Characterization of the lipoxygenase (LOX) gene family in the Chinese white pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) and comparison with other members of the Rosaceae

Background Lipoxygenases (LOXs), a type of non-haem iron-containing dioxygenase, are ubiquitous enzymes in plants and participate in the formation of fruit aroma which is a very important aspect of fruit quality. Amongst the various aroma volatiles, saturated and unsaturated alcohols and aldehydes provide the characteristic aroma of the fruit. These compounds are formed from unsaturated fatty acids through oxidation, pyrolysis and reduction steps. This biosynthetic pathway involves at least four enzymes, including LOX, the enzyme responsible for lipid oxidation. Although some studies have been conducted on the LOX gene family in several species including Arabidopsis, soybean, cucumber and apple, there is no information from pear; and the evolutionary history of this gene family in the Rosaceae is still not resolved. Results In this study we identified 107 LOX homologous genes from five Rosaceous species (Pyrus bretschneideri, Malus × domestica, Fragaria vesca, Prunus mume and Prunus persica); 23 of these sequences were from pear. By using structure analysis, phylogenic analysis and collinearity analysis, we identified variation in gene structure and revealed the phylogenetic evolutionary relationship of this gene family. Expression of certain pear LOX genes during fruit development was verified by analysis of transcriptome data. Conclusions 23 LOX genes were identified in pear and these genes were found to have undergone a duplication 30–45 MYA; most of these 23 genes are functional. Specific gene duplication was found on chromosome4 in the pear genome. Useful information was provided for future research on the evolutionary history and transgenic research on LOX genes

The effects of a sexual victimization history, sexual attitudes, and ethnicity on women\u27s sexual assault scripts

This study examined the effects of a sexual victimization history, sexual attitudes, ethnicity, and proximity of past sexual assault on womens hypothetical sexual assault scripts. It also compared previously sexually victimized women\u27s hypothetical sexual assault scripts to their actual assault narratives. Two hundred forty-seven undergraduate women wrote hypothetical sexual assault scripts describing an unwanted sexual experience and completed measures assessing the individual differences variables of interest. Women who reported a victimization history then wrote about their assault experience while women who did not report such history wrote about a bad date or \u27hook-up\u27 experience. A coding manual was developed and experts in the sexual violence research area coded the hypothetical scripts and assault narratives. Qualitative analysis revealed several important relationships between the individual differences variables and specific script characteristics. Specifically, victimization history had the most differences related to individual variables. Victimized women included alcohol, consensual kissing, and the context of a party in their hypothetical scripts more frequently than nonvictimized women. They described knowing the man for between one month and one year less frequently than nonvictimized women. Results also indicated distinct incongruence between women\u27s hypothetical scripts and their actual assault narratives. These results suggest that this relationship should be explored further to understand how women develop and make adjustments to their sexual assault scripts as it could inform the development of prevention programs as well as assist in identifying women at risk for victimization

The Development of the Sexual Assault Script Scale

This mixed methods study involved the qualitative development of and quantitative testing of the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS). In Study 1, 31 undergraduate women participated in semi-structured interviews that included qualitative questions about their expectations of a hypothetical sexual assault. Information from these interviews then was used to create items for the SASS. These items asked women to estimate the likelihood that specific contextual characteristics would be present during a hypothetical sexual assault. In Study 2, 500 undergraduate women completed the SASS. An exploratory factor analysis of the SASS resulted in a 40-item, four-factor solution. The subscales of the SASS were named Stereotypical/Severe Assault Beliefs, Acquaintance Assault Beliefs, Assault Resistance Beliefs, and Date/Friend Assault Beliefs. The association between the SASS subscales and measures tapping putative risk factors for sexual victimization (e.g., previous victimization history, sexual refusal assertiveness, alcohol use, number of consensual sexual partners, and attitudes about casual, impersonal sex) were examined. Regression analyses also were conducted to examine which risk measures uniquely predicted responses to the SASS subscales. More severe sexual victimization history predicted higher scores on the Stereotypical/Severe Assault Beliefs subscale. Higher sexual refusal assertiveness, a greater number of lifetime sexual partners, greater alcohol use, more severe sexual victimization history, and more positive attitudes about casual, impersonal sex predicted higher scores on the Acquaintance Assault Belief subscale. Higher sexual refusal assertiveness predicted higher scores on the Assault Resistance Belief subscale. Finally, greater alcohol use predicted higher scores on the Date/Friend Assault Beliefs subscale while higher sexual refusal assertiveness predicted lower scores on this subscale. While several studies still need to be conducted on the SASS, the measure may have utility for sexual assault prevention programs in identifying women at higher risk for victimization

学会抄録

Mauve visualization of local collinear blocks identified among 14 haplotypes (15BACs) from Saccharum species and sorghum. (DOCX 1909 kb

Physical and Performance Characteristics May Influence Successful Completion of Military Tasks on the Sandhurst Competition

Identification and development of physical characteristics that lead to efficient performance of military skills or tasks has been a consistently difficult task for the United States military for decades. The literature suggests certain physical characteristics may be more important, although this information is conflicting. Furthermore, the military physical fitness training program that is intended to prepare soldiers for combat is commonly evaluated with the Army Physical Fitness Test (PFT), a test that is more suited for evaluating health and wellness rather than task-specific fitness. All of this testing and training of soldiers focuses on the individual soldiers and their abilities although military skills or tasks are seldom if ever conducted independently. The first purpose of this dissertation was to identify relationships between the PFT, anthropometrics, measures of strength, and power. The second purpose was to identify the team characteristics that influence team performance during the Sandhurst Competition (a 2-day simulated military operation). Strong correlations were found between PFT events and weak correlations were found between PFT measures and evaluations of strength and power. The strong correlations between PFT events could indicate that only one event may be necessary to determine health and wellness. The weak correlations between events of the PFT and measures of strength and power suggest the PFT is not an assessment of strength and power based on the strength and power measures employed in the current study. The evaluation of team characteristics indicated that age (possibly experience) had the largest effect on Sandhurst Competition performance. Further analysis of each event supported the contention that age influences performance but also identified specific aerobic, anaerobic, and anthropometric variables that influenced performance on particular events. The data from this dissertation suggests that teams competing in the Sandhurst Competition should attempt to recruit team members with more experience, very high run scores, and high vertical jump heights

Development of 3D Trefftz Voronoi Cells with Ellipsoidal Voids &/or Elastic/Rigid Inclusions for Micromechanical Modeling of Heterogeneous Materials

In this paper, as an extension to the authors's work in [Dong and Atluri (2011a,b, 2012a,b,c)], three-dimensional Trefftz Voronoi Cells (TVCs) with ellipsoidal voids/inclusions are developed for micromechanical modeling of heterogeneous materials. Several types of TVCs are developed, depending on the types of heterogeneity in each Voronoi Cell(VC). Each TVC can include alternatively an ellipsoidal void, an ellipsoidal elastic inclusion, or an ellipsoidal rigid inclusion. In all of these cases, an inter-VC compatible displacement field is assumed at each surface of the polyhedral VC, with Barycentric coordinates as nodal shape functions. The Trefftz trial displacement fields in each VC are expressed in terms of the Papkovich-Neuber solution. Ellipsoidal harmonics are used as the Papkovich-Neuber potentials to derive the Trefftz trial displacement fields. Characteristic lengths are used for each VC to scale the Trefftz trial functions, in order to avoid solving systems of ill-conditioned equations. Two approaches for developing VC stiffness matrices are used. The differences between these two approaches are that, the compatibility between the independently assumed fields in the interior of the VC with those at the outer- as well as the inner-boundary, are enforced alternatively, by Lagrange multipliers in multi-field boundary variational principles, or by collocation at a finite number of preselected points. These VCs are named as TVC-BVP and TVC-C respectively. Several three-dimensional computational micromechanics problems are solved using these TVCs. Computational results demonstrate that both TVC-BVP and TVC-C can efficiently predict the overall properties of composite/porous materials. They can also accurately capture the stress concentration around ellipsoidal voids/inclusions, which can be used in future to study the damage of materials, in combination of tools of modeling micro-crack initiation and propagation. Therefore, we consider that the 3D TVCs developed in this study are very suitable for ground-breaking micromechanical study of heterogeneous materials

Do-it-Together Concept for Production Ecosystems

The do-it-yourself mentality is particularly widespread in the furniture sector. Homemade furniture is very popular. The individualisation of furniture can be observed in internet forums, such as the online platform Pinterest. These creative ideas of potential customers show a need for individualized sustainable pieces of furniture. The current production structures, however, do not allow individual production according to the end customer's specifications. In addition, information logistics faces a major challenge: making the creative ideas of end consumers available to producers in parametric form. Topics such as customer requirements in relation to sustainable production, material specifications, industrial property rights, fair production conditions and traceability are the focus of this data interchange. An open and innovative European furniture ecosystem must be created to connect all stakeholders in the production process. This is made possible by a platform that channels the creativity of consumers and makes it designable and producible through the professional skills of designers. This requires the involvement of manufacturing specialists who can produce personalised products through sustainable intelligent production technologies. An exchange of information must also take place securely and quickly in order to protect the personal rights of the sources of ideas. This is being developed in the EU research project INEDIT - Open Innovation Ecosystem for do-it-together process. By connecting many different stakeholders along the entire value creation process, a change towards efficient collaborative collaboration is achieved. This paper presents a project insight for the development of an international co-creation platform by presenting the problem and linking it to a potential solution