An optimum medium designed and verified for alcohol vinegar fermentation

In this article, a novel formula of nutrient salt for alcohol vinegar production was derived based on mass conservation theory of carbon source, nitrogen source and inorganic ions. Series of semicontinuous fermentations were successfully carried out in a Frings 10 L fermentation tank. The average acetification rate of semi-continuous fermentation was 2 g acetic acid/L*h within about 12 h, average stoichiometric yield was 94%, and then fed-batch trial for high concentration vinegar fermentation was successfully conducted. Both of these confirmed that this method applied was cost-effective. If this method is adopted in industry scale, vinegar manufacturers will reduce production cost significantly.Key words: Formula, alcohol vinegar, fermentation nutrient

Variation of structural vibration characteristics versus non-uniform temperature distribution

Author name used in this manuscript: You-Lin Xu2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Controlled Growth of Carbon Spheres Through the Mg-Reduction Route

Hollow spheres, hollow capsules and solid spheres of carbon were selectively synthesized by Mg-reduction of hexachlorobutadiene at appropriate reaction conditions. X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectra reveal that the as-prepared materials have a well-ordered structure. A possible formation mechanism has been proposed

Unique, Gender-Dependent Serum microRNA Profile inPLS3 Gene-Related Osteoporosis

Plastin 3 (PLS3), encoded byPLS3, is a newly recognized regulator of bone metabolism, and mutations in the encoding gene result in severe childhood-onset osteoporosis. Because it is an X chromosomal gene,PLS3mutation-positive males are typically more severely affected whereas females portray normal to increased skeletal fragility. Despite the severe skeletal pathology, conventional metabolic bone markers tend to be normal and are thus insufficient for diagnosing or monitoring patients. Our study aimed to explore serum microRNA (miRNA) concentrations in subjects with defective PLS3 function to identify novel markers that could differentiate subjects according to mutation status and give insight into the molecular mechanisms by which PLS3 regulates skeletal health. We analyzed fasting serum samples for a custom-designed panel comprising 192 miRNAs in 15 mutation-positive (five males, age range 8-76 years, median 41 years) and 14 mutation-negative (six males, age range 8-69 years, median 40 years) subjects from four Finnish families with differentPLS3mutations. We identified a unique miRNA expression profile in the mutation-positive subjects with seven significantly upregulated or downregulated miRNAs (miR-93-3p, miR-532-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-301b-3p, miR-181c-5p, miR-203a-3p, and miR-590-3p;pvalues, range .004-.044). Surprisingly, gender subgroup analysis revealed the difference to be even more distinct in female mutation-positive subjects (congruentpvalues, range .007-.086) than in males (pvalues, range .127-.843) in comparison to corresponding mutation-negative subjects. Although the seven identified miRNAs have all been linked to bone metabolism and two of them (miR-181c-5p and miR-203a-3p) have bioinformatically predicted targets in thePLS33 ' untranslated region (3 '-UTR), none have previously been reported to associate with PLS3. Our results indicate thatPLS3mutations are reflected in altered serum miRNA levels and suggest there is crosstalk between PLS3 and these miRNAs in bone metabolism. These provide new understanding of the pathomechanisms by which mutations inPLS3lead to skeletal disease and may provide novel avenues for exploring miRNAs as biomarkers in PLS3 osteoporosis or as target molecules in future therapeutic applications. (c) 2020 The Authors.Journal of Bone and Mineral Researchpublished by American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Peer reviewe

Effects of Thioglycolic Acid on Parthenogenetic Activation of Xenopus Oocytes

BACKGROUND: Existing in Permanent-wave solutions (PWS), thioglycolic acid (TGA) is widely used in hairdressing industry for its contribution to hair styling. However, the toxicity of TGA, especially its reproductive toxicity, gradually calls the attention of more and more researchers. METHOD: In this work, xenopus oocytes were pretreated with different concentration of TGA, and then activated by calcium ionophore A23187. During culture, the oocytes activation rates were taken note at different time after adding calcium ionophore A23187. At the end of the culture period, the nuclear status was detected under confocal microscope. In addition, some other samples were collected for Western-Blotting analysis. RESULT: TGA significantly inhibited the oocytes activation rate and pronuclear formation. It may be resulted from the inhibition of the degradation of p-ERK1, Mos and CyclinB2. CONCLUSION: TGA inhibits in vitro parthenogenetic activation of xenopus oocytes with inhibited the degradation of proteins involved in mitogenic-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and maturation-promoting factor (MPF) pathways

Morphology control and optical properties of SiGe nanostructures grown on glass substrate

With the rapid progress of nanotechnology, nanostructures with different morphologies have been realized, which may be very promising to enhance the performance of semiconductor devices. In this study, SiGe nanostructures with several kinds of configurations have been synthesized through a chemical vapor deposition process. By controlling growth conditions, different SiGe nanostructures can be easily tuned. Structures and compositions of the nanostructures were determined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The optical properties of various SiGe nanostructures revealed some dependence with their morphologies, which may be suitable for solar cell applications. The control of the SiGe morphology on nanoscale provides a convenient route to produce diverse SiGe nanostructures and creates new opportunities to realize the integration of future devices

Converting Layered Zinc Acetate Nanobelts to One-dimensional Structured ZnO Nanoparticle Aggregates and their Photocatalytic Activity

We were successful in synthesizing periodic layered zinc acetate nanobelts through a hydrothermal solution process. One-dimensional structured ZnO nanoparticle aggregate was obtained by simple thermal annealing of the above-mentioned layered ZnO acetate nanobelts at 300 °C. The morphology, microstructure, and composition of the synthesized ZnO and its precursors were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Low angle X-ray diffraction spectra reveal that as-synthesized zinc acetate has a layered structure with two interlayer d-spacings (one is 1.32 nm and the other is 1.91 nm). SEM and TEM indicate that nanobelt precursors were 100–200 nm in width and possesses length up to 30 μm. Calcination of precursor in air results in the formation of one-dimensional structured ZnO nanoparticle aggregates. In addition, the as-prepared ZnO nanoparticle aggregates exhibit high photocatalytic activity for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO)

Hydrothermal Synthesis, Microstructure and Photoluminescence of Eu3+-Doped Mixed Rare Earth Nano-Orthophosphates

Eu3+-doped mixed rare earth orthophosphates (rare earth = La, Y, Gd) have been prepared by hydrothermal technology, whose crystal phase and microstructure both vary with the molar ratio of the mixed rare earth ions. For LaxY1–xPO4: Eu3+, the ion radius distinction between the La3+ and Y3+ is so large that only La0.9Y0.1PO4: Eu3+ shows the pure monoclinic phase. For LaxGd1–xPO4: Eu3+ system, with the increase in the La content, the crystal phase structure of the product changes from the hexagonal phase to the monoclinic phase and the microstructure of them changes from the nanorods to nanowires. Similarly, YxGd1–xPO4: Eu3+, Y0.1Gd0.9PO4: Eu3+ and Y0.5Gd0.5PO4: Eu3+ samples present the pure hexagonal phase and nanorods microstructure, while Y0.9Gd0.1PO4: Eu3+ exhibits the tetragonal phase and nanocubic micromorphology. The photoluminescence behaviors of Eu3+ in these hosts are strongly related to the nature of the host (composition, crystal phase and microstructure)

Hydrothermally Grown ZnO Micro/Nanotube Arrays and Their Properties

We reported the optical and wettability properties of aligned zinc oxide micro/nanotube arrays, which were synthesized on zinc foil via a simple hydrothermal method. As-synthesized ZnO micro/nanotubes have uniform growth directions along the [0001] orientations with diameters in the range of 100–700 nm. These micro/nanotubes showed a strong emission peak at 387 nm and two weak emission peaks at 422 and 485 nm, respectively, and have the hydrophobic properties with a contact angle of 121°. Single ZnO micro/nanotube-based field-effect transistor was also fabricated, which shows typical n-type semiconducting behavior