Search

The utilization of powdery semi-coke as a power fuel in pulverized coal-fired power plants has become a new and potential technique to consume the excess powdery semi-coke. The characteristic of low volatile results in poor combustion performance and high NOx emission, and to co-fire with bituminous coal is a practical strategy to address this problem. However, the co-combustion characteristics and the inherent interaction between semi-coke and coal remain insufficiently understood. In addition, the influences of secondary air arrangement, the boiler operation load, and the fuel type on co-combustion process are still unclear, which is urgent to be further explored. In the present study, experiments and numerical simulations were jointly utilized to inquire into the co-combustion behaviors and NOx emission features of semi-coke and coal. The results demonstrated that the “out-furnace method” was a suitable choice for small-capacity boiler when the proportion of semi-coke was 33%, due to the limited combinations of the semi-coke injection position. It was recommended that semi-coke was preferred to be injected from the middle layers of the furnace under the “in-furnace method” to improve the overall co-combustion performance. The critical value of the separated over fire air ratio in this study was 27.5%, over which a slight drop of carbon content in fly ash could come about. Moreover, the elevation in the proportion of separated over fire air gave rise to the significant decline of NOx concentration. The constricted secondary air arrangement was preferred to be employed due to the high boiler efficiency. The separated over fire air and the surrounding air needed to maintain a wide-open degree to prevent the increase of NOx emissions and the coking of nozzles. For the load reduction regulation method adopted in this study, the NOx concentration first rose and then dropped, while the burnout ratio decreased obviously as the operation load was reduced. Different combinations of coal and semi-coke generated significant influences on co-combustion behaviors within the furnace. The NOx generated by high-volatile fuel (bituminous coal) combustion was mainly affected by volatile-N, while the NOx generated by low-volatile fuel (semi-coke) was mainly impacted by char-N. This study is of guiding significance for the efficient and clean utilization and beneficial to the large-scale application of powder semi-coke in power plants.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has evolved over several thousands of years, which has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. Three classical TCM prescriptions, namely Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction, Zhishi Xiebai Guizhi Decoction, and Gualou Xiebai Banxia Decoction, have been extensively used in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD). Based on molecular network modeling, we performed a comparative pharmacogenomic analysis to systematically determine the drug-targeting spectrum of the three prescriptions at molecular level. Wide-area target molecules of CHD were covered, which was a common feature of the three decoctions, demonstrating their therapeutic functions. Meanwhile, collective signaling involved metabolic/pro-metabolic pathways, driving and transferring pathways, neuropsychiatric pathways, and exocrine or endocrine pathways. These organized pharmacological disturbance was mainly focused on almost all stages of CHD intervention, such as anti-atherosclerosis, lipid metabolism, inflammation, vascular wall function, foam cells formation, platelets aggregation, thrombosis, arrhythmia, and ischemia-reperfusion injury. In addition, heterogeneity analysis of the global pharmacological molecular spectrum revealed that signaling crosstalk, cascade convergence, and key targets were tendentious among the three decoctions. After all, it is unadvisable to rank the findings on targeting advantages of the three decoctions. Comparative pharmacological evidence may provide an appropriate decoction scheme for individualized intervention of CHD.

Oxy-fuel combustion of high-alkali coal is beneficial for near-zero emission of pollutants in power plants and has the potential for extensive, efficient, and safe utilization of Zhundong coal in future. The present work was performed on oxy-fuel combustion of Zhundong coal, while the effects of silicoaluminate oxide and coal blending on oxy-fuel combustion characteristics and kinetics of high-alkali coal were further studied using thermogravimetric analysis. The thermogravimetric curves of Zhundong coals present two obvious stages but the contrastive coals are different. The increase in oxygen content weakens the impact of coal property on oxy-fuel combustion behavior of high-alkali coal. The addition of Al2O3 and kaolin results in a slight decline of the peak combustion rate, while the influences of SiO2 and diatomite additives are negligible. The additive fraction of silicoaluminate oxide gives rise to a non-monotonic impact on combustion characteristics of Zhundong coal. The interaction effect within blended coal could cause a reduction in reaction rate during the intense combustion stage, while its influence on kinetics is intensified during the later stage of oxy-fuel combustion. The impact extent of silicoaluminate oxide and coal blending on oxy-fuel combustion kinetics of high-alkali coal is highly associated with additive species and individual coals.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of blood-letting therapy (BLT) in treatment of hypertension. A comprehensive electronic and manual bibliographic searches were performed in Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Excerpt Medica Database (EMBASE), PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wanfang Database to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which hypertensive patients were treated with BLT or BLT plus antihypertensive drugs (BPAD) against placebo, no treatment or antihypertensive drugs. The Cochrane Risk Assessment Tool was used to assess the methodological quality of trials. The Review Manager 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. A total of 7 RCTs with 637 hypertensive patients from 1989 to 2017 were identified. Compared with antihypertensive drugs, blood pressure was significantly reduced by BLT (RR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.44, P=0.03; heterogeneity: P=0.06, I2=60%) and BPAD (RR=1.25, 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.53, P=0.03; heterogeneity: P= 0.01, I2=71%). Moreover, a significant improvement in Chinese medicine syndrome by BLT (RR=1.32; 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.53, P=0.0002; heterogeneity: P=0.53, I2=0%) and BPAD (RR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.04, P=0.02; heterogeneity: P=0.13, I2=56%) was identified. The reported adverse effects were well tolerated. Although some positive findings were identified, no definite conclusions regarding the efficacy and safety of BLT as complementary and alternative approach for treatment of hypertension could be drew due to the generally poor methodological design, significant heterogeneity, and insufficient clinical data. Further rigorously designed trials are warranted to confirm the results.

Both baicalin (BA) and jasminoidin (JA) are active ingredients in Chinese herb medicine Scutellaria baicalensis and Fructus gardeniae, respectively. They have been shown to exert additive neuroprotective action in ischemic stroke models. In this study we used transcriptome analysis to explore the pure therapeutic mechanisms of BA, JA and their combination (BJ) contributing to phenotype variation and reversal of pathological processes. Mice with middle cerebral artery obstruction were treated with BA, JA, their combination (BJ), or concha margaritifera (CM). Cerebral infarct volume was examined to determine the effect of these compounds on phenotype. Using the hippocampus microarray and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) software, we exacted the differentially expressed genes, networks, pathways, and functions in positive-phenotype groups (BA, JA and BJ) by comparing with the negative-phenotype group (CM). In the BA, JA, and BJ groups, a total of 7, 4, and 11 specific target molecules, 1, 1, and 4 networks, 51, 59, and 18 canonical pathways and 70, 53, and 64 biological functions, respectively, were identified. Pure therapeutic mechanisms of BA and JA were mainly overlapped in specific target molecules, functions and pathways, which were related to the nervous system, inflammation and immune response. The specific mechanisms of BA and JA were associated with apoptosis and cancer-related signaling and endocrine and hormone regulation, respectively. In the BJ group, novel target profiles distinct from mono-therapies were revealed, including 11 specific target molecules, 10 functions, and 10 pathways, the majority of which were related to a virus-mediated immune response. The pure additive effects between BA and JA were based on enhanced action in virus-mediated immune response. This pure mechanistic analysis may provide a clearer outline of the target profiles of multi-target compounds and combination therapies.

Artemisinin and its derivatives have now become essential antimalarial drugs for increasingly widespread drug-resistant malaria strains. Although artemisinin was first used for the treatment of malarial ailments, lots of subsequent studies have demonstrated it possesses other multiple pharmacological functions such as antitumor, antiarrhythmic, anti-fibrosis, as well as the activity against schistosomiasis. A wide array of the molecular mechanisms based on above-mentioned functions of artemisinin and its derivatives have also been explored. Experimental evidences suggest that artemisinin compounds may exert its functions via mechanisms like regulating key factors such as apoptosis-related BAX, FASL and caspase-3, multi-drug resistence genes, cytokines such as CD4+ and CD8+, inflammation-related NF-κB and COX2, telomerase, oxidative stress molecules, and so on. In this article, the proposed mechanisms of action of artemisinins are reviewed with the hope of gaining more insight into the multiple actions of these potent drugs and how they work.

Our previous studies have showed that ursodeoxycholic acid (UA) and jasminoidin (JA) effectively reduce cerebral infarct volume in mice. In this study we explored the pure synergistic mechanism of these compounds in treatment of mouse cerebral ischemia, which was defined as synergistic actions specific for phenotype variations after excluding interference from ineffective compounds. Mice with focal cerebral ischemia were treated with UA, JA or a combination JA and UA (JU). Concha margaritifera (CM) was taken as ineffective compound. Cerebral infarct volume of the mice was determined, and the hippocampi were taken for microarray analysis. Particular signaling pathways and biological functions were enriched based on differentially expressed genes, and corresponding networks were constructed through Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. In phenotype analysis, UA, JA, and JU significantly reduced the ischemic infarct volume with JU being superior to UA or JA alone, while CM was ineffective. As a result, 4 pathways enriched in CM were excluded. Core pathways in the phenotype-positive groups (UA or JA) were involved in neuronal homeostasis and neuropathology. JU-contributing pathways included all UA-contributing and the majority (71.7%) of JA-contributing pathways, and 10 new core pathways whose effects included inflammatory immunity, apoptosis and nervous system development. The functions of JU group included all functions of JA group, the majority (93.1%) of UA-contributing functions, and 3 new core functions, which focused on physiological system development and function. The pure synergism between UA and JA underlies 10 new core pathways and 3 new core functions, which are involved in inflammation, immune responses, apoptosis and nervous system development.

Chinese herbal medicine Bu-Shen-Jiang-Ya decoction (BSJYD) is reported to be beneficial for hypertension. Over expression of extracellular signal regulated kinases (ERK) pathway plays an important role in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). This study aimed to observe effects of BSJYD on LVH in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and explore its possible mechanism on regulation of ERK pathway. Sixty 12-week-old SHRs were randomly allocated into 5 groups: BSJYD high dose group, middle dose group, low dose group, captopril group, and control group. Besides, a control group of Wistar-Kyoto rats was established. All rats were treated for 8 weeks. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR), pathology, and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured. Western blotting and Real-time PCR were used to assess the expressions of BDNF, Ras, ERK1/2, and c-fox levels. SBP and HR were significantly decreased compared with the control group and LVMI was markedly improved by BSJYD treatment in a dose-dependent manner. BSJYD inhibited the expression of BDNF, Ras, ERK1/2, and c-fox mRNA in LVH. In conclusion, BSJYD suppressed hypertension-induced cardiac hypertrophy by inhibiting the expression of ERK pathway. These changes in gene expression may be a possible mechanism by which BSJYD provides myocardial protection from hypertension.

Hypertension, which directly threatens quality of life, is a major contributor to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Over the past two decades, domestic and foreign scholars have agreed upon various standards in the treatment of hypertension, and considerable progress has been made in the field of antihypertensive drugs. Oral antihypertensive drugs represent a milestone in hypertension therapy. However, the blood pressure standard for patients with hypertension is far from satisfactory. The study of Chinese herbal formulas for treating hypertension has received much research attention. These studies seek to integrate traditional and Western medicine in China. Currently, Chinese herbal formulas are known to have an outstanding advantage with regard to bodily regulation. Research shows that Chinese medicine has many protective mechanisms. This paper addresses the process of the antihypertensive mechanisms in Chinese herbal formulas for treating hypertension. These mechanisms are to be discussed in future research.

Tunable coherent radiation of wavelength between 92 nm and 122 nm has been produced in molecular gases of N2, CO, H2 and CH4 by resonant and nonresonant third harmonic generation. Factors with respect to the frequency conversion efficiency, including the line strength of the nonlinear susceptibility, the density of the media and the phase-matching, are discussed. By analyzing the characteristics of the four-wave mixing spectra in molecular gases, some physical parameters and the population of the energy levels are obtained. This indicates that nonlinear optical frequency conversion process provides a useful method to study the structure and spectra of molecules.