We developed two models to determine the conditions under which selective abortion is favored. In the first model,

ovules in one flower are fertilized by pollen grains that arrive at different times, with each visit bringing both 3-deazaneplanocin A fast- and slow-growing pollen. In the second model, ovules in two flowers are fertilized by all pollen grains that arrive at the same time. In the first model, we found that selective abortion based on the order of fertilization is never advantageous irrespective of the duration of the time lag between the two visits. Rather, random abortion is possibly favored. In the second model, although selective abortion based on the order of fertilization can be advantageous, the parameter region favoring it is rather restricted. This is because over production can be advantageous only if the quantity of the superior pollenis not limited in one flower but is limited in the other flower. Selleck EPZ5676 In addition, the degree of overproduction

was very low, implying that the merit of overproduction (increase in the number of superior seeds) is low compared to the cost of overproducing ovules. These results suggest that selective abortion of ovules based on the order of fertilization is not as advantageous as previously considered. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Words denoting manipulable objects activate sensorimotor brain areas, likely reflecting action experience with the denoted objects. in particular, these sensorimotor lexical representations have been found to reflect the way in which an object is used. In the current paper we present data

from two experiments (one behavioral and one neuroimaging) in which we investigate whether body schema information, putatively Chorioepithelioma necessary for interacting with functional objects, is also recruited during lexical processing. To this end, we presented participants with words denoting objects that are typically brought towards or away from the body (e.g., cup or key, respectively). We hypothesized that objects typically brought to a location on the body (e.g., cup) are relatively more reliant on body schema representations, since the final goal location of the cup (i.e., the mouth) is represented primarily through posture and body coordinates. In contrast, objects typically brought to a location away from the body (e.g., key) are relatively more dependent on visuo-spatial representations, since the final goal location of the key (i.e., a keyhole) is perceived visually. The behavioral study showed that prior planning of a movement along an axis towards and away from the body facilitates processing of words with a congruent action semantic feature (i.e., preparation of movement towards the body facilitates processing of cup.).