The thermal requirements of ectotherms may vary among species due to adaptation to different thermal environments. Nevertheless, some of these requirements are evolutionarily conserved, leading ...organisms to compensate behaviorally for harsh environmental conditions. High-mountain systems provide temperature gradients that allow for studies of evolutionary and plastic variation in thermal ecology under natural conditions. We evaluated the thermoregulation strategies of Sceloporus grammicus Wiegmann, 1828 at three points (2600, 3100, and 4150 m above sea level) along an altitudinal gradient. We found that the thermal quality of the site and the body temperatures of lizards are influenced by altitude and decrease with increasing elevation. However, lizards from the three different elevations have similar thermal requirements. High-altitude lizards have lower thermal accuracy and efficiency indices compared with those from the lower sites, owing to the low thermal quality of their environment. Nevertheless, they are efficient in thermoregulation, increasing their body temperature above the ambient temperature. We found that pregnant females from all three elevations had similar preferred body temperatures. Compared with nonpregnant females and males, they exhibited lower preferred temperatures and more accurate thermoregulation. The wide altitudinal distribution of S. grammicus is thus not caused by variable thermal requirements. Instead, the wide repertoire of physiological and behavioral strategies of these lizards allows this species to successfully inhabit contrasting environments.
•Combined treatments decreased phenolic compounds and wine colour intensity.•Combined treatments increased polysaccharides and modified volatiles in wines.•Ultrasounds and IDY addition had a negative ...influence in the wine sensorial profile.•Microwaves and IDY addition are a promising alternative for red wine ageing on lees.
Ageing on lees is a slow process that carries microbiological and economic risks in the wineries. This study evaluates the possibility of enhancing the extraction of different compounds from the lees, using combined strategies, such as ultrasound (US) or microwaves (MW) and the addition of inactive dry yeasts (IDY), to reduce the lees ageing time. The complete chemical analysis of the wine was done, amino acids, polysaccharides, colour and volatile compounds, together with the sensory analysis. The combined treatments increased the release of total polysaccharides, mannoproteins and total monosaccharides in the wines, and some amino acids like proline. However, wines treated with US and MW, with and without lees, showed a decrease in tannins and colour intensity, and in some volatile compounds like fatty acid esters, acetates and terpenes. The wines treated with IDY and MW were the best valued for their floral and red berry flavours and less astringency.
We identify Rbiv 1.5973 and Cdiv 1.7204 mum emission lines in high-resolution (R= 40,000) near-infrared spectra of the planetary nebulae (PNe) NGC 7027 and IC 5117, obtained with the Immersion ...GRating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) on the 2.7 m telescope at McDonald Observatory. We also identify Gevi 2.1930 mum in NGC 7027. Alternate identifications for these features are ruled out based on the absence of other multiplet members and/or transitions with the same upper levels. Ge, Rb, and Cd can be enriched in PNe by s-process nucleosynthesis during the asymptotic giant branch stage of evolution. To determine ionic abundances, we calculate Rbiv collision strengths and use approximations for those of Cdiv and Gevi. Our identification of Rbiv 1.5973 mum is supported by the agreement between Rb super(3+)/H super(+) abundances found from this line and the 5759.55 A feature in NGC 7027. Elemental Rb, Cd, and Ge abundances are derived with ionization corrections based on similarities in ionization potential ranges between the detected ions and O and Ne ionization states. Our analysis indicates abundances 2-4 times solar for Rb and Cd in both nebulae. Ge is subsolar in NGC 7027, but its abundance is uncertain due to the large and uncertain ionization correction. The general consistency of the measured relative s-process enrichments with predictions from models appropriate for these PNe (2.0-2.5 M sub(middot in circle), Fe/H = -0.37) demonstrates the potential of using PN compositions to test s-process nucleosynthesis models.
Despite ongoing ethical debate concerning who should control decisions to discontinue life support for incapacitated, critically ill patients, the perspectives of surrogate decision makers are poorly ...understood.
To determine (1) what degree of decisional authority surrogates prefer for value-sensitive life support decisions compared with more technical biomedical decisions, and (2) what predicts surrogates' preferences for more control over life support decisions.
This was a prospective study of 230 surrogate decision makers for incapacitated, mechanically ventilated patients at high risk of death. Surrogates reported their preferred degree of decisional authority using the Degner Control Preferences Scale for two types of decisions: a value-sensitive decision about whether to discontinue life support and a decision regarding which antibiotic to prescribe for an infection.
The majority of surrogates (55%, 127/230; 95% confidence interval, 49-62%) preferred to have final control over the value-sensitive life support decision; 40% (91/230) wished to share control equally with the physician; 5% (12/230) of surrogates wanted the physician to make the decision. Surrogates preferred significantly more control over the value-sensitive life support decision compared with the technical decision about choice of antibiotics (P < 0.0001). Factors independently associated with surrogates' preference for more control over the life support decision were: less trust in the intensive care unit physician, male sex, and non-Catholic religious affiliation.
Surrogates vary in their desire for decisional authority for value-sensitive life support decisions, but prefer substantially more authority for this type of decision compared with technical, medical judgments. Low trust in physicians is associated with surrogates preferring more control of life support decisions.
We present a novel ion trap fabrication method enabling the realization of multilayer ion traps scalable to an in principle arbitrary number of metal-dielectric levels. We benchmark our method by ...fabricating a multilayer ion trap with integrated three-dimensional microwave circuitry. We demonstrate ion trapping and microwave control of the hyperfine states of a laser cooled 9Be+ ion held at a distance of 35 m above the trap surface. This method can be used to implement large-scale ion trap arrays for scalable quantum information processing and quantum simulation.
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•We report hBN nanosheets with homonuclear bonds by DFT methods.•Magnetic properties emerge in homonuclear bonds hBN nanosheets ions.•The structural stability of the hBN nanosheets is ...achieved according vibrational calculation.•The quantum descriptors give a glimpse of their applications as possible drug delivery.
Design and characterization of the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of armchair boron-nitride, BN (B27N27H18), nanosheets were performed by means of density functional theory all-electron calculations. The HSEh1PBE-GGA method together with 6-31G(d) basis sets were used. Non-stoichiometric B30N24H18 and B24N30H18 compositions: rich in boron or nitrogen atoms, forming homonuclear B or N bonds, respectively, were chosen. The obtained results reveal that these BN nanosheets reach structural stability in the anionic form, where semiconductor and magnetic behaviors are promoted. Effectively, the HOMO-LUMO gap is of 2.03 and 2.39eV, respectively and the magnetic moments are of 1.0 magneton bohrs, coming from the boron atoms in both systems. The rich in boron nanosheets present high-polarity, either in the gas phase or embedded in aqueous mediums like water, as well as low chemical reactivity, signifying potential applicability in the transportation of pharmaceutical species in biological mediums. These systems are also promising for the design of electronic devices, because they possess low-work functions, mainly arising from the homonuclear boron or nitrogen bond formation.
Colony-stimulating factor 1 (Csf1) is an essential growth factor for osteoclast progenitors and an important regulator for bone resorption. It remains elusive which mesenchymal cells synthesize
to ...stimulate osteoclastogenesis. We recently identified a novel mesenchymal cell population, marrow adipogenic lineage precursors (MALPs), in bone. Compared to other mesenchymal subpopulations, MALPs expressed
at a much higher level and this expression was further increased during aging. To investigate its role, we constructed MALP-deficient
CKO mice using
. These mice had increased femoral trabecular bone mass, but their cortical bone appeared normal. In comparison, depletion of Csf1 in the entire mesenchymal lineage using
led to a more striking high bone mass phenotype, suggesting that additional mesenchymal subpopulations secrete Csf1. TRAP staining revealed diminished osteoclasts in the femoral secondary spongiosa region of
CKO
mice, but not at the chondral-osseous junction nor at the endosteal surface of cortical bone. Moreover,
CKO
mice were resistant to LPS-induced calvarial osteolysis. Bone marrow cellularity, hematopoietic progenitors, and macrophages were also reduced in these mice. Taken together, our studies demonstrate that MALPs synthesize Csf1 to control bone remodeling and hematopoiesis.
Updated opacities from the Opacity Project Badnell, N. R.; Bautista, M. A.; Butler, K. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
06/2005, Letnik:
360, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Using the code autostructure, extensive calculations of inner-shell atomic data have been made for the chemical elements He, C, N, O, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ar, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni. The results are ...used to obtain updated opacities from the Opacity Project (OP). A number of other improvements on earlier work have also been included. Rosseland-mean opacities from the OP are compared with those from OPAL. Differences of 5–10 per cent occur. The OP gives the ‘Z-bump’, at log(T) ≃ 5.2, to be shifted to slightly higher temperatures. The opacities from the OP, as functions of temperature and density, are smoother than those from OPAL. The accuracy of the integrations used to obtain mean opacities can depend on the frequency mesh used. Tests involving variation of the numbers of frequency points show that for typical chemical mixtures the OP integrations are numerically correct to within 0.1 per cent. The accuracy of the interpolations used to obtain mean opacities for any required values of temperature and density depends on the temperature–density meshes used. Extensive tests show that, for all cases of practical interest, the OP interpolations give results correct to better than 1 per cent. Prior to a number of recent investigations which have indicated a need for downward revisions in the solar abundances of oxygen and other elements, there was good agreement between properties of the Sun deduced from helioseismology and from stellar evolution models calculated using OPAL opacities. The revisions destroy that agreement. In a recent paper, Bahcall et al. argue that the agreement would be restored if opacities for the regions of the Sun with 2 × 106≲T≲ 5 × 106 K (0.7–0.4 R⊙) were larger than those given by OPAL by about 10 per cent. In the region concerned, the present results from the OP do not differ from those of OPAL by more than 2.5 per cent.
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