Effect of several feeding stimulants on diet preference by juvenile gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), fed diets with or without partial replacement of fish meal by meat and bone meal

The objectives of this work were to study the effects of several feeding stimulants on gibel carp fed diets with or without replacement of fish meal by meat and bone meal (MBM). The feeding stimulants tested were betaine, glycine, L-lysine, L-methionine, L-phenylalanine, and a commercial squid extract. Three inclusion levels were tested for each stimulant (0.18, 0.5%, and 1% for betaine and 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5% for the other stimulants). Two basal diets (40% crude protein) were used. one with 26% fish meal (FM), and the other with 21% fish meal and 6% MBM, Betaine at 0.1% in the fish meal group and at 0.5% in the meat and bone meal group was used in all experiments for comparison among stimulants. In the experiment on each stimulant, six tanks of fish were equally divided into two groups, one fed the FM diet, and the other fed the MBM diet. After 7 days' adaptation to the basal diet, in which the fish were fed to satiation twice a day, the fish were fed for another 7 days an equal mixture of diets containing varying levels of stimulants. Each diet contained a unique rare earth oxide as inert marker (Y2O3, Yb2O3, La2O3, Sm2O3 or Nd2O3). During the last 3 days of the experiment, faeces from each tank were collected. Preference for each diet was estimated based on the relative concentration of each marker in the faeces. Gibel carp fed the FM diet had higher intake than those fed the MBM diet, but the difference was significant only in the experiments on betaine, glycine and L-methionine. None of the feeding stimulants tested showed feeding enhancing effects in FM diets. All feeding stimulants showed feeding enhancing effects in MBM diets. and the optimum inclusion level was 0.5% for betaine, 0.1% for glycine, 0.25% for L-lysine, 0.1% for L-methionine. 0.25% For L-phenylalanine. and 0.1% for squid extract. The squid extract had the strongest stimulating effect among all the stimulants tested. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

First-principles study of ground-state properties and high pressure behavior of ThO2

The mechanical properties, electronic structure and phonon dispersion of ground state ThO2 as well as the structure behavior up to 240 GPa are studied using first-principles density-functional theory. Our calculated elastic constants indicate that both the ground-state fluorite structure and high pressure cotunnite structure of ThO2 are mechanically stable. The bulk modulus, shear modulus, and Young's modulus of cotunnite ThO2 are all smaller by approximately 25% compared with those of fluorite ThO2. The Poisson's ratios of both structures are approximately equal to 0.3 and the hardness of fluorite ThO2 is 22.4 GPa. The electronic structure and bonding nature of fluorite ThO2 are fully analyzed, and show that the Th-O bond displays a mixed ionic/covalent character. The phase transition from the fluorite to cotunnite structure is calculated to occur at the pressure of 26.5 GPa, consistent with recent experimental measurement by ldiri et al. [1]. For the cotunnite phase it is further predicted that an isostructural transition takes place in the pressure region of 80-130 GPa.

First-principles study of p-type transparent conductive oxides CuXO2 (X=Y, Sc, and Al)

Using first-principles methods we have calculated electronic structures, optical properties, and hole conductivities of CuXO2 (X=Y, Sc, and Al). We show that the direct optical band gaps of CuYO2 and CuScO2 are approximately equal to their fundamental band gaps and the conduction bands of them are localized. The direct optical band gaps of CuXO2 (X=Y, Sc, and Al) are 3.3, 3.6, and 3.2 eV, respectively, which are consistent with experimental values of 3.5, 3.7, and 3.5 eV. We find that the hole mobility along long lattice c is higher than that along other directions through calculating effective masses of the three oxides. By analyzing band offset we find that CuScO2 has the highest valence band maximum (VBM) among CuXO2 (X=Y, Sc, and Al). In addition, the approximate transitivity of band offset suggests that CuScO2 has a higher VBM than CuGaO2 and CuInO2 [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 066405 (2002)]. We conclude that CuScO2 has a higher p-type doping ability in terms of the doping limit rule. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2991157]

Spin states in semiconductor quantum dot with a single magnetic ion

We investigate theoretically CdTe quantum dots containing a single Mn2+ impurity, including the sp-d exchange interaction between carriers and the magnetic ion and the short-range exchange interaction between electron and hole. We find anticrossing behaviors in the energy spectrum of the electron-hole (e-h) pair that arise from the interplay between exchange interactions and the magnetic field. In addition to the s-d exchange interaction, we find that other mechanisms inducing the anticrossings become important in the strong heavy hole-light hole (hh-lh) mixing regime. The transition strengths between the states with spin projection of Mn2+ ion S-z not equal -5/2 (S-z = -5/2) decrease (increase) with increasing magnetic fields due to the alignment of the Mn2+ spin. The spin splitting of the e-h pair states depends sensitively on the external magnetic and electric field, which reveals useful information about the spin orientation and position of the magnetic ion. Meanwhile, the manipulation of the position of the magnetic ion offers us a way to control the spin splitting of the carriers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A mini-staged multi-stacked quantum cascade laser for improved optical and thermal performance

In this paper, a mini-staged multi-stacked quantum cascade laser structure with a designed wavelength of 4.7 mu m is presented. By introducing five 0.5 mu m thick high thermal conductivity InP interbuffer layers, the 60-stages active region core of the quantum cascade laser is divided into six equal parts. Based on simulation, this kind of quantum cascade laser with a 10 mu m ridge width gives nearly circular two-dimensional far-field distribution (FWHM = 32.8 degrees x 29 degrees) and good beam quality parameters M-2 = 1.32 x 1.31 in the fast axis (growth direction) and the slow axis (lateral direction). Due to the enhancement of lateral heat extraction through the interbuffer layers, compared to the conventional structure, a decrease of about 5-6% for the maximum temperature in the active region core of the mini-staged multi-stacked quantum cascade laser with indium-surrounded and gold-electroplated packaging profiles is obtained at all possible dissipated electrical power levels.

A study of the degree of relaxation of AlGaN epilayers on GaN template

The strain state of 570nm AlXGa1-xN layers grown on 600nm GaN template by metal organic chemical vapor deposition was studied using Rutherford backscattering (RBS)/channeling and triple-axis X-ray diffraction measurements. The results showed that the degree of relaxation (R) of AlxGa1-xN layers increased almost linearly when x less than or equal to 0.42 and reached to 70% when x = 0.42. Above 0.42, the value of R varied slowly and AI(x)Ga(1-x)N layers almost full relaxed when x = 1 (AIN). In this work the underlying GaN layer was in compressive strain, which resulted in the reduction of lattice misfit between GaN and AlxGa1-xN, and a 570nm AlxGa1-xN layer with the composition of about 0.16 might be grown on GaN coherently from the extrapolation. The different shape of (0004) diffraction peak was discussed to be related to the relaxation. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calculation of the current noise spectrum in mesoscopic transport: A quantum master equation approach

Based on our recent work on quantum transport [X. Q. Li , Phys. Rev. B 71, 205304 (2005)], we show how an efficient calculation can be performed for the current noise spectrum. Compared to the classical rate equation or the quantum trajectory method, the proposed approach is capable of tackling both the many-body Coulomb interaction and quantum coherence on an equal footing. The practical applications are illustrated by transport through quantum dots. We find that this alternative approach is in a certain sense simpler and more straightforward than the well-known Landauer-Buttiker scattering matrix theory.

Effects of phase-breaking on long-range charge transfer in DNA: Partially-coherent-tunneling model study

The mechanism of hole charge transfer in DNA of various lengths and sequences is investigated based on a partially coherent tunneling theory (Zhang et al., J Chem Phys 117:4578, 2002), where the effects of phase-breaking in adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine base pairs are treated on equal foot. This work aims at providing a self-consistent microscopic interpretation for rate experiments on various DNA systems. We will also clarify the condition under which the simple superexchange-mediated-hopping picture is valid, and make some comments on the further development of present theory.

Valence hole subbands and optical gain spectra of GaN/Ga1-xAlxN strained quantum wells

The valence hole subbands, TE and TM mode optical gains, transparency carrier density, and radiative current density of the zinc-blende GaN/Ga0.85Al0.15N strained quantum well (100 Angstrom well width) have been investigated using a 6 X 6 Hamiltonian model including the heavy hole, Light hole, and spin-orbit split-off bands. At the k = 0 point, it is found that the light hole strongly couples with the spin-orbit split-off hole, resulting in the so+lh hybrid states. The heavy hole does not couple with the light hole and the spin-orbit split-off hole. Optical transitions between the valence subbands and the conduction subbands obey the Delta n=0 selection rule. At the k not equal 0 points, there is strong band mixing among the heavy hole, light hole, and spin-orbit split-off hole. The optical transitions do not obey the Delta n=0 selection rule. The compressive strain in the GaN well region increases the energy separation between the so1+lh1 energy level and the hh1 energy level. Consequently, the compressive strain enhances the TE mode optical gain, and strongly depresses the TM mode optical gain. Even when the carrier density is as large as 10(19) cm(-3), there is no positive TM mode optical gain. The TE mode optical gain spectrum has a peak at around 3.26 eV. The transparency carrier density is 6.5 X 10(18) cm(-3), which is larger than that of GaAs quantum well. The compressive strain overall reduces the transparency carrier density. The J(rad) is 0.53 kA/cm(2) for the zero optical gain. The results obtained in this work will be useful in designing quantum well GaN laser diodes and detectors. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Pt-based anode catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells

In the present work, several carbon supported PtSn and PtSnRu catalysts were prepared with different atomic ratios and tested in direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC) operated at lower temperature (T=90 degreesC). XRD and TEM results indicate that all of these catalysts consist of uniform nano-sized particles of narrow distribution and the average particle sizes are always less than 3.0 nm. As the content of Sn increases, the Pt lattice parameter becomes longer. Single direct ethanol fuel cell tests were used to evaluate the performance of carbon supported PtSn catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation. It was found that the addition of Sn can enhance the activity towards ethanol electro-oxidation. It is also found that a single DEFC of Pt/Sn atomic ratioless than or equal to2, "Pt1Sn1/C, Pt3Sn2/C, and Pt2Sn1/C" shows better performance than those with Pt3Sn1/C and Pt4Sn1/C. But even adopting the least active PtSn catalyst, Pt4Sn1/C, the DEFC also exhibits higher performance than that with the commercial Pt1Ru1/C, which is dominatingly used in PEMFC at present as anode catalyst for both methanol electro-oxidation and CO-tolerance. At 90 degreesC, the DEFC exhibits the best performance when Pt2Sn1/C is adopted as anode catalysts. This distinct difference in DEFC performance between the catalysts examined here is attributed to the so-called bifunctional mechanism and to the electronic interaction between Pt and Sn. It is thought that -OHads, Surface Pt active sites and the ohmic effect of PtSn/C catalyst determines the electro-oxidation activity of PtSn catalysts with different Pt/Sn ratios. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microstructure and Elevated Temperature Properties of Die-cast AZ91-xNd magnesium alloy

The effect of Nd addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a die-cast AZ91 alloy was investigated in the present work. The results show that the die-cast AZ91 alloy is composed of alpha-Mg matrix and gamma-Mg17Al12 phase. Nd addition into the AZ91 alloy leads to the formation of rare earth containing intermetallic phase. Al4Nd phase forms when Nd content is less than or equal to 1.0 wt.%. Al2Nd phase appears simultaneously when Nd content reaches to 3.0 wt.%.

STUDIES ON DEFECT STRUCTURE AND CATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF SN-MO OXIDES

The present work is devoted to the studies on relationship of structure and activity of Sn-Mo oxides by using XRD, ESR, IR, XPS, TEM and SEM. Eight samples with Mo/(Mo + Sn) rations: 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0 were prepared. On the basis of structure characterization, Sn-Mo oxides can be divided into three groups: Catalysts I with Mo/(Mo + So) less-than-or-equal-to 0.2, Catalysts II with 0.2 < Mo/(Mo + Sn) < 0.8, and catalysts III with Mo/(Mo + Sn) greater-than-or-equal-to 0.8. The solid solution of Mo5+ in tin oxide was formed and the cation vacancy was formed in catalysts I. The solid solution of Sn4+ in molybdenum oxide was formed in catalysts III. The lattice oxygen in catalysts III has higher mobility and reactivity than that in catalysts I. The catalysts III showed higher activity but lower selectivity than that of catalysts I.

潮波模型的优化开边界方法研究

数值模式是潮波研究的一种有利手段，但在研究中会面临各种具体问题，包括开边界条件的确定、底摩擦系数和耗散系数的选取等。数据同化是解决这些问题的一种途径，即利用有限数量的潮汐观测资料对潮波进行最优估计，其根本目的是迫使模型预报值逼近观测值，使模式不要偏离实际情况太远。本文采用了一种优化开边界方法，沿着数值模型的开边界优化潮汐水位信息，目的是设法使数值解在动力约束的意义下接近观测值，获得研究区域的潮汐结果。边界值由指定优化问题的解来定，以提高模拟区域的潮汐精度，最优问题的解是基于通过开边界的能量通量的变化，处理开边界处的观测值与计算值之差的最小化。这里提供了辐射型边界条件，由Reid 和Bodine（本文简称为RB）推导，我们将采用的优化后的RB方法（称为ORB）是优化开边界的特殊情况。 本文对理想矩形海域（ E- E， N- N， 分辨率 ）进行了潮波模拟，有东部开边界，模式采用ECOM3D模式。对数据结果的误差分析采用，振幅平均偏差，平均绝对偏差，平均相对误差和均方根偏差四个值来衡量模拟结果的好坏程度。 需要优化入开边界的解析潮汐值本文采用的解析解由方国洪《海湾的潮汐与潮流》（1966年）方法提供，为验证本文所做的解析解和方文的一致，本文做了其第一个例子的关键值a,b,z,结果与其结果吻合的相当好。但略有差别，分析的可能原因是两法在具体迭代方案和计算机保留小数上有区别造成微小误差。另外，我们取m=20，得到更精确的数值，我们发现对前十项的各项参数值，取m=10,m=20各项参数略有改进。当然我们可以获得m更大的各项参数值。 同时为了检验解析解的正确性讨论m和l变化对边界值的影响，结果指出，增大m，m=20时，u的模最大在本身u1或u2的模的6%；m=100时，u的模最大在本身u1或u2的模的4%；m再增大，m=1000时，u的模最大在本身u1或u2的模的4%，改变不大。当l<1时， =0处u的模最大为2。当l=1时， =0处u的模最大为0.1，当l>1时，l越大，u的模越小，当l=10时，u的模最大为0.001，可以认为为0。 为检验该优化方法的应用情况，我们对理想矩形区域进行模拟，首先将本文所采用的优化开边界方法应用于30m的情况，在开边界优化入开边界得出模式解，所得模拟结果与解析解吻合得相当好，该模式解和解析解在整个区域上，振幅平均绝对偏差为9.9cm,相位平均绝对偏差只有4.0 ，均方根偏差只有13.3cm，说明该优化方法在潮波模型中有效。 为验证该优化方法在各种条件下的模拟结果情况，在下面我们做了三类敏感性试验： 第一类试验：为证明在开边界上使用优化方法相比于没有采用优化方法的模拟解更接近于解析解，我们来比较ORB条件与RB条件的优劣，我们模拟用了两个不同的摩擦系数，k分别为：0,0.00006。 结果显示，针对不同摩擦系数，显示在开边界上使用ORB条件的解比使用RB条件的解无论是振幅还是相位都有显著改善，两个试验均方根偏差优化程度分别为84.3%，83.7%。说明在开边界上使用优化方法相比于没有采用优化方法的模拟解更接近于解析解，大大提高了模拟水平。上述的两个试验得出， k=0.00006优化结果比k=0的好。 第二类试验，使用ORB条件确定优化开边界情况下，在东西边界加入出入流的情况，流考虑线性和非线性情况，结果显示，加入流的情况，潮汐模拟的效果降低不少，流为1Sv的情况要比5Sv的情况均方根偏差相差20cm,而不加流的情况只有0.2cm。线性流和非线性流情况两者模式解相差不大，振幅，相位各项指数都相近, 说明流的线性与否对结果影响不大。 第三类试验，不仅在开边界使用ORB条件，在模式内部也使用ORB条件，比较了内部优化和不优化情况与解析解的偏差。结果显示，选用不同的k,振幅都能得到很好的模拟，而相位相对较差。另外，在内部优化的情况下，考虑不同的k的模式解， 我们选用了与解析解相近的6个模式解的k,结果显示，不同的k,振幅都能得到很好的模拟，而相位较差。 总之，在开边界使用ORB条件比使用RB条件好，振幅相位都有大幅度改进，在加入出入流情况下，流的大小对模拟结果有影响，但线形流和非线性流差别不大。内部优化的结果显示，模式采用不同的k都能很好模拟解析解的振幅。

Monitoring microbial populations of sulfate-reducing bacteria using an impedimetric immunosensor based on agglutination assay

An impedimetric immunosensor was fabricated for rapid and non-labeled detection of sulfate-reducing bacteria, Desulforibrio caledoiensis (SRB) by immobilizing lectin-Concanavalin A using an agglutination assay. The immobilization of lectin was conducted using amine coupling on the surface of a gold (Au) electrode assembled with 11-Mercaptounclecanoic acid. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to verify the stepwise assembly of the sensor system. The work conditions of the impedimetric immunosensor, such as pH of the buffer solutions and the incubation time of lectin, were optimized. Faradic impedance spectra for charge transfer for the redox probe Fe(CN)(6)(3-/4-) were measured to determine SRB concentrations. The diameter of the Nyquist diagram that is equal to the charge-transfer resistance (RI) increased with increasing SRB concentration. A linear relationship between R-ct and SRB concentration was obtained in SRB concentration range of 1.8 to 1.8 x 10(7) cfu/ml. The variation of the SRB population during the growth process was also monitored using the impedimetric immunosensor. This approach has great potential for simple, low-cost. and time-saving monitoring of microbial populations. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

水热条件下钾长石碱性分解反应机理的实验研究

It is well known that our country is short of water-soluble potassium, but rich in insoluble potassium ores. Based on the work of the formers, using the orthogonal and monofactor experiments, the author optimized the production technology of micro-porous potassium silicon calcium mineral fertilizer by non-stirring hydrothermal chemical reaction when the alkaline earth booster CaO was available. The influences of temperature、time、reactant ratio and water-solid ratio on the dissolution rate of production’s elements were studied by orthogonal experiments, and the production technology was further optimized by monofactor experiments. By XRD、SEM、EDS and dissolving experiments, it was systematically studied that the effects of the reactant ratio、reaction time and reaction temperature on the properties of the production obtained by the hydrothermal reaction between KAlSi3O8 and CaO. The results showed that：when changing of the reaction condition, the reaction productions included tobermorite、 hibschite、α-C2SH and K2Ca(CO3)2; among which, K2Ca(CO3)2 was not the first production containing potassium, but K2Ca(CO3)2 was synthesized by the reaction among KOH、Ca(OH)2 and CO2. Whether the phase was synthesized was related to not only the reaction condition, but also their physicochemical properties; when the reaction condition was changed, the changes of different phases were different. The results of XRD and dissolution rate experiments explained the dissolution characteristic of every element of hydrothermal productions very well, and the relation between the dissolution rate of element and the phase of productions poured a good illumination on the production technology. The results of SEM and EDS showed that: hydrogarnet looked like spherical, and its surface was covered by some productions including K phase and Ca、Si phase; but the morphology of tobermorite was platy or lamellar or needlelike, and parts of Si in the structure of tobermorite were substituted by Al，and some K+ cations were inserted into the Ca interlayer of tobermorite at the same time. It was the first time that the interface between KAlSi3O8 and Ca(OH)2 was observed directly by SEM and EDS after the hydrothermal reaction, and the mechanism of hydrothermal reaction of KAlSi3O8 and Ca(OH)2 was further discussed. These results indicated that: the Ca-KAlSi3O8 intermediate compound was formed at first, and some K was released into the solution and KOH was produced at the same time; the C-S-H phase appeared before hydrogarnet, and then hydrogarnet was synthesized when the chemical reaction was carried on; if the reaction was carried on furthermore, α-C2SH、tobermorite and other C-S-H phases of different atom ratio appeared. The author found that the structure of KAlSi3O8 would be more drastically destroyed if there were some reactants, such as Ca(OH)2 which reacted with KAlSi3O8 and new phases were formed after the hydrothermal reaction between KAlSi3O8 and alkaline solution of equal ionic strength was finished. With the combination of calcination and hydrothermal reaction methods, the dissolution rate of products were greatly improved when the hydrothermal reaction was carried out after KAlSi3O8 and CaCO3 were calcined. Furthermore, the author has tentatively explored how to evaluate the effects of the differences of the activity of lime on the dissolution properties of hydrothermal products.