Optical description of HfO2/Al/HfO2 multilayer thin film devices

M. Ramzan,A.M. Rana,E. Ahmed,A.S. Bhatti,M. Hafeez,A. Ali,M.Y. Nadeem 한국물리학회 2014 Current Applied Physics Vol.14 No.12

A three-layer system of dielectric/metal/dielectric (D/M/D) has been prepared on Marienfeld commercial glass substrates with Metal ¼ Al, and Dielectric ¼ HfO2 for energy efficient windows applications. Subsequently, HfO2/Al/HfO2 multilayers have been deposited with 10 nm each HfO2 layer and 5 nm thick Al layer using electron beam evaporation. The microstructural characteristics of D/M/D thin films have been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Present results indicate the formation of HfO2 weak polycrystals embedded in the disordered lattice. AFM data reveals quite a smooth surface involving a structure of slightly elongated grains with almost Gaussian size distribution with mean grain size in the range from 7 to 23 nm. Regarding optical properties, maximum transmittance of the D/M/D structure is noticed to occur in the UV-region, whereas reflectance rises to ~60% in the visible to near infrared (NIR)-regions. To optimize the performance of these D/M/D devices, computer calculations have been performed by varying either the thickness of both HfO2 layers and/or thickness of metallic Al layer. A satisfactory agreement between theoretical and experimental spectra is noticed. Such D/M/D structures can be useful in heat mirror applications involving energy efficient windows etc.

Definition of Season in Animal Model Evaluation of NiIi-Ravi Buffaloes

Khan, M.S.,Bhatti, S.A.,Asghar, A.A.,Chaudhary, M.A.,Bilal, M.Q. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 1997 Animal Bioscience Vol.10 No.1

Data on 2,571 lactation records of Nili-Ravi buffaloes from four institutional herds and four field recording centers were analyzed under an animal model to see the effect of season definition on the error variance of the fitted model. Herd-year-season(HYS) was the main fixed effect along with permanent environment, breeding value and residuals as the random effects. All known relationships among the animals were considered. The error variance differed for various HYS combinations. It was minimum when then months were not grouped into seasons. The four or Five season scenarios were better than the two season scenarios. The average number of lactations represented in a HYS combination varied widely from 6 to 28. Very few subclasses for a given HYS combination warrants the use of fewer seasons for animal model evaluation of buffaloes.

Feeding Value of Urea Treated Wheat Straw Ensiled with or without Acidified Molasses in Nili-Ravi Buffaloes

Khan, M. Ajmal,Sarwar, Muhammad,Nisa, M.,Khan, M.S.,Bhatti, S.A.,Iqbal, Z.,Lee, W.S.,Lee, H.J.,Kim, H.S.,Ki, K.S. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2006 Animal Bioscience Vol.19 No.5

Thirty early lactating Nili-Ravi buffaloes, six animals in each group, were used in a completely randomized design to examine the feeding value of 4% urea treated wheat straw (UTWS) ensiled with 6% or without acidified molasses. Five experimental diets were formulated. The control ration was balanced to contain 30% DM from UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. The other four diets were formulated to have 30, 40, 50 and 60% DM from UTWS ensiled with 6% acidified molasses, respectively. Dry matter and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes were higher in buffaloes fed diets containing UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses compared with those fed a diet containing UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. Intake of DM was not significantly different in buffaloes fed diets containing varying levels of UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses. A similar trend was observed for crude protein (CP) intake. Apparent DM and NDF digestibilities were significantly higher in buffaloes fed diets containing UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses compared with those fed UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. However, differences in DM and NDF digestibilities were non-significant across buffaloes fed diets containing varying levels of UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses. Milk yield (4% fat corrected) was significantly higher in buffaloes fed diets containing UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses than those fed a diet containing UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. Milk yield was similar in buffaloes fed varying level of UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses. Milk CP, true protein, solid-not-fat and total solids were similar in buffaloes fed UTWS ensiled with or without acidified molasses. The UTWS ensiled with 6% acidified molasses can be included at up to 60% DM of lactating buffalo rations without any ill effect on productivity.

Lifetime Performance of Nili-ravi Buffaloes in Pakistan

Bashir, M.K.,Khan, M.S.,Bhatti, S.A.,Iqbal, A. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.5

Data on 1,037 Nili-Ravi buffaloes from four institutional herds were used to study lifetime milk yield, herd life, productive life and breeding efficiency. A general linear model was used to study the environmental effects while an animal model having herd, year of birth and age at first calving (as covariate) along with random animal effect was used to estimate breeding values. The lifetime milk yield, herd life, productive life and breeding efficiency averaged $7,723{\pm}164$ kg, $3,990{\pm}41$ days, $1,061{\pm}19$ days and 64 percent, respectively. All the traits were significantly (p<0.01) affected by the year of birth and herd of calving, while the herd life was also affected (p<0.01) by the age at first calving. The heritabilities for lifetime milk yield, herd life, productive life and breeding efficiency were $0.093{\pm}0.056$, $0.001{\pm}0.055$, $0.144{\pm}0.079$ and 0.001, respectively. The definition for productive life, where each lactation gets credit upto 10 months had slightly better heritability and may be preferred over the definition where no limit is placed on lactation length. The genetic correlation between productive life and lifetime milk yield was low but high between productive life and herd life. The selection for productive life will increase herd life while lifetime milk yield will also improve. The overall phenotypic trend during the period under the study was negative for lifetime milk yield (-280 kg/year), herd life (-93 days), productive life (-42 days/year) and breeding efficiency (-0.36 percent/year), whereas the genetic trend was positive for lifetime milk yield (+15 kg/year) and productive life (+4 days/year).

Nutritional Management for Buffalo Production

Sarwar, M.,Khan, M.A.,Nisa, M.,Bhatti, S.A.,Shahzad, M.A. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2009 Animal Bioscience Vol.22 No.7

The buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an important contributor to milk, meat, power, fuel and leather production in many developing countries. Buffaloes can be categorized into Asian and Mediterranean buffaloes. Asian buffalo includes two subspecies known as Riverine and Swamp types. Riverine (water buffalo) and Swamp buffaloes possess different genetics (50 vs. 48 chromosomes, respectively), morphology (body frame, body weight, horn shape and skin color) and behavior (wallowing in mud or water) and thus, are reared and used for different purposes. Low per head milk yield, poor reproductive performance (seasonal breeding behavior, anestrous, and longer calving interval) and low growth rate in buffaloes have been attributed to insufficient supply of nutrients. In many parts of Asia, where the buffalo is an integral part of the food chain and rural economy, irregular and inadequate availability of quality feedstuffs and their utilization are hampering the performance of this unique animal. Balanced nutrition and better management can enhance buffalo productivity. Many efforts have been made in the last few decades to improve nutrient supply and utilization in buffaloes. Recent research on locally available feed resources such as crop residues, and industrial by-products, dietary addition of micronutrients, use of performance modifiers and use of ruminally protected fat and protein sources have shown significant potential to improve growth, milk yield and reproductive performance of buffaloes. However, a number of issues, including establishment of nutrient requirements for dairy and beef, development of buffalo calf feeding systems, nutritional management of metabolic and reproductive anomalies, and understanding and exploitation of the buffalo gut ecosystem, need to be addressed. Extensive coordinated research and extension efforts are required for improved buffalo nutrition in developing countries.

Effects of Varying Levels of Fungal (Arachniotus sp.) Treated Wheat Straw as an Ingredient of Total Mixed Ration on Growth Performance and Nutrient Digestibility in Nili Ravi Buffalo Calves

Shahzad, F.,Abdullah, M.,Chaudhry, A.S.,Bhatti, J.A.,Jabbar, M.A.,Ahmed, F.,Mehmood, T.,Asim, M.,Ahmed, S.,Kamran, Z.,Irshad, I.,Tahir, M.N. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2016 Animal Bioscience Vol.29 No.3

The study was carried out to explore the effects of replacing wheat straw with fungal treated wheat straw as an ingredient of total mixed ration (TMR) on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility in Nili Ravi buffalo male calves. Fungal treated wheat straw was prepared using Arachniotus sp. Four TMRs were formulated where wheat straw was replaced with 0 (TMR1), 33 (TMR2), 67 (TMR3), and 100% (TMR4) fungal treated wheat straw in TMR. All TMRs were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. The experimental TMRs were randomly assigned to four groups of male calves (n = 6) according to completely randomized design and the experiment continued for four months. The calves fed TMR2 exhibited a significant improve in dry matter intake, average daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and feed economics compared to other groups. The same group also showed higher digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, neutral-, and acid detergent fibers than those fed on other TMRs. It is concluded that TMR with 33% fungal-treated wheat straw replacement has a potential to give an enhanced growth performance and nutrient digestibility in male Nili Ravi buffalo calves.

Selection of Sahiwal Cattle Bulls on Pedigree and Progeny

Bhatti, A.A.,Khan, M.S.,Rehman, Z.,Hyder, A.U.,Hassan, F. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.1

The objective of the study was to compare ranking of Sahiwal bulls selected on the basis of highest lactation milk yield of their dams with their estimated breeding values (EBVs) using an animal model. Data on 23,761 lactation milk yield records of 5,936 cows from five main Livestock Experiment Stations in Punjab province of Pakistan (1964-2004) were used for the study. At present the young A.I bulls are required to be from A-category bull-dams. Dams were categorized as A, B, C and D if they had highest lactation milk yield of ${\geq}$2,700, 2,250-2,699, 1,800-2,249 and <1,800 litres, respectively. The EBVs for lactation milk yield were estimated for all the animals using an individual animal model having fixed effect of herd-year and season of calving and random effect of animal. Fixed effect of parity and random effect of permanent environment were incorporated when multiple lactation were used. There were 396 young bulls used for semen collection and A.I during 1973-2004. However, progeny with lactation yields recorded, were available only for 91 bulls and dams could be traced for only 63 bulls. Overall lactation milk yield averaged 1,440.8 kg. Milk yield was 10% heritable with repeatability of 39%. Ranking bulls on highest lactation milk yield of their dams, the in-vogue criteria of selecting bulls, had a rank correlation of 0.167 (p<0.190) with ranking based on EBVs from animal model analysis. Bulls' EBVs for all lactations had rank correlation of 0.716 (p<0.001) with EBVs based on first lactation milk yield and 0.766 (p<0.001) with average EBVs of dam and sire (pedigree index). Ranking of bulls on highest lactation yield of their dams has no association with their ranking based on animal model evaluation. Young Sahiwal bulls should be selected on the basis of pedigree index instead of highest lactation yield of dams. This can help improve the genetic potential of the breed accruing to conservation and development efforts.

In Situ Ruminal Digestion Kinetics of Forages and Feed Byproducts in Cattle and Buffalo

Sarwar, M.,Mahr-un-Nisa, Mahr-un-Nisa,Bhatti, S.A.,Ali, C.S. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 1998 Animal Bioscience Vol.11 No.2

The relative disappearance and rate of degradation of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of nine different feedstuffs were determined by simultaneously suspending groups of substrates, using the nylon bags, in the rumen of males of Sahiwal cattle and Nili-Ravi buffalo. The digestion kinetics of leguminous forages (Lucerne, berseem and cowpeas) and feed byproducts (cotton seed cake, wheat bran and wheat straw) did not differ between the two species. However, the DM and NDF digestibilities and rates of digestion of grasses and wheat straw were greater in buffalo than in cow bulls, indicating that buffaloes are better converters of poor quality roughages than are Sahiwal. The lag time for DM of grasses did not differ between these two species but the NDF lag time was lower in buffalo than in cows, indicating that both the rate and lag time of digestion may be reliable indicators for assessing the NDF quality.

High-density single-nucleotide polymorphism maps of the human genome

Miller, Raymond D.,Phillips, Michael S.,Jo, Inho,Donaldson, Miriam A.,Studebaker, Joel F.,Addleman, Nicholas,Alfisi, Steven V.,Ankener, Wendy M.,Bhatti, Hamid A.,Callahan, Chad E.,Carey, Benjamin J.,C Elsevier 2005 Genomics Vol.86 No.2

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>Here we report a large, extensively characterized set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering the human genome. We determined the allele frequencies of 55,018 SNPs in African Americans, Asians (Japanese–Chinese), and European Americans as part of The SNP Consortium's Allele Frequency Project. A subset of 8333 SNPs was also characterized in Koreans. Because these SNPs were ascertained in the same way, the data set is particularly useful for modeling. Our results document that much genetic variation is shared among populations. For autosomes, some 44% of these SNPs have a minor allele frequency ≥10% in each population, and the average allele frequency differences between populations with different continental origins are less than 19%. However, the several percentage point allele frequency differences among the closely related Korean, Japanese, and Chinese populations suggest caution in using mixtures of well-established populations for case–control genetic studies of complex traits. We estimate that ∼7% of these SNPs are private SNPs with minor allele frequencies <1%. A useful set of characterized SNPs with large allele frequency differences between populations (>60%) can be used for admixture studies. High-density maps of high-quality, characterized SNPs produced by this project are freely available.</P>