The Role of Serial NT-ProBNP Level in Prognosis and Follow-Up Treatment of Acute Heart Failure after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

BACKGROUND: After coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, heart failure is still major problem. The valuable marker for it is needed. AIM: Evaluating the role of serial NT-proBNP level in prognosis and follow-up treatment of acute heart failure after CABG surgery. METHODS: The prospective, analytic study evaluated 107 patients undergoing CABG surgery at Ho Chi Minh Heart Institute from October 2012 to June 2014. Collecting data was done at pre- and post-operative days with measuring NT-proBNP levels on the day before operation, 2 hours after surgery, every next 24 h until the 5th day, and in case of acute heart failure occurred after surgery. RESULTS: On the first postoperative day (POD1), the NT-proBNP level demonstrated significant value for AHF with the cut-off point = 817.8 pg/mL and AUC = 0.806. On the second and third postoperative day, the AUC value of NT- was 0.753 and 0.751. It was statistically significant in acute heart failure group almost at POD 1 and POD 2 when analyzed by the doses of dobutamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline (both low doses and normal doses). CONCLUSION: Serial measurement of NT-proBNP level provides useful prognostic and follow-up treatment information in acute heart failure after CABG surgery

Distribution and Characteristics of Nanotubular Halloysites in the Thach Khoan Area, Phu Tho, Vietnam

Two types of halloysite collected from the upper (UPS) and lower (LOS) zones of a weathered pegmatite profile in the Thach Khoan area, Phu Tho were defined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal analysis (TG and DTG), and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. XRD analysis showed that halloysite and kaolinite coexist in samples of size fractions <2 µm. Semi-quantitative analysis by XRD after formamide (FA) treatment indicated that the halloysite contents are approximately 81% and 93% in UPS and LOS samples, respectively. The results of SEM and TEM analyses showed that while short halloysite type is mainly distributed in the upper zone, long halloysite type occurs primarily in the lower zone of the weathered pegmatite profile. The length of short halloysite ranging from 250 to 750 nm is most popular, accounting for 47.2% of halloysites in the UPS sample. Meanwhile, long halloysites which have the length of 750–1250 nm are dominant in the LOS sample with 69.9%. In addition, short halloysites with outer diameter of >100 nm constitute 79.1% of halloysites in the UPS sample while long halloysites with outer diameter of 50–100 nm make up 74.2% of halloysites in LOS sample. Specific surface areas are 15.7434 and 22.0211 m2/g and average pore sizes are 18.9837 and 17.0281 nm for the UPS and LOS samples, respectively. The analysis implies that although forming under same natural geographical and climatic conditions, halloysites at different depths in the weathered pegmatite profile may have different morphological and other properties

A Novel Artificial Intelligence Technique to Estimate the Gross Calorific Value of Coal Based on Meta-Heuristic and Support Vector Regression Algorithms

Gross calorific value (GCV) is one of the essential parameters for evaluating coal quality. Therefore, accurate GCV prediction is one of the primary ways to improve heating value as well as coal production. A novel evolutionary-based predictive system was proposed in this study for predicting GCV with high accuracy, namely the particle swarm optimization (PSO)-support vector regression (SVR) model. It was developed based on the SVR and PSO algorithms. Three different kernel functions were employed to establish the PSO-SVR models, including radial basis function, linear, and polynomial functions. Besides, three benchmark machine learning models including classification and regression trees (CART), multiple linear regression (MLR), and principle component analysis (PCA) were also developed to estimate GCV and then compared with the proposed PSO-SVR model; 2583 coal samples were used to analyze the proximate components and GCV for this study. Then, they were used to develop the mentioned models as well as check their performance in experimental results. Root-mean-squared error (RMSE), correlation coefficient (R2), ranking, and intensity color criteria were used and computed to evaluate the GCV predictive models developed. The results revealed that the proposed PSO-SVR model with radial basis function had better accuracy than the other models. The PSO algorithm was optimized in the SVR model with high efficiency. These should be used as a supporting tool in practical engineering to determine the heating value of coal seams in complex geological conditions

Finding nanotubular halloysite at Lang Dong kaolin deposit, Phu Tho province

Halloysite obtained from Lang Dong kaolin deposit, Phu Tho province was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD analysis showed that halloysite (10 Ǻ and 7Ǻ basal spacing) and kaolinite coexist in sample of size fractions 2 mm. SEM and TEM analyses showed that the halloysite has hollow nanotube structures with typical outer diameter of 0.08÷0.30 mm and length of 0.60÷6.00 mm. The mean outer diameter and length are 0.17 and 2.48 mm, respectively. Semi-quantitative analysis using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) showed that the sample consists mainly of Al2O3 and SiO2. Result of formamide (FA) treatment showed that under size fraction 2 mm 50 wt% of the sample was taken by halloysite. The study elucidates the characteristics of mineral components, allowing for more efficient use of this resource.References Berthier, P., 1986: Analyse de I’halloysite. Annales de Chimie et de Physique 32, 332-335. Chipera, S.J., Bish, D.L., 2002: FULLPAT: a full pattern quantitative analysis program for X-ray powder diffraction using measured and calculated patterns. Journal of Applied Crystallopgraphy 35 (2002) 744-749. Churchman, G.J., 2000: The alteration and formation of soil minerals by weathering. F3-F76 in: Handbook of Soil Science (M.E. Sunner, editor). CRC Press, Boca Ration, Florida. Churchman, G.J., Carr, R.M., 1972: Stability fields of hydration states of a halloysite. American Mineralogist 57, 914-923. Churchman, G.J., Carr, R.M., 1975: The definition and nomenclature of halloysites. Clays and Clay minerals 23, 382-388. Churchman, G.J. and Theng, B.K.G., 1984: Interactions of halloysites with amides: mineralogical factors affect-ing complex formation. Clay Minerals 19, 161-175. Deepak, R., Agrawal, Y.K., 2012: Multifarious applications of halloysite nanotubes: A review. Reviews on Advanced Materials Science 30, 282-295. Ghanbari, M., Emadzadeh, D., Lau, W.J., Matsuura, T., Ismail, A.F., 2015: Synthesis and characterization of novel thin film nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes with improved organic fouling properties for water desalination. RSC Advances 5, 21268-21276. Hillier, S., Ryan, P.C., 2002: Identification of halloysite (7Ǻ) by ethylene glycol solvation: the ‘MacEwan effect’. Clay minerals 37, 487-496. Joussein, E., Kruytz, N., Righi, D., Petit, S., Delvaux, B., 2004: Specific retention of radiocesium in volcanic ash soils devoid of micaceous clay minerals. Soil Science Society of America Journal 68, 313-319. Kohymna, N., Fukushima, K. and Fukami, A., 1978: Observation of the hydrated form of tubular halloysite by an electron microscope equipped with an environmental cell. Clays and Clay Minerals 26, 25-40. Mineralogy database: http://webmineral.com/data/Halloysite.shtml#.VmqAFtJ97RZ . Mingliang, D., Baochun, G., Demin, J., 2010: Newly emerging applications of halloysite nanotubes: A review. Polymer International 59, 574-582. Nicolini, K.P., Fukamachi, C.R.B., Wypych, F., and Salvio M.A.S., 2009: Dehydrated halloysite intercalated mechanochemically with urea: Thermal behavior and structural aspects. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 338, 474-479. Nguyen, T.D., Nguyen, P., 2006: Geological characteristics and quality of kaolin, feldspar in Thach Khoan area, Thanh Son, Phu Tho. Journal of Mining Geology Science and Technology 15(7) 65-70 (in Vietnamese). Poppe, L.J., Paskevich, V.F., Hathaway, J.C., and Blackwood, D.S., 2001: A laboratory manual for X-ray powder diffraction. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-041, pp. 88. Ravindra, K., Manasi, G., Sheetal, G., Bijoy, K.P., 2012: Halloysite nanotubes and applications: A review. Journal of advanced scientific research 3(2) 25-29. Sunaree, B., Darunee, B., Thongchai, P., Tripob, B., 2011: Characterization ò halloysite from Thung Yai District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, in southern Thailand. Songklanakarin Journal of Science and Technology 33(5), 559-607. Wada, S.I., Mizota, C., 1982: Iron-rich halloysite (10Ǻ) with crumpled lamellar morphology from Hokkaodo, Japan. Clays and Clay minerals 30, 315-317. Yariv, S. and Shoval, S., 1976: Interaction between alkali-halides and halloysite: I.R. study of the interaction between alkali-halides and hydrated halloysite. Clays and Clay Minerals 24, 253-561.

Ekstrakcja czystej krzemionki poprzez syntezę glinokrzemianów ze spopielonych odpadów stałych

In this study, Pure SiO2 solution extraction from incenerated solid wastes following after aluminosilicate synthesis. The optimum conditions for obtaining both the pure SiO2 solution and the substantial amounts of unique residue material should be 200°C of reaction temperature, 1:30 of sample: NaOH, 2M NaOH, and enough reaction time over 24 hours. The optimization of the pure SiO2 extraction proposes an effective way for recycling the abundant incinerated solid waste as well as other waste ashes. Keywords: Solid wastes, Coal fly ash, Synthesis, SiO2 solution extraction

Composition and Morphology Characteristics of Magnetic Fractions of Coal Fly Ash Wastes Processed in High-Temperature Exposure in Thermal Power Plants

Coal-fired power stations are one of the primary sources of power generation in the world. This will produce considerable amounts of fly ash from these power stations each year. To highlight the potential environmental hazards of these materials, this study is carried out to evaluate the characterization of fly ashes produced in thermal power plants in northern Vietnam. Fly ash was firstly fractionated according to size, and the fractions were characterized. Then, each of these fractions was analyzed with regard to their mineralogical features, morphological and physicochemical properties. The analytical results indicate a striking difference in terms of the characteristics of particles. It was found that magnetic fractions are composed of magnetite hematite and, to a lower rate, mullite, and quartz. Chemical analyses indicate that the non-magnetic components mainly consist of quartz and mullite as their primary mineral phases. As the main conclusion of this research, it is found that the magnetic and non-magnetic components differ in terms of shape, carbon content and mineralogical composition. In addition, it was found that magnetic components can be characterized as more spheroidal components compared to non-magnetic ones. This comprehensive characterization not only offers a certain guideline regarding the uses of different ash fractions but it will also provide valuable information on this common combustion process

Estimating PM10 Concentration from Drilling Operations in Open-Pit Mines Using an Assembly of SVR and PSO

Dust is one of the components causing heavy environmental pollution in open-pit mines, especially PM10. Some pathologies related to the lung, respiratory system, and occupational diseases have been identified due to the effects of PM10 in open-pit mines. Therefore, the prediction and control of PM10 concentration in the production process are necessary for environmental and health protection. In this study, PM10 concentration from drilling operations in the Coc Sau open-pit coal mine (Vietnam) was investigated and considered through a database including 245 datasets collected. A novel hybrid artificial intelligence model was developed based on support vector regression (SVR) and a swarm optimization algorithm (i.e., particle swarm optimization (PSO)), namely PSO-SVR, for estimating PM10 concentration from drilling operations at the mine. Polynomial (P), radial basis function (RBF), and linear (L) kernel functions were considered and applied to the development of the PSO-SVR models in the present study, abbreviated as PSO-SVR-P, PSO-SVR-RBF, and PSO-SVR-L. Also, three benchmark artificial intelligence techniques, such as k-nearest neighbors (KNN), random forest (RF), and classification and regression trees (CART), were applied and developed for estimating PM10 concentration and then compared with the PSO-SVR models. Root-mean-squared error (RMSE) and determination coefficient (R2) were used as the statistical criteria for evaluating the performance of the developed models. The results exhibited that the PSO algorithm had an essential role in the optimization of the hyper-parameters of the SVR models. The PSO-SVR models (i.e., PSO-SVR-L, PSO-SVR-P, and PSO-SVR-RBF) had higher performance levels than the other models (i.e., RF, CART, and KNN) with an RMSE of 0.040, 0.042, and 0.043; and R2 of 0.954, 0.948, and 0.946; for the PSO-SVR-L, PSO-SVR-P, and PSO-SVR-RBF models, respectively. Of these PSO-SVR models, the PSO-SVR-L model was the most dominant model with an RMSE of 0.040 and R2 of 0.954. The remaining three benchmark models (i.e., RF, CART, and KNN) yielded a more unsatisfactory performance with an RMSE of 0.060, 0.052, and 0.067; and R2 of 0.894, 0.924, and 0.867, for the RF, CART, and KNN models, respectively. Furthermore, the findings of this study demonstrated that the density of rock mass, moisture content, and the penetration rate of the drill were essential parameters on the PM10 concentration caused by drilling operations in open-pit mines

Model Lasso i uogólniony model liniowy elastycznej siatki do prognozowania nadciśnienia wywołanego wybuchem w kopalniach odkrywkowych

Air overpressure (AOp) is one of the products of blasting operations in open-pit mines which have a great impact on the environment and public health. It can be dangerous for the lungs, brain, hearing and the other human senses. In addition, the impact on the surrounding environment such as the vibration of buildings, break the glass door systems are also dangerous agents caused by AOp. Therefore, it should be properly controlled and forecasted to minimize the impacts on the environment and public health. In this paper, a Lasso and Elastic-Net Regularized Generalized Linear Model (GLMNET) was developed for predicting blast-induced AOp. The United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) empirical technique was also applied to estimate blast-induced AOp and compare with the developed GLMNET model. Nui Beo open-pit coal mine, Vietnam was selected as a case study. The performance indices are used to evaluate the performance of the models, including Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Determination Coefficient (R2), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). For this aim, 108 blasting events were investigated with the Maximum of explosive charge capacity, monitoring distance, powder factor, burden, and the length of stemming were considered as input variables for predicting AOp. As a result, a robust GLMNET model was found for predicting blast-induced AOp with an RMSE of 1.663, R2 of 0.975, and MAE of 1.413 on testing datasets. Whereas, the USBM empirical method only reached an RMSE of 2.982, R2 of 0.838, and MAE of 2.162 on testing datasets

Ocena zasobów konkrecji polimetalicznych w rejonie Suoi Thau-Sang Than, północno-wschodnim Wietnamie

1,720 chemical, mineral, and petrography samples in the Suoi Thau-Sang Than area, northeastern Vietnam were collected to investigate polymetallic nodules resource. The similarity-analogy in ore geology, direct calculation method for metallization parameters, and mineral resource estimation based on cutoff grade change methods are employed to estimate polymetallic nodules resource from the Suoi Thau, Sang Than, and Ban Kep areas in northeastern Vietnam. The similarity-analogy in ore geology indicates 1,785,000 tons Cu, 12,005,000 tons Pb+Zn, and 195 kg Au in total. The direct calculation method for metallization parameters shows 2,060,000 tons Cu, 13,648,000 tons Pb+Zn, and 224 kg Au in total. These methods display that the Sang Than area contains mainly polymetallic nodules in the studied area. Following the mineral resource estimation based on cutoff grade changes, estimation results indicate potential Pb-Zn nodules resource in the Ban Kep and Cu nodules resource in the Sang Than, while no potential Au nodules resource in the Suoi Thau and the Sang Than as well as the Ban Kep. The estimation results obtained from mineral resource estimation based on cutoff grade changes are suitable with the results from the traditional geometric block methods. Our study suggests that the Sang Than area can be considered as a potential Cu nodules resource, and the Ban Kep area is potential Pb-Zn nodules resource in northeastern Vietnam for future exploitation, while there is no potential polymetallic nodules resource in the Suoi Thau area. Furthermore, the one resource estimation based on cutoff grade changes method displays an overview of the prospect on polymetallic nodules resources, indicating that this method can serve as a basis for the proposed selection of the prospective areas for effective Cu, Pb-Zn, and Au mineral exploration in the Suoi Thau-Sang Than area, northeastern Vietnam.W celu zbadania zasobów konkrecji polimetalicznych zebrano 1,720 próbek substancji chemicznych, minerałów i petrografii z obszaru Suoi Thau-Sang Than w północno-wschodnim Wietnamie. Podobieństwo-analogia w geolo-gii rudy, metoda bezpośredniego obliczania parametrów metalizacji i szacowania zasobów mineralnych w opar-ciu o metody zmian zawartości granicznej są wykorzystywane do szacowania zasobów konkrecji polimetalicz-nych w obszarze Suoi Thau, Sang Than i Ban Kep w północno-wschodnim Wietnamie. Podobieństwo-analogia w geologii rudy wskazuje łącznie na 1,785,000 ton Miedzi, 12,005,000 ton Ołowiu + Cynków i 195 kg Żłota. Meto-da bezpośredniego obliczania parametrów metalizacji pokazuje łącznie 2 060 000 ton Miedzi, 13,648,000 ton Ołowiu + Cynków i 224 kg Żłota. Te metody pokazują, że obszar Sang Than zawiera głównie konkrecje polimeta-liczne na badanym obszarze. Po oszacowaniu zasobów mineralnych na podstawie zmian zawartości granicznej, wyniki oszacowań wskazują na potencjalny zasobów konkrecji Ołowiu - Cynków w Ban Kep i Miedzi w Sang Than, natomiast nie ma potencjalnego zasobu konkrecji Żłota w Suoi Thau i Sang Than, a także w Ban Kep. Wy-niki uzyskane z szacowania zasobów mineralnych na podstawie zmian zawartości granicznej są zgodne z wyni-kami tradycyjnymi metodami bloków geometrycznych. Nasze badanie sugeruje, że obszar Sang Than można uznać za potencjalny zasób konkrecji Miedzi, a obszar Ban Kep jest potencjalnym zasobem konkrecji Ołowiu + Cynków w północno-wschodnim Wietnamie do przyszłej eksploatacji, natomiast w obszarze Suoi Thau nie ma potencjalnego zasobu konkrecji polimetalicznych. Co więcej, oszacowanie zasobu w oparciu o metody zmian zawartości granicznej przedstawia przegląd perspektyw dotyczących zasobów konkrecji polimetalicznych, wska-zując, że metoda ta może służyć jako podstawa do proponowanego wyboru perspektywicznych obszarów efek-tywnych Miedzi, Ołowiu-Cynków i Żłota poszukiwanie minerałów w obszarze Suoi Thau-Sang Than w północno-wschodnim Wietnamie