Physiological responses to capture and handling of free-ranging male Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis)

We captured free-ranging male Yangtze finless porpoises over three seasons and assayed leukocytes and serum biochemistry to investigate physiological responses to the capture and handlings. Serum thyroid hormones (THs) declined sharply in those porpoises compared with hormone variation in a captive male finless porpoise. Hypernatremia and hypokalemia were also significant in the free-ranging animals suggesting that conservation of serum sodium might be acutely vital for this freshwater subspecies. The animals captured in spring showed more significant neutrophilia and eosinopenia than those captured in autumn suggesting that they may be more affected by capture during the breeding season. Furthermore, physical examination of porpoises when out of the water was apparently stressful, particularly when they were kept out of the water for longer periods. However, an increase in circulating THs may be an adaptive response to accommodate these short-term stresses.

Extracellular carbohydrate polymers from five desert soil algae with different cohesion in the stabilization of fine sand grain

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from four filamentous cyanobacteria Microcoleus vaginatus, Scytonema javanicum, Phormidium tenue and Nostoc sp. and a coccoid single-cell green alga Desmococcus olivaceus that had been separated from desert algal crusts of Tegger desert of China, were investigated for their chemical composition, structure,and physical properties. The EPS contained 7.5-50.3% protein (in polymers ranging from 14 to more than 200 kD, SDS-PAGE) and 16.2-46.5% carbohydrate (110-460 kD, GFC). 6-12 kinds of monosaccharides, including 2-O-methyl rhamnose, 2-O-methyl glucose, and N-acetyl glucosamine were found. The main carbohydrate chains from M. vaginatus and S. javanicum consisted mainly of equal proportion of Man, Gal and Glc, that from P. tenue consisted mainly of arabinose, glucose and rhamnose. Arabinose was present in pyranose form, mainly alpha-L 1 --> 3 linked, with branches on C4 of almost half of the units. Glucose was responsible for the terminal units, in addition of having some units as beta1 --> 3 and some as beta1 --> 4 linked. Rhamnose was mainly 1 --> 3 linked with branches on C2 on half of the units. The carbohydrate polymer from D. olivaceus was composed mainly of beta1 --> 4 linked xylose, galactose and glucose. The galactose part was present both in beta-pyranose and -furanose forms. Arabinose in alpha-L-furanose form was mainly present as 1 --> 2 and 1 --> 2, 5 linked units, rhamnose only as alpha 1 --> 3 and xylose as beta 1 --> 4. The backbone of the polysaccharide from Nostoc sp. was composed of beta-1 --> 4 linked xylose, galactose and glucose. Most of the glucose was branched on position C6, terminal glucose and 2-O-methyl glucose units are also present. The relationship between structure, physical properties and potential biological function is discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Copassivation of Cl and Cu on CdTe Grain Boundaries

Using a first-principles method, we investigate the structural and electronic properties of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline CdTe and the effects of copassivation of elements with far distinct electronegativities. Of the two types of GBs studied in this Letter, we find that the Cd core is less harmful to the carrier transport, but is difficult to passivate with impurities such as Cl and Cu, whereas the Te core creates a high defect density below the conduction band minimum, but all these levels can be removed by copassivation of Cl and Cu. Our analysis indicates that for most polycrystalline systems copassivation or multipassivation is required to passivate the GBs.

Effects of grain size on the mosaic tilt and twist in InN films grown on GaN by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

The structural property of InN films grown on Ga-face GaN layers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition has been studied by high-resolution x-ray diffraction. The mosaic tilt and twist are found to be strongly dependent on the surface lateral grain size. The twist decreases with increasing grain size and finally approaches to a constant level. On the other hand, the mosaic tilt increases substantially when the grain size becomes large enough and exceeds the width of step terraces on the GaN surface, showing an important mechanism for the defect generation in the InN/GaN system with large out-of-plane lattice mismatch. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

New insight into the origin of twin and grain boundary in InP

X-ray reflectivity curves show bi-crystal (twin) characteristics. Defect segregations at the twin boundary can be seen, whereas stress is relaxed at the edge of the boundary. Relaxation of the stress resulted in the formation of twins and other defects. As a result of the formation of such defects, a defect-free and stress-free zone or low defect density and small stress zone is created around the defects. Stress, chemical stoichiometry deviation and non-homogeneous distribution of impurities are the key factors that cause twins in LEC InP crystal growth. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Twin and grain boundary in InP: A synchrotron radiation study

Experimentally observed X-ray reflectivity curves show bi-crystal(twin) characteristics. The study revealed that there was defect segregation at the twin boundary. Stress was relaxed at the edge of the boundary. Relaxation of the stress resulted in formation of twin and other defects. As a result of formation of such defects, a defect-free and stress-free zone or low defect density and small stress zone is created around the defects. So a twin model was proposed to explain the experimental results. Stress(mainly thermal stress), chemical stoichiometry deviation and impurities nonhomogeneous distributions are the key factors that cause twins in LEC InP crystal growth. Twins on (111) face in LEC InP crystal were studied. Experimental evidence of above mentioned twin model and suggestions on how to get twin-free LEC InP single crystals will be discussed.

Molecular dynamics simulation of entropy and surface tension for grain boundary of α-Fe

The grain boundary is an interface and the surface tension is one of its important thermodynamic properties. In this paper, the surface tension of the ∑9 grain boundary for α-Fe at various temperatures and pressures is calculated by means of Computer Molecular Dynamics (CMD). The results agree satisfactorily with the experimental data. It is shown that the contribution of entropy to surface tension of grain boundary can be ignored.

Deformation behaviour of electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni with broad grain size distribution

In the present work, nanocrystalline Ni (nc-Ni) with a broad grain size distribution (BGSD) of 5-120 nm and an average grain size of 27.2 nm was prepared. The BGSD nc-Ni sample shows a similar strength and good ductility in comparison with electrodeposited nc-Ni with a narrow grain size distribution. The intracrystalline dislocation network was observed in the post-deformed microstructure confirming the conventional intracrystalline dislocation sliding mechanism in BGSD nc-Ni. The uniaxial tensile loading-unloading-loading deformation shows BGSD nc-Ni has the capability to store dislocations in the grain interior, which is very limited compared with that of coarse grained metals. For BGSD nc-Ni, the strain rate sensitivity of flow stress m enhances with decreasing strain rate. At the strain rate of 5 x 10(-6) s(-1), m was estimated to be 0.055. At the corresponding strain rate, the enhanced ductility along with the decreased strength was achievable, indicating activation of other deformation mechanisms, e. g. grain boundary sliding or diffusion.