Mapping of angular leaf spot resistance QTL in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) under different environments

Background: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume for human diet worldwide and the angular leaf spot (ALS) is one of the most devastating diseases of this crop, leading to yield losses as high as 80%. In an attempt to breed resistant cultivars, it is important to first understand the inheritance mode of resistance and to develop tools that could be used in assisted breeding. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling resistance to ALS under natural infection conditions in the field and under inoculated conditions in the greenhouse. Results: QTL analyses were made using phenotypic data from 346 recombinant inbreed lines from the IAC-UNA x CAL 143 cross, gathered in three experiments, two of which were conducted in the field in different seasons and one in the greenhouse. Joint composite interval mapping analysis of QTL x environment interaction was performed. In all, seven QTLs were mapped on five linkage groups. Most of them, with the exception of two, were significant in all experiments. Among these, ALS10.1(DG,UC) presented major effects (R-2 between 16% - 22%). This QTL was found linked to the GATS11b marker of linkage group B10, which was consistently amplified across a set of common bean lines and was associated with the resistance. Four new QTLs were identified. Between them the ALS5.2 showed an important effect (9.4%) under inoculated conditions in the greenhouse. ALS4.2 was another major QTL, under natural infection in the field, explaining 10.8% of the variability for resistance reaction. The other QTLs showed minor effects on resistance. Conclusions: The results indicated a quantitative inheritance pattern of ALS resistance in the common bean line CAL 143. QTL x environment interactions were observed. Moreover, the major QTL identified on linkage group B10 could be important for bean breeding, as it was stable in all the environments. Thereby, the GATS11b marker is a potential tool for marker assisted selection for ALS resistance.

Histopathology of black spot symptoms in sweet oranges

In Brazil, citrus black spot (CBS) caused by Guignardia citricarpa is a major disease that has different symptoms on fruit. In this study, fruit of Citrus sinensis infected by G. citricarpa and showing the symptoms false melanosis, freckle spot and hard spot were cross-sectioned and analysed anatomically and histochemically by light microscopy. Immuno-histological assays were performed. All symptoms were accompanied by a thickening of the cuticle. False melanosis lesions did not contain pycnidia and remained restricted to the epicarp or to the first layers of the mesocarp. The stomata in this type of lesion showed phenolic compounds in the guard cells and in the sub-stomatal chamber. In some samples, the guard cells and their surrounding cells lysed, and a wound meristem began to form underneath them. Freckle spot and hard spot lesions had very similar histological alterations to the epicarp and mesocarp, but in our samples only hard spot lesions contained pycnidia. Both of these symptoms were accompanied by protein inclusions. Epidermal and sub-epidermal cells located in the oil-gland region were obliterated, causing alterations in these structures. All symptoms had regions that stained strongly for lipids and phenols.

Effects of the particle sizes and concentrations on the X-ray absorption by CuO compounds

This work presents a study on the effects of the particle size, material concentration and radiation energy on the X-ray absorption. CuO nanoparticles and microparticles were incorporated separately into a polymeric resin in concentrations of 5%, 10% and 30% relative to the resin mass. X-ray absorption by these materials was analyzed with a CdTe detector. The X-ray absorption is higher for the nanostructured material compared to the microstructured one for low energy X-ray beams for all CuO concentrations. (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unraveling the Mysterious Role of Palladium in Feigl bis(dimethylglyoximate)nickel(II) Spot Tests by Means of Confocal Raman Microscopy

The add protection effect promoted by traces of PdCl2 in [Ni(dmgH)(2)] spot tests was elucidated from confocal Raman microscopy imaging, which revealed the formation of protecting layers of [Pd(dmgH)(2)] closing the extremities of the [Ni(dmgH)(2)] filaments.

Field dependent transition to the non-linear regime in magnetic hyperthermia experiments: Comparison between maghemite, copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles of similar sizes

Further advances in magnetic hyperthermia might be limited by biological constraints, such as using sufficiently low frequencies and low field amplitudes to inhibit harmful eddy currents inside the patient's body. These incite the need to optimize the heating efficiency of the nanoparticles, referred to as the specific absorption rate (SAR). Among the several properties currently under research, one of particular importance is the transition from the linear to the non-linear regime that takes place as the field amplitude is increased, an aspect where the magnetic anisotropy is expected to play a fundamental role. In this paper we investigate the heating properties of cobalt ferrite and maghemite nanoparticles under the influence of a 500 kHz sinusoidal magnetic field with varying amplitude, up to 134 Oe. The particles were characterized by TEM, XRD, FMR and VSM, from which most relevant morphological, structural and magnetic properties were inferred. Both materials have similar size distributions and saturation magnetization, but strikingly different magnetic anisotropies. From magnetic hyperthermia experiments we found that, while at low fields maghemite is the best nanomaterial for hyperthermia applications, above a critical field, close to the transition from the linear to the non-linear regime, cobalt ferrite becomes more efficient. The results were also analyzed with respect to the energy conversion efficiency and compared with dynamic hysteresis simulations. Additional analysis with nickel, zinc and copper-ferrite nanoparticles of similar sizes confirmed the importance of the magnetic anisotropy and the damping factor. Further, the analysis of the characterization parameters suggested core-shell nanostructures, probably due to a surface passivation process during the nanoparticle synthesis. Finally, we discussed the effect of particle-particle interactions and its consequences, in particular regarding discrepancies between estimated parameters and expected theoretical predictions. Copyright 2012 Author(s). This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. [http://dx.doi. org/10.1063/1.4739533]

Effect of fungicides and alternative products in control of anthracnose and black spot of guava

This work aimed to evaluate the efficiency of fungicides in controlling in vitro and in vivo the causal agents of anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. acutatum) and black spot (Guignardia psidii) and evaluate the effect of alternative products to control these diseases. Inhibition of mycelial growth of the pathogens was evaluated for ten fungicides at concentrations of 1, 10 and 100 mg L-1 of active ingredient in potato-dextrose-agar medium. The effectiveness of the fungicides azoxystrobin + difenoconazole, cyproconazole, pyraclostrobin, tebuconazole and tebuconazole + trifloxystrobin in controlling disease incidence and severity of anthracnose, through applications in the field, was measured in fruits collected at three stages of maturation, according to the skin color ( dark green, light green and yellowish green). In postharvest dipping of fruits, the products evaluated were citric acid, peracetic acid, salicylic acid, sodium bicarbonate, chlorine dioxide, Ecolife (R) and chitosan. The fungicides azoxystrobin + difenoconazole, pyraclostrobin, tebuconazole and trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole were highly effective in inhibiting the in vitro mycelial growth of G. psidii and moderately to highly effective in inhibiting C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides. In field conditions, the fungicide azoxystrobin + difenoconazole was effective in controlling anthracnose and black spot in fruit at three maturity stage ( skin color yellowish green). The alternative products tested were ineffective in the curative control of anthracnose and early blight at postharvest of guava.

Association of laser phototherapy with PRP improves healing of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws in cancer patients: A preliminary study

The aim of this study was to compare retrospectively the effect of three different treatments on the healing outcome of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) in cancer patients. Twenty-two cancer patients were treated for BRONJ with one of the following protocols: clinical (pharmacological therapy), surgical (pharmacological plus surgical therapy), or PRP plus LPT (pharmacological plus surgical plus platelet rich plasma (PRP) plus laser phototherapy (LPT). The laser treatment was applied with a continuous diode laser (InGaAlP, 660 nm) using punctual and contact mode, 40 mW, spot size 0.042 cm(2), 6 J/cm(2) (6 s) and total energy of 0.24 J per point. The irradiations were performed on the exposed bone and surrounding soft tissue. The analysis of demographic data and risk factors was performed by gathering the following information: age, gender, primary tumor, bisphosphonate (BP) used, duration of BP intake, history of chemotherapy, use of steroids, and medical history of diabetes. The association between the current state of BRONJ (with or without bone exposure) and other qualitative variables was determined using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test. In all tests, the significance level adopted was 5%. Most BRONJ lesions occurred in the mandible (77%) after tooth extraction (55%) and in women (72%). A significantly higher percentage of patients reached the current state of BRONJ without bone exposure (86%) in the PPR plus LPT group than in the pharmacological (0%) and surgical (40%) groups after 1-month follow-up assessment. These results suggest that the association of pharmacological therapy and surgical therapy with PRP plus LPT significantly improves BRONJ healing in oncologic patients. Although prospective studies with larger sample sizes are still needed, this preliminary study may be used to inform a better-designed future study. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Perspective on the Amplification of Object Sizes that Intercept the Horizon Line

We investigated the effects of texture gradient and the position of test stimulus in relation to the horizon on the perception of relative sizes. By using the staircase method, 50 participants adjusted the size of a bar presented above, below or on the horizon as it could be perceived in the same size of a bar presented in the lower visual field. Stimuli were presented during 100ms on five background conditions. Perspective gradient contributed more to the overestimation of relative sizes than compression gradient. The sizes of the objects which intercepted the horizon line were overestimated. Visual system was very effective in extracting information from perspective depth cues, making it even during very brief exposure.

Analisi, progettazione e valutazione dell'efficacia dello spot pubblicitario. Una semiotica per la ricerca di mercato

Il lavoro di ricerca tenta di inquadrare sotto nuove prospettive una problematica ormai classica all’interno della semiotica della pubblicità: l’analisi dello spot. I punti chiave del lavoro – e la pretesa di una certa differenza rispetto a lavori con oggetti affini – consistono sostanzialmente in tre aspetti. Innanzitutto, vi è un ritorno alle origini flochiane nella misura in cui non solo il contesto complessivo e le finalità che la ricerca si propone sono fortemente ancorati all’interno di obiettivi di marketing, ma tutto lo studio nella sua interezza nasce dal dialogo concreto tra metodologia di analisi semiotica e prassi concreta all’interno degli istituti di ricerca di mercato. La tesi non presenta quindi una collezione di analisi di testi pubblicitari condotte in modo autoriferito, quanto piuttosto di “messe alla prova” della metodologia, funzionali alla definizione di disegni di ricerca per la marketing research. Questo comporta un dialogo piuttosto stretto con metodologie affini (sociologia qualitativa e quantitativa, psicologia motivazionale, ecc.) nella convinzione che la priorità accordata all’oggetto di analisi sia sovraordinata rispetto all’ortodossia degli strumenti metodologici. In definitiva, lo spot è sempre e comunque analizzato all’interno di una prospettiva brand-centrica che ha ben in mente la semiotica della situazione di consumo rispetto alla quale lo spot agisce da leva di valorizzazione per l’acquisto. In secondo luogo, gli oggetti analizzati sono piuttosto vari e differenziati: non solo lo spot nella sua versione audiovisiva definitiva (il “girato”), ma anche storyboard, animatic, concept (di prodotto e di comunicazione). La prospettiva generativa greimasiana va a innestarsi su problematiche legate (anche) alla genesi dello spot, alla sua progettazione e riprogettazione/ottimizzazione. La tesi mostra quindi come una semiotica per le consulenze di marketing si diriga sul proprio oggetto ponendogli domande ben circoscritte e finalizzate a un obiettivo specifico, sostanzialmente derivato dal brief contenente le intenzioni comunicazionali del cliente-azienda. Infine, pur rimanendo all’interno di una teoria semiotica generativa (sostanzialmente greimasiana e post greimasiana), la ricerca adotta una prospettiva intrinsecamente multidisciplinare che se da un lato guarda a problematiche legate al marketing, al branding e alla comunicazione pubblicitaria e d’impresa tout court, dall’altro ritorna alle teorie dell’audiovisivo, mostrando affinità e differenze rispetto a forme audiovisive standard (il “film”) e a mutuazioni da nuove estetiche (la neotelevisione, il videoclip, ecc). La tesi si mostra solidamente convinta del fatto che per parlare di efficacia discorsiva sia imprescindibile approfondire le tematiche riguardanti il sincretismo espressivo e le specifiche modalità di manifestazione stilistica. In questo contesto, il lavoro si compone di quattro grandi aree tematiche. Dopo una breve introduzione sull’attualità del tema “spot” e sulla prospettiva analiticometodologica adottata (§ 1.), nel secondo capitolo si assume teoreticamente che i contenuti dello spot derivino da una specifica (e di volta in volta diversa) creolizzazione tra domini tematici derivanti dalla marca, dal prodotto (inteso tanto come concept di prodotto, quanto come prodotto già “vestito” di una confezione) e dalle tendenze socioculturali. Le tre dimensioni vengono valutate in relazione all’opposizione tra heritage, cioè continuità rispetto al passato e ai concorrenti e vision, cioè discontinuità rispetto alla propria storia comunicazionale e a quella dei concorrenti. Si esplorano inoltre altri fattori come il testimonial-endorser che, in quanto elemento già intrinsecamente foriero di elementi di valorizzazione, va a influire in modo rilevante sul complesso tematico e assiologico della pubblicità. Essendo la sezione della tesi che prende in considerazione il piano specificatamente contenutistico dello spot, questa parte diventa quindi anche l’occasione per ritornare sul modello delle assiologie del consumo di Jean-Marie Floch, approntando alcune critiche e difendendo invece un modello che – secondo la prospettiva qui esposta – contiene punti di attualità ineludibili rispetto a schematizzazioni che gli sono successive e in qualche modo debitrici. Segue una sezione (§ 3.) specificatamente dedicata allo svolgimento e dis-implicazione del sincretismo audiovisivo e quindi – specularmente alla precedente, dedicata alle forme e sostanze del contenuto – si concentra sulle dinamiche espressive. Lo spot viene quindi analizzato in quanto “forma testuale” dotata di alcune specificità, tra cui in primis la brevità. Inoltre vengono approfondite le problematiche legate all’apporto di ciascuna specifica sostanza: il rapporto tra visivo e sonoro, lo schermo e la sua multiprospetticità sempre più evidente, il “lavoro” di punteggiatura della musica, ecc. E su tutto il concetto dominante di montaggio, intrinsecamente unito a quello di ritmo. Il quarto capitolo ritorna in modo approfondito sul rapporto tra semiotica e ricerca di mercato, analizzando sia i rapporti di reciproca conoscenza (o non conoscenza), sia i nuovi spazi di intervento dell’analisi semiotica. Dopo aver argomentato contro un certo scetticismo circa l’utilità pragmatica dell’analisi semiotica, lo studio prende in esame i tradizionali modelli di valutazione e misurazione dell’efficacia pubblicitaria (pre- e post- test) cercando di semiotizzarne il portato. Ne consegue la proposta di disegni di ricerca semiotici modulari: integrabili tra loro e configurabili all’interno di progetti semio-quali-quantitativi. Dopo aver ridefinito le possibilità di un’indagine semiotica sui parametri di efficacia discorsiva, si procede con l’analisi di un caso concreto (§ 5.): dato uno spot che si è dimostrato efficace agli occhi dell’azienda committente, quali possono essere i modi per replicarne i fattori di successo? E come spiegare invece quelli di insuccesso delle campagne successive che – almeno teoricamente – erano pensate per capitalizzare l’efficacia della prima? Non si tratta quindi di una semiotica ingenuamente chiamata a “misurare” l’efficacia pubblicitaria, che evidentemente la marketing research analizza con strumenti quantitativi assodati e fondati su paradigmi di registrazione di determinati parametri sul consumatore (ricordo spontaneo e sollecitato, immagine di marca risultante nella mente di user e prospect consumer, intenzione d’acquisto stimolata). Piuttosto l’intervento qui esposto si preoccupa più funzionalmente a spiegare quali elementi espressivi, discorsivi, narrativi, siano stati responsabili (e quindi prospetticamente potranno condizionare in positivo o in negativo in futuro) la ricezione dello spot. L’analisi evidenzia come elementi apparentemente minimali, ancorati a differenti livelli di pertinenza siano in grado di determinare una notevole diversità negli effetti di senso. Si tratta quindi di un problema di mancata coerenza tra intenzioni comunicative e testo pubblicitario effettivamente realizzato. La risoluzione di tali questioni pragmatiche conduce ad approfondimenti teoricometodologici su alcuni versanti particolarmente interessanti. In primo luogo, ci si interroga sull’apporto della dimensione passionale nella costruzione dell’efficacia e nel coinvolgimento dello spettatore/consumatore. Inoltre – e qui risiede uno dei punti di maggior sintesi del lavoro di tesi – si intraprende una proficua discussione dei modelli di tipizzazione dei generi pubblicitari, intesi come forme discorsive. Si fanno quindi dialogare modelli diversi ma in qualche misura coestensivi e sovrapponibili come quelli di Jean Marie Floch, Guido Ferraro, Cosetta Saba e Chiara Giaccardi. Si perviene così alla costruzione di un nuovo modello sintetico, idealmente onnipervasivo e trasversale alle prospettive analizzate.

Synthesis of polyphenylene cylinders with different sizes and connectivity patterns as well as study of their linear congeners

In dieser Arbeit wird die Synthese von Polyphenylenzylindern (PPZ) und strukturell verwandten Molekülen beschrieben, die in unterschiedlichen Größen und verschiedenartigen Bindungsmustern dargestellt wurden. Aufgrund ihres Aufbaus sind sie direkte Vorläufermoleküle von Kohlenstoffnanoröhren (CNT)s. Ziel war es, zunächst zu untersuchen, ob sich PPZs darstellen lassen. In einem anschließenden Schritt wurde die nasschemische Synthese von CNTs untersucht, die auf diesem Weg bisher noch nicht erreicht werden konnte. Die hier studierten Strukturen führten zu vielversprechenden Ergebnisse auf diesem Weg, da die oxidative Cyclodehydrierung – eine intramolekulare Anellierung – zur Bildung von ca. 50% der notwendigen Bindungen führte.

Late Infiltration of Post-orthodontic White Spot Lesions

White spot lesion (WSL) infiltration has been recommended immediately after debonding of orthodontic brackets. It is however not clear if established inactive WSLs can also be masked through infiltrationOrthodontic treatment of a 19-year-old patient had to be terminated prematurely due to development of multiple WSLs of varying severity. Three months after debonding, the patient presented for lesion infiltration. After etching with 15% HCl gel and re-wetting of the dried surfaces it seemed that a good outcome could be expected. Lesion infiltration led to complete masking of less severe WSLs. The visual appearance of moderate and severe WSLs was improved but they were still visible after treatment.Inactive WSLs may not represent an increased caries risk, but patients are often bothered esthetically. Infiltration by repeated etching might be a viable approach even for inactive WSLs. Controlled clinical trials are needed to investigate the long-term performance of this technique.