159 research outputs found
Taxonomic resolution refinement does not improve understanding of invertebrate's role on leaf litter breakdown
Abstract
The invertebrate biodiversity of subtropical streams depends on the seasonal input of organic matter, as much as the leaf decomposition process on stream system. However, one of the challenges in determining the importance of invertebrates for leaf breakdown in subtropical streams is the low taxonomic resolution applied in most studies. To overcome this limitation, here we used litter bags with senescent leaves to evaluate the impact of different taxonomic resolutions of trophic group classification to assess the seasonal importance of invertebrate community for leaf litter breakdown in a subtropical stream (Atlantic Forest in western of Paraná state, Brazil). Litterfall was quarterly measured over a year. The leaf litter accumulated in an interval of 30 days was retrieved, weighed, and used for the leaf breakdown experiments (by litter bags). We found a lower importance of invertebrate community richness and density (shredders and scrapers) in leaf breakdown process irrespective of the taxonomic resolution (family or genus level used). Hyphomycetes biomass and fungi sporulation also did not present changes among sample times, and consecutively, importance for leaf breakdown. However, the richness and density of Chironomidae taxa respond differently depending on the taxonomic resolution used. Low litter breakdown may be explained by the increase of consumption of microorganisms, due to high density of Chironomidae scrapers evaluated at the genus level. Moreover, temperature is the main factor responsible for breakdown over the year, in a positive way. Therefore, our results indicated the family level as the taxonomic resolution sufficient to assess the role of shredders and scrapers in the leaf litter breakdown process of this subtropical stream system
A New First Class Algebra, Homological Perturbation and Extension of Pure Spinor Formalism for Superstring
Based on a novel first class algebra, we develop an extension of the pure
spinor (PS) formalism of Berkovits, in which the PS constraints are removed. By
using the homological perturbation theory in an essential way, the BRST-like
charge of the conventional PS formalism is promoted to a bona fide
nilpotent charge , the cohomology of which is equivalent to the
constrained cohomology of . This construction requires only a minimum number
(five) of additional fermionic ghost-antighost pairs and the vertex operators
for the massless modes of open string are obtained in a systematic way.
Furthermore, we present a simple composite "-ghost" field which
realizes the important relation , with the
Virasoro operator, and apply it to facilitate the construction of the
integrated vertex. The present formalism utilizes U(5) parametrization and the
manifest Lorentz covariance is yet to be achieved.Comment: 38 pages, no figure. Proof of triviality of delta-homology improved
and a reference adde
Superbrane Actions and Geometrical Approach
We review a generic structure of conventional (Nambu-Goto and
Dirac-Born-Infeld-like) worldvolume actions for the superbranes and show how it
is connected through a generalized action construction with a doubly
supersymmetric geometrical approach to the description of super-p-brane
dynamics as embedding world supersurfaces into target superspaces.Comment: Based on talks given by the authors at the Volkov Memorial Seminar
"Supersymmetry and Quantum field Theory" (Kharkov, January 5-7, 1997), LaTeX
file, 11 pages Misprints corrected, references adde
Evidence for the classical integrability of the complete AdS(4) x CP(3) superstring
We construct a zero-curvature Lax connection in a sub-sector of the
superstring theory on AdS(4) x CP(3) which is not described by the
OSp(6|4)/U(3) x SO(1,3) supercoset sigma-model. In this sub-sector worldsheet
fermions associated to eight broken supersymmetries of the type IIA background
are physical fields. As such, the prescription for the construction of the Lax
connection based on the Z_4-automorphism of the isometry superalgebra OSp(6|4)
does not do the job. So, to construct the Lax connection we have used an
alternative method which nevertheless relies on the isometry of the target
superspace and kappa-symmetry of the Green-Schwarz superstring.Comment: 1+26 pages; v2: minor typos corrected, acknowledgements adde
Generalized action principle and extrinsic geometry for N=1 superparticle
It is proposed the generalized action functional for N=1 superparticle in
D=3,4,6 and 10 space-time dimensions. The superfield geometric approach
equations describing superparticle motion in terms of extrinsic geometry of the
worldline superspace are obtained on the base of the generalized action. The
off-shell superdiffeomorphism invariance (in the rheonomic sense) of the
superparticle generalized action is proved. It was demonstrated that the half
of the fermionic and one bosonic (super)fields disappear from the generalized
action in the analytical basis. Superparticle interaction with Abelian gauge
theory is considered in the framework of this formulation. The geometric
approach equations describing superparticle motion in Abelian background are
obtained.Comment: 31 pages. Late
Lorentz harmonics and superfield action. D=10, N=1 superstring
We propose a new version of the superfield action for a closed D=10, N=1
superstring where the Lorentz harmonics are used as auxiliary superfields. The
incorporation of Lorentz harmonics into the superfield action makes possible to
obtain superfield constraints of the induced worldsheet supergravity as
equations of motion. Moreover, it becomes evident that a so-called 'Wess-Zumino
part' of the superfield action is basically a Lagrangian form of the
generalized action principle. We propose to use the second Noether theorem to
handle the essential terms in the transformation lows of hidden gauge
symmetries, which remove dynamical degrees of freedom from the Lagrange
multiplier superfield.Comment: 23 pages, latex, no figures. V.2, minor corrections, a reference
adde
Mitochondrial targeting of recombinant RNAs modulates the level of a heteroplasmic mutation in human mitochondrial DNA associated with Kearns Sayre Syndrome
Mitochondrial mutations, an important cause of incurable human neuromuscular diseases, are mostly heteroplasmic: mutated mitochondrial DNA is present in cells simultaneously with wild-type genomes, the pathogenic threshold being generally >70% of mutant mtDNA. We studied whether heteroplasmy level could be decreased by specifically designed oligoribonucleotides, targeted into mitochondria by the pathway delivering RNA molecules in vivo. Using mitochondrially imported RNAs as vectors, we demonstrated that oligoribonucleotides complementary to mutant mtDNA region can specifically reduce the proportion of mtDNA bearing a large deletion associated with the Kearns Sayre Syndrome in cultured transmitochondrial cybrid cells. These findings may be relevant to developing of a new tool for therapy of mtDNA associated diseases
A new first order formalism for k-supersymmetric Born Infeld actions: the D3-brane example
We introduce a new first order formulation of world-volume actions for
p-branes with k-supersymmetry. In this language, which involves more auxiliary
fields compensated by more local symmetries, the action is provided by a very
compact, simple and elegant formula applicable to any supergravity background.
The k-supersymmetry variation against which it is invariant is obtained from
the bulk supersymmetries by means of a projector that has a simple expression
in terms of the auxiliary fields. The distinctive feature of our formalism is
that all fermion fields are hidden into the definition of the curvatures and
the action is formally the same, in terms of these differential forms as it
would be in a purely bosonic theory. Typically our new formulation enables one
to discuss the correct boundary actions for non trivial supergravity Dp-brane
bulk solutions like the D3-brane solution on smooth ALE manifolds with flux
recently constructed in the literatureComment: 31 pages, latex, added some reference
- …