Individuality, self and sociality of vascular plants

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1821) ◽  
pp. 20190760 ◽  
Author(s):  
František Baluška ◽  
Stefano Mancuso

Vascular plants are integrated into coherent bodies via plant-specific synaptic adhesion domains, action potentials (APs) and other means of long-distance signalling running throughout the plant bodies. Plant-specific synapses and APs are proposed to allow plants to generate their self identities having unique ways of sensing and acting as agents with their own goals guiding their future activities. Plants move their organs with a purpose and with obvious awareness of their surroundings and require APs to perform and control these movements. Self-identities allow vascular plants to act as individuals enjoying sociality via their self/non-self-recognition and kin recognition. Flowering plants emerge as cognitive and intelligent organisms when the major strategy is to attract and control their animal pollinators as well as seed dispersers by providing them with food enriched with nutritive and manipulative/addictive compounds. Their goal in interactions with animals is manipulation for reproduction, dispersal and defence. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens’.

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1887-1891
Author(s):  
Todor Kalinov

Management and Command253 are two different words and terms, but military structures use them as synonyms. Military commanders’ authorities are almost equal in meaning to civilian managers’ privileges and power. Comparison between military command and the civilian management system structure, organization, and way of work shows almost full identity and overlapping. The highest in scale and size military systems are national ministries of defense and multinational military alliances and coalitions. Military systems at this level combine military command structures with civilian political leadership and support elements. Therefore, they incorporate both military command and civilian management organizations without any complications, because their nature originated from same source and have similar framework and content. Management of organizations requires communication in order to plan, coordinate, lead, control, and conduct all routine or extraordinary activities. Immediate long-distance communications originated from telegraphy, which was firstly applied in 19th century. Later, long-distance communications included telephony, aerial transmitting, satellite, and last but not least internet data exchange. They allowed immediate exchange of letters, voice and images, bringing to new capabilities of the managers. Their sophisticated technical base brought to new area of the military command and civilian management structures. These area covered technical and operational parts of communications, and created engineer sub-field of science, that has become one of the most popular educations, worldwide. Communications were excluded from the military command and moved to separate field, named Computers and Communications. A historic overview and analysis of the command and management structures and requirements shows their relationships, common origin, and mission. They have significant differences: management and control are based on humanities, natural and social sciences, while communications are mainly based on engineering and technology. These differences do not create enough conditions for defragmentation of communications from the management structures. They exist together in symbiosis and management structures need communications in order to exist and multiply their effectiveness and efficiency. Future defragmentation between military command and communications will bring risks of worse coordination, need for more human resources, and worse end states. These risks are extremely negative for nations and should be avoided by wide appliance of the education and science among nowadays and future leaders, managers, and commanders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Fabricant ◽  
Geoffrey Z. Iwata ◽  
Sönke Scherzer ◽  
Lykourgos Bougas ◽  
Katharina Rolfs ◽  
...  

AbstractUpon stimulation, plants elicit electrical signals that can travel within a cellular network analogous to the animal nervous system. It is well-known that in the human brain, voltage changes in certain regions result from concerted electrical activity which, in the form of action potentials (APs), travels within nerve-cell arrays. Electro- and magnetophysiological techniques like electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, and magnetic resonance imaging are used to record this activity and to diagnose disorders. Here we demonstrate that APs in a multicellular plant system produce measurable magnetic fields. Using atomic optically pumped magnetometers, biomagnetism associated with electrical activity in the carnivorous Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, was recorded. Action potentials were induced by heat stimulation and detected both electrically and magnetically. Furthermore, the thermal properties of ion channels underlying the AP were studied. Beyond proof of principle, our findings pave the way to understanding the molecular basis of biomagnetism in living plants. In the future, magnetometry may be used to study long-distance electrical signaling in a variety of plant species, and to develop noninvasive diagnostics of plant stress and disease.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
P S Segre ◽  
D E Cade ◽  
J Calambokidis ◽  
F E Fish ◽  
A S Friedlaender ◽  
...  

Abstract Blue whales are often characterized as highly stable, open-ocean swimmers who sacrifice maneuverability for long-distance cruising performance. However, recent studies have revealed that blue whales actually exhibit surprisingly complex underwater behaviors, yet little is known about the performance and control of these maneuvers. Here, we use multi-sensor biologgers equipped with cameras to quantify the locomotor dynamics and the movement of the control surfaces used by foraging blue whales. Our results revealed that simple maneuvers (rolls, turns, and pitch changes) are performed using distinct combinations of control and power provided by the flippers, the flukes, and bending of the body, while complex trajectories are structured by combining sequences of simple maneuvers. Furthermore, blue whales improve their turning performance by using complex banked turns to take advantage of their substantial dorso-ventral flexibility. These results illustrate the important role body flexibility plays in enhancing control and performance of maneuvers, even in the largest of animals. The use of the body to supplement the performance of the hydrodynamically active surfaces may represent a new mechanism in the control of aquatic locomotion.


Author(s):  
Kazuyuki Aihara ◽  
Hideyuki Suzuki

In this introductory article, we survey the contents of this Theme Issue. This Theme Issue deals with a fertile region of hybrid dynamical systems that are characterized by the coexistence of continuous and discrete dynamics. It is now well known that there exist many hybrid dynamical systems with discontinuities such as impact, switching, friction and sliding. The first aim of this Issue is to discuss recent developments in understanding nonlinear dynamics of hybrid dynamical systems in the two main theoretical fields of dynamical systems theory and control systems theory. A combined study of the hybrid systems dynamics in the two theoretical fields might contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of hybrid dynamical systems. In addition, mathematical modelling by hybrid dynamical systems is particularly important for understanding the nonlinear dynamics of biological and medical systems as they have many discontinuities such as threshold-triggered firing in neurons, on–off switching of gene expression by a transcription factor, division in cells and certain types of chronotherapy for prostate cancer. Hence, the second aim is to discuss recent applications of hybrid dynamical systems in biology and medicine. Thus, this Issue is not only general to serve as a survey of recent progress in hybrid systems theory but also specific to introduce interesting and stimulating applications of hybrid systems in biology and medicine. As the introduction to the topics in this Theme Issue, we provide a brief history of nonlinear dynamics and mathematical modelling, different mathematical models of hybrid dynamical systems, the relationship between dynamical systems theory and control systems theory, examples of complex behaviour in a simple neuron model and its variants, applications of hybrid dynamical systems in biology and medicine as a road map of articles in this Theme Issue and future directions of hybrid systems modelling.


2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 1084-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne K. Churchland ◽  
Stephen G. Lisberger

We have used antidromic activation to determine the functional discharge properties of neurons that project to the frontal pursuit area (FPA) from the medial-superior temporal visual area (MST). In awake rhesus monkeys, MST neurons were considered to be activated antidromically if they emitted action potentials at fixed, short latencies after stimulation in the FPA and if the activation passed the collision test. Antidromically activated neurons ( n = 37) and a sample of the overall population of MST neurons ( n = 110) then were studied during pursuit eye movements across a dark background and during laminar motion of a large random-dot texture and optic flow expansion and contraction during fixation. Antidromically activated neurons showed direction tuning during pursuit (25/37), during laminar image motion (21/37), or both (16/37). Of 27 neurons tested with optic flow stimuli, 14 showed tuning for optic flow expansion ( n = 10) or contraction ( n = 4). There were no statistically significant differences in the response properties of the antidromically activated and control samples. Preferred directions for pursuit and laminar image motion did not show any statistically significant biases, and the preferred directions for eye versus image motion in each sample tended to be equally divided between aligned and opposed. There were small differences between the control and antidromically activated populations in preferred speeds for laminar motion and optic flow; these might have reached statistical significance with larger samples of antidromically activated neurons. We conclude that the population of MST neurons projecting to the FPA is highly diverse and quite similar to the general population of neurons in MST.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dody Priosambodo ◽  
Khairul Amri ◽  
Mahatma Lanuru

Penelitian tentang inventarisasi spesies tumbuhan di pulau Barrangcaddi yang berpenduduk padat telah dilakukan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis tumbuhan asli, tumbuhan introduksi dan tumbuhan invasif di Pulau Barrangcaddi. Kegiatan sampling dilakukan dengan metode purposive sampling. Data diambil dengan mencatat semua spesies tumbuhan yang ditemukan selama penjelajahan di pulau Barrangcaddi. Seluruh sampel di foto. Sampel tumbuhan yang tidak diketahui namanya, di ambil bagian-bagiannya, kemudian dikoleksi dan diidentifikasi di laboratorium Ilmu Lingkungan dan Kelautan, Departemen Biologi, Fakultas MIPA, Universitas Hasanuddin. Identifikasi sampel menggunakan buku: An Annotated Check-List of The Vascular Plants of The South China Sea and Its Shores oleh Turner et al. (2000) dan Mangrove Guidebook for Southeast Asia oleh Wim Giesen et al. (2007) untuk spesies hutan pantai; Tropical flowering plants: a guide to identification and cultivation oleh Kirsten Albrecht Llamas (2003) untuk spesies tanaman hias dan tanaman budidaya/introduksi serta Nonnative Invasive Plants of Pacific Coast Forest. A Field Guide for Identification oleh Gray et al. (2011) dan Guide to The Naturalized and Invasive Plants of Southeast Asia oleh Arne Witt (2017) untuk spesies tumbuhan invasif. Dari hasil penelitian di pulau Barrangcaddi tercatat sebanyak 142 spesies tumbuhan dari 51 suku. Sebagian besar didominasi oleh tanaman hias dan budidaya (introduksi) dengan 103 spesies dari 42 suku diikuti spesies asli (native species) dengan jumlah 29 spesies dari 19 suku. Spesies invasif tercatat paling sedikit dengan jumlah 10 spesies dari 5 suku. Sebagian besar tutupan vegetasi dari spesies asli telah hilang akibat alih fungsi lahan menjadi permukiman.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Masciadri ◽  
Ernesto Brugnoli ◽  
Pablo Muniz

In Uruguay, as well as in other regions of the world, IAS cause negative impacts on natural and managed ecosystems. The use of databases is a helpful tool to elaborate different strategies for prevention and control, and to develop policies and scientific analyses related to IAS. The database of IAS in Uruguay (InBUy) was developed during two time periods (2006-2007 and 2009-2010). It currently contains information on 33 specialists of different taxonomic groups, 14 research projects, 185 references, 351 species and 4,715 records, with vascular plants having both the highest number of species and records. Among vascular plants, herbaceous life forms are the most strongly represented, followed by trees and shrubs. Within animals, the fishes and mollusks are the most important groups. Analysis of the native distribution areas of IAS showed that most are indigenous from Europe, followed by Asia and Oceania. Data showed that introductions of IAS into Uruguay are mainly intentional (67%), so efforts should be focused on policies and rules in order to control the entrance of exotic organisms and prevent new invasions. The geography of the compiled dataset shows the main impact is along the coastline, where the highest exotic species richness and records occurs, and also the most biological invasions. The InBUy database is up-to-date and has successfully contributed to the creation of an official IAS list for Uruguay and both a National and a Coastal Geographic Information System. It has also been used for developing consciousness about this important threat to biodiversity, at both national and regional scales.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Minghao Li ◽  
Yu Li

Flame retardants are widely used in many materials and products, and there is a pressing need to enhance the performance of flame retardants while lowering their toxicity. In this paper, using polychlorinated biphenyl flame retardants as an example, a three-dimensional quantitative structure-double-activity relationship (3D-QSA2R) model, with the double activities of flame retardancy and toxicity, was constructed by introducing a vector normalized method to achieve the goal of environmental risk management and control the sources of chemicals. The results showed that the 3D-QSA2R model has good robustness and strong predictive ability. PCB-209 was used as a target molecule for the contour map analysis and molecular modification. The comprehensive values (C) of six novel PCB-209 molecules were increased by up to 53.61%. The physical and chemical parameters (frequency and Gibbs free energy), functional properties (stability and insulation) and the other three POP properties of the novel PCB-209 molecules showed that the Cl atom substitution reaction of PCB209 molecules could occur and exist stably in the environment. With improvement in stability, the insulation of six novel PCB-209 molecules was not influenced after modification, and the environmental persistence, bioconcentration and long-distance migration of six novel PCB-209 molecules were increased up to 99.47%, 15.29% and 100.9%, respectively. The flame retardancy and toxicity of the new molecules were verified by Gaussian software and the EPI database, respectively. The single activity verification values of flame retardancy and toxicity followed the trend of C values predicted by the double-activity 3D-QSA2R model established in this paper. The ratio between the two single activities of the new PCB-209 molecule generally conformed to the weight setting, which satisfies the purpose of setting the weight as the main way to improve the efficacy of flame retardants.


1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 230-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan B. Fountain ◽  
Jonathan Bear ◽  
Edward H. Bertram ◽  
Eric W. Lothman

Fountain, Nathan B., Jonathan Bear, Edward H. Bertram III, and Eric W. Lothman. Responses of deep entorhinal cortex are epileptiform in an electrogenic rat model of chronic temporal lobe epilepsy. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 230–240, 1998. We investigated whether entorhinal cortex (EC) layer IV neurons are hyperexcitable in the post-selfsustaining limbic status epilepticus (post-SSLSE) animal model of temporal lobe epilepsy. We studied naive rats ( n = 44), epileptic rats that had experienced SSLSE resulting in spontaneous seizures ( n = 45), and electrode controls ( n = 7). There were no differences between electrode control and naive groups, which were pooled into a single control group. Intracellular and extracellular recordings were made from deep layers of EC, targeting layer IV, which was activated by stimulation of the superficial layers of EC or the angular bundle. There were no differences between epileptic and control neurons in basic cellular characteristics, and all neurons were quiescent under resting conditions. In control tissue, 77% of evoked intracellular responses consisted of a short-duration [8.6 ± 1.3 (SE) ms] excitatory postsynaptic potential and a single action potential followed by γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) and GABAB inhibitory post synaptic potentials (IPSPs). Ten percent of controls did not contain IPSPs. In chronically epileptic tissue, evoked intracellular responses demonstrated prolonged depolarizing potentials (256 ± 39 ms), multiple action potentials (13 ± 4), and no IPSPs. Ten percent of epileptic responses were followed by rhythmic “clonic” depolarizations. Epileptic responses exhibited an all-or-none response to progressive increases in stimulus intensity and required less stimulation to elicit action potentials. In both epileptic and control animals, intracellular responses correlated precisely in morphology and duration with extracellular field potentials. Severing the hippocampus from the EC did not alter the responses. Duration of intracellular epileptic responses was reduced 22% by the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist d(−)-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV), but they did not return to normal and IPSPs were not restored. Epileptic and control responses were abolished by the non-NMDA antagonist 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2-3-dione (DNQX). A monosynaptic IPSP protocol was used to test connectivity of inhibitory interneurons to primary cells by direct activation of interneurons with a stimulating electrode placed near the recording electrode in the presence of APV and DNQX. Using this protocol, IPSPs similar to control ( P > 0.05) were seen in epileptic cells. The findings demonstrate that deep layer EC cells are hyperexcitable or “epileptiform” in this model. Hyperexcitability is not due to interactions with the hippocampus. It is due partially to augmented NMDA-mediated excitation. The lack of IPSPs in epileptic neurons may suggest inhibition is impaired, but we found evidence that inhibitory interneurons are connected to their target cells and are capable of inducing IPSPs.


2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Y. Kostrominova ◽  
Douglas E. Dow ◽  
Robert G. Dennis ◽  
Richard A. Miller ◽  
John A. Faulkner

Loss of innervation in skeletal muscles leads to degeneration, atrophy, and loss of force. These dramatic changes are reflected in modifications of the mRNA expression of a large number of genes. Our goal was to clarify the broad spectrum of molecular events associated with long-term denervation of skeletal muscles. A microarray study compared gene expression profiles of 2-mo denervated and control extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles from 6-mo-old rats. The study identified 121 genes with increased and 7 genes with decreased mRNA expression. The expression of 107 of these genes had not been identified previously as changed after denervation. Many of the genes identified were genes that are highly expressed in skeletal muscles during embryonic development, downregulated in adults, and upregulated after denervation of muscle fibers. Electrical stimulation of denervated muscles preserved muscle mass and maximal force at levels similar to those in the control muscles. To understand the processes underlying the effect of electrical stimulation on denervated skeletal muscles, mRNA and protein expression of a number of genes, identified by the microarray study, was compared. The hypothesis was that loss of nerve action potentials and muscle contractions after denervation play the major roles in upregulation of gene expression in skeletal muscles. With electrical stimulation of denervated muscles, the expression levels for these genes were significantly downregulated, consistent with the hypothesis that loss of action potentials and/or contractions contribute to the alterations in gene expression in denervated skeletal muscles.


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