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Because of their saponin content, Camellia oleifera shells cannot be directly discarded. However, this eco-unfriendly agricultural waste is suitable for use as a fuel. A comparison between the combustion of crushed C. oleifera shell (CCS) and pelletized C. oleifera shells (PCS) was carried out in a pilot-scale fluidized-bed. Both directly combustion and flue gas recirculation (FGR) combustion modes were employed. The effects of particle size and the FGR ratio on the combustion behavior and pollutant emissions characteristics were also investigated. Results show that the combustion efficiencies for both CCS and PCS are higher than 99%. The combustion fraction in the bed region of CCS and PCS-6 are 55% and 85%, respectively, resulting in different combustion and pollutant emission characteristics. CCS has smaller CO and NO emissions and higher PCDD/Fs concentration of the fly ash compared with those of pelletized fuels. However, considering the material bridging in the feeding process of CCS, using pellets as the fuel is a better choice. The CO emissions increase while dioxin and furan emissions decrease with an increase in FGR ratio. The lowest NO emissions (about 150 ppm) of the three pelletized fuels combustion were achieved at an FGR ratio of 42%. In addition, all the pollutant emissions are lower than the minimum standards required for municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators in Taiwan. • Fluidized-bed combustion of eco-unfriendly agricultural waste is studied. • High combustion efficiency is achievable for burning CCS and PCS in VFBC. • Lowest NO emissions of three pelletized fuels were achieved at an FGR ratio of 42%. • CO emissions increase while dioxin and furan emissions decrease at higher FGR ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on a porcellanid crab, Aliaporcellana taiwanensis n. sp. It describes the female specimen collected from Ludao Island, Taiwan. It also provides a description of Aliaporcellana suluensis collected from Nansha Islands in South China Sea and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia with comparisons with A. taiwanensis.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common disorder in the aging male population. Despite evidence that thyroid status impacts the prostate, the objective of this study was to examine whether patients with hyperthyroidism were at a greater risk for BPH.This study is a retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study of the Chinese population. Data for this study were retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Overall, 1032 male patients aged 40 years or older with hyperthyroidism diagnosed between 2000 and 2006 were included in the hyperthyroidism group, and 4128 matched controls without hyperthyroidism were included in the non-hyperthyroidism group. Both groups were monitored until the end of 2011. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to compute and compare the risk of BPH between study participants with and those without hyperthyroidism.Patients with hyperthyroidism exhibited a greater incidence of BPH (18.51% vs 15.53%) than did the controls. Furthermore, the hazard ratio (HR) of the hyperthyroidism group was 1.24 times that of the control group [95% confidence interval (95% CI 1.05-1.46)] signifying that there is a significant 24% increase in the risk of BPH with the presence of hyperthyroidism. This increased risk of BPH with hyperthyroidism, however, failed to remain significant (adjusted HR = 1.11, 95% CI = 0.94-1.3) after adjusting for covariates of age (adjusted HR = 2.72, 95% CI = 2.32-3.2), diabetes (adjusted HR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.17-1.68), hypertension (adjusted HR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.49-2.03), hyperlipidemia (adjusted HR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.03-1.53), neurogenic bladder, cystitis (adjusted HR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.58-2.59), urethral stricture (adjusted HR = 2.01, 95% CI = 0.28-14.47), urethritis (adjusted HR = 1.52, 95% CI = 0.72-3.21), and urinary tract infection (adjusted HR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.31-2.39).After adjustment for comorbidities and covariates, hyperthyroidism was not found to be a significant risk factor of BPH in our male study subjects. Further research is warranted to validate our results and elucidate the association of the pathophysiology of these 2 diseases.