A hierarchical climatic zoning method for energy efficient building design applied in the region with diverse climate characteristics

The climate-responsive strategies for energy efficient building design and management require a detailed understanding of the local climatic conditions, while climate zones are fundamental to building regulations and the application of technologies. Smaller and more homogeneous climate zones could help policy-makers and building designers to improve building energy efficiency while improving the indoor thermal environment. A new climate zoning method, with two-tier classification designed for passive building design, is proposed, using climate data (degree-days, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind speed) with Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) following the Ward’s method. The method is applied to the Hot Summer and Cold Winter (HSCW) zone of China as a showcase, where there are no fine climate zones for energy efficient building design with diverse climate characteristics. Seven sub-zones that consider both cooling and heating demands are generated in Tier 1. In the second tier, the HSCW zone is further sub-divided into three humidity groups, three solar radiation clusters, and four wind speed clusters. To assess the impact of climate zoning on building heating and cooling, EnergyPlus simulations are conducted with the output of heating and cooling load. The cooling loads decrease from sub-zone A to B to C (mean = 82.8, 65.3, 43.8 kWh m-2, respectively) with sub-zone mean heating A1 larger than A2 and A3, B1 larger than B2, and C1 larger than C2, which is in accordance with the assumption made in the first-tier division. The higher wind speeds can raise the possibility of natural ventilation, and further increase the free-running period (FRP) when heating and cooling are not needed. The proposed zones are mapped and provide a useful reference for the policy/building code makers for heating and cooling strategies in this region. The method to create the climate zones could be applied in any region with local climate data

Effectiveness of the thermal mass of external walls on residential buildings for part-time part-space heating and cooling using the state-space method

A high-resolution time interval numerical model is more accurate to analyze the building dynamic thermophysical processes in the intermittent occupancy, while relevant professional software, such as EnergyPlus, is not compatible with different time intervals. The present study aims to investigate the thermal mass effectiveness of external walls on the part-time part-space operation of heating and cooling of a typical residence. A high-resolution model of a typical 3-occupant residential apartment has been developed using the state-space method and validated by the simulation results from EnergyPlus. The model is then amended to calculate building energy demands with fixed heat and cold supply powers from the perspective of system control, in order to interpret the effectiveness of thermal mass with identical recommended U-value in the HSCW (Hot Summer and Cold Winter) zone in terms of room operative temperatures. It is found that high thermal mass does not help to reduce ideal building loads in the residential buildings in the HSCW zone, but it will improve indoor thermal comfort control in real engineering compared to low thermal mass. Regarding thermal insulation placements of heavy weight external walls under the same thermal mass, it is evidenced that the adoption of internal insulation weakens the thermal mass impact of the heavy weight wall composition compared to that of external insulation. It is inferred that the high thermal mass in the composition of external walls should be exposed to the indoor air to avoid overheating in the cooling conditions

An atlas of DNA methylomes in porcine adipose and muscle tissues

It is evident that epigenetic factors, especially DNA methylation, have essential roles in obesity development. Here, using pig as a model, we investigate the systematic association between DNA methylation and obesity. We sample eight variant adipose and two distinct skeletal muscle tissues from three pig breeds living within comparable environments but displaying distinct fat level. We generate 1,381 Gb of sequence data from 180 methylated DNA immunoprecipitation libraries, and provide a genome-wide DNA methylation map as well as a gene expression map for adipose and muscle studies. The analysis shows global similarity and difference among breeds, sexes and anatomic locations, and identifies the differentially methylated regions. The differentially methylated regions in promoters are highly associated with obesity development via expression repression of both known obesity-related genes and novel genes. This comprehensive map provides a solid basis for exploring epigenetic mechanisms of adipose deposition and muscle growth

Natural ventilation potential for residential buildings in a densely built-up and highly polluted environment. A case study

The application of Natural Ventilation (NV) as a measure to improve comfort conditions in transition and summer periods has been a topic of research on the spotlight for years. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how the combined effect of a dense urban layout with high pollutant concentrations may affect its potential. This paper addresses this gap by running detailed thermal simulations for a typical apartment flat located in the Yuzhong district of Chongqing city (China) using a holistic approach that makes use of: i) wind pressure coefficients on building facades from urban-scale CFD simulations, ii) hourly measured values of PM2.5 concentrations and weather variables and iii) indoor environment measurements for validation purposes. Scenario analysis revealed the average amount of air change rates achievable in a year varies from 8 to 15 ACH according to the windows orientation. These figures drop down to around 2 ACH when taking into account reduced windows opening time when outdoor PM2.5 concentrations are too high. The resulting natural ventilation potential of the case study decreases from 4234 h when outdoor pollution is neglected to 2707 and 529 h when considering the exposure thresholds set by the Chinese government and the WHO respectively

MicroRNAome of Porcine Pre- and Postnatal Development

The domestic pig is of enormous agricultural significance and valuable models for many human diseases. Information concerning the pig microRNAome (miRNAome) has been long overdue and elucidation of this information will permit an atlas of microRNA (miRNA) regulation functions and networks to be constructed. Here we performed a comprehensive search for porcine miRNAs on ten small RNA sequencing libraries prepared from a mixture of tissues obtained during the entire pig lifetime, from the fetal period through adulthood. The sequencing results were analyzed using mammalian miRNAs, the precursor hairpins (pre-miRNAs) and the first release of the high-coverage porcine genome assembly (Sscrofa9, April 2009) and the available expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences. Our results extend the repertoire of pig miRNAome to 867 pre-miRNAs (623 with genomic coordinates) encoding for 1,004 miRNAs, of which 777 are unique. We preformed real-time quantitative PCR (q-PCR) experiments for selected 30 miRNAs in 47 tissue-specific samples and found agreement between the sequencing and q-PCR data. This broad survey provides detailed information about multiple variants of mature sequences, precursors, chromosomal organization, development-specific expression, and conservation patterns. Our data mining produced a broad view of the pig miRNAome, consisting of miRNAs and isomiRs and a wealth of information of pig miRNA characteristics. These results are prelude to the advancement in pig biology as well the use of pigs as model organism for human biological and biomedical studies

Brithura triprocessa Men & Liu 2019, sp. nov.

<i>Brithura triprocessa</i> Men & Liu sp. nov. (Figs 1–31) <p>Diagnosis. Antenna including flagellum yellow. Prescutum brown with three brownish-yellow stripes; pleura generally brown with a white stripe from the lateral region of pronotum to the base of wing. Femora yellow with broadly black tip. Tergite nine with lateral margins straight, shallowly emarginated at hind margin, a pair of horn-shaped processes inserted from the middle region.</p> <p> Description. Adult length. Male body 18.4–22.6 mm (not including antenna, <i>n</i> = 16), wing 19.2–22.6 mm (<i>n</i> = 16), antenna 4.1–4.6 mm (<i>n</i> =16); female body 28.4–30.6 mm (not including antenna, <i>n</i> =32), wing 20.2–25.4 mm (<i>n</i> =32), antenna 4.5–4.8 mm (<i>n</i> = 32).</p> <p>Head. Head brown with rostrum brown in coloration (Figs 1–3). Nasus light brown, cone in shape, densely covered with black setae (Fig. 3). Eye black. Occiput and vertex lacking of marking, mostly dark brown, narrowly margined with yellow along the eyes (Fig. 1). Vertical tubercle cone-shaped, dark brown, black apically (Fig. 1). Antenna 13-segmented, bent backward not reaching the base of haltere; scape brown, elongated, cylindrical, expanded apically; pedicel brown, very short; flagellum entirely yellow with the first flagellomere longest, the remaining segments generally shortened and thinned, base of each flagellomere enlarged with abundant black verticils, the verticils longer than the length of corresponding flagellomere; surface of flagellomere densely covered with short white setae (Fig. 1). Palpus dark brown (Fig. 3).</p> <p>Thorax. Pronotum black medially, dark brown laterally (Fig. 3). Prescutum brown with three brownish-yellow stripes, median one divided by a brown vitta, lateral stripes subequal in length to half of median one, rounded apically (Fig. 2). Scutum with two yellow markings connected to each other, the upper one triangular, the lower one oval, the latter at least two times longer than the former. Scutellum brown with yellow median line (Fig. 2). Postnotum wholly dark brown (Fig. 2). Pleura generally brown with a white stripe from the lateral region of pronotum to the root of wing, laterotergite basally suffused with white (Fig. 3). Leg stout, coxa and trochanter brown, the latter suffused with black apically; femur yellow with broadly black tip; tibia yellow at basal one fifth, the rest region yellowish-brown; tarsi yellowish-brown. Haltere with stem yellow, knob black. Wing light brown, cells c and sc darker than ground color; stigma dark brown, extending to the bases of cells r4, r5 and discal cell; a black spot at the origin of Rs; discal cell transparent, relatively short; wing tip suffused with slightly smoky gray on cells r3 and r4, with five light spots along the outer margin of wing (Fig. 4). Venation: petiole of cell m1 slightly shorter than discal cell, distinctly shorter than the length of cell m1 (Fig. 4).</p> <p>Abdomen. Abdominal tergites brown with lateral margin black, the hind margin suffused with white, extending to the hind corner (Fig. 5). Sternite generally brown with second to fifth segments narrowly suffused with black on lateral margin (Fig. 5). Hypopygoum with tergite nine and sternite nine separated to each other, only fused at base (Figs 6, 9). Tergite nine with lateral margins straight, shallowly emarginated at hind margin, a pair of horn-shaped processes generated from the middle region, which divided by a narrow groove on dorsal surface, a pair of ear-shaped lobes extended from the ventral side (Figs 10–11). Gonocoxite stout, broad basally and shallowly concaved at apex, densely covered with long setae, with two horn-shaped processes black and pointed inward (Figs 9, 12). Sternite nine broad, equipped with a stout process at base, above which with paired finger-shaped processes which directed ventrally (Figs 9, 12). Outer gonostylus complicated, terminated into an obtuse lobe (o ol) and a sharp process (shp) on outer side, between them with a narrow light region, with another obtuse process (i ol) on inner side which connected to the sharp process (Figs 13–18). Inner gonostylus broad basally, squarely turned into a complicated and narrowed apex, a black finger-shaped process generated in the middle region, many long setae covered on dorsal corner (Figs 19–20). Adminiculum cylindrical, broad basally and narrowed to apex, deeply concaved apically (Figs 12, 23).</p> <p>Semen pump. Semen pump with compressor apodeme fan-shaped (Fig. 21). Posterior immovable apodeme being triangular lobe, its dorsal angle sharply acute (Figs 22–23). Anterior immovable apodeme flattened and elongated, roundly expanded in dorsal view (Figs 22–23). Semen pump with a pair of wrinkled lobes which extended posteriorly forming a sheath (Figs 21–22). Aedeagus very short, tubular, narrowed basally, gradually broadened to the distal two third, and then narrowed to end again (Figs 22–23). Compressor apodeme and anterior immovable apodeme both directed ventrally (Fig. 23).</p> <p>Genital bridge. W-shaped basally. Terminated into two narrowed lobes, the dorsal one longer than the ventral one (Fig. 24).</p> <p>Ovipositor. Elongated. Tergite nine very short, dark brown (Figs 25–26). Sternite nine broad basally, narrowed to the median region, and then gradually broadened forming a fusiform part, finally terminated into an acute apex in dorsal view (Figs 7–8, 27–28). Tergite ten yellow. Sternite eight brown, longer than tergite ten (Figs 25–26). Cercus elongated, acinacifoliate, obtuse apically (Fig. 25). Hypogynial valve broad at base, narrowed to apex, distinctly shorter than cercus (Figs 7–8, 25–26). Vaginal apodeme broad basally, narrowed to apex (Fig. 29).</p> <p>Male internal reproductive system. Consisting of a pair of accessory glands generating from the distal end of seminal vesicle which extended posteriorly into ejaculatory duct, a pair of vasa deferentia linking to paired testes anteriorly and converged into a common vas deferens which receiving to seminal vesicle posteriorly (Fig. 30). Ejaculatory duct relatively elongated, longer than the common vas deferens, flexible and spiral (Fig. 30). Seminal vesicle ball-shaped, leading to the proximal end of common vas deferens, running posterior to the apex of ejaculatory duct (Fig. 30). Accessory glands being a pair of elongated tubes, simple and sinuous, arising from base of seminal vesicle, very elongated (Fig. 30). Vas deferens short and stout, slightly shorter than common vas deferens, very smooth (Fig. 30). Testis, an elliptical structure (Fig. 30).</p> <p>Female internal reproductive system. Consisting of a pair of accessory glands connected to bursa copulatrix by a short stem respectively, three spermathecae with responding spermatheca duct (Fig. 31). Bursa copulatrix relatively short and tough, generated from the ventral side of sternite nine, with a strongly sclerotized region near the copulatory opening (Fig. 31). Accessory gland arising from the base of bursa copulatrix, narrowed basally and terminated into an oval and swollen ball, densely covered with small dots (Fig. 31). Spermatheca three, spherical and black, bigger than the expanded end of accessary gland (Fig. 31). Spermathecal duct slender, half the thickness of bursa copulatrix, flexible, arising from the middle of bursa copulatrix and leading to the spermatheca by black internal tube which broadened and strongly sclerotized; the connection points of three spermathecal ducts with bursa copulatrix not at same level (Fig. 28).</p> <p>Material examined. Holotype male, China, Anhui Province, Yuexi, Yaoluoping National Nature Reserve, 12 August 2013, leg. Qiulei Men. Paratypes. 4 females, same data as holotype; 9 males, 8 females, 22 August 2016, others same data as holotype; 6 males, 20 females, 12 August 2018, leg. Qiulei Men, Lei Yang, Weiguang Liu, others same data as holotype. All deposited in ANU.</p> <p>Distribution. China (Anhui).</p> <p> Remarks. The new species is most similar to another Chinese species <i>B. stigmosa</i> Liu & Yang, 2010 in body color, vein pattern and shape of outer gonostylus. It can be separated from the latter by the 9th tergite with two horn-shaped processes (absent in the latter), by the inner gonostylus terminating into a narrowed apex (not changing to a narrowed end in the latter).</p> <p> Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun ‘ <i>processa</i> ’ with Latin prefix ‘ <i>tri</i> ’, referring to the outer gonostylus having three processes.</p> <p> <b>Funding</b> This study is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501058, 31300551), the Anhui Outstanding Young Talent Support Program (gxfx2017059) and the Foundation of the Education Department of Anhui Province (KJ2017A360).</p> <p> <b>Acknowledgements</b> We thank to Dr. Pjotr Oosterbroek, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for his valuable web site, the <i>Catalogue of the Craneflies of the World</i> (http://ccw.naturalis.nl/index.php), which provides much valuable information about distribution and taxonomy.</p>Published as part of <i>Men, Qiulei, Zhang, Zhongxin, Liu, Qifei, Yang, Lei & Liu, Weiguang, 2019, A new species of genus Brithura Edwards from China, with notes on its internal reproductive system (Diptera: Tipulidae), pp. 158-166 in Zoological Systematics 44 (2)</i> on pages 159-165, DOI: 10.11865/zs.201911, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5360762">http://zenodo.org/record/5360762</a&gt

Pathogenic Factors and Mechanisms of the Alternaria Leaf Spot Pathogen in Apple

Alternaria leaf spot seriously threatens the sustainable development of the global apple industry, causing significant losses and reducing fruit quality and yield. The causal agent Alternaria alternata f. sp. mali (Alternaria mali, ALT) produces various molecules to modulate infection, such as cell wall-degrading enzymes, toxins, and elicitor-like molecules. ALT produces the host-specific AM-toxin, an important pathogenicity factor. ALT also releases effectors into apple cells that modify host defense, but these proteins have not yet been described. Here, we identified the pathogenic fungal types responsible for early defoliation from diseased leaves of Fuji (Malus domestica cv. ‘Fuji’) apple collected from five districts in Shandong Province, China. The ALT isolates ALT2 to ALT7 were pathogenic to four apple cultivars, with ALT7 being the most aggressive. We extracted mycotoxins (AM-toxin-2 to AM-toxin-7) from each isolate and used them to treat different apple varieties, which led to leaf-spot symptoms and damaged chloroplasts and nuclear membranes, followed by cell death. AM-toxin-7 produced the most severe symptoms, but chloroplasts remained intact when the mycotoxin was inactivated. Mass spectrometry identified 134 secretory proteins in ALT7 exosomes, and three secreted proteins (AltABC, AltAO, and AltPDE) were confirmed to be involved in apple pathogenesis. Therefore, ALT secretes AM-toxin and secretory proteins as an infection strategy to promote fungal invasion and overcome the host defense system