De novo assembly of transcriptomes from a B73 maize line introgressed with a QTL for resistance to gray leaf spot disease reveals a candidate allele of a lectin receptor-like kinase

Gray leaf spot (GLS) disease in maize, caused by the fungus Cercospora zeina, is a threat to maize production globally. Understanding the molecular basis for quantitative resistance to GLS is therefore important for food security. We developed a de novo assembly pipeline to identify candidate maize resistance genes. Near-isogenic maize lines with and without a QTL for GLS resistance on chromosome 10 from inbred CML444 were produced in the inbred B73 background. The B73-QTL line showed a 20% reduction in GLS disease symptoms compared to B73 in the field (p = 0.01). B73-QTL leaf samples from this field experiment conducted under GLS disease pressure were RNA sequenced. The reads that did not map to the B73 or C. zeina genomes were expected to contain novel defense genes and were de novo assembled. A total of 141 protein-coding sequences with B73-like or plant annotations were identified from the B73-QTL plants exposed to C. zeina. To determine whether candidate gene expression was induced by C. zeina, the RNAseq reads from C. zeina-challenged and control leaves were mapped to a master assembly of all of the B73-QTL reads, and differential gene expression analysis was conducted. Combining results from both bioinformatics approaches led to the identification of a likely candidate gene, which was a novel allele of a lectin receptor-like kinase named L-RLK-CML that (i) was induced by C. zeina, (ii) was positioned in the QTL region, and (iii) had functional domains for pathogen perception and defense signal transduction. The 817AA L-RLK-CML protein had 53 amino acid differences from its 818AA counterpart in B73. A second "B73-like" allele of L-RLK was expressed at a low level in B73-QTL. Gene copy-specific RT-qPCR confirmed that the l-rlk-cml transcript was the major product induced four-fold by C. zeina. Several other expressed defense-related candidates were identified, including a wall-associated kinase, two glutathione s-transferases, a chitinase, a glucan beta-glucosidase, a plasmodesmata callose-binding protein, several other receptor-like kinases, and components of calcium signaling, vesicular trafficking, and ethylene biosynthesis. This work presents a bioinformatics protocol for gene discovery from de novo assembled transcriptomes and identifies candidate quantitative resistance genes

Some new directions in infinite-combinatorial topology

We give a light introduction to selection principles in topology, a young subfield of infinite-combinatorial topology. Emphasis is put on the modern approach to the problems it deals with. Recent results are described, and open problems are stated. Some results which do not appear elsewhere are also included, with proofs.Comment: Small update

Rassendiscriminatie... tenslotte is het verboden bij de wet

Contains fulltext : 3767.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Associations between job demands, job resources and patient-related burnout among physicians: results from a multicentre observational study

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of job demands and resources with patient-related burnout among physicians. DESIGN: Multicentre observational study. SETTING: Fifty medical departments at 14 (academic and non-academic) hospitals in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred sixty-five physicians (71.6% response rate), comprising 385 (82.8%) medical specialists and 80 (17.2%) residents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Job demands (workload and bureaucratic demands), job resources (participation in decision making, development opportunities, leader's inspiration, relationships with colleagues and patients)-measured with the validated Questionnaire of Experience and Evaluation of Work and Physician Worklife Survey-and patient-related burnout, measured using the validated Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. RESULTS: Patient-related burnout was positively associated with workload (b=0.36; 95% CI, 0.25 to 0.48; p<0.001) and negatively associated with development opportunities (b=-0.18; 95% CI, -0.27 to -0.08; p<0.001) and relationships with patients (b=-0.12; 95% CI, -0.22 to -0.03; p=0.01). Relationships with patients moderated the association between bureaucratic demands and patient-related burnout (b=-0.15; 95% CI, -0.27 to -0.04; p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Physicians with high workloads and few development opportunities reported higher levels of patient-related burnout. Those with positive patient relationships were less likely to experience patient-related burnout, even in the presence of excessive bureaucracy. Therefore, positive physician-patient relationships may be supported to reduce the likelihood of physicians' patient-related burnout. However, the specific support needed to effectively reduce patient-related burnout may vary per healthcare context and thus requires intensified research across healthcare systems and settings

Гуманізуючий потенціал дистанційного навчання у контексті демократизації мовної освіти

У статті розглядається питання гуманізації мовної освіти за допомогою дистанційного навчання. Зроблено висновок про те, що слід активно використовувати сучасні інформаційні технології для гуманізації і демократизації сфери освіти.В статье рассмотрен вопрос гуманизации языкового образования с помощью дистанционного обучения. Сделан вывод о том, что следует активно использовать современные информационные технологии для гуманизации и демократизации сферы образования.The question of humanization of language education through distant teaching is considered. It is concluded that modern information technologies should be actively used for humanization and democratization of the educational sphere

The combinatorics of the Baer-Specker group

Denote the integers by Z and the positive integers by N. The groups Z^k (k a natural number) are discrete, and the classification up to isomorphism of their (topological) subgroups is trivial. But already for the countably infinite power Z^N of Z, the situation is different. Here the product topology is nontrivial, and the subgroups of Z^N make a rich source of examples of non-isomorphic topological groups. Z^N is the Baer-Specker group. We study subgroups of the Baer-Specker group which possess group theoretic properties analogous to properties introduced by Menger (1924), Hurewicz (1925), Rothberger (1938), and Scheepers (1996). The studied properties were introduced independently by Ko\v{c}inac and Okunev. We obtain purely combinatorial characterizations of these properties, and combine them with other techniques to solve several questions of Babinkostova, Ko\v{c}inac, and Scheepers.Comment: To appear in IJ

The Role of Artificial Intelligence for Business Value

An increasing number of organizations are investing in Artificial intelligence (AI), but not all AI implementation leads to improved performance. To contribute to organizational business value, two components of AI resources, AI assets and AI capabilities, should be complementary in the business value creation process. In this study, based on IT business value literature and through the lens of dynamic capabilities, the role of AI resources in organizational value creation is explored. It is proposed that AI resources would enable organizations to develop process-oriented dynamic capabilities (PDCs), contributing to business value. This study will examine how organizations build AI capabilities and the roles of AI resources in creating business values through case studies. This research will offer a framework that guides and assists practitioners in utilising AI resources and building AI capabilities. A deeper understanding of the subject through this study also enriches the growing body of literature on AI

The influence of post-2008 legislation on an acquisition that turned hostile: A South African case study

Hostile acquisitions have a significant impact on managers and employees. The possibility of an acquisition creates uncertainty and when the acquisition turns hostile it is even more disruptive to the target organisation. Also, negative perceptions are often created in the media about the acquirer that influence employees’ attitudes in the target organisation. Processes to successfully integrate the acquirer and target organisations are impacted by these antagonistic pre-acquisition circumstances.   The Companies Act (no.71 of 2008) created opportunities for shareholders to hold an acquired company’s management accountable for financial performance and the researchers set out to investigate how the intent of the new legislation played out in practice, by studying an acquisition that turned hostile. The single case study research methodology revealed the manoeuvring of both the acquiring and acquired companies which utilised the mechanisms available to them through the new legislative, regulatory and corporate governance landscapes. The researchers provide an extensive review of the relevant mergers and acquisitions’ literature, as well as influence of the international legislative environment on the current local regulations. These regulations in turn, inform corporate governance and ultimately board behaviours. The researchers conducted qualitative interviews with key role players as well as legal and financial experts. The findings of the thematic analysis and triangulation process, informed a conceptual frame of three episodes

A paradox of syntactic priming: why response tendencies show priming for passives, and response latencies show priming for actives

Speakers tend to repeat syntactic structures across sentences, a phenomenon called syntactic priming. Although it has been suggested that repeating syntactic structures should result in speeded responses, previous research has focused on effects in response tendencies. We investigated syntactic priming effects simultaneously in response tendencies and response latencies for active and passive transitive sentences in a picture description task. In Experiment 1, there were priming effects in response tendencies for passives and in response latencies for actives. However, when participants' pre-existing preference for actives was altered in Experiment 2, syntactic priming occurred for both actives and passives in response tendencies as well as in response latencies. This is the first investigation of the effects of structure frequency on both response tendencies and latencies in syntactic priming. We discuss the implications of these data for current theories of syntactic processing