Obtaining raw material: plants as tool sources for nigerian chimpanzees

We investigated the acquisition of plant materials from which Nigerian chimpanzees manufacture wooden tools to harvest insects and honey from nests of army ants, honey bees and stingless bees. Slender trunks of juvenile trees and branches are most commonly used, and bendable vines rarely, probably reflecting the need to work with relatively sturdy tools to extract resources. While several tools are sometimes sourced from the same plant, there is also evidence for a depletion effect, as multiple tool sources at the same site are often spaced several metres apart. Identified tool sources belong to 27 species of at least 13 families. Honey-gathering implements are often chewed upon by chimpanzees. Interestingly, twigs of the most commonly used honey-gathering species possess antibacterial propensities and are favoured by Nigerians as chewing sticks. This suggests that extractive tools might possess associated medicinal or stimulatory properties. We do not know if chimpanzees actively select specific plant parts or species as we cannot compare observed with expected frequencies. Nevertheless, about three quarters of tools are picked from plants more than 6 m away from the extraction site, potentially indicating some degree of forward planning.     

The formation and fragmentation of disks around primordial protostars

The very first stars to form in the universe heralded an end to the cosmic dark ages and introduced new physical processes that shaped early cosmic evolution. Until now, it was thought that these stars lived short, solitary lives, with only one extremely massive star, or possibly a very wide binary system, forming in each dark-matter minihalo. Here we describe numerical simulations that show that these stars were, to the contrary, often members of tight multiple systems. Our results show that the disks that formed around the first young stars were unstable to gravitational fragmentation, possibly producing small binary and higher-order systems that had separations as small as the distance between Earth and the Sun.     

硅胶管气样原位采集技术研究土壤N_2O浓度及通量变化

箱法被广泛用于监测土壤N_2O排放通量,但在原位采集高浓度土壤N_2O、全天候监测N_2O通量变化、动态研究土壤剖面N_2O的行为等方面存在弊端.本研究通过室内模拟硅胶管对N_2O的通透性,探索硅胶管用于原位采集土壤气样的理论可行性.田间试验设施用铵态氮肥(NH_4~+)、施用硝态氮肥(NO_3~-)及施用硝态氮肥加葡萄糖(NO_3~-+C)等3个处理,同时安置硅胶管和采样箱,验证硅胶管法在原位采集高浓度土壤N_2O气样、监测土壤N_2O浓度以及排放通量的实际效果,并与箱法进行比较.结果表明,硅胶管内外的N_2O气体经2.9 h达到95%的平衡,完伞能满足大田采样要求;用硅胶管法原位采集高浓度土壤N_2O气样的效果显著优于箱法采样.其浓度变化表现出明显的时间规律,浓度梯度法计算的N_2O排放通量与箱法测定结果呈显著正相关,但数值偏低;偏低的程度取决于采样位置和土壤中N_2O产生位置的匹配程度.建议采用埋于土壤表层的硅胶管计算地面N_2O排放通量,或在不同土层埋人硅胶管研究土壤剖面N_2O行为的时空变异.     

BKCa-Cav channel complexes mediate rapid and localized Ca2+-activated K+ signaling

Large-conductance calcium- and voltage-activated potassium channels (BKCa) are dually activated by membrane depolarization and elevation of cytosolic calcium ions (Ca2+). Under normal cellular conditions, BKCa channel activation requires Ca2+ concentrations that typically occur in close proximity to Ca2+ sources. We show that BKCa channels affinity-purified from rat brain are assembled into macromolecular complexes with the voltage-gated calcium channels Cav1.2 (L-type), Cav2.1 (P/Q-type), and Cav2.2 (N-type). Heterologously expressed BKCa-Cav complexes reconstitute a functional "Ca2+ nanodomain" where Ca2+ influx through the Cav channel activates BKCa in the physiological voltage range with submillisecond kinetics. Complex formation with distinct Cav channels enables BKCa-mediated membrane hyperpolarization that controls neuronal firing pattern and release of hormones and transmitters in the central nervous system.     

Influence of long-term nitrogen fertilization on micronutrient density in grain of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

A long-term (1999–2007) field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of three nitrogen (N) fertilization rates (0, 130, and 300 kg N/ha) on micronutrient density in wheat grain and its milling fractions. At maturity, grains were harvested and fractionated into flour, shorts, and bran for micronutrient and N analysis. N fertilization increased iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) density in wheat grain compared to the control. Increase of N application rate from 130 to 300 kg N/ha, however, did not further increase the three micronutrient densities in grain. Micronutrient concentrations were usually highest in the bran and lowest in the flour. High N application increased Zn and Cu densities in all three milling fractions and increased Fe concentration in shorts and bran but not in flour. N application did not affect the manganese (Mn) concentration in grain. N fertilization changed the proportions of Fe and Cu in flour and bran but did not affect the distribution of Zn. Because N fertilization increased micronutrient accumulation in wheat grain, proper management of N fertilization has the potential to enhance the nutritional quality of this important food.     

Neutrophil extracellular traps kill bacteria

Neutrophils engulf and kill bacteria when their antimicrobial granules fuse with the phagosome. Here, we describe that, upon activation, neutrophils release granule proteins and chromatin that together form extracellular fibers that bind Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. These neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) degrade virulence factors and kill bacteria. NETs are abundant in vivo in experimental dysentery and spontaneous human appendicitis, two examples of acute inflammation. NETs appear to be a form of innate response that binds microorganisms, prevents them from spreading, and ensures a high local concentration of antimicrobial agents to degrade virulence factors and kill bacteria.     

Pattern-oriented modeling of agent-based complex systems: lessons from ecology

Agent-based complex systems are dynamic networks of many interacting agents; examples include ecosystems, financial markets, and cities. The search for general principles underlying the internal organization of such systems often uses bottom-up simulation models such as cellular automata and agent-based models. No general framework for designing, testing, and analyzing bottom-up models has yet been established, but recent advances in ecological modeling have come together in a general strategy we call pattern-oriented modeling. This strategy provides a unifying framework for decoding the internal organization of agent-based complex systems and may lead toward unifying algorithmic theories of the relation between adaptive behavior and system complexity.