Development of fad7-1 single mutant Arabidopsis thaliana plants that are resistant to aphids

Aphids are a group of sap-feeding insects that attack most of the world’s crops. The loss of function of fatty acid desaturase7 (FAD7) in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato plant) induces aphid resistance that is dependent upon the accumulation of plant defense hormones such as salicylic acid (SA). Tomato lacks most of the genetic resources found in the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). There is an analogous fad7-1 line of Arabidopsis; however, the line has a background mutation, the glabra-1 (gl1), that causes the absence of trichomes (small hairs), which are essential to plant defense. In order to study aphid resistance, a single mutant line of fad7-1 mutants were developed using cross breeding between the fad7-1/gl1 mutant and wild-type plants. Homozygous fad7-1 mutants were then identified using the Kasajima DNA extraction method, followed by the use of single nucleotide polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (SNP-PCR) primers using allele-specific PCR. A phenotypic screening was then performed to screen out the plants with the glabra-1 mutation using the presence or absence of trichomes. Two single Arabidopsis fad7-1 mutant lines were identified, and subsequently verified using a bioassay to be aphid resistant relative to other genotypes as seen in tomato

Exploring the networks of government scientists using Social Network Analysis: a scoping study

Scientists working for the New South Wales (NSW) Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) provide rigorous evidence and advice to support government priorities which include protecting the natural environment. They also collaborate with and attract non-government researchers to work on government priorities. In this scoping study, we used Social Network Analysis (SNA) to visualise the ego networks of six government scientists from OEH who work on biodiversity conservation and landscape management. This allowed us to explore the potential reach of their advice and information within OEH and beyond; and examine gaps and redundancy in the stacked ego networks

Use of Counter-balanced Smith Machine Affects Performance Measurements for Rebound Bench Press Throws

Rebound bench presses throws (RBT), often performed on a Smith machine, are used for assessment and training of upper body power. During a RBT, the stretch-shortening cycle potentiates performance in the concentric movement. Smith machines frequently utilize a counter-balance weight to reduce the net load on the barbell; however, the use of counter-balance weight affects measures of performance for RBT. PURPOSE: To evaluate how the use of a counter-balanced Smith machine affects performance measures for RBT. METHODS: Performance measures for the no counter-balanced (NCB) and counter-balanced (CB) RBT were assessed for 24 men (age: 23 ± 3 years, height: 179 ± 6 cm, mass: 91 ± 17 kg, bench press 1-repetition maximum [1RM]: 107 ± 18 kg). Each participant performed 2 sets of 2 repetitions of RBT for each condition at 30 % of their 1RM. Peak power, peak force, peak concentric and eccentric velocities, and duration of eccentric and concentric phases were measured using a linear accelerometer attached to the barbell; peak ground reaction force (GRF) was measured using a force plate. For each condition, data from the repetition with the highest peak power was used in further analyses. Peak EMG was measured for the right pectoral, deltoid and triceps muscles and normalized using peak EMG in the 1RM. RESULTS: Peak barbell measurements for power (NCB: 1220 ± 269 W, CB: 1069 ± 255 W), force (NCB: 906 ± 252 N, CB: 713 ± 143 N), and concentric (NCB: 2.54 ± 0.27 m•s-1, CB: 2.24 ± 0.32 m•s-1) and eccentric (NCB: -1.19 ± 0.46 m•s-1, CB: -0.95 ± 0.29 m•s-1) velocities were significantly (p\u3c0.05) higher for NCB compared to CB. The durations for the eccentric (NCB: 0.53 ± 0.16 s, CB: 0.64 ± 0.12 s) and concentric phases (NCB: 0.58 ± 0.58 s, CB: 0.77 ± 0.82 s), and peak pectoral EMG (NCB: 91 ± 21 % of 1RM, CB: 101 ± 24 % of 1RM) were lower for NCB compared to CB. Peak EMG for deltoid and triceps and peak GRF were unaffected by the use of counter-balance weights. CONCLUSION: The use of CB equipment resulted in reduced performance measurements (peak power, peak force, and peak eccentric and concentric velocities) for the RBT compared to NCB equipment. The lower peak eccentric stretch velocity likely resulted in a less effective stretch-shortening cycle for CB compared to NCB and thus helps explain the lower performance measurements found for CB

Universal analytic properties of noise. Introducing the J-Matrix formalism

We propose a new method in the spectral analysis of noisy time-series data for damped oscillators. From the Jacobi three terms recursive relation for the denominators of the Pad\'e Approximations built on the well-known Z-transform of an infinite time-series, we build an Hilbert space operator, a J-Operator, where each bound state (inside the unit circle in the complex plane) is simply associated to one damped oscillator while the continuous spectrum of the J-Operator, which lies on the unit circle itself, is shown to represent the noise. Signal and noise are thus clearly separated in the complex plane. For a finite time series of length 2N, the J-operator is replaced by a finite order J-Matrix J_N, having N eigenvalues which are time reversal covariant. Different classes of input noise, such as blank (white and uniform), Gaussian and pink, are discussed in detail, the J-Matrix formalism allowing us to efficiently calculate hundreds of poles of the Z-transform. Evidence of a universal behaviour in the final statistical distribution of the associated poles and zeros of the Z-transform is shown. In particular the poles and zeros tend, when the length of the time series goes to infinity, to a uniform angular distribution on the unit circle. Therefore at finite order, the roots of unity in the complex plane appear to be noise attractors. We show that the Z-transform presents the exceptional feature of allowing lossless undersampling and how to make use of this property. A few basic examples are given to suggest the power of the proposed method.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Introduction: mobile media research - state of the art

No abstract available

Likelihood-ratio ranking of gravitational-wave candidates in a non-Gaussian background

We describe a general approach to detection of transient gravitational-wave signals in the presence of non-Gaussian background noise. We prove that under quite general conditions, the ratio of the likelihood of observed data to contain a signal to the likelihood of it being a noise fluctuation provides optimal ranking for the candidate events found in an experiment. The likelihood-ratio ranking allows us to combine different kinds of data into a single analysis. We apply the general framework to the problem of unifying the results of independent experiments and the problem of accounting for non-Gaussian artifacts in the searches for gravitational waves from compact binary coalescence in LIGO data. We show analytically and confirm through simulations that in both cases the likelihood ratio statistic results in an improved analysis.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Editorial: Lipid metabolism and membrane structure in plant biotic interactions

Article discusses how Lipid bilayers represent the interface between cells (or organelles) and their environment. Authors claim that this special topic brings together new reports on several of these lipid classes to shed light on the impacts of plant lipid metabolism and membrane organization on plant immunity

Violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality with weak measurements of photons

By weakly measuring the polarization of a photon between two strong polarization measurements, we experimentally investigate the correlation between the appearance of anomalous values in quantum weak measurements, and the violation of realism and non-intrusiveness of measurements. A quantitative formulation of the latter concept is expressed in terms of a Leggett-Garg inequality for the outcomes of subsequent measurements of an individual quantum system. We experimentally violate the Leggett-Garg inequality for several measurement strengths. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate that there is a one-to-one correlation between achieving strange weak values and violating the Leggett-Garg inequality.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Facebook's Mobile Career

At the end of its first decade, Facebook’s identity, popularity, and characteristics are shaped in important ways by its becoming a form of mobile media, as much as it as platform associated with Internet and social media. This paper seeks to explore and understand Facebook as the important force in mobile media and communication it now is. It draws upon and combines perspectives from technology production, design, and economy, as well as user adoption, consumption, practices, affect, emotion, and resistance. The paper discusses the beginnings of mobile Facebook, and the early adoption of mobile Facebook associated with the rise of smartphones. The second part of the paper explores Facebook’s integration with photography (with Instagram) and social games (such as Zynga’s Farmville). The paper argues that Facebook’s mobile career is an accomplishment that has distinctively melded evolving affordances, everyday use across a wide range of settings, as well as political economies, corporate strategy, and design.Australian Research Counci