Genetic Variability of mtDNA Sequences in Chinese Native Chicken Breeds

Liu, Z.G.,Lei, C.Z.,Luo, J.,Ding, C.,Chen, G.H.,Chang, H.,Wang, K.H.,Liu, X.X.,Zhang, X.Y.,Xiao, X.J.,Wu, S.L. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.7

The variability of mtDNA hypervariable segment I (HVS I) sequences was investigated in a total of 48 birds belonging to 12 Chinese native chicken breeds. Sixteen haplotypes were identified from 35 polymorphic nucleotide sites which accounted for 6.4% of a sequenced 544 bp fragment. Diversity analysis of the haplotypes showed that Tibetan, Langshan and Henan cockfight chicken had only one haplotype, while ancient haplotypes existed in Taihe silky and Chahua chicken. Phylogenetic analysis of the haplotypes suggested that Chinese native chicken breeds shared 5 maternal lineages and some breeds would share the same maternal lineage, regardless of their external features and ecological types. Both divergent and phylogenetic analysis of the haplotypes indicated the close genetic relationships between the Chinese native chicken breeds and G. g. gallus and G. g. spadiceus from different areas, which implied that G. g. gallus and G. g. spadiceus were the original ancestors of the Chinese native chicken breeds.

Structure and Stacking Faults in Sr₂Be₂B₂O7 Crystal

X. Y. Meng,X. H. Wen,G. L. Liu 한국물리학회 2008 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.52 No.4

Inspired by the successful study on the structure instability of Na₂Al₂B₂O7 (NABO), we extend our interest to a theoretical study, by using density functional theory, on the crystal structures of Sr₂Be₂B₂O7 (SBBO), which possess pretty much the same [M₂B₂O7]∞ (M = Be, Al) double layers as those of the NABO crystal. The energy differences of the SBBO structural variants are found to be so slight that stacking faults could readily occur in the crystal. We propose that different phases may coexist in the same SBBO crystallite, forming domain structure similar to those of NABO which were found by using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structural stability of SBBO is closely related to the cohesion forces between [Be₂B₂O7 ∞ layers. A similar structure analysis can be extended to the SBBO isomorphism. Inspired by the successful study on the structure instability of Na₂Al₂B₂O7 (NABO), we extend our interest to a theoretical study, by using density functional theory, on the crystal structures of Sr₂Be₂B₂O7 (SBBO), which possess pretty much the same [M₂B₂O7]∞ (M = Be, Al) double layers as those of the NABO crystal. The energy differences of the SBBO structural variants are found to be so slight that stacking faults could readily occur in the crystal. We propose that different phases may coexist in the same SBBO crystallite, forming domain structure similar to those of NABO which were found by using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structural stability of SBBO is closely related to the cohesion forces between [Be₂B₂O7 ∞ layers. A similar structure analysis can be extended to the SBBO isomorphism.

Annealing Dependence of Solution-Processed Ultra-Thin ZrOx Films for Gate Dielectric Applications.

Liu, G X,Liu, A,Meng, Y,Shan, F K,Shin, B C,Lee, W J,Cho, C R American Scientific Publishers 2015 Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Vol.15 No.3

<P>Ultra-thin ZrOx thin films on Si substrates were prepared by sol-gel technique and processed with different methods (baked on hot plate at 150 °C, annealed at 500 °C in furnace, and photo-annealed under UV light). The decomposition of the organic groups and the formation of Zr-O bonding in the ZrOx thin films were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that the ZrOx thin film annealed under UV light shows decent characteristics, including an ultra-small surface roughness, a low leakage current density of 10(-9) A/cm2 at 1 MV/cm, a large breakdown electric field of 9.5 MV/cm, and a large areal capacitance of 775 nF/cm2.</P>

Growth Performance, Carcass Composition and Meat Quality of Jiulong-yak (Bos grunniens)

Zi, X.D.,Zhong, G.H.,Wen, Y.L.,Zhong, J.C.,Liu, C.L.,Ni, Y.A.,Yezi, Y.H.,Ashi, M.G. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.3

Estimated liveweights, carcass characteristics, the proximate composition and amino-acid composition of the whole rib cut of the 10th/12th thoracic vertebrae have been determined for Jiulong-yak. The animal grows rapidly up to puberty at 2-3 years of age. At those ages, females reached 143.0$\pm$34.7 kg and 184.0$\pm$30.8 kg (SD) respectively, which was 60 to 80% of their mature weight at 6 to 7 yr old, then the rate of growth significantly slowed down. Males continued to rapidly increase body weight until an older age possibly due to the selection procedures. Animals included 20 males aged from 2.5 to 6.5 yr, seven females aged of 4.5 yr and 11 steers aged of 4.5-5.5 yr were slaughtered for carcass determination and chemical analysis of meat samples. Dressing-out percentage and ribeye area ranged from 48.53-55.04% and 48.02-68.56 $cm^2$ respectively, both of which differed by age and sex. Yak meat is scarlet in color and intramuscular marbling is poor. The 10th/12th rib-cut contained 24.99-31.93% dry matter; 19.98-22.58% protein; 2.52-10.86% fat and 0.93-1.00% ash. Meat from females and steers contained a higher percentage of fat than those from bulls. The pH of M. Longissimus dorsi measured at 24 h post-mortem ranged from 5.84-6.11. Amino acid composition was similar to that for other red meat, except for a lower content of methionine (1.26 g/100 g meat). The results indicated that yak meat can make a valuable contribution to the diets for the highlanders.

Complex Multicolor Tilings and Critical Phenomena in Tetraphilic Liquid Crystals

Zeng, X.,Kieffer, R.,Glettner, B.,Nurnberger, C.,Liu, F.,Pelz, K.,Prehm, M.,Baumeister, U.,Hahn, H.,Lang, H.,Gehring, G. A.,Weber, C. H. M.,Hobbs, J. K.,Tschierske, C.,Ungar, G. American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2011 Science Vol.331 No.6022

<P>T-shaped molecules with a rod-like aromatic core and a flexible side chain form liquid crystal honeycombs with aromatic cell walls and a cell interior filled with the side chains. Here, we show how the addition of a second chain, incompatible with the first (X-shaped molecules), can form honeycombs with highly complex tiling patterns, with cells of up to five different compositions ('colors') and polygonal shapes. The complexity is caused by the inability of the side chains to separate cleanly because of geometric frustration. Furthermore, a thermoreversible transition was observed between a multicolor (phase-separated) and a single-color (mixed) honeycomb phase. This is analogous to the Curie transition in simple and frustrated ferro- and antiferromagnets; here spin flips are replaced by 180° reorientations of the molecules.</P>

Densification, microstructure and hardness of Sm2Zr2O7/SmAlO3 ceramic composites

Z.-G. Liu,R.-X. Zhu,J.H. Ouyang,Y. Zhou 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2015 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.16 No.4

The densification behaviour of Sm2Zr2O7/SmAlO3 ceramic composites was studied by pressureless sintering at temperatures of 1500-1700 ℃ for 10 h in air. The microstructure and hardness of Sm2Zr2O7/SmAlO3 ceramic composites were investigated by the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Vickers hardness tester. The Sm2Zr2O7/SmAlO3 ceramic composites are composed of pyrochlore-type Sm2Zr2O7 and perovskite-like SmAlO3 structure. The relative density of Sm2Zr2O7/SmAlO3 ceramic composites increases with increasing sintering temperature. Vickers hardness of Sm2Zr2O7/SmAlO3 ceramic composites slightly increases with increasing SmAlO3 content.

In-situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of micromechanical behavior of multiple phases in Ni₄₇Ti₄₄Nb₉ shape memory alloy

Sun, G.A.,Wang, X.L.,Wang, Y.D.,Woo, W.C.,Wang, H.,Liu, X.P.,Chen, B.,Fu, Y.Q.,Sheng, L.S.,Ren, Y. Elsevier Sequoia 2013 Materials science & engineering. properties, micro Vol.560 No.-

High-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique was used to in-situ characterize microstructure, lattice strain, and phase transition behavior of a Ni<SUB>47</SUB>Ti<SUB>44</SUB>Nb<SUB>9</SUB> shape memory alloy. Phase transformation kinetics and deformation mechanisms were studied under a uniaxial tension at three testing temperatures, i.e., -70<SUP>o</SUP>C, 25<SUP>o</SUP>C, and 150<SUP>o</SUP>C. At a testing temperature of -70<SUP>o</SUP>C, a complicated phase transformation with four stages of micromechanical deformation was identified which is associated with changes of martensite substructures. At room temperature of 25<SUP>o</SUP>C, there was no stress-induced selection process of variants of B19' phases observed. Whereas at a testing temperature of 150<SUP>o</SUP>C, there was no any phase transformation observed. It is verified that β-Nb phase, an effective stabilizer for the austenite, delays the process of martensitic transformation and relaxes the strain energy without strengthening the matrix. This new finding is important to understand the relationship between the micromechanical deformation behavior and phase transformations in the Ni<SUB>47</SUB>Ti<SUB>44</SUB>Nb<SUB>9</SUB> SMA.

Laser Raman detection of platelet as a non‐invasive approach for early and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Chen, P.,Tian, Q.,Baek, S.J.,Shang, X.L.,Park, A.,Liu, Z.C.,Yao, X.Q.,Wang, J.Z.,Wang, X.H.,Cheng, Y.,Peng, J.,Shen, A.G.,Hu, J.M. WILEY‐VCH Verlag 2011 Laser physics letters Vol.8 No.7

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>Early and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a problem that puzzled many doctors. Reliable markers in easy‐assembling samples are of considerable clinical diagnostic value. In this work, laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS) was developed a new method that potentially allows early and differential diagnosis of AD from the platelet sample. Raman spectra of platelets isolated from different ages of AD transgenic mice and non‐transgenic controls were collected and analyzed. Multilayer perceptron networks (MLP) classification method was used to classify spectra and establish the diagnostic models. For differential diagnosis, spectra of platelets isolated from AD, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and vascular dementia (VD) mice were also discriminated. Two notable spectral differences at 740 and 1654 cm<SUP>–1</SUP> were revealed in the mean spectrum of platelets isolated from AD transgenic mice and the controls. MLP displayed a powerful ability in the classifying of early, advanced AD and the control group, and in differential diagnosis of PD and advanced AD, as well as VD and advanced AD. The results suggest that platelet detecting by LRS coupled with MLP analysis appears to be an easy and accurate method for early and differential diagnosis of AD. This technique could be rapidly promoted from laboratory to the hospital. (© 2011 by Astro Ltd., Published exclusively by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA) (© 2011 by Astro Ltd., Published exclusively by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)</P>

Microstructure and Properties of the Cr–Si–N Coatings Deposited by Combining High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) and Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering

Wang, T. G.,Dong, Y.,Gebrekidan, B. A.,Liu, Y. M.,Fan, Q. X.,Kim, K. H. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 Acta metallurgica sinica Vol.30 No.7

<P>The Cr-Si-N coatings were prepared by combining system of high-power impulse magnetron sputtering and pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. The Si content in the coating was adjusted by changing the sputtering power of the Si target. By virtue of electron-probe microanalysis, X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy, the influence of the Si content on the coating composition, phase constituents, deposition rate, surface morphology and microstructure was investigated systematically. In addition, the change rules of micro-hardness, internal stress, adhesion, friction coefficient and wear rate with increasing Si content were also obtained. In this work, the precipitation of silicon in the coating was found. With increasing Si content, the coating microstructure gradually evolved from continuous columnar to discontinuous columnar and quasi-equiaxed crystals; accordingly, the coating inner stress first declined sharply and then kept almost constant. Both the coating hardness and the friction coefficient have the same change tendency with the increase of the Si content, namely increasing at first and then decreasing. The Cr-Si-N coating presented the highest hardness and average friction coefficient for an Si content of about 9.7 at.%, but the wear resistance decreased slightly due to the high brittleness. The above phenomenon was attributed to a microstructural evolution of the Cr-Si-N coatings induced by the silicon addition.</P>

MINERAL NUTRITION OF GRAZING SHEEP IN NORTHERN CHINA I. MACRO-MINERALS IN PASTURE, FEED SUPPLEMENTS AND SHEEP

Masters, D.G.,Purser, D.B.,Yu, S.X.,Wang, Z.S.,Yang, R.Z.,Liu, N.,Lu, D.X.,Wu, L.H.,Ren, J.K.,Li, G.H. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 1993 Animal Bioscience Vol.6 No.1

This study determined the macro-mineral levels in plants and sheep, at different times during the year, at three farms in northern China. Samples of plants, animal tissues and faeces were collected at 5 to 8 times during the year from each site. They were analysed for calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. Sodium concentrations in plants were below those recommended for optimum animal production at all sites for all or part of the year (0.01-1.66 g/kg DM). Low concentrations of sodium in faeces were measured and signs of sodium deficiency (soil ingestion) were observed on one farm. There were seasonal trends in other mineral levels in plants and animals. Plants were lowest in potassium (2.3-13.4 g/kg DM), magnesium (1.28-4.82 g/kg DM) and phosphorus (0.24-1.62 g/kg DM) in winter and spring. However, high levels of these elements were supplied in the feed supplements used at this time of the year. During the periods of rapid pasture growth, in summer and autumn, supplements of feed and salt are often not provide even though pasture concentrations of phosphorus and sodium are low. It may be at these times that sheep will be most susceptible to deficiencies of these elements.