Recent Development and Application of Geothermal Heat Pump Systems in Cold-Climate Regions of the US: A Further Investigation

A Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP) system is known to have enormous potential for building energy savings and the reduction of associated greenhouse gas emissions, due to its high Coefficient Of Performance (COP). The use of a GHP system in cold-climate regions is more attractive owing to its higher COP for heating compared to conventional heating devices, such as furnaces or boilers. Many factors, however, determine the operational performance of an existing GHP system, such as control strategy, part/full-load efficiency, the age of the system, defective parts, and whether or not regular maintenance services are provided. The omitting of any of these factors in design and operation stages could have significant impacts on the normal operation of GHP systems. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to further investigate and study the existing GHP systems currently used in buildings located in cold-climate regions of the US, in terms of system operational performance, potential energy and energy cost savings, system cost information, the reasons for installing geothermal systems, current operating difficulties, and owner satisfaction to date. After the comprehensive investigation and in-depth analysis of 24 buildings, the results indicate that for these buildings, about 75% of the building owners are very satisfied with their GHP systems in terms of noise, cost, and indoor comfort. About 71% of the investigated GHP systems have not had serious operating difficulties, and about 85% of the respondents (building owners) would suggest this type of system to other people. Compared to the national median of energy use and energy cost of typical buildings of the same type nationwide, the overall performance of the actual GHP systems used in the cold-climate regions is slightly better, i.e. about 7.2% energy savings and 6.1% energy cost savings on average.

Two splicing variants of amino acid transporter-like 4(OsATL4)negatively regulate rice tillering and yield by mediating the transport of amino acids

Amino acids are the primary form of nitrogen utilization in higher plants,mainly transported by amino acid transporters.In this study,we analyzed the natural variation of amino acid transporter-like 4(OsATL4)in rice germplasm resources,identified its spatiotemporal expression characteristics,determined its substrate transport,and validated its function using transgenic plants.We found that the promoter sequence of OsATL4 varied across 498 rice varieties.The expression level of OsATL4 was higher in japonica rice,which was negatively correlated with tiller number and grain yield.OsATL4 was highly expressed in the basal part,leaf sheath,stem,and young panicle,with its two splicing variants localized to the cell membrane.OsATL4a(the long splicing variant)had a high affinity for transporting Ser,Leu,Phe,and Thr,while OsATL4b(the short splicing variant)had a high affinity for transporting Ser,Leu,and Phe.Blocking OsATL4 promoted axillary bud outgrowth,rice tillering,and grain yield,whereas overexpression lines exhibited the opposite phenotype.Exogenous application of low concentrations of Ser promoted axillary bud outgrowth in overexpression lines,while high concentrations of Ser inhibited it.Conversely,the mutant lines showed the opposite response.Altered expression of OsATL4 might affect the expression of genes in nitrogen,auxin,and cytokinin pathways.We propose that two splicing variants of OsATL4 negatively regulate rice tillering and yield by mediating the transport of amino acids,making it a significant target for high-yield rice breeding.

Microprofiles of activated sludge aggregates using microelectrodes in completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite （CANON） reactor

Microsensor measurements and fluorescence in situ hybridization （FISH） analysis were combined to investigate the microbial populations and activities in a laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor （SBR） for completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite （CANON）. Fed with synthetic wastewater rich in ammo- nia, the SBR removed 82.54-5.4% ofinfluent nitrogen and a maximum nitrogen-removal rate of 0.52kgN.m 3.d-l was achieved. The FISH analysis revealed that aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria （AerAOB） Nitrosomonas and anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria （AnAOB） dominated the community. To quantify the microbial activities inside the sludge aggregates, microprofiles were measured using pH, dissolved oxygen （DO）, NH＋, NO＋ and NO3 microelectrodes. In the outer layer of sludge aggregates （0-700 μm）, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria （NOB） showed high activity with 4.1 gmol-cm3＋ h-1 of maximum nitrate production rate under the condition of DO concentration higher than 3.3 mg. L 1. Maximum AerAOB activity was detected in the middle layer （depths around 1700 μm） where DO concentration was 1.1 μg. L-1. In the inner layer （2200-3500μm）, where DO concentration was below 0.9 mg. L-1, AnAOB activity was detected. We thus showed that information obtained from microscopic views can be helpful in optimizing the SBR performance.

Analyzing Longitudinal Data with Informative Observation and Terminal Event Times

Longitudinal data often arise when subjects are followed over a period of time, and in many situations, there may exist informative observation times and a dependent terminal event such as death that stops the follow-up. In this article, we propose joint modeling and analysis of longitudinal data with possibly informative observation times and a dependent terminal event in which a common subject-specific latent variable is used to characterize the correlations. A borrow-strength estimation procedure is developed for parameter estimation, and both large-sample and finite^sample properties of the proposed estimators are established. In addition, some goodness-of-fit methods for assessing the adequacy of the model are provided. An application to a bladder cancer study is illustrated.

Highly emissive tribenzotriquinacene-based double-rimed nanocube

The study of discrete nanosized cages has gone a long way to seek aesthetically appealing structures and to carry out functional applications.Although the construction of supramolecular cages via a bottom-up self-assembly process has been well developed,the sophisticated synthesis still remains a challenge.Here we report the design and assembly of a giant double-rimed nanocube Zn_(24)LH_(8),built with 8 tribenzotriquinacene as six-connected vertices and 24<tpy-Zn^(2+)-tpy>(tpy=terpyridine)connectivities serving as the edges.From the single-crystal structure of tribenzotriquinacene-based ligand LH,the bowl-shaped ligand defines a suitable rigid platform for the spatially well-defined attachment of three sets of parallel vertices,which promotes the quantitative formation of the desired three-dimensional(3D)double-rimed cubic architectures.The formed nanocube Zn_(24)LH_(8)possesses molecular weight up to 25.6 kDa and side length 5.3 nm.Remarkably,the Zn_(24)LH_(8)exhibits strong cyan light emission with high luminescence quantum yields in solution and in the solid state based on the inherent cage-confinement induced emission enhancement.By adding orange-emissive Rhodamine B,emission tuning experiments were achieved including white light emission.This work presents a new system for the imitation of complex assemblies and provides a promising candidate for emissive materials.

SHui, an EU-Chinese cooperative project to optimize soil and water management in agricultural areas in the ⅩⅪ century

This article outlines the major scientific objectives of the SHui project that seeks to optimize soil and water use in agricultural systems in the EU and China,by considering major current scientific challenges in this area.SHui(for Soil Hydrology research platform underpinning innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems)is large cooperative project that aims to provide significant advances through transdisciplinary research at multiple scales(plot,field,catchment and region).This paper explains our research platform of long-term experiments established at plot scale,approaches taken to integrate crop and hydrological models at field scale;coupled crop models and satellite-based observations at regional scales;decision support systems for specific farming situations;and the integration of these technologies to provide policy recommendations through socio-economic analysis of the impact of soil and water saving technologies.It also outlines the training of stake-holders to develop a basic common curriculum despite the subject being distributed across different disciplines and professions.As such,this article provides a review of major challenges for improving soil and water use in EU and China as well as information about the potential to access information made available by SHui,and to allow others to engage with the project.

Effect of electrokinetic property membrane on bovine serum of charged polyether sulfone albumin fouling behavior

Negatively charged carboxymethylated polyethersulfone （CMPES） and positively charged quater- nized polyethersulfone （QAPES） ultrafiltration （UF） membranes were prepared by bulk chemical modification and non-solvent induced phase separation method. The effects of PES membrane interracial electrokinetic property on the bovine serum albumin （BSA） membrane fouling behavior were studied with the aid of the membrane-modified colloidal atomic force microscopy （AFM） probe. Electrokinetic test results indicated that the streaming potential （AE） of QAPES membrane was not consistent with its expected 1EC value, however, within the pH range of 3-10, the ζpotentials of two charged-modified PES membranes were more stable than the unmodified membrane. When pH value was 3, 4.7 or 9, the interaction behavior between charged PES membrane and BSA showed that there was significant linear correlation between the jump distance ro ofmembrane-BSA adhesion force （F/R） and the ~＂ potential absolute value. Charged modification significantly reduced the adhesion of PES membrane-BSA, and the adhesion data was good linear correlated with the flux decline rate in BSA filtration process, especially reflected in the CMPES membrane. The above experimental facts proved that the charged membrane interracial electric double layer structure and its electrokinetic property had strong ties with the protein membrane fouling behavior.

阿木尔巴图的艺术之路

一阿木尔巴图,又名鲍玉祥,生于1940年1月,原昭乌达盟敖汉旗萨力巴乡乌兰召村人。他于1959—1964年间在内蒙古师范学院艺术系美术专业读书,主修版画,因上学时已是中国共产党党员,毕业留校后在党办做了行政工作。1978年恢复高考后,美术系开始招收蒙语授课生,之后又设立工艺美术教研室.