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To study the effect of anion in sodium salts on catalytic gasification and provide some useful information for the recovery and reutilization of catalysts, the catalytic reactivity of Na2CO3, Na2SO4, NaNO3 and NaCl was compared. In addition, the melting process of catalyst, mineral composition, specific surface area and CO2 adsorption ability of chars loaded with catalyst was measured by in situ hot stage microscope, XRD, BET and TGA. Moreover, the mineral transformations of catalytic gasification ash were also investigated by FactSage. The results indicate that anions in sodium salts have a significant effect on gasification. Among them, Na2SO4 and Na2CO3 can greatly accelerate the catalytic gasification rate of coal char. The char loaded with Na2SO4 or Na2CO3 shows more specific surface area and more adsorption capacity of CO2 than other chars. Simultaneously, the pictures captured by hot stage microscope reveal that Na2SO4 and Na2CO3 melt, become liquid film and then spread over char surface and neighboring particles; this facilitates the contact between carbon and catalyst and accelerates the gasification reaction. Na2SO4 is suitable for catalytic gasification from the aspects of its catalytic activity and convenience of recovery and reutilization.

The migrating and diffusion of alkali metals affect catalytic gasification of coal char. The paper investigated in-situ gasification behaviors of coal char by TG and hot stage microscope, and studied catalytic performance of single NaAlO2 particle and Na distribution by SEM-EDX. The results show that in the beginning stage, the curve of carbon conversion obtained by area method is consistent with that by TG method. In the ending stage, the ash in coal char acts as framework of the particles, as a result, area of the particles keeps unchanged. Meanwhile, the ash hinders diffusion of gasifying agent into coal char, and decreases the gasification rate, so carbon conversion rate calculated by area change is lower than that from TG. The single NaAlO2 particle has catalytic performance. The coal char particles, which are closer to NaAlO2, have higher gasification reactivity, because the amount of migrating alkali is higher. The migrating distance of NaAlO2 is higher than 840 μm at 900°C.

LLC resonant converters have been widely adopted in many different industrial applications due to their characteristics of high efficiency and high power density. Simulation tools are of great importance for the analysis and design of LLC resonant converters. For example, many LLC design methods require massive simulations to finalize the circuit parameters, iterations are necessary, which can be tedious and time-consuming. Therefore, in this work, accurate and complete steady state simulation tools based on MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI) are designed for LLC resonant converters. All common and possible operation modes and LLC converter topologies are included in the designed simulation tools, which makes them practical for different applications and operation conditions. An improved mode judgement method and guidelines for initial point setting are proposed to ensure fast simulation speed. More than that, the key circuit voltage and current values are summarized for the user to evaluate the converter performance, which is more convenient than commercial simulation software. Moreover, the designed simulation tools are suitable and convenient for automatic converter parameter design.

In wide voltage range applications, traditional LLC converters suffer from the following issues: (i) to cover a wide voltage gain operating range, the required switching frequency range is also large, which challenges the design and optimisation of magnetic components, gate driver circuitry, and electro-magnetic interference filter; (ii) a small magnetising inductance is preferred in wide voltage gain range application, which leads to the increase of circuit circulating current and corresponding conduction loss; (iii) passive elements are determined based on the minimum switching frequency, so bulky passive elements are required to satisfy the required operation range. To solve these problems, in this study, a full-bridge LLC (FBLLC) resonant converter with two operation modes, namely full-bridge operation and frequency doubler operation, is proposed for wide voltage gain range application. The FBLLC converter discussed in this study can be designed in half of the input voltage range when compared with the conventional method, so smaller switching frequency operating range and higher efficiency operation are guaranteed. In addition, the smooth mode transition is achieved by introducing switching frequency feedforward control and small output voltage overshoot or undershoot is observed. A 150 W experimental prototype was built to validate the theoretical analysis.

Background Viable probiotics have shown effects on the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, but the role of non-viable probiotics in H. pylori eradication is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of non-viable Lactobacillus reuteri DSM17648 combining with 14-day standard triple therapy on H. pylori eradication. Materials and methods Two hundred treatment-naive H. pylori-positive adult patients were randomized equally to receive non-viable L. reuteri DSM17648 (LR group) or placebo for 4 weeks, with the latter 2 weeks treated together with triple therapy. The Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) was completed before and after treatment. Stool samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing at week0, week2, and week8. Results Eradication rates in the LR group and the placebo group were 81.8% and 83.7% in ITT analysis (p = 0.730), 86.2% and 87.2% in PP analysis (p = 0.830), respectively. After treatment, the mean GSRS score decreased significantly in the LR group as compared with the placebo group (1.9 ± 0.2 vs. 2.7 ± 0.3; p = 0.030). Significantly less patients in the LR group as compared with the placebo group reported abdominal distention (5.1% vs. 16.3%; p = 0.010) and diarrhea (11.1% vs. 23.5%; p = 0.022). The relative abundance of Proteobacteria phylum and Escherichia-Shigella genus in the placebo group was about 4.0-fold and 8.1-fold of that in the LR group at wk2, respectively. Significant changes of diversity and enhancements of Fusicatenibacter, Subdoligranulum, and Faecalibacterium were observed in the LR group compared with the placebo group. Conclusions Supplementation of non-viable L. reuteri DSM17648 with triple therapy did not improve the eradication rate of H. pylori, but it helped to build up a beneficial microbial profile and reduced the frequencies of abdominal distention, diarrhea, and the GSRS score.

We investigated the impact of aerobic exercise (AE) on multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), aortic injury, pathoglycemia, and death during sepsis. ICR mice were randomized into four groups: Control (Con), Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Exercise (Ex), and Exercise + LPS (Ex + LPS) groups. Mice were trained with low-intensity for 4 weeks. LPS and Ex + LPS mice received 5 mg/kg LPS intraperitoneally for induction of sepsis. Histopathological micrographs showed the organ morphology and damage. This study examined the effects of AE on LPS-induced changes in systemic inflammation, pulmonary inflammation, lung permeability, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cell count, oxidative stress-related indicators in the lung, blood glucose levels, plasma lactate levels, serum insulin levels, plasma high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) levels, glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) and HMGB1, silent information regulator 1 (Sirt-1), and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf-2) mRNA expression levels in lung tissue. AE improved sepsis-associated multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), aortic injury, hypoglycemia, and death. AE prominently decreased pulmonary inflammation, pulmonary edema, and modulated redox balance during sepsis. AE prominently decreased neutrophil content in organ. AE prominently downregulated CXCL-1, CXCL-8, IL-6, TNF-α, Glu1, and HMGB1 mRNA expression but activated IL-1RN, IL-10, Sirt-1, and Nrf-2 mRNA expression in the lung during sepsis. AE decreased the serum levels of lactate and HMGB1 but increased blood glucose levels and serum insulin levels during sepsis. A 4-week AE improves sepsis-associated MODS, aortic injury, pathoglycemia, and death. AE impairs LPS-induced lactate and HMGB1 release partly because AE increases serum insulin levels and decreases the levels of Glut1. AE is a novel therapeutic strategy for sepsis targeting aerobic glycolysis.

Objectives: To investigate whether cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection plays a role in the pathogenesis and prognosis of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), particularly in anti-MDA5 antibody-positive (anti-MDA5+) dermatomyositis (DM).Methods: A prospective cohort of 204 newly diagnosed IIM patients and 50 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. CMV-IgM and CMV-IgG antibody concentrations and lymphocyte counts were analyzed. Differences in categorical data were compared using Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test. One-year survival rates were analyzed in MDA5+ DM patients with and without CMV infection.Results: In IIM patients, the median CMV-IgM level was significantly higher than in healthy controls (6 U/mL vs. 0 U/mL, p < 0.05) as was the median CMV-IgG level (114 U/mL vs. 105 U/mL, p < 0.05). The percentage of recent CMV infections in the MDA5+ DM group was much higher than it was in the MDA5− IIM group (19.1% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.009). MDA5+ DM patients with CMV DNA-emia had poorer 1 year survival than the CMV-DNA− group (33.3% vs. 86.3%, p = 0.010). CMV-IgM-positive (CMV-IgM+) MDA5+ DM patients had lower CD4+ T cell counts (245.7 cells/μL vs. 420.5 cells/μL, p < 0.05) and CD19+ B cell counts (97.3 cells/μL vs. 240.6 cells/μL, p < 0.05).Conclusion: The number of CMV infections was significantly higher in IIM patients, particularly in MDA5+ DM patients. Lower CD4+ T cells and CD19+ B cells were observed in CMV-IgM+ MDA5+ DM patients. CMV infection may have an important role in the pathogenesis and prognosis of MDA5+ DM by disrupting immunity.

Purpose: In the present study, we attempted to investigate whether aerobic exercise (AE) could prevent sepsis and its complications and explored the related mechanisms. Methods: Forty ICR mice were divided into four groups: Control (Con), Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Exercise (Ex), and Exercise + LPS (Ex + LPS) groups. Ex and Ex + LPS mice were performed with low-intensity AE for 4 weeks. LPS and Ex + LPS mice received 5 mg/kg LPS intraperitoneally for induction of sepsis. Histopathological micrographs showed the organ injury. This study examined the effects of AE on LPS-induced changes in systemic inflammation, pulmonary inflammation, lung permeability, oxidative stress-related indicators in the lung, blood glucose levels, plasma lactate levels, and plasma high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) levels, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cell count. Sixty mice were used to perform survival rate analysis. Results: AE improved survival rates, MODS, and aortic injury in mice with sepsis. AE decreased LPS-induced oxidative stress injury in lung tissue. AE reduced the infiltration of neutrophils in the lung, liver, kidney, and heart tissues. AE suppressed CXCL-1, CXCL-8, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA expression but activated IL-1RN, IL-10, Sirt-1, and Nrf-2 mRNA expression in the lung. AE decreased the serum levels of lactate and HMGB1 but increased blood glucose levels during sepsis. Conclusions: AE improves sepsis-associated lung, liver, kidney, heart, and aortic injury and death. AE modulates the inflammatory-anti-inflammatory and oxidative-antioxidative balance in the lung. AE, which can regulate the Warburg effect and impair LPS-induced lactate and HMGB1 release, is a novel therapeutic strategy for sepsis targeting aerobic glycolysis.

LLC converters have been widely adopted in loads of industry applications. Although traditional fundamental harmonic based analysis method is simple, when applied in wide voltage gain range applications, the analysis accuracy degrades significantly. Thus, to optimize the converter performance, the time domain modelling analysis for different LLC converters and operation modes are discussed. Then, based on the modelling results, a simulation tool based on MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI) is developed to visualize the converter operation. Compared with the commercial simulation software, the developed one holds the advantages of fast, accurate, and convenient. The designed simulation tool has the exact simulation results as the commercial simulation software, while the simulation speed is much faster than the commercial ones. In addition, there is no need for users to build the different converter topologies and measure the key circuit currents and voltages, which is much more convenient. The developed simulation tool can be used to achieve automated design with thousands of iterations, which are tedious and time-consuming for commercial software. The time domain modelling and developed simulation tool are discussed. Simulation results comparisons between the developed simulation tool and commercial PSIM simulation tool are presented to validate the correctness and effectiveness of the developed simulation tool.

To achieve low-latency and high-reliability (LLHR) for the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services, the Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based solution has been considered as a promising technology. Since the existing LTE networks are based on the orthogonal multiple access (OMA), the limited spectrum resources have not been fully and efficiently utilized, so that severe data congestion and low access efficiency cannot be avoided in dense networks. Non-OMA (NOMA) provides a new solution for 5G V2X services to mitigate traffic congestion and reduce latency. Different from existing works, we propose two relay-assisted NOMA transmission schemes for 5G V2X communications, i.e., half-duplex relay-assisted NOMA (HDR-NOMA) broadcasting/multicasting and full-duplex relay-assisted NOMA (FDR-NOMA) broadcasting/multicasting, and investigate the optimal power allocation problems for them. To improve the quality of service (QoS) for the users with the poor channel conditions and to guarantee the fairness, the power allocation problems are formulated to maximize the minimum achievable rate for all users. Even though both of the formulated problems are neither concave nor convex, it is shown that the considered problems are quasi-concave. Hence, a bisection-based power allocation algorithm is proposed to obtain the optimal solutions to the problems. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed schemes outperform the scheme with fixed power allocation obviously and achieve a significant performance improvement with respect to a suboptimal fractional transmit power allocation (FTPA) method and the optimized time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme. Besides, compared with HDR-NOMA, better performance can be achieved by FDR-NOMA scheme when the self-interference is sufficiently suppressed.

Although catalytic gasification has many natural advantages, its industrial application is still hindered by catalysts deactivation for the reaction between catalysts and mineral in coal, slagging that arises from the fluxing effect of catalyst, fouling and corrosion for the volatility of alkali. Yet, we find that NaAlO2, with a high melting point, can alleviate the above problems. In this study, NaAlO2 catalytic gasification behaviors were firstly investigated, and its catalytic gasification reactivity was compared with Na2CO3, the latter is the traditional catalyst for gasification. Meanwhile, the deactivation behaviors, Na distribution and ash fusion temperatures (AFTs) of the catalytic gasification ash were comprehensively investigated by TG, ICP-OES, and XRD. The results show that NaAlO2 is more tolerant to deactivate than Na2CO3. Part of Na2CO3 reacts with mineral in coal to form deactivated sodium aluminum silicate at 700 °C, but NaAlO2 deactivates until 900 °C. Compared with Na2CO3, NaAlO2 is more difficult to volatilize during catalytic gasification, alleviating fouling and corrosion problems. Meanwhile, NaAlO2 increases the AFTs, yet Na2CO3 decreases the AFTs. The softening temperature (ST) of the gasification ash with NaAlO2 addition is 249 °C higher than that of Na2CO3 with the same Na loaded content 0.94 mmol Na/g char, which is very useful to alleviate the slagging problems. Therefore, NaAlO2 is an excellent catalyst for gasification with more tolerant to deactivation, lower Na volatility, and higher AFTs.

To perfectly solve the shortage of high-strength lump-feedstock resources and the problems of phenolic wastewater treatment and furnace corrosion restricting long-term operation of moving (fixed) bed gasification, high-strength gasification-coke with a large amount of low-rank coal blends has been prepared by reasonable granularity control at low cost. To further understand the physicochemical properties of this coke, the effects of the blending ratio of low-rank coals and particle size distribution on coke reactivity were investigated in this study. At the same time, the release ratio of Na in gasification-coke with blending sodium-rich coal was detected during the pyrolysis, gasification, and combustion stages. The results show that coke gasification reactivity with the fast reaction rate range mainly depends on the blending ratio of low-rank coals. The reasonable granularity control, which requires a small amount of strong-caking coal fines ( 60%) of...

Additive water is usually needed to preserve 9–11% moisture content of blended coal in the stamp-charging coking process, which in fact is unfavorable for coking property. An insight into the improvement of coking property of coal blends with much low-rank coal (long flame coal SFC, lignite HLH) by regulating additive water was proposed in terms of its effects on the metaplast fluidity and the particle agglomeration behavior. The results indicate that the cohesiveness of gas coals (GC) can be properly enhanced by adding water. The restrictions on the condensation of aromatic structures and the break-up of –CH2– structure and the development of the polyhydroxy groups in aromatic structures are favorable to increase the fluidity of metaplast after adding water, as demonstrated by the optical texture and FTIR analysis of the semicoke (450 °C). The great difference in the hydrophilic properties for various rank coals leads to the particle agglomeration of gas coal and fat coal (GC and FC), which makes them difficult to mix uniformly with SFC after adding water, thus reduces the coking property. A reasonable approach of adding water suggests that H2O and SFC should be well mixed prior to blending with caking coals, which can lead to a uniform particle distribution and a better coking property. This approach promotes the direct and efficient utilization of low-rank coal (especially lignite) by the blending coking with no or less drying and dewatering processes.

The deactivation of Na2CO3, caused by the reaction between Na and Si and Al minerals in coal, is one of the key technical bottlenecks for the large-scale application of catalytic gasification. Ca can inhibit the deactivation of Na, and the binary Na–Ca catalyst shows strong synergistic effects during catalytic gasification. In this study, the deactivation behaviors of Na2CO3 and the inhibition mechanism of Ca were systematically investigated by thermogravimetric, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), model compounds, and FactSage thermodynamic equilibrium. The results show that the Na–Ca catalyst shows synergistic effects and more Na remains active as water-dissolved Na after gasification with Na–Ca addition. The mechanism of the inhibiting effect of Ca on Na2CO3 deactivation at low temperatures ( 1000 °C). At temperatures lower than 1000 °C, Ca inhibits the reaction between Na and Si and Al minerals; as a result, more Na remains acti...

The catalyst recovery from Na 2 CO 3 -catalyzed steam gasification ash of Sunjiahao (SJH) high-aluminium coal char was investigated using water leaching method combined with extracting alumina by means of Ca(OH) 2 thermal activation. The recovery efficiency of sodium catalyst from Na 2 CO 3 -catalyzed gasification ash (NCGA) with single water leaching method was as low as 39.5 wt%, which resulted from the formation of water insoluble sodium aluminosilicate during Na 2 CO 3 -catalyzed gasification. In order to improve sodium recovery, the water-washed NCGA was activated by means of Ca(OH) 2 thermal activation for simultaneous recovery of sodium and alumina. The recovery efficiency of sodium from the water insoluble sodium aluminosilicate is 63.6 wt%, thus the total sodium recovery can be remarkably improved and reach 72 wt%. Meanwhile, the extraction efficiency of alumina from NCGA can reach 88.46 wt%. The low sodium recovery with Ca(OH) 2 thermal activation is attributed to the formation of Na 2 CaSiO 4 during Ca(OH) 2 calcination. Extracting alumina process from NCGA of SJH high-aluminium coal can effectively promote the recovery of sodium catalyst and the process economy.

Backgroud Obg-like ATPase 1 (OLA1) is a member of the Obg family of P-loop NTPases and has recently been detected in several human cancer cells. However, its expression type and clinical relevance in gastric cancer remains unclear. Methods In the present study, 2 datasets downloaded from the open Gene Expression Omnibus database were used to evaluate the mRNA level of OLA1 in gastric cancer. Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR further validated the mRNA expression in gastric cancer tissues. Immunohistochemistry was performed on gastric cancer tissue microarray to assess OLA1 protein expression type, prognostic value, biological significance and its association with Snail in 334 patients of gastric cancer. The prognostic value of combination of OLA1 and Snail has been evaluated. Results The results showed that OLA1 mRNA and protein were elevated in gastric cancer tissues. High expression of OLA1 was significantly associated with aggressive features, such as tumor size, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (P = 0.0146, P = 0.0037, P P = 0.009). Additionally, OLA1 expression was positively correlated with Snail, and combination of them revealed improved prognostic accuracy for gastric cancer patients. Conclusions Our results suggested that OLA1 high expression was considered as an independent factor for the prediction of unfavorable prognosis in gastric cancer patients, and we believe that OLA1 could serve as a biomarker of poor prognosis and a novel target in treating gastric cancers.

Large-scale antenna technology is a key technology for the fifth-generation mobile communication (5G) system to improve capacity and spectrum utilization; meanwhile, cognitive radio (CR) can vastly improve the utilization of unexploited spectrum resources. This paper employs three CR base stations to realize spectrum sharing in full space, where three CR base stations are placed at neighboring walls of a cell and distinguish CRs in the cell by their angular information. To reduce pilot contamination and overhead emerged during uplink and downlink training, this paper performs two dimensional discrete Fourier Transform to obtain the direction of arrivals and the angular spread of primary radios (PRs) and CRs. At last, this paper proposes a greedy CR scheduling algorithm for three CBS system. To testify three CBS system’s efficiency and effectiveness, performs similar greedy CR scheduling algorithms on two CBS systems. The three CBS systems demonstrate remarkable superiorities by recognizing and scheduling more CRs in less scheduling time, especially when the number of CRs exceeds 100.

In this paper, a graphical user interference (GUI) program based on MATLAB was built for LLC resonant converter. The time domain analysis method is adopted to derive the mathematical model of LLC resonant converter in PO operation mode. The designed MATLAB GUI program has the following features and advantages: 1) key circuit voltages and currents operation waveforms are presented, which can help visualize the steady state operation of the converter; 2) the execution time is only around one second, which is much more faster than commercial simulation software; 3) important currents and voltages values are summarized and listed, which is convenient for users; 4) power loss model is used to obtain the efficiency and power loss distribution information, which is beneficial for LLC converter design; 5) high accuracy and small computation capacity make it suitable for industry applications. Brief introductions for the time domain analysis are presented in this paper. Comparisons between the proposed GUI program and commercial simulation tools are made.

Objective Anti-DFS70 antibodies correlating with the nuclear dense fine speckled (DFS) pattern in the HEp-2 indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) are less common in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARD) than in healthy subjects and their clinical associations remain elusive. We hosted a multi-center HEp-2 IFA training program to improve the ability of clinical laboratories to recognize the DFS pattern and to investigate the prevalence and relevance of anti-DFS70 antibodies. Methods DFS pattern sera identified by HEp-2 IFA in 29 centers in China were redirected to a central laboratory for anti-DFS70 testing by line immunoblot assay (LIA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and IFA with HEp-2 ELITE/DFS70-KO substrate. Anti-extractable nuclear antigen antibodies were measured by LIA and the clinical relevance was examined in adult and pediatric patients. Results HEp-2 IFA positive rate and DFS pattern in positive sera were 36.2% (34,417/95,131) and 1.7% (582/34,417) in the patient cohort, and 10.0% (423/4,234) and 7.8% (33/423) in a healthy population, respectively. Anti-DFS70 prevalence among sera presenting the DFS pattern was 96.0, 93.7, and 49.6% by ELISA, LIA, and HEp-2 ELITE, respectively. 15.5% (52/336) of adult and 50.0% (20/40) of pediatric anti-DFS70 positive patients were diagnosed with SARD. Diseases most common in anti-DFS70 positive patients were spontaneous abortion (28.0%) in adults and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (22.5%) in pediatric patients. Conclusion Accurate DFS pattern identification increased the detection rate of anti-DFS70 antibodies by ELISA and LIA. Anti-DFS70 antibodies are remarkably high in cases of spontaneous abortion and in pediatric SARD patients, but not prevalent in adult SARD patients.

Background This study aimed to investigate whether an increased proton pump inhibitor (PPI) dose enhanced the efficacy of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication and determine the appropriate cutoff intragastric pH value that could predict H. pylori eradication with bismuth-based quadruple therapy. Materials and methods A total of 207 H. pylori infected, treatment naive patients were enrolled in this prospective, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomly allocated into Eso40-group (esomeprazole 40 mg bid) and Eso20-group (esomeprazole 20 mg bid), and their CYP2C19 genotyping status was assessed. The 24-h intragastric pH monitoring on day 7 was performed, and percentage of time gastric pH ≥ 3, ≥4, ≥5, and ≥6 (pH holding time ratios; HTRs) were measured. H. pylori eradication was evaluated using 13 C-urea breath test. Results No significant difference in the eradication rates was observed between two groups. The median 24-h intragastric pH value was not significant different between two groups but the Eso40 Group had a significant higher pH4 HTRs (91.11% [95%CI: 87.50%-95.83%] vs. 95.83% [95.83%-100%]; p = .002). Additionally, the median 24-h intragastric pH value showed significantly difference between two groups in EM genotype (Eso20 Group 6.00 [95%CI; 5.75-6.15] vs. Eso40 Group 6.30 [6.05-6.30]; p = .019). Similar results were observed in pH4 HTRs. There were significant differences in intragastric pH value (6.10 [95%CI: 4.40-7.00] vs. 5.65 [4.85-5.95], p = .038) and in pH4 HTRs (96% [95%CI: 92.00%-96.00%] vs. 87.5% [67.00%-100.0%], p = .019) between eradication-successful and eradication-failed patients. Statistical analysis suggested that the median intragastric pH = 5.7 could identify the success of H. pylori eradication. Conclusions Bismuth-based quadruple therapy resulted in high H. pylori eradication rates either in PPI standard or double doses. Double dose of esomeprazole is associated with better intragastric acid suppression. A median 24-h intragastric pH of 5.7 could be appropriate cutoff value for predicting the successful H. pylori eradication.

BACKGROUND Perianal infection is a common complication in patients with acute leukemia receiving chemotherapy. It usually manifests as a perianal mass, with redness/swelling, heat, and pain, and can affect physical and mental health in severe cases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of matrine sitz bath (MSB) in treating perianal infection after chemotherapy for acute leukemia. METHODS A total of 216 acute leukemia patients with perianal infection that developed during chemotherapy were enrolled in this study and equally randomized into an MSB group and control group. The control group was treated with the conventional potassium permanganate sitz bath. After 14 days of treatment, the clinical efficacy and symptom/sign scores were compared between these 2 groups. The serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-10(IL-10), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were detected by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS The clinical efficacy of MSB group was significantly superior to that of the control group (P

We propose a real-time visual road detection based local path planner for autonomous navigation in unstructured environments. The system consists of two parts: road detection and local path planning. Road boundary model based on convolution neural network is trained for local road detection in image frame. After perspective transformation, the result is transformed to the vehicle’s frame for path planning. The road midline generated from the road boundaries is used to represent the reference local path. Priori information with the global navigation topology map is combined to solve multi-roads selection. Finally, data fusion with historical detection results and predictive control of vehicle model is used for path optimization. In addition, obstacle avoidance combined with LIDAR perception is also taken into account to complete an autonomous navigation task in complex scenarios.A large number of experiments with various road conditions shows that the proposed method has a good adaptability and versatility for unstructured scenarios. The algorithm can effectively reduce the dependence on absolute positioning and LIDAR perception. So it is of great importance for autonomous navigation in scenarios without satellite or in unknown scenarios.

To produce a qualified gasification-coke by blending a larger proportion of low-rank coal, the effects of blending ratio, particle size distribution, and maceral components on the coke strength were studied, and a new coking mechanism was put forward in terms of the physical texture. The results show that the influence of coal particle size varies with the different cohesiveness of coals. Fat coal (FC) with a smaller size gets a better performance on the coke strength, while a larger size is needed for gas coal (GC), and the optimum size of long flame coal (Shenfu coal, SFC) varied with its blending ratio. SFC and GC should be crushed coarsely (2–3 mm surpasses 40%) to act as the framework with the less external surface in the viscous embedded state. FC should be crushed finely ( M 25 > 90%, CRI > 50%, CSR > 35%) can be obtained by blending >40 wt% SFC with this new coking mechanism.

Developing coal to hydrogen is a crucial way to alleviate the conflict between demand and supply of hydrogen. In this paper, a coal to hydrogen process based on ash agglomerating fluidized bed gasification is proposed and simulated. Based on the simulation results, the thermodynamic analysis and economic evaluation of the coal to hydrogen process are carried out to provide theoretical guidance for the development and investment of the coal to hydrogen process. The results show that the energy efficiency is 43%, the exergy efficiency is 40% and the total exergy loss is 73,315 kW. Gasification unit occupies 63.66% of the total exergy loss and should prefer to be improved. In addition, the total capital investment, total production cost, payback period, net present value and return on investment are estimated for four different plant sizes. The results show that the costs and profitability vary significantly with the plant size. Finally, the influences of coal price and hydrogen price on the economic performance of the coal to hydrogen process are investigated.

In order to better understand gasification performance, a general regression neural network (GRNN) was developed to model a novel integrated fluidized bed (IFB) gasifier to research the correlative relationship between the input and output parameters of the IFB gasifier. Additionally, the prediction accuracy of the GRNN model was compared with the multivariate nonlinear regression (MNR) method. The performances of the two methods were evaluated using the mean relative error (MRE), the root mean square error (RMSE) and the coefficient of determination (R2). The GRNN model simulated the IFB gasifier with a higher R2, a lower RMSE and a lower MRE demonstrating the prediction accuracy of the GRNN model over the MNR method. Furthermore, the effects of the oxygen to coal ratio, the steam to coal ratio, the oxygen to fly ash ratio and the steam to fly ash ratio on gasification performance were analyzed using the proposed GRNN model.

A Huo linhe coal sample and its N2-devolatilized char have been pyrolyzed in a pressurized fixed-bed reactor under N2 and 50% CO2/50% N2 atmospheres, respectively. With a view to avoiding any disturbance from the devolatilization process, N2-devolatilized char was used to study the effect of CO2 on the cleavage of chemical bonds. The results show that CO2 intensifies the consumption of H in the char before its release in the form of H2. More H in the char is transferred into gaseous aliphatic hydrocarbons and condensable volatiles, leading to a decrease in the yield of H2 under 50% CO2 atmosphere compared with that under N2 at elevated pressure in the range 550–900 °C. A CO2 atmosphere is the dominant factor in the release of H from char below 700 °C, such that more H in char induced by CO2 is transferred into volatiles at 550 °C than that at 800 °C, above which temperature controls the release of H from char. Thus, CO2 induces the decomposition of more H-containing organic groups to form CH4, C2H6, C2H4,...

In this paper, a novel system with ash agglomerating fluidized bed gasification and CO2 capture to produce hydrogen and electricity is firstly designed in Aspen Plus. The newly-proposed system is composed of eight subsystems, namely air separation unit, gasification unit, water gas shift unit, Rectisol unit, CO2 compression unit, Claus unit, pressure swing adsorption unit, gas and steam turbine unit. The thermodynamic performance and hydrogen to coal ratio of the new proposed system are investigated. The results demonstrate that the hydrogen to coal ratio, energy efficiency, net electricity power and exergy efficiency of the overall system for Yangcheng anthracite are 0.096 kg/kg, 46.52%, 1.71 MW and 43.92%, respectively. Additionally, the exergy destruction ratio and exergy efficiency of each subsystem are researched. More importantly, the influences of the oxygen to coal ratio, steam to coal ratio and coal types on the hydrogen to coal ratio, energy efficiency and exergy efficiency are also studied.

Recently, back propagation neural networks (BPNNs) have been applied to various gasification processes. Although the aforementioned BPNNs obtain relative satisfying prediction results, most of these models have some obvious drawbacks such as over fitting problem which can greatly reduce the prediction accuracy of BPNNs. In this study, a back propagation neural network optimized by particle swarm optimization (BPNN-PSO) was strongly proposed as a novel model to solve these problems. More importantly, this new BPNN-PSO approach was used to predict gas composition, gas yield, lower heating value of syngas and gasification temperature for coal gasification in a pilot-scale pressurized ash agglomerating fluidized bed gasifier. Three variables that affected the prediction results were selected as input parameters which were oxygen flow rate, steam flow rate and coal flow rate. The prediction accuracy of the newly-employed method was compared with pilot experimental data. The results convincingly denoted that the proposed approach possessed high accuracy with highest correlation coefficient, lowest mean squared error and mean absolute percentage error. Additionally, effects of oxygen to coal ratio and steam to coal ratio on gasification performance were precisely and detailedly studied using the newly-proposed BPNN-PSO approach.

Acid-leached waste residue, produced during Al extraction from coal ash, has been destroying the environment seriously. To utilize this high silicon residue (70% or more) and accelerate the industrialization of Al and Si extraction from coal ash, a high-silicon coal was selected to prepare catalytic gasification ash (CGA) and combustion ash (CA). Then, the obtained CGA and CA were leached by H2SO4 to remove aluminum and obtain silica-rich residue. After that, acid leached catalytic gasification residue (ACGR) and acid leached combustion residue (ACR) were leached by NaOH aqueous solution to extract SiO2. In this process, some possible influential factors such as NaOH concentration, liquid-solid ratio, reaction temperature and time on the extraction yield of SiO2 (EY-SiO2) and modulus of sodium silicate (SSM) were investigated respectively. Besides, orthogonal experiments L9(34) were conducted to analyze their interrelationship. In addition, to acquire the variation of crystal structure, the method of X-ra...

The effect of Na2CO3 additive on the steam gasification characteristics of Sunjiahao (SJH) coal char was studied in the present paper. Na2CO3-catalyzed steam gasification of SJH char was carried out in a thermogravimetric analyzer to study the effect of Na2CO3 loading on the gasification reactivity and in a fixed-bed reactor to investigate the evolution of char structure and the transformation of Na2CO3. The comparison result of the reactivity of char impregnated with various Na2CO3 catalyst loading indicates that the saturation level of Na2CO3 loading is 35 mass%. The catalytic gasification residues were characterized by a N2 adsorption (77 K) technique, laser Raman spectra, and X-ray diffraction patterns. The analyses results of the BET surface of the catalytic gasification residues at different carbon conversion suggest that the block of Na2CO3 catalyst may lead to the smaller BET surface area of the catalytic gasification residue than that of uncatalyzed gasification residual sample. Raman spectra analyses show that the amount of amorphous carbon structure decreased with the process of catalytic char gasification. The results of XRD reveal that Na2CO3 changes into the mixture of sodium aluminosilicates during steam gasification and turns into NaAlSiO4 after complete gasification.

Coal-direct chemical looping hydrogen generation (CLHG) is a promising process for hydrogen production with high coal conversion efficiency and low carbon footprint. In this work, experiments on coal-direct CLHG process were carried out using K2CO3 modified Fe2O3/ZrO2 as oxygen carrier (OC) and Shenmu (SM) char as fuel in a fixed-bed reactor. The effect of char/OC mass ratio on CO2/CO volume ratio, H2 production and phase transformation was investigated. Multicycle tests with SM char and deashed SM char were conducted to investigate the activity stability of OC and the reason for the deactivation of OC. The results confirm the feasibility of coal-direct CLHG process. Higher char/OC mass ratio could enhance the H2 production and decrease the CO2/CO volume ratio and oxidation state of iron oxides in OC. In the multicycle tests with SM char, carbon conversion and H2 production remained almost constant during the first 2 redox cycles and then decreased abruptly in the 3rd cycle. During the 3 cycles, the phases of OC residues remained unchanged and no detectable surface sintering was observed. Furthermore, the K contents of residues decreased slightly. In the multicycle tests with deashed SM char, the carbon conversion and accumulation H2 production were stable during the first 10 cycles and then decreased slowly. Some morphology features changes appeared during the 11 cycles, but no obvious surface sintering was observed. The K contents of residues declined by 2/3 after the 10th cycle.

Interactions between alkali metals in catalysts and silicon or aluminum minerals in coal are closely related to gasification reactivity, deactivation, and recovery of alkali catalysts during coal catalytic gasification, and alkali-containing minerals and their transformation behaviors are key issues for understanding these interactions. In this paper, Na-containing mineral transformation behaviors and their influences on the catalytic performance during Na2CO3-catalyzed CO2 gasification of high-alumina coal were comprehensively investigated by thermogravimetry, inductively coupled plasma, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, to have a better understanding of the mineral transformation during catalytic gasification, model compounds, i.e., kaolinite (Al2O3·2SiO2·2H2O) and boehmite (AlOOH), the main Al-containing minerals in high-alumina coal, were chosen as model compounds to investigate the mineral transformation behaviors. The results show that Na2CO3 first deactivates...

Through statistical data issued by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China, in 2015, China's real estate companies completed construction area of 7,356,930,000 square meters, of which the residential construction area occupied 69.53%. In China, building information modeling (BIM) technology has developed gradually these years. Despite the successful applications of BIM in commercial buildings, tourism buildings, culture and educational buildings and other public buildings, the application of BIM for residential buildings has not gained wide acceptance, which was only limited to residential buildings’ underground garages. This project aims to cover this gap by studying the application of BIM on residential buildings’ design stage under the commonly used DBB (Design-Bid-Build) mode. Through the investigation and participation of several projects, this paper constructs BIM application value system including specific implementing scheme and delivery forms based on the DBB mode. The system covers the phases of scheme design, preliminary design, construction drawing design and detailed design and involves the professional fields from general layout, municipal facility, landscape, architecture, structure, MEP(Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) and refined decoration.

Engineering efficient biosynthesis of natural products in microorganisms requires optimizing gene expression levels to balance metabolite flux distributions and to minimize accumulation of toxic intermediates. Such metabolic optimization is challenged with identifying the right gene targets, and then determining and achieving appropriate gene expression levels. After decades of having a relatively limited set of gene regulation tools available, metabolic engineers are recently enjoying an ever-growing repertoire of more precise and tunable gene expression platforms. Here we review recent applications of natural and designed transcriptional and translational regulatory machinery for engineering biosynthesis of natural products in microorganisms. Customized trans-acting RNAs (sgRNA, asRNA and sRNA), along with appropriate accessory proteins, are allowing for unparalleled tuning of gene expression. Meanwhile metabolite-responsive transcription factors and riboswitches have been implemented in strain screening and evolution, and in dynamic gene regulation. Further refinements and expansions on these platform technologies will circumvent many long-term obstacles in natural products biosynthesis.

Johanson–Blizzard Syndrome (JBS) is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, distinct abnormal facial appearance and varying degrees of growth retardation. Variants in UBR1 gene are considered to be responsible for the syndrome. Here, we describe a 3-year old boy, who visited our clinic for severe growth retardation and frequent oily diarrhea. The physical examination revealed nasal alae aplasia, scalp defect, and maldescent of left testicle. Transabdominal ultrasound and computed tomography scan of his abdomen demonstrated complete fatty replacement of the pancreas. The clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings strongly suggest the diagnosis of hereditary pancreatitis. Whole exome sequencing revealed two rare compound heterozygous variants, c.2511T > G (p.H837Q) and c.1188T > G (p.Y396X), in the UBR1 gene of this boy, so, the diagnosis of JBS was established. This is the first report of Chinese patient with JBS, and our study indicates that transabdominal ultrasound and computed tomography are two useful and noninvasive imaging methods for the diagnosis and evaluation of JBS, and identification of these two novel variants expands the database of UBR1 gene variants. Furthermore, with the availability of the identification technology for these variants, prenatal diagnosis could be offered for future pregnancies.

In this paper, analysis and design of the LLC resonant converter with magnetic control for light electric vehicles (LEVs) application are presented. The magnetic control instead of the widely used frequency control or phase shift control is adopted for the LLC resonant converter to achieve a better performance. The magnetic components and electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter design are simplified due to the fixed frequency operation, and the constant switching frequency and duty cycle operation for the primary switches are achieved. Meanwhile, a design methodology for the LLC resonant converter with magnetic control for battery charger application is proposed; by carefully designing the resonant tank, zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching (ZCS) operation for semiconductors are guaranteed. An experimental prototype is built to verify the theoretical analysis.

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is an iatrogenic complication frequently developed after cardiac catheterization procedures with the administration of iodinated contrast medium. However, the precise pathological mechanisms remain obscure. Thus, the establishment of a reproducible rat model following intra-arterial contrast medium (CM) injection to simulate the process of arteriography is of great importance. Here, a detailed protocol for establishing a CI-AKI model was describe. Three-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing approximately 300~400g at the start of the experiment, were used. The rats were pretreated with water dehydration for 48 hours, plus indomethacin and N-ω nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) injection, before intra-arterial contrast medium (CM) administration. Levels of serum creatinine (SCr) were measured and histopathological assessment of the kidney tissue by H&E staining were conducted. As expected, the administration of CM, following the pretreatment by indomethacin and L-NAME, induced remarkable renal dysfunction at 12 hours post-procedure in comparing with controls. The pronounced histopathological alterations in the tubular epithelial cells of the inner medulla and outer medulla were also observed in the CI-AKI rats. Thus, this rat model was reliable as a valuable tool for exploring the pathogenesis of CI-AKI.

As a fundamental sensor for autonomous driving, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) has gained increasing attentions in recent years. Optical phased array (OPA) LIDAR as a solid-state solution with the advantages of durability and low cost has been actively researched in both the academic and industry fields. Beam steering is a critical problem in OPA LIDAR where the beam can be controlled by software instantaneously. In this paper, we propose an object guided beam steering algorithm where the beams are allocated according to the detected objects in current frame of image. A series of rules are designed to assign different weights to different regions in the scene. We evaluated the algorithm in a simulated environment and the experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

The technology of alumina-extraction from coal ash provides an effective way for re-utilization of coal based solid waste as resource. However, one of the most serious challenges that this technology face is the harmless treatment of alumina-extracted residue (AR). Considering the structure and properties of AR, a scheme was proposed to make the AR as a potential sorbent for CO2, and in order to achieve enhanced CO2 adsorption performance, the AR was functionalized with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES). Moreover, the effects of amine grafting amount and temperature on CO2 adsorption capacity of sorbents were investigated. The results show that at 25 °C and 100% CO2, the sample obtained by adding 12 mmol of APTES presented the maximum CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.23 mmol/g. The sorbent can be regenerated successfully at 110 °C and maintain a stable uptake in 5 repeated adsorption–desorption cycles. These results suggested that APTES functionalized alumina-extracted residue is a potential excellent sorbent for CO2 absorption.

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS), a rare X-linked recessive genetic disorder with a normal 46, XY karyotype, is caused by defect of androgen receptor gene (AR) leading to resistance of the target tissues to androgenic hormones. There is a wide spectrum of clinical presentations of AIS, ranging from male infertility, hypospadias to completely normal female external genitalia. Here, we describe a 15-year old, phenotypically female individual, who visited our clinic for primary amenorrhea. The physical examination revealed normal female external genitalia, normal breast development, as well as sparse pubic hair and absence of axillary hair. A short blind vagina pouch was noticed in gynecological examination apart from the absence of cervix and uterus. Serum testosterone measured a considerable high level, and the karyotype was indicative of a normal male (46, XY). Transabdominal ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed the absence of uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes, only with a small blind-ending vagina observed. The clinical, laboratory, imaging, and genetic findings strongly suggest the diagnosis of complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS). Mutational analysis of the AR gene revealed a novel small insertion mutation c.192_193insTAGCAG(Q65X) in exon 1, which gives rise to a truncated nonfunctional protein, resulting in the loss of the remaining 856 C-terminus amino acid residues. This study indicates that US and MRI are two useful and noninvasive imaging methods for the diagnosis and evaluation of CAIS, and identification of this novel mutation expands the database of AR gene mutations. Furthermore, with the availability of the identification technology for this mutation, prenatal diagnosis could be offered for future pregnancies.

Coal-direct chemical looping hydrogen generation (CLHG) is an innovative technology for high-purity hydrogen production and in situ CO2 capture. The rate-limiting process of the technology is the deep reduction of OC by char, and the addition of K2CO3 to the OC could significantly enhance the reaction rate. Unfortunately, the transformation and migration of K in the reaction may cause the loss of K2CO3. In this work, the K content variations and distributions in the reduction process were investigated in a fixed-bed reactor at 900 °C. The K species in char and OC residues were determined. The results show that K loaded on OC could migrate to the char, and with the reaction prolonged the K in char residues could partially transfer back. After the reduction process, the K in OC and char residues, and the volatile K were 90%, 5.2% and 4.8%, respectively. The possible K species migrating between OC and char were K2CO3. K2CO3 in OC could transform to K-Fe-O composites, which could avoid the K2CO3 loss. The possible K-Fe-O composites were K2Fe22O34, K2Fe10O16 in the initial stage and transformed to KFeO2 finally. A small part of KFeO2 could be regenerated to K2CO3 by char. The K species in char residues were in the form of K-aluminosilicates, K2CO3 and organic-K during the reduction process. After the reduction process, about 3.5% of K in char residues was water-soluble and could be recovered. 1.7% of K was water-insoluble and difficult to be regenerated.

Background Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (PJS) is a hereditary cancer predisposing syndrome caused by autosomal dominant mutations in the serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11) gene and is associated with decreased life expectancy. Many families experience a poorer quality of life due to the psychological burden associated with the carrier status of their child. Therefore early genetic testing and confirmation of the diagnosis is important for patients’ psychological status, as well as for clinical management, genetic counseling and possible prenatal family planning. Methods In this study, peripheral blood genomic DNA samples from a Chinese PJS family with a high cancer risk were examined for STK11 mutations using Sanger sequencing and MLPA analysis. Furthermore, prenatal PJS testing from transabdominal chorionic villi sample was performed in one female member of the family. This family was followed up for three years. Results In this family, the STK11 exon 1 deletion (c.-1114-?_290 +?del) was predicted to affect the kinase domain of the protein and co-segregated with the disease phenotype. The same mutation was detected in the fetus and genetic sequencing and MLPA of the infant’s DNA and the pigmentation on his lips confirmed the result of prenatal testing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on PJS prenatal diagnosis of a PJS family in China. Conclusions An accurate and convenient PJS prenatal testing provides an opportunity for affected families to focus on polyp-related symptoms and cancer prevention and may be helpful for couples in family planning decision-making.

The catalytic performance of Na2CO3 for high-aluminum coal gasification was specially investigated, and the effect of the ash constituents in Sunjiahao (SJH) high-aluminum coal char on the catalytic activity of Na2CO3 and a comparison with that of K2CO3 were also studied through steam gasification experiments of SJH char catalyzed by Na2CO3 or K2CO3 carried out using a thermogravimetric analyzer and a fixed-bed reactor at 800 °C, respectively. The results indicate that the steam gasification rates of SJH char and acid-treated SJH char catalyzed by Na2CO3 are higher than those by K2CO3 with equal masses of catalyst. Na2CO3 can be used as the catalyst for high-aluminum coal gasification at 800 °C. The effect of the ash components on the catalytic activity of Na2CO3 is larger than that of K2CO3 in the catalytic steam gasification of SJH high-aluminum coal char at 800 °C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the steam gasification ashes of SJH char impregnated with Na2CO3 or K2CO3 reveal that the main comp...

Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (Angptl2) is regarded as a proinflammatory factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and is expressed at high levels in patients with coronary artery disease. However, direct evidence of Angptl2 in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is lacking. Our study was designed to investigate a possible relationship between serum Angptl2 and ACS.We evaluated 251 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography, consisting of 132 patients with ACS (unstable angina pectoris n = 60, acute myocardial infarction n = 72), 50 patients with stable angina pectoris, and 69 control patients. Serum Angptl2 concentration was measured in peripheral venous blood by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Serum Angptl2 levels were significant higher in patients with ACS than in those with stable angina (p0.05) or controls (p0.001). The difference between angplt2 levels in unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction subgroups was statistically insignificant (p = 0.831). In multivariable logistic regression models, using quartiles of Angptl2, Angptl2 was closely associated with ACS following adjustment of age, gender, established risk factors and high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (odds ratio for quartile 4 vs. quartile 1: 10.182, 95% confidence interval 2.440-42.485, p = 0.001).Serum Angptl2 is a new candidate biomarker for risk stratification of ACS.

An Fe-Zr oxide (Fe2O3 and ZrO2) modified by K2CO3 was prepared as the oxygen carrier (denoted as K3-Fe70Zr30) to examine the effects of temperature and char mass/oxygen carrier (OC) ratio on gas yield and composition during coal char chemical looping gasification for hydrogen production. The results of temperature-programmed experiments show that the reaction of oxygen carrier and coal char starts at 500°C, and the reaction rate increases sharply above 750°C. The reduced oxygen carrier begins to react with steam at 400°C, and the concentration of hydrogen significantly increases above 500°C. The results of isothermal experiments indicate that the reaction rate is accelerated with increasing reaction temperature. However, the H2 production yield decreases as the temperature rises when the ratio of CO/CO2 volume ratio increases. In addition, with the increase of char/OC ratio, the ratio of CO/CO2 in the outlet gas increases. As a result, the hydrogen production firstly increases and reaches a maximum value of 1.734 L/g, and then decreases. The activity of oxygen carrier can keep stable during the first 2 redox cycles, but decreases in the 3rd one. The activity can be renewed by the supplement of K2CO3, suggesting that the decreased activity of oxygen carrier can ascribe to the loss of K2CO3.

Co-gasification of coal char and biomass char was conducted to investigate the interactions between them. And random pore model (RPM) and modified random pore model (MRPM) were applied to describe the gasification behaviors of the samples. The results show that inhibiting effect was observed during co-gasification of corn stalk char with Hulunbeier lignite coal char, while synergistic effects were observed during co-gasification of corn stalk char with Shenmu bituminous coal char and Jincheng anthracite coal char. The inhibiting effect was attributed to the intimate contact and comparable gasification rate between biomass char and coal char, and the loss of the active form of potassium caused by the formation of KAlSiO4, which was proved to be inactive during gasification. While the synergistic effect was caused by the high potassium content of biomass char and the significant difference of reaction rate between coal char and biomass char during gasification.

The liquefaction and pyrolysis, co-liquefaction and co-pyrolysis of biomass and its three components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) with lignite under syngas were conducted, and the synergistic effects during co-liquefaction and co-pyrolysis of coal and biomass or its three components are investigated. The results show that the liquefaction of them can be conducted under mild reaction condition. The total conversion and the yield of asphaltene and preasphaltene (PA + A) increase with the addition of sawdust or cellulose to lignite, but the oil yields decrease when sawdust or cellulose is added to lignite during liquefaction. On the other hand, only oil yield observably increases with the addition of lignin to lignite. Sawdust and the three components of biomass promote the decomposition of lignite, resulting in the appearances of synergistic effects during co-pyrolysis of them. The final mass loss differences between calculation and experiment profiles during co-pyrolysis of lignite and biomass’ three components follow the order of coal and cellulose > coal and hemicellulose > coal and lignin. The extent of the synergistic effects during co-pyrolysis may be affected by the release of volatile matter.

The co-gasification behavior of deoiled asphalt (DOA) with coal and biomass were investigated by a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The gasification experiments were conducted under CO 2 atmosphere within an isothermal temperature range from 900 to 1100 °C. The physical properties of the samples were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), N 2 and CO 2 adsorption and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Compared with coal or biomass, the low surface area, high graphitization degree and the low ash content are the main reasons for the low reactivity of DOA. The co-gasification of coal and DOA does not show synergetic effect, while the combination of biomass and DOA shows higher gasification reactivity than that of being calculated. The synergetic effect is mainly caused by the alkali metals. Further study shows the transfer of the potassium from the surface of biomass to DOA greatly increases the active sites of the DOA, which leads to obvious improvement of the co-gasification reactions. Meanwhile, the gasification experiments of adding coal and biomass ashes to DOA also support the above explanations.

Co-pyrolysis is one of the most promising options for the utilization of coal and biomass. Coal/biomass blends were prepared using Yilan subbituminous (YL) and corncob and the mass ratios of coal in mixtures varied between 0 and 100 %. Co-pyrolysis characteristics were investigated in a thermogravimetric analyzer from 303 to 973 K under the nitrogen flow of 100 mL min−1. The co-pyrolysis residues were less than the sum simply added of the solid yields of individuals. With heating rate increased from 10 to 40 K min−1, the residues decreased more severely compared to the expected under various blending ratios. For fast pyrolysis in fluidized-bed reactor, gas volumes and char yields of co-pyrolysis showed a significant linearity. But pyrolysis-oil yields were higher than the expected from the additive model when the YL blending ratios were less than 60 %. The co-pyrolysis evolved more H2, CH4, C2 + C3, and less CO than an additive pyrolysis process of individual fuel. The GC/MS results indicated that co-pyrolysis-oil contained more alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, or acids than that of individual fuel. All of that suggested the H/OH in volatiles produced from rapid pyrolysis of biomass transferred to the radicals of coal pyrolysis. The possible reaction mechanism also was provided in the paper.