Pre-harvest sprouting and grain dormancy in sorghum bicolor: What have we learned?

The possibility of obtaining sorghum grains with quality to match the standards for a diversity of end-uses is frequently hampered by the susceptibility to pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) displayed by many elite genotypes. For these reasons, obtaining resistance to PHS is considered in sorghum breeding programs, particularly when the crop is expected to approach harvest maturity under rainy or damp conditions prevalence. As in other cereals, the primary cause for sprouting susceptibility is a low dormancy prior to crop harvest; in consequence, most research has focused in understanding the mechanisms through which the duration of dormancy is differentially controlled in genotypes with contrasting sprouting behavior. With this aim two tannin-less, red-grained inbred lines were used as a model system: IS9530 (sprouting resistant) and Redland B2 (sprouting susceptible). Redland B2 grains are able to germinate well before reaching physiological maturity (PM) while IS9530 ones can start to germinate at 40–45 days after pollination, well after PM. Results show that the anticipated dormancy loss displayed by Redland B2 grains is related reduced embryo sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) and increased levels of GA upon imbibition. In turn, transcriptional data showed that ABA signal transduction is impaired in Redland B2, which appears to have an impact on GA catabolism, thus affecting the overall GA/ABA balance that regulates germination. QTL analyses were conducted to test whether previous candidate genes were located in a dormancy QTL, but also to identify new genes involved in dormancy. These analyses yielded several dormancy QTL and one of them located in chromosome 9 (qGI-9) was consistently detected even across environments. Fine mapping is already in progress to narrow down the number of candidate genes in qGI-9.Fil: Benech-Arnold, Roberto Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cultivos Industriales; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez, María Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Biología Aplicada y Alimentos. Cátedra de Fisiología Vegetal; Argentin

Estimation du nombre de personnes présentes dans une pièce à partir de la concentration en dioxyde de carbone

Dans cette étude, nous avons cherché à estimer le nombre de personnes présentes dans une salle de réunion à partir de la mesure de la concentration en CO2 dans cette pièce. Pour construire des estimateurs, nous avons utilisé une série d'expériences où les utilisateurs de la salle ont noté les horaires d’arrivée, de départ et le nombre de participants de la réunion.Trois estimateurs ont été conçus :- le premier est composé d’un filtre du premier ordre (inversion de la dynamique du CO2) et d’une moyenne glissante pour lisser l'estimation- le second utilise un filtre de Kalman : son intérêt est la distinction de la composante extérieure du CO2- le troisième est basé sur les chaînes de Markov : plutôt que de mettre en place des seuils, on prend en compte le caractère discret du nombre de personnes présente

Efficacy and safety of maxillomandibular advancement in treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

To assess the effectiveness of maxillomandibular adavancement for treatment of adults with obstructive sleep apnoea, we report the results obtained after maxillomandibular advancement. A group of 16 patients were studied before surgery, at 6 months after surgery and at followup. The analysis included: upper airway endoscopy during Mueller's manoeuvre, lateral cephalometry, polysomnography and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The results of surgical treatment were divided into "surgical success" and "surgical cure". The former was defined as an AHI 50\% reduction in AHI after surgical procedure, while the latter was defined as an AHI < 5 events/hour after surgical procedure. At follow-up, all patients had AHI < 20 events/hour with a surgical success rate of 100\%. The surgical cure rate was 37.5\%, with 6 patients having an AHI < 5 events/hour. Surgical success and long term stability of outcomes confirm the efficacy and safety of MMA for treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. However, a continuous follow-up of these patients is necessary to control their lifestyle and to detect possible relapse.Abstract available from the publisher

Piezoelectric Materials in RF Applications

The development of several types of mobile objects requires new devices, such as high‐performance filters, microelectromechanical systems and other components. Piezoelectric materials are crucial to reach the expected performance of mobile objects because they exhibit high quality factors and sharp resonance and some of them are compatible with collective manufacturing technologies. We reviewed the main piezoelectric materials that can be used for radio frequency (RF) applications and herein report data on some devices. The modelling of piezoelectric plates and structures in the context of electronic circuits is presented. Among RF devices, filters are the most critical as the piezoelectric material must operate at RF frequencies. The main filter structures and characterisation methods, in accordance with such operating conditions as high frequencies and high power, are also discussed

Integrated optics for astronomical interferometry. I. Concept and astronomical applications

We propose a new instrumental concept for long-baseline optical single-mode interferometry using integrated optics which were developed for telecommunication. Visible and infrared multi-aperture interferometry requires many optical functions (spatial filtering, beam combination, photometric calibration, polarization control) to detect astronomical signals at very high angular resolution. Since the 80's, integrated optics on planar substrate have become available for telecommunication applications with multiple optical functions like power dividing, coupling, multiplexing, etc. We present the concept of an optical / infrared interferometric instrument based on this new technology. The main advantage is to provide an interferometric combination unit on a single optical chip. Integrated optics are compact, provide stability, low sensitivity to external constrains like temperature, pressure or mechanical stresses, no optical alignment except for coupling, simplicity and intrinsic polarization control. The integrated optics devices are inexpensive compared to devices that have the same functionalities in bulk optics. We think integrated optics will fundamentally change single-mode interferometry. Integrated optics devices are in particular well-suited for interferometric combination of numerous beams to achieve aperture synthesis imaging or for space-based interferometers where stability and a minimum of optical alignments are wished.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accpeted by Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Serie

Saint-Romain-en-Gal – Site du Palais du Miroir

Le parc archéologique de Saint-Romain-en-Gal couvre une partie importante du quartier suburbain situé en rive droite du Rhône de la colonie de Vienne. Ce site a été mis au jour à la fin des années 1960 et constitue une réserve archéologique de premier ordre pour comprendre l’urbanisme et l’architecture d’une grande ville antique de Gaule. Ce projet étudie plus spécifiquement le secteur dit du Palais du Miroir, un bâtiment encore partiellement en élévation qui correspond à des thermes gallo-ro..