Clean Preparation of Formed Coke from Semi-coke by the Carbonated Consolidation Process.

In order to address the low thermal efficiency of low-rank coal combustion and the accompanying serious environmental issues, formed coke was prepared using a carbonization consolidation method with low-rank coal semi-coke. The test for briquetting and carbonation consolidation conditions revealed that the optimal parameters were a briquetting pressure of 93.63 MPa, moisture content of 16%, Ca(OH)2 binder amount of 10%, and a CO2 concentration of 30% at 20 °C. Under these conditions and a carbonation consolidation time of 60 min, high-quality formed coke was produced, exhibiting a compressive strength of 1256.2 N/a, redrying strength of 286.2 N/a, and a dropping strength of 10.6 number/a. The combustion characteristics of the prepared formed coke were investigated, revealing that ignition temperatures (345.39 °C), burnout temperatures (495.57 °C), and peak of the maximum weight loss rate temperatures (437.93 °C) are slightly higher than those of bituminous coal. The low calorific value of the briquette was 20.4 MJ/kg. During the combustion process, the emission concentrations of SO2, NOX, and solid particles from the formed coke were significantly lower than those of bituminous coal, indicating that it is a cleaner energy source. Moreover, adding Ca(OH)2 effectively reduced SO2 emissions and achieved sulfur fixation and emission reduction.

Performance on desulfurization and denitrification of one-step produced activated carbon for purification of sintering flue gas.

An innovative one-step process for activated carbon production from low-rank coal is proposed in this research by applying oxidized pellets as activator. The new process can realize synchronous production of the activated carbon and direct reduction iron through combination of carbonization and activation of low-rank coal in one step while no solid wastes were discharged. The desulfurization and denitrification performance of the obtained activated carbon was also evaluated on the simulative sintering flue gas in comparison with one type of commercial activated carbon. The results indicated that a superior activated carbon with high specific surface area of 370.42 m2 g-1, iodine sorption value of 695.13 mg g-1, compressive strength of 315 N·per-1and abrasive resistance of 96.61%, can be prepared under suitable conditions of activation temperature at 850 °C for 140 min with C/Fe mass ratio of 2.5. Meanwhile, the direct reduction iron has a metallization ratio of 88.31%. The activated carbon has a preferable desulfurization performance with the breakthrough sulfur capacity of 5.463 mg/g and breakthrough time of 46.33 min, and single denitrification performance with the breakthrough nitric capacity of 1.935 mg/g and breakthrough time of 90.17 min at flue gas temperature of 80 °C, airspeed ratio of 8370 h-1, gas flow of 1.8 m3/h, and oxygen concentration of 16%. The denitrification of activated carbon in the simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification process can be improved by catalytic reduction via the transformation from NO to N2. The good results show that this process has a bright future with high technical and economic feasibility.

Enhanced adsorption of NO onto activated carbon by gas pre-magnetization.

The NO removal efficiency was relatively low in the traditional activated carbon adsorption process. In this work, a gas pre-magnetization and activated carbon adsorption process was developed to enhance the adsorption of NO onto activated carbon. In this innovative and green process, the mixed gas was magnetized in the external magnetic field and then absorbed by activated carbon. The results indicated that the maximal removal rate of NO could be increased from 75.0% to 89.5%, and the NO adsorption capacity of commercial activated carbon in one hour elevated from 2.28 to 2.60 mg/g when the magnetic induction intensity of external magnetic field increased from 0 T to 2 T. The strengthening mechanism of the gas pre-magnetization was investigated. It was found that magnetic field could elevate the oxidation rate of NO by 11.4% and thus promote the physical adsorption of NO onto activated carbon. External magnetic field could increase the reaction activity of NO and promote the chemical reaction between NO and some functional groups (CO, CO and COOH) on the activated carbon and thus promote the chemisorption process of NO.

Effect and Mechanism of Transthyretin over-Expression on Proliferation and Cell Cycle of Lung Cancer A549 Cells.

BACKGROUND: The effects of transthyretin (TTR) over-expression on the proliferation and cell cycle of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells and its possible mechanism were verified. METHODS: A total of 196 LC patients and 20 healthy controls were enrolled at Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China between Apr 2017 and Oct 2017. The serum TTR content was detected by ELISA. Through lentiviral transfection method, NSCLC cells were divided into non-transfected group (group A), negative control group (group B) transfected with empty vector and experimental group (group C) transfected with TTR over-expression. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 method, TTR mRNA expression was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and TTR protein expression was tested by Western blot (WB). Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry, Wnt3a/ß-catenin protein expression was detected by WB, and mRNA expression was detected by RT-qPCR. RESULTS: The serum TTR content in early, middle and late LC group was remarkably lower than that in healthy group (P<0.05). Compared with late stage, TTR content in early and middle stages of LC group was higher, and the difference was statistically marked (P < 0.05). The absorbance value of group C was lower than that of groups A and B, indicating that the cell proliferation activity dramatically decreased, with statistically marked difference (P<0.05). LC A549 cells in group C were obviously blocked in G2M, with statistical significance (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: TTR over-expression can inhibit the proliferation of NSCLC A549 cells, and the expression is related to Wnt3a/ß-catenin pathway. TTR in serum of patients was helpful for diagnosing LC and has certain clinical value.

Current status and research progress of minimally invasive surgery for flail chest.

Chest trauma accounts for ~13.5% of all traumas, and direct death from chest trauma accounts for 20-25% of all traumatic deaths. Chest trauma is the second cause of death from trauma. Frequent rib fractures, especially in patients with flail chest, often cause severe pain, chest wall softening, abnormal breathing and severe lung contusion and laceration, usually requiring thoracic surgery. In recent years, the open reduction and internal fixation treatment of rib fractures with flail chest has achieved satisfactory results, and some surgical indications have reached consensus. A number of scholars and medical centers have demonstrated the practicality and cost-effectiveness of rib fixation in flail chest, including the small incidence of pulmonary complications, the short ICU mechanical ventilation time, and the reduction of digestive tract inhibition. Open reduction and internal fixation of rib fractures involves multiple ribs. Conventional rib fractures require a large incision to achieve satisfactory exposure. Chest wall muscles, blood vessels and nerves (long thoracic and thoracodorsal nerves) are injured, resulting in a high infection rate of the incision and postoperative dysfunctions, such as limited upper limb, shoulder and back function, and long time numbness on the affected side of the chest. Therefore, the damage of muscles and nerves caused by conventional surgical methods limits the development of such surgical technique. Although the video-assisted thoracoscopic technique has become a necessary technical means for the treatment of thoracic trauma and has been applied to thoracic exploration and hemostasis, there is no report on the application of open reduction and internal fixation for rib fracture. The difficulty lies in the tightly combined bony thorax and the soft tissue of the chest wall. Therefore, experts have explored a variety of minimally invasive surgical methods for the flail chest. The current status and research progress of minimally invasive surgery for thoracic surgery are reviewed.

Manual aspiration versus chest tube drainage in primary spontaneous pneumothorax without underlying lung diseases: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: Although primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is an extremely frequent pathology, there is still no clear consensus on the treatment for these patients. We performed a strict meta-analysis on the effectiveness of manual aspiration (MA) compared to chest tube drainage (CTD) for the treatment of PSP. METHODS: A literature search was performed on PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library to identify randomized controlled trials comparing MA with CTD for the treatment of PSP. Independent reviewers evaluated the methodological quality of the included randomized controlled trials. Statistical heterogeneity among studies was quantitatively evaluated using the I-squared index. RESULTS: Five randomized controlled trials were included, and a total of 358 subjects were reported on. We found that MA was related to significantly shorter hospital stays [in days; mean difference -1.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.36 to -1.04; P < 0.00001, fixed effect model] compared with CTD. However, no significant differences were found between the 2 treatments for immediate success rate (risk ratio 1.15, 95% CI 0.73-1.81; P = 0.54), 1-year recurrence rate, 1-week success rate, time of recurrence, chest surgery rate or complication rate. Subgroup analysis showed that MA can provide a significantly lower hospitalization rate than CTD with a tube size of >12 Fr or a water seal drainage system. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the currently available literature, MA is advantageous in the treatment of PSP because of shorter hospital stays. The subgroup analysis also indicates that MA can provide a lower hospitalization rate than CTD with a tube size of >12 Fr or a water seal drainage system. However, there are no significant differences between the 2 interventions with respect to immediate success rate, 1-year recurrence rate, 1-week success rate, time of recurrence, chest surgery rate or complication rate.

Thoracoscope combined with internal support system of chest wall in open reduction and internal fixation for multiple rib fractures.

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of applying thoracoscope combined with internal support system of chest wall (ISSW) in minimally invasive internal fixation for rib fracture on patients with multiple rib fractures. A total of 84 patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation for rib fracture from January 2017 to December 2017 in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Tianjin Hospital were selected into the study, and retrospective analyses were carried out. The clinical data, pain score, operating time, intraoperative blood loss, indwelling time of thoracic tube, total drainage volume of thoracic tube for 3 days after operation, indwelling time of wound drainage tube, total drainage volume of wound drainage tube, length of stay, hospitalization costs, postoperative complications, C-reactive protein (CRP) and pulmonary function of patients in the groups were compared. The patients were followed up for prognosis for 2-4 months via re-examination, and chest numbness at 1 month after operation was recorded. Compared with that (145.27±18.80 min) in the traditional group, the operating time in the minimally invasive group (112.20±21.40 min) was shorter (p<0.05). The total drainage volume of wound drainage tube was 145.75±61.03 ml in the minimally invasive group and 248.91±93.95 ml in the traditional group (p<0.05). In addition, the chest numbness at 1 month after operation (11.8%) in the minimally invasive group was better than that (34.00%) in the traditional group (p<0.05). Postoperative pain score, CRP and pulmonary function tests were also significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05). The results indicated that the application of thoracoscope combined with ISSW in minimally invasive internal fixation for rib fracture can effectively improve the prognosis of patients and reduce the length of stay and adverse reactions, and has high economic benefits, which is worthy of promotion and use in clinical practice.

Clinical significance of mechanical ventilation on ischemic-reperfusion injury caused by lung chest trauma and VEGF expression levels in peripheral blood.

We investigated the clinical significance of mechanical ventilation on ischemic-reperfusion injury caused by lung chest trauma as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression levels in peripheral blood. Sixty-eight patients with severe chest trauma complicated with acute respiratory distress syndrome that were treated at our Tianjin Hospital from September 2013 to July 2016 were recruited. These patients were randomly and evenly divided into two groups, the research group and the control group. Thirty-four age and gender matched healthy people were selected as the normal group. Routine treatment was given to both the research and control groups, but mechanical ventilation was used in the research group. We detected pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and alveolar-arterial oxygen difference (AaDO2) for patients in both groups before treatment, and after treatment for 1, 3, 6 and 12 h. We also tested PMN, superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), NO and Ang II value 30 min before and after treatment. We used the ELISA-test to detect VEGF expression levels in peripheral blood, followed by a statistical analysis. PVR levels of different time points in the research group were significantly lower than control group after treatment. The AaDO2 value of the control group is much smaller than research group (P<0.5) after treatment for 1, 3 or 6 h. PMN count difference and MDA level in the research group is significantly lower than the control group after treatment for 30 min, but SOD and NO levels are much higher. Ang II levels of the research group in left atrial blood is significantly lower than control group (P<0.05). By comparing the hospitalization times, we found that patients in the research group have a shorter duration in hospital than the control group; differences are statistically significant (P<0.05). Additionally, compared to control group, research group VEGF expression levels in peripheral blood are significantly lower (P<0.05). Therefore, mechanical ventilation can reduce the high VEGF expression levels in serum caused by ischemic-reperfusion and can be used for clinical application.

Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Improving Survival Outcomes for Esophageal Carcinoma: An Updated Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) treatment for patients with esophageal carcinoma (EC) remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of NCRT followed by surgery (NCRTS) with surgery alone (SA) for EC. METHODS: The PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases were electronically searched up to August 2015 for all the published studies that investigated EC patients receiving either NCRTS or SA, and the reference lists were also manually examined for the eligible studies. The risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI s) as effective size was determined to assess the 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates (SRs), postoperative morbidity, and postoperative mortality. Heterogeneity was determined using the Q-test. The Begg's test and Egger's test were used for assessing any potential publication bias. RESULTS: Of 1120 identified studies, 16 eligible studies were included in this analysis (involving 2549 patients). Overall, the pooled results suggested that NCRTS was associated with significantly improved 1-year (RR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.13), 3-year (RR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.14-1.39), and 5-year (RR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.18-1.56) SRs. However, the results also indicated that NCRTS had no or little effect on postoperative morbidity (RR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.82-1.05) and postoperative mortality (RR: 1.17, 95% CI: 0.56-2.44). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with SA, NCRTS can increase 1-, 3-, and 5-year SRs in patients with EC.

Prognostic Significance of the Preoperative Lymphocyte to Monocyte Ratio in Patients With Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Undergoing Complete Resection.

In this study, we investigated the correlation between lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) and clinical outcomes in stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. A total of 439 stage I NSCLC patients were enrolled in this study. Multivariate analyses identified LMR as an independent prognostic factor for recurrence-free survival and overall survival (hazard ratio (HR: 0.469, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.325-0.677, and p < 0.001, and HR: 0.478, 95% CI: 0.332-0.688, and p < 0.001; respectively). Compared with the high LMR group, the proportion of patients who developed distant metastasis was significantly higher in the low LMR group.