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Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome (MetS). Recent studies have indicated that circadian clock genes were dysregulated in OSA. In addition, it is clear that the impairment of circadian clocks drives the progression of MetS. Therefore, we hypothesized that circadian rhythm disruption links OSA with MetS.Methods: A total of 118 participants, who underwent polysomnography (PSG) and were diagnosed as healthy snorers (control, n = 29) or OSA (n = 89) patients based on the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI), were enrolled in the present study. General information, anthropometric data, blood biochemical indicators, clock gene expressions, and levels of oxidative and inflammatory indicators were collected, determined, and compared in all the participants.Results: We found that Brain and muscle aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator-like protein 1 (Bmal1) and Differentiated embryo chondrocyte 1 (Dec1) were upregulated, while Period 1 (Per1) was reduced in OSA patients. In addition, these changing trends were closely associated with the hypoxia indicator of AHI and have a significant impact on the presence of MetS components, such as hyperglycemia (Dec1 and Per1, p < 0.05 and 0.001, respectively), hypertension (Bmal1 and Dec1, p < 0.001 and 0.01, respectively), hyperlipidemia (Dec1, p < 0.01), and obesity (Dec1, p < 0.05). Notably, expressions of Dec1 correlated with IR and predicted the presence of MetS in OSA patients. Finally, we also observed that Dec1 expression was interrelated with levels of both oxidative indicators and inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6) in OSA.Conclusion: This study concluded that circadian clock disruptions, especially Dec1, link OSA with MetS in an oxidative and inflammatory-related manner. Circadian clock Dec1 can be used as a specific biomarker (p < 0.001) and therapeutic target in OSA combined with Mets patients.

Hydrogen is considered as a clean and promising fuel, and hydrogen production on-board has attracted widespread research attention. In this work, a gliding arc discharge (GAD) plasma reactor was utilized to reform toluene at room temperature and atmosphere pressure. The performance of hydrogen production through oxidative reforming with toluene as raw material under different input power, oxygen to carbon molecular ratio (O/C), residence time and argon addition was investigated. The optimal yields of H2 and CO (48.6% and 44.3%) were obtained under the condition of the input power of 32 W, the O/C of 0.68, the residence time of 18.4 s and 10 vol% Ar addition. By analyses of spectrum lines and GC-MS, the plasma reforming mechanism of toluene was proposed. It is believed that N2(B3Πg) and Ar* could increase the formation of reactive oxygen species (O+, O (1D), O and so on), and N2(B3Πg) could impact directly the reforming of toluene.

In this paper, we consider the intrinsic Diophantine approximation on the triadic Cantor set $\mathcal{K}$, i.e. approximating the points in $\mathcal{K}$ by rational numbers inside $\mathcal{K}$, a question posed by K. Mahler. By using another height function of a rational number in $\mathcal{K}$, i.e. the denominator obtained from its periodic 3-adic expansion, a complete metric theory for this variant intrinsic Diophantine approximation is presented which yields the divergence theory of Mahler's original question.

Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) is effective in extinguishing oil fires. The extinguishing effect generally depends on the foam spread process and its coverage area. In this study, the foam spread process under external thermal radiation is investigated. Firstly, based on the axisymmetric foam spread model, the relationship of radiation and foam thickness is discussed. Then foam spreading experiments under pool fire condition were carried out, to simulate the actual extinguishing process of AFFF. Finally, the foam spread model considering the external radiation flux is developed which may provide theoretical guidance for fire suppression using AFFF.

Methane conversion has been studied using gliding arc plasma in the presence of argon. The process was conducted at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature. The focus of this research was to develop a process of converting methane to C2 hydrocarbons and hydrogen. The main parameters, including the CH4/Ar mole ratio, the CH4 flow rate, the input voltage, and the minimum electrode gap, were varied to investigate their effects on methane conversion rate, product distribution, energy consumption, carbon deposit, and reaction stability. The specific energy requirement (SER) was used to express the energy utilization efficiency of the process and provided a practical guidance for optimizing reaction conditions for improving energy efficiency. It was found that the carbon deposition was not conducive to methane conversion, and the gliding arc plasma discharge reached a stable state twelve minutes later. Optimum conditions for methane conversion were suggested. The maximum methane conversion rate of 43.39% was obtained under the optimum conditions. Also, C2 hydrocarbons selectivity, C2 hydrocarbons yield, H2 selectivity, H2 yield and SER were 87.20%, 37.83%, 81.28%, 35.27%, and 2.09 MJ/mol, respectively.

The aim was to investigate the effects of yeast selenium (YS) supplementation on the growth performance, meat quality, immunity, and antioxidant variables of geese. A total of 96 one-day-old geese with similar body weight were randomly divided into four groups, with three replicates per group and eight geese in each replicate. The birds were fed basal diets supplemented with 0, 0.10, 0.30, 0.50 mg/kg YS (on selenium basis) during the 63-day experiment. Yeast selenium supplementation showed no effect on the growth performance of geese, but significantly improved the meat quality. No changes in ash or fat content were observed in breast muscle, but significant (p < 0.05) protein content increase was detected in the 0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg groups. Yeast selenium supplementation significantly (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) promoted Se deposition in liver, kidney, pancreas, and muscle and the highest increases were all detected in the 0.5 mg/kg group. Yeast selenium supplementation enhanced the organ and cellular immunity of geese, but did not alter the humoral immunity. Furthermore, dietary YS significantly (p < 0.05) promoted the antioxidant capacity of both muscle and liver, but the effects varied with YS levels and organs. Hence, dietary YS supplementation was a good measure to improve the meat quality, Se content, immunity function, and antioxidant capacity of goose.

Effects of cooling methods on stability and methane conversion rate using dielectric-barrier discharges (DBD) were systematically investigated in this article. The results showed that the methane conversion rate was as high as 44.43% in a pure methane system at a flow rate of 100 mL ± min−1 and an input power of 234.2 W with air cooling. A dark greenish and soft film-like carbon was deposited on the outer surface of quartz tube when the outer electrode was water-cooled, which decreased the methane conversion. With air cooling of inner electrode the selectivity of C2 hydrocarbons was higher than that with other cooling methods, while the C3 hydrocarbons had higher selectivity with flowing water cooling. Cooling the inner electrode could restrain the carbon deposition, but would decrease the methane conversion rate. The stability of both reaction and plasma operation can be improved through cooling the reactor. From thermodynamic analysis, it was found that the effective collisions frequency among the reactant molecules and free electrons (e−) increased with temperature, which in turn led to a higher methane conversion rate and a change in the distribution of products.

The direct synthesis of C 2 hydrocarbons (ethylene, acetylene and ethane) from methane is one of the most important task in C 1 chemistry. Higher conversion of methane and selectivity to C 2 hydrocarbons can be realized through plasma reaction. In order to explore the reaction process and mechanism, the possible reaction paths (1)–(4) were proposed on coupling reaction of methane through plasma and studied theoretically using semi-PM3 method [PM3 is parameterization method of modified neglect of diatomic overlap (MNDO)] including determining the transition state, calculating the activation energy and thermodynamic state functions and analyzing the bond order and intrinsic reaction coordinate. The reaction heat results indicate that the reactions (2) and (4) are exothermic, while reactions of (1) and (3) are endothermic. The activation energy results show that activation energy for reactions (1) and (2) was much lower than that of reaction paths (3) and (4). Therefore, paths (1) and (2) is the favorable reaction path energetically. More interestingly by comparing the intrinsic reaction coordinated (IRC) of the reaction paths (1) and (2), it is found that the variations of bond lengths in reaction path (1) has a crucial effect on the potential energy, while in reaction path (2), the adjustment of the system geometry also contributes to the whole potential energy of the system.

We consider the distribution of the orbits of the number 1 under the $\beta$-transformations $T_\beta$ as $\beta$ varies. Mainly, the size of the set of $\beta>1$ for which a given point can be well approximated by the orbit of 1 is measured by its Hausdorff dimension. That is, the dimension of the following set $$ E\big({\ell_n}_{n\ge 1}, x_0\big)=\Big{\beta>1: |T^n_{\beta}1-x_0|1}$.

The experiments are carried out in the system of continuous flow reactors with dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) for studies on the conversion of natural gas to C 2 hydrocarbons through plasma catalysis under the atmosphere pressure and room temperature. The influence of discharge frequency, structure of electrode, discharge voltage, number of electrode, ratio of H 2 /CH 4 , flow rate and catalyst on conversion of methane and selectivity of C 2 hydrocarbons are investigated. At the same time, the reaction process is investigated. Higher conversion of methane and selectivity of C 2 hydrocarbons are achieved and deposited carbons are eliminated by proper choice of parameters. The appropriate operation parameters in dielectric-barrier discharge plasma field are that the supply voltage is 20—40 kV (8.4—40 W), the frequency of power supply is 20 kHz, the structure of (b) electrode is suitable, and the flow of methane is 20—60 mL·min -1 . The conversion of methane can reach 45%, the selectivity of C 2 hydrocarbons is 76%, and the total selectivity of C 2 hydrocarbons and C 3 hydrocarbons is nearly 100%. The conversion of methane increases with the increase of voltage and decreases with the flow of methane increase; the selectivity of C 2 hydrocarbons decreases with the increase of voltage and increases with the flow of methane increase. The selectivity of C 2 hydrocarbons is improved with catalyst for conversion of natural gas to C 2 hydrocarbons in plasma field. Methane molecule collision with radicals is mainly responsible for product formation.