458 research outputs found
High-throughput avian molecular sexing by SYBR green-based real-time PCR combined with melting curve analysis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combination of <it>CHD </it>(chromo-helicase-DNA binding protein)-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with electrophoresis (PCR/electrophoresis) is the most common avian molecular sexing technique but it is lab-intensive and gel-required. Gender determination often fails when the difference in length between the PCR products of <it>CHD-Z </it>and <it>CHD-W </it>genes is too short to be resolved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we are the first to introduce a PCR-melting curve analysis (PCR/MCA) to identify the gender of birds by genomic DNA, which is gel-free, quick, and inexpensive. <it>Spilornis cheela hoya </it>(<it>S. c. hoya</it>) and <it>Pycnonotus sinensis </it>(<it>P. sinensis</it>) were used to illustrate this novel molecular sexing technique. The difference in the length of <it>CHD </it>genes in <it>S. c. hoya </it>and <it>P. sinensis </it>is 13-, and 52-bp, respectively. Using Griffiths' P2/P8 primers, molecular sexing failed both in PCR/electrophoresis of <it>S. c. hoya </it>and in PCR/MCA of <it>S. c. hoya </it>and <it>P. sinensis</it>. In contrast, we redesigned sex-specific primers to yield 185- and 112-bp PCR products for the <it>CHD-Z </it>and <it>CHD-W </it>genes of <it>S. c. hoya</it>, respectively, using PCR/MCA. Using this specific primer set, at least 13 samples of <it>S. c. hoya </it>were examined simultaneously and the Tm peaks of <it>CHD-Z </it>and <it>CHD-W </it>PCR products were distinguished.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, we introduced a high-throughput avian molecular sexing technique and successfully applied it to two species. This new method holds a great potential for use in high throughput sexing of other avian species, as well.</p
A multiscale coarse grained model for simulating mechanical responses of plant food tissues
Plant food materials are highly sensitive to the external mechanical responses. Simulation of the material behaviour under mechanical loading is important in many engineering applications. Several researchers have used tissue based (macroscale) and cellular based (microscale) numerical models to assess the plant material behaviour. In doing so, generally, finite element modelling and meshfree based discretization strategies are commonly used and the latter has been proven to be more flexible, accurate and more robust in numerical simulations. This study aims to develop a coarse grained (CG) model for a cellular system of plant food tissue in microscale. The basic idea here is to maintain the accuracy given by the cellular scale while minimizing the computational cost for the simulations. The developed model accounts for the deformation of a coarse grained system under an external mechanical load. In order to represent the viscoelastic behaviour of a plant food material, we use a spring damper system connected to coarse grained beads. The model predictions show a satisfactory agreement with the morphological changes given by the cellular model. This developed CG model has laid a solid foundation for the further development of the multiscale model for the plant tissue
Ferromagnetic phase transition and Bose-Einstein condensation in spinor Bose gases
Phase transitions in spinor Bose gases with ferromagnetic (FM) couplings are
studied via mean-field theory. We show that an infinitesimal value of the
coupling can induce a FM phase transition at a finite temperature always above
the critical temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation. This contrasts sharply
with the case of Fermi gases, in which the Stoner coupling can not lead
to a FM phase transition unless it is larger than a threshold value . The
FM coupling also increases the critical temperatures of both the ferromagnetic
transition and the Bose-Einstein condensation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Electron-phonon anomaly related to charge stripes: static stripe phase versus optimally-doped superconducting La1.85Sr0.15CuO4
Inelastic neutron scattering was used to study the Cu-O bond-stretching
vibrations in optimally doped La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 (Tc = 35 K) and in two other
cuprates showing static stripe order at low temperatures, i.e.
La1.48Nd0.4Sr0.12CuO4 and La1.875Ba0.125CuO4. All three compounds exhibit a
very similar phonon anomaly, which is not predicted by conventional band
theory. It is argued that the phonon anomaly reflects a coupling to charge
inhomogeneities in the form of stripes, which remain dynamic in superconducting
La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 down to the lowest temperatures. These results show that the
phonon effect indicating stripe formation is not restricted to a narrow region
of the phase diagram around the so-called 1/8 anomaly but occurs in optimally
doped samples as well.Comment: to appear in J. Low Temp. Phy
Marginal Fermi liquid analysis of 300 K reflectance of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x
We use 300 K reflectance data to investigate the normal-state electrodynamics
of the high temperature superconductor BiSrCaCuO
over a wide range of doping levels. The data show that at this temperature the
free carriers are coupled to a continuous spectrum of fluctuations. Assuming
the Marginal Fermi Liquid (MFL) form as a first approximation for the
fluctuation spectrum, the doping-dependent coupling constant can
be estimated directly from the slope of the reflectance spectrum. We find that
decreases smoothly with the hole doping level, from underdoped
samples with ( K) where to overdoped
samples with , ( K) where . An analysis of
the intercept and curvature of the reflectance spectrum shows deviations from
the MFL spectrum symmetrically placed at the optimal doping point . The
Kubo formula for the conductivity gives a better fit to the experiments with
the MFL spectrum up to 2000 cm and with an additional Drude component or
an additional Lorentz component up to 7000 cm. By comparing three
different model fits we conclude that the MFL channel is necessary for a good
fit to the reflectance data. Finally, we note that the monotonic variation of
the reflectance slope with doping provides us with an independent measure of
the doping level for the Bi-2212 system.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
Charge order and low frequency spin dynamics in lanthanum cuprates revealed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
We report detailed 17O, 139La, and 63Cu Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and
Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) measurements in a stripe ordered
La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 single crystal and in oriented powder samples of
La1.8-xEu0.2SrxCuO4. We observe a partial wipeout of the 17O NMR intensity and
a simultaneous drop of the 17O electric field gradient (EFG) at low
temperatures where the spin stripe order sets in. In contrast, the 63Cu
intensity is completely wiped out at the same temperature. The drop of the 17O
quadrupole frequency is compatible with a charge stripe order. The 17O spin
lattice relaxation rate shows a peak similar to that of the 139La, which is of
magnetic origin. This peak is doping dependent and is maximal at x ~ 1/8.Comment: submitted to European Physical Journal Special Topic
Five blood pressure loci identified by an updated genome-wide linkage scan: meta-analysis of the Family Blood Pressure Program.
BACKGROUND: A preliminary genome-wide linkage analysis of blood pressure in the Family Blood Pressure Program (FBPP) was reported previously. We harnessed the power and ethnic diversity of the final pooled FBPP dataset to identify novel loci for blood pressure thereby enhancing localization of genes containing less common variants with large effects on blood pressure levels and hypertension.
METHODS: We performed one overall and 4 race-specific meta-analyses of genome-wide blood pressure linkage scans using data on 4,226 African-American, 2,154 Asian, 4,229 Caucasian, and 2,435 Mexican-American participants (total N = 13,044). Variance components models were fit to measured (raw) blood pressure levels and two types of antihypertensive medication adjusted blood pressure phenotypes within each of 10 subgroups defined by race and network. A modified Fisher's method was used to combine the P values for each linkage marker across the 10 subgroups.
RESULTS: Five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected on chromosomes 6p22.3, 8q23.1, 20q13.12, 21q21.1, and 21q21.3 based on significant linkage evidence (defined by logarithm of odds (lod) score ≥3) in at least one meta-analysis and lod scores ≥1 in at least 2 subgroups defined by network and race. The chromosome 8q23.1 locus was supported by Asian-, Caucasian-, and Mexican-American-specific meta-analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: The new QTLs reported justify new candidate gene studies. They may help support results from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that fall in these QTL regions but fail to achieve the genome-wide significance
Partial Wave Analysis of
BES data on are presented. The
contribution peaks strongly near threshold. It is fitted with a
broad resonance with mass MeV, width MeV. A broad resonance peaking at 2020 MeV is also required
with width MeV. There is further evidence for a component
peaking at 2.55 GeV. The non- contribution is close to phase
space; it peaks at 2.6 GeV and is very different from .Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Submitted to PL
Measurements of the observed cross sections for exclusive light hadrons containing at , 3.650 and 3.6648 GeV
By analyzing the data sets of 17.3, 6.5 and 1.0 pb taken,
respectively, at , 3.650 and 3.6648 GeV with the BES-II
detector at the BEPC collider, we measure the observed cross sections for
, , ,
and at the three energy
points. Based on these cross sections we set the upper limits on the observed
cross sections and the branching fractions for decay into these
final states at 90% C.L..Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Partial wave analysis of J/\psi \to \gamma \phi \phi
Using events collected in the BESII detector, the
radiative decay is
studied. The invariant mass distribution exhibits a near-threshold
enhancement that peaks around 2.24 GeV/.
A partial wave analysis shows that the structure is dominated by a
state () with a mass of
GeV/ and a width of GeV/. The
product branching fraction is: .Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. corrected proof for journa
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