Two Phase Relative Permeability of Gas and Water in Coal for Enhanced Coalbed Methane Recovery and CO2 Storage

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on renewable energy production in China: transmission mechanism and policy implications

The renewable energy industry, in particular, has experienced an immense amount of pressure that has stemmed from the novel COVID-19 pandemic. This study, however, investigates the renewable energy production initiatives that have taken come into place as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, using a time series data of China in particular. The study uses the robust ARDL bounds testing approach in order to get sound parameter estimates. The findings of the study reveal that COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the renewable energy production in China, both in the short and long run. In addition to this, the GDP and trade tend to positively impact the incidence of renewable energy production in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same context, it has been observed that the energy price has a significant and negative impact on renewable energy production, particularly in the long-run, during the pandemic period. Keeping these observations in consideration, it can be asserted that the government should ideally adopt a short-term policy, while mid-term and long-term action plans should be formulated, so as to achieve the renewable energy targets in the future. In this regard, the research implications and future directions have thoroughly been discussed in the paper

A Phase II Trial of Prexasertib (LY2606368) in Patients With Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor; Pharmacokinetics; Small cell lung cancerInhibidor de quinasa de punto de control 1; Farmacocinética; Cáncer de pulmón de células pequeñasInhibidor de la quinasa del punt de control 1; Farmacocinètica; Càncer de pulmó de cèl·lules petitesBackground This study assessed the checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor prexasertib in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC). Patients and Methods This was a parallel-cohort phase II study of 105 mg/m2 prexasertib once every 14 days for patients who progressed after no more than two prior therapies and had platinum-sensitive (Cohort 1) or platinum-resistant/platinum-refractory (Cohort 2) disease. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), safety, and pharmacokinetics. Exploratory endpoints included biomarker identification and assessment of an alternative regimen (Cohort 3: 40 mg/m2 days 1-3, 14-day cycle). Results In Cohort 1 (n = 58), ORR was 5.2%; DCR, 31%; median PFS, 1.41 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-1.64); and median OS, 5.42 months (95% CI, 3.75-8.51). In Cohort 2 (n = 60), ORR was 0%; DCR, 20%; median PFS, 1.36 months (95% CI, 1.25-1.45); and median OS, 3.15 months (95% CI, 2.27-5.52). The most frequent all-grade, related, treatment-emergent adverse events were decreased neutrophil count (Cohort 1, 69.6%; Cohort 2, 73.3%), decreased platelet count (Cohort 1, 51.8%; Cohort 2, 50.0%), decreased white blood cell count (Cohort 1, 28.6%; Cohort 2, 40.0%), and anemia (Cohort 1, 39.3%; Cohort 2, 28.3%). Eleven patients (19.6%) in Cohort 1 and one patient (1.7%) in Cohort 2 experienced grade ≥3 febrile neutropenia. Prexasertib pharmacokinetics were consistent with prior studies. Cohort 3 outcomes were similar to those of Cohorts 1 and 2. No actionable biomarkers were identified. Conclusion Prexasertib did not demonstrate activity to warrant future development as monotherapy in ED-SCLC.This research was funded by Eli Lilly and Company

Extraction of hydrocarbons from freshwater green microalgae (Botryococcus sp.) biomass after phycoremediation of domestic wastewater

This study was undertaken to analyze the efficiency of Botryococcus sp. in the phycoremediation of domestic wastewater and to determine the variety of hydrocarbons derived from microalgal oil after phycoremediation. The study showed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of pollutant loads of up to 93.9% chemical oxygen demand, 69.1% biochemical oxygen demand, 59.9% total nitrogen, 54.5% total organic carbon, and 36.8%phosphate. The average dry weight biomass produce was 0.1 g/L of wastewater. In addition, the dry weight biomass of Botryococcus sp. was found to contain 72.5% of crude oil. The composition analysis using Gas Chromatogram - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) found that phthalic acid, 2-ethylhexyltridecyl ester (C29H48O4), contributed the highest percentage (71.6%) of the total hydrocarbon compounds to the extracted algae oil. The result of the study suggests that Botryococcus sp. can be used for effective phycoremediation, as well as to provide a sustainable hydrocarbon source as a value-added chemical for the bio-based plastic industry

A Proteomic Approach to Study the Effect of Thiotaurine on Human Neutrophil Activation

Thiotaurine, a thiosulfonate related to taurine and hypotaurine, is formed by a metabolic process from cystine and generated by a transulfuration reaction between hypotaurine and thiocysteine. Thiotaurine can produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from its sulfane sulfur moiety. H2S is a gaseous signaling molecule which can have regulatory roles in inflammatory process. In addition, sulfane sulfur displays the capacity to reversibly bind to other sulfur atoms. Thiotaurine inhibits PMA-induced activation of human neutrophils, and hinders neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis. Here, we present the results of a proteomic approach to study the possible effects of thiotaurine at protein expression level. Proteome analysis of human neutrophils has been performed comparing protein extracts of resting or PMA-activated neutrophils in presence or in absence of thiotaurine. In particular, PMA-stimulated neutrophils showed high level of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) expression compared to the level of the same glycolytic enzyme in the resting neutrophils. Conversely, decreased expression of GAPDH has been observed when human neutrophils were incubated with 1 mM thiotaurine before activation with PMA. This result, confirmed by Western blot analysis, suggests again that thiotaurine shows a bioactive role in the mechanisms underlying the inflammatory process, influencing the energy metabolism of activated leukocytes and raises the possibility that thiotaurine, acting as a sulfur donor, could modulate neutrophil activation via persulfidation of target proteins, such as GAPDH

Observation of Ds+→pnˉD^+_s\rightarrow p\bar{n} and confirmation of its large branching fraction

The baryonic decay $D^+_s\rightarrow p\bar{n}$ is observed, and the corresponding branching fraction is measured to be $(1.21\pm0.10\pm0.05)\times10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and second systematic. The data sample used in this analysis was collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ double-ring collider with a center-of-mass energy of 4.178~GeV and an integrated luminosity of 3.19~fb$^{-1}$. The result confirms the previous measurement by the CLEO Collaboration and is of greatly improved precision, which may deepen our understanding of the dynamical enhancement of the W-annihilation topology in the charmed meson decays

Observation of ηc→ωω\eta_c\to\omega\omega in J/ψ→γωωJ/\psi\to\gamma\omega\omega

Using a sample of $(1310.6\pm7.0)\times10^6$ $J/\psi$ events recorded with the BESIII detector at the symmetric electron positron collider BEPCII, we report the observation of the decay of the $(1^1 S_0)$ charmonium state $\eta_c$ into a pair of $\omega$ mesons in the process $J/\psi\to\gamma\omega\omega$. The branching fraction is measured for the first time to be $\mathcal{B}(\eta_c\to\omega\omega)= (2.88\pm0.10\pm0.46\pm0.68)\times10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is from the uncertainty of $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c)$. The mass and width of the $\eta_c$ are determined as $M=(2985.9\pm0.7\pm2.1)\,$MeV/$c^2$ and $\Gamma=(33.8\pm1.6\pm4.1)\,$MeV.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Evidence of a resonant structure in the e+e−→π+D0D∗−e^+e^-\to \pi^+D^0D^{*-} cross section between 4.05 and 4.60 GeV

The cross section of the process $e^+e^-\to \pi^+D^0D^{*-}$ for center-of-mass energies from 4.05 to 4.60~GeV is measured precisely using data samples collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII storage ring. Two enhancements are clearly visible in the cross section around 4.23 and 4.40~GeV. Using several models to describe the dressed cross section yields stable parameters for the first enhancement, which has a mass of 4228.6 \pm 4.1 \pm 6.3 \un{MeV}/c^2 and a width of 77.0 \pm 6.8 \pm 6.3 \un{MeV}, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second ones are systematic. Our resonant mass is consistent with previous observations of the $Y(4220)$ state and the theoretical prediction of a $D\bar{D}_1(2420)$ molecule. This result is the first observation of $Y(4220)$ associated with an open-charm final state. Fits with three resonance functions with additional $Y(4260)$, $Y(4320)$, $Y(4360)$, $\psi(4415)$, or a new resonance, do not show significant contributions from either of these resonances. The second enhancement is not from a single known resonance. It could contain contributions from $\psi(4415)$ and other resonances, and a detailed amplitude analysis is required to better understand this enhancement

Observation and study of the decay J/ψ→ϕηη′J/\psi\rightarrow\phi\eta\eta'

We report the observation and study of the decay $J/\psi\rightarrow\phi\eta\eta'$ using $1.3\times{10^9}$ $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESIII detector. Its branching fraction, including all possible intermediate states, is measured to be $(2.32\pm0.06\pm0.16)\times{10^{-4}}$. We also report evidence for a structure, denoted as $X$, in the $\phi\eta'$ mass spectrum in the $2.0-2.1$ GeV/$c^2$ region. Using two decay modes of the $\eta'$ meson ($\gamma\pi^+\pi^-$ and $\eta\pi^+\pi^-$), a simultaneous fit to the $\phi\eta'$ mass spectra is performed. Assuming the quantum numbers of the $X$ to be $J^P = 1^-$, its significance is found to be 4.4$\sigma$, with a mass and width of $(2002.1 \pm 27.5 \pm 21.4)$ MeV/$c^2$ and $(129 \pm 17 \pm 9)$ MeV, respectively, and a product branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X)\times{}\mathcal{B}(X\rightarrow\phi\eta')=(9.8 \pm 1.2 \pm 1.7)\times10^{-5}$. Alternatively, assuming $J^P = 1^+$, the significance is 3.8$\sigma$, with a mass and width of $(2062.8 \pm 13.1 \pm 7.2)$ MeV/$c^2$ and $(177 \pm 36 \pm 35)$ MeV, respectively, and a product branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X)\times{}\mathcal{B}(X\rightarrow\phi\eta')=(9.6 \pm 1.4 \pm 2.0)\times10^{-5}$. The angular distribution of $J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X$ is studied and the two $J^P$ assumptions of the $X$ cannot be clearly distinguished due to the limited statistics. In all measurements the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures and 4 table

First observations of hc→h_c \to hadrons

Based on $(4.48 \pm 0.03) \times 10^{8}$ $\psi(3686)$ events collected with the BESIII detector, five $h_c$ hadronic decays are searched for via process $\psi(3686) \to \pi^0 h_c$. Three of them, $h_c \to p \bar{p} \pi^+ \pi^-$, $\pi^+ \pi^- \pi^0$, and $2(\pi^+ \pi^-) \pi^0$ are observed for the first time, with statistical significances of 7.4$\sigma$, $4.9\sigma$, and 9.1$\sigma$, and branching fractions of $(2.89\pm0.32\pm0.55)\times10^{-3}$, $(1.60\pm0.40\pm0.32)\times10^{-3}$, and $(7.44\pm0.94\pm1.56)\times10^{-3}$, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. No significant signal is observed for the other two decay modes, and the corresponding upper limits of the branching fractions are determined to be $B(h_c \to 3(\pi^+ \pi^-) \pi^0)<8.7\times10^{-3}$ and $B(h_c \to K^+ K^- \pi^+ \pi^-)<5.8\times10^{-4}$ at 90% confidence level.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figure