Plant Diversity and Plant Performance of Indoor and Outdoor Vertical Greening Systems in Hong Kong

This study aimed to examine the plant diversity and plant performance of vertical greening system (VGS) and how the hardware setup (including growing substrates) potentially affect plant performance. A total of 125 VGS (including 85 outdoor and 40 indoor VGS) were surveyed in Hong Kong. We recorded the type of VGS, species composition, frequency and plant coverage; substrate medium type, and plant performance. The findings revealed that indoor soilless VGS performed comparably well as on conventional soil, and outdoor soilless VGS performed significantly better than on soil. Regardless of substrate type, plants on indoor VGS performed better than outdoor VGS. Keywords: Vertical greening system; Floristic composition; Growing medium; Plant performance eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i14.226

Amorphous Al-transition Metal Alloys as Anode Material for Lithium Ion Battery

Al based alloy powders (Al₈₅Ni₅Y₆Co₂Fe₂) are produced by spray atomization method. High energy ball milling is done to modify the surface topology and particle size for better electrochemical performance. X ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were conducted to characterize the microstructure of the alloys after ball milling. It is found that 5 hours ball milling gives the minimum crystallization and structure change. Thin film sample is also deposited on stainless steel substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method for electrochemical test. The capacity and reversibility for different samples are compared and discussed. A capacity of 200mAh/g is obtained for the battery with thin film sample as anode and a capacity of 140mAh/g is obtained for that with electrode from powder sample. Both of the batteries give up to 94% capacity retention after 20 cycles.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Chiral Vibrational Structures of Proteins at Interfaces Probed by Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

We review the recent development of chiral sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and its applications to study chiral vibrational structures at interfaces. This review summarizes observations of chiral SFG signals from various molecular systems and describes the molecular origins of chiral SFG response. It focuses on the chiral vibrational structures of proteins and presents the chiral SFG spectra of proteins at interfaces in the C-H stretch, amide I, and N-H stretch regions. In particular, a combination of chiral amide I and N-H stretches of the peptide backbone provides highly characteristic vibrational signatures, unique to various secondary structures, which demonstrate the capacity of chiral SFG spectroscopy to distinguish protein secondary structures at interfaces. On the basis of these recent developments, we further discuss the advantages of chiral SFG spectroscopy and its potential application in various fields of science and technology. We conclude that chiral SFG spectroscopy can be a new approach to probe chiral vibrational structures of protein at interfaces, providing structural and dynamic information to study in situ and in real time protein structures and dynamics at interfaces

Parametric Analysis of Energy Absorption in Micro-particle Photophoresis in Absorbing Gaseous Media

The study deals with photophoresis of a spherical micro-particle suspended in absorbing gaseous media. Photophoretic motion of the particle stems from the asymmetric distribution of absorbed energy within the particle. By evaluating the so-called heat source function at various conditions, the study focuses on the effects of governing parameters on the energy distribution within the particle and their potential influences to the photophoresis. The results reveal that the increase in either particle size or absorptivity enhances the energy intensity on the illuminated (leading) side and tends to generate positive photophoresis. For a particle of low absorptivity, the energy distribution is dominated by particle refraction. Enhancing particle refractivity, the energy tends to be focused onto a certain spot area on the shaded (trailing) side and leads to a tendency of negative photophoresis. Increasing medium absorptivity significantly degrades the level of energy absorbed by the particle and in turn weakens the driving force of the particle photophoresis.Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(3), pp.233-237, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.34

Understanding the Gap between Website Value and Consumer Shopping Orientation: An Application of Task-Technology Fit Theory to Online shopping Values

Value judgments, such as functional, emotional, utilitarian, and hedonic values have received considerable attention in recent years. However, research on these interrelationships has been somewhat limited in online shopping, particularly in regards to the gap between website values versus consumer shopping orientations. The purpose of this research is to propose and empirically test a conceptual framework that incorporates the interrelationships of website values, shopping satisfaction, and repurchase intention into framework and validate them in a B2C online shopping context. Specifically, we examine the moderating role of consumer shopping orientations in the impact of website values on shopping satisfaction. Our results suggest that the impact of website values on shopping satisfaction is negatively moderated by consumer shopping orientations. Therefore, functional and emotional values are probably necessary but are an insufficient precondition for cultivating shopping satisfaction. Moreover, consumer hedonic orientation plays a slightly higher influence on shopping satisfaction than utilitarian orientation. Understanding these factors can provide direction for planning website features as well as consumer desired values that will increase shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention

Experimental study on a new type floating breakwater

In the article, a new type floating breakwater is proposed based on comparing the performance of different kinds of floating breakwater that include pontoon type breakwater, scrap tire breakwater, mat float type breakwater etc. The outstanding feature of the new type breakwater is that damping at bottom of breakwater can increase wave energy dissipation and decrease coefficient of wave transmission and reflection. The relative width and relative submergence depth (the ratio of width to wave length W/L and submergence depth to wave length D/L) on the performance of the breakwater are discussed based on a series of physical model test in flume. The relationship between critical transmission coefficient (Ct=0.5) and relative width is given by experiment. In the actual design and application process, the various parameters are not independent, so the relationship between transmission coefficient and different parameters is analyzed in this paper

Parity violating pion electroproduction off the nucleon

Parity violating (PV) contributions due to interference between $\gamma$ and $Z^0$ exchange are calculated for pion electroproduction off the nucleon. A phenomenological model with effective Lagrangians is used to determine the resulting asymmetry for the energy region between threshold and $\Delta(1232)$ resonance. The $\Delta$ resonance is treated as a Rarita-Schwinger field with phenomenological $N \Delta$ transition currents. The background contributions are given by the usual Born terms using the pseudovector $\pi N$ Lagrangian. Numerical results for the asymmetry are presented.Comment: 17 pages, RevTeX, 6 figures (in separate file figs.uu), uses epsf, accepted for publication in Z. Phys.

Existence of inverted profile in chemically responsive molecular pathways in the zebrafish liver

10.1371/journal.pone.0027819PLoS ONE611

Comparison of genetic diversity and growth traits among Fangzheng silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) gynogenetic clones

The silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), a gynogenetic teleost, is a promising model for the study of evolutionary genetics in vertebrates. We identified ten gynogenetic clones (FZ-I~FZ-X) from triploid silver crucian carp, collected from Fangzheng County in Heilongjiang Province, China, using microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity of these gynogenetic clones was analyzed using 52 microsatellite markers. A total of 413 alleles were detected and the length of fragments ranged from 96 to 340 bp. The number of alleles per locus varied from 2~19 (mean=7.9423). The observed heterozygosity at polymorphic loci ranged from 0.10~1.00 (mean=0.80). The average allele count per gynogenetic clone ranged from 1.9423~2.1923. The ratio of the polymorphic locus was from 71.15% (VII) to 84.61% (IX) per clone. The number of genotypes ranged from 2~10 per locus. Ten genotypes were observed by analyzing each of 14 microsatellites. As a result, each gynogenetic clone could be accurately identified. In addition, the growth traits, including body weight, length, and height, among five gynogenetic clones were compared. There was a significant difference among gynogenetic clones. Clone FZ-V exhibited the best growth traits, with the largest body weight (53.17±5.24 g), length (11.38±0.37 cm) and height (4.69±0.18 cm). Our results provide basic data for the identification of silver crucian carp gynogenetic clones and can be used as a guide genetic breeding programs

REMOVED: Study on Separation Properties of Aquaporin-Based Proteoliposomes and Synthesizing of High Performance Aquaporin Based Biomimetic Membrane

This article has been removed: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been removed at the request of the Executive Publisher.This article has been removed because it was published without the permission of the author(s)