Climate and plant community diversity in space and time.

Climate strongly shapes plant diversity over large spatial scales, with relatively warm and wet (benign, productive) regions supporting greater numbers of species. Unresolved aspects of this relationship include what causes it, whether it permeates to community diversity at smaller spatial scales, whether it is accompanied by patterns in functional and phylogenetic diversity as some hypotheses predict, and whether it is paralleled by climate-driven changes in diversity over time. Here, studies of Californian plants are reviewed and new analyses are conducted to synthesize climate-diversity relationships in space and time. Across spatial scales and organizational levels, plant diversity is maximized in more productive (wetter) climates, and these consistent spatial relationships are mirrored in losses of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity over time during a recent climatic drying trend. These results support the tolerance and climatic niche conservatism hypotheses for climate-diversity relationships, and suggest there is some predictability to future changes in diversity in water-limited climates

UCC Section 1-207 and the Full Payment Check: The Struggle between the Code and the Common Law - Where Do the Debtor and Creditor Fit In?

A relatively overlooked section of the Uniform Commercial Code [hereinafter U.C.C. or Code], section 1-207, which concerns performance or acceptance under reservation of rights, has recently come to the forefront and could have a profound effect on debtor-creditor relations.\u27 The question which has arisen is whether U.C.C. section 1-207 should be applied to the full payment check, thus changing the common law doctrine of accord and satisfaction concerning the full payment check. In the context of debtor-creditor relations, disputes often arise over an amount due. For example, A and B enter into an agreement whereby A agrees to furnish certain supplies and B agrees in return to pay $200. During the course of the transaction, due to market conditions, some of the supplies have to be substituted. B claims that the substituted supplies are only worth$100. A claims that the supplies are substantially the same, and that B still owes $200. B, in an attempt to compromise, sends A a check for$150 marked payment in full. This triggers the dilemma. Under the common law doctrine of accord and satisfaction, creditor A would have two choices. He could accept B’s check in full payment of the claim or he could return the check and sue for the full balance. The creditor cannot retain the check and sue for the balance. The burden is placed on the creditor to choose between these two alternatives. The debtor’s position is clear. In sending a check marked payment in full, he has presented the creditor a take it or leave it offer. On the other hand, if U.C.C. section 1-207 is applied to the same set of facts, the burden shifts to the debtor. Under the Code, the creditor can retain the check under protest and with full reservation of rights and still sue for the balance. Hence, the debtor can send a full payment check in an amount which he considers a fair compromise, $150, hoping that the creditor will elect to accept the check in full settlement of the claim. Although the creditor upon receipt of an amount larger than the debtor admits is due might be less inclined to sue for the balance than if he received only what the debtor claimed was due, the debtor nevertheless risks the chance that the creditor will retain the larger amount and still sue for the balance. In other words, in sending$150 the debtor takes the risk that the creditor will receive $50 more than the debtor thinks he owes, and that the creditor will additionally sue for the remaining$50 he originally claimed. The debtor\u27s other choice is to send only the amount he admits is due, $100, and wait for the creditor to sue for the balance. The potential for litigation is even greater in this instance because the debtor has made no attempt to compromise with the creditor; on the other hand, the debtor has not taken the risk of placing in the hands of the creditor any sums greater than the precise amount he admits is due. Consequently, because of these poor alternatives left open to the debtor when section 1-207 is applied to this type of situation, the informal compromise of accord and satisfaction is impaired. Perhaps of greater consequence to the debtor or the creditor is the question whether the Code will be applied to the situation

Effect of cell permeability and dehydrogenase expression on octane activation by CYP153A6-based whole cell Escherichia coli catalysts

BACKGROUND: The regeneration of cofactors and the supply of alkane substrate are key considerations for the biocatalytic activation of hydrocarbons by cytochrome P450s. This study focused on the biotransformation of n-octane to 1-octanol using resting Escherichia coli cells expressing the CYP153A6 operon, which includes the electron transport proteins ferredoxin and ferredoxin reductase. Glycerol dehydrogenase was co-expressed with the CYP153A6 operon to investigate the effects of boosting cofactor regeneration. In order to overcome the alkane supply bottleneck, various chemical and physical approaches to membrane permeabilisation were tested in strains with or without additional dehydrogenase expression. RESULTS: Dehydrogenase co-expression in whole cells did not improve product formation and reduced the stability of the system at high cell densities. Chemical permeabilisation resulted in initial hydroxylation rates that were up to two times higher than the whole cell system, but severely impacted biocatalyst stability. Mechanical cell breakage led to improved enzyme stability, but additional dehydrogenase expression was necessary to improve product formation. The best-performing system (in terms of final titres) consisted of mechanically ruptured cells expressing additional dehydrogenase. This system had an initial activity of 1.67 ± 0.12 U/gDCW (32% improvement on whole cells) and attained a product concentration of 34.8 ± 1.6 mM after 24 h (22% improvement on whole cells). Furthermore, the system was able to maintain activity when biotransformation was extended to 72 h, resulting in a final product titre of 60.9 ± 1.1 mM. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that CYP153A6 in whole cells is limited by coupling efficiencies rather than cofactor supply. However, the most significant limitation in the current system is hydrocarbon transport, with substrate import being the main determinant of hydroxylation rates, and product export playing a key role in system stability

Brief of the Intellectual Property Amicus Brief Clinic of the University of New Hampshire School of Law as Amicus Curiae in Support of Neither Party

Amicus brief filed by the Intellectual Property Amicus Brief Clinic of the University of New Hampshire School of Law with the United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit regarding United States v. Xavier Alvarez, Docket No. 11-21

An EO Constellation based on the TOPSAT Microsatellite: Global Daily Revisit at 2.5 Metres

TopSat is an unclassified collaborative mission between DERA, SSTL, RAL and InfoTerra, funded by the UK MoD and the British National Space Centre Mosaic Programme. The mission will demonstrate provision of rapid response 2.5 m ground sampled imagery to fixed and mobile ground targets using a low cost SSTL microsatellite. The platform provides accurate target selection via agile off-pointing from nadir by ± 30°. On-board computers, GPS and sophisticated attitude and data handling systems enable safe semi-autonomous operations. End users for this mission range from the UN and environment agencies to mining companies, farm consultants and town planners. Continuing the theme of all SSTL Next Generation Constellations, this mission could effectively enhance the infrastructure of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, currently under construction at Surrey and due for launch in 2003. This may be implemented either singly, or in constellations, via a ‘plug and play’ constellation approach. The total contract cost for the mission is 13.5 million GBP, which includes R&D. Therefore, repeat-build TopSat units make a constellation of such satellites economically feasible, enabling high resolution imaging at high temporal frequency. This would be of particular benefit for crisis management activities, among others. The paper describes the TopSat microsatellite mission and assesses the feasibility of a constellation of these platforms to offer global daily revisit at 2.5 metre ground sample distance

Male professional footballers’ experiences of mental health difficulties and help-seeking

<p><b>Objectives:</b> Male professional footballers (soccer) represent an at-risk population of developing mental health difficulties and not accessing professional support. One in four current footballers report mental health difficulties. Higher prevalence is reported after retirement. This qualitative study aimed to provide in-depth insight into male professional footballers’ lived experiences of mental health difficulties and help-seeking.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> Seven participants were interviewed. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> One superordinate theme emerged; ‘Survival’. This related to survival in the professional football world, of mental health difficulties and after transition into the ‘real world’. Six subordinate themes are explored alongside literature pertaining to male mental health, identity, injury, transition, and emotional development. Shame, stigma, fear and level of mental health literacy (knowledge of mental health and support) were barriers to help-seeking.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> Support for professional footballers’ mental wellbeing requires improvement. Recommendations are made for future research, mental health education and support.</p

Climate drives loss of phylogenetic diversity in a grassland community

© 2019 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. While climate change has already profoundly influenced biodiversity through local extinctions, range shifts, and altered interactions, its effects on the evolutionary history contained within sets of coexisting species—or phylogenetic community diversity—have yet to be documented. Phylogenetic community diversity may be a proxy for the diversity of functional strategies that can help sustain ecological systems in the face of disturbances. Under climatic warming, phylogenetic diversity may be especially vulnerable to decline in plant communities in warm, water-limited regions, as intensified water stress eliminates drought-intolerant species that may be relicts of past wetter climates and may be distantly related to coexisting species. Here, we document a 19-y decline of phylogenetic diversity in a grassland community as moisture became less abundant and predictable at a critical time of the year. This decline was strongest in native forbs, particularly those with high specific leaf area, a trait indicating drought sensitivity. This decline occurred at the small spatial scale where species interact, but the larger regional community has so far been buffered against loss of phylogenetic diversity by its high levels of physical and biotic heterogeneity