The three South African crane species, namely, the Wattled Crane (Bugeranus carunculatus), the Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradisea) and the Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum regulorum) are all threatened. South African legislation protects the cranes, however eggs and/or fledglings are sometimes illegally collected from the wild. These are then sold, often by registered breeders, who falsely claim them as the offspring of their captive breeding pair. DNA fingerprinting is one method to detect this crime. Fifteen RAPD primers were screened for polymorphism in the three species. Seven primers produced polymorphic profiles in the Blue Crane and eight each in the Grey Crowned Crane and Wattled Crane, with an average of 14.57, 12.38 and 5.88 scorable loci per primer, respectively. The Band Sharing Coefficient for unrelated individuals was found to be 0.665, 0.745 and 0.736 for the Blue, Grey Crowned and Wattled Crane respectively. Five microsatellite primers, originally developed for use in Whooping Cranes (Grus american), had previously been shown to be polymorphic in the Wattled Crane. This was also the case in this study with an average of 3.6 alleles per primer. Although all primers cross amplified, only a single primer each showed polymorphism in the Blue Crane (showing 6 alleles) and the Grey Crowned Crane (showing 5 alleles). The RAPDs were found to be irreproducible, show high numbers of novel bands and had parent: offspring BSC values that were not significantly higher than those of unrelated individuals. Statistics showed that, in the Blue Crane, the probability that misassigned parents would be detected was low whilst there was an almost certainty that true parents would be incorrectly excluded. The five microsatellite primers examined gave exclusionary powers of 0.869 and 0.641 where one or two parents were unknown in the Wattled Crane. The exclusionary powers for the Blue Crane and Grey Crowned Crane calculated at only one locus were much lower. It was concluded that RAPDs were totally inappropriate for parentage analyses, however, microsatellites are a suitable technique and recommendations are made that other microsatellites, developed for other species of crane, should be examined for their potential in this respect. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important agronomic crop with the maize industry forming an important component of the South African economy. Considerable effort has been directed towards the genetic improvement of maize through both conventional breeding and biotechnology. Genotype identification by DNA fingerprinting is becoming an important activity in plant breeding. A widely used molecular based and relatively inexpensive method for DNA fingerprinting is the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. The RAPD technique was tested in this study for its potential use in maize breeding programmes. Initial results using the technique showed a low degree of reproducibility, therefore both the DNA isolation and RAPD protocols were extensively optimised. DNA quality and quantity, and choice of Taq polymerase buffer were three of the variables found to be influential in ensuring reproducibility. The ability of the RAPD technique to characterise seven maize genotypes was evaluated. Sixty random oligonucleotide primers were screened. Forty two primers scored a total of 233 fragments (an average of 5.5 per primer), but not all primers gave reproducible profiles. Eighteen primers scored a total of 110 loci for the presence (1) and absence (0) of DNA fragments. RAPD markers were able to distinguish between all seven genotypes with five primers producing specific fragments for four genotypes. Genetic similarity matrices were calculated using two software programmes i.e. Genstat 5™ release 4.1 (1993) and PAUP (Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony) 4.0 beta version (Swafford, 1998). Cluster analysis was used to generate dendrograms to visualise the genetic relationships of the seven maize genotypes (only minor differences were observed between the Genstat or PAUP method of analysis). Genetic diversity ranged from 0.62 to 0.96. The estimation of genetic relationship was in accordance with the presumed pedigree of the genotypes showing that the RAPD technique demonstrates potential for genome analysis of maize. The applicability of the technique for marker assisted selection was also evaluated. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) for leaf blight (Helminthosporium spp.) were screened for polymorphisms using a total of 120 primers. Ten primers identified polymorphisms between the NILs. Four primers produced five polymorphic fragments present in the resistant inbred K0315Y and absent in the susceptible inbred D0940Y. A small F2 population of 14 individuals was produced by selfing the F1 of a cross between K0315Y and D0940Y. To speed up the generation time, the F1 and F2 plants were cultured by embryo rescue from 18d old harvested seed. One fragment of 627 base pairs produced by primer OPB-01 (5' GTTTCGCTCC 3') showed a 3: 1 segregation in the small F2 population and was considered putatively linked to the HtN gene for leaf blight resistance. This study shows that the RAPD technique does have application in maize breeding programmes. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:30:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRLC.pdf: 1717916 bytes, checksum: a24259cd3e84bb299a7f0093b50f8ad8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-04-29 / Universidade Estadual de Maringá / Ilex paraguariensis, known as mate tea, is processed in many ways and commercialized as tea, soluble powder, essences, and processed leaves for preparation of mate tea without sugar ( chimarrão and tererê ). Aiming the conservation of this species, this work studied the intra- and interpopulational genetic variabilities of I. paraguariensis and its volatiles and semi-volatiles composition in 20 populations inside the area of incidence of this species in Brazil. Paternity tests were also performed to identify a favorable crossing for obtaining lineages with the characteristics of interest, reducing then the impact of extractive harvest on the native plants. Genetic variability of I. paraguariensis analyzed by RAPD markers (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) is lower to the reported variability in other dioic arboreal species. Intrapopulational variability is higher than interpopulational in this species. In intra and interpopulational studies alleles with the same allele sequence were identified, as well as alleles with very different sequences, what evidences the incidence of genetic flux among populations that are close geographically, but with alleles specific of each population. The environmental differences taken into account were not enough to explain genetic and chemical differences found among the populations. These results show the possibility of influences of microenvironmental factors and non-analyzed genes in the analyzed chemical composition of mate tea leaves. The population of Ponta Porã, geographically separated from the others, proved to be genetically distinct. Species-specific fragments were obtained for I. paraguariensis, I. dumosa and I. theezans. However, more studies for confirmation and utilization of such fragments must be carried out. The differences in the volatiles and semivolatiles composition among the populations turned their separation possible, and may be useful for identification and inclusion of genotypes, superior in specific compounds, in germoplasm collections. For conservation of this species in germoplasm collections ex situ, material collecting must be based on genetic analysis, as well as on geographical distribution, due to the higher intrapopulational variability and occurrence of rare alleles in the species. The RAPD technique may be used for paternity identification, mainly in arboreal species, making possible to obtain genetic improvement by performing controlled crossings. Based on these results, it was possible the discussion concerning the conservation aspects of this species. / Ilex paraguariensis, mais conhecida como erva-mate, é beneficiada por diversas formas e comercializada como chá, pó solúvel, essências e erva para chimarrão e tererê. Visando sua conservação, foram estudadas sua variabilidade genética intra e interpopulacional e sua composição química em 20 populações na área de ocorrência da espécie no Brasil. Também foram realizados testes de paternidade para identificação de um cruzamento favorável à obtenção de progênies com características de interesse, objetivando reduzir o impacto sobre ervais nativos causados pelo extrativismo. A variabilidade genética analisada por marcadores moleculares RAPD (polimorfismo de DNA amplificado ao acaso) em I. paraguariensis é inferior à variabilidade reportada em outras espécies arbóreas dióicas. A variabilidade intrapopulacional é maior que a variabilidade interpopulacional nesta espécie. Em estudos intra e interpopulacionais identificaram-se alelos com mesma freqüência alélica e alelos com freqüências bastante distintas, evidenciando a ocorrência de fluxo gênico entre populações próximas geograficamente, porém com alelos característicos de cada população. As diferenças ambientais consideradas não foram suficientes para explicar as diferenças genéticas e químicas encontradas entre as populações, demonstrando a possibilidade de haver interferências micro-ambientais e de genes ainda não analisados, influenciando na composição química da erva-mate. A população de Ponta Porã, separada geograficamente das demais, mostrou-se distinta geneticamente. Fragmentos espécie específicos foram obtidos para I. paraguariensis, I. dumosa e I. theezans, porém requerendo mais estudos neste sentido para confirmação e utilização destes. As diferenças nas análises dos compostos voláteis e semi-voláteis entre as populações, permitiram a separação destas e podem ser úteis para a identificação e inclusão de genótipos superiores em determinados compostos em bancos de germoplasma. Para a conservação desta espécie em bancos de germoplasma ex situ a coleta de materiais deve ser baseada em análises genéticas, além da distribuição geográfica, devido à maior variabilidade intrapopulacional e ocorrência de alelos raros na espécie. A técnica de RAPD pode ser utilizada para a identificação de paternidade, principalmente em espécies arbóreas, podendo-se obter ganhos genéticos com a condução de cruzamentos controlados. Os resultados obtidos embasaram discussões sobre aspectos de conservação desta espécie.

No description available.

This thesis deals with the polymorphic image filter design. The study includes polymorphic circuits, their theoretical base and practical applications. It further focuses on the cartesian genetic programming that can be used for an evolutionary design of some types of image filters. The thesis continues with the specification of the evolutionary algorithm to be used for the design of the polymorphic image filters. The implementation of the algorithm is described in two versions -- a standard one running only on a CPU and an accelerated one that partially uses the GPU. Several polymorphic image filters are designed by means of the algorithm.

The objective of this study was to identify DNA markers for each of six added C-genome chromosomes in Triticum aestivum L. cv. 'Alceso'-Aegilops caudata L. addition lines using the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. DNA from Ae. caudata, T. aestivum, amphiploid of T. aestivum X Ae. caudata, and six disomic addition lines of wheat having a pair of Ae. caudata chromosomes was used as the template for the amplification of RAPD markers with a total of 58 random 10-mer oligonucleotide primers. Two primers, OPC-08 and OPJ-16, produced one intense band each from the amphiploid of T. aestivum X Ae. caudata and Ae. caudata, which was absent in all six addition lines. Each of these two primers produced a chromosome marker that could be tentatively located to the chromosome CA of Ae. caudata. OPJ-02, OPD-12, OPD-02, OPJ-12, OPD-20, and OPJ-14 produced a marker each for CB, CC, CD, CE, CF, and CG, respectively. OPJ-09 produced C-genome chromosome-specific RAPD markers. Also, OPC-05 and OPJ-19 produced RAPDs from both wheat and Ae. caudata genomes.

This thesis deals with the possibilities of digital circuit test optimization using multifunctional logic gates. The most important part of this thesis is the explanation of the optimization principle, which is also described by a formal mathematical apparatus. Based on this apparatus, the work presents several options. The optimization of testability analogous to inserting test points and  simple methodology based on SCOAP is shown. The focus of work is a methodology created to optimize circuit tests. It was implemented in the form of software tools. Presented in this work are the results of using these tools to reduce the test vectors volume while maintaining fault coverage on various circuits, including circuits from the ISCAS 85 test set. Part of the work is devoted to the various principles and technology of creating multifunctional logic gates. Some selected gates of these technologies are subject to simulations of electronic properties in SPICE. Based on the principles of presented methodology and results of multifunctional gates simulations, analysis of various problems such as validity of the modified circuit test and the suitability of each multifunctional gate technology for the methodology was also made. The results of analysis and experiments confirm it is possible for the multifunctional logic gate to optimize circuit diagnostic properties in such a way that has achieved the required circuit test parameter modification with minimum impact on the quality and credibility of these tests.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第20269号 / 医博第4228号 / 新制||医||1021(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 横出 正之, 教授 湊谷 謙司, 教授 瀬原 淳子 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a stress-induced arrhythmia, caused by genetic defects in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca-release channel RyR2, or its accessory proteins. Our previous studies demonstrated that CPVT mitochondria can absorb RyR2-mediated aberrant Ca release (ACR) and behave as an efficient Ca buffer which is critical in mitigating harmful consequences of ACR. In this study, we test the hypothesis that modulating mitochondrial phosphate (Pi) transport or the tethering between SR-mitochondria, known as Mitochondria-associated-membrane (MAMs), impacts arrhythmogenesis in CPVT. We found that inhibiting mitochondrial Pi carrier (PiC) exacerbated cellular arrhythmias whereas overexpressing PiC in CPVT alleviated both cellular and in vivo arrhythmias. In parallel, disrupting MAMs exacerbated arrhythmogenesis in CPVT, but promoting MAMs by overexpressing mitofusin2 tethering protein reduced cellular arrhythmias. Our study provided both pharmacological and genetic evidence that directing more Ca to mitochondria by enhancing mitochondrial Pi transport or targeting MAMs could be promising therapeutic strategies to reduce CPVT arrhythmia.

L’étude des polymorphes, soit des composés qui peuvent cristalliser avec plus d’une forme cristalline, est un centre d’intérêt pour nombreux domaines scientifiques. Dans certains cas, les variations structurales ont pour effet de causer de majeurs changements aux propriétés physicochimiques des composés, donnant la possibilité de préparer des matériaux possédant des caractéristiques précises pour une application donnée. Le domaine des explosifs est en continuelle évolution afin de combler les besoins militaires et civils. Des matériaux détenant un bon équilibre entre une haute performance énergétique et la sécurité sont recherchés. La 6-azidotétrazolo[5,1- a]phtalazine (ATPH) est une molécule riche en azote étroitement lié aux substances conçues comme explosifs. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, le criblage polymorphique de l’ATPH entraine la découverte et l’isolation de six nouvelles formes solides de l’ATPH. Les motifs d’empilement à feuillets et à chevrons sont retrouvés dans l’ensemble des structures par des interactions polarisées N…N/C-H…N. Les polymorphes ont été caractérisés par IR, Raman, DSC, PXRD, SC-XRD et des études de stabilité relative en solution. Le caractère hautement polymorphique de l’ATPH est supporté par les résultats d’une étude computationnelle de prédiction des structures cristallines. / The study of polymorphs, or compounds that can crystallize in more than one crystal form, is a focus of interest for many scientific fields. In some cases, structural variations cause major changes in the physicochemical properties of the compounds, making it possible to prepare materials with specific characteristics for a given application. The development of explosive materials is a continuously evolving field for military and civilian purposes. Materials with a fine balance between high energy performance and safety are sought. 6-Azidotetrazolo[5,1-a]phthalazine (ATPH) is a nitrogen-rich molecule closely related to substances designed as explosives. In this dissertation, polymorphic screening of ATPH resulted in the discovery and isolation of six new solid forms of ATPH. Sheets and chevron stacking motifs directed by polarized C-N···N/C-H···N interactions were observed in all structures. The polymorphs were characterized by IR, Raman, DSC, PXRD, SC-XRD, and relative stability studies in solution. The highly polymorphic character of ATPH is consistent with the results of computational crystal structure prediction.