ABSTRACT This study was conducted to establish dietary threonine (Thr) levels for Linwu ducks, aged 4 to 8 wk. Experimental diets formulated to contain 0.56, 0.61, 0.66, 0.71, 0.76, and 0.81% Thr fed to Linwu ducks. A total of 360 healthy Linwu female ducks with similar body weight (1183.89±3.83 g) were randomly divided into six groups, with five replicates in each group, and 12 ducks in each replicate. Samples were collected at 8 wk for the determination of growth performance, carcass traits, visceral organ indices, and serum biochemical parameters. As a result of this study, Thr level had no significant influence on the final weight, the daily gain, feed/gain ratio, and average daily intake (p>0.05). Similarly, there were no significant effects of dietary Thr on carcass traits and visceral organ indices (p>0.05). The pancreatic index was highest among all the treatments when the dietary Thr level was 0.66%. The different dietary Thr levels had no significant effect (p>0.05) on the concentration of total protein (TP), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), glucose (GLU), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and glutathione (GSH). However, the serum MDA concentration in the 0.66% treatment was lower (P=0.068) than in the other treatments. In conclusion, Thr at 0.66% concentration may have an antioxidant activity and exert positive effect on Linwu ducks.

Phosphate-induced immobilization is recognized as one of effective in situ remediation methods for heavy metal contaminated soils. Phosphate-based minerals that adsorb, chelate, or complex heavy metals in soil were greatly concerned as effective heavy metals immobilizing materials. Effects of particle sizes of rock phosphate on immobilizing heavy metals in Pb-Zn mine soils by a greenhouse experiment was conducted. Rock phosphate was added to a Pb-Zn mine soil with four different particle sizes, D97<101.43 µm (UP), D97<71.12 µm (P1), D97<36.83 ìm (P2) and D97< 4.26 µm (P3) (the diameters of 97% of the particles were less than 4.26 µm.), and 2 rates (2.5% and 5%). Lolium prenne, L. were grown in the treated soils. Compared to the control, addition of rock phosphate (RP) decreased metal contents in both roots and shoots significantly. Pb contents in shoots decreased by 19.59%-37.80% by different particle sizes at the rate of 5%, reaching lowest level at lowest particle size P3. Zn contents in shoots decreased by 13.47% -13.75 %, Cu in roots was decreased by 18.46%-67.98% and in shoots by 16.82%-32.61%, and Cd in roots decreased by 31.03%-74.23%. The results indicated that, RP can reduce the phytoavailability of Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd in soil significantly by immobilization and the effects strengthened with the decrease of particle size and increasing the rate of addition.

In order to study the interaction between γ-Fe and carbon, the geometry structures, surface relaxations, adsorption energies and electronic structures for carbon chemisorption at four different adsorption sites on γ-Fe(111) surface at a monolayer coverage of 1 were studied using density functional theory. The electronic structures were compared with the chemisorption of carbon on nickel (111) at the fcc hollow site. Based on the computational adsorption energies, the relative stabilities were described as follows: hcp hollow ≈ fcc hollow > top-on site, whereas the atomic carbon can not occupy the bridge sites stably. The partial density of states indicated the strong C(2p)-Fe(3d, 4s+p) and the wide C(2s+p)-Fe(3d) ionic bonds, which largely confined the electrons of the surface iron. Accordingly, the number of orbitals at the Fermi level for the iron in the surface is obviously less than that in the subsurface. Moreover, comparing the carbon chemisorptions on γ-Fe and nickel surface at the fcc hollow site, one could see that the number of orbitals at the Fermi level for carbon adsorbed on γ-Fe(111) is less than on Ni(111) surface. This could imply the weaker catalysis of γ-Fe than nickel for carbon atom.