The study of genetic diversity and population structure of the Korean fleshy shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis, using newly developed microsatellite markers

The fleshy shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis, is the family of Penaeidae and one of the most economically important marine culture species in Korea. However, its genetic characteristics have never been studied. In this study, a total of 240 wild F. chinensis individuals were collected from four locations as follows: Narodo (NRD, n = 60), Beopseongpo (BSP, n = 60), Chaesukpo (CSP, n = 60), and Cheonsuman (CSM, n = 60). Genetic variability and the relationships among four wild F. chinensis populations were analyzed using 13 newly developed microsatellite loci. Relatively high levels of genetic variability (mean allelic richness = 16.87; mean heterozygosity = 0.845) were found among localities. Among the 52 population loci, 13 showed significant deviation from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Neighbor-joining, principal coordinate, and molecular variance analyses revealed the presence of three subpopulations (NRD, CSM, BSP and CSP), which was consistent with clustering based on genetic distance. The mean observed heterozygosity values of the NRD, CSM, BSP, and CSP populations were 0.724, 0.821, 0.814, and 0.785 over all loci, respectively. These genetic variability and differentiation results of the four wild populations can be applied for future genetic improvement using selective breeding and to design suitable management guidelines for Korean F. chinensis culture.

Studies On Hydrogen Bonds: Part IV. Proposed Working Criteria for Assessing Qualitative Strength of Hydrogen Bonds

The data obtained in the earlier parts of this series for the donor and acceptor end parameters of N-H. O and O-H. O hydrogen bonds have been utilised to obtain a qualitative working criterion to classify the hydrogen bonds into three categories: "very good" (VG), "moderately good" (MG) and weak (W). The general distribution curves for all the four parameters are found to be nearly of the Gaussian type. Assuming that the VG hydrogen bonds lie between 0 and ± la, MG hydrogen bonds between ± 1 and ± 2, W hydrogen bonds beyond ± 2 (where is the standard deviation), suitable cut-off limits for classifying the hydrogen bonds in the three categories have been derived. These limits are used to get VG and MG ranges for the four parameters 1 and θ (at the donor end) and ± and ± (at the acceptor end). The qualitative strength of a hydrogen bond is decided by the cumulative application of the criteria to all the four parameters. The criterion has been further applied to some practical examples in conformational studies such as α-helix and can be used for obtaining suitable location of hydrogen atoms to form good hydrogen bonds. An empirical approach to the energy of hydrogen bonds in the three categories has also been presented.

Genomic regions influencing seminal root traits in barley

Water availability is a major limiting factor for crop production, making drought adaptation and its many component traits a desirable attribute of plant cultivars. Previous studies in cereal crops indicate that root traits expressed at early plant developmental stages, such as seminal root angle and root number, are associated with water extraction at different depths. Here, we conducted the first study to map seminal root traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Using a recently developed high-throughput phenotyping method, a panel of 30 barley genotypes and a doubled-haploid (DH) population (ND24260 × 'Flagship') comprising 330 lines genotyped with diversity array technology (DArT) markers were evaluated for seminal root angle (deviation from vertical) and root number under controlled environmental conditions. A high degree of phenotypic variation was observed in the panel of 30 genotypes: 13.5 to 82.2 and 3.6 to 6.9° for root angle and root number, respectively. A similar range was observed in the DH population: 16.4 to 70.5 and 3.6 to 6.5° for root angle and number, respectively. Seven quantitative trait loci (QTL) for seminal root traits (root angle, two QTL; root number, five QTL) were detected in the DH population. A major QTL influencing both root angle and root number (RAQ2/RNQ4) was positioned on chromosome 5HL. Across-species analysis identified 10 common genes underlying root trait QTL in barley, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Here, we provide insight into seminal root phenotypes and provide a first look at the genetics controlling these traits in barley.

Structure and Bonding in N-Methylacetamide Complexes of Alkali and Alkaline Earth Metals

A detailed crystallographic investigation of N-methylacetamide complexes of Li, Na, K, Mg and Ca has been made in view of its importance in the coordination chemistry and biochemistry of alkali and alkaline earth metals. The metal ions bind to the amide oxygen causing an increase in the carbonyl distance and a proportionate decrease in the central C-N bond distance. The decrease in the central C-N distance is accompanied by an increase in the distance of the adjacent C-C bond and a decrease in the adjacent C-N bond distance. The metal ion generally deviates from the direction of the lone pair of the carbonyl oxygen and also from the plane of the peptide, the out-of-plane deviation varying with the ionic potential of the cation. The metal-oxygen distance in alkali and alkaline earth metal complexes of a given coordination number also varies with the ionic potential of the cation, as does the strength of binding of the cations to the amide. The amide molecules are essentially planar in these complexes, as expected from the increased bond order of the central C-N bond. The NH bonds of the amide are generally hydrogen bonded to anions. The structures of the amide complexes are compared with those of other oxygen donor complexes of alkali and alkaline earth metals. The structural study described here also provides a basis for the interpretation of results from spectroscopic and theoretical investigations of the interaction of alkali and alkaline earth metal cations with amides.

Confronting Confucian Understandings of the Christian Doctrine of Salvation : A systematic theological analysis of the basic problems in the Confucian-Christian dialogue

The aim of the present study is to analyze Confucian understandings of the Christian doctrine of salvation in order to find the basic problems in the Confucian-Christian dialogue. I will approach the task via a systematic theological analysis of four issues in order to limit the thesis to an appropriate size. They are analyzed in three chapters as follows: 1. The Confucian concept concerning the existence of God. Here I discuss mainly the issue of assimilation of the Christian concept of God to the concepts of Sovereign on High (Shangdi) and Heaven (Tian) in Confucianism. 2. The Confucian understanding of the object of salvation and its status in Christianity. 3. The Confucian understanding of the means of salvation in Christianity. Before beginning this analysis it is necessary to clarify the vast variety of controversies, arguments, ideas, opinions and comments expressed in the name of Confucianism; thus, clear distinctions among different schools of Confucianism are given in chapter 2. In the last chapter I will discuss the results of my research in this study by pointing out the basic problems that will appear in the analysis. The results of the present study provide conclusions in three related areas: the tacit differences in the ways of thinking between Confucians and Christians, the basic problems of the Confucian-Christian dialogue, and the affirmative elements in the dialogue. In addition to a summary, a bibliography and an index, there are also eight appendices, where I have introduced important background information for readers to understand the present study.

Hautamuistomerkki elämän ja kuoleman tulkitsijana : Heikki Häiväojan, Kain Tapperin ja Matti Peltokankaan tekemät hautamuistomerkit 1952-2002

Grave sculpture as interpreter of life and death. Grave sculptures done by Heikki Häiväoja, Kain Tapper and Matti Peltokangas 1952-2002. The thoughts of Philippe Ariès and Erwin Panofsky on western funeral art constitute the starting point of this study. These scholars speak about the 20th century as a period of decline regarding western funeral art. The reason for this situation lies, according to them, in the fact that death has been rejected and become a private affair in modern society. Especially Panofsky sees an important reason for the decay of funeral art also in the separation of death from religion. In this study, I approach the view of Ariès and Panofsky from the angle of Finnish funeral art. The subject of the study is grave sculptures of three Finnish sculptors: Heikki Häiväoja, Kain Tapper and Matti Peltokangas, from 1952 to 2002. (The analysis of the grave sculptures has been performed with the Iconology of Erwin Panofsky. The analysis has been deepened by the ideas of a graveyard as a semiotic text according to Werner Enninger and Christa Schwens. In order to confirm their argumentation, they analyse the graveyard text with the model of communicative functions of Roman Jakobson and verify that the graveyard is a cultural text according to Juri Lotman.) Results of the study In the grave sculptures of the sculptors, different worldviews appear alongside Christian thoughts indicating a new stage in the tradition of funeral art. In the grave sculptures characterised as Christian, the view of life after death is included. In these memorials the direction of life is prospective, pointing to the life beyond. Death is a border, beyond which one is unable to see. Nevertheless the border is open or marked by the cross. On this open border, death is absence of pain, glory and new unity. In memorials with different worldviews, the life beyond is a possibility which is not excluded. Memorials interpret life retrospectively; life is a precious memory which wakens grief and longing. Many memorials have metaphysical and mystic features. In spite of democratization the order and valuation of social classes appear in some memorials. The old order also materializes in the war memorials relating the same destiny of the deceased. Different burial places, nevertheless, do not indicate social inequality but are rather signs of diversity. The sculptors' abstract means of modern funeral art deepen the handling of the subject matter of death and reveal the mystery of it. Grave sculptures are a part of Finnish and sacral modern art, and there is an interaction between funeral art and modern art. Modern art acquires a new dimension, when grave sculptures become a part of its field. Grave sculptures offer an alternative to anonymous burying. The memorial is a sign of the end of life; it gives death significance and publicity and creates a relation to the past of the society. In this way, grave sculptures are a part of the chain of memory of the western funeral art, which extends throughout Antiquity until ancient Egypt. (In this study I have spoken of funeral art as a chain of memory using the thoughts of Danièle Hervieu-Léger.) There are no signs of decay in the grave sculptures, on the contrary the tradition of funeral art continues in them as a search for the meaning of life and death and as an intuitive interpretation of death. As such, grave sculptures are part of the Finnish discussion of death.

On the definition of a small orifice

An attempt is made to draw a line of demarcation between small orifices and large orifices. It is proposed that an orifice can be considered 'small' if the discharge through it calculated on the small-orifice assumption differs from the exact discharge by less than half of one per cent. Using this criterion, it is shown that a circular or elliptic orifice can be deemed 'small' as long as the ratio of the depth of the orifice to the head causing the flow (measured from the center of the orifice to the liquid surface) is less than 0.8; a rectangular orifice can be deemed 'small' if the ratio is less than 0.7. A correction factor is suggested for the coefficient of discharge to account for the deviation from the exact discharge.

Rapid distortion of axisymmetric turbulence

A generalization of the isotropic theory of Batchelor & Proudman (1954) is developed to estimate the effect of sudden but arbitrary three-dimensional distortion on homogeneous, initially axisymmetric turbulence. The energy changes due to distortion are expressed in terms of the Fourier coefficients of an expansion in zonal harmonics of the two independent scalar functions that describe the axisymmetric spectral tensor. However, for two special but non-trivial forms of this tensor, which represent possibly the simplest kinds of non-isotropic turbulence and specify the angular distribution but not the wavenumber dependence, the energy ratios have been determined in closed form. The deviation of the ratio from its isotropic value is the product of a factor containing R, the initial value of the ratio of the longitudinal to the transverse energy component, and another factor depending only on the geometry of the distortion. It is found that, in axisymmetric and large two-dimensional contractions, the isotropic theory gives nearly the correct longitudinal energy, but (when R > 1) over-estimates the increase in the transverse energy; the product of the two intensities varies little unless the distortion is very large, thus accounting for the stress-freezing observed in rapidly accelerated shear flows.Comparisons with available experimental data for the spectra and for the energy ratios show reasonable agreement. The different ansatzes predict results in broad qualitative agreement with a simple strategem suggested by Reynolds & Tucker (1975), but the quantitative differences are not always negligible.

Reinventing Nordic Openness : Transparency and State Information in Finland

The study explores new ideational changes in the information strategy of the Finnish state between 1998 and 2007, after a juncture in Finnish governing in the early 1990s. The study scrutinizes the economic reframing of institutional openness in Finland that comes with significant and often unintended institutional consequences of transparency. Most notably, the constitutional principle of publicity (julkisuusperiaate), a Nordic institutional peculiarity allowing public access to state information, is now becoming an instrument of economic performance and accountability through results. Finland has a long institutional history in the publicity of government information, acknowledged by law since 1951. Nevertheless, access to government information became a policy concern in the mid-1990s, involving a historical narrative of openness as a Nordic tradition of Finnish governing Nordic openness (pohjoismainen avoimuus). International interest in transparency of governance has also marked an opening for institutional re-descriptions in Nordic context. The essential added value, or contradictory term, that transparency has on the Finnish conceptualisation of governing is the innovation that public acts of governing can be economically efficient. This is most apparent in the new attempts at providing standardised information on government and expressing it in numbers. In Finland, the publicity of government information has been a concept of democratic connotations, but new internationally diffusing ideas of performance and national economic competitiveness are discussed under the notion of transparency and its peer concepts openness and public (sector) information, which are also newcomers to Finnish vocabulary of governing. The above concepts often conflict with one another, paving the way to unintended consequences for the reforms conducted in their name. Moreover, the study argues that the policy concerns over openness and public sector information are linked to the new drive for transparency. Drawing on theories of new institutionalism, political economy, and conceptual history, the study argues for a reinvention of Nordic openness in two senses. First, in referring to institutional history, the policy discourse of Nordic openness discovers an administrative tradition in response to new dilemmas of public governance. Moreover, this normatively appealing discourse also legitimizes the new ideational changes. Second, a former mechanism of democratic accountability is being reframed with market and performance ideas, mostly originating from the sphere of transnational governance and governance indices. Mobilizing different research techniques and data (public documents of the Finnish government and international organizations, some 30 interviews of Finnish civil servants, and statistical time series), the study asks how the above ideational changes have been possible, pointing to the importance of nationalistically appealing historical narratives and normative concepts of governing. Concerning institutional developments, the study analyses the ideational changes in central steering mechanisms (political, normative and financial steering) and the introduction of budget transparency and performance management in two cases: census data (Population Register Centre) and foreign political information (Ministry for Foreign Affairs). The new policy domain of governance indices is also explored as a type of transparency. The study further asks what institutional transformations are to be observed in the above cases and in the accountability system. The study concludes that while the information rights of citizens have been reinforced and recalibrated during the period under scrutiny, there has also been a conversion of institutional practices towards economic performance. As the discourse of Nordic openness has been rather unquestioned, the new internationally circulating ideas of transparency and the knowledge economy have entered this discourse without public notice. Since the mid 1990s, state registry data has been perceived as an exploitable economic resource in Finland and in the EU public sector information. This is a parallel development to the new drive for budget transparency in organisations as vital to the state as the Population Register Centre, which has led to marketization of census data in Finland, an international exceptionality. In the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the post-Cold War rhetorical shift from secrecy to performance-driven openness marked a conversion in institutional practices that now see information services with high regards. But this has not necessarily led to the increased publicity of foreign political information. In this context, openness is also defined as sharing information with select actors, as a trust based non-public activity, deemed necessary amid the global economic competition. Regarding accountability system, deliberation and performance now overlap, making it increasingly difficult to identify to whom and for what the public administration is accountable. These evolving institutional practices are characterised by unintended consequences and paradoxes. History is a paradoxical component in the above institutional change, as long-term institutional developments now justify short-term reforms.

A process of engagement: Engaging with the process

Photography is now a highly automated activity where people enjoy phototaking by pointing and pressing a button. While this liberates people from having to interact with the processes of photography, e.g., controlling the parameters of the camera or printing images in the darkroom, we argue that an engagement with such processes can in fact enrich people's experience of phototaking. Drawing from fieldwork with members of a film-based photography club, we found that people who engage deeply with the various processes of phototaking experienced photography richly and meaningfully. Being able to participate fully in the entire process gave them a sense of achievement over the final result. Having the opportunity to engage with the process also allowed them to learn and hone their photographic skills. Through this understanding, we can imagine future technologies that enrich experiences of photography through providing the means to interact with photographic processes in new ways.

Hierarchical modelling of acclimatory processesstar, open

The term acclimation has been used with several connotations in the field of acclimatory physiology. An attempt has been made, in this paper, to define precisely the term “acclimation” for effective modelling of acclimatory processes. Acclimation is defined with respect to a specific variable, as cumulative experience gained by the organism when subjected to a step change in the environment. Experimental observations on a large number of variables in animals exposed to sustained stress, show that after initial deviation from the basal value (defined as “growth”), the variables tend to return to basal levels (defined as “decay”). This forms the basis for modelling biological responses in terms of their growth and decay. Hierarchical systems theory as presented by Mesarovic, Macko & Takahara (1970) facilitates modelling of complex and partially characterized systems. This theory, in conjunction with “growth-decay” analysis of biological variables, is used to model temperature regulating system in animals exposed to cold. This approach appears to be applicable at all levels of biological organization. Regulation of hormonal activity which forms a part of the temperature regulating system, and the relationship of the latter with the “energy” system of the animal of which it forms a part, are also effectively modelled by this approach. It is believed that this systematic approach would eliminate much of the current circular thinking in the area of acclimatory physiology.

Evolution of Grain-Boundary Microstructure and Texture in Interstitial-Free Steel Processed by Equal-Channel Angular Extrusion

The equal-channel angular extrusion (ECAE) of Ti-bearing interstitial-free (IF) steel was performed following two different routes, up to four passes, at a temperature of 300 degrees C. The ECAE led to a grain refinement to submicron size. After the second pass, the grain size attained saturation thereafter. The microstructural analysis indicated the presence of coincident-site lattice (CSL) boundaries in significant fraction, in addition to a high volume fraction of high-angle random boundaries and some low-angle boundaries after the deformation. Among the special boundaries, Sigma 3 and Sigma 13 were the most prominent ones and their fraction depended on the processing route followed. A deviation in the misorientation angle distribution from the Mackenzie distribution was noticed. The crystallographic texture after the first pass resembled that of simple shear, with the {112}, {110}, and {123} aligned to the macroscopic shear plane.

Effect of amplifier imperfections on active networks

The deviation in the performance of active networks due to practical operational amplifiers (OA) is mainly because of the finite gain bandwidth productBand nonzero output resistanceR_0. The effect ofBandR_0on two OA impedances and single and multi-OA filters are discussed. In filters, the effect ofR_0is to add zeros to the transfer function often making it nonminimum phase. A simple method of analysis has been suggested for 3-OA biquad and coupled biquad circuits. A general method of noise minimization of the generalized impedance converter (GIC), while operating OA's within the prescribed voltage and current limits, is also discussed. The 3-OA biquadratic sections analyzed also exhibit noise behavior and signal handling capacity similar to the GIC. The GIC based structures are found to be better than other configurations both in biquadratic sections and direct realizations of higher order transfer functions.

Stereochemical studies on cyclic peptides: Detailed energy minimization studies on hydrogen bonded all-trans cyclic pentapeptide backbones

Conformational studies have been carried out on hydrogenbonded all-trans cyclic pentapeptide backbone. Application of a combination of grid search and energy minimization on this system has resulted in obtaining 23 minimum energy conformations, which are characterized by unique patterns of hydrogen bonding comprising of β- and γ-turns. A study of the minimum energy conformationsvis-a-vis non-planar deviation of the peptide units reveals that non-planarity is an inherent feature in many cases. A study on conformational clustering of minimum energy conformations shows that the minimum energy conformations fall into 6 distinct conformational families. Preliminary comparison with available X-ray structures of cyclic pentapeptide indicates that only some of the minimum energy conformations have formed crystal structures. The set of minimum energy conformations worked out in the present study can form a consolidated database of prototypes for hydrogen bonded backbone and be useful for modelling cyclic pentapeptides both synthetic and bioactive in nature.

A parameter characterizing plowing nature of surfaces close to Gaussian

A non-dimensional parameter descriptive of the plowing nature of surfaces is proposed for the case of sliding between a soft and a relatively hard metallic pair. From a set of potential parameters which can be descriptive of the phenomenon, dimensionless groups are formulated and the influence of each one of them is analyzed. A non-dimensional parameter involving the root-mean square deviation (R-q) and the centroidal frequency (F-mean) deducted from the power-spectrum is found to have a high degree of correlation (as high as 0.93) with the coefficient of friction obtained in sliding experiments under lubricated condition.