ALBERT

Description: Although transposon-mediated enhancer trapping (ET) is successfully applied in diverse models, the efficiency of various transposon systems varies significantly, and little information is available regarding efficiency of enhancer trapping by various transposons in zebrafish. Most potential enhancers (Ens) still lack evidence of actual En activity. Here, we compared the differences in ET efficiency between sleeping beauty (SB), piggyBac (PB) and Tol2 transposons. Tol2 represented the highest germline transfer efficiencies at 55.56% (NF0 = 165), followed by SB (38.36%, NF0 = 151) and PB (32.65%, NF0 = 149). ET lines generated by the Tol2 transposon tended to produce offspring with a single expression pattern per line, while PB and SB tended to generate embryos with multiple expression patterns. In our tests, 10 putative Ens (En1–10) were identified by splinkerette PCR and comparative genomic analysis. Combining the GFP expression profiles and mRNA expression patterns revealed that En1 and En2 may be involved in regulation of the expression of dlx1a and dlx2a, while En6 may be involved in regulation of the expression of line TK4 transgene and rps26, and En7 may be involved in the regulation of the expression of wnt1 and wnt10b. Most identified Ens were found to be transcribed in zebrafish embryos, and their regulatory function may involve eRNAs.

Description: In order to support the development of renewable energy, countries around the world have adopted certain renewable energy incentive mechanisms, including feed-in tariff (FIT) and renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Based on the official report concerning renewable energy consumption issued by the Chinese government in 2018, FIT is no longer an ideal renewable incentive mechanism for China. The increasing financial burden of renewable subsidies on the government has prompted a transition from FIT to a more market-based RPS mechanism. However, the abrupt transformation from FIT to RPS without any transitions might potentially cause problems, including a lack of incentives for market participants and a high market risk. Feed-in premium (FIP), which is a transformation based on FIT, can increase the flexibility of the mechanism and play an important role in the transitional period. However, to date, there has only been limited research work that has explored the effect of implementing FIP-RPS in the development of renewable energy in China. It is still not clear how this transition could be carried out smoothly. Therefore, this research was aimed to devise a joint FIP-RPS mechanism and further develop the optimal combination ratio of the two, so as to obtain a socially optimal mechanism design. The simulation results showed that, at different stages of renewable energy development, FIP and RPS should be implemented according to their distinct characteristics, and the joint FIP-RPS mechanism should be combined with different ratios. It could be indicated that the proposed joint FIP-RPS mechanism not only excels at promoting renewable energy, but is also capable of maintaining desirable market prices and social welfare in this transitional period, as compared to FIP and RPS implemented alone. In the future, a certain degree of FIP-RPS implementations to this type of energy transition would be one of the preferred methods that could be implemented to have a considerable influence on China’s national energy plan. This is because the combination of the two mechanisms not only reduces the financial burden of the government, but also plays an active role in the renewable energy market.

Description: Visualization is one of the main features of Building Information Modeling (BIM). It has many advantages throughout the lifecycle of a construction project, and it has become a timely research topic in recent years. However, no attempt has been made to give a holistic understanding of the existing BIM-based visualization research status. Thus, this study aims to conduct a scientometric analysis of the existing BIM-based visualization literature and to gain a snapshot of the research status during the period 2010–2019. A total of 255 articles were abstracted from the Scopus database. Then, the VOSviewer program was employed to visualize the research status from the perspectives of scholars, countries/regions, journals, articles, and co-occurring keywords. Results revealed that Wang X. published the greatest number of articles, while Cheng J.C.P. received the greatest average normalized citations. Furthermore, Automation in Construction was identified as the most influential journal and the article “Building information modeling (BIM): trends, benefits, risks, and challenges for the AEC industry” was the most cited paper. Through the keywords co-occurrence analysis, “virtual reality” and “visual programming language” were identified as the emerging themes in this field. The research findings can provide both researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of the status quo and trends of the BIM-based visualization research.

Description: The black-winged subterranean termite, Odontotermes formosanus Shiraki, is a severe pest of plantations and forests in China. This termite cultures symbiotic Termitomyces in the fungal combs, which are challenged by antagonistic microbes such as Trichoderma fungi. In a previous study we showed that O. formosanus workers made significantly fewer tunnels in sand containing commercially formulated conidia of Trichoderma viride Pers. ex Fries compared with untreated sand. Herein, we hypothesize that fungi in the genus Trichoderma exert repellent effects on O. formosanus. Different choice tests were conducted to evaluate the tunneling and aggregation behaviors of O. formosanus workers reacting to sand/soil containing the unformulated conidia of seven Trichoderma fungi (Trichoderma longibrachiatum Rifai, Trichoderma koningii Oud., Trichoderma harzianum Rifai, Trichoderma hamatum (Bon.) Bain, Trichoderma atroviride Karsten, Trichoderma spirale Indira and Kamala, and T. viride). We also investigated the colony-initiation preference of paired O. formosanus adults to soil treated with Trichoderma conidia (T. koningii or T. longibrachiatum) versus untreated soil. Tunneling-choice tests showed that sand containing conidia of nearly all Trichoderma fungi tested (except T. harzianum) significantly decreased tunneling activity in O. formosanus workers compared with untreated sand. Aggregation-choice test showed that T. koningii, T. atroviride and T. spirale repelled O. formosanus workers, whereas T. longibrachiatum and T. hamatum attracted termites. There was no significant difference in proportions of paired adults that stayed and laid eggs in the soil blocks treated with conidia of Trichoderma fungi and untreated ones. Our study showed that Trichoderma fungi generally repelled tunneling in O. formosanus, but may exert varied effects on aggregation preference by workers.