Academic literature on the topic 'Growth-defence balance'

In our hypothesis the defense budget must reduce the traditional threat and influence the economic. This research would like to see if the defense spending will influence the national economics through economic growth by demand side approach. By assuming the natural balance of power, the traditional threat come not only from military capabilities but also balanced by their economic power. The equation model formed to capture the influence of defense spending to economics growth. The regression describes that military spending had an impact on economic growth. Increase in the level of traditional threat is not reduce economic growth. The Indonesian defense budget give impact on the national economics, and the traditional threat is in small variation. But, the national defense budget still needs to be increased. This makes production could be stable, and the economic actors still feel safe doing the business.

ABSTRACTIn response to the invasion of microorganisms, plants actively balance their resources for growth and defence, thus ensuring their survival. The regulatory mechanisms underlying plant immunity and growth operate through complex networks, in which the brassinosteroid phytohormone is one of the central players. In the past decades, a growing number of studies have revealed a multi-layered crosstalk between brassinosteroid-mediated growth and plant immunity. In this Review, by means of the tango metaphor, we immerse ourselves into the intimate relationship between brassinosteroid and plant immune signalling pathways that is tailored by the lifestyle of the pathogen and modulated by other phytohormones. The plasma membrane is the unique stage where brassinosteroid and immune signals are dynamically integrated and where compartmentalization into nanodomains that host distinct protein consortia is crucial for the dance. Shared downstream signalling components and transcription factors relay the tango play to the nucleus to activate the plant defence response and other phytohormonal signalling pathways for the finale. Understanding how brassinosteroid and immune signalling pathways are integrated in plants will help develop strategies to minimize the growth–defence trade-off, a key challenge for crop improvement.

NF-κB (nuclear factor κB) plays a significant role in inflammation, immunity, cell proliferation, apoptosis and malignancy. ROS (reactive oxygen species) are among the most important regulating factors of NF-κB. Intracellular ROS are mainly regulated by an endogenous antioxidant defence system. Any disruption of redox balance leads to oxidative stress, which causes a number of pathological conditions including inflammation and malignancy. Increased metabolic activity in cancerous cells leads to oxidative stress, which is further enhanced due to depletion of the endogenous antioxidant defence system. However, the activation and signalling of NF-κB are reported to be inhibited by overexpression and induced activity of antioxidant enzymes. Therefore the present study focuses on the correlation between the endogenous antioxidant defence system, ROS and NF-κB activation during lymphoma growth in mice. The study highlights the anti-carcinogenic role of curcumin by modulation of NF-κB activation and oxidative stress via the endogenous antioxidant defence system. Oxidative stress was monitored by lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation and antioxidant enzyme activity. NF-κB-mediated signalling was tested by DNA-binding activity. The results reflect that intracellular production of H2O2 in oxidative tumour micro-environment regulates NF-κB activation. Curcumin inhibits oxidative state in the liver of lymphoma-bearing mice by enhancing the transcription and activities of antioxidant enzymes, which in turn modulate activation of NF-κB, leading to a decrease in lymphoma growth. Morphological changes as well as cell proliferation and cell survival assays confirmed reduced lymphoma growth. Thus curcumin contributes to cancer prevention by disrupting the vicious cycle of constant ROS production, responsible for a high oxidative micro-environment for tumour growth.

DRDO is India’s major credible research and development organization that enables self-reliance and indigenisation of defence technologies and weapon systems to empower India in the emerging geo-political balance. The Organisation has its genesis in a technical inspection agency which over the years have transformed into a highly professional R&D organization with strong design and technology capabilities and skilled entrepreneurship to undertake development of state-of-the-art defence systems. DRDO driven R&D efforts have catalysed the growth of domestic defence and civilian industries in the country as well. The overarching endeavours of DRDO encompassing academia, private industry and Defence PSUs have helped in establishing a self-reliant defence industrial eco-system and collectively all have contributed in the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of “skill development” and “Make-in-India”. Yet, DRDO’s struggle at the national level continues since Armed Forces continue to depend on imports for major acquisitions. Indigenous options have not always established themselves as the preferred options even when they are available. The acceptability of DRDO developed products remains at a low ebb. The question is what more DRDO should do to ensure the acceptability of the users? This study examines the evolution of the DRDO and whether over the years DRDO has done enough or should do more to increase its visibility, acceptability, credibility and respectability? And how DRDO should reposition itself beyond MoD/Armed Forces in the national and international context to fulfill the ambitions of the country to play global roles? This paper also discusses how building the brand “DRDO” may possibly help DRDO.

Abstract Background and Aims There are a number of disparate models predicting variation in plant chemical defences between species, and within a single species over space and time. These can give conflicting predictions. Here we review a number of these theories, before assessing their power to predict the spatial–temporal variation of thapsigargins between and within populations of the deadly carrot (Thapsia garganica). By utilizing multiple models simultaneously (optimum defence theory, growth rate hypothesis, growth–differentiation balance hypothesis, intra–specific framework and resource exchange model of plant defence), we will highlight gaps in their predictions and evaluate the performance of each. Methods Thapsigargins are potent anti-herbivore compounds that occur in limited richness across the different plant tissues of T. garganica, and therefore represent an ideal system for exploring these models. Thapsia garganica plants were collected from six locations on the island of Ibiza, Spain, and the thapsigargins quantified within reproductive, vegetative and below-ground tissues. The effects of sampling time, location, mammalian herbivory, soil nutrition and changing root-associated fungal communities on the concentrations of thapsigargins within these in situ observations were analysed, and the results were compared with our model predictions. Key Results The models performed well in predicting the general defence strategy of T. garganica and the above-ground distribution of thapsigargins, but failed to predict the considerable proportion of defences found below ground. Models predicting variation over environmental gradients gave conflicting and less specific predictions, with intraspecific variation remaining less understood. Conclusion Here we found that multiple models predicting the general defence strategy of plant species could likely be integrated into a single model, while also finding a clear need to better incorporate below-ground defences into models of plant chemical defences. We found that constitutive and induced thapsigargins differed in their regulation, and suggest that models predicting intraspecific defences should consider them separately. Finally, we suggest that in situ studies be supplemented with experiments in controlled environments to identify specific environmental parameters that regulate variation in defences within species.

The plant domestication process led to crops with strongly modified growth-defense tradeoff features, and crops that were much more pampered in terms of nutrition, irrigation and defense measures, showing less ability to trigger adaptation strategies with respect to their wild relatives. It is worth noting that plants are not alone, they share their environment with a myriad of microbes supporting them with many relevant functions. We have already demonstrated that an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inoculum (formed by two AMF species, i.e., Rhizophagus irregularis and Funneliformis mosseae) is able to balance growth and defense responses in two grapevine rootstocks with opposite tradeoff features. In the present study, we evaluated the persistence of AMF-mediated balancing effects under field conditions, confirming the positive impact of the symbiosis in vineyards. In detail, some genes related to nitrogen (N) uptake and metabolism were specifically modulated by the presence of the symbionts, while others were not. Additionally, photosynthetic performances and stilbenes accumulation were influenced by the AMF presence. Overall, our results open new questions about the timing of AMF inoculation in grapevine to obtain a stable and functional symbiosis, suggesting that an early inoculation can facilitate the interaction between grapevine roots and these beneficial microorganisms.

La presente tesi riguarda tre approcci complementari per un controllo più sostenibile del patogeno Plasmopara viticola: cisgenesi, RNAi e priming di difesa delle piante. Nel primo capitolo viene presentata una breve introduzione generale, toccando i principali aspetti relativi alla viticoltura in Europa, alle caratteristiche della malattia, alle nuove strategie biotecnologiche e al priming nella difesa delle piante. Nel secondo capitolo viene presentata una review che descrive in dettaglio i più recenti approcci biotecnologici per la protezione delle colture, tra cui la cisgenesi, l'editing del genoma, l'RNAi e l'epigenetica. Nel terzo capitolo sono riportate le attività relative alla cisgenesi per l’introduzione della resistenza alla peronospora nella vite, lo studio si è concentrato inizialmente sull'induzione dell'embriogenesi somatica in germoplasma d'élite, ottimizzando la coltivazione dei tessuti floreali per la generazione di calli embriogenici. I geni di resistenza TNL2a e TNL2b appartenenti al locus RPV3-1, che conferiscono resistenza a Plasmopara viticola, sono stati quindi selezionati per lo sviluppo di varietà cisgeniche, con la costruzione di un vettore cisgenico che ospita questi due geni. Viene quindi descritta la trasformazione dei calli embriogenici con i ceppi ingegnerizzati di Agrobacterium tumefaciens e le future attività per la rigenerazione di piante cisgeniche trasformate. Nel quarto e nel quinto capitolo vengono presentati due articoli che affrontano diversi aspetti legati allo sfruttamento del sistema immunitario delle piante: il primo studio mira a chiarire gli effetti del priming indotto da micorrize sul bilancio tra crescita e difesa nella vite mentre il secondo studio si concentra sull'utilizzo di protocolli di protezione alternativi per il controllo della peronospora in un vigneto commerciale. In particolare, nel quarto capitolo “Mycorrhizal symbiosis balances rootstock-mediated growth-defence tradeoffs”, sono stati valutati i potenziali benefici di un inoculo formato da due specie di micorrize arbuscolari, con o senza aggiunta di monosaccaridi, su giovani barbatelle innestate sui portainnesti 1103P e SO4. L'influenza dei diversi trattamenti è stata valutata combinando l'analisi delle caratteristiche agronomiche con tecniche biochimiche e molecolari. I risultati hanno mostrato che, nonostante il comportamento opposto dei due portainnesti selezionati, nei campioni trattati con le micorrize l'intero microbioma della radice è attivamente coinvolto nel bilanciamento dei costi/benefici tra crescita e difesa. Infine, nel quinto capitolo, viene presentato l’articolo "Novel Sustainable Strategy to control Plasmopara viticola in grapevine, unveil new insights on priming responses and artropods ecology". Lo studio affronta la riduzione del consumo di fungicidi in viticoltura e dei rischi associati attraverso lo sfruttamento di protocolli alternativi per il controllo della peronospora nella vite confrontandoli con un protocollo di protezione standard adottato da una cantina commerciale. Nel primo protocollo sono stati utilizzati solo induttori di resistenza, mentre il secondo e il terzo protocollo hanno seguito il protocollo standard ma sostituendo i fosfonati con anidride fosforica ed estratto di Ecklonia maxima. I risultati hanno mostrato che all'invaiatura l'incidenza e la gravità della peronospora in tutti i protocolli testati erano significativamente ridotte rispetto ai controlli non trattati sia sulla chioma che sui grappoli. Lo studio ha anche mostrato degli spunti interessanti sulla rimodulazione dell'acido salicilico e dell'acido jasmonico nei due protocolli per la sostituzione dei fosfiti. È interessante notare come gli induttori di resistenza attivando le difese della pianta abbiano indotto anche un breve ritardo nella maturazione dei grappoli, agendo, sul metabolismo dei carboidrati, sulla regolazione dei geni di difesa, sulla risposta sistemica acquisita e sulla disintossicazione dalle specie reattive dell’ossigeno. Nella conclusione sono quindi riassunti i principali risultati di ciascun capitolo, esaminandone gli aspetti più critici, inclusa una breve discussione delle attività preliminari che sono state condotte sull’uso dell’RNAi per il silenziamento di due geni essenziali di Plasmopara viticola.
The present thesis relates on three complementary approaches for a more sustainable control of Plasmopara viticola: cisgenesis, RNAi and plant defence priming. A brief general introduction is presented in the first chapter, touching the main aspects relative to viticulture in Europe, characteristics of the disease, new biotechnological strategies and priming of plant defence. The second chapter consists of a review article describing with detail the most recent biotechnological approaches for crop protection, including cisgenesis, genome editing, RNAi and epigenetics. In the third chapter the activities concerning cisgenesis for grapevine downy mildew resistance are reported, the study initially focuses on the induction of somatic embryogenesis from elite germplasm, optimising the cultivation of floral tissues for the generation of embryogenic calli. The resistance genes TNL2a and TNL2b belonging to the RPV3-1 locus, which confers resistance to Plasmopara viticola, were then selected for the development of cisgenic varieties, with the construction of a cisgenic vector harbouring those two genes. Finally, the chapter reports on the Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation of embryogenic calli that are currently cultivated on selective medium, and on the future activities for the regeneration of transformed cisgenic plants. In the fourth and fifth chapters, two papers addressing different aspects related to the exploitation of plant immune system are presented: the first study aimed at clarifying the effects of arbuscular mycorrhiza priming on the grapevine growth-defence trade-off while the second study was focused on the use of alternative protection protocols for the control of downy mildew in a commercial vineyard. Particularly, in the fourth chapter “Mycorrhizal symbiosis balances rootstock-mediated growth-defence tradeoffs”, the potential benefits of an inoculum formed by two arbuscular mycorrhiza fungal species, with or without a monosaccharide addition, were evaluated on young grapevine cuttings grafted onto 1103P and SO4 rootstocks. The influence of the different treatments was assessed by combining the analysis of agronomic features with biochemical and molecular techniques. The results showed that despite the opposite behaviour of the two selected rootstocks, in mycorrhized samples the whole root microbiome is actively involved in the growth-defence trade off balance. Finally in the fifth chapter the submitted paper “Novel sustainable strategies to control Plasmopara viticola in grapevine unveil new insights on priming responses and arthropods ecology” is presented. The study addresses the reduction of fungicide consumption in viticulture and its associated risks by the exploitation of alternative protocols for the control of downy mildew infection in grapevine, compared to a standard winery protection protocol. In the first protocol, only resistance inducers were used, while the second and third protocols followed the standard protocol but substituting phosphonates with phosphorus pentoxide and Ecklonia maxima extract. The results showed that, at véraison, downy mildew incidence and severity were significantly reduced on both canopy and bunches in the plants treated with all tested protocols compared to non-treated controls. The study also revealed interesting insights about the direct effect of protocols for phosphite substitution on the crosstalk between salicylic and jasmonic acid signalling pathways. Interestingly, by priming plant defences, the resistance inducers caused a short delay in bunch ripening, involving changes in carbohydrate metabolism, regulation of defence related genes, systemic acquired resistance and reactive oxygen species detoxification. In the thesis conclusion, the main findings are then summarised for each chapter, by examining the most critical aspects and including a brief discussion on the preliminary activities that were conducted to exploit the RNAi technique for silencing two essential genes of Plasmopara viticola.

This chapter shows how India’s scientists played an important role in policy-making. As science evolved to play a prominent role in the functioning of the modern state, its practitioners also gained importance, particularly those involved in defence research. India’s independence and modernization overlapped with the growth of international technocracy, shaping the relations between politics, the laboratory, and international law. Indian scientists grappled with the nuclear Janus as much as their Western counterparts, and their leaders had to balance the use of science for development and to make weapons of war. The importance of technology to the nation-building project as well as the bitter memories of colonialism informed Indian policy on issues such as nuclear non-proliferation and missile development that remain with us today. In fact, it has become impossible to separate science from its policy implications in the modern state.

Probiotics are live, non-pathogenic commensal microorganisms with beneficial effects on the host organism; they improve and/or maintain intestinal flora balance by suppressing and displacing harmful bacteria. Prebiotics are nondigestible food components that stimulate growth or activity of these beneficial intestinal bacteria. Such microorganisms form an integral part of the intestinal mucosal defence system and are important for the development and maturation of the infant#amp;#x2019;s gastrointestinal tract. Maternal ingestion of probiotics and prebiotics from dietary sources during pregnancy, or by the infant at weaning, may enhance the development and maturation of the neonatal gastrointestinal tract. Probiotic foods may also help control insulin resistance and the development of gestational diabetes.

In 1902, the British government entered into a defensive alliance with Japan, a state that had surprised much of the world with its sudden rise to global prominence. For the next two decades, the Anglo-Japanese alliance would hold the balance of power in East Asia, shielding Japan from foreign rivals, and allowing Britain to concentrate on meeting the German challenge in Europe. Yet it was also a relationship shaped by its contradictions. On the one hand, Anglo-Japanese alliance legitimized Japan’s participation in great-power diplomacy, and worked to counteract racist notions of a ‘yellow peril’. On the other, Japan’s defiance of established racial hierarchies made the alliance controversial across much of the British Empire. On the settlement frontiers of Australasia and North America, white colonial elites formulated their own responses to the growth of Japan’s power, charged by the twinned forces of colonial nationalism and racial anxiety, as they designed immigration laws to exclude Japanese migrants, developed autonomous military and naval forces, and pressed Britain to rally behind their vision of a ‘white empire’. On the eve of the First World War, Japan stood at the centre of a series of escalating inter-imperial disputes over foreign policy, defence, migration, and ultimately, over the future of the British imperial system itself. This account weaves together studies of diplomacy, strategy, and imperial relations to pose searching questions about how Japan’s entry into the ‘family of civilized nations’ was complicated by ideas of race.

Abstract Plants and animals have evolved a variety of strategies to limit the negative fitness consequences of natural enemies (i.e. herbivores, predators, parasites and pathogens). Demographic bottlenecks occurring during the invasion process reduce the number of co-introduced natural enemies, providing opportunities to study rapid evolution in environments with different or reduced enemy loads. Enemy release theory provides a set of hypotheses and predictions about the role of natural enemies in the proliferation of invasive species. This body of theory includes the Enemy Release Hypothesis (ERH) and the related Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability Hypothesis (EICA), but there is often confusion about these hypotheses and the data needed to test them. We introduce a simple, general model of enemy release to identify and clarify some of the key assumptions and predictions implicit in enemy release theory and its impacts on invasion. Although introduced populations likely benefit from a reduction in the direct fitness impacts of natural enemies in the early stages of invasion, an evolutionary shift in resource allocation from defence to growth and reproduction is much less likely and depends on a delicate balance between the fitness costs and benefits of defence and the fitness impacts of natural enemies in both the native and introduced ranges. Even when the abundance of natural enemies is lower in the introduced range, the majority of scenarios do not favour evolution of less defended genotypes that are more competitive or more fecund, contrary to predictions of EICA. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that the level of damage by natural enemies in field surveys is not generally a good parameter for testing enemy release theory. Instead, common garden experiments characterizing fitness reaction norms of multiple genotypes from the native and introduced range are crucial to estimate the historic rate of adaptive evolution or predict it into the future. Incorporating spatial autocorrelation and methods from population genetics can further improve our understanding of the role of enemy release and evolution in the proliferation of invasive species.

This chapter examines realism as a dominant explanation of why and how states have sought security. It first considers the basic features of realist theory, including its emphasis on the implications of international anarchy and the importance of power, before discussing major divisions within the realist family, along with their implications for states’ security policies and war. The most fundamental division is between structural realism and motivational realism. The chapter proceeds by looking at the debate between Kenneth Waltz’s structural realism, offensive realism, and defensive realism. In contrast to Waltz and offensive realism, defensive realism argues that the risks of competition can make cooperation a state’s best strategy. The chapter illustrates how these different arguments result in divergent predictions for how China’s continuing economic growth is likely to influence international security. It suggests that war is more likely when the offence-defence balance favours offence.

This chapter examines realism as a dominant explanation of why and how states have sought security. It first considers the basic features of realist theory, including its emphasis on the implications of international anarchy and the importance of power, before discussing major divisions within the realist family, along with their implications for states’ security policies and war. The most fundamental division is between structural realism and motivational realism. The chapter proceeds by looking at the debate between Kenneth Waltz’s structural realism, offensive realism, and defensive realism. In contrast to Waltz and offensive realism, defensive realism argues that the risks of competition can make cooperation a state’s best strategy. The chapter illustrates how these different arguments result in divergent predictions for how China’s continuing economic growth is likely to influence international security. It suggests that war is more likely when the offence–defence balance favours offence.

Plants and animals have evolved a variety of strategies to limit the negative fitness consequences of natural enemies (i.e. herbivores, predators, parasites and pathogens). Demographic bottlenecks occurring during the invasion process reduce the number of co-introduced natural enemies, providing opportunities to study rapid evolution in environments with different or reduced enemy loads. Enemy release theory provides a set of hypotheses and predictions about the role of natural enemies in the proliferation of invasive species. This body of theory includes the Enemy Release Hypothesis (ERH) and the related Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability Hypothesis (EICA), but there is often confusion about these hypotheses and the data needed to test them. We introduce a simple, general model of enemy release to identify and clarify some of the key assumptions and predictions implicit in enemy release theory and its impacts on invasion. Although introduced populations likely benefit from a reduction in the direct fitness impacts of natural enemies in the early stages of invasion, an evolutionary shift in resource allocation from defence to growth and reproduction is much less likely and depends on a delicate balance between the fitness costs and benefits of defence and the fitness impacts of natural enemies in both the native and introduced ranges. Even when the abundance of natural enemies is lower in the introduced range, the majority of scenarios do not favour evolution of less defended genotypes that are more competitive or more fecund, contrary to predictions of EICA. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that the level of damage by natural enemies in field surveys is not generally a good parameter for testing enemy release theory. Instead, common garden experiments characterizing fitness reaction norms of multiple genotypes from the native and introduced range are crucial to estimate the historic rate of adaptive evolution or predict it into the future. Incorporating spatial autocorrelation and methods from population genetics can further improve our understanding of the role of enemy release and evolution in the proliferation of invasive species.

This paper describes the influence of business intelligence management and economic security at all levels of the business sector. The paper reflects the analysis of various data, literature reviews and organisational statistics. Based on the data comparison, the paper provides formulas, indicators and recommendations to bring managerial levels closer to business intelligence management. In the modern era, states’ top priorities are areas of political power and balance, diplomatic influence and mediation, guarantees of economic growth, military and defence policies. The main principle is not to stagnate in the optimal phase of state but rather to keep up continous improvement.