Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, 2–7 ring) and regulated air pollutants (CO, HC, NO
x
, PM) from 2-stroke carburetor (2-Stk/Cb), 4-stroke carburetor (4-Stk/Cb) and 4-stroke fuel ...injection (4-Stk/FI) motorcycles were investigated by testing these vehicles on a chassis dynamometer. Exhaust samplings were carried out on diluted exhausts in a dilution tunnel connected to a constant volume sampling system. Measurements were performed on a standard driving cycle. The results reveal that low molecular weight PAHs (especially naphthalene) dominated in the exhaust gas. The averages of soluble organic fractions were 86.4%, 46.3% and 48.9% for the 2-Stk/Cb, 4-Stk/Cb and 4-Stk/FI motorcycles, respectively. PAH emissions are greater from cold-start driving than those from hot-start driving cycle for all these three kinds of motorcycles. Total PAH emission factors were 8320, 5990 and 3390
μg
km
−1 for the in-used 2-Stk/Cb, 4-Stk/Cb and 4-Stk/FI motorcycles, respectively. PAH emission factors were the largest for the 2-Stk/Cb motorcycles. Besides, the 2-Stk/Cb motorcycle had the largest total BaP equivalent emission factor of 10.8
μg
km
−1, indicating that the emission exhaust from the 2-Stk/Cb motorcycle was most carcinogenic. HC, PM and PAH emissions were the lowest for the 4-Stk/FI motorcycles. The correlation coefficient between CO and total PAH emissions for all the test motorcycles was 0.51, indicating that CO and PAH emissions are not highly correlated.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Abstract Objective Preeclampsia is a major cause of mortality in pregnant women but the underlying mechanism remains unclear to date. In this study, we attempted to identify candidate proteins that ...might be associated with preeclampsia in pregnant women by means of proteomics tools. Materials and methods Differentially expressed proteins in serum samples obtained from pregnant women with severe preeclampsia ( n = 8) and control participants ( n = 8) were identified using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) followed by peptide mass fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS). Additional serum samples from 50 normal and 41 pregnant women with severe preeclampsia were analyzed by immunoassay for validation. Results Ten protein spots were found to be upregulated significantly in women with severe preeclampsia. These protein spots had the peptide mass fingerprints matched to α1-antitrypsin, α1-microglobulin, clusterin, and haptoglobin. Immunoassays in an independent series of serum samples showed that serum α1-antitrypsin, α1-microglobulin, and clusterin levels of severe preeclampsia patients ( n = 41) were significantly higher than those in the normal participants ( n = 50; α1-antitrypsin 295.95 ± 50.94 mg/dL vs. 259.31 ± 33.90 mg/dL, p = 0.02; α1-microglobulin 0.029 ± 0.004 mg/mL vs. 0.020 ± 0.004 mg/mL, p < 0.0001; clusterin 77.6 ± 16.15 μg/dL vs. 67.6 ± 15.87 μg/dL, p < 0.05). Conclusion Identification of these proteins by proteomics analysis enables further understanding of the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Further studies are warranted to investigate the role of these biomarkers in prediction of this disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Herein reported is an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process of platinum (Pt) from (methylcyclopentadienyl) trimethylplatinum (MeCpPtMe3) and oxygen (O2) for synthesizing the Pt electrocatalysts ...toward methanol and formic acid oxidation. The as-synthesized Pt catalysts are thermally reduced in 5 vol% H2 within temperature window of 150–450 °C. The reduction treatment induces a decrease in amount of Pt oxide (Pt–O) species, e.g., PtO and PtO2. The presence of Pt–O species not only enhances catalytic activity but also improves anti-poisoning ability toward the oxidation of methanol and formic acid. The improved activity originates from the fact that the Pt–O species, formed by the ALD route, creates a large number of active sites (e.g., Pt–Oads and Pt–(OH)ads) to strip the CO-adsorbed sites, leading to a high-level of CO tolerance. This work also proposes a stepwise reaction steps to shed some lights on how the Pt–O species promote the catalytic activity.
•This study adopts atomic layer deposition (ALD) to grow metallic Pt nanoparticles.•The Pt catalysts show catalytic activity toward methanol and formic acid oxidation.•The reduction treatment induces a decrease in amount of Pt oxide (Pt–O) species.•The Pt–O species creates a number of active sites to strip the CO-adsorbed sites.•A stepwise reaction step concerning the promoted catalytic activity is proposed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract Endometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, ...and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
It has been previously proposed that genetic variations on DNA repair genes confer susceptibility to cancer and the DNA repair gene Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group D (XPD) is thought to play the role of ...a helicase during excision repair and transcription. We investigated three genotypes of XPD, at promoter -114 (rs3810366), Asp312Asn (rs1799793) and Lys751Gln (rs13181), regarding their association with colorectal cancer susceptibility in a Taiwanese population.
In total, 362 patients with colorectal cancer and 362 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and their XPD genotypes' association with colorectal cancer risk was investigated.
The genotypes of XPD Asp312Asn (p=0.2493), Lys751Gln (p=0.7547) and promoter -114 (p=0.8702), were not associated with susceptibility for colorectal cancer. The Chi-square test revealed that the variant alleles of XPD Asp312Asn, Lys751Gln and promoter -114 was not associated with susceptibility for colorectal cancer either p=0.1330, 0.3888 and 0.8740; odds ratio (OR)=1.20, 0.83 and 0.98; 95% confidence interval (95%CI)=0.95-1.52, 0.54-1.27 and 0.80-1.21, respectively. The risk of A/G and A/A genotypes have no association with cancer risk among non-alcohol drinkers (OR=1.24, 95%, CI=0.90-1.72, p=0.2103) or alcohol drinkers (OR=1.51, 95% CI=0.64-3.55, p=0.4648). There exists no obvious contribution of XPD genotypes to tumor size (p=0.3531), location (p=0.3006) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.1061).
Asp312Asn, Lys751Gln and promoter -114 of the XPD gene were not found to be adequate predictive markers for colorectal cancer risk in Taiwan.
Abstract
A series of Eu
3+
-activated strontium silicate phosphors, Sr
2
SiO
4
:xEu
3+
(SSO:xEu
3+
, x = 1.0, 2.0 and 5.0%), were synthesized by a sol–gel method, and their crystalline structures, ...photoluminescence (PL) behaviors, electronic/atomic structures and bandgap properties were studied. The correlation among these characteristics was further established. X-ray powder diffraction analysis revealed the formation of mixed orthorhombic α'-SSO and monoclinic β-SSO phases of the SSO:xEu
3+
phosphors. When SSO:xEu
3+
phosphors are excited under ultraviolet (UV) light (λ = 250 nm, ~ 4.96 eV), they emit yellow (~ 590 nm), orange (~ 613 nm) and red (~ 652 and 703 nm) PL bands. These PL emissions typically correspond to 4
f
–4
f
electronic transitions that involve the multiple excited
5
D
0
→
7
F
J
levels (J = 1, 2, 3 and 4) of Eu
3+
activators in the host matrix. This mechanism of PL in the SSO:xEu
3+
phosphors is strongly related to the local electronic/atomic structures of the Eu
3+
–O
2−
associations and the bandgap of the host lattice, as verified by Sr
K
-edge and Eu
L
3
-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES)/extended X-ray absorption fine structure, O
K
-edge XANES and
K
α
X-ray emission spectroscopy. In the synthesis of SSO:xEu
3+
phosphors, interstitial Eu
2
O
3
-like structures are observed in the host matrix that act as donors, providing electrons that are nonradiatively transferred from the Eu 5
d
and/or O 2
p
–Eu 4
f/
5
d
states (mostly the O 2
p
–Eu 5
d
states) to the
5
D
0
levels, facilitating the recombination of electrons that have transitioned from the
5
D
0
level to the
7
F
J
level in the bandgap. This mechanism is primarily responsible for the enhancement of PL emissions in the SSO:xEu
3+
phosphors. This PL-related behavior indicates that SSO:xEu
3+
phosphors are good light-conversion phosphor candidates for use in near-UV chips and can be very effective in UV-based light-emitting diodes.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Increasing the mixing ratio of microalgal torrefied pellet in co-gasification, LHV of syngas first increases and then decreases.•High-content ash in the microalgal torrefied pellet dominates the ...gasification products.•The extreme higher amount of ash in microalgal torrefied pellet may cause sintering and agglomeration during gasification.
In this study, the microalgal (Spirulina platensis) torrefied pellet and woody biomass (Eucalyptus globulus) torrefied pellet were co-gasified in a 30kW bubbling fluidized bed gasifier to investigate the effect of gasification temperature, equivalence ratio (ER), feedstock mixing ratio and steam injection on syngas compositions, the lower heating value (LHV), tar content, etc. Before feeding into the gasifier, the microalgal and woody biomass pellets were torrefied to increase the heating values.
It can be found that the ash content of microalgal torrefied pellet is much higher than that of woody biomass torrefied pellet. Although ash compositions can act as catalysts to enhance the gasification reaction, the extreme higher amount of ash may cause sintering and agglomeration during gasification. From the above co-gasification experiments, the results show that CO and CO2 contents increase with increasing the ER, and CH4 and H2 show the contrary tendency. Increasing the mixing ratio of the microalgal torrefied pellet, H2, and CH4 contents first decrease and then increase slightly, but CO and LHV first increase and then decrease. Injecting steam can increase H2 and CO2 yields, but decrease CH4 and CO yields, and LHV. It can be found that the high-content ash in the microalgal torrefied pellet dominates the gasification products, and the results show the contrary tendency compared with gasification of woody biomass torrefied pellet.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Abstract We investigated the effects of the common polymorphisms in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor– γ (PPAR- γ ; Pro12Ala) and in PPAR- γ coactivator–1(PGC-1; Gly482Ser) genes on the ...response to pioglitazone in Chinese with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 250 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were treated with pioglitazone (30 mg/d) for 24 weeks without a change in previous medications. All patients were genotyped for the PPAR- γ Pro12Ala and PGC-1 Gly482Ser polymorphisms. The Ala12Ala and Pro12Ala genotypes (26.0% vs 13.5%, P = .025) and Ala allele (15.6% vs 7.3%, P = .008) were significantly more frequent in pioglitazone responders than in nonresponders. The distribution of PGC-1 genotypes and alleles was not significantly different between responders and nonresponders. The decrease in fasting glucose (50.4 ± 52.2 vs 43.3 ± 51.7 mg/dL, P < .001) and hemoglobin A1c (0.57% ± 1.44% vs 0.35% ± 1.10%, P = .004) levels was significantly greater in subjects with the Ala12 carriers (Pro12Ala and Ala12Ala) than in those without the allele (Pro12Pro). Baseline fasting glucose and triglyceride levels were related to the response of pioglitazone. Only the PPAR- γ Pro12Ala polymorphism was found to be associated with the response of pioglitazone by multiple logistic regression analysis. The PPAR- γ Pro12Ala gene polymorphism is associated with the response to pioglitazone in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. These findings may be helpful for targeted treatment of diabetes by identifying patients who are likely to respond to pioglitazone.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In this study, the concentrations of five volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including BTEX and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), were investigated in five different traffic tunnels (including ...Liangshan, Yueguangshan, Zoying, Guogang and Zhongliao tunnels) in southern Taiwan. Results showed that Guogang Tunnel was the most polluted with the highest average levels of both MTBE and BTEX while ethylbenzene had the lowest levels. The range of measured concentration of toluene in Liangshan, Yueguangshan, Zoying, Guogang and Zhongliao tunnels were from 5.6 to 6.2 (mean = 1.6), from 0.0 to 62.3 (mean = 17.6), from 2.7 to 26.7 (mean = 13.1), from 15.2 to 125.5 (mean = 57.5), and from 43.7 to 197.1 (mean = 115.8) mu g/m super(3), respectively. In Guogang Tunnel, the average MTBE-BTEX ratios at two peak rush periods were (5.0:1, 5:3, 4:1, 0:1, 5:1.1) and (5.7:1, 3:3, 2:1, 0:1, 4:1.1). From morning till night, the ratios at different sampling periods in the five different tunnels suggest the existence of both different traffic flow and variations in traffic fleet type in different tunnels. T/B ratio ranged from 0 to 2.3, from 0 to 1.9, from 0.6 to 2.5, from 0.9 to 2.6 and from 0 to 10.5 in Liangshan, Yueguangshan, Zoying, Guogang and Zhongliao tunnels, respectively. We also observed a wide range of (m+p+o)-xylenes/ethylbenzene ( capital sigma X/E) or m, p-X/E ratio in all five tunnels. The m, p-xylene/ethylbenzene ratio ranged from 2.2 to 5.7, from 1.4 to 3.3, from 2.0 to 7.7, from 1.4 to 1.5 and from 5.5 to 8.1 in Liangshan, Yueguangshan, Zoying, Guogang and Zhongliao Tunnels, respectively. Notably, those high capital sigma X/E ratios in all tunnels reflect a fresh air parcel in the tunnels due to the enclosed/half-enclosed environment. Nevertheless, it is important that the characteristics of X/E in different traffic tunnels are explored.
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