4,636 research outputs found
Phosphate acquisition and metabolism in plants.
Plants need at least 13 different nutrients to maintain optimal growth. Nitrogen and phosphorus, from the Greek 'phĂŽs' (meaning 'light') and 'phoros' (meaning 'bearer'), are the main nutrients limiting plant growth in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. Agriculture has relied heavily since the mid 1950s on the use of synthetic ammonium- and phosphorus-based fertilizers to increase crop productivity. While industrial synthesis of ammonium relies on the chemical conversion of atmospheric nitrogen, phosphorus is mined from finite reserves concentrated in a few countries. Considering our current dependence on phosphorus fertilizers for food production and the geopolitical aspects associated with current resources, it will be important to develop technologies enabling the maintenance of high crop yield with reduced fertilizer input. This will require an in-depth knowledge on the various pathways that enable plants to acquire phosphorus from the soil and maximize its economical use for growth and reproduction. In this primer, we give an overview of the factors limiting phosphorus acquisition by plants and highlight various pathways and strategies plants have evolved at the level of development, metabolism and signal transduction to adapt to phosphorus deficiency
How does the chromatin fiber deal with topological constraints?
In the nuclei of eukaryotic cells, DNA is packaged through several levels of
compaction in an orderly retrievable way that enables the correct regulation of
gene expression. The functional dynamics of this assembly involves the
unwinding of the so-called 30 nm chromatin fiber and accordingly imposes strong
topological constraints. We present a general method for computing both the
twist and the writhe of any winding pattern. An explicit derivation is
implemented for the chromatin fiber which provides the linking number of DNA in
eukaryotic chromosomes. We show that there exists one and only one unwinding
path which satisfies both topological and mechanical constraints that DNA has
to deal with during condensation/decondensation processes.Comment: Presented in Nature "News and views in brief" Vol. 429 (13 May 2004).
Movies available at
http://www.lptl.jussieu.fr/recherche/operationE_fichiers/Page_figurePRL.htm
An effect of semantic memory on immediate memory in the visual domain
The present study extends the findings of Hemmer and
Steyvers (2009a) by investigating the influence of semantic
memory on short-term visual memory. In an experiment we
tested how prior knowledge moderates serial position effects,
using familiar (vegetables) and non-familiar stimuli (random
shapes). Participants (Ps) saw lists of six images; each list
held images of vegetables or random shapes. Immediately
after list presentation, one of the items was presented again, in a new, randomly determined size. Ps were asked to resize the image so that it was as close as possible to the size of the just presented item. Results showed that, for the familiar items (vegetables), memory for the itemâs size was supported by prior knowledge of the normal size of the objects; this was not the case for the random shapes. Moreover, there was a stronger serial position effect for random shapes than vegetables suggesting that for the serial positions where memory is typically lowest, the serial position effect was moderated through the support from long-term knowledge
Bulk Band Gaps in Divalent Hexaborides
Complementary angle-resolved photoemission and bulk-sensitive k-resolved
resonant inelastic x-ray scattering of divalent hexaborides reveal a >1 eV
X-point gap between the valence and conduction bands, in contradiction to the
band overlap assumed in several models of their novel ferromagnetism. This
semiconducting gap implies that carriers detected in transport measurements
arise from defects, and the measured location of the bulk Fermi level at the
bottom of the conduction band implicates boron vacancies as the origin of the
excess electrons. The measured band structure and X-point gap in CaB_6
additionally provide a stringent test case for proper inclusion of many-body
effects in quasi-particle band calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; new RIXS analysis; accepted for publication in
PR
Search for Sub-TeV Gamma Rays Coincident with BATSE Gamma Ray Bursts
Project GRAND is a 100m x 100m air shower array of proportional wire chambers
(PWCs). There are 64 stations each with eight 1.29 m^2 PWC planes arranged in
four orthogonal pairs placed vertically above one another to geometrically
measure the angles of charged secondaries. A steel plate above the bottom pair
of PWCs differentiates muons (which pass undeflected through the steel) from
non-penetrating particles. FLUKA Monte Carlo studies show that a TeV gamma ray
striking the atmosphere at normal incidence produces 0.23 muons which reach
ground level where their angles and identities are measured. Thus,
paradoxically, secondary muons are used as a signature for gamma ray primaries.
The data are examined for possible angular and time coincidences with eight
gamma ray bursts (GRBs) detected by BATSE. Seven of the GRBs were selected
because of their good acceptance by GRAND and high BATSE Fluence. The eighth
GRB was added due to its possible coincident detection by Milagrito. For each
of the eight candidate GRBs, the number of excess counts during the BATSE T90
time interval and within plus or minus five degrees of BATSE's direction was
obtained. The highest statistical significance reported in this paper (2.7
sigma) is for the event that was predicted to be the most likely to be observed
(GRB 971110).Comment: To be presented at the XXVIII International Cosmic Ray Conference,
Tsukuba, Japa
Study on the neuronal circuits implicated in postural tremor and hypokinesia
The effect of various tegmentary lesions at the level of the pontomesenchphalon in monkeys on motor function was observed. The importance of the monoaminergic mechanisms of the brainstem is discussed. The results also show the importance of the descending tegmentary rubral system and the rubroolivocerebellar circuit in controlling peripheral motor activity. The destruction of the sensory motor cortex proves to be a more effective way of eliminating spontaneous or harmaline induced tremor than the complete interruption of the pyramidal system on the level of the cerebral peduncle
Biallelic transcription of Igf2 and H19 in individual cells suggests a post-transcriptional contribution to genomic imprinting
AbstractThe H19 and insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) genes in the mouse are models for genomic imprinting during development. The genes are located only 90 kb apart in the same transcriptional orientation [1], but are reciprocally imprinted: Igf2 is paternally expressed while H19 is maternally expressed. It has been suggested that expression of H19 and repression of Igf2 (or the converse) on a given chromosome are mechanistically linked and that the parental imprint operates at the level of transcription [2]. Although expression of Igf2 and H19 is thought to be monoallelic, the data have so far been obtained exclusively by looking at steady-state RNA levels using techniques that reflect the average activity of the genes in a cell population [3,4]. Here, we have adapted a fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) method to detect nascent RNA molecules of Igf2 and H19 at the initial transcription sites in the nuclei of wild-type mouse embryonic liver cells. Nine different transcription patterns were observed, reflecting a high heterogeneity of transcription at the single-cell level. Our observations suggest that regulation of Igf2 and H19 by parental imprinting is much more complex than previously proposed and acts at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels
Distributions of secondary muons at sea level from cosmic gamma rays below 10 TeV
The FLUKA Monte Carlo program is used to predict the distributions of the
muons which originate from primary cosmic gamma rays and reach sea level. The
main result is the angular distribution of muons produced by vertical gamma
rays which is necessary to predict the inherent angular resolution of any
instrument utilizing muons to infer properties of gamma ray primaries.
Furthermore, various physical effects are discussed which affect these
distributions in differing proportions.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, minor revision, new layou
Diffusion on a solid surface: Anomalous is normal
We present a numerical study of classical particles diffusing on a solid
surface. The particles' motion is modeled by an underdamped Langevin equation
with ordinary thermal noise. The particle-surface interaction is described by a
periodic or a random two dimensional potential. The model leads to a rich
variety of different transport regimes, some of which correspond to anomalous
diffusion such as has recently been observed in experiments and Monte Carlo
simulations. We show that this anomalous behavior is controlled by the friction
coefficient, and stress that it emerges naturally in a system described by
ordinary canonical Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics
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