Effect of laterality discrimination on joint position sense and cervical range of motion in patients with chronic neck pain: a randomized single-blind clinical trial

Purpose: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of laterality discrimination training on neck joint position sense and cervical range of motion (ROM) in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (NSCNP).

Materials and methods: Forty-eight patients with NSCNP were randomly assigned to the neck group (NG) that observed neck images or the foot group (FG) that observed foot images. Response time, response accuracy, cervical ROM, and joint position error (JPE) were the main variables. The secondary outcome measures included psychosocial variables.

Results: Differences between groups in the cervical ROM for flexion (p?=?.043) were obtained, being NG group the one which obtained greater values. NG showed an improvement in right rotation (p?=?.018) and a decrease in flexion was found in the FG (p?=?.039). In JPE, differences between groups were obtained in the left rotation (p?=?.021) and significant changes were found in the NG for flexion, extension, and left rotation movements (p?<?.05). Moderate associations were found between left and right accuracy regarding to post-intervention flexion and right rotation (r?=?0.46, r?=?0.41; p?<?.05) in NG.

Conclusion: Improvements in cervical range of motion and joint position sense are obtained after the performance of the laterality discrimination task of images of the neck but not the feet. Visualization of images of the painful region presents moderate correlations with the accuracy and response time in the movements of flexion and right rotation.     

Modeling the vertical foliage distribution of an individual <Emphasis Type="Italic">Castanopsis cuspidata</Emphasis> (Thunb.) Schottky,a dominant broad-leaved tree in Japanese warm-temperate forest

The vertical foliage distribution of Castanopsis cuspidata (Thunb.) Schottky was examined in trees of various sizes to clarify its variation in relation to tree size and the light environment in a stand. As indices of these parameters, we analyzed crown social position (CSP: percent of stand height) and specific leaf area (SLA). The vertical foliage distribution of trees was expressed by a Weibull function. The variation in the vertical foliage distribution of C. cuspidata could be categorized into three types using crown social position and light environment. In the first type, leaves were concentrated to the top 20% of the tree; such trees are canopy trees that can receive full sunlight. The second type had a large relative crown depth and an asymmetric distribution with the maximum foliage located near the top of the tree; such trees are suppressed trees whose crowns do not receive sufficient light. The third type had a large relative crown depth and a symmetric distribution; such trees occur in high light environments, although their crowns are in the understory layer. The differences in the vertical foliage distribution are related to the strategies used to capture light. Multiple regression analysis showed that CSP and SLA at the top layer of the tree explained successive changes in the vertical foliage distribution. These results will contribute to scaling-up the vertical foliage distribution to the community level in pure stands of C. cuspidata using an individual-based model.     

播种季节对玉米生长发育及干物质生产和分配的影响

1996－1997年,在蒙自坝对春、夏、秋、冬四季玉米的生长发育和干物质生产与分配进行了系统研究,结果表明：1冬玉米生育最长达171天,而夏玉米只有101天。2．春玉米花丝期的生产了较多的干物质,其它的则是花线期后生产的干物质更多,干物质生产量与日照时数和LAI的乘积正相关。3．灌浆期籽粒重占总增重的比例与各季玉米灌浆期≥10℃的积温正相关。4．春玉米籽生产除灌浆期的光合产物外,动用了前期贮存物的11．1％,其他玉米完全依赖于灌浆期的光合产物,并且不同比例光合产物贮存于营养体中。说明其玉米的产量受限于灌浆期的光合产物,其它玉米则受库容小或运输不畅的限制。     

Sphingolipid-cholesterol rafts diffuse as small entities in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells

To probe the dynamics and size of lipid rafts in the membrane of living cells, the local diffusion of single membrane proteins was measured. A laser trap was used to confine the motion of a bead bound to a raft protein to a small area (diam < or = 100 nm) and to measure its local diffusion by high resolution single particle tracking. Using protein constructs with identical ectodomains and different membrane regions and vice versa, we demonstrate that this method provides the viscous damping of the membrane domain in the lipid bilayer. When glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) -anchored and transmembrane proteins are raft-associated, their diffusion becomes independent of the type of membrane anchor and is significantly reduced compared with that of nonraft transmembrane proteins. Cholesterol depletion accelerates the diffusion of raft-associated proteins for transmembrane raft proteins to the level of transmembrane nonraft proteins and for GPI-anchored proteins even further. Raft-associated GPI-anchored proteins were never observed to dissociate from the raft within the measurement intervals of up to 10 min. The measurements agree with lipid rafts being cholesterol-stabilized complexes of 26 +/- 13 nm in size diffusing as one entity for minutes.     

近金线属的分类地位及金线属的鉴别特征(鲤形目:鲤科:亚科)

本文根据系统学原理,提出了建立新类元的依据;并据此从分类和系统发育上论证了近金线属ＡｎｃｈｉｃｙｃｌｏｃｈｅｉｌｕｓＬｉｅｔＬａｎ独立成属的可能性,认为应将近金线属归于金线属;修订了金线属ＳｉｎｏｃｙｃｌｏｃｈｅｉｌｕｓＦａｎｇ的鉴别特征。     

大花黄牡丹分类学地位的研究

通过野外调查、引种试验,对大花黄牡丹与黄牡丹的形态特征、生长和繁殖特性进行了综合比较研究,结果表明,二者之间在植株高度、心皮数目、花色、花瓣基部有无棕红斑及繁殖特性等存在明显差异;同时,染色体组型、带型及蛋白亚基构成分析也表明二者之间有明显差异,因此我们认为,大花黄牡丹应上升为种的等级：Ｐａｅｏｎｉａ ｌｕｄｌｏｗｉｉ（Ｓｔｅｒｎ ｅｔ Ｔａｙｌｏｒ）Ｊ．Ｊ．Ｌｉ ｅｔ Ｄ．Ｚ．Ｃｈｅｎ,ｓｔａｔ     

Sex and the selfish herd: sexual segregation within nonmating whirligig groups

The fitness costs and benefits at different positions in fishshoals, bird flocks, and insect swarms can be asymmetric; agroup's edge may provide more feeding opportunities, but alsogreater predator risk. Animals make trade-offs between theseselection pressures based on individual differences in traitsincluding satiation level, ability to avoid predators, and sex.Previous studies did not evaluate the impact of sex on grouppositioning in these types of nonhierarchical, nonmating groupscalled congregations. A controlled laboratory experiment wasconducted, using marked whirligig beetles (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae),to test for sexual segregation and why different sexes mightchoose different positions. Soon after a disturbance, malesoften were found at the periphery and females at the centerof groups. There was also an overlying influence of feedingon position; satiated individuals moved toward the center andhungry individuals toward the periphery. Several minutes aftera disturbance, sexual segregation disappeared, but segregationdue to hunger persisted. Sexual segregation in this study wasbest explained by the predator avoidance hypothesis, not theenergy needs hypothesis. Females weighed less than males; thismay make them more at risk to predation because of reduced swimmingspeed or less mechanical protection from their exoskeleton.No difference between the sexes was found in the volume of theirdefensive chemicals. This is one of the first studies to showthat sex influences position of individuals within simple nonmatinggroups (congregations) and suggests that more attention shouldbe given to positional sex differences within shoals, flocks,herds, and swarms.     

Consequences of relative cellular positioning on quorum sensing and bacterial cell-to-cell communication

Cell-to-cell bacterial communication via diffusible signals is addressed and the conceptual framework in which quorum sensing is usually described is evaluated. By applying equations ruling the physical diffusion of the autoinducer molecules, one can calculate the gradient profiles that would occur either around a single cell or at the center of volumes of increasing size and increasing cell densities. Water-based matrices at 25 °C and viscous biofilms at colder temperatures are compared. Some basic consequences relevant for the field of microbial signalling arise. As regards induction, gradient-mixing dynamics between as little as two cells lying at a short distance appears to be sufficient for the buildup of a concentration reaching the known thresholds for quorum sensing. A straight line in which the highest concentrations occur is also created as a consequence of the gradient overlap geometry, providing an additional signal information potentially useful for chemotactic responses. In terms of whole population signalling, it is shown how the concentration perceived by a cell in the center is critically dependent not only on the cell density but also on the size of the biofilm itself. Tables and formulas for the practical prediction of N -acyl homoserine lactones concentrations at desired distances in different cell density biofilms are provided.