Genome size variation in the pine fusiform rust pathogen Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme as determined by flow cytometry

Treesearch

Claire L Anderson; Thomas L Kubisiak; C Dana Nelson; Jason A Smith; John M Davis

2010-01-01

The genome size of the pine fusiform rust pathogen Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme (Cqf) was determined by flow cytometric analysis of propidium iodide-stained, intact haploid pycniospores with haploid spores of two genetically well characterized fungal species, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici, as size standards. The Cqf haploid genome...

Species richness and relative abundance of breeding birds in forests of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelms, C.O.; Twedt, D.J.; Smith, Winston Paul

1993-01-01

In 1992, the Vicksburg Field Research Station of the National Wetlands Research Center initiated research on the ecology of migratory birds within forests of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV). The MAV was historically a nearly contiguous bottomland hardwood forest, however, only remnants remain. These remnants are fragmented and often influenced by drainage projects, silviculture, agriculture, and urban development. Our objectives are to assess species richness and relative abundance, and to relate these to the size, quality, and composition of forest stands. Species richness and relative abundance were estimated for 53 randomly selected forest sites using 1 to 8 point counts per site, depending on the size of the forest fragment. However, statistical comparisons among sites will be restricted to an equal number ofpoint counts within the sites being compared. Point counts, lasting five minutes, were conducted from 11 May to 29 June 1992, foltowing Ralph, Sauer, and Droege (Point Count Standards; memo dated 9 March 1992). Vegetation was measured at the first three points on each site using a modification of the methods employed by Martin and Roper (Condor 90: 5 1-57; 1988). During 252 counts, 7 1 species were encountered, but only 62 species were encountered within a 50-m radius of point center. The mean number of species encountered within 50 m of a point, was 7.3 (s.d. = 2.7) and the mean number of individuals was 11.2 (s.d. = 4.2). The mean number of species detected at any distance was 9.6 (s.d, = 2.8) and the mean number of individuals was 15.6 (s.d. = 7.9). The most frequently encountered warblers in the MAV were Prothonotary Warbler and Northern Parula. Rarely encountered warblers were American Redstart and Worm-eating Warbler. The genera, Quercus, Ulmus, Carya, and Celtis were each encountered at 80 or more of the 152 points at which vegetation was sampled. Species most frequentlyencountered were: sugarberry (Celtis laevagata), water hickory (Caqa aquatica), American elm (Ulmus arnericana), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) and willow oak (Quercus phellos) The mean basal area of all trees 10 cm diameter-at-breast height (dbh) was 28 m2 /ha (range 7-70). The mean canopy cover was 87 percent, mean canopy height was 20 m, ground cover was 60 percent, and vegetation density (2-7 m) was 47 percent. The most frequently encountered understory species were sugarberry, ash (Fraxinus spp.), maple (Acer spp.), and elm (Ulnrus spp.). A cooperative GIs effort among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nature Conservancy, and the University of Arkansas is currently classifying forested habitats within the MAV. This effort will provide information on stand size and topology which will be used in concert with our current data, and data from visits to additional forest stands in 1993, to assess the relationship between the size, quatity, and composition of forests within the MAV and their breeding bird community.

Long-Term Experience with Chinese Language Shapes the Fusiform Asymmetry of English Reading

PubMed Central

Mei, Leilei; Xue, Gui; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Chen, Chuansheng; Wei, Miao; He, Qinghua; Dong, Qi

2015-01-01

Previous studies have suggested differential engagement of the bilateral fusiform gyrus in the processing of Chinese and English. The present study tested the possibility that long-term experience with Chinese language affects the fusiform laterality of English reading by comparing three samples: Chinese speakers, English speakers with Chinese experience, and English speakers without Chinese experience. We found that, when reading words in their respective native language, Chinese and English speakers without Chinese experience differed in functional laterality of the posterior fusiform region (right laterality for Chinese speakers, but left laterality for English speakers). More importantly, compared with English speakers without Chinese experience, English speakers with Chinese experience showed more recruitment of the right posterior fusiform cortex for English words and pseudowords, which is similar to how Chinese speakers processed Chinese. These results suggest that long-term experience with Chinese shapes the fusiform laterality of English reading and have important implications for our understanding of the cross-language influences in terms of neural organization and of the functions of different fusiform subregions in reading. PMID:25598049

MICROSPOROGENESIS AND EMBRYOGENESIS IN QUERCUS

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

Stairs, G. R.

1962-01-01

Representative species from two subgenera in the genus Quercus were examined for floral structure and phenology, microsporogenesis, and embryogenesis. The species selected for investigation were: Quercus alba in the Lepidobalanus subgenera, and Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia from the Erythrobalanus group. Photographs of flowering and photomicrographs of microsporogensis and embryogenesis are used for illustration. The male flowers of the three species are borne on catkins which develop in the scale leaf axils of the current vegetative bud or in separate male buds. Meiosis occurred in the spring at the beginning of bud enlargement; division figures were regular in all themore » material observed. A haploid chromosome number of 12 was confirmed for the three species. Pollen was shed on May 10, 1962, from trees of Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia; and on May 26, 1962 from Quercus alba. The female flowers are located in the axils of the new leaves. Seed development requires one growing season in Quercus alba, but two growing seasons are required to mature seed of Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia. The chronology of embryo development was similar for Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia; embryo development of Quercus alba was about two weeks behind that of the other two species. Definition of ovule dominance within a seed occurred at the time of early embryo development. Failure of this physiological expression of dominance results in multiseeded acorns. No abnormal embryogenesis per se was observed in relation to multiple embryo development. (auth)« less

Endovascular Treatment for Fusiform Dilation of Internal Carotid Artery Following Craniopharyngioma Resection: A Case Illustration.

PubMed

Li, Qiang; Wang, Chaohua; Xu, Jianguo; You, Chao

2015-09-01

Fusiform dilation of the internal carotid artery complicates aggressive craniopharyngioma resection and occurs mainly in children. We report a case to describe the availability of endovascular treatment for this rare entity. A 13-year-old boy presented with headache for 2 years after resection of craniopharyngioma. A fusiform dilation of the right carotid artery was found and was coiled using stent-assisted technique. Follow-up showed satisfactory outcome and disappearance of headache. To our knowledge, this is the first report regarding endovascular treatment for fusiform dilation of the internal carotid artery after craniopharyngioma resection. Stent-assisted coiling is a useful approach for fusiform dilation of the internal carotid artery following craniopharyngioma surgery. © The Author(s) 2014.

Differences in molecular characteristics between Cronartium quercuum from Japan and fusiform rust from USA

Treesearch

Hitoshi Nakamura; Shigeru Kaneko; Pauline Spaine

1998-01-01

The molecular characteristics were compared among Cronartium quercuum f. sp. densiflorae and C. quercuum f. sp. thunbergii from Japan and C. quercuum f. sp. fusiforme, fusiform rust from the USA. The authors examined the PCR-amplified internal transcribed...

Identification of pathogen avirulencegenes in the fusiform rust pathosystem

Treesearch

John M. Davis; Katherine E. Smith; Amanda Pendleton; Jason A. Smith; C. Dana Nelson

2012-01-01

The Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme (Cqf) whole genome sequencing project will enable identification of avirulence genes in the most devastating pine fungal pathogen in the southeastern United States. Amerson and colleagues (unpublished) have mapped nine fusiform rust resistance genes in loblolly pine,...

Bulked fusiform rust inocula and Fr gene interactions in loblolly pine

Treesearch

Fikret Isik; Henry Amerson; Saul Garcia; Ross Whetten; Steve. McKeand

2012-01-01

Fusiform rust disease in loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and slash (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var elliottii) pine plantations in the southern United States causes multi-million dollar annual losses. The disease is endemic to the region. The fusiform rust fungus (Cronartium quercuum sp.

Acquisition of Ophiostoma quercus and Ceratocystis fagacearum by nitidulids from O. quercus-colonized oak wilt mats

Treesearch

Jennifer Juzwik; Kory R. Cease; Jason M. Meyer

1998-01-01

Field experiments were conducted to determine whether the frequency of Ceratocystis fagacearum and Ophiostoma quercus propagule acquisition by nitidulids visiting oak wilt fungal mats is affected by the presence of O. quercus on the mats. Augmentation sprays with O. quercus were used to achieve...

Early development of letter specialization in left fusiform is associated with better word reading and smaller fusiform face area.

PubMed

Centanni, Tracy M; Norton, Elizabeth S; Park, Anne; Beach, Sara D; Halverson, Kelly; Ozernov-Palchik, Ola; Gaab, Nadine; Gabrieli, John DE

2018-03-05

A functional region of left fusiform gyrus termed "the visual word form area" (VWFA) develops during reading acquisition to respond more strongly to printed words than to other visual stimuli. Here, we examined responses to letters among 5- and 6-year-old early kindergarten children (N = 48) with little or no school-based reading instruction who varied in their reading ability. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure responses to individual letters, false fonts, and faces in left and right fusiform gyri. We then evaluated whether signal change and size (spatial extent) of letter-sensitive cortex (greater activation for letters versus faces) and letter-specific cortex (greater activation for letters versus false fonts) in these regions related to (a) standardized measures of word-reading ability and (b) signal change and size of face-sensitive cortex (fusiform face area or FFA; greater activation for faces versus letters). Greater letter specificity, but not letter sensitivity, in left fusiform gyrus correlated positively with word reading scores. Across children, in the left fusiform gyrus, greater size of letter-sensitive cortex correlated with lesser size of FFA. These findings are the first to suggest that in beginning readers, development of letter responsivity in left fusiform cortex is associated with both better reading ability and also a reduction of the size of left FFA that may result in right-hemisphere dominance for face perception. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fusiform Rust Trends in East Texas: 1969 to 2002

Treesearch

Dean W. Coble; Young-Jin Lee

2004-01-01

Fusiform rust [Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. Fusiforme] infection rates in east Texas increased to nearly 50 percent in slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) and about 15 percent in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations during the 18-year period from 1969 to 1987. New...

Positive Returns from Investment in Fusiform Rust Research

Treesearch

John M. Pye; John E. Wagner; Thomas P. Holmes; Frederick W. Cubbage

1997-01-01

Fusiform rust [Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miy. ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme Burdsall et Snow] is a widespread and damaging disease of loblolly and slash pine across much of the Southern United States. Research by government and university scientists has identified families of these species with improved genetic resistance to infection by the disease, allowing production...

Tandem selection for fusiform rust sisease resistance to develop a clonal elite breeding population of loblolly pine

Treesearch

Steve McKeand; Saul Garcia; Josh Steiger; Jim Grissom; Ross Whetten; Fikret Isik

2012-01-01

The elite breeding populations of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) in the North Carolina State University Cooperative Tree Improvement Program are intensively managed for short-term genetic gain. Fusiform rust disease, caused by the fungus Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme, is the most economically...

An Integrated Approach Toward Reducing Losses from Fusiform Rust in Merchantable Slash and Loblolly Pine Plantations

Treesearch

Roger P. Belanger; Thomas Miller; Stanley J. Zarnoch; Stephen W. Fraedrich; John F. Godbee

2000-01-01

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the selective thinning of trees with rust galls as a means of reducing losses to the fusiform rust (Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme) disease in merchantable slash (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) and...

Nuclear behavior during basidiospore germination in Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme

Treesearch

P.C. Spaine; Shigeru Kaneko

1996-01-01

Nuclear behavior during basidiospore germination in Cronartiunz quercuum f. sp. fusiforme was examined on glass slides and host seedlings using 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindolestaining. Mononucleate basidiospores of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme normally were produced following meiosis in the teliospore. However, a subsequent mitotic division often occurred within...

Selectivity for the human body in the fusiform gyrus.

PubMed

Peelen, Marius V; Downing, Paul E

2005-01-01

Functional neuroimaging studies have revealed human brain regions, notably in the fusiform gyrus, that respond selectively to images of faces as opposed to other kinds of objects. Here we use fMRI to show that the mid-fusiform gyrus responds with nearly the same level of selectivity to images of human bodies without faces, relative to tools and scenes. In a group-average analysis (n = 22), the fusiform activations identified by contrasting faces versus tools and bodies versus tools are very similar. Analyses of within-subjects regions of interest, however, show that the peaks of the two activations occupy close but distinct locations. In a second experiment, we find that the body-selective fusiform region, but not the face-selective region, responds more to stick figure depictions of bodies than to scrambled controls. This result further distinguishes the two foci and confirms that the body-selective response generalizes to abstract image formats. These results challenge accounts of the mid-fusiform gyrus that focus solely on faces and suggest that this region contains multiple distinct category-selective neural representations.

The Contribution of the Left Mid-fusiform Cortical Thickness to Chinese and English Reading in a Large Chinese Sample

PubMed Central

Zhang, Mingxia; Li, Jin; Chen, Chuansheng; Mei, Leilei; Xue, Gui; Lu, Zhonglin; Chen, Chunhui; He, Qinghua; Wei, Miao; Dong, Qi

2012-01-01

Previous functional neuroimaging studies have shown that the left mid-fusiform cortex plays a critical role in reading. However, there is very limited research relating this region’s anatomical structure to reading performance either in native or second language. Using structural MRI and three reading tasks (Chinese characters, English words, and alphabetic pseudowords) and a non-reading task (visual-auditory learning), this study investigated the contributions of the left mid-fusiform cortical thickness to reading in a large sample of 226 Chinese subjects. Results showed that cortical thickness in the left mid-fusiform gyrus was positively correlated with performance on all three reading tasks but not with the performance on the non-reading task. Our findings provide structural evidence for the left mid-fusiform cortex as the “gateway” region for reading Chinese and English. The absence of the association between the left mid-fusiform cortical thickness and non-reading performance implied the specific role of this area in reading skills, not in general language skills. PMID:23022094

Difficulty identifying feelings and automatic activation in the fusiform gyrus in response to facial emotion.

PubMed

Eichmann, Mischa; Kugel, Harald; Suslow, Thomas

2008-12-01

Difficulties in identifying and differentiating one's emotions are a central characteristic of alexithymia. In the present study, automatic activation of the fusiform gyrus to facial emotion was investigated as a function of alexithymia as assessed by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. During 3 Tesla fMRI scanning, pictures of faces bearing sad, happy, and neutral expressions masked by neutral faces were presented to 22 healthy adults who also responded to the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The fusiform gyrus was selected as the region of interest, and voxel values of this region were extracted, summarized as means, and tested among the different conditions (sad, happy, and neutral faces). Masked sad facial emotions were associated with greater bilateral activation of the fusiform gyrus than masked neutral faces. The subscale, Difficulty Identifying Feelings, was negatively correlated with the neural response of the fusiform gyrus to masked sad faces. The correlation results suggest that automatic hyporesponsiveness of the fusiform gyrus to negative emotion stimuli may reflect problems in recognizing one's emotions in everyday life.

Quercus stellata growth and stand characteristics in the Quercus stellata-Quercus marilandica forest type in the Cross Timbers region of Central Oklahoma

Treesearch

James F. Rosson

1994-01-01

The author reports a baseline forest survey of Central and West Oklahoma to obtain tree and stand growth rates for harvest sustainability, standing volume estimates for biomass assessments, and stand structure to provide other pertinent data for exploring management options. This report focused on the Quercus stellata-Quercus marilandica forest type in the Cross...

Distinct but Overlapping Patterns of Response to Words and Faces in the Fusiform Gyrus.

PubMed

Harris, Richard J; Rice, Grace E; Young, Andrew W; Andrews, Timothy J

2016-07-01

Converging evidence suggests that the fusiform gyrus is involved in the processing of both faces and words. We used fMRI to investigate the extent to which the representation of words and faces in this region of the brain is based on a common neural representation. In Experiment 1, a univariate analysis revealed regions in the fusiform gyrus that were only selective for faces and other regions that were only selective for words. However, we also found regions that showed both word-selective and face-selective responses, particularly in the left hemisphere. We then used a multivariate analysis to measure the pattern of response to faces and words. Despite the overlap in regional responses, we found distinct patterns of response to both faces and words in the left and right fusiform gyrus. In Experiment 2, fMR adaptation was used to determine whether information about familiar faces and names is integrated in the fusiform gyrus. Distinct regions of the fusiform gyrus showed adaptation to either familiar faces or familiar names. However, there was no adaptation to sequences of faces and names with the same identity. Taken together, these results provide evidence for distinct, but overlapping, neural representations for words and faces in the fusiform gyrus. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Airborne Quercus pollen in SW Spain: Identifying favourable conditions for atmospheric transport and potential source areas.

PubMed

Maya-Manzano, José María; Fernández-Rodríguez, Santiago; Smith, Matt; Tormo-Molina, Rafael; Reynolds, Andrew M; Silva-Palacios, Inmaculada; Gonzalo-Garijo, Ángela; Sadyś, Magdalena

2016-11-15

The pollen grains of Quercus spp. (oak trees) are allergenic. This study investigates airborne Quercus pollen in SW Spain with the aim identifying favourable conditions for atmospheric transport and potential sources areas. Two types of Quercus distribution maps were produced. Airborne Quercus pollen concentrations were measured at three sites located in the Extremadura region (SW Spain) for 3 consecutive years. The seasonal occurrence of Quercus pollen in the air was investigated, as well as days with pollen concentrations ≥80Pm(-3). The distance that Quercus pollen can be transported in appreciable numbers was calculated using clusters of back trajectories representing the air mass movement above the source areas (oak woodlands), and by using a state-of-the-art dispersion model. The two main potential sources of Quercus airborne pollen captured in SW Spain are Q. ilex subsp. ballota and Q. suber. The minimum distances between aerobiological stations and Quercus woodlands have been estimated as: 40km (Plasencia), 66km (Don Benito), 62km (Zafra) from the context of this study. Daily mean Quercus pollen concentration can exceed 1,700Pm(-3), levels reached not less than 24 days in a single year. High Quercus pollen concentration were mostly associated with moderate wind speed events (6-10ms(-1)), whereas that a high wind speed (16-20ms(-1)) seems to be associated with low concentrations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An economic evaluation of fusiform rust protection research

Treesearch

F.W. Cubbage; John M. Pye; T.P. Holmes; J.E. Wagner

2000-01-01

Fusiform rust is a widespread and damaging disease of loblolly pine (P. taeda) and slash pine (P. elliottii) in the South. Research has identified families of these pines with improved genetic resistance to the disease, allowing production and planting of resistant seedlings in areas at risk. This study compared the cost of fusiform rust research to the simulated...

Long-term changes in fusiform rust incidence in the southeastern United States

Treesearch

KaDonna C. Randolph; Ellis B. Cowling; Dale A. Starkey

2015-01-01

Fusiform rust is the most devastating disease of slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) in the southeastern United States. Since the 1970s, the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program has assessed fusiform rust incidence on its network of ground plots in 13 states across the...

Harvest intensity and competition control impacts on loblolly pine fusiform rust incidence

Treesearch

Robert J. Eaton; Paula Spaine; Felipe G. Sanchez

2006-01-01

The Long Term Soil Productivity experiment tests the effects of soil compaction, surface organic matter removal, and understory control on net primary productivity. An unintended consequence of these treatments may be an effect on the incidence of fusiform rust [Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miy. ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme Burdsall et Snow]. Loblolly pine (Pinus...

Fusiform Rust of Southern Pines

Treesearch

W. R. Phelps; F. L. Czabator

1978-01-01

Fusiform rust, caused by the fungus Cronartium fusiforme Hedg. & Hunt ex Cumm., is distributed in the Southern United States from Maryland to Florida and west to Texas and southern Arkansas. Infections by the fungus, which develops at or near the point of infection, result in tapered, spindle-shaped swells, called galls, on branches and stems of pines. (see photo...

Assimilation and accommodation patterns in ventral occipitotemporal cortex in learning a second writing system

PubMed Central

Nelson, Jessica R.; Liu, Ying; Fiez, Julie; Perfetti, Charles A.

2017-01-01

Using fMRI, we compared the patterns of fusiform activity produced by viewing English and Chinese for readers who were either English speakers learning Chinese, or Chinese-English bilinguals. The pattern of fusiform activity depended on both the writing system and the reader’s native language. Native Chinese speakers fluent in English recruited bilateral fusiform areas when viewing both Chinese and English. English speakers learning Chinese, however, used heavily left-lateralized fusiform regions when viewing English, but recruited an additional right fusiform region for viewing Chinese. Thus, English learners of Chinese show an accommodation pattern, in which the reading network accommodates the new writing system by adding neural resources that support its specific graphic requirements. Chinese speakers show an assimilation pattern, in which the reading network established for L1 includes procedures sufficient for the graphic demands of L2 without major change. PMID:18381767

Differential Development of Selectivity for Faces and Bodies in the Fusiform Gyrus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peelen, Marius V.; Glaser, Bronwyn; Vuilleumier, Patrik; Eliez, Stephan

2009-01-01

Viewing faces or bodies activates category-selective areas of visual cortex, including the fusiform face area (FFA), fusiform body area (FBA), and extrastriate body area (EBA). Here, using fMRI, we investigate the development of these areas, focusing on the right FFA and FBA. Despite the overlap of functionally defined FFA and FBA (54%-75%…

Identification of nine pathotype-specific genes conferring resistance to fusiform rust in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.)

Treesearch

Henry Amerson; C. Dana Nelson; Thomas L. Kubisiak; E.George Kuhlman; Saul Garcia

2015-01-01

Nearly two decades of research on the host-pathogen interaction in fusiform rust of loblolly pine is detailed. Results clearly indicate that pathotype-specific genes in the host interacting with pathogen avirulence cause resistance as defined by the non-gall phenotype under favorable environmental conditions for disease development. In particular, nine fusiform rust...

Mapping fusiform rust resistance genes within a complex mating design of loblolly pine

Treesearch

Tania Quesada; Marcio F.R. Resende Jr.; Patricio Munoz; Jill L. Wegrzyn; David B. Neale; Matias Kirst; Gary F. Peter; Salvador A. Gezan; C.Dana Nelson; John M. Davis

2014-01-01

Fusiform rust resistance can involve gene-for-gene interactions where resistance (Fr) genes in the host interact with corresponding avirulence genes in the pathogen, Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme (Cqf). Here, we identify trees with Fr genes in a loblolly pine population derived from a complex mating design challenged with two Cqf inocula (one gall and 10 gall...

Natural History of Vertebrobasilar Dolichoectatic and Fusiform Aneurysms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Nasr, Deena M; Flemming, Kelly D; Lanzino, Giuseppe; Cloft, Harry J; Kallmes, David F; Murad, Mohammad Hassan; Brinjikji, Waleed

2018-01-01

Vertebrobasilar non-saccular and dolichoectatic aneurysms (VBDA) are a rare type of aneurysm and are generally associated with poor prognosis. In order to better characterize the natural history of VBDAs, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to determine rates of mortality, growth, rupture, ischemia, and intraparenchymal hemorrhage. We searched the literature for longitudinal natural history studies of VBDA patients reporting clinical and imaging outcomes. Studied outcomes included annualized rates of growth, rupture, ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and mortality. We also studied the association between aneurysm morphology (dolichoectatic versus fusiform) and natural history. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model using summary statistics from included studies. Fifteen studies with 827 patients and 5,093 patient-years were included. The overall annual mortality rate among patients with VBDAs was 13%/year (95% CI 8-19). Patients with fusiform aneurysms had a higher mortality rate than those with dolichoectatic aneurysms, but this did not reach statistical significance (12 vs. 8%, p = 0.11). The overall growth rate was 6%/year (95% CI 4-13). Patients with fusiform aneurysms had higher growth rates than those with dolichoectatic aneurysms (12 vs. 3%, p < 0.0001). The overall rupture rate was 3%/year (95% CI 1-5). Patients with fusiform aneurysms had higher rupture rates than those with dolichoectatic aneurysms (3 vs. 0%, p < 0.0001). The overall rate of ischemic stroke was 6%/year (95% CI 4-9). Patients with dolichoectatic aneurysms had higher ischemic stroke rates than those with fusiform aneurysms, but this did not reach statistical significance (8 vs. 4%, p = 0.13). The overall rate of ICH was 2%/year (95% CI 0-8) with no difference in rates between dolichoectatic and fusiform aneurysms (2 vs. 2%, p = 0.65). In general, the natural history of -VBDAs is poor. However, dolichoectatic and fusiform -VBDAs appear to have distinct natural histories with substantially higher growth and rupture associated with fusiform aneurysms. These findings suggest that these aneurysms should be considered separate entities. Further studies on the natural history of vertebrobasilar dolichoectatic and fusiform aneurysms with more complete follow-up are needed to better understand the risk factors for progression of these aneurysms. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Individual tree, merchantable stem green weight and volume equations for four bottomland hardwood oak species in southeast Arkansas

Treesearch

Paul F. Doruska; David W. Patterson; Matthew B. Hurd; Jonathan I. Hartley

2013-01-01

Equations were developed to estimate outside-bark, merchantable stem green weight (lb) and inside-bark merchantable stem volume (ft3) for sawtimber-sized Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckley), overcup oak (Quercus lyrata Walt.), water oak (Quercus nigra L.), and willow oak (Quercus...

Tolerance of Loblolly Pines to Fusiform Rust

Treesearch

Charles H. Walkinshaw; James P. Barnett

1995-01-01

Loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) that were 8 to 17 yr old tolerated one to three fusiform rust (Cronartium quercuum [Berk.] Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme) galls in their stems.Families with four or more galls in their stems lost 2.5% or more of the trees by age 17.In living trees with less than four stem galls, diameter growth was comparable to...

Susceptibility of loblolly x slash pine interspecific F1 hybrids to tip moth infestation and fusiform rust infection in a south Mississippi planting

Treesearch

M.T. Highsmith; L.H. Lott; C.D. Nelson

2005-01-01

Tip moth damage and fusiform rust incidence among families of three loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) parent trees from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas that were selected for southern pine bark beetle resistance and three slash pines (Pinus elliotti var. elliotti) selected for different levels of fusiform rust resistance, and five of their interspecific...

Prescreening slash pine and Cronartium pedigrees for evaluation of complementary gene action in fusiform rust disease.

Treesearch

H.E. Stelzer; Robert L. Doudrick; Thomas L. Kubisiak; C. Dana Nelson

1999-01-01

Single-urediniospore cultures of the fusiform rust fungus were used to inoculate seedlings from 10 full-sib families of a five-parent slash pine diallel at two different times in 1994. The presence or absence of fusiform rust galls was recorded for each inoculated seedling at 9 months postinoculation, and percent infection levels for each family-inoculum-time...

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors control baseline activity and Hebbian stimulus timing-dependent plasticity in fusiform cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

PubMed

Stefanescu, Roxana A; Shore, Susan E

2017-03-01

Cholinergic modulation contributes to adaptive sensory processing by controlling spontaneous and stimulus-evoked neural activity and long-term synaptic plasticity. In the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), in vitro activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) alters the spontaneous activity of DCN neurons and interacts with N -methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and endocannabinoid receptors to modulate the plasticity of parallel fiber synapses onto fusiform cells by converting Hebbian long-term potentiation to anti-Hebbian long-term depression. Because noise exposure and tinnitus are known to increase spontaneous activity in fusiform cells as well as alter stimulus timing-dependent plasticity (StTDP), it is important to understand the contribution of mAChRs to in vivo spontaneous activity and plasticity in fusiform cells. In the present study, we blocked mAChRs actions by infusing atropine, a mAChR antagonist, into the DCN fusiform cell layer in normal hearing guinea pigs. Atropine delivery leads to decreased spontaneous firing rates and increased synchronization of fusiform cell spiking activity. Consistent with StTDP alterations observed in tinnitus animals, atropine infusion induced a dominant pattern of inversion of StTDP mean population learning rule from a Hebbian to an anti-Hebbian profile. Units preserving their initial Hebbian learning rules shifted toward more excitatory changes in StTDP, whereas units with initial suppressive learning rules transitioned toward a Hebbian profile. Together, these results implicate muscarinic cholinergic modulation as a factor in controlling in vivo fusiform cell baseline activity and plasticity, suggesting a central role in the maladaptive plasticity associated with tinnitus pathology. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study is the first to use a novel method of atropine infusion directly into the fusiform cell layer of the dorsal cochlear nucleus coupled with simultaneous recordings of neural activity to clarify the contribution of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) to in vivo fusiform cell baseline activity and auditory-somatosensory plasticity. We have determined that blocking the mAChRs increases the synchronization of spiking activity across the fusiform cell population and induces a dominant pattern of inversion in their stimulus timing-dependent plasticity. These modifications are consistent with similar changes established in previous tinnitus studies, suggesting that mAChRs might have a critical contribution in mediating the maladaptive alterations associated with tinnitus pathology. Blocking mAChRs also resulted in decreased fusiform cell spontaneous firing rates, which is in contrast with their tinnitus hyperactivity, suggesting that changes in the interactions between the cholinergic and GABAergic systems might also be an underlying factor in tinnitus pathology. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Effects of Temperature and Moisture Content on the Storability of Hardwoods Seeds

Treesearch

Kristina F. Connor; Franklin T. Bonner

1999-01-01

Experimental results have been inconclusive about low temperature storage of recalcitrant seeds from temperate zone trees. Experiments were conducted on four species of oak - chinkapin (Quercus muehlenbergii Engelm.), water (Quercus nigra L.), Shumard (Quercus shumardii Buckl.), and northern red (Quercus rubra L.). Storage temperatures were -1.5 DC and 3 DC, and...

A genomic map enriched for markers linked to Avr1 in Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme

Treesearch

Thomas L Kubisiak; Claire L Anderson; Henry V Amerson; Jason A Smith; John M Davis; C Dana Nelson

2011-01-01

A novel approach is presented to map avirulence gene Avr1 in the basidiomycete Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme, the causal agent of fusiform rust disease in pines. DNA markers tightly linked to resistance gene Fr1 in loblolly pine tree 10-5 were used to classify 10-5 seedling progeny as either resistant or susceptible. A single dikaryotic isolate (P2) heterozygous...

Derivation of host and pathogen genotypes in the fusiform rust pathosystem on slash pine using a complimentary genetics model and diallel data

Treesearch

H.E. Stelzel; Robert L. Doudrick; Thomas L. Kubisiak

1997-01-01

Seedlings from 20, full-sib families five-parent slash pine diallel were inoculated using two, single urediniospore-derived cultures of the fusiform rust fungus on two different dates during the 1994 growing season. Presence or absence of fusiform rust galls was recorded for each inoculated seedling at nine months post-inoculation and percent infection levels for each...

Inactivation of murine norovirus-1 in the edible seaweeds Capsosiphon fulvescens and Hizikia fusiforme using gamma radiation.

PubMed

Park, Shin Young; Kang, Sujin; Ha, Sang-Do

2016-06-01

This study investigated the effects of gamma radiation (3-10 kGy) upon the inactivation of murine norovirus-1 (MNV-1), a human norovirus (NoV) surrogate. The edible green and brown algae, fulvescens (Capsosiphon fulvescens) and fusiforme (Hizikia fusiforme), respectively, were experimentally contaminated with 5-6 log10 plaque forming units (PFU)/ml MNV-1. The titer of MNV-1 significantly decreased (P < 0.05) as the dose of gamma radiation increased. MNV-1 titer decreased to 1.16-2.46 log10 PFU/ml in fulvescens and 0.37-2.21 log10 PFU/ml in fusiforme following irradiation. However, all Hunters ('L', 'a' and 'b') and sensory qualities (appearance, color, flavor, texture and overall acceptability) were not significantly (P > 0.05) different in both algae following gamma radiation. The Weibull model was used to generate non-linear survival curves and to calculate Gd values for 1, 2, and 3 log10 reductions of MNV-1 in fulvescens (R(2) = 0.992) and fusiforme (R(2) = 0.988). A Gd value of 1 (90% reduction) corresponded to 2.89 and 3.93 kGy in fulvescens and fusiforme, respectively. A Gd value of 2 (99% reduction) corresponded to 7.75 and 9.02 kGy in fulvescens and fusiforme, respectively, while a Gd value of 3 (99.9% reduction) in fulvescens and fusiforme corresponded with 13.83 and 14.93 kGy of gamma radiation, respectively. A combination of gamma radiation at medium doses and other treatments could be used to inactivate ≥ 3 log10 PFU/ml NoV in seaweed. The inactivation kinetics due to gamma radiation against NoV in these algae might provide basic information for use in seaweed processing and distribution. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Influence of weather at time of pollenation on acorn production of Quercus alba and Quercus velutina

Treesearch

Robert A. Cecich; Neal H. Sullivan

1999-01-01

Pistillate flower development and acorn production were observed in small populations of white oak (Quercus alba L.) and black oak (Quercus velurina Lam.) in central Missouri from 1990 to 1997. There were significant year-year differences in the size of flower crops for both species and significant tree-tree differences in black...

Effects of desiccation on temperate recalcitrant seeds: differential scanning calorimetry, gas chromatography, electron microscopy, and moisture studies on Quercus nigra and Quercus alba

Treesearch

K.F. Connor; F.T. Bonner; J.A Vozzo

1996-01-01

Investigations into the nature of desiccation-sensitive, or recalcitrant, seed behavior have as yet failed to identify exact causes of this phenomenon. Experiments with Quercus nigra L. and Quercus alba L. were conducted to examine physiological and biochemical changes brought about by seed desiccation and to determine if there...

Draft genome sequence of the fungus associated with oak-wilt mortality in South Korea, Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae KACC44405

Treesearch

Jongbum Jeon; Ki-Tae Kim; Hyeunjeong Song; Gir-Won Lee; Kyeongchae Cheong; Hyunbin Kim; Gobong Choi; Yong-Hwan Lee; Jane E. Stewart; Ned B. Klopfenstein; Mee-Sook Kim

2017-01-01

The fungus Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae is the causal agent of Korean oak wilt, a disease associated with mass mortality of oak trees (e.g., Quercus spp.). The fungus is vectored and dispersed by the ambrosia beetle, Platypus koryoensis. Here, we present the 27.0-Mb draft genome sequence of R. quercus-mongolicae strain KACC44405.

The role of prescribed burning in regenerating Quercus macrocarpa and associated woody plants in stringer woodlands in the Black Hills, South Dakota

Treesearch

Carolyn Hull Sieg; Henry A. Wright

1996-01-01

Throughout the range of Quercus macrocarpa, fire historically played an important role in maintaining Quercus stands. However, little is known about the role of fire in maintaining stringer Quercus stands on the western edge of its distribution. This research suggests that prescribed burning could be used to rejuvenate woody plants...

The use of Proline (Prothioconazole) to control pitch canker, Rhizoctonia foliage blight, and Fusiform rust in forest seedling nurseries and efforts to acquire registration

Treesearch

Tom E. Starkey; Scott A. Enebak

2011-01-01

Laboratory, greenhouse, and field trials have shown Proline® to be efficacious against three fungal pathogens that cause damage and seedling mortality in forest seedling nurseries. Disease control using Proline® has been obtained at 365 ml/ha (5 fl oz/ac) for the control of fusiform rust (Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme) on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) in both...

Different treatment modalities of fusiform basilar trunk aneurysm: study on computational hemodynamics.

PubMed

Wu, Chen; Xu, Bai-Nan; Sun, Zheng-Hui; Wang, Fu-Yu; Liu, Lei; Zhang, Xiao-Jun; Zhou, Ding-Biao

2012-01-01

Unclippable fusiform basilar trunk aneurysm is a formidable condition for surgical treatment. The aim of this study was to establish a computational model and to investigate the hemodynamic characteristics in a fusiform basilar trunk aneurysm. The three-dimensional digital model of a fusiform basilar trunk aneurysm was constructed using MIMICS, ANSYS and CFX software. Different hemodynamic modalities and border conditions were assigned to the model. Thirty points were selected randomly on the wall and within the aneurysm. Wall total pressure (WTP), wall shear stress (WSS), and blood flow velocity of each point were calculated and hemodynamic status was compared between different modalities. The quantitative average values of the 30 points on the wall and within the aneurysm were obtained by computational calculation point by point. The velocity and WSS in modalities A and B were different from those of the remaining 5 modalities; and the WTP in modalities A, E and F were higher than those of the remaining 4 modalities. The digital model of a fusiform basilar artery aneurysm is feasible and reliable. This model could provide some important information to clinical treatment options.

Sargassum fusiforme fraction is a potent and specific inhibitor of HIV-1 fusion and reverse transcriptase

PubMed Central

Paskaleva, Elena E; Lin, Xudong; Duus, Karen; McSharry, James J; Veille, Jean-Claude L; Thornber, Carol; Liu, Yanze; Lee, David Yu-Wei; Canki, Mario

2008-01-01

Sargassum fusiforme (Harvey) Setchell has been shown to be a highly effective inhibitor of HIV-1 infection. To identify its mechanism of action, we performed bioactivity-guided fractionation on Sargassum fusiforme mixture. Here, we report isolation of a bioactive fraction SP4-2 (S. fusiforme), which at 8 μg/ml inhibited HIV-1 infection by 86.9%, with IC50 value of 3.7 μg. That represents 230-fold enhancement of antiretroviral potency as compared to the whole extract. Inhibition was mediated against both CXCR4 (X4) and CCR5 (R5) tropic HIV-1. Specifically, 10 μg/ml SP4-2 blocked HIV-1 fusion and entry by 53%. This effect was reversed by interaction of SP4-2 with sCD4, suggesting that S. fusiforme inhibits HIV-1 infection by blocking CD4 receptor, which also explained observed inhibition of both X4 and R5-tropic HIV-1. SP4-2 also inhibited HIV-1 replication after virus entry, by directly inhibiting HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) in a dose dependent manner by up to 79%. We conclude that the SP4-2 fraction contains at least two distinct and biologically active molecules, one that inhibits HIV-1 fusion by interacting with CD4 receptor, and another that directly inhibits HIV-1 RT. We propose that S. fusiforme is a lead candidate for anti-HIV-1 drug development. PMID:18197976

Gymnomyces xerophilus sp. nov. (sequestrate Russulaceae), an ectomycorrhizal associate of Quercus in California.

Treesearch

Matthew E. Smith; James M. Trappe; David M. Rizzo; Steven L. Miller

2006-01-01

Gymnomyces xerophilus sp. nov., a sequestrate species in the Russulaceae, is characterized and described morphologically as a new species from Quercus-dominated woodlands in California. ITS sequences recovered from healthy, ectomycorrhizal roots of Quercus douglasii and Q....

Dimeric and trimeric hydrolyzable tannins from Quercus coccifera and Quercus suber.

PubMed

Ito, Hideyuki; Yamaguchi, Koji; Kim, Tae-Hoon; Khennouf, Seddik; Gharzouli, Kamel; Yoshida, Takashi

2002-03-01

Three new hydrolyzable tannins, cocciferins D(1) (1), D(2) (2), and T(1) (4), were isolated from the leaves of Quercus coccifera. Cocciferin D(2) (2) and two additional new tannins, cocciferins D(3) (3) and T(2) (5), were also obtained from the leaves of Quercus suber. Their oligomeric structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods and chemical evidence. Compounds 2, 3, and 5 were rare oligomers possessing glucose cores with both open-chain and pyranose forms.

The effects of girdling on the ectomycorrhizal fungal community associated with tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus)

Treesearch

Sarah Bergermann; Nicholas Kordesch; Matteo Garbelotto; Timothy Metz

2006-01-01

Phytophthora ramorum was identified as the lethal agent of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), black oak (Quercus kelloggii) and coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) in central areas of California. Although the geographic origin remains unknown, its severe impact on tanoaks and Quercus...

Foliar nutrients explain goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus, adult feeding preference among four California oak species

Treesearch

Yigen Chen; Tom. W. Coleman; Michael. I. Jones; Mary. L. Flint; Steven. J. Seybold

2013-01-01

Adults of the invasive goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), consumed foliar weight in no-choice feeding tests of, in descending order, California black oak Quercus kelloggii Newb., Engelmann oak, Quercus engelmannii Greene, coast live oak, Quercus...

Sudden Oak Death - Western (Pest Alert)

Treesearch

Susan Frankel

2002-01-01

Tens of thousands of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), Shreve oak (Quercus parvula var. shrevei), and madrone (Arbutus menziesii) have been killed by a newly identified species, Phytophthora ramorum, which causes Sudden Oak Death. Sudden Oak Death was first reported in 1995 in central coastal...

Photosynthetic Light Response of Bottomland Oak Seedlings Raised Under Partial Sunlight

Treesearch

Emile S. Gardiner

2002-01-01

Seedlings of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Rafinesque), Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii Palmer) and overcup oak (Quercus lyrata Walter) were grown under two light levels, partial (20 percent) or full sunlight, to study physiological acclimation of leaves to low light availability. Shifts in leaf morphology were...

Evolution of phenolic compounds of spanish oak wood during natural seasoning. First results.

PubMed

Fernández De Simón, B; Cadahía, E; Conde, E; García-Vallejo, M C

1999-04-01

Low molecular weight polyphenols and ellagitannins were analyzed by HPLC, and the molecular weight distribution of ellagitannins was calculated by GPC, in oak heartwood of Quercus robur L., Quercus petraea Liebl., Quercus pyrenaica Wild., and Quercus faginea Lam., grown in Spain, before and after 1 year of seasoning, in Bordeaux, France. During this process, the concentrations of low molecular weight polyphenols (acids and aldehydes, benzoic and cinnamic, and coumarins) increased, and those of ellagitannins (castalagin, vescalagin, and roburins A-E) decreased. A similar behavior for the A and B compounds in all species was not found. This modification in the chemical composition was similar in the four Spanish species of Quercus studied and allowed the differentiation between the unseasoned wood and the wood after the first year of seasoning.

Objects and categories: feature statistics and object processing in the ventral stream.

PubMed

Tyler, Lorraine K; Chiu, Shannon; Zhuang, Jie; Randall, Billi; Devereux, Barry J; Wright, Paul; Clarke, Alex; Taylor, Kirsten I

2013-10-01

Recognizing an object involves more than just visual analyses; its meaning must also be decoded. Extensive research has shown that processing the visual properties of objects relies on a hierarchically organized stream in ventral occipitotemporal cortex, with increasingly more complex visual features being coded from posterior to anterior sites culminating in the perirhinal cortex (PRC) in the anteromedial temporal lobe (aMTL). The neurobiological principles of the conceptual analysis of objects remain more controversial. Much research has focused on two neural regions-the fusiform gyrus and aMTL, both of which show semantic category differences, but of different types. fMRI studies show category differentiation in the fusiform gyrus, based on clusters of semantically similar objects, whereas category-specific deficits, specifically for living things, are associated with damage to the aMTL. These category-specific deficits for living things have been attributed to problems in differentiating between highly similar objects, a process that involves the PRC. To determine whether the PRC and the fusiform gyri contribute to different aspects of an object's meaning, with differentiation between confusable objects in the PRC and categorization based on object similarity in the fusiform, we carried out an fMRI study of object processing based on a feature-based model that characterizes the degree of semantic similarity and difference between objects and object categories. Participants saw 388 objects for which feature statistic information was available and named the objects at the basic level while undergoing fMRI scanning. After controlling for the effects of visual information, we found that feature statistics that capture similarity between objects formed category clusters in fusiform gyri, such that objects with many shared features (typical of living things) were associated with activity in the lateral fusiform gyri whereas objects with fewer shared features (typical of nonliving things) were associated with activity in the medial fusiform gyri. Significantly, a feature statistic reflecting differentiation between highly similar objects, enabling object-specific representations, was associated with bilateral PRC activity. These results confirm that the statistical characteristics of conceptual object features are coded in the ventral stream, supporting a conceptual feature-based hierarchy, and integrating disparate findings of category responses in fusiform gyri and category deficits in aMTL into a unifying neurocognitive framework.

Direct mechanical dispersion and in vitro culture of fusiform rust fungus single basidiospores

Treesearch

Alex M. Diner

1999-01-01

Single basidiospores of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme were cast from telia suspended over a solidified nutritional medium affixed to an operating orbital shaker. Spores thus mechanically dispersed and isolated, germinated to develop single-genotype colonies.

Bidirectional synaptic plasticity in the cerebellum-like mammalian dorsal cochlear nucleus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujino, Kiyohiro; Oertel, Donata

2003-01-01

The dorsal cochlear nucleus integrates acoustic with multimodal sensory inputs from widespread areas of the brain. Multimodal inputs are brought to spiny dendrites of fusiform and cartwheel cells in the molecular layer by parallel fibers through synapses that are subject to long-term potentiation and long-term depression. Acoustic cues are brought to smooth dendrites of fusiform cells in the deep layer by auditory nerve fibers through synapses that do not show plasticity. Plasticity requires Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release; its sensitivity to antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate and metabotropic glutamate receptors differs in fusiform and cartwheel cells.

Effects of disking, bedding, and subsoiling on survival and growth of three oak species in central Mississippi

Treesearch

J. Paul Jeffreys; Emily B. Schultz; Thomas G. Matney; W. Cade Booth; Jason M. Morris

2010-01-01

A replicated split-plot design experiment to evaluate the effects of three site preparation methods (disking, bedding, and subsoiling plus bedding) on survival and growth of three oak species (cherrybark, Quercus pagoda Raf.; Shumard, Quercus shumardii Buckl.; and Nuttall, Quercus texana Buckl.) was established...

The oak (Quercus) biodiversity of California and adjacent regions

Treesearch

Kevin C. Nixon

2002-01-01

Twenty species of oak (Quercus) are known from California. The white oak group is the most diverse, and includes a complex of scrub oak species that are often encountered in chaparral, mixed forest and desert margin habitats. The Protobalanus group (e.g., Quercus chrysolepis) is a unique and distinctive clade of western North...

Do chestnut, northern red, and white oak germinant seedlings respond similarly to light treatments? Growth and biomass

Treesearch

Joanne Rebbeck; Kurt Gottschalk; Amy Scherzer

2011-01-01

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedling growth has been extensively studied. White oak (Quercus alba L.) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.), however, are far less investigated despite their importance among upland oak species in eastern North American forests. We characterized white and chestnut oak...

Spatial Patterns of Irradiance and Advanced Reproduction along a Canopy Disturbance Severity Gradient in an Upland Hardwood Stand

Treesearch

Amanda Keasberry; Justin Hart; Daniel C. Dey; Callie Schweitzer

2016-01-01

Regeneration failure of Quercus in mature Quercus-dominated forests has been reported throughout the temperate zone. Quercus seedlings are often abundant in these forests, yet frequently fail to recruit to larger size classes despite canopy disturbances. To examine intra-stand patterns of advanced...

Suppression of noise-induced hyperactivity in the dorsal cochlear nucleus following application of the cholinergic agonist, carbachol

PubMed Central

Manzoor, N.F.; Chen, G.; Kaltenbach, J.A.

2013-01-01

Increased spontaneous firing (hyperactivity) is induced in fusiform cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) following intense sound exposure and is implicated as a possible neural correlate of noise-induced tinnitus. Previous studies have shown that in normal hearing animals, fusiform cell activity can be modulated by activation of parallel fibers, which represent the axons of granule cells. The modulation consists of a transient excitation followed by a more prolonged period of inhibition, presumably reflecting direct excitatory inputs to fusiform cells and an indirect inhibitory input to fusiform cells from the granule cell-cartwheel cell system. We hypothesized that since granule cells can be activated by cholinergic inputs, it might be possible to suppress tinnitus-related hyperactivity of fusiform cells using the cholinergic agonist, carbachol. To test this hypothesis, we recorded multiunit spontaneous activity in the fusiform soma layer (FSL) of the DCN in control and tone-exposed hamsters (10 kHz, 115 dB SPL, 4 h) before and after application of carbachol to the DCN surface. In both exposed and control animals, 100 µM carbachol had a transient excitatory effect on spontaneous activity followed by a rapid weakening of activity to near or below normal levels. In exposed animals, the weakening of activity was powerful enough to completely abolish the hyperactivity induced by intense sound exposure. This suppressive effect was partially reversed by application of atropine and was not associated with significant changes in neural best frequencies (BF) or BF thresholds. These findings demonstrate that noise-induced hyperactivity can be pharmacologically controlled and raise the possibility that attenuation of tinnitus may be achievable by using an agonist of the cholinergic system. PMID:23721928

Suppression of noise-induced hyperactivity in the dorsal cochlear nucleus following application of the cholinergic agonist, carbachol.

PubMed

Manzoor, N F; Chen, G; Kaltenbach, J A

2013-07-26

Increased spontaneous firing (hyperactivity) is induced in fusiform cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) following intense sound exposure and is implicated as a possible neural correlate of noise-induced tinnitus. Previous studies have shown that in normal hearing animals, fusiform cell activity can be modulated by activation of parallel fibers, which represent the axons of granule cells. The modulation consists of a transient excitation followed by a more prolonged period of inhibition, presumably reflecting direct excitatory inputs to fusiform cells and an indirect inhibitory input to fusiform cells from the granule cell-cartwheel cell system. We hypothesized that since granule cells can be activated by cholinergic inputs, it might be possible to suppress tinnitus-related hyperactivity of fusiform cells using the cholinergic agonist, carbachol. To test this hypothesis, we recorded multiunit spontaneous activity in the fusiform soma layer (FSL) of the DCN in control and tone-exposed hamsters (10 kHz, 115 dB SPL, 4h) before and after application of carbachol to the DCN surface. In both exposed and control animals, 100 μM carbachol had a transient excitatory effect on spontaneous activity followed by a rapid weakening of activity to near or below normal levels. In exposed animals, the weakening of activity was powerful enough to completely abolish the hyperactivity induced by intense sound exposure. This suppressive effect was partially reversed by application of atropine and was usually not associated with significant changes in neural best frequencies (BF) or BF thresholds. These findings demonstrate that noise-induced hyperactivity can be pharmacologically controlled and raise the possibility that attenuation of tinnitus may be achievable by using an agonist of the cholinergic system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Survival and growth of Pinus echinata and Quercus seedlings in response to simulated summer and winter prescribed burns

Treesearch

Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

2000-01-01

First-year seedlings of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.), southern red oak (Quercus falcata Michx.), and white oak (Quercus alba L.) were subjected to simulated prescribed burns during August (growing season) or January (dormant season) on an Upper Coastal Plain site in southeastern Arkansas, U.S.A. Survival...

Effects of ice storm damage on hardwood survival and growth in Ohio

Treesearch

Richard M. Turcotte; Thomas R. Elliott; Mary Ann Fajvan; Yong-Lak Park; Daniel A. Snider; Patrick C. Tobin

2012-01-01

In 2003, an ice storm occurred across four Mid-Atlantic states. This study investigated the effects of the ice-storm damage on growth and mortality of five tree species (Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum, Quercus alba, Quercus prinus, and Quercus rubra) from three forest stands in the Wayne National Forest in Ohio. We remeasured the same...

Complete mitochondrial genome of the brown alga Sargassum fusiforme (Sargassaceae, Phaeophyceae): genome architecture and taxonomic consideration.

PubMed

Liu, Feng; Pang, Shaojun; Luo, Minbo

2016-01-01

Sargassum fusiforme (Harvey) Setchell (=Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura) is one of the most important economic seaweeds for mariculture in China. In this study, we present the complete mitochondrial genome of S. fusiforme. The genome is 34,696 bp in length with circular organization, encoding the standard set of three ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA), 25 transfer RNA genes (tRNA), 35 protein-coding genes, and two conserved open reading frames (ORFs). Its total AT content is 62.47%, lower than other brown algae except Pylaiella littoralis. The mitogenome carries 1571 bp of intergenic region constituting 4.53% of the genome, and 13 pairs of overlapping genes with the overlap size from 1 to 90 bp. The phylogenetic analyses based on 35 protein-coding genes reveal that S. fusiforme has a closer evolutionary relationship with Sargassum muticum than Sargassum horneri, indicating Hizikia are not distinct evolutionary entity and should be reduced to synonymy with Sargassum.

Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies of Cd2+ Biosorption by the Brown Algae Sargassum fusiforme

PubMed Central

Zou, Hui-Xi; Li, Nan; Wang, Li-Hua; Yu, Ping; Yan, Xiu-Feng

2014-01-01

A fundamental investigation of the biosorption of Cd2+ from aqueous solution by the edible seaweed Sargassum fusiforme was performed under batch conditions. The influences of experimental parameters, such as the initial pH, sorption time, temperature, and initial Cd2+ concentration, on Cd2+ uptake by S. fusiforme were evaluated. The results indicated that the biosorption of Cd2+ depended on the initial Cd2+ concentration, as well as the pH. The uptake of Cd2+ could be described by the Langmuir isotherm model, and both the Langmuir biosorption equilibrium constant and the maximum biosorption capacity of the monolayer decreased with increasing temperature, thereby confirming the exothermic character of the sorption process. The biosorption kinetics follows the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and intraparticle diffusion is the sole rate-limiting step for the entire biosorption period. These fundamental equilibrium and kinetic results can support further studies to the removal of cadmium from S. fusiforme harvested from cadmium-polluted waters. PMID:24736449

The Effect of Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae Inoculations on the Formation of Non-conductive Sapwood of Quercus mongolica.

PubMed

Torii, Masato; Matsuda, Yosuke; Seo, Sang Tae; Kim, Kyung Hee; Ito, Shin-Ichiro; Moon, Myung Jin; Kim, Seong Hwan; Yamada, Toshihiro

2014-06-01

In Korea, mass mortality of Quercus mongolica trees has become obvious since 2004. Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae is believed to be a causal fungus contributing the mortality. To evaluate the pathogenicity of the fungus to the trees, the fungus was multiple- and single-inoculated to the seedlings and twigs of the mature trees, respectively. In both the inoculations, the fungus was reisolated from more than 50% of inoculated twigs and seedlings. In the single inoculations, proportions of the transverse area of non-conductive sapwood at inoculation points and vertical lengths of discoloration expanded from the points were significantly different between the inoculation treatment and the control. In the multiple inoculations, no mortality was confirmed among the seedlings examined. These results showed that R. quercus-mongolicae can colonize sapwood, contribute to sapwood discoloration and disrupt sap flows around inoculation sites of Q. mongolica, although the pathogenicity of the fungus was not proven.

Sargassum fusiforme polysaccharides activate antioxidant defense by promoting Nrf2-dependent cytoprotection and ameliorate stress insult during aging.

PubMed

Chen, Peichao; He, Dan; Zhang, Ya; Yang, Shanshan; Chen, Liujun; Wang, Shengqin; Zou, Huixi; Liao, Zhiyong; Zhang, Xu; Wu, Mingjiang

2016-11-09

Aging is a complex issue, which results in a progressive decline process in cellular protection and physiological functions. Illustrating the causes of aging and pharmaceutical interference with the aging process has been a pivotal issue for thousands of years. Sargassum fusiforme (S. fusiforme), a kind of brown alga, is also named the "longevity vegetable" as it is not only a kind of food, but also used as an herb in traditional Chinese Medicine for maintaining health and treatment of thyroid disease, cardiovascular disease and so on. But how S. fusiforme promotes longevity is vastly equivocal. We got clues from S. fusiforme polysaccharides, which exhibited antioxidant activity, but the underlying mechanisms remained unclear. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant effect and the possible mechanisms that S. fusiforme polysaccharides have against d-galactose-induced aging and chronic aging. We selected the SFPS as the candidate for antioxidant defense evaluation, which is a type of S. fusiforme polysaccharide with strong free radical scavenging activity and non-toxicity. It revealed that the antioxidant defense of the d-galactose-induced mice was markedly recovered when they were intragastrically administrated with the SFPS. However, oxidative damage may not be the only cause of aging. We further evaluated the function of the SFPS in the chronic aging mice. Intriguingly, we even found an obvious aging phenotype in the middle aged male ICR mice, which showed a significant decline in Nrf2-dependent cytoprotection. When 9-month old male ICR mice were treated with the SFPS for 2 months or even 11 months to their mean survival age, experimental measurements showed that the SFPS significantly promoted the antioxidant defense and mitochondrial integrity during aging. Furthermore, we suggest that the SFPS promotes Nrf2-dependent cytoprotection by upregulating the nuclear Nrf2 translocation, which may be mediated by p21 and JNK dependent pathways. These results suggest that the SFPS may decelerate the aging process by enhancing Nrf2-dependent cytoprotection, especially antioxidant defense.

Degree of fusiform dilatation of the proximal descending aorta in type B acute aortic dissection can predict late aortic events.

PubMed

Marui, Akira; Mochizuki, Takaaki; Koyama, Tadaaki; Mitsui, Norimasa

2007-11-01

Predicting the risk factors for late aortic events in patients with type B acute aortic dissection without complications may help to determine a therapeutic strategy for this disorder. We investigated whether late aortic events in type B acute aortic dissection can be predicted accurately by an index that expresses the degree of fusiform dilatation of the proximal descending aorta during the acute phase; this index can be calculated as follows: (maximum diameter of the proximal descending aorta)/(diameter of the distal aortic arch + diameter of the descending aorta at the pulmonary artery level). Patients with type B acute aortic dissection without complications (n = 141) were retrospectively analyzed to determine the predictors of late aortic events; these include aortic dilatation, rupture, refractory pain, organ ischemia, rapid aortic enlargement, and rapid enlargement of ulcer-like projections. The fusiform index in patients with late aortic events (0.59) was higher than that in patients without late aortic events (0.53, P < .01). Patients with a higher fusiform index exhibited aortic dilatation earlier than those with a lower fusiform index. By multivariate analysis, we conclude that the predominant independent predictors of late aortic events were a maximum aortic diameter of 40 mm or more, a patent false lumen, and a fusiform index of 0.64 or more (hazard ratios, 3.18, 2.64, and 2.73, respectively). The values of actuarial freedom from aortic events for patients with all 3 predictors at 1, 5, and 10 years were 22%, 17%, and 8%, respectively, whereas the values in those without these predictors were 97%, 94%, and 90%, respectively. The degree of fusiform dilatation of the proximal descending aorta, a patent false lumen, and a large aortic diameter can be predominant predictors of late aortic events in patients with type B acute aortic dissection. Patients with these predictors should be recommended to undergo early interventions (surgery or stent-graft implantation) or at least be closely followed up during the chronic phase before such events develop.

Excess copper induced proteomic changes in the marine brown algae Sargassum fusiforme.

PubMed

Zou, Hui-Xi; Pang, Qiu-Ying; Zhang, Ai-Qin; Lin, Li-Dong; Li, Nan; Yan, Xiu-Feng

2015-01-01

Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient for algal growth and development; however, it is also generally considered to be one of the most toxic metals when present at higher levels. Seaweeds are often exposed to low concentrations of metals, including Cu, for long time periods. In cases of ocean outfall, they may even be abruptly exposed to high levels of metals. The physiological processes that are active under Cu stress are largely unknown. In this study, the brown macroalga Sargassum fusiforme was cultured in fresh seawater at final Cu concentrations of 0, 4, 8, 24 and 47 μM. The Cu(2+) concentration and chlorophyll autofluorescence were measured to establish the toxic effects of Cu on this economically important seaweed. The accumulation of Cu by S. fusiforme was also dependent upon the external Cu concentration. Algal growth displayed a general decline with increasing media Cu concentrations, indicating that S. fusiforme was able to tolerate Cu stress at low concentrations, while it was negatively impacted at high concentrations. The term "acute stress" was employed to indicate exposure to high Cu concentrations for 1 day in this study. On the other hand, "chronic stress" was defined as exposure to lower sub-lethal Cu concentrations for 7 days. Proteins were extracted from control and Cu-treated S. fusiforme samples and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Distinct patterns of protein expression in the acute and chronic stress conditions were observed. Proteins related to energy metabolism and photosynthesis were reduced significantly, whereas those related to carbohydrate metabolism, protein destination, RNA degradation and signaling regulation were induced in S. fusiforme in response to acute copper stress. Energy metabolism-related proteins were significantly induced by chronic Cu stress. Proteins from other functional groups, such as those related to membranes and transport, were present in minor quantities. These results suggest that S. fusiforme is sensitive to excess Cu, regardless of the presence of acute or chronic stress. We discuss the possible function of these identified proteins, taking into consideration the information available from other plant models. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Common Neural Substrate for Perceiving and Knowing about Color

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, W. Kyle; Ramjee, Vimal; Beauchamp, Michael S.; McRae, Ken; Martin, Alex; Barsalou, Lawrence W.

2007-01-01

Functional neuroimaging research has demonstrated that retrieving information about object-associated colors activates the left fusiform gyrus in posterior temporal cortex. Although regions near the fusiform have previously been implicated in color perception, it remains unclear whether color knowledge retrieval actually activates the color…

Prefrontal-hippocampal-fusiform activity during encoding predicts intraindividual differences in free recall ability: an event-related functional-anatomic MRI study.

PubMed

Dickerson, B C; Miller, S L; Greve, D N; Dale, A M; Albert, M S; Schacter, D L; Sperling, R A

2007-01-01

The ability to spontaneously recall recently learned information is a fundamental mnemonic activity of daily life, but has received little study using functional neuroimaging. We developed a functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm to study regional brain activity during encoding that predicts free recall. In this event-related fMRI study, ten lists of fourteen pictures of common objects were shown to healthy young individuals and regional brain activity during encoding was analyzed based on subsequent free recall performance. Free recall of items was predicted by activity during encoding in hippocampal, fusiform, and inferior prefrontal cortical regions. Within-subject variance in free recall performance for the ten lists was predicted by a linear combination of condition-specific inferior prefrontal, hippocampal, and fusiform activity. Recall performance was better for lists in which prefrontal activity was greater for all items of the list and hippocampal and fusiform activity were greater specifically for items that were recalled from the list. Thus, the activity of medial temporal, fusiform, and prefrontal brain regions during the learning of new information is important for the subsequent free recall of this information. These fronto-temporal brain regions act together as a large-scale memory-related network, the components of which make distinct yet interacting contributions during encoding that predict subsequent successful free recall performance.

Prefrontal-Hippocampal-Fusiform Activity During Encoding Predicts Intraindividual Differences in Free Recall Ability: An Event-Related Functional-Anatomic MRI Study

PubMed Central

Dickerson, B.C.; Miller, S.L.; Greve, D.N.; Dale, A.M.; Albert, M.S.; Schacter, D.L.; Sperling, R.A.

2009-01-01

The ability to spontaneously recall recently learned information is a fundamental mnemonic activity of daily life, but has received little study using functional neuroimaging. We developed a functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm to study regional brain activity during encoding that predicts free recall. In this event-related fMRI study, ten lists of fourteen pictures of common objects were shown to healthy young individuals and regional brain activity during encoding was analyzed based on subsequent free recall performance. Free recall of items was predicted by activity during encoding in hippocampal, fusiform, and inferior prefrontal cortical regions. Within-subject variance in free recall performance for the ten lists was predicted by a linear combination of condition-specific inferior prefrontal, hippocampal, and fusiform activity. Recall performance was better for lists in which pre-frontal activity was greater for all items of the list and hippocampal and fusi-form activity were greater specifically for items that were recalled from the list. Thus, the activity of medial temporal, fusiform, and prefrontal brain regions during the learning of new information is important for the subsequent free recall of this information. These fronto-temporal brain regions act together as a large-scale memory-related network, the components of which make distinct yet interacting contributions during encoding that predict subsequent successful free recall performance. PMID:17604356

Effect of surface wettability on germination and gene expression in Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme basidiospores.

Treesearch

L.G. Baker; Pauline Spaine; S.F. Covert

2006-01-01

Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme is an obligate pathogen of pine and oak. Its basidiospores are specifically adapted to recognize and establish infections on the pine host. Depending on environmental cues, the basidiospores can germinate directly, which typically leads to infection of pine,...

Insect-oak interactions with coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) and Engelmann oak (Q. engelmannii) at the acorn and seedling stage

Treesearch

Connell E. Dunning; Timothy D. Paine; Richard A. Redak

2002-01-01

We determined the impact of insects on both acorns and seedlings of coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia Nee) and Engelmann oak (Quercus engelmannii E. Greene). Our goals were to (1) identify insects feeding on acorns and levels of insect damage, and (2) measure performance and preference of a generalist leaf-feeding insect herbivore...

Genetic diversity and population structure of Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae, a fungus associated with oak mortality in South Korea

Treesearch

M. -S. Kim; P. A. Hohenlohe; K. -H. Kim; S. -T. Seo; Ned Klopfenstein

2016-01-01

Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae is a fungus associated with oak wilt and deemed to cause extensive oak mortality in South Korea. Since the discovery of this fungus on a dead Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica) in 2004, the mortality continued to spread southwards in South Korea. Despite continued expansion of the disease and associated significant impacts on forest...

Development of Chloroplast and Nuclear DNA Markers for Chinese Oaks (Quercus Subgenus Quercus) and Assessment of Their Utility as DNA Barcodes

PubMed Central

Yang, Jia; Vázquez, Lucía; Chen, Xiaodan; Li, Huimin; Zhang, Hao; Liu, Zhanlin; Zhao, Guifang

2017-01-01

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is frequently used for species demography, evolution, and species discrimination of plants. However, the lack of efficient and universal markers often brings particular challenges for genetic studies across different plant groups. In this study, chloroplast genomes from two closely related species (Quercus rubra and Castanea mollissima) in Fagaceae were compared to explore universal cpDNA markers for the Chinese oak species in Quercus subgenus Quercus, a diverse species group without sufficient molecular differentiation. With the comparison, nine and 14 plastid markers were selected as barcoding and phylogeographic candidates for the Chinese oaks. Five (psbA-trnH, matK-trnK, ycf3-trnS, matK, and ycf1) of the nine plastid candidate barcodes, with the addition of newly designed ITS and a single-copy nuclear gene (SAP), were then tested on 35 Chinese oak species employing four different barcoding approaches (genetic distance-, BLAST-, character-, and tree-based methods). The four methods showed different species identification powers with character-based method performing the best. Of the seven barcodes tested, a barcoding gap was absent in all of them across the Chinese oaks, while ITS and psbA-trnH provided the highest species resolution (30.30%) with the character- and BLAST-based methods, respectively. The six-marker combination (psbA-trnH + matK-trnK + matK + ycf1 + ITS + SAP) showed the best species resolution (84.85%) using the character-based method for barcoding the Chinese oaks. The barcoding results provided additional implications for taxonomy of the Chinese oaks in subg. Quercus, basically identifying three major infrageneric clades of the Chinese oaks (corresponding to Groups Quercus, Cerris, and Ilex) referenced to previous phylogenetic classification of Quercus. While the morphology-based allocations proposed for the Chinese oaks in subg. Quercus were challenged. A low variation rate of the chloroplast genome, and complex speciation patterns involving incomplete lineage sorting, interspecific hybridization and introgression, possibly have negative impacts on the species assignment and phylogeny of oak species. PMID:28579999

The Effect of Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae Inoculations on the Formation of Non-conductive Sapwood of Quercus mongolica

PubMed Central

Matsuda, Yosuke; Seo, Sang Tae; Kim, Kyung Hee; Ito, Shin-ichiro; Moon, Myung Jin; Kim, Seong Hwan; Yamada, Toshihiro

2014-01-01

In Korea, mass mortality of Quercus mongolica trees has become obvious since 2004. Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae is believed to be a causal fungus contributing the mortality. To evaluate the pathogenicity of the fungus to the trees, the fungus was multiple- and single-inoculated to the seedlings and twigs of the mature trees, respectively. In both the inoculations, the fungus was reisolated from more than 50% of inoculated twigs and seedlings. In the single inoculations, proportions of the transverse area of non-conductive sapwood at inoculation points and vertical lengths of discoloration expanded from the points were significantly different between the inoculation treatment and the control. In the multiple inoculations, no mortality was confirmed among the seedlings examined. These results showed that R. quercus-mongolicae can colonize sapwood, contribute to sapwood discoloration and disrupt sap flows around inoculation sites of Q. mongolica, although the pathogenicity of the fungus was not proven. PMID:25071395

Neurons in the Fusiform Gyrus are Fewer and Smaller in Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Kooten, Imke A. J.; Palmen, Saskia J. M. C.; von Cappeln, Patricia; Steinbusch, Harry W. M.; Korr, Hubert; Heinsen, Helmut; Hof, Patrick R.; van Engeland, Herman; Schmitz, Christoph

2008-01-01

Abnormalities in face perception are a core feature of social disabilities in autism. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies showed that patients with autism could perform face perception tasks. However, the fusiform gyrus (FG) and other cortical regions supporting face processing in controls are hypoactive in patients with autism.…

Decline in Values of Slash Pine Stands Infected with Fusiform Rust

Treesearch

F.E. Bridgwater; W.D. Smith

2002-01-01

Losses in product values due tofusiform rust, caused by Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miyabe ex Shirai f. sp. fusiforme, were estimated from four, 2.5-yr-old slash pine, Pinus elliotii Engelm., plantations planted in southern Mississippi over a range of sites with different growth potential and expected rust infection levels. The...

Effect of Calcium, Magnesium, and Aluminum-Iron on the Susceptibility of Loblolly Pine Seedlings to Fusiform Rust

Treesearch

S.J. Rowan

1979-01-01

The susceptibility (percentage of seedlings infected) of Pinus taeda seedlings to infection by Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme was not affected by fertilization with calcium, magnesium, or aluminum-iron. Fertilization with Al as Al2(SO4)2,and Fe as FeCl

Seed Treatment with Systemic Fungicides for the Control of Fusiform Rust in Loblolly Pine

Treesearch

John G. Mexal; Glenn A. Snow

1978-01-01

A new systemic fungicide, Bayleton, may economically control fusiform rust in southern pine nurseries. Stratified seeds of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) were imbibed with Bayleton and two other systemic fungicides, and the seedlings were inoculated at three stages of emergence with spores of Cronartium quercuum (Berk.) Miyabe ex...

The Left Fusiform Area Is Affected by Written Frequency of Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proverbio, Alice M.; Zani, Alberto; Adorni, Roberta

2008-01-01

The recent neuroimaging literature gives conflicting evidence about whether the left fusiform gyrus (FG) might recognize words as unitary visual objects. The sensitivity of the left FG to word frequency might provide a neural basis for the orthographic input lexicon theorized by reading models [Patterson, K., Marshall, J. C., & Coltheart, M.…

A method of augmenting the cheek area through SMAS, subSMAS, and subcutaneous tissue recruitment during facelift surgery.

PubMed

Brandy, Dominic A

2003-03-01

As the human face ages, there is a depletion of fat that occurs in the submalar region. Various techniques such as fat transfers, fillers, alloplastic implants, and composite rhytidectomies have been used to augment this area in the past. To describe a technique that augments the submalar areas during facelift surgery without the use of fat transfer, fillers, alloplastic implants, or a risky composite technique. An oval is scribed over the depressed submalar areas preoperatively. During facelift surgery, a fusiform area is scribed over the SMAS. This fusiform is scribed so that the medial end is directed at the center of the submalar depression, and the lateral end is toward the posterior earlobe. A defect is created within the lateral aspect of the fusiform, but not the medial portion. The fusiform is subsequently closed with a 2-0 Ethibond suture using three horizontal mattress sutures and two interrupted sutures. Upon closure of this defect, SMAS, subSMAS, and subcutaneous tissue overlying the SMAS are recruited into the submalar defect by the simple phenomenon of dog-ear formation. Additionally, there is a component of frank elevation of the tissues inferior to the medial aspect of the fusiform and submalar space. The aforementioned technique has been performed on 123 patients over 7 years and has resulted in consistently good improvement in the submalar space. The procedure is not difficult to learn, and good results can be achieved with initial cases. The learning curve was not found to be steep, with good results being achieved quickly. Depression of the submalar space plays a significant role in creating an aged face. In the past, various fillers and/or alloplastic implants have been used to augment this region. A low-risk method is described that mobilizes SMAS, subSMAS, and subcutaneous tissues into the submalar space through the phenomenon of dog-ear formation after fusiform closure.

Inhibition of highly productive HIV-1 infection in T cells, primary human macrophages, microglia, and astrocytes by Sargassum fusiforme

PubMed Central

Paskaleva, Elena E; Lin, Xudong; Li, Wen; Cotter, Robin; Klein, Michael T; Roberge, Emily; Yu, Er K; Clark, Bruce; Veille, Jean-Claude; Liu, Yanze; Lee, David Y-W; Canki, Mario

2006-01-01

Background The high rate of HIV-1 mutation and increasing resistance to currently available antiretroviral (ART) therapies highlight the need for new antiviral agents. Products derived from natural sources have been shown to inhibit HIV-1 replication during various stages of the virus life cycle, and therefore represent a potential source of novel therapeutic agents. To expand our arsenal of therapeutics against HIV-1 infection, we investigated aqueous extract from Sargassum fusiforme (S. fusiforme) for ability to inhibit HIV-1 infection in the periphery, in T cells and human macrophages, and for ability to inhibit in the central nervous system (CNS), in microglia and astrocytes. Results S. fusiforme extract blocked HIV-1 infection and replication by over 90% in T cells, human macrophages and microglia, and it also inhibited pseudotyped HIV-1 (VSV/NL4-3) infection in human astrocytes by over 70%. Inhibition was mediated against both CXCR4 (X4) and CCR5 (R5)-tropic HIV-1, was dose dependant and long lasting, did not inhibit cell growth or viability, was not toxic to cells, and was comparable to inhibition by the nucleoside analogue 2', 3'-didoxycytidine (ddC). S. fusiforme treatment blocked direct cell-to-cell infection spread. To investigate at which point of the virus life cycle this inhibition occurs, we infected T cells and CD4-negative primary human astrocytes with HIV-1 pseudotyped with envelope glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which bypasses the HIV receptor requirements. Infection by pseudotyped HIV-1 (VSV/NL4-3) was also inhibited in a dose dependant manner, although up to 57% less, as compared to inhibition of native NL4-3, indicating post-entry interferences. Conclusion This is the first report demonstrating S. fusiforme to be a potent inhibitor of highly productive HIV-1 infection and replication in T cells, in primary human macrophages, microglia, and astrocytes. Results with VSV/NL4-3 infection, suggest inhibition of both entry and post-entry events of the virus life cycle. Absence of cytotoxicity and high viability of treated cells also suggest that S. fusiforme is a potential source of novel naturally occurring antiretroviral compounds that inhibit HIV-1 infection and replication at more than one site of the virus life cycle. PMID:16725040

Screening for resistance to fusiform rust in southern United States forest trees

Treesearch

Josh Bronson

2012-01-01

The Resistance Screening Center (RSC) is operated by the Forest Health Protection unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Region, State and Private Forestry. The RSC is located at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest near Asheville, North Carolina. The center evaluates seedlings for resistance to disease, primarily fusiform rust (caused by...

Genetic interaction of the fusiform rust fungus with resistance gene FR1 in loblolly pine

Treesearch

Thomas L. Kubisiak; Henry V. Amerson; C. Dana Nelson

2005-01-01

We propose a method for defining DNA markers linked to Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme avirulence (Avr) genes. However, before this method can be successfully employed, a spore competition study was needed to determine the genetic composition of single pycnial drops and multiple drops on single galls when using the standard...

Selection of RAPD markers for investigation of genetic population structure in fusiform rust fungus infecting loblolly pine

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James H. Roberds; Thomas L. Kubisiak; Pauline C. Spaine; S.F. Covert; R.L. Doudrick

1997-01-01

research to determine patterns of genetic differentiation among and within field populations of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme using RAPD markers is currently underway in the molecular genetics laboratory at the Southern Institute of Forest Genetics. Fungal tissue was collected as a drop of spermatia or scrapings of a...

Selection of loblolly pine varieties resistant to fusiform rust for commercial deployment

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Andy Benowicz; Robert J. Weir

2012-01-01

Benowicz, Andy; Weir, Robert J. 2013. Selection of loblolly pine varieties resistant to fusiform rust for commercial deployment . In: Sniezko, Richard A.; Yanchuk, Alvin D.; Kliejunas, John T.; Palmieri, Katharine M.; Alexander, Janice M.; Frankel, Susan J., tech. coords. Proceedings of the fourth international workshop on the genetics of host-parasite interactions in...

Reading words, seeing style: the neuropsychology of word, font and handwriting perception.

PubMed

Barton, Jason J S; Sekunova, Alla; Sheldon, Claire; Johnston, Samantha; Iaria, Giuseppe; Scheel, Michael

2010-11-01

The reading of text is predominantly a left hemisphere function. However, it is also possible to process text for attributes other than word or letter identity, such as style of font or handwriting. Anecdotal observations have suggested that processing the latter may involve the right hemisphere. We devised a test that, using the identical stimuli, required subjects first to match on the basis of word identity and second to match on the basis of script style. We presented two versions, one using various computer fonts, and the other using the handwriting of different individuals. We tested four subjects with unilateral lesions who had been well characterized by neuropsychological testing and structural and/or functional MRI. We found that two prosopagnosic subjects with right lateral fusiform damage eliminating the fusiform face area and likely the right visual word form area were impaired in completion times and/or accuracy when sorting for script style, but performed better when sorting for word identity. In contrast, one alexic subject with left fusiform damage showed normal accuracy for sorting by script style and normal or mildly elevated completion times for sorting by style, but markedly prolonged reading times for sorting by word identity. A prosopagnosic subject with right medial occipitotemporal damage sparing areas in the lateral fusiform gyrus performed well on both tasks. The contrast in the performance of patients with right versus left fusiform damage suggests an important distinction in hemispheric processing that reflects not the type of stimulus but the nature of processing required. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Responses of Wound-Inoculated Seedlings of Pinus elliottii var. elliottii and Pinus taeda to Mycelial Cultures Derived from Multople and Singel Basidiospores of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme

Treesearch

T. Miller; K.P. Gramacho; R.A. Schmidt; H.V. Amerson; E.G. Kuhlman

1998-01-01

In 1991, a series of experiments was initiated to examine the effectiveness and research value of inoculating 6-week-old seedlings of slash (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii) and loblolly pine (P. raeda) with suspensions of basidiospores of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme...

Fusiform Rust Infection of Loblolly and Slash Pines After Artificial Inoculation and Natural Exposure in Plantations

Treesearch

Earl R. Sluder; H.R. Powers

1982-01-01

Seedlings from progenies of slash and loblolly pines were divided into two groups. One group was exposed to the fusiform rust fungus in greenhouse inoculations by the concentrated basidiospore spray system and the other was exposed to natural infection in field progeny tests. Within families, correlations between percentages of seedlings infected after field and...

Combinations of fungicide and cultural practices influence the incidence and impact of fusiform rust in slash pine plantations

Treesearch

James D. Haywood; Allan E. Tiarks

1994-01-01

Slash pine was grown in central Louisiana under four levels of culture with or without repeated sprayings of the systematic fungicide triadimefon for protection against fusiform rust. The eight treatment combinations were: (1)no fungicide, weed control, or fertilizer; (2)weeded; (3)weeded, applied inorganic fertilizer, and bedded before planting; (4)weeded, bedded,...

Risk assessment with current deployment strategies for fusiform rust-resistant loblolly and slash pines

Treesearch

Floyd Bridgwater; Tom Kubisiak; Tom Byram; Steve Mckeand

2004-01-01

In the southeastern USA, fusiform rust resistant loblolly and slash pines may be deployed as 1) ulked seed orchard mixes. 2) half-sibling (sib) family mixtures. 3) single half-sib families. 4) full-sib cross seeds or as 6) clones of individual genotypes. These deployment types are respectively greater genetic gains from higher selection intensity. Currently, bulked...

Genetic variation in susceptibility to fusiform rust in seedlings from a wild population of loblolly pine

Treesearch

Bohun B. Kinloch Jr.; Roy W. Stonecypher

1969-01-01

Striking genetic variation in susceptibility to fusiform rust was observed among SS controlled-pollinated (CP) and 48 wind-pollinated (WP) families from parent trees of loblolly pine selected at random in a natural forest stand in southwest Georgia. The mating design permitted statistical tests for estimating both additive and total genetic variance. WP families were...

Task Effects in the Mid-Fusiform Gyrus: A Comparison of Orthographic, Phonological, and Semantic Processing of Chinese Characters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Yi; Burgund, E. Darcy

2010-01-01

The left mid-fusiform gyrus is repeatedly reported to be involved in visual word processing. Nevertheless, it is controversial whether this area responds to orthographic processing of reading. To examine this idea, neural activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging in the present study while subjects performed phonological,…

Fusiform-Rust-Hazard Maps for Loblolly and Slash Pines

Treesearch

Robert L. Anderson; Thomas C. McCartney; Noel D. Cost; Hugh Devine; Martin Botkin

1988-01-01

Rust-hazard saps made from Forest Inventory and Analysis plot data show that fusiform rust on slash pine is most common in north-central Florida, in southeastern Georgia, and in areas north of slash pine's natural range. On loblolly pine, the disease is most common in central and southeastern Georgia and in portions of South Carolina. These maps show the general...

On the origin of fusiform rust resistance in loblolly pine

Treesearch

R.C. Schmidtling; C.D. Nelson; T.L. Kubisiak

2005-01-01

Studies of geographic variation in loblolly pine have shown that seed sources from the western (generally west of the Mississippi River) and the northeastern part of the natural distribution are relatively resistant to fusiform rust disease, while those from elsewhere are more susceptible. The greatest problem with rust infection, on the other hand, is in the center of...

Control of Fusiform Rust in Slash Pine with Bayleton (Triadimefon) Seed Treatment

Treesearch

Robert C. Hare; Glenn A. Snow

1983-01-01

The Bayleton® seed treatment protects pine seedlings against fusiform rust for at least 4 weeks after sowing. If nurserymen use treated seed, no more than three foliar sprays are needed during the season. These can be timed to give maximum protection during the most hazardous period and adequate protection for the remainder of the infection season.

Unravelling and managing fusiform rust disease: a model approach for coevolved forest tree pathosystems.

Treesearch

CD Nelson; TL Kubisiak; HV Amerson

2010-01-01

Fusiform rust disease remains the most destructive disease in pine plantations in the southern United States. Our ongoing research is designed to identify, map, and clone the interacting genes of the host and pathogen. Several resistance (R) genes have been identified and genetically mapped using informative pine families and single-spore isolate inoculations. In...

Sound Richness of Music Might Be Mediated by Color Perception: A PET Study.

PubMed

Satoh, Masayuki; Nagata, Ken; Tomimoto, Hidekazu

2015-01-01

We investigated the role of the fusiform cortex in music processing with the use of PET, focusing on the perception of sound richness. Musically naïve subjects listened to familiar melodies with three kinds of accompaniments: (i) an accompaniment composed of only three basic chords (chord condition), (ii) a simple accompaniment typically used in traditional music text books in elementary school (simple condition), and (iii) an accompaniment with rich and flowery sounds composed by a professional composer (complex condition). Using a PET subtraction technique, we studied changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in simple minus chord, complex minus simple, and complex minus chord conditions. The simple minus chord, complex minus simple, and complex minus chord conditions regularly showed increases in rCBF at the posterior portion of the inferior temporal gyrus, including the LOC and fusiform gyrus. We may conclude that certain association cortices such as the LOC and the fusiform cortex may represent centers of multisensory integration, with foreground and background segregation occurring at the LOC level and the recognition of richness and floweriness of stimuli occurring in the fusiform cortex, both in terms of vision and audition.

Laboratory evaluation of molluscicidal activity of extracts from Cotula cinerea (L) and Quercus lusitania var. infectoria galls (Oliv.).

PubMed

Redwane, A; Markouk, M; Lazrek, H B; Amarouch, H; Jana, M

1998-01-01

In this work, we have studied the molluscicidal activity of different extracts obtained from Cotula cinerea and Quercus lusitania var. infectoria galls. The hydroalcoholic extract of Cotula cinerea, acetonic extract and gallotanin of Quercus infectoria galls have presented high activity against Bulinus truncatus. The hydroalcoholic extract of Cotula cinerea was fractionated by chromatography on silica gel column. We have isolated two very active fractions at concentrations respectively of 52.5 and 27.5 ppm.

Typical and atypical neurodevelopment for face specialization: An fMRI study

PubMed Central

Joseph, Jane E.; Zhu, Xun; Gundran, Andrew; Davies, Faraday; Clark, Jonathan D.; Ruble, Lisa; Glaser, Paul; Bhatt, Ramesh S.

2014-01-01

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their relatives process faces differently from typically developed (TD) individuals. In an fMRI face-viewing task, TD and undiagnosed sibling (SIB) children (5–18 years) showed face specialization in the right amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), with left fusiform and right amygdala face specialization increasing with age in TD subjects. SIBs showed extensive antero-medial temporal lobe activation for faces that was not present in any other group, suggesting a potential compensatory mechanism. In ASD, face specialization was minimal but increased with age in the right fusiform and decreased with age in the left amygdala, suggesting atypical development of a frontal-amygdala-fusiform system which is strongly linked to detecting salience and processing facial information. PMID:25479816

First discovery of Quercus-feeding Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) in South America, with description of new species and designation of the S. nigriverticella complex in the S. saginella group.

PubMed

Remeikis, Andrius; Stonis, Jonas R

2015-12-11

We describe three new species: Stigmella crassifoliae Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov. (a leaf-miner on Quercus crassifolia and Q. crispipilis from the highlands of Guatemala), S. robleae Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov., and S. humboldti Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov. (leaf-miners on Quercus humboldtii from the Colombian Andes). No Quercus-feeding Nepticulidae species were previously known from South America. All new species are illustrated with photographs of the leaf-mines, cocoons, adults, and genitalia. In the S. saginella species group, for the species possessing in male genitalia M-shaped gnathos with caudal processes closely juxtaposed and phallus without cornuti, a new species complex (the S. nigriverticella complex) is defined. We also provide a pictorial key to the species of the new complex.

Assessment of Quercus flowering trends in NW Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jato, V.; Rodríguez-Rajo, F. J.; Fernandez-González, M.; Aira, M. J.

2015-05-01

This paper sought to chart airborne Quercus pollen counts over the last 20 years in the region of Galicia (NW Spain) with a view to detecting the possible influence of climate change on the Quercus airborne pollen season (APS). Pollen data from Ourense, Santiago de Compostela, Vigo and Lugo were used. The Quercus airborne pollen season was characterized in terms of the following parameters: pollen season start and end dates, peak pollen count, pollen season length and pollen index. Several methods, dates and threshold temperatures for determining the chill and heat requirements needed to trigger flowering were applied. A diverse APS onset timing sequence was observed for the four cities as Quercus flowers few days in advance in Vigo. The variations observed could be related to differences in the meteorological conditions or the thermal requirements needed for flowering. Thermal requirements differed depending on local climate conditions in the study cities: the lowest values for chilling accumulation were recorded in Vigo and the highest in Lugo, whereas the lowest heat accumulation was achieved in Vigo. Differences in APS trends between cities may reflect variations in weather-related trends. A significant trend towards rising Quercus pollen indices and higher maximum daily mean pollen counts was observed in Ourense, linked to the more marked temperature increase across southern Galicia. A non-uniform trend towards increased temperatures was noted over the study period, particularly in late summer and early autumn in all four study cities. Additionally, an increase in spring temperatures was observed in south-western Galicia.

Interspecific variation in functional traits of oak seedlings (Quercus ilex, Quercus trojana, Quercus virgiliana) grown under artificial drought and fire conditions.

PubMed

Chiatante, D; Tognetti, R; Scippa, G S; Congiu, T; Baesso, B; Terzaghi, M; Montagnoli, A

2015-07-01

To face summer drought and wildfire in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, plants adopt different strategies that involve considerable rearrangements of biomass allocation and physiological activity. This paper analyses morphological and physiological traits in seedlings of three oak species (Quercus ilex, Quercus trojana and Quercus virgiliana) co-occurring under natural conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate species-specific characteristics and the response of these oak seedlings to drought stress and fire treatment. Seedlings were kept in a growth chamber that mimicked natural environmental conditions. All three species showed a good degree of tolerance to drought and fire treatments. Differences in specific biomass allocation patterns and physiological traits resulted in phenotypic differences between species. In Q. ilex, drought tolerance depended upon adjustment of the allocation pattern. Q. trojana seedlings undergoing mild to severe drought presented a higher photosystem II (PSII) efficiency than control seedlings. Moreover, Q. trojana showed a very large root system, which corresponded to higher soil area exploitation, and bigger leaf midrib vascular bundles than the other two species. Morphological and physiological performances indicated Q. trojana as the most tolerant to drought and fire. These characteristics contribute to a high recruitment potential of Q. trojana seedlings, which might be the reason for the dominance of this species under natural conditions. Drought increase as a result of climate change is expected to favour Q. trojana, leading to an increase in its spatial distribution.

Relative Fusiform Rust Resistance of Loblolly and Slash Pine Sources and Families in Georgia and South Carolina

Treesearch

E. George Kuhlman; Harry R. Powers; William D. Pepper

1995-01-01

Loblolly and slash pine seedlings from the fusiform rust resistant orchards developed cooperatively by the USDA Forest Service and the Georgia Forestry Commission had significantly less rust 7 to 8 years after planting on four of five sites in the Southeastern United States than seedlings of the same species from orchard sources developed primarily for silvicultural...

Fusiform dilatation of the internal carotid artery following childhood craniopharyngioma resection treated by endovascular flow diversion-A case report and literature review.

PubMed

Reynolds, Matthew R; Heiferman, Daniel M; Boucher, Andrew B; Serrone, Joseph C; Barrow, Daniel L; Dion, Jacques E

2018-05-24

Fusiform dilatation of the internal carotid artery (FDICA) is a well-described radiographic finding following resection of childhood craniopharyngioma (CP). A 39-year-old woman with right-sided FDICA was successfully treated for lesion enlargement with endovascular flow diversion, which has not been described in the literature. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Research on the biology of fusiform rust in the southeastern United States

Treesearch

Pauline Spaine

1998-01-01

The incidence of fusiform rust has continued to be one of the major forest disease problems in the Southeastern United States. In the past, much of the research has concentrated on field studies with provenance selection and genetic breeding of pine families to increase resistance in the host. In the last 10 years, there has been an increased interest in the actual...

Using Bayleton (Triadimefon) to Control Fusiform Rust in Pine Tree Nurseries

Treesearch

G.A. Snow; S.J. Rowan; J.P. Jones; W. D. Kelley; J.G. Mexal

1979-01-01

Bayletor® was field-tested for fusiform rust control at eight pine tree nurseries during the spring of 1978. Four to six foliar sprays of this systemic fungicide were as effective as ferbam sprayed 16 to 36 times. Seed treatment with Bayleton reduced infection levels but did not significantly improve rust control in plots sprayed with Bayleton. At high rates, Bayleton...

A golgi study of the optic tectum of the tegu lizard, Tupinambis nigropunctatus.

PubMed

Butler, A B; Ebbesson, O E

1975-06-01

The dendritic patterns of cells in the optic tectum of the tegu lizard, Tupinambis nigropunctatus, were analyzed with the Ramon-Moliner modification of the Golgi-Cox technique. Cell types were compared with those described by other authors in the tectum of other reptiles; particular comparisons of our results were made with the description of cell types in the chameleon (Ramń, 1896), as the latter is the most complete analysis in the literature. The periventricular gray layers 3 and 5 consist primarily of two cell types--piriform or pyramidal shaped cells and horizontal cells. Cells in the medial portion of the tectum, in an area coextensive with the bilateral spinal projection zone, possess dendrites that extend across the midline. The latter cells have either fusiform or pyramidal shaped somas. The central white zone, layer 6, contains fibers, large fusiform or pyramidal shaped cells, fusiform cells, and small horizontal cells. The central gray zone, layer 7, is composed predominately of fusiform cells which have dendrites extending to the superficial optic layers, large polygonal cells, and horizontal cells. The superficial gray and white layers, layers 8-13, contain polygonal, fusiform, stellate, and horizontal elements. Layer 14 is composed solely of afferent optic tract fibers. Several differences in the occurrence and distribution of cell types between the tegu and the other reptiles studied are noted. Additionally, the laminar distribution of retinal, tectotectal, telencephalic, and spinal projections in the tegutectum can be related to the distribution of cell types, and those cells which may be postsynaptic to specific inputs can be identified. The highly differentiated laminar structure of the reptilian optic tectum, both in regard to cell type and to afferent and efferent connections, may serve as a model for studying some functional properties of lamination common to cortical structures.

Lingual and fusiform gyri in visual processing: a clinico-pathologic study of superior altitudinal hemianopia.

PubMed Central

Bogousslavsky, J; Miklossy, J; Deruaz, J P; Assal, G; Regli, F

1987-01-01

A macular-sparing superior altitudinal hemianopia with no visuo-psychic disturbance, except impaired visual learning, was associated with bilateral ischaemic necrosis of the lingual gyrus and only partial involvement of the fusiform gyrus on the left side. It is suggested that bilateral destruction of the lingual gyrus alone is not sufficient to affect complex visual processing. The fusiform gyrus probably has a critical role in colour integration, visuo-spatial processing, facial recognition and corresponding visual imagery. Involvement of the occipitotemporal projection system deep to the lingual gyri probably explained visual memory dysfunction, by a visuo-limbic disconnection. Impaired verbal memory may have been due to posterior involvement of the parahippocampal gyrus and underlying white matter, which may have disconnected the intact speech areas from the left medial temporal structures. Images PMID:3585386

Aboveground biomass and nitrogen allocation of ten deciduous southern Appalachian tree species

Treesearch

Jonathan G. Martin; Brian D. Kloeppel; Tara L. Schaefer; Darrin L. Kimbler; Steven G. McNulty

1998-01-01

Allometric equations were developed for mature trees of 10 deciduous species (Acer rubrum L.; Betula lenta L.; Carya spp.; Cornus florida L.; Liriodendron tulipifera L.; Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC.; Quercus alba L.; Quercus...

Survival of slash pine having fusiform rust disease varies with year of first stem infection and severity

Treesearch

R.C. Froelich; Ronald C. Schmidtling

1998-01-01

Probabilities of death of young slash pine infected by fusiform rust pathogen varied with timing and severity of infection. Trees in nine slash pine plantations varying widely in site quality and initial number of trees per acre had similar probabilities of death from rust. About 90 percent of trees with stem infections in the first three growing seasons died by age 15...

How music alters a kiss: superior temporal gyrus controls fusiform-amygdalar effective connectivity.

PubMed

Pehrs, Corinna; Deserno, Lorenz; Bakels, Jan-Hendrik; Schlochtermeier, Lorna H; Kappelhoff, Hermann; Jacobs, Arthur M; Fritz, Thomas Hans; Koelsch, Stefan; Kuchinke, Lars

2014-11-01

While watching movies, the brain integrates the visual information and the musical soundtrack into a coherent percept. Multisensory integration can lead to emotion elicitation on which soundtrack valences may have a modulatory impact. Here, dynamic kissing scenes from romantic comedies were presented to 22 participants (13 females) during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. The kissing scenes were either accompanied by happy music, sad music or no music. Evidence from cross-modal studies motivated a predefined three-region network for multisensory integration of emotion, consisting of fusiform gyrus (FG), amygdala (AMY) and anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG). The interactions in this network were investigated using dynamic causal models of effective connectivity. This revealed bilinear modulations by happy and sad music with suppression effects on the connectivity from FG and AMY to aSTG. Non-linear dynamic causal modeling showed a suppressive gating effect of aSTG on fusiform-amygdalar connectivity. In conclusion, fusiform to amygdala coupling strength is modulated via feedback through aSTG as region for multisensory integration of emotional material. This mechanism was emotion-specific and more pronounced for sad music. Therefore, soundtrack valences may modulate emotion elicitation in movies by differentially changing preprocessed visual information to the amygdala. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Is race erased? Decoding race from patterns of neural activity when skin color is not diagnostic of group boundaries.

PubMed

Ratner, Kyle G; Kaul, Christian; Van Bavel, Jay J

2013-10-01

Several theories suggest that people do not represent race when it does not signify group boundaries. However, race is often associated with visually salient differences in skin tone and facial features. In this study, we investigated whether race could be decoded from distributed patterns of neural activity in the fusiform gyri and early visual cortex when visual features that often covary with race were orthogonal to group membership. To this end, we used multivariate pattern analysis to examine an fMRI dataset that was collected while participants assigned to mixed-race groups categorized own-race and other-race faces as belonging to their newly assigned group. Whereas conventional univariate analyses provided no evidence of race-based responses in the fusiform gyri or early visual cortex, multivariate pattern analysis suggested that race was represented within these regions. Moreover, race was represented in the fusiform gyri to a greater extent than early visual cortex, suggesting that the fusiform gyri results do not merely reflect low-level perceptual information (e.g. color, contrast) from early visual cortex. These findings indicate that patterns of activation within specific regions of the visual cortex may represent race even when overall activation in these regions is not driven by racial information.

Successful decoding of famous faces in the fusiform face area.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Yovel, Galit

2015-01-01

What are the neural mechanisms of face recognition? It is believed that the network of face-selective areas, which spans the occipital, temporal, and frontal cortices, is important in face recognition. A number of previous studies indeed reported that face identity could be discriminated based on patterns of multivoxel activity in the fusiform face area and the anterior temporal lobe. However, given the difficulty in localizing the face-selective area in the anterior temporal lobe, its role in face recognition is still unknown. Furthermore, previous studies limited their analysis to occipito-temporal regions without testing identity decoding in more anterior face-selective regions, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In the current high-resolution functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study, we systematically examined the decoding of the identity of famous faces in the temporo-frontal network of face-selective and adjacent non-face-selective regions. A special focus has been put on the face-area in the anterior temporal lobe, which was reliably localized using an optimized scanning protocol. We found that face-identity could be discriminated above chance level only in the fusiform face area. Our results corroborate the role of the fusiform face area in face recognition. Future studies are needed to further explore the role of the more recently discovered anterior face-selective areas in face recognition.

Functional dissociation of the left and right fusiform gyrus in self-face recognition.

PubMed

Ma, Yina; Han, Shihui

2012-10-01

It is well known that the fusiform gyrus is engaged in face perception, such as the processes of face familiarity and identity. However, the functional role of the fusiform gyrus in face processing related to high-level social cognition remains unclear. The current study assessed the functional role of individually defined fusiform face area (FFA) in the processing of self-face physical properties and self-face identity. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor neural responses to rapidly presented face stimuli drawn from morph continua between self-face (Morph 100%) and a gender-matched friend's face (Morph 0%) in a face recognition task. Contrasting Morph 100% versus Morph 60% that differed in self-face physical properties but were both recognized as the self uncovered neural activity sensitive to self-face physical properties in the left FFA. Contrasting Morphs 50% that were recognized as the self versus a friend on different trials revealed neural modulations associated with self-face identity in the right FFA. Moreover, the right FFA activity correlated with the frequency of recognizing Morphs 50% as the self. Our results provide evidence for functional dissociations of the left and right FFAs in the representations of self-face physical properties and self-face identity. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Crossmodal plasticity in the fusiform gyrus of late blind individuals during voice recognition.

PubMed

Hölig, Cordula; Föcker, Julia; Best, Anna; Röder, Brigitte; Büchel, Christian

2014-12-01

Blind individuals are trained in identifying other people through voices. In congenitally blind adults the anterior fusiform gyrus has been shown to be active during voice recognition. Such crossmodal changes have been associated with a superiority of blind adults in voice perception. The key question of the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was whether visual deprivation that occurs in adulthood is followed by similar adaptive changes of the voice identification system. Late blind individuals and matched sighted participants were tested in a priming paradigm, in which two voice stimuli were subsequently presented. The prime (S1) and the target (S2) were either from the same speaker (person-congruent voices) or from two different speakers (person-incongruent voices). Participants had to classify the S2 as either coming from an old or a young person. Only in late blind but not in matched sighted controls, the activation in the anterior fusiform gyrus was modulated by voice identity: late blind volunteers showed an increase of the BOLD signal in response to person-incongruent compared with person-congruent trials. These results suggest that the fusiform gyrus adapts to input of a new modality even in the mature brain and thus demonstrate an adult type of crossmodal plasticity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Encoding deficit during face processing within the right fusiform face area in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Walther, Sebastian; Federspiel, Andrea; Horn, Helge; Bianchi, Piero; Wiest, Roland; Wirth, Miranka; Strik, Werner; Müller, Thomas Jörg

2009-06-30

Face processing is crucial to social interaction, but is impaired in schizophrenia patients, who experience delays in face recognition, difficulties identifying others, and misperceptions of affective content. The right fusiform face area plays an important role in the early stages of human face processing and thus may be affected in schizophrenia. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate whether face processing deficits are related to dysfunctions of the right fusiform face area in schizophrenia patients compared with controls. In a rapid, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design, we investigated the encoding of new faces, as well as the recognition of newly learned, famous, and unfamiliar faces, in 13 schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls. We applied region of interest analysis to each individual's right fusiform face area and tested for group differences. Controls displayed higher blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) activation during the memorization of faces that were later successfully recognized. In schizophrenia patients, this effect was not observed. During the recognition task, schizophrenia patients exhibited lower BOLD responses, less accuracy, and longer reaction times to famous and unfamiliar faces. Our results support the hypothesis that impaired face processing in schizophrenia is related to early-stage deficits during the encoding and recognition of faces.

Behaviour of Quercus pollen in the air, determination of its sources and transport through the atmosphere of Mexico City and conurbated areas.

PubMed

Calderón-Ezquerro, M C; Martinez-Lopez, B; Guerrero-Guerra, C; López-Espinosa, E D; Cabos-Narvaez, W D

2018-06-15

Pollen allergies have a remarkable clinical impact all over world. Quercus pollen is the main allergen in many parts of world. Due to the health impacts caused by exposure to oak pollen, the objectives of this study are to characterise the aerobiological behaviour of Quercus pollen and to determine its potential sources as well as their transport through the atmosphere of Mexico City and surrounding areas between January 2012 and June 2015. Airborne Quercus pollen monitoring was carried out simultaneously in five zones of Mexico City. The percentage of Quercus pollen of the total pollen collected from the air showed that the highest concentration was recorded in 2014, followed by 2012. The annual seasonal variation indicated that flowering and pollen emission into the atmosphere began between February and March. The maximum concentration of Quercus pollen was reached at Cuajimalpa. In 2012, the amount of pollen grains was distributed in March and April uniformly, whilst in 2014, the largest amount of pollen was concentrated in March. In 2012 and 2014 (years with the highest pollen concentrations), corresponding intraday variations were quite similar, with a low relative maximum in the morning and the highest concentrations in the evening. The largest values were recorded in 2014, and two processes can explain these. In the afternoon, pollen from secondary forest is carried by southwesterly converging winds, increasing the pollen concentration in Cuajimalpa. In the evening, there is an additional pollen contribution from primary forest via transport by NW winds.

Quercus pollen season dynamics in the Iberian peninsula: response to meteorological parameters and possible consequences of climate change.

PubMed

Garcia-Mozo, Herminia; Galan, Carmen; Jato, Victoria; Belmonte, Jordina; de la Guardia, Consuelo; Fernandez, Delia; Gutierrez, Montserrat; Aira, M; Roure, Joan; Ruiz, Luis; Trigo, Mar; Dominguez-Vilches, Eugenio

2006-01-01

The main characteristics of the Quercus pollination season were studied in 14 different localities of the Iberian Peninsula from 1992-2004. Results show that Quercus flowering season has tended to start earlier in recent years, probably due to the increased temperatures in the pre-flowering period, detected at study sites over the second half of the 20th century. A Growing Degree Days forecasting model was used, together with future meteorological data forecast using the Regional Climate Model developed by the Hadley Meteorological Centre, in order to determine the expected advance in the start of Quercus pollination in future years. At each study site, airborne pollen curves presented a similar pattern in all study years, with different peaks over the season attributable in many cases to the presence of several species. High pollen concentrations were recorded, particularly at Mediterranean sites. This study also proposes forecasting models to predict both daily pollen values and annual pollen emission. All models were externally validated using data for 2001 and 2004, with acceptable results. Finally, the impact of the highly-likely climate change on Iberian Quercus pollen concentration values was studied by applying RCM meteorological data for different future years, 2025, 2050, 2075 and 2099. Results indicate that under a doubled CO(2) scenario at the end of the 21st century Quercus pollination season could start on average one month earlier and airborne pollen concentrations will increase by 50 % with respect to current levels, with higher values in Mediterranean inland areas.

The Effects of Tree Species on Soil Organic Carbon Content and Distribution in South Korea.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, N. H.; Cha, J. Y.; Cha, Y. K.

2016-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) content of forests is controlled by the dynamic balance between photosynthesis and respiration. Changes of tree species can affect the SOC content both directly by alteration in quantity and quality of newly photosynthesized inputs, and indirectly by changes in soil conditions such as root distribution and soil microbial communities. Although many studies have been conducted on the effects of tree species on SOC, the results are mixed possibly due to the locality and the scales of the studies. This can be overcome by systematic analysis on extensively collected samples of forest floors and soils. We investigated the impacts of tree species, dominantly pines (Pinus) and oaks (Quercus), on SOC stock and distribution in South Korea by conducting ANOVA and GLM analyses using the Korean National Forest Inventory data collected from 640 plots during 2007-2010. The trees used in the data were relatively young with 67% of them being less than 40 years old because of a nation-wide reforestation program started in the 1970s. The results demonstrated a clear contrast between Pinus and Quercus, depending on soil horizons. Forest floor SOC under Pinus was 6.98 ton C/ha, significantly higher than 5.30 ton C/ha under Quercus. In contrast, SOC in mineral soils was 51.31 ton C/ha under Pinus, significantly lower than 64.76 ton C/ha under Quercus. The total SOC content including both forest floor and mineral soils was significantly higher under Quercus than Pinus, suggesting that Quercus has a potential to sequester more atmospheric CO2 in the forests in Korea.

Factors affecting stress tolerance in recalcitrant embryonic axes from seeds of four Quercus (Fagaceae) species native to the USA or China

PubMed Central

Xia, Ke; Hill, Lisa M.; Li, De-Zhu; Walters, Christina

2014-01-01

Background and Aims Quercus species are often considered ‘foundation’ components of several temperate and/or subtropical forest ecosystems. However, the populations of some species are declining and there is considerable urgency to develop ex situ conservation strategies. In this study, the storage physiology of seeds within Quercus was explored in order to determine factors that affect survival during cryopreservation and to provide a quantitative assessment of seed recalcitrance to support future studies of this complex trait. Methods Water relations and survival of excised axes in response to water loss and cryo-exposure were compared for four Quercus species from subtropical China (Q. franchetii, Q. schottkyana) and temperate USA (Q. gambelii, Q. rubra). Key Results Seed tissues initially had high water contents and water potentials. Desiccation tolerance of the embryonic axis was not correlated with the post-shedding rainfall patterns where the samples originated. Instead, higher desiccation tolerance was observed in samples growing in areas with colder winters. Survival following cryo-exposure correlated with desiccation tolerance. Among species, plumule tissues were more sensitive than radicles to excision, desiccation and cryo-exposure, and this led to a higher proportion of abnormally developing embryos during recovery following stress. Conclusions Quercus species adapted to arid and semi-humid climates still produce recalcitrant seeds. The ability to avoid freezing rather than drought may be a more important selection factor to increase desiccation tolerance. Cryopreservation of recalcitrant germplasm from temperate species is currently feasible, whilst additional protective treatments are needed for ex situ conservation of Quercus from tropical and subtropical areas. PMID:25326139

Final Environmental Assessment of Military Housing Privatization Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), pecan ( Carya illinoensis ), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), water oak (Quercus nigra), red oak (Quercus sp...blackjack oak (Q. marilandica), mockernut hickory ( Carya tomentosa), pignut hickory (C. glabra), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), winged elm (Ulmus alata

The Effects of Intermittent Flooding on Seedlings of Three Forest Species

Treesearch

P.H. Anderson; S.R. Pezeshki

1999-01-01

Under greenhouse conditions, seedlings of three forest species, baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii), and swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii) were subjected to an intermittent flooding and subsequent physiological and growth responses to such conditions were evaluated....

Selective impairment of facial recognition due to a haematoma restricted to the right fusiform and lateral occipital region

PubMed Central

Wada, Y; Yamamoto, T

2001-01-01

A 67 year old right handed Japanese man developed prosopagnosia caused by a haemorrhage. His only deficit was the inability to perceive and discriminate unfamiliar faces, and to recognise familiar faces. He did not show deficits in visual or visuospatial perception of non-facial stimuli, alexia, visual agnosia, or topographical disorientation. Brain MRI showed a haematoma limited to the right fusiform and the lateral occipital region. Single photon emission computed tomography confirmed that there was no decreased blood flow in the opposite left cerebral hemisphere. The present case indicates that a well placed small right fusiform gyrus and the adjacent area can cause isolated impairment of facial recognition. As far as we know, there has been no published case that has demonstrated this exact lesion site, which was indicated by recent functional MRI studies as the most critical area in facial recognition.

 PMID:11459906

Factors affecting stress tolerance in recalcitrant embryonic axes from seeds of four Quercus (Fagaceae) species native to the USA or China.

PubMed

Xia, Ke; Hill, Lisa M; Li, De-Zhu; Walters, Christina

2014-12-01

Quercus species are often considered 'foundation' components of several temperate and/or subtropical forest ecosystems. However, the populations of some species are declining and there is considerable urgency to develop ex situ conservation strategies. In this study, the storage physiology of seeds within Quercus was explored in order to determine factors that affect survival during cryopreservation and to provide a quantitative assessment of seed recalcitrance to support future studies of this complex trait. Water relations and survival of excised axes in response to water loss and cryo-exposure were compared for four Quercus species from subtropical China (Q. franchetii, Q. schottkyana) and temperate USA (Q. gambelii, Q. rubra). Seed tissues initially had high water contents and water potentials. Desiccation tolerance of the embryonic axis was not correlated with the post-shedding rainfall patterns where the samples originated. Instead, higher desiccation tolerance was observed in samples growing in areas with colder winters. Survival following cryo-exposure correlated with desiccation tolerance. Among species, plumule tissues were more sensitive than radicles to excision, desiccation and cryo-exposure, and this led to a higher proportion of abnormally developing embryos during recovery following stress. Quercus species adapted to arid and semi-humid climates still produce recalcitrant seeds. The ability to avoid freezing rather than drought may be a more important selection factor to increase desiccation tolerance. Cryopreservation of recalcitrant germplasm from temperate species is currently feasible, whilst additional protective treatments are needed for ex situ conservation of Quercus from tropical and subtropical areas. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Physiological and structural foliar characteristics of four central Pennsylvania barrens species in contrasting light regimes

Treesearch

B.D. Kloeppel; M.E. Kubiske; M.D. Abrams

1991-01-01

Four central Pennsylvania barrens species, black oak (Quercus velutina), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), red maple (Acer rubrum), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum), in the sapling size range were tagged and monitored in juxtaposed understory and full sunlight conditions.

Phytophthora ramorum and sudden oak death in California: II. transmission and survival

Treesearch

Jennifer M. Davidson; David M. Rizzo; Matteo Garbelotto; Steven Tjosvold; Garey W. Slaughter

2002-01-01

The newly discovered Phytophthora ramorum canker disease of oak (Sudden Oak Death Syndrome) threatens millions of acres of California woodlands where coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), or black oak (Quercus kelloggii) are dominant species. An important step in...

Ellagitannins and complex tannins from Quercus petraea bark.

PubMed

König, M; Scholz, E; Hartmann, R; Lehmann, W; Rimpler, H

1994-10-01

The ellagitannins 2,3-(S)-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-glucose, pedunculagin, vescalagin, and castalagin; the flavanoellagitannins acutissimin A, acutissimin B, eugenigrandin A, guajavin B, and stenophyllanin C; and the procyanidinoellagitannin mongolicanin have been isolated from the bark of Quercus petraea. The ellagitannin fraction had a weak antisecretory effect.

Successful Decoding of Famous Faces in the Fusiform Face Area

PubMed Central

Axelrod, Vadim; Yovel, Galit

2015-01-01

What are the neural mechanisms of face recognition? It is believed that the network of face-selective areas, which spans the occipital, temporal, and frontal cortices, is important in face recognition. A number of previous studies indeed reported that face identity could be discriminated based on patterns of multivoxel activity in the fusiform face area and the anterior temporal lobe. However, given the difficulty in localizing the face-selective area in the anterior temporal lobe, its role in face recognition is still unknown. Furthermore, previous studies limited their analysis to occipito-temporal regions without testing identity decoding in more anterior face-selective regions, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In the current high-resolution functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study, we systematically examined the decoding of the identity of famous faces in the temporo-frontal network of face-selective and adjacent non-face-selective regions. A special focus has been put on the face-area in the anterior temporal lobe, which was reliably localized using an optimized scanning protocol. We found that face-identity could be discriminated above chance level only in the fusiform face area. Our results corroborate the role of the fusiform face area in face recognition. Future studies are needed to further explore the role of the more recently discovered anterior face-selective areas in face recognition. PMID:25714434

Non-invasive brain stimulation targeting the right fusiform gyrus selectively increases working memory for faces.

PubMed

Brunyé, Tad T; Moran, Joseph M; Holmes, Amanda; Mahoney, Caroline R; Taylor, Holly A

2017-04-01

The human extrastriate cortex contains a region critically involved in face detection and memory, the right fusiform gyrus. The present study evaluated whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting this anatomical region would selectively influence memory for faces versus non-face objects (houses). Anodal tDCS targeted the right fusiform gyrus (Brodmann's Area 37), with the anode at electrode site PO10, and cathode at FP2. Two stimulation conditions were compared in a repeated-measures design: 0.5mA versus 1.5mA intensity; a separate control group received no stimulation. Participants completed a working memory task for face and house stimuli, varying in memory load from 1 to 4 items. Individual differences measures assessed trait-based differences in facial recognition skills. Results showed 1.5mA intensity stimulation (versus 0.5mA and control) increased performance at high memory loads, but only with faces. Lower overall working memory capacity predicted a positive impact of tDCS. Results provide support for the notion of functional specialization of the right fusiform regions for maintaining face (but not non-face object) stimuli in working memory, and further suggest that low intensity electrical stimulation of this region may enhance demanding face working memory performance particularly in those with relatively poor baseline working memory skills. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The sequence of cortical activity inferred by response latency variability in the human ventral pathway of face processing.

PubMed

Lin, Jo-Fu Lotus; Silva-Pereyra, Juan; Chou, Chih-Che; Lin, Fa-Hsuan

2018-04-11

Variability in neuronal response latency has been typically considered caused by random noise. Previous studies of single cells and large neuronal populations have shown that the temporal variability tends to increase along the visual pathway. Inspired by these previous studies, we hypothesized that functional areas at later stages in the visual pathway of face processing would have larger variability in the response latency. To test this hypothesis, we used magnetoencephalographic data collected when subjects were presented with images of human faces. Faces are known to elicit a sequence of activity from the primary visual cortex to the fusiform gyrus. Our results revealed that the fusiform gyrus showed larger variability in the response latency compared to the calcarine fissure. Dynamic and spectral analyses of the latency variability indicated that the response latency in the fusiform gyrus was more variable than in the calcarine fissure between 70 ms and 200 ms after the stimulus onset and between 4 Hz and 40 Hz, respectively. The sequential processing of face information from the calcarine sulcus to the fusiform sulcus was more reliably detected based on sizes of the response variability than instants of the maximal response peaks. With two areas in the ventral visual pathway, we show that the variability in response latency across brain areas can be used to infer the sequence of cortical activity.

Characterizing tree canopy temperature heterogeneity using an unmanned aircraft-borne thermal imager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messinger, M.; Powell, R.; Silman, M.; Wright, M.; Nicholson, W.

2013-12-01

Leaf temperature (Tleaf) is an important control on many physiological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration, is a key variable for characterizing canopy energy fluxes, and is a valuable metric for identifying plant water stress or disease. Traditional methods of Tleaf measurement involve either the use of thermocouples, a time and labor-intensive method that samples sparsely in space, or the use of air temperature (Tair) as a proxy measure, which can introduce inaccuracies due to near constant canopy-atmosphere energy flux. Thermal infrared (TIR) imagery provides an efficient means of collecting Tleaf for large areas. Existing satellite and aircraft-based TIR imagery is, however, limited by low spatial and/or temporal resolution, while crane-mounted camera systems have strictly limited spatial extents. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offer new opportunities to acquire high spatial and temporal resolution imagery on demand. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of collecting tree canopy Tleaf data using a small multirotor UAS fitted with a high spatial resolution TIR imager. The goals of this pilot study were to a) characterize basic patterns of within crown Tleaf for 4 study species and b) identify trends in Tleaf between species with varying leaf morphologies and canopy structures. TIR imagery was acquired for individual tree crowns of 4 species common to the North Carolina Piedmont ecoregion (Quercus phellos, Pinus strobus, Liriodendron tulipifera, Magnolia grandiflora) in an urban park environment. Due to significantly above-average summer precipitation, we assumed that none of the sampled trees was limited by soil water availability. We flew the TIR imaging system over 3-4 individuals of each of the 4 target species on 3 separate days. Imagery of all individuals was collected within the same 2-hour period in the afternoon on all days. There was low wind and partly cloudy skies during imaging. Tair, relative humidity, and wind speed were recorded at each site. Emissivity was assumed to be 0.98 for all species. Acquired images had a pixel resolution of <3 cm and measurement accuracy of ×1° C. We found the UAS-borne TIR imaging system to be an effective tool for collection of high resolution canopy imagery. The system imaged all targeted crowns quickly and reliably, providing a viable alternative to current methods of canopy Tleaf measurement. Analysis of the imagery indicated significant variability in Tleaf both within and between crowns. We identified trends in Tleaf related to average leaf size, shape, and crown structural traits. These data on the heterogeneity of Tleaf can further our understanding of canopy-atmosphere energy exchange. This pilot study demonstrates the promise of UAS-borne TIR sensors for acquiring high spatial resolution imagery at the scale of individual tree crowns.

Seasonal and species-specific response of VOC emissions by Mediterranean woody plant to elevated ozone concentrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llusià, J.; Peñuelas, J.; Gimeno, B. S.

Although certain factors controlling plant emission rates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are reasonably well understood, the influence of elevated ozone concentrations as abiotic stress is mostly unknown. Therefore, we studied the effects of ozone concentrations on seasonal biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions by different Mediterranean plant species in open top chambers (OTC). Three ozone treatments were established: filtered air (F), non-filtered air (NF), and fumigated air (NF+) adding 40 nl l -1 of ozone over NF. We studied the response of VOC emission in saplings of four Mediterranean woody plant species and subspecies: Ceratonia siliqua L., Olea europaea L., Quercus ilex spp. ilex L., and Quercus ilex spp. rotundifolia L. as representative of natural Mediterranean vegetation. No visible symptoms were detected on the leaves. No significant effect was found on net photosynthetic rates or stomatal conductance except for an increase in net photosynthetic rates in Quercus ilex ilex in spring and summer and an overall slight increase in Quercus ilex rotundifolia. Emissions of the total VOCs from Ceratonia siliqua in summer, and from Olea europaea and Quercus ilex rotundifolia in spring increased in ozone fumigated OTC in comparison with F or NF OTC. Decreased emissions were found in Quercus ilex rotundifolia in summer. There were no significant differences between ozone fumigation treatments for the other plant species and seasons. When considering particular VOCs, the results were also variable among species and time of the year. While α-pinene emissions decreased with ozone fumigation in Olea europaea, α-pinene and limonene emissions increased in Quercus ilex ilex. The responses of these particular VOCs did not always match the responses of total VOCs. In spite of this strong variability, when considering overall annual data for all species and seasons, there were increased net photosynthetic rates (37%) and limonene (95%) and total VOC (45%) emission rates in ozone-fumigated plants, whereas stomatal conductance did not change. Since VOCs are precursors of ozone, the increase in BVOC emission as a consequence of elevated tropospheric ozone concentrations may lead to positive feedback mechanisms in ozone formation.

Detection of wetwood by ultrasonics

Treesearch

Mohammed F. Kabir; Theodor D. Leininger; Philip A. Araman; Matthew F. Winn

2006-01-01

Wetwood, or bacterially infected wood, is a severe processing problem and causes serious drying defects in lumber. The detection of wetwood is, therefore, important for proper processing and quality wood products. An investigation has been carried out to detect wetwood of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.), water oak (Quercus nigra...

Sudden oak death in California: what is the potential?

Treesearch

Tara M. Barrett; Demetrios Gatziolis; Jeremy S. Fried; Karen L. Waddell

2006-01-01

Sudden oak death, a disease associated with the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, has a large number of shrub and tree host species. Three of the tree species must susceptible to mortality from the disease, California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and tanoak (...

Cultural Resources of the Ohio River Floodplain in Illinois,

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-10-15

Province. Dominants in this habitat are mostly white oak (Quercus alba ) and black oak (Quercus velutina), with pockets of post oak and blackjack oak...Stream-bank species include mostly black willow ( Salix nigra), cottonwood (Populus del- toides), sycamore, honey locust, river birch (Betula nigra), or

Quercus kelloggii Newb., California black oak

Treesearch

P.M. McDonald

1990-01-01

California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) exceeds all other California oaks in volume, distribution, and altitudinal range. Yet this deciduous hardwood has had little sustained commercial use and almost no management, even though its wood closely resembles that of its valuable, managed, and heavily used counterpart-northern red oak (...

Evolution of ellagitannins in Spanish, French, and American oak woods during natural seasoning and toasting.

PubMed

Cadahía, E; Varea, S; Muñoz, L; Fernández De Simón, B; García-Vallejo, M C

2001-08-01

The evolution of tannins in Spanish oak heartwood of Quercus robur L., Quercus petraea Liebl.,Quercus pyrenaica Wild., and Quercus faginea Lam. was studied in relation to the processing of wood in barrel cooperage. Their evolution was compared with that of French oak of Q. robur (Limousin, France) and Q. petraea (Allier, France) and American oak of Quercus alba L. (Missouri), which are habitually used in cooperage. Two stages of process were researched: the seasoning of woods during 3 years in natural conditions and toasting. Total phenol and total ellagitannin contents and optical density at 420 nm of wood extracts were determined. The ellagitannins roburins A-E, grandinin, vescalagin, and castalagin were identified and quantified by HPLC, and the molecular weight distribution of ellagitannins was calculated by GPC. During the seasoning process the different ellagitannin concentrations decreased according to the duration of this process and in the same way as those in French and American woods. The toasting process also had an important influence on the ellagitannin composition of wood. Roburins A-E, grandinin, vescalagin, and castalagin decreased during this process in the Spanish wood species, in the same proportion as in the French and American ones. Also, the seasoning and toasting processes lead to qualitative variations in the structure of ellagitannins, especially in the molecular weight distribution, as was evidenced by GPC analysis of their acetylated derivatives.

[Storage of carbon and nitrogen in Quercus and Platycladus orientalis plantations at different ages in the hilly area of western Henan Province, China.

PubMed

Wang, Yan Fang; Liu, Ling; Li, Zhi Chao; Shi, Xiao Feng; Yang, Xiao Yan; ShangGuan, Zhou Ping

2018-01-01

In the study, the method of space substituting time was used to investigate the distribution pattern of carbon and nitrogen storages in Quercus and Platycladus orientalis plantation ecosystems at different ages in hilly area of western Henan Province, China. We also analyzed the dynamic changes of soil carbon and nitrogen storages in different soil layers in the two plantation ecosystems. The results showed that the carbon storage in the arbor and litter layers increased with the increasing tree age. The storage of carbon and nitrogen in soil aggregated mainly in the surface layer and showed a trend of decrease-increase-decrease with the increasing tree age in all soil layers. The ranges of carbon and nitrogen storage in the surface soil were 20.31-50.07 and 1.68-2.12 t·hm -2 in Quercus plantation, and 23.99-48.76 and 1.59-2.34 t·hm -2 in P. orientalis plantation, respectively. Carbon storage ranges in Quercus and P. orientalis plantation ecosystems at different ages were 52.04-275.82 and 62.18-279.81 t·hm -2 , respectively. The carbon sequestration capacity in P. orientalis plantation was a little higher than that in Quercus plantation. Soil C/N increased with the increase of afforestation age.

Pallet cant soundness at Appalachian sawmills and marketing recommendations

Treesearch

Philip A. Araman; Matthew F. Winn; Mohammed F. Kabir; Xavier Torcheux; Guillaume Loizeaud

2002-01-01

Pallet cants were inspected at selected sawmills in Virginia and West Virginia. We were looking for unsound defects such as splits, wane, shake, holes, rot, decay, unsound knots, bark pockets, and mechanical defects. Red oak (Quercus rubra, L.), white oak (Quercus alba, L), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera...

Mycorrhizas on nursery and field seedlings of Quercus garryana

Treesearch

Dariene Southworth; Elizabeth M. Carrington; Jonathan L. Frank; Peter Gould; Connie A. Harrington; Warren D. Devine

2009-01-01

Oak woodland regeneration and restoration requires that seedlings develop mycorrhizas, yet the need for this mutualistic association is often overlooked. In this study, we asked whether Quercus garryana seedlings in nursery beds acquire mycorrhizas without artificial inoculation or access to a mycorrhizal network of other ectomycorrhizal hosts. We...

Heritability of first-order-lateral roots in five Quercus species: effect on 1-0 seedling quality evaluation

Treesearch

Paul P. Kormanik; Shi-Jean S. Sung; Taryn L. Kormanik; Stanley J. Zarnoch; Scott Schlarbaum

1997-01-01

Heritability estimates (h2) were calculated for first-order lateral root (FOLR) numbers on a family plot mean basis for 5 Quercus species: Q. alba, Q. falcata, Q, michauxii, Q. pagoda, and Q. rubra. All species were grown with the...

In vitro propagation of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.)

Treesearch

G. Vengadesan; Paula M. Pijut

2009-01-01

In vitro propagation of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) shoots was successful from cotyledonary node explants excised from 8-wk-old in vitro grown seedlings. Initially, four shoots per explant were obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4.4 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), 0.45 ...

Effects of prescribed burning on leaves and flowering Quercus garryana

Treesearch

David H. Peter; James K. Agee; Douglas G. Sprugel

2011-01-01

Many woodland understories are managed with prescribed fire. While prescribed burns intended to manipulate understory vegetation and fuels usually do not cause excessive tree mortality, sublethal canopy damage may occur and can affect tree vigor and reproductive output. We monitored Quercus garryana trees in western Washington, USA with multiple...

Effect of Flooding on Elemental Uptake and Biomass Allocation in Seedlings of Three Bottomland Tree Species

Treesearch

S.R. Pezeshki; R.D. DeLaune; P.H. Anderson

1999-01-01

Seedlings of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii), and cherrybark oak (Quercus falcata var. pagodaefolia) were subjected to flooding for 70 days in a greenhouse. The treatment imposed was reducing soil conditions characterized by low soil redox potential (Eh), and...

KINETICS OF LEAF TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATION AFFECT ISOPRENE EMISSION FROM RED OAK (QUERCUS RUBRA) LEAVES

EPA Science Inventory

Because the rate of isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) emission from plants is highly temperature-dependent, we investigated the natural fluctuations on leaf temperature and the effects of rapid temperature change on isoprene emission of red oak (Quercus rubra L.) leaves at the to...

A discriminant analysis of introgression between Quercus prinus L. and Quercus alba L.

Treesearch

F. Thomas Ledig; Robert W. Wilson; John W. Duffield; Gerald Maxwell

1969-01-01

The natural hybrid between rock chestnut oak, Q. prinus, and white oak, Q. alba, was named Q. x saulii by Schneider (1904). The nomenclature used herein follows that of Little (1953). Q. x saulii is frequently identified throughout the area of sympatry of...

Quercus garryana communities in the Puget Trough, Washington.

Treesearch

D.R. Thysell; A.B. Carey

2001-01-01

Among the legacies of the Vashon Glaciation are Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), prairie, wetland, and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) communities arrayed in a mosaic in the Puget Sound Area (PSA). Much of this mosaic has been destroyed. The largest remaining portion is on Fort Lewis Military Reservation. We examined...

Age Distribution of Oak Forests in North-Central Arkansas

Treesearch

Rick Soucy; Eric Heitzman; Martin A. Spetich

2004-01-01

We used tree ring analysis to reconstruct the tree establishment patterns in four mature white oak (Quercus alba L.)-northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.)-hickory (Carya spp.) forests in the Ozark Mountains of north-central Arkasas. Cross sections were removed from the stumps of 321 recently harvested trees and...

Throughfall chemistry beneath Quercus rubra: atmospheric, foliar, and soil chemistry considerations

Treesearch

Theodor D. Leininger; W.E. Winner

1988-01-01

Concentrations of inorganic ions were measured in bulk rainfall and bulk throughfall collected beneath northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) trees growing in fertile, limestone-derived soil and less fertile sandstone/shale-derived soil. Rainfall passing through the crowns at both sites was enriched with SO2-4...

Growth of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana)

Treesearch

Peter J. Gould; Constance A. Harrington; Warren D. Devine

2011-01-01

Many land managers are interested in maintaining or restoring plant communities that contain Oregon white oak (OWO, Quercus garryana), yet there is relatively little information available about the species' growth rates and survival to guide management decisions. We used two studies to characterize growth (over multi-year periods and within...

Masting characteristics of white oak: implications for management

Treesearch

Marcus A. Lashley; John M. McCord; Cathryn H. Greenberg; Craig A. Harper

2009-01-01

Acorn production is variable from year to year and among species. Weather, insect damage, and genetics are primary causes for variation. Silvicultural techniques have been recommended to improve acorn production; however, those recommendations primarily address variation among red oaks (Quercus rubra). Variability among individual white oaks (Quercus alba) has not been...

Early results from a newly-established provenance test in Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) show significant population differentiation

Treesearch

Jessica W. Wright; Victoria L. Sork

2017-01-01

Valley oak (Quercus lobata) is a majestic, endemic California native oak, found throughout California's foothills, valleys and flood plains. It is threatened because: Contracted range due to housing and agriculture.Low recruitment in existing stands as a function of land use and...

The phenolic extractives in southern red oak (Quercus falcata Michx. var. falcata)

Treesearch

Seiji Ohara; Richard W. Hemingway

1989-01-01

The bark of southern red oak (Quercus falcala Michx. var. falcala) is a rich source of quercitrin (quercetin-3-rhamnoside). It contains only low concentrations of (+)-catechin and no significant amounts of epicatechin or gallocatechin. The three major dimeric proanthocyanidins present are epicatechin-(4β→8)-...

[Prosopagnosia and facial expression recognition].

PubMed

Koyama, Shinichi

2014-04-01

This paper reviews clinical neuropsychological studies that have indicated that the recognition of a person's identity and the recognition of facial expressions are processed by different cortical and subcortical areas of the brain. The fusiform gyrus, especially the right fusiform gyrus, plays an important role in the recognition of identity. The superior temporal sulcus, amygdala, and medial frontal cortex play important roles in facial-expression recognition. Both facial recognition and facial-expression recognition are highly intellectual processes that involve several regions of the brain.

Preliminary studies on the chemical characterization and antioxidant properties of acidic polysaccharides from Sargassum fusiforme *

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jing; Hu, Nan; Wu, Ya-lin; Pan, Yuan-jiang; Sun, Cui-rong

2008-01-01

In order to investigate the antioxidant properties of the polysaccharides from the brown alga Sargassum fusiforme, the crude polysaccharides from S. fusiforme (SFPS) were extracted in hot water, and the lipid peroxidation inhibition assay exhibited that SFPS possessed a potential antioxidant activity. Hence, two purely polymeric fractions, SFPS-1 and SFPS-2 were isolated by the column of DEAE (2-diethylaminoethanol)-Sepharose Fast Flow, with their molecular weights of 51.4 and 30.3 kDa determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC). They were preliminarily characterized using chemical analysis in combination of infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and found to contain large amounts of uronic acids and β-glycosidical linkages. The antioxidant activities of these two SFPS fractions were evaluated using superoxide and hydroxyl radical-scavenging assays. The results show that the antioxidant ability of SFPS-2 was higher than that of SFPS-1, probably correlating with the molecular weight and uronic acid content. PMID:18763305

Preliminary studies on the chemical characterization and antioxidant properties of acidic polysaccharides from Sargassum fusiforme.

PubMed

Zhou, Jing; Hu, Nan; Wu, Ya-lin; Pan, Yuan-jiang; Sun, Cui-rong

2008-09-01

In order to investigate the antioxidant properties of the polysaccharides from the brown alga Sargassum fusiforme, the crude polysaccharides from S. fusiforme (SFPS) were extracted in hot water, and the lipid peroxidation inhibition assay exhibited that SFPS possessed a potential antioxidant activity. Hence, two purely polymeric fractions, SFPS-1 and SFPS-2 were isolated by the column of DEAE (2-diethylaminoethanol)-Sepharose Fast Flow, with their molecular weights of 51.4 and 30.3 kDa determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC). They were preliminarily characterized using chemical analysis in combination of infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and found to contain large amounts of uronic acids and beta-glycosidical linkages. The antioxidant activities of these two SFPS fractions were evaluated using superoxide and hydroxyl radical-scavenging assays. The results show that the antioxidant ability of SFPS-2 was higher than that of SFPS-1, probably correlating with the molecular weight and uronic acid content.

The relationship between visual word and face processing lateralization in the fusiform gyri: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Davies-Thompson, Jodie; Johnston, Samantha; Tashakkor, Yashar; Pancaroglu, Raika; Barton, Jason J S

2016-08-01

Visual words and faces activate similar networks but with complementary hemispheric asymmetries, faces being lateralized to the right and words to the left. A recent theory proposes that this reflects developmental competition between visual word and face processing. We investigated whether this results in an inverse correlation between the degree of lateralization of visual word and face activation in the fusiform gyri. 26 literate right-handed healthy adults underwent functional MRI with face and word localizers. We derived lateralization indices for cluster size and peak responses for word and face activity in left and right fusiform gyri, and correlated these across subjects. A secondary analysis examined all face- and word-selective voxels in the inferior occipitotemporal cortex. No negative correlations were found. There were positive correlations for the peak MR response between word and face activity within the left hemisphere, and between word activity in the left visual word form area and face activity in the right fusiform face area. The face lateralization index was positively rather than negatively correlated with the word index. In summary, we do not find a complementary relationship between visual word and face lateralization across subjects. The significance of the positive correlations is unclear: some may reflect the influences of general factors such as attention, but others may point to other factors that influence lateralization of function. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Morphological and topographical appearance of microaneurysms on optical coherence tomography angiography.

PubMed

Schreur, Vivian; Domanian, Artin; Liefers, Bart; Venhuizen, Freerk G; Klevering, B Jeroen; Hoyng, Carel B; de Jong, Eiko K; Theelen, Thomas

2018-06-20

To investigate retinal microaneurysms in patients with diabetic macular oedema (DME) by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) according to their location and morphology in relationship to their clinical properties, leakage on fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and retinal thickening on structural OCT. OCTA and FFA images of 31 eyes of 24 subjects were graded for the presence of microaneurysms. The topographical and morphological appearance of microaneurysms on OCTA was evaluated and classified. For each microaneurysm, the presence of focal leakage on FFA and associated retinal thickening on OCT was determined. Of all microaneurysms flagged on FFA, 295 out of 513 (58%) were also visible on OCTA. Microaneurysms with focal leakage and located in a thickened retinal area were more likely to be detected on OCTA than not leaking microaneurysms in non-thickened retinal areas (p=0.001). Most microaneurysms on OCTA were seen in the intermediate (23%) and deep capillary plexus (22%). Of all microaneurysms visualised on OCTA, saccular microaneurysms were detected most often (31%), as opposed to pedunculated microaneurysms (9%). Irregular, fusiform and mixed fusiform/saccular-shaped microaneurysms had the highest likeliness to leak and to be located in thickened retinal areas (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.001). Retinal microaneurysms in DME could be classified topographically and morphologically by OCTA. OCTA detected less microaneurysms than FFA, and this appeared to be dependent on leakage activity and retinal thickening. Morphological appearance of microaneurysms (irregular, fusiform and mixed saccular/fusiform) was associated with increased leakage activity and retinal thickening.

Neural correlates of processing facial identity based on features versus their spacing.

PubMed

Maurer, D; O'Craven, K M; Le Grand, R; Mondloch, C J; Springer, M V; Lewis, T L; Grady, C L

2007-04-08

Adults' expertise in recognizing facial identity involves encoding subtle differences among faces in the shape of individual facial features (featural processing) and in the spacing among features (a type of configural processing called sensitivity to second-order relations). We used fMRI to investigate the neural mechanisms that differentiate these two types of processing. Participants made same/different judgments about pairs of faces that differed only in the shape of the eyes and mouth, with minimal differences in spacing (featural blocks), or pairs of faces that had identical features but differed in the positions of those features (spacing blocks). From a localizer scan with faces, objects, and houses, we identified regions with comparatively more activity for faces, including the fusiform face area (FFA) in the right fusiform gyrus, other extrastriate regions, and prefrontal cortices. Contrasts between the featural and spacing conditions revealed distributed patterns of activity differentiating the two conditions. A region of the right fusiform gyrus (near but not overlapping the localized FFA) showed greater activity during the spacing task, along with multiple areas of right frontal cortex, whereas left prefrontal activity increased for featural processing. These patterns of activity were not related to differences in performance between the two tasks. The results indicate that the processing of facial features is distinct from the processing of second-order relations in faces, and that these functions are mediated by separate and lateralized networks involving the right fusiform gyrus, although the FFA as defined from a localizer scan is not differentially involved.

Left fusiform BOLD responses are inversely related to word-likeness in a one-back task.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaojuan; Yang, Jianfeng; Shu, Hua; Zevin, Jason D

2011-04-01

Although its precise functional contribution to reading remains unclear, there is broad consensus that an activity in the left mid-fusiform gyrus is highly sensitive to written words and word-like stimuli. In the current study, we take advantage of a particularity of the Chinese writing system in order to manipulate word-likeness parametrically, from real characters, to pseudo-characters that vary in whether they contain phonological and semantic cues, to artificial stimuli with varying surface similarity to real characters. In a one-back task, BOLD activity in the left mid-fusiform was inversely related to word-likeness, such that the least activity was observed in response to real characters, and the greatest to artificial stimuli that violate the orthotactic constraints of the writing system. One possible explanation for this surprising result is that the short-term memory demands of the one-back task put more pressure on the visual system when other sources of information cannot be used to aid in detecting repeated stimuli. For real characters and, to a lesser extent for pseudo-characters, information about meaning and pronunciation can contribute to performance, whereas artificial stimuli are entirely dependent on visual information. Consistent with this view, functional connectivity analyses revealed a strong positive relationship between left mid-fusiform and other visual areas, whereas areas typically involved in phonological and semantic processing for text were negatively correlated with this region. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Laboratory-Scale Development of a Structural Exterior Flakeboard from Hardwoods Growing on Southern Pine Sites

Treesearch

C. -Y. Hse; P. Koch; C.W. McMillin; E.W. Price

1975-01-01

A series of experiments was conducted to develop a 1/2-inch-thick, structural, exterior, mixed-species flakeboard functionally competitive with sheathing grades of plywood. The board design settled on is comprised of equal-weight portions throughout of Carya spp., Quercus alba L., Quercus falcata Michx.,

Invasive perennial grasses in Quercus garryana meadows of southwestern British Columbia: prospects for restoration

Treesearch

Andrew MacDougall

2002-01-01

Garry oak (Quercus garryana) meadows of the Pacific Northwest are heavily invaded but the dynamics surrounding this ecosystem transformation are poorly understood. Of particular uncertainty is the role of the invasive species in structuring the community, and the potential stability of this invasive-dominated system when disturbed. Clarifying such...

Winter variation in physiological status of cold stored and freshly lifted semi-evergreen quercus nigra seedlings

Treesearch

Rosa C. Goodman; Douglass F. Jacobs; Kent G. Apostol; Barrett C. Wilson; Emile S. Gardiner

2009-01-01

Water oak (Quercus nigra L.) is a tardily deciduous species commonly planted in afforestation projects in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, USA. Field performance is often marked by low survival rates and top dieback, which may be associated with poor physiological quality of planting stock.

The physiological diversity and similarity of ten Quercus species

Treesearch

Shi-Jean S. Sung; M.N. Angelov; R.R. Doong; W.R. Harms; Paul P. Kormanik; C.C. Black

1994-01-01

Based on anatomical, photosynthetic, and biochemical data, the range of physiological differences and similarities was defined for ten Quercus species. There were no correlations between species' site adaptability, leaf anatomy and photosynthetic rate (A). It is concluded from these data that each oak species must be treated individually when incorporated into...

Sudden Oak Death - Eastern (Pest Alert)

Treesearch

Joseph O' Brien; Manfred Mielke; Steve Oak; Bruce Moltzan

2002-01-01

A phenomenon known as Sudden Oak Death was first reported in 1995 in central coastal California. Since then, tens of thousands of tanoaks (Lithocarpus densiflorus), coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia), and California black oaks (Quercus kelloggii) have been killed by a newly identified fungus, Phytophthora ramorum. On these hosts, the fungus causes a bleeding canker on...

Underplanting to sustain future stocking of oak (Quercus) in temperate deciduous forests

Treesearch

Daniel C. Dey; Emile S. Gardiner; Callie J. Schweitzer; John M. Kabrick; Douglass F. Jacobs

2012-01-01

Oaks (Quercus spp.) are one of the most important tree taxa in the northern hemisphere. Although they are dominant in mixed species forests and widely distributed, there are frequent reports of regeneration failures. An adequate population of large oak advance reproduction is a critical prerequisite to successful oak regeneration, and hence...

The establishment and development of oak forests in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

Treesearch

Rick D. Soucy; Eric Heitzman; Martin A. Spetich

2005-01-01

The disturbance history of six mature white oak (Quercus alba L.) - northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) - hickory (Carya spp.) stands in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas were reconstructed using tree-ring and fire-scar analysis. Results indicate that all six stands originated in the early 1900s following...

Agrilus auroguttatus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) seasonal development within Quercus agrifolia (Fagales: Fagaceae) in southern California

Treesearch

L.J. Haavik; T.W. Coleman; M.L. Flint; R.C. Venette; S.J. Seybold

2013-01-01

We investigated seasonal development of the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), and physical conditions of the phloem within a preferred host species, coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia Née. We sampled infested trees on a monthly basis at two sites in southern California throughout...

Influence of gap-scale disturbance on developmental and successional pathways in Quercus-Pinus stands

Treesearch

T.A. Weber; J.L. Hart; C. Schweitzer; D.C. Dey

2014-01-01

Quercus-Pinus forests of the eastern USA cover millions of hectares and span a variety of ecoregions. Understanding the influence of natural disturbance on developmental and successional pathways is important for managers that wish to sustain Pinus spp. in these mixtures. Quantifying developmental and successional patterns in this...

Responses of northern red oak seedlings to lime and deer exclosure fencing in Pennsylvania

Treesearch

Robert P. Long; Patrick H. Brose; Stephen B. Horsley

2012-01-01

In Pennsylvania, two hypotheses compete to explain the chronic oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration problem: excessive deer browsing and soil cation depletion. We tested these hypotheses by evaluating the effect of forest liming and deer exclosure fencing on northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedling growth and nutrition in five...

Comparative gas-exchange in leaves of intact and clipped, natural and planted cherybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings

Treesearch

Brian R. Lockhart; John D. Hodges

1994-01-01

Gas-exchange measurements, including CO2-exchange rate (net photosynthesis), stomatal conductance, and transpiration, were conducted on intact and clipped cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings growing inthe field and in a nursery bed. Seedlings inthe field, released frommidstory and understory woody competition, showed...

Predominant nitidulid species (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) associated with spring oak wilt mats in Minnesota

Treesearch

Kory R. Cease; Jennifer Juzwik

2001-01-01

Nitidulids are primary vectors of the oak wilt pathogen, Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt, in the northcentral United States. Species of adult nitidulids associated with different ages of oak wilt fungus mats on red oaks (Quercus rubra L. and Quercus ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill) during spring in east-central...

Quercus kelloggii (Newb.) sprout response to fire severity in northern California

Treesearch

Justin S. Crotteau; Martin W. Ritchie; J. Morgan Varner; John-Pascal Berrill

2015-01-01

We counted seedlings and assessed crown characteristics and abundance of fire-induced stump sprout regeneration in California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) 11 to 12 years after wildfire. Regeneration was examined across three levels of burn severity (low, moderate, and high) according to the Composite Burn Index. Fire severity affected crown width...

Effects of inoculum density and wounding on stem infection of three eastern US forest species by Phytophthora ramorum

Treesearch

P.W. Tooley; M. Browning; R.M. Leighty

2014-01-01

Seedlings of three Eastern US forest species Quercus rubra (northern red oak), Quercus prinus (chestnut oak) and Acer rubrum (red maple) were inoculated by applying Phytophthora ramorum sporangia to stems at different inoculum densities with and without wounding. Disease occurred in all...

Laboratory-scale development of structural exterior flakeboard from hardwoods growing on southern pine sites

Treesearch

Chung-Yun Hse; Peter Koch; Charles W. Mcmillin; Eddie W. Price

1975-01-01

A seriex of experiments was conducted to develop a 1/2-inch-thick, structural, exterior, mixed-species flakeboard functionally competitive with sheathing grades of plywood. The board design settled on is comprised of equal-weight portions throughout of Carya spp., Quercus alba L., Quercus falcata Michx.,

40 CFR 180.1179 - Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and Rhizophoria...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Plant extract derived from Opuntia...) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS TOLERANCES AND EXEMPTIONS FOR PESTICIDE CHEMICAL RESIDUES IN FOOD Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1179 Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and...

40 CFR 180.1179 - Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and Rhizophoria...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Plant extract derived from Opuntia...) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS TOLERANCES AND EXEMPTIONS FOR PESTICIDE CHEMICAL RESIDUES IN FOOD Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1179 Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and...

40 CFR 180.1179 - Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and Rhizophoria...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Plant extract derived from Opuntia...) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS TOLERANCES AND EXEMPTIONS FOR PESTICIDE CHEMICAL RESIDUES IN FOOD Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1179 Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and...

40 CFR 180.1179 - Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and Rhizophoria...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Plant extract derived from Opuntia...) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS TOLERANCES AND EXEMPTIONS FOR PESTICIDE CHEMICAL RESIDUES IN FOOD Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1179 Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and...

40 CFR 180.1179 - Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and Rhizophoria...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Plant extract derived from Opuntia...) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS TOLERANCES AND EXEMPTIONS FOR PESTICIDE CHEMICAL RESIDUES IN FOOD Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1179 Plant extract derived from Opuntia lindheimeri, Quercus falcata, Rhus aromatica, and...

Involvement of Phythophthora species in white oak (Quercus alba) decline in southern Ohio

Treesearch

Y. Balci; R.P. Long; M. Mansfield; D. Balser; W.L. MacDonald

2010-01-01

This study was initiated to investigate the possible role of Phytophthora species in white oak decline (Quercus alba) in southern Ohio at Scioto Trail State Forest. Surveys demonstrated the presence of four species of Phytophthora including one novel species. By far, the most common species was P....

A suggested approach for design of oak (Quercus L.) regeneration research considering regional differences

Treesearch

Daniel C. Dey; Martin A. Spetich; Dale R. Wiegel; David L. Graney; John M. Kabrick

2009-01-01

Research on oak (Quercus L.) regeneration has generally consisted of smallscale studies of treatments designed to favor oak, including consideration of site quality and topographic effects on oak regeneration. However, these experiments have not consistently factored in broader-scale ecological differences found in the eastern United States. Oak...

Artificial regeneration of major oak (Quercus) species in the eastern United States - a review of the literature

Treesearch

Daniel C. Dey; Douglass Jacobs; Ken McNabb; Gary W. Miller; V. Baldwin; G. Foster

2008-01-01

Although natural regeneration is often the best method for establishing new oak (Quercus spp.) stands, there are increasingly more situations in which high potential for oak regeneration failure dictates the use of artificial regeneration including direct seeding and planting seedlings. Additionally, afforestation planting programs frequently...

Ex-situ conservation of Quercus oglethorpensis in living collections of arboreta and botanical gardens.

Treesearch

Matthew S. Lobdell; Patrick G. Thompson

2017-01-01

Quercus oglethorpensis (Oglethorpe oak) is an endangered species native to the southeastern United States. It is threatened by land use changes, competition, and chestnut blight disease caused by Cryphonectria parasitica. The species is distributed sparsely over a linear distance of ca. 950 km. Its range includes several...

High-light acclimation in Quercus robur L.seedlings upon over-topped a shaded environment

Treesearch

Anna M. Jensen; Emile S. Gardiner; Kevin C. Vaughn

2012-01-01

High developmental plasticity at the seedling-level during acclimation to the light environment may be an important determinant of seedling establishment and growth in temperate broadleaf forests, especially in dense understories where spatial light availability can vary greatly. Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) seedlings were raised beneath a...

A review of oak wilt management: a summary of treatment options and their efficacy

Treesearch

Karrie A. Koch; Gina L. Quiram; Robert C. Venette

2010-01-01

Oak wilt, caused by the invasive fungal pathogen Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt, is a serious and fatal disease of oaks, Quercus spp., with red oaks (section Lobatae) generally being more susceptible than white oaks (section Quercus). Oak wilt was first recognized in North America in 1944...

Photosynthetic light response of flooded cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda) seedlings grown in two light regimes

Treesearch

Emile S. Gardiner; Ken W. Krauss

2001-01-01

Two-year-old cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings raised in full or partial (27 percent) sunlight were flooded for 30 days to study the effects of light availability and root inundation on photosynthetic light response. Compared with seedlings receiving full sunlight, seedlings receiving partial sunlight developed leaves...

Plastome data reveal multiple geographic origins of Quercus Group Ilex

PubMed Central

Grimm, Guido W.; Papini, Alessio; Vessella, Federico; Cardoni, Simone; Tordoni, Enrico; Piredda, Roberta; Franc, Alain; Denk, Thomas

2016-01-01

Nucleotide sequences from the plastome are currently the main source for assessing taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships in flowering plants and their historical biogeography at all hierarchical levels. One major exception is the large and economically important genus Quercus (oaks). Whereas differentiation patterns of the nuclear genome are in agreement with morphology and the fossil record, diversity patterns in the plastome are at odds with established taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships. However, the extent and evolutionary implications of this incongruence has yet to be fully uncovered. The DNA sequence divergence of four Euro-Mediterranean Group Ilex oak species (Quercus ilex L., Q. coccifera L., Q. aucheri Jaub. & Spach., Q. alnifolia Poech.) was explored at three chloroplast markers (rbcL, trnK/matK, trnH-psbA). Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed including worldwide members of additional 55 species representing all Quercus subgeneric groups. Family and order sequence data were harvested from gene banks to better frame the observed divergence in larger taxonomic contexts. We found a strong geographic sorting in the focal group and the genus in general that is entirely decoupled from species boundaries. High plastid divergence in members of Quercus Group Ilex, including haplotypes shared with related, but long isolated oak lineages, point towards multiple geographic origins of this group of oaks. The results suggest that incomplete lineage sorting and repeated phases of asymmetrical introgression among ancestral lineages of Group Ilex and two other main Groups of Eurasian oaks (Cyclobalanopsis and Cerris) caused this complex pattern. Comparison with the current phylogenetic synthesis also suggests an initial high- versus mid-latitude biogeographic split within Quercus. High plastome plasticity of Group Ilex reflects geographic area disruptions, possibly linked with high tectonic activity of past and modern distribution ranges, that did not leave imprints in the nuclear genome of modern species and infrageneric lineages. PMID:27123376

Solvothermal synthesis of fusiform hexagonal prism SrCO{sub 3} microrods via ethylene glycol solution

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

Shi Liange; Du Fanglin

2007-08-07

Fusiform hexagonal prism SrCO{sub 3} microrods were prepared by a simple solvothermal route at 120 deg. C, and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. By controlling the content of ethylene glycol (EG), it was found that ethylene glycol (EG) played an important role in the formation of such SrCO{sub 3} microrods. Finally, effects of other solvents on the products, including 1,2-propanediol and glycerin, were also investigated.

Interactive effects of O3 exposure on California black oak (Quercus kelloggii Newb.) seedlings with and without N amendment

Treesearch

T. Handley; Nancy Grulke

2008-01-01

We examined the short-term separate and combined effects of simulated nitrogen (N) deposition (fertilization) and ozone (O3) exposure on California black oak seedlings (Quercus kelloggii Newb.), an ecologically important tree of the San Bernardino Mountains downwind of Los Angeles. Realistic concentrations of O3...

Additivity in tree biomass components of Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.)

Treesearch

Joao P. Carvalho; Bernard R. Parresol

2003-01-01

In tree biomass estimations, it is important to consider the property of additivity, i.e., the total tree biomass should equal the sum of the components. This work presents functions that allow estimation of the stem and crown dry weight components of Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.) trees. A procedure that considers additivity of tree biomass...

Competitive Capacity of Quercus rubra L. Planted in Arkansas' Boston Mountains

Treesearch

Martin A. Spetich; Daniel C. Dey; Paul S. Johnson; David L. Graney

2002-01-01

Abstract. Results of an 11 yr study of the growth and survival of planted northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings (2-0 bare-root) are presented. More than 4,000 seedlings were planted under shelterwood overstories that were harvested 3 yr after planting. Results are expressed as planted-tree dominance probabilities. Dominance...

Pallet cant soundness at Appalachian sawmills and marketing recommendations

Treesearch

Philip A. Araman; Matthew F. Winn; Mohammed F. Kabir; Xavier Torcheux; Guillaume Loizeaud

2002-01-01

Pallet cants were inspected at selected sawmills in Virginia and West Virginia. We were looking for unsound defects such as splits, wane, shake, holes, rot, decay, unsound knots, bark pockets, and mechanical defects. Red oak (Quercus rubra, L.), white oak (Quercus alba, L), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera, L.) and bass-wood (Tilia americana, L.) cants were...

Acute renal failure in 2 adult llamas after exposure to Oak trees (Quercus spp.)

PubMed Central

Chamorro, Manuel F.; Passler, Thomas; Joiner, Kellye; Poppenga, Robert H.; Bayne, Jenna; Walz, Paul H.

2013-01-01

Two adult llamas (Lama glama) previously exposed to oak trees (Quercus spp.) were presented with a history of depression and anorexia. Clinicopathological abnormalities included severe gastroenteritis, acute renal failure, and increased liver enzymes. This is believed to be the first report of oak toxicosis in South American camelids. PMID:23814303

Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, susceptibility and response to goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus, injury in southern California

Treesearch

Tom W. Coleman; Nancy E. Grulke; Miles Daly; Cesar Godinez; Susan L. Schilling; Philip J. Riggan; Steven J. Seybold

2011-01-01

Oak mortality is often associated with a complex of decline factors. We describe the morphological and physiological responses of coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia Née, in California to an invasive insect, the goldspotted oak borer (GSOB), Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), and evaluate drought as a...

Performance of nuttall oak (Quercus Texana Buckl.) provenances in the Western Gulf Region

Treesearch

D.P. Gwaze; T.D. Byram; E.M. Raley

2003-01-01

Three series of three tests each of Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckl. formally Q. nuttallii Palmer) were established by the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program at three locations: Desha and Lonoke Counties in Arkansas and Sharkey County in Mississippi. The three series included 28-42 different half-sib families from...

Age structure and growth of California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) in the central Sierra Nevada, California

Treesearch

Barrett A. Garrison; Christopher D. otahal; Matthew L. Triggs

2002-01-01

Age structure and growth of California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) was determined from tagged trees at four 26.1-acre study stands in Placer County, California. Stands were dominated by large diameter (>20 inch dbh) California black oak and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). Randomly selected trees were tagged in June-August...

Historical jigsaw puzzles: piecing together the understory of Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystems and the implications for restoration

Treesearch

Carrina Maslovat

2002-01-01

Ecosystem restoration requires a set of reference vegetation conditions which are difficult to find for Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystems in Canada because contemporary sites have been drastically altered. A survey of historical information provides only limited clues about the original understory vegetation. Although there is considerable...

Consequences of salinity and freezing stress for two populations of Quercus virginiana Mill

Treesearch

Cassandra M. Kurtz; Jessica A. Savage; I-Yu Huang; Jeannine Cavender-Bares

2013-01-01

Climate change is of increasing concern in coastal forests where rising sea levels could lead to dramatic shifts in ecosystem composition. To investigate how inundation may impact coastal ecosystems, we examined the sensitivity of Quercus virginiana Mill., a dominant tree in the southeastern U.S., to increased soil salinity and examined whether high...

Regeneration of red oak (Quercus rubra L.) using shelterwood systems: Ecophysiology, silviculture and management recommendations

Treesearch

Daniel C. Dey; William C. parker

1996-01-01

There is considerable interest in developing relaible methods for regenerating red oak (Quercus rubra) in Ontario. Traditional silviculture methods have not been successful in maintaining the curent levels of oak growing stock. In this paper, we review the ecology, physiology and reproductive biology of red oak. This discussion stresses the...

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...

Potential effects of sudden oak death on small mammals and herpetofauna in coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia woodlands

Treesearch

Douglas J. Tempel; William D. Tietje

2006-01-01

Within San Luis Obispo County, California, coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) woodlands provide important habitat for many wildlife species (see Tietje and others, this volume). Unfortunately, many of these woodlands are at high risk of sudden oak death (SOD) infection should the pathogen (Phytophthora ramorum) become established...

Prediction of leaf area in individual leaves of cherrybark oak seedlings (Quercus pagoda Raf.)

Treesearch

Yanfei Guo; Brian Lockhart; John Hodges

1995-01-01

The prediction of leaf area for cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings is important for studying the physiology of the species. Linear and polynomial models involving leaf length, width, fresh weight, dry weight, and internodal length were tested independently and collectively to predict leaf area. Twenty-nine cherrybark oak seedlings were...

Underplanting cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings on a bottomland site in the southern United States

Treesearch

Emile S. Gardiner; Jimmie L. Yeiser

2006-01-01

We initiated a study on a bottomland site in the southern United States to examine the effects of Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunberg) control and seedlings of two root classes on survival and growth of underplanted cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings. Three honeysuckle control treatments were assigned to...

Trunk and root sprouting on residual trees after thinning a Quercus chrysolepis stand

Treesearch

Timothy E. Paysen; Marcia G. Narog; Robert G. Tissell; Melody A. Lardner

1991-01-01

Canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.) showed sprouting patterns on root and trunk zones foUowing forest thinning. Root sprouting was heaviest on north and east (downhill) sides of residual trees; bole sprouts were concentrated on the south and west (uphill). Root and bole sprouting appeared to be responding to different stimuli, or...

Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.)

Treesearch

G. Vengadesan; Paula M. Pijut

2009-01-01

A somatic embryogenesis protocol for plant regeneration of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) was established from immature cotyledon explants. Embryogenic callus cultures were induced on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) containing 3% sucrose, 0.24% Phytagel™, and various concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) after 4 weeks of...

The effect of seed size variation in Quercus pacifica on seedling establishment and growth

Treesearch

Mario B. Pesendorfer

2015-01-01

Quercus pacifica, the island scrub-oak, is the dominant species in oak chaparral on the three largest California Channel Islands. While the population on Santa Cruz Island has experienced a strong recovery, the populations on Santa Rosa and Santa Catalina islands are of conservation concern, and managers are actively restoring oak habitat by...

Hyperdiversity of ectomycorrhizal fungus assemblages on oak seedlings in mixed forests in the southern Appalachian Mountains

Treesearch

John F. Walker; Orson K. Miller; Jonathan L. Horton

2005-01-01

Diversity of ectotrophic mycobionts on outplanted seedlings of two oak species (Quercus rubra and Quercus prinus) was estimated at two sites in mature mixed forests in the southern Appalachian Mountains by sequencing nuclear 5.8S rRNA genes and the flanking internal transcribed spacer regions I and II (ITS). The...

Developing a stand hazard index for oak decline in upland Oak forests of the Ozark Highlands, Missouri

Treesearch

Fan Zhaofei; Fan Xiuli; Martin A. Spetich; Stephen R. Shifley; W. Keith Moser; Randy G. Jensen; John M. Kabrick

2011-01-01

Black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.) and scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea Muenchh.)--two major components (44% of total stand basal area) of upland oak forests--are suffering severe decline and mortality in the Ozark Highlands, Missouri. However, factors influencing their survival (mortality) are not well understood. In this study we...

Comparative gas-exchange in leaves of intact and clipped, natural and planted cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings

Treesearch

Brian R. Lockhart; John D. Hodges

2005-01-01

Gas-exchange measurements, including C022-exchange rate (net photosynthesis), stomatal conductance, and transpiration, were conducted on intact and clipped cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings growing in the field and in a nursery bed. Seedlings in the field, released from midstory and understory woody competition,...

Riparian valley oak (Quercus lobata) forest restoration on the middle Sacramento River, California

Treesearch

F. Thomas Griggs; Gregory H. Golet

2002-01-01

In 1989 The Nature Conservancy initiated a riparian horticultural restoration program on the floodplain of the middle Sacramento River, California. At nearly all restoration sites Valley oak (Quercus lobata Nee) comprised a major component of the planting design. Valley oaks are a keystone tree species of lowland floodplain habitats in California...

Photosynthesis and water relations of the mistletoe, Phoradendron villosum, and its host, the California valley oak, Quercus lobata

Treesearch

David Y. Hollinger

1983-01-01

Water vapor and CO2 exchange characteristics were studied in Phoradendron villosum, a hemiparasitic mistletoe and its host, Quercus lobata. The hemiparasite had stomatal conductances equal to or higher than the host but a much lower capacity to fix carbon. Respiration was high in the mistletoe relative to...

Seasonal Growth Patterns of Blue and Valley Oak Seedlings Established on Foothill Rangelands

Treesearch

Douglas D. McCreary

1991-01-01

Blue (Quercus douglasii Hook. & Am.) and valley (Quercus lobata Née) oak seedlings were planted on a foothill rangeland site in 1987 and 1988. Both species were watered their first year but received no irrigation thereafter. They were evaluated during each subsequent spring and summer for survival, weekly height growth and...

Pyrosequencing of the northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) chloroplast genome reveals high quality polymorphisms for population management

Treesearch

Lisa W. Alexander; Keith E. Woeste

2014-01-01

Given the low intraspecific chloroplast diversity detected in northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), more powerful genetic tools are necessary to accurately characterize Q. rubra chloroplast diversity and structure. We report the sequencing, assembly, and annotation of the chloroplast genome of northern red oak via pyrosequencing and...

Competitive capacity of Quercus rubra L. planted in Arkansas' Boston Mountains

Treesearch

Martin A. Spetich; Daniel C. Dey; Paul S. Johnson; David L. Graney

2002-01-01

Results of an 11 yr study of the growth and survival of planted northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings (2-0 bare-root) are presented. More than 4,000 seedlings were planted under shelterwood overstories that were harvested 3 yr after planting. Results are expressed as planted-tree dominance probabilities. Dominance probability is the...

Factors Limiting the Establishment of a Chaparral Oak, Quercus durata Jeps., in Grassland

Treesearch

Kimberlyn Williams; Stephen D. Davis; Barbara L. Gartner; Staffan Karlsson

1991-01-01

We studied factors that restrict colonization of grassland by Quercus durata Jeps., an oak commonly found in chaparral on serpentine soils. The study site contained a chaparral/ grassland border that had been stable for at least 50 years. Monitoring of acorns planted in the chaparral understory and grassland revealed that, although initial seedling...

Response of chestnut oak and red oak to drought and fertilization: growth and physiology

Treesearch

M.D. Kleiner; M.D. Abrams; J.C. Schultz

1991-01-01

Chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.) and red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings were grown for two seasons under two nutrient regimes: fertilizer + (NPK) and fertilizer - (No NPK). Beginning two weeks after budbreak, water was withheld for 10 weeks during the second growing season. Leaf water potentials, gas exchange measurements and...

Previously unrecorded damage to oak, Quercus spp., in southern California by the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus coxalis Waterhouse (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

Treesearch

Tom W. Coleman; Steven Seybold

2008-01-01

A new and potentially devastating pest of oaks, Quercus spp., has been discovered in southern California. The goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus coxalis Waterhouse (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), colonizes the sapwood surface and phloem of the main stem and larger branches of at least three species of...

Canopy accession strategies and climate-growth relationships in Acer Rubrum.

Treesearch

Justin L. Hart; Megan L. Buchanan; Scott J. Torreano

2012-01-01

A pervasive pattern of forest composition change is occurring throughout the Central Hardwood Forest of the eastern US. Acer rubrum has invaded the understory of Quercus stands across a variety of site types. The proliferation of A. rubrum, and that of other shade-tolerant mesophytes, inhibits the regeneration of Quercus. Without alterations in disturbance or climate...

Attack pattern of Platypus koryoensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodidae) in relation to crown dieback of Mongolian oak in Korea

Treesearch

Jung-Su Lee; Robert A. Haack; Won Il. Choi

2011-01-01

The ambrosia beetle, Platypus koryoensis (Murayama), vectors the Korean oak wilt (KOW) pathogen, Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae K.H. Kim, Y.J. Choi, & H.D. Shin, in Korea, which is highly lethal to Mongolian oak, Quercus mongolica Fisch., and is considered a major threat to forest ecosystem health. We...

Tree mortality 6 years after burning a thinned Quercus chrysolepis stand

Treesearch

T.E. Paysen; M.G. Narog

1993-01-01

Managers do not currently use prescribed fire in stands of canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.) because it is highly susceptible to fire injury. A preliminary study investigating the effects of  prescribed burning on this species was initiated on the San Bernardino National Forest in southern California. The purpose was to assess the...

Do chestnut, northern red, and white oak germinant seedlings respond similary to light treatments? II. Gas exchange and chlorophyll responses

Treesearch

Joanne Rebbeck; Amy Scherzer; Kurt Gottschalk

2012-01-01

Understanding differences in physiological and growth strategies in low-light environments among upland oak species may help managers address the challenges of oaks' poor regeneration. Gas exchange and chlorophyll content were measured for northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.), and white oak (...

Net production relations of three tree species at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. [Liriodendron tulipifera; Quercus alba; Pinus echinata

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

Whittaker, R.H.; Cohen, N.; Olson, J.S.

Measurement of productivity of forests is a difficult problem which has been variously approached. Results from an exploratory application of one approach (Whittaker 1961) to trees of three species - Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree or yellow poplar), Quercus alba (white oak), and Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) - are reported here. The trees were felled in a logging operation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a mature second-growth, mixed oak-pine forest including also Quercus velutina, Q. coccinea, Q. falcata, Pinus virginiana, Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica, Oxydendrum arboreum, and Carya ovalis. The forest grew on slopes of low hills on Knox dolomitemore » at about 300 m elevation. 22 references, 1 figure, 2 tables.« less

The Impact of Competition and Allelopathy on the Trade-Off between Plant Defense and Growth in Two Contrasting Tree Species

PubMed Central

Fernandez, Catherine; Monnier, Yogan; Santonja, Mathieu; Gallet, Christiane; Weston, Leslie A.; Prévosto, Bernard; Saunier, Amélie; Baldy, Virginie; Bousquet-Mélou, Anne

2016-01-01

In contrast to plant-animal interactions, the conceptual framework regarding the impact of secondary metabolites in mediating plant-plant interference is currently less well defined. Here, we address hypotheses about the role of chemically-mediated plant-plant interference (i.e., allelopathy) as a driver of Mediterranean forest dynamics. Growth and defense abilities of a pioneer (Pinus halepensis) and a late-successional (Quercus pubescens) Mediterranean forest species were evaluated under three different plant interference conditions: (i) allelopathy simulated by application of aqueous needle extracts of Pinus, (ii) resource competition created by the physical presence of a neighboring species (Pinus or Quercus), and (iii) a combination of both allelopathy and competition. After 24 months of experimentation in simulated field conditions, Quercus was more affected by plant interference treatments than was Pinus, and a hierarchical response to biotic interference (allelopathy < competition < allelopathy + competition) was observed in terms of relative impact on growth and plant defense. Both species modulated their respective metabolic profiles according to plant interference treatment and thus their inherent chemical defense status, resulting in a physiological trade-off between plant growth and production of defense metabolites. For Quercus, an increase in secondary metabolite production and a decrease in plant growth were observed in all treatments. In contrast, this trade-off in Pinus was only observed in competition and allelopathy + competition treatments. Although Pinus and Quercus expressed differential responses when subjected to a single interference condition, either allelopathy or competition, species responses were similar or positively correlated when strong interference conditions (allelopathy + competition) were imposed. PMID:27200062

A highly spatially resolved GIS-based model to assess the isoprenoid emissions from key Italian ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacheco, Claudia Kemper; Fares, Silvano; Ciccioli, Paolo

2014-10-01

The amount of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOC) emitted from terrestrial vegetation is of great importance in atmospheric reactivity, particularly for ozone-forming reactions and as condensation nuclei in aerosol formation and growth. This work presents a detailed inventory of isoprenoid emissions from vegetation in Italy using an original approach which combines state of the art models to estimate the species-specific isoprenoid emissions and a Geographic Information System (GIS) where emissions are spatially represented. Isoprenoid species and basal emission factors were obtained by combining results from laboratory experiments with those published in literature. For the first time, our investigation was not only restricted to isoprene and total monoterpenes, but our goal was to provide maps of isoprene and individual monoterpenes at a high-spatial (∼1 km2) and temporal resolution (daily runs, monthly trends in emissions are discussed in the text). Another novelty in our research was the inclusion of the effects of phenology on plant emissions. Our results show that: a) isoprene, a-pinene, sabinene and b-pinene are the most important compounds emitted from vegetation in Italy; b) annual biogenic isoprene and monoterpene fluxes for the year 2006 were ∼31.30 Gg and ∼37.70 Gg, respectively; and c) Quercus pubescens + Quercus petrea + Quercus robur, Quercus ilex, Quercus suber and Fagus sylvatica are the principal isoprenoid emitting species in the country. The high spatial and temporal resolution, combined with the species-specific emission output, makes the model particularly suitable for assessing local budgets, and for modeling photochemical pollution in Italy.

Superselective Wada test for ruptured spontaneous fusiform middle cerebral artery aneurysm: a technical case report.

PubMed

Rajpal, Sharad; Moftakhar, Roham; Bauer, Andrew M; Turk, Aquilla S; Niemann, David B

2011-09-01

Spontaneous fusiform aneurysms of the middle cerebral artery (sfaMCA) are quite uncommon and tend to occur in young adults. The use of superselective angiography for ruptured and unruptured aneurysms can help delineate vital angioarchitecture and assist with perioperative planning and treatment modality. The use of superselective Wada testing (SWT) for treatment of a ruptured sfaMCA involving the dominant hemisphere, however, has never been described in the English literature. We report a case of a ruptured sfaMCA involving the dominant hemisphere where superselective angiography and SWT were utilized to predict the ability to occlude a major vessel without adverse neurological sequelae. A healthy young patient presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Initial CT-angiogram of the head identified a left-sided fusiform MCA aneurysm measuring 1.3 cm by 0.5 cm in maximum dimensions. Diagnostic angiography evaluation demonstrated an irregular, fusiform aneurysm involving the central (Rolandic) trunk of the left MCA. An SWT was then performed through an SL 10 microcatheter with injection of sodium amytal. Verbal, motor and cognitive testing were performed twice and revealed no neurological defects. The patient underwent subsequent coil embolization of the aneurysm. Formal post-procedure evaluation revealed no speech, language or cognitive deficits. She was eventually discharged home and remained without neurological deficits at her follow-up appointment 12 months after her initial presentation. Intraoperative SWT can be performed as part of the initial evaluation for patients with sfaMCA of the dominant cerebral hemisphere to help choose the appropriate treatment algorithm and predict post-treatment neurological deficits.

Management of Maritime Communities for Threatened and Endangered Species.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-05-01

S) mulletbush (B. halimifolia) (S) American barberry (Berchemia scandens) (L) Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) (L) winged sumac...include coastal red cedar {Juniperus silicicola), red bay ( Persea borbonia), live oak (Quercus virginiana) and cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto; Stalter...scattered pines. The canopy is composed of live oak, slash pine, myrtle oak (Quercus myrtifolia), American olive (Osmanthus americanus), Chapman’s oak

Midstory shelterwood to promote natural Quercus reproduction on the Mid-Cumberland Plateau, Alabama: Status four years after final harvest

Treesearch

Callie J. Schweitzer; Daniel C. Dey

2017-01-01

In 2001, we initiated a study in Jackson County, AL, to examine shelterwood prescriptions in mixed mesophytic upland hardwood forests located on the escarpment of the mid-Cumberland Plateau. We were particularly interested in testing a shelterwood method that was successfully applied in other upland hardwood systems to recruit Quercus into...

The effects of silvicultural thinning and Lymantria dispar L. defoliation on wood volume growth of Quercus spp.

Treesearch

Mary Ann Fajvan; Kurt W. Gottschalk

2012-01-01

Pre- and post-defoliation radial growth rates were used to examine the effects of silvicultural thinning and two consecutive years of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) defoliation on Quercus spp. wood volume production. In the first phase of the study, tree rings from 65 dissected stems, were used to develop polynomial models to...

Effects of soil compaction, forest leaf litter and nitrogen fertilizer on two oak species and microbial activity

Treesearch

D. Jordan; F., Jr. Ponder; V. C. Hubbard

2003-01-01

A greenhouse study examined the effects of soil compaction and forest leaf litter on the growth and nitrogen (N) uptake and recovery of red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea Muencch) seedlings and selected microbial activity over a 6-month period. The experiment had a randomized complete block design with...

Seed Biology and Technology of Quercus

Treesearch

F.T. Bonner; John A. Vozzo

1987-01-01

The genus Quercus,known as oak, includes worldwide some 500 species with 58 of these species in the United States, making it this country's largest genus of native trees (Little 1979). Oak is therefore an important group of temperate-zone forest trees. In addition, oaks are significant components of many of the major forest types of the South (Burns 1983)and are...

Effects of moisture and nitrogen stress on gas exchange and nutrient resorption in Quercus rubra seedlings

Treesearch

K. Francis Salifu; Douglass F. Jacobs

2008-01-01

The effects of simulated soil fertility at three levels (poor, medium, and rich soils) and moisture stress at two levels (well watered versus moisture stressed) on gas exchange and foliar nutrient resorption in 1+0 bareroot northern red oak (Quercus rubra) seedlings were evaluated. Current nitrogen (N) uptake was labeled with the stable isotope

Effects of above- and below-ground competition from shrubs on photosynthesis, transpiration and growth in Quercus robur L

Treesearch

Anna M. Jensen; Magnus Lof; Emile S. Gardiner

2011-01-01

For a tree seedling to successfully establish in dense shrubbery, it must maintain function under heterogeneous resource availability. We evaluated leaf-level acclimation in photosynthetic capacity, seedling-level transpiration, and seedling morphology and growth to gain an understanding of the effects of above- and below-ground competition on Quercus robur seedlings....

Predicting the height growth of oak species (Quercus) reproduction over a 23-year period following clearcutting

Treesearch

J. Travis Swaim; Daniel C. Dey; Michael R. Saunders; Dale R. Weigel; Christopher D. Thornton; John M. Kabrick; Michael A. Jenkins

2016-01-01

We resampled plots from a repeated measures study implemented on the Hoosier National Forest (HNF) in southern Indiana in 1988 to investigate the influence of site and seedling physical attributes on height growth and establishment success of oak species (Quercus spp.) reproduction in stands regenerated by the clearcut method. Before harvest, an...

Recalcitrant Behavior of Cherrybark Oak Seed: An FT-IR Study of Desiccation Sensitivity in Quercus pagoda Raf. Acorns

Treesearch

Sharon Sowa; Kristina F. Connor

2003-01-01

The recalcitrant behavior of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) acorns was examined in terms of effects of moisture content on seed storage longevity and (short term) seed germination. Seed samples collected over two consecutive years were fully hydrated, then subjected to drying under ambient conditions of temperature and relative humidity on the...

Agrilus auroguttatus exit hole distributions on Quercus agrifolia boles and a sampling method to estimate their density on individual trees

Treesearch

Laurel J. Haavik; Tom W. Coleman; Mary Louise Flint; Robert C. Venette; Steven J. Seybold

2012-01-01

In recent decades, invasive phloem and wood borers have become important pests in North America. To aid tree sampling and survey efforts for the newly introduced goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus Schaeffer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), we examined spatial patterns of exit holes on the boles (trunks) of 58 coast live oak, Quercus...

Distribution of Quercus agrifolia mycorrhizae deep within weathered bedrock: a potential mechanism for transport of stored water

Treesearch

M. Bornyasz; R. Graham; M. Allen

2002-01-01

In southwestern California, Quercus agrifolia distribution closely matches regions of granitic regolith. High annual evapotranspiration demand and inherent shallow soil conditions lead to a dependence on a deep rooting system and an ability to access water from deep within the regolith. Most of the plant available water in weathered granitic rock is...

Field performance of Quercus bicolor established as repeatedly air-root-pruned container and bareroot planting stock

Treesearch

J.W." Jerry" Van Sambeek; Larry D. Godsey; William D. Walter; Harold E. Garrett; John P. Dwyer

2016-01-01

Benefits of repeated air-root-pruning of seedlings when stepping up to progressively larger containers include excellent lateral root distribution immediately below the root collar and an exceptionally fibrous root ball. To evaluate long-term field performance of repeatedly air-root-pruned container stock, three plantings of swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor...

Meadow vole-induced mortality of oak seedlings in a former agricultural field planting

Treesearch

Andrew B. Self; Andrew W. Ezell; Dennis Rowe; Emily B. Schultz; John D. Hodges

2015-01-01

Seedling mortality due to meadow vole herbivory is an often acknowledged but relatively unstudied aspect of hardwood afforestation. Vole-induced mortality is not typically a major item of concern in afforestation attempts. However, damage has been extreme in some plantings. A total of 4,320 bare-root Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckley), Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii...

Recalcitrant Behavior of Temperate Forest Tree Seeds: Storage, Biochemistry, and Physiology

Treesearch

Kristina F. Connor; Sharon Sowa

2002-01-01

The recalcitrant behavior of seeds of live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill.), and Durand oak (Quercus durandii Buckl.) was examined after hydrated storage at two temperatures, +4°C and -2°C for up to 1 year. Samples were collected and analyses performed at monthly intervals. At each sampling time, seeds were tested for viability and...

Phenology, dichogamy, and floral synchronization in a northern red oak (Quercus rubra) seed orchard

Treesearch

Lisa W. Alexander; Keith E. Woeste

2016-01-01

We developed a novel scoring system to assess spring phenology in a northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) clonal seed orchard. The system was used to score from 304 to 364 ramets for three reproductive seasons and to place clones into early, intermediate, and late phenology classes. Although the absolute number of clones in each phenological class...

Biodiversity of mycorrhizas on Garry oak (Quercus garryana) in a southern Oregon savanna

Treesearch

Lori L. Valentine; Tina L. Fiedler; Stephen R. Haney; Harold K. Berninghausen; Darlene Southworth

2002-01-01

Garry oak or Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) is the dominant vegetation on the Whetstone Savanna in Jackson County, Oregon. The site is located on the western edge of the Agate Desert, an alluvial fan capped with shallow clay loam over a cemented hardpan. The landform exhibits patterned ground with mounds and vernal pools. The oaks are associated...

Photosynthesis and xanthophyll cycle-mediated photoprotection in leaves of Quercus rubra and Q. alba seedlings of different light environments

Treesearch

Shi-Jean S. Sung; Dianpeng Xu; Paul P. Kormanik; Clanton C. Black

1997-01-01

Two and three years after the outplanting of 1-0 northern red oak (Quercus rubra, NRO) and white oak (Q. alba, WO) nursery stocks, the highest net photosynthetic rates (Amax) were observed from seedlings growing on a clearcut site, followed by those under a pine stand. Both NRO and WO...

Effects of drought and shade on growth and water use of Quercus alba, Q. bicolor, Q. imbricaria and Q. palustris seedlings

Treesearch

Joseph J. McCarthy; Jeffrey O. Dawson

1991-01-01

Growth and water use efficiency were determined for 2-year-old white oak (Quercus alba), swamp white oak (Q. imbricaria) and pin oak (Q. palustris) seedlings grown under three shade treatments (30, 55 and 73%) and two irrigation regimes (container capacity and mild drought). With species and water regimes...

Influence of winter-spring livestock grazing on survival and growth of Quercus lobata and Q. agrifolia seedlings

Treesearch

Claudia M. Tyler; Bruce E. Mahall; Frank W. Davis

2008-01-01

The relative importance of livestock grazing in limiting or enhancing oak recruitment remains unclear because results from previous studies have been contradictory. In Santa Barbara County, we have replicated large-scale planting experiments from 1997 to 2001 to determine the effects of cattle and other factors on seedling establishment of valley oak (Quercus...

Growth and Seed Production of Sawtooth Oak (Quercus acutissima) 22 Years After Direct Seeding

Treesearch

J.C.G. Goelz; D.W. Carlson

1997-01-01

Sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima Carruth.) was direct seeded at two locations, one with a poorly drained clay soil and the other with a well-drained silty clay loam. For comparison, Nuttall oak (Q. nuttallii Palmer) was direct seeded on the poorly drained clay soil. On the well-drained silty clay loam, sawtooth oak was 18 ft...

Viability of litter-stored Quercus falcata Michx. acorns after simulated prescribed winter burns

Treesearch

Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

1998-01-01

Partially stratified (11 days) southern red oak (Quercus falcata Michx.) acorns were placed at three depths in a reconstructed forest floor and subjected to simulated prescribed winter burns. Within the forest floor, acorns were placed within the L layer, at the upper-F/ lower-F interface, and at the lower-F/mineral-soil interface. Winds for a...

Does habitat matter in an urbanized landscape? The birds of the Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystem of southeastern Vancouver Island

Treesearch

Richard E. Feldman; Pamela G. Krannitz

2002-01-01

Garry oak (Quercus garryana) was once a dominant habitat type on southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia but urbanization has severely fragmented and reduced its occurrence. This study tests whether bird abundance in remnant patches of Garry oak and adjacent Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is related to Garry oak volume...

Effect of simulated insect damage on growth and survival of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings

Treesearch

Susan L. Wright; Richard W. Hall; John W. Peacock

1989-01-01

Effects of simulated insect damage—artificial defoliation and root damage in combination with two levels of watering—were studied to determine the potential effect on northern red oak seedlings (Quercus rubra L.). Treatments and treatment combinations caused significant differences in stem diameter, percentage of stem dieback, and mortality....

Heritability of first-order lateral root number in Quercus: implication for artificial regeneration of stands

Treesearch

Paul P. Kormanik; Shi-Jean S. Sung; Taryn L. Kormanik; Stanley L. Zarnoch; Scott Schlarbaum

2000-01-01

Natural regeneration of oak (Quercus) species in the USA has been easy to obtain on the lower quality xeric sites (site index less than or equal to 20 m at age 50) by developing advanced oak reproduction before stands are harvested. This approach has not been successful with Q. rubra, Q. pagoda, or Q. alba...

A site model for Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) stands using a dynamic algebraic difference equation

Treesearch

Joao P. Carvalho; Bernard R. Parresol

2005-01-01

This paper presents a growth model for dominant-height and site-quality estimations for Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.) stands. The Bertalanffy–Richards function is used with the generalized algebraic difference approach to derive a dynamic site equation. This allows dominant-height and site-index estimations in a compatible way, using any...

Progress report on the evaluation of the susceptibility of the holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest ecosystem to Phytophthora ramorum

Treesearch

Eduardo Moralejo; Enrique Descals

2006-01-01

In preliminary studies on the susceptibility of plant members of the holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest, detached leaves of several woody species were highly susceptible when inoculated with zoospore suspensions of local isolates of Phytophthora ramorum (Moralejo and Hernández 2002). Since then, there have been reports of natural...

Effects of desiccation on the physiology and biochemistry of Quercus alba acorns

Treesearch

Kristina F. Connor; Sharon Sowa

2003-01-01

Seeds that lose viability when dried to a water content of less than 12% are said to be recalcitrant. We subjected acorns of Quercus alba L., a species with recalcitrant seeds, to desiccation to determine the effects of drying on lipids, proteins and carbohydrates of the embryonic axis and cotyledon tissues. Samples of fresh seed and seed dried for...

Composition, structure, and dendroecology of an old-growth Quercus forest on the tablelands of the Cumberland Plateau, USA.

Treesearch

Justin L. Hart; Stacy L. Clark; Scott J. Torreano; Megan L. Buchanan

2011-01-01

Forest reconstructions provide information on the processes that influence forest development and successional patterns. In this study, we quantified woody species composition, stand structure, and radial growth patterns of individual Quercus trees to document the processes that shaped a forest on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee over the past three centuries. The...

Seven year effects of meadow vole herbivory on oak survival

Treesearch

Andrew B. Self

2016-01-01

Seedling mortality due to meadow vole herbivory is often thought to be small scale in nature in hardwood afforestation efforts. However, in some instances, this source of mortality may play a more important role than typically realized. A total of 1,440 bare-root Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckley), Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii...

Growth overcompensation against O3 exposure in two Japanese oak species, Quercus mongolica var. crispula and Quercus serrata, grown under elevated CO2.

PubMed

Kitao, Mitsutoshi; Komatsu, Masabumi; Yazaki, Kenichi; Kitaoka, Satoshi; Tobita, Hiroyuki

2015-11-01

To assess the effects of elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) on the growth of two mid-successional oak species native to East Asia, Quercus mongolica var. crispula and Quercus serrata, we measured gas exchange and biomass allocation in seedlings (initially 1-year-old) grown under combinations of elevated CO2 (550 μmol mol(-1)) and O3 (twice-ambient) for two growing seasons in an open-field experiment in which root growth was not limited. Both the oak species showed a significant growth enhancement under the combination of elevated CO2 and O3 (indicated by total dry mass; over twice of ambient-grown plants, p < .05), which probably resulted from a preferable biomass partitioning into leaves induced by O3 and a predominant enhancement of photosynthesis under elevated CO2. Such an over-compensative response in the two Japanese oak species resulted in greater plant growth under the combination of elevated CO2 and O3 than elevated CO2 alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical characterization of oak heartwood from Spanish forests of Quercus pyrenaica (Wild.). Ellagitannins, low molecular weight phenolic, and volatile compounds.

PubMed

Fernandez de Simón, Brígida; Sanz, Miriam; Cadahía, Estrella; Poveda, Pilar; Broto, Miguel

2006-10-18

The need for new sources of quality wood supply for cooperage has led to looking into the possibility of utilizing Quercus pyrenaica Wild. oak, a species native to the Iberian peninsula, as an alternative to other European (Quercus robur and Qurecus petraea) and American (Quercus alba) oaks. The low molecular weight phenolic composition, ellagitannins, and volatile compounds (including a wide range of compound families such as volatile phenols, furanic compounds, lactones, phenyl ketones, other lignin-derived compounds, and volatile compounds related to off-flavors) of green heartwood from Spanish forest regions were studied by HPLC and GC, in order to know its enological characteristics. The chemical composition of Q. pyrenaica is similar to that of other species commonly used in cooperage to make barrels, showing only quantitative differences that were more significant with respect to American than to French species. The four provenance regions studied showed similar chemical composition, with high variability among individuals, often higher than the variability among regions of provenance, but in line with that described in other European and American oak woods. Therefore, this species must be considered to be suitable for aging wine.

Distant influences of amygdala lesion on visual cortical activation during emotional face processing.

PubMed

Vuilleumier, Patrik; Richardson, Mark P; Armony, Jorge L; Driver, Jon; Dolan, Raymond J

2004-11-01

Emotional visual stimuli evoke enhanced responses in the visual cortex. To test whether this reflects modulatory influences from the amygdala on sensory processing, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in human patients with medial temporal lobe sclerosis. Twenty-six patients with lesions in the amygdala, the hippocampus or both, plus 13 matched healthy controls, were shown pictures of fearful or neutral faces in task-releant or task-irrelevant positions on the display. All subjects showed increased fusiform cortex activation when the faces were in task-relevant positions. Both healthy individuals and those with hippocampal damage showed increased activation in the fusiform and occipital cortex when they were shown fearful faces, but this was not the case for individuals with damage to the amygdala, even though visual areas were structurally intact. The distant influence of the amygdala was also evidenced by the parametric relationship between amygdala damage and the level of emotional activation in the fusiform cortex. Our data show that combining the fMRI and lesion approaches can help reveal the source of functional modulatory influences between distant but interconnected brain regions.

The anatomical and functional specialization of the fusiform gyrus

PubMed Central

Weiner, Kevin S.; Zilles, Karl

2015-01-01

The fusiform gyrus (FG) is commonly included in anatomical atlases and is considered a key structure for functionally-specialized computations of high-level vision such as face perception, object recognition, and reading. However, it is not widely known that the FG has a contentious history. In this review, we first provide a historical analysis of the discovery of the FG and why certain features, such as the mid-fusiform sulcus, were discovered and then forgotten. We then discuss how observer-independent methods for identifying cytoarchitectonical boundaries of the cortex revolutionized our understanding of cytoarchitecture and the correspondence between those boundaries and cortical folding patterns of the FG. We further explain that the co-occurrence between cortical folding patterns and cytoarchitectonical boundaries are more common than classically thought and also, are functionally meaningful especially on the FG and probably in high-level visual cortex more generally. We conclude by proposing a series of alternatives for how the anatomical organization of the FG can accommodate seemingly different theoretical aspects of functional processing, such as domain specificity and perceptual expertise. PMID:26119921

Encoding in the visual word form area: an fMRI adaptation study of words versus handwriting.

PubMed

Barton, Jason J S; Fox, Christopher J; Sekunova, Alla; Iaria, Giuseppe

2010-08-01

Written texts are not just words but complex multidimensional stimuli, including aspects such as case, font, and handwriting style, for example. Neuropsychological reports suggest that left fusiform lesions can impair the reading of text for word (lexical) content, being associated with alexia, whereas right-sided lesions may impair handwriting recognition. We used fMRI adaptation in 13 healthy participants to determine if repetition-suppression occurred for words but not handwriting in the left visual word form area (VWFA) and the reverse in the right fusiform gyrus. Contrary to these expectations, we found adaptation for handwriting but not for words in both the left VWFA and the right VWFA homologue. A trend to adaptation for words but not handwriting was seen only in the left middle temporal gyrus. An analysis of anterior and posterior subdivisions of the left VWFA also failed to show any adaptation for words. We conclude that the right and the left fusiform gyri show similar patterns of adaptation for handwriting, consistent with a predominantly perceptual contribution to text processing.

Behavior of the Edible Seaweed Sargassum fusiforme to Copper Pollution: Short-Term Acclimation and Long-Term Adaptation

PubMed Central

Lin, Li-Dong; Zhang, Ai-Qin; Li, Nan; Lin, Yan-Qing; Li, Lu-Min; Wu, Qin-Qin; Yan, Xiu-Feng

2014-01-01

Aquatic agriculture in heavy-metal-polluted coastal areas faces major problems due to heavy metal transfer into aquatic organisms, leading to various unexpected changes in nutrition and primary and/or secondary metabolism. In the present study, the dual role of heavy metal copper (Cu) played in the metabolism of photosynthetic organism, the edible seaweed Sargassum fusiforme, was evaluated by characterization of biochemical and metabolic responses using both 1H NMR and GC-MS techniques under acute (47 µM, 1 day) and chronic stress (8 µM, 7 days). Consequently, photosynthesis may be seriously inhibited by acute Cu exposure, resulting in decreasing levels of carbohydrates, e.g., mannitol, the main products of photosynthesis. Ascorbate may play important roles in the antioxidant system, whose content was much more seriously decreased under acute than that under chronic Cu stress. Overall, these results showed differential toxicological responses on metabolite profiles of S. fusiforme subjected to acute and chronic Cu exposures that allowed assessment of impact of Cu on marine organisms. PMID:25025229

The literate brain: the relationship between spelling and reading.

PubMed

Rapp, Brenda; Lipka, Kate

2011-05-01

We report the results of an fMRI investigation of the neural bases of written language comprehension (reading) and production (spelling). Both tasks were examined in the same individuals, allowing greater precision in establishing the relationship between the neural underpinnings of these two cognitive functions. Also examined was the relationship between written language substrates and those involved in face and object (house) processing. The results reveal that reading and spelling share specific left hemisphere substrates in the mid-fusiform gyrus and in the inferior frontal gyrus/junction. Furthermore, the results indicate that the left mid-fusiform substrates are specifically involved in lexical orthographic processing. We also find that written language and face processing exhibit largely complementary activation patterns in both the fusiform and the inferior frontal/junction areas, with left and right lateralization, respectively. In sum, these results provide perhaps the strongest evidence to date of components that are shared by written language comprehension (reading) and production (spelling), and they further our understanding of the role of literacy within the larger repertoire of cognitive operations and their neural substrates.

The effects of fire temperatures on water soluble heavy metals.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, P.; Ubeda, X.; Martin, D. A.

2009-04-01

Fire ash are majority composed by base cations, however the mineralized organic matter, led also available to transport a higher quantity of heavy metals that potentially could increase a toxicity in soil and water resources. The amount availability of these elements depend on the environment were the fire took place, burning temperature and combusted tree specie. The soil and water contamination from fire ash has been neglected, because the majority of studies are focused on base cations dynamic. Our research, beside contemplate major elements, is focused in to study the behavior of heavy metals released from ash slurries created at several temperatures under laboratory environment, prescribed fires and wildland fires. The results presented in these communication are preliminary and study the presence of Aluminium (Al3+), Manganese (Mn2+), Iron (Fe2+) and Zinc (Zn2+) of ash slurries generated in laboratory environment at several temperatures (150°, 200°, 250°, 300°, 350°, 400°,450°, 500°, 550°C) from Quercus suber, Quercus robur, Pinus pinea and Pinus pinaster and from a low medium temperature prescribed fire in a forest dominated Quercus suber trees. We observed that ash produced at lower and medium temperatures (<300-400°C) released in water higher contents of Al3+ than unburned sample, especially in Quercus species and Mn2+ in Pinus ashes. Fe2+ and Zn2+ showed a reduced concentration in test solution in relation to unburned sample at all temperatures of exposition. In the results obtained from prescribed fire, we identify a higher release of Al3+ and a decrease of the remain elements. The solubilization of these elements are related with pH levels and ash calcite content, because their ability to capture ions in solution. Moreover, the amount and the type of ions released in relation to unburned sample vary in each specie. In this study Al3+ release is related with Quercus species and Mn2+ with Pinus species. Fire ashes can be an environmental problem, because at long term can increase soil acidity. After all base cations have being leached, pH values decrease, and the heavy metals remaining in the ash are easily transported with unknown impacts on soil and water resources. Research is needed in the study at long term of the effects of fire in metals accumulation in soil resources, and all these aspects will be discussed. Keywords: Fire ash, heavy metals, Quercus suber, Quercus robur, Pinus pinea, Pinus pinaster, prescribed fire, pH, Calcite

Fusiform aneurysm associated with fenestration of the posterior communicating artery.

PubMed

Baba, Shiro; Fukuda, Yuutaka; Mizota, Shingo; Hayashi, Kentaro; Suyama, Kazuhiko; Nagata, Izumi

2010-01-01

A 62-year-old male presented with a rare case of fenestration of the supraclinoid segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) at the origin of the posterior communicating artery (PCoA). The patient had a fusiform aneurysm at the proximal branch of the PCoA, which was successfully clipped, sparing the anterograde blood flow. The double origin and fenestration of the PCoA branching off at the C(2) segment of the left ICA suggested that this anomalous fenestration might have developed as the origin of the PCoA rather than the supraclinoid ICA during the early embryonal stage.

Intraoperative sonographic assessment of graft patency during extracranial-intracranial bypass.

PubMed

Badie, B; Lee, F T; Pozniak, M A; Strother, C M

2000-09-01

Extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass may be necessary to facilitate treatment of unclippable posterior circulation fusiform aneurysms. Although intraoperative digital subtraction angiography (DSA) allows assessment of graft patency, this technique, because of difficulties inherent in performing selective catheterization and angiography in the operating room, has limitations. Duplex sonography, in contrast, is easily performed, and provides information regarding graft patency and blood flow direction during EC-IC bypass procedures. This latter information proved useful in determining the time of parent artery occlusion after two EC-IC bypass procedures performed for treatment of a fusiform midbasilar artery aneurysm.

Effects of the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus, on the health of coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, in southern California before and after treatment with two systemic insecticides

Treesearch

Yigen Chen; Mary L. Flint; Tom W. Coleman; Joseph J. Doccola; Donald M. Grosman; David L. Wood; Steven J. Seybold

2015-01-01

The invasive goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is threatening the health and survival of oak trees in San Diego County, California (Flint and others 2013). The primary oak species colonized and killed in this area include coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), California black oak (...

Hydrologic effects on diameter growth phenology for Celtis laevigata and Quercus lyrata in the floodplain of the lower White River, Arkansas

Treesearch

Scott T. Allen; Ken W. Krauss; Richard F. Keim

2016-01-01

Bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests represent an extensive wetland system in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and southeastern USA, and it is currently undergoing widespread transition in species composition. One such transition involves increased establishment of sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), and decreased establishment of overcup oak (Quercus lyrata). The ecological...

Whole-transcriptome response to water stress in a California endemic oak, Quercus lobata

Treesearch

Paul F. Gugger; Juan Manuel Peñaloza-Ramírez; Jessica W. Wright; Victoria L. Sork; Jörg-Peter Schnitzler

2016-01-01

Reduced water availability during drought can create major stress for many plant species. Within a species, populations with a history of seasonal drought may have evolved the ability to tolerate drought more than those in areas of high precipitation and low seasonality. In this study, we assessed response to water stress in a California oak species, Quercus lobata Née...

Root desiccation and drought stress responses of bareroot Quercus rubra seedlings treated with a hydrophilic polymer root dip

Treesearch

Kent G. Apostol; Douglass F. Jacobs; R. Kasten Dumroese

2009-01-01

Root hydrogel, a hydrophilic polymer, has been used to improve transplanting success of bareroot conifer seedlings through effects on water holding capacity. We examined mechanisms by which Terra-sorb Fine Hydrogel reduces damage that occurs when roots of 1-year old, dormant northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) were subjected to shortterm (1, 3, and 5...

Intraspecific Phenotypic Variation and Ecological Genetics of Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii Hook. & Am.)

Treesearch

Kevin J. Rice; Doria R. Gordon; Jeanine L. Hardison; Jeffrey M. Welker

1991-01-01

A field experiment was conducted to examine the effects of soil water availability on blue oak (Quercus douglasii) seedling establishment. Acorns were planted either into cleared plots of 0, 10, 20, or 40 cm diameter. The cleared plots were located in two grazed and one ungrazed site. Half of the plots received drip irrigation in a split plot design...

Impact of straw and rock-fragment mulches on soil moisture and early growth of holm oaks in a semiarid area

Treesearch

M. N. Jimenez; J. R. Pinto; M. A. Ripoll; A. Sanchez-Miranda; F. B. Navarro

2017-01-01

Planted seedlings and saplings usually exhibit low survival and growth rates under dry Mediterranean environments, especially late-successional species such as Quercus. In this work, we studied the effects of straw and rock fragment mulches on the establishment conditions of holm oak (Quercus ilex L. subsp. ballota (Def.) Samp.) in SE Spain. Soil moisture was...

Influence of overstory density on ecophysiology of red oak (Quercus rubra) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) seedlings in central Ontario shelterwoods

Treesearch

William C. Parker; Daniel C. Dey

2008-01-01

A field experiment was established in a secondgrowth hardwood forest dominated by red oak (Quercus rubra L.) to examine the effects of shelterwood overstory density on leaf gas exchange and seedling water status of planted red oak, naturally regenerated red oak and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) seedlings during the first...

Draft genome sequence of Xylella fastidiosa supsp. multiplex strain Griffin-1 from Quercus rubra in Georgia

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The draft genome sequence of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. multiplex Strain Griffin-1 isolated from a red oak tree (Quercus rubra) in Georgia, U.S.A. is reported. The bacterium has a genome size of 2,387,314 bp with 51.7% G+C content and comprises 2,903 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), and 50 RNA g...

Development of molecular markers for determining continental origin of wood from White Oaks (Quercus L. sect. Quercus)

Treesearch

Hilke Schroeder; Richard Cronn; Yulai Yanbaev; Tara Jennings; Malte Mader; Bernd Degen; Birgit Kersten; Dusan Gomory

2016-01-01

To detect and avoid illegal logging of valuable tree species, identification methods for the origin of timber are necessary. We used next-generation sequencing to identify chloroplast genome regions that differentiate the origin of white oaks from the three continents; Asia, Europe, and North America. By using the chloroplast genome of Asian Q. mongolica...

Size Class Distribution of Quercus engelmannii (Engelmann Oak) on the Santa Rosa Plateau, Riverside County, California

Treesearch

Earl W. Lathrop; Chris Osborne; Anna Rochester; Kevin Yeung; Samuel Soret; Rochelle Hopper

1991-01-01

Size class distribution of Quercus engelmannii (Engelmann oak) on the Santa Rosa Plateau was studied to understand whether current recruitment of young oaks is sufficient to maintain the population in spite of high natural mortality and impacts of development in some portions of the plateau woodland. Sapling-size oaks (1-10 cm dbh) made up 5.56 pct...

To prune or not to prune: responses of coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia to canopy retention during transplanting

Treesearch

Rosi Dagit; A. James Downer

2002-01-01

A total of 62 coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) were monitored since they were initially boxed for transplantation in 1993. At that time, only branches injured during the moving process and deadwood were removed, leaving the entire canopy intact. This was a departure from the usual transplanting methodology that traditionally removes up to 70...

Artificial regeneration of northern red oak and white oak on high-quality sites: effect of root morphology and relevant biological characteristics

Treesearch

Paul P. Kormanik; Shi-Jean S. Sung; Stanley J. Zarnoch; G. Thomas Tibbs

2002-01-01

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and white oak (Quercus alba) are important components of high-quality mesic sites and are essential as lumber species and hard mast producers. Regeneration of these species has been difficult, and their absence in newly regenerated stands is a major concern of foresters and wildlife biologists....

A bibliography for Quercus garryana and other geographically associated and botanically related oaks.

Treesearch

Constance A. Harrington; Melanie A. Kallas

2002-01-01

Interest in Quercus garryana Dougl. ex Hook., commonly known as Oregon white oak or Garry oak, has increased in recent years as scientists, resource managers, and the general public focus attention on a forest type in decline. To aid those interested in learning what has previously been reported on this species, we have compiled a comprehensive bibliography for Q....

Determining seed moisture in Quercus

Treesearch

F. T. Bonner

1974-01-01

The air-oven method with drying times 7 to 8 hours shorter than those now prescribed in the ISTA rules proved adequate for determining moisture contents in acorns of several North American oaks. Schedules of 8 hours at 105°C for Quercus muehlenbergii and 9 hours at 105°C for Q.shumardii and Q.nigra gave moisture contents within three percentage points of those obtained...

Post-fire monitoring of coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) burned in the 1993 Old Topanga Fire

Treesearch

Rosi Dagit

2002-01-01

The intensity of the 1993 Old Topanga Fire raised many concerns about the recovery and response of the coast live oak trees (Quercus agrifolia) and their understory vegetation. Preliminary information on the status of the trees 6 months post-fire has been previously reported. This report provides follow up assessment of the condition of the 90 trees...

Genetic differentiation of two California red oak species, Quercus parvula var. shreveii and Q. wislizeni, based on AFLP genetic markers

Treesearch

Nasser Kashani; Richard S. Dodd

2002-01-01

Oaks are renowned for posing problems in defining species boundaries. One example is the case of the interior live oak complex that is usually taken to include two varieties of Quercus wislizeni from the Coast Ranges of California and the Sierra Nevada, and Q. parvula var. shreveii from the central coast of...

Growth and biomass distribution of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings as influenced by light availability

Treesearch

Emile S. Gardiner; John D. Hodges

1998-01-01

Cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.) seedlings were established and raised in the field under four light levels (100 percent. 53 percent, 27 percent or 8 percent of full sunlight) to study the effects of light availability on their shoot growth, biomass accumulation. and biomass distribution. After two growing seasons, greatest stem growth was observed on seedlings...

Assessing wood quality of borer-infested red oak logs with a resonance acoustic technique

Treesearch

Xiping Wang; Henry E. Stelzer; Jan Wiedenbeck; Patricia K. Lebow; Robert J. Ross

2009-01-01

Large numbers of black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.) and scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea Muenchh.) trees are declining and dying in the Missouri Ozark forest as a result of oak decline. Red oak borer-infested trees produce low-grade logs that become extremely difficult to merchandize as the level of insect attack increases. The objective of this study was to investigate...

Site preparation burning to improve southern Appalachian pine-hardwood stands: aboveground biomass, forest floor mass, and nitrogen and carbon pools

Treesearch

J.M. Vose; W.T. Swank

1993-01-01

Prescribed fire is currently used as a site preparation treat-ment in mixed pine-hardwood ecosystems of the southern Appalachians.Stands receiving this treatment typically consist of mixtures of pitch pine (Pinus rigidu Mill.), scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea Muenchh.), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), and dense under-stories dominated by...

Does Habitat Matter in an Urbanized Landscape? The Birds of the Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) Ecosystem of Southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Treesearch

Richard E. Feldman; Pam G. Krannitz

2005-01-01

The Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystem was once a dominant habitat type on southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, but urbanization has lead to massive habitat loss and fragmentation (Hebda 1993). Most bird species are expected to respond negatively to urbanization because of increased patch isolation, increased predation pressure, and negative edge...

An analysis of phenotypic selection in natural stands of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.)

Treesearch

Jeffery W. Stringer; David B. Wagner; Scott E. Schlarbaum; Daniel B. Houston

1995-01-01

Comparison of growth and stem quality parameters of 19-year-old progeny from superior and comparison trees indicates that rigorous phenotypic selection of trees in natural stands may not be an efficient method of parent tree selection for Quercus rubra L. Total tree height, dbh, number of branches in the butt log, fork height, and number of mainstem...

A comparison of the survival and development of the seedlings of four upland oak species grown in four different understory light environments

Treesearch

Patrick Brose; Joanne Rebbeck

2017-01-01

Oak (Quercus spp.) research and management often focus on northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and assume that associated upland oaks have similar growth patterns. To test this premise, we measured the survival and development of four species of acorn-origin oak seedlings growing in four different levels of understory sunlight for...

Drivers of radial growth and carbon isotope discrimination of bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.) across continental gradients in precipitation, vapour pressure deficit and irradiance

Treesearch

Steven L. Voelker; Frederick C. Meinzer; Barbara Lachenbruch; J. Renee Brooks; Richard P. Guyette

2014-01-01

Tree-ring characteristics are commonly used to reconstruct climate variables, but divergence from the assumption of a single biophysical control may reduce the accuracy of these reconstructions. Here, we present data from bur oaks (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.) sampled within and beyond the current species bioclimatic envelope to identify the primary...

The Geographic Distribution of a Tropical Montane Bird Is Limited by a Tree: Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) and Colombian Oaks (Quercus humboldtii) in the Northern Andes

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Species distributions are limited by a complex array of abiotic and biotic factors. In general, abiotic (climatic) factors are thought to explain species’ broad geographic distributions, while biotic factors regulate species’ abundance patterns at local scales. We used species distribution models to test the hypothesis that a biotic interaction with a tree, the Colombian oak (Quercus humboldtii), limits the broad-scale distribution of the Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) in the Northern Andes of South America. North American populations of Acorn Woodpeckers consume acorns from Quercus oaks and are limited by the presence of Quercus oaks. However, Acorn Woodpeckers in the Northern Andes seldom consume Colombian oak acorns (though may regularly drink sap from oak trees) and have been observed at sites without Colombian oaks, the sole species of Quercus found in South America. We found that climate-only models overpredicted Acorn Woodpecker distribution, suggesting that suitable abiotic conditions (e.g. in northern Ecuador) exist beyond the woodpecker’s southern range margin. In contrast, models that incorporate Colombian oak presence outperformed climate-only models and more accurately predicted the location of the Acorn Woodpecker’s southern range margin in southern Colombia. These findings support the hypothesis that a biotic interaction with Colombian oaks sets Acorn Woodpecker’s broad-scale geographic limit in South America, probably because Acorn Woodpeckers rely on Colombian oaks as a food resource (possibly for the oak’s sap rather than for acorns). Although empirical examples of particular plants limiting tropical birds’ distributions are scarce, we predict that similar biotic interactions may play an important role in structuring the geographic distributions of many species of tropical montane birds with specialized foraging behavior. PMID:26083262

First discovery of Quercus feeding Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) in Central America.

PubMed

Stonis, Jonas R; Diškus, Arūnas; Remeikis, Andrius; Schuster, Jack

2013-11-18

Despite the high taxonomic diversity of oaks in Mexico and Central America, no Quercus feeding Nepticulidae have ever been recorded from the region. Here, we present seven species whose larvae are leaf-miners of Quercus (section Lobatae) in Guatemala. Except Stigmella nigriverticella (Chambers 1875), which was previously known from the United States, all other discovered species are new. We describe and name five new species (Stigmella jaguari Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov., S. lauta Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. sublauta Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov., S. aurifasciata Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov. and S. guatemalensis Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.); the remaining new species is described but left unnamed because of lack of adults (i. e. moths and genitalia are described from developed pupae). All seven treated species are illustrated with photographs of the leaf-mines, adults, and genitalia.

Surgical Treatment of Large or Giant Fusiform Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms: A Case Series.

PubMed

Xu, Feng; Xu, Bin; Huang, Lei; Xiong, Ji; Gu, Yuxiang; Lawton, Michael T

2018-04-14

Management of large or giant fusiform middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms represents a significant challenge. To describe the authors' experience in the treatment of large or giant fusiform MCA aneurysm by using various surgical techniques. We retrospectively reviewed a database of aneurysms treated at our division between 2015 and 2017. Overall, 20 patients (11 males, 9 females) were identified, with a mean age of 40.7 years (range, 13-65 years; median, 43 years). Six patients (30%) had ruptured aneurysms and 14 (70%) had unruptured aneurysms. The mean aneurysm size was 19 mm (range, 10-35 mm). The aneurysms involved the prebifurcation in 5 cases, bifurcation in 4 cases, and postbifurcation in 11 cases. The aneurysms were treated by clip reconstruction (n = 5), clip wrapping (n = 1), proximal occlusion or trapping (n = 4), and bypass revascularization (n = 10). Bypasses included 7 low-flow superficial temporal artery-MCA bypasses, 2 high-flow extracranial-intracranial bypasses, and 1 intracranial-intracranial bypass (reanastomosis). Bypass patency was 90%. Nineteen aneurysms (95%) were completely obliterated, and no rehemorrhage occurred during follow-up. There was no procedural-related mortality. Clinical outcomes were good (modified Rankin Scale score ≤2) in 18 of 20 patients (90%) at the last follow-up. Surgical treatment strategy for large or giant fusiform MCA aneurysms should be determined on an individual basis, based on aneurysm morphology, location, size, and clinical status. Favorable outcomes can be achieved by various surgical techniques, including clip reconstruction, wrap clipping, aneurysm trapping, aneurysm excision followed by reanastomosis, and partial trapping with bypass revascularization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Regional Brain Responses Are Biased Toward Infant Facial Expressions Compared to Adult Facial Expressions in Nulliparous Women.

PubMed

Li, Bingbing; Cheng, Gang; Zhang, Dajun; Wei, Dongtao; Qiao, Lei; Wang, Xiangpeng; Che, Xianwei

2016-01-01

Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that neutral infant faces compared to neutral adult faces elicit greater activity in brain areas associated with face processing, attention, empathic response, reward, and movement. However, whether infant facial expressions evoke larger brain responses than adult facial expressions remains unclear. Here, we performed event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging in nulliparous women while they were presented with images of matched unfamiliar infant and adult facial expressions (happy, neutral, and uncomfortable/sad) in a pseudo-randomized order. We found that the bilateral fusiform and right lingual gyrus were overall more activated during the presentation of infant facial expressions compared to adult facial expressions. Uncomfortable infant faces compared to sad adult faces evoked greater activation in the bilateral fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex-thalamus, and precuneus. Neutral infant faces activated larger brain responses in the left fusiform gyrus compared to neutral adult faces. Happy infant faces compared to happy adult faces elicited larger responses in areas of the brain associated with emotion and reward processing using a more liberal threshold of p < 0.005 uncorrected. Furthermore, the level of the test subjects' Interest-In-Infants was positively associated with the intensity of right fusiform gyrus response to infant faces and uncomfortable infant faces compared to sad adult faces. In addition, the Perspective Taking subscale score on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index-Chinese was significantly correlated with precuneus activity during uncomfortable infant faces compared to sad adult faces. Our findings suggest that regional brain areas may bias cognitive and emotional responses to infant facial expressions compared to adult facial expressions among nulliparous women, and this bias may be modulated by individual differences in Interest-In-Infants and perspective taking ability.

FMRI-adaptation to highly-rendered color photographs of animals and manipulable artifacts during a classification task.

PubMed

Chouinard, Philippe A; Goodale, Melvyn A

2012-02-01

We used fMRI to identify brain areas that adapted to either animals or manipulable artifacts while participants classified highly-rendered color photographs into subcategories. Several key brain areas adapted more strongly to one class of objects compared to the other. Namely, we observed stronger adaptation for animals in the lingual gyrus bilaterally, which are known to analyze the color of objects, and in the right frontal operculum and in the anterior insular cortex bilaterally, which are known to process emotional content. In contrast, the left anterior intraparietal sulcus, which is important for configuring the hand to match the three-dimensional structure of objects during grasping, adapted more strongly to manipulable artifacts. Contrary to what a previous study has found using gray-scale photographs, we did not replicate categorical-specific adaptation in the lateral fusiform gyrus for animals and categorical-specific adaptation in the medial fusiform gyrus for manipulable artifacts. Both categories of objects adapted strongly in the fusiform gyrus without any clear preference in location along its medial-lateral axis. We think that this is because the fusiform gyrus has an important role to play in color processing and hence its responsiveness to color stimuli could be very different than its responsiveness to gray-scale photographs. Nevertheless, on the basis of what we found, we propose that the recognition and subsequent classification of animals may depend primarily on perceptual properties, such as their color, and on their emotional content whereas other factors, such as their function, may play a greater role for classifying manipulable artifacts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Regional Brain Responses Are Biased Toward Infant Facial Expressions Compared to Adult Facial Expressions in Nulliparous Women

PubMed Central

Zhang, Dajun; Wei, Dongtao; Qiao, Lei; Wang, Xiangpeng; Che, Xianwei

2016-01-01

Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that neutral infant faces compared to neutral adult faces elicit greater activity in brain areas associated with face processing, attention, empathic response, reward, and movement. However, whether infant facial expressions evoke larger brain responses than adult facial expressions remains unclear. Here, we performed event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging in nulliparous women while they were presented with images of matched unfamiliar infant and adult facial expressions (happy, neutral, and uncomfortable/sad) in a pseudo-randomized order. We found that the bilateral fusiform and right lingual gyrus were overall more activated during the presentation of infant facial expressions compared to adult facial expressions. Uncomfortable infant faces compared to sad adult faces evoked greater activation in the bilateral fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex-thalamus, and precuneus. Neutral infant faces activated larger brain responses in the left fusiform gyrus compared to neutral adult faces. Happy infant faces compared to happy adult faces elicited larger responses in areas of the brain associated with emotion and reward processing using a more liberal threshold of p < 0.005 uncorrected. Furthermore, the level of the test subjects’ Interest-In-Infants was positively associated with the intensity of right fusiform gyrus response to infant faces and uncomfortable infant faces compared to sad adult faces. In addition, the Perspective Taking subscale score on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index-Chinese was significantly correlated with precuneus activity during uncomfortable infant faces compared to sad adult faces. Our findings suggest that regional brain areas may bias cognitive and emotional responses to infant facial expressions compared to adult facial expressions among nulliparous women, and this bias may be modulated by individual differences in Interest-In-Infants and perspective taking ability. PMID:27977692

Dolichoectatic aneurysms of the vertebrobasilar system: clinical and radiographic factors that predict poor outcomes.

PubMed

Xu, David S; Levitt, Michael R; Kalani, M Yashar S; Rangel-Castilla, Leonardo; Mulholland, Celene B; Abecassis, Isaac J; Morton, Ryan P; Nerva, John D; Siddiqui, Adnan H; Levy, Elad I; Spetzler, Robert F; Albuquerque, Felipe C; McDougall, Cameron G

2018-02-01

OBJECTIVE Fusiform dolichoectatic vertebrobasilar aneurysms are rare, challenging lesions. The natural history of these lesions and medium- and long-term patient outcomes are poorly understood. The authors sought to evaluate patient prognosis after diagnosis of fusiform dolichoectatic vertebrobasilar aneurysms and to identify clinical and radiographic predictors of neurological deterioration. METHODS The authors reviewed multiple, prospectively maintained, single-provider databases at 3 large-volume cerebrovascular centers to obtain data on patients with unruptured, fusiform, basilar artery dolichoectatic aneurysms diagnosed between January 1, 2000, and January 1, 2015. RESULTS A total of 50 patients (33 men, 17 women) were identified; mean clinical follow-up was 50.1 months and mean radiographic follow-up was 32.4 months. At last follow-up, 42% (n = 21) of aneurysms had progressed and 44% (n = 22) of patients had deterioration of their modified Rankin Scale scores. When patients were dichotomized into 2 groups- those who worsened and those who did not-univariate analysis showed 5 variables to be statistically significantly different: sex (p = 0.007), radiographic brainstem compression (p = 0.03), clinical posterior fossa compression (p < 0.001), aneurysmal growth on subsequent imaging (p = 0.001), and surgical therapy (p = 0.006). A binary logistic regression was then created to evaluate these variables. The only variable found to be a statistically significant predictor of clinical worsening was clinical symptoms of posterior fossa compression at presentation (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Fusiform dolichoectatic vertebrobasilar aneurysms carry a poor prognosis, with approximately one-half of the patients deteriorating or experiencing progression of their aneurysm within 5 years. Despite being high risk, intervention-when carefully timed (before neurological decline)-may be beneficial in select patients.

Analysis of the monosaccharide composition of water-soluble polysaccharides from Sargassum fusiforme by high performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Wu, Xiaodan; Jiang, Wei; Lu, Jiajia; Yu, Ying; Wu, Bin

2014-02-15

Sargassum fusiforme (hijiki) is the well-known edible algae, whose polysaccharides have been proved to possess interesting bioactivities like antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities. A facile and sensitive method based on high-performance liquid chromatography method of pre-column derivatization with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) coupled with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS) has been established for the analysis of the monosaccharide composition of polysaccharides in S. fusiforme. Monosaccharides have been converted into PMP-labelled derivatives with aqueous ammonia as a catalyst at 70 °C for 30 min. The optimisation of the pre-column derivatization process was studied. The LODs of the monosaccharides were in the range from 0.01 to 0.02 nmol. PMP-labelled mixture of monosaccharides has been well separated by a reverse-phase HPLC and detected by on-line ESI-MS method under optimised conditions. The mobile phase of elution system was chosen as acetonitrile (solvent A) and 20mM aqueous ammonium acetate (solvent B) (pH 3.0) with Zorbax XDB-C18 column at 30 °C for the separation of the monosaccharide derivatives. Identification of the monosaccharides composition was carried out by analysis with mass spectral behaviour and chromatography characteristics of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) labelled monosaccharides. All PMP-labelled derivatives display high chemical stabilities, whose regular MS fragmentation is specific for reducing labelled sugars. The result showed that the S. fusiforme polysaccharide consisted of mannose, glucose, galactose, xylose, fucose and glucuronic acid or galacturonic acid, or both uronic acids. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Source Reconstruction of Brain Potentials Using Bayesian Model Averaging to Analyze Face Intra-Domain vs. Face-Occupation Cross-Domain Processing.

PubMed

Olivares, Ela I; Lage-Castellanos, Agustín; Bobes, María A; Iglesias, Jaime

2018-01-01

We investigated the neural correlates of the access to and retrieval of face structure information in contrast to those concerning the access to and retrieval of person-related verbal information, triggered by faces. We experimentally induced stimulus familiarity via a systematic learning procedure including faces with and without associated verbal information. Then, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in both intra-domain (face-feature) and cross-domain (face-occupation) matching tasks while N400-like responses were elicited by incorrect eyes-eyebrows completions and occupations, respectively. A novel Bayesian source reconstruction approach plus conjunction analysis of group effects revealed that in both cases the generated N170s were of similar amplitude but had different neural origin. Thus, whereas the N170 of faces was associated predominantly to right fusiform and occipital regions (the so-called "Fusiform Face Area", "FFA" and "Occipital Face Area", "OFA", respectively), the N170 of occupations was associated to a bilateral very posterior activity, suggestive of basic perceptual processes. Importantly, the right-sided perceptual P200 and the face-related N250 were evoked exclusively in the intra-domain task, with sources in OFA and extensively in the fusiform region, respectively. Regarding later latencies, the intra-domain N400 seemed to be generated in right posterior brain regions encompassing mainly OFA and, to some extent, the FFA, likely reflecting neural operations triggered by structural incongruities. In turn, the cross-domain N400 was related to more anterior left-sided fusiform and temporal inferior sources, paralleling those described previously for the classic verbal N400. These results support the existence of differentiated neural streams for face structure and person-related verbal processing triggered by faces, which can be activated differentially according to specific task demands.

Right fusiform response patterns reflect visual object identity rather than semantic similarity.

PubMed

Bruffaerts, Rose; Dupont, Patrick; De Grauwe, Sophie; Peeters, Ronald; De Deyne, Simon; Storms, Gerrit; Vandenberghe, Rik

2013-12-01

We previously reported the neuropsychological consequences of a lesion confined to the middle and posterior part of the right fusiform gyrus (case JA) causing a partial loss of knowledge of visual attributes of concrete entities in the absence of category-selectivity (animate versus inanimate). We interpreted this in the context of a two-step model that distinguishes structural description knowledge from associative-semantic processing and implicated the lesioned area in the former process. To test this hypothesis in the intact brain, multi-voxel pattern analysis was used in a series of event-related fMRI studies in a total of 46 healthy subjects. We predicted that activity patterns in this region would be determined by the identity of rather than the conceptual similarity between concrete entities. In a prior behavioral experiment features were generated for each entity by more than 1000 subjects. Based on a hierarchical clustering analysis the entities were organised into 3 semantic clusters (musical instruments, vehicles, tools). Entities were presented as words or pictures. With foveal presentation of pictures, cosine similarity between fMRI response patterns in right fusiform cortex appeared to reflect both the identity of and the semantic similarity between the entities. No such effects were found for words in this region. The effect of object identity was invariant for location, scaling, orientation axis and color (grayscale versus color). It also persisted for different exemplars referring to a same concrete entity. The apparent semantic similarity effect however was not invariant. This study provides further support for a neurobiological distinction between structural description knowledge and processing of semantic relationships and confirms the role of right mid-posterior fusiform cortex in the former process, in accordance with previous lesion evidence. © 2013.

Biochars derived from wasted marine macro-algae (Saccharina japonica and Sargassum fusiforme) and their potential for heavy metal removal in aqueous solution.

PubMed

Poo, Kyung-Min; Son, Eun-Bi; Chang, Jae-Soo; Ren, Xianghao; Choi, Yun-Jung; Chae, Kyu-Jung

2018-01-15

For the purpose of reusing wasted marine macro-algae generated during cultivation, harvesting, processing and selling processes, biochars derived from Saccharina japonica (known as kelp) and Sargassum fusiforme (known as hijikia) were characterized and their removal capacities for Cu, Cd, and Zn in aqueous solution were assessed. Feedstocks, S. japonica, S. fusiforme, and also pinewood sawdust as a control, were pyrolyzed at 250, 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C. In evaluating heavy metal removal capacities, SJB (S. japonica biochar) showed the best performance, with removal efficiencies of more than 98% for the three heavy metals when pyrolyzed at over 400 °C. SFB (S. fusiforme biochar) also showed good potential as an adsorbent, with removal efficiencies for the three heavy metals of more than 86% when pyrolyzed at over 500 °C. On the contrary, the maximum removal efficiencies of PSB (pinewood sawdust biochar) were 81%, 46%, and 47% for Cu, Cd, and Zn, respectively, even at 700 °C, the highest pyrolysis temperature. This demonstrates that marine macro-algae were advantageous in terms of production energy for removing heavy metals even at relatively low pyrolysis temperatures, compared with PSB. The excellent heavy metal adsorption capacities of marine macro-algae biochars were considered due to their higher pH and more oxygen-containing functional groups, although the specific surface areas of SJB and SFB were significantly lower than that of PSB. This research confirmed that the use of marine macro-algae as a heavy metal adsorbent was suitable not only in the removal of heavy metals, but also in terms of resource recycling and energy efficiency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cell-type specific short-term plasticity at auditory nerve synapses controls feed-forward inhibition in the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

PubMed

Sedlacek, Miloslav; Brenowitz, Stephan D

2014-01-01

Feed-forward inhibition (FFI) represents a powerful mechanism by which control of the timing and fidelity of action potentials in local synaptic circuits of various brain regions is achieved. In the cochlear nucleus, the auditory nerve provides excitation to both principal neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Here, we investigated the synaptic circuit associated with fusiform cells (FCs), principal neurons of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) that receive excitation from auditory nerve fibers and inhibition from tuberculoventral cells (TVCs) on their basal dendrites in the deep layer of DCN. Despite the importance of these inputs in regulating fusiform cell firing behavior, the mechanisms determining the balance of excitation and FFI in this circuit are not well understood. Therefore, we examined the timing and plasticity of auditory nerve driven FFI onto FCs. We find that in some FCs, excitatory and inhibitory components of FFI had the same stimulation thresholds indicating they could be triggered by activation of the same fibers. In other FCs, excitation and inhibition exhibit different stimulus thresholds, suggesting FCs and TVCs might be activated by different sets of fibers. In addition, we find that during repetitive activation, synapses formed by the auditory nerve onto TVCs and FCs exhibit distinct modes of short-term plasticity. Feed-forward inhibitory post-synaptic currents (IPSCs) in FCs exhibit short-term depression because of prominent synaptic depression at the auditory nerve-TVC synapse. Depression of this feedforward inhibitory input causes a shift in the balance of fusiform cell synaptic input towards greater excitation and suggests that fusiform cell spike output will be enhanced by physiological patterns of auditory nerve activity.

Effects of visual grading on northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings planted in two shelterwood stands on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, USA

Treesearch

Stacy Clark; Scott Schlarbaum; Callie Schweitzer

2015-01-01

Artificial regeneration of oak has been generally unsuccessful in maintaining the oak component in productive upland forests of eastern North America. We tested visual grading effects on quality-grown northern red oak (Quercus rubra) seedlings planted in two submesic stands on the Cumberland Plateau escarpment of Tennessee, USA. Seedlings were grown for one year using...

The allelopathic influence of post oak (Quercus stellata) on plant species in southern U.S

Treesearch

Nicollette A. Baldwin; Michael K. Crosby

2016-01-01

Post oak (Quercus stellata) is a commonly occurring tree in the southeastern United States, offering forage and shelter for a variety of wildlife as well as having commercial uses. This species is often planted in parks and urban green-spaces for the shade it offers. Previous studies have found that parts of the plant can be toxic to livestock and...

Effects of tornado damage, prescribed fire, and salvage logging on natural oak (Quercus spp.) regeneration in a xeric southern USA Coastal Plain oak/pine forest

Treesearch

Jeffery B. Cannon; J. Stephen Brewer

2013-01-01

Due in large part to fire exclusion, many oak-dominated (Quercus spp.) forests, woodlands, and savannas throughout eastern North America are being replaced by less diverse forest ecosystems. In the interior coastal plain of the southern United States, these forests are dominated in the mid- and understory by mesophytic species such as Acer...

Changes in forest structure associated with oak decline in severely impacted areas of northern Arkansas

Treesearch

Eric Heitzman; Adrian Grell; Martin Spetich; Dale Starkey

2007-01-01

Four mature northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.)–white oak (Quercus alba L.) stands in the Boston Mountains of northern Arkansas were studied to describe the vegetation dynamics of forests heavily impacted by oak decline. Northern red oak was the species most susceptible to decline. Across the four stands, 51–75% of red oak density...

Historical Mortality of Valley Oak (Quercus lobata, Nee) in the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, 1938-1989

Treesearch

Rodney W. Brown; Frank W. Davis

1991-01-01

The range and abundance of valley oak (Quercus lobata, Nee) have steadily decreased in the last 100 years due to low rates of regeneration during this period. Documented low rates of sapling recruitment must be compared to adult mortality rates in order to evaluate the severity of this decline. The purpose of this research is to measure and analyze...

Establishing a range-wide provenance test in valley oak (Quercus lobata Née) at two California sites

Treesearch

Annette Delfino-Mix; Jessica W. Wright; Paul F. Gugger; Christina Liang; Victoria L. Sork

2015-01-01

We present the methods used to establish a provenance test in valley oak, Quercus lobata. Nearly 11,000 acorns were planted and 88 percent of those germinated. The resulting seedlings were measured after 1 and 2 years of growth, and were outplanted in the field in the winter of 2014-2015. This test represents a long-term resource for both research...

Rooting stem cuttings of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) utilizing hedged stump sprouts formed on recently felled trees

Treesearch

Matthew H. Gocke; Daniel J. Robinson

2010-01-01

The ability to root stem cuttings collected from hedged stump sprouts formed on recently felled trees was evaluated for 26 codominant northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) trees growing in Durham County, NC. Sprouting occurred, the same year as felling, on 23 of the 26 tree stumps and sprout number was significantly and positively correlated with stump diameter. The...

Multi-site Management Plan Ecoregional Conservation for the Ouachita Ecoregion Arkansas and Oklahoma

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

Trees, Shrubs and Vines of Arkansas. Ozark Soc. Found.; 1989. Hunter, Carl G. Wildflowers of Arkansas (3rd. ed.). Ozark Soc. Found.; 1992 Hyatt...Schizachyrium scoparium and Sorghastrum nutans dominate this system with stunted oak species (Quercus stellata, Quercus marilandica) and shrub ...grassland species such as Schizachyrium scoparium and shrub species such as Vaccinium arboreum. Drought stress and fire are the major dynamics

Analysis of oak tannins by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Mämmelä, P; Savolainen, H; Lindroos, L; Kangas, J; Vartiainen, T

2000-09-01

Extractable tannins were analysed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry in two oak species, North American white oak (Quercus alba) and European red oak (Quercus robur). They mainly included various glucose gallic and ellagic acid esters. The structures were partially determined, and they included grandinin/roburin E, castalagin/vescalagin, gallic acid, valoneic acid bilactone, monogalloyl glucose, digalloyl glucose, trigalloyl glucose, ellagic acid rhamnose, quercitrin and ellagic acid.

The influence of cultural treatments of the long-term survival and growth of planted Quercus rubra

Treesearch

James J. Zaczek; Kim C. Steiner

2011-01-01

A northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) plantation testing 20 nursery stock and planting methods was used to evaluate treatments 3, 6, 10, and 17 years after planting. Survival over all treatments was 92 percent at age 3 and declined to 74 percent, 56 percent, and 39 percent at ages 6, 10, and 17, respectively. At age 17, survival was highest for...

Influence of Soil Type and Drainage on Growth of Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus Michauxii Nutt.) Seedlings

Treesearch

Donald D. Hook

1969-01-01

Swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii Nutt.) seedlings were grown for 2 years in five soil types in drained and undrained pots. First-year height growth was related to soil type and pot drainage, but second-year height growth was related only to soil type. Results suggest that swamp chestnut oak is site-sensitive. But slow growth, a maximum of 2...

Endangered Species Management Plan for Fort Hood, Texas: FY06-10

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

Texas red oak, post oak, Texas ash (Fraxinus texensis), shin oak, blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), cedar elm ...by Ashe juniper and Texas oak. Other important tree species included live oak, cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia), Lacey oak (Quercus laceyi), Arizona...0.83 m (Cimprich 2005). Nest substrates include shin oak, Texas red oak, Texas redbud, Ashe juniper, Texas ash, Plateau live oak, cedar elm , rusty

Container volume and subirrigation schedule influence Quercus variabilis seedling growth and nutrient status in the nursery and field

Treesearch

Qiaoyu Sun; R. Kasten Dumroese; Yong Liu

2018-01-01

Container volume and irrigation management affect seedling growth in the nursery and field. We evaluated the effects of container volumes (D40, 656 ml; D60, 983 ml) and subirrigation schedules (85%, 75%, 65%, and 55% of 100% total substrate moisture content, TSMC) on seedling growth in a greenhouse and outplanting performance of Chinese cork oak (Quercus variabilis...

Shade, leaf growth, and crown development of Quercus rubra, Q. velutina, Prunus serotina, and Acer rubrum seedlings

Treesearch

Kurt W. Gottschalk

1994-01-01

The study was conducted in an open field to detennine the optimum irradiance for establishment and growth of two oak species and two major associated woody species. Half-sib seedlings of black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and black oak (Q. velutina Lam.) were grown for two years under shade-clotht...

Reconstruction of palaeoatmospheric carbon dioxide using stomatal densities of various beech plants (Fagaceae): testing and application of a mechanistic model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grein, M.; Roth-Nebelsick, A.; Konrad, W.

2006-12-01

A mechanistic model (Konrad &Roth-Nebelsick a, in prep.) was applied for the reconstruction of atmospheric carbon dioxide using stomatal densities and photosynthesis parameters of extant and fossil Fagaceae. The model is based on an approach which couples diffusion and the biochemical process of photosynthesis. Atmospheric CO2 is calculated on the basis of stomatal diffusion and photosynthesis parameters of the considered taxa. The considered species include the castanoid Castanea sativa, two quercoids Quercus petraea and Quercus rhenana and an intermediate species Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis. In the case of Quercus petraea literature data were used. Stomatal data of Eotrigonobalanus furcinervis, Quercus rhenana and Castanea sativa were determined by the authors. Data of the extant Castanea sativa were collected by applying a peeling method and by counting of stomatal densities on the digitalized images of the peels. Additionally, isotope data of leaf samples of Castanea sativa were determined to estimate the ratio of intercellular to ambient carbon dioxide. The CO2 values calculated by the model (on the basis of stomatal data and measured or estimated biochemical parameters) are in good agreement with literature data, with the exception of the Late Eocene. The results thus demonstrate that the applied approach is principally suitable for reconstructing palaeoatmospheric CO2.

Spatial variations of sapwood chemistry with soil acidity in Appalachian forests. [Quercus rubra; Prunus serotina; Pinus strobus L. ; Tsuga canadensis; Quercus prinus; Carya glabra

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

DeWalle, D.R.; Swistock, B.R.; Sharpe, W.E.

Studies were conducted at five Appalchian sites to determine if chemical element concentrations in sapwood tree rings from six tree species varied with soil and soil leachate acidity. The most recent 5-yr-growth increment was extracted from 10 tree boles of each species at each site and analyzed for chemical content using plasma emission spectroscopy. Sapwood tree rings generally showed higher concentrations of Mn and lower concentrations of Sr at sites with lower soil pH. Differences in tree-ring concentrations for Ca and Mn among sites were also found in soil water samples at these sites. Significant differences in soil leachate Almore » between sites were not duplicated in tree rings. Sapwood tree-ring chemistry in red oak (Quercus rubra L.), black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), eastern white pine (pinus strobus L.) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) was generally responsive to differences in soil chemistry between sites. Chestnut oak (Quercus prinus L.) and pignut hickory (Carya glabra (Mill.) Sweet) were the least responsive species tested. Overall, results show that several common tree species and selected elements are potentially useful for studying historic soil acidification trends at these study sites.« less

Within-population variability influences early seedling establishment in four Mediterranean oaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Rodríguez, Victoria; Barrio, Isabel C.; Villar, Rafael

2012-05-01

Regeneration of Mediterranean forests is severely limited. Multiple abiotic factors are known to constrain the establishment of woody seedlings at its first phases, such as summer drought or excessive incident radiation, but less attention has been paid to the role of intra-specific variation in seedling performance. In this study we investigate the relative influence of environment (light availability, soil moisture and summer irrigation) and intrinsic factors (seed mass and maternal origin) as determinants of within-population variability in the early establishment of four coexisting Mediterranean oaks (Quercus ilex, Quercus suber, Quercus faginea and Quercus pyrenaica), from emergence and early growth to second-year survival in a field experiment. Seed size was a poor predictor of seed and seedling success. Instead, mother identity showed a stronger effect on seedling performance. Time and percentage of emergence, establishment success and morphological traits varied among seedlings from different maternal trees but main drivers for each variable were different for each species. In addition to a direct effect, in many cases mother-related intrinsic traits and seed mass influenced the effects of environmental conditions on seedling performance. The role of intrinsic factors was masked under ameliorated conditions (i.e. summer irrigation), indicating the relevant role of within-population variability to cope with highly heterogeneous and unpredictable Mediterranean environments.

Yeast-like microorganisms in the scale insect Kermes quercus (Insecta, Hemiptera, Coccomorpha: Kermesidae). Newly acquired symbionts?

PubMed

Podsiadło, Elżbieta; Michalik, Katarzyna; Michalik, Anna; Szklarzewicz, Teresa

2018-01-01

Scale insects, like other plant sap-consumers, are host to symbiotic microorganisms which provide them with the substances missing from their diet. In contrast to most scale insects, Kermes quercus (Linnaeus) was regarded as asymbiotic. Our histological and ultrastructural observations show that in the body of the feeding stages of K. quercus collected in two locations (Warsaw and Cracow), numerous yeast-like microorganisms occur. These microorganisms were localized in the cytoplasm of fat body cells. The yeast-like microorganisms were observed neither in other organs of the host insect nor in the eggs. These microorganisms did not cause any damage to the structure of the ovaries and the course of oogenesis of the host insect. The females infected by them produced about 1300 larvae. The lack of these microorganisms in the cytoplasm of eggs indicates that they are not transmitted transovarially from mother to offspring. Molecular analyses indicated that the microorganisms which reside in the body of K. quercus are closely related to the entomopathogenic fungi Cordyceps and Ophiocordyceps, which belong to the Sordariomycetes class within the Ascomycota. The role of yeast-like microorganisms to their host insects remains unknown; however, it has been suggested that they may represent newly acquired symbionts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensory-directed identification of taste-active ellagitannins in American (Quercus alba L.) and European oak wood (Quercus robur L.) and quantitative analysis in bourbon whiskey and oak-matured red wines.

PubMed

Glabasnia, Arne; Hofmann, Thomas

2006-05-03

Aimed at increasing our knowledge on the sensory-active nonvolatiles migrating from oak wood into alcoholic beverages upon cooperaging, an aqueous ethanolic extract prepared from oak wood chips (Quercus alba L.) was screened for its key taste compounds by application of the taste dilution analysis. Purification of the compounds perceived with the highest sensory impacts, followed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry as well as one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR experiments, revealed the ellagitannins vescalagin, castalagin, and grandinin, the roburins A-E, and 33-deoxy-33-carboxyvescalagin as the key molecules imparting an astringent oral sensation. To the best of our knowledge, 33-deoxy-33-carboxyvescalagin has as yet not been reported as a phytochemical in Q. alba L. In addition, the sensory activity of these ellagitannins was determined for the first time on the basis of their human threshold concentrations and dose/response functions. Furthermore, the ellagitannins have been quantitatively determined in extracts prepared from Q. alba L. and Quercus robur L., respectively, as well as in bourbon whiskey and oak-matured red wines, and the sensory contribution of the individual compounds has been evaluated for the first time on the basis of dose/activity considerations.

Community Structure and Survival of Tertiary Relict Thuja sutchuenensis (Cupressaceae) in the Subtropical Daba Mountains, Southwestern China

PubMed Central

Tang, Cindy Q.; Yang, Yongchuan; Ohsawa, Masahiko; Momohara, Arata; Yi, Si-Rong; Robertson, Kevin; Song, Kun; Zhang, Shi-Qiang; He, Long-Yuan

2015-01-01

A rare coniferous Tertiary relict tree species, Thuja sutchuenensis Franch, has survived in the Daba Mountains of southwestern China. It was almost eliminated by logging during the past century. We measured size and age structures and interpreted regeneration dynamics of stands of the species in a variety of topographic contexts and community associations. Forest communities containing T. sutchuenensis were of three types: (1) the Thuja community dominated by T. sutchuenensis, growing on cliffs; (2) the Thuja-Quercus-Cyclobalanopsis community dominated by T. sutchuenensis, Quercus engleriana and Cyclobalanopsis oxyodon, along with Fagus engleriana and Carpinus fargesiana, on steep slopes; (3) the Thuja-Tsuga-Quercus community dominated by T. sutchuenensis, Tsuga chinensis, and Quercus spinosa, on crest ridges. The established seedlings/saplings were found in limestone crevices, on scarred cliff-faces, cliff-edges, fallen logs, canopy gaps and forest margins. The radial growth rate was 0.5-1.1 mm per year. Its growth forms were distorted. It had strong sprouting ability after disturbances. The T. sutchuenensis population thrives on cliffs where there is little competition from other species because of harsh conditions and rockslide disturbances. It is shade-intolerant but stress-tolerant. Its regeneration has depended on natural disturbances. PMID:25928845

Blood-urine barrier formation in mouse urinary bladder development.

PubMed

Jezernik, K; Pipan, N

1993-04-01

Formation of the blood-urine permeability barrier in differentiating mouse transitional urothelium was studied. It was established that the development of superficial cell barrier is a two-phase process: beginning with formation of the tight junctions, followed by formation of fusiform vesicles and asymmetric apical plasma membranes. Fusiform vesicles differentiate during days 15 and 17 of gestation and fuse with the apical plasmalemma. Thus a thick membrane is formed before the excretion of hypertonic urine into the embryonic bladder. Through some degenerative superficial cells slough between fetal day 17 and the day of birth, the bladder epithelium in mice does not lack an effective permeability barrier.

Numerous Fusiform and Saccular Cerebral Aneurysms in Central Nervous System Lupus Presenting with Ischemic Stroke.

PubMed

Majidi, Shahram; Leon Guerrero, Christopher R; Gandhy, Shreya; Burger, Kathleen M; Sigounas, Dimitri

2017-07-01

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement occurs in up to 50% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Cerebral aneurysm formation is a rare complication of CNS lupus. The majority of these patients present with subarachnoid hemorrhage. We report a patient with an active SLE flare who presented with a recurrent ischemic stroke and was found to have numerous unruptured fusiform and saccular aneurysms in multiple vascular territories. He was treated with high-dose steroid and rituximab along with aspirin and blood pressure control for stroke prevention. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dissociable contributions of MRI volume reductions of superior temporal and fusiform gyri to symptoms and neuropsychology in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Nestor, Paul G; Onitsuka, Toshiaki; Gurrera, Ronald J; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Frumin, Melissa; Shenton, Martha E; McCarley, Robert W

2007-03-01

We sought to identify the functional correlates of reduced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumes of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the fusiform gyrus (FG) in patients with chronic schizophrenia. MRI volumes, positive/negative symptoms, and neuropsychological tests of facial memory and executive functioning were examined within the same subjects. The results indicated two distinct, dissociable brain structure-function relationships: (1) reduced left STG volume-positive symptoms-executive deficits; (2) reduced left FG-negative symptoms-facial memory deficits. STG and FG volume reductions may each make distinct contributions to symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia.

One-year-old fear memories rapidly activate human fusiform gyrus

PubMed Central

Pizzagalli, Diego A.

2016-01-01

Fast threat detection is crucial for survival. In line with such evolutionary pressure, threat-signaling fear-conditioned faces have been found to rapidly (<80 ms) activate visual brain regions including the fusiform gyrus on the conditioning day. Whether remotely fear conditioned stimuli (CS) evoke similar early processing enhancements is unknown. Here, 16 participants who underwent a differential face fear-conditioning and extinction procedure on day 1 were presented the initial CS 24 h after conditioning (Recent Recall Test) as well as 9-17 months later (Remote Recall Test) while EEG was recorded. Using a data-driven segmentation procedure of CS evoked event-related potentials, five distinct microstates were identified for both the recent and the remote memory test. To probe intracranial activity, EEG activity within each microstate was localized using low resolution electromagnetic tomography analysis (LORETA). In both the recent (41–55 and 150–191 ms) and remote (45–90 ms) recall tests, fear conditioned faces potentiated rapid activation in proximity of fusiform gyrus, even in participants unaware of the contingencies. These findings suggest that rapid processing enhancements of conditioned faces persist over time. PMID:26416784

A common neural substrate for perceiving and knowing about color

PubMed Central

Simmons, W. Kyle; Ramjee, Vimal; Beauchamp, Michael S.; McRae, Ken; Martin, Alex; Barsalou, Lawrence W.

2013-01-01

Functional neuroimaging research has demonstrated that retrieving information about object-associated colors activates the left fusiform gyrus in posterior temporal cortex. Although regions near the fusiform have previously been implicated in color perception, it remains unclear whether color knowledge retrieval actually activates the color perception system. Evidence to this effect would be particularly strong if color perception cortex was activated by color knowledge retrieval triggered strictly with linguistic stimuli. To address this question, subjects performed two tasks while undergoing fMRI. First, subjects performed a property verification task using only words to assess conceptual knowledge. On each trial, subjects verified whether a named color or motor property was true of a named object (e.g., TAXI-yellow, HAIR-combed). Next, subjects performed a color perception task. A region of the left fusiform gyrus that was highly responsive during color perception also showed greater activity for retrieving color than motor property knowledge. These data provide the first evidence for a direct overlap in the neural bases of color perception and stored information about object-associated color, and they significantly add to accumulating evidence that conceptual knowledge is grounded in the brain’s modality-specific systems. PMID:17575989

Preparation of low molecular weight Sargassum fusiforme polysaccharide and its anticoagulant activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yuhao; Chen, Xiaolin; Liu, Song; Yu, Huahua; Li, Rongfeng; Wang, Xueqin; Qin, Yukun; Li, Pengcheng

2017-10-01

Heparin has been used as an anticoagulant drug for many years, but it has significant side effects. In the search for good substitutes, low molecular weight (MW) polysaccharides from Sargassum fusiforme have been examined and confirmed to possess biological activities. Here, S. fusiforme polysaccharides (SFP) were extracted and subjected to a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) oxidation method for the preparation of low-MW SFP (LSFP). The effects of temperature, pH, and H2O2 concentration on the degradation process were also examined. Several LSFP of 36, 9, 5.7, and 2.7 kDa were obtained under different conditions, and their anticoagulant activities studied in vitro. The results showed that SFP and LSFP prolonged activated partial thromboplastin (APTT), prothrombin (PT) and thrombin times (TT) significantly, indicating that these low MW polysaccharides possessed anticoagulant activity in the intrinsic, extrinsic, and common coagulation pathways. As these effects were related to the MW of the polysaccharides in APTT and TT but not in PT, the contents of the monosaccharide fucose and sulfate and the polysaccharide MW could have exerted combined effects. The details of this mechanism require further verification.

Neural correlates of the perception of dynamic versus static facial expressions of emotion.

PubMed

Kessler, Henrik; Doyen-Waldecker, Cornelia; Hofer, Christian; Hoffmann, Holger; Traue, Harald C; Abler, Birgit

2011-04-20

This study investigated brain areas involved in the perception of dynamic facial expressions of emotion. A group of 30 healthy subjects was measured with fMRI when passively viewing prototypical facial expressions of fear, disgust, sadness and happiness. Using morphing techniques, all faces were displayed as still images and also dynamically as a film clip with the expressions evolving from neutral to emotional. Irrespective of a specific emotion, dynamic stimuli selectively activated bilateral superior temporal sulcus, visual area V5, fusiform gyrus, thalamus and other frontal and parietal areas. Interaction effects of emotion and mode of presentation (static/dynamic) were only found for the expression of happiness, where static faces evoked greater activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. Our results confirm previous findings on neural correlates of the perception of dynamic facial expressions and are in line with studies showing the importance of the superior temporal sulcus and V5 in the perception of biological motion. Differential activation in the fusiform gyrus for dynamic stimuli stands in contrast to classical models of face perception but is coherent with new findings arguing for a more general role of the fusiform gyrus in the processing of socially relevant stimuli.

Hippocampal size is related to short-term true and false memory, and right fusiform size is related to long-term true and false memory.

PubMed

Zhu, Bi; Chen, Chuansheng; Loftus, Elizabeth F; He, Qinghua; Lei, Xuemei; Dong, Qi; Lin, Chongde

2016-11-01

There is a keen interest in identifying specific brain regions that are related to individual differences in true and false memories. Previous functional neuroimaging studies showed that activities in the hippocampus, right fusiform gyrus, and parahippocampal gyrus were associated with true and false memories, but no study thus far has examined whether the structures of these brain regions are associated with short-term and long-term true and false memories. To address that question, the current study analyzed data from 205 healthy young adults, who had valid data from both structural brain imaging and a misinformation task. In the misinformation task, subjects saw the crime scenarios, received misinformation, and took memory tests about the crimes an hour later and again after 1.5 years. Results showed that bilateral hippocampal volume was associated with short-term true and false memories, whereas right fusiform gyrus volume and surface area were associated with long-term true and false memories. This study provides the first evidence for the structural neural bases of individual differences in short-term and long-term true and false memories.

The morphogenic features of otoconia during larval development of Cynops pyrrhogaster, the Japanese red-bellied newt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steyger, P. S.; Wiederhold, M. L.; Batten, J.

1995-01-01

Otoconia are calcified protein matrices within the gravity-sensing organs of the vertebrate vestibular system. Mammalian otoconia are barrel-shaped with triplanar facets at each end. Reptilian otoconia are commonly prismatic or fusiform in shape. Amphibians have all three otoconial morphologies, barrel-shaped otoconia within the utricle, with prismatic and fusiform otoconia in the saccule. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a sequential appearance of all three otoconial morphologies during larval development of the newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster. The first otoconia appear within a single, developing otolith, and some resemble adult barrel-shaped otoconia. As the larvae hatch, around stages 39-42, the single otolith divides into two anatomically separate regions, the utricle and saccule, and both contain otoconia similar to those seen in the single otolith. Throughout development, these otoconia may have variable morphologies, with serrated surfaces, or circumferential striations with either separated facets or adjacent facets in the triplanar end-regions. Small fusiform otoconia occur later, at stage 51, and only in the saccule. Prismatic otoconia appear later still, at stage 55, and again only in the saccule. Thus, although prismatic otoconia are the most numerous in adult newts, it is the last vestibular otoconial morphology to be expressed.

A common neural substrate for perceiving and knowing about color.

PubMed

Simmons, W Kyle; Ramjee, Vimal; Beauchamp, Michael S; McRae, Ken; Martin, Alex; Barsalou, Lawrence W

2007-09-20

Functional neuroimaging research has demonstrated that retrieving information about object-associated colors activates the left fusiform gyrus in posterior temporal cortex. Although regions near the fusiform have previously been implicated in color perception, it remains unclear whether color knowledge retrieval actually activates the color perception system. Evidence to this effect would be particularly strong if color perception cortex was activated by color knowledge retrieval triggered strictly with linguistic stimuli. To address this question, subjects performed two tasks while undergoing fMRI. First, subjects performed a property verification task using only words to assess conceptual knowledge. On each trial, subjects verified whether a named color or motor property was true of a named object (e.g., TAXI-yellow, HAIR-combed). Next, subjects performed a color perception task. A region of the left fusiform gyrus that was highly responsive during color perception also showed greater activity for retrieving color than motor property knowledge. These data provide the first evidence for a direct overlap in the neural bases of color perception and stored information about object-associated color, and they significantly add to accumulating evidence that conceptual knowledge is grounded in the brain's modality-specific systems.

Modulation of human extrastriate visual processing by selective attention to colours and words.

PubMed

Nobre, A C; Allison, T; McCarthy, G

1998-07-01

The present study investigated the effect of visual selective attention upon neural processing within functionally specialized regions of the human extrastriate visual cortex. Field potentials were recorded directly from the inferior surface of the temporal lobes in subjects with epilepsy. The experimental task required subjects to focus attention on words from one of two competing texts. Words were presented individually and foveally. Texts were interleaved randomly and were distinguishable on the basis of word colour. Focal field potentials were evoked by words in the posterior part of the fusiform gyrus. Selective attention strongly modulated long-latency potentials evoked by words. The attention effect co-localized with word-related potentials in the posterior fusiform gyrus, and was independent of stimulus colour. The results demonstrated that stimuli receive differential processing within specialized regions of the extrastriate cortex as a function of attention. The late onset of the attention effect and its co-localization with letter string-related potentials but not with colour-related potentials recorded from nearby regions of the fusiform gyrus suggest that the attention effect is due to top-down influences from downstream regions involved in word processing.

Intrinsic and synaptic properties of vertical cells of the mouse dorsal cochlear nucleus

PubMed Central

Kuo, Sidney P.; Lu, Hsin-Wei

2012-01-01

Multiple classes of inhibitory interneurons shape the activity of principal neurons of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), a primary target of auditory nerve fibers in the mammalian brain stem. Feedforward inhibition mediated by glycinergic vertical cells (also termed tuberculoventral or corn cells) is thought to contribute importantly to the sound-evoked response properties of principal neurons, but the cellular and synaptic properties that determine how vertical cells function are unclear. We used transgenic mice in which glycinergic neurons express green fluorescent protein (GFP) to target vertical cells for whole cell patch-clamp recordings in acute slices of DCN. We found that vertical cells express diverse intrinsic spiking properties and could fire action potentials at high, sustained spiking rates. Using paired recordings, we directly examined synapses made by vertical cells onto fusiform cells, a primary DCN principal cell type. Vertical cell synapses produced unexpectedly small-amplitude unitary currents in fusiform cells, and additional experiments indicated that multiple vertical cells must be simultaneously active to inhibit fusiform cell spike output. Paired recordings also revealed that a major source of inhibition to vertical cells comes from other vertical cells. PMID:22572947

Patterns of brain reorganization subsequent to left fusiform damage: fMRI evidence from visual processing of words and pseudowords, faces and objects.

PubMed

Tsapkini, Kyrana; Vindiola, Manuel; Rapp, Brenda

2011-04-01

Little is known about the neural reorganization that takes place subsequent to lesions that affect orthographic processing (reading and/or spelling). We report on an fMRI investigation of an individual with a left mid-fusiform resection that affected both reading and spelling (Tsapkini & Rapp, 2010). To investigate possible patterns of functional reorganization, we compared the behavioral and neural activation patterns of this individual with those of a group of control participants for the tasks of silent reading of words and pseudowords and the passive viewing of faces and objects, all tasks that typically recruit the inferior temporal lobes. This comparison was carried out with methods that included a novel application of Mahalanobis distance statistics, and revealed: (1) normal behavioral and neural responses for face and object processing, (2) evidence of neural reorganization bilaterally in the posterior fusiform that supported normal performance in pseudoword reading and which contributed to word reading (3) evidence of abnormal recruitment of the bilateral anterior temporal lobes indicating compensatory (albeit insufficient) recruitment of mechanisms for circumventing the word reading deficit. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Presence of understory shrubs constrains carbon gain in sunflecks by advance-regeneration seedlings: evidence from Quercus Rubra seedling grouwing in understory forest patches with or without evergreen shrubs present

Treesearch

E.T. Nilsen; T.T. Lei; S.W. Semones

2009-01-01

We investigated whether dynamic photosynthesis of understory Quercus rubra L. (Fagaceae) seedlings can acclimate to the altered pattern of sunflecks in forest patches with Rhododendron maximum L. (Ericaceae), an understory evergreen shrub. Maximum photosynthesis (A) and total CO2 accumulated during lightflecks was greatest for 400-s lightflecks, intermediate for 150-s...

Soil moisture availability as a factor affecting valley oak (Quercus lobata Neé) seedling establishment and survival in a riparian habitat, Cosumnes River Preserve, Sacramento County, California

Treesearch

Virginia C. Meyer

2002-01-01

The lack of valley oak (Quercus lobata Neé) regeneration throughout much of its historical range appears to be related to both habitat destruction and soil moisture availability. The water relations, growth and survival of greenhouse potted seedlings, field-planted and natural seedlings were monitored through the growing season, 1989. The age...

Growing, selecting, and establishing 1-0 Quercus rubra and Q alba seedlings for rapid growth and early acorn production on forested lands in the southeastern United States.

Treesearch

Paul P. Kormanik; Shi-Jean S. Sung; Taryn L. Kormanik

2004-01-01

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L., NRO) and white oak (Q. alba L., WO) are among the most valuable oak species in the eastern Untied States and throughout the eastern provinces of Canada. They have a broad geographic distribution: yet no single regeneration mechanism can explain their presence in current stands. Both species...

Three-year bole response of white oak (Quercus alba L.) crop trees to fertilizer and crown release on a Tennessee upland site

Treesearch

G. Richard Schaertl; Allan E. Houston; Edward R. Buckner; James S. Meadows

1997-01-01

Bole diameter responses to fertilization, crown release, and fertilization x release treatments with untreated controls and treatment-by-year interactions were studied in pole-sized (approx. 43 years old) white oak (Quercus alba L.) crop trees. In the main study, fertilizer was applied by broadcast to plots at a rate of 150 lbs N and 35 lbs P

Effects of increasing air temperature on leaf phenology and photosynthetic characteristics in cool-temperate deciduous canopy trees.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muraoka, H.; Nagao, A.; Saitoh, T. M.

2016-12-01

Influences of global warming have been observed or predicted in deciduous forest ecosystems in temperate regions. One of the remarkable changes can be hound in phenology, i.e., seasonality of canopy. Timing and growth rate of leaf expansion (morphological and physiological development), timing and rate of leaf senescence, and timing of leaf fall, and resulting length of photosynthetically active period, are the phenological events that have been focused over wide range of research from single leaf measurements at long-term research sites to satellite remote sensing at continental scales. These phenological changes under global warming have been predicted to influence carbon sequestration as a balance of photosynthesis and respiration. However, we still lack ecophysiological evidence and understandings on such phenological changes, to ask (1) do the phenological changes occur in both leaf morphology and physiology?, (2) does the leaf photosynthetic capacity change by warming?, and (3) do different tree species inhabiting in the same forest respond in a same way?In order to examine these questions, we conducted an open-warming experiments on foliage of matured canopy trees in a cool-temperate deciduous broadleaf forest in central Japan. Warming treatment was made by open-top canopy chambers with 1.5m W x 2m L x 1.8m H. The chamber was made of transparent acrylic boards and vinyl sheet. Three sunlit branches (1-2m) of Quercus crispula (16m height) and one sunlit branch (1m) of Betula ermanii (18m height) were examined at 15m above ground, since 2011 for Quercus and 2013 for Betula. The chambers increased mean daytime air temperature by about 1.5 degreeC.Artificial warming led earlier leaf expansion by about 3 days in Quercus during 2013-2015 and 2 days in Betula, and delayed leaf fall by 2-7 days and 2-3 days in Quercus and Betula, respectively. Quercus leaves showed clear influence of warming: higher seasonal growth, higher capacity and slower senescence of leaf photosynthetic capacity. Although the leaf expansion was stimulated by warming, its relationship with cumulative temperature from spring was consistent with leaves under ambient conditions. Our simple estimation showed that the warming treatment would might increase photosynthetic productivity by 14-21% in Quercus, but not in Betula.

A Guide to the George Palmiter River Restoration Techniques.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-03-01

reduction. The raft is driven by a 35 h.p. ’ outboard engine, weighs 4 tons, and has 1500 lb. of flotation material under it. Additionally, the raft has a...Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) 4. Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 5. Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) 6. Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) 7. Red Oak (Quercus...safety goggles 5 - ear protectors 5 - flotation jackets 1, - industrial first aid kit--one that floats and is waterproof 1 - snake bite kit several

Phenolic compounds and sensorial characterization of wines aged with alternative to barrel products made of Spanish oak wood (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.).

PubMed

Gallego, L; Del Alamo, M; Nevares, I; Fernández, J A; Fernández de Simón, B; Cadahía, E

2012-04-01

Wood of Quercus pyrenaica has suitable properties for the wine ageing process. However, the forest available for the barrel making from this particular type of tree is very limited. Nevertheless, it is highly advisable to use this kind of wood in order to manufacture alternative oak products. This study presents the results of ageing the same red wine using different pieces of wood (chips and staves) of Spanish oak (Q. pyrenaica), American oak (Quercus alba) and French oak (Quercus petraea) in conjunction with small, controlled amounts of oxygen. In addition, the phenolic parameters, colour and sensory analysis point out that wines aged with Q. pyrenaica pieces have similar enological characteristics to those aged with American or French oak pieces of wood (chips and staves). Furthermore, the total oxygen consumed and its relation with sensory properties also has been studied in this article in order to know how the oxygen behaves in these processes. Besides, it is going to put forward the fact that chips and staves from Q. pyrenaica oak are suitable for the ageing of red wines and better considered than American or French ones, showing higher aromatic intensity, complexity, woody, balsamic and cocoa. Finally, the tasters valued highly the wines with staves, pointing out its flavour and roundness in mouth.

Seasonal carbon storage and growth in Mediterranean tree seedlings under different water conditions.

PubMed

Sanz-Pérez, Virginia; Castro-Díez, Pilar; Joffre, Richard

2009-09-01

In all Mediterranean-type ecosystems, evergreen and deciduous trees differing in wood anatomy, growth pattern and leaf habit coexist, suggesting distinct adaptative responses to environmental constraints. This study examined the effects of summer water stress on carbon (C) storage and growth in seedlings of three coexisting Mediterranean trees that differed in phenology and wood anatomy characteristics: Quercus ilex subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp., Quercus faginea Lam. and Pinus halepensis L. Seedlings were subjected to two levels of watering during two consecutive summers and achieved a minimum of -0.5 and -2.5 MPa of predawn water potential in the control and water stress treatment, respectively. Both Quercus species concentrated their growth in the early growing season, demanding higher C in early spring but replenishing C-stores in autumn. These species allocated more biomass to roots, having larger belowground starch and lipid reserves. Quercus species differed in seasonal storage dynamics from P. halepensis. This species allocated most of its C to aboveground growth, which occurred gradually during the growing season, leading to fewer C-reserves. Soluble sugar and starch concentrations sharply declined in August in P. halepensis, probably because reserves support respiration demands as this species closed stomata earlier under water stress. Drought reduced growth of the three species, mainly in Q. faginea and P. halepensis, but not C-reserves, suggesting that growth under water stress conditions is not limited by C-availability.

Species Boundaries Between Three Sympatric Oak Species: Quercus aliena, Q. dentata, and Q. variabilis at the Northern Edge of Their Distribution in China.

PubMed

Lyu, Jia; Song, Jia; Liu, Yuan; Wang, Yuyao; Li, Junqing; Du, Fang K

2018-01-01

Oaks are important timber trees with wide distributions in China, but few genetic studies have been conducted on a fine scale. In this study, we seek to investigate the genetic diversity and differentiation of three sympatric oak species ( Quercus aliena Blume, Quercus dentata Thunb. ex Murray, and Quercus variabilis Blume) in their northern distribution in China using 17 bi-parentally inherited nSSRs markers and five maternally inherited chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) fragments. Both the cpDNA and the nSSRs show a high level of genetic differentiation between different oak sections. The chloroplast haplotypes are clustered into two lineages. Clear species boundaries are detected between Q. variabilis and either Q. aliena or Q. dentata . The sharing of chloroplast haplotype H1 between Q. aliena and Q. dentata suggests very recent speciation and incomplete lineage sorting or introgression of H1 from one species to another. The nSSRs data indicate a complete fixation of variation within sites for all three oak species, and that extensive gene flow occurs within species whereas only limited gene flow is detected between Q. aliena and Q. dentata and nearly no gene flow can be detected between Q. aliena and Q. variabilis and between Q. dentata and Q. variabilis . Prezygotic isolation may have contributed to the species boundaries of these three sympatric oak species.

Species Boundaries Between Three Sympatric Oak Species: Quercus aliena, Q. dentata, and Q. variabilis at the Northern Edge of Their Distribution in China

PubMed Central

Lyu, Jia; Song, Jia; Liu, Yuan; Wang, Yuyao; Li, Junqing; Du, Fang K.

2018-01-01

Oaks are important timber trees with wide distributions in China, but few genetic studies have been conducted on a fine scale. In this study, we seek to investigate the genetic diversity and differentiation of three sympatric oak species (Quercus aliena Blume, Quercus dentata Thunb. ex Murray, and Quercus variabilis Blume) in their northern distribution in China using 17 bi-parentally inherited nSSRs markers and five maternally inherited chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) fragments. Both the cpDNA and the nSSRs show a high level of genetic differentiation between different oak sections. The chloroplast haplotypes are clustered into two lineages. Clear species boundaries are detected between Q. variabilis and either Q. aliena or Q. dentata. The sharing of chloroplast haplotype H1 between Q. aliena and Q. dentata suggests very recent speciation and incomplete lineage sorting or introgression of H1 from one species to another. The nSSRs data indicate a complete fixation of variation within sites for all three oak species, and that extensive gene flow occurs within species whereas only limited gene flow is detected between Q. aliena and Q. dentata and nearly no gene flow can be detected between Q. aliena and Q. variabilis and between Q. dentata and Q. variabilis. Prezygotic isolation may have contributed to the species boundaries of these three sympatric oak species. PMID:29662501

A neighborhood analysis of the consequences of Quercus suber decline for regeneration dynamics in Mediterranean forests.

PubMed

Ibáñez, Beatriz; Gómez-Aparicio, Lorena; Stoll, Peter; Ávila, José M; Pérez-Ramos, Ignacio M; Marañón, Teodoro

2015-01-01

In forests, the vulnerable seedling stage is largely influenced by the canopy, which modifies the surrounding environment. Consequently, any alteration in the characteristics of the canopy, such as those promoted by forest dieback, might impact regeneration dynamics. Our work analyzes the interaction between canopy neighbors and seedlings in Mediterranean forests affected by the decline of their dominant species (Quercus suber). Our objective was to understand how the impacts of neighbor trees and shrubs on recruitment could affect future dynamics of these declining forests. Seeds of the three dominant tree species (Quercus suber, Olea europaea and Quercus canariensis) were sown in six sites during two consecutive years. Using a spatially-explicit, neighborhood approach we developed models that explained the observed spatial variation in seedling emergence, survival, growth and photochemical efficiency as a function of the size, identity, health, abundance and distribution of adult trees and shrubs in the neighborhood. We found strong neighborhood effects for all the performance estimators, particularly seedling emergence and survival. Tree neighbors positively affected emergence, independently of species identity or health. Alternatively, seedling survival was much lower in neighborhoods dominated by defoliated and dead Q. suber trees than in neighborhoods dominated by healthy trees. For the two oak species, these negative effects were consistent over the three years of the experimental seedlings. These results indicate that ongoing changes in species' relative abundance and canopy trees' health might alter the successional trajectories of Mediterranean oak-forests through neighbor-specific impacts on seedlings. The recruitment failure of dominant late-successional oaks in the gaps opened after Q. suber death would indirectly favor the establishment of other coexisting woody species, such as drought-tolerant shrubs. This could lead current forests to shift into open systems with lower tree cover. Adult canopy decline would therefore represent an additional factor threatening the recruitment of Quercus forests worldwide.

Larvicidal activity of extracts from Quercus lusitania var. infectoria galls (Oliv.).

PubMed

Redwane, A; Lazrek, H B; Bouallam, S; Markouk, M; Amarouch, H; Jana, M

2002-02-01

The present study indicates the efficacy of extracts and fractions of Quercus lusitania var. infectoria galls (Oliv.) as larvicidal agents and their possible use in biological control of Culex pipiens, the urban nuisance mosquito. Extracts and fractions were tested against second and fourth instar larvae. The LC(50) values of gallotannins were 335 and 373 ppm, respectively for the 2nd and 4th instar period. The most interesting value of LC(50) (24 h) is obtained with the fraction F(2) (60 ppm).

Extraction and Identification of Phlorotannins from the Brown Alga, Sargassum fusiforme (Harvey) Setchell

PubMed Central

Li, Yajing; Fu, Xiaoting; Duan, Delin; Liu, Xiaoyong; Xu, Jiachao; Gao, Xin

2017-01-01

Phlorotannins are a group of complex polymers of phloroglucinol (1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene), which are unique compounds from marine brown algae. In our present study, a procedure for extraction and enrichment of phlorotannins from S. fusiforme with highly antioxidant potentials was established. After comparison of different extraction methods, the optimal extraction conditions were established as follows. The freeze-dried seaweed powder was extracted with 30% ethanol-water solvent with a solid/liquid ratio of 1:5 at temperature of 25 °C for 30 min. After extraction, the phlorotannins were fractioned by different solvents, among which the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited both the highest total phlorotannin content (88.48 ± 0.30 mg PGE/100 mg extract) and the highest antioxidant activities. The extracts obtained from these locations were further purified and characterized using a modified UHPLC-QQQ-MS method. Compounds with 42 different molecular weights were detected and tentatively identified, among which the fuhalol-type phlorotannins were the dominant compounds, followed by phlorethols and fucophlorethols with diverse degree of polymerization. Eckol-type phlorotannins including some newly discovered carmalol derivatives were detected in Sargassum species for the first time. Our study not only described the complex phlorotannins composition in S. fusiforme, but also highlighted the challenges involved in structural elucidation of these compounds. PMID:28230766

The structural and functional correlates of the efficiency in fearful face detection.

PubMed

Wang, Yongchao; Guo, Nana; Zhao, Li; Huang, Hui; Yao, Xiaonan; Sang, Na; Hou, Xin; Mao, Yu; Bi, Taiyong; Qiu, Jiang

2017-06-01

Human visual system is found to be much efficient in searching for a fearful face. Some individuals are more sensitive to this threat-related stimulus. However, we still know little about the neural correlates of such variability. In the current study, we exploited a visual search paradigm, and asked the subjects to search for a fearful face or a target gender. Every subject showed a shallower search function for fearful face search than face gender search, indicating a stable fearful face advantage. We then used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and correlated this advantage to the gray matter volume (GMV) of some presumably face related cortical areas. The result revealed that only the left fusiform gyrus showed a significant positive correlation. Next, we defined the left fusiform gyrus as the seed region and calculated its resting state functional connectivity to the whole brain. Correlations were also calculated between fearful face advantage and these connectivities. In this analysis, we found positive correlations in the inferior parietal lobe and the ventral medial prefrontal cortex. These results suggested that the anatomical structure of the left fusiform gyrus might determine the search efficiency of fearful face, and frontoparietal attention network involved in this process through top-down attentional modulation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Mapping structural covariance networks of facial emotion recognition in early psychosis: A pilot study.

PubMed

Buchy, Lisa; Barbato, Mariapaola; Makowski, Carolina; Bray, Signe; MacMaster, Frank P; Deighton, Stephanie; Addington, Jean

2017-11-01

People with psychosis show deficits recognizing facial emotions and disrupted activation in the underlying neural circuitry. We evaluated associations between facial emotion recognition and cortical thickness using a correlation-based approach to map structural covariance networks across the brain. Fifteen people with an early psychosis provided magnetic resonance scans and completed the Penn Emotion Recognition and Differentiation tasks. Fifteen historical controls provided magnetic resonance scans. Cortical thickness was computed using CIVET and analyzed with linear models. Seed-based structural covariance analysis was done using the mapping anatomical correlations across the cerebral cortex methodology. To map structural covariance networks involved in facial emotion recognition, the right somatosensory cortex and bilateral fusiform face areas were selected as seeds. Statistics were run in SurfStat. Findings showed increased cortical covariance between the right fusiform face region seed and right orbitofrontal cortex in controls than early psychosis subjects. Facial emotion recognition scores were not significantly associated with thickness in any region. A negative effect of Penn Differentiation scores on cortical covariance was seen between the left fusiform face area seed and right superior parietal lobule in early psychosis subjects. Results suggest that facial emotion recognition ability is related to covariance in a temporal-parietal network in early psychosis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The mid-fusiform sulcus: A landmark identifying both cytoarchitectonic and functional divisions of human ventral temporal cortex

PubMed Central

Weiner, Kevin S.; Golarai, Golijeh; Caspers, Julian; Chuapoco, Miguel R.; Mohlberg, Hartmut; Zilles, Karl; Amunts, Katrin; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2014-01-01

Human ventral temporal cortex (VTC) plays a pivotal role in high-level vision. An under-studied macroanatomical feature of VTC is the mid-fusiform sulcus (MFS), a shallow longitudinal sulcus separating the lateral and medial fusiform gyrus (FG). Here, we quantified the morphological features of the MFS in 69 subjects (ages 7–40), and investigated its relationship to both cytoarchitectonic and functional divisions of VTC with four main findings. First, despite being a minor sulcus, we found that the MFS is a stable macroanatomical structure present in all 138 hemispheres with morphological characteristics developed by age 7. Second, the MFS is the locus of a lateral-medial cytoarchitechtonic transition within the posterior FG serving as the boundary between cytoarchitectonic regions FG1 and FG2. Third, the MFS predicts a lateral-medial functional transition in eccentricity bias representations in children, adolescents, and adults. Fourth, the anterior tip of the MFS predicts the location of a face-selective region, mFus-faces/FFA-2. These findings are the first to illustrate that a macroanatomical landmark identifies both cytoarchitectonic and functional divisions of high-level sensory cortex in humans and have important implications for understanding functional and structural organization in the human brain. PMID:24021838

The role of the fusiform face area in social cognition: implications for the pathobiology of autism.

PubMed Central

Schultz, Robert T; Grelotti, David J; Klin, Ami; Kleinman, Jamie; Van der Gaag, Christiaan; Marois, René; Skudlarski, Pawel

2003-01-01

A region in the lateral aspect of the fusiform gyrus (FG) is more engaged by human faces than any other category of image. It has come to be known as the 'fusiform face area' (FFA). The origin and extent of this specialization is currently a topic of great interest and debate. This is of special relevance to autism, because recent studies have shown that the FFA is hypoactive to faces in this disorder. In two linked functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of healthy young adults, we show here that the FFA is engaged by a social attribution task (SAT) involving perception of human-like interactions among three simple geometric shapes. The amygdala, temporal pole, medial prefrontal cortex, inferolateral frontal cortex and superior temporal sulci were also significantly engaged. Activation of the FFA to a task without faces challenges the received view that the FFA is restricted in its activities to the perception of faces. We speculate that abstract semantic information associated with faces is encoded in the FG region and retrieved for social computations. From this perspective, the literature on hypoactivation of the FFA in autism may be interpreted as a reflection of a core social cognitive mechanism underlying the disorder. PMID:12639338

Two-stage selection in slash pine produces good gains in fusiform rust resistance

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

Sluder, E.R.

The best 6 of 21 progeny-tested first-generation slash pine selections were crossed in a half diallel to study inheritance patterns of their superior fusiform rust resistance (5 trees) and height (1 tree). Their six first-test progenies were duplicated and included in the study. These two groups of progenies, along with two commercial check lots, were planted on an Upper Coastal Plain and a Flatwoods site in Georgia. At age 10 yr, the 15 progenies in the half diallel averaged 23% rust-infected compared with 54% for the check lots. First-test progenies averaged 30% infected. For percentage infection, the six parents differedmore » in general combining ability (GCA) (0.01>P>0.001) on both test sites and in specific combining ability (0.05>P>0.01) on one site. GCA variation for height was significant (0.05>P>0.01) on one site. The parent selected for height had the highest breeding value for height at age 10 yr. These results show that resistance to the fusiform rust disease, a serious problem in management of the species, can be improved in slash pine. These 6 parents and their 15 progenies in the half-diallel cross are a good source of rust resistance genes for use in slash pine improvement programs.« less

Fucosterol, a sterol extracted from Sargassum fusiforme, shows antidepressant and anticonvulsant effects.

PubMed

Zhen, Xing-Hua; Quan, Ying-Chun; Jiang, Hai-Ying; Wen, Zheng-Shun; Qu, You-Le; Guan, Li-Ping

2015-12-05

We previously showed that extracts of Sargassum fusiforme significantly reduce immobility time in the forced swim test and tail suspension test, suggesting that these extracts possess antidepressant-like effects. Here, fucosterol extracted from S. fusiforme was evaluated for antidepressant and anticonvulsant activities in mice. Fucosterol (10, 20, 30 and 40mg/kg) significantly shortened immobility time in the forced swim test and tail suspension test for30min after treatment but had no effect on locomotor activity in the open field test. Fucosterol significantly increased serotonin, norepinephrine and the metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in mouse brain, suggesting that the effects of fucosterol may be mediated through these neurotransmitters. As assessed using maximal electroshock, fucosterol (20, 40, 100mg/kg) possessed anticonvulsant activity, whereas rotarod toxicity test results indicated that fucosterol did not induce neurotoxicity at the same dose levels in mice. Thus, fucosterol may be a useful antidepressant adjunct candidate for treating depression in patients with epilepsy. A significant increase in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels was found in the fucosterol 20mg/kg group (P<0.05). Our findings suggested that fucosterol may possess an antidepressant-like effect, which may be mediated by increasing central BDNF levels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic variability of natural populations of trematodes of the genus Lecithochirium parasites of eels.

PubMed

Vilas, R; Sanmartín, M L; Paniagua, E

2004-08-01

Allozyme variation within and among populations of 3 species of the genus Lecithochirium (Trematoda: Hemiuridae) was studied by starch gel electrophoresis. In total, 19 loci were analysed in 7 populations. The level of genetic variability was relatively high in all populations. The percentage of polymorphic loci (0.95 criterion) observed per population varied from 21.0% to 55.5%, and expected heterozygosity levels varied from 0.082 to 0.197. All populations showed significant heterozygote deficiencies. In Lecithochirium fusiforme most of the deviations from Hardy-Weinberg proportions were within the populations and this species showed moderate population structuring (F(IS)=0.486, F(ST)=0.142, Nm= 1.51) and accordingly low intraspecific genetic distances (D=0.003 to 0.027). A significant lack of heterozygotes for several polymorphic loci was revealed in Lecithochirium rufoviride and Lecithochirium musculus. The most probable cause of the population genetic subdivision in L. rufoviride is the presence of at least 1 cryptic species in the populations studied. Although the lowest percentage of fixed genetic differences was that between L. fusiforme and L. musculus, two different algorithms for the construction of evolutionary trees on a matrix of genetic distances confirmed that L. fusiforme and L. rufoviride are phenetically the most closely related species.

Source Reconstruction of Brain Potentials Using Bayesian Model Averaging to Analyze Face Intra-Domain vs. Face-Occupation Cross-Domain Processing

PubMed Central

Olivares, Ela I.; Lage-Castellanos, Agustín; Bobes, María A.; Iglesias, Jaime

2018-01-01

We investigated the neural correlates of the access to and retrieval of face structure information in contrast to those concerning the access to and retrieval of person-related verbal information, triggered by faces. We experimentally induced stimulus familiarity via a systematic learning procedure including faces with and without associated verbal information. Then, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in both intra-domain (face-feature) and cross-domain (face-occupation) matching tasks while N400-like responses were elicited by incorrect eyes-eyebrows completions and occupations, respectively. A novel Bayesian source reconstruction approach plus conjunction analysis of group effects revealed that in both cases the generated N170s were of similar amplitude but had different neural origin. Thus, whereas the N170 of faces was associated predominantly to right fusiform and occipital regions (the so-called “Fusiform Face Area”, “FFA” and “Occipital Face Area”, “OFA”, respectively), the N170 of occupations was associated to a bilateral very posterior activity, suggestive of basic perceptual processes. Importantly, the right-sided perceptual P200 and the face-related N250 were evoked exclusively in the intra-domain task, with sources in OFA and extensively in the fusiform region, respectively. Regarding later latencies, the intra-domain N400 seemed to be generated in right posterior brain regions encompassing mainly OFA and, to some extent, the FFA, likely reflecting neural operations triggered by structural incongruities. In turn, the cross-domain N400 was related to more anterior left-sided fusiform and temporal inferior sources, paralleling those described previously for the classic verbal N400. These results support the existence of differentiated neural streams for face structure and person-related verbal processing triggered by faces, which can be activated differentially according to specific task demands. PMID:29628877

Waveform generation in the weakly electric fish Gymnotus coropinae (Hoedeman): the electric organ and the electric organ discharge.

PubMed

Castelló, María E; Rodríguez-Cattáneo, Alejo; Aguilera, Pedro A; Iribarne, Leticia; Pereira, Ana Carolina; Caputi, Angel A

2009-05-01

This article deals with the electric organ and its discharge in Gymnotus coropinae, a representative species of one of the three main clades of the genus. Three regions with bilateral symmetry are described: (1) subopercular (medial and lateral columns of complex shaped electrocytes); (2) abdominal (medial and lateral columns of cuboidal and fusiform electrocytes); and (3) main [four columns, one dorso-lateral (containing fusiform electrocytes) and three medial (containing cuboidal electrocytes)]. Subopercular electrocytes are all caudally innervated whereas two of the medial subopercular ones are also rostrally innervated. Fusiform electrocytes are medially innervated at the abdominal portion, and at their rostral and caudal poles at the main portion. Cuboidal electrocytes are always caudally innervated. The subopercular portion generates a slow head-negative wave (V(1r)) followed by a head-positive spike (V(3r)). The abdominal and main portions generate a fast tetra-phasic complex (V(2345ct)). Since subopercular components prevail in the near field and the rest in the far field, time coincidence of V(3r) with V(2) leads to different waveforms depending on the position of the receiver. This confirms the splitting hypothesis of communication and exploration channels based on the different timing, frequency band and reach of the regional waveforms. The following hypothesis is compatible with the observed anatomo-functional organization: V(1r) corresponds to the rostral activation of medial subopercular electrocytes and V(3r) to the caudal activation of all subopercular electrocytes; V(2), and part of V(3ct), corresponds to the successive activation of the rostral and caudal poles of dorso-lateral fusiform electrocytes; and V(345ct) is initiated in the caudal face of cuboidal electrocytes by synaptic activation (V(3ct)) and it is completed (V(45ct)) by the successive activation of rostral and caudal faces by the action currents evoked in the opposite face.

Effects of Invasive Winter Moth Defoliation on Tree Radial Growth in Eastern Massachusetts, USA

PubMed Central

Simmons, Michael J.; Lee, Thomas D.; Ducey, Mark J.; Elkinton, Joseph S.; Boettner, George H.; Dodds, Kevin J.

2014-01-01

Winter moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), has been defoliating hardwood trees in eastern Massachusetts since the 1990s. Native to Europe, winter moth has also been detected in Rhode Island, Connecticut, eastern Long Island (NY), New Hampshire, and Maine. Individual tree impacts of winter moth defoliation in New England are currently unknown. Using dendroecological techniques, this study related annual radial growth of individual host (Quercus spp. and Acer spp.) trees to detailed defoliation estimates. Winter moth defoliation was associated with up to a 47% reduction in annual radial growth of Quercus trees. Latewood production of Quercus was reduced by up to 67% in the same year as defoliation, while earlywood production was reduced by up to 24% in the year following defoliation. Winter moth defoliation was not a strong predictor of radial growth in Acer species. This study is the first to document impacts of novel invasions of winter moth into New England. PMID:26462685

Iowa's oldest oaks. [Quercus alba

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

Duvick, D.N.; Blasing, T.J.

1983-01-01

Tree-ring analysis revealed 33 living white oaks (Quercus alba) in Iowa that began growing before 1700. Core of wood 4 mm in diameter, each extracted from a radius of a tree trunk were analyzed. The oldest white oak, found in northeastern Warren County, began growing about 1570 and is thus over 410 years old. A chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) was also found which was more than 300 years old. Ring widths from the white oaks are well correlated with total precipitation for the twelve months preceding completion of ring formation in July. Reconstructions of annual (August-July) precipitation for 1680-1979, basedmore » on the tree rings, indicate that the driest annual period in Iowa was August 1799-July 1800, and that the driest decade began about 1816. Climatic information of this kind, pre-dating written weather records, can be used to augment those records and provide a longer baseline of information for use by climatologists and hydrologic planners.« less

Evidence of the photosynthetic origin of monoterpenes emitted by quercus ilex L. leaves by {sup 13}C labeling

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

Loreto, F.; Ciccioli, P.; Cecinato, A.

1996-04-01

The carbon of the four main monoterpenes emitted by Quercus ilex L. leaves was completely labeled with {sup 13}C after a 20-min feeding with 99% {sup 13}CO{sub 2}. This labeling time course is comparable with the labeling time course of isoprene, the terpenoid emitted by other Quercus species and synthesized in leaf chloroplasts. It is also comparable with that of phosphoglyceric acid. Our experiment therefore provides evidence that monoterpenes emitted by Q. ilex are formed photosynthesis intermediates and may share the same synthetic pathway with isoprene. By analyzing the rate and the distribution of labeling in the different fragments, wemore » looked for evidence of differential carbon labeling in the {alpha}-pinene emitted. However, the labeling pattern was quite uniform in the different fragments, suggesting that the carbon skeleton of the emitted monoterpenes comes from a unique carbon source. 16 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.« less

Apoplastic and symplastic phloem loading in Quercus robur and Fraxinus excelsior

PubMed Central

Lohaus, Gertrud

2014-01-01

Whereas most of the research on phloem loading is performed on herbaceous plants, less is known about phloem loading strategies in trees. In this study, the phloem loading mechanisms of Quercus robur and Fraxinus excelsior were analysed. The following features were examined: the minor vein structure, the sugar concentrations in phloem sap by the laser–aphid–stylet technique, the distribution of photoassimilates in the mesophyll cells by non-aqueous fractionation, gradients of sugar concentrations and osmotic pressure, and the expression of sucrose transporters. The minor vein configurations of Q. robur and F. excelsior belong to the open type. Quercus robur contained companion cells in the minor veins whereas F. excelsior showed intermediary cells in addition to ordinary companion cells. The main carbon transport form in Q. robur was sucrose (~1M). In F. excelsior high amounts of raffinose and stachyose were also transported. However, in both tree species, the osmolality of phloem sap was higher than the osmolality of the mesophyll cells. The concentration gradients between phloem sap and the cytoplasm of mesophyll cells for sucrose were 16-fold and 14-fold for Q. robur and F. excelsior, respectively. Independent of the type of translocated sugars, sucrose transporter cDNAs were cloned from both species. The results indicate that phloem loading of sucrose and other metabolites must involve active loading steps in both tree species. Quercus robur seems to be an apoplastic phloem loader while F. excelsior shows indications of being a symplastic or mixed symplastic–apoplastic phloem loader. PMID:24591056

Dissecting contributions of prefrontal cortex and fusiform face area to face working memory.

PubMed

Druzgal, T Jason; D'Esposito, Mark

2003-08-15

Interactions between prefrontal cortex (PFC) and stimulus-specific visual cortical association areas are hypothesized to mediate visual working memory in behaving monkeys. To clarify the roles for homologous regions in humans, event-related fMRI was used to assess neural activity in PFC and fusiform face area (FFA) of subjects performing a delay-recognition task for faces. In both PFC and FFA, activity increased parametrically with memory load during encoding and maintenance of face stimuli, despite quantitative differences in the magnitude of activation. Moreover, timing differences in PFC and FFA activation during memory encoding and retrieval implied a context dependence in the flow of neural information. These results support existing neurophysiological models of visual working memory developed in the nonhuman primate.

Antibacterial activity of methanol extract of Ruta chalapensis (L), Quercus infectoria (Oliver) and Canthium parviflorum (Lam)

PubMed Central

Priya, P. Sathiya; Sasikumar, J.M.; Gowsigan, G.

2009-01-01

The present study aimed at evaluating the antibacterial activity of methanol extract of Ruta chalapensis, L., (Rutaceae), Quercus infectoria Oliver., (Fagaceae) and Canthium parviflorum Lam., (Rubiaceae) against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella oxytocoa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis. The experiment was carried out using disc diffusion method. The results revealed that the methanol extract of aerial parts of Ruta chalepensis (L) presented the highest zone of inhibition against tested pathogens. Other plants showed significant zone of inhibition. PMID:22557348

Visual processing of words in a patient with visual form agnosia: a behavioural and fMRI study.

PubMed

Cavina-Pratesi, Cristiana; Large, Mary-Ellen; Milner, A David

2015-03-01

Patient D.F. has a profound and enduring visual form agnosia due to a carbon monoxide poisoning episode suffered in 1988. Her inability to distinguish simple geometric shapes or single alphanumeric characters can be attributed to a bilateral loss of cortical area LO, a loss that has been well established through structural and functional fMRI. Yet despite this severe perceptual deficit, D.F. is able to "guess" remarkably well the identity of whole words. This paradoxical finding, which we were able to replicate more than 20 years following her initial testing, raises the question as to whether D.F. has retained specialized brain circuitry for word recognition that is able to function to some degree without the benefit of inputs from area LO. We used fMRI to investigate this, and found regions in the left fusiform gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left middle temporal cortex that responded selectively to words. A group of healthy control subjects showed similar activations. The left fusiform activations appear to coincide with the area commonly named the visual word form area (VWFA) in studies of healthy individuals, and appear to be quite separate from the fusiform face area (FFA). We hypothesize that there is a route to this area that lies outside area LO, and which remains relatively unscathed in D.F. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acute pancreatitis complicating choledochal cysts in children.

PubMed

Muthucumaru, Mathievathaniy; Ljuhar, Damir; Panabokke, Gayathri; Paul, Eldho; Nataraja, Ramesh; Ferguson, Peter; Dagia, Charuta; Clarnette, Tom; King, Sebastian

2017-03-01

To analyse the characteristics of patients with choledochal cysts presenting with acute pancreatitis. Multicenter retrospective review of all paediatric patients (<18 years) with choledochal cysts managed over a 14-year period (2001-2014) at two tertiary paediatric surgical centres. Patient data were analysed for demographics, presentation, radiological classification of cyst type (Todani), operative interventions, complications and long-term follow-up. A total of 49 patients with choledochal cysts were identified with 15 (31%) being Type I fusiform, 18 (37%) Type I cystic and 16 (32%) Type IV-A. Seventeen (35%) patients presented with acute pancreatitis, one having had an ante-natally diagnosed choledochal cyst. Patients presenting with pancreatitis were older when compared to the non-pancreatitis group (5.1 vs. 1.2 years, P = 0.005). Nine out of 16 (53%) patients with Type IV-A cysts presented with pancreatitis compared to five (33%) of Type I fusiform and three (17%) of Type I cystic. There was however no statistically significant association between Todani types and the development of pancreatitis (Type I fusiform, P = 1.0; Type I cystic, P = 0.063; Type IV-A, P = 0.053). The rate of complications was similar in both groups. Pancreatitis was a common presentation in children with a choledochal cyst, however, there was no clear statistically significant association with Todani types and pancreatitis. © 2016 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Probabilistic atlases for face and biological motion perception: an analysis of their reliability and overlap.

PubMed

Engell, Andrew D; McCarthy, Gregory

2013-07-01

Neuroimaging research has identified several category-selective regions in visual cortex that respond most strongly when viewing an exemplar image from a preferred category, such as faces. Recent studies, however, have suggested a more complex pattern of activation that has been heretofore unrecognized, e.g., the presence of additional patches of activation to faces beyond the well-studied fusiform face area, and the activation of ostensible face selective regions by animate motion of non-biological forms. Here, we characterize the spatial pattern of brain activity evoked by viewing faces or biological motion in large fMRI samples (N>120). We create probabilistic atlases for both face and biological motion activation, and directly compare their spatial patterns of activation. Our findings support the suggestion that the fusiform face area is composed of at least two separable foci of activation. The face-evoked response in the fusiform and nearby ventral temporal cortex has good reliability across runs; however, we found surprisingly high variability in lateral brain regions by faces, and for all brain regions by biological motion, which had an overall much lower effect size. We found that faces and biological motion evoke substantially overlapping activation distributions in both ventral and lateral occipitotemporal cortices. The peaks of activation for these different categories within these overlapping regions were close but distinct. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Task-irrelevant fear enhances amygdala-FFG inhibition and decreases subsequent face processing.

PubMed

Schulte Holthausen, Barbara; Habel, Ute; Kellermann, Thilo; Schelenz, Patrick D; Schneider, Frank; Christopher Edgar, J; Turetsky, Bruce I; Regenbogen, Christina

2016-09-01

Facial threat is associated with changes in limbic activity as well as modifications in the cortical face-related N170. It remains unclear if task-irrelevant threat modulates the response to a subsequent facial stimulus, and whether the amygdala's role in early threat perception is independent and direct, or modulatory. In 19 participants, crowds of emotional faces were followed by target faces and a rating task while simultaneous EEG-fMRI were recorded. In addition to conventional analyses, fMRI-informed EEG analyses and fMRI dynamic causal modeling (DCM) were performed. Fearful crowds reduced EEG N170 target face amplitudes and increased responses in a fMRI network comprising insula, amygdala and inferior frontal cortex. Multimodal analyses showed that amygdala response was present ∼60 ms before the right fusiform gyrus-derived N170. DCM indicated inhibitory connections from amygdala to fusiform gyrus, strengthened when fearful crowds preceded a target face. Results demonstrated the suppressing influence of task-irrelevant fearful crowds on subsequent face processing. The amygdala may be sensitive to task-irrelevant fearful crowds and subsequently strengthen its inhibitory influence on face-responsive fusiform N170 generators. This provides spatiotemporal evidence for a feedback mechanism of the amygdala by narrowing attention in order to focus on potential threats. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of native and non-native Pinus and Quercus species in a common garden of 35-year-old trees.

PubMed

Trocha, Lidia K; Kałucka, Izabela; Stasińska, Małgorzata; Nowak, Witold; Dabert, Mirosława; Leski, Tomasz; Rudawska, Maria; Oleksyn, Jacek

2012-02-01

Non-native tree species have been widely planted or have become naturalized in most forested landscapes. It is not clear if native trees species collectively differ in ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) diversity and communities from that of non-native tree species. Alternatively, EMF species community similarity may be more determined by host plant phylogeny than by whether the plant is native or non-native. We examined these unknowns by comparing two genera, native and non-native Quercus robur and Quercus rubra and native and non-native Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra in a 35-year-old common garden in Poland. Using molecular and morphological approaches, we identified EMF species from ectomycorrhizal root tips and sporocarps collected in the monoculture tree plots. A total of 69 EMF species were found, with 38 species collected only as sporocarps, 18 only as ectomycorrhizas, and 13 both as ectomycorrhizas and sporocarps. The EMF species observed were all native and commonly associated with a Holarctic range in distribution. We found that native Q. robur had ca. 120% higher total EMF species richness than the non-native Q. rubra, while native P. sylvestris had ca. 25% lower total EMF species richness than non-native P. nigra. Thus, across genera, there was no evidence that native species have higher EMF species diversity than exotic species. In addition, we found a higher similarity in EMF communities between the two Pinus species than between the two Quercus species. These results support the naturalization of non-native trees by means of mutualistic associations with cosmopolitan and novel fungi.

Laboratory and field measurements of enantiomeric monoterpene emissions as a function of chemotype, light and temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, W.; Staudt, M.; Bourgeois, I.; Williams, J.

2013-10-01

Plants emit significant amounts of monoterpenes into the Earth's atmosphere where they react rapidly to form a multitude of gas phase species and particles. Many monoterpenes exist in mirror images forms or enantiomers. In this study the enantiomeric monoterpene profile for several representative plants (Quercus ilex L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., and Pinus halepensis Mill.) was investigated as a function of chemotype, light and temperature both in the laboratory and in the field. Analysis of enantiomeric monoterpenes from 19 Quercus ilex individuals from Southern France and Spain revealed four regiospecific chemotypes (genetically fixed emission patterns). In agreement with previous work, only Quercus ilex emissions increased strongly with light. However, for all three plant species no consistent enantiomeric variation was observed as a function of light, and the enantiomeric ratio of α-pinene was found vary by less than 20% from 100 and 1000 μmol m-2 s-1 PAR. The rate of monoterpene emission increased with temperature from all three plant species, but little variation in the enantiomeric distribution of α-pinene was observed with temperature. There was more enantiomeric variability between individuals of the same species than could be induced by either light or temperature. Field measurements of α-pinene enantiomer mixing ratios in the air taken at a Quercus ilex forest in Southern France, and several other previously reported field enantiomeric ratio diel cycle profiles are compared. All show smoothly varying diel cycles (some positive and some negative) even over changing wind directions. This is surprising in comparison with variations of enantiomeric emission patterns shown by individuals of the same species.

Extreme droughts affecting Mediterranean tree species' growth and water-use efficiency: the importance of timing.

PubMed

Forner, Alicia; Valladares, Fernando; Bonal, Damien; Granier, André; Grossiord, Charlotte; Aranda, Ismael

2018-03-15

It has been known for a long time that drought intensity is a critical variable in determining water stress of Mediterranean tree species. However, not as much attention has been paid to other drought characteristics, for example the timing of the dry periods. We investigated the impact of the timing and intensity of extreme droughts on growing season length, growth and water-use efficiency of three tree species, Pinus nigra ssp. Salzmannii J.F. Arnold, Quercus ilex ssp. ballota (Desf.) Samp. and Quercus faginea Lam. coexisting in a continental Mediterranean ecosystem. Over the study period (2009-13), intense droughts were observed at annual and seasonal scales, particularly during 2011 and 2012. In 2012, an atypically dry winter and spring was followed by an intense summer drought. Quercus faginea growth was affected more by drought timing than by drought intensity, probably because of its winter-deciduous leaf habit. Pinus nigra showed a lower decrease in secondary growth than observed in the two Quercus species in extremely dry years. Resilience to extreme droughts was different among species, with Q. faginea showing poorer recovery of growth after very dry years. The highest intra- and inter-annual plasticity in water-use efficiency was observed in P. nigra, which maintained a more water-saving strategy. Our results revealed that the timing of extreme drought events can affect tree function to a larger extent than drought intensity, especially in deciduous species. Legacy effects of drought over months and years significantly strengthened the impact of drought timing and intensity on tree function.

Fungus symbionts colonizing the galleries of the ambrosia beetle Platypus quercivorus.

PubMed

Endoh, Rikiya; Suzuki, Motofumi; Okada, Gen; Takeuchi, Yuko; Futai, Kazuyoshi

2011-07-01

Isolations were made to determine the fungal symbionts colonizing Platypus quercivorus beetle galleries of dead or dying Quercus laurifolia, Castanopsis cuspidata, Quercus serrata, Quercus crispula, and Quercus robur. For these studies, logs from oak wilt-killed trees were collected from Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Fungi were isolated from the: (1) entrances of beetle galleries, (2) vertical galleries, (3) lateral galleries, and (4) the larval cradle of P. quercivorus in each host tree. Among the fungus colonies which appeared on YM agar plates, 1,219 were isolated as the representative isolates for fungus species inhabiting in the galleries based on their cultural characteristics. The validity of the visual classification of the fungus colonies was checked and if necessary properly corrected using microsatellite-primed PCR fingerprints. The nucleotide sequence of the D1/D2 region of the large subunit nuclear rRNA gene detected 38 fungus species (104 strains) of which three species, i.e., Candida sp. 3, Candida kashinagacola (both yeasts), and the filamentous fungus Raffaelea quercivora were isolated from all the tree species. The two yeasts were most prevalent in the interior of galleries, regardless of host tree species, suggesting their close association with the beetle. A culture-independent method, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis was also used to characterize the fungus flora of beetle galleries. T-RFLP patterns showed that yeast species belonging to the genus Ambrosiozyma frequently occurred on the gallery walls along with the two Candida species. Ours is the first report showing the specific fungi inhabiting the galleries of a platypodid ambrosia beetle.

Contrasting patterns of historical colonization in white oaks (Quercus spp.) in California and Europe.

PubMed

Grivet, Delphine; Deguilloux, Marie-France; Petit, Remy J; Sork, Victoria L

2006-11-01

Phylogeography allows the inference of evolutionary processes that have shaped the current distribution of genealogical lineages across a landscape. In this perspective, comparative phylogeographical analyses are useful in detecting common historical patterns by either comparing different species within the same area within a continent or by comparing similar species in different areas. Here, we analyse one taxon (the white oak, genus Quercus, subgenus Quercus, section Quercus) that is widespread worldwide, and we evaluate its phylogeographical pattern on two different continents: western North America and Western Europe. The goals of the present study are: (i) to compare the chloroplast genetic diversity found in one California oak species vs. that found in the extensively studied European oak species (in France and the Iberian Peninsula); (ii) to contrast the geographical structure of haplotypes between these two taxa and test for a phylogeographical structure for the California species. For this purpose, we used the same six maternally inherited chloroplast microsatellite markers and a similar sampling strategy. The haplotype diversity within site as well as the differentiation among sites was alike in both taxa, but the Californian species has higher allelic richness with a greater number of haplotypes (39 vs. 11 in the European white oak complex). Furthermore, in California these 39 haplotypes are distributed locally in patches while in the European oaks haplotypes are distributed into lineages partitioned longitudinally. These contrasted patterns could indicate that gene movement in California oak populations have been more stable in response to past climatic and geological events, in contrast to their European counterparts.

Particulate Matter deposition on Quercus ilex leaves in an industrial city of central Italy.

PubMed

Sgrigna, G; Sæbø, A; Gawronski, S; Popek, R; Calfapietra, C

2015-02-01

A number of studies have focused on urban trees to understand their mitigation capacity of air pollution. In this study particulate matter (PM) deposition on Quercus ilex leaves was quantitatively analyzed in four districts of the City of Terni (Italy) for three periods of the year. Fine (between 0.2 and 2.5 μm) and Large (between 2.5 and 10 μm) PM fractions were analyzed. Mean PM deposition value on Quercus ilex leaves was 20.6 μg cm(-2). Variations in PM deposition correlated with distance to main roads and downwind position relatively to industrial area. Epicuticular waxes were measured and related to accumulated PM. For Fine PM deposited in waxes we observed a higher value (40% of total Fine PM) than Large PM (4% of total Large PM). Results from this study allow to increase our understanding about air pollution interactions with urban vegetation and could be hopefully taken into account when guidelines for local urban green management are realized. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of wind on daily airborne pollen counts in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

tareq Majeed, Husam; Periago, Cristina; Alarcón, Marta; De Linares, Concepción; Belmonte, Jordina

2016-04-01

The aim of this study is to analize the influence of wind (speed and direction) on the daily airborne pollen counts recorded in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula) of 21 pollen taxa recorded at 6 aerobiological stations: Barcelona, Bellaterra, Girona, Lleida Manresa, and Tarragona for the period 2004-2014. The taxa studied are Alnus, Betula, Castanea, Cupressaceae, Fagus, Fraxinus, Olea, Pinus, Platanus, total Quercus, Quercus deciduous type, Quercus evergreen type, Ulmus, Corylus, Pistacia, Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae, Plantago, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, and Urticaceae. The mean daily wind direction was divided into 8 sectors: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW. For each sector, the correlation between the daily pollen concentrations and wind speed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was computed and compared with the wind rose charts. The results showed that Tarragona was the station with more significant correlations followed by Bellaterra, Lleida and Manresa. On the other hand, Artemisia was the most correlated taxon with mainly negative values, and Fagus was the least. The W wind direction showed the largest number of significant correlations, mostly positive, while the N direction was the least and negatively correlated.

First Approach to the Analytical Characterization of
Barrel-Aged Grape Marc Distillates Using Phenolic Compounds and Colour Parameters

PubMed Central

Rodríguez-Solana, Raquel; Salgado, José Manuel; Domínguez, José Manuel

2014-01-01

Summary Phenolic compounds (benzoic and cinnamic acid derivatives) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with multiple wavelength detector (HPLC- -MWD) in grape marc distillates aged in Quercus petraea, Quercus robur and Quercus alba wooden barrels. In addition to colour indices and evaluable polyphenols, all samples were described by sensorial analysis. There were significant differences in the mean concentrations of the majority of phenolic compounds among the samples. Gallic and benzoic acids were the most abundant and samples aged in Q. robur from Galicia (NW of Spain) had the highest concentration of most of the determined phenols. Grape marc distillates aged in Q. robur obtained the highest values of all sensorial attributes, whereas samples aged in Q. petraea and Q. alba obtained similar scores. Principal component analysis accounted for 88.32% of total variance, showing a good separation of aged distillates in terms of phenolic compounds and colour characteristics, according to the species and origin of the oak wood used in the ageing process. PMID:27904312

Tree ring-based reconstruction of annual precipitation in the South-Central United State from 1750 to 1980. [Quercus stellata; Quercus alba

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

Blasing, T.J.; Stahle, D.W.; Duvick, D.N.

1988-01-01

A 231-year reconstruction of annual precipitation, from 1750 through 1980 A.D., was developed from 10 tree ring chronologies (9 post oak, Quercus stellata, and 1 white oak, Q. alba, series) in the south-central United States. Straight line regression was used to calibrate regionally averaged precipitation with ring width data, and the derived reconstruction was verified with independent climatic data and historical evidence. A variance trend in the tree ring data, which may have resulted from nonclimatic factors, was removed. The reconstructed precipitation series indicates that (1) a drought which appears to have been more severe than any in the instrumentalmore » record occurred about 1860 and (2) severe and prolonged droughts comparable to twentieth century events have occurred at roughly 15- to 25-years intervals throughout the past 231 years. It follows that serious droughts in the south-central United States could be expected to recur even in the absence of projected CO/sub 2/-induced warming.« less

Distinct spatial frequency sensitivities for processing faces and emotional expressions.

PubMed

Vuilleumier, Patrik; Armony, Jorge L; Driver, Jon; Dolan, Raymond J

2003-06-01

High and low spatial frequency information in visual images is processed by distinct neural channels. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans, we show dissociable roles of such visual channels for processing faces and emotional fearful expressions. Neural responses in fusiform cortex, and effects of repeating the same face identity upon fusiform activity, were greater with intact or high-spatial-frequency face stimuli than with low-frequency faces, regardless of emotional expression. In contrast, amygdala responses to fearful expressions were greater for intact or low-frequency faces than for high-frequency faces. An activation of pulvinar and superior colliculus by fearful expressions occurred specifically with low-frequency faces, suggesting that these subcortical pathways may provide coarse fear-related inputs to the amygdala.

Thresholds of Disturbance: Land Management Effects on Vegetation and Nitrogen Dynamics

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-31

Legume 3 18 0.0435 Rhus aromatica Shrub 2 35 0.0002 Aesculus pavia Tree 0 10 0.0198 Celtis sp. Tree 1 30 0.0002 Crataegus sp. Tree 13 62 0.0001...Shrub 37 63 0.0001 Aesculus pavia Tree 0 12 0.0043 Cercis canadensis Tree 0 13 0.0021 Crataegus sp. Tree 22 49 0.0222 Fraxinus americana Tree 0 11... Aesculus pavia Tree 0 15 0.0126 Ilex opaca Tree 0 27 0.0003 Liquidambar styraciflua Tree 18 75 0.0001 Quercus falcata Tree 9 79 0.0001 Quercus

Laboratory and field measurements of enantiomeric monoterpene emissions as a function of chemotype, light and temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, W.; Staudt, M.; Bourgeois, I.; Williams, J.

2014-03-01

Plants emit significant amounts of monoterpenes into the earth's atmosphere, where they react rapidly to form a multitude of gas phase species and particles. Many monoterpenes exist in mirror-image forms or enantiomers. In this study the enantiomeric monoterpene profile for several representative plants (Quercus ilex L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., and Pinus halepensis Mill.) was investigated as a function of chemotype, light and temperature both in the laboratory and in the field. Analysis of enantiomeric monoterpenes from 19 Quercus ilex individuals from Southern France and Spain revealed four regiospecific chemotypes (genetically fixed emission patterns). In agreement with previous work, only Quercus ilex emissions increased strongly with light. However, for all three plant species no consistent enantiomeric variation was observed as a function of light, and the enantiomeric ratio of α-pinene was found to vary by less than 20% from 100 and 1000 μmol m-2 s-1 PAR (photosynthetically active radiation). The rate of monoterpene emission increased with temperature from all three plant species, but little variation in the enantiomeric distribution of α-pinene was observed with temperature. There was more enantiomeric variability between individuals of the same species than could be induced by either light or temperature. Field measurements of α-pinene enantiomer mixing ratios in the air, taken at a Quercus ilex forest in Southern France, and several other previously reported field enantiomeric ratio diel cycle profiles are compared. All show smoothly varying diel cycles (some positive and some negative) even over changing wind directions. This is surprising in comparison with variations of enantiomeric emission patterns shown by individuals of the same species.

Shoot Development and Extension of Quercus serrata Saplings in Response to Insect Damage and Nutrient Conditions

PubMed Central

MIZUMACHI, ERI; MORI, AKIRA; OSAWA, NAOYA; AKIYAMA, REIKO; TOKUCHI, NAOKO

2006-01-01

• Background and Aims Plants have the ability to compensate for damage caused by herbivores. This is important to plant growth, because a plant cannot always avoid damage, even if it has developed defence mechanisms against herbivores. In previous work, we elucidated the herbivory-induced compensatory response of Quercus (at both the individual shoot and whole sapling levels) in both low- and high-nutrient conditions throughout one growing season. In this study, we determine how the compensatory growth of Quercus serrata saplings is achieved at different nutrient levels. • Methods Quercus serrata saplings were grown under controlled conditions. Length, number of leaves and percentage of leaf area lost on all extension units (EUs) were measured. • Key Results Both the probability of flushing and the length of subsequent EUs significantly increased with an increase in the length of the parent EU. The probability of flushing increased with an increase in leaf damage of the parent EU, but the length of subsequent EUs decreased. This indicates that EU growth is fundamentally regulated at the individual EU level. The probabilities of a second and third flush were significantly higher in plants in high-nutrient soil than those in low-nutrient soil. The subsequent EUs of damaged saplings were also significantly longer at high-nutrient conditions. • Conclusions An increase in the probability of flushes in response to herbivore damage is important for damaged saplings to produce new EUs; further, shortening the length of EUs helps to effectively reproduce foliage lost by herbivory. The probability of flushing also varied according to soil nutrient levels, suggesting that the compensatory growth of individual EUs in response to local damage levels is affected by the nutrients available to the whole sapling. PMID:16709576

Two cases of cerebral aneurysms in HIV+ children.

PubMed

Fulmer, B B; Dillard, S C; Musulman, E M; Palmer, C A; Oakes, J

1998-01-01

Two cases of fusiform cerebral aneurysms in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive children are presented. To our knowledge, only 9 patients with this association have been reported. One of our patients represents the first report of a patient with an aneurysm associated with varicella-zoster vasculitis. One patient presented with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, Hunt-Hess grade IV, and posed difficult surgical management. The other patient suffered a cerebral infarct with a resulting hemiparesis. The first patient had a ventriculostomy placed, initially improved, and subsequently died from rebleeding. The second patient improved with medical management. AIDS arteriopathy, and specifically fusiform aneurysms, are being increasingly reported. The various presentations of this surgically challenging entity in light of other AIDS-related syndromes pose difficult management decisions. On occasion, the intracranial aneurysm may be the initial form of presentation as was present in our first patient.

Elliptical excisions: variations and the eccentric parallelogram.

PubMed

Goldberg, Leonard H; Alam, Murad

2004-02-01

The elliptical (fusiform) excision is a basic tool of cutaneous surgery. To assess the design, functionality, ease of construction, and aesthetic outcomes of the ellipse. A systematic review of elliptical designs and their site-specific benefits and limitations. In particular, we consider the (1). context of prevailing relaxed skin tension lines and tissue laxity; and (2). removal of the smallest possible amount of tissue around the lesion and in the "dog-ears." Attention is focused on intuitive methods that can be reproducibly planned and executed. Elliptical variations are easily designed and can be adapted to many situations. The eccentric parallelogram excision is offered as a new technique that minimizes notching and focal tension in the center of an elliptical closure. Conclusion The elliptical (fusiform) excision is an efficient, elegant, and versatile technique that will remain a mainstay of the cutaneous surgical armamentarium.

The neuroanatomy of grapheme-color synesthesia.

PubMed

Jäncke, Lutz; Beeli, Gian; Eulig, Cornelia; Hänggi, Jürgen

2009-03-01

Grapheme-color synesthetes perceive particular colors when seeing a letter, word or number (grapheme). Functional neuroimaging studies have provided some evidence in favor of a neural basis for this type of synesthesia. Most of these studies have reported extra activations in the fusiform gyrus, which is known to be involved in color, letter and word processing. The present study examined different neuroanatomical features (i.e. cortical thickness, cortical volume and cortical surface area) in a sample of 48 subjects (24 grapheme-color synesthetes and 24 control subjects), and revealed increased cortical thickness, volume and surface area in the right and left fusiform gyrus and in adjacent regions, such as the lingual gyrus and the calcarine cortex, in grapheme-color synesthetes. In addition, we set out to analyze structural connectivity based on fractional anisotropy (FA) measurements in a subsample of 28 subjects (14 synesthetes and 14 control subjects). In contrast to the findings of a recent neuroanatomical study using modern diffusion tensor imaging measurement techniques, we did not detect any statistically significant difference in FA between synesthetes and non-synesthetes in the fusiform gyri. Our study thus supports the hypothesis of local anatomical differences in cortical characteristics in the vicinity of the V4 complex. The observed altered brain anatomy in grapheme-color synesthetes might be the anatomical basis for this particular form of synesthesia but it is also possible that the detected effects are a consequence (rather than the primary cause) of the life-long experience of grapheme-color synesthesia.

Effects of a common variant in the CD38 gene on social processing in an oxytocin challenge study: possible links to autism.

PubMed

Sauer, Carina; Montag, Christian; Wörner, Christiane; Kirsch, Peter; Reuter, Martin

2012-05-01

The intranasal application of oxytocin (OT) has been shown to influence behavioral and neural correlates of social processing. These effects are probably mediated by genetic variations within the OT system. One potential candidate could be the CD38 gene, which codes for a transmembrane protein engaged in OT secretion processes. A common variation in this gene (rs3796863) was recently found to be associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Using an imaging genetics approach, we studied differential effects of an intranasal OT application on neural processing of social stimuli in 55 healthy young men depending on their CD38 gene variant in a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design. Genotype had a significant influence on both behavioral and neuronal measures of social processing. Homozygotic risk allele carriers showed slower reaction times (RT) and higher activation of left fusiform gyrus during visual processing of social stimuli. Under OT activation differences between genotypes were more evident (though not statistically significantly increased) and RT were accelerated in homozygotic risk allele carriers. According to our data, rs3796863 mainly influences fusiform gyrus activation, an area which has been widely discussed in ASD research. OT seems to modulate this effect by enhancing activation differences between allele groups, which suggests an interaction between genetic makeup and OT availability on fusiform gyrus activation. These results support recent approaches to apply OT as a pharmacological treatment of ASD symptoms.

Functional Characterization and Differential Coactivation Patterns of Two Cytoarchitectonic Visual Areas on the Human Posterior Fusiform Gyrus

PubMed Central

Caspers, Julian; Zilles, Karl; Amunts, Katrin; Laird, Angela R.; Fox, Peter T.; Eickhoff, Simon B.

2016-01-01

The ventral stream of the human extrastriate visual cortex shows a considerable functional heterogeneity from early visual processing (posterior) to higher, domain-specific processing (anterior). The fusiform gyrus hosts several of those “high-level” functional areas. We recently found a subdivision of the posterior fusiform gyrus on the microstructural level, that is, two distinct cytoarchitectonic areas, FG1 and FG2 (Caspers et al., Brain Structure & Function, 2013). To gain a first insight in the function of these two areas, here we studied their behavioral involvement and coactivation patterns by means of meta-analytic connectivity modeling based on the BrainMap database (www.brainmap.org), using probabilistic maps of these areas as seed regions. The coactivation patterns of the areas support the concept of a common involvement in a core network subserving different cognitive tasks, that is, object recognition, visual language perception, or visual attention. In addition, the analysis supports the previous cytoarchitectonic parcellation, indicating that FG1 appears as a transitional area between early and higher visual cortex and FG2 as a higher-order one. The latter area is furthermore lateralized, as it shows strong relations to the visual language processing system in the left hemisphere, while its right side is stronger associated with face selective regions. These findings indicate that functional lateralization of area FG2 relies on a different pattern of connectivity rather than side-specific cytoarchitectonic features. PMID:24038902

Modulation of fusiform cortex activity by cholinesterase inhibition predicts effects on subsequent memory.

PubMed

Bentley, P; Driver, J; Dolan, R J

2009-09-01

Cholinergic influences on memory are likely to be expressed at several processing stages, including via well-recognized effects of acetylcholine on stimulus processing during encoding. Since previous studies have shown that cholinesterase inhibition enhances visual extrastriate cortex activity during stimulus encoding, especially under attention-demanding tasks, we tested whether this effect correlates with improved subsequent memory. In a within-subject physostigmine versus placebo design, we measured brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while healthy and mild Alzheimer's disease subjects performed superficial and deep encoding tasks on face (and building) visual stimuli. We explored regions in which physostigmine modulation of face-selective neural responses correlated with physostigmine effects on subsequent recognition performance. In healthy subjects physostigmine led to enhanced later recognition for deep- versus superficially-encoded faces, which correlated across subjects with a physostigmine-induced enhancement of face-selective responses in right fusiform cortex during deep- versus superficial-encoding tasks. In contrast, the Alzheimer's disease group showed neither a depth of processing effect nor restoration of this with physostigmine. Instead, patients showed a task-independent improvement in confident memory with physostigmine, an effect that correlated with enhancements in face-selective (but task-independent) responses in bilateral fusiform cortices. Our results indicate that one mechanism by which cholinesterase inhibitors can improve memory is by enhancing extrastriate cortex stimulus selectivity at encoding, in a manner that for healthy people but not in Alzheimer's disease is dependent upon depth of processing.

Holistic Face Categorization in Higher Order Visual Areas of the Normal and Prosopagnosic Brain: Toward a Non-Hierarchical View of Face Perception

PubMed Central

Rossion, Bruno; Dricot, Laurence; Goebel, Rainer; Busigny, Thomas

2011-01-01

How a visual stimulus is initially categorized as a face in a network of human brain areas remains largely unclear. Hierarchical neuro-computational models of face perception assume that the visual stimulus is first decomposed in local parts in lower order visual areas. These parts would then be combined into a global representation in higher order face-sensitive areas of the occipito-temporal cortex. Here we tested this view in fMRI with visual stimuli that are categorized as faces based on their global configuration rather than their local parts (two-tones Mooney figures and Arcimboldo's facelike paintings). Compared to the same inverted visual stimuli that are not categorized as faces, these stimuli activated the right middle fusiform gyrus (“Fusiform face area”) and superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), with no significant activation in the posteriorly located inferior occipital gyrus (i.e., no “occipital face area”). This observation is strengthened by behavioral and neural evidence for normal face categorization of these stimuli in a brain-damaged prosopagnosic patient whose intact right middle fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus are devoid of any potential face-sensitive inputs from the lesioned right inferior occipital cortex. Together, these observations indicate that face-preferential activation may emerge in higher order visual areas of the right hemisphere without any face-preferential inputs from lower order visual areas, supporting a non-hierarchical view of face perception in the visual cortex. PMID:21267432

Emotional face processing in pediatric bipolar disorder: evidence for functional impairments in the fusiform gyrus.

PubMed

Perlman, Susan B; Fournier, Jay C; Bebko, Genna; Bertocci, Michele A; Hinze, Amanda K; Bonar, Lisa; Almeida, Jorge R C; Versace, Amelia; Schirda, Claudiu; Travis, Michael; Gill, Mary Kay; Demeter, Christine; Diwadkar, Vaibhav A; Sunshine, Jeffrey L; Holland, Scott K; Kowatch, Robert A; Birmaher, Boris; Axelson, David; Horwitz, Sarah M; Arnold, L Eugene; Fristad, Mary A; Youngstrom, Eric A; Findling, Robert L; Phillips, Mary L

2013-12-01

Pediatric bipolar disorder involves poor social functioning, but the neural mechanisms underlying these deficits are not well understood. Previous neuroimaging studies have found deficits in emotional face processing localized to emotional brain regions. However, few studies have examined dysfunction in other regions of the face processing circuit. This study assessed hypoactivation in key face processing regions of the brain in pediatric bipolar disorder. Youth with a bipolar spectrum diagnosis (n = 20) were matched to a nonbipolar clinical group (n = 20), with similar demographics and comorbid diagnoses, and a healthy control group (n = 20). Youth participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning which employed a task-irrelevant emotion processing design in which processing of facial emotions was not germane to task performance. Hypoactivation, isolated to the fusiform gyrus, was found when viewing animated, emerging facial expressions of happiness, sadness, fearfulness, and especially anger in pediatric bipolar participants relative to matched clinical and healthy control groups. The results of the study imply that differences exist in visual regions of the brain's face processing system and are not solely isolated to emotional brain regions such as the amygdala. Findings are discussed in relation to facial emotion recognition and fusiform gyrus deficits previously reported in the autism literature. Behavioral interventions targeting attention to facial stimuli might be explored as possible treatments for bipolar disorder in youth. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem studies at the Los Medanos Site, Eddy County, New Mexico. Volume III of III

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

Not Available

1982-03-01

A statistical analysis of Dr. W.C. Martin's (University of New Mexico) floristic data collected at the Los Medanos Study Area revealed a significant (95% confidence level) difference between 1978, 1979, and 1980. The following plant species showed significant differences between one or more years: Aristida sp.; Artemesia filifolia; Cenchrus insertus; Euphorbia sp.; Eriogonum sp.; Dithyrea wislenzenii; Hoffmanseggia sp.; Muhlenbergia porteri; Munroa squarrosa; Helianthus petiolaris; and Pectis angustifolium. Correlations among the 29 plant species and six soil characters analyzed for each year were not extremely high. In 1978, hectares 1, 10, 22, and 26 were distinct from each other and frommore » the rest of the hectares; at least three major habitat types were represented by the 31 hectares examined in 1978. During 1979, hectares were grouped into a large, homogeneous Quercus-Prosopis area around, and to the south and east of drill hole ERDA 9, and into generally more heterogeneous zones peripheral to the Quercus-Prosopis dominated area. For 1980, the eight hectares sampled showed some heterogeneity although all were from the Quercus-Prosopis dominated area immediately around drill hole ERDA 9.« less

Autumnal resorption and accretion of trace metals in gallery forest tree. [Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus muehlenbergii, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Celtis occidentalis, and Ulmus rubra

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

Killingbeck, K.T.

1985-02-01

Autumnal resorption and accretion of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and manganese (Mn) were measured in the foliage of five gallery forest trees species on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area. Presenescence and postabscission leaves from five trees each of Quercus macrocarpa, Q. muehlenbergii, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Celtis occidentalis, and Ulmus rubra, were sampled. Three species resorbed 19, 25, and 26%, respectively, of their presenescence foliar Zn, and one species resorbed 35% of its presenescence foliar Fe. This validates the prediction made by others that Zn and Fe are withdrawn from the senescing foliage of at least some deciduous species.more » Net accretions of Cu (43, 44, 69%), Fe (36, 40%), and Mn (19, 57%) occurred during the same period. The two oak species were responsible for most of the resorption, while the three non-oak species accounted for all of the significant accretions. Such well-defined differences in element conservation may influence interspecific competition by accentuating, or compensating for, species differences in element uptake ability and element use efficiency. Demand:availability ratios proved useful in predicting the likelihood that a given element would be conserved through resorption.« less

Resistance of Loblolly Pine Sources to Fusiform Rust in Field Progeny Tests

Treesearch

H.R. Powers; E.G. Kuhlman

1987-01-01

Results of concentrated basidiospore spray (CBS) inoculations correlated well with field infection. Generally, the CBS system correctly classified resistant and susceptible sources, but it classed seven sources with field resistance as susceptible.

Brain Responses to Dynamic Facial Expressions: A Normative Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Zinchenko, Oksana; Yaple, Zachary A; Arsalidou, Marie

2018-01-01

Identifying facial expressions is crucial for social interactions. Functional neuroimaging studies show that a set of brain areas, such as the fusiform gyrus and amygdala, become active when viewing emotional facial expressions. The majority of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies investigating face perception typically employ static images of faces. However, studies that use dynamic facial expressions (e.g., videos) are accumulating and suggest that a dynamic presentation may be more sensitive and ecologically valid for investigating faces. By using quantitative fMRI meta-analysis the present study examined concordance of brain regions associated with viewing dynamic facial expressions. We analyzed data from 216 participants that participated in 14 studies, which reported coordinates for 28 experiments. Our analysis revealed bilateral fusiform and middle temporal gyri, left amygdala, left declive of the cerebellum and the right inferior frontal gyrus. These regions are discussed in terms of their relation to models of face processing.

Fusiform gyrus face selectivity relates to individual differences in facial recognition ability.

PubMed

Furl, Nicholas; Garrido, Lúcia; Dolan, Raymond J; Driver, Jon; Duchaine, Bradley

2011-07-01

Regions of the occipital and temporal lobes, including a region in the fusiform gyrus (FG), have been proposed to constitute a "core" visual representation system for faces, in part because they show face selectivity and face repetition suppression. But recent fMRI studies of developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) raise questions about whether these measures relate to face processing skills. Although DPs manifest deficient face processing, most studies to date have not shown unequivocal reductions of functional responses in the proposed core regions. We scanned 15 DPs and 15 non-DP control participants with fMRI while employing factor analysis to derive behavioral components related to face identification or other processes. Repetition suppression specific to facial identities in FG or to expression in FG and STS did not show compelling relationships with face identification ability. However, we identified robust relationships between face selectivity and face identification ability in FG across our sample for several convergent measures, including voxel-wise statistical parametric mapping, peak face selectivity in individually defined "fusiform face areas" (FFAs), and anatomical extents (cluster sizes) of those FFAs. None of these measures showed associations with behavioral expression or object recognition ability. As a group, DPs had reduced face-selective responses in bilateral FFA when compared with non-DPs. Individual DPs were also more likely than non-DPs to lack expected face-selective activity in core regions. These findings associate individual differences in face processing ability with selectivity in core face processing regions. This confirms that face selectivity can provide a valid marker for neural mechanisms that contribute to face identification ability.

A new low-profile visualized intraluminal support (LVIS) device, LVIS Blue: laboratory comparison between old and new LVIS.

PubMed

Chung, Joonho; Matsuda, Yoshikazu; Nelson, Jessica; Keigher, Kiffon; Lopes, Demetrius K

2018-01-01

Objectives The Low-profile Visualized Intraluminal Support (LVIS) device is a flexible intracranial stent. The first generation of this system had significant challenges in consistently providing good wall apposition and aneurysm neck coverage. A new modified LVIS, LVIS Blue (Blue), has been developed to address these issues. The purpose of this study is to report a laboratory comparison of wall apposition and aneurysm neck coverage between the original LVIS and Blue. Methods In bench-top experiments, we noted the visual appearance of the devices and evaluated changes in stent cell angles, neck coverage surface area (%), and stent cell crossing profile for microcatheters using a fusiform aneurysm model. Our in vitro experiments included evaluation of wall apposition and aneurysm neck coverage of the devices under direct radiographic visualization. Results Blue showed three definite different zones (a mid-zone, a high-density zone, and a transitional zone) and higher metal coverage in the straight fusiform aneurysm model compared to LVIS. Two commercially available microcatheters easily crossed the stent cell at the greater curvature for both devices. In in vitro experiments, Blue showed better wall apposition in tortuous arteries and achieved higher neck coverage in the bifurcation aneurysm compared to LVIS. Discussion Blue achieved better wall apposition in tortuous arteries and higher aneurysm neck coverage (higher metal-to-artery ratio) in bifurcation aneurysms than LVIS. Our results may provide informative physical properties of LVIS and Blue to be expected when those are used for stent-assisted coil embolization of a large-giant fusiform aneurysm or a bifurcation saccular aneurysm clinically.

Functional specialization and convergence in the occipito-temporal cortex supporting haptic and visual identification of human faces and body parts: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Kitada, Ryo; Johnsrude, Ingrid S; Kochiyama, Takanori; Lederman, Susan J

2009-10-01

Humans can recognize common objects by touch extremely well whenever vision is unavailable. Despite its importance to a thorough understanding of human object recognition, the neuroscientific study of this topic has been relatively neglected. To date, the few published studies have addressed the haptic recognition of nonbiological objects. We now focus on haptic recognition of the human body, a particularly salient object category for touch. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate that regions of the occipito-temporal cortex are specialized for visual perception of faces (fusiform face area, FFA) and other body parts (extrastriate body area, EBA). Are the same category-sensitive regions activated when these components of the body are recognized haptically? Here, we use fMRI to compare brain organization for haptic and visual recognition of human body parts. Sixteen subjects identified exemplars of faces, hands, feet, and nonbiological control objects using vision and haptics separately. We identified two discrete regions within the fusiform gyrus (FFA and the haptic face region) that were each sensitive to both haptically and visually presented faces; however, these two regions differed significantly in their response patterns. Similarly, two regions within the lateral occipito-temporal area (EBA and the haptic body region) were each sensitive to body parts in both modalities, although the response patterns differed. Thus, although the fusiform gyrus and the lateral occipito-temporal cortex appear to exhibit modality-independent, category-sensitive activity, our results also indicate a degree of functional specialization related to sensory modality within these structures.

Developmental changes in brain regions involved in phonological and orthographic processing during spoken language processing

PubMed Central

Cone, Nadia E.; Burman, Douglas D.; Bitan, Tali; Bolger, Donald J.; Booth, James R.

2008-01-01

Developmental differences in brain activation of 9- to 15-year-old children were examined during an auditory rhyme decision task to spoken words using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). As a group, children showed activation in left superior/middle temporal gyri (BA 22, 21), right middle temporal gyrus (BA 21), dorsal (BA 45, pars opercularis) and ventral (BA 46, pars triangularis) aspects of left inferior frontal gyrus, and left fusiform gyrus (BA 37). There was a developmental increase in activation in left middle temporal gyrus (BA 22) across all lexical conditions, suggesting that automatic semantic processing increases with age regardless of task demands. Activation in left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus also showed developmental increases for the conflicting (e.g. PINT-MINT) compared to the non-conflicting (e.g. PRESS-LIST) non-rhyming conditions, indicating that this area becomes increasingly involved in strategic phonological processing in the face of conflicting orthographic and phonological representations. Left inferior temporal/fusiform gyrus (BA 37) activation was also greater for the conflicting (e.g. PINT-MINT) condition, and a developmental increase was found in the positive relationship between individuals' reaction time and activation in left lingual/fusiform gyrus (BA 18) in this condition, indicating an age-related increase in the association between longer reaction times and greater visual-orthographic processing in this conflicting condition. These results suggest that orthographic processing is automatically engaged by children in a task that does not require access to orthographic information for correct performance, especially when orthographic and phonological representations conflict, and especially for longer response latencies in older children. PMID:18413290

High-resolution imaging of expertise reveals reliable object selectivity in the fusiform face area related to perceptual performance

PubMed Central

McGugin, Rankin Williams; Gatenby, J. Christopher; Gore, John C.; Gauthier, Isabel

2012-01-01

The fusiform face area (FFA) is a region of human cortex that responds selectively to faces, but whether it supports a more general function relevant for perceptual expertise is debated. Although both faces and objects of expertise engage many brain areas, the FFA remains the focus of the strongest modular claims and the clearest predictions about expertise. Functional MRI studies at standard-resolution (SR-fMRI) have found responses in the FFA for nonface objects of expertise, but high-resolution fMRI (HR-fMRI) in the FFA [Grill-Spector K, et al. (2006) Nat Neurosci 9:1177–1185] and neurophysiology in face patches in the monkey brain [Tsao DY, et al. (2006) Science 311:670–674] reveal no reliable selectivity for objects. It is thus possible that FFA responses to objects with SR-fMRI are a result of spatial blurring of responses from nonface-selective areas, potentially driven by attention to objects of expertise. Using HR-fMRI in two experiments, we provide evidence of reliable responses to cars in the FFA that correlate with behavioral car expertise. Effects of expertise in the FFA for nonface objects cannot be attributed to spatial blurring beyond the scale at which modular claims have been made, and within the lateral fusiform gyrus, they are restricted to a small area (200 mm2 on the right and 50 mm2 on the left) centered on the peak of face selectivity. Experience with a category may be sufficient to explain the spatially clustered face selectivity observed in this region. PMID:23027970

Noun and knowledge retrieval for biological and non-biological entities following right occipitotemporal lesions.

PubMed

Bruffaerts, Rose; De Weer, An-Sofie; De Grauwe, Sophie; Thys, Miek; Dries, Eva; Thijs, Vincent; Sunaert, Stefan; Vandenbulcke, Mathieu; De Deyne, Simon; Storms, Gerrit; Vandenberghe, Rik

2014-09-01

We investigated the critical contribution of right ventral occipitotemporal cortex to knowledge of visual and functional-associative attributes of biological and non-biological entities and how this relates to category-specificity during confrontation naming. In a consecutive series of 7 patients with lesions confined to right ventral occipitotemporal cortex, we conducted an extensive assessment of oral generation of visual-sensory and functional-associative features in response to the names of biological and nonbiological entities. Subjects also performed a confrontation naming task for these categories. Our main novel finding related to a unique case with a small lesion confined to right medial fusiform gyrus who showed disproportionate naming impairment for nonbiological versus biological entities, specifically for tools. Generation of visual and functional-associative features was preserved for biological and non-biological entities. In two other cases, who had a relatively small posterior lesion restricted to primary visual and posterior fusiform cortex, retrieval of visual attributes was disproportionately impaired compared to functional-associative attributes, in particular for biological entities. However, these cases did not show a category-specific naming deficit. Two final cases with the largest lesions showed a classical dissociation between biological versus nonbiological entities during naming, with normal feature generation performance. This is the first lesion-based evidence of a critical contribution of the right medial fusiform cortex to tool naming. Second, dissociations along the dimension of attribute type during feature generation do not co-occur with category-specificity during naming in the current patient sample. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

fMRI-adaptation studies of viewpoint tuning in the extrastriate and fusiform body areas.

PubMed

Taylor, John C; Wiggett, Alison J; Downing, Paul E

2010-03-01

People are easily able to perceive the human body across different viewpoints, but the neural mechanisms underpinning this ability are currently unclear. In three experiments, we used functional MRI (fMRI) adaptation to study the view-invariance of representations in two cortical regions that have previously been shown to be sensitive to visual depictions of the human body--the extrastriate and fusiform body areas (EBA and FBA). The BOLD response to sequentially presented pairs of bodies was treated as an index of view invariance. Specifically, we compared trials in which the bodies in each image held identical poses (seen from different views) to trials containing different poses. EBA and FBA adapted to identical views of the same pose, and both showed a progressive rebound from adaptation as a function of the angular difference between views, up to approximately 30 degrees. However, these adaptation effects were eliminated when the body stimuli were followed by a pattern mask. Delaying the mask onset increased the response (but not the adaptation effect) in EBA, leaving FBA unaffected. We interpret these masking effects as evidence that view-dependent fMRI adaptation is driven by later waves of neuronal responses in the regions of interest. Finally, in a whole brain analysis, we identified an anterior region of the left inferior temporal sulcus (l-aITS) that responded linearly to stimulus rotation, but showed no selectivity for bodies. Our results show that body-selective cortical areas exhibit a similar degree of view-invariance as other object selective areas--such as the lateral occipitotemporal area (LO) and posterior fusiform gyrus (pFs).

The contribution of visual areas to speech comprehension: a PET study in cochlear implants patients and normal-hearing subjects.

PubMed

Giraud, Anne Lise; Truy, Eric

2002-01-01

Early visual cortex can be recruited by meaningful sounds in the absence of visual information. This occurs in particular in cochlear implant (CI) patients whose dependency on visual cues in speech comprehension is increased. Such cross-modal interaction mirrors the response of early auditory cortex to mouth movements (speech reading) and may reflect the natural expectancy of the visual counterpart of sounds, lip movements. Here we pursue the hypothesis that visual activations occur specifically in response to meaningful sounds. We performed PET in both CI patients and controls, while subjects listened either to their native language or to a completely unknown language. A recruitment of early visual cortex, the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and the left superior parietal cortex was observed in both groups. While no further activation occurred in the group of normal-hearing subjects, CI patients additionally recruited the right perirhinal/fusiform and mid-fusiform, the right temporo-occipito-parietal (TOP) junction and the left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPF, Broca's area). This study confirms a participation of visual cortical areas in semantic processing of speech sounds. Observation of early visual activation in normal-hearing subjects shows that auditory-to-visual cross-modal effects can also be recruited under natural hearing conditions. In cochlear implant patients, speech activates the mid-fusiform gyrus in the vicinity of the so-called face area. This suggests that specific cross-modal interaction involving advanced stages in the visual processing hierarchy develops after cochlear implantation and may be the correlate of increased usage of lip-reading.

Altered interhemispheric functional connectivity in patients with anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia: a resting-state fMRI study.

PubMed

Liang, Minglong; Xie, Bing; Yang, Hong; Yin, Xuntao; Wang, Hao; Yu, Longhua; He, Sheng; Wang, Jian

2017-05-01

Altered brain functional connectivity has been reported in patients with amblyopia by recent neuroimaging studies. However, relatively little is known about the alterations in interhemispheric functional connectivity in amblyopia. The present study aimed to investigate the functional connectivity patterns between homotopic regions across hemispheres in patients with anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia under resting state. Nineteen monocular anisometropic amblyopia (AA), 18 strabismic amblyopia (SA), and 20 normal-sight controls (NC) were enrolled in this study. After a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination, resting-state fMRI scanning was performed in all participants. The pattern of the interhemispheric functional connectivity was measured with the voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) approach. VMHC values differences within and between three groups were compared, and correlations between VMHC values and each the clinical variable were also analyzed. Altered VMHC was observed in AA and SA patients in lingual gyrus and fusiform gyrus compared with NC subjects. The altered VMHC of lingual gyrus showed a pattern of AA > SA > NC, while the altered VMHC of fusiform gyrus showed a pattern of AA > NC > SA. Moreover, the VMHC values of lingual gyrus were positively correlated with the stereoacuity both in AA and SA patients, and the VMHC values of fusiform gyrus were positively correlated with the amount of anisometropia just in AA patients. These findings suggest that interhemispheric functional coordination between several homotopic visual-related brain regions is impaired both in AA and SA patients under resting state and revealed the similarities and differences in interhemispheric functional connectivity between the anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia.

Neural correlates of text-based emoticons: a preliminary fMRI study.

PubMed

Kim, Ko Woon; Lee, Sang Won; Choi, Jeewook; Kim, Tae Min; Jeong, Bumseok

2016-08-01

Like nonverbal cues in oral interactions, text-based emoticons, which are textual portrayals of a writer's facial expressions, are commonly used in electronic device-mediated communication. Little is known, however, about how text-based emoticons are processed in the human brain. With this study, we investigated whether the text-based emoticons are processed as face expressions using fMRI. During fMRI scan, subjects were asked to respond by pressing a button, indicating whether text-based emoticons represented positive or negative emotions. Voxel-wise analyses were performed to compare the responses and contrasted with emotional versus scrambled emoticons and among emoticons with different emotions. To explore processing strategies for text-based emoticons, brain activity in the bilateral occipital and fusiform face areas were compared. In the voxel-wise analysis, both emotional and scrambled emoticons were processed mainly in the bilateral fusiform gyri, inferior division of lateral occipital cortex, inferior frontal gyri, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and parietal cortex. In a percent signal change analysis, the right occipital and fusiform face areas showed significantly higher activation than left ones. In comparisons among emoticons, sad one showed significant BOLD signal decrease in the dACC, the left AIC, the bilateral thalamus, and the precuneus as compared with other conditions. The results of this study imply that people recognize text-based emoticons as pictures representing face expressions. Even though text-based emoticons contain emotional meaning, they are not associated with the amygdala while previous studies using emotional stimuli documented amygdala activation.

24(S)-Saringosterol from edible marine seaweed Sargassum fusiforme is a novel selective LXRβ agonist.

PubMed

Chen, Zhen; Liu, Jiao; Fu, Zhifei; Ye, Cheng; Zhang, Renshuai; Song, Yiyun; Zhang, Ying; Li, Haihua; Ying, Hao; Liu, Hongbing

2014-07-02

Dietary phytosterols have been successfully used for lowering cholesterol levels, which correlates with the fact that some phytosterols are able to act as liver X receptor (LXR) agonists. Sargassum fusiforme is an edible marine seaweed well-known for its antiatherosclerotic function in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, seven phytosterols including fucosterol (1), saringosterol (2), 24-hydroperoxy-24-vinyl-cholesterol (3), 29-hydroperoxy-stigmasta-5,24(28)-dien-3β-ol (4), 24-methylene-cholesterol (5), 24-keto-cholesterol (6), and 5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol (7) were purified and evaluated for their actions on LXR-mediated transcription using a reporter assay. Among these phytosterols, 2 was the most potent compound in stimulating the transcriptional activities of LXRα by (3.81±0.15)-fold and LXRβ by (14.40±1.10)-fold, respectively. Two epimers of 2, 24(S)-saringosterol (2a) and 24(R)-saringosterol (2b), were subsequently separated by semipreparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Interestingly, 2a was more potent than 2b in LXRβ-mediated transactivation ((3.50±0.17)-fold vs (1.63±0.12)-fold) compared with control. Consistently, 2a induced higher expression levels of LXR target genes including key players in reverse cholesterol transport in six cell lines. These data along with molecular modeling suggested that 2a acts as a selective LXRβ agonist and is a potent natural cholesterol-lowering agent. This study also demonstrated that phytosterols in S. fusiforme contributed to the well-known antiatherosclerotic function.

High-resolution imaging of expertise reveals reliable object selectivity in the fusiform face area related to perceptual performance.

PubMed

McGugin, Rankin Williams; Gatenby, J Christopher; Gore, John C; Gauthier, Isabel

2012-10-16

The fusiform face area (FFA) is a region of human cortex that responds selectively to faces, but whether it supports a more general function relevant for perceptual expertise is debated. Although both faces and objects of expertise engage many brain areas, the FFA remains the focus of the strongest modular claims and the clearest predictions about expertise. Functional MRI studies at standard-resolution (SR-fMRI) have found responses in the FFA for nonface objects of expertise, but high-resolution fMRI (HR-fMRI) in the FFA [Grill-Spector K, et al. (2006) Nat Neurosci 9:1177-1185] and neurophysiology in face patches in the monkey brain [Tsao DY, et al. (2006) Science 311:670-674] reveal no reliable selectivity for objects. It is thus possible that FFA responses to objects with SR-fMRI are a result of spatial blurring of responses from nonface-selective areas, potentially driven by attention to objects of expertise. Using HR-fMRI in two experiments, we provide evidence of reliable responses to cars in the FFA that correlate with behavioral car expertise. Effects of expertise in the FFA for nonface objects cannot be attributed to spatial blurring beyond the scale at which modular claims have been made, and within the lateral fusiform gyrus, they are restricted to a small area (200 mm(2) on the right and 50 mm(2) on the left) centered on the peak of face selectivity. Experience with a category may be sufficient to explain the spatially clustered face selectivity observed in this region.

Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde emissions from residential wood combustion in Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerqueira, Mário; Gomes, Luís; Tarelho, Luís; Pio, Casimiro

2013-06-01

A series of experiments were conducted to characterize formaldehyde and acetaldehyde emissions from residential combustion of common wood species growing in Portugal. Five types of wood were investigated: maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), cork oak (Quercus suber), holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia) and pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica). Laboratory experiments were performed with a typical wood stove used for domestic heating in Portugal and operating under realistic home conditions. Aldehydes were sampled from diluted combustion flue gas using silica cartridges coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. The average formaldehyde to acetaldehyde concentration ratio (molar basis) in the stove flue gas was in the range of 2.1-2.9. Among the tested wood types, pyrenean oak produced the highest emissions for both formaldehyde and acetaldehyde: 1772 ± 649 and 1110 ± 454 mg kg-1 biomass burned (dry basis), respectively. By contrast, maritime pine produced the lowest emissions: 653 ± 151 and 371 ± 162 mg kg-1 biomass (dry basis) burned, respectively. Aldehydes were sampled separately during distinct periods of the holm oak wood combustion cycles. Significant variations in the flue gas concentrations were found, with higher values measured during the devolatilization stage than in the flaming and smoldering stages.

Positively selected amino acid replacements within the RuBisCO enzyme of oak trees are associated with ecological adaptations.

PubMed

Hermida-Carrera, Carmen; Fares, Mario A; Fernández, Ángel; Gil-Pelegrín, Eustaquio; Kapralov, Maxim V; Mir, Arnau; Molins, Arántzazu; Peguero-Pina, José Javier; Rocha, Jairo; Sancho-Knapik, Domingo; Galmés, Jeroni

2017-01-01

Phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood (PAML) has become the standard approach to study positive selection at the molecular level, but other methods may provide complementary ways to identify amino acid replacements associated with particular conditions. Here, we compare results of the decision tree (DT) model method with ones of PAML using the key photosynthetic enzyme RuBisCO as a model system to study molecular adaptation to particular ecological conditions in oaks (Quercus). We sequenced the chloroplast rbcL gene encoding RuBisCO large subunit in 158 Quercus species, covering about a third of the global genus diversity. It has been hypothesized that RuBisCO has evolved differentially depending on the environmental conditions and leaf traits governing internal gas diffusion patterns. Here, we show, using PAML, that amino acid replacements at the residue positions 95, 145, 251, 262 and 328 of the RuBisCO large subunit have been the subject of positive selection along particular Quercus lineages associated with the leaf traits and climate characteristics. In parallel, the DT model identified amino acid replacements at sites 95, 219, 262 and 328 being associated with the leaf traits and climate characteristics, exhibiting partial overlap with the results obtained using PAML.

Positively selected amino acid replacements within the RuBisCO enzyme of oak trees are associated with ecological adaptations

PubMed Central

Hermida-Carrera, Carmen; Fares, Mario A.; Fernández, Ángel; Gil-Pelegrín, Eustaquio; Kapralov, Maxim V.; Mir, Arnau; Molins, Arántzazu; Peguero-Pina, José Javier; Rocha, Jairo; Sancho-Knapik, Domingo

2017-01-01

Phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood (PAML) has become the standard approach to study positive selection at the molecular level, but other methods may provide complementary ways to identify amino acid replacements associated with particular conditions. Here, we compare results of the decision tree (DT) model method with ones of PAML using the key photosynthetic enzyme RuBisCO as a model system to study molecular adaptation to particular ecological conditions in oaks (Quercus). We sequenced the chloroplast rbcL gene encoding RuBisCO large subunit in 158 Quercus species, covering about a third of the global genus diversity. It has been hypothesized that RuBisCO has evolved differentially depending on the environmental conditions and leaf traits governing internal gas diffusion patterns. Here, we show, using PAML, that amino acid replacements at the residue positions 95, 145, 251, 262 and 328 of the RuBisCO large subunit have been the subject of positive selection along particular Quercus lineages associated with the leaf traits and climate characteristics. In parallel, the DT model identified amino acid replacements at sites 95, 219, 262 and 328 being associated with the leaf traits and climate characteristics, exhibiting partial overlap with the results obtained using PAML. PMID:28859145

Vegetation, fire, climate and human disturbance history in the southwestern Mediterranean area during the late Holocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez-Moreno, Gonzalo; García-Alix, Antonio; Hernández-Corbalán, María Dolores; Anderson, R. Scott; Delgado-Huertas, Antonio

2013-03-01

Detailed pollen, charcoal, isotope and magnetic susceptibility data from an alpine lake sediment core from Sierra Nevada, southern Spain record changes in vegetation, fire history and lake sedimentation since ca. 4100 cal yr BP. The proxies studied record an arid period from ca. 3800 to 3100 cal yr BP characterized by more xerophytic vegetation and lower lake levels. A humid period is recorded between ca. 3100 and 1850 cal yr BP, which occurred in two steps: (1) an increase in evergreen Quercus between 3100 and 2500 cal yr BP, indicating milder conditions than previously and (2) an increase in deciduous Quercus and higher lake levels, between ca. 2500 and 1850 cal yr BP, indicating a further increase in humidity and reduction in seasonal contrast. Humid maxima occurred during the Roman Humid Period, previously identified in other studies in the Mediterranean region. Intensified fire activity at this time could be related to an increase in fuel load and/or in human disturbance. An arid period subsequently occurred between 1850 and 650 cal yr BP, though a decrease in Quercus and an increase in xerophytes. The alternation of persistent North Atlantic Oscillation modes probably played an important role in controlling these humid-arid cycles.

In vitro and in vivo assessment of anti-hyperglycemic and antioxidant effects of Oak leaves (Quercus convallata and Quercus arizonica) infusions and fermented beverages.

PubMed

Gamboa-Gómez, Claudia I; Simental-Mendía, Luis E; González-Laredo, Rubén F; Alcantar-Orozco, Esteban J; Monserrat-Juarez, Victor H; Ramírez-España, Julio C; Gallegos-Infante, Jose Alberto; Moreno-Jiménez, Martha R; Rocha-Guzmán, Nuria E

2017-12-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-hyperglycemic and antioxidant effects of oak leaves infusions and fermented beverages from Quercus convallata and Q. arizonica in vitro and in vivo. Female C57BL/6 mice fed with high saturated fat and fructose diet-induced obesity were treated with oak leaves beverages (200 μL/per day equivalent to 15mg of lyophilized sample/Kg of body weight for infusions and 31mg of lyophilized sample/Kg of body weight for fermented beverages) for 3months and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Blood plasma was obtained for determination of glucose, lipid profile, and oxidative stress markers (ABTS, nitric oxide, and ORAC assays). Insulin resistance was estimated using the product of triglycerides and glucose (TyG). Oak leaves infusions and fermented beverages exhibited exerted inhibition of α-amylase (8-15% and 5-9%, respectively) and α-glucosidase (98% and 99%, respectively) enzymes. After OGTT, the groups treated with either oak leaves infusions or fermented beverages showed lower glucose levels compared with the obesity control group (18%) and a similar glucose tolerance to healthy control group. On long-term evaluation, intervention groups showed a significant reduction in fasting glucose concentrations (41-50% for oak leaves infusions and 52-66% for fermented beverages) and TyG index (4.2-4.6% for oak leaves infusions and 5.9-7.5% for fermented beverages) compared with the obese control group. Oak leaves infusions and fermented beverages had antioxidant potential in vitro and scavenging activity for radicals such as peroxyl and peroxynitrite anions. Our results suggest anti-hyperglycemic and antioxidant effects of beverages prepared with leaves of Quercus species in vitro and in vivo. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

soil carbon pools within oak forest is endangered by global climate change in central mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Oliva, Felipe; Merino, Agustín; González-Rodriguez, Antonio; Chávez-Vergara, Bruno; Tapia-Torres, Yunuen; Oyama, Ken

2016-04-01

Forest soil represents the main C pool in terrestrial ecosystems. In particular, temperate forest ecosystems play an important role in the C budget among tropical countries, such as Mexico. For example, the temperate forest ecosystem contains higher C contents on average (295 Mg C ha-1) than the soil C associated with other ecosystems in Mexico (between 56 to 287 Mg C ha-1). At a regional scale, oak forest has the highest C content (460 Mg C ha-1) among the forest ecosystem in Michoacán State at Central Mexico. At the local scale, the soil C content is strongly affected by the composition of organic matter produced by the plant species. The oak species are very diverse in Mexico, distributed within two sections: Quercus sensu stricto and Lobatae. The oak species from Quercus s.s. section produced litterfall with lower concentrations of recalcitrant and thermostable compounds than oak species from Lobatae section, therefore the soil under the former species had higher microbial activity and nutrient availability than the soil under the later species. However, the forest fragment with higher amount of oak species from Quercus s.s. section increases the amount of soil C contents. Unfortunately, Quercus species distribution models for the central western region of Mexico predict a decrease of distribution area of the majority of oak species by the year 2080, as a consequence of higher temperatures and lower precipitation expected under climate change scenarios. Additionally to these scenarios, the remnant oak forest fragments suffer strong degradation due to uncontrolled wood extraction and deforestation. For this reason, the conservation of oak forest fragments is a priority to mitigate the greenhouse gases emission to the atmosphere. In order to enhance the protection of these forest fragments it is required that the society identify the ecosystem services that are provided by these forest fragments.

Relationship between the Decomposition Process of Coarse Woody Debris and Fungal Community Structure as Detected by High-Throughput Sequencing in a Deciduous Broad-Leaved Forest in Japan

PubMed Central

Yamashita, Satoshi; Masuya, Hayato; Abe, Shin; Masaki, Takashi; Okabe, Kimiko

2015-01-01

We examined the relationship between the community structure of wood-decaying fungi, detected by high-throughput sequencing, and the decomposition rate using 13 years of data from a forest dynamics plot. For molecular analysis and wood density measurements, drill dust samples were collected from logs and stumps of Fagus and Quercus in the plot. Regression using a negative exponential model between wood density and time since death revealed that the decomposition rate of Fagus was greater than that of Quercus. The residual between the expected value obtained from the regression curve and the observed wood density was used as a decomposition rate index. Principal component analysis showed that the fungal community compositions of both Fagus and Quercus changed with time since death. Principal component analysis axis scores were used as an index of fungal community composition. A structural equation model for each wood genus was used to assess the effect of fungal community structure traits on the decomposition rate and how the fungal community structure was determined by the traits of coarse woody debris. Results of the structural equation model suggested that the decomposition rate of Fagus was affected by two fungal community composition components: one that was affected by time since death and another that was not affected by the traits of coarse woody debris. In contrast, the decomposition rate of Quercus was not affected by coarse woody debris traits or fungal community structure. These findings suggest that, in the case of Fagus coarse woody debris, the fungal community structure is related to the decomposition process of its host substrate. Because fungal community structure is affected partly by the decay stage and wood density of its substrate, these factors influence each other. Further research on interactive effects is needed to improve our understanding of the relationship between fungal community structure and the woody debris decomposition process. PMID:26110605

A Guide to Southern Pine Seed Sources

Treesearch

Clark W. Lantz; John F. Kraus

1987-01-01

The selection of an appropriate seed source is critical for successful southern pine plantations. Guides for selection of seed sources are presented for loblolly, slash, longleaf, Virginia, shortleaf, and sand pines. Separate recommendations are given for areas where fusiform-rust hazard is high.

Decoding Face Information in Time, Frequency and Space from Direct Intracranial Recordings of the Human Brain

PubMed Central

Oya, Hiroyuki; Howard, Matthew A.; Adolphs, Ralph

2008-01-01

Faces are processed by a neural system with distributed anatomical components, but the roles of these components remain unclear. A dominant theory of face perception postulates independent representations of invariant aspects of faces (e.g., identity) in ventral temporal cortex including the fusiform gyrus, and changeable aspects of faces (e.g., emotion) in lateral temporal cortex including the superior temporal sulcus. Here we recorded neuronal activity directly from the cortical surface in 9 neurosurgical subjects undergoing epilepsy monitoring while they viewed static and dynamic facial expressions. Applying novel decoding analyses to the power spectrogram of electrocorticograms (ECoG) from over 100 contacts in ventral and lateral temporal cortex, we found better representation of both invariant and changeable aspects of faces in ventral than lateral temporal cortex. Critical information for discriminating faces from geometric patterns was carried by power modulations between 50 to 150 Hz. For both static and dynamic face stimuli, we obtained a higher decoding performance in ventral than lateral temporal cortex. For discriminating fearful from happy expressions, critical information was carried by power modulation between 60–150 Hz and below 30 Hz, and again better decoded in ventral than lateral temporal cortex. Task-relevant attention improved decoding accuracy more than10% across a wide frequency range in ventral but not at all in lateral temporal cortex. Spatial searchlight decoding showed that decoding performance was highest around the middle fusiform gyrus. Finally, we found that the right hemisphere, in general, showed superior decoding to the left hemisphere. Taken together, our results challenge the dominant model for independent face representation of invariant and changeable aspects: information about both face attributes was better decoded from a single region in the middle fusiform gyrus. PMID:19065268

Visuospatial referents facilitate the learning and transfer of mathematical operations: extending the role of the angular gyrus.

PubMed

Pyke, Aryn; Betts, Shawn; Fincham, Jon M; Anderson, John R

2015-03-01

Different external representations for learning and solving mathematical operations may affect learning and transfer. To explore the effects of learning representations, learners were each introduced to two new operations (b↑n and b↓n) via either formulas or graphical representations. Both groups became adept at solving regular (trained) problems. During transfer, no external formulas or graphs were present; however, graph learners' knowledge could allow them to mentally associate problem expressions with visuospatial referents. The angular gyrus (AG) has recently been hypothesized to map problems to mental referents (e.g., symbolic answers; Grabner, Ansari, Koschutnig, Reishofer, & Ebner Human Brain Mapping, 34, 1013-1024, 2013), and we sought to test this hypothesis for visuospatial referents. To determine whether the AG and other math (horizontal intraparietal sulcus) and visuospatial (fusiform and posterior superior parietal lobule [PSPL]) regions were implicated in processing visuospatial mental referents, we included two types of transfer problems, computational and relational, which differed in referential load (one graph vs. two). During solving, the activations in AG, PSPL, and fusiform reflected the referential load manipulation among graph but not formula learners. Furthermore, the AG was more active among graph learners overall, which is consistent with its hypothesized referential role. Behavioral performance was comparable across the groups on computational transfer problems, which could be solved in a way that incorporated learners' respective procedures for regular problems. However, graph learners were more successful on relational transfer problems, which assessed their understanding of the relations between pairs of similar problems within and across operations. On such problems, their behavioral performance correlated with activation in the AG, fusiform, and a relational processing region (BA 10).

Segregation of face sensitive areas within the fusiform gyrus using global signal regression? A study on amygdala resting-state functional connectivity.

PubMed

Kruschwitz, Johann D; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Veer, Ilya M; Wackerhagen, Carolin; Erk, Susanne; Mohnke, Sebastian; Pöhland, Lydia; Haddad, Leila; Grimm, Oliver; Tost, Heike; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Heinz, Andreas; Walter, Martin; Walter, Henrik

2015-10-01

The application of global signal regression (GSR) to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and its usefulness is a widely discussed topic. In this article, we report an observation of segregated distribution of amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) within the fusiform gyrus (FFG) as an effect of GSR in a multi-center-sample of 276 healthy subjects. Specifically, we observed that amygdala rs-FC was distributed within the FFG as distinct anterior versus posterior clusters delineated by positive versus negative rs-FC polarity when GSR was performed. To characterize this effect in more detail, post hoc analyses revealed the following: first, direct overlays of task-functional magnetic resonance imaging derived face sensitive areas and clusters of positive versus negative amygdala rs-FC showed that the positive amygdala rs-FC cluster corresponded best with the fusiform face area, whereas the occipital face area corresponded to the negative amygdala rs-FC cluster. Second, as expected from a hierarchical face perception model, these amygdala rs-FC defined clusters showed differential rs-FC with other regions of the visual stream. Third, dynamic connectivity analyses revealed that these amygdala rs-FC defined clusters also differed in their rs-FC variance across time to the amygdala. Furthermore, subsample analyses of three independent research sites confirmed reliability of the effect of GSR, as revealed by similar patterns of distinct amygdala rs-FC polarity within the FFG. In this article, we discuss the potential of GSR to segregate face sensitive areas within the FFG and furthermore discuss how our results may relate to the functional organization of the face-perception circuit. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of inverting contour and features on processing for static and dynamic face perception: an MEG study.

PubMed

Miki, Kensaku; Takeshima, Yasuyuki; Watanabe, Shoko; Honda, Yukiko; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2011-04-06

We investigated the effects of inverting facial contour (hair and chin) and features (eyes, nose and mouth) on processing for static and dynamic face perception using magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used apparent motion, in which the first stimulus (S1) was replaced by a second stimulus (S2) with no interstimulus interval and subjects perceived visual motion, and presented three conditions as follows: (1) U&U: Upright contour and Upright features, (2) U&I: Upright contour and Inverted features, and (3) I&I: Inverted contour and Inverted features. In static face perception (S1 onset), the peak latency of the fusiform area's activity, which was related to static face perception, was significantly longer for U&I and I&I than for U&U in the right hemisphere and for U&I than for U&U and I&I in the left. In dynamic face perception (S2 onset), the strength (moment) of the occipitotemporal area's activity, which was related to dynamic face perception, was significantly larger for I&I than for U&U and U&I in the right hemisphere, but not the left. These results can be summarized as follows: (1) in static face perception, the activity of the right fusiform area was more affected by the inversion of features while that of the left fusiform area was more affected by the disruption of the spatial relation between the contour and features, and (2) in dynamic face perception, the activity of the right occipitotemporal area was affected by the inversion of the facial contour. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Obliteration of a giant fusiform carotid terminus-M1 aneurysm after distal clip application and extracranial-intracranial bypass. Case report.

PubMed

Ferroli, P; Ciceri, E; Parati, E; Minati, L; Broggi, G

2007-06-01

Giant intracranial aneurysms may not be amenable to direct surgical clipping or endovascular coiling because of three critical factors: 1) lack of clear aneurysmal neck; 2) giant size; 3) involvement with critical perforating or branch vessels. Techniques of flow redirection, however, may offer an alternative treatment strategy for these difficult lesions. In this paper, we report on the use of this alternative strategy in the successful treatment of a left giant fusiform carotid terminus-M1 aneurysm in a 16 year-old boy suffering from Ehler-Danlos disease. This patient was admitted to our Institution because his aneurysm was continuing to be increasing in size, despite a previous ligation of his left cervical ICA which was performed at another institution 2 years earlier after the patient had experienced a hemorrhagic stroke. Upon admission, a neurological examination revealed a slight motor aphasia with mild right hemiparesis, remnant of the ancient stroke. Because of its size and the involvement with M1 perforating arteries, a direct aneurysm attack was deemed inadvisable. After an initial ECA-ICA high flow bypass which spontaneously thrombosed, we performed a repeated high flow bypass with the application of a single clip on M1, right distal to the fusiform dilatation. After an uneventful postoperative course, we were unable to observe any new neurological deficits after surgery. A CT scan on postoperative day 1 revealed that the aneurysm had undergone a spontaneous thrombosis which was completely obliterated at the time of a 6-month follow-up angiogram. At that time, the ECA-ICA bypass was found to be patent. In conclusion the alternative of flow alteration strategies can be successfully used in the treatment of aneurysms that cannot be safely trapped or occluded by traditional neurosurgical methods.

The effect of encoding strategy on the neural correlates of memory for faces.

PubMed

Bernstein, Lori J; Beig, Sania; Siegenthaler, Amy L; Grady, Cheryl L

2002-01-01

Encoding and recognition of unfamiliar faces in young adults were examined using positron emission tomography to determine whether different encoding strategies would lead to encoding/retrieval differences in brain activity. Three types of encoding were compared: a 'deep' task (judging pleasantness/unpleasantness), a 'shallow' task (judging right/left orientation), and an intentional learning task in which subjects were instructed to learn the faces for a subsequent memory test but were not provided with a specific strategy. Memory for all faces was tested with an old/new recognition test. A modest behavioral effect was obtained, with deeply-encoded faces being recognized more accurately than shallowly-encoded or intentionally-learned faces. Regardless of encoding strategy, encoding activated a primarily ventral system including bilateral temporal and fusiform regions and left prefrontal cortices, whereas recognition activated a primarily dorsal set of regions including right prefrontal and parietal areas. Within encoding, the type of strategy produced different brain activity patterns, with deep encoding being characterized by left amygdala and left anterior cingulate activation. There was no effect of encoding strategy on brain activity during the recognition conditions. Posterior fusiform gyrus activation was related to better recognition accuracy in those conditions encouraging perceptual strategies, whereas activity in left frontal and temporal areas correlated with better performance during the 'deep' condition. Results highlight three important aspects of face memory: (1) the effect of encoding strategy was seen only at encoding and not at recognition; (2) left inferior prefrontal cortex was engaged during encoding of faces regardless of strategy; and (3) differential activity in fusiform gyrus was found, suggesting that activity in this area is not only a result of automatic face processing but is modulated by controlled processes.

Morphological, histological and molecular characterization of three Myxobolus species (Cnidaria: Myxosporea) from silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Valenciennes and bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Richardson in China.

PubMed

Zhang, Bo; Gu, Zemao; Liu, Yang

2018-05-01

Three Myxobolus species were obtained from silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Valenciennes and bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Richardson in China. In the present study, we supplemented their taxonomic characteristics by the morphological, histological and molecular methods. Myxobolus kiuchowensis Chen in Chen et Ma, 1998 formed small ellipsoidal plasmodia in the intestinal wall of bighead carp. Its spores appeared asymmetrical obovate in frontal view and fusiform in lateral view. Tiny mamillary protrusion in the anterior of some spores was observed. Two pyriform polar capsules were unequal. Histologically, M. kiuchowensis infected the tunica muscularis of host intestine. Myxobolus abitus Li et Nie, 1973 formed sausage-like plasmodia in the gills of silver carp. Its spores appeared oblate in frontal view and fusiform in lateral view. Two pyriform polar capsules were unequal and an obvious inter-capsule appendix was observed. Histological examination revealed that M. abitus developed in the interlamellar-epithelium of host gills. Myxobolus pavlovskii (Akhmerov, 1954) Landsberg et Lom, 1991 formed sausage-like plasmodia both in the gills of silver carp and bighead carp. Spores of M. pavlovskii were proximate oval in frontal view and fusiform in lateral view. Two pyriform polar capsules were unequal. The BLAST search indicated the SSU rDNA sequences of M. kiuchowensis and M. abitus were not identical to any sequence, however, the SSU rDNA sequences of M. pavlovskii were identical to that of M. pavlovskii recorded previously. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the present three species robustly clustered together in Cyprinid group and Asia group. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Impact of wall thickness and saccular geometry on the computational wall stress of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms.

PubMed

Shang, Eric K; Nathan, Derek P; Sprinkle, Shanna R; Fairman, Ronald M; Bavaria, Joseph E; Gorman, Robert C; Gorman, Joseph H; Jackson, Benjamin M

2013-09-10

Wall stress calculated using finite element analysis has been used to predict rupture risk of aortic aneurysms. Prior models often assume uniform aortic wall thickness and fusiform geometry. We examined the effects of including local wall thickness, intraluminal thrombus, calcifications, and saccular geometry on peak wall stress (PWS) in finite element analysis of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms. Computed tomographic angiography of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (n=10 total, 5 fusiform and 5 saccular) underwent 3-dimensional reconstruction with custom algorithms. For each aneurysm, an initial model was constructed with uniform wall thickness. Experimental models explored the addition of variable wall thickness, calcifications, and intraluminal thrombus. Each model was loaded with 120 mm Hg pressure, and von Mises PWS was computed. The mean PWS of uniform wall thickness models was 410 ± 111 kPa. The imposition of variable wall thickness increased PWS (481 ± 126 kPa, P<0.001). Although the addition of calcifications was not statistically significant (506 ± 126 kPa, P=0.07), the addition of intraluminal thrombus to variable wall thickness (359 ± 86 kPa, P ≤ 0.001) reduced PWS. A final model incorporating all features also reduced PWS (368 ± 88 kPa, P<0.001). Saccular geometry did not increase diameter-normalized stress in the final model (77 ± 7 versus 67 ± 12 kPa/cm, P=0.22). Incorporation of local wall thickness can significantly increase PWS in finite element analysis models of thoracic aortic aneurysms. Incorporating variable wall thickness, intraluminal thrombus, and calcifications significantly impacts computed PWS of thoracic aneurysms; sophisticated models may, therefore, be more accurate in assessing rupture risk. Saccular aneurysms did not demonstrate a significantly higher normalized PWS than fusiform aneurysms.

Fusiform Gyrus Dysfunction is Associated with Perceptual Processing Efficiency to Emotional Faces in Adolescent Depression: A Model-Based Approach.

PubMed

Ho, Tiffany C; Zhang, Shunan; Sacchet, Matthew D; Weng, Helen; Connolly, Colm G; Henje Blom, Eva; Han, Laura K M; Mobayed, Nisreen O; Yang, Tony T

2016-01-01

While the extant literature has focused on major depressive disorder (MDD) as being characterized by abnormalities in processing affective stimuli (e.g., facial expressions), little is known regarding which specific aspects of cognition influence the evaluation of affective stimuli, and what are the underlying neural correlates. To investigate these issues, we assessed 26 adolescents diagnosed with MDD and 37 well-matched healthy controls (HCL) who completed an emotion identification task of dynamically morphing faces during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We analyzed the behavioral data using a sequential sampling model of response time (RT) commonly used to elucidate aspects of cognition in binary perceptual decision making tasks: the Linear Ballistic Accumulator (LBA) model. Using a hierarchical Bayesian estimation method, we obtained group-level and individual-level estimates of LBA parameters on the facial emotion identification task. While the MDD and HCL groups did not differ in mean RT, accuracy, or group-level estimates of perceptual processing efficiency (i.e., drift rate parameter of the LBA), the MDD group showed significantly reduced responses in left fusiform gyrus compared to the HCL group during the facial emotion identification task. Furthermore, within the MDD group, fMRI signal in the left fusiform gyrus during affective face processing was significantly associated with greater individual-level estimates of perceptual processing efficiency. Our results therefore suggest that affective processing biases in adolescents with MDD are characterized by greater perceptual processing efficiency of affective visual information in sensory brain regions responsible for the early processing of visual information. The theoretical, methodological, and clinical implications of our results are discussed.

Fusiform Gyrus Dysfunction is Associated with Perceptual Processing Efficiency to Emotional Faces in Adolescent Depression: A Model-Based Approach

PubMed Central

Ho, Tiffany C.; Zhang, Shunan; Sacchet, Matthew D.; Weng, Helen; Connolly, Colm G.; Henje Blom, Eva; Han, Laura K. M.; Mobayed, Nisreen O.; Yang, Tony T.

2016-01-01

While the extant literature has focused on major depressive disorder (MDD) as being characterized by abnormalities in processing affective stimuli (e.g., facial expressions), little is known regarding which specific aspects of cognition influence the evaluation of affective stimuli, and what are the underlying neural correlates. To investigate these issues, we assessed 26 adolescents diagnosed with MDD and 37 well-matched healthy controls (HCL) who completed an emotion identification task of dynamically morphing faces during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We analyzed the behavioral data using a sequential sampling model of response time (RT) commonly used to elucidate aspects of cognition in binary perceptual decision making tasks: the Linear Ballistic Accumulator (LBA) model. Using a hierarchical Bayesian estimation method, we obtained group-level and individual-level estimates of LBA parameters on the facial emotion identification task. While the MDD and HCL groups did not differ in mean RT, accuracy, or group-level estimates of perceptual processing efficiency (i.e., drift rate parameter of the LBA), the MDD group showed significantly reduced responses in left fusiform gyrus compared to the HCL group during the facial emotion identification task. Furthermore, within the MDD group, fMRI signal in the left fusiform gyrus during affective face processing was significantly associated with greater individual-level estimates of perceptual processing efficiency. Our results therefore suggest that affective processing biases in adolescents with MDD are characterized by greater perceptual processing efficiency of affective visual information in sensory brain regions responsible for the early processing of visual information. The theoretical, methodological, and clinical implications of our results are discussed. PMID:26869950

Characterizing saccular aortic arch aneurysms from the geometry-flow dynamics relationship.

PubMed

Natsume, Kayoko; Shiiya, Norihiko; Takehara, Yasuo; Sugiyama, Masataka; Satoh, Hiroshi; Yamashita, Katsushi; Washiyama, Naoki

2017-06-01

Low wall shear stress (WSS) has been reported to be associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, aneurysm growth, or rupture. We evaluated the geometry of aortic arch aneurysms and their relationship with WSS by using the 4-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging to better characterize the saccular aneurysms. We analyzed the geometry in 100 patients using multiplanar reconstruction of computed tomography. We evaluated WSS and vortex flow using 4-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging in 16 of them, which were compared with 8 age-matched control subjects and eight healthy young volunteers. Eighty-two patients had a saccular aneurysm, and 18 had a fusiform aneurysm. External diameter/aneurysm length ratio and sac depth/neck width ratio of the fusiform aneurysms were constant at 0.76 ± 0.18 and 0.23 ± 0.09, whereas those of saccular aneurysms, especially those involving the outer curvature, were higher and more variable. Vortex flow was always present in the aneurysms, resulting in low WSS. When the sac depth/neck width ratio was less than 0.8, peak WSS correlated inversely with luminal diameter even in the saccular aneurysms. When this ratio exceeded 0.8, which was the case only with the saccular aneurysms, such correlation no longer existed and WSS was invariably low. Fusiform aneurysms elongate as they dilate, and WSS is lower as the diameter is larger. Saccular aneurysms dilate without proportionate elongation, and they, especially those occupying the inner curvature, have higher and variable sac depth/neck width ratio. When this ratio exceeds 0.8, WSS is low regardless of diameter, which may explain their malignant clinical behavior. Copyright © 2016 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bypass surgery to treat symptomatic fusiform dilation of the internal carotid artery following craniopharyngioma resection: report of 2 cases.

PubMed

Wang, Long; Shi, Xiang'en; Liu, Fangjun; Qian, Hai

2016-12-01

Fusiform dilation of the internal carotid artery (FDICA) is an infrequent vascular complication following resection of suprasellar lesions in the pediatric population, and its course appears to be benign without apparent clinical symptoms. However, data correlating symptomatic FDICA with bypass surgery are scarce. The authors here report 2 symptomatic cases that were treated using internal maxillary artery bypass more than 5 years after total removal of a craniopharyngioma at an outside institution. Both cases of FDICA were resected to relieve the mass effect and to expose the craniopharyngioma. The postoperative course was uneventful, and radiological imaging revealed graft conduit patency. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported use of extracranial to intracranial bypass to treat FDICA following removal of a suprasellar lesion. Their findings suggest that bypass surgery is a useful therapeutic approach for symptomatic cases of FDICA and total removal of recurrent craniopharyngioma. Moreover, the indications for surgical intervention and treatment modalities are discussed in the context of previous relevant cases.

Bidirectional communication between amygdala and fusiform gyrus during facial recognition.

PubMed

Herrington, John D; Taylor, James M; Grupe, Daniel W; Curby, Kim M; Schultz, Robert T

2011-06-15

Decades of research have documented the specialization of fusiform gyrus (FG) for facial information processes. Recent theories indicate that FG activity is shaped by input from amygdala, but effective connectivity from amygdala to FG remains undocumented. In this fMRI study, 39 participants completed a face recognition task. 11 participants underwent the same experiment approximately four months later. Robust face-selective activation of FG, amygdala, and lateral occipital cortex were observed. Dynamic causal modeling and Bayesian Model Selection (BMS) were used to test the intrinsic connections between these structures, and their modulation by face perception. BMS results strongly favored a dynamic causal model with bidirectional, face-modulated amygdala-FG connections. However, the right hemisphere connections diminished at time 2, with the face modulation parameter no longer surviving Bonferroni correction. These findings suggest that amygdala strongly influences FG function during face perception, and that this influence is shaped by experience and stimulus salience. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Role of fusiform and anterior temporal cortical areas in facial recognition.

PubMed

Nasr, Shahin; Tootell, Roger B H

2012-11-15

Recent fMRI studies suggest that cortical face processing extends well beyond the fusiform face area (FFA), including unspecified portions of the anterior temporal lobe. However, the exact location of such anterior temporal region(s), and their role during active face recognition, remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that (in addition to FFA) a small bilateral site in the anterior tip of the collateral sulcus ('AT'; the anterior temporal face patch) is selectively activated during recognition of faces but not houses (a non-face object). In contrast to the psychophysical prediction that inverted and contrast reversed faces are processed like other non-face objects, both FFA and AT (but not other visual areas) were also activated during recognition of inverted and contrast reversed faces. However, response accuracy was better correlated to recognition-driven activity in AT, compared to FFA. These data support a segregated, hierarchical model of face recognition processing, extending to the anterior temporal cortex. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A generalized vortex lattice method for subsonic and supersonic flow applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miranda, L. R.; Elliot, R. D.; Baker, W. M.

1977-01-01

If the discrete vortex lattice is considered as an approximation to the surface-distributed vorticity, then the concept of the generalized principal part of an integral yields a residual term to the vorticity-induced velocity field. The proper incorporation of this term to the velocity field generated by the discrete vortex lines renders the present vortex lattice method valid for supersonic flow. Special techniques for simulating nonzero thickness lifting surfaces and fusiform bodies with vortex lattice elements are included. Thickness effects of wing-like components are simulated by a double (biplanar) vortex lattice layer, and fusiform bodies are represented by a vortex grid arranged on a series of concentrical cylindrical surfaces. The analysis of sideslip effects by the subject method is described. Numerical considerations peculiar to the application of these techniques are also discussed. The method has been implemented in a digital computer code. A users manual is included along with a complete FORTRAN compilation, an executed case, and conversion programs for transforming input for the NASA wave drag program.

Skill dependent audiovisual integration in the fusiform induces repetition suppression.

PubMed

McNorgan, Chris; Booth, James R

2015-02-01

Learning to read entails mapping existing phonological representations to novel orthographic representations and is thus an ideal context for investigating experience driven audiovisual integration. Because two dominant brain-based theories of reading development hinge on the sensitivity of the visual-object processing stream to phonological information, we were interested in how reading skill relates to audiovisual integration in this area. Thirty-two children between 8 and 13 years of age spanning a range of reading skill participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Participants completed a rhyme judgment task to word pairs presented unimodally (auditory- or visual-only) and cross-modally (auditory followed by visual). Skill-dependent sub-additive audiovisual modulation was found in left fusiform gyrus, extending into the putative visual word form area, and was correlated with behavioral orthographic priming. These results suggest learning to read promotes facilitatory audiovisual integration in the ventral visual-object processing stream and may optimize this region for orthographic processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Soft Rot of Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Caused by Choanephora cucurbitarum in Korea

PubMed Central

Jee, Hyeong-Jin

2005-01-01

In April 2002 and 2003, soft rot on fruit of eggplant (Solanum melongena) caused by Choanephora cucurbitarum was observed in the experimental fields at Gyeongnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services in Korea. The disease began with water-soaking and dark-green lesions, and then the infected tissues were rapidly rotten. Sporangium was subglobose in shape and sized 40~130 µm. Monosporous sporangiola were elliptic, fusiform or ovoid, brown in color, and measured as 12~20 × 6~14 µm. Sporangiospores having three or more appendages were elliptic, fusiform or ovoid in shape, dark brown or brown in color, and sized 14~20 × 7~16 µm. The fungus grew well on potato dextrose agar between 15 and 40℃ and its optimum growth temperature was 30℃. Based on morphological characteristics, the causal fungus of the fruit soft rot of eggplant was identified as C. cucurbitarum. This is the first report on the soft rot of S. melongena caused by C. cucurbitarum in Korea. PMID:24049494

Blunted neural response to implicit negative facial affect in anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

Leppanen, Jenni; Cardi, Valentina; Paloyelis, Yannis; Simmons, Andy; Tchanturia, Kate; Treasure, Janet

2017-09-01

People with anorexia nervosa (AN) have difficulties in a wide range of social-emotional processes. Previous work suggests atypical involvement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala, insula, and fusiform gyri during social-emotional processing in AN. Twenty women with AN and twenty healthy comparison (HC) women were presented with happy, fearful, and neutral faces during a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Group differences were investigated in the following regions of interest: lateral PFC, amygdala, insula, and fusiform gyri. The HC participants showed significantly increased recruitment of the ventrolateral PFC and amygdala in the fearful > neutral contrast relative to the AN participants. The AN participants showed a significantly increased recruitment of a small cluster in the right posterior insula in the happy > neutral contrast. These findings are in line with the hypothesis that people with AN have a blunted response to negative and atypical exaggerated response to positive emotionally provoking stimuli. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Encoding of Face Information in the Human Fusiform Gyrus

PubMed Central

Ghuman, Avniel Singh; Brunet, Nicolas M.; Li, Yuanning; Konecky, Roma O.; Pyles, John A.; Walls, Shawn A.; Destefino, Vincent; Wang, Wei; Richardson, R. Mark

2014-01-01

Humans’ ability to rapidly and accurately detect, identify, and classify faces under variable conditions derives from a network of brain regions highly tuned to face information. The fusiform face area (FFA) is thought to be a computational hub for face processing, however temporal dynamics of face information processing in FFA remains unclear. Here we use multivariate pattern classification to decode the temporal dynamics of expression-invariant face information processing using electrodes placed directly upon FFA in humans. Early FFA activity (50-75 ms) contained information regarding whether participants were viewing a face. Activity between 200-500 ms contained expression-invariant information about which of 70 faces participants were viewing along with the individual differences in facial features and their configurations. Long-lasting (500+ ms) broadband gamma frequency activity predicted task performance. These results elucidate the dynamic computational role FFA plays in multiple face processing stages and indicate what information is used in performing these visual analyses. PMID:25482825

Functional asymmetry between the left and right human fusiform gyrus explored through electrical brain stimulation.

PubMed

Rangarajan, Vinitha; Parvizi, Josef

2016-03-01

The ventral temporal cortex (VTC) contains several areas with selective responses to words, numbers, faces, and objects as demonstrated by numerous human and primate imaging and electrophysiological studies. Our recent work using electrocorticography (ECoG) confirmed the presence of face-selective neuronal populations in the human fusiform gyrus (FG) in patients implanted with intracranial electrodes in either the left or right hemisphere. Electrical brain stimulation (EBS) disrupted the conscious perception of faces only when it was delivered in the right, but not left, FG. In contrast to our previous findings, here we report both negative and positive EBS effects in right and left FG, respectively. The presence of right hemisphere language dominance in the first, and strong left-handedness and poor language processing performance in the second case, provide indirect clues about the functional architecture of the human VTC in relation to hemispheric asymmetries in language processing and handedness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Skill Dependent Audiovisual Integration in the Fusiform Induces Repetition Suppression

PubMed Central

McNorgan, Chris; Booth, James R.

2015-01-01

Learning to read entails mapping existing phonological representations to novel orthographic representations and is thus an ideal context for investigating experience driven audiovisual integration. Because two dominant brain-based theories of reading development hinge on the sensitivity of the visual-object processing stream to phonological information, we were interested in how reading skill relates to audiovisual integration in this area. Thirty-two children between 8 and 13 years of age spanning a range of reading skill participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Participants completed a rhyme judgment task to word pairs presented unimodally (auditory- or visual-only) and cross-modally (auditory followed by visual). Skill-dependent sub-additive audiovisual modulation was found in left fusiform gyrus, extending into the putative visual word form area, and was correlated with behavioral orthographic priming. These results suggest learning to read promotes facilitatory audiovisual integration in the ventral visual-object processing stream and may optimize this region for orthographic processing. PMID:25585276

The functional neuroanatomy of object agnosia: a case study.

PubMed

Konen, Christina S; Behrmann, Marlene; Nishimura, Mayu; Kastner, Sabine

2011-07-14

Cortical reorganization of visual and object representations following neural injury was examined using fMRI and behavioral investigations. We probed the visual responsivity of the ventral visual cortex of an agnosic patient who was impaired at object recognition following a lesion to the right lateral fusiform gyrus. In both hemispheres, retinotopic mapping revealed typical topographic organization and visual activation of early visual cortex. However, visual responses, object-related, and -selective responses were reduced in regions immediately surrounding the lesion in the right hemisphere, and also, surprisingly, in corresponding locations in the structurally intact left hemisphere. In contrast, hV4 of the right hemisphere showed expanded response properties. These findings indicate that the right lateral fusiform gyrus is critically involved in object recognition and that an impairment to this region has widespread consequences for remote parts of cortex. Finally, functional neural plasticity is possible even when a cortical lesion is sustained in adulthood. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effective connectivities of cortical regions for top-down face processing: A Dynamic Causal Modeling study

PubMed Central

Li, Jun; Liu, Jiangang; Liang, Jimin; Zhang, Hongchuan; Zhao, Jizheng; Rieth, Cory A.; Huber, David E.; Li, Wu; Shi, Guangming; Ai, Lin; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang

2013-01-01

To study top-down face processing, the present study used an experimental paradigm in which participants detected non-existent faces in pure noise images. Conventional BOLD signal analysis identified three regions involved in this illusory face detection. These regions included the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in addition to the right fusiform face area (FFA) and right occipital face area (OFA), both of which were previously known to be involved in both top-down and bottom-up processing of faces. We used Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) and Bayesian model selection to further analyze the data, revealing both intrinsic and modulatory effective connectivities among these three cortical regions. Specifically, our results support the claim that the orbitofrontal cortex plays a crucial role in the top-down processing of faces by regulating the activities of the occipital face area, and the occipital face area in turn detects the illusory face features in the visual stimuli and then provides this information to the fusiform face area for further analysis. PMID:20423709

Perceived quality of maternal care in childhood and structure and function of mothers’ brain

PubMed Central

Kim, Pilyoung; Leckman, James F.; Mayes, Linda C.; Newman, Michal-Ann; Feldman, Ruth; Swain, James E.

2014-01-01

Animal studies indicate that early maternal care has long-term effects on brain areas related to social attachment and parenting, whereas neglectful mothering is linked with heightened stress reactivity in the hippocampus across the lifespan. The present study explores the possibility, using magnetic resonance imaging, that perceived quality of maternal care in childhood is associated with brain structure and functional responses to salient infant stimuli among human mothers in the first postpartum month. Mothers who reported higher maternal care in childhood showed larger grey matter volumes in the superior and middle frontal gyri, orbital gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus. In response to infant cries, these mothers exhibited higher activations in the middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus, whereas mothers reporting lower maternal care showed increased hippocampal activations. These findings suggest that maternal care in childhood may be associated with anatomy and functions in brain regions implicated in appropriate responsivity to infant stimuli in human mothers. PMID:20590729

External facial features modify the representation of internal facial features in the fusiform face area.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Yovel, Galit

2010-08-15

Most studies of face identity have excluded external facial features by either removing them or covering them with a hat. However, external facial features may modify the representation of internal facial features. Here we assessed whether the representation of face identity in the fusiform face area (FFA), which has been primarily studied for internal facial features, is modified by differences in external facial features. We presented faces in which external and internal facial features were manipulated independently. Our findings show that the FFA was sensitive to differences in external facial features, but this effect was significantly larger when the external and internal features were aligned than misaligned. We conclude that the FFA generates a holistic representation in which the internal and the external facial features are integrated. These results indicate that to better understand real-life face recognition both external and internal features should be included. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Epicenters of dynamic connectivity in the adaptation of the ventral visual system.

PubMed

Prčkovska, Vesna; Huijbers, Willem; Schultz, Aaron; Ortiz-Teran, Laura; Peña-Gomez, Cleofe; Villoslada, Pablo; Johnson, Keith; Sperling, Reisa; Sepulcre, Jorge

2017-04-01

Neuronal responses adapt to familiar and repeated sensory stimuli. Enhanced synchrony across wide brain systems has been postulated as a potential mechanism for this adaptation phenomenon. Here, we used recently developed graph theory methods to investigate hidden connectivity features of dynamic synchrony changes during a visual repetition paradigm. Particularly, we focused on strength connectivity changes occurring at local and distant brain neighborhoods. We found that connectivity reorganization in visual modal cortex-such as local suppressed connectivity in primary visual areas and distant suppressed connectivity in fusiform areas-is accompanied by enhanced local and distant connectivity in higher cognitive processing areas in multimodal and association cortex. Moreover, we found a shift of the dynamic functional connections from primary-visual-fusiform to primary-multimodal/association cortex. These findings suggest that repetition-suppression is made possible by reorganization of functional connectivity that enables communication between low- and high-order areas. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1965-1976, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Neural Pattern Similarity in the Left IFG and Fusiform Is Associated with Novel Word Learning

PubMed Central

Qu, Jing; Qian, Liu; Chen, Chuansheng; Xue, Gui; Li, Huiling; Xie, Peng; Mei, Leilei

2017-01-01

Previous studies have revealed that greater neural pattern similarity across repetitions is associated with better subsequent memory. In this study, we used an artificial language training paradigm and representational similarity analysis to examine whether neural pattern similarity across repetitions before training was associated with post-training behavioral performance. Twenty-four native Chinese speakers were trained to learn a logographic artificial language for 12 days and behavioral performance was recorded using the word naming and picture naming tasks. Participants were scanned while performing a passive viewing task before training, after 4-day training and after 12-day training. Results showed that pattern similarity in the left pars opercularis (PO) and fusiform gyrus (FG) before training was negatively associated with reaction time (RT) in both word naming and picture naming tasks after training. These results suggest that neural pattern similarity is an effective neurofunctional predictor of novel word learning in addition to word memory. PMID:28878640

Role of Fusiform and Anterior Temporal Cortical Areas in Facial Recognition

PubMed Central

Nasr, Shahin; Tootell, Roger BH

2012-01-01

Recent FMRI studies suggest that cortical face processing extends well beyond the fusiform face area (FFA), including unspecified portions of the anterior temporal lobe. However, the exact location of such anterior temporal region(s), and their role during active face recognition, remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that (in addition to FFA) a small bilateral site in the anterior tip of the collateral sulcus (‘AT’; the anterior temporal face patch) is selectively activated during recognition of faces but not houses (a non-face object). In contrast to the psychophysical prediction that inverted and contrast reversed faces are processed like other non-face objects, both FFA and AT (but not other visual areas) were also activated during recognition of inverted and contrast reversed faces. However, response accuracy was better correlated to recognition-driven activity in AT, compared to FFA. These data support a segregated, hierarchical model of face recognition processing, extending to the anterior temporal cortex. PMID:23034518

Voice Recognition in Face-Blind Patients

PubMed Central

Liu, Ran R.; Pancaroglu, Raika; Hills, Charlotte S.; Duchaine, Brad; Barton, Jason J. S.

2016-01-01

Right or bilateral anterior temporal damage can impair face recognition, but whether this is an associative variant of prosopagnosia or part of a multimodal disorder of person recognition is an unsettled question, with implications for cognitive and neuroanatomic models of person recognition. We assessed voice perception and short-term recognition of recently heard voices in 10 subjects with impaired face recognition acquired after cerebral lesions. All 4 subjects with apperceptive prosopagnosia due to lesions limited to fusiform cortex had intact voice discrimination and recognition. One subject with bilateral fusiform and anterior temporal lesions had a combined apperceptive prosopagnosia and apperceptive phonagnosia, the first such described case. Deficits indicating a multimodal syndrome of person recognition were found only in 2 subjects with bilateral anterior temporal lesions. All 3 subjects with right anterior temporal lesions had normal voice perception and recognition, 2 of whom performed normally on perceptual discrimination of faces. This confirms that such lesions can cause a modality-specific associative prosopagnosia. PMID:25349193

The Neural Development of ‘Us and Them’

PubMed Central

Guassi Moreira, João F.; Van Bavel, Jay J.

2017-01-01

Abstract Social groups aid human beings in several ways, ranging from the fulfillment of complex social and personal needs to the promotion of survival. Despite the importance of group affiliation to humans, there remains considerable variation in group preferences across development. In the current study, children and adolescents completed an explicit evaluation task of in-group and out-group members during functional neuroimaging. We found that participants displayed age-related increases in bilateral amygdala, fusiform gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) activation when viewing in-group relative to out-group faces. Moreover, we found an indirect effect of age on in-group favoritism via brain activation in the amygdala, fusiform and OFC. Finally, with age, youth showed greater functional coupling between the amygdala and several neural regions when viewing in-group relative to out-group peers, suggesting a role of the amygdala in directing attention to motivationally relevant cues. Our findings suggest that the motivational significance and processing of group membership undergoes important changes across development. PMID:27633395

Co-pyrolysis mechanism of seaweed polysaccharides and cellulose based on macroscopic experiments and molecular simulations.

PubMed

Wang, Shuang; Xia, Zhen; Hu, Yamin; He, Zhixia; Uzoejinwa, Benjamin Bernard; Wang, Qian; Cao, Bin; Xu, Shanna

2017-03-01

Co-pyrolysis conversion of seaweed (Enteromorpha clathrat and Sargassum fusiforme) polysaccharides and cellulose has been investigated. From the Py-GC/MS results, Enteromorpha clathrata (EN) polysaccharides pyrolysis mainly forms furans; while the products of Sargassum fusiforme (SA) polysaccharides pyrolysis are mainly acid esters. The formation mechanisms of H 2 O, CO 2 , and SO 2 during the pyrolysis of seaweed polysaccharides were analyzed using the thermogravimetric-mass spectrometry. Meanwhile the pyrolysis of seaweed polysaccharide based on the Amber and the ReaxFF force fields, has also been proposed and simulated respectively. The simulation results coincided with the experimental results. During the fast pyrolysis, strong synergistic effects among cellulose and seaweed polysaccharide molecules have been simulated. By comparing the experimental and simulation value, it has been found that co-pyrolysis could increase the number of molecular fragments, increase the pyrolysis conversion rate, and increase gas production rate at the middle temperature range. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic encoding of face information in the human fusiform gyrus.

PubMed

Ghuman, Avniel Singh; Brunet, Nicolas M; Li, Yuanning; Konecky, Roma O; Pyles, John A; Walls, Shawn A; Destefino, Vincent; Wang, Wei; Richardson, R Mark

2014-12-08

Humans' ability to rapidly and accurately detect, identify and classify faces under variable conditions derives from a network of brain regions highly tuned to face information. The fusiform face area (FFA) is thought to be a computational hub for face processing; however, temporal dynamics of face information processing in FFA remains unclear. Here we use multivariate pattern classification to decode the temporal dynamics of expression-invariant face information processing using electrodes placed directly on FFA in humans. Early FFA activity (50-75 ms) contained information regarding whether participants were viewing a face. Activity between 200 and 500 ms contained expression-invariant information about which of 70 faces participants were viewing along with the individual differences in facial features and their configurations. Long-lasting (500+ms) broadband gamma frequency activity predicted task performance. These results elucidate the dynamic computational role FFA plays in multiple face processing stages and indicate what information is used in performing these visual analyses.

Toxicity of so-called edible hijiki seaweed (Sargassum fusiforme) containing inorganic arsenic.

PubMed

Yokoi, Katsuhiko; Konomi, Aki

2012-07-01

The UK Food Standards Agency and its counterparts in other countries have warned consumers not to eat hijiki (Sargassum fusiforme; synonym Hizikia fusiformis), a Sargasso seaweed, because it contains large amounts of inorganic arsenic. We investigated dietary exposure of hijiki in weaning male F344/N rats fed an AIN-93G diet supplemented with 3% (w/w) hijiki powder for 7 weeks, compared with those fed only an AIN-93G diet. Body weight, body temperature, blood and tissue arsenic concentrations, plasma biochemistry and hematological parameters were measured. We found that feeding rats a 3% hijiki diet led to a marked accumulation of arsenic in blood and tissues, and evoked a high body temperature and abnormal blood biochemistry including elevated plasma alkaline phosphatase activity and inorganic phosphorus, consistent with arsenic poisoning. These findings should prompt further investigations to identify the health hazards related to consumption of hijiki and related Sargassum species in humans. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dissociation of sensitivity to spatial frequency in word and face preferential areas of the fusiform gyrus.

PubMed

Woodhead, Zoe Victoria Joan; Wise, Richard James Surtees; Sereno, Marty; Leech, Robert

2011-10-01

Different cortical regions within the ventral occipitotemporal junction have been reported to show preferential responses to particular objects. Thus, it is argued that there is evidence for a left-lateralized visual word form area and a right-lateralized fusiform face area, but the unique specialization of these areas remains controversial. Words are characterized by greater power in the high spatial frequency (SF) range, whereas faces comprise a broader range of high and low frequencies. We investigated how these high-order visual association areas respond to simple sine-wave gratings that varied in SF. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrated lateralization of activity that was concordant with the low-level visual property of words and faces; left occipitotemporal cortex is more strongly activated by high than by low SF gratings, whereas the right occipitotemporal cortex responded more to low than high spatial frequencies. Therefore, the SF of a visual stimulus may bias the lateralization of processing irrespective of its higher order properties.

Soil and vegetation influence in plants natural radionuclides uptake at a uranium mining site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charro, E.; Moyano, A.

2017-12-01

The main objective of this work is to investigate the uptake of several radionuclides by the vegetation characteristic of a dehesa ecosystem in uranium mining-impacted soils in Central-West of Spain. The activity concentration for 238U, 226Ra, 210Pb, 232Th, and 224Ra was measured in soil and vegetation samples using a Canberra n-type HPGe gamma-ray spectrometer. Transfer factors of natural radionuclides in different tissues (leaves, branches, twigs, and others) of native plants were evaluated. From these data, the influence of the mine, the physicochemical parameters of the soils and the type of vegetation were analyzed in order to explain the accumulation of radionuclides in the vegetation. A preferential uptake of 210Pb and 226Ra by plants, particularly by trees of the Quercus species (Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus ilex rotundifolia), has been observed, being the transfer factors for 226Ra and 210Pb in these tree species higher than those for other plants (like Pinus pinaster, Rubur ulmifolius and Populus sp.). The analysis of radionuclide contents and transfer factors in the vegetation showed no evidence of influence of the radionuclide concentration in soils, although it could be explained in terms of the type of plants and, in particular, of the tree's species, with special attention to the tree's rate of growth, being higher in slow growing species.

Antioxidant activity of oak (Quercus) leaves infusions against free radicals and their cardioprotective potential.

PubMed

Rivas-Arreola, M J; Rocha-Guzmán, N E; Gallegos-Infante, J A; González-Laredo, R F; Rosales-Castro, M; Bacon, J R; Cao, Rong; Proulx, A; Intriago-Ortega, P

2010-06-01

The aim of present study was to evaluate antioxidant capacity and cardioprotective potential of leaves infusions and partially purified fractions of Quercus sideroxyla and Q. eduardii (red oaks) and Q. resinosa (white oak). Consumption of polyphenol-rich beverages derived from plants, such as oak may represent a beneficial diet in terms of cardiovascular protection. Infusions from Oak leaves were obtained and probed for total phenolics by Folin-Ciocalteu, DPPH and hydroxyl radicals scavenging by DPPH test and Deoxy-D-ribose method, the antioxidant capacity was evaluated by FRAP and ORAC tests, inhibitions of Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) oxidation and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) activity were measured. A HPLC analysis was performed by HPLC-MS. Bioactive polyphenols such as gallic and ellagic acids, catechin, quercetin and derivatives: naringenin and naringin were detected in Quercus infusions. A distinctive HPLC profile was observed among the red and white oak samples. Q. resinosa infusions have exhibited the highest antioxidant activity in comparison with the other species, although in the inhibition of LDL oxidation no differences were observed. In the inhibition of the ACE, Q. resinosa was more effective (IC50, 18 ppm) than Q. sideroxyla, showing same effect as the control Captopril. From the results it is possible to postulate that not only chelating activity is important in these infusions, especially in Q. resinosa.

Evaluation of Analgesic Activity of the Methanol Extract from the Galls of Quercus infectoria (Olivier) in Rats

PubMed Central

Ali, Noraisah Akbar

2014-01-01

The present study aims to investigate the analgesic activity of the methanol extract of the galls of Quercus infectoria in rats using hot plate and tail-flick methods. The extract was administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 20 mg/kg while morphine sulfate and sodium salicylate (10 mg/kg) served as standards. The methanol extract exhibited significant analgesic activity in the tail-flick model (P < 0.05) by increasing the reaction time of the rats to 8.0 sec at 30 min after treatment in comparison to control (4.4 sec). Morphine sulfate produced a reaction time of 11.9 sec in the same test. At the peak of activity (30 min), the extract produced maximum possible analgesia (MPA) of 34.2%, whilst morphine sulfate achieved a peak MPA of 70.9%. No analgesic effects have been observed using sodium salicylate in the tail-flick model. In the same model, the extract and sodium salicylate demonstrated comparable reaction times. Tail-flick is a better method to evaluate analgesic activity as no significant results were observed for all treatments using hot plate with the exception of morphine sulfate, which showed significant results only at 45 and 60 min after treatment. In conclusion, the methanol extract of the galls of Quercus infectoria displayed analgesic activity. PMID:25254062

Reduced translocation of current photosynthate precedes changes in gas exchange for Quercus rubra seedlings under flooding stress.

PubMed

Sloan, Joshua L; Islam, M Anisul; Jacobs, Douglass F

2016-01-01

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedlings are frequently planted on suboptimal sites in their native range in North America, subjecting them to environmental stresses, such as flooding, for which they may not be well adapted. Members of the genus Quercus exhibit a wide range of responses to flooding, and responses of northern red oak to flooding remain inadequately described. To better understand the physiological effects of root system inundation in post-transplant northern red oak seedlings and the effects of flooding on endogenous patterns of resource allocation within the plant, we observed the effects of short-term flooding initiated at the linear shoot growth stage on net photosynthetic rates, dark respiration, chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) and translocation of (13)C-labeled current photosynthate. Downward translocation of current photosynthate declined after 4 days of flooding and was the first measured physiological response to flooding; net photosynthetic rates decreased and dark respiration rates increased after 7 days of flooding. Short-term flooding did not affect maximal potential efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm). The finding that decreased downward translocation of (13)C-labeled current photosynthate preceded reduced net photosynthesis and increased dark respiration during flooding suggests the occurrence of sink-limited photosynthesis under these conditions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

How much does climate change threaten European forest tree species distributions?

PubMed

Dyderski, Marcin K; Paź, Sonia; Frelich, Lee E; Jagodziński, Andrzej M

2018-03-01

Although numerous species distribution models have been developed, most were based on insufficient distribution data or used older climate change scenarios. We aimed to quantify changes in projected ranges and threat level by the years 2061-2080, for 12 European forest tree species under three climate change scenarios. We combined tree distribution data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, EUFORGEN, and forest inventories, and we developed species distribution models using MaxEnt and 19 bioclimatic variables. Models were developed for three climate change scenarios-optimistic (RCP2.6), moderate (RCP4.5), and pessimistic (RPC8.5)-using three General Circulation Models, for the period 2061-2080. Our study revealed different responses of tree species to projected climate change. The species may be divided into three groups: "winners"-mostly late-successional species: Abies alba, Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur, and Quercus petraea; "losers"-mostly pioneer species: Betula pendula, Larix decidua, Picea abies, and Pinus sylvestris; and alien species-Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quercus rubra, and Robinia pseudoacacia, which may be also considered as "winners." Assuming limited migration, most of the species studied would face a significant decrease in suitable habitat area. The threat level was highest for species that currently have the northernmost distribution centers. Ecological consequences of the projected range contractions would be serious for both forest management and nature conservation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A lexical semantic hub for heteromodal naming in middle fusiform gyrus.

PubMed

Forseth, Kiefer James; Kadipasaoglu, Cihan Mehmet; Conner, Christopher Richard; Hickok, Gregory; Knight, Robert Thomas; Tandon, Nitin

2018-07-01

Semantic memory underpins our understanding of objects, people, places, and ideas. Anomia, a disruption of semantic memory access, is the most common residual language disturbance and is seen in dementia and following injury to temporal cortex. While such anomia has been well characterized by lesion symptom mapping studies, its pathophysiology is not well understood. We hypothesize that inputs to the semantic memory system engage a specific heteromodal network hub that integrates lexical retrieval with the appropriate semantic content. Such a network hub has been proposed by others, but has thus far eluded precise spatiotemporal delineation. This limitation in our understanding of semantic memory has impeded progress in the treatment of anomia. We evaluated the cortical structure and dynamics of the lexical semantic network in driving speech production in a large cohort of patients with epilepsy using electrocorticography (n = 64), functional MRI (n = 36), and direct cortical stimulation (n = 30) during two generative language processes that rely on semantic knowledge: visual picture naming and auditory naming to definition. Each task also featured a non-semantic control condition: scrambled pictures and reversed speech, respectively. These large-scale data of the left, language-dominant hemisphere uniquely enable convergent, high-resolution analyses of neural mechanisms characterized by rapid, transient dynamics with strong interactions between distributed cortical substrates. We observed three stages of activity during both visual picture naming and auditory naming to definition that were serially organized: sensory processing, lexical semantic processing, and articulation. Critically, the second stage was absent in both the visual and auditory control conditions. Group activity maps from both electrocorticography and functional MRI identified heteromodal responses in middle fusiform gyrus, intraparietal sulcus, and inferior frontal gyrus; furthermore, the spectrotemporal profiles of these three regions revealed coincident activity preceding articulation. Only in the middle fusiform gyrus did direct cortical stimulation disrupt both naming tasks while still preserving the ability to repeat sentences. These convergent data strongly support a model in which a distinct neuroanatomical substrate in middle fusiform gyrus provides access to object semantic information. This under-appreciated locus of semantic processing is at risk in resections for temporal lobe epilepsy as well as in trauma and strokes that affect the inferior temporal cortex-it may explain the range of anomic states seen in these conditions. Further characterization of brain network behaviour engaging this region in both healthy and diseased states will expand our understanding of semantic memory and further development of therapies directed at anomia.

Effects of Dietary Fermented Seaweed and Seaweed Fusiforme on Growth Performance, Carcass Parameters and Immunoglobulin Concentration in Broiler Chicks

PubMed Central

Choi, Y. J.; Lee, S. R.; Oh, J-W.

2014-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of brown seaweed (Undaria pinnatifida) by-product and seaweed fusiforme (Hizikia fusiformis) by-product supplementation on growth performance and blood profiles including serum immunoglobulin (Ig) in broilers. Fermentation of seaweeds was conducted by Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus oryzae. In a 5-wk feeding trial, 750 one-d-old broiler chicks were divided into 5 groups, and were assigned to the control diet or experimental diets including control+0.5% brown seaweed (BS) by-product, control+0.5% seaweed fusiforme (SF) by-product, control+0.5% fermented brown seaweed (FBS) by-product, and control+0.5% fermented seaweed fusiforme (FSF) by-product. As a consequence, body weight gain (BWG) and gain:feed of seaweed by-product groups were clearly higher, when compared to those of control diet group from d 18 to 35 and the entire experimental period (p<0.05). In mortality rate, seaweed by-product groups were significantly lower when compared to control diet group during entire experimental period (p<0.05). However, Feed Intake of experimental diets group was not different from that of the control group during the entire experimental period. Whereas, Feed Intake of fermented seaweed by-product groups was lower than that of non-fermented seaweed groups (p<0.05). Total organ weights, lipids, and glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) of all treatment groups were not different from those of control group. However, glutamic pyruvate transaminase (GPT) of all treatment groups was higher than that of control group at d 17 (p<0.05). In case of serum Igs concentration, the concentration of IgA antibody in BS, SF, FSF treatment groups was significantly higher than in control group at d 35 (p<0.01). IgA concentration in FBS supplementation groups was negligibly decreased when compared to the control group. IgM concentration in the serums of all treatment groups was significantly higher than in control group (p<0.05) and in fermented seaweed by-product groups were much higher than in non-fermented seaweed groups (p<0.05). On the other hand, IgG concentrations in all treatment groups were lower than in control group (p<0.05). Taken together, our results suggest that by-product dietary supplementation of BS, SF, FBS, and FSF in poultry may provide positive effects of growth performance and immune response. PMID:25050025

Assessment of physicochemical and antioxidant characteristics of Quercus pyrenaica honeydew honeys.

PubMed

Shantal Rodríguez Flores, M; Escuredo, Olga; Carmen Seijo, M

2015-01-01

Consumers are exhibiting increasing interest in honeydew honey, principally due to its functional properties. Some plants can be sources of honeydew honey, but in north-western Spain, this honey type only comes from Quercus pyrenaica. In the present study, the melissopalynological and physicochemical characteristics and the antioxidant properties of 32 honeydew honey samples are described. Q. pyrenaica honeydew honey was defined by its colour, high pH, phenols and flavonoids. Multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyse the influence of the production year on the honey's physicochemical parameters and polyphenol content. Differences among the honey samples were found, showing that weather affected the physicochemical composition of the honey samples. Optimal conditions for oak growth favoured the production of honeydew honey. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Neural Regions Sustaining Episodic Encoding and Recognition of Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hofer, Alex; Siedentopf, Christian M.; Ischebeck, Anja; Rettenbacher, Maria A.; Widschwendter, Christian G.; Verius, Michael; Golaszewski, Stefan M.; Koppelstaetter, Florian; Felber, Stephan; Wolfgang Fleischhacker, W.

2007-01-01

In this functional MRI experiment, encoding of objects was associated with activation in left ventrolateral prefrontal/insular and right dorsolateral prefrontal and fusiform regions as well as in the left putamen. By contrast, correct recognition of previously learned objects (R judgments) produced activation in left superior frontal, bilateral…

Orthographic Transparency Modulates the Functional Asymmetry in the Fusiform Cortex: An Artificial Language Training Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mei, Leilei; Xue, Gui; Lu, Zhong-Lin; He, Qinghua; Zhang, Mingxia; Xue, Feng; Chen, Chuansheng; Dong, Qi

2013-01-01

The laterality difference in the occipitotemporal region between Chinese (bilaterality) and alphabetic languages (left laterality) has been attributed to their difference in visual appearance. However, these languages also differ in orthographic transparency. To disentangle the effect of orthographic transparency from visual appearance, we trained…

Bodies Capture Attention When Nothing Is Expected

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downing, Paul E.; Bray, David; Rogers, Jack; Childs, Claire

2004-01-01

Functional neuroimaging research has shown that certain classes of visual stimulus selectively activate focal regions of visual cortex. Specifically, cortical areas that generally and selectively respond to faces (Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., & Chun, M. M. (1997). The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face…

Information-Processing Modules and Their Relative Modality Specificity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, John R.; Qin, Yulin; Jung, Kwan-Jin; Carter, Cameron S.

2007-01-01

This research uses fMRI to understand the role of eight cortical regions in a relatively complex information-processing task. Modality of input (visual versus auditory) and modality of output (manual versus vocal) are manipulated. Two perceptual regions (auditory cortex and fusiform gyrus) only reflected perceptual encoding. Two motor regions were…

The epidemiology of sudden oak death in Oregon forests

Treesearch

Ebba K. Peterson

2011-01-01

The phytopathogen Phytophthora ramorum (Werres, DeCock & Man in't Veld), causal agent of Sudden Oak Death (SOD) of oaks (Quercus spp.) and tanoaks (Notholithocarpus densiflorus syn. Lithocarpus densiflorus...

Molecular Organization of the 25S–18S rDNA IGS of Fagus sylvatica and Quercus suber: A Comparative Analysis

PubMed Central

Inácio, Vera; Rocheta, Margarida; Morais-Cecílio, Leonor

2014-01-01

The 35S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) units, repeated in tandem at one or more chromosomal loci, are separated by an intergenic spacer (IGS) containing functional elements involved in the regulation of transcription of downstream rRNA genes. In the present work, we have compared the IGS molecular organizations in two divergent species of Fagaceae, Fagus sylvatica and Quercus suber, aiming to comprehend the evolution of the IGS sequences within the family. Self- and cross-hybridization FISH was done on representative species of the Fagaceae. The IGS length variability and the methylation level of 18 and 25S rRNA genes were assessed in representatives of three genera of this family: Fagus, Quercus and Castanea. The intergenic spacers in Beech and Cork Oak showed similar overall organizations comprising putative functional elements needed for rRNA gene activity and containing a non-transcribed spacer (NTS), a promoter region, and a 5′-external transcribed spacer. In the NTS: the sub-repeats structure in Beech is more organized than in Cork Oak, sharing some short motifs which results in the lowest sequence similarity of the entire IGS; the AT-rich region differed in both spacers by a GC-rich block inserted in Cork Oak. The 5′-ETS is the region with the higher similarity, having nonetheless different lengths. FISH with the NTS-5′-ETS revealed fainter signals in cross-hybridization in agreement with the divergence between genera. The diversity of IGS lengths revealed variants from ∼2 kb in Fagus, and Quercus up to 5.3 kb in Castanea, and a lack of correlation between the number of variants and the number of rDNA loci in several species. Methylation of 25S Bam HI site was confirmed in all species and detected for the first time in the 18S of Q. suber and Q. faginea. These results provide important clues for the evolutionary trends of the rDNA 25S-18S IGS in the Fagaceae family. PMID:24893289

Coexisting oak species, including rear-edge populations, buffer climate stress through xylem adjustments.

PubMed

Granda, E; Alla, A Q; Laskurain, N A; Loidi, J; Sánchez-Lorenzo, A; Camarero, J J

2018-02-01

The ability of trees to cope with climate change is a pivotal feature of forest ecosystems, especially for rear-edge populations facing warm and dry conditions. To evaluate current and future forests threats, a multi-proxy focus on the growth, anatomical and physiological responses to climate change is needed. We examined the long-term xylem adjustments to climate variability of the temperate Quercus robur L. at its rear edge and the sub-Mediterranean Quercus pyrenaica Willd. Both species coexist at a mesic (ME, humid and warmer) and a xeric (XE, dry and cooler) site in northern Spain, the latter experiencing increasing temperatures in recent decades. We compared xylem traits at each site and assessed their trends, relationships and responses to climate (1960-2008). Traits included basal area increment, earlywood vessel hydraulic diameter, density and theoretical-specific hydraulic conductivity together with latewood oxygen (δ18O) stable isotopes and δ13C-derived water-use efficiency (iWUE). Quercus robur showed the highest growth at ME, likely through enhanced cambial activity. Quercus pyrenaica had higher iWUE at XE compared with ME, but limited plasticity of anatomical xylem traits was found for the two oak species. Similar physiological performance was found for both species. The iWUE augmented in recent years especially at XE, likely explained by stomatal closure given the increasing δ18O signal in response to drier and sunnier growing seasons. Overall, traits were more correlated at XE than at ME. The iWUE improvements were linked to higher growth up to a threshold (~85 μmol mol-1) after which reduced growth was found at XE. Our results are consistent with Q. pyrenaica and Q. robur coexisting at the central and dry edge of the climatic species distribution, respectively, showing similar responses to buffer warmer conditions. In fact, the observed adjustments found for Q. robur point towards growth stability of similar rear-edge oak populations under warmer climate conditions. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Relationship between fine-root exudation and respiration of two Quercus species in a Japanese temperate forest.

PubMed

Sun, Lijuan; Ataka, Mioko; Kominami, Yuji; Yoshimura, Kenichi

2017-08-01

Plants allocate a considerable amount of carbon (C) to fine roots as respiration and exudation. Fine-root exudation could stimulate microbial activity, which further contributes to soil heterotrophic respiration. Although both root respiration and exudation are important components of belowground C cycling, how they relate to each other is less well known. In this study, we aimed to explore this relationship on mature trees growing in the field. The measurements were performed on two canopy species, Quercus serrata Thunb. and Quercus glauca, in a warm temperate forest. The respiration and exudation rates of the same fine-root segment were measured in parallel with a syringe-basis incubation and a closed static chamber, respectively. We also measured root traits and ectomycorrhizal colonization ratio because these indexes commonly relate to root respiration and reflect root physiology. The microbial activity enhanced by root exudation was investigated by comparing the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) between rhizosphere soils and bulk soils. Mean DOC concentration and MBC were ca two times higher in the rhizosphere soils and positively related to exudation rates, indicating that exudation further relates to the C dynamics in the soils. Flux rates of exudation and respiration were positively correlated with each other. Both root exudation and respiration rates positively related to ectomycorrhizal colonization and root tissue nitrogen, and therefore the relationship between the two fluxes may be attributed to fine-root activity. The flux rates of root respiration were 8.7 and 10.5 times as much as those of exudation on a root-length basis and a root-weight basis, respectively. In spite of the fact that flux rates of respiration and exudation varied enormously among the fine-root segments of the two Quercus species, exudation was in proportion to respiration. This result gives new insight into the fine-root C-allocation strategy and the belowground C dynamics. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Boletus durhamensis sp. nov. from North Carolina

Treesearch

Beatriz Ortiz-Santana; Alan E. Bessette; Owen L. McConnell

2016-01-01

A new bolete with cinnamon-brown pores, Boletus durhamensis, is described. Collected in northern North Carolina, it is possibly mycorrhizal with Quercus spp. Morphological and molecular characters support this taxon as a new species.

Insects of bur oak acorns

Treesearch

Lester P. Gibson

1971-01-01

During 1961-1969, the insects found damaging acorns of bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa Michauxii, in their order of importance were the weevils: Curculio pardalis (Chittenden), C. strictus (Casey), C. sulcatulus (Casey), C. iowensis (Casey), C. proboscideus...

Dry deposition of sulfate to Quercus rubra and Liriodendron tulipifera foliage

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

Vandenberg, J.J.

1987-01-01

Estimates were made of the rate of dry deposition to red oak (Quercus rubra) and tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) foliage. In the laboratory, radioactive ammonium sulfate aerosols were generated in an exposure chamber. These aerosols were dry deposited onto leaves that were sequentially washed to examine the efficacy of washing procedures in removal of surface deposits. Over 90% of dry deposited sulfate was removed after a 30 second wash duration. Laboratory procedures also estimated the magnitude of foliar sulfur that leached into leaf wash solutions. The majority of laboratory leaves demonstrated no leaching of sulfur from the internal pool. However,more » some leaves showed significant sulfur leaching. It was concluded that leaching of internal sulfur was highly leaf specific. This indicated that each leaf used in field experiments needed to be individually examined for leaching.« less

Chemical composition of barks from Quercus faginea trees and characterization of their lipophilic and polar extracts.

PubMed

Ferreira, Joana P A; Miranda, Isabel; Sousa, Vicelina B; Pereira, Helena

2018-01-01

The bark from Quercus faginea mature trees from two sites was chemically characterized for the first time. The barks showed the following composition: ash 14.6%, total extractives 13.2%, suberin 2.9% and lignin 28.2%. The polysaccharides were composed mainly of glucose and xylose (50.3% and 35.1% of all monosaccharides respectively) with 4.8% of uronic acids. The suberin composition was: ω-hydroxyacids 46.3% of total compounds, ɑ,ω-alkanoic diacids 22.3%, alkanoic acids 5.9%, alkanols 6.7% and aromatics 6.9% (ferulic acid 4.0%). Polar extracts (ethanol-water) had a high phenolic content of 630.3 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of extract, condensed tannins 220.7 mg of catechin equivalents (CE)/g extract, and flavonoids 207.7 mg CE/g of extract. The antioxidant activity was very high corresponding to 1567 mg Trolox equivalents/g of extract, and an IC50 of 2.63 μg extract/ml. The lipophilic extracts were constituted mainly by glycerol and its derivatives (12.3% of all compounds), alkanoic acids (27.8%), sterols (11.5%) and triterpenes (17.8%). In view of an integrated valorization, Quercus faginea barks are interesting sources of polar compounds including phenols and polyphenols with possible interesting bioactivities, while the sterols and triterpenes contained in the lipophilic extracts are also valuable bioactive compounds or chemical intermediates for specific high-value market niches, such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine.

Chemical composition of barks from Quercus faginea trees and characterization of their lipophilic and polar extracts

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

The bark from Quercus faginea mature trees from two sites was chemically characterized for the first time. The barks showed the following composition: ash 14.6%, total extractives 13.2%, suberin 2.9% and lignin 28.2%. The polysaccharides were composed mainly of glucose and xylose (50.3% and 35.1% of all monosaccharides respectively) with 4.8% of uronic acids. The suberin composition was: ω-hydroxyacids 46.3% of total compounds, ɑ,ω-alkanoic diacids 22.3%, alkanoic acids 5.9%, alkanols 6.7% and aromatics 6.9% (ferulic acid 4.0%). Polar extracts (ethanol-water) had a high phenolic content of 630.3 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of extract, condensed tannins 220.7 mg of catechin equivalents (CE)/g extract, and flavonoids 207.7 mg CE/g of extract. The antioxidant activity was very high corresponding to 1567 mg Trolox equivalents/g of extract, and an IC50 of 2.63 μg extract/ml. The lipophilic extracts were constituted mainly by glycerol and its derivatives (12.3% of all compounds), alkanoic acids (27.8%), sterols (11.5%) and triterpenes (17.8%). In view of an integrated valorization, Quercus faginea barks are interesting sources of polar compounds including phenols and polyphenols with possible interesting bioactivities, while the sterols and triterpenes contained in the lipophilic extracts are also valuable bioactive compounds or chemical intermediates for specific high-value market niches, such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine. PMID:29763441

[Effects of fire recurrence on fire behaviour in cork oak woodlands (Quercus suber L.) and Mediterranean shrublands over the last fifty years].

PubMed

Schaffhauser, Alice; Pimont, François; Curt, Thomas; Cassagne, Nathalie; Dupuy, Jean-Luc; Tatoni, Thierry

2015-12-01

Past fire recurrence impacts the vegetation structure, and it is consequently hypothesized to alter its future fire behaviour. We examined the fire behaviour in shrubland-forest mosaics of southeastern France, which were organized along a range of fire frequency (0 to 3-4 fires along the past 50 years) and had different time intervals between fires. The mosaic was dominated by Quercus suber L. and Erica-Cistus shrubland communities. We described the vegetation structure through measurements of tree height, base of tree crown or shrub layer, mean diameter, cover, plant water content and bulk density. We used the physical model Firetec to simulate the fire behaviour. Fire intensity, fire spread, plant water content and biomass loss varied significantly according to fire recurrence and vegetation structure, mainly linked to the time since the last fire, then the number of fires. These results confirm that past fire recurrence affects future fire behaviour, with multi-layered vegetation (particularly high shrublands) producing more intense fires, contrary to submature Quercus woodlands that have not burnt since 1959 and that are unlikely to reburn. Further simulations, with more vegetation scenes according to shrub and canopy covers, will complete this study in order to discuss the fire propagation risk in heterogeneous vegetation, particularly in the Mediterranean area, with a view to a local management of these ecosystems. Copyright © 2015 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Rates of Water Loss and Uptake in Recalcitrant Fruits of Quercus Species Are Determined by Pericarp Anatomy

PubMed Central

Xia, Ke; Daws, Matthew I.; Stuppy, Wolfgang; Zhou, Zhe-Kun; Pritchard, Hugh W.

2012-01-01

Desiccation-sensitive recalcitrant seeds and fruits are killed by the loss of even moderate quantities of water. Consequently, minimizing the rate of water loss may be an important ecological factor and evolutionary driver by reducing the risk of mortality during post-dispersal dry-spells. For recalcitrant fruits of a range of Quercus species, prolonged drying times have been observed previously. However, the underlying mechanism(s) for this variation is unknown. Using nine Quercus species we investigated the major route(s) of water flow into and out of the fruits and analysed the relative importance of the different pericarp components and their anatomy on water uptake/loss. During imbibition (rehydration), the surface area of the cupule scar and the frequency and area of the vascular bundles contained therein were significantly correlated with the rates of water uptake across the scar. The vascular bundles serving the apex of the fruit were a minor contributor to overall water. Further, the rate of water uptake across the remainder of the pericarp surface was significantly correlated with the thickness of the vascularised inner layer in the pericarp. Fruits of Q. franchetii and Q. schottkyana dried most slowly and had a comparatively small scar surface area with few vascular bundles per unit area. These species inhabit drier regions than the other species studied, suggesting these anatomical features may have ecological value by reducing the risk of desiccation stress. However, this remains to be tested in the field. PMID:23071795

Tree-ring growth and wood chemistry response to manipulated precipitation variation for two temperate Quercus species

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

Wagner, Rebekah J.; Kaye, Margot W.; Abrams, Marc D.

2012-01-01

We examined the relationship among ambient and manipulated precipitation, wood chemistry, and their relationship with radial growth for two oak species in eastern Tennessee. The study took place on the Walker Branch Throughfall Displacement Experiment (TDE) site, located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. Two dominant species, white oak (Quercus alba) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), were selected for study from a 13-year experiment of whole-stand precipitation manipulation (wet, ambient and dry). The relationships between tree-ring width and climate were compared for both species to determine the impact of precipitation manipulations on ring width index. Thismore » study used experimental spectroscopy techniques to measure the sensitivity of tree-ring responses to directional changes in precipitation over 13 years, and the results suggest that oaks at this study site are resilient to imposed changes, but sensitive to inter-annual variations in climate. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) allowed us to measure nutrient intensities (similar to element concentrations) at 0.5-1.0 mm spacing along the radial growth axis of trees growing in the wet, ambient, and dry treatment sites. A difference in stemwood nutrient levels was observed between the two oak species and among the three treatments. Significant variation in element intensity was observed across treatments for some elements (Ca, K, Mg, Na, N and P) suggesting the potential for long-term impacts on growth under a changing climate regimes for southeastern oaks.« less

Typical and Atypical Neurodevelopment for Face Specialization: An fMRI Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joseph, Jane E.; Zhu, Xun; Gundran, Andrew; Davies, Faraday; Clark, Jonathan D.; Ruble, Lisa; Glaser, Paul; Bhatt, Ramesh S.

2015-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their relatives process faces differently from typically developed (TD) individuals. In an fMRI face-viewing task, TD and undiagnosed sibling (SIB) children (5-18 years) showed face specialization in the right amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, with left fusiform and right amygdala face…

Genetic recombinational and physical linkage analyses on slash pine

Treesearch

Rob Doudrick

1996-01-01

Slash pine is native to the southeastern USA, but is commercially valuable world-wide as a timber-,fiber- and resin-producing species. Breeding objectives emphasize selection for fusiform rust disease resistance. Identification of markers linked to genetic factors conditioning specificity should expand our knowledge of disease development. Towards this end, random...

Animal, but Not Human, Faces Engage the Distributed Face Network in Adolescents with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whyte, Elisabeth M.; Behrmann, Marlene; Minshew, Nancy J.; Garcia, Natalie V.; Scherf, K. Suzanne

2016-01-01

Multiple hypotheses have been offered to explain the impaired face-processing behavior and the accompanying underlying disruptions in neural circuitry among individuals with autism. We explored the specificity of atypical face-processing activation and potential alterations to fusiform gyrus (FG) morphology as potential underlying mechanisms.…

Preparation and certification of hijiki reference material, NMIJ CRM 7405-a, from the edible marine algae hijiki (Hizikia fusiforme).

PubMed

Narukawa, Tomohiro; Inagaki, Kazumi; Zhu, Yanbei; Kuroiwa, Takayoshi; Narushima, Izumi; Chiba, Koichi; Hioki, Akiharu

2012-02-01

A certified reference material, NMIJ CRM 7405-a, for the determination of trace elements and As(V) in algae was developed from the edible marine hijiki (Hizikia fusiforme) and certified by the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Hijiki was collected from the Pacific coast in the Kanto area of Japan, and was washed, dried, powdered, and homogenized. The hijiki powder was placed in 400 bottles (ca. 20 g each). The concentrations of 18 trace elements and As(V) were determined by two to four independent analytical techniques, including (ID)ICP-(HR)MS, ICP-OES, GFAAS, and HPLC-ICP-MS using calibration solutions prepared from the elemental standard solution of Japan calibration service system (JCSS) and the NMIJ CRM As(V) solution, and whose concentrations are certified and SI traceable. The uncertainties of all the measurements and preparation procedures were evaluated. The values of 18 trace elements and As(V) in the CRM were certified with uncertainty (k = 2).

Noise-induced plasticity of KCNQ2/3 and HCN channels underlies vulnerability and resilience to tinnitus

PubMed Central

Li, Shuang; Kalappa, Bopanna I; Tzounopoulos, Thanos

2015-01-01

Vulnerability to noise-induced tinnitus is associated with increased spontaneous firing rate in dorsal cochlear nucleus principal neurons, fusiform cells. This hyperactivity is caused, at least in part, by decreased Kv7.2/3 (KCNQ2/3) potassium currents. However, the biophysical mechanisms underlying resilience to tinnitus, which is observed in noise-exposed mice that do not develop tinnitus (non-tinnitus mice), remain unknown. Our results show that noise exposure induces, on average, a reduction in KCNQ2/3 channel activity in fusiform cells in noise-exposed mice by 4 days after exposure. Tinnitus is developed in mice that do not compensate for this reduction within the next 3 days. Resilience to tinnitus is developed in mice that show a re-emergence of KCNQ2/3 channel activity and a reduction in HCN channel activity. Our results highlight KCNQ2/3 and HCN channels as potential targets for designing novel therapeutics that may promote resilience to tinnitus. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07242.001 PMID:26312501

15q11.2 CNV affects cognitive, structural and functional correlates of dyslexia and dyscalculia.

PubMed

Ulfarsson, M O; Walters, G B; Gustafsson, O; Steinberg, S; Silva, A; Doyle, O M; Brammer, M; Gudbjartsson, D F; Arnarsdottir, S; Jonsdottir, G A; Gisladottir, R S; Bjornsdottir, G; Helgason, H; Ellingsen, L M; Halldorsson, J G; Saemundsen, E; Stefansdottir, B; Jonsson, L; Eiriksdottir, V K; Eiriksdottir, G R; Johannesdottir, G H; Unnsteinsdottir, U; Jonsdottir, B; Magnusdottir, B B; Sulem, P; Thorsteinsdottir, U; Sigurdsson, E; Brandeis, D; Meyer-Lindenberg, A; Stefansson, H; Stefansson, K

2017-04-25

Several copy number variants have been associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and these variants have been shown to also influence cognitive abilities in carriers unaffected by psychiatric disorders. Previously, we associated the 15q11.2(BP1-BP2) deletion with specific learning disabilities and a larger corpus callosum. Here we investigate, in a much larger sample, the effect of the 15q11.2(BP1-BP2) deletion on cognitive, structural and functional correlates of dyslexia and dyscalculia. We report that the deletion confers greatest risk of the combined phenotype of dyslexia and dyscalculia. We also show that the deletion associates with a smaller left fusiform gyrus. Moreover, tailored functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments using phonological lexical decision and multiplication verification tasks demonstrate altered activation in the left fusiform and the left angular gyri in carriers. Thus, by using convergent evidence from neuropsychological testing, and structural and functional neuroimaging, we show that the 15q11.2(BP1-BP2) deletion affects cognitive, structural and functional correlates of both dyslexia and dyscalculia.

15q11.2 CNV affects cognitive, structural and functional correlates of dyslexia and dyscalculia

PubMed Central

Ulfarsson, M O; Walters, G B; Gustafsson, O; Steinberg, S; Silva, A; Doyle, O M; Brammer, M; Gudbjartsson, D F; Arnarsdottir, S; Jonsdottir, G A; Gisladottir, R S; Bjornsdottir, G; Helgason, H; Ellingsen, L M; Halldorsson, J G; Saemundsen, E; Stefansdottir, B; Jonsson, L; Eiriksdottir, V K; Eiriksdottir, G R; Johannesdottir, G H; Unnsteinsdottir, U; Jonsdottir, B; Magnusdottir, B B; Sulem, P; Thorsteinsdottir, U; Sigurdsson, E; Brandeis, D; Meyer-Lindenberg, A; Stefansson, H; Stefansson, K

2017-01-01

Several copy number variants have been associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and these variants have been shown to also influence cognitive abilities in carriers unaffected by psychiatric disorders. Previously, we associated the 15q11.2(BP1–BP2) deletion with specific learning disabilities and a larger corpus callosum. Here we investigate, in a much larger sample, the effect of the 15q11.2(BP1–BP2) deletion on cognitive, structural and functional correlates of dyslexia and dyscalculia. We report that the deletion confers greatest risk of the combined phenotype of dyslexia and dyscalculia. We also show that the deletion associates with a smaller left fusiform gyrus. Moreover, tailored functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments using phonological lexical decision and multiplication verification tasks demonstrate altered activation in the left fusiform and the left angular gyri in carriers. Thus, by using convergent evidence from neuropsychological testing, and structural and functional neuroimaging, we show that the 15q11.2(BP1–BP2) deletion affects cognitive, structural and functional correlates of both dyslexia and dyscalculia. PMID:28440815

Right Occipital Cortex Activation Correlates with Superior Odor Processing Performance in the Early Blind

PubMed Central

Grandin, Cécile B.; Dricot, Laurence; Plaza, Paula; Lerens, Elodie; Rombaux, Philippe; De Volder, Anne G.

2013-01-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in ten early blind humans, we found robust occipital activation during two odor-processing tasks (discrimination or categorization of fruit and flower odors), as well as during control auditory-verbal conditions (discrimination or categorization of fruit and flower names). We also found evidence for reorganization and specialization of the ventral part of the occipital cortex, with dissociation according to stimulus modality: the right fusiform gyrus was most activated during olfactory conditions while part of the left ventral lateral occipital complex showed a preference for auditory-verbal processing. Only little occipital activation was found in sighted subjects, but the same right-olfactory/left-auditory-verbal hemispheric lateralization was found overall in their brain. This difference between the groups was mirrored by superior performance of the blind in various odor-processing tasks. Moreover, the level of right fusiform gyrus activation during the olfactory conditions was highly correlated with individual scores in a variety of odor recognition tests, indicating that the additional occipital activation may play a functional role in odor processing. PMID:23967263