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Due to global changes, the international community is paying attention to the application of innovative energy technologies to meet the sustainable development of ecology and the environment. As a result, the concept of “waste-to-energy” has been developed. This study proposes a modular device for low-temperature pyrolysis (less than 300 °C) of polymers as a verifiable framework for a decentralized energy supply. Experiments with various plastics as waste feedstocks for conversion into fuel products were carefully analyzed. Mixed plastics (petrochemical polymers) and natural materials (organic polymers) were further subjected to energy conversion efficiency evaluation. The feasibility of continuous implementation was verified, converting 4000 kg of waste plastics with chemical potential into 3188 L of waste polymer oil (WPO), and generating 6031 kWh of electricity. Integrated electromechanical control realizes a low-temperature microwave pyrolysis process with low pollution emissions. The new technology harvests energy from troublesome garbage, reduces waste disposal volume by 55~88%, and produces cleaner, low-toxicity residual, easy-to-store fuel that can be used in general internal combustion engines. Standardized modular equipment provides an effective solution for resilient energy systems, and its easy scalability can reduce the load on the basic grid and improve the stability and dispatchability of energy supply. This research will realize on-site waste treatment, reduce transportation energy consumption, meet regional energy demands, and apply it to coastal, remote villages, offshore platforms, and emergency scenarios.

Background: Respiratory system infections are prevalent in patients with depression. However, it remains unclear if patients with depression are at an increased risk of developing pleural empyema. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. The depression group included 42,283 newly diagnosed patients between 2000 and 2012. The comparison group included the same number of individuals without depression, frequency matched for age, sex, comorbidities, and the year of diagnosis. The occurrence of pleural empyema was monitored until the end of 2013. Results: The overall incidence of pleural empyema was 1.32-fold higher in the depression group than in the comparison group (3.94 versus 2.97 per 10,000 person-years), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.33 (95% confidence interval, 1.27−1.40). Stratified analyses by age, sex, and comorbidity revealed that the crude and adjusted hazard ratios of pleural empyema associated with depression were significant in all subgroups. The 30-day mortality for pleural empyema was higher, but not significantly, in the depression group compared to the comparison group (10.7% versus 6.4%, adjusted odds ratio = 2.23, 95% confidence interval, 0.77−6.49). Conclusion: An association between depression and the development of pleural empyema may exist; however, more evidence is required to support this association. The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.

Background: Ultrasound imaging has become one of the most widely utilized adjunct tools in breast cancer screening due to its advantages. The computer-aided detection of breast ultrasound is rapid development via significant features extracted from images. Objectives: The main aim was to identify features of breast ultrasound image that can facilitate reasonable classification of ultrasound images between malignant and benign lesions. Patients and Methods: This research was a retrospective study in which 85 cases (35 malignant [positive group] and 50 benign [negative group] with diagnostic reports) with ultrasound images were collected. The B-mode ultrasound images have manually selected regions of interest (ROI) for estimated features of an image. Then, a fractal dimensional (FD) image was generated from the original ROI by using the box-counting method. Both FD and ROI images were extracted features, including mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. These extracted features were tested as significant by t-test, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Kappa coefficient. Results: The statistical analysis revealed that the mean texture of images performed the best in differentiating benign versus malignant tumors. As determined by the ROC analysis, the appropriate qualitative values for the mean and the LR model were 0.85 and 0.5, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predicted value (PPV), negative predicted value (NPV), and Kappa for the mean was 0.77, 0.84, 0.81, 0.77, 0.84, and 0.61, respectively. Conclusion: The presented method was efficient in classifying malignant and benign tumors using image textures. Future studies on breast ultrasound texture analysis could focus on investigations of edge detection, texture estimation, classification models, and image features.

Sleep and wakefulness are basic behavioral states that require coordination between several brain regions, and they involve multiple neurochemical systems, including neuropeptides. Neuropeptides are a group of peptides produced by neurons and neuroendocrine cells of the central nervous system. Like traditional neurotransmitters, neuropeptides can bind to specific surface receptors and subsequently regulate neuronal activities. For example, orexin is a crucial component for the maintenance of wakefulness and the suppression of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In addition to orexin, melanin-concentrating hormone, and galanin may promote REM sleep. These results suggest that neuropeptides play an important role in sleep–wake regulation. These neuropeptides can be divided into three categories according to their effects on sleep–wake behaviors in rodents and humans. (i) Galanin, melanin-concentrating hormone, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide are sleep-promoting peptides. It is also noticeable that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide particularly increases REM sleep. (ii) Orexin and neuropeptide S have been shown to induce wakefulness. (iii) Neuropeptide Y and substance P may have a bidirectional function as they can produce both arousal and sleep-inducing effects. This review will introduce the distribution of various neuropeptides in the brain and summarize the roles of different neuropeptides in sleep–wake regulation. We aim to lay the foundation for future studies to uncover the mechanisms that underlie the initiation, maintenance, and end of sleep–wake states.

Background Leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) has been identified as a putative intestinal stem cell marker. However, the clinical prognosis of Lgr5 is still controversial in colorectal cancer (CRC). To systematically summarize the clinical prognostic function of Lgr5 in colorectal cancer, we performed this meta-analysis. Methods Published articles which assessed the clinical or prognostic role of Lgr5 was searched in Pubmed, Embase and Springer and collected until the publication month of February 2014. The association of Lgr5 expression with clinical outcomes was investigated by a meta- analysis. Results A total of 8 studies have been up to the inclusion standard, comprised 2139 patients. Lgr5 showed no relationship with the gender of patients (OR = 0.919, 95% CI = 0.730–1.157, P = 0.473) and the depth of invasion (OR = 2.616, CI 95% = 0.947–7.221, P = 0.063). Lgr5 was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.248, 95%CI = 1.205–4.192, P = 0.011), tumor distance metastasis (OR = 3.872, 95%CI = 2.792–5.370, P

Isothermal P – T – x phase equilibria at 333.15 K and 353.15 K for five binary mixtures of benzene + toluene, benzene + N -methylformamide (NMF), heptane + octane, toluene + m -xylene and toluene + NMF were obtained at pressures from 0 kPa to 101.3 kPa over the whole composition range and liquid densities of these solutions were measured by using vibrating tube densitometers. The excess molar volumes of the liquid phase were determined and the excess molar volumes behavior indicates that three mixtures of benzene + toluene, heptane + octane and toluene + m -xylene present positive deviation from ideal solution and two mixtures containing the NMF component display largely negative deviation from ideal solution.

Adsorption of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) from water using iron oxide (alpha-Fe2O3) nanoparticles was investigated in this study. Adsorption of MC-LR adsorption was well-described by a pseudo second order kinetics model and Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm equations at 15 to 35 degrees C. Thermodynamic analysis showed that the Gibbs free energy was negative, whereas standard enthalpy and entropy changes were positive at this temperature range. These findings suggest that the adsorption of MC-LR on iron oxide nanoparticles was spontaneous and endothermic. The effects of initial pH, inorganic cations, and competing compounds with carboxyl groups on absorption of MC-LR were also evaluated. Typically, adsorption efficiency decreased with increasing pH from 2 to 11. Sodium ions did not appear to significantly affect MC-LR adsorption, whereas calcium ions slightly enhanced the MC-LR adsorption capacity of the iron oxide nanoparticles. Moreover, the inhibiting effect of competing organic compounds was increased with increasing numbers of carboxyl groups, as follows: citric acid (3)>oxalic acid (2)>benzoic acid (1).