Characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana CPR5 via the elucidation of interacting protein partners : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Biochemistry at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

he Arabidopsis thaliana Constitutive expresser of pathogenesis related genes5 (CPR5) has previously been suggested to play a role in the regulation of disease resistance, plant and cell proliferation, development and death. Analysis of cpr5 mutant alterations to hormone and hormone-like signalling mechanisms have provided evidence that abolishment of CPR5 involvement within these hormone signalling pathways, results in many of the stunted growth, early senescence and constitutive expression of pathogen defense phenotypes observed. Despite the pleiotropic effect that cpr5 mutants have on the plant system, it is unclear whether CPR5-dependent pathways are due to a direct interaction with CPR5 or due to a more indirect association. CPR5 has been proposed to be a regulator of a multitude of different pathways, including reactive oxygen species (ROS), cell wall biosynthesis, and transcription but evidence of these proposals are limited to the effects that cpr5 mutants have on downstream targets. In an attempt to address the involvement of CPR5 in Arabidopsis plant processes, a series of studies were conducted to determine the protein interacting partners of CPR5. Proteins were identified via 2 independent yeast 2 hybrid (Y2H) screening of an Arabidopsis transcriptome library. Ten proteins of interest were identified via two independent screenings using two truncated forms of CPR5. Functional involvement of CPR5 with the identified proteins was further explored using the Y2H pairwise interaction system. CPR5 was found to interact with 3 full length proteins identified. To explore the possibility that CPR5 interacts with multiple protein partners in different locations within the cell, Bifluorescence molecular complementation assays were performed to determine the localization and interaction of CPR5 with the ten identified genes as well as 3 previously identified genes. Several novel interactions were identified that occur within the nucleus and outside of the nucleus. Not only was CPR5 confirmed to have an interaction with KRP2 within the nucleus, CPR5 exhibited interaction with FSD1, CRK4, PATL3, PATL5, and PATL6, outside of the nucleus. In the final set of experiments, several double mutant lines were produced that did not yield any observable phenotypes that differ from cpr5-2 single mutant plants. In order to determine the effects these double mutants have on various plant processes affected by cpr5-2 single mutant; qRT-PCR was performed to determine the expression pattern of pathogen related genes (PR1 and PDF1.2) known to be significantly upregulated in cpr5-2 plants. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that cpr5-2 fsd1 exhibits a down-regulation of PDF1.2. PR1 regulation was found to be down-regulation in cpr5-2 bzip61 and up-regulated in cpr5-2 patl3 compared to cpr5-2. Sugar and dark treatment of the cpr5-2 double mutant lines yielded several alterations to hypocotyl length, root length, and apical hook curvature by several of the double mutant lines, indicating a connection between CPR5 and the knocked out gene of interest. None of the double mutants were able to completely rescue the sugar-induced morphological phenotypes exhibited by cpr5-2, and some double mutant lines exhibited more pronounced effects indicating an additive effect by sugar treatment. Together this data suggests that CPR5 interacts with various proteins involved in different plant processes in various locations throughout the cell. Further research of these proteins and a more direct analysis of the interaction that may occur between CPR5 and these proteins will be required to provide a foundation for more direct characterization the CPR5 molecular function; and ultimately to determine the role that CPR5 plays within the hormone and hormone like signalling pathway and their effects on major plant processes

The SST Fully-Synchronous Multi-GHz Analog Waveform Recorder with Nyquist-Rate Bandwidth and Flexible Trigger Capabilities

The design and performance of a fully-synchronous multi-GHz analog transient waveform recorder I.C. ("SST") with fast and flexible trigger capabilities is presented. The SST's objective is to provide multi-GHz sample rates with intrinsically-stable timing, Nyquist-rate sampling and high trigger bandwidth, wide dynamic range and simple operation. Containing 4 channels of 256 samples per channel, the SST is fabricated in an inexpensive 0.25 micrometer CMOS process and uses a high-performance package that is 8 mm on a side. It has a 1.9V input range on a 2.5V supply, exceeds 12 bits of dynamic range, and uses ~128 mW while operating at 2 G-samples/s and full trigger rates. With a standard 50 Ohm input source, the SST exceeds ~1.5 GHz -3 dB bandwidth. The SST's internal sample clocks are generated synchronously via a shift register driven by an external LVDS oscillator running at half the sample rate (e.g., a 1 GHz oscillator yields 2 G-samples/s). Because of its purely-digital synchronous nature, the SST has ps-level timing uniformity that is independent of sample frequencies spanning over 6 orders of magnitude: from under 2 kHz to over 2 GHz. Only three active control lines are necessary for operation: Reset, Start/Stop and Read-Clock. When operating as common-stop device, the time of the stop, modulo 256 relative to the start, is read out along with the sampled signal values. Each of the four channels integrates dual-threshold trigger circuitry with windowed coincidence features. Channels can discriminate signals with ~1mV RMS resolution at >600 MHz bandwidth.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, submitted for publication in the Conference Record of the 2014 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Seattle, WA, November 201

Social Environmental Accounting and Accountability - A preparer’s perspective on the relationship between the accountor and the accountee within the food industry in Sweden

Title: Social Environmental Accounting and Accountability - a preparer’s perspective on the relationship between the accountor and the accountee within the food industry in Sweden Seminar date: 2014-06-02 Course: BUSN69 Degree Project - Accounting & Auditing Authors: Ola Nordahl & Alexander Chiem Advisors: Karin Jonnergård & Amanda Tan Sonnerfeldt Five key words: Sustainability reporting, SEA, CSR, Accountability, Food Industry Purpose: To provide insight into the concept of accountability from a preparer’s perspective by examining how the main aspects of SEA contributes to accountability between the accountee and the accountor within the food industry in Sweden. Methodology: A qualitative and exploratory case study of the food industry in Sweden consisting of six semi-structured interviews. Theoretical perspective: Legitimacy and stakeholder theory are commonly used to explain the relationship between organizations and their environment in terms of accountability. We view these theories and the theoretical construct of SEA, from a preparer’s perspective, to shed light on the concept of accountability. Empirical foundation: The data collection consists of information from interviews with four companies within the food sector, one food industry association and one sustainability reporting entrepreneur. Conclusions: Creating accountability is a motive behind SEA and explained by legitimacy and stakeholder aspects. Motives outside the concept of accountability might however also exist. Stakeholder dialogues are essential in order to establish accountability, although the efficiency of the dialogues is questioned. Both the public and specific stakeholders are perceived to be recipients of SEA, which implies that a perceived accountability exists towards both. Understandability of the SEA is important, which might broaden the concept of accountability. A responsive approach to accountability is present whereas preparers see a certain level of subjectivity within SEA as natural

Justice Detained: The Effects of Deportation on Immigrant Families

In November 2002, driven by a growing awareness within the Asian and Pacific Islander immigrant communities that more and more people were getting deported, youth activists at AYPAL, based in Oakland, initiated a campaign to find out what was going on and what they could do about it. AYPAL found that the problem of deportation was much worse than the isolated incidents we had heard about, and it is only growing more severe. In 1996, Congress enacted the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), which made it a lot easier to deport immigrants, including many legal permanent residents who had lived in the United States for many years. They were considered deportable if they had committed any crime involving prison or probation time that added up to one year or more. (See "Overview of IIRIRA" section.)AYPAL's research findings:Hundreds of thousands of people are being deported every year to countries all around the world, and there was a huge increase in deportations from 1996 to 1998, coinciding with IIRIRA being implemented in April 1997.The overwhelming majority of "criminal removals" are for non-violent crimes.Deportations hurt families by potentially leaving hundreds of thousands of children who are left behind in poverty.Despite claims that immigrants are contributing to high crime rates, they are actually less likely than native-born citizens to commit crimes.Immigrants released from jail are less likely than the native born to be repeat offenders.Immigrants are being deported to countries that the US State Department deems too dangerous to travel to.Another reason besides IIRIRA for the huge increase in deportations is that many more people in general (both immigrants and native born) are being sent to prison and for longer sentences because of policy changes like "three strikes" and mandatory minimum sentencing

Synthesis of Hybrid Fuzzy Logic Law for Stable Control of Magnetic Levitation System

In this paper, we present a method to design a hybrid fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for a magnetic levitation system (MLS) based on the linear feedforward control method combined with FLC. MLS has many applications in industry, transportation, but the system is strongly nonlinear and unstable at equilibrium. The fast response linear control law ensures that the ball is kept at the desired point, but does not remain stable at that point in the presence of noise or deviation from the desired position. The controller that combines linear feedforward control and FLC is designed to ensure ball stability and increase the system's fast-response when deviating from equilibrium and improve control quality. Simulation results in the presence of noise show that the proposed control law has a fast and stable effect on external noise. The advantages of the proposed controller are shown through the comparison results with conventional PID and FLC control laws

Synthesis of LQR Controller Based on BAT Algorithm for Furuta Pendulum Stabilization

In this study, a controller design method based on the LQR method and BAT algorithm is presented for the Furuta pendulum stabilization system. Determine the LQR controller, it is often based on the designer's experience or using trial and error to find the Q, R matrices. The BAT search algorithm is based on the characteristics of the bat population in the wild. However, there are advantages to finding multivariate objective functions. The BAT algorithm has an improvement for the LQR controller to optimize the linear square function with fast response time, low energy consumption, overshoot, and a small number of oscillations. Swarm optimization algorithms have advantages in finding global extrema of multivariate functions. Therefore, with a large number of elements of the Q and R matrices, they can also be quickly found and these matrices still satisfy the Riccati equation. The controller with optimal parameters is verified through simulation results with different scenarios. The performance of the proposed controller is compared with a conventional LQR controller and implemented on a real system

The SST Multi-G-Sample/s Switched Capacitor Array Waveform Recorder with Flexible Trigger and Picosecond-Level Timing Accuracy

The design and performance of a multi-G-sample/s fully-synchronous analog transient waveform recorder I.C. ("SST") with fast and flexible trigger capabilities is presented. Containing 4 channels of 256 samples per channel and fabricated in a 0.25 {\mu}m CMOS process, it has a 1.9V input range on a 2.5V supply, achieves 12 bits of dynamic range, and uses ~160 mW while operating at 2 G-samples/s and full trigger speeds. With a standard 50 Ohm input source, the SST's analog input bandwidth is ~1.3 GHz within about +/-0.5 dB and reaches a -3 dB bandwidth of 1.5 GHz. The SST's internal sample clocks are generated synchronously via a shift register driven by an external LVDS oscillator, interleaved to double its speed (e.g., a 1 GHz clock yields 2 G-samples/s). It can operate over 6 orders of magnitude in sample rates (2 kHz to 2 GHz). Only three active control lines are necessary for operation: Reset, Start/Stop and Read-Clock. Each of the four channels integrates dual-threshold discrimination of signals with ~1 mV RMS resolution at >600 MHz bandwidth. Comparator results are directly available for simple threshold monitoring and rate control. The High and Low discrimination can also be AND'd over an adjustable window of time in order to exclusively trigger on bipolar impulsive signals. Trigger outputs can be CMOS or low-voltage differential signals, e.g. 1.2V CMOS or positive-ECL (0-0.8V) for low noise. After calibration, the imprecision of timing differences between channels falls in a range of 1.12-2.37 ps sigma at 2 G-samples/s.Comment: 9 pages, 16 figures, 1 tabl

Hysteretic Behavior in Voltage-Gated Channels

An ever-growing body of evidence has shown that voltage-gated ion channels are likely molecular systems that display hysteresis in their activity. This phenomenon manifests in the form of dynamic changes in both their voltage dependence of activity and their deactivation kinetics. The goal of this review is to provide a clear definition of hysteresis in terms of the behavior of voltage-gated channels. This review will discuss the basic behavior of voltage-gated channel activity and how they make these proteins into systems displaying hysteresis. It will also provide a perspective on putative mechanisms underlying hysteresis and explain its potential physiological relevance. It is uncertain whether all channels display hysteresis in their behavior. However, the suggested notion that ion channels are hysteretic systems directly collides with the well-accepted notion that ion channel activity is stochastic. This is because hysteretic systems are regarded to have “memory” of previous events while stochastic processes are regarded as “memoryless.” This review will address this apparent contradiction, providing arguments for the existence of processes that can be simultaneously hysteretic and stochastic

Overvannshåndtering med naturbaserte løsninger på Mosvangen

Det er økende befolkningsutvikling, og behov for utbygging. Det skal bygges barnehage, dagsenter og avlastningshjem i Stavanger på Mosvangen. En av de største årsakene til urban vannforurensning er overvannet som renner av tak, veier, parkeringsplasser og andre tette overflater. Etter hvert som områder fortsetter å urbanisere, blir forurensningsproblemer knyttet til dårlig administrert overvann mer og mer uttalt. Økende mengder med nedbør fører til betydelige utfordringer for avløpsrør og renseanlegg, da store mengder overvann på avløpsnettet kan føre til at unødvendig mye vann går gjennom renseanlegget, noe som reduserer renseeffekten. I tillegg kan ledningsnettet for drikkevann bli utsatt for økt forurensningsrisiko. Samfunnet opplever store skadevirkninger som følge av at overvann ikke håndteres godt nok via det eksisterende avløpsnettet. Skadevirkningene skyldes ofte at mengdene overvann er langt større enn nettet er dimensjonert for. For å forhindre at intense nedbørhendelser, flommer og stormflo fører til ytterligere skadevirkninger fra overvann, må det legges til rette for at kommunene i større grad kan håndtere overvann ved hjelp av lokale tiltak. Ved å ta i bruk naturbaserte løsninger i små og store prosjekter, forbereder vi oss på klimaendringer samtidig blir Stavanger en grønnere og triveligere by. Når det bygges nytt i Stavanger, skal regnvannet håndteres i åpne løsninger inspirert av naturen. I stedet for at regnvannet renner til nærmeste resipient kan det i stedet brukes som en ressurs.There is an increased population growth and need for development. A kindergarten, daycare center and auxiliary housing are planned to be built in Stavanger at Mosvangen. One of the major causes of urban water pollution is stormwater runoff from roofs, roads, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces. As areas continue to urbanize, pollution problems related to poorly managed stormwater become more pronounced. Increasing amounts of precipitation pose significant challenges for sewage pipes and treatment plants, as excessive stormwater in the sewage system can reduce the treatment effectiveness. Additionally, the drinking water network may be exposed to increased pollution risks. Society experiences significant damage when stormwater is not adequately managed through the existing sewage system. This damage often occurs because the volume of stormwater exceeds the capacity of the network. To prevent intense rainfall events, floods, and storm surges causing further damage from stormwater, it is necessary to enable municipalities to handle stormwater more effectively through sustainable drainage system (SUDS). By implementing nature-based solutions in small and large projects, we are preparing for climate change while making Stavanger a greener and more pleasant city. When constructing new buildings in Stavanger, rainwater will be managed through open nature-based solutions. Instead of flowing into the nearest recipient, rainwater can be utilized as a resource