Synthesis of Cobalt Nanowires on Porous Anodic Alumina Template Using Electrochemical Deposition

Electrochemical deposition has been widely used for synthesis of metal nanowires (NWs) on the porous template. In this paper, the effect of potential and electrolyte concentration on cobalt (Co) NWs formation through porous anodic alumina template has been investigated using direct-current electrodepostion at 0.75~2 V together with the high 0.5 M and low 0.1 M cobalt sulfurate based electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were used to examine the nanostructure, morphology and phase of Co NWs. The current vs time curve was recorded for understanding the growth behavior. Too low potential of 0.75 V is not favored for Co NWs formation due to insufficient driving force while too high potential of 2 V ruins the NWs growth owing to hydrogen generation in reduction reaction. The uniform crystalline Co NWs can be obtained by the proper potential of 1V and concentration of 0.5 M at an average growth rate of 964 nm/min

Influence of age and sex on pacing during Sprint, Olympic, Half-Ironman and Ironman triathlons: Part B

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of biological sex and age on the pacing strategies adopted by non-drafting top triathletes during the cycle and run disciplines of a Sprint, Olympic, half-Ironman and Ironman triathlon. Split times of the top 20% non-elite males (n=468) and females (n=146) were determined using official race transponders and a video capture system for pre-determined sections of the cycle and run disciplines of four triathlon distances. Indices of pacing were calculated to compare between sexes and age-groups. Results of this study indicated that different pacing strategies were adopted between athletes of different age and sex over the various triathlon disciplines and distances. Females were more aggressive during the initial stages of the cycling discipline across all distances (sprint - 2.1% p=0.024; Olympic - 1.6%, p=0.011; half-Ironman- 1.5%, p<0.001; Ironman - 1.7%, p<0.001 higher relative to mean) compare with males. Younger athletes (20-29 y) tend to begin the run faster (2.0 to 3.0% faster than other age-groups, p<0.029) during the sprint, Olympic and half-Ironman triathlons. These results indicate that different pacing strategies are adopted by non-drafting top athletes of different age and sex. Optimal pacing strategies may differ between sex and ages; therefore individuals may need to trial different strategies to develop their own optimal pacing profile for triathlon events of varying distances

Influence of race distance and biological sex on age-related declines in triathlon performance: Part A

This study examined the effect of biological sex and race distance on the age-related declines in swimming, cycling, running and overall performances of the sprint, Olympic, Half-Ironman and Ironman triathlons. Individual discipline and overall performance time of the top 20% non-elite males (n=468) and females (n=146) were compared by categorizing into four 10-year age-groups (20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50+ years) and normalising to the mean performance time of the fastest age-group for each race. An earlier, larger and faster rate of decline (p=0.01) in performance with ageing was observed in females (≥30 years, 9.3%, 3.0% per decade respectively) and males (≥40 years, 5.9%, 2.2% per decade, respectively) for the longer events (half-Ironman and Ironman) compared with the shorter distances (sprint and Olympic, ≥50 years for both sexes). A greater magnitude of decline was observed in swimming for both sexes, especially in the longer events, when compared with cycling and running (12.8%, 5.6%, 9.3% for females, 9.4%, 3.7%, 7.3% for males, in the swim, cycle and run disciplines, respectively). These results indicate that both race distance and biological sex influence the age-related decline in triathlon performance and could aid athletes in optimising training programs to attenuate the age-related declines in performance across different disciplines and distances. Specifically, older athletes may benefit from greater emphasis on swim training and factors that may influence performance during longer distance triathlons

Effect of substituting guinea grass with sunflower hulls on production performance and digestion traits in fattening rabbits

[EN] The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of sunflower hulls (SH) to substitute guinea grass (GG), traditionally used as a fibre source in the diets of fattening rabbits, on production performance, coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation. A total of 160 mixed sex Hyla commercial meat rabbits were allocated to 4 experimental groups (40 per treatment) differing in the SH level inclusion in the diet offered to rabbits from 40 to 90 d of age: 0, 30, 60 and 90 g/kg on as-fed basis: SH0, SH30, SH60 and SH90 groups, respectively. Growth performance was recorded from 47 to 90 d of age, CTTAD of nutrients from 86 to 90 d of age, and gastrointestinal tract development, caecal fermentation and carcass traits were determined at 90 d of age. Increasing substitutions of SH in the diet indicated effects on growth performance, as higher feed intake and lower feed efficiency were observed in SH90 compared with SH0 (P-linear<0.05). Moreover, the higher SH substitution diet (SH60 and SH90) increased the relative caecum weight (P-linear<0.05). A linear negative effect of SH inclusion was observed for the digestibility of neutral detergent fibre (CTTAD from 0.294 to 0.232) and acid detergent fibre (CTTAD from 0.182 to 0.136; P-linear<0.05). Dietary SH substitution level had a quadratic effect on the villus height of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum obtained (P-quadratic<0.05), and the highest were observed in the SH60 group. There was a quadratic effect on the pH of caecum content (P-quadratic<0.05), and the lowest was 6.08 in SH30 group. The total volatil fatty acids increased linearly with increasing SH in diets (from 71.11 to 76.98 mmol/L; P-linear<0.05), and when dietary SH increased, the proportion of acetate tended to increase (P-linear<0.05), and the proportions of propionic and butyric were decreased (P-linear<0.05, respectively). Substitution of GG with SH had no effect on carcass characteristics and meat quality. The current work shows that SH can replace up to 60 g/kg in diets for fattening rabbits, with no adverse impact on aspects of production performance or digestion traits.This study was supported by the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-43-B-1) and Funds of Shandong “Double Tops” Programme.Liu, G.; Sun, C.; Zhao, X.; Liu, H.; Wu, Z.; Li, F. (2018). Effect of substituting guinea grass with sunflower hulls on production performance and digestion traits in fattening rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 26(3):217-225. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2018.9375SWORD21722526

Effect of substituting guinea grass with soybean hulls on production performance and digestion traits in fattening rabbits

[EN] The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of soybean hulls (SH) to substitute guinea grass (GG), traditionally used as fibre source in the diets of fattening rabbits on performance, coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, gastrointestinal tract development and caecum fermentation. A total of 160 mixed sex Hyla commercial meat rabbits were allocated to 4 experimental groups (40 per treatment) differing in the SH level inclusion in the diet offered to rabbits from 40 to 90 d of age: 0, 50, 100 and 200 g/kg as-fed basis: SH0, SH50, SH100 and SH200 groups, respectively. Growth performance was recorded from 40 to 90 d of age, CTTAD of nutrients from 86 to 90 d of age, and gastrointestinal tract development, caecum fermentation and carcass traits were determined at 90 d of age. Average daily feed intake and the feed/gain ratio were lower in SH100 and SH200 groups than in SH0 group (P0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that SH can substitute GG in the diets of fattening rabbits up to 200 g/kg in diet with no adverse effects on the growth performance, feed efficiency, carcass traits and meat quality.This study was supported by the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-44-B-1).Shang, S.; Wu, Z.; Liu, G.; Sun, C.; Ma, M.; Li, FC. (2017). Effect of substituting guinea grass with soybean hulls on production performance and digestion traits in fattening rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 25(3):241-249. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2017.6654SWORD24124925

Maxwell Chern Simons Theory in a Geometric Representation

We quantize the Maxwell Chern Simons theory in a geometric representation that generalizes the Abelian Loop Representation of Maxwell theory. We find that in the physical sector, the model can be seen as the theory of a massles scalar field with a topological interaction that enforces the wave functional to be multivalued. This feature allows to relate the Maxwell Chern Simons theory with the quantum mechanics of particles interacting through a Chern Simons fieldComment: 12 pages, LaTe

Spatial distribution of photoelectrons participating in formation of x-ray absorption spectra

Interpretation of x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) experiments is often done via analyzing the role of particular atoms in the formation of specific peaks in the calculated spectrum. Typically, this is achieved by calculating the spectrum for a series of trial structures where various atoms are moved and/or removed. A more quantitative approach is presented here, based on comparing the probabilities that a XANES photoelectron of a given energy can be found near particular atoms. Such a photoelectron probability density can be consistently defined as a sum over squares of wave functions which describe participating photoelectron diffraction processes, weighted by their normalized cross sections. A fine structure in the energy dependence of these probabilities can be extracted and compared to XANES spectrum. As an illustration of this novel technique, we analyze the photoelectron probability density at the Ti K pre-edge of TiS2 and at the Ti K-edge of rutile TiO2.Comment: Journal abstract available on-line at http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v65/e20511

Leaf Extracts of Calocedrus formosana (Florin) Induce G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Bladder Cancer Cells

Calocedrus formosana (Florin) bark acetone/ethylacetate extracts are known to exert an antitumor effect on some human cancer cell lines, but the mechanism is yet to be defined. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Florin leaf methanol extracts on the growth and apoptosis of human bladder cancer cell lines. MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay showed that the growth of these bladder cancer cells was potently inhibited by the Florin leaf extracts. The cell cycle of these extract-treated cells (TCCSUP cells) was arrested at the G2/M phase as determined by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis revealed the increases of cyclin B1 and Cdc2 kinase levels, alone with the decrease of phosphorylated Cdc2 kinase, after treating these cells with the extracts. An immunofluorescence assessment of β-tubulin showed decreased levels of polymerized tubulin in treated cells. However, the proteolytic cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase and the activation of caspase-3/-8/-9 were all increased upon treatments of extracts. The concurrent increase of Bax and decrease of Bcl-2 levels indicated that the extracts could induce apoptosis in these treated cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the Florin leaf extracts may be an effective antibladder cancer agent

The three-nucleon bound state using realistic potential models

The bound states of $^3$H and $^3$He have been calculated using the Argonne $v_{18}$ plus the Urbana three-nucleon potential. The isospin $T=3/2$ state have been included in the calculations as well as the $n$-$p$ mass difference. The $^3$H-$^3$He mass difference has been evaluated through the charge dependent terms explicitly included in the two-body potential. The calculations have been performed using two different methods: the solution of the Faddeev equations in momentum space and the expansion on the correlated hyperspherical harmonic basis. The results are in agreement within 0.1% and can be used as benchmark tests. Results for the CD-Bonn interaction are also presented. It is shown that the $^3$H and $^3$He binding energy difference can be predicted model independently.Comment: 5 pages REVTeX 4, 1 figures, 6 table

Kink Stability of Self-Similar Solutions of Scalar Field in 2+1 Gravity

The kink stability of self-similar solutions of a massless scalar field with circular symmetry in 2+1 gravity is studied, and found that such solutions are unstable against the kink perturbations along the sonic line (self-similar horizon). However, when perturbations outside the sonic line are considered, and taking the ones along the sonic line as their boundary conditions, we find that non-trivial perturbations do not exist. In other words, the consideration of perturbations outside the sonic line limits the unstable mode of the perturbations found along the sonic line. As a result, the critical solution for the scalar collapse remains critical even after the kink perturbations are taken into account.Comment: latex, one figur