Modulation instability and pattern formation in spatially incoherent light beams

We report on the experimental observation of modulation instability of partially spatially incoherent light beams in noninstantaneous nonlinear media and show that in such systems patterns can form spontaneously from noise. Incoherent modulation instability occurs above a specific threshold that depends on the coherence properties (correlation distance) of the wave packet and leads to a periodic train of one-dimensional filaments. At a higher value of nonlinearity, the incoherent one-dimensional filaments display a two-dimensional instability and break up into self-ordered arrays of light spots. This discovery of incoherent pattern formation reflects on many other nonlinear systems beyond optics. It implies that patterns can form spontaneously (from noise) in diverse nonlinear many-body systems involving weakly correlated particles, such as atomic gases at (or near) Bose-Einstein condensation temperatures and electrons in semiconductors at the vicinity of the quantum Hall regime.     

Pigment pattern formation by contact-dependent depolarization

Although recent experimental studies have suggested that the interactions among the pigment cells play a key role in the skin pattern formation, details of the mechanism remain largely unknown. By using an in vitro cell culture system, we have detected interactions between the two pigment cell types, melanophores and xanthophores, in the zebrafish skin. During primary culture, the melanophore membrane transiently depolarizes when contacted with the dendrites of a xanthophore. This depolarization triggers melanophore migration to avoid further contact with the xanthophores. Cell depolarization and repulsive movement were not observed in pigment cells with the jaguar mutant, which shows defective segregation of melanophores and xanthophores. The depolarization-repulsion of wild-type pigment cells may explain the pigment cell behaviors generating the stripe pattern of zebrafish.     

胡杨PeSOS1对拟南芥盐诱导H2O2信号途径的调控

【目的】研究胡杨质膜Na+/H+逆向转运蛋白(SOS1)通过H2O2信号途径对盐胁迫的感知和适应作用。【方法】克隆胡杨质膜SOS1基因(PeSOS1),并将其转化到拟南芥中,比较野生型和转PeSOS1基因拟南芥在100mmol/L NaCl胁迫下的萌发率,根长,干质量,K+、Na+和Ca2+含量,活体植株根尖离子流(K+、Na+和H+)的流动情况,H2O2的产生和抗氧化酶活性的变化以及抑制剂对根尖离子流的影响,分析100mmol/L NaCl胁迫下异源表达PeSOS1基因拟南芥与野生型拟南芥耐盐性的差异。【结果】在NaCl胁迫下,转PeSOS1基因拟南芥株系的萌发率、根长和干质量明显高于野生型拟南芥;转PeSOS1基因拟南芥K+和Ca2+含量也高于野生型拟南芥,而Na+含量较野生型拟南芥低。100mmol/L NaCl处理后,转PeSOS1基因拟南芥中K+和Na+的平衡(K+/Na+值)与NaCl胁迫前相比下降幅度较小。转PeSOS1基因植株在NaCl胁迫下能更快地产生H2O2,并使抗氧化酶保持较高的活性。SOS1抑制剂阿米洛利(Amiloride)对NaCl胁迫下野生型和转基因拟南芥根尖离子流的变化有明显影响,用质膜NADPH氧化酶抑制剂DPI(抑制H2O2的产生)处理后,转PeSOS1基因拟南芥根尖K+内流减弱,Na+外流和H+内流增强,植株维持K+和Na+平衡的能力减弱。【结论】在拟南芥中异源表达PeSOS1基因可促进H2O2快速产生,维持了SOS1mRNA的稳定性,调控了K+和Na+平衡,并激活了抗氧化防御系统,因而显著提高了其耐盐性。     

Labyrinthine pattern formation in magnetic fluids

A quasi two-dimensional drop of a magnetic fluid (ferrofluid) in a magnetic field is one example of the many systems, including amphiphilic monolayers, thin magnetic films, and type I superconductors, that form labyrinthine patterns. The formation of the ferrofluid labyrinth was examined both experimentally and theoretically. Labyrinth formation was found to be sensitively dependent on initial conditions, indicative of a space of configurations having a vast number of local energy minima. Certain geometric characteristics of the labyrinths suggest that these multiple minima have nearly equivalent energies. Kinetic effects on pattern selection were found in studies of fingering in the presence of timedependent magnetic fields. The dynamics of this pattern formation was studied within a simple model that yields shape evolutions in qualitative agreement with experiment.     

Spatial pattern formation in an insect host-parasitoid system

Spatial models in ecology predict that populations may form patchy distributions within continuous habitats, through strong predator-prey or host-parasitoid interactions combined with limited dispersal. Empirical support of these models is provided. Parasitoids emanating from a population outbreak of tussock moths (Orgyia vetusta) suppressed the growth of nearby experimental populations of the moth, while experimental populations farther away were able to grow. This result explains the observed localized nature of tussock moth outbreaks and illustrates how population distributions can be regulated by dynamic spatial processes.     

Sonic hedgehog control of size and shape in midbrain pattern formation

Little is known about how patterns of cell types are organized to form brain structures of appropriate size and shape. To study this process, we employed in vivo electroporation during midbrain development to create ectopic sources of Sonic Hedgehog, a signaling molecule previously shown to specify different neuronal cell types in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro. We provide direct evidence that a Sonic Hedgehog source can control pattern at a distance in brain development and demonstrate that the size, shape, and orientation of the cell populations produced depend on the geometry of the morphogen source. Thus, a single regulatory molecule can coordinate tissue size and shape with cell-type identity in brain development.     

Dendrites, viscous fingers, and the theory of pattern formation

There has emerged recently a new theoretical picture of the way in which patterns are formed in dendritic crystal growth and in the closely analogous phenomenon of viscous fingering in fluids. Some interesting questions that arise in connection with this theory include: How broad is its range of validity? How do we understand dynamic stability in systems of this kind? What is the origin of sidebranches? Can weak noise, or even microscopic thermal fluctuations, play a role in determining the macroscopic features of these systems?     

Photosynthetic O2 formation tracked by time-resolved x-ray experiments

Plants and cyanobacteria produce atmospheric dioxygen from water, powered by sunlight and catalyzed by a manganese complex in photosystem II. A classic S-cycle model for oxygen evolution involves five states, but only four have been identified. The missing S4 state is particularly important because it is directly involved in dioxygen formation. Now progress comes from an x-ray technique that can monitor redox and structural changes in metal centers in real time with 10-microsecond resolution. We show that in the O2-formation step, an intermediate is formed--the enigmatic S4 state. Its creation is identified with a deprotonation process rather than the expected electron-transfer mechanism. Subsequent electron transfer would give an additional S4' state, thus extending the fundamental S-state cycle of dioxygen formation.     

Molecular mimicry regulates ABA signaling by SnRK2 kinases and PP2C phosphatases

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an essential hormone for plants to survive environmental stresses. At the center of the ABA signaling network is a subfamily of type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs), which form exclusive interactions with ABA receptors and subfamily 2 Snfl-related kinase (SnRK2s). Here, we report a SnRK2-PP2C complex structure, which reveals marked similarity in PP2C recognition by SnRK2 and ABA receptors. In the complex, the kinase activation loop docks into the active site of PP2C, while the conserved ABA-sensing tryptophan of PP2C inserts into the kinase catalytic cleft, thus mimicking receptor-PP2C interactions. These structural results provide a simple mechanism that directly couples ABA binding to SnRK2 kinase activation and highlight a new paradigm of kinase-phosphatase regulation through mutual packing of their catalytic sites.     

Modulation of rod-cone coupling by light

Although electrical coupling between rods and cones in the retina has been assumed to be static, it has now been shown that rod-cone coupling can be strengthened by light. Increment threshold measurements reveal that cone input to rods increases progressively as background light becomes brighter. Current injection into cones produces larger responses in adjacent rods in the presence of background light than in darkness. Weak coupling under dark-adapted conditions facilitates synaptic transmission of small rod signals, and strong coupling under light-adapted conditions enhances transmission of large cone signals.     

Laser ablation studies of the role of the Drosophila oocyte nucleus in pattern formation

Somatic and germline cells interact during oogenesis to establish the pattern axes of the Drosophila eggshell and embryo. The role of the oocyte nucleus in pattern formation was tested with the use of laser ablation. Ablation in stage 6 to 9 egg chambers caused partial or complete ventralization of the eggshell, phenotypes similar to those of eggs produced by gurken or torpedo females. Accumulation of vasa protein at the posterior pole of treated oocytes was also disrupted. Thus the oocyte nucleus is required as late as stage 9 for dorsoventral patterning within the follicle cells and for polar plasm assembly in the oocyte.     

Controlling chemical turbulence by global delayed feedback: pattern formation in catalytic CO oxidation on Pt(110)

Control of spatiotemporal chaos is one of the central problems of nonlinear dynamics. We report on suppression of chemical turbulence by global delayed feedback using, as an example, catalytic carbon monoxide oxidation on a platinum (110) single-crystal surface and carbon monoxide partial pressure as the controlled feedback variable. When feedback intensity was increased, spiral-wave turbulence was transformed into new intermittent chaotic regimes with cascades of reproducing and annihilating local structures on the background of uniform oscillations. The global feedback further led to the development of cluster patterns and standing waves and to the stabilization of uniform oscillations. These findings are reproduced by theoretical simulations.     

Modulation of brain reward circuitry by leptin

Leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells, suppresses food intake and promotes weight loss. To assess the action of this hormone on brain reward circuitry, changes in the rewarding effect of lateral hypothalamic stimulation were measured after leptin administration. At five stimulation sites near the fornix, the effectiveness of the rewarding electrical stimulation was enhanced by chronic food restriction and attenuated by intracerebroventricular infusion of leptin. In contrast, the rewarding effect of stimulating neighboring sites was insensitive to chronic food restriction and was enhanced by leptin in three of four cases. These opposing effects of leptin may mirror complementary changes in the rewarding effects of feeding and of competing behaviors.     

刺参性腺中6种磷脂含量的HPLC-ELSD分析

为了研究刺参Apostichopus japonicus性腺的磷脂组成,对刺参性腺中的磷脂进行分离纯化,利用高效液相色谱-蒸发光散射检测器,以ChromolithPerformance-Si正相整体硅胶柱(100 mm×4.6 mm)为固定相,使用正己烷(含0.04%三乙胺)、异丙醇和13%乙酸为流动相进行三元梯度洗脱,流速为1.5 m L/min,柱温为25℃,整个洗脱程序仅需24 min,蒸发光检测器温度为45℃,雾化气(空气)流速为1.7 L/min,在此条件下,对所提取的磷脂酰乙醇胺(PE)、磷脂酰肌醇(PI)、磷脂酰丝氨酸(PS)、磷脂酰胆碱(PC)、鞘磷脂(SM)和溶血磷脂酰胆碱(LPC)进行测定。结果表明:刺参性腺磷脂中PC含量最高,为4.637 g/kg,其次为PE和PS,分别为1.884、0.847 g/kg。研究表明,用此方法测定刺参性腺中的磷脂快速、准确,各磷脂组分分离良好,重复性高,对其他磷脂样品的测定也具有重要的参考价值。