•Yield of bio-oil was increased with the presence of NaCl catalyst during rice husk pyrolysis.•Quality of bio-oils from catalytic pyrolysis improved with NaCl catalyst addition.•CO content decreased ...and CO2 and H2 increased using NaCl catalyst.
Pyrolysis of rice husk with or without catalyst was investigated in a fixed bed reactor to determine the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) catalyst on the yields of three products, the properties of the bio-oils and the gas composition. At the optimum pyrolysis conditions, the bio-oil yield obtained in non-catalytic pyrolysis process was 53.81wt.%, while that of catalytic pyrolysis maximumly increased to 57.61wt.% with 3wt.% NaCl catalyst. The composition of bio-oils was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and the results indicated that the catalyst would pierce through the rice husk textures to act on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin and change the pyrolysis reaction pathways, which decreased the percentage of organic acids, esters, ketones, guaiacols and aldehydes, but increased the percentage of alcohols, phenols, furans and anhydrosugars, along with getting more small molecular compounds. Quality of the bio-oils from catalytic pyrolysis was improved, which carried higher heating value and lower acid value. The maximum heating value and the minimum acid value of bio-oils were 27.09MJ/kg and 68.33 mgKOHg−1, obtained with 3wt.% and 4wt.% NaCl catalyst, respectively, which were 5.12% higher and 14.83% lower than that of non-catalytic pyrolysis. The gas chromatography (GC) analysis of non-condensable gas showed that CO content decreased and CO2 and H2 increased with NaCl catalyst addition, obviously.
Optical methods to manipulate and detect nanoscale objects are highly desired in both nanomaterials and molecular biology fields. Optical tweezers have been used to manipulate objects that range in ...size from a few hundred nanometres to several micrometres. The emergence of near-field methods that overcome the diffraction limit has enabled the manipulation of objects below 100 nm. A highly free manipulation with signal-enhanced real-time detection, however, remains a challenge for single sub-100-nm nanoparticles or biomolecules. Here we show an approach that uses a photonic nanojet to perform the manipulation and detection of single sub-100-nm objects. With the photonic nanojet generated by a dielectric microlens bound to an optical fibre probe, three-dimensional manipulations were achieved for a single 85-nm fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticle as well as for a plasmid DNA molecule. Backscattering and fluorescent signals were detected with the enhancement factors up to ∼10
and ∼30, respectively. The demonstrated approach provides a potentially powerful tool for nanostructure assembly, biosensing and single-biomolecule studies.
The remarkable progress in recent multimessenger observations of both isolated neutron stars (NSs) and their mergers has provided some of the much needed data to improve our understanding about the ...equation of state (EOS) of dense neutron-rich matter. Various EOSs with or without some kinds of phase transitions from hadronic to quark matter (QM) have been widely used in many forward modelings of NS properties. Direct comparisons of these predictions with observational data sometimes also using χ2 minimizations have provided very useful constraints on the model EOSs. Furthermore, it is normally difficult to perform uncertain quantifications and analyze correlations of the EOS model parameters involved in forward modelings especially when the available data are still very limited.
In this paper, we investigate the effect of digital finance inclusion (DFI) on household consumption inequality in China. Based on the biennial panel data of China Household Finance Survey from 2015 ...to 2017 and the county-level DFI index, we empirically analyze the impact of DFI on consumption inequality by using fixed effect model. We find that the development of DFI can significantly reduce the consumption inequality among residents. This is partly because DFI can reduce the income inequality among residents. And the development of DFI has different marginal impact on consumption expenditure for different residents, thus leading to the reduction of the residents consumption gap. We also find that, compared to the extensive usage and the degree of digitization, the intensive usage of DFI has larger effects on lowering consumption inequality. In addition, the effects of DFI on consumption inequality have significant heterogeneity, and they are relatively larger for residents in eastern regions, and for households with low debt-to-income ratios and for individuals with compulsory education. Therefore, it is necessary to attach importance to supporting construction in the western region when coordinating the development of digital inclusive finance. It is important to strengthen policy preference for residents with lower education levels in terms of school compulsory education and community public welfare education. Meanwhile, when developing the digital financial inclusion, we should focus on controlling the household debt-to-income ratio to prevent excessive debt growth.
Recent cosmic microwave background observations favor low-energy-scale inflationary models in a closed universe. However, the onset of inflation in such models for a closed universe is known to be ...severely problematic. In particular, such a universe recollapses within a few Planck seconds and encounters a big crunch singularity when initial conditions are given in the Planck regime. We show that this problem of the onset of inflation in low-energy-scale inflationary models can be successfully overcome in a quantum-gravitational framework where the big bang/big crunch singularities are resolved and a nonsingular cyclic evolution exists prior to inflation. As an example, we consider a model in loop quantum cosmology and demonstrate that the successful onset of low-energy-scale inflation in a closed universe is possible for the Starobinsky inflationary model starting from a variety of initial conditions where it is impossible in the classical theory. For comparison, we also investigate the onset of inflation in the ϕ2 inflationary model under highly unfavorable conditions and find similar results. Our numerical investigation including the phase-space analysis shows that the preinflationary phase with quantum gravity effects is composed of nonidentical cycles of bounces and recollapses resulting in a hysteresis-like phenomenon, which plays an important role in creating suitable conditions for inflation to occur after some number of nonsingular cycles. Our analysis shows that the tension in the classical theory amounting to the unsuitability of closed Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker universes with respect to the onset of low-energy-scale inflation can be successfully resolved in loop quantum cosmology.
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fibers are the highly elongated and thickened single-cell trichomes on the seed epidermis. However, little is known about the molecular base of fiber cell wall thickening ...in detail.
In this study, a cotton NAC transcription factor (GhFSN1) that is specifically expressed in secondary cell wall (SCW) thickening fibers was functionally characterized. The GhFSN1 transgenic cotton plants were generated to study how FSN1 regulates fiber SCW formation.
Up-regulation of GhFSN1 expression in cotton resulted in an increase in SCW thickness of fibers but a decrease in fiber length. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that GhFSN1 activates or represses numerous downstream genes. GhFSN1 has the ability to form homodimers, binds to its promoter to activate itself, and might be degraded by the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome pathway. The direct targets of GhFSN1 include the fiber SCW-related GhDUF231L1, GhKNL1, GhMYBL1, GhGUT1 and GhIRX12 genes. GhFSN1 binds directly to a consensus sequence (GhNBS), (C/T)(C/G/T)TN(A/T)(G/T)(A/C/G)(A/G)(A/T/G)(A/T/G)AAG, which exists in the promoters of these SCW-related genes.
Our data demonstrate that GhFSN1 acts as a positive regulator in controlling SCW formation of cotton fibers by activating its downstream SCW-related genes. Thus, these findings give us novel insights into comprehensive understanding of GhFSN1 function in fiber development.
Muons in neutron stars (NSs) play especially important roles in addressing several interesting new physics questions associated with detecting as well as understanding interactions and astrophysical ...effects of muonphilic dark matter particles. The key model inputs for studying the latter are the total muon mass M , the muon mass fraction M /MNS over the NS mass MNS, and the muon radial density profile (r) in NSs of varying masses. We investigate these quantities within a minimum model for the core of NSs consisting of neutrons, protons, electrons, and muons using an explicitly isospin-dependent parametric equation of state (EOS) constrained by available nuclear laboratory experiments and the latest astrophysical observations of NS masses, radii, and tidal deformabilities. We found that the absolutely maximum muon mass M and its mass fraction M /MNS in the most massive NSs allowed by causality are about 0.025 M and 1.1%, respectively. For the most massive NS of mass 2.14 M observed so far, they reduce to about 0.020 M and 0.9%, respectively. We also study respective effects of individual parameters describing the EOS of high-density neutron-rich nucleonic matter on the muon contents in NSs with varying masses. We found that the most important but uncertain nuclear physics ingredient for determining the muon contents in NSs is the high-density nuclear symmetry energy.
Temperature has been studied in relation to many health outcomes. However, few studies have explored its effect on the risk of hospital admission for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A distributed lag ...non-linear model (DLNM) was used to analyze associations between mean temperature, diurnal temperature range (DTR), temperature change between neighboring days (TCN), and daily admissions for RA from 2015 to 2019 in Anqing, China. Subgroup analyses based on age, gender, rheumatoid factors, and admission route were performed. In total, 1456 patients with RA were hospitalized. Regarding the cumulative-lag effects of extreme cold temperature (5th percentile = 3℃), the risks of admissions for RA were increased and highest at lag 0–11 (RR = 2.68, 95% CI: 1.23–5.86). Exposing to low (5th percentile = 1.9℃) and high (95th percentile = 14.2℃) DTRs both had increased risks of RA admission, with highest RRs of 1.40 (95% CI: 1.03–1.91) and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.0–1.53) at lag 0 day, respectively. As for TCN, the marginal risk of admission in RA patients was found when exposed to high TCN (95th percentile = 2.9℃) with the largest single-day effect at lag 10 (RR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.01–1.23). In subgroup analyses, females were more susceptible to extreme cold temperature, low and high DTRs, and high TCN. In regard to extreme cold temperature, significant risk of hospital admission in females only appeared at lag 2 (RR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.02–2.15) and lag 0–2 (RR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.11–4.95). It is clear that RA patients exposed to changing temperature may increase risks of admission.
AlSi10Mg samples were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) using meander strategy and remelting strategy to gain insight into the variation of the microstructures and microhardness as well as ...the surface morphology, characteristics of molten pool, relative density and phase identification. The results show that the remelting strategy in SLM improves the surface quality (9.94 μm) and relative density (99.3%) of AlSi10Mg, at the same time, the shallower melt pool also is attained by remelting step due to the higher thermal conductivity and the reflectivity of laser in solid than powder. The shallower melt pool for second scan remelts the columnar grain near the top of the original melt pool and the solidifies in the same way with as original melt pool, resulting in finer equiaxed grains. The finer microstructures with supersaturated α-Al improve the hardness performance of SLMed samples from 117.7 HV0.3 to 121.6 HV0.3.
As the important source of natural fibers in the textile industry, cotton fiber quality and yield are often restricted to drought conditions because most of cotton plants in the world grow in the ...regions with water shortage. WRKY transcription factors regulate multiple plant physiological processes, including drought stress response. However, little is known of how the WRKY genes respond to drought stress in cotton. Our previous study revealed GhWRKY33 is leaf-specific and induced by drought stress. In this study, our data showed GhWRKY33 protein localizes to the cell nucleus and is able to bind to "W-box" cis-acting elements of the target promoters. Under drought stress, GhWRKY33 overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis was withered much more quickly than wild type due to faster water loss. Moreover, GhWRKY33 transgenic plants displayed more tolerance to abscisic acid (ABA), relative to wild type. Expression of some drought stress-related genes and ABA-responsive genes were changed in the GhWRKY33 transgenic Arabidopsis with drought or ABA treatment. Collectively, our findings indicate that GhWRKY33 may act as a negative regulator to mediate plant response to drought stress and to participate in the ABA signaling pathway.
PDF
