Huron Smith's ethnobotany of the Hocąk (Winnebago)

The Hocak, commonly known as the Winnebago, are one of the original tribes in the present state of Wisconsin. The field notes of Huron Smith, compiled in the late 1920s and early 1930s, document the extensive use of plant materials by Hocak people. Smith's notes contain references to 199 vascular plant species in 74 families, with recorded uses for 153 of these species. Medicinal plants (with 117 species) comprise the largest category, followed by food (37 species), and fiber and material uses (22 species). Smith's work is unique for its time because he thoroughly explored the tribal uses of the plants in addition to collecting voucher specimens and photographic plates, and because it remains the most extensive Hocąk ethnobotanical study. Added to Smith's other works of tribes in Wisconsin (Menominee, Meskwaki, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi), the Hocak ethnobotany broadens the cultural base of his regional compilation of Native North American plant uses. In addition, this is an important body of information for the Hocąk people and those interested in their use of plants.     

云南保山地区两种胡蜂食用虫态营养成分分析及评价

为明确云南保山地区广泛分布和普遍食用的凹纹胡蜂（Vespa velutina auraria Smith）和金环胡蜂（Vespa mandarinia Smith）的营养成分及差异,以野外采集的两种胡蜂为材料,采用常压直接干燥法、高温灼烧法、分光光度法等方法测定了凹纹胡蜂幼虫、预蛹和初蛹3个食用虫态及金环胡蜂初蛹虫态的水分、灰分、粗蛋白、氨基酸和总糖等营养成分含量,并对其进行分析和评价。结果表明,凹纹胡蜂幼虫、预蛹和初蛹3个虫态的水分含量分别为67.44%~75.71%、72.76%~73.28%、73.06%~74.20%;灰分含量分别为2.93%~3.77%、1.09%~2.38%、1.06%~2.57%;蛋白质含量分别为15.833%~17.326%、17.918%~18.471%、18.509%~19.529%;总糖含量分别为22.34%~25.44%、19.56%~21.19%、12.89%~19.43%;各食用虫态的营养成分含量与样品采样地和虫态关系密切,不同采样地的同一食用虫态或同一采样地的不同食用虫态的营养成分含量均具有显著差异。金环胡蜂初蛹的水分、灰分、蛋白质和总糖含量分别为75.47%、1.65%、23.269%和13.71%,其中水分和蛋白质含量高于同虫态凹纹胡蜂的含量。氨基酸分析结果表明,龙陵碧寨乡凹纹胡蜂3个食用虫态含16种氨基酸,必需氨基酸种类齐全,含量充足;E/N的比值依次为0.32、0.40和0.47,必需氨基酸占总氨基酸含量（E%）分别为24.19%、28.57%和31.99%,E%/T必需氨基酸（g）/总氮（g）（T=15）值分别为1.61、1.91和2.13。总体上,凹纹胡蜂3个虫态中以初蛹的蛋白质含量最高,水分含量适中,总糖含量和灰分含量最低,必需氨基酸种类齐全且含量充足,是最理想的食用虫态。金环胡蜂个体较大,营养价值较高,具有很高的食用价值。     

Behavioral evidence for supersensitivity after chronic administration of haloperidol,clozapine, and thioridazine

Rats administered chronic neuroleptics for 6–7 weeks-- haloperidol (2.5 mg/rat or 1 mg/kg), clozapine (25 mg/kg), or thioridazine (20 mg/kg)--after termination of chronic drug treatment exhibited greater apomorphine-induced stereotyped behavior than their saline controls. Rats treated with thioridazine or clozapine, but not haloperidol, also showed increases in locomotor activity during withdrawal. These findings indicate that behavioral supersensitivity may develop after chronic clozapine treatment as well as after chronic haloperidol.     

Sources of Thought Two 19th-century Chronobiologists: Thomas Laycock and Edward Smith

This article describes the works of two 19th-century chronobiologists. Thomas Laycock (1812-1876), who held the Chair of Medicine in Edinburgh from 1855-1876, published a series of seven articles in Lancet, all dedicated to periodicities in “vital phenomena.” Laycock considered the understanding of periodicities essential for the advancement of the treatment of diseases. Edward Smith (1818-1874) was a pioneer in experimental chronobiology. In his 1861 book entitled: Health and disease as influenced by daily, seasonal and other cyclical changes in the human, Smith summarized a large number of experiments in which he investigated the occurrence of periodicities in pulse rate, urine flow, urea excretion, and respiration. From his experimental results and those of others, Smith drew practical conclusions regarding patients' care, the timing of drug administration, and the design of night work.     

Long Noncoding RNAs AC009014.3 and Newly Discovered XPLAID Differentiate Aggressive and Indolent Prostate Cancers

INTRODUCTION: The molecular mechanisms underlying aggressive versus indolent disease are not fully understood. Recent research has implicated a class of molecules known as long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in tumorigenesis and progression of cancer. Our objective was to discover lncRNAs that differentiate aggressive and indolent prostate cancers. METHODS: We analyzed paired tumor and normal tissues from six aggressive Gleason score (GS) 8-10 and six indolent GS 6 prostate cancers. Extracted RNA was split for poly(A)+ and ribosomal RNA depletion library preparations, followed byRNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) using an Illumina HiSeq 2000. We developed an RNA-Seq data analysis pipeline to discover and quantify these molecules. Candidate lncRNAs were validated using RT-qPCR on 87 tumor tissue samples: 28 (GS 6), 28 (GS 3+4), 6 (GS 4+3), and 25 (GS 8-10). Statistical correlations between lncRNAs and clinicopathologic variables were tested using ANOVA. RESULTS: The 43 differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs between aggressive and indolent prostate cancers included 12 annotated and 31 novel lncRNAs. The top six DE lncRNAs were selected based on large, consistent fold-changes in the RNA-Seq results. Three of these candidates passed RT-qPCR validation, including AC009014.3 (P < .001 in tumor tissue) and a newly discovered X-linked lncRNA named XPLAID (P = .049 in tumor tissue and P = .048 in normal tissue). XPLAID and AC009014.3 show promise as prognostic biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: We discovered several dozen lncRNAs that distinguish aggressive and indolent prostate cancers, of which four were validated using RT-qPCR. The investigation into their biology is ongoing.     

A comparison of four pair-wise sequence alignment methods

Protein sequence alignment has become an essential task in modern molecular biology research. A number of alignment techniques have been documented in literature and their corresponding tools are made available as freeware and commercial software. The choice and use of these tools for sequence alignment through the complete interpretation of alignment results is often considered non-trivial by end-users with limited skill in Bioinformatics algorithm development. Here, we discuss the comparison of sequence alignment techniques based on dynamic programming (N-W, S-W) and heuristics (LFASTA, BL2SEQ) for four sets of sequence data towards an educational purpose. The analysis suggests that heuristics based methods are faster than dynamic programming methods in alignment speed.     

西藏色季拉山林线冷杉种群结构与动态

急尖长苞冷杉(Abies georgei var.smithii)是西藏东南部地区高山林线森林群落的主要建群树种,主要分布在色季拉山海拔3600～4400m区域,并成为阴坡高山林线的优势树种。通过对色季拉山林线群落交错区域的定位调查,分析了急尖长苞冷杉的个体生长、种群结构与动态以及林线特征。分析结果表明:(1)西藏色季拉山海拔4320m处为森林郁闭上限,该区域存在两种类型的高山林线,阳坡为渐变型林线,林线树种为方枝柏(Sabina saltuaria);阴坡为急变型林线,林线树种为急尖长苞冷杉。阳坡与阴坡林线分布海拔上限分别为4570m和4390m,阳坡高于阴坡180m;阳坡与阴坡林线群落交错区垂直宽度分别为250m和70m,阳坡比阴坡宽180m。(2)阴坡海拔3700～3800m属急尖长苞冷杉分布的最适范围,种群径级结构表现为典型的反"J"型,种群密度约380株/hm2;种群年龄结构表现为"金字塔"型,属于扩展型种群。(3)静态生命表和种群存活曲线反映了急尖长苞冷杉种群在形成初期的20a和生长发育的60～160a分别经历了强烈的环境筛选和竞争自疏,以及后期与环境变化相关的死亡波动,200a左右为急尖长苞冷杉的生理寿命,种群后期基本稳定,400a左右为极限寿命。     

云南近光滑小檗(小檗科)主要分类学性状特征的变异式样

通过野外居群取样,结合实验室观察、标本检查及统计分析方法,研究了云南省腾冲县近光滑小檗主要分类学性状特征的变异式样。结果显示:(1)近光滑小檗叶片长度为1.95~12.91(5.54±2.15)cm,宽度为0.45~1.94(0.97±0.32)cm;单个簇生花序中花数目为2~14(5.1±2.2)个,花黄色,花被片数目为13~20(15.36±1.34)个;具蜜腺花被片为狭倒卵形至宽倒卵形,先端常缺裂,偶全缘,长3.18~5.94(4.82±0.52)mm,宽1.45~4.41(2.65±0.54)mm。(2)子房内胚珠数目及果实内种子数目都是1个;浆果椭圆形至卵状椭圆形,紫黑色,长3.37~8.36(6.91±0.82)mm,宽2.85~5.13(4.02±0.46)mm;果柄长0.47~2.20(1.10±0.32)cm。(3)在变异系数方面,簇生花序中花数目(0.37)叶长(0.21)叶宽(0.18)果柄长度(0.17)具蜜腺花被片宽度(0.14)具蜜腺花被片长度(0.08)=花被片数目(0.08)果长(0.07)=果宽(0.07)。(4)对《中国植物志》中近光滑小檗空缺的绘图补充了叶、花和果实等图片资料;并讨论了生境条件对近光滑小檗居群间变异的影响,及其与同域种卷叶小檗的种间关系。     

Vegetation re‐establishment on land previously subject to control of Pteridium aquilinum by herbicide

Abstract. Vegetation development after conventional bracken control with herbicide in the uplands is often slow and rarely results in the development of the target community. Two experiments were established on contrasting sites to investigate cost‐effective methods for the re‐establishment of vegetation dominated by Calluna vulgaris (heather), which is the usual target community seen as the desired replacement for Pteridium aquilinum in the uplands by many land managers. At one site, where grazing intensity was low and shelter was sufficient to prevent rapid Pteridium litter loss, the necessary treatments to establish Calluna were to disturb the litter and add a source of Calluna seeds. A difference between continued Pteridium control or a relaxation of control was not observed over the time‐scale of the experiment. At the second site, where grazing intensity was high and shelter minimal, vegetation dominated by Rumex acetosella had developed on a thin but dense litter layer. To enhance Calluna regeneration it was necessary to prevent sheep grazing, disturb the remaining litter layer and add a source of Calluna propagules. A nurse crop hindered Calluna establishment due to its vigorous growth. At neither site was an initial application of fertilizer an aid to Calluna establishment. It is possible to devise methods for the re‐establishment of Calluna at sites where previous attempts at Pteridium control alone have not had the desired effect on vegetation development. However, the precise choice of methods used is dependent on the grazing management at the site. High levels of livestock grazing prevented Calluna establishment, but some trampling may aid litter breakdown. The ability to adjust stocking rates and access to the site by machinery are critical factors to take into account in producing an effective strategy for long‐term Pteridium control and its replacement by target vegetation.     

Relationships between floristic gradients in a primary succession

Abstract. Correlations between five floristic gradients at small spatial extents (10 - 20 m) and one successional gradient over a larger spatial extent (1.5 km) are analysed. Floristic data (62 taxa) were sampled on five terminal moraines of known age deposited after the ‘Little Ice Age’ (1750–1930). The floristic gradients on the moraine ridges were sampled by two or three transects on each moraine, and the successional gradient by 114 plots on all moraines. The sequential orders of species were determined by constrained and unconstrained Correspondence Analysis. The similarities between species order on the successional gradient and the exposure gradients at the same age were tested against the null hypothesis of no correlation. The null hypothesis was rejected using both Monte Carlo permutation tests and Spearman's rank correlations, except on the oldest moraine. Here a closed canopy has developed, which eliminates the environmental variability associated with ridge morphology. The similarity between the successional gradient and the moraine-ridge gradients is attributed to variation in environmental severity, mainly caused by glacier wind and related factors such as temperature and moisture. Similarity was highest on the moraines in the middle of the glacier foreland, which have many successional stages present and have a relatively exposed relief. The distribution of growth/life-forms along gradients of small spatial extent are comparable to the successional gradient, but lichens, herbs and graminoids differ in their behaviour. The resemblance between species gradients at a small spatial extent and species gradients on a larger spatial extent is interpreted as an ecological self-similar pattern, where young and old substrate are linked to exposed-xeric and protected-mesic habitats, respectively.