Calorimeter measures high nuclear heating rates and their gradients across a reactor test hole

Pedestal-type calorimeter measures gamma-ray heating rates from 0.5 to 7.0 watts per gram of aluminum. Nuclear heating rate is a function of cylinder temperature change, measured by four chromel-alumel thermocouples attached to the calorimeter, and known thermoconductivity of the tested material

Transcriptome profiling of grapevine seedless segregants during berry development reveals candidate genes associated with berry weight

Indexación: Web of Science; PubMedBackground Berry size is considered as one of the main selection criteria in table grape breeding programs. However, this is a quantitative and polygenic trait, and its genetic determination is still poorly understood. Considering its economic importance, it is relevant to determine its genetic architecture and elucidate the mechanisms involved in its expression. To approach this issue, an RNA-Seq experiment based on Illumina platform was performed (14 libraries), including seedless segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight at fruit setting (FST) and 6–8 mm berries (B68) phenological stages. Results A group of 526 differentially expressed (DE) genes were identified, by comparing seedless segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight: 101 genes from the FST stage and 463 from the B68 stage. Also, we integrated differential expression, principal components analysis (PCA), correlations and network co-expression analyses to characterize the transcriptome profiling observed in segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight. After this, 68 DE genes were selected as candidate genes, and seven candidate genes were validated by real time-PCR, confirming their expression profiles. Conclusions We have carried out the first transcriptome analysis focused on table grape seedless segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight. Our findings contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in berry weight determination. Also, this comparative transcriptome profiling revealed candidate genes for berry weight which could be evaluated as selection tools in table grape breeding programs.http://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-016-0789-

Boron Nitride Thin Films from High Energy Gas Phase Reactants

A novel method for generating boron nitride thin films is currently being developed. This method utilizes the energy stored in the precursor molecules to grow films at low temperatures. The mechanism for film growth has been studied, both experimentally and computationally, with promising results

Early bunchstem necrosis in grapes - a cause of poor fruit set

A disorder affecting the inflorescence of grapevines was identified and described. It occurs at any time from the early appearance of the inflorescence until flowering, causing shrivelling and death of some or all branches on the peduncle or bunch. It seems not to be caused by fungi or other pathological agent. Its appearance and development resemble stiellaehme or bunchstem necrosis (BSN), excepting that it occurs much earlier; thus the name 'early bunchstem necrosis' (EBSN) is suggested. Like BSN its aetiology appears to be related to the effects of specific inorganic chemicals. EBSN-like symptoms were induced by the cations Ca++ and NH4+but no response was found to K + and Mg++. There was considerably more EBSN in shaded compared with unshaded vines. No control or protective measures have so far been found

Low Energy Methods for the Deposition of BN Thin Films

We report the growth of boron nitride thin films from plasma-assisted dissociation of the precursor molecule boron triazide. Stable films containing mainly sp2-bonded BN have been grown for comparison with films grown by other dissociation methods. We conclude that the plasma-assisted dissociation method is superior to previous methods for growing boron nitride thin films from boron triazide

Digital Art as ‘Monetised Graphics:’ Enforcing Intellectual Property on the Blockchain

In a global economic landscape of hyper-commodification and financialisation, efforts to assimilate digital art into the high-stakes commercial art market have so far been rather unsuccessful, presumably because digital art works cannot easily assume the status of precious object worthy of collection. This essay explores the use of blockchain technologies in attempts to create proprietary digital art markets in which uncommodifiable digital art works are financialised as artificially scarce commodities. Using the decentralisation techniques and distributed database protocols underlying current cryptocurrency technologies, such efforts, exemplified here by the platform Monegraph, tend to be presented as concerns with the interest of digital artists and with shifting ontologies of the contemporary work of art. I challenge this characterisation, and argue, in a discussion that combines aesthetic theory, legal and philosophical theories of intellectual property, rhetorical analysis, and research in the political economy of new media, that the formation of proprietary digital art markets by emerging commercial platforms such as Monegraph constitutes a worrisome amplification of long-established, on-going efforts to fence in creative expression as private property. As I argue, the combination of blockchain-based protocols with established ambitions of intellectual property policy yields hybrid conceptual-computational financial technologies (such as self-enforcing smart contracts attached to digital artefacts) that are unlikely to empower artists, but which serve to financialise digital creative practices as a whole, curtailing the critical potential of the digital as an inherently dynamic and potentially uncommodifiable mode of production and artistic expression

Murder in Jerba : honour, shame and hospitality among Maltese in Ottoman Tunisia

Little is known about the sizeable Maltese communities developing along the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean in the mid-nineteenth century and the extent to which the migrants reproduced Maltese cultural traditions and practices overseas. This article considers this question through a microhistorical analysis of events culminating in the murder of a Maltese woman in the Ottoman Regency of Tunis in 1866. A close reading of transcripts from the interrogation of witnesses and the accused, all members of a Maltese community in Jerba reveals their shared cultural practices and beliefs surrounding the provision of hospitality, honour and shame. Viewed from this perspective, the curious responses of the witnesses to the murder of their compatriot become meaningful, and the crime is reframed as an honour killing.peer-reviewe

Serum Amyloid P Component (SAP)-Like Protein From Botryllid Ascidians Provides a Clue to Amyloid Function

The HA-1 lectin isolated from Botrylloides leachii has an amino acid composition similar to that of mammalian serum amyloid protein (SAP). SAP is a universal component of mammalian amyloid deposits. Like SAP, HA-1 has a disc ultrastructure, and antibody to HA-1 binds both (a) to amyloidlike fibers deposited between rejected Botrylloides colonies and (b) to cerebral amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease brains. Deposition of protochordate amyloid within rejection sites and surrounding fouling organisms implies that these fibers function as barriers to allogeneic and infectious challenge. Similarly, mammalian amyloid may also function to contain inflammatory lesions and to limit the spread of certain infections. Pathological amyloidotic conditions in humans, such as Alzheimer's disease, may result from unregulated expression of this primitive encapsulation response

The Impact of a SIG on Assessment Literacy

A major aim of professional associations is to provide opportunities for professionals to interact with others, share ideas and develop in their chosen profession. Professional associations exist to provide specialized networking and development opportunities to a specific profession, group of individuals or field of study. To promote and support specialized research and communication, smaller subgroups within an association are often chartered or developed. These subgroups are typically known as Special Interest Groups. According to Jacob et al. (2013), association members join SIGs because they want to go deeper into a specialized content area and they enjoy networking with others who ‘speak the same language.’ The TESOL Arabia Testing, Assessment and Evaluation SIG (TAE SIG) has focused their professional development activities on an important trend in the field, that of language assessment literacy (LAL). Language assessment literacy has been a critical topic in English language teaching since the late 1990s. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to the fact that so many English language teachers are not assessment literate. In other words, many English language teachers lack the knowledge and skills to write effective language tests, evaluate the effectiveness of their tests, and use their test results in meaningful ways. The purpose of this chapter is to critically examine the status of LAL in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and report on activities that the TAE SIG has implemented to increase LAL