Simulated nitrogen dynamics and nitrate leaching in a perennial grass ley

A soil nitrogen model was used for a 4-year simulation of nitrogen dynamics and nitrate leaching, both during grass ley growth and after ploughing a grass ley. Model results were compared with field measurements of soil mineral-N status and leaching. A soil water and heat model provided daily values for abiotic conditions, which were used as driving variables in the nitrogen simulation. Simulated values for mineral-N levels in the soil agreed well with field data for the first 3 years of the simulation. During the final year the model predicted considerably higher levels of soil mineral-N content compared with measurements. To reach the mineral-N level measured at the time of ploughing the ley, the simulated N-uptake by plants had to be increased by 8 g N m⁻². Simulations of nitrate leaching suggested that estimates of leaching based on measurements in tile-drained plots can be considerably underestimated. Accurate quantification of leaching in tile-drained plots often requires additional information on water-flow paths. A substantial increase in simulated and measured values for the mineral-N content of the soil occurred after ploughing the ley. In the simulation, most of the increase was due to a high crop residue input and the absence of a growing crop after ploughing. Litter accumulations in the soil during the 4-year period contributed little to the increase in soil mineral-N.     

Effects of root pruning of wheat at different nitrogen levels

In two experiments, wheat plants growing in solutions of different nitrogen concentration were subjected to root pruning. In higher concentrations of nitrogen the growth rate was higher, and the proportional allocation of growth to shoot higher, but pruning did not affect the allocation of growth at either level of nitrogen. This result gives no support to Thornley's source-sink model of the control of shoot: root ratio.     

Evaluation of microwave hyperthermia applicators.

Hyperthermia has been used in conjunction with radiation and chemotherapy for cancer treatment. When using electromagnetic heating, applicators are critical components in contact with or in proximity to patients and can be the determining factor for effective and safe treatment. Tissue absorption of electromagnetic energy is determined by many factors. Three cases are shown to illustrate the complexity of microwave heating: 1) The BSD MA-151 applicator has good center heating on a muscle-only phantom as shown in the operation manual. When fat slabs of 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 cm thick were added, two hot spots near the periphery of the applicator were evident on all fat surfaces, exposed at 631 MHz. At 915 MHz, the heating was elongated on the surface of the models with 0.25- and 2-cm fat, and two hot spots were observed on the 0.5- and 1-cm fat surfaces. 2) Heating patterns of the Clini-Therm applicators on a muscle-only phantom, as indicated in the operations guide, are elliptical with their major axes perpendicular to the electric field. However, when a bolus is used, the elliptical pattern is parallel to the E field. 3) Heating patterns in cylindrical structures were studied with inhomogeneous models of limbs. Arm and thigh models consisting of fat, bone, and muscle material were heated with Clini-Therm L, M, and MS applicators at 915 MHz. In addition to the geometric effect, the results indicated that placing the applicators with E field parallel to the long axis of cylindrical structures can minimize required power, produce less heating of fats and reduce stray radiation. In conclusion, to apply penetrating microwave or other RF fields for tissue heating, one must simulate the clinical exposure conditions as closely as possible to obtain useful heating patterns.     

Antigenic mapping of a human λ light chain: Correlation with three dimensional structure

Although the amino acid sequence and three-dimensional structure of human immunoglobulin light chains have been known for more than 15 years, the location of antigenic markers characteristic of chains has not been determined. Here, we use a set of synthetic overlapping peptides to completely model the sequence of the chain Mcg and test these for the binding or rabbit and goat antisera specific for chain determinants. We assess peptide contributions to -antigenic reactivity and also to identify a portion of C-region where conformational factors contribute to the antigenicity. Specific determinants occur both in the constant and variable (first and third framework) domains of the molecule. The fourth framework of the variable region, a segment specified by the joining gene, is also recognized and cross-reacts antigenically with the homologous region of T cell receptor chains. Major specific determinants are localized in the N- and C-terminal segments, which are linear and devoid of major conformational folding. Other segments that are strongly antigenic, such as the third framework of the V region (residue 78–93) and a segment of the constant region (residues 177–192), show strong conformational dependence in antigenicity.     

Labor specialization and the formation of markets for food in a Shipibo subsistence economy

Traditionally, the Shipibo economy was subsistence-based with shifting cultivation supplying calories, principally in the form of plantains and root crops, while fishing and hunting provided animal proteins to the diet. Some men, who recently began producing rice for sale in regional markets, now allocate less time to wild food procurement. Moreover, this trend has been accompanied by the nucleation of households, a growing cash market for agricultural labor, and the intravillage sale of faunal foods. This paper shows that with cash cropping, some Shipibo now freely distribute less food to others in relation to the amount they produce. To account for this change, a theory is developed based on time allocation and patterns of economic behavior reported throughout the Amazon. This theory is then applied to explain specialization and the formation of cash markets for food labor among the Shipibo.     

A threshold result for an epidemiological model

A threshold parameter R ₀ is identified for an SIRS epidemiological model which has nonlinear incidence and a distributed delay for transfer out of the removed class. For R ₀ < 1, the disease free equilibrium is proved to be the global attractor for all solutions.Research supplied in part by NSERC A-8965     

On a simplified model for pattern formation in honey bee colonies

We present a simplified version of a previously presented model (Camazine et al. (1990)) that generates the characteristic pattern of honey, pollen and brood which develops on combs in honey bee colonies. We demonstrate that the formation of a band of pollen surrounding the brood area is dependent on the assumed form of the honey and pollen removal terms, and that a significant pollen band arises as the parameter controlling the rate of pollen input passes through a bifurcation value. The persistence of the pollen band after a temporary increase in pollen input can be predicted from the model. We also determine conditions on the parameters which ensure the accumulation of honey in the periphery and demonstrate that, although there is an important qualitative difference between the simplified and complete models, an analysis of the simplified version helps us understand many biological aspects of the more complex complete model. Corresponding author     

Structure,development and function of the branchial sieve of the common bream,Abramis brama,white bream,Blicca bjoerkna and roach,Rutilus rutilus

Synopsis The filter feeding organ of cyprinid fishes is the branchial sieve, which consists of a mesh formed by gill rakers and tiny channels on the gill arches. In order to establish its possible role during growth we measured the following morphological gill raker parameters over a range of sizes in three cyprinid fishes, bream, white bream and roach: inter raker distance, bony raker length, raker width, cushion length and channel width. At any given standard length common bream has the largest inter raker distance, roach the lowest and white bream is intermediate. In the comb model of filter feeding the inter raker distance is considered to be a direct measure of the mesh size and retention ability (= minimal size of prey that can be retained) of a filter. For the three species under study there is a conflict between the comb model and experimental data on particle retention. Lammens et al. (1987) found that common bream has a large retention ability whereas roach and white bream have a much smaller one. A new model, the channel model (Hoogenboezem et al. 1991) has been developed for common bream; in this model the lateral gill rakers can regulate the mesh size of the medial channels on the other side of the gill slit. The present data indicate that this model is not appropriate for white bream and roach. At any given standard length white bream and roach only reach 70% of the raker length of common bream, which means that in this model the gill slits should to be very narrow during filter feeding. The gill rakers consist of a bony raker and a fleshy cushion. The bony rakers have a rather long needle-like part outside the cushion in bream, but not in white bream and roach which have blunt gill rakers. Blunt gill rakers are not suited to reduce the diameter of the medial channels. The comb model seems more appropriate for white bream and roach, but doubts about the validity of this simple model remain. The sum of the areas of the medial channels is an approximation of the area through which water flows in the filter. This channel area therefore gives an impression of the capacity or flow rate of the filter. With this capacity estimation and an estimation of energy consumption we calculated an energy ratio of filter feeding. The energy ratio decreases with increasing standard length with an exponent close to the expected exponent of -0.40. The energy ratio is highest in bream, intermediate in white bream and lowest in roach.     

Desensitization of the insulin-secreting beta cell.

In human diabetes, inherent impaired insulin secretion can be exacerbated by desensitization of the beta cell by chronic hyperglycemia. Interest in this phenomenon has generated extensive studies in genetic or experimentally induced diabetes in animals and in fully in vitro systems, with often conflicting results. In general, although chronic glucose causes decreased beta-cell response to this carbohydrate, basal response and response to alternate stimulating agents are enhanced. Glucose-stimulated insulin synthesis can be increased or decreased depending on the system studied. Using a two-compartment beta-cell model of phasic insulin secretion, a unifying hypothesis is described which can explain some of the apparent conflicting data. This hypothesis suggests that glucose-desensitization is caused by an impairment in stimulation of a hypothetical potentiator singularly responsible for: 1) some of the characteristic phases of insulin secretion; 2) basal release; 3) potentiation of non-glucose stimulators; and 4) apparent "recovery" from desensitization. Review of some of the pathways that regulate insulin secretion suggest that phosphoinositol metabolism and protein kinase-C production are regulated similarly to the theoretical potentiator and their impairment is a major contributor to glucose desensitization in the beta cell.