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

Two novel mutations of Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome: the molecular prediction of interaction between the mutated WASP L101P with WASP-interacting protein by molecular modeling

AbstractWiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an X-linked disorder characterized by eczema, thrombocytopenia and increased susceptibility of infections, with mutations of the WAS gene being responsible for WAS and X-linked thrombocytopenia. Herein, two novel mutations of WAS at T336C on exon 3, and at 1326–1329, a G deletion on exon 10, resulting in L101P missense mutation and frameshift mutation 444 stop, respectively, are reported. The affected patients with either mutation showed severe suppression of WAS protein (WASP) levels, T cell proliferation, and CFSE-labeled T cells division. Because WASP L101 have not shown direct nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) contact with the WASP-interacting protein (WIP) in NMR spectroscopy, molecular modeling was performed to evaluate the molecular effect of WASP P101 to WIP peptide. It is presumed that P101 induced a conformational change in the Q99 residue of WASP and made the side chain of Q99 move away from the WIP peptide, resulting in disruption of the hydrogen bond between Q99 WASP and Y475 WIP. A possible model for the molecular pathogenesis of WAS has been proposed by analyzing the interactions of WASP and WIP using a molecular modeling study

Real-time bladder volume monitoring by the application of a new implantable bladder volume sensor for a small animal model

AbstractAlthough real-time monitoring of bladder volume together with intravesical pressure can provide more information for understanding the functional changes of the urinary bladder, it still entails difficulties in the accurate prediction of real-time bladder volume in urodynamic studies with small animal models. We studied a new implantable bladder volume monitoring device with eight rats. During cystometry, microelectrodes prepared by the microelectromechanical systems process were placed symmetrically on both lateral walls of the bladder, and the expanded bladder volume was calculated. Immunohistological study was done after 1 week and after 4 weeks to evaluate the biocompatibility of the microelectrode. From the point that infused saline volume into the bladder was higher than 0.6mL, estimated bladder volume was statistically correlated with the volume of saline injected (p<0.01). Additionally, the microelectromechanical system microelectrodes used in this study showed reliable biocompatibility. Therefore, the device can be used to evaluate changes in bladder volume in studies with small animals, and it may help to provide more information about functional changes in the bladder in laboratory studies. Furthermore, owing to its biocompatibility, the device could be chronically implanted in conscious ambulating animals, thus allowing a novel longitudinal study to be performed for a specific purpose

Vascular effects of estrogen in type II diabetic postmenopausal women

AbstractOBJECTIVESWe assessed the effects of estrogen on vascular dilatory and other homeostatic functions potentially affected by nitric oxide (NO)-potentiating properties in type II diabetic postmenopausal women.BACKGROUNDThere is a higher cardiovascular risk in diabetic women than in nondiabetic women. This would suggest that women with diabetes do not have the cardioprotection associated with estrogen.METHODSWe administered placebo or conjugated equine estrogen, 0.625 mg/day for 8 weeks, to 20 type II diabetic postmenopausal women in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over design.RESULTSCompared with placebo, estrogen tended to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels by 15 ± 23% (p = 0.007) and increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels by 8 ± 16% (p = 0.034). Thus, the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol levels significantly decreased with estrogen, by 20 ± 24%, as compared with placebo (p = 0.001). Compared with placebo, estrogen tended to increase triglyceride levels by 16 ± 48% and lower glycosylated hemoglobin levels by 3 ± 13% (p = 0.295 and p = 0.199, respectively). However, estrogen did not significantly improve the percent flow-mediated dilatory response to hyperemia (17 ± 75% vs. placebo; p = 0.501). The statistical power to accept our observation was 81.5%. Compared with placebo, estrogen did not significantly change E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 or matrix metalloproteinase-9 levels. Compared with placebo, estrogen tended to decrease tissue factor antigen and increase tissue factor activity levels by 7 ± 46% and 5 ± 34%, respectively (p = 0.321 and p = 0.117, respectively) and lower plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels by 16 ± 31% (p = 0.043).CONCLUSIONSThe effects of estrogen on endothelial, vascular dilatory and other homeostatic functions were less apparent in type II diabetic postmenopausal women, despite the beneficial effects of estrogen on lipoprotein levels

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

Enhancement of phase separation in the InGaN layer for self-assembled In-rich quantum dots

The enhancement of phase separation in the InGaN layer grown on a GaN layer with a rough surface was investigated for the formation of self-assembled In-rich quantum dots(QDs) in the InGaN layer. Transmission electron microscopy images showed that In-rich QDs with a size of 2–5 nm were formed even in an InGaN layer with a low indium content, and a layer thickness less than the critical thickness. The room-temperature photoluminescence(PL) spectrum of this layer showed emission peaks corresponding to In-rich QDs. The temperature-dependent PL spectra showed dominant peak shifts to the lower energy side, indicating that the self-assembled In-rich QDs are formed in the InGaN layer grown on a rough GaNsurface and that the carriers are localized in In-rich QDs