2,576 research outputs found
Genetic diversity of the rain tree (Albizia saman) in Colombian seasonally dry tropical forest for informing conservation and restoration interventions
Albizia saman is a multipurpose tree species of seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) of Mesoamerica and northern South America typically cultivated in silvopastoral and other agroforestry systems around the world, a trend that is bound to increase in light of multimillion hectare commitments for forest and landscape restoration. The effective conservation and sustainable use of A. saman requires detailed knowledge of its genetic diversity across its native distribution range of which surprisingly little is known to date. We assessed the genetic diversity and structure of A.saman across twelve representative locations of SDTF in Colombia, and how they may have been shaped by past climatic changes and human influence. We found four different genetic groups which may be the result of differentiation due to isolation of populations in preglacial times. The current distribution and mixture of genetic groups across STDF fragments we observed might be the result of range expansion of SDTFs during the last glacial period followed by range contraction during the Holocene and human‐influenced movement of germplasm associated with cattle ranching. Despite the fragmented state of the presumed natural A. saman stands we sampled, we did not find any signs of inbreeding, suggesting that gene flow is not jeopardized in humanized landscapes. However, further research is needed to assess potential deleterious effects of fragmentation on progeny. Climate change is not expected to seriously threaten the in situ persistence of A. saman populations and might present opportunities for future range expansion. However, the sourcing of germplasm for tree planting activities needs to be aligned with the genetic affinity of reference populations across the distribution of Colombian SDTFs. We identify priority source populations for in situ conservation based on their high genetic diversity, lack or limited signs of admixture, and/or genetic uniqueness
Taylor dispersion of gyrotactic swimming micro-organisms in a linear flow
The theory of generalized Taylor dispersion for suspensions of Brownian particles is developed to study the dispersion of gyrotactic swimming micro-organisms in a linear shear flow. Such creatures are bottom-heavy and experience a gravitational torque which acts to right them when they are tipped away from the vertical. They also suffer a net viscous torque in the presence of a local vorticity field. The orientation of the cells is intrinsically random but the balance of the two torques results in a bias toward a preferred swimming direction. The micro-organisms are sufficiently large that Brownian motion is negligible but their random swimming across streamlines results in a mean velocity together with diffusion. As an example, we consider the case of vertical shear flow and calculate the diffusion coefficients for a suspension of the alga <i>Chlamydomonas nivalis</i>. This rational derivation is compared with earlier approximations for the diffusivity
Balancing torques in membrane-mediated interactions: Exact results and numerical illustrations
Torques on interfaces can be described by a divergence-free tensor which is
fully encoded in the geometry. This tensor consists of two terms, one
originating in the couple of the stress, the other capturing an intrinsic
contribution due to curvature. In analogy to the description of forces in terms
of a stress tensor, the torque on a particle can be expressed as a line
integral along any contour surrounding the particle. Interactions between
particles mediated by a fluid membrane are studied within this framework. In
particular, torque balance places a strong constraint on the shape of the
membrane. Symmetric two-particle configurations admit simple analytical
expressions which are valid in the fully nonlinear regime; in particular, the
problem may be solved exactly in the case of two membrane-bound parallel
cylinders. This apparently simple system provides some flavor of the remarkably
subtle nonlinear behavior associated with membrane-mediated interactions.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, REVTeX4 style. The Gaussian curvature term was
included in the membrane Hamiltonian; section II.B was rephrased to smoothen
the flow of presentatio
Mach's principle: Exact frame-dragging via gravitomagnetism in perturbed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes with
We show that the dragging of the axis directions of local inertial frames by
a weighted average of the energy currents in the universe is exact for all
linear perturbations of any Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe with K =
(+1, -1, 0) and of Einstein's static closed universe. This includes FRW
universes which are arbitrarily close to the Milne Universe, which is empty,
and to the de Sitter universe. Hence the postulate formulated by E. Mach about
the physical cause for the time-evolution of the axis directions of inertial
frames is shown to hold in cosmological General Relativity for linear
perturbations. The time-evolution of axis directions of local inertial frames
(relative to given local fiducial axes) is given experimentally by the
precession angular velocity of gyroscopes, which in turn is given by the
operational definition of the gravitomagnetic field. The gravitomagnetic field
is caused by cosmological energy currents via the momentum constraint. This
equation for cosmological gravitomagnetism is analogous to Ampere's law, but it
holds also for time-dependent situtations. In the solution for an open universe
the 1/r^2-force of Ampere is replaced by a Yukawa force which is of identical
form for FRW backgrounds with The scale of the exponential
cutoff is the H-dot radius, where H is the Hubble rate, and dot is the
derivative with respect to cosmic time. Analogous results hold for energy
currents in a closed FRW universe, K = +1, and in Einstein's closed static
universe.Comment: 23 pages, no figures. Final published version. Additional material in
Secs. I.A, I.J, III, V.H. Additional reference
Autocatalytic amplification of Alzheimer-associated Aβ42 peptide aggregation in human cerebrospinal fluid
Alzheimer’s disease is linked to amyloid β (Aβ) peptide aggregation in the brain, and a
detailed understanding of the molecular mechanism of Aβ aggregation may lead to improved
diagnostics and therapeutics. While previous studies have been performed in pure buffer, we
approach the mechanism in vivo using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We investigated the
aggregation mechanism of Aβ42 in human CSF through kinetic experiments at several Aβ42
monomer concentrations (0.8–10 µM). The data were subjected to global kinetic analysis and
found consistent with an aggregation mechanism involving secondary nucleation of monomers on the fibril surface. A mechanism only including primary nucleation was ruled out. We
find that the aggregation process is composed of the same microscopic steps in CSF as in
pure buffer, but the rate constant of secondary nucleation is decreased. Most importantly, the
autocatalytic amplification of aggregate number through catalysis on the fibril surface is
prevalent also in CSF
Effect of pulsed magnetic field pre-treatment of AISI 52100 steel on the coefficient of sliding friction and wear in pin-on-disk tests
Disc specimens manufactured from commercial bearing rollers (AISI 52100 steel, 62–63 HRC) in initial state and after pre-treatment by pulsed magnetic field (PMF) with a magnetic field strength of 1–7 MA/m were tested with sunflower oil using pin-on-disk apparatus. According to the obtained results the treatment causes a reduction in the coefficient of friction and wear. To explain the results, nano- and microhardness tests as well as optical and atomic force microscopy were used. Reasons of the effect of PMF on the friction and wear were discussed.Peer reviewe
Anti-de Sitter curvature radius constrained by quasars in brane-world scenarios
This paper is intended to investigate the luminosity due to accretion of gas
in supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the center of quasars, using a
brane-world scenario naturally endowed with extra dimensions, whereon theories
formulated introduce corrections in the field equations at high energies. SMBHs
possess the necessary highly energetic environment for the introduction of
these corrections, which are shown to produce small deviations in all SMBH
properties and, consequentely, corrections in the accretion theory that
supports quasars radiative processes. The radiative flux observed from quasars
indicates these deviations, from which the magnitude of the AdS bulk
curvature radius, and consequently the extra dimension compactification radius
is estimated.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, Eq.(2) and (3) expanded, and comments thereon
update
Kinetic Inductance and Penetration Depth of Thin Superconducting Films Measured by THz Pulse Spectroscopy
We measure the transmission of THz pulses through thin films of YBCO at
temperatures between 10K and 300K. The pulses possess a useable bandwidth
extending from 0.1 -- 1.5 THz (3.3 cm^-1 -- 50 cm^-1). Below T_c we observe
pulse reshaping caused by the kinetic inductance of the superconducting charge
carriers. From transmission data, we extract values of the London penetration
depth as a function of temperature, and find that it agrees well with a
functional form (\lambda(0)/\lambda(T))^2 = 1 - (T/T_c)^{\alpha}, where
\lambda(0) = 148 nm, and \alpha = 2. *****Figures available upon request*****Comment: 7 Pages, LaTe
Patterns of isozyme variation in relation to population size, isolation, and phytogeographic history in royal catchfly
The distribution of genetic variation within and among plant populations is influenced by both contemporary and historical factors. I used isozyme analysis of band phenotypes to examine genetic structure in the rare prairie forb Silene regia. Relationships between current-day population size, isolation, and phenotypic variation were assessed for 18 populations in two regions with differing postglacial history. Western populations from unglaciated southern Missouri and Arkansas were more genetically diverse based on the Shannon-Weaver index (H) and a polymorphic index than were more eastern populations. These differences may be due to loss of variation with repeated founding of new populations in previously glaciated sites in Indiana and Ohio. Within the western region, population size was not significantly correlated with genetic variation. In the east, size was correlated with Shannon-Weaver diversity. There was no relationship between variation and isolation in either region, but eastern populations were slightly more differentiated. Greater among-population differentiation and the demonstrated connection between population size and variation in the eastern sites may reflect lower levels of interpopulation gene flow in the fragmented remnant prairies of Indiana and Ohio
MIR376A is a regulator of starvation-induced autophagy
Background: Autophagy is a vesicular trafficking process responsible for the degradation of long-lived, misfolded or abnormal proteins, as well as damaged or surplus organelles. Abnormalities of the autophagic activity may result in the accumulation of protein aggregates, organelle dysfunction, and autophagy disorders were associated with various diseases. Hence, mechanisms of autophagy regulation are under exploration.
Methods: Over-expression of hsa-miR-376a1 (shortly MIR376A) was performed to evaluate its effects on autophagy. Autophagy-related targets of the miRNA were predicted using Microcosm Targets and MIRanda bioinformatics tools and experimentally validated. Endogenous miRNA was blocked using antagomirs and the effects on target expression and autophagy were analyzed. Luciferase tests were performed to confirm that 3’ UTR sequences in target genes were functional. Differential expression of MIR376A and the related MIR376B was compared using TaqMan quantitative PCR.
Results: Here, we demonstrated that, a microRNA (miRNA) from the DlkI/Gtl2 gene cluster, MIR376A, played an important role in autophagy regulation. We showed that, amino acid and serum starvation-induced autophagy was blocked by MIR376A overexpression in MCF-7 and Huh-7 cells. MIR376A shared the same seed sequence and had overlapping targets with MIR376B, and similarly blocked the expression of key autophagy proteins ATG4C and BECN1 (Beclin 1). Indeed, 3’ UTR sequences in the mRNA of these autophagy proteins were responsive to MIR376A in luciferase assays. Antagomir tests showed that, endogenous MIR376A was participating to the control of ATG4C and BECN1 transcript and protein levels. Moreover, blockage of endogenous MIR376A accelerated starvation-induced autophagic activity. Interestingly, MIR376A and MIR376B levels were increased with different kinetics in response to starvation stress and tissue-specific level differences were also observed, pointing out to an overlapping but miRNA-specific biological role.
Conclusions: Our findings underline the importance of miRNAs encoded by the DlkI/Gtl2 gene cluster in stress-response control mechanisms, and introduce MIR376A as a new regulator of autophagy
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