Genetic analysis of wheat domestication and evolution under domestication

Wheat is undoubtedly one of the world's major food sources since the dawn of Near Eastern agriculture and up to the present day. Morphological, physiological, and genetic modifications involved in domestication and subsequent evolution under domestication were investigated in a tetraploid recombinant inbred line population, derived from a cross between durum wheat and its immediate progenitor wild emmer wheat. Experimental data were used to test previous assumptions regarding a protracted domestication process. The brittle rachis (Br) spike, thought to be a primary characteristic of domestication, was mapped to chromosome 2A as a single gene, suggesting, in light of previously reported Br loci (homoeologous group 3), a complex genetic model involved in spike brittleness. Twenty-seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring threshability and yield components (kernel size and number of kernels per spike) were mapped. The large number of QTLs detected in this and other studies suggests that following domestication, wheat evolutionary processes involved many genomic changes. The Br gene did not show either genetic (co-localization with QTLs) or phenotypic association with threshability or yield components, suggesting independence of the respective loci. It is argued here that changes in spike threshability and agronomic traits (e.g. yield and its components) are the outcome of plant evolution under domestication, rather than the result of a protracted domestication process. Revealing the genomic basis of wheat domestication and evolution under domestication, and clarifying their inter-relationships, will improve our understanding of wheat biology and contribute to further crop improvement

Techno economical analysis on integration of solar pv with battery energy storage systems for domestic consumers

As emphasis on renewable energy increases harnessing the maximum solar energy potential has become imperative. However the effective use of its potential is restricted by certain factors. The inherent feature of intermittency causes variations in power and voltage while the dependency on time of generation during day time limits its actual requirement. A night time peak as in Sri Lanka demands a cost effective renewable solution. Battery Energy Storage systems provide an integral solution for both these limitations. A case is studied on implementing a PV combined Battery Energy storage system on domestic consumers with two investment scenarios. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of Photovoltaic and Battery Energy Storage System (PVBESS) reduces with increasing system capacity and a 5kW domestic PVBESS configuration shall have a LCOE of Rs.42.14 on a combined consumer utility investment plan. It is presented that under a peak energy system based on gas turbines could be replaced by a combined investment of consumer and utility on battery energy storage with both parties gaining equal benefit. However the implementation of such scheme is heavily dependent on the Peak power energy mix. . Hence extensive commitment on implementing a PVBESS solution could lead to a loss to the utility, if the share of Gas turbines energy during the peak hours is less than 80%

Low cost eye tracking system: detection of pupil centre and corneal reflection

This paper discusses a method of implementing the detection of pupil centre and corneal reflection for a low cost, remote eye tracking system that is designed for usability analysis researches. The method we have used to measure the eye gaze is tracking corneal reflection and the pupil centre of the eye, where the paper focuses on how those features are tracked from a video input that have captured the subjects ' eye movements. The method suggested here is capable of tracking the pupil centre even from an eye with less colour contrast between the pupil and the iris and also endures head movements of the subjects. The test results are included in terms of accuracy of the method to the changes in point of gaze and distance between the computer screen and the user. The limitations of modern eye trackers and possible solutions are also addressed in this paper

Entrepreneurial Origin and the Configuration of Innovation in Rural Areas: The Case of Cumbria, North West England

This paper examines the incidence of innovation and the configuration of innovation systems in rural areas, which are viewed as possessing weak knowledge-generating subsystems. Drawing on the results of a microlevel study in rural Cumbria, North West England, the paper shows that entrepreneurs were able to access nonlocal knowledge infrastructure. Thus, the emergent actor-constructed regional innovation system stretched well beyond the confines of Cumbria. This configuration can be explained, in large part, by considering entrepreneurial origin. New arrivals (especially immigrants) demonstrated the greatest propensity to innovate, using innovation systems which cut across the regional and national boundaries. Locally born and returnee entrepreneurs demonstrated a low incidence of innovation. The paper concludes that a distinction between regional innovation systems (as macrolevel analytical units with a normative dimension) and actor-constructed regional innovation systems (as microlevel descriptive units) offers scope for the advancement of research in this field of study