Isolation of Y- and X-linked SCAR markers in yellow catfish and application in the production of all-male populations

P>Sex controls have been performed in some farmed fish species because of significant growth differences between females and males. In yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), adult males are three times larger than female adults. In this study, six Y- and X-linked amplified fragment length polymorphism fragments were screened by sex-genotype pool bulked segregant analysis and individual screening. Interestingly, sequence analysis identified two pairs of allelic genes, Pf33 and Pf62. Furthermore, the cloned flanking sequences revealed several Y- and X-specific polymorphisms, and four Y-linked or X-linked sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) primer pairs were designed and converted into Y- and X-linked SCAR markers. Consequently, these markers were successfully used to identify genetic sex and YY super-males, and applied to all-male population production. Thus, we developed a novel and simple technique to help commercial production of YY super-males and all-male populations in the yellow catfish.

Effects of GaN Capping on the Structural and the Optical Properties of InN Nanostructures Grown by Using MOCVD

InN nanostructures with and without GaN capping layers were grown by using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Morphological, structural, and optical properties were systematically studied by using atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL). XRD results show that an InGaN structure is formed for the sample with a GaN capping layer, which will reduce the quality and the IR PL emission of the InN. The lower emission peak at similar to 0.7 eV was theoretically fitted and assigned as the band edge emission of InN. Temperature-dependent PL shows a good quantum efficiency for the sample without a GaN capping layers; this corresponds to a lower density of dislocations and a small activation energy.

Synthesis and characterization of well-aligned Zn1-xMgxO nanorods and film by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Well-aligned Zn1-xMgxO nanorods and film with Mg-content x from 0 to 0.051 have been successfully synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) without any catalysts. The characterization results showed that the diameters and lengths of the nanorods were in the range of 20-80 nm and 330-360 nm, which possessed wurtzite structure with a c-axis growth direction. As the increase of Mg precursor flows into the growth chamber, the morphology of Zn1-xMgxO evolves from nanorods to a film with scale-like surface and the height of the nanorods and the film was almost identical, it is suggested that the growth rate along the c-axis was hardly changed while the growth of six equivalent facets of the type {1 0 (1) over bar 0} of the Zn1-xMgxO has been improved. Photoluminescence and Raman spectra show that the products have a good crystal quality with few oxygen vacancies. With the Mg incorporation, multiple-phonon scattering become weak and broad, and the intensities of all observed vibrational modes decrease. And the ultraviolet near-band-edge emission shows a clear blueshift (x=0.051, as much as 90 meV) and slightly broadening compared with that of pure ZnO nanorods. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structure and magnetic properties of ScFe6Ga6-type RCo5Ga7 (R = Y, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er)

The structure and magnetic properties of the RCo5Ga7 (R = Y, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er) compounds with the ScFe6Ga6-type structure have been studied. The stability of RCo5Ga7 is closely related with the ratio of the metal radii R-RE/R-(Co,R-Ga). With R-RE/R-(Co,R-Ga) less than or equal to 1.36, the compounds can be stabilized in the ScFe6Ga6-type structure. The lattice of RCo5Ga7 shrinks as the atomic order of R increases, and it is consistent with the lanthanide contraction. The structure analysis based on X-ray diffraction patterns reveals that in the orthorhombic RCo5Ga7 (Immm), R occupies the 2a site, and Co enters into the 8k and the 4h sites, and Ga is at the 4e, 4f, 4g, 4h and 8k sites. The interatomic distances and the coordination numbers of RCo5Ga7 are provided from the refinement results. The short interatomic distance (less than 2.480 Angstrom) between the Co ions results in the negative magnetic interaction, which does not favor ferromagnetic ordering. The magnetic moment of YCo5Ga7 is absent, and RCo5Ga7 (R = Tb, Dy, Ho and Er) may have long-range magnetic ordering with the paramagnetic Curie temperature lower than 5 K. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Crystallographic and magnetic properties of hydride R3Fe29-xTxHy (R=Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb and Dy; T=V and Cr)

The crystallographic and intrinsic magnetic properties of hydride R3Fe29-xTxHy (R=Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, and Dy; T=V and Cr) have been investigated. The lattice constants and the unit cell volume of R3Fe29-xTxHy decrease with increasing R atomic number from Nd to Dy, except for Ce, reflecting the lanthanide contraction. Regular anisotropic expansions, mainly along the a- and b-axis rather than along the c-axis, are observed for all the compounds upon hydrogenation. Hydrogenation leads to an increase in Curie temperature. First-order magnetization processes (FOMP) occur in magnetic fields of around 1.5 T and 4.0 T at 4.2 K for Nd3Fe24.5Cr4.5H5.0 and Tb(3)Fc(27.0)Cr(2.0)H(2.8), and around 1.4 T at room temperature for Gd3Fe28.0Cr1.0H4.2 Abnormal crystallographic and magnetic properties of Ce3Fe29-xTxHy suggest that the Ce ion is non-triply ionized.

Structural and magnetic properties of hydrides R3Fe29-xVxHy (R = Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, and Dy)

A systematic investigation of crystallographic and intrinsic magnetic properties of the hydrides R3Fe29 - xVxHy (R = Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, and Dy) has been performed in this work. The lattice constants a, b, and c and the unit cell volume of R3Fe29 - xVxHy decrease with increasing rare-earth atomic number from Nd to Dy, except for Ce, reflecting the lanthanide contraction. Hydrogenation results in regular anisotropic expansions along the a-, b-, and c-axes in this series of hydrides. Abnormal crystallographic and magnetic properties of Ce3Fe27.5V1.5H6.5, like Ce3Fe27.5V1.5, suggest that the Ce ion is non-triply ionized. Hydrogenation leads to the increase in both Curie temperature for all the compounds and in the saturation magnetization at 4.2 K and RT for R3Fe29 - xVx with R = Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, and Dy, except for Tb. Hydrogenation also leads to a decrease in the anisotropy field at 4.2 K and RT for R3Fe29 - xVx with R = Y, Ce, Nd, Gd, Tb, and Dy, except for Sm. The Ce3Fe27.5V1.5 and Gd3Fe28.4V0.6 show the larger storage of hydrogen with y = 6.5 and 6.9 in these hydrides. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Crystallographic and magnetic properties of nitride R3Fe29-xCrxN4 (R = Y, Ca, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, and Dy)

A systematic investigation of crystallographic and magnetic properties of nitride R3Fe29-xCrxN4 (R=Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, and Dy) has been performed. The lattice constants and unit cell volume decrease with increasing rare earth atomic number from Nd to Dy, reflecting the lanthanide contraction. After nitrogenation the relative volume expansion of each nitride is around between 5% and 7%. The nitrogenation results in a good improvement in the Curie temperature, the saturation magnetization and anisotropy fields at 4.2 K, and room temperature for R3Fe29-xCrxN4. Magnetohistory effects of R3Fe29-xCrxN4 and R3Fe29-xCrx (R=Nd and Sm) are observed in a low field of 0.04 T. First order magnetization process occurs in Sm3Fe24.0Cr5.0N4 in magnetic fields of 2.8 T at 4.2 K. After nitrogenation, the easy magnetization direction of Sm3Fe24.0Cr5.0 is changed from the easy-cone structure to the uniaxial. The good intrinsic magnetic properties of Sm3Fe24.0Cr5.0N4 make this compound a hopeful candidate for new high-performance hard magnets. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Selective and lithography-independent fabrication of 20 nm nano-gap electrodes and nano-channels for nanoelectrofluidics applications

A new method has been developed to selectively fabricate nano-gap electrodes and nano-channels by conventional lithography. Based on a sacrificial spacer process, we have successfully obtained sub-100-nm nano-gap electrodes and nano-channels and further reduced the dimensions to 20 nm by shrinking the sacrificial spacer size. Our method shows good selectivity between nano-gap electrodes and nano-channels due to different sacrificial spacer etch conditions. There is no length limit for the nano-gap electrode and the nano-channel. The method reported in this paper also allows for wafer scale fabrication, high throughput, low cost, and good compatibility with modern semiconductor technology.

Comparing the Performance of Biomimetic Pattern Recognition with W8 and SVM on Prediction of Horizontal Gene Transfers in Bacteria Genomes

National Natural Science Foundation of China 60753001

Some new observation on the formation and optical properties of CdS clusters in zeolite-Y

CdS clusters in zeolite-Y have been prepared by the exchange of Cd2+ into the zeolite following by sulfurization with Na2S in solution. Blue-shifts from the bulk caused by quantum size effect and the change of absorption upon CdS loading are observed. Two absorption bands are detected for one of the sample and are assigned to the 1s-1s band and exciton transition, respectively. The exciton feature is more pronounced in the excitation spectrum than in the absorption spectrum, and the luminescence excited at the exciton band is stronger than that at the 1s-1s band. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

Crystallographic and magnetic properties of hydride R3Fe29-xTxHy (R=Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb and Dy; T=V and Cr)

The crystallographic and intrinsic magnetic properties of hydride R3Fe29-xTxHy (R=Y, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, and Dy; T=V and Cr) have been investigated. The lattice constants and the unit cell volume of R3Fe29-xTxHy decrease with increasing R atomic number from Nd to Dy, except for Ce, reflecting the lanthanide contraction. Regular anisotropic expansions, mainly along the a- and b-axis rather than along the c-axis, are observed for all the compounds upon hydrogenation. Hydrogenation leads to an increase in Curie temperature. First-order magnetization processes (FOMP) occur in magnetic fields of around 1.5 T and 4.0 T at 4.2 K for Nd3Fe24.5Cr4.5H5.0 and Tb(3)Fc(27.0)Cr(2.0)H(2.8), and around 1.4 T at room temperature for Gd3Fe28.0Cr1.0H4.2 Abnormal crystallographic and magnetic properties of Ce3Fe29-xTxHy suggest that the Ce ion is non-triply ionized.

Effects of silicon incorporation on composition, structure and electric conductivity of cubic boron nitride thin films

We have achieved in-situ Si incorporation into cubic boron nitride (c-BN) thin films during ion beam assisted deposition. The effects of silicon incorporation on the composition, structure and electric conductivity of c-BN thin films were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrical measurements. The results suggest that the content of the cubic phase remains stable on the whole with the incorporation of Si up to a concentration of 3.3 at.%, and the higher Si concentrations lead to a gradual change from c-BN to hexagonal boron nitride. It is found that the introduced Si atoms only replace B atoms and combine with N atoms to form Si-N bonds, and no evidence of the existence of Si-B bonds is observed. The resistance of the Si-doped c-BN films gradually decreases with increasing Si concentration, and the resistivity of the c-BN film with 3.3 at.% Si is lowered by two orders of magnitude as compared to undoped samples.

Monte Carlo studies of micromegas as a neutron detector and its track reconstruction

In this paper a two dimensional readout micromegas detector with a polyethylene foil as converter was simulated on GEANT4 toolkit and GARFIELD for fast neutron detection. A new track reconstruction method based on time coincidence technology was developed in the simulation to obtain the incident neutron position. The results showed that with this reconstruction method higher spatial resolution was achieved.

Cross-correlation of excitation functions for different fragments and different scattering angles in Al-27(F-19, x)y reactions

Excitation functions have been measured for different projectile-like fragments produced in Al-27(F-19,x)y reactions at incident energies from 110.25 to 118.75 MeV in 250 keV steps. Strong cross section fluctuations of the excitation functions are observed. The cross- correlation coefficients of the excitation functions for different atomic number Z and for different scattering angle theta(cm) have been deduced. These coefficients are much larger than the statistical theoretical calculated ones. This indicates that there are strong correlations between different exit channels in the dissipative heavy ion Collision of Al-27(F-19,x)y.