Phalaenopsis orchids are among the most valuable potted flowering crops commercially produced throughout the world because of their long flower life and ease of crop scheduling to meet specific market dates. During commercial production, Phalaenopsis are usually grown at an air temperature > or =28 degrees C to inhibit flower initiation, and a cooler night than day temperature regimen (e.g. 25/...

Rapid environmental fluctuations are ubiquitous in the wild, yet majority of experimental studies mostly consider effects of slow fluctuations on organism. To test the evolutionary consequences of fast fluctuations, we conducted nine independent experimental evolution experiments with bacteria. Experimental conditions were same for all species, and we allowed them to evolve either in fluctuatin...

In addition to an increase in mean temperature, climate change models predict decreasing amplitudes of daily temperature fluctuations. In temperate regions, where daily and seasonal fluctuations are prominent, such decreases in daily temperature fluctuations can have a pronounced effect on the fitness of species and on the outcome of species interactions. In this study, the effect of a temperat...

The behaviour of the space-like string tension in the high temperature phase is studied. Data obtained in the Z2 gauge model in (2+1) dimensions are compared with predictions of a simple model of a fluctuating flux tube with finite thickness. It is shown that in the high temperature phase contributions coming from the fluctuations of the flux tube vanish. As a consequence we also show that in (...

This paper presents a new, non-invasive means of quantifying groundwater discharge into marine waters using an eddy correlation approach. The method takes advantage of the fact that, in virtually all aquatic environments, the dominant mode of vertical transport near the sediment–water interface is turbulent mixing. The technique thus relies on measuring simultaneously the fluctuating vertical v...

Background Neurocognitive impairment can occur in HCV infected patients. A series of studies have shown that patients with HCV may experience diminished attention and concentration, or suffer from severe cognitive deficits, such as disorientation and fluctuating consciousness. We performed a study to determine if there are neurocognitive differences or dissimilarities in the quality of life bet...

Thermal performance curves have been widely used to model the ecological responses of ectotherms to variable thermal environments and climate change. Such models ignore the effects of time dependence-the temporal pattern and duration of temperature exposure-on performance. We developed and solved a simple mathematical model for growth rate of ectotherms, combining thermal performance curves for...