Molecular Marker Linkage Map for Apple

Linkage maps for two apple clones, White Angel and Rome Beauty, were constructed using isozyme and DNA polymorphisms segregating in a population produced from a Rome Beauty × White Angel cross. The linkage map for White Angel consists of 253 markers arranged in 24 linkage groups and extends over 950 cM. The Rome Beauty map contains 156 markers on 21 linkage groups. The White Angel map was taken as the standard, and we were able to identify linkage groups in Rome Beauty homologous to 13 White Angel linkage groups. The location of several genes not segregating in the Rome Beauty × White Angel population could be determined on the basis of known linkages with segregating markers. Hence, the standard map for apple now contains about 360 markers, with most linkage groups saturated at 10-15 cM. The double pseudotestcross format of the mapping population permitted the comparison of recombination frequencies in male and female parents in certain regions of the genome where appropriate markers were available. The recombination frequencies observed for the approximately 170 cM that were comparable gave no indication that a sex-related difference in recombination rate was characteristic of appl

Radar remote sensing for crop classification and canopy condition assessment: Ground-data documentation

A vegetation and soil-moisture experiment was conducted in order to examine the microwave emission and backscattering from vegetation canopies and soils. The data-acquisition methodology used in conjunction with the mobile radar scatterometer (MRS) systems is described and associated ground-truth data are documented. Test fields were located in the Kansas River floodplain north of Lawrence, Kansas. Ten fields each of wheat, corn, and soybeans were monitored over the greater part of their growing seasons. The tabulated data summarize measurements made by the sensor systems and represent target characteristics. Target parameters describing the vegetation and soil characteristics include plant moisture, density, height, and growth stage, as well as soil moisture and soil-bulk density. Complete listings of pertinent crop-canopy and soil measurements are given

ECRG4 mediates host response to cutaneous infection by regulating neutrophil recruitment and adhesion receptor expression

Rapid neutrophil recruitment is critical for controlling infection, with dysfunctional neutrophil responses in diseases like diabetes associated with greater morbidity and mortality. We have shown that the leukocyte protein ECRG4 enhances early neutrophil recruitment to cutaneous wounds and hypothesized that ECRG4 regulates the early host response to infection. Using a cutaneous infection model, we found that ECRG4 KO mice had decreased early neutrophil recruitment with persistent larger lesions, increased bacterial proliferation and systemic dissemination. Although previous work identified ECRG4 as a negative regulator of CD44 on neutrophils, the mechanism regulating neutrophil recruitment remained unknown. We demonstrated that pro-inflammatory responses were intact in ECRG4 KO mice, but found decreased neutrophil mobilization from bone marrow and decreased migration to chemokines. ECRG4 KO mouse neutrophils demonstrated an increase in adhesion molecules that regulate recruitment, including enhanced induction of integrin CD11b and increased L-selectin and CD44 on bone marrow neutrophils. Analysis of gene expression in leukocytes from diabetic patients found decreased ECRG4 expression with similar increased L-selectin and CD44. We propose a previously unrecognized mechanism governing neutrophil recruitment, whereby ECRG4 mediates neutrophil surface adhesion molecules that determine both recruitment and outside-in signaling that modulates neutrophil response to pro-inflammatory stimuli

Effects of selected oils as natural preservatives on chemical Quality and shelf life of beef kofta

Preservatives of natural sources have become a seemingly better and safer than artificial preservatives. Since these preservatives come from plants, they don’t have negative side effects like artificial preservatives. This study investigated the effects of Laurel nobilis, Moringa oleifera and Olive oils at different concentrations on the sensory attributes and chemical quality of beef Kofta at 4°C for 10 days cold storage period. Results revealed that samples treated with 1% Moringa, 0.5 % Moringa and 1% olive oils maintained the overall acceptability until 10th days of cold storage while those treated with 1 % laurel, 0.5 % laurel and .05 % olive oils got spoiled at 10th day. On the other hand, control samples got spoiled at 8th day of cold storage. Samples treated with selected oils showed marked decrease in their chemical analysis pH, Thiobarbituric Acid (TBA) and Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N). These results indicating that these oils have potent antioxidant effects. Best antibacterial and antioxidant results were obtained in samples treated with 1% Moringa oleifera oil followed by those treated with 1% olive oil then Laurel oil at 0.5% which showed the lowest results with accepted sensory properties. On the other hand, Laurel oil 1% is more effective as antibacterial and antioxidant and demonstrated more enhancements of sensory attributes. So, the results suggested that Laurel oil 1%, Moringa oil 1% and Olive oil 1% can be applied to beef kofta as natural preservatives

Hidden in plain sight: evaluating abstract shape recognition in vision-language models

Despite the importance of shape perception in human vision, early neural image classifiers relied less on shape information for object recognition than other (often spurious) features. While recent research suggests that current large Vision-Language Models (VLMs) exhibit more reliance on shape, we find them to still be seriously limited in this regard. To quantify such limitations, we introduce IllusionBench, a dataset that challenges current cutting-edge VLMs to decipher shape information when the shape is represented by an arrangement of visual elements in a scene. Our extensive evaluations reveal that, while these shapes are easily detectable by human annotators, current VLMs struggle to recognize them, indicating important avenues for future work in developing more robust visual perception systems. The full dataset and codebase are available at: https://arshiahemmat.github.io/illusionbench

Pantic B-spline wavelets and their application for solving linear integral equations

Abstract In this work we deal with the question: how can one improve the approximation level for some nonlinear integral equations? Good candidates for this aim are semi orthogonal B-spline scaling functions and their duals. Although there are different works in this area, only B-spline of degree at most 2 are used for this approximation. Here we compute B-spline scaling functions of degree 4 and their duals, then we will show that, by using them, one can have better approximation results for the solution of integral equations in comparison with less degrees or other kinds of scaling functions. Some numerical examples show their attractiveness and usefulness

Accumulation of lead and zinc by plants colonizing a metal mining area in Central Iran

The Irankouh area, located in Central Iran, is a vast mountainous region with mineralized soils and several active zinc and lead mining and smelting sites. In this study plants and soils from 5 different sites in this area were collected and analyzed for Zn and Pb. Analysis of soils from different sites showed the expected high concentrations of Zn and Pb - up to 23,000 and 18,000 μg g-1 for total, 30 and 20 μg g-1 for exchangeable, 1 and 0.6 μg g-1 for water-soluble fractions, respectively. Plants collected from these sites total 67 species from 66 genera and 29 families. Most of these are annual herbs found also on non-metalliferous soils in this region. The concentrations of Zn and Pb in the leaf dry matter of plants were variable, with up to 4800 μg g-1 for Zn and 740 μg g-1 Pb in Matthiola chenopodiifolia and Pinus elderica, respectively. A significant positive correlation was detected between the concentrations of Zn and Pb in plant dry matter and those in soils. The concentrations of Zn and Pb in the leaves of most species collected were significantly higher than for other plants from non-metalliferous soils. Some accumulator plants found in this area could have potential for soil clean-up by phytoextraction

Phenotyping progenies for complex architectural traits: a strategy for 1-year-old apple trees (Malus x domestica Borkh.)

International audienceThe aim of this study was to define a methodology for describing architectural traits in a quantitative way on tree descendants. Our strategy was to collect traits related to both tree structural organization, resulting from growth and branching, and tree form and then to select among these traits relevant descriptors on the basis of their genetic parameters. Because the complexity of tree architecture increases with tree age, we chose to describe the trees in the early stages of development. The study was carried out on a 1-year-old apple progeny derived from two parent cultivars with contrasted architecture. A large number of variables were collected at different positions and scales within the trees. Broad-sense heritability and genetic correlations were estimated and the within tree variability was analyzed for variables measured on long sylleptic axillary shoots (LSAS). These results were combined to select heritable and not correlated variables. Finally, the selection of variables proposed combines topological with geometric traits measured on both trunks and LSAS: (1) on the trunk, mean internode length, and number of sylleptic axillary shoots; (2) on axillary shoots, conicity, bending, and number of sylleptic axillary shoots born at order 3. The trees of the progeny were partitioned on the basis of these variables. The putative agronomic interest of the selected variables with respect to the subsequent tree development is discussed

Neutrophils, Crucial, or Harmful Immune Cells Involved in Coronavirus Infection: A Bioinformatics Study

The latest member of the Coronaviridae family, called SARS-CoV-2, causes the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The disease has caused a pandemic and is threatening global health. Similar to SARS-CoV, this new virus can potentially infect lower respiratory tract cells and can go on to cause severe acute respiratory tract syndrome, followed by pneumonia and even death in many nations. The molecular mechanism of the disease has not yet been evaluated until now. We analyzed the GSE1739 microarray dataset including 10 SARS-positive PBMC and four normal PBMC. Co-expression network analysis by WGCNA suggested that highly preserved 833 turquoise module with genes were significantly related to SARS-CoV infection. ELANE, ORM2, RETN, BPI, ARG1, DEFA4, CXCL1, and CAMP were the most important genes involved in this disease according to GEO2R analysis as well. The GO analysis demonstrated that neutrophil activation and neutrophil degranulation are the most activated biological processes in the SARS infection as well as the neutrophilia, basophilia, and lymphopenia predicted by deconvolution analysis of samples. Thus, using Serpins and Arginase inhibitors during SARS-CoV infection may be beneficial for increasing the survival of SARS-positive patients. Regarding the high similarity of SARS-CoV-2 to SARS-CoV, the use of such inhibitors might be beneficial for COVID-19 patients

Towards a healthier choice: Investigating no added nitrite beef sausage production using safe alternative approaches

Replacing of sodium nitrite from meat processing is a new promising advance in clean label meat products. The current article explored the positive effects of total replacement of sodium nitrite with a combined antimicrobial and antioxidant mixture comprised of 400 ppm nisin (N), 25 ppm Nano sized zinc oxide (Z), 1% chitosan (C) and 1% roselle extract (R) on proximate and fatty acid composition, cooking loss, color analysis and sensory profile of beef sausage. Four types of beef sausage were prepared as following: NT sausage samples as control positive group containing 120 ppm sodium nitrite, NCR samples (400 ppm N, 1% C and 1% R), ZCR (25 ppm Z, 1% C and 1% R) and NZCR samples containing (400 ppm N, 25 ppm Z, 1% C 5and 1% R). The outcomes of the study displayed that there was no significant difference (P > 0.01) in proximate composition of control (NT) and reformulated (NCR, ZCR and NZCR) samples. Concerning fatty acid profiling, saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were the predominant portions in all sausage types and oleic acid was the prevalent one, moreover, reformulated sausages exhibited lower SFA and higher MUFA and PUFA improving fat quality of reformulated beef sausage. A significant difference in cooking loss percentage was observed in NZCR sausage samples compared to other sausages. Noteworthy, cooked reformulated sausages kept their red color after cooking and their a* values were close to those of NT. Sensory assessment (odor, taste and overall acceptance) of reformulated sausages were higher than NT especially for NZCR that recorded the highest scores. Overall, our findings established that combination of antimicrobials (nisin and Nano sized ZnO), antioxidant (chitosan) along with Roselle extract (for red color enhancement) could be potentially applied as a possible nitrite replacer to produce healthier product free from sodium nitrite