Traditional winglets are designed as fixed devices attached at the tips of the wings. The primary purpose of the winglets is to reduce the lift-induced drag, therefore improving aircraft performance ...and fuel efficiency. However, because winglets are fixed surfaces, they cannot be used to control lift-induced drag reductions or to obtain the largest lift-induced drag reductions at different flight conditions (take-off, climb, cruise, loitering, descent, approach, landing, and so on). In this work, we propose the use of variable cant angle winglets which could potentially allow aircraft to get the best all-around performance (in terms of lift-induced drag reduction), at different flight phases. By using computational fluid dynamics, we study the influence of the winglet cant angle and sweep angle on the performance of a benchmark wing at Mach numbers of 0.3 and 0.8395. The results obtained demonstrate that by adjusting the cant angle, the aerodynamic performance can be improved at different flight conditions.
A major QTL affecting root traits and leaf ABA concentration was identified in maize (Zea mays L.) and named root-ABA1. For this QTL, back-cross-derived lines (BDLs) homozygous either for the (+) or ...for the (−) allele increasing or decreasing, respectively, root size and leaf ABA concentration, were developed. This study was conducted to evaluate the QTL effects in various genetic backgrounds and at different water regimes. The (+/+) and (−/−) BDLs were crossed with five or 13 inbred tester lines of different origin, thus producing two sets of test-crosses that were evaluated in Italy and China, respectively. Testing was conducted under both well-watered and water-stressed conditions. In Italy, the test-crosses derived from (+/+) BDLs, as compared with those derived from (−/−) BDLs, showed, across both water regimes, higher leaf ABA concentration (on average 384 versus 351 ng g−1 DW) and lower root lodging (28.0 versus 52.5%), and lower grain yield under water-stressed conditions (4.88 versus 6.27 Mg ha−1). In China, where root lodging did not occur, the test-crosses derived from (+/+) BDLs were less productive at both water regimes (on average, 6.83 versus 7.49 Mg ha−1). The lower grain yield of the test-crosses derived from (+/+) BDLs was due to a lower number of ears per plant and to lower kernel weight. The results indicate that the (+) root-ABA1 allele confers not only a consistently lower susceptibility to root lodging but also a lower grain yield, especially when root lodging does not occur.
Although root architecture has been shown to play an important role in crop performance, particularly under drought conditions, no information is available on the genetic control of root traits in ...durum wheat, a crop largely grown in rainfed areas with low rainfall. In our study, a panel of 57 elite durum wheat accessions were evaluated under controlled conditions for root and shoot traits at the seedling stage. Significant genetic variability was detected for all the root and shoot traits that were investigated. Correlation analysis suggested that root and shoot features were only partially controlled by common sets of genes. The high linkage disequilibrium (up to 5 cM) present in the germplasm collection herein considered allowed us to use simple sequence repeat-based association mapping to identify chromosome regions with significant effects on the investigated traits. In total, 15 chromosome regions showed significant effects on one or more root architectural features. A number of these regions also influenced shoot traits and, in some cases, plant height measured in field conditions. Major effects were detected on chromosome arms 2AL (at Xgwm294), 7AL (at Xcfa2257 and Xgwm332) and 7BL (at Xgwm577 and Xcfa2040). The accessions with the most remarkable differences in root features will provide a valuable opportunity to assemble durum wheat mapping populations well suited for ascertaining the effects of root architecture on water use efficiency and grain yield.
Abstract
The case concerns a 62–year–old woman with no significant cardiovascular history. In October 2022 the patient had an acute diverticulitis hesitated in ostomy placement (Hartmann surgery). ...Post surgery was complicated by linezolid–resistant Staphylococcus aureus sepsis. During the hospitalization an incidental low risk pulmonary embolism was detected by CTPA. The patient was discharged with thrombohaembolic prophylaxis (subcutaneous LMWH) to be continued for one month. The day after the end of the prophylaxis (November 24th ) she came to the emergency room because of chest pain, dyspnoea, diaphoresis. Hypotension, tachycardia, metabolic alkalosis and increased serum lactate levels were present. CTPA revealed thrombi in both left and right pulmonary arteries, including main bifurcation branches. Compressive ultrasonography in left popliteal vein resulted positive. Due to recent surgery, although not entirely contraindicated, the patient was judged unfit for systemic thrombolysis and percutaneous catheter–directed treatment with Penumbra Indigo system was performed, with suboptimal result. The woman was therefore moved to intensive care unit due to worsening clinical conditions, and the following day a further percutaneous procedure was performed. During the days CTPA and laboratory data detected a great improvement, and reduction of inotropes, diuretic and high flow oxygen therapy was possible. Meanwhile there was a gain of function in right ventricular contractility, with final TAPSE value of 15, and S’ 8 cm/s. Oral anticoagulation with loading dose and rehabilitation therapy were started . The patient was discharged on November 9th in good health.
A population of 96 doubled haploid lines (DHLs) was prepared from F1 plants of the hexaploid wheat cross Chinese Spring x SQ1 (a high abscisic acid-expressing breeding line) and was mapped with 567 ...RFLP, AFLP, SSR, morphological and biochemical markers covering all 21 chromosomes, with a total map length of 3,522 cM. Although the map lengths for each genome were very similar, the D genome had only half the markers of the other two genomes. The map was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield and yield components from a combination of 24 site x treatment x year combinations, including nutrient stress, drought stress and salt stress treatments. Although yield QTLs were widely distributed around the genome, 17 clusters of yield QTLs from five or more trials were identified: two on group 1 chromosomes, one each on group 2 and group 3, five on group 4, four on group 5, one on group 6 and three on group 7. The strongest yield QTL effects were on chromosomes 7AL and 7BL, due mainly to variation in grain numbers per ear. Three of the yield QTL clusters were largely site-specific, while four clusters were largely associated with one or other of the stress treatments. Three of the yield QTL clusters were coincident with the dwarfing gene Rht-B1 on 4BS and with the vernalisation genes Vrn-A1 on 5AL and Vrn-D1 on 5DL. Yields of each DHL were calculated for trial mean yields of 6 g plant(-1) and 2 g plant(-1) (equivalent to about 8 t ha(-1) and 2.5 t ha(-1), respectively), representing optimum and moderately stressed conditions. Analyses of these yield estimates using interval mapping confirmed the group-7 effects on yield and, at 2 g plant(-1), identified two additional major yield QTLs on chromosomes 1D and 5A. Many of the yield QTL clusters corresponded with QTLs already reported in wheat and, on the basis of comparative genetics, also in rice. The implications of these results for improving wheat yield stability are discussed.
The role of input dimension d is studied in approximating, in various norms, target sets of d -variable functions using linear combinations of adjustable computational units. Results from the ...literature, which emphasize the number n of terms in the linear combination, are reformulated, and in some cases improved, with particular attention to dependence on d . For worst-case error, upper bounds are given in the factorized form ξ( d )κ( n ) , where κ is nonincreasing (typically κ( n ) ~ n -1/2 ). Target sets of functions are described for which the function ξ is a polynomial. Some important cases are highlighted where ξ decreases to zero as d → ∞. For target functions, extent (e.g., the size of domains in R d where they are defined), scale (e.g., maximum norms of target functions), and smoothness (e.g., the order of square-integrable partial derivatives) may depend on d , and the influence of such dimension-dependent parameters on model complexity is considered. Results are applied to approximation and solution of optimization problems by neural networks with perceptron and Gaussian radial computational units.
In this paper, approximation by linear combinations of an increasing number n of computational units with adjustable parameters (such as perceptrons and radial basis functions) is investigated. ...Geometric upper bounds on rates of convergence of approximation errors are derived. The bounds depend on certain parameters specific for each function to be approximated. The results are illustrated by examples of values of such parameters in the case of approximation by linear combinations of orthonormal functions.
A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and a set of advanced lines from multiple crosses were used to investigate the leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks.) resistance carried by the durum wheat ...cultivar Creso and its derivatives (Colosseo and Plinio). One hundred seventy-six RILs from the cross Colosseo x Lloyd were tested under artificial rust inoculation in the field. The response at the seedling stage was also investigated. A major QTL (QLr.ubo-7B.2) for leaf rust resistance controlling both the seedling and the adult open field based-response was mapped on 7BL, with the favourable allele inherited from Colosseo. QLr.ubo-7B.2 showed R ² and LOD peak values for the area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) equal to 72.9% and 44.5, respectively. The presence and location of QLr.ubo-7B.2 was validated by a linkage disequilibrium-based test using two-year field data of 62 advanced lines from 21 crosses with Creso, Colosseo or Plinio as resistance donors. QLr.ubo-7B.2 maps in a gene-dense region (7BL10-0.78-1.00) carrying several genes/QTLs in wheat and barley for resistance to rusts and other fungal diseases.
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