Leveraging genomics to understand the broader role of fungal small secreted proteins in niche colonization and nutrition

The last few years have seen significant advances in the breadth of fungi for which we have genomic resources and our understanding of the biological mechanisms evolved to enable fungi to interact with their environment and other organisms. One field of research that has seen a paradigm shift in our understanding concerns the role of fungal small secreted proteins (SSPs) classified as effectors. Classically thought to be a class of proteins utilized by pathogenic microbes to manipulate host physiology in support of colonization, comparative genomic studies have demonstrated that mutualistic fungi and fungi not associated with a living host (i.e., saprotrophic fungi) also encode inducible effector and candidate effector gene sequences. In this review, we discuss the latest advances in understanding how fungi utilize these secreted proteins to colonize a particular niche and affect nutrition and nutrient cycles. Recent studies show that candidate effector SSPs in fungi may have just as significant a role in modulating hyphosphere microbiomes and in orchestrating fungal growth as they do in supporting colonization of a living host. We conclude with suggestions on how comparative genomics may direct future studies seeking to characterize and differentiate effector from other more generalized functions of these enigmatic secreted proteins across all fungal lifestyles

Inorganic nitrogen availability alters Eucalyptus grandis receptivity to the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus albus but not symbiotic nitrogen transfer.

Forest trees are able to thrive in nutrient-poor soils in part because they obtain growth-limiting nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), through mutualistic symbiosis with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. Addition of inorganic N into these soils is known to disrupt this mutualism and reduce the diversity of ECM fungi. Despite its ecological impact, the mechanisms governing the observed effects of elevated inorganic N on mycorrhizal communities remain unknown. We address this by using a compartmentalized in vitro system to independently alter nutrients to each symbiont. Using stable isotopes, we traced the nutrient flux under different nutrient regimes between Eucalyptus grandis and its ectomycorrhizal symbiont, Pisolithus albus. We demonstrate that giving E. grandis independent access to N causes a significant reduction in root colonization by P. albus. Transcriptional analysis suggests that the observed reduction in colonization may be caused, in part, by altered transcription of microbe perception genes and defence genes. We show that delivery of N to host leaves is not increased by host nutrient deficiency but by fungal nutrient availability instead. Overall, this advances our understanding of the effects of N fertilization on ECM fungi and the factors governing nutrient transfer in the E. grandis-P. microcarpus interaction

Tenting on the Old Campground: A Social History of the U.S. Regular and State Volunteer Troops in the 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac, 1862-1865

In the annals of the American Civil War, the regular U.S. Army has not been the focus of historical works until very recently, which is surprising in light of the noble and honorable service it rendered during the 19th century, without thanks or praise from the society it protected and served. After being scattered across the American frontiers for decades, the U.S. Army’s infantry, by far the largest branch, was consolidated into one solid division within the 5th corps in 1862. Instead of being separated from each other and having to rely on themselves for support, they now fought as never before, with approximately 10,000 men of the regulars fighting as one, providing a dramatic contrast to the 90,000 volunteers enrolled in the Army of the Potomac. Professional soldiers fighting and dying together, a solid core and reserve for the rest of the army to form around and take inspiration from, an inspiration that would give us an apocryphal quote from a 5th corps volunteer: “For two years the regulars showed us how to fight like soldiers, in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg they showed us how to die like soldiers.

Fundamental and applied research on core engine/combustion noise of aircraft engines

Some results of a study of the importance of geometrical features of the combustor to combustion roughness and resulting noise are presented. Comparison is made among a perforated can flame holder, a plane slotted flame holder and a plane slotted flame holder which introduces two counter swirling streams. The latter is found to permit the most stable, quiet combustion. Crosscorrelations between the time derivative of chamber pressure fluctuations and far field noise are found to be stronger than between the far field noise and the direct chamber pressure signal. Temperature fluctuations in the combustor nozzle are also found to have a reasonably strong crosscorrelation with far field sound

Inclusion of English language learners in conversion small schools

Small school reform is an increasingly popular reform in urban comprehensive high schools. Efforts to divide large high schools into small school groups have been funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as by the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES). The Coalition of Essential Schools is a network of small schools that adhere to similar educational ideologies such as the desirability to provide inclusive educational environments. CES promotes inclusion as a means to equitable and democratic education. This study explains the tensions the philosophy and practice of inclusion has produced concerning English language learner (ELL) programs in conversion small schools. This study investigates (a) the ways in which ELL programs in conversion small schools have supported inclusive education, (b) the ways small school inclusion has affected ELL programs, and (c) the impact inclusion philosophy in conversion small schools on inclusive and equitable instruction for ELL students. Through a multi-case qualitative study including interviews and observations, the contexts for the ELL programs in three different conversion schools are investigated and described. The data shows that none of the ELL programs investigated have been able to fully support instructional inclusion either due to a lack of belief in the efficacy of inclusion or a lack of resources. Small school inclusion has affected ELL programs differently in each school. At one school, the ELL program felt almost no effects of the conversion. At another, the program is radically different than previous to the conversion. Third, inclusive and equitable instruction for ELL students in conversion small schools, even in the best case, is happening only in some classes. Due to a lack of resources, no ELL program has been able to implement inclusion as a programmatic reform. Finally, the impetus to involve ELL students in inclusion programs is highly influenced by special education policies rather than by legislation overseeing ELLs. The study concludes that inclusion is understood and practiced differently at each site. At the sites where any type of inclusion was practiced, teachers reported that inclusion provided ELL students with more social than academic benefits

Recurrent ~24 h Periods in RXTE ASM Data

Analysis of data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite's All Sky Monitor instrument for several X-ray binary sources has identified a recurrent \~24 h period. This period is sometimes highly significant, giving rise to the possibility of it being identified as an orbital or super-orbital period. Further analysis has revealed the same period in a number of other X-ray sources. As a result this period has been discounted as spurious, described variously as arising from daily variations in background levels and beating between the sampling period and long-term secular trends in the light curves. We present here an analysis of the spurious periods and show that the dominant mechanism is in fact spectral leakage of low-frequency power present in the light curves.Comment: 9 Pages, 10 figures, 1 table, submitted to PASA 20th December 2004. Added 1 page of text and 3 figures to clarify results and discussion. Resubmitted 16th May 2005. Accepted 25th June 200

Prediction intervals for economic fixed-event forecasts

The fixed-event forecasting setup is common in economic policy. It involves a sequence of forecasts of the same (`fixed') predictand, so that the difficulty of the forecasting problem decreases over time. Fixed-event point forecasts are typically published without a quantitative measure of uncertainty. To construct such a measure, we consider forecast postprocessing techniques tailored to the fixed-event case. We develop regression methods that impose constraints motivated by the problem at hand, and use these methods to construct prediction intervals for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Germany and the US

Moving between opposing worlds : the moral experiences of white, anti-racism educators in Saskatchewan

This research explores the moral experiences of White, anti-racism educators in Saskatchewan. As members of the dominant group, while at the same time being defenders of the rights of minority groups, the unique positioning of these individuals raises intriguing questions of moral experience. Although there is a large body of research regarding issues of racism, there is very little research focusing on the experiences of individuals working in the field of anti-racism; this research seeks to address this gap in the literature. Using a critical interpretive approach (Lock and Scheper-Hughes, 1990) grounded in the assumptions of constructionism, and relying upon Kleinman’s (1995; 1999) theory of moral experience, I interviewed 12 self-identified White, anti-racism educators using an open-ended life-history interview followed by a semi-structured interview. The interview questions were inspired by the racism literature reviewed; my own experiences as a White woman negotiating my place in the study of racism; Kleinman’s theory of moral experience; and a collection of secondary theories deemed potentially useful to understanding various dimensions of participants’ experience. Four broad domains of moral experience are identified and explored in this research. First, participants’ understandings of race, racism, and anti-racism are examined. Veyne’s (1988) theory regarding the plurality of “programs of truths” is used to make sense of what might be read as contradictions in participants’ constructions of these concepts. Second, the experience of actually doing anti-racism education is considered in terms of participants’ descriptions of their involvements; which they frame alternately as educating Whites, ‘helping’ the racialized, and changing racist structures. Foucault’s (1977, 1978) theory of power and de Certeau’s notion of tactics (1984) prove relevant to understanding aspects of participants’ experiences in this domain. Third, the relationships between Self and various Others (i.e., the White Other, the racialized Other, the anti-racism Other) are explored. Todorov’s (1984) typology of the Other is used to make sense of these complex data. Finally, participants’ descriptions of their experiences of Self (including past, present, and future Selves) are examined. Goffman’s (1961) theory of moral career and Turner’s (1995) theory of liminality are applied to understanding elements of participants’ varied experiences of Self. In reviewing participants’ accounts across these broad domains, I argue that their noted success and confidence in navigating a challenging moral landscape might be understood in terms of their skill in moving between dual worlds that operate according to distinct logics of morality. Potential applications for the field of anti-racism are discussed