Effect of gamma radiation in combination with freezing on the microbiological changes in frozen shrimp Penaeus monodon

In this study gamma radiation (3, 6 and 9 kGy) in combination with low temperature (-20°C) were applied to retain the quality and shelf-life of shrimp, Penaeus monodon for a longer period. The quality was assessed by monitoring microbiological changes (TBC, TMC, TYC, TCC and Salmonella count) in irradiated and non-irradiated (control) samples. Among microbiological indicators of spoilage, total bacterial count (TBC) values for irradiated shrimps were found to be 1875, 1625 and 1525 cfugˉ¹ of sample at 3, 6 and 9 kGy respectively after 90 days whereas for non-irradiated samples it was found 2475 cfugˉ¹ of sample. Total moulds count (TMC) value for non-irradiated samples after 90 days were found 425 cfugˉ¹ sample whereas that for irradiated shrimps at 3, 6 and 9 kGy were found to be 275, 250 and 200 cfugˉ¹ sample respectively. Total yeast count (TYC) value for non-irradiated samples after 90 days were found 4125 cfugˉ¹ sample whereas that for irradiated shrimps at 3, 6 and 9 kGy were found to be 2850, 2150 and 1725 cfugˉ¹ sample respectively. Total coliform count and Salmonella count showed that those were absent during 90 days storage period. From this study, it was clear that gamma radiation in combination with low temperature showed shelf-life extension (90 days) in each dose of radiation used but during the use of 9 kGy radiation, Penaeus monodon showed best quality.

Effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid, progesterone and ionophore A23187 on acrosome reaction of tree shrew sperm in vitro: examination of acrosome reaction with an improved fluorescence microscopy

A number of acrosome reaction (AR) initiators have been found to be effective in inducing AR of human, laboratory and domestic animal sperm. Using an improved simple fluorescence microscopy, effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), progesterone and ionophore A23187 on sperm AR of tree shrew, a useful animal model in biomedical research, have been investigated. Spontaneous AR in 4.92-7.53% of viable sperm was observed. Complete AR in 10.31-18.25% of viable tree shrew sperm was obviously induced by 5 mu M and 10 mu M calcium ionophore A23187, 1 mM GABA, and 5 mu M progesterone, and there were no significant differences between their abilities to initiate complete AR. No significant differences of AR percentages between 1- and 2-h treatments with A23187, progesterone and/or GABA were observed. These results suggested that the responses of tree shrew sperm to these AR initiators are similar to that of human and other mammalian sperm. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Molecular modeling on some human interleukins sharing gamma c of interleukin-2 receptor, and structure-function relationships

Five models for human interleukin-7 (HIL-7), HIL-9, HIL-13, HIL-15 and HIL-17 have been generated by SYBYL software package. The primary models were optimized using molecular dynamics and molecular mechanics methods. The final models were optimized using a steepest descent algorithm and a subsequent conjugate gradient method. The complexes with these interleukins and the common gamma chain of interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) were constructed and subjected to energy minimization. We found residues, such as Gln127 and Tyr103, of the common gamma chain of IL-2R are very important. Other residues, e.g. Lys70, Asn128 and Glu162, are also significant. Four hydrophobic grooves and two hydrophilic sites converge at the active site triad of the gamma chain. The binding sites of these interleukins interaction with the common gamma chain exist in the first helical and/or the fourth helical domains. Therefore, we conclude that these interleukins binds to the common gamma chain of IL-2R by the first and the fourth helix domain. Especially at the binding sites of some residues (lysine, arginine, asparagine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid), with a discontinuous region of the common gamma chain of IL-2R, termed the interleukins binding sites (103-210). The study of these sites can be important for the development of new drugs. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Gamma-ray spectroscopy at TRIUMF-ISAC

The 8π spectrometer at TRIUMF-ISAC consists of 20 Compton-suppressed germanium detectors and various auxiliary devices. The Ge array, once used for studies of nuclei at high angular momentum, has been transformed into the world's most powerful device dedicated to radioactive-decay studies. Many improvements in the spectrometer have been made, including a high-throughput data acquisition system, installation of a moving tape collector, incorporation of an array of 20 plastic scintillators for β-particle tagging, 5 Si(Li) detectors for conversion electrons, and 10 BaF2 detectors for fast-lifetime measurements. Experiments can be performed where data from all detectors are collected simultaneously, resulting in a very detailed view of the nucleus through radioactive decay. A number of experimental programmes have been launched that take advantage of the versatility of the spectrometer, and the intense beams available at TRIUMF-ISAC. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Characterising the neutron and gamma responses of the NPL liquid scintillation detectors.

The absolute responses of the NPL liquid scintillation spectrometers to monoenergetic neutrons and gammas were measured at various energies in the ranges 1.2 - 17 MeV approximately for neutrons and 0.28 - 1.8 MeV for gammas. Additional measurements of the proton light output function were also carried out. Calculated responses were then obtained for the larger detector using the programs NRESP7 and PHRESP, and compared with the absolute measurements. Finally, response matrices for this detector were generated using responses calculated at closely spaced energies.

The search for the IFN-gamma receptor in fish: Functional and expression analysis of putative binding and signalling chains in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

Interferons (IFNs), consisting of three major subfamilies, type I, type II (gamma) and type III (lambda) IFN, activate vertebrate antiviral defences once bound to their receptors. The three IFN subfamilies bind to different receptors, IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 for type I IFNs, IFN gamma R1 and IFN gamma R2 for type II IFN, and IL-28R1 and IL-10R2 for type III IFNs. In fish, although many types I and II IFN genes have been cloned, little is known about their receptors. In this report, two putative IFN-gamma receptor chains were identified and sequenced in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and found to have many common characteristics with mammalian type II IFN receptor family members. The presented gene synteny analysis, phylogenetic tree analysis and ligand binding analysis all suggest that these molecules are the authentic IFN gamma Rs in fish. They are widely expressed in tissues, with IFN gamma R1 typically more highly expressed than IFN gamma R2. Using the trout RTG-2 cell line it was possible to show that the individual chains could be differentially modulated, with rIFN-gamma and rIL-1 beta down regulating IFN gamma R1 expression but up regulating IFN gamma R2 expression. Overexpression of the two receptor chains in RTG-2 cells revealed that the level of IFN gamma R2 transcript was crucial for responsiveness to rIFN-gamma, in terms of inducing gamma IP expression. Transfection experiments showed that the two putative receptors specifically bound to rIFN-gamma. These findings are discussed in the context of how the IFN gamma R may bind IFN-gamma in fish and the importance of the individual receptor chains to signal transduction. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative study and expression analysis of the interferon gamma gene locus cytokines in Xenopus tropicalis

Using bioinformatics approach, the genome locus containing interleukin (IL)-22, IL-26, and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) genes has been identified in the amphibian, Xenopus tropicalis. Like that in other vertebrates such as fish, birds, and mammals, the Xenopus IL-22, IL-26, and IFN-gamma are clustered in the same chromosome and the adjacent genes are conserved. The genomic structures of the Xenopus IL-22, IL-26, and IFN-gamma gene were identical to that of their mammalian counterparts. The Xenopus IL-22 and IL-26 genes contained five exons and four introns while the Xenopus IFN-gamma gene consisted of four exons and three introns. The Xenopus IL-22, IL-26, and IFN-gamma share 14.1-41.6%, 14.6-31.2%, and 23.7-36.5% identity to their counterparts in other species, respectively. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR analyses revealed that the expression of IL-22, IL-26, and IFN-gamma genes was significantly upregulated after simulation with bacterial polyliposaccharide and/or synthetic double-stranded poly(I:C), suggesting these cytokines like those in other vertebrates play an important role in regulating immune response in Xenopus.

Molecular cloning and characterization of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) TCR gamma and CD3 gamma/delta chains

Partial cDNA sequences of TCR gamma and CD3 gamma/delta were isolated from the thymus of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) by the method of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Subsequently the full length cDNAs of carp TCR gamma and CD3 gamma/delta were obtained by means of 3' RACE and 5' RACE, respectively. The full length of carp TCR gamma chain is 1368 bp and encodes 326 amino acids including a signal peptide region of 19 amino acids and a transmembrane region of 23 amino acids at the C-terminal region from aa 291 to 313. The V region of carp TCR gamma contains 109 amino acids, the core motif FGXG in J segment was also found in carp TCR gamma. The C region of carp TCR gamma contains the characteristic CX6PX6WX45C motif. The CP region of carp TCR C gamma contains 37 amino acids. The full length of carp CD3 gamma/delta is 790 bp and encodes 175 amino acids including a signal peptide region of 17 amino acids and a transmembrane region of 23 amino acids from aa 93 to 115. Similar to other known CD3 gamma/delta s, four cysteine residues in the extracellular domain and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif ITAM (YxxL/Ix6-8YxxL/I) in the intracellular domain are also included in carp CD3 gamma/delta. Differing from other known CD3 gamma/delta s, carp CD3 gamma/delta tacks the CXXCXE motif in the extracellular domain. RTPCR analysis demonstrated that the expression of TCR gamma gene was mainly in the thymus and gill of 6-month carp, but in 18-month carp, TCR gamma gene was detected in all the examined tissues. The expression of CD3 gamma/delta gene was detected in all examined tissues of 6 and 18-month carp; among them, the highest expression level was in the thymus of 6-month carp. In situ hybridization showed that CD3 gamma/delta-expressing cells were widely distributed in the head kidney, spleen and kidney of carp, whereas in the thymus, they were densely distributed in the lymphoid outer zone and scattered in the epithelioid inner zone. (c) 2007 Published by Etsevier Ltd.

n-type Ge-SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing quantum wells for electrons in the L and Gamma valleys

In this letter, we propose an n-type vertical transition bound-to-continuum Ge-SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing electronic quantum wells in the L and F valleys of the Ge layers. The optical transition levels are located in the quantum wells in the L valley. Under a bias of 80 kV/cm, the carriers in the lower level are extracted by miniband transport and L - Gamma tunneling into the subband in the Gamma well of the next period. And then the electrons are injected into the upper level by ultrafast intervalley scattering, which not only effectively increases the tunneling rate and suppresses the thermal backfilling of electrons, but also enhances the injection efficiency of the upper level. The performance of the laser is discussed.

Characterization of stress induced in SOS and Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si heteroepitaxial thin films by Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy technique has been performed to investigate the stress induced in as-grown silicon-on-sapphire (SOS), solid-phase-epitaxy (SPE) re-grown SOS, and Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si double-heteroepitaxial thin films. It was demonstrated that the residual stress in SOS film, arising from mismatch and difference of thermal expansion coefficient between silicon and sapphire, was reduced efficiently by SPE process, and that the stress in Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si thin film is much smaller than that of as-grown SOS and SPE upgraded SOS films. The stress decrease for double heteroepitaxial film Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si mainly arises from the smaller lattice mismatching of 2.4% between silicon top layer and the gamma-Al2O3/Si epitaxiial composite substrate, comparing with the large lattice mismatch of 13% for SOS films. It indicated that gamma-Al2O3/Si as a silicon-based epitaxial substrate benefits for reducing the residual stress for further growth of silicon layer, compared with on bulk sapphire substrate. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An n-type SiGe/Ge QC structure utilizing the deep Ge quantum well for electron at the Gamma point

In this paper, an n-type Si1-xGex/Ge (x >= 0.85) quantum cascade (QC) structure utilizing a deep Ge quantum well for electrons at the Gamma point is proposed. Based on linear interpolation, a conduction band offset at the Gamma point in a Si1-xGex/Ge ( x >= 0.85) heterostructure is presented, which is suitable for designing a QC laser. This approach has the advantages of a large conduction band offset at the Gamma point, a low lattice mismatch between the Si1-xGex/Ge ( x >= 0.85) active layers and the Si1-yGey ( y > x) virtual substrate, a small electron effective mass in the Gamma band, simple conduction energy band structures and a simple phonon scattering mechanism in the Ge quantum well. The theory predicts that if high-energy electrons are continuously injected into the Gamma band, a quasi-equilibrium distribution of electrons between the Gamma and L bands can be reached and held, i.e., electrons with a certain density will be kept in the Gamma band. This result is supported by the intervalley scattering experiments. In n-type Si1-xGex/Ge ( x >= 0.85) QC structures, population inversion between the laser's upper and lower levels is demonstrated.

Peculiar photocurrent response due to Gamma-X coupling in a GaAs/AlAs heterostructure

Peculiar current jumps and hysteresis in current-voltage curves are reported in an illuminated heterostructure consisting basically of a thick AlAs layer and a narrow GaAs quantum well. These novel features come from the photon-assisted transfer of electron-hole pairs and the resultant charge polarization in the structure, mainly caused by the resonant Gamma-X coupling at the heterointerfaces. Using the transfer-matrix method, the simulated current density-voltage curve reproduces the main features of the experimental observations in the case where the influence of resonant Gamma-X coupling at the heterointerfaces is included, further confirming the physical mechanism involved. The structure presented here may be used as a new type of photonic memory cell and also as an optically controlled switch.

Structural and optical properties of ZnO films on Si substrates using a gamma-Al2O3 buffer layer

High quality ZnO films have been successfully grown on a Si (100) substrate by metal organic chemical vapour deposition with a gamma-Al2O3 buffer. The crystal structure, surface morphology and optical properties of the ZnO films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The propel-ties of the films with the Al2O3 buffer were improved in comparison with those of as-grown ZnO films. It is shown that the ZnO films with the gamma-Al2O3 buffer grown on Si (100) substrates have a highly-preferential c-axis (0002) orientation, a narrow (0002) peak, smooth surface morphology and better PL spectral properties. This demonstrates that the use of gamma-Al2O3/Si as a ZnO substrate is beneficial for reducing the residual stress for further growth of ZnO films, compared with the growth on bulk Si substrates.

Fabrication of novel double-hetero-epitaxial SOT structure Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si

In this paper, we report the fabrication of Si-based double-hetero-epitaxial silicon on insulator (SOI) structure Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si. Firstly, single crystalline gamma-Al2O3(100) insulator films were grown epitaxially on Si(100) using the sources of TMA (Al(CH3)(3)) and O-2 by very low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. Afterwards, Si(100) epitaxial films were grown on gamma-Al2O3 (100)/Si(100) epi-substrates using a chemical vapor deposition method similar to the silicon on sapphire epitaxial growth. The Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si SOL materials are characterized in detail by reflect high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and Auger energy spectrum (AES) techniques. The insulator layer of gamma-Al2O3 has an excellent dielectric property. The leakage current is less than 1 x 10(-10) A/cm(2) when the electric field is below 1.3 MV/ cm. The Si film grown on gamma-Al2O3/Si epi-substrates was single crystalline. Meanwhile, the AES depth profile of the SOL structure shows that the composition of gamma-Al2O3 film is uniform, and the carbon contamination is not observed. Additionally, the gamma-Al2O3/Si epi-substrates are suitable candidates as a platform for a variety of active layers such as GaN, SiC and GeSi. It shows a bright future for microelectronic and optical electronics applications. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.