474 research outputs found
The Development of Polyamines throughout Brassica rapa over its Lifecycle
Polyamines are naturally produced chemicals in plants involved in growth, development and stress response. The primary objective of my study is to create a profile of changes in the entire life of the plant, in every organ at all stages of development from seed germination to seed formation. We have analyzed polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine in all parts of Brassica rapa, a small, rapid growing plant. Parallel to the polyamines, we will also study changes in the activities of the polyamine biosynthetic enzymes and the expression of their genes in different organs at different times. In the next stage of the study, the expression of selected genes will be inhibited by RNAi constructs, allowing further analysis of their role in growth and stress response. Because polyamines play are important in development and lifecycle of plants, altering their presence may be useful in altering plant growth patterns, such as in seasonal crops
What Drives Bull Prices, and How Much Can I Spend on a Bull?
Several factors determine the age-old question of how much to pay for a bull. These factors are highly variable and can fluctuate from year to year. The five main factors influencing bull prices are explored in this fact sheet, including breed, availability, auction activity, breeder reputation, and genetic potential
Infection of human mucosal tissue by Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires sequential and mutually dependent virulence factors and a novel pilus-associated adhesin
Tissue damage predisposes humans to life-threatening disseminating infection by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Bacterial adherence to host tissue is a critical first step in this infection process. It is well established that P. aeruginosa attachment to host cells involves type IV pili (TFP), which are retractile surface fibers. The molecular details of attachment and the identity of the bacterial adhesin and host receptor remain controversial. Using a mucosal epithelium model system derived from primary human tissue, we show that the pilus-associated protein PilY1 is required for bacterial adherence. We establish that P. aeruginosa preferentially binds to exposed basolateral host cell surfaces, providing a mechanistic explanation for opportunistic infection of damaged tissue. Further, we demonstrate that invasion and fulminant infection of intact host tissue requires the coordinated and mutually dependent action of multiple bacterial factors, including pilus fiber retraction and the host cell intoxication system, termed type III secretion. Our findings offer new and important insights into the complex interactions between a pathogen and its human host and provide compelling evidence that PilY1 serves as the principal P. aeruginosa adhesin for human tissue and that it specifically recognizes a host receptor localized or enriched on basolateral epithelial cell surfaces
On Infrared Excesses Associated With Li-Rich K Giants
Infrared (IR) excesses around K-type red giants (RGs) have previously been
discovered using IRAS data, and past studies have suggested a link between RGs
with overabundant Li and IR excesses, implying the ejection of circumstellar
shells or disks. We revisit the question of IR excesses around RGs using higher
spatial resolution IR data, primarily from WISE. Our goal was to elucidate the
link between three unusual RG properties: fast rotation, enriched Li, and IR
excess. We have 316 targets thought to be K giants, about 40% of which we take
to be Li-rich. In 24 cases with previous detections of IR excess at low spatial
resolution, we believe that source confusion is playing a role, in that either
(a) the source that is bright in the optical is not responsible for the IR
flux, or (b) there is more than one source responsible for the IR flux as
measured in IRAS. We looked for IR excesses in the remaining sources,
identifying 28 that have significant IR excesses by ~20 um (with possible
excesses for 2 additional sources). There appears to be an intriguing
correlation in that the largest IR excesses are all in Li-rich K giants, though
very few Li-rich K giants have IR excesses (large or small). These largest IR
excesses also tend to be found in the fastest rotators. There is no correlation
of IR excess with the carbon isotopic ratio, 12C/13C. IR excesses by 20 um,
though relatively rare, are at least twice as common among our sample of
Li-rich K giants. If dust shell production is a common by-product of Li
enrichment mechanisms, these observations suggest that the IR excess stage is
very short-lived, which is supported by theoretical calculations. Conversely,
the Li-enrichment mechanism may only occasionally produce dust, and an
additional parameter (e.g., rotation) may control whether or not a shell is
ejected.Comment: 73 pages, 21 figures (some of which substantially degraded to meet
arXiv file size requirements), accepted to AJ. Full table 1 (and full-res
figures) available upon request to the autho
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Associations of recreational and non-recreational physical activity with coronary artery calcium density vs. volume and cardiovascular disease events: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
AimsThe benefits of physical activity (PA) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) are well known. However, studies suggest PA is associated with coronary artery calcium (CAC), a subclinical marker of CVD. In this study, we evaluated the associations of self-reported recreational and non-recreational PA with CAC composition and incident CVD events. Prior studies suggest high CAC density may be protective for CVD events.Methods and resultsWe evaluated 3393 participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis with prevalent CAC. After adjusting for demographics, the highest quintile of recreational PA was associated with 0.07 (95% confidence interval 0.01-0.13) units greater CAC density but was not associated with CAC volume. In contrast, the highest quintile of non-recreational PA was associated with 0.08 (0.02-0.14) units lower CAC density and a trend toward 0.13 (-0.01 to 0.27) log-units higher CAC volume. There were 520 CVD events over a 13.7-year median follow-up. Recreational PA was associated with lower CVD risk (hazard ratio 0.88, 0.79-0.98, per standard deviation), with an effect size that was not changed with adjustment for CAC composition or across levels of prevalent CAC.ConclusionRecreational PA may be associated with a higher density but not a higher volume of CAC. Non-recreational PA may be associated with lower CAC density, suggesting these forms of PA may not have equivalent associations with this subclinical marker of CVD. While PA may affect the composition of CAC, the associations of PA with CVD risk appear to be independent of CAC
Prevalence of mental disorders, suicidal ideation and suicides in the general population before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: A population-based repeated cross-sectional analysis
Background Self-report data on mental distress indicate a deterioration of population mental health in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Norwegian epidemiological diagnostic psychiatric interview survey was conducted from January to September 2020, allowing for comparison of mental disorder and suicidal ideation prevalence from before through different pandemic periods. Prevalence of suicide deaths were compared between 2020 and 2014–2018. Methods Participants from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in Trondheim were recruited through repeated probability sampling. Using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 5.0) (n = 2154), current prevalence of mental disorders and suicidal ideation was examined in repeated cross-sectional analyzes. Data on suicide deaths was retrieved from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry and compared for the months March to May in 2014–2018 and 2020. Findings Prevalence of current mental disorders decreased significantly from the pre-pandemic period (January 28th to March 11th 2020; 15•3% (95% CI 12•4–18•8)) to the first pandemic period (March 12th – May 31st; 8•7% (6•8–11•0)). Prevalences were similar between the pre-pandemic period and the interim (June 1st July 31st; 14•2% (11•4–17•5)) and second periods (August 1st-September 18th; 11•9% (9•0–15•6)). No significant differences were observed in suicidal ideation or in suicide deaths. Interpretation Except for a decrease in mental disorders in the first pandemic period, the findings suggest stable levels of mental disorders, suicidal ideation and suicide deaths during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Potential methodological and contextual explanations of these findings compared with findings from other studies are discussed.publishedVersio
Inhomogeneous tachyon dynamics and the zipper
We study the process of inhomogeneous tachyon condensation in an intersecting
D1- and anti-D1-brane system using an effective tachyon DBI action. By
switching to the Hamiltonian formalism, we numerically solve for the dynamical
evolution of the system at a small intersection angle. We find that the decay
proceeds indefinitely and resembles the action of two zippers moving away from
the intersection point at the speed of light, zipping the branes together and
leaving inhomogeneous tachyon matter behind. We also discuss the range of
validity of our analysis and discuss the relation of the D1-anti-D1 description
of the system to one in terms of an intersecting D1-D1-brane pair.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures. v2: added references; v3: more references,
published versio
Spectrum of Neutral Helium in Strong Magnetic Fields
We present extensive and accurate calculations for the excited state spectrum
of spin-polarized neutral helium in a range of magnetic field strengths up to
G. Of considerable interest to models of magnetic white dwarf stellar
atmospheres, we also present results for the dipole strengths of the low lying
transitions among these states. Our methods rely on a systematically saturated
basis set approach to solving the Hartree--Fock self-consistent field
equations, combined with an ``exact'' stochastic method to estimate the
residual basis set truncation error and electron correlation effects. We also
discuss the applicability of the adiabatic approximation to strongly magnetized
multi-electron atoms.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 10 table
Kepler Flares II: The Temporal Morphology of White-Light Flares on GJ 1243
We present the largest sample of flares ever compiled for a single M dwarf,
the active M4 star GJ 1243. Over 6100 individual flare events, with energies
ranging from to erg, are found in 11 months of 1-minute
cadence data from Kepler. This sample is unique for its completeness and
dynamic range. We have developed automated tools for finding flares in
short-cadence Kepler light curves, and performed extensive validation and
classification of the sample by eye. From this pristine sample of flares we
generate a median flare template. This template shows that two exponential
cooling phases are present during the white-light flare decay, providing
fundamental constraints for models of flare physics. The template is also used
as a basis function to decompose complex multi-peaked flares, allowing us to
study the energy distribution of these events. Only a small number of flare
events are not well fit by our template. We find that complex, multi-peaked
flares occur in over 80% of flares with a duration of 50 minutes or greater.
The underlying distribution of flare durations for events 10 minutes and longer
appears to follow a broken power law. Our results support the idea that
sympathetic flaring may be responsible for some complex flare events.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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