In recent years, the genomic prediction that predicts phenotypic values from marker genotype data has attracted much more attention in the area of breeding. Especially, genomic selection using prediction values based on genomic prediction models has been contributing to more efficient and rapid breeding. In genomic prediction, it is important to construct the prediction model so that its accuracy becomes higher. Thus, multivariate genomic prediction models with secondary traits, such as data from various omics technologies including high-throughput phenotyping (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicle-based remote sensing), have started to be applied to many datasets because it offers improved accuracy gains compared with genomic prediction based only on marker genotypes. Although there is a trade-off between accuracy gains and phenotyping costs of secondary traits, no attempt has been made to optimize these trade-offs. In this study, we propose a novel approach to optimize multivariate genomic prediction models with secondary traits measurable at early growth stages for improved accuracy gains and phenotyping costs. The proposed approach employs Bayesian optimization for efficient Pareto frontier estimation, representing the maximum accuracy at a given cost. The proposed approach successfully estimated the optimal secondary trait combinations across a range of costs while providing genomic predictions for only about 20% of all possible combinations. The simulation results reflecting the characteristics of each scenario of the simulated target traits showed that the obtained optimal combinations were reasonable. Analysis of real-time target trait data showed that the proposed multivariate genomic prediction model had significantly superior accuracy compared to the univariate genomic prediction model.

Recent developments in statistical mechanics have revealed a tradeoff between heat current and dissipation [1,2]. In various situations, this current-dissipation tradeoff represents a relationship between thermal energy flow and entropy increase, similar to Joule’s law W=RI^2.

On the other hand, the coherence effect on the current-dissipation tradeoff has not been thoroughly analyzed. Here, we systematically analyze how coherence affects the current-dissipation tradeoff [3]. The results can be summarized in the following three rules:

Floer theory is an infinite-dimensional version of Morse theory and has provided powerful invariants in the study of low-dimensional topology. In the context of Yang-Mills gauge theory, some versions of Floer homology groups for knots have been developed. These knot invariants are called instanton knot homology groups and are strongly related to representations of the fundamental group of the knot complement.
In this talk, the speaker introduces basic constructions of instanton knot homology groups and recent developments related to the equivariant version of instanton knot homology theory.

Having a complete quantum theory of gravity has long been a major goal of theoretical physics. This is because a naive merger of quantum mechanics and general relativity — though it works in certain limited regimes — suffers from major theoretical problems. A particularly acute one arises when one considers the quantum mechanics of black holes: two fundamental principles of modern physics — the conservation of probability in quantum mechanics and the equivalence principle of general relativity — seem to be incompatible with each other. I will explain how recent theoretical progress begins to address this problem and portray the emerging picture of how spacetime and gravity behave at the level of full quantum gravity.

In this talk, using the generalized deltaN formalism, which dramatically facilitates a computation of the primordial density perturbation and the primordial GWs (PGWs), we address a violation of the Cosmological principle, namely a violation of the global isotropy in the Universe. It’s turned out that measuring the PGWs provides a powerful tool to explore a violation of the global isotropy. If time permits, I will also discuss some prospects on LiteBIRD.

This year’s meeting on “Outreach of RIKEN iTHEMS 2022@Kobe&Zoom” will be held from FRI July 29 to SUN July 31, as a face-to-face meeting as much as possible at iTHEMS SUURI-COOL Kobe using ZOOM for the necessary part as well. This is a meeting where members of iTHEMS and science journalists, science writers, etc meet together. iTHEMS researchers explain their research to journalists etc. and science journalists and writers talk about their experiences.