Proposal for a unified nomenclature for target site mutations associated with resistance to fungicides

Evolved resistance to fungicides is a major problem limiting our ability to control agricultural, medical and veterinary pathogens and is frequently associated with substitutions in the amino acid sequence of the target protein. The convention for describing amino-acid substitutions is to cite the wild type amino acid, the codon number and the new amino acid, using the one letter amino acid code. It has frequently been observed that orthologous amino acid mutations have been selected in different species by fungicides from the same mode of action class, but the amino acids have different numbers. These differences in numbering arise from the different lengths of the proteins in each species. The purpose of the current paper is to propose a system for unifying the labelling of amino acids in fungicide target proteins. To do this we have produced alignments between fungicide target proteins of relevant species fitted to a well-studied “archetype” species. Orthologous amino acids in all species are then assigned numerical “labels” based on the position of the amino acid in the archetype protein

Glacier velocities and dynamic ice discharge from the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Nunavut, Canada

Recent studies indicate an increase in glacier mass loss from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago as a result of warmer summer air temperatures. However, no complete assessment of dynamic ice discharge from this region exists. We present the first complete surface velocity mapping of all ice masses in the Queen Elizabeth Islands and show that these ice masses discharged ~2.6 ± 0.8 Gt a−1 of ice to the oceans in winter 2012. Approximately 50% of the dynamic discharge was channeled through non surge-type Trinity and Wykeham Glaciers alone. Dynamic discharge of the surge-type Mittie Glacier varied from 0.90 ± 0.09 Gt a−1 during its 2003 surge to 0.02 ± 0.02 Gt a−1 during quiescence in 2012, highlighting the importance of surge-type glaciers for interannual variability in regional mass loss. Queen Elizabeth Islands glaciers currently account for ~7.5% of reported dynamic discharge from Arctic ice masses outside Greenland.We thank NSERC, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Research Fund, ArcticNet, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, University of Ottawa and the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship for funding. RADARSAT-2 data were provided by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates under the RADARSAT-2 Government Data Allocation administrated by the Canadian Space Agency. Support to DB is provided through the Climate Change Geosciences Program, Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources Canada (ESS Contribution #20130293). We also acknowledge support from U.K NERC for grants R3/12469 and NE/K004999 to JAD.This is the accepted version of an article published in Geophysical Research Letters. An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright (2014) American Geophysical Union. The final version is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013GL058558/abstract;jsessionid=6A3AD907C4383DA5D4E20C4924D6EC18.f02t02

Life and Health Insurance Industry Investments in Fast Food

Previous research on health and life insurers' financial investments has highlighted the tension between profit maximization and the public good. We ascertained health and life insurance firms' holdings in the fast food industry, an industry that is increasingly understood to negatively impact public health. Insurers own $1.88 billion of stock in the 5 leading fast food companies. We argue that insurers ought to be held to a higher standard of corporate responsibility, and we offer potential solutions