Bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites combining a Cu54Ni6Zr22Ti18 matrix with brass powders or Zr62Al8Ni13Cu17 metallic glass powders were fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The brass powders and Zr-based metallic glass powders added for the enhancement of plasticity are well distributed homogeneously in the Cu-based metallic glass matrix after consolidation. The BMG composites show macroscopic plasticity after yielding, and the plastic strain increased to around 2% without a decrease in strength for the composite material containing 20 vol% Zr-based amorphous powders. The proper combination of strength and plasticity in the BMG composites was obtained by introducing a second phase in the metallic glass matrix.

We used an amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis, a novel PCR-based technique, to differentiate Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) of Korean races. The 6 strains of Xoo K1, K2, K3 races were tested with 81 AFLP primer combinations to identify the best selective primers. The primer combinations were selected according to their reproducibility, number of polymorphic bands and polymorphism detected among Xoo strains. 18 strains of Xoo K1, K2 and K3 races were analyzed with the selected combinations of primer set. Some primer combinations (Eco R I +1 / Mse I+1) could differentiate Xoo of Korean races that were not distinguished by other fingerprinting analysis. Thus AFLP fingerprinting permitted very fine discrimination among different races.