Comparative genetic analysis of flowering time adaptation in legumes

Weller, J. L. et al.- Resumen de la comunicación oral presentada en la "8th International Conference on Legume Genetics and Genomics (ICLGG)", que tuvo lugar en Siófok, Hungría, entre el 18 y el 22 de septiembre de 2017.A better understanding of flowering genes in legume crops will be valuable in understanding their prehistoric expansion from regions of initial domestication, in breeding for new environments and in accessing wider genetic diversity present in wild crop relatives. We are using a comparative approach to explore the genetic network controlling flowering time adaptation in a number of legume species. In addition to the use of induced mutants in pea (Pisum sativum) and barrel medic (Medicago truncatula), recent work has focused on characterization of natural variation in crop species including pea, lentil (Lens culinaris) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum). We have performed comparative phylogenetic analyses of many of the major flowering gene families in legumes, and examined the expression patterns of key genes, including members of the FT family of florigen genes. A positional candidate gene approach has enabled the identification of putative causal genes for major flowering loci and shown a striking conservation in certain genomic regions conferring flowering time adaptation across several species. Evidence on the molecular and physiological basis for adaptive changes at these loci will be presented and possible reasons for their prominence will be discussed.Peer reviewe

Drying Rate Constants for Yellow Dent Corn as Affected by Fatty Acid Ester Treatments

Ethyl oleate and ethyl stearate solutions at various concentrations were used to treat corn samples prior to drying

A Mathematical Model for the Validation of Safe Air-Blast Chilling of Cooked Hams

An integrated mathematical model of heat transfer and temperature-dependent bacterial growth was developed to validate the safety of cooked hams during air-blast chilling. Heat transfer through a cooked ham was mathematically modeled and analyzed with a finite element method. Response of bacteria to temperatures was quantitatively described using predictive microbiology. The cumulative effect of temperature history on the bacterial growth was taken into account in the model. For chilling cooked hams from 71°C to 10°C, the maximum error between the predicted and experimental core temperature was within 2.2°C, and the deviation between the predicted and measured total weight losses was 1.1%. The bacterial growth kinetics was validated using the data from the literature. The integrated model of heat transfer and bacterial growth provided valuable insights into air-blast chilling of cooked meats for risk assessment of the final products

Inhomogeneous reionization and the polarization of the cosmic microwave background

In a universe with inhomogeneous reionization, the ionized patches create a second order signal in the cosmic microwave background polarization anisotropy. This signal originates in the coupling of the free electron fluctuation to the quadruple moment of the temperature anisotropy. We examine the contribution from a simple inhomogeneous reionization model and find that the signal from such a process is below the detectable limits of the Planck Surveyor mission. However t he signal is above the fundamental uncertainty limit from cosmic variance, so th at a future detection with a high accuracy experiment on sub-arcminute scales is possible.Comment: 10 pages, 2 eps figures, final version accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Zero Field precession and hysteretic threshold currents in spin torque oscillators with tilted polarizer

Using non-linear system theory and numerical simulations we map out the static and dynamic phase diagram in zero applied field of a spin torque oscillator with a tilted polarizer (TP-STO).We find that for sufficiently large currents, even very small tilt angles (beta>1 degree) will lead to steady free layer precession in zero field. Within a rather large range of tilt angles, 1 degree< beta <19 degree, we find coexisting static states and hysteretic switching between these using only current. In a more narrow window (1 degree<beta<5 degree) one of the static states turns into a limit cycle (precession). The coexistence of static and dynamic states in zero magnetic field is unique to the tilted polarizer and leads to large hysteresis in the upper and lower threshold currents for TP-STO operation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Validity of the activPAL3 activity monitor in people moderately affected by Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Walking is the primary form of physical activity performed by people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), therefore it is important to ensure the validity of tools employed to measure walking activity. The aim of this study was to assess the criterion validity of the activPAL3 activity monitor during overground walking in people with MS.\ud Methods: Validity of the activPAL3 accelerometer was compared to video observation in 20 people moderately affected by MS. Participants walked 20-30m twice along a straight quiet corridor at a comfortable speed.\ud Results: Inter-rater reliability of video observations was excellent (all intraclass correlations > 0.99). The mean difference (activPAL3- mean of raters) was -4.70 ± 9.09, -4.55 s ± 10.76 and 1.11 s ± 1.11 for steps taken, walking duration and upright duration respectively. These differences represented 8.7, 10.0 and 1.8% of the mean for each measure respectively. The activPAL3 tended to underestimate steps taken and walking duration in those who walked at cadences of ≤ 38 steps/minute by 60% and 47% respectively.\ud Discussion: The activPAL3 is valid for measuring walking activity in people moderately affected by MS. It is accurate for upright duration regardless of cadence. In participants with slow walking cadences, outcomes of steps taken and walking duration should be interpreted with caution

Applicability of offshore mooring and foundation technologies for marine renewable energy (MRE) device arrays

Published onlineThe marine renewable energy (MRE) sector is progressing from single device units to device arrays. Currently, the mooring/foundation technologies used in MRE are based on offshore oil/gas industry practices. For MRE arrays to reach commercialization, several issues need to be addressed including the hy-drodynamic array layout, electrical infrastructure, operations, maintenance, control, moorings, foundations, installation and logistics. The DTOcean (The Optimal Design Tools for Ocean Energy Arrays) project is aimed at accelerating the industrial development of ocean energy power generation knowledge, and providing design tools for deploying the first generation of wave and tidal energy converter arrays. In this paper, the ap-plicability of offshore mooring/foundation technologies for marine renewable energy (MRE) device arrays are assessed. The paper introduces the criteria which can be used to appraise technologies and approaches rele-vant to MRE devices. Existing mooring/foundation technologies used in the offshore industry are summarized with examples given of MRE device deployments. The guidance from certification agencies which is used for the design and analysis of mooring/foundation systems is summarized. If not addressed, the failure to opti-mize the design of ocean energy arrays and failure to properly understand economic, environmental, or relia-bility impacts of individual components could have significant consequences for the overall project and sec-tor. The function and type of mooring and/or foundation system are determined by a number of factors including the cost, site characteristics, expected environmental loading and environmental or legislative con-straints and these factors are discussed