Investing in Prevention or Paying for Recovery - Attitudes to Cyber Risk

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Broadly speaking an individual can invest time and effort to avoid becoming victim to a cyber attack and/or they can invest resource in recovering from any attack. We introduce a new game called the pre-vention and recovery game to study this trade-off. We report results from the experimental lab that allow us to categorize different approaches to risk taking. We show that many individuals appear relatively risk loving in that they invest in recovery rather than prevention. We find little difference in behavior between a gain and loss framing

Developing European conservation and mitigation tools for pollination services: approaches of the STEP (Status and Trends of European Pollinators) project

Pollinating insects form a key component of European biodiversity, and provide a vital ecosystem service to crops and wild plants. There is growing evidence of declines in both wild and domesticated pollinators, and parallel declines in plants relying upon them. The STEP project (Status and Trends of European Pollinators, 2010-2015, www.stepproject.net) is documenting critical elements in the nature and extent of these declines, examining key functional traits associated with pollination deficits, and developing a Red List for some European pollinator groups. Together these activities are laying the groundwork for future pollinator monitoring programmes. STEP is also assessing the relative importance of potential drivers of pollinator declines, including climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, agrochemicals, pathogens, alien species, light pollution, and their interactions. We are measuring the ecological and economic impacts of declining pollinator services and floral resources, including effects on wild plant populations, crop production and human nutrition. STEP is reviewing existing and potential mitigation options, and providing novel tests of their effectiveness across Europe. Our work is building upon existing and newly developed datasets and models, complemented by spatially-replicated campaigns of field research to fill gaps in current knowledge. Findings are being integrated into a policy-relevant framework to create evidence-based decision support tools. STEP is establishing communication links to a wide range of stakeholders across Europe and beyond, including policy makers, beekeepers, farmers, academics and the general public. Taken together, the STEP research programme aims to improve our understanding of the nature, causes, consequences and potential mitigation of declines in pollination services at local, national, continental and global scales

Some thoughts about nonequilibrium temperature

The main objective of this paper is to show that, within the present framework of the kinetic theoretical approach to irreversible thermodynamics, there is no evidence that provides a basis to modify the ordinary Fourier equation relating the heat flux in a non-equilibrium steady state to the gradient of the local equilibrium temperature. This fact is supported, among other arguments, through the kinetic foundations of generalized hydrodynamics. Some attempts have been recently proposed asserting that, in the presence of non-linearities of the state variables, such a temperature should be replaced by the non-equilibrium temperature as defined in Extended Irreversible Thermodynamics. In the approximations used for such a temperature there is so far no evidence that sustains this proposal.Comment: 13 pages, TeX, no figures, to appear in Mol. Phy

Clustering, Order, and Collapse in a Driven Granular Monolayer

Steady state dynamics of clustering, long range order, and inelastic collapse are experimentally observed in vertically shaken granular monolayers. At large vibration amplitudes, particle correlations show only short range order like equilibrium 2D hard sphere gases. Lowering the amplitude "cools" the system, resulting in a dramatic increase in correlations leading either to clustering or an ordered state. Further cooling forms a collapse: a condensate of motionless balls co-existing with a less dense gas. Measured velocity distributions are non-Gaussian, showing nearly exponential tails.Comment: 9 pages of text in Revtex, 5 figures; references added, minor modifications Paper accepted to Phys Rev Letters. Tentatively scheduled for Nov. 9, 199

Cytosine-to-Uracil Deamination by SssI DNA Methyltransferase

The prokaryotic DNA(cytosine-5)methyltransferase M.SssI shares the specificity of eukaryotic DNA methyltransferases (CG) and is an important model and experimental tool in the study of eukaryotic DNA methylation. Previously, M.SssI was shown to be able to catalyze deamination of the target cytosine to uracil if the methyl donor S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM) was missing from the reaction. To test whether this side-activity of the enzyme can be used to distinguish between unmethylated and C5-methylated cytosines in CG dinucleotides, we re-investigated, using a sensitive genetic reversion assay, the cytosine deaminase activity of M.SssI. Confirming previous results we showed that M.SssI can deaminate cytosine to uracil in a slow reaction in the absence of SAM and that the rate of this reaction can be increased by the SAM analogue 5’-amino-5’-deoxyadenosine. We could not detect M.SssI-catalyzed deamination of C5-methylcytosine (m5C). We found conditions where the rate of M.SssI mediated C-to-U deamination was at least 100-fold higher than the rate of m5C-to-T conversion. Although this difference in reactivities suggests that the enzyme could be used to identify C5-methylated cytosines in the epigenetically important CG dinucleotides, the rate of M.SssI mediated cytosine deamination is too low to become an enzymatic alternative to the bisulfite reaction. Amino acid replacements in the presumed SAM binding pocket of M.SssI (F17S and G19D) resulted in greatly reduced methyltransferase activity. The G19D variant showed cytosine deaminase activity in E. coli, at physiological SAM concentrations. Interestingly, the C-to-U deaminase activity was also detectable in an E. coli ung+ host proficient in uracil excision repair

The antibacterial, anti-biofilm, anti-inflammatory and virulence inhibition properties of Portuguese honeys

In Portugal, beekeeping activity has a significant weight among livestock production. The antimicrobial activities of Portuguese honeys have been reported, but the anti-biofilm formation and anti-virulence abilities have not been investigated. The main goal of this work was to study the impact of three monofloral honeys (citrus, lavender and strawberry tree) honeys on adherence of Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as the influence of the same honeys on virulence using Galleria mellonella as a model. In addition, the general physico-chemical characterization of these honeys and the microbial quality were also performed. The anti-inflammatory activity was also estimated by analyzing the activity of the enzymes hyaluronidase and lipoxygenase. The tested honeys complied with European legislation and no microbial contamination was observed. Of all the honeys at 12.5 and 25%, w/v the citrus honey caused the highest inhibitory activity against P. aeruginosa. Strawberry tree honey at 25% w/v was able to significantly inhibit the MRSA strains. Anti-biofilm formation and anti-inflammatory activities were observed. The different honeys impaired the virulence of S. aureus and MRSA strains. The Portuguese honeys were capable of combating the tested bacterial pathogens not only by inhibiting their growth but also by affecting important pathogenicity properties, such as adherence and virulence

A Cytosine Methyltransferase Homologue Is Essential for Sexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans

Background: The genome defense processes RIP (repeat-induced point mutation) in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, and MIP (methylation induced premeiotically) in the fungus Ascobolus immersus depend on proteins with DNA methyltransferase (DMT) domains. Nevertheless, these proteins, RID and Masc1, respectively, have not been demonstrated to have DMT activity. We discovered a close homologue in Aspergillus nidulans, a fungus thought to have no methylation and no genome defense system comparable to RIP or MIP. Principal Findings: We report the cloning and characterization of the DNA methyltransferase homologue A (dmtA) gene from Aspergillus nidulans. We found that the dmtA locus encodes both a sense (dmtA) and an anti-sense transcript (tmdA). Both transcripts are expressed in vegetative, conidial and sexual tissues. We determined that dmtA, but not tmdA, is required for early sexual development and formation of viable ascospores. We also tested if DNA methylation accumulated in any of the dmtA/tmdA mutants we constructed, and found that in both asexual and sexual tissues, these mutants, just like wild-type strains, appear devoid of DNA methylation. Conclusions/Significance: Our results demonstrate that a DMT homologue closely related to proteins implicated in RIP and MIP has an essential developmental function in a fungus that appears to lack both DNA methylation and RIP or MIP. It remains formally possible that DmtA is a bona fide DMT, responsible for trace, undetected DNA methylation that i

A PKC-Dependent Recruitment of MMP-2 Controls Semaphorin-3A Growth-Promoting Effect in Cortical Dendrites

There is increasing evidence for a crucial role of proteases and metalloproteinases during axon growth and guidance. In this context, we recently described a functional link between the chemoattractive Sema3C and Matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3). Here, we provide data demonstrating the involvement of MMP-2 to trigger the growth-promoting effect of Sema3A in cortical dendrites. The in situ analysis of MMP-2 expression and activity is consistent with a functional growth assay demonstrating in vitro that the pharmacological inhibition of MMP-2 reduces the growth of cortical dendrites in response to Sema3A. Hence, our results suggest that the selective recruitment and activation of MMP-2 in response to Sema3A requires a PKC alpha dependent mechanism. Altogether, we provide a second set of data supporting MMPs as effectors of the growth-promoting effects of semaphorins, and we identify the potential signalling pathway involved

Diode-pumped ultrafast Yb:KGW laser with 56 fs pulses and multi-100 kW peak power based on SESAM and Kerr-lens mode locking

A high-power sub-60 fs mode-locked diode-pumped Yb:KGW laser based on hybrid action of an InGaAs quantum-dot saturable absorber mirror and Kerr-lens mode locking was demonstrated. The laser delivered 56 fs pulses with 1.95 W of average power corresponding to 450 kW of peak power. The width of the generated laser spectrum was 20.5 nm, which was near the gain bandwidth limit of the Yb:KGW crystal. To the best of our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses generated from the monoclinic double tungstate crystals (and Yb:KGW laser crystal in particular) and the most powerful in the sub-60 fs regime. At the same time, they are also the shortest pulses produced to date with the help of a quantum-dot-based saturable absorber. High-power operation with a pulse duration of 90 fs and 2.85 W of average output power was also demonstrated