A new method to assess spatial variations of outdoor thermal comfort: Onsite monitoring results and implications for precinct planning

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Large-scale Synthesis of β-SiC Nanochains and Their Raman/Photoluminescence Properties

Although the SiC/SiO2 nanochain heterojunction has been synthesized, the chained homogeneous nanostructure of SiC has not been reported before. Herein, the novel β-SiC nanochains are synthesized assisted by the AAO template. The characterized results demonstrate that the nanostructures are constructed by spheres of 25–30 nm and conjoint wires of 15–20 nm in diameters. Raman and photoluminescence measurements are used to explore the unique optical properties. A speed-alternating vapor–solid (SA-VS) growth mechanism is proposed to interpret the formation of this typical nanochains. The achieved nanochains enrich the species of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures and may hold great potential applications in nanotechnology

On the early and developed stages of surface condensation: competition mechanism between interfacial and condensate bulk thermal resistances

Financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51406205), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (3142021) and the Engineering and Physics Science Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK (EP/L001233/1) are acknowledged.Financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51406205), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (3142021) and the Engineering and Physics Science Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK (EP/L001233/1) are acknowledged.Financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51406205), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (3142021) and the Engineering and Physics Science Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK (EP/L001233/1) are acknowledged.We use molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the early and developed stages of surface condensation. We find that the liquid-vapor and solid-liquid interfacial thermal resistances depend on the properties of solid and fluid, which are time-independent, while the condensate bulk thermal resistance depends on the condensate thickness, which is time-dependent. There exists intrinsic competition between the interfacial and condensate bulk thermal resistances in timeline and the resultant total thermal resistance determines the condensation intensity for a given vapor-solid temperature difference. We reveal the competition mechanism that the interfacial thermal resistance dominates at the onset of condensation and holds afterwards while the condensate bulk thermal resistance gradually takes over with condensate thickness growing. The weaker the solid-liquid bonding, the later the takeover occurs. This competition mechanism suggests that only when the condensate bulk thermal resistance is reduced after it takes over the domination can the condensation be effectively intensified. We propose a unified theoretical model for the thermal resistance analysis by making dropwise condensation equivalent to filmwise condensation. We further find that near a critical point (contact angle being ca. 153°) the bulk thermal resistance has the least opportunity to take over the domination while away from it the probability increases.Financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51406205), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (3142021) and the Engineering and Physics Science Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK (EP/L001233/1) are acknowledged

Integrated Expression Profiling and ChIP-seq Analyses of the Growth Inhibition Response Program of the Androgen Receptor

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) plays important roles in the development of male phenotype and in different human diseases including prostate cancers. The AR can act either as a promoter or a tumor suppressor depending on cell types. The AR proliferative response program has been well studied, but its prohibitive response program has not yet been thoroughly studied. Methodology/Principal Findings: Previous studies found that PC3 cells expressing the wild-type AR inhibit growth and suppress invasion. We applied expression profiling to identify the response program of PC3 cells expressing the AR (PC3-AR) under different growth conditions (i.e. with or without androgens and at different concentration of androgens) and then applied the newly developed ChIP-seq technology to identify the AR binding regions in the PC3 cancer genome. A surprising finding was that the comparison of MOCK-transfected PC3 cells with AR-transfected cells identified 3,452 differentially expressed genes (two fold cutoff) even without the addition of androgens (i.e. in ethanol control), suggesting that a ligand independent activation or extremely low-level androgen activation of the AR. ChIP-Seq analysis revealed 6,629 AR binding regions in the cancer genome of PC3 cells with an FDR (false discovery rate) cut off of 0.05. About 22.4 % (638 o

Partial oxidation of methane to syngas over Rh/SiO2 catalyst

Partial oxidation of methane (POM) over Rh/SiO2 Catalyst was investigated by using several techniques, such as TPD, TPR, TPSR and trapping agent, combined with MS. At the beginning of POM reaction, only gaseous CO2 can be detected over the catalyst. With the increase in space velocity, the conversion of CH4 and the selectivity for CO and H-2 increase, while the selectivity for CO2 decreases. During the pulse reaction with CH4 as reactant, over the catalyst prereduced at 700 degreesC, CO and H-2 can be detected as main products with trace C2H6 and C2H4. When the catalyst is exposed to CH4-He, there are two kinds of carbonaceous species formed, and they are designated CHalpha and CHbeta, as identified by their hydrogenation temperature of 210 similar to 260 degreesC and 450 similar to 800 degreesC, respectively. The CHalpha is assigned to H-rich form and the CHbeta is assigned to H-deficient form. When the catalyst is exposed to CH4-O-2-He, the carbonaceous species are mainly CHalpha with trace CHbeta. The two kinds of carbonaceous species may play different roles in POM reaction. The CHbeta accumulated during CH4 activation is the possible cause for catalyst deactivation, and the CHalpha may be responsible for CO formation. The CHx may be the intermediate of POM reaction. In the trapping reaction, a series of ions with M-r/z = 2 similar to 46 have been detected at 300 similar to 600 degreesC. The CHxO (x = 1 similar to 3) may be the O-containing intermediate of POM reaction. Based on the above results, the POM mechanism has been proposed. Over the reduced catalyst, CH4 is firstly dissociated, forming the surface species CHx. By reacting with the active species OH-, the CHalpha is oxidized to O-containing intermediate, CHxO, which can be dehydrogenated to give the adsorbed and gaseous CO

Constitutive phosphorylation of the FOXO1 transcription factor in gastric cancer cells correlates with microvessel area and the expressions of angiogenesis-related molecules

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although FOXO transcription factors may have an anti-angiogenic role, little is known about their role in tumor angiogenesis. The present study was performed to investigate the correlation between the constitutive expression of phosphorylated FOXO1 (pFOXO1) and angiogenesis in gastric cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue array slides containing 272 gastric carcinoma specimens, and the correlations between the cytoplasmic pFOXO1 expression in gastric cancer cells and CD34-immunopositive microvessel area (MVA) or the expressions of angiogenesis-related molecules were analyzed. <it>In vitro </it>analyses with Western blotting and semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were performed using the stable SNU-638 gastric cancer cell line transfected with lentivirus-delivered FOXO1 short hairpin RNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cytoplasmic expression of pFOXO1 in tumor cells was observed in 85% of gastric carcinoma cases, and was found to be positively associated with higher MVA (<it>P </it>= 0.048). Moreover, pFOXO1 expression was positively correlated with the expressions of several angiogenesis-related proteins, including hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α, <it>P </it>= 0.003), vessel endothelial growth factor (<it>P </it>= 0.004), phosphorylated protein kinase B (<it>P </it>< 0.001), and nuclear factor-κB (<it>P </it>= 0.040). In contrast, the expression of pFOXO1 was not correlated with that of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 or β-catenin. In addition, cell culture experiments showed that FOXO1 suppression increased the mRNA and protein expressions of HIF-1α.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that pFOXO1 expression in cancer cells plays a role in gastric cancer angiogenesis via mechanisms involving various angiogenesis-related molecules. Animal experiments are needed to confirm the anti-angiogenic role of FOXO1 in human gastric cancer.</p

Pyrosequencing of the Camptotheca acuminata transcriptome reveals putative genes involved in camptothecin biosynthesis and transport

Background: Camptotheca acuminata is a Nyssaceae plant, often called the "happy tree", which is indigenous in Southern China. C. acuminata produces the terpenoid indole alkaloid, camptothecin (CPT), which exhibits clinical effects in various cancer treatments. Despite its importance, little is known about the transcriptome of C. acuminata and the mechanism of CPT biosynthesis, as only few nucleotide sequences are included in the GenBank database.Results: From a constructed cDNA library of young C. acuminata leaves, a total of 30,358 unigenes, with an average length of 403 bp, were obtained after assembly of 74,858 high quality reads using GS De Novo assembler software. Through functional annotation, a total of 21,213 unigenes were annotated at least once against the NCBI nucleotide (Nt), non-redundant protein (Nr), Uniprot/SwissProt, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Arabidopsis thaliana proteome (TAIR) databases. Further analysis identified 521 ESTs representing 20 enzyme genes that are involved in the backbone of the CPT biosynthetic pathway in the library. Three putative genes in the upstream pathway, including genes for geraniol-10-hydroxylase (CaPG10H), secologanin synthase (CaPSCS), and strictosidine synthase (CaPSTR) were cloned and analyzed. The expression level of the three genes was also detected using qRT-PCR in C. acuminata. With respect to the branch pathway of CPT synthesis, six cytochrome P450s transcripts were selected as candidate transcripts by detection of transcript expression in different tissues using qRT-PCR. In addition, one glucosidase gene was identified that might participate in CPT biosynthesis. For CPT transport, three of 21 transcripts for multidrug resistance protein (MDR) transporters were also screened from the dataset by their annotation result and gene expression analysis.Conclusion: This study produced a large amount of transcriptome data from C. acuminata by 454 pyrosequencing. According to EST annotation, catalytic features prediction, and expression analysis, novel putative transcripts involved in CPT biosynthesis and transport were discovered in C. acuminata. This study will facilitate further identification of key enzymes and transporter genes in C. acuminata

Effect of surface oxygen concentration on activation of methane over supported metal catalysts

Activation of methane over supported metal catalysts was investigated using MS-pulse technique on-line. Oxygen-free CH4 pulsing reactions were carried out over both Rh/SiO2 and Ru/SiO2 at 700 degreesC. Large amounts of CO and CO2 were observed at the first pulse of CH4 over oxidized Rh(O)/SiO2 catalyst. However, no CO2 formation was observed at the second pulse and thereafter. Similar to the response of Rh(O) /SiO2 catalyst, the intensity of CO and CO2 was strong at the first pulse over reduced Rh/SiO2 catalyst, and CO2 appeared also only at the first pulse over Rh/SiO2 catalyst. No CO2 was detected at the second pulse and thereafter. CH4 pulsing over Ru(O)/SiO2 catalyst also produced CO and CO2. CO and CO2 were detected from the first pulse I and their intensity was much stronger than that of CO and CO2 produced over Rh/SiO2 catalyst. However, unlike Rh/SiO2 catalyst, CO2 was formed at every pulse over Ru(O)/SiO2 catalyst. Pulsing CH4 over Ru/SiO2 catalyst also produced both CO and CO2 at every pulse. This difference between Rh and Ru catalysts may be due to the difference in the bond strength of Ru-O (528.4 kJ/mol) and Rh-O (405.1 kJ/mol) and in their relative oxygen affinities, Ru-0 can be more easily oxidized by O-2 than Rh-0 owing to the greater oxygen affinity of Ru. Surface oxygen should play an important role in the activation of methane and the product distribution