杉木采伐迹地营造阔叶树种对土壤微生物生态化学计量特征的影响

研究土壤微生物生物量及其生态化学计量特征对造林树种转换的响应,对深入了解森林生态系统土壤养分循环和有效性具有重要意义。本研究以1993年春在二代杉木采伐迹地上营造的26年生米老排和杉木人工林为对象,采用氯仿熏蒸法测定了0～40 cm土层土壤微生物生物量碳(MBC)、氮(MBN)、磷(MBP)的变化。结果表明: 与杉木人工林相比,米老排人工林0～10 cm土层MBC和0～20 cm土层MBN和MBP均显著提高, 0～20 cm土层MBC/MBP和10～20 cm土层MBN/MBP显著降低。两种人工林所有土层MBC/MBN均无差异。相关分析显示,土壤含水率、总有机碳、总氮、全磷、有效磷与MBC、MBN和MBP呈显著正相关,而与MBC/MBP和MBN/MBP呈显著负相关。逐步线性回归分析表明,MBN和MBP主要受土壤总氮和有效磷的影响,而MBC/MBP和MBN/MBP主要受有机碳和有效磷的驱动。研究表明,造林树种从杉木转换成米老排能够增加表层土壤微生物生物量,加速氮磷养分周转,增加土壤氮磷养分供应能力。米老排人工林土壤MBP的增加可能在一定程度上缓解了树木生长的磷限制。     

Severe Painful Vaso-Occlusive Crises and Mortality in a Contemporary Adult Sickle Cell Anemia Cohort Study

Background

Frequent painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) were associated with mortality in the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease (CSSCD) over twenty years ago. Modern therapies for sickle cell anemia (SCA) like hydroxyurea are believed to have improved overall patient survival. The current study sought to determine the relevance of the association between more frequent VOCs and death and its relative impact upon overall mortality compared to other known risk factors in a contemporary adult SCA cohort.

Methods

Two hundred sixty four SCA adults were assigned into two groups based on patient reported outcomes for emergency department (ED) visits or hospitalizations for painful VOC treatment during the 12 months prior to evaluation.

Results

Higher baseline hematocrit (p = 0.0008), ferritin (p = 0.005), and HDL cholesterol (p = 0.01) were independently associated with 1 or more painful VOCs requiring an ED visit or hospitalization for acute pain. During a median follow-up of 5 years, mortality was higher in the ED visit/hospitalization group (relative risk [RR] 2.68, 95% CI 1.1-6.5, p = 0.03). Higher tricuspid regurgitatant jet velocity (TRV) (RR 2.41, 95% CI 1.5-3.9, p < 0.0001), elevated ferritin (RR 4.00, 95% CI 1.8-9.0, p = 0.001) and lower glomerular filtration rate (RR=2.73, 95% CI 1.6-4.6, p < 0.0001) were also independent risk factors for mortality.

Conclusions

Severe painful VOCs remain a marker for SCA disease severity and premature mortality in a modern cohort along with other known risk factors for death including high TRV, high ferritin and lower renal function. The number of patient reported pain crises requiring healthcare utilization is an easily obtained outcome that could help to identify high risk patients for disease modifying therapies.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00011648 http://clinicaltrials.gov/     

Effects of medium viscosity on kinetics of the enzymatic reaction catalyzed by bacterial RNase

Effects of medium viscosity on kinetic parameters of poly(U) hydrolysis catalyzed by RNase from Bac. intermedius 7P (binase) were studied in solutions of sucrose (4-50 wt. %) and glycerol (35-62 wt. %) in Tris--sodium acetate buffer (pH 7.5) at 25 degreesC. The rate constant of reaction kcat was practically unchanged over a wide range of viscosities (1-15 cP for sucrose and 2.5-3 cP for glycerol). In glycerol solutions, kcat slightly increased with viscosity increase from 4 to 10 cP. Addition of NaCl to the buffer medium resulted in an inhibitory effect of Na+ on kcat, prevented by 50% sucrose or 60% glycerol. It is concluded that binase-catalyzed poly(U) cleavage occurs through a "tense"-substrate mechanism, similarly to reactions catalyzed by alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin, and laccase.     

A web server to locate periodicities in a sequence

Summary : FT is a tool written in C++, which implements the Fourier analysis method to locate periodicities in aminoacid or DNA sequences. It is provided for free public use on a WWW server with a Java interface. Availability : The server address is http://o2.db. uoa.gr/FT Contact : shamodr@atlas.uoa.gr      

重庆市种子植物区系特征分析

对重庆市种子植物区系进行了研究,其区系特征如下:(1)植物种类和区系组成丰富,共分布有野生种子植物208科1 127属4 764种,其科包含12种分布型和13个变型,属包含15种分布型和23个变型;(2)科的区系组成以热带成分占主要,总共包含83科,达到重庆地区种子植物总科数的39.90%,这说明重庆种子植物区系带有一定的热带亲缘关系.属的区系组成以热带成分最多,达到454属,占重庆市种子植物总属数的40.28%,表明重庆地区种子植物区系的热带亲缘关系较强;(3)特有现象明显,虽然本地区分布的特有科属相对较少,但特有种丰富.     

金佛山自然保护区种子植物区系初步研究

根据新近调查资料及对历史文献资料的查阅,整理出重庆市金佛山地区种子植物区系资料。到目前为止,金佛山共分布有种子植物183科1256属4 764种,其中野生植物达160科(其中裸子植物7科,被子植物153科)1111属4093种。野生植物中单种科17个,少型科(2～5种)33个,多种科(6～50种)87个,大科(51～100种)14个,特大科(101种以上)9个,分别占金佛山野生种子植物总科数的10．625％、20．625％、54．375％、8．75％和5．625％;种子植物科的区系成分以热带成分最多,达72科,占金佛山种子植物总科数的45．00％,其次为温带和世界分布型,分别为41科和33科,分别占25．625％和20．625％,特有成分仅17科(统计分析数据以14科计),其中东亚特有科13科,中国特有科4科。属的区系成分按世界分布、热带分布、温带分布、东亚分布和中国特有分布五种成分分别为73属、483属、332属、174属和49属,分别占金佛山种子植物总属数的6．57％、43．48％、29．88％、15．66％和4．41％。金佛山种子植物科的区系成分具备了全国种子植物区系15个分布类型及31变型的10型及10变型,属的区系成分具备14型及24变型。本文还就金佛山与邻近的神农架和壶瓶山等进行了比较分析,总体结论为金佛山在种子植物分布区类型及物种分布数量上都较为丰富,证明了金佛山地区为我国亚热带植物的自然分化和分布中心之一的观点。     

Hatching asynchrony and brood reduction influence immune response in Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus nestlings

The onset of incubation before the end of laying imposes asynchrony at hatching and, therefore, a size hierarchy in the brood. It has been argued that hatching asynchrony might be a strategy to improve reproductive output in terms of quality or quantity of offspring. However, little is known about the mediating effect of hatching asynchrony on offspring quality when brood reduction occurs. Here, we investigate the relationship between phenotypic quality and hatching asynchrony in Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus nestlings in Spain. Hatching asynchrony did not increase breeding success or nestling quality. Furthermore, hatching asynchrony and brood reduction had different effects on nestlings’ phytohaematogglutinin (PHA)‐mediated immune response and nestling growth. In asynchronous and reduced broods (in which at least one nestling died), nestlings showed a stronger PHA‐mediated immune response and tended to have a smaller body size compared with nestlings raised in synchronous and reduced broods. When brood reduction occurred in broods hatched synchronously, there was no effect on nestling size, but nestlings had a relatively poor PHA‐mediated immune response compared with nestlings raised in asynchronous and reduced broods. We suggest that resources for growth can be directed to immune function only in asynchronously hatched broods, resulting in improved nestling quality, as suggested by their immune response. We also found that males produced a greater PHA‐mediated immune response than females only in brood‐reduced nests without any effect on nestling size or condition, suggesting that females may trade off immune activities and body condition, size or weight. Overall, our results suggest that hatching pattern and brood reduction may mediate resource allocation to different fitness traits. They also highlight that the resolution of immune‐related trade‐offs when brood reduction occurs may differ between male and female nestlings.     

Risk Factors for Death in 632 Patients with Sickle Cell Disease in the United States and United Kingdom

Background

The role of pulmonary hypertension as a cause of mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD) is controversial.

Methods and Results

We evaluated the relationship between an elevated estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure and mortality in patients with SCD. We followed patients from the walk-PHaSST screening cohort for a median of 29 months. A tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV)≥3.0 m/s cuttof, which has a 67–75% positive predictive value for mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mm Hg was used. Among 572 subjects, 11.2% had TRV≥3.0 m/sec. Among 582 with a measured NT-proBNP, 24.1% had values ≥160 pg/mL. Of 22 deaths during follow-up, 50% had a TRV≥3.0 m/sec. At 24 months the cumulative survival was 83% with TRV≥3.0 m/sec and 98% with TRV<3.0 m/sec (p<0.0001). The hazard ratios for death were 11.1 (95% CI 4.1–30.1; p<0.0001) for TRV≥3.0 m/sec, 4.6 (1.8–11.3; p = 0.001) for NT-proBNP≥160 pg/mL, and 14.9 (5.5–39.9; p<0.0001) for both TRV≥3.0 m/sec and NT-proBNP≥160 pg/mL. Age >47 years, male gender, chronic transfusions, WHO class III–IV, increased hemolytic markers, ferritin and creatinine were also associated with increased risk of death.

Conclusions

A TRV≥3.0 m/sec occurs in approximately 10% of individuals and has the highest risk for death of any measured variable.

The study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov with identifier

{"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00492531","term_id":"NCT00492531"}}NCT00492531     

Fine‐scale bird monitoring from light unmanned aircraft systems

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are remote‐controlled devices capable of collecting information from difficult‐to‐access places while minimizing disturbance. Although UAS are increasingly used in many research disciplines, their application to wildlife research remains to be explored in depth. Here, we report on the use of a small UAS to monitor temporal changes in breeding population size in a Black‐headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus colony. This method makes it possible to obtain georeferenced data on nest locations without causing colony disturbance, which would not otherwise be possible via direct ground observations.