Habitat preferences of four chironomid species associated with aquatic macrophytes in an irrigation reservoir

Habitat preferences of four chironomid species associated with aquatic macrophytes were studied during the vegetation season from April to October at an irrigation reservoir located in Nagoya, Japan.The two smaller sized species,Corynoneura cuspis Tokunaga andPentapedilum tigrinum Hashimoto, were found to be abundant in two floating-leaved plants,Nymphoides indica O. Kuntze andTrapa japonica Flerov. Phytophages,C. cuspis larvae were observed freely moving on the surfaces of leaves and stems within both of these floating-leaved plant communities. Although found within both plant communities,P. tigrinum larvae, as facultative leaf miners, were more concentrated on the surfaces and within the leaves ofN. indica, which have a thin epidermis and thick mesophyll layer.The two larger sized species,Glyptotendipes viridis (Macquart) andPentapedilum sordens (van der Wulp), were found to be living principally within the stems ofN. indica and the petioles ofT. japonica. These parts of the plants, with thin epidermis and many lacunae in the parenchyma, are favorable for miners.     

Lipiniella arenicola (Chironomidae) compared withChironomus muratensis andCh. nudiventris: Distribution patterns related to depth and sediment characteristics,diet, and behavioural response to reduced oxygen concentrations

Density patterns ofLipiniella arenicola andChironomus muratensis were studied in Lake Wolderwijd (The Netherlands) using geostatistics, and compared with patterns of depth and silt contents of the sediment.L. arenicola was restricted to shallow (depth <1 m), sandy silt (silt content <5%), wind-exposed sediments.Ch. muratensis occurred all over the lake, but the highest densities were found in the sheltered silty North-West corner. Gut analyses of IV-instar larvae from the Ventjagers flats (Haringvliet, Lower Rhine-Meuse) showed thatL. arenicola fed by selectively grazing on benthic algae,Ch. muratensis by filtering and non-selective grazing, andCh. nudiventris by non-selective grazing. In the laboratory, behavioural responses to reduced oxygen concentrations were tested with the impedance conversion technique.L. arenicola was more sensitive to low oxygen concentrations (<3 mg l^–1) than bothChironomus species. It is argued that the differences in resistance to hypoxia and feeding behaviour are in accordance with the differences in distribution patterns. The restriction ofL. arenicola to the pure sand habitats is not attributable to an especially high sensitivity to low dissolved oxygen concentrations alone. Several behavioural adaptations enableL. arenicola larvae to live in the shallow, wind-exposed pure-sand habitats: the ability to select food items, tube strength, and site selection of ovipositing females or planktonic larvae.     

Biological characteristics of human menstrual blood‐derived endometrial stem cells

Successful isolation of human endometrial stem cells from menstrual blood, namely menstrual blood‐derived endometrial stem cells (MenSCs), has provided enticing alternative seed cells for stem cell‐based therapy. MenSCs are enriched in the self‐regenerative tissue, endometrium, which shed along the periodic menstrual blood and thus their acquisition involves no physical invasiveness. However, the impact of the storage duration of menstrual blood prior to stem cell isolation, the age of the donor, the number of passages on the self‐renewing of MenSCs, the paracrine production of biological factors in MenSCs and expression of adhesion molecules on MenSCs remain elusive. In this study, we confirmed that MenSCs reside in shedding endometrium, and documented that up to 3 days of storage at 4°C has little impact on MenSCs, while the age of the donor and the number of passages are negatively associated with proliferation capacity of MenSCs. Moreover, we found that MenSCs were actually immune‐privileged and projected no risk of tumour formation. Also, we documented a lung‐ and liver‐dominated, spleen‐ and kidney‐involved organic distribution profile of MenSC 3 days after intravenous transfer into mice. At last, we suggested that MenSCs may have potentially therapeutic effects on diseases through paracrine effect and immunomodulation.     

Functional response of plant assemblages to management practices in road–field boundaries

Questions

Management practices implemented on road verges are partly established to preserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Their evaluation was primarily based on the analysis of the taxonomic structure and composition of communities. What is the relationship between management practices and the functional characteristics of road–field plants within elements?

Location

West‐central France.

Methods

We sampled the berm, the embankment and the field margin of 40 road–field boundaries located in west‐central France, an area where delayed mowing of some berms has been practised since 2009 for biodiversity reasons. We characterized management practices implemented on the different elements, i.e., the frequency and timing of mowing (early summer or late summer), the frequency of herbicide treatment in field margins and the N input rate. We retrieved from databases seven functional traits and types known to be influenced by management practices. To identify relationships between traits or types and environmental variables we first performed partial RLQ analyses to remove any potential confounding effect of the landscape context studied. We then computed fourth‐corner statistics to quantify relationships between traits or types, environmental variables and partial RLQ axes.

Results

Late mowing of the berm promoted nitrophilous species within berms and competitive rather than ruderal species within arable field margins. The frequency of herbicide treatment in field margins promoted broad‐leaf species within this element and, to a lesser extent, within embankments. Finally, the functional characteristics of communities of the three elements were not influenced by the level of N input in field margins.

Conclusions

In our environmental context, managing road verges affected the functional structure of plant assemblages both within them and within their adjacent arable field margins. We suggest a single early mowing of berms as a valuable practice for both conservation purposes and weed risk control in adjacent field margins.     

Ethical,legal and social implications of forensic molecular phenotyping in South Africa

Conventional forensic DNA analysis involves a matching principle, which compares DNA profiles from evidential samples to those from reference samples of known origin. In casework, however, the accessibility to a reference sample is not guaranteed which limits the use of DNA as an investigative tool. This has led to the development of phenotype prediction, which uses SNP analysis to estimate the physical appearance of the sample donor. Physical traits, such as eye, hair and skin colour, have been associated with certain alleles within specific genes involved in the melanogenesis pathways. These genetic markers are also associated with ancestry and their trait prediction ability has mainly been assessed in European and North American populations. This has prompted research investigating the discriminatory power of these markers in other populations, especially those exhibiting admixture. South Africa is well known for its diversity, and the viability of these particular SNPs still needs to be assessed within this population. South African law currently restricts the use of DNA for molecular phenotyping, and there are also numerous ethical and social considerations, all of which are discussed.     

局部晚期宫颈癌新辅助化疗后病理明显缓解的25例临床分析

目的:通过对接受新辅助化疗的局部晚期宫颈癌患者术后病理显示明显缓解的临床特征及随访资料进行回顾性分析,初步探讨病理明显缓解患者的预后及术后治疗。方法:选择2013年1月至2015年12月新疆医科大学附属肿瘤医院妇科收治的局部晚期宫颈癌患者共计413例,其中278例术前接受了以铂类为基础的新辅助化疗2-3程,对术后病理提示90%缓解的25例患者的病例资料进行回顾性分析。结果:(1)25例患者中,宫颈鳞状细胞癌24例,宫颈腺癌1例,中分化者18例,高分化2例,低分化者5例;术后病理显示脉管内癌栓者一例;IB2期患者的发病年龄为(37.33±2.08)岁,低于Ⅱa2/Ⅱb期患者。(2)25例患者术后均接受同手术前的化疗方案4程,随访至2017年6月,随访时间21～60个月,无一例复发或死亡,2年生存率为100%。253例病理未明显缓解患者2年生存率为82.2%,比较两组的2年生存率,其差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:宫颈癌手术前新辅助化疗如果能达到病理明显缓解,提示死亡风险下降。局部晚期宫颈癌患者对新辅助化疗的病理学反应可能可作为评估其预后的指标之一。     

Floristic inventory and ecological characterization the village Sherpao,District Charsadda,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa- Pakistan

Floristic inventory of village Sherpao, District Charsadda comprised of total 104 plant species belonging to 46 families and 95 genera. The leading families included Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae and contributed by 8 species one (7.69%).The most pre-dominant life form was therophytes having 35 species (33.65%). Most dominant habit of flora were herbs having 77 species (74%) followed by trees contributed by 18 species (17.30%) and shrubs having 9 species (8.65%). Leaf size spectra of the flora showed that the most dominant leaf size class were microphyll having 38 species (36.53%) followed by nanophyll contributed by 32 species (30.76%), mesophyll represented 22 species (21.15%) and leptophyll contributed by 12 species (11.53%). Based on habitat 77 species (74%) were xerophytic in nature followed by 14 species (13.46%) in wet condition and 13 species (12.5%) were present in both conditions. In 104 plant species 85 were non spiny and 19 were spiny. Plant growth and distribution are having strong correlation with environment. Therefore, it is important to understand the environmental aspects that affect plant growth and distribution.     

不同国家甜菜种质资源遗传多样性研究

通过对来自12个国家的247份甜菜种质资源的16个描述型性状及10个数值型性状的遗传多样性进行分析,结果表明:16个描述型性状均表现出不同程度的遗传差异,多样性指数在0.4806~1.5230之间,平均值为0.8608,其中根肉色多样性指数最小,生长势的多样性指数最大;10个数值型性状的变异系数在1.29%~7.08%之间,平均为3.57%,α-氮含量最小,叶片数最大;不同国家甜菜种质资源的表型遗传差异大小为中国荷兰美国瑞典日本德国匈牙利波兰俄罗斯丹麦法国比利时。对247份材料表型进行聚类分析表明,在阈值为7.5时把材料分为5类,每个国家在5个分类中所占的比例均不同。鉴定筛选出的15份丰产资源和15份高糖资源,可在育种中做为品种产量改良及提高含糖率的亲本材料。     

川江流域传统城镇风景要素梳理及组织特征探究

区域城镇风景特征与自然基底、历史进程、产业、人文等密切相关,梳理传统城镇风景要素及其空间分布、组织特征,对当代语境下的地域性城镇风景体系重构具有重要的指导与借鉴意义。川江流域城镇地处峡江地带,属典型的山地城镇,加之受悠久的演进历程和地域多元文化影响,其城镇风景极具历史及地方性特征。通过对方志、文集、诗歌等文字记载和相关图画资料进行量化统计、图文对照分析,梳理川江流域传统城镇风景要素数量、类型及位置分布;同时借助HGIS技术对城镇古代舆图、城图等进行地理信息的空间表达。归纳宏观视域下风景分布与山水构架的耦合关系,以及城镇及周边视域下城镇与风景互为补充和参照的融合关系。为构建多元的城镇风景要素、强化地方山水格局、促进城镇与风景协同发展等提供研究方法探究和理论指导     

深绿木霉中碳代谢抑制因子CRE1功能特性研究

木霉菌(Trichoderma spp.)是一种广泛存在于土壤及植物根系生境中的丝状真菌,具有拮抗植物病原真菌和促进植物生长的双重功效。碳代谢抑制子CRE1全局性调控细胞生长代谢过程,保障木霉在不同生境中的存活及拮抗病原菌特性。比较深绿木霉(T.atroviride)T23及其Cre1突变株(T23Δcre1)在不同培养基中的生长和代谢特性,结果表明:cre1基因沉默后,T23Δcre1较T23菌丝生长变慢,产孢滞后且降低一个数量级,cre1对菌丝生长和产孢的调控依赖于培养基组分。此外,cre1基因抑制几丁质酶、β-1,3-葡聚糖酶基因转录,区别性调控部分次级代谢合成的非核糖体肽合成酶NRPS和聚酮合成酶PKS基因的表达。综上,碳代谢因子CRE1作为一个多效性的转录调控因子,抑制细胞壁降解酶和代谢产物合成相关的基因表达,赋予木霉菌在环境中的适应性和竞争性,是深绿木霉T23生长的必要因子。