Developing an integrated genomic selection approach beyond biomass for varietal protection and nutritive traits in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Breeding target traits can be broadened to include nutritive value and plant breeder's rights traits in perennial ryegrass by using in-field regression-based spectroscopy phenotyping and genomic selection. Perennial ryegrass breeding has focused on biomass yield, but expansion into a broader set of traits is needed to benefit livestock industries whilst also providing support for intellectual property protection of cultivars. Numerous breeding objectives can be targeted simultaneously with the development of sensor-based phenomics and genomic selection (GS). Of particular interest are nutritive value (NV), which has been difficult and expensive to measure using traditional phenotyping methods, resulting in limited genetic improvement to date, and traits required to obtain varietal protection, known as plant breeder's rights (PBR) traits. In order to assess phenotyping requirements for NV improvement and potential for genetic improvement, in-field reflectance-based spectroscopy was assessed and GS evaluated in a single population for three key NV traits, captured across four timepoints. Using three prediction approaches, the possibility of targeting PBR traits using GS was evaluated for five traits recorded across three years of a breeding program. Prediction accuracy was generally low to moderate for NV traits and moderate to high for PBR traits, with heritability highly correlated with GS accuracy. NV did not show significant or consistent correlation between timepoints highlighting the need to incorporate seasonal NV into selection indexes and the value of being able to regularly monitor NV across seasons. This study has demonstrated the ability to implement GS for both NV and PBR traits in perennial ryegrass, facilitating the expansion of ryegrass breeding targets to agronomically relevant traits while ensuring necessary varietal protection is achieved.

Drug delivery of anti-restenosis agent by 40 - 60°C heating to porcine aortic smooth muscle cells in vitro

We investigated the uptake of anti-restenosis agent in vascular smooth muscle cells with heating observing the fluorescence intensity of Oregon green labeled paclitaxel in vitro. The heating temperature to porcine aortic smooth muscle cells was varied from 40 to 60°C in 5 s in order to simulate laser-mediated short-duration heating balloon. The cells were contacted with the agent from 1 to 30 min in 37°C after the heating. We measured the agent uptake characteristics on agent concentration and duration in 37°C as a reference. The uptake of the agent in the cells increased with increasing of both the concentration around the cells and contact duration in the case of 37°C. When the cells were heated with 40°C in 5 s and then contacted with the agent in 30 minutes, the uptake of the agent in the cells significantly increased. The uptake of the agent with 50°C or 60°C in 5 s did not show any increasing. We prospected that 40°C heating to the smooth muscle cells would promote the agent uptake ability of the cells because of homeostasis of the cells.

Chaotic on off keying for secure communications

We experimentally demonstrate a chaotic on-off keying method for secure communications by using chaos synchronization in two microchip lasers. The output of the microchip laser in the transmitter is externally modulated with an acousto-optic modulator at ~4 MHz . One encodes a digital message in the chaotic carrier by turning the modulation on and off at 100 kHz. Because the accuracy of synchronization for the slave laser in the receiver tends to be degraded in the presence of external modulation in the injection laser signal, one can distinguish two binary states. The digital message can be recovered as an envelope of the chaotic oscillation when the difference between the two laser outputs of the transmitter and the receiver is calculated.

Accuracy of chaos synchronization in Nd:YVO(4) microchip lasers

Synchronization of chaotic oscillations generated in two Nd:YVO(4) microchip lasers is experimentally and numerically demonstrated with master-slave coupling schemes. The synchronization performance under some parameter mismatch between the two lasers is quantitatively characterized. Synchronization is always achieved when the lasing frequency of the slave laser is matched to that of the master laser through injection locking. Accurate synchronization of chaos at an average intensity error of less than 2% is attained and maintained for tens of hours. The modulation parameters of the two lasers do not need to be matched for synchronization when the injection power is at a sufficiently high level, because chaos synchronization is based on its injection-locking performance. For accurate synchronization in multimode lasers, the power distribution among longitudinal modes needs to be matched.

Experiments on chaos synchronization in two separate microchip lasers

Synchronization of chaos generated in two Nd:YVO(4) microchip lasers is experimentally demonstrated with master-slave coupling schemes. For synchronization of chaos, precise locking of the sustained relaxation-oscillation frequency is required, as is optical frequency locking. One needs to match both the pump-modulation parameters for chaos generation and the laser parameters of the two lasers to generate perfectly synchronized chaotic spectra in the master-slave type I coupling scheme.

Bilateral stress fractures of the ulnae in a Kendo (Japanese fencing) player

A case of bilateral stress fractures of the ulnae in a Kendo (Japanese fencing) player is reported; the mechanism of the fractures, particularly the difference in the site of fracture between the right and left ulna, is discussed.

Computer simulations of chondrocytic clone behaviour in rabbit growth plates

The growth behaviour of chondrocytic clones in the cell columns of the proximal tibial growth plates of young rabbits was modelled in computer simulations. Simulations were performed, modelling either clones in large groups of columns or clones in one single column. The former were based on morphological data and measurements of cell columns from an earlier study while the latter utilised previous findings of cellular kinetics in rabbit growth plates. Simulation results that resembled most closely the actual observations on rabbit growth plates were those in which a distribution of values was assumed both for clone length (ranging from 1000 to 2000 microns) and for the lengths of the discontinuities between clones. When the assumption was made in the models that the disappearing (metaphyseal) end of an 'old' clone moved more rapidly than the developing (epiphyseal) end of a 'new' clone, replacing the former, the length of the discontinuity between these two clones increased with time. This assumption, which could be modelled in the simulations of clones in a single column based on cell growth behaviour, was found to provide an explanation for an earlier finding that there are more short columns at the epiphyseal side than at the metaphyseal side of a growth plate.

Numerical simulation of the crown of an incisiform tooth by conformal and polynomial regression mapping of a simple model

We present a simple bowl-shaped model in the complex plane for the enamel and dentin structure of a tooth. Isochronous mode lines, and path lines representing the paths followed by individual ameloblasts and odontoblasts, form a simple regular mesh in the model. After the conformal map W = Z2, the transformed model is remarkably tooth like. To further improve the simulation of the crown of an incisiform tooth in particular, we compare our results to our own data from actual teeth and data from the literature. This leads us (a) to adjust the initial model so that the mesh of mode and path lines intersects the boundary of the tooth in a realistic way, and (b) to refine the mapping using least-squares regression to fit polynomial functions of Z and W to the available data.

Morphological analysis and computer-aided, three dimensional reconstruction of chondrocytic columns in rabbit growth plates

Proximal tibial growth plates of New Zealand white rabbits were serially sectioned in parasagittal and horizontal planes for three dimensional, light microscopic analysis of the chondrocytic columns. A total of 431 columns was analysed. Of these, 258 columns extended through the full height of the growth plate. The remaining columns were considerably shorter, being located either predominantly in the epiphyseal half of the growth plate (100) or in the metaphyseal half of the growth plate (73). The epiphyseal and metaphyseal columns were found in clusters in the plate. Some columns in all three groups had interruptions along their length, while others had duplications. Computer-aided, three dimensional graphic reconstructions were prepared of a selected group of columns. The reconstructions illustrated the variability in the morphology and the dimensions of the neighbouring chondrocytic columns. The observations suggest that chondrocytic columns in rabbit growth plates are replaced regularly and that the small cell zone may play an important role as the cellular source for column renewal.

Finite element method modeling of craniofacial growth

The application of the concepts of continuum mechanics and of the numerical techniques of the finite element method permits the development of a new and potentially clinically useful method of describing craniofacial skeletal growth. This new method differs from those associated with customary roentgenographic cephalometry in that its descriptions and analyses are invariant; that is, they are independent of any method of registration and superimposition. Such invariance avoids the principal geometric constraint explicit in all analytical methods associated with conventional roentgenographic cephalometry. The conceptual and mathematical bases of the finite element method (FEM) are presented and illustrated by the numerical and graphic descriptions of the two-dimensional growth of the rat skull, for which two sets of longitudinal growth data are used. In practice, the FEM permits analysis of the skull at a scale significantly finer than previously possible, by considering cranial structure as consisting of a relatively large number of contiguous finite elements. For each such element, independently, it is then possible to describe and depict both the magnitude and the direction of temporal size and shape changes occurring in that element relative to itself at some initial time. It is emphasized that such descriptions are completely independent of any local reference frame.

A stochastic-mechanical model of longitudinal long bone growth

A typical mammalian long bone will increase in length during the growth phase of the individual. This increase in length does not occur uniformly throughout the bone, since bone tissue is incapable of internal expansion after formation. The growth occurs at two, disc-shaped, regions near either end of the long bone. These regions are called growth plates. These plates are located between the osseous shaft (diaphysis) and osseous tip (epiphysis) whose bone tissues are discontinuous. The present study develops a stochastic-mechanical model for such a bone growth and demonstrates the capability of the model to reproduce the observed overall behavior of longitudinal long bone growth based on realistic information of cellular mitosis, growth and ossification. A numerical analysis was performed on the model under the assumption that the number of cells in the proliferation zone remains constant throughout the growth period. The growth curves thus obtained compare favorably with those growth curves proposed elsewhere essentially on the basis of phenomenological observation. The present model can demonstrate the effects of such parameters as the proliferation rate, initial age distribution and compressive stress on the growth. More importantly, the stochastic-mechanical model so developed permits one to incorporate further experimental evidence and statistical observation at the cellular level into the analysis to improve the solutions.

An allometric network model of craniofacial growth

This study of cranial skeletal growth kinematics details the conceptual principles underlying the development of an allometric network model of such growth. This model is tested by the analysis of longitudinal rat and cross-sectional human growth data and by comparison of this model with a previously described allometric centered model. It is shown that the network model is superior to the centered model in three ways: (1) The allometric network model permits growth prediction when allometric constants are known; (2) the network model has significantly smaller errors than the centered model; and (3) the network model is capable of displaying growth kinematics of both the neural and facial skulls while in time there are marked transformations, such as relative rotations of two sets of cranial anatomic points.

Statistical testing of an allometric centered model of craniofacial growth

An allometric centered model of craniofacial growth was tested by several computer-assisted statistical methods on the pure longitudinal growth data of twenty-four close-bred female rats and on cross-sectional human cranial growth data. The study demonstrated that such a model was heuristic and, being incapable of exact definition, was deemed inappropriate for further use in modeling of craniofacial skeletal growth. The necessity for vigorous testing of any hypothesis concerning the modeling of craniofacial growth is stressed.