Effect of Fans’ Placement on the Indoor Thermal Environment of Typical Tunnel-Ventilated Multi-Floor Pig Buildings Using Numerical Simulation

An increasing number of large pig farms are being built in multi-floor pig buildings (MFPBs) in China. Currently, the ventilation system of MFPB varies greatly and lacks common standards. This work aims to compare the ventilation performance of three popular MFPB types with different placement of fans using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. After being validated with field-measured data, the CFD models were extended to simulate the air velocity, air temperature, humidity, and effective temperature of the three MFPBs. The simulation results showed that the ventilation rate of the building with outflowing openings in the endwall and fans installed on the top of the shaft was approximately 25% less than the two buildings with fans installed on each floor. The ventilation rate of each floor increased from the first to the top floor for both buildings with a shaft, while no significant difference was observed in the building without a shaft. Increasing the shaft’s width could mitigate the variation in the ventilation rate of each floor. The effective temperature distribution at the animal level was consistent with the air velocity distribution. Therefore, in terms of the indoor environmental condition, the fans were recommended to be installed separately on each floor

Effects of fermentation medium on cigar filler

The addition of medium during industrial fermentation can improve the quality of cigar tobacco leaves after agricultural fermentation. In this study, the cigar filler tobacco “Brazilian Frogstrips YA14” was used as the test material to determine the contents of main chemical components in cigar tobacco leaves after fermentations with the additions of water (control group) and a medium (test group), and the changes in the community structure and abundances of bacteria on tobacco leaves during the fermentation process were analyzed. The results of the study were as follows: 1) During the fermentation process, the protein content of tobacco leaves fluctuated slightly, basically stabilized at 19%–20%. 2) Under the impact of the medium, the total content of main amino acids in tobacco leaves showed a downward trend, and the difference of which between the control group and the test group was the most obvious on the fourth day of fermentation. 3) The change trend of the content of petroleum ether extract in cigar leaves for the control group was not obvious, and the content of petroleum ether extract in the tobacco leaves for the test group decreased by 12.4% under the impact of the medium. 4) After fermentation, the relative content of saturated fatty acids for the control group and the test group all increased, while the relative content of unsaturated fatty acids all decreased. 5) After the addition of the medium, the diversity of bacteria on tobacco leaves changed significantly, the number of OTUs in tobacco leaves increased, and the bacterial community structure changed. This research indicates that after adding the medium to ferment cigar filler, the changes of bacterial community and dominant bacterial group on cigar tobacco leaves have impacts on the contents of chemical components in tobacco leaves, and the fermentation with the addition of medium has a positive effect on improving the quality of tobacco leaves

Observation of Rydberg moir\'e excitons

Rydberg excitons, the solid-state counterparts of Rydberg atoms, have sparked considerable interest in harnessing their quantum application potentials, whereas a major challenge is realizing their spatial confinement and manipulation. Lately, the rise of two-dimensional moir\'e superlattices with highly tunable periodic potentials provides a possible pathway. Here, we experimentally demonstrate this capability through the observation of Rydberg moir\'e excitons (XRM), which are moir\'e trapped Rydberg excitons in monolayer semiconductor WSe2 adjacent to twisted bilayer graphene. In the strong coupling regime, the XRM manifest as multiple energy splittings, pronounced redshift, and narrowed linewidth in the reflectance spectra, highlighting their charge-transfer character where electron-hole separation is enforced by the strongly asymmetric interlayer Coulomb interactions. Our findings pave the way for pursuing novel physics and quantum technology exploitation based on the excitonic Rydberg states.Comment: 24 pages, including 4 figures and 6 supplementary figure

Effects of adding cocoa fermentation medium on cigar leaves in agricultural fermentation stage

Background and Objective: With the development of the world economy and the integration of cultures, the Chinese cigar market has shown a significant upward trend. However, high-quality cigar leaves are mostly produced in Dominica, Cuba, Nicaragua and other places. In contrast, Chinese cigar leaves have problems such as insufficient aroma, which has become one of the main factors restricting the development of Chinese cigars. Adding medium to ferment is a traditional method in the cigar industry. At present, it mostly relies on manual experience, and lacks systematic and scientific research. At the same time, the addition of medium fermentation is mainly concentrated in the industrial fermentation process, and has not yet begun to be applied in the agricultural fermentation process. In this study, the medium was added to the agricultural fermentation process for the first time to explore the possibility of the application. The effects of adding cocoa medium to ferment on the chemical composition, sensory quality and surface microbial diversity of eggplant core cigar leaves were investigated.wrapper.Method: With Dexue 7′ as the experimental material, the changes of main chemical components of wrapper fermented with water and cocoa medium were determined, and microbial community structure on the surface and relative abundance of cigar leaves at different turning periods were analyzed, and the functional genes were predicted. The results of the study were as follows: 1) The results of sensory evaluation showed that the addition of cocoa medium could highlight the aroma of bean, cocoa and coffee, improve the sweetness and fluency and the combustibility of cigar leaves. 2) The addition of cocoa medium increased the contents of proline and malic acid which were positively correlated with sensory quality, and decreased the contents of citric acid, linoleic acid, basic amino acids and aromatic amino acids which were negatively correlated with sensory quality. 3) The addition of cocoa medium increased the total amount of aroma components in cigar leaves, especially carotenoid degradation products, and changed the structural composition of some aroma substances in wrappercigar leaves. 4) The similarity of species composition between the water-added group and the cocoa-added group was higher, but the dominant microorganisms were more concentrated. Staphylococcus and Arthrobacter maintained a high relative abundance throughout the fermentation process, which may be the key microorganisms in the agricultural fermentation stage. 5) The addition of cocoa medium increased the expression abundance of related functional genes in cigar leaves, accelerated the fermentation process of cigar leaves, and bacteria played a major role in the fermentation process.Conclusion: Adding cocoa medium in the agricultural fermentation stage, the changes of bacterial community and dominant flora on the surface of cigar leaves are the main factors affecting their internal chemical components, and the addition of media has a positive effect on tobacco fermentation

A novel fusion protein consisting of anti-ANGPTL3 antibody and interleukin-22 ameliorates diabetic nephropathy in mice

IntroductionThe pathogenic mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy (DN) include podocyte injury, inflammatory responses and metabolic disorders. Although the antagonism of Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) can alleviate proteinuria symptoms by inhibiting the activation of integrin αvβ3 on the surface of podocytes, it can not impede other pathological processes, such as inflammatory responses and metabolic dysfunction of glucolipid. Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is considered to be a pivotal molecule involved in suppressing inflammatory responses, initiating regenerative repair, and regulating glucolipid metabolism.MethodsGenes encoding the mIL22IgG2aFc and two chains of anti-ANGPTL3 antibody and bifunctional protein were synthesized. Then, the DN mice were treated with intraperitoneal injection of normal saline, anti-ANGPTL3 (20 mg/kg), mIL22Fc (12 mg/kg) or anti-ANGPTL3 /IL22 (25.3 mg/kg) and irrigation of positive drug losartan (20mg/kg/d) twice a week for 8 weeks.ResultsIn this research, a novel bifunctional fusion protein (anti-ANGPTL3/IL22) formed by the fusion of IL-22 with the C-terminus of anti-ANGPTL3 antibody exhibited favorable stability and maintained the biological activity of anti-ANGPTL3 and IL-22, respectively. The fusion protein showed a more pronounced attenuation of proteinuria and improved dysfunction of glucolipid metabolism compared with mIL22Fc or anti-ANGPTL3. Our results also indicated that anti-ANGPTL3/IL22 intervention significantly alleviated renal fibrosis via inhibiting the expression of the inflammatory response-related protein nuclear factor kappa light-chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) p65 and NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Moreover, transcriptome analysis revealed the downregulation of signaling pathways associated with injury and dysfunction of the renal parenchymal cell indicating the possible protective mechanisms of anti-ANGPTL3/IL22 in DN.ConclusionCollectively, anti-ANGPTL3/IL22 bifunctional fusion protein can be a promising novel therapeutic strategy for DN by reducing podocyte injury, ameliorating inflammatory response, and enhancing renal tissue recovery

A novel glycolysis-related gene signature for predicting the prognosis of multiple myeloma

Background: Metabolic reprogramming is an important hallmark of cancer. Glycolysis provides the conditions on which multiple myeloma (MM) thrives. Due to MM’s great heterogeneity and incurability, risk assessment and treatment choices are still difficult.Method: We constructed a glycolysis-related prognostic model by Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis. It was validated in two independent external cohorts, cell lines, and our clinical specimens. The model was also explored for its biological properties, immune microenvironment, and therapeutic response including immunotherapy. Finally, multiple metrics were combined to construct a nomogram to assist in personalized prediction of survival outcomes.Results: A wide range of variants and heterogeneous expression profiles of glycolysis-related genes were observed in MM. The prognostic model behaved well in differentiating between populations with various prognoses and proved to be an independent prognostic factor. This prognostic signature closely coordinated with multiple malignant features such as high-risk clinical features, immune dysfunction, stem cell-like features, cancer-related pathways, which was associated with the survival outcomes of MM. In terms of treatment, the high-risk group showed resistance to conventional drugs such as bortezomib, doxorubicin and immunotherapy. The joint scores generated by the nomogram showed higher clinical benefit than other clinical indicators. The in vitro experiments with cell lines and clinical subjects further provided convincing evidence for our study.Conclusion: We developed and validated the utility of the MM glycolysis-related prognostic model, which provides a new direction for prognosis assessment, treatment options for MM patients

Identification and validation of a novel cuproptosis-related gene signature in multiple myeloma

Background: Cuproptosis is a newly identified unique copper-triggered modality of mitochondrial cell death, distinct from known death mechanisms such as necroptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic neoplasm characterized by the malignant proliferation of plasma cells. In the development of MM, almost all patients undergo a relatively benign course from monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) to smoldering myeloma (SMM), which further progresses to active myeloma. However, the prognostic value of cuproptosis in MM remains unknown.Method: In this study, we systematically investigated the genetic variants, expression patterns, and prognostic value of cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) in MM. CRG scores derived from the prognostic model were used to perform the risk stratification of MM patients. We then explored their differences in clinical characteristics and immune patterns and assessed their value in prognosis prediction and treatment response. Nomograms were also developed to improve predictive accuracy and clinical applicability. Finally, we collected MM cell lines and patient samples to validate marker gene expression by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).Results: The evolution from MGUS and SMM to MM was also accompanied by differences in the CRG expression profile. Then, a well-performing cuproptosis-related risk model was developed to predict prognosis in MM and was validated in two external cohorts. The high-risk group exhibited higher clinical risk indicators. Cox regression analyses showed that the model was an independent prognostic predictor in MM. Patients in the high-risk group had significantly lower survival rates than those in the low-risk group (p < 0.001). Meanwhile, CRG scores were significantly correlated with immune infiltration, stemness index and immunotherapy sensitivity. We further revealed the close association between CRG scores and mitochondrial metabolism. Subsequently, the prediction nomogram showed good predictive power and calibration. Finally, the prognostic CRGs were further validated by qRT-PCR in vitro.Conclusion: CRGs were closely related to the immune pattern and self-renewal biology of cancer cells in MM. This prognostic model provided a new perspective for the risk stratification and treatment response prediction of MM patients

Serum Starvation Induced Cell Cycle Synchronization Facilitates Human Somatic Cells Reprogramming

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide a valuable model for regenerative medicine and human disease research. To date, however, the reprogramming efficiency of human adult cells is still low. Recent studies have revealed that cell cycle is a key parameter driving epigenetic reprogramming to pluripotency. As is well known, retroviruses such as the Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) require cell division to integrate into the host genome and replicate, whereas the target primary cells for reprogramming are a mixture of several cell types with different cell cycle rhythms. Whether cell cycle synchronization has potential effect on retrovirus induced reprogramming has not been detailed. In this study, utilizing transient serum starvation induced synchronization, we demonstrated that starvation generated a reversible cell cycle arrest and synchronously progressed through G2/M phase after release, substantially improving retroviral infection efficiency. Interestingly, synchronized human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) and adipose stem cells (ASC) exhibited more homogenous epithelial morphology than normal FBS control after infection, and the expression of epithelial markers such as E-cadherin and Epcam were strongly activated. Futhermore, synchronization treatment ultimately improved Nanog positive clones, achieved a 15–20 fold increase. These results suggested that cell cycle synchronization promotes the mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) and facilitates retrovirus mediated reprogramming. Our study, utilization of serum starvation rather than additional chemicals, provide a new insight into cell cycle regulation and induced reprogramming of human cells

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe