In this research we eliminated chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd) from a highly infected chrysanthemum cultivar using a newly established method. 'Piato' is one of the most difficult cultivars in which to obtain CSVd-free plants by conventional methods. Leaf primordium-free shoot apical meristems (LP-free SAMs) of 'Piato' plants were dissected and attached to CSVd-free chrysanthemum or cabbage root tips. As shown by nested-PCR, CSVd was not detected in some shoots regenerated on both types of root tip. The production rates of CSVd-free plants using chrysanthemum and cabbage root tips were 14% and 3%, respectively. Regeneration of plants from LP-free SAMs of chrysanthemum plants by attaching these SAMs to root tips is an efficient method of generating CSVd-free chrysanthemum plants.

Chrysanthemum ( Dendranthema grandiflorum Kitam.) is one of the qualitative short-day flowering plants. Therefore, the flowering of chrysanthemum can usually be controlled by photoperiod. However, it was noted that 'Piato' plants infected by the chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd) flowered autonomously even under long-day conditions. In this study, CSVd-free and CSVd-infected plants were prepared by culturing different-sized dissected shoot apical meristems (SAMs) of 'Piato'. Using these CSVd-free and CSVd-infected plants, we clarified the relationship between CSVd infection and the autonomous flowering of 'Piato'. Under natural short-day conditions, the flowering of plants regenerated from SAMs containing leaf primordia (LPs) was 1 month earlier than plants regenerated from LP-free SAMs. CSVd was detected from these early flowering plants by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. On the other hand, CSVd was not detected in plants regenerated from LP-free SAMs. CSVd-infected and CSVd-free plants were grown under long-day conditions simulated by night-break lighting at 22:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. All CSVd-infected plants flowered autonomously even under long-day conditions; on the other hand, CSVd-free chrysanthemum plants maintained their vegetative growth. When the CSVd-free plants were inoculated with CSVd by grafting them to CSVd-infected rootstocks, they flowered autonomously even under night-break lighting. In this study, the results suggest that CSVd may control the qualitative development process, flowering, i.e. CSVd can induce the autonomous flowering of chrysanthemum.

Study design: Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of car transfer (CT) movement in four adult males with C6 tetraplegia. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the normal transfer technique movement from a wheelchair to a car (that is, CT) in subjects with tetraplegia. A better understanding of CT movement is invaluable knowledge for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. This type of knowledge will improve rehabilitation programs so that patients with tetraplegia will have greater societal participation. Setting: School of Comprehensive Rehabilitation, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka, Japan. Methods: Four adult males with C6 tetraplegia, an impairment grade of A according to the American Spinal Injury Association guidelines, took part in the study. The subjects used their own wheelchair and car in our assessments of their CT movement technique. Movements were assessed using a three-dimensional video analysis system with six digital video cameras. CT data, which included lateral displacement of the head and buttocks, and angular displacement of neck flexion and trunk forward inclination, were collected and correlation coefficients were calculated.Results: All four subjects demonstrated negative correlations in lateral displacements greater than 0.70. As for correlation coefficients of angular displacement, two subjects demonstrated negative correlations (r¼À0.98 and r¼À0.77) and one subject demonstrated a positive correlation (r¼0.75). The neck flexion and trunk forward inclination strategy was different among the four subjects. Conclusions: Each subject with C6 tetraplegia demonstrated different strategies during CT movement.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the leading hand positions on the performance of sitting pivot transfers (SPT). [Subjects] Three individuals (2 men, 1 woman) with spinal cord injury (SCI) who could perform independent SPT in daily living volunteered. [Method] They performed SPT with respect to the target seat using six leading hand positions (2 locations × 3 heights) twice. We calculated the height from seat to coccyx using a digital video camera and expressed it as a percentage of the maximum vertical height of the lift of their buttocks during pushing up. [Result] There were significant main effects for the leading hand locations, but no significant main effects for the leading hand heights or interaction effects according to two-way repeated measures ANOVA. [Conclusion] These results provide useful data for better understanding SPT and for teaching the SPT techniques to individuals with SCI.