Similarities in the Genomic Sequence and Coat Protein-Structure of Plant Viruses

The genomic sequences of several RNA plant viruses including cucumber mosaic virus, brome mosaic virus, alfalfa mosaic virus and tobacco mosaic virus have become available recently. The former two viruses are icosahedral while the latter two are bullet and rod shaped, respectively in particle morphology. The non-structural 3a proteins of cucumber mosaic virus and brome mosaic virus have an amino acid sequence homology of 35% and hence are evolutionarily related. In contrast, the coat proteins exhibit little homology, although the circular dichroism spectrum of these viruses are similar. The non-coding regions of the genome also exhibit variable but extensive homology. Comparison of the brome mosaic virus and alfalfa mosaic virus sequences reveals that they are probably related although with a much larger evolutionary distance. The polypeptide folds of the coat protein of three biologically distinct isometric plant viruses, tomato bushy stunt virus, southern bean mosaic virus and satellite tobacco necrosis virus have been shown to display a striking resemblance. All of them consist of a topologically similar 8-standard β-barrel. The implications of these studies to the understanding of the evolution of plant viruses will be discussed.

In the Shadow of Freedom : Life on board the oil tanker

The aim of this study was to look at the freedom of ordinary people as they construct it. The scope, however, was limited to contemporary Finnish sailors and their freedom discourses. The study belongs to the field of the anthropology of religions, which is part of comparative religion. Worldview, which is one of the key concepts in comparative religion, provided the broader theoretical basis of the study. The data consisted of 92 interviews with Finnish professional seafarers conducted in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2005, field journals that were written during two periods of fieldwork in 1996 and 1999-2000, and correspondence with some of the seafarers during 1999-2005. The analysis process incorporated new rhetoric and metaphor theory. The thesis is in three parts. The first part discusses the methodological challenges of this type of ethnography, the second an ethnography of modern Finnish shipworld focuses on work, organization, hierarchy and gender, and the third part discusses the freedom concepts of seafarers. It was found that seafarers use two kinds of freedom discourse. The first is in line with the stereotypical Jack Tar, a free-roving sailor who is not bound to land and its mundane routines, and the second views shipworld as freedom from freedom, meaning one is not responsible for one s own actions because one is not free to make a choice. It was also found that seafarers are well aware of the stereotypical images that are attached to their profession: they not only deny them, but also utilize, reflect on and construct them.

CLXXX. Vegetable Proteins. I. The Proteins of Dolichos Lab Lab

The field bean (Dolichos lab lab ; Tamil name, Mochai ; Kanarese, Avarai) is a legume which is widely cultivated in South India often as a mixed crop with cereals. The kernel of the seed enters into the diet of may South Indian households, and in the Mysore State the seed are used as a delicacy when they are green for over four months in the year. The haulm, husk and pods are commonly used a fodder. As the kernel which is widely used as an article of food and considered to be very nutritious, contains about 24% of protein hitherto uninvestigated and as the quality of protein plays an important role in nutrition, the present work was undertaken.

Recruitment and loss of juvenile stages of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on contaminant plants in chickpea crops

The hypothesis that contaminant plants growing amongst chickpea serve as Helicoverpa sinks by diverting oviposition pressure away from the main crop was tested under field conditions. Gain (recruitment) and loss (presumed mortality) of juvenile stages of Helicoverpa spp. on contaminant faba bean and wheat plants growing in chickpea plots were quantified on a daily basis over a 12-d period. The possibility of posteclosion movement of larvae from the contaminants to the surrounding chickpea crop was examined. Estimated total loss of the census population varied from 80 to 84% across plots and rows. The loss of brown eggs (40–47%) contributed most to the overall loss estimate, followed by loss of white eggs (27–35%) and larvae (6–9%). The cumulative number of individuals entering the white and brown egg and larval stages over the census period ranged from 15 to 58, 10–48 and 1–6 per m row, respectively. The corresponding estimates of mean stage-specific loss, expressed as a percentage of individuals entering the stage, ranged from 52 to 57% for white eggs, 87–108% for brown eggs and 71–87% for first-instar larvae. Mean larval density on chickpea plants in close proximity to the contaminant plants did not exceed the baseline larval density on chickpea further away from the contaminants across rows and plots. The results support the hypothesis that contaminant plants in chickpea plots serve as Helicoverpa sinks by diverting egg pressure from the main crop and elevating mortality of juvenile stages. Deliberate contamination of chickpea crops with other plant species merits further investigation as a cultural pest management strategy for Helicoverpa spp.

Internationalizing school curriculum in Australasia: As niche, by test, or at heart?

Global citizenship has emerged as a pressing curricular priority which all educational systems are currently grappling with. The challenge is to negotiate how this orientation might sit alongside the more traditional mission of mass school curriculum in building collective ballast for a national identity through a common morality and shared narratives, or may conflict with efforts to protect and promote indigenous and minority identities. As a case study of how these agendas interact, this chapter will consider curricular responses to global imperatives in the variegated conditions across the Australasian region (defined as Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea). The chapter will outline recent developments in the social, economic and political contexts surrounding curricular reforms in these settings, and demonstrate how these developments have changed the conditions of possibility and strength of purpose behind efforts to internationalise school curricula. Three types of systemic responses are then described: firstly, an appetite for globally branded curricula such as the International Baccalaureate, Montessori, and Cambridge University Certificates to distinguish some in a stratified market; secondly, convergence in curriculum to improve national performance on international standardised tests; and thirdly, the infusion of cosmopolitan sensibilities, regional identities and intercultural competencies as a core curricular goal for all. The chapter considers the various pragmatic interpretations of ‘internationalisation’ in these responses, and argues that the third response seems both the most difficult to enact, and the most vulnerable to political interference.

Evaluating legume species as alternative trap crops to chickpea for management of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in central Queensland cotton cropping systems

Mounting levels of insecticide resistance within Australian Helicoverpa spp. populations have resulted in the adoption of non-chemical IPM control practices such as trap cropping with chickpea, Cicer arietinum (L.). However, a new leaf blight disease affecting chickpea in Australia has the potential to limit its use as a trap crop. Therefore this paper evaluates the potential of a variety of winter-active legume crops for use as an alternative spring trap crop to chickpea as part of an effort to improve the area-wide management strategy for Helicoverpa spp. in central Queensland’s cotton production region. The densities of Helicoverpa eggs and larvae were compared over three seasons on replicated plantings of chickpea, Cicer arietinum (L.), field pea Pisum sativum (L), vetch, Vicia sativa (L.) and faba bean, Vicia faba (L.). Of these treatments, field pea was found to harbour the highest densities of eggs. A partial life table study of the fate of eggs oviposited on field pea and chickpea suggested that large proportions of the eggs laid on field pea suffered mortality due to dislodgment from the plants after oviposition. Plantings of field pea as a replacement trap crop for chickpea under commercial conditions confirmed the high level of attractiveness of this crop to ovipositing moths. The use of field pea as a trap crop as part of an areawide management programme for Helicoverpa spp. is discussed.

Closed-form solutions for low-rank non-rigid reconstruction

Recovering the motion of a non-rigid body from a set of monocular images permits the analysis of dynamic scenes in uncontrolled environments. However, the extension of factorisation algorithms for rigid structure from motion to the low-rank non-rigid case has proved challenging. This stems from the comparatively hard problem of finding a linear “corrective transform” which recovers the projection and structure matrices from an ambiguous factorisation. We elucidate that this greater difficulty is due to the need to find multiple solutions to a non-trivial problem, casting a number of previous approaches as alleviating this issue by either a) introducing constraints on the basis, making the problems nonidentical, or b) incorporating heuristics to encourage a diverse set of solutions, making the problems inter-dependent. While it has previously been recognised that finding a single solution to this problem is sufficient to estimate cameras, we show that it is possible to bootstrap this partial solution to find the complete transform in closed-form. However, we acknowledge that our method minimises an algebraic error and is thus inherently sensitive to deviation from the low-rank model. We compare our closed-form solution for non-rigid structure with known cameras to the closed-form solution of Dai et al. [1], which we find to produce only coplanar reconstructions. We therefore make the recommendation that 3D reconstruction error always be measured relative to a trivial reconstruction such as a planar one.

Ruumiinkuvia! : Suomalainen performanssi- ja kehotaide 1980- ja1990-luvulla psykoanalyysin valossa

My PhD-thesis Body Images! Psychoanalytical Analysis of Finnish Performance and Body Art in the 1980s and 1990s considers Finnish performance and body art performed mainly by visual artists. In Part I, I chart the historical construction of performance art and its extension since the beginning of the 21st century. There are several wievs of the historical background of performance art. I introduce three different genealogies of performance art. One is Rose-Lee Goldberg s view. She connects performance art with the European avant-garde already at the beginning of the 20th century from futurists and dadaists to Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus. I prefer to present performance art as contemporary art, which began to take shape in connection with visual arts in the 1950s and 1960s. The focus on the body is apparent in nearly all performance art. Nevertheless, throug the concept of body art I want to empasize the artist s body as the place of art. Body art (as part of performance art) functions as thematic and interpretive concept, which allows me to focus on performances where the questions of body image, narcissism, desire, language and pleasure are incorporated in particular intensive ways. In Part II, I explore the arrival of performance art in Finnish visual arts in the 1980s. I study the new generation s relation to earlier Finnish happenings (1960s) and performative actions in 1970 s. I briefly introduce performance groups of the 1980s art scene and consider their reception in media. The main focus is on the group Jack Helen Brut, in which I see many similarities to the so- called Theatre of Images. The goal of this part II is to provide historical context for the performance analysis that follows. In Part III, I develop the concept of body image which is my main theoretical term. The concept of body image is used according to Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, especially his considerations of mirror stages. My first mapping of body image, which I call imaginary body image, is based on Lacan s famous mirror stage article (1949). According to my reading, body image is narcistic and aggressive. The important concepts here are ego, imaginary, méconnaisance and alienation. In 1953 Lacan began to develop different version on mirror stage, in which he emphasized the primacy of symbolic dimension. It is not image, but language which constructs the foundations of body image. Central concepts in this chater are Other as language, ego-ideal, demand and desire. In the last chapter I connect the third version of the mirror stage to concepts of gaze, phantasy, real, jouissance and object a. In previous chapters I had considered body image in relation to ego. Now I explore it in relation to subject. In my reading the body image is fragile phenomen, which oscillates between yearning for coherence and phantasies of fragmented images. Part IV of the thesis begins with an introduction to the central concepts and debates in performace studies over the last few decades. Important concepts are presence, performativity and theatricality. The main substance of my thesis, however, is the performance analysis, which focuses on works by three Finnish artists and one Finnish group. The first analysis concerns the performance (1992) of Kimmo Schroderus. I discuss the relationship between narcissism and body art and the changes in demands projected on body images of men in recent decades in a Euro-American context. I also explore this performance in relation to the myth of Narcissus, which I reinterpret through Narcissus s aggression against his own body. The group Homo S is the main subject of the next analysis. I discuss the relationship between feminist art and performance art, especially in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Homo S is different from this early performance art because of its anarchism, humor and rejection of all ideals. Homo S characterizes its performance Body Body (1983) as liberating vulgar feminism . Sociality and performance of erotic relations between women are central in Body Body. Pia Lindman s performances are the subjects of my third analysis. I study three of her performances: Olen muoto (1993), 17 and in love (1994) and Arranged views (1995). I interpret these performances as efforts to disperse the imaginary and symbolic structures of the body image. She constructs the peculiar object a and phantasy space of her own. In the last analysis I move from questions of image and gaze to a study of language, sound and jouissance. I discuss at a general level the performance of orality and helplesness (Hilflosigkeit) in body art. The central elements in Pentti Otto Koskinen s performances are the ear, listening and receptive gestures and postions. Perseveraatio (1998) can be understood representing as submission to the super-ego s power, which compels one to enjoy. I examine particularly closely the performance Maissi on hyvää ei missään nimessä maissia (1995), which I interpret as the return of a baby s body image to the liminal site of choice: language or jouissance?

Simulating crop-parasitic weed interactions using APSIM: Model evaluation and application

The parasitic weed Orobanche crenata inflicts major damage on faba bean, lentil, pea and other crops in Mediterranean environments. The development of methods to control O. crenata is to a large extent hampered by the complexity of host-parasite systems. Using a model of host-parasite interactions can help to explain and understand this intricacy. This paper reports on the evaluation and application of a model simulating host-parasite competition as affected by environment and management that was implemented in the framework of the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). Model-predicted faba bean and O. crenata growth and development were evaluated against independent data. The APSIM-Fababean and -Parasite modules displayed a good capability to reproduce effects of pedoclimatic conditions, faba bean sowing date and O. crenata infestation on host-parasite competition. The r(2) values throughout exceeded 0.84 (RMSD: 5.36 days) for phenological, 0.85 (RMSD: 223.00 g m(-2)) for host growth and 0.78 (RMSD: 99.82 g m(-2)) for parasite growth parameters. Inaccuracies of simulated faba bean root growth that caused some bias of predicted parasite number and host yield loss may be dealt with by more flexibly simulating vertical root distribution. The model was applied in simulation experiments to determine optimum sowing windows for infected and non-infected faba bean in Mediterranean environments. Simulation results proved realistic and testified to the capability of APSIM to contribute to the development of tactical approaches in parasitic weed control.

Host recognition by a polyphagous lepidopteran (Helicoverpa armigera): Primary host plants, host produced volatiles and neurosensory stimulation

An important question in the host-finding behaviour of a polyphagous insect is whether the insect recognizes a suite or template of chemicals that are common to many plants? To answer this question, headspace volatiles of a subset of commonly used host plants (pigeon pea, tobacco, cotton and bean) and nonhost plants (lantana and oleander) of Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) are screened by gas chromatography (GC) linked to a mated female H. armigera electroantennograph (EAG). In the present study, pigeon pea is postulated to be a primary host plant of the insect, for comparison of the EAG responses across the test plants. EAG responses for pigeon pea volatiles are also compared between females of different physiological status (virgin and mated females) and the sexes. Eight electrophysiologically active compounds in pigeon pea headspace are identified in relatively high concentrations using GC linked to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). These comprised three green leaf volatiles [(2E)-hexenal, (3Z)-hexenylacetate and (3Z)-hexenyl-2-methylbutyrate] and five monoterpenes (α-pinene, β-myrcene, limonene, E-β-ocimene and linalool). Other tested host plants have a smaller subset of these electrophysiologically active compounds and even the nonhost plants contain some of these compounds, all at relatively lower concentrations than pigeon pea. The physiological status or sex of the moths has no effect on the responses for these identified compounds. The present study demonstrates how some host plants can be primary targets for moths that are searching for hosts whereas the other host plants are incidental or secondary targets.

Den brændende Fakkel : Om dobbeltgrebet i Knud Lyne Rahbeks liv og revolutionsroman

Professor Knud Lyne Rahbek was a novelist, playwright, poet, magazine editor, journalist, socialite person, host of the Bakkehus , historian, theatre manager, translator, publisher etc., but his versatility either side of 1800 is better known than read and more despised than understood. In terms of methodology, the thesis is based on biographical, historical and philological research, while at the same time making use of formalistic and close reading methods. This study begins and ends with 7th of February 1800, when Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek join the exiled P.A. Heiberg at the inn near Frederiksberg Castle. What falls between is an interpretation of Rahbek s works in the service of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press as a pragmatic navigation between activities - both subversive and legitimate. Posterity mistook this range as mere spinelessness, and Rahbek was relegated to the literary and historical margins as an anachronism and as a jack of all trades, who did not know what he really wanted and therefore flitted about in so many fields just to be present. But Rahbek s problem was not one of standpoint, but rather how to find a balance between totalizing attitudes and confrontations between rebellious idealism and deep-rooted absolutism, without foregoing his belief in enlightenment, humanism and tolerance. In this way, and also through his personal conduct, which at that time was seen as jovial bonhommie, he made his contribution to the development of modern democratic Denmark in the full awareness of a popular, peaceful and down-to-earth community. Rahbek s principal work about the event of the French Revolution, which provides the focus for the above, is Camill og Constance. Et Revolutions Skilderie (1799). For today s reader, the novel about the revolution is an obvious example of a historical novel, as it does not only provide fictionalized information about past events placing them in a generally accepted perspective of historical development, but also gives the characters qualities, which, in Rahbek s words, allows the real events to influence the fictional characters. From this point of view, the novel of the revolution has shifted the benchmark for the first real historical novel on the European literary scene back by fifteen years. Lacking the aura so easily foisted on fearless iconoclasts or tragic losers, Rahbek s contribution may seem modest in spite of its enormous volume; but only when it is not evaluated in its full context, which is the development of Denmark towards an international democratic society.

Deriatives disclosure in corporate annual reports: bank analysts; perceptions of usefulness

Responding to mixed evidence on the decision-usefulness of annual report disclosures for derivative financial instruments to capital market participants, and concerns identified by practice, this paper examines usefulness in a direct study of user perceptions. Interviews with analysts from Australia’s four major banks reveal essential usefulness, limited by the disclosures’ failure to reflect companies’ actual use of derivatives throughout the period, and inability of users to understand companies’ off-balance sheet risk and risk management practices from information considered generic and boilerplate. The research complements and extends existing archival and survey research and provides new evidence suggesting low-cost ways for increasing usefulness. It supports the International Accounting Standards Board’s disclosure recommendations in its recent Discussion Paper: A Review of the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, but, at the same time, highlights that for these proposed measures to be successful in relation to IFRS 7, they may need to address other issues. The research increases knowledge of the informational requirements of lenders, an important class of financial information user, and supports calls from practice for companies to improve their disclosure of material economic risks.

Annual forecasting of the Australian macadamia crop - integrating tree census data with statistical climate-adjustment models

To facilitate marketing and export, the Australian macadamia industry requires accurate crop forecasts. Each year, two levels of crop predictions are produced for this industry. The first is an overall longer-term forecast based on tree census data of growers in the Australian Macadamia Society (AMS). This data set currently accounts for around 70% of total production, and is supplemented by our best estimates of non-AMS orchards. Given these total tree numbers, average yields per tree are needed to complete the long-term forecasts. Yields from regional variety trials were initially used, but were found to be consistently higher than the average yields that growers were obtaining. Hence, a statistical model was developed using growers' historical yields, also taken from the AMS database. This model accounted for the effects of tree age, variety, year, region and tree spacing, and explained 65% of the total variation in the yield per tree data. The second level of crop prediction is an annual climate adjustment of these overall long-term estimates, taking into account the expected effects on production of the previous year's climate. This adjustment is based on relative historical yields, measured as the percentage deviance between expected and actual production. The dominant climatic variables are observed temperature, evaporation, solar radiation and modelled water stress. Initially, a number of alternate statistical models showed good agreement within the historical data, with jack-knife cross-validation R2 values of 96% or better. However, forecasts varied quite widely between these alternate models. Exploratory multivariate analyses and nearest-neighbour methods were used to investigate these differences. For 2001-2003, the overall forecasts were in the right direction (when compared with the long-term expected values), but were over-estimates. In 2004 the forecast was well under the observed production, and in 2005 the revised models produced a forecast within 5.1% of the actual production. Over the first five years of forecasting, the absolute deviance for the climate-adjustment models averaged 10.1%, just outside the targeted objective of 10%.

New annual and short-lived perennial pasture legumes for Australian agriculture--15 years of revolution

Fifteen years ago subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) and annual medics (Medicago spp.) dominated annual pasture legume sowings in southern Australia, while limited pasture legume options existed for cropping areas of subtropical Australia. Since then a number of sustainability and economic challenges to existing farming systems have emerged, exposing shortcomings in these species and the lack of legume biodiversity. Public breeding institutions have responded to these challenges by developing 58 new annual and short-lived perennial pasture legumes with adaptation to both existing and new farming systems. This has involved commercialisation of new species and overcoming deficiencies in traditional species. Traits incorporated in legumes of Mediterranean Basin origin for the Mediterranean, temperate and southern subtropical climates of Australia include deeper root systems, protection from false breaks (germination-inducing rainfall events followed by death from drought), a range of hardseed levels, acid-soil tolerant root nodule symbioses, tolerance to pests and diseases and provision of lower cost seed through ease of seed harvesting and processing. Ten new species, French serradella (Ornithopus sativus), biserrula (Biserrula pelecinus), sulla (Hedysarum coronarium), gland (Trifolium glanduliferum), arrowleaf (Trifolium vesiculosum), eastern star (Trifolium dasyurum) and crimson (Trifolium incarnatum) clovers and sphere (Medicago sphaerocarpos), button (Medicago orbicularis) and hybrid disc (Medicago tornata x Medicago littoralis) medics have been commercialised. Improved cultivars have also been developed of subterranean (T. subterraneum), balansa (Trifolium michelianum), rose (Trifolium hirtum), Persian (Trifolium resupinatum) and purple (Trifolium purpureum) clovers, burr (Medicago polymorpha), strand (M. littoralis), snail (Medicago scutellata) and barrel (Medicago truncatula) medics and yellow serradella (Ornithopus compressus). New tropical legumes for pasture phases in subtropical cropping areas include butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), burgundy bean (Macroptilium bracteatum) and perennial lablab (Lablab purpureus). Other species and cultivars of Mediterranean species are likely to be released soon. The contributions of genetic resources, rhizobiology, pasture ecology and agronomy, plant pathology, entomology, plant chemistry and animal science have been paramount to this success. A farmer survey in Western Australia has shown widespread adoption of the new pasture legumes, while adoption of new tropical legumes has also been high in cropping areas of the subtropics. This trend is likely to increase due to the increasing cost of inorganic nitrogen, the need to combat herbicide-resistant crop weeds and improved livestock prices. Mixtures of these legumes allows for more robust pastures buffered against variable seasons, soils, pests, diseases and management decisions. This paper discusses development of the new pasture legumes, their potential use and deficiencies in the current suite. 'Ground–breaking Stuff’- Proceedings of the 13th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, 10-14 September 2006, Perth, Western Australia.

In vitro propagation of Corymbia torelliana x C. citriodora (Myrtaceae) via cytokinin-free node culture

Hybrids between Corymbia torelliana (F.Muell.) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson and C. citriodora subsp. variegata (F.Muell.) A.R.Bean & M.W.McDonald are used extensively to establish forestry plantations in subtropical Australia. Methods were developed for in vitro seed germination, shoot multiplication and plantlet formation that could be used to establish in vitro and ex vitro clone banks of juvenile Corymbia hybrids. Effects of sodium hypochlorite concentration and exposure time on seed contamination and germination, and effects of cytokinin and auxin concentrations on shoot multiplication and subsequent rooting, were assessed. A two-step surface sterilisation procedure, involving 70% ethanol followed by 1% sodium hypochlorite, provided almost no contamination and at least 88% germination. A novel method of cytokinin-free node culture proved most effective for in vitro propagation. Lateral bud break of primary shoots was difficult to induce by using cytokinin, but primary shoots rooted prolifically, elongated rapidly and produced multiple nodes in the absence of exogenous cytokinin. Further multiplication was obtained either by elongating lateral shoots of nodal explants in cytokinin-free medium or by inducing organogenic callus and axillary shoot proliferation with 2.2 µm benzyladenine. Plantlets were produced using an in vitro soil-less method that provided extensive rooting in sterile propagation mixture. These methods provide a means for simultaneous laboratory storage and field-testing of clones before selection and multiplication of desired genotypes.