Aqueous Al2O3 nanofluids: the important factors impacting convective heat transfer

A high accuracy, counter flow double pipe heat exchanger system is designed for the measurement of convective heat transfer coefficients with different nanofluids. Both positive and negative enhancement of convective heat transfer of alumina nanofluids are found in the experiments. A modified equation was proposed to explain above phenomena through the physic properties of nanofluids such as thermal conductivity, special heat capacity and viscosity

Malectin Domain Protein Kinase (MDPK) Promotes Rice Resistance to Sheath Blight via IDD12, IDD13, and IDD14

Sheath blight (ShB) caused by Rhizoctonia solani is a major disease of rice, seriously affecting yield; however, the molecular defense mechanism against ShB remains unclear. A previous transcriptome analysis of rice identified that R. solani inoculation significantly induced MDPK. Genetic studies using MDPK RNAi and overexpressing plants identified that MDPK positively regulates ShB resistance. This MDPK protein was found localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus. Yeast one-hybrid assay, electrophoresis mobility shift assay (EMSA), and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) showed that the intermediate domain proteins IDD12, IDD13, and IDD14 bind to the MDPK promoter. Moreover, IDD14 was found to interact with IDD12 and IDD13 to form a transcription complex to activate MDPK expression. The three IDDs demonstrated an additive effect on MDPK activation. Further genetic studies showed that the IDD13 and IDD14 single mutants were more susceptible to ShB but not IDD12, while IDD12, IDD13, and IDD14 overexpressing plants were less susceptible than the wild-type plants. The IDD12, IDD13, and IDD14 mutants also proved the additive effect of the three IDDs on MDPK expression, which regulates ShB resistance in rice. Notably, MDPK overexpression maintained normal yield levels in rice. Thus, our study proves that IDD12, IDD13, and IDD14 activate MDPK to enhance ShB resistance in rice. These results improve our knowledge of rice defense mechanisms and provide a valuable marker for resistance breeding

Ion Hopping: Design Principles for Strategies to Improve Ionic Conductivity for Inorganic Solid Electrolytes

Solid electrolyte has been considered as an ideal substitution of liquid electrolyte, by avoiding the potential hazards of volatilization, flammability and explosion for liquid electrolyte based rechargeable batteries. However, there are significant performance gaps to be bridged between solid electrolytes with liquid electrolytes, one with the particular importance is the ionic conductivity which is highly dependent on the material types and structures. In this review, we re-visit the general physical image of ion hopping in the crystalline structure, by highlighting two main kernels that impact ion migration: ion hopping pathways and skeletons interaction. We then systematically summarize the universal strategies to effectively improve ionic conductivity of inorganic solid electrolytes: (1) constructing rapid diffusion pathways for mobile ions; (2) reducing resistance of the surrounding potential field. The scoped strategies offer an exclusive view on the working principle of ions movements regardless of the ion species, thus providing a comprehensive guidance for the future exploitation of solid electrolytes

Research on Chinese consumers' shell egg consumption preferences and the egg quality of functional eggs

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of egg consumption in China and the production of functional eggs, and finally enrich the types of shell egg products. Trial 1 explored the influence of egg quality on Chinese consumers' willingness to purchase eggs through a questionnaire, which investigated 1,317 consumers' preferences for egg appearance, factors influencing egg purchase, and purchase of functional eggs. The results showed that about 65% of respondents ate more than 4 eggs per wk, pink eggs were the most popular in China, about 65% of consumers preferred eggs with an egg weight of 48 to 58 grams. For functional eggs, 75.32% of consumers have never heard of them. Preferences for eggshell color and yolk color varied by geographic region, with darker colors preferred in Northeast China. Based on the survey results of functional eggs consumption in Trial 1, the dwarf layers of China Agricultural University were used in Trial 2 to produce functional eggs. The eggs are small and pink in color, which is in line with the preferences of Chinese consumers. Three hundred dwarf layers were divided into 4 groups, using the linseed oil added, marigold extract added, and yeast selenium added diets to produce normal, n-3 fatty acid-enriched, lutein-enriched and selenium-enriched eggs by feeding for 28 d, determined the eggs’ nutrient content and egg quality. The results showed that the n-3 fatty acid, lutein and selenium contents of the eggs of dwarf layers were significantly increased by changing the diets and did not affect the egg weight, eggshell strength, Haugh units or the proportion of egg parts. The results of this study are helpful to understand the trend of egg consumption preferences in China, and on this basis to produce functional eggs that meet the consumers’ expectations

Microbial Dysbiosis Is Associated with Human Breast Cancer

<div><p>Breast cancer affects one in eight women in their lifetime. Though diet, age and genetic predisposition are established risk factors, the majority of breast cancers have unknown etiology. The human microbiota refers to the collection of microbes inhabiting the human body. Imbalance in microbial communities, or microbial dysbiosis, has been implicated in various human diseases including obesity, diabetes, and colon cancer. Therefore, we investigated the potential role of microbiota in breast cancer by next-generation sequencing using breast tumor tissue and paired normal adjacent tissue from the same patient. In a qualitative survey of the breast microbiota DNA, we found that the bacterium <i>Methylobacterium radiotolerans</i> is relatively enriched in tumor tissue, while the bacterium <i>Sphingomonas yanoikuyae</i> is relatively enriched in paired normal tissue. The relative abundances of these two bacterial species were inversely correlated in paired normal breast tissue but not in tumor tissue, indicating that dysbiosis is associated with breast cancer. Furthermore, the total bacterial DNA load was reduced in tumor versus paired normal and healthy breast tissue as determined by quantitative PCR. Interestingly, bacterial DNA load correlated inversely with advanced disease, a finding that could have broad implications in diagnosis and staging of breast cancer. Lastly, we observed lower basal levels of antibacterial response gene expression in tumor versus healthy breast tissue. Taken together, these data indicate that microbial DNA is present in the breast and that bacteria or their components may influence the local immune microenvironment. Our findings suggest a previously unrecognized link between dysbiosis and breast cancer which has potential diagnostic and therapeutic implications.</p></div

Atomic nickel cluster decorated defect-rich copper for enhanced C\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e product selectivity in electrocatalytic CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e reduction

This work describes a coordination enabled galvanic replacement method to decorate atomic Ni clusters on defect-rich Cu surface to provide the first Ni/Cu bimetallic system that significantly enhances the production of C products from electrocatalytic CO reduction. Specifically, with a surface Ni/Cu ratio of 0.82 %, a 7-fold increase in the selectivity for C products was found in comparison with pristine Cu. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the rate determining step for *CO formation changes from the formation of *COOH on copper to the chemisorption of CO on Ni decorated surfaces. An alteration of binding sites from Ni-Ni bridge for *CO and *COOH to Ni-Cu bridge for *CO is discovered and is proposed to favor the key C–C coupling step. The catalytic mechanism demonstrated in the Cu-Ni system points to the new directions for the development of advanced bimetallic electrocatalysts for producing multi-carbon materials from CO reduction. 2 2 2 2 2

Survey of microbial communities residing in breast tissue from breast cancer patients.

<p><b>A</b>) Phylum level distribution of microbial communities comparing paired normal adjacent (“paired normal”) and breast cancer tissue from 20 patients with ER-positive breast cancer (n = 20). Each bar represents 100% of the bacteria detected in a given sample. <b>B</b>) Combined distribution at the phylum level in paired normal and breast tumor tissue (n = 20). <b>C</b>) Number of OTUs found in each community (n = 20). <b>D</b>) Analysis of OTUs with differential abundance between paired normal and tumor tissue (n = 20). <b>E</b>) Correlation of relative abundances of <i>M. radiotolerans</i> and <i>S. yanoikuyae</i> (n = 20). <b>F</b>) Relative abundances of commonly found skin bacteria (n = 20). p-values from Student’s paired t-test are shown, with P<0.05 considered significant. Error bars represent mean ± s.e.m.</p

Quantification of bacterial load in tissue from healthy and breast cancer patients.

<p><b>A</b>) Copy numbers of the bacterial 16S gene were compared among healthy (age-matched) (n = 23), paired normal (n = 39) and tumor tissue (n = 39). Healthy specimens were obtained from patients undergoing reduction mammoplasty, with no evidence of breast cancer. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric ANOVA with Dunn’s Multiple Comparison post-test. <b>B</b>) Bacterial load in tissue according to clinical staging of the tumor specimen. Statistical analysis was performed using Cuzick’s Trend test. All statistical analyses were considered significant when P<0.05. Data represent the average of duplicate values. Error bars represent mean ± s.e.m.</p