Zn-rich staurolite occurs in a pelitic gneiss from the Uvete area, central Kenya. The rock was metamorphosed to staurolite-kyanite grade during the Mozambique metamorphism. Microprobe analyses of the staurolite gave the following values (in wt. %): SiO2 26.2–27.3, Al2O3 52.4–53.5, FeO 8.3–9.2, MgO 2.2–2.6, and ZnO 6.0–7.5. Cell dimensions are a = 7.874(± 0.003), b = 16.620(±0.006), c = 5.656(±0.002) Å and β = 90.00 (± 0.002)°. Optical properties are 2Vz = 82–85°, α = 1.742 (±0.002), β = 1.747(±0.002) and γ = 1.753(±0.002). The optical dispersion is moderate and r > v. Density is 3.83(±0.01) g/cm3. Infra-red absorption spectra were also recorded. The cation correlation suggests that the principal substitutions in the staurolite are Zn ⇆ Fe in the tetrahedral sites in the hydroxide sheet and Al ⇆ Mg in the octahedral sites.

Amultidisciplinary collaborative study examining cognition in a large sample of twins is outlined. A common experimental protocol and design is used in The Netherlands, Australia and Japan to measure cognitive ability using traditional IQ measures (i.e., psychometric IQ), processing speed (e.g., reaction time [RT] and inspection time [IT]), and working memory (e.g., spatial span, delayed response [DR] performance). The main aim is to investigate the genetic covariation among these cognitive phenotypes in order to use the correlated biological markers in future linkage and association analyses to detect quantitativetrait loci (QTLs). We outline the study and methodology, and report results from our preliminary analyses that examines the heritability of processing speed and working memory indices, and their phenotypic correlation with IQ. Heritability of Full Scale IQ was 87% in the Netherlands, 83% in Australia, and 71% in Japan. Heritability estimates for processing speed and working memory indices ranged from 33–64%. Associations of IQ with RT and IT (−0.28 to −0.36) replicated previous findings with those of higher cognitive ability showing faster speed of processing. Similarly, significant correlations were indicated between IQ and the spatial span working memory task (storage [0.31], executive processing [0.37]) and the DR working memory task (0.25), with those of higher cognitive ability showing better memory performance. These analyses establish the heritability of the processing speed and working memory measures to be used in our collaborative twin study of cognition, and support the findings that individual differences in processing speed and working memory may underlie individual differences in psychometric IQ.

Oestrogen replacement in ovariectomised (OVX) rats has been reported to attenuate food intake, especially during the light phase. To gain better insight into the central mechanism of oestrogen-induced reduction of food intake, we examined the effect of chronic oestrogen replacement in OVX rats on c-Fos expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and on food intake during the light and dark phases. Eight-week-old female rats were ovariectomised and implanted with either an oestradiol (E2) or a vehicle pellet (Veh) subcutaneously. The animals were housed in an environment with a 12 h light–12 h dark cycle with the lights on at 07.00 hours. The amount of spontaneous food intake relative to each animal's body weight was significantly less for the E2 group than for the Veh group during the light phase, but there were no differences shown between these groups during the dark phase. There were no differences shown in the number of c-Fos-immunoreactive cells in the SCN in the E2 group compared with the Veh group during the early dark phase (22.00 hours; Zeitgeber time 15.00 (ZT15)), but the number was significantly higher than in the Veh group during the early light phase (10.00 hours; ZT3). This finding suggests that chronic oestrogen replacement chronically enhances SCN activity, specifically during the light phase. The oestrogen-induced enhancement of SCN activity during the light phase is possibly involved in the light phase-specific attenuation of food intake by oestrogen replacement in OVX rats.

The molecules involved in determining meiotic competence were determined in porcine oocytes isolated from preantral and antral follicles of different sizes. Oocytes isolated from preantral follicles had a mean diameter of 78 μm, contained diffuse filamentous chromatin in the germinal vesicle and were incapable of progressing from the G2 to the M phase of the cycle even after 72 h in culture. Oocytes from early antral follicles had a mean diameter of 105 μm, showed a filamentous chromatin configuration and about half resumed meiosis but arrested at metaphase I (MI) when cultured. Oocytes from mid-antral (3–4 mm) and large antral follicles (5–6 mm) had mean oocyte diameters of 115 and 119 μm respectively, contained condensed chromatin around the nucleolus and progressed to metaphase II (MII) in 48% and 93% of instances respectively. Analysis of p34cdc2, the catalytic subunit of maturation promoting factor (MPF), by immunoblotting indicates that the inability of small (78 μm) oocytes to resume meiosis is due, at least in part, to inadequate levels of the catalytic subunit of MPF. On the other hand, the inability of intermediate-sized (105 μm) oocytes from antral follicles to complete the first meiotic division by progressing beyond MI appears not to be limited by levels of p34cdc2, which are maximal by this stage. We postulate that an inadequacy of molecules other than p34cdc2 limits progression of MI to MII; the acquisition of these molecules during the final stages of growth may be correlated with the formation of the perinucleolar chromatin rim in the germinal vesicle.

The anisotropically biaxial strain in a-plane AlGaN on GaN is investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis of the heterostructure of AlGaN and GaN grown on r-plane sapphire. The AlGaN layer with a low AlN molar fraction or small thickness is coherently grown on the GaN layer both along the m-axis and c-axis. An increase in AlN molar fraction or thickness in AlGaN, results in a slight relaxation of AlGaN only in one direction due to tensile stress along the c-axis, which is caused by the underlying GaN layer during the growth. The cause of the relaxation of AlGaN in one direction is thought to be a large anisotropically biaxial stress.

Mg-doped p-type a-plane GaN films were grown on unintentionally doped a-plane GaN templates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The Mg concentration in a-plane GaN increased with increasing Mg source gas flow rate. A maximum hole concentration of 2.0 × 1018 cm-3 with a hole mobility of 4.5 cm2/Vs and resistivity of 0.7 Ω·cm were achieved. The activation ratio was 5.0 × 10-2. It was found that a maximum hole concentration in p-type a-plane GaN was higher than that in p-type c-plane GaN. The activation energy of Mg acceptors in p-type a-plane GaN with the maximum hole concentration was found to be 118 meV by temperature-dependent Hall-effect measurement.

A method for making AlGaN with a high AlN molar fraction and low dislocation density is needed for fabricating deep ultraviolet emitters and detectors. In this study, we reduced the dislocation density in AlGaN over a large surface area by using low-pressure MOVPE on a continuously rugged epitaxial AlN substrate. The AlN molar fraction of the AlxGa1-xN was × = 0.51, and atomic steps in the surface were clearly observed with an atomic force microscope (AFM). In addition, the dislocation density was estimated to be 8.8 × 107 cm−2, which is two orders of magnitude lower than that of AlGaN grown on a flat AlN epitaxial layer. Our results indicate that the dislocation density of AlGaN can be greatly reduced by using a rugged AlN epitaxial substrate with continuously inclined facet.

The heteroepitaxial growth of a GaN single crystal by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on a 4H-SiC (3038) substrate was demonstrated. The crystallographic orientation of GaN was found to be dependent on growth pressure. When the growth pressure was 1000 hPa, the orientation of the GaN single crystal was consistent with that of the SiC substrate, where the c-plane of the GaN was single crystal tilted 54.7° from the surface plane. Then, we fabricated a violet-light-emitting diode (LED) with a GaInN multiple-quantum-well (QW) active layer grown on the GaN layer, which coherently grew on the 4H-SiC (3038 ) substrate. The blue shift of the peak wavelength with increasing injection current of up to 100 mA was confirmed to be two times smaller than that of a conventional LED on a c-plane sapphire substrate due to a low internal polarization.

Nitride-based blue-light-emitting diodes having a moth-eye structure were fabricated on the backside of a 6H-SiC substrate. The light extraction efficiency and the corresponding output power were increased by 3.8 times compared with those of an LED having the conventional structure. The results of theoretical analysis agree with these findings.