Zinc ions alter morphology and chitin deposition in an ericoid fungus

A sterile mycelium PS IV, an ascomycete capable of establishing ericoid mycorrhizas, was used to investigate how zinc ions affect the cellular mechanisms of fungal growth. Asignificant reduction of the fungal biomass was observed in the presence of millimolar zinc concentrations; this mirrored conspicuous changes in hyphal morphology which led to apical swellings and increased branching in the subapical parts. Specific probes for fluorescence and electron microscopy localised chitin, the main cell wall polysaccharide, on the inner part of the fungal wall and on septa in control specimens. In Zn-treated mycelium, hyphal walls were thicker and a more intense chitin labelling was detected on the transverse walls. Aquantitative assay showed a significant increase in the amount of chitin in metal- treated hyphae

Gigaspora margarita and its endobacterium modulate symbiotic marker genes in tomato roots under combined water and nutrient stress

As members of the plant microbiota, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may be effective in enhancing plant resilience to drought, one of the major limiting factors threatening crop productivity. AMF host their own microbiota and previous data demonstrated that endobacteria thriving in Gigaspora margarita modulate fungal antioxidant responses. Here, we used the G. margarita–Candidatus Glomeribacter gigasporarum system to test whether the tripartite interaction between tomato, G. margarita and its endobacteria may improve plant resilience to combined water/nutrient stress. Tomato plants were inoculated with spores containing endobacteria (B+) or not (B−), and exposed to combined water/nutrient stress. Plants traits, AM colonization and expression of AM marker genes were measured. Results showed that mycorrhizal frequency was low and no growth effect was observed. Under control conditions, B+ inoculated plants were more responsive to the symbiosis, as they showed an up-regulation of three AM marker genes involved in phosphate and lipids metabolism compared with B− inoculated or not-inoculated plants. When combined stress was imposed, the difference between fungal strains was still evident for one marker gene. These results indicate that the fungal endobacteria finely modulate plant metabolism, even in the absence of growth response

Integration of rule-based ‘Expert Systems’ on RPAS capable of specific category operations within the U-space: An original mitigation strategy for operational safety risks

The use of RPAS for civil purposes is spreading across Europe and worldwide; Aviation Authorities are working to layout regulations to assure a safe and secure integration of RPAS with manned aircraft across both controlled and uncontrolled (below 500 Feet of altitude) airspace. Following the identification of a selection of safety risks potentially associated to RPAS Specific Category of operations, an original strategy of risks mitigation focused on rule-based ‘Expert Systems’, has been conceived and it is discussed in this work. The article recalls the main components of rule-based ‘Expert Systems’ that is the knowledge basis and the rules to instruct the ‘Expert system’. Then the work describes the implementation of the rules as statements derived from a safety risk matrix associated to RPAS capable of performing Specific Category operations within the U-space. Finally, the idea of integrating the ‘Expert System’ as a software module within RPAS functional architecture is presented and discussed. Such solution is deemed to be a valuable novelty for future implementations of advanced RPAS autopilots capable of recognizing and solving in flight/on ground operational safety risks in such a way to speed up the integration of RPAS into not segregated airspace and their market development

The Power of Non-Determinism in Higher-Order Implicit Complexity

We investigate the power of non-determinism in purely functional programming languages with higher-order types. Specifically, we consider cons-free programs of varying data orders, equipped with explicit non-deterministic choice. Cons-freeness roughly means that data constructors cannot occur in function bodies and all manipulation of storage space thus has to happen indirectly using the call stack. While cons-free programs have previously been used by several authors to characterise complexity classes, the work on non-deterministic programs has almost exclusively considered programs of data order 0. Previous work has shown that adding explicit non-determinism to cons-free programs taking data of order 0 does not increase expressivity; we prove that this - dramatically - is not the case for higher data orders: adding non-determinism to programs with data order at least 1 allows for a characterisation of the entire class of elementary-time decidable sets. Finally we show how, even with non-deterministic choice, the original hierarchy of characterisations is restored by imposing different restrictions.Comment: pre-edition version of a paper accepted for publication at ESOP'1

PROTEINS SECRETED BY THE TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI ARE RELATED TO ARRHYTHMOGENESIS IN CHAGAS DISEASE

En esta tercera edición continuamos el análisis del Impuesto Adicional aplicable a los retiros efectivos sin establecimiento permanente que una persona sin domicilio o residencia en nuestro país efectúa desde una empresa chilena. Con este fin particular, recurrimos al enfoque metodológico relativo a las Modalidades del Impuesto, para reconocer y establecer el devengo y aplicación del Impuesto Adicional. Asimismo, el análisis contempla la aplicación del sistema de retención del Impuesto, cuyo deber de cumplimiento recae en el denominado agente retenedor. Para el análisis de la tributación de dichos retiros con fines metodológicos utilizamos un FUT Nocional, a tener presente al momento del retiro y cálculo de la retención, y un FUT Definitivo, a tener presente al término del ejercicio. También se introducen consideraciones a las partidas que deben considerarse retiradas de acuerdo a las normas de control del Art. 21 de la L.I.R. Para el desarrollo de las materias anotadas, se realiza una aplicación práctica del Impuesto Adicional sobre los retiros comentados

Evaluations on hydrogen fuel cells as a source of energy for specific operations category civil RPAS systems

This paper is on the evaluation of hydrogen fuel cells as a mean to enhance RPAS systems performances in terms of reachable range and endurance to integrate them into controlled airspaces operatively and safely. Main steps to size a fuel cell system to feed electrical motors of a fixed wing RPAS capable of specific operations category are described in this article. Then, a more extensive parametric model of a fuel cell power line based on operative and safety requirements for medium range/medium endurance RPAS systems is presented and discussed