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[Objective] Due to the scarcity of helium resources, insufficient production, high external dependence and single source, the security situation of helium resources in China is very severe. Utilizing salt caverns for helium storage is a significantly advantageous technology for large-scale helium storage that can effectively guarantee the helium supply capacity and improve helium security. However,China is devoid of underground salt cavern helium storage in operation, and related research and construction are still in the stage of initial development, requiring targeted feasibility and key technology researches. [Methods] Based on an investigation of helium resources and helium storage construction as well as China's experience in salt cavern gas storage construction, the feasibility of salt cavern helium storage construction in China was analyzed, and the suggestions on the development of key technologies for salt cavern helium storage were proposed,such as site evaluation, airtightness evaluation, cavern construction, storage construction, and helium injection and extraction. [Results] China is facing a high risk of helium supply disruption, necessitating the enlargement of reserve capacity. Salt cavern is suitable for large-scale helium storage for its satisfying performance in security and airtightness. The construction of salt cavern helium storage is feasible to increase China's helium reserve, giving that China has abundant salt cavern resources and a technological base for cavern construction. In addition, it is necessary to perform targeted research on key technologies for salt cavern helium storage construction, considering the geological conditions and helium resource conditions for storage construction in China differ from those in foreign countries. The salt mine in the southeast coastal area is close to the import and consumption of helium, and the transportation cost is low, so it can be used as the preferred storage site for the construction of salt cavern helium storage in China. [Conclusion] It is recommended to construct salt cavern helium storage in China in stages.At the early stage, 1 to 2 helium storage caverns should be constructed to explore and verify the construction technology of helium storage and ensure a stable supply of helium in China, after that more caverns should be constructed gradually to build up a strategic reserve that can meet China's helium demand for 5 to 10 years.

Low temperature waste-heat heating is an important technology for clean heating.But the resource potential of low temperature waste-heat used for heating will be affected by time, space, temperature, industrial development and other factors.Therefore, the resource potential of low temperature waste-heat for long-term, effective & stable heating should be studied.In this study, the resource potential of low temperature waste-heat for heating was studied by the scenario analysis method and the results show that, the low temperature waste-heat resources available for heating in the northern region are about 62.262 million tce, and the heating area is about 8.12 billion square meters in 2017.Among them, the low temperature waste-heat resources above 80℃ account for 25.2%.In the future, the low temperature waste-heat resources available for heating will be 68.98 million tce, and the heating area is about 12.14 billion square meters in 2020.The low temperature waste-heat resources available for heating will be 66.487 million tce, and the heating area is about 11.7 billion square meters in 2030.

Problem definition: We study open-shop service networks where customers go through multiple services. We were motivated by a partnering health screening clinic, where customers are routed by a dispatcher and operational performance is measured at two levels: micro-level, via waits for individual services, and macro-level, via overall wait. Both measures reflect customer experience and could support its management. Our analysis revealed that waits were long and increased along the service process. Such long waits give rise to negative waiting experience and the increasing shape is detrimental as it is known to create perceived waits that are even longer. Our goal is hence to analyze strategies that shape and improve customers' perceived experience. Methodology/results: Analytically, we use a stylized two-station open-shop network to show that prioritizing advanced customers, jointly with pooling (virtual) queues, can improve both macro- and micro-level performance. We validate these findings with a simulation model, calibrated with our clinic's data. Practically, we find that an automated routing system (ARS), recently implemented in the clinic, had a negligible impact on overall wait—It simply redistributed waiting among wait-for-routing and wait-for-service. However, ARS renders applicable sophisticated priority and routing policies (that were infeasible under the manual routing practice), specifically the ones arising from the present research. Managerial implications: Our study amplifies performance benefits of accounting for individual customers' system status in addition to station-level load information. We offer insights into the implementation of new technologies: Firms better plan for fundamental changes in their operation rather than harness new technology to their existing operation, which may be suboptimal due to past technical limitations. History: This paper has been accepted in the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Frontiers in Operations Initiative. Funding: M. Chen acknowledges the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72301280]. O. Baron acknowledges the support from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. J. Wang acknowledges the support from the City University of Hong Kong [Grant 11505421]. A. Mandelbaum is partially supported by the Israel Science Foundation [Grant 491/22]. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0590. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines different car-sharing models offered by ride-hailing firms. In the traditional model, customers are served individually. In the sharing-only model, all customers are willing to share the ride with other customers. In the hybrid model, customers may choose either individual or shared service provided by the same fleet. Sharing customers incur a hassle cost. We develop a queueing game-theoretic model to (i) determine the arrival rates that maximizes social welfare and (ii) choose admission fees that maximizes firm profits. First, we discover a tipping point in the hybrid model. When hassle cost decreases to this point, (i) the optimal customer behavior immediately switches from less than 80% sharing customers to 100%, (ii) the optimal arrival rate increases dramatically, and (iii) the rate at which a decreasing hassle cost improves the maximum social welfare significantly increases. Second, when hassle cost is higher than the tipping point, the hybrid model may generate higher social welfare than the other two models. Hence, the firm can improve social welfare by assigning customers to differentiated services even when they are not heterogeneous. Finally, we propose a profit-maximizing admission fee structure in the hybrid model to maximize firm profits and demonstrate its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, motivated by a collaboration with a healthcare service provider, focuses on stochastic open-shop service networks with two objectives: more traditional macrolevel measures (such as minimizing total system time or minimizing total number of tardy customers) and the atypical microlevel measure of reducing the incidents of excessively long waits at any workstation within the process. While work-conserving policies are optimal for macrolevel measures, scheduling policies with strategic idleness (SI) might be helpful for microlevel measures. Using the empirical data obtained from the service provider, we provide statistical evidence that SI is used by its schedulers to manage the macro- and microlevel measures. However, the company has no specific rules on implementing SI and the schedulers make decisions based on their own experience. Our primary goal is to develop a systematic framework for the joint usage of SI with dynamic scheduling policies (DSPs). We suggest to use threshold-based policies to intelligently combine SI and DSPs and show that the resulting policies provide an efficient way to simultaneously address both macro- and microlevel measures. We build two simulation models: one based on empirical data and one based on a randomly generated open-shop network. We use both models to demonstrate that an open-shop service network can be systematically and effectively managed to deliver improved service level by using SI. Funding: The first three authors acknowledge financial support from their respective Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grants. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is abailable at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2016.0591. Keywords: strategic idleness * dynamic scheduling policy * open shop * healthcare * service network, 1. Introduction In this paper, we focus on stochastic open-shop processes operating under multiple objectives. The system objectives include a combination of the more traditional macrolevel measures (such as minimizing [...]

With food delivery services, customers can hire delivery workers to pick up food on their behalf. To investigate the long-term impact of food delivery services on the restaurant industry, we model a restaurant serving food to customers as a stylized single-server queue with two streams of customers. One stream consists of tech-savvy customers who have access to a food delivery service platform. The other stream consists of traditional customers who are not able to use a food delivery service and only walk in by themselves. We study a Stackelberg game, in which the restaurant first sets the food price; the food delivery platform then sets the delivery fee; and, last, rational customers decide whether to walk in, balk, or use a food delivery service if they have access to one. If the restaurant has a sufficiently large established base of traditional customers, we show that the food delivery platform does not necessarily increase demand but may just change the composition of customers, as the segment of tech-savvy customers grows. Hence, paying the platform for bringing in customers may hurt the restaurant's profitability. We demonstrate that either a one-way revenue-sharing contract with a price ceiling or a two-way revenue-sharing contract can coordinate the system and create a win-win situation. Furthermore, under conditions of no coordination between the restaurant and the platform, we show, somewhat surprisingly, that more customers having access to a food delivery service may hurt the platform itself and the society, when the food delivery service is sufficiently convenient, and the delivery-worker pool is large enough. This is because the restaurant can become a delivery-only kitchen and raise its food price by focusing on food-delivery customers only, leaving little surplus for the platform. This implies that limiting the number of delivery workers can provide a simple yet effective means for the platform to improve its own profitability while benefiting social welfare. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: We study customer-centric privacy management in service systems. Academic/practical relevance: We explore the consequences of extended control over personal information by customers in such systems. Methodology: We adopt a stylized queueing model to capture a service environment that features a service provider and customers who are strategic in deciding whether to disclose personal information to the service provider—that is, customers' privacy or information disclosure strategy. A customer's service request can be one of two types, which affects service time but is unknown when customers commit to a privacy strategy. The service provider can discriminate among customers based on their disclosed information by offering different priorities. Results: Our analysis reveals that, when given control over their personal data, strategic customers do not always choose to withhold them. We find that control over information gives customers a tool they can use to hedge against the service provider's will, which might not be aligned with the interests of customers. More importantly, we find that under certain conditions, giving customers full control over information (e.g., by introducing a privacy regulation) may not only distort already efficiently operating service system but might also backfire by leading to inferior system performance (i.e., longer average wait time), and it can hurt customers themselves. We demonstrate how a regulator can correct information disclosure inefficiencies through monetary incentives to customers and show that providing such incentives makes economic sense in some scenarios. Finally, the service provider itself can benefit from customers being in control of their personal information by enticing more customers joining the service. Managerial implications: Our findings yield insights into how customers' individually rational actions concerning information disclosure (e.g., granted by a privacy regulation) can lead to market inefficiencies in the form of longer wait times for services. We provide actionable prescriptions, for both service providers and regulators, that can guide their choices of a privacy and information management approach based on giving customers the option of controlling their personal information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are being extensively studied as they function as key metabolic regulators which play a role in the heat stress response. However, the role of miRNAs in heat stress remains uncertain and many new miRNAs have not yet been discovered. In a previous study, we performed high‐throughput sequencing of differentially expressed miRNAs identified on exposing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to heat stress (18 vs. 24°C), which led to the identification of two novel miRNAs, temporarily named novel miR‐434 and ‐242. The differential expression level of these miRNAs was extremely significant (P < 0.01); we analysed target gene mRNA transcripts by bioinformatics software (miRanda). We found novel miR‐434 and ‐242 were predicted to regulate the transcripts of heat shock 70‐kDa protein 4‐like (HSPA4L) and calreticulin (CRT), respectively, by bioinformatics software. Here our core objective was to validate if HSPA4L and CRT are indeed the target genes of novel miR‐434 and ‐242, respectively, and for this purpose we used the dual‐luciferase reporter assay system. Target gene sequences were synthesized and cloned into a dual‐luciferase vector. To better understand the function of the target genes, we combined the previous sequencing results of Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. We found that novel miR‐434 regulated HSPA4L expression by binding to a putative binding site in the 3′‐UTR of HSPA4L, and luciferase activity inhibition was observed. In contrast, novel miR‐242 was not involved in regulating CRT expression. To conclude, we believe our results should serve as a foundation for future studies aiming to comprehensively understand the mechanisms used by rainbow trout to cope with heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapid Lateral Flow Test (LFT) has been broadly utilized in detection or diagnosis of numerous disease-related antigens and antibodies. It is the most popular format of point-of-care test (POCT) and quickest and easiest way to detect a targeted molecule. In the combat against COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of POCTs have been developed and are commercially available now. They are designed to detect either a SARS-CoV-2 viral antigen or IgG and IgM antibodies binding to it. Among the binding antibodies, a special type of functional antibodies that block the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 virus and its human receptor, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), are of particular interest to public as well as in vaccination management. However as of today, POCTs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs remain under late stage of development. Scope and method:In this review, we first summarize the importance of awareness and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs in the combat against COVID-19 pandemic. Secondly, we compare the available methods for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs. Next, we describe challenges in the development of a rapid lateral flow test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs. Finally, we outline its product formats and applications in research and in disease management. Conclusion:Vaccine effectiveness is unknown for an individual unless measured. NAb level is the most viable measurement for vaccine effectiveness or immunity. A broadly accessible NAb POCT is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a service system that does not have the capability of monitoring and disclosing its real-time congestion level. However, the customers can observe and post their observations online, and future arrivals can take into account such user-generated information when deciding whether to go to the service facility. We perform pairwise comparisons of the shared, full, and no queue-length information structures in terms of social welfare. Perhaps surprisingly, we show that the shared queue-length information may provide greater social welfare than full queue-length information when the hassle cost of the customers entering the service facility falls into some ranges, and the shared and full queue-length information structures always generate greater social welfare than no queue-length information. Therefore, the discrete disclosure of congestion through user-generated sharing can lead to as much, or even greater, social welfare as the continuous stream of real-time queue-length information disclosure and always generates greater social welfare than no queue-length information disclosure at all. These results imply that a little shared queue-length information—inaccurate and lagged—can go a long way and that it may be more socially beneficial to encourage the sharing of user-generated information among customers than to provide them with full real-time queue-length information. This paper was accepted by Terry Taylor, operations management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the expression stability of several messenger (m)RNAs and micro (mi)RNAs from liver and head kidney of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss using high‐throughput RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) and miRNA‐seq data. Additionally, four commonly used reference genes and one small non‐coding RNA (u6) were also selected to identify ideal reference mRNAs and miRNAs for quantitative real‐time (qrt)‐PCR analysis of heat stress responses. GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper and comparative ΔCt were employed for analysis of qrt‐PCR data to systematically assess the expression stability of candidate mRNAs and miRNAs and stability was ranked using geometric means. β‐actin and ef1‐α were the most stably expressed reference mRNAs in liver and head kidney, respectively and ssa‐mir‐26a‐5p and ssa‐mir‐462b‐5p were the most stably expressed miRNAs in these tissues. This is the first identification of appropriate reference mRNAs and miRNAs for qrt‐PCR analysis of O. mykiss under heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oregano essential oil (OEO), which has antimicrobial properties, may be used for altering the ruminal pH and microbial populations of sheep, as observed by the altered volatile fatty acid patterns. To further elucidate the effects of OEO on ruminal pH and microbial populations of sheep, 3 German merino sheep × local sheep crossbred rams with permanent ruminal fistulas were randomly assigned to a 3 × 3 Latin square design with 12-d periods. The treatments were as follows: control (CON); OEO4: OEO supplied at 4 g•d-1; and OEO7: OEO supplied at 7 g•d-1. Starting on day 11, rumen fluid was collected at 0 h, and at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 h after supplying OEO, and then pH values of rumen fluid were immediately measured. The abundance of microbial populations was determined by using qPCR. The ruminal pH values were similar among the sheep from all treatments. The abundance of ruminal fungi was higher for the sheep supplied OEO7 compared with the sheep supplied CON and OEO4, especially at 4 and 12 h. The abundance of ruminal protozoa decreased with supplied OEO, indicating that OEO could inhibit the protozoa. The abundance of the total ruminal bacteria was similar for the sheep from all treatments, but R. flavefaciens, R. albus and F. succinogenes increased in the sheep supplied OEO4 compared with those in the sheep supplied CON, however, the sheep supplied OEO7 had higher abundances of R. flavefaciens than the sheep supplied CON. These results demonstrated that supplying OEO to sheep did not affect the ruminal pH but could shift the rumen microbial population to one with less protozoa. Supplying OEO can preferentially enhance the growth of certain rumen microbial populations, but the shifts were influenced by the supply rate. Therefore, supplying low amount (i.e. 4 g•d-1) of OEO could have positive effects on ruminal microbial populations, whereas supplying elevated doses of OEO could be detrimental to those same ruminal microbial populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a cold-water species of salmonid, and high temperatures are a significant threat to its aquaculture. In order to understand the degree of the heat stress response and the mechanisms involved, full-sibling inbred O. mykiss individuals were sampled at 18, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 26°C to investigate changes in some serum biochemical parameters, as well as in the mRNA expression of heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 5 (HSPA5 ; also known as glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78)) in different tissues (liver, mid-kidney, heart, spleen and brain). At 21°C, there was a significant increase in the spleen macrophage respiratory burst and a significant decrease in superoxide dismutase activity compared with 18°C (P < 0.05). Malondialdehyde peaked at 23°C, whereas alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase activity were both twofold higher at 25 and 26°C compared with that at 18°C. The Ca2+, Mg2+, PO43– and glucose (Glu) content of serum declined significantly at 21°C relative to 18°C (P < 0.05). The expression of HSPA5 mRNA responded in a temperature- and tissue-specific manner to heat stress. Except for in the spleen, HSPA5 mRNA expression was significantly higher in all tissues at 25 and 26°C than that at 18°C (P < 0.05). These results indicate that heat stress causes oxidative damage, decreases the Ca2+, Mg2+, PO43– and Glu content of serum and induces HSPA5 mRNA expression. This study evaluated the effects of heat stress on rainbow trout. Heat stress altered expression of heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 5 (HSPA5) mRNA, suggesting that HSPA5 plays a role in protecting tissues against damage caused by heat stress, with serious tissue damage occurring at temperatures above 24°C. The data can provide a reference for heat-resistant breeding programs and the aquaculture of cold-water fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared the catalytic effects of two polymers (soluble starch and apple pectin) on the flocculation of kaolinite suspension. Moreover, the relationship between the zeta potential value and the time when kaolin particle sedimentation occurred was verified, and the mechanism of flocculation was analyzed. Additionally, a constitutive model was proposed to simulate the non-ideal sedimentation of clay particles in an aqueous system under constant gravity. This model not only considers the inhomogeneity of the solute but also simulates the change in clay concentration with time during the deposition process. This model proposes a decay constant (α) and sedimentation coefficient (s). The model can also be used to calculate the instantaneous sedimentation rate of the clay suspensions at any time and any depth for the settling cylinder. These sedimentary characteristics were simulated by adopting the established deposition model. The results show that the model is capable of predicting the time required for the complete sedimentation of particles in the aqueous system, suggesting the feasibility of engineering wastewater treatment, site dredging, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Amino acid composition is among the important indexes of the nutritional composition of meat nutrients. In this study, we performed a proteomic analysis of tenderloin and flank steaks from Simmental cattle using isobaric tags for a relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) approach. Seventeen amino acids were detected in tenderloin and flank steaks, including seven essential amino acids and 10 non-essential amino acids. A comparison of the expression patterns in steaks revealed 128 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Furthermore, 27 DEPs (p < 0.05) were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Herein, we performed a proteomic analysis of tenderloin and flank steaks from Simmental cattle using the isobaric tags for a relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) approach. We identified 17 amino acids in both steaks, and Gly, Cys, Ile, Lys, and Pro differed most in abundance between the steak types (p < 0.05). A comparison of the expression patterns in steaks revealed 128 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), of which 44 were up-regulated and 84 were down-regulated. Furthermore, 27 DEPs (p < 0.05) were subjected to gene ontology (GO) analysis, and many were found to be related to oxidation-reduction, metabolism, hydrogen ion transmembrane transport, transport, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, mitochondrial electron transport, and the conversion of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to ubiquinone. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis also implicated these DEPs in various signalling pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation, cardiac muscle contraction, the TCA cycle, biosynthesis, and the metabolism. These findings provide a new insight into key proteins involved in the determination of amino acid composition in beef. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using salt caverns for underground gas storage (UGS) is an important energy storage solution. A coupled aero-thermo-mechanical (ATM) model with an integrated wellbore–3D realistic cavern geometry was established to investigate the thermodynamic behaviour of natural gas and the thermo-mechanical response of rock salt for UGS caverns. Unlike classical thermo-gas-mechanical (TGM) models that assume the cavern gas is an ideal gas and in an isotropic thermodynamic state, the ATM model solved thermodynamic properties for the real gas, and revealed the tempo-spatial varying gas state and its mechanism. Predictions of gas temperature, pressure and flux by ATM modelling well captured the in-situ measurements obtained by the distributed optical cable monitoring system during a one-month field testing at Jintan UGS site. Effects of the tempo-spatial varying gas state on the mechanical response were unveiled by ATM modelling. Predictions of mechanical response by TGM modelling shared similar patterns as that by ATM modelling, however, the TGM model tended to underestimate the risk of creep failure, tensile failure, fatigue failure and plastic damage due to the isotropic gas state. The proposed model could be used to improve the thermodynamic and mechanical predictions that are pertinent to the optimal design and the stability of caverns. • A coupled aero-thermo-mechanical model with an integrated wellbore–3D real cavern geometry was established for UGS operation. • In-situ access to cavern temperature and pressure was achieved using the distributed optical cable monitoring system. • Tempo-spatial variation of gas thermodynamic state was unveiled by modelling and validated by site testing. • Effects of the tempo-spatial variation of temperature and pressure on thermo-mechanical response of the cavern was revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in the stress response in animals. The rainbow trout is a widely cultivated cold-water fish species that usually encounters heat stress, which affects its growth and may cause diseases. However, there is limited information on the miRNAs involved in heat stress in this species. To identify the heat-responsive miRNAs at the genome level in rainbow trout, we conducted high-throughput sequencing of 6 small RNA libraries from the liver tissues of rainbow trout specimens under control and heat-treated conditions. A total of 363 conserved miRNAs and 638 novel miRNAs were identified, among which 39 (21 conserved and 18 novel) miRNAs were differentially expressed in response to heat stress. Eight important miRNAs were further validated using quantitative real-time PCR. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analyses of the potential target genes of the DE miRNAs, revealed DNA replication and protein folding and unfolding were affected by heat stress. Several key pathways involved in the heat stress response were characterized, such as protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, and progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation. In addition, 20 important functional interaction pairs among the 65 negatively correlated miRNA-mRNA pairs were identified using integrated miRNA-mRNA analysis and miRNA prediction algorithms, which including potential important miRNAs and target genes such as miR-301a, miR-301d, let-7c, novel_1181 and HSP90BA , HSP90BB , HSP40 , PDIA3. This study showed that the identified miRNAs probably play important roles in the heat stress response and lay a foundation for further studies on the thermal adaptation mechanisms in rainbow trout. Highlights • We sequenced 6 miRNA libraries from rainbow trout livers in 18 °C and 24 °C. • A total of 363 conserved miRNAs and 638 novel miRNAs were identified. • 21 conserved and 18 novel miRNAs were differentially expressed. • 20 important miRNA-mRNA interaction pairs were involved in heat stress response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rainbow trout is an economically important fish in the world. The limited stress tolerance of this species to high summer-like temperatures usually leads to mass mortality and great economic loss. However, there is limited information on the mechanisms underlying moderate heat responses in the liver of the rainbow trout. Here, we performed transcriptome profiling of rainbow trout liver under moderate heat stress by using the Hiseq™ 4000 sequencing platform. More than 277 million clean reads were obtained from 6 libraries and aligned against the rainbow trout genome. A total of 128 unique transcripts were differentially expressed in the liver under heat-stress and control conditions, many heat shock protein genes for thermoregulation and some novel genes involved in heat stress were identified. Nine of the differently expressed genes were further validated by qRT-PCR. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses revealed that several pathways, including those for protein metabolism, energy metabolism, and immune system, were influenced by heat stress. Moreover, an important protein-processing pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was identified, and the key role of ER-associated degradation and function of calpain as an upstream regulator of apoptosis were confirmed under heat stress. The results of this study provide a comprehensive overview of heat stress-induced transcriptional patterns in rainbow trout liver and would be particularly useful for further studies on the molecular mechanisms underlying responses to heat stress in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]