Although sessile, plants are able to grow toward or away from an environmental stimulus. Important examples are stem or leaf orientation of higher plants in response to the direction of the incident light. The responsible photoreceptors belong to the phototropin photoreceptor family. Although the mode of phototropin action is quite well understood, much less is known of how the light signal is ...

Plants integrate multiple environmental signals to detect and avoid shading from neighbouring vegetation. Two new studies highlight the importance of blue light in the regulation of stem elongation and bending during shade escape.

BACKGROUND Mechanical failure of femoral stems at the modular junction of revision hip arthroplasty systems has been reported only infrequently. In the current study, the cause of six stem fractures, which occurred in vivo, was analyzed with use of clinical data and failure analysis. METHODS Six patients with a fracture at the mid-stem junction of a modular revision hip implant were identifie...

Biological materials possess a variety of artful interfaces whose size and properties are adapted to their hierarchical levels and functional requirements. Bone, nacre, and wood exhibit an impressive fracture resistance based mainly on small crystallite size, interface organic adhesives and hierarchical microstructure. Currently, little is known about mechanical concepts in macroscopic biologic...

Boards of acceptable quality were made from barky material, pressure-refined from 14 species of southern hardwoods. Static bending and tensile properties (parallel to surface) of specimens were negatively correlated to stem specific gravity (wood plus bark), chip bulk density, and fiber bulk density. Bending and tensile properties increased with increasing densification ratio, but the rate of i...

this experiment was designed and conducted to increase to yield as well as quality of greenhouse cut-rose. the experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement, based upon a completely randomized design of three replications, under hydroponic conditions. the study was followed with the aim of investigating the effects of cultivar type (‘bull's eye’-‘cherry brandy’), pot volume (5-8l) an...

During their development, plants are subjected to repeated and fluctuating wind loads, an environmental factor predicted to increase in importance by scenarios of global climatic change. Notwithstanding the importance of wind stress on plant growth and development, little is known about plant acclimation to the bending stresses imposed by repeated winds. The time-course of acclimation of young ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of physicochemical properties of gerbera (Gerbera Jamesonii L.) to silica nanoparticles (Nanoparticle-SiO2) and calcium chelate (Ca-Chelate) in nutrient solutions. A factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with two factors was conducted in four replicates. The first factor the concentration of Nanoparticle-SiO2 in nutr...

The respiration of cut flowers of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii H. Bolus ex Hook.f. 'Vesuvio') and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) increased exponentially with increasing storage temperature. Poststorage vase life and negatively gravitropic bending of the neck of the flowers were both strongly affected by simulated transport at higher temperatures. Vase life and stem bending after dry storage sho...

In semiarid drylands water shortage and trampling by large herbivores are two factors limiting plant growth and distribution. Trampling can strongly affect plant performance, but little is known about responses of morphological and mechanical traits of woody plants to trampling and their possible interaction with water availability. Seedlings of four shrubs (Caragana intermedia, Cynanchum komar...