Root disturbance and washing effects on shoot and root growth in four plant species : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science at Massey University

Bare-rooting techniques have been widely use in New Zealand nursery production for the preparation of live plants for export to overseas or domestic markets. Bare-root transplants can fail quality requirements due to death or deterioration of regrowth following repotting. The potential for improving bare-root nursery stock quality has prompted study of the morphological effects of removed medium treatment on plant. Two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of physical root disturbance by shaking and washing on the growth and development of camellia (Camellia x saluenensis cv. 'Donation'), pittosporum (Pittosporum tenuifolium cv. 'Kohuhu'), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo cv. 'Crown Hybrid'), and coleus (Coleus blumei). The shaken plants in both dry and wet conditions suffered a reduction in the growth rate of their leaves compared to the unshaken controls. Root washing influenced the vegetative growth of four species and reproductive growth of pumpkin. The two woody species were more sensitive to treatment stress. Very short time of washing (three seconds) affected camellia bud break and new shoot growth, and inhibit pittosporum root and shoot growth. Similar effects were not sosevered in coleus and pumpkin

Realization of Analog Wavelet Filter using Hybrid Genetic Algorithm for On-line Epileptic Event Detection

© 2020 The Author(s). This open access work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.As the evolution of traditional electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring unit for epilepsy diagnosis, wearable ambulatory EEG (WAEEG) system transmits EEG data wirelessly, and can be made miniaturized, discrete and social acceptable. To prolong the battery lifetime, analog wavelet filter is used for epileptic event detection in WAEEG system to achieve on-line data reduction. For mapping continuous wavelet transform to analog filter implementation with low-power consumption and high approximation accuracy, this paper proposes a novel approximation method to construct the wavelet base in analog domain, in which the approximation process in frequency domain is considered as an optimization problem by building a mathematical model with only one term in the numerator. The hybrid genetic algorithm consisting of genetic algorithm and quasi-Newton method is employed to find the globally optimum solution, taking required stability into account. Experiment results show that the proposed method can give a stable analog wavelet base with simple structure and higher approximation accuracy compared with existing method, leading to a better spike detection accuracy. The fourth-order Marr wavelet filter is designed as an example using Gm-C filter structure based on LC ladder simulation, whose power consumption is only 33.4 pW at 2.1Hz. Simulation results show that the design method can be used to facilitate low power and small volume implementation of on-line epileptic event detector.Peer reviewe

Design of Gm-C wavelet filter for on-line epileptic EEG detection

Copyright © 2019 The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication EngineersAnalog filter implementation of continuous wavelet transform is considered as a promising technique for on-line spike detection applied in wearable electroencephalogram system. This Letter proposes a novel method to construct analog wavelet base for analog wavelet filter design, in which the mathematical approximation model in frequency domain is built as an optimization problem and the genetic algorithm is used to find the global optimum resolution. Also, the Gm-C filter structure based on LC ladder simulation is employed to synthesize the obtained analog wavelet base. The Marr wavelet filter is designed as an example using SMIC 1V 0.35μm CMOS technology. Simulation results show that the proposed method can give a stable analog wavelet filter with higher approximation accuracy and excellent circuit performance, which is well suited for the design of low-frequency low-power spike detector.Peer reviewe

Metabolism and Metabolic Inhibition of Xanthotoxol in Human Liver Microsomes

Cytochrome p450 (CYP450) enzymes are predominantly involved in Phase I metabolism of xenobiotics. In this study, the CYP450 isoforms involved in xanthotoxol metabolism were identified using recombinant CYP450s. In addition, the inhibitory effects of xanthotoxol on eight CYP450 isoforms and its pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using human liver microsomes. CYP1A2, one of CYP450s, played a key role in the metabolism of xanthotoxol compared to other CYP450s. Xanthotoxol showed stronger inhibition on CYP3A4 and CYP1A2 compared to other isoenzymes with the IC50 of 7.43 μM for CYP3A4 and 27.82 μM for CYP1A2. The values of inhibition kinetic parameters (Ki) were 21.15 μM and 2.22 μM for CYP1A2 and CYP3A4, respectively. The metabolism of xanthotoxol obeyed the typical monophasic Michaelis-Menten kinetics and Vmax, Km, and CLint values were calculated as 0.55 nmol·min−1·mg−1, 8.46 μM, and 0.06 mL·min−1·mg−1. In addition, the results of molecular docking showed that xanthotoxol was bound to CYP1A2 with hydrophobic and π-π bond and CYP3A4 with hydrogen and hydrophobic bond. We predicted the hepatic clearance (CLh) and the CLh value was 15.91 mL·min−1·kg−1 body weight. These data were significant for the application of xanthotoxol and xanthotoxol-containing herbs

Defining the chromatin signature of inducible genes in T cells

BACKGROUND Specific chromatin characteristics, especially the modification status of the core histone proteins, are associated with active and inactive genes. There is growing evidence that genes that respond to environmental or developmental signals may possess distinct chromatin marks. Using a T cell model and both genome-wide and gene-focused approaches, we examined the chromatin characteristics of genes that respond to T cell activation. RESULTS To facilitate comparison of genes with similar basal expression levels, we used expression-profiling data to bin genes according to their basal expression levels. We found that inducible genes in the lower basal expression bins, especially rapidly induced primary response genes, were more likely than their non-responsive counterparts to display the histone modifications of active genes, have RNA polymerase II (Pol II) at their promoters and show evidence of ongoing basal elongation. There was little or no evidence for the presence of active chromatin marks in the absence of promoter Pol II on these inducible genes. In addition, we identified a subgroup of genes with active promoter chromatin marks and promoter Pol II but no evidence of elongation. Following T cell activation, we find little evidence for a major shift in the active chromatin signature around inducible gene promoters but many genes recruit more Pol II and show increased evidence of elongation. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the majority of inducible genes are primed for activation by having an active chromatin signature and promoter Pol II with or without ongoing elongation

An Analysis of the Appreciation of the Chinese Currency and Influences on China\u27s Economy

In recent years, China\u27s economy development has had more and more impact on the global economy. The Chinese currency continued to appreciate since 2005, which has had both positive and negative results on Chinese\u27s economy. The Chinese government uses the monetary policy to control the inflation pressure, which could work counter to Chinese exchange rate policy. RMB appreciation also has some effects on the Chinese banking system. Through the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), a global computable general equilibrium model, we analyze how, when there is RMB appreciation, the Chinese exports and imports, and Chinese employment and income inequality react. The model suggests that exchange rate appreciation would reduce the effectiveness of monetary policy, and also have a negative relationship with the employment rate and income inequality. RMB appreciation might have a little positive effect on housing price increases; it\u27s good for real estate investment, but needs to be controlled in case the housing bubble bursts. RMB appreciation should help to keep overall inflation lower, the trade balance between the U.S. and China will only have a small effect by RMB appreciation, and if the currency appreciation is combined with other reforms instead of appreciation alone, that would boost the global economy. If China is able to allow rising real wages in a way that increases domestic consumption, the negative effects of RMB appreciation on employment in China may be offset