Functional Characterization of Mammary Gland of Holstein Cows under Humid Tropical Summer Climates

Lu, C.H.,Chang, C.J.,Lee, P.N.,Wu, C.P.,Chen, M.T.,Zhao, X. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2003 Animal Bioscience Vol.16 No.7

Physiological parameters were measured on six primiparous, non-pregnant Holstein cows prior to peak lactation over a 3-month summer season in southwestern Taiwan. The objectives were to characterize heat stress-induced change in functionality of mammary gland under natural climates of tropical summer and to establish physiological indices applicable to this environment in referring to this change. Environmental and physiological readings, milk and blood samples were taken at 15:00 h biweekly for totally five time points during the study. Climate readings showed that the afternoon humidex value reached the highest (53.5) around mid summer. Rectal temperature of cows taken simultaneously varied between $38.26^{\circ}C$ and $40.02^{\circ}C$ in parallel to humidex. Milk production declined drastically from 29.2 to 22.2 kg/d the first month entering summer but leveled up at end of the summer season suggesting effects exerted by heat stress rather than stages of lactation. Lactose content decreased linearly (p<0.05) with times in summer, from 4.69 to 4.38%. On the other hand, activity of N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGase) in milk increased linearly to over two folds (p<0.05) during the same intervals. Elevations of fractional constituent of BSA in whey protein and serum cortisol level were also noticed in the course. Measurement of arteriovenous concentration (A-V) difference across the mammary gland demonstrated net uptake of glucose and net release of urea throughout the study period. The amount of urea released from mammary gland increased (p<0.05) progressively from 1.54 to 7.76 mg/dl during summer. It is concluded that gradual regression of mammary gland occurred along the humid tropical summer season. This regression is likely initiated through elevation of body temperature, which is irreversible above certain point. The increased release of urea from mammary gland during heat stress suggests its potential role as an early indicator of suboptimal mammary function.

THE SCALING RELATIONS AND STAR FORMATION LAWS OF MINI-STARBURST COMPLEXES

Nguye&#x302,&#x303,n-Lu’o, Quang,Nguye&#x302,&#x303,n, Hans V. V.,Motte, Fredé,rique,Schneider, Nicola,Fujii, Michiko,Louvet, Fabien,Hill, Tracey,Sanhueza, Patricio,Chibueze, James O.,Didelon, P American Astronomical Society 2016 The Astrophysical journal Vol.833 No.1

<P>The scaling relations and star formation laws for molecular cloud complexes (MCCs) in the Milky Way are investigated. MCCs are mostly large (R> 50 pc), massive (similar to 106 M circle dot) gravitationally unbound cloud structures. We compare their masses M-gas, mass surface densities Sigma(Mgas), radii R, velocity dispersions sigma, star formation rates (SFRs), and SFR densities Sigma(SFR) with those of structures ranging from cores, clumps, and giant molecular clouds, to MCCs, and galaxies, spanning eight orders of magnitudes in size and 13 orders of magnitudes in mass. This results in the following universal relations: sigma similar to R-0.5, M-gas similar to R-2, Sigma(SFR) similar to Sigma(1.5)(Mgas) , SFR similar to M-gas(0.9) , and SFR similar to sigma(2.7) Variations in the slopes and coefficients of these relations are found at individual scales, signifying different physics acting at different scales. Additionally, there are breaks at the MCC scale in the sigma-R relation and between starburst and normal star-forming objects in the SFR-M-gas and Sigma(SFR)-Sigma(Mgas) gas relations. Therefore, we propose to use the Schmidt-Kennicutt diagram to distinguish starburst from normal star-forming structures by applying a SMgas threshold of similar to 100M circle dot pc (2) and a Sigma(SFR) threshold of 1M circle dot yr (1) kpc (2). Mini-starburst complexes are gravitationally unbound MCCs that have enhanced Sigma(SFR) (> 1M circle dot yr(-1) kpc(-2)), probably caused by dynamic events such as radiation pressure, colliding flows, or spiral arm gravitational instability. Because of dynamical evolution, gravitational boundedness does not play a significant role in regulating the star formation activity of MCCs, especially the mini-starburst complexes, which leads to the dynamical formation of massive stars and clusters. We emphasize the importance of understanding mini-starbursts in investigating the physics of starburst galaxies.</P>

Astrochemical Properties of Planck Cold Clumps

Tatematsu, Ken’ichi,Liu, Tie,Ohashi, Satoshi,Sanhueza, Patricio,Nguyê,&#x303,n Lu’o’, Quang,Hirota, Tomoya,Liu, Sheng-Yuan,Hirano, Naomi,Choi, Minho,Kang, Miju,A.Thompson, Mark,Fuller, Gary,Wu, Y Published by the University of Chicago Press for t 2017 The Astrophysical journal Supplement series Vol.228 No.2

<P>We observed 13 Planck cold clumps with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope/SCUBA-2 and with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. The N2H+ distribution obtained with the Nobeyama telescope is quite similar to SCUBA-2 dust distribution. The 82 GHz HC3N, 82 GHz CCS, and 94 GHz CCS emission are often distributed differently with respect to the N2H+ emission. The CCS emission, which is known to be abundant in starless molecular cloud cores, is often very clumpy in the observed targets. We made deep single-pointing observations in DNC, (HNC)-C-13, N2D+, and cyclic-C3H2 toward nine clumps. The detection rate of N2D+ is 50%. Furthermore, we observed the NH3 emission toward 15 Planck cold clumps to estimate the kinetic temperature, and confirmed that most targets are cold (less than or similar to 20 K). In two of the starless clumps we observed, the CCS emission is distributed as it surrounds the N2H+ core (chemically evolved gas), which resembles the case of L1544, a prestellar core showing collapse. In addition, we detected both DNC and N2D+. These two clumps are most likely on the verge of star formation. We introduce the chemical evolution factor (CEF) for starless cores to describe the chemical evolutionary stage, and analyze the observed Planck cold clumps.</P>

Solid State Luminescence Enhancement in π-Conjugated Materials: Unraveling the Mechanism beyond the Framework of AIE/AIEE

Shi, Junqing,Aguilar Suarez, Luis E.,Yoon, Seong-Jun,Varghese, Shinto,Serpa, Carlos,Park, Soo Young,Lu&#x308,er, Larry,Roca-Sanjua&#x301,n, Daniel,Milia&#x301,n-Medina, Begon&#x303,a,Gierschner, Johan American Chemical Society 2017 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C - Vol.121 No.41

<P>Solid state luminescence enhancement (SLE) of conjugated organic materials has had a great impact in materials science, but a deep understanding has been rather limited to date. Here, we investigate a prototype example of SLE materials, cyano-substituted distyrylbenzene (DCS), by varying systematically and subtly the substitution pattern (inter alia of the position of the cyano-substituent) to give largely different photoresponse in fluid and solid solution as well in the crystalline state. The combination of quantitative (ultra)fast optical spectroscopic techniques, appropriate quantum-chemical methods, and structural (X-ray) data allows us to elucidate and rationalize all details of the SLE process, including steric versus electronic factors, radiative versus nonradiative decay channels, and intra- versus intermolecular contributions, providing a first holistic picture of SLE.</P>

Source Forensics of Black Carbon Aerosols from China

Chen, Bing,Andersson, August,Lee, Meehye,Kirillova, Elena N.,Xiao, Qianfen,Krusa&#x30a,, Martin,Shi, Meinan,Hu, Ke,Lu, Zifeng,Streets, David G.,Du, Ke,Gustafsson, O&#x308,rjan American Chemical Society 2013 Environmental science & technology Vol.47 No.16

<P>The limited understanding of black carbon (BC) aerosol emissions from incomplete combustion causes a poorly constrained anthropogenic climate warming that globally may be second only to CO<SUB>2</SUB> and regionally, such as over East Asia, the dominant driver of climate change. The relative contribution to atmospheric BC from fossil fuel versus biomass combustion is important to constrain as fossil BC is a stronger climate forcer. The source apportionment is the underpinning for targeted mitigation actions. However, technology-based “bottom-up” emission inventories are inconclusive, largely due to uncertain BC emission factors from small-scale/household combustion and open burning. We use “top-down” radiocarbon measurements of atmospheric BC from five sites including three city sites and two regional sites to determine that fossil fuel combustion produces 80 ± 6% of the BC emitted from China. This source-diagnostic radiocarbon signal in the ambient aerosol over East Asia establishes a much larger role for fossil fuel combustion than suggested by all 15 BC emission inventory models, including one with monthly resolution. Our results suggest that current climate modeling should refine both BC emission strength and consider the stronger radiative absorption associated with fossil-fuel-derived BC. To mitigate near-term climate effects and improve air quality in East Asia, activities such as residential coal combustion and city traffic should be targeted.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/esthag/2013/esthag.2013.47.issue-16/es401599r/production/images/medium/es-2013-01599r_0005.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/es401599r'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

Infall Signatures in a Prestellar Core Embedded in the High-mass 70 <i>μ</i>m Dark IRDC G331.372-00.116

Contreras, Yanett,Sanhueza, Patricio,Jackson, James M.,Guzmá,n, André,s E.,Longmore, Steven,Garay, Guido,Zhang, Qizhou,Nguyê,&#x303,n-Lu’o’, Quang,Tatematsu, Ken’ichi,Nakamura, Fumita American Astronomical Society 2018 The Astrophysical journal Vol.861 No.1

<P>Using Galactic Plane surveys, we have selected a massive (1200M circle dot), cold (14 K) 3.6-70 mu m dark IRDC, G331.372-00.116. This infrared dark cloud (IRDC) has the potential to form high-mass stars, and given the absence of current star formation signatures, it seems to represent the earliest stages of high-mass star formation. We have mapped the whole IRDC with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 1.1 and 1.3 mm in dust continuum and line emission. The dust continuum reveals 22 cores distributed across the IRDC. In this work, we analyze the physical properties of the most massive core, ALMA1, which has no molecular outflows detected in the CO (2-1), SiO (5-4), and H2CO (3-2) lines. This core is relatively massive (M = 17.6M circle dot), subvirialized (virial parameter alpha(vir) = M-vir/M = 0.14), and is barely affected by turbulence (transonic Mach number of 1.2). Using the HCO+ (3-2) line, we find the first detection of infall signatures in a relatively massive, prestellar core (ALMA1) with the potential to form a high-mass star. We estimate an infall speed of 1.54 km s(-1) and a high accretion rate of 1.96. x. 10(-3) M circle dot yr(-1). ALMA1 is rapidly collapsing, out of virial equilibrium, which is more consistent with competitive accretion scenarios rather than the turbulent core accretion model. On the other hand, ALMA1 has a mass similar to 6 times larger than the clumps Jeans mass, as it is in an intermediate mass regime (M-J = 2.7 < M less than or similar to 30 M circle dot), contrary to what both the competitive accretion and turbulent core accretion theories predict.</P>

Gravitationally Unstable Condensations Revealed by ALMA in the TUKH122 Prestellar Core in the Orion A Cloud

Ohashi, Satoshi,Sanhueza, Patricio,Sakai, Nami,Kandori, Ryo,Choi, Minho,Hirota, Tomoya,Nguy&#x1ec5,n-Lu’o’ng, Quang,Tatematsu, Ken’ichi American Astronomical Society 2018 The Astrophysical journal Vol.856 No.2

Effect of bamboo and rice straw biochars on the mobility and redistribution of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) in contaminated soil

Lu, K.,Yang, X.,Gielen, G.,Bolan, N.,Ok, Y.S.,Niazi, N.K.,Xu, S.,Yuan, G.,Chen, X.,Zhang, X.,Liu, D.,Song, Z.,Liu, X.,Wang, H. Academic Press 2017 Journal of Environmental Management Vol.186 No.2

<P>Biochar has emerged as an efficient tool to affect bioavailability of heavy metals in contaminated soils. Although partially understood, a carefully designed incubation experiment was performed to examine the effect of biochar on mobility and redistribution of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in a sandy loam soil collected from the surroundings of a copper smelter. Bamboo and rice straw biochars with different mesh sizes (<0.25 mm and <1 mm), were applied at three rates (0, 1, and 5% w/w). Heavy metal concentrations in pore water were determined after extraction with 0.01 M CaCl2. Phytoavailable metals were extracted using DTPA/TEA (pH 7.3). The European Union Bureau of Reference (EUBCR) sequential extraction procedure was adopted to determine metal partitioning and redistribution of heavy metals. Results showed that CaCl2-and DTPA-extractable Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in the bamboo and rice straw biochar treated soils, especially at 5% application rate, than those in the unamended soil. Soil pH values were significantly correlated with CaCl2-extractable metal concentrations (p < 0.01). The EUBCR sequential extraction procedure revealed that the acid extractable fractions of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with biochar addition. Rice straw biochar was more effective than bamboo biochar in decreasing the acid extractable metal fractions, and the effect was more pronounced with increasing biochar application rate. The effect of biochar particle size on extractable metal concentrations was not consistent. The 5% rice straw biochar treatment reduced the DTPA-extractable metal concentrations in the order of Cd < Cu < Pb < Zn, and reduced the acid extractable pool of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn by 11, 17, 34 and 6%, respectively, compared to the control. In the same 5% rice straw biochar treatments, the organic bound fraction increased by 37, 58, 68 and 18% for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively, compared to the control, indicating that the immobilized metals were mainly bound in the soil organic matter fraction. The results demonstrated that the rice straw biochar can effectively immobilize heavy metals, thereby reducing their mobility and bioavailability in contaminated soils. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</P>

Development of the 3.7 GHz LHCD System on HL-2A

B. Lu,M. Huang,H. Zeng,X. Y. Bai,X. H. Mao,Z. H. Lu,J. Liang,Z. H. Kang,M. W. Wang,K. Feng,H. Wang,C. Wang,J. Q. Wang,S. Wei,T. Yao,Y. N. Bu,J. Feng,G. Y. Cheng,S. D. Song,D. H. Xia,J. Rao 한국물리학회 2014 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.65 No.8

A 2 MW-3.7 GHz lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system is under development for physicsexperiments on the HL-2A device. The RF Power is generated by four TH2103A klystron amplifiersand propagates in the TE10 mode through WR284 waveguides. The transmission lines with a lengthof 20 m to 30 m are pressurized with 2 bars of nitrogen to decrease the possibility of arcing. Thelauncher, based on the passive-active multi-junction (PAM) concept, has been developed and iscurrently being realized. It was designed for a power spectrum peaked at Nk = 2.75 with goodcoupling properties over a wide range of plasma parameters. The four klystrons are fed by ahigh-voltage power supply (HVPS) based on the pulse step modulation (PSM) concept with a fastswitch-off time of less than ten μs. This system is expected to be in operation within 1 years and willexplore many international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) related LH experiments inthe following years.

Genome-wide association study in a Chinese population identifies a susceptibility locus for type 2 diabetes at 7q32 near <i>PAX4</i>

Ma, R. C. W.,Hu, C.,Tam, C. H.,Zhang, R.,Kwan, P.,Leung, T. F.,Thomas, G. N.,Go, M. J.,Hara, K.,Sim, X.,Ho, J. S. K.,Wang, C.,Li, H.,Lu, L.,Wang, Y.,Li, J. W.,Wang, Y.,Lam, V. K. L.,Wang, J.,Yu, W.,Ki Springer-Verlag 2013 Diabetologia Vol.56 No.6

<P><B>Aims/hypothesis</B></P><P>Most genetic variants identified for type 2 diabetes have been discovered in European populations. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a Chinese population with the aim of identifying novel variants for type 2 diabetes in Asians.</P><P><B>Methods</B></P><P>We performed a meta-analysis of three GWAS comprising 684 patients with type 2 diabetes and 955 controls of Southern Han Chinese descent. We followed up the top signals in two independent Southern Han Chinese cohorts (totalling 10,383 cases and 6,974 controls), and performed in silico replication in multiple populations.</P><P><B>Results</B></P><P>We identified <I>CDKN2A/B</I> and four novel type 2 diabetes association signals with <I>p</I> < 1 × 10<SUP>−5</SUP> from the meta-analysis. Thirteen variants within these four loci were followed up in two independent Chinese cohorts, and rs10229583 at 7q32 was found to be associated with type 2 diabetes in a combined analysis of 11,067 cases and 7,929 controls (<I>p</I><SUB>meta</SUB> = 2.6 × 10<SUP>−8</SUP>; OR [95% CI] 1.18 [1.11, 1.25]). In silico replication revealed consistent associations across multiethnic groups, including five East Asian populations (<I>p</I><SUB>meta</SUB> = 2.3 × 10<SUP>−10</SUP>) and a population of European descent (<I>p</I> = 8.6 × 10<SUP>−3</SUP>). The rs10229583 risk variant was associated with elevated fasting plasma glucose, impaired beta cell function in controls, and an earlier age at diagnosis for the cases. The novel variant lies within an islet-selective cluster of open regulatory elements. There was significant heterogeneity of effect between Han Chinese and individuals of European descent, Malaysians and Indians.</P><P><B>Conclusions/interpretation</B></P><P>Our study identifies rs10229583 near <I>PAX4</I> as a novel locus for type 2 diabetes in Chinese and other populations and provides new insights into the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.</P><P><B>Electronic supplementary material</B></P><P>The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00125-013-2874-4) contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.</P>