1,069 research outputs found
Modelling understorey dynamics in temperate forests under global change : challenges and perspectives
The understorey harbours a substantial part of vascular plant diversity in temperate forests and plays an important functional role, affecting ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling and overstorey regeneration. Global change, however, is putting these understorey communities on trajectories of change, potentially altering and reducing their functioning in the future. Developing mitigation strategies to safeguard the diversity and functioning of temperate forests in the future is challenging and requires improved predictive capacity. Process-based models that predict understorey community composition over time, based on first principles of ecology, have the potential to guide mitigation endeavours but such approaches are rare. Here, we review fourteen understorey modelling approaches that have been proposed during the last three decades. We evaluate their inclusion of mechanisms that are required to predict the impact of global change on understorey communities. We conclude that none of the currently existing models fully accounts for all processes that we deem important based on empirical and experimental evidence. Based on this review, we contend new models are needed to project the complex impacts of global change on forest understoreys. Plant functional traits should be central to such future model developments, as they drive community assembly processes and provide valuable information on the functioning of the understorey. Given the important role of the overstorey, a coupling of understorey models to overstorey models will be essential to predict the impact of global change on understorey composition and structure, and how it will affect the functioning of temperate forests in the future
Besnoitia besnoiti infection alters both endogenous cholesterol de novo synthesis and exogenous LDL uptake in host endothelial cells
Besnoitia besnoiti, an apicomplexan parasite of cattle being considered as emergent in Europe, replicates fast in host endothelial cells during acute infection and is in considerable need for energy, lipids and other building blocks for offspring formation. Apicomplexa are generally considered as defective in cholesterol synthesis and have to scavenge cholesterol from their host cells for successful replication. Therefore, we here analysed the influence of B. besnoiti on host cellular endogenous cholesterol synthesis and on sterol uptake from exogenous sources. GC-MS-based profiling of cholesterol-related sterols revealed enhanced cholesterol synthesis rates in B. besnoiti-infected cells. Accordingly, lovastatin and zaragozic acid treatments diminished tachyzoite production. Moreover, increased lipid droplet contents and enhanced cholesterol esterification was detected and inhibition of the latter significantly blocked parasite proliferation. Furthermore, artificial increase of host cellular lipid droplet disposability boosted parasite proliferation. Interestingly, lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor 1 expression was upregulated in infected endothelial hostcells, whilst low density lipoproteins (LDL) receptor was not affected by parasite infection. However, exogenous supplementations with non-modified and acetylated LDL both boosted B. besnoiti proliferation. Overall, current data show that B. besnoiti simultaneously exploits both, endogenous cholesterol biosynthesis and cholesterol uptake from exogenous sources, during asexual replication
An electron jet pump: The Venturi effect of a Fermi liquid
A three-terminal device based on a two-dimensional electron system is
investigated in the regime of non-equilibrium transport. Excited electrons
scatter with the cold Fermi sea and transfer energy and momentum to other
electrons. A geometry analogous to a water jet pump is used to create a jet
pump for electrons. Because of its phenomenological similarity we name the
observed behavior "electronic Venturi effect".Comment: Journal of Applied Physics Special Topic: Plenary and Invited Papers
from the 30th International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors,
Seoul, Korea, 2010; http://link.aip.org/link/?JAP/109/10241
Nuclear hormone receptor NHR-49 is an essential regulator of stress resilience and healthy aging in Caenorhabditis elegans
The genome of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes 284 nuclear hormone receptor, which perform diverse functions in development and physiology. One of the best characterized of these is NHR-49, related in sequence and function to mammalian hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α. Initially identified as regulator of lipid metabolism, including fatty acid catabolism and desaturation, additional important roles for NHR-49 have since emerged. It is an essential contributor to longevity in several genetic and environmental contexts, and also plays vital roles in the resistance to several stresses and innate immune response to infection with various bacterial pathogens. Here, we review how NHR-49 is integrated into pertinent signaling circuits and how it achieves its diverse functions. We also highlight areas for future investigation including identification of regulatory inputs that drive NHR-49 activity and identification of tissue-specific gene regulatory outputs. We anticipate that future work on this protein will provide information that could be useful for developing strategies to age-associated declines in health and age-related human diseases
Quantum interference and phonon-mediated back-action in lateral quantum dot circuits
Spin qubits have been successfully realized in electrostatically defined,
lateral few-electron quantum dot circuits. Qubit readout typically involves
spin to charge information conversion, followed by a charge measurement made
using a nearby biased quantum point contact. It is critical to understand the
back-action disturbances resulting from such a measurement approach. Previous
studies have indicated that quantum point contact detectors emit phonons which
are then absorbed by nearby qubits. We report here the observation of a
pronounced back-action effect in multiple dot circuits where the absorption of
detector-generated phonons is strongly modified by a quantum interference
effect, and show that the phenomenon is well described by a theory
incorporating both the quantum point contact and coherent phonon absorption.
Our combined experimental and theoretical results suggest strategies to
suppress back-action during the qubit readout procedure.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figure
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