The acidic transformaion products of indoles formed by basidiomycetes

A survey of the ability of basidiomycetes to convert tryptophan, tryptamine and indole acetic acid to other acidic indoles has been made. The product formed from tryptamine by Tricholoma nudum was identified as indole acetic acid. The product formed by Cantharellus cibarius from D-tryptophan was identified as N-acetyl-D-tryptophan. The products were purified and identified by means of paper chromatography, thin layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy and melting points. The conversion of tryptamine and D-tryptophan was also studied in cultures of Leucopaxillus paradoxus, Hygrophorus conicus and Naucoria confragosa. H. conicus, L. paradoxus and N. confragosa transformed tryptamine and indole acetic acid into oxindole acetic acid. L. paradoxus and N. confragosa also transformed D-tryptophan to oxindole acetic acid, but in poor yield. Two unidentified indole compounds were found in the culture media of L. paradoxus and N. confragosa grown on tryptamine. Another product formed from tryptamine and indole acetic acid by T. nudum and N. confragosa was identified as 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid. T. nudum also transformed N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine into indole acetic acid and 5-hydroxy-indole acetic acid, but no transformation was observed with either α -ethyl- or α -methyl-tryptamine An attempt to develop an assay method for the mono-amine oxidase of T. nudum was not notably successful --Abstract, page i

What Can Cryptography Do for Decentralized Mechanism Design?

Recent works of Roughgarden (EC\u2721) and Chung and Shi (SODA\u2723) initiate the study of a new decentralized mechanism design problem called transaction fee mechanism design (TFM). Unlike the classical mechanism design literature, in the decentralized environment, even the auctioneer (i.e., the miner) can be a strategic player, and it can even collude with a subset of the users facilitated by binding side contracts. Chung and Shi showed two main impossibility results that rule out the existence of a dream TFM. First, any TFM that provides incentive compatibility for individual users and miner-user coalitions must always have zero miner revenue, no matter whether the block size is finite or infinite. Second, assuming finite block size, no non-trivial TFM can simultaenously provide incentive compatibility for any individual user, and for any miner-user coalition. In this work, we explore what new models and meaningful relaxations can allow us to circumvent the impossibility results of Chung and Shi. Besides today’s model that does not employ cryptography, we introduce a new MPC-assisted model where the TFM is implemented by a joint multi-party computation (MPC) protocol among the miners. We prove several feasibility and infeasibility results for achieving strict and approximate incentive compatibility, respectively, in the plain model as well as the MPC-assisted model. We show that while cryptography is not a panacea, it indeed allows us to overcome some impossibility results pertaining to the plain model, leading to non-trivial mechanisms with useful guarantees that are otherwise impossible in the plain model. Our work is also the first to characterize the mathematical landscape of transaction fee mechanism design under approximate incentive compatibility, as well as in a cryptography-assisted model

Bank Error in Whose Favor? A Case Study of Decentralized Finance Misgovernance

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) emerged rapidly in recent years and provided open and transparent financial services to the public. Due to its popularity, it is not uncommon to see cybersecurity incidents in the DeFi landscape, yet the impact of such incidents is under-studied. In this paper, we examine two incidents in DeFi protocol that are mainly caused by misgovernance and mistake in the smart contract. By using the synthetic control method, we found that the incident in Alchemix did not have a significant effect on the total value locked (TVL) in the protocol, whereas the incident in Compound caused a 6.13% decrease in TVL. One factor that contributed to the difference in the result could be the incident response in social media platforms, and further study should investigate the possible moderating or mediating effects of public opinions and sentiment

L2 CONFIDENCE DEVELOPMENT OF ELF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN TAIWAN

Second Language (L2) confidence is considered an affective variable for L2 users to claim ownership of English. However, the findings of previous studies could not be generalized to international students in a non-English-speaking context like Taiwan since English mainly functions as a lingua franca among individuals with diverse first languages. This study investigated three international students' development of L2 confidence while they were studying in Taiwanese universities. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted on personal background, experiences, critical events, and personal evaluation of their L2 confidence. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and then analyzed in thematic narratives. Specific situations that affected this dynamic L2 confidence development were identified and probed deeper. The findings showed that the three participants seemed more confident in an English as Lingua Franca (ELF) community where local students were absent. Native Speaker (NS)-norms still dominated their English journey, and their confidence level greatly hinged on their NS-based proficiency. The ideology of following the NS English model threatened L2 confidence in ELF interactions. Furthermore, the participants’ perception of their nonnative speaker (NNS) identity might make them less confident. The findings contribute to the pedagogical implications for L2 learners, users and teachers

Spatial Pattern and Determinants of the First Detection Locations of Invasive Alien Species in Mainland China

BACKGROUND: The unintentional transport of species as a result of human activities has reached unprecedented rates. Once established, introduced species can be nearly impossible to eradicate. It is therefore essential to identify and monitor locations where invaders are most likely to establish new populations. Despite the obvious value of early detection, how does an agency identify areas that are most vulnerable to new invaders? Here we propose a novel approach by using the "first detection location" (FDL) of introduced species in China to quantify characteristics of areas where introduced species are first reported. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We obtained FDLs for 166 species (primarily agricultural and forestry pests) that were unintentionally introduced into China prior to 2008 from literature searches. The spatial pattern and determinants of FDLs were examined at the provincial level. The spatial pattern of FDLs varied among provinces with more commerce and trade and economically developed provinces in coastal regions having more FDLs than interior provinces. For example, 74.6% of FDLs were distributed in coastal regions despite that they only cover 15.6% of the total area in China. Variables that may be indicators of "introduction pressure" (e.g. the amount of received commerce) had an overwhelming effect on the number of FDLs in each province (R(2) = 0.760). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that "introduction pressure" may be one of the most important factors that determine the locations where newly-introduced species are first detected, and that open and developed provinces in China should be prioritized when developing monitoring programs that focus on locating and managing new introductions. Our study illustrates that FDL approaches can contribute to the study and management of biological invasions not only for China but also for elsewhere

Design And Fabrication of Condenser Microphone Using Wafer Transfer And Micro-electroplating Technique

A novel fabrication process, which uses wafer transfer and micro-electroplating technique, has been proposed and tested. In this paper, the effects of the diaphragm thickness and stress, the air-gap thickness, and the area ratio of acoustic holes to backplate on the sensitivity of the condenser microphone have been demonstrated since the performance of the microphone depends on these parameters. The microphone diaphragm has been designed with a diameter and thickness of 1.9 mm and 0.6 $\mu$m, respectively, an air-gap thickness of 10 $\mu$m, and a 24% area ratio of acoustic holes to backplate. To obtain a lower initial stress, the material used for the diaphragm is polyimide. The measured sensitivities of the microphone at the bias voltages of 24 V and 12 V are -45.3 and -50.2 dB/Pa (at 1 kHz), respectively. The fabricated microphone shows a flat frequency response extending to 20 kHz.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association (http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/16838

SOLOS DE CONCOURS FOR FLUTE AT THE PARTS CONSERVATORY: TWO DECADES-1900s AND 1940s

The topic of this dissertation is the concours pieces for flute at the Paris Conservatory covering two decades. The works are used for exit examination pieces for graduating students at the conservatory. The music is chosen by the director, the professors in the performance area, and a committee of other professors. These pieces still seem to be among the more important pieces known by flutists in the twenty-first century, and they are also frequently used as required audition pieces by conservatories, orchestras, and competitions. I have performed the works used for examination in two decades separated by almost half a century: The pieces from 1900 to 1909 and from 1940-1949, This performance dissertation contains three recital programs, and the recordings of the recitals are filed electronicaIly. I have grouped them according to contrasting styles in three recitals. Works performed are Agrestide (1942) by Eugene Bozza, Andante et Scherzo (1945) by Francois J. Brun, Preude et Scherzo (1908) by Henri Busser, Concertino (1902) by Cecile Chaminade, sixth Solo (1855) by Jules Demersseman (it was on the concours of 1896, dates which are outside the scope of this dissertation), Sonatine (1943) by Henri Dutilleux, Cantabile et Presto (1904) by Georges Enesco, Andante et Scheno (1901) by Louis Ganne, Fantaisie (1920) by Philippe Gaubert, Nocturne et Allegro Scherzando (1906) by Philippe Gaubert, Chant de Linos (1944) by Andre Jolivet, Fantasiestuck (1947) by Henri Martelli, Eglogue (1909) by Jules Mouquet, Concerto in A (1945-1949) by mile Passani, Ballade (1903) by Albert Perhilou, Sonatine (1946) by Pierre Sancan, Andante Pastorale et Scherzettim (1907) by Paul Taffanel, and Concertino in E Major (1945) by Henri Tornasi. Cantabile et Presto was required in both 1904 and 1940, and Andante et Scherzo was required in both 1901 and 1905

Evaluation of genetic diversity of Vietnamese dogs based on mitochondrial DNA hypervariable-1 region

Haplogroup E were detected with high frequency in the population of Phu Quoc ridgeback dogs suggesting that this Vietnamese valuable dog breed originated from domestic dogs harbouring haplogroup E from Vietnam’s mainland or from East Asia where the presence of haplogroup E was reported. Evaluation of the genetic diversity of the Vietnam’s mainland dogs and haplogroup Escreening would support us in tracking out the origin of Phu Quoc ridgeback dog