Why do children walk when falling down while adults fall down in walking?

Some posturo-dynamical features of early gait have been studied in 5 children a few weeks after onset of independent walking and are analysed in comparison with adult gait. During the single support phases, the vertical acceleration of center of gravity of the child is negative and remains positive only during the double support phases. For the adult, the vertical acceleration of the center of gravity is positive before the time of heel contact. During the single support phases of the independent gait, the child does not have the same postural capacity to maintain his balance with respect to the gravitational forces and control of the vertical position of his center of gravity is different of the adult.     

Why do Neurons Enter the Cell Cycle?

Increasing evidence indicates that postmitotic, terminally differentiated neurons activate the cell cycle before death. The purpose of this cell cycle activation, however, remains elusive. In proliferating cells, cell cycle machinery is a major contributor to the DNA damage response, which is comprised of growth arrest. In quiescent cells such as terminally differentiated neurons, cell cycle-associated events may also be part of the DNA damage response. A link between DNA damage and repair, cell cycle regulation and cell death is becoming increasingly recognized for cycling cells but remains elusive for quiescent cells. Neurons are particularly susceptible to oxidative stress due to the high rate of oxidative metabolism in the brain and the low level of antioxidant enzymes compared to other somatic tissues. This is supported by fact that the intracellular end point of many neurotoxic stimuli is oxidative stress, which also represents a major cause of the neuropathology underlying a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. DNA is perhaps the major target of oxyradicals. Thus, oxidative stress may cause DNA damage, which is countered by a complex defense mechanism, the DNA damage response, which involves not only the elimination of DNA damage, but its coordination with other cellular processes such as cell-cycle progression, together directing to preserve genomic integrity. The function of such response is the removal of DNA damage by DNA repair pathways, or the elimination of damaged cells via apoptosis. The present review discusses the idea that the cell cycle machinery is a critical element of the DNA damage response not only in cycling, but also quiescent cells, and may bear the same function: to repair the damage or initiate apoptosis if the damage is too extensive to be repaired.     

Why are so many trees hollow?

In many living trees, much of the interior of the trunk can be rotten or even hollowed out. Previously, this has been suggested to be adaptive, with microbial or animal consumption of interior wood producing a rain of nutrients to the soil beneath the tree that allows recycling of those nutrients into new growth via the trees roots. Here I propose an alternative (non-exclusive) explanation: such loss of wood comes at very little cost to the tree and so investment in costly chemical defence of this wood is not economic. I discuss how this theory can be tested empirically.     

Why are rags tied to the sacred trees of the Holy Land?

A field study to survey the custom of tying rags on sacred trees in the northern part of Israel was carried out during 2000–2001. It included 60 interviewees: 24 Druze, 18 Moslem Arabs, 12 Moslem Bedouins and 6 Christian Arab individuals. Tree veneration was found to be quite uncommon among the Bedouins and rare among the Christian Arabs. The results of the present study suggest there are 17 reasons for tying rags on sacred trees. Five reasons, as far as the author is aware, were not previously reported from the literature (i.e., breaking an oath, marking a blessed tree, marking the road to a blessed tree, asking for permission to pick fruit, and setting out rags for needy people). These usages appear to be endemic to Israel and to the Druze. Two customs previously reported from Israel but not corroborated by the present survey are to pacify a tree’s spirit and as a charm for new clothes. Three of the 17 known reasons for tying rags on sacred trees are also known from regions beyond the Middle East (i.e., to transfer illness to the tree, to use a rag as a visiting card, and to pacify the tree’s spirits). And lastly, several customs never reported before from Israel appear to stem from the belief in ancient pagan polytheistic religions (to ensure a good yield, offerings to a tree’s deities/spirits, to pacify the ancestor’s spirits, to commemorate a death, and to pacify a tree’s spirit while picking fruits). Twelve of the reported 17 reasons for hanging rags on sacred trees are known from Israel. These findings elucidate the widespread and variable tree worship traditions that are prevalent today in the region. In spite of a monotheistic ban against ancient pagan beliefs, trees still remain a subject of worship in Israel today, as manifested by the daily tying of rags upon branches.     

Why do species exist? Insights from sexuals and asexuals

Why does life diversify into the more or less discrete entities we recognise as species? Two main explanations have been proposed: i) species are a consequence of adaptation to different ecological niches, ii) species are a consequence of sexual reproduction and reproductive isolation. Phylogenetic studies of case-study groups can provide insights into the relative importance of divergent selection and isolation for speciation, but it can be difficult to infer causes of speciation unambiguously. The example of North American tiger beetles from the genus Cicindela is discussed. An alternative approach is to compare diversification between related sexual and asexual taxa to infer the relative importance of the two explanations. We outline expected patterns of diversification in sexual and asexual lineages under different scenarios using coalescent theory. Whether sexuals or asexuals diversify to a greater extent depends on the balance among various stages of diversification, particularly on the effects of sexual reproduction on rates of adaptive evolution. Rotifers offer a unique system to test these ideas, allowing comparison of patterns of genetic and functional morphological diversification in sexual (bdelloid) and asexual (monogonont) clades.     

Why do some fish do it younger than others? learning from experiments

Atlantic salmon in Maine were once abundant but have become depleted, and are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Historically, salmon numbers in Maine may have been as high as 100 000 adults, but habitat loss, pollution and overfishing have contributed to the decline of the species. In 2000, only 110 adults returned to spawn in Maine rivers. Maine produces c. 15 000 metric tons/year of aquacultured Atlantic salmon from a total of nearly 600 coastal net pens. Escapees from these pens may interact with the wild salmon. The dynamics of salmon populations under such conditions are poorly understood. In order to illuminate the role aquaculture may play in such a system, we have developed a model for simulating population trajectories for both wild salmon and competing populations derived from aquaculture escapes. The model simulates a small population of wild salmon based in a stream/estuary system, into which an aquaculture facility is losing fish to escapes. Biological parameters in the model were estimated as much as possible from data in the USFWS report on Maine salmon. We used the model to investigate the consequences of a variety of ecological interactions between the wild and cultured fish including competitive, genetic and disease effects. Initial results indicate that many of these effects allow the aquaculture‐derived population to supplant the wild fish, but that wild populations may still persist under some conditions.     

Why is the world green? The interactions of top–down and bottom–up processes in terrestrial vegetation ecology

A classic question in plant ecology is “why is the world green?” That is, if plants are food for animals why do not animals eat all the available food – changing a ‘green world’ into a ‘brown world’. We first reviewed this question in 2009 and now revisit our arguments in the light of new data and new thinking. Here we argue that (1) the top–down bottom–up dichotomy is probably too simple for understanding a complex system – such as vegetation – rich in feedback processes. (2) Nevertheless it appears that bottom–up processes are generally more important for maintaining the presence of some sort of vegetation while top–down control process are generally more important in determining the type of vegetation at a site. (3) Although this review mainly takes a qualitative and experimental approach to the question, we also argue that simple well-known mathematical models from population ecology can be very informative in thinking about the types of explanations for the green world phenomenon, and demonstrating that it is rarely a simple choice between one form of control or another.     

Adaptive function of duodichogamy: Why do chestnut trees have two pollen emission phases?

Premise

Intersexual mating facilitation in flowering plants has been largely underexplored. Duodichogamy is a rare flowering system in which individual plants flower in the sequence male-female-male. We studied the adaptive advantages of this flowering system using chestnuts (Castanea spp., Fagaceae) as models. These insect-pollinated trees produce many unisexual male catkins responsible for a first staminate phase and a few bisexual catkins responsible for a second staminate phase. We hypothesized that duodichogamy increases female mating success by facilitating pollen deposition on stigmas of the rewardless female flowers through their proximity with attractive male flowers responsible for the minor staminate phase.

Methods

We monitored insect visits to 11 chestnut trees during the entire flowering period and explored reproductive traits of all known duodichogamous species using published evidence.

Results

In chestnuts, insects visited trees more frequently during the first staminate phase but visited female flowers more frequently during the second staminate phase. All 21 animal-pollinated duodichogamous species identified are mass-flowering woody plants at high risk of self-pollination. In 20 of 21 cases, gynoecia (female flower parts) are located close to androecia (male flower parts), typically those responsible for the second minor staminate phase, whereas androecia are often distant from gynoecia.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that duodichogamy increases female mating success by facilitating pollen deposition on stigmas by means of the attractiveness of the associated male flowers while effectively limiting self-pollination.

     

Why do fish school?

Synchronized movements (schooling) emit complex and overlapping sound and pressure curves that might confuse the inner ear and lateral line organ (LLO) of a predator.Moreover,prey-fish moving close to each other may blur the electro-sensory perception of predators.The aim of this review is to explore mechanisms associated with synchronous swimming that may have contributed to increased adaptation and as a consequence may have influenced the evolution of schooling.The evolutionary development of the inner ear and the LLO increased the capacity to detect potential prey,possibly leading to an increased potential for cannibalism in the shoal,but also helped small fish to avoid joining larger fish,resulting in size homogeneity and,accordingly,an increased capacity for moving in synchrony.Water-movements and incidental sound produced as by-product of locomotion (ISOL) may provide fish with potentially useful information during swimming,such as neighbour body-size,speed,and location.When many fish move close to one another ISOL will be energetic and complex.Quiet intervals will be few.Fish moving in synchrony will have the capacity to discontinue movements simultaneously,providing relatively quiet intervals to allow the reception of potentially critical environmental signals.Besides,synchronized movements may facilitate auditory grouping of ISOL.Turning preference bias,well-functioning sense organs,good health,and skillful motor performance might be important to achieving an appropriate distance to school neighbors und aid the individual fish in reducing time spent in the comparatively less safe school periphery.Turning preferences in ancestral fish shoals might have helped fish to maintain groups and stay in formarion,reinforcing aforementioned predator confusion mechanisms,which possibly played a role in the lateralization of the vertebrate brain [Current Zoology 58 (1):116-128,2012].     

Why do plants silicify?

Despite seminal papers that stress the significance of silicon (Si) in plant biology and ecology, most studies focus on manipulations of Si supply and mitigation of stresses. The ecological significance of Si varies with different levels of biological organization, and remains hard to capture. We show that the costs of Si accumulation are greater than is currently acknowledged, and discuss potential links between Si and fitness components (growth, survival, reproduction), environment, and ecosystem functioning. We suggest that Si is more important in trait-based ecology than is currently recognized. Si potentially plays a significant role in many aspects of plant ecology, but knowledge gaps prevent us from understanding its possible contribution to the success of some clades and the expansion of specific biomes.