964 research outputs found
Inter-specific variation in entomopathogenic nematode foraging strategy : dichotomy or variation along a continuum ?
L'aptitude de six espèces de nématodes entomopathogènes ayant des comportements différents dans la recherche d'hôtes ayant eux-mêmes des taux de mobilité variables (#Galleria mellonella avec ou sans restriction de mouvement) a été évaluée. #Steinernema carpocapsae et #S. scapterisci ont tendance à se tenir droit sur leur queue sans se déplacer pendant des périodes de temps assez prolongées mais avec des mouvements de pendulation. Ces espèces utilisent une stratégie d'embuscade et sont les plus efficaces pour trouver les larves se déplaçant sans restriction de mouvement. #Heterorhabditis bacteriophora et #S. glaseri ne montrent pas de mouvement de pendulation et ont été les plus efficaces pour trouver les larves à déplacement restreint, ce qui est typique d'espèces cherchant leur hôte en se déplaçant. Une autre espèce sans mouvement de pendulation, #S. feltiae, et une espèce à pendulation peu fréquente, #S. riobravis, peuvent atteindre les deux types d'hôtes, ce qui suggère qu'elles ont un comportement intermédiaire de recherche d'hôtes. La stratégie intermédiaire de #S. feltiae pourrait être due à sa capacité à élever de plus de 30% son corps au-dessus du support (mouvement de pendulation), et ce, plus fréquemment que les autres espèces sans mouvement pendulaire. (Résumé d'auteur
Light Scattering and Gloss of an Experimental Quartz-filled Composite
For samples of polymethylmethacrylate with and without quartz filler, the inverse of the contrast-gloss ratio is shown to be related to surface roughness and to the optical scattering coefficient. This finding adds to the importance of optical scattering, which has been widely studied because of its relation to color and translucency of materials. Furthermore, optical scattering by composite fillers is shown to be linearly related to the concentration of the filler material within the range of concentrations studied. Quartz fillers were incorporated at concentrations from 5 to 20 weight percent and were short fibers or granular powder, with the granular particles ranging in median equivalent spherical diameter from 15 to 3.3 ÎĽm. The efficiency of optical scattering for the granular quartz filler increased as the size of the filler decreased.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68026/2/10.1177_00220345860650060501.pd
The Impact of Storage Time and Seasonal Harvesting on Levels of Sutherlandins and Sutherlandiosides in Lessertia frutescens
In South Africa, an estimate of 70% of the population frequently uses traditional medicine for their health care needs. The use of Lessertia frutescens (Figure 1,2) by various cultural groups dates back to the earlier civilizations and continues to be used today to treat a multitude of ailments. Even in Western countries, L frutescens is used by many people for its anti-proliferative or anti-inflammatory activities. In
establishing quality, safety and efficacy of traditional medicine, one would need to ensure that the crude material is of optimal quality
Fluctuations and Instabilities of Ferromagnetic Domain Wall pairs in an External Magnetic Field
Soliton excitations and their stability in anisotropic quasi-1D ferromagnets
are analyzed analytically. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the
lowest lying topological excitations are shown to be either soliton-soliton or
soliton-antisoliton pairs. In ferromagnetic samples of macro- or mesoscopic
size, these configurations correspond to twisted or untwisted pairs of Bloch
walls. It is shown that the fluctuations around these configurations are
governed by the same set of operators. The soliton-antisoliton pair has exactly
one unstable mode and thus represents a critical nucleus for thermally
activated magnetization reversal in effectively one-dimensional systems. The
soliton-soliton pair is stable for small external fields but becomes unstable
for large magnetic fields. From the detailed expression of this instability
threshold and an analysis of nonlocal demagnetizing effects it is shown that
the relative chirality of domain walls can be detected experimentally in thin
ferromagnetic films. The static properties of the present model are equivalent
to those of a nonlinear sigma-model with anisotropies. In the limit of large
hard-axis anisotropy the model reduces to a double sine-Gordon model.Comment: 15 pages RevTex 3.0 (twocolumn), 9 figures available on request, to
appear in Phys Rev B, Dec (1994
A concerted systems biology analysis of phenol metabolism in Rhodococcus opacus PD630
Rhodococcus opacus PD630 metabolizes aromatic substrates and naturally produces branched-chain lipids, which are advantageous traits for lignin valorization. To provide insights into its lignocellulose hydrolysate utilization, we performed 13C-pathway tracing, 13C-pulse-tracing, transcriptional profiling, biomass composition analysis, and metabolite profiling in conjunction with 13C-metabolic flux analysis (13C-MFA) of phenol metabolism. We found that 1) phenol is metabolized mainly through the ortho–cleavage pathway; 2) phenol utilization requires a highly active TCA cycle; 3) NADPH is generated mainly via NADPH-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase; 4) active cataplerotic fluxes increase plasticity in the TCA cycle; and 5) gluconeogenesis occurs partially through the reversed Entner–Doudoroff pathway (EDP). We also found that phenol-fed R. opacus PD630 generally has lower sugar phosphate concentrations (e.g., fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase) compared to metabolite pools in 13C-glucose-fed Escherichia coli (set as internal standards), while its TCA metabolites (e.g., malate, succinate, and α-ketoglutarate) accumulate intracellularly with measurable succinate secretion. In addition, we found that phenol utilization was inhibited by benzoate, while catabolite repressions by other tested carbon substrates (e.g., glucose and acetate) were absent in R. opacus PD630. Three adaptively-evolved strains display very different growth rates when fed with phenol as a sole carbon source, but they maintain a conserved flux network. These findings improve our understanding of R. opacus’ metabolism for future lignin valorization
Singularities In Scalar-Tensor Cosmologies
In this article, we examine the possibility that there exist special
scalar-tensor theories of gravity with completely nonsingular FRW solutions.
Our investigation in fact shows that while most probes living in such a
Universe never see the singularity, gravity waves always do. This is because
they couple to both the metric and the scalar field, in a way which effectively
forces them to move along null geodesics of the Einstein conformal frame. Since
the metric of the Einstein conformal frame is always singular for
configurations where matter satisfies the energy conditions, the gravity wave
world lines are past inextendable beyond the Einstein frame singularity, and
hence the geometry is still incomplete, and thus singular. We conclude that the
singularity cannot be entirely removed, but only be made invisible to most, but
not all, probes in the theory.Comment: 23 pages, latex, no figure
Laser ablation loading of a radiofrequency ion trap
The production of ions via laser ablation for the loading of radiofrequency
(RF) ion traps is investigated using a nitrogen laser with a maximum pulse
energy of 0.17 mJ and a peak intensity of about 250 MW/cm^2. A time-of-flight
mass spectrometer is used to measure the ion yield and the distribution of the
charge states. Singly charged ions of elements that are presently considered
for the use in optical clocks or quantum logic applications could be produced
from metallic samples at a rate of the order of magnitude 10^5 ions per pulse.
A linear Paul trap was loaded with Th+ ions produced by laser ablation. An
overall ion production and trapping efficiency of 10^-7 to 10^-6 was attained.
For ions injected individually, a dependence of the capture probability on the
phase of the RF field has been predicted. In the experiment this was not
observed, presumably because of collective effects within the ablation plume.Comment: submitted to Appl. Phys. B., special issue on ion trappin
Wavy Strings: Black or Bright?
Recent developments in string theory have brought forth a considerable
interest in time-dependent hair on extended objects. This novel new hair is
typically characterized by a wave profile along the horizon and angular
momentum quantum numbers in the transverse space. In this work, we
present an extensive treatment of such oscillating black objects, focusing on
their geometric properties. We first give a theorem of purely geometric nature,
stating that such wavy hair cannot be detected by any scalar invariant built
out of the curvature and/or matter fields. However, we show that the tidal
forces detected by an infalling observer diverge at the `horizon' of a black
string superposed with a vibration in any mode with . The same
argument applied to longitudinal () waves detects only finite tidal
forces. We also provide an example with a manifestly smooth metric, proving
that at least a certain class of these longitudinal waves have regular
horizons.Comment: 45 pages, latex, no figure
Inducing the cosmological constant from five-dimensional Weyl space
We investigate the possibility of inducing the cosmological constant from
extra dimensions by embedding our four-dimensional Riemannian space-time into a
five-dimensional Weyl integrable space. Following approach of the induced
matter theory we show that when we go down from five to four dimensions, the
Weyl field may contribute both to the induced energy-tensor as well as to the
cosmological constant, or more generally, it may generate a time-dependent
cosmological parameter. As an application, we construct a simple cosmological
model which has some interesting properties.Comment: 7 page
Effects of Cooking in Solutions of Varying pH on the Dietary Fiber Components of Vegetables
To study the effect of pH on dietary fiber components of vegetables, beans, cauliflower, potatoes, peas and corn were cooked in buffers of pH 2, 4, 6, and 10. Water-soluble pectin and hemicellulose, water-insoluble pectin and hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin were quantitated in raw, cooked vegetables and cooking medium. Tenderness and pH of raw and cooked vegetables were determined. Texture varied with cooking medium. Cooked vegetables were most firm at pH 4 and softest at pH 10. Dietary components found in cooking medium reflected these textural changes. Vegetables which showed greater pH effects exhibited greater changes in fiber components.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73821/1/j.1365-2621.1984.tb13237.x.pd
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