Development of a System for Directed Evolution of \u3cem\u3eArabidopsis\u3c/em\u3e Formate Dehydrogenase to Utilize NADP as a Cofactor

Formate dehydrogenase (FDH) is a NAD-dependent enzyme found in methylotrophic bacteria, yeast and plants. This enzyme catalyzes the reversible oxidation of formate to carbon dioxide. The goal of this research was to determine the feasibility of using a directed evolution approach to generate an altered Arabidopsis FDH with a high affinity for NADP as a cofactor. A PCR procedure that induced approximately 1.5 mutations in the wild-type Arabidopsis FDH sequence per thousand base pairs was developed and the amplified products were transformed into E. coli cells. Approximately 1300 cell lines were assayed in 96-well microplates for activity with NADP+ and 100 putative mutants were selected for further study. One particular mutant line, pFDH-18, possessed reproducible NADP+-FDH activity. Sequence analysis showed that a single T in the wild-type DNA sequence had been changed to a G. The result of this mutation was that an isoleucine (Ile) residue at position 188 in the wild-type enzyme was converted to a methionine. This particular Ile residue is conserved in the known FDH sequences from higher plants and is located in the region of the enzyme that contains the binding domain for the NAD cofactor

Validated environmental and physiological data from the CELSS Breadboard Projects Biomass Production Chamber. BWT931 (Wheat cv. Yecora Rojo)

This KSC database is being made available to the scientific research community to facilitate the development of crop development models, to test monitoring and control strategies, and to identify environmental limitations in crop production systems. The KSC validated dataset consists of 17 parameters necessary to maintain bioregenerative life support functions: water purification, CO2 removal, O2 production, and biomass production. The data are available on disk as either a DATABASE SUBSET (one week of 5-minute data) or DATABASE SUMMARY (daily averages of parameters). Online access to the VALIDATED DATABASE will be made available to institutions with specific programmatic requirements. Availability and access to the KSC validated database are subject to approval and limitations implicit in KSC computer security policies

Guidelines for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis for general practitioners

Copyright © 2002 Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Copyright to Australian Family Physician. Reproduced with permission. Permission to reproduce must be sought from the publisher, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.Background: Osteoporosis Australia has been committed to the education of general practitioners and the community with a series of updated guidelines on the management of osteoporosis. Since the last series was published in Australian Family Physician (August 2000), there have been further advances in our understanding of the treatments involved in both prevention of bone loss and the management of established osteoporosis. Objective: This article represents updated guidelines for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis to assist GPs identify those women at risk and to review current treatment strategies. DISCUSSION: Osteoporosis and its associated problems are major health concerns in Australia, especially with an aging population. While important principles of management are still considered to be maximising peak bone mass and preventing postmenopausal bone loss, new clinical trial data about drugs such as the bisphosphonates, raloxifene and oestrogen have recently become available and the relative role of various agents is gradually becoming clearer. The use of long term hormone replacement therapy has mixed risks and benefits that requires individual patient counselling.O'Neill Sheila; Sambrook Philip; Diamond Terry; Ebeling Peter; Ferris Linda; Flicker Leon; Findlay David; Singh Maria Fiatarone; Lord Stephen; MacLennan Alastair; Markwell Alex; Nowson Caryl; Pocock Nick; Williamson Margare

Multi-Phase Sputtered TiO2-Induced Current–Voltage Distortion in Sb2Se3 Solar Cells

Despite the recent success of CdS/Sb2Se3 heterojunction devices, cadmium toxicity, parasitic absorption from the relatively narrow CdS band gap (2.4 eV) and multiple reports of inter-diffusion at the interface forming Cd(S,Se) and Sb2(S,Se)3 phases, present significant limitations to this device architecture. Among the options for alternative partner layers in antimony chalcogenide solar cells, the wide band gap, non-toxic titanium dioxide (TiO2) has demonstrated the most promise. It is generally accepted that the anatase phase of the polymorphic TiO2 is preferred, although there is currently an absence of analysis with regard to phase influence on device performance. This work reports approaches to distinguish between TiO2 phases using both surface and bulk characterization methods. A device fabricated with a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtered rutile-TiO2 window layer (FTO/TiO2/Sb2Se3/P3HT/Au) achieved an efficiency of 6.88% and near-record short–circuit current density (Jsc) of 32.44 mA cm−2, which is comparable to established solution based TiO2 fabrication methods that produced a highly anatase-TiO2 partner layer and a 6.91% efficiency device. The sputtered method introduces reproducibility challenges via the enhancement of interfacial charge barriers in multi-phase TiO2 films with a rutile surface and anatase bulk. This is shown to introduce severe S-shaped current–voltage (J–V) distortion and a drastic fill–factor (FF reduction in these devices

Corn Yield Potential and Optimal Soil Productivity in Irrigated Corn/Soybean Systems

In 1999, an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Nebraska established a field experiment to (1) quantify and understand the yield potential of corn and soybean under irrigated conditions, (2) identify efficient crop management practices to achieve yields that approach potential levels, and (3) determine the energy use efficiency, global warming and soil C-sequestration potential of intensively managed corn systems. The experiment compares systems that represent different levels of management intensity expressed as combinations of crop rotation (continuous corn, corn-soybean), plant density (low, medium, high) and nutrient management (recommended best management vs. intensive management). Detailed measurements include soil nutrient dynamics and C balance, crop growth and development, nutrient uptake and components of yield of corn and soybean, radiation use efficiency, soil surface fluxes of greenhouse gases, root biomass, C inputs through crop residues, translocation of non-structural carbohydrates, and amount, composition and activity of the microbial biomass. Selected results for corn are presented

Corn Yield Potential and Optimal Soil Productivity in Irrigated Corn/Soybean Systems

In 1999, an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Nebraska established a field experiment to (1) quantify and understand the yield potential of corn and soybean under irrigated conditions, (2) identify efficient crop management practices to achieve yields that approach potential levels, and (3) determine the energy use efficiency, global warming and soil C-sequestration potential of intensively managed corn systems. The experiment compares systems that represent different levels of management intensity expressed as combinations of crop rotation (continuous corn, corn-soybean), plant density (low, medium, high) and nutrient management (recommended best management vs. intensive management). Detailed measurements include soil nutrient dynamics and C balance, crop growth and development, nutrient uptake and components of yield of corn and soybean, radiation use efficiency, soil surface fluxes of greenhouse gases, root biomass, C inputs through crop residues, translocation of non-structural carbohydrates, and amount, composition and activity of the microbial biomass. Selected results for corn are presented

Attenuated and Protease-Profile Modified Sendai Virus Vectors as a New Tool for Virotherapy of Solid Tumors

Peer reviewe

Multispecies leisure: Human-animal interactions in leisure landscapes

The emerging multidisciplinary field of human-animal studies encourages researchers to move beyond human-centric practices and to recognise that human and nonhuman beings are positioned within shared ecological, social, cultural and political spaces whereby nonhumans have become key actors worthy of moral consideration and play a fundamental role in humans’ lives. With some exceptions (e.g. Carr, 2014; Dashper, 2018; Danby, 2018; Danby & Finkel, 2018; Young & Carr, 2018), leisure studies has been slow to embrace this ‘animal turn’ and consider how leisure actions, experiences and landscapes are shaped through multispecies encounters between humans, other animals, reptiles, fish and the natural environment. This special issue begins to address this gap by considering leisure as more-than-human experiences. We consider leisure with nonhuman others, both domestic and wild, by exploring the ‘contact zones’ between humans and other species and, in doing so, we create an interspecies lens through which to explore these encounters. The research presented in this special issue takes into consideration the affective and ethical dimensions of human-nonhuman animal entanglements in leisure spaces and the need to strive for reciprocal, mutual welfare and wellbeing. Through the use of innovative methodological approaches, the authors explore a range of issues and perspectives to capture shared experiences of interspecies leisure pursuits. This special issue provides direction for future ways in which research on multispecies leisure, and its associated mutual benefits, can be done to advance understanding and practice in the field. The special issue seeks to ‘bring the animal in’ to the leisure studies domain and contribute to greater understanding of leisure as a complex, interwoven multispecies phenomenon

Accused of an "abominable crime": punishing homosexual blackmail threats in London, 1723–1823

For much of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century, the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom operated under “the Bloody Code” in which more than 200 crimes were punishable by death. Despite the apparent severity of this punitive system, the laws around extortion during this period were ambiguous and unclear. Drawing on records from London’s Old Bailey over the century from 1723 to 1823, this research examines the specific offence of threatening to accuse a person of criminalised homosexual acts for the purposes of extortion. Drawing on a range of cases in London over a century, this research examines the varying judicial treatment of crimes committed in person versus extortion conducted in written form — a major distinction under the conditions of the Bloody Code. It highlights the inconsistency in the application of the law, as well as presenting potential explanations as to why similar crimes were punished so differently in Georgian Britain. Based on case file analysis, it comes to an intriguing conclusion about how these cases were handled by the Old Bailey, coming to the conclusion that sentences for homosexual extortion attempts were often mitigated in cases where there was a question as to whether the victim was, in reality, a gay man. This conclusion has serious implications for our understanding of the nexus between homosexuality and the English legal system in this complex period