Sensitivity Analysis and Optimization of a Coal-fired Power Plant in Different Modes of Flue Gas Recirculation

AbstractIn a coal-fired power plant with flue gas recirculation, recirculation rate and coal input have a great effect on the performance of the power plant. In this paper, a 600 MW coal-fired boiler is taken as base case, the main parameters of the boiler are calculated at different recirculation rates and coal input conditions, an optimization is carried out and the optimum recirculation rate and coal input are reported. The results show that under optimum recirculation rate and coal input conditions, the net coal consumption rate can be reduced by 3.5g/(kW·h) at 575MW load; while it is 4.36g/(kW·h) and 5.11g/(kW·h), respectively, at 450MW load and 300MW load. Compared to the conventional flue gas recirculation system, the net coal consumption rate can be reduced by 2.31 g/(kW·h), 2.42 g/(kW·h) and 2.41 g/(kW·h), respectively, at 575MW, 450MW and 300MW load

Systemic-Lupus-Erythematosus-Related Acute Pancreatitis: A Cohort from South China

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a rare but life-threatening complication of SLE. The current study evaluated the clinical characteristics and risk factors for the mortality of patients with SLE-related AP in a cohort of South China. Methods. Inpatient medical records of SLE-related AP were retrospectively reviewed. Results. 27 out of 4053 SLE patients were diagnosed as SLE-related AP, with an overall prevalence of 0.67%, annual incidence of 0.56‰ and mortality of 37.04%. SLE patients with AP presented with higher SLEDAI score (21.70 ± 10.32 versus 16.17 ± 7.51, P = 0.03), more organ systems involvement (5.70 ± 1.56 versus 3.96 ± 1.15, P = 0.001), and higher mortality (37.04% versus 0, P = 0.001), compared to patients without AP. Severe AP (SAP) patients had a significant higher mortality rate compared to mild AP (MAP) (75% versus 21.05%, P = 0.014). 16 SLE-related AP patients received intensive GC treatment, 75% of them exhibited favorable prognosis. Conclusion. SLE-related AP is rare but concomitant with high mortality in South Chinese people, especially in those SAP patients. Activity of SLE, multiple-organ systems involvement may attribute to the severity and mortality of AP. Appropriate glucocorticosteroid (GC) treatment leads to better prognosis in majority of SLE patients with AP

Proposers’ Economic Status Affects Behavioral and Neural Responses to Unfairness

Economic status played an important role in the modulation of economic decision making. The present fMRI study aimed at investigating how economic status modulated behavioral and neural responses to unfairness in a modified Ultimatum Game (UG). During scanning, participants played as responders in the UG, and they were informed of the economic status of proposers before receiving offers. At the behavioral level, higher rejection rates and lower fairness ratings were revealed when proposers were in high economic status than in low economic status. Besides, the most time-consuming decisions tended to occur at lower unfairness level when the proposers were in high (relative to low) economic status. At the neural level, stronger activation of left thalamus was revealed when fair offers were proposed by proposers in high rather than in low economic status. Greater activation of right medial prefrontal cortex was revealed during acceptance to unfair offers in high economic status condition rather than in low economic status condition. Taken together, these findings shed light on the significance of proposers’ economic status in responders’ social decision making in UG

Growth performance, organ-level ionic relations and organic osmoregulation of Elaeagnus angustifolia in response to salt stress

Elaeagnus angustifolia is one of the most extensively afforested tree species in environment-harsh regions of northern China. Despite its exceptional tolerance to saline soil, the intrinsic adaptive physiology has not been revealed. In this study, we investigated the growth, organ-level ionic relations and organic osmoregulation of the seedlings hydroponically treated with 0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl for 30 days. We found that the growth characteristics and the whole-plant dry weight were not obviously stunted, but instead, were even slightly stimulated by the treatment of 100 mM NaCl. In contrast, these traits were significantly inhibited by 200 mM NaCl treatment. Interestingly, as compared with the control (0 mM NaCl), both 100 and 200 mM NaCl treatments had a promotional effect on root growth as evidenced by 26.3% and 2.4% increases in root dry weight, respectively. Roots had the highest Na+ and Cl- concentrations and obviously served as the sink for the net increased Na+ and Cl-, while, stems might maintain the capacity of effective Na+ constraint, resulting in reduced Na+ transport to the leaves. K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations in three plant organs of NaCl-treated seedlings presented a substantial decline, eventually leading to an enormously drop of K+/Na+ ratio. As the salt concentration increased, proline and soluble protein contents continuously exhibited a prominent and a relatively tardy accumulation, respectively, whereas soluble sugar firstly fell to a significant level and then regained to a level that is close to that of the control. Taken together, our results provided quantitative measures that revealed some robust adaptive physiological mechanisms underpinning E. angustifolia’s moderately high salt tolerance, and those mechanisms comprise scalable capacity for root Na+ and Cl- storage, effectively constrained transportation of Na+ from stems to leaves, root compensatory growth, as well as an immediate and prominent leaf proline accumulation

New Insights into PI3K Inhibitor Design using X-ray Structures of PI3Kα Complexed with a Potent Lead Compound

Abstract Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase α is an attractive target to potentially treat a range of cancers. Herein, we described the evolution of a reported PI3K inhibitor into a moderate PI3Kα inhibitor with a low molecular weight. We used X-ray crystallography to describe the accurate binding mode of the compound YXY-4F. A comparison of the p110α–YXY-4F and apo p110α complexes showed that YXY-4F induced additional space by promoting a flexible conformational change in residues Ser773 and Ser774 in the PI3Kα ATP catalytic site. Specifically, residue 773(S) in PI3Kα is quite different from that of PI3Kβ (D), γ (A), and δ (D), which might guide further optimization of substituents around the NH group and phenyl group to improve the selectivity and potency of PI3Kα

Characterization of miRNomes in Acute and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cell Lines

AbstractMyeloid leukemias are highly diverse diseases and have been shown to be associated with microRNA (miRNA) expression aberrations. The present study involved an in-depth miRNome analysis of two human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines, HL-60 and THP-1, and one human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell line, K562, via massively parallel signature sequencing. mRNA expression profiles of these cell lines that were established previously in our lab facilitated an integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression patterns. miRNA expression profiling followed by differential expression analysis and target prediction suggested numerous miRNA signatures in AML and CML cell lines. Some miRNAs may act as either tumor suppressors or oncomiRs in AML and CML by targeting key genes in AML and CML pathways. Expression patterns of cell type-specific miRNAs could partially reflect the characteristics of K562, HL-60 and THP-1 cell lines, such as actin filament-based processes, responsiveness to stimulus and phagocytic activity. miRNAs may also regulate myeloid differentiation, since they usually suppress differentiation regulators. Our study provides a resource to further investigate the employment of miRNAs in human leukemia subtyping, leukemogenesis and myeloid development. In addition, the distinctive miRNA signatures may be potential candidates for the clinical diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of myeloid leukemias