Genetic Analysis of Tolerance to Rice Tungro Bacilliform Virus in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Through Agroinoculation

Balimau Putih [an Indonesian cultivar tolerant to rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV)] was crossed with IR64 (RTBV, susceptible variety) to produce the three filial generations F1, F2 and F3. Agroinoculation was used to introduce RTBV into the test plants. RTBV tolerance was based on the RTBV level in plants by analysis of coat protein using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The level of RTBV in cv. Balimau Putih was significantly lower than that of IR64 and the susceptible control, Taichung Native 1. Mean RTBV levels of the F1, F2 and F3 populations were comparable with one another and with the average of the parents. Results indicate that there was no dominance and an additive gene action may control the expression of tolerance to RTBV. Tolerance based on the level of RTBV coat protein was highly heritable (0.67) as estimated using the mean values of F3 lines, suggesting that selection for tolerance to RTBV can be performed in the early selfing generations using the technique employed in this study. The RTBV level had a negative correlation with plant height, but positive relationship with disease index value

Characterisation and culturing of adipose-derived precursor cells

This book focuses on practical applications for using adult and embryonic stem cells in the pharmaceutical development process. It emphasizes new technologies to help overcome the bottlenecks in developing stem cells as therapeutic agents. A key reference for professionals working in stem cell science, it presents the general principles and methodologies in stem cell research and covers topics such as derivitization and characterization of stem cells, stem cell culture and maintenance, stem cell engineering, applications of high-throughput screening, and stem cell genetic modification with their use for drug delivery.

Optimization of long rural feeders using a genetic algorithm

This paper describes the optimization of conductor size and the voltage regulator location & magnitude of long rural distribution lines. The optimization minimizes the lifetime cost of the lines, including capital costs and losses while observing voltage drop and operational constraints using a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The GA optimization is applied to a real Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) network in regional Queensland and results are presented.

Women who miscarry : the effectiveness and clinical utility of the Kessler 10 questionnaire in screening for ongoing psychological distress

Background: Early pregnancy loss has been linked to enduring psychological morbidity. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the utility of the Kessler 10 (K10) questionnaire as a brief screening instrument to identify women at risk for the development of psychiatric diagnoses three months post-miscarriage. Method: Participants were 117 consecutive women presenting at a public hospital emergency department and receiving a diagnosis of miscarriage. Main outcome measures: K10 screen for psychological distress and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders to determine psychiatric diagnoses. Results: A majority of women (81.2%) experienced elevated levels of distress initially, 24.8% in the very high range. They were not at increased risk of psychiatric diagnoses at three months compared with the general population; however, they were significantly more likely to report subsyndromal symptoms at this time compared with the general population. The baseline K10 score was the only significant predictor of distress at follow-up (r = 0.45, P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve shows that a cut-off of 14 on the K10 has suitable sensitivity (97%) and specificity (82%) for predicting ongoing psychological distress in women who miscarry. Conclusions: The K10 is effective in identifying women at risk for ensuring psychological symptoms following miscarriage.

Dynamic coast control of train movement with genetic algorithm

The railway service is now the major transportation means in most of the countries around the world. With the increasing population and expanding commercial and industrial activities, a high quality of railway service is the most desirable. Train service usually varies with the population activities throughout a day and train coordination and service regulation are then expected to meet the daily passengers' demand. Dwell time control at stations and fixed coasting point in an inter-station run are the current practices to regulate train service in most metro railway systems. However, a flexible and efficient train control and operation is not always possible. To minimize energy consumption of train operation and make certain compromises on the train schedule, coast control is an economical approach to balance run-time and energy consumption in railway operation if time is not an important issue, particularly at off-peak hours. The capability to identify the starting point for coasting according to the current traffic conditions provides the necessary flexibility for train operation. This paper presents an application of genetic algorithms (GA) to search for the appropriate coasting point(s) and investigates the possible improvement on fitness of genes. Single and multiple coasting point control with simple GA are developed to attain the solutions and their corresponding train movement is examined. Further, a hierarchical genetic algorithm (HGA) is introduced here to identify the number of coasting points required according to the traffic conditions, and Minimum-Allele-Reserve-Keeper (MARK) is adopted as a genetic operator to achieve fitter solutions.

Railway junction conflict resolution by genetic algorithm

In general, simple and traditional methods are applied to resolve traffic conflicts at railway junctions. They are, however, either inefficient or computationally demanding. A simple genetic algorithm is presented to enable a search for a near optimal resolution to be carried out while meeting the constraints on generation evolution and minimising the search time.

Signalling layout for fixed-block railway lines with real-coded genetic algorithms.

Signalling layout design is one of the keys to railway operations with fixed-block signalling system and it also carries direct effect on overall train efficiency and safety. Based on an analysis to system objectives, this paper presents an optimization model with two objectives in order to devise an efficient signalling layout scheme. Taking into account the present railway line design practices in China, the paper describes steps of the computer-based signalling layout optimisation with real-coded genetic algorithms. A computer-aided system, based on train movement simulator, has also been employed to assist the optimisation process. A case study on a practical railway line has been conducted to make comparisons between the proposed GA-based approach and the current practices. The results illustrate the improved performance of the proposed approach in reducing signal block joints and shortening minimum train service headway.

Coast control of train movement with genetic algorithms

Railway service is now the major transportation means in most of the countries around the world. With the increasing population and expanding commercial and industrial activities, a high quality of railway service is the most desirable. We present an application of genetic algorithms (GA) to search for the appropriate coasting point(s) and investigate the possible improvement on fitness of genes. Single and multiple coasting point control with simple GA are developed to attain the solutions and their corresponding train movement is examined. The multiple coasting point control with hierarchical genetic algorithm (HGA) is then proposed to integrate the determination of the number of coasting points.