Fabrication and characterization of fluorohydroxyapatite nanocrystals/poly(d,l-lactide) composite scaffolds

L. Cheng,S.M. Zhang,P.P. Chen,S.L. Huang,L. Liu,W. Zhou,J. Liu,H. Gong,Q.M. Luo 한국물리학회 2007 Current Applied Physics Vol.7 No.s1

Poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA)/uorohydroxyapatite nanocrystals (nano-F-HA) porous scaolds were successfully fabricated through asolvent-casting and particulate-leaching technique. Nano-HA/PDLLA scaold and PDLLA scaold were prepared by using the sameprocess for comparison. The structure, phase and morphology of the nanocomposite scaolds were observed by SEM. The results indi-cated that F-HA nanocrystals were homogeneously dispersed in the PDLLA matrix. The porosity of the scaolds was up to 90%, andmacropores and micropores coexisted and interconnected throughout the scaolds. Cell culture experiments demonstrated that the nano-F-HA/PDLLA scaffold had the best adhesion tendency to chondrocytes among the scaffolds investigated.

Selection for Duration of Fertility and Mule Duck White Plumage Colour in a Synthetic Strain of Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)

Liu, H.C.,Huang, J.F.,Lee, S.R.,Liu, H.L.,Hsieh, C.H.,Huang, C.W.,Huang, M.C.,Tai, C.,Poivey, J.P.,Rouvier, R.,Cheng, Y.S. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2015 Animal Bioscience Vol.28 No.5

A synthetic strain of ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) was developed by introducing genes for long duration of fertility to be used as mother of mule ducklings and a seven-generation selection experiment was conducted to increase the number of fertile eggs after a single artificial insemination (AI) with pooled Muscovy semen. Reciprocal crossbreeding between Brown Tsaiya LRI-2 (with long duration of fertility) and Pekin L-201 (with white plumage mule ducklings) ducks produced the G0. Then G1 were intercrossed to produce G2 and so on for the following generations. Each female duck was inseminated 3 times, at 26, 29, and 32 weeks of age. The eggs were collected for 14 days from day 2 after AI. Individual data regarding the number of incubated eggs (Ie), the number of fertile eggs at candling at day 7 of incubation (F), the total number of dead embryos (M), the maximum duration of fertility (Dm) and the number of hatched mule ducklings (H) with plumage colour were recorded. The selection criterion was the breeding values of the best linear unbiased prediction animal model for F. The results show high percentage of exhibited heterosis in G2 for traits to improve (19.1% for F and 12.9% for H); F with a value of 5.92 (vs 3.74 in the Pekin L-201) was improved in the G2. Heritabilities were found to be low for Ie ($h^2=0.07{\pm}0.03$) and M ($h^2=0.07{\pm}0.01$), moderately low for Dm ($h^2=0.13{\pm}0.02$), of medium values for H ($h^2=0.20{\pm}0.03$) and F ($h^2=0.23{\pm}0.03$). High and favourable genetic correlations existed between F and Dm ($r_g=0.93$), between F and H ($r_g=0.97$) and between Dm and H ($r_g=0.90$). The selection experiment showed a positive trend for phenotypic values of F (6.38 fertile eggs in G10 of synthetic strain vs 5.59 eggs in G4, and 3.74 eggs in Pekin L-201), with correlated response for increasing H (5.73 ducklings in G10 vs 4.86 in G4, and 3.09 ducklings in Pekin L-201) and maximum duration of the fertile period without increasing the embryo mortality rate. The average predicted genetic response for F was 40% of genetic standard deviation per generation of selection. The mule ducklings' feather colour also was improved. It was concluded that this study provided results for a better understanding of the genetics of the duration of fertility traits in the common female duck bred for mule and that the selection of a synthetic strain was effective method of improvement.

<i>K</i>-mixing in the doubly mid-shell nuclide ¹⁷⁰Dy and the role of vibrational degeneracy

Sö,derströ,m, P.-A.,Walker, P.M.,Wu, J.,Liu, H.L.,Regan, P.H.,Watanabe, H.,Doornenbal, P.,Korkulu, Z.,Lee, P.,Liu, J.J.,Lorusso, G.,Nishimura, S.,Phong, V.H.,Sumikama, T.,Xu, F.R.,Yagi, A.,Zha North-Holland Pub. Co 2016 Physics letters. Section B Vol.762 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>A detailed study of the structure of the doubly mid-shell nucleus Dy 104 1 66 170 has been carried out, following isomeric and <I>β</I> decay. We have measured the yrast band up to the spin-parity <SUP> J π </SUP> = <SUP> 6 + </SUP> state, the K = 2 <I>γ</I>-vibration band up to the <SUP> 5 + </SUP> state, a low-lying negative-parity band based on a <SUP> 2 − </SUP> state that could be a candidate for the lowest energy octupole vibration state within this nucleus, and a candidate for the <SUP> K π </SUP> = <SUP> 6 + </SUP> two quasi-particle isomer. This state was determined to have an excitation energy of 1643.91(23) keV and a half life of 0.99(4) μs, with a reduced hindrance for its decay to the ground-state band an order of magnitude lower than predicted by <SUB> N p </SUB> <SUB> N n </SUB> systematics. This is interpreted as being due to <I>γ</I>-vibrational mixing from a near degeneracy of the isomer and the <SUP> 6 + </SUP> state of the <I>γ</I> band. Furthermore, the parent nucleus <SUP>170</SUP>Tb has been determined to have a half-life of 0.91 ( − 13 + 18 ) s with a possible spin-parity of <SUP> 2 − </SUP> .</P>

Multiple model approach to evaluation of accelerated carbonation for steelmaking slag in a slurry reactor

Pan, S.Y.,Liu, H.L.,Chang, E.E.,Kim, H.,Chen, Y.H.,Chiang, P.C. Pergamon Press 2016 CHEMOSPHERE - Vol.154 No.-

Basic oxygen furnace slag (BOFS) exhibits highly alkaline properties due to its high calcium content, which is beneficial to carbonation reaction. In this study, accelerated carbonation of BOFS was evaluated under different reaction times, temperatures, and liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratios in a slurry reactor. CO<SUB>2</SUB> mass balance within the slurry reactor was carried out to validate the technical feasibility of fixing gaseous CO<SUB>2</SUB> into solid precipitates. After that, a multiple model approach, i.e., theoretical kinetics and empirical surface model, for carbonation reaction was presented to determine the maximal carbonation conversion of BOFS in a slurry reactor. On one hand, the reaction kinetics of BOFS carbonation was evaluated by the shrinking core model (SCM). Calcite (CaCO<SUB>3</SUB>) was identified as a reaction product through the scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses, which provided the rationale of applying the SCM in this study. The rate-limiting step of carbonation was found to be ash-diffusion controlled, and the effective diffusivity for carbonation of BOFS in a slurry reactor were determined accordingly. On the other hand, the carbonation conversion of BOFS was predicted by the response surface methodology (RSM) via a nonlinear mathematical programming. According to the experimental data, the highest carbonation conversion of BOFS achieved was 57% under an L/S ratio of 20 mL g<SUP>-1</SUP>, a CO<SUB>2</SUB> flow rate of 0.1 L min<SUP>-1</SUP>, and a pressure of 101.3 kPa at 50 <SUP>o</SUP>C for 120 min. Furthermore, the applications and limitations of SCM and RSM were examined and exemplified by the carbonation of steelmaking slags.

Mapping a Quantitative Trait Locus for Growth and Backfat on Porcine Chromosome 18

Wu, X.L.,Lee, C.,Jiang, J.,Peng, Y.L.,Yang, S.L.,Xiao, B.N.,Liu, X.C.,Shi, Q.S. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2001 Animal Bioscience Vol.14 No.12

A QTL was localized near S0120 on porcine chromosome 18. The QTL was significant (p<0.05) for average daily gain (ADG) of body weight and backfat thickness (BFT). The estimates of additive and dominance effects for the QTL were 0.0135 kg/day (p<0.001) and 0.0138 kg/day (p>0.5) for ADG and 1.6115 mm (p<0.001) and 0.9281 mm (p>0.05) for BFT. The location of this QTL coincided with a few growth hormone pathway genes. This study suggested that a QTL allele probably resulted from a mutation responsible for physiological lipase deficiency favoring obesity. This QTL might be important to obesity as well as growth in pigs.

The CONTIN algorithm and its application to determine the size distribution of microgel suspensions

Scotti, A.,Liu, W.,Hyatt, J. S.,Herman, E. S.,Choi, H. S.,Kim, J. W.,Lyon, L. A.,Gasser, U.,Fernandez-Nieves, A. American Institute of Physics 2015 The Journal of chemical physics Vol.142 No.23

<P>We review a powerful regularization method, known as CONTIN, for obtaining the size distribution of colloidal suspensions from dynamic light scattering data. We show that together with the so-called L-curve criterion for selecting the optimal regularization parameter, the method correctly describes the average size and size distribution of microgel suspensions independently characterized using small-angle neutron scattering. In contrast, we find that when using the default regularization process, where the regularizer is selected via the 'probability to reject' method, the results are not as satisfactory.</P>

Selection for Duration of Fertility and Mule Duck White Plumage Colour in a Synthetic Strain of Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)

H.C. Liu,J.F. Huang,S.R. Lee,H.L. Liu,C.H. Hsieh,C.W. Huang,M.C. Huang,C. Tai,J.P. Poivey,R. Rouvier,Y.S. Cheng 아세아·태평양축산학회 2015 Animal Bioscience Vol.28 No.5

A synthetic strain of ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) was developed by introducing genes for long duration of fertility to be used as mother of mule ducklings and a seven-generation selection experiment was conducted to increase the number of fertile eggs after a single artificial insemination (AI) with pooled Muscovy semen. Reciprocal crossbreeding between Brown Tsaiya LRI-2 (with long duration of fertility) and Pekin L-201 (with white plumage mule ducklings) ducks produced the G0. Then G1 were intercrossed to produce G2 and so on for the following generations. Each female duck was inseminated 3 times, at 26, 29, and 32 weeks of age. The eggs were collected for 14 days from day 2 after AI. Individual data regarding the number of incubated eggs (Ie), the number of fertile eggs at candling at day 7 of incubation (F), the total number of dead embryos (M), the maximum duration of fertility (Dm) and the number of hatched mule ducklings (H) with plumage colour were recorded. The selection criterion was the breeding values of the best linear unbiased prediction animal model for F. The results show high percentage of exhibited heterosis in G2 for traits to improve (19.1% for F and 12.9% for H); F with a value of 5.92 (vs 3.74 in the Pekin L-201) was improved in the G2. Heritabilities were found to be low for Ie (h2 = 0.07±0.03) and M (h2 = 0.07±0.01), moderately low for Dm (h2 = 0.13±0.02), of medium values for H (h2 = 0.20±0.03) and F (h2 = 0.23±0.03). High and favourable genetic correlations existed between F and Dm (rg = 0.93), between F and H (rg = 0.97) and between Dm and H (rg = 0.90). The selection experiment showed a positive trend for phenotypic values of F (6.38 fertile eggs in G10 of synthetic strain vs 5.59 eggs in G4, and 3.74 eggs in Pekin L-201), with correlated response for increasing H (5.73 ducklings in G10 vs 4.86 in G4, and 3.09 ducklings in Pekin L-201) and maximum duration of the fertile period without increasing the embryo mortality rate. The average predicted genetic response for F was 40% of genetic standard deviation per generation of selection. The mule ducklings’ feather colour also was improved. It was concluded that this study provided results for a better understanding of the genetics of the duration of fertility traits in the common female duck bred for mule and that the selection of a synthetic strain was effective method of improvement.

Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping for Porcine Backfat Thickness

Wu, X.L.,Lee, C.,Jiang, J.,Peng, Y.L.,Yan, H.F.,Yang, S.L.,Xiao, B.N.,Liu, X.C.,Shi, Q.S. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2002 Animal Bioscience Vol.15 No.7

A partial genome scan using porcine microsatellites was carried out to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for backfat thickness (BFT) in a pig reference population. This population carried QTL on chromosomes 1, 13 and 18. The QTL on chromosome 1 was located between marker loci S0113 and SW1301. The QTL corresponded to very low density lipoprotein receptor gene (VLDLR) in location and in biological effects, suggesting that VLDLR might be a candidate gene. The QTL found on chromosome 13 was found between marker loci SWR1941 and SW864, but significance for the marker-trait association was inconsistent by using data with different generations. The QTL on chromosome 18 was discovered between markers S0062 and S0117, and it was in proximity of the regions where IGFBP3 and GHRHR were located. The porcine obese gene might be also a candidate gene for the QTL on chromosome 18. In order to understand genetic architecture of BFT better, fine mapping and positional comparative candidate gene analyses are necessary.

Growth hormone and receptor gene mutations in Chinese Banna miniature pig

Deng, J.Z.,Hao, L.L.,Li, M.T.,Lang, S.,Zeng, Y.Z.,Liu, S.C.,Zhang, Y.L. The Korean Society for Integrative Biology 2011 Animal cells and systems Vol.15 No.4

The Banna miniature pig (BNMP) is a representative miniature pig breed in China. Even though BNMP dwarfism is obvious, its underlying causative mutations remain unknown. In this study, the BNMP and Large White pig (LWP) serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels were detected by ELISA and compared. BNMP serum IGF-1 levels were significantly lower than LWP levels (P<0.05). The miniature condition may arise from mutations in the GH and GH receptor (GHR) genes. Therefore, GH and GHR cDNA from the BNMP were cloned into a pMD18-T vector by RT-PCR using the total RNA obtained from the BNMP's pituitary and liver tissues. Sequencing results indicated that the open reading frame of the BNMP GH gene is composed of a 26-residue signal peptide and a 191-residue mature peptide. The coding sequence of the BNMP GHR gene contained 639 amino acids, including a signal peptide that is 18 amino acids long. Two amino acid substitutions, A09V and R22Q, were found in the signal peptide of the GH gene. Additionally, the S104P mutation was found in the BNMP's mature GH protein. Four mutations in the cytoplasmic domain of GHR may influence the downstream signal transduction of GHR, which needs further experimental evidence.

Growth hormone and receptor gene mutations in Chinese Banna miniature pig

J.Z. Deng,L.L. Hao,M.T. Li,S. Lang,Y.Z. Zeng,S.C. Liu,Y.L. Zhang 한국통합생물학회 2011 Animal cells and systems Vol.15 No.4

The Banna miniature pig (BNMP) is a representative miniature pig breed in China. Even though BNMP dwarfism is obvious, its underlying causative mutations remain unknown. In this study, the BNMP and Large White pig (LWP)serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels were detected by ELISA and compared. BNMP serum IGF-1 levels were significantly lower than LWP levels (P<0.05). The miniature condition may arise from mutations in the GH and GH receptor (GHR) genes. Therefore, GH and GHR cDNA from the BNMP were cloned into a pMD18-T vector by RT-PCR using the total RNA obtained from the BNMP’s pituitary and liver tissues. Sequencing results indicated that the open reading frame of the BNMP GH gene is composed of a 26-residue signal peptide and a 191-residue mature peptide. The coding sequence of the BNMP GHR gene contained 639 amino acids, including a signal peptide that is 18 amino acids long. Two amino acid substitutions, A09V and R22Q, were found in the signal peptide of the GH gene. Additionally, the S104P mutation was found in the BNMP’s mature GH protein. Four mutations in the cytoplasmic domain of GHR may influence the downstream signal transduction of GHR, which needs further experimental evidence.