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

Dust devils on Earth and Mars: Extension of particle threshold laboratory simulations

Abstract not available

Morphological Classification of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We present an analysis of the morphological classification of 89 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) from the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) sample using non-parametric coefficients and compare their morphology as a function of wavelength. We rely on images obtained in the optical (B- and I-band) as well as in the infrared (H-band and 5.8$\mu$m). Our classification is based on the calculation of $Gini$ and the second order of light ($M_{20}$) non-parametric coefficients which we explore as a function of stellar mass ($M_\star$), infrared luminosity ($L_{IR}$) and star formation rate (SFR). We investigate the relation between $M_{20}$, the specific SFR (sSFR) and the dust temperature ($T_{dust}$) in our galaxy sample. We find that $M_{20}$ is a better morphological tracer than $Gini$, as it allows to distinguish systems formed by double systems from isolated and post-merger LIRGs. The multi-wavelength analysis allows us to identify a region in the $Gini$-$M_{20}$ parameter space where ongoing mergers reside, regardless of the band used to calculate the coefficients. In particular when measured in the H-band, this region can be used to identify ongoing mergers, with a minimal contamination from LIRGs in other stages. We also find that while the sSFR is positively correlated with $M_{20}$ when measured in the mid-infrared, i.e. star-bursting galaxies show more compact emission, it is anti-correlated with the B-band based $M_{20}$. We interpret this as the spatial decoupling between obscured and un-obscured star formation, whereby the ultraviolet/optical size of a LIRGs experience an intense dust enshrouded central starburst is larger than in the one in the mid-infrared since the contrast between the nuclear to the extended disk emission is smaller in the mid-infrared. This has important implications for high redshift surveys of dusty sources. [abridged]Comment: ( 18 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A

Photocurrent in nanostructures with asymmetric antidots

The steady current induced by electromagnetic field in a 2D system with asymmetric scatterers is studied. The scatterers are assumed to be oriented cuts with one diffusive and another specular sides. Besides, the existence of isotropic impurity scatterers is assumed. This simple model simulates the lattice of half-disk which have been studied numerically recently. The model allows the exact solution in the framework of the kinetic equation. The static current response in the second order of electric field is obtained. The photogalvanic tensor contains both responses to linear and circular polarization of electromagnetic field. The model possesses non-analyticity with regards to the rate of impurity scattering.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Progress in developing a potato ontology for breeders.

The potato ontology is part of a community effort to establish a set of related crop ontologies. The advantage of an ontology is that both humans and software applications can understand a data domain. This will allow the application of numerical or data mining techniques that may help to uncover previously unknown correlations. Building on previous draft versions, here we focus on traits important to breeding: we identified so far 70 descriptors. These include: morphological (36), agronomical performance (7), resistance traits (7), biochemical (6), reaction to abiotic stresses (2), molecular (1 ) and post-harvest (9). We anticipate further refinements and cross-checks

Extreme value distributions and Renormalization Group

In the classical theorems of extreme value theory the limits of suitably rescaled maxima of sequences of independent, identically distributed random variables are studied. So far, only affine rescalings have been considered. We show, however, that more general rescalings are natural and lead to new limit distributions, apart from the Gumbel, Weibull, and Fr\'echet families. The problem is approached using the language of Renormalization Group transformations in the space of probability densities. The limit distributions are fixed points of the transformation and the study of the differential around them allows a local analysis of the domains of attraction and the computation of finite-size corrections.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures. Final versio

Detection of chemotherapy-resistant patient-derived acute lymphoblastic leukemia clones in murine xenografts using cellular barcodes

Clonal heterogeneity fuels leukemia evolution, therapeutic resistance, and relapse. Upfront detection of therapy-res istant leukemia clones at diagnosis may allow adaptation of treatment and prevention of relapse, but this is hampered by a paucity of methods to identify and trace single leukemia-propagating cells and their clonal offspring. Here, we tested methods of cellular barcoding analysis, to trace the in vivo competitive dynamics of hundreds of patient-derived leukemia clones upon chemotherapy-mediated selective pressure. We transplanted Nod/Scid/Il2Rg(-/-) (NSG) mice with barcoded patient-derived or SupB15 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells and assessed clonal responses to dexamethasone, methotrexate, and vincristine, longitudinally and across nine anatomic locations. We illustrate that chemotherapy reduces clonal diversity in a drug-dependent manner. At end-stage disease, methotrexate-treated patientderived xenografts had significantly fewer clones compared with placebo-treated mice (100 +/- 10 vs. 160 +/- 15 clones, p = 0.0005), while clonal complexity in vincristineand dexamethasone-treated xenografts was unaffected (115 +/- 33 and 150 +/- 7 clones, p = NS). Using tools developed to assess differential gene expression, we determined whether these clonal patterns resulted from random clonal drift or selection. We identified 5 clones that were reproducibly enriched in methotrexate-treated patient-derived xenografts, suggestive of pre-existent resistance. Finally, we found that chemotherapymediated selection resulted in a more asymmetric distribution of leukemia clones across anatomic sites. We found that cellular barcoding is a powerful method to trace the clonal dynamics of human patient-derived leukemia cells in response to chemotherapy. In the future, integration of cellular barcoding with single-cell sequencing technology may allow in-depth characterization of therapy-resistant leukemia clones and identify novel targets to prevent relapse. (C) 2020 ISEH - Society for Hematology and Stem Cells. Published by Elsevier Inc

Selección participativa de variedades de papa (SPV) usando el diseño mamá y bebé: una guía para capacitadores con perspectiva de género.

El objetivo de esta guía es orientar paso a paso la facilitación y documentación de la dinámica SPV (Seleccion participativa de variedades) usando el diseño M&B para seleccionar, y eventualmente liberar, variedades de papa preferidas por los usuarios finales, que se adapten a las diferentes necesidades de los agricultores, a los diversos agro-ecosistemas y prácticas de manejo como también a las preferencias de comerciantes y consumidores

Integrating and sharing accession-level and omics-size genotype, phenotype and environmental data: Experiences at the International Potato Center (CIP).

Plant breeding consists in the creation and selection of new genotypes. This involves not only keeping records across generations and environments but also accommodating data of increasing resolution on genotypes, phenotypes, and growth environments. Some such high-resolution characterization methods are Near-Infrared spectroscopy, metabolomics, next-generation sequencing and high resolution spatial-temporal-spectral photos. A first need is the integration and retrieval of this information. Such an integrated and complete set can be described in breeder’s terms in six dimensions: a plant phenotype (P) is the result of a genotypes (G) interaction with its environment (E) given certain field management (M) practices. In addition, data on the administrative (A) context should be kept including staff involved, objectives and, if applicable, projects and donors; as well as on data documentation standards (S) like ontologies. The latter play an important part in exchanging and aggregating information. Here we describe the adoption of the ‘Biomart’ database for this purpose. While Biomart was developed originally to accommodate gene and sequencing data at a genomic scale we describe here how it can be used for breeding program data. This is being illustrated by current data warehousing in the potato breeding program at the International Potato Center (CIP). Particularly, genotype and phenotype can be transparently combined for further analysis in the decision process for the selection of new genotypes

Mid-Infrared Spectral Diagnostics of Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We present a statistical analysis of the mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of 248 luminous infrared (IR) galaxies (LIRGs) which comprise the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey (GOALS) observed with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The GOALS sample enables a direct measurement of the relative contributions of star-formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) to the total IR emission from a large sample of local LIRGs. The AGN contribution to the MIR emission (f-AGN) is estimated by employing several diagnostics based on the properties of the [NeV], [OIV] and [NeII] fine structure gas emission lines, the 6.2 microns PAH and the shape of the MIR continuum. We find that 18% of all LIRGs contain an AGN and that in 10% of all sources the AGN contributes more than 50% of the total IR luminosity. Summing up the total IR luminosity contributed by AGN in all our sources suggests that AGN supply ~12% of the total energy emitted by LIRGs. The average spectrum of sources with an AGN looks similar to the average spectrum of sources without an AGN, but it has lower PAH emission and a flatter MIR continuum. AGN dominated LIRGs have higher IR luminosities, warmer MIR colors and are found in interacting systems more often than pure starbursts LIRGs. However we find no linear correlations between these properties and f-AGN. We used the IRAC colors of LIRGs to confirm that finding AGN on the basis of their MIR colors may miss ~40% of AGN dominated (U)LIRGsComment: accepted for publication in ApJ, 34 pages, 12 figure