Nannandry is a sexual system where males ("dwarf males") are much smaller than the conspecific females. Dwarf males occur in a wide range of unrelated organisms but the evolutionary advantages of this condition are poorly understood. The dwarf male sexual system results in differences in the mode of dispersal and establishment as well as the life span between males and females. Such differences mu

Purpose - With the help of Slavoj Zizek's concept of interpassivity, this paper seeks to illustrate the frantic activities performed by employees to maintain a separation between the idea of an authentic self and the idea of a corporate self. Furthermore, this paper aims to illustrate these activities empirically. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical example is based on a case study of thre

The motivation for using a zero-dispersion monochromator as a band-pass filter with a Fourier transform spectrometer is discussed, and the design of such an instrument is presented. Benefits in performance over commercial band-pass filters are demonstrated. In addition the advantages of using the second optical output of the spectrometer are discussed, particularly with respect to absorption spect

Aggregation of the amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is believed to be involved in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Here we have investigated the importance of the aromatic rings at positions 19 and 20 for the aggregation rate and mechanism by substituting phenylalanine with leucine. Aggregation kinetics were monitored as a function of time and peptide concentration by thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence, the a

We report on the production and characterization of polymer-based ultra-thin (sub 10 nm) foils suited for experiments on laser-ion acceleration in the regime of radiation pressure acceleration. Beside the remarkable mechanical stability compared with commonly used diamond-like-carbon foils, a very homogeneous layer thickness and a small surface roughness have been achieved. We describe the technic

A Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst) forest site in southwest Sweden was chosen to study the effects of storm disturbances over the period 1997-2009, during which two storms, 'Lothar' (December 1999) and 'Gudrun' (January 2005), affected the area. Monitored deposition data, soil water chemistry data and forest inventory data were compared with the predictions of an integrated ecosystem model, ForSA

Patterning of high-quality two-dimensional chalcogenide crystals with unique planar structures and various fascinating electronic properties offers great potential for batch fabrication and integration of electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, it remains a challenge that requires accurate control of the crystallization, thickness, position, orientation and layout. Here we develop a method

Currently, the habitat of many species is fragmented, resulting in small local populations with individuals occasionally dispersing between the remaining habitat patches. In a solitary bee metapopulation, extinction probability was related to both local bee population sizes and pollen resources measured as host plant population size. Patch size, on the other hand, had no additional predictive powe

Quantifying the water exchange between a forest stand and the atmosphere is of major interest for the prediction of future growth conditions and the planning of silvicultural treatments. In the present study, we address (i) the uncertainties of sap flow estimations at the tree level and (ii) the performance of the simulation of stand transpiration. Terrestrial laser scan images (TLS) of a mature b

OBJECTIVES: To gain an improved understanding of fatigue in Parkinson's disease (PD) by exploring possible predictors among a wide range of motor and non-motor aspects of PD. METHODS: 118 consecutive PD patients (54% men; mean age, 64 years) were assessed regarding fatigue, demographics and a range of non-motor and motor symptoms. Variables significantly associated with fatigue scores in bivariate

Background and purpose Although decreasing with the development of effective pharmacological regimes, joint surgery has improved the function and quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Few studies have assessed patient-reported outcomes after RA surgery to the lower extremities. Here we report patient-relevant outcome after RA-related surgery based on the first data from the S

Data from three experiments using the heavy-ion fusion evaporation-reaction Ar-36+Si-28 have been combined to study high-spin states in the residual nucleus Ni-60, which is populated via the evaporation of four protons from the compound nucleus Ge-64. The GAMMASPHERE array was used for all the experiments in conjunction with a 4 pi charged-particle detector arrays (MICROBALL, LUWUSIA) and neutron

Protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms regulate a number of processes crucial for the fate of a cell. In this study we identify previously unrecognized interaction partners of PKCα and a novel role for PKCα in the regulation of stress granule formation during cellular stress. Three RNA-binding proteins, cytoplasmic poly(A)(+) binding protein (PABPC1), IGF-II mRNA binding protein 3 (IGF2BP3), and RasGAP b

Popular Abstract in English Neuroplasticity is the brain´s capacity to respond to inner and outer challenges with functional and structural reorganizations. An aberrant activation of neuroplasticity pathways may contribute to the development of neurological disease. In the case of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the induction of motor complications by L-DOPA pharmacotherapy is generally regarded as an eNeuroplasticity is the brain´s capacity to respond to inner and outer challenges with functional and structural reorganizations. An aberrant activation of neuroplasticity pathways may contribute to the development of neurological disease. In the case of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the induction of motor complications by L-DOPA pharmacotherapy is generally regarded as an example of maladaptive plasti

Abstract in Undetermined We present an efficient method for importance sampling the product of multiple functions. Our algorithm computes a quick approximation of the product on the fly, based on hierarchical representations of the local maxima and averages of the individual terms. Samples are generated by exploiting the hierarchical properties of many low-discrepancy sequences, and thresholded ag