Comparative studies on growth of fry of GIFT and Existing strain of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.)

Comparative study on growth of fry in nursery system of Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) and Existing strain of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was performed. The trials were conducted in a series of hapa for two months. The initial mean weight of GIFT and Existing strains of tilapia were 1.03 and 1.12g, respectively and the stocking density for both the strains was maintained at 150/m³. Fishes were fed with supplementary feed 31.29% of protein level. After two months the final cumulative mean weight of GIFT and Existing strain were observed to be 8.38 and 5.51g, respectively. The net gain for weight of GIFT and existing strain were estimated to be 666% and 368% and the mean survival were 95.75% and 81.25%, respectively. The GIFT strain showed significantly (P<0.05) higher net gain in growth in weight and also higher (P<0.01) survival than that of existing strain.

Comparative studies on the canning properties of pomfrets and hilsa

Fresh silver pomfret, black pomfret and hilsa were canned at absolutely fresh and iced conditions and the qualities of the final products were studied comparatively in relation to the initial quality of the raw materials. Under identical conditions a maximum quantity of cook-drip and nitrogen contents were found to be lost in black pomfret and minimum in hilsa. Silver pomfret and black pomfret iced for 3 days gave fairly good products on canning while hilsa came out only as a satisfactory product on canning after the same ice storage period of the raw material.

Comparative studies with six extenders for sperm cryopreservation in the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) and rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)

Ejaculated spermatozoa from cynomolgus monkeys and rhesus monkeys were frozen in straws with six different extenders (TTE, DM, mDM, LG-DM, G-DM, and TCG) containing glycerol. Sperm motility and head membrane and acrosomal integrity were evaluated after fr

Comparative studies on parallel and antiparallel duplex and triplex DNA

Parallel strand models for base sequences d(A)(10). d(T)(10), d(AT)(5) . d(TA)(5), d(G(5)C(5)). d(C(5)G(5)), d(GC)(5) . d(CG)(5) and d(CTATAGGGAT). d(GATATCCCTA), where reverse Watson-Crick A-T pairing with two H-bonds and reverse Watson-Crick G-C pairing with one H-bond or with two H-bonds were adopted, and three models of d(T)(14). d(A)(14). d(T)(14) triple helix with different strand orientations were built up by molecular architecture and energy minimization. Comparisons of parallel duplex models with their corresponding B-DNA models and comparisons among the three triple helices showed: (i) conformational energies of parallel AT duplex models were a little lower, while for GC duplex models they were about 8% higher than that of their corresponding B-DNA models; (ii) the energy differences between parallel and B-type duplex models and among the three triple helices arose mainly from base stacking energies, especially for GC base pairing; (iii) the parallel duplexes with one H-bond G-C pairs were less stable than those with two H-bonds G-C pairs. The present paper includes a brief discussion about the effect of base stacking and base sequences on DNA conformations. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.

Comparative studies on photosynthesis and phosphate metabolism of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii with Microcystis aeruginosa and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae

The physiological differences for three bloom-forming cyanobacteria (Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Microcystis aeruginosa, and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) were investigated. In comparison with M. aeruginosa and A. flos-aquae, C. raciborskii exhibited a significantly higher concentration of carotenoids, higher values in maximum photosynthesis rate (P-m), apparent photosynthetic efficieny (a), and maximum electron transport rate (ETRmax) during the growth period. In addition, higher extracellular alkaline phosphatase activities and lower light compensation point (I-c) were also detected in C raciborskii (p < 0.05, ANOVA). Therefore, it is suggested that the higher photosynthetic activities, more effective uptake and utilization to phosphate, and low light requirements might play important roles in the occurrence and invasive behavior of C. raciborskii. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative studies on physiological responses to phosphorus in two phenotypes of bloom-forming Microcystis

Toxic Microcystis blooms frequently occur in eutrophic water bodies and exist in the form of colonial and unicellular cells. In order to understand the mechanism of Microcystis dominance in freshwater bodies, the physiological and biochemical responses of unicellular ( 4 strains) and colonial ( 4 strains) Microcystis strains to phosphorus ( P) were comparatively studied. The two phenotype strains exhibit physiological differences mainly in terms of their response to low P concentrations. The growth of four unicellular and one small colonial Microcystis strain was significantly inhibited at a P concentration of 0.2 mg l - 1; however, that of the large colonial Microcystis strains was not inhibited. The results of phosphate uptake experiments conducted using P- starved cells indicated that the colonial strains had a higher affinity for low levels of P. The unicellular strains consumed more P than the colonial strains. Alkaline phosphatase activity in the unicellular strains was significantly induced by low P concentrations. Under P- limited conditions, the oxygen evolution rate, Fv/ Fm, and ETRmax were lower in unicellular strains than in colonial strains. These findings may shed light on the mechanism by which colonial Microcystis strains have an advantage with regard to dominance and persistence in fluctuating P conditions.

Comparative studies on in vitro sperm decondensation and pronucleus formation in egg extracts between gynogenetic and bisexual fish

A cell-free system based upon the egg extracts from gynogenetic gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) or bisexual red common carp (Cyprinus carpio red variety) was developed to investigate developmental behaviors of the demembranated sperm nuclei. Both red common carp and gibel carp sperm nuclei could decondense fully and form pronuclei in the red common carp egg extracts. Gibel carp sperm nuclei could also decondense fully and form pronuclei in the gibel carp egg extracts, but red common carp sperm nuclei could not decondense sufficiently in the same extracts. The significant differences of morphological changes were further confirmed by ultrastructural. observation of transmission electron microscopy. The data further offer cytological evidence for gonochoristic reproduction in the gynogenetically reproducing gibel carp. In addition, the sperm nuclei in vitro decondensation is dependent on the pH in the extracts, and the decondensed efficiency is optimal at pH 7. However, no DNA replication was observed in the two kinds of egg extracts during the incubation period of the sperm nuclei. It is suggested that the egg extracts prepared from the gynogenetic gibel carp should be a valid in vitro system for studying molecular mechanism on gynogenesis and reproduction mode diversity in fish.

Comparative studies of semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locking dynamics in pulsed diode-end-pumped picosecond Nd:GdVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers

Ultrashort pulses were generated in passively mode-locked Nd:YAG and Nd:GdVO4 lasers pumped by a pulsed laser diode with 10-Hz repetition rate. Stable mode-locked pulse trains were produced with the pulse width of 10 ps. The evolution of the mode-locked pulse was observed in the experiment and was discussed in detail. Comparing the pulse evolutions of Nd:YAG and Nd:GdVO4 lasers, we found that the buildup time of the steady-state mode-locking with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) was relevant to the upper-state lifetime and the emission cross-section of the gain medium.

Comparative studies on electrochemical behavior and electrocatalytic properties of heteropolyanion-containing multilayer films prepared by two methods

Two modification methods for multilayer formation, i.e. immersion growth and electrochemical growth, were studied comparatively for their influence on the electrochemical behavior and the electrocatalytic properties of the thus-fabricated SiMo11V-containing multilayer films. Electrochemical growth was proven to be a more suitable method than immersion growth in preparing uniform ultrathin multilayer self-assemblies with good functions. We investigated the effects of scan rate and pH on the electrochemical behavior of the monolayer and multilayer films. We also compared the electrocatalytic effects on the reduction of BrO3- and HNO2 by the multilayer films prepared by the two methods. Moreover, the influence of multilayer thickness and the identity of the outermost layer on the electrocatalytic properties were studied. Much higher catalytic currents appeared on the thicker multilayer films than those on the thinner ones. On the other hand, the catalytic currents became smaller when the multilayer films with SiMo11V as the outermost layer were covered with an additional quarternized poly(4-vinylpyridine) layer partially complexed with osmium bis(2,2'-bypyridine) chloride (QPVP-Os layer). These influences were believed to be due to the different quantities of electrocatalyst loaded in the multilayer films and the blocking effect of the QPVP-Os outermost layer. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Circular dichroism and resonance Raman comparative studies of wild type cytochrome c and F82H mutant

The UV-visible, circular dichroism (CD), and resonance Raman (RR) spectra of the wild type yeast iso-1-cytochrome c (WT) and its mutant F82H in which phenylalanine-82 (Phe-82) is substituted with His are measured and compared for oxidized and reduced forms. The CD spectra in the intrinsic and Soret spectral region, as well as RR spectra in high, middle, and low frequency regions, are discussed. From the analysis of the spectra, it is determined that in the oxidized F82H the two axial ligands to the heme iron are His-18 and His-82 whereas in the reduced form the sixth ligand switches from His-82 to Met-80 providing the coordination geometry similar to that of WT. Based on the spectroscopic data, the conclusion is that the porphyrin macrocycle is less distorted in the oxidized F82H compared to the oxidized WT. Similar distortions are present in the reduced form of the proteins. Frequency shifts of Raman bands, as well as the decrease of the or-helix content in the CD spectra, indicate more open conformation of the protein around the heme. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

COMPARATIVE-STUDIES ON PERIODATOCUPRATE(II, III) AND TELLURATOCUPRATE(II, III)

The crystal structures, electronic spectra, and Cu2p XPS of Cu(III) complexes Na4H[Cu(H2TeO6)(2)]. 17H(2)O and Na4K[Cu(HlO(6))(2)]. 12H(2)O have been described. The characterizations of a Cu(III) atom in a complex are as follows: (i) In a square-planar coordination, the average bond length of Cu-O is 0.183 nm, shorter than the 0.190-0.200 nm found for a Cu(II) complex. (2) The ''blue shift'' occurs for d-d transitions in the electronic spectrum of the Cu(III) complex compared to those of its related Cu(II) complex, resulting from the higher valence state. (3) Cu(III) compounds with CuO4 square-planar coordination are expected to be diamagnetic whereas Cu(II) compounds to be paramagnetic. (4) Comprehensive investigations on Cu2p XPS show that the binding energy of Cu2p(3/2) of a pure Cu(III) compound is about 2.0 eV higher than that of its corresponding Cu(II) compound: the shake-up satellites do not appear in the Cu2p XPS for a pure diamagnetic Cu(III) compound, the same as found for a diamagnetic Ni(II) compound: the FWHM of the signal of Cu2p XPS may become broader for Cu(III) compound because its core hole's lifetime shortens due to the higher valence state of copper. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.

Cloning and Comparative Studies of Seaweed Trehalose-6-Phosphate Synthase Genes

The full-length cDNA sequence (3219 base pairs) of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase gene of Porphyra yezoensis (PyTPS) was isolated by RACE-PCR and deposited in GenBank (NCBI) with the accession number AY729671. PyTPS encodes a protein of 908 amino acids before a stop codon, and has a calculated molecular mass of 101,591 Daltons. The PyTPS protein consists of a TPS domain in the N-terminus and a putative TPP domain at the C-terminus. Homology alignment for PyTPS and the TPS proteins from bacteria, yeast and higher plants indicated that the most closely related sequences to PyTPS were those from higher plants (OsTPS and AtTPS5), whereas the most distant sequence to PyTPS was from bacteria (EcOtsAB). Based on the identified sequence of the PyTPS gene, PCR primers were designed and used to amplify the TPS genes from nine other seaweed species. Sequences of the nine obtained TPS genes were deposited in GenBank (NCBI). All 10 TPS genes encoded peptides of 908 amino acids and the sequences were highly conserved both in nucleotide composition (>94%) and in amino acid composition (>96%). Unlike the TPS genes from some other plants, there was no intron in any of the 10 isolated seaweed TPS genes.

Comparative studies on the efficiency of energy transfer of two R-phycoerythrin-C-phycocyanin conjugates constructed from sodium periodate and glutaraldehyde respectively

The C-phycocyanin and the R-phycoerythrin were purified from the blue-green alga Spirulina platensis and red alga Polysiphonia urceolata respectively. Both sodium periodate and glutaraldehyde are effective coupling agents being capable of constructing the R-phycoerythrin-C-phycocyanin conjugate, which was also called phycobiliproteins energy transfer model. The two artificial conjugates constructed with different methods were purified by Sephadex G-200 chromatography respectively. Spectra analysis indicated that energy transfer occurred in the two conjugates. The conjugate with sodium periodate had the higher efficiency of energy transfer than that with glutaraldehyde conjugate.

Studies on equine milk and comparative studies on equine and bovine milk systems

The composition of equine milk differs considerably from that of the milk of the principal dairying species, i.e., the cow, buffalo, goat and sheep. Because equine milk resembles human milk in many respects and is claimed to have special therapeutic properties, it is becoming increasingly popular in Western Europe, where it is produced on large farms in several countries. Equine milk is considered to be highly digestible, rich in essential nutrients and to possess an optimum whey protein:casein ratio, making it very suitable as a substitute for bovine milk in paediatric dietetics. There is some scientific basis for the special nutritional and health-giving properties of equine milk but this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the composition and physico-chemical properties of equine milk which is required to fully exploit its potential in human nutrition. Quantification and distribution of the nitrogenous components and principal salts of equine milk are reported. The effects of the high concentration of ionic calcium, large casein micelles (~ 260 nm), low protein, lack of a sulphydryl group in equine β-lactoglobulin and a very low level of κ-casein on the physico-chemical properties of equine milk are reported. This thesis provides an insight into the stability of equine casein micelles to heat, ethanol, high pressure, rennet or acid. Differences in rennet- and acid-induced coagulation between equine and bovine milk are attributed not only to the low casein content of equine milk but also to differences in the mechanism by which the respective micelles are stabilized. It has been reported that β-casein plays a role in the stabilization of equine casein micelles and proteomic techniques support this view. In this study, equine κ-casein appeared to be resistant to hydrolysis by calf chymosin but equine β-casein was readily hydrolysed. Resolution of equine milk proteins by urea-PAGE showed the multi-phosphorylated isoforms of equine αs- and β-caseins and capillary zone electrophoresis showed 3 to 7 phosphorylated residues in equine β-casein. In vitro digestion of equine β-casein by pepsin and Corolase PP™ did not produce casomorphins BCM-5 or BCM-7, believed to be harmful to human health. Electron microscopy provided very clear, detailed images of equine casein micelles in their native state and when renneted or acidified. Equine milk formed flocs rather then a gel when renneted or acidified which is supported by dynamic oscillatory analysis. The results presented in this thesis will assist in the development of new products from equine milk for human consumption which will retain some of its unique compositional and health-giving properties.