Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have opened fascinating opportunities for the analysis of plants with and without a sequenced genome on a genomic scale. During the last few years, NGS methods have become widely available and cost effective. They can be applied to a wide variety of biological questions, from the sequencing of complete eukaryotic genomes and transcriptomes, to the g...

Infectious disease accounts for approximately 25 % of all deaths worldwide, 63 % of death in children and 45 % of the death has been reported from developing countries. Vaccination is one of the effective means in preventing infectious diseases. World Health Organization states that 30 million children born every year are deprived of immunization by the modern standards available in the country...

The influence of biological soil crusts (BSCs) on the small-scale spatial distribution of inorganic nitrogen (N) in drylands is largely unknown, despite their known impact and importance on the N cycle in these environments. We evaluated how perennial plants and BSCs affected small-scale spatial patterns of soil inorganic N (ammonium and nitrate) availability in a semiarid grassland from Spain....

This work builds on our prior results to develop novel control structure design principles for integrated plants featuring multiple time scale dynamics. Specifically, the concept of self-optimizing control can be used to identify the variables that must be controlled to achieve acceptable economic performance during plant operation. This approach does not, however, provide guidelines on control...

Studies have indicated that consistent or well-constrained (relatively low variability) carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) ratios exist in large-scale ecosystems, including both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Little is known about the C, N and P stoichiometric ratios that exist in the soils and plants of Chenier Island in the Yellow River Delta (YRD). We examined the distribution patterns a...

In this review, I focus on modeling studies of tree responses to CO(2) enrichment. First, I examine leaf-scale models of assimilation with respect to the interaction between low temperature and CO(2) enrichment. Second, because changes in allocation within a tree may be significant in determining the growth response of trees to CO(2) enrichment and low temperatures, I review models of the contr...