Radar observations of moths migrating in a nocturnal low-level jet

Abstract. 1. Radar observations of insects migrating at night over central-western New South Wales have detected an instance of migration in a low-level wind jet.
2. From the characteristics of the radar echoes, and from the catches obtained in traps at ground level and at the altitude of migration, the migrants can be identified as noctuid and pyralid moths of a number of different species.
3. The migration, which was in a downwind direction, started at dusk and ended at about dawn. During the period immediately before first light, a large proportion of the migrants were concentrated into a 100m deep layer at an altitude of about 250m; this layer had not been present during the first half of the night.
4. The boundary layer wind profile at dawn exhibited a clear low-level jet structure, with a wind maximum between 100 and 300m, and strong shear in the wind direction below 300m. A strong surface temperature inversion, but not a wind-speed maximum, had been present the previous evening.
5. The formation of the layer concentration in the upper part of the jet may be accounted for in terms of previously described responses of nocturnally migrating insects to a surface temperature inversion. It is not therefore necessary to assume that the migrants were responding specifically to the presence of a wind-speed maximum.     

解剖和生理死腔变化在高频双向喷射通气中的意义

本实验对９只蒸汽吸入伤犬在高频喷射通气（ＨＦＪＶ）或高频双向喷射通气（ＨＦＴＪＶ）条件下解剖死腔（Ｖ＿（ａｎａｔ））和生理死腔（Ｖ＿（ｐｈｙｓ）的变化进行了观察。结果：①ＨＦＪＶ和ＨＦＴＪＶ的ＣＯ＿２排出量（Ｖｃｏ＿２）（４．９０±０．６５,６．３２±１．３０ｍｌ·ｍｉｎ￣１·ｋｇ￣１）的差异非常显著（Ｐ＜０．０１）,②ＨＦＴＪＶ的ＶＶ＿（ａｎａｔ）（７６．６６±１９ｍｌ）和Ｖ＿（ｐｈｙｓ）（８０．８７±２０ｍｌ）比ＨＦＪＶ（分别为８８．１７±２２ｍｌ和９０．６９±２２ｍｌ）的均显著减少（Ｐ＜０．０５）。③ＨＦＪＶ和ＨＦＴＪＶ的功能残气量（ＦＲＣ）（４３３±５６,４４４±５６ｍｌ无显著差异。因此,ＨＦＴＪＶ确有加速ＣＯ＿２排除的效能,其作用应归因于Ｖ＿（ａｎａｔ）,和Ｖ＿（ｐｈｙｓ）的减少,它可能成为解决Ⅱ型呼吸衰竭ＣＯ＿２排除障碍的一种有效途径。     

高频喷射通气时组胺致肺损伤犬的呼吸力学监测

本实验应用拟合法观察了高频喷射通气时组胺致肺损伤犬的呼吸力学改变。结果表明,静脉持续滴注组胺后,跨肺压、气道压明显升高;呼气相肺顺应性及呼吸系统总顺应性分别由对照值0.727±0.168和0.344±0.077降到0.336±0.102和0.195±0.036L·kPa~(-1)(P<0.05),肺阻力和呼吸系统总阻力分别由对照值0.091±0.021和0.211±0.045升至0.191±0.024和0.362±0.049kPa·L~(-1)·s~(-1)(P<0.05);吸气相肺及呼吸系统顺应性、阻力的变化均未达显著水平。组胺滴注前、后呼气相呼吸系统顺应性与肺顺应性均呈显著正相关。我们认为,高频喷射通气时应用曲线拟合法实时监测组胺致肺损伤犬的呼吸力学变化是可行的,监测呼气相呼吸系统顺应性可用作无创、间接测量肺顺应性。     

Improved flow cytometric sorting of X‐ and Y‐chromosome bearing sperm: Substantial increase in yield of sexed semen

The yield of flow cytometric sorted X‐ and Y‐chromosome‐bearing sperm in a given time period is an important factor in the strategies used for fertilization and the production of sex‐preselected offspring. This yield is dependent on the efficiency with which the modified flow cytometer/cell sorter analyzes the DNA of spermatozoa. The efficiency is directly related to the number of sperm with the correct orientation during DNA analysis. Currently, the efficiency of flow cytometric sperm sorting is low since orientation of the sperm head to laser excitation is rate limiting. To overcome this problem, a new nozzle was designed to enhance sperm orientation and tested under flow cytometric sorting conditions. The degree of orientation improvement was determined with different sample rates using viable sperm and dead sperm of several different species. There was at minimum, a two‐fold increase in the proportion of oriented sperm when comparing the new nozzle with the currently used modified flow cytometer/cell sorter employing a beveled needle. More than 60% of intact bull sperm and boar sperm were correctly oriented compared with 25% to 30% using the beveled needle system. A unique characteristic of the novel nozzle was that the proportion of oriented sperm was independent of sample rate and of sperm motility. The accuracy of DNA measurement together with high purity sorting was tested using the novel nozzle. The novel nozzle was unique in that accuracy of measurement and sorting performance were not diminished. Using the new nozzle, samples of 88% purity of sorted X‐sperm and Y‐sperm were obtained for viable bull and boar sperm. The yield of flow cytometric sorted X‐ and Y‐chromosome‐bearing sperm using the novel nozzle was, on average, twice that obtained by using the beveled needle system in conjunction with a standard equipment nozzle for orientation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 52:50–56, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

高频喷射通气治疗海水淹溺肺水肿时兔肺钙离子超微结构变化

用海水灌注的方法诱导海水淹溺肺水肿（ＰＥ－ＳＷＤ）, 采用高频喷射通气（ＨＦＪＶ） 治疗, 应用血气酸碱分析仪对兔动脉血气酸碱三项指标进行自动检测, 并采用Ｃａ２＋ 超微结构方法观察肺内Ｃａ２＋ 变化。结果表明肺细胞内Ｃａ２＋ 超负荷与ＰＥ－ＳＷＤ发生有关, ＨＦＪＶ 对改善ＰＥ－ＳＷＤ症状有明显作用, 同时, 细胞内Ｃａ２＋ 超负荷状况明显缓解     

Association of depressive symptoms with habitual sleep duration and sleep timing in junior high school students

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate independent associations of habitual sleep durations and sleep timings on weekdays and weekends with depressive symptoms in adolescents who have classes in the morning. We studied grade 7–9 students (942 males and 940 females, aged 12–15 years), who had classes in the morning, at public junior high schools in Japan in a cross-sectional design. The students answered a self-report questionnaire, which covers habitual sleep durations, bedtimes and wake-up times on weekdays and weekends, and depressive symptoms. The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) was used to determine the level of depressive symptoms. The relationship between the variables on sleep habits and the SMFQ score were studied using multivariate linear regression and generalized additive models (GAM), controlling for sex, age and school. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that sleep duration on weekdays and relative mid-sleep time on weekdays (i.e. mid-sleep time on weekdays – mid-sleep time on weekends) were independently significantly (p < .001) associated with the SMFQ score. GAM analysis also revealed that sleep duration on weekdays (a reverse J-shaped relationship) and the relative mid-sleep time on weekdays (a negative monotonic/linear relationship) were independently significantly (p < .001) associated with the SMFQ score. These associations were confirmed in both males and females when they were analyzed separately. These results suggest that sleep duration on weekdays and the relative mid-sleep time on weekdays may be independently associated with the level of depressive symptoms in junior high school students who have classes in the morning. These findings may have important implications for the development of novel strategies for preventing mental health problems in adolescents.     

Annual and inter-annual variability of the present climate in northern South America and southern Mesoamerica

Present climate of northwestern South America and the southern Isthmus is detailed in terms of major hydro-climatic controls, supported by evidence from station records, reanalysis data and satellite information. In this tropical region, precipitation is the principal hydro-climatological variable to display great variability. The primary objective is to view the controls that operate at intra-seasonal to inter-decadal time scales. This is a topographical complex region whose climate influences range in provenance from the South Atlantic to the Canadian Prairies, and from the North Atlantic to the Eastern Pacific. The situation is further complicated by interactions and feedbacks, in time and space, between these influences, which are interconnected over various scales. The greatest single control on the annual cycle is the meridional migration of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone and its pattern of associated trade winds. Consideration of these alone and their interaction with the Cordilleras of the Andes and Central America produce a variety of unimodal and bimodal regimes. Regionally, two low level jet streams, the westerly Choco jet (5°N) and the easterly San Andrés jet (12-14°N), and their seasonal variability, have tremendous significance, as do mesoscale convective storms and mid-latitude cold fronts from both the northern (“nortes”) and southern (“friagems”) hemispheres. There are many examples of hydro-climatological feedbacks within the region. Of these the most notable is the interaction between evaporation over the Amazon, precipitation onto the eastern Andes and streamflow from the headwaters of the Amazon. This is further compounded by the high percentages of recycled precipitation over large areas of the tropics and the potential impacts of anthropogenic modification of the land surface. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon (ENSO) is the greatest single cause of interannual variability within the region, yet its effects are not universal in their timing, sign or magnitude. A set of regional physical connections to ENSO are established and their varying local manifestations are viewed in the context of the dominant precipitation generating mechanisms and feedbacks at that location. In addition, some potential impacts of longer run variations within the ocean-atmosphere system of the Atlantic are examined independently and in conjunction with ENSO. This review of the climatic controls and feedbacks in the region provides a spatial and temporal framework within which the highly complex set of factors and their interactions may be interpreted from the past.