Optical coherence of Er3+^{3+}:Y2_2O3_3 ceramics for telecommunication quantum technologies

We report an optical homogeneous linewidth of 580 $\pm$ 20 Hz of Er$^{3+}$:Y$_2$O$_3$ ceramics at millikelvin temperatures, narrowest so far in rare-earth doped ceramics. We show slow spectral diffusion of $\sim$2 kHz over a millisecond time scale. Temperature, field dependence of optical coherence and spectral diffusions reveal the remaining dephasing mechanism as elastic two-level systems in polycrystalline grain boundaries and superhyperfine interactions of Er$^{3+}$ with nuclear spins. In addition, we perform spectral holeburning and measure up to 5 s hole lifetimes. These spectroscopic results put Er$^{3+}$:Y$_2$O$_3$ ceramics as a promising candidate for telecommunication quantum memories and light-matter interfaces

In Situ Modification of Three-Dimensional Polyphenylene Dendrimer-Templated CuO Rice-Shaped Architectures with Electron Beam Irradiation

In this study, the high-energy electron beam of the transmission electron microscope (TEM) is utilized as an external force to in situ modify the polyphenylene dendrimer (G2Td(COOH)16) templated CuO rice-shaped architecture (RSA). By virtue of the nanoscale precision of this approach, the electron beam-modified RSA retains its rice shape while the internal primary CuO nanoparticles are converted to the Cu2O nanoparticles with increased size. Detailed investigation using a time-lapse TEM technique reveals that such a modification process is mainly constituted by two stages, involving the arrangement of the primary CuO nanoparticles and the transformation of the primary CuO into Cu2O nanoparticles. Within the modification process, the high-energy electron beam of TEM serves as the external driving force and energy resource to improve the orientation and increase the crystallinity of the single-phase CuO nanoparticles and subsequently transfer the nanoparticle phase from CuO to Cu2O. This study highlights a facile in situ way to finely tune the nanoscale morphology and chemical composition of nanoparticles and nanoparticle-based assembled structures

Image2_Genetic architecture for skeletal muscle glycolytic potential in Chinese Erhualian pigs revealed by a genome-wide association study using 1.4M SNP array.tif

Introduction: Muscle glycolytic potential (GP) is a key factor affecting multiple meat quality traits. It is calculated based on the contents of residual glycogen and glucose (RG), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and lactate (LAT) contents in muscle. However, the genetic mechanism of glycolytic metabolism in skeletal muscle of pigs remains poorly understood. With a history of more than 400 years and some unique characteristics, the Erhualian pig is called the “giant panda” (very precious) in the world’s pig species by Chinese animal husbandry.Methods: Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 1.4M single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) chips for longissimus RG, G6P, LAT, and GP levels in 301 purebred Erhualian pigs.Results: We found that the average GP value of Erhualian was unusually low (68.09 μmol/g), but the variation was large (10.4–112.7 μmol/g). The SNP-based heritability estimates for the four traits ranged from 0.16–0.32. In total, our GWAS revealed 31 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including eight for RG, nine for G6P, nine for LAT, five for GP. Of these loci, eight were genome-wide significant (p −7), and six loci were common to two or three traits. Multiple promising candidate genes such as FTO, MINPP1, RIPOR2, SCL8A3, LIFR and SRGAP1 were identified. The genotype combinations of the five GP-associated SNPs also showed significant effect on other meat quality traits.Discussion: These results not only provide insights into the genetic architecture of GP related traits in Erhualian, but also are useful for pig breeding programs involving this breed.</p

Image1_Genetic architecture for skeletal muscle glycolytic potential in Chinese Erhualian pigs revealed by a genome-wide association study using 1.4M SNP array.tif

Introduction: Muscle glycolytic potential (GP) is a key factor affecting multiple meat quality traits. It is calculated based on the contents of residual glycogen and glucose (RG), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and lactate (LAT) contents in muscle. However, the genetic mechanism of glycolytic metabolism in skeletal muscle of pigs remains poorly understood. With a history of more than 400 years and some unique characteristics, the Erhualian pig is called the “giant panda” (very precious) in the world’s pig species by Chinese animal husbandry.Methods: Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 1.4M single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) chips for longissimus RG, G6P, LAT, and GP levels in 301 purebred Erhualian pigs.Results: We found that the average GP value of Erhualian was unusually low (68.09 μmol/g), but the variation was large (10.4–112.7 μmol/g). The SNP-based heritability estimates for the four traits ranged from 0.16–0.32. In total, our GWAS revealed 31 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including eight for RG, nine for G6P, nine for LAT, five for GP. Of these loci, eight were genome-wide significant (p −7), and six loci were common to two or three traits. Multiple promising candidate genes such as FTO, MINPP1, RIPOR2, SCL8A3, LIFR and SRGAP1 were identified. The genotype combinations of the five GP-associated SNPs also showed significant effect on other meat quality traits.Discussion: These results not only provide insights into the genetic architecture of GP related traits in Erhualian, but also are useful for pig breeding programs involving this breed.</p

Table1_Genetic architecture for skeletal muscle glycolytic potential in Chinese Erhualian pigs revealed by a genome-wide association study using 1.4M SNP array.DOCX

Introduction: Muscle glycolytic potential (GP) is a key factor affecting multiple meat quality traits. It is calculated based on the contents of residual glycogen and glucose (RG), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and lactate (LAT) contents in muscle. However, the genetic mechanism of glycolytic metabolism in skeletal muscle of pigs remains poorly understood. With a history of more than 400 years and some unique characteristics, the Erhualian pig is called the “giant panda” (very precious) in the world’s pig species by Chinese animal husbandry.Methods: Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 1.4M single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) chips for longissimus RG, G6P, LAT, and GP levels in 301 purebred Erhualian pigs.Results: We found that the average GP value of Erhualian was unusually low (68.09 μmol/g), but the variation was large (10.4–112.7 μmol/g). The SNP-based heritability estimates for the four traits ranged from 0.16–0.32. In total, our GWAS revealed 31 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including eight for RG, nine for G6P, nine for LAT, five for GP. Of these loci, eight were genome-wide significant (p −7), and six loci were common to two or three traits. Multiple promising candidate genes such as FTO, MINPP1, RIPOR2, SCL8A3, LIFR and SRGAP1 were identified. The genotype combinations of the five GP-associated SNPs also showed significant effect on other meat quality traits.Discussion: These results not only provide insights into the genetic architecture of GP related traits in Erhualian, but also are useful for pig breeding programs involving this breed.</p

Image3_Genetic architecture for skeletal muscle glycolytic potential in Chinese Erhualian pigs revealed by a genome-wide association study using 1.4M SNP array.tif

Introduction: Muscle glycolytic potential (GP) is a key factor affecting multiple meat quality traits. It is calculated based on the contents of residual glycogen and glucose (RG), glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and lactate (LAT) contents in muscle. However, the genetic mechanism of glycolytic metabolism in skeletal muscle of pigs remains poorly understood. With a history of more than 400 years and some unique characteristics, the Erhualian pig is called the “giant panda” (very precious) in the world’s pig species by Chinese animal husbandry.Methods: Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 1.4M single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) chips for longissimus RG, G6P, LAT, and GP levels in 301 purebred Erhualian pigs.Results: We found that the average GP value of Erhualian was unusually low (68.09 μmol/g), but the variation was large (10.4–112.7 μmol/g). The SNP-based heritability estimates for the four traits ranged from 0.16–0.32. In total, our GWAS revealed 31 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including eight for RG, nine for G6P, nine for LAT, five for GP. Of these loci, eight were genome-wide significant (p −7), and six loci were common to two or three traits. Multiple promising candidate genes such as FTO, MINPP1, RIPOR2, SCL8A3, LIFR and SRGAP1 were identified. The genotype combinations of the five GP-associated SNPs also showed significant effect on other meat quality traits.Discussion: These results not only provide insights into the genetic architecture of GP related traits in Erhualian, but also are useful for pig breeding programs involving this breed.</p

Growth of Tapered SiC Nanowires on Flexible Carbon Fabric: Toward Field Emission Applications

Tapered silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires were directly grown on the surface of flexible carbon fabric by a chemical vapor deposition process. The products were systemically characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electronic diffraction, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results revealed that the tapered nanowires were of single crystalline β-SiC phase with the growth direction along [111] and had a feature of zigzag faceting over the wire surfaces. Such faceting was created by a quasi-periodic placement of twinning boundaries along the wire axis, which can be explained by surface energy minimization during the growth process. Based on the characterizations and thermodynamics analysis, the Fe-assisted vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth mechanism of tapered SiC nanowires was discussed. Furthermore, field emission measurements showed a very low turn-on field at 1.2 V μm^–1 and a high field-enhancement factor of 3368. This study shows that SiC nanowires on carbon fabric have potential applications in electronic devices and flat panel displays

Probing the Performance Limitations in Thin-Film FeVO₄ Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting

FeVO₄ is a potentially promising n-type multimetal oxide semiconductor for photoelectrochemical water splitting based on its favorable optical band gap of ca. 2.06 eV that allows for the absorption of visible light up to around 600 nm. However, the presently demonstrated photocurrent values on FeVO₄ photoanodes are yet considerably low when comparing with α-Fe₂O₃, although FeVO₄ can absorb comparable wavelengths of sunlight as α-Fe₂O₃. Donor-type doping and constructing nanoporous film morphology have afforded desirable (but far from satisfactory) improvements in FeVO₄ photoanodes, whereas the fundamental properties, such as absorption coefficients and the nature of optical transition, and a quantitative analysis of the efficiency losses for FeVO₄ photoanodes remain elusive. In the present study, we conduct a thorough experimental analysis of structural, optical, charge transport, and surface catalysis properties of FeVO₄ thin films to investigate and clarify how and where the efficiency losses occur. Based on the results, the charge recombination pathways and light-harvesting loss in FeVO₄ thin-film photoanodes are identified and quantitatively determined. Our study will deepen the understanding on the photoelectrochemical behaviors of FeVO₄ photoanodes and will also shed light on the optimization routes to engineer this material to approach its theoretical maximum

Highly Strained Au Nanoparticles for Improved Electrocatalysis of Ethanol Oxidation Reaction

Au is an ideal noble metal for use as an electrocatalyst for the ethanol oxidation reaction owing to its high performance-to-cost ratio. The catalyst usually exists as nanoparticles (NPs) for high surface area-to-volume ratio. In the present work, a nontraditional physical approach has been developed to fabricate ultrasmall and homogeneous single-crystalline Au NPs by ion bombardment in a precision ion polishing system. Transmission electron microscopy characterizations show that the Au NPs produced with 5 keV Ar+ are highly strained to form twinned crystals, which accumulate a large amount of surface energy, and this was found to be an underlying reason causing strong catalysis. Electrochemistry tests reveal that in alkaline medium the C1 pathway occurs much more preferentially with the strained Au NPs than the normal Au NPs. The surface area-to-volume ratio is no longer the only factor that affects the performance; instead, surface energy might play a more important role in enhancing the catalytic activities

Facile “Scratching” Method with Common Metal Objects To Generate Large-Scale Catalyst Patterns Used for Growth of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

A facile “scratching” method to pattern a catalyst with commonly used metal objects, such as blade, pen cover, tweezers, watchband, knife, key, clamp, and coin, was developed. The single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks and well-aligned SWCNT arrays successfully grew by chemical vapor deposition on the scratched catalyst patterns on Si/SiOx and quartz, respectively. This method provides an extremely simple and nearly zero-cost way to fabricate large-scale catalyst patterns used for controlled growth of SWCNT arrays, which could have potential applications in the fabrication of CNT-based devices