Propagation of Actinidia chinensis (Planch.) by stem and root cutting : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Horticultural Science at Massey University

Basal wounding, bottom heat, light with IBA treatments were found to be beneficial for rooting of Actinidia chinensis (Planch.). IBA treatment was effective only when there was a high natural ability to initiate root in Summer and Spring. Seasonal fluctuations in rooting ability was pronounced. This seasonal variation seems to be related to the levels of endogenous IAA, ABA and cofactor 2. No correlation between root initiation and bud activity or IAN level was established. IAA seems to be the fundamental physiological promoter of adventitous root formation. IBA plays only a supporting role in promoting root formation, by protecting the endogenous IAA level in the cutting base. Leaf tissue is an important factor for rooting to be successful. The role of leaf tissue is not just to produce auxin or synthesize nutrients but rather some unknown factor in the leaf can produce a synergistic interaction with auxin in root formation processes. Root cuttings of Abbott variety were sequentially harvested and planted over a period from late Autumn (1.4.77) until mid Summer (8.1.78). Root cuttings of different thickness and length were compared to evaluate their effect on regeneration. The effect of various growth regulators was investigated too. Root diameters of 0.5 - 1.5 cm. out performed that of the thinner or thicker ones. Shorter cuttings (5 cm) of equivalent total length were found to be more productive than a single long cutting (15cm). Strong polarity was observed with shoots only arising from the proximal end of the cutting. Regenerative capacity was highest in late Autumn and Winter and lowest in Summer. This seasonal fluctuation can be altered by exogenous application of growth regulators. IBA suppressed shoot regeneration, whereas cytokinin and sucrose promoted it, while GA3 did not have any significant effect. For commercial use, the practical and economic aspects of this techique require further investigation

DS-CDMA with <i>M</i> -ary orthogonal modulation for wireless sensor networks simultaneously monitoring multiple events

In this paper, we propose a novel WSN framework for one fusion center to monitor simultaneously multiple source events (SEs), each of which has multiple states. In the proposed WSN, every SE is observed by a range of local sensors, which convey their observations to the fusion center in the principles of direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) associated with M -ary orthogonal modulation (MOM). Therefore, the proposed WSN is referred to as the MOM DS-CDMA WSN. In the MOM DS-CDMA WSN, the local sensors monitoring the same SE transmit their signals to the fusion center in the principles of time-division multiple-access (TDMA), while the local sensors serving different SEs communicate with the fusion center in the principles of DS-CDMA. By making use of the advantages of MOM, the fusion center detects the SEs’ states either coherently based on the maximal ratio combing (MRC) fusion rule, or non-coherently based on the equal gain combining (EGC) fusion rule. The detection performance of the fusion center is investigated by simulations. Specifically, the impacts of the number of SEs, the number of local sensors per SE, the observation reliability of local sensors, the reliability of the channels from local sensors to fusion center, etc., on the fusion detection performance are addressed

An open source MATLAB program for fast numerical Feynman integral calculations for open quantum system dynamics on GPUs

This MATLAB program calculates the dynamics of the reduced density matrix of an open quantum system modeled by the Feynman-Vernon model. The user gives the program a vector describing the coordinate of an open quantum system, a hamiltonian matrix describing its energy, and a spectral distribution function and temperature describing the environment's influence on it, in addition to the open quantum system's intial density matrix and a grid of times. With this, the program returns the reduced density matrix of the open quantum system at all (or some) moments specified by that grid of times. This overall calculation can be divided into two stages: the setup of the Feynman integral, and the actual calculation of the Feynman integral for time-propagation of the density matrix. When this program calculates this propagation on a multi-core CPU, it is this propagation that is usually the rate limiting step of the calculation, but when it is calculated on a GPU, the propagation is calculated so quickly that the setup of the Feynman integal actually becomes the rate limiting step for most cases tested so far. The overhead of transfrring information from the CPU to the GPU and back seems to have negligible effect on the overall runtime of the program. When the required information cannot fit on the GPU, the user can choose to run the entire program on a CPU.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, 22 reference

Developing the Factors for Management Practices for the Deployment of Green Policy in the Malaysian Construction Industry

This research paper aims to ascertain the different factors for green policy between the internal and external factors. Although previous studies have tried to address the different factors that affect management practices, however the emphasis has being more on qualitative whereas this study bridges the knowledge gap by providing a valid methodology for assessing the 'management and factors' readiness of the Green policy deployment within the Malaysian construction industry through the general application of management practices and important factors identified. The findings of the paper are based upon a comprehensive literature search and empirical studies conducted with 102 Malaysian Construction Organisations currently utilising various modes of quality systems within their construction projects. Through a survey of data collected, this study empirically refines and validates 6 internal and external factors and 3 management practices deemed necessary for the deployment of Construction Green Policy. The study reports on the operational framework of Management Practices and internal with external factors (MP&amp; IEF) model, which can be used to examine the levels of critical factors relating to the deployment of Green policy. The findings indicate that the MP&amp;IEF model is both reliable and valid. All the Management Practices scored medium levels (means score &gt; 3.00) with the highest being 'Vision’ and ‘Quality and Behaviour’. On the other hand, the most important internal factors for Green policy deployment were found to be 'Environmental/Green Technology’, ‘Training’ and resistance to change. Whilst external factors were found to be ‘Integration with Environmental Management’, ‘New Approaches to Management’ and ‘Shifting Customer Expectation’. The findings suggest that the internal and external factors as the mediator between management practices and green policy observed within the Malaysian construction quality can be transferred within the green policy environment with quality as the leverage for the deployment of green policy. This would contribute to the enhancement of the quality performance within the Malaysian Construction Industry. This paper concludes by presenting a new methodology for assessing the 'management and internal external factors' readiness of Green policy deployment for the Malaysian Construction Organisation. The frameworks presented in form of a hexagonal profile can be used to depict the levels of consideration of the management practices and internal external factors desirable for the Green policy deployment. Keywords: Malaysian Construction Industry, Sustainability, Quality Systems, Construction Organisations, Green Management/Technology, Total Quality Management (TQM

Developing Web Services Using Workflow Model: An Inter-organizational Perspective

This paper discusses how a workflow model can be used in the design and development of web services composition. We particularly investigate the development of web services composition in an inter-organizational workflow environment. We discuss respectively how to design an inter-organizational workflow from scratch when there is no existing internal workflow, and how to make existing internal workflows work together in an inter-organizational workflow environment

Towards high performance computing for molecular structure prediction using IBM Cell Broadband Engine - an implementation perspective

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>RNA structure prediction problem is a computationally complex task, especially with pseudo-knots. The problem is well-studied in existing literature and predominantly uses highly coupled Dynamic Programming (DP) solutions. The problem scale and complexity become embarrassingly humungous to handle as sequence size increases. This makes the case for parallelization. Parallelization can be achieved by way of networked platforms (clusters, grids, etc) as well as using modern day multi-core chips.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this paper, we exploit the parallelism capabilities of the IBM Cell Broadband Engine to parallelize an existing Dynamic Programming (DP) algorithm for RNA secondary structure prediction. We design three different implementation strategies that exploit the inherent data, code and/or hybrid parallelism, referred to as C-Par, D-Par and H-Par, and analyze their performances. Our approach attempts to introduce parallelism in critical sections of the algorithm. We ran our experiments on SONY Play Station 3 (PS3), which is based on the IBM Cell chip.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results suggest that introducing parallelism in DP algorithm allows it to easily handle longer sequences which otherwise would consume a large amount of time in single core computers. The results further demonstrate the speed-up gain achieved in exploiting the inherent parallelism in the problem and also elicits the advantages of using multi-core platforms towards designing more sophisticated methodologies for handling a fairly long sequence of RNA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The speed-up performance reported here is promising, especially when sequence length is long. To the best of our literature survey, the work reported in this paper is probably the first-of-its-kind to utilize the IBM Cell Broadband Engine (a heterogeneous multi-core chip) to implement a DP. The results also encourage using multi-core platforms towards designing more sophisticated methodologies for handling a fairly long sequence of RNA to predict its secondary structure.</p

Development of a mechanical counter pressure Bio-Suit System for planetary exploration

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-134).Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is critical for human spaceflight and particularly for human planetary exploration. The MIT Man Vehicle Laboratory is developing a Bio-Suit EVA System, based on mechanical counterpressure (MCP), that has the potential to maximize and even augment the EVA capabilities of future planetary explorers. This thesis describes the design and implementation of novel MCP concepts for the Bio-Suit System. Two concepts known as the detached bands and elastic bindings were initially developed and tested in ambient conditions on a human leg. The elastic bindings proved superior to the detached bands and demonstrated greater mobility, comfort and ease of donning than previous MCP garments. After refining the bindings design to improve the uniformity of its pressure distribution, five subjects donned bindings on one calf and exposed the suited calf to -30kPa (-225mmHg, -0.3atm) for up to an hour - a greater magnitude and longer duration of underpressure than previous MCP garment tests - to demonstrate the effectiveness of the bindings as a pressure garment. Changes in heart rate, skin temperature and blood pressure were recorded during these experiments.(cont.) The bindings prevented the increase in blood pressure that occurs when the unprotected calf is exposed to underpressure, further demonstrating their efficacy as a pressure layer. The elastic bindings concept in its current form is not a final design for an operational EVA system. However, it exhibits many of the attributes necessary for use in such a system and is thus extremely valuable for studying the engineering, physiological and practical issues associated with utilizing mechanical counterpressure as a cornerstone of the Bio-Suit.by Zhe Liang Sim.S.M

VALIDATION FOR QUANTITATIVE OF METHADONE ENANTIOMERS AND ITS MAJOR METABOLITE USING VANCOMYCIN COLUMN COUPLED WITH MASS SPECTROMETRIC DETECTION AND ITS APPLICATION TO CLINICAL SAMPLES

Objective: To develop method to measure both methadone enantiomers and its major metabolite 2-ethylidene-1, 5-dimethyl-3, 3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) in clinical samples Methods: Five hundredmicroliters plasma/serum was extracted using solid phase extraction (mixed mode SPE-C8/SCX). The eluent was evaporated, reconstituted in mobile phase (95:5, 0.003% formic acid in methanol: 20 mM* ammonium formate) and injected. Result: The recoveries of methadone enantiomers and EDDP were 97% and 89% respectively. Under this condition, methadone enantiomers were successfully separated at baseline but not EDPP. Precision of spiked plasma for intra-day and inter-day was less than five for both methadone enantiomers and less than 12 for EDDP at medium and high quality control samples. Linear relationship between peak area ratio and internal standard were obtained for methadone in the range 5-1000ng/ml, and for EDDP from 5-500ng/ml with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The limit of quantification was 5ng/ml. Conclusion: The assay was used to analyse serum samples obtained from patients enrolled in a methadone maintenance treatment program