Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor–like kinase NILR1 is required for induction of innate immunity to parasitic nematodes

Plant-parasitic nematodes are destructive pests causing losses of billions of dollars annually. An effective plant defence against pathogens relies on the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by surface-localised receptors leading to the activation of PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Extensive studies have been conducted to characterise the role of PTI in various models of plant-pathogen interactions. However, far less is known about the role of PTI in roots in general and in plant-nematode interactions in particular. Here we show that nematode-derived proteinaceous elicitor/s is/are capable of inducing PTI in Arabidopsis in a manner dependent on the common immune co-receptor BAK1. Consistent with the role played by BAK1, we identified a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase, termed NILR1 that is specifically regulated upon infection by nematodes. We show that NILR1 is essential for PTI responses initiated by nematodes and nilr1 loss-of-function mutants are hypersusceptible to a broad category of nematodes. To our knowledge, NILR1 is the first example of an immune receptor that is involved in induction of basal immunity (PTI) in plants or in animals in response to nematodes. Manipulation of NILR1 will provide new options for nematode control in crop plants in future

Between history and values: A study on the nature of interpretation in international law

My thesis discusses the place of evaluative judgements in the interpretation of general international law. It concentrates on two questions. First, whether it is possible to interpret international legal practices without making an evaluative judgement about the point or value that provides the best justification of these practices. Second, whether the use of evaluative judgements in international legal interpretation threatens to undermine the objectivity of international law, the neutrality of international lawyers or the consensual and voluntary basis of the international legal system. I answer both questions in the negative. As regards the first, I argue that international legal practice has an interpretive structure, which combines appeals to the history of international practice with appeals to the principles and values that these practices are best understood as promoting. This interpretive structure is apparent not only in the claims of international lawyers about particular rules of international law (here I use the rule of estoppel as an example) but also in the most basic intuitions of international theorists about the theory and sources of general international law. I then argue that some popular concerns to the effect that the exercise of evaluation in the interpretation of international law will undermine the coherence or the usefulness of the discipline are generally unwarranted. The fact that international legal practice has an interpretive structure does not entail that propositions of international law are only subjectively true, that the interpreter enjoys license to manipulate their meaning for self-serving purposes, or that international law will collapse under the weight of irresolvable disagreements, divisions and conflicts about its proper interpretation

All Things to All People, The International Court of Justice and Its Commentators

Despite the technical prowess of both the editors and the contributors to this unique and comprehensive commentary on the Statute of the ICJ, a book of this nature cannot be all things to all people. The practitioner will miss a closer reading of the Court's jurisprudence and a more exhaustive bibliography; the theoretician will lament the lack of theoretical foundations for many of the dogmatic arguments put forward. But this volume is as good as they come, both in terms of the medium and format chosen. The commentary fulfils most of the demands made of it by practitioners and scholars alike

New International Legal Positivism: Formalism by Another Name?

This chapter explores the work of Jörg Kammerhofer and Jean d’Aspremont. Through a review of Kammerhofer’s Kelsenian approach to international law and d’Aspremont’s HLA Hart-inspired theory of the sources of international law and the nature of international law more generally, it questions the distinctiveness of the positivism they advocate and contests the contemporary value of a positivistic approach to international law

Effect of heterogeneous hydrophobic coating on floating of insoluble particles

Food powders often exhibit hydrophobic surface areas. To understand the effect of corresponding wettability variations on particle floating, which critically influences powder reconstitution, we studied floating of glass beads after creating surface heterogeneity by spraying cocoa butter. Force-position curves were recorded to characterise contact line pinning. Floating of particles with surface heterogeneities comprised a dynamic phase, which to our knowledge has not been reported previously. Measured forces varied due to contact line pinning/depinning. The results indicate that the dynamic floating phase is caused by gradual depinning. Steady-state floating is reached once pinning is sufficiently pronounced. We also demonstrate that surface heterogeneities complicate theoretical predictions of particle floating. The use of sessile drop contact angles for modelling was identified as an important source of error, as weak pinning points can affect contact angles but are oftentimes overcome during floating. Moreover, local pinning effects are not necessarily represented by a sessile drop