Study of Genotype X Environment Interaction in Alfalfa Forage Yield

The response of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) forage yield to eight Alberta test sites was studied for the 1990 and 1991 production years. Cluster analysis was used to group locations and cultivars. Analyses of variances indicated genotype x environment (location) interaction for the first cut yield, the total yield and the difference between first and second cut yields. The Brooks, Bow Island (irrigation), Bow Island (dryland) and Provost locations always clustered together indicating that three of these four test sites may be eliminated without sacrificing reliability

High Speed Visible Light Communication Using Blue GaN Laser Diodes

GaN-based laser diodes have been developed over the last 20 years making them desirable for many security and defence applications, in particular, free space laser communications. Unlike their LED counterparts, laser diodes are not limited by their carrier lifetime which makes them attractive for high speed communication, whether in free space, through fiber or underwater. Gigabit data transmission can be achieved in free space by modulating the visible light from the laser with a pseudo-random bit sequence (PRBS), with recent results approaching 5 Gbit/s error free data transmission. By exploiting the low-loss in the blue part of the spectrum through water, data transmission experiments have also been conducted to show rates of 2.5 Gbit/s underwater. Different water types have been tested to monitor the effect of scattering and to see how this affects the overall transmission rate and distance. This is of great interest for communication with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) as the current method using acoustics is much slower and vulnerable to interception. These types of laser diodes can typically reach 50-100 mW of power which increases the length at which the data can be transmitted. This distance could be further improved by making use of high power laser arrays. Highly uniform GaN substrates with low defectivity allow individually addressable laser bars to be fabricated. This could ultimately increase optical power levels to 4 W for a 20-emitter array. Overall, the development of GaN laser diodes will play an important part in free space optical communications and will be vital in the advancement of security and defence applications

Improved accuracy of co-morbidity coding over time after the introduction of ICD-10 administrative data

BACKGROUND: Co-morbidity information derived from administrative data needs to be validated to allow its regular use. We assessed evolution in the accuracy of coding for Charlson and Elixhauser co-morbidities at three time points over a 5-year period, following the introduction of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), coding of hospital discharges.METHODS: Cross-sectional time trend evaluation study of coding accuracy using hospital chart data of 3'499 randomly selected patients who were discharged in 1999, 2001 and 2003, from two teaching and one non-teaching hospital in Switzerland. We measured sensitivity, positive predictive and Kappa values for agreement between administrative data coded with ICD-10 and chart data as the 'reference standard' for recording 36 co-morbidities.RESULTS: For the 17 the Charlson co-morbidities, the sensitivity - median (min-max) - was 36.5% (17.4-64.1) in 1999, 42.5% (22.2-64.6) in 2001 and 42.8% (8.4-75.6) in 2003. For the 29 Elixhauser co-morbidities, the sensitivity was 34.2% (1.9-64.1) in 1999, 38.6% (10.5-66.5) in 2001 and 41.6% (5.1-76.5) in 2003. Between 1999 and 2003, sensitivity estimates increased for 30 co-morbidities and decreased for 6 co-morbidities. The increase in sensitivities was statistically significant for six conditions and the decrease significant for one. Kappa values were increased for 29 co-morbidities and decreased for seven.CONCLUSIONS: Accuracy of administrative data in recording clinical conditions improved slightly between 1999 and 2003. These findings are of relevance to all jurisdictions introducing new coding systems, because they demonstrate a phenomenon of improved administrative data accuracy that may relate to a coding 'learning curve' with the new coding system

AlGaInN laser diode technology for free-space and plastic optical fibre telecom applications

Gallium Nitride laser diodes fabricated from the AlGaInN material system is an emerging technology for laser sources from the UV to visible and is a potential key enabler for new system applications such as free-space (underwater & air bourne links) and plastic optical fibre telecommunications. We measure visible light (free-space and underwater) communications at high frequency (up to 2.5 Gbit/s) and in plastic optical fibre (POF) using a directly modulated GaN laser diode

Dose-dependent expression of claudin-5 is a modifying factor in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects up to 1% of the general population. Various genes show associations with schizophrenia and a very weak nominal association with the tight junction protein, claudin-5, has previously been identified. Claudin-5 is expressed in endothelial cells forming part of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Furthermore, schizophrenia occurs in 30% of individuals with 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), a population who are haploinsufficient for the claudin-5 gene. Here, we show that a variant in the claudin-5 gene is weakly associated with schizophrenia in 22q11DS, leading to 75% less claudin-5 being expressed in endothelial cells. We also show that targeted adeno-associated virus-mediated suppression of claudin-5 in the mouse brain results in localized BBB disruption and behavioural changes. Using an inducible ‘knockdown’ mouse model, we further link claudin-5 suppression with psychosis through a distinct behavioural phenotype showing impairments in learning and memory, anxiety-like behaviour and sensorimotor gating. In addition, these animals develop seizures and die after 3–4 weeks of claudin-5 suppression, reinforcing the crucial role of claudin-5 in normal neurological function. Finally, we show that anti-psychotic medications dose-dependently increase claudin-5 expression in vitro and in vivo while aberrant, discontinuous expression of claudin−5 in the brains of schizophrenic patients post mortem was observed compared to age-matched controls. Together, these data suggest that BBB disruption may be a modifying factor in the development of schizophrenia and that drugs directly targeting the BBB may offer new therapeutic opportunities for treating this disorder

Unbiased Functional Proteomics Strategy for Protein Kinase Inhibitor Validation and Identification of bona fide Protein Kinase Substrates: Application to Identification of EEF1D as a Substrate for CK2

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Secondary metabolites of Phaseoli pericarpium

The pericarp of common bean Phaseoli Pericarpium syn. Fructus Phaseoli sine semine, is a medicinal raw material that has been long used in traditional folk medicine as an antidiabetic drug and now it is a pharmacopoeial material that belongs to one of the most frequently used plant raw materials that support treatment of diabetes. The aim of this study was to characterize the morphological characteristics of Phaseoli Pericarpium of over a dozen bean cultivars and to determine the content of phenolic compounds and the antioxidant properties of pericarp extracts. Bean pericarp used for phytochemical analysis came from field experiments conducted over the period 2010–2011. The experimental material consisted of white-flowered varieties of common bean – 5 cultivars and of runner bean – 6 cultivars. The bean pericarp, Phaseoli Pericarpium, was characterized by a high content of secondary metabolites: phenolic acids, flavonoids and tannins, whereas the pericarp extracts also exhibited antioxidant activity in scavenging DPPH. The pericarp of common bean was found to show high variation (V – 40.8%) in phenolic acid content, whereas the runner bean pericarp was characterized by high variation V (45.1%) in flavonoid content. Among the common bean cultivars studied, the pericarp of cv. ‘Laponia’ showed the greatest accumulation of biologically active substances – phenolic acids (CAE) – 0.18 mg·g–1 DM, flavonoids (QE) – 13.2 mg·100 g–1 DM, and tannins 3.43% DM. Likewise, the pericarp of the ‘Felicja’ runner bean cultivar stood out in terms of the accumulation of these compounds, as it contained the following amounts: phenolic acids – 0.33 mg·g–1 DM, flavonoids (QE) – 10.8 mg·100 g–1 DM, and tannins – 2.72% DM

Kapsaicynoidy w papryce ostrej w zaleznosci od fazy dojrzałości owoców i terminu zbioru

The pharmacological and culinary usefulness of hot pepper fruits is determined, among others, by the content of capsaicinoids that give hot peppers a pungent burning taste. The content of these compounds in hot pepper is primarily determined by the genetic traits of a cultivar and is modified by various factors: weather conditions during the growing season, fertilization, harvest time, and fruit maturity stage. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fruit maturity stage: green fruits, fruits turning colour as well as physiologically mature fruits (red), and fruit harvest date: the first and third decade of September, on the content of capsaicinoids in four hot pepper cultivars: ‘Cyklon’, ‘Orkan’, ‘Rokita’, and ‘Bronowicka Ostra’. In this study, which was carried out in 2005 and 2006, the content of capsaicinoids (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) was measured by HPLC. The highest amount of capsaicinoids was obtained in the fruits of hot pepper that were harvested at the initial stage of maturity – in green fruits (on average 309 mg·kg⁻¹), compared to fruits turning red (258) and red fruits (250 mg·kg⁻¹). Peppers selected in the third decade of September contained more capsaicinoids (on average 301 mg·kg⁻¹) than those harvested in the first decade of this month (243 mg·kg⁻¹). Fruits of the evaluated cultivars differed in capsaicinoids content; on average it ranged from 212 (‘Cyklon’) to 326 mg·kg⁻¹ (‘Bronowicka Ostra’). In fruits of all the quantitative ratio of capsaicin to dihydrocapsaicin was at a similar level, ranging between 11.9 and 12.9. The capsaicinoids content in fruits of the investigated cultivars differed between years 2005 (302) and 2006 (243 mg·kg⁻¹).Przydatność farmakologiczną i kulinarną owoców papryki ostrej warunkuje m.in. zawartość kapsaicynoidów, które nadają jej specyficzny, ostry i piekący smak. Zawartość tych związków w papryce ostrej determinowana jest przede wszystkim cechami genetycznymi odmiany oraz modyfikowana różnymi czynnikami: warunkami pogodowymi w okresie wegetacji, stosowanym nawożeniem, terminem zbioru i fazą dojrzałości owoców. W niniejszej pracy oceniono wpływ fazy dojrzałości owoców: owoce zielone, przebarwiające się i dojrzałe fizjologicznie (czerwone) i terminu zbioru owoców: 1. i 3. dekada września na zawartość kapsaicynoidów (kapsaicyny i dihydrokapsaicyny) czterech odmian papryki ostrej: ‘Cyklon’, ‘Orkan’, ‘Rokita’, ‘Bronowicka Ostra’. W badaniach przeprowadzonych w latach 2005 i 2006 zawartość kapsaicynoidów (kapsaicyny i dihydrokapsaicyny) oznaczono metodą HPLC. Najwięcej kapsaicynoidów (kapsaicyny i dihydrokapsaicyny) oznaczono w owocach papryki ostrej, które były zbierane w początkowej fazie dojrzałości – zielone (średnio 309) w porównaniu z przebarwiającymi się (258) oraz czerwonymi (250 mg·kg⁻¹). Więcej kapsaicynoidów zawierały owoce, które zebrano w 3. dekadzie września (średnio 301) niż w 1. dekadzie tego miesiąca (243 mg·kg⁻¹). Owoce ocenianych odmian różniły się pod względem zasobności kapsaicynoidów średnio od 212 (‘Cyklon’) do 326 mg·kg⁻¹ (‘Bronowicka Ostra’). W owocach wszystkich ocenianych odmian relacje ilościowe kapsaicyny do dihydrokapsaicyny były bardzo wyrównane i kształtowały się średnio w zakresie od 11,9 do 12,9. Zwartość kapsaicynoidów w owocach badanych odmian była zróżnicowana w latach badań: 2005 (302) i 2006 (243 mg·kg⁻¹)

Spectroscopic study of D- state transitions in GaAs and InSb

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