393 research outputs found
Histochemical and enzymatic differences in skeletal muscle from Svalbard reindeer during the summer and winter
Enzyme activities and fibre properties in four muscles from Svalbard reindeer, collected during the summer, have been compared with corresponding muscles during the winter. In two muscles, gluteobiceps and semimembranosus, oxidative capacity is higher in winter than in summer; in the other two muscles, semitendinosus and longissimus dorsi, there is no difference with time of the year. The capacity to oxidize fatty acids is low in winter compared with summer, especially in semitendinosus and longissimus. These changes are similar in both sexes. Histochemical studies of the three main fibre types, I (BetaR), HA (°cR) and IIB (aW), from the four muscles show that in male reindeers the muscle fibres are narrower at the end of the winter season than during the summer. The decrease of muscle tissue amounts to about one third of the total volume (33%), of which I accounts for 5%, IIA for 2% and IIB for 26%. The results indicate that the Svalbard reindeer use lean tissue in general, and IIB fibres in particular, in order to survive the hostile arctic winter period at Svalbard.Histokemiska och enzymatiska skillnader i skelettmuskel från Svalbardren mellan sommar och vinter.Abstract in Swedish / Sammandrag: Enzymaktiviteter och fiberegenskaper i fyra av Svalbardrenens muskler, insamlade under sommaren, har jåmforts med motsvarande muskler insamlade under vintern. I två muskler, gluteobiceps och semimembranosus, år oxidativa kapaciteten hogre under vintern an under sommaren; i de andra två musklerna, semitendinosus och longissimus dorsi, foreligger ingen skillnad i detta avseende. Kapaciteten att oxidera fettsyror år låg under vintern jåmfort med sommaren, speciellt i semitendinosus och longissimus. Inga konsskillnader foreligger i dessa avseenden. Histokemiska studier av de tre huvudtyperna av muskelfibrer, fiR (I), ocR (IIA) och (IIB), från de fyra musklerna visar att hos handjuren år fibrerna tunnare vid slutet av vintersåsongen jåmfort med sommaren. Denna minskning i muskelvåvnad uppgår till en tredjedel av totala volymen (33%). Harav svarar ftR for 5%, ^R tor 2% och for 26%. Resultaten antyder att Svalbardrenen anvånder muskelvåvnad, speciellt QcW fibrer, for att overleva undri den hårda arktiska vinterperioden på Svalbard
Transitions between Metastable Long-Run Consumption Behaviors in a Stochastic Peer-Driven Consumer Network
We study behavioral change - as a transition between coexisting attractors - in the context of a stochastic, non-linear consumption model with interdependent agents. Relying on the indirect approach to the analysis of a stochastic dynamic system, and employing a mix of analytical, numerical and graphical techniques, we identify conditions under which such transitions are likely to occur. The stochastic analysis depends crucially on the stochastic sensitivity function technique as it can be applied to the stochastic analoga of closed invariant curves [14], [1]. We find that in a moderate noise environment increased peer influence actually reduces the complexity of observable long-run consumer behavior. © 2021 American Institute of Mathematical Sciences. All rights reserved.Acknowledgments. Tatyana Perevalova and Jochen Jungeilges gratefully acknowledge research funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Ural Mathematical Center project No. 075-02-2021-1387)
Thermodynamic Properties near the onset of Loop-Current Order in high- superconducting cuprates
We have performed large-scale Monte Carlo simulations on a two-dimensional
generalized Ashkin-Teller model to calculate the thermodynamic properties in
the critical region near its transitions. The Ashkin-Teller model has a pair of
Ising spins at each site which interact with neighboring spins through
pair-wise and 4-spin interactions. The model represents the interactions
between orbital current loops in -plaquettes of high- cuprates,
which order with a staggered magnetization \Mso inside each unit-cell in the
underdoped region of the phase diagram below a temperature which
depends on doping. The pair of Ising spins per unit-cell represent the
directions of the currents in the links of the current loops. The
generalizations are the inclusion of anisotropy in the pair-wise nearest
neighbor current-current couplings consistent with the symmetries of a square
lattice and the next nearest neighbor pair-wise couplings. We use the Binder
cumulant to estimate the correlation length exponent and the order
parameter exponent . Our principal results are that in a range of
parameters, the Ashkin-Teller model as well as its generalization has an order
parameter susceptibility which diverges as and an order parameter
below . Importantly, however, there is no divergence in the specific heat.
This puts the properties of the model in accord with the experimental results
in the underdoped cuprates. We also calculate the magnitude of the "bump" in
the specific heat in the critical region to put limits on its observability.
Finally, we show that the staggered magnetization couples to the uniform
magnetization such that the latter has a weak singularity at and
also displays a wide critical region, also in accord with recent experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Spatiotemporal dynamics in a spatial plankton system
In this paper, we investigate the complex dynamics of a spatial plankton-fish
system with Holling type III functional responses. We have carried out the
analytical study for both one and two dimensional system in details and found
out a condition for diffusive instability of a locally stable equilibrium.
Furthermore, we present a theoretical analysis of processes of pattern
formation that involves organism distribution and their interaction of
spatially distributed population with local diffusion. The results of numerical
simulations reveal that, on increasing the value of the fish predation rates,
the sequences spots spot-stripe mixtures
stripes hole-stripe mixtures holes wave pattern is
observed. Our study shows that the spatially extended model system has not only
more complex dynamic patterns in the space, but also has spiral waves.Comment: Published Pape
Hybridization of Atlantic puffins in the Arctic coincides with 20th-century climate change
The Arctic is experiencingthe fastest rates of globalwarming,leadingto shiftsin the distributionof its biotaandincreasingthe potentialfor hybridization. However, genomicevidenceof recenthybridization events in theArctic remainsunexpectedlyrare. Here, we use whole-genomesequencingof contemporary and 122-year-oldhistoricalspecimensto investigate the originof an Arctic hybridpopulation of Atlanticpuffins(Fr aterculaarctica)on Bjørnøya, Norway. We show that the hybridization between the High Arctic, large-bodiedsubspeciesF. a. naumanniand the temperate, smaller-sizedsubspeciesF. a. arcticabeganas recentlyas six generationsagodue to an unexpectedsouthward rangeexpansionofF. a. naumanni.Moreover, we find a significanttemporalloss of geneticdiversityacross Arctic and temperate puffinpopulations.Our observationsprovide compellinggenomicevidenceof the impacts of recentdistributionalshiftsand loss of diversityin Arctic communitiesduringthe 20th century.publishedVersio
The Effects of Climate Change on Harp Seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus)
Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) have evolved life history strategies to exploit seasonal sea ice as a breeding platform. As such, individuals are prepared to deal with fluctuations in the quantity and quality of ice in their breeding areas. It remains unclear, however, how shifts in climate may affect seal populations. The present study assesses the effects of climate change on harp seals through three linked analyses. First, we tested the effects of short-term climate variability on young-of-the year harp seal mortality using a linear regression of sea ice cover in the Gulf of St. Lawrence against stranding rates of dead harp seals in the region during 1992 to 2010. A similar regression of stranding rates and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index values was also conducted. These analyses revealed negative correlations between both ice cover and NAO conditions and seal mortality, indicating that lighter ice cover and lower NAO values result in higher mortality. A retrospective cross-correlation analysis of NAO conditions and sea ice cover from 1978 to 2011 revealed that NAO-related changes in sea ice may have contributed to the depletion of seals on the east coast of Canada during 1950 to 1972, and to their recovery during 1973 to 2000. This historical retrospective also reveals opposite links between neonatal mortality in harp seals in the Northeast Atlantic and NAO phase. Finally, an assessment of the long-term trends in sea ice cover in the breeding regions of harp seals across the entire North Atlantic during 1979 through 2011 using multiple linear regression models and mixed effects linear regression models revealed that sea ice cover in all harp seal breeding regions has been declining by as much as 6 percent per decade over the time series of available satellite data
Characterising B cell numbers and memory B cells in HIV infected and uninfected Malawian adults
BACKGROUND: Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease disrupts B cell populations causing reduced memory and reduced naïve resting B cells leading to increases in specific co-infections and impaired responses to vaccines. To what extent antiretroviral treatment reverses these changes in an African population is uncertain. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed. We recruited HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected Malawian adults both on and off antiretroviral therapy attending the Queen Elizabeth Central hospital in Malawi. Using flow cytometry, we enumerated B cells and characterized memory B cells and compared these measurements by the different recruitment groups. RESULTS: Overall 64 participants were recruited - 20 HIV uninfected (HIV-), 30 HIV infected ART naïve (HIV+N) and 14 HIV-infected ART treated (HIV+T). ART treatment had been taken for a median of 33 months (Range 12-60 months). Compared to HIV- the HIV+N adults had low absolute number of naïve resting B cells (111 vs. 180 cells/μl p = 0.008); reduced memory B cells (27 vs. 51 cells/μl p = 0.0008). The HIV+T adults had B-cell numbers similar to HIV- except for memory B cells that remained significantly lower (30 vs. 51 cells/μl p = 0.02). In the HIV+N group we did not find an association between CD4 count and B cell numbers. CONCLUSIONS: HIV infected Malawian adults have abnormal B-cell numbers. Individuals treated with ART show a return to normal in B-cell numbers but a persistent deficit in the memory subset is noted. This has important implications for long term susceptibility to co-infections and should be evaluated further in a larger cohort study
Porewater methane transport within the gas vesicles of diurnally migrating Chaoborus spp.: An energetic advantage
We show that diurnally migrating Chaoborus sp. (phantom midge larvae), which can be highly abundant in eutrophic lakes with anoxic bottom, utilises sediment methane to inflate their tracheal sacs, which provides positive buoyancy to aid vertical migration. This process also effectively transports sediment methane bypassing oxidation to the upper water column, adding to the total methane outflux to the atmosphere
High Resolution MEMS Accelerometers to Estimate VO2 and Compare Running Mechanics between Highly Trained Inter-Collegiate and Untrained Runners
BACKGROUND: The purposes of this study were to determine the validity and reliability of high resolution accelerometers (HRA) relative to VO(2) and speed, and compare putative differences in HRA signal between trained (T) and untrained (UT) runners during treadmill locomotion. METHODOLOGY: Runners performed 2 incremental VO(2max) trials while wearing HRA. RMS of high frequency signal from three axes (VT, ML, AP) and the Euclidean resultant (RES) were compared to VO(2) to determine validity and reliability. Additionally, axial rms relative to speed, and ratio of axial accelerations to RES were compared between T and UT to determine if differences in running mechanics could be identified between the two groups. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Regression of RES was strongly related to VO(2), but T was different than UT (r = 0.96 vs 0.92; p<.001) for walking and running. During walking, only the ratio of ML and AP to RES were different between groups. For running, nearly all acceleration parameters were lower for T than UT, the exception being ratio of VT to RES, which was higher in T than UT. All of these differences during running were despite higher VO(2), O(2) cost, and lower RER in T vs UT, which resulted in no significant difference in energy expenditure between groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNFICANCE: These results indicate that HRA can accurately and reliably estimate VO(2) during treadmill locomotion, but differences exist between T and UT that should be considered when estimating energy expenditure. Differences in running mechanics between T and UT were identified, yet the importance of these differences remains to be determined
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