Fungal association and root morphology shift stepwise during ontogenesis of orchid Cremastra appendiculata towards autotrophic nutrition

The chlorophyllous, terrestrial orchid Cremastra appendiculata from East Asia is unique concerning its fungal mycorrhiza partners. The initially mycoheterotrophic protocorms exploit rather specialized non-rhizoctonia saprotrophic Psathyrellaceae. Adult individuals of this orchid species are either linked to Psathyrellaceae being partially mycoheterotrophic or form mycorrhiza with fungi of the ubiquitous saprotrophic rhizoctonia group. This study provides new insights on nutrition mode, subterranean morphology and fungal partners across different life stages of C. appendiculata. We compared different development stages of C. appendiculata to surrounding autotrophic reference plants based on multi-element natural abundance stable isotope analyses (δ(13)C, δ(15)N, δ(2)H, δ(18)O) and total N concentrations. Site- and sampling-time-independent enrichment factors of stable isotopes were used to reveal trophic strategies. We determined mycorrhizal fungi of C. appendiculata protocorm, seedling and adult samples using high-throughput DNA sequencing. We identified saprotrophic non-rhizoctonia Psathyrellaceae as dominant mycorrhizal fungi in protocorm and seedling rhizomes. In contrast, the roots of seedlings and mature C. appendiculata were mainly colonized with fungi belonging to the polyphyletic assembly of rhizoctonia (Ceratobasidium, Thanatephorus and Serendipitaceae). Mature C. appendiculata did not differ in isotopic signature from autotrophic reference plants suggesting a fully autotrophic nutrition mode. Characteristic of orchid specimens entirely relying on fungal nutrition, C. appendiculata protocorms were enriched in (15)N, (13)C and (2)H compared to reference plants. Seedlings showed an intermediate isotopic signature, underpinning the differences in the fungal community depending on their subterranean morphology. In contrast to the suggestion that C. appendiculata is a partially mycoheterotrophic orchid species, we provide novel evidence that mature C. appendiculata with rhizoctonia mycobionts can be entirely autotrophic. Besides an environmentally driven variability among populations, we suggest high within-individual flexibility in nutrition and mycobionts of C. appendiculata, which is subject to the ontogenetic development stage

The Local Bubble as a cosmic-ray isotropizer

Abstract. The arrival directions of energetic positrons and electrons convey fundamental information on their origin. PAMELA, and more recently AMS, have measured an anomalous population of energetic positrons, which cannot be explained in standard cosmic ray propagation models. Two possible sources have been extensively discussed: astrophysical point sources, such as local pulsars, and dark matter. In the first case an anisotropy in the flux of energetic particles is expected. Reliable predictions of the level of anisotropy need to account for the Sun's peculiar environment: the Sun resides in the so-called Local Bubble, an underdense region, embedded in a dense wall of molecular clouds. This structure is expected to act as an efficient cosmic-ray isotropizer. Using realistic assumptions on the impact of the Local Bubble on cosmic-ray diffusion, we demonstrate that the Local Bubble can indeed dilute the directional information of energetic positrons and electrons

Lucien Hervé, from details to visions

Lucien Hervé (1910-2007) is one of the most important artists of architectural photography, best known as the photographer of Le Corbusier, though he travelled all around Europe and the world to work for other architects like Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, Oscar Niemeyer, Lucio Costa, Aalvar Alto, Aulis Blomstedt, etc. “The role of the architectural photography is to reveal the work and to remain faithful, with humility, to its creator” (Lucien Hervé) Did Lucien Hervé –working on the commissions– act according to these principles? What did his clients expect him to do? This paper wishes to reveal the details of his commissions (conditions, expectations) using so far unpublished letters from the artist’s archive. Some architects precalculate the ideal weather conditions, others draw sketches to precise the optimal angles or criticise the tone of these photos. Hervé creates big, analytic series on historical and new constructions and creates a dialogue between them. He becomes a self-taught specialist in architecture and urbanism, takes part in CIAM events, organises exhibitions based on the le corbusian theories, composes books and participates in the training of architect students. Architecture was a conviction for him, but it also became a tool in the service of a deeply human message

A new and efficient approach to time-dependent density-functional perturbation theory for optical spectroscopy

Using a super-operator formulation of linearized time-dependent density-functional theory, the dynamical polarizability of a system of interacting electrons is given a matrix continued-fraction representation whose coefficients can be obtained from the non-symmetric block-Lanczos method. The resulting algorithm allows for the calculation of the {\em full spectrum} of a system with a computational workload which is only a few times larger than that needed for {\em static} polarizabilities within time-independent density-functional perturbation theory. The method is demonstrated with the calculation of the spectrum of benzene, and prospects for its application to the large-scale calculation of optical spectra are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

EXOGEN ultrasound bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing: a NICE medical technology guidance

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A routine part of the process for developing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) medical technologies guidance is a submission of clinical and economic evidence by the technology manufacturer. The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium External Assessment Centre (EAC; a consortium of the University of Birmingham and Brunel University) independently appraised the submission on the EXOGEN bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing. This article is an overview of the original evidence submitted, the EAC’s findings, and the final NICE guidance issued.The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium is funded by NICE to act as an External Assessment Centre for the Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme

Measuring Gravito-magnetic Effects by Multi Ring-Laser Gyroscope

We propose an under-ground experiment to detect the general relativistic effects due to the curvature of space-time around the Earth (de Sitter effect) and to rotation of the planet (dragging of the inertial frames or Lense-Thirring effect). It is based on the comparison between the IERS value of the Earth rotation vector and corresponding measurements obtained by a tri-axial laser detector of rotation. The proposed detector consists of six large ring-lasers arranged along three orthogonal axes. In about two years of data taking, the 1% sensitivity required for the measurement of the Lense-Thirring drag can be reached with square rings of 6 $m$ side, assuming a shot noise limited sensitivity ($20 prad/s/\sqrt{Hz}$). The multi-gyros system, composed of rings whose planes are perpendicular to one or the other of three orthogonal axes, can be built in several ways. Here, we consider cubic and octahedron structures. The symmetries of the proposed configurations provide mathematical relations that can be used to study the stability of the scale factors, the relative orientations or the ring-laser planes, very important to get rid of systematics in long-term measurements, which are required in order to determine the relativistic effects.Comment: 24 pages, 26 Postscript figure