Genetic diversity of gliadin pattern, morphological traits and baking quality in doubled haploid wheat

This study aimed at assessing the genetic diversity of 102 lines doubled haploid wheat (sent from CIMMYT) using acid-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (A-PAGE) method, morphological traits and baking quality. Cluster analysis according to morphological traits divided all genotypes into four groups, so that genotypes with high yield were placed in one group. However, by cluster analysis according to their qualitative traits, the genotypes were classified into three main groups, while genotypes with higher amount of protein was placed in a separate group. In the studied lines, 48 bands and 47 different patterns were detected and polymorphism was observed in most of the bands. In the ω area, 18 bands and 19 different patterns were observed and the most amount of band was observed in this area. In γ and β areas, 12 and 9 bands, 19 and 12 patterns were observed, respectively. The least pattern variety was seen in area, presumably because the bands did not separate properly in the onedimensional electrophoresis in this area. Seven patterns and nine bands were observed in this area. Using Nei formula and according to the patterns, the genetic diversity for all four areas (α, β, γ, ω) was calculated, according to which γ area with H = 0.872 had the most genetic diversity, then came ω and β areas with H = 0.767 and H = 0.714, respectively, and the least genetic diversity was observed in area with H = 0.646. Cluster analysis according to protein bands has classified genotypes into 9 main groups. Although the lines studied in this research had the same parents, considerable diversity was observed among them. Therefore, the electrophoresis of polyacrylamide gel of gliadins can be used as a strong system for identifying similar varieties. While comparing the observed patterns, one pattern in area was proved to be relevant to the trait of the number of grain per spikelet, which can be used as a marker in order to increase yield

Lessons for Remote Post-earthquake Reconnaissance from the 14 August 2021 Haiti Earthquake

On 14th August 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Tiburon Peninsula in the Caribbean nation of Haiti, approximately 150 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince. Aftershocks up to moment magnitude 5.7 followed and over 1,000 landslides were triggered. These events led to over 2,000 fatalities, 15,000 injuries and more than 137,000 structural failures. The economic impact is of the order of US$1.6 billion. The on-going Covid pandemic and a complex political and security situation in Haiti meant that deploying earthquake engineers from the UK to assess structural damage and identify lessons for future building construction was impractical. Instead, the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) carried out a hybrid mission, modelled on the previous EEFIT Aegean Mission of 2020. The objectives were: to use open-source information, particularly remote sensing data such as InSAR and Optical/Multispectral imagery, to characterise the earthquake and associated hazards; to understand the observed strong ground motions and compare these to existing seismic codes; to undertake remote structural damage assessments, and to evaluate the applicability of the techniques used for future post-disaster assessments. Remote structural damage assessments were conducted in collaboration with the Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) team, who mobilised a group of local non-experts to rapidly record building damage. The EEFIT team undertook damage assessment for over 2,000 buildings comprising schools, hospitals, churches and housing to investigate the impact of the earthquake on building typologies in Haiti. This paper summarises the mission setup and findings, and discusses the benefits, and difficulties, encountered during this hybrid reconnaissance mission

Lessons for Remote Post-earthquake Reconnaissance from the 14 August 2021 Haiti Earthquake

On 14th August 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Tiburon Peninsula in the Caribbean nation of Haiti, approximately 150 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince. Aftershocks up to moment magnitude 5.7 followed and over 1,000 landslides were triggered. These events led to over 2,000 fatalities, 15,000 injuries and more than 137,000 structural failures. The economic impact is of the order of US$1.6 billion. The on-going Covid pandemic and a complex political and security situation in Haiti meant that deploying earthquake engineers from the UK to assess structural damage and identify lessons for future building construction was impractical. Instead, the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) carried out a hybrid mission, modelled on the previous EEFIT Aegean Mission of 2020. The objectives were: to use open-source information, particularly remote sensing data such as InSAR and Optical/Multispectral imagery, to characterise the earthquake and associated hazards; to understand the observed strong ground motions and compare these to existing seismic codes; to undertake remote structural damage assessments, and to evaluate the applicability of the techniques used for future post-disaster assessments. Remote structural damage assessments were conducted in collaboration with the Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) team, who mobilised a group of local non-experts to rapidly record building damage. The EEFIT team undertook damage assessment for over 2,000 buildings comprising schools, hospitals, churches and housing to investigate the impact of the earthquake on building typologies in Haiti. This paper summarises the mission setup and findings, and discusses the benefits, and difficulties, encountered during this hybrid reconnaissance mission.</jats:p

Body Mass Index and Sex and Their Effect on Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Cartilage Repair: An Insight from the ICRS Patient Registry

BackgroundChondral injuries in the knee, whether isolated or accompanying other injuries are found in as many as 60% of arthroscopic examinations. Although current research has identified negative outcomes for patients with a BMI &gt;30kg/m2 undergoing chondral repair, our understanding of the relationship between pre-surgery BMI and post-operative patient reported outcomes across all BMI categories remains lacking. Through the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS) Patient Registry, this study aimed to explore this relationship, taking into account sex variations.MethodsThe ICRS Patient Registry was used to extract the data for this study. The outcomes in focus were the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and EQ-5D scores. Pearson and Spearman correlation methods were applied and the level of significance was set as = 0.05.ResultsOf 3,194 Registry patients at the time of data extraction, 1,757 had undergone a surgical procedure, and 336 of these had complete KOOS or EQ-5D scores available for 6-weeks, 6-months, and 1-year post-operation. Analyses revealed that neither male (average BMI – 28.2kg/m2) nor female (average BMI – 25.3 kg/m2) datasets indicated a correlation between BMI and the patient-reported outcomes.ConclusionBMI, irrespective of sex, is not correlated with patient-reported outcomes in patients enrolled in the ICRS Registry with a BMI &lt;30kg/m2. Although BMIs in the overweight classification were not associated with poorer outcomes than BMIs in the normal classification, the current literature continues to support the notion that a BMI &gt;30kg/m2 is linked to poor cartilage repair and failure.<br/

Comparing shear type metallic and fluid viscous energy dissipation devices using real-time hybrid testing

Passive energy dissipation devices have been implemented in many seismic protection strategies worldwide, particularly in retrofit. Typically placed in parts of a structure experiencing significant relative motion, they work to reduce this motion and thus, structural damage, improving chances of immediate occupancy. There are various types of devices: generally classified by their energy dissipation mechanism. However, few studies explore the benefits and drawbacks of different types of devices, directly comparing their seismic performance. Towards such a comparison two devices, a steel shear and a fluid viscous device have been jointly tested. These devices exhibit very different attributes and to gauge their relative performance, both sinusoidal (behavioural) and real-time hybrid tests are conducted. A relatively new technique, real-time hybrid testing couples the devices to a building model, realistically simulating seismic response under retrofit, capturing difficult to model nonlinear, strain rate and temperature dependent device properties to thus, allow direct assessment of both device state and its influence on the structural system. Though the fluid viscous device appears slightly more effective, device choice is not straightforward. The effect of retrofitting with both devices acting together in a structure is also investigated, it is clear that distributing devices throughout the structure is advantageous

Geographically distributed hybrid testing & collaboration between geotechnical centrifuge and structures laboratories

Distributed Hybrid Testing (DHT) is an experimental technique designed to capitalise on advances in modern networking infrastructure to overcome traditional laboratory capacity limitations. By coupling the heterogeneous test apparatus and computational resources of geographically distributed laboratories, DHT provides the means to take on complex, multi-disciplinary challenges with new forms of communication and collaboration. To introduce the opportunity and practicability afforded by DHT, here an exemplar multi-site test is addressed in which a dedicated fibre network and suite of custom software is used to connect the geotechnical centrifuge at the University of Cambridge with a variety of structural dynamics loading apparatus at the University of Oxford and the University of Bristol. While centrifuge time-scaling prevents real-time rates of loading in this test, such experiments may be used to gain valuable insights into physical phenomena, test procedure and accuracy. These and other related experiments have led to the development of the real-time DHT technique and the creation of a flexible framework that aims to facilitate future distributed tests within the UK and beyond. As a further example, a real-time DHT experiment between structural labs using this framework for testing across the Internet is also presented.<br/