Multiple maternal origins of chickens: Out of the Asian jungles

Domestic chickens have long been important to human societies for food, religion, entertainment, and decorative uses, yet the origins and phylogeography of chickens through Eurasia remain uncertain. Here, we assessed their origins and phylogeographic hist

Characterization of two membrane-associated protease genes obtained from screening out-membrane protein genes of Flavobacterium columnare G(4)

In order to identify genes encoding the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of the myxobacter Flavobacterium columnare G(4), the expression library of the bacterium was screened by using rabbit antisera developed against its OMPs. Positive colonies of Escherichia coli M15 containing fragments encoding the bacterial OMPs were selected for cloning the relevant genes by genomic walking methods. Two genes encoding a membrane-associated zinc metalloprotease and prolyl oligopeptidase are reported in this paper. The membrane-associated zinc metalloprotease gene (map) is 1800 bp in length, coding for 449 amino acids (aa). Despite the presence of a conserved motif HEXXH for all metalloproteases, the special HEXXH similar to 32 aa similar to E motif of the F. columnare G(4) Map and its low level of identity with other reported zinc-containing metalloproteases may imply that the membrane-associated zinc metalloprotease of F. columnare G(4) represents a new family of zincins. The gene encoding prolyl oligopeptidase (Pop), a serine proteinase, is 2352 bp in length, coding for 649 aa. Sequence homology analysis revealed that the Pop is also novel as it has <50% identity with other reported prolyl oligopeptidase family proteins. The present study represents the first to employ anti-fish bacterial OMP sera to screen genes of membrane-associated proteases of fish pathogenic bacteria, and to provide necessary information for the examination of the role of the two genes in the infection and pathogenesis of F. columnare.

Entanglement degree of electron pairs out of Andreev reflection

We study the entanglement degree of electron pairs emitted from an s-wave Superconductor, which Couples to two normal leads via a single-level quantum dot. Within the framework of scattering matrix theory. the concurrence is used to quantify the entanglement. And the result shows that the entanglement degree is generally influenced by the initial separation of the two electrons in a Cooper pair and the normal transmission eigenvalues T-1, T-2. But it is only determined by the eigenvalues in the tunnelling limit, T-1. T-2 << 1, what is more. it is measurable. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Low-threshold-current and high-out-power 660 nm laser diodes with a p-GaAs current blocking layer for DVD-RAM/R

We investigate a new structure of high-power 660-nm AlGaInP laser diodes. In the structure, a p-GaAs layer is grown on the ridge waveguide serving as the current-blocking layer, and nonabsorbing windows are only fabricated near the cavity facets to increase the catastrophic-optical-damage level. Stable fundamental mode operation was achieved at up to 80 mW without kinks, and the maximum output power was 184 mW at 22 degrees C. The threshold current was 40 mA.

Creation and suppression of point defects through a kick-out substitution process of Fe in InP

Indium antisite defect In-P-related photoluminescence has been observed in Fe-diffused semi-insulating (SI) InP. Compared to annealed undoped or Fe-predoped SI InP, there are fewer defects in SI InP obtained by long-duration, high-temperature Fe diffusion. The suppression of the formation of point defects in Fe-diffused SI InP can be explained in terms of the complete occupation by Fe at indium vacancy. The In-P defect is enhanced by the indium interstitial that is caused by the kick out of In and the substitution at the indium site of Fe in the diffusion process. Through these Fe-diffusion results, the nature of the defects in annealed undoped SI InP is better understood. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Diffractive Grating Based Out-of-Plane Coupling between Silicon Nanowire and Optical Fiber

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Period Continuous Tuning of an Efficient Mid-Infrared Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on a Fan-out Periodically Poled MgO-Doped Lithium Niobate

We report a period continuously tunable, efficient, mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a fan-out periodically poled MgO-doped congruent lithium niobate (PPMgLN). The OPO is pumped by a Nd:YAG laser and a maximum idler output average power of 1.65 W at 3.93 mu m is obtained with a pump average power of 10.5 W, corresponding to the conversion efficiency of about 16% from the pump to the idler. The output spectral properties of the OPO with the fan-out crystal are analyzed. The OPO is continuously tuned over 3.78-4.58 mu m (idler) when fan-out periods are changed from 27.0 to 29.4 mu m. Compared with temperature tuning, fan-out period continuous tuning has faster tuning rate and wider tuning range.

Electron concentration dependence of exciton localization and freeze-out at local potential fluctuations in InN films

InN films with electron concentration ranging from n similar to 10(17) to 10(20) cm(-3) grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were investigated by variable-temperature photoluminescence and absorption measurements. The energy positions of absorption edge as well as photoluminescence peak of these InN samples with electron concentration above 10(18) cm(-3) show a distinct S-shape temperature dependence. With a model of potential fluctuations caused by electron-impurity interactions, the behavior can be quantitatively explained in terms of exciton freeze-out in local potential minima at sufficiently low temperatures, followed by thermal redistribution of the localized excitons when the band gap shrinks with increasing temperature. The exciton localization energy sigma (loc) is found to follow the n (5/12) power relation, which testifies to the observed strong localization effects in InN with high electron concentrations.

The neutron/proton ratio of squeezed-out nucleons and the high density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy

Within a transport model it is shown that the neutron/proton ratio of squeezed-out nucleons perpendicular to the reaction plane, especially at high transverse momenta, in heavy-ion reactions induced by high energy neutron-rich nuclei can be a useful tool for studying the high density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy.

Seasonal and spatial variation in abundance and egg production of Paracalanus parvus (Copepoda: Calanoida) in/out Jiaozhou Bay, China

The spatial distribution of stage-specific abundance and reproduction of the copepod Paracalanus parvus were studied from October 2005 to September 2006 in the Jiaozhou Bay. This copepod occurred continuously in this bay throughout the year. The species reached the lowest abundance in April and peaked in June. From October to December, distribution center mainly occurred in offshore water and at the mouth of the bay. In winter, early copepodites and adults gradually decreased and till February, most of the population was only comprised of CIV-CV stages. Overwintering copepodites matured in March and males tended to mature before female. From May to September, each stage occurred in the population and gradually reached high abundance. Temperature and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentration in the three stations can't clearly explain the seasonal variation in stage-specific abundance, so we surmised the important effect of the Yellow Sea. Egg production rate (EPR) reached its lowest in winter and peaked in June at 60.8 eggs female(-1) day(-1) in nearshore water. In the warming period, EPR in nearshore water was statistically higher and EPR > 10 eggs female(-1) day(-1) lasted longer than that in offshore water, showing the importance of nearshore water for recruitment of R parvus. Our study showed that EPR was positively related to temperature and total chlorophyll a in offshore water and mouth of the bay. In nearshore water, the relationships between EPR and temperature and Chl-a in three size fractions were not the same as those in offshore water, suggesting complicated ecosystem in such a eutrophic area in warming period. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

降雨条件下碎石土滑坡稳定性研究

Debris Landslide is one of the types of landslides with the widest distribution, largest quantity, and the closest relationship with engineering construction. It is also one of the most important types of landslides that can cause disaster. This kind of landslide often occurs in the loose slopes which are made up of loose congeries formed by earth filling, residual soil, slope wash, dilapidation, landslide or full weathered material of hard rock. Rainfall is always the chief inducing factor of debris Landslide. Therefore, to research stability of debris Landslide during rainfall not only has important theoretical significance for understanding developing law and deformation and failure mechanism of debris landslide, but also has important practical significance for investigating, appraising, forecasting, preventing and controlling debris landslides. This thesis systematically summarized the relationships between rainfall and landslide, the method to survey water table in the landslides, the deformation and failure mechanism of debris landslide, and the progress in the stability analysis of landslides based on the analyses of data collected widely at home and abroad. The problems in the study of the stability of debris landslide during rainfall was reviewed and discussed. Due to the complicated geological conditions and the random rainfall conditions, the research on the landslides' stability must be based on engineering geological qualitative analysis. Through the collection of the data about the Panxi region and the Three Gorges Reservoir region, the author systematically summarized the engineering geological conditions, hydro-geological condition, distribution characteristics of stress field in the slope, physical and mechanical properties and hydro-mechanical properties of debris. In the viewpoint of dynamics of soil water and hydromechanics, physical process of rainfall to supply groundwater of debris landslides can be divided into two phases, i.e. non-saturated steady infiltrating phase and saturated unsteady supplying phase. The former can be described by mathematical model of surface water infiltration while the latter can be described by equivalent continuous medium model of groundwater seepage. With regard to specific hydrological geology system, we can obtain the dynamic variation law of water content, water table, landslide stability of rock and soil mass, along with quantity and duration of rainfall after the boundary condition on hydrological geology has been ascertained. This is a new way to study the response law of groundwater in the landslides during rainfall. After wet face of rock and soil mass connects with ground water table, the raising of water table will occur due to the supply of rainfall. Then interaction between ground water and rock and soil mass will occur, such as the action of physics, water, chemistry and mechanics, which caused the decrease of shearing strength of sliding zone. According to the action of groundwater on rock and soil mass, a concise mechanical model of debris landslide’s deformation was established during rainfall. The static equilibrium condition of landslide mass system was achieved according to the concise mechanical model, and then the typical deformation and failure process and failure mode of debris landslide during rainfall were discussed. In this thesis, the former limiting equilibrium slice method was modified and improved based on shearing strength theory of , a stability analysis program of debris landslide was established and developed taking account of the saturated-unsaturated seepage, by introducing the shearing strength theory of unsaturated soil mass made by (1978). The program has reasonable data storage and simple interface and is easy to operate, and can be perfectly used to carry out sensitivity analysis of influencing factors of landslides' stability, integrated with the program of Office Excel. The design of drainage engineering are always bases on empirical methods and is short of effective quantitative analysis and appraise, therefore, the conception of critical water table of debris landslide was put forward. For debris landslides with different kinds of slide face in the engineering practice, a program to search the critical water table of debris landslide was developed based on native groundwater table. And groundwater table in the slope should be declined below the critical water table in the drainage works, so the program can be directly used to guide drainage works in the debris landslide. Taking the slope deformation body in the back of former factory building of Muli Shawan hydroelectric power station as an example, a systematic and detailed research on debris landslides' stability during rainfall was researched systematically, the relationship among quantity of rainfall, water table and stability of slope was established, the debris landslides' stability in process of rainfall from dynamic viewpoint was analyzed and researched.