Sugar preferences, absorption efficiency and water influx in a Neotropical nectarivorous passerine, the Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)

2004 ◽  
Vol 139 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astolfo Mata ◽  
Carlos Bosque
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Efficiency ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Coereba Flaveola

Must Desert Chukars (Alectoris chukar sinaica) Drink Water? Water Influx and Body Mass Changes in Response to Dietary Water Content

The Auk ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Allan Degen ◽  
Berry Pinshow ◽  
Peter J. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Free Water ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Fresh Matter ◽  
Alectoris Chukar ◽  
Water Influx ◽  
Green Vegetation ◽  
Body Mass Changes ◽  
Vegetation Water

Abstract The Chukar subspecies Alectoris chukar sinaica inhabits the Negev desert, which is characterized by hot, dry summers, and little winter rainfall. Vegetation is dry and dormant during the summer and autumn; green, succulent vegetation is available following winter rain. We studied whether or not and under what dietary conditions Chukars require drinking water. Four groups of Chukars in an outdoor aviary received either a dry ration + water, a dry ration + green vegetation, a dry ration + green vegetation + water, or green vegetation only. The birds offered only greens lost 15% of their body mass in the first 8 days and 2.9% over the next 6 days, while birds on the other three treatments maintained body mass. The birds receiving only greens had the highest total body water to body mass ratio and the highest water influx. We concluded that the Chukars receiving only green vegetation met their water requirements but not their maintenance energy requirements. Chukars fulfilled both their water and energy requirements on a dry ration + green vegetation (without drinking water); the green vegetation comprised approximately 60% of their total fresh matter intake, or 26% of their total dry matter intake. Our analysis suggests that wild desert Chukars do not require drinking water from early winter to late spring, when succulent forage is available, but probably need free water during summer and autumn, when the bulk of their diet is seeds.

scholarly journals Optimization of Tilmicosin-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Using Orthogonal Design for Overcoming Oral Administration Obstacle

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Jia Wen ◽  
Xiuge Gao ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Benazir Sahito ◽  
Hongbin Si ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Administration ◽  
Oral Delivery ◽  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Orthogonal Design ◽  
Drug Loading ◽  
Absorption Efficiency ◽  
Nanostructured Lipid Carriers ◽  
Orthogonal Experimental Design ◽  
Hydrodynamic Diameter

Tilmicosin (TMS) is widely used to treat bacterial infections in veterinary medicine, but the clinical effect is limited by its poor solubility, bitterness, gastric instability, and intestinal efflux transport. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are nowadays considered to be a promising vector of therapeutic drugs for oral administration. In this study, an orthogonal experimental design was applied for optimizing TMS-loaded NLCs (TMS-NLCs). The ratios of emulsifier to mixed lipids, stearic acid to oleic acid, drugs to mixed lipids, and cold water to hot emulsion were selected as the independent variables, while the hydrodynamic diameter (HD), drug loading (DL), and entrapment efficiency (EE) were the chosen responses. The optimized TMS-NLCs had a small HD, high DL, and EE of 276.85 ± 2.62 nm, 9.14 ± 0.04%, and 92.92 ± 0.42%, respectively. In addition, a low polydispersity index (0.231 ± 0.001) and high negative zeta potential (−31.10 ± 0.00 mV) indicated the excellent stability, which was further demonstrated by uniformly dispersed spherical nanoparticles under transmission electron microscopy. TMS-NLCs exhibited a slow and sustained release behavior in both simulated gastric juice and intestinal fluid. Furthermore, MDCK-chAbcg2/Abcb1 cell monolayers were successfully established to evaluate their absorption efficiency and potential mechanism. The results of biodirectional transport showed that TMS-NLCs could enhance the cellular uptake and inhibit the efflux function of drug transporters against TMS in MDCK-chAbcg2/Abcb1 cells. Moreover, the data revealed that TMS-NLCs could enter the cells mainly via the caveolae/lipid raft-mediated endocytosis and partially via macropinocytosis. Furthermore, TMS-NLCs showed the same antibacterial activity as free TMS. Taken together, the optimized NLCs were the promising oral delivery carrier for overcoming oral administration obstacle of TMS.

scholarly journals Rational Design and Simulation of Two-Dimensional Perovskite Photonic Crystal Absorption Layers Enabling Improved Light Absorption Efficiency for Solar Cells

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2460
Author(s):  
Jian Zou ◽  
Mengnan Liu ◽  
Shuyu Tan ◽  
Zhijie Bi ◽  
Yong Wan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Structure ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Photonic Crystal ◽  
Incident Light ◽  
Absorption Efficiency ◽  
Utilization Efficiency ◽  
Photonic Crystal Structure ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Photoelectric Conversion ◽  
Absorption Layer

A two-dimensional perovskite photonic crystal structure of Methylamine lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3, MAPbI3) is rationally designed as the absorption layer for solar cells. The photonic crystal (PC) structure possesses the distinct “slow light” and band gap effect, leading to the increased absorption efficiency of the absorption layer, and thus the increased photoelectric conversion efficiency of the battery. Simulation results indicate that the best absorption efficiency can be achieved when the scattering element of indium arsenide (InAs) cylinder is arranged in the absorption layer in the form of tetragonal lattice with the height of 0.6 μm, the diameter of 0.24 μm, and the lattice constant of 0.4 μm. In the wide wavelength range of 400–1200 nm, the absorption efficiency can be reached up to 82.5%, which is 70.1% higher than that of the absorption layer without the photonic crystal structure. In addition, the absorption layer with photonic crystal structure has good adaptability to the incident light angle, presenting the stable absorption efficiency of 80% in the wide incident range of 0–80°. The results demonstrate that the absorption layer with photonic crystal structure can realize the wide spectrum, wide angle, and high absorption of incident light, resulting in the increased utilization efficiency of solar energy.

scholarly journals Broadband Solar Absorber Based on Square Ring cross Arrays of ZnS

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 909
Author(s):  
Feng Xu ◽  
Lixia Lin ◽  
Jun Fang ◽  
Mianli Huang ◽  
Feng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Spectrum ◽  
Visible Light ◽  
Surface Plasmon ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Metamaterial Absorber ◽  
Absorption Efficiency ◽  
Plasmon Mode ◽  
Solar Absorber ◽  
Absorbing Material

Solar energy is an inexhaustible clean energy. However, how to improve the absorption efficiency in the visible band is a long-term problem for researchers. Therefore, an electromagnetic wave absorber with an ultra-long absorption spectrum has been widely considered by researchers of optoelectronic materials. A kind of absorbing material based on ZnS material is presented in this paper. Our purpose is for the absorber to achieve a good and wide spectrum of visible light absorption performance. In the wide spectrum band (553.0 THz–793.0 THz) of the absorption spectrum, the average absorption rate of the absorber is above 94%. Using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and gap surface plasmon mode, the metamaterial absorber was studied in visible light. In particular, the absorber is insensitive to both electric and magnetic absorption. The absorber can operate in complex electromagnetic environments and at high temperatures. This is because the absorber is made of refractory metals. Finally, we discuss and analyze the influence of the parameters regulating the absorber on the absorber absorption efficiency. We have tried to explain why the absorber can produce wideband absorption.

scholarly journals Optically Induced Field-Emission Source Based on Aligned Vertical Carbon Nanotube Arrays

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1810
Author(s):  
Mengjie Li ◽  
Qilong Wang ◽  
Ji Xu ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Zhiyang Qi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotube ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Field Enhancement ◽  
Absorption Efficiency ◽  
Photon Absorption ◽  
Nanotube Arrays ◽  
Carbon Nanotube Arrays ◽  
Induced Field ◽  
Optically Induced

Due to the high field enhancement factor and photon-absorption efficiency, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used in optically induced field-emission as a cathode. Here, we report vertical carbon nanotube arrays (VCNTAs) that performed as high-density electron sources. A combination of high applied electric field and laser illumination made it possible to modulate the emission with laser pulses. When the bias electric field and laser power density increased, the emission process is sensitive to a power law of the laser intensity, which supports the emission mechanism of optically induced field emission followed by over-the-barrier emission. Furthermore, we determine a polarization dependence that exhibits a cosine behavior, which verifies the high possibility of optically induced field emission.

scholarly journals Development of Visible-Light-Driven Rh–TiO2–CeO2 Hybrid Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Production

Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 848
Author(s):  
Jong-Wook Hong
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Visible Light ◽  
Light Absorption ◽  
Photocatalytic Performance ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Absorption Efficiency ◽  
Low Light ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Visible Light Driven ◽  
Poor Stability

Visible-light-driven hydrogen production through photocatalysis has attracted enormous interest owing to its great potential to address energy and environmental issues. However, photocatalysis possesses several limitations to overcome for practical applications, such as low light absorption efficiency, rapid charge recombination, and poor stability of photocatalysts. Here, the preparation of efficient noble metal–semiconductor hybrid photocatalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production is presented. The prepared ternary Rh–TiO2–CeO2 hybrid photocatalysts exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance toward the hydrogen production reaction compared with their counterparts, ascribed to the synergistic combination of Rh, TiO2, and CeO2.

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