Influence of Loss of Function of the Fatty Acid Desaturase 7 Gene on Photosynthetic Activity and Foliar Redox Status

Fatty Acid Desaturase7 (FAD7) is a chloroplast-localized enzyme that converts 16 and 18 carbon dienoic fatty acids to trienoic fatty acids. The suppressor of prosystemin-mediated response2 (spr2) mutant in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and the fad7-1 mutant in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) result in the loss of function of FAD7, which alter the fatty acid profiles of chloroplast membranes and enhance resistance against aphids. This research contributes toward the long-term goal of identifying factors that determine aphid resistance in FAD7 mutants. Previous data suggested constitutive differences between spr2 and WT including increased expression of genes associated with photosynthesis and differences in redox status in chloroplasts suggested by lipid profiles. The objective of this study was to validate these previous data. This study reports that the spr2 mutant enhances photosynthetic efficiency constitutively compared to wild-type (WT) plants. While no constitutive differences in intermediates and products of photosynthesis were detected, the spr2 mutants showed increased growth, suggesting increased photosynthesis may be translated in to growth. Moreover, glutamate levels were constitutively higher in spr2 compared to WT and could be important in defense signaling for aphid resistance. Also, the spr2 mutants were able to maintain the enhanced photosynthesis under potato aphid (Macrosiphum lycopersicum) pressure. One-day after aphid infestation, aphids triggered a short-term increase in the energy directed towards photosynthesis. The enhanced photosynthesis could also be channeling energy towards defense compound production for the resistance mechanism or could be the plant adapting to adverse environmental stress, indicative of tolerance. Furthermore, to study the redox status in chloroplasts, Arabidopsis fad7-1 lines containing roGFP2 transgene were developed as a useful tool. Preliminary results indicated the fad7-1 mutant is as or more reduced than WT (Col-0), but further studies are needed to confirm this. The redox status depends on the relative balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. The plants could potentially have more ROS due to enhanced photosynthesis, but they could also have more antioxidants. Further work is necessary to detect individual ROS species. This study aids in identifying potential links between primary metabolism and plant defenses against insects

A critical analysis of central bank independence and governance in Australia and Bangladesh

This study examines central bank independence and governance (CBIG) in Bangladesh and Australia. It applies a unique index model of Ahsan, Skully and Wickramanayake (2008) to assess their respective legal, political, price stability objectives, exchange rate policies, monetary policy and deficit financing practices, transparency and accountability positions from 1991 to 2008. While the model shows CBIG is much weaker in Bangladesh than in Australia, the Bangladesh Bank&rsquo;s CBIG shown considerable improvement over the period. These findings suggest that the Government of Bangladesh might learn from Australia&rsquo;s experience with Reserve Bank of Australia and delegate further power and authority to Bangladesh Bank as well as lessen its political interference.<br /

The Multidisciplinary Study on Culture and Personality Determined by the Natural Environment and Its Changes

At present, the natural disasters faced by Sri Lankans are increasing day by day. Even in a catastrophic situation, it becomesintegral part of cultural life when in constant conflict with life. Rather than finding solution to the problem, the study based onthe persuasiveness of people to make it a blessing to their day to day lives and the nature of the new lifestyles associated with it. The objective of the research was to study the socio-cultural impact of the natural environment and its changes. According to theanalytical research, the study area was selected as 435- Kahatapitiya Gramasewa Division located in Hanwella Divisional Secretariat Division. Out of the 344 indoor units the population that suffering from flood, among the population 40 householdswere selected and studied as 12%. The sample was selected through the judging sample, stratification sample and randomsample. The findings reveal that the whole socio-cultural environment such as the economy, daily life and religious beliefs ofthe people living in the area are adapted to this environment. Examples including surrendering to the god Ranwala, buildinghouses to withstand disasters and taking advantage of disasters. 58% of the respondents were of the opinion that this disaster was a common situation faced by all the people living in the lowlands and that no action could be taken to address it. Thus, it can be concluded that the socio-cultural environment in which he is grew up as well as the environment in which he brought up creates the whole personality, including the inner status of the individual. However, it should be noted that the natural environment and the natural disasters are great impact on it have a great effect on the social status, cultural background as well as the personality of the people living under that environmental background. DOI : http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v06i02.0

Determinants of Central bank independence and governance : problems and policy implications

Central bank independence and governance (CBIG) is a term subject to conflicting definitions and so its related studies are difficult to compare. This paper therefore focuses on developing of a more useable definition, and an index model identifying the determinants of independence and governance and their possible policy implications. It also examines various independence measurement tools such as ranking and index. The index model resulting centres on key central bank independence and corporate governance issues, such as, legal aspects, political aspects, price stability objective aspects, exchange rate policy aspects, monetary policy and deficit financing aspects and finally, transparency and accountability aspects.<br /

A Novel Solver for an Electrochemical–Thermal Ageing Model of a Lithium-Ion Battery

To estimate the state of health, charge, power, and safety (SoX) of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) in real time, battery management systems (BMSs) need accurate and efficient battery models. The full-order partial two-dimensional (P2D) model is a common physics-based cell-level LiB model that faces challenges for real-time BMS implementation due to the complexity of its numerical solver. In this paper, we propose a method to discretise the P2D model equations using the Finite Volume and Verlet Integration Methods to significantly reduce the computational complexity of the solver. Our proposed iterative solver uses novel convergence criteria and physics-based initial guesses to provide high fidelity for discretised P2D equations. We also include both the kinetic-limited and diffusion-limited models for Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) growth into an iterative P2D solver. With these SEI models, we can estimate the capacity fade in real time once the model is tuned to the cell–voltage curve. The results are validated using three different operation scenarios, including the 1C discharge/charge cycle, multiple-C-rate discharges, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory dynamic stress test. The proposed solver shows at least a 4.5 times improvement in performance with less than 1% error when compared to commercial solvers

Applications of chiral selectors and replaceable supports for capillary electrophoretic separations

The popularity of capillary electrophoresis (CE) as a separation technique has been established over the years. CE offers the advantages of high resolution, high separation efficiency, fast approaches of method development, a range of operational modes and low consumption of reagents. The strategy employed here for the development of chromatographic separations involved the utilization of experimental designs, multi-linear regression and response surface methodology to build empirical models that related the chromatographic quality to the factors influencing the separation. Separation of Nitrofuran antibiotics (NFAs) and their metabolites (NFMs) by using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography was successfully completed. The best conditions found to give optimum resolution from the optimization study was pH 9.0, 80 mM SDC concentration, 16 kV with running buffer consisting of 20 mM borate and 20 mM phosphate concentration using a 73 cm x 75 &amp;micro;m column, resulting in completely resolved NFAs and NFMs within 16 min. It is interesting that all the compounds can be reliably separated with the one mixture, and single CE condition. Whilst all antibiotics have shorter migration time than their respective derivatised metabolites, as a group apart from nitrofurantoin the antibiotics elute before the metabolites. The analytical figures of merit for CE analysis exhibited excellent reproducibility of absolute and relative migration times, and acceptable reproducibility of relative response areas. Successful separation of metabolite derivatives was achieved when the developed method was applied to a spiked prawn sample. The chiral separation of Triadimenol was successfully completed using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography. The best conditions found to give optimum resolution from the optimisation study were pH 6.0, 20% methanol, 50 mM SDS concentration, 18 kV with running buffer consisting of 20 mM borate and 20 mM phosphate concentration using a 64.5 cm x 50 &amp;micro;m column, resulted in baseline resolution of all Triadimenol isomers within 18 min. The optimised separation conditions were applied to a blank grape sample and to a spiked grape sample. No peaks were observed in the blank grape sample whereas the spiked grape sample had two diastereoismer peaks with poor detection sensitivity. Increase in detection sensitivity is necessary to determine the possibility of resolution of all the isomers of Triadimenol, in the spiked grape sample and the blank. Online preconcentration techniques were attempted to for Triadimenol isomer separation. When using online preconcentration technique of sweeping, a 30-fold increase in detection sensitivity of Triadimenol was observed compared to MEKC mode. However enantiomer separation was not possible with sulfated-&amp;beta;-CD chiral selector. The best conditions were found to be pH 2.5, 50 mM SDS concentration, -20 kV with running buffer consisting of 20 mM phosphate concentration, using a 64.5 cm x 50 &amp;micro;m column, resulting in diastereoisomer separation within 8 min. Final stage of the project was to create stationary phase beds in capillaries and micro-channels that could be removed and re-created, thus providing a fresh stationary phase. The replaceable stationary phase (RSP) can be used as an operating mode of CE/CEC. Preparation of reversible stationary phase (RSP) inside the capillary column was successfully performed using low methoxy pectin (LMP). LMP renders a capability of reversible thermogelation. Electroosmotic flow (EOF) and sufficient hydrophobicity of LMP gel allow separation of analyates. The porosity of LMP RSP was adequate to support EOF. Successful separation with good reproducibility of areas and migration times was obtained for Caffeine, Aspartame, Benzoic acid, Saccharine (CABS) mixture and NFAs. After performing continuous analyses, the aging of RSP was observed. Temperature was the &#039;switch&#039; which applied to remove aged RSP. RSP was recreated for further analysis of analytes. RSP was UV transparent, capable of handling various analytes and diff erent buffer electrolytes including aqueous-organic solvents

Pulsed Eddy Current Sensing for Condition Assessment of Reinforced Concrete

© 2019 IEEE. Reinforced concrete (i.e., concrete wall-like structures having steel reinforcement rods embedded within) are commonly available as civil infrastructures. Such concrete structures, especially the walls of sewers, are vulnerable to bacteria and gas induced acid attacks which contribute to deterioration of the concrete and subsequent concrete wall loss. Therefore, quantification of concrete wall loss becomes important in determining the health and structural integrity of concrete walls. An effective strategy that can be formulated to quantify concrete wall loss is, locating a reinforcement rod and determining the thickness of concrete overlaying the rod via Non-destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT E). Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) sensing is commonly used for NDT E of metallic structures, including ferromagnetic materials. Since steel reinforcement rods that are commonly embedded in concrete also are ferromagnetic, this paper contributes by presenting experimental results, which suggest the usability of PEC sensing for reinforced concrete assessment, via executing the aforementioned strategy