In this study, responses to these factors were investigated in the crop species broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. convar. botrytis, Brassicaceae). Plants were first grown under three UV-B regimes (80%, 23%, and 4% transmittance of ambient UV-B) in greenhouses covered with either innovative materials (high and medium transmittance) or conventional glass (low transmittance). Half of the plants then remained under

these conditions, but the other half were transferred to the field with ambient light and herbivore access for up to 3 d. The plant responses to distinct environmental conditions were examined by analysing the morphological and chemical parameters of plants kept inside and plants exposed in the field. Furthermore, suitability of field-exposed plants to naturally occurring insects was investigated in relation INCB024360 inhibitor to UV-B pretreatment. High levels of UV-B radiation led to increased flavonoid concentrations, but to a lower biomass accumulation in broccoli. These patterns remained after outdoor exposure. However, UV-induced changes of plant traits did not alter attractiveness to herbivorous insects: thrips, whiteflies, and aphids attacked plants independently of UV-B pretreatment. A 3-fold increase of indolyl glucosinolate concentrations occurred in above-ground tissue of all the plants, most likely due to massive herbivore attack after 3 d of field exposure. The results show

that plants respond with high specificity to different abiotic and biotic impacts, demonstrating

the separate perception and processing of stress factors.”
“Exciton localization in ZnO/MgxZn1-xO selleck chemicals quantum wells (QWs) has been investigated systematically with various ZnO well widths for the fixed Mg0.23Zn0.77O barrier height. A strong exciton confinement is observed with an implicit dependence on the built-in electric field which is calculated to be 0.37 MV/cm. The exciton-phonon coupling strength varied significantly depending upon the degrees of exciton localization with the activation energy of 18-29 meV. The relaxation mechanism in ZnO/Mg0.23Zn0.77O QWs starts to dominate when the exciton localization IPI-549 mw energy is above the thermal energy, k(B)T. The band characteristics and strong exciton localization in ZnO/Mg0.23Zn0.77O QWs are attributed to the potential fluctuations associated with the inhomogeneous broadening, represented by the schematics. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3452379]“
“The ammonium persulfate induced polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of silver nitrate (AgNO(3)) and N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide as a crosslinking agent were used to prepare crosslinked hydrogels containing silver ions. Subjecting this hydrogel to reduction with sodium hydroxide brought to focus the nanosilver hydrogel composites. Characterization of the latter, including proof of existence of silver nanoparticles in the hydrogel, was made.