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Magnetic fluid is a new type of smart material, which holds implications for highly enhancing the oil displacement efficiency. In the present study, we perform a comprehensive investigation to probe the influence of a magnetic fluid on the displacement efficiency in porous media under the action of magnetic force. First, the displacement efficiency is measured by a self-developed setup, where factors such as the magnet thicknesses, the volume of the fluid injected, the fluid injection speed, and the porosity of the sample are surveyed as controllable variables. Moreover, the experimental results are well verified by the scaling laws according to the principle of dimensional balance. Next, a numerical simulation is performed to explore the detailed displacement process. First, the magnetic force generated by the ring magnet is calculated. Then, the function curves of the displacement efficiency with respect to the controlling variables are validated by the numerical simulation. In addition, the numerical simulation also demonstrates the volume phase distribution, the pressure field, and the velocity field of the mixed fluid during the displacement process. The simulation results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. These findings are beneficial for us to better understand the oil displacement with the aid of external fields, which also provide inspiration for the areas of microfluidics, diffusion of pollutants, microsensors, etc.

Wushen (WS) is a mixed food containing 55 natural products that is beneficial to human health. This study aimed to reveal the preventive effect of WS on aging via a combined analysis of gut microbiome and metabolome. Senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice were used as aging model and senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) mice as control. The mice were fed four diet types; control diet (for SAMR1 mice), standard diet (for SAMP8 mice, as SD group), WS diet, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT; transplanted from aging-WS mice). Our results showed that the weight, food intake, neurological function, and general physical conditions significantly improved in WS-fed mice compared to those fed with SD. The CA1 hippocampal region in WS-fed aged mice showed fewer shriveled neurons and increased neuronal layers compared to that of the SD group. WS-fed mice showed a decrease in malondialdehyde and an increase in superoxide dismutase levels in the brain; additionally, IL-6 and TNF-α levels significantly decreased, whereas IL-2 levels and the proportion of lymphocytes, CD3+CD8+ T, and CD4+IFNγ+T cells increased in WS-fed mice. After fed with WS, the abundance of Ruminococcus and Butyrivibrio markedly increased, whereas Lachnoclostridium and Ruminiclostridium significantly decreased in the aging mice. In addition, 887 differentially expressed metabolites were identified in fecal samples, among these, Butyrivibrio was positively correlated with D-glucuronic acid and Ruminococcus was positively associated with 5-acetamidovalerate. These findings provide mechanistic insight into the impact of WS on aging, and WS may be a valuable diet for preventing aging.

Jie Zhang,1,* Zhewen Chen,2,* Yanwen Lu,1 Daoyuan Tu,3 Fengqian Zou,4 Shouwen Lin,5 Weinan Yu,1 Mingyong Miao,6 Hanping Shi7 1Department of Endocrinology, The Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Huai’an, 223002, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Nutrition, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, 310000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Huai’an, 223002, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Academic, Yantai Briteley Institute of Life Sciences, Yantai, 264003, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 5Center of Research and Development, Yantai Briteley Institute of Life Sciences, Yantai, 264003, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100038, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Hanping ShiDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100038, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail shihp@ccmu.edu.cnMingyong MiaoDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail miaomy@163.comPurpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential antitumor effects and mechanisms underlying the action of a functional food containing 55 different natural food ingredients.Materials and Methods: Azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium was used to establish a mouse model of colorectal cancer. Serum levels of cytokines, diamine oxidase, D-lactate, and endotoxin were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Immune cells from the mouse spleen and tumor tissue were analyzed by flow cytometry. Finally, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry were used to study the fecal microbiota and microbial metabolites, respectively.Results: The tumor growth was significantly lower in the FFD group than in the model group. The intestinal barrier function, fat mass, and lean body mass were significantly improved in the FFD group compared with the model group. The levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were significantly lower in the FFD group, while the proportions of total T cells, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, and interferon-γ-producing CD4+ T cells were significantly higher. Analysis of the diversity of the gut microbiota identified 60 differential bacterial genera between the FFD and model groups, with lower abundances of Desulfovibrio and unclassified Ruminococcaceae and higher abundances of the beneficial bacterial genera Bacteroides and Parasutterella in the FFD group. The fecal metabolite analysis revealed 635 differential metabolites between the FFD and model groups, with lower levels of deuteroporphyrin IX and citrulline and higher levels of acetic acid and ascorbic acid in the FFD group.Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the functional food tested can inhibit the growth of colorectal cancer. This effect may be due to the ability of this food to improve nutritional status, enhance intestinal barrier function, and regulate the tumor microenvironment via changes in the intestinal microbiota and metabolites.Keywords: functional food, tumor microenvironment, cancer nutrition, colorectal cancer, gut microbiota, metabolite

In this paper, we analyze the dynamic behavior of Heesterbeek et al. [ 12 ] obtained saturating contact rate applied to SIRS epidemic model. We define two threshold values, the deterministic basic reproduction number $ R_0 $ and the stochastic basic reproduction number $ R_0^s $, by comparing the value with one to determine the persistence and extinction of the disease. For deterministic model, if $ R_0 1 $, the system admits a unique endemic equilibrium which is locally asymptotically stable. For stochastic model, we also establish the threshold value $ R_0^s $ for disease persistence and extinction. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented to illustrate our theoretical results. Our results prove that large stochastic perturbation will lead to the extinction of diseases with probability one, revealing the significant influence of stochastic perturbation on diseases and the importance of incorporating stochastic perturbation into deterministic model.

Currently, less than 15% of waste iron tailings are utilized. Iron tailings can be used as fine aggregate in concrete, but this kind of concrete has no coarse aggregate, resulting in low strength. Additionally, iron tailings contain some heavy metals, which will cause environmental pollution if improperly treated. In this study, the mechanical properties, sulfate resistance, and pore structure distribution of basalt fiber-biochar-concrete (PFB) were studied. Where basalt is to enhance the mechanical properties of samples, and biochar is to adsorb heavy metals in iron tailings, to prepare environmentally friendly materials. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, flexural strength (FS), sulfate immersion test, leaching behavior, and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) test were used to study the performance of the samples, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to characterize the samples, explaining the change mechanism of the macroscopic test. The results show that the compressive strength of PFB increased by 2.5% but the flexural strength increased by 12%. The basalt and biochar improve the pore size distribution of samples, that is, the pore size greater than 10 nm is reduced while the pore size between 2 and 6 nm is increased. Biochar can effectively adsorb heavy metals of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd, and their leaching concentration is reduced by 50–70%. Basalt fiber improves the mixing performance of concrete, while biochar with a small particle size fills the micro pores in concrete; this paper provides a new idea of sustainability for the preparation of environmentally friendly materials and the utilization of waste iron tailings.

Background Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in lung cancer. However, the results of previous studies about NO in the occurrence, progress and therapy were not consistent. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between NO and lung cancer. Method We carried out comprehensive search in the databases, and collected related studies. The data of fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) or blood NO in different populations (lung cancer patients and control subjects) and different time points (before therapy and after therapy) were extracted by two investigators. A random effect model was applied to analyze the differences of FeNO and blood NO in different populations and different time points. To further compare NO level of each subgroup with different pathological types and different stages, a network meta-analysis (NMA) was performed. Results Fifty studies including 2551 cases and 1691 controls were adopted in this meta-analysis. The FeNO (SMD 3.01, 95% CI 1.89–4.13, p p p > 0.05) and blood NO level (SMD -0.36, 95% CI -1.08-0.36, p > 0.05) was observed between pretreatment and posttreatment in all patients. However, FeNO level elevated (SMD 0.28, 95% CI 0.04–0.51, p = 0.02) and blood NO level decreased in NSCLC patients (SMD -0.95, 95% CI -1.89-0.00, p = 0.05) after therapy. Conclusion FeNO and blood NO level would contribute to diagnosis of lung cancer and evaluation of therapy effect, especially for NSCLC patients.

Supercritical water can cleanly and efficiently convert coal into hydrogen-rich syngas. The supercritical water coal gasification (SCWG) technology is compared with O2-H2O coal gasification technology from the aspects of cold gas efficiency (CGE) and exergy efficiency (EE). The graphical exergy analyses (EUD methodology) were adopted to the key processes or units in the gasification technologies. The results showed that when the coal-water-slurry concentration (CWSC) is higher, the CGE and EE of the SCWG technology are higher than that of the O2-H2O coal gasification technology. The origins of the exergy destructions in the gasification technologies were analyzed. The heating of water lead to the maximum exergy destructions in the gasification technologies, which account for approximately 40.21% and 53.57% of the total exergy destruction in the gasifier.

The objective of this paper is to study stationary distribution of a stochastic SIQR epidemic model with saturated incidence and degenerate diffusion. Since the diffusion matrix is degenerate, the uniform ellipticity condition is not satisfied. The Markov semigroup theory will be used to obtain the existence of a unique stable stationary distribution. A threshold dynamic determined by the basic reproduction number R 0 s is established: the disease can be eradicated almost surely if R 0 s 1 , whereas if R 0 s > 1 , it has an endemic stationary distribution which leads to the stochastic persistence of the disease.

This study aims to investigate the antitumor effect and the possible mechanism of a microecological preparation (JK5G) in mice. The mice treated with AOM/DSS were then randomly divided into the two model groups and the JK5G group, and the blank control group was included. Fecal samples were used for liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses to reveal metabolic perturbations and gut flora disorders to demonstrate the effects of JK5G. Compared with the mice in the control group, the weight and food intake of mice after JK5G treatment were both upregulated. Moreover, JK5G could inhibit the growth of colon tumors and prolong the survival rate of mice, as well as inhibit the levels of cytokines in serum. The proportions of lymphocytes, T cells, CD3+CD4+ T cells, and CD3+CD8+ T cells in the spleen of the JK5G mice were all significantly increased compared to those in the control group (p < 0.05). Similarly, compared with the model group, the proportions of lymphocytes, B cells, T cells, natural killer T cells, CD3+CD4+ T cells, and CD3+CD8+ T cells in the intestinal tumors of the JK5G mice were significantly increased (p < 0.05). Furthermore, 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing data revealed that Alloprevotella in the JK5G group was significantly upregulated, and Ruminiclostridium, Prevotellaceae_UCG_001, and Acetitomaculum were significantly downregulated. Fecal and serum metabolite analysis detected 939 metabolites, such as sildenafil and pyridoxamine, as well as 20 metabolites, including N-Palmitoyl tyrosine and dihydroergotamine, which were differentially expressed between the JK5G and model groups. Integrated analysis of 16s rRNA and metabolomics data showed that there were 19 functional relationship pairs, including 8 altered microbiota, such as Ruminiclostridium and Prevotellaceae_UCG_001, and 16 disturbed metabolites between the JK5G and model groups. This study revealed that JK5G treatment was involved in the growth of colorectal cancer, which may be associated with the role of JK5G in improving the nutritional status of mice and regulating the tumor microenvironment by regulating the changes of intestinal microbiota and metabolite bands on different pathways.

A novel power generation system with integrated supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of coal is proposed in this article. The gasification product directly enters the supercritical turbine to generate electricity. After pressure relief, the syngas separated from the unreacted water is transferred to the combined cycle. The influences of coal-water-slurry concentration (CWSC) and the outlet pressure (Ph) of the supercritical turbine on the system performances are studied. The results show that the thermal efficiency increases with increasing CWSC or decreasing Ph. The ultimate thermal efficiency of the system can be obtained when the CWSC is 25 wt% and Ph is 1 bar, which can approach 54.68%. The thermal efficiency of the novel system is higher than that of the power generation system with integrated SCWG of coal and parallel chemical heat recovery.

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) is a promising technology for clean and efficient coal utilization. The exergy analyses on the processes with integrated SCWG of coal and syngas separation are conducted for clear understanding about the exergy distributions in the processes. The energy level of the heat provided for the gasifier is upgraded to the energy level of the syngas, which is driven by the decrease of energy levels from the coal to the syngas. The minimum temperatures of the heat provided for the gasifier are obtained in different coal-water-slurry concentrations (CWSCs). The total exergy destruction firstly increases, and then decreases with increasing CWSC. The maximum total exergy destruction of the process is obtained when the CWSC is approximately 10%. The exergy efficiency of the process has a converse trend with the total exergy destruction. When the CWSC is in the range of 6% and 20%, the maximum exergy efficiency is 89.18%. The origins for the production of the exergy destruction are also studied.

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) is a promising clean coal technology. A new power generation system with integrated supercritical water gasification of coal andCO2 capture is proposed in this article. The gasification product consisted of H2, CO, CO2, CH4, and unreacted supercritical water is directly combusted with pure O2to provide heat for other units of the system, and the combustion product is used for power generation in turbines. The combustion product consists only of CO2 and H2O. Thus, the CO2 can be easily captured under atmospheric condition. The thermal efficiency of the system can reach 38.31%, while the CO2 capture rate is 100%. The energy and exergic balances are conducted. The exergy efficiency of the system is 38.56%. The system has advantages over most coal-fired power plants with oxy-combustion or post-combustion technologies and IGCC systems with pre-combustion technologies.

In this paper, we consider a stochastic Kawasaki disease model, which is perturbed by both white noise and color noise. The sufficient condition for the existence of a unique ergodic stationary distribution is established by using Khasminskii’s theorem and constructing stochastic Lyapunov functions with regime switching. A brief summary is given at the end of this paper.

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of coal is a promising clean coal technology. Supercritical water can effectively and cleanly convert coal to hydrogen-rich syngas. Three power generation models integrated SCWG of coal are proposed and compared in this article. The gasification products have a large amount of sensible heat. Efficient use of the sensible heat can improve the model performance. Compared to the models with total and without chemical heat recovery, the model with partial chemical heat recovery has the advantages of much less exhausted energy and relative small amount of fuel coal used to heat the water to the supercritical state. The efficiency of the model with partial chemical heat recovery is higher than that of other models, and increases with increasing coal-water slurry concentration (CWSC). The efficiencies of the models with partial chemical heat recovery, without chemical heat recovery, and with total chemical heat recovery are 46.60%, 37.56%, and 42.17% when CWSC is 11.3%, respectively. The thermal efficiency of the PCHR model is higher than most conventional coal-fired power plants and coal-based IGCC projects.

Solar hybrid coal-fired power plant can use solar heat with temperature lower than 300 °C to generate power efficiently by replacing the bled-off steam from a steam turbine to heat the feed water. In this paper, a model of the solar field and power block has been developed to investigate the thermodynamic and economic performances of a solar hybrid coal-fired power plant under a variety of operating conditions and structure layouts. The effects of the key operating parameters on the performances of the solar hybrid coal-fired power plant are numerically investigated. A technical and economical optimization of the solar multiple has been presented. Furthermore, the annual solar-to-electric efficiency, annual solar power output and levelized cost of electricity of the solar hybrid coal-fired power plant are also analyzed. It is found that the efficiencies in the region of 13–20% can be achieved, and this for levelized cost of electricity in the region of 0.7–1.1 ¥ /kW h e , depending on the solar multiple and substituting method.

The methods of utilizing coal for power generation include direct combustion in air integrated with a steam cycle and gasification with O2/air integrated with a combined cycle. Special equipment is needed for the removal of NOx, SOx, CO2, and PM2.5, and the cost is high. The technology needed to perform supercritical water gasification (SCWG) can efficiently convert coal to a clean gaseous product. A novel model integrating SCWG with power cycles and heat recovery for power generation is proposed. The gasification product has a large amount of sensible and latent heat. The heat in the high temperature range is used to produce high-temperature and -pressure steam for power generation, whereas the heat in the low temperature range is recovered to preheat water before being heated to the supercritical state. The temperature that separates the high temperature range and low temperature range is the characteristic parameter T. The influences of T, which represents the extent of heat recovery, and the coal–water slurry concentration (CWSC) on the model performance are studied. The efficiency curves have a maximum value when T equals approximately 250 °C in all CWSCs. The model efficiency increases with increasing CWSC at a certain T. The model efficiency can reach 42.18% when CWSC = 11.3% and T = 250 °C.

This paper presents an improved method for designing robotic toolpath of 3-D printed spatial structures to enhance the overall structural performance. This research includes a practical case of the Cloud Pavilion 2.0, an upgrade version of Cloud Pavilion 1.0 which was conducted in the IASS 2018 conference. Traditionally, the computational and structural design phases for robotic printed structures were considered as independent. However, since the printed lattice structure itself can be recognized as a space frame system in a smaller scale, there is the potential to improve its structural efficiency by modify the toolpath geometry and layout at the early design stage. This paper discusses the design parameters in robotic toolpath that influence the structural stiffness, and also a numerical method is applied on the testing specimens consisting of an amount of discrete toolpath elements. The structural topological optimization is used to define the toolpath prototype and relocate the mesh vertices.

In this paper, we extend a nutrient-phytoplankton model with viral infection from a deterministic model to a stochastic model by introducing white noise and color noise. We analyze this model mainly from the perspectives of mathematics and biology. Mathematically, we get a critical value. In the case of low white noise intensity, if this critical value is less than one, the infected phytoplankton tend to die out exponentially. If this critical value is greater than one, the infected phytoplankton is persistent in mean and the solution of system is positive recurrent. From a biological standpoint, we show that white noise may have negative effect on population survival, while Markov chain can balance the different survival states of the population and increase its survival probability, which can provide effective measures to control the infected phytoplankton and ensure the stationary distribution of the population in reality.

S–CO2 (Supercritical-CO2) coal-fired power plant is a promising technology for efficient and clean utilization of coal for power generation. The conversion and transfer of the energy and exergy in the power plants with double-reheat and single-reheat processes are studied. With the main gas parameters of 32 MPa/893.15 K, the power generation efficiencies of the S–CO2 coal-fired power plant with double-reheat and single-reheat processes are 49.06% and 48.72%, respectively. The corresponding exergy efficiencies are 48.02% and 47.69%, respectively. The origins of exergy destructions in different units are studied using the Energy Utilization Diagram (EUD) method. The exergy distributions of the power plants are presented. For the power plant with double-reheat process, the work output, the exergy exhaust into the atmosphere, the exergy destruction in combustion process, the exergy destruction in heat transfer processes, the exergy destruction caused by pressure loss, and the exergy destructions in turbo systems account for 48.02%, 9.66%, 20.45%, 17.56%, 1.08%, and 3.23% of the total exergy input of the power plant, respectively.

S–CO2 (Supercritical-CO2) coal-fired power plant is a promising technology for efficient and clean utilization of coal for power generation. The comparative study between the S–CO2 coal-fired power plant and the power plant with steam Rankine cycle from aspects of energy and exergy balances is conducted. The conversion and transfer of the energy and exergy in the power plants are revealed. With the main gas parameters of 32MPa/620 °C and double-reheat process, the power generation efficiencies of the S–CO2 coal-fired power plant and the power plant with steam Rankine cycle are 49.06% and 48.12%, respectively. The corresponding exergy efficiencies are 48.02% and 47.10%, respectively. The energy-saving mechanism of the S–CO2 coal-fired power plant is revealed: the smaller boiler efficiency and larger exergy efficiency of the boiler system in the S–CO2 coal-fired power plant make the energy level of the energy being transferred to the S–CO2 cycle is higher than that of the energy being transported to the Rankine cycle. The CO2 absorbs the high-level energy and produces more mechanical power through the S–CO2 cycle to obtain higher power efficiency.

This paper addresses a stochastic phytoplankton–zooplankton model with toxin-producing phytoplankton under regime switching. The stochastic model in this paper includes white and colored noises. For the model, we first prove the existence of the global positive solution of the model. And then by using Khasminskii’s method and Lyapunov function, we derive sufficient conditions for the existence of a unique ergodic stationary distribution. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to support our results.

One critical aspect of the global transition to a low-carbon energy system is the provision of an adequate level of energy services to a large and growing proportion of humanity. The energy poor, living primarily off any electrical grid, offer a unique opportunity and new markets for a modular concept for energy access. New technologies, especially those making use of renewable sources of energy, will be key ingredients in insuring long-term sustainability, the quality of life of communities and mission success of military installations. This chapter examines the realities and challenges facing remote, off-grid communities and location, and introduces a modular design concept – Smart Micro-Grid within Smart Energy Network – that leverages technologies, such as small hydroelectric technology and thin-film solar, to capture distributed renewable energy resources.

Geoengineering – the deliberate and technological manipulation of the climate system to forestall the worst effects of global warming (also referred to as climate engineering) – has recently emerged as a novel and controversial issue in climate governance. It is sometimes proposed as an insurance policy, should either (a) primary efforts to develop sustainable energy and societal systems prove unable to quickly enough overcome the inertia of current ones, or (b) uncertainty in the climate system lead to unexpectedly large damage to societies and ecosystems [1]. This entry explores the current attempts and future ideas for governing emerging geoengineering research programs and technologies in ways that effectively manage their climatic and societal impacts.