and specificity of 89.76%. In conclusion, the results showed a good agreement with Limulus amebocyte lysate and demonstrated the feasibility of using BDG mutant antibodies for invasive fungal disease diagnosis. The new method based on chemiluminescence for detecting BDG could shorten the sample-to-result time to approximately 30 min, rescue Limulus from being endangered and is resource efficient in terms of equipment and the non-use of a skilled technician.</p

Combustion and NO_<i>x</i> Emission Characteristics with Respect to Staged-Air Damper Opening in a 600 MW_e Down-Fired Pulverized-Coal Furnace under Deep-Air-Staging Conditions

Deep-air-staging combustion conditions, widely used in tangential-fired and wall-arranged furnaces to significantly reduce NO_<i>x</i> emissions, are premature up to now in down-fired furnaces that are designed especially for industry firing low-volatile coals such as anthracite and lean coal. To uncover combustion and NO_<i>x</i> emission characteristics under deep-air-staging conditions within a newly operated 600 MW_e down-fired furnace and simultaneously understand the staged-air effect on the furnace performance, full-load industrial-size measurements taken of gas temperatures and species concentrations in the furnace, CO and NO_<i>x</i> emissions in flue gas, and carbon in fly ash were performed at various staged-air damper openings of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50%. Increasing the staged-air damper opening, gas temperatures along the flame travel (before the flame penetrating the staged-air zone) increased initially but then decreased, while those in the staged-air zone and the upper part of the hopper continuously decreased and increased, respectively. On opening the staged-air damper to further deepen the air-staging conditions, O₂ content initially decreased but then increased in both two near-wall regions affected by secondary air and staged air, respectively, whereas CO content in both two regions initially increased but then decreased. In contrast to the conventional understanding about the effects of deep-air-staging conditions, here increasing the staged-air damper opening to deepen the air-staging conditions essentially decreased the exhaust gas temperature and carbon in fly ash and simultaneously increased both NO_<i>x</i> emissions and boiler efficiency. In light of apparently low NO_<i>x</i> emissions and high carbon in fly ash (i.e., 696–878 mg/m³ at 6% O₂ and 9.81–13.05%, respectively) developing in the down-fired furnace under the present deep-air-staging conditions, further adjustments such as enlarging the staged-air declination angle to prolong pulverized-coal residence times in the furnace should be considered to improve the deep-air-staging combustion configuration

Managing biological invasions: the cost of inaction

Ecological and socioeconomic impacts from biological invasions are rapidly escalating worldwide. While effective management underpins impact mitigation, such actions are often delayed, insufficient or entirely absent. Presently, management delays emanate from a lack of monetary rationale to invest at early invasion stages, which precludes effective prevention and eradication. Here, we provide such rationale by developing a conceptual model to quantify the cost of inaction, i.e., the additional expenditure due to delayed management, under varying time delays and management efficiencies. Further, we apply the model to management and damage cost data from a relatively data-rich genus (Aedes mosquitoes). Our model demonstrates that rapid management interventions following invasion drastically minimise costs. We also identify key points in time that differentiate among scenarios of timely, delayed and severely delayed management intervention. Any management action during the severely delayed phase results in substantial losses (> 50 % of the potential maximum loss). For Aedes spp., we estimate that the existing management delay of 55 years led to an additional total cost of approximately $4.57 billion (14$ 32.31 billion, or more than seven times the observed inaction cost. These results highlight the need for more timely management of invasive alien species—either pre-invasion, or as soon as possible after detection—by demonstrating how early investments rapidly reduce long-term economic impacts