Disorder of hepatic glucose metabolism is the characteristic of late-pregnant sows. The purpose of our study was to look into the mechanism of garcinol on the improvement of hepatic gluconeogenic enzyme in late-pregnant sows. Thirty second- and third-parity sows (Duroc × Yorkshire × Landrace, n 10/diet) were fed a basal diet (control) or that diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg (Low Gar) or 500 mg/kg (High Gar) garcinol from day 90 of gestation to the end of farrowing. The livers were processed to measure enzymatic activity. Hepatocytes from pregnant sows were transfected with P300/CBP-associating factor (PCAF) small interfering RNA (siRNA) or treated with garcinol. Dietary garcinol had no effect on average daily feed intake, body weight (BW), backfat and BW gain of late-pregnant sows. Garcinol promoted plasma glucose levels in pregnant sows and newborn piglets. Garcinol up-regulated hepatic gluconeogenic enzyme expression and decreased PCAF activity. Garcinol had no effect on the expression of PPAR-γ co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) and Forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) but significantly increased their activity and decreased their acetylation in late-pregnant sows. Transfection of PCAF siRNA to hepatocytes of pregnant sows increased PGC-1α and FOXO1 activities. Furthermore, in hepatocytes of pregnant sows, garcinol treatment also up-regulated the activities of PGC-1α and FOXO1 and inhibited the acetylation of PGC-1α and FOXO1. Garcinol improves hepatic gluconeogenic enzyme expression in late-pregnant sows, and this may be due to the mechanism of down-regulating the acetylation of PGC-1α and FOXO1 induced by PCAF in isolated hepatocytes.

We present direct numerical simulations of non-Oberbeck–Boussinesq (NOB) Rayleigh–Bénard (RB) convection due to large temperature differences in two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) cells. Perfect air is chosen as the operating fluid and the Prandtl number ($Pr$) is fixed to 0.71 for the reference state $\hat{T}_{0}=300~\text{K}$. In the present system, we consider large temperature differences ranging from 60 K to 240 K, and relatively strong NOB effects are induced at moderate Rayleigh numbers ($Ra$) in the range $3\times 10^{6}\leqslant Ra\leqslant 5\times 10^{9}$. The large temperature difference also induces the turbulence system with large density variation. Due to top-down symmetry breaking under NOB conditions, an increase of the centre temperature $T_{c}$ is found compared to the arithmetic mean temperature $T_{m}$ of the top and bottom plates, and the shift of $T_{c}$ is strongly dependent on Rayleigh number $Ra$ and temperature differential $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}$. The NOB effects on the Nusselt number ($Nu$) are quite small (${\lesssim}2\,\%$). The power-law scalings of $Nu$ versus $Ra$ are robust against NOB effects, even for the extremely large temperature difference 240 K, which has never been reached in previous experiments and simulations. The Reynolds numbers $Re$, as well as the scalings of $Re$ versus $Ra$, are also insensitive to NOB effects. It is noteworthy that the influence of NOB effects on $Nu$ and $Re$ in 3-D RB flow are weaker than its 2-D counterpart. Furthermore, the extended laminar boundary layer (BL) equations are developed based on the low-Mach-number Navier–Stokes equations, which qualitatively predicts the NOB effects on velocity profiles. Direct numerical simulation results indicate that the top and bottom thermal BLs can compensate each other much better than the velocity BLs under NOB conditions, which contribute to the robustness of $Nu$.

Graphite nitride carbon nanosheets have received more and more attention toward the photocatalytic research and applications. Ultrathin g-CN nanosheets with porous structure were synthesized successfully by thermal calcination of melamine supramolecular complexes, which was obtained by pre-treating melamine in nitric acid solution at different concentrations (0.5–2 mol/L). Effects of HNO3 pre-treatment on the microstructure of supramolecular complexes were studied. The characteristics of g-CN nanosheets were investigated by X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The degradation performance for RhB and water splitting hydrogen production performance were used to evaluate the photocatalytic performances of g-CN nanosheets. The morphology and microstructure of HNO3/melamine supramolecular complexes are different from those of melamine precursor due to the better arrangement of the melamine units. Ultrathin porous g-CN nanosheets which possess a thickness of less than 2 nm were successfully prepared by calcination of melamine pre-treated with 1.0 mol/L nitric acid. The g-CN(1.0) nanosheets possess the highest photocatalytic degradation performance and water splitting hydrogen production performance due to the effective separation of photogenerated carriers and high specific surface area providing a large number of active sites.

The influence of tilt on flow reversals in two-dimensional thermal convection in rectangular cells with two typical aspect ratios, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=\text{width/height}=1$ and 2, are investigated by means of direct numerical simulations. For $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=1$, tilt tends to suppress flow reversals. However, it is found that flow reversals characterized by two main rolls are promoted by tilt for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=2$, which are even observed for some cases of small Prandtl numbers ($Pr$) and large tilt angles ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$). Different from level cases where the four corner rolls all have opportunities to grow and trigger a flow reversal, the reversals in an anticlockwise tilted cell with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=2$ are always led by the growth of the bottom-right or the top-left corner roll. Tilt is favourable for the growth of the bottom-right or the top-left corner roll and thus for breaking the balance between the two main rolls and triggering a flow reversal. The mode decomposition analysis shows that the appearance of the intermediate single-roll mode is crucial for reversals, and flow reversals in a tilted cell with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=2$ can be viewed as a mode competition process between single-roll mode and horizontally adjacent double-roll mode. They can only occur in a limited range of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ where the two modes have comparable strength. Furthermore, the Nusselt numbers at the hot plate $Nu_{h}$ and at the cold plate $Nu_{c}$ behave differently during a flow reversal for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=2$ due to the preference of single corner roll growth.

Ethanolamine (Etn) contained in milk is the base constituent of phosphatidylethanolamine and is required for the proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells and bacteria, which is important for maintenance of the gut microbiome and intestinal development. The present study investigated the effect of Etn on intestinal function and microbiome using 21-d-old Sprague–Dawley rats treated with 0, 250, 500 and 1000 μm Etn in drinking water for 2 weeks immediately after weaning. Growth performance, intestinal morphology, antioxidant capacity and mucosal immunity, as well as gut microbiota community composition, were evaluated. Metagenomic prediction and metabolic phenotype analysis based on 16S RNA sequencing were also carried out to assess changes in metabolic functions. We found that weaned rats administered 500 μm Etn enhanced mucosal antioxidant capacity, as evidenced by higher superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase levels in the jejunum (P<0·05) compared with those in the control group. Predominant microbes including Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Elusimicrobia and Tenericutes were altered by different levels of Etn compared with the control group. An Etn concentration of 500 µm shifted colonic microbial metabolic functions that are in favour of lipid- and sugar-related metabolism and biosynthesis. Etn also altered the metabolic phenotypes such as anaerobic microbial counts, and oxidative stress tolerance at over 250 µm. This is the first report for a role of Etn in modifying gut microbiota and intestinal functions. Our findings highlighted the important role of Etn in shaping gut microbial community and promotes intestinal functions, which may provide a better insight of breast-feeding to infant’s gut health.

In the present paper, analytical formulae for the shear lift forces on nanocylinders moving in linear shear flows in the free molecule regime are derived on the basis of the gas kinetic theory. The model takes into account the intermolecular interactions between the nanocylinders and gas molecules, i.e., the non-rigid-body effect. It is shown that the resulting formulae are consistent with the previous theory in the limit of rigid-body collisions. The lift forces acting on carbon nanotubes and long-chain $n$ -alkanes are evaluated as examples. It is found that the non-rigid-body effect is of great importance for small nanocylinders at low temperatures.

We examined the in vitro developmental competence of parthenogenetic activation (PA) oocytes activated by an electric pulse (EP) and treated with various concentrations of AZD5438 for 4 h. Treatment with 10 µM AZD5438 for 4 h significantly improved the blastocyst formation rate of PA oocytes in comparison with 0, 20, or 50 µM AZD5438 treatment (46.4% vs. 34.5%, 32.3%, and 24.0%, respectively; P < 0.05). The blastocyst formation rate was higher in the group treated with AZD5438 for 4 h than in the groups treated with AZD5438 for 2 or 6 h (42.8% vs. 38.6% and 37.2%, respectively; P > 0.05). Furthermore, 66.67% of blastocysts derived from these AZD5438-treated PA oocytes had a diploid karyotype. The blastocyst formation rate of PA and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos was similar between oocytes activated by an EP and treated with 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine for 4 h and those activated by an EP and treated with 10 µM AZD5438 for 4 h (11.11% vs. 13.40%, P > 0.05). In addition, the level of maturation-promoting factor (MPF) was significantly decreased in oocytes activated by an EP and treated with 10 µM AZD5438 for 4 h. Finally, the mRNA expression levels of apoptosis-related genes (Bax and Bcl-2) and pluripotency-related genes (Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2) were checked by RT-PCR; however, there were no differences between the AZD5438-treated and non-treated control groups. Our results demonstrate that porcine oocyte activation via an EP in combination with AZD5438 treatment can lead to a high blastocyst formation rate in PA and SCNT experiments.

In this work, we study the lift force on spherical nanoparticles suspended in a shear flow of rarefied binary gas mixtures. Analytical formulae are developed using the gas kinetic theory by considering non-rigid-body intermolecular interactions between the particle and gas molecules. It has been shown that the lift force formulae can be reduced to those in pure gases. It is also found that the direction of the lift force on nanoparticles in binary gas mixtures can be changed by varying the temperature, gas–particle interaction and/or gas concentrations.

Flow reversals in two-dimensional Rayleigh–Bénard convection led by non-Oberbeck–Boussinesq (NOB) effects due to large temperature differences are studied by direct numerical simulation. Perfect gas is chosen as the working fluid and the Prandtl number is 0.71 for the reference state. If NOB effects are included, the flow pattern $P_{11}$ with only one dominant roll often becomes unstable by the growth of the cold corner roll, which sometimes results in cession-led flow reversals. By exploiting the vorticity transport equation, it is found that the asymmetries of buoyancy and viscous forces are responsible for the growth of the cold corner roll because both such asymmetries cause an imbalance between the corner rolls and the large-scale circulation (LSC). The buoyancy force near the cold wall increases and decreases near the hot wall originating from the temperature-dependent isobaric thermal expansion coefficient ${\it\alpha}=1/T$ if NOB effects are included. Moreover, the decreased dissipation due to lower viscosity is favourable for the growth of the cold corner roll, while the increased viscosity further suppresses the growth of the hot corner roll. Finally, it is found that the boundary layer near the cold wall plays an important role in the mass transport from LSC to corner rolls subject to mass conservation.

We theoretically investigate the lift force on spherical nanoparticles in a shear flow of a dilute gas, wherein the non-rigid-body collision between the particle and the gas molecules is considered. The analytical formula of the lift force is derived based on the gas kinetic theory. In the limit of rigid-body collision, the formula is consistent with the theoretical results in the literature (Liu & Bogy, Phys. Fluids, vol. 20, 2008, 107102), which predicts that the lift force is in the opposite direction to the fluid velocity gradient (negative lift force). However, by taking into account gas–particle intermolecular interactions, the direction of the lift force on the nanoparticle is found to be dependent on temperature, i.e. both positive and negative lift forces exist in a certain temperature range. An explanation for the direction change of the lift force is given based on the analysis of the scattering angle under non-rigid-body particle–molecule collisions.

Analyses of morphological, anatomical, chemical and DNA sequences led to the recognition of ten species of Anzia in the Hengduan Mountains, which harbour all species known from China, including A. pseudocolpota sp. nov. and A. hypomelaena comb. & stat. nov. Furthermore, populations similar to A. hypoleucoides but with narrow lobes and a yellow-orange pigmented medulla may be a phylogenetically distinct species tentatively recognized as A. aff. hypoleucoides. The species are primarily distinguished by the presence or absence of a central axis, the colour and shape of the spongy cushion and the nature of the secondary compounds. A key to all known species of Anzia from China is presented.

Observational studies have suggested that the intake of flavonoids is associated with a decreased risk of CVD. However, the results of these studies remain controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between dietary flavonoid intake and CVD risk by conducting a systematic review of prospective cohort studies. Electronic reference databases were searched to identify studies that met the pre-stated inclusion criteria. The studies were assessed for eligibility and data were extracted by two authors independently. For each study, relative risks (RR) and 95 % CI were extracted and pooled using either a fixed-effects or a random-effects model. Generalised least-squares trend estimation analysis was used to evaluate dose–response relationships. The inclusion criteria were met by fourteen prospective cohort studies. The intakes of anthocyanidins (RR 0·89, 95 % CI 0·83, 0·96), proanthocyanidins (RR 0·90, 95 % CI 0·82, 0·98), flavones (RR 0·88, 95 % CI 0·82, 0·96), flavanones (RR 0·88, 95 % CI 0·82, 0·96) and flavan-3-ols (RR 0·87, 95 % CI 0·80, 0·95) were inversely associated with the risk of CVD when comparing the highest and lowest categories of intake. A similar association was observed for flavonol intake and CVD risk. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses further supported this association. The summary RR for CVD for every 10 mg/d increment in flavonol intake was 0·95 (95 % CI 0·91, 0·99). The present systematic review suggests that the dietary intakes of six classes of flavonoids, namely flavonols, anthocyanidins, proanthocyanidins, flavones, flavanones and flavan-3-ols, significantly decrease the risk of CVD.

In 2008 January the 24th Chinese expedition team successfully deployed the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) to Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. CSTAR consists of four 14.5cm optical telescopes, each with a different filter (g, r, i and open) and has a 4.5°×4.5° field of view (FOV). Based on the CSTAR data, initial statistics of astronomical observational site quality and light curves of variable objects were obtained. To reach higher photometric quality, we are continuing to work to overcome the effects of uneven cirrus cloud cirrus, optical “ghosts” and intra-pixel sensitivity. The snow surface stability is also tested for further astronomical observational instrument and for glaciology studies.

A 5′-flanking region and partial open reading frame (ORF) of the β-actin gene (GenBank accession No. EF026001) of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was cloned by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The segment included a 1643 bp regulatory sequence and a 90 bp partial ORF which encoded a 30-amino-acid peptide. The regulatory sequence comprised a 108 bp 5′ proximal promoter, the first untranslated exon and the first intron of the β-actin gene. The proximal promoter region contained elements that were critical for transcription activity, including a CCAAT, TATA and CArG box located at –92, –29 and –62 bp upstream of the transcription initiation site, respectively. The regulatory sequence was inserted into the promoterless pDsRed2-1 vector to construct the expressing vector pNA-DsRed. The linearized pNA-DsRed was microinjected into the fertilized eggs of Tanichthys albonubes. The expression of the DsRed2 gene in transgenic fish could be observed under the microfluoroscope and anatomical lens. The results showed that the β-actin gene promoter possessed effective transcription activity.

Butyrophilin 1A1 (BTN1A1), which is a member of the Ig superfamily, is highly expressed in the lactating mammary gland and is secreted into milk in association with lipid droplets, and concentrated in the apical plasma membranes of mammary epithelial cells. Because butyrophilin is expressed only during lactation, it appears to be essential for milk fat globule production. However, there is little information about its properties in the dairy goat. The objective of this study was to confirm whether butyrophilin was related to milk changes in different lactation periods of Xinong Saanen goats. Using suppression subtractive hybridization analysis, we identified a significant increase in butyrophilin mRNA in Xinong Saanen goat mammary gland at middle lactation when compared to that of late lactation. The gBTN1A1 complementary DNA has an open reading frame of 1581 nucleotides encoding a putative protein of 526 amino acids. Amino acids 1–26 were the signal peptide domain. The homologies of nucleotide and peptide sequences of goat butyrophilin with bovine (NM_174508), human (NM_001732) and mouse (AK145168) butyrophilin were 97 and 96%, 88 and 84%, 84 and 70%, respectively. The secondary structure, transmembrane domain and hydrophilicity of goat butyrophilin were similar to the those of the bovine, human and mouse protein. In conclusion, we confirmed that the goat mammary gland mRNA level of gBTN1A1 was responsible for goat milk fat globule secretion.

To increase our understanding of the relationships of trunk fat mass (FMtrunk) and four anthropometric indices in Chinese males, 1090 males aged 20–40 years were randomly recruited from the city of Changsha, China. Waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were measured using standardized equipment, and three other anthropometric indices of BMI, waist:hip ratio (WHR) and conicity index (CoI) were calculated using weight, height, HC and WC. FMtrunk (in kg) was measured using a Hologic QDR 4500 W dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanner. There was an increasing trend of FMtrunk, %FMtrunk (percentage of FMtrunk) and BMI, WC, WHR, CoI in successively older age groups (e.g. the mean FMtrunk values were 4·63 (sd 2·58), 5·39 (sd 2·74), 5·93 (sd 2·82), 6·57 (sd 2·94) in four 5-year age groups, respectively). FMtrunk and %FMtrunk were significantly correlated with four anthropometric indices with the Pearson's correlation coefficients ranging from 0·25 to 0·86. Principal component analysis was performed to form three principal components that interpreted over 99·5% of the total variation of four related anthropometric indices in all age groups, with over 65% of the total variation accounted by principal component 1. Multiple regression analyses showed that three principal components explained a greater variance (R2 70·0–80·1%) in FMtrunk than did BMI or WC alone (R2 57·8–74·1%). The present results suggest that there is an increasing trend of FMtrunk and four anthropometric indices in successively older age groups; that age has important effects on the relationships of FMtrunk and studied anthropometric indices; and that the accuracy of predicting FMtrunk using four anthropometric indices is higher than using BMI or WC alone.