Grain or coleoptile tip as the source of IAA in cereal shoots?

Abstract. Current opinion is divided on whether the free IAA in cereal shoots is derived from the coleoptile tip or from the grain. To date these hypotheses have been considered to be mutually exclusive. In this paper the idea is advanced that both sources may function in the supply of IAA in the shoot. Critical review of the literature shows that such an explanation best fits all the available evidence. It is argued that the relative importance of each source may vary between species of the Gramineae, with the supply of IAA in Avena shoots being derived predominantly from the grain, whereas in Zea the coleoptile tip is the more important source.     

The development of the critical theory of evolution: The scientific career of Wolfgang F. Gutmann

Summary The critical theory of evolution was developed by a group of scientists working together with Wolfgang F. Gutmann at the Senckenberg-Research-Institute in Frankfurt am Main. Gutmann worked at Senckenberg for 37 years. In this time he presented 247 contributions which are distributed over 47 periodicals and books. The ideas that were developed by Gutmann and his colleagues were innovative and pathbreaking for morphology and evolutionary biology. The large number of his morphological publications is indicative of the wide field that was opened up by the concepts of constructional morphology. As some of his colleagues have suggested, constructional morphology as an engineering approach to the study of organisms (i. e., engineering morphology) may replace the traditional concepts of morphology and anatomy and provides the observational base for the historical reconstruction of evolutionary pathways. Constructional morphology as a quasi-engineering approach can be the morphological pendant to the contemporary molecular approaches to biology, as it can provide the necessary morphological basis for the interpretation of the results of molecular studies in the light of evolution.     

A hybrid behavioural rule of adaptation and drift explains the emergent architecture of antagonistic networks

Ecological processes that can realistically account for network architectures are central to our understanding of how species assemble and function in ecosystems. Consumer species are constantly selecting and adjusting which resource species are to be exploited in an antagonistic network. Here we incorporate a hybrid behavioural rule of adaptive interaction switching and random drift into a bipartite network model. Predictions are insensitive to the model parameters and the initial network structures, and agree extremely well with the observed levels of modularity, nestedness and node-degree distributions for 61 real networks. Evolutionary and community assemblage histories only indirectly affect network structure by defining the size and complexity of ecological networks, whereas adaptive interaction switching and random drift carve out the details of network architecture at the faster ecological time scale. The hybrid behavioural rule of both adaptation and drift could well be the key processes for structure emergence in real ecological networks.     

Present status of sentinel lymph node biopsy in cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, and seventh overall. This disease represents a medical, economic and social burden. In early FIGO stage patients (IA, IB1 and IIA1), nodal involvement is the most important prognostic factor. Imaging evaluation of nodal metastasis is of limited value. In order to determine lymph node involvement, allow loco-regional control of the disease, define the need for adjuvant radiotherapy and improve survival, standard surgery for early disease is radical hysterectomy with systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy. However, this surgical treatment has risks and complications: longer operative time, larger blood loss, neurovascular or ureteral injury, lower-limb lymphedema, symptomatic lymphocysts, hydronephrosis. A method that allows to define the presence of regional metastasis with less morbidity and equal or greater precision is particularly relevant. The use of the sentinel lymph node biopsy is intended to reach that purpose. The present study reviews recent literature on the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in cervical cancer, analyzing its indications and contraindications, injection and detection techniques, tracers used, surgical and pathological approaches and its applicability in up-to-date clinical practice.     

1.5T磁共振不同序列用于检出妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴结转移的比较

目的:比较1.5T磁共振(MRI)不同序列条件下对妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴结转移的检出情况,探讨最佳检出序列条件。方法:选取2015年5月-2017年5月初诊为卵巢癌、宫颈癌、子宫内膜癌的患者78例作为研究对象,均行盆腔淋巴结清扫术。所有患者术前均行T1加权序列(T1WI)、T2加权序列(T2WI)、增强扫描(T1WI+C)、弥散加权成像(DWI)检查,记录每个序列检查条件下检出的盆腔转移淋巴结个数及分布。以病理结果作为判断的"金标准"进行对比。结果:对比病理检查结果,应用DWI序列对妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴结转移的检出率(95.8%)显著高于T2WI-MRI序列(85.8%)和T1WI-MRI序列(75.0%)(P0.05);DWI序列与T1WI+C序列(90.8%)相比差异无统计学意义(P0.05);DWI阈值法与DWI短径法相比,淋巴结的检出率差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:应用1.5T磁共振检查妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴节转移时,采用DWI序列扫描对于转移淋巴结的具有较高的检出率,显著优于其他序列扫描;在进行阳性淋巴结判断中,ADC阈值法和短径法均可选用。     

前哨淋巴结检测方法及其在肿瘤中的研究进展

前哨淋巴结(sentinel lymph node,SLN)是肿瘤淋巴结转移的第一站,SLN活检肿瘤阳性的患者需要做系统性淋巴结清扫;SLN活检阴性的患者,不需要做系统性淋巴结清扫,可以缩短手术时间,降低手术费用,减少手术并发症;目前识别SLN的方法包括生物活性染料示踪法,放射性核素示踪法,联合示踪法,纳米炭(carbon nanoparticles,CNP)标记前哨淋巴结活检技术以及吲哚菁绿(Indocyanine Green,ICG)荧光标记法。SLN活检技术在乳腺癌、甲状腺癌、胃癌、恶性黑色素瘤、宫颈癌、子宫内膜癌等肿瘤中皆有不同程度的研究。本文通过复习文献,对前哨淋巴结检测方法予以归纳及其在常见肿瘤中的研究进展予以综述,旨在为恶性肿瘤临床治疗提供参考。     

Low acclimation capacity of narrow‐ranging thermal specialists exposes susceptibility to global climate change

Thermal acclimation is hypothesized to offer a selective advantage in seasonal habitats and may underlie disparities in geographic range size among closely‐related species with similar ecologies. Understanding this relationship is also critical for identifying species that are more sensitive to warming climates. Here, we study North American plethodontid salamanders to investigate whether acclimation ability is associated with species’ latitudinal extents and the thermal range of the environments they inhabit. We quantified variation in thermal physiology by measuring standard metabolic rate (SMR) at different test and acclimation temperatures for 16 species of salamanders with varying latitudinal extents. A phylogenetically‐controlled Markov chain Monte Carlo generalized linear mixed model (MCMCglmm) was then employed to determine whether there are differences in SMR between wide‐ and narrow‐ranging species at different acclimation temperatures. In addition, we tested for a relationship between the acclimation ability of species and the environmental temperature ranges they inhabit. Further, we investigated if there is a trade‐off between critical thermal maximum (CTMax) and thermal acclimation ability. MCMCglmm results show a significant difference in acclimation ability between wide and narrow‐ranging temperate salamanders. Salamanders with wide latitudinal distributions maintain or slightly increase SMR when subjected to higher test and acclimation temperatures, whereas several narrow‐ranging species show significant metabolic depression. We also found significant, positive relationships between acclimation ability and environmental thermal range, and between acclimation ability and CTMax. Wide‐ranging salamander species exhibit a greater capacity for thermal acclimation than narrow‐ranging species, suggesting that selection for acclimation ability may have been a key factor enabling geographic expansion into areas with greater thermal variability. Further, given that narrow‐ranging salamanders are found to have both poor acclimation ability and lower tolerance to warm temperatures, they are likely to be more susceptible to environmental warming associated with anthropogenic climate change.     

Quantitative Biomarkers for Prediction of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES: To predict epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status using quantitative radiomic biomarkers and representative clinical variables. METHODS: The study included 180 patients diagnosed as of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with their pre-therapy computed tomography (CT) scans. Using a radiomic method, 485 features that reflect the heterogeneity and phenotype of tumors were extracted. Afterwards, these radiomic features were used for predicting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status by a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) based on multivariable logistic regression. As a result, we found that radiomic features have prognostic ability in EGFR mutation status prediction. In addition, we used radiomic nomogram and calibration curve to test the performance of the model. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis revealed that the radiomic features had the potential to build a prediction model for EGFR mutation. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the training cohort was 0.8618, and the AUC for the validation cohort was 0.8725, which were superior to prediction model that used clinical variables alone. CONCLUSION: Radiomic features are better predictors of EGFR mutation status than conventional semantic CT image features or clinical variables to help doctors to decide who need EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment.     

BDNF and trkB mRNA Expression in Neurons of the Neonatal Mouse Barrel Field Cortex: Normal Development and Plasticity after Cauterizing Facial Vibrissae

Development of the central somatosensory system is profoundly modulated by the sensory periphery. Cauterization of facial whiskers alters the segregation pattern of barrels in rodents only during a few days just after birth (critical period). Although a molecular basis of the segregation of barrel neurons and the critical period for the anatomical plasticity observed in layer IV barrel neuron is not clear yet, the accumulating evidence suggests that neurotrophins modulate synaptic connections including central nervous system. In this study, we showed by in situ hybridization that mouse barrel side neurons express brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA and both catalytic and non-catalytic forms of trkB mRNA. Cautery of row C vibrissae on the right side of the face within 24 h after birth (post natal day 0, PND0) reduced the expression of BDNF and trkB mRNA from the division region between the contralateral row C barrels at PND7. The vibrissae in row A, C, and E were cauterized at PND0 followed by quantitative RT-PCR for BDNF and trkB mRNA with total RNA isolated from the barrel region at PND7. The result showed that BDNF, but not trkB, mRNA was increased several-fold in the contralateral barrel region. These data suggest that the expression of BDNF mRNA is differentially regulated between injured barrels and actively innervated barrels. The differential expression of the mRNA encoding neurotrophins and their receptors may be important in regulating the injury-dependent re-segregation of barrels.