Development of a sub-channel code for liquid metal cooled fuel assembly

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Identification of a candidate gene for Rc-D1, a locus controlling red coleoptile colour in wheat

Red coleoptile is an easily observed agronomic trait of wheat and has been extensively studied. However, the molecular mechanism of this trait has not yet been revealed. In this study, the MYB gene TaMYB-D1 was isolated from the wheat cultivar ‘Gy115’, which possesses red coleoptiles. This gene resided at the short arm of the homoelogous group 7 chromosomes. TaMYB-D1 was the only gene expressed in the coleoptiles of ‘Gy115’ and was not expressed in ‘Opata’ and ‘CS’, which have uncoloured coleoptiles. Phylogenetic analysis placed TaMYB-D1 very close to ZmC1 and other MYB proteins regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis. The encoded protein of TaMYB-D1 had an integrated DNA binding domain of 102 amino acids and a transcription domain with 42 amino acids, similar to the structure of ZmC1. Transient expression analysis in onion epidermal cells showed that TaMYB-D1 was located at the plant nucleus, which suggested its role as a transcription factor. The expression of TaMYB-D1 was accompanied with the expression of TaDFR and anthocyanin biosynthesis in the development of the coleoptile of ‘Gy115’. Transient expression analysis showed that only TaMYB-D1 induced a few ‘Opata’ coleoptile cells to synthesize anthocyanin in light, and the gene also induced a colour change to red in many cells with the help of ZmR. All of these results suggested TaMYB-D1 as the candidate gene for the red coleoptile trait of ‘Gy115’

Study on the effect of biogas project on the development of lowcarbon circular economy -A case study of Beilangzhong eco-village

AbstractWith Beilangzhong eco-village as an example, the effects of the biogas project on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and its economic effects are analyzed. The results show that 1833.45t GHG (CO2 equivalent) was reduced, and an income of 1,117,000 Yuan (RMB), a net income of 958,500 Yuan (RMB), was gained by biogas sales, alternative energy, comprehensive utilization of anaerobic fermentation residues and the reduction of GHG emission, so the biogas project can greatly promote the establishment of low-carbon circular economy mode and sustainable development of ecological agriculture in Beilangzhong eco-village

Simulation of reference crop evapotransiration in a plastic solar green house using a simplified energy balance approach

Proceedings of International conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences (ABS 2015) held in Beijing, China on July 25-27, 2015With larger planting areas being used in greenhouses, evaluating crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse has garnered greater attention. Currently, calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration for a greenhouse crop through using the Penman-Monteith formula recommended by FAO is difficult because the wind speed in a greenhouse is approximate zero. In order to calculate reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse by the Penman-Monteith modified formula, a simplified model for calculating reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse was proposed based on the energy balance equation, which was the correlative function between reference crop evapotranspiration and radiation and temperature. The model's parameters were obtained through meteorological data taken from the inside of a greenhouse in 2011. Then, the model was validated by using meteorological data within the greenhouse in 2012, and the fitted value of the model agreed with the calculated value of the formulas with a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.9554. This model is an easy means of calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse because less meteorological factors are needed. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical basis for crop irrigation in greenhouses

On the apparent permeability of porous media in rarefied gas flows

The apparent gas permeability of the porous medium is an important parameter in the prediction of unconventional gas production, which was first investigated systematically by Klinkenberg in 1941 and found to increase with the reciprocal mean gas pressure (or equivalently, the Knudsen number). Although the underlying rarefaction effects are well-known, the reason that the correction factor in Klinkenberg's famous equation decreases when the Knudsen number increases has not been fully understood. Most of the studies idealize the porous medium as a bundle of straight cylindrical tubes, however, according to the gas kinetic theory, this only results in an increase of the correction factor with the Knudsen number, which clearly contradicts Klinkenberg's experimental observations. Here, by solving the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook equation in simplified (but not simple) porous media, we identify, for the first time, two key factors that can explain Klinkenberg's experimental results: the tortuous flow path and the non-unitary tangential momentum accommodation coefficient for the gas-surface interaction. Moreover, we find that Klinkenberg's results can only be observed when the ratio between the apparent and intrinsic permeabilities is $\lesssim30$; at large ratios (or Knudsen numbers) the correction factor increases with the Knudsen number. Our numerical results could also serve as benchmarking cases to assess the accuracy of macroscopic models and/or numerical schemes for the modeling/simulation of rarefied gas flows in complex geometries over a wide range of gas rarefaction. Specifically, we point out that the Navier-Stokes equations with the first-order velocity-slip boundary condition are often misused to predict the apparent gas permeability of the porous media; that is, any nonlinear dependence of the apparent gas permeability with the Knudsen number, predicted from the Navier-Stokes equations, is not reliable. Worse still, for some type of gas-surface interactions, even the ``filtered'' linear dependence of the apparent gas permeability with the Knudsen number is of no practical use since, compared to the numerical solution of the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook equation, it is only accurate when the ratio between the apparent and intrinsic permeabilities is $\lesssim1.5$

Efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation of Malus zumi (Matsumura) Rehd using leaf explant regeneration system

Malus zumi is known as an excellent dwarfing apple rootstock occurring in natural or arid/semiarid soil or salina. Gene manipulation of M. zumi through transgenic technology can modify plant feature for further improvement fruit tree production by grafting the scion on a transgenic rootstock. Here, we report the establishment of an efficient, in vitro, shoot regeneration system and Agrobacterium tumefaciens - mediated transformation from the leaf explants for Malus zumi (Matsumura) Rehd. Leaf explants were infected with Agrobacterium strains containing nptII and gus gene. The highest frequency of shoot regeneration was obtained on MS medium containing 500 mg l-1 Lactalbumin hydrolysate, 30 g l-1 fructose, supplemented with 3.0 mg l-1 BA, 0.2 mg l-1 NAA.Using fructose instead of sucrose significantly increases the shoot regeneration and decreases vitrification. This regeneration procedure was incorporated into an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation procedure in M. zumi. Kanamycin was an efficient selective agent for selection. Pre-selection (5 days after co-cultivation) improved the transformation efficiency. The emergence of expected bands by PCR analysis and Southern blot in transgenic plantlets confirmed the transformation of foreign DNA into plant genome

Molecular evidence of the haploid origin in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with Aegilops kotschyi cytoplasm and whole genome expression profiling after haploidization

Aegiolops kotschyi cytoplasmic male sterile system often results in part of haploid plants in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). To elucidate the origin of haploid, 235 wheat microsatellite (SSR) primers were randomly selected and screened for polymorphism between haploid (2n = 3x = 21 ABD) and its parents, male-sterile line YM21 (2n = 6x = 42 AABBDD) and male fertile restorer YM2 (2n = 6x = 42 AABBDD). About 200 SSR markers yielded clear bands from denatured PAGE, of which 180 markers have identifiable amplification patterns, and 20 markers (around 8%) resulted in different amplification products between the haploid and the restorer, YM2. There were no SSR markers that were found to be distinguishable between the haploid and the male sterile line YM21. In addition, different distribution of HMW-GS between endosperm and seedlings from the same seeds further confirmed that the haploid genomes were inherited from the maternal parent. After haploidization, 1.7% and 0.91% of total sites were up- and down-regulated exceeding twofold in the shoot and the root of haploid, respectively, and most of the differentially expressed loci were up/down-regulated about twofold. Out of the sensitive loci in haploid, 94 loci in the shoot, 72 loci in the root can be classified into three functional subdivisions: biological process, cellular component and molecular function, respectively

Ginkgo biloba extract for essential hypertension: A systemic review

AbstractBackgroundGinkgo biloba extract (GBE), a traditional natural herbal product, is often used in the treatment of essential hypertension (EH) as complementary therapy in China and European countries.AimTo critically assess the current clinical evidence of efficacy and safety of GBE for EH.Methods7 electronic databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, VIP, CBM, Wanfang data, and CNKI) were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of GBE for EH. Methodological quality was assessed independently using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.ResultsA total of 9 RCTs with 1012 hypertensive patients were identified and reviewed. Most RCTs were of high risk of bias with flawed study design and poor methodological quality. 6 trials demonstrated potential positive effect of GBE as complementary therapy on BP reduction when compared with antihypertensive drug therapy; however, it was not associated with a statistically significant effect on both SBP and DBP reduction in 3 other trials. Despite the positive findings, there were so many methodological limitations and significant clinical heterogeneity. Most of the trials did not report adverse effects, and the safety of GBE is still uncertain.ConclusionNo confirmative conclusions on the efficacy and safety of GBE for EH could be drawn. More rigorous trials are warranted to support their clinical use

The measurement of aerosol optical properties at a rural site in Northern China

International audienceAtmospheric aerosols constitute one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the estimation of radiative forcing for climate. From April 2003 to January 2005, in situ measurements of aerosol optical properties were conducted at a rural site in Northern China, Shangdianzi Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) regional station (SDZ), about 150 km from Beijing. Mean values (standard deviation, S.D.) of scattering and absorption coefficients for the entire period are 174.6 Mm?1 (189.1 Mm-1) and 17.5 Mm?1 (13.4 Mm-1), respectively. These values are approximately one third of the reported values for scattering coefficients and one fifth of those for absorption coefficients obtained in the Beijing urban area. The mean single scattering albedo (SSA) for the entire period was estimated as 0.88 (0.05), which is about 0.07 higher than the values reported for the Beijing urban area, and also higher than the values (0.85) used in a reported climate simulation for China and India. Both the absorption and scattering coefficients showed a seasonal cycle with the lowest values in winter, while the highest values occurred in summer for absorption coefficients and in fall for scattering coefficients. The mean SSA values were lowest in spring and highest in winter. The daily variations of aerosol absorption and scattering coefficients were strongly influenced by synoptic changes throughout the observation period. A trajectory cluster analysis was applied to discern the source characteristics of aerosol optical properties for different air masses. The cluster-mean aerosol scattering coefficients, absorption coefficients and SSA were all high when the air masses moved from SW and SE-E directions to the site and aerosols were influenced with heavy pollution from the dense population centers and industrial areas. The cluster-mean SSA for air masses coming from the polluted areas was not only higher than those with trajectories from the "clean" directions, but also higher than the reported values for the regions with high pollution emissions (such as the Beijing urban area). This fact might reflect the substantial secondary aerosol production during transport. The characteristics of aerosol optical properties measured at this rural site suggest significant impacts of human activities on the regional aerosol