Association between Virulence Factors and TRAF1/4-1BB/Bcl-xL

Objective. CagA+/vacAs1+/vacAm1+ Helicobacter pylori upregulates the expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor–associated factor 1 (TRAF1), tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 9 (4-1BB), and B-cell lymphoma-extra large (Bcl-xL) in human gastric epithelial cells. We investigated the correlation between cagA/vacAs1/vacAm1 and TRAF1/4-1BB/Bcl-xL expression in gastric mucosal tissue of patients with gastric disorders. Methods. We collected gastric mucosa samples from 35 chronic, nonatrophic gastritis (CG) patients, 41 atrophic gastritis patients, 44 intestinal metaplasia with atypical hyperplasia (IM) patients, and 28 gastric carcinoma (Ca) patients. The expression of  TRAF1, 4-1BB, and Bcl-xL was determined using western blotting. The expression of cagA, vacAs1, and vacAm1 in H. pylori was examined with polymerase chain reaction. Results. The expression of TRAF1, 4-1BB, and Bcl-xL was significantly upregulated in IM and Ca patients (P<0.05 compared with CG). There were more cases of cagA+/vacAs1+/vacAm1+ H. pylori infection in samples with elevated TRAF1, 4-1BB, or Bcl-xL expression (P<0.05). Additionally, there were a remarkably large number of samples with upregulated TRAF1/4-1BB/Bcl-xL expression in cases of cagA+/vacAs1+/vacAm1+ H. pylori infection (44 cases, 67.7%; P<0.05). Conclusions. The pathogenesis of IM and Ca may be promoted by cagA+/vacAs1+/vacAm1+ H. pylori, possibly via upregulated TRAF1, 4-1BB, and Bcl-xL in gastric mucosal tissue

Biomass and Coal Modification to Prepare Activated Coke for Desulfurization and Denitrification

SO2 and NOx in flue gas are serious environmental pollutants. As an excellent adsorbent, activated coke has good application potential in flue gas desulfurization and denitrification. In this study, different concentrations of NH3 and K2CO3 solutions were used to modify the activated coke made from biomass and coal, and then separate and coordinated desulfurization and denitrification experiments were carried out. The adsorption efficiency of activated coke and the adsorption capacity of SO2 and NO were compared, and the adsorption relationship between SO2 and NO was clarified. The changes of the surface functional groups of activated coke before and after adsorption and the forms of SO2 and NO after adsorption were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and X-ray diffractometer patterns. Results show that K2CO3 and NH3 modification can promote the adsorption of SO2 and NO in activated coke, and K2CO3 modification is more significant for improving the denitrification and desulfurization capacity. When the unmodified activated coke synergistically adsorbs SO2 and NO, there is a competitive adsorption between NO and SO2. However, when the activated coke modified with K2CO3 solution and NH3 synergistically adsorbs SO2 and NO, both have a promoting effect. After the adsorption of NH3-modified activated coke, CaSO4 and Na2SO4 crystals will appear. K2SO4 will exist after the adsorption of activated coke modified with K2CO3 solution

Measurement of gas species, temperatures, char burnout, and wall heat fluxes in a 200-MWe lignite-fired boiler at different loads

We measured various operational parameters of a 200-MWe, wall-fired, lignite utility boiler under different loads. The parameters measured were gas temperature, gas species concentration, char burnout, component release rates (C, H and N), furnace temperature, heat flux, and boiler efficiency. Cold air experiments of a single burner were conducted in the laboratory. A double swirl flow pulverized-coal burner has two ring recirculation zones that start in the secondary air region of the burner. With increasing secondary air flow, the air flow axial velocity increases, the maximum values for the radial velocity, tangential velocity, and turbulence intensity all increase, and there are slight increases in the air flow swirl intensity and the recirculation zone size. With increasing load gas, the temperature and CO concentration in the central region of burner decrease, while O2 concentration, NOx concentration, char burnout, and component release rates of C, H, and N increase. Pulverized-coal ignites farther into the burner, in the secondary air region. Gas temperature, O2 concentration, NOx concentration, char burnout and component release rates of C, H, and N all increase. Furthermore, CO concentration varies slightly and pulverized-coal ignites closer. In the side wall region, gas temperature, O2 concentration, and NOx concentration all increase, but CO concentration varies only slightly. In the bottom row burner region the furnace temperature and heat flux increase appreciably, but the increase become more obvious in the middle and top row burner regions and in the burnout region. Compared with a 120-MWe load, the mean NOx emission at the air preheater exits for 190-MWe load increases from 589.5 mg/m3 (O2 = 6%) to 794.6 mg/m3 (O2 = 6%), and the boiler efficiency increases from 90.73% to 92.45%.Lignite-fired utility boiler Swirl burner Air flow characteristic NOx

Biomass and Coal Modification to Prepare Activated Coke for Desulfurization and Denitrification

SO2 and NOx in flue gas are serious environmental pollutants. As an excellent adsorbent, activated coke has good application potential in flue gas desulfurization and denitrification. In this study, different concentrations of NH3 and K2CO3 solutions were used to modify the activated coke made from biomass and coal, and then separate and coordinated desulfurization and denitrification experiments were carried out. The adsorption efficiency of activated coke and the adsorption capacity of SO2 and NO were compared, and the adsorption relationship between SO2 and NO was clarified. The changes of the surface functional groups of activated coke before and after adsorption and the forms of SO2 and NO after adsorption were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and X-ray diffractometer patterns. Results show that K2CO3 and NH3 modification can promote the adsorption of SO2 and NO in activated coke, and K2CO3 modification is more significant for improving the denitrification and desulfurization capacity. When the unmodified activated coke synergistically adsorbs SO2 and NO, there is a competitive adsorption between NO and SO2. However, when the activated coke modified with K2CO3 solution and NH3 synergistically adsorbs SO2 and NO, both have a promoting effect. After the adsorption of NH3-modified activated coke, CaSO4 and Na2SO4 crystals will appear. K2SO4 will exist after the adsorption of activated coke modified with K2CO3 solution

Adaptive Fuzzy Synchronization of Fractional-Order Chaotic (Hyperchaotic) Systems with Input Saturation and Unknown Parameters

We investigate the synchronization problem of fractional-order chaotic systems with input saturation and unknown external disturbance by means of adaptive fuzzy control. An adaptive controller, accompanied with fractional adaptation law, is established, fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, and the fractional Lyapunov stability theorem is used to analyze the stability. This control method can realize the synchronization of two fractional-order chaotic or hyperchaotic systems and the synchronization error tends to zero asymptotically. Finally, we show the effectiveness of the proposed method by two simulation examples

Spatiotemporal behavior pattern differentiation and preference identification of tourists from the perspective of ecotourism destination based on the tourism digital footprint data.

Tourist impact management in ecotourism destinations requires an accurate description of tourists' spatiotemporal behavior patterns and recreation preferences to minimize the ecological environmental impact and maximize the recreation experience. This study classified tourist behaviors into five typical behavior patterns based on the digital footprints of tourists visiting Ziwuyu of the Qinling Mountains, including 348 traveling tracks and 750 corresponding geotagged photographs: short-distance, traversing, reentrant, large loop, and small loop. Furthermore, each behavior pattern's recreation preference was identified using photograph analysis. Tourists with large-loop and reentrant behavior patterns have 89.8% and 30% chances of visiting Jianshanding, respectively. Key protected areas are faced with the risk of ecological environmental damage. Based on the behavior pattern differentiation and preference of tourists, this paper provides a decision-making basis for the classified management and guidance of tourists in ecotourism destinations. It has reference value for the management of similar ecotourism destinations

Combustion and NOx emission characteristics of a retrofitted down-fired 660Â MWe utility boiler at different loads

Industrial experiments were performed for a retrofitted 660 MWe full-scale down-fired boiler. Measurements of ignition of the primary air/fuel mixture flow, the gas temperature distribution of the furnace and the gas components in the furnace were conducted at loads of 660, 550 and 330 MWe. With decreasing load, the gas temperature decreases and the ignition position of the primary coal/air flow becomes farther along the axis of the fuel-rich pipe in the burner region under the arches. The furnace temperature also decreases with decreasing load, as does the difference between the temperatures in the burning region and the lower position of the burnout region. With decreasing load, the exhaust gas temperature decreases from 129.8 °C to 114.3 °C, while NOx emissions decrease from 2448 to 1610 mg/m3. All three loads result in low carbon content in fly ash and great boiler thermal efficiency higher than 92%. Compared with the case of 660 MWe before retrofit, the exhaust gas temperature decreased from 136 to 129.8 °C, the carbon content in the fly ash decreased from 9.55% to 2.43% and the boiler efficiency increased from 84.54% to 93.66%.Down-fired boiler Retrofit Carbon content in fly ash Thermal efficiency

Typical Damage Prediction and Reliability Analysis of Superheater Tubes in Power Station Boilers Based on Multisource Data Analysis

The superheater and re-heater piping components in supercritical thermal power units are prone to creep and fatigue failure fracture after extensive use due to the high pressure and temperature environment. Therefore, safety assessment for superheaters and re-heaters in such an environment is critical. However, the actual service operation data is frequently insufficient, resulting in low accuracy of the safety assessment. Based on such problems, in order to address the issues of susceptibility of superheater and re-heater piping components to creep, inaccurate fatigue failure fracture, and creep–fatigue coupling rupture in a safety assessment, their remaining life prediction and reliability, as well as the lack of actual service operation data, multisource heterogeneous data generated from actual service of power plants combined with deep learning technology was used in this paper. As such, three real-time operating conditions’ data (temperature, pressure, and stress amplitude) during equipment operation are predicted by training a deep learning architecture long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network suitable for processing time-series data and a backpropagation through time (BPTT) algorithm is used to optimize the model and compared with the actual physical model. Damage assessment and life prediction of final superheater tubes of power station boilers are carried out. The Weibull distribution model is used to obtain the trend of cumulative failure risk change and assess and predict the safety condition of the overall system of pressurized components of power station boilers