Residual weed populations in Saskatchewan – 1976 to 2003

Non-Peer ReviewedThe comparison of the relative abundance of weeds in Saskatchewan in 2003 with results from previous provincial surveys enables the identification of recent shifts in species ranks, life form density and relative abundance. In 2003, 2046 fields of spring wheat, barley, durum, oat, canary seed, canola, flax, mustard, lentil and pea were surveyed. These fields were selected using a stratified random sampling procedure based on ecodistricts. In each field, weeds were counted in 20 quadrats (50 by 50 cm) in late summer. Weed data are summarized using a relative abundance index based on frequency, field uniformity and density. Green foxtail was the most abundant weed, wild oats ranked second, wild buckwheat third and Canada thistle fourth. The results from the 2003 survey are compared to results from surveys of 1178 fields in 1995, 1149 fields in 1986 and 4423 fields in 1976-1979. Twelve species have been ranked amongst the top 20 most abundant species in each survey. Seven species, ranked in the top 20 species in the 1970’s and/or 1986, have since declined: rose, prostrate pigweed, night-flowering catchfly, cow cockle, bluebur, pale smartweed, flixweed. Six species have appeared in the top 20 list for the first time in 1995 and/or 2003: cleavers, barnyard grass, wheat, dandelion, quack grass, canola. Relative abundance of annual grass and perennials has increased, while relative abundance of annual broad-leaved species and facultative winter annuals has decreased. Densities of all life forms have decreased since the 1970’s

Global Spinors and Orientable Five-Branes

Fermion fields on an M-theory five-brane carry a representation of the double cover of the structure group of the normal bundle. It is shown that, on an arbitrary oriented Lorentzian six-manifold, there is always an Sp(2) twist that allows such spinors to be defined globally. The vanishing of the arising potential obstructions does not depend on spin structure in the bulk, nor does the six-manifold need to be spin or spin-C. Lifting the tangent bundle to such a generalised spin bundle requires picking a generalised spin structure in terms of certain elements in the integral and modulo-two cohomology of the five-brane world-volume in degrees four and five, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX; v2: version to appear in JHE

Genome-wide and Mendelian randomisation studies of liver MRI yield insights into the pathogenesis of steatohepatitis

Background A non-invasive method to grade the severity of steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based corrected T1 (cT1). We aimed to identify genetic variants influencing liver cT1 and use genetics to understand mechanisms underlying liver fibroinflammatory disease and its link with other metabolic traits and diseases. Methods First, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 14,440 Europeans in UK Biobank with liver cT1 measures. Second, we explored the effects of the cT1 variants on liver blood tests, and a range of metabolic traits and diseases. Third, we used Mendelian randomisation to test the causal effects of 24 predominantly metabolic traits on liver cT1 measures. Results We identified six independent genetic variants associated with liver cT1 that reached GWAS significance threshold (p<5x10-8). Four of the variants (rs75935921 in SLC30A10, rs13107325 in SLC39A8, rs58542926 in TM6SF2, rs738409 in PNPLA3) were also associated with elevated transaminases and had variable effects on liver fat and other metabolic traits. Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver and BMI were causally associated with elevated cT1 whilst favourable adiposity (instrumented by variants associated with higher adiposity but lower risk of cardiometabolic disease and lower liver fat) was found to be protective. Conclusion The association between two metal ion transporters and cT1 indicates an important new mechanism in steatohepatitis. Future studies are needed to determine whether interventions targeting the identified transporters might prevent liver disease in at risk individuals

Weeds in wheat - response to fallow frequency, legume green manure, and wheat class

Non-Peer Reviewe

A Bosonic Model of Hole Pairs

We numerically investigate a bosonic representation for hole pairs on a two-leg t-J ladder where hard core bosons on a chain represent the hole pairs on the ladder. The interaction between hole pairs is obtained by fitting the density profile obtained with the effective model to the one obtained with the \tj model, taking into account the inner structure of the hole pair given by the hole-hole correlation function. For these interactions we calculate the Luttinger liquid parameter, which takes the universal value $K_{\rho}=1$ as half filling is approached, for values of the rung exchange $J'$ between strong coupling and the isotropic case. The long distance behavior of the hole-hole correlation function is also investigated. Starting from large $J'$, the correlation length first increases as expected, but diminishes significantly as $J'$ is reduced and bound holes sit mainly on adjacent rungs. As the isotropic case is approached, the correlation length increases again. This effect is related to the different kind of bonds in the region between the two holes of a hole pair when they move apart.Comment: 11 page

Turnover and stability in the deep sea: Benthic foraminifera as tracers of Paleogene global change

Benthic foraminifera are the most common meiofaunal unicellular deep-sea biota, forming skeletons used as proxies for past climate change. We aim to increase understanding of past non-analog oceans and ecosystems by evaluating deep-sea benthic foraminiferal responses to global environmental changes over latest Cretaceous through Oligocene times (67–23 million years ago). Earth suffered an asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous (~instantaneous; 66 Ma), episodes of rapid global warming during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~56 Ma) and other hyperthermals (millennial timescales), followed by gradual, but punctuated cooling (timescales of hundred thousands of years) from a world without polar ice sheets to a world with a large Antarctic ice sheet. Here we present the first compilation of quantitative data on deep-sea foraminifera at sites in all the world''s oceans, aiming to build a first unique, uniform database that allows comparison of deep-sea faunal turnover across the uppermost Cretaceous through Paleogene. We document variability in space and time of benthic foraminiferal diversity: lack of extinction at the asteroid impact even though other marine and terrestrial groups suffered mass extinction; major extinction at the PETM followed by recovery and diversification; and gradual but fundamental turnover during gradual cooling and increase in polar ice volume (possibly linked to changes in the oceanic carbon cycle). High latitude cooling from ~45 Ma on, i.e., after the end of the Early Eocene Climate Optimum (53.2–49.2 Ma), may have made the middle Eocene a critical period of several millions of years of faunal turnover and establishment of latitudinal diversity gradients. This compilation thus illuminates the penetration of global change at very different rates into the largest and one of the most stable habitats on Earth, the deep sea with its highly diverse biota

Updating a Paleogene magnetobiochronological time scale through graphical integration

All studies focused on the evaluation of paleoecological variability over geological time must be linked to a specific age or time interval, which can be defined using different time scales (biostratigraphic, chronostratigraphic, geochronological or orbital). Therefore, integrated time scales are essential to allow comparisons of data from different locations and/or to assess evolutionary and other events through time. Here we use a new method to update a Paleogene magnetobiochronological time scale, with the following contributions: • The update of the Paleogene magnetobiochronological scale was made by graphical correlation with new age models and adding calcareous nannoplankton and planktonic foraminiferal biozones from different authors. • An excel file structure was proposed to plot any kind of data in MATLAB software, as long as they are associated with some of the scales shown in our updated version of Paleogene magnetobiochronology. • The excel file structure facilitates the analysis of long-term trends of taxonomic groups throughout the Paleogene, and of their evolution in a period characterized by intense climate variability

Finding strategies that work in developing countries: A one-size-fits-all solution won’t work

National decisions about how to control bird flu are critical to global as well as national success. The best ways to fight bird flu in industrialized countries are often not the best for developing nations. This article describes the strategy of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and its partners to improve control of the disease in developing countries, and thus to help protect both human health and development around the world

Decision Problems for Nash Equilibria in Stochastic Games

We analyse the computational complexity of finding Nash equilibria in stochastic multiplayer games with $\omega$-regular objectives. While the existence of an equilibrium whose payoff falls into a certain interval may be undecidable, we single out several decidable restrictions of the problem. First, restricting the search space to stationary, or pure stationary, equilibria results in problems that are typically contained in PSPACE and NP, respectively. Second, we show that the existence of an equilibrium with a binary payoff (i.e. an equilibrium where each player either wins or loses with probability 1) is decidable. We also establish that the existence of a Nash equilibrium with a certain binary payoff entails the existence of an equilibrium with the same payoff in pure, finite-state strategies.Comment: 22 pages, revised versio