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Valentin Molloy posted an update 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Ecosystem process rates typically increase after plant invasion, but the extent to which this is driven by (i) changes in productivity, (ii) exotic species’ traits, or (iii) novel (non-coevolved) biotic interactions has never been quantified. We created communities varying in exotic plant dominance, plant traits, soil biota, and invertebrate herbivores and measured indicators of carbon cycling. Interactions with soil biota and herbivores were the strongest drivers of exotic plant effects, particularly on measures of soil carbon turnover. Moreover, plant traits related to growth and nutrient acquisition explained differences in the ways that exotic plants interacted with novel biota compared with natives. Z-VAD-FMK solubility dmso We conclude that novel biological interactions with exotic species are a more important driver of ecosystem transformation than was previously recognized.Forest dynamics arise from the interplay of environmental drivers and disturbances with the demographic processes of recruitment, growth, and mortality, subsequently driving biomass and species composition. However, forest disturbances and subsequent recovery are shifting with global changes in climate and land use, altering these dynamics. Changes in environmental drivers, land use, and disturbance regimes are forcing forests toward younger, shorter stands. Rising carbon dioxide, acclimation, adaptation, and migration can influence these impacts. Recent developments in Earth system models support increasingly realistic simulations of vegetation dynamics. In parallel, emerging remote sensing datasets promise qualitatively new and more abundant data on the underlying processes and consequences for vegetation structure. When combined, these advances hold promise for improving the scientific understanding of changes in vegetation demographics and disturbances.Spin glasses are a highly complex magnetic state of matter intricately linked to spin frustration and structural disorder. They exhibit no long-range order and exude aging phenomena, distinguishing them from quantum spin liquids. We report a previously unknown type of spin glass state, the spin-Q glass, observable in bulk-like crystalline metallic neodymium thick films. Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy combined with ab initio calculations and atomistic spin-dynamics simulations, we visualized the variations in atomic-scale noncolinear order and its response to magnetic field and temperature. We quantified the aging phenomena relating the glassiness to crystalline symmetry and the energy landscape. This result not only resolves the long-standing debate of the magnetism of neodymium, but also suggests that glassiness may arise in other magnetic solids lacking extrinsic disorder.Li et al commented that our report claims that methods reported thus far cannot enable the production of high-purity corundum with surface areas greater than 100 m2 g-1, and that our obtained material could be porous aggregates rather than nanoparticles. We disagree with both of these suggestions.Amrute et al (Reports, 25 October 2019, p. 485) claimed that no methods were able to produce high-purity α-Al2O3 with surface areas greater than 100 m2 g-1, even though much higher surface areas up to 253 m2 g-1 have been reported. Moreover, the materials they obtained could be porous aggregates and may not be 13-nm nanoparticles, as claimed.The outbreak of COVID-19 has spread across the world and was characterized as a pandemic. To protect medical laboratory personnel from infection, most laboratories inactivate the clinical samples before testing. However, the effect of inactivation on the detection results remains unknown. Here, we used a digital PCR assay to determine the absolute SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy number in 63 nasopharyngeal samples and assess the effect of inactivation methods on viral RNA copy number. Viral inactivation was performed with three different methods (1) incubation with TRIzol® LS Reagent for 10 min at room temperature, (2) heating in a waterbath at 56°C for 30 min, and (3) high-temperature treatment, including 121°C autoclaving for 20 min, 100°C boiling for 20 min, and 80°C heating for 20 min. Compared to the amount of RNA in the original sample, TRIzol treatment destroyed 47.54% of N gene and 39.85% of ORF 1ab. For samples treated at 56°C for 30 min, the copy number of N gene and ORF 1ab was reduced by 48.55% and 56.40%, respectively. Viral RNA copy number dropped by 50-66% after 80°C heating for 20 min. Nearly no viral RNA was detected after autoclaving at 121°C or boiling at 100°C for 20 min. These results indicated that inactivation reduced the quantity of detectable viral RNA and may cause false negative results especially in weakly positive cases. Thus, TRIzol is recommended for sample inactivation in comparison to heat inactivation as Trizol has the least effect on RNA copy number among the tested methods.The limitation of plasticity in the adult brain impedes functional recovery later in life from brain injury or disease. This pressing clinical issue may be resolved by enhancing plasticity in the adult brain. One strategy for triggering robust plasticity in adulthood is to reproduce one of the hallmark physiological events of experience-dependent plasticity observed during the juvenile critical period – rapidly reduce the activity of parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons and disinhibit local excitatory neurons. This may be achieved through enhancement of local inhibitory inputs, particularly those of somatostatin (SST)-expressing interneurons. However, to date the means for manipulating SST interneurons for enhancing cortical plasticity in the adult brain are not known. We show that SST interneuron-selective overexpression of Lypd6, an endogenous nicotinic signaling modulator, enhances ocular dominance plasticity in the adult primary visual cortex (V1). Lypd6 overexpression mediates a rapid experience-depe acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), enhances experience-dependent plasticity and recovery from amblyopia in adulthood. This manipulation triggers rapid reduction of PV interneuron activity and disinhibition of excitatory neurons, which are known hallmarks of cortical plasticity during juvenile critical periods. Our study demonstrates modulation of SST interneurons by Lypd6 to achieve robust levels of cortical plasticity in the adult brain and may provide promising targets for restoring brain function in the event of brain trauma or disease.
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