Mechanisms of extracellular signal-regulated kinase/cAMP response element-binding protein/brain-derived neurotrophic factor signal transduction pathway in depressive disorder☆

PubMed Central

Wang, Hongyan; Zhang, Yingquan; Qiao, Mingqi

2013-01-01

The extracellular signal-regulated kinase/cAMP response element-binding protein/brain-derived neurotrophic factor signal transduction pathway plays an important role in the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs and has dominated recent studies on the pathogenesis of depression. In the present review we summarize the known roles of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, cAMP response element-binding protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the pathogenesis of depression and in the mechanism of action of antidepressant medicines. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase/cAMP response element-binding protein/brain-derived neurotrophic factor pathway has potential to be used as a biological index to help diagnose depression, and as such it is considered as an important new target in the treatment of depression. PMID:25206732

The Pennsylvania State University Child Sexual Abuse Scandal: An Analysis of Institutional Factors Affecting Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Alice R.

2015-01-01

The outcomes of The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) child sexual abuse scandal have left many scholars and individuals questioning the university's collective identity. The goal of this research was to uncover the dominant themes that describe a problematic institutional response to the child sexual abuse incidents in order to provide…

What's so funny? Modelling incongruity in humour production.

PubMed

Hull, Rachel; Tosun, Sümeyra; Vaid, Jyotsna

2017-04-01

Finding something humorous is intrinsically rewarding and may facilitate emotion regulation, but what creates humour has been underexplored. The present experimental study examined humour generated under controlled conditions with varying social, affective, and cognitive factors. Participants listed five ways in which a set of concept pairs (e.g. MONEY and CHOCOLATE) were similar or different in either a funny way (intentional humour elicitation) or a "catchy" way (incidental humour elicitation). Results showed that more funny responses were produced under the incidental condition, and particularly more for affectively charged than neutral concepts, for semantically unrelated than related concepts, and for responses highlighting differences rather than similarities between concepts. Further analyses revealed that funny responses showed a relative divergence in output dominance of the properties typically associated with each concept in the pair (that is, funny responses frequently highlighted a property high in output dominance for one concept but simultaneously low in output dominance for the other concept); by contrast, responses judged not funny did not show this pattern. These findings reinforce the centrality of incongruity resolution as a key cognitive ingredient for some pleasurable emotional elements arising from humour and demonstrate how it may operate within the context of humour generation.

The View from Inside the System: How Police Explain Their Response to Sexual Assault.

PubMed

Shaw, Jessica; Campbell, Rebecca; Cain, Debi

2016-12-01

Prior research has documented the problematic community response to sexual assault: the majority of sexual assaults reported to police are never prosecuted. Social dominance theory suggests that this response is a form of institutional discrimination, intended to maintain existing social structures, and that police personnel likely draw upon shared ideologies to justify their decision-making in sexual assault case investigations. This study drew upon social dominance theory to examine how police justified their investigatory decisions to identify potential leverage points for change. The study revealed that the likelihood of a case referral to the prosecutor increased with each additional investigative step completed; of the different types of justifications provided by police for a less-than-thorough investigative response and stalled case, blaming the victim for the poor police investigation proved to be the most damaging to case progression; and the type of explanation provided by police was impacted by specific case variables. As suggested by social dominance theory, the study demonstrates that police rely on several different mechanisms to justify their response to sexual assault; implementing criminal justice system policies that target and interrupt these mechanisms has the potential to improve this response, regardless of specific case factors. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

Th1/Th2 immune responses and oxidative stress in caprine flea allergy dermatitis.

PubMed

Ajith, Y; Dimri, U; Gopalakrishnan, A; Madhesh, E; Jhambh, R; Joshi, V; Devi, G

2017-12-01

Flea allergy dermatitis (FAD) is the common, often neglected skin disease of goats caused mainly by Ctenocephalides felis. This study aimed to evaluate the immuno-oxidative pathobiology of FAD in goats. Twelve goats from the same herd were divided into two groups of six animals each. The group I (FAD) included animals with natural flea infestation and severe dermatitis lesions. The group II (Healthy control) animals were free from any parasitic infestation. To assess the pathological changes, the markers of oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione and total antioxidant capacity), and immune status (Tumour necrosis factor alpha, Interleukin 10, Transforming growth factor beta 1 and Th1/Th2 cytokine ratio) were evaluated from the blood and the serum samples. Remarkable oxidative stress and severe inflammatory response with Th2 cytokine dominance were observed in flea infested animals. Highly antigenic agents of fleas, either secretory or excretory or structural, induced severe inflammatory responses and significant oxidative stress in caprine FAD. Massive release of cytokines may be responsible for severe skin inflammation and lesions in FAD in contrast to other Th2 dominant ectoparasitic skin conditions of goats'. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

CT contrast predicts pancreatic cancer treatment response to verteporfin-based photodynamic therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jermyn, Michael; Davis, Scott C.; Dehghani, Hamid; Huggett, Matthew T.; Hasan, Tayyaba; Pereira, Stephen P.; Bown, Stephen G.; Pogue, Brian W.

2014-04-01

The goal of this study was to determine dominant factors affecting treatment response in pancreatic cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT), based on clinically available information in the VERTPAC-01 trial. This trial investigated the safety and efficacy of verteporfin PDT in 15 patients with locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. CT scans before and after contrast enhancement from the 15 patients in the VERTPAC-01 trial were used to determine venous-phase blood contrast enhancement and this was correlated with necrotic volume determined from post-treatment CT scans, along with estimation of optical absorption in the pancreas for use in light modeling of the PDT treatment. Energy threshold contours yielded estimates for necrotic volume based on this light modeling. Both contrast-derived venous blood content and necrotic volume from light modeling yielded strong correlations with observed necrotic volume (R2 = 0.85 and 0.91, respectively). These correlations were much stronger than those obtained by correlating energy delivered versus necrotic volume in the VERTPAC-01 study and in retrospective analysis from a prior clinical study. This demonstrates that contrast CT can provide key surrogate dosimetry information to assess treatment response. It also implies that light attenuation is likely the dominant factor in the VERTPAC treatment response, as opposed to other factors such as drug distribution. This study is the first to show that contrast CT provides needed surrogate dosimetry information to predict treatment response in a manner which uses standard-of-care clinical images, rather than invasive dosimetry methods.

Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change

PubMed Central

O’Dea, Sarah A.; Gibbs, Samantha J.; Bown, Paul R.; Young, Jeremy R.; Poulton, Alex J.; Newsam, Cherry; Wilson, Paul A.

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are forcing rapid ocean chemistry changes and causing ocean acidification (OA), which is of particular significance for calcifying organisms, including planktonic coccolithophores. Detailed analysis of coccolithophore skeletons enables comparison of calcite production in modern and fossil cells in order to investigate biomineralization response of ancient coccolithophores to climate change. Here we show that the two dominant coccolithophore taxa across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) OA global warming event (~56 million years ago) exhibited morphological response to environmental change and both showed reduced calcification rates. However, only Coccolithus pelagicus exhibits a transient thinning of coccoliths, immediately before the PETM, that may have been OA-induced. Changing coccolith thickness may affect calcite production more significantly in the dominant modern species Emiliania huxleyi, but, overall, these PETM records indicate that the environmental factors that govern taxonomic composition and growth rate will most strongly influence coccolithophore calcification response to anthropogenic change. PMID:25399967

Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change.

PubMed

O'Dea, Sarah A; Gibbs, Samantha J; Bown, Paul R; Young, Jeremy R; Poulton, Alex J; Newsam, Cherry; Wilson, Paul A

2014-11-17

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are forcing rapid ocean chemistry changes and causing ocean acidification (OA), which is of particular significance for calcifying organisms, including planktonic coccolithophores. Detailed analysis of coccolithophore skeletons enables comparison of calcite production in modern and fossil cells in order to investigate biomineralization response of ancient coccolithophores to climate change. Here we show that the two dominant coccolithophore taxa across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) OA global warming event (~56 million years ago) exhibited morphological response to environmental change and both showed reduced calcification rates. However, only Coccolithus pelagicus exhibits a transient thinning of coccoliths, immediately before the PETM, that may have been OA-induced. Changing coccolith thickness may affect calcite production more significantly in the dominant modern species Emiliania huxleyi, but, overall, these PETM records indicate that the environmental factors that govern taxonomic composition and growth rate will most strongly influence coccolithophore calcification response to anthropogenic change.

Separate roles for chromatin and lamins in nuclear mechanics.

PubMed

Stephens, Andrew D; Banigan, Edward J; Marko, John F

2018-01-01

The cell nucleus houses, protects, and arranges the genome within the cell. Therefore, nuclear mechanics and morphology are important for dictating gene regulation, and these properties are perturbed in many human diseases, such as cancers and progerias. The field of nuclear mechanics has long been dominated by studies of the nuclear lamina, the intermediate filament shell residing just beneath the nuclear membrane. However, a growing body of work shows that chromatin and chromatin-related factors within the nucleus are an essential part of the mechanical response of the cell nucleus to forces. Recently, our group demonstrated that chromatin and the lamina provide distinct mechanical contributions to nuclear mechanical response. The lamina is indeed important for robust response to large, whole-nucleus stresses, but chromatin dominates the short-extension response. These findings offer a clarifying perspective on varied nuclear mechanics measurements and observations, and they suggest several new exciting possibilities for understanding nuclear morphology, organization, and mechanics.

The volleyball athlete's shoulder: biomechanical adaptations and injury associations.

PubMed

Challoumas, Dimitrios; Stavrou, Antonio; Dimitrakakis, Georgios

2017-06-01

In volleyball, the dominant shoulder of the athlete undergoes biomechanical and morphological adaptations; however, definitive conclusions about their exact nature, aetiology, purpose and associations with shoulder injury have not been reached. We present a systematic review of the existing literature describing biomechanical adaptations in the dominant shoulders of volleyball players and factors that may predispose to shoulder pain/injury. A thorough literature search via Medline, EMBASE and SCOPUS was conducted for original studies of volleyball players and 15 eligible articles were identified. Assessment of study quality was performed using the STROBE statement. The reviewed literature supports the existence of a glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) and a possible (and less pronounced) external rotation gain in the dominant vs. the non-dominant shoulder of volleyball athletes. Unlike other overhead sports, the GIRD in volleyball athletes appears to be anatomical as a response to the repetitive overhead movements and not to be associated with shoulder pain/injury. Additionally, the dominant shoulder exhibits muscular imbalance, which appears to be a significant risk factor for shoulder pain. Strengthening of the external rotators should be used alongside shoulder stretching and joint mobilisations, core strengthening and optimisation of spike technique as part of injury management and prevention programmes.

The Developmental Intestinal Regulator ELT-2 Controls p38-Dependent Immune Responses in Adult C. elegans

PubMed Central

Block, Dena H. S.; Twumasi-Boateng, Kwame; Kang, Hae Sung; Carlisle, Jolie A.; Hanganu, Alexandru; Lai, Ty Yu-Jen; Shapira, Michael

2015-01-01

GATA transcription factors play critical roles in cellular differentiation and development. However, their roles in mature tissues are less understood. In C. elegans larvae, the transcription factor ELT-2 regulates terminal differentiation of the intestine. It is also expressed in the adult intestine, where it was suggested to maintain intestinal structure and function, and where it was additionally shown to contribute to infection resistance. To study the function of elt-2 in adults we characterized elt-2-dependent gene expression following its knock-down specifically in adults. Microarray analysis identified two ELT-2-regulated gene subsets: one, enriched for hydrolytic enzymes, pointed at regulation of constitutive digestive functions as a dominant role of adult elt-2; the second was enriched for immune genes that are induced in response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Focusing on the latter, we used genetic analyses coupled to survival assays and quantitative RT-PCR to interrogate the mechanism(s) through which elt-2 contributes to immunity. We show that elt-2 controls p38-dependent gene induction, cooperating with two p38-activated transcription factors, ATF-7 and SKN-1. This demonstrates a mechanism through which the constitutively nuclear elt-2 can impact induced responses, and play a dominant role in C. elegans immunity. PMID:26016853

Hierarchical Status Predicts Behavioral Vulnerability and Nucleus Accumbens Metabolic Profile Following Chronic Social Defeat Stress.

PubMed

Larrieu, Thomas; Cherix, Antoine; Duque, Aranzazu; Rodrigues, João; Lei, Hongxia; Gruetter, Rolf; Sandi, Carmen

2017-07-24

Extensive data highlight the existence of major differences in individuals' susceptibility to stress [1-4]. While genetic factors [5, 6] and exposure to early life stress [7, 8] are key components for such neurobehavioral diversity, intriguing observations revealed individual differences in response to stress in inbred mice [9-12]. This raised the possibility that other factors might be critical in stress vulnerability. A key challenge in the field is to identify non-invasively risk factors for vulnerability to stress. Here, we investigated whether behavioral factors, emerging from preexisting dominance hierarchies, could predict vulnerability to chronic stress [9, 13-16]. We applied a chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) model of depression in C57BL/6J mice to investigate the predictive power of hierarchical status to pinpoint which individuals will exhibit susceptibility to CSDS. Given that the high social status of dominant mice would be the one particularly challenged by CSDS, we predicted and found that dominant individuals were the ones showing a strong susceptibility profile as indicated by strong social avoidance following CSDS, while subordinate mice were not affected. Data from 1 H-NMR spectroscopy revealed that the metabolic profile in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) relates to social status and vulnerability to stress. Under basal conditions, subordinates show lower levels of energy-related metabolites compared to dominants. In subordinates, but not dominants, levels of these metabolites were increased after exposure to CSDS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that identifies non-invasively the origin of behavioral risk factors predictive of stress-induced depression-like behaviors associated with metabolic changes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diversity, Neoliberalism and Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Arturo; Magill, Kevin Russell

2016-01-01

In this essay, we conduct a brief analytical review of teacher preparation programs, which claim to prepare lifelong culturally responsive teachers. Initial evaluation revealed factors limiting program success, they include: deeply embedded dominant ideological assumptions, use of traditional methods to train teachers, inability to understand or…

Bacterial community structure in response to environmental impacts in the intertidal sediments along the Yangtze Estuary, China.

PubMed

Guo, Xing-Pan; Lu, Da-Pei; Niu, Zuo-Shun; Feng, Jing-Nan; Chen, Yu-Ru; Tou, Fei-Yun; Liu, Min; Yang, Yi

2018-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the characteristics of bacterial communities in intertidal sediments along the Yangtze Estuary and their responses to environmental factors. The results showed that bacterial abundance was significantly correlated with salinity, SO 4 2- and total organic carbon, while bacterial diversity was significantly correlated with SO 4 2- and total nitrogen. At different taxonomic levels, both the dominant taxa and their abundances varied among the eight samples, with Proteobacteria being the most dominant phylum in general. Cluster analysis revealed that the bacterial community structure was influenced by river runoff and sewerage discharge. Moreover, SO 4 2- , salinity and total phosphorus were the vital environmental factors that influenced the bacterial community structure. Quantitative PCR and sequencing of sulphate-reducing bacteria indicated that the sulphate reduction process occurs frequently in intertidal sediments. These findings are important to understand the microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycles in estuarine environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contrasting growth responses of dominant peatland plants to warming and vegetation composition.

PubMed

Walker, Tom N; Ward, Susan E; Ostle, Nicholas J; Bardgett, Richard D

2015-05-01

There is growing recognition that changes in vegetation composition can strongly influence peatland carbon cycling, with potential feedbacks to future climate. Nevertheless, despite accelerated climate and vegetation change in this ecosystem, the growth responses of peatland plant species to combined warming and vegetation change are unknown. Here, we used a field warming and vegetation removal experiment to test the hypothesis that dominant species from the three plant functional types present (dwarf-shrubs: Calluna vulgaris; graminoids: Eriophorum vaginatum; bryophytes: Sphagnum capillifolium) contrast in their growth responses to warming and the presence or absence of other plant functional types. Warming was accomplished using open top chambers, which raised air temperature by approximately 0.35 °C, and we measured air and soil microclimate as potential mechanisms through which both experimental factors could influence growth. We found that only Calluna growth increased with experimental warming (by 20%), whereas the presence of dwarf-shrubs and bryophytes increased growth of Sphagnum (46%) and Eriophorum (20%), respectively. Sphagnum growth was also negatively related to soil temperature, which was lower when dwarf-shrubs were present. Dwarf-shrubs may therefore promote Sphagnum growth by cooling the peat surface. Conversely, the effect of bryophyte presence on Eriophorum growth was not related to any change in microclimate, suggesting other factors play a role. In conclusion, our findings reveal contrasting abiotic and biotic controls over dominant peatland plant growth, suggesting that community composition and carbon cycling could be modified by simultaneous climate and vegetation change.

Elucidation of Formulation and Delivery Device-Related Effects on In Vitro Performance of Nasal Spray with Implication to Rational Product Specification Identification.

PubMed

Grmaš, Jernej; Stare, Katarina; Božič, Dane; Injac, Rade; Dreu, Rok

2017-08-01

The aim of this work is to use an experimental design approach to identify and study influential formulation and delivery device properties, which can be controlled by final product manufacturer, to establish design space, within which desired in vitro performance can be reached. Combining three factors, viscosity of suspension, nozzle orifice diameter (OD), and shot weight (SW), at three levels resulted in D-optimal experimental design with 20 runs. Responses within this study were droplet size distribution (DSD) and spray pattern (SP) in vitro tests. In addition, the amount of mechanical work needed for actuation was integrated from force profiles and used as a response. Results were fit to quadratic model by regression, which allowed also for determination of second-order and interaction effects between factors. Models were further optimized by keeping significant terms only. Optimized models were used to create response surfaces and design space with confidence levels. Viscosity has a dominant effect on DSD and modest effect on SP, with lower viscosities related to generation of smaller DSD and larger SP. Orifice diameter was found to have the highest impact on SP, with larger diameter resulting in larger SP. This effect was additionally confirmed by results of Plume Geometry in vitro test. Shot weight factor exerts significant influence on all tested metrics. Work, however, did not vary greatly with suspension viscosity or orifice diameter. Shot weight is the most dominant factor for work and important for DSD having a positive effect on both responses. In the case of SP, its relationship with shot weight is described by second-order polynomial fit. Inspection of raw data revealed that density of droplets within SP area is different for different shot weights. Presented study elucidated an inherent relationship between factors and responses and established mathematical models (response surfaces) for predictive purposes to target specific in vitro performance of nasal sprays by appropriate specification of factors, taking into account control space with included risk and uncertainty analysis.

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Evapotranspiration in Response to Multiple Environmental Factors Simulated by the Community Land Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, Xiaoying; Mao, Jiafu; Thornton, P.

Spatiotemporal patterns of evapotranspiration (ET) over the period from 1982 to 2008 are investigated and attributed to multiple environmental factors using the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4). Our results show that CLM4 captures the spatial distribution and interannual variability of ET well when compared to observation-based estimates. We find that climate dominates the predicted variability in ET. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration also plays an important role in modulating the trend of predicted ET over most land areas, and replaces climate to function as the dominant factor controlling ET changes over the North America, South America and Asia regions. Comparedmore » to the effect of climate and CO2 concentration, the roles of other factors such as nitrogen deposition, land use change and aerosol deposition are less pronounced and regionally dependent. The aerosol deposition contribution is the third most important factor for trends of ET over Europe, while it has the smallest impact over other regions. As ET is a dominant component of the terrestrial water cycle, our results suggest that environmental factors like elevated CO2, nitrogen and aerosol depositions, and land use change, in addition to climate, could have significant impact on future projections of water resources and water cycle dynamics at global and regional scales.« less

The effects of increased CO[sub 2] on the competitive ability of Lupinus arboreus, a dominant nitrogen-fixing shrub

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wallace, A.M.

Plant responses to increased atmospheric CO[sub 2] have been shown to be both species-specific and dependent on other environmental factors, potentially changing competitive interactions and altering community structure. The competitive response of a dominant nitrogen-fixing shrub to an introduced annual (Bromus diandrus) and a native perennial grass (Bromus carinatus) was measured under ambient and high CO[sub 2] and two nitrogen levels. These species coexist in a generally nitrogen-limited coastal grassland reserve besieged with alien species. The relative competitive ability of the lupin increased with CO[sub 2] for all treatments, with the largest difference occurring at low nitrogen in competition withmore » the introduced annual. This study provides a global change perspective for those interested in conserving native Californian grassland species, as well as the first data on the competitive response of nitrogen-fixers to high CO[sub 2].« less

Acute gastro-intestinal illness and its association with hydroclimatic factors in British Columbia, Canada: A time-series analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galway, L. P.; Allen, D. M.

2013-12-01

Rising global temperatures and expected shifts in regional hydroclimatology in a changing climate are likely to influence the risk of infectious waterborne illness. This study examines the role of hydroclimatology as an underlying driver of the epidemiology of waterborne gastro-intestinal illness and contributes to our currently limited understanding of the possible ecosystem-mediated impacts of climate change on health. Using time-series regression analysis, we examine the associations between three hydroclimatic factors (monthly temperature, precipitation, and streamflow) and the monthly occurrence of AGI illness in two communities in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The two communities were selected as study sites to represent the dominant hydroclimatic regimes that characterize the province of BC: the rainfall-dominated hydroclimatic regime and snowmelt-dominated hydroclimatic regime Our results show that the number of monthly cases of AGI increased with increasing temperature, precipitation, and streamflow in the same month in the context of a rainfall-dominated regime and with increasing streamflow in the previous month in the context of a snowfall-dominated regime. These results suggest that hydroclimatic factors play a role in driving the occurrence and variability of AGI illness in this setting. Further, this study has highlighted that the nature and magnitude of the effects of hydroclimatic factors on waterborne illness vary across different hydroclimatic settings. We conclude that the watershed may be an appropriate context within which we can and should enhance our understanding of water-related climate change impacts on health. Examining the role of hydroclimatology as an underlying driver of the epidemiology of infectious disease is key to understanding of the possible ecosystem-mediated impacts of climate change on health and developing appropriate adaptation responses.

Tree responses to drought

Treesearch

Michael G. Ryan

2011-01-01

With global climate change, drought may become more common in the future (IPCC 2007). Several factors will promote more frequent droughts: earlier snowmelt, higher temperatures and higher variability in precipitation. For ecosystems where the water cycle is dominated by snowmelt, warmer temperatures bring earlier melt (Stewart et al. 2005) and longer, drier snow-free...

Differences in Word Recognition between Early Bilinguals and Monolinguals: Behavioral and ERP Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehtonen, Minna; Hulten, Annika; Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni; Cunillera, Toni; Tuomainen, Jyrki; Laine, Matti

2012-01-01

We investigated the behavioral and brain responses (ERPs) of bilingual word recognition to three fundamental psycholinguistic factors, frequency, morphology, and lexicality, in early bilinguals vs. monolinguals. Earlier behavioral studies have reported larger frequency effects in bilinguals' nondominant vs. dominant language and in some studies…

Magnetic Field Is the Dominant Factor to Induce the Response of Streptomyces avermitilis in Altered Gravity Simulated by Diamagnetic Levitation

PubMed Central

Shang, Peng; Zhou, Xianlong; Ashforth, Elizabeth; Zhuo, Ying; Chen, Difei; Ren, Biao; Liu, Zhiheng; Zhang, Lixin

2011-01-01

Background Diamagnetic levitation is a technique that uses a strong, spatially varying magnetic field to simulate an altered gravity environment, as in space. In this study, using Streptomyces avermitilis as the test organism, we investigate whether changes in magnetic field and altered gravity induce changes in morphology and secondary metabolism. We find that a strong magnetic field (12T) inhibit the morphological development of S. avermitilis in solid culture, and increase the production of secondary metabolites. Methodology/Principal Findings S. avermitilis on solid medium was levitated at 0 g*, 1 g* and 2 g* in an altered gravity environment simulated by diamagnetic levitation and under a strong magnetic field, denoted by the asterix. The morphology was obtained by electromicroscopy. The production of the secondary metabolite, avermectin, was determined by OD245 nm. The results showed that diamagnetic levitation could induce a physiological response in S. avermitilis. The difference between 1 g* and the control group grown without the strong magnetic field (1 g), showed that the magnetic field was a more dominant factor influencing changes in morphology and secondary metabolite production, than altered gravity. Conclusion/Significance We have discovered that magnetic field, rather than altered gravity, is the dominant factor in altered gravity simulated by diamagnetic levitation, therefore care should to be taken in the interpretation of results when using diamagnetic levitation as a technique to simulate altered gravity. Hence, these results are significant, and timely to researchers considering the use of diamagnetic levitation to explore effects of weightlessness on living organisms and on physical phenomena. PMID:22039402

Spatiotemporal patterns of evapotranspiration in response to multiple environmental factors simulated by the Community Land Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, Xiaoying; Mao, Jiafu; Thornton, Peter E

In this study, spatial and temporal patterns of evapotranspiration (ET) over the period of 1982-2008 are investigated and attributed to multiple environmental factors using the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4). Our results show that CLM4 captures the spatial distribution and interannual variability of ET well when compared to observation-based estimates derived from the FLUXNET network of eddy covariance towers using the model tree ensembles (MTE) approach. We find that climate trends and variability dominate predicted variability in ET. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration also plays an important role in modulating the trend of predicted ET over most land areas, andmore » functions as the dominant factor controlling ET changes over North America, South America and Asia regions. Compared to the effect of climate change and CO2 concentration, the roles of other factors such as nitrogen deposition, land use change and aerosol deposition are less pronounced and regionally dependent. For example, the aerosol deposition contribution is the third-most important factor for trends of ET over Europe, while it has the smallest impact on ET trend over other regions. As ET is a dominant component of the terrestrial water cycle, our results suggest that environmental factors like elevated CO2, nitrogen and aerosol depositions, and land use and land cover change, in addition to climate, could have significant impact on future projections of water resources and water cycle dynamics at global and regional scales.« less

Behavioural laterality as a factor in emotional regulation.

PubMed

Rempala, Daniel M

2014-01-01

Individuals who perform a variety of tasks using one side of their bodies (i.e., high-dominance people) are thought to differ from individuals who perform a variety of tasks with both sides of their body (i.e., low-dominance people) in several neurological and cognitive characteristics. We examined whether behavioural laterality predicted the efficacy of different emotional regulation strategies. Specifically, we thought that behavioural laterality would influence verbal strategies (associated with left hemisphere activation) when regulating anxiety (associated with right hemisphere activation). In three studies participants presented in front of small audiences. Behavioural laterality (as measured by a modified handedness inventory) positively correlated with presentation anxiety, such that "low-dominance" participants reported less anxiety than "high-dominance" participants, but only when using cognitive reappraisal (a verbal strategy), not attention deployment or response modulation (behavioural strategies). These results provide preliminary evidence that individual differences in behavioural laterality mediate the efficacy of certain emotional regulation strategies.

Parenting and Child "DRD4" Genotype Interact to Predict Children's Early Emerging Effortful Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Heather J.; Sheikh, Haroon I.; Dyson, Margaret W.; Olino, Thomas M.; Laptook, Rebecca S.; Durbin, C. Emily; Hayden, Elizabeth P.; Singh, Shiva M.; Klein, Daniel N.

2012-01-01

Effortful control (EC), or the trait-like capacity to regulate dominant responses, has important implications for children's development. Although genetic factors and parenting likely influence EC, few studies have examined whether they interact to predict its development. This study examined whether the "DRD4" exon III variable number tandem…

Mass failures and other processes of sediment production in Pacific northwest forest landscapes

Treesearch

Frederick J. Swanson; Lee E. Benda; Stanley H. Duncan; Gordon E. Grant; Walter F. Megahan; Leslie M. Reid; Robert R. Ziemer

1987-01-01

Abstract - Accelerated sediment production by mass failures and other erosion processes is an important link between management of forest resources and fish resources. Dominant processes and the rates of sediment production vary greatly throughout the Pacific Northwest in response to geologic and climatic factors. The complex sediment routing systems characteristic...

Ecological genetics of floret mass variation in Bromus tectorum (Poaceae)

Treesearch

Susan E. Meyer

2010-01-01

Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass, downy brome) is a highly invasive inbreeding annual grass that dominates millions of hectares of former shrubland in interior western North America. Factors contributing to its success include strong genetic regulation of key adaptive traits coupled with high phenotypic plasticity in response to resource availability (Meyer and Allen...

Effect of Interleukin-1beta and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha on Gene Expression in Human Endothelial Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-06-01

type Ill, alpha 1 ( Ehlers - Danlos syndrome type IV, autosomal dominant) T98612 multimerin AA423867 ribonuclease, RNase A family, 1 (pancreatic...tax-responsive enhancer element 967) AA600217 jagged1 (Alagille syndrome ) R70685 TNF receptor-associated factor 1 R71691 glycyl-tRNA synthetase...in patients succumbing to sepsis and systemic inflamma- tion. The effects of removing one syndrome -causing agent may be compensated by others with

Lake Ontario zooplankton in 2003 and 2008: Community changes and vertical redistribution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rudstam, Lars G.; Holeck, Kristen T.; Bowen, Kelly L.; Watkins, James M.; Weidel, Brian C.; Luckey, Frederick J.

2014-01-01

Lake-wide zooplankton surveys are critical for documenting and understanding food web responses to ecosystem change. Surveys in 2003 and 2008 during the binational intensive field year in Lake Ontario found that offshore epilimnetic crustacean zooplankton declined by a factor of 12 (density) and factor of 5 (biomass) in the summer with smaller declines in the fall. These declines coincided with an increase in abundance of Bythotrephes and are likely the result of direct predation by, or behavioral responses to this invasive invertebrate predator. Whole water column zooplankton density also declined from 2003 to 2008 in the summer and fall (factor of 4), but biomass only declined in the fall (factor of 2). The decline in biomass was less than the decline in density because the average size of individual zooplankton increased. This was due to changes in the zooplankton community composition from a cyclopoid/bosminid dominated community in 2003 to a calanoid dominated community in 2008. The increase in calanoid copepods was primarily due to the larger species Limnocalanus macrurus and Leptodiaptomus sicilis. These cold water species were found in and below the thermocline associated with a deep chlorophyll layer. In 2008, most of the zooplankton biomass resided in or below the thermocline during the day. Increased importance of copepods in deeper, colder water may favor Cisco and Rainbow Smelt over Alewife because these species are better adapted to cold temperatures than Alewife.

Temperature and Nutrients Interact to Control Nitrogen Fixation in a Subalpine Stream: An Experimental Examination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcarelli, A. M.

2005-05-01

To test the importance of factors controlling N-fixation in subalpine streams, I conducted a stream-side mesocosm experiment with epilithic communities and nutrient diffusing substrates (NDS) to test how temperature and nutrients interact to influence algal communities. Within two days, warm temperature (18°C) stimulated N-fixation by Calothrix in the epilithic community 2X above cold temperature (13°C), indicating a strong physiological response. Community responses measured on NDS indicated that cold-water diatoms dominated by day 45 in the cold treatment, while diatoms containing N-fixing endosymbionts dominated only in warm treatments with added phosphorus. There was a significant interaction between nutrient supply and temperature on N-fixation rates in the experiment. On nutrient controls, warm temperature boosted fixation 2X above cold temperature, but when P was added, temperature increased fixation 20X. This study indicates that N-fixation is stimulated both by temperature and nutrients in this stream, but the magnitude of response to phosphorus was much greater than to temperature. Furthermore, our results support the hypothesis that biological characteristics in streams, including community structure and biogeochemical processes, can be altered in complex ways by disturbances like grazing and logging that alter multiple controlling factors simultaneously.

Explaining the Colavita visual dominance effect.

PubMed

Spence, Charles

2009-01-01

The last couple of years have seen a resurgence of interest in the Colavita visual dominance effect. In the basic experimental paradigm, a random series of auditory, visual, and audiovisual stimuli are presented to participants who are instructed to make one response whenever they see a visual target and another response whenever they hear an auditory target. Many studies have now shown that participants sometimes fail to respond to auditory targets when they are presented at the same time as visual targets (i.e., on the bimodal trials), despite the fact that they have no problems in responding to the auditory and visual stimuli when they are presented individually. The existence of the Colavita visual dominance effect provides an intriguing contrast with the results of the many other recent studies showing the superiority of multisensory (over unisensory) information processing in humans. Various accounts have been put forward over the years in order to try and explain the effect, including the suggestion that it reflects nothing more than an underlying bias to attend to the visual modality. Here, the empirical literature on the Colavita visual dominance effect is reviewed and some of the key factors modulating the effect highlighted. The available research has now provided evidence against all previous accounts of the Colavita effect. A novel explanation of the Colavita effect is therefore put forward here, one that is based on the latest findings highlighting the asymmetrical effect that auditory and visual stimuli exert on people's responses to stimuli presented in the other modality.

Group size adjustment to ecological demand in a cooperative breeder.

PubMed

Zöttl, Markus; Frommen, Joachim G; Taborsky, Michael

2013-04-07

Environmental factors can determine which group size will maximize the fitness of group members. This is particularly important in cooperative breeders, where group members often serve different purposes. Experimental studies are yet lacking to check whether ecologically mediated need for help will change the propensity of dominant group members to accept immigrants. Here, we manipulated the perceived risk of predation for dominant breeders of the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher to test their response to unrelated and previously unknown immigrants. Potential immigrants were more readily accepted if groups were exposed to fish predators or egg predators than to herbivorous fish or control situations lacking predation risk. Our data are consistent with both risk dilution and helping effects. Egg predators were presented before spawning, which might suggest that the fish adjust acceptance rates also to a potential future threat. Dominant group members of N. pulcher apparently consider both present and future need of help based on ecological demand. This suggests that acceptance of immigrants and, more generally, tolerance of group members on demand could be a widespread response to ecological conditions in cooperatively breeding animals.

Immune mechanisms in fish skin against monogeneans--a model.

PubMed

Buchmann, K

1999-01-01

Host responses against skin inhabiting monogeneans are commonly observed but the responsible immune mechanisms in the fish skin are sufficiently described. Based on recent knowledge of fish immunity and skin response mechanisms in mammals a model for the skin immunity in fish to monogenean infections is proposed. Important cellular components of the model are the epithelial cells, the mucous cells and leucocytes. The release of cytokines, e.g., IL-1, following mechanical or chemical injury of the epithelial cells, initiates a series of events leading to decrease of the ectoparasite population. Cytokines (e.g., IL-1, TNF, INF) are suggested to affect secretions from mucous cell and attract neutrophils and macrophages. Leukotrienes are probably involved in the inflammatory reactions. The subsequent production of humoral substances (among others complement factors and peptides) could be responsible for the antiparasitic response in the later stages of infection. Although non-specific factors dominate the response, the involvement of specific antibodies and lymphocytes cannot be excluded.

Study on the factors affecting the quality of public bus transportation service in Bali Province using factor analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Susilawati, M.; Nilakusmawati, D. P. E.

2017-06-01

The volume of mobility flows are increasing day by day and the condition of the number of people using private transport modes contribute to traffic congestion. With the limited capacity of the road, one of the alternatives solution to reduce congestion is to optimize the use of public transport. The purposes of this study are to determine the factors that influence user’s satisfaction on the quality of public bus transportation service and determine variables that became identifier on the dominant factor affecting user’s satisfaction. The study was conducted for the public bus transportation between districts in the province of Bali, which is among the eight regencies and one municipality, using a questionnaire as a data collection instrument. Service variables determinant of user’s satisfaction in this study, described in 25 questions, which were analyzed using factor analysis. The results showed there were six factors that explain the satisfaction of users of public transport in Bali, with a total diversity of data that can be parsed by 61.436%. These factors are: Safety and comfort, Responsiveness, Capacity, Tangible, Safety, Reliability. The dominant factor affecting public transport user satisfaction is the safety and comfort, with the most influential variable is feeling concerned about the personal safety of users when on the bus.

Factors influencing the scarification and germination of three montane Sierra Nevada shrubs

Treesearch

J. Boone Kaufmann; R. E. Martin

1991-01-01

Following fires in the forested ecosystems of the northern Sierra Nevada, California, early successional communities are often dominated by shrubs that arise from seeds that have remained viable in soil seedbanks for long periods. The germination response of seeds of three seral montane shrub species was investigated following exposure to differing types of heat (wet...

Overexpression of Serum Response Factor in Neurons Restores Ocular Dominance Plasticity in a Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Foxworthy, W. Alex; Medina, Alexandre E.

2015-01-01

Background Deficits in neuronal plasticity underlie many neurobehavioral and cognitive problems presented in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Our lab has developed a ferret model showing that early alcohol exposure leads to a persistent disruption in ocular dominance (OD) plasticity. For instance, a few days of monocular deprivation results in a robust reduction of visual cortex neurons’ responsiveness to stimulation of the deprived eye in normal animals, but not in ferrets with early alcohol exposure. Previously our lab demonstrated that overexpression of serum response factor (SRF) exclusively in astrocytes can improve neuronal plasticity in FASD. Here we test whether neuronal overexpression of SRF can achieve similar effects. Methods Ferrets received 3.5 g/kg alcohol i.p. (25% in saline) or saline as control every other day between postnatal day (P) 10 to 30, which is roughly equivalent to the third trimester of human gestation. Animals were given intracortical injections of a Herpes viral vector to express either GFP or a constitutively active form of SRF in infected neurons. They were then monocularly deprived by eyelid suture for 4–5 d after which single-unit recordings were conducted to determine if changes in ocular dominance had occurred. Results Overexpression of a constitutively active form of SRF by neurons restored OD plasticity in alcohol-treated animals. This effect was observed only in areas near the site of viral infection. Conclusions Overexpression of SRF in neurons can restore plasticity in the ferret model of FASD, but only in areas near the site of infection. This contrasts with SRF overexpression in astrocytes which restored plasticity throughout the visual cortex. PMID:26342644

Cloning and characterization of FGF23 as a causative factor of tumor-induced osteomalacia.

PubMed

Shimada, T; Mizutani, S; Muto, T; Yoneya, T; Hino, R; Takeda, S; Takeuchi, Y; Fujita, T; Fukumoto, S; Yamashita, T

2001-05-22

Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is one of the paraneoplastic diseases characterized by hypophosphatemia caused by renal phosphate wasting. Because removal of responsible tumors normalizes phosphate metabolism, an unidentified humoral phosphaturic factor is believed to be responsible for this syndrome. To identify the causative factor of TIO, we obtained cDNA clones that were abundantly expressed only in a tumor causing TIO and constructed tumor-specific cDNA contigs. Based on the sequence of one major contig, we cloned 2,270-bp cDNA, which turned out to encode fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). Administration of recombinant FGF23 decreased serum phosphate in mice within 12 h. When Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing FGF23 were s.c. implanted into nude mice, hypophosphatemia with increased renal phosphate clearance was observed. In addition, a high level of serum alkaline phosphatase, low 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, deformity of bone, and impairment of body weight gain became evident. Histological examination showed marked increase of osteoid and widening of growth plate. Thus, continuous production of FGF23 reproduced clinical, biochemical, and histological features of TIO in vivo. Analyses for recombinant FGF23 products produced by Chinese hamster ovary cells indicated proteolytic cleavage of FGF23 at the RXXR motif. Recent genetic study indicates that missense mutations in this RXXR motif of FGF23 are responsible for autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets, another hypophosphatemic disease with similar features to TIO. We conclude that overproduction of FGF23 causes TIO, whereas mutations in the FGF23 gene result in autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets possibly by preventing proteolytic cleavage and enhancing biological activity of FGF23.

Cloning and characterization of FGF23 as a causative factor of tumor-induced osteomalacia

PubMed Central

Shimada, Takashi; Mizutani, Satoru; Muto, Takanori; Yoneya, Takashi; Hino, Rieko; Takeda, Shu; Takeuchi, Yasuhiro; Fujita, Toshiro; Fukumoto, Seiji; Yamashita, Takeyoshi

2001-01-01

Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is one of the paraneoplastic diseases characterized by hypophosphatemia caused by renal phosphate wasting. Because removal of responsible tumors normalizes phosphate metabolism, an unidentified humoral phosphaturic factor is believed to be responsible for this syndrome. To identify the causative factor of TIO, we obtained cDNA clones that were abundantly expressed only in a tumor causing TIO and constructed tumor-specific cDNA contigs. Based on the sequence of one major contig, we cloned 2,270-bp cDNA, which turned out to encode fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). Administration of recombinant FGF23 decreased serum phosphate in mice within 12 h. When Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing FGF23 were s.c. implanted into nude mice, hypophosphatemia with increased renal phosphate clearance was observed. In addition, a high level of serum alkaline phosphatase, low 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, deformity of bone, and impairment of body weight gain became evident. Histological examination showed marked increase of osteoid and widening of growth plate. Thus, continuous production of FGF23 reproduced clinical, biochemical, and histological features of TIO in vivo. Analyses for recombinant FGF23 products produced by Chinese hamster ovary cells indicated proteolytic cleavage of FGF23 at the RXXR motif. Recent genetic study indicates that missense mutations in this RXXR motif of FGF23 are responsible for autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets, another hypophosphatemic disease with similar features to TIO. We conclude that overproduction of FGF23 causes TIO, whereas mutations in the FGF23 gene result in autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets possibly by preventing proteolytic cleavage and enhancing biological activity of FGF23. PMID:11344269

Valence-space compatibility effects depend on situated motor fluency in both right- and left-handers.

PubMed

Milhau, Audrey; Brouillet, Thibaut; Brouillet, Denis

2015-01-01

According to the body specificity hypothesis, the way we interact with our environment participates in our conceptualization of concepts and word meanings. For instance, valence is associated to horizontal space because of the motor fluency by which one acts with one's dominant hand. We propose that the decisive factor in the compatibility effects between valence and lateral actions is the interaction between the fluency of response movement and the situational constraints of the task. In a valence judgement task with positive and negative words, right-handers (Experiment 1) and left-handers (Experiment 2) responded with lateralized actions of either their dominant or their nondominant hand. To do so, we used a response device that was either congruent or noncongruent with the fluency of the response hand. Results highlighted that when the response device was congruent with the fluency of the responding hand, response times to positive evaluations were shorter than those to negative evaluations. Conversely, when the response device was noncongruent with the fluency of the responding hand, we observed faster responses for negative evaluations than for positive evaluations. Furthermore, we obtained similar patterns for right- and left-handers, supporting the idea that compatibility effects are driven by the situated fluency of the responding hand.

Use of Biomarkers in Oil Spill Risk Assessment in the marine environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, Jack W.; Lee, Richard F.

2006-12-01

Numerous molecular, cellular and physiological biomarkers have been used to assess the responses of marine animals to petroleum compounds. To be used in ecological risk assessment after an oil spill, a biomarker response needs to be linked to petroleum exposure and not strongly influenced by internal and external confounding factors. Biomarker responses to petroleum PAH, dominated by alkylated two- and three-ringed aromatics, can be quite different than responses to pyrogenic PAH, dominated by four- and five-ringed aromatics. In many field sites there is a mixture of petrogenic and pyrogenic PAH, along with other contaminant, making it difficult to relate biomarkermore » responses to a particular contaminant class. Biomarkers used to assess marine animal responses in the field include the cytochrome P450 system, heat stress protein, histopathology and bile fluorescent compounds (FAC). Other biomarkers, including DNA/chromosomal damage and phase 2 enzymes, have been shown to respond after laboratory exposure, but more works needs to be done to demonstrate their usefulness in the field. One of the most useful biomarkers of petroleum exposure are the FAC responses in fish, which can be used to distinguish between petrogenic and pyrogenic PAH exposure. Few of the presently used biomarkers are linked to higher order biological effects, e.g toxicity, reproductive failure.« less

Ecological and physiological controls of species composition in green macroalgal blooms.

PubMed

Nelson, Timothy A; Haberlin, Karalon; Nelson, Amorah V; Ribarich, Heather; Hotchkiss, Ruth; Van Alstyne, Kathryn L; Buckingham, Lee; Simunds, Dejah J; Fredrickson, Kerri

2008-05-01

Green macroalgal blooms have substantially altered marine community structure and function, specifically by smothering seagrasses and other primary producers that are critical to commercial fisheries and by creating anoxic conditions in enclosed embayments. Bottom-up factors are viewed as the primary drivers of these blooms, but increasing attention has been paid to biotic controls of species composition. In Washington State, USA, blooms are often dominated by Ulva spp. intertidally and Ulvaria obscura subtidally. Factors that could cause this spatial difference were examined, including competition, grazer preferences, salinity, photoacclimation, nutrient requirements, and responses to nutrient enrichment. Ulva specimens grew faster than Ulvaria in intertidal chambers but not significantly faster in subtidal chambers. Ulva was better able to acclimate to a high-light environment and was more tolerant of low salinity than Ulvaria. Ulvaria had higher tissue N content, chlorophyll, chlorophyll b: chlorophyll a, and protein content than Ulva. These differences suggest that nitrogen availability could affect species composition. A suite of five grazers preferred Ulva to Ulvaria in choice experiments. Thus, bottom-up factors allow Ulva to dominate the intertidal zone while resistance to grazers appears to allow Ulvaria to dominate the subtidal zone. While ulvoid algae are in the same functional-form group, they are not functionally redundant.

Rapid regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA within eye-specific circuits during ocular dominance column formation.

PubMed

Lein, E S; Shatz, C J

2000-02-15

The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has emerged as a candidate retrograde signaling molecule for geniculocortical axons during the formation of ocular dominance columns. Here we examined whether neuronal activity can regulate BDNF mRNA in eye-specific circuits in the developing cat visual system. Dark-rearing throughout the critical period for ocular dominance column formation decreases levels of BDNF mRNA within primary visual cortex, whereas short-term (2 d) binocular blockade of retinal activity with tetrodotoxin (TTX) downregulates BDNF mRNA within the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and visual cortical areas. Brief (6 hr to 2 d) monocular TTX blockade during the critical period and also in adulthood causes downregulation in appropriate eye-specific laminae in the LGN and ocular dominance columns within primary visual cortex. Monocular TTX blockade at postnatal day 23 also downregulates BDNF mRNA in a periodic fashion, consistent with recent observations that ocular dominance columns can be detected at these early ages by physiological methods. In contrast, 10 d monocular TTX during the critical period does not cause a lasting decrease in BDNF mRNA expression in columns pertaining to the treated eye, consistent with the nearly complete shift in physiological response properties of cortical neurons in favor of the unmanipulated eye known to result from long-term monocular deprivation. These observations demonstrate that BDNF mRNA levels can provide an accurate "molecular readout" of the activity levels of cortical neurons and are consistent with a highly local action of BDNF in strengthening and maintaining active synapses during ocular dominance column formation.

Rangeland monitoring reveals long-term plant responses to precipitation and grazing at the landscape scale

USGS Publications Warehouse

Munson, Seth M.; Duniway, Michael C.; Johanson, Jamin K.

2015-01-01

Managers of rangeland ecosystems require methods to track the condition of natural resources over large areas and long periods of time as they confront climate change and land use intensification. We demonstrate how rangeland monitoring results can be synthesized using ecological site concepts to understand how climate, site factors, and management actions affect long-term vegetation dynamics at the landscape-scale. Forty-six years of rangeland monitoring conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Colorado Plateau reveals variable responses of plant species cover to cool-season precipitation, land type (ecological site groups), and grazing intensity. Dominant C3 perennial grasses (Achnatherum hymenoides, Hesperostipa comata), which are essential to support wildlife and livestock on the Colorado Plateau, had responses to cool-season precipitation that were at least twice as large as the dominant C4 perennial grass (Pleuraphis jamesii) and woody vegetation. However, these C3 perennial grass responses to precipitation were reduced by nearly one-third on grassland ecological sites with fine- rather than coarse-textured soils, and there were no detectable C3 perennial grass responses to precipitation on ecological sites dominated by a dense-growing shrub, Coleogyne ramosissima. Heavy grazing intensity further reduced the responses of C3 perennial grasses to cool-season precipitation on ecological sites with coarse-textured soils and surprisingly reduced the responses of shrubs as well. By using ecological site groups to assess rangeland condition, we were able to improve our understanding of the long-term relationships between vegetation change and climate, land use, and site characteristics, which has important implications for developing landscape-scale monitoring strategies.

Feminists' heterosexual relationships: more on dominance and mating.

PubMed

Abernethy, V

1978-04-01

The hypothesis that female dominance inhibits mating whereas male dominance facilitates it, and seemingly incongruous findings suggesting that dominant women take more initiative and are more interested than others in sex, are explored through comparison of feminist and control subjects, ie, women who were expected, a priori, to be located at widely separated points on a theoretical dominance continuum. Principal findings are the following: (1) sexual initiative and satisfaction appear to be greater among feminists than others, (2) there is no difference between groups in frequency of coitus in a present (or most recent) sexual relationship, but (3) there is a tendency for feminists to have had less stable first marriages than control subjects. These findings do permit more than one interpretation: the greater sexual satisfaction combined with marital instability among feminists may reflect their energy and willingness to change an unsatisfactory condition, or, in addition, the more general proposition that personal power is associated with positive sexual response in both men and women, so that there is minimal complementarity along this dimension. Both cultural and biologic factors appear to contribute to the relative instability of feminists' marriages.

Spatial association between dissection density and environmental factors over the entire conterminous United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Wei; Jasiewicz, Jaroslaw; Stepinski, Tomasz; Wang, Jinfeng; Xu, Chengdong; Cang, Xuezhi

2016-01-01

Previous studies of land dissection density (D) often find contradictory results regarding factors controlling its spatial variation. We hypothesize that the dominant controlling factors (and the interactions between them) vary from region to region due to differences in each region's local characteristics and geologic history. We test this hypothesis by applying a geographical detector method to eight physiographic divisions of the conterminous United States and identify the dominant factor(s) in each. The geographical detector method computes the power of determinant (q) that quantitatively measures the affinity between the factor considered and D. Results show that the factor (or factor combination) with the largest q value is different for physiographic regions with different characteristics and geologic histories. For example, lithology dominates in mountainous regions, curvature dominates in plains, and glaciation dominates in previously glaciated areas. The geographical detector method offers an objective framework for revealing factors controlling Earth surface processes.

Cerebral asymmetry for mental rotation: effects of response hand, handedness and gender.

PubMed

Johnson, Blake W; McKenzie, Kirsten J; Hamm, Jeff P

2002-10-28

We assessed lateralization of brain function during mental rotation, measuring the scalp distribution of a 400-600 ms latency event-related potential (ERP) with 128 recording electrodes. Twenty-four subjects, consisting of equal numbers of dextral and sinistral males and females, performed a mental rotation task under two response conditions (dominant non-dominant hand). For males, ERPs showed a right parietal bias regardless of response hand. For females, the parietal ERPs were slightly left-lateralized when making dominant hand responses, but strongly right-lateralized when making non-dominant hand responses. These results support the notion that visuo-spatial processing is more bilaterally organized in females. However, left hemisphere resources may be allocated to response preparation when using the non-dominant hand, forcing visuo-spatial processing to the right hemisphere.

Transcriptional blood signatures distinguish pulmonary tuberculosis, pulmonary sarcoidosis, pneumonias and lung cancers.

PubMed

Bloom, Chloe I; Graham, Christine M; Berry, Matthew P R; Rozakeas, Fotini; Redford, Paul S; Wang, Yuanyuan; Xu, Zhaohui; Wilkinson, Katalin A; Wilkinson, Robert J; Kendrick, Yvonne; Devouassoux, Gilles; Ferry, Tristan; Miyara, Makoto; Bouvry, Diane; Valeyre, Dominique; Dominique, Valeyre; Gorochov, Guy; Blankenship, Derek; Saadatian, Mitra; Vanhems, Phillip; Beynon, Huw; Vancheeswaran, Rama; Wickremasinghe, Melissa; Chaussabel, Damien; Banchereau, Jacques; Pascual, Virginia; Ho, Ling-Pei; Lipman, Marc; O'Garra, Anne

2013-01-01

New approaches to define factors underlying the immunopathogenesis of pulmonary diseases including sarcoidosis and tuberculosis are needed to develop new treatments and biomarkers. Comparing the blood transcriptional response of tuberculosis to other similar pulmonary diseases will advance knowledge of disease pathways and help distinguish diseases with similar clinical presentations. To determine the factors underlying the immunopathogenesis of the granulomatous diseases, sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, by comparing the blood transcriptional responses in these and other pulmonary diseases. We compared whole blood genome-wide transcriptional profiles in pulmonary sarcoidosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, to community acquired pneumonia and primary lung cancer and healthy controls, before and after treatment, and in purified leucocyte populations. An Interferon-inducible neutrophil-driven blood transcriptional signature was present in both sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, with a higher abundance and expression in tuberculosis. Heterogeneity of the sarcoidosis signature correlated significantly with disease activity. Transcriptional profiles in pneumonia and lung cancer revealed an over-abundance of inflammatory transcripts. After successful treatment the transcriptional activity in tuberculosis and pneumonia patients was significantly reduced. However the glucocorticoid-responsive sarcoidosis patients showed a significant increase in transcriptional activity. 144-blood transcripts were able to distinguish tuberculosis from other lung diseases and controls. Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis revealed similar blood transcriptional profiles, dominated by interferon-inducible transcripts, while pneumonia and lung cancer showed distinct signatures, dominated by inflammatory genes. There were also significant differences between tuberculosis and sarcoidosis in the degree of their transcriptional activity, the heterogeneity of their profiles and their transcriptional response to treatment.

Examining assortativity in the mental lexicon: Evidence from word associations.

PubMed

Van Rensbergen, Bram; Storms, Gert; De Deyne, Simon

2015-12-01

Words are characterized by a variety of lexical and psychological properties, such as their part of speech, word-frequency, concreteness, or affectivity. In this study, we examine how these properties relate to a word's connectivity in the mental lexicon, the structure containing a person's knowledge of words. In particular, we examine the extent to which these properties display assortative mixing, that is, the extent to which words in the lexicon are more likely to be connected to words that share these properties. We investigated three types of word properties: 1) subjective word covariates: valence, dominance, arousal, and concreteness; 2) lexical information: part of speech; and 3) distributional word properties: age-of-acquisition, word frequency, and contextual diversity. We assessed which of these factors exhibit assortativity using a word association task, where the probability of producing a certain response to a cue is a measure of the associative strength between the cue and response in the mental lexicon. Our results show that the extent to which these aspects exhibit assortativity varies considerably, with a high cue-response correspondence on valence, dominance, arousal, concreteness, and part of speech, indicating that these factors correspond to the words people deem as related. In contrast, we find that cues and responses show only little correspondence on word frequency, contextual diversity, and age-of-acquisition, indicating that, compared to subjective and lexical word covariates, distributional properties exhibit only little assortativity in the mental lexicon. Possible theoretical accounts and implications of these findings are discussed.

N saturation symptoms in chaparral catchments are not reversed by prescribed fire

Treesearch

T. Meixner; Mark E. Fenn; P. Wohlgemuth; M. Oxford; P. Riggan

2006-01-01

Fire is a critical ecosystem process in many landscapes and is particularly dominant in the chaparral shrublands of southern California which are also exposed to high levels of atmospheric N deposition. Few studies have addressed the combined effects of these two disturbance factors. In this study we evaluate the hydrologic and biogeochemical response of a control and...

Deer hunting and television: are tv shows creating expectations among deer hunters?

Treesearch

Joshua D. Agee; Craig A. Miller

2009-01-01

Throughout the past two decades new media outlets emphasizing trophy deer hunting have come to dominate hunting culture. Using data collected through a mail survey of Illinois deer hunters (n = 2,683, 78.5-percent response), we tested two hypotheses to determine factors that contribute to preference for hunting trophy deer. In particular, we examined the relationship...

BOLD response to semantic and syntactic processing during hypoglycemia is load-dependent.

PubMed

Schafer, Robin J; Page, Kathleen A; Arora, Jagriti; Sherwin, Robert; Constable, R Todd

2012-01-01

This study investigates how syntactic and semantic load factors impact sentence comprehension and BOLD signal under moderate hypoglycemia. A dual session, whole brain fMRI study was conducted on 16 healthy participants using the glucose clamp technique. In one session, they experienced insulin-induced hypoglycemia (plasma glucose at ∼50mg/dL); in the other, plasma glucose was maintained at euglycemic levels (∼100mg/dL). During scans subjects were presented with sentences of contrasting syntactic (embedding vs. conjunction) and semantic (reversibility vs. irreversibility) load. Semantic factors dominated the overall load effects on both performance (p<0.001) and BOLD response (p<0.01, corrected). Differential BOLD signal was observed in frontal, temporal, temporo-parietal and medio-temporal regions. Hypoglycemia and syntactic factors significantly impacted performance (p=0.002) and BOLD response (p<0.01, corrected) in the reversible clause conditions, more extensively in reversible-embedded than in reversible-conjoined clauses. Hypoglycemia resulted in a robust decrease in performance on reversible clauses and exerted attenuating effects on BOLD unselectively across cortical circuits. The dominance of reversibility in all measures underscores the distinction between the syntactic and semantic contrasts. The syntactic is based in a quantitative difference in algorithms interpreting embedded and conjoined structures. We suggest that the semantic is based in a qualitative difference between algorithmic mapping of arguments in reversible clauses and heuristic linking in irreversible clauses. Because heuristics drastically reduce resource demand, the operations they support would resist the load-dependent cognitive consequences of hypoglycemia. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of adenovirus and MVA vaccines on the breadth and hierarchy of T cell responses.

PubMed

Rollier, Christine S; Hill, Adrian V S; Reyes-Sandoval, Arturo

2016-08-31

Viral-vectored vaccines are in clinical development for several infectious diseases where T-cell responses can mediate protection, and responses to sub-dominant epitopes is needed. Little is known about the influence of MVA or adenoviral vectors on the hierarchy of the dominant and sub-dominant T-cell epitopes. We investigated this aspect in mice using a malaria immunogen. Our results demonstrate that the T-cell hierarchy is influenced by the timing of analysis, rather than by the vector after a single immunization, with hierarchy changing over time. Repeated homologous immunization reduced the breadth of responses, while heterologous prime-boost induced the strongest response to the dominant epitope, albeit with only modest response to the sub-dominant epitopes. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem Reversals of Fortune in Response to Long-Term Experimental N Deposition.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vourlitis, G. L.

2017-12-01

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has the capacity to alter terrestrial ecosystem structure and function; however, short-term (months-years) responses may be fundamentally different than long-term (years-decades) responses. Here the results of a 14 year field N addition experiment are reported for two different Southern Californian semi-arid shrublands, a post-fire chaparral and a mature coastal sage scrub (CSS), that have been exposed to 50 kgN ha-1 yr-1 since 2003. Since >90% of the anthropogenic N in this region consists of dry deposition, N was added during the late-summer or early-fall each year to assess how dry N inputs alter ecosystem processes. Both shrublands experienced complete reversals in their response to experimental N input. For example, post-fire chaparral plots exposed to added N had significantly lower net primary production (NPP) than control plots over the first 3 years of the experiment, but thereafter, the NPP in N plots increased consistently each year and became significantly higher than in control plots after 7 years of N fertilization. In CSS, NPP and the abundance of Artemisia californica, a co-dominant shrub, increased significantly in N plots over the first 6 years, but thereafter, NPP and the abundance of A. californica and Salvia mellifera, the other co-dominant shrub, declined. Now the N plots have a lower NPP and are dominated by the invasive annual Brassica nigra. These transient responses, and interactions between N accumulation and other factors such as post-fire succession (chaparral) and chronic drought (CSS), would have been missed if the experiment was ended after the end of a typical funding cycle, and highlighting the importance of long-duration field experiments in assessing ecosystem responses to chronic N enrichment.

Stress responses during aerobic exercise in relation to motivational dominance and state.

PubMed

Thatcher, Joanne; Kuroda, Yusuke; Legrand, Fabien D; Thatcher, Rhys

2011-02-01

We examined the hypothesis that congruence between motivational dominance and state results in optimal psychological responses and performance during exercise. Twenty participants (10 telic dominant and 10 paratelic dominant) rated their stress at 5 min intervals as they cycled on an ergometer at gas exchange threshold for 30 min in both telic and paratelic state manipulated conditions. Participants then performed a test to exhaustion at a resistance equivalent to 110% of VO(2max). The hypothesized interaction between condition and dominance was significant for internal tension stress, as paratelic dominants were more stressed than telic dominants when exercising in the telic state and telic dominants were more stressed than paratelic dominants when exercising in the paratelic state. Similarly, the condition × dominance interaction for internal stress discrepancy was significant, as paratelic dominants reported greater internal stress discrepancy exercising in the telic compared with the paratelic state. Findings are discussed in relation to the application of reversal theory for understanding stress responses during aerobic exercise.

An overview of a multifactor-system theory of personality and individual differences: III. Life span development and the heredity-environment issue.

PubMed

Powell, A; Royce, J R

1981-12-01

In Part III of this three-part series on multifactor-system theory, multivariate, life-span development is approached from the standpoint of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the ontogenesis of factors in each of the six systems. The pattern of quantitative development (described via the Gompertz equation and three developmental parameters) involves growth, stability, and decline, and qualitative development involves changes in the organization of factors (e.g., factor differentiation and convergence). Hereditary and environmental sources of variation are analyzed via the factor gene model and the concept of heredity-dominant factors, and the factor-learning model and environment-dominant factors. It is hypothesized that the sensory and motor systems are heredity dominant, that the style and value systems are environment dominant, and that the cognitive and affective systems are partially heredity dominant.

Rainfall changes affect the algae dominance in tank bromeliad ecosystems.

PubMed

Pires, Aliny Patricia Flauzino; Leal, Juliana da Silva; Peeters, Edwin T H M

2017-01-01

Climate change and biodiversity loss have been reported as major disturbances in the biosphere which can trigger changes in the structure and functioning of natural ecosystems. Nonetheless, empirical studies demonstrating how both factors interact to affect shifts in aquatic ecosystems are still unexplored. Here, we experimentally test how changes in rainfall distribution and litter diversity affect the occurrence of the algae-dominated condition in tank bromeliad ecosystems. Tank bromeliads are miniature aquatic ecosystems shaped by the rainwater and allochthonous detritus accumulated in the bases of their leaves. Here, we demonstrated that changes in the rainfall distribution were able to reduce the chlorophyll-a concentration in the water of bromeliad tanks affecting significantly the occurrence of algae-dominated conditions. On the other hand, litter diversity did not affect the algae dominance irrespective to the rainfall scenario. We suggest that rainfall changes may compromise important self-reinforcing mechanisms responsible for maintaining high levels of algae on tank bromeliads ecosystems. We summarized these results into a theoretical model which suggests that tank bromeliads may show two different regimes, determined by the bromeliad ability in taking up nutrients from the water and by the total amount of light entering the tank. We concluded that predicted climate changes might promote regime shifts in tropical aquatic ecosystems by shaping their structure and the relative importance of other regulating factors.

Rainfall changes affect the algae dominance in tank bromeliad ecosystems

PubMed Central

Pires, Aliny Patricia Flauzino; Leal, Juliana da Silva; Peeters, Edwin T. H. M.

2017-01-01

Climate change and biodiversity loss have been reported as major disturbances in the biosphere which can trigger changes in the structure and functioning of natural ecosystems. Nonetheless, empirical studies demonstrating how both factors interact to affect shifts in aquatic ecosystems are still unexplored. Here, we experimentally test how changes in rainfall distribution and litter diversity affect the occurrence of the algae-dominated condition in tank bromeliad ecosystems. Tank bromeliads are miniature aquatic ecosystems shaped by the rainwater and allochthonous detritus accumulated in the bases of their leaves. Here, we demonstrated that changes in the rainfall distribution were able to reduce the chlorophyll-a concentration in the water of bromeliad tanks affecting significantly the occurrence of algae-dominated conditions. On the other hand, litter diversity did not affect the algae dominance irrespective to the rainfall scenario. We suggest that rainfall changes may compromise important self-reinforcing mechanisms responsible for maintaining high levels of algae on tank bromeliads ecosystems. We summarized these results into a theoretical model which suggests that tank bromeliads may show two different regimes, determined by the bromeliad ability in taking up nutrients from the water and by the total amount of light entering the tank. We concluded that predicted climate changes might promote regime shifts in tropical aquatic ecosystems by shaping their structure and the relative importance of other regulating factors. PMID:28422988

Ecological and ecophysiological attributes and responses to fire in eastern oak forests

Treesearch

Marc D. Abrams

2006-01-01

Prior to European settlement vast areas of the eastern U. S. deciduous forest were dominated by oak species. Evidence indicates that periodic understory fire was an important ecological factor in the historical development of oak forests. During European settlement of the late 19th and early 20th century, much of the Eastern United States was impacted by land clearing...

Sequence variations of the partially dominant DELLA gene Rht-B1c in wheat and their functional impacts

PubMed Central

Ma, Zhengqiang

2013-01-01

Rht-B1c, allelic to the DELLA protein-encoding gene Rht-B1a, is a natural mutation documented in common wheat (Triticum aestivum). It confers variation to a number of traits related to cell and plant morphology, seed dormancy, and photosynthesis. The present study was conducted to examine the sequence variations of Rht-B1c and their functional impacts. The results showed that Rht-B1c was partially dominant or co-dominant for plant height, and exhibited an increased dwarfing effect. At the sequence level, Rht-B1c differed from Rht-B1a by one 2kb Veju retrotransposon insertion, three coding region single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), one 197bp insertion, and four SNPs in the 1kb upstream sequence. Haplotype investigations, association analyses, transient expression assays, and expression profiling showed that the Veju insertion was primarily responsible for the extreme dwarfing effect. It was found that the Veju insertion changed processing of the Rht-B1c transcripts and resulted in DELLA motif primary structure disruption. Expression assays showed that Rht-B1c caused reduction of total Rht-1 transcript levels, and up-regulation of GATA-like transcription factors and genes positively regulated by these factors, suggesting that one way in which Rht-1 proteins affect plant growth and development is through GATA-like transcription factor regulation. PMID:23918966

Dominant modal decomposition method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dombovari, Zoltan

2017-03-01

The paper deals with the automatic decomposition of experimental frequency response functions (FRF's) of mechanical structures. The decomposition of FRF's is based on the Green function representation of free vibratory systems. After the determination of the impulse dynamic subspace, the system matrix is formulated and the poles are calculated directly. By means of the corresponding eigenvectors, the contribution of each element of the impulse dynamic subspace is determined and the sufficient decomposition of the corresponding FRF is carried out. With the presented dominant modal decomposition (DMD) method, the mode shapes, the modal participation vectors and the modal scaling factors are identified using the decomposed FRF's. Analytical example is presented along with experimental case studies taken from machine tool industry.

Evidence for a Cenozoic radiation of ferns in an angiosperm-dominated canopy

PubMed Central

Schuettpelz, Eric; Pryer, Kathleen M.

2009-01-01

In today's angiosperm-dominated terrestrial ecosystems, leptosporangiate ferns are truly exceptional—accounting for 80% of the ≈11,000 nonflowering vascular plant species. Recent studies have shown that this remarkable diversity is mostly the result of a major leptosporangiate radiation beginning in the Cretaceous, following the rise of angiosperms. This pattern is suggestive of an ecological opportunistic response, with the proliferation of flowering plants across the landscape resulting in the formation of many new niches—both on forest floors and within forest canopies—into which leptosporangiate ferns could diversify. At present, one-third of leptosporangiate species grow as epiphytes in the canopies of angiosperm-dominated tropical rain forests. However, we know too little about the evolutionary history of epiphytic ferns to assess whether or not their diversification was in fact linked to the establishment of these forests, as would be predicted by the ecological opportunistic response hypothesis. Here we provide new insight into leptosporangiate diversification and the evolution of epiphytism by integrating a 400-taxon molecular dataset with an expanded set of fossil age constraints. We find evidence for a burst of fern diversification in the Cenozoic, apparently driven by the evolution of epiphytism. Whether this explosive radiation was triggered simply by the establishment of modern angiosperm-dominated tropical rain forest canopies, or spurred on by some other large-scale extrinsic factor (e.g., climate change) remains to be determined. In either case, it is clear that in both the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, leptosporangiate ferns were adept at exploiting newly created niches in angiosperm-dominated ecosystems. PMID:19567832

Evidence for a Cenozoic radiation of ferns in an angiosperm-dominated canopy.

PubMed

Schuettpelz, Eric; Pryer, Kathleen M

2009-07-07

In today's angiosperm-dominated terrestrial ecosystems, leptosporangiate ferns are truly exceptional--accounting for 80% of the approximately 11,000 nonflowering vascular plant species. Recent studies have shown that this remarkable diversity is mostly the result of a major leptosporangiate radiation beginning in the Cretaceous, following the rise of angiosperms. This pattern is suggestive of an ecological opportunistic response, with the proliferation of flowering plants across the landscape resulting in the formation of many new niches--both on forest floors and within forest canopies--into which leptosporangiate ferns could diversify. At present, one-third of leptosporangiate species grow as epiphytes in the canopies of angiosperm-dominated tropical rain forests. However, we know too little about the evolutionary history of epiphytic ferns to assess whether or not their diversification was in fact linked to the establishment of these forests, as would be predicted by the ecological opportunistic response hypothesis. Here we provide new insight into leptosporangiate diversification and the evolution of epiphytism by integrating a 400-taxon molecular dataset with an expanded set of fossil age constraints. We find evidence for a burst of fern diversification in the Cenozoic, apparently driven by the evolution of epiphytism. Whether this explosive radiation was triggered simply by the establishment of modern angiosperm-dominated tropical rain forest canopies, or spurred on by some other large-scale extrinsic factor (e.g., climate change) remains to be determined. In either case, it is clear that in both the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, leptosporangiate ferns were adept at exploiting newly created niches in angiosperm-dominated ecosystems.

Why different countries manage death differently: a comparative analysis of modern urban societies.

PubMed

Walter, Tony

2012-03-01

The sociology of death, dying and bereavement tends to take as its implicit frame either the nation state or a homogenous modernity. Between-nation differences in the management of death and dying are either ignored or untheorized. This article seeks to identify the factors that can explain both similarities and differences in the management of death between different modern western nations. Structural factors which affect all modern nations include urbanization and the division of labour leading to the dominance of professionals, migration, rationality and bureaucracy, information technology and the risk society. How these sociologically familiar structural features are responded to, however, depends on national histories, institutions and cultures. Historically, key transitional periods to modernity, different in different nations, necessitated particular institutional responses in the management of dying and dead bodies. Culturally, key factors include individualism versus collectivism, religion, secularization, boundary regulation, and expressivism. Global flows of death practices depend significantly on subjugated nations' perceptions of colonialism, neo-colonialism and modernity, which can lead to a dominant power's death practices being either imitated or rejected. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2012.

Understanding tree growth responses after partial cuttings: A new approach

PubMed Central

Rossi, Sergio; Lussier, Jean-Martin; Walsh, Denis; Morin, Hubert

2017-01-01

Forest ecosystem management heads towards the use of partial cuttings. However, the wide variation in growth response of residual trees remains unexplained, preventing a suitable prediction of forest productivity. The aim of the study was to assess individual growth and identify the driving factors involved in the responses of residual trees. Six study blocks in even-aged black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.] stands of the eastern Canadian boreal forest were submitted to experimental shelterwood and seed-tree treatments. Individual-tree models were applied to 1039 trees to analyze their patterns of radial growth during the 10 years after partial cutting by using the nonlinear Schnute function on tree-ring series. The trees exhibited different growth patterns. A sigmoid growth was detected in 32% of trees, mainly in control plots of older stands. Forty-seven percent of trees located in the interior of residual strips showed an S-shape, which was influenced by stand mortality, harvested intensity and dominant height. Individuals showing an exponential pattern produced the greatest radial growth after cutting and were edge trees of younger stands with higher dominant height. A steady growth decline was observed in 4% of trees, represented by the individuals suppressed and insensitive to the treatment. The analyses demonstrated that individual nonlinear models are able to assess the variability in growth within the stand and the factors involved in the occurrence of the different growth patterns, thus improving understanding of the tree responses to partial cutting. This new approach can sustain forest management strategies by defining the best conditions to optimize the growth yield of residual trees. PMID:28222200

Understanding tree growth responses after partial cuttings: A new approach.

PubMed

Montoro Girona, Miguel; Rossi, Sergio; Lussier, Jean-Martin; Walsh, Denis; Morin, Hubert

2017-01-01

Forest ecosystem management heads towards the use of partial cuttings. However, the wide variation in growth response of residual trees remains unexplained, preventing a suitable prediction of forest productivity. The aim of the study was to assess individual growth and identify the driving factors involved in the responses of residual trees. Six study blocks in even-aged black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.] stands of the eastern Canadian boreal forest were submitted to experimental shelterwood and seed-tree treatments. Individual-tree models were applied to 1039 trees to analyze their patterns of radial growth during the 10 years after partial cutting by using the nonlinear Schnute function on tree-ring series. The trees exhibited different growth patterns. A sigmoid growth was detected in 32% of trees, mainly in control plots of older stands. Forty-seven percent of trees located in the interior of residual strips showed an S-shape, which was influenced by stand mortality, harvested intensity and dominant height. Individuals showing an exponential pattern produced the greatest radial growth after cutting and were edge trees of younger stands with higher dominant height. A steady growth decline was observed in 4% of trees, represented by the individuals suppressed and insensitive to the treatment. The analyses demonstrated that individual nonlinear models are able to assess the variability in growth within the stand and the factors involved in the occurrence of the different growth patterns, thus improving understanding of the tree responses to partial cutting. This new approach can sustain forest management strategies by defining the best conditions to optimize the growth yield of residual trees.

Transcriptional Blood Signatures Distinguish Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, Pneumonias and Lung Cancers

PubMed Central

Bloom, Chloe I.; Graham, Christine M.; Berry, Matthew P. R.; Rozakeas, Fotini; Redford, Paul S.; Wang, Yuanyuan; Xu, Zhaohui; Wilkinson, Katalin A.; Wilkinson, Robert J.; Kendrick, Yvonne; Devouassoux, Gilles; Ferry, Tristan; Miyara, Makoto; Bouvry, Diane; Dominique, Valeyre; Gorochov, Guy; Blankenship, Derek; Saadatian, Mitra; Vanhems, Phillip; Beynon, Huw; Vancheeswaran, Rama; Wickremasinghe, Melissa; Chaussabel, Damien; Banchereau, Jacques; Pascual, Virginia; Ho, Ling-pei; Lipman, Marc; O’Garra, Anne

2013-01-01

Rationale New approaches to define factors underlying the immunopathogenesis of pulmonary diseases including sarcoidosis and tuberculosis are needed to develop new treatments and biomarkers. Comparing the blood transcriptional response of tuberculosis to other similar pulmonary diseases will advance knowledge of disease pathways and help distinguish diseases with similar clinical presentations. Objectives To determine the factors underlying the immunopathogenesis of the granulomatous diseases, sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, by comparing the blood transcriptional responses in these and other pulmonary diseases. Methods We compared whole blood genome-wide transcriptional profiles in pulmonary sarcoidosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, to community acquired pneumonia and primary lung cancer and healthy controls, before and after treatment, and in purified leucocyte populations. Measurements and Main Results An Interferon-inducible neutrophil-driven blood transcriptional signature was present in both sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, with a higher abundance and expression in tuberculosis. Heterogeneity of the sarcoidosis signature correlated significantly with disease activity. Transcriptional profiles in pneumonia and lung cancer revealed an over-abundance of inflammatory transcripts. After successful treatment the transcriptional activity in tuberculosis and pneumonia patients was significantly reduced. However the glucocorticoid-responsive sarcoidosis patients showed a significant increase in transcriptional activity. 144-blood transcripts were able to distinguish tuberculosis from other lung diseases and controls. Conclusions Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis revealed similar blood transcriptional profiles, dominated by interferon-inducible transcripts, while pneumonia and lung cancer showed distinct signatures, dominated by inflammatory genes. There were also significant differences between tuberculosis and sarcoidosis in the degree of their transcriptional activity, the heterogeneity of their profiles and their transcriptional response to treatment. PMID:23940611

Personality structure in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus), Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), and African lion (Panthera leo): a comparative study.

PubMed

Gartner, Marieke Cassia; Powell, David M; Weiss, Alexander

2014-11-01

Although the study of nonhuman personality has increased in the last decade, there are still few studies on felid species, and the majority focus on domestic cats. We assessed the structure of personality and its reliability in five felids-domestic cats, clouded leopards, snow leopards, African lions, and previous data on Scottish wildcats-and compared the results. In addition to the benefits of understanding more about this taxon, comparative studies of personality structure have the potential to provide information on evolutionary relationships among closely related species. Each of the species studied was found to have three factors of personality. Scottish wildcats' factors were labeled Dominance, Agreeableness, and Self Control; domestic cats' factors were Dominance, Impulsiveness, and Neuroticism; clouded leopards' factors were Dominance/Impulsiveness, Agreeableness/Openness, and Neuroticism; snow leopards' factors were Dominance, Impulsiveness/Openness, and Neuroticism; and African lions' factors were Dominance, Impulsiveness, and Neuroticism. The Neuroticism and Impulsiveness factors were similar, as were two of the Dominance factors. A taxon-level personality structure also showed three similar factors. Age and sex effects are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

p53 is a major component of the transcriptional and apoptotic program regulated by PI 3-kinase/Akt/GSK3 signaling.

PubMed

Nayak, G; Cooper, G M

2012-10-11

The phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway has a prominent role in cell survival and proliferation, in part, by regulating gene expression at the transcriptional level. Previous work using global expression profiling identified FOXOs and the E-box-binding transcription factors MITF and USF1 as key targets of PI 3-kinase signaling that lead to the induction of proapoptotic and cell cycle arrest genes in response to inhibition of PI 3-kinase. In this study, we investigated the role of p53 downstream of PI 3-kinase signaling by analyzing the effects of inhibition of PI 3-kinase in Rat-1 cells, which have wild-type p53, compared with Rat-1 cells expressing a dominant-negative p53 mutant. Expression of dominant-negative p53 conferred partial resistance to apoptosis induced by inhibition of PI 3-kinase. Global gene expression profiling combined with computational and experimental analysis of transcription factor binding sites demonstrated that p53, along with FOXO, MITF and USF1, contributed to gene induction in response to PI 3-kinase inhibition. Activation of p53 was mediated by phosphorylation of the histone acetyltransferase Tip60 by glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) 3, leading to activation of p53 by acetylation. Many of the genes targeted by p53 were also targeted by FOXO and E-box-binding transcription factors, indicating that p53 functions coordinately with these factors to regulate gene expression downstream of PI 3-kinase/Akt/GSK3 signaling.

AAV-dominant negative tumor necrosis factor (DN-TNF) gene transfer to the striatum does not rescue medium spiny neurons in the YAC128 mouse model of Huntington's disease.

PubMed

Alto, Laura Taylor; Chen, Xi; Ruhn, Kelly A; Treviño, Isaac; Tansey, Malú G

2014-01-01

CNS inflammation is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease, and recent studies suggest that the inflammatory response may contribute to neuronal demise. In particular, increased tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling is implicated in the pathology of both Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have previously shown that localized gene delivery of dominant negative TNF to the degenerating brain region can limit pathology in animal models of PD and AD. TNF is upregulated in Huntington's disease (HD), like in PD and AD, but it is unknown whether TNF signaling contributes to neuronal degeneration in HD. We used in vivo gene delivery to test whether selective reduction of soluble TNF signaling could attenuate medium spiny neuron (MSN) degeneration in the YAC128 transgenic (TG) mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD). AAV vectors encoding cDNA for dominant-negative tumor necrosis factor (DN-TNF) or GFP (control) were injected into the striatum of young adult wild type WT and YAC128 TG mice and achieved 30-50% target coverage. Expression of dominant negative TNF protein was confirmed immunohistologically and biochemically and was maintained as mice aged to one year, but declined significantly over time. However, the extent of striatal DN-TNF gene transfer achieved in our studies was not sufficient to achieve robust effects on neuroinflammation, rescue degenerating MSNs or improve motor function in treated mice. Our findings suggest that alternative drug delivery strategies should be explored to determine whether greater target coverage by DN-TNF protein might afford some level of neuroprotection against HD-like pathology and/or that soluble TNF signaling may not be the primary driver of striatal neuroinflammation and MSN loss in YAC128 TG mice.

Controls on SOC across space and time: Models with different acclimation schemes make similar spatial predictions but divergent warming predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abramoff, R. Z.; Torn, M. S.; Georgiou, K.; Tang, J.; Riley, W. J.

2017-12-01

Researchers use spatial gradients to estimate long-term ecosystem responses to perturbations. This approach is commonly applied to soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks which change slowly but store the majority of terrestrial carbon. Climate warming may reduce SOC stocks if higher temperatures increase decomposition rates. Yet, it is uncertain how vulnerable SOC is to warming, and whether the same factors - such as organo-mineral associations, climate, or plant inputs - determine SOC stocks across space and time. In order to test the "space for time" concept, we developed two versions of the Substrate-Mineral-Microbe Soil (SuMMS) model - one with microbial temperature acclimation and one without - to analyze observed SOC stocks at 24 sites spanning a wide range of soil types and climate. Both model predictions of SOC were strongly correlated with observations (R2 > 0.9), because mineral sorption capacity was the dominant control over steady-state SOC stock as determined by a Random Forest model. However, the two model versions made fundamentally different predictions of the change in SOC following 5°C soil warming from 2016 to 2100 because the initial mean annual temperature (MAT) was the dominant control over the SOC response. The model with microbial acclimation predicted that SOC would decline 10% at all sites along the transect, while the model with no acclimation predicted large surface SOC losses at high latitude sites and SOC gains at low latitude sites where microbial exoenzymes were already at or near their temperature optimum. These simulations suggest that gradient studies cannot be used to infer site-level responses to warming, because the dominant controls on SOC at steady state (i.e., mineral sorption capacity) are different than the dominant controls on the SOC response to a warming perturbation (i.e., initial MAT, capacity for acclimation).

Repeated burning alters the structure and composition of hardwood regeneration in oak-dominated forests of eastern Kentucky, USA

Treesearch

Tara L. Keyser; Mary Arthur; David L. Loftis

2017-01-01

The exclusion of anthropogenic fire is a primary factor responsible for the ‘mesophication’ of eastern oak (Quercus) forests and resultant oak regeneration problems. Consequently, the reintroduction of fire is increasingly used to promote the establishment and growth of oak and hickory (Carya) and control competition from shade-tolerant species (e.g., red maple (Acer...

Gas-liquid interfacial plasmas producing reactive species for cell membrane permeabilization

PubMed Central

Kaneko, Toshiro; Sasaki, Shota; Takashima, Keisuke; Kanzaki, Makoto

2017-01-01

Gas-liquid interfacial atmospheric-pressure plasma jets (GLI-APPJ) are used medically for plasma-induced cell-membrane permeabilization. In an attempt to identify the dominant factors induced by GLI-APPJ responsible for enhancing cell-membrane permeability, the concentration and distribution of plasma-produced reactive species in the gas and liquid phase regions are measured. These reactive species are classified in terms of their life-span: long-lived (e.g., H2O2), short-lived (e.g., O2•−), and extremely-short-lived (e.g., •OH). The concentration of plasma-produced •OHaq in the liquid phase region decreases with an increase in solution thickness (<1 mm), and plasma-induced cell-membrane permeabilization is found to decay markedly as the thickness of the solution increases. Furthermore, the horizontally center-localized distribution of •OHaq, resulting from the center-peaked distribution of •OH in the gas phase region, corresponds with the distribution of the permeabilized cells upon APPJ irradiation, whereas the overall plasma-produced oxidizing species such as H2O2aq in solution exhibit a doughnut-shaped horizontal distribution. These results suggest that •OHaq is likely one of the dominant factors responsible for plasma-induced cell-membrane permeabilization. PMID:28163376

Gas-liquid interfacial plasmas producing reactive species for cell membrane permeabilization.

PubMed

Kaneko, Toshiro; Sasaki, Shota; Takashima, Keisuke; Kanzaki, Makoto

2017-01-01

Gas-liquid interfacial atmospheric-pressure plasma jets (GLI-APPJ) are used medically for plasma-induced cell-membrane permeabilization. In an attempt to identify the dominant factors induced by GLI-APPJ responsible for enhancing cell-membrane permeability, the concentration and distribution of plasma-produced reactive species in the gas and liquid phase regions are measured. These reactive species are classified in terms of their life-span: long-lived (e.g., H 2 O 2 ), short-lived (e.g., O 2 •- ), and extremely-short-lived (e.g., • OH). The concentration of plasma-produced • OH aq in the liquid phase region decreases with an increase in solution thickness (<1 mm), and plasma-induced cell-membrane permeabilization is found to decay markedly as the thickness of the solution increases. Furthermore, the horizontally center-localized distribution of • OH aq , resulting from the center-peaked distribution of • OH in the gas phase region, corresponds with the distribution of the permeabilized cells upon APPJ irradiation, whereas the overall plasma-produced oxidizing species such as H 2 O 2aq in solution exhibit a doughnut-shaped horizontal distribution. These results suggest that • OH aq is likely one of the dominant factors responsible for plasma-induced cell-membrane permeabilization.

Culture shapes a mesolimbic response to signals of dominance and subordination that associates with behavior.

PubMed

Freeman, Jonathan B; Rule, Nicholas O; Adams, Reginald B; Ambady, Nalini

2009-08-01

It has long been understood that culture shapes individuals' behavior, but how this is accomplished in the human brain has remained largely unknown. To examine this, we made use of a well-established cross-cultural difference in behavior: American culture tends to reinforce dominant behavior whereas, conversely, Japanese culture tends to reinforce subordinate behavior. In 17 Americans and 17 Japanese individuals, we assessed behavioral tendencies towards dominance versus subordination and measured neural responses using fMRI during the passive viewing of stimuli related to dominance and subordination. In Americans, dominant stimuli selectively engaged the caudate nucleus, bilaterally, and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas these were selectively engaged by subordinate stimuli in Japanese. Correspondingly, Americans self-reported a tendency towards more dominant behavior whereas Japanese self-reported a tendency towards more subordinate behavior. Moreover, activity in the right caudate and mPFC correlated with behavioral tendencies towards dominance versus subordination, such that stronger responses in the caudate and mPFC to dominant stimuli were associated with more dominant behavior and stronger responses in the caudate and mPFC to subordinate stimuli were associated with more subordinate behavior. The findings provide a first demonstration that culture can flexibly shape functional activity in the mesolimbic reward system, which in turn may guide behavior.

SMAD regulatory networks construct a balanced immune system.

PubMed

Malhotra, Nidhi; Kang, Joonsoo

2013-05-01

A balanced immune response requires combating infectious assaults while striving to maintain quiescence towards the self. One of the central players in this process is the pleiotropic cytokine transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), whose deficiency results in spontaneous systemic autoimmunity in mice. The dominant function of TGF-β is to regulate the peripheral immune homeostasis, particularly in the microbe-rich and antigen-rich environment of the gut. To maintain intestinal integrity, the epithelial cells, myeloid cells and lymphocytes that inhabit the gut secrete TGF-β, which acts in both paracrine and autocrine fashions to activate its signal transducers, the SMAD transcription factors. The SMAD pathway regulates the production of IgA by B cells, maintains the protective mucosal barrier and promotes the balanced differentiation of CD4(+) T cells into inflammatory T helper type 17 cells and suppressive FOXP3(+) T regulatory cells. While encounters with pathogenic microbes activate SMAD proteins to evoke a protective inflammatory immune response, SMAD activation and synergism with immunoregulatory factors such as the vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid enforce immunosuppression toward commensal microbes and innocuous food antigens. Such complementary context-dependent functions of TGF-β are achieved by the co-operation of SMAD proteins with distinct dominant transcription activators and accessory chromatin modifiers. This review highlights recent advances in unravelling the molecular basis for the multi-faceted functions of TGF-β in the gut that are dictacted by fluid orchestrations of SMADs and their myriad partners. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Response Ant Colony Optimization of End Milling Surface Roughness

PubMed Central

Kadirgama, K.; Noor, M. M.; Abd Alla, Ahmed N.

2010-01-01

Metal cutting processes are important due to increased consumer demands for quality metal cutting related products (more precise tolerances and better product surface roughness) that has driven the metal cutting industry to continuously improve quality control of metal cutting processes. This paper presents optimum surface roughness by using milling mould aluminium alloys (AA6061-T6) with Response Ant Colony Optimization (RACO). The approach is based on Response Surface Method (RSM) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). The main objectives to find the optimized parameters and the most dominant variables (cutting speed, feedrate, axial depth and radial depth). The first order model indicates that the feedrate is the most significant factor affecting surface roughness. PMID:22294914

Domestic Violence and Social Justice: A Structural Intersectional Framework for Teaching About Domestic Violence.

PubMed

Coker, Donna

2016-10-01

My Domestic Violence and Social Justice law school course is organized around a structural intersectional framework to encourage students to recognize how structural inequalities inform the types of abuse perpetrated, individual and community responses to abuse, meanings that a victim ascribes to abuse, and factors that increase the risk of abuse. The course challenges the dominant neoliberal ideology focus on individual responsibility that eclipses shared responsibility. The course combines experiential exercises, a presentation by members of a community-based survivor organization, discussion of a hypothetical case with a legal practitioner, and court observation to help students apply theoretical insights to practical issues of individual representation and policy-making. © The Author(s) 2016.

Rapid response learning of brand logo priming: Evidence that brand priming is not dominated by rapid response learning.

PubMed

Boehm, Stephan G; Smith, Ciaran; Muench, Niklas; Noble, Kirsty; Atherton, Catherine

2017-08-31

Repetition priming increases the accuracy and speed of responses to repeatedly processed stimuli. Repetition priming can result from two complementary sources: rapid response learning and facilitation within perceptual and conceptual networks. In conceptual classification tasks, rapid response learning dominates priming of object recognition, but it does not dominate priming of person recognition. This suggests that the relative engagement of network facilitation and rapid response learning depends on the stimulus domain. Here, we addressed the importance of the stimulus domain for rapid response learning by investigating priming in another domain, brands. In three experiments, participants performed conceptual decisions for brand logos. Strong priming was present, but it was not dominated by rapid response learning. These findings add further support to the importance of the stimulus domain for the relative importance of network facilitation and rapid response learning, and they indicate that brand priming is more similar to person recognition priming than object recognition priming, perhaps because priming of both brands and persons requires individuation.

Contributions of radiative factors to enhanced dryland warming over East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yanting; Guan, Xiaodan; Yu, Haipeng; Xie, Yongkun; Jin, Hongchun

2017-08-01

Enhanced near-surface atmospheric warming has occurred over East Asia in recent decades, especially in drylands. Although local factors have been confirmed to provide considerable contributions to this warming, such factors have not been sufficiently analyzed. In this study, we extracted the radiatively forced temperature (RFT) associated with the built-up greenhouse gases, aerosol emission, and various other radiative forcing over East Asia and found a close relationship between RFT and CO2. In addition, using climate model experiments, we explored the responses of temperature changes to black carbon (BC), CO2, and SO4 and found that the enhanced dryland warming induced by CO2 had the largest magnitude and was strengthened by the warming effect of BC. Moreover, the sensitivity of daily maximum and minimum temperature changes to BC, CO2, and SO4 was examined. It showed asymmetric responses of daily maximum and minimum temperature to radiative factors, which led to an obvious change of diurnal temperature range (DTR), especially in drylands. The DTR's response to CO2 is the most significant. Therefore, CO2 not only plays a dominant role in enhanced warming but also greatly affects the decrease of DTR in drylands. However, the mechanisms of these radiative factors' effects in the process of DTR change are not clear and require more investigation.

Diet dominates host genotype in shaping the murine gut microbiota

PubMed Central

Carmody, Rachel N.; Gerber, Georg K.; Luevano, Jesus M.; Gatti, Daniel M.; Somes, Lisa; Svenson, Karen L.; Turnbaugh, Peter J.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY Mammals exhibit marked inter-individual variations in their gut microbiota, but it remains unclear if this is primarily driven by host genetics or by extrinsic factors like dietary intake. To address this, we examined the effect of dietary perturbations on the gut microbiota of five inbred mouse strains, mice deficient for genes relevant to host-microbial interactions (MyD88−/−, NOD2−/−, ob/ob, and Rag1−/−), and >200 outbred mice. In each experiment, consumption of a high-fat, high-sugar diet reproducibly altered the gut microbiota despite differences in host genotype. The gut microbiota exhibited a linear dose response to dietary perturbations, taking an average of 3.5 days for each diet-responsive bacterial groups to reach a new steady state. Repeated dietary shifts demonstrated that most changes to the gut microbiota are reversible, while also uncovering bacteria whose abundance depends on prior consumption. These results emphasize the dominant role that diet plays in shaping inter-individual variations in host-associated microbial communities. PMID:25532804

Neotectonic control on drainage systems: GIS-based geomorphometric and morphotectonic assessment for Crete, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Argyriou, Athanasios V.; Teeuw, Richard M.; Soupios, Pantelis; Sarris, Apostolos

2017-11-01

Geomorphic indices can be used to examine the geomorphological and tectonic processes responsible for the development of the drainage basins. Such indices can be dependent on tectonics, erosional processes and other factors that control the morphology of the landforms. The inter-relationships between geomorphic indices can determine the influence of regional tectonic activity in the shape development of drainage basins. A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) procedure has been used to perform an integrated cluster analysis that highlights information associated with the dominant regional tectonic activity. Factor Analysis (FA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) were considered within that procedure, producing a representation of the distributed regional tectonic activity of the drainage basins studied. The study area is western Crete, located in the outer fore-arc of the Hellenic subduction zone, one of the world's most tectonically active regions. The results indicate that in the landscape evolution of the study area (especially the western basins) tectonic controls dominate over lithological controls.

Shock tube study of the fuel structure effects on the chemical kinetic mechanisms responsible for soot formation, part 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frenklach, M.; Clary, D. W.; Ramachandra, M. K.

1985-01-01

Soot formation in oxidation of allene, 1,3-butadiene, vinylacetylene and chlorobenzene and in pyrolysis of ethylene, vinylacetylene, 1-butene, chlorobenzene, acetylen-hydrogen, benzene-acetylene, benzene-butadiene and chlorobenzene-acetylene argon-diluted mixtures was studied behind reflected shock waves. The results are rationalized within the framework of the conceptual models. It is shown that vinylacetylene is much less sooty than allene, which indicates that conjugation by itself is not a sufficient factor for determining the sooting tendency of a molecule. Structural reactivity in the context of the chemical kinetics is the dominant factor in soot formation. Detailed chemical kinetic modeling of soot formation in pyrolysis of acetylene is reported. The main mass growth was found to proceed through a single dominant route composed of conventional radical reactions. The practically irreversible formation reactions of the fused polycyclic aromatics and the overshoot by hydrogen atom over its equilibrium concentration are the g-driving kinetic forces for soot formation.

Genomic selection of purebred animals for crossbred performance in the presence of dominant gene action

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Genomic selection is an appealing method to select purebreds for crossbred performance. In the case of crossbred records, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects can be estimated using an additive model or a breed-specific allele model. In most studies, additive gene action is assumed. However, dominance is the likely genetic basis of heterosis. Advantages of incorporating dominance in genomic selection were investigated in a two-way crossbreeding program for a trait with different magnitudes of dominance. Training was carried out only once in the simulation. Results When the dominance variance and heterosis were large and overdominance was present, a dominance model including both additive and dominance SNP effects gave substantially greater cumulative response to selection than the additive model. Extra response was the result of an increase in heterosis but at a cost of reduced purebred performance. When the dominance variance and heterosis were realistic but with overdominance, the advantage of the dominance model decreased but was still significant. When overdominance was absent, the dominance model was slightly favored over the additive model, but the difference in response between the models increased as the number of quantitative trait loci increased. This reveals the importance of exploiting dominance even in the absence of overdominance. When there was no dominance, response to selection for the dominance model was as high as for the additive model, indicating robustness of the dominance model. The breed-specific allele model was inferior to the dominance model in all cases and to the additive model except when the dominance variance and heterosis were large and with overdominance. However, the advantage of the dominance model over the breed-specific allele model may decrease as differences in linkage disequilibrium between the breeds increase. Retraining is expected to reduce the advantage of the dominance model over the alternatives, because in general, the advantage becomes important only after five or six generations post-training. Conclusion Under dominance and without retraining, genomic selection based on the dominance model is superior to the additive model and the breed-specific allele model to maximize crossbred performance through purebred selection. PMID:23621868

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) associated with a novel C82R mutation in the NOTCH3 gene.

PubMed

Zea-Sevilla, M Ascensión; Bermejo-Velasco, Pedro; Serrano-Heranz, Regino; Calero, Miguel

2015-01-01

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a rare inherited cerebrovascular disease associated with mutations in the NOTCH3 gene on chromosome 19, and represents the most common hereditary stroke disorder. We describe a pedigree, which suffered the classical clinical CADASIL pattern of migraine headaches, recurrent subcortical infarcts, and subcortical dementia, associated with a previously undescribed missense mutation (c.[244T>C], p.[C82R]) in NOTCH3. This new mutation extends the list of known pathogenic mutations responsible for CADASIL, which are associated with an odd number of cysteine residues within any of the epidermal growth factor-like repeats of Notch3 receptor protein.

An EGFR autocrine loop encodes a slow-reacting but dominant mode of mechanotransduction in a polarized epithelium

PubMed Central

Kojic, Nikola; Chung, Euiheon; Kho, Alvin T.; Park, Jin-Ah; Huang, Austin; So, Peter T. C.; Tschumperlin, Daniel J.

2010-01-01

The mechanical landscape in biological systems can be complex and dynamic, with contrasting sustained and fluctuating loads regularly superposed within the same tissue. How resident cells discriminate between these scenarios to respond accordingly remains largely unknown. Here, we show that a step increase in compressive stress of physiological magnitude shrinks the lateral intercellular space between bronchial epithelial cells, but does so with strikingly slow exponential kinetics (time constant ∼110 s). We confirm that epidermal growth factor (EGF)-family ligands are constitutively shed into the intercellular space and demonstrate that a step increase in compressive stress enhances EGF receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation with magnitude and onset kinetics closely matching those predicted by constant-rate ligand shedding in a slowly shrinking intercellular geometry. Despite the modest degree and slow nature of EGFR activation evoked by compressive stress, we find that the majority of transcriptomic responses to sustained mechanical loading require ongoing activity of this autocrine loop, indicating a dominant role for mechanotransduction through autocrine EGFR signaling in this context. A slow deformation response to a step increase in loading, accompanied by synchronous increases in ligand concentration and EGFR activation, provides one means for cells to mount a selective and context-appropriate response to a sustained change in mechanical environment.—Kojic, N., Chung, E., Kho, A. T., Park, J.-A., Huang, A., So, P. T. C., Tschumperlin, D. J. An EGFR autocrine loop encodes a slow-reacting but dominant mode of mechanotransduction in a polarized epithelium. PMID:20056713

IRF5 distinguishes severe asthma in humans and drives Th1 phenotype and airway hyperreactivity in mice

PubMed Central

Oriss, Timothy B.; Raundhal, Mahesh; Morse, Christina; Huff, Rachael E.; Das, Sudipta; Hannum, Rachel; Gauthier, Marc C.; Scholl, Kathryn L.; Chakraborty, Krishnendu; Nouraie, Seyed M.; Wenzel, Sally E.; Ray, Prabir

2017-01-01

Severe asthma (SA) is a significant problem both clinically and economically, given its poor response to corticosteroids (CS). We recently reported a complex type 1–dominated (IFN-γ–dominated) immune response in more than 50% of severe asthmatics despite high-dose CS treatment. Also, IFN-γ was found to be critical for increased airway hyperreactivity (AHR) in our model of SA. The transcription factor IRF5 expressed in M1 macrophages can induce a Th1/Th17 response in cocultured human T cells. Here we show markedly higher expression of IRF5 in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells of severe asthmatics as compared with that in cells from milder asthmatics or healthy controls. Using our SA mouse model, we demonstrate that lack of IRF5 in lymph node migratory DCs severely limits their ability to stimulate the generation of IFN-γ– and IL-17–producing CD4+ T cells and IRF5–/– mice subjected to the SA model displayed significantly lower IFN-γ and IL-17 responses, albeit showing a reciprocal increase in Th2 response. However, the absence of IRF5 rendered the mice responsive to CS with suppression of the heightened Th2 response. These data support the notion that IRF5 inhibition in combination with CS may be a viable approach to manage disease in a subset of severe asthmatics. PMID:28515358

LAI is the major cause of divergence in CO2 fertilization effect in land surface models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Q.; Luo, Y.; Lu, X.; Wang, Y.; Huang, X.; Lin, G., Sr.

2017-12-01

Concentration-carbon feedback (β), also called CO2 fertilization effect, is an important feedback between terrestrial ecosystems and atmosphere to alleviate global climate change. However, models participating in C4MIP and CMIP5 predicted diverse CO2 fertilization effects under future CO2 inceasing scenarios. Hence identifing the key processes dominating the divergence of β in land surface models is of significance. We calculated CO2 fertilization effects from leaf level, canopy gross productivity level, net ecosystem productivity level and ecosystem carbon stock level in Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model. Our results identified LAI is the key factor dominating the divergence of β among C3 plants in CABLE model. Saturation of the ecosystem productivity to increasing CO2 is not only regulated by leaf-level response, but also the response of LAI to increasing CO2. The greatest variation among C3 plants at ecosystem level suggests that other processes such as different allocation patterns and soil carbon dynamics of various vegetation types are also responsible for the divergence. Our results indicate that processes regarding to LAI need to be better calibrated according to experiments and observations in order to better represent the response of ecosystem productivity to increasing CO2.

Comparisons of methods for determining dominance rank in male and female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogastor)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lanctot, Richard B.; Best, Louis B.

2000-01-01

Dominance ranks in male and female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) were determined from 6 measurements that mimicked environmental situations that might be encountered by prairie voles in communal groups, including agonistic interactions resulting from competition for food and water and encounters in burrows. Male and female groups of 6 individuals each were tested against one another in pairwise encounters (i.e., dyads) for 5 of the measurements and together as a group in a 6th measurement. Two types of response variables, aggressive behaviors and possession time of a limiting resource, were collected during trials, and those data were used to determine cardinal ranks and principal component ranks for all animals within each group. Cardinal ranks and principal component ranks seldom yielded similar rankings for each animal across measurements. However, dominance measurements that were conducted in similar environmental contexts, regardless of the response variable recorded, ranked animals similarly. Our results suggest that individual dominance measurements assessed situation- or resource-specific responses. Our study demonstrates problems inherent in determining dominance rankings of individuals within groups, including choosing measurements, response variables, and statistical techniques. Researchers should avoid using a single measurement to represent social dominance until they have first demonstrated that a dominance relationship between 2 individuals has been learned (i.e., subsequent interactions show a reduced response rather than an escalation), that this relationship is relatively constant through time, and that the relationship is not context dependent. Such assessments of dominance status between all dyads then can be used to generate dominance rankings within social groups.

Effects of herbivore exclusion and nutrient enrichment on coral reef macroalgae and cyanobacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thacker, R.; Ginsburg, D.; Paul, V.

2001-05-01

Although phase shifts on coral reefs from coral-dominated to algal-dominated communities have been attributed to the effects of increased nutrient availability due to eutrophication and reduced herbivore abundance due to overfishing and disease, these factors have rarely been manipulated simultaneously. In addition, few studies have considered the effects of these factors on benthic, filamentous cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) as well as macroalgae. We used a combination of herbivore-exclusion cages and nutrient enrichment to manipulate herbivore abundance and nutrient availability, and measured the impacts of these treatments on macroalgal and cyanobacterial community structure. In the absence of cages, surface cover of the cyanobacterium Tolypothrix sp. decreased, while surface cover of the cyanobacteria Oscillatoria spp. increased. Cyanobacterial cover decreased in partial cages, and Tolypothrix sp. cover decreased further in full cages. Lower cyanobacterial cover and biomass were correlated with higher macroalgal cover and biomass. Dictyota bartayresiana dominated the partial cages, while Padina tenuis and Tolypiocladia glomerulata recruited into the full cages. Palatability assays demonstrated that herbivore-exclusion shifted macroalgal species composition from relatively unpalatable to relatively palatable species. Nutrient enrichment interacted with herbivore exclusion to increase the change in cover of D. bartayresiana in the uncaged and fully caged plots, but did not affect the final biomass of D. bartayresiana among treatments. Nutrient enrichment did not significantly affect the cover or biomass of any other taxa. These results stress the critical role of herbivory in determining coral reef community structure and suggest that the relative palatabilities of dominant algae, as well as algal growth responses to nutrient enrichment, will determine the potential for phase shifts to algal-dominated communities.

Acoustic-Phonetic Versus Lexical Processing in Nonnative Listeners Differing in Their Dominant Language.

PubMed

Shi, Lu-Feng; Koenig, Laura L

2016-09-01

Nonnative listeners have difficulty recognizing English words due to underdeveloped acoustic-phonetic and/or lexical skills. The present study used Boothroyd and Nittrouer's (1988)j factor to tease apart these two components of word recognition. Participants included 15 native English and 29 native Russian listeners. Fourteen and 15 of the Russian listeners reported English (ED) and Russian (RD) to be their dominant language, respectively. Listeners were presented 119 consonant-vowel-consonant real and nonsense words in speech-spectrum noise at +6 dB SNR. Responses were scored for word and phoneme recognition, the logarithmic quotient of which yielded j. Word and phoneme recognition was comparable between native and ED listeners but poorer in RD listeners. Analysis of j indicated less effective use of lexical information in RD than in native and ED listeners. Lexical processing was strongly correlated with the length of residence in the United States. Language background is important for nonnative word recognition. Lexical skills can be regarded as nativelike in ED nonnative listeners. Compromised word recognition in ED listeners is unlikely a result of poor lexical processing. Performance should be interpreted with caution for listeners dominant in their first language, whose word recognition is affected by both lexical and acoustic-phonetic factors.

Bordetella pertussis Proteins Dominating the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II-Presented Epitope Repertoire in Human Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells

PubMed Central

Stenger, Rachel M.; Meiring, Hugo D.; Kuipers, Betsy; Poelen, Martien; van Gaans-van den Brink, Jacqueline A. M.; Boog, Claire J. P.; de Jong, Ad P. J. M.

2014-01-01

Knowledge of naturally processed Bordetella pertussis-specific T cell epitopes may help to increase our understanding of the basis of cell-mediated immune mechanisms to control this reemerging pathogen. Here, we elucidate for the first time the dominant major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-presented B. pertussis CD4+ T cell epitopes, expressed on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDC) after the processing of whole bacterial cells by use of a platform of immunoproteomics technology. Pertussis epitopes identified in the context of HLA-DR molecules were derived from two envelope proteins, i.e., putative periplasmic protein (PPP) and putative peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (PAL), and from two cytosolic proteins, i.e., 10-kDa chaperonin groES protein (groES) and adenylosuccinate synthetase (ASS). No epitopes were detectable from known virulence factors. CD4+ T cell responsiveness in healthy adults against peptide pools representing epitope regions or full proteins confirmed the immunogenicity of PAL, PPP, groES, and ASS. Elevated lymphoproliferative activity to PPP, groES, and ASS in subjects within a year after the diagnosis of symptomatic pertussis suggested immunogenic exposure to these proteins during clinical infection. The PAL-, PPP-, groES-, and ASS-specific responses were associated with secretion of functional Th1 (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α] and gamma interferon [IFN-γ]) and Th2 (interleukin 5 [IL-5] and IL-13) cytokines. Relative paucity in the natural B. pertussis epitope display of MDDC, not dominated by epitopes from known protective antigens, can interfere with the effectiveness of immune recognition of B. pertussis. A more complete understanding of hallmarks in B. pertussis-specific immunity may advance the design of novel immunological assays and prevention strategies. PMID:24599530

Bordetella pertussis proteins dominating the major histocompatibility complex class II-presented epitope repertoire in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells.

PubMed

Stenger, Rachel M; Meiring, Hugo D; Kuipers, Betsy; Poelen, Martien; van Gaans-van den Brink, Jacqueline A M; Boog, Claire J P; de Jong, Ad P J M; van Els, Cécile A C M

2014-05-01

Knowledge of naturally processed Bordetella pertussis-specific T cell epitopes may help to increase our understanding of the basis of cell-mediated immune mechanisms to control this reemerging pathogen. Here, we elucidate for the first time the dominant major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-presented B. pertussis CD4(+) T cell epitopes, expressed on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDC) after the processing of whole bacterial cells by use of a platform of immunoproteomics technology. Pertussis epitopes identified in the context of HLA-DR molecules were derived from two envelope proteins, i.e., putative periplasmic protein (PPP) and putative peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (PAL), and from two cytosolic proteins, i.e., 10-kDa chaperonin groES protein (groES) and adenylosuccinate synthetase (ASS). No epitopes were detectable from known virulence factors. CD4(+) T cell responsiveness in healthy adults against peptide pools representing epitope regions or full proteins confirmed the immunogenicity of PAL, PPP, groES, and ASS. Elevated lymphoproliferative activity to PPP, groES, and ASS in subjects within a year after the diagnosis of symptomatic pertussis suggested immunogenic exposure to these proteins during clinical infection. The PAL-, PPP-, groES-, and ASS-specific responses were associated with secretion of functional Th1 (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α] and gamma interferon [IFN-γ]) and Th2 (interleukin 5 [IL-5] and IL-13) cytokines. Relative paucity in the natural B. pertussis epitope display of MDDC, not dominated by epitopes from known protective antigens, can interfere with the effectiveness of immune recognition of B. pertussis. A more complete understanding of hallmarks in B. pertussis-specific immunity may advance the design of novel immunological assays and prevention strategies.

Identification of key regulators for the migration and invasion of rheumatoid synoviocytes through a systems approach

PubMed Central

You, Sungyong; Yoo, Seung-Ah; Choi, Susanna; Kim, Ji-Young; Park, Su-Jung; Ji, Jong Dae; Kim, Tae-Hwan; Kim, Ki-Jo; Cho, Chul-Soo; Hwang, Daehee; Kim, Wan-Uk

2014-01-01

Rheumatoid synoviocytes, which consist of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) and synovial macrophages (SMs), are crucial for the progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Particularly, FLSs of RA patients (RA-FLSs) exhibit invasive characteristics reminiscent of cancer cells, destroying cartilage and bone. RA-FLSs and SMs originate differently from mesenchymal and myeloid cells, respectively, but share many pathologic functions. However, the molecular signatures and biological networks representing the distinct and shared features of the two cell types are unknown. We performed global transcriptome profiling of FLSs and SMs obtained from RA and osteoarthritis patients. By comparing the transcriptomes, we identified distinct molecular signatures and cellular processes defining invasiveness of RA-FLSs and proinflammatory properties of RA-SMs, respectively. Interestingly, under the interleukin-1β (IL-1β)–stimulated condition, the RA-FLSs newly acquired proinflammatory signature dominant in RA-SMs without losing invasive properties. We next reconstructed a network model that delineates the shared, RA-FLS–dominant (invasive), and RA-SM–dominant (inflammatory) processes. From the network model, we selected 13 genes, including periostin, osteoblast-specific factor (POSTN) and twist basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor 1 (TWIST1), as key regulator candidates responsible for FLS invasiveness. Of note, POSTN and TWIST1 expressions were elevated in independent RA-FLSs and further instigated by IL-1β. Functional assays demonstrated the requirement of POSTN and TWIST1 for migration and invasion of RA-FLSs stimulated with IL-1β. Together, our systems approach to rheumatoid synovitis provides a basis for identifying key regulators responsible for pathological features of RA-FLSs and -SMs, demonstrating how a certain type of cells acquires functional redundancy under chronic inflammatory conditions. PMID:24374632

Carbon budget and its response to environmental factors in young and mature poplar plantations along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Treesearch

Jinxing Zhou; Yuan Wei; Jun Yang; Xiaohui Yang; Zeping Jiang; Jiquan Chen; Asko Noormets; Xiaosong Zhao

2012-01-01

Although poplar forest is the dominant plantation type in China, there is uncertainty about the carbon budget of these forests across the country. The observations, performed in 2006, of two eddy covariance flux towers on a young poplar plantation (Yueyang, Hunan province) and a mature poplar plantation (Huaining, Anhui province) provide an opportunity to understand...

Great ape origins of personality maturation and sex differences: a study of orangutans and chimpanzees.

PubMed

Weiss, Alexander; King, James E

2015-04-01

Human personality development evinces increased emotional stability, prosocial tendencies, and responsibility. One hypothesis offered to explain this pattern is Social-Investment Theory, which posits that culturally defined social roles, including marriage and employment, are responsible for the increased maturity. Alternatively, Five-Factor Theory emphasizes the role of biological factors, such as those governing physical development, which may predate the emergence of humans. Five-Factor Theory, unlike Social-Investment Theory, predicts that all or some of the human personality developmental trends should be present in great apes, our closest evolutionary relatives. To test this prediction and to better understand the evolutionary origins of sex differences, we examined age and sex differences in the chimpanzee and orangutan personality domains Extraversion, Dominance, Neuroticism, and Agreeableness. We also examined the Activity and Gregariousness facets of Extraversion and the orangutan Intellect domain. Extraversion and Neuroticism declined across age groups in both species, in common with humans. A significant interaction indicated that Agreeableness declined in orangutans but increased in chimpanzees, as it does in humans, though this may reflect differences in how Agreeableness was defined in each species. Significant interactions indicated that male chimpanzees, unlike male orangutans, displayed higher Neuroticism scores than females and maintained higher levels of Activity and Dominance into old age than female chimpanzees, male orangutans, and female orangutans. Personality-age correlations were comparable across orangutans and chimpanzees and were similar to those reported in human studies. Sex differences were stronger in chimpanzees than in humans or orangutans. These findings support Five-Factor Theory, suggest the role of gene-culture coevolution in shaping personality development, and suggest that sex differences evolved independently in different species. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Dominance, Politics, and Physiology: Voters' Testosterone Changes on the Night of the 2008 United States Presidential Election

PubMed Central

Stanton, Steven J.; Beehner, Jacinta C.; Saini, Ekjyot K.; Kuhn, Cynthia M.; LaBar, Kevin S.

2009-01-01

Background Political elections are dominance competitions. When men win a dominance competition, their testosterone levels rise or remain stable to resist a circadian decline; and when they lose, their testosterone levels fall. However, it is unknown whether this pattern of testosterone change extends beyond interpersonal competitions to the vicarious experience of winning or losing in the context of political elections. Women's testosterone responses to dominance competition outcomes are understudied, and to date, a clear pattern of testosterone changes in response to winning and losing dominance competitions has not emerged. Methodology/Principal Findings The present study investigated voters' testosterone responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election. 183 participants provided multiple saliva samples before and after the winner was announced on Election Night. The results show that male Barack Obama voters (winners) had stable post-outcome testosterone levels, whereas testosterone levels dropped in male John McCain and Robert Barr voters (losers). There were no significant effects in female voters. Conclusions/Significance The findings indicate that male voters exhibit biological responses to the realignment of a country's dominance hierarchy as if they participated in an interpersonal dominance contest. PMID:19844583

Knowledge Gaps of the Health Benefits of Beans among Low-Income Women.

PubMed

Palmer, Shelly M; Winham, Donna M; Hradek, Christine

2018-01-01

We determined knowledge of the health benefits of consuming beans, and assessed if awareness varied by acculturation status among Hispanic and non-Hispanic low-income women. We used a self-administered survey with Iowa women aged 18-65 years who were eligible to receive income-based services through 2 healthcare clinics, a WIC clinic, and Extension Outreach. Chi-square and ANOVA were used to compare bean health benefit knowledge, demographics, health-risk factors, nutrition information seeking, and self-efficacy by acculturation categories. Of the 158 women who completed the survey, 58% were Hispanic, with a mean age of 36 years. In terms of acculturation, 24% were Hispanic-dominant, 30% bicultural, and 46% English dominant. Over 50% of all respondents did not know bean consumption lowered cholesterol, aided blood glucose control, or reduced some cancer risks. Responses for 5 of 7 knowledge statements differed significantly by acculturation. Hispanic-dominant and bicultural women reported significantly better health, higher bean consumption, and less cigarette smoking than English-dominant women. Bicultural and English-dominant women were more likely to use the Internet for nutrition information. There are knowledge gaps about the health benefits of bean consumption among low-income women. Nutrition education to improve their knowledge may lead to increased bean consumption, reducing health disparities and improving nutrition.

PM2.5-induced changes in cardiac function of hypertensive rats depend on wind direction and specific sources in Steubenville, Ohio.

PubMed

Kamal, Ali S; Rohr, Annette C; Mukherjee, Bhramar; Morishita, Masako; Keeler, Gerald J; Harkema, Jack R; Wagner, James G

2011-06-01

Increases in particulate matter less than 2.5 µm (PM(2.5)) in ambient air is linked to acute cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Specific components and potential emission sources of PM(2.5) responsible for adverse health effects of cardiovascular function are unclear. Spontaneously hypertensive rats were implemented with radiotelemeters to record ECG responses during inhalation exposure to concentrated ambient particles (CAPs) for 13 consecutive days in Steubenville, OH. Changes in heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) were compared to PM(2.5) trace elements in 30-min time frames to capture acute physiological responses with real-time fluctuations in PM(2.5) composition. Using positive matrix factorization, six major source factors were identified: (i) coal/secondary, (ii) mobile sources, (iii) metal coating/processing, (iv) iron/steel manufacturing, (v) lead and (vi) incineration. Exposure-related changes in HR and HRV were dependant on winds predominately from either the northeast (NE) or southwest (SW). During SW winds, the metal processing factor was associated with increased HR, whereas factors of incineration, lead and iron/steel with NE winds were associated with decreased HR. Decreased SDNN was dominated during NE winds by the incinerator factor, and with SW winds by the metal factor. Metals and mobile source factors also had minor impacts on decreased SDNN with NE winds. Individual elemental components loaded onto these factors generally showed significant associations, although there were some discrepancies. Acute cardiovascular changes in response to ambient PM(2.5) exposure can be attributed to specific PM constituents and sources linked with incineration, metal processing, and iron/steel production.

Assessing the effects of abiotic stress and livestock grazing disturbance on an alpine grassland with CSR model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Luo, Peng; Mou, Chengxiang; Yang, Hao; Mo, Li; Luo, Chuan; Kattge, Jens

2016-04-01

How the abiotic factors represented by cold environment and biotic factors represented by livestock grazing will affect the vegetation structure of alpine grassland is a core issue in understanding the cause of biodiversity change on Tibetan Plateau. Past studies on changes of floristic composition, growth forms did not adequately answer question. Given the fact that the response of plant to environment change depend on its life strategy, a synthetical method that based on plant life strategy may deepen our understanding of the mechanism. Using Grime's concept of CSR plant classification, we carried out a vegetation survey along a gradient (three levels) of graze intensity on the south-east of Tibet Plateau, in order to evaluate the role and mechanism of abiotic stress and grazing disturbance in driving plant diversity change, by analyzing the plant life strategy compositions in each of the community and by comparing the characteristic of the strategy compositions along the graze gradient. When the graze intensity was relative low, the dominant plant life strategy gathered in the stress tolerance corner, which conformed the theory of environmental filter, indicating that the ideal top plant community may be dominated by the species with stress tolerant strategy. We also found that the response of strategy dominance to graze intensity increase is positively correlated with the competitive capacity (R 2=0.671; P<0.001) and negatively correlated with the capacity of tolerating stress (R 2=0.378; P=0.011), but is not affected by the ruderal strategy (R 2=0.047; P=0.42). This reflected a general shift of plant strategy from stress tolerant to competitive (rather than ruderal as expected) and suggested that the mechanism of graze to affect plant community is different from that of other disturbance like fire, clipping, till, etc. The particular selective foraging and escaping from feces may provide more opportunities for competitive than ruderal strategy to dominant the community. This study demonstrated that CSR plant strategy be a useful tool to evaluate the effects of abiotic and biotic factors on plant community assembly of alpine grassland, which may contribute to predict the impacts of climate change and human activity on alpine grassland plant diversity and ecosystem service function related.

Ecophysiological characterization of early successional biological soil crusts in heavily human-impacted areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szyja, Michelle; Büdel, Burkhard; Colesie, Claudia

2018-04-01

Ecophysiological characterizations of photoautotrophic communities are not only necessary to identify the response of carbon fixation related to different climatic factors, but also to evaluate risks connected to changing environments. In biological soil crusts (BSCs), the description of ecophysiological features is difficult, due to the high variability in taxonomic composition and variable methodologies applied. Especially for BSCs in early successional stages, the available datasets are rare or focused on individual constituents, although these crusts may represent the only photoautotrophic component in many heavily disturbed ruderal areas, such as parking lots or building areas with increasing surface area worldwide. We analyzed the response of photosynthesis and respiration to changing BSC water contents (WCs), temperature and light in two early successional BSCs. We investigated whether the response of these parameters was different between intact BSC and the isolated dominating components. BSCs dominated by the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune and dominated by the green alga Zygogonium ericetorum were examined. A major divergence between the two BSCs was their absolute carbon fixation rate on a chlorophyll basis, which was significantly higher for the cyanobacterial crust. Nevertheless, independent of species composition, both crust types and their isolated organisms had convergent features such as high light acclimatization and a minor and very late-occurring depression in carbon uptake at water suprasaturation. This particular setup of ecophysiological features may enable these communities to cope with a high variety of climatic stresses and may therefore be a reason for their success in heavily disturbed areas with ongoing human impact. However, the shape of the response was different for intact BSC compared to separated organisms, especially in absolute net photosynthesis (NP) rates. This emphasizes the importance of measuring intact BSCs under natural conditions for collecting reliable data for meaningful analysis of BSC ecosystem services.

The Secreted Protein Rv1860 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Stimulates Human Polyfunctional CD8+ T Cells

PubMed Central

Kumar, Naveen; Biswas, Sunetra; Jumani, Rajiv S.; Jain, Chandni; Rani, Rajni; Aggarwal, Bharti; Singh, Jaya; Kotnur, Mohan Rao; Sridharan, Anand

2016-01-01

We previously reported that Rv1860 protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis stimulated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells secreting gamma interferon (IFN-γ) in healthy purified protein derivative (PPD)-positive individuals and protected guinea pigs immunized with a DNA vaccine and a recombinant poxvirus expressing Rv1860 from a challenge with virulent M. tuberculosis. We now show Rv1860-specific polyfunctional T (PFT) cell responses in the blood of healthy latently M. tuberculosis-infected individuals dominated by CD8+ T cells, using a panel of 32 overlapping peptides spanning the length of Rv1860. Multiple subsets of CD8+ PFT cells were significantly more numerous in healthy latently infected volunteers (HV) than in tuberculosis (TB) patients (PAT). The responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from PAT to the peptides of Rv1860 were dominated by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) secretions, the former coming predominantly from non-T cell sources. Notably, the pattern of the T cell response to Rv1860 was distinctly different from those of the widely studied M. tuberculosis antigens ESAT-6, CFP-10, Ag85A, and Ag85B, which elicited CD4+ T cell-dominated responses as previously reported in other cohorts. We further identified a peptide spanning amino acids 21 to 39 of the Rv1860 protein with the potential to distinguish latent TB infection from disease due to its ability to stimulate differential cytokine signatures in HV and PAT. We suggest that a TB vaccine carrying these and other CD8+ T-cell-stimulating antigens has the potential to prevent progression of latent M. tuberculosis infection to TB disease. PMID:26843486

Scenarios of nutrient alterations and responses of phytoplankton in a changing Daya Bay, South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Mei-Lin; Wang, You-Shao; Wang, Yu-Tu; Yin, Jian-Ping; Dong, Jun-De; Jiang, Zhao-Yu; Sun, Fu-Lin

2017-01-01

The coastal ecosystem in the Daya Bay is sensitive to the environmental changes induced by highly intensive human activities. We obtained and compiled the recent 30 years' field observational data on nutrients and phytoplankton communities to explore the changing ecosystem. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration (DIN) has significantly increased, while phosphate concentration (DIP) dramatically decreased because of costal anthropogenic influence. The limited factors for phytoplankton have changed from nitrogen in the 1980s to phosphate in the mid-1990s. The net-collected phytoplankton communities has the miniaturized trend, while there is drastic increase of Chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentration. Even though the diatoms still dominate in phytoplankton community, the dominant species have slightly changed. The alga bloom greatly changed from diatoms dominated to dinoflagellates due to changes of nutrient structure. All these changes on nutrients and phytoplankton communities appear to be closely associated with human activities along the coast of the Daya Bay.

Influence of social dominance on production, welfare and the quality of meat from beef bulls.

PubMed

Miranda-de la Lama, G C; Pascual-Alonso, M; Guerrero, A; Alberti, P; Alierta, S; Sans, P; Gajan, J P; Villarroel, M; Dalmau, A; Velarde, A; Campo, M M; Galindo, F; Santolaria, M P; Sañudo, C; María, G A

2013-08-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of social dominance on some indicators of welfare, production and meat quality of young bulls. A total of 60 bulls of the Gasconne breed, 9 months old, housed indoors were used. Indices of success order were calculated to reflect social dominance of each bull into three ranking categories (low, middle and high). Blood samples were taken to measure cortisol, lactate, glucose, creatine kinase, non-esterified fatty acid and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N/L). M. longissimus samples were analysed in terms of pH, water holding capacity (WHC), texture, colour and sensorial attributes. Social rank influenced cattle stress response, which had an effect on productive performance but not on meat quality traits, with the exception of the sensory traits. These results emphasize the importance of implementing best management practices during pre-harvest handling of cattle in order to modulate any possible risk factor for social stress. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conceptual framework and trend analysis of water-level responses to hydrologic stresses, Pahute Mesa–Oasis Valley groundwater basin, Nevada, 1966-2016

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jackson, Tracie R.; Fenelon, Joseph M.

2018-05-31

This report identifies water-level trends in wells and provides a conceptual framework that explains the hydrologic stresses and factors causing the trends in the Pahute Mesa–Oasis Valley (PMOV) groundwater basin, southern Nevada. Water levels in 79 wells were analyzed for trends between 1966 and 2016. The magnitude and duration of water-level responses to hydrologic stresses were analyzed graphically, statistically, and with water-level models.The conceptual framework consists of multiple stress-specific conceptual models to explain water-level responses to the following hydrologic stresses: recharge, evapotranspiration, pumping, nuclear testing, and wellbore equilibration. Dominant hydrologic stresses affecting water-level trends in each well were used to categorize trends as nonstatic, transient, or steady state.The conceptual framework of water-level responses to hydrologic stresses and trend analyses provide a comprehensive understanding of the PMOV basin and vicinity. The trend analysis links water-level fluctuations in wells to hydrologic stresses and potential factors causing the trends. Transient and steady-state trend categorizations can be used to determine the appropriate water-level data for groundwater studies.

Choosing organics: a path analysis of factors underlying the selection of organic food among Australian consumers.

PubMed

Lockie, Stewart; Lyons, Kristen; Lawrence, Geoffrey; Grice, Janet

2004-10-01

Path analysis of attitudinal, motivational, demographic and behavioural factors influencing food choice among Australian consumers who had consumed at least some organic food in the preceding 12 months showed that concern with the naturalness of food and the sensory and emotional experience of eating were the major determinants of increasing levels of organic consumption. Increasing consumption was also related to other 'green consumption' behaviours such as recycling and to lower levels of concern with convenience in the purchase and preparation of food. Most of these factors were, in turn, strongly affected by gender and the level of responsibility taken by respondents for food provisioning within their households, a responsibility dominated by women. Education had a slightly negative effect on the levels of concern for sensory and emotional appeal due to lower levels of education among women. Income, age, political and ecological values and willingness to pay a premium for safe and environmentally friendly foods all had extremely minor effects.

Towards an understanding of coupled physical and biological processes in the cultivated Sahel - 2. Vegetation and carbon dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boulain, N.; Cappelaere, B.; Ramier, D.; Issoufou, H. B. A.; Halilou, O.; Seghieri, J.; Guillemin, F.; Oï, M.; Gignoux, J.; Timouk, F.

2009-08-01

SummaryThis paper analyses the dynamics of vegetation and carbon during the West African monsoon season, for millet crop and fallow vegetation covers in the cultivated area of the Sahel. Comparing these two dominant land cover types informs on the impact of cultivation on productivity and carbon fluxes. Biomass, leaf area index (LAI) and carbon fluxes were monitored over a 2-year period for these two vegetation systems in the Wankama catchment of the AMMA (African monsoon multidisciplinary analyses) experimental super-site in West Niger. Carbon fluxes and water use efficiency observed at the field scale are confronted with ecophysiological measurements (photosynthetic response to light, and relation of water use efficiency to air humidity) made at the leaf scale for the dominant plant species in the two vegetation systems. The two rainy seasons monitored were dissimilar with respect to rain patterns, reflecting some of the interannual variability. Distinct responses in vegetation development and in carbon dynamics were observed between the two vegetation systems. Vegetation development in the fallow was found to depend more on rainfall distribution along the season than on its starting date. A quite opposite behaviour was observed for the crop vegetation: the date of first rain appears as a principal factor of millet growth. Carbon flux exchanges were well correlated to vegetation development. High responses of photosynthesis to light were observed for the dominant herbaceous and shrub species of the fallow at the leaf and field scales. Millet showed high response at the leaf scale, but a much lesser response at the field scale. This pattern, also observed for water use efficiency, is to be related to the low density of the millet cover. A simple LAI-based model for scaling up the photosynthetic response from leaf to field scale was found quite successful for the fallow, but was less conclusive for the crop, due to spatial variability of LAI. Time/space variations in leaf distribution for the dominant species are key to scale transition of carbon dynamics. Results obtained for the two vegetation covers are important in light of the major land use/cover change experienced in the Sahel region due to extensive savanna clearing for food production.

Winning agonistic encounters increases testosterone and androgen receptor expression in Syrian Hamsters

PubMed Central

Clinard, Catherine T.; Barnes, Abigail K.; Adler, Samuel G.; Cooper, Matthew A.

2016-01-01

Winning aggressive disputes is one of several experiences that can alter responses to future stressful events. We have previously tested dominant and subordinate male Syrian hamsters in a conditioned defeat model and found that dominant individuals show less change in behavior following social defeat stress compared to subordinates and controls, indicating a reduced conditioned defeat response. Resistance to the effects of social defeat in dominants is experience-dependent and requires the maintenance of dominance relationships for 14 days. For this study we investigated whether winning aggressive interactions increases plasma testosterone and whether repeatedly winning increases androgen receptor expression. First, male hamsters were paired in daily 10-min aggressive encounters and blood samples were collected immediately before and 15-min and 30-min after the formation of dominance relationships. Dominants showed an increase in plasma testosterone at 15-min post-interaction compared to their pre-interaction baseline, whereas subordinates and controls showed no change in plasma testosterone. Secondly, we investigated whether 14 days of dominant social status increased androgen or estrogen alpha-receptor immunoreactivity in brain regions that regulate the conditioned defeat response. Dominants showed more androgen, but not estrogen alpha, receptor immuno-positive cells in the dorsal medial amygdala (dMeA) and ventral lateral septum (vLS) compared to subordinates and controls. Finally, we showed that one day of dominant social status was insufficient to increase androgen receptor immunoreactivity compared to subordinates. These results suggest that elevated testosterone signaling at androgen receptors in the dMeA and vLS might contribute to the reduced conditioned defeat response exhibited by dominant hamsters. PMID:27619945

Geophysical Inversion with Adaptive Array Processing of Ambient Noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Traer, James

2011-12-01

Land-based seismic observations of microseisms generated during Tropical Storms Ernesto and Florence are dominated by signals in the 0.15--0.5Hz band. Data from seafloor hydrophones in shallow water (70m depth, 130 km off the New Jersey coast) show dominant signals in the gravity-wave frequency band, 0.02--0.18Hz and low amplitudes from 0.18--0.3Hz, suggesting significant opposing wave components necessary for DF microseism generation were negligible at the site. Both storms produced similar spectra, despite differing sizes, suggesting near-coastal shallow water as the dominant region for observed microseism generation. A mathematical explanation for a sign-inversion induced to the passive fathometer response by minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamforming is presented. This shows that, in the region containing the bottom reflection, the MVDR fathometer response is identical to that obtained with conventional processing multiplied by a negative factor. A model is presented for the complete passive fathometer response to ocean surface noise, interfering discrete noise sources, and locally uncorrelated noise in an ideal waveguide. The leading order term of the ocean surface noise produces the cross-correlation of vertical multipaths and yields the depth of sub-bottom reflectors. Discrete noise incident on the array via multipaths give multiple peaks in the fathometer response. These peaks may obscure the sub-bottom reflections but can be attenuated with use of Minimum Variance Distortionless Response (MVDR) steering vectors. A theory is presented for the Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR) for the seabed reflection peak in the passive fathometer response as a function of seabed depth, seabed reflection coefficient, averaging time, bandwidth and spatial directivity of the noise field. The passive fathometer algorithm was applied to data from two drifting array experiments in the Mediterranean, Boundary 2003 and 2004, with 0.34s of averaging time. In the 2004 experiment, the response showed the array depth varied periodically with an amplitude of 1 m and a period of 7 s consistent with wave driven motion of the array. This introduced a destructive interference which prevents the SNR growing with averaging time, unless the motion is removed by use of a peak tracker.

The influence of environmental factors on heart rate chronostructure depending on the individual characteristics of autonomic regulation. Results of long-term medical-ecological studies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaeva, Olga; Zenchenko, Tatiana; Breus, Tamara; Chernikova, Anna; Baevsky, Roman

It was previously shown [Baevsky, Petrov, 1998] that during space flight under influence of geomagnetic disturbances there are both specific response of the autonomic regulation system in the form of vasomotor cardiovascular center activation (LF spectral components) and non-specific stress response, which depends on the actual autonomic balance [Breus, Baevsky, 2002]. Within the project "Mars-500" the parallel medical-ecological studies were conducted in 10 groups (10-16 people), that lived in different regions of the world under the influence of various environmental factors - climatic, geographic, industrial, social and other. It allowed us to obtain a sufficiently large number of variants of adaptive reactions caused by differences in external impacts. The main research method was the heart rate variability (HRV) analysis in short ECG samples (5 minutes) for assessing heart rate chronostructure and functional status of autonomic regulation. Results of studies have demonstrated that environmental loads on the regulatory mechanisms is higher in the northern and north-eastern regions of Russia - Magadan and Syktyvkar. Stress-index of regulatory systems and adaptive risk indicator is significantly higher in these groups [Baevsky, Berseneva, 2013]. The preliminary search of weather factors (atmospheric pressure, air temperature, humidity and magnetic index Kp) influence on the autonomic regulation of heart rate showed that there are no any significant changes and relationships in the entire group of participants. We have assumed that the character of adaptive responses, including responses to changing weather and geomagnetic conditions, is associated with the individual characteristics and the initial functional state of autonomic regulation. To test this hypothesis, we have identified two groups of subjects with different autonomic balance. The first group included individuals with a pronounced predominance of sympathetic regulation (n = 127), the second - with a strong predominance of parasympathetic activity (n = 64). The analysis of correlations between weather and heart rate chronostructure and functional condition of autonomic regulation revealed that attitude of low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) of heart rhythm spectrum higher in both groups at declining geomagnetic activity and lower at its growth. The comparison of other HRV indicators at decreasing and increasing geomagnetic activity displayed the opposite trends in these groups. Stress-index of regulatory systems (SI), which reflects the sympathetic activity, rises in group with sympathetic dominance at reducing geomagnetic activity, and at its growth - in group with parasympathetic dominance. So, we can see that specific adaptive reaction as response to changing geomagnetic situation, which manifested in activation of vasomotor cardiovascular center, is the similar in subjects with different autonomic balance. Non-specific component depends on initial dominance of one or another regulatory mechanism.

Antigen expression level threshold tunes the fate of CD8 T cells during primary hepatic immune responses.

PubMed

Tay, Szun Szun; Wong, Yik Chun; McDonald, David M; Wood, Nicole A W; Roediger, Ben; Sierro, Frederic; Mcguffog, Claire; Alexander, Ian E; Bishop, G Alex; Gamble, Jennifer R; Weninger, Wolfgang; McCaughan, Geoffrey W; Bertolino, Patrick; Bowen, David G

2014-06-24

CD8 T-cell responses to liver-expressed antigens range from deletional tolerance to full effector differentiation resulting in overt hepatotoxicity. The reasons for these heterogeneous outcomes are not well understood. To identify factors that govern the fate of CD8 T cells activated by hepatocyte-expressed antigen, we exploited recombinant adenoassociated viral vectors that enabled us to vary potential parameters determining these outcomes in vivo. Our findings reveal a threshold of antigen expression within the liver as the dominant factor determining T-cell fate, irrespective of T-cell receptor affinity or antigen cross-presentation. Thus, when a low percentage of hepatocytes expressed cognate antigen, high-affinity T cells developed and maintained effector function, whereas, at a high percentage, they became functionally exhausted and silenced. Exhaustion was not irreversibly determined by initial activation, but was maintained by high intrahepatic antigen load during the early phase of the response; cytolytic function was restored when T cells primed under high antigen load conditions were transferred into an environment of low-level antigen expression. Our study reveals a hierarchy of factors dictating the fate of CD8 T cells during hepatic immune responses, and provides an explanation for the different immune outcomes observed in a variety of immune-mediated liver pathologic conditions.

Dissection of niche competition between introduced and indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with respect to soybean yield responses.

PubMed

Niwa, Rieko; Koyama, Takuya; Sato, Takumi; Adachi, Katsuki; Tawaraya, Keitaro; Sato, Shusei; Hirakawa, Hideki; Yoshida, Shigenobu; Ezawa, Tatsuhiro

2018-05-09

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi associate with most land plants and deliver phosphorus to the host. Identification of biotic/abiotic factors that determine crop responses to AM fungal inoculation is an essential step for successful application of the fungi in sustainable agriculture. We conducted three field trials on soybean with a commercial inoculum and developed a new molecular tool to dissect interactions between the inoculum and indigenous fungi on the MiSeq sequencing platform. Regression analysis indicated that sequence read abundance of the inoculum fungus was the most significant factor that determined soybean yield responses to the inoculation, suggesting that dominance of the inoculum fungus is a necessary condition for positive yield responses. Agricultural practices (fallow/cropping in the previous year) greatly affected the colonization levels (i.e. read abundances) of the inoculum fungus via altering the propagule density of indigenous AM fungi. Analysis of niche competition revealed that the inoculum fungus competed mainly with the indigenous fungi that are commonly distributed in the trial sites, probably because their life-history strategy is the same as that of the inoculum fungus. In conclusion, we provide a new framework for evaluating the significance of environmental factors towards successful application of AM fungi in agriculture.

Protective Efficacy of Serially Up-Ranked Subdominant CD8+ T Cell Epitopes against Virus Challenges

PubMed Central

Roshorm, Yaowaluck; Bridgeman, Anne; Létourneau, Sven; Liljeström, Peter; Potash, Mary Jane; Volsky, David J.; McMichael, Andrew J.; Hanke, Tomáš

2011-01-01

Immunodominance in T cell responses to complex antigens like viruses is still incompletely understood. Some data indicate that the dominant responses to viruses are not necessarily the most protective, while other data imply that dominant responses are the most important. The issue is of considerable importance to the rational design of vaccines, particularly against variable escaping viruses like human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and hepatitis C virus. Here, we showed that sequential inactivation of dominant epitopes up-ranks the remaining subdominant determinants. Importantly, we demonstrated that subdominant epitopes can induce robust responses and protect against whole viruses if they are allowed at least once in the vaccination regimen to locally or temporally dominate T cell induction. Therefore, refocusing T cell immune responses away from highly variable determinants recognized during natural virus infection towards subdominant, but conserved regions is possible and merits evaluation in humans. PMID:21625575

A Lexical Approach to Identifying Dimensions of Organizational Culture

PubMed Central

Chapman, Derek S.; Reeves, Paige; Chapin, Michelle

2018-01-01

A comprehensive measure of organizational culture was developed using a lexical approach, a method typically employed within the study of personality. 1761 adjectives were narrowed down and factor analyzed, which resulted in the identification of a nine factor solution to organizational culture, including the dimensions of: Innovative, Dominant, Pace, Friendly, Prestigious, Trendy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Traditional, and Diverse. Comprised of 135 adjectives most frequently used in describing organizational culture by current employees of several hundred organizations, the Lexical Organizational Culture Scale (LOCS) was found to predict employee commitment, job satisfaction, job search behaviors, and subjective fit better than earlier scales of organizational culture. PMID:29922200

Impact of relative sea level and rapid climate changes on the architecture and lithofacies of the Holocene Rhone subaqueous delta (Western Mediterranean Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fanget, Anne-Sophie; Berné, Serge; Jouet, Gwénaël; Bassetti, Maria-Angela; Dennielou, Bernard; Maillet, Grégoire M.; Tondut, Mathieu

2014-05-01

The modern Rhone delta in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean) is a typical wave-dominated delta that developed after the stabilization of relative sea level following the last deglacial sea-level rise. Similar to most other deltas worldwide, it displays several stacked parasequences and lobes that reflect the complex interaction between accommodation, sediment supply and autogenic processes on the architecture of a wave-dominated delta. The interpretation of a large set of newly acquired very high-resolution seismic and sedimentological data, well constrained by 14C dates, provides a refined three-dimensional image of the detailed architecture (seismic bounding surfaces, sedimentary facies) of the Rhone subaqueous delta, and allows us to propose a scenario for delta evolution during the last deglaciation and Holocene. The subaqueous delta consists of “parasequence-like” depositional wedges, a few metres to 20-30 m in thickness. These wedges first back-stepped inland toward the NW in response to combined global sea-level rise and overall westward oceanic circulation, at a time when sediment supply could not keep pace with rapid absolute (eustatic) sea-level rise. At the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition, more rapid sea-level rise led to the formation of a major flooding surface (equivalent to a wave ravinement surface). After stabilization of global sea level in the mid-Holocene, accommodation became the leading factor in controlling delta architecture. An eastward shift of depocentres occurred, probably favoured by higher subsidence rate within the thick Messinian Rhone valley fill. The transition between transgressive (backstepping geometry) and regressive (prograding geometry) (para)sequences resulted in creation of a Maximum Flooding Surface (MFS) that differs from a “classical” MFS described in the literature. It consists of a coarse-grained interval incorporating reworked shoreface material within a silty clay matrix. This distinct lithofacies results from condensation/erosion, which appears as an important process even within supply-dominated deltaic systems, due to avulsion of distributaries. The age of the MFS varies along-strike between ca. 7.8 and 5.6 kyr cal. BP in relation to the position of depocentres and climatically-controlled sediment supply. The last rapid climate change of the Holocene, the Little Ice Age (1250-1850 AD), had a distinct stratigraphic influence on the architecture and lithofacies of the Rhone subaqueous delta through the progradation of two deltaic lobes. In response to changes in sediment supply linked to rapid climate changes (and to anthropic factors), the Rhone delta evolved from wave-dominated to fluvial dominated, and then wave dominated again.

OVEREXPRESSION OF SERUM RESPONSE FACTOR IN ASTROCYTES IMPROVES NEURONAL PLASTICITY IN A MODEL OF EARLY ALCOHOL EXPOSURE

PubMed Central

PAUL, ARCO P.; MEDINA, ALEXANDRE E.

2012-01-01

Neuronal plasticity deficits underlie many of the cognitive problems seen in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). We have developed a ferret model showing that early alcohol exposure leads to a persistent disruption in ocular dominance (OD) plasticity. Recently, we showed that this deficit could be reversed by overexpression of serum response factor (SRF) in the primary visual cortex during the period of monocular deprivation (MD). Surprisingly, this restoration was observed throughout the extent of visual cortex and most of the cells transfected by the virus were positive for the astrocytic marker GFAP rather than the neuronal marker NeuN. Here we test whether overexpression of SRF exclusively in astrocytes is sufficient to restore OD plasticity in alcohol-exposed ferrets. To accomplish that, first we exposed cultured astrocytes to Sindbis viruses carrying either a constitutively active form of SRF (SRF+), a dominant negative (SRF−) or control GFP. After 24h, these astrocytes were implanted in the visual cortex of alcohol-exposed animals or saline controls one day before MD. Optical imaging of intrinsic signals showed that alcohol-exposed animals that were implanted with astrocytes expressing SRF, but not SRF− or GFP, showed robust restoration of OD plasticity in all visual cortex. These findings suggest that overexpression of SRF exclusively in astrocytes can improve neuronal plasticity in FASD. PMID:22742904

The Responses of African American Men to Dominant Norms of Masculinity within the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Ian; And Others

1994-01-01

Investigated responses of 509 white/European American and African American men to dominant norms of masculinity within the United States and presents a model for male identity formation, including cultural influences, dominant cultural norms, and specific circumstances. Results suggest that at age 18, both groups report similar perspectives about…

Factors affecting the reproductive success of dominant male meerkats.

PubMed

Spong, Göran F; Hodge, Sarah J; Young, Andrew J; Clutton-Brock, Tim H

2008-05-01

Identifying traits that affect the reproductive success of individuals is fundamental for our understanding of evolutionary processes. In cooperative breeders, a dominant male typically restricts mating access to the dominant female for extended periods, resulting in pronounced variation in reproductive success among males. This may result in strong selection for traits that increase the likelihood of dominance acquisition, dominance retention and reproductive rates while dominant. However, despite considerable research on reproductive skew, few studies have explored the factors that influence these three processes among males in cooperative species. Here we use genetic, behavioural and demographic data to investigate the factors affecting reproductive success in dominant male meerkats (Suricata suricatta). Our data show that dominant males sire the majority of all offspring surviving to 1 year. A male's likelihood of becoming dominant is strongly influenced by age, but not by weight. Tenure length and reproductive rate, both important components of dominant male reproductive success, are largely affected by group size and composition, rather than individual traits. Dominant males in large groups have longer tenures, but after this effect is controlled, male tenure length also correlates negatively to the number of adult females in the group. Male reproductive rate also declines as the number of intra- and extra-group competitors increases. As the time spent in the dominant position and reproductive rate while dominant explain > 80% of the total variance in reproductive success, group composition thus has major implications for male reproductive success.

Highly sensitive PMOS photodetector with wide band responsivity assisted by nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yung Ting; Chen, Yang Fang

2010-03-01

A new approach for developing highly sensitive PMOS photodetector based on the assistance of AAO membrane is proposed, fabricated, and characterized. It enables the photodetector with the tunability of not only the intensity but also the range of the response. Under a forward bias, the response of the PMOS photodetector with AAO membrane covers the visible as well as infrared spectrum; however, under a reverse bias, the near-infrared light around Si band edge dominates the photoresponse. Notably, the response at the optical communication wavelength of 850 nm can reach up to 0.24 A/W with an external quantum efficiency of 35%. Moreover, the response shows a large enhancement factor of 10 times at 1050 nm under a reverse bias of 0.5 V comparing with the device without AAO membrane. The underlying mechanism for the novel properties of the newly designed device has been proposed.

Climate sensitivity of reproduction in a mast-seeding boreal conifer across its distributional range from lowland to treeline forests.

PubMed

Roland, Carl A; Schmidt, Joshua H; Johnstone, Jill F

2014-03-01

Mast-seeding conifers such as Picea glauca exhibit synchronous production of large seed crops over wide areas, suggesting climate factors as possible triggers for episodic high seed production. Rapidly changing climatic conditions may thus alter the tempo and spatial pattern of masting of dominant species with potentially far-reaching ecological consequences. Understanding the future reproductive dynamics of ecosystems including boreal forests, which may be dominated by mast-seeding species, requires identifying the specific cues that drive variation in reproductive output across landscape gradients and among years. Here we used annual data collected at three sites spanning an elevation gradient in interior Alaska, USA between 1986 and 2011 to produce the first quantitative models for climate controls over both seedfall and seed viability in P. glauca, a dominant boreal conifer. We identified positive associations between seedfall and increased summer precipitation and decreased summer warmth in all years except for the year prior to seedfall. Seed viability showed a contrasting response, with positive correlations to summer warmth in all years analyzed except for one, and an especially positive response to warm and wet conditions in the seedfall year. Finally, we found substantial reductions in reproductive potential of P. glauca at high elevation due to significantly reduced seed viability there. Our results indicate that major variation in the reproductive potential of this species may occur in different landscape positions in response to warming, with decreasing reproductive success in areas prone to drought stress contrasted with increasing success in higher elevation areas currently limited by cool summer temperatures.

Key ecological responses to nitrogen are altered by climate ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Here we review the effects of nitrogen and climate (e.g. temperature and precipitation) on four aspects of ecosystem structure and function including hydrologic-coupled nitrogen cycling, carbon cycling, acidification and biodiversity. Ecosystems are simultaneously exposed to multiple stressors; two dominant drivers threatening ecosystems are anthropogenic nitrogen loading and climate change. Evaluating the cumulative effects of these stressors provides a holistic view of ecosystem vulnerability, which would better inform policy decisions aimed to protect the sustainability of ecosystems. Our current knowledge of the cumulative effects of these stressors is growing, but limited. The goal of this paper is to synthesize the state of scientific knowledge on how ecosystems are affected by the interactions of meteorlogic/climatic factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) and nitrogen addition. Understanding the interactions of meteorlogic/climatic factors and nitrogen will help to inform how current and projected variability may affect ecosystem response.

A Growing Stem Inhibits Bud Outgrowth - The Overlooked Theory of Apical Dominance.

PubMed

Kebrom, Tesfamichael H

2017-01-01

Three theories of apical dominance, direct, diversion, and indirect, were proposed in the 1930s to explain how auxin synthesized in the shoot apex might inhibit axillary bud outgrowth, and thus shoot branching. The direct and diversion theories of apical dominance have been investigated in detail, and they are replaced with the current auxin transport canalization and second messenger theories, respectively. These two current theories still cannot entirely explain the phenomenon of apical dominance. Although there is ample evidence that the inhibition of bud outgrowth by auxin from the shoot apex is linked to stem elongation and highly branched auxin biosynthesis or signaling mutants are dwarf, the third theory proposed in the 1930s, the indirect theory, that explains apical dominance as auxin-induced stem growth indirectly inhibits bud outgrowth has been overlooked. The indirect theory did not propose how a growing stem might inhibit bud outgrowth. Recent discoveries indicate bud dormancy (syn. quiescence, paradormancy) in response to intrinsic and environmental factors in diverse species is linked to enhanced growth of the main shoot and reduced sugar level in the buds. Since a growing stem is a strong sink for sugars, and sugar is indispensable for shoot branching, the indirect theory of apical dominance might now be explained as auxin-induced stem growth inhibits bud outgrowth by diverting sugars away from buds. Detailed study of the indirect theory and the effect of source-sink status on dormancy and outgrowth of axillary buds will advance our knowledge of apical dominance and shoot branching in plants.

Factors Controlling the Position of the Martian Magnetic Pileup Boundary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crider, D. H.; Acuna, M.; Vignes, D.; Krymskii, A.; Breus, T.; Ness, N.

2003-01-01

The magnetic pileup boundary (MPB) at Mars is the position where the dominant ion of the plasma changes from solar wind protons to heavy ions of planetary origin. As such, it is the obstacle to solar wind ions. We investigate the factors that influence the shape and position of the magnetic pileup boundary at Mars in order to better understand the Martian obstacle to the solar wind. Employing MGS data, we determine how the Martian MPB moves in response to factors including solar wind pressure and crustal magnetic fields. We also study the factors affecting the thickness of the MPB. Further, we compare the magnetic pileup boundary to the magnetic barrier at Venus. Direct comparison aids in our interpretation of the physics involved in the solar wind interaction with planets lacking a significant intrinsic magnetic field.

Coral color and depth drive symbiosis ecology of Montipora capitata in Kāne`ohe Bay, O`ahu, Hawai`i

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Innis, T.; Cunning, R.; Ritson-Williams, R.; Wall, C. B.; Gates, R. D.

2018-06-01

Scleractinian corals form symbioses with diverse photosynthetic dinoflagellates (genus Symbiodinium) that confer varying levels of performance and stress tolerance to their hosts. Variation in thermal stress susceptibility (i.e., bleaching) among conspecific corals is linked to variability in symbiont community composition, yet factors driving heterogeneous symbiont associations within a population are poorly understood. To investigate potential drivers, we characterized Symbiodinium communities in Montipora capitata ( N = 707 colonies) across the biophysical regions, reef types, and depth range of Kāne`ohe Bay (Hawai`i, USA), where this dominant reef-builder associates with Symbiodinium spp. in clade C (C31) and/or D ( S. glynnii), and occurs as brown and orange color morphs. The distribution of these traits was primarily influenced by depth: orange, D-dominated colonies were more prevalent in shallow, high light environments (< 2 m), whereas brown, C-dominated colonies were more prevalent with increasing depth and light attenuation. Though either color morph could be dominated by either symbiont, brown colonies were almost exclusively C-dominated, while orange colonies were more likely to be D-dominated above 4.3 m, and C-dominated below, revealing a significant interaction between color morph and symbiosis ecology. The distribution of orange, D-dominated colonies extended deeper on patch reefs, where light penetrates deeper, compared to the more turbid, fringing reefs, further supporting light as the driver of these patterns. This work reveals that symbiont community variability may arise either from holobiont phenotypic plasticity or differential survival across light gradients, with implications for predicting coral bleaching responses and informing management applications such as selective breeding of robust corals.

The influence of recent climate change on tree height growth differs with species and spatial environment.

PubMed

Messaoud, Yassine; Chen, Han Y H

2011-02-16

Tree growth has been reported to increase in response to recent global climate change in controlled and semi-controlled experiments, but few studies have reported response of tree growth to increased temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in natural environments. This study addresses how recent global climate change has affected height growth of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) and black spruce (Picea mariana Mill B.S.) in their natural environments. We sampled 145 stands dominated by aspen and 82 dominated by spruce over the entire range of their distributions in British Columbia, Canada. These stands were established naturally after fire between the 19th and 20th centuries. Height growth was quantified as total heights of sampled dominant and co-dominant trees at breast-height age of 50 years. We assessed the relationships between 50-year height growth and environmental factors at both spatial and temporal scales. We also tested whether the tree growth associated with global climate change differed with spatial environment (latitude, longitude and elevation). As expected, height growth of both species was positively related to temperature variables at the regional scale and with soil moisture and nutrient availability at the local scale. While height growth of trembling aspen was not significantly related to any of the temporal variables we examined, that of black spruce increased significantly with stand establishment date, the anomaly of the average maximum summer temperature between May-August, and atmospheric CO₂ concentration, but not with the Palmer Drought Severity Index. Furthermore, the increase of spruce height growth associated with recent climate change was higher in the western than in eastern part of British Columbia. This study demonstrates that the response of height growth to recent climate change, i.e., increasing temperature and atmospheric CO₂ concentration, did not only differ with tree species, but also their growing spatial environment.

Inferring the Mode of Selection from the Transient Response to Demographic Perturbations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balick, Daniel; Do, Ron; Reich, David; Sunyaev, Shamil

2014-03-01

Despite substantial recent progress in theoretical population genetics, most models work under the assumption of a constant population size. Deviations from fixed population sizes are ubiquitous in natural populations, many of which experience population bottlenecks and re-expansions. The non-equilibrium dynamics introduced by a large perturbation in population size are generally viewed as a confounding factor. In the present work, we take advantage of the transient response to a population bottleneck to infer features of the mode of selection and the distribution of selective effects. We develop an analytic framework and a corresponding statistical test that qualitatively differentiates between alleles under additive and those under recessive or more general epistatic selection. This statistic can be used to bound the joint distribution of selective effects and dominance effects in any diploid sexual organism. We apply this technique to human population genetic data, and severely restrict the space of allowed selective coefficients in humans. Additionally, one can test a set of functionally or medically relevant alleles for the primary mode of selection, or determine the local regional variation in dominance coefficients along the genome.

Abdominal muscle response to a simulated weight-bearing task by elite Australian Rules football players.

PubMed

Hyde, Jodie; Stanton, Warren R; Hides, Julie A

2012-02-01

The aim of this study was to examine the automatic recruitment of the deep abdominal muscles during a unilateral simulated weight-bearing task by elite Australian Rules football (AFL) players with and without low back pain (LBP). An observational cross-sectional study was conducted using ultrasound imaging to measure the thickness of the internal oblique (IO) and transversus abdominis (TrA) muscles. Thirty-seven elite male AFL players participated. Repeated measures factors included 'force level' (rest, 25% and 45% of body weight), 'leg' (dominant or non-dominant kicking leg) and 'side' (ultrasound side ipsilateral or contralateral to the leg used for the weight-bearing task). The dependent variables were thickness of the IO and TrA muscles. The results of this study showed that thickness of the IO (p<.0001) and TrA (p<.0001) muscles increased in response to 'force level'. During the task, the thickness of the IO muscle on the contralateral side of the trunk relative to the leg being tested, increased more in participants with current LBP (p=.034). This pattern was more distinct on the non-dominant kicking leg. Altered abdominal muscle recruitment in elite athletes with low back pain may be an attempt by the central nervous system (CNS) to compensate for inadequate lumbo-pelvic stability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Can elevated CO2 modify regeneration from seed banks of floating freshwater marshes subjected to rising sea-level?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, Beth A.; McKee, Karen L.

2012-01-01

Higher atmospheric concentrations of CO2 can offset the negative effects of flooding or salinity on plant species, but previous studies have focused on mature, rather than regenerating vegetation. This study examined how interacting environments of CO2, water regime, and salinity affect seed germination and seedling biomass of floating freshwater marshes in the Mississippi River Delta, which are dominated by C3 grasses, sedges, and forbs. Germination density and seedling growth of the dominant species depended on multifactor interactions of CO2 (385 and 720 μl l-1) with flooding (drained, +8-cm depth, +8-cm depth-gradual) and salinity (0, 6% seawater) levels. Of the three factors tested, salinity was the most important determinant of seedling response patterns. Species richness (total = 19) was insensitive to CO2. Our findings suggest that for freshwater marsh communities, seedling response to CO2 is species-specific and secondary to salinity and flooding effects. Elevated CO2 did not ameliorate flooding or salinity stress. Consequently, climate-related changes in sea level or human-caused alterations in hydrology may override atmospheric CO2 concentrations in driving shifts in this plant community. The results of this study suggest caution in making extrapolations from species-specific responses to community-level predictions without detailed attention to the nuances of multifactor responses.

Vaginal Mucosal Homeostatic Response May Determine Pregnancy Outcome in Women With Bacterial Vaginosis

PubMed Central

Faure, Emmanuel; Faure, Karine; Figeac, Martin; Kipnis, Eric; Grandjean, Teddy; Dubucquoi, Sylvain; Villenet, Céline; Grandbastien, Bruno; Brabant, Gilles; Subtil, Damien; Dessein, Rodrigue

2016-01-01

Abstract Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is considered as a trigger for an inflammatory response that could promote adverse pregnancy outcome (APO). We hypothesized that BV-related inflammation could be counterbalanced by anti-inflammatory and mucosal homeostatic responses that could participate in pregnancy outcomes. A total of 402 vaginal self-samples from pregnant women in their first trimester were screened by Nugent score. In this population, we enrolled 23 pregnant women with BV but without APO, 5 pregnant women with BV and developing APO, 21 pregnant women with intermediate flora, and 28 random control samples from pregnant women without BV or APO. BV without APO in pregnant women was associated with 28-fold interleukin-8, 5-fold interleukin-10, and 40-fold interleukin-22 increases in expression compared to controls. BV associated with APO in pregnant women shared 4-fold increase in tumor necrosis factor, 100-fold decrease in interleukin-10, and no variation in interleukin-22 expressions compared to controls. Next-generation sequencing of vaginal microbiota revealed a shift from obligate anaerobic bacteria dominance in BV without APO pregnant women to Lactobacillus dominance microbiota in BV with APO. Our results show that the anti-inflammatory and mucosal homeostatic responses to BV may determine outcome of pregnancy in the setting of BV possibly through effects on the vaginal microbiota. PMID:26844497

An Allele of Sequoia Dominantly Enhances a Trio Mutant Phenotype to Influence Drosophila Larval Behavior

PubMed Central

Liebl, Eric C.

2013-01-01

The transition of Drosophila third instar larvae from feeding, photo-phobic foragers to non-feeding, photo-neutral wanderers is a classic behavioral switch that precedes pupariation. The neuronal network responsible for this behavior has recently begun to be defined. Previous genetic analyses have identified signaling components for food and light sensory inputs and neuropeptide hormonal outputs as being critical for the forager to wanderer transition. Trio is a Rho-Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor integrated into a variety of signaling networks including those governing axon pathfinding in early development. Sequoia is a pan-neuronally expressed zinc-finger transcription factor that governs dendrite and axon outgrowth. Using pre-pupal lethality as an endpoint, we have screened for dominant second-site enhancers of a weakly lethal trio mutant background. In these screens, an allele of sequoia has been identified. While these mutants have no obvious disruption of embryonic central nervous system architecture and survive to third instar larvae similar to controls, they retain forager behavior and thus fail to pupariate at high frequency. PMID:24376789

An allele of sequoia dominantly enhances a trio mutant phenotype to influence Drosophila larval behavior.

PubMed

Dean, Kathryn E; Fields, April; Geer, Marcus J; King, Eric C; Lynch, Brian T; Manohar, Rohan R; McCall, Julianne R; Palozola, Katherine C; Zhang, Yan; Liebl, Eric C

2013-01-01

The transition of Drosophila third instar larvae from feeding, photo-phobic foragers to non-feeding, photo-neutral wanderers is a classic behavioral switch that precedes pupariation. The neuronal network responsible for this behavior has recently begun to be defined. Previous genetic analyses have identified signaling components for food and light sensory inputs and neuropeptide hormonal outputs as being critical for the forager to wanderer transition. Trio is a Rho-Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor integrated into a variety of signaling networks including those governing axon pathfinding in early development. Sequoia is a pan-neuronally expressed zinc-finger transcription factor that governs dendrite and axon outgrowth. Using pre-pupal lethality as an endpoint, we have screened for dominant second-site enhancers of a weakly lethal trio mutant background. In these screens, an allele of sequoia has been identified. While these mutants have no obvious disruption of embryonic central nervous system architecture and survive to third instar larvae similar to controls, they retain forager behavior and thus fail to pupariate at high frequency.

The influence of motivation and attentional style on affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes of an exercise class.

PubMed

Jones, L; Karageorghis, C I; Lane, A M; Bishop, D T

2017-01-01

Exercise classes are a popular form of physical activity. A greater understanding of the individual difference factors that might influence the outcomes of such classes could help to minimize the high dropout rates associated with exercise. The study explored the effects of dominant attentional style and degree of self-determination on affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes following structured exercise classes. Data from 417 female participants revealed that those with a dominant attentional style for association (Associators) reported significantly (P < 0.05) more positive affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes than did Dissociators, and were more self-determined. Highly self-determined individuals reported the most positive outcomes. Almost 29% of the variance in participants' affective valence could be explained by Dissociators' behavioral regulations. Results lend support to the notion that attentional style is associated with motivation. The combination of attentional style and degree of self-determination appear to be noteworthy individual difference factors that influence responses to exercise classes and could thus have a bearing on long-term exercise adherence. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Variations of summer phytoplankton community related to environmental factors in a macro-tidal estuarine embayment, Hangzhou Bay, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuexia; Yu, Jun; Jiang, Zhibing; Wang, Qin; Wang, Hui

2015-12-01

To explore the distribution and composition of phytoplankton community and their responses to environmental changes, summer net-collected phytoplankton and physicochemical parameters in the Hangzhou Bay during 2004-2010 were investigated. A total of four phyla and 84 species were identified, including 67 diatom and 12 dinoflagellate species. The dominant species constantly consisted of the diatoms, although the dominance of dinoflagellate and cyanobacteria increased recently. Due to great spatio-temporal variations in environmental factors (salinity, suspended solids, and nutrient concentration), significant heterogeneities in community compositions among different years and subregions (inner and middle sections, and bay mouth) were found based on the analyses of multidimensional scaling and similarity. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that salinity and Si/N were the main variables associated with algal assemblage. Compared with the historical data since the 1980s, eutrophication (N, P, and N/P increased with decreasing Si/N) was exacerbated drastically. Moreover, climatic forcing and human activities resulted in a series of physical alterations, including sediment retention, temperature increase, and salinity decrease as well as reduction in water exchanges. All these changes induced obvious increases in cell density and Chl- a while decreases in species diversity and diatom-dinoflagellate ratio as well as the shifting of dominant species. Therefore, the long-term phytoplankton variations were closely related to anthropogenic and climatic perturbations in the Hangzhou Bay.

Targeting of non-dominant antigens as a vaccine strategy to broaden T-cell responses during chronic viral infection.

PubMed

Holst, Peter J; Jensen, Benjamin A H; Ragonnaud, Emeline; Thomsen, Allan R; Christensen, Jan P

2015-01-01

In this study, we compared adenoviral vaccine vectors with the capacity to induce equally potent immune responses against non-dominant and immunodominant epitopes of murine lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Our results demonstrate that vaccination targeting non-dominant epitopes facilitates potent virus-induced T-cell responses against immunodominant epitopes during subsequent challenge with highly invasive virus. In contrast, when an immunodominant epitope was included in the vaccine, the T-cell response associated with viral challenge remained focussed on that epitope. Early after challenge with live virus, the CD8+ T cells specific for vaccine-encoded epitopes, displayed a phenotype typically associated with prolonged/persistent antigenic stimulation marked by high levels of KLRG-1, as compared to T cells reacting to epitopes not included in the vaccine. Notably, this association was lost over time in T cells specific for the dominant T cell epitopes, and these cells were fully capable of expanding in response to a new viral challenge. Overall, our data suggests a potential for broadening of the antiviral CD8+ T-cell response by selecting non-dominant antigens to be targeted by vaccination. In addition, our findings suggest that prior adenoviral vaccination is not likely to negatively impact the long-term and protective immune response induced and maintained by a vaccine-attenuated chronic viral infection.

v-src induction of the TIS10/PGS2 prostaglandin synthase gene is mediated by an ATF/CRE transcription response element.

PubMed

Xie, W; Fletcher, B S; Andersen, R D; Herschman, H R

1994-10-01

We recently reported the cloning of a mitogen-inducible prostaglandin synthase gene, TIS10/PGS2. In addition to growth factors and tumor promoters, the v-src oncogene induces TIS10/PGS2 expression in 3T3 cells. Deletion analysis, using luciferase reporters, identifies a region between -80 and -40 nucleotides 5' of the TIS10/PGS2 transcription start site that mediates pp60v-src induction in 3T3 cells. This region contains the sequence CGTCACGTG, which includes overlapping ATF/CRE (CGTCA) and E-box (CACGTG) sequences. Gel shift-oligonucleotide competition experiments with nuclear extracts from cells stably transfected with a temperature-sensitive v-src gene demonstrate that the CGTCACGTG sequence can bind proteins at both the ATF/CRE and E-box sequences. Dominant-negative CREB and Myc proteins that bind DNA, but do not transactivate, block v-src induction of a luciferase reporter driven by the first 80 nucleotides of the TIS10/PGS2 promoter. Mutational analysis distinguishes which TIS10/PGS2 cis-acting element mediates pp60v-src induction. E-box mutation has no effect on the fold induction in response to pp60v-src. In contrast, ATF/CRE mutation attenuates the pp60v-src response. Antibody supershift and methylation interference experiments demonstrate that CREB and at least one other ATF transcription factor in these extracts bind to the TIS10/PGS2 ATF/CRE element. Expression of a dominant-negative ras gene also blocks TIS10/PGS2 induction by v-src. Our data suggest that Ras mediates pp60v-src activation of an ATF transcription factor, leading to induced TIS10/PGS2 expression via the ATF/CRE element of the TIS10/PGS2 promoter. This is the first description of v-src activation of gene expression via an ATF/CRE element.

Hydrologic and water-quality rehabilitation of environments for suitable fish habitat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, C. S.; Yang, S. T.; Xiang, H.; Liu, C. M.; Zhang, H. T.; Yang, Z. L.; Zhang, Y.; Sun, Y.; Mitrovic, S. M.; Yu, Q.; Lim, R. P.

2015-11-01

Aquatic ecological rehabilitation is attracting increasing public and research attention, but without knowledge of the responses of aquatic species to their habitats the success of habitat restoration is uncertain. Thus efficient study of species response to habitat, through which to prioritize the habitat factors influencing aquatic ecosystems, is highly important. However many current models have too high requirement for assemblage information and have great bias in results due to consideration of only the species' attribute of presence/absence, abundance or biomass, thus hindering the wider utility of these models. This paper, using fish as a case, presents a framework for identification of high-priority habitat factors based on the responses of aquatic species to their habitats, using presence/absence, abundance and biomass data. This framework consists of four newly developed sub-models aiming to determine weightings for the evaluation of species' contributions to their communities, to quantitatively calculate an integrated habitat suitability index for multi-species based on habitat factors, to assess the suitable probability of habitat factors and to assess the rehabilitation priority of habitat factors. The framework closely links hydrologic, physical and chemical habitat factors to fish assemblage attributes drawn from monitoring datasets on hydrology, water quality and fish assemblages at a total of 144 sites, where 5084 fish were sampled and tested. Breakpoint identification techniques based on curvature in cumulated dominance along with a newly developed weighting calculation model based on theory of mass systems were used to help identify the dominant fish, based on which the presence and abundance of multiple fish were normalized to estimate the integrated habitat suitability index along gradients of various factors, based on their variation with principal habitat factors. Then, the appropriate probability of every principal habitat factor was estimated and graded, and the priority of habitat factors for rehabilitation was determined. Application of the model to Jinan City, a pilot city for the construction of a civilized and ecological city in China, proved effective, revealing that carbonate is the poorest habitat factor and has the highest priority for ecological rehabilitation. This was tested using two methods: alternative priority models and a dataset of all habitat factors in place of only the principal habitat factors. We also found that hydrological factors have higher priority than the water quality factors at the levels of both the whole city and its subordinate eco-regions and therefore that hydrological factors deserve special attention in the future ecosystem rehabilitation. Further, the current habitat state makes nearly half of the habitats in Jinan City undesirable for fish communities, largely due to long-term agricultural practices. Spatially, rivers in the mountainous region south of Jinan city and adjacent to the urban area and rivers in the agricultural region north of the city should be emphasized in future habitat rehabilitation. All of these findings have substantial ramifications for the rehabilitation of aquatic ecosystems in Jinan City as a reference for river ecological remediation in rivers with scarce ecological data worldwide.

Osteosarcoma inheritance in two families of Scottish deerhounds.

PubMed

Dillberger, John E; McAtee, Sara Ann

2017-01-01

Osteosarcoma is the most common neoplastic disease in Scottish Deerhounds. For Deerhounds, a 2007 population-based study concluded that a single dominant genetic factor largely governed disease risk. For Greyhounds, Rottweilers, and Irish Wolfhounds, a 2013 genome-wide association study found multiple genetic markers in each breed, with each marker only weakly associated with the disease. We obtained from two breeders the pedigrees, age (if alive) or age at death, and osteosarcoma status for two families of Scottish Deerhounds, designated Cohorts K and T. A dog was considered unaffected only if it was osteosarcoma-free and at least 8.5 years old. We analyzed the data in two ways, by assuming either a single recessive genetic factor or a single dominant genetic factor with high penetrance. Cohort K contained 54 evaluable dogs representing 12 litters. Cohort T contained 56 evaluable dogs representing eight litters. Osteosarcoma seemed clearly heritable in both cohorts; however, having a parent with osteosarcoma raised a pup's risk of developing osteosarcoma to 38% for Cohort K but 78% for Cohort T, suggesting the possibility of different genetic risk factors in each cohort. In Cohort K, osteosarcoma inheritance fit well with a single, recessive, autosomal risk factor, although we could not rule out the possibility of a single dominant risk factor with incomplete penetrance. In Cohort T, inheritance could be explained well by a single, dominant, autosomal risk factor but was inconsistent with recessive expression. Inheritance of osteosarcoma in two Scottish Deerhound families could be explained well by a single genetic risk factor residing on an autosome, consistent with a 2007 report. In one family, inheritance was consistent with dominant expression, as previously reported. In the other family, inheritance fit better with recessive expression, although the possibility of a dominant genetic factor influenced by one or more other genetic factors could not be ruled out. In either case, the results suggest that there may be at least two different genetic risk factors for osteosarcoma in Deerhounds.

Late Multiple Organ Surge in Interferon-Regulated Target Genes Characterizes Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B Lethality

PubMed Central

Ferreyra, Gabriela A.; Elinoff, Jason M.; Demirkale, Cumhur Y.; Starost, Matthew F.; Buckley, Marilyn; Munson, Peter J.; Krakauer, Teresa; Danner, Robert L.

2014-01-01

Background Bacterial superantigens are virulence factors that cause toxic shock syndrome. Here, the genome-wide, temporal response of mice to lethal intranasal staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) challenge was investigated in six tissues. Results The earliest responses and largest number of affected genes occurred in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), spleen, and lung tissues with the highest content of both T-cells and monocyte/macrophages, the direct cellular targets of SEB. In contrast, the response of liver, kidney, and heart was delayed and involved fewer genes, but revealed a dominant genetic program that was seen in all 6 tissues. Many of the 85 uniquely annotated transcripts participating in this shared genomic response have not been previously linked to SEB. Nine of the 85 genes were subsequently confirmed by RT-PCR in every tissue/organ at 24 h. These 85 transcripts, up-regulated in all tissues, annotated to the interferon (IFN)/antiviral-response and included genes belonging to the DNA/RNA sensing system, DNA damage repair, the immunoproteasome, and the ER/metabolic stress-response and apoptosis pathways. Overall, this shared program was identified as a type I and II interferon (IFN)-response and the promoters of these genes were highly enriched for IFN regulatory matrices. Several genes whose secreted products induce the IFN pathway were up-regulated at early time points in PBMCs, spleen, and/or lung. Furthermore, IFN regulatory factors including Irf1, Irf7 and Irf8, and Zbp1, a DNA sensor/transcription factor that can directly elicit an IFN innate immune response, participated in this host-wide SEB signature. Conclusion Global gene-expression changes across multiple organs implicated a host-wide IFN-response in SEB-induced death. Therapies aimed at IFN-associated innate immunity may improve outcome in toxic shock syndromes. PMID:24551153

Identifying the principal driving factors of water ecosystem dependence and the corresponding indicator species in a pilot City, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, C. S.; Shao, N. F.; Yang, S. T.; Xiang, H.; Lou, H. Z.; Sun, Y.; Yang, Z. Y.; Zhang, Y.; Yu, X. Y.; Zhang, C. B.; Yu, Q.

2018-01-01

The world's aquatic ecosystems yield numerous vital services, which are essential to human existence but have deteriorated seriously in recent years. By studying the mechanisms of interaction between ecosystems and habitat processes, the constraining factors can be identified, and this knowledge can be used to improve the success rate of ecological restoration initiatives. At present, there is insufficient data on the link between hydrological, water quality factors and the changes in the structure of aquatic communities to allow any meaningful study of driving factors of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, the typical monitoring stations were selected by fuzzy clustering analysis based on the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of water ecology in Jinan City, the first pilot city for the construction of civilized aquatic ecosystems in China. The dominant species identification model was used to identify the dominant species of the aquatic community. The driving effect of hydrological and water quality factors on dominant species was analyzed by Canonical Correspondence Analysis. Then, the principal factors of aquatic ecosystem dependence were selected. The results showed that there were 10 typical monitoring stations out of 59 monitoring sites, which were representative of aquatic ecosystems, 9 dominant fish species, and 20 dominant invertebrate species. The selection of factors for aquatic ecosystem dependence in Jinan were highly influenced by its regional conditions. Chemical environmental parameters influence the temporal and spatial variation of invertebrate much more than that of fish in Jinan City. However, the methodologies coupling typical monitoring stations selection, dominant species determination and driving factors identification were certified to be a cost-effective way, which can provide in-deep theoretical and technical directions for the restoration of aquatic ecosystems elsewhere.

Human and Murine Clonal CD8+ T Cell Expansions Arise during Tuberculosis Because of TCR Selection

PubMed Central

Nunes-Alves, Cláudio; Booty, Matthew G.; Carpenter, Stephen M.; Rothchild, Alissa C.; Martin, Constance J.; Desjardins, Danielle; Steblenko, Katherine; Kløverpris, Henrik N.; Madansein, Rajhmun; Ramsuran, Duran; Leslie, Alasdair; Correia-Neves, Margarida; Behar, Samuel M.

2015-01-01

The immune system can recognize virtually any antigen, yet T cell responses against several pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are restricted to a limited number of immunodominant epitopes. The host factors that affect immunodominance are incompletely understood. Whether immunodominant epitopes elicit protective CD8+ T cell responses or instead act as decoys to subvert immunity and allow pathogens to establish chronic infection is unknown. Here we show that anatomically distinct human granulomas contain clonally expanded CD8+ T cells with overlapping T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires. Similarly, the murine CD8+ T cell response against M. tuberculosis is dominated by TB10.44-11-specific T cells with extreme TCRβ bias. Using a retrogenic model of TB10.44-11-specific CD8+ T cells, we show that TCR dominance can arise because of competition between clonotypes driven by differences in affinity. Finally, we demonstrate that TB10.4-specific CD8+ T cells mediate protection against tuberculosis, which requires interferon-γ production and TAP1-dependent antigen presentation in vivo. Our study of how immunodominance, biased TCR repertoires, and protection are inter-related, provides a new way to measure the quality of T cell immunity, which if applied to vaccine evaluation, could enhance our understanding of how to elicit protective T cell immunity. PMID:25945999

Human and Murine Clonal CD8+ T Cell Expansions Arise during Tuberculosis Because of TCR Selection.

PubMed

Nunes-Alves, Cláudio; Booty, Matthew G; Carpenter, Stephen M; Rothchild, Alissa C; Martin, Constance J; Desjardins, Danielle; Steblenko, Katherine; Kløverpris, Henrik N; Madansein, Rajhmun; Ramsuran, Duran; Leslie, Alasdair; Correia-Neves, Margarida; Behar, Samuel M

2015-05-01

The immune system can recognize virtually any antigen, yet T cell responses against several pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are restricted to a limited number of immunodominant epitopes. The host factors that affect immunodominance are incompletely understood. Whether immunodominant epitopes elicit protective CD8+ T cell responses or instead act as decoys to subvert immunity and allow pathogens to establish chronic infection is unknown. Here we show that anatomically distinct human granulomas contain clonally expanded CD8+ T cells with overlapping T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires. Similarly, the murine CD8+ T cell response against M. tuberculosis is dominated by TB10.44-11-specific T cells with extreme TCRβ bias. Using a retro genic model of TB10.44-11-specific CD8+ Tcells, we show that TCR dominance can arise because of competition between clonotypes driven by differences in affinity. Finally, we demonstrate that TB10.4-specific CD8+ T cells mediate protection against tuberculosis, which requires interferon-γ production and TAP1-dependent antigen presentation in vivo. Our study of how immunodominance, biased TCR repertoires, and protection are inter-related, provides a new way to measure the quality of T cell immunity, which if applied to vaccine evaluation, could enhance our understanding of how to elicit protective T cell immunity.

Plant species' origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands.

PubMed

Seabloom, Eric W; Borer, Elizabeth T; Buckley, Yvonne M; Cleland, Elsa E; Davies, Kendi F; Firn, Jennifer; Harpole, W Stanley; Hautier, Yann; Lind, Eric M; MacDougall, Andrew S; Orrock, John L; Prober, Suzanne M; Adler, Peter B; Anderson, T Michael; Bakker, Jonathan D; Biederman, Lori A; Blumenthal, Dana M; Brown, Cynthia S; Brudvig, Lars A; Cadotte, Marc; Chu, Chengjin; Cottingham, Kathryn L; Crawley, Michael J; Damschen, Ellen I; Dantonio, Carla M; DeCrappeo, Nicole M; Du, Guozhen; Fay, Philip A; Frater, Paul; Gruner, Daniel S; Hagenah, Nicole; Hector, Andy; Hillebrand, Helmut; Hofmockel, Kirsten S; Humphries, Hope C; Jin, Virginia L; Kay, Adam; Kirkman, Kevin P; Klein, Julia A; Knops, Johannes M H; La Pierre, Kimberly J; Ladwig, Laura; Lambrinos, John G; Li, Qi; Li, Wei; Marushia, Robin; McCulley, Rebecca L; Melbourne, Brett A; Mitchell, Charles E; Moore, Joslin L; Morgan, John; Mortensen, Brent; O'Halloran, Lydia R; Pyke, David A; Risch, Anita C; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schuetz, Martin; Simonsen, Anna; Smith, Melinda D; Stevens, Carly J; Sullivan, Lauren; Wolkovich, Elizabeth; Wragg, Peter D; Wright, Justin; Yang, Louie

2015-07-15

Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species' biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands.

Plant species' origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

PubMed Central

Seabloom, Eric W.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Buckley, Yvonne M.; Cleland, Elsa E.; Davies, Kendi F.; Firn, Jennifer; Harpole, W. Stanley; Hautier, Yann; Lind, Eric M.; MacDougall, Andrew S.; Orrock, John L.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Adler, Peter B.; Anderson, T. Michael; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Biederman, Lori A.; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Brudvig, Lars A.; Cadotte, Marc; Chu, Chengjin; Cottingham, Kathryn L.; Crawley, Michael J.; Damschen, Ellen I.; Dantonio, Carla M.; DeCrappeo, Nicole M.; Du, Guozhen; Fay, Philip A.; Frater, Paul; Gruner, Daniel S.; Hagenah, Nicole; Hector, Andy; Hillebrand, Helmut; Hofmockel, Kirsten S.; Humphries, Hope C.; Jin, Virginia L.; Kay, Adam; Kirkman, Kevin P.; Klein, Julia A.; Knops, Johannes M. H.; La Pierre, Kimberly J.; Ladwig, Laura; Lambrinos, John G.; Li, Qi; Li, Wei; Marushia, Robin; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Melbourne, Brett A.; Mitchell, Charles E.; Moore, Joslin L.; Morgan, John; Mortensen, Brent; O'Halloran, Lydia R.; Pyke, David A.; Risch, Anita C.; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schuetz, Martin; Simonsen, Anna; Smith, Melinda D.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren; Wolkovich, Elizabeth; Wragg, Peter D.; Wright, Justin; Yang, Louie

2015-01-01

Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species' biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands. PMID:26173623

Conditioned social dominance threat: observation of others' social dominance biases threat learning.

PubMed

Haaker, Jan; Molapour, Tanaz; Olsson, Andreas

2016-10-01

Social groups are organized along dominance hierarchies, which determine how we respond to threats posed by dominant and subordinate others. The persuasive impact of these dominance threats on mental and physical well-being has been well described but it is unknown how dominance rank of others bias our experience and learning in the first place. We introduce a model of conditioned social dominance threat in humans, where the presence of a dominant other is paired with an aversive event. Participants first learned about the dominance rank of others by observing their dyadic confrontations. During subsequent fear learning, the dominant and subordinate others were equally predictive of an aversive consequence (mild electric shock) to the participant. In three separate experiments, we show that participants' eye-blink startle responses and amygdala reactivity adaptively tracked dominance of others during observation of confrontation. Importantly, during fear learning dominant vs subordinate others elicited stronger and more persistent learned threat responses as measured by physiological arousal and amygdala activity. Our results characterize the neural basis of learning through observing conflicts between others, and how this affects subsequent learning through direct, personal experiences. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Conditioned social dominance threat: observation of others’ social dominance biases threat learning

PubMed Central

Molapour, Tanaz; Olsson, Andreas

2016-01-01

Social groups are organized along dominance hierarchies, which determine how we respond to threats posed by dominant and subordinate others. The persuasive impact of these dominance threats on mental and physical well-being has been well described but it is unknown how dominance rank of others bias our experience and learning in the first place. We introduce a model of conditioned social dominance threat in humans, where the presence of a dominant other is paired with an aversive event. Participants first learned about the dominance rank of others by observing their dyadic confrontations. During subsequent fear learning, the dominant and subordinate others were equally predictive of an aversive consequence (mild electric shock) to the participant. In three separate experiments, we show that participants’ eye-blink startle responses and amygdala reactivity adaptively tracked dominance of others during observation of confrontation. Importantly, during fear learning dominant vs subordinate others elicited stronger and more persistent learned threat responses as measured by physiological arousal and amygdala activity. Our results characterize the neural basis of learning through observing conflicts between others, and how this affects subsequent learning through direct, personal experiences. PMID:27217107

The molecular mechanisms of glucocorticoids-mediated neutrophil survival.

PubMed

Saffar, Arash S; Ashdown, Heather; Gounni, Abdelilah S

2011-04-01

Neutrophil-dominated inflammation plays an important role in many airway diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiolitis and cystic fibrosis. In cases of asthma where neutrophil-dominated inflammation is a major contributing factor to the disease, treatment with corticosteroids can be problematic as corticosteroids have been shown to promote neutrophil survival which, in turn, accentuates neutrophilic inflammation. In light of such cases, novel targeted medications must be developed that could control neutrophilic inflammation while still maintaining their antibacterial/anti-fungal properties, thus allowing individuals to maintain effective innate immune responses to invading pathogens. The aim of this review is to describe the molecular mechanisms of neutrophil apoptosis and how these pathways are modulated by glucocorticoids. These new findings are of potential clinical value and provide further insight into treatment of neutrophilic inflammation in lung disease.

Physical predictors, behavioural/emotional attributes and neurochemical determinants of dominant behaviour.

PubMed

Chichinadze, Konstantin; Chichinadze, Nodar; Gachechiladze, Ledi; Lazarashvili, Ann; Nikolaishvili, Marina

2014-11-01

Significant differences in physical and behavioural/emotional/cognitive predictors and attributes, as well as of neurochemical inducers of behaviour, between dominant and subordinate animals are discussed. It is still unknown whether these factors are the causes of differences between dominants and subordinates, or vice versa whether the differences between dominants and subordinates are the origin of differences in these factors. The possibility is discussed that no differences exist among juveniles in the concentrations of neurochemical agents (known in the literature as determinants of dominance) between the brains of future dominants and future subordinates. We describe a study design that makes the assessment of the 'original' neurochemical profile of the brain possible. © 2014 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2014 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Potential Arctic tundra vegetation shifts in response to changing temperature, precipitation and permafrost thaw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Kolk, Henk-Jan; Heijmans, Monique M. P. D.; van Huissteden, Jacobus; Pullens, Jeroen W. M.; Berendse, Frank

2016-11-01

Over the past decades, vegetation and climate have changed significantly in the Arctic. Deciduous shrub cover is often assumed to expand in tundra landscapes, but more frequent abrupt permafrost thaw resulting in formation of thaw ponds could lead to vegetation shifts towards graminoid-dominated wetland. Which factors drive vegetation changes in the tundra ecosystem are still not sufficiently clear. In this study, the dynamic tundra vegetation model, NUCOM-tundra (NUtrient and COMpetition), was used to evaluate the consequences of climate change scenarios of warming and increasing precipitation for future tundra vegetation change. The model includes three plant functional types (moss, graminoids and shrubs), carbon and nitrogen cycling, water and permafrost dynamics and a simple thaw pond module. Climate scenario simulations were performed for 16 combinations of temperature and precipitation increases in five vegetation types representing a gradient from dry shrub-dominated to moist mixed and wet graminoid-dominated sites. Vegetation composition dynamics in currently mixed vegetation sites were dependent on both temperature and precipitation changes, with warming favouring shrub dominance and increased precipitation favouring graminoid abundance. Climate change simulations based on greenhouse gas emission scenarios in which temperature and precipitation increases were combined showed increases in biomass of both graminoids and shrubs, with graminoids increasing in abundance. The simulations suggest that shrub growth can be limited by very wet soil conditions and low nutrient supply, whereas graminoids have the advantage of being able to grow in a wide range of soil moisture conditions and have access to nutrients in deeper soil layers. Abrupt permafrost thaw initiating thaw pond formation led to complete domination of graminoids. However, due to increased drainage, shrubs could profit from such changes in adjacent areas. Both climate and thaw pond formation simulations suggest that a wetter tundra can be responsible for local shrub decline instead of shrub expansion.

The dyad palindromic glutathione transferase P enhancer binds multiple factors including AP1.

PubMed Central

Diccianni, M B; Imagawa, M; Muramatsu, M

1992-01-01

Glutathione Transferase P (GST-P) gene expression is dominantly regulated by an upstream enhancer (GPEI) consisting of a dyad of palindromically oriented imperfect TPA (12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate)-responsive elements (TRE). GPEI is active in AP1-lacking F9 cells as well in AP1-containing HeLa cells. Despite GPEI's similarity to a TRE, c-jun co-transfection has only a minimal effect on transactivation. Antisense c-jun and c-fos co-transfection experiments further demonstrate the lack of a role for AP1 in GPEI mediated trans-activation in F9 cells, although endogenously present AP1 can influence GPEI in HeLa cells. Co-transfection of delta fosB with c-jun, which forms an inactive c-Jun/delta FosB heterodimer that binds TRE sequences, inhibits GPEI-mediated transcription in AP1-lacking F9 cells as well as AP1-containing HeLa cells. These data suggest novel factor(s) other than AP1 are influencing GPEI. Binding studies reveal multiple nucleoproteins bind to GPEI. These factors are likely responsible for the high level of GPEI-mediated transcription observed in the absence of AP1 and during hepatocarcinogenesis. Images PMID:1408831

The dyad palindromic glutathione transferase P enhancer binds multiple factors including AP1.

PubMed

Diccianni, M B; Imagawa, M; Muramatsu, M

1992-10-11

Glutathione Transferase P (GST-P) gene expression is dominantly regulated by an upstream enhancer (GPEI) consisting of a dyad of palindromically oriented imperfect TPA (12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate)-responsive elements (TRE). GPEI is active in AP1-lacking F9 cells as well in AP1-containing HeLa cells. Despite GPEI's similarity to a TRE, c-jun co-transfection has only a minimal effect on transactivation. Antisense c-jun and c-fos co-transfection experiments further demonstrate the lack of a role for AP1 in GPEI mediated trans-activation in F9 cells, although endogenously present AP1 can influence GPEI in HeLa cells. Co-transfection of delta fosB with c-jun, which forms an inactive c-Jun/delta FosB heterodimer that binds TRE sequences, inhibits GPEI-mediated transcription in AP1-lacking F9 cells as well as AP1-containing HeLa cells. These data suggest novel factor(s) other than AP1 are influencing GPEI. Binding studies reveal multiple nucleoproteins bind to GPEI. These factors are likely responsible for the high level of GPEI-mediated transcription observed in the absence of AP1 and during hepatocarcinogenesis.

Design and validation of an aircraft seat comfort scale using item response theory.

PubMed

Menegon, Lizandra da Silva; Vincenzi, Silvana Ligia; de Andrade, Dalton Francisco; Barbetta, Pedro Alberto; Merino, Eugenio Andrés Díaz; Vink, Peter

2017-07-01

This article aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of a scale that measures aircraft seat comfort. Factor analysis was used to study data variances. Psychometric quality was checked by using Item Response Theory. The sample consisted of 1500 passengers who completed a questionnaire at a Brazilian airport. Full information factor analysis showed the presence of one dominant factor explaining 34% of data variance. The scale generated covered all levels of comfort data, from 'no comfort' to 'maximum comfort'. The results show that the passengers consider there is comfort, but this is very minimal when these passengers have to perform their desired activities. It tends to increase when aspects of the aircraft seating are improved and positive emotions are elicited. Comfort peaks when pleasure is experienced and passenger expectations are exceeded (maximum comfort). This outcome seems consistent with the literature. Further research is advised to compare the outcome of this questionnaire with other research methods, and to check if the questionnaire is sensitive enough and whether its conclusions are useful in practice. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Posterior tibial slope as a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament rupture in soccer players.

PubMed

Senişik, Seçkin; Ozgürbüz, Cengizhan; Ergün, Metin; Yüksel, Oğuz; Taskiran, Emin; Işlegen, Cetin; Ertat, Ahmet

2011-01-01

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the primary stabilizer of the knee. An impairment of any of the dynamic or static stability providing factors can lead to overload on the other factors and ultimately to deterioration of knee stability. This can result in anterior tibial translation and rupture of the ACL. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of tibial slope on ACL injury risk on soccer players. A total of 64 elite soccer players and 45 sedentary controls were included in this longitudinal and controlled study. The angle between the tibial mid-diaphysis line and the line between the anterior and posterior edges of the medial tibial plateau was measured as the tibial slope via lateral radiographs. Individual player exposure, and injuries sustained by the participants were prospectively recorded. Eleven ACL injuries were documented during the study period. Tibial slope was not different between soccer players and sedentary controls. Tibial slope in the dominant and non-dominant legs was greater for the injured players compared to the uninjured players. The difference reached a significant level only for the dominant legs (p < 0.001). While the tibial slopes of the dominant and non-dominant legs were not different on uninjured players (p > 0.05), a higher tibial slope was observed in dominant legs of injured players (p < 0.05). Higher tibial slope on injured soccer players compared to the uninjured ones supports the idea that the tibial slope degree might be an important risk factor for ACL injury. Key pointsDominant legs' tibial slopes of the injured players were significantly higher compared to the uninjured players (p < 0.001).Higher tibial slope was determined in dominant legs compared to the non-dominant side, for the injured players (p = 0.042). Different tibial slope measures in dominant and non-dominant legs might be the result of different loading and/or adaptation patterns in soccer.

Immunodominance and Functional Activities of Antibody Responses to Inactivated West Nile Virus and Recombinant Subunit Vaccines in Mice▿

PubMed Central

Zlatkovic, Juergen; Stiasny, Karin; Heinz, Franz X.

2011-01-01

Factors controlling the dominance of antibody responses to specific sites in viruses and/or protein antigens are ill defined but can be of great importance for the induction of potent immune responses to vaccines. West Nile virus and other related important human-pathogenic flaviviruses display the major target of neutralizing antibodies, the E protein, in an icosahedral shell at the virion surface. Potent neutralizing antibodies were shown to react with the upper surface of domain III (DIII) of this protein. Using the West Nile virus system, we conducted a study on the immunodominance and functional quality of E-specific antibody responses after immunization of mice with soluble protein E (sE) and isolated DIII in comparison to those after immunization with inactivated whole virions. With both virion and sE, the neutralizing response was dominated by DIII-specific antibodies, but the functionality of these antibodies was almost four times higher after virion immunization. Antibodies induced by the isolated DIII had an at least 15-fold lower specific neutralizing activity than those induced by the virion, and only 50% of these antibodies were able to bind to virus particles. Our results suggest that immunization with the tightly packed E in virions focuses the DIII antibody response to the externally exposed sites of this domain which are the primary targets for virus neutralization, different from sE and isolated DIII, which also display protein surfaces that are cryptic in the virion. Despite its low potency for priming, DIII was an excellent boosting antigen, suggesting novel vaccination strategies that strengthen and focus the antibody response to critical neutralizing sites in DIII. PMID:21147919

Biological and climate factors co-regulated spatial-temporal dynamics of vegetation autumn phenology on the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zu, Jiaxing; Zhang, Yangjian; Huang, Ke; Liu, Yaojie; Chen, Ning; Cong, Nan

2018-07-01

Climate change is receiving mounting attentions from various fields and phenology is a commonly used indicator signaling vegetation responses to climate change. Previous phenology studies have mostly focused on vegetation greening-up and its climatic driving factors, while autumn phenology has been barely touched upon. In this study, vegetation phenological metrics were extracted from MODIS NDVI data and their temporal and spatial patterns were explored on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results showed that the start of season (SOS) has significantly earlier trend in the first decade, while the end of season (EOS) has slightly (not significant) earlier trend. In the spatial dimension, similar patterns were also identified. The SOS plays a more significant role in regulating vegetation growing season length than EOS does. The EOS and driving effects from each factor exhibited spatially heterogeneous patterns. Biological factor is the dominant factor regulating the spatial pattern of EOS, while climate factors control its inter-annual variation.

Neural-activity mapping of memory-based dominance in the crow: neural networks integrating individual discrimination and social behaviour control.

PubMed

Nishizawa, K; Izawa, E-I; Watanabe, S

2011-12-01

Large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos), highly social birds, form stable dominance relationships based on the memory of win/loss outcomes of first encounters and on individual discrimination. This socio-cognitive behaviour predicts the existence of neural mechanisms for integration of social behaviour control and individual discrimination. This study aimed to elucidate the neural substrates of memory-based dominance in crows. First, the formation of dominance relationships was confirmed between males in a dyadic encounter paradigm. Next, we examined whether neural activities in 22 focal nuclei of pallium and subpallium were correlated with social behaviour and stimulus familiarity after exposure to dominant/subordinate familiar individuals and unfamiliar conspecifics. Neural activity was determined by measuring expression level of the immediate-early-gene (IEG) protein Zenk. Crows displayed aggressive and/or submissive behaviour to opponents less frequently but more discriminatively in subsequent encounters, suggesting stable dominance based on memory, including win/loss outcomes of the first encounters and individual discrimination. Neural correlates of aggressive and submissive behaviour were found in limbic subpallium including septum, bed nucleus of the striae terminalis (BST), and nucleus taeniae of amygdala (TnA), but also those to familiarity factor in BST and TnA. Contrastingly, correlates of social behaviour were little in pallium and those of familiarity with exposed individuals were identified in hippocampus, medial meso-/nidopallium, and ventro-caudal nidopallium. Given the anatomical connection and neural response patterns of the focal nuclei, neural networks connecting pallium and limbic subpallium via hippocampus could be involved in the integration of individual discrimination and social behaviour control in memory-based dominance in the crow. Copyright © 2011 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of hand dominance, gender, and experience with computer games on performance in virtual reality laparoscopy.

PubMed

Grantcharov, T P; Bardram, L; Funch-Jensen, P; Rosenberg, J

2003-07-01

The impact of gender and hand dominance on operative performance may be a subject of prejudice among surgeons, reportedly leading to discrimination and lack of professional promotion. However, very little objective evidence is available yet on the matter. This study was conducted to identify factors that influence surgeons' performance, as measured by a virtual reality computer simulator for laparoscopic surgery. This study included 25 surgical residents who had limited experience with laparoscopic surgery, having performed fewer than 10 laparoscopic cholecystectomies. The participants were registered according to their gender, hand dominance, and experience with computer games. All of the participants performed 10 repetitions of the six tasks on the Minimally Invasive Surgical Trainer-Virtual Reality (MIST-VR) within 1 month. Assessment of laparoscopic skills was based on three parameters measured by the simulator: time, errors, and economy of hand movement. Differences in performance existed between the compared groups. Men completed the tasks in less time than women ( p = 0.01, Mann-Whitney test), but there was no statistical difference between the genders in the number of errors and unnecessary movements. Individuals with right hand dominance performed fewer unnecessary movements ( p = 0.045, Mann-Whitney test), and there was a trend toward better results in terms of time and errors among the residence with right hand dominance than among those with left dominance. Users of computer games made fewer errors than nonusers ( p = 0.035, Mann-Whitney test). The study provides objective evidence of a difference in laparoscopic skills between surgeons differing gender, hand dominance, and computer experience. These results may influence the future development of training program for laparoscopic surgery. They also pose a challenge to individuals responsible for the selection and training of the residents.

Inverse gender gap in Germany: social dominance orientation among men and women.

PubMed

Küpper, Beate; Zick, Andreas

2011-02-01

Across cultures studies show that men score higher on social dominance orientation than women. This gender gap is considered invariant, but conflicting explanations are discussed: Some authors refer to evolutionary psychology and perceive the gender gap to be driven by sociobiological factors. Other authors argue that social roles or gender-stereotypical self-construals encouraged by intergroup comparisons are responsible for attitudinal gender difference. In Study 1 we analyzed sex differences in social dominance orientation in three German probability surveys (each n > 2300). Unexpectedly, the analyses yielded an inverse gender gap with higher values for social dominance orientation in women than in men. Interactions with age, education, political conservatism, and perceived inequity indicated that the inverse gender gap can be mainly attributed to older, conservative, (and less educated) respondents, and those who feel they get their deserved share. In Study 2 we replicated the well-known gender gap with men scoring higher than women in social dominance orientation among German students. Results are interpreted on the basis of biocultural interaction, which integrates the sociobiological, social role, and self-construal perspectives. Our unusual findings seem to reflect a struggle for status by members of low-status groups who consider group-based hierarchy the most promising option to improve their status. While younger women take advantage of a relational, feminine self-construal that leads to lower social dominance orientation in young women than in young men, older women are supposed to profit from an agentic self-construal that results in stronger social dominance orientation values. Specific characteristics of the culture in Germany seem to promote this strategy. Here, we discuss the female ideal of the national socialist period and the agentic female social role in the post-war era necessitated by the absence of men.

Impact of age and vaccination history on long-term serological responses after symptomatic B. pertussis infection, a high dimensional data analysis

PubMed Central

van Twillert, Inonge; Bonačić Marinović, Axel A.; Kuipers, Betsy; van Gaans-van den Brink, Jacqueline A. M.; Sanders, Elisabeth A. M.; van Els, Cécile A. C. M.

2017-01-01

Capturing the complexity and waning patterns of co-occurring immunoglobulin (Ig) responses after clinical B. pertussis infection may help understand how the human host gradually loses protection against whooping cough. We applied bi-exponential modelling to characterise and compare B. pertussis specific serological dynamics in a comprehensive database of IgG, IgG subclass and IgA responses to Ptx, FHA, Prn, Fim2/3 and OMV antigens of (ex-) symptomatic pertussis cases across all age groups. The decay model revealed that antigen type and age group were major factors determining differences in levels and kinetics of Ig (sub) classes. IgG-Ptx waned fastest in all age groups, while IgA to Ptx, FHA, Prn and Fim2/3 decreased fast in the younger but remained high in older (ex-) cases, indicating an age-effect. While IgG1 was the main IgG subclass in response to most antigens, IgG2 and IgG3 dominated the anti-OMV response. Moreover, vaccination history plays an important role in post-infection Ig responses, demonstrated by low responsiveness to Fim2/3 in unvaccinated elderly and by elevated IgG4 responses to multiple antigens only in children primed with acellular pertussis vaccine (aP). This work highlights the complexity of the immune response to this re-emerging pathogen and factors determining its Ig quantity and quality. PMID:28091579

Biodeterioration agents: Bacterial and fungal diversity dwelling in or on the pre-historic rock-paints of Kabra-pahad, India.

PubMed

Biswas, Jayant; Sharma, Kavita; Harris, K K; Rajput, Yogita

2013-09-01

In the last few decades, losses of our cultural heritage due to biodeteriorationare beinghighly recognized. From museum objects to rock monuments, the microbial biodeterioration agents are found to be the most destructive. Possibilities for proper preservative measure(s) are always more when it is only a monument, statue, museum article, or pre-historic art in any small subterranean cave. Nevertheless, preservation/protection of the footprints occupying a big area, lying scattered in a very negligible manner requires safeguard against several deterioration factors; right from various physical, chemical and biological agents which are indeed interrelated to each other. In the present study, some microbial communities possibly responsible for deteriorating the rocks of Kabra-pahad, where the most famous pre-historic rock paints of India prevail have been identified. The diversity of fungi and bacteria present in the stone crust of the infected areas has been studied by employing standard laboratory methods. The cultivated cultures confirmed total fifteen fungal species, among which Aspergillus group were the most dominant. Among bacteria, total 80 numbers of colonies were observed that dominated by two major groups; Micrococcus.spp and Staphylococcus spp. The pre-historic footprint in the form of rock paints in Kabra-pahad of district Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, India is lying in a very deteriorated manner. In the present study, we have tried to identify few major deteriorating factors that are responsible for such degradation of our existing pre-historic footprints.

Binding of serum response factor to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator CArG-like elements, as a new potential CFTR transcriptional regulation pathway

PubMed Central

René, Céline; Taulan, Magali; Iral, Florence; Doudement, Julien; L'Honoré, Aurore; Gerbon, Catherine; Demaille, Jacques; Claustres, Mireille; Romey, Marie-Catherine

2005-01-01

CFTR expression is tightly controlled by a complex network of ubiquitous and tissue-specific cis-elements and trans-factors. To better understand mechanisms that regulate transcription of CFTR, we examined transcription factors that specifically bind a CFTR CArG-like motif we have previously shown to modulate CFTR expression. Gel mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses demonstrated the CFTR CArG-like motif binds serum response factor both in vitro and in vivo. Transient co-transfections with various SRF expression vector, including dominant-negative forms and small interfering RNA, demonstrated that SRF significantly increases CFTR transcriptional activity in bronchial epithelial cells. Mutagenesis studies suggested that in addition to SRF other co-factors, such as Yin Yang 1 (YY1) previously shown to bind the CFTR promoter, are potentially involved in the CFTR regulation. Here, we show that functional interplay between SRF and YY1 might provide interesting perspectives to further characterize the underlying molecular mechanism of the basal CFTR transcriptional activity. Furthermore, the identification of multiple CArG binding sites in highly conserved CFTR untranslated regions, which form specific SRF complexes, provides direct evidence for a considerable role of SRF in the CFTR transcriptional regulation into specialized epithelial lung cells. PMID:16170155

Phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll-a are significant factors controlling ciliate communities in summer in the northern Beibu Gulf, South China Sea.

PubMed

Wang, Yibo; Zhang, Wenjing; Lin, Yuanshao; Cao, Wenqing; Zheng, Lianming; Yang, Jun

2014-01-01

Ciliates (protozoa) are ubiquitous components of plankton community and play important roles in aquatic ecosystems in regards of their abundance, biomass, diversity and energy turnover. Based on the stratified samples collected from the northern Beibu Gulf in August 2011, species composition, abundance, biomass, diversity and spatial pattern of planktonic ciliates were studied. Furthermore the main environmental factors controlling ciliate communities were determined. A total of 101 species belonging to 44 genera and 7 orders (i.e., Oligotrichida, Haptorida, Euplotida, Sessilida, Pleurostomatida, Scuticociliatida and Tintinnida) were identified. The variation of ciliate communities was significant at horizontal level, but that was not at vertical level. Based on cluster analysis, ciliate communities were divided into three main groups. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that Group A, existing in the waters with higher concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen, was dominated by Tintinnidium primitivum. Group B in the waters with lower temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration, was dominated by Leegaardiella ovalis. Group C, existing in the waters with higher temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration, was dominated by large Strombidium spp. and Mesodinium rubrum. Combining multiple analytic methods, our results strongly supported that phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll-a were the most significant factors affecting the ciliate communities in the northern Beibu Gulf in summer. Concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen primarily influenced ciliate biomass, implying a potential impact of eutrophication on ciliate growth. The correlation with chlorophyll-a concentration, on one hand indicate the response of ciliates to the food availability, and on the other hand, the ciliates containing chloroplasts or endosymbionts may contribute greatly to the chlorophyll-a.

Assessing the influence of multiple stressors on stream diatom metrics in the upper Midwest, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Munn, Mark D.; Waite, Ian R.; Konrad, Christopher P.

2018-01-01

Water resource managers face increasing challenges in identifying what physical and chemical stressors are responsible for the alteration of biological conditions in streams. The objective of this study was to assess the comparative influence of multiple stressors on benthic diatoms at 98 sites that spanned a range of stressors in an agriculturally dominated region in the upper Midwest, USA. The primary stressors of interest included: nutrients, herbicides and fungicides, sediment, and streamflow; although the influence of physical habitat was incorporated in the assessment. Boosted Regression Tree was used to examine both the sensitivity of various diatom metrics and the relative importance of the primary stressors. Percent Sensitive Taxa, percent Highly Motile Taxa, and percent High Phosphorus Taxa had the strongest response to stressors. Habitat and total phosphorous were the most common discriminators of diatom metrics, with herbicides as secondary factors. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) model was used to examine conditional relations among stressors and indicated that fine-grain streams had a lower percentage of Sensitive Taxa than coarse-grain streams, with Sensitive Taxa decreasing further with increased water temperature (>30 °C) and triazine concentrations (>1500 ng/L). In contrast, streams dominated by coarse-grain substrate contained a higher percentage of Sensitive Taxa, with relative abundance increasing with lower water temperatures (<29 °C) and shallower water depth (<0.3 m). Quantile regression indicated that maximum water temperature appears to be a major limiting factor in Midwest streams; whereas both total phosphorus and percent fines showed a slight subsidy-stress response. While using benthic algae for assessing stream quality can be challenging, field-based studies can elucidate stressor effects and interactions when the response variables are appropriate, sufficient stressor resolution is achieved, and the number and type of sites represent a gradient of stressor conditions and at least a quasi-factorial design.

Metabolome and fecal microbiota in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight: a Big Mac challenge.

PubMed

Bondia-Pons, Isabel; Maukonen, Johanna; Mattila, Ismo; Rissanen, Aila; Saarela, Maria; Kaprio, Jaakko; Hakkarainen, Antti; Lundbom, Jesper; Lundbom, Nina; Hyötyläinen, Tuulia; Pietiläinen, Kirsi H; Orešič, Matej

2014-09-01

Postprandial responses to food are complex, involving both genetic and environmental factors. We studied postprandial responses to a Big Mac meal challenge in monozygotic co-twins highly discordant for body weight. This unique design allows assessment of the contribution of obesity, independent of genetic liability. Comprehensive metabolic profiling using 3 analytical platforms was applied to fasting and postprandial serum samples from 16 healthy monozygotic twin pairs discordant for weight (body mass index difference >3 kg/m(2)). Nine concordant monozygotic pairs were examined as control pairs. Fecal samples were analyzed to assess diversity of the major bacterial groups by using 5 different validated bacterial group specific denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis methods. No differences in fecal bacterial diversity were detected when comparing co-twins discordant for weight (ANOVA, P<0.05). We found that within-pair similarity is a dominant factor in the metabolic postprandial response, independent of acquired obesity. Branched chain amino acids were increased in heavier as compared with leaner co-twins in the fasting state, but their levels converged postprandially (paired t tests, FDR q<0.05). We also found that specific bacterial groups were associated with postprandial changes of specific metabolites. Our findings underline important roles of genetic and early life factors in the regulation of postprandial metabolite levels. © FASEB.

Microbial diversity and community structure across environmental gradients in an seawater intruded shallow confined aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Hu, B.

2017-12-01

Seawater intrusion has been an important topic in coastal hydrogeology and making previously freshwater ecosystems saline. Plant and animal responses to variation in the freshwater-saline interface have been well studied in the coastal zone. However, little is known about the biogeography or stability of microbial community response to seawater intrusion. The objective of this study is to characterize and compare bacterial and archaea community diversity and composition in 15 groundwater samples with varied salinity using high-throughput-sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA genes. The dominant taxonomic group identified in all samples are proteobacteria for bacteria and crenarchaeota for archaea. The other main bacterial groups are varied in samples with different salinities including bacteroidetes, firmicutes and several unidentified taxonomys. A combination of environmental factors seems to influence the microbial community composition where organic carbon is a primary factor shaping microbial communities. Correlation analysis between the relative abundance of bacterial taxa and geochemical parameters uggested that rare taxa may contribute to biogeochemical processes taking place at the mixing zone of freshewater and saltwater. Our results help to understand how the physical and chemical factors shape the microbial community composition and set a baseline for upcoming studies to evaluate the response of this ecosystem to future changes and the efficacy of new remediation efforts.

Effects of experimental nitrogen deposition on peatland carbon pools and fluxes: a modelling analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Y.; Blodau, C.; Moore, T. R.; Bubier, J.; Juutinen, S.; Larmola, T.

2015-01-01

Nitrogen (N) pollution of peatlands alters their carbon (C) balances, yet long-term effects and controls are poorly understood. We applied the model PEATBOG to explore impacts of long-term nitrogen (N) fertilization on C cycling in an ombrotrophic bog. Simulations of summer gross ecosystem production (GEP), ecosystem respiration (ER) and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) were evaluated against 8 years of observations and extrapolated for 80 years to identify potential effects of N fertilization and factors influencing model behaviour. The model successfully simulated moss decline and raised GEP, ER and NEE on fertilized plots. GEP was systematically overestimated in the model compared to the field data due to factors that can be related to differences in vegetation distribution (e.g. shrubs vs. graminoid vegetation) and to high tolerance of vascular plants to N deposition in the model. Model performance regarding the 8-year response of GEP and NEE to N input was improved by introducing an N content threshold shifting the response of photosynthetic capacity (GEPmax) to N content in shrubs and graminoids from positive to negative at high N contents. Such changes also eliminated the competitive advantages of vascular species and led to resilience of mosses in the long-term. Regardless of the large changes of C fluxes over the short-term, the simulated GEP, ER and NEE after 80 years depended on whether a graminoid- or shrub-dominated system evolved. When the peatland remained shrub-Sphagnum-dominated, it shifted to a C source after only 10 years of fertilization at 6.4 g N m-2 yr-1, whereas this was not the case when it became graminoid-dominated. The modelling results thus highlight the importance of ecosystem adaptation and reaction of plant functional types to N deposition, when predicting the future C balance of N-polluted cool temperate bogs.

Sibling rivalry: training effects, emergence of dominance and incomplete control.

PubMed

Benhaiem, Sarah; Hofer, Heribert; Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie; Brunner, Edgar; East, Marion L

2012-09-22

Within-brood or -litter dominance provides fitness-related benefits if dominant siblings selfishly skew access to food provided by parents in their favour. Models of facultative siblicide assume that dominants exert complete control over their subordinate sibling's access to food and that control is maintained, irrespective of the subordinate's hunger level. By contrast, a recent functional hypothesis suggests that subordinates should contest access to food when the cost of not doing so is high. Here, we show that within spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) twin litters, dominants most effectively skew access to maternal milk in their favour when their aggression prompts a highly submissive response. When hungry, subordinates were less submissive in response to aggression, thereby decreasing lost suckling time and increasing suckling time lost by dominants. In a species where adult females socially dominate adult males, juvenile females were more often dominant than males in mixed-sex litters, and subordinate sisters used more effective counter-tactics against dominant brothers than subordinate brothers against dominant sisters. Our results provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence in a mammal that dominant offspring in twin litters do not exert complete control over their sibling's access to resources (milk), and that sibling dominance relationships are influenced by sibling sex and training effects.

Sibling rivalry: training effects, emergence of dominance and incomplete control

PubMed Central

Benhaiem, Sarah; Hofer, Heribert; Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie; Brunner, Edgar; East, Marion L.

2012-01-01

Within-brood or -litter dominance provides fitness-related benefits if dominant siblings selfishly skew access to food provided by parents in their favour. Models of facultative siblicide assume that dominants exert complete control over their subordinate sibling's access to food and that control is maintained, irrespective of the subordinate's hunger level. By contrast, a recent functional hypothesis suggests that subordinates should contest access to food when the cost of not doing so is high. Here, we show that within spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) twin litters, dominants most effectively skew access to maternal milk in their favour when their aggression prompts a highly submissive response. When hungry, subordinates were less submissive in response to aggression, thereby decreasing lost suckling time and increasing suckling time lost by dominants. In a species where adult females socially dominate adult males, juvenile females were more often dominant than males in mixed-sex litters, and subordinate sisters used more effective counter-tactics against dominant brothers than subordinate brothers against dominant sisters. Our results provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence in a mammal that dominant offspring in twin litters do not exert complete control over their sibling's access to resources (milk), and that sibling dominance relationships are influenced by sibling sex and training effects. PMID:22719032

Thioredoxin reductase regulates AP-1 activity as well as thioredoxin nuclear localization via active cysteines in response to ionizing radiation.

PubMed

Karimpour, Shervin; Lou, Junyang; Lin, Lilie L; Rene, Luis M; Lagunas, Lucio; Ma, Xinrong; Karra, Sreenivasu; Bradbury, C Matthew; Markovina, Stephanie; Goswami, Prabhat C; Spitz, Douglas R; Hirota, Kiichi; Kalvakolanu, Dhananjaya V; Yodoi, Junji; Gius, David

2002-09-12

A recently identified class of signaling factors uses critical cysteine motif(s) that act as redox-sensitive 'sulfhydryl switches' to reversibly modulate specific signal transduction cascades regulating downstream proteins with similar redox-sensitive sites. For example, signaling factors such as redox factor-1 (Ref-1) and transcription factors such as the AP-1 complex both contain redox-sensitive cysteine motifs that regulate activity in response to oxidative stress. The mammalian thioredoxin reductase-1 (TR) is an oxidoreductase selenocysteine-containing flavoprotein that also appears to regulate multiple downstream intracellular redox-sensitive proteins. Since ionizing radiation (IR) induces oxidative stress as well as increases AP-1 DNA-binding activity via the activation of Ref-1, the potential roles of TR and thioredoxin (TRX) in the regulation of AP-1 activity in response to IR were investigated. Permanently transfected cell lines that overexpress wild type TR demonstrated constitutive increases in AP-1 DNA-binding activity as well as AP-1-dependent reporter gene expression, relative to vector control cells. In contrast, permanently transfected cell lines expressing a TR gene with the active site cysteine motif deleted were unable to induce AP-1 activity or reporter gene expression in response to IR. Transient genetic overexpression of either the TR wild type or dominant-negative genes demonstrated similar results using a transient assay system. One mechanism through which TR regulates AP-1 activity appears to involve TRX sub-cellular localization, with no change in the total TRX content of the cell. These results identify a novel function of the TR enzyme as a signaling factor in the regulation of AP-1 activity via a cysteine motif located in the protein.

On Studying Common Factor Dominance and Approximate Unidimensionality in Multicomponent Measuring Instruments with Discrete Items

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raykov, Tenko; Marcoulides, George A.

2018-01-01

This article outlines a procedure for examining the degree to which a common factor may be dominating additional factors in a multicomponent measuring instrument consisting of binary items. The procedure rests on an application of the latent variable modeling methodology and accounts for the discrete nature of the manifest indicators. The method…

Asymmetry of magnetic motor evoked potentials recorded in calf muscles of the dominant and non-dominant lower extremity.

PubMed

Olex-Zarychta, Dorota; Koprowski, Robert; Sobota, Grzegorz; Wróbel, Zygmunt

2009-08-07

The aim of the study was to determine the applicability of magnetic stimulation and magnetic motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in motor asymmetry studies by obtaining quantitative and qualitative measures of efferent activity during low intensity magnetic stimulation of the dominant and non-dominant lower extremities. Magnetic stimulation of the tibial nerve in the popliteal fossa was performed in 10 healthy male right-handed and right-footed young adults. Responses were recorded from the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscles of the right and left lower extremities. Response characteristics (duration, onset latency, amplitude) were analyzed in relation to the functional dominance of the limbs and in relation to the direction of the current in the magnetic coil by use of the Wilcoxon pair sequence test. The CCW direction of coil current was related to reduced amplitudes of recorded MEPs. Greater amplitudes of evoked potentials were recorded in the non-dominant extremity, both in the CW and CCW coil current directions, with the statistical significance of this effect (p=0.005). No differences in duration of response were found in the CW current direction, while in CCW the time of the left-side response was prolonged (p=0.01). In the non-dominant extremity longer onset latencies were recorded in both current directions, but only for the CW direction the side asymmetries showed a statistical significance of p=0.005. In the dominant extremity the stimulation correlated with stronger paresthesias, especially using the CCW direction of coil current. The results indicate that low intensity magnetic stimulation may be useful in quantitative and qualitative research into the motor asymmetry.

Intracortical inhibition and facilitation with unilateral dominant, unilateral nondominant and bilateral movement tasks in left- and right-handed adults.

PubMed

McCombe Waller, Sandy; Forrester, Larry; Villagra, Federico; Whitall, Jill

2008-06-15

To investigate intracortical inhibition and facilitation in response to unilateral dominant, nondominant and bilateral biceps activation and short-term upper extremity training in right- and left-handed adults. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to measure intracortical excitability in motor dominant and nondominant cortices of 26 nondisabled adults. Neural facilitation and inhibition were measured in each hemisphere during unilateral dominant, nondominant and bilateral arm activation and after training in each condition. No differences were seen between right- and left-handed subjects. Intracortical facilitation and decreased inhibition were seen in each hemisphere with unilateral activation/training of contralateral muscles and bilateral muscle activation/training. Persistent intracortical inhibition was seen in each hemisphere with ipsilateral muscle activation/training. Inhibition was greater in the nondominant hemisphere during dominant hemisphere activation (dominant arm contraction). Strongly dominant individuals show no difference in intracortical responses given handedness. Intracortical activity with unilateral and bilateral arm activation and short-term training differs based on hemispheric dominance, with the motor dominant hemisphere exerting a larger inhibitory influence over the nondominant hemisphere. Bilateral activation and training have a disinhibitory effect in both dominant and nondominant hemispheres.

Global and regional trends in particulate air pollution and attributable health burden over the past 50 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butt, E. W.; Turnock, S. T.; Rigby, R.; Reddington, C. L.; Yoshioka, M.; Johnson, J. S.; Regayre, L. A.; Pringle, K. J.; Mann, G. W.; Spracklen, D. V.

2017-10-01

Long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM2.5, mass of particles with an aerodynamic dry diameter of < 2.5 μm) is a major risk factor to the global burden of disease. Previous studies have focussed on present day or future health burdens attributed to ambient PM2.5. Few studies have estimated changes in PM2.5 and attributable health burdens over the last few decades, a period where air quality has changed rapidly. Here we used the HadGEM3-UKCA coupled chemistry-climate model, integrated exposure-response relationships, demographic and background disease data to provide the first estimate of the changes in global and regional ambient PM2.5 concentrations and attributable health burdens over the period 1960 to 2009. Over this period, global mean population-weighted PM2.5 concentrations increased by 38%, dominated by increases in China and India. Global attributable deaths increased by 89% to 124% over the period 1960 to 2009, dominated by large increases in China and India. Population growth and ageing contributed mostly to the increases in attributable deaths in China and India, highlighting the importance of demographic trends. In contrast, decreasing PM2.5 concentrations and background disease dominated the reduction in attributable health burden in Europe and the United States. Our results shed light on how future projected trends in demographics and uncertainty in the exposure-response relationship may provide challenges for future air quality policy in Asia.

Predicting the Responses of Soil Nitrite-Oxidizers to Multi-Factorial Global Change: A Trait-Based Approach

DOE PAGES

Le Roux, Xavier; Bouskill, Nicholas J.; Niboyet, Audrey; ...

2016-05-17

Soil microbial diversity is huge and a few grams of soil contain more bacterial taxa than there are bird species on Earth. This high diversity often makes predicting the responses of soil bacteria to environmental change intractable and restricts our capacity to predict the responses of soil functions to global change. Here, using a long-term field experiment in a California grassland, we studied the main and interactive effects of three global change factors (increased atmospheric CO 2 concentration, precipitation and nitrogen addition, and all their factorial combinations, based on global change scenarios for central California) on the potential activity, abundancemore » and dominant taxa of soil nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Using a trait-based model, we then tested whether categorizing NOB into a few functional groups unified by physiological traits enables understanding and predicting how soil NOB respond to global environmental change. Contrasted responses to global change treatments were observed between three main NOB functional types. In particular, putatively mixotrophic Nitrobacter, rare under most treatments, became dominant under the 'High CO 2 +Nitrogen+Precipitation' treatment. The mechanistic trait-based model, which simulated ecological niches of NOB types consistent with previous ecophysiological reports, helped predicting the observed effects of global change on NOB and elucidating the underlying biotic and abiotic controls. Our results are a starting point for representing the overwhelming diversity of soil bacteria by a few functional types that can be incorporated into models of terrestrial ecosystems and biogeochemical processes.« less

Predicting the Responses of Soil Nitrite-Oxidizers to Multi-Factorial Global Change: A Trait-Based Approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Le Roux, Xavier; Bouskill, Nicholas J.; Niboyet, Audrey

Soil microbial diversity is huge and a few grams of soil contain more bacterial taxa than there are bird species on Earth. This high diversity often makes predicting the responses of soil bacteria to environmental change intractable and restricts our capacity to predict the responses of soil functions to global change. Here, using a long-term field experiment in a California grassland, we studied the main and interactive effects of three global change factors (increased atmospheric CO 2 concentration, precipitation and nitrogen addition, and all their factorial combinations, based on global change scenarios for central California) on the potential activity, abundancemore » and dominant taxa of soil nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Using a trait-based model, we then tested whether categorizing NOB into a few functional groups unified by physiological traits enables understanding and predicting how soil NOB respond to global environmental change. Contrasted responses to global change treatments were observed between three main NOB functional types. In particular, putatively mixotrophic Nitrobacter, rare under most treatments, became dominant under the 'High CO 2 +Nitrogen+Precipitation' treatment. The mechanistic trait-based model, which simulated ecological niches of NOB types consistent with previous ecophysiological reports, helped predicting the observed effects of global change on NOB and elucidating the underlying biotic and abiotic controls. Our results are a starting point for representing the overwhelming diversity of soil bacteria by a few functional types that can be incorporated into models of terrestrial ecosystems and biogeochemical processes.« less

The transcriptomic responses of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, to environmental conditions.

PubMed

Chapman, Robert W; Mancia, Annalaura; Beal, Marion; Veloso, Artur; Rathburn, Charles; Blair, Anne; Holland, A F; Warr, G W; Didinato, Guy; Sokolova, Inna M; Wirth, Edward F; Duffy, Edward; Sanger, Denise

2011-04-01

Understanding the mechanisms by which organisms adapt to environmental conditions is a fundamental question for ecology and evolution. In this study, we evaluate changes in gene expression of a marine mollusc, the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, associated with the physico-chemical conditions and the levels of metals and other contaminants in their environment. The results indicate that transcript signatures can effectively disentangle the complex interactive gene expression responses to the environment and are also capable of disentangling the complex dynamic effects of environmental factors on gene expression. In this context, the mapping of environment to gene and gene to environment is reciprocal and mutually reinforcing. In general, the response of transcripts to the environment is driven by major factors known to affect oyster physiology such as temperature, pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, with pollutant levels playing a relatively small role, at least within the range of concentrations found in the studied oyster habitats. Further, the two environmental factors that dominate these effects (temperature and pH) interact in a dynamic and nonlinear fashion to impact gene expression. Transcriptomic data obtained in our study provide insights into the mechanisms of physiological responses to temperature and pH in oysters that are consistent with the known effects of these factors on physiological functions of ectotherms and indicate important linkages between transcriptomics and physiological outcomes. Should these linkages hold in further studies and in other organisms, they may provide a novel integrated approach for assessing the impacts of climate change, ocean acidification and anthropogenic contaminants on aquatic organisms via relatively inexpensive microarray platforms. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Alien plant dynamics following fire in mediterranean-climate California shrublands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keeley, J.E.; Baer-Keeley, M.; Fotheringham, C.J.

2005-01-01

Over 75 species of alien plants were recorded during the first five years after fire in southern California shrublands, most of which were European annuals. Both cover and richness of aliens varied between years and plant association. Alien cover was lowest in the first postfire year in all plant associations and remained low during succession in chaparral but increased in sage scrub. Alien cover and richness were significantly correlated with year (time since disturbance) and with precipitation in both coastal and interior sage scrub associations. Hypothesized factors determining alien dominance were tested with structural equation modeling. Models that included nitrogen deposition and distance from the coast were not significant, but with those variables removed we obtained a significant model that gave an R2 = 0.60 for the response variable of fifth year alien dominance. Factors directly affecting alien dominance were (1) woody canopy closure and (2) alien seed banks. Significant indirect effects were (3) fire intensity, (4) fire history, (5) prefire stand structure, (6) aridity, and (7) community type. According to this model the most critical factor influencing aliens is the rapid return of the shrub and subshrub canopy. Thus, in these communities a single functional type (woody plants) appears to the most critical element controlling alien invasion and persistence. Fire history is an important indirect factor because it affects both prefire stand structure and postfire alien seed banks. Despite being fire-prone ecosystems, these shrublands are not adapted to fire per se, but rather to a particular fire regime. Alterations in the fire regime produce a very different selective environment, and high fire frequency changes the selective regime to favor aliens. This study does not support the widely held belief that prescription burning is a viable management practice for controlling alien species on semiarid landscapes. ?? 2005 by the Ecological Society of America.

Stable isotopes and Digital Elevation Models to study nutrient inputs in high-Arctic lakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calizza, Edoardo; Rossi, David; Costantini, Maria Letizia; Careddu, Giulio; Rossi, Loreto

2016-04-01

Ice cover, run-off from the watershed, aquatic and terrestrial primary productivity, guano deposition from birds are key factors controlling nutrient and organic matter inputs in high-Arctic lakes. All these factors are expected to be significantly affected by climate change. Quantifying these controls is a key baseline step to understand what combination of factors subtends the biological productivity in Arctic lakes and will drive their ecological response to environmental change. Basing on Digital Elevation Models, drainage maps, and C and N elemental content and stable isotope analysis in sediments, aquatic vegetation and a dominant macroinvertebrate species (Lepidurus arcticus Pallas 1973) belonging to Tvillingvatnet, Storvatnet and Kolhamna, three lakes located in North Spitsbergen (Svalbard), we propose an integrated approach for the analysis of (i) nutrient and organic matter inputs in lakes; (ii) the role of catchment hydro-geomorphology in determining inter-lake differences in the isotopic composition of sediments; (iii) effects of diverse nutrient inputs on the isotopic niche of Lepidurus arcticus. Given its high run-off and large catchment, organic deposits in Tvillingvatnet where dominated by terrestrial inputs, whereas inputs were mainly of aquatic origin in Storvatnet, a lowland lake with low potential run-off. In Kolhamna, organic deposits seem to be dominated by inputs from birds, which actually colonise the area. Isotopic signatures were similar between samples within each lake, representing precise tracers for studies on the effect of climate change on biogeochemical cycles in lakes. The isotopic niche of L. aricticus reflected differences in sediments between lakes, suggesting a bottom-up effect of hydro-geomorphology characterizing each lake on nutrients assimilated by this species. The presented approach proven to be an effective research pathway for the identification of factors subtending to nutrient and organic matter inputs and transfer within each water body, as well as for the modelling of expected changes in nutrient content associated to changes in isotopic composition of sediments. Key words: nitrogen; carbon, sediment; biogeochemical cycle; climate change; hydro-ecology; isotopic niche; Svalbard

Perceived differences in social status between speaker and listener affect the speaker's vocal characteristics

PubMed Central

Mileva, Viktoria R.; Little, Anthony C.; Roberts, S. Craig

2017-01-01

Non-verbal behaviours, including voice characteristics during speech, are an important way to communicate social status. Research suggests that individuals can obtain high social status through dominance (using force and intimidation) or through prestige (by being knowledgeable and skilful). However, little is known regarding differences in the vocal behaviour of men and women in response to dominant and prestigious individuals. Here, we tested within-subject differences in vocal parameters of interviewees during simulated job interviews with dominant, prestigious, and neutral employers (targets), while responding to questions which were classified as introductory, personal, and interpersonal. We found that vocal modulations were apparent between responses to the neutral and high-status targets, with participants, especially those who perceived themselves as low in dominance, increasing fundamental frequency (F0) in response to the dominant and prestigious targets relative to the neutral target. Self-perceived prestige, however, was less related to contextual vocal modulations than self-perceived dominance. Finally, we found that differences in the context of the interview questions participants were asked to respond to (introductory, personal, interpersonal), also affected their vocal parameters, being more prominent in responses to personal and interpersonal questions. Overall, our results suggest that people adjust their vocal parameters according to the perceived social status of the listener as well as their own self-perceived social status. PMID:28614413

Deconfounding the effects of local element spatial heterogeneity and sparsity on processing dominance.

PubMed

Montoro, Pedro R; Luna, Dolores

2009-10-01

Previous studies on the processing of hierarchical patterns (Luna & Montoro, 2008) have shown that altering the spatial relationships between the local elements affected processing dominance by decreasing global advantage. In the present article, the authors examine whether heterogeneity or a sparse distribution of the local elements was the responsible factor for this effect. In Experiments 1 and 2, the distance between the local elements was increased in a similar way, but between-element distance was homogeneous in Experiment 1 and heterogeneous in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, local elements' size was varied by presenting global patterns composed of similar large or small local elements and of different large and small sizes. The results of the present research showed that, instead of element sparsity, spatial heterogeneity that could change the appearance of the global form as well as the salience of the local elements was the main determiner of impairing global processing.

Activations in gray and white matter are modulated by uni-manual responses during within and inter-hemispheric transfer: effects of response hand and right-handedness.

PubMed

Diwadkar, Vaibhav A; Bellani, Marcella; Chowdury, Asadur; Savazzi, Silvia; Perlini, Cinzia; Marinelli, Veronica; Zoccatelli, Giada; Alessandrini, Franco; Ciceri, Elisa; Rambaldelli, Gianluca; Ruggieri, Mirella; Carlo Altamura, A; Marzi, Carlo A; Brambilla, Paolo

2017-08-14

Because the visual cortices are contra-laterally organized, inter-hemispheric transfer tasks have been used to behaviorally probe how information briefly presented to one hemisphere of the visual cortex is integrated with responses resulting from the ipsi- or contra-lateral motor cortex. By forcing rapid information exchange across diverse regions, these tasks robustly activate not only gray matter regions, but also white matter tracts. It is likely that the response hand itself (dominant or non-dominant) modulates gray and white matter activations during within and inter-hemispheric transfer. Yet the role of uni-manual responses and/or right hand dominance in modulating brain activations during such basic tasks is unclear. Here we investigated how uni-manual responses with either hand modulated activations during a basic visuo-motor task (the established Poffenberger paradigm) alternating between inter- and within-hemispheric transfer conditions. In a large sample of strongly right-handed adults (n = 49), we used a factorial combination of transfer condition [Inter vs. Within] and response hand [Dominant(Right) vs. Non-Dominant (Left)] to discover fMRI-based activations in gray matter, and in narrowly defined white matter tracts. These tracts were identified using a priori probabilistic white matter atlases. Uni-manual responses with the right hand strongly modulated activations in gray matter, and notably in white matter. Furthermore, when responding with the left hand, activations during inter-hemispheric transfer were strongly predicted by the degree of right-hand dominance, with increased right-handedness predicting decreased fMRI activation. Finally, increasing age within the middle-aged sample was associated with a decrease in activations. These results provide novel evidence of complex relationships between uni-manual responses in right-handed subjects, and activations during within- and inter-hemispheric transfer suggest that the organization of the motor system exerts sophisticated functional effects. Moreover, our evidence of activation in white matter tracts is consistent with prior studies, confirming fMRI-detectable white matter activations which are systematically modulated by experimental condition.

Preliminary Study of the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET).

PubMed

Ruble, Lisa A; Toland, Michael D; Birdwhistell, Jessica L; McGrew, John H; Usher, Ellen L

2013-09-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a new measure, the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET) for its dimensionality, internal consistency, and construct validity derived in a sample of special education teachers ( N = 44) of students with autism. Results indicate that all items reflect one dominant factor, teachers' responses to items were internally consistent within the sample, and compared to a 100-point scale, a 6-point response scale is adequate. ASSET scores were found to be negatively correlated with scores on two subscale measures of teacher stress (i.e., self-doubt/need for support and disruption of the teaching process) but uncorrelated with teacher burnout scores. The ASSET is a promising tool that requires replication with larger samples.

Probing the Ultimate Limits of Plasmonic Enhancement

PubMed Central

Ciracì, C.; Hill, R. T.; Mock, J. J.; Urzhumov, Y.; Fernández-Domínguez, A. I.; Maier, S. A.; Pendry, J. B.; Chilkoti, A.; Smith, D. R.

2013-01-01

Metals support surface plasmons at optical wavelengths and have the ability to localize light to sub-wavelength regions. The field enhancements that occur in these regions set the ultimate limitations on a wide range of nonlinear and quantum optical phenomena. Here we show that the dominant limiting factor is not the resistive loss of the metal, but the intrinsic nonlocality of its dielectric response. A semi-classical model of the electronic response of a metal places strict bounds on the ultimate field enhancement. We demonstrate the accuracy of this model by studying the optical scattering from gold nanoparticles spaced a few angstroms from a gold film. The bounds derived from the models and experiments impose limitations on all nanophotonic systems. PMID:22936772

Tunable dynamic response of magnetic gels: Impact of structural properties and magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarama, Mitsusuke; Cremer, Peet; Borin, Dmitry Y.; Odenbach, Stefan; Löwen, Hartmut; Menzel, Andreas M.

2014-10-01

Ferrogels and magnetic elastomers feature mechanical properties that can be reversibly tuned from outside through magnetic fields. Here we concentrate on the question of how their dynamic response can be adjusted. The influence of three factors on the dynamic behavior is demonstrated using appropriate minimal models: first, the orientational memory imprinted into one class of the materials during their synthesis; second, the structural arrangement of the magnetic particles in the materials; and third, the strength of an external magnetic field. To illustrate the latter point, structural data are extracted from a real experimental sample and analyzed. Understanding how internal structural properties and external influences impact the dominant dynamical properties helps to design materials that optimize the requested behavior.

F-22 cockpit avionics: a systems integration success story

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greeley, Kevin W.; Schwartz, Richard J.

2000-08-01

The F-22 'Raptor' is being developed and manufactured as multi-role fighter aircraft for the 'air dominance' mission. The F-22 team is led by Lockheed Martin, with Boeing and Pratt & Whitney as partners. The F-22 weapons system combines supersonic cruise, maneuverability, stealth, and an extensive suite of tightly integrated sensors to achieve a high level of lethality and invulnerability against current and projected threat systems such as fighter aircraft and surface to air missiles. Despite high automation of the complex systems installed in the F-22, the pilot is heavily tasked for air battle management. Response timelines are compressed due to supersonic cruise velocities. These factors challenge the Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI) design. This paper discusses the team's response to these challenges, describing the physical cockpit layout, its controls and displays, and the hardware architecture, software tools, and development process used to mature the F-22 'Raptor' weapons system, including a review of Human Factors design considerations for F-22 displays.

Brain Hemisphere Dominance: Building the Whole-Brain Singer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Amanda R.

2012-01-01

The concept of brain hemisphere dominance serves as the basis for many educational learning theories. The dominant brain hemisphere guides the learning process, but both hemispheres are necessary for true learning to take place. This treatise outlines and analyzes the dominance factor, a learning theory developed by Dr. Carla Hannaford, which…

Effects of two dominance manipulations on the stress response: Cognitive and embodied influences.

PubMed

Deuter, Christian Eric; Schächinger, Hartmut; Best, Daniel; Neumann, Roland

2016-09-01

In response to stress, physiological and mental resources are allocated towards those systems that are needed for rapid responding in terms of fight or flight. On the other hand, long term regenerative processes such as growth, digestion and reproduction are attenuated. Levels of the sex steroid testosterone are reduced in participants that suffer from chronic stress. However, beyond its role for reproductive functions, testosterone plays an important role in the regulation of social status and dominance, testosterone levels increase during competition or when the social status is challenged. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a laboratory stressor with a substantial social-evaluative component, can provoke an increase in salivary testosterone levels. Still, so far the reported findings regarding acute stress effects on testosterone are equivocal, possibly due to moderating effects. In this study we experimentally manipulated social dominance in 56 healthy participants (28m) by two independent manipulations (body posture and cognitive role taking) and subjected them to the TSST. We analyzed salivary testosterone and cortisol levels as dependent measures for the endocrine stress response. The role taking manipulation interacted with the testosterone response: we found the strongest increase when participants had to put themselves in a dominant (vs. submissive) role. Our results suggest that transient changes in testosterone levels during stress reflect a response to status threat that is affected by social dominance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity of Psychopathy Factors Assessed Via Self-Report

PubMed Central

Benning, Stephen D.; Patrick, Christopher J.; Salekin, Randall T.; Leistico, Anne-Marie R.

2008-01-01

Psychopathy has been conceptualized as a personality disorder with distinctive interpersonal-affective and behavioral deviance features. The authors examine correlates of the factors of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), Self-Report Psychopathy–II (SRP-II) scale, and Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) to understand similarities and differences among the constructs embodied in these instruments. PPI Fearless Dominance and SRP-II Factor 1 were negatively related to most personality disorder symptoms and were both predicted by high Dominance and low Neuroticism. In addition, PPI Fearless Dominance correlated positively with antisocial personality features, although SRP-II Factor 1 did not. In contrast, PPI Impulsive Antisociality, SRP-II Factor 2, and both APSD factors correlated with antisocial personality features and symptoms of nearly all personality disorders, and were predicted by low Love. Results suggest ways in which the measurement of the constructs in each instrument may be improved. PMID:16123248

Patterns of fish community composition along a river affected by agricultural and urban disturbance in south-central Chile

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Orrego, Rodrigo; Barra, Ricardo; Chiang, Gustavo

2008-03-01

Patterns of fish community composition in a south-central Chile river were investigated along the altitudinal-spatial and environmental gradient and as a function of anthropogenic factors. The spatial pattern of fish communities in different biocoenotic zones of the Chillan River is influenced by both natural factors such a hydrologic features, habitat, and feeding types, and also by water quality variables which can reduce the diversity and abundance of sensitive species. A principal component analysis incorporating both water quality parameters and biomarker responses of representative fish species was used to evaluate the status of fish communities along the spatial gradient of themore » stream. The abundance and diversity of the fish community changed from a low in the upper reaches where the low pollution-tolerant species such as salmonid dominated, to a reduced diversity in the lower reaches of the river where tolerant browser species such as cypriniformes dominated. Even though the spatial pattern of fish community structure is similar to that found for the Chilean Rivers, the structure of these communities is highly influenced by human disturbance, particularly along the lower reaches of the river.« less

Systems analysis of thrombus formation

PubMed Central

Diamond, Scott L.

2016-01-01

The systems analysis of thrombosis seeks to quantitatively predict blood function in a given vascular wall and hemodynamic context. Relevant to both venous and arterial thrombosis, a Blood Systems Biology approach should provide metrics for rate and molecular mechanisms of clot growth, thrombotic risk, pharmacological response, and utility of new therapeutic targets. As a rapidly created multicellular aggregate with a polymerized fibrin matrix, blood clots result from hundreds of unique reactions within and around platelets propagating in space and time under hemodynamic conditions. Coronary artery thrombosis is dominated by atherosclerotic plaque rupture, complex pulsatile flows through stenotic regions producing high wall shear stresses, and plaque-derived tissue factor driving thrombin production. In contrast, venous thrombosis is dominated by stasis or depressed flows, endothelial inflammation, white blood cell-derived tissue factor, and ample red blood cell incorporation. By imaging vessels, patient-specific assessment using computational fluid dynamics provides an estimate of local hemodynamics and fractional flow reserve. High dimensional ex vivo phenotyping of platelet and coagulation can now power multiscale computer simulations at the subcellular to cellular to whole vessel scale of heart attacks or strokes. Additionally, an integrated systems biology approach can rank safety and efficacy metrics of various pharmacological interventions or clinical trial designs. PMID:27126646

Characterization of a hybridoma-derived T cell factor that promotes the production of antibodies bearing a dominant cross-reactive idiotype(s).

PubMed

Wardzala, A M; Bowen, M B; Jendrisak, G S; Bellone, C J

1986-01-01

The participation of postulated subsets of T helper cells in antigen-specific antibody responses has generated both interest and controversy among immunologists. Specifically the import as well as the very existence of multiple populations of T helper cells has led to an intense search in recent years for cloned lines of such subsets that permit unambiguous classification and study. Furthermore, the means by which some of these T cells induce antibody responses may be via the elaboration of soluble factors mandating their characterization both biochemically and mechanistically. We have recently reported the existence of a T helper factor present in a 24-h Con A supernatant that specifically enhances an idiotype-bearing (Id+) response to trinitrophenol (TNP). The unique biochemical properties of this substance, namely, its capacity to bind both antigen and cross-reactive idiotype (CRI), has led to the generation of a cloned T cell hybridoma that constitutively "secretes" a factor which appears identical to the helper activity in Con A Sn. The cloned T cell hybridoma, herein designated LOP 1.4, elaborates a factor which selectively enhances the CRI+ anti-TNP antibody response in vitro. The specificity of the assay employed as well as its sensitivity for detecting significant enhancement of the percent CRI+ anti-TNP PFC response lent itself well as a useful vehicle for subsequent characterization of the factor. The LOP 1.4 factor, which can act at the later stages of the B cell response in a dose-dependent fashion, was characterized by affinity chromatography in order to probe the mechanism of its selective Id enhancement. The factor binds both the idiotype and the ligand for which one of the idiotype-bearing monoclonal antibodies is specific. That the factor binds idiotype and can be eluted selectively with ligand but not with noncross-reacting ligand suggests that the factor possesses separate but not independent binding sites, or alternatively, a single binding site that preferentially binds to a unique composite of antigen-idiotype. In addition, the factor bears I-J determinants, consistent with what we have previously detected on the surface of TH2-like cells. These results, collectively, suggest that the T cell hybridoma LOP 1.4 is a TH2-like cell (supporting the concept of multiple TH subsets) in light of its ability to enhance an idiotypic response to specific antigen through the production of a soluble factor that demonstrates affinity for both antigen and idiotype. In addition, like the I-J+ TH2 cell, the LOP 1.4 factor also bears I-J region determinants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variations in Carbon Dioxide Exchange over an Alpine Grassland in the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

PubMed

Shang, Lunyu; Zhang, Yu; Lyu, Shihua; Wang, Shaoying

2016-01-01

This work analyzed carbon dioxide exchange and its controlling factors over an alpine grassland on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The main results show that air temperature and photosynthetically active radiation are two dominant factors controlling daily gross primary production. Soil temperature and soil water content are the main factors controlling ecosystem respiration. Canopy photosynthetic activity is also responsible for the variation of daily ecosystem respiration other than environmental factors. No clear correlation between net ecosystem exchange and environmental factors was observed at daily scale. Temperature sensitive coefficient was observed to increase with larger soil water content. High values of temperature sensitive coefficient occurred during the periods when soil water content was high and grass was active. Annual integrated net ecosystem exchange, gross primary production and ecosystem respiration were -191, 1145 and 954 g C m-2 for 2010, and -250, 975 and 725 g C m-2 for 2011, respectively. Thus, this alpine grassland was a moderate carbon sink in both of the two years. Compared to alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, this alpine grassland demonstrated a much greater potential for carbon sequestration than others. Annual precipitation is a dominant factor controlling the variation of annual net ecosystem exchange over this grassland. The difference in gross primary production between the two years was not caused by the variation in annual precipitation. Instead, air temperature and the length of growing season had an important impact on annual gross primary production. Variation of annual ecosystem respiration was closely related to annual gross primary production and soil water content during the growing season.

Factors dominating choice of surgical specialty.

PubMed

Reed, Carolyn E; Vaporciyan, Ara A; Erikson, Clease; Dill, Michael J; Carpenter, Andrea J; Guleserian, Kristine J; Merrill, Walter H

2010-03-01

There has been much focus on factors influencing medical students' career choice, prompted by such concerns as a sufficient future surgical workforce, declining applicant pool, changing gender composition, and a cultural shift in values and priorities. Once in a surgical residency, there are little data on factors influencing general surgery (GS) residents' final specialty choice. A survey instrument was developed and content validated in conjunction with the Association of American Medical Colleges Center for Workforce Studies. The final instrument was distributed electronically between March 24 and May 2, 2008, through 251 GS program directors to all ACGME-accredited GS residents (n = 7,508). Response rate was 29% (2,153 residents; 89% programs). Half of GS residents remained undecided about specialty choice through the 2(nd) year, declining to 2% by year 5. Of the two-thirds who decided on a specialty, 16.5% chose to remain in GS, 14.6% chose plastics, 9.3% cardiothoracic, and 8.5% vascular. The specialty choice factors most likely to be very important were type of procedures and techniques, exposure to positive role model, and ability to balance work and personal life. Relative importance of factors in specialty choice varied by gender and chosen specialty. Mentors play a key role in specialty choice (66% decided had mentors versus 47% undecided). Work schedule was the most frequently selected shortcoming in every specialty except plastics. Cardiothoracic surgery followed by GS had the highest shortcomings. The majority of GS residents plan to subspecialize. Three factors dominate specialty choice. Faculty need to understand their impact potential to modify or change perceptions of their specialty. Copyright 2010 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variations in Carbon Dioxide Exchange over an Alpine Grassland in the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

PubMed Central

Shang, Lunyu; Zhang, Yu; Lyu, Shihua; Wang, Shaoying

2016-01-01

This work analyzed carbon dioxide exchange and its controlling factors over an alpine grassland on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The main results show that air temperature and photosynthetically active radiation are two dominant factors controlling daily gross primary production. Soil temperature and soil water content are the main factors controlling ecosystem respiration. Canopy photosynthetic activity is also responsible for the variation of daily ecosystem respiration other than environmental factors. No clear correlation between net ecosystem exchange and environmental factors was observed at daily scale. Temperature sensitive coefficient was observed to increase with larger soil water content. High values of temperature sensitive coefficient occurred during the periods when soil water content was high and grass was active. Annual integrated net ecosystem exchange, gross primary production and ecosystem respiration were -191, 1145 and 954 g C m-2 for 2010, and -250, 975 and 725 g C m-2 for 2011, respectively. Thus, this alpine grassland was a moderate carbon sink in both of the two years. Compared to alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, this alpine grassland demonstrated a much greater potential for carbon sequestration than others. Annual precipitation is a dominant factor controlling the variation of annual net ecosystem exchange over this grassland. The difference in gross primary production between the two years was not caused by the variation in annual precipitation. Instead, air temperature and the length of growing season had an important impact on annual gross primary production. Variation of annual ecosystem respiration was closely related to annual gross primary production and soil water content during the growing season. PMID:27861616

Heterogeneous and monoclonal helper T cells induce similar anti-(4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NP) antibody populations in the primary adoptive response. II. Lambda light chain dominance and idiotope expression.

PubMed

Smith, F I; Tesch, H; Rajewsky, K

1984-02-01

When the hapten (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NP) is presented on different carrier molecules, different anti-NP antibody responses are stimulated. On stimulation with NP-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) [T-independent type 1 (TI-1) antigen] kappa + antibodies are the major population, whereas on stimulation with NP-Ficoll [T-independent type 2 (TI-2) antigen], NP-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) or NP-chicken gamma globulin (CG) [T-dependent (TD) antigens], lambda 1+ antibodies dominate. The relative contribution of idiotopes Ac38 or Ac146 to the lambda 1+ anti-NP response was also different on comparison of TI-1 with TI-2 or TD anti-NP responses. We investigated whether light chain- or idiotype-specific T cells are responsible for these differences. Analysis of the anti-NP response of nude mice after immunization with NP-Ficoll showed lambda 1 dominance. Likewise primary adoptive transfer experiments using carrier-specific T cell lines to reconstitute the TD anti-NP response to NP-KLH or NP-CG, showed that help from carrier-specific T cells alone is capable of stimulating the characteristic lambda 1 dominant response. No significant difference could be found in the levels of Ac38 and Ac146 idiotope expression between mice reconstituted with splenic T cells and those reconstituted with T cell lines. These results suggest that light chain- or idiotype-specific T cells are required neither for the production of lambda 1 light chain dominance, nor for the appearance of idiotopes characteristic of the primary anti-NP response. The possible reasons for differences seen in both light chain and idiotope expression between primary anti-NP responses to the TI-1 antigen NP-LPS and those to TD or TI-2 antigens are discussed.

Paternity and Dominance Loss in Male Breeders: The Cost of Helpers in a Cooperatively Breeding Mammal

PubMed Central

Lardy, Sophie; Cohas, Aurélie; Desouhant, Emmanuel; Tafani, Marion; Allainé, Dominique

2012-01-01

Paternity insurance and dominance tenure length are two important components of male reproductive success, particularly in species where reproduction is highly skewed towards a few individuals. Identifying the factors affecting these two components is crucial to better understand the pattern of variation in reproductive success among males. In social species, the social context (i.e. group size and composition) is likely to influence the ability of males to secure dominance and to monopolize reproduction. Most studies have analyzed the factors affecting paternity insurance and dominance tenure separately. We use a long term data set on Alpine marmots to investigate the effect of the number of subordinate males on both paternity insurance and tenure of dominant males. We show that individuals which are unable to monopolize reproduction in their family groups in the presence of many subordinate males are likely to lose dominance the following year. We also report that dominant males lose body mass in the year they lose both paternity and dominance. Our results suggest that controlling many subordinate males is energetically costly for dominant males, and those unable to support this cost lose the control over both reproduction and dominance. A large number of subordinate males in social groups is therefore costly for dominant males in terms of fitness. PMID:22272236

Environmental control of branching in petunia.

PubMed

Drummond, Revel S M; Janssen, Bart J; Luo, Zhiwei; Oplaat, Carla; Ledger, Susan E; Wohlers, Mark W; Snowden, Kimberley C

2015-06-01

Plants alter their development in response to changes in their environment. This responsiveness has proven to be a successful evolutionary trait. Here, we tested the hypothesis that two key environmental factors, light and nutrition, are integrated within the axillary bud to promote or suppress the growth of the bud into a branch. Using petunia (Petunia hybrida) as a model for vegetative branching, we manipulated both light quality (as crowding and the red-to-far-red light ratio) and phosphate availability, such that the axillary bud at node 7 varied from deeply dormant to rapidly growing. In conjunction with the phenotypic characterization, we also monitored the state of the strigolactone (SL) pathway by quantifying SL-related gene transcripts. Mutants in the SL pathway inhibit but do not abolish the branching response to these environmental signals, and neither signal is dominant over the other, suggesting that the regulation of branching in response to the environment is complex. We have isolated three new putatively SL-related TCP (for Teosinte branched1, Cycloidia, and Proliferating cell factor) genes from petunia, and have identified that these TCP-type transcription factors may have roles in the SL signaling pathway both before and after the reception of the SL signal at the bud. We show that the abundance of the receptor transcript is regulated by light quality, such that axillary buds growing in added far-red light have greatly increased receptor transcript abundance. This suggests a mechanism whereby the impact of any SL signal reaching an axillary bud is modulated by the responsiveness of these cells to the signal. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Environmental Control of Branching in Petunia1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Oplaat, Carla; Wohlers, Mark W.

2015-01-01

Plants alter their development in response to changes in their environment. This responsiveness has proven to be a successful evolutionary trait. Here, we tested the hypothesis that two key environmental factors, light and nutrition, are integrated within the axillary bud to promote or suppress the growth of the bud into a branch. Using petunia (Petunia hybrida) as a model for vegetative branching, we manipulated both light quality (as crowding and the red-to-far-red light ratio) and phosphate availability, such that the axillary bud at node 7 varied from deeply dormant to rapidly growing. In conjunction with the phenotypic characterization, we also monitored the state of the strigolactone (SL) pathway by quantifying SL-related gene transcripts. Mutants in the SL pathway inhibit but do not abolish the branching response to these environmental signals, and neither signal is dominant over the other, suggesting that the regulation of branching in response to the environment is complex. We have isolated three new putatively SL-related TCP (for Teosinte branched1, Cycloidia, and Proliferating cell factor) genes from petunia, and have identified that these TCP-type transcription factors may have roles in the SL signaling pathway both before and after the reception of the SL signal at the bud. We show that the abundance of the receptor transcript is regulated by light quality, such that axillary buds growing in added far-red light have greatly increased receptor transcript abundance. This suggests a mechanism whereby the impact of any SL signal reaching an axillary bud is modulated by the responsiveness of these cells to the signal. PMID:25911529

Management of long term sickness absence: a systematic realist review.

PubMed

Higgins, Angela; O'Halloran, Peter; Porter, Sam

2012-09-01

The increasing impact and costs of long term sickness absence have been well documented. However, the diversity and complexity of interventions and of the contexts in which these take place makes a traditional review problematic. Therefore, we undertook a systematic realist review to identify the dominant programme theories underlying best practice, to assess the evidence for these theories, and to throw light on important enabling or disabling contextual factors. A search of the scholarly literature from 1950 to 2011 identified 5,576 articles, of which 269 formed the basis of the review. We found that the dominant programme theories in relation to effective management related to: early intervention or referral by employers; having proactive organisational procedures; good communication and cooperation between stakeholders; and workplace-based occupational rehabilitation. Significant contextual factors were identified as the level of support for interventions from top management, the size and structure of the organisation, the level of financial and organisational investment in the management of long-term sickness absence, and the quality of relationships between managers and staff. Consequently, those with responsibility for managing absence should bear in mind the contextual factors that are likely to have an impact on interventions, and do what they can to ensure stakeholders have at least a mutual understanding (if not a common purpose) in relation to their perceptions of interventions, goals, culture and practice in the management of long term sickness absence.

Transient blockade of the inducible costimulator pathway generates long-term tolerance to factor VIII after nonviral gene transfer into hemophilia A mice.

PubMed

Peng, Baowei; Ye, Peiqing; Blazar, Bruce R; Freeman, Gordon J; Rawlings, David J; Ochs, Hans D; Miao, Carol H

2008-09-01

Formation of inhibitory antibodies is a common problem encountered in clinical treatment for hemophilia. Human factor VIII (hFVIII) plasmid gene therapy in hemophilia A mice also leads to strong humoral responses. We demonstrate that short-term therapy with an anti-ICOS monoclonal antibody to transiently block the inducible costimulator/inducible costimulator ligand (ICOS/ICOSL) signaling pathway led to sustained tolerance to hFVIII in hFVIII plasmid-treated hemophilia A mice and allowed persistent, high-level FVIII functional activity (100%-300% of normal). Anti-ICOS treatment resulted in depletion of ICOS(+)CD4(+) T cells and activation of CD25(+)Foxp3(+) Tregs in the peripheral blood, spleen, and lymph nodes. CD4(+) T cells from anti-ICOS-treated mice did not proliferate in response to hFVIII stimulation and produced high levels of regulatory cytokines, including interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-beta. Moreover, CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs from tolerized mice adoptively transferred dominant tolerance in syngeneic hFVIII plasmid-treated hemophilia A mice and reduced the production of antibodies against FVIII. Anti-ICOS-treated mice tolerized to hFVIII generated normal primary and secondary antibody responses after immunization with the T-dependent antigen, bacteriophage Phix 174, indicating maintenance of immune competency. Our data indicate that transient anti-ICOS monoclonal antibody treatment represents a novel single-agent immunomodulatory strategy to overcome the immune responses against transgene product after gene therapy.

Monaural Congenital Deafness Affects Aural Dominance and Degrades Binaural Processing

PubMed Central

Tillein, Jochen; Hubka, Peter; Kral, Andrej

2016-01-01

Cortical development extensively depends on sensory experience. Effects of congenital monaural and binaural deafness on cortical aural dominance and representation of binaural cues were investigated in the present study. We used an animal model that precisely mimics the clinical scenario of unilateral cochlear implantation in an individual with single-sided congenital deafness. Multiunit responses in cortical field A1 to cochlear implant stimulation were studied in normal-hearing cats, bilaterally congenitally deaf cats (CDCs), and unilaterally deaf cats (uCDCs). Binaural deafness reduced cortical responsiveness and decreased response thresholds and dynamic range. In contrast to CDCs, in uCDCs, cortical responsiveness was not reduced, but hemispheric-specific reorganization of aural dominance and binaural interactions were observed. Deafness led to a substantial drop in binaural facilitation in CDCs and uCDCs, demonstrating the inevitable role of experience for a binaural benefit. Sensitivity to interaural time differences was more reduced in uCDCs than in CDCs, particularly at the hemisphere ipsilateral to the hearing ear. Compared with binaural deafness, unilateral hearing prevented nonspecific reduction in cortical responsiveness, but extensively reorganized aural dominance and binaural responses. The deaf ear remained coupled with the cortex in uCDCs, demonstrating a significant difference to deprivation amblyopia in the visual system. PMID:26803166

Monaural Congenital Deafness Affects Aural Dominance and Degrades Binaural Processing.

PubMed

Tillein, Jochen; Hubka, Peter; Kral, Andrej

2016-04-01

Cortical development extensively depends on sensory experience. Effects of congenital monaural and binaural deafness on cortical aural dominance and representation of binaural cues were investigated in the present study. We used an animal model that precisely mimics the clinical scenario of unilateral cochlear implantation in an individual with single-sided congenital deafness. Multiunit responses in cortical field A1 to cochlear implant stimulation were studied in normal-hearing cats, bilaterally congenitally deaf cats (CDCs), and unilaterally deaf cats (uCDCs). Binaural deafness reduced cortical responsiveness and decreased response thresholds and dynamic range. In contrast to CDCs, in uCDCs, cortical responsiveness was not reduced, but hemispheric-specific reorganization of aural dominance and binaural interactions were observed. Deafness led to a substantial drop in binaural facilitation in CDCs and uCDCs, demonstrating the inevitable role of experience for a binaural benefit. Sensitivity to interaural time differences was more reduced in uCDCs than in CDCs, particularly at the hemisphere ipsilateral to the hearing ear. Compared with binaural deafness, unilateral hearing prevented nonspecific reduction in cortical responsiveness, but extensively reorganized aural dominance and binaural responses. The deaf ear remained coupled with the cortex in uCDCs, demonstrating a significant difference to deprivation amblyopia in the visual system. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Factors associated with parasite dominance in fishes from Brazil.

PubMed

Amarante, Cristina Fernandes do; Tassinari, Wagner de Souza; Luque, Jose Luis; Pereira, Maria Julia Salim

2016-06-14

The present study used regression models to evaluate the existence of factors that may influence the numerical parasite dominance with an epidemiological approximation. A database including 3,746 fish specimens and their respective parasites were used to evaluate the relationship between parasite dominance and biotic characteristics inherent to the studied hosts and the parasite taxa. Multivariate, classical, and mixed effects linear regression models were fitted. The calculations were performed using R software (95% CI). In the fitting of the classical multiple linear regression model, freshwater and planktivorous fish species and body length, as well as the species of the taxa Trematoda, Monogenea, and Hirudinea, were associated with parasite dominance. However, the fitting of the mixed effects model showed that the body length of the host and the species of the taxa Nematoda, Trematoda, Monogenea, Hirudinea, and Crustacea were significantly associated with parasite dominance. Studies that consider specific biological aspects of the hosts and parasites should expand the knowledge regarding factors that influence the numerical dominance of fish in Brazil. The use of a mixed model shows, once again, the importance of the appropriate use of a model correlated with the characteristics of the data to obtain consistent results.

Phospholipids fatty acids of drinking water reservoir sedimentary microbial community: Structure and function responses to hydrostatic pressure and other physico-chemical properties.

PubMed

Chai, Bei-Bei; Huang, Ting-Lin; Zhao, Xiao-Guang; Li, Ya-Jiao

2015-07-01

Microbial communities in three drinking water reservoirs, with different depth in Xi'an city, were quantified by phospholipids fatty acids analysis and multivariate statistical analysis was employed to interpret their response to different hydrostatic pressure and other physico-chemical properties of sediment and overlying water. Principle component analyses of sediment characteristics parameters showed that hydrostatic pressure was the most important effect factor to differentiate the overlying water quality from three drinking water reservoirs from each other. NH4+ content in overlying water was positive by related to hydrostatic pressure, while DO in water-sediment interface and sediment OC in sediment were negative by related with it. Three drinking water reservoir sediments were characterized by microbial communities dominated by common and facultative anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria, as well as, by sulfur oxidizing bacteria. Hydrostatic pressure and physico-chemical properties of sediments (such as sediment OC, sediment TN and sediment TP) were important effect factors to microbial community structure, especially hydrostatic pressure. It is also suggested that high hydrostatic pressure and low dissolved oxygen concentration stimulated Gram-positive and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) bacterial population in drinking water reservoir sediment. This research supplied a successful application of phospholipids fatty acids and multivariate analysis to investigate microbial community composition response to different environmental factors. Thus, few physico-chemical factors can be used to estimate composition microbial of community as reflected by phospholipids fatty acids, which is difficult to detect.

Nonlinear Reduced Order Random Response Analysis of Structures with Shallow Curvature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Przekop, Adam; Rizzi, Stephen A.

2006-01-01

The goal of this investigation is to further develop nonlinear modal numerical simulation methods for application to geometrically nonlinear response of structures with shallow curvature under random loadings. For reduced order analysis, the modal basis selection must be capable of reflecting the coupling in both the linear and nonlinear stiffness. For the symmetric shallow arch under consideration, four categories of modal basis functions are defined. Those having symmetric transverse displacements (ST modes) can be designated as transverse dominated (ST-T) modes and in-plane dominated (ST-I) modes. Those having anti-symmetric transverse displacements (AT modes) can similarly be designated as transverse dominated (AT-T) modes and in-plane dominated (AT-I) modes. The response of an aluminum arch under a uniformly distributed transverse random loading is investigated. Results from nonlinear modal simulations made using various modal bases are compared with those obtained from a numerical simulation in physical degrees-of-freedom. While inclusion of ST-T modes is important for all response regimes, it is found that the ST-I modes become increasingly important in the nonlinear response regime, and that AT-T and AT-I modes are critical in the autoparametric regime.

Nonlinear Reduced Order Random Response Analysis of Structures With Shallow Curvature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Przekop, Adam; Rizzi, Stephen A.

2005-01-01

The goal of this investigation is to further develop nonlinear modal numerical simulation methods for application to geometrically nonlinear response of structures with shallow curvature under random loadings. For reduced order analysis, the modal basis selection must be capable of reflecting the coupling in both the linear and nonlinear stiffness. For the symmetric shallow arch under consideration, four categories of modal basis functions are defined. Those having symmetric transverse displacements (ST modes) can be designated as transverse dominated (ST-T) modes and in-plane dominated (ST-I) modes. Those having anti-symmetric transverse displacements (AT modes) can similarly be designated as transverse dominated (AT-T) modes and in-plane dominated (AT-I) modes. The response of an aluminum arch under a uniformly distributed transverse random loading is investigated. Results from nonlinear modal simulations made using various modal bases are compared with those obtained from a numerical simulation in physical degrees-of-freedom. While inclusion of ST-T modes is important for all response regimes, it is found that the ST-I modes become increasingly important in the nonlinear response regime, and that AT-T and AT-I modes are critical in the autoparametric regime.

Soil moisture dynamics and dominant controls at different spatial scales over semiarid and semi-humid areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suo, Lizhu; Huang, Mingbin; Zhang, Yongkun; Duan, Liangxia; Shan, Yan

2018-07-01

Soil moisture dynamics plays an active role in ecological and hydrological processes, and it depends on a large number of environmental factors, such as topographic attributes, soil properties, land use types, and precipitation. However, studies must still clarify the relative significance of these environmental factors at different soil depths and at different spatial scales. This study aimed: (1) to characterize temporal and spatial variations in soil moisture content (SMC) at four soil layers (0-40, 40-100, 100-200, and 200-500 cm) and three spatial scales (plot, hillslope, and region); and (2) to determine their dominant controls in diverse soil layers at different spatial scales over semiarid and semi-humid areas of the Loess Plateau, China. Given the high co-dependence of environmental factors, partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used to detect relative significance among 15 selected environmental factors that affect SMC. Temporal variation in SMC decreased with increasing soil depth, and vertical changes in the 0-500 cm soil profile were divided into a fast-changing layer (0-40 cm), an active layer (40-100 cm), a sub-active layer (100-200 cm), and a relatively stable layer (200-500 cm). PLSR models simulated SMC accurately in diverse soil layers at different scales; almost all values for variation in response (R2) and goodness of prediction (Q2) were >0.5 and >0.0975, respectively. Upper and lower layer SMCs were the two most important factors that influenced diverse soil layers at three scales, and these SMC variables exhibited the highest importance in projection (VIP) values. The 7-day antecedent precipitation and 7-day antecedent potential evapotranspiration contributed significantly to SMC only at the 0-40 cm soil layer. VIP of soil properties, especially sand and silt content, which influenced SMC strongly, increased significantly after increasing the measured scale. Mean annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration also influenced SMC at the regional scale significantly. Overall, this study indicated that dominant controls of SMC varied among three spatial scales on the Loess Plateau, and VIP was a function of spatial scale and soil depth.

Evidence and implications of recent and projected climate change in Alaska's forest ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wolken, Jane M.; Hollingsworth, Teresa N.; Rupp, T. Scott; Chapin, Stuart III; Trainor, Sarah F.; Barrett, Tara M.; Sullivan, Patrick F.; McGuire, A. David; Euskirchen, Eugénie S.; Hennon, Paul E.; Beever, Erik A.; Conn, Jeff S.; Crone, Lisa K.; D'Amore, David V.; Fresco, Nancy; Hanley, Thomas A.; Kielland, Knut; Kruse, James J.; Patterson, Trista; Schuur, Edward A.G.; Verbyla, David L.; Yarie, John

2011-01-01

The structure and function of Alaska's forests have changed significantly in response to a changing climate, including alterations in species composition and climate feedbacks (e.g., carbon, radiation budgets) that have important regional societal consequences and human feedbacks to forest ecosystems. In this paper we present the first comprehensive synthesis of climate-change impacts on all forested ecosystems of Alaska, highlighting changes in the most critical biophysical factors of each region. We developed a conceptual framework describing climate drivers, biophysical factors and types of change to illustrate how the biophysical and social subsystems of Alaskan forests interact and respond directly and indirectly to a changing climate. We then identify the regional and global implications to the climate system and associated socio-economic impacts, as presented in the current literature. Projections of temperature and precipitation suggest wildfire will continue to be the dominant biophysical factor in the Interior-boreal forest, leading to shifts from conifer- to deciduous-dominated forests. Based on existing research, projected increases in temperature in the Southcentral- and Kenai-boreal forests will likely increase the frequency and severity of insect outbreaks and associated wildfires, and increase the probability of establishment by invasive plant species. In the Coastal-temperate forest region snow and ice is regarded as the dominant biophysical factor. With continued warming, hydrologic changes related to more rapidly melting glaciers and rising elevation of the winter snowline will alter discharge in many rivers, which will have important consequences for terrestrial and marine ecosystem productivity. These climate-related changes will affect plant species distribution and wildlife habitat, which have regional societal consequences, and trace-gas emissions and radiation budgets, which are globally important. Our conceptual framework facilitates assessment of current and future consequences of a changing climate, emphasizes regional differences in biophysical factors, and points to linkages that may exist but that currently lack supporting research. The framework also serves as a visual tool for resource managers and policy makers to develop regional and global management strategies and to inform policies related to climate mitigation and adaptation.

Should we stop thinking about inhibition? Searching for individual and age differences in inhibition ability.

PubMed

Rey-Mermet, Alodie; Gade, Miriam; Oberauer, Klaus

2018-04-01

Inhibition is often conceptualized as a unitary construct reflecting the ability to ignore and suppress irrelevant information. At the same time, it has been subdivided into inhibition of prepotent responses (i.e., the ability to stop dominant responses) and resistance to distracter interference (i.e., the ability to ignore distracting information). The present study investigated the unity and diversity of inhibition as a psychometric construct, and tested the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. We measured inhibition in young and old adults with 11 established laboratory tasks: antisaccade, stop-signal, color Stroop, number Stroop, arrow flanker, letter flanker, Simon, global-local, positive and negative compatibility tasks, and n-2 repetition costs in task switching. In both age groups, the inhibition measures from individual tasks had good reliabilities, but correlated only weakly among each other. Structural equation modeling identified a 2-factor model with factors for inhibition of prepotent responses and resistance to distracter interference. Older adults scored worse in the inhibition of prepotent response, but better in the resistance to distracter interference. However, the model had low explanatory power. Together, these findings call into question inhibition as a psychometric construct and the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal Dominance and the Sex of a Baby.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akande, Adebowale

1999-01-01

Administered the Simple Adjective Test to 35 black South-African women in early pregnancy to explore association of maternal dominance and male births. Responses revealed that above-average dominance in mothers may be linked to higher number of male births. (LBT)

The Dominance Behavioral System and Psychopathology: Evidence from Self-Report, Observational, and Biological Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Sheri L.; Leedom, Liane J.; Muhtadie, Luma

2012-01-01

The dominance behavioral system (DBS) can be conceptualized as a biologically based system that guides dominance motivation, dominant and subordinate behavior, and responsivity to perceptions of power and subordination. A growing body of research suggests that problems with the DBS are evident across a broad range of psychopathologies. We begin by…

Item response theory scoring and the detection of curvilinear relationships.

PubMed

Carter, Nathan T; Dalal, Dev K; Guan, Li; LoPilato, Alexander C; Withrow, Scott A

2017-03-01

Psychologists are increasingly positing theories of behavior that suggest psychological constructs are curvilinearly related to outcomes. However, results from empirical tests for such curvilinear relations have been mixed. We propose that correctly identifying the response process underlying responses to measures is important for the accuracy of these tests. Indeed, past research has indicated that item responses to many self-report measures follow an ideal point response process-wherein respondents agree only to items that reflect their own standing on the measured variable-as opposed to a dominance process, wherein stronger agreement, regardless of item content, is always indicative of higher standing on the construct. We test whether item response theory (IRT) scoring appropriate for the underlying response process to self-report measures results in more accurate tests for curvilinearity. In 2 simulation studies, we show that, regardless of the underlying response process used to generate the data, using the traditional sum-score generally results in high Type 1 error rates or low power for detecting curvilinearity, depending on the distribution of item locations. With few exceptions, appropriate power and Type 1 error rates are achieved when dominance-based and ideal point-based IRT scoring are correctly used to score dominance and ideal point response data, respectively. We conclude that (a) researchers should be theory-guided when hypothesizing and testing for curvilinear relations; (b) correctly identifying whether responses follow an ideal point versus dominance process, particularly when items are not extreme is critical; and (c) IRT model-based scoring is crucial for accurate tests of curvilinearity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Representation of vestibular and visual cues to self-motion in ventral intraparietal (VIP) cortex

PubMed Central

Chen, Aihua; Deangelis, Gregory C.; Angelaki, Dora E.

2011-01-01

Convergence of vestibular and visual motion information is important for self-motion perception. One cortical area that combines vestibular and optic flow signals is the ventral intraparietal area (VIP). We characterized unisensory and multisensory responses of macaque VIP neurons to translations and rotations in three dimensions. Approximately half of VIP cells show significant directional selectivity in response to optic flow, half show tuning to vestibular stimuli, and one-third show multisensory responses. Visual and vestibular direction preferences of multisensory VIP neurons could be congruent or opposite. When visual and vestibular stimuli were combined, VIP responses could be dominated by either input, unlike medial superior temporal area (MSTd) where optic flow tuning typically dominates or the visual posterior sylvian area (VPS) where vestibular tuning dominates. Optic flow selectivity in VIP was weaker than in MSTd but stronger than in VPS. In contrast, vestibular tuning for translation was strongest in VPS, intermediate in VIP, and weakest in MSTd. To characterize response dynamics, direction-time data were fit with a spatiotemporal model in which temporal responses were modeled as weighted sums of velocity, acceleration, and position components. Vestibular responses in VIP reflected balanced contributions of velocity and acceleration, whereas visual responses were dominated by velocity. Timing of vestibular responses in VIP was significantly faster than in MSTd, whereas timing of optic flow responses did not differ significantly among areas. These findings suggest that VIP may be proximal to MSTd in terms of vestibular processing but hierarchically similar to MSTd in terms of optic flow processing. PMID:21849564

INTERNALIZATION AND DEGRADATION OF THE GLUTAMATE TRANSPORTER GLT-1 IN RESPONSE TO PHORBOL ESTER

PubMed Central

Susarla, Bala T.S.; Robinson, Michael B.

2008-01-01

Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) decreases the activity and cell surface expression of the predominant forebrain glutamate transporter, GLT-1. In the present study, C6 glioma were used as a model system to define the mechanisms that contribute to this decrease in cell surface expression and to determine the fate of internalized transporter. As was previously observed, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) caused a decrease in biotinylated GLT-1. This effect was blocked by sucrose or by co-expression with a dominant-negative variant of dynamin 1, and it was attenuated by co-expression with a dominant-negative variant of the clathrin heavy chain. Depletion of cholesterol with methyl-β-cyclodextrin, co-expression with a dominant-negative caveolin-1 mutant (Cav1/S80E), co-expression with dominant-negative variants of Eps15 (epidermal-growth-factor receptor pathway substrate clone 15), or co-expression with dominant-negative Arf6 (T27N) had no effect on the PMA-induced loss of biotinylated GLT-1. Long-term treatment with PMA caused a time-dependent loss of biotinylated GLT-1 and decreased the levels of GLT-1 protein. Inhibitors of lysosomal degradation (chloroquine or ammonium chloride) or co-expression with a dominant-negative variant of a small GTPase implicated in trafficking to lysosomes (Rab7) prevented the PMA-induced decrease in protein and caused an intracellular accumulation of GLT-1. These results suggest that the PKC-induced redistribution of GLT-1 is dependent upon clathrin-mediated endocytosis. These studies identify a novel mechanism by which the levels of GLT-1 could be rapidly down-regulated via lysosomal degradation. The possibility that this mechanism may contribute to the loss of GLT-1 observed after acute insults to the CNS is discussed. PMID:17919781

REGULATION OF THE T-CELL RESPONSE BY CD39

PubMed Central

Takenaka, Maisa C.; Robson, Simon; Quintana, Francisco J.

2016-01-01

The ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (ENTPD1, or CD39) catalyzes the phosphohydrolysis of extracellular adenosine triphosphate (eATP) and diphosphate (eADP) released under conditions of inflammatory stress and cell injury. CD39 generates adenosine monophosphate (AMP), which is in turn used by the ecto-5’-nucleotidase CD73 to synthesize adenosine. These ectonucleotidases have major impacts on the dynamic equilibrium of pro-inflammatory eATP and ADP nucleotides vs. immunosuppressive adenosine nucleosides. Indeed, CD39 plays a dominant role in the purinergic regulation of inflammation and the immune response because its expression is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Here, we review the specific role of CD39 in the kinetic regulation of cellular immune responses in the evolution of disease. We focus on the effects of CD39 on T cells and explore potential clinical applications in autoimmunity, chronic infections and cancer. PMID:27236363

Microbial Composition in Decomposing Pine Litter Shifts in Response to Common Soil Secondary Minerals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welty-Bernard, A. T.; Heckman, K.; Vazquez, A.; Rasmussen, C.; Chorover, J.; Schwartz, E.

2011-12-01

A range of environmental and biotic factors have been identified that drive microbial community structure in soils - carbon substrates, redox conditions, mineral nutrients, salinity, pH, and species interactions. However, soil mineralogy has been largely ignored as a candidate in spite of recent studies that indicate that minerals have a substantial impact on soil organic matter stores and subsequent fluxes from soils. Given that secondary minerals and organic colloids govern a soil's biogeochemical activity due to surface area and electromagnetic charge, we propose that secondary minerals are a strong determinant of the communities that are responsible for process rates. To test this, we created three microcosms to study communities during decomposition using pine forest litter mixed with two common secondary minerals in soils (goethite and gibbsite) and with quartz as a control. Changes in bacterial and fungal communities were tracked over the 154-day incubation by pyrosequencing fragments of the bacterial 16S and fungal 18S rRNA genes. Ordination using nonmetric multidimensional scaling showed that bacterial communities separated on the basis of minerals. Overall, a single generalist - identified as an Acidobacteriaceae isolate - dominated all treatments over the course of the experiment, representing roughly 25% of all communities. Fungal communities discriminated between the quartz control alone and mineral treatments as a whole. Again, several generalists dominated the community. Coniochaeta ligniaria dominated communities with abundances ranging from 29 to 40%. The general stability of generalist populations may explain the similarities between treatment respiration rates. Variation between molecular fingerprints, then, were largely a function of unique minor members with abundances ranging from 0.01 to 8%. Carbon availability did not surface as a possible mechanism responsible for shifts in fingerprints due to the relatively large mass of needles in the incubation. Other possible mechanisms include the presence of soluble Fe as an alternative energy source in the goethite treatment, the presence of toxic soluble Al in the gibbsite treatment, the loss of available phosphorus in the secondary mineral treatments due to sorption by secondary mineral surfaces, and variations in mineral surfaces as microhabitats. These findings suggest that Al and Fe oxides, such as goethite or gibbsite, are a factor in determining microbial community structure.

Defining the next generation modeling of coastal ecotone dynamics in response to global change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jiang, Jiang; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Teh, Su-Y; Krauss, Ken W.; Wang, Hongqing; Haidong, Li; Smith, Thomas; Koh, Hock L.

2016-01-01

Coastal ecosystems are especially vulnerable to global change; e.g., sea level rise (SLR) and extreme events. Over the past century, global change has resulted in salt-tolerant (halophytic) plant species migrating into upland salt-intolerant (glycophytic) dominated habitats along major rivers and large wetland expanses along the coast. While habitat transitions can be abrupt, modeling the specific drivers of abrupt change between halophytic and glycophytic vegetation is not a simple task. Correlative studies, which dominate the literature, are unlikely to establish ultimate causation for habitat shifts, and do not generate strong predictive capacity for coastal land managers and climate change adaptation exercises. In this paper, we first review possible drivers of ecotone shifts for coastal wetlands, our understanding of which has expanded rapidly in recent years. Any exogenous factor that increases growth or establishment of halophytic species will favor the ecotone boundary moving upslope. However, internal feedbacks between vegetation and the environment, through which vegetation modifies the local microhabitat (e.g., by changing salinity or surface elevation), can either help the system become resilient to future changes or strengthen ecotone migration. Following this idea, we review a succession of models that have provided progressively better insight into the relative importance of internal positive feedbacks versus external environmental factors. We end with developing a theoretical model to show that both abrupt environmental gradients and internal positive feedbacks can generate the sharp ecotonal boundaries that we commonly see, and we demonstrate that the responses to gradual global change (e.g., SLR) can be quite diverse.

A comparative study on the dominant factors responsible for the weaker-than-expected El Niño event in 2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jianying; Liu, Boqi; Li, Jiandong; Mao, Jiangyu

2015-10-01

Anomalous warming occurred in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific in early May 2014, attracting much attention to the possible occurrence of an extreme El Niño event that year because of its similarity to the situation in early 1997. However, the subsequent variation in sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) during summer 2014 in the tropical Pacific was evidently different to that in 1997, but somewhat similar to the situation of the 1990 aborted El Niño event. Based on NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) oceanic and atmospheric reanalysis data, the physical processes responsible for the strength of El Niño events are examined by comparing the dominant factors in 2014 in terms of the preceding instability of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and westerly wind bursts (WWBs) with those in 1997 and 1990, separately. Although the unstable ocean-atmosphere system formed over the tropical Pacific in the preceding winter of 2014, the strength of the preceding instability was relatively weak. Weak oceanic eastward-propagating downwelling Kelvin waves were forced by the weak WWBs over the equatorial western Pacific in March 2014, as in February 1990. The consequent positive upper-oceanic heat content anomalies in the spring of 2014 induced only weak positive SSTAs in the central-eastern Pacific-unfavorable for the subsequent generation of summertime WWB sequences. Moreover, the equatorial western Pacific was not cooled, indicating the absence of positive Bjerknes feedback in early summer 2014. Therefore, the development of El Niño was suspended in summer 2014.

A Comparative Study on the Dominant Factors Responsible for the Weaker-than-expected El Niño Event in 2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MAO, J.; Li, J.; Liu, B.; Li, J.

2015-12-01

Anomalous warming occurred in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific in early May 2014, attracting much attention to the possible occurrence of an extreme El Niño event that year because of its similarity to the situation in early 1997. However, the subsequent variation in sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) during summer 2014 in the tropical Pacific was evidently different to that in 1997, but somewhat similar to the situation of the 1990 aborted El Niño event. Based on NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) oceanic and atmospheric reanalysis data, the physical processes responsible for the strength of El Niño events are examined by comparing the dominant factors in 2014 in terms of the preceding instability of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and westerly wind bursts (WWBs) with those in 1997 and 1990, separately. Although the unstable ocean-atmosphere system formed over the tropical Pacific in the preceding winter of 2014, the strength of the preceding instability was relatively weak. Weak oceanic eastward-propagating downwelling Kelvin waves were forced by the weak WWBs over the equatorial western Pacific in March 2014, as in February 1990. The consequent positive upper-oceanic heat content anomalies in the spring of 2014 induced only weak positive SSTAs in the central-eastern Pacific-unfavorable for the subsequent generation of summertime WWB sequences. Moreover, the equatorial western Pacific was not cooled, indicating the absence of positive Bjerknes feedback in early summer 2014. Therefore, the development of El Niño was suspended in summer 2014.

Different land use intensities in grassland ecosystems drive ecology of microbial communities involved in nitrogen turnover in soil.

PubMed

Meyer, Annabel; Focks, Andreas; Radl, Viviane; Keil, Daniel; Welzl, Gerhard; Schöning, Ingo; Boch, Steffen; Marhan, Sven; Kandeler, Ellen; Schloter, Michael

2013-01-01

Understanding factors driving the ecology of N cycling microbial communities is of central importance for sustainable land use. In this study we report changes of abundance of denitrifiers, nitrifiers and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (based on qPCR data for selected functional genes) in response to different land use intensity levels and the consequences for potential turnover rates. We investigated selected grassland sites being comparable with respect to soil type and climatic conditions, which have been continuously treated for many years as intensely used meadows (IM), intensely used mown pastures (IP) and extensively used pastures (EP), respectively. The obtained data were linked to above ground biodiversity pattern as well as water extractable fractions of nitrogen and carbon in soil. Shifts in land use intensity changed plant community composition from systems dominated by s-strategists in extensive managed grasslands to c-strategist dominated communities in intensive managed grasslands. Along the different types of land use intensity, the availability of inorganic nitrogen regulated the abundance of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidizers. In contrast, the amount of dissolved organic nitrogen determined the abundance of denitrifiers (nirS and nirK). The high abundance of nifH carrying bacteria at intensive managed sites gave evidence that the amounts of substrates as energy source outcompete the high availability of inorganic nitrogen in these sites. Overall, we revealed that abundance and function of microorganisms involved in key processes of inorganic N cycling (nitrification, denitrification and N fixation) might be independently regulated by different abiotic and biotic factors in response to land use intensity.

Different Land Use Intensities in Grassland Ecosystems Drive Ecology of Microbial Communities Involved in Nitrogen Turnover in Soil

PubMed Central

Meyer, Annabel; Focks, Andreas; Radl, Viviane; Keil, Daniel; Welzl, Gerhard; Schöning, Ingo; Boch, Steffen; Marhan, Sven; Kandeler, Ellen; Schloter, Michael

2013-01-01

Understanding factors driving the ecology of N cycling microbial communities is of central importance for sustainable land use. In this study we report changes of abundance of denitrifiers, nitrifiers and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (based on qPCR data for selected functional genes) in response to different land use intensity levels and the consequences for potential turnover rates. We investigated selected grassland sites being comparable with respect to soil type and climatic conditions, which have been continuously treated for many years as intensely used meadows (IM), intensely used mown pastures (IP) and extensively used pastures (EP), respectively. The obtained data were linked to above ground biodiversity pattern as well as water extractable fractions of nitrogen and carbon in soil. Shifts in land use intensity changed plant community composition from systems dominated by s-strategists in extensive managed grasslands to c-strategist dominated communities in intensive managed grasslands. Along the different types of land use intensity, the availability of inorganic nitrogen regulated the abundance of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidizers. In contrast, the amount of dissolved organic nitrogen determined the abundance of denitrifiers (nirS and nirK). The high abundance of nifH carrying bacteria at intensive managed sites gave evidence that the amounts of substrates as energy source outcompete the high availability of inorganic nitrogen in these sites. Overall, we revealed that abundance and function of microorganisms involved in key processes of inorganic N cycling (nitrification, denitrification and N fixation) might be independently regulated by different abiotic and biotic factors in response to land use intensity. PMID:24039974

Assessment of environmental and nondestructive earthquake effects on modal parameters of an office building based on long-term vibration measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Wen-Hwa; Wang, Sheng-Wei; Chen, Chien-Chou; Lai, Gwolong

2017-05-01

Identification for the modal parameters of an instrumented office building using ambient vibration measurements is conducted in this study based on a recently developed stochastic subspace identification methodology equipped with an alternative stabilization diagram and a hierarchical sifting process. The identified results are then deliberately examined to recognize the dynamic features for quite a few dominant modes of this building structure including three pairs of closely-spaced modes. Making use of the collected three-month data including three seismic events, the analyzed results show that the root-mean-square vibration response is directly related to the wind speed and indirectly related to the air temperature under a specific condition. More importantly, it is discovered that the root-mean-square response is the dominant factor to induce the variation of modal parameters. Except for the torsional modes, all the other modal frequencies are highly correlated with the root-mean-square acceleration in a negative manner and the corresponding damping ratios also clearly display a positive correlation. Another crucial observation from this assessment is that the percentages of frequency variation in three months for most of the identified modes go beyond 10%. The effects of three nondestructive earthquakes are further traced to observe the tendencies of reducing the modal frequencies and raising the damping ratios, both with a variation level possibly increasing with the seismic intensity. But different from the effects of environmental factors, the changes in modal parameters caused by nondestructive earthquakes will vanish right after the seismic events.

The influence of soil-site factors on sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) growth response to climatic change in central Ontario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schutten, K.; Gedalof, Z.

2010-12-01

Over the past several decades, concerns about climatic change and its potential impacts on Canada’s various geographical regions and associated ecological processes have grown steadily, especially among land and resource managers. As these risks transition into tangible outcomes in the field, it will be important for resource managers to understand historical climatic variability and natural ecological trends in order to effectively respond to a changing climate. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) is considered a stable endpoint for mature forests in the northern hardwood community of central Ontario, and it tends to be the dominant species, in a beech-ironwood-yellow birch matrix. In North America, this species is used for both hardwood lumber and for maple sugar (syrup) products; where it dominates, large recreational opportunities also exist. There are many biotic and abiotic factors that play a large role in the growth and productivity of sugar maple stands, such as soil pH, moisture regime, and site slope and aspect. This research undertaking aims to add to the body of literature addressing the following question: how do site factors influence the sensitivity of sugar maple growth to climatic change? The overall objective of the research is to evaluate how biotic and abiotic factors influence the sensitivity of sugar maple annual radial growth to climatic variability. This research will focus on sugar maple growth and productivity in Algonquin Provincial Park, and the impact that climatic variability has had in the past on these stands based on site-specific characteristics. In order to complete this goal, 20 sites were identified in Algonquin Provincial Park based on variability of known soil and site properties. These sites were visited in order to collect biotic and abiotic site data, and to measure annual radial growth increment of trees. Using regional climate records and standard dendrochronological methods, the collected increment growth data will be used to build site-specific chronologies in order to determine the differences in tree growth response to climatic variability due to differences in soil and site quality. Preliminary results suggest that variability in site-specific abiotic and biotic conditions may strongly influence individual stand growth responses to climatic variability.

Cell Survival Signaling in Neuroblastoma

PubMed Central

Megison, Michael L.; Gillory, Lauren A.; Beierle, Elizabeth A.

2013-01-01

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood and is responsible for over 15% of pediatric cancer deaths. Neuroblastoma tumorigenesis and malignant transformation is driven by overexpression and dominance of cell survival pathways and a lack of normal cellular senescence or apoptosis. Therefore, manipulation of cell survival pathways may decrease the malignant potential of these tumors and provide avenues for the development of novel therapeutics. This review focuses on several facets of cell survival pathways including protein kinases (PI3K, AKT, ALK, and FAK), transcription factors (NF-κB, MYCN and p53), and growth factors (IGF, EGF, PDGF, and VEGF). Modulation of each of these factors decreases the growth or otherwise hinders the malignant potential of neuroblastoma, and many therapeutics targeting these pathways are already in the clinical trial phase of development. Continued research and discovery of effective modulators of these pathways will revolutionize the treatment of neuroblastoma. PMID:22934706

C/EBP beta regulation of the tumor necrosis factor alpha gene.

PubMed Central

Pope, R M; Leutz, A; Ness, S A

1994-01-01

Activated macrophages contribute to chronic inflammation by the secretion of cytokines and proteinases. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) is particularly important in this process because of its ability to regulate other inflammatory mediators in an autocrine and paracrine fashion. The mechanism(s) responsible for the cell type-specific regulation of TNF alpha is not known. We present data to show that the expression of TNF alpha is regulated by the transcription factor C/EBP beta (NF-IL6). C/EBP beta activated the TNF alpha gene promoter in cotransfection assays and bound to it at a site which failed to bind the closely related protein C/EBP alpha. Finally, a dominant-negative version of C/EBP beta blocked TNF alpha promoter activation in myeloid cells. Our results implicate C/EBP beta as an important regulator of TNF alpha by myelomonocytic cells. Images PMID:7929820

Cyanidin-3-glucoside suppresses Th2 cytokines and GATA-3 transcription factor in EL-4 T cells.

PubMed

Pyo, Myoung Yun; Yoon, Soo Jeong; Yu, Yeonsil; Park, Sunyoung; Jin, Mirim

2014-01-01

Allergic disease is dominated by Th2 immune responses. Interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13, representative Th2 cytokines, play pivotal roles in the pathogenic activation of the Th2 immune response. In this study, we found that cyanidin-3-glucoside chloride (C3G), an anthocyanin suppressed IL-4 and IL-13 produced in activated EL-4 T cells but not Th1 cytokines including IL-2, interferon-γ, or IL-12. IL-4 and IL-13 mRNA levels and luciferase activation in cells transiently transfected with IL-4 and IL-13 promoter reporter plasmids were significantly inhibited by C3G, suggesting that suppression might be, at least in part, regulated at the transcriptional level. Data from western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses of transcription factors involved in cytokine expression suggested that expression of GATA-3, but not T-bet, was downregulated in the nucleus by C3G. Taken together, our data indicate that C3G may has potential as an anti-allergic agent suppressing Th2 activation by downregulating Th2 cytokines and the GATA3 transcription factor in allergies.

Recurrent abdominal pain as the presentation of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) in an Asian girl: a case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Chen, Yun-Ju; Yu, Hsin-Hui; Yang, Yao-Hsu; Lau, Yu-Lung; Lee, Wen-I; Chiang, Bor-Luen

2014-12-01

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) is characterized by periodic fever, cutaneous rash, conjunctivitis, lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain, myalgia, and arthralgia. It is a rare autosomal dominant disease and strongly associated with heterozygous mutations in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor super family 1A (TNFRSF1A) gene. It is believed to be more common in Western countries than in Asian countries. Here, we present the case of a 14-year-old girl with periodic fever and abdominal pain with elevation of inflammatory markers for 2 years. After extensive work-up of infectious etiology with negative results, the diagnosis of TRAPS was made although no gene mutations were identified in the TNFRSF1A gene, MVK gene, and NALP3/CIAS1 gene. She had partial clinical response to corticosteroids and immunomodulatory agents. However, the treatment response to TNF-α inhibitor etanercept was dramatic. She has remained symptom free under regular weekly to biweekly etanercept treatment for 2 years. We also reviewed the related literature and summarized the data of 10 Asian cases of TRAPS. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A factorization approach to next-to-leading-power threshold logarithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonocore, D.; Laenen, E.; Magnea, L.; Melville, S.; Vernazza, L.; White, C. D.

2015-06-01

Threshold logarithms become dominant in partonic cross sections when the selected final state forces gluon radiation to be soft or collinear. Such radiation factorizes at the level of scattering amplitudes, and this leads to the resummation of threshold logarithms which appear at leading power in the threshold variable. In this paper, we consider the extension of this factorization to include effects suppressed by a single power of the threshold variable. Building upon the Low-Burnett-Kroll-Del Duca (LBKD) theorem, we propose a decomposition of radiative amplitudes into universal building blocks, which contain all effects ultimately responsible for next-to-leading-power (NLP) threshold logarithms in hadronic cross sections for electroweak annihilation processes. In particular, we provide a NLO evaluation of the radiative jet function, responsible for the interference of next-to-soft and collinear effects in these cross sections. As a test, using our expression for the amplitude, we reproduce all abelian-like NLP threshold logarithms in the NNLO Drell-Yan cross section, including the interplay of real and virtual emissions. Our results are a significant step towards developing a generally applicable resummation formalism for NLP threshold effects, and illustrate the breakdown of next-to-soft theorems for gauge theory amplitudes at loop level.

EF24 suppresses maturation and inflammatory response in dendritic cells.

PubMed

Vilekar, Prachi; Awasthi, Shanjana; Natarajan, Aravindan; Anant, Shrikant; Awasthi, Vibhudutta

2012-07-01

Synthetic curcuminoid EF24 was studied for its effect on the maturation and inflammatory response in murine bone marrow derived immortalized JAWS II dendritic cells (DCs). EF24 reduced the expression of LPS-induced MHC class II, CD80 and CD86 molecules. It also abrogated the appearance of dendrites, a typical characteristic of mature DCs. These effects were accompanied by the inhibition of LPS-induced activation of transcription factor nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Simultaneous reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6] both at the mRNA and secreted levels was also observed. To investigate the dependency of LPS effects on MyD88 adaptor protein, we transfected JAWS II DCs with dominant negative MyD88 plasmid construct (MyD88-DN). EF24 reduced NF-κB activity and TNF-α secretion in a MyD88-dependent manner. These results suggest that EF24 modulates DCs by suppressing their maturation and reducing the secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Further, it appears that EF24 acts at or upstream of MyD88 in the LPS-TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway.

EF24 suppresses maturation and inflammatory response in dendritic cells

PubMed Central

Vilekar, Prachi; Natarajan, Aravindan; Anant, Shrikant

2012-01-01

Synthetic curcuminoid EF24 was studied for its effect on the maturation and inflammatory response in murine bone marrow derived immortalized JAWS II dendritic cells (DCs). EF24 reduced the expression of LPS-induced MHC class II, CD80 and CD86 molecules. It also abrogated the appearance of dendrites, a typical characteristic of mature DCs. These effects were accompanied by the inhibition of LPS-induced activation of transcription factor nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Simultaneous reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6] both at the mRNA and secreted levels was also observed. To investigate the dependency of LPS effects on MyD88 adaptor protein, we transfected JAWS II DCs with dominant negative MyD88 plasmid construct (MyD88-DN). EF24 reduced NF-κB activity and TNF-α secretion in a MyD88-dependent manner. These results suggest that EF24 modulates DCs by suppressing their maturation and reducing the secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Further, it appears that EF24 acts at or upstream of MyD88 in the LPS-TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway. PMID:22378503

Parental practices and willingness to ask for children's help later in life.

PubMed

Schooler, Carmi; Revell, Andrew J; Caplan, Leslie J

2007-05-01

We examine how parents' relationships with their 13- to 25-year-old offspring affect the parents' willingness to ask them for help with financial and personal problems 20 years later. Husbands and wives were interviewed in 1974 and 1994; a child was interviewed in 1974. We used two aspects of parental style, responsiveness and restrictive dominance, to predict parents' willingness to request help from a child 20 years later. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed the following: (a) mothers' willingness to ask an adult child for help with a personal problem was increased by higher levels of responsiveness; (b) mothers' willingness to ask for financial help was increased by responsive and decreased by restrictive-dominant maternal behavior; and (c) neither responsive nor restrictive-dominant paternal behavior affected fathers' later willingness to ask an adult child for help of either kind.

The effect of applied control strategy on the current-voltage correlation of a solid oxide fuel cell stack during dynamic operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szmyd, Janusz S.; Komatsu, Yosuke; Brus, Grzegorz; Ghigliazza, Francesco; Kimijima, Shinji; Ściążko, Anna

2014-09-01

This paper discusses the transient characteristics of the planar type SOFC cell stack, of which the standard output is 300 W. The transient response of the voltage to the manipulation of an electric current was investigated. The effects of the response and of the operating condition determined by the operating temperature of the stack were studied by mapping a current-voltage (I-V) correlation. The current-based fuel control (CBFC) was adopted for keeping the fuel utilization factor at constant while the value of the electric current was ramped at the constant rate. The present experimental study shows that the transient characteristics of the cell voltage are determined by primarily the operating temperature caused by the manipulation of the current. Particularly, the slope of the I-V curve and the overshoot found on the voltage was remarkably influenced by the operating temperature. The different values of the fuel utilization factor influence the height of the settled voltages. The CBFC has significance in determining the slope of the I-V characteristic, but the different values ofthe fuel utilization factor does not affect the slope as the operating temperature does. The CBFC essentially does not alter the amplitude of the overshoot on the voltage response, since this is dominated by the operating temperature and its change is caused by manipulating the current.

Debris-flow generation from recently burned watersheds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cannon, S.H.

2001-01-01

Evaluation of the erosional response of 95 recently burned drainage basins in Colorado, New Mexico and southern California to storm rainfall provides information on the conditions that result in fire-related debris flows. Debris flows were produced from only 37 of 95 (~40 percent) basins examined; the remaining basins produced either sediment-laden streamflow or no discernable response. Debris flows were thus not the prevalent response of the burned basins. The debris flows that did occur were most frequently the initial response to significant rainfall events. Although some hillslopes continued to erode and supply material to channels in response to subsequent rainfall events, debris flows were produced from only one burned basin following the initial erosive event. Within individual basins, debris flows initiated through both runoff and infiltration-triggered processes. The fact that not all burned basins produced debris flows suggests that specific geologic and geomorphic conditions may control the generation of fire-related debris flows. The factors that best distinguish between debris-flow producing drainages and those that produced sediment-laden streamflow are drainage-basin morphology and lithology, and the presence or absence of water-repellent soils. Basins underlain by sedimentary rocks were most likely to produce debris flows that contain large material, and sand- and gravel-dominated flows were generated primarily from terrain underlain by decomposed granite. Basin-area and relief thresholds define the morphologic conditions under which both types of debris flows occur. Debris flows containing large material are more likely to be produced from basins without water-repellent soils than from basins with water repellency. The occurrence of sand-and gravel-dominated debris flows depends on the presence of water-repellent soils.

Factors predicting language lateralization in patients with perisylvian vascular malformations

PubMed Central

Lee, Darrin J.; Pouratian, Nader; Bookheimer, Susan Y.; Martin, Neil A.

2017-01-01

Object The authors conducted a study to determine the factors associated with right-sided language dominance in patients with cerebrovascular malformations. Methods Twenty-two patients with either arteriovenous malformations (AVMs [15 cases]) or cavernous malformations (7 cases) underwent functional MR (fMR) imaging studies of language function; a 3.0-T head-only unit was used. Lateralization indices were calculated separately for Broca and Wernicke areas. Lesion size, Spetzler-Martin grade, and the distance between the lesion and anatomically defined language cortex were calculated for each patient. Results Right-sided language dominance occurred in 5 patients, all of whom had AVMs within 10 mm of canonical language areas. Three patients had right-sided language dominance in the Wernicke area alone whereas 2 had right-sided language dominance in both Broca and Wernicke areas. Wada testing and intraoperative electrocortical stimulation were performed as clinically indicated to corroborate fMR imaging findings. Conclusions The primary factor associated with right-sided language dominance was the AVM being within 10 mm of anatomically defined language areas. The lesion size and the Spetzler-Martin grade were not significant factors. Anomalous fMR imaging laterality was typically confined to the language area proximate to the lesion, with the distal language area remaining in the left hemisphere dominant. This study emphasizes the need to map each case individually in patients with left perisylvian AVMs. Assumptions about eloquent cortex based on anatomical landmarks (a key component of Spetzler-Martin grading) may have to be reconsidered. PMID:20302390

Global transcriptional profiling of a cold-tolerant rice variety under moderate cold stress reveals different cold stress response mechanisms.

PubMed

Zhao, Junliang; Zhang, Shaohong; Yang, Tifeng; Zeng, Zichong; Huang, Zhanghui; Liu, Qing; Wang, Xiaofei; Leach, Jan; Leung, Hei; Liu, Bin

2015-07-01

Gene expression profiling under severe cold stress (4°C) has been conducted in plants including rice. However, rice seedlings are frequently exposed to milder cold stresses under natural environments. To understand the responses of rice to milder cold stress, a moderately low temperature (8°C) was used for cold treatment prior to genome-wide profiling of gene expression in a cold-tolerant japonica variety, Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH). A total of 5557 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found at four time points during moderate cold stress. Both the DEGs and differentially expressed transcription factor genes were clustered into two groups based on their expression, suggesting a two-phase response to cold stress and a determinative role of transcription factors in the regulation of stress response. The induction of OsDREB2A under cold stress is reported for the first time in this study. Among the anti-oxidant enzyme genes, glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) were upregulated, suggesting that the glutathione system may serve as the main reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger in LTH. Changes in expression of genes in signal transduction pathways for auxin, abscisic acid (ABA) and salicylic acid (SA) imply their involvement in cold stress responses. The induction of ABA response genes and detection of enriched cis-elements in DEGs suggest that ABA signaling pathway plays a dominant role in the cold stress response. Our results suggest that rice responses to cold stress vary with the specific temperature imposed and the rice genotype. © 2014 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

Effects of climatic factors and ecosystem responses on the inter-annual variability of evapotranspiration in a coniferous plantation in subtropical China.

PubMed

Xu, Mingjie; Wen, Xuefa; Wang, Huimin; Zhang, Wenjiang; Dai, Xiaoqin; Song, Jie; Wang, Yidong; Fu, Xiaoli; Liu, Yunfen; Sun, Xiaomin; Yu, Guirui

2014-01-01

Because evapotranspiration (ET) is the second largest component of the water cycle and a critical process in terrestrial ecosystems, understanding the inter-annual variability of ET is important in the context of global climate change. Eight years of continuous eddy covariance measurements (2003-2010) in a subtropical coniferous plantation were used to investigate the impacts of climatic factors and ecosystem responses on the inter-annual variability of ET. The mean and standard deviation of annual ET for 2003-2010 were 786.9 and 103.4 mm (with a coefficient of variation of 13.1%), respectively. The inter-annual variability of ET was largely created in three periods: March, May-June, and October, which are the transition periods between seasons. A set of look-up table approaches were used to separate the sources of inter-annual variability of ET. The annual ETs were calculated by assuming that (a) both the climate and ecosystem responses among years are variable (Vcli-eco), (b) the climate is variable but the ecosystem responses are constant (Vcli), and (c) the climate is constant but ecosystem responses are variable (Veco). The ETs that were calculated under the above assumptions suggested that the inter-annual variability of ET was dominated by ecosystem responses and that there was a negative interaction between the effects of climate and ecosystem responses. These results suggested that for long-term predictions of water and energy balance in global climate change projections, the ecosystem responses must be taken into account to better constrain the uncertainties associated with estimation.

Effects of Climatic Factors and Ecosystem Responses on the Inter-Annual Variability of Evapotranspiration in a Coniferous Plantation in Subtropical China

PubMed Central

Xu, Mingjie; Wen, Xuefa; Wang, Huimin; Zhang, Wenjiang; Dai, Xiaoqin; Song, Jie; Wang, Yidong; Fu, Xiaoli; Liu, Yunfen; Sun, Xiaomin; Yu, Guirui

2014-01-01

Because evapotranspiration (ET) is the second largest component of the water cycle and a critical process in terrestrial ecosystems, understanding the inter-annual variability of ET is important in the context of global climate change. Eight years of continuous eddy covariance measurements (2003–2010) in a subtropical coniferous plantation were used to investigate the impacts of climatic factors and ecosystem responses on the inter-annual variability of ET. The mean and standard deviation of annual ET for 2003–2010 were 786.9 and 103.4 mm (with a coefficient of variation of 13.1%), respectively. The inter-annual variability of ET was largely created in three periods: March, May–June, and October, which are the transition periods between seasons. A set of look-up table approaches were used to separate the sources of inter-annual variability of ET. The annual ETs were calculated by assuming that (a) both the climate and ecosystem responses among years are variable (Vcli-eco), (b) the climate is variable but the ecosystem responses are constant (Vcli), and (c) the climate is constant but ecosystem responses are variable (Veco). The ETs that were calculated under the above assumptions suggested that the inter-annual variability of ET was dominated by ecosystem responses and that there was a negative interaction between the effects of climate and ecosystem responses. These results suggested that for long-term predictions of water and energy balance in global climate change projections, the ecosystem responses must be taken into account to better constrain the uncertainties associated with estimation. PMID:24465610

Social dynamics and the cortisol response to immobilization stress of the African wild dog, Lycaon pictus.

PubMed

de Villiers, M S; van Jaarsveld, A S; Meltzer, D G; Richardson, P R

1997-02-01

The aims of the study were to characterize the cortisol response to immobilization stress in African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and to investigate the relationship between stress and sociality in these pack-living canids. Ad lib. observations were made on a captive pack of 19 wild dogs. Individuals were classified as either dominant or subordinate. Cardinal and ordinal dominance indices were also calculated for pack members, as were three other behavioral indices. Active and passive dominance styles were distinguished. Serial blood samples were drawn from animals after chemical immobilization and again after ACTH challenge. The relationship among rank, plasma cortisol concentration, and behavioral style was investigated. When data were combined over the entire study period, there was no obvious relationship between rank and cortisol concentrations or cortisol responsiveness to immobilization stress. Instead, younger animals had higher cortisol concentrations than older ones. Age cohorts were also clearly separated on the basis of behavioral profiles. For males, these distinctions among age classes were especially apparent during the second part of the study period, when subadults occupied dominant positions in the hierarchy. Adult males maintained relatively low cortisol concentrations, despite being involved in and losing a high proportion of dominance interactions. Age-related differences in cortisol profiles of dominant individuals may be explained by differences in the style of dominance employed, with younger males using proportionately more active dominance (threats used to elicit submission). The separation of age classes according to rank, behavioral styles, and cortisol concentrations may reflect improved social skillfulness with age.

Browse evaluation of tall shrubs based on direct measurement of a management objective

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keigley, R.B.; Frisina, M.R.; Kitchen, Stanley G.; Pendleton, Rosemary L.; Monaco, Thomas A.; Vernon, Jason

2008-01-01

The monitoring of Geyer willow was based on the following management objective: Browsing will prevent fewer than 50 percent of Geyer willow shrubs from growing taller than 3 m . Three questions were addressed: (1) Is browsing a potential factor? (2) If so, can young plants grow taller than 3 meters? (3) If not, is browsing the dominant factor? All shrubs were intensely browsed. With a post-browsing growth rate of 5.0 cm per yr, no shrub could grow 3 m tall. Analyses of stem growth rate excluded dominant roles for climate and plant vigor. Browsing and stem age were the dominant factors that limited growth to 3 m tall.

Current and Potential Tree Locations in Tree Line Ecotone of Changbai Mountains, Northeast China: The Controlling Effects of Topography

PubMed Central

Zong, Shengwei; Wu, Zhengfang; Xu, Jiawei; Li, Ming; Gao, Xiaofeng; He, Hongshi; Du, Haibo; Wang, Lei

2014-01-01

Tree line ecotone in the Changbai Mountains has undergone large changes in the past decades. Tree locations show variations on the four sides of the mountains, especially on the northern and western sides, which has not been fully explained. Previous studies attributed such variations to the variations in temperature. However, in this study, we hypothesized that topographic controls were responsible for causing the variations in the tree locations in tree line ecotone of the Changbai Mountains. To test the hypothesis, we used IKONOS images and WorldView-1 image to identify the tree locations and developed a logistic regression model using topographical variables to identify the dominant controls of the tree locations. The results showed that aspect, wetness, and slope were dominant controls for tree locations on western side of the mountains, whereas altitude, SPI, and aspect were the dominant factors on northern side. The upmost altitude a tree can currently reach was 2140 m asl on the northern side and 2060 m asl on western side. The model predicted results showed that habitats above the current tree line on the both sides were available for trees. Tree recruitments under the current tree line may take advantage of the available habitats at higher elevations based on the current tree location. Our research confirmed the controlling effects of topography on the tree locations in the tree line ecotone of Changbai Mountains and suggested that it was essential to assess the tree response to topography in the research of tree line ecotone. PMID:25170918

Current and potential tree locations in tree line ecotone of Changbai Mountains, Northeast China: the controlling effects of topography.

PubMed

Zong, Shengwei; Wu, Zhengfang; Xu, Jiawei; Li, Ming; Gao, Xiaofeng; He, Hongshi; Du, Haibo; Wang, Lei

2014-01-01

Tree line ecotone in the Changbai Mountains has undergone large changes in the past decades. Tree locations show variations on the four sides of the mountains, especially on the northern and western sides, which has not been fully explained. Previous studies attributed such variations to the variations in temperature. However, in this study, we hypothesized that topographic controls were responsible for causing the variations in the tree locations in tree line ecotone of the Changbai Mountains. To test the hypothesis, we used IKONOS images and WorldView-1 image to identify the tree locations and developed a logistic regression model using topographical variables to identify the dominant controls of the tree locations. The results showed that aspect, wetness, and slope were dominant controls for tree locations on western side of the mountains, whereas altitude, SPI, and aspect were the dominant factors on northern side. The upmost altitude a tree can currently reach was 2140 m asl on the northern side and 2060 m asl on western side. The model predicted results showed that habitats above the current tree line on the both sides were available for trees. Tree recruitments under the current tree line may take advantage of the available habitats at higher elevations based on the current tree location. Our research confirmed the controlling effects of topography on the tree locations in the tree line ecotone of Changbai Mountains and suggested that it was essential to assess the tree response to topography in the research of tree line ecotone.

The role of extreme floods in estuary-coastal behaviour: contrasts between river- and tide-dominated microtidal estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, J. A. G.

2002-06-01

Contrasting modes of sedimentation and facies arrangement in tide- and river-dominated microtidal estuaries arise from the degree to which river or tidal discharge and sediment supply influences an estuary. A distinct facies gradation exists in tide-dominated systems from sandy, barrier/tidal delta-associated environments at the coast through deep mud-dominated middle reaches to fluvial sediment in the upper reaches. In river-dominated systems, fluvial sediment extends to the barrier and flood-tidal deltas are poorly developed or absent from the estuary. A number of independent observations during extreme floods on the South African coast indicate that these types of estuary respond differently to extreme river floods and that the mode of response corresponds to estuary type. Tide-dominated systems exhibit preferential erosion of noncohesive barrier and tidal delta sediments during river floods while the middle reaches remain little modified. River-dominated systems experience consistent erosion throughout their channel length during extreme floods. The increased cohesion of riverine sediments and stabilisation of bars by vegetation in river-dominated channels means that higher magnitude floods are necessary to effect significant morphological change. Barrier erosion, including the tidal delta, results in deposition of an ephemeral delta composed almost entirely of sands from these deposits in tide-dominated estuaries. In river-dominated systems, eroded channel sediments and material from the river catchment may augment barrier sediments in the ephemeral delta deposit. Post-flood, wave-reworking of ephemeral delta sediments acts to restore barriers to pre-flood morphology within a few years; however, in river-dominated systems, the additional sediment volume may produce significant coastal progradation that requires several years or decades to redistribute. These different modes of flood response mediated by the nature of the estuary have implications for coastal behaviour at the time scale of months to several decades. Estuary-coastal behaviour at river-dominated estuaries may be influenced for several decades by post-flood morphological adjustment. Tide-dominated estuaries, however, respond more rapidly in reworking flood-eroded sediment and are typically fully adjusted to modal wave and tidal conditions within a few months to a few years. In addition, the facies arrangement within the two estuary types renders tide-dominated estuaries more responsive to minor floods, while river-dominated estuaries, by virtue of more cohesive channel sediments, require greater discharges to effect significant morphological change.

Neuropsychological correlates of dominance, warmth, and extraversion in neurodegenerative disease.

PubMed

Sollberger, Marc; Stanley, Christine M; Ketelle, Robin; Beckman, Victoria; Growdon, Matthew; Jang, Jung; Neuhaus, John; Kramer, Joel H; Miller, Bruce L; Rankin, Katherine P

2012-06-01

Changes in personality differ qualitatively and quantitatively among patients with different neurodegenerative diseases, likely due to divergent patterns of regional neurodegeneration. Regional damage to circuits underlying various cognitive and emotional functions have been associated with interpersonal traits like dominance, extraversion, and warmth in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that personality may in part be mediated by these more basic neuropsychological functions. In this study, we hypothesized that different combinations of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and emotional measures would predict different interpersonal traits in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. A battery of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and emotional measures was administered to 286 patients with various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy, and informants described patients' dominance, extraversion, and warmth using the Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) personality questionnaire. Regression modeling was performed to identify which neuropsychological factors uniquely predicted current personality, controlling for age, gender, and premorbid personality. Social dominance covaried with patients' capacity for cognitive control and verbal fluency. Conversely, warmth did not rely on these executive or verbal skills, but covaried primarily with patients' capacity for emotional responsiveness. Extraversion, representing a blend of dominance and warmth, demonstrated an intermediate degree of relationship to both executive/verbal and emotional functions. These findings suggest that different personality traits are partly subserved by specific cognitive and emotional functions in neurodegenerative disease patients. While this study was performed in the context of brain damage, the results raise the question of whether individual differences in these neuropsychological abilities may also underlie variability in normal personality. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Neuropsychological correlates of dominance, warmth, and extraversion in neurodegenerative disease

PubMed Central

Sollberger, Marc; Stanley, Christine M.; Ketelle, Robin; Beckman, Victoria; Growdon, Matthew; Jang, Jung; Neuhaus, John; Kramer, Joel H.; Miller, Bruce L.; Rankin, Katherine P.

2011-01-01

Introduction Changes in personality differ qualitatively and quantitatively between patients with different neurodegenerative diseases, likely due to divergent patterns of regional neurodegeneration. Regional damage to circuits underlying various cognitive and emotional functions have been associated with interpersonal traits like dominance, extraversion, and warmth in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that personality may in part be mediated by these more basic neuropsychological functions. In this study, we hypothesized that different combinations of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and emotional measures would predict different interpersonal traits in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Methods A battery of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and emotional measures was administered to 286 patients with various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy, and informants described patients’ dominance, extraversion, and warmth using the Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) personality questionnaire. Regression modeling was performed to identify which neuropsychological factors uniquely predicted current personality, controlling for age, gender, and premorbid personality. Results Social dominance covaried with patients’ capacity for cognitive control and verbal fluency. Conversely, warmth did not rely on these executive or verbal skills, but covaried primarily with patients’ capacity for emotional responsiveness. Extraversion, representing a blend of dominance and warmth, demonstrated an intermediate degree of relationship to both executive/verbal and emotional functions. Conclusions These findings suggest that different personality traits are partly subserved by specific cognitive and emotional functions in neurodegenerative disease patients. While this study was performed in the context of brain damage, the results raise the question of whether individual differences in these neuropsychological abilities may also underlie variability in normal personality. PMID:21470601

Bayesian Diallel Analysis Reveals Mx1-Dependent and Mx1-Independent Effects on Response to Influenza A Virus in Mice.

PubMed

Maurizio, Paul L; Ferris, Martin T; Keele, Gregory R; Miller, Darla R; Shaw, Ginger D; Whitmore, Alan C; West, Ande; Morrison, Clayton R; Noll, Kelsey E; Plante, Kenneth S; Cockrell, Adam S; Threadgill, David W; Pardo-Manuel de Villena, Fernando; Baric, Ralph S; Heise, Mark T; Valdar, William

2018-02-02

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a respiratory pathogen that causes substantial morbidity and mortality during both seasonal and pandemic outbreaks. Infection outcomes in unexposed populations are affected by host genetics, but the host genetic architecture is not well understood. Here, we obtain a broad view of how heritable factors affect a mouse model of response to IAV infection using an 8 × 8 diallel of the eight inbred founder strains of the Collaborative Cross (CC). Expanding on a prior statistical framework for modeling treatment response in diallels, we explore how a range of heritable effects modify acute host response to IAV through 4 d postinfection. Heritable effects in aggregate explained ∼57% of the variance in IAV-induced weight loss. Much of this was attributable to a pattern of additive effects that became more prominent through day 4 postinfection and was consistent with previous reports of antiinfluenza myxovirus resistance 1 ( Mx1 ) polymorphisms segregating between these strains; these additive effects largely recapitulated haplotype effects observed at the Mx1 locus in a previous study of the incipient CC, and are also replicated here in a CC recombinant intercross population. Genetic dominance of protective Mx1 haplotypes was observed to differ by subspecies of origin: relative to the domesticus null Mx1 allele, musculus acts dominantly whereas castaneus acts additively. After controlling for Mx1 , heritable effects, though less distinct, accounted for ∼34% of the phenotypic variance. Implications for future mapping studies are discussed. Copyright © 2018 Maurizio et al.

Reproductive system, social organization, human disturbance and ecological dominance in native populations of the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata.

PubMed

Foucaud, Julien; Orivel, Jérôme; Fournier, Denis; Delabie, Jacques H C; Loiseau, Anne; Le Breton, Julien; Cerdan, Philippe; Estoup, Arnaud

2009-12-01

The invasive ant species Wasmannia auropunctata displays both ecologically dominant and non-dominant populations within its native range. Three factors could theoretically explain the ecological dominance of some native populations of W. auropunctata: (i) its clonal reproductive system, through demographic and/or adaptive advantages; (ii) its unicolonial social organization, through lower intraspecific and efficient interspecific competition; (iii) the human disturbance of its native range, through the modification of biotic and abiotic environmental conditions. We used microsatellite markers and behavioural tests to uncover the reproductive modes and social organization of dominant and non-dominant native populations in natural and human-modified habitats. Microsatellite and mtDNA data indicated that dominant and non-dominant native populations (supercolonies as determined by aggression tests) of W. auropunctata did not belong to different evolutionary units. We found that the reproductive system and the social organization are neither necessary nor sufficient to explain W. auropunctata ecological dominance. Dominance rather seems to be set off by unknown ecological factors altered by human activities, as all dominant populations were recorded in human-modified habitats. The clonal reproductive system found in some populations of W. auropunctata may however indirectly contribute to its ecological dominance by allowing the species to expand its environmental niche, through the fixation over time of specific combinations of divergent male and female genotypes. Unicoloniality may rather promote the range expansion of already dominant populations than actually trigger ecological dominance. The W. auropunctata model illustrates the strong impact of human disturbance on species' ecological features and the adaptive potential of clonal reproductive systems.

Psychosocial stress induces hyperphagia and exacerbates diet-induced insulin resistance and the manifestations of the Metabolic Syndrome.

PubMed

Sanghez, Valentina; Razzoli, Maria; Carobbio, Stefania; Campbell, Mark; McCallum, Jacob; Cero, Cheryl; Ceresini, Graziano; Cabassi, Aderville; Govoni, Paolo; Franceschini, Paolo; de Santis, Valentina; Gurney, Allison; Ninkovic, Ivana; Parmigiani, Stefano; Palanza, Paola; Vidal-Puig, Antonio; Bartolomucci, Alessandro

2013-12-01

Stress and hypercaloric food are recognized risk factors for obesity, Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). Given the complexity of these metabolic processes and the unavailability of animal models, there is poor understanding of their underlying mechanisms. We established a model of chronic psychosocial stress in which subordinate mice are vulnerable to weight gain while dominant mice are resilient. Subordinate mice fed a standard diet showed marked hyperphagia, high leptin, low adiponectin, and dyslipidemia. Despite these molecular signatures of MetS and T2D, subordinate mice fed a standard diet were still euglycemic. We hypothesized that stress predisposes subordinate mice to develop T2D when synergizing with other risk factors. High fat diet aggravated dyslipidemia and the MetS thus causing a pre-diabetes-like state in subordinate mice. Contrary to subordinates, dominant mice were fully protected from stress-induced metabolic disorders when fed both a standard- and a high fat-diet. Dominant mice showed a hyperphagic response that was similar to subordinate but, unlike subordinates, showed a significant increase in VO2, VCO2, and respiratory exchange ratio when compared to control mice. Overall, we demonstrated a robust stress- and social status-dependent effect on the development of MetS and T2D and provided insights on the physiological mechanisms. Our results are reminiscent of the effect of the individual socioeconomic status on human health and provide an animal model to study the underlying molecular mechanisms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary Study of the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET)

PubMed Central

Ruble, Lisa A.; Toland, Michael D.; Birdwhistell, Jessica L.; McGrew, John H.; Usher, Ellen L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a new measure, the Autism Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (ASSET) for its dimensionality, internal consistency, and construct validity derived in a sample of special education teachers (N = 44) of students with autism. Results indicate that all items reflect one dominant factor, teachers’ responses to items were internally consistent within the sample, and compared to a 100-point scale, a 6-point response scale is adequate. ASSET scores were found to be negatively correlated with scores on two subscale measures of teacher stress (i.e., self-doubt/need for support and disruption of the teaching process) but uncorrelated with teacher burnout scores. The ASSET is a promising tool that requires replication with larger samples. PMID:23976899

[Women's perceptions on intimate partner violence in Mexico].

PubMed

Agoff, Carolina; Rajsbaum, Ari; Herrera, Cristina

2006-01-01

To identify personal, cultural, and institutional factors that hinder the solution to domestic violence. In Quintana Roo, Coahuila, and Mexico City, 26 in-depth interviews with women currently suffering from intimate partner violence and others who had already found a solution were carried out, between May and November 2003. Among women's explanations to violence, it was possible to distinguish between causes (non intentional violence) and motives (intentional violence). Associated with these explanations, issues related to tolerance emerge, as well as attribution of responsibility. Moreover, the social ties of the women contribute to the acting out of gender roles and the justification or tolerance of conjugal abuse. The dominant values and norms of gender in society, shared by abused women and the community, are responsible for the perpetuation of intimate partner violence.

Composition and structure of Pinus koraiensis mixed forest respond to spatial climatic changes.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingli; Zhou, Yong; Zhou, Guangsheng; Xiao, Chunwang

2014-01-01

Although some studies have indicated that climate changes can affect Pinus koraiensis mixed forest, the responses of composition and structure of Pinus koraiensis mixed forests to climatic changes are unknown and the key climatic factors controlling the composition and structure of Pinus koraiensis mixed forest are uncertain. Field survey was conducted in the natural Pinus koraiensis mixed forests along a latitudinal gradient and an elevational gradient in Northeast China. In order to build the mathematical models for simulating the relationships of compositional and structural attributes of the Pinus koraiensis mixed forest with climatic and non-climatic factors, stepwise linear regression analyses were performed, incorporating 14 dependent variables and the linear and quadratic components of 9 factors. All the selected new models were computed under the +2°C and +10% precipitation and +4°C and +10% precipitation scenarios. The Max Temperature of Warmest Month, Mean Temperature of Warmest Quarter and Precipitation of Wettest Month were observed to be key climatic factors controlling the stand densities and total basal areas of Pinus koraiensis mixed forest. Increased summer temperatures and precipitations strongly enhanced the stand densities and total basal areas of broadleaf trees but had little effect on Pinus koraiensis under the +2°C and +10% precipitation scenario and +4°C and +10% precipitation scenario. These results show that the Max Temperature of Warmest Month, Mean Temperature of Warmest Quarter and Precipitation of Wettest Month are key climatic factors which shape the composition and structure of Pinus koraiensis mixed forest. Although the Pinus koraiensis would persist, the current forests dominated by Pinus koraiensis in the region would all shift and become broadleaf-dominated forests due to the dramatic increase of broadleaf trees under the future global warming and increased precipitation.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha induces gamma-glutamyltransferase expression via nuclear factor-kappaB in cooperation with Sp1.

PubMed

Reuter, Simone; Schnekenburger, Michael; Cristofanon, Silvia; Buck, Isabelle; Teiten, Marie-Hélène; Daubeuf, Sandrine; Eifes, Serge; Dicato, Mario; Aggarwal, Bharat B; Visvikis, Athanase; Diederich, Marc

2009-02-01

Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) cleaves the gamma-glutamyl moiety of glutathione (GSH), an endogenous antioxidant, and is involved in mercapturic acid metabolism and in cancer drug resistance when overexpressed. Moreover, GGT converts leukotriene (LT) C4 into LTD4 implicated in various inflammatory pathologies. So far the effect of inflammatory stimuli on regulation of GGT expression and activity remained to be addressed. We found that the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) induced GGT promoter transactivation, mRNA and protein synthesis, as well as enzymatic activity. Remicade, a clinically used anti-TNFalpha antibody, small interfering RNA (siRNA) against p50 and p65 nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) isoforms, curcumin, a well characterized natural NF-kappaB inhibitor, as well as a dominant negative inhibitor of kappaB alpha (IkappaBalpha), prevented GGT activation at various levels, illustrating the involvement of this signaling pathway in TNFalpha-induced stimulation. Over-expression of receptor of TNFalpha-1 (TNFR1), TNFR-associated factor-2 (TRAF2), TNFR-1 associated death domain (TRADD), dominant negative (DN) IkappaBalpha or NF-kappaB p65 further confirmed GGT promoter activation via NF-kappaB. Linker insertion mutagenesis of 536 bp of the proximal GGT promoter revealed NF-kappaB and Sp1 binding sites at -110 and -78 relative to the transcription start site, responsible for basal GGT transcription. Mutation of the NF-kappaB site located at -110 additionally inhibited TNFalpha-induced promoter induction. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays confirmed mutagenesis results and further demonstrated that TNFalpha treatment induced in vivo binding of both NF-kappaB and Sp1, explaining increased GGT expression, and led to RNA polymerase II recruitment under inflammatory conditions.

Soil and vegetation carbon turnover times across forest biomes in eastern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jingsong; Niu, Shuli

2017-04-01

1. Resent studies reveal that terrestrial biosphere is now a net carbon (C) sink for atmospheric C dixoide (CO2), however, whether this C sink can persist with climate change is still uncertain. Such uncertainty comes not only from C input, but also largely from C turnover times in an ecosystem. Knowledge of C turnover times is critical for modelling C cycle and evaluating C sink potential. Our current understanding of how long C can be stored in soils and vegetation and what are their controlling factors are still poorly understood. 2. We used C stocks from 1087 plots in soils and 2753 plots in vegetation and investigated the spatial patterns and controlling factors of C turnover times across the forest transect in the eastern China. 3. Our results showed a clear latitudinal pattern of C turnover times, with the lowest turnover times in the low-latitude zones and highest values in the high-latitude. Mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) were the most important controlling factors on the soil C turnover times while forest age accounted for the most majority of variations in the vegetation C turnover times. Our findings also indicated that forest origin (planted forest, natural forest) was also responsible for the variations of vegetation C turnover times while forest type and soil properties were not the dominant controlling factors. 4. Our study highlights different dominant controlling factors on the soils and vegetation C turnover times and different mechanisms underlying above- and below-ground C turnover. The findings can help to better understand and reduce the large uncertainty in predictive models of the coupled carbon-climate system.

How multiple factors control evapotranspiration in North America evergreen needleleaf forests.

PubMed

Chen, Yueming; Xue, Yueju; Hu, Yueming

2018-05-01

Identifying the factors dominating ecosystem water flux is a critical step for predicting evapotranspiration (ET). Here, the fuzzy rough set with binary shuffled frog leaping (BSFL-FRSA) was used to identify both individual factors and multi-factor combinations that dominate the half-hourly ET variation at evergreen needleleaf forests (ENFs) sites across three different climatic zones in the North America. Among 21factors, air temperature (TA), atmospheric CO 2 concentration (CCO 2 ), soil temperature (TS), soil water content (SWC) and net radiation (NETRAD) were evaluated as dominant single factors, contributed to the ET variation averaged for all ENF sites by 48%, 36%, 32%, 18% and 13%, respectively. While the importance order would vary with climatic zones, and TA was assessed as the most influential factor at a single climatic zone level, counting a contribution rate of 54.7%, 49.9%, and 38.6% in the subarctic, warm summer continental, and Mediterranean climatic zones, respectively. In view of impacts of each multi-factors combination on ET, both TA and CCO 2 made a contribution of 71% across three climate zones; the combination of TA, CCO 2 and NETRAD was evaluated the most dominant at Mediterranean and subarctic ENF sites, and the combination of TA, CCO 2 and TS at warm summer continental sites. Our results suggest that temperature was most critical for ET variation at the warm summer continental ENF. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

FGF-23 transgenic mice demonstrate hypophosphatemic rickets with reduced expression of sodium phosphate cotransporter type IIa.

PubMed

Shimada, Takashi; Urakawa, Itaru; Yamazaki, Yuji; Hasegawa, Hisashi; Hino, Rieko; Yoneya, Takashi; Takeuchi, Yasuhiro; Fujita, Toshiro; Fukumoto, Seiji; Yamashita, Takeyoshi

2004-02-06

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23 was identified as a causative factor of tumor-induced osteomalacia and also as a responsible gene for autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets. To clarify the pathophysiological roles of FGF-23 in these diseases, we generated its transgenic mice. The transgenic mice expressing human FGF-23 reproduced the common clinical features of these diseases such as hypophosphatemia probably due to increased renal phosphate wasting, inappropriately low serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D level, and rachitic bone. The renal phosphate wasting in the transgenic mice was accompanied by the reduced expression of sodium phosphate cotransporter type IIa in renal proximal tubules. These results reinforce the notion that the excessive action of FGF-23 plays a causative role in the development of several hypophosphatemic rickets/osteomalacia.

Regulatory Divergence between Parental Alleles Determines Gene Expression Patterns in Hybrids

PubMed Central

Combes, Marie-Christine; Hueber, Yann; Dereeper, Alexis; Rialle, Stéphanie; Herrera, Juan-Carlos; Lashermes, Philippe

2015-01-01

Both hybridization and allopolyploidization generate novel phenotypes by conciliating divergent genomes and regulatory networks in the same cellular context. To understand the rewiring of gene expression in hybrids, the total expression of 21,025 genes and the allele-specific expression of over 11,000 genes were quantified in interspecific hybrids and their parental species, Coffea canephora and Coffea eugenioides using RNA-seq technology. Between parental species, cis- and trans-regulatory divergences affected around 32% and 35% of analyzed genes, respectively, with nearly 17% of them showing both. The relative importance of trans-regulatory divergences between both species could be related to their low genetic divergence and perennial habit. In hybrids, among divergently expressed genes between parental species and hybrids, 77% was expressed like one parent (expression level dominance), including 65% like C. eugenioides. Gene expression was shown to result from the expression of both alleles affected by intertwined parental trans-regulatory factors. A strong impact of C. eugenioides trans-regulatory factors on the upregulation of C. canephora alleles was revealed. The gene expression patterns appeared determined by complex combinations of cis- and trans-regulatory divergences. In particular, the observed biased expression level dominance seemed to be derived from the asymmetric effects of trans-regulatory parental factors on regulation of alleles. More generally, this study illustrates the effects of divergent trans-regulatory parental factors on the gene expression pattern in hybrids. The characteristics of the transcriptional response to hybridization appear to be determined by the compatibility of gene regulatory networks and therefore depend on genetic divergences between the parental species and their evolutionary history. PMID:25819221

Surface Runoff Threshold Responses to Rainfall Intensity, Scale, and Land Use Type, Change and Disturbance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhaskar, A.; Kampf, S. K.; Green, T. R.; Wilson, C.; Wagenbrenner, J.; Erksine, R. H.

2017-12-01

The dominance of infiltration-excess (Hortonian) overland flow can be determined by how well a rainfall intensity threshold predicts streamflow response. Areas in which we would expect infiltration-excess overland flow to dominate include urban, bedrock, desert pavement, and lands disturbed by vegetation removal (e.g., after a fire burn or fallow agricultural lands). Using a transferable method of identifying the existence of thresholds, we compare the following sites to investigate their hydrologic responses to 60-minute rainfall intensities: desert pavement sites in Arizona (Walnut Gulch and Yuma Proving Ground), post-fire sites in a forested, mountainous burn area in north-central Colorado (High Park Fire), an area of northeastern Colorado Plains that has transitioned from dryland agriculture to conservation reserve (Drake Farm), and watersheds in suburban Baltimore, Maryland which range from less than 5% to over 50% impervious surface cover. We observed that at desert sites, the necessary threshold of rainfall intensity to produce flow increased with watershed size. In burned watersheds, watershed size did not have a clear effect on rainfall thresholds, but thresholds increased with time after burning, with streamflow no longer exhibiting clear threshold responses after the third year post-fire. At the agricultural site, the frequency of runoff events decreased during the transition from cultivated crops to mixed perennial native grasses. In an area where the natural land cover (forested) would be not dominated by infiltration-excess overland flow, urbanization greatly lowered the rainfall thresholds needed for hydrologic response. This work contributes to building a predictive framework for identifying what naturally-occurring landscapes are dominated by infiltration-excess overland flow, and how land use change could shift the dominance of infiltration-excess overland flow. Characterizing the driving mechanism for streamflow generation will allow better prediction of hydrologic response to rainfall events.

Endocrine mediated phenotypic plasticity: condition-dependent effects of juvenile hormone on dominance and fertility of wasp queens.

PubMed

Tibbetts, Elizabeth A; Izzo, Amanda S

2009-11-01

There has been increasing interest in the mechanisms that mediate behavioral and physiological plasticity across individuals with similar genotypes. Some of the most dramatic plasticity is found within and between social insect castes. For example, Polistes wasp queens can nest alone, dominate a group of cooperative queens, or act as worker-like subordinates who rarely reproduce. Previous work suggests that condition-dependent endocrine responses may play a role in plasticity between castes in the hymenoptera. Here, we test whether condition-dependent endocrine responses influence plasticity within castes in the wasp Polistes dominulus. We experimentally manipulate juvenile hormone (JH) titers in nest-founding queens and assess whether JH mediates variation in behavior and physiology. JH generally increased dominance and fertility of queens, but JH's effects were not uniform across individuals. JH had a stronger effect on the dominance and fertility of large individuals and individuals with facial patterns advertising high quality than on the dominance and fertility of small individuals and those advertising low quality. These results demonstrate that JH has condition-dependent effects. As such, they clarify how JH can mediate different behaviors in well nourished queens and poorly nourished workers. Many Polistes queens nest cooperatively with other queens, so condition-dependent hormonal responses provide a mechanism for queens to adaptively allocate energy based on their probability of successfully becoming the dominant queen. Research on the endocrine basis of plasticity often focuses on variation in endocrine titers alone. However, differential endocrine responses are likely to be a widespread mechanism mediating behavioral and physiological plasticity.

Activity enhances dopaminergic long-duration response in Parkinson disease

PubMed Central

Auinger, Peggy; Fahn, Stanley; Oakes, David; Shoulson, Ira; Kieburtz, Karl; Rudolph, Alice; Marek, Kenneth; Seibyl, John; Lang, Anthony; Olanow, C. Warren; Tanner, Caroline; Schifitto, Giovanni; Zhao, Hongwei; Reyes, Lydia; Shinaman, Aileen; Comella, Cynthia L.; Goetz, Christopher; Blasucci, Lucia M.; Samanta, Johan; Stacy, Mark; Williamson, Kelli; Harrigan, Mary; Greene, Paul; Ford, Blair; Moskowitz, Carol; Truong, Daniel D.; Pathak, Mayank; Jankovic, Joseph; Ondo, William; Atassi, Farah; Hunter, Christine; Jacques, Carol; Friedman, Joseph H.; Lannon, Margaret; Russell, David S.; Jennings, Danna; Fussell, Barbara; Standaert, David; Schwarzschild, Michael A.; Growdon, John H.; Tennis, Marsha; Gauthier, Serge; Panisset, Michel; Hall, Jean; Gancher, Stephen; Hammerstad, John P.; Stone, Claudia; Alexander-Brown, Barbara; Factor, Stewart A.; Molho, Eric; Brown, Diane; Evans, Sharon; Clark, Jeffrey; Manyam, Bala; Simpson, Patricia; Wulbrecht, Brian; Whetteckey, Jacqueline; Martin, Wayne; Roberts, Ted; King, Pamela; Hauser, Robert; Zesiewicz, Theresa; Gauger, Lisa; Trugman, Joel; Wooten, G. Frederick; Rost-Ruffner, Elke; Perlmutter, Joel; Racette, Brad A.; Suchowersky, Oksana; Ranawaya, Ranjit; Wood, Susan; Pantella, Carol; Kurlan, Roger; Richard, Irene; Pearson, Nancy; Caviness, John N.; Adler, Charles; Lind, Marlene; Simuni, Tanya; Siderowf, Andrew; Colcher, Amy; Lloyd, Mary; Weiner, William; Shulman, Lisa; Koller, William; Lyons, Kelly; Feldman, Robert G.; Saint-Hilaire, Marie H.; Ellias, Samuel; Thomas, Cathi-Ann; Juncos, Jorge; Watts, Ray; Partlow, Anna; Tetrud, James; Togasaki, Daniel M.; Stewart, Tracy; Mark, Margery H.; Sage, Jacob I.; Caputo, Debbie; Gould, Harry; Rao, Jayaraman; McKendrick, Ann; Brin, Mitchell; Danisi, Fabio; Benabou, Reina; Hubble, Jean; Paulson, George W.; Reider, Carson; Birnbaum, Alex; Miyasaki, Janis; Johnston, Lisa; So, Julie; Pahwa, Rajesh; Dubinsky, Richard M.; Wszolek, Zbigniew; Uitti, Ryan; Turk, Margaret; Tuite, Paul; Rottenberg, David; Hansen, Joy; Ramos, Serrano; Waters, Cheryl; Lew, Mark; Welsh, Mickie; Kawai, Connie; O'Brien, Christopher; Kumar, Rajeev; Seeberger, Lauren; Judd, Deborah; Barclay, C. Lynn; Grimes, David A.; Sutherland, Laura; Dawson, Ted; Reich, Stephen; Dunlop, Rebecca; Albin, Roger; Frey, Kirk; Wernette, Kristine; Fahn, Stanley; Oakes, David; Shoulson, Ira; Kieburtz, Karl; Rudolph, Alice; Marek, Kenneth; Seibyl, John; Lang, Anthony; Olanow, C. Warren; Tanner, Caroline; Schifitto, Giovanni; Zhao, Hongwei; Reyes, Lydia; Shinaman, Aileen; Comella, Cynthia L.; Goetz, Christopher; Blasucci, Lucia M.; Samanta, Johan; Stacy, Mark; Williamson, Kelli; Harrigan, Mary; Greene, Paul; Ford, Blair; Moskowitz, Carol; Truong, Daniel D.; Pathak, Mayank; Jankovic, Joseph; Ondo, William; Atassi, Farah; Hunter, Christine; Jacques, Carol; Friedman, Joseph H.; Lannon, Margaret; Russell, David S.; Jennings, Danna; Fussell, Barbara; Standaert, David; Schwarzschild, Michael A.; Growdon, John H.; Tennis, Marsha; Gauthier, Serge; Panisset, Michel; Hall, Jean; Gancher, Stephen; Hammerstad, John P.; Stone, Claudia; Alexander-Brown, Barbara; Factor, Stewart A.; Molho, Eric; Brown, Diane; Evans, Sharon; Clark, Jeffrey; Manyam, Bala; Simpson, Patricia; Wulbrecht, Brian; Whetteckey, Jacqueline; Martin, Wayne; Roberts, Ted; King, Pamela; Hauser, Robert; Zesiewicz, Theresa; Gauger, Lisa; Trugman, Joel; Wooten, G. Frederick; Rost-Ruffner, Elke; Perlmutter, Joel; Racette, Brad A.; Suchowersky, Oksana; Ranawaya, Ranjit; Wood, Susan; Pantella, Carol; Kurlan, Roger; Richard, Irene; Pearson, Nancy; Caviness, John N.; Adler, Charles; Lind, Marlene; Simuni, Tanya; Siderowf, Andrew; Colcher, Amy; Lloyd, Mary; Weiner, William; Shulman, Lisa; Koller, William; Lyons, Kelly; Feldman, Robert G.; Saint-Hilaire, Marie H.; Ellias, Samuel; Thomas, Cathi-Ann; Juncos, Jorge; Watts, Ray; Partlow, Anna; Tetrud, James; Togasaki, Daniel M.; Stewart, Tracy; Mark, Margery H.; Sage, Jacob I.; Caputo, Debbie; Gould, Harry; Rao, Jayaraman; McKendrick, Ann; Brin, Mitchell; Danisi, Fabio; Benabou, Reina; Hubble, Jean; Paulson, George W.; Reider, Carson; Birnbaum, Alex; Miyasaki, Janis; Johnston, Lisa; So, Julie; Pahwa, Rajesh; Dubinsky, Richard M.; Wszolek, Zbigniew; Uitti, Ryan; Turk, Margaret; Tuite, Paul; Rottenberg, David; Hansen, Joy; Ramos, Serrano; Waters, Cheryl; Lew, Mark; Welsh, Mickie; Kawai, Connie; O'Brien, Christopher; Kumar, Rajeev; Seeberger, Lauren; Judd, Deborah; Barclay, C. Lynn; Grimes, David A.; Sutherland, Laura; Dawson, Ted; Reich, Stephen; Dunlop, Rebecca; Albin, Roger; Frey, Kirk; Wernette, Kristine; Mendis, Tilak

2012-01-01

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that dopamine-dependent motor learning mechanism underlies the long-duration response to levodopa in Parkinson disease (PD) based on our studies in a mouse model. By data-mining the motor task performance in dominant and nondominant hands of the subjects in a double-blind randomized trial of levodopa therapy, the effects of activity and dopamine therapy were examined. Methods: We data-mined the Earlier versus Later Levodopa Therapy in Parkinson's Disease (ELLDOPA) study published in 2005 and performed statistical analysis comparing the effects of levodopa and dominance of handedness over 42 weeks. Results: The mean change in finger-tapping counts from baseline before the initiation of therapy to predose at 9 weeks and 40 weeks increased more in the dominant compared to nondominant hand in levodopa-treated subjects in a dose-dependent fashion. There was no significant difference in dominant vs nondominant hands in the placebo group. The short-duration response assessed by the difference of postdose performance compared to predose performance at the same visit did not show any significant difference between dominant vs nondominant hands. Conclusions: Active use of the dominant hand and dopamine replacement therapy produces synergistic effect on long-lasting motor task performance during “off” medication state. Such effect was confined to dopamine-responsive symptoms and not seen in dopamine-resistant symptoms such as gait and balance. We propose that long-lasting motor learning facilitated by activity and dopamine is a form of disease modification that is often seen in trials of medications that have symptomatic effects. PMID:22459675

Small Town Insurgency: The Struggle for Information Dominance to Reduce Gang Violence

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

focuses on the importance of information dominance , there has been little research into component factors that might either promote, or inhibit, the... information dominance with respect to a counter-gang strategy. Through comparative analysis, our research suggests that improving relationships between

Using item response theory to investigate the structure of anticipated affect: do self-reports about future affective reactions conform to typical or maximal models?

PubMed

Zampetakis, Leonidas A; Lerakis, Manolis; Kafetsios, Konstantinos; Moustakis, Vassilis

2015-01-01

In the present research, we used item response theory (IRT) to examine whether effective predictions (anticipated affect) conforms to a typical (i.e., what people usually do) or a maximal behavior process (i.e., what people can do). The former, correspond to non-monotonic ideal point IRT models, whereas the latter correspond to monotonic dominance IRT models. A convenience, cross-sectional student sample (N = 1624) was used. Participants were asked to report on anticipated positive and negative affect around a hypothetical event (emotions surrounding the start of a new business). We carried out analysis comparing graded response model (GRM), a dominance IRT model, against generalized graded unfolding model, an unfolding IRT model. We found that the GRM provided a better fit to the data. Findings suggest that the self-report responses to anticipated affect conform to dominance response process (i.e., maximal behavior). The paper also discusses implications for a growing literature on anticipated affect.

Using item response theory to investigate the structure of anticipated affect: do self-reports about future affective reactions conform to typical or maximal models?

PubMed Central

Zampetakis, Leonidas A.; Lerakis, Manolis; Kafetsios, Konstantinos; Moustakis, Vassilis

2015-01-01

In the present research, we used item response theory (IRT) to examine whether effective predictions (anticipated affect) conforms to a typical (i.e., what people usually do) or a maximal behavior process (i.e., what people can do). The former, correspond to non-monotonic ideal point IRT models, whereas the latter correspond to monotonic dominance IRT models. A convenience, cross-sectional student sample (N = 1624) was used. Participants were asked to report on anticipated positive and negative affect around a hypothetical event (emotions surrounding the start of a new business). We carried out analysis comparing graded response model (GRM), a dominance IRT model, against generalized graded unfolding model, an unfolding IRT model. We found that the GRM provided a better fit to the data. Findings suggest that the self-report responses to anticipated affect conform to dominance response process (i.e., maximal behavior). The paper also discusses implications for a growing literature on anticipated affect. PMID:26441806

Lunar architecture and urbanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sherwood, Brent

1992-09-01

Human civilization and architecture have defined each other for over 5000 years on Earth. Even in the novel environment of space, persistent issues of human urbanism will eclipse, within a historically short time, the technical challenges of space settlement that dominate our current view. By adding modern topics in space engineering, planetology, life support, human factors, material invention, and conservation to their already renaissance array of expertise, urban designers can responsibly apply ancient, proven standards to the exciting new opportunities afforded by space. Inescapable facts about the Moon set real boundaries within which tenable lunar urbanism and its component architecture must eventually develop.

Erosion of composite materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Springer, G. S.

1980-01-01

A model for describing the response of uncoated and coated fiber reinforced composites subjected to repeated impingements of liquid (rain) droplets is presented. The model is based on the concept that fatigue is the dominant factor in the erosion process. Algebraic expressions are provided which give the incubation period, the rate of mass loss past the incubation period, and the total mass loss of the material during rain impact. The influence of material properties on erosion damage and the protection offered by different coatings are discussed and the use of the model in the design in the design of structures and components is illustrated.

Lunar architecture and urbanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherwood, Brent

1992-01-01

Human civilization and architecture have defined each other for over 5000 years on Earth. Even in the novel environment of space, persistent issues of human urbanism will eclipse, within a historically short time, the technical challenges of space settlement that dominate our current view. By adding modern topics in space engineering, planetology, life support, human factors, material invention, and conservation to their already renaissance array of expertise, urban designers can responsibly apply ancient, proven standards to the exciting new opportunities afforded by space. Inescapable facts about the Moon set real boundaries within which tenable lunar urbanism and its component architecture must eventually develop.

Hysteresis and parent-metabolite analyses unravel characteristic pesticide transport mechanisms in a mixed land use catchment.

PubMed

Tang, Ting; Stamm, Christian; van Griensven, Ann; Seuntjens, Piet; Bronders, Jan

2017-11-01

To properly estimate and manage pesticide occurrence in urban rivers, it is essential, but often highly challenging, to identify the key pesticide transport pathways in association to the main sources. This study examined the concentration-discharge hysteresis behaviour (hysteresis analysis) for three pesticides and the parent-metabolite concentration dynamics for two metabolites at sites with different levels of urban influence in a mixed land use catchment (25 km 2 ) within the Swiss Greifensee area, aiming to identify the dominant pesticide transport pathways. Combining an adapted hysteresis classification framework with prior knowledge of the field conditions and pesticide usage, we demonstrated the possibility of using hysteresis analysis to qualitatively infer the dominant pesticide transport pathway in mixed land-use catchments. The analysis showed that hysteresis types, and therefore the dominant transport pathway, vary among pesticides, sites and rainfall events. Hysteresis loops mostly correspond to dominant transport by flow components with intermediate response time, although pesticide sources indicate that fast transport pathways are responsible in most cases (e.g. urban runoff and combined sewer overflows). The discrepancy suggests the fast transport pathways can be slowed down due to catchment storages, such as topographic depressions in agricultural areas, a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and other artificial storage units (e.g. retention basins) in urban areas. Moreover, the WWTP was identified as an important factor modifying the parent-metabolite concentration dynamics during rainfall events. To properly predict and manage pesticide occurrence in catchments of mixed land uses, the hydrological delaying effect and chemical processes within the artificial structures need to be accounted for, in addition to the catchment hydrology and the diversity of pesticide sources. This study demonstrates that in catchments with diverse pesticide sources and complex transport mechanisms, the adapted hysteresis analysis can help to improve our understanding on pesticide transport behaviours and provide a basis for effective management strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Internal Construct Validity and Unidimensionality of the Brachial Assessment Tool, A Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Brachial Plexus Injury.

PubMed

Hill, Bridget; Pallant, Julie; Williams, Gavin; Olver, John; Ferris, Scott; Bialocerkowski, Andrea

2016-12-01

To evaluate the internal construct validity and dimensionality of a new patient-reported outcome measure for people with traumatic brachial plexus injury (BPI) based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health definition of activity. Cross-sectional study. Outpatient clinics. Adults (age range, 18-82y) with a traumatic BPI (N=106). There were 106 people with BPI who completed a 51-item 5-response questionnaire. Responses were analyzed in 4 phases (missing responses, item correlations, exploratory factor analysis, and Rasch analysis) to evaluate the properties of fit to the Rasch model, threshold response, local dependency, dimensionality, differential item functioning, and targeting. Not applicable, as this study addresses the development of an outcome measure. Six items were deleted for missing responses, and 10 were deleted for high interitem correlations >.81. The remaining 35 items, while demonstrating fit to the Rasch model, showed evidence of local dependency and multidimensionality. Items were divided into 3 subscales: dressing and grooming (8 items), arm and hand (17 items), and no hand (6 items). All 3 subscales demonstrated fit to the model with no local dependency, minimal disordered thresholds, no unidimensionality or differential item functioning for age, time postinjury, or self-selected dominance. Subscales were combined into 3 subtests and demonstrated fit to the model, no misfit, and unidimensionality, allowing calculation of a summary score. This preliminary analysis supports the internal construct validity of the Brachial Assessment Tool, a unidimensional targeted 4-response patient-reported outcome measure designed to solely assess activity after traumatic BPI regardless of level of injury, age at recruitment, premorbid limb dominance, and time postinjury. Further examination is required to determine test-retest reliability and responsiveness. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different patterns of modality dominance across development.

PubMed

Barnhart, Wesley R; Rivera, Samuel; Robinson, Christopher W

2018-01-01

The present study sought to better understand how children, young adults, and older adults attend and respond to multisensory information. In Experiment 1, young adults were presented with two spoken words, two pictures, or two word-picture pairings and they had to determine if the two stimuli/pairings were exactly the same or different. Pairing the words and pictures together slowed down visual but not auditory response times and delayed the latency of first fixations, both of which are consistent with a proposed mechanism underlying auditory dominance. Experiment 2 examined the development of modality dominance in children, young adults, and older adults. Cross-modal presentation attenuated visual accuracy and slowed down visual response times in children, whereas older adults showed the opposite pattern, with cross-modal presentation attenuating auditory accuracy and slowing down auditory response times. Cross-modal presentation also delayed first fixations in children and young adults. Mechanisms underlying modality dominance and multisensory processing are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Variants in the interleukin 8 gene and the response to inhaled bronchodilators in cystic fibrosis.

PubMed

Furlan, Larissa Lazzarini; Ribeiro, José Dirceu; Bertuzzo, Carmen Sílvia; Salomão Junior, João Batista; Souza, Dorotéia Rossi Silva; Marson, Fernando Augusto Lima

Interleukin 8 protein promotes inflammatory responses, even in airways. The presence of interleukin 8 gene variants causes altered inflammatory responses and possibly varied responses to inhaled bronchodilators. Thus, this study analyzed the interleukin 8 variants (rs4073, rs2227306, and rs2227307) and their association with the response to inhaled bronchodilators in cystic fibrosis patients. Analysis of interleukin 8 gene variants was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism of polymerase chain reaction. The association between spirometry markers and the response to inhaled bronchodilators was evaluated by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The analysis included all cystic fibrosis patients, and subsequently patients with two mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene belonging to classes I to III. This study included 186 cystic fibrosis patients. There was no association of the rs2227307 variant with the response to inhaled bronchodilators. The rs2227306 variant was associated with FEF 50% in the dominant group and in the group with two identified mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene. The rs4073 variant was associated with spirometry markers in four genetic models: co-dominant (FEF 25-75% and FEF 75% ), dominant (FEV 1 , FEF 50% , FEF 75% , and FEF 25-75% ), recessive (FEF 75% and FEF 25-75% ), and over-dominant (FEV 1 /FVC). This study highlighted the importance of the rs4073 variant of the interleukin 8 gene, regarding response to inhaled bronchodilators, and of the assessment of mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Understanding processes at the origin of species flocks with a focus on the marine Antarctic fauna.

PubMed

Chenuil, Anne; Saucède, Thomas; Hemery, Lenaïg G; Eléaume, Marc; Féral, Jean-Pierre; Améziane, Nadia; David, Bruno; Lecointre, Guillaume; Havermans, Charlotte

2018-02-01

Species flocks (SFs) fascinate evolutionary biologists who wonder whether such striking diversification can be driven by normal evolutionary processes. Multiple definitions of SFs have hindered the study of their origins. Previous studies identified a monophyletic taxon as a SF if it displays high speciosity in an area in which it is endemic (criterion 1), high ecological diversity among species (criterion 2), and if it dominates the habitat in terms of biomass (criterion 3); we used these criteria in our analyses. Our starting hypothesis is that normal evolutionary processes may provide a sufficient explanation for most SFs. We thus clearly separate each criterion and identify which biological (intrinsic) and environmental (extrinsic) traits are most favourable to their realization. The first part focuses on evolutionary processes. We highlight that some popular putative causes of SFs, such as key innovations or ecological speciation, are neither necessary nor sufficient to fulfill some or all of the three criteria. Initial differentiation mechanisms are diverse and difficult to identify a posteriori because a primary differentiation of one type (genetic, ecological or geographical) often promotes other types of differentiation. Furthermore, the criteria are not independent: positive feedbacks between speciosity and ecological diversity among species are expected whatever the initial cause of differentiation, and ecological diversity should enhance habitat dominance at the clade level. We then identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors that favour each criterion. Low dispersal emerges as a convincing driver of speciosity. Except for a genomic architecture favouring ecological speciation, for which assessment is difficult, high effective population sizes are the single intrinsic factor that directly enhances speciosity, ecological diversity and habitat dominance. No extrinsic factor appeared to enhance all criteria simultaneously but a combination of factors (insularity, fragmentation and environmental stability) may favour the three criteria, although the effect is indirect for habitat dominance. We then apply this analytical framework to Antarctic marine environments by analysing data from 18 speciose clades belonging to echinoderms (five unrelated clades), notothenioid fishes (five clades) and peracarid crustaceans (eight clades). Antarctic shelf environments and history appear favourable to endemicity and speciosity, but not to ecological specialization. Two main patterns are distinguished among taxa. (i) In echinoderms, many brooding, species-rich and endemic clades are reported, but without remarkable ecological diversity or habitat dominance. In these taxa, loss of the larval stage is probably a consequence of past Antarctic environmental factors, and brooding is suggested to be responsible for enhanced allopatric speciation (via dispersal limitation). (ii) In notothenioids and peracarids, many clades fulfill all three SF criteria. This could result from unusual features in fish and crustaceans: chromosome instability and key innovations (antifreeze proteins) in notothenioids, ecological opportunity in peracarids, and a genomic architecture favouring ecological speciation in both groups. Therefore, the data do not support our starting point that normal evolutionary factors or processes drive SFs because in these two groups uncommon intrinsic features or ecological opportunity provide the best explanation. The utility of the three-criterion SF concept is therefore questioned and guidelines are given for future studies. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

PDC-E3BP is not a dominant T-cell autoantigen in primary biliary cirrhosis.

PubMed

McHugh, Anna; Robe, Amanda J; Palmer, Jeremy M; Jones, David E J

2006-05-01

Autoantibody responses reactive with the E2 and E3BP components of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC), which characterise primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) crossreact, precluding the identification, from serological studies, of the antigen to which the principal breakdown of tolerance occurs. Although autoreactive T-cell responses to PDC-E2 have been well characterised it is, at present, unclear whether T-cell tolerance breakdown also occurs to PDC-E3BP. The aims of this study were to characterise autoreactive T-cell responses to PDC-E3BP in PBC and potential factors regulating their expression. Peripheral blood T-cell proliferative responses to purified recombinant human PDC-E2 and PDC-E3BP at a range of concentrations were characterised in PBC patients and control subjects. T-cell proliferative responses to both E2 and E3BP were absent from control subjects (median peak stimulation index (SI) to PDC-E2 1.2 [range 0.3-1.9], 0/10 positive (SI>2.32), median peak SI to PDC-E3BP 1.1 [0.7-2.1

Highly sensitive MOS photodetector with wide band responsivity assisted by nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide membrane.

PubMed

Chen, Yungting; Cheng, Tzuhuan; Cheng, Chungliang; Wang, Chunhsiung; Chen, Chihwei; Wei, Chihming; Chen, Yangfang

2010-01-04

A new approach for developing highly sensitive MOS photodetector based on the assistance of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane is proposed, fabricated, and characterized. It enables the photodetector with the tunability of not only the intensity but also the range of the response. Under a forward bias, the response of the MOS photodetector with AAO membrane covers the visible as well as infrared spectrum; however, under a reverse bias, the near-infrared light around Si band edge dominates the photoresponse. Unlike general MOS photodetectors which only work under a reverse bias, our MOS photodetectors can work even under a forward bias, and the responsivity at the optical communication wavelength of 850nm can reach up to 0.24 A/W with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 35%. Moreover, the response shows a large enhancement factor of 10 times at 1050 nm under a reverse bias of 0.5V comparing with the device without AAO membrane. The underlying mechanism for the novel properties of the newly designed device has been proposed.

Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription Factor 6 Signaling Contributes to Control Host Lung Pathology but Favors Susceptibility against Toxocara canis Infection

PubMed Central

Faz-López, Berenice; Ledesma-Soto, Yadira; Romero-Sánchez, Yolanda; Calleja, Elsa; Martínez-Labat, Pablo; Terrazas, Luis I.

2013-01-01

Using STAT6−/− BALB/c mice, we have analyzed the role of STAT6-induced Th2 response in determining the outcome of experimental toxocariasis caused by embryonated eggs of the helminth parasite Toxocara canis. Following T. canis infection wild-type BALB/c mice developed a strong Th2-like response, produced high levels of IgG1, IgE, and IL-4, recruited alternatively activated macrophages, and displayed a moderate pathology in the lungs; however, they harbored heavy parasite loads in different tissues. In contrast, similarly infected STAT6−/− BALB/c mice mounted a weak Th2-like response, did not recruit alternatively activated macrophages, displayed a severe pathology in the lungs, but efficiently controlled T. canis infection. These findings demonstrate that Th2-like response induced via STAT6-mediated signaling pathway mediates susceptibility to larval stage of T. canis. Furthermore, they also indicate that unlike most gastrointestinal helminths, immunity against larvae of T. canis is not mediated by a Th2-dominant response. PMID:23509764

Regionally heterogeneous paleoenvironmental responses in the West African and South American monsoon systems on glacial to millennial timescales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shanahan, T. M.; Hughen, K. A.; van Mooy, B.; Overpeck, J. T.; Baker, P. A.; Fritz, S.; Peck, J. A.; Scholz, C. A.; King, J. W.

2008-12-01

Although millennial-scale paleoenvironmental changes have been well characterized for high latitude sites, short-term climate variability in the tropics is less well understood. While the Intertropical Convergence Zone may act as an integrator of tropical climate changes, regional factors also play an important role in controlling the tropical response to climate forcing. Understanding these influences, and how they modulate the response to global climate forcing under different mean climate states is thus important for assessing how the tropics may respond to future climate change. Here, we examine new centennial-resolution records of paleoenvironmental change from isotopic and relative abundance data from molecular biomarkers in sediment cores from Lake Bosumtwi and Lake Titicaca. We assess the relative response of the West African and South American monsoon systems to millennial and suborbital-scale climate variability over the last ca. 30,000 years. While there is evidence for synchronous climate variability in the two systems, the dominant paleoenvironmental changes appear largely decoupled, highlighting the importance of regional climatology in controlling the response to climate forcing in tropical regions.

A PPARgamma mutant serves as a dominant negative inhibitor of PPAR signaling and is localized in the nucleus.

PubMed

Berger, J; Patel, H V; Woods, J; Hayes, N S; Parent, S A; Clemas, J; Leibowitz, M D; Elbrecht, A; Rachubinski, R A; Capone, J P; Moller, D E

2000-04-25

The peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily that act as ligand-activated transcription factors. PPARgamma plays a critical role in regulating adipocyte differentiation and lipid metabolism. Recently, thiazolidinedione (TZD) and select non-TZD antidiabetic agents have been identified as PPARgamma agonists. To further characterize this receptor subclass, a mutant hPPARgamma lacking five carboxyl-terminal amino acids was produced (hPPARgamma2Delta500). In COS-1 cells transfected with PPAR-responsive reporter constructs, the mutant receptor could not be activated by a potent PPARgamma agonist. When cotransfected with hPPARgamma2 or hPPARalpha, hPPARgamma2Delta500 abrogated wild-type receptor activity in a dose-responsive manner. hPPARgamma2Delta500 was also impaired with respect to binding of a high-affinity radioligand. In addition, its conformation was unaffected by normally saturating concentrations of PPARgamma agonist as determined by protease protection experiments. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that hPPARgamma2Delta500 and hPPARgamma2 both formed heterodimeric complexes with human retinoidxreceptor alpha (hRXRalpha) and could bind a peroxisome proliferator-responsive element (PPRE) with similar affinity. Therefore, hPPARgamma2Delta500 appears to repress PPAR activity by competing with wild type receptor to dimerize with RXR and bind the PPRE. In addition, the mutant receptor may titrate out factors required for PPAR-regulated transcriptional activation. Both hPPARgamma2 and hPPARgamma2Delta500 localized to the nucleus of transiently transfected COS-1 cells as determined by immunofluorescence using a PPARgamma-specific antibody. Thus, nuclear localization of PPARgamma occurs independently of its activation state. The dominant negative mutant, hPPARgamma2Delta500, may prove useful in further studies to characterize PPAR functions both in vitro and in vivo

A multi-scale comparison of trait linkages to environmental and spatial variables in fish communities across a large freshwater lake.

PubMed

Strecker, Angela L; Casselman, John M; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Jackson, Donald A; Ridgway, Mark S; Abrams, Peter A; Shuter, Brian J

2011-07-01

Species present in communities are affected by the prevailing environmental conditions, and the traits that these species display may be sensitive indicators of community responses to environmental change. However, interpretation of community responses may be confounded by environmental variation at different spatial scales. Using a hierarchical approach, we assessed the spatial and temporal variation of traits in coastal fish communities in Lake Huron over a 5-year time period (2001-2005) in response to biotic and abiotic environmental factors. The association of environmental and spatial variables with trophic, life-history, and thermal traits at two spatial scales (regional basin-scale, local site-scale) was quantified using multivariate statistics and variation partitioning. We defined these two scales (regional, local) on which to measure variation and then applied this measurement framework identically in all 5 study years. With this framework, we found that there was no change in the spatial scales of fish community traits over the course of the study, although there were small inter-annual shifts in the importance of regional basin- and local site-scale variables in determining community trait composition (e.g., life-history, trophic, and thermal). The overriding effects of regional-scale variables may be related to inter-annual variation in average summer temperature. Additionally, drivers of fish community traits were highly variable among study years, with some years dominated by environmental variation and others dominated by spatially structured variation. The influence of spatial factors on trait composition was dynamic, which suggests that spatial patterns in fish communities over large landscapes are transient. Air temperature and vegetation were significant variables in most years, underscoring the importance of future climate change and shoreline development as drivers of fish community structure. Overall, a trait-based hierarchical framework may be a useful conservation tool, as it highlights the multi-scaled interactive effect of variables over a large landscape.

Culturing of the first 37:4 predominant lacustrine haptophyte: Geochemical, biochemical, and genetic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toney, Jaime L.; Theroux, Susanna; Andersen, Robert A.; Coleman, Annette; Amaral-Zettler, Linda; Huang, Yongsong

2012-02-01

Long chain alkenones (LCAs) are potential biomarkers for quantitative paleotemperature reconstructions from lacustrine environments. However, progress in this area has been hindered, because the conditions necessary for the growth of haptophytes responsible for alkenone distributions in lake sediments: the predominance of C 37:4 LCA are not known. Here we report the first enrichment culturing of a novel haptophyte phylotype (Hap-A) from Lake George, ND that produces predominantly C 37:4-LCA. Hap-A was enriched from its resting phase collected from deep sediments rather than from water column samples. In contrast, enrichments from near surface water yielded a different haptophyte phylotype (Hap-B), closely related to Chrysotila lamellosa and Pseudoisochrysis paradoxa, which does not display C 37:4-LCA predominance (similar enrichments have been reported previously). The LCA profile in sediments resembles that of enrichments containing Hap-A, suggesting that Hap-A is the dominant alkenone producer of the sedimentary LCAs. In enrichments, increased lighting appeared to be crucial for triggering alkenone production. Both U37K and U38K indices show a promising, positive relationship with temperature for Hap-A in enrichments, but the offset from the environmental calibration suggests that other factors (e.g., the growth stage or nutrients) may influence the absolute U37K value. Based on 18S rRNA gene analyses, several lakes from the Northern Great Plains, as well as Pyramid Lake, NV and Tso Ur, Tibetan Plateau, China contain the same two haptophyte phylotypes. Analysis of surface sediment from the Great Plains lakes show the Hap-A-type LCA distribution, whereas Pyramid and Tso Ur show the Hap-B type distribution. Waters of the Great Plain lakes are dominated by sulfate ions, whereas those Pyramid and Tso Ur are dominated by carbonate ions, suggesting that the sulfate to carbonate ratio may be a determining factor for the dominance of the Hap-A and Hap-B phylotypes in natural settings.

Export fluxes of geochemical solutes in the meltwater stream of Sutri Dhaka Glacier, Chandra basin, Western Himalaya.

PubMed

Singh, Ajit T; Laluraj, C M; Sharma, Parmanand; Patel, Lavkush K; Thamban, Meloth

2017-10-12

The hydrochemistry of meltwater from the Sutri Dhaka Glacier, Western Himalaya, has been studied to understand the influence of the factors controlling the weathering processes of the glaciers during the peak ablation period. The high solar irradiance prompted intense melting, which has raised the stream flow of the glacier. The meltwater has been observed as slightly alkaline (mean pH 8.2) and contains the major anions (HCO 3 -  > SO 4 2-  > NO 3 -  > Cl - ) and cations (Ca 2+  > Mg 2+  > K +  > Na +  > NH 4 + ) with Ca 2+ (78.5%) and HCO 3 - (74.5%) as the dominant species. The piper diagram indicates the category of stream meltwater as Ca 2+ -HCO 3 - type. In addition, it is evident from the Gibbs diagram that the interaction between the meltwater and bedrock controls the ionic concentrations of the glacial meltwater. The high ratio value (~ 0.75) of HCO 3 - /(HCO 3 -  + SO 4 2- ) indicates that the carbonate weathering is dominant. Fe and Al followed by Mn, Sr, and Ti are the most dominant trace elements present in the meltwater. The significant negative correlation exhibited by the major ions and Sr with the discharge is recommended for the enrichment of these solutes during the lean discharge periods. However, the insignificant correlation of Fe, Al, Mn, and Ti with discharge suggests their physicochemical control. The principal component analysis (PCA) carried has highlighted three dominant composites, i.e., the water-rock interaction, atmospheric dust inputs, and physicochemical changes in the meltwater. Hence, the present study elucidates the export of geochemical solutes from Sutri Dhaka Glacier and factors governing the water chemistry, which helps in the better understanding of hydrochemical processes of the Himalayan glaciers and substantial improvement of our understanding about the glacio-hydrological environments and their response in the scenario of global warming.

Modeling species richness and abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton in radioactively contaminated water bodies.

PubMed

Shuryak, Igor

2018-06-05

Water bodies polluted by the Mayak nuclear plant in Russia provide valuable information on multi-generation effects of radioactive contamination on freshwater organisms. For example, lake Karachay was probably the most radioactive lake in the world: its water contained ∼2 × 10 7 Bq/L of radionuclides and estimated dose rates to plankton exceeded 5 Gy/h. We performed quantitative modeling of radiation effects on phytoplankton and zooplankton species richness and abundance in Mayak-contaminated water bodies. Due to collinearity between radioactive contamination, water body size and salinity, we combined these variables into one (called HabitatFactors). We employed a customized machine learning approach, where synthetic noise variables acted as benchmarks of predictor performance. HabitatFactors was the only predictor that outperformed noise variables and, therefore, we used it for parametric modeling of plankton responses. Best-fit model predictions suggested 50% species richness reduction at HabitatFactors values corresponding to dose rates of 10 4 -10 5  μGy/h for phytoplankton, and 10 3 -10 4  μGy/h for zooplankton. Under conditions similar to those in lake Karachay, best-fit models predicted 81-98% species richness reductions for various taxa (Cyanobacteria, Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta, Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda), ∼20-300-fold abundance reduction for total zooplankton, but no abundance reduction for phytoplankton. Rotifera was the only taxon whose fractional abundance increased with contamination level, reaching 100% in lake Karachay, but Rotifera species richness declined with contamination level, as in other taxa. Under severe radioactive and chemical contamination, one species of Cyanobacteria (Geitlerinema amphibium) dominated phytoplankton, and rotifers from the genus Brachionus dominated zooplankton. The modeling approaches proposed here are applicable to other radioecological data sets. The results provide quantitative information and easily interpretable model parameter estimates for the shapes and magnitudes of freshwater plankton responses to a wide range of radioactive contamination levels. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The physiological response of two green calcifying algae from the Great Barrier Reef towards high dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC) availability.

PubMed

Meyer, Friedrich Wilhelm; Vogel, Nikolas; Teichberg, Mirta; Uthicke, Sven; Wild, Christian

2015-01-01

Increasing dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations associated with ocean acidification can affect marine calcifiers, but local factors, such as high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations through sewage and algal blooms, may interact with this global factor. For calcifying green algae of the genus Halimeda, a key tropical carbonate producer that often occurs in coral reefs, no studies on these interactions have been reported. These data are however urgently needed to understand future carbonate production. Thus, we investigated the independent and combined effects of DIC (pCO2 402 μatm/ pHtot 8.0 and 996 μatm/ pHtot 7.7) and DOC (added as glucose in 0 and 294 μmol L-1) on growth, calcification and photosynthesis of H. macroloba and H. opuntia from the Great Barrier Reef in an incubation experiment over 16 days. High DIC concentrations significantly reduced dark calcification of H. opuntia by 130 % and led to net dissolution, but did not affect H. macroloba. High DOC concentrations significantly reduced daily oxygen production of H. opuntia and H. macroloba by 78 % and 43 %, respectively, and significantly reduced dark calcification of H. opuntia by 70%. Combined high DIC and DOC did not show any interactive effects for both algae, but revealed additive effects for H. opuntia where the combination of both factors reduced dark calcification by 162 % compared to controls. Such species-specific differences in treatment responses indicate H. opuntia is more susceptible to a combination of high DIC and DOC than H. macroloba. From an ecological perspective, results further suggest a reduction of primary production for Halimeda-dominated benthic reef communities under high DOC concentrations and additional decreases of carbonate accretion under elevated DIC concentrations, where H. opuntia dominates the benthic community. This may reduce biogenic carbonate sedimentation rates and hence the buffering capacity against further ocean acidification.

Emphasis of spatial cues in the temporal fine structure during the rising segments of amplitude-modulated sounds II: single-neuron recordings

PubMed Central

Marquardt, Torsten; Stange, Annette; Pecka, Michael; Grothe, Benedikt; McAlpine, David

2014-01-01

Recently, with the use of an amplitude-modulated binaural beat (AMBB), in which sound amplitude and interaural-phase difference (IPD) were modulated with a fixed mutual relationship (Dietz et al. 2013b), we demonstrated that the human auditory system uses interaural timing differences in the temporal fine structure of modulated sounds only during the rising portion of each modulation cycle. However, the degree to which peripheral or central mechanisms contribute to the observed strong dominance of the rising slope remains to be determined. Here, by recording responses of single neurons in the medial superior olive (MSO) of anesthetized gerbils and in the inferior colliculus (IC) of anesthetized guinea pigs to AMBBs, we report a correlation between the position within the amplitude-modulation (AM) cycle generating the maximum response rate and the position at which the instantaneous IPD dominates the total neural response. The IPD during the rising segment dominates the total response in 78% of MSO neurons and 69% of IC neurons, with responses of the remaining neurons predominantly coding the IPD around the modulation maximum. The observed diversity of dominance regions within the AM cycle, especially in the IC, and its comparison with the human behavioral data suggest that only the subpopulation of neurons with rising slope dominance codes the sound-source location in complex listening conditions. A comparison of two models to account for the data suggests that emphasis on IPDs during the rising slope of the AM cycle depends on adaptation processes occurring before binaural interaction. PMID:24554782

An alternatively spliced heat shock transcription factor, OsHSFA2dI, functions in the heat stress-induced unfolded protein response in rice.

PubMed

Cheng, Q; Zhou, Y; Liu, Z; Zhang, L; Song, G; Guo, Z; Wang, W; Qu, X; Zhu, Y; Yang, D

2015-03-01

As sessile organisms, plants have evolved a wide range of defence pathways to cope with environmental stress such as heat shock. However, the molecular mechanism of these defence pathways remains unclear in rice. In this study, we found that OsHSFA2d, a heat shock transcriptional factor, encodes two main splice variant proteins, OsHSFA2dI and OsHSFA2dII in rice. Under normal conditions, OsHSFA2dII is the dominant but transcriptionally inactive spliced form. However, when the plant suffers heat stress, OsHSFA2d is alternatively spliced into a transcriptionally active form, OsHSFA2dI, which participates in the heat stress response (HSR). Further study found that this alternative splicing was induced by heat shock rather than photoperiod. We found that OsHSFA2dI is localised to the nucleus, whereas OsHSFA2dII is localised to the nucleus and cytoplasm. Moreover, expression of the unfolded protein response (UNFOLDED PROTEIN RESPONSE) sensors, OsIRE1, OsbZIP39/OsbZIP60 and the UNFOLDED PROTEIN RESPONSE marker OsBiP1, was up-regulated. Interestingly, OsbZIP50 was also alternatively spliced under heat stress, indicating that UNFOLDED PROTEIN RESPONSE signalling pathways were activated by heat stress to re-establish cellular protein homeostasis. We further demonstrated that OsHSFA2dI participated in the unfolded protein response by regulating expression of OsBiP1. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Dominant Leadership Style in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajbhandari, Mani Man Singh

2006-01-01

The dominant leadership style is defined by the situation and the kind of organizational environment and climate. This, however, does not sufficiently define the leadership qualities in school organizations. There are other factors which also determine the dominant leadership style, which are the traits and style, teachers commitments, pass out…

Stochastic Modulations of the Pace and Patterns of Ageing: Impacts on Quasi-Stochastic Distributions of Multiple Geriatric Pathologies

PubMed Central

Martin, George M.

2011-01-01

All phenotypes result from interactions between Nature, Nurture and Chance. The constitutional genome is clearly the dominant factor in explaining the striking differences in the pace and patterns of ageing among species. We are now in a position to reveal salient features underlying these differential modulations, which are likely to be dominated by regulatory domains. By contrast, I shall argue that stochastic events are the major players underlying the surprisingly large intra-specific variations in lifespan and healthspan. I shall review well established as well as more speculative categories of chance events – somatic mutations, protein synthesis error catastrophe and variegations of gene expression (epigenetic drift), with special emphasis upon the latter. I shall argue that stochastic drifts in variegated gene expression are the major contributors to intra-specific differences in the pace and patterns of ageing within members of the same species. They may be responsible for the quasi-stochastic distributions of major types of geriatric pathologies, including the “big three” of Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis and, via the induction of hyperplasis, cancer. They may be responsible for altered stoichiometries of heteromultimeric mitochondrial complexes, potentially leading to such disorders as sarcopenia, nonischemic cardiomyopathy and Parkinson's disease. PMID:21963385

The dominant role of climate change in determining changes in evapotranspiration in Xinjiang, China from 2001 to 2012

PubMed Central

Bai, Jie; Li, Longhui

2017-01-01

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China has experienced significant land cover and climate change since the beginning of the 21st century. However, a reasonable simulation of evapotranspiration (ET) and its response to environmental factors are still unclear. For this study, to simulate ET and its response to climate and land cover change in Xinjiang, China from 2001 to 2012, we used the Common Land Model (CoLM) by adding irrigation effects for cropland and modifying root distributions and the root water uptake process for shrubland. Our results indicate that mean annual ET from 2001 to 2012 was 131.22 (±21.78) mm/year and demonstrated no significant trend (p = 0.12). The model simulation also indicates that climate change was capable of explaining 99% of inter-annual ET variability; land cover change only explained 1%. Land cover change caused by the expansion of croplands increased annual ET by 1.11 mm while climate change, mainly resulting from both decreased temperature and precipitation, reduced ET by 21.90 mm. Our results imply that climate change plays a dominant role in determining changes in ET, and also highlight the need for appropriate land-use strategies for managing water sources in dryland ecosystems within Xinjiang. PMID:28841645

The dominant role of climate change in determining changes in evapotranspiration in Xinjiang, China from 2001 to 2012.

PubMed

Yuan, Xiuliang; Bai, Jie; Li, Longhui; Kurban, Alishir; De Maeyer, Philippe

2017-01-01

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China has experienced significant land cover and climate change since the beginning of the 21st century. However, a reasonable simulation of evapotranspiration (ET) and its response to environmental factors are still unclear. For this study, to simulate ET and its response to climate and land cover change in Xinjiang, China from 2001 to 2012, we used the Common Land Model (CoLM) by adding irrigation effects for cropland and modifying root distributions and the root water uptake process for shrubland. Our results indicate that mean annual ET from 2001 to 2012 was 131.22 (±21.78) mm/year and demonstrated no significant trend (p = 0.12). The model simulation also indicates that climate change was capable of explaining 99% of inter-annual ET variability; land cover change only explained 1%. Land cover change caused by the expansion of croplands increased annual ET by 1.11 mm while climate change, mainly resulting from both decreased temperature and precipitation, reduced ET by 21.90 mm. Our results imply that climate change plays a dominant role in determining changes in ET, and also highlight the need for appropriate land-use strategies for managing water sources in dryland ecosystems within Xinjiang.

Social values and biodiversity conservation in a dynamic world.

PubMed

Dietsch, Alia M; Teel, Tara L; Manfredo, Michael J

2016-12-01

Understanding what shape values (which ultimately shape human behavior) will help improve the effectiveness of conservation solutions that depend on public support. To contribute to this understanding, we investigated the influence of societal-level changes, such as modernization, on values in a multilevel framework. We collected survey responses (n = 4183) to questionnaires mailed to a random selection of households within each county in Washington (U.S.A.) (response rate 32%). We used multilevel modeling to determine the relationship between modernization (e.g., county-level urbanization, wealth, and education) and wildlife value orientations (values that shape thought about wildlife) while controlling for individual-level sociodemographics. We then explored how values influence conservation support at different levels (e.g., individual and county) and how values explain conservation support in a case study of public responses to wolf (Canis lupis) recovery. We found positive associations between county-level examples of modernization and mutualism (a wildlife value orientation that prioritizes the perceived needs of wildlife) independent of a respondent's sociodemographics, and negative associations between modernization and domination (a wildlife value orientation that prioritizes human needs). Our results suggest that context has an additive impact on one's values; certain locations exhibited domination values, whereas others exhibited a mix of value types. This finding is important because actions that restrict human interests to promote biodiversity were negatively associated with domination and positively associated with mutualism. In the wolf case study, mutualism was strongly correlated with less social conflict over wolf recovery in many, but not all, counties (e.g., Pearson's r correlation = 0.59 in one county and a nonsignificant correlation in another). Our findings suggest that modernization operates on values within a state with implications for biodiversity, but other factors in addition to values must be investigated to fully understand what leads to proconservation behavior. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Little response of true fir saplings to understory shrub removal

Treesearch

William W. Oliver; Fabian C.C. Uzoh

2002-01-01

The ability of white fir and California red fir to become established, persist, and eventually dominate montane shrub fields is well known. When the firs have eventually dominated do the understory shrubs continue to inhibit growth? In a small study in the southern Cascade Range of northeastern California, we tested the growth response of a thinned stand of saplings to...

Canopy arthropod responses to thinning and burning treatments in old-growth mixed-conifer forest in the Sierra Nevada, California

Treesearch

Thomas Rambo; Timothy Schowalter; Malcolm North

2014-01-01

We compared canopy arthropod responses to common fuels reduction treatments at Teakettle Experimental Forest in the south-central Sierra Nevada of California. We sampled arthropod communities among four dominant overstory conifer species and three dominant understory angiosperm species before and after overstory or understory thinning or no thinning treatments followed...

Groundwater dynamics mediate low-flow response to global warming in snow-dominated alpine regions

Treesearch

Christina Tague; Gordon E. Grant

2009-01-01

In mountain environments, spatial and temporal patterns of snow accumulation and melt are dominant controls on hydrologic responses to climate change. In this paper, we develop a simple conceptual model that links the timing of peak snowmelt with geologically mediated differences in rate of streamflow recession. This model demonstrates that within the western United...

Exogenous testosterone enhances cortisol and affective responses to social-evaluative stress in dominant men.

PubMed

Knight, Erik L; Christian, Colton B; Morales, Pablo J; Harbaugh, William T; Mayr, Ulrich; Mehta, Pranjal H

2017-11-01

Stress often precedes the onset of mental health disorders and is linked to negative impacts on physical health as well. Prior research indicates that testosterone levels are related to reduced stress reactivity in some cases but correlate with increased stress responses in other cases. To resolve these inconsistencies, we tested the causal influence of testosterone on stress reactivity to a social-evaluative stressor. Further, prior work has failed to consider status-relevant individual differences such as trait dominance that may modulate the influence of testosterone on responses to stressors. Participants (n=120 males) were randomly assigned to receive exogenous testosterone or placebo (n=60 testosterone treatment group) via topical gel prior to a well-validated social-evaluative stressor. Compared to placebo, testosterone significantly increased cortisol and negative affect in response to the stressor, especially for men high in trait dominance (95% confidence intervals did not contain zero). The findings suggest that the combination of high testosterone and exposure to status-relevant social stress may confer increased risk for stress-mediated disorders, particularly for individuals high in trait dominance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global topological dominance in the left hemisphere.

PubMed

Wang, Bo; Zhou, Tian Gang; Zhuo, Yan; Chen, Lin

2007-12-26

A series of experiments with right-handers demonstrated that the left hemisphere (LH) is reliably and consistently superior to the right hemisphere (RH) for global topological perception. These experiments generalized the topological account of lateralization to different kinds of topological properties (including holes, inside/outside relation, and "presence vs. absence") in comparison with a broad spectrum of geometric properties, including orientation, distance, size, mirror-symmetry, parallelism, collinearity, etc. The stimuli and paradigms used were also designed to prevent subjects from using various nontopological properties in performing the tasks of topological discrimination. Furthermore, task factors commonly considered in the study of hemispheric asymmetry, such as response latency vs. accuracy, vertical vs. horizontal presentation, detection vs. recognition, and simultaneous vs. sequential judgment, were manipulated to not be confounding factors. Moreover, left-handed subjects were tested and showed the right lateralization of topological perception, in the opposite direction of lateralization compared with right-handers. In addition, the functional magnetic resonance imaging measure revealed that only a region in the left temporal gyrus was consistently more activated across subjects in the task of topological discrimination, consistent with the behavioral results. In summary, the global topological dominance in the LH is well supported by the converging evidence from the variety of paradigms and techniques, and it suggests a unified solution to the current major controversies on visual lateralization.

Pyropheophorbide-a methyl ester-mediated photosensitization activates transcription factor NF-kappaB through the interleukin-1 receptor-dependent signaling pathway.

PubMed

Matroule, J Y; Bonizzi, G; Morlière, P; Paillous, N; Santus, R; Bours, V; Piette, J

1999-01-29

Pyropheophorbide-a methyl ester (PPME) is a second generation of photosensitizers used in photodynamic therapy. We demonstrated that PPME photosensitization activated NF-kappaB transcription factor in colon cancer cells. Unexpectedly, this activation occurred in two separate waves, i.e. a rapid and transient one and a second slower but sustained phase. The former was due to photosensitization by PPME localized in the cytoplasmic membrane which triggered interleukin-1 receptor internalization and the transduction pathways controlled by the interleukin-1 type I receptor. Indeed, TRAF6 dominant negative mutant abolished NF-kappaB activation by PPME photosensitization, and TRAF2 dominant negative mutant was without any effect, and overexpression of IkappaB kinases increased gene transcription controlled by NF-kappaB. Oxidative stress was not likely involved in the activation. On the other hand, the slower and sustained wave could be the product of the release of ceramide through activation of the acidic sphingomyelinase. PPME localization within the lysosomal membrane could explain why ceramide acted as second messenger in NF-kappaB activation by PPME photosensitization. These data will allow a better understanding of the molecular basis of tumor eradication by photodynamic therapy, in particular the importance of the host cell response in the treatment.

[Responses of soil fauna to environment degeneration in the process of wind erosion desertification of Hulunbeir steppe].

PubMed

Lü, Shi-Hai; Lu, Xin-Shi; Gao, Ji-Xi

2007-09-01

To reveal the relationships between soil fauna and soil environmental factors in the process of steppe desertification, field survey combined with laboratory analysis was made to study the community structure, population density and biodiversity of soil fauna, and their relationships with the changes of soil organic matter, hydrolysable nitrogen, available phosphorus and moisture contents and soil pH at different stages of desertification of Hulunbeir steppe. The soil faunal specimens collected belonged to 4 phyla, 6 classes and 12 orders. Nematoda was the only dominant group of medium- and small-sized soil fauna, occupying 94.3% of the total, while Coleoptera and Hemiptera were the dominant groups of large-sized soil fauna, with the amount of 79.7%. The group amount, population density, diversity, and evenness of soil fauna had an obvious decreasing trend with the aggravation of steppe desertification. At serious stage of desertification, soil fauna vanished completely. The population density of soil fauna in 0-20 cm soil layer had significant linear correlations with soil nutrients and moisture contents, soil pH, and litter mass, indicating that soil fauna had stronger sensibility to the changes of soil environmental factors in the process of wind erosion desertification of Hulunbeir steppe.

The SAGA/TREX-2 subunit Sus1 binds widely to transcribed genes and affects mRNA turnover globally.

PubMed

García-Molinero, Varinia; García-Martínez, José; Reja, Rohit; Furió-Tarí, Pedro; Antúnez, Oreto; Vinayachandran, Vinesh; Conesa, Ana; Pugh, B Franklin; Pérez-Ortín, José E; Rodríguez-Navarro, Susana

2018-03-29

Eukaryotic transcription is regulated through two complexes, the general transcription factor IID (TFIID) and the coactivator Spt-Ada-Gcn5 acetyltransferase (SAGA). Recent findings confirm that both TFIID and SAGA contribute to the synthesis of nearly all transcripts and are recruited genome-wide in yeast. However, how this broad recruitment confers selectivity under specific conditions remains an open question. Here we find that the SAGA/TREX-2 subunit Sus1 associates with upstream regulatory regions of many yeast genes and that heat shock drastically changes Sus1 binding. While Sus1 binding to TFIID-dominated genes is not affected by temperature, its recruitment to SAGA-dominated genes and RP genes is significantly disturbed under heat shock, with Sus1 relocated to environmental stress-responsive genes in these conditions. Moreover, in contrast to recent results showing that SAGA deubiquitinating enzyme Ubp8 is dispensable for RNA synthesis, genomic run-on experiments demonstrate that Sus1 contributes to synthesis and stability of a wide range of transcripts. Our study provides support for a model in which SAGA/TREX-2 factor Sus1 acts as a global transcriptional regulator in yeast but has differential activity at yeast genes as a function of their transcription rate or during stress conditions.

Discerning environmental factors affecting current tree growth in Central Europe.

PubMed

Cienciala, Emil; Russ, Radek; Šantrůčková, Hana; Altman, Jan; Kopáček, Jiří; Hůnová, Iva; Štěpánek, Petr; Oulehle, Filip; Tumajer, Jan; Ståhl, Göran

2016-12-15

We examined the effect of individual environmental factors on the current spruce tree growth assessed from a repeated country-level statistical landscape (incl. forest) survey in the Czech Republic. An extensive set of variables related to tree size, competition, site characteristics including soil texture, chemistry, N deposition and climate was tested within a random-effect model to explain growth in the conditions of dominantly managed forest ecosystems. The current spruce basal area increment was assessed from two consecutive landscape surveys conducted in 2008/2009 and six years later in 2014/2015. Tree size, age and competition within forest stands were found to be the dominant explanatory variables, whereas the expression of site characteristics, environmental and climatic drives was weaker. The significant site variables affecting growth included soil C/N ratio and soil exchangeable acidity (pH KCl; positive response) reflecting soil chemistry, long-term N-deposition (averaged since 1975) in combination with soil texture (clay content) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), a drought index expressing moisture conditions. Sensitivity of growth to N-deposition was positive, although weak. SPI was positively related to and significant in explaining tree growth when expressed for the growth season. Except SPI, no significant relation of growth was determined to altitude-related variables (temperature, growth season length). We identified the current spruce growth optimum at elevations about 800ma.s.l. or higher in the conditions of the country. This suggests that at lower elevations, limitation by a more pronounced water deficit dominates, whereas direct temperature limitation may concern the less frequent higher elevations. The mixed linear model of spruce tree growth explained 55 and 65% of the variability with fixed and random effects included, respectively, and provided new insights on the current spruce tree growth and factors affecting it within the environmental gradients of the country. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[What worries Hungarian men? Characteristics of masculine gender role stress].

PubMed

Susánszky, Anna; Susánszky, Eva; Kopp, Mária

2009-07-01

The aim of this study was to establish the characteristics of stress associated with male gender role and its relationship to health and to risk behaviours among Hungarian men. The present analysis is based on data of the Hungarostudy 2006 survey. Forty-one percent of the participants were men. Eighty nine percent of the male respondents completed the Eisler-Skidmore Masculine Gender Role Stress Scale; data of 1764 persons were analyzed. Anxiety about sexual performance, breadwinner role, and appearance (i.e. tradition factor) causes a much greater burden of stress than anxiety about changing gender relationships (i.e. modernization factor). With the increase of age, stress caused by traditional role expectations significantly decreases; tensions caused by women's dominance and by situations which demand emotional response and empathy are the highest among middle aged men. Traditional gender role stress is more prevalent among pensioners than among economically active men; stress caused by the modernization of masculine gender role particularly afflicts unemployed men. Married men are to the least extent troubled by female dominance and difficulties in expressing emotions. Of the two dimensions analyzed here (tradition and modernization) only the values on the tradition factor were related to health status, psychological wellbeing, and frequency of smoking. Modernization of gender roles represents only a small--if any--stressor in the life of Hungarian men; on the other hand, unsuccessful adaptation to traditional role expectations highly increases the burden of stress and is closely related to smoking.

On the importance of shrub encroachment by sprouters, climate, species richness and anthropic factors for ecosystem multifunctionality in semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystems.

PubMed

Quero, José L; Maestre, Fernando T; Ochoa, Victoria; García-Gómez, Miguel; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel

2013-11-01

One of the most important changes taking place in drylands worldwide is the increase of the cover and dominance of shrubs in areas formerly devoid of them (shrub encroachment). A large body of research has evaluated the causes and consequences of shrub encroachment for both ecosystem structure and functioning. However, there are virtually no studies evaluating how shrub encroachment affects the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions and services simultaneously (multifunctionality). We aimed to do so by gathering data from ten ecosystem functions linked to the maintenance of primary production and nutrient cycling and storage (organic C, activity of β-glucosidase, pentoses, hexoses, total N, total available N, amino acids, proteins, available inorganic P and phosphatase activity), and summarizing them in a multifunctionality index ( M ). We assessed how climate, species richness, anthropic factors (distance to the nearest town, sandy and asphalted road, and human population in the nearest town at several historical periods) and encroachment by sprouting shrubs impacted both the functions in isolation and M along a regional (ca. 350 km) gradient in Mediterranean grasslands and shrublands dominated by a non-sprouting shrub. Values of M were higher in those grasslands and shrublands containing sprouting shrubs (43% and 62%, respectively). A similar response was found when analyzing the different functions in isolation, as encroachment by sprouting shrubs increased functions by 2%-80% compared to unencroached areas. Encroachment was the main driver of changes in M along the regional gradient evaluated, followed by anthropic factors and species richness. Climate had little effects on M in comparison to the other factors studied. Similar responses were observed when evaluating the functions in isolation. Overall, our results showed that M was higher at sites with higher sprouting shrub cover, longer distance to roads and higher perennial plant species richness. Our study is the first documenting that ecosystem multifunctionality in shrublands is enhanced by encroaching shrubs differing in size and leaf attributes. Our findings reinforce the idea that encroachment effects on ecosystem functioning cannot be generalized, and that are largely dependent on the traits of the encroaching shrub relative to those of the species being replaced.

A proposed cell model for multiple-occurrence regional landslide events: Implications for landslide susceptibility mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crozier, M. J.

2017-10-01

Multiple-occurrence regional landslide events (MORLEs) consist of hundreds to thousands of shallow landslides occurring more or less simultaneously within defined areas, ranging from tens to thousands of square kilometres. While MORLEs can be triggered by rainstorms and earthquakes, this paper is confined to those landslide events triggered by rainstorms. Globally, MORLEs occur in a range of geological settings in areas of moderate to steep slopes subject to intense rainstorms. Individual landslides in rainstorm-triggered events are dominantly small, shallow debris and earth flows, and debris and earth slides involving regolith or weathered bedrock. The model used to characterise these events assumes that energy distribution within the event area is represented on the land surface by a cell structure; with maximum energy expenditure within an identifiable core and rapid dissipation concentrically away from the centre. The version of the model presented here has been developed for rainfall-triggered landslide events. It proposes that rainfall intensity can be used to determine different critical landslide response zones within the cell (referred to as core, middle, and periphery zones). These zones are most readily distinguished by two conditions: the proportion of the slope that fails and the particular type of the slope stability factor that assumes dominance in determining specific sites of landslide occurrence. The latter condition means that the power of any slope stability factor to distinguish between stable and unstable sites varies throughout the affected area in accordance with the landslide response zones within the cell; certain factors critical for determining the location of landslide sites in one part of the event area have little influence in other parts of the event area. The implication is that landslide susceptibility maps (and subsequently derived mitigation measures) based on conventional slope stability factors may have only limited validity for many events. The overall ability to predict the impact of these events and consequently the development of effective mitigation measures is limited by the ability to predict the travel path, storm centre, and intensity range within the cell structure of extreme weather systems.

Reprint of "A proposed cell model for multiple-occurrence regional landslide events: Implications for landslide susceptibility mapping"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crozier, M. J.

2018-04-01

Multiple-occurrence regional landslide events (MORLEs) consist of hundreds to thousands of shallow landslides occurring more or less simultaneously within defined areas, ranging from tens to thousands of square kilometres. While MORLEs can be triggered by rainstorms and earthquakes, this paper is confined to those landslide events triggered by rainstorms. Globally, MORLEs occur in a range of geological settings in areas of moderate to steep slopes subject to intense rainstorms. Individual landslides in rainstorm-triggered events are dominantly small, shallow debris and earth flows, and debris and earth slides involving regolith or weathered bedrock. The model used to characterise these events assumes that energy distribution within the event area is represented on the land surface by a cell structure; with maximum energy expenditure within an identifiable core and rapid dissipation concentrically away from the centre. The version of the model presented here has been developed for rainfall-triggered landslide events. It proposes that rainfall intensity can be used to determine different critical landslide response zones within the cell (referred to as core, middle, and periphery zones). These zones are most readily distinguished by two conditions: the proportion of the slope that fails and the particular type of the slope stability factor that assumes dominance in determining specific sites of landslide occurrence. The latter condition means that the power of any slope stability factor to distinguish between stable and unstable sites varies throughout the affected area in accordance with the landslide response zones within the cell; certain factors critical for determining the location of landslide sites in one part of the event area have little influence in other parts of the event area. The implication is that landslide susceptibility maps (and subsequently derived mitigation measures) based on conventional slope stability factors may have only limited validity for many events. The overall ability to predict the impact of these events and consequently the development of effective mitigation measures is limited by the ability to predict the travel path, storm centre, and intensity range within the cell structure of extreme weather systems.

A DN-mda5 transgenic zebrafish model demonstrates that Mda5 plays an important role in snakehead rhabdovirus resistance.

PubMed

Gabor, K A; Charette, J R; Pietraszewski, M J; Wingfield, D J; Shim, J S; Millard, P J; Kim, C H

2015-08-01

Melanoma Differentiation-Associated protein 5 (MDA5) is a member of the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptor (RLR) family, which is a cytosolic pattern recognition receptor that detects viral nucleic acids. Here we show an Mda5-dependent response to rhabdovirus infection in vivo using a dominant-negative mda5 transgenic zebrafish. Dominant-negative mda5 zebrafish embryos displayed an impaired antiviral immune response compared to wild-type counterparts that can be rescued by recombinant full-length Mda5. To our knowledge, we have generated the first dominant-negative mda5 transgenic zebrafish and demonstrated a critical role for Mda5 in the antiviral response to rhabdovirus. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic linkage of autosomal dominant juvenile glaucoma to 1q21-q31 in three affected pedigrees

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wiggs, J.L.; Paglinauan, C.; Fine, A.

1994-05-15

Glaucoma is a common disorder that results in irreversible damage to the optic nerve, causing absolute blindness. In most cases, the optic nerve is damaged by an elevation of the intraocular pressure that is the result of an abnormality in the normal drainage function of the trabecular meshwork. A family history of glaucoma is an important risk factor for the disease, suggesting that genetic defects predisposing to this condition are likely. Three pedigrees segregating an autosomal dominant juvenile glaucoma demonstrated significant linkage to a group of closely spaced markers on chromosome 1. These results confirm the initial mapping of thismore » disease and suggest that this region on chromosome 1 contains an important locus for juvenile glaucoma. The authors describe recombination events that improve the localization of the responsible gene, reducing the size of the candidate region from 30 to 12 cM. 27 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.« less

The effects of tropospheric ozone on the species dynamics of calcareous grassland.

PubMed

Thwaites, R H; Ashmore, M R; Morton, A J; Pakeman, R J

2006-11-01

Although ozone has been shown to reduce the growth of individual species and to alter the composition of simple species mixtures, there is little understanding of its long-term effects on species dynamics and composition in real communities. Intact turfs of calcareous grassland were exposed to four different ozone regimes in open-top chambers over three consecutive summers. Treatments provided a mean seasonal AOT40 ranging from approximately zero to 15 ppm h. Cumulative ozone exposure was a significant factor in compositional change, but only explained 4.6% of the variation. The dominant grass species (Festuca rubra) showed a consistent decline in cover in the high ozone treatment over time and the forb Campanula rotundifolia was lost from all three ozone treatments. The frequency of some species (Galium verum and Plantago lanceolata) increased with ozone exposure. Long-term effects of ozone on species composition in chalk grassland may be a function of both the sensitivity of individual species and the response of the dominant species.

Differentiating aversive conditioning in bistable perception: Avoidance of a percept vs. salience of a stimulus.

PubMed

Wilbertz, Gregor; Sterzer, Philipp

2018-05-01

Alternating conscious visual perception of bistable stimuli is influenced by several factors. In order to understand the effect of negative valence, we tested the effect of two types of aversive conditioning on dominance durations in binocular rivalry. Participants received either aversive classical conditioning of the stimuli shown alone between rivalry blocks, or aversive percept conditioning of one of the two possible perceptual choices during rivalry. Both groups showed successful aversive conditioning according to skin conductance responses and affective valence ratings. However, while classical conditioning led to an immediate but short-lived increase in dominance durations of the conditioned stimulus, percept conditioning yielded no significant immediate effect but tended to decrease durations of the conditioned percept during extinction. These results show dissociable effects of value learning on perceptual inference in situations of perceptual conflict, depending on whether learning relates to the decision between conflicting perceptual choices or the sensory stimuli per se. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Causes and remedies for the dominant risk factors in Enterprise System implementation projects: the consultants' perspective.

PubMed

Lech, Przemysław

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate the causes of the dominant risk factors, affecting Enterprise System implementation projects and propose remedies for those risk factors from the perspective of implementation consultants. The study used a qualitative research strategy, based on e-mail interviews, semi-structured personal interviews with consultants and participant observation during implementation projects. The main contribution of this paper is that it offers viable indications of how to mitigate the dominant risk factors. These indications were grouped into the following categories: stable project scope, smooth communication supported by the project management, dedicated, competent and decision-making client team, competent and engaged consultant project manager, schedule and budget consistent with the project scope, use of methodology and procedures, enforced and enabled by the project managers, competent and dedicated consultants. A detailed description is provided for each category.

Dominant Factors for Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala Development through Ecotourism Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idajati, Hertiari; Andastry, Fonita

2017-07-01

Bontang is one of the cities in East Kalimantan Province which is known oil and gas industry and condensate. Besides that, Bontang also has potential tourism that can be developed in the form of Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala. This tourism area can be a leading tourism spot based on ecotourism in Bontang. Based on these fact, conducted a study to find out how Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala can be developed. This study aims to determine the dominant factors that affect Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala development through ecotourism. This research stage begins with interviewing stakeholders related to Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala development through ecotourism. The interview results were analysed using quantitative content analysis which showed the factors that affect Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala development through ecotourism in accordance with the assessment of stakeholders. The research result showed there are 9 of dominant factors for Kampung Laut Bontang Kuala Development ecotourism development.

Accumulation of transcription factors and cell signaling-related proteins in the nucleus during citrus-Xanthomonas interaction.

PubMed

Rani, T Swaroopa; Durgeshwar, P; Podile, Appa Rao

2015-07-20

The nucleus is the maestro of the cell and is involved in the modulation of cell signaling during stress. We performed a comprehensive nuclear proteome analysis of Citrus sinensis during interaction with host (Xanthomonas citri pv. citri-Xcc) and non-host (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae-Xoo) pathogens. The nuclear proteome was obtained using a sequential method of organelle enrichment and determined by nano-LC-MS/MS analysis. A total of 243 proteins accumulated differentially during citrus-Xanthomonas interaction, belonging to 11 functional groups, with signaling and transcription-related proteins dominating. MADS-box transcription factors, DEAD-box RNA helicase and leucine aminopeptidase, mainly involved in jasmonic acid (JA) responses, were in high abundance during non-host interaction (Xoo). Signaling-related proteins like serine/threonine kinase, histones (H3.2, H2A), phosphoglycerate kinase, dynamin, actin and aldolase showed increased accumulation early during Xoo interaction. Our results suggest that there is a possible involvement of JA-triggered defense responses during non-host resistance, with early recognition of the non-host pathogen. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

What factors influence the use of contracts in the context of NHS dental practice? A systematic review of theory and logic model

PubMed Central

Harris, Rebecca; Mosedale, Sarah; Garner, Jayne; Perkins, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

UK NHS contracts mediate the relationship between dental and medical practitioners as independent contractors, and the state which reimburses them for their services to patients. There have been successive revisions of dental and medical contracts since the 1990s alongside a change in the levels of professional dominance and accountability. Unintended consequences of the 2006 dental contract have led to plans for further reform. We set out to identify the factors which facilitate and hinder the use of contracts in this area. Previous reviews of theory have been narrative, and based on macro-theory arising from various disciplines such as economics, sociology and political science. This paper presents a systematic review and aggregative synthesis of the theories of contracting for publicly funded health care. A logic map conveys internal pathways linking competition for contracts to opportunism. We identify that whilst practitioners' responses to contract rules is a result of micro-level bargaining clarifying patients' and providers' interests, responses are also influenced by relationships with commissioners and wider personal, professional and political networks. PMID:24608120

Genetic dissection of Alzheimer disease, a heterogeneous disorder.

PubMed

Schellenberg, G D

1995-09-12

The genetics of Alzheimer disease (AD) are complex and not completely understood. Mutations in the amyloid precursor protein gene (APP) can cause early-onset autosomal dominant AD. In vitro studies indicate that cells expressing mutant APPs overproduce pathogenic forms of the A beta peptide, the major component of AD amyloid. However, mutations in the APP gene are responsible for 5% or less of all early-onset familial AD. A locus on chromosome 14 is responsible for AD in other early-onset AD families and represents the most severe form of the disease in terms of age of onset and rate of decline. Attempts to identify the AD3 gene by positional cloning methods are underway. At least one additional early-onset AD locus remains to be located. In late-onset AD, the apolipoprotein E gene allele epsilon 4 is a risk factor for AD. This allele appears to act as a dose-dependent age-of-onset modifier. The epsilon 2 allele of this gene may be protective. Other late-onset susceptibility factors remain to be identified.

The Contribution of Individual, Social and Work Characteristics to Employee Mental Health in a Coal Mining Industry Population.

PubMed

Considine, Robyn; Tynan, Ross; James, Carole; Wiggers, John; Lewin, Terry; Inder, Kerry; Perkins, David; Handley, Tonelle; Kelly, Brian

2017-01-01

Evidence regarding the extent of mental health problems and the associated characteristics within an employee population is necessary to inform appropriate and tailored workplace mental health programs. Mental health within male dominated industries (such as mining) has received recent public attention, chiefly through observations regarding suicide in such populations in Australia and internationally. Currently there is limited empirical evidence regarding the mental health needs in the mining industry as an exemplar of a male dominated workforce, and the relative contribution to such problems of individual, socio-economic and workplace factors. This study aimed to investigate the mental health and associated characteristics among employees in the Australian coal mining industry with a specific focus on identifying modifiable work characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted among employees (n = 1457) across eight coal mines stratified by key mine characteristics (state, mine type and employee commute arrangements). Participants completed measures of psychological distress (K10+) and key variables across four categories (socio-demographic characteristics, health history, current health behaviours, work attitudes and characteristics). Psychological distress levels within this sample were significantly higher in comparison with a community sample of employed Australians. The following factors contributed significantly to levels of psychological distress using hierarchical linear regression analysis: lower social networks; a past history of depression, anxiety or drug/alcohol problems; high recent alcohol use; work role (managers) and a set of work characteristics (level of satisfaction with work, financial factors and job insecurity; perception of lower workplace support for people with mental health problems. This is the first study to examine the characteristics associated with mental health problems in the Australian coal mining industry. The findings indicate the salience of mental health needs in this population, and the associated interplay of personal, social and work characteristics. The work characteristics associated with psychological distress are modifiable and can guide an industry response, as well as help inform the understanding of the role of workplace factors in mental health problems in a male dominated workforce more generally.

The Contribution of Individual, Social and Work Characteristics to Employee Mental Health in a Coal Mining Industry Population

PubMed Central

James, Carole; Wiggers, John; Lewin, Terry; Inder, Kerry; Perkins, David; Handley, Tonelle

2017-01-01

Background Evidence regarding the extent of mental health problems and the associated characteristics within an employee population is necessary to inform appropriate and tailored workplace mental health programs. Mental health within male dominated industries (such as mining) has received recent public attention, chiefly through observations regarding suicide in such populations in Australia and internationally. Currently there is limited empirical evidence regarding the mental health needs in the mining industry as an exemplar of a male dominated workforce, and the relative contribution to such problems of individual, socio-economic and workplace factors. This study aimed to investigate the mental health and associated characteristics among employees in the Australian coal mining industry with a specific focus on identifying modifiable work characteristics. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among employees (n = 1457) across eight coal mines stratified by key mine characteristics (state, mine type and employee commute arrangements). Participants completed measures of psychological distress (K10+) and key variables across four categories (socio-demographic characteristics, health history, current health behaviours, work attitudes and characteristics). Results Psychological distress levels within this sample were significantly higher in comparison with a community sample of employed Australians. The following factors contributed significantly to levels of psychological distress using hierarchical linear regression analysis: lower social networks; a past history of depression, anxiety or drug/alcohol problems; high recent alcohol use; work role (managers) and a set of work characteristics (level of satisfaction with work, financial factors and job insecurity; perception of lower workplace support for people with mental health problems. Conclusion This is the first study to examine the characteristics associated with mental health problems in the Australian coal mining industry. The findings indicate the salience of mental health needs in this population, and the associated interplay of personal, social and work characteristics. The work characteristics associated with psychological distress are modifiable and can guide an industry response, as well as help inform the understanding of the role of workplace factors in mental health problems in a male dominated workforce more generally. PMID:28045935

Sequence conservation predicts T cell reactivity against ragweed allergens.

PubMed

Pham, J; Oseroff, C; Hinz, D; Sidney, J; Paul, S; Greenbaum, J; Vita, R; Phillips, E; Mallal, S; Peters, B; Sette, A

2016-09-01

Ragweed is a major cause of seasonal allergy, affecting millions of people worldwide. Several allergens have been defined based on IgE reactivity, but their relative immunogenicity in terms of T cell responses has not been studied. We comprehensively characterized T cell responses from atopic, ragweed-allergic subjects to Amb a 1, Amb a 3, Amb a 4, Amb a 5, Amb a 6, Amb a 8, Amb a 9, Amb a 10, Amb a 11, and Amb p 5 and examined their correlation with serological reactivity and sequence conservation in other allergens. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from donors positive for IgE towards ragweed extracts after in vitro expansion for secretion of IL-5 (a representative Th2 cytokine) and IFN-γ (Th1) in response to a panel of overlapping peptides spanning the above-listed allergens were assessed. Three previously identified dominant T cell epitopes (Amb a 1 176-191, 200-215, and 344-359) were confirmed, and three novel dominant epitopes (Amb a 1 280-295, 304-319, and 320-335) were identified. Amb a 1, the dominant IgE allergen, was also the dominant T cell allergen, but dominance patterns for T cell and IgE responses for the other ragweed allergens did not correlate. Dominance for T cell responses correlated with conservation of ragweed epitopes with sequences of other well-known allergens. These results provide the first assessment of the hierarchy of T cell reactivity in ragweed allergens, which is distinct from that observed for IgE reactivity and influenced by T cell epitope sequence conservation. The results suggest that ragweed allergens associated with lesser IgE reactivity and significant T cell reactivity may be targeted for T cell immunotherapy, and further support the development of immunotherapies against epitopes conserved across species to generate broad reactivity against many common allergens. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Binocular Neurons in Parastriate Cortex: Interocular ‘Matching’ of Receptive Field Properties, Eye Dominance and Strength of Silent Suppression

PubMed Central

Wang, Chun; Dreher, Bogdan

2014-01-01

Spike-responses of single binocular neurons were recorded from a distinct part of primary visual cortex, the parastriate cortex (cytoarchitectonic area 18) of anaesthetized and immobilized domestic cats. Functional identification of neurons was based on the ratios of phase-variant (F1) component to the mean firing rate (F0) of their spike-responses to optimized (orientation, direction, spatial and temporal frequencies and size) sine-wave-luminance-modulated drifting grating patches presented separately via each eye. In over 95% of neurons, the interocular differences in the phase-sensitivities (differences in F1/F0 spike-response ratios) were small (≤0.3) and in over 80% of neurons, the interocular differences in preferred orientations were ≤10°. The interocular correlations of the direction selectivity indices and optimal spatial frequencies, like those of the phase sensitivies and optimal orientations, were also strong (coefficients of correlation r ≥0.7005). By contrast, the interocular correlations of the optimal temporal frequencies, the diameters of summation areas of the excitatory responses and suppression indices were weak (coefficients of correlation r ≤0.4585). In cells with high eye dominance indices (HEDI cells), the mean magnitudes of suppressions evoked by stimulation of silent, extra-classical receptive fields via the non-dominant eyes, were significantly greater than those when the stimuli were presented via the dominant eyes. We argue that the well documented ‘eye-origin specific’ segregation of the lateral geniculate inputs underpinning distinct eye dominance columns in primary visual cortices of mammals with frontally positioned eyes (distinct eye dominance columns), combined with significant interocular differences in the strength of silent suppressive fields, putatively contribute to binocular stereoscopic vision. PMID:24927276

Infection before pregnancy affects immunity and response to social challenge in the next generation.

PubMed

Curno, Olivia; Reader, Tom; McElligott, Alan G; Behnke, Jerzy M; Barnard, Chris J

2011-12-12

Natural selection should favour parents that are able to adjust their offspring's life-history strategy and resource allocation in response to changing environmental and social conditions. Pathogens impose particularly strong and variable selective pressure on host life histories, and parental genes will benefit if offspring are appropriately primed to meet the immunological challenges ahead. Here, we investigated transgenerational immune priming by examining reproductive resource allocation by female mice in response to direct infection with Babesia microti prior to pregnancy. Female mice previously infected with B. microti gained more weight over pregnancy, and spent more time nursing their offspring. These offspring generated an accelerated response to B. microti as adults, clearing the infection sooner and losing less weight as a result of infection. They also showed an altered hormonal response to novel social environments, decreasing instead of increasing testosterone production upon social housing. These results suggest that a dominance-resistance trade-off can be mediated by cues from the previous generation. We suggest that strategic maternal investment in response to an infection leads to increased disease resistance in the following generation. Offspring from previously infected mothers downregulate investment in acquisition of social dominance, which in natural systems would reduce access to mating opportunities. In doing so, however, they avoid the reduced disease resistance associated with increased testosterone and dominance. The benefits of accelerated clearance of infection and reduced weight loss during infection may outweigh costs associated with reduced social dominance in an environment where the risk of disease is high.

Cognitive Reflection, Decision Biases, and Response Times

PubMed Central

Alós-Ferrer, Carlos; Garagnani, Michele; Hügelschäfer, Sabine

2016-01-01

We present novel evidence on response times and personality traits in standard questions from the decision-making literature where responses are relatively slow (medians around half a minute or above). To this end, we measured response times in a number of incentivized, framed items (decisions from description) including the Cognitive Reflection Test, two additional questions following the same logic, and a number of classic questions used to study decision biases in probability judgments (base-rate neglect, the conjunction fallacy, and the ratio bias). All questions create a conflict between an intuitive process and more deliberative thinking. For each item, we then created a non-conflict version by either making the intuitive impulse correct (resulting in an alignment question), shutting it down (creating a neutral question), or making it dominant (creating a heuristic question). For CRT questions, the differences in response times are as predicted by dual-process theories, with alignment and heuristic variants leading to faster responses and neutral questions to slower responses than the original, conflict questions. For decision biases (where responses are slower), evidence is mixed. To explore the possible influence of personality factors on both choices and response times, we used standard personality scales including the Rational-Experiential Inventory and the Big Five, and used them as controls in regression analysis. PMID:27713710

Cognitive Reflection, Decision Biases, and Response Times.

PubMed

Alós-Ferrer, Carlos; Garagnani, Michele; Hügelschäfer, Sabine

2016-01-01

We present novel evidence on response times and personality traits in standard questions from the decision-making literature where responses are relatively slow (medians around half a minute or above). To this end, we measured response times in a number of incentivized, framed items (decisions from description) including the Cognitive Reflection Test, two additional questions following the same logic, and a number of classic questions used to study decision biases in probability judgments (base-rate neglect, the conjunction fallacy, and the ratio bias). All questions create a conflict between an intuitive process and more deliberative thinking. For each item, we then created a non-conflict version by either making the intuitive impulse correct (resulting in an alignment question), shutting it down (creating a neutral question), or making it dominant (creating a heuristic question). For CRT questions, the differences in response times are as predicted by dual-process theories, with alignment and heuristic variants leading to faster responses and neutral questions to slower responses than the original, conflict questions. For decision biases (where responses are slower), evidence is mixed. To explore the possible influence of personality factors on both choices and response times, we used standard personality scales including the Rational-Experiential Inventory and the Big Five, and used them as controls in regression analysis.

Parylene supported 20um*20um uncooled thermoelectric infrared detector with high fill factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Modarres-Zadeh, Mohammad J.; Carpenter, Zachary S.; Rockley, Mark G.; Abdolvand, Reza

2012-06-01

Presented is a novel design for an uncooled surface-micromachined thermoelectric (TE) infrared (IR) detector. The detector features a P-doped polysilicon/Nichrome (Cr20-Ni80) thermocouple, which is embedded into a thin layer of Parylene-N to provide structural support. The low thermal conductivity (~0.1W/m.K), chemical resistance, and ease of deposition/patterning of Parylene-N make it an excellent choice of material for use in MEMS thermal detectors. This detector also features an umbrella-like IR absorber composed of a three layer stack of NiCr/SiN/NiCr to optimize IR absorption. The total device area is 20 um * 20 um per pixel with an absorber area of ~19 um * 19 um resulting in a fill factor of 90%. At room temperature, a DC responsivity of ~170V/W with a rise time of less than 8 ms is measured from the fabricated devices in vacuum when viewing a 500K blackbody without any concentrating optics. The dominant source of noise in thermoelectric IR detectors is typically Johnson noise when the detectors are operating in an open circuit condition. The fabricated detectors have resistances about 85KOhm which results in Johnson noise of about 38nV/Hz^0.5. The D* is calculated to be 9 * 106 cm*Hz0.5/ W. Preliminary finite element analysis indicates that the thermal conduction from the hot junction to the substrate through the TE wires is dominant ( GTE >> Gparylene) considering the fabricated dimensions of the parylene film and the TE wires. Thus, by further reducing the size of the TE wires, GTE can be decreased and hence, responsivity can be improved while the parylene film sustains the structural integrity of the cell.

Watershed-scale drivers of air-water CO2 exchanges in two lagoonal, North Carolina (USA) estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Dam, B.; Crosswell, J.; Anderson, I. C.; Paerl, H. W.

2017-12-01

Riverine loading of nutrients and organic matter act in concert to modulate CO2 fluxes in estuaries, yet quantitative relationships between these factors remain poorly defined. This study explored watershed-scale mechanisms responsible for the relatively low CO2 fluxes observed in two microtidal, lagoonal estuaries. Air-water CO2 fluxes were quantified with 74 high-resolution spatial surveys in the neighboring New River Estuary (NewRE) and Neuse River Estuary (NeuseRE), North Carolina, which experience a common climatology, but differ in marine versus riverine influence. Annually, both estuaries were relatively small sources of CO2 to the atmosphere, 12.5 and 16.3 mmol C m2 d-1 in the NeuseRE and NewRE, respectively. Variations in riverine alkalinity and inorganic carbon loading caused zones of minimum buffering capacity to occur at different locations in each estuary, enhancing the sensitivity of estuarine inorganic C chemistry to acidification. Large-scale pCO2 variations were driven by changes in freshwater age (akin to residence time), which modulate nutrient and organic carbon supply and phytoplankton flushing. Greatest pCO2 under-saturation was observed at intermediate freshwater ages, between 2-3 weeks. Biological controls on CO2 fluxes were obscured by variable inputs of river-borne CO2, which drove CO2 degassing in the river-dominated NeuseRE. Internally produced CO2 exceeded river-borne CO2 in the marine-dominated NewRE, suggesting that net ecosystem heterotrophy, rather than riverine inputs, drove CO2 fluxes in this system. Although annual CO2 fluxes were similar between systems, watershed-specific hydrologic factors led to disparate controls on internal carbonate chemistry, which can influence overall ecosystem health and response to future perturbation.

Hexavalent Chromium Cr(VI) Up-Regulates COX-2 Expression through an NFκB/c-Jun/AP-1–Dependent Pathway

PubMed Central

Zuo, Zhenghong; Cai, Tongjian; Li, Jingxia; Zhang, Dongyun; Yu, Yonghui

2012-01-01

Background: Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is recognized as a human carcinogen via inhalation. However, the molecular mechanisms by which Cr(VI) causes cancers are not well understood. Objectives: We evaluated cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and the signaling pathway leading to this induction due to Cr(VI) exposure in cultured cells. Methods: We used the luciferase reporter assay and Western blotting to determine COX-2 induction by Cr(VI). We used dominant negative mutant, genetic knockout, gene knockdown, and chromatin immunoprecipitation approaches to elucidate the signaling pathway leading to COX-2 induction. Results: We found that Cr(VI) exposure induced COX-2 expression in both normal human bronchial epithelial cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Deletion of IKKβ [inhibitor of transcription factor NFκB (IκB) kinase β; an upstream kinase responsible for nuclear factor κB (NFκB) activation] or overexpression of TAM67 (a dominant-negative mutant of c-Jun) dramatically inhibited the COX-2 induction due to Cr(VI), suggesting that both NFκB and c-Jun/AP-1 pathways were required for Cr(VI)-induced COX-2 expression. Our results show that p65 and c-Jun are two major components involved in NFκB and AP-1 activation, respectively. Moreover, our studies suggest crosstalk between NFκB and c-Jun/AP-1 pathways in cellular response to Cr(VI) exposure for COX-2 induction. Conclusion: We demonstrate for the first time that Cr(VI) is able to induce COX-2 expression via an NFκB/c-Jun/AP-1–dependent pathway. Our results provide novel insight into the molecular mechanisms linking Cr(VI) exposure to lung inflammation and carcinogenesis. PMID:22472290

Watershed-Scale Drivers of Air-Water CO2 Exchanges in Two Lagoonal North Carolina (USA) Estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Dam, Bryce R.; Crosswell, Joseph R.; Anderson, Iris C.; Paerl, Hans W.

2018-01-01

Riverine loading of nutrients and organic matter act in concert to modulate CO2 fluxes in estuaries, yet quantitative relationships between these factors remain poorly defined. This study explored watershed-scale mechanisms responsible for the relatively low CO2 fluxes observed in two microtidal, lagoonal estuaries. Air-water CO2 fluxes were quantified with 74 high-resolution spatial surveys in the neighboring New River Estuary (NewRE) and Neuse River Estuary (NeuseRE), North Carolina, which experience a common climatology but differ in marine versus riverine influence. Annually, both estuaries were relatively small sources of CO2 to the atmosphere, 12.5 and 16.3 mmol C m-2 d-1 in the NeuseRE and NewRE, respectively. Large-scale pCO2 variations were driven by changes in freshwater age, which modulates nutrient and organic carbon supply and phytoplankton flushing. Greatest pCO2 undersaturation was observed at intermediate freshwater ages, between 2 and 3 weeks. Biological controls on CO2 fluxes were obscured by variable inputs of river-borne CO2, which drove CO2 degassing in the river-dominated NeuseRE. Internally produced CO2 exceeded river-borne CO2 in the marine-dominated NewRE, suggesting that net ecosystem heterotrophy, rather than riverine inputs, drove CO2 fluxes in this system. Variations in riverine alkalinity and inorganic carbon loading caused zones of minimum buffering capacity to occur at different locations in each estuary, enhancing the sensitivity of estuarine inorganic C chemistry to acidification. Although annual CO2 fluxes were similar between systems, watershed-specific hydrologic factors led to disparate controls on internal carbonate chemistry, which can influence ecosystem biogeochemical cycling, trophic state, and response to future perturbations.

Role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the excitatory-inhibitory imbalance during the critical period of postnatal respiratory development in the rat.

PubMed

Gao, Xiu-Ping; Zhang, Hanmeng; Wong-Riley, Margaret

2015-11-01

The critical period of respiratory development in rats is a narrow window toward the end of the second postnatal week (P12-13), when abrupt neurochemical, electrophysiological, and ventilatory changes occur, when inhibition dominates over excitation, and when the animals' response to hypoxia is the weakest. The goal of this study was to further test our hypothesis that a major mechanism underlying the synaptic imbalance during the critical period is a reduced expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its TrkB receptors. Our aims were to determine (1) that the inhibitory dominance observed in hypoglossal motoneurons during the critical period was also demonstrable in a key respiratory chemosensor, NTSVL; (2) if in vivo application of a TrkB agonist, 7,8-DHF, would prevent, but a TrkB antagonist, ANA-12, would accentuate the synaptic imbalance; and (3) if hypoxia would also heighten the imbalance. Our results indicate that (1) the synaptic imbalance was evident in the NTSVL during the critical period; (2) intraperitoneal injections of 7,8-DHF prevented the synaptic imbalance during the critical period, whereas ANA-12 in vivo accentuated such an imbalance; and (3) acute hypoxia induced the weakest response in both the amplitude and frequency of sEPSCs during the critical period, but it increased the frequency of sIPSCs during the critical period. Thus, our findings are consistent with and strengthen our hypothesis that BDNF and TrkB play a significant role in inducing a synaptic imbalance during the critical period of respiratory development in the rat. © 2015 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Physiological Society and The Physiological Society.

Investigating the effect of previous treatments on wheat biomass over multiple spatial frequencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milne, A. E.; Castellanos, M. T.; Cartagena, M. C.; Tarquis, A. M.; Lark, R. M.

2010-09-01

In this study we use the maximum overlap discrete packet transform (MODWPT) to investigate residual effects on wheat biomass of fertigation treatments applied to a previous crop. The wheat crop covered nine subplots from a previous experiment on melon response to fertigation. Each subplot had previously received a different level of applied nitrogen. Many factors affect wheat biomass, causing it to vary at different spatial frequencies. We hypothesize that these will include residual effects from fertilizer application (at relatively low spatial frequencies) and the local influence of individual plants from the previous melon crop (at high frequency). To test this hypothesis we use the MODWPT to identify the dominant spatial frequencies of wheat biomass variation, and analyse the relationship to both the previous fertilizer application and the location of individual melon plants in the previous crop. The MODWPT is particularly appropriate for this because it allows us first to identify the key spatial frequencies in the wheat biomass objectively and to analyse them, and their relationship to hypothesized driving factors without any assumptions of uniformity (stationarity) of wheat-biomass variation. The results showed that the applied nitrogen dominated the wheat biomass response, and that there was a noticeable component of wheat-biomass variation at the spatial frequency that corresponds to the melon cropping. We expected wheat biomass to be negatively correlated with the position of melons in the previous crop, due to uptake of the applied nitrogen. The MODWPT, which allows us to detect changes in correlation between variables at different frequencies, showed that such a relationship was found across part of the experiment but not uniformly.

Fitting IRT Models to Dichotomous and Polytomous Data: Assessing the Relative Model-Data Fit of Ideal Point and Dominance Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tay, Louis; Ali, Usama S.; Drasgow, Fritz; Williams, Bruce

2011-01-01

This study investigated the relative model-data fit of an ideal point item response theory (IRT) model (the generalized graded unfolding model [GGUM]) and dominance IRT models (e.g., the two-parameter logistic model [2PLM] and Samejima's graded response model [GRM]) to simulated dichotomous and polytomous data generated from each of these models.…

Effects of monsoon precipitation variability on the physiological response of two dominant C₄ grasses across a semiarid ecotone.

PubMed

Thomey, Michell L; Collins, Scott L; Friggens, Michael T; Brown, Renee F; Pockman, William T

2014-11-01

For the southwestern United States, climate models project an increase in extreme precipitation events and prolonged dry periods. While most studies emphasize plant functional type response to precipitation variability, it is also important to understand the physiological characteristics of dominant plant species that define plant community composition and, in part, regulate ecosystem response to climate change. We utilized rainout shelters to alter the magnitude and frequency of rainfall and measured the physiological response of the dominant C4 grasses, Bouteloua eriopoda and Bouteloua gracilis. We hypothesized that: (1) the more drought-adapted B. eriopoda would exhibit faster recovery and higher rates of leaf-level photosynthesis (A(net)) than B. gracilis, (2) A(net) would be greater under the higher average soil water content in plots receiving 30-mm rainfall events, (3) co-dominance of B. eriopoda and B. gracilis in the ecotone would lead to intra-specific differences from the performance of each species at the site where it was dominant. Throughout the study, soil moisture explained 40-70% of the variation in A(net). Consequently, differences in rainfall treatments were not evident from intra-specific physiological function without sufficient divergence in soil moisture. Under low frequency, larger rainfall events B. gracilis exhibited improved water status and longer periods of C gain than B. eriopoda. Results from this study indicate that less frequent and larger rainfall events could provide a competitive advantage to B. gracilis and influence species composition across this arid-semiarid grassland ecotone.

Outcome and prognostic factors in metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients receiving second-line chemotherapy: an analysis of real-world clinical practice data in Japan.

PubMed

Matsumoto, Ryuji; Abe, Takashige; Ishizaki, Junji; Kikuchi, Hiroshi; Harabayashi, Toru; Minami, Keita; Sazawa, Ataru; Mochizuki, Tango; Akino, Tomoshige; Murakumo, Masashi; Osawa, Takahiro; Maruyama, Satoru; Murai, Sachiyo; Shinohara, Nobuo

2018-06-25

The objective of the present study was to investigate the survival outcome and prognostic factors of metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients treated with second-line systemic chemotherapy in real-world clinical practice. Overall, 114 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma undergoing second-line systemic chemotherapy were included in this retrospective analysis. The dominant second-line chemotherapy was a paclitaxel-based combination regimen (60%, 68/114). We assessed the progression-free survival and overall survival times using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazards model was applied to identify the factors affecting overall survival. The median progression-free survival and overall survival times were 4 and 9 months, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score greater than 0 at presentation, C-reactive protein level ≧1 mg/dl and poor response to prior chemotherapy were adverse prognostic indicators. Patients with 0, 1, 2 and 3 of those risk factors had a median overall survival of 17, 12, 7 and 3 months, respectively. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status at presentation, C-reactive protein level and response to prior chemotherapy were prognostic factors for metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients undergoing second-line chemotherapy. In the future, this information might help guide the choice of salvage treatment, such as second-line chemotherapy or immune checkpoint inhibitors, after the failure of first-line chemotherapy.

[Responses of biological soil crust to and its relief effect on raindrop kinetic energy].

PubMed

Qin, Ning-qiang; Zhao, Yun-ge

2011-09-01

Based on the field investigation and by the method of simulated single-drop rain, this paper studied the responses of different types of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in the wind-water erosion interleaving region of Loess Plateau to and their relief effect on the kinetic energy of raindrops. The responses of the biocrusts to raindrop kinetic energy had close relations with their biological composition. The cyanobacteria-dominated biocrusts with a thickness of 1 cm and the moss-dominated biocrusts with the coverage of 80% could resist in 0.99 J and 75.56 J of cumulative rain drop kinetic energy, respectively, and the potential resistance of the biocrusts with the same biological compositions was relative to the biomass of the biological compositions, i.e., the larger the biomass, the higher the resistance. As the chlorophyll a content of cyanobacteria- dominated biocrusts (which characterizes the cyanobacterial biomass) increased from 3.32 to 3.73 microg x g(-1), the resistance of the biocrusts against the cumulative raindrop kinetic energy increased from 0.99 to 2.17 J; when the moss biomass in the moss- dominated biocrusts increased from 2.03 to 4.73 g x dm(-2), the resistance of the crusts increased from 6.08 to 75.56 J. During the succession of the biocrusts, their responses to the raindrop kinetic energy presented an "S" pattern. No significant differences in the resistance against raindrop cumulative kinetic energy were observed between the cyanobacteria-dominated biocrusts with variable biomass, but the resistance of moss-dominated biocrusts increased significantly as their biomass per unit area increased. The resistance of moss-dominated biocrusts increased linearly when their biomass increased from 2.03 g x dm(-2) to 4.73 g x dm(-2). The moss-dominated biocrusts could resist in 62.03 J of raindrop kinetic energy when their biomass was up to 3.70 g x dm(-2). Biocrusts had obvious effects in relieving raindrop kinetic energy, and the relief effect increased with their increasing biomass.

Long-term experimental warming, shading and nutrient addition affect the concentration of phenolic compounds in arctic-alpine deciduous and evergreen dwarf shrubs.

PubMed

Hansen, Anja H; Jonasson, Sven; Michelsen, Anders; Julkunen-Tiitto, Riitta

2006-02-01

Environmental changes are likely to alter the chemical composition of plant tissues, including content and concentrations of secondary compounds, and thereby affect the food sources of herbivores. After 10 years of experimental increase of temperature, nutrient levels and light attenuation in a sub-arctic, alpine ecosystem, we investigated the effects on carbon based secondary compounds (CBSC) and nitrogen in one dominant deciduous dwarf shrub, Salix herbacea x polaris and two dominant evergreen dwarf shrubs, Cassiope tetragona and Vaccinium vitis-idaea throughout one growing season. The main aims were to compare the seasonal course and treatment effects on CBSC among the species, life forms and leaf cohorts and to examine whether the responses in different CBSC were consistent across compounds. The changes in leaf chemistry both during the season and in response to the treatments were higher in S. herbacea x polaris than in the corresponding current year's leaf cohort of the evergreen C. tetragona. The changes were also much higher than in the 1-year-old leaves of the two evergreens probably due to differences in dilution and turnover of CBSC in growing and mature leaves paired with different rates of allocation. Most low molecular weight phenolics in the current year's leaves decreased in all treatments. Condensed tannins and the tannin-to-N ratio, however, either increased or decreased, and the strength and even direction of the responses varied among the species and leaf cohorts, supporting views of influential factors additional to resource-based or developmental controls, as e.g. species specific or genetic controls of CBSC. The results indicate that there is no common response to environmental changes across species and substances. However, the pronounced treatment responses imply that the quality of the herbivore forage is likely to be strongly affected in a changing arctic environment, although both the direction and strength of the responses will be different among plant species, tissue types and substances.

SU-E-T-517: Investigation of Factors Contributing to Extracranial Radiation Doses From Leksell Gamma Knife

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kon, D; Kameda Medical Centre, Chiba, JP; Nakano, M

2015-06-15

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate dominant factors for doses to extracranial sites in treatment with Leksell Gamma Knife (LGK). Methods Monte Carlo simulation was implemented using EGS5 version 1.4.401. The simulation was divided into two major steps for the purpose of efficiency. As the first step, phase-space files were obtained at a scoring plane located just below patient-side surface of the collimator helmet of LGK. Scored particles were classified into three groups, primary, leakage and scatter, using their history information until their arrival to the scoring plane. Then classification was used at the following second stepmore » simulation to investigate which type of particle is dominant in the deposited energy at extra-cranial sites. In the second stage, a cylindrical phantom with a semisphere shaped head was modeled such that the geometrical center of the phantom’s head corresponds to the unit center point (UCP) of LGK. Scoring regions were arranged at 10 cm intervals from the UCP to 70 cm away on the central axis of the phantom. Energy deposition from each type of particles and location of interaction were recorded. Results The dominant factor of deposited energy depended on the collimator size. In the case of smaller collimator size, leakage was dominant. However, contribution of leakage was relatively small in the case of larger collimator size. The contribution of internal scatter varied with the distance from the UCP. In the proximal areas, internal scatter was dominant, whereas in the distal areas, particles interacting with machine components became dominant factor. Conclusion The Result of this study indicates that the dominant factor to dose to an extracranial site can vary with the distance from UCP and with collimator size. This means that the variation of this contribution must be considered for modeling of the extracranial dose especially in the distal area. This work was partly supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program (No. 23003)« less

MiR-608, pre-miR-124-1 and pre-miR26a-1 polymorphisms modify susceptibility and recurrence-free survival in surgically resected CRC individuals.

PubMed

Ying, Hou-Qun; Peng, Hong-Xin; He, Bang-Shun; Pan, Yu-Qin; Wang, Feng; Sun, Hui-Ling; Liu, Xian; Chen, Jie; Lin, Kang; Wang, Shu-Kui

2016-11-15

Genetic variation within microRNA (miRNA) may result in its abnormal folding or aberrant expression, contributing to colorectal turmorigenesis and metastasis. However, the association of six polymorphisms (miR-608 rs4919510, miR-499a rs3746444, miR-146a rs2910164, pre-miR-143 rs41291957, pre-miR-124-1 rs531564 and pre-miR-26a-1 rs7372209) with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, therapeutic response and survival remains unclear. A retrospective study was carried out to investigate the association in 1358 0-III stage resected CRC patients and 1079 healthy controls using Sequenom's MassARRAY platform. The results showed that rs4919510 was significantly associated with a decreased susceptibility to CRC in co-dominant, allele and recessive genetic models, and the protective role of rs4919510 allele G and genotype GG was more pronounced among stage 0-II cases; significant association between rs531564 and poor RFS was observed in cases undergoing adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy in co-dominant, allele and dominant models; moreover, there was a positive association between rs7372209 and recurrence-free survival in stage II cases in co-dominant and over-dominant models; additionally, a cumulative effect of rs531564 and rs7372209 at-risk genotypes with hazard ratio at 1.30 and 1.95 for one and two at-risk genotypes was examined in stage II cases, respectively. Our findings indicated that rs4919510 allele G and genotype GG were protective factors for 0-II stage CRC, rs7372209 and rs531564 could decrease RFS in II stage individuals and resected CRC patients receiving adjuvant chemo-radiology.

Intermingling and disordered logic as influences on schizophrenic 'thought disorders'.

PubMed

Harrow, M; Prosen, M

1978-10-01

A technique was devised to elicit bizarre or idiosyncratic responses from 30 young schizophrenics, who were then re-interviewed a week later to determine the reasons for each patient's idiosyncratic verbalizations. Taped interviews of the schizophrenics, scored along a series of rating scales, indicated: (1) An overt mechanism involved in bizarre schizophrenic language is a tendency to intermingle into their responses material from their current and past experiences. (2) Careful analysis suggests that the seemingly bizarre intermingled material of schizophrenics usually is close to the original "correct" topic. (3) The bizarre intermingled material is related to the patients' personal lives. (4) The intermingled material does not usually represent a failure to screen out or repress primitive drive dominated sexual or aggressive material. (5) Disordered logic was not a major factor in accounting for bizarre schizophrenic language.

Nonverbal arithmetic in humans: light from noise.

PubMed

Cordes, Sara; Gallistel, C R; Gelman, Rochel; Latham, Peter

2007-10-01

Animal and human data suggest the existence of a cross-species system of analog number representation (e.g., Cordes, Gelman, Gallistel, & Whalen, 2001; Meeck & Church, 1983), which may mediate the computation of statistical regularities in the environment (Gallistel, Gelman, & Cordes, 2006). However, evidence of arithmetic manipulation of these nonverbal magnitude representations is sparse and lacking in depth. This study uses the analysis of variability as a tool for understanding properties of these combinatorial processes. Human subjects participated in tasks requiring responses dependent upon the addition, subtraction, or reproduction of nonverbal counts. Variance analyses revealed that the magnitude of both inputs and answer contributed to the variability in the arithmetic responses, with operand variability dominating. Other contributing factors to the observed variability and implications for logarithmic versus scalar models of magnitude representation are discussed in light of these results.

Microbial polychlorinated biphenyl dechlorination in sediments by electrical stimulation: The effect of adding acetate and nonionic surfactant.

PubMed

Yu, Hui; Wan, Hui; Feng, Chunhua; Yi, Xiaoyun; Liu, Xiaoping; Ren, Yuan; Wei, Chaohai

2017-02-15

The necessity for developing an efficient and cost-effective in situ bioremediation technology for sediments contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has prompted the application of low-voltage electrical fields to anaerobic digestion systems. Here we show that the use of a sediment-based bio-electrochemical reactor (BER) poised at a potential of -0.50V (vs. a standard calomel electrode, SCE) substantially enhanced the reduction of 2,3,4,5-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 61) when acetate was added as a carbon source. The addition of surfactant Tween 80 to the BER further accelerated the PCB 61 transformation. The comparative study of closed- and open-circuit reactors demonstrated the enrichment conditions affecting the bacterial community structure, the dominant dechlorination metabolisms, and thus the extent, the rate and the products of the reduction of PCBs. The dominant bacterial dechlorinators detected in the BERs in the presence of acetate and Tween 80 are Dehalogenimonas, Dehalobacter, Sulfuricurvum, Dechloromonas and Geobacter, which should be responsible for PCB dechlorination. This study improves understanding of the key factors influencing dechlorination activity in sediment-based BERs polarized at a low potential, as well as the metabolic mechanisms dominating in the PCB dechlorination process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Relative Salience of Daily and Enduring Influences on Off-Job Reactions to Work Stress.

PubMed

Calderwood, Charles; Ackerman, Phillip L

2016-12-01

Work stress is an important determinant of employee health and wellness. The occupational health community is recognizing that one contributor to these relationships may be the presence of negative off-job reactivity to work, which we argue involves continued thoughts directed towards work (cognitive reactivity), continued negative mood stemming from work (affective reactivity), and the alteration of post-work behaviours in response to work factors (behavioural reactivity). We explored the relative contributions of daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions to negative off-job reactivity. These relationships were evaluated in a study of hospital nurses (n = 75), who completed trait measures and then provided self-assessments of daily work stress and off-job reactions for four work days. The results of several multilevel analyses indicated that a main-effects model best described the data when predicting cognitive, affective, and behavioural reactivity from daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions. A series of multilevel dominance analyses revealed that subjective job stress perceptions dominated the prediction of behavioural reactivity, while trait negative affect dominated the prediction of affective reactivity. Theoretical implications and the relative salience of daily and enduring contributors to negative off-job reactivity are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change on urban air quality in representative cities of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, L.; Wei, J.; Duan, D. H.; Guo, Y. M.; Yang, D. X.; Jia, C.; Mi, X. T.

2016-05-01

The atmospheric particulate pollution in China is getting worse. Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC) is a key factor that affects atmospheric particulate pollution. Understanding the response of particulate pollution to LUCC is necessary for environmental protection. Eight representative cities in China, Qingdao, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Urumqi were selected to analyze the relationship between particulate pollution and LUCC. The MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aerosol product (MOD04) was used to estimate atmospheric particulate pollution for nearly 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. Six land-use types, water, woodland, grassland, cultivated land, urban, and unused land, were obtained from the MODIS land cover product (MOD12), where the LUCC of each category was estimated. The response of particulate pollution to LUCC was analyzed from the above mentioned two types of data. Moreover, the impacts of time-lag and urban type changes on particulate pollution were also considered. Analysis results showed that due to natural factors, or human activities such as urban sprawl or deforestation, etc., the response of particulate pollution to LUCC shows obvious differences in different areas. The correlation between particulate pollution and LUCC is lower in coastal areas but higher in inland areas. The dominant factor affecting urban air quality in LUCC changes from ocean, to woodland, to urban land, and eventually into grassland or unused land when moving from the coast to inland China.

Repeat Radiosurgery for Trigeminal Neuralgia.

PubMed

Helis, Corbin A; Lucas, John T; Bourland, J Daniel; Chan, Michael D; Tatter, Stephen B; Laxton, Adrian W

2015-11-01

Repeat Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is an established option for patients whose pain has recurred after the initial procedure, with reported success rates varying from 68% to 95%. Predictive factors for response to the repeat GKRS are ill-defined. This cohort study aimed to report the outcomes and factors predictive of success for patients who have undergone repeated GKRS for trigeminal neuralgia at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Between 1999 and 2013, 152 patients underwent repeat GKRS at Wake Forest, 125 of whom were available for long-term follow-up. A retrospective chart review and telephone interviews were conducted to determine background medical history, dosimetric data, outcomes, and adverse effects of the procedure. Eighty-four percent of patients achieved at least Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) IIIb pain relief, with 46% achieving BNI I. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year rates of BNI I pain relief were 63%, 50%, and 37%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year rates of BNI IIIb or better pain relief were 74%, 59%, and 46%, respectively. One patient experienced bothersome numbness and 2 patients developed anesthesia dolorosa. The dominant predictive factors for pain relief were facial numbness after the first GKRS and a positive pain response to the first GKRS. Repeat GKRS is an effective method of treating recurrent trigeminal neuralgia. Patients who have facial numbness after the first treatment and a positive pain response to the first GKRS are significantly more likely to respond well to the second treatment.

[Responses of Picea likiangensis radial growth to climate change in the Small Zhongdian area of Yunnan Province, Southwest China].

PubMed

Zhao, Zhi-Jiang; Tan, Liu-Yi; Kang, Dong-Wei; Liu, Qi-Jing; Li, Jun-Qing

2012-03-01

Picea likiangensis (Franch. ) Pritz. primary forest is one of the dominant forest types in the Small Zhongdian area in Shangri-La County of Yunnan Province. In this paper, the responses of P. likiangensis tree-ring width to climate change were analyzed by dendrochronological methods, and the dendrochronology was built by using relatively conservative detrending negative exponential curves or linear regression. Correlation analysis and response function analysis were applied to explore the relationships between the residual chronology series (RES) and climatic factors at different time scales, and pointer year analysis was used to explain the reasons of producing narrow and wide rings. In the study area, the radial growth of P. likiangensis and the increasing air temperature from 1990 to 2008 had definite 'abruption'. The temperature and precipitation in previous year growth season were the main factors limiting the present year radial growth, and especially, the temperature in previous July played a negative feedback role in the radial growth, while the sufficient precipitation in previous July promoted the radial growth. The differences in the temperature variation and precipitation variation in previous year were the main reasons for the formation of narrow and wide rings. P. likiangensis radial growth was not sensitive to the variation of PDSI.

Effects of dominant and non-dominant passive arm manoeuvres on the neurovascular coupling response.

PubMed

Llwyd, Osian; Panerai, Ronney B; Robinson, Thompson G

2017-11-01

Models designed to study neurovascular coupling (NVC) describe a possible cerebral hemisphere dominance dependent on task completed and preference in handedness. We investigated whether passive arm manoeuvre performed with dominant (Dom-Arm) or non-dominant arm (ND-Arm) stimulated haemodynamic differences in either contralateral (Cont-H) or ipsilateral (Ipsil-H) cerebral hemisphere. Healthy individuals lying in supine position, had measurements of beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP, mmHg), electrocardiogram (HR, bpm), end-tidal CO 2 (etCO 2 , mmHg), and bilateral insonation of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA, cm s -1 ). Arm movement was performed for 60 s with passive flexion and extension of the elbow (1 Hz), before manoeuvre was repeated on other arm. Data were normalised and effect of treatment was analysed for differences between manoeuvres and within each time period. Seventeen (eight males) healthy volunteers, aged 56 ± 7 years, were studied. Dom-Arm and ND-Arm manoeuvres stimulated a comparable temporal response in peripheral and cerebral haemodynamic parameters between Cont-H and Ipsil-H. Both manoeuvres can be used to evoke similar bilateral MCA responses in assessing NVC. This finding should lead to more efficient protocols when using passive arm movement for NVC studies in healthy subjects.

Geochemical patterns of arsenic-enriched ground water in fractured, crystalline bedrock, Northport, Maine, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lipfert, G.; Reeve, A.S.; Sidle, W.C.; Marvinney, R.

2006-01-01

High mean As concentrations of up to 26.6 ??mol/L (1990 ??g/L) occur in ground water collected from a fractured-bedrock system composed of sulfidic schist with granitic to dioritic intrusions. Sulfides in the bedrock are the primary source of the As in the ground water, but the presence of arsenopyrite in rock core retrieved from a borehole with As concentrations in the ground water barely above the detection limit of 2.0 ??mol/L, shows that there are complicating factors. Chemical analyses of water from 35 bedrock wells throughout a small watershed reveal spatial clustering of wells with high As concentrations. Stiff diagrams and box plots distinguish three distinct types; calcium-bicarbonate-dominated water with low As concentrations (CaHCO 3 type), sodium-bicarbonate-dominated water with moderately high As concentrations (NaHCO3 type), and calcium-bicarbonate-dominated water with very high As concentrations (High-As type). It is proposed that differences in recharge area and ground-water evolution, and possible bedrock composition difference are responsible for the chemical distinctions within the watershed. Lack of correlation of As concentrations with pH indicates that desorption of As is an insignificant control on As concentration. Correlations of As concentrations with Fe and redox parameters indicates that reductive dissolution of Fe(III) oxyhydroxides may play a role in the occurrence of high As concentrations in the NaHCO3 and High-As type water. The oxidation of sulfide minerals occurs within the ground-water system and is ultimately responsible for the existence of As in the ground water, but there is no correlation between As and SO4 concentrations, probably due to precipitation of Fe(III) oxyhydroxides and adsorption of As under oxidizing conditions. Crown Copyright ?? 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is there a substitution of Pinaceae by Fagaceae in temperate forests at the global scale?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfaro Reyna, Teresa; Retana, Javier; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi

2018-07-01

Reports on forest decline, changes in species composition and the distribution of forests in response to changes in climate and land use are increasing worldwide. Temperate forests are largely dominated by two tree families: Pinaceae and Fagaceae. These two families have distinct functional properties and different responses to environmental factors. Several local and regional assessments, particularly in Europe, have found that species of Fagaceae are invading areas previously dominated by Pinaceae. The main aim of this synthesis study is to analyze the relative dynamics of Pinaceae and Fagaceae species in temperate forests around the world, with the following specific objectives: (1) establish if there is a consistent directional substitution of Pinaceae by Fagaceae worldwide; and (2) determine whether these directional changes are associated with specific climatic conditions or certain geographic regions, reflecting differences in historical forest management and land use. A bibliographic review was performed and 51 papers were found that met the search criteria, including a total of 121 case studies in which the relative dynamics of Pinaceae and Fagaceae were evaluated. Our results show that the relative abundance of Fagaceae increased in 71% of cases (P → F dynamics), whereas Pinaceae relative abundance increased in 17% of cases (F → P) and 12% of cases did not show clear changes. Increases of Fagaceae relative to Pinaceae were less clear in areas where vegetation dynamics were driven by natural disturbances. Our results indicate a widespread increase in dominance of Fagaceae species at the expense of Pinaceae across northern temperate forests, with the exception of Eastern North America. The potential implications for ecosystem function and forest resilience under ongoing climate change are large and clearly deserve further study.

Effects of experimental nitrogen deposition on peatland carbon pools and fluxes: a modeling analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Y.; Blodau, C.; Moore, T. R.; Bubier, J. L.; Juutinen, S.; Larmola, T.

2014-07-01

Nitrogen (N) pollution of peatlands alters their carbon (C) balances, yet long-term effects and controls are poorly understood. We applied the model PEATBOG to analyze impacts of long-term nitrogen (N) fertilization on C cycling in an ombrotrophic bog. Simulations of summer gross ecosystem production (GEP), ecosystem respiration (ER) and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) were evaluated against 8 years of observations and extrapolated for 80 years to identify potential effects of N fertilization and factors influencing model behavior. The model successfully simulated moss decline and raised GEP, ER and NEE on fertilized plots. GEP was systematically overestimated in the model compared to the field data due to high tolerance of Sphagnum to N deposition in the model. Model performance regarding the 8 year response of GEP and NEE to N was improved by introducing an N content threshold shifting the response of photosynthesis capacity to N content in shrubs and graminoids from positive to negative at high N contents. Such changes also eliminated the competitive advantages of vascular species and led to resilience of mosses in the long-term. Regardless of the large changes of C fluxes over the short-term, the simulated GEP, ER and NEE after 80 years depended on whether a graminoid- or shrub-dominated system evolved. When the peatland remained shrub-Sphagnum dominated, it shifted to a C source after only 10 years of fertilization at 6.4 g N m-2 yr-1, whereas this was not the case when it became graminoid-dominated. The modeling results thus highlight the importance of ecosystem adaptation and reaction of plant functional types to N deposition, when predicting the future C balance of N-polluted cool temperate bogs.

A carbon dioxide avoidance behavior is integrated with responses to ambient oxygen and food in Caenorhabditis elegans

PubMed Central

Bretscher, Andrew Jonathan; Busch, Karl Emanuel; de Bono, Mario

2008-01-01

Homeostasis of internal carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) levels is fundamental to all animals. Here we examine the CO2 response of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This species inhabits rotting material, which typically has a broad CO2 concentration range. We show that well fed C. elegans avoid CO2 levels above 0.5%. Animals can respond to both absolute CO2 concentrations and changes in CO2 levels within seconds. Responses to CO2 do not reflect avoidance of acid pH but appear to define a new sensory response. Sensation of CO2 is promoted by the cGMP-gated ion channel subunits TAX-2 and TAX-4, but other pathways are also important. Robust CO2 avoidance in well fed animals requires inhibition of the DAF-16 forkhead transcription factor by the insulin-like receptor DAF-2. Starvation, which activates DAF-16, strongly suppresses CO2 avoidance. Exposure to hypoxia (<1% O2) also suppresses CO2 avoidance via activation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1. The npr-1 215V allele of the naturally polymorphic neuropeptide receptor npr-1, besides inhibiting avoidance of high ambient O2 in feeding C. elegans, also promotes avoidance of high CO2. C. elegans integrates competing O2 and CO2 sensory inputs so that one response dominates. Food and allelic variation at NPR-1 regulate which response prevails. Our results suggest that multiple sensory inputs are coordinated by C. elegans to generate different coherent foraging strategies. PMID:18524954

The role of body mass in the response to growth hormone therapy.

PubMed

Martha, P M; Reiter, E O; Dávila, N; Shaw, M A; Holcombe, J H; Baumann, G

1992-12-01

Obesity is associated with normal or increased growth despite diminished GH secretion compared to lean children. The mechanism by which adequate growth is maintained in the presence of low GH levels is unknown, but is possibly mediated at the GH receptor level. To probe this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between GH responsivity, body mass index (BMI) and plasma GH-binding protein (GH-BP)/receptor level in 43 GH-deficient children during treatment with a fixed dose of GH (0.18 mg/kg.week). Before treatment, BMI [expressed as standard deviation score (SDS) for age (BMI-SDS)] did not correlate with either growth velocity or serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). In contrast, after 12 months of GH therapy BMI-SDS correlated directly with plasma IGF-I (P < 10(-5)) and growth velocity (P < 10(-3)). These findings parallel those obtained for GH-BP vs. the response to GH, suggesting that BMI and GH-BP are covariants. The interrelationships among BMI, GH-BP, and response to GH were further probed by multiple regression analysis. Partial correlation coefficients vs. response to GH were consistently stronger for GH-BP than for BMI-SDS, indicating that GH-BP is the dominant factor between these two covariants in determining responsiveness to GH. The data suggest a primary role for GH-BP/receptor levels in determining GH action, with secondary but significant effects of nutrition and degree of adiposity. The latter may be mediated through the impact of nutrition and body mass on GH-BP/receptor levels.

A carbon dioxide avoidance behavior is integrated with responses to ambient oxygen and food in Caenorhabditis elegans.

PubMed

Bretscher, Andrew Jonathan; Busch, Karl Emanuel; de Bono, Mario

2008-06-10

Homeostasis of internal carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) levels is fundamental to all animals. Here we examine the CO2 response of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This species inhabits rotting material, which typically has a broad CO2 concentration range. We show that well fed C. elegans avoid CO2 levels above 0.5%. Animals can respond to both absolute CO2 concentrations and changes in CO2 levels within seconds. Responses to CO2 do not reflect avoidance of acid pH but appear to define a new sensory response. Sensation of CO2 is promoted by the cGMP-gated ion channel subunits TAX-2 and TAX-4, but other pathways are also important. Robust CO2 avoidance in well fed animals requires inhibition of the DAF-16 forkhead transcription factor by the insulin-like receptor DAF-2. Starvation, which activates DAF-16, strongly suppresses CO2 avoidance. Exposure to hypoxia (<1% O2) also suppresses CO2 avoidance via activation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1. The npr-1 215V allele of the naturally polymorphic neuropeptide receptor npr-1, besides inhibiting avoidance of high ambient O2 in feeding C. elegans, also promotes avoidance of high CO2. C. elegans integrates competing O2 and CO2 sensory inputs so that one response dominates. Food and allelic variation at NPR-1 regulate which response prevails. Our results suggest that multiple sensory inputs are coordinated by C. elegans to generate different coherent foraging strategies.

Optimization of enhanced bioelectrical reactor with electricity from microbial fuel cells for groundwater nitrate removal.

PubMed

Liu, Ye; Zhang, Baogang; Tian, Caixing; Feng, Chuanping; Wang, Zhijun; Cheng, Ming; Hu, Weiwu

2016-01-01

Factors influencing the performance of a continual-flow bioelectrical reactor (BER) intensified by microbial fuel cells for groundwater nitrate removal, including nitrate load, carbon source and hydraulic retention time (HRT), were investigated and optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). With the target of maximum nitrate removal and minimum intermediates accumulation, nitrate load (for nitrogen) of 60.70 mg/L, chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 849.55 mg/L and HRT of 3.92 h for the BER were performed. COD was the dominant factor influencing performance of the system. Experimental results indicated the undistorted simulation and reliable optimized values. These demonstrate that RSM is an effective method to evaluate and optimize the nitrate-reducing performance of the present system and can guide mathematical models development to further promote its practical applications.

Exploiting genomics and natural genetic variation to decode macrophage enhancers

PubMed Central

Romanoski, Casey E.; Link, Verena M.; Heinz, Sven; Glass, Christopher K.

2015-01-01

The mammalian genome contains on the order of a million enhancer-like regions that are required to establish the identities and functions of specific cell types. Here, we review recent studies in immune cells that have provided insight into the mechanisms that selectively activate certain enhancers in response to cell lineage and environmental signals. We describe a working model wherein distinct classes of transcription factors define the repertoire of active enhancers in macrophages through collaborative and hierarchical interactions, and discuss important challenges to this model, specifically providing examples from T cells. We conclude by discussing the use of natural genetic variation as a powerful approach for decoding transcription factor combinations that play dominant roles in establishing the enhancer landscapes, and the potential that these insights have for advancing our understanding of the molecular causes of human disease. PMID:26298065

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic controls on channel evolution in a sub-tropical river, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daley, James; Croke, Jacky; Thompson, Chris; Cohen, Tim; Macklin, Mark; Sharma, Ashneel

2016-04-01

Palaeohydrological research provides valuable insights to the understanding of short- and long-term fluvial dynamics in response to climate change and tectonic activity. In landscapes where tectonic activity is minimal fluvial archives record long-term changes in sediment and discharge dynamics related to either intrinsic or extrinsic controls. Isolating the relative controls of these factors is an important frontier in this area of research. Advances in geochronology, the acquisition of high resolution topographic data and geomorphological techniques provide an opportunity to assess the relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic controls on terrace and floodplain formation. This study presents the results of detailed chrono-stratigraphic research in a partly confined river valley in subtropical southeast Queensland. River systems within this region are characterized by high hydrological variability and have a near-ubiquitous compound channel morphology (macrochannel) where Holocene deposits are inset within late Pleistocene terraces. These macrochannels can accommodate floods up to and beyond the predicted 100-year flood. Using single grain optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon analyses, combined with high resolution spatial datasets, we demonstrate the nature of fluvial response to major late Quaternary climate change. A large proportion of the valley floor is dominated by terrace alluvium deposited after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (17 - 13 ka) and overlies basal older Pleistocene alluvium. Preliminary results suggest a phase of incision occurred at 10 ka with the formation of the large alluvial trench. The Holocene floodplain is dominated by processes of catastrophic vertical accretion and erosion (cut-and-fill) and oblique accretion at the macrochannel margins. The consistency in ages for the terraces and subsequent incision suggests a uniform network response. Alluvial sediments and channel configuration in this compound and complex landscape represent a discernable response to long-term climate change, high climate variability and extreme weather events.

Homozygosity for HLA group 2 alleles predicts treatment failure with interferon-α and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection.

PubMed

Collison, Meadhbh; Chin, Jun Liong; Abu Shanab, Ahmed; Mac Nicholas, Ross; Segurado, Ricardo; Coughlan, Suzie; Connell, Jeff; Carr, Michael J; Merriman, Raphael B; McCormick, P Aiden; Hall, William W

2015-02-01

Host genetic factors influence treatment responses to antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We retrospectively investigated associations between host genetic markers and treatment-induced virologic responses to dual therapy with interferon-α and ribavirin in chronically infected HCV genotype 1 (g1)- and genotype 3 (g3)-infected individuals. A total of 171 patients (89 HCV g1 and 82 HCV g3 infected) were investigated for genetic markers influencing treatment-induced sustained virologic response (SVR). Overall, SVR was observed for 46/89 (52%) HCV g1- and 57/82 (70%) HCV g3-infected patients. Of the 4 interleukin 28B (IL28B) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs12979860 was the host genetic marker most significantly associated with failure to achieve an SVR in HCV g1-infected individuals [P=3.83×10(-4); odds ratio (OR)=5.61; confidence interval (CI)=2.07-15.18] and gave a positive predictive value for treatment failure of 81.3% for minor homozygotes (TT). Using additive (P=3.54×10(-4)) and dominant models (P=3.83×10(-4)), a dosage effect of the T allele was observed, with the dominance term not significant for this SNP. Logistic regression showed an association between HLA-C1/C1 and rapid virologic response in HCV g1 infections with an OR relative to the heterozygote of 10.0 (95% CI: 1.6-62.5, P=0.014). HLA-C2 homozygosity was a significant predictor of nonresponse to treatment in HCV g1-infected individuals (P=0.023).

Group-living herbivores weigh up food availability and dominance status when making patch-joining decisions.

PubMed

Stears, Keenan; Kerley, Graham I H; Shrader, Adrian M

2014-01-01

Two key factors that influence the foraging behaviour of group-living herbivores are food availability and individual dominance status. Yet, how the combination of these factors influences the patch-joining decisions of individuals foraging within groups has scarcely been explored. To address this, we focused on the patch-joining decisions of group-living domestic goats (Capra hircus). When individuals were tested against the top four ranked goats of the herd, we found that at patches with low food availability they avoided these dominant patch-holders and only joined subordinates (i.e. costs outweighed benefits). However, as the amount of food increased, the avoidance of the top ranked individuals declined. Specifically, goats shifted and joined the patch of an individual one dominance rank higher than the previous dominant patch holder when the initial quantity of food in the new patch was twice that of the lower ranking individual's patch (i.e. benefits outweighed costs). In contrast, when individuals chose between patches held by dominant goats, other than the top four ranked goats, and subordinate individuals, we found that they equally joined the dominant and subordinate patch-holders. This joining was irrespective of the dominance gap, absolute rank of the dominant patch-holder, sex or food availability (i.e. benefits outweighed costs). Ultimately, our results highlight that herbivores weigh up the costs and benefits of both food availability and patch-holder dominance status when making patch-joining decisions. Furthermore, as the initial quantity of food increases, food availability becomes more important than dominance with regard to influencing patch-joining decisions.

FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER Negatively Regulates Ethylene Response DNA-Binding Factors by Activating an Ethylene-Responsive Factor to Control Arabidopsis Floral Organ Senescence and Abscission1

PubMed Central

Li, Pei-Fang; Lee, Yung-I; Yang, Chang-Hsien

2015-01-01

In this study of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we investigated the relationship between FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER (FYF) and Ethylene Response DNA-binding Factors (EDFs) and functionally analyzed a key FYF target, an Ethylene-Responsive Factor (ERF), that controls flower senescence/abscission. Ectopic expression of EDF1/2/3/4 caused promotion of flower senescence/abscission and the activation of the senescence-associated genes. The presence of a repressor domain in EDFs and the enhancement of the promotion of senescence/abscission in EDF1/2/3/4+SRDX (converting EDFs to strong repressors by fusion with the ERF-associated amphiphilic repression motif repression domain SRDX) transgenic plants suggested that EDFs act as repressors. The significant reduction of β-glucuronidase (GUS) expression by 35S:FYF in EDF1/2/3/4:GUS plants indicates that EDF1/2/3/4 functions downstream of FYF in regulating flower senescence/abscission. In this study, we also characterized an ERF gene, FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER UP-REGULATING FACTOR1 (FUF1), which is up-regulated by FYF during flower development. Ectopic expression of FUF1 caused similar delayed flower senescence/abscission as seen in 35S:FYF plants. This phenotype was correlated with deficient abscission zone formation, ethylene insensitivity, and down-regulation of EDF1/2/3/4 and abscission-associated genes in 35S:FUF1 flowers. In contrast, significant promotion of flower senescence/abscission and up-regulation of EDF1/2/3/4 were observed in 35S:FUF1+SRDX transgenic dominant-negative plants, in which FUF1 is converted to a potent repressor by fusion to an SRDX-suppressing motif. Thus, FUF1 acts as an activator in suppressing EDF1/2/3/4 function and senescence/abscission of the flowers. Our results reveal that FYF regulates flower senescence/abscission by negatively regulating EDF1/2/3/4, which is the downstream gene in the ethylene response, by activating FUF1 in Arabidopsis. PMID:26063506

FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER Negatively Regulates Ethylene Response DNA-Binding Factors by Activating an Ethylene-Responsive Factor to Control Arabidopsis Floral Organ Senescence and Abscission.

PubMed

Chen, Wei-Han; Li, Pei-Fang; Chen, Ming-Kun; Lee, Yung-I; Yang, Chang-Hsien

2015-08-01

In this study of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we investigated the relationship between FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER (FYF) and Ethylene Response DNA-binding Factors (EDFs) and functionally analyzed a key FYF target, an Ethylene-Responsive Factor (ERF), that controls flower senescence/abscission. Ectopic expression of EDF1/2/3/4 caused promotion of flower senescence/abscission and the activation of the senescence-associated genes. The presence of a repressor domain in EDFs and the enhancement of the promotion of senescence/abscission in EDF1/2/3/4+SRDX (converting EDFs to strong repressors by fusion with the ERF-associated amphiphilic repression motif repression domain SRDX) transgenic plants suggested that EDFs act as repressors. The significant reduction of β-glucuronidase (GUS) expression by 35S:FYF in EDF1/2/3/4:GUS plants indicates that EDF1/2/3/4 functions downstream of FYF in regulating flower senescence/abscission. In this study, we also characterized an ERF gene, FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER UP-REGULATING FACTOR1 (FUF1), which is up-regulated by FYF during flower development. Ectopic expression of FUF1 caused similar delayed flower senescence/abscission as seen in 35S:FYF plants. This phenotype was correlated with deficient abscission zone formation, ethylene insensitivity, and down-regulation of EDF1/2/3/4 and abscission-associated genes in 35S:FUF1 flowers. In contrast, significant promotion of flower senescence/abscission and up-regulation of EDF1/2/3/4 were observed in 35S:FUF1+SRDX transgenic dominant-negative plants, in which FUF1 is converted to a potent repressor by fusion to an SRDX-suppressing motif. Thus, FUF1 acts as an activator in suppressing EDF1/2/3/4 function and senescence/abscission of the flowers. Our results reveal that FYF regulates flower senescence/abscission by negatively regulating EDF1/2/3/4, which is the downstream gene in the ethylene response, by activating FUF1 in Arabidopsis. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Response of white oak and black oak seedlings to a mid-story removal

Treesearch

Dylan N. Dillaway; Jeff Stringer

2005-01-01

White oak (Quercus alba L.) and black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.) often dominate stands on intermediate to high quality sites. In these stands there is often a bank of advanced oak regeneration (>1 ft. tall) in place. However, this advanced oak regeneration rarely achieves a co-dominant or dominant status when a regeneration...

Neural correlates of hemispheric dominance and ipsilaterality within the vestibular system.

PubMed

Janzen, J; Schlindwein, P; Bense, S; Bauermann, T; Vucurevic, G; Stoeter, P; Dieterich, M

2008-10-01

Earlier functional imaging studies on the processing of vestibular information mainly focused on cortical activations due to stimulation of the horizontal semicircular canals in right-handers. Two factors were found to determine its processing in the temporo-parietal cortex: a dominance of the non-dominant hemisphere and an ipsilaterality of the neural pathways. In an investigation of the role of these factors in the vestibular otoliths, we used vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) in a fMRI study of monaural saccular-otolith stimulation. Our aim was to (1) analyze the hemispheric dominance for saccular-otolith information in healthy left-handers, (2) determine if there is a predominance of the ipsilateral saccular-otolith projection, and (3) evaluate the impact of both factors on the temporo-parieto-insular activation pattern. A block design with three stimulation and rest conditions was applied: (1) 102 dB-VEMP stimulation; (2) 65 dB-control-acoustic stimulation, (3) 102 dB-white-noise-control stimulation. After subtraction of acoustic side effects, bilateral activations were found in the posterior insula, the superior/middle/transverse temporal gyri, and the inferior parietal lobule. The distribution of the saccular-otolith activations was influenced by the two factors but with topographic disparity: whereas the inferior parts of the temporo-parietal cortex were mainly influenced by the ipsilaterality of the pathways, the upper parts reflected the dominance of the non-dominant hemisphere. This is in contrast to the processing of acoustic stimulation, which showed a predominance of the contralateral pathways. Our study proves the importance of the hemispheric preponderance also in left-handers, which is of relevance in the superior parts of the insula gyrus V, the inferior parietal lobule, and the superior temporal gyri.

A cross-site comparison of factors influencing soil nitrification rates in northeastern USA forested watersheds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ross, D.S.; Wemple, B.C.; Jamison, A.E.; Fredriksen, G.; Shanley, J.B.; Lawrence, G.B.; Bailey, S.W.; Campbell, J.L.

2009-01-01

Elevated N deposition is continuing on many forested landscapes around the world and our understanding of ecosystem response is incomplete. Soil processes, especially nitrification, are critical. Many studies of soil N transformations have focused on identifying relationships within a single watershed but these results are often not transferable. We studied 10 small forested research watersheds in the northeastern USA to determine if there were common factors related to soil ammonification and nitrification. Vegetation varied between mixed northern hardwoods and mixed conifers. Watershed surface soils (Oa or A horizons) were sampled at grid or transect points and analyzed for a suite of chemical characteristics. At each sampling point, vegetation and topographic metrics (field and GIS-based) were also obtained. Results were examined by watershed averages (n = 10), seasonal/watershed averages (n = 28), and individual sampling points (n = 608). Using both linear and tree regression techniques, the proportion of conifer species was the single best predictor of nitrification rates, with lower rates at higher conifer dominance. Similar to other studies, the soil C/N ratio was also a good predictor and was well correlated with conifer dominance. Unlike other studies, the presence of Acer saccharum was not by itself a strong predictor, but was when combined with the presence of Betula alleghaniensis. Topographic metrics (slope, aspect, relative elevation, and the topographic index) were not related to N transformation rates across the watersheds. Although found to be significant in other studies, neither soil pH, Ca nor Al was related to nitrification. Results showed a strong relationship between dominant vegetation, soil C, and soil C/N. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Cambial activity related to tree size in a mature silver-fir plantation.

PubMed

Rathgeber, Cyrille B K; Rossi, Sergio; Bontemps, Jean-Daniel

2011-09-01

Our knowledge about the influences of environmental factors on tree growth is principally based on the study of dominant trees. However, tree social status may influence intra-annual dynamics of growth, leading to differential responses to environmental conditions. The aim was to determine whether within-stand differences in stem diameters of trees belonging to different crown classes resulted from variations in the length of the growing period or in the rate of cell production. Cambial activity was monitored weekly in 2006 for three crown classes in a 40-year-old silver-fir (Abies alba) plantation near Nancy (France). Timings, duration and rate of tracheid production were assessed from anatomical observations of the developing xylem. Cambial activity started earlier, stopped later and lasted longer in dominant trees than in intermediate and suppressed ones. The onset of cambial activity was estimated to have taken 3 weeks to spread to 90 % of the trees in the stand, while the cessation needed 6 weeks. Cambial activity was more intense in dominant trees than in intermediate and suppressed ones. It was estimated that about 75 % of tree-ring width variability was attributable to the rate of cell production and only 25 % to its duration. Moreover, growth duration was correlated to tree height, while growth rate was better correlated to crown area. These results show that, in a closed conifer forest, stem diameter variations resulted principally from differences in the rate of xylem cell production rather than in its duration. Tree size interacts with environmental factors to control the timings, duration and rate of cambial activity through functional processes involving source-sink relationships principally, but also hormonal controls.

Modeling Vascularized Bone Regeneration Within a Porous Biodegradable CaP Scaffold Loaded with Growth Factors

PubMed Central

Sun, X; Kang, Y; Bao, J; Zhang, Y; Yang, Y; Zhou, X

2013-01-01

Osteogenetic microenvironment is a complex constitution in which extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, stem cells and growth factors each interact to direct the coordinate regulation of bone tissue development. Importantly, angiogenesis improvement and revascularization are critical for osteogenesis during bone tissue regeneration processes. In this study, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) multi-scale system model to study cell response to growth factors released from a 3D biodegradable porous calcium phosphate (CaP) scaffold. Our model reconstructed the 3D bone regeneration system and examined the effects of pore size and porosity on bone formation and angiogenesis. The results suggested that scaffold porosity played a more dominant role in affecting bone formation and angiogenesis compared with pore size, while the pore size could be controlled to tailor the growth factor release rate and release fraction. Furthermore, a combination of gradient VEGF with BMP2 and Wnt released from the multi-layer scaffold promoted angiogenesis and bone formation more readily than single growth factors. These results demonstrated that the developed model can be potentially applied to predict vascularized bone regeneration with specific scaffold and growth factors. PMID:23566802

How Do the Virulence Factors of Shigella Work Together to Cause Disease?

PubMed

Mattock, Emily; Blocker, Ariel J

2017-01-01

Shigella is the major cause of bacillary dysentery world-wide. It is divided into four species, named S. flexneri, S. sonnei, S. dysenteriae , and S. boydii , which are distinct genomically and in their ability to cause disease. Shigellosis, the clinical presentation of Shigella infection, is characterized by watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. Shigella 's ability to cause disease has been attributed to virulence factors, which are encoded on chromosomal pathogenicity islands and the virulence plasmid. However, information on these virulence factors is not often brought together to create a detailed picture of infection, and how this translates into shigellosis symptoms. Firstly, Shigella secretes virulence factors that induce severe inflammation and mediate enterotoxic effects on the colon, producing the classic watery diarrhea seen early in infection. Secondly, Shigella injects virulence effectors into epithelial cells via its Type III Secretion System to subvert the host cell structure and function. This allows invasion of epithelial cells, establishing a replicative niche, and causes erratic destruction of the colonic epithelium. Thirdly, Shigella produces effectors to down-regulate inflammation and the innate immune response. This promotes infection and limits the adaptive immune response, causing the host to remain partially susceptible to re-infection. Combinations of these virulence factors may contribute to the different symptoms and infection capabilities of the diverse Shigella species, in addition to distinct transmission patterns. Further investigation of the dominant species causing disease, using whole-genome sequencing and genotyping, will allow comparison and identification of crucial virulence factors and may contribute to the production of a pan- Shigella vaccine.

How Do the Virulence Factors of Shigella Work Together to Cause Disease?

PubMed Central

Mattock, Emily; Blocker, Ariel J.

2017-01-01

Shigella is the major cause of bacillary dysentery world-wide. It is divided into four species, named S. flexneri, S. sonnei, S. dysenteriae, and S. boydii, which are distinct genomically and in their ability to cause disease. Shigellosis, the clinical presentation of Shigella infection, is characterized by watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. Shigella's ability to cause disease has been attributed to virulence factors, which are encoded on chromosomal pathogenicity islands and the virulence plasmid. However, information on these virulence factors is not often brought together to create a detailed picture of infection, and how this translates into shigellosis symptoms. Firstly, Shigella secretes virulence factors that induce severe inflammation and mediate enterotoxic effects on the colon, producing the classic watery diarrhea seen early in infection. Secondly, Shigella injects virulence effectors into epithelial cells via its Type III Secretion System to subvert the host cell structure and function. This allows invasion of epithelial cells, establishing a replicative niche, and causes erratic destruction of the colonic epithelium. Thirdly, Shigella produces effectors to down-regulate inflammation and the innate immune response. This promotes infection and limits the adaptive immune response, causing the host to remain partially susceptible to re-infection. Combinations of these virulence factors may contribute to the different symptoms and infection capabilities of the diverse Shigella species, in addition to distinct transmission patterns. Further investigation of the dominant species causing disease, using whole-genome sequencing and genotyping, will allow comparison and identification of crucial virulence factors and may contribute to the production of a pan-Shigella vaccine. PMID:28393050

Photopigment quenching is Ca2+ dependent and controls response duration in salamander L-cone photoreceptors

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

The time scale of the photoresponse in photoreceptor cells is set by the slowest of the steps that quench the light-induced activity of the phototransduction cascade. In vertebrate photoreceptor cells, this rate-limiting reaction is thought to be either shutoff of catalytic activity in the photopigment or shutoff of the pigment's effector, the transducin-GTP–phosphodiesterase complex. In suction pipette recordings from isolated salamander L-cones, we found that preventing changes in internal [Ca2+] delayed the recovery of the light response and prolonged the dominant time constant for recovery. Evidence that the Ca2+-sensitive step involved the pigment itself was provided by the observation that removal of Cl− from the pigment's anion-binding site accelerated the dominant time constant for response recovery. Collectively, these observations indicate that in L-cones, unlike amphibian rods where the dominant time constant is insensitive to [Ca2+], pigment quenching rate limits recovery and provides an additional mechanism for modulating the cone response during light adaptation. PMID:20231373

Separating physical and biological controls on ten-year evapotranspiration fluctuations in an irrigated cropland in the North China Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Huimin

2016-04-01

The North China Plain, the largest agricultural production area in China, is a water-limited region where more than 50% of the nation's wheat and 33% of its maize production is grown. Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component of the water balance in this agricultural ecosystem. Thus, hydrological cycle is very sensitive to the seasonal and interannual variability in ET. Understanding the variability in ET at different temporal scales and identifying out the dominant factor among the climatic factors (i.e., physical factors), crop factors (i.e., biological factors), and anthropogenic factors (i.e., irrigation) regulating ET is vital for promoting the development of agro-hydrological modeling. However, little is known about how ecosystem-level ET of irrigated cropland responds to these physical and biological factors over the long term, e.g., greater than 10 years. We have operated an eddy-covariance tower in a winter wheat-summer maize cropland for a 10-year period from 2005 through 2015, providing continuous measurements of ET and its relevant variables. The 10-year measurement period covers episodes of extremely high to low annual precipitation and higher air temperatures. The 10-year dataset provides opportunity to investigate the response of site-specific ecosystem ET to the variability of environmental factors. In this study, we reconcile an agro-hydrological model and the observations, to separate the physical and biological controls on ET fluctuations at different temporal scales. First, the model is calibrated carefully based on the observations. Second, a number of model runs are designed to disentangle the influence of climate, irrigation and biological drivers through constrained simulations. The climate drivers include precipitation, air temperature, air humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation, and the biological drivers include leaf area index and leaf-level stomatal conductance. In addition, the impacts of the variability in irrigation on ET will be studied. Last, based on the numerical runs, the dominant factor at each temporal scale (i.e., from weekly to annual) is identified.

Regulatory divergence between parental alleles determines gene expression patterns in hybrids.

PubMed

Combes, Marie-Christine; Hueber, Yann; Dereeper, Alexis; Rialle, Stéphanie; Herrera, Juan-Carlos; Lashermes, Philippe

2015-03-29

Both hybridization and allopolyploidization generate novel phenotypes by conciliating divergent genomes and regulatory networks in the same cellular context. To understand the rewiring of gene expression in hybrids, the total expression of 21,025 genes and the allele-specific expression of over 11,000 genes were quantified in interspecific hybrids and their parental species, Coffea canephora and Coffea eugenioides using RNA-seq technology. Between parental species, cis- and trans-regulatory divergences affected around 32% and 35% of analyzed genes, respectively, with nearly 17% of them showing both. The relative importance of trans-regulatory divergences between both species could be related to their low genetic divergence and perennial habit. In hybrids, among divergently expressed genes between parental species and hybrids, 77% was expressed like one parent (expression level dominance), including 65% like C. eugenioides. Gene expression was shown to result from the expression of both alleles affected by intertwined parental trans-regulatory factors. A strong impact of C. eugenioides trans-regulatory factors on the upregulation of C. canephora alleles was revealed. The gene expression patterns appeared determined by complex combinations of cis- and trans-regulatory divergences. In particular, the observed biased expression level dominance seemed to be derived from the asymmetric effects of trans-regulatory parental factors on regulation of alleles. More generally, this study illustrates the effects of divergent trans-regulatory parental factors on the gene expression pattern in hybrids. The characteristics of the transcriptional response to hybridization appear to be determined by the compatibility of gene regulatory networks and therefore depend on genetic divergences between the parental species and their evolutionary history. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Predicting first-year bare-root seedling establishment with soil and community dominance factors

Treesearch

Robin E. Durham; Benjamin A. Zamora; Michael R. Sackschewsky; Jason C. Ritter

2001-01-01

The usefulness of measuring community dominance factors and the soil parameters of geometric mean particle size and percent fines as predictors of first-year bare-root establishment of Wyoming big sagebrush seedlings was investigated. The study was conducted on six sandy soils in south-central Washington. Soil parameters that could affect the distribution of Sandberg’s...

Growth responses of low-alpine dwarf-shrub heath species to nitrogen deposition and management.

PubMed

Britton, Andrea J; Fisher, Julia M

2008-06-01

Nitrogen deposition is a continuing problem in European alpine regions. We hypothesised that, despite climatic limitations, low-alpine Calluna heathland would respond to nitrogen addition with increased shoot growth and flowering and that fire and grazing would modify responses. In a five-year study, 0-50kgNha(-1)y(-1) were added, combined with burning (+/-) and clipping (+/-). Calluna vulgaris responded with increased shoot extension, but effects on flowering were variable. Burning enhanced the positive effect of nitrogen addition and negative effects of clipping. Sub-dominant shrubs generally did not respond to nitrogen. C. vulgaris shoot extension was stimulated by nitrogen addition of 10kgNha(-1)y(-1) (above background) supporting suggestions that alpine heathlands are sensitive to low levels of nitrogen deposition. Increased C. vulgaris growth could negatively impact on important lichen components of this vegetation through increased shading and competition. Climatic factors constrain productivity in this community, but do not prevent rapid responses to nitrogen deposition by some species.

Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO 2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients

DOE PAGES

Fay, Philip A.; Newingham, Beth A.; Polley, H. Wayne; ...

2015-03-30

The Earth’s atmosphere will continue to be enriched with carbon dioxide (CO 2) over the coming century. Carbon dioxide enrichment often reduces leaf transpiration, which in water-limited ecosystems may increase soil water content, change species abundances and increase the productivity of plant communities. The effect of increased soil water on community productivity and community change may be greater in ecosystems with lower precipitation, or on coarser-textured soils, but responses are likely absent in deserts. We tested correlations among yearly increases in soil water content, community change and community plant productivity responses to CO 2 enrichment in experiments in a mesicmore » grassland with fine- to coarse-textured soils, a semi-arid grassland and a xeric shrubland. We found no correlation between CO 2-caused changes in soil water content and changes in biomass of dominant plant taxa or total community aboveground biomass in either grassland type or on any soil in the mesic grassland (P > 0.60). Instead, increases in dominant taxa biomass explained up to 85% of the increases in total community biomass under CO 2 enrichment. The effect of community change on community productivity was stronger in the semi-arid grassland than in the mesic grassland,where community biomass change on one soil was not correlated with the change in either the soil water content or the dominant taxa. No sustained increases in soil water content or community productivity and no change in dominant plant taxa occurred in the xeric shrubland. Thus, community change was a crucial driver of community productivity responses to CO 2 enrichment in the grasslands, but effects of soil water change on productivity were not evident in yearly responses to CO 2 enrichment. In conclusion, future research is necessary to isolate and clarify the mechanisms controlling the temporal and spatial variations in the linkages among soil water, community change and plant productivity responses to CO 2 enrichment.« less

Emotionality of Colors: An Implicit Link between Red and Dominance.

PubMed

Mentzel, Stijn V; Schücker, Linda; Hagemann, Norbert; Strauss, Bernd

2017-01-01

The color red has been shown to alter emotions, physiology, psychology, and behavior. Research has suggested that these alterations could possibly be due to a link between red and perceived dominance. In this study we examined if the color red is implicitly associated to the concept of dominance. In addition, we similarly hypothesized that blue is implicitly linked to rest. A modified Stroop word evaluation task was used in which 30 participants (23.07 ± 4.42 years) were asked to classify words shown in either red, blue, or gray (control condition), as being either dominant- or rest-related. The responses were recorded and analyzed for latency time and accuracy. The results revealed a significant word type × color interaction effect for both latency times, F (2,56) = 5.09, p = 0.009, [Formula: see text] = 0.15, and accuracy, F (1.614,45.193) = 8.57, p = 0.001, [Formula: see text] = 0.23. On average participants showed significantly shorter latency times and made less errors when categorizing dominance words shown in red, compared to blue and gray. The measured effects show strong evidence for an implicit red-dominance association and a partial red-rest disassociation. It is discussed that this association can possibly affect emotionality, with the presentation of red eliciting a dominant emotional and behavioral response.

Phenotype and function of nasal dendritic cells

PubMed Central

Lee, Haekyung; Ruane, Darren; Law, Kenneth; Ho, Yan; Garg, Aakash; Rahman, Adeeb; Esterházy, Daria; Cheong, Cheolho; Goljo, Erden; Sikora, Andrew G.; Mucida, Daniel; Chen, Benjamin; Govindraj, Satish; Breton, Gaëlle; Mehandru, Saurabh

2015-01-01

Intranasal vaccination generates immunity across local, regional and distant sites. However, nasal dendritic cells (DC), pivotal for the induction of intranasal vaccine- induced immune responses, have not been studied in detail. Here, using a variety of parameters, we define nasal DCs in mice and humans. Distinct subsets of “classical” DCs, dependent on the transcription factor zbtb46 were identified in the murine nose. The murine nasal DCs were FLT3 ligand-responsive and displayed unique phenotypic and functional characteristics including the ability to present antigen, induce an allogeneic T cell response and migrate in response to LPS or live bacterial pathogens. Importantly, in a cohort of human volunteers, BDCA-1+ DCs were observed to be the dominant nasal DC population at steady state. During chronic inflammation, the frequency of both BDCA-1+ and BDCA-3hi DCs was reduced in the nasal tissue, associating the loss of these immune sentinels with chronic nasal inflammation. The present study is the first detailed description of the phenotypic, ontogenetic and functional properties of nasal DCs and will inform the design of preventative immunization strategies as well as therapeutic modalities against chronic rhinosinusitis. PMID:25669151

Selective laser melting of Ni-rich NiTi: selection of process parameters and the superelastic response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shayesteh Moghaddam, Narges; Saedi, Soheil; Amerinatanzi, Amirhesam; Saghaian, Ehsan; Jahadakbar, Ahmadreza; Karaca, Haluk; Elahinia, Mohammad

2018-03-01

Material and mechanical properties of NiTi shape memory alloys strongly depend on the fabrication process parameters and the resulting microstructure. In selective laser melting, the combination of parameters such as laser power, scanning speed, and hatch spacing determine the microstructural defects, grain size and texture. Therefore, processing parameters can be adjusted to tailor the microstructure and mechanical response of the alloy. In this work, NiTi samples were fabricated using Ni50.8Ti (at.%) powder via SLM PXM by Phenix/3D Systems and the effects of processing parameters were systematically studied. The relationship between the processing parameters and superelastic properties were investigated thoroughly. It will be shown that energy density is not the only parameter that governs the material response. It will be shown that hatch spacing is the dominant factor to tailor the superelastic response. It will be revealed that with the selection of right process parameters, perfect superelasticity with recoverable strains of up to 5.6% can be observed in the as-fabricated condition.

Block LU factorization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demmel, James W.; Higham, Nicholas J.; Schreiber, Robert S.

1992-01-01

Many of the currently popular 'block algorithms' are scalar algorithms in which the operations have been grouped and reordered into matrix operations. One genuine block algorithm in practical use is block LU factorization, and this has recently been shown by Demmel and Higham to be unstable in general. It is shown here that block LU factorization is stable if A is block diagonally dominant by columns. Moreover, for a general matrix the level of instability in block LU factorization can be founded in terms of the condition number kappa(A) and the growth factor for Gaussian elimination without pivoting. A consequence is that block LU factorization is stable for a matrix A that is symmetric positive definite or point diagonally dominant by rows or columns as long as A is well-conditioned.

Time to foster a rational approach to preventing cardiovascular morbid events.

PubMed

Cohn, Jay N; Duprez, Daniel A

2008-07-29

Efforts to prevent atherosclerotic morbid events have focused primarily on risk factor prevention and intervention. These approaches, based on the statistical association of risk factors with events, have dominated clinical practice in the last generation. Because the cardiovascular abnormalities eventuating in morbid events are detectable in the arteries and heart before the development of symptomatic disease, recent efforts have focused on identifying the presence of these abnormalities as a more sensitive and specific guide to the need for therapy. Advances in noninvasive techniques for studying the vasculature and the left ventricle now provide the opportunity to use early disease rather than risk factors as the tool for clinical decision making. A disease scoring system has been developed using 10 tests of vascular and cardiac function and structure. More extensive data to confirm the sensitivity and specificity of this scoring system and to demonstrate its utility in tracking the response to therapy are needed to justify widespread application in clinical practice.

Experimental concept for examination of biological effects of magnetic field concealed by gravity.

PubMed

Yamashita, M; Tomita-Yokotani, K; Hashimoto, H; Takai, M; Tsushima, M; Nakamura, T

2004-01-01

Space is not only a place to study biological effects of gravity, but also provides unique opportunities to examine other environmental factors, where the biological actions are masked by gravity on the ground. Even the earth's magnetic field is steadily acting on living systems, and is known to influence many biological processes. A systematic survey and assessment of its action are difficult to conduct in the presence of dominant factors, such as gravity. Investigation of responses of biological systems against the combined environment of zero-gravity and zero-magnetic field might establish the baseline for the analysis of biological effects of magnetic factors. We propose, in this paper, an experimental concept in this context, together with a practical approach of the experiments, both in orbit and on the ground, with a thin magnetic shielding film. Plant epicotyl growth was taken as an exemplar index to evaluate technical and scientific feasibility of the proposed system concept. c2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors which influence the behavior of turbofan forced mixer nozzles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, B. H.; Povinelli, L. A.

1981-01-01

A finite difference procedure was used to compute the mixing for three experimentally tested mixer geometries. Good agreement was obtained between analysis and experiment when the mechanisms responsible for secondary flow generation were properly modeled. Vorticity generation due to flow turning and vorticity generated within the centerbody lobe passage were found to be important. Results are presented for two different temperature ratios between fan and core streams and for two different free stream turbulence levels. It was concluded that the dominant mechanisms in turbofan mixers is associated with the secondary flows arising within the lobe region and their development within the mixing section.

The Role of Food Selection in Swedish Home Economics: The Educational Visions and Cultural Meaning.

PubMed

Höijer, Karin; Hjälmeskog, Karin; Fjellström, Christina

2014-01-01

This article explores foods talked about and chosen in the education of Swedish Home Economics as a relationship between structural processes and agency. Three data sets from observations and focus group interviews with teachers and students were analyzed for food classifications. These were related to a culinary triangle of contradictions, showing factors of identity, convenience and responsibility. Results show that foods talked about and chosen by teachers and students were reflections of dominant cultural values. Results also indicate that teachers had more agency than students, but that the choices they made were framed by educational visions and cultural values.

[Advances in arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus].

PubMed

Cordero, Alberto; Lekuona, Iñaki; Galve, Enrique; Mazón, Pilar

2012-01-01

In 2011, the importance of hypertension and diabetes mellitus as the two main risk factors responsible for the development of cardiovascular disease became clear, as did their significance as major public health issues. Compared with previous years, in which publication of the results of large clinical trials dominated scientific progress, in the last year, the focus has shifted to evidence that novel mechanisms associated with blood pressure, glucose metabolism and diabetes can influence cardiovascular disease. Of particular importance were clinical trials in the area of renal dysfunction, such as the SHARP and ROADMAP trials. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Interannual influence of spring phenological transitions on the water use efficiency of forest ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Jiaxin; Wang, Ying

2017-04-01

Climate change has significantly influenced the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems through water cycles. Understanding the phenological regulation mechanisms underlying coupled carbon-water cycles is important for improving ecological assessments and projecting terrestrial ecosystem responses and feedback to climate change. In this study, we present an analysis of the interannual relationships among flux-based spring phenological transitions (referred as photosynthetic onset) and water use efficiency (WUE) in North America and Europe using 166 site-years of data from 22 flux sites, including 10 deciduous broadleaf forest (DBF) and 12 evergreen needleleaf forest (ENF) ecosystems. We found that the WUE responses to variations in spring phenological transitions differed substantially across plant functional types (PFTs) and growth periods. During the early spring (defined as one month from spring onset) in the DBF ecosystem, photosynthetic onset dominated changes in WUE by dominating gross primary production (GPP), with one day of advanced onset increasing the WUE by 0.037 gC kg-1H2O in early spring. For the ENF sites, although advanced photosynthetic onset also significantly promoted GPP, earlier onset did not have a significant positive impact on WUE in early spring because it was not significantly correlated to evapotranspiration (ET), which is a more dominant factor for WUE than GPP across the ENF sites. Statistically significant correlations were not observed between interannual variability in photosynthetic onset and WUE for either the DBF or ENF ecosystems following a prolonged period after photosynthetic onset. For the DBF sites, the interannual variability of photosynthetic onset provided a better explanation of the variations in WUE (ca. 51.4%) compared with climatic factors, although this was only applicable to the early spring. For the ENF sites, photosynthetic onset variations did not provide a better explanation of the interannual WUE variations compared with climatic factors within any growth period. Notably, the negative correlation between the interannual variability of early spring WUE and photosynthetic onset gradually declined from boreal forests (r = -0.73) to subtropical Mediterranean forests (r = 0.35), indicating that the positive effect of earlier spring phenological transitions decreased or even reversed from cold climates to warm climates. This result suggests that the effect of the phenological regulatory mechanism on coupled carbon-water cycles is not only determined by the PFT but also by the habitat climate of an ecosystem. These observed differences between the ENF and DBF ecosystems will likely influence future phenological shifts related to competition for water and other resources in mixed species stands.

Effects of space flight factors on Drosophila.

PubMed

Dubinin, N P; Glembotsky, Y L; Vaulina, E N; Grozdova, T Y; Kamshilova, E M; Ivaschenko, N I; Kholikova, I A; Nechitailo, G S; Mashinsky, A L; Iordanishvili, E K

1973-01-01

Drosophila melanogaster flies of strain D-32 were exposed aboard the Soyuz 10 spaceship. An insert with a nutritional medium and insects was placed in a small on-board thermostat (Biotherm II) providing a constant temperature (24 degrees C +/- 1 degree) for Drosophila development. The frequency of dominant lethals was determined in the females. Dominant, autosomal and sex-linked recessive lethals were estimated in hatching virgin males and females; the time of hatching was rigorously fixed. Sex-linked recessive lethals were related to certain stages of gametogenesis. The 1-5 oocyte stage showed an increased sensitivity to space-flight factors as regards the frequency of both dominant and recessive lethals.

Poverty-related diseases (PRDs): unravelling complexities in disease responses in Cameroon.

PubMed

Makoge, Valerie; Maat, Harro; Vaandrager, Lenneke; Koelen, Maria

2017-01-01

In Cameroon, poverty-related diseases (PRDs) are a major public health concern. Research and policies addressing PRDs are based on a particular understanding of the interaction between poverty and disease, usually an association between poverty indicators and health indicators for a specific country or region. Such indicators are useful but fail to explain the nature of the linkages between poverty and disease or poverty and health. This paper presents results of a study among university students, unravelling how they perceive diseases, the linkages with poverty, their responses to diseases and the motivations behind reported responses. Based on the health belief model, this cross-sectional study was carried out among 272 students at the universities of Buea and Yaoundé in Cameroon. Data were collected using questionnaires containing items matching the research objectives. The questionnaires were self-completed. Malaria was considered as the most common disease perceived and also a major PRD. Contrary to official rankings of HIV/AIDS and TB, cholera and diarrhoea were considered as other major PRDs. Also, typhoid fever was perceived to be more common and a PRD than HIV/AIDS and TB combined. The most prominently attributed cause for disease was (lack of) hygiene. In response, students deployed formal and/or informal healthcare strategies, depending on factors like available money, perceived severity of the disease and disease type. Discrepancies were observed in respondents' response to diseases generally and to malaria in particular. Even though, overall, respondents pre-dominantly reported a formal healthcare response toward diseases in general, for malaria, informal responses dominated. There was an overall strong awareness and (pro)activity among students for dealing with diseases. Although the high use of informal facilities and medication for malaria may well be a reason why eradication is problematic, this seems to be a deliberate strategy linked to an awareness of the limitations of the formal health system. In any intervention intended to foster health, it is therefore vital to consider people's perceptions toward diseases and their response strategies. Our results give important leads to health promotion interventions to develop group-specific programs.

Early Stages Of Biome Shift in Boreal Alaska: Climate Sensitivity of Tree Growth and Accelerated Tree Mortality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juday, G. P.; Grant, T.; Alix, C. M.; Spencer, D. L.; Beck, P. S.

2012-12-01

The boreal forest region of Alaska is characterized by a major east-west climate gradient, in addition to a widely appreciated north-south gradient. Low elevations of the eastern and central Interior experience warm summer temperatures and low annual precipitation, while coastal western Alaska has cool summer temperatures and greater precipitation. In the Interior the four dominant tree species of white and black spruce, aspen, and Alaska birch on low elevation sites nearly all register a strong negative radial growth relationship to summer temperatures, concentrated in May and July. Precipitation, particularly in late winter and midsummer, plays a supplemental role as a positive factor in growth. Floodplain white spruce along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers transition from negative temperature response to positive response in western Alaska near the tree limit. Populations of white spruce on treeline sites display both negative growth response to July temperature and positive response to spring temperatures, with the negative response dominant in the east and the positive response dominant in the west. Across boreal Alaska summer temperatures increased abruptly in 1974, and have remained at historically high levels since. Correspondingly, climatic favorability for radial growth of Interior trees on most low elevation sites has been at extreme low levels particularly in the 21st century. Satellite-based NDVI coverage confirms that forest growth reduction is widespread in boreal Alaska since the 1980s. Defoliating and wood boring insects have reached outbreak population levels across most of boreal Alaska, partly from release of direct temperature control on the insects and partly from increased tree host susceptibility. Major outbreak species include aspen leaf miner, spruce engraver beetle, and spruce budworm. About a dozen tall willow species have been subjected to widespread attack by willow leaf blotch miner, and a new disease and defoliating insect have spread rapidly in alder shrubs, so nearly all woody species face health challenges. Temperatures and precipitation on many Interior sites are now at or beyond tolerance limits for white spruce, aspen, and Alaska birch. Two episodes of acute drought injury were widespread in birch during the last decade. Deficits in climate predicted tree growth are synchronous with the major insect outbreaks as recorded in insect trapping records and aerial surveys of area affected. Over the past 25 years tree mortality of 50% or more occurred in nearly all long-term monitoring plots in mature stands on productive sites in the Interior, but to date trees have successfully regenerated on most disturbed sites. These environmental changes and tree responses, including opposite responses, are coherent, and consistent with early stages of a biome shift eliminating boreal forest on dry Interior sites, and emergence of a new climate optimum zone in western Alaska currently only sparsely populated with forest.

Multiple regression analysis of factors influencing dominant hand grip strength in an adult Malaysian population.

PubMed

Hossain, M G; Zyroul, R; Pereira, B P; Kamarul, T

2012-01-01

Grip strength is an important measure used to monitor the progression of a condition, and to evaluate outcomes of treatment. We assessed how various physical and social factors predict normal grip strength in an adult Malaysian population of mixed Asian ethnicity (254 men, 246 women). Grip strength was recorded using the Jamar dynamometer. The mean grip strength for the dominant hand was 29.8 kg for men and 17.6 kg for women. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the dominant hand grip strength was positively associated with height and body mass index, and negatively associated with age for both sexes. Dominant hand grip strength was related to work status for men (p < 0.05) but not for women. However, there was no difference in grip strength among ethnic groups.

Graph Embedding Techniques for Bounding Condition Numbers of Incomplete Factor Preconditioning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guattery, Stephen

1997-01-01

We extend graph embedding techniques for bounding the spectral condition number of preconditioned systems involving symmetric, irreducibly diagonally dominant M-matrices to systems where the preconditioner is not diagonally dominant. In particular, this allows us to bound the spectral condition number when the preconditioner is based on an incomplete factorization. We provide a review of previous techniques, describe our extension, and give examples both of a bound for a model problem, and of ways in which our techniques give intuitive way of looking at incomplete factor preconditioners.

Impact of dietary deviation on disease progression and gut microbiome composition in lupus-prone SNF1 mice

PubMed Central

Johnson, B M; Gaudreau, M-C; Al-Gadban, M M; Gudi, R; Vasu, C

2015-01-01

Environmental factors, including microbes and diet, play a key role in initiating autoimmunity in genetically predisposed individuals. However, the influence of gut microflora in the initiation and progression of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is not well understood. In this study, we have examined the impact of drinking water pH on immune response, disease incidence and gut microbiome in a spontaneous mouse model of SLE. Our results show that (SWR × NZB) F1 (SNF1) mice that were given acidic pH water (AW) developed nephritis at a slower pace compared to those on neutral pH water (NW). Immunological analyses revealed that the NW-recipient mice carry relatively higher levels of circulating autoantibodies against nuclear antigen (nAg) as well as plasma cells. Importantly, 16S rRNA gene-targeted sequencing revealed that the composition of gut microbiome is significantly different between NW and AW groups of mice. In addition, analysis of cytokine and transcription factor expression revealed that immune response in the gut mucosa of NW recipient mice is dominated by T helper type 17 (Th17) and Th9-associated factors. Segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB) promote a Th17 response and autoimmunity in mouse models of arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Interestingly, however, not only was SFB colonization unaffected by the pH of drinking water, but also SFB failed to cause a profound increase in Th17 response and had no significant effect on lupus incidence. Overall, these observations show that simple dietary deviations such as the pH of drinking water can influence lupus incidence and affect the composition of gut microbiome. PMID:25703185

Switching control of sympathetic activity from forebrain to hindbrain in chronic dehydration

PubMed Central

Colombari, Débora S A; Colombari, Eduardo; Freiria-Oliveira, Andre H; Antunes, Vagner R; Yao, Song T; Hindmarch, Charles; Ferguson, Alastair V; Fry, Mark; Murphy, David; Paton, Julian F R

2011-01-01

Abstract We investigated the mechanisms responsible for increased blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) caused by 2–3 days dehydration (DH) both in vivo and in situ preparations. In euhydrated (EH) rats, systemic application of the AT1 receptor antagonist Losartan and subsequent pre-collicular transection (to remove the hypothalamus) significantly reduced thoracic (t)SNA. In contrast, in DH rats, Losartan, followed by pre-collicular and pontine transections, failed to reduce tSNA, whereas transection at the medulla–spinal cord junction massively reduced tSNA. In DH but not EH rats, selective inhibition of the commissural nucleus tractus solitarii (cNTS) significantly reduced tSNA. Comparable data were obtained in both in situ and in vivo (anaesthetized/conscious) rats and suggest that following chronic dehydration, the control of tSNA transfers from supra-brainstem structures (e.g. hypothalamus) to the medulla oblongata, particularly the cNTS. As microarray analysis revealed up-regulation of AP1 transcription factor JunD in the dehydrated cNTS, we tested the hypothesis that AP1 transcription factor activity is responsible for dehydration-induced functional plasticity. When AP1 activity was blocked in the cNTS using a viral vector expressing a dominant negative FosB, cNTS inactivation was ineffective. However, tSNA was decreased after pre-collicular transection, a response similar to that seen in EH rats. Thus, the dehydration-induced switch in control of tSNA from hypothalamus to cNTS seems to be mediated via activation of AP1 transcription factors in the cNTS. If AP1 activity is blocked in the cNTS during dehydration, sympathetic activity control reverts back to forebrain regions. This unique reciprocating neural structure-switching plasticity between brain centres emphasizes the multiple mechanisms available for the adaptive response to dehydration. PMID:21708906

Common environmental factors explain both ectomycorrhizal species diversity and pine regeneration variability in a post-fire Mediterranean forest.

PubMed

Buscardo, Erika; Freitas, Helena; Pereira, João Santos; De Angelis, Paolo

2011-08-01

Natural seedling regeneration and establishment after stand replacing wildfires is influenced by a series of environmental and biological constraints. In this study, we characterized the diversity and structure of the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community associated with post-fire naturally regenerated maritime pine saplings, and individuate the environmental factors responsible for fungal species distribution. We also identify the main environmental factors responsible for maritime pine regeneration variability and assessed the relation between saplings performance and ECM fungal diversity indices. Fungal species were identified by direct sequencing of internal transcribed spacer regions. Five years after the disturbance event, a total of 30 taxa colonized the pine saplings. The ECM fungal community was dominated by ruderal species of the genus Rhizopogon (present in almost half of the samples). Almost one third of the identified ECM fungal species belonged to the family Thelephoraceae. Typical k-selected species like Amanita pantherina, Boletus aestivalis, Lactarius chrysorrheus, and Russula densifolia were found on pine saplings collected in proximity of unburnt pine trees, in correspondence with low erosion extents. Pine regeneration varied throughout the study areas and was enhanced at higher elevations, in correspondence with moderate slopes, shallower soils, and a reduced cover of ericaceous shrubs and bare ground. These conditions were found in close proximity to patches of pine trees that survived the disturbance event and were previously characterized by a higher pre-fire pine biomass. Even though no correlations were found between saplings performance and ECM fungal diversity indices, common environmental factors (i.e., ericaceous shrub cover, extent of erosion, slope, and soil depth) were responsible for shaping the ECM fungal distribution and for describing most of the explained regeneration variability.

Interspecific variation in growth responses to climate and competition of five eastern tree species.

PubMed

Rollinson, Christine R; Kaye, Margot W; Canham, Charles D

2016-04-01

Climate and competition are often presented from two opposing views of the dominant driver of individual tree growth and species distribution in temperate forests, such as those in the eastern United States. Previous studies have provided abundant evidence indicating that both factors influence tree growth, and we argue that these effects are not independent of one another and rather that interactions between climate, competition, and size best describe tree growth. To illustrate this point, we describe the growth responses of five common eastern tree species to interacting effects of temperature, precipitation, competition, and individual size using maximum likelihood estimation. Models that explicitly include interactions among these four factors explained over half of the variance in annual growth for four out of five species using annual climate. Expanding temperature and precipitation analyses to include seasonal interactions resulted in slightly improved models with a mean R2 of 0.61 (SD 0.10). Growth responses to individual factors as well their interactions varied greatly among species. For example, growth sensitivity to temperature for Quercus rubra increased with maximum annual precipitation, but other species showed no change in sensitivity or slightly reduced annual growth. Our results also indicate that three-way interactions among individual stem size, competition, and temperature may determine which of the five co-occurring species in our study could have the highest growth rate in a given year. Continued consideration and quantification of interactions among climate, competition, and individual-based characteristics are likely to increase understanding of key biological processes such as tree growth. Greater parameterization of interactions between traditionally segregated factors such as climate and competition may also help build a framework to reconcile drivers of individual-based processes such as growth with larger-scale patterns of species distribution.

The effect of gene interactions on the long-term response to selection.

PubMed

Paixão, Tiago; Barton, Nicholas H

2016-04-19

The role of gene interactions in the evolutionary process has long been controversial. Although some argue that they are not of importance, because most variation is additive, others claim that their effect in the long term can be substantial. Here, we focus on the long-term effects of genetic interactions under directional selection assuming no mutation or dominance, and that epistasis is symmetrical overall. We ask by how much the mean of a complex trait can be increased by selection and analyze two extreme regimes, in which either drift or selection dominate the dynamics of allele frequencies. In both scenarios, epistatic interactions affect the long-term response to selection by modulating the additive genetic variance. When drift dominates, we extend Robertson's [Robertson A (1960)Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci153(951):234-249] argument to show that, for any form of epistasis, the total response of a haploid population is proportional to the initial total genotypic variance. In contrast, the total response of a diploid population is increased by epistasis, for a given initial genotypic variance. When selection dominates, we show that the total selection response can only be increased by epistasis when some initially deleterious alleles become favored as the genetic background changes. We find a simple approximation for this effect and show that, in this regime, it is the structure of the genotype-phenotype map that matters and not the variance components of the population.

The Dominant Factor of Teacher's Role as a Motivator of Students' Interest and Motivation in Mathematics Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tambunan, Hardi

2018-01-01

This study aims to identify the most dominant factor of the teacher's role as a motivator that influences students' interest and motivation to perform in mathematics achievement. It is conducted in eighth grade of senior high school with 209 students, consisted of five state schools and two private schools from seven regencies in North Sumatera.…

Pervasiveness of Dominant General Factors in Organizational Measurement

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

Viswesvaran et al., 2005). Personality Personality researchers have arrived at the consensus that traits can be organized reliably into five broad...any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a...2014-5468 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT General factors are found in the measurement of many human traits . The concept of dominant

Carbon Dioxide Physiological Forcing Dominates Projected Eastern Amazonian Drying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richardson, T. B.; Forster, P. M.; Andrews, T.; Boucher, O.; Faluvegi, G.; Fläschner, D.; Kasoar, M.; Kirkevâg, A.; Lamarque, J.-F.; Myhre, G.; Olivié, D.; Samset, B. H.; Shawki, D.; Shindell, D.; Takemura, T.; Voulgarakis, A.

2018-03-01

Future projections of east Amazonian precipitation indicate drying, but they are uncertain and poorly understood. In this study we analyze the Amazonian precipitation response to individual atmospheric forcings using a number of global climate models. Black carbon is found to drive reduced precipitation over the Amazon due to temperature-driven circulation changes, but the magnitude is uncertain. CO2 drives reductions in precipitation concentrated in the east, mainly due to a robustly negative, but highly variable in magnitude, fast response. We find that the physiological effect of CO2 on plant stomata is the dominant driver of the fast response due to reduced latent heating and also contributes to the large model spread. Using a simple model, we show that CO2 physiological effects dominate future multimodel mean precipitation projections over the Amazon. However, in individual models temperature-driven changes can be large, but due to little agreement, they largely cancel out in the model mean.

Efficacy of Exemestane in Korean Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer after Failure of Nonsteroidal Aromatase Inhibitors

PubMed Central

Lee, June Koo; Lee, Daewon; Kim, Ji-Yeon; Lim, Yoojoo; Lee, Eunyoung; Moon, Hyeong-Gon; Kim, Tae-Yong; Han, Sae-Won; Oh, Do-Youn; Lee, Se-Hoon; Han, Wonshik; Kim, Dong-Wan; Kim, Tae-You; Noh, Dong-Young

2013-01-01

Purpose Exemestane has shown good efficacy and tolerability in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. However, clinical outcomes in Korean patients have not yet been reported. Methods Data on 112 postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer were obtained retrospectively. Clinicopathological characteristics and treatment history were extracted from medical records. All patients received 25 mg exemestane daily until objective disease progression. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint, and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), and clinical benefit rate (CBR=complete response+partial response+stable disease for 6 months). Results The median age of the subjects was 55 years (range, 28-76 years). Exemestane treatment resulted in a median PFS of 5.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.4-7.0 months) and median OS of 21.9 months (95% CI, 13.6-30.3 months). ORR was 6.4% and CBR was 46.4% for the 110 patients with evaluable lesions. Symptomatic visceral disease was independently associated with shorter PFS (hazard ratio, 3.611; 95% CI, 1.904-6.848; p<0.001), compared with bone-dominant disease in a multivariate analysis of PFS after adjusting for age, hormone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, Ki-67 status, dominant metastasis site, and sensitivity to nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI) treatment. Sensitivity to previous nonsteroidal AI treatment was not associated with PFS, suggesting no cross-resistance between exemestane and nonsteroidal AIs. Conclusion Exemestane was effective in postmenopausal Korean women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer who failed previous nonsteroidal AI treatment. PMID:23593084

Spatio-temporal distribution of perchlorate and its toxicity in Hydrilla verticillata.

PubMed

Vijaya Nadaraja, Anupama; Pushpangadhan Saraswathy, Divya; Cheruvathery Ravindran, Sayana; Mariya, Anie; Godwin Russel, Jasmin; Selvanesan, Pradeep; Pereira, Benno; Bhaskaran, Krishnakumar

2017-10-01

The spatio-temporal distribution of perchlorate in water sources around an ammonium perchlorate production unit and its toxicity response on a dominant aquatic plant, Hydrilla verticillata are reported in this study. Samples (n=453) from ground water (open well) and surface water sources within 5km from the production unit over a period of 12 months (2014, June - 2015, May) were screened for ClO 4 - . During the period, ClO 4 - concentration in ground water samples close to the production unit increased to >40,000μg/L, and ClO 4 - was detected at 1740μg/L in well water 1.6km away from the production unit. A community pond in the area also showed an increase in ClO 4 - level up to 29,000μg/L. In all water sources, ClO 4 - level was maximum during the rainy season (July, monsoon). A natural degradation of ClO 4 - was not observed in the area as evident from its persistent level and spreading to more areas. H. verticillata, the dominant vegetation in the pond exhibited severe toxic response like massive decay and loss of photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll and carotene due to ClO 4 - exposure. The plant accumulated ClO 4 - up to 60 ± 0.8mg/kg wet weight with a Bio-Concentration Factor 2.06±0.005. This is the first report on spatio-temporal distribution of ClO 4 - at higher levels in a natural environment and its toxicity response to plants under natural condition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The heat shock response plays an important role in TDP-43 clearance: evidence for dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Chen, Han-Jou; Mitchell, Jacqueline C; Novoselov, Sergey; Miller, Jack; Nishimura, Agnes L; Scotter, Emma L; Vance, Caroline A; Cheetham, Michael E; Shaw, Christopher E

2016-05-01

Detergent-resistant, ubiquitinated and hyperphosphorylated Tar DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43, encoded by TARDBP) neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions are the pathological hallmark in ∼95% of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and ∼60% of frontotemporal lobar degeneration cases. We sought to explore the role for the heat shock response in the clearance of insoluble TDP-43 in a cellular model of disease and to validate our findings in transgenic mice and human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis tissues. The heat shock response is a stress-responsive protective mechanism regulated by the transcription factor heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), which increases the expression of chaperones that refold damaged misfolded proteins or facilitate their degradation. Here we show that manipulation of the heat shock response by expression of dominant active HSF1 results in a dramatic reduction of insoluble and hyperphosphorylated TDP-43 that enhances cell survival, whereas expression of dominant negative HSF1 leads to enhanced TDP-43 aggregation and hyperphosphorylation. To determine which chaperones were mediating TDP-43 clearance we over-expressed a range of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and identified DNAJB2a (encoded by DNAJB2, and also known as HSJ1a) as a potent anti-aggregation chaperone for TDP-43. DNAJB2a has a J domain, allowing it to interact with HSP70, and ubiquitin interacting motifs, which enable it to engage the degradation of its client proteins. Using functionally deleted DNAJB2a constructs we demonstrated that TDP-43 clearance was J domain-dependent and was not affected by ubiquitin interacting motif deletion or proteasome inhibition. This indicates that TDP-43 is maintained in a soluble state by DNAJB2a, leaving the total levels of TDP-43 unchanged. Additionally, we have demonstrated that the levels of HSF1 and heat shock proteins are significantly reduced in affected neuronal tissues from a TDP-43 transgenic mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This implies that the HSF1-mediated DNAJB2a/HSP70 heat shock response pathway is compromised in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Defective refolding of TDP-43 is predicted to aggravate the TDP-43 proteinopathy. The finding that the pathological accumulation of insoluble TDP-43 can be reduced by the activation of HSF1/HSP pathways presents an exciting opportunity for the development of novel therapeutics. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

Short-term phenotypic plasticity in long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons

PubMed Central

Thomas, Melissa L.; Simmons, Leigh W.

2011-01-01

Cuticular hydrocarbons provide arthropods with the chemical equivalent of the visually extravagant plumage of birds. Their long chain length, together with the number and variety of positions in which methyl branches and double bonds occur, provide cuticular hydrocarbons with an extraordinary level of information content. Here, we demonstrate phenotypic plasticity in an individual's cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Using solid-phase microextraction, a chemical technique that enables multiple sampling of the same individual, we monitor short-term changes in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of individual crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus, in response to a social challenge. We experimentally manipulate the dominance status of males and find that dominant males, on losing fights with other dominant males, change their hydrocarbon profile to more closely resemble that of a subordinate. This result demonstrates that cuticular hydrocarbons can be far more responsive to changes in social dominance than previously realized. PMID:21367785

Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

DOE PAGES

Fang, Yuanyuan; Michalak, Anna M.; Schwalm, Christopher R.; ...

2017-06-01

Climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. We show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. And whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Niño conditions (r TG,P = 0.59, p

Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Yuanyuan; Michalak, Anna M.; Schwalm, Christopher R.

Climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. Here, we show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. Whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Niño conditions (r TG,P=0.59, p<0.01), the post Lamore » Niña sink is driven largely by tropical precipitation (r PG,T=-0.46, p=0.04). This finding points to an ENSO-phase-dependent interplay between water availability and temperature in controlling the carbon uptake response to climate variations in tropical ecosystems. We further find that none of a suite of ten contemporary terrestrial biosphere models captures these ENSO-phase-dependent responses, highlighting a key uncertainty in modeling climate impacts on the future of the global land carbon sink.« less

Global land carbon sink response to temperature and precipitation varies with ENSO phase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Yuanyuan; Michalak, Anna M.; Schwalm, Christopher R.

Climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its consequent impacts on land carbon sink interannual variability have been used as a basis for investigating carbon cycle responses to climate variability more broadly, and to inform the sensitivity of the tropical carbon budget to climate change. Past studies have presented opposing views about whether temperature or precipitation is the primary factor driving the response of the land carbon sink to ENSO. We show that the dominant driver varies with ENSO phase. And whereas tropical temperature explains sink dynamics following El Niño conditions (r TG,P = 0.59, p

Empirical Model Development for Predicting Shock Response on Composite Materials Subjected to Pyroshock Loading

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gentz, Steven J.; Ordway, David O; Parsons, David S.; Garrison, Craig M.; Rodgers, C. Steven; Collins, Brian W.

2015-01-01

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) received a request to develop an analysis model based on both frequency response and wave propagation analyses for predicting shock response spectrum (SRS) on composite materials subjected to pyroshock loading. The model would account for near-field environment (approx. 9 inches from the source) dominated by direct wave propagation, mid-field environment (approx. 2 feet from the source) characterized by wave propagation and structural resonances, and far-field environment dominated by lower frequency bending waves in the structure. This report documents the outcome of the assessment.

Empirical Model Development for Predicting Shock Response on Composite Materials Subjected to Pyroshock Loading. [Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gentz, Steven J.; Ordway, David O.; Parsons, David S.; Garrison, Craig M.; Rodgers, C. Steven; Collins, Brian W.

2015-01-01

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) received a request to develop an analysis model based on both frequency response and wave propagation analyses for predicting shock response spectrum (SRS) on composite materials subjected to pyroshock loading. The model would account for near-field environment (9 inches from the source) dominated by direct wave propagation, mid-field environment (approximately 2 feet from the source) characterized by wave propagation and structural resonances, and far-field environment dominated by lower frequency bending waves in the structure. This document contains appendices to the Volume I report.

Empirical Model Development for Predicting Shock Response on Composite Materials Subjected to Pyroshock Loading: Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gentz, Steven J.; Ordway, David O.; Parsons, David S.; Garrison, Craig M.; Rodgers, C. Steven; Collins, Brian W.

2015-01-01

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) received a request to develop an analysis model based on both frequency response and wave propagation analyses for predicting shock response spectrum (SRS) on composite materials subjected to pyroshock loading. The model would account for near-field environment (approx. 9 inches from the source) dominated by direct wave propagation, mid-field environment (approx. 2 feet from the source) characterized by wave propagation and structural resonances, and far-field environment dominated by lower frequency bending waves in the structure. This document contains appendices to the Volume I report.

Characteristics of airborne bacteria in Mumbai urban environment.

PubMed

Gangamma, S

2014-08-01

Components of biological origin constitute small but a significant proportion of the ambient airborne particulate matter (PM). However, their diversity and role in proinflammatory responses of PM are not well understood. The present study characterizes airborne bacterial species diversity in Mumbai City and elucidates the role of bacterial endotoxin in PM induced proinflammatory response in ex vivo. Airborne bacteria and endotoxin samples were collected during April-May 2010 in Mumbai using six stage microbial impactor and biosampler. The culturable bacterial species concentration was measured and factors influencing the composition were identified by principal component analysis (PCA). The biosampler samples were used to stimulate immune cells in whole blood assay. A total of 28 species belonging to 17 genera were identified. Gram positive and spore forming groups of bacteria dominated the airborne culturable bacterial concentration. The study indicated the dominance of spore forming and human or animal flora derived pathogenic/opportunistic bacteria in the ambient air environment. Pathogenic and opportunistic species of bacteria were also present in the samples. TNF-α induction by PM was reduced (35%) by polymyxin B pretreatment and this result was corroborated with the results of blocking endotoxin receptor cluster differentiation (CD14). The study highlights the importance of airborne biological particles and suggests need of further studies on biological characterization of ambient PM. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Succession of biofilm communities responsible for biofouling of membrane bio-reactors (MBRs)

PubMed Central

Luo, Jinxue; Lv, Pengyi; Zhang, Jinsong; Fane, Anthony G.; McDougald, Diane

2017-01-01

Biofilm formation is one of the main factors associated with membrane biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). As such, it is important to identify the responsible organisms to develop targeted strategies to control biofouling. This study investigated the composition and changes in the microbial communities fouling MBR membranes over time and correlated those changes with an increase in transmembrane pressure (TMP). Based on qPCR data, bacteria were the dominant taxa of the biofilm (92.9–98.4%) relative to fungi (1.5–6.9%) and archaea (0.03–0.07%). NMDS analysis indicated that during the initial stages of operation, the biofilm communities were indistinguishable from those found in the sludge. However, the biofilm community significantly diverged from the sludge over time and ultimately showed a unique biofilm profile. This suggested that there was strong selection for a group of organisms that were biofilm specialists. This pattern of succession and selection was correlated with the rapid increase in TMP, where bacteria including Rhodospirillales, Sphingomonadales and Rhizobiales dominated the biofilm at this time. While most of the identified fungal OTUs matched Candida sp., the majority of fungal communities were unclassified by 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Collectively, the data suggests that bacteria, primarily, along with fungi may play an important role in the rapid TMP increase and loss of system performance. PMID:28686622

Perceived exertion. Antecedents and applications.

PubMed

Watt, B; Grove, R

1993-04-01

The field of perceived exertion has largely concerned itself with the problem of identifying the primary antecedents to this psychophysiological phenomenon. A vast literature has evolved addressing this problem, but it is fraught with contradictions. At this stage a comprehensive theory of perceived exertion does not exist. It is generally accepted that perception of exertion is dominated by physiological determinants. Physiological sensory cues have been separated into 2 categories: local factors (sensations from the working muscles and joints), and central factors (sensations from the cardiopulmonary system). Major reviews in this area generally agree that local factors dominate perception of exertion. Recent work in perceived exertion has placed an emphasis on examining the contributing psychological factors. Research into the psychological factors affecting perceived exertion has been highly fragmented with no apparent theoretical framework as a base. At the same time it is clear that an integration of psychological and physiological variables is required to obtain theoretically meaningful knowledge of this multidimensional construct. The assumed dominance of physiological factors has been challenged by the contention that in field situations, in which a variety of social psychological influences operate, psychological determinants of perceived exertion may be vastly more influential than previously estimated. Identification of the primary determinants of perceived exertion and knowledge of how these factors are integrated is vital for a concrete theory of perceived exertion to evolve.

Microbial community composition along a 50 000-year lacustrine sediment sequence

PubMed Central

Ariztegui, Daniel; Horn, Fabian; Kallmeyer, Jens; Orsi, William D

2018-01-01

Abstract For decades, microbial community composition in subseafloor sediments has been the focus of extensive studies. In deep lacustrine sediments, however, the taxonomic composition of microbial communities remains undercharacterized. Greater knowledge on microbial diversity in lacustrine sediments would improve our understanding of how environmental factors, and resulting selective pressures, shape subsurface biospheres in marine and freshwater sediments. Using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes across high-resolution climate intervals covering the last 50 000 years in Laguna Potrok Aike, Argentina, we identified changes in microbial populations in response to both past environmental conditions and geochemical changes of the sediment during burial. Microbial communities in Holocene sediments were most diverse, reflecting a layering of taxa linked to electron acceptors availability. In deeper intervals, the data show that salinity, organic matter and the depositional conditions over the Last Glacial-interglacial cycle were all selective pressures in the deep lacustrine assemblage resulting in a genetically distinct biosphere from the surface dominated primarily by Bathyarchaeota and Atribacteria groups. However, similar to marine sediments, some dominant taxa in the shallow subsurface persisted into the subsurface as minor fraction of the community. The subsequent establishment of a deep subsurface community likely results from a combination of paleoenvironmental factors that have shaped the pool of available substrates, together with substrate depletion and/or reworking of organic matter with depth. PMID:29471361

The response of the East Asia summer precipitation to greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Fangxing; Dong, Buwen; Robson, Jon; Sutton, Rowan

2017-04-01

The changes of precipitation over China since the mid-20th century display a dipole trend pattern over eastern China, which is known as Southern-Flood-Northern-Drought (SFND) pattern. The trends have been attributed to different factors, such as the changes of aerosol and greenhouse gas emissions. However much less is known about the different effects of these factors on generating the SFND pattern. This work investigated the drivers and dynamical mechanisms by using a atmosphere-ocean-mixed-layer model forced by anthropogenic greenhouse gase (GHG), anthropogenic aerosol (AA) and the combined effects. The model experiments with different forcings indicates that the GHG forcing dominates the precipitation increase, which is stronger over south China than over north China. On the other hand, the drought over north China is dominated by the AA forcing. Analysis of physical processes indicates that the GHG forcing increases the moisture and leads to strong convergence over east China, and then more precipitation. The AA forcing leads to north wind anomalies and generates divergent anomalies over north China, which reduces the precipitation. Further analysis indicates that the changes of the circulation which related to the SFND pattern are forced by the enhancement of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH). Both GHG and AA forcing can enhance the WNPSH by changing the local Hadley cell.

The effects of whiteness on the health of whites in the USA.

PubMed

Malat, Jennifer; Mayorga-Gallo, Sarah; Williams, David R

2018-02-01

Whites in the USA are the dominant racial group, with greater than average access to most material and social rewards. Yet, while whites have better outcomes than other racial groups on some health indicators, whites paradoxically compare poorly on other measures. Further, whites in the USA also rank poorly in international health comparisons. In this paper, we present a framework that combines the concept of whiteness-a system that socially, economically, and ideologically benefits European descendants and disadvantages people in other groups-with research from a variety of fields in order to comprehensively model the social factors that influence whites' health. The framework we present describes how whiteness and capitalism in the USA shape societal conditions, individual social characteristics and experiences, and psychosocial responses to circumstances to influence health outcomes. We detail specific examples of how social policies supported by whiteness, the narratives of whiteness, and the privileges of whiteness may positively and negatively affect whites' health. In doing so, we suggest several areas for future research that can expand our understanding of how social factors affect health and can contribute to the patterns and paradoxes of whites' health. By expanding research to include theoretically-grounded analyses of the dominant group's health, we can achieve a more complete picture of how systems of racial inequity affect health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The chrysanthemum leaf and root transcript profiling in response to salinity stress.

PubMed

Cheng, Peilei; Gao, Jiaojiao; Feng, Yitong; Zhang, Zixin; Liu, Yanan; Fang, Weimin; Chen, Sumei; Chen, Fadi; Jiang, Jiafu

2018-06-23

RNA-Seq was applied to capture the transcriptome of the leaf and root of non-treated and salinity-treated chrysanthemum cv. 'Jinba' plants. A total of 206,868 unigenes of mean length 849 nt and of N50 length 1363 nt was identified; of these about 64% (>132,000) could be functionally assigned. Depending on the severity of the salinity stress, differential transcription was observed for genes encoding proteins involved in osmotic adjustment, in ion transport, in reactive oxygen species scavenging and in the regulation of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling. The root stress response was dominated by the up-regulation of genes involved in ion transport and homeostasis, while that of the leaf reflected the plant's effort to make osmotic adjustments and to regulate ABA signaling. An array of known transcription factors (WRKY, AP2/ERF, MYB, bHLH and NAC) were differentially transcribed. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Fear and Anger Responses to Local News Coverage of Alcohol-Related Crimes, Accidents, and Injuries: Explaining News Effects on Policy Support Using a Representative Sample of Messages and People

PubMed Central

Goodall, Catherine E.; Slater, Michael D.; Myers, Teresa A.

2013-01-01

An experiment investigated emotional reactions to news on policy support. Stimuli were selected from a nationally representative sample of local crime/accident news, and a nationally representative online panel of U.S. adults. Stories were manipulated to mention or not mention the role of alcohol. Anger elicited by stories increased blame of individuals, whereas fear increased consideration of contributing societal factors. Mention of alcohol increased likelihood of different emotional responses dominating--greater anger when alcohol was mentioned and greater fear when not mentioned. Such emotions influence policy support: enforcement of existing laws controlling individual behavior in addition to new laws when anger predominated, and, indirectly, support for new laws changing social context in which alcohol is promoted and sold when fear predominated. PMID:23729838

The gravitational field and brain function.

PubMed

Mei, L; Zhou, C D; Lan, J Q; Wang, Z G; Wu, W C; Xue, X M

1983-01-01

The frontal cortex is recognized as the highest adaptive control center of the human brain. The principle of the "frontalization" of human brain function offers new possibilities for brain research in space. There is evolutionary and experimental evidence indicating the validity of the principle, including it's role in nervous response to gravitational stimulation. The gravitational field is considered here as one of the more constant and comprehensive factors acting on brain evolution, which has undergone some successive crucial steps: "encephalization", "corticalization", "lateralization" and "frontalization". The dominating effects of electrical responses from the frontal cortex have been discovered 1) in experiments under gravitational stimulus; and 2) in processes potentially relating to gravitational adaptation, such as memory and learning, sensory information processing, motor programing, and brain state control. A brain research experiment during space flight is suggested to test the role of the frontal cortex in space adaptation and it's potentiality in brain control.

Do Knickpoints Unzip Watersheds? Longitudinal Observations of Terrace and Hillslope Response to Mainstem Incision along the South Fork Eel River, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wehrs, K.; Crosby, B. T.

2017-12-01

River response to changes in climate and relative base level often leave behind a legacy of transient landforms that enable the interpretation of past events. The dominant paradigm is that base level fall initiates a wave of mainstem incision that progressively transmits change upstream. Mainstem-adjacent hillslopes coupled to the channel subsequently respond as their toe slopes are steepened. To test this paradigm, we first use a longitudinal set of mainstem terrace ages to evaluate whether incision incrementally progresses upstream or is contemporaneous. Second, we explore longitudinal variations in mainstem-adjacent mass movements to evaluate whether they reflect a time and space progression in response. The South Fork Eel River in northern California contains over 600 mainstem-adjacent mass movements and 60 m tall, longitudinally extensive strath terraces that record a landscape response to river incision. We use Optically Stimulated Luminescence, with feldspars and coarse-grained sampling technique, to determine the depositional age of alluvial fill atop the strath terrace. If terrace abandonment progressively young upstream, this suggests that base level fall was not spatially contemporaneous, but rather time progressive. As a consequence, the age, form, and extent of mass wasting events should also vary longitudinally. Because terraces isolate hillslopes from the base level fall signal, we use these surfaces to quantify hillslope form and function independent of that forcing. Preliminary results using mainstem-parallel, 1 m LiDAR, show significant variation in size of mass movements throughout the basin, with planar, linearly moving translational landslides dominating throughout the catchment. In the lower basin, well downstream of the current knickzone, we see an increase in mass movement concentration, reactivation, and overall extent of mass movements. Multiple factors confound our interpretation of hillslope morphology and response, due to changes in lithology, climate, and river sinuosity throughout the catchment.

CREB3L1-mediated functional and structural adaptation of the secretory pathway in hormone-stimulated thyroid cells.

PubMed

García, Iris A; Torres Demichelis, Vanina; Viale, Diego L; Di Giusto, Pablo; Ezhova, Yulia; Polishchuk, Roman S; Sampieri, Luciana; Martinez, Hernán; Sztul, Elizabeth; Alvarez, Cecilia

2017-12-15

Many secretory cells increase the synthesis and secretion of cargo proteins in response to specific stimuli. How cells couple increased cargo load with a coordinate rise in secretory capacity to ensure efficient transport is not well understood. We used thyroid cells stimulated with thyrotropin (TSH) to demonstrate a coordinate increase in the production of thyroid-specific cargo proteins and ER-Golgi transport factors, and a parallel expansion of the Golgi complex. TSH also increased expression of the CREB3L1 transcription factor, which alone caused amplified transport factor levels and Golgi enlargement. Furthermore, CREB3L1 potentiated the TSH-induced increase in Golgi volume. A dominant-negative CREB3L1 construct hampered the ability of TSH to induce Golgi expansion, implying that this transcription factor contributes to Golgi expansion. Our findings support a model in which CREB3L1 acts as a downstream effector of TSH to regulate the expression of cargo proteins, and simultaneously increases the synthesis of transport factors and the expansion of the Golgi to synchronize the rise in cargo load with the amplified capacity of the secretory pathway. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

PERSISTENCE OF DESERTIFIED ECOSYSTEMS: EXPLANATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Studies of rainfall partitioning by shrubs, responses of shrub-dominated ecosystems to herbicide treatment, and experiments using drought and supplemental rainfall were conducted to test the hypothesis that the shrub-dominated ecosystems that have replaced desert grasslands are r...

Vegetation Response to Grazing and Planting of Leucaena leucocephala in a Urochloa maximum-dominated Grassland in Puerto Rico

Treesearch

John K. Francis

2006-01-01

A considerable portion of the former dry and dry-transition-to-moist forests of Puerto Rico dominated by Bucida buceras L. was transformed by land clearing and periodic fires to tall grasslands dominated by Urochloa maximum Jacq. and savannas with scattered small trees and shrubs. These communities, maintained by fires, are relatively stable and difficult to reforest....

Deep sequencing leads to the identification of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A as a key element in Rsv1-mediated lethal systemic hypersensitive response to Soybean mosaic virus infection in soybean.

PubMed

Chen, Hui; Adam Arsovski, Andrej; Yu, Kangfu; Wang, Aiming

2017-04-01

Rsv1, a single dominant resistance locus in soybean, confers extreme resistance to the majority of Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) strains, but is susceptible to the G7 strain. In Rsv1-genotype soybean, G7 infection provokes a lethal systemic hypersensitive response (LSHR), a delayed host defence response. The Rsv1-mediated LSHR signalling pathway remains largely unknown. In this study, we employed a genome-wide investigation to gain an insight into the molecular interplay between SMV G7 and Rsv1-genotype soybean. Small RNA (sRNA), degradome and transcriptome sequencing analyses were used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and microRNAs (DEMs) in response to G7 infection. A number of DEGs, DEMs and microRNA targets, and the interaction network of DEMs and their target mRNAs responsive to G7 infection, were identified. Knock-down of one of the identified DEGs, the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), diminished the LSHR and enhanced viral accumulation, suggesting the essential role of eIF5A in the G7-induced, Rsv1-mediated LSHR signalling pathway. This work provides an in-depth genome-wide analysis of high-throughput sequencing data, and identifies multiple genes and microRNA signatures that are associated with the Rsv1-mediated LSHR. © 2016 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY © 2016 BSPP AND JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.

Identification, isolation, and expression analysis of heat shock transcription factors in the diploid woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca

PubMed Central

Hu, Yang; Han, Yong-Tao; Wei, Wei; Li, Ya-Juan; Zhang, Kai; Gao, Yu-Rong; Zhao, Feng-Li; Feng, Jia-Yue

2015-01-01

Heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs) are known to play dominant roles in plant responses to heat, as well as other abiotic or biotic stress stimuli. While the strawberry is an economically important fruit plant, little is known about the Hsf family in the strawberry. To explore the functions of strawberry Hsfs in abiotic and biotic stress responses, this study identified 17 Hsf genes (FvHsfs) in a wild diploid woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca, 2n = 2x = 14) and isolated 14 of these genes. Phylogenetic analysis divided the strawberry FvHsfs genes into three main groups. The evolutionary and structural analyses revealed that the FvHsf family is conserved. The promoter sequences of the FvHsf genes contain upstream regulatory elements corresponding to different stress stimuli. In addition, 14 FvHsf-GFP fusion proteins showed differential subcellular localization in Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts. Furthermore, we examined the expression of the 17 FvHsf genes in wild diploid woodland strawberries under various conditions, including abiotic stresses (heat, cold, drought, and salt), biotic stress (powdery mildew infection), and hormone treatments (abscisic acid, ethephon, methyl jasmonate, and salicylic acid). Fifteen of the seventeen FvHsf genes exhibited distinct changes on the transcriptional level during heat treatment. Of these 15 FvHsfs, 8 FvHsfs also exhibited distinct responses to other stimuli on the transcriptional level, indicating versatile roles in the response to abiotic and biotic stresses. Taken together, the present work may provide the basis for further studies to dissect FvHsf function in response to stress stimuli. PMID:26442049

Diverse Responses of Global Vegetation to Climate Changes: Spatial Patterns and Time-lag Effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, D.; Zhao, X.; Zhou, T.; Huang, K.; Xu, W.

2014-12-01

Global climate changes have enormous influences on vegetation growth, meanwhile, response of vegetation to climate express space diversity and time-lag effects, which account for spatial-temporal disparities of climate change and spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem. Revelation of this phenomenon will help us further understanding the impact of climate change on vegetation. Assessment and forecast of global environmental change can be also improved under further climate change. Here we present space diversity and time-lag effects patterns of global vegetation respond to three climate factors (temperature, precipitation and solar radiation) based on quantitative analysis of satellite data (NDVI) and Climate data (Climate Research Unit). We assessed the time-lag effects of global vegetation to main climate factors based on the great correlation fitness between NDVI and the three climate factors respectively among 0-12 months' temporal lags. On this basis, integrated response model of NDVI and the three climate factors was built to analyze contribution of different climate factors to vegetation growth with multiple regression model and partial correlation model. In the result, different vegetation types have distinct temporal lags to the three climate factors. For the precipitation, temporal lags of grasslands are the shortest while the evergreen broad-leaf forests are the longest, which means that grasslands are more sensitive to precipitation than evergreen broad-leaf forests. Analysis of different climate factors' contribution to vegetation reveal that vegetation are dominated by temperature in the high northern latitudes; they are mainly restricted by precipitation in arid and semi-arid areas (Australia, Western America); in humid areas of low and intermediate latitudes (Amazon, Eastern America), vegetation are mainly influenced by solar radiation. Our results reveal the time-lag effects and major driving factors of global vegetation growth and explain the spatiotemporal variations of global vegetation in last 30 years. Significantly, it is as well as in forecasting and assessing the influences of future climate change on the vegetation dynamics. This work was supported by the High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant NO.2013AA122801).

Predicting climate-driven regime shifts versus rebound potential in coral reefs.

PubMed

Graham, Nicholas A J; Jennings, Simon; MacNeil, M Aaron; Mouillot, David; Wilson, Shaun K

2015-02-05

Climate-induced coral bleaching is among the greatest current threats to coral reefs, causing widespread loss of live coral cover. Conditions under which reefs bounce back from bleaching events or shift from coral to algal dominance are unknown, making it difficult to predict and plan for differing reef responses under climate change. Here we document and predict long-term reef responses to a major climate-induced coral bleaching event that caused unprecedented region-wide mortality of Indo-Pacific corals. Following loss of >90% live coral cover, 12 of 21 reefs recovered towards pre-disturbance live coral states, while nine reefs underwent regime shifts to fleshy macroalgae. Functional diversity of associated reef fish communities shifted substantially following bleaching, returning towards pre-disturbance structure on recovering reefs, while becoming progressively altered on regime shifting reefs. We identified threshold values for a range of factors that accurately predicted ecosystem response to the bleaching event. Recovery was favoured when reefs were structurally complex and in deeper water, when density of juvenile corals and herbivorous fishes was relatively high and when nutrient loads were low. Whether reefs were inside no-take marine reserves had no bearing on ecosystem trajectory. Although conditions governing regime shift or recovery dynamics were diverse, pre-disturbance quantification of simple factors such as structural complexity and water depth accurately predicted ecosystem trajectories. These findings foreshadow the likely divergent but predictable outcomes for reef ecosystems in response to climate change, thus guiding improved management and adaptation.

Anesthesiologists at work: an increase in pro-inflammatory and Th2 cytokine production, and alterations in proliferative immune responses.

PubMed

Beilin, B; Greenfeld, K; Abiri, N; Yardeni, I Z; Bessler, H; Ben-Eliyahu, S

2006-11-01

Anesthesiologists are a population at high risk of alcohol and drug abuse, depression, suicide, and psychiatric hospitalization. The impact of their working milieu on specific immune indices has scarcely been studied, and it is assumed that immune perturbations may contribute to some of the above risks. This study took advantage of an unplanned, 3-month long strike of anesthesiologists, and explored its relations to specific immune measures. We assessed induced cytokine production and lymphocytes proliferative responses in blood samples taken from 10 anesthesiologists just before the strike and at its end, after a long period of markedly reduced workload. The results indicated that the proliferative responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and concanavalin A (Con A) were significantly lower at the end of the strike. At this time point, we observed a significant decrease in the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10 and IL1ra levels, and a significant increase in IL-2 production. A strong trend towards a decline in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels was evident, while levels of IL-1beta were unchanged. These findings suggest that the working conditions of anesthesiologists are associated with specific immune alterations, including a shift towards a Th2 cytokines' dominance, and an elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine response. A reduced Th1 profile has been related to increased susceptibility to infections, and high pro-inflammatory cytokine levels were recently proposed as etiological factors in cardiovascular diseases and in depression.

HSV-1-induced activation of NF-κB protects U937 monocytic cells against both virus replication and apoptosis

PubMed Central

Marino-Merlo, Francesca; Papaianni, Emanuela; Medici, Maria Antonietta; Macchi, Beatrice; Grelli, Sandro; Mosca, Claudia; Borner, Christoph; Mastino, Antonio

2016-01-01

The transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) is a crucial player of the antiviral innate response. Intriguingly, however, NF-κB activation is assumed to favour herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection rather than restrict it. Apoptosis, a form of innate response to viruses, is completely inhibited by HSV in fully permissive cells, but not in cells incapable to fully sustain HSV replication, such as immunocompetent cells. To resolve the intricate interplay among NF-κB signalling, apoptosis and permissiveness to HSV-1 in monocytic cells, we utilized U937 monocytic cells in which NF-κB activation was inhibited by expressing a dominant-negative IκBα. Surprisingly, viral production was increased in monocytic cells in which NF-κB was inhibited. Moreover, inhibition of NF-κB led to increased apoptosis following HSV-1 infection, associated with lysosomal membrane permeabilization. High expression of late viral proteins and induction of apoptosis occurred in distinct cells. Transcriptional analysis of known innate response genes by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR excluded a contribution of the assayed genes to the observed phenomena. Thus, in monocytic cells NF-κB activation simultaneously serves as an innate process to restrict viral replication as well as a mechanism to limit the damage of an excessive apoptotic response to HSV-1 infection. This finding may clarify mechanisms controlling HSV-1 infection in monocytic cells. PMID:27584793

Sympathetic neurons are a powerful driver of myocyte function in cardiovascular disease.

PubMed

Larsen, Hege E; Lefkimmiatis, Konstantinos; Paterson, David J

2016-12-14

Many therapeutic interventions in disease states of heightened cardiac sympathetic activity are targeted to the myocytes. However, emerging clinical data highlights a dominant role in disease progression by the neurons themselves. Here we describe a novel experimental model of the peripheral neuro-cardiac axis to study the neuron's ability to drive a myocyte cAMP phenotype. We employed a co-culture of neonatal ventricular myocytes and sympathetic stellate neurons from normal (WKY) and pro-hypertensive (SHR) rats that are sympathetically hyper-responsive and measured nicotine evoked cAMP responses in the myocytes using a fourth generation FRET cAMP sensor. We demonstrated the dominant role of neurons in driving the myocyte ß-adrenergic phenotype, where SHR cultures elicited heightened myocyte cAMP responses during neural activation. Moreover, cross-culturing healthy neurons onto diseased myocytes rescued the diseased cAMP response of the myocyte. Conversely, healthy myocytes developed a diseased cAMP response if diseased neurons were introduced. Our results provide evidence for a dominant role played by the neuron in driving the adrenergic phenotype seen in cardiovascular disease. We also highlight the potential of using healthy neurons to turn down the gain of neurotransmission, akin to a smart pre-synaptic ß-blocker.

Classification and sedimentary characteristics of lacustrine hyperpycnal channels: Triassic outcrops in the south Ordos Basin, central China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xian, Benzhong; Wang, Junhui; Gong, Chenglin; Yin, Yu; Chao, Chuzhi; Liu, Jianping; Zhang, Guodong; Yan, Qi

2018-06-01

Subaquatic channels are known as active conduits for the delivery of terrigenous sediments into related marine and lacustrine basins, as well as important targets for hydrocarbon exploration. Compared to submarine channels, lacustrine subaqueous channels created by hyperpycnal flows are understudied. Using well-exposed outcrops collected from three different locations in the southern Ordos Basin, central China, morphologies and architecture of a channelized hyperpycnal system were studied and classified. Six facies associations represent sedimentary processes from strong erosion by bedload dominated hyperpycnal flows, to transitional deposition jointly controlled by bedload and suspended-load dominated hyperpycnal flows, finally to deposition from suspended-load dominated hyperpycnal flows. On the basis of channel morphologies, infilling sediments and sedimentary processes, the documented channels can be classified into four main categories, which are erosional, bedload dominated, suspended-load dominated, and depositional channels. In very proximal and very distal locations, erosional channels and depositional channels serve as two end-members, while in middle areas, bedload-dominated channels and suspended-load dominated channels are transitional types. Erosional channels, as a response to strong erosion from bedload dominated hyperpycnal flows on upper slope, were mainly filled by mud interbedded with thin sand beds. As flow energy decreases, bedload dominated channels develop on middle slopes, which are characterized mainly by under- to balanced sediment infillings with cross-bedded sandstones and/or minor massive sandstones. Compared to bedload dominated channels, suspended-load dominated channels mainly develop in deeper water, and were filled mainly by massive or planar-laminated sandstones. Depositional channels, as a response to suspended-load dominated hyperpycnal flows in deep-water areas, are characterized by thin-medium bed classical turbidites with Bouma sequences and thin- to thick massive sandstones. Such evolution patterns of hyperpycnal channel systems are ascribed to the progressive decrease in flow capacity of hyperpycnal flows, and provide an adequate explanation for the basinward channelization behavior of hyperpycnal systems.

Temporally delineated sources of major chemical species in high Arctic snow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macdonald, Katrina M.; Sharma, Sangeeta; Toom, Desiree; Chivulescu, Alina; Platt, Andrew; Elsasser, Mike; Huang, Lin; Leaitch, Richard; Chellman, Nathan; McConnell, Joseph R.; Bozem, Heiko; Kunkel, Daniel; Duan Lei, Ying; Jeong, Cheol-Heon; Abbatt, Jonathan P. D.; Evans, Greg J.

2018-03-01

Long-range transport of aerosol from lower latitudes to the high Arctic may be a significant contributor to climate forcing in the Arctic. To identify the sources of key contaminants entering the Canadian High Arctic an intensive campaign of snow sampling was completed at Alert, Nunavut, from September 2014 to June 2015. Fresh snow samples collected every few days were analyzed for black carbon, major ions, and metals, and this rich data set provided an opportunity for a temporally refined source apportionment of snow composition via positive matrix factorization (PMF) in conjunction with FLEXPART (FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model) potential emission sensitivity analysis. Seven source factors were identified: sea salt, crustal metals, black carbon, carboxylic acids, nitrate, non-crustal metals, and sulfate. The sea salt and crustal factors showed good agreement with expected composition and primarily northern sources. High loadings of V and Se onto Factor 2, crustal metals, was consistent with expected elemental ratios, implying these metals were not primarily anthropogenic in origin. Factor 3, black carbon, was an acidic factor dominated by black carbon but with some sulfate contribution over the winter-haze season. The lack of K+ associated with this factor, a Eurasian source, and limited known forest fire events coincident with this factor's peak suggested a predominantly anthropogenic combustion source. Factor 4, carboxylic acids, was dominated by formate and acetate with a moderate correlation to available sunlight and an oceanic and North American source. A robust identification of this factor was not possible; however, atmospheric photochemical reactions, ocean microlayer reaction, and biomass burning were explored as potential contributors. Factor 5, nitrate, was an acidic factor dominated by NO3-, with a likely Eurasian source and mid-winter peak. The isolation of NO3- on a separate factor may reflect its complex atmospheric processing, though the associated source region suggests possibly anthropogenic precursors. Factor 6, non-crustal metals, showed heightened loadings of Sb, Pb, and As, and correlation with other metals traditionally associated with industrial activities. Similar to Factor 3 and 5, this factor appeared to be largely Eurasian in origin. Factor 7, sulfate, was dominated by SO42- and MS with a fall peak and high acidity. Coincident volcanic activity and northern source regions may suggest a processed SO2 source of this factor.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis: an immunopathology review.

PubMed

Woda, Bruce A

2008-02-01

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HSP) is an immunologically mediated alveolar and interstitial lung disease caused by repeated inhalation of organic dusts and some occupational agents. The pathogenesis of HSP is uncertain. A number of unexplained features of HSP remain, namely (1) why do so few exposed individuals develop clinical HSP, (2) what triggers an acute episode after prolonged periods of previous sensitization, and (3) what leads to disease progression. This article considers these issues and aims to discuss and clarify current concepts in pathogenesis. Pertinent literature review in conjunction with the author's personal interpretive opinion. Current data suggest that individuals with a T(H)1 dominant response are likely to develop clinical disease. There is also some evidence that genetic factors such as polymorphisms in the major histocompatibility complex, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 are associated with the development of or resistance to the disease.

[Genetic aspects in congenital hypothyrodism].

PubMed

Perone, Denise; Teixeira, Silvânia S; Clara, Sueli A; Santos, Daniela C dos; Nogueira, Célia R

2004-02-01

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) affects between 1:3,000 and 1:4,000 newborns. Many genes are essential for normal development of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis and hormone production, and are associated with CH. About 85% of primary hypothyroidism is called thyroid digenesis and evidence suggests that mutations in transcription factors (TTF2, TTF1, and PAX-8) and TSH receptor gene could be responsible for the disease. Genetic defects of hormone synthesis could be caused by mutations in the following genes: NIS (natrium-iodide symporter), pendrine, thyreoglobulin (TG), peroxidase (TPO). Recently, mutations in the THOX-2 gene have also been related to organification defects. Central hypothyroidism affects about 1:20,000 newborns and has been associated with mutations in pituitary transcriptional factors (POUIF1, PROP1, LHX3, and HESX1). The syndrome of resistance to thyroid hormone is rare, implies a hypothyroidism state for some tissues and is frequently associated with dominant autosomal mutations in the beta-receptor (TRss).

Gene expression patterns of two dominant tallgrass prairie species differ in response to warming and altered precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Melinda D.; Hoffman, Ava M.; Avolio, Meghan L.

2016-05-01

To better understand the mechanisms underlying plant species responses to climate change, we compared transcriptional profiles of the co-dominant C4 grasses, Andropogon gerardii Vitman and Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash, in response to increased temperatures and more variable precipitation regimes in a long-term field experiment in native tallgrass prairie. We used microarray probing of a closely related model species (Zea mays) to assess correlations in leaf temperature (Tleaf) and leaf water potential (LWP) and abundance changes of ~10,000 transcripts in leaf tissue collected from individuals of both species. A greater number of transcripts were found to significantly change in abundance levels with Tleaf and LWP in S. nutans than in A. gerardii. S. nutans also was more responsive to short-term drought recovery than A. gerardii. Water flow regulating transcripts associated with stress avoidance (e.g., aquaporins), as well as those involved in the prevention and repair of damage (e.g., antioxidant enzymes, HSPs), were uniquely more abundant in response to increasing Tleaf in S. nutans. The differential transcriptomic responses of the co-dominant C4 grasses suggest that these species may cope with and respond to temperature and water stress at the molecular level in distinct ways, with implications for tallgrass prairie ecosystem function.

Evolution of the Quasar Luminosity Function: Implications for EoR-21cm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulkarni, Girish; Choudhury, Tirthankar Roy; Puchwein, Ewald; Haehnelt, Martin G.

2018-05-01

We present predictions for the spatial distribution of 21 cm brightness temperature fluctuations from high-dynamic-range simulations for AGN-dominated reionization histories that have been tested against available Lyα and CMB data. We model AGN by extrapolating the observed Mbh-σ relation to high redshifts and assign them ionizing emissivities consistent with recent UV luminosity function measurements. AGN-dominated reionization histories increase the variance of the 21 cm emission by a factor of up to ten compared to similar reionization histories dominated by faint galaxies, to values close to 100 mK2 at scales accessible to experiments (k <~ 1 cMpc-1h). This is lower than the sensitivity reached by ongoing experiments by only a factor of about two or less. AGN dominated reionization should be easily detectable by LOFAR (and later HERA and SKA1) at their design sensitivity.

Trap-assisted and Langevin-type recombination in organic light-emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wetzelaer, G. A. H.; Kuik, M.; Nicolai, H. T.; Blom, P. W. M.

2011-04-01

Trapping of charges is known to play an important role in the charge transport of organic semiconductors, but the role of traps in the recombination process has not been addressed. Here we show that the ideality factor of the current of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in the diffusion-dominated regime has a temperature-independent value of 2, which reveals that nonradiative trap-assisted recombination dominates the current. In contrast, the ideality factor of the light output approaches unity, demonstrating that luminance is governed by recombination of the bimolecular Langevin type. This apparent contradiction can be resolved by measuring the current and luminance ideality factor for a white-emitting polymer, where both free and trapped charge carriers recombine radiatively. With increasing bias voltage, Langevin recombination becomes dominant over trap-assisted recombination due to its stronger dependence on carrier density, leading to an enhancement in OLED efficiency.

Phenotype overlap in Xylella fastidiosa is controlled by the cyclic di-GMP phosphodiesterase Eal in response to antibiotic exposure and diffusible signal factor-mediated cell-cell signaling.

PubMed

de Souza, Alessandra A; Ionescu, Michael; Baccari, Clelia; da Silva, Aline M; Lindow, Steven E

2013-06-01

Eal is an EAL domain protein in Xylella fastidiosa homologous to one involved in resistance to tobramycin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. EAL and HD-GYP domain proteins are implicated in the hydrolysis of the secondary messenger bis-(3'-5')-cyclic dimeric GMP (cyclic di-GMP). Cell density-dependent communication mediated by a Diffusible Signal Factor (DSF) also modulates cyclic di-GMP levels in X. fastidiosa, thereby controlling the expression of virulence genes and genes involved in insect transmission. The possible linkage of Eal to both extrinsic factors such as antibiotics and intrinsic factors such as quorum sensing, and whether both affect virulence, was thus addressed. Expression of eal was induced by subinhibitory concentrations of tobramycin, and an eal deletion mutant was more susceptible to this antibiotic than the wild-type strain and exhibited phenotypes similar to those of an rpfF deletion mutant blocked in DSF production, such as hypermotility, reduced biofilm formation, and hypervirulence to grape. Consistent with that, the rpfF mutant was more susceptible than the wild-type strain to tobramycin. Therefore, we propose that cell-cell communication and antibiotic stress can apparently lead to similar modulations of cyclic di-GMP in X. fastidiosa, resulting in similar phenotypes. However, the effect of cell density is dominant compared to that of antibiotic stress, since eal is suppressed by RpfF, which may prevent inappropriate behavioral changes in response to antibiotic stress when DSF accumulates.

Gingival transcriptome patterns during induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis in humans.

PubMed

Offenbacher, Steven; Barros, Silvana P; Paquette, David W; Winston, J Leslie; Biesbrock, Aaron R; Thomason, Ryan G; Gibb, Roger D; Fulmer, Andy W; Tiesman, Jay P; Juhlin, Kenton D; Wang, Shuo L; Reichling, Tim D; Chen, Ker-Sang; Ho, Begonia

2009-12-01

To our knowledge, changes in the patterns of whole-transcriptome gene expression that occur during the induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis in humans were not previously explored using bioinformatic tools. Gingival biopsy samples collected from 14 subjects during a 28-day stent-induced experimental gingivitis model, followed by treatment, and resolution at days 28 through 35 were analyzed using gene-expression arrays. Biopsy samples were collected at different sites within each subject at baseline (day 0), at the peak of gingivitis (day 28), and at resolution (day 35) and processed using whole-transcriptome gene-expression arrays. Gene-expression data were analyzed to identify biologic themes and pathways associated with changes in gene-expression profiles that occur during the induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis using bioinformatic tools. During disease induction and resolution, the dominant expression pathway was the immune response, with 131 immune response genes significantly up- or downregulated during induction, during resolution, or during both at P <0.05. During induction, there was significant transient increase in the expression of inflammatory and oxidative stress mediators, including interleukin (IL)-1 alpha (IL1A), IL-1 beta (IL1B), IL8, RANTES, colony stimulating factor 3 (CSF3), and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), and a decreased expression of IP10, interferon inducible T-cell alpha chemoattractant (ITAC), matrix metalloproteinase 10 (MMP10), and beta 4 defensin (DEFB4). These genes reversed expression patterns upon resolution in parallel with the reversal of gingival inflammation. A relatively small subset (11.9%) of the immune response genes analyzed by array was transiently activated in response to biofilm overgrowth, suggesting a degree of specificity in the transcriptome-expression response. The fact that this same subset demonstrates a reversal in expression patterns during clinical resolution implicates these genes as being critical for maintaining tissue homeostasis at the biofilm-gingival interface. In addition to the immune response pathway as the dominant response theme, new candidate genes and pathways were identified as being selectively modulated in experimental gingivitis, including neural processes, epithelial defenses, angiogenesis, and wound healing.

[Effects of environmental factors on evapotranspiration characteristics of Haloxylon ammodendron plantation in the Minqin oasis-desert ectone, Northwest China.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiao Yan; Chu, Jian Min; Meng, Ping; Zheng, Ning; Yao, Zeng Wang; Wang, He Song; Jiang, Sheng Xiu

2016-08-01

This study continuously measured the evapotranspiration (ET) of degraded Haloxylon ammodendron shrub plantation of Minqin oasis-desert ectone using an eddy covariance system for ET, and TDR for soil moisture profile, analyzing ET in relation to the weather conditions and describing the responses of ET to the microclimate variables in different weather from July 2014 to June 2015. Results showed that the hourly ET dynamics had an apparent seasonal trend in the growing season. This trend gradually increased in the beginning of season from the low level of non-growing season, reached its maximum peak value (0.07 mm·h -1 ) in the most physiologically active period, and decreased to the minimum peak value (0.01 mm·h -1 ) in December. The diurnal change in ET of the plantation depended on the weather conditions. The ET fluctuated less with a small magnitude in a cloud day, but fluctuated obviously with a greater magnitude after rain if weather was clear. After a strong rainfall (>9 mm·d -1 ), ET increased sharply to a high level of 28 folds prior to rain, at which it took four clear days to gradually decease to the pre-rain ET level. The yearly ET over H. ammodendron plantation was 108 mm, equivalent to 98% of annual precipitation. Soil moisture was the water source for ET. Therefore, soil moisture was the dominant factor for theET over the plantation. Net radiation, photosynthesis active radiation, air temperature, and vapor pressure deficit were the microclimate variables to drive the transpiration of vegetation and evaporation over the soil surface, being the major factors forET over the plantation. The regression equation of ET to the dominant factor and major factors had a coefficient of multiple determination (R 2 ) over 0.80.

Hemocyanins Stimulate Innate Immunity by Inducing Different Temporal Patterns of Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression in Macrophages.

PubMed

Zhong, Ta-Ying; Arancibia, Sergio; Born, Raimundo; Tampe, Ricardo; Villar, Javiera; Del Campo, Miguel; Manubens, Augusto; Becker, María Inés

2016-06-01

Hemocyanins induce a potent Th1-dominant immune response with beneficial clinical outcomes when used as a carrier/adjuvant in vaccines and nonspecific immunostimulant in cancer. However, the mechanisms by which hemocyanins trigger innate immune responses, leading to beneficial adaptive immune responses, are unknown. This response is triggered by a proinflammatory signal from various components, of which macrophages are an essential part. To understand how these proteins influence macrophage response, we investigated the effects of mollusks hemocyanins with varying structural and immunological properties, including hemocyanins from Concholepas concholepas, Fissurella latimarginata, and Megathura crenulata (keyhole limpet hemocyanin), on cultures of peritoneal macrophages. Hemocyanins were phagocytosed and slowly processed. Analysis of this process showed differential gene expression along with protein levels of proinflammatory markers, including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12p40, and TNF-α. An extended expression analysis of 84 cytokines during a 24-h period showed a robust proinflammatory response for F. latimarginata hemocyanin in comparison with keyhole limpet hemocyanin and C. concholepas hemocyanin, which was characterized by an increase in the transcript levels of M1 cytokines involved in leukocyte recruitment. These cytokine genes included chemokines (Cxcl1, Cxcl3, Cxcl5, Ccl2, and Ccl3), ILs (Il1b and Ifng), growth factors (Csf2 and Csf3), and TNF family members (Cd40lg). The protein levels of certain cytokines were increased. However, every hemocyanin maintains downregulated key M2 cytokine genes, including Il4 and Il5 Collectively, our data demonstrate that hemocyanins are able to trigger the release of proinflammatory factors with different patterns of cytokine expression, suggesting differential signaling pathways and transcriptional network mechanisms that lead to the activation of M1-polarized macrophages. Copyright © 2016 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Hemocyanins Stimulate Innate Immunity by Inducing Different Temporal Patterns of Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression in Macrophages

PubMed Central

Zhong, Ta-Ying; Arancibia, Sergio; Born, Raimundo; Tampe, Ricardo; Villar, Javiera; Del Campo, Miguel; Manubens, Augusto

2016-01-01

Hemocyanins induce a potent Th1-dominant immune response with beneficial clinical outcomes when used as a carrier/adjuvant in vaccines and nonspecific immunostimulant in cancer. However, the mechanisms by which hemocyanins trigger innate immune responses, leading to beneficial adaptive immune responses, are unknown. This response is triggered by a proinflammatory signal from various components, of which macrophages are an essential part. To understand how these proteins influence macrophage response, we investigated the effects of mollusks hemocyanins with varying structural and immunological properties, including hemocyanins from Concholepas concholepas, Fissurella latimarginata, and Megathura crenulata (keyhole limpet hemocyanin), on cultures of peritoneal macrophages. Hemocyanins were phagocytosed and slowly processed. Analysis of this process showed differential gene expression along with protein levels of proinflammatory markers, including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12p40, and TNF-α. An extended expression analysis of 84 cytokines during a 24-h period showed a robust proinflammatory response for F. latimarginata hemocyanin in comparison with keyhole limpet hemocyanin and C. concholepas hemocyanin, which was characterized by an increase in the transcript levels of M1 cytokines involved in leukocyte recruitment. These cytokine genes included chemokines (Cxcl1, Cxcl3, Cxcl5, Ccl2, and Ccl3), ILs (Il1b and Ifng), growth factors (Csf2 and Csf3), and TNF family members (Cd40lg). The protein levels of certain cytokines were increased. However, every hemocyanin maintains downregulated key M2 cytokine genes, including Il4 and Il5. Collectively, our data demonstrate that hemocyanins are able to trigger the release of proinflammatory factors with different patterns of cytokine expression, suggesting differential signaling pathways and transcriptional network mechanisms that lead to the activation of M1-polarized macrophages. PMID:27183578

The gene for replication factor C subunit 2 (RFC2) is within the 7q11.23 Williams syndrome deletion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peoples, R.; Perez-Jurado, L.; Francke, U.

1996-06-01

Williams syndrome (WS) is a developmental disorder with multiple system manifestations, including supraval var aortic stenosis (SVAS), peripheral pulmonic stenosis, connective tissue abnormalities, short stature, characteristic personality profile and cognitive deficits, and variable hypercalcemia in infancy. It is caused by heterozygosity for a chromosomal deletion of part of band 7q11.23 including the elastin locus (ELN). Since disruption of the ELN gene causes autosomal dominant SVAS, it is assumed that ELN haploinsufficiency is responsible for the cardiovascular features of WS. The deletion that extends from the ELN locus in both directions is {ge}200 kb in size, although estimates of {ge}2 Mbmore » are suggested by high-resolution chromosome banding and physical mapping studies. We have searched for additional dosage-sensitive genes within the deletion that may be responsible for the noncardiovascular features. We report here that the gene for replication factor C subunit 2 (RFC2) maps within the WS deletion region and was found to be deleted in all of 18 WS patients studied. The protein product of RFC2 is part of a multimeric complex involved in DNA elongation during replication. 14 refs., 3 figs.« less

What factors influence the use of contracts in the context of NHS dental practice? A systematic review of theory and logic model.

PubMed

Harris, Rebecca; Mosedale, Sarah; Garner, Jayne; Perkins, Elizabeth

2014-05-01

UK NHS contracts mediate the relationship between dental and medical practitioners as independent contractors, and the state which reimburses them for their services to patients. There have been successive revisions of dental and medical contracts since the 1990s alongside a change in the levels of professional dominance and accountability. Unintended consequences of the 2006 dental contract have led to plans for further reform. We set out to identify the factors which facilitate and hinder the use of contracts in this area. Previous reviews of theory have been narrative, and based on macro-theory arising from various disciplines such as economics, sociology and political science. This paper presents a systematic review and aggregative synthesis of the theories of contracting for publicly funded health care. A logic map conveys internal pathways linking competition for contracts to opportunism. We identify that whilst practitioners' responses to contract rules is a result of micro-level bargaining clarifying patients' and providers' interests, responses are also influenced by relationships with commissioners and wider personal, professional and political networks. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

HCV NS5A Up-Regulates COX-2 Expression via IL-8-Mediated Activation of the ERK/JNK MAPK Pathway

PubMed Central

Chen, Wei-Chun; Tseng, Chin-Kai; Chen, Yen-Hsu; Lin, Chun-Kuang; Hsu, Shih-hsien; Wang, Shen-Nien; Lee, Jin-Ching

2015-01-01

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to intrahepatic inflammation and liver cell injury, which are considered a risk factor for virus-associated hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. Inflammatory cytokines are critical components of the immune system and influence cellular signaling, and genetic imbalances. In this study, we found that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were significantly induced by HCV infection and HCV NS5A expression, and induction of COX-2 correlated with HCV-induced IL-8 production. We also found that the ERK and JNK signaling pathways were involved in the regulation of IL-8-mediated COX-2 induction in response to HCV infection. Using a promoter-linked reporter assay, we identified that the C/EBP regulatory element within the COX-2 promoter was the dominant factor responsible for the induction of COX-2 by HCV. Silencing C/EBP attenuated HCV-induced COX-2 expression. Our results revealed that HCV-induced inflammation promotes viral replication, providing new insights into the involvement of IL-8-mediated COX-2 induction in HCV replication. PMID:26231035

Studies on the genetic control of murine humoral response to immunization with a peptidoglycan-containing fraction extracted from Brucella melitensis.

PubMed

Cannat, A; Feingold, N; Caffin, J C; Serre, A

1979-01-01

A peptidoglycan containing fraction (fraction "5") extracted from Brucella melitensis has been injected in low infra-vaccinating doses into inbred mice. The genetic control of the resulting anti-Brucella humoral response has been studied in the C57BL/6 "good responder" X DBA2 "low responder" model. The results observed in F1, F2 and reciprocal backcrosses show that the "good responder" character, although transmitted as a dominant trait, is under polygenic control and independent of H2 haplotype, Ig allotype, sexual chromosoms or the "d" coat color gene. On the other hand, the phenotypic expression of at least one of the genes involved is sex-limited and influenced by hormonal environmental factors. Moreover the expression in females of one of these sex-dependent genes is associated with the "b" coat color gene. These results are discussed in terms of their possible relevance in spontaneous or vaccinal resistance to experimental brucellosis, of the relative role of the peptidoglycan and lipoprotein moieties in fraction "5" and of the possible importance of sex-dependent and chromosome 4-linked genetic factors for B-cell functions.

THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF OVERPRESSURED, MAGNETIZED, RELATIVISTIC JETS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martí, J. M.; Perucho, M.; Gómez, J. L.

This work presents the first characterization of the internal structure of overpressured, steady superfast-magnetosonic relativistic jets in connection with their dominant type of energy. To this aim, relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of different jet models threaded by a helical magnetic field have been analyzed covering a wide region in the magnetosonic Mach number–specific internal energy plane. The merit of this plane is that models dominated by different types of energy (internal energy: hot jets; rest-mass energy: kinetically dominated jets; magnetic energy: Poynting-flux-dominated jets) occupy well-separated regions. The analyzed models also cover a wide range of magnetizations. Models dominated by the internalmore » energy (i.e., hot models, or Poynting-flux-dominated jets with magnetizations larger than but close to one) have a rich internal structure characterized by a series of recollimation shocks and present the largest variations in the flow Lorentz factor (and internal energy density). Conversely, in kinetically dominated models, there is not much internal or magnetic energy to be converted into kinetic, and the jets are featureless with small variations in the flow Lorentz factor. The presence of a significant toroidal magnetic field threading the jet produces large gradients in the transversal profile of the internal energy density. Poynting-flux-dominated models with high magnetization (≈10 or larger) are prone to be unstable against magnetic pinch modes, which sets limits on the expected magnetization in parsec-scale active galactic nucleus jets or constrains their magnetic field configuration.« less

Adaptive response of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis to accumulation of elements and translocation in Phragmites australis affected by cadmium stress.

PubMed

Huang, Xiaochen; Ho, Shih-Hsin; Zhu, Shishu; Ma, Fang; Wu, Jieting; Yang, Jixian; Wang, Li

2017-07-15

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been reported to play a central role in improving plant tolerance to cadmium (Cd)-contaminated sites. This is achieved by enhancing both the growth of host plants and the nutritive elements in plants. This study assessed potential regulatory effects of AM symbiosis with regard to nutrient uptake and transport, and revealed different response strategies to various Cd concentrations. Phragmites australis was inoculated with Rhizophagus irregularis in the greenhouse cultivation system, where it was treated with 0-20 mg L -1 of Cd for 21days to investigate growth parameters, as well as Cd and nutritive element distribution in response to AM fungus inoculation. Mycorrhizal plants showed a higher tolerance, particularly under high Cd-level stress in the substrate. Moreover, our results determined the roots as dominant Cd reservoirs in plants. The AM fungus improved Cd accumulation and saturated concentration in the roots, thus inhibiting Cd uptake to shoots. The observed distributions of nutritive elements and the interactions among these indicated the highest microelement contribution to roots, Ca contributed maximally in leaves, and K and P contributed similarly under Cd stress. In addition, AM fungus inoculation effectively impacted Mn and P uptake and accumulation while coping with Cd toxicity. This study also demonstrated translocation factor from metal concentration (TF) could be a good parameter to evaluate different transportation strategies induced by various Cd stresses in contrast to the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor from metal accumulation (TF'). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of sedimentary sulfide on community structure, population dynamics, and colonization depth of macrozoobenthos in organic-rich estuarine sediments.

PubMed

Kanaya, Gen; Uehara, Tadayasu; Kikuchi, Eisuke

2016-08-15

An annual field survey and in situ recolonization experiment revealed the effects of sedimentary sulfide (H2S) on macrozoobenthos in a eutrophic brackish lagoon. Species diversity was much lower throughout the year in muddy opportunist-dominant sulfidic areas. Mass mortality occurred during warmer months under elevated H2S levels. An enclosure experiment demonstrated that sedimentary H2S modified community composition, size structure, and colonization depth of macrozoobenthos. Species-specific responses to each sediment type (sand, sulfidic mud, and mud with H2S removed) resulted in changes in the established community structure. Dominant polychaetes (Hediste spp., Pseudopolydora spp., and Capitella teleta) occurred predominantly in a thin surface layer in the presence of H2S. On the other hand, organic-rich mud facilitated settlement of polychaete larvae if it does not contain H2S. These results demonstrate that sediment characteristics, including H2S level and organic content, were key structuring factors for the macrozoobenthic assemblage in organically polluted estuarine sediments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of the fissile bead's and thermocouple wires' sizes on the response time of a fission couple.

PubMed

Liang, Wenfeng; Lu, Yi; Li, Meng; Fan, Xiaoqiang; Lu, Wei

2014-05-01

The fission couple is proposed as a fast response miniature neutron detector in the measurement of time dependent energy depositions within the fissile material based on theoretical analysis, but the response time of a fission couple is relatively slow in practice. The time lag originated from heat transfer process was demonstrated to be the dominating factor by theoretical simulations and experimental verification in this paper. The response of a fission couple as a function of the bead size and the thermocouple wires' sizes are simulated using ANSYS workbench. The decrease of wires' diameter results in the decrease of response time, and the increase of bead's diameter leads to a slight increase of response time. During a pulse heating transient in the fuel of Chinese Fast Burst Reactor II with a FWHM of 181 μs, the time lag originated from heat transfer process is about tens of microseconds for the peaks of the change rate of temperature, and is of the order of milliseconds to achieve 85% of the temperature rise for a typical fission couple with a Φ 1 mm fissile bead and two Φ 0.05 mm thermocouple wires. The results obtained provide foundation for the optimization of fission couples.

An investigation of the open-loop amplification of a Reynolds number dependent process by wave distortion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ventrice, M. B.; Purdy, K. R.

1974-01-01

The response of a constant-temperature hot-wire anemometer to sinusoidal and distorted sinusoidal acoustic oscillations is examined. The output of the anemometer is dependent upon the Reynolds number of the flow over the wire. The response is a measure of the interaction between the anemometer output and the acoustic pressure in the neighborhood of the wire. It is an open-loop prediction of the characteristics of actual closed-loop operation of a system. If the open-loop response is large enough, unstable closed-loop operation is predicted. The study was motivated by a need to investigate the stability limits of liquid-propellant rockets when perturbed by pressure oscillations. The sinusoidal and distorted sinusoidal acoustic oscillations used for this study are the same as those characteristic of unstable rocket combustion. Qualitatively, the results are similar--the response of the system to pure sinusoidal acoustic vibration of the fluid surrounding the wire is small, even when the magnitude of the acoustic pressure is quite large; but the response can be increased by as much as an order of magnitude with respect to the sinusoidal case by the addition of distortion. The amplitude and phase of the distortion component, relative to the fundamental component, are the dominant factors in the increase in the response.

Effect of the fissile bead's and thermocouple wires’ sizes on the response time of a fission couple

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liang, Wenfeng, E-mail: liang-wen-feng@163.com; Lu, Yi; Li, Meng

The fission couple is proposed as a fast response miniature neutron detector in the measurement of time dependent energy depositions within the fissile material based on theoretical analysis, but the response time of a fission couple is relatively slow in practice. The time lag originated from heat transfer process was demonstrated to be the dominating factor by theoretical simulations and experimental verification in this paper. The response of a fission couple as a function of the bead size and the thermocouple wires’ sizes are simulated using ANSYS workbench. The decrease of wires’ diameter results in the decrease of response time,more » and the increase of bead's diameter leads to a slight increase of response time. During a pulse heating transient in the fuel of Chinese Fast Burst Reactor II with a FWHM of 181μs, the time lag originated from heat transfer process is about tens of microseconds for the peaks of the change rate of temperature, and is of the order of milliseconds to achieve 85% of the temperature rise for a typical fission couple with a Φ 1 mm fissile bead and two Φ 0.05 mm thermocouple wires. The results obtained provide foundation for the optimization of fission couples.« less

Healthy-side dominance of middle- and long-latency neuromagnetic fields in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

PubMed

Li, L P H; Shiao, A S; Chen, L F; Niddam, D M; Chang, S Y; Lien, C F; Lee, S K; Hsieh, J C

2006-08-01

Any lesion along the neural axis may induce a subsequent functional reorganization at the level above. The present study used magnetoencephalography to investigate auditory-evoked magnetic fields [a component of the middle-latency auditory evoked fields peaking at approximately 50 ms (P50m) and a component of the long-latency auditory evoked fields peaking at approximately 100 ms (N100m)] on stimulation of both healthy and affected ears in patients with acute unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) of moderate degree in order to elucidate the functional plasticity of the auditory system. Sixteen right-handed, previously untreated adult patients with acute unilateral left (n = 8) or right (n = 8) ISSNHL of moderate degree were studied. Sixteen right-handed healthy volunteers with normal hearing served as control. Auditory neuromagnetic responses, measured by a whole-head 306-channel neuromagnetometer, were detected by monaural tone stimulation applied to affected and healthy ears, respectively, in different sessions. Intragroup and intergroup interhemispheric differences of peak dipole strengths and latencies of P50m and N100m, respectively, to monaural tones were evaluated. Healthy-side amplitude dominance of both P50m and N100m was found in ISSNHL, i.e. contralateral dominance was preserved on affected-ear stimulation but ipsilateral dominance was seen on healthy-ear stimulation. The phenomena could be attributed to the combined contralateral attenuation and ipsilateral enhancement of P50m and N100m activity in response to healthy-ear stimulation. Our findings confirmed that functional modulation can occur within the first few tens of milliseconds of evoked response at the auditory cortex in ISSNHL. The mechanisms of healthy-side dominance might be ascribed to a functional retune of auditory pathways, i.e. conjoined contralateral inhibition and ipsilateral excitation of the auditory pathway in response to healthy-ear stimulation. The effect could be registered in cortical responses.

Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in tomato to create a gibberellin-responsive dominant dwarf DELLA allele.

PubMed

Tomlinson, Laurence; Yang, Ying; Emenecker, Ryan; Smoker, Matthew; Taylor, Jodie; Perkins, Sara; Smith, Justine; MacLean, Dan; Olszewski, Neil E; Jones, Jonathan D G

2018-05-24

The tomato PROCERA gene encodes a DELLA protein, and loss-of-function mutations derepress growth. We used CRISPR/Cas9 and a single guide RNAs (sgRNA) to target mutations to the PROCERA DELLA domain, and recovered several loss-of-function mutations and a dominant dwarf mutation that carries a deletion of one amino acid in the DELLA domain. This is the first report of a dominant dwarf PROCERA allele. This allele retains partial responsiveness to exogenously applied gibberellin (GA). Heterozygotes show an intermediate phenotype at the seedling stage, but adult heterozygotes are as dwarfed as homozygotes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Escapes from herbivory in relation to the structure of mangrove island macroalgal communities.

PubMed

Taylor, Phillip R; Littler, Mark M; Littler, Diane S

1986-07-01

Some shallow habitats that surround mangrove islands exhibit abruptly discontinuous macrophyte boundaries; in other regions, plant distributional patterns are less defined. Where distinct boundaries do occur, fleshy algae predominate on the roots of the red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, which do not contact the bottom sediments ("hanging roots"), while calcifying algae dominate on the substratum-penetrating roots and banks (=embedded-root habitat) surrounding the mangrove thickets. Considerable natural-history and floristic information reveals that the fleshy hanging-root species are not specialists, for that type of habitat. Experimental transplants showed that on banks and embedded roots where there typically are abundant macroherbivores (particularly sea urchins), most fleshy algae are eliminated.The dominants of the hanging-root habitat (e.g, Acanthophora spicifera, Spyridia filamentosa, Caulerpa racemosa var. Occidentalis) are 6-20 times more susceptible to herbivores than the dominants of the embedded-root habitat (e.g., Halimeda opuntia f. triloba, H. monile). Consequently, we suggest the former are relegated to the spatial refugia from herbivores (=non-coexistence escapes) provided by the hanging roots. Factors associated with these palatability differences include higher average calorific values (6.5 times) of the fleshy hanging-root dominants, greater proportions of organic content (2.6 times) and the general absence of calcification. The dominants of the embedded-root habitat show reduced edibility as a probable consequence of low calorific values, heavy calcification and potential herbivore-detering secondary metabolites. Correlative evidence and preliminary experimental results tentatively indicate that, in the absence of macroherbivores, the hanging-root dominants, which exhibit production rates 4.7 times greater than the dominants of the embedded-root habitat, are better competitors for space.We suggest that variations in herbivory are responsible, in part, for maintaining greater algal diversity in mangrove systems. At a study site with abundant sea urchins, five algal species were found only in the embedded-root habitat three species were confined to the hanging roots, while three others occurred in both. At an urchin-free site, no macrophytes were found only on embedded-root substrata, while one (in trace amounts) was found only on hanging-root habitat and eight occurred in both. We predict that in the absence of herbivores, the species assemblage characteristic of the hanging-roots would exclude many of the dominants from the embedded-root habitat.

Dominant-Negative TGF-β Receptor Enhances PSMA-Targeted Human CAR T Cell Proliferation And Augments Prostate Cancer Eradication.

PubMed

Kloss, Christopher C; Lee, Jihyun; Zhang, Aaron; Chen, Fang; Melenhorst, Jan Joseph; Lacey, Simon F; Maus, Marcela V; Fraietta, Joseph A; Zhao, Yangbing; June, Carl H

2018-05-08

Cancer has an impressive ability to evolve multiple processes to evade therapies. While immunotherapies and vaccines have shown great promise, particularly in certain solid tumors such as prostate cancer, they have been met with resistance from tumors that use a multitude of mechanisms of immunosuppression to limit effectiveness. Prostate cancer, in particular, secretes transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) as a means to inhibit immunity while allowing for cancer progression. Blocking TGF-β signaling in T cells increases their ability to infiltrate, proliferate, and mediate antitumor responses in prostate cancer models. We tested whether the potency of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells directed to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) could be enhanced by the co-expression of a dominant-negative TGF-βRII (dnTGF-βRII). Upon expression of the dominant-negative TGF-βRII in CAR T cells, we observed increased proliferation of these lymphocytes, enhanced cytokine secretion, resistance to exhaustion, long-term in vivo persistence, and the induction of tumor eradication in aggressive human prostate cancer mouse models. Based on our observations, we initiated a phase I clinical trial to assess these CAR T cells as a novel approach for patients with relapsed and refractory metastatic prostate cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03089203). Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Toxic Cyanobacterial Bloom Triggers in Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain, as Determined by Next-Generation Sequencing and Quantitative PCR

PubMed Central

Fortin, Nathalie; Munoz-Ramos, Valentina; Bird, David; Lévesque, Benoît; Whyte, Lyle G.; Greer, Charles W.

2015-01-01

Missisquoi Bay (MB) is a temperate eutrophic freshwater lake that frequently experiences toxic Microcystis-dominated cyanobacterial blooms. Non-point sources are responsible for the high concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen in the bay. This study combined data from environmental parameters, E. coli counts, high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons, quantitative PCR (16S rRNA and mcyD genes) and toxin analyses to identify the main bloom-promoting factors. In 2009, nutrient concentrations correlated with E. coli counts, abundance of total cyanobacterial cells, Microcystis 16S rRNA and mcyD genes and intracellular microcystin. Total and dissolved phosphorus also correlated significantly with rainfall. The major cyanobacterial taxa were members of the orders Chroococcales and Nostocales. The genus Microcystis was the main mcyD-carrier and main microcystin producer. Our results suggested that increasing nutrient concentrations and total nitrogen:total phosphorus (TN:TP) ratios approaching 11:1, coupled with an increase in temperature, promoted Microcystis-dominated toxic blooms. Although the importance of nutrient ratios and absolute concentrations on cyanobacterial and Microcystis dynamics have been documented in other laboratories, an optimum TN:TP ratio for Microcystis dominance has not been previously observed in situ. This observation provides further support that nutrient ratios are an important determinant of species composition in natural phytoplankton assemblages. PMID:25984732

Maritime C2 Strategy: An Innovative Approach to System Transformation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-23

his vision for Information Dominance , reference (a), defining it as: the ability to seize and control the information domain high ground when, where...and however required for decisive competitive advantage across the range of Navy missions. The responsibility for Information Dominance was assigned...to the Director for Information Dominance , a new organization that is the convergence of the former N2 (Intelligence) and N6 (Command, Control and

Dominant and Pleiotropic Effects of a GAI Gene in Wheat Results from a Lack of Interaction between DELLA and GID11[C][W][OA

PubMed Central

Wu, Jing; Kong, Xiuying; Wan, Jianmin; Liu, Xueying; Zhang, Xin; Guo, Xiuping; Zhou, Ronghua; Zhao, Guangyao; Jing, Ruilian; Fu, Xiangdong; Jia, Jizeng

2011-01-01

Dominance, semidominance, and recessiveness are important modes of Mendelian inheritance. The phytohormone gibberellin (GA) regulates many plant growth and developmental processes. The previously cloned semidominant GA-insensitive (GAI) genes Reduced height1 (Rht1) and Rht2 in wheat (Triticum aestivum) were the basis of the Green Revolution. However, no completely dominant GAI gene has been cloned. Here, we report the molecular characterization of Rht-B1c, a dominant GAI allele in wheat that confers more extreme characteristics than its incompletely dominant alleles. Rht-B1c is caused by a terminal repeat retrotransposons in miniature insertion in the DELLA domain. Yeast two-hybrid assays showed that Rht-B1c protein fails to interact with GA-INSENSITIVE DWARF1 (GID1), thereby blocking GA responses and resulting in extreme dwarfism and pleiotropic effects. By contrast, Rht-B1b protein only reduces interaction with GID1. Furthermore, we analyzed its functions using near-isogenic lines and examined its molecular mechanisms in transgenic rice. These results indicated that the affinity between GID1 and DELLA proteins is key to regulation of the stability of DELLA proteins, and differential interactions determine dominant and semidominant gene responses to GA. PMID:22010107

Median and ulnar muscle and sensory evoked potentials.

PubMed

Felsenthal, G

1978-08-01

The medical literature was reviewed to find suggested clinical applications of the study of the amplitude of evoked muscle action potentials (MAP) and sensory action potentials (SAP). In addition, the literature was reviewed to ascertain the normal amplitude and duration of the evoked MAP and SAP as well as the factors affecting the amplitude: age, sex, temperature, ischemia. The present study determined the normal amplitude and duration of the median and ulnar MAP and SAP in fifty normal subjects. The amplitude of evoked muscle or sensory action potentials depends on multiple factors. Increased skin resistance, capacitance, and impedance at the surface of the recording electrode diminishes the amplitude. Similarly, increased distance from the source of the action potential diminishes its amplitude. Increased interelectrode distance increases the amplitude of the bipolarly recorded sensory action potential until a certain interelectrode distance is exceeded and the diphasic response becomes tri- or tetraphasic. Artifact or poor technique may reduce the potential difference between the recording electrodes or obscure the late positive phase of the action potential and thus diminish the peak to peak amplitude measurement. Intraindividual comparison indicated a marked difference of amplitude in opposite hands. The range of the MAP of the abductor pollicis brevis in one hand was 40.0--100% of the response in the opposite hand. For the abductor digiti minimi, the MAP was 58.5--100% of the response of the opposite hand. The median and ulnar SAP was between 50--100% of the opposite SAP. Consequent to these findings the effect of hand dominance on the amplitude of median and ulnar evoked muscle and sensory action potentials was studied in 41 right handed volunteers. The amplitudes of the median muscle action potential (p less than 0.02) and the median and ulnar sensory action potentials (p less than 0.001) were significantly less in the dominant hand. There was no significant difference between the ulnar muscle action potentials or for the median and ulnar distal motor and sensory latencies in the right and left hands of this group of volunteers.

Identification of Beet necrotic yellow vein virus P25 pathogenicity factor-interacting sugar beet proteins that represent putative virus targets or components of plant resistance.

PubMed

Thiel, Heike; Varrelmann, Mark

2009-08-01

Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) induces the most important disease threatening sugar beet. The growth of partially resistant hybrids carrying monogenic dominant resistance genes stabilize yield but are unable to entirely prevent virus infection and replication. P25 is responsible for symptom development and previous studies have shown that recently occurring resistance-breaking isolates possess increased P25 variability. To better understand the viral pathogenicity factor's interplay with plant proteins and to possibly unravel the molecular basis of sugar beet antivirus resistance, P25 was applied in a yeast two-hybrid screen of a resistant sugar beet cDNA library. This screen identified candidate proteins recognized as orthologues from other plant species which are known to be expressed following pathogen infection and involved in plant defense response. Most of the candidates potentially related to host-pathogen interactions were involved in the ubiquitylation process and plants response to stress, and were part of cell and metabolism components. The interaction of several candidate genes with P25 was confirmed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf cells by transient agrobacterium-mediated expression applying bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay. The putative functions of several of the candidates identified support previous findings and present first targets for understanding the BNYVV pathogenicity and antivirus resistance mechanism.

Immunization of Cattle by Infection with Cowdria ruminantium Elicits T Lymphocytes That Recognize Autologous, Infected Endothelial Cells and Monocytes†

PubMed Central

Mwangi, Duncan M.; Mahan, Suman M.; Nyanjui, John K.; Taracha, Evans L. N.; McKeever, Declan J.

1998-01-01

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from immune cattle proliferate in the presence of autologous Cowdria ruminantium-infected endothelial cells and monocytes. Endothelial cells required treatment with T-cell growth factors to induce class II major histocompatibility complex expression prior to infection and use as stimulators. Proliferative responses to both infected autologous endothelial cells and monocytes were characterized by expansion of a mixture of CD4+, CD8+, and γδ T cells. However, γδ T cells dominated following several restimulations. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis of cytokine expression by C. ruminantium-specific T-cell lines and immune PBMC revealed weak interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) transcripts at 3 to 24 h after stimulation. Strong expression of IFN-γ, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), TNF-β, and IL-2 receptor α-chain mRNA was detected in T-cell lines 48 h after antigen stimulation. Supernatants from these T-cell cultures contained IFN-γ protein. Our findings suggest that in immune cattle a C. ruminantium-specific T-cell response is induced and that infected endothelial cells and monocytes may present C. ruminantium antigens to specific T lymphocytes in vivo during infection and thereby play a role in induction of protective immune responses to the pathogen. PMID:9573061

Divergent response of the neritic carbonate factory to environmental changes during the Early Bajocian Event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodin, Stephane; Hönig, Martin; Krencker, Francois-Nicolas; Danisch, Jan; Kabiri, Lahcen

2017-04-01

The Early Bajocian witnessed a global environmental perturbation, characterized by faunal and floral turnovers and a positive carbon isotope excursion. In Italy, this environmental perturbation coincided with an eutrophication event and a carbonate crisis, but this has so far not been adequately reported from other settings, leaving doubt about the extent and nature of these phenomena. Here, we are reporting on an extensive neritic carbonate factory demise that occurs in the upper Lower Bajocian of the Central High Atlas of Morocco, more precisely in the upper Propinquans - lower Humphriesianum Zones. This demise coincided with the acme of the global carbon isotope perturbation, recorded by a 3‰ positive carbon isotope excursion in the bulk organic matter of Morocco. Recovery of the neritic carbonate system occurs during the Early to Late Bajocian transition. The duration of the neritic carbonate factory demise was therefore in the order of 1 Myr. Furthermore, we observe that the Lower Bajocian of Morocco is relatively enriched in arenitic siliciclastic deposits, suggesting increased weathering and nutrient levels along the northwestern margin of Africa during the Early Bajocian. However, comparison with neighboring European basins highlights the non-uniqueness and different timing of the response of shallow-water carbonates to the Early Bajocian environmental perturbations, as some regions present no sign of carbonate factory crisis. Hence, we postulate that local factors were important in mediating the response of neritic carbonate factories to this global environmental perturbation. We notably highlight the role of large Early Bajocian sea-level fluctuation as a trigger for carbonate factory change and demise in Morocco. Indeed, in the Central High Atlas Basin, transgressive intervals are seeing the development of a mud-dominated carbonate factory whereas regressive intervals are associated with grain-dominated carbonate factory. We speculate that the combination of high subsidence rates in the Central High Atlas Basin with large eustatic sea-level rise and high nutrient levels during the Early Bajocian stressed the mud-dominated benthic carbonate factory beyond a critical threshold, explaining the regional demise event.

Keratinocyte response to immobilized growth factors for enhanced dermal wound healing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefonek-Puccinelli, Tracy Jane

Chronic wounds cost billions of dollars per year to treat and wound care is limited to ineffective and/or expensive options. Chronic wounds are characterized by a failure to reepithelialize, as well as deficiencies in growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), normally present during wound healing. Our system described herein begins to tackle the problems associated with designing bioactive materials for chronic wound healing applications. We show that we can induce accelerated keratinocyte migration with photo-immobilized EGF and further control migration speed through the culture of cells on different types of gradient patterns of EGF. We also successfully immobilized IGF-1 while retaining its bioactivity, and further showed it induces directed keratinocyte migration, although not as potently as immobilized EGF. Potential synergy between co-immobilized IGF-1 and EGF was also investigated, although EGF continued to dominate the cellular response, and no significant increase in cell migration was achieved via the addition of IGF-1 to the system. To further understand cellular response to our immobilized growth factors, we investigated keratinocyte signaling and function in response to changes in EGF presentation. It was found that immobilized and soluble EGF can play different, yet complementary, roles in regulating keratinocyte function. Specifically, keratinocytes responded to immobilized EGF with high EGF receptor (EGFR) activation, accompanied by low proliferation and high migratory activity. In contrast, keratinocytes treated with soluble EGF displayed a highly proliferative, rather than migratory, phenotype. We then transitioned our photo-immobilization techniques to materials that may be more suitable as a wound dressing, such as silk fibroin films. Silk fibroin is a natural fiber with many desirable qualities for a biomaterial including high strength and elasticity, biocompatibility, a beta-keratin structure which closely mimics human keratin, and ease of fabrication and modification. These silk films can also provide topographical cues via simple cast molding of any feature on the micron scale. This system allowed simultaneous presentation of topographic cues, inhibitory and/or synergistic, with our chemotactic cues. Our preliminary data suggest keratinocytes remain viable on silk fibroin films, and that these films can be patterned with immobilized EGF to induce keratinocyte migration.

Inhibition of Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Activation Decreases Survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Human Macrophages

PubMed Central

Chmura, Kathryn; Ovrutsky, Alida R.; Su, Wen-Lin; Griffin, Laura; Pyeon, Dohun; McGibney, Mischa T.; Strand, Matthew J.; Numata, Mari; Murakami, Seiji; Gaido, Loretta; Honda, Jennifer R.; Kinney, William H.; Oberley-Deegan, Rebecca E.; Voelker, Dennis R.; Ordway, Diane J.; Chan, Edward D.

2013-01-01

Nuclear factor-kappa B (NFκB) is a ubiquitous transcription factor that mediates pro-inflammatory responses required for host control of many microbial pathogens; on the other hand, NFκB has been implicated in the pathogenesis of other inflammatory and infectious diseases. Mice with genetic disruption of the p50 subunit of NFκB are more likely to succumb to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). However, the role of NFκB in host defense in humans is not fully understood. We sought to examine the role of NFκB activation in the immune response of human macrophages to MTB. Targeted pharmacologic inhibition of NFκB activation using BAY 11-7082 (BAY, an inhibitor of IκBα kinase) or an adenovirus construct with a dominant-negative IκBα significantly decreased the number of viable intracellular mycobacteria recovered from THP-1 macrophages four and eight days after infection. The results with BAY were confirmed in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages and alveolar macrophages. NFκB inhibition was associated with increased macrophage apoptosis and autophagy, which are well-established killing mechanisms of intracellular MTB. Inhibition of the executioner protease caspase-3 or of the autophagic pathway significantly abrogated the effects of BAY. We conclude that NFκB inhibition decreases viability of intracellular MTB in human macrophages via induction of apoptosis and autophagy. PMID:23634218

Empirical Model Development for Predicting Shock Response on Composite Materials Subjected to Pyroshock Loading. Volume 2, Part 1; Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gentz, Steven J.; Ordway, David O.; Parsons, David S.; Garrison, Craig M.; Rodgers, C. Steven; Collins, Brian W.

2015-01-01

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) received a request to develop an analysis model based on both frequency response and wave propagation analyses for predicting shock response spectrum (SRS) on composite materials subjected to pyroshock loading. The model would account for near-field environment (approximately 9 inches from the source) dominated by direct wave propagation, mid-field environment (approximately 2 feet from the source) characterized by wave propagation and structural resonances, and far-field environment dominated by lower frequency bending waves in the structure. This document contains appendices to the Volume I report.

On the importance of shrub encroachment by sprouters, climate, species richness and anthropic factors for ecosystem multifunctionality in semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystems

PubMed Central

Quero, José L.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Ochoa, Victoria; García-Gómez, Miguel; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel

2016-01-01

One of the most important changes taking place in drylands worldwide is the increase of the cover and dominance of shrubs in areas formerly devoid of them (shrub encroachment). A large body of research has evaluated the causes and consequences of shrub encroachment for both ecosystem structure and functioning. However, there are virtually no studies evaluating how shrub encroachment affects the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions and services simultaneously (multifunctionality). We aimed to do so by gathering data from ten ecosystem functions linked to the maintenance of primary production and nutrient cycling and storage (organic C, activity of β-glucosidase, pentoses, hexoses, total N, total available N, amino acids, proteins, available inorganic P and phosphatase activity), and summarizing them in a multifunctionality index (M). We assessed how climate, species richness, anthropic factors (distance to the nearest town, sandy and asphalted road, and human population in the nearest town at several historical periods) and encroachment by sprouting shrubs impacted both the functions in isolation and M along a regional (ca. 350 km) gradient in Mediterranean grasslands and shrublands dominated by a non-sprouting shrub. Values of M were higher in those grasslands and shrublands containing sprouting shrubs (43% and 62%, respectively). A similar response was found when analyzing the different functions in isolation, as encroachment by sprouting shrubs increased functions by 2%–80% compared to unencroached areas. Encroachment was the main driver of changes in M along the regional gradient evaluated, followed by anthropic factors and species richness. Climate had little effects on M in comparison to the other factors studied. Similar responses were observed when evaluating the functions in isolation. Overall, our results showed that M was higher at sites with higher sprouting shrub cover, longer distance to roads and higher perennial plant species richness. Our study is the first documenting that ecosystem multifunctionality in shrublands is enhanced by encroaching shrubs differing in size and leaf attributes. Our findings reinforce the idea that encroachment effects on ecosystem functioning cannot be generalized, and that are largely dependent on the traits of the encroaching shrub relative to those of the species being replaced. PMID:27330403

Classifying transcription factor targets and discovering relevant biological features

PubMed Central

Holloway, Dustin T; Kon, Mark; DeLisi, Charles

2008-01-01

Background An important goal in post-genomic research is discovering the network of interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and the genes they regulate. We have previously reported the development of a supervised-learning approach to TF target identification, and used it to predict targets of 104 transcription factors in yeast. We now include a new sequence conservation measure, expand our predictions to include 59 new TFs, introduce a web-server, and implement an improved ranking method to reveal the biological features contributing to regulation. The classifiers combine 8 genomic datasets covering a broad range of measurements including sequence conservation, sequence overrepresentation, gene expression, and DNA structural properties. Principal Findings (1) Application of the method yields an amplification of information about yeast regulators. The ratio of total targets to previously known targets is greater than 2 for 11 TFs, with several having larger gains: Ash1(4), Ino2(2.6), Yaf1(2.4), and Yap6(2.4). (2) Many predicted targets for TFs match well with the known biology of their regulators. As a case study we discuss the regulator Swi6, presenting evidence that it may be important in the DNA damage response, and that the previously uncharacterized gene YMR279C plays a role in DNA damage response and perhaps in cell-cycle progression. (3) A procedure based on recursive-feature-elimination is able to uncover from the large initial data sets those features that best distinguish targets for any TF, providing clues relevant to its biology. An analysis of Swi6 suggests a possible role in lipid metabolism, and more specifically in metabolism of ceramide, a bioactive lipid currently being investigated for anti-cancer properties. (4) An analysis of global network properties highlights the transcriptional network hubs; the factors which control the most genes and the genes which are bound by the largest set of regulators. Cell-cycle and growth related regulators dominate the former; genes involved in carbon metabolism and energy generation dominate the latter. Conclusion Postprocessing of regulatory-classifier results can provide high quality predictions, and feature ranking strategies can deliver insight into the regulatory functions of TFs. Predictions are available at an online web-server, including the full transcriptional network, which can be analyzed using VisAnt network analysis suite. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Igor Jouline, Todd Mockler(nominated by Valerian Dolja), and Sandor Pongor. PMID:18513408

Maintenance of dominance status is necessary for resistance to social defeat stress in Syrian hamsters

PubMed Central

Morrison, Kathleen E.; Bader, Lauren R.; Clinard, Catherine T.; Gerhard, Danielle M.; Gross, Sonya E.; Cooper, Matthew A.

2014-01-01

Resilience is an active process that involves a discrete set of neural substrates and cellular mechanisms and enables individuals to avoid some of the negative consequences of extreme stress. We have previously shown that dominant individuals show less stress-induced changes in behavior compared to subordinates using a conditioned defeat model in male Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). To rule out pre-existing differences between dominants and subordinates, we examined whether 14 days of dominance experience is required to reduce the conditioned defeat response and whether the development of conditioned defeat resistance correlates with defeat-induced neural activation in select brain regions. We paired hamsters in daily 5-min aggressive encounters for 1, 7, or 14 days and then exposed animals to 3, 5-min social defeat episodes. The next day animals received conditioned defeat testing which involved a 5-min social interaction test with a non-aggressive intruder. In separate animals brains were collected after social defeat for c-Fos immunohistochemistry. We found that 14-day dominants showed a decreased conditioned defeat response compared to 14-day subordinates and controls, while 1-day and 7-day dominants did not differ from their subordinate counterparts. Also, the duration of dominance relationship was associated with distinct patterns of defeat-induced neural activation such that only 14-day dominants showed elevated c-Fos immunoreactivity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex, medial amygdala, and lateral portions of the ventral medial hypothalamus. Our data suggest that resistance to social stress develops during the maintenance of dominance relationships and is associated with experience-dependent neural plasticity in select brain regions. PMID:24875769

Satellite retrieval of actual evapotranspiration in the Tibetan Plateau: Components partitioning, multidecadal trends and dominated factors identifying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Weiguang; Li, Jinxing; Yu, Zhongbo; Ding, Yimin; Xing, Wanqiu; Lu, Wenjun

2018-04-01

As the only connecting term between water balance and energy budget in the earth-atmospheric system, evapotranspiration (ET) is considered the most excellent indicator for the activity for the water and energy cycle. Under the background of global change, regional ET estimates, components partitioning as well as their spatial and temporal patterns recognition are of great importance in understanding the hydrological processes and improving water management practices. This is particularly true for the Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of most sensitive and vulnerable region in response to the environment change in the earth. In this study, with flux site observation data and monthly ET data from the monthly water balance method incorporating the terrestrial water storage changes from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite (GRACE) production as the multiple validations, the long-term daily ET in the TP was retrieved by a modified Penman-Monteith-Leuning (PML) model with considering evapotranspiration over snow covered area during 1982-2012. The spatial and temporal changes of partitioned three components of ET, i.e., soil evaporation (Es), transpiration through the stomata of plant (Ec) and canopy interception (Ei), were investigated in the TP. Meanwhile, how the ET components contribute to ET changes and respond to the change in environmental factors in the TP was revealed and discussed. The results indicate that Es dominates ET in most areas of the TP with the mean annual ratio of 65.7%, except southeastern regions where the vegetation coverage is high. Although regional average ET and three main components all present obvious increase trends during the past decades, high spatial heterogeneity for their trends are identified in the TP. Moreover, a mixed changing pattern can be apparently found for Es in southeastern area, Ec and Ei in northwestern and southeastern area. Spatially, the ET variation are mainly attributed to change in Es, followed by Ec and Ei. In addition, compared with evaporation-related meteorological variables, precipitation and leaf area index (LAI) provide the more dominated contributions to the changes of ET and Ei in the TP, while LAI is overwhelming contribution factor for Ec changes. As for Es changes, although precipitation play the important role, the effects of other factors are also non-negligible.

Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients.

PubMed

Fay, Philip A; Newingham, Beth A; Polley, H Wayne; Morgan, Jack A; LeCain, Daniel R; Nowak, Robert S; Smith, Stanley D

2015-03-30

The Earth's atmosphere will continue to be enriched with carbon dioxide (CO2) over the coming century. Carbon dioxide enrichment often reduces leaf transpiration, which in water-limited ecosystems may increase soil water content, change species abundances and increase the productivity of plant communities. The effect of increased soil water on community productivity and community change may be greater in ecosystems with lower precipitation, or on coarser-textured soils, but responses are likely absent in deserts. We tested correlations among yearly increases in soil water content, community change and community plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment in experiments in a mesic grassland with fine- to coarse-textured soils, a semi-arid grassland and a xeric shrubland. We found no correlation between CO2-caused changes in soil water content and changes in biomass of dominant plant taxa or total community aboveground biomass in either grassland type or on any soil in the mesic grassland (P > 0.60). Instead, increases in dominant taxa biomass explained up to 85 % of the increases in total community biomass under CO2 enrichment. The effect of community change on community productivity was stronger in the semi-arid grassland than in the mesic grassland, where community biomass change on one soil was not correlated with the change in either the soil water content or the dominant taxa. No sustained increases in soil water content or community productivity and no change in dominant plant taxa occurred in the xeric shrubland. Thus, community change was a crucial driver of community productivity responses to CO2 enrichment in the grasslands, but effects of soil water change on productivity were not evident in yearly responses to CO2 enrichment. Future research is necessary to isolate and clarify the mechanisms controlling the temporal and spatial variations in the linkages among soil water, community change and plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company 2015. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Idiotypic properties of the murine anti-arsonate antibody response: B- and T-cell influences.

PubMed

Conger, J D; Lewis, G K; Goodman, J W

1985-10-01

In a previous report characterizing the arsonate (ABA)-specific plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses of A/J mice induced by ABA-KLH, two interesting characteristics of the idiotypic (Id) profile were noted: (1) an apparent Id selectivity in the isotype switch since the earliest appearing IgG PFC in the primary response were significantly more "cross-reactive Id" (CRI)-dominant than the IgM PFC population, and, (2) a temporal waning of CRI dominance with time among IgG PFC, from 75-100% CRI+ PFC to about 25-45% CRI+ PFC in secondary responses. Experiments were performed to determine whether these effects are largely attributable to T or to B cells. Mice were immunized with a T-independent (TI) form of ABA (ABA-Brucella abortus) and apparent Id selectivity was observed; the earliest IgG PFC averaged 75% CRI+ while IgM PFC were only 39% CRI+. Due to the TI nature of the Ag, this provides suggestive, but not conclusive, evidence that the Id asymmetry in the isotype switch may be attributable to the direct interaction of Ag with B cells. Other studies addressed the temporal shift in CRI dominance. First, it was found that preexposure of mice to either KLH or to ABA (on an irrelevant carrier) resulted in diminished CRI dominance in subsequent "primary" responses to ABA-KLH. Secondly, adoptive transfer experiments with B and T cells from virgin mice (Bv, Tv) or ABA-KLH-primed mice (Bp, Tp) showed that recipients of Bv + Tp or Bp + Tv generated anti-ABA PFC responses with intermediate CRI levels. The Tv cells had some preferential tendency to activate CRI+ clones in the Bp population. The results demonstrate that CRI levels are jointly determined by the immune status of both B and T cells. A simple model is offered which accounts for early Id dominance and its gradual decline and has as its central postulate the assumption that CRI+ B cells in the virgin ABA-specific repertoire have an affinity advantage over CRI- clones.

Cytokinin is required for escape but not release from auxin mediated apical dominance

PubMed Central

Müller, Dörte; Waldie, Tanya; Miyawaki, Kaori; To, Jennifer PC; Melnyk, Charles W; Kieber, Joseph J; Kakimoto, Tatsuo; Leyser, Ottoline

2015-01-01

Auxin produced by an active primary shoot apex is transported down the main stem and inhibits the growth of the axillary buds below it, contributing to apical dominance. Here we use Arabidopsis thaliana cytokinin (CK) biosynthetic and signalling mutants to probe the role of CK in this process. It is well established that bud outgrowth is promoted by CK, and that CK synthesis is inhibited by auxin, leading to the hypothesis that release from apical dominance relies on an increased supply of CK to buds. Our data confirm that decapitation induces the expression of at least one ISOPENTENYLTRANSFERASE (IPT) CK biosynthetic gene in the stem. We further show that transcript abundance of a clade of the CK-responsive type-A Arabidopsis response regulator (ARR) genes increases in buds following CK supply, and that, contrary to their typical action as inhibitors of CK signalling, these genes are required for CK-mediated bud activation. However, analysis of the relevant arr and ipt multiple mutants demonstrates that defects in bud CK response do not affect auxin-mediated bud inhibition, and increased IPT transcript levels are not needed for bud release following decapitation. Instead, our data suggest that CK acts to overcome auxin-mediated bud inhibition, allowing buds to escape apical dominance under favourable conditions, such as high nitrate availability. Significance Statement It has been proposed that the release of buds from auxin-mediated apical dominance following decapitation requires increased cytokinin biosynthesis and consequent increases in cytokinin supply to buds. Here we show that in Arabidopsis, increases in cytokinin appear to be unnecessary for the release of buds from apical dominance, but rather allow buds to escape the inhibitory effect of apical auxin, thereby promoting bud activation in favourable growth conditions. PMID:25904120

Effect of leg dominance, gender and age on sensory responses to structural differentiation of straight leg raise test in asymptomatic subjects: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Torres Lacomba, María; de la Villa Polo, Pedro

2017-01-01

Study design Cross-sectional study. Objectives To assess the effect of structural differentiation on sensory responses of asymptomatic individuals to standard neurodynamic tests of straight leg raise (SLR) and to evaluate the relevance of leg dominance, gender, and age. Background SLR test is a well-known neurodynamic test among physical therapists; no studies to date have investigated the influence of gender, age, and leg dominance to the sensory responses of this neurodynamic test and its structured differentiating maneuver. Methods Thirty (16 women) asymptomatic individuals enrolled in this study. Dominancy test was performed for each participant. Pain intensity using visual analogue scale (VAS), symptoms location in a body chart, nature of symptoms evoked, and hip range of motion (ROM) were recorded and compared at ankle neutral position (N-SLR) and dorsiflexion (DF-SLR) in both legs at the point of pain tolerance during SLR (P2). In addition, hip ROM was recorded at the onset of pain (P1). Results There was a statistically significant sex main effect for P1 and P2 between N-SLR and DF-SLR (p < 0.05). Mean hip ROM during the SLR was more than 10° greater in women than men. There was no statistically significant interaction between leg dominance and age group in N-SLR, DF-SLR, and VAS. Pain intensity was moderate for each SLR test. Symptoms most often described were stretch (96.7%), followed by tightness (70%) in the posterior thigh and leg. Conclusions SLR hip ROM is influenced by sex in asymptomatic individuals, leading to a greater hip ROM in SLR in women. Age and limb dominance are not relevant to SLR hip ROM or pain intensity. PMID:28559668

Multinational Alcohol Market Development and Public Health: Diageo in India.

PubMed

Esser, Marissa B; Jernigan, David H

2015-11-01

Alcohol is a risk factor for communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and alcohol consumption is rising steadily in India. The growth of multinational alcohol corporations, such as Diageo, contributes to India's changing alcohol environment. We provide a brief history of India's alcohol regulation for context and examine Diageo's strategies for expansion in India in 2013 and 2014. Diageo is attracted to India's younger generation, women, and emerging middle class for growth opportunities. Components of Diageo's responsibility strategy conflict with evidence-based public health recommendations for reducing harmful alcohol consumption. Diageo's strategies for achieving market dominance in India are at odds with public health evidence. We conclude with recommendations for protecting public health in emerging markets.

Spatio-temporal patterns and factors controlling the hydrogeochemistry of the river Jhelum basin, Kashmir Himalaya.

PubMed

Mir, Riyaz Ahmad; Jeelani, Gh; Dar, Farooq Ahmad

2016-07-01

River Jhelum is a major source of water for growing population and irrigation in the Kashmir Himalaya. The region is trending towards water scarcity as well as quality deterioration stage due to its highly unregulated development. The existence of few literature on various aspects of the basin prompts us to study the spatio-temporal variability of its physicochemical parameters and thereby to understand the regulating hydrogeochemical mechanisms based on 50 samples collected during high flow (June 2008) and low flow (January 2009) periods. The water chemistry exhibited significant spatial variability reflecting the mixing processes in the basin. The seasonal effect does change the concentration of ions significantly with modest variability in the order of ionic abundance. The Ca(2+) ion among cations and HCO3 (-) ion among anions dominate the ionic budget and correlates significantly with the diverse lithology of the basin. Three major water types, i.e., Ca-Mg-HCO3 (72 %), Ca-HCO3 (12 %), and Mg-Ca-HCO3 (16 %), suggest that the chemical composition of water is dominantly controlled by carbonate lithology, besides a significant contribution from silicates. However, at certain sites, the biological processes and anthropogenic activities play a major role. Relatively, the lower ionic concentration during high flow period (summer season) suggested the significant influence of higher discharge via dilution effect. The higher discharge due to higher rainfall and snow melting in response to rising temperature in this period leads to strong flushing of human and agricultural wastes into the river. The factor analysis also reflected the dominant control of varied lithology and anthropogenic sources on the water quality based on the four significant factors explaining collectively about 70-81 % of the total data variance. A two-member chloride mixing model used to estimate the discharge contribution of tributaries to the main river channel showed reliable results. It may be mentioned that the regular and continuous contamination through anthropogenic sources is likely to jeopardize and degrade the water quality in the near future. Thus, critical management approaches and strategies are very imperative for its future sustainability.

Correlates of wife assault in Hong Kong Chinese families.

PubMed

Chan, Ko Ling

2004-04-01

The objective of this study was the risk factors of wife assault in Hong Kong Chinese families. The sample included 107 battered women from a refuge for battered women. Factor analysis revealed risk factors like dominance, stress, poor anger management, aggressive personality, conflict, lack of empathy, masculine gender role stress, sense of insecurity, relationship distress, and violent socialization. Correlation analysis indicated that dominance, spousal conflict, and sense of insecurity increase the likelihood of carrying out minor physical assault and using psychological aggression, while aggressive personality predicts severe physical assault and injury. The risk factors were explained in terms of traditional Chinese concepts of gender role expectations of men and women and face orientations. The present study provides some evidence relating to the risk factors of wife assault in Chinese families.

Astigmatism and spontaneous emission factor of laser diodes with parabolic gain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mamine, T.

1983-04-01

An explicit relation between the astigmatism and the spontaneous emission factor of gain guiding lasers has been derived with the assumption that the gain profile can be approximated to be a parabola or that the lowest order mode in the cavity is approximately Gaussian. The maximum value of the spontaneous emission factor is shown to be ..sqrt..2 if index guiding is dominant. Beyond K = ..sqrt..2, where gain guiding is dominant in this region, the astigmatism decreases with the spontaneous emission factor. It is also shown that the spontaneous emission factor of the gain guiding lasers does not much exceedmore » ten and this conclusion has been confirmed experimentally for those whose stripe widths are larger than 4 ..mu..m.« less

Characterization of Optical Properties of Desert Dust and Other Aerosols Using Postive Matrix Factorization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lihavainen, H.; Alghamdi, M.; Hyvärinen, A.; Hussein, T.; Neitola, K.; Khoder, M.; Abdelmaksoud, A. S.; Al-Jeelani, H.; Shabbaj, I. I.; Almehmadi, F. M.

2017-12-01

To derive the comprehensive aerosol in situ characteristics at a rural background area in Saudi Arabia, an aerosol measurements station was established to Hada Al Sham, 60 km east from the Red Sea and the city of Jeddah. The present sturdy describes the observational data from February 2013 to February 2015 of scattering and absorption coefficients, Ångström exponents and single scattering albedo over the measurement period. As expected, the scattering coefficient was dominated by large desert dust particles with low Ångström scattering exponent. Especially from February to June the Ångström scattering exponent was clearly lower and scattering coefficients higher than total averages because of the dust outbreak season. Aerosol optical properties had clear diurnal cycle. The lowest scattering and absorption coefficients and aerosol optical depths were observed around noon. The observed diurnal variation is caused by wind direction and speed, during night time very calm easterly winds are dominating whereas during daytime the stronger westerly winds are dominating (sea breeze). Positive Matrix Factorization mathematical tool was applied to the scattering and absorption coefficients and PM2.5 and coarse mode (PM10- PM2.5) mass concentrations to characterise aerosols from different sources. Analysis revealed three clearly different types of sources, anthropogenic, BC source and desert dust. These factors have clearly different seasonal and diurnal variation. The contribution of desert dust factor was dominating from February to May, whereas the contribution of anthropogenic factor is quite steady over the whole year. We estimated the mass absorption and scattering efficiencies for the factors and they agreed well with earlier observations. Hence, this method could be used to distinguish aerosol source characteristics, at least in fairly simple cases.

Revisiting the Interactive Effect of Narcissism and Self-Esteem on Responses to Ego Threat: Distinguishing Between Assertiveness and Intent to Harm.

PubMed

Hart, William; Richardson, Kyle; Tortoriello, Gregory K

2018-05-01

We addressed whether narcissism and self-esteem synergize to enhance assertive responses and deter aggressive responses to ego-threatening provocation. Participants ( N = 448) completed measures of narcissism and self-esteem, imagined ego-threatening provocation, and indicated their aggressive and assertive responses. Participants also completed individual difference measures of agreeableness, openness, status/dominance motivation, and endorsement of the notion that aggression begets power. Narcissism and self-esteem interacted to reduce aggressive responses but enhance assertive responses to ego-threat; moreover, this interaction related to enhanced agreeableness, openness, status/dominance motivation, and reduced endorsement of the belief that aggression begets power, and these relations accounted, in part, for relations between the interaction and aggressive and assertive responses. Broadly, the findings contribute to the contentious issue of how self-evaluation influences responses to ego-threat; specifically, we would suggest that this issue be conceptualized in terms of synergistic effects of narcissism and self-esteem and distinguish between assertive versus aggressive responding.

A base substitution in the donor site of intron 12 of KIT gene is responsible for the dominant white coat colour of blue fox (Alopex lagopus).

PubMed

Yan, S Q; Hou, J N; Bai, C Y; Jiang, Y; Zhang, X J; Ren, H L; Sun, B X; Zhao, Z H; Sun, J H

2014-04-01

The dominant white coat colour of farmed blue fox is inherited as a monogenic autosomal dominant trait and is suggested to be embryonic lethal in the homozygous state. In this study, the transcripts of KIT were identified by RT-PCR for a dominant white fox and a normal blue fox. Sequence analysis showed that the KIT transcript in normal blue fox contained the full-length coding sequence of 2919 bp (GenBank Acc. No KF530833), but in the dominant white individual, a truncated isoform lacking the entire exon 12 specifically co-expressed with the normal transcript. Genomic DNA sequencing revealed that a single nucleotide polymorphism (c.1867+1G>T) in intron 12 appeared only in the dominant white individuals and a 1-bp ins/del polymorphism in the same intron showed in individuals representing two different coat colours. Genotyping results of the SNP with PCR-RFLP in 185 individuals showed all 90 normal blue foxes were homozygous for the G allele, and all dominant white individuals were heterozygous. Due to the truncated protein with a deletion of 35 amino acids and an amino acid replacement (p.Pro623Ala) located in the conserved ATP binding domain, we propose that the mutant receptor had absent tyrosine kinase activity. These findings reveal that the base substitution at the first nucleotide of intron 12 of KIT gene, resulting in skipping of exon 12, is a causative mutation responsible for the dominant white phenotype of blue fox. © 2013 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

Do dominant and non-dominant arms respond similarly to maximal eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors?

PubMed

Newton, Michael J; Sacco, Paul; Chapman, Dale; Nosaka, Kazunori

2013-03-01

Two common models to investigate the effect of interventions on muscle damage include using two groups in which one group receives an intervention while the other acts as control, and using contralateral limbs of one group. The latter model is based on the assumption that changes in markers of muscle damage are similar between limbs, but this has not been examined systematically. This study compared changes in muscle damage markers between dominant and non-dominant arms following maximal eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors. Eighteen men performed 60 maximal eccentric elbow flexions of each arm separated by 4 weeks with the order of testing between arms randomised. Maximal voluntary isometric torque, range of motion, upper arm circumference, plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity and muscle soreness before and for 7 days following exercise were compared between arms using two-way repeated measures ANOVA. No significant differences between arms were evident for any of the markers, but significant (P<0.05) differences between first and second bouts were evident for changes in strength, circumference and CK with smaller changes following the second bout. A poor correlation was found for the magnitude of changes in the markers between dominant and non-dominant arms, suggesting that responses to eccentric exercise were not necessarily the same between arms. These results show that the order affected the responses of dominant and non-dominant arms to the eccentric exercise; however, the contralateral limb design appears to be usable if bout order is counterbalanced and randomised among participants. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A multilateral modelling of Youth Soccer Performance Index (YSPI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Ahmad; Razali Abdullah, Mohamad; Juahir, Hafizan; Abdullah, Farhana; Ain Shahirah Abdullah, Nurul; Muazu Musa, Rabiu; Musliha Mat-Rasid, Siti; Adnan, Aleesha; Azura Kosni, Norlaila; Muhamad, Wan Siti Amalina Wan; Afiqah Mohamad Nasir, Nur

2018-04-01

This study aims to identify the most dominant factors that influencing performance of soccer player and to predict group performance for soccer players. A total of 184 of youth soccer players from Malaysia sport school and six soccer academy encompasses as respondence of the study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were computed to identify the most dominant factors whereas reducing the initial 26 parameters with recommended >0.5 of factor loading. Meanwhile, prediction of the soccer performance was predicted by regression model. CFA revealed that sit and reach, vertical jump, VO2max, age, weight, height, sitting height, calf circumference (cc), medial upper arm circumference (muac), maturation, bicep, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, 5M, 10M, and 20M speed were the most dominant factors. Further index analysis forming Youth Soccer Performance Index (YSPI) resulting by categorizing three groups namely, high, moderate, and low. The regression model for this study was significant set as p < 0.001 and R2 is 0.8222 which explained that the model contributed a total of 82% prediction ability to predict the whole set of the variables. The significant parameters in contributing prediction of YSPI are discussed. As a conclusion, the precision of the prediction models by integrating a multilateral factor reflecting for predicting potential soccer player and hopefully can create a competitive soccer games.

Elucidation of Sigma Factor-Associated Networks in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Reveals a Modular Architecture with Limited and Function-Specific Crosstalk

PubMed Central

Schulz, Sebastian; Eckweiler, Denitsa; Bielecka, Agata; Nicolai, Tanja; Franke, Raimo; Dötsch, Andreas; Hornischer, Klaus; Bruchmann, Sebastian; Düvel, Juliane; Häussler, Susanne

2015-01-01

Sigma factors are essential global regulators of transcription initiation in bacteria which confer promoter recognition specificity to the RNA polymerase core enzyme. They provide effective mechanisms for simultaneously regulating expression of large numbers of genes in response to challenging conditions, and their presence has been linked to bacterial virulence and pathogenicity. In this study, we constructed nine his-tagged sigma factor expressing and/or deletion mutant strains in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To uncover the direct and indirect sigma factor regulons, we performed mRNA profiling, as well as chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to high-throughput sequencing. We furthermore elucidated the de novo binding motif of each sigma factor, and validated the RNA- and ChIP-seq results by global motif searches in the proximity of transcriptional start sites (TSS). Our integrated approach revealed a highly modular network architecture which is composed of insulated functional sigma factor modules. Analysis of the interconnectivity of the various sigma factor networks uncovered a limited, but highly function-specific, crosstalk which orchestrates complex cellular processes. Our data indicate that the modular structure of sigma factor networks enables P. aeruginosa to function adequately in its environment and at the same time is exploited to build up higher-level functions by specific interconnections that are dominated by a participation of RpoN. PMID:25780925

Impacts of climatic change on forest structure in the Midwestern Great Lakes region: An integrated gap model and geographical information system (GIS) approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eman, J.L.; Randolph, J.C.; Fan, Weihong

The transient effects of an 80-year climate change scenario on 56 tree species are evaluated within the regional forested landscape matrix of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The JABOWA-II forest growth model was integrated with a GIS housing several federally-produced databases which were vital for input file development. A 4km{sup 2} resolution enabled high parameter specificity for each of the 54,345 representative 100m{sup 2} plots. Ten iterations of simulated growth response at each site followed model calibration. Changes in relative regional dominance and shifts in population centroids over two periods (1981-2020 and 2020-2060) indicated that most responses were species-specific.more » Notable among these were the substantial dominance increases of Populus tremuloides and Quercus alba from 1981-2020. Shared response patterns included conifers` centroid shifts to the northwest and overall dominance reductions.« less

Enhancing lexical ambiguity resolution by brain polarization of the right posterior superior temporal sulcus.

PubMed

Peretz, Yael; Lavidor, Michal

2013-04-01

Previous studies have reported a hemispheric asymmetry in processing dominant (e.g., paper) and subordinate (e.g., farmer) associations of ambiguous words (pen). Here we applied sham and anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over Wernicke's area and its right homologue to test whether we can modulate the selective hemispheric expertise in processing lexical ambiguity. Ambiguous prime words were presented followed by target words that could be associated to the dominant or subordinate meaning of the prime in a semantic relatedness task. Anodal stimulation of the right Wernicke's area significantly decreased response time (RTs) to subordinate but not dominant associations compared to sham stimulation. There was also a complementary trend of faster responses to dominant associations following anodal stimulation of Wernicke's area. The results support brain asymmetry in processing lexical ambiguity and show that tDCS can enhance complex language processing even in a sample of highly literate individuals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physiological responses to variations in grazing and light conditions in native and invasive fucoids.

PubMed

Olabarria, Celia; Arenas, Francisco; Fernández, Ángela; Troncoso, Jesús S; Martínez, Brezo

2018-08-01

Poor physiological acclimatization to climate change has led to shifts in the distributional ranges of various species and to biodiversity loss. However, evidence also suggests the relevance of non-climatic physical factors, such as light, and biotic factors, which may act in interactive or additive way. We used a mechanistic approach to evaluate the ecophysiological responses of four seaweed species (three dominant intertidal fucoids, Fucus serratus, Ascophyllum nodosum, Bifurcaria bifurcata, and the invasive Sargassum muticum) to different conditions of grazing, light irradiance and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. We performed a large-scale mesocosm experiment with a total of 800 individual thalli of macroalgae. The factorial experimental design included major algal traits, photoacclimation, nutrient stoichiometry and chemical defence as response variables. Few significant effects of the factors acting alone or in combination were observed, suggesting a good capacity for acclimatization in all four species. The significant effects were generally additive and there were no potentially deleterious synergistic effects between factors. Fucus serratus, a species currently undergoing a drastic contraction of its southern distribution limit in Europe, was the most strongly affected species, showing overall lower photosynthetic efficiency than the other species. The growth rate of F. serratus decreased when UV radiation was filtered out, but only in the presence of grazers. Moreover, more individuals of this species tended to reach maturity in the absence of grazers, and the nitrogen content of tissues decreased under full-spectrum light. Only the phlorotannin content of tissues of B. bifurcata and of exudates of A. nodosum, both slow-growing species, were positively affected by respectively removal of UVB radiation and the presence of grazers. The findings for S. muticum, a well-established invasive seaweed across European coasts, suggested similar physiological response of this fast-growing species to different levels of grazing activity and light quality/intensity. As expected, this species grew faster than the other species. Bifurcaria bifurcata and A. nodosum only showed minor effects of light quality and grazing on phlorotannins content, which suggests good resistance of these two long-lived species to the experimental conditions. Mechanistic approaches that are designed to analyse interactive effects of physical and biotic factors provide an understanding of physiological responses of species and help to improve the confidence of predictive distribution models. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

You never think about my feelings: interpersonal dominance as a predictor of emotion decoding accuracy.

PubMed

Moeller, Sara K; Lee, Elizabeth A Ewing; Robinson, Michael D

2011-08-01

Dominance and submission constitute fundamentally different social interaction strategies that may be enacted most effectively to the extent that the emotions of others are relatively ignored (dominance) versus noticed (submission). On the basis of such considerations, we hypothesized a systematic relationship between chronic tendencies toward high versus low levels of interpersonal dominance and emotion decoding accuracy in objective tasks. In two studies (total N = 232), interpersonally dominant individuals exhibited poorer levels of emotion recognition in response to audio and video clips (Study 1) and facial expressions of emotion (Study 2). The results provide a novel perspective on interpersonal dominance, suggest its strategic nature (Study 2), and are discussed in relation to Fiske's (1993) social-cognitive theory of power. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Sex-reversed correlation between stress levels and dominance rank in a captive non-breeder flock of crows.

PubMed

Ode, Minami; Asaba, Akari; Miyazawa, Eri; Mogi, Kazutaka; Kikusui, Takefumi; Izawa, Ei-Ichi

2015-07-01

Group living has both benefits and costs to individuals; benefits include efficient acquisition of resources, and costs include stress from social conflicts among group members. Such social challenges result in hierarchical dominance ranking among group members as a solution to avoid escalating conflict that causes different levels of basal stress between individuals at different ranks. Stress-associated glucocorticoid (corticosterone in rodents and birds; CORT) levels are known to correlate with dominance rank in diverse taxa and to covary with various social factors, such as sex and dominance maintenance styles. Although there is much evidence for sex differences in the basal levels of CORT in various species, the correlation of sex differences in basal CORT with dominance rank is poorly understood. We investigated the correlation between CORT metabolites (CM) in the droppings and social factors, including rank and sex, in a captive non-breeder group of crows. In this group, all the single males dominated all the single females, and dominance ranks were stable among single males but relatively unstable among single females. CM levels and rank were significantly correlated in a sex-reversed fashion: males at higher rank (i.e., more dominant) had higher CM, whereas females at higher rank exhibited lower CM. This is the first evidence of sex-reversed patterns of CM-rank correlation in birds. The results suggest that different mechanisms of stress-dominance relationships operate on the sexes in non-breeder crow aggregations; in males, stress is associated with the cost of aggressive displays, whereas females experience subordination stress due to males' overt aggression. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plant community mediation of ecosystem responses to global change factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churchill, A. C.

2017-12-01

Human alteration of the numerous environmental drivers affecting ecosystem processes is unprecedented in the last century, including changes in climate regimes and rapid increases in the availability of biologically active nitrogen (N). Plant communities may offer stabilizing or amplifying feedbacks mediating potential ecosystem responses to these alterations, and my research seeks to examine the conditions associated with when plant feedbacks are important for ecosystem change. My dissertation research focused on the unintended consequences of N deposition into natural landscapes, including alpine ecosystems which are particularly susceptible to adverse environmental impacts. In particular, I examined alpine plant and soil responses to N deposition 1) across multiple spatial scales throughout the Southern Rocky Mountains, 2) among diverse plant communities associated with unique environmental conditions common in the alpine of this region, and 3) among ecosystem pools of N contributing to stabilization of N inputs within those communities. I found that communities responded to inputs of N differently, often associated with traits of dominant plant species but these responses were intimately linked with the abiotic conditions of each independent community. Even so, statistical models predicting metrics of N processing in the alpine were improved by encompassing both abiotic and biotic components of the main community types.

RasGRP3 limits Toll-like receptor-triggered inflammatory response in macrophages by activating Rap1 small GTPase.

PubMed

Tang, Songqing; Chen, Taoyong; Yu, Zhou; Zhu, Xuhui; Yang, Mingjin; Xie, Bin; Li, Nan; Cao, Xuetao; Wang, Jianli

2014-08-14

Host immune cells can detect and destruct invading pathogens via pattern-recognition receptors. Small Rap GTPases act as conserved molecular switches coupling extracellular signals to various cellular responses, but their roles as regulators in Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling have not been fully elucidated. Here we report that Ras guanine nucleotide-releasing protein 3 (RasGRP3), a guanine nucleotide-exchange factor activating Ras and Rap1, limits production of proinflammatory cytokines (especially IL-6) in macrophages by activating Rap1 on activation by low levels of TLR agonists. We demonstrate that RasGRP3, a dominant member of RasGRPs in macrophages, impairs TLR3/4/9-induced IL-6 production and relieves dextrane sulphate sodium-induced colitis and collagen-induced arthritis. In RasGRP3-deficient RAW264.7 cells obtained by CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, TLR3/4/9-induced activation of Rap1 was inhibited while ERK1/2 activation was enhanced. Our study suggests that RasGRP3 limits inflammatory response by activating Rap1 on low-intensity pathogen infection, setting a threshold for preventing excessive inflammatory response.

Gene expression patterns of two dominant tallgrass prairie species differ in response to warming and altered precipitation

DOE PAGES

Smith, Melinda D.; Hoffman, Ava M.; Avolio, Meghan L.

2016-05-13

To better understand the mechanisms underlying plant species responses to climate change, we compared transcriptional profiles of the co-dominant C 4 grasses, Andropogon gerardii Vitman and Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash, in response to increased temperatures and more variable precipitation regimes in a long-term field experiment in native tallgrass prairie. We used microarray probing of a closely related model species ( Zea mays) to assess correlations in leaf temperature (T leaf) and leaf water potential (LWP) and abundance changes of ~10,000 transcripts in leaf tissue collected from individuals of both species. A greater number of transcripts were found to significantly changemore » in abundance levels with T leaf and LWP in S. nutans than in A. gerardii. S. nutans also was more responsive to short-term drought recovery than A. gerardii. Water flow regulating transcripts associated with stress avoidance (e.g., aquaporins), as well as those involved in the prevention and repair of damage (e.g., antioxidant enzymes, HSPs), were uniquely more abundant in response to increasing T leaf in S. nutans. Furthermore, the differential transcriptomic responses of the co-dominant C 4 grasses suggest that these species may cope with and respond to temperature and water stress at the molecular level in distinct ways, with implications for tallgrass prairie ecosystem function.« less

Autosomal dominant juvenile recurrent parotitis.

PubMed Central

Reid, E; Douglas, F; Crow, Y; Hollman, A; Gibson, J

1998-01-01

Juvenile recurrent parotitis is a common cause of inflammatory salivary gland swelling in children. A variety of aetiological factors has been proposed for the condition. Here we present a family where four members had juvenile recurrent parotitis and where two other family members may have had an atypical form of the condition. The segregation pattern in the family is consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance with incomplete penetrance and this suggests that, at least in some cases, genetic factors may be implicated in juvenile recurrent parotitis. PMID:9610807

Hemispheric specialization in affective responses, cerebral dominance for language, and handedness: Lateralization of emotion, language, and dexterity.

PubMed

Costanzo, Elsa Yolanda; Villarreal, Mirta; Drucaroff, Lucas Javier; Ortiz-Villafañe, Manuel; Castro, Mariana Nair; Goldschmidt, Micaela; Wainsztein, Agustina Edith; Ladrón-de-Guevara, María Soledad; Romero, Carlos; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Camprodon, Joan A; Nemeroff, Charles; Guinjoan, Salvador Martín

2015-07-15

Hemispheric specialization in affective responses has received little attention in the literature. This is a fundamental variable to understand circuit dynamics of networks subserving emotion. In this study we put to test a modified "valence" hypothesis of emotion processing, considering that sadness and happiness are processed by each hemisphere in relation to dominance for language and handedness. Mood induction and language activation during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were used in 20 right-handed and 20 nonright-handed subjects, focusing on interconnected regions known to play critical roles in affective responses: subgenual cingulate cortex, amygdala, and anterior insular cortex. We observed a consistent relationship between lateralization of affective processing, motor dexterity, and language in individuals with clear right-handedness. Sadness induces a greater activation of right-hemisphere cortical structures in right-handed, left-dominant individuals, which is not evident in nonright-handed subjects who show no consistent hemispheric dominance for language. In anterior insula, right-handed individuals displayed reciprocal activation of either hemisphere depending upon mood valence, whereas amygdala activation was predominantly left-sided regardless of mood valence. Nonright-handed individuals exhibited less consistent brain lateralization of affective processing regardless of language and motor dexterity lateralization. In contrast with traditional views on emotion processing lateralization, hemispheric specialization in affective responses is not a unitary process but is specific to the brain structure being activated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differential response of carbon cycling to long-term nutrient input and altered hydrological conditions in a continental Canadian peatland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, Sina; Praetzel, Leandra S. E.; Goebel, Marie; Blodau, Christian; Knorr, Klaus-Holger

2018-02-01

Peatlands play an important role in global carbon cycling, but their responses to long-term anthropogenically changed hydrologic conditions and nutrient infiltration are not well known. While experimental manipulation studies, e.g., fertilization or water table manipulations, exist on the plot scale, only few studies have addressed such factors under in situ conditions. Therefore, an ecological gradient from the center to the periphery of a continental Canadian peatland bordering a eutrophic water reservoir, as reflected by increasing nutrient input, enhanced water level fluctuations, and increasing coverage of vascular plants, was used for a case study of carbon cycling along a sequence of four differently altered sites. We monitored carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) surface fluxes and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and CH4 concentrations in peat profiles from April 2014 through September 2015. Moreover, we studied bulk peat and pore-water quality and we applied δ13C-CH4 and δ13C-CO2 stable isotope abundance analyses to examine dominant CH4 production and emission pathways during the growing season of 2015. We observed differential responses of carbon cycling at the four sites, presumably driven by abundances of plant functional types and vicinity to the reservoir. A shrub-dominated site in close vicinity to the reservoir was a comparably weak sink for CO2 (in 1.5 years: -1093 ± 794, in 1 year: +135 ± 281 g CO2 m-2; a net release) as compared to two graminoid-moss-dominated sites and a moss-dominated site (in 1.5 years: -1552 to -2260 g CO2 m-2, in 1 year: -896 to -1282 g CO2 m-2). Also, the shrub-dominated site featured notably low DIC pore-water concentrations and comparably 13C-enriched CH4 (δ13C- CH4: -57.81 ± 7.03 ‰) and depleted CO2 (δ13C-CO2: -15.85 ± 3.61 ‰) in a more decomposed peat, suggesting a higher share of CH4 oxidation and differences in predominant methanogenic pathways. In comparison to all other sites, the graminoid-moss-dominated site in closer vicinity to the reservoir featured a ˜ 30 % higher CH4 emission (in 1.5 years: +61.4 ± 32, in 1 year: +39.86 ± 16.81 g CH4 m-2). Low δ13C-CH4 signatures (-62.30 ± 5.54 ‰) indicated only low mitigation of CH4 emissions by methanotrophic activity here. Pathways of methanogenesis and methanotrophy appeared to be related to the vicinity to the water reservoir: the importance of acetoclastic CH4 production apparently increased toward the reservoir, whereas the importance of CH4 oxidation increased toward the peatland center. Plant-mediated transport was the prevailing CH4 emission pathway at all sites even where graminoids were rare. Our study thus illustrates accelerated carbon cycling in a strongly altered peatland with consequences for CO2 and CH4 budgets. However, our results suggest that long-term excess nutrient input does not necessarily lead to a loss of the peatland carbon sink function.

The Mere Exposure Effect: Relationship to Response Competition and Imagery Ability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vrana, Scott R.

Exposure to novel stimuli increases one's liking for such stimuli. Response competition is one theory attempting to account for this effect: as a stimulus becomes more familiar, competing responses drop out in favor of one dominant response and the stimulus becomes better liked. Imagery ability refers to the regeneration of responses during…

Which Way to Lean? A National Study of Women Dental Faculty Members' Career Aspirations and Choices.

PubMed

Gadbury-Amyot, Cynthia C; Pyle, Marsha A; Van Ness, Christopher J; Overman, Pamela R; West, Karen P

2016-12-01

The aim of this first national study of women in academic dentistry was to explore factors and perceived barriers for why administrative/leadership positions were or were not sought via data collected from full-time women dental faculty members in the U.S. In fall 2015, the researchers conducted a survey that employed a combination of response formats: forced choice from a menu, multiple allowable answers, and open-ended written comments. The overall response rate for the survey was 35.6% (537/1504). Respondents were from 48 of the 65 U.S. dental schools. Half of the respondents indicated their primary appointment was in clinical sciences, 22.9% were in administration, 7.3% in research, 7.1% in basic science, and 2.5% in behavioral science. While a quarter of the respondents indicated administration as their primary appointment, over half reported holding administrative positions, and nearly all (92.4%) reported currently holding leadership roles at their institutions. For those not currently in administrative/leadership roles, 52.6% indicated a desire for an administrative role and 70.7% a leadership role. Of those in administrative/leadership roles, 62.1% indicated not receiving extra remuneration for those responsibilities. Half of the respondents perceived that they were paid less in their current position than men doing the same work. The most dominant theme emerging from qualitative analysis of barriers the respondents experienced was the difficulty women in dental education have in a traditionally male-dominated profession. The results confirmed that women faculty members are "leaning in" to seek administrative/leadership roles in academic dentistry. However, pay equity remains an issue, and faculty development and mentoring are needed for the advancement of academic dentistry and ultimately the dental profession.