1,232 research outputs found
IMPACT OF A MORE INTENSIVE INSECT PEST INFESTATION LEVEL ON COTTON PRODUCTION: TEXAS HIGH PLAINS
This study evaluated implications of increased bollworm problems in a 20-county area of the Texas High Plains relative to cotton yields and economic impact. Results did not indicate a serious effect of bollworms upon lint yield when insecticides were used for control. However, estimated annual reduction in farmer profit due to the bollworm for 1979-81 was over $30 million. Yields were estimated to decline about 300,000 bales without insecticide use and about 30,000 bales with insecticide use. This decline suggests potentially serious implications for the comparative economic position of cotton in this region if insecticide resistance were to develop among insect pests.Crop Production/Industries,
Distribution of Oscillator Strengths for Recombination of Localised Excitons in Two Dimensions
We investigate the distribution of oscillator strengths for the recombination
of excitons in a two dimensional sample, trapped in local minima of the
confinement potential: the results are derived from a statistical topographic
model of the potential. The predicted distribution of oscillator strengths is
very different from the Porter-Thomas disribution which usually characterises
disordered systems, and is notable for the fact that small oscillator strengths
are extremely rare.Comment: Plain TeX, 11 pages, 2 of 3 Postscript figures, to appear in "Chaos,
Solitons and Fractals" special issue on Mesoscopic Physics, July 199
De novo origins of multicellularity in response to predation
The transition from unicellular to multicellular life was one of a few major events in the history of life that created new opportunities for more complex biological systems to evolve. Predation is hypothesized as one selective pressure that may have driven the evolution of multicellularity. Here we show that de novo origins of simple multicellularity can evolve in response to predation. We subjected outcrossed populations of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to selection by the filter-feeding predator Paramecium tetraurelia. Two of five experimental populations evolved multicellular structures not observed in unselected control populations within ~750 asexual generations. Considerable variation exists in the evolved multicellular life cycles, with both cell number and propagule size varying among isolates. Survival assays show that evolved multicellular traits provide effective protection against predation. These results support the hypothesis that selection imposed by predators may have played a role in some origins of multicellularity
Astrometric Microlensing with the GAIA satellite
GAIA is the ``super-Hipparcos'' survey satellite selected as a Cornerstone 6
mission by the European Space Agency. GAIA can measure microlensing by the
small excursions of the light centroid that occur during events. The all-sky
source-averaged astrometric microlensing optical depth is about 10^{-5}. Some
25000 sources will have a significant variation of the centroid shift, together
with a closest approach, during the lifetime of the mission. A covariance
analysis is used to study the propagation of errors and the estimation of
parameters from realistic sampling of the GAIA datastream of transits in the
along-scan direction during microlensing events. Monte Carlo simulations are
used to study the 2500 events for which the mass can be recovered with an error
of less than 50 per cent. These high quality events are dominated by disk
lenses within a few tens of parsecs and source stars within a few hundred
parsecs. We show that the local mass function can be recovered from the high
quality sample to good accuracy. GAIA is the first instrument with the
capabilities of measuring the mass locally in very faint objects like black
holes and very cool white and brown dwarfs. For only 5 per cent of all
astrometric events will GAIA record even one photometric datapoint. There is a
need for a dedicated telescope that densely samples the Galactic Centre and
spiral arms, as this can improve the accuracy of parameter estimation by a
factor of about 10.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures, MNRAS, in pres
SOX2 regulates acinar cell development in the salivary gland
Acinar cells play an essential role in the secretory function of exocrine organs. Despite this requirement, how acinar cells are generated during organogenesis is unclear. Using the acini-ductal network of the developing human and murine salivary gland, we demonstrate an unexpected role for SOX2 and parasympathetic nerves in generating the acinar lineage that has broad implications for epithelial morphogenesis. Despite SOX2 being expressed by progenitors that give rise to both acinar and duct cells, genetic ablation of SOX2 results in a failure to establish acini but not ducts. Furthermore, we show that SOX2 targets acinar-specific genes and is essential for the survival of acinar but not ductal cells. Finally, we illustrate an unexpected and novel role for peripheral nerves in the creation of acini throughout development via regulation of SOX2. Thus, SOX2 is a master regulator of the acinar cell lineage essential to the establishment of a functional organ
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