System enables more complete calibrations of dynamic-pressure transducers

Absolute pressure calibration system using a Michelson interferometer calibrates phase characteristics and pressure sensitivities of the transducers that monitor acoustic or aerodynamic pressure fields. The interferometer uses a helium-neon laser light source and interchangeable acoustic signal generators to produce acoustic waves

Absolute pressure transducer calibration device Final report

Device for calibrating high intensity, high frequency transduce

ArcGIS StoryMaps Facilitates Student Learning

Second Annual University of Arkansas Teaching and Learning Symposium: Sharing Teaching Ideas As a tool that allows for the creation of a geospatial multimedia story, ArcGIS StoryMaps facilitates students’ learning both inside and outside of the classroom. This interactive software offers students the opportunity to express their understanding of an input and elaborate upon it in original and personal ways using various sources. In this presentation, we will illustrate how ArcGIS can be used successfully in an advanced Italian language class to engage students with a fable by Somali-Italian acclaimed writer Igiaba Scego, Prestami le ali. Examples of scaffolded and collaborative activities demonstrate how students were able to retell the original text with their own words and images. ArcGIS supports students’ understanding of the text and its cultural components by making its storyline and geography more relatable. Moreover, it stimulates students’ creativity by expanding the text with details that make the story more accessible and the story’s geography easier to identify. The various assignments stimulated the students’ creativity and gave them the opportunity to practice the Italian language with topics that align with their interests

ArcGIS StoryMaps Facilitates Student Learning

Second Annual University of Arkansas Teaching and Learning Symposium: Sharing Teaching Ideas As a tool that allows for the creation of a geospatial multimedia story, ArcGIS StoryMaps facilitates students’ learning both inside and outside of the classroom. This interactive software offers students the opportunity to express their understanding of an input and elaborate upon it in original and personal ways using various sources. In this presentation, we will illustrate how ArcGIS can be used successfully in an advanced Italian language class to engage students with a fable by Somali-Italian acclaimed writer Igiaba Scego, Prestami le ali. Examples of scaffolded and collaborative activities demonstrate how students were able to retell the original text with their own words and images. ArcGIS supports students’ understanding of the text and its cultural components by making its storyline and geography more relatable. Moreover, it stimulates students’ creativity by expanding the text with details that make the story more accessible and the story’s geography easier to identify. The various assignments stimulated the students’ creativity and gave them the opportunity to practice the Italian language with topics that align with their interests

Genetic mapping of maize streak virus resistance from the Mascarene source. I. Resistance in line D211 and stability against different virus clones

Maize streak virus (MSV) disease may cause significant grain yield reductions in maize in Africa. Réunion island maize germplasm is a proven source of strong resistance. Its genetic control was investigated using 123 RFLP markers in an F2 population of D211 (resistant) × B73 (susceptible). This population of 165 F2:3 families was carefully evaluated in Harare (Zimbabwe) and in Réunion. Artificial infestation was done with viruliferous leafhoppers. Each plant was rated weekly six times after infestation on a 1–9 scale previously adjusted by image analysis. QTL analyses were conducted for each scoring date, and for the areas under the disease, incidence and severity progress curves. The composite interval mapping method used allowed the estimation of the additive and dominance effects and QTL × environment interactions. Heritabilities ranged from 73% to 98%, increasing with time after infestation. Resistance to streak virus in D211 was provided by one region on chromosome 1, with a major effect, and four other regions on chromosomes 2, 3 (two regions) and 10, with moderate or minor effects. Overall, they explained 48–62% of the phenotypic variation for the different variables. On chromosome 3, one of the two regions seemed to be more involved in early resistance, whereas the second was detected at the latest scoring date. Other QTLs were found to be stable over time and across environments. Mild QTL × environment interactions were detected. Global gene action appeared to be partially dominant, in favor of resistance, except at the earliest scoring dates, where it was additive. From this population, 32 families were chosen, representing the whole range of susceptibility to MSV. They were tested in Réunion against three MSV clones, along with a co-inoculation of two of them. Virulence differences between clones were significant. There were genotype × clone interactions, and these were more marked for disease incidence than for severity. Although these interactions were not significant for the mean disease scores, it is suggested that breeders should select for completely resistant genotypes

Genetic mapping of maize streak virus resistance from the Mascarene source. II. Resistance in line CIRAD390 and stability across germplasm

The streak disease has a major effect on maize in sub-Saharan Africa. Various genetic factors for resistance to the virus have been identified and mapped in several populations; these factors derive from different sources of resistance. We have focused on the Réunion island source and have recently identified several factors in the D211 line. A second very resistant line, CIRAD390, was crossed to the same susceptible parent, B73. The linkage map comprised 124 RFLP markers, of which 79 were common with the D211×B73 map. A row-column design was used to evaluate the resistance to maize streak virus (MSV) of 191 F2:3 families under artificial infestation at two locations: Harare (Zimbabwe) and in Réunion island. Weekly ratings of resistance were taken and disease incidence and severity calculated. QTL analyses were conducted for each scoring date and for the integration over time of the disease scores, of incidence, and of severity. Heritability estimates (71–98%) were as high as for the D211×B73 population. Eight QTLs were detected on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5 (two QTLs), 6, 8, and 10. The chr1-QTL explained the highest proportion of phenotypic variation, about 45%. The QTLs on chromosomes 1, 2, and 10 were located in the same chromosomal bin as QTLs for MSV resistance in the D211×B73 population. In a simultaneous fit, QTLs explained together 43–67% of the phenotypic variation. The QTLs on chromosomes 3, 5, and 6 appeared to be specific for one or the other component of the resistance. For the chr3-QTL, resistance was contributed by the susceptible parent. There were significant QTL × environment interactions for some of the variables studied, but QTLs were stable in the two environments. They also appeared to be stable over time. Global gene action ranged from partial dominance to overdominance, except for disease severity. Some additional putative QTLs were also detected. The major QTL on chromosome 1 seemed to be common to the other sources of resistance, namely Tzi4, a tolerant line from IITA, and CML202 from CIMMYT. However, the distribution of the other QTLs within the genome revealed differences in Réunion germplasm and across these other resistance sources. This diversity is of great importance when considering the durability of the resistance

The genetics-BIDS extension: Easing the search for genetic data associated with human brain imaging

Metadata are what makes databases searchable. Without them, researchers would have difficulty finding data with features they are interested in. Brain imaging genetics is at the intersection of two disciplines, each with dedicated dictionaries and ontologies facilitating data search and analysis. Here, we present the genetics Brain Imaging Data Structure extension, consisting of metadata files for human brain imaging data to which they are linked, and describe succinctly the genomic and transcriptomic data associated with them, which may be in different databases. This extension will facilitate identifying micro-scale molecular features that are linked to macro-scale imaging repositories, facilitating data aggregation across studies