Effects of scale on interpreting life-history characteristics of ungulates and carnivores

Many life-history characteristics of large mammals are scale sensitive. We provide examples where varying temporal and spatial scales can affect interpretation of data concerning life-history characteristics in large herbivores and carnivores and offer recommendations for selecting the most appropriate sampling scale or scales. We also document that some animals make decisions concerning their spatial distribution at scales well beyond the size of the home range. Conversely, other decisions involving sexual segregation of sexes, or where to give birth, may be made at scales below the level of the habitat patch. Such differences in behaviour affect our understanding of habitat selection in large herbivores, and interpreting tradeoffs between acquiring essential resources and avoiding predators. Moreover, some landscape attributes may be selected at one scale, whereas other characteristics of the environment may be selected at another. We argue that even sophisticated models for explaining the ecology and behaviour of mammals benefit from framing specific hypotheses that are related to the to the life-history characteristics of those animals. We also believe that the failure to consider and select the most appropriate scale, or suite of scales, may lead to the mismanagement of critical natural resources. We forge relationships among scale, life-history characteristics of mammals, and biodiversity. Finally, we synthesize the literature on scale for large mammals and make recommendations for future research.     

Feeding Characteristics of Three Species of Intertidal Sea Anemones of the South Kuril Islands

We examined the content of the coelenteron of Oulactis orientalis, Cnidopus japonicus, and Aulactinia sp. (family Actiniidae) inhabiting the intertidal area of Shikotan and Kunashir Islands (South Kuril Islands). The feeding characteristics (food spectrum, the index of filling of the coelenteron, the index of food similarity of the species, occurrence frequency, the index of trophic importance, and the proportions of certain components in the food pellet) allowed us to determine that the examined species are euryphagous.     

Effects of castration age,dietary protein level and lysine/methionine ratio on animal performance,carcass and meat quality of Friesian steers intensively reared

The effects of castration age, dietary protein level and the dietary lysine/methionine (lys/met) ratio on animal performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality were studied in 64 intensively reared Friesian steers. Animals underwent castration procedures at 15 days old or at 5 months old. Dietary treatments started at 90 days old, with eight animals from each castration age randomly allocated to each treatment: 14.6% v. 16.8% CP (DM basis), and 3.0 v. 3.4 lys/met, on a 2×2×2 design. The recommended ratio of 3.0 was reached with supplementation of protected methionine. Steers were slaughtered at 443.5±26.2 kg live weight when they reached 12 months old approximately. Average daily gain, cold carcass weight or carcass classification were not affected by any studied effect. Muscle moisture (P=0.024), C18:2n-6 percentage (P=0.047), polyunsaturated fatty acid/saturated fatty acid (P=0.049) and n-6/n-3 (P=0.003) were higher in late castrated animals. Both high levels of dietary protein (P=0.008) and lys/met ratio (P=0.048) increased the percentage of muscle in the carcass. A level of 16.8% of CP in the diet also increased the percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids in the intramuscular fat (P=0.032), whereas a ratio lys/met of 3.4 decreased the percentage of saturated fatty acids (P=0.028). Thus, it is recommended using diets with a high protein level (16.8%) and a high lys/met ratio (3.4) in animals slaughtered at a young age, in order to obtain carcasses with high muscle content without negatively affecting productive traits or intramuscular fat composition.     

Effects of Peroxidase and Hydrogen Peroxide on the Dityrosine Formation and the Mixing Characteristics of Wheat-Flour Dough

The effects of adding hydrogen peroxide and peroxidase to wheat-flour dough on dityrosine formation and mixing characteristics were investigated. Dityrosine in wheat-flour dough was identified by HPLC with a fluorescence detector and by LC/MS/MS. Formation of dityrosine increased with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, and hydrogen peroxide plus peroxidase, to wheat-flour dough, while the addition of peroxidase had no effect on the amount of dityrosine formed. The mixing curve obtained by a doughgraph changed with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, and hydrogen peroxide plus peroxidase; the peak time was significantly delayed and the dough development time was extended. We found that dityrosine cross-links in wheat-flour dough increased with the addition of peroxidase plus hydrogen peroxide. It is thought that these cross-links can lead to polymerization of the proteins in wheat-flour dough.     

一个以前列腺特异抗原密度和穿刺评分为基础的中国人群中前列腺癌根治术后病理升级预测模型的建立

目的：分析前列腺癌根治术后病理得分较穿刺得分增加的原因，并建立一个可以预测中国人群中前列腺癌根治术后病理升 级的模型。方法：以2008 年8 月至2013 年12 月在我院泌尿科行前列腺癌根治性切除术的264例患者的临床资料为基础，根据 术前和术后患者病理得分的变化将其分为升级组和未升级组。运用单因素和多因素logistic 回归分析病理升级的原因，并通过多 因素回归系数建立预测病理升级的诺模图。结果：264 例患者中，共238 例最终纳入统计分析，多因素logistic 回归分析显示前列 腺特异抗原密度(0R=3.854，P=0.001 )和穿刺Gleason(≤ 6)评分是中国人群中前列腺癌根治术后病理升级的独立危险因素。前列腺 特异抗原密度和穿刺得分的ROC 最佳截断取值为0.37 ng/ml 2和8 分。运用上述两个变量建立了一个可用于预测病理升级的诺 模图。结论：前列腺特异抗原密度和穿刺Gleason 评分是预测中国人群中前列腺癌根治术后病理升级的独立危险因素，本研究所 得的诺模图可以很好地预测前列腺癌根治术后的病理升级。     

五株乳酸菌和三株芽孢杆菌的生物学特性和功能

【背景】乳酸菌和芽孢杆菌是应用于生产最多的益生菌,但不同菌株间的生长特性均不相同,因此了解菌株的生物学特性具有重要意义。【目的】研究菌株的生物学特性,能合理地开发和利用菌株,以保证菌株生产应用的安全性。【方法】活化后鉴定5株乳酸菌和3株芽孢杆菌并对其形态进行观察,探究菌株的生长曲线、产酸能力及最适生长条件,测定菌株的抑菌活性和产酶性能,同时探究菌株的益生性和安全性。【结果】五株乳酸菌分别编号鉴定为干酪乳杆菌R1、副干酪乳杆菌R2、香肠乳杆菌R3、福莱乳杆菌R4和唾液乳杆菌R5;3株芽孢杆菌分别编号命名为贝莱斯芽孢杆菌Y1、枯草芽孢杆菌Y2和地衣芽孢杆菌Y3。八株菌形态结构均不相同但都为杆状,均在2–10 h为对数生长期,18–24 h为稳定期,培养24 h时乳酸菌和芽孢杆菌的活菌数均保持在10⁹和10⁸ CFU/mL,最适生长温度为37.0℃。乳酸菌具有较强的产酸能力和抑菌活性,芽孢杆菌有较强的产酶性,在人工胃液中都有较强的耐受性。八株菌都无溶血活性、无毒力基因、对抗生素都保持中度敏感以上;其中唾液乳杆菌有四环素耐药基因,但对四环素抗性为中度敏感。【结论】八株菌生长繁殖速度快,乳酸菌产酸能力和抑菌活性较强,芽孢杆菌具有较强的产酶性能,在体外具有较好的益生性和安全性,可应用于生产实践。     

Phenotypic Characteristics and Fatty Acid Composition of Seeds from Different Herbaceous Peony Species Native to China

Herbaceous peony has been widely cultivated in China due to its substantial ornamental and medicinal value. In the present study, the phenotypic characteristics, total fatty acid (FA) content, and nine FA compositions of herbaceous peony seeds from 14 populations belonging to six species and one subspecies were determined by normal test and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results showed that the phenotypic characteristics of seeds varied dramatically among species. The concentrations of five major FAs in seed oils were as follows: linoleic acid (173.95–236.51 μg/mg), linolenic acid (227.82–302.71 μg/mg), oleic acid (135.32–208.81 μg/mg), stearic acid (6.52–11.7 μg/mg), and palmitic acid (30.67–47.64 μg/mg). Correlation analysis demonstrated that oleic acid had the highest partial correlation coefficient with total FAs and might be applied to develop a model of phenotypic characteristics. FAs were significantly influenced by the following environmental factors: latitude, elevation, and annual average temperature. Based on the FA levels in the seed oils, clustering analysis divided 14 populations into two clusters. It was found that the average contents of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and total FAs in cluster I (147.16 μg/mg, 200.31 μg/mg, and 671.24 μg/mg, respectively) were significantly lower than those in cluster II (196.65 μg/mg, 220.16 μg/mg, and 741.78 μg/mg, respectively). Cluster I was perfectly consistent with subsect. Foliolatae, while cluster II was in good agreement with subsect. Dissectifoliae. Therefore, the FA composition of wild herbaceous peony seed oil might be used as a chemotaxonomic marker.     

脆木耳生物学特性及驯化栽培

对采自海南省白沙县鹦哥岭阔叶树腐木上的标本,根据形态学特征和多基因分析,鉴定为脆木耳Auricularia fibrillifera,经分离纯化获得纯菌株作为实验材料,为了充分利用和开发木耳属资源,首次对该种的生物学特性和驯化栽培进行了研究。研究不同碳源、氮源、无机盐和生长因子在固体培养条件下对脆木耳菌丝生长的影响,对以上4个因素进行单因素试验,从中选出3个最优的水平进行正交试验。结果表明：脆木耳菌丝最适生长温度为33℃,最佳碳源为麦芽糖,最佳氮源为牛肉粉,最佳无机盐添加量为1.5% PO₄^3--1% Mg²⁺,最佳生长因子为玉米汁。驯化栽培过程中,栽培配方为：木屑78%,麸皮20%,石膏粉1%,石灰粉1%,发菌温度为22℃可使脆木耳菌丝在40d左右满袋,且生长旺盛,可培育出子实体。     

黄精褐斑病的病原生物学特性

为明确发生在贵州省施秉县的黄精叶斑类病害的病原菌,通过形态学和分子生物学方法对病原菌进行了鉴定,并对其生物学特性进行了初步研究。形态特征及rDNA-ITS、β-tubulin和tef1多基因序列分析表明,该病原菌为棕榈拟盘多毛孢Pestalotiopsis trachicarpicola。生物学特性研究结果表明,该菌菌丝体适宜生长温度为15-30℃,最适温度为28℃;最适pH值为5;以葡萄糖为碳源、酵母浸膏为氮源比较适合菌丝体的生长;菌丝体生长的最佳培养基为PDA;光照对菌丝体生长无明显影响;菌丝体致死温度为45℃。