[en] Highlights: • We model two emission-to-fuel processes which convert CO_2 to fuels. • We optimize the heat exchanger networks for the two processes. • We compare the two processes in terms of energy requirement and climate impact. • The process based on CO_2 electrolysis is more energy efficient. • Both of the processes can reduce CO_2 emissions if renewable energies are used. - Abstract: Emerging emission-to-liquid (eTL) technologies that produce liquid fuels from CO_2 are a possible solution for both the global issues of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel depletion. Among those technologies, CO_2 hydrogenation and high-temperature CO_2 electrolysis are two promising options suitable for large-scale applications. In this study, two CO_2-to-methanol conversion processes, i.e., production of methanol by CO_2 hydrogenation and production of methanol based on high-temperature CO_2 electrolysis, are simulated using Aspen HYSYS. With Aspen Energy Analyzer, heat exchanger networks are optimized and minimal energy requirements are determined for the two different processes. The two processes are compared in terms of energy requirement and climate impact. It is found that the methanol production based on CO_2 electrolysis has an energy efficiency of 41%, almost double that of the CO_2 hydrogenation process provided that the required hydrogen is sourced from water electrolysis. The hydrogenation process produces more CO_2 when fossil fuel energy sources are used, but can result in more negative CO_2 emissions with renewable energies. The study reveals that both of the eTL processes can outperform the conventional fossil-fuel-based methanol production process in climate impacts as long as the renewable energy sources are implemented.

[en] Objective: To analyse the clinical effectiveness of transcatheter hepatic artery chemo-embolization on hepatic metastasis from colorectal carcinomas. Methods: 42 cases were divided into 2 groups: simple chemotherapy group (n 14), chemotherapy and embolization group (n = 28). After catheter was selectively inserted into hepatic artery, and then followed by chemotherapy, lipiodol and gelfoam infusion. Results: CR 2 cases (4.8%); PR 20 cases (47.6%); NC 18 cases (42.9%); PD 2 cases (4.8%). The total anticancer effective rate (CR + PR) was 52.4%. The average survival time was 16.4 months. The 0.5-, 1-, 2- year survival rates were 90.5%, 66.7% and 23.8%, respectively. Conclusions: Transcatheter hepatic artery chemo-embolization is an effective method to treat liver metastasis of colorectal carcinomas. It is more effective than the simple chemotherapy

[en] Re-melting well-dispersed SiC nanoparticulate filler in Nylon 12 powder matrix was used to create Nylon 12/SiC nanocomposites, and the effects of different filler contents on the mechanical and thermal properties were investigated. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Micro-CT were used to visualise the morphological features of the composites, the crystallization behaviour and phase transformations were evaluated by TGA and XRD, and the mechanical properties were assessed by utilising tensile, hardness and impact tests. We have found that the samples have tight and neat interface between the matrix and SiC filler, and that for the composites with 7.5% of SiC, their tensile strength and Young’s modulus were increased by 47.7% and 4 times, respectively against the plain Nylon 12. The thermal stability becomes more stable for composites with 2.5% and 5% SiC, but decreases for the 7.5% and 10% samples. (paper)

[en] Objective: To investigate the changes of Egr-1 and Egr-4 gene expression in mice thymus after whole-body irradiation (WBI) with X-rays by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR). Methods: The mRNA was isolated from mice thymus 4 and 24 h after WBI with 0-6 Gy of X-ray irradiation. The changes of Egr-1 and Egr-4 gene expression 4 and 24 h post irradiation were examined with QRT-PCR. Paralleled counts of micronucleus rate in bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE) was as a reference radiation biodosimetric control. Results: The relative expression of Egr-1 and Egr-4 genes at 4 and 24 h after WBI 0.5 to 6 Gy was changed with the dose (r=0.974, 0.987, 0.999, P<0.01). At all dose points the relative expression of Egr-1 and Egr-4 genes was highly correlated with the micronucleus rate of bone marrow PCE (r=0.866, 0.947, 0.983, 0.835, P<0.05). The dose-effect relationship could be fitted into linear-quadratic model. The expression of Egr-4 gene was significantly increased at 4 h post irradiation and best correlated with PCE micronucleus rate. Conclusions: QRT-PCR assay of early expression Egr-4 gene might be a candidate for fast, high-throughput radiation biodosimetry. (authors)

[en] A study was performed to determine the effect of the content of fillers on the mechanical properties of a nylon 12 matrix composite mixed with graphene flake. The reinforcement fillers were dispersed in nylon 12 matrix before filling in the mode. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were used to observe the morphology characterizations of reinforced composites and mechanical properties were determined by conducting tensile test, hardness. It is note that mechanical performance increased by 49.7% in tensile strength, 35.8% in Young’s modulus and even 362.6% in hardness than that of neat nylon 12 with the addition 2.5 wt% of graphene. (paper)

[en] As a critical endonuclease in DNA repair, Mus81 is traditionally regarded as a tumor suppressor, but recently correlated with the sensitivity of mitomycin C and 5-fluorouracil in colon cancer and breast cancer cells. However, its role in chemosensitivity of other human malignancies still remains unknown. This study therefore aims to investigate the effects of Mus81 knockdown on the chemosensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a usually chemorefractory tumor, and explore the underlying mechanisms. Mus81 expression in HepG2 and Bel-7402 HCC cell lines was depleted by lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA and the elevated sensitivity of these Mus81-inhibited HCC cells to therapeutic agents, especially to epirubicin (EPI), was evidenced by MTT assay and an HCC chemotherapy mouse model. Flow cytometric analysis also showed that Mus81 knockdown lead to an obvious S-phase arrest and an elevated apoptosis in EPI-treated HepG2 and Bel-7402 cells, which could be rescued by CHK1 inhibition. The activation of CHK1/CDC25A/CDK2 pathway was also demonstrated in Mus81-inhibited HepG2 cells and xenograft mouse tumors under EPI treatment. Meanwhile, the apoptosis of HepG2 cells in response to EPI was remarkably promoted by Mus81 knockdown through activating p53/Bax/Caspase-3 pathway under the controlling of CHK1. In addition, CHK2 inhibition slightly raised CHK1 activity, thereby enhancing the S-phase arrest and apoptosis induced by EPI in Mus81-suppressed HCC cells. In conclusion, Mus81 knockdown improves the chemosensitivity of HCC cells by inducing S-phase arrest and promoting apoptosis through CHK1 pathway, suggesting Mus81 as a novel therapeutic target for HCC

[en] A carbon ceramic electrode was modified with a thin film composed of over oxidized polypyrrole, CuO and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The surface morphology, electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of glucose of the modified electrode were studied in detail. Benefiting from the high electrocatalytic activity of CuO, the selectivity of OPpy film, and the fast electron transfer rate promoted by MWCNTs, this modified electrode displays good stability, selectivity, high electrocatalytic activity and a low detection limit for the determination of glucose in pH 13 solution. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range for the determination of glucose by cyclic voltammetry is from 20 μM to 10 mM, and the detection limit is 4.0 μM (at an SNR of 3). The amperometric calibration plot covers the 0.20 μM to 2.0 mM concentration range, and the detection limit is 50 nM. The highest sensitivity for the determination of glucose is 3922.6 μA mM⁻¹ cm². (author)

[en] Highlights: • An improved agglomerate sub-model of catalyst layer is developed. • Oxygen local transport resistance is clarified with three individual parts. • Effects of Pt loading and Pt particle dispersion are considered. • The CL agglomerate sub-model is incorporated into 3D PEM fuel cell model. • Fine channel geometry helps improve gas distribution and cell performance. -- Abstract: An improved agglomerate sub-model of catalyst layer (CL) involving actual agglomerate size and oxygen local transport characteristics is developed and incorporated into a three-dimensional (3D) multi-phase model of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. This makes it capable to consider the effect of platinum (Pt) loading on oxygen transport and fuel cell performance more accurately. Oxygen local transport resistance near the catalyst surface is divided into three parts caused by liquid water blockage, ionomer coverage and Pt/carbon agglomeration, respectively. The resistances caused by ionomer coverage and Pt/carbon agglomeration are two major sources of oxygen local transport resistance. They have opposite variation trends as Pt loading changes. However, the ionomer resistance increases dramatically when Pt loading is lower than 0.1 mg cm⁻² because of the much harder transport process through a relatively heavier ionomer coating. The simulation results agree with the experimental data reasonably under different cathode Pt loadings (from 0.3 to 0.025 mg cm⁻²), for both polarization curves and local transport resistance. In addition, a transport dominance parameter is defined to judge whether the concentration loss predominates the electrochemical reaction. A value greater than 10% can be seen as a symbol of local oxygen starvation. Using this model, fine channel geometry with extremely small channel and rib widths is investigated, and the highest net output power in this study is corresponding to 0.2 and 0.6 mm for channel (rib) width and height.

[en] Highlights: • Major losses include thermodynamic, kinetic and electrical aspects. • Acid-base interface for the specific setting of a PMEC is simulated. • The elevated reactor performance is validated experimentally and numerically. This paper reports a mathematical model for calculating various losses in a pH differential microfluidic electrolytic cell (PMEC) for CO₂ to formic acid conversion. The microfluidic characteristics of the cell were examined, and in respect of electro-chemical equilibrium states, major limiting factors such as mass transfer constraints, kinetic losses and overpotentials, were considered and acid–base interface and neutralisation losses therein identified. Losses of electrical resistance on electrodes and within micro-channels were quantified, and computational results were validated against previous experimental data. To the best of our knowledge, the model is the first for determining dual electrolyte arrangements and associated losses and can be used to develop parametric optimisation strategies.

[en] The microfluidic technology for function microsphere synthesis has high control precision. However, the throughput is too low for industrial scale-up applications. Current scale-up design focuses on a multi-channel in 2D, in which the distribution uniformity parameter δ increases linearly, resulting in the deterioration of the flow distribution performance. The 3D modular scale-up strategy could greatly alleviate this problem, but no design principles have been developed yet. For the first time, this paper establishes the microfluidic 3D scale-up design criteria. Based on the modular design concept, the design method of 2D and 3D throughput scale-up parameters N and M, distribution uniformity parameters δ and β, and microchannel design parameter K _R were proposed. The equivalent resistance coefficient was defined, and the influence of different parameters on a 2D array and 3D stack was analyzed. Furthermore, the error correction method was studied. It was found that the two-stage scale-up process contradicted each other. A good scale-up performance of one stage led to the limitation of another stage. Increasing the resistance of each channel R _u could both increase the two-stage scale-up performance, which was an important factor. A single-module scale-up system with 8 channels in a single array and 10 arrays in a vertical stack, which had 80 channels in total, was designed and fabricated based on the proposed design criteria for generating Chitosan/TiO₂ composite microspheres. The average particle size was 539.65 µm and CV value was about 3.59%. The throughput was 480 ml h⁻¹, which effectively increased the throughput scale and the product quality. (paper)