Associations were analysed between polymorphisms of the growth hormone gene (GH-MspI) (localized in intron 3) and milk production traits of Beijing Holstein cows (a total of 543 cows). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was used for identification of various genotypes. Frequencies of genotypes were 0.77, 0.21 and 0.02 for A/A, A/B and B/B, respectively. The frequency of the GH A allele is 0.875. The results of the least squares means show that in all three lactations, the GH A/A cows yielded more milk (P less than 0.01 for lactation I and P less than 0.05 for lactations II and III), whereas A/B cows showed higher milk fat content than A/A individuals (P less than 0.05 for lactations I and II, and P less than 0.01 for lactation III). The A/A cows yielded more fat than A/B individuals (P less than 0.01 only in lactation I). The A/A cows yielded more milk protein than A/B individuals (P less than 0.01 for lactations I, II, and III). The A/A cows produced milk of higher protein content than of A/B individuals (P less than 0.05 only in lactation II).

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Pertusaria yunnana G. L. Zhou & Lu L. Zhang from south-western China is described as new to science. This corticolous species is characterized by the white pruinose disciform apothecia, asci with 8 ascospores, and the presence of atranorin in addition to fumarprotocetraric acid. Related lichen taxa are discussed and a key to 21 corticolous species of Pertusaria with disciform apothecia and 8-spored asci is also provided.

Biomaterials used for vascular prostheses should possess certain strength that can keep the normal blood fluidity, as well as certain flexibility and elasticity that can resist blood pulsation pressure. In order to fabricate small diameter vascular prostheses (SDVP) that possess matchable mechanical properties with natural blood vessels, a bi-layered tubular structure composed of electrospinning blended nanofiber and silk fiber was designed and prepared in this study. The inner layer of the structure, prepared through electrospinning, was composed of Poly (L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) and silk fibroin (SF) blended nanofibers. Braided silk tube was used as the outer layer of the structure. Morphological, structural and mechanical properties including peak stress, peak strain, and Youngs modulus of the prototype bi-layered SDVP were characterized initially. Results showed that the diameter range of the blended nanofiber was between 100 and 900 nm, and the fiber diameter increased with the content increase of PLCL. Through blending PLCL together with SF, peak stress and peak strain of the electrospun inner layer were improved, and that of the Youngs modulus decreased. Meanwhile, the outer layer of SDVP was stronger and had higher Youngs modulus. Those mechanical performances of the prototype bi-layered SDVP fabricated in this study are similar to natural blood vessels, which provide a promising biomaterial that could be applied on tubular tissue engineering scaffolds.