Debate on the Exploitation of Natural Plant Diversity to Create Late Blight Resistance in Potato

This paper reports on a debate on intriguing propositions relating to the scientific, agronomic, societal and economic impact of the BIOEXPLOIT project, focusing on late blight resistance in potato. It discusses (i) whether identifying pathogen effectors will facilitate selecting durable R genes, (ii) whether breeding for durable late blight resistance requires deploying Rpi (for Resistance to P hytophthora i nfestans) genes, (iii) whether breeding strategies and cultural practices determine the durability of new resistance genes, (iv) whether marker-assisted breeding for Phytophthora infestans resistance is already in the stage of adoption, (v) to what extent genetically-modified organism technology can advance realizing late-blight resistant potato cultivars, and (vi) whether modifying R genes will result in novel broad spectrum resistanc

Argyres-Seiberg duality and the Higgs branch

We demonstrate the agreement between the Higgs branches of two N=2 theories proposed by Argyres and Seiberg to be S-dual, namely the SU(3) gauge theory with six quarks, and the SU(2) gauge theory with one pair of quarks coupled to the superconformal theory with E_6 flavor symmetry. In mathematical terms, we demonstrate the equivalence between a hyperkaehler quotient of a linear space and another hyperkaehler quotient involving the minimal nilpotent orbit of E_6, modulo the identification of the twistor lines.Comment: 27 pages; v2: published versio

Real-Time Vector Automata

We study the computational power of real-time finite automata that have been augmented with a vector of dimension k, and programmed to multiply this vector at each step by an appropriately selected $k \times k$ matrix. Only one entry of the vector can be tested for equality to 1 at any time. Classes of languages recognized by deterministic, nondeterministic, and "blind" versions of these machines are studied and compared with each other, and the associated classes for multicounter automata, automata with multiplication, and generalized finite automata.Comment: 14 page

A transient PEMFC model with CO poisoning and mitigation by O2 bleeding and Ru-containing catalyst

In this paper we present a transient, fully two-phase, non-isothermal model of carbon monoxide poisoning and oxygen bleeding in the membraneelectrode assembly of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The model includes a detailed description of mass, heat and charge transport, chemisorption,electrochemical oxidation and heterogeneous catalysis (when oxygen is introduced). Example simulation results demonstrate the ability of themodel to qualitatively capture the fundamental features of the poisoning process and the extent of poisoning with respect to channel temperatureand concentration. Further examples show how the multi-step kinetics can interact with other physical phenomena such as liquid-water flooding,particularly in the anode. Carbon monoxide pulsing is simulated to demonstrate that the complicated reaction kinetics of oxygen bleeding canbe captured and even predicted. It is shown that variations in the channel temperature have a convoluted effect on bleeding, and that trends inperformance on relatively short time scales can be the precise opposite of the trends observed at steady state. We incorporate a bi-functionalmechanism for carbon monoxide oxidation on platinum–ruthenium catalysts, demonstrating the marked reduction in the extent of poisoning, theeffect of variations in the platinum–ruthenium ratio and the influence of temperature. Finally, we discuss the implications of the results, extensionsto the model and possible avenues for experimental work

Identification-based Diagnosis of Rainfall ¿Stream Flow Data: the Tinderry Catchment

System identification tools, such as transfer function (TF) model structure identification, recursive estimation, time-varying parameter (TVP) estimation and assessment of data information, are used to evaluate the quality of rainfall-stream flow data from the Tinderry catchment (ACT, Australia) and the timevarying behaviour of the rainfall-stream flow dynamics. For the catchment, given the wide range and the abrupt changes of the single input-single output transfer functions describing different periods or events, we conclude that further investigation of (i) local rainfall effects, (ii) time-varying time delays (travelling time), (iii) time-varying residence times related to the base flow and (iv) occurrence of negative residues is needed. Periods with high and low data information content, for further use in effective parameter estimation procedures, are clearly indicated by the analysis

Effect of drought stress on yield, proline and chlorophyll contents in three chickpea cultivars

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses in agriculture worldwide. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of drought stress on proline content, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis and transpiration, stomatal conductance and yield characteristics in three varieties of chickpea (drought tolerant Bivaniej and ILC482 and drought sensitive Pirouz). A field experiment with four irrigation regimes was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included control (no drought),drought stress imposed during the vegetative phase, drought stress imposed during anthesis and drought stress during the vegetative phase and during anthesis. All physiological parameters were affected by drought stress. Drought stress imposed during vegetative growth or anthesis significantly decreased chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content. Proline accumulation was higher in ‘ILC482’ than in ‘Pirouz’ both under control and drought stress conditions. Photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance and yield were higher but sub-stomatal CO2 concentration was lower under drought stress conditions than under control conditions. The results showed that mesophyll resistance is the basic determinate of rate of phototosynthesis under drought stress conditions. Under drought conditions the drought tolerant variety ‘Bivaniej’ gave the highest yield whereas the drought sensitive variety ‘Pirouz’ gave the lowest yield. Drought stress at anthesis phase reduced seed yield more severe than that on vegetative stag

The M theory lift of two O6 planes and four D6 branes

We solve for the effective actions on the Coulomb branches of a class of N=2 supersymmetric theories by finding the complex structure of an M5 brane in an appropriate background hyperkahler geometry corresponding to the lift of two O6^- orientifolds and four D6 branes to M theory. The resulting Seiberg-Witten curves are of finite genus, unlike other solutions proposed in the literature. The simplest theories in this class are the scale invariant Sp(k) theory with one antisymmetric and four fundamental hypermultiplets and the SU(k) theory with two antisymmetric and four fundamental hypermultiplets. Infinite classes of related theories are obtained by adding extra SU(k) factors with bifundamental matter and by turning on masses to flow down to various asymptotically free theories. The N=4 supersymmetric SU(k) theory can be embedded in these asymptotically free theories, allowing a derivation of a subgroup of its S duality group as an exact equivalence of quantum field theories.Comment: 45 pages, 3 figures. Reference adde

Influence of cold storage time on the softening prediction in Spring Bright nectarines

With Time-resolved Reflectance Spectroscopy (TRS) the maturity of nectarines at harvest can be assessed by measuring the absorption coefficient at 670 nm (µa 670) in the fruit flesh. A kinetic model has been developed linking the optical properties as measured by TRS with the models of µa 670 and firmness decay in shelf-life at 20°C, making the prediction of the softening time for individual fruit possible. In order to study the influence of cold storage time prior to shelf life on the softening prediction, 540 (year 2003) and 870 (year 2004) ‘Spring Bright’ nectarines were measured at harvest with TRS; then fruit were put in shelf life after various periods of cold storage at 0°C (4 and 10 d, year 2003; 6, 13 and 20 days, year 2004). During the 5-day period of shelf life at 20°C, fruit were analysed for firmness by pressure test after 30, 48, 54, 72, 78, 96, 102 and 120h in 2003 and after 36, 43, 62, 87, 108 and 135h in 2004. For each year and cold storage time, the parameters of the logistic model of softening as a function of µa 670 at harvest were computed. The cold storage up to 13 days did not significantly influence the estimates of the softening rate constant (kf), of the maximum firmness at minus infinite time (Fmax) and of parameter alpha (a) in both years, whereas parameter beta (ß) in 2003 significantly decreased from -1.867 at day 4 to -2.237 at day 10. The further 7 days of cold storage in 2004 significantly affected kf, which decreased from 0.00084 at days 6 and 13 to 0.00069 at day 20, and ß which increased from -2.395 at day 6 to -2.053 at day 20. Our results indicate that the cold storage time significantly influences the softening prediction of nectarines as the longer the cold storage, the lower the softening rat

Tree scattering amplitudes of the spin-4/3 fractional superstring I: the untwisted sectors

Scattering amplitudes of the spin-4/3 fractional superstring are shown to satisfy spurious state decoupling and cyclic symmetry (duality) at tree-level in the string perturbation expansion. This fractional superstring is characterized by the spin-4/3 fractional superconformal algebra---a parafermionic algebra studied by Zamolodchikov and Fateev involving chiral spin-4/3 currents on the world-sheet in addition to the stress-energy tensor. Examples of tree scattering amplitudes are calculated in an explicit c=5 representation of this fractional superconformal algebra realized in terms of free bosons on the string world-sheet. The target space of this model is three-dimensional flat Minkowski space-time with a level-2 Kac-Moody so(2,1) internal symmetry, and has bosons and fermions in its spectrum. Its closed string version contains a graviton in its spectrum. Tree-level unitarity (i.e., the no-ghost theorem for space-time bosonic physical states) can be shown for this model. Since the critical central charge of the spin-4/3 fractional superstring theory is 10, this c=5 representation cannot be consistent at the string loop level. The existence of a critical fractional superstring containing a four-dimensional space-time remains an open question.Comment: 42 pages, 4 figures, latex, IASSNS-HEP-93/57, CLNS-92/117