Multiple QTL-effects of wheat Gpc-B1 locus on grain protein and micronutrient concentrations

Micronutrient malnutrition afflicts over three billion peopleworldwide and the numbers are continuously increasing. Developing genetically micronutrientenriched cereals, which are the predominant source of human dietary, is essential to alleviate malnutrition worldwide. Wheat chromosome 6B derived from wild emmerwheat [Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides (Körn.) Thell] was previously reported to be a source for high Zn concentration in the grain. In the present study, recombinant chromosome substitution lines (RSLs), previously constructed for genetic and physical maps of Gpc-B1 (a 250-kb locus affecting grain protein concentration), were used to identify the effects of the Gpc-B1 locus on grain micronutrient concentrations. RSLs carrying the Gpc-B1 allele of T. dicoccoides accumulated on average 12% higher concentration of Zn, 18% higher concentration of Fe, 29% higher concentration of Mn and 38% higher concentration of protein in the grain as compared with RSLs carrying the allele from cultivated wheat (Triticum durum). Furthermore, the high grain Zn, Fe and Mn concentrations were consistently expressed in five different environments with an absence of genotype by environment interaction. The results obtained in the present study also confirmed the previously reported effect of the wild-type allele of Gpc-B1 on earlier senescence of flag leaves. We suggest that the Gpc-B1 locus is involved in more efficient remobilization of protein, zinc, iron and manganese from leaves to the grains, in addition to its effect on earlier senescence of the green tissues

Embedding and assembly of ultrathin chips in multilayer flex boards

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present results from the EC funded project SHIFT (Smart High Integration Flex Technologies) on the embedding in and the assembly on flex substrates of ultrathin chips. Design/methodology/approach – Methods to embed chips in flex include flip-chip assembly and subsequent lamination, or the construction of a separate ultra-thin chip package (UTCP) using spin-on polyimides and thin-film metallisation technology. Thinning and separation of the chips is done using a “dicing-by-thinning” method. Findings – The feasibility of both chip embedding methods has been demonstrated, as well as that of the chip thinning method. Lamination of four layers of flex with ultrathin chips could be achieved without chip breakage. The UTCP technology results in a 60 mm package where also the 20mm thick chip is bendable. Research limitations/implications – Further development work includes reliability testing, embedding of the UTCP in conventional flex, and construction of functional demonstrators using the developed technologies. Originality/value – Thinning down silicon chips to thicknesses of 25mm and lower is an innovative technology, as well as assembly and embedding of these chips in flexible substrates.EC/FP6/EU/507745/Smart high-integration flex technologies/SHIF

Carrier-Induced Magnetic Circular Dichloism in the Magnetoresistive Pyrochlore Tl2Mn2O7

Infrared magnetic circular dichloism (MCD), or equivalently magneto-optical Kerr effect, has been measured on the Tl2Mn2O7 pyrochlore, which is well known for exhibiting a large magnetoresistance around the Curie temperature T_C ~ 120 K. A circularly polarized, infrared synchrotron radiation is used as the light source. A pronounced MCD signal is observed exactly at the plasma edge of the reflectivity near and below T_c. However, contrary to the conventional behavior of MCD for ferromagnets, the observed MCD of Tl2Mn2O7 grows with the applied magnetic field, and not scaled with the internal magnetization. It is shown that these results can be basically understood in terms of a classical magnetoplasma resonance. The absence of a magnetization-scaled MCD indicates a weak spin-orbit coupling of the carriers in Tl2Mn2O7. We discuss the present results in terms of the microscopic electronic structures of Tl2Mn2O7.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

20-150 keV proton impact induced ionization of uracil: fragmentation ratios and branching ratios for electron capture and direct ionization

submitted to Phys. Rev. AFragmentation ratios have been measured for ionization and dissociative ionization for 20-150 keV (0.9-2.4 v0) proton collisions with gas-phase uracil molecules. Through event-by-event determination of the post-collision projectile charge, it is possible for the first time for such a key biomolecule to distinguish between electron capture (EC) by the incident proton and direct ionization (DI) without projectile neutralization. While the same fragment ion groups are observed in the mass spectrum for both processes, electron capture induces dissociation with greater efficiency than direct ionization in the impact energy range of 35-150 keV (1.2-2.4 v0). In this range electron capture is also less abundant than direct ionization with a branching ratio for electron capture / total ionization of < 50%. Moreover, whereas fragmentation ratios do not change with energy in case of electron capture, direct ionization mass spectra show a tendency for increased fragmentation at lower impact energies

Who Participates in an Internet-Based Research Program for Mothers of Infants? A Secondary Prevention Research Study Among Low-Income Families

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the participation rates and factors associated with nonparticipation among mothers living in low-income households who were invited to join a parent-education and -support research program delivered via the Internet with professional support. Methods: Four hundred and seventy-seven mothers of infants were contacted via a variety of recruitment methods, including presentations at clinics/classes, direct mailings, print advertisement, and Internet posts. Research staff attempted to contact these mothers by phone, to assess their eligibility, and interest in participation. For those who were eligible but declined participation, we assessed reasons for declining and collected demographic information. Results: Seventy-four percent of those eligible agreed to participate in the program. Statistical tests comparing participants and decliners on demographic variables found no significant differences on mother’s age and marital status. There was a significant difference on baby’s age due to many decliners in the prenatal period. Mothers were an average age of 28 years and most were married (65.6%). Our sample of low-income participants was diverse with a large number of Latina mothers. Approximately half had a high-school diploma or less but 84% reported being moderately or very comfortable using a computer and half had a computer at home

A Pilot Study with a Novel Setup for Collaborative Play of the Humanoid Robot KASPAR with children with autism

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article describes a pilot study in which a novel experimental setup, involving an autonomous humanoid robot, KASPAR, participating in a collaborative, dyadic video game, was implemented and tested with children with autism, all of whom had impairments in playing socially and communicating with others. The children alternated between playing the collaborative video game with a neurotypical adult and playing the same game with the humanoid robot, being exposed to each condition twice. The equipment and experimental setup were designed to observe whether the children would engage in more collaborative behaviours while playing the video game and interacting with the adult than performing the same activities with the humanoid robot. The article describes the development of the experimental setup and its first evaluation in a small-scale exploratory pilot study. The purpose of the study was to gain experience with the operational limits of the robot as well as the dyadic video game, to determine what changes should be made to the systems, and to gain experience with analyzing the data from this study in order to conduct a more extensive evaluation in the future. Based on our observations of the childrens’ experiences in playing the cooperative game, we determined that while the children enjoyed both playing the game and interacting with the robot, the game should be made simpler to play as well as more explicitly collaborative in its mechanics. Also, the robot should be more explicit in its speech as well as more structured in its interactions. Results show that the children found the activity to be more entertaining, appeared more engaged in playing, and displayed better collaborative behaviours with their partners (For the purposes of this article, ‘partner’ refers to the human/robotic agent which interacts with the children with autism. We are not using the term’s other meanings that refer to specific relationships or emotional involvement between two individuals.) in the second sessions of playing with human adults than during their first sessions. One way of explaining these findings is that the children’s intermediary play session with the humanoid robot impacted their subsequent play session with the human adult. However, another longer and more thorough study would have to be conducted in order to better re-interpret these findings. Furthermore, although the children with autism were more interested in and entertained by the robotic partner, the children showed more examples of collaborative play and cooperation while playing with the human adult.Peer reviewe

Comparative study of dimer vacancies and dimer-vacancy lines on Si(001) and Ge(001)

Although the clean Si(001) and Ge(001) surfaces are very similar, experiments to date have shown that dimer-vacancy (DV) defects self-organize into vacancy lines (VLs) on Si(001), but not on Ge(001). In this paper, we perform empirical-potential calculations aimed at understanding the differences between the vacancies on Si(001) and Ge(001). We identify three energetic parameters that characterize the DVs on the two surfaces: the formation energy of a single DV, the attraction between two DVs in adjacent dimer rows, and the strain sensitivity of the formation energy of DVs and VLs. At the empirical level of treatment of the atomic interactions (Tersoff potentials), all three parameters are favorable for the self-assembly of DVs on the Si(001) surface rather than on Ge(001). The most significant difference between the defects on Si(001) and on Ge(001) concerns the formation energy of single DVs, which is three times larger in the latter case. By calculating the strain-dependent formation energies of DVs and VLs, we propose that the experimental observation of self-assembly of vacancies on clean Ge(001) could be achieved by applying compressive strains of the order of 2%.Comment: 3 tables, 4 figures, to appear in Surface Scienc

Mass spectrometry (fragmentation ratios) of DNA base molecules following 80 keV proton impact with separation of direct ionization and electron capture processes

To be published International Journal of Mass SpectrometryThe first fragmentation ratios are presented for the ionization and dissociative ionization of gas-phase DNA bases following 80 keV (1.8 v0) proton impact. Event-by-event determination of the projectile charge state after collision enables also to distinguish the relative contributions of electron capture (EC) by the projectile from direct ionization (DI) of the target molecule (without projectile neutralization) thus yielding branching rations for these two different ionization processes. Results have been compared with recent similar experiments on uracil [Tabet et al. unpublished] and water [Gobet et al. Phys. Rev. A 70 (2004) 062716]. Although in all cases both processes (EC and DI) produced the same fragment ion groups in the mass spectra, fragmentation is for EC larger than for DI. Moreover the fragmentation ratio for dissociative ionization was observed to be for thymine larger than for adenine, cytosine, and uracil

Effect of Oscillating Landau Bandwidth on the Integer Quantum Hall Effect in a Unidirectional Lateral Superlattice

We have measured activation gaps for odd-integer quantum Hall states in a unidirectional lateral superlattice (ULSL) -- a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) subjected to a unidirectional periodic modulation of the electrostatic potential. By comparing the activation gaps with those simultaneously measured in the adjacent section of the same 2DEG sample without modulation, we find that the gaps are reduced in the ULSL by an amount corresponding to the width acquired by the Landau levels through the introduction of the modulation. The decrement of the activation gap varies with the magnetic field following the variation of the Landau bandwidth due to the commensurability effect. Notably, the decrement vanishes at the flat band conditions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, minor revisio

Genomic insights into the rapid emergence and evolution of MDR in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.

OBJECTIVES: MDR methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) strains have emerged rapidly as major canine pathogens and present serious treatment issues and concerns to public health due to their, albeit low, zoonotic potential. A further understanding of the genetics of resistance arising from a broadly susceptible background of S. pseudintermedius is needed. METHODS: We sequenced the genomes of 12 S. pseudintermedius isolates of varied STs and resistance phenotypes. RESULTS: Nine distinct clonal lineages had acquired either staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec elements and/or Tn5405-like elements carrying up to five resistance genes [aphA3, sat, aadE, erm(B), dfrG] to generate MRSP, MDR methicillin-susceptible S. pseudintermedius and MDR MRSP populations. The most successful and clinically problematic MDR MRSP clones, ST68 SCCmecV(T) and ST71 SCCmecII-III, have further accumulated mutations in gyrA and grlA conferring resistance to fluoroquinolones. The carriage of additional mobile genetic elements (MGEs) was highly variable, suggesting that horizontal gene transfer is frequent in S. pseudintermedius populations. CONCLUSIONS: Importantly, the data suggest that MDR MRSP evolved rapidly by the acquisition of a very limited number of MGEs and mutations, and that the use of many classes of antimicrobials may co-select for the spread and emergence of MDR and XDR strains. Antimicrobial stewardship will need to be comprehensive, encompassing human medicine and veterinary disciplines to successfully preserve antimicrobial efficacy