Energetic implications of floodplain wetland restoration strategies for waterfowl

Modifications of the Illinois River and associated tributaries have resulted in altered hydrologic cycles and persistent river‐floodplain connections during the growing season that frequently impede the establishment of hydrophytic vegetation and have reduced value for migratory waterfowl and other waterbirds. To help guide floodplain restoration, we compared energetic carrying capacity for waterfowl in two wetland complexes along the Illinois River under different management regimes during 2012–2015. The south pool of Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge (CNWR) was seasonally flooded due to a partial river connection and managed for moist‐soil vegetation. Emiquon Preserve was hydrologically isolated from the Illinois River by a high‐elevation levee and managed as a semipermanently flooded emergent marsh. Semipermanent emergent marsh management at Emiquon Preserve produced 5,495 energetic use‐days (EUD)/ha for waterfowl and other waterbirds across wetland cover types and years, and seasonal moist‐soil management at CNWR produced 6,199 EUD/ha in one of 4 years. At Emiquon Preserve, the aquatic bed cover type produced 9,660 EUD/ha, followed by 5,261 EUD/ha in moist‐soil, 1,398 EUD/ha in persistent emergent, 1,185 EUD/ha in hemi‐marsh, and 12 EUD/ha in open water cover types. At CNWR, the annual grass and sedge cover type produced 7,031 EUD/ha, followed by 5,618 EUD/ha in annual broadleaf and 1,305 EUD/ha in perennial grass cover types. Restoration of floodplain wetlands in isolation from frequent flood pulses during the growing season can produce hemi‐marsh and aquatic bed vegetation communities that provide high‐quality habitat for waterfowl and which have been mostly eliminated from large river systems in the Midwest, U.S.A.     

Synergistic effects of hormone therapy drugs and usnic acid on hormone receptor‐positive breast and prostate cancer cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of usnic acid (UA) and Tamoxifen (Tam) or Enzalutamide (Enz) on hormone receptor‐positive breast and prostate cancer (BC and PC), respectively. The antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of Tam or Enz alone and in combination with UA on MCF7 and LNCaP cancer cells were detected. The results of the WST‐1 assay indicated that UA was a promising anticancer compound that significantly enhanced the effectiveness of hormone therapy drugs compared with each drug alone (combination index < 1). In addition, the combination of UA with Tam or Enz remarkably induced more cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and apoptosis than only drug‐treated cells (P < 0.01). Consequently, our findings suggest that the combination of UA with Tam or Enz may be a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of BC and PC and further studies are required to exploit the potential mechanisms of synergistic effects.     

Determination of the Blood,Hormone and Obesity Value Ranges that Indicate the Breast Cancer,Using Data Mining Based Expert System

Breast cancer is a dangerous type of cancer that spreads into other organs over time. Therefore, medical studies are being done for the early diagnosis by means of the anthropometric data and blood analysis values besides the mammographic and histological findings. However, medical studies have identified only cancer-related values but the value ranges indicating the cancer have not been determined yet. Concurrently the automated diagnostic systems are being developed to assist medical specialists in biomedical engineering studies. The range of values or boundaries indicating the cancer are automatically determined in biomedical methods, but only the diagnostic result is presented. Because of this, biomedical studies don't provide enough opportunity for medical experts to evaluate the relationship between values and result. In this study, decision trees that is one of data mining method was applied to anthropometric data and blood analysis values to complete the mentioned deficiencies in breast cancer diagnosis aiming studies. The determined value ranges were also presented visually to medical experts understand them easily. The proposed diagnostic system has accuracy rate up to 90.52% and provides value ranges indicating the breast cancer as well as mathematically presents the relations between the values and cancer.     

睡眠障碍通过下丘脑-垂体-卵巢轴影响女性生育能力的临床研究

摘要 目的：探究睡眠障碍是如何通过下丘脑-垂体-卵巢轴影响女性生育能力的。方法：选择2018年10月至2021年10月于我院妇科内分泌科就诊的育龄期女性80例作为研究对象,根据匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表（PSQI）评估结果,将所有研究对象按照是否存在睡眠障碍分为睡眠障碍组（n=34例）和非睡眠障碍组（n=46例）。对比分析两组PSQI评分,血清性激素水平,月经周期,生育能力,通过Pearson法分析睡眠障碍与女性生育能力的相关性。结果：（1）睡眠障碍组PSQI总分以及睡眠质量、入睡时间、睡眠时间、睡眠效率、睡眠障碍和日间功能障碍各方面得分均显著高于对照组（P<0.05）;（2）睡眠障碍组卵泡刺激素（FSH）、黄体生成素（LH）较非睡眠障碍组升高,而雌二醇（E₂）水平低于非睡眠障碍组（P<0.05）;（3）两组月经周期比较,睡眠障碍组月经紊乱比例显著高于对照组（P<0.05）;（4）两组生育能力比较,睡眠障碍组生育能力显著低于对照组（P<0.05）。（5）睡眠障碍与FSH和LH均存在负相关性,和E₂存在正相关（P<0.05）。结论：睡眠障碍可减弱下丘脑-垂体-卵巢轴的驱动,导致卵泡刺激素释放缓慢,延长了月经周期,并导致黄体功能下降,增加了未受孕或者再次异位妊娠的发生率。     

Contribution of NDH-dependent cyclic electron transport around photosystem I to the generation of proton motive force in the weak mutant allele of pgr5

In angiosperms, cyclic electron transport (CET) around photosystem I (PSI) consists of two pathways, depending on PGR5/PGRL1 proteins and the chloroplast NDH complex. In single mutants defective in chloroplast NDH, photosynthetic electron transport is only slightly affected at low light intensity, but in double mutants impaired in both CET pathways photosynthesis and plant growth are severely affected. The question is whether this strong mutant phenotype observed in double mutants can be simply explained by the additive effect of defects in both CET pathways. In this study, we used the weak mutant allele of pgr5-2 for the background of double mutants to avoid possible problems caused by the secondary effects due to the strong mutant phenotype. In two double mutants, crr2-2 pgr5-2 and ndhs-1 pgr5-2, the plant growth was unaffected and linear electron transport was only slightly affected. However, NPQ induction was more severely impaired in the double mutants than in the pgr5-2 single mutant. A similar trend was observed in the size of the proton motive force. Despite the slight reduction in photosystem II parameters, PSI parameters were severely affected in the pgr5-2 single mutant, the phenotype that was further enhanced by adding the NDH defects. Despite the lack of ?pH-dependent regulation at the cytochrome b₆f complex (donor-side regulation of PSI), the plastoquinone pool was more reduced in the double mutants than in the pgr5-2 single mutants. This phenotype suggests that both PGR5/PGRL1- and NDH-dependent CET contribute to supply sufficient acceptors from PSI by balancing the ATP/NADPH production ratio.     

An aptasensor for rapid and sensitive detection of estrogen receptor alpha in human breast cancer

The analysis of estrogen receptor (ER) expression in breast carcinomas plays a crucial role in determining the endocrine responsiveness of tumors for systemic adjuvant therapy. Conventionally, the ER levels in breast carcinomas had been detected using the dextran-coated charcoal assay and radioimmunoassay, which are now substituted with safer and economic antibody-based assays such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Despite a gold (Au) standard method, the IHC has been criticized for factors such as tissue fixation, antibody selection, and threshold staining for result interpretation that could falsify test accuracy and reproducibility. The quest for alternative methods of ER quantification in tissue samples paved the way for aptamer-based diagnostics. Previously, we have isolated a DNA aptamer against human ER alpha (ERα) using an in vitro evolution system. In this study, we developed an electrochemical sensor using the 76-nucleotide DNA ERα- aptamer for rapid, precise, and cost-effective detection of ERα expression in human breast cancer patients. The aptasensor was constructed by covalently immobilizing the thiolated ERα- aptamer onto a screen-printed Au electrode. Construction of aptasensors was confirmed through atomic force microscopy and differential pulse voltammetry measurements. A detection limit of 0.001 ng/ml was calculated for full-length ERα (66.2 kDa) in a detection time of 10 min. Analysis of the cancerous breast tissue samples using the ELISA and aptasensor methods enabled distinctive classification of samples into the categories of ER −ve, weak ER +ve, and strong ER +ve samples. The current change of this aptasensor lies within 5% after a storage of 60 days at 4°C. Further studies on a reasonably large sample size are required to realize the clinical potential of the sensor.     

Dynamic investigation and modeling of the nitrogen cometabolism in Methylococcus capsulatus ( Bath)

The methanotrophic bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus is capable of assimilating methane and oxygen into protein-rich biomass, however, the diverse metabolism of the microorganism also allows for several undesired cometabolic side-reactions to occur. In this study, the ammonia cometabolism in Methylococcus capsulatus is investigated using pulse experiments. Surprisingly Methylococcus capsulatus oxidizes ammonia to nitrate through a yet unknown mechanism and fixes molecular nitrogen even at a high dissolved oxygen tension. The observed phenomena can be modeled using 14 ordinary differential equations and 18 kinetic parameters, of which 6 were revealed by Morris screening to be identifiable from the experimental data. Monte Carlo simulations showed that the model was robust and accurate even with uncertainty in the parameter values as confirmed by statistical error analysis.     

Assessing the performance of pea and lentil at different seeding densities as trap crops for the management of wireworms in spring wheat

Wireworms, the larvae of click beetles (Elateridae), are difficult to manage due to their habitats and behaviour. Wireworms pose a major threat to the wheat crop in the north‐western USA. Seed treatment with neonicotinoids, biological control management and some cultural controls are recommended to manage these pests. Trap cropping is an emerging way to manage wireworms. In strawberry and potato crops, trap cropping has been found effective at attracting wireworms away from the principal crop. An earlier study in the Golden Triangle area of Montana found that pea and lentil could be effective trap crops for managing wireworms in spring wheat. In the present study, experiments were conducted at two locations. The effectiveness of peas and lentils as trap crops with wheat at different seeding densities was assessed [pea at 0, 4, 8, 16 seeds/sq.ft. or 0, 43, 86, 172 seeds/sq.m.; lentil at 0, 6, 12, 18 OR 0, 65, 130, 194 seeds/sq.m.; both with wheat at 0, 11, 22, or 28 seeds/sq.ft. or 0, 120, 230, 300 seeds/sq.m.] in a randomized design where all three crops were intercropped. Both trap crops were found to be effective in protecting wheat at standard seeding rates of 8 seeds/sq.ft. for pea and 12 seeds/sq.ft. for lentils. At these seeding rates, higher numbers of wireworms were found to be attracted to the trap crop, resulting in higher yield (7%–10%) of the associated spring wheat plant stands at 22 seeds/sq.ft. To develop an effective trap crop strategy, the pea–wheat and lentil–wheat spatial patterns that are possible need to be assessed in further field trials. Proper design and evaluation of the cost–benefit ratio of pea and lentil as trap crops are likely to produce good results for wheat crops in Montana.     

New challenges in the management of the Brazilian Pantanal and catchment area

The Pantanal wetland is a vast seasonally inundated area of extraordinary landscape and biological diversity and complexity. It is located in the upper portion of the Paraguay River basin in central South America. During the rainy season, increased stream discharge from the surrounding basin produces an annual flood pulse through the Pantanal. Increasing human impact, such as dam construction, deforestation, agricultural related activities, and the Hidrovia project in the Parana-Paraguay waterway, threaten the ecological stability of the Pantanal area. As a result, there is an urgent need to introduce new management practices in the Pantanal Basin. In this paper we present a concept for managing the Pantanal catchment based on the integration of ecological knowledge, institutional organization, and involvement of different stakeholders. We propose approaches for an integrated management of the Pantanal and its catchment based on improving data bases and the empowerment of the stakeholder groups. The latter depends on increasing the level of education and access to information, as well as implementing procedures to improve public involvement and enforcement of environmental regulations.This revised version was published online in March 2005 with corrections to the issue cover date.