Distributed Domain Propagation

This is the final version. Available on open access from the publisher via the DOI in this record16th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2017), 21-23 June 2017, London, UKPortfolio parallelization is an approach that runs several solver instances in parallel and terminates when one of them succeeds in solving the problem. Despite it’s simplicity portfolio parallelization has been shown to perform well for modern mixed-integer programming (MIP) and boolean satisfiability problem (SAT) solvers. Domain propagation has also been shown to be a simple technique in modern MIP and SAT solvers that effectively finds additional domain reductions after a variables domain has been reduced. This paper investigates the impact of distributed domain propagation in modern MIP solvers that employ portfolio parallelization. Computational experiments were conducted for two implementations of this parallelization approach. While both share global variable bounds and solutions they communicate differently. In one implementation the communication is performed only at designated points in the solving process and in the other it is performed completely asynchronously. Computational experiments show a positive performance impact of communicating global variable bounds and provide valuable insights in communication strategies for parallel solvers.German Federal Ministry of Education and Researc

Sequencing and Analysis of Approximately 40 000 Soybean cDNA Clones from a Full-Length-Enriched cDNA Library

A large collection of full-length cDNAs is essential for the correct annotation of genomic sequences and for the functional analysis of genes and their products. We obtained a total of 39 936 soybean cDNA clones (GMFL01 and GMFL02 clone sets) in a full-length-enriched cDNA library which was constructed from soybean plants that were grown under various developmental and environmental conditions. Sequencing from 5′ and 3′ ends of the clones generated 68 661 expressed sequence tags (ESTs). The EST sequences were clustered into 22 674 scaffolds involving 2580 full-length sequences. In addition, we sequenced 4712 full-length cDNAs. After removing overlaps, we obtained 6570 new full-length sequences of soybean cDNAs so far. Our data indicated that 87.7% of the soybean cDNA clones contain complete coding sequences in addition to 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions. All of the obtained data confirmed that our collection of soybean full-length cDNAs covers a wide variety of genes. Comparative analysis between the derived sequences from soybean and Arabidopsis, rice or other legumes data revealed that some specific genes were involved in our collection and a large part of them could be annotated to unknown functions. A large set of soybean full-length cDNA clones reported in this study will serve as a useful resource for gene discovery from soybean and will also aid a precise annotation of the soybean genome

Effect of panicle removal on cytokinin level in the xylem and nitrogen uptake activity of rice

To evaluate the role of cytokinin in the source–sink relationship, panicles of rice were cut from the stem at the panicle emergence stage. Xylem sap exudates were collected using the stem cut method and the cytokinin concentration in the collected sap was determined by bioassay and further analysis using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The rate of cytokinin translocation from roots to shoots decreased continuously after panicle initiation, whereas, when the panicle was removed, the rate increased by up to 1.5-fold, at which time no cytokinin was found in the plants with panicles. Retardation of leaf senescence was not observed and nitrogen concentration in the leaves continued to decrease after panicle removal, irrespective of cytokinin (mainly dihydrozeatin riboside and trans-zeatin riboside) level. Thus, leaf autonomy is regulated by an endogenous program of nitrogen translocation from the leaf regardless of cytokinin level in the xylem

Environmental transfer parameters for radionuclides released from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Chapter 4 Agricultural systems

This section provides a synthesis of data on the transfer of radiocaesium to agricultural crops in Japan after the FDNPP accident. The main processes for radiocaesium transfer to crops are discussed and the available data for Japan are presented and compared with data from before the FDNPP accident where possible. The processes considered include interception, weathering, translocation, uptake from soil to crops, and transfers from crops to farm animals.Some general concepts and methodologies that are relevant for the transfer of all radionuclides to food crops are described in Section 4.1 (mass interception and weathering) and 4.2 (soil).For three important crops in Japan, rice, fruit and tea, separate sections are provided that present and discuss transfer parameter data collected after the FDNPP accident. Data for other crops are compiled in an additional section. Effective half-lives for the different types of crops are also included in each section. Key processes that affect the extent of transfer of radiocaesium are also described

Modelled 3D distribution of OH/IR stars in the Galactic disc

We have modelled the 3D distribution of OH/IR stars in the Galactic plane, traced by 1612 MHz OH maser sources with classic double horned spectral profiles. We statistically analysed over 700 maser sources detected by the HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array interferometric follow-up observations of the Southern Parkes Large-Area Survey in Hydroxyl (SPLASH). With a simple model constructed from a classical density distribution of stars and luminosity functions of OH maser sources in the Galaxy, we estimate the scale height, or the half thickness of the OH/IR star distribution along the Galactic disc to be 90–290 pc. The simple model also implies that there are ∼4000 OH/IR stars hosting 1612 MHz OH masers along the Galactic Plane. Therefore, next generation telescopes such as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and SKA Phase 1 will detect about 80 per cent of such OH/IR stars in the Galaxy at a 10 mJy detection limit. Comparing the data of previously detected circumstellar 1612 MHz OH maser sources with those of THOR and SPLASH, the maser source lifetime is estimated to be ∼300 yr. This is likely a lower limit, since non-detections of masers in some cases could be affected by the flux variation of the maser source. © 2021 The Author(s).For deriving a kinematic distance, we used a python library provided by Trey Wenger (https://github.com/tvwenger/kd). This research has made use of: NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service; NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology; and Database of Circumstellar Masers. HI was supported by the Bilateral Collaboration Program by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) and KAKENHI programs 25610043 and 16H02167 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). JFG and HI were supported by the Invitation Program for Foreign Researcher by JSPS (S14128), by Amanogawa Galaxy Astronomy Research Center (AGARC), and the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the ’Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa’ award for the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709). JFG also acknowledges support by MCIU-AEI (Spain) grant AYA2017-84390-C2-R (co-funded by FEDER). JRD acknowledges the support of an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellowship (project number DE170101086). H-HQ is partially supported by the Special Funding for Advanced Users, budgeted and administrated by Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAMS-CAS), CAS ‘Light of West China’ Program and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11903038).Peer reviewe