Multiple bombesin-like peptides with opposite functions from skin of Odorrana grahami

Bombesin-like peptides (BLPs) are a family of neuroendocrinic peptides that mediate a variety of biological activities. Three mature BLPs from the skin secretions of the frog Odorrana grahami were purified. Several bombesin-like peptide cDNA sequences enc

Relaxation of yeast mitochondrial functions after whole-genome duplication

Mitochondria are essential for cellular energy production in most eukaryotic organisms. However, when glucose is abundant, yeast species that underwent whole-genome duplication (WGD) mostly conduct fermentation even under aerobic conditions, and most can

D77, one benzoic acid derivative, functions as a novel anti-HIV-1 inhibitor targeting the interaction between integrase and cellular LEDGF/p75

Integration of viral-DNA into host chromosome mediated by the viral protein HIV-1 integrase (IN) is an essential step in the HIV-1 life cycle. In this process, Lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF/p75) is discovered to function as a cellular co-fa

Singing Behavior and Singing Functions of Black-Crested Gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China

We used data on loud duetted and solo songs collected from one habituated polygynous group of black-crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) on Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, to test several hypotheses about the functions of these songs. The major function

Effects of the "all-fish" growth hormone transgene expression on non-specific immune functions of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L.

This study investigated non-specific immune functions of the F-2 generation of "all-fish" growth hormone transgenic carp, Cyprinus carpio L. Lysozyme activity was 145.0 (+/- 30.7) U ml(-1) in the transgenic fish serum and 105.0 (+/- 38.7) U ml(-1) in age-matched non-transgenic control fish serum, a significant difference (P < 0.01). The serum bactericidal activity in the transgenics was significantly higher than that in the controls (P < 0.05), with the percentage serum killing of 59.5% (6.83%) and 50.8% (8.67%), respectively. Values for leukocrit and phagocytic percent of macrophages in head kidney were higher in transgenics than controls (P < 0.05). However, the phagocytic indices in the transgenics and the controls were not different. In addition, the mean body weight of the transgenics was 63.4 (6.65) g, much higher than that of the controls [39.2 (+/- 3.30) g, P < 0.01]. The absolute weight of spleen of the transgenics [0.13 (+/- 0.03) g] was higher than that of the controls [0.08 (+/- 0.02) g, P < 0.01]. However, there was no difference in the relative weight of spleen between the transgenics and the controls, with the spleen mass index being 0.21% (+/- 0.02%) and 0.20% (+/- 0.03%), respectively. This study suggests that the "all-fish" growth hormone transgene expression could stimulate not only the growth but also the non-specific immune functions of carp. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Effects of intraperitoneal injection of cortisol on nonspecific immune functions of Ctenopharyngodon idella

After grass carps Ctenopharyngodon idellus were injected with cortisol, with (CBC) and without (C) a cocoa butter carrier, the effects of both slowly and rapidly acting exogenous cortisol oil their non-specific immune functions were investigated. On the one hand, after injection with CBC, the cortisol concentration and lysozyme activity in fish serum were enhanced and were sustained at high levels for a long period (30 days). The killing activity in the serum declined with time, and phagocytosis of head kidney macrophages diminished significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The leukocrit values in the high dose group (31-8 mg cortisol fish(-1)) increased over time, however, with the maximum average being 5.6% at day 30. The spleen mass index in the high dose group was 0.93 x 10(-3) after 30 days, notably lower (P < 0.05) than that in the control group. In addition, a decrease in resistance to Aeronionas hydrophilo infection in cortisol-treated fish was shown, with the final cumulative mortalities being 54.5 and 66.7% in the low and high dose groups, respectively. On the other hand, there was a decrease in both serum cortisol concentration and lysozyme activity of the experimental fish within 2 weeks after injection with C, where plasma bactericidal activities in the high dose group (31-8 mg cortisol fish(-1)) were remarkably lower (P < 0.01) than those in the control group at each sampling, but were increased slightly over time. The results of which were different from those in the CBC trial. Phagocytic activity of head kidney macrophages and spleen mass index decreased significantly (P < 0.05), while there were increases in leukocrit value and cumulative mortality due to A. hydrophila. The results of which were similar to those in the CBC trial. This study indicated that the injection of cortisol depressed the non-specific immune functions of the grass carp and increased its susceptibility to disease. (c) 2005 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Magneto - Transport of electron symmetric and antisymmrtric states in highly doped InGaAs/InAlAs single quantum well

Beating patterns in longitudinal resistance caused by the symmetric and antisymmetric states were observed in a heavily doped InGaAs/InAlAs quantum well by using variable temperature Hall measurement. The energy gap of symmetric and antisymmetric states is estimated to be 4meV from the analysis of beating node positions. In addition, the temperature dependences of the subband electron mobility and concentration were also studied from the mobility spectrum and multicarrier fitting procedure.

A novel extremely broadband superluminescent diode based on symmetric graded tensile-strained bulk InGaAs

A novel broadband superluminescent diode (SLD), which has a symmetric graded tensile-strained bulk InGaAs active region, is developed. The symmetric-graded tensile-strained bulk InGaAs is achieved by changing the group III TMGa source flow only during its growth process by low-pressure metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE), in which the much different tensile strain is introduced simultaneously. At 200mA injection current, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the emission spectrum of the SLID can be up to 122nm, covering the range of 1508-1630nm, and the output power is 11.5mW.

Suppression of exciton recombination in symmetric GaAs0.7Sb0.3/GaAs/GaAs0.7P0.3 coupled quantum wells induced by an in-plane magnetic field

Suppression of the exciton recombination in GaAs0.7Sb0.3/GaAs/GaAs0.7P0.3 coupled quantum well (CQW) induced by an external magnetic field is investigated theoretically. Unlike the usual electro-Stark effect, the exciton energy dispersion of an exciton is modified by an external in-plane magnetic field, the ground state of the magnetoexciton shifts from a zero in-plane center of mass (CM) momentum to a finite CM momentum, and the Lorentz force induces the spatial separation of electron and hole. Consequently, this effect renders the ground state of magnetoexciton stable against radiative recombination due to momentum conservation. This effect depends sensitively on the thickness and height of GaAs0.7Sb0.3 layer, therefore it could provide us useful infometion about the band alignment of CQW. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Silica-based 64-channel arrayed waveguide gratings with double functions

Silica-based 64-channel arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) with double functions and 0.4 nm (50 GHz) channel spacing have been designed and fabricated. On the same component, Gauss and flat-top output response spectra are obtained simultaneously. The test results show that when the insertion loss ranges from 3.5 dB to 6 dB,the crosstalk is better than -34 dB, the 1 dB bandwidth is 0.12 nm, the 3 dB bandwidth is 0,218 nm, and the polarization-dependent loss (PDL) is less than 0.5 dB for Gauss response. When the insertion loss ranges,from 5.8 dB to 7.8 dB, the crosstalk is better than -30 dB, the 1 dB bandwidth is 0.24 nm, the 3 dB bandwidth is 0.33 nm, and the PDL is less than 0.2 dB for flat-top response.

Spin-dependent tunneling through a symmetric semiconductor barrier: The Dresselhaus effect

Spin-dependent tunneling through a symmetric semiconductor barrier is studied including the k(3) Dresselhaus effect. The spin-dependent transmission of an electron can be obtained analytically. By comparing with previous work [Phys. Rev. B 67, 201304(R) (2003) and Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 056601 (2004)], it is shown that the spin polarization and interface current are changed significantly by including the off-diagonal elements in the current operator, and can be enhanced considerably by the Dresselhaus effect in the contact regions.

Enhancement of stimulated emission in 12-fold symmetric quasi-crystals

In this paper, we investigate the stimulated emission in a 12-fold symmetric quasiperiodic photonic crystal. The stimulated emission peaks in the quasiperiodic photonic crystal are more abundant and stronger than those in a periodic crystal. Also, more stimulated emission peaks appear as the crystal size and the gain increase, and some frequencies of the peaks are independent of the incident direction. These phenomena may be due to wave localization in the quasiperiodic photonic crystal.

In-plane optical anisotropy of symmetric and asymmetric (001) GaAs/Al(Ga)As superlattices and quantum wells

Two sensitive polarized spectroscopies, reflectance difference spectroscopy and photocurrent difference spectroscopy, are used to study the characteristic of the in-plane optical anisotropy in the symmetric and the asymmetric (001) GaAs/Al(Ga)As superlattices (SLs). The anisotropy spectra of the symmetric and the asymmetric SLs show significant difference: for symmetric ones, the anisotropies of the 1HH-->1E transition (1H1E) and 1L1E are dominant, and they are always approximately equal and opposite; while for asymmetric ones, the anisotropy of 1H1E is much less than that of 1L1E and 2H1E, and the anisotropy of 3H2E is very strong. The calculated anisotropy spectra within the envelope function model agree with the experimental results, and a perturbation approach is used to understand the role of the electric field and the interface potential in the anisotropy. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Triclinic deformation and anisotropic strain relaxation of an InAs film on a GaAs(001) substrate measured by a series of symmetric double crystal X-ray diffraction

We presented a series of symmetric double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD) measurements, (0 0 4), (2 2 0) and (2 - 2 0) diffraction, to investigate the strain relaxation in an InAs film grown on a GaAs(0 0 1) substrate. The strain tensor and rotation tensor were calculated according to the DCXD results. It is found that the misfit strain is relaxed nearly completely and the strain relaxation caused a triclinic deformation in the epilayer. The lattice parameter along the [1 1 0] direction is a little longer than that along the [1 - 1 0] direction. Furthermore, a significant tilt, 0.2 degrees, towards the [1 1 0] direction while a very slight one: 0.002 degrees, towards [1 - 1 0] direction were discussed. This anisotropic strain relaxation is attributed to the asymmetric distribution of misfit dislocations, which is also indicated by the variation of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of (0 0 4) diffraction along four azimuth angles. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

On a Certain Algebraic Property of Block Ciphers

This is a study on a certain group theoretic property of the set of encryption functions of a block cipher. We have shown how to construct a subset which has this property in a given symmetric group by a computer algebra software GAP4.2 (Groups, Algorithms, and Programming, Version 4.2). These observations on group structures of block ciphers suggest us that we may be able to set a trapdoor based on meet-in-the-middle attack on block ciphers.