Experiment on micron-sized particle production of iron ore by rapid unloading of liquid CO2

The average iron content of iron ore is &lt;30%; therefore, crushing, grinding, milling and other processing techniques must be executed before smelting. Currently, it is expensive to break iron ores using mechanical grinding. Experiments have been carried out to develop a novel approach of producing iron ore powder. First, the iron ore is placed in a high-pressure chamber, and then liquid CO2 is injected into the chamber. Second, considering energy recycling, after the iron ore pores are filled with liquid CO2, dissociative liquid CO2 is substituted and collected for cyclic utilization. Third, an initial high pressure is applied inside the chamber using a water pump in order to increase the energy input. Fourth, the pressure is rapidly unloaded. After penetration and gasification expansion, the iron ore will immediately be converted into micron-sized particles. Laser grain size analysis indicated that the grain size of the iron ore particles ranges between 30 and 50 pm, which will satisfy the requirements of gravity separation, magnetic separation and the flotation process. This is a highly efficient and low-cost method that has excellent industrial promotion value. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</p

The Kuroshio Extension : a leading mechanism for the seasonal sea-level variability along the west coast of Japan

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ocean Dynamics 60 (2010): 667-672, doi:10.1007/s10236-009-0239-9.Sea level changes coherently along the two coasts of Japan on the seasonal time scale. AVISO satellite altimetry data and OFES (OGCM for the Earth Simulator) results indicate that the variation propagates clockwise from Japan's east coast through the Tsushima Strait into the Japan/East Sea (JES) and then northward along the west coast. In this study, we hypothesize and test numerically that the sea level variability along the west coast of Japan is remotely forced by the Kuroshio Extension (KE) off the east coast. Topographic Rossby waves and boundary Kelvin waves facilitate the connection. Our 3-d POM model when forced by observed wind stress reproduces well the seasonal changes in the vicinity of JES. Two additional experiments were conducted to examine the relative roles of remote forcing and local forcing. The sea level variability inside the JES was dramatically reduced when the Tsushima Strait is blocked in one experiment. The removal of the local forcing, in another experiment, has little effect on the JES variability. Both experiments support our hypothesis that the open-ocean forcing, possibly through the KE variability, is the leading forcing mechanism for sea level change along the west coast of Japan.This work was conducted when Chao Ma was a visiting graduate student at WHOI. His visit has been supported by China Scholarship Council and WHOI Academics Office. This study has been supported by WHOI’s Coastal Ocean Institute, the National Basic Research Program of China 2005CB422303 and 2007CB481804), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (2006DFB21250), the Natural Science Foundation of China (40706006) , and the Ministry of Education’s 111 Project (B07036). Lin was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NECT-07-0781)

Epstein–Barr virus serology and gastric cancer incidence and survival

Among 185 cases of gastric cancer and 200 controls in Linxian, China, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) seropositivity was not associated with increased risk of gastric cancer. High EBV nuclear antigen titres were associated with longer survival in cardia cancer cases, possibly due to chance

Sodium-Dependent Vitamin C Transporter 2 (SVCT2) Expression and Activity in Brain Capillary Endothelial Cells after Transient Ischemia in Mice

Expression and transport activity of Sodium-dependent Vitamin C Transporter 2 (SVCT2) was shown in various tissues and organs. Vitamin C was shown to be cerebroprotective in several animal models of stroke. Data on expression, localization and transport activity of SVCT2 after cerebral ischemia, however, has been scarce so far. Thus, we studied the expression of SVCT2 after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice by immunohistochemistry. We found an upregulation of SVCT2 after stroke. Co-stainings with Occludin, Von-Willebrand Factor and CD34 demonstrated localization of SVCT2 in brain capillary endothelial cells in the ischemic area after stroke. Time-course analyses of SVCT2 expression by immunohistochemistry and western blots showed upregulation in the subacute phase of 2–5 days. Radioactive uptake assays using 14C-labelled ascorbic acid showed a significant increase of ascorbic acid uptake into the brain after stroke. Taken together, these results provide evidence for the expression and transport activity of SVCT2 in brain capillary endothelial cells after transient ischemia in mice. These results may lead to the development of novel neuroprotective strategies in stroke therapy

Prevalence and risk factors for esophageal squamous cell cancer and precursor lesions in Anyang, China: a population-based endoscopic survey

BACKGROUND: The etiology of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) in high prevalence regions of China remains unclear. METHODS: Endoscopic biopsies were conducted among 7381 inhabitants aged from 25 to 65 of Anyang, China. RESULTS: In this study, 2.57, 0.20 and 0.16% of the participants had mild, moderate and severe squamous dysplasia, respectively; 0.19 and 0.08% showed squamous carcinoma in situ and invasive ESCC. Using deep well (depth &gt;100 meters) as water source (odds ratio = 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.96) was negatively associated with ESCC and its precursors, whereas tobacco and alcohol use were not significantly associated with ESCC. CONCLUSIONS: Water source and other factors in this region need further evaluation by longitudinal studies. British Journal of Cancer (2010) 103, 1085-1088. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605843 www.bjcancer.com Published online 10 August 2010 (C) 2010 Cancer Research UKOncologySCI(E)PubMed19ARTICLE71085-108810

Role of Cell-to-Cell Variability in Activating a Positive Feedback Antiviral Response in Human Dendritic Cells

In the first few hours following Newcastle disease viral infection of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells, the induction of IFNB1 is extremely low and the secreted type I interferon response is below the limits of ELISA assay. However, many interferon-induced genes are activated at this time, for example DDX58 (RIGI), which in response to viral RNA induces IFNB1. We investigated whether the early induction of IFNBI in only a small percentage of infected cells leads to low level IFN secretion that then induces IFN-responsive genes in all cells. We developed an agent-based mathematical model to explore the IFNBI and DDX58 temporal dynamics. Simulations showed that a small number of early responder cells provide a mechanism for efficient and controlled activation of the DDX58-IFNBI positive feedback loop. The model predicted distributions of single cell responses that were confirmed by single cell mRNA measurements. The results suggest that large cell-to-cell variation plays an important role in the early innate immune response, and that the variability is essential for the efficient activation of the IFNB1 based feedback loop

Interleukin-6 Induces Gr-1+CD11b+ Myeloid Cells to Suppress CD8+ T Cell-Mediated Liver Injury in Mice

Agonist antibodies against CD137 (4-1BB) on T lymphocytes are used to increase host anti-tumor immunity, but often leading to severe liver injury in treated mice or in patients during clinical trials. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been reported to protect hepatocyte death, but the role of IL-6 in protecting chronic T cell-induced liver diseases is not clearly defined due to lack of relevant animal models. We aimed to define the role of IL-6 in CD8+ T cell-mediated liver injury induced by a CD137 agonistic mAb (clone 2A) in mice.We expressed IL-6 in the liver by hydrodynamic gene delivery in mice treated with 2A or control mAb and studied how IL-6 treatment affected host immunity and T cell-mediated liver injury. We found that ectopic IL-6 expression in the liver elevated intrahepatic leukocyte infiltration but prevented CD8+ T cell-mediated liver injury. In IL-6 treated mice, CD8+ T cells proliferation and IFN-γ expression were inhibited in the liver. We discovered that IL-6 increased accumulation of Gr-1+CD11b+ myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the liver and spleen. These MDSCs had the ability to inhibit T cells proliferation and activation. Finally, we showed that the MDSCs were sufficient and essential for IL-6-mediated protection of anti-CD137 mAb-induced liver injury.We concluded that IL-6 induced Gr-1+CD11b+ MDSCs in the liver to inhibit T cell-mediated liver injury. The findings have defined a novel mechanism of IL-6 in protecting liver from CD8+ T cell-mediated injury

Prospective study of serum 25(OH)-vitamin D concentration and risk of oesophageal and gastric cancers

We prospectively examined the relation between pretrial serum vitamin D status and risk of oesophageal and gastric cancers among subjects who developed cancer over 5.25 years of follow-up, including 545 oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC), 353 gastric cardia adenocarcinomas, 81 gastric noncardia adenocarcinomas, and an age- and sex-stratified random sample of 1105 subjects. The distribution of serum 25(OH)D was calculated using the known sampling weights. For the cohort as a whole, the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile concentrations of 25(OH)-vitamin D were 19.6, 31.9, and 48.7 nmol l−1, respectively, and we found that higher serum 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with monotonically increasing risk of ESCC in men, but not in women. Comparing men in the fourth quartile of serum 25(OH)D concentrations to those in the first, we found a hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) of 1.77 (1.16–2.70), P trend=0.0033. The same comparison in women had a HR (95% CI) of 1.06 (0.71–1.59), P trend=0.70. We found no associations for gastric cardia or noncardia adenocarcinoma. Among subjects with low vitamin D status, higher serum 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with significantly increased risk of ESCC in men, but not in women. Further refinements of the analysis did not suggest any factors, which could explain this unexpected result