Farmer participatory evaluation of eight elite clones of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium L. Schott)

Twenty cocoyam farmers from the Ejisu-Juabeng municipality were involved in a farmer participatory on-station evaluation of cocoyam at Fumesua (a rainforest agro ecological zone of the Ashanti Region of Ghana) for 2 years (2009-2010) major growing seasons). Eight elite clones of cocoyam were evaluated for high yield, tolerance to major diseases and pests and culinary properties. Phenotypic attributes evaluated at peak vegetative phase 24 weeks after planting (24 WAP) were plant height, number of leaves and leaf area. At harvest, 12 months after planting (12 MAP), variables evaluated included number of cormels, weight of cormels, and yield per plant. Season × clone interaction for all variables evaluated were significant. The clones also differed significantly in all the parameters evaluated. Leaf area, number of cormels and weight of cormels were all positively correlated with yield. Based on farmers’ recommendation and performance of the clones, four clones (3 purple and 1 white) yielding between 5.3 – 6.2 t ha-1 ( higher than the locally cultivated 4 .2 t ha-1) and tolerant to major diseases and pest, and having acceptable culinary properties have been proposed for release to farmers in the Ejisu-Juabeng Municipality

Refraction of dispersive shock waves

We study a dispersive counterpart of the classical gas dynamics problem of the interaction of a shock wave with a counter-propagating simple rarefaction wave often referred to as the shock wave refraction. The refraction of a one-dimensional dispersive shock wave (DSW) due to its head-on collision with the centred rarefaction wave (RW) is considered in the framework of defocusing nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) equation. For the integrable cubic nonlinearity case we present a full asymptotic description of the DSW refraction by constructing appropriate exact solutions of the Whitham modulation equations in Riemann invariants. For the NLS equation with saturable nonlinearity, whose modulation system does not possess Riemann invariants, we take advantage of the recently developed method for the DSW description in non-integrable dispersive systems to obtain main physical parameters of the DSW refraction. The key features of the DSW-RW interaction predicted by our modulation theory analysis are confirmed by direct numerical solutions of the full dispersive problem.Comment: 45 pages, 23 figures, minor revisio

The practicalities of transferring data between project collaboration systems used by the construction industry

As part of an industry-lead initiative, standards have been developed to enable bulk exchange of project data between project collaboration systems used by the construction industry. Through the work of developing exchange standards to the practical implementation of data transfer, this paper examines the issues that need to be addressed by both solution providers and their clients when considering moving a project’s data between two different instances of collaborative software. It highlights the practical difficulties of keeping the consistency of the data during the transfer process and gives solutions that can help to overcome these and other problems. The paper draws on experience gained through the development of vendor-neutral standards and real-life project migrations to put forward procedures which should be adopted by vendors, and gives insight into the underlying process for clients. The paper will form a vital framework for clients to determine if the benefits of moving projects between suppliers outweigh the difficulties associated with the move, and to help vendors put processes in place to best facilitate the transfer

An XML based standard to enable bulk project data transfer between heterogeneous systems

The objective of the work reported in this paper was the development of an XML based standard which would enable project data, such as contacts, drawings, documentation, instructions and emails, to be transferred between collaborative systems provided by different software vendors and used by construction organisations. The primary aim being to create a transfer mechanism which would allow project data transfer without modification of existing collaborative system deployed by vendors. This paper discusses the business and technological needs for such a transfer capability between collaborative systems, by examining the current use of these tools and related problems encountered by clients. It sets out the main components that underlie the majority of construction specific collaborative systems which forms the basis of the generic collaborative system model which has been developed, contrasting this with previous data exchange efforts. This paper shows how the XML Schema was developed and the procedures undertaken to ensure that it could be utilised by the maximum possible set of vendors. It sets out the best practice procedure for implementations by vendor organisations and the required testing to confirm a successful transfer. The paper also highlights some of the practical problems that were encountered when transferring projects between heterogeneous systems during the project and in subsequent deployments of the solution. Finally, the paper concludes with methods of taking the work forward as a foundation to allow for greater interoperability between systems in the future

Synthesis of triazole-linked morpholino oligonucleotides via Cu1 catalysed cycloaddition

Triazole-linked morpholino (TLMO) oligonucleic acids were synthesised using the CuI catalysed (3 + 2) azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. The modified DNA analogues were incorporated into 13-mer sequences via solid phase synthesis. UV melting experiments showed that the TLMO modification gives higher Tm values than the corresponding TLDNA modification

Characteristics of novel polymer composite heat transfer tubes

Papers presented to the 11th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 20-23 July 2015.Heat transfer tubes are one of the basic components in many equipment widely used in chemical, pharmaceutical, petroleum, petrochemicals, power generation and air conditioning systems. These tubes are manufactured from a wide variety of high thermally conductive metals. Examples of such materials are: nickel alloys, copper, aluminium, stainless steels like austenitic, duplex and super duplex as well as super alloys and titanium. Metallic tubes may suffer from failure due to corrosion and erosion especially in aggressive environments. In addition, metallic tubes are characterized by high density and high costs. This is the motivation for the development of non-metallic materials for heat exchanger applications. Plastics are attractive materials for the construction of heat exchangers, especially in harsh environments. However, plastics have one essential negative character; low thermal conductivity. There are two different approaches to overcome these drawbacks. On the one hand the use of small tube/channel diameter and extraordinary small wall thickness can reduce the thermal resistance. On the other hand the more promising solution is to improve the thermal conductivity by filling plastics with very high thermally conductive materials. This paper provides an overview of different plastic materials suitable for use in heat transfer applications. Also, it summarizes the properties of different possible filling materials. The thermal conductivity of these composite materials strongly depends on the size, shape, mass fraction and orientation of the particles. The possibilities to control the particle orientation of filling materials within the wall of a plastic tube will be shown. The effect of filling material orientation on thermal conductivity of tubes in axial and orthogonal direction and the influence of the wall thickness are illustrated. The paper compares the properties of developed tubes with customary used heat transfer tubes. Properties compared in this paper include fouling and corrosion resistance, thermal and mechanical properties, erosion resistance and temperature limitations. The novel polymer composite heat exchanger tubes combine a high thermal conductivity, low density, excellent resistance against ionic corrosion with an outstanding resistance against abrasion and erosion.am201

Inhibition of HIF-1 alpha by PX-478 enhances the anti-tumor effect of gemcitabine by inducing immunogenic cell death in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

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