Geochemical support for a climbing habit within the Paleozoic seed fern genus Medullosa

A long-standing problem in paleobotany is the accurate identification of the growth habits and statures of fossil plants. Tissue-specific analysis of stable carbon isotope ratios in plant fossils can provide an independent perspective on this issue. Lignin, a fundamental biopolymer providing structural support in plant tissues and the second most abundant organic material in plants, is ^(13)C depleted by several parts per thousand, averaging 4.1‰, relative to other plant constructional materials (e.g. cellulose). With this isotopic difference, the biochemical structural composition of ancient plants (and inferred stature) can be interrogated using microscale in situ isotope analysis between different tissues in fossils. We applied this technique to a well-preserved specimen of the Late Paleozoic seed plant Medullosa, an extinct genus with a variety of growth habits that includes several enigmatic yet abundant small-stemmed species widely found in calcium carbonate concretions (“coal balls”) in the Pennsylvanian coal beds of Iowa, USA. It remains unclear which of the medullosans were freestanding, and recent analysis of the medullosan vascular system has shown that this system provided little structural support to the whole plant. The leading hypothesis for small-stemmed medullosan specimens predicts that cortical tissues could have provided additional structural support, but only if they were lignified. The expected isotopic difference between lignified tissue and unlignified tissue is smaller than that expected from pure extracts, for the simple reason that even woody tissues maximally contain 40% lignin (by mass). This reduces the expected maximum difference between weakly and heavily lignified tissues by 60%, down to ~0.5‰–2‰. Analysis of the medullosan stem reveals a consistent difference in isotope ratios of 0.7‰–1.0‰ between lignified xylem and cortical tissues. This implies low abundances of lignin (between 0% and 11%) within the cortex. This inferred structural biochemistry supports hypotheses that the peripheral portions of these medullosan stems were not biomechanically reinforced to permit the plants to grow as freestanding, arborescent trees. A number of climbing or scandent medullosans have been identified in the fossil record, and this mode of growth has been suggested to be common within the group on the basis of observations from comparative biomechanics, hydraulics, and development. Finally, this mode of growth is common in several clades of stem group seed plants, including Lyginopteris and Callistophyton, along with Medullosa. This study provides further support for ideas that place a great portion of early seed plant diversity under the canopy, rather than forming it

Protein crystallization in vivo

Protein crystallization in vivo provides some fascinating examples of biological self-assembly. Here, we provide a selective survey to show the diversity of functions for which protein crystals are used, and the physical properties of the crystals thatare exploited. Where known, we emphasize how the nature of the protein-protein interactions leads to control of the crystallization behaviour.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Modeling 400 million years of plant hydraulics

Mathematical models of fluid flow thorough plant stems permit quantitative assessment of plant ecology using anatomy alone, allowing extinct and extant plants to be measured against one another. Through this process, a series of patterns and observations about plant ecology and evolution can be made. First, many plants evolved high rates of water transport through the evolution of a diverse suite of anatomical adaptations over the last four hundred million years. Second, adaptations to increase hydraulic supply to leaves tend to precede, in evolutionary time, adaptations to increase the safety margin of plant water transport. Third, anatomical breakthroughs in water transport function tend to occur in step with ecological breakthroughs, including the appearance of leaves during the Devonian, the evolution of high leaf areas in early seed plants during the Carboniferous, and the early radiation of flowering plants during the Cretaceous. Quantitative assessment of plant function not only opens up the plant fossil record to ecological comparison, but also provides data that can be used to model fluxes and dynamics of past ecosystems that are rooted in individual plant anatomy

CLIC Beam Position Monitor Tests

Prototype CLIC beam position monitors (BPMs) have been tested in the CLIC test facility (CTF) using a 50 MeV, 1 nC single bunch beam. The test set-up consisted of two BPMs and a charge normalization/phase reference cavity. The detection electronics consisted of a 5 channel super-heterodyne receiver to give charge independent horizontal and vertical positions in each BPM. Data were taken and processed at the full 10 Hz CTF repetition rate using a PC running LabVIEW. Both BPMs were mounted on 0.1 µm resolution micro-movers for displacement calibration. Separate tests in the lab of both cavities and electronics have shown that the potential resolution of the BPM system is less than one micron. An upper limit on resolution of ±4 µm has been demonstrated directly with the CTF beam. The measurement was almost certainly limited by the shot to shot angular jitter of the CTF beam

Anti-CD20 therapy depletes activated myelin-specific CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis.

CD8+ T cells are believed to play an important role in multiple sclerosis (MS), yet their role in MS pathogenesis remains poorly defined. Although myelin proteins are considered potential autoantigenic targets, prior studies of myelin-reactive CD8+ T cells in MS have relied on in vitro stimulation, thereby limiting accurate measurement of their ex vivo precursor frequencies and phenotypes. Peptide:MHC I tetramers were used to identify and validate 5 myelin CD8+ T cell epitopes, including 2 newly described determinants in humans. The validated tetramers were used to measure the ex vivo precursor frequencies and phenotypes of myelin-specific CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood of untreated MS patients and HLA allele-matched healthy controls. In parallel, CD8+ T cell responses against immunodominant influenza epitopes were also measured. There were no differences in ex vivo frequencies of tetramer-positive myelin-specific CD8+ T cells between MS patients and control subjects. An increased proportion of myelin-specific CD8+ T cells in MS patients exhibited a memory phenotype and expressed CD20 compared to control subjects, while there were no phenotypic differences observed among influenza-specific CD8+ T cells. Longitudinal assessments were also measured in a subset of MS patients subsequently treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy. The proportion of memory and CD20+ CD8+ T cells specific for certain myelin but not influenza epitopes was significantly reduced following anti-CD20 treatment. This study, representing a characterization of unmanipulated myelin-reactive CD8+ T cells in MS, indicates these cells may be attractive targets in MS therapy

Non-linear dynamics and power systems

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN041284 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Particle size analysis of two distinct classes of wheat flour by sieving

The most commonly used method for particle size analysis of wheat flour in the grain industry is a sieve shaker following either the ASABE or AACC standard. This study involved the determination of mean particle size of flour from two different classes of wheat, hard red winter (HRW) and soft white (SW), at sieving times of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 min. Particle size measured by sieve analysis was compared with size as measured using laser diffraction. It was found that sieving time and wheat class had a significant effect on the measured final particle size. Increase in sieving time reduced the calculated average particle size of the flour. The mean particle size for HRW and SW flour was 110.98 µm and 570.29 µm, respectively, at 14 min of sieving. The mean particle size as measured by laser diffraction was 45.6 µm and 44.5 µm for HRW and SW flour, respectively. A flow agent helped the flour particles overcome the interparticle cohesive force during sieving and resulted in a smaller particle size with better size distribution. However, due to the higher cohesiveness of SW flour, flow agent at 0.5% of the sample mass had no effect on the measured mean particle size. Weibull and log-normal equations predicted the size distribution of flour with lower percent relative deviation compared to the Rosin-Rammler and Kumaraswamy equations