Phenotypic screening of seed retention and histological analysis of the abscission zone in Festuca pratensis and Lolium perenne.

Background: Seed retention is the basic prerequisite for seed harvest. However, only little breeding progress has been achieved for this trait in the major forage grasses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of plant genetic resources of the important fodder grasses Festuca pratensis Huds.

Stalk cell polar ion transport provide for bladder-based salinity tolerance in Chenopodium quinoa.

Chenopodium quinoa uses epidermal bladder cells (EBCs) to sequester excess salt. Each EBC complex consists of a leaf epidermal cell, a stalk cell, and the bladder. Under salt stress, sodium (Na ), chloride (Cl ), potassium (K ) and various metabolites are shuttled from the leaf lamina to the bladders.

Hybrid setup for micro- and nano-computed tomography in the hard X-ray range.

With increasing miniaturization in industry and medical technology, non-destructive testing techniques are an area of ever-increasing importance. In this framework, X-ray microscopy offers an efficient tool for the analysis, understanding, and quality assurance of microscopic samples, in particular as it allows reconstructing three-dimensional data sets of the whole sample's volume via computed tomography (CT). The following article describes a compact X-ray microscope in the hard X-ray regime around 9 keV, based on a highly brilliant liquid-metal-jet source.

Propagator based formalism for optimizing in-line phase contrast imaging in laboratory X-ray setups.

We derive a propagator based formalism for optimizing phase contrast imaging in laboratory setups as well as in synchrotron setups. We confirm based on five different setups the well known existence of an optimum position for the sample in terms of phase contrast by measuring two types of fibers and evaluating the fringe contrast. Furthermore, we demonstrate for these setups a correlation of our formula and the fringe contrast.

In situ microradioscopy and microtomography of fatigue-loaded dental two-piece implants.

Synchrotron real-time radioscopy and in situ microtomography are the only techniques providing direct visible information on a micrometre scale of local deformation in the implant-abutment connection (IAC) during and after cyclic loading. The microgap formation at the IAC has been subject to a number of studies as it has been proposed to be associated with long-term implant success. The next step in this scientific development is to focus on the in situ fatigue procedure of two-component dental implants.

Fatigue induced changes in conical implant-abutment connections.

Objectives: Based on the current lack of data and understanding of the wear behavior of dental two-piece implants, this study aims for evaluating the microgap formation and wear pattern of different implants in the course of cyclic loading.

Methods: Several implant systems with different conical implant-abutment interfaces were purchased. The implants were first evaluated using synchrotron X-ray high-resolution radiography (SRX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).