Potato breeding in the Netherlands: successful collaboration between farmers and commercial breeders.

Access and benefit sharing of plant genetic resources is a crucial but very complex, political and legalistic matter. Does the formal system work for family farmers? As we see in this special issue of Farming Matters, co-produced with Bioversity International, it poses many challenges and Farmers' Rights are rarely implemented in national law. At the same time, farmers around the world are leading successful initiatives for access and benefit sharing. In this special issue of Farming Matters also an article of the Bioimpuls potato breeding project was included: In the Netherlands a new PPB initiative called BioImpuls emerged in 2010, which engages organic potato farmers in a search to develop late blight-resistant vari-eties for the organic sector.

A Spitzer IRAC Census of the Asymptotic Giant Branch Populations in Local Group Dwarfs. II. IC 1613

We present Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC photometry of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613. We compare our 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron photometry with broadband optical photometry and find that the optical data do not detect 43% and misidentify an additional 11% of the total AGB population, likely because of extinction caused by circumstellar material. Further, we find that a narrowband optical carbon star study of IC 1613 detects 50% of the total AGB population and only considers 18% of this population in calculating the carbon to M-type AGB ratio. We derive an integrated mass-loss rate from the AGB stars of 0.2-1.0 x 10^(-3) solar masses per year and find that the distribution of bolometric luminosities and mass-loss rates are consistent with those for other nearby metal-poor galaxies. Both the optical completeness fractions and mass-loss rates in IC 1613 are very similar to those in the Local Group dwarf irregular, WLM, which is expected given their similar characteristics and evolutionary histories.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 26 pages, 10 figures, version with high-resolution figures available at: http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~djackson

Spitzer SAGE-SMC Infrared Photometry of Massive Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We present a catalog of 5324 massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), with accurate spectral types compiled from the literature, and a photometric catalog for a subset of 3654 of these stars, with the goal of exploring their infrared properties. The photometric catalog consists of stars with infrared counterparts in the Spitzer, SAGE-SMC survey database, for which we present uniform photometry from 0.3-24 um in the UBVIJHKs+IRAC+MIPS24 bands. We compare the color magnitude diagrams and color-color diagrams to those of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), finding that the brightest infrared sources in the SMC are also the red supergiants, supergiant B[e] (sgB[e]) stars, luminous blue variables, and Wolf-Rayet stars, with the latter exhibiting less infrared excess, the red supergiants being less dusty and the sgB[e] stars being on average less luminous. Among the objects detected at 24 um are a few very luminous hypergiants, 4 B-type stars with peculiar, flat spectral energy distributions, and all 3 known luminous blue variables. We detect a distinct Be star sequence, displaced to the red, and suggest a novel method of confirming Be star candidates photometrically. We find a higher fraction of Oe and Be stars among O and early-B stars in the SMC, respectively, when compared to the LMC, and that the SMC Be stars occur at higher luminosities. We estimate mass-loss rates for the red supergiants, confirming the correlation with luminosity even at the metallicity of the SMC. Finally, we confirm the new class of stars displaying composite A & F type spectra, the sgB[e] nature of 2dFS1804 and find the F0 supergiant 2dFS3528 to be a candidate luminous blue variable with cold dust.Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

The composition and nature of the dust shell surrounding the binary AFGL 4106

We present infrared spectroscopy and imaging of AFGL~4106. The 2.4-5 micron ISO-SWS spectrum reveals the presence of a cool, luminous star (T_eff ~ 3750 K) in addition to an almost equally luminous F star (T_eff ~ 7250 K). The 5-195 micron SWS and LWS spectra are dominated by strong emission from circumstellar dust. We find that the dust consists of amorphous silicates, with a minor but significant contribution from crystalline silicates. The amorphous silicates consist of Fe-rich olivines. The presence of amorphous pyroxenes cannot be excluded but if present they contain much less Fe than the amorphous olivines. Comparison with laboratory data shows that the pure Mg-end members of the crystalline olivine and pyroxene solid solution series are present. In addition, we find strong evidence for simple oxides (FeO and Al2O3) as well as crystalline H2O ice. Several narrow emission features remain unidentified. Modelling of the dust emission using a dust radiation transfer code shows that large grains (~1 micron) must be present and that the abundance of the crystalline silicates is between 7 and 15% of the total dust mass, depending on the assumed enstatite to forsterite ratio, which is estimated to be between 1 and 3. The amorphous and crystalline dust components in the shell do not have the same temperature, implying that the different dust species are not thermally coupled. We find a dust mass of ~3.9 x 10^-2 M_sol expelled over a period of 4 x 10^3 years for a distance of 3.3 kpc. The F-star in the AFGL~4106 binary is likely a post-red-supergiant in transition to a blue supergiant or WR phase.Comment: 22 pages (including 12 figures), accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the compact elliptical galaxy M32 reveals a dearth of carbon stars

We present new {\em Hubble Space Telescope} WFC3/IR medium-band photometry of the compact elliptical galaxy M32, chemically resolving its thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch stars. We find 2829 M-type stars and 57 C stars. The carbon stars are likely contaminants from M31. If carbon stars are present in M32 they are so in very low numbers. The uncorrected C/M ratio is 0.020 $\pm$ 0.003; this drops to less than 0.007 after taking into account contamination from M31. As the mean metallicity of M32 is just below solar, this low ratio of C to M stars is unlikely due to a metallicity ceiling for the formation of carbon stars. Instead, the age of the AGB population is likely to be the primary factor. The ratio of AGB to RGB stars in M32 is similar to that of the inner disc of M31 which contain stars that formed 1.5--4 Gyr ago. If the M32 population is at the older end of this age then its lack of C-stars may be consistent with a narrow mass range for carbon star formation predicted by some stellar evolution models. Applying our chemical classifications to the dusty variable stars identified with {\em Spitzer}, we find that the x-AGB candidates identified with {\em Spitzer} are predominately M-type stars. This substantially increases the lower limit to the cumulative dust-production rate in M32 to $>$ 1.97 $\times 10^{-5}$ ${\rm M}_{\odot} \, {\rm yr}^{-1}$.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted MNRAS 7/12/2

Infrared properties of Active OB stars in the Magellanic Clouds from the Spitzer SAGE Survey

We present a study of the infrared properties of 4922 spectroscopically confirmed massive stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, focusing on the active OB star population. Besides OB stars, our sample includes yellow and red supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars, Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) and supergiant B[e] stars. We detect a distinct Be star sequence, displaced to the red, and find a higher fraction of Oe and Be stars among O and early-B stars in the SMC, respectively, when compared to the LMC, and that the SMC Be stars occur at higher luminosities. We also find photometric variability among the active OB population and evidence for transitions of Be stars to B stars and vice versa. We furthermore confirm the presence of dust around all the supergiant B[e] stars in our sample, finding the shape of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to be very similar, in contrast to the variety of SED shapes among the spectrally variable LBVs.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the IAUS 272 on "Active OB stars: structure, evolution, mass loss and critical limits" (Paris, July 19-23, 2010), Cambridge University Press. Editors C. Neiner, G. Wade, G. Meynet and G. Peter

Solid-phase C60 in the peculiar binary XX Oph?

We present infrared spectra of the binary XX Oph obtained with the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The data show some evidence for the presence of solid C60– the first detection of C60 in the solid phase – together with the well-known ‘unidentified infrared’ emission features. We suggest that, in the case of XX Oph, the C60 is located close to the hot component, and that in general it is preferentially excited by stars having effective temperatures in the range 15 000–30 000 K. C60 may be common in circumstellar environments, but unnoticed in the absence of a suitable exciting source

Both resistance- and endurance-type exercise reduce the prevalence of hyperglycaemia in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance and in insulin-treated and non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetic patients

Aims/hypothesis The present study compares the impact of endurance- vs resistance-type exercise on subsequent 24 h blood glucose homeostasis in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes. Methods Fifteen individuals with IGT, 15 type 2 diabetic patients treated with exogenous insulin (INS), and 15 type 2 diabetic patients treated with oral glucose-lowering medication (OGLM) participated in a randomised crossover experiment. Participants were studied on three occasions for 3 days under strict dietary standardisation, but otherwise free-living conditions. Blood glucose homeostasis was assessed by ambulatory continuous glucose monitoring over the 24 h period following a 45 min session of resistance-type exercise (75% one repetition maximum), endurance-type exercise (50% maximum workload capacity) or no exercise at all. Results Average 24 h blood glucose concentrations were reduced from 7.4±0.2, 9.6±0.5 and 9.2±0.7 mmol/l during the control experiment to 6.9±0.2, 8.6±0.4 and 8.1±0.5 mmol/l (resistance-type exercise) and 6.8±0.2, 8.6±0.5 and 8.5±0.5 mmol/l (endurance-type exercise) over the 24 h period following a single bout of exercise in the IGT, OGLM and INS groups, respectively (p 10 mmol/l) was reduced by 35±7 and 33±11% over the 24 h period following a single session of resistanceand endurance-type exercise, respectively (p< 0.001 for both treatments). Conclusions/interpretation A single session of resistanceor endurance-type exercise substantially reduces the prevalence of hyperglycaemia during the subsequent 24 h period in individuals with IGT, and in insulin-treated and non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetic patients. Both resistance- and endurance-type exercise can be integrated in exercise intervention programmes designed to improve glycaemic control. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00945165 Funding: The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw, the Netherlands). © 2011 The Author(s)

Epidemic space

The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of 'spatiality' in understanding the materialization of risk society and cultivation of risk sensibilities. More specifically it provides a cultural analysis of pathogen virulence (as a social phenomenon) by means of tracing and mapping the spatial flows that operate in the uncharted zones between the microphysics of infection and the macrophysics of epidemics. It will be argued that epidemic space consists of three types of forces: the vector, the index and the vortex. It will draw on Latour's Actor Network Theory to argue that epidemic space is geared towards instability when the vortex (of expanding associations and concerns) displaces the index (of finding a single cause)