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At least 127 records · Page 7

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NASA NTRS1987

The role of gravity in apical dominance: effects of clinostating on shoot inversion-induced ethylene production, shoot elongation and lateral bud growth

Shoot inversion-induced release of apical dominance in Pharbitis nil is inhibited by rotating the plant at 0.42 revolutions per minute in a vertical plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of a horizontal clinostat. Clinostating prevented lateral bud outgrowth, apparently by negating the restriction of the shoot elongation via reduction of ethylene production in the inverted shoot. Radial stem expansion was also decreased. Data from experiments with intact tissue and isolated segments indicated that shoot-inversion stimulates ethylene production by increasing the activity of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase. The results support the hypothesis that shoot inversion-induced release of apical dominance in Pharbitis nil is due to gravity stress and is mediated by ethylene-induced retardation of the elongation of the inverted shoot.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

NASA NTRS2001

Dirigent proteins and dirigent sites in lignifying tissues

Tissue-specific dirigent protein gene expression and associated dirigent (site) localization were examined in various organs of Forsythia intermedia using tissue printing, in situ mRNA hybridization and immunolabeling techniques, respectively. Dirigent protein gene expression was primarily noted in the undifferentiated cambial regions of stem sections, whereas dirigent protein sites were detected mainly in the vascular cambium and ray parenchyma cell initials. Immunolocalization also revealed cross-reactivity with particular regions of the lignified cell walls, these being coincident with the known sites of initiation of lignin deposition. These latter regions are considered to harbor contiguous arrays of dirigent (monomer binding) sites for initiation of lignin biopolymer assembly. Dirigent protein mRNA expression was also localized in the vascular regions of roots and petioles, whereas in leaves the dirigent sites were primarily associated with the palisade layers and the vascular bundle. That is, dirigent protein mediated lignan biosynthesis was initiated primarily in the cambium and ray cell initial regions of stems as well as in the leaf palisade layers, this being in accordance with the occurrence of the lignans for defense purposes. Within lignified secondary xylem cell walls, however, dirigent sites were primarily localized in the S(1) sublayer and compound middle lamella, these being coincident with previously established sites for initiation of macromolecular lignin biosynthesis. Once initiation occurs, lignification is proposed to continue through template polymerization.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

NASA NTRS1990

Seismic stress responses of soybean to different photosynthetic photon flux

Physical agitation applied as periodic seismic stress (shaking) reduced stem elongation, leaf expansion, and biomass accumulation by vegetative soybeans. Level of photon flux (PPF) influenced the type and extent of plant response to mechanical stress. Plant parts responded differently as PPF varied between 135 and 592 micromoles m-2 s-1. Stem length was significantly reduced by seismic stress at 135 micromoles m-2 s-1 but this effect was insignificant at higher PPFs. Reduced stem length resulted from an inhibition of internode elongation. Stem diameter was unaffected by stress at the PPFs tested. In contrast to effects on stem elongation, leaf area was insensitive to stress treatments at 135 micromoles m-2 s-1 but was progressively inhibited by stress as PPF increased. Statistically significant reductions in shoot f. wt and d. wt by seismic stress occurred only at 295 micromoles m-2 s-1. Root biomass accumulation was not affected by seismic stress at any PPF used in this study.

NASA Program Space Biology↗

NASA NTRS1989

Auxin asymmetry during gravitropism by tomato hypocotyls

Gravitropic asymmetry of auxin was observed in hypocotyls of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) soon after horizontal placement: the ratio of apically supplied [3H]IAA collected from the lower sides to that from the upper sides was about 1.4 between 5 and 10 minutes. This was adequately early to account for the beginning of curvature. The auxin asymmetry ratio rose to about 2.5 between 20 and 25 minutes, and to 3.5 during the main phase of curvature. This compares reasonably well with the roughly 3.9 ratio for elongation on the lower side to elongation on the upper side that is the basis for the curvature. These data extend evidence that the Went-Cholodny theory for the mediation of tropisms is valid for dicot stems. Also consistent with the theory, an auxin asymmetry ratio of 2.5 was observed when wrong-way gravitropic curvature developed following application of a high level of auxin. In addition to reversing the asymmetry of elongation, the large supplement of auxin resulted in lower net elongation. Previous data established that ethylene is not involved in this decrease of growth as a function of increasing level of auxin.

NASA Program Space Biology↗

NASA NTRS2012

Overcoming the Critical Shortage of STEM - Prepared Secondary Students Through Modeling and Simulation

In developing understanding of technological systems - modeling and simulation tools aid significantly in the learning and visualization processes. In design courses we sketch , extrude, shape, refine and animate with virtual tools in 3D. Final designs are built using a 3D printer. Aspiring architects create spaces with realistic materials and lighting schemes rendered on model surfaces to create breathtaking walk-throughs of virtual spaces. Digital Electronics students design systems that address real-world needs. Designs are simulated in virtual circuits to provide proof of concept before physical construction. This vastly increases students' ability to design and build complex systems. We find students using modeling and simulation in the learning process, assimilate information at a much faster pace and engage more deeply in learning. As Pre-Engineering educators within the Career and Technical Education program at our school division's Technology Academy our task is to help learners in their quest to develop deep understanding of complex technological systems in a variety of engineering disciplines. Today's young learners have vast opportunities to learn with tools that many of us only dreamed about a decade or so ago when we were engaged in engineering and other technical studies. Today's learner paints with a virtual brush - scenes that can aid significantly in the learning and visualization processes. Modeling and simulation systems have become the new standard tool set in the technical classroom [1-5]. Modeling and simulation systems are now applied as feedback loops in the learning environment. Much of the study of behavior change through the use of feedback loops can be attributed to Stanford Psychologist Alfred Bandura. "Drawing on several education experiments involving children, Bandura observed that giving individuals a clear goal and a means to evaluate their progress toward that goal greatly increased the likelihood that they would achieve it."

Spencer, Thomas↗

NASA NTRS1995

Pathophysiology of immobilization osteoporosis

The reduction of gravity-related forces on the skeleton creates a type of osteoporosis that is unique because its severity is dependent on the mechanical stress bearing function of the skeleton as well as the length of time that the forces are absent or reduced. Bones that bear weight under normal conditions are more affected than bones that normally do not bear weight. The cytokine environment and the cells in the affected bones are altered in time so that stem cells produce fewer new cells and the differentiated cells tend to be less active. These alterations in the local environment of the affected parts appear to resemble those of age- and disease-associated systemic forms of osteoporosis. The osteoporosis produced as a result of the loss of normal activity however, appears to be at least partially reversible through remobilization, strenuous exercise, and--possibly in the future--cytokine therapy.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS1991

Generation and multiplication of plantlets from callus derived from Haplopappus gracilus (Nutt.) Gray and their karyotype analysis

Unopened flower heads of Haplopappus gracilis (2n = 4) provided primary explants for callus production and subsequent induction of organized growth. Callus was initiated from small (3-5 mm in length) floral buds with benzylaminopurine (BAP) (44.4 micromoles; 10 mg/l) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (0.54 micromole; 0.1 mg/l). Lowering the BAP level to 4.44 micromoles (1 mg/l) but maintaining the NAA level, gave rise to organized but highly compressed shoot growing points from an otherwise undifferentiated callus mass. Shoots selected from such cultures were maintainable and could be proliferated by growing 1-1.5-cm stem tip cuttings on Murashige and Skoog basal medium (solidified with agar) containing 0.444 micromole (0.1 mg/l) BAP and 0.054 micromole (0.01 mg/l) NAA. The stem tip multiplication rates obtainable by these means permit reliable strategies for shoot multiplication or production of rooted plantlets. Prolonged subculture and maintenance of shoots on growth regulator-free medium leads to in vitro flowering and greatly reduces rooting capacity. Karyotype analysis of chromosomes from root tip cells at metaphase and chromosome measurements show that karyologically uniform plantlets (based on chromosome number and morphology) can be obtained.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

NASA NTRS2001

Precision bone and muscle loss measurements by advanced, multiple projection DEXA (AMPDXA) techniques for spaceflight applications

An advanced, multiple projection, dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (AMPDXA) scanner system is under development. The AMPDXA is designed to make precision bone and muscle loss measurements necessary to determine the deleterious effects of microgravity on astronauts as well as develop countermeasures to stem their bone and muscle loss. To date, a full size test system has been developed to verify principles and the results of computer simulations. Results indicate that accurate predictions of bone mechanical properties can be determined from as few as three projections, while more projections are needed for a complete, three-dimensional reconstruction. c 2001. Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Discipline Life Sciences Technologies↗

NASA NTRS1998

Three-dimensional organization of otolith-ocular reflexes in rhesus monkeys. III. Responses To translation

The three-dimensional (3-D) properties of the translational vestibulo-ocular reflexes (translational VORs) during lateral and fore-aft oscillations in complete darkness were studied in rhesus monkeys at frequencies between 0.16 and 25 Hz. In addition, constant velocity off-vertical axis rotations extended the frequency range to 0.02 Hz. During lateral motion, horizontal responses were in phase with linear velocity in the frequency range of 2-10 Hz. At both lower and higher frequencies, phase lags were introduced. Torsional response phase changed more than 180 degrees in the tested frequency range such that torsional eye movements, which could be regarded as compensatory to "an apparent roll tilt" at the lowest frequencies, became anticompensatory at all frequencies above approximately 1 Hz. These results suggest two functionally different frequency bandwidths for the translational VORs. In the low-frequency spectrum (<<0.5 Hz), horizontal responses compensatory to translation are small and high-pass-filtered whereas torsional response sensitivity is relatively frequency independent. At higher frequencies however, both horizontal and torsional response sensitivity and phase exhibit a similar frequency dependence, suggesting a common role during head translation. During up-down motion, vertical responses were in phase with translational velocity at 3-5 Hz but phase leads progressively increased for lower frequencies (>90 degrees at frequencies <0.2 Hz). No consistent dependence on static head orientation was observed for the vertical response components during up-down motion and the horizontal and torsional response components during lateral translation. The frequency response characteristics of the translational VORs were fitted by "periphery/brain stem" functions that related the linear acceleration input, transduced by primary otolith afferents, to the velocity signals providing the input to the velocity-to-position neural integrator and the oculomotor plant. The lowest-order, best-fit periphery/brain stem model that approximated the frequency dependence of the data consisted of a second order transfer function with two alternating poles (at 0.4 and 7.2 Hz) and zeros (at 0.035 and 3.4 Hz). In addition to clearly differentiator dynamics at low frequencies (less than approximately 0.5 Hz), there was no frequency bandwidth where the periphery/brain stem function could be approximated by an integrator, as previously suggested. In this scheme, the oculomotor plant dynamics are assumed to perform the necessary high-frequency integration as required by the reflex. The detailed frequency dependence of the data could only be precisely described by higher order functions with nonminimum phase characteristics that preclude simple filtering of afferent inputs and might be suggestive of distributed spatiotemporal processing of otolith signals in the translational VORs.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS2003

Biogeochemistry of fluoride in a plant-solution system

Fluoride (F-) pollutants can harm plants and the animals feeding on them. However, it is largely unknown how complexing and chelating agents affect F bioavailability. Two studies were conducted that measured F- bioavailability and uptake by rice (Oryza sativa L.). In the first study, rice was grown in solution culture (pH 5.0) with 0, 2, or 4 mM F- as KF to compare the interaction of F- with humic acid (HA) and with a conventional chelating agent, N-hydroxyethylenthylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA). In the second study, F was supplied at 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mM KF with an additional 2 mM F- treatment containing solution Ca at 2x (2 mM Ca) the level used in the first study, to test the effect added Ca had on F- availability and uptake. Total biomass was greatest with HEDTA and F- < 1 mM. Leaf and stem F concentrations increased exponentially as solution F- increased linearly, with nearly no F partitioning into the seed. Results suggest that F was taken up as HF0 while F- uptake was likely restricted. Additionally, F- competed with HA for Ca, thus preventing the formation of Ca-HA flocculents. The addition of soluble Ca resulted in the precipitation of CaF2 solids on the root surface, as determined by tissue analysis and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗

NASA NTRS1987

The green non-sulfur bacteria: a deep branching in the eubacterial line of descent

Ribosomal RNA sequence comparisons define a phylogenetic grouping, the green non-sulfur bacteria and relatives (GNS), known to contain the genera Chloroflexus, Herpetosiphon and Thermomicrobium--organisms that have little phenotypic similarity. The unit is phylogenetically deep, but entirely distinct from any other eubacterial division (phylum). It is also relatively ancient--branching from the common eubacterial stem earlier than any other group of eubacteria reported thus far. The group phenotype is predominantly thermophilic, and its thermophilic members, especially Thermomicrobium, are more slowly evolving than Herpetosiphon, a mesophile. The GNS unit appears significantly older than either the green sulfur bacteria or the cyanobacteria--making it likely that organisms such as Chloroflexus, not the cyanobacteria, generated the oldest stromatolites, which formed over three billion years ago.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS1998

Role of the flocculus of the cerebellum in motor learning of the vestibulo-ocular reflex

Structure-function studies at the systems level are an effective method for understanding the relationship of the central nervous system to behavior. Motor learning or adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex is a clear example wherein this approach has been productive. During a vestibulo-ocular reflex the brain converts a head velocity signal, transduced through the vestibular semicircular canals, into an eye movement command delivered to the extraocular muscles. If the viewed target remains on the fovea of the retina, the reflex is compensatory, and its gain, eye velocity/head velocity, is one. When the image of the viewed object slips across the retina, visual acuity decreases, and the gain of the reflex, which is no longer one, is plastically adapted or adjusted until retinal stability is restored. The anatomic substrate for this plasticity thus involves brain structures in which visual-vestibular interaction can potentially occur, as well as vestibular and visual sensory and oculomotor motor structures. Further, it has been known for many years that removal of the flocculus of the cerebellum permanently precludes further vestibulo-ocular reflex adaptation, demonstrating the involvement of the cerebellum in this behavior. Maekawa and Simpson (J Neurophysiol 1973;36: 649-66) discovered that one visual input to the flocculus involved the accessory optic system and the inferior olive. Ensuing work has demonstrated that the visual signals used to adapt the vestibulo-ocular reflex are transmitted by this accessory optic system to the flocculus and subsequently to brain stem structures involved in vestibulo-ocular reflex plasticity. Presently the inclusive list of anatomic sites involved in vestibulo-ocular reflex circuitry and its adaptive plasticity is small. Our laboratory continues to believe that this behavior should be caused by interactions within this small class of neurons. By studying each class of identified neuron and its interactions with others within the list, we hope to ultimately understand the mechanisms used by the brain in the expression of this behavior.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS1988

Effects of shoot inversion on stem structure in Pharbitis nil

The effects of shoot inversion on stem structure over 72 hr were investigated in Pharbitis nil by analyzing cell number, cell length, and the cross sectional areas of cells, tissues, and regions. An increase in stem diameter can be attributed to an increase in both cell number and cross sectional area of pith (primarily) and vascular tissue (secondarily). Qualitative observations of cell wall thickness in the light microscope did not reveal any significant effects of shoot inversion on this parameter. The inhibition of shoot elongation was accompanied by a significant decrease in cell length in the pith. The results are generally consistent with an ethylene effect on cell dimensions, especially in the pith.

Non-NASA Center↗

DOE OSTI2022

Advancing river corridor science beyond disciplinary boundaries with an inductive approach to catalyse hypothesis generation

Abstract A unified conceptual framework for river corridors requires synthesis of diverse site‐, method‐ and discipline‐specific findings. The river research community has developed a substantial body of observations and process‐specific interpretations, but we are still lacking a comprehensive model to distill this knowledge into fundamental transferable concepts. We confront the challenge of how a discipline classically organized around the deductive model of systematically collecting of site‐, scale‐, and mechanism‐specific observations begins the process of synthesis. Machine learning is particularly well‐suited to inductive generation of hypotheses. In this study, we prototype an inductive approach to holistic synthesis of river corridor observations, using support vector machine regression to identify potential couplings or feedbacks that would not necessarily arise from classical approaches. This approach generated 672 relationships linking a suite of 157 variables each measured at 62 locations in a fifth order river network. Eighty four percent of these relationships have not been previously investigated, and representing potential (hypothetical) process connections. We document relationships consistent with current understanding including hydrologic exchange processes, microbial ecology, and the River Continuum Concept, supporting that the approach can identify meaningful relationships in the data. Moreover, we highlight examples of two novel research questions that stem from interpretation of inductively‐generated relationships. This study demonstrates the implementation of machine learning to sieve complex data sets and identify a small set of candidate relationships that warrant further study, including data types not commonly measured together. This structured approach complements traditional modes of inquiry, which are often limited by disciplinary perspectives and favour the careful pursuit of parsimony. Finally, we emphasize that this approach should be viewed as a complement to, rather than in place of, more traditional, deductive approaches to scientific discovery.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1985

Elimination of toxicity from polyurethane foam plugs used for plant culture

Polyurethane foam plugs commonly are used as collars or supports to grow plants in solution culture. Despite their utility, these foam plugs can be quite toxic to plants, particularly to small seedlings. We have observed tissue injury in tests using plugs to support lettuce, red beet, and potato plants in solution culture. Typically, the injury is initiated on the hypocotyl or stem tissue in direct contact with the foam, and appears within 30 hr as a brownish discoloration on the tissue surface. This discoloration can be followed by complete collapse of affected tissue and eventual death of the seedling. When injury does not progress beyond surface browning, the seedling survives but growth is slowed. In this paper, we report on different treatments that can be used to remove the toxicity of these plugs so they can be used in plant research.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS1988

Growth inhibition, turgor maintenance, and changes in yield threshold after cessation of solute import in pea epicotyls

The dependence of stem elongation on solute import was investigated in etiolated pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L. var Alaska) by excising the cotyledons. Stem elongation was inhibited by 60% within 5 hours of excision. Dry weight accumulation into the growing region stopped and osmotic pressure of the cell sap declined by 0.14 megapascal over 5 hours. Attempts to assay phloem transport via ethylenediaminetetraacetate-enhanced exudation from cut stems revealed no effect of cotyledon excision, indicating that the technique measured artifactual leakage from cells. Despite the drop in cell osmotic pressure, turgor pressure (measured directly via a pressure probe) did not decline. Turgor maintenance is postulated to occur via uptake of solutes from the free space, thereby maintaining the osmotic pressure difference across the cell membrane. Cell wall properties were measured by the pressure-block stress relaxation technique. Results indicate that growth inhibition after cotyledon excision was mediated primarily via an increase in the wall yield threshold.

NASA Discipline Number 40-30↗

NASA NTRS1998

Modeling learning in brain stem and cerebellar sites responsible for VOR plasticity

A simple model of vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) function was used to analyze several hypotheses currently held concerning the characteristics of VOR plasticity. The network included a direct vestibular pathway and an indirect path via the cerebellum. An optimization analysis of this model suggests that regulation of brain stem sites is critical for the proper modification of VOR gain. A more physiologically plausible learning rule was also applied to this network. Analysis of these simulation results suggests that the preferred error correction signal controlling gain modification of the VOR is the direct output of the accessory optic system (AOS) to the vestibular nuclei vs. a signal relayed through the cerebellum via floccular Purkinje cells. The potential anatomical and physiological basis for this conclusion is discussed, in relation to our current understanding of the latency of the adapted VOR response.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

NASA NTRS1985

Kinetic separation of phototropism from blue-light inhibition of stem elongation

These experiments tested the hypothesis that phototropic bending arises when a light gradient across the stem differentially inhibits cell elongation because of direct inhibition of cell elongation by light (the Blaauw hypothesis). Continuous irradiation of dark-grown cucumber seedlings (Cucumis sativus L.) with unilateral blue light inhibited hypocotyl elongation within 30 s, but did not induce phototropic curvature until 4.5 h after the start of irradiation. Marking experiments showed that curvature began simultaneously at the top and bottom of the growing region. In situ measurements of the light gradient across the stem with a glass fiber optic indicated that a 5- to 6-fold difference in fluence rate was established on the two sides of the stem. The light gradient established at the start of irradiation was the same as that after 6 h of irradiation. Changes in gravitropic responsiveness during this period were also ruled out. Calculations show that the light gradient should have caused curvature which would be detectable within 30 to 60 min and which would extrapolate to the start of irradiation--if the Blaauw hypothesis were correct. The long lag for phototropism in this case indicates that rapid inhibition of cell elongation by blue light does not cause the asymmetrical growth of phototropism. Rather, phototropism is superimposed upon this separate light growth response.

NASA Discipline Number 40-30↗