Transnational survey data on European consumers' attitude and perceived knowledge about electric vehicles.

This article presents a dataset (Reyes García et al. [1]) concerning a transnational survey about knowledge and attitude levels towards electric vehicles (EVs) across European consumers. An initial survey was conducted among Danish households in 2018 (Pilgaard et al. [2]) within the context of the proEME project (pro-eme.eu) [3]. The aim of that survey was to gain understanding of public knowledge and perception of EVs, and to identify potential misconceived subjects regarding EVs. Due to the useful insights that the survey brought about EV consumers, it was decided to replicate it in The Netherlands (in December 2019); and in Germany, Hungary, Norway and once more in Denmark (all, in May 2020). The transnational survey consisted of 51 multiple-choice questions with topics such as socio-demographics, mobility behaviour and included 23 statements regarding "EV myths". This survey was aimed at comparing the public perception and knowledge regarding EVs among countries which differ in EV-market maturity. The data were collected by means of a web-based questionnaire. Respondents were member of a research panel, managed by a professional market research company. For each country, about 1500 respondents, aged between 18 and 70, completed the questionnaire in their local language. The data were processed by proEME partners and used in various ways to support stakeholders in the EV market (such as local governments and e-mobility providers) to tailor their mobility strategies to the needs of potential EV drivers. The dataset is provided with this article and includes a copy of the survey in all five languages and the English baseline version. The data can be used to conduct quantitative analyses or can be employed as a reference for more qualitative analyses, especially in the area of public perceptions and understanding of electric vehicles.

Cycling strategies of young and older cyclists.

This study concentrates on the cycling strategies of older cyclists (54-62year olds) in comparison to young cyclists (20-30year olds). While cycling in a safe laboratory set-up, controlled lateral perturbations are applied to the rear of the bicycle. Three possible strategies to keep balance are analysed for a young and older aged group: steering, lateral trunk movement and outward knee movement. Older subjects appear to rely more on knee movement as a control mechanism than young subjects. Furthermore, the frequency domain analysis revealed that the older adults need more effort to counteract high frequency perturbations. Increased inter-individual variation for the older adults subject group suggests that this group can be seen as a transition group in terms of physical fitness. This explains their increased risk in single-sided bicycle accidents (i.e. accidents involving the cyclist only). Therefore, older cyclists could benefit from improving the stability of cycling at lower speeds.

A metabolomics approach to identify factors influencing glucosinolate thermal degradation rates in Brassica vegetables.

Thermal processing of Brassica vegetables can lead to substantial loss of potential health-promoting glucosinolates (GLs). The extent of thermal degradation of a specific GL varies in different vegetables, possibly due to differences in the composition of other metabolites within the plant matrices. An untargeted metabolomics approach followed by random forest regression was applied to identify metabolites associated to thermal GL degradation in a segregating Brassica oleracea population. Out of 413 metabolites, 15 were associated with the degradation of glucobrassicin, six with that of glucoraphanin and two with both GLs. Among these 23 metabolites three were identified as flavonols (one kaempferol- and two quercetin-derivatives) and two as other GLs (4-methoxyglucobrassicin, gluconasturtiin). Twenty quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these metabolites, which were associated with glucoraphanin and glucobrassicin degradation, were identified on linkage groups C01, C07 and C09. Two flavonols mapped on linkage groups C07 and C09 and co-localise with the QTL for GL degradation determined previously.

Robotic control of a traditional flexible endoscope for therapy.

In therapeutic flexible endoscopy a team of physician and assistant(s) is required to control all independent translations and rotations of the flexible endoscope and its instruments. As a consequence the physician lacks valuable force feedback information on tissue interaction, communication errors easily occur, and procedures are not cost-effective. Current tools are not suitable for performing therapeutic procedures in an intuitive and user-friendly way by one person. A shift from more invasive surgical procedures that require external incisions to endoluminal procedures that use the natural body openings could be expected if enabling techniques were available. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a robotic system which interacts with traditional flexible endoscopes to perform therapeutic procedures that require advanced maneuverability. The physician uses one multi-degree-of-freedom input device to control camera steering as well as shaft manipulation of the motorized flexible endoscope, while the other hand is able to manipulate instruments. We identified critical use aspects that need to be addressed in the robotic setup. A proof-of-principle setup was built and evaluated to judge the usability of our system. Results show that robotic endoscope control increases efficiency and satisfaction. Participants valued its intuitiveness, its accuracy, the feeling of being in control, and its single-person setup. Future work will concentrate on the design of a system that is fully functional and takes safety, cleanability, and easy positioning close to the patient into account.

Pitfalls in the desulphation of glucosinolates in a high-throughput assay.

Glucosinolates are phytochemicals with health promoting properties. Determination as desulpho-glucosinolates is widely used and a desulphation in microtiter plates has been applied to reach high throughput. The use of various sulphatase concentrations and volumes throughout literature necessitates the identification of an appropriate desulphation procedure in microtiter plates. High sulphatase concentrations (≥15 mg/ml) decreased the concentration of the internal standard glucotropaeolin, whereas the other glucosinolates were less affected. Due to the calculation based on the recovery of glucotropaeolin, this leads to an overestimation of GL concentrations after desulphation with high sulphatase concentrations. A glucosidase side-activity, present in the crude sulphatase powder, is likely causing this phenomenon. At lower sulphatase concentrations (1 mg/ml) glucoiberin and glucoraphanin were insufficiently desulphated. Combining these effects results in a small range of applicable sulphatase concentrations. A purified sulphatase preparation resulted in good recoveries for a diversity of samples and is hence recommended for high throughput desulphation in microtiter plates.

Homologues of the Cf-9 disease resistance gene (Hcr9s) are present at multiple loci on the short arm of tomato chromosome 1.

The tomato Cf-4 and Cf-9 genes map at a genetically complex locus on the short arm of chromosome 1 and confer resistance against Cladosporium fulvum through recognition of different pathogen-encoded avirulence determinants. Cf-4 and Cf-9 are members of a large gene family (Hcr9s, Homologues of Cladosporium fulvum resistance gene Cf-9), some of which encode additional distinct recognition specificities. A genetic analysis of the majority of Hcr9s suggests that their distribution is spatially restricted to the short arm of chromosome 1. Two loci of clustered Hcr9 genes have been analyzed physically that mapped distal (Northern Lights) and proximal (Southern Cross) to the Cf-4/9 locus (Milky Way). Sequence homologies between intergenic regions at Southern Cross and Milky Way indicate local Hcr9 duplication preceded cluster multiplication. The multiplication of clusters involved DNA flanking Hcr9 sequences as indicated by conserved lipoxygenase sequences at Southern Cross and Milky Way. The similar spatial distribution of Hcr9 clusters in different Lycopersicon spp. suggests Hcr9 cluster multiplication preceded speciation.

The Cf-ECP2 gene is linked to, but not part of, the Cf-4/Cf-9 cluster on the short arm of chromosome 1 in tomato.

A gene has been identified in tomato, which confers resistance to Cladosporium fulvum through recognition of the pathogenicity factor ECP2. Segregation analysis of F2 and F3 populations showed monogenic dominant inheritance, as for previously reported Cf resistances. The gene has been designated Cf-ECP2. Using several mapping populations, Cf-ECP2 was accurately mapped on chromosome 1, 7.7 cM proximal to TG236 and 6.0 cM distal to TG184. Although Cf-ECP2 is linked to Cf-4, it is not located in the Hcr9 cluster "Milky Way". Therefore, Cf-ECP2 is the first functional Cf homologue on chromosome 1 that does not belong to this Hcr9 cluster. No recombination events between Cf-ECP2 and CT116 have been observed in three populations tested, representing 282 individuals. The low value for the physical distance per cM around CT116 reported previously and the high probability that Cf-ECP2 is also a member of a Hcr9 cluster will facilitate cloning of the locus.

Tomato chromosome 1: high resolution genetic and physical mapping of the short arm in an interspecific Lycopersicon esculentum x L. peruvianum cross.

A detailed map of part of the short arm of chromosome 1 proximal to the Cf-4/Cf-9 gene cluster was generated by using an F2 population of 314 plants obtained from the cross between the remotely related species Lycopersicon esculentum and L. peruvianum. Six markers that cosegregate in an L. esculentum x L. pennellii F2 population showed high recombination frequencies in the present interspecific population, spanning an interval of approximately 13 cM. Physical distances between RFLP markers were estimated by pulsed field gel electrophoresis of high-molecular-weight DNA and by identifying YACs that recognized more than one RFLP marker. In this region 1 cM corresponded to 55-110 kb. In comparsion with the value of 730 kb per cM averaged over the entire genome, this reflects the remarkably high recombination frequencies in this region in the hybrid L. esculentum x L. peruvianum progeny population. The present data underline the fact that recombination is not a process that occurs randomly over the entire genome, but can vary dramatically in intensity between chromosomal regions and among populations.

A High-Affinity Binding Site for the AVR9 Peptide Elicitor of Cladosporium fulvum Is Present on Plasma Membranes of Tomato and Other Solanaceous Plants.

The race-specific Cladosporium fulvum peptide elicitor AVR9, which specifically induces a hypersensitive response in tomato genotypes carrying the Cf-9 resistance gene, was labeled with iodine-125 at the N-terminal tyrosine residue and used in binding studies. 125I-AVR9 showed specific, saturable, and reversible binding to plasma membranes isolated from leaves of tomato cultivar Moneymaker without Cf resistance genes (MM-Cf0) or from a near-isogenic genotype with the Cf-9 resistance gene (MM-Cf9). The dissociation constant was found to be 0.07 nM, and the receptor concentration was 0.8 pmol/mg microsomal protein. Binding was highly influenced by pH and the ionic strength of the binding buffer and by temperature, indicating the involvement of both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Binding kinetics and binding capacity were similar for membranes of the MM-Cf0 and MM-Cf9 genotypes. In all solanaceous plant species tested, an AVR9 binding site was present, whereas in the nonsolanaceous species that were analyzed, such a binding site could not be identified. The ability of membranes isolated from different solanaceous plant species to bind AVR9 seems to correlate with the presence of members of the Cf-9 gene family, but whether this correlation is functional remains to be determined.

An improved method of partially digesting plant megabase DNA suitable for YAC cloning: application to the construction of a 5.5 genome equivalent YAC library of tomato.

An improved method for preparing partially digested tomato DNA has been developed, that is suitable for YAC cloning. It involves (i) isolation of high molecular-weight DNA from agarose-embedded leaf protoplasts, (ii) controlled partial digestion in situ using EcoRl endonuclease in the presence of EcoRI methylase (M. EcoRl), and (iii) fractionation of the partial digest on a Clamped Homogeneous Electric Fields (CHEF) gel. Unlike methods commonly used for generating partial digests, the present method allows one to produce digests in which the bulk of restriction fragments are of the desired size. Use of these partial digests in constructing YAC libraries of the tomato lines Moneymaker-Cf4 and VFNT Cherry resulted in libraries (total 21,060 clones, 5.5 genome equivalents) in which 80% of the YACs have inserts between 200 and 600 kb. Both libraries have been screened with selected RFLP markers linked to the Cladosporium fulvum Cf4 locus on chromosome 1, using a three-dimensional PCR-based screening technique. To this end, the RFLP markers have been sequenced to allow for the synthesis of specific primers. Thus, for each marker tested several YAC clones have been isolated, including a family of clones that carry leucine-rich repeat sequences located around the Cf4/Cf9 locus.