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Analysis of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) is important for risk assessment in clinical trials.

During the past few years, Tin (Sn)-based perovskites have been extensively investigated in the field of photovoltaics as promising candidates for new generation lead-free perovskite. Tin-based perovskites (ASnI3) present excellent photoelectric properties. However, there still remains a big concern over unsatisfactory stability. In reality, extensive efforts have been committed to improve the stability of perovskite active layer. In this review, a comprehensive understanding on defect formation, oxidation mechanism of Sn2+. Then, a detailed discussion on the recent advance the effect of additive engineering for the stability of FASnI3 PSCs, including antioxidants, 2D perovskite materials and functional passive molecular. Lastly, several key scientific issues and future research prospectives are proposed for achieving stable and high-performance Sn-based perovskite photovoltaics.

In order to improve the effect of garden landscape design in the residential area of sponge city, this paper combines digital technology to carry out the garden landscape design of the residential area of sponge city, and conducts the research on it through the intelligent system. Moreover, this paper studies the digital color processing algorithm and proposes a digital technology-based color processing algorithm for the garden landscape design of the residential area of the sponge city. In addition, this paper builds a garden landscape design system for sponge city residential areas on the basis of algorithms. Through the simulation test research, we can see that the garden landscape design of sponge city residential area based on the digital technology proposed in this paper can meet the needs of the sponge city garden landscape design.

In this study, the effects of torrefaction pretreatment on physicochemical characteristics and pyrolysis behavior of cornstalk were investigated based on the changes in its chemical and structural characteristics. The results indicated that torrefaction treatment improved the fuel properties with elevated torrefaction temperature, including the lower volatile content, higher carbon content, and higher heating value. In addition, serious torrefaction promoted complete degradation of hemicellulose, while the lignin was increased obviously. The crystallinity degree of cornstalk increased first and then reduced with the torrefaction temperature. Slight torrefaction enhanced the devolatilization and thermochemical reactivity of cornstalk, but serious torrefaction discouraged the volatile release. Kinetic parameter analysis indicated that the Ozawa-Flynn-Wall model was more accurate in calculating the activation energy, and the average activation energy gradually increased from 196.06 to 199.21, 203.17, and 217.58 kJ/mol. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters also showed an increasing trend with elevated torrefaction temperature. These results provide important basic data support for the thermochemical conversion of cornstalk to energy and chemicals.

Background Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) has been used in the radiofrequency ablation of arrhythmia since 1994. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of ICE assiting the ablation of atrial fibrillation.Methods From May 2020 to February 2021, 100 patients with atrial fibrillation underwent radiofrequency ablation assisted by ICE and three-dimensional mapping system. They were enrolled in ICE group. In the same period, 100 patients with atrial fibrillation who only received radiofrequency ablation assisted by three-dimensional mapping system were enrolled in control group. The patients were followed up and the fluoroscopy times, complications and success rates were compared. Results 1. The X-ray fluoroscopy times in ICE group was significantly shorter than that in control group. In ICE group there was no pericardial tamponade during atrial septal puncture. But in control group there were three cases of pericardial tamponade during atrial septal puncture; 2. The injury of vagus nerve around esophagus in ICE group was significantly less than that in control group; 3. There was no significant difference in the success rate between the two groups. Conclusions ICE can significantly increase the safety of the radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Pretreatment is an effective method to change the pyrolysis behavior and improve the product properties of biomass. In this study, the effects of hydrothermal treatment (HTT) and hydrothermal treatment combined with organic acid washing (HTT-A) on Chinese fir waste (CF) pyrolysis and preparation of wood vinegar (WV) were investigated. The results indicated that HTT promoted the decomposition of hemicellulose and disrupted the chemical structure, while HTT-A partly removed the lignin as well as hemicellulose. HTT-A showed a more effective removal efficiency of alkali/alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) than HTT. Both HTT and HTT-A delayed the initial decomposition temperature but promoted the pyrolysis process. The yields of WVs increased after HTT and HTT-A, while the moisture contents reduced, obviously. HTT increased the relative contents of phenols from 47.04 to 59.85% but reduced the relative contents of acids from 24.31 to 18.38%, whereas HHT-A reduced the relative contents of phenols but increased those of aldehydes. In addition, HTT and HTT-A showed the different effects on chemical compositions of WVs, especially for phenolic and acid compounds. This study indicated that HTT and HTT-A were the efficient methods to produce WVs with target chemical components, which would be conducive to the efficient application of WVs.

IntroductionSince the standardized residency training (SRT) was launched in 2014, there were very few data on evaluation of the factors that could influence the residents’ competency in China.MethodsAll residents who started their SRT programme from September 2015 to September 2018 were enrolled in this study. During the following years, they finished the programme and took examinations. The demographic information and exam scores of each subject were collected and analyzed.ResultsWe found that the qualification rates of SRT programme differed significantly annually. Age, gender, the highest medical education degree, residents from different places, training duration and years of medical school study were also different significantly year by year. According to the scores of examinations, residents were divided into two groups: the qualified group and the non-qualified group. Age, the highest medical education degree, residents from different places, training duration, years of medical school study and prior medical work experience differed significantly between the two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed the residents from different places and the training duration were factors that affected the qualification rate of SRT programme independently (P = 0.000 and 0.005, respectively).DiscussionThe “homogeneity” of SRT had been achieved regardless of the individual discrepancy, while the resident from different places and the training duration were obstacles we need to overcome further. Therefore, we should further advance the process of the transition from “Unit Persons” to “Society Persons”. And extending training duration will facilitate their qualification and be benefit to improve their competency.

Cardiomyopathies are a heterogeneous group of heart diseases that can gradually cause severe heart failure. In particular, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are the two main types of cardiomyopathies, yet the independent and communal biological mechanisms of both remain far from elucidated. Meanwhile, ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic form of cell death that has been proven to be associated with cardiomyopathies, but the concrete nature of the interaction remains unclear. Hence, this study explored the pathogenesis and ferroptosis mechanism of HCM and DCMSix datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database based on the study inclusion/exclusion criteria. After screening the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and hub genes of HCM and DCM, subsequent analyses, including functional annotation, co-expression, validation, and transcription factors (TF)-mRNA-microRNA (miRNA) regulatory network construction, were performed. In addition, ferroptosis-related DEGs were also identified and verified in HCM and DCM.We found 171 independent DEGs of HCM mainly enriched in the regulation of ERK1 and ERK2 cascade, while 171 independent DEGs of DCM were significantly involved in cell adhesion. Meanwhile, 32 communal DEGs (26 upregulated genes and 6 downregulated genes) and 3 hub genes [periostin (The identified independent and communal DEGs contribute to uncover a potentially distinct and common mechanism of HCM and DCM and ferroptosis-related genes could provide us with a novel direction for exploration. In addition, 3 hub genes could be potential biomarkers or therapeutic targets in patients with cardiomyopathy.

As the by-product of biomass pyrolysis, wood vinegar (WV) possesses numerous beneficial properties and has been used in many fields. The properties and utilization of WVs are primarily influenced by the type of biomass feedstock and the production techniques. In this paper, WVs were pyrolyzed from fir sawdust waste at 350 to 650 °C to study their growth regulation effect on wheat seed and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. The highest yield of WV was at 450 °C with major components of phenols (37.92%) and acids (24.59%). The concentration of WVs has a major influence on regulation effect, which mainly affected the development of lateral roots. Compared with sterile water (CK), the WV-2 showed the highest seed germination rate and lateral roots growth, which increased nearly 65% and 92%, respectively. The lower concentration of WVs increased the roots vigor (RV) and promoted growth, while the higher concentration increased the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and inhibited growth. The increased MDA indicated that wheat roots were suffering from oxidative stress. The findings revealed the suitability of WV as growth regulator in sustainable agriculture and also provided an efficient way for biomass waste utilization.

Producing biomass-derived aromatic hydrocarbons via controllable Diels-Alder reactions is a promising approach to recover energy and chemicals from waste streams. A tandem Diels-Alder catalysis consisting of SAPO-34 and Fe/HZSM-5 (stacked catalysis or mixed catalysis) was evaluated for thermochemical conversion of cellulose and polyethylene blends into benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX). Aromatization catalyst type significantly affected the activity of tandem catalysis, and the BTX obtained from the HZSM-5 stacked catalysis was ~2.3 times higher than that of the USY stacked one. An introduction of Fe active promoters into HZSM-5 increased the Lewis to Bronsted acid sites molar ratio (L/B) from 0.4 to 4.1. The comparison between Fe/HZSM-5 stacked catalysis and parent HZSM-5 single catalysis indicated that the former was more effective for BTX production, obtaining a nearly two-fold increase in yield with a high selectivity of 82.8%. A close proximity between Fe/HZSM-5 and SAPO-34 in the mixed catalysis increased the BTX enhancement to 1.8. A synergistic effect was provided by the coordination of Lewis and Bronsted acid sites in the Fe/HZSM-5 mixed catalysts for facilitating BTX generation, achieving a maximum of 25.9% at a Fe/HZSM-5 to SAPO-34 mass ratio of 1:1 with a theoretical L/B of 7.2. This work provides a sustainable strategy to produce biomass-derived aromatic hydrocarbons.

Converting polycarbonate (PC) plastic waste into value-added chemicals and/or fuel additives by catalytic pyrolysis is a promising approach to dispose of solid wastes. In this study, a series of Fe-Ce@Al2O3 metal oxides were prepared by coprecipitation, impregnation, and a direct mixing method. The synthesized catalysts were then employed to investigate the catalytic conversion of PC wastes to produce aromatic hydrocarbons. Experimental results indicated that Fe-Ce@Al2O3 prepared by coprecipitation possessed superior catalytic activity because of its high content of weak acid sites, large pore volume, high surface area, and well dispersion of Fe and Ce active species, leading to an ∼3-fold increase in targeted monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons compared to that achieved noncatalytically. Moreover, an increase in the catalyst to feedstock (C/F) mass ratio was beneficial to the production of aromatic hydrocarbons at the expense of phenolic products, and elevating the C/F ratio from 1:1 to 3:1 considerably increased the benzene formation as the enhancement factor was increased from 2.3 to 8.8.

Corncob char catalytic steam gasification for hydrogen-rich syngas was investigated using a lab-scale fixed bed gasifier to study the effects of temperature, steam flow rate, catalyst type and loading. The method of char absorbing catalyst was used to load catalyst in this work. Four alkali salts of KOH, K2CO3, NaOH and Na2CO3 were selected to pretreat corncob char. Results showed that hydroxides exhibited higher catalytic behavior. Further investigation on the effect caused by varying KOH concentrations to gasification performance has been done, and the maximum hydrogen yield of 197.8 g/kg char was obtained with 6 wt% concentration of KOH solution. Temperature and steam flow rate both has a positive influence on char conversion. Rising temperature promoted the hydrogen yield, and maximum hydrogen yield was obtained at 900 °C. With the steam flow rate increased from 0.2 g/min to 0.4 g/min, hydrogen yield increased by 84%, but a slight increase was found when steam flow rate further increased to 0.8 g/min.

High electrical conductivity and excellent pore affinity for electrolyte are the two necessary characteristics for high-rate performance supercapacitors based on activated carbon electrode. Nevertheless, it is fairly challenging to simultaneously improve them due to they are usually in the tug of war relationship in aqueous electrolyte. Herein, based on the different antioxidant abilities of graphitized carbon and amorphous carbon, a well-designed heterogeneous structure activated carbon (HGCAC) with graphitized carbon shell, amorphous carbon inner, and hydrophilic pores has been successfully prepared by a combined procedure of solid phase grinding, catalytic graphitization, and hydrothermal oxidation. Owing to the heterogeneous structure, HGCAC exhibits a joint improvement of electrical conductivity and the pore affinity for aqueous electrolyte, and thus leads to the remarkable enhancement of capacitance and rate capability, in comparison with the commercial coconut shell derived activated carbon (CAC) for supercapacitor. When the current density increases 100 times to 50 A g−1, the specific capacitance of as-made HGCAC is 203.4 F g−1, with the capacitance retention of 81.0%, being nearly 2.14 times of CAC’s capacitance (95.2 F g−1) and 1.6 times of its capacitance retention (51.0%). Moreover, good rate capability is still maintained when HGCAC is assembled to a coin type supercapacitor, with the capacitance retention of 82.1% at 50 A g−1.

Producing commodity aromatic hydrocarbons from textile waste is a promising approach to promote carbon neutrality and circular economy. Catalytic degradation of flax waste (FW) to generate furans and its subsequent Diels-Alder transformation to monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons over USY zeolite were conducted. Experimental results indicated that USY catalyzed FW resulted in a 5.5-fold increase in furans production compared with the non-catalytic trial. The Si/Al molar ratio in USY played a determining role in furans formation, and a 5-fold increase was observed over USY with a Si/Al ratio of 5.3 as opposed to that with a Si/Al ratio of 11. Plastic waste, polyethylene (PE), co-fed with FW yielded 1.6 times higher aromatic hydrocarbons than polypropylene (PP). The selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons reached 81.6% under 20% PE co-fed with 80% FW, in which benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX) were predominant products with the maximum selectivity of 68%. This study presents a cleaner approach for value-added resource recovery and sustainable management of textile and plastic waste.

This work aims on the production of high quality syngas suitable for widely applications from catalytic woodchip char gasification in a lab-scale fixed bed reactor. Using the absorption of the char to load catalysts was conducted in this study. The results showed that the char conversion and hydrogen yield were increased significantly after impregnation with potassium salts. The catalytic activity of the four catalysts is in the order: K2CO3 ≈ KOH > CH3COOK > KCl. In addition, when 6 wt% of KOH solution was used to impregnate, the maximum hydrogen yield of 197.2 g/kg char can be obtained, but further increasing the mass fraction of impregnation solution had an adverse impact on hydrogen yield and H2/CO. Moreover, the influence of particle size, reaction temperature and gasifying agent were investigated. The particle size of the char had little effect on gasification characteristics. Increasing temperature and steam amount were beneficial to improve char conversion and hydrogen yield, and the high quality syngas (H2 + CO) with the ratio of 91.8% was obtained at 950 °Cwhile the ratio of H2/CO decreased from 3.7 to 1.65 with increasing temperature. Additionally, continuously increasing steam had little influence on gasification consequences and was poor in economy. Introducing oxygen can improve the char conversion and adjusted the ratio of H2/CO in an economical way, but higher ER would weaken the quality of syngas.

Co-processing methanol and ethanol in bio-char steam gasification was investigated in a fixed-bed reactor. The effect of reaction temperature, steam flow rate and additives content on gas composition and H 2 yield were evaluated. The results showed that bio-char is an ideal material for H 2 production, and the maximum H 2 yield (233.3 g/kg bio-char) was obtained in the absence of additives at 950 °C, 0.5 g/min steam flow rate, meantime, producing hydrogen-rich gas with slight formation of methane. Methanol and ethanol blended with steam, and subsequently introduced in reactor have positive effect on H 2 yield. However, taking the economy and char conversion rate into consideration, 5 vol%–8 vol% may be suitable contents, and H 2 yield increased to 342 g/kg and 308.9 g/kg with 5 vol% of methanol and ethanol added in gasifying agent at 950 °C and 0.5 g/min steam flow rate. Furthermore, the proposed catalytic gasification of hydrogen-rich gas for high purity hydrogen and synthetic natural gas may be a promising way for using the produced gases.

Background: To investigate the clinical characteristics, angiographic findings and clinical outcomes (in-hospital) of young adults with acute myocardium infarction in a Chinese population. Methods: This was an observational study. Five hundred and forty-nine patients who suffered with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) firstly between January 2013 and December 2015 were enrolled consecutively. All patients were divided into two groups: “young group” patients were ≤ 50 years old; and “non-young group” patients were > 50 years old. Clinical features were compared, angiographic findings and clinical outcomes were observed between the two groups. Results: There were 131 and 418 patients included in the young group and the non-young group, respectively. Twenty-eight patients suffered deaths during the hospital stay and only one death occurred in the young group. Compared with non-young group, the young group was associated with male, smoke, fewer chronic diseases, Killip class I on admission, lower level of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), higher level of triglyceride and lower level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), single-vessel lesion and intracoronary thrombus (p < 0.005). The average length of hospital stay of non-young group was 1.5 days longer than the young group. Compared with the non-young group, the young group inclined not to use or use only one stent (p = 0.026). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that older age, shorter hospital stay, advanced Killip class III/IV, increased white blood cell and NT-proBNP were independent risk factors for survival in acute STEMI patients during hospitalization (p < 0.005). Conclusions: Compared with non-young group, the young group was associated with male, smoke, higher level of triglyceride and lower level of HDL-C. The condition of patients in young group were relatively mild and the risk of death during hospitalization was lower than the other group.

As a high value-added product from biomass pyrolysis, wood vinegar (WV) has been used as a growth regulator for many plant species in agriculture based on the diverse active chemical compounds present. To reveal the relationship between chemical constituents and regulation performance, four kinds of WVs were prepared by slow pyrolysis from Chinese fir waste at different temperature ranges. The chemical constituents of WVs were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and the regulation performance of WVs was investigated from the aspects of seed germination and root growth of wheat. The results indicated that the chemical constituents of WVs were affected obviously by pyrolysis temperature and the major components were acids and phenols. All types of WVs showed regulation performance but with different effects and levels. The WV collected from 20 to 150 °C exhibited a promoting effect and other three WVs exhibited inhibiting effects. It was considered that the regulation performance of WV was relevant to acids and phenols through a synergy mechanism. Acids caused intercellular acidification and increased root activity, which promoted the seed germination and root growth, while phenols increased the content of malonaldehyde, indicating that phenols caused the oxidative stress to damage cell structure and inhibit growth. All these results could be a reference for further utilization of WVs as a sustainable alternative to chemicals for plant growth regulation in agriculture.

Catalytic conversion of waste rubbers and plastics into aromatic hydrocarbons is a promising approach to waste management and energy recovery. In the present study, acidic HY zeolites were supported by cobalt, iron, and zirconium, and the catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, ammonia temperature programmed desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and pyridine-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The catalytic degradation of waste polybutadiene rubbers (BR) was conducted to investigate the degradation mechanism and evaluate the catalytic activity of supported zeolites. Experimental results indicated that HY loaded by zirconium and iron led to a higher content of Lewis acid sites as opposed to cobalt supported one. Compared with the non-catalytic pyrolysis of BR, the zirconium supported HY (Zr/HY) led to a 10-fold increase in aromatic hydrocarbons production with a distinctively high selectivity of 97.9%. A series of waste polymers including waste tires (WT), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), and BR, were subjected to catalytic pyrolysis to explore the effects of polymer type on aromatic hydrocarbons generation, and BR was the most effective substrate, with yield enhancement reaching 2.4 over Zr/HY. Catalytic co-pyrolysis of waste rubbers and plastics was conducted to probe the effect of polymer structure on aromatic hydrocarbons formation, where a significant synergistic effect was observed in the PE co-fed with PC run.

This study reports a one-step facile synthesis of a novel heterogeneous granule base catalyst, dubbed CaO/AC that contains small calcium oxide (CaO) nanoparticles embedded within hierarchical activated carbon (AC). The CaO/AC hybrid exhibited a 98.59 wt% fatty acid methyl esters yield, with 89.75% less catalyst compared to pristine CaO. In addition, the CaO/AC granular catalyst, which was easily recovered without any post-treatment, presented sustainable catalytic activity after two cycles of transesterification. The calcium cations penetrated into the cell wall of coconut shell by vacuum impregnation, and the carbonization of cell wall suppressed the agglomeration of calcium compound, which was essential for the catalytic self-activation of Ca-doped coconut shell. The pyrolysis atmosphere and dwelling time were investigated to demonstrate the dual function of calcium. Owing to the catalytic effect of Ca during the self-activation process, the hierarchical activated carbon with improved mesopores was manufactured. On the other hand, CaO nanoparticles with an average size of 14.7 nm were in-situ encapsulated within the mesopores of hierarchical carbon matrices. The additional formation of mesopores and high dispersion of CaO nanoparticles were responsible for the enhanced inner mass transfer and the number of accessible alkaline sites in transesterification of triglycerides, leading to the high catalytic activity and stability of CaO/AC.

A novel self-catalytic activation approach is developed for the preparation of hierarchically porous carbon from rotten potato wastes. Metals already existing within the rotten potatoes were used as the catalysts and gases emitted during pyrolysis were used as the activating reagents, leading to the cleaner production of hierarchically porous carbon materials without additional reagents. The as-made activated carbon exhibits high BET surface area of 2201 m2 g−1, optimal hierarchically porous, and good conductivity of 14.2 S cm−1. When fabricated into a symmetrical supercapacitor, it displays a relatively high capacitance of 54 F g−1 (29.2 F cm−3) at 0.5 A g−1, and excellent cycling reliability of exceeding 100% retention after 5000 cycles in 6M KOH, and an energy density of 20.8 Wh kg−1 (11.2 Wh L−1) in 1 M TEABF4/AN. More importantly, the approach outlined herein also offers a promising strategy for cleaner production of advanced activated carbon derived from other biomass wastes.

The antioxidant activity and the structure-activity relationship of aqueous phase bio-oil (APBO), obtained from hydrothermal treatment (HTT) combined with pyrolysis of biomass, have been investigated in this study. HTT increased the relative content of phenolic compounds and reduced the relative content of acids. Phenolic compounds possessed as the dominant chemical components in APBO, representing up to 61.68 %. 2-methoxyphenol (guaiacol) and its derivatives were the major components of phenolic compounds. HTT promoted the antioxidant activity of APBOs and APBO-180 showed higher antioxidant activity than that of commercial chemical antioxidant (butylated hydroxyl toluene) with IC50 values of 0.402 mg/mL of reducing power, 0.132 mg/mL of DPPH free radical scavenging capacity and 0.405 mg/mL of hydroxyl free radical scavenging capability. The antioxidant activity of APBO was affected by its chemical composition. Phenols exhibited a promotion effect on antioxidant activity, while acids showed an inhibition effect. In addition, the substituent structure of phenols played a key role in antioxidant activity. Phenols with the shorter carbon side chain showed higher antioxidant activity (e.g. 2-methylphenol>2-methoxyphenol, 4-methyl-2-methoxyphenol>4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol). This study suggested that APBO could be developed as the natural feed additives or alternative antioxidant, providing a new strategy for efficient utilization of APBO.

Catalytic degradation of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) to produce value-added BTEXs (i.e., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) is a promising approach to dispose of solid wastes. In this work, the effects of catalyst contact mode (in-situ or ex-situ), catalyst type, and reaction conditions on desirable BTEXs production were investigated. Experimental results indicated that a limited amount of BTEXs with selectivity of 11.1% was obtained in the non-catalytic run, while a ~6-fold content increase was attained upon employing ultrastable Y (USY) zeolite as a catalyst in the in-situ catalytic trial. The USY catalyzed run also produced more C4 olefin, C5-6 linear alkanes and alkenes, and C9+ aromatic hydrocarbons. A comparison between in-situ and ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis suggesting that the former was more beneficial to the generation of BTEXs as the enhanced factor was 11.5% higher than that of the ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis. Catalyst type played a critical role in the catalytic degradation of SBR, and the BTEXs formation was highly dependent on the acidic property of the employed catalyst. The Y type zeolites with a higher content of acid sites, larger surface area, and moderate pore size, generated more targeted BTEXs than Hβ, HZSM-5, and SAPO-34. The optimized reaction conditions to promote the formation of BETXs in the catalytic degradation of SBR over USY, including heating rate, pyrolysis temperature, and catalyst to feedstock mass ratio, were determined to be at 10 °C/ms, 700 °C, and 3:1, respectively.

Pyrolysis of biomass is an effective approach to produce high-value added solid, liquid and gaseous products. Wood vinegar (WV) is obtained as one of the main liquid products of biomass pyrolysis and has been used as the sustainable chemicals in agriculture. In this study, the effects of acid-base properties of chemical reagents on the biomass pyrolysis behavior and WV properties were investigated, and the mechanism was further discussed. The results indicated that acid-base properties of chemical reagents exhibited the significant effects on pyrolysis behavior and WV properties. Alkaline compounds showed the more obviously effects on changes in biomass chemical structure rather than acids, while acids removed the metallic species more efficiently than alkaline compounds. All chemical pretreatments increased the cellulose crystallinity, and the alkaline compounds were more favorable than the acidic compounds for increasing the crystallinity. Meanwhile, chemical pretreatments changed the chemical structure of biomass and promoted the pyrolysis process. All chemical pretreatments increased the organic content of WV. The relative content of phenols increased after all pretreatments, which increased more obviously by the acids pretreatments. Whereas, the relative content of acids decreased after pretreated by inorganic acids, and increased after pretreated by organic acids and alkaline compounds.

Lignin and ferrous salt were mechanically mixed, melted, carbonized and steam activated to produce magnetic bio-activated carbons (MBACs). Phosphate adsorption capacity measurement was conducted on representative MBAC, which has a high surface iron oxide proportion and mesoporous volume. The results indicate that iron species are embedded into the carbon matrix by lignin melting. Steam is not only an activation agent for pore generation and widening but is also effective for the oxidization of Hagg iron carbide produced via ferrous salt decomposition and subsequent reduction during the carbonization process to form magnetite. The porous and magnetic properties and surface iron oxide content of the produced MBACs can be modified by controlling the steam/magnetic biochar (MBC) ratio. The MBAC production process is streamlined and novel, compared with conventional coprecipitation or impregnation methods. The maximum phosphate adsorption onto the representative MBAC product using the best fitting model, i.e., the Langmuir-Freundlich model, is estimated to be 21.18 mg/g, suggesting that the representative MBAC product has a comparable phosphate adsorption capacity to most of the reported MBCs and MBACs.

Thermochemical conversion of plastic wastes is a promising approach to produce alternative energy-based fuels. Herein, we conducted catalytic fast co-pyrolysis of polycarbonate (PC) and polystyrene (PS) to generate aromatic hydrocarbons using HZSM-5 (Zeolite Socony Mobil-5, hydrogen, Aluminosilicate) as a catalyst. The results indicated that employing HZSM-5 in the catalytic conversion of PC facilitated the synthesis of aromatic hydrocarbons in comparison to the non-catalytic run. A competitive reaction between aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic oxygenates was observed within the studied temperature region, and catalytic degradation temperature of 700 °C maximized the competing reaction towards the formation of targeted aromatic hydrocarbons at the expense of phenolic products. Catalyst type also played a vital role in the catalytic decomposition of PC wastes, and HZSM-5 with different Si/Al molar ratios produced more aromatic hydrocarbons than HY (Zeolite Y, hydrogen, Faujasite). Regarding the effect of Si/Al molar ration in HZSM-5 on the distribution of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs), a Si/Al molar ratio of 38 maximized benzene formation with an advanced factor of 5.1. Catalytic fast co-pyrolysis of PC with hydrogen-rich plastic wastes including polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polystyrene (PS) favored the production of MAHs, and PS was the most effective hydrogen donor with a ∼2.5-fold increase. The additive effect of MAHs increased at first and then decreased when the PC percentage was elevated from 30 % to 90 %, achieving the maximum value of 32.4 % at 70 % PC.

The pyrolysis of briquettes made from biomass is an available and economic technological route for the production of briquette charcoal, but by-products (tar and gas) cannot be brought into full utilization, leading to the waste of resources and the addition of environmental concerns. Temperature is the most important parameter that affects the distributions and properties of briquette charcoal. This work investigated the three kinds of products of the pyrolysis of sawdust briquette in a fixed bed across a wide temperature range (250 to 950 °C). The purpose of this experiment was to study the pyrolysis process and the properties of the resulting products (briquette charcoal, liquid, and gas) of sawdust briquettes and explore the optimum operating temperature to generate good quality briquette charcoal, liquid, and gaseous products simultaneously. According to the results, the optimum pyrolysis temperature range was 450 to 650 °C, for which the briquette charcoal produced within this range had the highest calorific value (2,9.14 to 30.21 MJ/kg). Meanwhile, the liquid product is considered to be useful for liquid fuels or valuable chemical materials, and the low heating value of the gaseous product was 11.79 to 14.85 MJ/Nm3 in this temperature range.

Approximately one billion adults worldwide are hypertensive and most aged 60 or above. Poor adherence with medication treatment is still one of the main causes of failure in achieving blood pressure control. Compared to younger individuals, aging perception may be the main factor influencing elders receiving preventive care. Some studies have investigated the impact of self-perceptions of aging on some preventive health behaviors including "followed the directions for taking prescription medications" in developed countries in the West. However, there is a scarcity of studies evaluating the self-perceptions of aging and its association with antihypertensive adherence among Chinese older adults.This study aimed to identify the association between aging perceptions and antihypertensive drug adherence among Chinese older adults.A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in wards and outpatient clinic of a University Hospital and communities in Suzhou, China. Older adults who were taking at least one antihypertensive drug currently were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire, including basic socio-demographic and clinical information, self-reported medication adherence and self-perceptions of aging.From 585 old patients, 34.2 % was determined to have good medication adherence. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that good adherence to antihypertensive agents was more common among those with lower scores on "timeline cyclical" (p = 0.004) and "identity" (p 0.001) dimensions, and higher scores on "control positive" (p = 0.004) dimension of aging perceptions.Self-perceptions of aging, being significantly associated with medication adherence, are an important starting point when conducting intervention programmes for elder patients.

Recovering waste plastics by catalytic fast pyrolysis to selectively generate aromatic hydrocarbons is a promising approach to dispose of solid wastes. In the present work, catalytic conversion of polystyrene over ultra-stable Y zeolites (USY) was conducted to directionally produce benzene and ethylbenzene. Experimental results indicated that catalyst type considerably affected the distribution of aromatic hydrocarbons, and USY with high surface area (734 m2/g), large pore size (5.6 nm), and an abundant amount of strong acid sites (1.21 mmol/g) exhibited the most effective shape selectivity for ethylbenzene and benzene generation as the yield enhanced rate reached 401.8% and 61.1%, respectively. Plastic type also played a vital role in the formation of desirable aromatic hydrocarbons, and polystyrene was more beneficial to the production of ethylbenzene as a 54-fold increase was obtained compared to polycarbonate in the catalytic degradation process. Concerning reaction conditions to maximize the formation of benzene and ethylbenzene in the catalytic decomposition of polystyrene, the catalyst/feedstock mass ratio, Si/Al mole ratio in USY, and catalytic conversion temperature could be optimized at 1.5, 5.3, and 650 °C, respectively.

In this study a bimetallic dolomite based tar cracking catalyst was developed and tested. It was enriched in Ni and Fe with BET surface area of 12.31 m2/g. The catalytic characterizations were tested with tar simulated by naphthalene, and with tar produced by biomass and coal co-pyrolysis. 93% naphthalene was decomposed at 950 °C. A first order apparent kinetic model was developed. Activation energy of 63.96 kJ/mol and pre-exponential factor of 396.2/s were calculated. Furthermore, reduction in char yield by 7%, when the catalyst was used in the biomass–coal co-pyrolysis, was observed.

Triglycerides obtained from animals and plants have attracted great attention from researchers for developing an environmental friendly and high-quality fuel, free of nitrogen and sulfur. In the present work, the production of biofuel by catalytic cracking of soybean oil over a basic catalyst in a continuous pyrolysis reactor at atmospheric pressure has been studied. Experiments were designed to study the effect of different types of catalysts on the yield and acid value of the diesel and gasoline fractions from the pyrolytic oil. It was found that basic catalyst gave a product with relatively low acid number. These pyrolytic oils were also further reacted with alcohol in order to decrease their acid value. After esterification, the physico-chemical properties of these biofuels were characterized, and compared with Chinese specifications for conventional diesel fuels. The results showed that esterification of pyrolytic oil from triglycerides represents an alternative technique for producing biofuels from soybean oils with characteristics similar to those of petroleum fuels.

A new method of utilization of original bio-oil was developed in this paper. The procedure chosen was based on the fractionation of the bio-oils with water into water soluble and insoluble fractions. After oxidizing the aldehydes to acids by hydrogen peroxide, water soluble fraction was used to obtain upgraded bio-oil (light oil) with ethanol through reactive rectification. The yield of light oil was 20.6% (account to original bio-oil) and the components of upgraded bio-oil were characterized by HPLC and FT-IR. The analysis showed that the main components were ethyl acetate, ethyl formate, methyl acetate and methyl formate. Using water insoluble fractions as starting materials in synthesis of novolac resins was also studied. The water insoluble fraction was used as a substitute of phenol at different ratio to prepare novolac resins. Main properties of obtained resin such as cure time and soft point were characterized. The novolac property of resins was determined by DSC.

Neuroglobin (Ngb) is a recently discovered vertebrate globin expressed primarily in neurons. Ngb expression is induced by hypoxia and ischemia, and Ngb protects neurons from these insults. However, its normal physiological role and the mechanism underlying its neuroprotective action are uncertain. We report production of a transgenic mouse in which Ngb is overexpressed under the control of the chicken beta-actin promoter. This mouse should prove helpful for studying Ngb-mediated effects in vitro and in vivo.