Battery Electric Propulsion Systems for Competition Racing Applications

Electric propulsion systems applied in racing karts is a matured technology. This is confirmed by the fact that the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has established a recognised technical formula for sanctioned competitive electric kart racing. Electric kart racing was introduced into Europe in 2017 with a set of technical regulations that are quite open at this early stage. This allows for experimentation of different electric powertrain configurations to enhance their development. The recent introduction of electric kart racing has provided the incentive to further develop electric powertrains to maximise their performance potential. The design and construction procedure necessary that was undertaken in the process of engineering a high-performance battery electric powertrain for a racing kart application for competitions is presented in this chapter. The design ensures that the electric propulsion system is capable of matching the performance characteristics of a comparable racing kart powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE). The implementation process of the design on a recognised, competition racing kart rolling chassis together with its performance evaluation data is also presented

Dimensions and location of high-involvement management:fresh evidence from the UK Commission's 2011 Employer Skills Survey

High-involvement management is typically seen as having three components: worker involvement, skill and knowledge acquisition and motivational supports. The prescriptive literature implies the elements should be used together; but using data from the UK Commission's Employer Skills Survey of 2011 we find that these dimensions of high-involvement management are in reality separate. Two types of involvement, role and organisational, are not strongly related, and motivational supports are not strongly correlated with other practices or each other. Size of workplace and the sector in which it operates are associated with the dimensions of high-involvement management. However, there is variety in their other predictors. For example, organisational involvement and skill acquisition are positively related to workplace size while role involvement is negatively associated with it. The research illustrates the value of scaling methods over blanket indexes to measure high involvement management and highlights the independent effects of quality and operational management methods

Development of a minimal KASP marker panel for distinguishing genotypes in apple collections

Accurate identification of named accessions in germplasm collections is extremely important, especially for vegetatively propagated crops which are expensive to maintain.  Thus, an inexpensive, reliable, and rapid genotyping method is essential because it avoids the need for laborious and time-consuming morphological comparisons.  Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) marker panels containing large numbers of SNPs have been developed for many crop species, but such panels are much too large for basic cultivar identification.  Here, we have identified a minimum set of SNP markers sufficient to distinguish apple cultivars held in the English and Welsh national collections providing a cheaper and automatable alternative to the markers currently used by the community.  We show that SNP genotyping with a small set of well selected markers is equally efficient as microsatellites for the identification of apple cultivars and has the added advantage of automation and reduced cost when screening large numbers of sample

Using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict the protein and energy digestibility of lupin kernel meals when fed to rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

This study examined the potential of using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict the nutrient composition, energy density and the digestible protein and digestible energy values of lupin kernel meals when fed to rainbow trout. A series of 136 lupin kernel meals were assessed for their protein and energy digestibilities using the diet-substitution approach in a series of 10 experiments over a 6-year period from 2002 to 2008. Two reference diets were also included in each experiment. Minimal variance in the digestibility parameters of both reference diets was observed among the experiments ensuring that there was a high degree of robustness in the across-experiment evaluations. The same lupin kernel meal samples were also scanned using a diode array near infrared spectrophotometer (DA-NIRS). The spectra obtained by the DA-NIRS were chemometrically calibrated against both the chemical composition and the digestible value data using multivariate analysis software. The cross validation tests used in this study provide a valid indication of the potential to predict the nutrient composition, energy value and digestible protein and energy values of the lupin kernel meals as used in diets for rainbow trout. That the standard errors of cross validation (SECV) of the parameters investigated were generally commensurate with the cross trial variation seen in the reference sample indicating robust calibrations for the two target parameters of digestible protein and digestible energy. Therefore this study demonstrates that within one raw material type that not only does significant variability in the digestible value of the raw materials exist, but that it is possible to use NIRS technology to provide rapid estimates of the digestible value of those raw materials in near real-time. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

CerealsDB 3.0:Expansion of resources and data integration

BACKGROUND: The increase in human populations around the world has put pressure on resources, and as a consequence food security has become an important challenge for the 21st century. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is one of the most important crops in human and livestock diets, and the development of wheat varieties that produce higher yields, combined with increased resistance to pests and resilience to changes in climate, has meant that wheat breeding has become an important focus of scientific research. In an attempt to facilitate these improvements in wheat, plant breeders have employed molecular tools to help them identify genes for important agronomic traits that can be bred into new varieties. Modern molecular techniques have ensured that the rapid and inexpensive characterisation of SNP markers and their validation with modern genotyping methods has produced a valuable resource that can be used in marker assisted selection. CerealsDB was created as a means of quickly disseminating this information to breeders and researchers around the globe. DESCRIPTION: CerealsDB version 3.0 is an online resource that contains a wide range of genomic datasets for wheat that will assist plant breeders and scientists to select the most appropriate markers for use in marker assisted selection. CerealsDB includes a database which currently contains in excess of a million putative varietal SNPs, of which several hundreds of thousands have been experimentally validated. In addition, CerealsDB also contains new data on functional SNPs predicted to have a major effect on protein function and we have constructed a web service to encourage data integration and high-throughput programmatic access. CONCLUSION: CerealsDB is an open access website that hosts information on SNPs that are considered useful for both plant breeders and research scientists. The recent inclusion of web services designed to federate genomic data resources allows the information on CerealsDB to be more fully integrated with the WheatIS network and other biological databases. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12859-016-1139-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Detecting SARS-CoV-2 variants with SNP genotyping.

Tracking genetic variations from positive SARS-CoV-2 samples yields crucial information about the number of variants circulating in an outbreak and the possible lines of transmission but sequencing every positive SARS-CoV-2 sample would be prohibitively costly for population-scale test and trace operations. Genotyping is a rapid, high-throughput and low-cost alternative for screening positive SARS-CoV-2 samples in many settings. We have designed a SNP identification pipeline to identify genetic variation using sequenced SARS-CoV-2 samples. Our pipeline identifies a minimal marker panel that can define distinct genotypes. To evaluate the system, we developed a genotyping panel to detect variants-identified from SARS-CoV-2 sequences surveyed between March and May 2020 and tested this on 50 stored qRT-PCR positive SARS-CoV-2 clinical samples that had been collected across the South West of the UK in April 2020. The 50 samples split into 15 distinct genotypes and there was a 61.9% probability that any two randomly chosen samples from our set of 50 would have a distinct genotype. In a high throughput laboratory, qRT-PCR positive samples pooled into 384-well plates could be screened with a marker panel at a cost of < £1.50 per sample. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of a SNP genotyping panel to provide a rapid, cost-effective, and reliable way to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in an outbreak. Our analysis pipeline is publicly available and will allow for marker panels to be updated periodically as viral genotypes arise or disappear from circulation

Detecting SARS-CoV-2 variants with SNP genotyping.

Tracking genetic variations from positive SARS-CoV-2 samples yields crucial information about the number of variants circulating in an outbreak and the possible lines of transmission but sequencing every positive SARS-CoV-2 sample would be prohibitively costly for population-scale test and trace operations. Genotyping is a rapid, high-throughput and low-cost alternative for screening positive SARS-CoV-2 samples in many settings. We have designed a SNP identification pipeline to identify genetic variation using sequenced SARS-CoV-2 samples. Our pipeline identifies a minimal marker panel that can define distinct genotypes. To evaluate the system, we developed a genotyping panel to detect variants-identified from SARS-CoV-2 sequences surveyed between March and May 2020 and tested this on 50 stored qRT-PCR positive SARS-CoV-2 clinical samples that had been collected across the South West of the UK in April 2020. The 50 samples split into 15 distinct genotypes and there was a 61.9% probability that any two randomly chosen samples from our set of 50 would have a distinct genotype. In a high throughput laboratory, qRT-PCR positive samples pooled into 384-well plates could be screened with a marker panel at a cost of < £1.50 per sample. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of a SNP genotyping panel to provide a rapid, cost-effective, and reliable way to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in an outbreak. Our analysis pipeline is publicly available and will allow for marker panels to be updated periodically as viral genotypes arise or disappear from circulation

Def-6, a Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor for Rac1, Interacts with the Skeletal Muscle Integrin Chain α7A and Influences Myoblast Differentiation

Integrin alpha7beta1 is the major laminin binding integrin receptor of muscle cells. The alpha7 chain occurs in several splice isoforms, of which alpha7A and alpha7B differ in their intracellular domains only. The fact that the expression of alpha7A and alpha7B is tightly regulated during skeletal muscle development suggests different and distinct roles for both isoforms. However, so far, functional properties and interacting proteins were described for the alpha7B chain only. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we have found that Def-6, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rac1, binds to the intracellular domain of the alpha7A subunit. The specificity of the Def-6-alpha7A interaction has been shown by direct yeast two-hybrid binding assays and coprecipitation experiments. This is the first description of an alpha7A-specific and -exclusive interaction, because Def-6 did not bind to any other tested integrin cytoplasmic domain. Interestingly, the binding of Def-6 to alpha7A was abolished, when cells were cotransfected with an Src-related kinase, which is known to phosphorylate Def-6 and stimulate its exchange activity. We found expression of Def-6 was not only restricted to T-lymphocytes as described thus far but in a more widespread manner, including different muscle tissues. In cells, Def-6 is seen in newly forming cell protrusions and focal adhesions, and its localization partially overlaps with the alpha7A integrin receptor. C2C12 myoblasts overexpressing Def-6 show a delay of Rac1 inactivation during myogenic differentiation and abnormal myotube formation. Thus, our data suggest a role for Def-6 in the fine regulation of Rac1 during myogenesis with the integrin alpha7A chain guiding this regulation in a spatio-temporal manner