Onion gene expression in response to ethylene and 1-MCP

Onion is regarded as a non-climacteric vegetable. In onions, however, ethylene can suppress sprouting while the ethylene binding inhibitor, 1-MCP (1- methylcyclopropene) can also suppress sprout growth yet, it is unknown how ethylene and 1-MCP elicit the same response. In this study, onions were treated with 10 μL L-1 ethylene or 1 μL L-1 1-MCP individually or in combination for 24 h at 20°C before or after curing (six weeks) at 20 or 28°C then stored at 1°C. Following curing, a subset of these same onions was stored separately under continuous air or ethylene (10 μL L- 1) at 1°C Onions treated with ethylene and 1-MCP in combination after curing for 24 h had reduced sprout growth as compared with the control 25 weeks after harvest. Sprout growth following storage beyond 25 weeks was only reduced through continuous ethylene treatment. This observation was supported by a higher proportion of down-regulated genes characterised as being involved in photosynthesis measured using a newly developed onion microarray. Physiological and biochemical data suggested that ethylene was being perceived in the presence of 1-MCP since sprout growth was reduced in onions treated with 1-MCP and ethylene applied in combination but not when applied individually. A cluster of probes representing transcripts up-regulated by 1-MCP alone but down-regulated by ethylene alone or in the presence of 1-MCP support this suggestion. Ethylene and 1-MCP both down52 regulated a probe tentatively annotated as an ethylene receptor as well as EIN3, suggesting that both treatments down-regulate the perception and signalling events of ethylene

Lunar basalt chronology, mantle differentiation and implications for determining the age of the Moon

Despite more than 40 years of studying Apollo samples, the age and early evolution of the Moon remain contentious. Following the formation of the Moon in the aftermath of a giant impact, the resulting Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) is predicted to have generated major geochemically distinct silicate reservoirs, including the sources of lunar basalts. Samples of these basalts, therefore, provide a unique opportunity to characterize these reservoirs. However, the precise timing and extent of geochemical fractionation is poorly constrained, not least due to the difficulty in determining accurate ages and initial Pb isotopic compositions of lunar basalts. Application of an in situ ion microprobe approach to Pb isotope analysis has allowed us to obtain precise crystallization ages from six lunar basalts, typically with an uncertainty of about ±10Ma, as well as constrain their initial Pb-isotopic compositions. This has enabled construction of a two-stage model for the Pb-isotopic evolution of lunar silicate reservoirs, which necessitates the prolonged existence of high-μ reservoirs in order to explain the very radiogenic compositions of the samples. Further, once firm constraints on U and Pb partitioning behaviour are established, this model has the potential to help distinguish between conflicting estimates for the age of the Moon. Nonetheless, we are able to constrain the timing of a lunar mantle reservoir differentiation event at 4376±18Ma, which is consistent with that derived from the Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf isotopic systems, and is interpreted as an average estimate of the time at which the high-μ urKREEP reservoir was established and the Ferroan Anorthosite (FAN) suite was formed

Self‐Reported Health and Safety Awareness Improves Prediction of Level of Care Needs in Veterans Discharged From a Postacute Unit

ObjectivesTo evaluate the differential value of a self‐reported health and safety awareness measure relative to other medical, psychosocial, and cognitive factors in predicting level of care (LOC) needs after hospital discharge.DesignRetrospective medical record review.SettingCommunity living center postacute care (CLC‐PAC) unit at a Veterans Affairs hospital.ParticipantsA total of 175 veterans admitted to the Veterans Affairs hospital or directly to the CLC‐PAC from home.MethodsCognitive status was assessed with the Mini‐Mental State Examination, Digit Span Backward subtest, Trail Making Test (Part B), and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test‐Revised. Self‐report of health and safety awareness was measured with the Independent Living Scales Health and Safety (ILS‐HS) subscale. Additional demographic and admission‐related variables were coded, along with medical comorbidity, with the Charlson Comorbidity Index and depression using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision Depression Checklist.Main Outcome MeasurementsIncreased level of care was collected from social work and occupational therapy notes and defined as increased assistance with activities of daily living or nursing home placement comparing prehospitalization with CLC‐PAC discharge.ResultsA total of 19% (n = 34) of residents required increased LOC on CLC‐PAC discharge. The ILS‐HS was a significant predictor of increased LOC above and beyond age and Mini Mental Status Examination score; for each standard deviation decrease in ILS‐HS, there was an increased likelihood of greater LOC (odds ratio 0. 54, 95% confidence interval 0.35‐0.83). Other neuropsychological tests (memory, executive functioning) did not significantly improve the model.ConclusionsThe inclusion of the ILS‐HS to a standard cognitive screen (Mini Mental Status Examination) can improve prediction of increased LOC. Although select aspects of memory and executive functioning independently contribute to increased LOC prediction, the ILS‐HS likely measures a unique aspect of cognitive functioning that may be specific to discharge planning needs in CLC‐PAC residents.Level of EvidenceIIPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146814/1/pmr21122.pd

Insect gallers and their plant hosts : From omics data to systems biology

Gall-inducing insects are capable of exerting a high level of control over their hosts’ cellular machinery to the extent that the plant’s development,metabolism,chemistry,and physiology are all altered in favour of the insect. Many gallers are devastating pests in global agriculture and the limited understanding of their relationship with their hosts prevents the development of robust management strategies. Omics technologies are proving to be important tools in elucidating the mechanisms involved in the interaction as they facilitate analysis of plant hosts and insect effectors for which little or no prior knowledge exists. In this review,we examine the mechanisms behind insect gall development using evidence from omics-level approaches. The secretion of effector proteins and induced phytohormonal imbalances are highlighted as likely mechanisms involved in gall development. However,understanding how these components function within the system is far from complete and a number of questions need to be answered before this information can be used in the development of strategies to engineer or breed plants with enhanced resistance

A Scale-Separated Dynamic Mode Decomposition From Observations of the Ionospheric Electron Density Profile

We present a method for modeling a time series of ionospheric electron density profiles using modal decompositions. Our method is based on the Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD), which provides a means of determining spatiotemporal modes from measurements alone. DMD-derived models can be easily updated as new data is recorded and do not require any physics to inform the dynamics. However, in the case of ionospheric profiles, we find a wide range of oscillations, including some far above the diurnal frequency. Therefore, we propose nontrivial extensions to DMD using multiresolution analysis (MRA) via wavelet decompositions. We call this method the Scale-Separated Dynamic Mode Decomposition (SSDMD) since the MRA isolates fluctuations at different scales within the time series into separated components. We show that this method provides a stable reconstruction of the mean plasma density and can be used to predict the state of the vertical profile at future time steps. We demonstrate the SSDMD method on data sets covering periods of high and low solar activity.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figure

The inverse-Compton ghost HDF 130 and the giant radio galaxy 6C 0905+3955: matching an analytic model for double radio source evolution

We present new GMRT observations of HDF 130, an inverse-Compton (IC) ghost of a giant radio source that is no longer being powered by jets. We compare the properties of HDF 130 with the new and important constraint of the upper limit of the radio flux density at 240 MHz to an analytic model. We learn what values of physical parameters in the model for the dynamics and evolution of the radio luminosity and X-ray luminosity (due to IC scattering of the cosmic microwave background (CMB)) of a Fanaroff-Riley II (FR II) source are able to describe a source with features (lobe length, axial ratio, X-ray luminosity, photon index and upper limit of radio luminosity) similar to the observations. HDF 130 is found to agree with the interpretation that it is an IC ghost of a powerful double-lobed radio source, and we are observing it at least a few Myr after jet activity (which lasted 5--100 Myr) has ceased. The minimum Lorentz factor of injected particles into the lobes from the hotspot is preferred to be $\gamma\sim10^3$ for the model to describe the observed quantities well, assuming that the magnetic energy density, electron energy density, and lobe pressure at time of injection into the lobe are linked by constant factors according to a minimum energy argument, so that the minimum Lorentz factor is constrained by the lobe pressure. We also apply the model to match the features of 6C 0905+3955, a classical double FR II galaxy thought to have a low-energy cutoff of $\gamma\sim10^4$ in the hotspot due to a lack of hotspot inverse-Compton X-ray emission. The models suggest that the low-energy cutoff in the hotspots of 6C 0905+3955 is $\gamma\gtrsim 10^3$, just slightly above the particles required for X-ray emission.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure