Genetic variation in eight Chinese cattle breeds based on the analysis of microsatellite markers

Genetic variability and genetic relationships were investigated among eight Chinese cattle breeds using 12 microsatellite markers. Three hundred and fifty-two alleles were detected and the average number of alleles per locus ranged from 8.33 ± 1.67 in the Jiaxian breed to 21.33 ± 5.60 in the Qinchuan breed with a mean value of 13.91. The total number of alleles per microsatellite ranged from 21 (INRA005, HEL1) to 40 (HEL13), with a mean of 29.33 per locus. The fixation indices at the 12 loci in the eight breeds were very low with a mean of 0.006. A principal components analysis and the construction of a neighborjoining tree showed that these eight Chinese cattle breeds cluster into three groups i.e. the Yanbian andChineseHolstein, theNanyang and Jiaxian, and the four remaining breeds.This clustering agrees with the origin and geographical distributions of these Chinese breeds

Relationship between Microstructure and Properties of Cu-Cr-Ag-(Ce) Alloy Using Microscopic Investigation

Microstructure, precipitation hardening response, and mechanical and physical properties of Cu-Cr-Ag alloy and Cu-Cr-Ag-Ce alloy have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscope, optical microscope, electrical conductivity analysis, and tensile test. The influence of element Ce on the matrix refinement, impurity removal, and precipitation in the Cu-Cr-Ag alloys has been analyzed. The experimental results show that the strength and electrical conductivity of Ce containing alloys are greater than those of Ce-free alloys after each processing step. Improvement of strength and electrical conductivity of the Cu-Cr-Ag alloy by adding Ce element is attributed to removing oxygen and sulfur from as-cast alloy

Hyperglycemia in apolipoprotein E-deficient mouse strains with different atherosclerosis susceptibility

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease, but it is unknown whether the other way around is true too. C57BL/6 (B6) and BALB/cJ (BALB) are two mouse strains that differ markedly in their susceptibility to atherosclerosis. In this study we investigated the development of diet-induced T2DM in these two strains.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>When deficient in apolipoprotein E (apoE^-/-) and fed a Western diet for 12 weeks, atherosclerosis-susceptible B6 mice developed significant hyperglycemia. In contrast, atherosclerosis-resistant BALB apoE^-/-mice had much lower plasma glucose levels than B6.apoE^-/-mice on either chow or Western diet and during an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. In response to glucose BALB.apoE^-/-mice displayed both the first and second phases of insulin secretion but the second phase of insulin secretion was absent in B6.apoE^-/-mice. In response to insulin B6.apoE^-/-mice showed a deeper and longer-lasting fall in blood glucose levels while BALB.apoE^-/-mice showed little reduction in glucose levels. Pancreatic islet area of BALB.apoE^-/-mice on light microscopy nearly doubled the area of B6.apoE^-/-mice. Most circulating proinflammatory cytokines were lower in BALB.apoE^-/-than in B6.apoE^-/-mice on the Western diet, as determined by protein arrays. Increased macrophage infiltration in islets was observed in B6.apoE^-/-mice by immunostaining for Mac2 and also by flow cytometry.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrates that defects in insulin secretion rather than defects in insulin resistance explain the marketed difference in susceptibility to T2DM in the B6.apoE^-/-and BALB.apoE^-/-mouse model. A smaller islet mass and more prominent islet inflammation may explain the vulnerability of B6.apoE^-/-mice to diet-induced diabetes.</p

Optimized geometric quantum computation with a mesoscopic ensemble of Rydberg atoms

We propose a nonadiabatic non-Abelian geometric quantum operation scheme to realize universal quantum computation with mesoscopic Rydberg atoms. A single control atom entangles a mesoscopic ensemble of target atoms through long-range interactions between Rydberg states. We demonstrate theoretically that both the single qubit and two-qubit quantum gates can achieve high fidelities around or above 99.9% in ideal situations. Besides, to address the experimental issue of Rabi frequency fluctuation (Rabi error) in Rydberg atom and ensemble, we apply the dynamical-invariant-based zero systematic-error sensitivity (ZSS) optimal control theory to the proposed scheme. Our numerical simulations show that the average fidelity could be 99.98% for single ensemble qubit gate and 99.94% for two-qubit gate even when the Rabi frequency of the gate laser acquires 10% fluctuations. We also find that the optimized scheme can also reduce errors caused by higher-order perturbation terms in deriving the Hamiltonian of the ensemble atoms. To address the experimental issue of decoherence error between the ground state and Rydberg levels in Rydberg ensemble, we introduce a dispersive coupling regime between Rydberg and ground levels, based on which the Rydberg state is adiabatically discarded. The numerical simulation demonstrate that the quantum gate is enhanced. By combining strong Rydberg atom interactions, nonadiabatic geometric quantum computation, dynamical invariant and optimal control theory together, our scheme shows a new route to construct fast and robust quantum gates with mesoscopic atomic ensembles. Our study contributes to the ongoing effort in developing quantum information processing with Rydberg atoms trapped in optical lattices or tweezer arrays