Tolerance of four spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties to weed harrowing

We investigated the tolerance to weed harrowing of four spring barley varieties and examined the possible interactions between varietal weed suppressive ability and two nutrient levels. Tolerance was defined as the combined effect of crop resistance (ability to resist soil covering) and crop recovery (the ability to recover in terms of yield). The weed harrowing strategy was a combination of one pre- and one post-emergence weed harrowing. In terms of yield, the four varieties responded significantly differently to weed harrowing and the response depended on nutrient level. At the lower nutrient level, weed harrowing caused an increase in yield of 4.4 hkg ha-1 for a strong competitor (cv. Otira), while there was no effect on yield at the higher nutrient level. For a weaker competitor (cv. Brazil), weed harrowing caused no change in yield at the lower nutrient level, whereas yield decreased by 6.0 hkg ha-1 at the higher nutrient level. There were marked differences between the weed suppressive ability of the four varieties when not harrowed, with less pronounced but significant differences when harrowed. Weed harrowing did not change the weed suppressive ability of a variety. Varieties that are tall at post-emergence harrowing and have increased density after pre-emergence harrowing, are the ones that benefit most from weed harrowing

Nitro-fatty acids are formed in response to virus infection and are potent inhibitors of STING palmitoylation and signaling

The adaptor molecule stimulator of IFN genes (STING) is central to production of type I IFNs in response to infection with DNA viruses and to presence of host DNA in the cytosol. Excessive release of type I IFNs through STING-dependent mechanisms has emerged as a central driver of several interferonopathies, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome (AGS), and stimulator of IFN genes-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI). The involvement of STING in these diseases points to an unmet need for the development of agents that inhibit STING signaling. Here, we report that endogenously formed nitro-fatty acids can covalently modify STING by nitro-alkylation. These nitro-alkylations inhibit STING palmitoylation, STING signaling, and subsequently, the release of type I IFN in both human and murine cells. Furthermore, treatment with nitro-fatty acids was sufficient to inhibit production of type I IFN in fibroblasts derived from SAVI patients with a gain-of-function mutation in STING. In conclusion, we have identified nitro-fatty acids as endogenously formed inhibitors of STING signaling and propose for these lipids to be considered in the treatment of STING-dependent inflammatory diseases

Incorporation of excluded volume correlations into Poisson-Boltzmann theory

We investigate the effect of excluded volume interactions on the electrolyte distribution around a charged macroion. First, we introduce a criterion for determining when hard-core effects should be taken into account beyond standard mean field Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) theory. Next, we demonstrate that several commonly proposed local density functional approaches for excluded volume interactions cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, we employ a non-local excess free energy by using a simple constant weight approach. We compare the ion distribution and osmotic pressure predicted by this theory with Monte Carlo simulations. They agree very well for weakly developed correlations and give the correct layering effect for stronger ones. In all investigated cases our simple weighted density theory yields more realistic results than the standard PB approach, whereas all local density theories do not improve on the PB density profiles but on the contrary, deviate even more from the simulation results.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Reduced timing Sensitivity in all-optical switching using flat-top control pulses obtained by the optical fourier transform technique

For high-speed serial data, timing tolerance is crucial for switching and regeneration. We propose a novel scheme to generate flat-top pulses, for use as gating control pulses. The scheme relies on spectral shaping by a square-shaped filter, followed by a linear transformation of the spectral shape into the time domain, referred to as the optical Fourier transform technique. A 3 ps flat-top pulse derived from a 3 nm wide square filter is obtained, and used to gate an all-optical OTDM demultiplexer, yielding an error-free timing jitter tolerance of 3 ps for 80 Gb/s and 160 Gb/s data signals.</p

Monitoring change in cycling with the Danish bike- traffic index.

The Danish Road Directorate has long experience in planning for cycling and the use of bicycle data and indexes. A national cycling index, a bike-traffic-index, was established in 1985, based on bike-flows continuously counted in locations all over the country. The number of counting stations included in the index has been increased over time to improve reliability and allow support for the development and assessment of policies aiming to maintain and further increase cycling. The index is partly fed by the Road Directorate and partly by the municipalities. With its current 61 counting stations in operation, the bike- traffic-index is still ‘thin’ compared to the equivalent car-traffic index, but it does provide consistent evidence on changes in cycling on Danish roads. The paper compares the bike-traffic-index with travel- survey data as indicators of changes in cycling, it presents the methodology and accuracy of the bike-traffic- index, and finally, it discusses its desirable improvements to increase accuracy and detect changes in cycling beyond the fluctuations in weather conditions that are generally important to cycling but also beyond policy reach