Tuberculosis Infection in Chinese Patients with Giant Cell Arteritis

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a medium- and large-vessel vasculitis with an onset age after 50 years. Takayasu arteritis (TA), which is also a large-vessel vasculitis with an onset age earlier than 40 years, was suggested to be associated with tuberculosis (TB). However, the association between GCA and TB was rarely reported. This study was to retrospectively analyze clinical data of GCA patients at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and elucidate the association between GCA and TB. Ninety-one patients diagnosed with GCA were included in the study. A total of 20 patients (22.0%) had a history of active tuberculosis and received anti-tuberculosis therapy. On comparing the clinical features of patients with GCA and concomitant TB and those without TB, obvious weight loss (P = 0.011), lower percentage of dyslipidemia (P = 0.042), higher percentage of anti-phospholipid antibodies (P = 0.010), and lower white blood cells (P = 0.006) were noted in the TB group. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the percentage of TB history in patients with GCA was higher than that in the Chinese general population. Clinicians should recognize the possibility of comorbid TB in patients with obvious weight loss and relatively lower white blood cell count.

Oral Administration of Resveratrol Alleviates Osteoarthritis Pathology in C57BL/6J Mice Model Induced by a High-Fat Diet

Obesity has been associated with osteoarthritis (OA) due to increased mass and metabolic factors which are independent of the biomechanical contribution to joint load. Resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound, exerts protective effects on OA through its anti-inflammatory property. However, the mechanism of resveratrol on obesity-related OA is unclear. To investigate the effect and possible mechanism of oral resveratrol on obesity-related OA, we fed C57BL/6J mice with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks to establish obesity-related OA model; then two doses (22.5 mg/kg and 45 mg/kg) of resveratrol were given by gavage for additional 12 weeks. Mice with HFD significantly increased body weights compared to the control mice, while resveratrol treatment did not cause obvious weight loss. Histological assessments showed that resveratrol at 45 mg/kg significantly improved OA symptoms. Levels of serum IL-1β and leptin were decreased by resveratrol treatment and positively correlated with Mankin scores. Moreover, resveratrol significantly inhibited the expression of TLR4 and TRAF6 in cartilage. These results suggest that HFD induced obesity can lead to the occurrence of OA, and resveratrol may alleviate OA pathology by decreasing the levels of systematic inflammation and/or inhibiting TLR4 signaling pathway in cartilage. Thus, resveratrol might be a promising therapeutic treatment for obesity-related OA.

Experimental Study on Combustion Characteristics of Three Biomass Components

Experiments on combustion characteristics of cellulose, xylan and lignin have been done conducted on Pyris1 TGA thermograyimetric analyzer (PE/USA) at different heating rates. The results show that: combustion of cellulose was mainly concentrated in a low temperature range, xylan has two obvious weight loss peaks, while the lignin combustion mainly concentrated in a high temperature coke combustion process.

Pyrolysis Characteristics of Pine Powder and Polyvinyl Chloride of Municipal Solid Waste in Thermogravimetric Analyzer

The pyrolysis characteristics of pine powder and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), respectively representing the biomass and plastics components of municipal solid waste, were studied in a thermogravimetric analyzer, and the influence of heating rate on pyrolysis characteristics was also investigated. The pyrolysis temperature was heated from ambient up to 900 °C at different heating rates including 10, 20 and 40 °Cžmin-1. The pyrolysis of pine powder was composed of two obvious weight loss phases, which were dehydration and the decomposition of cellulose and hemicellulose. The lignin in pine powder decomposed over a broad temperature range until 900°C. The pyrolysis of PVC was complicated, and included the release of hydrogen chloride (HCl), the formation of hydrocarbons. Besides, the additives in PVC decomposed at about 600 °C. The TG and DTG curves of pyrolysis for pine powder and PVC were similar at different heating rates, however, each weight loss phase of pyrolysis was shifted to high temperature with increasing the heating rate.

Experimental Study on Combustion Characteristics of Biomass and Coal Blended

Under different conditions,combustion characteristics of the single biomass,the single coal and the mixture of biomass and coal were analyzed by using thermogravimetric analyzer. Combustion characteristic parameters of the sawdust,the rice husk,the rice straw and the Baisha coal of Leiyang were studied,including ignition temperature,the maximum rate of combustion temperature,the burnout temperature and so on. The experimental results show that the biomass burning temperature is lower than the Baisha coal and there are two obvious weight loss phases in the combustion process of the biomass. However,there is only one in the coal. The ignition temperature and time of the coal can be reduced ,the temperature range of the entire combustion can be extended,the coal can be burnout more well and the fuel combustion characteristic can be optimized by blending combustion. With the increase of biomass mixing proportion, the ignition temperature of mixing samples was decreased more obviously. Moreover,when the biomass particle size becomes R200,compared with R90 particle size under the same blending ratio,its ignition temperature is more lower.

High-Temperature Thermal Cyclic Oxidation Behavior of Wide-Gap Brazed IN738 Superalloy

The microstructure and thermal cyclic oxidation resistance of the wide-gap region brazed with different filler metal powder (BNi-3 and DF 4B) comparing with that of Ni-based IN738 alloy were investigated. The microstructure characterization showed that Cr borides with a blocky morphology were existed in the brazed region in both filler metal powder. The normalized weight gain with cyclic oxidation showed that weight loss of the specimen brazed with BNi-3 filler metal occurred after 600 cycles. However, the specimen brazed with DF 4B filler metal had no obvious weight loss until 700 cycles. It was observed that the oxidation kinetics of the all oxidized specimens followed the quasi-parabolic law, and the oxide layer was mainly composed of NiO, Al2O3 and NiCr2O4.