The reduction of reproductive performance associated with stress is a known phenomenon in domestic birds. This review demonstrates the involvement of glucocorticoids, a stress hormone, in the decision-making process regarding energy ingestion and distribution in laying hens. During the energetic challenge induced by a stressful environment, corticosterone stimulates energy intake and a preference for a high-fat diet by up-regulating neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression via the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. The elevated corticosterone levels in response to stressors may be associated with suppressed reproduction in laying hens via a possible perturbation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Corticosterone suppresses follicular development and is energy dependent by decreasing the availability of the circulating yolk precursor and the prevention of yolk deposition in follicles. Energy status is also involved in rejuvenation in moult hens.

As the energy spread of intense pulsed electron beams (IPEB) strongly influences the irradiation effects, it has been of great importance to characterize the IPEB energy spectrum. With the combination of Child–Langmuir law and Monte Carlo simulation, the IPEB energy spectrum has been obtained in this work by transformation from the accelerating voltage applied to the diode. To verify the accuracy of this simple algorithm, a magnetic spectrometer with an imaging plate was designed to test the IPEB energy spectrum. The measurement was completed with IPEB generated by explosive emission electron diode, the pulse duration, maximum electron energy, total beam current being 80 ns, 450 keV, and 1 kA, respectively. The results verified the reliability of the above analysis method for energy spectrum, which can avoid intercepting the beam, and at the same time significantly improved the energy resolution. Some calculation and experimental details are discussed in this paper.

Three isothermal sections of the Ni–Fe–Zr ternary system at 1000, 1100, and 1200 °C were experimentally determined using equilibrated ternary alloys. No ternary compound is found in this system. The obtained experimental results show that among three isothermal sections, the (γFe, Ni) phase region extends from the Ni-rich corner to the Fe-rich corner, and the solubility of Zr in the (γFe, Ni) phase is small. The phase equilibrium at 1100 °C is similar to that at 1000 °C. The Ni5Zr, Ni10Zr7, and Fe2Zr phases have solid solution composition ranges, but the Ni7Zr2, Ni21Zr8, NiZr, NiZr2, and Fe23Zr6 phases almost exhibit nearly linear compounds both at 1000 and 1100 °C. The solubilities of Fe in Ni7Zr2 phase and Ni in Fe2Zr phase are extremely large. At 1200 °C, the liquid phase of Zr-rich corner forms the continuous region from the Ni–Zr side to the Fe–Zr side. Additionally, the solubilities of Fe in Ni5Zr, NiZr phases and Ni in Fe23Zr6 phase clearly increase with increasing temperature to 1200 °C. The obtained results may provide a better understanding of microstructures and further development of the Ni–Fe–Zr alloys.

MEMS gyroscopes as a kind of angular rate sensor have been widely used, but theiraccuracy tends to be low in practical applications, especially under temperatureinfluence, and they generally require error compensation. Based on the analysis ofgyroscope operating principle, this paper has shown that the resonant frequency andmeasuring precision of the gyroscope are dependent on temperature and temperaturegradients. The paper has thus proposed a compensation model based on temperature andtemperature gradients. The experimental results have demonstrated that the thermal driftof zero bias can be effectively suppressed, and the accuracy can be improved by one orderof magnitude after compensation. Compared with compensation methods only based ontemperature, the new method gives significantly better performance. The new errorcompensation model has not only integrated the differences under different temperatureconditions, but also reduced the repeatability errors. It provides a theoretical basis foraccurate compensation of the gyroscope thermal error in practical applications and isapplicable to other MEMS gyroscopes.

The phase equilibria at 300, 400, 500, and 600 °C in the Ag–Bi–Ni system and 300, 400, and 500 °C in the Cu–Bi–Ni system were experimentally determined by metallography and electron probe microanalysis on equilibrated alloys and diffusion couples. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to measure the temperatures of phase transformations. All the experimental results show that the solubilities of the ternary elements of the binary intermetallic compounds in the Ag–Bi–Ni system are limited. However, the binary intermetallic compounds have some solubilities of the ternary elements in the Cu–Bi–Ni system. No ternary intermetallic compound was found in the Ag–Bi–Ni and Cu–Bi–Ni systems. On the basis of the determined results, the phase equilibria in the Ag–Bi–Ni and Cu–Bi–Ni systems were thermodynamically assessed, and reasonable agreement between the calculated results and experimental data was obtained.

The phase equilibria and phase transformation of the body-centered cubic (bcc) phase in the Cu–Ti–Al system were investigated by the diffusion couple method, metallographic examination, differential scanning calorimetry, and x-ray diffraction. The isothermal sections at 700 and 900 °C and vertical sections at 18 at.% Al, 22 at.% Al, and 25 at.% Al in the Cu-rich portion were determined. These results indicate that (i) the Cu2TiAl compound with the L21 Heusler structure has a larger solubility range; (ii) the stable B2 + L21 miscibility gap of the ordered bcc phase exists until the liquid phase, and the tie lines of this miscibility gap are almost parallel with the Cu–Ti side; (iii) the composition and temperature for the eutectic reaction (L ↔ B2 + L21) are about 7 at.% Ti and about 970 °C, respectively, and (iv) the velocity of the eutectoid decomposition [bcc ↔ face-centered cubic (fcc) + D83] of the bcc phase with martensitic morphology in the Cu–Ti–Al alloys is slower than that of the Cu–Al alloys.

On the basis of the CALPHAD (Calculation of Phase Diagrams) method, the compositional range of stable miscibility gap and volume fractions of the two liquid phases in the Cu–Fe–Cr–Ni system were predicted, which can provide the guidance for design of self-formed composite materials. Based on such information, the self-formed pencil-like bulk composite materials consisting of copper alloy and two kinds of stainless steels were prepared by controlling the compositions of Cu-rich and Fe-rich phases in immiscible liquid system by the conventional casting process. The experimental results are in good agreement with the ones predicted by calculation. This study indicates that it is possible to develop the pencil-like bulk composite materials consisting of copper alloy and stainless steels by the conventional casting process.

We carried out the Gaussian fitting to the profile of PSR B1237+25 and found that six components rather than five are necessary to make a good fit. In the central part, we found that the core emission is not filled pencil beam but is a small hollow cone. This implies that the impact angle could be β < 0.5°. The “hollow core” is in agreement with Inverse Compton Scattering model of radio pulsars.

In this paper we discuss an arithmetic method for mean pulse profile de-disperse. We proceed from the principle of dispersion measure, and invert the de-dispersion problem as to refutations of solving integral equations. Under idealization condition, the refutations results fit very well with the given theoretical curvature.