778 research outputs found
The effect of magnetic activity saturation in chromospheric flux-flux relationships
We present a homogeneous study of chromospheric and coronal flux-flux
relationships using a sample of 298 late-type dwarf active stars with spectral
types F to M. The chromospheric lines were observed simultaneously in each star
to avoid spread due to long term variability. Unlike other works, we subtract
the basal chromospheric contribution in all the spectral lines studied. For the
first time, we quantify the departure of dMe stars from the general relations.
We show that dK and dKe stars also deviate from the general trend. Studying the
flux-colour diagrams we demonstrate that the stars deviating from the general
relations are those with saturated X-ray emission and that those stars also
present saturation in the H line. Using several age spectral
indicators, we show that they are younger stars than those following the
general relationships. The non-universality of flux-flux relationships found in
this work should be taken into account when converting between fluxes in
different chromospheric activity indicators.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Societ
Genomics for transforming yam breeding
Yam (Dioscorea spp.), a multispecies,
polyploidy, and vegetatively
propagated crop, is an economically
important staple food for more than
300 million people in West Africa,
Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean.
The five major yam-producing
countries in West Africa (Bénin,
Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria,
and Togo) account for 93% of
worldwide production. Dioscorea
rotundata and D. alata are the
species most commonly cultivated
in West Africa1. The genetic
improvement of yam is faced
with several constraints, including
the long growth cycle (about 8
months or more), dioecy, plants
that flower poorly or not at all,
polyploidy, vegetative propagation,
heterozygous genetic background,
and poor knowledge about the
genetics of the crop2
Yam breeding at IITA: achievements, challenges, and prospects
African food system
Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a multispecies,
clonally propagated crop
cultivated for its starchy tubers.
About 10 species are widely
cultivated around the world, but
only D. rotundata, D. alata, and
D. cayenensis are the most widely
cultivated species in West Africa,
accounting for 93% of the global
yam production. Since inception,
IITA R4D efforts have focused on
developing new varieties of yam
with desired agronomic and quality
traits and to improve yam-based
cropping systems
Metabolite profiling of yam (Dioscorea spp.) accessions for use in crop improvement programmes
Article purchased; Published online: 14 Oct. 2017Introduction Ninety-seven percent of yam (Dioscorea spp.) production takes place in low income food deficit countries (LIFDCs) and the crop provides 200 calories a day to approximately 300 million people. Therefore, yams are vital for food security. Yams have high-yield potential and high market value potential yet current breeding of yam is hindered by a lack of genomic information and genetic resources. New tools are needed to modernise breeding strategies and unlock the potential of yam to improve livelihood
in LIFDCs.
Objectives Metabolomic screening has been undertaken on a diverse panel of Dioscorea accessions to assess the utility of the approach for advancing breeding strategies in this understudied crop. Methods Polar and lipophilic extracts from tubers of accessions from the global yam breeding program have been
comprehensively profiled via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Results A visual pathway representation of the measured yam tuber metabolome has been delivered as a resource for biochemical evaluation of yam germplasm. Over 200 compounds were routinely measured in tubers, providing a major advance for the chemo-typing of this crop. Core biochemical redundancy concealed trends that were only elucidated following detailed mining of global metabolomics data. Combined analysis on leaf and tuber material identified a subset of metabolites which allow accurate species classification and highlighted the potential of predicting tuber composition from leaf profiles. Metabolic variation was accessionspecific
and often localised to compound classes, which will aid trait-targeting for metabolite markers.
Conclusions Metabolomics provides a standalone platform with potential to deliver near-future crop gains for yam. The approach compliments the genetic advancements currently underway and integration with other ‘–omics’ studies will deliver a significant advancement to yam breeding strategies
Chromospheric activity and rotation of FGK stars in the solar vicinity. An estimation of the radial velocity jitter
Context: Chromospheric activity produces both photometric and spectroscopic
variations that can be mistaken as planets. Large spots crossing the stellar
disc can produce planet-like periodic variations in the light curve of a star.
These spots clearly affect the spectral line profiles and their perturbations
alter the line centroids creating a radial velocity jitter that might
contaminate" the variations induced by a planet. Precise chromospheric activity
measurements are needed to estimate the activity-induced noise that should be
expected for a given star. Aims: We obtain precise chromospheric activity
measurements and projected rotational velocities for nearby (d < 25 pc) cool
(spectral types F to K) stars, to estimate their expected activity-related
jitter. As a complementary objective, we attempt to obtain relationships
between fluxes in different activity indicator lines, that permit a
transformation of traditional activity indicators, i.e, CaII H & K lines, to
others that hold noteworthy advantages. Methods: We used high resolution
(~50000) echelle optical spectra. To determine the chromospheric emission of
the stars in the sample, we used the spectral subtraction technique. Rotational
velocities were determined using the cross-correlation technique. To infer
activity-related radial velocity (RV) jitter, we used empirical relationships
between this jitter and the R'_HK index. Results: We measured chromospheric
activity, as given by different indicators throughout the optical spectra, and
projected rotational velocities for 371 nearby cool stars. We have built
empirical relationships among the most important chromospheric emission lines.
Finally, we used the measured chromospheric activity to estimate the expected
RV jitter for the active stars in the sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Exalted dual-scale surface roughening in laser ablated aluminum capped with a transparent thin film: Wetting and anti-icing behavior
Near infrared laser ablation of metals, specifically aluminum, has been systematically applied to generate surface roughness. Very high laser fluences may even lead to a so called “explosive” ablation regime where roughness becomes dramatically enhanced. In the present work we have developed an alternative methodology that, utilizing milder laser irradiation conditions (i.e. laser fluences from 0.37 to 0.72 J/cm²), renders aluminum surfaces with a dual-scale roughness character and Sp parameter values twice or even trice the value found in reference samples. This has been possible for aluminum substrates coated with a highly transparent aluminum oxynitride capping layer. The resulting surfaces, consisting of very rough partially oxidized aluminum with negligible amounts of nitrogen species, resulted highly hydrophobic and depicted long icing delay times as required for anti-icing applications. A correlation has been found between the wetting and anti-icing behaviors, the use of a capping layer and the laser irradiation conditions. To account for this exalted roughening phenomenon, we propose that the transparent capping layer confines the laser energy within the aluminum shallow zones, delays the formation of the plasma plume and produces an enhancement in the aluminum ablation, even at relatively low laser fluences.University of Seville through the VI PPIT-USMCIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103
Magnetic properties of iron powder sintered by medium-frequency electrical resistance sintering
Medium-frequency electrical resistance sintering (MF-ERS) is a technique that uses the application of pressure and heat, heat coming from the Joule effect, simultaneously to metallic powders. In this study, this technique consolidates commercial iron powders, and the porosity distribution and hysteresis curves of the compacts were analysed. Compact consolidated by conventional powder metallurgy (PM) was compared with the results obtained
TYC 8380-1953-1: Discovery of an RS CVn binary through the XMM-Newton slew survey
In this paper we report the discovery of the chromospherically active (RS CVn
type) binary TYC 8380-1953-1 through the XMM-Newton slew survey and present
results of our optical and X-ray follow-up. With a flux limit of erg cm s in the soft band ( keV), the
XMM-Newton slew has a similar sensitivity to the ROSAT All Sky Survey allowing
interesting sources to be identified by their long-term variability. Two
different types of stellar sources are detected in shallow X-ray surveys: young
stars (both pre-main and main sequence stars) and chromospherically active
binaries (BY Dra and RS CVn type systems). The discovery of stars in such
surveys and the study of their nature through optical follow-ups is valuable to
determine their spatial distribution and scale height in the Galaxy. Our
analysis shows that TYC 8380-1953-1 is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with
both components having similar spectral type (likely K0/2+K3/5) and luminosity.
With a typical coronal temperature for an RS CVn system ( keV)
and an X-ray luminosity in the keV energy band higher than erg\,s, TYC 8380-1953-1 lies among the most X-ray luminous RS
CVn binaries.Comment: Accepted for publication in the PASP. 18 pages, 10 figure
Development of genomic simple sequence repeat markers for yam
Yam (
Dioscorea
spp.) is a major staple crop
widely cultivated for its starchy tubers. To date,
very few marker resources are publicly avail
-
able as tools for genetic and genomic studies of
this economically important crop. In this study,
90 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were
developed from an enriched genomic library of
yellow Guinea yam (
D. cayenensis
Lam.). Cross-
amplification revealed that 85 (94.4%) and 51
(56.7%) of these SSRs could be successfully
transferred to the two major cultivated species
of
D. rotundata
Poir. and
D. alata
L., respec
-
tively. Polymorphisms in 30 markers selected
on the basis of reliability and reproducibility of
DNA bands were evaluated using a panel of 12
D. cayenensis
, 48
D. rotundata
, and 48
D. alata
accessions. Accordingly, number of alleles
per locus ranged from 2 to 8 in
D. cayenensis
(mean = 3.9), 3 to 30 in
D. rotundata
(mean =
13.9), and 2 to 22 in
D. alata
(mean = 12.1). The
average observed and expected heterozygosi
-
ties were 0.156 and 0.634 (
D. cayenensis
), 0.326
and 0.853 (
D. rotundata
), and 0.247 and 0.836
(
D. alata
), respectively. Clustering based on six
SSRs that were polymorphic in at least four of
the five cultivated
Dioscorea
species studied,
including
D. cayenensis
,
D. rotundata
,
D. alata
,
D. dumetorum
(Kunth) Pax., and
D. bulbifera
L.,
detected groups consistent with the phyloge
-
netic relationships of the species except for
D.
dumetorum
. These new SSR markers are invalu
-
able resources for applications such as genetic
diversity analysis and marker-assisted breedingYam (
Dioscorea
spp.) is a major staple crop
widely cultivated for its starchy tubers. To date,
very few marker resources are publicly avail
-
able as tools for genetic and genomic studies of
this economically important crop. In this study,
90 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were
developed from an enriched genomic library of
yellow Guinea yam (
D. cayenensis
Lam.). Cross-
amplification revealed that 85 (94.4%) and 51
(56.7%) of these SSRs could be successfully
transferred to the two major cultivated species
of
D. rotundata
Poir. and
D. alata
L., respec
-
tively. Polymorphisms in 30 markers selected
on the basis of reliability and reproducibility of
DNA bands were evaluated using a panel of 12
D. cayenensis
, 48
D. rotundata
, and 48
D. alata
accessions. Accordingly, number of alleles
per locus ranged from 2 to 8 in
D. cayenensis
(mean = 3.9), 3 to 30 in
D. rotundata
(mean =
13.9), and 2 to 22 in
D. alata
(mean = 12.1). The
average observed and expected heterozygosi
-
ties were 0.156 and 0.634 (
D. cayenensis
), 0.326
and 0.853 (
D. rotundata
), and 0.247 and 0.836
(
D. alata
), respectively. Clustering based on six
SSRs that were polymorphic in at least four of
the five cultivated
Dioscorea
species studied,
including
D. cayenensis
,
D. rotundata
,
D. alata
,
D. dumetorum
(Kunth) Pax., and
D. bulbifera
L.,
detected groups consistent with the phyloge
-
netic relationships of the species except for
D.
dumetorum
. These new SSR markers are invalu
-
able resources for applications such as genetic
diversity analysis and marker-assisted breedin
- …