On the orientation and magnitude of the black hole spin in galactic nuclei

Massive black holes in galactic nuclei vary their mass M and spin vector J due to accretion. In this study we relax, for the first time, the assumption that accretion can be either chaotic, i.e. when the accretion episodes are randomly and isotropically oriented, or coherent, i.e. when they occur all in a preferred plane. Instead, we consider different degrees of anisotropy in the fueling, never confining to accretion events on a fixed direction. We follow the black hole growth evolving contemporarily mass, spin modulus a and spin direction. We discover the occurrence of two regimes. An early phase (M <~ 10 million solar masses) in which rapid alignment of the black hole spin direction to the disk angular momentum in each single episode leads to erratic changes in the black hole spin orientation and at the same time to large spins (a ~ 0.8). A second phase starts when the black hole mass increases above >~ 10 million solar masses and the accretion disks carry less mass and angular momentum relatively to the hole. In the absence of a preferential direction the black holes tend to spin-down in this phase. However, when a modest degree of anisotropy in the fueling process (still far from being coherent) is present, the black hole spin can increase up to a ~ 1 for very massive black holes (M >~ 100 million solar masses), and its direction is stable over the many accretion cycles. We discuss the implications that our results have in the realm of the observations of black hole spin and jet orientations.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Classification of professional values based on motivational content: An exploratory study on Italian Adolescents

This study applies a multidimensional scaling (MSD) technique to investigate the structural validity of the Work Values Inventory for Adolescents with a sample of Italian students. The MSD results indicated the presence of two underlying orthogonal dimensions: individuality versus sociality and conservation versus exploration. Implications for future research are also discussed. © 2011 The Author(s)

Herbivoria de Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: tetranychidae) induz defesa direta em morangueiro?

Plantas de morangueiro Fragaria x ananassa podem apresentar mecanismos de defesa direta e indireta contra herbívoros. Tais defesas podem alterar o comportamento e o desenvolvimento dos ácaros fitófagos e seus inimigos naturais, reduzindo a taxa de herbivoria. Testou-se o efeito da préinfestação de plantas de morangueiro por Tetranychus urticae Koch sobre o seu desenvolvimento e reprodução. Plantas de morangueiro cultivar IAC Campinas foram divididas em dois grupos: plantas limpas e plantas pré-infestadas por T. urticae. A infestação prévia de plantas de morangueiro por T. urticae não alterou a duração das fases imaturas, a fecundidade e a sobrevivência das fêmeas do ácaro. Tais resultados podem estar associados à inexistência ou baixo nível de resistência induzida da cultivar IAC Campinas, ou ainda, ao fato de a pré-infestação ter sido insuficiente para induzir defesa. Assim, a resistência relatada na cultivar IAC Campinas a T. urticae pode estar relacionada às defesas indiretas

Removal of bunches or spikelets is not effective for the control of Aceria guerreronis.

Worldwide, there remains a reliance on repeated chemical applications as a control strategy for the coconut mite, but these are impractical, not economical, and environmentally hazardous. In this study, the damage severity of Aceria guerreronis on coconut fruits was studied under different conditions to investigate the effects of bunch management on the amount of damage to newly produced bunches. The damage was evaluated using a diagrammatic scale under four different conditions: 1) plants with bunches removed; 2) bunches with the distal portion of the spikelet removed; 3) bunches sprayed monthly with abamectin (9 g a.i./ha); and 4) control plants. For each treatment, two fruits from bunches 1 to 6 (counted from the last open inflorescence) from 10 plants were randomly collected every month for 4months. The removal of the distal portion of the spikelets had no effect on the damage level of new bunches but delayed the damage severity by 1 month. After the removal of all of the bunches, the damage severity was restored within 2 months to the newly produced bunches, whereas the chemical control with abamectin kept the A. guerreronis damage intensity at a low level. Thus, the removal of bunches or the distal portion of spikelets is not an effective practice for the control of A. guerreronis in areas with high levels of infestation

A BMP7 variant inhibits tumor angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo through direct modulation of endothelial cell biology

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), members of the TGF-\u3b2 superfamily, have numerous biological activities including control of growth, differentiation, and vascular development. Using an in vitro co-culture endothelial cord formation assay, we investigated the role of a BMP7 variant (BMP7v) in VEGF, bFGF, and tumor-driven angiogenesis. BMP7v treatment led to disruption of neo-endothelial cord formation and regression of existing VEGF and bFGF cords in vitro. Using a series of tumor cell models capable of driving angiogenesis in vitro, BMP7v treatment completely blocked cord formation. Pre-treatment of endothelial cells with BMP7v significantly reduced their cord forming ability, indicating a direct effect on endothelial cell function. BMP7v activated the canonical SMAD signaling pathway in endothelial cells but targeted gene knockdown using shRNA directed against SMAD4 suggests this pathway is not required to mediate the anti-angiogenic effect. In contrast to SMAD activation, BMP7v selectively decreased ERK and AKT activation, significantly decreased endothelial cell migration and down-regulated expression of critical RTKs involved in VEGF and FGF angiogenic signaling, VEGFR2 and FGFR1 respectively. Importantly, in an in vivo angiogenic plug assay that serves as a measurement of angiogenesis, BMP7v significantly decreased hemoglobin content indicating inhibition of neoangiogenesis. In addition, BMP7v significantly decreased angiogenesis in glioblastoma stem-like cell (GSLC) Matrigel plugs and significantly impaired in vivo growth of a GSLC xenograft with a concomitant reduction in microvessel density. These data support BMP7v as a potent anti-angiogenic molecule that is effective in the context of tumor angiogenesis