Explaining productivity in a poor productivity region

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. Productivity is the preferred measure of firm-level efficiency and perceived to reflect resource use rates. Semi-structured interviews with restaurant managers in a tourism-dominated low productivity rural area reveal that they are motivated to supply products that they believe in and to sustain a quality of life that meets their needs rather than striving to achieve higher productivity. Pricing strategies, managerial objectives and local market characteristics are found to radically influence the area’s productivity value. An area’s productivity value might not be an indicator of resource use rates or productive efficiency, and could instead reflect resident managers’ motivations towards money and the presence of opportunities to achieve scale economies

Cortactin and phagocytosis in isolated Sertoli cells

BACKGROUND: Cortactin, an actin binding protein, has been associated with Sertoli cell ectoplasmic specializations in vivo, based on its immunolocalization around the heads of elongated spermatids, but not previously identified in isolated Sertoli cells. In an in vitro model of Sertoli cell-spermatid binding, cortactin was identified around debris and dead germ cells. Based on this observation, we hypothesized that this actin binding protein may be associated with a non-junction-related physiological function, such as phagocytosis. The purpose of this study was to identify the presence and distribution of cortactin in isolated rat Sertoli cells active in phagocytic activity following the addition of 0.8 μm latex beads. RESULTS: Sertoli cell monocultures were incubated with or without follicle stimulating hormone (FSH; 0.1 μg/ml) in the presence or absence of cytochalasin D (2 μM), as an actin disrupter. Cortactin was identified by standard immunostaining with anti-cortactin, clone 4F11 (Upstate) after incubation times of 15 min, 2 hr, and 24 hr with or without beads. Cells exposed to no hormone and no beads appeared to have a ubiquitous distribution of cortactin throughout the cytoplasm. In the presence of cytochalasin D, cortactin immunostaining was punctate and distributed in a pattern similar to that reported for actin in cells exposed to cytochalasin D. Sertoli cells not exposed to FSH, but activated with beads, did not show cortactin immunostaining around the phagocytized beads at any of the time periods. FSH exposure did not alter the distribution of cortactin within Sertoli cells, even when phagocytic activity was upregulated by the presence of beads. CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest cortactin is not associated with peripheralized actin at junctional or phagocytic sites. Further studies are necessary to clarify the role of cortactin in Sertoli cells

Use-Exposure Relationships of Pesticides for Aquatic Risk Assessment

Field-scale environmental models have been widely used in aquatic exposure assessments of pesticides. Those models usually require a large set of input parameters and separate simulations for each pesticide in evaluation. In this study, a simple use-exposure relationship is developed based on regression analysis of stochastic simulation results generated from the Pesticide Root-Zone Model (PRZM). The developed mathematical relationship estimates edge-of-field peak concentrations of pesticides from aerobic soil metabolism half-life (AERO), organic carbon-normalized soil sorption coefficient (KOC), and application rate (RATE). In a case study of California crop scenarios, the relationships explained 90–95% of the variances in the peak concentrations of dissolved pesticides as predicted by PRZM simulations for a 30-year period. KOC was identified as the governing parameter in determining the relative magnitudes of pesticide exposures in a given crop scenario. The results of model application also indicated that the effects of chemical fate processes such as partitioning and degradation on pesticide exposure were similar among crop scenarios, while the cross-scenario variations were mainly associated with the landscape characteristics, such as organic carbon contents and curve numbers. With a minimum set of input data, the use-exposure relationships proposed in this study could be used in screening procedures for potential water quality impacts from the off-site movement of pesticides

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Dynamics of HIV-1 Assembly and Release

Assembly and release of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) occur at the plasma membrane of infected cells and are driven by the Gag polyprotein. Previous studies analyzed viral morphogenesis using biochemical methods and static images, while dynamic and kinetic information has been lacking until very recently. Using a combination of wide-field and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we have investigated the assembly and release of fluorescently labeled HIV-1 at the plasma membrane of living cells with high time resolution. Gag assembled into discrete clusters corresponding to single virions. Formation of multiple particles from the same site was rarely observed. Using a photoconvertible fluorescent protein fused to Gag, we determined that assembly was nucleated preferentially by Gag molecules that had recently attached to the plasma membrane or arrived directly from the cytosol. Both membrane-bound and cytosol derived Gag polyproteins contributed to the growing bud. After their initial appearance, assembly sites accumulated at the plasma membrane of individual cells over 1–2 hours. Assembly kinetics were rapid: the number of Gag molecules at a budding site increased, following a saturating exponential with a rate constant of ∼5×10−3 s−1, corresponding to 8–9 min for 90% completion of assembly for a single virion. Release of extracellular particles was observed at ∼1,500±700 s after the onset of assembly. The ability of the virus to recruit components of the cellular ESCRT machinery or to undergo proteolytic maturation, or the absence of Vpu did not significantly alter the assembly kinetics

Altitudinal variation in soil organic carbon stock in coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests in Garhwal Himalaya

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Himalayan zones, with dense forest vegetation, cover a fifth part of India and store a third part of the country reserves of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the details of altitudinal distribution of these carbon stocks, which are vulnerable to forest management and climate change impacts, are not well known.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This article reports the results of measuring the stocks of SOC along altitudinal gradients. The study was carried out in the coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests of Garhwal Himalaya. The stocks of SOC were found to be decreasing with altitude: from 185.6 to 160.8 t C ha^-1and from 141.6 to 124.8 t C ha^-1in temperature (<it>Quercus leucotrichophora</it>) and subtropical (<it>Pinus roxburghii</it>) forests, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study lead to conclusion that the ability of soil to stabilize soil organic matter depends negatively on altitude and call for comprehensive theoretical explanation</p

Major Role of Microbes in Carbon Fluxes during Austral Winter in the Southern Drake Passage

Carbon cycling in Southern Ocean is a major issue in climate change, hence the need to understand the role of biota in the regulation of carbon fixation and cycling. Southern Ocean is a heterogeneous system, characterized by a strong seasonality, due to long dark winter. Yet, currently little is known about biogeochemical dynamics during this season, particularly in the deeper part of the ocean. We studied bacterial communities and processes in summer and winter cruises in the southern Drake Passage. Here we show that in winter, when the primary production is greatly reduced, Bacteria and Archaea become the major producers of biogenic particles, at the expense of dissolved organic carbon drawdown. Heterotrophic production and chemoautotrophic CO2 fixation rates were substantial, also in deep water, and bacterial populations were controlled by protists and viruses. A dynamic food web is also consistent with the observed temporal and spatial variations in archaeal and bacterial communities that might exploit various niches. Thus, Southern Ocean microbial loop may substantially maintain a wintertime food web and system respiration at the expense of summer produced DOC as well as regenerate nutrients and iron. Our findings have important implications for Southern Ocean ecosystem functioning and carbon cycle and its manipulation by iron enrichment to achieve net sequestration of atmospheric CO2

The potential of high-frequency profiling to assess vertical and seasonal patterns of phytoplankton dynamics in lakes: An extension of the Plankton Ecology Group (PEG) model

The use of high-frequency sensors on profiling buoys to investigate physical, chemical, and biological processes in lakes is increasing rapidly. Profiling buoys with automated winches and sensors that collect high-frequency chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) profiles in 11 lakes in the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) allowed the study of the vertical and temporal distribution of ChlF, including the formation of subsurface chlorophyll maxima (SSCM). The effectiveness of 3 methods for sampling phytoplankton distributions in lakes, including (1) manual profiles, (2) single-depth buoys, and (3) profiling buoys were assessed. High-frequency ChlF surface data and profiles were compared to predictions from the Plankton Ecology Group (PEG) model. The depth-integrated ChlF dynamics measured by the profiling buoy data revealed a greater complexity that neither conventional sampling nor the generalized PEG model captured. Conventional sampling techniques would have missed SSCM in 7 of 11 study lakes. Although surface-only ChlF data underestimated average water column ChlF, at times by nearly 2-fold in 4 of the lakes, overall there was a remarkable similarity between surface and mean water column data. Contrary to the PEG model&rsquo;s proposed negligible role for physical control of phytoplankton during the growing season, thermal structure and light availability were closely associated with ChlF seasonal depth distribution. Thus, an extension of the PEG model is proposed, with a new conceptual framework that explicitly includes physical metrics to better predict SSCM formation in lakes and highlight when profiling buoys are especially informative