Participatory varietal selection of potato using the mother & baby trial design: A gender-responsive trainer’s guide.

This guide aims to provide step-by-step guidance on facilitating and documenting the PVS dynamics using the MBT design to select, and eventually release, potato varieties preferred by end-users that suit male and female farmers ’different needs, diverse agro-systems, and management practices, as well as traders ’and consumers’ preferences

A Review of Noncommutative Field Theories

We present a brief review of selected topics in noncommutative field theories ranging from its revival in string theory, its influence on quantum field theories, its possible experimental signatures and ending with some applications in gravity and emergent gravity.Comment: Talk presented at the XIV Mexican School on Particles and Fields, Morelia, Mexico, November 9-11, 2010; 8 pages. V2 reference adde

Infratentorial Abnormalities in Vascular Dementia

Background and Purpose—Infratentorial abnormalities may cause cognitive deficits, but current research criteria for vascular dementia (VaD) do not consider them. Our purposes were to determine the prevalence of infratentorial abnormalities in VaD, their relation with supratentorial abnormalities, and whether they are relevant to cognition. Methods—We examined 182 patients (120 men, mean age 73 years, SD 8) with probable VaD at inclusion into a multicenter clinical trial. MRI scans were evaluated for infratentorial vascular abnormalities, midbrain atrophy, cerebellar atrophy, basilar artery diameter and tortuosity, and supratentorial abnormalities. Cognitive testing included the mini–mental state examination (MMSE) and the vascular dementia assessment scale (VaDAS-cog). Results—One hundred forty-one (77.5%) patients had infratentorial abnormalities: 119 (65.4%) had focal infratentorial vascular lesions, 65 (35.7%) had diffuse pontine vascular abnormalities hyperintense on T2-weighted images, 20 (11.0%) had midbrain atrophy, and 16 (8.8%) had cerebellar atrophy. Significant correlations were found between number of infratentorial vascular lesions and basilar artery diameter (rs 0.26; P 0.0001), infratentorial and basal ganglia (including thalamus) vascular abnormalities (rs 0.30; P 0.0001), as well as between midbrain atrophy and global supratentorial atrophy (rs 0.27; P 0.0001). Infratentorial vascular abnormalities and cerebellar atrophy were not significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Patients with midbrain atrophy performed worse on cognitive tests than those without midbrain atrophy. After correction for sex, age, education, supratentorial abnormalities, and center, midbrain atrophy remained significantly associated with lower MMSE scores (P 0.05). Conclusions—Infratentorial abnormalities often occur in patients with VaD, but only midbrain atrophy was found to be relevant to cognitio

Comparing the impacts of 2003 and 2010 heatwaves in NPP over Europe

In the last decade, Europe was stricken by two outstanding heatwaves, the 2003 event in Western Europe and the recent 2010 episode over Russia. Both extreme events were characterised by record-breaking temperatures, and widespread socio-economic impacts, including significant increments on mortality rates, decreases in crop production and in hydroelectric production. This work aims to assess the influence of both mega-heatwaves on vegetation carbon uptake, using yearly Net Primary Production (NPP) and monthly Net Photosynthesis (PsN) data derived from satellite imagery obtained from MODIS for the period 2000–2011. <br><br> In 2010, markedly low productivity was observed over a very large area in Russia, at monthly, seasonal and yearly scales, falling below 50% of average NPP. This decrease in NPP in 2010 was far more intense than the one affecting Western Europe in 2003, which corresponded to 20–30% of the average, and affected a~much larger extent. Total NPP anomalies reached −19 Tg C for the selected regions in France during 2003 and −94 Tg C for western Russia in 2010, which corresponds almost to the magnitude of total NPP anomaly during 2010 for the whole Europe. <br><br> Overall, the widespread negative PsN anomalies in both regions match the patterns of very high temperature values preceded by a long period of below-average precipitation, leading to strong soil moisture deficits, stressing the role of soil-atmosphere coupling. In the case of 2003 heatwave, results indicate a strong influence of moisture deficits coupled with high temperatures in the response of vegetation, while for the 2010 event very high temperatures appear to be the main driver of very low NPP

Sequence-based prediction for vaccine strain selection and identification of antigenic variability in foot-and-mouth disease virus

Identifying when past exposure to an infectious disease will protect against newly emerging strains is central to understanding the spread and the severity of epidemics, but the prediction of viral cross-protection remains an important unsolved problem. For foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) research in particular, improved methods for predicting this cross-protection are critical for predicting the severity of outbreaks within endemic settings where multiple serotypes and subtypes commonly co-circulate, as well as for deciding whether appropriate vaccine(s) exist and how much they could mitigate the effects of any outbreak. To identify antigenic relationships and their predictors, we used linear mixed effects models to account for variation in pairwise cross-neutralization titres using only viral sequences and structural data. We identified those substitutions in surface-exposed structural proteins that are correlates of loss of cross-reactivity. These allowed prediction of both the best vaccine match for any single virus and the breadth of coverage of new vaccine candidates from their capsid sequences as effectively as or better than serology. Sub-sequences chosen by the model-building process all contained sites that are known epitopes on other serotypes. Furthermore, for the SAT1 serotype, for which epitopes have never previously been identified, we provide strong evidence - by controlling for phylogenetic structure - for the presence of three epitopes across a panel of viruses and quantify the relative significance of some individual residues in determining cross-neutralization. Identifying and quantifying the importance of sites that predict viral strain cross-reactivity not just for single viruses but across entire serotypes can help in the design of vaccines with better targeting and broader coverage. These techniques can be generalized to any infectious agents where cross-reactivity assays have been carried out. As the parameterization uses pre-existing datasets, this approach quickly and cheaply increases both our understanding of antigenic relationships and our power to control disease

Reducing errors on estimates of the carbon uptake period based on time series of atmospheric CO₂

High-quality, long-time-series measurements of atmospheric greenhouse gases show interannual variability in the measured seasonal cycles. These changes can be analyzed to better understand the carbon cycle and the impact of climate drivers. However, nearly all discrete measurement records contain gaps and have noise due to the influence of local fluxes or synoptic variability. To facilitate analysis, filtering and curve-fitting techniques are often applied to these time series. Previous studies have recognized that there is an inherent uncertainty associated with this curve fitting, and the choice of a given mathematical method might introduce biases. Since uncertainties are seldom propagated to the metrics under study, this can lead to misinterpretation of the signal. In this study, we use an ensemble-based approach to quantify the uncertainty of the derived seasonal cycle metrics. We apply it to CO2 dry-air mole fraction time series from flask measurements in the Northern Hemisphere. We use this ensemble-based approach to analyze the carbon uptake period (CUP: the time of the year when the CO2 uptake is greater than the CO2 release): its onset, termination and duration. Previous studies have diagnosed CUP based on the dates on which the detrended, zero-centered seasonal cycle curve switches from positive to negative (the downward zero-crossing date, DZCD) and vice versa (upward zero-crossing date, UZCD). However, the UZCD is sensitive to the skewness of the CO2 seasonal cycle during the net carbon release period. Hence, we develop an alternative method proposed by to estimate the onset and termination of the CUP based on a threshold defined in terms of the first derivative of the CO2 seasonal cycle. Using the ensemble approach, we arrive at a tighter constraint to the threshold by considering the annual uncertainty; we call this the ensemble of first derivative (EFD) method. Further, using the EFD approach and an additional curve-fitting algorithm, we show that (a) the uncertainty of the studied metrics is smaller using the EFD method than when approximated using the timing of the zero-crossing date (ZCD), and (b) the onset and termination dates derived with the EFD method provide more robust results, irrespective of the curve-fitting method applied to the data.</p

The Mechanical Behavior of a 25Cr Super Duplex Stainless Steel at Elevated Temperature

Peer reviewedPostprin