Coulomb drag, mesoscopic physics, and electron-electron interaction.

The first part of this thesis deals with the study of mesoscopic fluctuations of the Coulomb drag resistance in double-layer GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, both in weak magnetic fields and strong magnetic fields. In the second part, measurements are made in a monolayer graphene structure, specifically of the quantum lifetime, and the mesoscopic resistance fluctuations at quantising magnetic fields

Characterization of an allotriploid strawberry Fragaria × bifera Duchesne (Rosaceae) from Europe

Peer reviewedPostprin

Biallelic and Genome Wide Association Mapping of Germanium Tolerant Loci in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Funding: This project was partially funded by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant (BB/J003336/1) awarded to AHP. The work was also supported by a self-funded studentship (PT). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Identification of rice blast disease-suppressing bacterial strains from the rhizosphere of rice grown in Pakistan.

Sixteen bacterial strains isolated from the roots and rhizosphere of rice plants growing in saline and non-saline soils from the Shorkot area of Pakistan were tested for their ability to promote plant growth and reduce the incidence of rice blast disease. When applied to the soil, many of the isolated rhizobacterial strains increased seedling growth and/or suppressed rice blast disease in greenhouse-grown plants of the cultivars Super Basmati and Azucena, but each cultivar responded to different subsets of the bacteria. In the cv Super Basmati, increased blast resistance was correlated with the production of siderophores by the rhizobacteria. Several strains inhibited the growth of the causative agent of rice blast disease, the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe grisea, in an in vitro dual culture assay. Direct bioantagonism was correlated with disease resistance in Super Basmati, but not in Azucena, and direct antagonism as a cause for the reduced disease incidence is also unlikely since no epiphytic colonisation of leaves was detected. Rhizosphere colonisation by the bacteria in plants grown in sterile sand was correlated with disease resistance in Super Basmati, but not in Azucena. As well as the differences in strains that protected each cv against blast disease, we also found that there were differences in the ability of some strains to protect plants against blast depending on soil type. Hence, there are complex interactions between rhizobacteria and rice plants with respect to biocontrol of rice blast disease, dependent upon both rice cv and soil type. The identity of strains that promoted high levels of disease protection, including three that performed well across all plant cultivars and growth conditions, was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing

The genetic basis of energy conservation in the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20.

Sulfate-reducing bacteria play major roles in the global carbon and sulfur cycles, but it remains unclear how reducing sulfate yields energy. To determine the genetic basis of energy conservation, we measured the fitness of thousands of pooled mutants of Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20 during growth in 12 different combinations of electron donors and acceptors. We show that ion pumping by the ferredoxin:NADH oxidoreductase Rnf is required whenever substrate-level phosphorylation is not possible. The uncharacterized complex Hdr/flox-1 (Dde_1207:13) is sometimes important alongside Rnf and may perform an electron bifurcation to generate more reduced ferredoxin from NADH to allow further ion pumping. Similarly, during the oxidation of malate or fumarate, the electron-bifurcating transhydrogenase NfnAB-2 (Dde_1250:1) is important and may generate reduced ferredoxin to allow additional ion pumping by Rnf. During formate oxidation, the periplasmic [NiFeSe] hydrogenase HysAB is required, which suggests that hydrogen forms in the periplasm, diffuses to the cytoplasm, and is used to reduce ferredoxin, thus providing a substrate for Rnf. During hydrogen utilization, the transmembrane electron transport complex Tmc is important and may move electrons from the periplasm into the cytoplasmic sulfite reduction pathway. Finally, mutants of many other putative electron carriers have no clear phenotype, which suggests that they are not important under our growth conditions, although we cannot rule out genetic redundancy

Examining Indonesian Terror Tactics: Characterizing Attacks on Indonesian Police

Strategies of Indonesian jihadist groups have undergone significant change over the last five years, away from high-cost, planned, and lethal bomb attacks on symbolic foreign targets such as embassies, hotels, and tourist destinations, in favor of domestic targets, notably assassinations of Indonesian police officers. In the past five years, over twenty police officers have been killed in attacks believed to be linked to jihadist groups. This paper explores issues relating to this shift, and whether the assassinations ought to be regarded as “terrorist” in nature This, in turn, raises the question of whether those responsible ought to be prosecuted for terrorism or for other crimes under Indonesia’s Criminal Code. The paper examines the relevant provisions of Indonesia’s anti-terrorism legislation and international law and suggests that, arguably, where an attack fails to cause terror as a matter of fact, logically and legally, it ought not be regarded as terrorism. However, in the wider context of striving to overturn the Indonesian government and establish an Islamic state, violent actions connected to Indonesian and international terrorist cells ought to be regarded as terrorist crimes. Ultimately, the question needs to be considered and settled by a higher Indonesian court, such as the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court

d1005+68: A New Faint Dwarf Galaxy in the M81 Group

We present the discovery of d1005+68, a new faint dwarf galaxy in the M81 Group, using observations taken with the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam. d1005+68's color-magnitude diagram is consistent with a distance of $3.98_{-0.43}^{+0.39}$ Mpc, establishing group membership. We derive an absolute $V$-band magnitude, from stellar isochrone fitting, of $M_{V} = -7.94_{-0.50}^{+0.38}$, with a half-light radius of $r_{h} = 188_{-41}^{+39}$ pc. These place d1005+68 within the radius-luminosity locus of Local Group and M81 satellites and among the faintest confirmed satellites outside the Local Group. Assuming an age of 12 Gyr, d1005+68's red giant branch is best fit by an isochrone of [Fe/H] $= -1.90 \pm 0.24$. It has a projected separation from nearby M81 satellite BK5N of only 5 kpc. As this is well within BK5N's virial radius, we speculate that d1005+68 may be a satellite of BK5N. If confirmed, this would make d1005+68 one of the first detected satellites-of-a-satellite.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, additional affiliations include