Fire as a key driver of Earth's biodiversity

Many terrestrial ecosystems are fire prone, such that their composition and structure are largely due to their fire regime. Regions subject to regular fire have exceptionally high levels of species richness and endemism, and fire has been proposed as a major driver of their diversity, within the context of climate, resource availability and environmental heterogeneity. However, current fire‐management practices rarely take into account the ecological and evolutionary roles of fire in maintaining biodiversity. Here, we focus on the mechanisms that enable fire to act as a major ecological and evolutionary force that promotes and maintains biodiversity over numerous spatiotemporal scales. From an ecological perspective, the vegetation, topography and local weather conditions during a fire generate a landscape with spatial and temporal variation in fire‐related patches (pyrodiversity), and these produce the biotic and environmental heterogeneity that drives biodiversity across local and regional scales. There have been few empirical tests of the proposition that ‘pyrodiversity begets biodiversity’ but we show that biodiversity should peak at moderately high levels of pyrodiversity. Overall species richness is greatest immediately after fire and declines monotonically over time, with postfire successional pathways dictated by animal habitat preferences and varying lifespans among resident plants. Theory and data support the ‘intermediate disturbance hypothesis’ when mean patch species diversity is correlated with mean fire intervals. Postfire persistence, recruitment and immigration allow species with different life histories to coexist. From an evolutionary perspective, fire drives population turnover and diversification by promoting a wide range of adaptive responses to particular fire regimes. Among 39 comparisons, the number of species in 26 fire‐prone lineages is much higher than that in their non‐fire‐prone sister lineages. Fire and its byproducts may have direct mutagenic effects, producing novel genotypes that can lead to trait innovation and even speciation. A paradigm shift aimed at restoring biodiversity‐maintaining fire regimes across broad landscapes is required among the fire research and management communities. This will require ecologists and other professionals to spread the burgeoning fire‐science knowledge beyond scientific publications to the broader public, politicians and media.     

原发性乳腺弥漫性大B细胞淋巴瘤5例并文献复习

目的探讨原发性乳腺弥漫性大B细胞淋巴瘤(primary breast diffuse large B-cell lymphoma,PB-DLBCL)的临床病理学特点、诊断及鉴别诊断、治疗及预后。方法采用HE染色和免疫组织化学SP法分析5例PB-DLBCL患者的临床表现、病理学及免疫表型特征,并复习相关文献。结果 5例均为女性患者,发病年龄48~70岁,中位年龄59.2岁,均为单侧乳腺肿块,其中左乳3例,右乳2例。镜下见乳腺正常结构被破坏,成片的中等偏大的肿瘤细胞弥漫浸润乳腺小叶、导管周围、间质及周围脂肪组织。根据免疫组织化学表型,4例为非生发中心型,1例为生发中心型;Ki67增殖指数为60%~90%;根据 Ann Arbor 分期标准,5例均为II E期。病例随访时间截止至2018年6月,随访期内,有2例复发,分别于7和19个月后死亡;2例健在,分别已存活12和72个月;另外一例失访。结论 PB-DLBCL是一种少见的恶性淋巴瘤,临床表现为单侧乳腺无痛性包块进行性增大,以右侧多见。确诊主要依靠病理活检及免疫表型,免疫表型以非生发中心为主,以化疗联合放疗等综合治疗方案为宜。     

滇西北高山微水体与溪流生境底栖动物多样性和环境特征

高山微水体由于面积微小且通过地表径流形成串联结构常常被认为与高山溪流具有类似的生境, 然而由于这两类生境中环境因子与底栖动物多样性存在差异, 它们在生态系统中的作用可能完全不同。滇西北地区是全球生物多样性热点区域之一, 境内高山微水体和高山溪流分布密集, 在区域底栖生物多样性维持方面具有重要的功能, 然而目前对这两类高山淡水生态系统的研究较少。为了比较这两类生境环境因子的异同及其对底栖动物多样性的维持作用, 2015年6月, 作者在云南省怒江州贡山县的高山峡谷内, 对27个高山微水体和同区域分布的1条高山溪流(海拔高差500 m范围)的底栖动物多样性和水环境因子进行了实地调查。结果表明: (1)高山微水体和高山溪流底栖动物群落中优势分类单元种群数量均比较庞大, 而稀有分类单元数量较多且种群较小; (2)两种生境在环境因子、物种多样性、功能多样性和群落结构方面的差异明显, 高山溪流有较高的物种丰富度、物种多样性和功能多样性; (3)高山微水体底栖动物多样性的分布与水环境因子无关, 而高山溪流底栖动物多样性与群落结构的形成受到与流速关联的水环境因子和海拔的影响。因此, 高山微水体与高山溪流不能简单地视为类似的生境类型, 它们对区域底栖动物多样性和生态功能维持可能具有不同的作用。     

Incidence and predictors of left atrial thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation prior to ablation in the real world of China

BackgroundThe present study was to evaluate the value of CHADS2 and CHA2DS2VASC scores on predicting left atrial (LA) or left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients prior to ablation in the real world of China.Methods and resultsA total of 397 patients with non-valvular AF were analyzed to determine the relationship between CHADS2 and CHA2DS2VASC scores and LA/LAA thrombus identified on transesophageal echocardiography prior to radiofrequency ablation(RFA). LA/LAA thrombus was present in 38 patients (9.6%). There was a strong association between higher CHADS2 score or CHA2DS2VASC score and LA/LAA thrombus. No thrombus was identified in patients with CHA2DS2VASC score of 0 regardless of anticoagulation status. However, LA/LAA thrombus was detected in 2.9% patients with CHADS2 score of 0 without adequate anticoagulation, while no thrombus was present in the patients with CHADS2 score of 0 with adequate anticoagulation. Univariate analysis showed that heart failure (LVEF＜50%), LA≥40 mm, diabetes mellitus, previous stroke or TIA, CAD, hypertension, inadequate anticoagulation therapy, CHADS2 score of ≥2 and CHA2DS2VASC score of ≥2 were significantly associated with LA/LAA thrombus. Multivariable Cox regression analysis demonstrated that CHA2DS2VASC score of ≥2 (p = 0.02) and previous stroke or TIA (p = 0.04) were independently associated with LA/LAA thrombus regardless of anticoagulation status. ROC curve analysis showed that higher CHADS2 score and CHA2DS2VASC score could be similarly used to predict the presence of LA thrombus.ConclusionsBoth higher CHA2DS2VASC and CHADS2 scores were associated with LA/LAA thrombus in non-valvular AF patients prior to ablation. Although CHA2DS2VASC score and CHADS2 score had similar value to predict LA/LAA thrombus, CHA2DS2VASc score was better to identify low-risk patients for LA/LAA thrombus than CHADS2 score without anticoagulation. There will be a possibility of performing AF ablation or cardioversion in patients with a CHA2DS2VASC of 0 without TEE or anticoagulation therapy. The safety need to be verified by more multicentre randomized controlled clinical trails.     

合成支架在代谢工程中的研究进展

代谢工程作为通过引入外源合成途径或改造优化代谢网络,进行高附加值的天然代谢产物生物合成的技术,已经得到广泛应用。但随着目标合成产物的结构日渐复杂,构建多基因的从头合成途径造成宿主生物代谢失衡与中间产物对宿主细胞产生毒害作用等一系列问题发生的可能性也随之增加。为解决这些问题合成支架策略应运而生,合成支架将途径酶共定位以提高局部酶和代谢物的浓度,来增强代谢通量并限制中间产物与宿主细胞环境间的相互作用,成为生物催化和合成生物学研究的热点之一。尽管由核酸、蛋白质构成的合成支架策略已经应用于多种代谢物的异源合成,并取得了不同程度的成功,但合成支架的精确组装仍然是一项艰巨的任务。文中详细介绍了合成支架技术的研究现状,详细阐述了合成支架技术的原理和实例,并初步探讨了其应用前景。     

药用白及资源再生策略初探

白及为兰科白及属植物。作为著名中药,白及功效多样、用途广泛,具有较高的药用价值和经济价值。随资源利用强度的增加,野生白及资源日渐萎缩,人工规模化种植是实现白及药用资源可持续利用的必由之路。优良种质及繁育技术是种植业的关键问题。为了更好地推动白及资源研究和可持续利用,本文就白及种质及快繁技术研究进展作一综述,并就白及资源再生策略进行初步探讨,为相关研究和生产提供参考。     

新疆野苹果作为苹果砧木利用的研究进展

新疆野苹果是我国重要的野生果树资源,在栽培苹果起源研究和砧木利用方面有重要价值。本文在收集整理近年来有关新疆野苹果大量文献的基础上,从苹果砧木利用角度,就新疆野苹果对主要生物逆境、非生物逆境的抗性以及与主栽品种的嫁接亲和性进行了综述,以期为相关研究提供参考。     

Distinguishing structural features between Crohn's disease and gastrointestinal luminal tuberculosis using Mueller matrix derived parameters

Recently, the incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases, especially the Crohn's disease (CD) and gastrointestinal luminal tuberculosis (ITB), has grown rapidly worldwide. Currently there is no general gold standard to distinguish between CD and ITB tissues, which both have tuberculosis and surrounding fibrous structures. Mueller matrix imaging technique is suitable for describing the location, density and distribution behavior of such fibrous structures. In this study, we apply the Mueller matrix microscopic imaging to the CD and ITB tissue samples. The 2D Mueller matrix images of the CD and ITB tissue slices are measured using the Mueller matrix microscope developed in our previous study, then the Mueller matrix polar decomposition and Mueller matrix transformation parameters are calculated. To evaluate the distribution features of the fibrous structures surrounding the tuberculosis areas more quantitatively and precisely, we analyze the retardance related Mueller matrix derived parameters, which show clear different distribution behaviors between the CD and ITB tissues, using the Tamura image processing method. It is demonstrated that the Mueller matrix derived parameters can reveal the structural features of tuberculosis areas and be used as quantitative indicators to distinguish between CD and ITB tissues, which may be useful for the clinical diagnosis.