During the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,it is important to consider the retrieval of resolidified debris both in air and underwater configurations.For the subsequent retrieval of debris...During the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,it is important to consider the retrieval of resolidified debris both in air and underwater configurations.For the subsequent retrieval of debris from the reactor building,the resolidified debris must be cut into smaller pieces using various cutting methods.During the cutting process,aerosol particles are expected to be generated at the submicron scale.It has been noted that such aerosols sizing within the Greenfield gap(0.1-1μm)are difficult to remove effectively using traditional spraying methods.Therefore,to improve the aerosol removal efficiency of the spray system,a new aerosol agglomeration method was recently proposed,which involves injecting water mist to enlarge the sizes of the aerosol particles before removing them using water sprays.In this study,a series of experiments were performed to clarify the proper spray configurations for effective aerosol scavenging and to improve the performance of the water mist.The experimental results showed that the spray flow rate and droplet characteristics are important factors for the aerosol-scavenging efficiency and performance of the water mist.The results obtained from this study will be helpful for the optimization of the spray system design for effective aerosol scavenging during the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.展开更多
The gut microbiota significantly influences host physiology and provides essential ecosystem services.While diet can affect the composition of the gut microbiota,the gut microbiota can also help the host adapt to spec...The gut microbiota significantly influences host physiology and provides essential ecosystem services.While diet can affect the composition of the gut microbiota,the gut microbiota can also help the host adapt to specific dietary habits.The carrion crow(Corvus corone),an urban facultative scavenger bird,hosts an abundance of pathogens due to its scavenging behavior.Despite this,carrion crows infrequently exhibit illness,a phenomenon related to their unique physiological adaptability.At present,however,the role of the gut microbiota remains incompletely understood.In this study,we performed a comparative analysis using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing technology to assess colonic content in carrion crows and 16 other bird species with different diets in Beijing,China.Our findings revealed that the dominant gut microbiota in carrion crows was primarily composed of Proteobacteria(75.51%)and Firmicutes(22.37%).Significant differences were observed in the relative abundance of Enterococcus faecalis among groups,highlighting its potential as a biomarker of facultative scavenging behavior in carrion crows.Subsequently,E.faecalis isolated from carrion crows was transplanted into model mice to explore the protective effects of this bacterial community against Salmonella enterica infection.Results showed that E.faecalis down-regulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α),interferon gamma(IFN-γ),and interleukin 6(IL-6),prevented S.enterica colonization,and regulated the composition of gut microbiota in mice,thereby modulating the host’s immune regulatory capacity.Therefore,E.faecalis exerts immunoregulatory and anti-pathogenic functions in carrion crows engaged in scavenging behavior,offering a representative case of how the gut microbiota contributes to the protection of hosts with specialized diets.展开更多
Saharan dust represents more than 50%of the total desert dust emitted around the globe and its radiative effect significantly affects the atmospheric circulation at a continental scale.Previous studies on dust vertica...Saharan dust represents more than 50%of the total desert dust emitted around the globe and its radiative effect significantly affects the atmospheric circulation at a continental scale.Previous studies on dust vertical distribution and the Saharan Air Layer(SAL)showed some shortcomings that could be attributed to imperfect representation of the effects of deep convection and scavenging.The authors investigate here the role of deep convective transport and scavenging on the vertical distribution of mineral dust over Western Africa.Using multi-year(2006-2010)simulations performed with the variable-resolution(zoomed)version of the LMDZ climate model.Simulations are compared with aerosol amounts recorded by the Aerosol Robotic Network(AERONET)and with vertical profiles of the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization(CALIOP)measurements.LMDZ allows a thorough examination of the respective roles of deep convective transport,convective and stratiform scavenging,boundary layer transport,and advection processes on the vertical mineral dust distribution over Western Africa.The comparison of simulated dust Aerosol Optical Depth(AOD)and distribution with measurements suggest that scavenging in deep convection and subsequent re-evaporation of dusty rainfall in the lower troposphere are critical processes for explaining the vertical distribution of desert dust.These processes play a key role in maintaining a well-defined dust layer with a sharp transition at the top of the SAL and in establishing the seasonal cycle of dust distribution.This vertical distribution is further reshaped offshore in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ)over the Atlantic Ocean by marine boundary layer turbulent and convective transport and wet deposition at the surface.展开更多
目的研究血清中25(OH)D水平对隐匿型原发性卵巢功能不全(occult primary ovarian insufficiency,oPOI)患者妊娠结局的影响。方法回顾性分析2018年9月至2022年12月在广东省妇幼保健院生殖中心行辅助生殖治疗的218例患者的临床资料。将符...目的研究血清中25(OH)D水平对隐匿型原发性卵巢功能不全(occult primary ovarian insufficiency,oPOI)患者妊娠结局的影响。方法回顾性分析2018年9月至2022年12月在广东省妇幼保健院生殖中心行辅助生殖治疗的218例患者的临床资料。将符合纳入标准的对照组和oPOI组患者按孕产妇的年龄节点分为≤35岁和>35岁,比较各组的25(OH)D浓度及妊娠结局的差异,随后对oPOI患者进行维生素D补充,追踪助孕结局。结果在≤35岁患者中,oPOI组的25(OH)D水平及妊娠率显著低于对照组(41.62±11.90 vs 63.04±16.26,42.37±4.62 vs 53.33±1.97,P<0.05),在>35岁患者中,25(OH)D水平及妊娠率均无显著性差异。在≤35岁oPOI患者中,25(OH)D干预组的血清25(OH)D浓度和优质胚胎率显著高于25(OH)D未干预组,差异具有统计学意义(42.13±12.91 vs 78.26±23.91,55.74±25.16 vs 80.39±29.05,P<0.05),但两组间的获卵数、受精率、临床妊娠率和着床率均没有显著差异;在>35岁的oPOI患者中,25(OH)D干预组与未干预组的血清25(OH)D浓度、获卵数、受精率、优质胚胎率、临床妊娠率和着床率均未见显著差异。结论≤35岁的女性不孕患者中,oPOI患者的维生素D水平低于其他因素不孕的患者,给予维生素D补充后可改善oPOI患者25(OH)D水平及优质胚胎率,但未改变oPOI患者的妊娠结局。展开更多
Senescence is the last developmental process in plant,which has an important impact on crop yield and quality.In this study,a stable hereditary early-senescence line BC64 was isolated from the high-generation recombin...Senescence is the last developmental process in plant,which has an important impact on crop yield and quality.In this study,a stable hereditary early-senescence line BC64 was isolated from the high-generation recombinant inbred lines of 93-11 and Wuyunjing7(W7).Genetic analysis showed that the premature aging phenotype was controlled by a dominant gene derived from 93-11.By linkage analysis,the gene was primarily mapped in the region between marker B4 and B5 near the centromere of chromosome 4,described as ES(4).Through multiple backcrossing with W7,the near-isogenic line of ES(4)(NIL-ES(4))was obtained.Compared with wild-type W7,NIL-ES(4)plants showed more sever senescence phenotype in both nature and dark conditions.In NIL plants,leaves turned yellow at the fully tillering stage;photosynthetic rate,pollen fertility and seed setting rate were decreased.Moreover,the malondialdehyde,proline content and relative conductivity in NIL-ES(4)were significantly higher than those in W7;both transcript level and activities of reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes were repressed;H2O2 and O^(2−)were significantly accumulated.This study provides a basis for further cloning and function identification of ES(4).展开更多
The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which ...The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which are afterwards sublimated, and to examine the particles remaining after evaporation. The procedure takes into account only crystal with a maximum diameter of 20 μm, by assuming that small crystals do not scavenge aerosol during growth, and therefore that crystals contain only the effective nucleating particles. This assumption is questionable, however, as experiments have shown that even small ice crystals can scavenge aerosol. Another approach has been to compare the number and elemental composition of residual particles in small ice crystals and of aerosol near the cloud. By considering as example soot and black carbon aerosol, contradictory conclusions on their importance in the processes of ice nucleation have been reported in the literature. We suggest that, in addition to physico-chemical properties of soot/carbon aerosol particles, even the microphysical and environmental parameters involved in the transition of aerosol from gas phase to ice crystals in cloud should be considered. The contribution of phoretic forces should also be considered. After initial growth ice crystals can continue to grow by water vapour diffusion. Laboratory experiments confirm the contribution of diffusiophoresis with Stefan flow in the scavenging by snow crystals up to 3 mm in diameter. The particle scavenging efficiency of snow crystals is related to crystalline shape and depends on air relative humidity and temperature.展开更多
基金financially supported by the Nuclear Energy Science and Technology and Human Resource Development Project of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency/Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science(No.R04I034)Ruicong Xu appreciates the scholarship(financial support)from the Chinese Scholarship Council(CSC No.202106380073).
文摘During the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,it is important to consider the retrieval of resolidified debris both in air and underwater configurations.For the subsequent retrieval of debris from the reactor building,the resolidified debris must be cut into smaller pieces using various cutting methods.During the cutting process,aerosol particles are expected to be generated at the submicron scale.It has been noted that such aerosols sizing within the Greenfield gap(0.1-1μm)are difficult to remove effectively using traditional spraying methods.Therefore,to improve the aerosol removal efficiency of the spray system,a new aerosol agglomeration method was recently proposed,which involves injecting water mist to enlarge the sizes of the aerosol particles before removing them using water sprays.In this study,a series of experiments were performed to clarify the proper spray configurations for effective aerosol scavenging and to improve the performance of the water mist.The experimental results showed that the spray flow rate and droplet characteristics are important factors for the aerosol-scavenging efficiency and performance of the water mist.The results obtained from this study will be helpful for the optimization of the spray system design for effective aerosol scavenging during the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFC2601602)Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China(32090023)Beijing Wildlife Rescue Center,China。
文摘The gut microbiota significantly influences host physiology and provides essential ecosystem services.While diet can affect the composition of the gut microbiota,the gut microbiota can also help the host adapt to specific dietary habits.The carrion crow(Corvus corone),an urban facultative scavenger bird,hosts an abundance of pathogens due to its scavenging behavior.Despite this,carrion crows infrequently exhibit illness,a phenomenon related to their unique physiological adaptability.At present,however,the role of the gut microbiota remains incompletely understood.In this study,we performed a comparative analysis using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing technology to assess colonic content in carrion crows and 16 other bird species with different diets in Beijing,China.Our findings revealed that the dominant gut microbiota in carrion crows was primarily composed of Proteobacteria(75.51%)and Firmicutes(22.37%).Significant differences were observed in the relative abundance of Enterococcus faecalis among groups,highlighting its potential as a biomarker of facultative scavenging behavior in carrion crows.Subsequently,E.faecalis isolated from carrion crows was transplanted into model mice to explore the protective effects of this bacterial community against Salmonella enterica infection.Results showed that E.faecalis down-regulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α),interferon gamma(IFN-γ),and interleukin 6(IL-6),prevented S.enterica colonization,and regulated the composition of gut microbiota in mice,thereby modulating the host’s immune regulatory capacity.Therefore,E.faecalis exerts immunoregulatory and anti-pathogenic functions in carrion crows engaged in scavenging behavior,offering a representative case of how the gut microbiota contributes to the protection of hosts with specialized diets.
基金The authors wish to thank the Ecosystem Approach to the management of fisheries and the marine environment in the West African Waters(AWA)project.They also acknowledge support from the international joint laboratory ECLAIRS.The Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique(LMD)and the Global Challenges Research Fund(GCRF)African Science for Weather Information and Techniques(SWIFT)Programme.NASA,CNES,and ICARE are acknowledged for providing access to CALIOP and Sun photometer AERONET data.
文摘Saharan dust represents more than 50%of the total desert dust emitted around the globe and its radiative effect significantly affects the atmospheric circulation at a continental scale.Previous studies on dust vertical distribution and the Saharan Air Layer(SAL)showed some shortcomings that could be attributed to imperfect representation of the effects of deep convection and scavenging.The authors investigate here the role of deep convective transport and scavenging on the vertical distribution of mineral dust over Western Africa.Using multi-year(2006-2010)simulations performed with the variable-resolution(zoomed)version of the LMDZ climate model.Simulations are compared with aerosol amounts recorded by the Aerosol Robotic Network(AERONET)and with vertical profiles of the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization(CALIOP)measurements.LMDZ allows a thorough examination of the respective roles of deep convective transport,convective and stratiform scavenging,boundary layer transport,and advection processes on the vertical mineral dust distribution over Western Africa.The comparison of simulated dust Aerosol Optical Depth(AOD)and distribution with measurements suggest that scavenging in deep convection and subsequent re-evaporation of dusty rainfall in the lower troposphere are critical processes for explaining the vertical distribution of desert dust.These processes play a key role in maintaining a well-defined dust layer with a sharp transition at the top of the SAL and in establishing the seasonal cycle of dust distribution.This vertical distribution is further reshaped offshore in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ)over the Atlantic Ocean by marine boundary layer turbulent and convective transport and wet deposition at the surface.
文摘目的研究血清中25(OH)D水平对隐匿型原发性卵巢功能不全(occult primary ovarian insufficiency,oPOI)患者妊娠结局的影响。方法回顾性分析2018年9月至2022年12月在广东省妇幼保健院生殖中心行辅助生殖治疗的218例患者的临床资料。将符合纳入标准的对照组和oPOI组患者按孕产妇的年龄节点分为≤35岁和>35岁,比较各组的25(OH)D浓度及妊娠结局的差异,随后对oPOI患者进行维生素D补充,追踪助孕结局。结果在≤35岁患者中,oPOI组的25(OH)D水平及妊娠率显著低于对照组(41.62±11.90 vs 63.04±16.26,42.37±4.62 vs 53.33±1.97,P<0.05),在>35岁患者中,25(OH)D水平及妊娠率均无显著性差异。在≤35岁oPOI患者中,25(OH)D干预组的血清25(OH)D浓度和优质胚胎率显著高于25(OH)D未干预组,差异具有统计学意义(42.13±12.91 vs 78.26±23.91,55.74±25.16 vs 80.39±29.05,P<0.05),但两组间的获卵数、受精率、临床妊娠率和着床率均没有显著差异;在>35岁的oPOI患者中,25(OH)D干预组与未干预组的血清25(OH)D浓度、获卵数、受精率、优质胚胎率、临床妊娠率和着床率均未见显著差异。结论≤35岁的女性不孕患者中,oPOI患者的维生素D水平低于其他因素不孕的患者,给予维生素D补充后可改善oPOI患者25(OH)D水平及优质胚胎率,但未改变oPOI患者的妊娠结局。
基金supported by grants from the Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(Grant No.20212ACB215003)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.31960403).
文摘Senescence is the last developmental process in plant,which has an important impact on crop yield and quality.In this study,a stable hereditary early-senescence line BC64 was isolated from the high-generation recombinant inbred lines of 93-11 and Wuyunjing7(W7).Genetic analysis showed that the premature aging phenotype was controlled by a dominant gene derived from 93-11.By linkage analysis,the gene was primarily mapped in the region between marker B4 and B5 near the centromere of chromosome 4,described as ES(4).Through multiple backcrossing with W7,the near-isogenic line of ES(4)(NIL-ES(4))was obtained.Compared with wild-type W7,NIL-ES(4)plants showed more sever senescence phenotype in both nature and dark conditions.In NIL plants,leaves turned yellow at the fully tillering stage;photosynthetic rate,pollen fertility and seed setting rate were decreased.Moreover,the malondialdehyde,proline content and relative conductivity in NIL-ES(4)were significantly higher than those in W7;both transcript level and activities of reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes were repressed;H2O2 and O^(2−)were significantly accumulated.This study provides a basis for further cloning and function identification of ES(4).
文摘The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which are afterwards sublimated, and to examine the particles remaining after evaporation. The procedure takes into account only crystal with a maximum diameter of 20 μm, by assuming that small crystals do not scavenge aerosol during growth, and therefore that crystals contain only the effective nucleating particles. This assumption is questionable, however, as experiments have shown that even small ice crystals can scavenge aerosol. Another approach has been to compare the number and elemental composition of residual particles in small ice crystals and of aerosol near the cloud. By considering as example soot and black carbon aerosol, contradictory conclusions on their importance in the processes of ice nucleation have been reported in the literature. We suggest that, in addition to physico-chemical properties of soot/carbon aerosol particles, even the microphysical and environmental parameters involved in the transition of aerosol from gas phase to ice crystals in cloud should be considered. The contribution of phoretic forces should also be considered. After initial growth ice crystals can continue to grow by water vapour diffusion. Laboratory experiments confirm the contribution of diffusiophoresis with Stefan flow in the scavenging by snow crystals up to 3 mm in diameter. The particle scavenging efficiency of snow crystals is related to crystalline shape and depends on air relative humidity and temperature.
