Immersion in the Design: Design-for-assembly of Cable Harnesses

Approaches to efficiency in manufacturing and assem bl y over the past 100 years have concentrated frequently on the twin themes of div iding jobs done by people into defined segments and to automating as many of tho se segments as possible. This approach to manufacturing engineering may be char acterised as one of deconstruction and replacement so far as the role of the hum an being is concerned. More recently design engineering has been approached in a similar light with research into ‘intelligent‘ met...     

Disturbance of lekking Lesser Prairie-Chickens ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ) by Ring-necked Pheasants ( Phasianus colchicus )

Lesser Prairie-Chicken ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ) populations have experienced dramatic rangewide declines (up to 92%) since settlement of the Great Plains. This decline has been attributed to changes in land-use practices, such as conversion of native rangelands to intensive agriculture and increased grazing pressure. These changes may increase the impact of interspecific competition on populations. We documented disturbance of lekking Lesser Prairie-Chickens by Ring-necked Pheasants ( Phasianus colchicus ). Future management and research should take into account possible impacts to Lesser Prairie-Chickens during the breeding season.     

Effects ofα-amanition of nucleolar structure and metabolism inDrosophila hydei

Zusammenfassung Fünf Stunden nach Injektion von 0.5 g -Amanitin in Larven des III. Stadiums vonDrosophila hydei zeigen viele Nukleolen der Speicheldrüsenzellen eine Fragmentierung und die meisten eine erhöhte Markierung mit³H-Uridin. In Tieren, die mit -Amanitin behandelt wurden ist der Grad des³H-Uridin-Einbaus in 28 S- und 18 S-RNS geringer, während der Einbau in niedermolekulare RNS (3–7 S) im Vergleich mit Kontroltieren stark zugenommen hat.     

Casein and lactose concentrations in milk of 31 species are negatively correlated

Summary Casein and lactose concentrations in milks of various species vary by at least 1–2 orders of magnitude, yet no single species secretes both components at either the high or the low end of the ranges. This pattern of variation could result from evolutionary adaptations in a single secretory mechanism.     

Trophic cascades across ecosystems

Predation can be intense, creating strong direct and indirect effects throughout food webs. In addition, ecologists increasingly recognize that fluxes of organisms across ecosystem boundaries can have major consequences for community dynamics. Species with complex life histories often shift habitats during their life cycles and provide potent conduits coupling ecosystems. Thus, local interactions that affect predator abundance in one ecosystem (for example a larval habitat) may have reverberating effects in another (for example an adult habitat). Here we show that fish indirectly facilitate terrestrial plant reproduction through cascading trophic interactions across ecosystem boundaries. Fish reduce larval dragonfly abundances in ponds, leading to fewer adult dragonflies nearby. Adult dragonflies consume insect pollinators and alter their foraging behaviour. As a result, plants near ponds with fish receive more pollinator visits and are less pollen limited than plants near fish-free ponds. Our results confirm that strong species interactions can reverberate across ecosystems, and emphasize the importance of landscape-level processes in driving local species interactions.     

Recognition of double-stranded RNA and activation of NF-kappaB by Toll-like receptor 3

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of innate immune-recognition receptors that recognize molecular patterns associated with microbial pathogens, and induce antimicrobial immune responses. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is a molecular pattern associated with viral infection, because it is produced by most viruses at some point during their replication. Here we show that mammalian TLR3 recognizes dsRNA, and that activation of the receptor induces the activation of NF-kappaB and the production of type I interferons (IFNs). TLR3-deficient (TLR3-/-) mice showed reduced responses to polyinosine-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)), resistance to the lethal effect of poly(I:C) when sensitized with d-galactosamine (d-GalN), and reduced production of inflammatory cytokines. MyD88 is an adaptor protein that is shared by all the known TLRs. When activated by poly(I:C), TLR3 induces cytokine production through a signalling pathway dependent on MyD88. Moreover, poly(I:C) can induce activation of NF-kappaB and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases independently of MyD88, and cause dendritic cells to mature.