论植物园的活植物收集

对植物园活植物收集评价、引种中的取样方法和迁地保护种群大小等问题进行了论述.对活植物收集的评价包括科学性和代表性,最具有科学意义的是经过调查从野外收集的有完整记录的材料,其次是从植物园等机构 引种的有记录的材料,再次是从各地引种的基本上无记录的材料.根据收集物的代表性可分为具有保护意义的收集和保护性收集.取样技术主要针对保护性收集而言,要求收集样本能涵盖该物种95%以上、频率大于5%的等位基因.活植物收集种群的大小应从科学性和现实性二方面来考虑,对植物园里大量的具有保护意义的收集,其种群大小为乔木10～20株,灌木40～50株,草本100～200株;对于保护性收集则至少为乔木50～100株,灌木200株或更多,草本300～500株以上.另外,对当前植物园活植物收集圃建设的一些重要问题也进行了探讨.     

太白红杉种群结构与环境的关系

对太白山不同生境出现的 5种太白红杉种群的高度、径级和生物量结构进行了较为系统的对比研究。结果表明 :(1)不同生境的太白红杉种群 ,生长发育明显不同。但经年龄拟合和方差分析证明 ,该地区不同太白红杉种群在演替上应属同时发生 (P<0 .0 5 )。 (2 )不同太白红杉各种群在高度和胸径上有极显著差异 (P<0 .0 1) ,生长于中海拔地域的太白红杉种群平均高和胸径显著高于低海拔和森林线地带的种群 ;随着海拔升高 ,种群生物量结构中根系所占比例呈现高→低→高的趋势 ;主干和枝叶呈现低→高→低的趋势。(3)对种群表现结构形成有重要影响的 10个环境因子的主成分分析表明 ,乔木层郁闭度、土壤厚度、土壤p H、土壤含水率、年平均降雨量、人为干扰是影响种群结构形成的最重要因素。 (4)对太白红杉种群应以就地保护为主 ,低海拔地区的群落应适当间伐乔木层非目的树种 ,中高海拔地区应以保护原有生境为主 ,适当间伐灌木层树种 ,为太白红杉更新创造良好条件。     

海南石梅湾青皮林最小取样面积与物种多样性研究

石梅湾海岸青皮(Vatica hainanensis)林是海南独特的雨林群落之一。本文选用8种“种-面积渐近线”对该群落的最小取样面积进行了拟合研究。结果表明,其中5条曲线的R^2大于0．97,拟合状况很好,但所得出的最小取样面积各不相同。进一步经过“重要值-面积曲线”的群落特征分析,确认群落的最小取样面积只有800m^2。石梅湾青皮林最小取样面积比海南其他类型雨林、滇南热带雨林、东南亚热带雨林以及非洲雨林都要小。通过对1000m^2样地的物种多样性分析,结果表明：在垂直结构上,石梅湾青皮林B层乔木的Gleason指数大于A层乔木,和海南山地雨林的情况不同。海岸青皮林为物种多样性不高的单优林,群落的物种多样性、均匀度远小于海南其他类型的山地雨林与混合青皮林;在海岸青皮林群落内,青皮的相对密度、相对优势度、重要值大大高于其他物种。此研究表明：海南热带雨林同样存在物种多样性不高、单优特征显著的顶极群落;海南海岸青皮林是迄今为止热带雨林取样面积最小的森林类型。     

内蒙古地区羊草草原植被对温度变化的动态响应

 1981～1994年连续14年内蒙古羊草草原温度随时间变化结果显示,该区域温度变化具有不对称性,冬季最低均温升高明显,而最高温及平均温度无明显增加趋势。羊草草原气候的变化主要表现在冬季最低温的增加,而不是平均温度的增加。羊草群落的结构和功能对冬季最低均温变化的响应研究表明,随着冬季最低均温的升高,阿尔泰狗哇花(Heteropappus altaicus)和冰草(Agropyron michnoi)的重要值及地上初级生产力将明显增加,而寸草苔(Cares duriuscula)则呈下降趋势,作为群落主要优势种的羊草(Leymus chinensis)和大针茅(Stipa grandis)及其它优势植物对冬季最低均温变化反应不明显。同时,群落的生物多样性指数(Simpson指数、Shannon-Wiener指数)、物种饱和度及地上初级生产力对冬季最低均温也均无显著相关,14年间冬季最低均温的变化并没有对群落的结构和功能产生明显影响。然而,因寸草苔和冰草等少数优势植物对冬季最低均温变化反应的敏感,温度变化的幅度增加或时间延续很可能造成少数优势种在群落中地位的改变,进而可能导致羊草群落结构和功能的变化。这表明在进行气候变化的模拟和模型研究时,不能仅简单地考虑平均温度增加的情况,而应确定主导影响因子,从而了解草原生态系统对全球变化的响应,选取适宜的模型参数。     

Current perspectives in pulmonary surfactant — Inhibition, enhancement and evaluation

Pulmonary surfactant (PS) is a complicated mixture of approximately 90% lipids and 10% proteins. It plays an important role in maintaining normal respiratory mechanics by reducing alveolar surface tension to near-zero values. Supplementing exogenous surfactant to newborns suffering from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), a leading cause of perinatal mortality, has completely altered neonatal care in industrialized countries. Surfactant therapy has also been applied to the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) but with only limited success. Biophysical studies suggest that surfactant inhibition is partially responsible for this unsatisfactory performance. This paper reviews the biophysical properties of functional and dysfunctional PS. The biophysical properties of PS are further limited to surface activity, i.e., properties related to highly dynamic and very low surface tensions. Three main perspectives are reviewed. (1) How does PS permit both rapid adsorption and the ability to reach very low surface tensions? (2) How is PS inactivated by different inhibitory substances and how can this inhibition be counteracted? A recent research focus of using water-soluble polymers as additives to enhance the surface activity of clinical PS and to overcome inhibition is extensively discussed. (3) Which in vivo, in situ, and in vitro methods are available for evaluating the surface activity of PS and what are their relative merits? A better understanding of the biophysical properties of functional and dysfunctional PS is important for the further development of surfactant therapy, especially for its potential application in ARDS.     

A citrus polymethoxyflavonoid, nobiletin, is a novel MEK inhibitor that exhibits antitumor metastasis in human fibrosarcoma HT-1080 cells

The activation of mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK) is well known to be associated with tumor invasion and metastasis. We previously reported that a polymethoxyflavonoid, nobiletin (5,6,7,8,3′,4′-hexamethoxyflavone), derived from Citrus depressa (Hayata), inhibits the phosphorylation of MEK and thereby suppresses matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression in a tumor-metastasis stimulator, 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-stimulated human fibrosarcoma HT-1080 cells [Mol. Cancer Ther. 3 (2004) 839-847]. In the present study, we investigated whether or not nobiletin might directly influence MEK activity to exhibit the antitumor metastatic activity in vitro. MEK kinase assay using myelin basic protein (MBP) revealed that TPA-augmented MEK activity in HT-1080 cells and that the augmented MEK activity was diminished by nobiletin treatment. In addition, the decrease in MEK activity caused by nobiletin was found to inhibit the phosphorylation of extracellular regulated kinases (ERK), a downstream signaling factor for MEK. Furthermore, when an immunoprecipitated active MEK was incubated with nobiletin under cell-free conditions, nobiletin was found to inhibit the MEK-mediated MBP phosphorylation. In contrast, other citrus polymethoxyflavonoids such as 3-hydroxy-5,6,7,8,3′,4′-hexamethoxyflavone (natsudaidain) and 3,5,6,7,8,3′,4′-heptamethoxyflavone, did not directly inhibit MEK activity. Moreover, natsudaidain and 3,5,6,7,8,3′,4′-heptamethoxyflavone exhibited no or less inhibitory effect than nobiletin on the proMMP-9/progelatinase B production in HT-1080 cells. Therefore, these results provide novel evidence that nobiletin directly inhibits MEK activity and decreases the sequential phosphorylation of ERK, exhibiting the antitumor metastatic activity by suppressing MMP expression in HT-1080 cells.     

西北地区志留纪温洛克世晚期-罗德洛世早期的一些笔石

记述西北地区志留纪温洛克世晚期－罗德洛世早期笔石5属,11种,进一步肯定罗德洛世早期nilssoni带的地层在陕西紫阳,甘肃迭部和内蒙古额济纳旗的存在,首次确认陕西紫阳和内蒙古额济纳旗发育温洛克世侯默中晚期含笔石地层,大致为parvus带或稍高。     

Photo-catalytic preparation of silver-coated TiO2 particles for antibacterial applications

Colloidal silver has been known to have unique antimicrobial activity that may be useful in the construction of antibacterial materials (self-cleaning materials) to aid in the fight against bacteria-related infections. In this study, silver-coated TiO₂ (Ag/TiO₂) particles prepared through the photo-reduction of Ag⁺ were investigated as an antibacterial agent against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The deposition of Ag onto the surface was confirmed with SEM and EDS analysis of the post-reaction particles. It was also determined that the initial concentration of Ag⁺ in solution played a significant role in the effective size of the post-irradiation particles. The antibacterial effectiveness of the Ag/TiO₂ was evaluated through the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgTiO₂ for each species of bacteria. The MIC values for the Ag/TiO₂, on both E. coli and S. aureus, were much lower than the MIC values for Ag metal, and quite comparable to the MIC values for AgNO₃. A disc diffusion/antibiotic sensitivity test was also performed using the Ag/TiO₂ particles and the results compared with the results obtained for Ag metal, AgNO₃ and common antibacterial agents; tetracycline, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, and neomycin. The zone of inhibition diameters for the Ag/TiO₂ particles were found to be comparable with those of the other antimicrobial agents.     

In-vitro evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of Bauhinia variegata,locally known as koiralo

Bauhinia variegata, commonly known as Koiralo is considered as medicinal plant in Nepal and India. The alcoholic extract of this plant was found to have antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6635) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Salmonella typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) and Vibrio cholerae. The largest zone of inhibition (18 mm) was found to be exhibited against B. subtilis. For this organism the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the crude extract was 0.39 mg/ml. The extract was found to be more effective against gram-positive than gram-negative bacteria. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was found to be decreased during purification.     

Alternative biofacies model for dysaerobic communities

An abundant calcareous fauna has been discovered in the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ; < 0.5 ml/l O₂) off central California at oxygen concentrations considerably less than those predicted by previous ecological models. Analysis of box core samples and bottom photographs has revealed a distinct depth zonation of echinoderms. Asteroids and ophiuroids are most abundant along the upper and lower edges of the OMZ, respectively, whereas echinoids are found near the core of this zone where oxygen levels are as low as 0.3 ml/l O₂. As these heart urchins are very abundant (14/m²), they represent a potentially significant component of the fossil record of OMZ's. Locally these urchins are capable of disturbing over 90% of near surface sediment. The core of the OMZ is inhabited by hermit crabs that actively transport and recycle gastropod shells. This 'biotransport' results in an accumulation of potentially preservable, non-endemic. hard-bodied organisms which may lead to misinterpretation of paleo-oxygenation conditions. We propose an alternative to the Rhoads & Morse (1971, Lethaia 4 ) biofacies model for open-ocean, dysaerobic environments which consists of: (1) a zone devoid of maeroinvertebrates. characterized by laminated sediments (<0.1 ml/l O₂); (2) a zone dominated by small (1–2 mm) soft-bodied infauca which exhibits moderate disturbance of laminae due to bioturbation (0.1–0.3 ml/l O₂); and (3) a zone inhabited by an abundant calcareous fauna characterized by highly bioturbated sediments (>0.3 ml/l O₂).