6,499 research outputs found
Mycorrhizal co-invasion and novel interactions depend on neighborhood context
© 2015 by the Ecological Society of America. Biological invasions are a rapidly increasing driver of global change, yet fundamental gaps remain in our understanding of the factors determining the success or extent of invasions. For example, although most woody plant species depend on belowground mutualists such as mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the relative importance of these mutualisms in conferring invasion success is unresolved. Here, we describe how neighborhood context (identity of nearby tree species) affects the formation of belowground ectomycorrhizal partnerships between fungi and seedlings of a widespread invasive tree species, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir), in New Zealand.We found that the formation of mycorrhizal partnerships, the composition of the fungal species involved in these partnerships, and the origin of the fungi (co-invading or native to New Zealand) all depend on neighborhood context. Our data suggest that nearby ectomycorrhizal host trees act as both a reservoir of fungal inoculum and a carbon source for late-successional and native fungi. By facilitating mycorrhization of P. menziesii seedlings, adult trees may alleviate mycorrhizal limitation at the P. menziesii invasion front. These results highlight the importance of studying biological invasions across multiple ecological settings to understand establishment success and invasion speed
Developmental programming: rescuing disruptions in preovulatory follicle growth and steroidogenesis from prenatal testosterone disruption
Abstract
Background
Prenatal testosterone (T) excess from days 30-90 of gestation disrupts gonadotropin surge and ovarian follicular dynamics and induces insulin resistance and functional hyperandrogenism in sheep. T treatment from days 60-90 of gestation produces a milder phenotype, albeit with reduced fecundity. Using this milder phenotype, the aim of this study was to understand the relative postnatal contributions of androgen and insulin in mediating the prenatal T induced disruptions in ovarian follicular dynamics.
Methods
Four experimental groups were generated: 1) control (vehicle treatment), 2) prenatal T-treated (100 mg i.m. administration of T propionate twice weekly from days 60-90 of gestation), 3) prenatal T plus postnatal anti-androgen treated (daily oral dose of 15 mg/kg/day of flutamide beginning at 8 weeks of age) and 4) prenatal T and postnatal insulin sensitizer-treated (daily oral dose of 8 mg/day rosiglitazone beginning at 8 weeks of age). Follicular response to a controlled ovarian stimulation protocol was tested during their third breeding season. Main outcome measures included the determination of number and size of ovarian follicles and intrafollicular concentrations of steroids.
Results
At the end of the controlled ovarian stimulation, the number of follicles approaching ovulatory size (≥6 mm) were ~35 % lower in prenatal T-treated (6.5 ± 1.8) compared to controls (9.8 ± 2.0). Postnatal anti-androgen (10.3 ± 1.9), but not insulin sensitizer (5.0 ± 0.9), treatment prevented this decrease. Preovulatory sized follicles in the T group had lower intrafollicular T, androstenedione, and progesterone compared to that of the control group. Intrafollicular steroid disruption was partially reversed solely by postnatal insulin sensitizer treatment.
Conclusions
These results demonstrate that the final preovulatory follicular growth and intrafollicular steroid milieu is impaired in prenatal T-treated females. The findings are consistent with the lower fertility rate reported earlier in these females. The finding that final follicle growth was fully rescued by postnatal anti-androgen treatment and intrafollicular steroid milieu partially by insulin sensitizer treatment suggest that both androgenic and insulin pathway disruptions contribute to the compromised follicular phenotype of prenatal T-treated females.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134597/1/13048_2016_Article_250.pd
Generalized Sagnac Effect
Experiments were conducted to study light propagation in a light waveguide
loop consisting of linearly and circularly moving segments. We found that any
segment of the loop contributes to the total phase difference between two
counterpropagating light beams in the loop. The contribution is proportional to
a product of the moving velocity v and the projection of the segment length
Deltal on the moving direction, Deltaphi=4pivDeltal/clambda. It is independent
of the type of motion and the refractive index of waveguides. The finding
includes the Sagnac effect of rotation as a special case and suggests a new
fiber optic sensor for measuring linear motion with nanoscale sensitivity.Comment: 3 pages (including 3 figures
Formulation of the Spinor Field in the Presence of a Minimal Length Based on the Quesne-Tkachuk Algebra
In 2006 Quesne and Tkachuk (J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. {\bf 39}, 10909, 2006)
introduced a (D+1)-dimensional -two-parameter Lorentz-covariant
deformed algebra which leads to a nonzero minimal length. In this work, the
Lagrangian formulation of the spinor field in a (3+1)-dimensional space-time
described by Quesne-Tkachuk Lorentz-covariant deformed algebra is studied in
the case where up to first order over deformation parameter
. It is shown that the modified Dirac equation which contains higher
order derivative of the wave function describes two massive particles with
different masses. We show that physically acceptable mass states can only exist
for . Applying the condition
to an electron, the upper bound for the isotropic
minimal length becomes about . This value is near to the
reduced Compton wavelength of the electron and is not incompatible with the results obtained for
the minimal length in previous investigations.Comment: 11 pages, no figur
Modifications of Hyaluronan Influence the Interaction with Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-4 (hBMP-4).
n this study, we have demonstrated that the modification of hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid; Hya) with sulfate groups led to different binding affinities for recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-4 (rhBMP-4). The high-sulfated sHya2.8 (average degree of sulfation (D.S.) 2.8) exhibited the tightest interaction with rhBMP-4, followed by the low-sulfated sHya1.0, as determined with surface plasmon resonance (SPR), ELISA, and competition ELISA. Unmodified Hya, chondroitin-sulfate (CS), and heparan sulfate (HS) showed significantly less binding affinity. SPR data could be fitted to an A + B = AB Langmuir model and binding constants were evaluated ranging from 13 pM to 5.45 microM. The interaction characteristics of the differentially sulfated Hyas are promising for the incorporation of these modified polysaccharides in bioengineered coatings of biomaterials for medical applications
Zeta Nonlocal Scalar Fields
We consider some nonlocal and nonpolynomial scalar field models originated
from p-adic string theory. Infinite number of spacetime derivatives is
determined by the operator valued Riemann zeta function through d'Alembertian
in its argument. Construction of the corresponding Lagrangians L starts
with the exact Lagrangian for effective field of p-adic tachyon
string, which is generalized replacing p by arbitrary natural number n and then
taken a sum of over all n. The corresponding new objects we
call zeta scalar strings. Some basic classical field properties of these fields
are obtained and presented in this paper. In particular, some solutions of the
equations of motion and their tachyon spectra are studied. Field theory with
Riemann zeta function dynamics is interesting in its own right as well.Comment: 13 pages, submitted to Theoretical and Mathematical Physic
Cosmology in Nonlinear Born-Infeld Scalar Field Theory With Negative Potentials
The cosmological evolution in Nonlinear Born-Infeld(hereafter NLBI) scalar
field theory with negative potentials was investigated. The cosmological
solutions in some important evolutive epoches were obtained. The different
evolutional behaviors between NLBI and linear(canonical) scalar field theory
have been presented. A notable characteristic is that NLBI scalar field behaves
as ordinary matter nearly the singularity while the linear scalar field behaves
as "stiff" matter. We find that in order to accommodate current observational
accelerating expanding universe the value of potential parameters and
must have an {\it upper bound}. We compare different cosmological
evolutions for different potential parameters .Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures, some references added, revised version for
Int.J.Mod.Phys.A, appeared in Int.J.Mod.Phys.
Emitter-site selective photoelectron circular dichroism of trifluoromethyloxirane
The angle-resolved inner-shell photoionization of R-trifluoromethyloxirane,
C3H3F3O, is studied experimentally and theoretically. Thereby, we investigate
the photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) for nearly-symmetric O 1s and F 1s
electronic orbitals, which are localized on different molecular sites. The
respective dichroic and angular distribution parameters
are measured at the photoelectron kinetic energies from 1 to 16 eV by using
variably polarized synchrotron radiation and velocity map imaging spectroscopy.
The present experimental results are in good agreement with the outcome of ab
initio electronic structure calculations. We report a sizable chiral asymmetry
of up to about 9% for the K-shell photoionization of oxygen atom.
For the individual fluorine atoms, the present calculations predict asymmetries
of similar size. However, being averaged over all fluorine atoms, it drops down
to about 2%, as also observed in the present experiment. Our study demonstrates
a strong emitter- and site-sensitivity of PECD in the one-photon inner-shell
ionization of this chiral molecule
Nonlocal Dynamics of p-Adic Strings
We consider the construction of Lagrangians that might be suitable for
describing the entire -adic sector of an adelic open scalar string. These
Lagrangians are constructed using the Lagrangian for -adic strings with an
arbitrary prime number . They contain space-time nonlocality because of the
d'Alembertian in argument of the Riemann zeta function. We present a brief
review and some new results.Comment: 8 page
On p-Adic Sector of Adelic String
We consider construction of Lagrangians which are candidates for p-adic
sector of an adelic open scalar string. Such Lagrangians have their origin in
Lagrangian for a single p-adic string and contain the Riemann zeta function
with the d'Alembertian in its argument. In particular, we present a new
Lagrangian obtained by an additive approach which takes into account all p-adic
Lagrangians. The very attractive feature of this new Lagrangian is that it is
an analytic function of the d'Alembertian. Investigation of the field theory
with Riemann zeta function is interesting in itself as well.Comment: 10 pages. Presented at the 2nd Conf. on SFT and Related Topics,
Moscow, April 2009. Submitted to Theor. Math. Phy
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