余甘子、细叶草乌及土荆皮化学成分研究

本论文由三部分共6 章组成。第一部分报道了余甘子、细叶草乌和土荆皮等三种药用植物的化学成分研究成果；第二部分报道了细叶草乌和土荆皮中分离得到的化合物的活性测试，以及这两种植物的质谱分析；第三部分概述了土荆皮的研究现状。第一部分包括1－3 章。在第1 章、第2 章和第3 章中分别报道了余甘子(Phyllanthus emblica L.) 、细叶草乌(Aconitum richardsonianum var.pseudosessiliflorum) 和土荆皮( pseudolarix kaempferi) 的化学成分。采用正、反相硅胶柱层析等各种分离方法，从余甘子中共分离出10 个化合物，其中1 个为新化合物，另外还有2 个为首次从该植物中分离得到。细叶草乌的化学成分研究尚未见报道，我们从该植物中共分离出15 个化合物，其中6 个为二萜生物碱，9个为非生物碱成分。从土荆皮中分离得到16 个化合物，其中8 个二萜、1 个三萜和7 个其它类型化合物，其中有4 个化合物为首次在该植物中分离得到；从土荆皮挥发油中分离鉴定出了22 个化合物，占挥发油总量的90%。第二部分包括4－5 章。第4 章报道了从细叶草乌和土荆皮中分离得到的13个化合物的药理活性研究，结果显示，展花乌头宁和土荆乙酸葡萄糖苷等表现出较高的组织蛋白酶K 抑制活性；土荆乙酸葡萄糖苷表现出较高的组织蛋白酶B抑制活性；8-去乙酰滇乌碱表现出较高的蛋白质酪氨酸磷酸酶抑制活性。第5 章报道了细叶草乌和土荆皮总浸膏的质谱( ESI-MS ) 分析，研究结果表明，ESI-MS 法可以简单快速地检测这两种植物的主要成分；通过ESI-MS2 分析初步探讨了一些化合物的裂解规律，尝试质谱在其结构测定中的具体应用。第三部分为第6 章。从化学成分、药理、构效关系、主要成分的定量分析、及其合成研究等方面概述了土荆皮的研究进展。 This dissertation consists of three parts. The first part elaborate thephytochemical investigation of three medicinal plants, Phyllanthus emblica L.,Aconitum richardsonianum var. pseudosessiliflorum and pseudolarix kaempferi. Thesecond part reported the bioassay of 13 constituents from Aconitum richardsonianumvar. pseudosessiliflorum and pseudolarix kaempferi, and ESI-MS analysis of these twoplant . The third part is a review on the research progress of pseudolarix kaempferi.The first part is composed of three chapters. Chapters 1-3 focus on the isolationand identification of chemical constituents from Phyllanthus emblica L., Aconitumrichardsonianum var. pseudosessiliflorum and pseudolarix kaempferi. 10 compoundsincluding a new tannin were isolated from the fruits of Phyllanthus emblica by repeatcolumn chromatography over normal and reversed phase silica gel, 2 of them werefirstly reported in this plant. The chemical constituents of Aconitum richardsonianumvar. pseudosessiliflorum never reported before, 15 compounds including 6 diterpenealkaloids were isolated and identified from the roots of this plant. 16 compoundsincluding 8 diterpenes , 1 triterpene and 7 other compounds were isolated from the bark of pseudolarix kaempferi, among them, 4 compounds were firstly reported fromthe EtOH extracts of this plant, and 22 compounds were identified from its essentialoil, representing 90% of the total essential oil.The second part includes chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 reported thepharmacological activities of 13 compounds isolated from Aconitum richardsonianumvar. pseudosessiliflorum and pseudolarix kaempferi. Results demonstrated that chasmanine and pseudolaric acid B-β-D-glucoside exhibit relatively high anti-Cathepsin K activities; pseudolaric acid B-β-D-glucoside exhibits relatively highanti-Cathepsin B activity; 8-deacetyl-yunaconitine exhibits relatively high anti-PTP1Bactivity. Chapter 5 reported the ESI-MS analysis of extractions from Aconitumrichardsonianum var. pseudosessiliflorum and pseudolarix kaempferi, it was showedthat ESI-MS can be used as an useful tool in analyzing the major constituents of thesetwo plant much quick and easy, in addition, the fragmentation rules of somecompounds were discussed, in order to find some applications of ESI-MS2 method in their structure determination.The third part is a review on the research progress of pseudolarix kaempferi,including the chemical constituents, pharmacology, structure-activity relationship(SAP), quantitative analysis and synthesis of the major constituents.

Somatic embryogenesis, organogenesis and plant regeneration in taro (Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta)

Callus was initiated in three different ‘‘esculenta’’ taro cultivars by culturing corm slices in the dark on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for 20 days followed by subculture of all corm slices to half-strength MS medium containing 1.0 mg/l thidiazuron (TDZ). Depending on the cultivar, 20–30% of corm slices produced compact, yellow, nodular callus on media containing TDZ. Histological studies revealed the presence of typical embryogenic cells which were small, isodiametric with dense cytoplasms. Somatic embryos formed when callus was transferred to hormone-free medium and *72% of the embryos germinated into plantlets on this medium. Simultaneous formation of roots and shoots during germination, and the presence of shoot and root poles revealed by histology, confirmed that these structures were true somatic embryos. Plants derived from somatic embryos appeared phenotypically normal following 2 months growth in a glasshouse. This method is a significant advance on those previously reported for the esculenta cultivars of taro due to its efficiency and reproducibility.

Improving taro (Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta) production using biotechnological approaches

Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) is an important crop worldwide but is of particular significance in many Pacific Island countries where it forms part of the staple diet and serves as an export commodity. Escalating pest and disease problems are jeopardizing taro production with serious implications to food security and trade. Biotechnological approaches to addressing pest and disease problems, such as somatic embryogenesis and transgenesis, are potentially viable options. However, despite biotechnological advancements in higher profile agronomic crops, such progress in relation to Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta has been slow. This paper reviews taro biology, highlights the cultural and economic significance of taro in Pacific Island countries and discusses the progress made towards the molecular breeding of this important crop to date.

Initiation of embryogenic cell suspensions of taro (Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta) and plant regeneration

Embryogenic callus was initiated by culturing in vitro taro corm slices on agar-solidified half-strength MS medium containing 2.0 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for 20 days followed by transfer to 1.0 mg/L thidiazuron (TDZ). Callus was subsequently proliferated on solid medium containing 1.0 mg/L TDZ, 0.5 mg/L 2,4- D and 800 mg/L glutamine before transfer to liquid medium containing the same components but with reduced glutamine (100 mg/L). After 3 months in liquid culture on an orbital shaker, cytoplasmically dense cell aggregates began to form. Somatic embryogenesis was induced by plating suspension cells onto solid media containing reduced levels of hormones (0.1 mg/L TDZ, 0.05 mg/L 2,4-D), high concentrations of sucrose (40–50 g/L) and biotin (1.0 mg/L). Embryo maturation and germination was then induced on media containing 0.05 mg/L benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Histological studies of the developing embryos revealed the presence of typical shoot and root poles suggesting that these structures were true somatic embryos. The rate of somatic embryos formation was 500–3,000 per mL settledcell volume while approximately 60% of the embryos regenerated into plants.

An efficient hybrid evolutionary optimization algorithm for daily volt/var control at distribution system including DGs

This paper presents a new hybrid evolutionary algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) for daily Volt/Var control in distribution system including Distributed Generators (DGs). Due to the small X/R ratio and radial configuration of distribution systems, DGs have much impact on this problem. Since DGs are independent power producers or private ownership, a price based methodology is proposed as a proper signal to encourage owners of DGs in active power generation. Generally, the daily Volt/Var control is a nonlinear optimization problem. Therefore, an efficient hybrid evolutionary method based on Particle Swarm Optimization and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), called HPSO, is proposed to determine the active power values of DGs, reactive power values of capacitors and tap positions of transformers for the next day. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated and compared with methods based on the original PSO, ACO and GA algorithms on IEEE 34-bus distribution feeder.

Effect of Oil Price on Emissions Trading Market: VAR Analysis

In this study, we investigated the relationship of European Union carbon dioxide CO2 allowances EUAs prices and oil prices by employing a VAR analysis, Granger causality test and impulse response function. If oil price continues increasing, companies will decrease dependency on fossil fuels because of an increase in energy costs. Therefore, the price of EUAs may be affected by variations in oil prices if the greenhouse gases discharged by the consumption of alternative energy are less than that of fossil fuels. There are no previous studies that investigated these relationships. In this study, we analyzed eight types of EUAs EUA05 to EUA12 with a time series daily data set during 2005-2007 collected from a European Climate Exchange time series data set. Differentiations in these eight types were redemption period. We used the New York Mercantile Exchange light sweet crude price as an oil price. From our examination, we found that only the EUA06 and EUA07 types of EUAs Granger-cause oil prices and vice versa and other six types of EUAs do not Granger-cause oil price. These results imply that the earlier redemption period types of EUAs are more sensitive to oil price. In employing the impulse response function, the results showed that a shock to oil price has a slightly positive effect on all types of EUAs for a very short period. On the other hand, we found that a shock to price of EUA has a slightly negative effect on oil price following a positive effect in only EUA06 and EUA07 types. Therefore, these results imply that fluctuations in EUAs prices and oil prices have little effect on each other. Lastly, we did not consider the substitute energy prices in this study, so we plan to include the prices of coal and natural gas in future analyses.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of Value-at-Risk (VaR) models for Australian banks under Basel III

This study compares Value-at-Risk (VaR) measures for Australian banks over a period that includes the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to determine whether the methodology and parameter selection are important for capital adequacy holdings that will ultimately support a bank in a crisis period. VaR methodology promoted under Basel II was largely criticised during the GFC for its failure to capture downside risk. However, results from this study indicate that 1-year parametric and historical models produce better measures of VaR than models with longer time frames. VaR estimates produced using Monte Carlo simulations show a high percentage of violations but with lower average magnitude of a violation when they occur. VaR estimates produced by the ARMA GARCH model also show a relatively high percentage of violations, however, the average magnitude of a violation is quite low. Our findings support the design of the revised Basel II VaR methodology which has also been adopted under Basel III.

The freezing of mango slices (Mangifera indica var. Kensington)

'Kensington' mango slices were frozen with sucrose syrup, with dry sucrose and without sugar addition, using blast freezing at -30°C, and still air freezing at -18°C. According to taste panel assessment, slices frozen in syrup were best. A syrup strength of 200 g/L was sufficient to produce a high quality product. the blast-frozen slices had a higher texture score than the still air-frozen slices.

Urana subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L. var. subterraneum)

Urana is a hardseeded, moderately early flowering F-5-derived crossbred subterranean clover of var. subterraneum [( Katz. et Morley) Zohary and Heller] developed by the collaborating organisations of the National Annual Pasture Legume Improvement Program. It has been selected for release as a new cultivar on the basis of its high winter and spring herbage production and overall field performance relative to other subterranean clovers of similar maturity. Urana is recommended for sowing in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. It is best suited to well-drained, moderately acidic soils in areas with a growing season of 5 - 7 months, which extends into mid-October. Urana is suited to phase farming and crop rotations. It has been granted Plant Breeders Rights in Australia.

Effect of Ethanol Extract of Whole Plant of Trichosanthes cucumerina var. cucumerina L. on Gonadotropins, Ovarian Follicular Kinetics and Estrous Cycle for Screening of Antifertility Activity in Albino Rats

Ethanol extract of whole plant of Trichosanthes cucumerina L. var. cucumerina was evaluated for antiovulatory activity in adult rats. The ethanol extract at the doses 200 and 400mg/kg body weight (orally) affected the normal estrous cycle showing a significant increase in estrus and metestrus phases and decrease in diestrus and proestrus phases. The extract also significantly reduced the number of healthy follicles (Class I-Class VI) and corpora lutea and increased the number of regressing follicles (Stage IA, Stage IB, Stage IIA, and Stage IIB). The protein and glycogen content in the ovaries were significantly reduced in treated rats. The cholesterol level was significantly increased, whereas, the enzyme activities like 3b-HSD and 17b-HSD were significantly inhibited in the ovary of treated rats. Serum FSH and LH levels were significantly reduced in the treated groups were measured by RIA. In acute toxicity test, neither mortality nor change in the behavior or any other physiological activities in mice were observed in the treated groups. In chronic toxicity studies, no mortality was recorded and there were no significant differences in the body and organ weights were observed between controls and treated rats. Hematological analysis showed no significant differences in any of the parameters examined (RBC, WBC count and Hemoglobin estimation). These observations showed the antiovulatory activity of ethanol extract of whole plant of Trichosanthes cucumerina L. var. cucumerina in female albino rats.

Molecular characterisation, pathogenesis and fungicide sensitivity of Pythium spp. from table beet (Beta vulgaris var. vulgaris) grown in the Lockyer Valley, Queensland

Table beet production in the Lockyer Valley of south-eastern Queensland is known to be adversely affected by soilborne root disease from infection by Pythium spp. However, little is known regarding the species or genotypes that are the causal agents of both pre- and post-emergence damping off. Based on RFLP analysis with HhaI, HinfI and MboI of the PCR amplified ITS region DNA from soil and diseased plant samples, the majority of 130 Pythium isolates could be grouped into three genotypes, designated LVP A, LVP B and LVP C. These groups comprised 43, 41 and 7% of all isolates, respectively. Deoxyribonucleic acid sequence analysis of the ITS region indicated that LVP A was a strain of Pythium aphanidermatum, with greater than 99% similarity to the corresponding P. aphanidermatum sequences from the publicly accessible databases. The DNA sequences from LVP B and LVP C were most closely related to P. ultimum and P. dissotocum, respectively. Lower frequencies of other distinct isolates with unique RFLP patterns were also obtained with high levels of similarity (>97%) to P. heterothallicum, P. periplocum and genotypes of P. ultimum other than LVP B. Inoculation trials of 1- and 4-week-old beet seedlings indicated that compared with isolates of the LVP B genotype, a higher frequency of LVP A isolates caused disease. Isolates with the LVP A, LVP B and LVP C genotypes were highly sensitive to the fungicide Ridomil MZ, which suppressed radial growth on V8 agar between approximately four and thirty fold at 5 μg/mL metalaxyl and 40 μg/mL mancozeb, a concentration far lower than the recommended field application rate.

Coolamon subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L. var. subterraneum)

Coolamon is a mid-season to late-season flowering F4-derived crossbred subterranean clover of var. subterraneum, developed by the collaborating organisations of the National Annual Pasture Legume Improvement Program. It is a replacement for Junee and has been selected for release on the basis of its greater herbage production and persistence, and its resistance to both known races of clover scorch. Coolamon is recommended for sowing in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. It is best suited to well-drained, moderately acidic soils in areas with a growing season of 6.5-8 months that extends into November. Coolamon is best suited to phase farming and permanent pasture systems. It can also be used in cropping rotations, but at least 2 years of pasture are required between crops. Coolamon has been granted Plant Breeders Rights in Australia.