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The present study investigated the effects of dietary astaxanthin on the growth, blood biochemical, antioxidant, immune and inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide‐challenged Channa argus. A total of 0, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of astaxanthin were added to the basal die for 56 days. After the feeding experiment, each group was subjected to a lipopolysaccharide challenge (except for the Control group). The results showed that adding astaxanthin to the diet can significantly increase the weight gain and specific growth rate and decrease the feed conversion ratio of C. argus; the highest weight gain, specific growth rate and minimum feed conversion ratio occurred in the 100 mg/kg group. Furthermore, dietary astaxanthin supplementation can alleviate the negative effects of lipopolysaccharides by increasing the levels of alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme, complement 3, complement 4, total serum protein, albumin, globulin, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and decrease the serum cortisol, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde. Dietary astaxanthin supplementation also can decrease the relative expression of inflammatory genes (nuclear factor κB, interleukin‐1, interleukin‐8 and tumour necrosis factor‐α) in the liver, spleen, kidney and intestine. To summarise, dietary astaxanthin addition can improve the growth performance and attenuate the negative effects of lipopolysaccharide challenge in C. argus. The optimal amount of astaxanthin is 100 mg/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A centrifugal prototype turbine used in a supercritical CO2-based solar Rankine cycle system (SRCS) is proposed and investigated by both experimental and analytical methods. The basic operation of the turbine is checked, and its performance is also systematically analyzed based on the CO2 mass flow rate and temperature at the outlet of turbine, its rotational speed, and output torque. In addition, the choking phenomenon of the flow in the nozzle is also investigated when the inner diameter of nozzle in the turbine is increased from 0.5 to 1.0 mm. The results show that the choked flow does not occur, and the CO2 flow can go smoothly in the nozzle when the inner diameter is bigger than 0.7 mm. It is also found that the turbine output torques related with electric power generation increase with the increase of inner diameter of nozzle. Present study reveals that current turbine provides a well performance for this SRCS and is helpful for the further development of solar thermal-energy technologies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY In this paper, a novel thermally driven pump is introduced, and its test in a closed supercritical CO2 loop cycle system is studied. The thermally driven pump is a refrigerant-circulating pump composed of two expansion tanks, which has less electricity consumption and better reliability compared with conventional mechanical pumps. Experimental results showed that the system efficiency of the present thermally driven pump in the supercritical CO2 loop can be enhanced compared with that using the mechanical feed pump. In addition, it was found that the system efficiency with the thermally driven pump decreases with the outlet temperature of condenser. The thermal energy utilization efficiency of the loop system with the thermally driven pump can be increased when the condenser has higher efficiency. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]