Phosphate availability regulates root system architecture in Arabidopsis

Plant root systems are highly plastic in their development and can adapt their architecture in response to the prevailing environmental conditions. One important parameter is the availability of phosphate, which is highly immobile in soil such that the arrangement of roots within the soil will profoundly affect the ability of the plant to acquire this essential nutrient. Consistent with this, the availability of phosphate was found to have a marked effect on the root system architecture of Arabidopsis. Low phosphate availability favored lateral root growth over primary root growth, through increased lateral root density and length, and reduced primary root growth mediated by reduced cell elongation. The ability of the root system to respond to phosphate availability was found to be independent of sucrose supply and auxin signaling. In contrast, shoot phosphate status was found to influence the root system architecture response to phosphate availability

Towards a killer app for the Semantic Web

Killer apps are highly transformative technologies that create new markets and widespread patterns of behaviour. IT generally, and the Web in particular, has benefited from killer apps to create new networks of users and increase its value. The Semantic Web community on the other hand is still awaiting a killer app that proves the superiority of its technologies. There are certain features that distinguish killer apps from other ordinary applications. This paper examines those features in the context of the Semantic Web, in the hope that a better understanding of the characteristics of killer apps might encourage their consideration when developing Semantic Web applications

DNET: A communications facility for distributed heterogeneous computing

This document describes DNET, a heterogeneous data communications networking facility. DNET allows programs operating on hosts on dissimilar networks to communicate with one another without concern for computer hardware, network protocol, or operating system differences. The overall DNET network is defined as the collection of host machines/networks on which the DNET software is operating. Each underlying network is considered a DNET 'domain'. Data communications service is provided between any two processes on any two hosts on any of the networks (domains) that may be reached via DNET. DNET provides protocol transparent, reliable, streaming data transmission between hosts (restricted, initially to DECnet and TCP/IP networks). DNET also provides variable length datagram service with optional return receipts

Ocean acidification

KEY HEADLINES • Global-scale patterns and processes of ocean acidification are superimposed on other factors influencing seawater chemistry over local to regional space scales, and hourly to seasonal time scales. • Future ocean conditions will depend on future CO2 emissions; there is now international agreement that these should be reduced to net zero, thereby reducing the consequences of both climate change and ocean acidification. • Assessments of ocean acidification by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave high or very high confidence to chemical aspects, but a much wider range of confidence levels to projected biological and biogeochemical impacts. Biotic impacts will depend on species-specific responses, interactions with other stressors and food-web effects. • Previous MCCIP statements are considered to still be valid, with increased confidence for some aspects. • Observed pH decreases in the North Sea (over 30 years) and at coastal UK sites (over 6 years) seem more rapid than in the North Atlantic as a whole. However, shelf sea and coastal data sets show high variability over a range of timescales, and factors affecting that variability need to be much better understood. • UK research on ocean acidification has been productive and influential. There is no shortage of important and interesting topic areas that would improve scientific knowledge and deliver societally-important outcomes