水源涵养型国家重点生态功能区生态系统服务功能评估

为评估“十二五”以来国家重点生态功能区转移支付政策的阶段性实施效果，以水源涵养类型国家重点生态功能区为对象，基于水量平衡法，利用2011年和2019年土地覆被数据，并结合气象数据，分析了水源涵养型国家重点生态功能区2011年和2019年水源涵养功能、生态系统面积、生态系统质量状况及其变化情况。研究结果表明，自2011年转移支付政策实施以来：1)全国水源涵养型重点生态功能区内的水源涵养能力呈现从西北部到东南部逐渐增加的空间分布趋势，2019年全国水源涵养型重点生态功能区水源涵养能力较2011年显著增加。2)全国水源涵养型重点生态功能区森林面积有所增加，湿地得到有效恢复。3)全国水源涵养重点生态功能区内生态系统质量提高，平均植被覆盖度有所增加，呈现东北部及中南部高，西北部低的分布趋势。总体来看，转移支付政策的实施对全国水源涵养重点生态功能区森林、草地生态系统水源涵养功能的提升发挥了积极作用，基本上达到了转移支付政策预期的阶段性目标。     

Exploring the apparent absence of psychosis amongst the Borana pastoralist community of Southern Ethiopia. A mixed method follow‐up study

There are few reports of the prevalence of psychotic disorders among isolated population groups. Where present, variations in prevalence estimates raise questions about the validity of methods of case ascertainment in such settings. In a previous population-based survey of the Borana pastoralist community in Ethiopia using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, no cases of schizophrenia were identified. In order to further explore this finding and investigate how serious mental disorder is conceptualized, we conducted focus group discussions with key members of the Borana pastoralist community. Subsequently, focus group participants were used as key informants to identify cases with possible psychotic disorder, based on their conceptualization. Cases identified by key informants were interviewed by a trained psychiatrist using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), to confirm presence of disorder. Focus group discussions were subjected to thematic analysis. The incongruity between local and psychiatric concepts lay mainly in the fact that key informants described characteristics of marata (“madness”) in terms of overt behavioural symptoms. Following the focus group discussions, participants identified eight individuals with schizophrenia and 13 with a psychotic mood disorder, confirmed through SCAN interview. Studies of psychotic disorders in such communities are likely to benefit from combining structured interviews with the key informant method.     

Macroevolutionary patterns in the diversification of parrots: effects of climate change,geological events and key innovations

Aim Parrots are thought to have originated on Gondwana during the Cretaceous. The initial split within crown group parrots separated the New Zealand taxa from the remaining extant species and was considered to coincide with the separation of New Zealand from Gondwana 82–85 Ma, assuming that the diversification of parrots was mainly shaped by vicariance. However, the distribution patterns of several extant parrot groups cannot be explained without invoking transoceanic dispersal, challenging this assumption. Here, we present a temporal and spatial framework for the diversification of parrots using external avian fossils as calibration points in order to evaluate the relative importance of the influences of past climate change, plate tectonics and ecological opportunity. Location Australasian, African, Indo‐Malayan and Neotropical regions. Methods Phylogenetic relationships were investigated using partial sequences of the nuclear genes c‐mos, RAG‐1 and Zenk of 75 parrot and 21 other avian taxa. Divergence dates and confidence intervals were estimated using a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock approach. Biogeographic patterns were evaluated taking temporal connectivity between areas into account. We tested whether diversification remained constant over time and if some parrot groups were more species‐rich than expected given their age. Results Crown group diversification of parrots started only about 58 Ma, in the Palaeogene, significantly later than previously thought. The Australasian lories and possibly also the Neotropical Arini were found to be unexpectedly species‐rich. Diversification rates probably increased around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary and in the middle Miocene, during two periods of major global climatic aberrations characterized by global cooling. Main conclusions The diversification of parrots was shaped by climatic and geological events as well as by key innovations. Initial vicariance events caused by continental break‐up were followed by transoceanic dispersal and local radiations. Habitat shifts caused by climate change and mountain orogenesis may have acted as a catalyst to the diversification by providing new ecological opportunities and challenges as well as by causing isolation as a result of habitat fragmentation. The lories constitute the only highly nectarivorous parrot clade, and their diet shift, associated with morphological innovation, may have acted as an evolutionary key innovation, allowing them to explore underutilized niches and promoting their diversification.     

Two new species of Pselaphia (Diptera, Chloropidae) from Zambia

Pselaphia haladai sp. n. and Pselaphia zambiensis sp. n. are described from Zambia. All African Pselaphia species are keyed and main differential characters are illustrated.     

New record of Ptarmus gallus Kossmann & Räuber, 1877 from the northern Red Sea (Teleostei: Aploactinidae), with a redescription of the species

The aploactinid fish Ptarmus gallus is redescribed and recorded from the Gulf of Suez (Egypt) for the first time. The species is apparently endemic to the Red Sea. Identification keys to the genera of aploactinid fishes, and to species of the genus Ptarmus are presented.     

Clinical trials of bestatin for leukemia and solid tumors

Dissociated cells from 13- and 17-day-old embryonic rat mesencephali have grown in primary cultures in order to compare the early and late influences of different agents - insulin, dexamethasone and nerve growth factor (NGF) - on the expression of cholinergic maturation process. We have studied cholin acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity, which is regarded as a specific marker for cholinergic function of the brain, and a widely used differentiation marker, the acetyl-cholinesterase (AchE) enzyme. Biochemical maturation of increasing specific activity of ChAT in both younger and older cells was taken into consideration. During cultivation the AchE activity was slightly increased in younger cells, but a dramatic decrease could be noted in older ones. Insulin in concentration from 10 to 27 µg mL^–1 causes a significant inhibition in ChAT activity in comparison with the enzyme activity measured in control cultures (insulin ranging from 1 to 100 ng), independently of embryos age. This polypeptide hormone is able to enhance AchE activity in the cultured cells, especially in older ones. With continuous treatment of the culture with dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, the ChAT activity in younger cells reaches a maximum curve by day 9 (nine). At this time the AchE activity shows a slighter, no significant increase than at any other time during cultivation. In cell cultures taken from 17-day-old embryos however dexamethasone treatment evoked a significant decrease in ChAT activity with a concomitant increase of AchE activity which was compared to insulin treatment. In spite of the fact that the NGF is able to enhance the ChAT activity, no significant alteration in AchE activity can be measured in younger cell cultures. These results suggest an uneven expression of the enzymes in embryonic rat mesencephali in the presence of above agents depending on the age of cells.     

我国重点保护动植物物种价值评估

对野生动植物生态经济价值的认识是有效保护的基础,运用条件价值评估法对我国重点保护动植物物种的价值进行研究。通过网络问卷调查法共收集到5500份问卷,其中有效问卷4672份。通过对有效问卷分析得到总的平均支付意愿为209元人~(-1)a~(-1)。其中,动物和植物分别是111.37元人~(-1)a~(-1)和97.65元人~(-1)a~(-1),不同保护级别物种的支付意愿大小差别显著。基于2016年全国城镇就业人口数据求得我国重点保护动植物物种的保护效益为18.29万亿元/a,其中动物8.20万亿元/a,植物10.09万亿元/a。支付意愿影响因素分析表明,收入、学历、对重点保护物种的了解和感兴趣程度以及是否参加过重点保护物种保护活动对支付意愿大小有显著影响。     

Short‐term response of a declining woodland bird assemblage to the removal of a despotic competitor

Interspecific aggression by the noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), a highly despotic species, is homogenizing woodland avifaunas across eastern Australia. Although a native species, the noisy miner's aggressive exclusion of small birds is a Key Threatening Process under national law. Large‐scale removal of noisy miners has been proposed as a management response to this threat following increases in miner presence due to anthropogenic land use practices. We tested this proposal by experimentally removing noisy miners from eucalypt woodland remnants (16–49 ha), assigned randomly as control (n = 12) or treatment (miner removal) sites (n = 12). Standardized bird surveys were conducted before and after removal, and generalized linear mixed models were used to investigate the effect of miner removal on bird assemblage metrics. Despite removing 3552 noisy miners in three sessions of systematic shooting, densities of noisy miners remained similarly high in treatment and control sites, even just 14 days after their removal. However, there was evidence of an increase in richness and abundance of small birds in treatment sites compared to controls—an effect we only expected to see if noisy miner densities were drastically reduced. We suggest that miner removal may have reduced the ability of the recolonizing miners to aggressively exclude small birds, even without substantially reducing miner densities, due to the breakdown of social structures that are central to the species' despotic behaviour. However, this effect on small birds is unlikely to persist in the long term. Synthesis and applications: Despite evidence from other studies that direct removal of noisy miners can result in rapid and sustained conservation benefit for bird communities at small scales, our findings cast doubt on the potential to scale‐up this management approach. The circumstances under which direct control of noisy miners can be achieved remain unresolved.     

Foliar trichornes of the evergreen and semideciduous species of the genus Quercus (Fagaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula

The leaf trichomes of the evergreen and semi-deciduous species of the genus Quercus living in the Iberian Peninsula were studied by means of SEM and LM. The SEM has been particularly useful because of the high quality of the illustrations and the possibility of recognizing the structures under I,M or the stereomicroscope afterwards. The studied species were: Quercus coccifera, Q ilex , Q rotundifolia, Q suber, Q canariensis, Q faginea, Q brateroi and Q lusitanica . All species show some exclusive particularities that permit their identification using these characters. The abaxial surface of the leaf always has more trichomes than the adaxial and hence provides more characters for identification. Quercus alpestris Boiss. shows the same features in the leaf trichomes as Q faginea Lam. A key for identification using these characters is provided.