KEY MESSAGE : A set of NILs carrying major blast resistance genes in a Basmati rice variety has been developed. Also, the efficacy of pyramids over monogenic NILs against rice blast pathogen ...Magnaporthe oryzae has been demonstrated. Productivity and quality of Basmati rice is severely affected by rice blast disease. Major genes and QTLs conferring resistance to blast have been reported only in non-Basmati rice germplasm. Here, we report incorporation of seven blast resistance genes from the donor lines DHMASQ164-2a (Pi54, Pi1, Pita), IRBLz5-CA (Pi2), IRBLb-B (Pib), IRBL5-M (Pi5) and IRBL9-W (Pi9) into the genetic background of an elite Basmati rice variety Pusa Basmati 1 (PB1). A total of 36 near-isogenic lines (NILs) comprising of 14 monogenic, 16 two-gene pyramids and six three-gene pyramids were developed through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). Foreground, recombinant and background selection was used to identify the plants with target gene(s), minimize the linkage drag and increase the recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery (93.5–98.6 %), respectively, in the NILs. Comparative analysis performed using 50,051 SNPs and 500 SSR markers revealed that the SNPs provided better insight into the RPG recovery. Most of the monogenic NILs showed comparable performance in yield and quality, concomitantly, Pusa1637-18-7-6-20 (Pi9), was significantly superior in yield and stable across four different environments as compared to recurrent parent (RP) PB1. Further, among the pyramids, Pusa1930-12-6 (Pi2+Pi5) showed significantly higher yield and Pusa1633-7-8-53-6-8 (Pi54+Pi1+Pita) was superior in cooking quality as compared to RP PB1. The NILs carrying gene Pi9 were found to be the most effective against the concoction of virulent races predominant in the hotspot locations for blast disease. Conversely, when analyzed under artificial inoculation, three-gene pyramids expressed enhanced resistance as compared to the two-gene and monogenic NILs.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Meiosis produces haploid gametes through a succession of chromosomal events, including pairing, synapsis, and recombination. Mechanisms that orchestrate these events remain poorly understood. We ...found that the SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier)–modification and ubiquitin-proteasome systems regulate the major events of meiotic prophase in mouse. Interdependent localization of SUMO, ubiquitin, and proteasomes along chromosome axes was mediated largely by RNF212 and HEI10, two E3 ligases that are also essential for crossover recombination. RNF212-dependent SUMO conjugation effected a checkpointlike process that stalls recombination by rendering the turnover of a subset of recombination factors dependent on HEI10-mediated ubiquitylation. We propose that SUMO conjugation establishes a precondition for designating crossover sites via selective protein stabilization. Thus, meiotic chromosome axes are hubs for regulated proteolysis via SUMO-dependent control of the ubiquitin-proteasome system.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The perylene diimide (PDI) chromophore is a classic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that has been widely used in the field of organic electronics. A combination of strong visible light absorption and ...low-lying frontier molecular orbital (FMO) energy levels make PDI useful as a photoactive electron transporting material in organic solar cells. Indeed, PDI based molecules and polymers have been studied as so-called non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for over 30 years. Recent advances in materials design has enabled solution processed organic solar cell devices based on PDI materials to reach power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) upwards of 12%. This perspective highlights recent PDI design strategies developed to enable such highly performing devices and covers recent work on N-annulated PDIs, which have the potential to deliver roll-to-roll compatible processed solar cells with high operating voltages.
This perspective showcases new materials designs for perylene diimide based non-fullerene acceptors towards high performance photovoltaic devices.
Coal gasification is one of the most viable and practical clean coal technologies for power generation. In this technology, the low calorific value fuel (LCVF) gas containing mainly carbon monoxide ...(CO), hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are obtained by blowing a mixture of air and steam through a bed of coal at atmospheric or elevated pressures. In this paper, coal gasification data from 18 fluidized bed gasifiers (FBGs) operating at a steady-state and located in India and other countries have been used to develop two types of exclusively data-driven steady-state FBG models. Specifically, multivariate regression (MVR) and multilayer Artificial Neural Network (ANN) strategies have been employed for the prediction of gas produced rate and heating value of the product gas. Both types of models use six inputs describing coal properties and gasification process parameters namely fixed carbon, volatile matter, mineral matter, air feed per kg of coal, steam feed per kg of coal and temperature. The output prediction accuracy results of the developed models indicate that the ANN-based models outperform the corresponding MVR models. The models presented here can be gainfully employed for evaluating steady-state performance of an FBG as well as the thermal potential of a coal prior to its usage for the generation of the LCVF gas. These models would also assist in the design of a gasifier for coals with varying ash content.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Massive sets of stellar spectroscopic observations are rapidly becoming available and these can be used to determine the chemical composition and evolution of the Galaxy with unprecedented precision. ...One of the major challenges in this endeavour involves constructing realistic models of stellar spectra with which to reliably determine stellar abundances. At present, large stellar surveys commonly use simplified models that assume that the stellar atmospheres are approximately in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). To test and ultimately relax this assumption, we have performed non-LTE calculations for 13 different elements (H, Li, C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Mn, and Ba), using recent model atoms that have physically-motivated descriptions for the inelastic collisions with neutral hydrogen, across a grid of 3756 1D
MARCS
model atmospheres that spans 3000 ≤
T
eff
∕K ≤ 8000, − 0.5 ≤log
g
∕cm s
−2
≤ 5.5, and − 5 ≤ Fe/H ≤ 1. We present the grids of departure coefficients that have been implemented into the GALAH DR3 analysis pipeline in order to complement the extant non-LTE grid for iron. We also present a detailed line-by-line re-analysis of 50 126 stars from GALAH DR3. We found that relaxing LTE can change the abundances by between − 0.7 dex and + 0.2 dex for different lines and stars. Taking departures from LTE into account can reduce the dispersion in the A/Fe versus Fe/H plane by up to 0.1 dex, and it can remove spurious differences between the dwarfs and giants by up to 0.2 dex. The resulting abundance slopes can thus be qualitatively different in non-LTE, possibly with important implications for the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The grids of departure coefficients are publicly available and can be implemented into LTE pipelines to make the most of observational data sets from large spectroscopic surveys.
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FMFMET, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Longitudinal symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often characterized by heterogeneous trajectories, which may have unique pre-, peri- and post-trauma risk and protective factors. To ...date, however, no study has evaluated the nature and determinants of predominant trajectories of PTSD symptoms in World Trade Center (WTC) responders.
A total of 10835 WTC responders, including 4035 professional police responders and 6800 non-traditional responders (e.g. construction workers) who participated in the WTC Health Program (WTC-HP), were evaluated an average of 3, 6 and 8 years after the WTC attacks.
Among police responders, longitudinal PTSD symptoms were best characterized by four classes, with the majority (77.8%) in a resistant/resilient trajectory and the remainder exhibiting chronic (5.3%), recovering (8.4%) or delayed-onset (8.5%) symptom trajectories. Among non-traditional responders, a six-class solution was optimal, with fewer responders in a resistant/resilient trajectory (58.0%) and the remainder exhibiting recovering (12.3%), severe chronic (9.5%), subsyndromal increasing (7.3%), delayed-onset (6.7%) and moderate chronic (6.2%) trajectories. Prior psychiatric history, Hispanic ethnicity, severity of WTC exposure and WTC-related medical conditions were most strongly associated with symptomatic trajectories of PTSD symptoms in both groups of responders, whereas greater education and family and work support while working at the WTC site were protective against several of these trajectories.
Trajectories of PTSD symptoms in WTC responders are heterogeneous and associated uniquely with pre-, peri- and post-trauma risk and protective factors. Police responders were more likely than non-traditional responders to exhibit a resistant/resilient trajectory. These results underscore the importance of prevention, screening and treatment efforts that target high-risk disaster responders, particularly those with prior psychiatric history, high levels of trauma exposure and work-related medical morbidities.
ABSTRACT
We introduce the southern stellar stream spectroscopy survey (S5), an on-going program to map the kinematics and chemistry of stellar streams in the southern hemisphere. The initial focus of ...S5 has been spectroscopic observations of recently identified streams within the footprint of the dark energy survey (DES), with the eventual goal of surveying streams across the entire southern sky. Stellar streams are composed of material that has been tidally striped from dwarf galaxies and globular clusters and hence are excellent dynamical probes of the gravitational potential of the Milky Way, as well as providing a detailed snapshot of its accretion history. Observing with the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope’s 2-degree-Field fibre positioner and AAOmega spectrograph, and combining the precise photometry of DES DR1 with the superb proper motions from Gaia DR2, allows us to conduct an efficient spectroscopic survey to map these stellar streams. So far S5 has mapped nine DES streams and three streams outside of DES; the former are the first spectroscopic observations of these recently discovered streams. In addition to the stream survey, we use spare fibres to undertake a Milky Way halo survey and a low-redshift galaxy survey. This paper presents an overview of the S5 program, describing the scientific motivation for the survey, target selection, observation strategy, data reduction, and survey validation. Finally, we describe early science results on stellar streams and Milky Way halo stars drawn from the survey. Updates on S5, including future public data releases, can be found at http://s5collab.github.io.
The dynamics of phospholipids in unilamellar vesicles (ULVs) is of interest in biology, medical, and food sciences, since these molecules are widely used as biocompatible agents and a mimic of cell ...membrane systems. We have investigated the nanoscopic dynamics of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) phospholipid in ULVs as a function of temperature using elastic and quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS). The dependence of the signal on the scattering momentum transfer, which is a critical advantage of neutron scattering techniques, allows the detailed analysis of the lipid motions that cannot be carried out by other means. In agreement with a differential scanning calorimetry measurement, a sharp rise in the elastic scattering intensity below ca. 296 K indicates a phase transition from the high-temperature fluid phase to the low-temperature solid gel phase. The microscopic lipid dynamics exhibits qualitative differences between the solid gel phase (in a measurement at 280 K) and the fluid phase (in a measurement at a physiological temperature of 310 K). The analysis of the data demonstrates the presence of two types of distinct motions: the entire lipid molecule motion within a monolayer, also known as lateral diffusion, and the relatively faster internal motion of the DMPC molecule. The lateral diffusion of the entire lipid molecule is Fickian in character, whereas the internal lipid motions are of localized character, which is consistent with the structure of the vesicles. The lateral motion slows down by an order of magnitude in the solid gel phase, whereas for the internal motion not only the time scale but also the character of the motion changes upon the phase transition. In the solid gel phase, the lipids are more ordered and undergo uniaxial rotational motion. However, in the fluid phase, the hydrogen atoms of the lipid tails undergo confined translation diffusion rather than uniaxial rotational diffusion. The translational, but spatially localized, diffusion of the hydrogen atoms of the lipid tails is a manifestation of the flexibility of the chains acquired in the fluid phase. Because of this flexibility, both the local diffusivity and the confinement volume for the hydrogen atoms increase in the linear fashion from near the lipid’s polar headgroup to the end of its hydrophobic tail. Our results present a quantitative and detailed picture of the effect of the gel–fluid phase transition on the nanoscopic lipid dynamics in ULVs. The data analysis approach developed here has a potential for probing the dynamic response of lipids to the presence of additional cell membrane components.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Since the introduction of optical fiber technology in the field of sensor based on the technique of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), fiber-optic SPR sensors have witnessed a lot of advancements. This ...paper reports on the past, present, and future scope of fiber-optic SPR sensors in the field of sensing of different chemical, physical, and biochemical parameters. A detailed mechanism of the SPR technique for sensing purposes has been discussed. Different new techniques and models in this area that have been introduced are discussed in quite a detail. We have tried to put the different advancements in the order of their chronological evolution. The content of the review article may be of great importance for the research community who are to take the field of fiber-optic SPR sensors as its research endeavors.
The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a massive observational project to trace the Milky Way's history of star formation, chemical enrichment, stellar migration and minor mergers. ...Using high-resolution (R ... 28 000) spectra, taken with the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, GALAH will determine stellar parameters and abundances of up to 29 elements for up to one million stars. Selecting targets from a colour-unbiased catalogue built from 2MASS, APASS and UCAC4 data, we expect to observe dwarfs at 0.3-3 kpc and giants at 1-10 kpc. This enables a thorough local chemical inventory of the Galactic thin and thick discs, and also captures smaller samples of the bulge and halo. In this paper, we present the plan, process and progress as of early 2016 for GALAH survey observations. In our first two years of survey observing we have accumulated the largest high-quality spectroscopic data set at this resolution, over 200 000 stars. We also present the first public GALAH data catalogue: stellar parameters (Teff, log(g), Fe/H, a/Fe), radial velocity, distance modulus and reddening for 10 680 observations of 9860 Tycho-2 stars, 7894 of which are included in the first Gaia data release. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
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