21世纪以来闽三角城市群人类景观开发强度的时空演变——基于能值-GIS方法

在快速的城市化进程中,城市群作为城市发展到成熟阶段的高级空间组织形式,其在推进城市群区域社会经济一体化的同时,也在一定程度上加剧了城市群的人地关系矛盾和景观开发强度。为量化城市群的人类景观开发强度,揭示自然环境对人类资源消耗过程的压力响应机制,选取闽三角城市群在2000、2005和2013年的夜间灯光数据(DMSP/OLS)作为刻画人类经济活动范围的基础数据,通过能值分析理论,耦合可更新能源(太阳能、风能、地热能和降雨化学能等)与基于统计数据的不可更新能源进行能值核算,并进一步描述人类景观开发强度(Landscape development intensity,LDI)的时空演变特征,基于人类活动对自然生态系统的干扰程度划分为5级进行空间展示与分析。结果表明:(1)在时间尺度上,闽三角城市群的年可更新能值密度均值在2000、2005和2013年,分别为9.42×10~(16) sej/hm~2、7.25×10~(16) sej/hm~2和7.88×10~(16) sej/hm~2,呈现出先减后增的趋势,在空间尺度上,闽三角城市群可更新资源由环海湾地带向内陆地区呈环形逐层增加,其中在2000年表现尤为明显;(2)在不可更新资源的利用上,闽三角城市群的本地不可更新能源能值投入在2000、2005和2013年,分别为4.64×10~(24) sej、4.63×10~(24) sej和4.66×10~(24) sej,只出现轻微浮动,而外部输入能源的能值投入则在2000、2005和2013年,分别为1.41×10~(24) sej、3.18×10~(24) sej和5.71×10~(24) sej呈现逐年上升趋势,且其中对原煤的需求表现最高,占比高达90%;(3)LDI在空间分布上,自内陆至沿海干扰等级逐渐上升,其中,强度干扰与剧烈干扰主要覆盖厦门市、龙海市、晋江市和石狮市;在时间分布上,呈现出强度干扰和剧烈干扰逐渐增大的趋势。研究有助于政府对不同干扰等级区域的城乡建设与规划管理提供决策依据,为实现城市群可持续发展提供数据参考。     

Night shift work and osteoporosis: evidence and hypothesis

Osteoporosis is an important public health problem worldwide. Among the countries with a very high population risk of fractures, there are those with the highest level of economic development. Osteoporotic fractures are the main cause of disability among elderly people, and the resultant disabilities require particularly large financial support associated not only with the direct treatment of the fracture but also with the necessity for long-term rehabilitation and care for the disabled person. Many well-established factors can have impact on bone mass and fracture risk. Recently, it has been hypothesized that working during nighttime which leads to endocrine disorders may have an indirect impact on bone physiology among night shift workers. Therefore, it can be presumed that the night shift work may contribute to the etiology of osteoporosis. The aim of our work was to make a review of the epidemiological evidence on the association between night shift work and bone mineral density or fracture risk as well as to discuss the potential biological mechanisms linking the work under this system with the development of osteoporosis. We have identified only four studies investigating the association between system of work and bone mineral density or fracture risk among workers. The findings of three out of four studies support the hypothesis. None of the studies has investigated a potential relationship between night shift work and bone turnover markers. Given that there have been no epidemiological studies in European countries that would concern working populations and the noticeable difference in the risk of osteoporosis between communities, further studies are warranted to elucidate the problem. It is presumed that further in-depth studies will not only identify the underlying factors of the disease but also contribute to developing guidelines for policy makers and employers for primary prevention of osteoporosis in workplace.     

Label‐free bioanalysis of Leishmania infantum using refractive index tomography with partially coherent illumination

In this work, we report the use of refractive index (RI) tomography for quantitative analysis of unstained DH82 cell line infected with Leishmania infantum. The cell RI is reconstructed by using a modality of optical diffraction tomography technique that employs partially coherent illumination, thus enabling inherent compatibility with conventional wide‐field microscopes. The experimental results demonstrate that the cell dry mass concentration (DMC) obtained from the RI allows for reliable detection and quantitative characterization of the infection and its temporal evolution. The RI provides important insight for studying morphological changes, particularly membrane blebbing linked to an apoptosis (cell death) process induced by the disease. Moreover, the results evidence that infected DH82 cells exhibit a higher DMC than healthy samples. These findings open up promising perspectives for clinical diagnosis of Leishmania.     

Nanoscale Subsynaptic Domains Underlie the Organization of the Inhibitory Synapse

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Melatonin: a possible link between the presence of artificial light at night and reductions in biological fitness

The mechanisms underpinning the ecological impacts of the presence of artificial night lighting remain elusive. One suspected underlying cause is that the presence of light at night (LAN) supresses nocturnal production of melatonin, a key driver of biological rhythm and a potent antioxidant with a proposed role in immune function. Here, we briefly review the evidence for melatonin as the link between LAN and changes in behaviour and physiology. We then present preliminary data supporting the potential for melatonin to act as a recovery agent mitigating the negative effects of LAN in an invertebrate. Adult crickets (Teleogryllus commodus), exposed to constant illumination, were provided with dietary melatonin (concentrations: 0, 10 or 100 µg ml⁻¹) in their drinking water. We then compared survival, lifetime fecundity and, over a 4-week period, immune function (haemocyte concentration, lysozyme-like and phenoloxidase (PO) activity). Melatonin supplementation was able only partially to mitigate the detrimental effects of LAN: it did not improve survival or fecundity or PO activity, but it had a largely dose-dependent positive effect on haemocyte concentration and lysozyme-like activity. We discuss the implications of these relationships, as well as the usefulness of invertebrates as model species for future studies that explore the effects of LAN.     

Light pollution alters the phenology of dawn and dusk singing in common European songbirds

Artificial night lighting is expanding globally, but its ecological consequences remain little understood. Animals often use changes in day length as a cue to time seasonal behaviour. Artificial night lighting may influence the perception of day length, and may thus affect both circadian and circannual rhythms. Over a 3.5 month period, from winter to breeding, we recorded daily singing activity of six common songbird species in 12 woodland sites, half of which were affected by street lighting. We previously reported on analyses suggesting that artificial night lighting affects the daily timing of singing in five species. The main aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of artificial night lighting is also associated with the seasonal occurrence of dawn and dusk singing. We found that in four species dawn and dusk singing developed earlier in the year at sites exposed to light pollution. We also examined the effects of weather conditions and found that rain and low temperatures negatively affected the occurrence of dawn and dusk singing. Our results support the hypothesis that artificial night lighting alters natural seasonal rhythms, independently of other effects of urbanization. The fitness consequences of the observed changes in seasonal timing of behaviour remain unknown.     

昼夜温差对番茄生长发育、产量及果实品质的影响

在3间人工气候室精密受控环境中,保持日平均温度为22 ℃,设置昼夜温差分别为6 ℃(25 ℃/19 ℃)、8 ℃(26 ℃/18 ℃)、10 ℃(27 ℃/17 ℃),研究昼夜温差对番茄生长的影响.结果表明: 番茄不同品种、不同生长时期适宜的昼夜温差条件不同.番茄开花前,与6 ℃温差相比,8 ℃温差可显著加快野生种醋栗番茄LA1781生长发育,使幼苗株高增加23.1%,出叶加快1～2片,开花提前7 d;10 ℃温差对LA1781苗期的促进作用与8 ℃温差相似.对栽培种普通番茄LA2397和LA0490来说,6 ℃温差使幼苗生长良好,8 ℃温差对幼苗无显著促进作用;与6 ℃温差相比,10 ℃温差对苗期生长及开花有抑制作用,使株高降低12.0%～18.3%,出叶慢2～3片,开花推迟2～4 d.10 ℃温差使3个品种番茄地上部分干质量增加25.2%～44.2%.番茄开花后,与6 ℃温差相比,10 ℃温差可显著提高LA1781的产量和果实品质,使果实数增加34.7%,单株产量增加92.1%,平均单果质量增加40.0%,果实可溶性糖含量增加16.3%,番茄红素含量增加95.6%.与6 ℃温差相比,LA2397和LA0490在8 ℃温差下产量和果实品质提高,番茄红素含量增加超过2倍;在10 ℃温差下产量略有降低(5.0%),果实含糖量降低,但果实尺寸和番茄红素含量增加.表明番茄苗期生长温差不宜过大,花果期适当增大昼夜温差可提高产量和果实品质,但温差过大易造成生长不良和减产.     

Seasonally different response of photosynthetic activity to daytime and night‐time warming in the Northern Hemisphere

Over the last century the Northern Hemisphere has experienced rapid climate warming, but this warming has not been evenly distributed seasonally, as well as diurnally. The implications of such seasonal and diurnal heterogeneous warming on regional and global vegetation photosynthetic activity, however, are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated for different seasons how photosynthetic activity of vegetation correlates with changes in seasonal daytime and night‐time temperature across the Northern Hemisphere (>30°N), using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from 1982 to 2011 obtained from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). Our analysis revealed some striking seasonal differences in the response of NDVI to changes in day‐ vs. night‐time temperatures. For instance, while higher daytime temperature (T_max) is generally associated with higher NDVI values across the boreal zone, the area exhibiting a statistically significant positive correlation between T_max and NDVI is much larger in spring (41% of area in boreal zone – total area 12.6 × 10⁶ km²) than in summer and autumn (14% and 9%, respectively). In contrast to the predominantly positive response of boreal ecosystems to changes in T_max, increases in T_max tended to negatively influence vegetation growth in temperate dry regions, particularly during summer. Changes in night‐time temperature (T_min) correlated negatively with autumnal NDVI in most of the Northern Hemisphere, but had a positive effect on spring and summer NDVI in most temperate regions (e.g., Central North America and Central Asia). Such divergent covariance between the photosynthetic activity of Northern Hemispheric vegetation and day‐ and night‐time temperature changes among different seasons and climate zones suggests a changing dominance of ecophysiological processes across time and space. Understanding the seasonally different responses of vegetation photosynthetic activity to diurnal temperature changes, which have not been captured by current land surface models, is important for improving the performance of next generation regional and global coupled vegetation‐climate models.     

Floral development in Scutellaria pinnatifida (Lamiaceae): the ontogenetic basis for sepal reduction

The Scutellaria is a Labiatae genus (subfamily Scutellarioideae) with a highly specialised floral structure. The genus is characterised by a peculiar two‐lobed calyx with a projecting appendage, named the scutellum. Here, we present a detailed analysis of floral development, using epi‐illumination light microscopy, to clarify open questions about its floral organisation. Floral whorls appeared in an acropetal sequence, with a marked temporal overlap of petal and stamen appearance. Organ appearance in each whorl proceeded unidirectionally from the abaxial to the adaxial side. Significant developmental features included the formation of the scutellum, reduction of sepal lobes and formation of a three‐lobed nectary disc. Our study revealed that both loss of organ initiation and fusion of primordia are responsible for the reduction in sepal members in Scutellaria. The nectary structure was markedly different from most other studied Lamiaceae.     

Light interference and melatonin affects digestion and glucocorticoid metabolites in striped mouse

Animals secrete glucocorticoids to deal with daily stressors. Studies have found that supplemental melatonin decreases glucocorticoid metabolite levels in stressed animals. We determined the effect of light interference (LI) and supplemental melatonin on (1) body mass, (2) food intake and (3) glucocorticoid metabolite levels of the striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio). Experiment was split into three phases: 8 L: 16 D; 8 L: 16 D with a 15 min light interruption every 4 h; and 8 L: 16 D with a 15 min light interruption every 4 h and melatonin (0.2 μg/ml) added to the water. Body mass was significantly different between phases with lowest body mass (89.17 ± 6.56 g) occurring during standard 8 L: 16 D. LI and melatonin significantly increased body mass. LI increased and melatonin decreased glucocorticoid metabolite levels. LI significantly increased and melatonin significantly decreased assimilation efficiencies possibly due to changes in energetic demands.