Mathematical modelling of a semi-dry SO scrubber based on a Lagrangian-Eulerian approach.

Semi-dry desulfurization is an efficient means of SO removal from the effluent gases from electrolysis cells in aluminum smelters. These gases are at low temperature and contain low concentrations of SO, as opposed to thermal power plants. The removal is carried out by injecting powdered alkaline sorbent, hydrated lime (solid particles), into the SO-containing gas (gas phase) in the presence of humidity.

Impact of Pitch Modification on Anode Properties: Effect of Additive Type.

Aluminum is one of the major industries in Canada. The main challenges facing the aluminum industry are carbon loss, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, cell performance, and production costs, especially for high-amperage cells. The quality of carbon anodes plays a major role in the stability of cell operation and energy consumption.

Pro-fibrogenic and adipogenic aspects of chronic muscle degeneration are contributed by distinct stromal cell subpopulations.

Chronic skeletal muscle degeneration is characterized by fiber atrophy accompanied by deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and fatty infiltration. Excessive accumulation of ECM leads to fibrosis via the contribution of fibro-adipogenic precursors (FAPs). Fibrosis also accompanies disuse atrophy and sarcopenia without significant inflammation.

Effect of carbon anode production parameters on anode cracking.

Carbon anodes are used in the electrolytic production of aluminum. The quality of anodes is directly related to the production cost, carbon and energy consumption, and environmental emissions. It is desired that the anodes have high density, low porosity/cracks, low electrical resistivity as well as low air and CO reactivities.

A Novel Amplification-Refractory Mutation System-PCR Strategy to Screen Pathogenic Variants in Patient Repositories.

Pathogenic variants within mitochondrial tRNA and rRNA genes negatively affect protein synthesis function and cause oxidative phosphorylation defects. The majority of mitochondrial cytopathies are caused by pathogenic point variants within the mitochondrial tRNA gene for leucine (). This study was designed to evaluate a novel amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR based assay to screen patient samples with a clinical diagnosis of mitochondrial cytopathies.

Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells ameliorate inflammatory response in an in vitro model of familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis 2.

Background: Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis 2 (FHL2) is the most common familial type of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis with immune dysregulation. FHL2 patients have mutations in the perforin gene which cause overactivation and proliferation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. Perforin is the key component of the cytolytic granule response function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells.

The Effect of Novel Synthetic Methods and Parameters Control on Morphology of Nano-alumina Particles.

Alumina is an inorganic material, which is widely used in ceramics, catalysts, catalyst supports, ion exchange and other fields. The micromorphology of alumina determines its application in high tech and value-added industry and its development prospects. This paper gives an overview of the liquid phase synthetic method of alumina preparation, combined with the mechanism of its action.

Tenotomy immobilization as a model to investigate skeletal muscle fibrosis (with emphasis on Secreted frizzled-related protein 2).

The pathological endpoint of congenital and senile myopathies is chronic muscle degeneration characterized by the atrophy of contractile elements, accompanied by fibrosis and fatty infiltration of the interstitium. Tenotomy is the release of preload that causes abrupt shortening of the muscle and models atrophy and fibrosis without prominent inflammatory response. Fibrosis in the skeletal muscle is known to be triggered by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, which is activated by inflammatory events.

In Vitro Comparison of Adipokine Export Signals.

Mammalian cells are widely used for recombinant protein production in research and biotechnology. Utilization of export signals significantly facilitates production and purification processes. 35 years after the discovery of the mammalian export machinery, there still are obscurities regarding the efficiency of the export signals.

Coronin 1A inhibits neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells.

Regenerative response to central nervous system damage in mammals is limited because of inhibitor signals which consist of myelin associated inhibitor proteins and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Inhibitor signals mainly affect cytoskeleton elements which are important for axonal sprouting and neurite outgrowth. Coronin 1A is an actin cytoskeleton associated protein.

A high-temperature thermal treatment of wood using a multiscale computational model: application to wood poles.

The present study is devoted to a numerical study with experimental validation of the high-temperature thermal treatment of three-dimensional wood pole. During the heat treatment process, the heat and mass transfer takes place between the solid and the drying medium, and the moisture evaporation occurs within the solid due to the capillarity action and diffusion. The development of the model equations, taking into account both bulk phases and interfaces of the multiphase system is described, starting from the microscopic scale.

Changes in the expression of selenoproteins in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

Selenoproteins are enzymes containing selenium in their structure and are involved in cellular processes such as defense against oxidative stress and cell survival. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of four selenoproteins (GPX1, TRXR1, SELP and SELW) in the hippocampus of intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) patients who underwent curative surgery. The selenoproteins is investigated at the mRNA level via RT-PCR and in situ hybridization and by immunostaining at the protein level.

Liposome-mediated intraperitoneal interleukin 10 gene transfer increases survival in cecal litigation and puncture model of sepsis.

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) has been considered to alleviate the inflammatory cytokine response in various models of sepsis. Although being regarded as a key immunomodulator molecule to be beneficial for the treatment of sepsis, recombinant IL-10 treatment is limited by efficacy and tolerability. We tested a novel approach and conducted i.

Myogenic program induction in mature fat tissue (with MyoD expression).

MyoD exerts a master transcriptional control over the myogenic differentiation cascade. Here, we study different approaches to induce myogenic transdifferentiation in mature adipocytes utilizing MyoD gene transfer. Organotypic cultures of fat tissue and a long-term culture of in vitro differentiated adipocytes deduced that MyoD provoked morphological changes in mature adipocytes that can be summarized as loss of fat content, acquisition of a fusiform shape and eventual fusion with committed neighbor cells.

Four novel thymidine phosphorylase gene mutations in mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy syndrome (MNGIE) patients.

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy syndrome (MNGIE) is a rare autosomal recessive neurologic disorder characterised by multiple mitochondrial DNA deletions. In this study, five Turkish MNGIE patients are investigated for mtDNA deletions and TP gene mutations. The probands presented all the clinical criteria of the typical MNGIE phenotype; the muscle biopsy specimens also confirmed the diagnosis with ragged red fibres and cytochrome C oxidase (COX) negative fibres.