Does it pay to develop a ground source heat pump system? Evidence from China.

The application potential and environmental benefits of ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems have become the focal points of decarbonization in the building sector. Synchronized and scientific analysis of GSHP systems' environmental and economic performance, however, remains lacking. This study analyzes the application prospects of GSHP systems via a life cycle assessment-based life cycle costing method, and considers China's actual status quo. The internal and external annual costs of a GSHP system per square meter are $ 4.05 and $ 1.37, respectively. Electricity generation and steel production are key processes to improve the environmental performance of a GSHP system further. Compared with coal-based heating, a GSHP system can mitigate 65%-95% of the environmental impact and 85% of external costs, except for the metal depletion impact which is 1.5 times higher than that of coal-based heating. In Shandong Province, promoting GSHP systems can substitute up to 69.4% of the district heating area, which implies reductions in fossil depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, human health impact, ecosystem quality impact, and external costs by up to 2.37 × 1010 kg oil eq, 1.08 × 1011 kg CO2 eq, 3.87 × 105 DALY, 1.18 × 103 Species. year, and $ 2.51 × 1010, respectively. In consideration of environmental and economic aspects, a GSHP system can exhibit benefits compared with coal-based heating after 2.34 years of operation. To improve the economic and environmental performance of GSHP systems, a series of recommendations on financial subsidies, renewable energy development, inter-regional power transmission, steel scrap utilization, and hydrogen reduction steelmaking is provided.

MicroRNA-29a functions as a tumor suppressor through targeting STAT3 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is a common head and neck cancer with high mortality in developing countries. A comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms of tumor progression in laryngeal cancer is needed for new treatment strategies. MicroRNA-29a has been emerged as a critical miRNA in various cancers, and shown to regulate multiple oncogenic processes. In this study, we investigated the tumor suppressive role of miRNA-29a in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We performed cell-based functional analysis after overexpression of miR-29a in AMC-HN-8 and HEP2 cells in vitro. It turned out that ectopic expression of miR-29a significantly inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in two LSCC cell lines (AMC-HN-8 and Hep2) in vitro. Further downstream target analysis by western blotting and luciferease reporter assay showed that overexpression of miR-29a significantly downregulated expression of STAT3, and STAT3 is a putative direct target of miR-29a in LSCC. In addition, the tumor suppressive function of miR-29a can be abrogated by forced expression of STAT3. Taken together, our data suggest that miR-29a functions as a tumor suppressor through targeting STAT3 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

High Notch1 expression affects chemosensitivity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma to paclitaxel and cisplatin treatment.

BACKGROUND: Notch1 expression has been reported to be associated with chemotherapy resistance and poor prognosis, but the role of Notch1 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) sensitivity to anticancer drugs remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate HNSCC sensitivity to paclitaxel and cisplatin in vitro and the chemotherapeutic response of HNSCC to these two drugs in vivo. METHODS: We used immunohistochemistry to assess Notch1 expression in fresh HNSCC samples treated by PF (cisplatin+5- fluorouracil) and TPF (paclitaxel + cisplatin+5- fluorouracil). We also assessed the sensitivity of two HNSCC cell lines to the Notch1 inhibitor of N-[N-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl)-L-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (DAPT). The overall and progression-free survival were assessed. RESULTS: High Notch1 expression was significantly associated with paclitaxel resistance (P < 0.01). DAPT increased sensitivity to paclitaxel and cisplatin in vitro (P < 0.05). Compared with patients with Notch1 expression, patients without Notch1 expression were more likely to have a response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy with PF (P < 0.01) or TPF (P < 0.01) and had significantly better overall survival (P < 0.05) and progression-free survival (P < 0.05). Among patients without Notch1 expression (but not among patients with Notch1 expression), those who received TPF had significantly better survival than those who received PF (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Taken together, our findings may provide some evidence to partially support the predictive value of Notch1 expression in the therapeutic response to paclitaxel and cisplatin.

Methylation status and protein expression of RASSF1A in endometriosis.

Ras association domain family 1A (RASSF1A) gene inactivation by promoter hypermethylation is a common event in the development of a variety of types of human cancer. Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that DNA methylation serve a critical role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. The aim of the present study was to analyze the methylation status and protein expression of RASSF1A in endometriosis (EMS). The ectopic and corresponding eutopic endometrium tissues were collected from 45 women with EMS (EMS group) and normal endometrium tissues from 20 women without EMS (control group). The methylation status of RASSF1A was examined by methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). Immunohistochemistry was performed to measure RASSF1A protein level in endometrium tissues. In normal endometrium samples, RASSF1A protein expression was significantly higher at the secretory phase than the proliferative phase. RASSF1A protein expression in the ectopic endometrium tissues and eutopic endometrium tissues were significantly reduced than in normal endometrium (P<0.05). The frequency of aberrant methylation of RASSF1A was 55.56% in ectopic endometrium and 33.33% in paired eutopic endometrium, whereas such methylation was not detected in normal endometrium. Moreover, RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation was frequently associated with reduced expression of RASSF1A, and was common in advanced stage in ectopic endometrium of EMS. Epigenetic inactivation of RASSF1A through aberrant promoter methylation may be important in the formation and progression of EMS, and assessment of RASSF1A methylation status in eutopic endometrium may be a potentially useful biomarker to enhance the early detection of EMS.

Real-time ArcGIS and heterotrophic plate count based chloramine disinfectant control in water distribution system.

This study investigates the effect of chloramine residual on bacteria growth and regrowth and the relationship between heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs) and the concentration of chloramine residual in the Shanghai drinking water distribution system (DWDS). In this study, models to control HPCs in the water distribution system and consumer taps are also developed. Real-time ArcGIS was applied to show the distribution and changed results of the chloramine residual concentration in the pipe system by using these models. Residual regression analysis was used to get a reasonable range of the threshold values that allows the chloramine residual to efficiently inhibit bacteria growth in the Shanghai DWDS; the threshold values should be between 0.45 and 0.5 mg/L in pipe water and 0.2 and 0.25 mg/L in tap water. The low residual chloramine value (0.05 mg/L) of the Chinese drinking water quality standard may pose a potential health risk for microorganisms that should be improved. Disinfection by-products (DBPs) were detected, but no health risk was identified.

[Migration of main odorous compounds in a water supply system with Huangpu River as raw water in Shanghai].

Migration and variation of odorous compounds as geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) and residual chlorine in drinking water taken from Huangpu River were studied by using headspace solid phase microextraction procedure (HSPME) and gas chromatograph with mass spectrometry. The results showed that, raw water, processed water, pipe water (taken from pump station) and secondary-supply water all contained MIB and geosmin ranging from 2 ng/L to 18 ng/L and 2.68 ng/L to 5.06 ng/L respectively and decreased dramatically during the water processing and distribution system. MIB is proved to be a kind of the odorous compounds in drinking water of Shanghai by comparing the concentrations of MIB and GSM with their odor threshold. The concentration of residual chlorine declined greatly in the distribution system, but because of the high value at the outlet of waterworks, it still may exceeded the influence of MIB and cause the odour problems.

Exact analytical solutions and their applications for interacting waves in quadratic nonlinear medium.

The exact analytical solutions for the interacting waves in the quadratic nonlinear medium with the periodic structure are detailedly derived and obtained, and the properties of solutions are analyzed. Three applicable examples employing the exact solutions in the all-optical processing are given and analyzed. The optimized results show that the phase of signal can obviously be increased by proper choosing k, and that the intensity of pump can greatly be decreased in the all-optical switching by means of optimizing k, increasing medium length, and choosing sum-frequency generation.