Selection criteria of MPOB-Angola germplasm collection for yield improvement of the oil palm

Oil palm germplasm collected from Angola,Africa in 1991 were subjected to genetic variability potential studies.The collection was planted in the form of open-pollinated families as trials at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board(MPOB)Kluang Research Station,Johor,Malaysia,in 1994.Dura palms from 52 families and tenera palms from 44 families of MPOB-Angola were evaluated for their bunch yield and bunch quality components.The objectives of this study were to determine the genetic variability among the families and performance of MPOB-Angola germplasm for yield improvement.The analysis of variance(ANOVA)revealed highly significant differences between the dura and tenera families for most of the traits,suggesting the presence of high genetic variability,which is essential for breeding programmes.Among the duras,family AGO 02.02 displayed the best yield performance,with a high fresh fruit bunch,oil yield and total economic product at 240.40,29.46 and 37.93 kg palm^(-1)year^(-1),respectively.As for the teneras,family AGO 03.04 recorded the highest FFB yield and oil yield at 249.25 and 45.22 kg palm^(-1)year^(-1),respectively.Besides that,several families with big fruit sizes or producing a mean fruit weight of 14-17 g were also identified.Both dura and tenera from AGO 01.01 recorded the highest oil to bunch(O/B)of 17.76%and 28.65%,respectively.These findings will facilitate the selection of palms from the MPOB-Angola germplasm for future breeding programmes.

Generalized synchronization of continuous dynamical system

Generalized synchronization between two continuous dynamical systems is discussed. By exploring the Liapunov stability theory and constructing appropriately unidirectional coupling term, a sufficient condition for determining the generalized synchronization between continuous systems is proved. Two examples are used to show the effectiveness of this result.

Generalized synchronization of discrete systems

Generalized synchronization of two discrete systems was discussed. By constructing appropriately nonlinear coupling terms, some sufficient conditions for determining the generalized synchronization between the drive and response systems were derived. In a positive invariant and bounded set, many chaotic maps satisfy the sufficient conditions. The effectiveness of the sufficient conditions is illustrated by three examples.

Synchronization of Coupled Nonidentical Dynamical Systems

Synchronization behavior of coupled dynamical systems is discussed. An equivalence relation is found between the diffeomorphic generalized synchronization and the complete synchronization of coupled nonidentical systems. Employing the method of the complete synchronization, the problem of the generalized synchronization can be unraveled. By constructing an appropriate coupling term, a sufficient condition is obtained for determining the complete synchronization of coupled nonidentical systems. Numerical simulations are also given to show the effectiveness of the proposed schemes.

Dynamics and Mechanism of A Quorum Sensing Network Regulated by Small RNAs in Vibrio Harveyi

Bacterial quorum sensing （QS） has attracted much interests and it is an important process of cell communication. Recently, Bassler et al. studied the phenomena of QS regulated by small RNAs and the experimental data showed that smafl RNAs played important role in the QS of Vibrio harveyi and it can permit the fine-tuning of gene regulation and mmntenance of homeostasis. According to Michaelis-Menten kinetics and mass action law in this paper, we construct a mathematical model to investigate the mechanism induced QS by coexist of small RNA and signal molecular （AI） and show that there are periodic oscillation when the time delay and Hill coefficient exceed a critical value and the periodic oscillation produces the change of concentration and induces QS. These results are fit to the experimental results. In the meanwhile, we also get some theoretical value of Hopf Bifurcation on time deday. In addition, we also find this network is robust against noise.

A Unifying Modularity in Networks

We propose a new modularity criterion in complex networks, called the unifying modularity q which is independent of the number of partitions. It is shown that, for a given network, the relationship between the upper limit of Q and the number of the partitions, k, is sup（Qk） = （k - 1）/k. Since the range of Q for each partition number is inconsistent, we try to extend the concept Q to unifying modularity q, which is independent of the number of partitions. Subsequently, we indicate that it is more accurately to determine the number of partitions by using unifying modularity q than Q.

Distributed coordinated adaptive tracking in networked redundant robotic systems with a dynamic leader

Distributed coordinated control of networked robotic systems formulated by Lagrange dynamics has recently been a subject of considerable interest within science and technology communities due to its broad engineering applications involving complex and integrated production processes,where high flexibility,manipulability,and maneuverability are desirable characteristics.In this paper,we investigate the distributed coordinated adaptive tracking problem of networked redundant robotic systems with a dynamic leader.We provide an analysis procedure for the controlled synchronization of such systems with uncertain dynamics.We also find that the proposed control strategy does not require computing positional inverse kinematics and does not impose any restriction on the self-motion of the manipulators;therefore,the extra degrees of freedom are applicable for other sophisticated subtasks.Compared with some existing work,a distinctive feature of the designed distributed control algorithm is that only a subset of followers needs to access the position information of the dynamic leader in the task space,where the underlying directed graph has a spanning tree.Subsequently,we present a simulation example to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.

Efficacy of polyphenolic ingredients of Chinese herbs in treating dyslipidemia of metabolic syndromes

There is an increasing interest and popularity of Chinese herbal medicine worldwide, which is accompanied by increasing concerns about its effectiveness and potential toxicity. Several ingredients, such as polyphenolic compounds berberine, flavonoids, and curcumin, have been studied extensively by using various animal models. Effectiveness of treatment and amelioration of metabolic syndromes, including insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, has been demonstrated. This review summarizes the major checkpoints and contributing factors in regulation of exogenous and endogenous lipid metabolism, with particular emphasis centered on triglyceride-rich and cholesterol-rich lipoproteins. Available experimental evidence demonstrating the lipid-lowering effect of berberine, flavonoids and curcumin in cell culture and animal models is compiled, and the strengths and shortcomings of experimental designs in these studies are discussed.

An efficient range-free localization algorithm for wireless sensor networks

Node positioning is a fundamental problem in applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, a new range-free algorithm, called spring swarm localization algorithm (SSLA), is proposed for positioning WSNs. To determine the locations of sensor nodes, the proposed algorithm uses network topology information and a small fraction of sensor nodes which know their locations. Numerical simulations show that high positioning accuracy can be obtained by using the algorithm. Some examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm.