Developing new plantain varieties for Africa

Les bananiers plantain (Musa spp. AAB) sont d'importantes sources alimentaires dans les pays sud sahariens. La Sigatoka noire est l'une des contraintes majeures qui limitent la production de bananes. Le contrôle chimique existe mais il n'est pas approprié pour les petites fermes agricoles, les risques sur l'environnement sont incertains. L'IITA a développé un programme de recherche variétale sur les bananiers résistants à la Sigatoka. Ce programme innovant intègre l'amélioration génétique par des hybridations et les techniques de culture in vitro tout en garantissant le rendement et la qualité des fruits. En coopération avec le NARES (National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems), des variétés ont été testées ou créées. Cette association a permis également d'étudier les relations hôte-parasite, la stabilité des rendements et l'acceptabilité des nouvelles variétés par les consommateur

Viscoelastic properties of the Achilles tendon in vivo

It has been postulated that human tendons are viscoelastic and their mechanical properties time-dependent. Although Achilles tendon (AT) mechanics are widely reported, there is no consensus about AT viscoelastic properties such as loading rate dependency or hysteresis, in vivo. AT force-elongation characteristics were determined from 14 subjects in an ankle dynamometer at different loading rates using motion capture assisted ultrasonography. AT stiffness and elongation were determined between 10 – 80% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force at fast and slow loading rates. As subjects were unable to consistently match the target unloading rate in the slow condition, AT hysteresis was only calculated for the fast rate. There was a significant difference between the fast and the slow loading rates: 120 ± 6 vs. 21 ± 1% of MVC sˉ¹ (mean ± standard error), respectively. However, neither stiffness (193 ± 18 N mmˉ¹ vs. 207 ± 22 N mmˉ¹) nor elongation at any force level (13.0 ± 1.2 mm vs. 14.3 ± 0.9 mm at 80% of MVC) were significantly different between the fast and slow loading rates. Tendon hysteresis at the fast rate was 5 ± 2%. As stiffness was not sensitive to loading rate and hysteresis was small, it was concluded that elastic properties prevail over viscous properties in the human AT. The current results support the idea that AT stiffness is independent of loading rate.peerReviewe