Scoping biological indicators of soil quality Phase II. Defra Final Contract Report SP0534

This report presents results from a field assessment of a limited suite of potential biological indicators of soil quality to investigate their suitability for national-scale soil monitoring

Role of Sequence and Structure of the Hendra Fusion Protein Fusion Peptide in Membrane Fusion

Viral fusion proteins are intriguing molecular machines that undergo drastic conformational changes to facilitate virus-cell membrane fusion. During fusion a hydrophobic region of the protein, termed the fusion peptide (FP), is inserted into the target host cell membrane, with subsequent conformational changes culminating in membrane merger. Class I fusion proteins contain FPs between 20 and 30 amino acids in length that are highly conserved within viral families but not between. To examine the sequence dependence of the Hendra virus (HeV) fusion (F) protein FP, the first eight amino acids were mutated first as double, then single, alanine mutants. Mutation of highly conserved glycine residues resulted in inefficient F protein expression and processing, whereas substitution of valine residues resulted in hypofusogenic F proteins despite wild-type surface expression levels. Synthetic peptides corresponding to a portion of the HeV F FP were shown to adopt an α-helical secondary structure in dodecylphosphocholine micelles and small unilamellar vesicles using circular dichroism spectroscopy. Interestingly, peptides containing point mutations that promote lower levels of cell-cell fusion within the context of the whole F protein were less α-helical and induced less membrane disorder in model membranes. These data represent the first extensive structure-function relationship of any paramyxovirus FP and demonstrate that the HeV F FP and potentially other paramyxovirus FPs likely require an α-helical structure for efficient membrane disordering and fusion

\u3csup\u3e1\u3c/sup\u3eH, \u3csup\u3e15\u3c/sup\u3eN, and \u3csup\u3e13\u3c/sup\u3eC Chemical Shift Assignments of the Regulatory Domain of Human Calcineurin

Calcineurin (CaN) plays an important role in T-cell activation, cardiac system development and nervous system function. Previous studies have demonstrated that the regulatory domain (RD) of CaN binds calmodulin (CaM) towards the N-terminal end. Calcium-loaded CaM activates the serine/threonine phosphatase activity of CaN by binding to the RD, although the mechanistic details of this interaction remain unclear. It is thought that CaM binding at the RD displaces the auto-inhibitory domain (AID) from the active site of CaN, activating phosphatase activity. In the absence of calcium-loaded CaM, the RD is disordered, and binding of CaM induces folding in the RD. In order to provide mechanistic detail about the CaM–CaN interaction, we have undertaken an NMR study of the RD of CaN. Complete 13C, 15N and 1H assignments of the RD of CaN were obtained using solution NMR spectroscopy. The backbone of RD has been assigned using a combination of 13C-detected CON-IPAP experiments as well as traditional HNCO, HNCA, HNCOCA and HNCACB-based 3D NMR spectroscopy. A 15N-resolved TOCSY experiment has been used to assign Hα and Hβ chemical shifts

Joining Together to Build More: The New England Software Carpentry Library Consortium

In 2017 a group of academic library and information technology staff from institutions across New England piloted a process of joining The Carpentries, an organization developed to train researchers in essential computing skills and practices for automating and improving their handling of data, as a consortium. The New England Software Carpentry Library Consortium (NESCLiC) shared a gold-level tier membership to become a Carpentries member organization. NESCLiC members attended a Software Carpentry workshop together and then participated in instructor training as a cohort, collaborating on learning the material, practicing, and beginning to host and teach workshops as a group. This article describes both the successes and challenges of forming this new consortium, suggests good practices for those who might wish to form similar collaborations, and discusses the future of this program and other efforts to help researchers improve their computing and data handling skills

Selection of biological indicators appropriate for European soil monitoring

The selection of biological indicators for monitoring progress towards policy goals for soil quality should be without bias and in line with individual scenarios of need. Here we describe the prescription of a suite of appropriate indicators for potential application in such monitoring schemes across Europe. We applied a structured framework of assessment and ranking ( viz. a 'logical sieve'), building upon published data and a new survey taken from a wide section of the global soil biodiversity research and policy community.The top ten indicators included four indicators of biodiversity (three microbial and one meso-faunal) by various methods of measurement, and three indicators of ecological function (Multiple enzyme assay, Multiple substrate-induced respiration profiling, and 'Functional genes by molecular biological means'). Within the techniques assessed, seven out of the top ten indicators made use of molecular methods.</p

Radiographic thumb osteoarthritis: frequency, patterns and associations with pain and clinical assessment findings in a community-dwelling population

Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate: (i) the frequency and patterns of radiographic OA (ROA) in the thumb joints; and (ii) associations between thumb ROA and the clinical characteristics of thumb OA in older adults with hand pain or problems

The quantum non-linear Schrodinger model with point-like defect

We establish a family of point-like impurities which preserve the quantum integrability of the non-linear Schrodinger model in 1+1 space-time dimensions. We briefly describe the construction of the exact second quantized solution of this model in terms of an appropriate reflection-transmission algebra. The basic physical properties of the solution, including the space-time symmetry of the bulk scattering matrix, are also discussed.Comment: Comments on the integrability and the impurity free limit adde

Climate change adaptation in agriculture: Ex ante analysis of promising and alternative crop technologies using DSSAT and IMPACT

Achieving and maintaining global food security is challenged by changes in population, income, and climate, among other drivers. Assessing these challenges and possible solutions over the coming decades requires a rigorous multidisciplinary approach. To answer this challenge, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has developed a system of linked simulation models of global agriculture to do long-run scenario analysis of the effects of climate change and various adaptation strategies. This system includes the core International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT), which is linked to water models (global hydrology, water basin management, and water stress on crops) and crop simulation models. The Global Futures and Strategic Foresight program, a CGIAR initiative led by IFPRI in collaboration with other CGIAR research centers, is working to improve these tools and conducting ex ante assessments of promising technologies, investments, and policies under alternative global futures. Baseline projections from IMPACT set the foundation with the latest outlook on long-term trends in food demand and agricultural production based on projected changes in population, income, technology, and climate. On top of the baseline, scenarios are developed for assessing the impacts of promising climate-adapted technologies for maize, wheat, rice, potatoes, sorghum, groundnut, and cassava on yields, area, production, trade, and prices in 2050 at a variety of scales. Yield gains from adoption of the selected technologies vary by technology and region, but are found to be generally comparable in scale to (and thus able to offset) the adverse effects of climate change under a high-emissions representative concentration pathway (RCP 8.5). Even more important in this long-term climate change scenario are effects of growth in population, income, and investments in overall technological change, highlighting the importance of linked assessment of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers to better understand climate impacts and responses. For all crops in the selected countries, climate change impacts are negative with the baseline technology. All new technologies have beneficial effects on yields under climate change, with combined traits (drought and heat tolerance) showing the greatest benefi