Plant species first recognised as naturalised for New South Wales in 2002 and 2003, with additional comments on species recognised as naturalised in 2000–2001

Information is provided on the taxonomy and distribution of 71 taxa of naturalised or naturalising plants newly recorded for the state of New South Wales during the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2003. Of these taxa, 32 are new records for Australia (prefaced with a †). These species are: Abutilon pictum, Acanthus mollis, †Aesculus indica (naturalising), Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis, Ajuga reptans, †Anigozanthos flavidus, Aquilegia vulgaris, Arbutus unedo, †Athertonia diversifolia (naturalising), †Bergenia x schmidtii (naturalising), Bromus catharticus subsp. stamineus, Bryophyllum daigremontianum, Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi, Calyptocarpus vialis, †Ceiba speciosa (naturalising), Cereus uruguayanus, †Cestrum x cultum, †Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, Cistus salviifolius, †Clematis montana, †Coprosma x cunninghamii, Coprosma robusta, Cornus capitata, Cotoneaster simonsii, Cotoneaster x watereri group, Crinum moorei, Cupressus lusitanica, †Cylindropuntia fulgida var. mamillata forma monstrosa, †Cylindropuntia prolifera, Cylindropuntia tunicata, Desmanthus virgatus, Drosanthemum candens, †Elaeagnus umbellata (naturalising), †Eragrostis trichophora, †Eupatorium lindleyanum, †Gibasis pellucida, Glechoma hederacea, †Hesperis matronalis, Hieracium aurantiacum subsp. carpathicola, †Inga edulis (naturalising), †Juniperus conferta (naturalising), †Justicia caudata, Lamium galeobdolon, Lathyrus tingitanus, †Lysimachia fortunei, †Maackia amurensis, †Monstera deliciosa, †Murdannia keisak, Odontonema tubaeforme, Oxalis vallicola, Phoenix canariensis, †Physostegia virginiana, Pinus patula, Pittosporum eugenioides, †Pittosporum ralphii, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Plectranthus ecklonii, †Potentilla vesca, †Prunus campanulata, †Rhododendron ponticum, Rosa luciae, Rubus rugosus, Ruellia squarrosa, †Senna multijuga, Stapelia gigantea, Stephanophysum longifolium, Strobilanthes anisophylla, †Tabebuia chrysotricha, †Tabebuia impetiginosa, †Tradescantia pallida and Ulmus x hollandica. Additional notes and name changes are recorded for plants first recognised as naturalised for New South Wales over the period 2000–2001. The identification of several naturalised taxa occurring in New South Wales has been corrected. Plants formerly identified as Pinus nigra var. corsicana are now considered to be Pinus halepensis; Cylindropuntia arbuscula is Cylindropuntia kleiniae, Cylindropuntia tunicata is Cylindropuntia rosea, Abrus precatorius subp. precatorius is now Abrus precatorius subsp. africanus and Cotoneaster ?horizontalis is Cotoneaster microphyllus. Further field studies have revealed that Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, Cylindropuntia spinosior, Hypericum kouytchense and Chamaesyce ophthalmica are more widespread than previously thought

Too Little, Too Late: How the Tidal Evolution of Hot Jupiters affects Transit Surveys of Clusters

The tidal evolution of hot Jupiters may change the efficiency of transit surveys of stellar clusters. The orbital decay that hot Jupiters suffer may result in their destruction, leaving fewer transiting planets in older clusters. We calculate the impact tidal evolution has for different assumed stellar populations, including that of 47~Tuc, a globular cluster that was the focus of an intense HST search for transits. We find that in older clusters one expects to detect fewer transiting planets by a factor of two for surveys sensitive to Jupiter-like planets in orbits out to 0.5~AU, and up to a factor of 25 for surveys sensitive to Jupiter-like planets in orbits out to 0.08~AU. Additionally, tidal evolution affects the distribution of transiting planets as a function of semi-major axis, producing larger orbital period gaps for transiting planets as the age of the cluster increases. Tidal evolution can explain the lack of detected exoplanets in 47~Tuc without invoking other mechanisms. Four open clusters residing within the {\em Kepler} fields of view have ages that span 0.4-8~Gyr--if {\em Kepler} can observe a significant number of planets in these clusters, it will provide key tests for our tidal evolution hypothesis. Finally, our results suggest that observers wishing to discover transiting planets in clusters must have sufficient accuracy to detect lower mass planets, search larger numbers of cluster members, or have longer observation windows to be confident that a significant number of transits will occur for a population of stars.Comment: 23 pages including 6 figures, accepted to Ap

Plant species first recognised as naturalised or naturalising for New South Wales in 2004 and 2005

Information is provided on the taxonomy and distribution of 62 taxa of naturalised or naturalising plantsm newly recorded for the state of New South Wales during the period 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2005 and 1 species treated in the 2002 revised Flora of New South Wales Volume 2 but overlooked in an earlier paper of this series. Of these taxa, 17 are new records for Australia (prefaced with a †). The 62 taxa are: Acer palmatum, †Acer saccharinum, Achillea filipendulina, Acokanthera oblongifolia, †Anemone hupehensis var. japonica, Berberis aquifolium, †Bidens aurea, †Brugmansia suaveolens, Brugmansia x candida, Buddleja dysophylla, †Convolvulus farinosus, Cordyline australis, Coriandrum sativum, Corymbia citriodora (Australian species naturalised outside its native range), Crassula ericoides subsp. ericoides, Crotalaria retusa (Australian species naturalised outside its native range), Cyperus prolifer, Echinochloa polystachya, Ficus carica, †Gladiolus dalenii, †Gladiolus cultivar, Hakea laurina (Western Australian species), Hemerocallis fulva var. fulva, Hieracium pilosella, Hydrangea macrophylla, Hydrocleys nymphoides, Hymenachne amplexicaulis, Hypericum calycinum, Impatiens balfouri, Indigofera spicata, Iris laevigata, †Juglans ailantifolia, Lilium lancifolium, Lygodium japonicum, Malephora crocea, Mauranthemum paludosum, Melastoma malabathricum, †Nassella tenuissima, Pelargonium quercifolium, †Phoenix reclinata, Phormium tenax, Pinus contorta, Podranea ricasoliana, †Polygonatum x hybridum, Polypremum procumbens, †Primula malacoides, Rhaphiolepis umbellata, Romneya coulteri, Romneya trichocalyx, Setaria incrassata, †Sideritis lanata, †Sorbus aucuparia, Spartium junceum, Stylosanthes guianensis, Stylosanthes humilis, †Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus, Syzygium paniculatum (Australian species naturalising outside its native range), Tibouchina urvilleana, †Tradescantia cerinthoides, †Utricularia sandersonii, Washingtonia filifera and Zephyranthes carinata. The overlooked species is Eugenia uniflora

Adhesion Molecule Expression in Polymorphic Light Eruption

Endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) are cytokine-regulated cell-surface Ieukocyte adhesion molecules. We have investigated the in vivo kinetics and pattern of expression of these adhesion molecules in relation to tissue accumulation of leukocytes in the photodermatosis, polymorphic light eruption (PMLE), which is characterized by dense perivascular leukocytic infiltration. Immunohistology was performed on biopsies taken at varying time points from PMLE lesions induced in 11 subjects by suberythemal solar simulated irradiation. Vascular endothelial ELAM-1 expression was first observed at 5 h, maximal at 24 to 72 h, and remained elevated at 6 d. VCAM-1, minimally expressed in control skin, was induced above background levels on endothelium and some perivascular cells after 24h and maintained at 6 d. Endothelial cell ICAM-1 expression was increased above control levels at 72h and 6 d. Keratinocyte ICAM-1 expression, most marked overlying areas of dermal leukocytic infiltration, began at 5h and was strong at 72h and 6 d. In addition to lymphocytes, significant number of neutrophils of but not eosinophils were detected in the dermal leukocytic infiltrate that appeared at 5h and persisted at 6 d. The pattern of adhesion molecule expression that we have observed is similar to that seen in normal skin during a delayed hypersensitivity reaction: These observations support an immunologic basis for PMLE

Room-temperature optically detected magnetic resonance of single defects in hexagonal boron nitride

Optically addressable spins in materials are important platforms for quantum technologies, such as repeaters and sensors. Identification of such systems in two-dimensional (2d) layered materials offers advantages over their bulk counterparts, as their reduced dimensionality enables more feasible on-chip integration into devices. Here, we report optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) from previously identified carbon-related defects in 2d hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). We show that single-defect ODMR contrast can be as strong as 6% and displays a magnetic-field dependence with both positive or negative sign per defect. This bipolarity can shed light into low contrast reported recently for ensemble ODMR measurements for these defects. Further, the ODMR lineshape comprises a doublet resonance, suggesting either low zero-field splitting or hyperfine coupling. Our results offer a promising route towards realising a room-temperature spin-photon quantum interface in hexagonal boron nitride

Astrophysical reaction rate for α(αn,γ)\alpha(\alpha n,\gamma)9^{9}Be by photodisintegration

We study the astrophysical reaction rate for the formation of $^{9}$Be through the three body reaction $\alpha(\alpha n,\gamma)$. This reaction is one of the key reactions which could bridge the mass gap at A = 8 nuclear systems to produce intermediate-to-heavy mass elements in alpha- and neutron-rich environments such as r-process nucleosynthesis in supernova explosions, s-process nucleosynthesis in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, and primordial nucleosynthesis in baryon inhomogeneous cosmological models. To calculate the thermonuclear reaction rate in a wide range of temperatures, we numerically integrate the thermal average of cross sections assuming a two-steps formation through a metastable $^{8}$Be. Off-resonant and on-resonant contributions from the ground state in $^{8}$Be are taken into account. As input cross section, we adopt the latest experimental data by photodisintegration of $^{9}$Be with laser-electron photon beams, which covers all relevant resonances in $^{9}$Be. We provide the reaction rate for $\alpha(\alpha n,\gamma)^{9}$Be in the temperature range from T$_{9}$=10$^{-3}$ to T$_{9}$=10$^{1}$ both in the tabular form and in the analytical form. The calculated reaction rate is compared with the reaction rates of the CF88 and the NACRE compilations. The CF88 rate is valid at $T_{9} > 0.028$ due to lack of the off-resonant contribution. The CF88 rate differs from the present rate by a factor of two in a temperature range $T_{9} \geq 0.1$. The NACRE rate, which adopted different sources of experimental information on resonance states in $^{9}$Be, is 4--12 times larger than the present rate at $T_{9} \leq 0.028$, but is consistent with the present rate to within $\pm 20$ at $T_{9} \geq 0.1$.Comment: 32 pages (incl 6 figures), Nucl. Phys. in pres

Metformin reduces airway glucose permeability and hyperglycaemia-induced Staphylococcus aureus load independently of effects on blood glucose

Background Diabetes is a risk factor for respiratory infection, and hyperglycaemia is associated with increased glucose in airway surface liquid and risk of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Objectives To investigate whether elevation of basolateral/blood glucose concentration promotes airway Staphylococcus aureus growth and whether pretreatment with the antidiabetic drug metformin affects this relationship. Methods Human airway epithelial cells grown at air–liquid interface (±18 h pre-treatment, 30 μM–1 mM metformin) were inoculated with 5×105 colony-forming units (CFU)/cm2 S aureus 8325-4 or JE2 or Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 on the apical surface and incubated for 7 h. Wild-type C57BL/6 or db/db (leptin receptor-deficient) mice, 6–10 weeks old, were treated with intraperitoneal phosphate-buffered saline or 40 mg/kg metformin for 2 days before intranasal inoculation with 1×107 CFU S aureus. Mice were culled 24 h after infection and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid collected. Results Apical S aureus growth increased with basolateral glucose concentration in an in vitro airway epithelia–bacteria co-culture model. S aureus reduced transepithelial electrical resistance (RT) and increased paracellular glucose flux. Metformin inhibited the glucose-induced growth of S aureus, increased RT and decreased glucose flux. Diabetic (db/db) mice infected with S aureus exhibited a higher bacterial load in their airways than control mice after 2 days and metformin treatment reversed this effect. Metformin did not decrease blood glucose but reduced paracellular flux across ex vivo murine tracheas. Conclusions Hyperglycaemia promotes respiratory S aureus infection, and metformin modifies glucose flux across the airway epithelium to limit hyperglycaemia-induced bacterial growth. Metformin might, therefore, be of additional benefit in the prevention and treatment of respiratory infection