15,880 research outputs found
Phylogeny of the Trichogramma endosymbiont Wolbachia, an alpha-proteobacteria (Rickettsiae).
Wolbachia (Hertig) endosymbionts are extensively studied in a wide range of organisms and are known to be transmitted through the egg cytoplasm to the offsping. Wolbachia may cause several types of reproductive modifications in arthropods. In Trichogramma species, parthenogenesis-inducing Wolbachia bacteria allow females wasps to produce daughters from unfertilized eggs and these bacteria are present in at least 9% of all Trichogramma species. Phylogenetic studies have led to the subdivision of the Wolbachia clade in five supergroups (A, B, C, D and E) and Wolbachia from Trichogramma belong to supergroup B. Here, using the wsp gene, four groups of Wolbachia that infect Trichogramma species were distinguished and the addition of a new group "Ato" was suggested due to the addition of Wolbachia from Trichogramma atopovirilia (Oatman and Platner). Specific primers were designed and tested for the "Ato" group. Seventy-five percent of all evaluated Wolbachia strains from Trichogramma fell within ?Sib? group.Publicado online
Integrated stress response of Escherichia coli to methylglyoxal : transcriptional readthrough from the nemRA operon enhances protection through increased expression of glyoxalase I
© 2013 The Authors. Molecular Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Spin-glass behaviour on random lattices
The ground-state phase diagram of an Ising spin-glass model on a random graph
with an arbitrary fraction of ferromagnetic interactions is analysed in the
presence of an external field. Using the replica method, and performing an
analysis of stability of the replica-symmetric solution, it is shown that
, correponding to an unbiased spin glass, is a singular point in the
phase diagram, separating a region with a spin-glass phase () from a
region with spin-glass, ferromagnetic, mixed, and paramagnetic phases
()
Nanometric pitch in modulated structures of twist-bend nematic liquid crystals
The extended Frank elastic energy density is used to investigate the
existence of a stable periodically modulate structure that appears as a ground
state exhibiting a twist-bend molecular arrangement. For an unbounded sample,
we show that the twist-bend nematic phase is characterized by a
heliconical structure with a pitch in the nano-metric range, in agreement with
experimental results. For a sample of finite thickness, we show that the wave
vector of the stable periodic structure depends not only on the elastic
parameters but also on the anchoring energy, easy axis direction, and the
thickness of the sample.Comment: 11 page
Uniform approximation for the overlap caustic of a quantum state with its translations
The semiclassical Wigner function for a Bohr-quantized energy eigenstate is
known to have a caustic along the corresponding classical closed phase space
curve in the case of a single degree of freedom. Its Fourier transform, the
semiclassical chord function, also has a caustic along the conjugate curve
defined as the locus of diameters, i.e. the maximal chords of the original
curve. If the latter is convex, so is its conjugate, resulting in a simple fold
caustic. The uniform approximation through this caustic, that is here derived,
describes the transition undergone by the overlap of the state with its
translation, from an oscillatory regime for small chords, to evanescent
overlaps, rising to a maximum near the caustic. The diameter-caustic for the
Wigner function is also treated.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Fish-based groups for ecological assessment in rivers: the importance of environmental drivers on taxonomic and functional traits of fish Assemblages
The use of river-types is of practical value, serving as groups for which
assessment procedures can be developed and applied. An abiotic typology
was set by the Portuguese Water Agency, mainly based on 6 major
morphoclimatic regions. However, to be biologically meaningful, this typology
should fit the distribution patterns of the biological quality elements
communities proposed in Water Framework Directive under the lowest
possible human pressure. This study aimed to identify and characterize
fish-based geographical groups for continental Portugal and their environmental
and geographical discriptors, using taxonomic and functional
traits. Sampling took place between 2004 and 2006 during Spring. Fish
fauna from 155 reference sites was analysed using a multivariate
approach. Cluster Analysis on fish composition identified 10 fish-groups,
expressing a clear correspondence to the river basin level, due to the
restrict basin distribution of many species. Groups showed a wider aggregation
in 4 regions with a larger geographical correspondence, statistically
supported by Similarity Analysis, both on fish composition and mostly on
fish metrics/guilds. Principal Components Analysis revealed major environmental
drivers associated to fish-groups and fish-regions. Fish-groups
were hierarchically grouped over major and local regions, expressing a
large-scale response to a North-South environmental gradient defined by
temperature, precipitation, mineralization and altitude, and a regional scale
response mainly to drainage area and flow discharge. From North to
South, fish-regions were related to the morphoclimatic regions. Results
contributed to reduce redundance in abiotic river-types and set the final
typology for Portuguese rivers, constituting a fundamental tool for planning
and managing water resources
Semiclassical Evolution of Dissipative Markovian Systems
A semiclassical approximation for an evolving density operator, driven by a
"closed" hamiltonian operator and "open" markovian Lindblad operators, is
obtained. The theory is based on the chord function, i.e. the Fourier transform
of the Wigner function. It reduces to an exact solution of the Lindblad master
equation if the hamiltonian operator is a quadratic function and the Lindblad
operators are linear functions of positions and momenta.
Initially, the semiclassical formulae for the case of hermitian Lindblad
operators are reinterpreted in terms of a (real) double phase space, generated
by an appropriate classical double Hamiltonian. An extra "open" term is added
to the double Hamiltonian by the non-hermitian part of the Lindblad operators
in the general case of dissipative markovian evolution. The particular case of
generic hamiltonian operators, but linear dissipative Lindblad operators, is
studied in more detail. A Liouville-type equivariance still holds for the
corresponding classical evolution in double phase, but the centre subspace,
which supports the Wigner function, is compressed, along with expansion of its
conjugate subspace, which supports the chord function.
Decoherence narrows the relevant region of double phase space to the
neighborhood of a caustic for both the Wigner function and the chord function.
This difficulty is avoided by a propagator in a mixed representation, so that a
further "small-chord" approximation leads to a simple generalization of the
quadratic theory for evolving Wigner functions.Comment: 33 pages - accepted to J. Phys.
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