Non-geometric veering triangulations

Recently, Ian Agol introduced a class of "veering" ideal triangulations for mapping tori of pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms of surfaces punctured along the singular points. These triangulations have very special combinatorial properties, and Agol asked if these are "geometric", i.e. realised in the complete hyperbolic metric with all tetrahedra positively oriented. This paper describes a computer program Veering, building on the program Trains by Toby Hall, for generating these triangulations starting from a description of the homeomorphism as a product of Dehn twists. Using this we obtain the first examples of non-geometric veering triangulations; the smallest example we have found is a triangulation with 13 tetrahedra

Misconduct resistance: the management of restricted drugs in the Western Australian public health service

We employ institutional theory to develop and present a framework – involving institutional drivers, organisational reactions, and outcomes – to examine and further understand misconduct resistance in public sector organisations. This framework is applied to an examination of efforts in the Western Australian public health service to prevent misconduct in the management of restricted drugs. We begin by clarifying a definition of misconduct resistance and then synthesise the extant literature develop a typology and framework of corruption resistance. The second part of the paper is a study in which the framework is applied to an examination of why and how the Western Australian public health service has endeavoured to prevent misconduct in the management of restricted drugs. Top-down imposition of regulations rather than shifts in individual employee attitudes is found. The paper concludes by outlining the potential contributions to theory and practice in approaches to increasing misconduct resistance in public health care organisations

Wheel Design and Tension Analysis for the Tethered Axel Rover on Extreme Terrain

As the Mars Exploration rovers have reaffirmed, some of the most interesting sites for scientists to explore on planetary surfaces lie in terrains that are currently inaccessible to state-of-the art rovers. We have been developing the Axel rover as a robotic platform to access steep and challenging terrain. We will summarize the recent mechanical upgrades since we introduced the tethered Axel concept last year

Separation and determination of dimethylarsenate in natural waters

A simple and efficient method for separation and determination of dimethylarsenate DMAs(V) was developed in this work. Two resins, a strong base anion exchange (SBAE) resin and iron-oxide coated hybrid (HY) resin were tested. By simple adjusting pH value of water at 7.00, DMAs(V) passed through the HY column without any changes, while all other arsenic species [inorganic arsenic and monomethylarsonate, MMAs(V)] were quantitatively bonded on HY resin. The resin capacity was calculated according to the breakthrough points in a fixed bed flow system. At pH 7.00 the HY resins bonded more than 4150 μg g-1 of As(III), 3500 μg g-1 of As(V) and 1500 μg g1 of MMAs(V). Arsenic adsorption behavior in the presence of impurities showed tolerance with the respect to potential interference of anions commonly found in natural water. DMAs(V) was determined in the effluent by ICP-MS. The detection limit was 0.03 μg L?1 and relative standard deviation (RSD) was between 1.1?7.5 %. Proposed method was established performing standard procedures: with external standard, certified reference material and the standard addition method

Association Studies and Legume Synteny Reveal Haplotypes Determining Seed Size in Vigna unguiculata.

Highly specific seed market classes for cowpea and other grain legumes exist because grain is most commonly cooked and consumed whole. Size, shape, color, and texture are critical features of these market classes and breeders target development of cultivars for market acceptance. Resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses that are absent from elite breeding material are often introgressed through crosses to landraces or wild relatives. When crosses are made between parents with different grain quality characteristics, recovery of progeny with acceptable or enhanced grain quality is problematic. Thus genetic markers for grain quality traits can help in pyramiding genes needed for specific market classes. Allelic variation dictating the inheritance of seed size can be tagged and used to assist the selection of large seeded lines. In this work we applied 1,536-plex SNP genotyping and knowledge of legume synteny to characterize regions of the cowpea genome associated with seed size. These marker-trait associations will enable breeders to use marker-based selection approaches to increase the frequency of progeny with large seed. For 804 individuals derived from eight bi-parental populations, QTL analysis was used to identify markers linked to 10 trait determinants. In addition, the population structure of 171 samples from the USDA core collection was identified and incorporated into a genome-wide association study which supported more than half of the trait-associated regions important in the bi-parental populations. Seven of the total 10 QTLs were supported based on synteny to seed size associated regions identified in the related legume soybean. In addition to delivering markers linked to major trait determinants in the context of modern breeding, we provide an analysis of the diversity of the USDA core collection of cowpea to identify genepools, migrants, admixture, and duplicates

Entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana reduce the survival of Xenopsylla brasiliensis larvae (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae).

Entomopathogenic fungi, particularly those belonging to the genera Metarhizium and Beauveria have shown great promise as arthropod vector control tools. These agents, however, have not been evaluated against flea vectors of plague. A 3-h exposure to the fungi coated paper at a concentration of 2 × 108 conidia m-2 infected >90% of flea larvae cadavers in the treatment groups. The infection reduced the survival of larvae that had been exposed to fungus relative to controls. The daily risk of dying was four- and over three-fold greater in larvae exposed to M. anisopliae (HR = 4, p<0.001) and B. bassiana (HR = 3.5, p<0.001) respectively. Both fungi can successfully infect and kill larvae of X. brasiliensis with a pooled median survival time (MST±SE) of 2±0.31 days post-exposure. These findings justify further research to investigate the bio-control potential of entomopathogenic fungi against fleas.\ud \u