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The composition of these vaginal microbiome has a significant impact on women's health. However, few studies have characterized the vaginal microbiome of healthy Chinese women using metagenomic sequencing. Here, we carried out a comparative metagenomic analysis to survey taxonomic, functional levels, and microbial communities' genome content in healthy women's vaginal microbiome. Overall, we observed a total of 111 species, including all dominant vaginal Lactobacillus species, such as L. iners, L. crispatus, L. gasseri, and L. jensenii. Unlike microbial taxa, several pathways were ubiquitous and prevalent across individuals, including adenosine ribonucleotides de novo biosynthesis and pyruvate fermentation to acetate and lactate II. Notably, our diversity analysis confirmed a significant difference in healthy women from different ethnic groups. Moreover, we binned vaginal assemblies into 62 high-quality genomes, including 9 L. iners, 7 A. vaginae, 5 L. jensenii, and 5 L. crispatus. We identified the pan and core genomes of L. iners and A. vaginae and revealed the genetic diversity. Primary differences between strains were the hypothetical genes and mobile element-like genes. Our results provide a framework for understanding the implications of the female reproductive tract's composition and functional potential and highlight the importance of genome-resolved metagenomic analysis to further understand the human vaginal microbiome.

SUMMARY Despite extensive studies on cultivated rice, the population structure and genetic diversity of the indica photoperiod- and thermo-sensitive genic male sterility (P/TGMS) lines in China remains unclear. Using 48 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, we genotyped a panel of 208 indica P/TGMS lines and confirmed three subgroups, named indica-I, indica-II and indica-III, in indica P/TGMS lines. Further diversity analysis indicated indica-II had the highest genetic diversity. The genetic differentiation between indica-II and indica-III was demonstrated as the largest among the three subgroups. Moreover, indica/japonica component identification was detected that five P/TGMS lines possess indica components less than 0.900. These results improve our knowledge on the genetic background for P/TGMS lines in China and will be beneficial for hybrid rice breeding programs.

Ricebean (Vigna umbellata (Thunb.) Ohwi and Ohashi), believed to be domesticated in Myanmar–Thailand region, is grown in the North-Eastern hills of India as a pulse, vegetable, and fodder crop. Depending on the farming system where it is grown, plant types vary. Sixty-five accessions collected from across the North-Eastern hills of India were characterized for ten quantitative and ten qualitative morpho-agronomic traits using a minimal descriptor. Different data transformation and dissimilarity calculation methods were used to assess diversity. Mean dissimilarity using the average taxonomic distance was 14.05 (0.141) and using Gower’s general coefficient was 0.249. Both methods identified four clusters where one of the clusters contained more than 70% of the accessions. One of the accessions, BKSB-40, was identified as a unique accession. Quantitative traits were further grouped into qualitative factors, which gave an idea of farmer's preference for plant type and indicated wide difference between accessions collected from areas bordering Myanmar and East Nepal.

Traditionally, earthworms are considered one of the most frequently used bioindicators to evaluate the sustainability of soil use. Therefore a new index, called QBS-e (Soil Biological Quality Index based on earthworms) has been provided in order to improve the monitoring of the soil’s biological fertility in the rural environment, as well as for use by non-experts in earthworm taxonomy. We present two case studies to test the application of this new practical tool: one in horticultural agroecosystems and the other in vineyards in North-Eastern Italy, and we compare the QBS-e method with the traditional method of earthworm diversity analysis. We analysed the differences in earthworm fauna between organic and conventional agroecosystems to assess if some particular agronomical practices affect earthworms. The results obtained with the two methods are comparable: this seems to demonstrate the effectiveness of using the QBS-e index in order to save time and costs in soil monitoring programmes. In addition, we propose a simple software to calculate the QBS-e index value and to help with the attribution of the correct ecological category to the sampled specimens.

Diversity index based on entropy such as Emlen index ( E I ) is suggested as a highly effective algorithm to detect complexity in nonlinear systems. In this paper, a method considering the amplitude information, called Weighted Emlen index ( W E I ) is proposed to extract the amplitude information and track the signal changes. And then, we expand E I ∕ W E I methods to multiple time scales. Thus, multiscale Emlen index ( M S E I ) and multiscale Weighted Emlen index ( M S W E I ) will be used to discuss the complexity of traffic time series under different scales. Results show that there are differences between the complexity of weekend traffic time series and workday time series, which gives a better classification of traffic systems for making prediction.

Identification of microorganisms on the surfaces of historical objects traditionally involves classical microbiology techniques. Cultivation methods allow, to a limited extent, the investigation of microbial biodiversity occurring in the environment. The aim of this study was to select microbiological media, the use of which enables cultivation of bacteria in proportions and diversity most similar to that observed in situ in the microbiocenoses of historical stone objects. We carried out scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, quantitative analysis of microorganisms using culture-dependent methods and high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial communities taken from the surfaces of the Pergola located at the Wilanow Palace gardens in Warsaw (Poland). Total DNA was isolated directly from the collected samples and from the grown colonies of microorganisms grouped together from a particular type of microbiological agar media. Amplification of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene for Bacteria was performed for each sample. Illumina MiSeq technology was used for sequencing. Metagenomic analysis of the sequences revealed that the agar Wort medium is the best choice to determine the bacterial diversity present in situ in the biocenoses grown on historical sandstone surfaces.

"Wu zhu yu", which is obtained from the dried unripe fruits of Tetradium ruticarpum (A. Jussieu) T. G. Hartley, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of headaches, abdominal colic, and hypertension for thousands of years. The present study was designed to assess the molecular genetic diversity among 25 collected accessions of T. ruticarpum (Wu zhu yu in Chinese) from different areas of China, based on inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Thirteen ISSR primers generated 151 amplification bands, of which 130 were polymorphic. Out of 165 bands that were amplified using 10 iPBS primers, 152 were polymorphic. The iPBS markers displayed a higher proportion of polymorphic loci (PPL = 92.5%) than the ISSR markers (PPL = 84.9%). The results showed that T. ruticarpum possessed high loci polymorphism and genetic differentiation occurred in this plant. The combined data of iPBS and ISSR markers scored on 25 accessions produced five clusters that approximately matched the geographic distribution of the species. The results indicated that both iPBS and ISSR markers were reliable and effective tools for analyzing the genetic diversity in T. ruticarpum.

Ethiopian shade coffee plantations are well documented to be bird-friendly and act as refuges for disappearing tree species. The extent to which these plantations support mammal conservation, as well as mammal sensitivity to coffee intensification, remain little studied. We studied the distribution and diversity of mammals under three coffee management systems of differing intensities (i.e., semi-forest, semi-plantation, and plantation) and in nearby natural forests in Belete-Gera Forest Priority Area, southwestern Ethiopia. We detected mammals using 30 infrared camera traps at 90 stations for a total of 4142 camera days. We used the Shannon-Wiener diversity index for diversity analysis, generalized linear mixed model for comparison of independent detection, and non-metric multidimensional scaling to show the mammalian community composition. We recorded 8815 digital videos and a total of 23 mammal species. The overall species richness, diversity, and detection of mammals did not differ between the two traditional shade coffee management systems and the natural forest but was lower in the plantation coffee system. The mammal community composition also shows variation in resilience to coffee management intensity, with primates appearing to be generally more tolerant to management intensification. We ultimately show that traditionally managed Ethiopian shade coffee farms shelter diverse mammal communities, comparable to those in nearby natural forests. Therefore, supporting traditional coffee management practices and certifying them as mammal-friendly should be implemented as strategies for the conservation of mammals, as natural forests continue to decline in Ethiopia.

In this paper, we propose an amplify-and-forward multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying scheme, which combines space shift keying (SSK) with the best and partial relay selection. In this scheme, SSK transmission is considered by using the source (S) transmit antennas. Besides the direct link transmission, a relay, which is selected according to the best or partial relay selection techniques, amplifies the data received from S and forwards it to the destination (D). Theoretical error probability expressions of the proposed cooperative SSK systems are derived and an asymptotic diversity analysis is also performed to demonstrate the achievable diversity orders of the systems. It is shown that the proposed SSK systems outperform the conventional cooperative single-input multiple-output (SIMO) systems. It is also revealed that there is an interesting trade-off between SSK with the best and the partial relay selection in terms of error performance and complexity as in conventional cooperative SIMO systems. However, it is shown that the partial relay selection provides an almost identical error performance compared to the best relay selection with a considerably lower complexity when the number of relays is less than or equal to the number of receive antennas at D in the cooperative SSK system. (C) 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

UK and wider EU governments follow gender neutral policies in their disaster planning and management based upon a misconception that the gender gap has been eliminated. Findings from our quantitative and qualitative research, carried out as a part of an EU Project, ‘MICRODIS’, in two flood affected locations in England (Tewkesbury floods of 2007, and Morpeth floods of 2008), challenges this notion, revealing that disasters can have paradoxically equal and yet differentiated gendered impacts. Our findings highlight some of the more subtle ways that disasters differentially impacted women and men. It shows that although the degree of mental health recovery of affected men and women was mostly equal, they mobilised different recovery strategies, mostly consistent with their traditional gendered norms and socially constructed roles. Women's recovery strategies were mainly aligned with emotional notions of care, while men's were with notions of control. These findings also show that gendered identities, home-neighbourhood place attachment, and mental wellbeing are related in complex ways. Temporary displacement from their home-neighbourhood places after floods were traumatic for both men and women, although there were perceptible differences in this experience. The paper concludes that gender difference in disasters is ubiquitous globally, and thus analyses must include a gender and diversity analysis and ask more probing gender questions, even in apparently gender equal societies, in order to uncover sometimes hidden impacts.

A long shelf life for fresh meat products is very important both to processors, retailers and consumers. In this work, the effect of repeat acid spraying on the shelf life of vacuum skin-packaged (VSP) chilled beef, as well as the quality and microbial community dynamics was evaluated. Carcasses were sprayed with 300 ppm peroxyacetic acid (PA) or 3% lactic acid (LA) three times during the chilling process, or one more time of LA spray before packaging (LLA). Quality, sensory attributes and microbial load of VSP beef during 32 days of storage at 4 °C were evaluated. The results showed that quality and sensory scores decreased over time for all treatments, but LLA treated samples were still above the rejection threshold at the end of the storage period. Moreover, the total volatile basic nitrogen value and the total viable counts were 15.0 mg/100 g and 7.2 log CFU/g for the control group, while acid treated groups remained below these two values until the end of the storage period. In particular LLA treated beef steaks exhibited the best preservation potential even at the end of storage. This is attributed to the reduction of Proteobacteria in LLA beef steaks shown by the bacterial diversity analysis via high-throughput sequencing, as well as the lower counts of B. thermosphacta and Enterobacteriaceae during storage. This indicates that LLA treatment has the potential to achieve a shelf life extension of VSP steaks without impacting on quality.

Computer simulation models can generate large numbers of scenarios, far more than can be effectively utilized in most decision support applications. How can one best select a small number of scenarios to consider? One approach calls for choosing scenarios that illuminate vulnerabilities of proposed policies. Another calls for choosing scenarios that span a diverse range of futures. This paper joins these two approaches for the first time, proposing an optimization-based method for choosing a small number of relevant scenarios that combine both vulnerability and diversity. The paper applies the method to a real case involving climate resilient infrastructure for three African river basins (Volta, Orange and Zambezi). Introducing selection criteria in a stepwise manner helps examine how different criteria influence the choice of scenarios. The results suggest that combining vulnerability- and diversity-based criteria can provide a systematic and transparent method for scenario selection. Describes an optimization-based method for choosing a small number of scenarios.A combination of criteria related to vulnerability and diversity is used.The method is applied to a real case involving climate resilient infrastructure.

Consensus clustering has emerged as a powerful technique for obtaining better clustering results, where a set of data partitions (ensemble) are generated, which are then combined to obtain a consolidated solution (consensus partition) that outperforms all of the members of the input set. The diversity of ensemble partitions has been found to be a key aspect for obtaining good results, but the conclusions of previous studies are contradictory. Therefore, ensemble diversity analysis is currently an important issue because there are no methods for smoothly changing the diversity of an ensemble, which makes it very difficult to study the impact of ensemble diversity on consensus results. Indeed, ensembles with similar diversity can have very different properties, thereby producing a consensus function with unpredictable behavior. In this study, we propose a novel method for increasing and decreasing the diversity of data partitions in a smooth manner by adjusting a single parameter, thereby achieving fine-grained control of ensemble diversity. The results obtained using well-known data sets indicate that the proposed method is effective for controlling the dissimilarity among ensemble members to obtain a consensus function with smooth behavior. This method is important for facilitating the analysis of the impact of ensemble diversity in consensus clustering. Fil: Pividori, Milton Damián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Santa Fe. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Ingeniería en Sistemas de Información; Argentina Fil: Stegmayer, Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentina Fil: Milone, Diego Humberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentina

This study investigated the diversity of bacterial community in healthy and streptococcosis infected Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) to identify the primary causative agents associated with the disease using metagenomics, phylogenetic analysis and in vivo challenge test. A total of 24 fishes, both healthy and diseased were collected during summer from three different districts and six different ponds of Bangladesh. Alpha-beta diversity analysis of the next generation sequence data showed distinctly different (P

Summary Targeted sequencing of 16S rRNA genes enables the analysis of microbiomes. Here, we describe a protocol for the collection, storage, and preparation of fecal samples. We describe how we cluster similar sequences and assign bacterial taxonomies. Using diversity analysis and machine learning, we can extract disease-associated features. We also describe a circadian analysis to identify the presence or absence of rhythms in taxonomies. Differences in rhythmicity between cohorts can contribute to determining disease-associated bacterial signatures. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Reitmeier et al. (2020)., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Walkthrough of sample preparation for 16S rRNA gene sequencing for human stool samples • Determine disease-associated microbial features based on machine learning • Circadian analysis to identify presence of rhythms in a population-based cohort study • Define bacterial signatures by differences in rhythmicity within/between cohorts, Targeted sequencing of 16S rRNA genes enables the analysis of microbiomes. Here, we describe a protocol for the collection, storage, and preparation of fecal samples. We describe how we cluster similar sequences and assign bacterial taxonomies. Using diversity analysis and machine learning, we can extract disease-associated features. We also describe a circadian analysis to identify the presence or absence of rhythms in taxonomies. Differences in rhythmicity between cohorts can contribute to determining disease-associated bacterial signatures.

High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons is an effective method for diversity analysis of anammox bacteria. However, the corresponding taxonomic database and suitable cut-off value are unavailable for processing high-throughput sequencing data. This study is the first to construct a taxonomic database, comprising 17 sequences of enriched anammox strains (regarded as seed sequences) and 2925 uncultured sequences from environmental samples. Moreover, a suitable cut-off value was determined based on pairwise evolutionary distances between the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the 17 identified species and diversity indexes of community in the taxonomic database. Furthermore, the proposed method was validated with multiple environmental samples. In summary, the taxonomic database and proposed cut-off value targeting the 16S rRNA gene presented in this study can be effectively employed to explore the diversity of anammox bacteria.

In this study, 95 accessions of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) were characterized for starch physicochemical properties, including apparent amylose content (AAC), gel textural properties, Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) pasting viscosity properties, thermal and retrogradation properties. Based on genotypic data, the genetic diversity and inter-relationship of these starch traits were analyzed. Diverse starch quality was found, for example, AAC ranged from 0 to 32.3%, gelatinization temperature (GT) varied from 71.5 to 79.0 ℃, and RVA profile showed distinct patterns among proso millet of different AAC types. Interestingly, high AAC proso millet usually had GT lower than that of low AAC proso millet, which is different from the findings in rice starch. Many starch traits were significantly correlated and most of the 18 tested traits could be classified as either AAC-related traits or GT-related traits. In summary, the information presented here will be useful for further development of proso millet products.

Despite being introduced to the Caribbean over 227 years ago to address issues of food insecurity, breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) has remained underutilized, which has been linked to the limited knowledge of the crop diversity and characterization in the region. An increased understanding of breadfruit diversity can support commercialization and better utilization by improving propagators' and growers' selection of accessions or types that will meet consumers and processors demand. This study focuses on the morphological characterization of 27 breadfruit accessions, which either have existed in the Caribbean since the 18th century or were introduced in the 1990s. All accessions were established in a field collection at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. Results of the current study showed that breadfruit accessions were highly variable and that for several morphological characteristics, including fruit characters that are of economic importance, the recently introduced accessions have expanded the range for selection. Fruit characters such as skin texture, skin colour, shape and pulp colour were also the most useful for distinguishing among accessions. Descriptors related to leaf lobing were also important for distinguishing a few accessions. The results confirmed the usefulness of morphological traits for breadfruit germplasm characterization and also for combining with other methods of diversity analysis.

Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (CHBV) infection is a major cause of liver diseases. Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are important for antiviral immunity in the liver, but the distinction between intrasinusoidal MAIT cells and peripheral MAIT cells in patients with CHBV infection remains unclear. Methods: PBMC were obtained from patients with CHBV infection (n=51) and age-matched controls (n=52). Liver-associated mononuclear cells (LMCs) were collected from donors (n=32) and explanted liver (n=23) of patients to perform phenotypic, functional and TCR diversity analysis. Results: The frequency of intrasinusoidal MAIT cells in the CHBV infection group was not changed compared to that of the MAIT cells in the CHBV-negative group. However, the frequency of peripheral blood MAIT cells was severely reduced in the CHBV infection group compared to the CHBV-negative group. Moreover, IFN-γ production was intact in the intrahepatic MAIT cells of the CHBV infection patients compared to those of the control subjects post IL-12 and IL-18 stimulation, while it was reduced in the peripheral blood MAIT cells of the CHBV infection patients. More importantly, our study showed that the expression level of HLA-DR in peripheral MAIT cells was higher than that in intrasinusoidal MAIT cells in CHBV infection patients. A distinct signature of TCR usage was found in the CHBV patients. Conclusions: By analysing the phenotype, function and TCR usage of MAIT cells in the PBMC and LMC populations of patients with CHBV infection, we found distinct functions and activities in the MAIT cells of the liver compared with those of the peripheral blood. Funding Statement: YG is supported by Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant number: 2018A030313019) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number:31800758). Declaration of Interests: All authors disclose no conflicts of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was fully approved by the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University ethical board. All participants provided written informed consent before sample collection.

Erhualian and Landrace breeds are typical genetically obese and lean pigs, respectively. To compare the fecal methanogenic Archaeal community between these two pig breeds, fecal samples from different growth phase pigs were collected and used for PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) with two primer pairs (344fGC/519r and 519f/915rGC) and real-time PCR analysis. Results showed that a better separation and higher quality of bands pattern were obtained in DGGE profiles using primers 344fGC/519r as compared with primers 519f/915rGC. Sequencing of DGGE bands showed that the predominant methanogens in the feces of Erhualian and Landrace pigs belonged to Methanobrevibacter spp. and Methanosphaera spp. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in the numbers of fecal total methanogens between Erhualian and Landrace pigs; however, pig growth phase affected the numbers of 16S rRNA genes of total methanogens and Methanobrevibacter smithii. Dissociation curves of methyl coenzyme-M reductase subunit A (mcrA) gene fragments amplified with real-time PCR showed all samples possessed a single peak at 82°C, which might be associated with M. smithii. Samples from the same growth phase of each breed showed good replicative dissociation curves. The results suggest that the growth phase (including diet factor) other than genotype of pig may affect the fecal methanogenic Archaeal community of pigs.

Thirty-five grape varieties were evaluated for their molecular diversities based on inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. Fifteen selected iPBS primers generated a total of 99 polymorphic DNA bands with 86.3% polymorphism. The effectiveness of iPBS marker is comparable to or even more efficient than other retrotransposon-based markers in grape. The differentiation between cultivated and wild grape varieties were clearly showed by both UPGMA cluster analysis and PCoA analysis revealing that Chinese cultivated and wild grape germplasm are highly divergent and possess abundant genetic diversities. This study also confirmed that the iPBS marker is a simple, informative, reproducible and suitable method for grape genetic diversity evaluation.

Graph perception involves the accurate decipherment of (often quantitative) data displayed in visual form. Because graph style may reflect discipline-specific tradition, similar graph styles in distinct disciplines can be subject to misinterpretation. Both archaeologist James A. Ford and paleobiologist Stephen Jay Gould confused spindle diagrams representing archaeological frequency seriation and paleontological clade diversity analysis as displaying the same kinds of data and representing the same processes. Similarities between the two kinds of analysis are, however, limited to the use of the same graph style—spindle diagrams—to illustrate the history of frequencies of things. The kinds of frequencies differ in two ways between the two disciplines; frequencies are of low-level Linnaean taxa within a clade representing a higher taxon in paleobiology, and are frequencies of artifact specimens within each of several types in archaeology. Further, frequencies are absolute in clade diversity and relative in frequency seriation. Clade diversity analysis, as practiced by Gould and colleagues, is a time-series analysis that requires knowing the age of taxa prior to analysis of the shape of the spindle diagram. Frequency seriation in archaeology involves ordering multiple collections of artifacts that share at least some types; ordering is based on similar frequencies and a presumed unimodal frequency distribution, and the order is inferred to be a chronology. Different analytical assumptions and goals result in discipline specific rules of graph decipherment, though each of the two kinds of analyses can be performed in each of the two disciplines.

New analogues of 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-(phenylthio)thymine (HEPT) were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro activities against HIV-1 in MT-4 cell cultures. Chemical diversity was introduced in 4 of the six positions of the core and the influence of each substituent was studied. This library was built on the basis of a rational diversity analysis with the objective of maximizing diversity and thus, the activity range with a minimum number of synthesized compounds. Among them, 2{1,2,3,1} and 2{1,2,3,4} exhibited the most potent anti-HIV-1 activities (EC(50)=0.015 μg/mL; 0.046 μM, SI >1667) and (EC(50)=0.025 μg/mL; 0.086 μM, SI >1000), respectively, which were about 71-fold and 38-fold more active than the reference compound HEPT (EC(50)=1.01 μg/mL; 3.27 μM, SI >25).

We extend the analysis of the diversity of questionnaires with binary (yes–no) answers to the case of questionnaires with multiple answers. It has been demonstrated that the original techniques used by Khmaladze (2009) are universal and can be applied to prove limit theorems for more general cases. It was shown that this different framework again leads us to a model similar to that for a large number of rare events that Khmaladze obtained in Khmaladze (2009) , namely, to the so called Karlin–Rouault law.

This article analyzed multi-user diversity performance for multiple input single output (MISO) amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying network with selection combiner, and the closed-form outage probabilities for variable gain relaying and fixed gain relaying network are derived. Based on these results, diversity order is presented for variable gain relaying network. Simulation results validate the derived theoretical results, and the diversity order of variable gain relaying network with N r available relays is K ( N t + N t ) in K users' scenario, where N t is the number of source transmitter antennas.

Diversity analysis among 23 rice varieties including 16 non-basmati scented accessions, 5 basmati accessions and 2 non-scented accessions was performed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) marker systems. The varieties analyzed by 11 RAPD and 8 ISSR primers yielded an average of 65% and 80% polymorphism, respectively. The average number of polymorphic bands generated per RAPD primer was 6 and per ISSR primer was 5.87. RAPD and ISSR data analysis individually could not segregate basmati and non-basmati scented rice accessions. However, the analysis using a combined data could group basmati and non-basmati scented rice accessions separately. The bands present specifically among three accessions of non-basmati scented rice were also identified. The study revealed a high genetic diversity among non-basmati scented rice accessions.

To study the diversity of bacteria strains newly isolated from several acid mine drainage(AMD) sites in China, repetitive sequence based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR), a well established technology for diversity analysis of closely related bacteria strains, was conducted on 30 strains of bacteria Leptospirillum ferriphilium, 8 strains of bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans , as well as the Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans type strain ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) 23270. The results showed that, using ERIC and BOX primer sets, rep-PCR produced highly discriminatory banding patterns. Phylogenetic analysis based on ERIC-PCR banding types was made and the results indicated that rep-PCR could be used as a rapid and highly discriminatory screening technique in studying bacterial diversity, especially in differentiating bacteria within one species in AMD.

The paper provides an overview of the Japanese integrated steel mills' procurement policies for coking coal during the past three decades and the economic rationale underpinning them. Following an analysis of recent developments in the Japanese coking coal market, the direction of future change to those policies is examined using a diversity index. The diversity analysis shows that Japan's procurement policies have become less diversified in recent years as a result of changing technology and institutional structure. The implication for coking coal producers is that changing technologies have had, and will continue to have, strong influences on demand for coal used in steel making and hence the source of supply. Moreover, as the market becomes more competitive, ability to provide the right products at competitive prices, rather than the existing institutional arrangements, will be the main determinant of market share.

New approaches for combinatorial library design and molecular diversity analysis have been developed by extending previous work from the fields of quantitative structure—activity relationship, computational chemistry, and chemical information. Recent work has begun to address design efficiency and validation of descriptors for combinatorial library design.