2,974 research outputs found
Food Habits and Feeding Periodicity of the Rainbow, Fantail, and Banded Darters in Four Mile Creek
Author Institution: Department of Zoology, Miami UniversityStomach analyses were carried out on 3 darter species {Etheostoma caeruleum, E. flabellare and E. zonale) from Four Mile Creek, Ohio, May 1973-May 1974. These species are mainly insectivorous in this stream. Trichopterans were the most important food type by weight in the diets of E. caeruleum and E. flabellare; chironomid larvae and pupae and Simulium sp. dominated the diet of E. zonale. Electivity indices indicated a general selection for Simulium sp. and Trichoptera by E. caeruleum and E. flabellare, with E. zonale selecting against all trichopterans. Feeding activity of the 3 species was largely confined to the daylight hours, and 2 feeding peaks were generally observed for E. caeruleum and E. flabellare: one in the morning and the other in late afternoon or early evening. Over a 24 hr period, E. zonale consumed smaller quantities of food than the other species and exhibited no feeding maxima
Ion-Size Effect at the Surface of a Silica Hydrosol
The author used synchrotron x-ray reflectivity to study the ion-size effect
for alkali ions (Na, K, Rb, and Cs), with densities as high as
m, suspended above the surface of a
colloidal solution of silica nanoparticles in the field generated by the
surface electric-double layer. According to the data, large alkali ions
preferentially accumulate at the sol's surface replacing smaller ions, a
finding that qualitatively agrees with the dependence of the Kharkats-Ulstrup
single-ion electrostatic free energy on the ion's radius.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Thermodynamically consistent description of the hydrodynamics of free surfaces covered by insoluble surfactants of high concentration
In this paper we propose several models that describe the dynamics of liquid
films which are covered by a high concentration layer of insoluble surfactant.
First, we briefly review the 'classical' hydrodynamic form of the coupled
evolution equations for the film height and surfactant concentration that are
well established for small concentrations. Then we re-formulate the basic model
as a gradient dynamics based on an underlying free energy functional that
accounts for wettability and capillarity. Based on this re-formulation in the
framework of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, we propose extensions of the basic
hydrodynamic model that account for (i) nonlinear equations of state, (ii)
surfactant-dependent wettability, (iii) surfactant phase transitions, and (iv)
substrate-mediated condensation. In passing, we discuss important differences
to most of the models found in the literature.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figure
Knockdown of Selenocysteine-Specific Elongation Factor in \u3ci\u3eAmblyomma maculatum\u3c/i\u3e Alters the Pathogen Burden of \u3ci\u3eRickettsia parkeri\u3c/i\u3e with Epigenetic Control by the Sin3 Histone Deacetylase Corepressor Complex
Selenocysteine is the 21st naturally-occurring amino acid. Selenoproteins have diverse functions and many remain uncharacterized, but they are typically associated with antioxidant activity. The incorporation of selenocysteine into the nascent polypeptide chain recodes the TGA stop codon and this process depends upon a number of essential factors including the selenocysteine elongation factor (SEF). The transcriptional expression of SEF did not change significantly in tick midguts throughout the blood meal, but decreased in salivary glands to 20% at the end of the fast feeding phase. Since selenoprotein translation requires this specialized elongation factor, we targeted this gene for knockdown by RNAi to gain a global view of the role selenoproteins play in tick physiology. We found no significant differences in tick engorgement and embryogenesis but detected no antioxidant capacity in tick saliva. The transcriptional profile of selenoproteins in R. parkeri-infected Amblyomma maculatum revealed declined activity of selenoprotein M and catalase and increased activity of selenoprotein O, selenoprotein S, and selenoprotein T. Furthermore, the pathogen burden was significantly altered in SEF-knockdowns. We then determined the global impact of SEF-knockdown by RNA-seq, and mapped huge shifts in secretory gene expression that could be the result of downregulation of the Sin3 histone deacetylase corepressor complex
Spreading of Latex Particles on a Substrate
We have investigated both experimentally and theoretically the spreading
behavior of latex particles deposited on solid substrates. These particles,
which are composed of cross-linked polymer chains, have an intrinsic elastic
modulus. We show that the elasticity must be considered to account for the
observed contact angle between the particle and the solid substrate, as
measured through atomic force microscopy techniques. In particular, the work of
adhesion computed within our model can be significantly larger than that from
the classical Dupr\'{e} formula.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Europhys. Let
Identification of novel inhibitors of the type I interferon induction pathway using cell-based high-throughput screening
Production of type I interferon (IFN) is an essential component of the innate immune response against invading pathogens. However, its production must be tightly regulated to avoid harmful effects. Compounds that modulate the IFN response are potentially valuable for a variety of applications due to IFNs beneficial and detrimental roles. We developed and executed a cell-based high-throughput screen (HTS) targeting components that participate in and/or regulate the IRF3 and NF-κB branches of the IFN-induction pathway. The assay detects activation of the IFN-induction pathway via an eGFP reporter gene under the control of the IFN-β promoter and was optimized, miniaturized and demonstrated suitable for HTS as robust Z’ factor scores of >0.6 were consistently achieved. A diversity screening set of 15,667 small molecules was assayed and two novel hit compounds validated that specifically inhibit the IFN- induction pathway. We demonstrate that one of these compounds acts at, or upstream of IRF3 phosphorylation. A second cell-based assay to detect activation of the IFN- signaling (Jak-Stat) pathway via an eGFP reporter gene under the control of an ISRE containing MxA promoter also performed well (robust Z’ factor = >0.7), and may therefore be similarly used to identify small molecules that modulate the IFN-signaling pathway.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Direct calculation of the hard-sphere crystal/melt interfacial free energy
We present a direct calculation by molecular-dynamics computer simulation of
the crystal/melt interfacial free energy, , for a system of hard
spheres of diameter . The calculation is performed by thermodynamic
integration along a reversible path defined by cleaving, using specially
constructed movable hard-sphere walls, separate bulk crystal and fluid systems,
which are then merged to form an interface. We find the interfacial free energy
to be slightly anisotropic with = 0.62, 0.64 and
0.58 for the (100), (110) and (111) fcc crystal/fluid
interfaces, respectively. These values are consistent with earlier density
functional calculations and recent experiments measuring the crystal nucleation
rates from colloidal fluids of polystyrene spheres that have been interpreted
[Marr and Gast, Langmuir {\bf 10}, 1348 (1994)] to give an estimate of
for the hard-sphere system of , slightly lower
than the directly determined value reported here.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
The Ammount of Interstellar Carbon Locked in Solid Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon
We review the literature and present new experimental data to determine the
amount of carbon likely to be locked in form of solid hydrogenated amorphous
carbon (HAC) grains. We conclude on the basis of a thorough analysis of the
intrinsic strength of the C-H stretching band at 3.4 micron that between 10 and
80 ppM H of carbon is in the form of HAC grains. We show that it is necessary
to know the level of hydrogenation (H/C) of the interstellar HAC to determine
more precisely the amount of carbon it ties up. We present optical constants,
photoluminescence spectroscopy, and IR absorption spectroscopy for a particular
HAC sample that is shown to have a 3.4 micron absorption feature that is
quantatively consistent with that observed in the diffuse interstellar medium.Comment: This paper is 14 pages long with 5 figures and will appear in the 1
December 1999 issue of Ap
What is in a pebble shape?
We propose to characterize the shapes of flat pebbles in terms of the
statistical distribution of curvatures measured along the pebble contour. This
is demonstrated for the erosion of clay pebbles in a controlled laboratory
apparatus. Photographs at various stages of erosion are analyzed, and compared
with two models. We find that the curvature distribution complements the usual
measurement of aspect ratio, and connects naturally to erosion processes that
are typically faster at protruding regions of high curvature.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. (to appear
Where we are on : addendum to "Global neutrino data and recent reactor fluxes: status of three-flavour oscillation parameters"
In this addendum to arXiv:1103.0734 we consider the recent results from
long-baseline searches at the T2K and MINOS experiments and
investigate their implications for the mixing angle and the
leptonic Dirac CP phase . By combining the indication for a
non-zero value of coming from T2K data with global neutrino
oscillation data we obtain a significance for of about
with best fit points for normal
(inverted) neutrino mass ordering. These results depend somewhat on assumptions
concerning the analysis of reactor neutrino data.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures and 1 tabl
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