Significant differences in the adoption of energy-saving measures between homeowners and renters were found in the survey data of 1,248 households from the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. In this ...study, we examined the influence of split incentive effects between homeowners and renters, which stem from differences between those who pay and those who enjoy the benefits of the adoption of energy-efficient (EE) technology and energy-saving behaviors. Average marginal effects were used to measure the magnitude of the “split incentive” effect by considering many EE technologies and energy-saving behaviors. Both split incentive effects were measured and compared for the first time, producing some interesting results. There is clear evidence of split incentive problems for both measures, and on average, homeowners were found to be16.08% more likely than renters to have access to adoptable EE technologies, while the effects were much smaller (only 4.28%) for adopting behavioral measures. The results were highly robust for household characteristics and specific psychological determinants, such as willingness-to-pay and environmental beliefs. Policy implications are provided to address the split incentive problems in rental markets in household sectors, based on our results.
•Split incentive effects for household energy-saving measures are examined.•A survey of 1,248 households in Western Europe was carried out.•The differences between technical and behavioral measures were identified together.•There is clear evidence of principal-agent problems for both measures.•Homeowners are 16.08% more likely than renters to adopt energy efficiency measures.
The colonization of dairy herds and subsequent contamination of raw milk by
(
), especially those expressing a multi-drug resistance (MDR), biofilm and toxins producing ability, remains an important ...issue for both the dairy producer and public health. In this study, we investigated the prevalence, antimicrobial resistance, virulence, and genetic diversity of
in raw milk taken from 2 dairy farms in Beijing, China. Ninety (46.2%, 90/195) samples were positive for
. Resistant to penicillin (PEN) (31.3%), ciprofloxacin (18.8%) and enrofloxacin (15.6%) were the most often observed. Isolates cultured from farm B showed significantly higher resistance to penicillin (73.9%), ciprofloxacin (34.8%), enrofloxacin (34.8%), tilmicosin (17.4%), and erythromycin (17.4%) than those from farm A (
< 0.05). Totally, 94.8%
harbored at least one virulence gene and the
(93.8%),
(65.6%), and
(60.4%) genes were the most frequently detected. The
and
genes were more often detected in isolates from farm A (97.3% and 84.9% respectively) than those from farm B (
< 0.05). Of all 77 staphylococcus enterotoxin (SE)-positive isolates, more than 90% could produce enterotoxins and 70.1% could produce two types. Biofilm related genes (
/
, and
) were detected in all96 isolates. All 96 isolates could produce biofilm with 8.3, 70.8, and 18.8% of the isolates demonstrating weak, moderate and strong biofilm formation, respectively. A total of 5 STs, 7
types (1 novel
type t17182), 3
types (no
II), and 14
-pulso-types were found in this study. PFGE cluster II-CC1-ST1-t127-
III was the most prevalent clone (56.3%). Isolates of
III (PFGE Cluster I/II-CC1-ST1-t127/2279) had higher detection of virulence genes than those of
I and
IV. TheMSSA-ST398-t1456-
I clone expressed the greatest MDRbut with no virulence genes and weakly biofilm formation. Our finding indicated a relatively high prevalence of
with less antimicrobial resistance but often positive for enterotoxigenicity and biofilm formation. This study could help identify predominant clones and provide surveillance measures to eliminate and decrease the contamination of
in raw milk of dairy cows with mastitis.
Summary
Various surface signals are recognized by Magnaporthe oryzae to activate the Pmk1 MAP kinase that is essential for appressorium formation and invasive growth. One of upstream sensors of the ...Pmk1 pathway is the MoMsb2 signalling mucin. However, the activation of MoMsb2 and its relationship with other sensors is not clear. In this study, we showed that the cleavage and transmembrane domains are essential for MoMsb2 functions. Cleavage of MoMsb2 was further confirmed by western blot analysis, and five putative cleavage sites were functionally characterized. Expression of the extracellular region alone partially rescued the defects of Momsb2 in appressorium formation and virulence. The cytoplasmic region of MoMsb2, although dispensable for appressorium formation, was more important for penetration and invasive growth. Interestingly, the Momsb2 cbp1 double mutant deleted of both mucin genes was blocked in Pmk1 activation. It failed to form appressoria on artificial surfaces and was non‐pathogenic. In addition, we showed that MoMsb2 interacts with Ras2 but not with MoCdc42 in co‐immunoprecipitation assays. Overall, results from this study indicated that the extracellular and cytoplasmic regions of MoMsb2 have distinct functions in appressorium formation, penetration and invasive growth, and MoMsb2 has overlapping functions with Cbp1 in recognizing environmental signals for Pmk1 activation.
A comprehensive study of thermo-economic analysis and practical conceptual design of miniaturized lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) composing supercritical CO2 power cycle is proposed in order to ...promote the real application in the market. The thermodynamic model and economic model are established based on the following five supercritical CO2 (S-CO2) Brayton cycles integrating with the miniaturized LFR, separately. Moreover, the optimization algorithm is adopted to optimize the key parameters of five power cycles with the objectives of maximizing the system thermoelectric conversion efficiency and electricity production costs (EPC) simultaneously. The optimal cycle and optimum parameters are obtained for the integrated system. Furthermore, the structural parameters of key components are confirmed based on the above results. The main subsidiary systems are designed. Finally, the practical design of LFR composing S-CO2 power cycle is carried out. The results shown that various parameters have different effects on the thermodynamic-economic performance of the system. The higher inlet temperature of turbine is beneficial to improve both thermodynamic and economic performance of the system. With the ƞt,sys-EPC analyzed simultaneously, the recompression cycle is the optimal to operate with more working conditions. Its ƞt,sys is from 36.68% to 44.46%, and EPC is from 0.050 $·kW−1·h−1 to 0.055 $·kW−1·h−1).
Summary
SR protein‐specific kinases (SRPKs) uniquely with a spacer region are important splicing factors from yeast to human. However, little is known about their biological functions in filamentous ...fungi. Therefore, we characterized a SRPK called SRK1 in wheat scab fungus Fusarium graminearum. Our data showed that Srk1 is required for vegetative growth, sexual reproduction and plant infection, and plays critical roles in pre‐mRNA alternative splicing and gene expression. Remarkably, we found that Srk1 displayed dynamic shuttling between cytoplasm and the nucleus, which is regulated by the divergent spacer domain rather than its kinase activity, suggesting a regulatory mechanism for Srk1. Interestingly, Srk1‐GFP also localized to the septal pores, indicating a possible role of Srk1 unrelated to mRNA processing. Although both K1 and K2 lobes of the kinase domain are essential for Srk1 functions, the K2 but not K1 lobe is responsible for the septal pore localization. Lastly, we established that Srk1 physically interacts with the two SR proteins, FgNpl3 and FgSrp1. Overall, our results indicated that SRK1 regulates fungal development, plant infection and mRNA processing by phosphorylation of other splicing factors including SR proteins, and the spacer domain regulates the functions of Srk1 by modulating its nucleocytoplasmic shuttling.
Abstract Diabetic cardiomyopathy has been known as an important complication of diabetes and characterized by persistent diastolic dysfunction, resulting in myocardial fibrosis, which is associated ...inflammatory response and oxidative stress. Liquiritin is a major constituent of Glycyrrhiza Radix, possessing various pharmacological activities and exhibiting various positive biological effects, including anti-cancer, anti-oxidative and neuroprotective effects. Here, we investigated the anti-inflammatory properties and protective effects of lquiritin in high fructose-induced mice and cardiomyocytes to clarify the potential mechanism. The mice were divided into the control mice, 30% high fructose-induced mice, 10 mg/kg liquiritin-treaed mice after fructose feeding and 20 mg/kg liquiritin-treaed mice after fructose feeding. Liquiritin effectively reduced the lipid accumulation and insulin resistance induced by fructose feeding. In comparison to high fructose-feeding control mice, liquiritin-treated mice developed less myocardial fibrosis with lower expression of Collagen type I, Collagen type II and alpha smooth muscle-actin (α-SMA). In addition, liquiritin significantly reduced the inflammatory cytokine release and NF-κB phosphorylation through IKKα/IκBα signaling pathway suppression. Further, Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including p38, ERK1/2 and JNK, was up-regulated for fructose stimulation, which was inactivated by liquiritin treatment in vivo and in vitro studies. Our data indicates that liquiritin has a protective effect against high fructose-induced myocardial fibrosis via suppression of NF-κB and MAPKs signaling pathways, and liquiritin may be a promising candidate for diabetes-related myocardial fibrosis treatment.
This study investigated variations in the chemical compositions and thermal decomposition kinetics of Japanese cedar and beech wood during heat treatment. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ...nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra revealed that various reactions, such as hemicellulose deacetylation, condensation reactions causing lignin cross-linking, and reductions in cellulose amorphous regions, were carried out during the heat treatment process. In addition, combinations of FTIR spectra and principal component analysis (PCA) succeeded in discriminating the major changes in functional groups of wood at various heat treatment temperatures. On the other hand, the decrease in the storage modulus of wood was more rapid in the presence of oxygen than in an oxygen-free atmosphere during heat treatment. Accordingly, the activation energies of thermal decomposition using Arrhenius model for Japanese cedar and beech were 120.6 and 141.3 kJ/mol under air, respectively, while these values were 124.8 and 150.0 kJ/mol under nitrogen, respectively.
•This study succeeded in discriminating the major changes in functional groups of wood at various heat treatment temperatures.•The thermal decomposition kinetics of wood were measured in single cantilever bending mode by DMA.•Little change was observed in E′ as a function of time at temperatures below 140 °C.•The activation energy of thermal decomposition for Japanese cedar was higher than that for beech.
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