Circadian rhythms and post-transcriptional regulation in higher plants

The circadian clock of plants allows them to cope with daily changes in their environment. This is accomplished by the rhythmic regulation of gene expression, in a process that involves many regulatory steps. One of the key steps involved at the RNA level is post-transcriptional regulation, which ensures a correct control on the different amounts and types of mRNA that will ultimately define the current physiological state of the plant cell. Recent advances in the study of the processes of regulation of pre-mRNA processing, RNA turn-over and surveillance, regulation of translation, function of lncRNAs, biogenesis and function of small RNAs, and the development of bioinformatics tools have helped to vastly expand our understanding of how this regulatory step performs its role. In this work we review the current progress in circadian regulation at the post-transcriptional level research in plants. It is the continuous interaction of all the information flow control post-transcriptional processes that allow a plant to precisely time and predict daily environmental changes.Fil: Romanowski, Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Yanovsky, Marcelo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Bogomoljke (MANTODEA) na poluotoku Pelješcu (južna Hrvatska)

Surveys for mantids were undertaken at 9 sites, located along the northern and southern coasts and in the interior of Pelješac Peninsula, southern Croatia. Sweep nettings and visual observations were carried out from 27 July 2013 till 8 August 2013. Five mantid species from four genera were observed, including Ameles cf. decolor (Charpentier, 1825), A. spallanzania (Rossi, 1792), Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1758), Mantis religiosa Linnaeus, 1758, and Empusa fasciata Brullé, 1832. The first exact records of the Mediterranean Mantis, I. oratoria in continental Croatia are reported. The need for a detailed study on the sympatric distribution of A. decolor and A. heldreichi in Croatia is addressed.Istraživanja bogomoljki provedena su na 9 lokaliteta smještenih duž sjeverne i južne obale te unutrašnjosti poluotoka Pelješca (južna Hrvatska). Tehnikom košnje pomoću entomološke mrežice i vizualnim opažanjima bogomoljke su proučavane od 27. srpnja do 8. kolovoza 2013. godine. Zabilježeno je 5 vrsta koje pripadaju u 4 roda, uključujući vrste Ameles cf. decolor (Charpentier, 1825), A. spallanzania (Rossi, 1792), Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1758), Mantis religiosa Linnaeus, 1758 I Empusa fasciata Brullé, 1832. U radu se navodi i prva točna evidencija mediteranske vrste bogomoljke I. oratoria u kontinentalnom dijelu Hrvatske. Potrebno je provesti detaljnija istraživanja kako bi se utvrdila simpatrička rasprostranjenost vrsta A. decolor A. heldreichi u Hrvatskoj

Bogomoljke (MANTODEA) na poluotoku Pelješcu (južna Hrvatska)

Surveys for mantids were undertaken at 9 sites, located along the northern and southern coasts and in the interior of Pelješac Peninsula, southern Croatia. Sweep nettings and visual observations were carried out from 27 July 2013 till 8 August 2013. Five mantid species from four genera were observed, including Ameles cf. decolor (Charpentier, 1825), A. spallanzania (Rossi, 1792), Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1758), Mantis religiosa Linnaeus, 1758, and Empusa fasciata Brullé, 1832. The first exact records of the Mediterranean Mantis, I. oratoria in continental Croatia are reported. The need for a detailed study on the sympatric distribution of A. decolor and A. heldreichi in Croatia is addressed.Istraživanja bogomoljki provedena su na 9 lokaliteta smještenih duž sjeverne i južne obale te unutrašnjosti poluotoka Pelješca (južna Hrvatska). Tehnikom košnje pomoću entomološke mrežice i vizualnim opažanjima bogomoljke su proučavane od 27. srpnja do 8. kolovoza 2013. godine. Zabilježeno je 5 vrsta koje pripadaju u 4 roda, uključujući vrste Ameles cf. decolor (Charpentier, 1825), A. spallanzania (Rossi, 1792), Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1758), Mantis religiosa Linnaeus, 1758 I Empusa fasciata Brullé, 1832. U radu se navodi i prva točna evidencija mediteranske vrste bogomoljke I. oratoria u kontinentalnom dijelu Hrvatske. Potrebno je provesti detaljnija istraživanja kako bi se utvrdila simpatrička rasprostranjenost vrsta A. decolor A. heldreichi u Hrvatskoj

A unique high intensity solar simulation system

This simulator is unique in that it is capable of producing intensities up to 16.0 solar constants (25 solar constants without spectral filters) and closely simulates the solar spectrum over a 12 inch diameter area. The simulator is described and the capabilities, calibration, operational experiences, data collection, and safety considerations associated with this simulator are discussed

Development of an apparatus to measure thermophysical properties of wind tunnel heat transfer models

The apparatus and technique for measuring the thermophysical properties of models used with the phase-change paint method for obtaining wind tunnel heat transfer data are described. The method allows rapid measurement of the combined properties in a transient manner similar to an actual wind tunnel test. An effective value of the thermophysical properties can be determined which accounts for changes in thermal properties with temperature or with depth into the model surface. The apparatus was successfully tested at various heating rates between 19,000 and 124,000 watts per square meter

Implicit cognition is impaired and dissociable in a head-injured group with executive deficits

Implicit or non-conscious cognition is traditionally assumed to be robust to pathology but Gomez-Beldarrain et al (1999, 2002) recently showed deficits on a single implicit task after head injury. Laboratory research suggests that implicit processes dissociate. This study therefore examined implicit cognition in 20 head-injured patients and age- and I.Q.-matched controls using a battery of four implicit cognition tasks: a Serial Reaction Time task (SRT), mere exposure effect task, automatic stereotype activation and hidden co-variation detection. Patients were assessed on an extensive neuropsychological battery, and MRI scanned. Inclusion criteria included impairment on at least one measure of executive function. The patient group was impaired relative to the control group on all the implicit cognition tasks except automatic stereotype activation. Effect size analyses using the control mean and standard deviation for reference showed further dissociations across patients and across implicit tasks. Patients impaired on implicit tasks had more cognitive deficits overall than those unimpaired, and a larger Dysexecutive Self/Other discrepancy (DEX) score suggesting greater behavioural problems. Performance on the SRT task correlated with a composite measure of executive function. Head-injury thus produced heterogeneous impairments in the implicit acquisition of new information. Implicit activation of existing knowledge structures appeared intact. Impairments in implicit cognition and executive function may interact to produce dysfunctional behaviour after head-injury. Future comparisons of implicit and explicit cognition should use several measures of each function, to ensure that they measure the latent variable of interest

Investigating the 'latent' deficit hypothesis : age at time of head injury, executive and implicit functions and behavioral insight

This study investigated the 'latent deficit' hypothesis in two groups of frontotemporal headinjured patients, those injured prior to steep morphological and corresponding functional maturational periods for frontotemporal networks (≤ age 25), and those injured >28 years. The latent deficit hypothesis proposes that early injuries produce enduring cognitive deficits manifest later in the lifespan with graver consequences for behavior than adult injuries, particularly after frontal pathology (Eslinger, Grattan, Damasio & Damasio, 1992). Implicit and executive deficits both contribute to behavioral insight after frontotemporal head injury (Barker, Andrade, Romanowski, Morton & Wasti, 2006). On the basis of morphological and behavioral data, we hypothesised that early injury would confer greater vulnerability to impairment on tasks associated with frontotemporal regions than later injury. Patients completed experimental tasks of implicit cognition, executive function measures and the DEX measure of behavioural insight (Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome: Wilson, Alderman, Burgess, Emslie, & Evans, 1996). The Early Injury group were more impaired on implicit cognition tasks compared to controls that Late Injury patients. There were no marked group differences on most executive function measures. Executive ability only contributed to behavioral awareness in the Early Injury Group. Findings showed that age at injury moderates the relationship between executive and implicit cognition and behavioral insight and that early injuries result in longstanding deficits to functions associated with frontotemporal regions partially supporting the latent deficit hypothesis

Proportional Representation Electoral Systems and Indigenous Representation: Case Studies from Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru

The central question of this analysis is how the proportional representation electoral systems in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru are linked to indigenous political representation. I argue that the electoral system and its affect on party structures and party development are part of the reason why indigenous people, who make up a great part of the population in these three countries, are chronically under-represented in their political systems. In these case studies, district and national level data from the two most recent elections for the national legislatures was analyzed in terms of indigenous party formation and success. The study concludes that the institutional factors that were considered have a negative influence on indigenous representation in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, but could gain more explanatory power if viewed in connection with social-economic factors, such as indigenous cultural values and poverty