First record of an Odontaspidid shark in Ascension Island waters

The occurrence of the poorly understood shark species Odontapsis ferox is reported at an oceanic seamount in the central south Atlantic, within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Ascension Island. The presence of the species at this location is confirmed by the discovery of a tooth embedded in scientific equipment, and footage of at least one animal on autonomous underwater video. The new record of this shark species at this location demonstrates the knowledge gaps which still exist at many remote, oceanic structures and their candidacy for status as important conservation areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impacts of \u3cem\u3eT-Phylloplanin\u3c/em\u3e Gene Knockdown and of \u3cem\u3eHelianthus\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eDatura\u3c/em\u3e Phylloplanins on \u3cem\u3ePeronospora tabacina\u3c/em\u3e Spore Germination and Disease Potential

T-phylloplanin proteins secreted to aerial surfaces of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) by short procumbent trichomes inhibit spore germination and blue mold disease caused by the oomycete pathogen Peronospora tabacina. Many other plants were found to contain water-washed leaf surface proteins (phylloplanins), but the functions and properties of these are not known. Here we extend earlier evidence for the antifungal activity of T-phylloplanins using a reverse genetics approach. RNA interference of the T-phylloplanin gene in tobacco ‘T.I. 1068’ resulted in loss of T-phylloplanin mRNA and protein, loss of in vitro spore germination inhibition activity, and leaf infection inhibition activity of leaf water washes from RNA interference plants, and young knockdown plants were susceptible to disease. The glycoprotein character, adaxial-leaf-surface enrichment of, and renewability of T-phylloplanins are also described. We also report that leaf water washes of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and jimson weed (Datura metel), but not soybean (Glycine max), like that of tobacco, possess ProteinaseK- and boiling-sensitive P. tabacina spore germination and tobacco leaf infection inhibition activities. Results establish that T-phylloplaninins of tobacco are active in P. tabacina inhibition, and indicate that leaf surface proteins of certain non-Nicotiana species that are not susceptible to P. tabacina disease can inhibit germination of spores of this oomycete pathogen and inhibit tobacco leaf infection by this pathogen

FLEXBLE ROBOTIC ACTUATORS

Some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter includes a laminated robotic actuator. The laminated robotic actuator includes a strain-limiting layer comprising a flexible, non extensible material in the form of a sheet or thin film, a flexible inflatable layer in the form of a thin film or sheet in facing relationship with the Strain-limiting layer, wherein the inflatable layer is selectively adhered to the strain-limiting layer, and wherein a portion of an un-adhered region between the strain-limiting layer and the inflatable layer defines a pressurizable channel, and at least one fluid inlet in fluid communication with the pressurizable channel. The first flexible non-extensible material has a stiffness that is greater than the stiffness of the second flexible elastomeric material and the flexible elastomer is non-extensible under actuation conditions

Quantifying Damages to Soil Health and Emissions from Land Development in the State of Illinois (USA)

The concept of soil health is increasingly being used as an indicator for sustainable soil management and even includes legislative actions. Current applications of soil health often lack geospatial and monetary analyses of damages (e.g., land development), which can degrade soil health through loss of carbon (C) and productive soils. This study aims to evaluate the damages to soil health (e.g., soil C, the primary soil health indicator) attributed to land developments within the state of Illinois (IL) in the United States of America (USA). All land developments in IL can be associated with damages to soil health, with 13,361.0 km2 developed, resulting in midpoint losses of 2.5 × 1011 of total soil carbon (TSC) and a midpoint social cost of carbon dioxide emissions (SC-CO2) of $41.8B (where B = billion = 109, USD). More recently developed land area (721.8 km2) between 2001 and 2016 likely caused the midpoint loss of 1.6 × 1010 kg of TSC and a corresponding midpoint of$2.7B in SC-CO2. New developments occurred adjacent to current urban areas near the capital cities of Springfield, Chicago, and St. Louis (the border city between the states of Missouri and IL). Results of this study reveal several types of damage to soil health from developments: soil C loss, associated “realized” soil C social costs (SC-CO2), and loss of soil C sequestration potential from developments. The innovation of this study has several aspects. Geospatial analysis of land cover combined with corresponding soil types can identify changes in the soil health continuum at the landscape level. Because soil C is a primary soil health indicator, land conversions caused by developments reduce soil health and the availability of productive soils for agriculture, forestry, and C sequestration. Current IL soil health legislation can benefit from this landscape level data on soil C loss with GHG emissions and associated SC-CO2 costs by providing insight into the soil health continuum and its dynamics. These techniques and data can also be used to expand IL’s GHG emissions reduction efforts from being solely focused on the energy sector to include soil-based emissions from developments. Current soil health legislation does not recognize that soil’s health is harmed by disturbance from land developments and that this disturbance results in GHG emissions. Soil health programs could be broadened to encourage less disturbance of soil types that release high levels of GHG and set binding targets based on losses in the soil health continuum

Geometric invariant theory of syzygies, with applications to moduli spaces

We define syzygy points of projective schemes, and introduce a program of studying their GIT stability. Then we describe two cases where we have managed to make some progress in this program, that of polarized K3 surfaces of odd genus, and of genus six canonical curves. Applications of our results include effectivity statements for divisor classes on the moduli space of odd genus K3 surfaces, and a new construction in the Hassett-Keel program for the moduli space of genus six curves.Comment: v1: 23 pages, submitted to the Proceedings of the Abel Symposium 2017, v2: final version, corrects a sign error and resulting divisor class calculations on the moduli space of K3 surfaces in Section 5, other minor changes, In: Christophersen J., Ranestad K. (eds) Geometry of Moduli. Abelsymposium 2017. Abel Symposia, vol 14. Springer, Cha

Towards the prediction of antimicrobial efficacy for hydrogen bonded, self-associating amphiphiles

Herein, we report 50 structurally related supramolecular self-associating amphiphilic (SSA) salts and related compounds. These SSAs are shown to act as antimicrobial agents, active against model Gram-positive (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and/or Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria of clinical interest. Through a combination of solution state, gas phase, solid state and in silico measurements we determine 14 different physicochemical parameters for each of these 50 structurally related compounds. These parameter sets are then used to identify molecular structure – physicochemical property – antimicrobial activity relationships for our model Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, while simultaneously providing insight towards the elucidation of SSA mode of antimicrobial action

Banks' risk assessment of Swedish SMEs

Building on the literatures on asymmetric information and risk taking, this paper applies conjoint experiments to investigate lending officers' probabilities of supporting credit to established or existing SMEs. Using a sample of 114 Swedish lending officers, we test hypotheses concerning how information on the borrower's ability to repay the loan; alignment of risk preferences; and risk sharing affect their willingness to grant credit. Results suggest that features that reduce the risk to the bank and shift the risk to the borrower have the largest impact. The paper highlights the interaction between factors that influence the credit decision. Implications for SMEs, banks and research are discussed

Monetary Policy Rules with PID Control Features: Evidence from the UK, USA and EU

This paper considers the extent to which the monetary policy operations of three major central banks can be regarded as an application of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control rules. The paper outlines the general PID framework and estimates a series of dynamic models to identify how interest rate policy adjustments are affected by the rate of inflation and the level of macroeconomic activity. The paper examines data for the UK, the USA and the Eurozone. The results suggest that the PID rules can provide a useful theoretical and empirical framework for estimating central bank responses to the inflation and macroeconomic activity variables by improving the explanatory power of the Taylor rule model and determining the effect of the parameters

Phase II study of continuous daily sunitinib dosing in patients with previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Background:Sunitinib malate (SUTENT) has promising single-agent activity given on Schedule 4/2 (4 weeks on treatment followed by 2 weeks off treatment) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods:We examined the activity of sunitinib on a continuous daily dosing (CDD) schedule in an open-label, multicentre phase II study in patients with previously treated, advanced NSCLC. Patients ⩾18 years with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC after failure with platinum-based chemotherapy, received sunitinib 37.5 mg per day. The primary end point was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), 1-year survival rate, and safety.Results:Of 47 patients receiving sunitinib, one patient achieved a confirmed partial response (ORR 2.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1, 11.3)) and 11 (23.4%) had stable disease (SD) ⩾8 weeks. Five patients had SD>6 months. Median PFS was 11.9 weeks (95% CI 8.6, 14.1) and median OS was 37.1 weeks (95% CI 31.1, 69.7). The 1-year survival probability was 38.4% (95% CI 24.2, 52.5). Treatment was generally well tolerated.Conclusions:The safety profile and time-to-event analyses, albeit relatively low response rate of 2%, suggest single-agent sunitinib on a CDD schedule may be a potential therapeutic agent for patients with advanced, refractory NSCLC