BU INC's Inktober Zine 2018

The BU Illustration Narrative Collaborative (BU INC), previously known as the Boston University Comic Arts (BUCA), is a student-run organization that brings together comic artists and illustrators of all backgrounds and skill levels. We meet twice weekly to share our work with each other, draw together, and learn together. Our goal is to provide learning and networking opportunities for our members as well as to introduce the world of comics to the Boston University community!This Inktober zine was produced by BU's very own Illustration Narrative Collaborative. The zine consists of over 50 pages of stunning black and white artwork from club members, novice and experienced alike

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Isotopic discrimination of zinc in higher plants

The extent of isotopic discrimination of transition metals in biological processes is poorly understood but potentially has important applications in plant and biogeochemical studies.• Using multicollector inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry, we measured isotopic fractionation of zinc (Zn) during uptake from nutrient solutions by rice (Oryza sativa), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants.• For all three species, the roots showed a similar extent of heavy Zn enrichment relative to the nutrient solution, probably reflecting preferential adsorption on external root surfaces. By contrast, a plant-species specific enrichment of the light Zn isotope occurred in the shoots, indicative of a biological, membrane-transport controlled uptake into plant cells. The extent of the fractionation in the shoots further depended on the Zn speciation in the nutrient solution.• The observed isotopic depletion in heavy Zn from root to shoot (−0.13 to −0.26 per atomic mass unit) is equivalent to roughly a quarter of the total reported terrestrial variability of Zn isotopic compositions (c. 0.84 pe

Variable-temperature 17O NMR studies allow quantitative evaluation of molecular dynamics in organic solids

We report a comprehensive variable-temperature solid-state 17O NMR study of three 17O-labeled crystalline sulfonic acids: 2-aminoethane-1-sulfonic acid (taurine, T), 3- aminopropane-1-sulfonic acid (homotaurine, HT), and 4-aminobutane- 1-sulfonic acid (ABSA). In the solid state, all three compounds exist as zwitterionic structures, NH3+ 12R 12SO3 12, in which the SO3 12 group is involved in various degrees of O\ub7\ub7\ub7H 12N hydrogen bonding. High-quality 17O NMR spectra have been obtained for all three compounds under both static and magic angle spinning (MAS) conditions at 21.1 T, allowing the complete set of 17O NMR tensor parameters to be measured. Assignment of the observed 17O NMR parameters to the correct oxygen sites in the crystal lattice was achieved with the aid of DFT calculations. By modeling the temperature dependence of 17O NMR powder line shapes, we have not only confirmed that the SO3 12 groups in these compounds undergo a 3-fold rotational jump mechanism but also extracted the corresponding jump rates (102 12105 s 121) and the associated activation energies (Ea) for this process (Ea = 48 \ub1 7, 42 \ub1 3, and 45 \ub1 1 kJ mol 121 for T, HT, and ABSA, respectively). This is the first time that SO3 12 rotational dynamics have been directly probed by solid-state 17O NMR. Using the experimental activation energies for SO3 12 rotation, we were able to evaluate quantitatively the total hydrogen bond energy that each SO3 12 group is involved in within the crystal lattice. The activation energies also correlate with calculated rotational energy barriers. This work provides a clear illustration of the utility of solid-state 17O NMR in quantifying dynamic processes occurring in organic solids. Similar studies applied to selectively 17O-labeled biomolecules would appear to be very feasible.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye