Effects of the winter beechmast crop on bird occurrence in British gardens

Capsule Woodland birds were significantly less likely to occur in gardens in years of high beechmast crop.

Aim To test the hypothesis that woodland species that feed on beechmast will have significantly lower occurrence rates at garden feeders in mast years.

Methods Weekly winter occurrence rates at garden feeders between 1970/71 and 1999/2000 for 40 species were analysed in relation to annual beechmast abundance, classified into low, medium and high years. A repeated-measures logistic regression model was used to assess whether beechmast abundance explained further significant variation additional to underlying seasonal and annual trends.

Results Seven species that commonly feed on beechmast showed significantly lower occurrence in gardens in years of highest beechmast abundance: Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major, Woodpigeon Columba palumbus, Great Tit Parus major, Coal Tit Periparus ater, Nuthatch Sitta europaea, Jay Garrulus glandarius and Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. Blackbird Turdus merula and Siskin Carduelis spinus, which showed similar significant patterns, are likely to take beechmast as elements of their diet. Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba was the only insectivorous species to show significant effects, but occurrence was lowest in years of intermediate beechmast abundance. For the latter species, this may have been due to confounding effects of temperature, but there were no such confounding effects of either temperature, or the number of bird feeders provided in gardens, for the other nine species.

Conclusion Use of artificial food sources by birds in gardens is influenced by resources in the surrounding countryside, suggesting that food provided in gardens may play a significant part in the population dynamics of these species, that population monitoring without consideration of the garden habitat may be deficient, and that volunteer-based garden bird recording may provide data that can be used as an indicator of changes in the wider countryside.     

Protein interactions between surface annexin A2 and S100A10 mediate adhesion of breast cancer cells to microvascular endothelial cells

Annexin A2 (AnxA2) and S100A10 are known to form a molecular complex. Using fluorescence-based binding assays, we show that both proteins are localised on the cell surface, in a molecular form that allows mutual interaction. We hypothesized that binding between these proteins could facilitate cell–cell interactions. For cells that express surface S100A10 and surface annexin A2, cell–cell interactions can be blocked by competing with the interaction between these proteins. Thus an annexin A2-S100A10 molecular bridge participates in cell–cell interactions, revealing a hitherto unexplored function of this protein interaction.     

Improved recellularization of ex vivo vascular scaffolds using directed transport gradients to modulate ECM remodeling

The regeneration of functional, clinically viable, tissues from acellular ex vivo tissues has been problematic largely due to poor nutrient transport conditions that limit cell migration and integration. Compounding these issues are subcellular pore sizes that necessarily requires extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling in order for cells to migrate and regenerate the tissue. The aim of the present work was to create a directed growth environment that allows cells to fully populate an ex vivo‐derived vascular scaffold and maintain viability over extended periods. Three different culture conditions using single (one nutrient source) or dual perfusion bioreactor systems (two nutrients sources) were designed to assess the effect of pressure and nutrient gradients under either low (50/30 mmHg) or high (120/80) relative pressure conditions. Human myofibroblasts were seeded to the ablumenal periphery of an ex vivo‐derived vascular scaffold using a collagen/hydrogel cell delivery system. After 30 days culture, total cell density was consistent between groups; however, significant variation was noted in cell distribution and construct mechanics as a result of differing perfusion conditions. The most aggressive transport gradient was developed by the single perfusion low‐pressure circuits and resulted in a higher proportion of cells migrating across the scaffold toward the vessel lumen (nutrient source). These investigations illustrate the influence of directed nutrient gradients where precisely controlled perfusion conditions significantly affects cell migration, distribution and function, resulting in pronounced effects on construct mechanics during early remodeling events. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 2035–2045. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

重度火烧迹地微地形对土壤微生物特性的影响——以坡度和坡向为例

通过对大兴安岭重度火烧迹地不同坡度和坡向的土壤微生物群落进行调查研究,旨在揭示重度火烧迹地过火6a后森林恢复过程土壤微生物群落的变化规律与影响因素.研究结果表明:平地土壤微生物生物量碳含量(MBC)和土壤微生物生物量碳氮比(MBC/MBN)均高于坡地,其中MBC/MBN达到差异极显著水平.平地土壤微生物的代谢活性AWCD值、对31种4类碳源(糖类、脂类、氨基酸、代谢物)的利用能力和Shannon-Winner多样性指数(H')均极显著低于坡地.西坡土壤微生物AWCD值和H'高于南坡,但AWCD和H'与土壤养分、pH值、EC无显著相关关系,说明坡向可能与土壤微生物代谢活性和多样性的关系并不密切,反映了两坡向土壤微生物群落结构的相似性.坡度由于影响了土壤养分和水分条件,进而影响了土壤微生物的生物量、群落结构、物种多样性和碳源利用能力.火烧迹地恢复初期平地土壤微生物量碳高于坡地,西坡高于南坡;恢复6a后,土壤微生物量碳的差异己不显著,但土壤微生物群落结构、物种多样性以及代谢特性仍具有显著差异,这可能与地形坡度仍然显著影响土壤水分含量的因素有关.     

桑叶细脉中伴胞的超微结构研究

为了解桑叶细脉中伴胞的超微结构,采用透射电子显微技术对桑叶细脉中伴胞进行观察,着重伴胞与相邻细胞界面上胞间连丝发生频率.结果表明,(1)伴胞含丰富细胞器,细胞壁光滑,无壁内突;(2)伴胞细胞壁上具有大量胞间连丝,胞间连丝通常聚集,并常发生分枝;(3)伴胞与不同类型细胞界面上的胞间连丝发生频率有差异,伴胞-维管束鞘细胞界面上发生频率为25.12±1.83个/μm²,伴胞-伴胞界面上20.18±1.7个2/μm²,伴胞-维管薄壁细胞界面上5.42±0.6个/μm².基于上述观察,认为桑叶细脉中的伴胞属于1-2a型,韧皮部装载途径属于共质体类型.     

Angiotensin II,as well as 5-hydroxytriptamine,is a potent vasospasm inducer of saphenous vein graft for coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important risk factor for adverse outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting. The bypass grafts harvested from patients with DM tend to go into spasm after their implantation into the coronary circulation. To clarify the contribution of 5-hydroxytriptamine (5-HT) and angiotensin II (AngII) in the bypass graft spasm, we examined the contractile reactivity to 5-HT or AngII of isolated human endothelium-denuded saphenous vein (SV) harvested from DM and non-DM patients. The 5-HT-induced constriction of the SV was significantly augmented in the DM group than in the non-DM group, which is similar to our previous report. AngII-induced constriction of the SV was also significantly augmented in the DM group than the non-DM group. Especially in the non-DM group, the AngII-induced maximal vasoconstriction was markedly lower than the 5-HT-induced one. Meanwhile, the increasing rates of AngII-induced vasoconstriction in the DM group to the non-DM group were significantly greater than those of 5-HT-induced vasoconstriction. These results indicate that 5-HT is a potent inducer of SV graft spasm in both DM and non-DM patients, while AngII is a potent inducer of SV graft spasm only in patients with DM. Furthermore, the protein level of AngII AT₁ receptor (AT₁R), but not the protein level of 5-HT_2A receptor, in the membrane fraction of the SV smooth muscle cells of DM patients was significantly increased as compared with that of the non-DM patients. These results suggest that the mechanism for hyperreactivity to AngII in the SV from DM patients is due to, at least in part, the increase in the amount of AT₁R on membrane of the SV smooth muscle cells.     

A simple and biosafe method for isolation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC_S) are used as an irreplaceable tool for the study of vascular diseases. However, the technicians who isolate HUVECs are largely exposed to potential infectious threats. Here we report the development of a specialized instrument to protect researchers from known or unknown infectious agents when they operate on human umbilical cords. This instrument can be assembled by common laboratory supplies and adapted to accommodate umbilical cords of different lengths. When the cord is enclosed within the instrument, the risk of sample contamination and operator infection is greatly reduced. Using our instrument, endothelial cells were successfully isolated from human umbilical veins without contamination. The cells were verified by their cobblestone-like morphology and by immunofluorescence staining (Factor VIII and CD31 positivity and α-SMA negativity). Our instrument simplifies and optimizes the cell extraction process, and most importantly elevates the biosafety to a higher level during the isolation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells.     

Neogene sloth assemblages (Mammalia,Pilosa) of the Cocinetas Basin (La Guajira,Colombia): implications for the Great American Biotic Interchange

We describe sloth assemblages from the Cocinetas Basin (La Guajira peninsula, Colombia), found in the Neogene Castilletes and Ware formations, located in northernmost South America, documenting otherwise poorly known biotas. The tentative referral of a specimen to a small megatherioid sloth, Hyperleptus?, from the early–middle Miocene Castilletes Formation, suggests affinities of this fauna with the distant Santa Cruz Formation and documents a large latitudinal distribution for this taxon. The late Pliocene Ware Formation is much more diverse, with five distinct taxa representing every family of ‘ground sloths’. This diversity is also remarkable at the ecological level, with sloths spanning over two orders of magnitude of body mass and probably having different feeding strategies. Being only a few hundred kilometres away from the Isthmus of Panama, and a few hundred thousand years older than the classically recognized first main pulse of the Great American Biotic interchange (GABI 1), the Ware Formation furthermore documents an important fauna for the understanding of this major event in Neogene palaeobiogeography. The sloths for which unambiguous affinities were recovered are not closely related to the early immigrants found in North America before GABI 1.     

Hydraulic conductance and the maintenance of water balance in flowers

Flowers face desiccating conditions, yet little is known about their ability to transport water. We quantified variability in floral hydraulic conductance (K_flower) for 20 species from 10 families and related it to traits hypothesized to be associated with liquid and vapour phase water transport. Basal angiosperm flowers had trait values associated with higher water and carbon costs than monocot and eudicot flowers. K_flower was coordinated with water supply (vein length per area, VLA) and loss (minimum epidermal conductance, g_min) traits among the magnoliids, but was insensitive to variation in these traits among the monocots and eudicots. Phylogenetic independent contrast (PIC) correlations revealed that few traits had undergone coordinated evolution. However, VLA and the desiccation time (T_des), the quotient of water content and g_min, had significant trait and PIC correlations. The near absence of stomata from monocot and eudicot flowers may have been critical in minimizing water loss rates among these clades. Early divergent, basal angiosperm flowers maintain higher K_flower because of traits associated with high rates water loss and water supply, while monocot and eudicot flowers employ a more conservative strategy of limiting water loss and may rely on stored water to maintain turgor and delay desiccation.