Do nutrient-competition models predict nutrient availabilities in limnetic ecosystems?

Recent theory on resource competition, predicated on the importance of hypothesized trade-offs between minimum requirements for nutrient resources, predicts that there should be negative correlations between the supply rate of major limiting nutrients and the availability of at least some secondary nutrients and/or among the availabilities of different limiting nutrients. However, an analysis of four data sets from large-scale surveys of lakes shows mostly positive correlations among the availabilities and supplies of nutrients. In contrast, a fifth data set, obtained in an area of high acidification, does show several important negative correlations that are consistent with the nutrient competition models. Further analyses suggest two possible explanations for the preponderance of positive correlation. Negative correlations between nutrients and light indicate that an important trade-off among species regulating phytoplankton may involve low light requirements versus low nutrient requirements. The existence of negative correlations in nutrient availabilities in acidic lakes (where herbivory appears less important than in buffered lakes) also suggests that another important trade-off may involve an ability to minimize loss rates (especially due to grazing) versus an overall ability to exploit nutrient resources. Received: 23 February 1996 / Accepted: 30 September 1996     

Synthesis and in vitro antiproliferative evaluation of novel N-alkylated 6-isobutyl- and propyl pyrimidine derivatives

A series of novel N-alkylated C-6-isobutyl- or -propyl pyrimidine derivatives were synthesized and their antiproliferative effect was evaluated on a panel of tumor cell lines including leukemia cell line K562 and normal diploid human fibroblasts. N-methoxymethylated 5-methylpyrimidin-2,4-dione with di(benzyloxy)isobutyl at C-6 (14b) showed the strongest effect on the cell growth at micromolar concentrations. Mechanisms of action for the lipophilic compound 14b predicted in silico, pointed to its anticancer and antimetastatic potential exerted through inhibition of DNA or RNA polymerases and adhesion molecules. The latter mechanism has been supported in vitro for adherent tumor cell lines.     

Biodiversity on the brink: Evaluating a transdisciplinary research collaboration

Global biodiversity is facing an extinction crisis. Australia has one of the highest terrestrial species extinction rates in the world. Scientists, policy advisors and governments have recommended that the issue be addressed at a landscape-scale, while noting that there are significant knowledge gaps that are hampering implementation of such an approach. From 2011–2015, the Australian Government funded a transdisciplinary research program, the Landscapes and Policy Hub, to meet this need. Transdisciplinary research is widely acknowledged as essential to address the complexity of contemporary environmental problems. Given that such research programs are in their infancy, it is important to evaluate their efficacy and provide an empirical basis for improving their design. This paper presents an evaluation of the strategies fostering transdisciplinarity adopted by the Landscapes and Policy Hub. A heavy emphasis on communication, with skilled knowledge brokering, regular face-to-face meetings using participatory activities and shared field engagements enhanced transdisciplinary interaction between researchers and research users. However, establishing a fully integrated interdisciplinary research program remained a challenge. Efforts to enable shared conceptual frameworks to emerge through adaptive application of theory in practice could have been balanced with increased effort at the outset for researchers and research users to collaboratively formulate shared research questions, leading to the establishment of teams that could address these questions through cross-mobilisation of interdisciplinary expertise.     

Evaluation of environmentally conscious manufacturing programs using a three-hybrid multi-criteria decision analysis method

Environmental management, being an important component in strategies for achieving sustainable development of processes and products, has emerged as a proactive approach in majority of the manufacturing organizations. From the strategic perspective environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM) programs lead to better environmental management practice. The objective of the current paper is to present an integrated and holistic framework to evaluate ECM programs. This framework combines three multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods to consider eight major environmentally conscious manufacturing indicators (ECMI) in order to identify the efficiency of each ECM program. First the interdependence relationship among the ECMIs is established using decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Then a range of weightage (i.e. upper and lower bounds) is created for each ECMI using analytic network process (ANP) to include managerial preferences. Finally, this range of weightage for each indicator is applied to perform restricted multiplier data envelopment analysis (RMDEA). Results show that the technical efficiency of the inefficient ECM programs for integrated RMDEA, on average, is calculated as 53.2% whereas traditional input oriented DEA provides the same score as 72.3%. This clearly indicates that integrated RMDEA is better than the input oriented DEA because same level of output could be produced with lesser resources if the ECM programs perform on the frontier. Hence, the advantage of this methodology is that the managerial preferences are successfully implemented through this newly developed hybrid methodology that will help to reduce less resource consumption and lead to better environmental policy.     

基于可持续发展目标的资源型城市可持续发展评价技术及应用——以湖南省郴州市为例

资源型城市作为我国重要战略保障基地，面临较为突出的不可持续问题，定量化开展可持续发展水平监测评估是推动其绿色转型发展、激活再生动力的重要途径。基于联合国可持续发展目标体系(SDGs),结合行星边界理论，从资源型城市可持续发展特征出发，建立了由2个系统、4个支柱、12个领域和48项指标组成的资源型城市可持续发展评价指标体系。借鉴全球SDGs监测评估实践经验，考虑指标属性，综合确定各指标的阈值，并采用改进的离差标准化、障碍度分析及耦合协调度分析等方法建立综合评价技术体系。以拥有“有色金属之乡”称号的郴州市国家可持续发展议程创新示范区为评价对象，对其2005—2019年连续15年的可持续发展水平进行实证分析。结果表明：(1)郴州市可持续发展水平整体上呈现稳步上升趋势，得分由0.398上升到0.610。(2)4个支柱中，自然资源支柱的得分进步幅度最大，高达71.3%,说明郴州市已经逐步提高对资源利用效率的重视，同时意识到挖掘替代资源的重要性，资源保障与利用能力不断提升；而发展动力支柱得分始终处于较弱或中等水平，已成为制约郴州市可持续发展和绿色转型的主要因素，其中科技创新驱动是该支柱发展关键障碍...     

Künstliche Luzerneheubereitungsverfahren in Ungarn

Abstract

An experiment was performed with Rumen Simulation Technique (Rusitec) in which the fermentation of mixed ration of hay (12.8 g/d) and wheat bran (3.2 g/d) was compared with the fermentation of the same diet supplemented with 2.5 and 10 mg monensin. The duration of the experiment was 12 days. During the first six days the fermentation conditions in Rusitec were stabilised. The end products of fermentation and indices of protein synthesis were determined. The energy efficiency of volatile fatty acids (VFA), proportion of fermented hexose energy on VFA energy and on energy of bacterial matter were increased in the presence of monensin. The proportion of fermented hexose energy in methane energy was decreased. Utilization of glucose and production of adenosintriphosphate were not affected. The balance of metabolic H₂ was reduced and this was manifested in decreasing production, utilization and recovery of metabolic H₂. Microbial efficiency expressed per mol ATP (g/mol) was increased by monensin from 7.8 to 12.6. The indices of protein synthesis — protein conversion ratio, degradability of protein and microbial protein synthesis efficiency were increased and non protein utilization ratio decreased in the presence of monensin.

Es wurde ein Versuch nach der Pansensimulationsmethode durchge-führt, in dem die Fermentierung einer gemischten Ration aus Heu (12,8 g/d) und Weizenkleie (3,2 g/d) mit der Fermentierung der gleichen Ration unter Zusatz von 2, 5 und 10 mg Monensin/d verglichen wurde. Die Dauer des Versuchs betrug 12 Tage, wovon die ersten sechs Tage der Stabilisierung der Fermentierungsbedingungen im Rusitec-System dienten.

Es wurden die Endprodukte der Fermentierung und die Kennziffern der Proteinsynthese bestimmt. Die Energieausbeute an Flüchtigen Fettsäuren (FFS), der Energieanteil fermentierter Hexose an der FFS-Energie und der Energie an Bakterienmasse erhöhten sich bei Zusatz von Monensin. Der Energieanteil fermentierter Hexose an der Methanenergie verringerte sich. Die Ausnutzung von Glukose und die Produktion von Adenosintriphosphat waren unbeeinflußt. Die Bilanz von metabolischem H₂ war verringert, was sich im Absinken der Production, der Nutzung und der Wiederauffindung von metabolischem H₂ zeigte. Die mikrobielle Wirksamkeit pro mol ATP (g/mol) erhöhte sich durch Monensin von 7,8 auf 12,6. Die Kennziffern der Proteinsynthese, die Proteinkonversionsrate, die Abbaubarkeit von Protein und die mikrobielle Proteinsynthesewirksamkeit erhöhten sich und die NPN-Nutzungsrate verringerte sich in Gegenwart von Monensin.     

大型煤电基地开发生态累积效应及定量分析方法研究

大型煤电基地(CEBs)是我国煤基能源和材料集中开发区域和国家能源战略安全重要支撑，合理评价CEBs开发生态影响是CEBs可持续协调开发、科学管理中的难点问题。研究将CEBs开发视为系统工程，与自然生态系统(NES)相关联，深入研究大型煤电基地生态系统(CEBES)的驱动行为、内在结构及主要关系、生态影响途径、生态累积过程和生态累积效应及阈值分析方法。基于CEBs空间和功能定位提出CEBs的概念、内涵和特点，融合构建的CEBES涵盖到自然资源、能源开发行为(煤、电等)、其他人类活动(农、牧、城)和大气、水、土壤及生物域；研究表明CEBES的生态累积状态受三种行为驱动和影响(自然行为、能源开发行为和其他人类活动),通过融合、传导和辐射耦合作用，表现为生态要素损伤、系统结构变化和系统状态失衡三级状态，生态累积具有影响多态性、空间多尺度和过程渐变性特点；明确了生态累积过程、累积效应和阈值及其相互关系，引入反映生态影响累积程度的生态损伤系数，提出四类生态阈值(生态要素、内部结构、系统状态和行为调控);基于系统性和实用性筛选反映生态累积相对状态的60项指标，构建具有“三力”驱动、分区要素耦合和系...     

Phytochemical profile of Juniperus oxycedrus ssp. oxycedrus berries: A new monoterpene glucoside and evaluation of the effects on cancer cell lines

Phytochemical investigation of polar extract from Juniperus oxycedrus spp. oxycedrus berries leds to the isolation of one new monoterpene glucoside (3R,6E)-3,7 dimethyl 8-hydroxy-6-octenoic acid 8-O-β-d-glucopyranoside along with seven known components, some of them were initially isolated from Juniperus communis L. berries. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive 1D and 2D NMR (¹H, ¹³C, COSY, HMBC, HSQC, ROESY) and ESI-MS studies. The n-butanol fraction and isolated components, shikimic acid (2), compound 3, 4 and 5 were evaluated, in vitro, for their effect on cell viability against human malignant melanoma (A375), breast (MCF-7) and lung (H460) cancer cell lines. Shikimic acid exhibited selective effect on cell viability only against breast MCF-7 cell lines reaching IC₅₀ value at dose of 30 μM and also induced the level decrease of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and five pro-inflammatory cytokines suggesting its potential anti-inflammatory effect.     

Measuring dominance and diversity in ecological communities: choosing the right variables

Abstract. Although there are many studies in searching for the most useful community diversity index, the importance of choosing an appropriate parameter has been neglected. Here, we examined dominance and diversity in early post-fire chaparral communities using different variables, i.e. plant density, cover and biomass. Significant different results were produced by applying different parameters and the difference may be caused by the inconsistency in density, cover, and biomass allocated in each life form. Among the three parameters, biomass was most successful in detecting differences among communities because the apportionment of biomass among species was more variable than that of density. Although the three species variables represent different aspects of community properties and their relative performance may vary among communities, we recommend the use of biomass or productivity data as the most appropriate variable because it can best represent per capita resource use and resource partitioning among organisms in competitive situations.