H2 pressure swing adsorption for IGCC power plant and techno-economic analysis of integrating PSA to IGCC with carbon capture

Carbon capture and sequestration technologies emerge as the effectual remediation processes to reduce CO2 emissions from coal power plants. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a representative technology for utilizing coal as feedstock and is consequently playing a more important role to cover the global energy demand. The IGCC produces H2-rich mixture at high pressures (30-35 bar) after capturing CO2. It is reported that the high purity H2 recovered from the IGCC process can be economically supplied to a hydrogen turbine or fuel cell. And a PSA process is a strong candidate to produce high purity H2 from the IGCC effluent gas. However, due to higher operating pressure than the present H2 PSA processes, reducing the operating costs and efficiency has emerged as one of the key issues. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Agaricus blazei Extract Induces Apoptosis through ROS-Dependent JNK Activation Involving the Mitochondrial Pathway and Suppression of Constitutive NF-κB in THP-1 Cells

Agaricus blazei is widely accepted as a traditional medicinal mushroom, and it has been known to exhibit immunostimulatory and anti-cancer activity. However, the apoptotic mechanism in cancer cells is poorly understood. In this study, we have investigated whether A. blazei extract (ABE) exerts antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in human leukemic THP-1 cells. We observed that ABE-induced apoptosis is associated with the mitochondrial pathway, which is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and prolonged c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation. In addition, the ABE treatment resulted in the accumulation of cytochrome c in the cytoplasm, an increase in caspase activity, and an upregulation of Bax and Bad. With those results in mind, we found that ABE decreases constitutive NF-κB activation and NF-κB-regulated gene products such as IAP-1 and -2. We concluded that ABE induces apoptosis with ROS-dependent JNK activation and constitutive activated NF-κB inhibition in THP-1 cells

Zanthoxylum ailanthoides

Zanthoxylum ailanthoides (ZA) has been used as folk medicines in East Asian and recently reported to have several bioactivity; however, the studies of ZA on the regulation of triacylglycerol (TG) biosynthesis have not been elucidated yet. In this study, we examined whether the methanol extract of ZA (ZA-M) could reduce oleic acid- (OA-) induced intracellular lipid accumulation and confirmed its mode of action in HepG2 cells. ZA-M was shown to promote the phosphorylation of AMPK and its upstream LKB1, followed by reduction of lipogenic gene expressions. As a result, treatment of ZA-M blocked de novo TG biosynthesis and subsequently mitigated intracellular neutral lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells. ZA-M also inhibited OA-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and TNF-α, suggesting that ZA-M possess the anti-inflammatory feature in fatty acid over accumulated condition. Taken together, these results suggest that ZA-M attenuates OA-induced lipid accumulation and inflammation through the activation of LKB1/AMPK signaling pathway in HepG2 cells

TSLP Induces Mast Cell Development and Aggravates Allergic Reactions through the Activation of MDM2 and STAT6

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is known to promote T helper type 2 cell–associated inflammation. Mast cells are major effector cells in allergic inflammatory responses. We noted that the population and maturation of mast cells were reduced in TSLP-deficient mice (TSLP-/-). Thus, we hypothesized that TSLP might affect mast cell development. We found that TSLP induced the proliferation and differentiation of mast cells from bone marrow progenitors. TSLP-induced mast cell proliferation was abolished by depletion of mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) and signal transducers and activators of transcription 6 (STAT6), as an upstream activator of MDM2. TSLP-/-, in particular, had a considerable deficit in the expression of MDM2 and STAT6. Also, the TSLP deficiency attenuated mast cell–mediated allergic reactions through the downregulation of STAT6 and MDM2. In an antibody microarray chip analysis, MDM2 expression was increased in atopic dermatitis patients. These observations indicate that TSLP is a factor for mast cell development, and that it aggravates mast cell–mediated immune responses

MDR-1 gene expression is a minor factor in determining the multidrug resistance phenotype of MCF7/ADR and KB-V1 cells

AbstractThe relevance of MDR-1 gene expression to the multidrug resistance phenotype was investigated. Drug-resistant cells, KB-V1 and MCF7/ADR, constantly expressed mRNA of the MDR-1 gene and were more resistant to vinblastine and adriamycin than drug-sensitive cells, KB-3–1 and MCF7. The drug efflux rate of KB-V1 was the same as KB-3–1 although the MDR-1 gene was expressed in only the resistant cell. The higher intracellular drug concentration of KB-3–1 than KB-V1 was due to the large drug influx. In the case of MCF7 and MCF7/ADR, the influx and efflux of the drug had nearly the same pattern and drug efflux was not affected by verapamil. The amount of ATP, cofactor of drug pumping activity of P-glycoprotein, was not changed by the resistance. These observations suggested that drug efflux mediated by MDR-1 gene expression was not a major determining factor of drug resistance in the present cell systems, and that the drug resistance could be derived from the change in drug uptake and other mechanisms

In situ rumen degradability characteristics of rice straw, soybean curd residue and peppermint (Mentha piperita) in Hanwoo steer (Bos Taurus coreanae)

This study was intended to evaluate in situ rumen degradability characteristic of soybean curd residue (SCR) and peppermint compared to rice straw, which are used as a functional feed source for beef cattle for high quality beef production. Two steers were fitted with rumen and duodenum cannulae and in situ degradable and nylon bags were used to assess digestion of rice straw, SCR and peppermint in three replicated experiments. The highly effective dry matter (DM) degradability of peppermint was attributable to the high rate of the a and b fractions. Dry matter disappearance rate of SCR after 48 h was higher (p < 0.05) than that of peppermint. Based on DM disappearance, SCR showed the highest digestibility (p < 0.05). Crude protein disappearance (%) was higher for SCR and peppermint than rice straw (p < 0.05), and neutral detergent fibre disappearance (%) was higher for SCR (p < 0.05). Soybean curd residue and peppermint have great nutritive values as feed sources for ruminants, and using SCR and peppermint would have possibilities for efficient and functional livestock production.Keywords: Beef cattle, digestibility, effective degradability, soybean curd residue, peppermintAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(14), pp. 1710-171

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate protects toluene diisocyanate-induced airway inflammation in a murine model of asthma

AbstractEpigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major form of tea catechin, has anti-allergic properties. To elucidate the anti-allergic mechanisms of EGCG, we investigated its regulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9) expression in toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-inhalation lung tissues as well as TNF-α and Th2 cytokine (IL-5) production in BAL fluid. Compared with untreated asthmatic mice those administrated with EGCG had significantly reduced asthmatic reaction. Also, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by TDI inhalation was diminished by administration of EGCG in BAL fluid. These results suggest that EGCG regulates inflammatory cell migration possibly by suppressing MMP-9 production and ROS generation, and indicate that EGCG may be useful as an adjuvant therapy for bronchial asthma

Incidence and Risk Factors Associated with Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome following Surgical Correction of Scoliosis

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. PURPOSE: To more accurately determine the incidence and clarify risk factors. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is one of the possible complications following correctional operation for scoliosis. However, when preliminary symptoms are vague, the diagnosis of superior mesenteric artery syndrome may be easily missed. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using clinical data from 118 patients (43 men and 75 women) who underwent correctional operations for scoliosis between September 2001 and August 2007. The mean patient age was 15.9 years (range 9~24 years). The risk factors under scrutiny were the patient body mass index (BMI), change in Cobb's angle, and trunk length. RESULTS: The incidence of subjects confirmed to have obstruction was 2.5%. However, the rate increased to 7.6% with the inclusion of the 6 subjects who only showed clinical symptoms of obstruction without confirmative study. The BMI for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were 18.4+/-3.4 and 14.6+/-3, respectively. The change in Cobb's angle for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were 24.8+/-13.6 degrees and 23.4+/-9.1 degrees , respectively. The change in trunk length for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were 2.3+/-2.1 cm and 4.5+/-4.8 cm, respectively. Differences in Cobb's angle and the change in trunk length between the two groups did not reach statistical significance, although there was a greater increase in trunk length for the symptomatic group than for the asymptomatic group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the incidence of superior mesenteric artery syndrome may be greater than the previously accepted rate of 4.7%. Therefore, in the face of any early signs or symptoms of superior mesenteric artery syndrome, prompt recognition and treatment are necessaryope

Gene-based copy number variation study reveals a microdeletion at 12q24 that influences height in the Korean population

AbstractHeight is a classic polygenic trait with high heritability (h2=0.8). Recent genome-wide association studies have revealed many independent loci associated with human height. In addition, although many studies have reported an association between copy number variation (CNV) and complex diseases, few have explored the relationship between CNV and height. Recent studies reported that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are highly correlated with common CNVs, suggesting that it is warranted to survey CNVs to identify additional genetic factors affecting heritable traits such as height.This study tested the hypothesis that there would be CNV regions (CNVRs) associated with height nearby genes from the GWASs known to affect height. We identified regions containing >1% copy number deletion frequency from 3667 population-based cohort samples using the Illumina HumanOmni1-Quad BeadChip. Among the identified CNVRs, we selected 15 candidate regions that were located within 1Mb of 283 previously reported genes. To assess the effect of these CNVRs on height, statistical analyses were conducted with samples from a case group of 370 taller (upper 10%) individuals and a control group of 1828 individuals (lower 50%).We found that a newly identified 17.7kb deletion at chromosomal position 12q24.33, approximately 171.6kb downstream of GPR133, significantly correlated with height; this finding was validated using quantitative PCR. These results suggest that CNVs are potentially important in determining height and may contribute to height variation in human populations