Lobe connections and lobe crowding are associated with growth rate in the lichen Xanthoparmelia conspersa

The association between lobe connections and the degree of lobe crowding and radial growth was studied in thalli of the foliose lichen Xanthoparmelia conspersa. In 35 thalli, 15% of the lobes were not physically connected to either of their neighbours before the lobes merged into the centre of the thallus. Twenty-five percent of the lobes were connected in pairs and 29% in groups of three. Approximately 5% of the lobes were interconnected in larger groups of six or more. The mean number of lobes per group in a thallus was positively correlated with thallus diameter and with the degree of lobe growth variation but was unrelated to annual radial growth rate (RGR). The degree of crowding of the lobes in a thallus was defined as a 'crowding index', viz., the product of lobe density and mean lobe width. Crowding index increased rapidly with size in smaller thalli but changed less with size in larger thalli. Crowding index was positively correlated with RGR but was unrelated to lobe growth variation. Lobes removed from large thalli and glued in various configurations to simulate different degrees of crowding did not demonstrate an association between lobe crowding and RGR over one year. These results suggest that the pattern of lobe connectivity of a thallus is associated with lobe growth variation in X. conspersa. The degree of lobe crowding is associated with the increase in RGR with thallus size in smaller thalli and by restricting lobe width, could also be a factor associated with the more constant growth of larger thalli.

Rapid depletion of mutant eukaryotic initiation factor 5A at restrictive temperature reveals connections to actin cytoskeleton and cell cycle progression

Eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is the only protein in nature that contains hypusine, an unusual amino acid derived from the modification of lysine by spermidine. Two genes, TIF51A and TIF51B, encode eIF5A in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In an effort to understand the structure-function relationship of eIF5A, we have generated yeast mutants by introducing plasmid-borne tif51A into a double null strain where both TIF51A and TIF51B have been disrupted. One of the mutants, tsL102A strain (tif51A L102A tif51aDelta tif51bDelta) exhibits a strong temperature-sensitive growth phenotype. At the restrictive temperature, tsL102A strain also exhibits a cell shape change, a lack of volume change in response to temperature increase and becomes more sensitive to ethanol, a hallmark of defects in the PKC/WSC cell wall integrity pathway. In addition, a striking change in actin dynamics and a complete cell cycle arrest at G1 phase occur in tsL102A cells at restrictive temperature. The temperature-sensitivity of tsL102A strain is due to a rapid loss of mutant eIF5A with the half-life reduced from 6 h at permissive temperature to 20 min at restrictive temperature. Phenylmethyl sulfonylfluoride (PMSF), an irreversible inhibitor of serine protease, inhibited the degradation of mutant eIF5A and suppressed the temperature-sensitive growth arrest. Sorbitol, an osmotic stabilizer that complement defects in PKC/WSC pathways, stabilizes the mutant eIF5A and suppresses all the observed temperature-sensitive phenotypes.

Communities, centres, connections, disconnections:some reflections on the riots in Birmingham

This paper presents key ideas from fieldwork conducted in Birmingham between 2009 and 2011. This work examined identity in 'white' neighbourhoods, and attitudes to politics and understandings of poverty in more mixed ones. This work revealed that many Birmingham residents were concerned about a perceived loss of values, the impact of 'unrespectable' households and individuals in their areas and the apparent disconnect between political representatives and local residents. In the aftermath of the disturbances of August 2011 across England, including in Birmingham, we revisit these themes and examine the implications for understanding disorder in the city of Birmingham.

Red capitalists:political connections and firm performance in China

Using a unique firm level data, this paper analyses the role of political connections in the post-entry performance of private start-up companies in China. It documents robust evidence that political affiliation enhances firms' survival and growth prospects. But interestingly politically neutral start-ups enjoy faster productivity improvements conditional on survival. In addition, the benefits of political connections are largely confined to firms associated with local or top level governments, and they are more pronounced in capital-intensive industries. We conclude that the close association between the state and a segment of the business community is leading to sub-optimal resource allocation in the economy by interfering with the process of market selection.

Linear Connections on Normal Almost Contact Manifolds with Norden Metric

Families of linear connections are constructed on almost con- tact manifolds with Norden metric. An analogous connection to the symmetric Yano connection is obtained on a normal almost contact manifold with Norden metric and closed structural 1-form. The curvature properties of this connec- tion are studied on two basic classes of normal almost contact manifolds with Norden metric.

Natural Connections with Totally Skew-Symmetric Torsion on Manifolds with Norden-Type Metrics

This paper is a survey of results obtained by the authors on the geometry of connections with totally skew-symmetric torsion on the following manifolds: almost complex manifolds with Norden metric, almost contact manifolds with B-metric and almost hypercomplex manifolds with Hermitian and anti-Hermitian metric.

On Affine Connections in a Riemannian Manifold with a Circulant Metric and two Circulant Affinor Structures

Ива Р. Докузова, Димитър Р. Разпопов - В настоящата статия е разгледан клас V оттримерни риманови многообразия M с метрика g и два афинорни тензора q и S. Дефинирана е и друга метрика ¯g в M. Локалните координати на всички тези тензори са циркулантни матрици. Намерени са: 1) зависимост между тензора на кривина R породен от g и тензора на кривина ¯R породен от ¯g; 2) тъждество за тензора на кривина R в случая, когато тензорът на кривина ¯R се анулира; 3) зависимост между секционната кривина на прозволна двумерна q-площадка {x, qx} и скаларната кривина на M.

An extension of Lorentz's almost convergence and applications in Banach spaces

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 40C99, 46B99.

Hajózni muszáj! - A GDP, az ökológiai lábnyom és a szubjektív jóllét stratégiai összefüggései ("Navigare necesse est." The connections between GDP, ecological footprint, and subjective welfare)

A tanulmányban országok környezetterhelését és jóllétét vizsgáljuk. A környezetterhelést vizsgáló klasszikus I = PAT azonosság célszerű átrendezésével és továbbgondolásával két térképet szerkesztünk, amelyek egy véges, korlátozott erőforrású világban segítik a stratégiai döntéshozatalt. A térképek adatait a bruttó hazai termék, az ökológiai lábnyom, illetve a szubjektív jóllét mutatói szolgáltatják, ezek az információk a világ országaira ma már széles körben rendelkezésre állnak. Bemutatjuk a gazdasági tevékenység és a szubjektív jóllét kapcsolatát, s az erre épülő 12 stratégiát, majd a szűkös természeti erőforrásokkal számot vető újabb 12 stratégialehetőséget tárgyaljuk. A gazdasági tevékenységet, a környezeti korlátokat és az emberi boldogságot egyszerre szem előtt tartó modell alapján nyilvánvaló a makroszintű következtetés: napjainkban a gazdasági tevékenység, illetve az emberi jóllét dematerializációja szükséges és kívánatos célkitűzés /===/ The study examines countries' ecological footprint and welfare. Rearranging and developing the classic I = PAT equation, the author has devised two maps to assist strategic decision-making in a world of finite, limited resources. The data on the maps – GDP, ecological footprint, and subjective welfare indices – are all widely available all over the world. The relation between economic activity and subjective welfare is presented and twelve strategies built upon them, before discussing twelve further strategies based on scarce natural resources. Using a model that considers economic activity, environmental constraints and human happiness concurrently, it becomes obvious that dematerialization of economic activity and human welfare are a necessary and desirable objective.

Aerodynamic load characteristics evaluation and tri-axial performance testing on fiber reinforced polymer connections and metal fasteners to promote hurricane damage mitigation

Damages during extreme wind events highlight the weaknesses of mechanical fasteners at the roof-to-wall connections in residential timber frame buildings. The allowable capacity of the metal fasteners is based on results of unidirectional component testing that do not simulate realistic tri-axial aerodynamic loading effects. The first objective of this research was to simulate hurricane effects and study hurricane-structure interaction at full-scale, facilitating better understanding of the combined impacts of wind, rain, and debris on inter-component connections at spatial and temporal scales. The second objective was to evaluate the performance of a non-intrusive roof-to-wall connection system using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials and compare its load capacity to the capacity of an existing metal fastener under simulated aerodynamic loads. ^ The Wall of Wind (WoW) testing performed using FRP connections on a one-story gable-roof timber structure instrumented with a variety of sensors, was used to create a database on aerodynamic and aero-hydrodynamic loading on roof-to-wall connections tested under several parameters: angles of attack, wind-turbulence content, internal pressure conditions, with and without effects of rain. Based on the aerodynamic loading results obtained from WoW tests, sets of three force components (tri-axial mean loads) were combined into a series of resultant mean forces, which were used to test the FRP and metal connections in the structures laboratory up to failure. A new component testing system and test protocol were developed for testing fasteners under simulated triaxial loading as opposed to uni-axial loading. The tri-axial and uni-axial test results were compared for hurricane clips. Also, comparison was made between tri-axial load capacity of FRP and metal connections. ^ The research findings demonstrate that the FRP connection is a viable option for use in timber roof-to-wall connection system. Findings also confirm that current testing methods of mechanical fasteners tend to overestimate the actual load capacities of a connector. Additionally, the research also contributes to the development a new testing protocol for fasteners using tri-axial simultaneous loads based on the aerodynamic database obtained from the WoW testing. ^