Differences in proteomic profiles and immunomodulatory activity of goat and cow milk fat globule membrane.

This study aimed to clarify the composition and bioactivity differences between goat and cow milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) protein by proteomic, and the immunomodulatory activity of MFGM proteins was further evaluated by using mouse splenic lymphocytes in vitro. A total of 257 MFGM proteins showed significant differences between goat and cow milk. The upregulated and unique MFGM proteins in goat milk were significantly enriched in the positive regulation of immune response, negative regulation of Interleukin-5 (IL-5) secretion, and involved in nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor signaling. The contents of IL-2 and Interferon-γ in the supernatant of spleen lymphocytes treated with goat MFGM proteins were much higher than those of IL-4 and IL-5, suggesting a Th1-skewed immune response. These results revealed that goat MFGM proteins could possess better immunomodulatory effects as compared to cow milk. Our findings may provide new insights to elucidate the physiological functions and nutritional of goat milk.

Reverse subsidy dilemma caused by the transformation from individual heating to central heating.

With the increase in household income enhancing people's expectations for life comfort, the demand for central heating in hot summer and cold winter areas (HSCWs) has increased. This study aims to explore whether it is appropriate to promote central heating in HSCWs from the perspectives of inequality and reverse subsidies. Reverse subsidy dilemma caused by the transformation from individual heating to central heating was proposed by the analysis relying on utility theory. This paper presents data suggesting that individual heating could provide more options for different household income groups than could central heating. Furthermore, the heating inequality among different income groups is assessed, and reverse subsidies from the poor to the rich are discussed. We find that the implementation of central heating leads to few adverse effects and high utility for the rich and increased expenditures and low utility satisfaction for the poor at the same price level.

PM2.5 can help adjust building's energy consumption.

Long- or short-term exposure to air pollution would distort human's cognitive function which has aroused widespread concern in interdisciplinary fields. It furtherly seems rational to assume that air pollution may affect energy use in public buildings. However, the overlooks of the potential impacts of air pollution on energy use would result in substantially higher energy saving cost. By matching the real-time energy consumption of public buildings to indoor and outdoor PM2.5, we construct a panel containing 193,226 data items. Based on this, we conduct the first preliminary exploration to try to reveal the impact of PM2.5 on energy use at the building-hourly level. Results show that the increase of energy intensity caused by PM2.5 is subtle, it indeed exists significantly. When indoor PM2.5 is 1 µg/m3, the marginal effect is minimum. After indoor PM2.5 exceeding 1 µg/m3, the marginal effect began to increase and the maximum is 0.3224 when PM2.5 is 1114 µg/m3. However, given the sorting and contrast effect, the practical relationship between indoor PM2.5 and energy use is possible inverted-U shaped. Furtherly, we find long term exposure to outdoor PM2.5 would not make people adapt to air pollution and instead cumulative the impact on energy use. Besides, centralized office could be an economical and feasible measure to achieve energy saving goal. Finally, we propose that it is promising for achieving the synergy between air pollution control and energy consumption reduction.

Limited hydrolysis as a strategy to improve the non-covalent interaction of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) with whey protein isolate near the isoelectric point.

This study was aimed to investigate the interaction mechanisms and structural changes of whey protein isolate (WPI) and whey protein isolate hydrolysates (WPIHs) with epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) near the isoelectric point through multiple spectroscopic techniques and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Fluorescence spectra results indicated that limited hydrolysis endowed WPIHs with higher affinity for the EGCG but the increased degree of hydrolysis led to an opposite result. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that EGCG bound WPI primarily through hydrogen bonds and van der waals forces, while the hydrophobic force was the main driving force in the interaction of EGCG with WPIHs. Synchronous fluorescence and three-dimensional spectra confirmed that EGCG induced conformational alterations of WPI and WPIHs, which was further supported by Ultraviolet-Visible spectra. Raman spectra indicated that binding to EGCG resulted in changes in the microenvironment of tryptophan residues, CH bending vibration and the secondary structure arrangements of WPI and WPIHs. Furthermore, compared with a sheet-like structure of WPI-EGCG complexes, the morphology of WPIHs with limited hydrolysis presented an uneven blocky structure after complexing with EGCG. Our findings might be helpful to better understand the interactions of milk protein hydrolysates-EGCG and suggest the potential application of the formed complexes as bioactive ingredients in food industry.

A Conductive Bamboo Fabric with Controllable Resistance for Tailoring Wearable Sensors.

Force-sensitive textile sensors are becoming a research hotspot as a part of wearable devices. The core research topic is the method to obtain the sensing property, which decides the sensitivity and service performance of the sensors. Here, we introduce a new sensing mechanism based on a statistical change of contact resistance that exhibits an exponential decay upon strain or pressure, where a novel conductive bamboo fabric is prepared and the dependence of electric conductivity on the fabric structure is discovered. The fabric surface resistivity (ρs) is anisotropic with respect to the measuring directions and the warp, weft, and linear densities. The surface resistance (Rs) decreases rapidly under pulling force, especially in diagonal directions, making it available in designing strain sensors. The volume resistivity (ρv) decreases with increasing weft and linear densities, too. The vertical resistance (Rv) decays exponentially under pressure, and the rule is retained even if the fabric is coated with a polymer, leading to diverse possible pressure sensors with a good service performance (e.g., waterproof). Finally, the conductive fabric could be facilely tailored to various wearable sensors with a fast response time, e.g., sensing finger sleeves and sensing insole, which could be used to operate the manipulator's fingers or to monitor human walking gestures, respectively.

A New Fossil Species of Nothotsuga from the Mula Basin, Litang County, Sichuan Province and Its Paleoclimate and Paleoecology Significance.

In this paper, we describe a new fossil species, Nothotsuga mulaensis Z. Li & J.L. Dong sp. nov. The discovery of the fossil species was based on well-preserved fossil seed cones that were found in the Mula Basin in Xiamula village, Litang County, Sichuan Province, southwestern China. The shapes of these fossils were characterized by ovate seed cones, rhombic or suborbicular scales with auriculate bases, and the bracts were ligulate-spathulate in shape. This finding suggests that Nothotsuga once had a wide distribution range in China and that it also inhabited the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). Nothotsuga mulaensis was distributed in an intermountain lake basin, at altitudes from 2000 to 2300 m, in a warm and humid environment. This finding also suggests that the eastern TP may have provided good habitat for Nothotsuga during the Miocene. In addition, we propose that the uplift, accompanied by the severe cooling and aridification that occurred after the Miocene, caused the disappearance of this species of Nothotsuga in the eastern TP.

Dilution effect of the building area on energy intensity in urban residential buildings.

Urban residential buildings make large contributions to energy consumption. Energy consumption per square meter is most widely used to measure energy efficiency in urban residential buildings. This study aims to explore whether it is an appropriate indicator. An extended STIRPAT model was used based on the survey data from 867 households. Here we present that building area per household has a dilution effect on energy consumption per square meter. Neglecting this dilution effect leads to a significant overestimation of the effectiveness of building energy savings standards. Further analysis suggests that the peak of energy consumption per square meter in China's urban residential buildings occurred in 2012 when accounting for the dilution effect, which is 11 years later than it would have occurred without considering the dilution effect. Overall, overlooking the dilution effect may lead to misleading judgments of crucial energy-saving policy tools, as well as the ongoing trend of residential energy consumption in China.

Heat and Mass Transfer of the Droplet Vacuum Freezing Process Based on the Diffusion-controlled Evaporation and Phase Transition Mechanism.

A frozen phase transition model is developed to investigate the heat and mass transfer of a single water droplet during the vacuum freezing process. The model is based on the diffusion-controlled evaporation mechanism and phase transition characteristics. The droplet vacuum freezing process can be divided into three stages according to the droplet states and the time order. It includes the evaporation freezing stage, the isothermal freezing stage and the sublimation freezing stage. A numerical calculation is performed, and the result is analysed. The effects of the vacuum chamber pressure, initial droplet diameter and initial droplet temperature on the heat and mass transfer characteristics at each stage are studied. The droplet experiences supercooling breakdown at the end of the evaporation freezing stage before the isothermal freezing stage begins. The temperature is transiently raised as a result of the supercooling breakdown phenomenon, whose effects on the freezing process and freezing parameters are considered.

[A study of photoluminescence properties of Si-based CeO2/Tb4O7 superlattices].

CeO2/Tb4O7 superlattices were deposited on P type Si wafers by e-beam evaporation technology. Four typical photoluminescence peaks of Tb3+ ions which located around 488, 544, 588 and 623 nm were obtained after the superlattices annealing in weak reducing atmosphere at high temperature. It was indicated that CeO2 films transferred to amorphous state as the valence transition of Ce4+ --> Ce3+ which was induced by thermal annealing, the energy transfer occurred between Ce3+ ions and Tb3+ ions, and the Tb3+ ions emition could be detected after obtaining the energy from Ce3+ ions. A study about the effect of Tb4O7 thickness on the superlattices photoluminescence showed that the maximum PL intensity as thickness of Tb4 O7 films were about 0.5 nm, the concentration quenching might occur because of the energy transfer among the Tb3+ ions. The annealing conditions research demonstrated that the maximum PL intensity could be obtained as the superlattices annealed at 1 200 degrees C for 2 hour. Further investigation inferred that the concentration of Ce3+ ions, Oxygen vacancy defects and the distance between Ce3+ ions and Tb3+ ions play an important role in the annealing process.