Production of mutants of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici and var. avenae by 4- nitroquinolene-oxide treatment of protoplasts.

The ascomycete fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis is the causative agent of take-all disease of cereals. Much information about the physiology and pathology of this organism has been generated (Asher and Shipton (Eds.) Biology and Control of Take-All , Academic Press, 1981), but genetic studies such as the production of mutants have been hindered by problems in obtaining viable propagules suitable for mutagenesis (Blanch et al. 1981. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 77:391-399). The fungus is homothallic but many strains cannot be induced to form perithecia in culture and even the fertile strains produce insufficient numbers of ascospores for use in mutagenesis. It is, however, possible to produce and regenerate large numbers of protoplasts and Rochefrette et al

Sustainable Sourcing of Global Agricultural Raw Materials: Assessing Gaps in Key Impact and Vulnerability Issues and Indicators.

Understanding how to source agricultural raw materials sustainably is challenging in today's globalized food system given the variety of issues to be considered and the multitude of suggested indicators for representing these issues. Furthermore, stakeholders in the global food system both impact these issues and are themselves vulnerable to these issues, an important duality that is often implied but not explicitly described. The attention given to these issues and conceptual frameworks varies greatly--depending largely on the stakeholder perspective--as does the set of indicators developed to measure them. To better structure these complex relationships and assess any gaps, we collate a comprehensive list of sustainability issues and a database of sustainability indicators to represent them. To assure a breadth of inclusion, the issues are pulled from the following three perspectives: major global sustainability assessments, sustainability communications from global food companies, and conceptual frameworks of sustainable livelihoods from academic publications. These terms are integrated across perspectives using a common vocabulary, classified by their relevance to impacts and vulnerabilities, and categorized into groups by economic, environmental, physical, human, social, and political characteristics. These issues are then associated with over 2,000 sustainability indicators gathered from existing sources. A gap analysis is then performed to determine if particular issues and issue groups are over or underrepresented. This process results in 44 "integrated" issues--24 impact issues and 36 vulnerability issues--that are composed of 318 "component" issues. The gap analysis shows that although every integrated issue is mentioned at least 40% of the time across perspectives, no issue is mentioned more than 70% of the time. A few issues infrequently mentioned across perspectives also have relatively few indicators available to fully represent them. Issues in the impact framework generally have fewer gaps than those in the vulnerability framework

Prevalence of self-reported polycystic ovary syndrome and profiles of health among women of different generations: a cross sectional study

Published 6 September 2019Objective: Although polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is considered a lifelong disorder, very little is understood about the diagnosis and impact of this condition in women outside of the peak reproductive years. We examined the frequency of diagnosed PCOS and concurrent health conditions in women across the lifespan. Methods: Data were analysed from 1509 women aged 15–95 years participating in a cross-sectional, face-to-face population survey in South Australia, 2015. We assessed the prevalence of PCOS in 10-year age groups and the frequency of comorbidities in women with and without PCOS subgrouped by age (< 45, ≥ 45 years). The main outcome measures were Diagnosed PCOS and other chronic conditions; lifestyle factors. Logistic regression analyses determined the risk of comorbidities in women with PCOS adjusting for age and BMI. Results: Overall prevalence of PCOS was 5.6% (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.6–6.9%), peaking in the 35–44 year age group (9.1%), and lowest in those aged 15–24 (4.1%) or ≥ 65 (3.7%) years. Women with PCOS and aged < 45 years were more likely to report diabetes (16.7% vs. 3.8%), cardiovascular disease (15.5% vs. 7.2%) and arthritis (15.5% vs. 7.2%) than their peers; these differences were diminished in the ≥ 45 year age group. The odds of diabetes and cardiovascular disease were more than doubled among women with PCOS (adjOR 2.23, 95% CI 1.49–4.31; adjOR 3.18, 95% CI 1.31–7.68). Conclusion: PCOS is underdiagnosed in young and post-menopausal women. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are key comorbidities requiring greater attention in younger women with PCOS.Jodie C. Avery, Lisa J. Moran, Vivienne Moore, Renae C. Fernandez, Melissa Whitrow, Nigel Stocks, Tiffany K. Gill, Michael Musker, Michael Davies, Alice Rumbol

Dependence of pellet shape and size on pressure drop in thrusters

The most important parameters influencing the pressure drop over a reacting catalyst bed are analyzed using a multiphase multicomponent flow model. The model, in which the gas and liquid phases are treated as separate fluids,simulates the flow of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide from a tank, through the injector, into the catalyst bed to the nozzle. It contains submodels to describe the interphase mass, momentum, and energy transfer occurring in thecatalyst bed, in which it is assumed there is a pellet-based catalyst structure. The main purpose is to investigate the influence of pellet shape and dimensions on the pressure drop over the bed and the required bed length. The model hasbeen verified and validated against experimental data and shows improved predictions of the pressure drop compared with traditionally employed pressure drop models. It is shown that cylindrical pellets with a diameter to length ratio larger than two give a lower pressure drop for a given bed length than spherical pellets. It is furthermore shown that this result is independent of the inlet mass flux and liquid volume fraction distribution and is reliable for high bed to pellet diameter ratios

An assessment of homogeneous catalysis for the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

Liquid catalysts for decomposing hydrogen peroxide in rocket engines have certain advantages over conventional gauzes or pellets. The most potent liquid agents for achieving this decomposition are the permanganates. However, permanganates have a tendency to precipitate at the outlet to the injector and this militates against their use for multiple engine restarts. Against this background, the authors have investigated the feasibility of using different liquid agents to achieve the rapid decomposition needed for use in both monopropellant and bipropellant rocket applications. The results to date suggest that it is unlikely that any of the candidate agents considered will match the performance of the permanganates. However, at least one of the agents (sodium iodide) was found to initiate a very high decomposition rate, albeit with an undesirable initial delay. It was found that ferrous chloride tetrahydrate had no such delay and was capable of producing useful decomposition temperatures

Map Positions of Three Loci in Arabidopsis thaliana Associated with Isolate-Specific Recognition of Peronospora parasitica (Downy mildew)

Our research is aimed al understanding the molecular basis for gene-for-gene interactions between plant parasites and their hosts. A.s a prelude to cloning, the positions in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome were investigated for four of the 10 loci (RPPI, RPP2, RPP4, and RPP7) that have been identified as associated with the genotype-specific recognition of the biotrophic Oomycete Peronospora parasitica (downy mildew). A single cross between accessions Col-5 and Nd-1 was primarily used to map their chromosomal locations. RPPI from Nd-1 was characterized by the absence of asexual sporulation and the occurrence of necrotic pits, visible macroscopically on cotyledons 3 days after inoculation with isolates Emoy2 or Hiksl; this locus was mapped to chromosome 3 in the interval between gll and m 249 (6.6 cM above m249 and 3.9 cM below a RAPD marker OPC121250). RPP2 and RPP7 from accession Col-5(g//) were characterized by the absence of asexual sporulation and the occurrence of necrotic flecks visible 7 days after inoculation with isolates Cala2 and Hiksl, respectively. RPP2 was located between ag and B9 on chromosome 4. RPP7 maps within 13 cM of m422, but linkage with other markers on chromosome 5 was not confirmed. RPP4 from accession Col-5 was characterized by the occurrence of necrotic flecks and delayed, light sporulation 7 days after inoculation with isolates Emoy2 and Emwal; this locus also maps to chromosome 4, 14.8 cM above RPP2