When a swelling soft solid is rigidly constrained on all sides except for a circular opening, it will bulge out to expand as observed during decompressive craniectomy, a surgical procedure used to reduce stresses in swollen brains. While the elastic energy of the solid decreases throughout this process, large stresses develop close to the opening. At the point of contact, the stresses exhibit a...

The structural and functional bases of pacemaking (slow waves) in porcine ileal circular muscle were studied. The myenteric plexus contained two, structurally distinct types of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) interconnected by gap junctions and connected by close contacts to muscle layers. At the deep muscular plexus, ICC were present, not regularly close to nerve axons or in gap junction con...

The effects of polylysine (PLL) and PLL-asialoorosomucoid (AsOR) on DNA condensation have been analyzed by AFM. Different types of condensed DNA structures were observed, which show a sequence of conformational changes as circular plasmid DNA molecules condense progressively. The structures range from circular molecules with the length of the plasmid DNA to small toroids and short rods with app...

Using sedimentation and cryo electron tomography techniques, the conformations of eukaryotic polyribosomes formed in a long-term cell-free translation system were analyzed over all the active system lifetime (20-30 translation rounds during 6-8 h in wheat germ extract at 25°C). Three distinct types of the conformations were observed: (i) circular polyribosomes, varying from ring-shaped forms to...

Isotropic etching of silicon in HF-based solutions is expected to be controlled by the diffusion of fluoride to the silicon surface. In order to gain quantitative understanding of the process, we studied etching of silicon in HF/HNO3/H2O via circular mask openings and compared the results with the theoretical expectations. The cavity edges due to etching under the mask were analyzed with a high...

Replicated circular openings ranging in size from 0.1 to 1 ha were cleared in 1996 at Blodgett Forest Research Station, California, and planted with seedlings of six native species. After 5 years of postharvest growth, heights were measured and analyzed according to species, opening size, and location within opening. The sequence of mean height from tallest to shortest, according to species, wa...

Hox gene collinearity relates the gene order of the Hox cluster in the chromosome (telomeric to centromeric end) with the serial activation of these genes in the ontogenetic units along the Anterior-Posterior embryonic axis. Although this collinearity property is well respected in bilaterians (e.g. vertebrates), it is violated in other animals. The A-P axis is established in the early embryo of...

Bundle sheath extensions (BSEs) are key features of leaf structure with currently little-understood functions. To test the hypothesis that BSEs reduce the hydraulic resistance from the bundle sheath to the epidermis (r(be)) and thereby accelerate hydropassive stomatal movements, we compared stomatal responses with reduced humidity and leaf excision among 20 species with heterobaric or homobaric...

Plant growth and development directly depend on several physical variables, such as light, temperature or humidity and also indirectly through the action of pests (pathogens, insects) or pollutants. This dependency results from biological processes such as photosynthesis, mineral root absorption, stomatal opening, or disease development, responding to these physical variables. These responses a...