Phytophthora foliorum sp. nov., a new species causing leaf blight of azalea

a b s t r a c t A previously unknown Phytophthora was recovered more than 60 times from evergreen hybrid azalea leaves collected during surveys for the sudden oak death pathogen Phytophthora ramorum in California and Tennessee. The novel Phytophthora was discovered when genomic DNA from this species cross-reacted with the ITS-based diagnostic PCR primers used to screen plants for the presence of P. ramorum. This species had caducous, semi-papillate sporangia, was homothallic with both paragynous and amphigynous antheridia, and was pathogenic on both wounded and intact azalea leaves. Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data indicate that this species is related to, but distinct from, P. ramorum. AFLP analysis indicates that the isolates of this species have limited genotypic diversity and share no markers with P. ramorum. This paper presents the formal description of P. foliorum as a new species and underscores the need for caution when relying solely on DNA-based diagnostic tools

Why do UK banks securitize?

Working paper seriesThe eight years from 2000 to 2008 saw a rapid growth in the use of securitization by UK banks. We aim to identify the reasons that contributed to this rapid growth. The time period (2000 to 2010) covered by our study is noteworthy as it covers the pre- nancial crisis credit- boom, the peak of the nancial crisis and its aftermath. In the wake of the nancial crisis, many governments, regulators and political commentators have pointed an accusing nger at the securitization market - even in the absence of a detailed statistical and economic analysis. We contribute to the extant literature by performing such an analysis on UK banks, fo- cussing principally on whether it is the need for liquidity (i.e. the funding of their balance sheets), or the desire to engage in regulatory capital arbitrage or the need for credit risk trans- fer that has led to UK banks securitizing their assets. We show that securitization has been signi cantly driven by liquidity reasons. In addition, we observe a positive link between securitization and banks credit risk. We interpret these latter ndings as evidence that UK banks which engaged in securitization did so, in part, to transfer credit risk and that, in comparison to UK banks which did not use securitization, they had more credit risk to transfer in the sense that they originated lower quality loans and held lower quality assets. We show that banks which issued more asset-backed securities before the nancial crisis su¤ered more defaults after the nancial crisis.The eight years from 2000 to 2008 saw a rapid growth in the use of securitization by UK banks. We aim to identify the reasons that contributed to this rapid growth. The time period (2000 to 2010) covered by our study is noteworthy as it covers the pre-financial crisis credit- boom, the peak of the financial crisis and its aftermath. In the wake of the financial crisis, many governments, regulators and political commentators have pointed an accusing finger at the securitization market - even in the absence of a detailed statistical and economic analysis. We contribute to the extant literature by performing such an analysis on UK banks, fo- cussing principally on whether it is the need for liquidity (i.e. the funding of their balance sheets), or the desire to engage in regulatory capital arbitrage or the need for credit risk trans- fer that has led to UK banks securitizing their assets. We show that securitization has been significantly driven by liquidity reasons. In addition, we observe a positive link between securitization and banks credit risk. We interpret these latter findings as evidence that UK banks which engaged in securitization did so, in part, to transfer credit risk and that, in comparison to UK banks which did not use securitization, they had more credit risk to transfer in the sense that they originated lower quality loans and held lower quality assets. We show that banks which issued more asset-backed securities before the financial crisis suffered more defaults after the financial crisis

Association between physical activity and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged Japanese: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although many studies have reported an association between self-reported physical activity and metabolic syndrome (MetS), there is limited information on the optimal level of physical activity required to prevent MetS. This study aimed to determine the association between objectively measured physical activity and MetS in middle-aged Japanese individuals. We also determined the optimal cutoff value for physical activity required to decrease the risk of developing MetS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 179 men and 304 women, aged between 30 and 64 years, participated in this study. Participants were divided into two groups using the Japanese criteria for MetS as those with MetS or pre-MetS, and those without MetS. Participants were considered to be physically active if they achieved a physical activity level of 23 metabolic equivalents (METs) h/week, measured using a triaxial accelerometer. The association between physical activity and MetS was analyzed using logistic regression with the following covariates: sex, age, sedentary time, low intensity activity, calorie intake, smoking, menopause and body mass index. We also evaluated the factors that determined the association between the prevalence of MetS and pre-MetS and the physical activity cutoff value using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The odds ratio for MetS and pre-MetS was 2.20 for physically inactive participants (< 23 METs h/week), compared with physically active participants (≥ 23 METs h/week). The corresponding odds ratios for men and women were 2.27 (<it>P </it>< 0.01) and 1.95 (not significant), respectively. CART analyses revealed that moderate-vigorous physical activity of > 26.5 METs h/week was sufficient to decrease the prevalence of MetS and pre-MetS in middle-aged Japanese men and women.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this cross-sectional study indicate that the Exercise and Physical Activity Reference for Health Promotion 2006 is inversely associated with the prevalence of MetS in men. Our results also suggest that moderate physical activity of > 26.5 METs h/week may decrease the risk of developing MetS and pre-MetS in middle-aged Japanese individuals.</p

A Mammalian Conserved Element Derived from SINE Displays Enhancer Properties Recapitulating Satb2 Expression in Early-Born Callosal Projection Neurons

Short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs) are highly repeated sequences that account for a significant proportion of many eukaryotic genomes and are usually considered “junk DNA”. However, we previously discovered that many AmnSINE1 loci are evolutionarily conserved across mammalian genomes, suggesting that they may have acquired significant functions involved in controlling mammalian-specific traits. Notably, we identified the AS021 SINE locus, located 390 kbp upstream of Satb2. Using transgenic mice, we showed that this SINE displays specific enhancer activity in the developing cerebral cortex. The transcription factor Satb2 is expressed by cortical neurons extending axons through the corpus callosum and is a determinant of callosal versus subcortical projection. Mouse mutants reveal a crucial function for Sabt2 in corpus callosum formation. In this study, we compared the enhancer activity of the AS021 locus with Satb2 expression during telencephalic development in the mouse. First, we showed that the AS021 enhancer is specifically activated in early-born Satb2+ neurons. Second, we demonstrated that the activity of the AS021 enhancer recapitulates the expression of Satb2 at later embryonic and postnatal stages in deep-layer but not superficial-layer neurons, suggesting the possibility that the expression of Satb2 in these two subpopulations of cortical neurons is under genetically distinct transcriptional control. Third, we showed that the AS021 enhancer is activated in neurons projecting through the corpus callosum, as described for Satb2+ neurons. Notably, AS021 drives specific expression in axons crossing through the ventral (TAG1−/NPY+) portion of the corpus callosum, confirming that it is active in a subpopulation of callosal neurons. These data suggest that exaptation of the AS021 SINE locus might be involved in enhancement of Satb2 expression, leading to the establishment of interhemispheric communication via the corpus callosum, a eutherian-specific brain structure

Digital technology, diabetes and culturally and linguistically diverse communities: A case study with elderly women from the Vietnamese community

Digital technology was used to improve diabetes awareness information with elderly Vietnamese women, demonstrating the potential for application with others from CALD communities. A framework was designed to address the needs of CALD community members to self-manage chronic conditions using innovative digital technology strategies. This was based on a literature review and 20 consultations held with representatives from health service providers and community organizations. The framework was tested with the assistance of the Quang Minh Buddhist Temple through consultations, workshops and an interactive information session about diabetes, YouTube and digital video cameras, in which 38 elderly women from the Vietnamese community participated. It was concluded that there are continuing challenges in this approach, indicating the need for nuanced community engagement strategies that consider cultural context and familiarity with different kinds of digital technology

Method-Specific Knowledge Compilation: Towards Practical Design Support Systems

Modern knowledge systems for design typically employ multiple problem-solving methods which in turn use different kinds of knowledge. The construction of a heterogeneous knowledge system that can support practical design thus raises two fundamental questions: how to accumulate huge volumes of design information, and how to support heterogeneous design processing? Fortunately, partial answers to both questions exist separately. Legacy databases already contain huge amounts of general-purpose design information. In addition, modern knowledge systems typically characterize the kinds of knowledge needed by specific problem-solving methods quite precisely. This leads us to hypothesize method-specific data-toknowledge compilation as a potential mechanism for integrating heterogeneous knowledge systems and legacy databases for design. In this paper, first we outline a general computational architecture called HIPED for this integration. Then, we focus on the specific issue of how to conver..

A Framework for Method-Specific Knowledge Compilation from Databases

Generality and scale are important but difficult issues in knowledge engineering. At the root of the difficulty lie two challenging issues: how to accumulate huge volumes of knowledge and how to support heterogeneous knowledge and processing. One approach to the first issue is to reuse legacy knowledge systems, integrate knowledge systems with legacy databases, and enable sharing of the databases by multiple knowledge systems. We present an architecture called HIPED for realizing this approach. HIPED converts the second issue above into a new form: how to convert data accessed from a legacy database into a form appropriate to the processing method used in a legacy knowledge system. One approach to this reformed issue is to use method-specific compilation of data into knowledge. We describe an experiment in which a legacy knowledge system called Interactive Kritik is integrated with an ORACLE database. The experiment indicates the computational feasibility of method-specific data-to-knowledge compilation