Ommatidial heterogeneity in the compound eye of the male small white butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora

The ommatidia in the ventral two-thirds of the compound eye of male Pieris rapae crucivora are not uniform. Each ommatidium contains nine photoreceptor cells. Four cells (R1-4) form the distal two-thirds of the rhabdom, four cells (R5-8) approximately occupy the proximal one-third of the rhabdom, and the ninth cell (R9) takes up a minor basal part of the rhabdom. The R5-8 photoreceptor cells contain clusters of reddish pigment adjacent to the rhabdom. From the position of the pigment clusters, three types of ommatidia can be identified: the trapezoidal (type I), square (type II), and rectangular type (type III). Microspectrophotometry with an epi-illumination microscope has revealed that the reflectance spectra of type I and type III ommatidia peak at 635 nm and those of type II ommatidia peak at 675 nm. The bandwith of the reflectance spectra is 40-50 nm. Type II ommatidia strongly fluoresce under ultra-violet and violet epi-illumination. The three types of ommatidia are randomly distributed. The ommatidial heterogeneity is presumably crucial for color discrimination

Single Spin Asymmetry in Lepton Angular Distribution of Drell-Yan Processes

We study the single spin asymmetry in the lepton angular distribution of Drell-Yan processes in the frame work of collinear factorization. The asymmetry has been studied in the past and different results have been obtained. In our study we take an approach different than that used in the existing study. We explicitly calculate the transverse-spin dependent part of the differential cross-section with suitable parton states. Because the spin is transverse, one has to take multi-parton states for the purpose. Our result agrees with one of the existing results. A possible reason for the disagreement with others is discussed.Comment: Typos corrected. Conclusions unchange

Relationship between Desalination Performance of Graphene Oxide Membranes and Edge Functional Groups

High desalination efficiency in principle could be achieved by layer-by-layer graphene oxide (GO) membranes, which benefits from their entrance-functionalized channels assembled by edge-functionalized GO nanosheets. The effects of these edge functional groups on desalination, however, are not fully understood yet. To study the isolated influence of three typical edge functional groups, namely, carboxyl (-COOH), hydroxyl (-OH), and hydrogen (-H), molecular dynamics simulation was used in this work. The results revealed that the edge volumetric blockage effect, resulting in ion permeability at G-H > G-OH > G-COOH membranes, was the dominant mechanistic effect inside the GO membranes with 7 Å interlayer channels. The OH edge has the same effect as the H edge in NaCl/water selectivity because of a unique "ion pulling" effect. Moreover, the OH and H edge-functionalized membranes with 7 Å interlayer channels showed preferential Na+ and Cl- rejections, respectively. This kind of preference leads to a cycle of charging and neutralization in the penetrant reservoir throughout the filtration process. The results from this work suggested that it would be strategic to keep the COOH and H edge functional groups, to maintain the size of interlayer channels in order to stimulate the effects of edge functional groups, and to increase the membrane porosity for designing higher desalination efficiency GO membranes

Comparison of the effects of edge functionalized graphene oxide membranes on monovalent cation selectivity

Layer-by-layer graphene oxide (GO) membrane in principle has great potential in separating Li+ from monovalent cations, which is achieved by their functionalized interlayer entrance. The edge effects on different monovalent ions, however, are not fully understood. Therefore, molecular dynamics simulations were utilized in this study to separately elucidate the filtration effects of three typical edge functional groups, which were carboxyl (COOH), hydroxyl (OH), and hydrogen (H), on the LiCl, NaCl, and KCl solutions. The results revealed that the water permeance was dominantly influenced by the steric size of edge functional groups. It could also be affected by the ions blocked at the entrance. The drastic dehydration of the hydrated Na+ and K+ caused by the OH edge required more energy that led to higher ion rejection. The compressed-dehydrated hydration shell, which was tuned by the edge functional groups, introduced repulsion from Na+ and attraction from Li+ on Cl− when they were 3–5 Å away from each other. It would be strategic to use all three edge functional groups to retain NaCl in the retentate stream while allowing selective permeance of LiCl and the OH edge could additionally retain KCl

Effects of Edge Functional Groups on Water Transport in Graphene Oxide Membranes

Graphene oxide (GO) membranes assembled by GO nanosheets exhibit high water flux because of the unique water channels formed by their functionalized layer-by-layer structure. Although water transport in the GO membrane is in principle influenced by the functional groups at the edges of GO nanosheets, this is yet to be fully understood. To fill this knowledge gap, molecular dynamics simulation was employed in this work to gain insights into the influences of three typical edge functional groups of GO nanosheets: Carboxyl (COOH), hydroxyl (OH), and hydrogen (H). A well-controlled numerical analysis with complete isolation of the functional groups at the edges was undertaken. The results reveal that the COOH group has a negative impact on water transport because of its relatively large steric geometric structure, which resists water flow. By contrast, the OH group promotes water transport by uniquely "pulling" water molecules across the nanosheet layer because of its relatively stronger interaction with water. The H atom promotes water transport as well, mainly because of its low-resistance steric structure. Moreover, the size of the inter-edge hub has an apparent impact on the influence of these functional groups on water transport. The results suggest that in the design of high water flux GO membranes, it would be strategic to remove COOH edge functional groups while maintaining a mixture of OH and H edge functional groups

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

Novel interactions of transglutaminase-2 with heparan sulphate proteoglycans: reflection on physiological implications

This mini-review brings together information from publications and recent conference proceedings that have shed light on the biological interaction between transglutaminase-2 and heparan sulphate proteoglycans. We subsequently draw hypothesis of possible implications in the wound healing process. There is a substantial overlap in the action of transglutaminase-2 and the heparan sulphate proteoglycan syndecan-4 in normal and abnormal wound repair. Our latest findings have identified syndecan-4 as a possible binding and signalling partner of fibronectinbound TG2 and support the idea that transglutaminase-2 and syndecan-4 acts in synergy

Ameliorative Effects of Neurolytic Celiac Plexus Block on Stress and Inflammation in Rats with Partial Hepatectomy

Purpose: To investigate effects of neurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB) on stress and inflammation in rats with partial hepatectomy (PH).Methods: A model of PH rat was established, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP); corticosterone (GC); adrenocorticotropin (ACTH); noradrenaline (NA); adrenalin (AD); aspartate transaminase (AST); alanine transaminase (ALT); as well as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α); interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6; high mobility group box1 (HMGB1); and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in serum assessed after PH. Additionally, Western blotting was performed to determine the effect of NCPB on expressions of glucocorticoid receptors (GR), inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (IκB), p65, c-Jun and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) of PH rats, as well as assay effects of NCPB on nuclear translocation of GR, c- Jun and p65. DNA binding activities of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1) were also determined.Results: NCPB reduced AST and ALT (P &lt; 0.05), decreased secretion of inflammatory cytokines and NO (P &lt; 0.05), as well as decreased CRP, GC, ACTH, NA and AD after PH (p &lt; 0.05). NCPB increased expressions of GR and IκB, but expressions of p65, c-Jun, and iNOS (p &lt; 0.05). Additionally, NCPB increased nuclear translocation of GR (p &lt; 0.01), but decreased nuclear translocation of p65 and c-Jun after PH (p &lt; 0.05). Additionally, DNA binding activity of NF-κB and AP-1 was decreased by NCPB (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: The results indicate that NCPB treatment can significantly inhibit stress and inflammation in PH rats.Keywords: Neurolytic celiac plexus block, Cytokine, Nuclear translocation, Partial hepatectomy, Stress, Inflammatio

Leaf colour as a signal of chemical defence to insect herbivores in wild cabbage (Brassica Oleracea)

Leaf colour has been proposed to signal levels of host defence to insect herbivores, but we lack data on herbivory, leaf colour and levels of defence for wild host populations necessary to test this hypothesis. Such a test requires measurements of leaf spectra as they would be sensed by herbivore visual systems, as well as simultaneous measurements of chemical defences and herbivore responses to leaf colour in natural host-herbivore populations. In a large-scale field survey of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) populations, we show that variation in leaf colour and brightness, measured according to herbivore spectral sensitivities, predicts both levels of chemical defences (glucosinolates) and abundance of specialist lepidopteran (Pieris rapae) and hemipteran (Brevicoryne brassicae) herbivores. In subsequent experiments, P. rapae larvae achieved faster growth and greater pupal mass when feeding on plants with bluer leaves, which contained lower levels of aliphatic glucosinolates. Glucosinolate-mediated effects on larval performance may thus contribute to the association between P. rapae herbivory and leaf colour observed in the field. However, preference tests found no evidence that adult butterflies selected host plants based on leaf coloration. In the field, B. brassicae abundance varied with leaf brightness but greenhouse experiments were unable to identify any effects of brightness on aphid preference or performance. Our findings suggest that although leaf colour reflects both levels of host defences and herbivore abundance in the field, the ability of herbivores to respond to colour signals may be limited, even in species where performance is correlated with leaf colour

Experimental studies of e + e -→ some charmless processes containing K S0 at √s = 3.773 and 3.65 GeV

We measure the observed cross sections for the charmless processes e + e -→K S0 K - K - K + π ++ c.c., K S0 K - π + η+c.c., K S0 K - π + π + π - η+c.c., K S0 K - K - K + π + η+c.c., K S0 K - K - K + π + π 0+c.c., K S0 K - ρ ++c.c. and K S0 K - π + ρ 0+c.c. We also extract upper limits on the branching fractions for ψ(3770) decays into these final states at 90% C.L. Analyzed data samples correspond to 17.3 pb-1 and 6.5 pb-1 integrated luminosities registered, respectively, at √s = 3.773 and 3.65 GeV, with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider. © 2009 Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica.published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201