Although a significant number of behavioral studies of desert tenebrionids have been done, almost nothing is recorded of Trichoton sordidum (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), an inhabitant of the sunny, sparsely vegetated US/Mexican borderlands. For this small, flightless beetle successful predator evasion and adaptation to a desert environment has required development of complicated, quick...

We review recent developments regarding radiation driven mass loss from OB-stars. We first summarize the fundamental theoretical predictions, and then compare these to observational results (including the VLT-FLAMES survey of massive stars). Especially we focus on the mass loss-metallicity dependence and on the so-called bi-stability jump. Subsequently we concentrate on two urgent problems, wea...

PURPOSE—To describe the features of intraretinal retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) migration documented on a prototype spectral domain high speed, ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) device in a group of patients with early to intermediate dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). To correlate intraretinal RPE migration on OCT to RPE pigment clumping on fundus photographs. ...

Context: The star cluster R136 inside the LMC hosts a rich population of massive stars, including most stars known. strong stellar winds these very luminous impact their evolution and surrounding environment. We currently lack detailed knowledge wind structure that is needed to quantify this impact. Aims: To observationally constrain properties in R136, particular parameters related clumping. M...

Recipient strains of Streptococcus faecalis produce a trypsin sensitive, heat resistant, nuclease resistant factor, designated clumping-inducing agent (CIA) which causes strains carrying certain conjugative plasmids to aggregate. RNA and protein synthesis but not DNA synthesis are required for aggregation to occur. Recipient filtrates that contain CIA activity also induce donors to mate at high...

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key structural characteristic of forest ecosystems because of the role of green leaves in controlling many biological and physical processes in plant canopies. Accurate LA1 estimates are required in studies of ecophysiology, atmosphere-ecosystem interactions, and global change. The objective of this paper is to evaluate LA1 values obtained by several research teams us...

Root-knot nematodes are obligate parasites of a wide range of plant species and can feed only on the cytoplasm of living plant cells. In the absence of a suitable plant host, infective juveniles of strain VW9 of the Northern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne hapla, when dispersed in Pluronic F-127 gel, aggregate into tight, spherical clumps containing thousands of worms. Aggregation or clumping b...

Staphylococcus aureus infection begins when bacterial cells circulating in blood adhere to components of the extracellular matrix or endothelial cells of the host and initiate colonization. S. aureus is known to exhibit extensive interactions with platelets. S. aureus is also known to bind to red blood cells (RBCs) in the presence of plasma proteins, such as fibrinogen and IgG. Herein we report...