Thermoregulation in endothermic insects

On the basis of body weight, most flying insects have higher rates of metabolism, and hence heat production, than other animals. However, rapid rates of cooling because of small body size in most cases precludes appreciable endothermy. The body temperature of small flies in flight is probably close to ambient temperature, and that of flying butterflies and locusts is 5 degrees to 10 degrees C above ambient temperature. Many moths and bumblebees are insulated with scales and hair, and their metabolism during flight can cause the temperature of the flight muscles to increase 20 degrees to 30 degrees C above ambient temperature. Curiously, those insects which (because of size, insulation) retain the most heat in the thorax during flight, also require the highest muscle temperature in order to maintain sufficient power output to continue flight. The minimum muscle temperature for flight varies widely between different species, while the maximum temperature varies over the relatively narrow range of 40 degrees to 45 degrees C. As a consequence, those insects that necessarily generate high muscle temperatures during flight must maintain their thoracic temperature within a relatively narrow range during flight. Active heat loss from the thorax to the abdomen prevents overheating of the flight motor and allows some large moths to be active over a wide range of ambient temperatures. Bumblebees similarly transfer heat from the flight musculature into the abdomen while incubating their brood by abdominal contact. Many of the larger insects would remain grounded if they did not actively increase the temperature of their flight muscles prior to flight. Male tettigoniid grasshoppers elevate their thoracic temperature prior to singing. In addition, some of the social Hymenoptera activate the "flight" muscles specifically to produce heat not only prior to flight but also during nest temperature regulation. During this "shivering" the "flight" muscles are often activated in patterns different from those during flight. The muscles contract primarily against each other rather than on the wings. However, the rate of heat production during shivering and flight is primarily a function of the action potential frequency rather than of the patterns of activation. Thermoregulation is a key factor in the energetics of foraging of some of the flower-visiting insects. The higher their muscle temperature the more flowers they can visit per unit time. When food supplies are ample, bees may invest relatively large amounts of energy for thermoregulation. While shivering to maintain high body temperatures during the short intervals they are perched on flowers (as well as while in the nest), bumblebees often expend energy at rates similar to the rates of energy expenditure in flight. Unlike vertebrates, which usually regulate their body temperature at specific set points, the body temperature of insects is labile. It often appears to be maintained near the lower temperature at which the muscles are able to perform the function at hand. The insects' thermal adaptations may not differ as much from those of vertebrates as previously supposed when size, anatomy, and energy requirements are taken into account.     

Induction of tumors in mice by genomic hypomethylation

Genome-wide DNA hypomethylation occurs in many human cancers, but whether this epigenetic change is a cause or consequence of tumorigenesis has been unclear. To explore this phenomenon, we generated mice carrying a hypomorphic DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) allele, which reduces Dnmt1 expression to 10% of wild-type levels and results in substantial genome-wide hypomethylation in all tissues. The mutant mice were runted at birth, and at 4 to 8 months of age they developed aggressive T cell lymphomas that displayed a high frequency of chromosome 15 trisomy. These results indicate that DNA hypomethylation plays a causal role in tumor formation, possibly by promoting chromosomal instability.     

Single-atom spin-flip spectroscopy

We demonstrate the ability to measure the energy required to flip the spin of single adsorbed atoms. A low-temperature, high-magnetic field scanning tunneling microscope was used to measure the spin excitation spectra of individual manganese atoms adsorbed on Al2O3 islands on a NiAl surface. We find pronounced variations of the spin-flip spectra for manganese atoms in different local environments.     

Energetics of honeybee swarm thermoregulation

Honeybee swarms regulate their core temperature at a high set point (near 36 degrees C) and the mantle at a low set point (near 15 degrees C). The temperature gradient from core to mantle permits considerable energy economy, and it is abolished only shortly before swarm takeoff.     

Was there really an Archean phosphate crisis?

During the Archean, massive amounts of iron were deposited in the form of banded iron formations. It has been suggested that sedimenting particles of ferric oxyhydroxide may have stripped dissolved phosphate from the oceans, causing a reduction in phytoplankton productivity. However, that model does not take into account the high concentration of dissolved silica that was present in seawater at that time. We show experimentally that silica effectively competes with phosphate for sorption sites on ferrihydrite particles. Furthermore, coprecipitation of silica with ferrihydrite reduces particle reactivity toward phosphate. Hence, Archean oceans probably contained considerably more phosphate than previously predicted.     

Large magnetic anisotropy of a single atomic spin embedded in a surface molecular network

Magnetic anisotropy allows magnets to maintain their direction of magnetization over time. Using a scanning tunneling microscope to observe spin excitations, we determined the orientation and strength of the anisotropies of individual iron and manganese atoms on a thin layer of copper nitride. The relative intensities of the inelastic tunneling processes are consistent with dipolar interactions, as seen for inelastic neutron scattering. First-principles calculations indicate that the magnetic atoms become incorporated into a polar covalent surface molecular network in the copper nitride. These structures, which provide atom-by-atom accessibility via local probes, have the potential for engineering anisotropies large enough to produce stable magnetization at low temperatures for a single atomic spin.     

Complex multicolor tilings and critical phenomena in tetraphilic liquid crystals

T-shaped molecules with a rod-like aromatic core and a flexible side chain form liquid crystal honeycombs with aromatic cell walls and a cell interior filled with the side chains. Here, we show how the addition of a second chain, incompatible with the first (X-shaped molecules), can form honeycombs with highly complex tiling patterns, with cells of up to five different compositions ("colors") and polygonal shapes. The complexity is caused by the inability of the side chains to separate cleanly because of geometric frustration. Furthermore, a thermoreversible transition was observed between a multicolor (phase-separated) and a single-color (mixed) honeycomb phase. This is analogous to the Curie transition in simple and frustrated ferro- and antiferromagnets; here spin flips are replaced by 180° reorientations of the molecules.     

Depletion of non‐exchangeable NH$ _4^+ $ at the root–soil and hyphae–soil interface of VA mycorrhizal maize (Zea mays) and parsley (Petroselinum sativum)

Mobilization of non‐exchangeable ammonium (NH ) by hyphae of the vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungus Glumus mosseae was studied under controlled experimental conditions. Maize (Zea mays) and parsley (Petroselinum sativum) were grown either alone or in symbiosis with Glomus mosseae in containers with separated compartments for roots and hyphal growth. In one experiment, ¹⁵NH was added to the soil to differentiate between the native non‐exchangeable NH and the non‐exchangeable NH derived from N fertilization. Non‐exchangeable NH was mobilized by plant growth. Plant dry weight and N uptake, however, were not significantly influenced by mycorrhizal colonization of the roots. The influence of root infection with mycorrhizal fungus on the mobilization of non‐exchangeable NH was negligible. In the hyphal compartment, hyphal uptake of N resulted in a decrease of NH in the soil solution and of exchangeable NH . However, the NH concentration was still too high to permit the release of non‐exchangeable NH . The results demonstrate that, in contrast to roots, hyphae of VAM fungi are not able to form a non‐exchangeable‐NH depletion zone in the adjacent soil. However, under conditions of a more substantial depletion of the exchangeable NH in the mycorrhizal sphere (e.g., with longer growth), an effect of mycorrhiza on the non‐exchangeable NH might be found.