Characterization of Lr46, a gene conferring partial resistance to wheat leaf rust

Components of resistance conferred by the Lr46 gene, reported as causing "slow rusting" resistance to leaf rust in wheat, were studied and compared with the effects of Lr34 and genes for quantitative resistance in cv. Akabozu. Lr34 is a gene that confers non-hypersensitive type of resistance. The effect of Lr46 resembles that of Lr34 and other wheats reported with partial resistance. At macroscopic level, Lr46 produced a longer latency period than observed on the susceptible recurrent parent Lalbahadur, and a reduction of the infection frequency not associated with hypersensitivity. Microscopically, Lr46 increased the percentage of early aborted infection units not associated with host cell necrosis and decreased the colony size. The effect of Lr46 is comparable to that of Lr34 in adult plant stage, but in seedling stage its effect is weaker than that of Lr34

Locally erasable couplers for optical device testing in silicon on insulator

Wafer scale testing is critical to reducing production costs and increasing production yield. Here we report a method that allows testing of individual optical components within a complex optical integrated circuit. The method is based on diffractive grating couplers, fabricated using lattice damage induced by ion implantation of germanium. These gratings can be erased via localised laser annealing, which is shown to reduce the outcoupling efficiency by over 20 dB after the device testing is completed. Laser annealing was achieved by employing a CW laser, operating at visible wavelengths thus reducing equipment costs and allowing annealing through thick oxide claddings. The process used also retains CMOS compatibility

DGAT1 overexpression in muscle by in vivo DNA electroporation increases intramyocellular lipid content.

In adipose tissue, the microsomal enzyme 1,2-acyl CoA:diacylglyceroltransferase-1 (DGAT1) plays an important role in triglyceride storage. Because DGAT1 is expressed in skeletal muscle as well, we aimed to directly test the effect of DGAT1 on muscular triglyceride storage by overexpressing DGAT1 using in vivo DNA electroporation. A pcDNA3.1-DGAT1 construct in saline was injected in the left tibialis anterior muscle of rats, followed by the application of eight transcutaneous pulses, using the contralateral leg as sham-electroporated control. Electroporation of the DGAT1 construct led to significant overexpression of the DGAT1 protein. The functionality of DGAT1 overexpression is underscored by the pronounced diet-responsive increase in intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) storage. In chow-fed rats, DGAT1-positive myocytes showed significantly higher IMCL content compared with the control leg, which was almost devoid of IMCL (1.99 +/- 1.13% vs. 0.017 +/- 0.014% of total area fraction; P <0.05). High-fat feeding increased IMCL levels in both DGAT1-positive and control myocytes, resulting in very high IMCL levels in DGAT1-overexpressing myocytes (4.96 +/- 1.47% vs. 0.80 +/- 0.14%; P <0.05). Our findings indicate that DGAT1 contributes to the storage of IMCL and that in vivo DNA electroporation is a promising tool to examine the functional consequences of altered gene expression in mature skeletal muscle

Robust association between autistic traits and psychotic-like experiences in the adult general population: epidemiological study from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey and replication with the 2014 APMS

Background Studies have shown that there are overlapping traits and symptoms between autism and psychosis but no study to date has addressed this association from an epidemiological approach in the adult general population. Furthermore, it is not clear whether autistic traits are associated with specific symptoms of psychosis or with psychosis in general. We assess these associations for the first time by using the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007 and the APMS 2014, predicting an association between autistic traits and probable psychosis, and specific associations between autistic traits and paranoia and strange experiences. Methods Participants (N = 7353 in 2007 and 7500 in 2014) completed the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire (PSQ) and a 20-item version of the Autism Quotient (AQ-20). Binomial logistic regressions were performed using AQ-20 as the independent variable and probable psychosis and specific symptoms as dependent variables. Results In the APMS 2007 dataset, significant associations were found between autism traits and probable psychosis, paranoia, thought insertion, and strange experiences. These results were replicated in APMS 2014 but with the additional significant association between autistic traits and hallucinations. Participants in the highest quartile of the AQ-20, compared with the lowest quartile, had an increased risk of probable psychosis of odds ratio (OR) = 15.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.57–52.6] in APMS 2007 and OR = 22.5 (95% CI 7.64–66.3) in APMS 2014. Conclusions Autistic traits are strongly associated with probable psychosis and psychotic experiences with the exception of mania. Limitations such as the cross-sectional nature of the study are discussed

Capability, opportunity, and motivation to enact hygienic practices in the early stages of the COVID‐19 outbreak in the United Kingdom

Objectives The COVID‐19 pandemic is one of the greatest global health threats facing humanity in recent memory. This study aimed to explore influences on hygienic practices, a set of key transmission behaviours, in relation to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation‐Behaviour (COM‐B) model of behaviour change (Michie et al., 2011). Design Data from the first wave of a longitudinal survey study were used, launched in the early stages of the UK COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods Participants were 2025 adults aged 18 and older, representative of the UK population, recruited by a survey company from a panel of research participants. Participants self‐reported motivation, capability, and opportunity to enact hygienic practices during the COVID‐19 outbreak. Results Using regression models, we found that all three COM‐B components significantly predicted good hygienic practices, with motivation having the greatest influence on behaviour. Breaking this down further, the subscales psychological capability, social opportunity, and reflective motivation positively influenced behaviour. Reflective motivation was largely driving behaviour, with those highest in reflective motivation scoring 51% more on the measure of hygienic practices compared with those with the lowest scores. Conclusions Our findings have clear implications for the design of behaviour change interventions to promote hygienic practices. Interventions should focus on increasing and maintaining motivation to act and include elements that promote and maintain social support and knowledge of COVID‐19 transmission. Groups in particular need of targeting for interventions to increase hygienic practices are males and those living in cities and suburbs

Comparative analysis of the fecal microbiota from different species of domesticated and wild suids

This study was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) from the Spanish Government (grant number AGL2016-78160-C2-1-R). The authors are also grateful to the Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Programme and Global Alliance for Research on African swine fever (GARA). The authors thank Frederic Paboeuf and Audrey Fougeroux for providing SPF and domestic pig samples.Most of the microorganisms living in a symbiotic relationship in different animal body sites (microbiota) reside in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Several studies have shown that the microbiota is involved in host susceptibilities to pathogens. The fecal microbiota of domestic and wild suids was analyzed. Bacterial communities were determined from feces obtained from domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) raised under different conditions: specific-pathogen-free (SPF) pigs and domestic pigs from the same bred, and indigenous domestic pigs from a backyard farm in Kenya. Secondly, the fecal microbiota composition of the African swine fever (ASF) resistant warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) from Africa and a European zoo was determined. African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating disease for domestic pigs. African animals showed the highest microbial diversity while the SPF pigs the lowest. Analysis of the core microbiota from warthogs (resistant to ASF) and pigs (susceptible to ASF) showed 45 shared OTUs, while 6 OTUs were exclusively present in resistant animals. These six OTUs were members of the Moraxellaceae family, Pseudomonadales order and Paludibacter, Anaeroplasma, Petrimonas, and Moraxella genera. Further characterization of these microbial communities should be performed to determine the potential involvement in ASF resistance

Conserved Quasilocal Quantities and General Covariant Theories in Two Dimensions

General matterless--theories in 1+1 dimensions include dilaton gravity, Yang--Mills theory as well as non--Einsteinian gravity with dynamical torsion and higher power gravity, and even models of spherically symmetric d = 4 General Relativity. Their recent identification as special cases of 'Poisson--sigma--models' with simple general solution in an arbitrary gauge, allows a comprehensive discussion of the relation between the known absolutely conserved quantities in all those cases and Noether charges, resp. notions of quasilocal 'energy--momentum'. In contrast to Noether like quantities, quasilocal energy definitions require some sort of 'asymptotics' to allow an interpretation as a (gauge--independent) observable. Dilaton gravitation, although a little different in detail, shares this property with the other cases. We also present a simple generalization of the absolute conservation law for the case of interactions with matter of any type.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX-fil

The Milky Way Bulge: Observed properties and a comparison to external galaxies

The Milky Way bulge offers a unique opportunity to investigate in detail the role that different processes such as dynamical instabilities, hierarchical merging, and dissipational collapse may have played in the history of the Galaxy formation and evolution based on its resolved stellar population properties. Large observation programmes and surveys of the bulge are providing for the first time a look into the global view of the Milky Way bulge that can be compared with the bulges of other galaxies, and be used as a template for detailed comparison with models. The Milky Way has been shown to have a box/peanut (B/P) bulge and recent evidence seems to suggest the presence of an additional spheroidal component. In this review we summarise the global chemical abundances, kinematics and structural properties that allow us to disentangle these multiple components and provide constraints to understand their origin. The investigation of both detailed and global properties of the bulge now provide us with the opportunity to characterise the bulge as observed in models, and to place the mixed component bulge scenario in the general context of external galaxies. When writing this review, we considered the perspectives of researchers working with the Milky Way and researchers working with external galaxies. It is an attempt to approach both communities for a fruitful exchange of ideas.Comment: Review article to appear in "Galactic Bulges", Editors: Laurikainen E., Peletier R., Gadotti D., Springer Publishing. 36 pages, 10 figure