Dwarfing gene Rht18 from tetraploid wheat responds to exogenous GA₃ in hexaploid wheat

Rht18, derived from Triticum durum (tetraploid) wheat, is classified as a gibberellic acid (GA)-responsive dwarfing gene. Prior to this study, the responses of Rht18 to exogenous GA on agronomic traits in hexaploid wheat were still unknown. The response of Rht18 to exogenous GA3 on coleoptile length, plant height, yield components and other agronomic traits were investigated using F4:5 and F5:6 hexaploid dwarf lines with Rht18 derived from two crosses between the tetraploid donor Icaro and tall Chinese winter wheat cultivars, Xifeng 20 and Jinmai 47. Applications of exogenous GA3 significantly increased coleoptile length in both lines and their tall parents. Plant height was significantly increased by 21.3 and 10.7% in the GA3-treated dwarf lines of Xifeng 20 and Jinmai 47, respectively. Compared to the untreated dwarf lines, the partitioning of dry matter to ears at anthesis was significantly decreased while the partitioning of dry matter to stems was significantly increased in the GA3-treated dwarf lines. There were no obvious changes in plant height and dry matter partitioning in the GA3-treated tall parents. Exogenous GA3 significantly decreased grain number spike–1 while it increased 1000-kernel weight in both the dwarf lines and tall parents. Thus, applications of exogenous GA3 restored plant height and other agronomic traits of Rht18 dwarf lines to the levels of the tall parents. This study indicated that Rht18 dwarf mutants are GA-deficient lines with impaired GA biosynthesis

Effects of Spartina alterniflora invasion on distribution of Moerella iridescens in a tidal flat of western Pacific Ocean

The invasion of Spartina alterniflora significantly affected the local ecosystem of Western Pacific Ocean where Moerella iridescens lives. Five patches with different invasion stages of S. alterniflora were selected and the influence on distribution of M. iridescens was studied on the coast of Wenzhou Bay, China in 2007. The aggregated distribution pattern was proved by using Taylor's power regression and Iwao's plot regression methods (p<0.001). The densities were significantly affected by the factors of S. alterniflora invasion stage and season (p<0.001), but no significant effect of interaction (p=0.805) occurred. M. iridescens mainly clumped in the habitats of no invasion and initial invasion of S. alterniflora was in the high tidal zone, and the lowest density was recorded where complete invasion occurred. The densities were larger in warmer than in cooler seasons. There were significant positive correlations among the average densities in seasons. Density variation must be the response of M. iridescens to the environment, including S. alterniflora invasion stage, temperate stress and interspecific associations

Sodium atoms and clusters on graphite: a density functional study

Sodium atoms and clusters (N<5) on graphite (0001) are studied using density functional theory, pseudopotentials and periodic boundary conditions. A single Na atom is observed to bind at a hollow site 2.45 A above the surface with an adsorption energy of 0.51 eV. The small diffusion barrier of 0.06 eV indicates a flat potential energy surface. Increased Na coverage results in a weak adsorbate-substrate interaction, which is evident in the larger separation from the surface in the cases of Na_3, Na_4, Na_5, and the (2x2) Na overlayer. The binding is weak for Na_2, which has a full valence electron shell. The presence of substrate modifies the structures of Na_3, Na_4, and Na_5 significantly, and both Na_4 and Na_5 are distorted from planarity. The calculated formation energies suggest that clustering of atoms is energetically favorable, and that the open shell clusters (e.g. Na_3 and Na_5) can be more abundant on graphite than in the gas phase. Analysis of the lateral charge density distributions of Na and Na_3 shows a charge transfer of about 0.5 electrons in both cases.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Search for Invisible Decays of η\eta and η′\eta^\prime in J/ψ→ϕηJ/\psi \to \phi\eta and ϕη′\phi \eta^\prime

Using a data sample of $58\times 10^6$ $J/\psi$ decays collected with the BES II detector at the BEPC, searches for invisible decays of $\eta$ and $\eta^\prime$ in $J/\psi$ to $\phi\eta$ and $\phi\eta^\prime$ are performed. The $\phi$ signals, which are reconstructed in $K^+K^-$ final states, are used to tag the $\eta$ and $\eta^\prime$ decays. No signals are found for the invisible decays of either $\eta$ or $\eta^\prime$, and upper limits at the 90% confidence level are determined to be $1.65 \times 10^{-3}$ for the ratio $\frac{B(\eta\to \text{invisible})}{B(\eta\to\gamma\gamma)}$ and $6.69\times 10^{-2}$ for $\frac{B(\eta^\prime\to \text{invisible})}{B(\eta^\prime\to\gamma\gamma)}$. These are the first searches for $\eta$ and $\eta^\prime$ decays into invisible final states.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; Added references, Corrected typo

Observation of Two New N* Peaks in J/psi -> ppi−nˉp pi^- \bar n and pˉπ+n\bar p\pi^+n Decays

The $\pi N$ system in decays of $J/\psi\to\bar NN\pi$ is limited to be isospin 1/2 by isospin conservation. This provides a big advantage in studying $N^*\to \pi N$ compared with $\pi N$ and $\gamma N$ experiments which mix isospin 1/2 and 3/2 for the $\pi N$ system. Using 58 million $J/\psi$ decays collected with the Beijing Electron Positron Collider, more than 100 thousand $J/\psi \to p \pi^- \bar n + c.c.$ events are obtained. Besides two well known $N^*$ peaks at 1500 MeV and 1670 MeV, there are two new, clear $N^*$ peaks in the $p\pi$ invariant mass spectrum around 1360 MeV and 2030 MeV. They are the first direct observation of the $N^*(1440)$ peak and a long-sought "missing" $N^*$ peak above 2 GeV in the $\pi N$ invariant mass spectrum. A simple Breit-Wigner fit gives the mass and width for the $N^*(1440)$ peak as $1358\pm 6 \pm 16$ MeV and $179\pm 26\pm 50$ MeV, and for the new $N^*$ peak above 2 GeV as $2068\pm 3^{+15}_{-40}$ MeV and $165\pm 14\pm 40$ MeV, respectively

Determining the upper limit of Gamma_{ee} for the Y(4260)

By fitting the R values between 3.7 and 5.0 GeV measured by the BES collaboration, the upper limit of the electron width of the newly discovered resonance Y(4260) is determined to be 580 eV at 90% C.L. Together with the BABAR measurement on the product of Gamma_{ee} and BR(Y(4260) --> pi+pi- J/psi), this implies a large decay width of Y(4260) --> pi+pi- J/psi final states.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Search for the Rare Decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e, J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e, and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e-

We report on a search for the decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c., J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c., and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e- + c.c. in a sample of 5.8 * 10^7 J/Psi events collected with the BESII detector at the BEPC. No excess of signal above background is observed, and 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions are set: B(J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c.)<4.8*10^-5, B(J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c.) D0bar e+ e- + c.c.)<1.1*10^-5Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Measurements of the observed cross sections for exclusive light hadron production in e^+e^- annihilation at \sqrt{s}= 3.773 and 3.650 GeV

By analyzing the data sets of 17.3 pb$^{-1}$ taken at $\sqrt{s}=3.773$ GeV and 6.5 pb$^{-1}$ taken at $\sqrt{s}=3.650$ GeV with the BESII detector at the BEPC collider, we have measured the observed cross sections for 12 exclusive light hadron final states produced in $e^+e^-$ annihilation at the two energy points. We have also set the upper limits on the observed cross sections and the branching fractions for $\psi(3770)$ decay to these final states at 90% C.L.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figur