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Some important developments of adhesion strength research for thermal spray coating systems have been reviewed in the present paper. The following topics were included: the influence of spraying pre-treatment on adhesion strength, sources and mechanisms of adhesion strength in coatings, some algorithms and calculation of numerical models based on the energy release rate in fracture mechanics, and the effects and relative discussions of residual stress in thermal spray coatings on the adhesion strength. These topics would provide some important insights into life prediction of thermal spray systems based on the adhesion strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) have been attracting considerable attention because of its flexibility and lightweight. In this study, TiO2 nano arrays with different morphologies were successfully synthesised on Ti foil via hydrothermal process. The effects of preparing conditions such as concentration of NaOH solution, hydrothermal temperature, reaction time and the additive NaCl on the formation of TiO2 nano arrays were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and photovoltaic tests. The growth mechanisms of nano arrays with different morphologies were also discussed. Moreover, the as-prepared TiO2 nanosheets array film was used as a photoanode of the flexible DSSC, a power conversion efficiency of 1.88% was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Paired box (Pax7) gene is a member of the paired box family and plays a critical role in animal growth and muscle development. However, the molecular characterisation of the goosePax7gene is unknown. 2. The open-reading frame of goosePax7is composed of 1509 bp, which encodes a protein of 503 amino acids and shares high homology with Pax7 of other birds. 3. Ten single-nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in the genomic DNA sequence, 8 located in the intron region and two located in the exon region. 4. Association analysis showed the C122T locus was significantly associated with the body weight of Zhedong-White geese in week 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. 5. It was concluded that the goosePax7gene may be an important candidate gene for goose growth traits and marker-assisted selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agouti signalling protein (ASIP) is an endogenous antagonist of melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) and is involved in the regulation of pigmentation in mammals. The objective of this study was to identify and characterise the ASIP gene in domestic goose.The goose ASIP cDNA consisted of a 44-nucleotide 5ʹ-terminal untranslated region (UTR), a 390-nucleotide open-reading frame (ORF) and a 45-nucleotide 3ʹ-UTR. The length of goose ASIP genomic DNA was 6176 bp, including three coding exons and two introns.Bioinformatic analysis indicated that the ORF encodes a protein of 130 amino-acid residues with a molecular weight of 14.88 kDa and an isoelectric point of 9.73.Multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis showed that the amino-acid sequence of ASIP was conserved in vertebrates, especially in the avian species.RT-qPCR showed that the goose ASIP mRNA was differentially expressed in the pigment deposition tissues, including eye, foot, feather follicle, skin of the back, as well as in skin of the abdomen. The expression level of the ASIP gene in skin of the abdomen was higher than that in skin of the back.Those findings will contribute to further understanding the functions of the ASIP gene in geese plumage colouring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]