Flow-plant interaction at a leaf scale: effects of leaf shape and flexural rigidity

River hydrodynamicsBed roughness and flow resistanc

Biomechanics of aquatic plants and its role in flow-vegetation interactions

River hydrodynamicsBed roughness and flow resistanc

A scholarship program for academic staff to develop exemplary online learning tasks

There is a strong impetus for blended learning approaches to be more widely adopted in higher education but finding an effective model for professional development of teaching staff can be problematic. In 2009, Curtin University developed an eTeaching and Learning Scholarship program for academic staff to develop exemplary online learning tasks that could be shared with the university community and inform future online teaching within their disciplines. This paper describes the design of the professional learning program together with early encouraging results that indicate both the willingness of the eScholars to incorporate additional learning technologies to extend the affordances of the university provisioned systems and to embrace authentic learner-centred tasks

Exchange of coordinated solvent during crystallisation of a metal-organic framework observed by in situ high energy X-ray diffraction

Using time-resolved monochromatic high energy X-ray diffraction, we present an in situ study of the solvothermal crystallisation of a new MOF [Yb2(BDC)3(DMF)2]⋅H2O (BDC=benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate and DMF=N,N-dimethylformamide) under solvothermal conditions, from mixed water/DMF solvent. Analysis of high resolution powder patterns obtained reveals an evolution of lattice parameters and electron density during the crystallisation process and Rietveld analysis shows that this is due to a gradual topochemical replacement of coordinated solvent molecules. The water initially coordinated to Yb3+ is replaced by DMF as the reaction progresses

Flow-plant interactions at leaf, stem and shoot scales: drag, turbulence, and biomechanics

Flow-plant interactions are experimentally investigated at leaf, stem, and shoot scales in an open-channel flume at a range of Reynolds numbers. The experiments included measurements of instantaneous drag forces acting on leaves, stems, and shoots of the common freshwater plant species Glyceria fluitans, complemented with velocity measurements, high-resolution video recordings, and biomechanical tests of leaf and stem properties. The analyses of bulk statistics, power spectral densities, transfer functions, and cross-correlations of measured velocities and drag forces revealed that flow characteristics, drag force, and plant biomechanical and morphological properties are strongly interconnected and scale-dependent. The plant element-flow interactions can be subdivided into two classes: (I) passive interactions when the drag variability is due to the time variability of the wetted and frontal areas and squared approach velocity (due to the large-scale turbulence); and (II) active interactions representing a range of element-specific instabilities that depend on the element flexural rigidity and morphology. Implications of experimental findings for plant biophysics and ecology are briefly discussed

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

Chromosomal-level assembly of the Asian Seabass genome using long sequence reads and multi-layered scaffolding

We report here the ~670 Mb genome assembly of the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer), a tropical marine teleost. We used long-read sequencing augmented by transcriptomics, optical and genetic mapping along with shared synteny from closely related fish species to derive a chromosome-level assembly with a contig N50 size over 1 Mb and scaffold N50 size over 25 Mb that span ~90% of the genome. The population structure of L. calcarifer species complex was analyzed by re-sequencing 61 individuals representing various regions across the species' native range. SNP analyses identified high levels of genetic diversity and confirmed earlier indications of a population stratification comprising three clades with signs of admixture apparent in the South-East Asian population. The quality of the Asian seabass genome assembly far exceeds that of any other fish species, and will serve as a new standard for fish genomics

Antivirals Reduce the Formation of Key Alzheimer's Disease Molecules in Cell Cultures Acutely Infected with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1

Alzheimer's disease (AD) afflicts around 20 million people worldwide and so there is an urgent need for effective treatment. Our research showing that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) is a risk factor for AD for the brains of people who possess a specific genetic factor and that the virus causes accumulation of key AD proteins (β-amyloid (Aβ) and abnormally phosphorylated tau (P-tau)), suggests that anti-HSV1 antiviral agents might slow AD progression. However, currently available antiviral agents target HSV1 DNA replication and so might be successful in AD only if Aβ and P-tau accumulation depend on viral DNA replication. Therefore, we investigated firstly the stage(s) of the virus replication cycle required for Aβ and P-tau accumulation, and secondly whether antiviral agents prevent these changes using recombinant strains of HSV1 that progress only partly through the replication cycle and antiviral agents that inhibit HSV1 DNA replication. By quantitative immunocytochemistry we demonstrated that entry, fusion and uncoating of HSV1, are insufficient to induce Aβ and P-tau production. We showed also that none of the “immediate early” viral proteins is directly responsible, and that Aβ and P-tau are produced at a subsequent stage of the HSV1 replication cycle. Importantly, the anti-HSV1 antiviral agents acyclovir, penciclovir and foscarnet reduced Aβ and P-tau accumulation, as well as HSV1, with foscarnet being less effective in each case. P-tau accumulation was found to depend on HSV1 DNA replication, whereas Aβ accumulation was not. The antiviral-induced decrease in Aβ is attributable to the reduced number of new viruses, and hence the reduction in viral spread. Since antiviral agents reduce greatly Aβ and P-tau accumulation in HSV1-infected cells, they would be suitable for treating AD with great advantage unlike current AD therapies, only the virus, not the host cell, would be targeted