ALBERT

Description: Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is known to be an important rate-limiting enzyme in the production of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). However, the role of this enzyme in goose follicular development is poorly understood. To investigate the metabolic mechanism of SCD during goose follicular development, we observed its expression patterns in vivo and in vitro using quantitative reverse-transcription (qRT)-PCR. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to determine a cellular model of SCD function in granulosa cells (GCs) via SCD overexpression and knockdown. qRT-PCR analysis showed that SCD was abundantly expressed in the GC layer, and was upregulated in preovulatory follicles. Peak expression was found in F1 and prehierarchal follicles with diameters of 4–6 mm and 8–10 mm, respectively. We further found that mRNA expression and corresponding enzyme activity occur in a time-dependent oscillation pattern in vitro, beginning on the first day of GC culture. By LC-MS/MS, we identified numerous changes in metabolite activation and developed an overview of multiple metabolic pathways, 10 of which were associated with lipid metabolism and enriched in both the overexpressed and knockdown groups. Finally, we confirmed cholesterol and pantothenol or pantothenate as potential metabolite biomarkers to study SCD-related lipid metabolism in goose GCs.

Description: Basalt glass belongs to the iron-rich aluminosilicate glass system; thus, the iron content and the iron redox index (IRI=Fe2+/Fetotal) influence the viscosity, density, mechanical and chemical properties of basalt fiber (BF). In this work, continuous BFs with IRIs ranging from 0.21–0.87 were prepared by adding a different amount of redox agents. An economical and easily accessible testing method—the spectral photometric method with 1,10-phenanthroline—is applied to measure the IRI with convinced accuracy, which has been approved by Mössbauer spectra and X-ray fluorescence analysis. The tensile strength of the BF samples increases approximately linearly with increasing IRI as a function of σ = 227.9 IRI + 780.0 . The FT-IR results indicate that, with increasing IRI, the ferric ions are replaced by the much stronger network formers (Al3+ and Si4+), hence the increased the tensile strength. The X-ray diffraction results show an amorphous nature of BF samples. Moreover, the tensile strength is significantly decreased after the alkali corrosion, which is partly attributed to the severe surface damaging according to the SEM results. This work proved the feasibility of mechanical property improvement in BF production by controlling the iron redox index.

Description: In order to further improve the linear datum based geometric measurement accuracy and expand the measurement range, a 6-DoF motion system is developed for realizing a linear datum in the form of motion trajectory of the contact point (CP) of an absolute displacement measurement probe. This linear datum is established based on the concept of coordinate measurement and it does not contain straightness error in theory. The 6-DoF motion system consists of a 6-DoF fine stage and a 1-DoF coarse stage. The probe is moved by the 6-DoF fine stage which is magnetically noncontact supported and parallelly noncontact actuated. A CP-centred 6-DoF metrology model and a CP-centred 6-DoF motion model are established for elimination of Abbe error and on-line compensation of motion error of CP, respectively. 1-DoF coarse stage is controlled with relative position between two stages to extend the limited motion range of 6-DoF fine stage along the linear datum. Effectiveness of the metrology and motion models is verified through experiment. Straightness error of a 91.5 mm long line of an optical flat is measured by the proposed system and a commercial Fizeau interferometer. Comparison shows a consistency with standard deviation of 11 nm. Another experiment indicates that the proposed system could be used to realize a linear datum within a range of 220 mm with a repeatability of standard deviation of 7 nm.

Description: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b01708

Description: [1]  To improve the microphysical parameterizations for simulations of the aerosol effects in regional and global climate models, the Morrison double-moment bulk microphysical scheme presently implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is modified by replacing the prescribed aerosols in the original bulk scheme (Bulk-OR) with a prognostic double-moment aerosol representation to predict both aerosol number concentration and mass mixing ratio (Bulk-2 M). Sensitivity modeling experiments are performed for two distinct cloud regimes, maritime warm stratocumulus clouds (Sc) over southeast Pacific Ocean from the VOCALS project and continental deep convective clouds (DCC) in the southeast of China. The results from Bulk-OR and Bulk-2 M are compared against atmospheric observations and simulations produced by a spectral bin microphysical scheme (SBM). The prescribed aerosol approach (Bulk-OR) produces unreliable aerosol and cloud properties throughout the simulation period, when compared to the results from those using Bulk-2 M and SBM, although all of the model simulations are initiated by the same initial aerosol concentration on the basis of the field observations. The impacts of the parameterizations of diffusional growth and autoconversion of cloud droplets and the selection of the embryonic raindrop radius on the performance of the bulk microphysical scheme are also evaluated by comparing the results from the modified Bulk-2 M with those from SBM simulations. Sensitivity experiments using four different types of autoconversion schemes reveal that the autoconversion parameterization is crucial in determining the raindrop number, mass concentration, and drizzle formation for warm stratocumulus clouds. An embryonic raindrop size of 40 µm is determined as a more realistic setting in the autoconversion parameterization. The saturation adjustment employed in calculating condensation/evaporation in the bulk scheme is identified as the main factor responsible for the large discrepancies in predicting cloud water in the Sc case, suggesting that an explicit calculation of diffusion growth with predicted supersaturation is necessary to improve the bulk microphysics scheme. Lastly, a larger rain evaporation rate below clouds is found in the bulk scheme in comparison to the SBM simulation, which may contribute to a lower surface precipitation in the bulk scheme.

Description: To date, research on poultry egg production performance has only been conducted within inter or intra-breed groups, while those combining both inter- and intra-breed groups are lacking. Egg production performance is known to differ markedly between Sichuan white goose (Anser cygnoides) and Landes goose (Anser anser). In order to understand the mechanism of egg production performance in geese, we undertook this study. Here, 18 ovarian stromal samples from both Sichuan white goose and Landes goose at the age of 145 days (3 individuals before egg production initiation for each breed) and 730 days (3 high- and low egg production individuals during non-laying periods for each breed) were collected to reveal the genome-wide expression profiles of ovarian mRNAs and lncRNAs between these two geese breeds at different physiological stages. Briefly, 58, 347, 797, 777, and 881 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 56, 24, 154, 105, and 224 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DElncRNAs) were found in LLD vs. HLD (low egg production Landes goose vs. high egg production Landes goose), LSC vs. HSC (low egg production Sichuan White goose vs. high egg production Sichuan white goose), YLD vs. YSC (young Landes goose vs. young Sichuan white goose), HLD vs. HSC (high egg production Landes goose vs. high egg production Sichuan white goose), and LLD vs. LSC (low egg production Landes goose vs. low egg production Sichuan white goose) groups, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis of these DEGs and DElncRNAs suggest that the “neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction pathway” is crucial for egg production, and particularly, members of the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor (HTR) family affect egg production by regulating ovarian metabolic function. Furthermore, the big differences in the secondary structures among HTR1F and HTR1B, HTR2B, and HTR7 may lead to their different expression patterns in goose ovaries of both inter- and intra-breed groups. These results provide novel insights into the mechanisms regulating poultry egg production performance.