Ferro-coke is prepared by the slight coking of coal and iron ore. It is a new type of fuel used for blast furnace ironmaking for the purpose of energy saving and emission reduction. However, with the ...increase of iron ore content, the metallurgical properties of ferro-coke gradually deteriorate. To fabricate high-strength ferro-coke, coal tar pitch was used as a binder in this study. The microstructure, cold drum strength, thermal crushing strength, gasification reactivity and gasification kinetics of this modified ferro-coke were systematically studied and compared with those of gas-coal coke and ferro-coke without binder. The results showed that the coal tar pitch could reduce the porosity of ferro-coke by 4.57 pct, enhance the adhesion of carbon matrix to minerals and increase the microcrystalline structure of ferro-coke. The cold drum strength of ferro-coke increased from 28.04 to 86.34 pct after adding coal tar pitch, while the thermal strength of ferro-coke during the gasification process rose by only 100 N. The coal tar pitch had little effect on the gasification reactivity of ferro-coke, so the activation energy of modified ferro-coke was still low. The first-principle calculation results revealed that the promotion of Fe on the ferro-coke gasification was attributed to the reducing role of Fe on the reaction energy of ketone group decomposition.
Exploring appropriate carbonisation process parameters is important for optimising the recycling of waste bamboo chopsticks as an alternative solid fuel for traditional ironmaking. The purpose of ...this research was to reveal the influence of the pyrolysis temperature on the structural features and combustion behaviour of waste bamboo chopstick chars. The fixed carbon content of waste bamboo chopstick chars increased from 46.57% to 82.83% and the volatile content decreased from 56.43% to 6.86% with pyrolysis temperature increasing from 573 to 973 K. At the same time, the O/C and H/C values gradually decreased from 0.23 to 0.08 and from 0.05 to 0.02, respectively. The surface area of waste bamboo chopstick chars first increased sharply from 2.15 m
2
/g at 773 K to 11.04 m
2
/g at 873 K, and then decreased to 1.96 m
2
/g at 973 K. The combustion behaviour had a close relationship with the pore structure of waste bamboo chopstick chars, and the best combustion properties were exhibited at a pyrolysis temperature of 873 K. It was found that volumetric model was the most suitable model for describing the combustion process of waste bamboo chopstick chars pyrolysed below 673 K, while random pore model was the best one for the chars pyrolysed above 673 K. The combustion activation energies of the waste bamboo chopstick chars ranged from 116.89 to 156.07 kJ/mol. There was an obvious kinetic compensation effect during the combustion.
Ferro-coke, as a new burden of blast furnace (BF), can not only greatly reduce the energy consumption and CO
emission, but also promote the resource utilization by using the low-quality iron ore and ...low-grade coal. However, the strength of ferro-coke decreased with the increasing amount of iron ore powder. In order to maintain the strength of ferro-coke while increasing the amount of iron ore powder, it is necessary to add binder during the coking process to enhance the strength of ferro-coke. In this paper, phenolic resin, silicon metal powder, corn starch, and coal tar pitch were used as binder for the fabrication of ferro-coke. I-type drum machine (I 600), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were applied to test the crushing strength, morphology, and microcrystalline structure of the ferro-coke. The results showed that the increasing amount of iron ore powder resulted in lower crushing strength, higher porosity, and the worse macroscopic morphology of ferro-coke. When the amount of iron ore powder reached 40%, obvious cracks appeared on the surface of ferro-coke. When the amount of iron ore was 30%, the crushing strength of ferro-coke dropped to 18.15%. Among the four binders, coal tar pitch could significantly enhance the cold crushing strength of ferro-coke through decreasing the porosity of ferro-coke and improving the bonding effect between carbon matrix particles. In the case of the 10% coal tar pitch addition, the cold crushing strength of ferro-coke was increased from 18.15% to 76.41%; meanwhile, its hot compression strength during gasification improved by 100N.
There is increasing evidence that HFpEF is a heterogeneous clinical entity and distinct molecular pathways may contribute to pathophysiology. Leveraging unbiased proteomics to identify novel ...biomarkers, this study seeks to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of HFpEF. The discovery cohort consisted of HFpEF cases and non-HF controls from the CATHGEN study (N = 176); the validation cohort consisted of participants from the TECOS trial of patients with diabetes (N = 109). Proteins associated with HFpEF were included in a LASSO model to create a discriminative multi-protein model and assessed in the validation cohort. Survival models and meta-analysis were used to test the association of proteins with incident clinical outcomes, including HF hospitalization, mortality and HFpEF hospitalization in CATHGEN, TECOS and the Jackson Heart Study. In the derivation set, 190 proteins were associated with HFpEF in univariate analysis, of which 65 remained significant in the multivariate model. Twenty (30.8%) of these proteins validated in TECOS, including LCN2, U-PAR, IL-1ra, KIM1, CSTB and Gal-9 (OR 1.93-2.77, p < 0.01). LASSO regression yielded a 13-protein model which, when added to a clinical model inclusive of NT-proBNP, improved the AUC from 0.82 to 0.92 (p = 1.5 × 10
). Five proteins were associated with incident HF hospitalization, four with HFpEF hospitalization and eleven with mortality (p < 0.05). We identified and validated multiple circulating biomarkers associated with HFpEF as well as HF outcomes. These biomarkers added incremental discriminative capabilities beyond clinical factors and NT-proBNP.
Regular exercise leads to widespread salutary effects, and there is increasing recognition that exercise-stimulated circulating proteins can impart health benefits. Despite this, limited data exist ...regarding the plasma proteomic changes that occur in response to regular exercise. Here, we perform large-scale plasma proteomic profiling in 654 healthy human study participants before and after a supervised, 20-week endurance exercise training intervention. We identify hundreds of circulating proteins that are modulated, many of which are known to be secreted. We highlight proteins involved in angiogenesis, iron homeostasis, and the extracellular matrix, many of which are novel, including training-induced increases in fibroblast activation protein (FAP), a membrane-bound and circulating protein relevant in body-composition homeostasis. We relate protein changes to training-induced maximal oxygen uptake adaptations and validate our top findings in an external exercise cohort. Furthermore, we show that FAP is positively associated with survival in 3 separate, population-based cohorts.
Abstract only
Introduction:
There is increasing evidence that metabolite levels in African Americans (AA) are influenced by population differentiated genetic variation. We investigated how local ...genetic ancestry may be associated with levels of circulating plasma metabolites using metabolomic profiling in the Jackson Heart Study, an AA cohort, in an attempt to identify additional genetic determinants of metabolite levels.
Hypothesis:
Certain metabolites will be associated with local African genetic ancestry.
Methods:
We performed admixture mapping using local ancestry estimates (probabilities of whether an individual has 0, 1 or 2 alleles of African ancestry at each site in the genome from RFMix, based on similarity to 1000G reference panel) from TOPMed sequencing data for autosomal SNPs. Associations were then tested for 302 targeted metabolites measured using LC-MS. Each local ancestry regression model was adjusted for age, sex, and estimated global ancestry. We used a previously established significance threshold for local African ancestry analysis, p<2.1X10
-5
. We further adjusted findings for previously reported GWAS variants in conditional analysis.
Results:
There were 38 local admixture mapping signals for 32 metabolites. Fourteen metabolite signals survived conditional analysis and represent signals distinct from those identified in single variant GWAS. Metabolites of note include the branched chain amino acids, whose association with cardiometabolic disease has been shown to differ based on self-identified race.
Conclusions:
We present local admixture mapping results providing further evidence that population differentiated genetic variants influence circulating levels of plasma metabolites. For a large proportion of our findings, admixture associations were not attenuated by conditioning on previously reported SNPs from GWAS studies. These analyses suggest that admixture mapping may identify association signals that are missed by GWAS, and may help to elucidate population differences affecting key biologic pathways.
Abstract
Context
Thyroid hormones play an important role in metabolic homeostasis, and higher levels have been associated with cardiometabolic risk.
Objective
To examine the association of ...cardiometabolic risk factors with TSH levels in US youth.
Methods
Cross-sectional study of youth aged 12 to 18 years without known thyroid abnormalities from 5 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles (n = 2818) representing 15.4 million US children. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) was defined as thyrotropin (TSH) levels of 4.5 to 10 mIU/L. Assessed cardiometabolic risk factors include abdominal obesity (waist circumference >90th percentile), hypertriglyceridemia (triglyceride ≥130 mg/dL), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (<40 mg/dL), elevated blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure ≥90th percentile), hyperglycemia (fasting blood glucose ≥100 mg/dL, or known diabetes), insulin resistance (homeostatic model for insulin resistance > 3.16), and elevated alanine transferase (≥ 50 for boys and ≥44 U/L for girls). Age and sex- specific percentiles for thyroid parameters were calculated.
Results
In this cohort of youth (51.3% male), 31.2% had overweight/obesity. The prevalence of SH was 2.0% (95% CI 1.2-3.1). The median TSH levels were higher in youth with overweight/obesity (P < 0.001). Adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and obesity, youth with TSH in the fourth quantile had higher odds of abdominal obesity (OR 2.53 1.43-4.46, P = .002), insulin resistance (OR 2.82 1.42-5.57, P = .003), and ≥2 cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) (OR 2.20 1.23-3.95, P = .009).
Conclusion
The prevalence of SH is low in US youth. The higher odds of insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk factors in youth with TSH levels >75th percentile requires further study.
Alkali metal circulation enrichment occurs in blast furnaces, which is harmful to the blast furnace. The amount of enrichment helps to quantify the effect of alkali metals on blast furnace ...production, but it is not possible to directly measure the actual alkali metal enrichment in blast furnaces for technical reasons. On the basis of a thermodynamic model, FactSage was used to calculate the effects of alkali loading, slag basicity, MgO content in the slag and Al
2
O
3
content in the slag on the alkali metal enrichment in the blast furnace. Quantitative relationships among various factors and the enrichment were obtained, and the degree of influence of various factors on the amount of enrichment was determined. The basicity B
2
of the slag was the key factor for enrichment. With an increase in the slag basicity of 0.1, the enrichment of K and Na increased by 5.3 and 1.6 kg/tHM, respectively.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract only
Background:
High-throughput metabolite profiling allows for the assessment of thousands of metabolites that may participate in exercise-related pathways. Here, we characterize plasma ...metabolite changes in healthy individuals undergoing endurance exercise training (ET) to identify biochemical features of VO
2
max and/or those responsive to ET.
Methods:
We measured 444 known metabolites and 3221 non-targeted metabolite peaks using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and VO
2
max using CPET before and after 20 weeks of supervised, endurance ET in 654 sedentary participants (mean age=34y; 39% self-identified Black) from the HERITAGE Study. Multivariate linear regression assessed the relation between metabolites and baseline VO
2
max (ml·kg
–1
·min
–1
), adjusting for age, sex, and race. Changes after ET were determined using paired
t
tests. We used a false discovery rate (q)
<
0.05 to determine statistical significance.
Results:
494 metabolites were associated with VO
2
max, the majority (375/494) of which were non-targeted (unknown) metabolites with greater effect sizes than targeted peaks β range: -29.66 - 17.80 and -22.76 - 12.87 for unknown and known metabolites. We recapitulated known metabolite associations with VO
2
max including DMGV, branched chain amino acids, and uric acid (
Figure 1
). 110 of 560 metabolites that changed after ET were associated with VO
2
max, including non-targeted peaks that concordantly changed after ET (e.g. metabolite peaks positively associated with VO
2
max that increased with ET;
m/z
385.3056 and 695.5086; β for VO
2
max = 9.82 and -19.33, q= 5.56e-7 and 2.61e-17, and log fold-change = 0.03 and -0.01, q=9.58e-13 and 1.93e-4, respectively).
Conclusions:
We identified novel metabolite peaks associated with VO
2
max that concordantly changed after ET. Non-targeted metabolomic profiling reveals new markers related to VO
2
max and exercise response, motivating ongoing work to unambiguously identify these compounds.
Abstract only
Background:
Plasma proteins can be biomarkers of cardiovascular health status but also physiologic effectors that mediate health benefits. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an ...integrative measure of cardiovascular and metabolic health and independent predictor of future cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality risk, however limited knowledge exists regarding its molecular transducers. We sought to expand upon prior proteomic studies of CRF using an antibody-based technology (Olink
TM
).
Hypothesis:
Olink proteomic profiling will identify new markers and potential mediators of CRF.
Methods:
We measured plasma proteins (N=1,472) using Olink’s platform in a pilot study within the HERITAGE Family Study (N=209 participants, mean age=34 years, 56% female, 36% Black) before and after 20 weeks of endurance exercise training (ET). We performed multivariable linear regression to measure the association between protein levels and CRF measured by CPET (VO
2
max in ml*kg
-1
*min
-1
) adjusting for age and sex. Lean body mass was measured by hydrostatic weighing. Protein changes after ET were assessed using paired Student’s t-tests.
Results:
We identified 70 proteins significantly associated (FDR q <0.05) with VO
2
max. Among these, 14 have not previously been measured in the context of CRF, including perilipin-1, a modulator of lipid homeostasis in adipocytes (beta=-3.8, q=2.4x10
-4
); latent-transforming growth factor beta-binding protein 3 (beta=-2.6, q=1.3x10
-3
), a key regulator of TGF-beta activation; and hydroxysteroid 11-beta dehydrogenase 1 (beta=3.2, q=1.2x10
-3
), which regulates cortisol metabolism. Carbonic anhydrase (CA) XIV (CA14; beta=5.4, q=1.3x10
-8
), a member of the CA family with extracellular activity, had the strongest positive association with VO
2
max in our primary model as well as after further adjusting VO
2
max for lean body mass. Further, CA14 levels increased significantly after ET (log2 fold change: 0.14, q=0.007).
Conclusions:
Antibody-based plasma proteomics profiling identified new markers of CRF, including a CA isoform that increases after ET. These findings motivate further study of CA14’s mechanistic role in CA14 and expanded proteomics profiling to investigate molecular transducers of CRF.
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