Ppe.XapF: High Throughput KASP Assays to Identify Fruit Response to Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap) in Peach

Bacterial spot, caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap), is a serious peach disease with symptoms that traverse severe defoliation and black surface pitting, cracking or blemishes on peach fruit with global economic impacts. A management option for control and meeting consumer demand for chemical-free, environmentally friendly fruit production is the development of resistant or tolerant cultivars. We developed simple, accurate, and efficient DNA assays (Ppe.XapF) based on SNP genotyping with KASP technology to quickly test for bacterial spot resistance alleles in peach fruit that allows breeders to cull seedlings at the greenhouse stage. The objective of this research was to validate newly developed DNA tests that target the two major QTLs for fruit resistance in peach with diagnostic utility in predicting fruit response to bacterial spot infection. Our study confirms that only two Ppe.XapF DNA tests, Ppe.XapF1-1 and Ppe.XapF6-2, are needed to distinguish between susceptible and resistant alleles. Use of these efficient and accurate Ppe.XapF KASP tests resulted in 44% reduction in seedling planting rate in the Clemson University peach breeding program.

The heating of a stream of particles by thermal counter radiation

Introduction. It is accepted that the depth of heating of the dust/gas/air mixture by the radiation of combustion products SR is equal to the length LR of the free path of radiation in the mixture. Numerical simulation of combustion of a gas-air mixture that has inert particles, taking into account the re-radiation of heat by heated particles of the fresh mixture, led to ratio SR >> LR. In this work, the analytical assessment of ratio χS = SR/LR is performed.One-dimensional problem model. The co-authors determined stationary temperature distribution over the flow of initially cold monodisperse particles suspended in vacuum. Particle velocity V is directed toward a heat-radiating, absolutely black surface that is permeable by particles. Simplifying assumptions are used: radiation consists of two oppositely-directed flows of electromagnetic energy; interaction between particles and radiation is described in the approximation of geometric optics; the temperature inside the particle is the same. Problem solving. It is shown that χS is determined by V=Vcp / (εT 0,5, σTb)3 , where cp, εT, σ, Tb are, respectively, heat capacity per unit volume of the suspended matter, integral emissivity of the particle material, the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, and the surface temperature. For ≤ 2.8, re-emission can be neglected: χS ≈ 1. At ≤ 1.2, temperature distribution regulates re-emission: χS ≈ 5 –1/(2 – εT) >> 1.Solution discussion. The analytical solution satisfactorily describes the available numerical solutions and experimental data for the case of combustion of a dust/gas/air mixture after specifying the parameters of a simplified model: the radiating surface should be understood as the flame front, Tb is the combustion temperature, and cp is the overall heat capacity of the mixture. The estimate ≤ 1.2 indicates the final high temperature of the gas suspension, the possibility of its autoignition far from the flame, and the need to change initial assumptions when simulating re-emission.Conclusions. Analytical evaluations make it possible to employ ratios SR >> LR and SR ≈ LR for the suspension over a thermal radiation source in vacuum. Conditions for the application of the results of simplified simulation of re-emission to the combustion of a dust/gas/air mixture are formulated.

Ppe.XapF: High Throughput KASP Assays to Identify Fruit Response to Xanthomonas Arboricola pv. pruni (Xap) in Peach

Background Bacterial spot, caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap), is a serious peach disease with symptoms that traverse severe defoliation and black surface pitting, cracking or blemishes on peach fruit with global economic impacts. A management option for control and meeting consumer demand for chemical-free, environmentally friendly fruit production is the development of resistant or tolerant cultivars. Results We developed simple, accurate, and efficient Ppe.XapF DNA tests based on SNP genotyping with KASP technology to quickly test for bacterial spot resistance alleles in peach fruit and cull at the greenhouse stage. The objective of this research was to validate newly developed Ppe.XapF DNA tests that target the two major QTLs for fruit resistance in peach with diagnostic utility in predicting fruit response to bacterial spot infection. Conclusion Our study confirms that only two Ppe.XapF DNA tests, Ppe.XapF1-1 and Ppe.XapF6-2, are needed to distinguish between susceptible and resistant haplotypes. Use of these efficient and accurate Ppe.XapF KASP tests resulted in 44% reduction in seedling planting rate in the Clemson University peach breeding program.

Analysis of Activation Process of Carbon Black Based on Structural Parameters Obtained by XRD Analysis

In the present study, carbon black activated by CO2 gas was examined through XRD analysis, especially with regard to changes in its structural parameters. Based on the results, its activation process was thoroughly analyzed. The activation process was controlled by isothermally activating the carbon black inside a reaction tube through which CO2 gas flowed. With this approach, the degree of activation was varied as desired. At an early stage of the activation process, the amorphous fraction on the carbon black surface was preferentially activated, and later the less-developed crystalline carbon (LDCC) region inside the carbon black particles started to be activated. The latter process was attributable to the formation of pores inside the carbon black particles. As the activation process proceeded further, the more-developed crystalline carbon (MDCC) region started to be activated, thereby causing the pores inside the carbon black particles to grow larger. At the last stage of the activation process, La was found to be decreased to about 40 Å. This implied that the edges of the graphite crystals had been activated, thus causing the internal pores to grow and coalesce into larger pores. Activated conductive Super-P with enhanced pore properties is expected to have wide applications.

Modeling the Luminance Spatial-Angular Distribution in Lighting Scenes

Now days regulatory documents for non-special lighting systems, the illuminance and various parameters derived from it are normalized as a quantitative characteristic. In most cases, all calculations are carried out for illuminance on the floor of the room or on an imaginary working plane located at the height of the table. However, illuminance is an integral characteristic of incident light, while the human eye responds to light reflected from the surface. That is, if we take a completely black surface with a reflection coefficient equal to zero, then formally you can get the required illuminance on it, while visually we will not see anything, since nothing will be reflected from the surface. In terms of the human eye, luminance must be normalized instead of illuminance. Recently, the calculation and measurement of luminance was an extremely difficult task, so the it is understandable, that current regulatory documents describes almost illuminance normalization, but not luminance. This paper aims to modeling luminance spatial-angular distribution, which enables us to run the assessment of the lighting quality.

Shiny Black and Layers of White: Japanned Papier Mâché, Race and the British Empire

Race, class and empire in nineteenth-century England inflected understandings of japanned papier mâché, influencing both its brief popularity and its abrupt demise in the 1860s. Although the material was rarely used as an explicit signifier in nineteenth-century literature or theory, or indeed mentioned at all, its inclusion in the Great Exhibition suggests its cultural and industrial centrality. This article proposes that this disparity results not from an absence of meaning, but from too great a complexity and too clear a set of implications. As an imitation of an East Asian form, japanned papier mâché represented an Orientalizing fantasy; as a shiny black surface, japanned papier mâché tapped into both desires and anxieties surrounding racial Blackness; as a backdrop for depictions of recognizably British landscapes and architecture; and as a distinctively British industry, japanned papier mâché offered a kind of national identity-fashioning. Tying a ubiquitous but understudied material of the English mid-nineteenth century to broader histories of the British empire, this article demonstrates the tidy encapsulation of the fraught and complex 1850s and 1860s into the materiality, forms and failure of japanned papier mâché.

Plasma-Assisted Functionalization of the Carbon Black Surface: Enhancement of Mechanical Properties of Carbon Black/Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) Nanofibers

Dispersion of carbon black (CB) powder in CB/polymer composites considerably influences their mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductance. In this study, with the aim to improve the dispersion of CB powder in the CB/polymer composites, CB was treated with oxygen and nitrogen plasma generated by radio frequency-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD), and then, dispersed in a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) (PVDF-HFP) solution. The solution was then subjected to electrospinning, leading to the formation of a nanofiber mat. The dispersion states of plasma treated CBs have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A stress–strain curve was used to investigate the influence of dispersion on the mechanical properties of CB/polymer composites.

Prevalence and progression of macroscopic lesions in Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata on shallow fringing reefs of St. Kitts

The endangered corals Orbicella annularis and O. faveolata are crucial to Caribbean reefs because of their large size and contribution to reef framework. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and progression of macroscopically evident lesions affecting Orbicella spp. in shallow fringing reefs in St. Kitts. Cross-sectional surveys in the spring of 2017 demonstrated 8 predominant lesion patterns affecting 59% of corals (95% CI: 55.8-62.1%), including annular yellow-brown pigmentation, focal brown pigmentation, focal bleaching, diffuse bleaching, annular black surface deposit, focal tissue loss with skeletal erosion, focal grey pigmentation, and growth anomaly. Longitudinal surveys of 47 tagged corals were performed from August 2016-May 2017 to track lesion progression. The 2 most common lesions, annular yellow-brown pigmentation (n = 30), and focal brown pigmentation (n = 21), showed mean (±SD) partial colony mortality growth of 0.26 ± 0.5 and 0.21 ± 0.45 cm2 d-1, respectively. Annular pigmentation progression severity was associated with a marginating band of bleaching (ordinal odds ratio [OOR] = 11.0), and yellow rather than brown color (OOR = 3.8). Bleaching lesions (n = 13), occurring during a time of elevated sea surface temperature, were most severe during October-December 2016, and persisted through April 2017, months after heat stress had subsided. Annular black surface deposits (n = 3) were associated with rapid progression of acute tissue loss, whereas focal tissue loss with skeletal erosion (n = 2) regressed within months, and focal grey pigmentation (n = 2) was quiescent for the length of the study. This study enforces concern for the extent to which Orbicella spp. are declining due to disease.

Impact of visual features on capture of Aedes aegypti with host decoy traps (HDT)

BackgroundAedes aegypti is the major mosquito vector of many burdensome human diseases. While behavioral research has focused primarily on understanding the importance of olfactory stimuli in its host-seeking abilities, Ae. aegypti’s vision has also been shown to contribute significantly to locating a human host. In this semi-field study conducted in Kisian, Kisumu County, Kenya, we explored the role of visual properties in Aedes host-seeking by testing four different visual characteristics presented in host decoy traps (HDT). This surveillance trap presents a combination of visual, thermal, and odor stimuli to attract bloodmeal-seeking mosquitoes. This was also the first test of HDT for sampling Aedes mosquitoes, having previously been shown to be effective for capture of other vector genera such as Anopheles, Mansonia, and Culex in field settings.ResultsOur results show that the HDT is an effective means of capturing Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, with a per trial capture rate of up to 69% across four visually distinct HDTs deployed simultaneously in a semi-field arena. Of these four, a solid black HDT (HDT B) captured more mosquitoes than HDTs with: black-white stripes (HDT S), black-white checkerboard patches (HDT P), and a solid white color (HDT W). Across 16 replicates wherein 200 mosquitoes were released per trial, HDT B caught more mosquitoes than HDTs S, P, and W by a factor of 1.9, 1.7, and 1.5 respectively. In all cases, mosquito capture was not evenly distributed on the HDT surface, with captures on the HDT’s outer half, away from the odor delivery, exceeding captures on the inner half facing towards the odor delivery by a factor of 4.8, 3.7, 3.7, and 5.1 on HDTs B, S, P, and W respectively.Conclusions: Our results establish that in semi-field conditions, the HDT is effective for the capture of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and provides a flexible platform to test experimental parameters pertinent to the host-seeking behavior of mosquito vector species. We show that Ae. aegypti makes use of dark, but not light, high contrast visual information while responding to both the olfactory and thermal stimuli associated with hosts. The results further show that the solid black surface of the original HDT design is more effective than the other surfaces (white or black/white patterns) for the capture of Ae. aegypti.