Substrate Induced Denitrification over or under Estimates Shifts in Soil N2/N2O Ratios

Funding: Funding was provided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, BBSRC UK (http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk). Grant number BB/H013431/1. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Crystallization of a Mos1 transposase-inverted-repeat DNA complex: biochemical and preliminary crystallographic analyses

A complex formed between Mos1 transposase and its inverted-repeat DNA has been crystallized. The crystals diffract to 3.25 Å resolution and exhibit monoclinic (P2(1)) symmetry, with unit-cell parameters a = 120.8, b = 85.1, c = 131.6 Å, β = 99.3°. The X-ray diffraction data display noncrystallographic twofold symmetry and characteristic dsDNA diffraction at ∼3.3 Å. Biochemical analyses confirmed the presence of DNA and full-length protein in the crystals. The relationship between the axis of noncrystallographic symmetry, the unit-cell axes and the DNA diffraction pattern are discussed. The data are consistent with the previously proposed model of the paired-ends complex containing a dimer of the transposase

Explaining Public Attitudes on State Legislative Professionalism

Scholars have long argued that state legislative professionalism, or the provision of staff, legislator salary, and session length, has behavioral incentives for legislators and implications for legislative capacity. Scant attention, however, has been devoted to public attitudes on the provision of these legislative resources. Using survey data on preferences for features associated with a citizen legislature versus a professional legislature, we examine the contours of public attitudes on professionalism and test models on the factors associated with these attitudes. Results suggest partisanship, trust, and approval of the local delegation matter, but the factors differ by the legislative professionalism of the respondents state and for low versus high knowledge citizens.Legislative Professionalism, Public Opinion, Political Economy

INCORPORATING GOVERNMENT PROGRAM PROVISIONS INTO A MEAN-VARIANCE FRAMEWORK

E-V studies traditionally have relied on historical data to calculate returns and variance. Historical data may not fully reflect current conditions, particularly when decisions involve government-supported crops. This paper presents a method for calculating mean and variance using subjectively-estimated data. The method is developed for both government-supported and non-program crops. Comparisons to alternative methods suggest the approach provides reasonable accuracy.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Alien plant invasions and native plant extinctions: a six-threshold framework

CITATION: Downey, P. O. & Richardson, D. M. 2016. Alien plant invasions and native plant extinctions : a six-threshold framework. AoB PLANTS, 8:1-21, doi:10.1093/aobpla/plw047.The original publication is available at https://academic.oup.com/aobplaBiological invasions are widely acknowledged as a major threat to global biodiversity. Species from all major taxonomic groups have become invasive. The range of impacts of invasive taxa and the overall magnitude of the threat is increasing. Plants comprise the biggest and best-studied group of invasive species. There is a growing debate; however, regarding the nature of the alien plant threat—in particular whether the outcome is likely to be the widespread extinction of native plant species. The debate has raised questions on whether the threat posed by invasive plants to native plants has been overstated. We provide a conceptual framework to guide discussion on this topic, in which the threat posed by invasive plants is considered in the context of a progression from no impact through to extinction. We define six thresholds along the ‘extinction trajectory’, global extinction being the final threshold. Although there are no documented examples of either ‘in the wild’ (Threshold 5) or global extinctions (Threshold 6) of native plants that are attributable solely to plant invasions, there is evidence that native plants have crossed or breached other thresholds along the extinction trajectory due to the impacts associated with plant invasions. Several factors may be masking where native species are on the trajectory; these include a lack of appropriate data to accurately map the position of species on the trajectory, the timeframe required to definitively state that extinctions have occurred and management interventions. Such interventions, focussing mainly on Thresholds 1–3 (a declining population through to the local extinction of a population), are likely to alter the extinction trajectory of some species. The critical issue for conservation managers is the trend, because interventions must be implemented before extinctions occur. Thus the lack of evidence for extinctions attributable to plant invasions does not mean we should disregard the broader threat.https://academic.oup.com/aobpla/article/2609604/Alien-plant-invasions-and-native-plant-extinctions?searchresult=1Publisher's versio

Maximizing Societal Contributions of Latino Adults by Investing in Latino Children's Health Care

Focuses on the lack of preventive care and health insurance coverage for Latino children, and how this affects their health and school performance and impacts their ability to contribute as adults to California's economy and society

Modular converter system for low-cost off-grid energy storage using second life Li-ion batteries

Lithium ion batteries are promising for small off- grid energy storage applications in developing countries because of their high energy density and long life. However, costs are prohibitive. Instead, we consider 'used' Li-ion batteries for this application, finding experimentally that many discarded laptop cells, for example, still have good capacity and cycle life. In order to make safe and optimal use of such cells, we present a modular power management system using a separate power converter for every cell. This novel approach allows individual batteries to be used to their full capacity. The power converters operate in voltage droop control mode to provide easy charge balancing and implement a battery management system to estimate the capacity of each cell, as we demonstrate experimentally.Comment: Presented at IEEE GHTC Oct 10-14, 2014, Silicon Valle