Determination of Coniothyrium minitans conidial and germling lectin avidity by flow cytometry and digital microscopy

The avidity of conidia and 48-h-old germlings of Coniothyrium minitans for FITC-conjugated lectins was characterised by flow cytometry and digital microscopy. Six isolates of C. minitans representing three morphological types were compared. Binding of Con A, SBA and WGA by conidial populations varied markedly in extent and pattern between isolates, however, with increasing culture age, conidia from all isolates demonstrated a significant reduction in lectin avidity. Germling isolates bound significantly different amounts of lectins and lectin binding differed significantly with locality. Spore walls of all germlings from all isolates bound more ConA compared with hyphal apices and mature hyphal walls. In contrast, hyphal apices of the majority of germling isolates, readily bound SBA and mature hyphal walls of germling isolates bound more WGA than other regions of the germlings. Such differential lectin binding by conidia and germlings may influence their specific surface interactions and adherence characteristics.

State-of-the-art in lean design engineering:a literature review on white collar lean

Lean is usually associated with the ‘operations’ of a manufacturing enterprise; however, there is a growing awareness that these principles may be transferred readily to other functions and sectors. The application to knowledge-based activities such as engineering design is of particular relevance to UK plc. Hence, the purpose of this study has been to establish the state-of-the-art, in terms of the adoption of Lean in new product development, by carrying out a systematic review of the literature. The authors' findings confirm the view that Lean can be applied beneficially away from the factory; that an understanding and definition of value is key to success; that a set-based (or Toyota methodology) approach to design is favoured together with the strong leadership of a chief engineer; and that the successful implementation requires organization-wide changes to systems, practices, and behaviour. On this basis it is felt that this review paper provides a useful platform for further research in this topic.