Radiosensitizing and damaging effects of hyperthermia on different biological systems. Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells

The cytotoxic and radiosensitizing effects of hyperthermia was shown on Ehrlich ascites tumor cells heated in vitro. The effect of hyperthermia resulted in the formation of local lesions in membranes of dying cells.     

Selection of HLA compatible donors for patients with HLA antibodies

A strain of 1,507 typised donors enables 15.97 average donors to be selected for a thrombocyte transfusion in one of 75 patients selected at random with HLA antibodies being previously determined (1 to 66 donors per patient). HLA compatible donors were found for 72 patients (97.33 per cent). More than 5 HLA compatible donors could be found for 58 patients. The high number of compatible donors is based on the fact that among 1,507 donors there were 156 HLA homozygotes and 556 donors with 3 HLA-A or B-antigens respectively. Compatibility in the ABO-system was not taken into account.     

Membrane microheterogeneity: Förster resonance energy transfer characterization of lateral membrane domains

Lateral membrane heterogeneity, in the form of lipid rafts and microdomains, is currently implicated in cell processes including signal transduction, endocytosis, and cholesterol trafficking. Various biophysical techniques have been used to detect and characterize lateral membrane domains. Among these, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) has the crucial advantage of being sensitive to domain sizes smaller than 50-100 nm, below the resolution of optical microscopy but, apparently, similar to those of rafts in cell membranes. In the last decade, several formalisms for the analysis of FRET in heterogeneous membrane systems have been derived and applied to the study of microdomains. They are critically described and illustrated here.     

Potential new areas for conservation of key botanical families in the subtropical Atlantic Forest

Myrtaceae, Lauraceae and Fabaceae are regarded as essential floristic elements of Atlantic forests due to their outstanding species richness, endemism levels, and ecological functions. Nonetheless, Atlantic forests are being subjected to multiple human disturbances that compromise the conservation of their flora. This study, therefore, intended to address whether there exist potential areas for conservation with great richness of tree/shrub species of the aforementioned families in different forest types within the subtropical Atlantic Forest. For this, data collected systematically across?~?23% of the subtropical Brazilian Atlantic Forest were employed. The univariate Local Moran I statistic was used to search for clusters of sample plots with great richness of species of the studied families. Six clusters were found throughout the evergreen rainforest (ERF) and Araucaria forest (AF), and most of them contained more than half of all species of these families observed on the sample plots, besides many others belonging to different families. A cluster of Myrtaceae and a cluster of Lauraceae in the ERF were the only ones that overlapped protected areas. The clusters of Lauraceae in the AF, located in ecotone zones with the ERF, had?~?50% of native forest cover, whereas the clusters of Myrtaceae and Fabaceae had?~?10% of forest cover. Inasmuch as forests in the study area have been heavily exploited, the clusters have relevant conservation value. Protected areas could be expanded or converted into more restrictive conservation categories to enhance the conservation of populations of key elements of the Atlantic Forest. Yet, non-protected areas deserve attention regarding the management of forest resources and conservation-by-use strategies.

     

格网尺度下典型旅游城市生态服务价值估算和时空分异特征——以三亚为例

以典型旅游城市三亚市为案例地，利用2006-2018年4期Landsat遥感影像数据，借助ENVI、ArcGIS平台定量识别土地利用演变特征，在1km×1km格网尺度下估算旅游地生态系统服务价值，并结合空间探索性数据分析揭示生态系统服务价值时空分异特征及其与旅游地发展的时空耦合关系。结果表明：（1）2006-2018年间，三亚市生态系统服务价值总量呈逐年下降趋势，由6.73×10⁹元降至5.76×10⁹元，累计减少9.78×10⁸元；（2）空间格局上，三亚市呈"南低北高"空间分异格局，2006-2018年增值区域连片分布于崖州区、天涯区、吉阳区南部区域，且呈逐年减少趋势，减值区域集聚于天涯区东北部、海棠区；（3）空间集聚上，生态系统服务价值截面各年份均呈显著空间正相关且相关性先降后增。高高集聚区位于天涯区北部区域，低低集聚区分布于沿海、海湾地区；（4）旅游发展与生态系统服务价值时空演化特征关联性较强。三亚市天涯区北部林地生态环境良好，生态系统服务价值略有下降但绝对数值稳定，是生态系统服务价值主要来源；旅游发展较为迅速的三亚湾、崖州湾以及海棠湾，相对增值区域较多，但绝对生态系统服务价值损失显著，严重滞后于其他区域。     

How Accurate are Paleoecological Reconstructions of Early Paleontological and Archaeological Sites?

Paleoecology allows construction of paleoenvironmental models, faunal changes and evolutionary trends of paleontological taxa using modern analogs. However, when linking modern analogs to paleontological taxa in paleoecological reconstruction, differential taxonomic preservation in the fossil record has to be taken into account. Paleontologists have known the biased nature of the fossil record since Efremov’s publication on taphonomy in 1940, yet many ecological models of habitats associated with hominins in paleontological and archaeological sites in Africa and elsewhere barely address the complexity of the fossil record. We use randomly sampled ungulates from modern biomes in a comparative taxonomic abundance to demonstrate how the combination of modern thanatocoenoses and taphocoenoses, when used in reference to habitat-specific biocoenosis, produce better inferences of past habitats in paleontological and archaeological sites than approaches currently used.     

Littoral diatoms as indicators for the eutrophication of shallow lakes

The littoral zone of shallow water bodies in the Czech Republic has been studied quite consistently at several fishponds. The use of algae, especially diatoms, for the monitoring of the state of lotic freshwater also has a long tradition. The main objective of the presented paper is to validate the feasibility of the use of littoral periphyton comunities for the biomonitoring of standing waters. At the investigated sites, littoral periphytic diatoms were studied together with selected enviromental variables (pH, conductivity, nutrients – especially total phosphorus) on three types of natural substrates (epilithon, epiphyton, epipelon). The evaluation of the diatom community was performed on the basis of the checklists of algal indicator species published by authors from the Czech Republic, Austria and the Netherlands. The data were subjected to statistical software NCCS 2000 (GLM Anova and ``Ward's minimum'' variance cluster analysis). Littoral periphytic diatoms appear to be good indicators of the fishpond water quality. The selected substrates show non-significant differences therefore the average values from all substrates were used. The best indicatory system for evaluation of Czech fishponds was van Dam's index.

     

Dispersal vs. vicariance in the Mediterranean: historical biogeography of the Palearctic Pachydeminae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea)

Aim The geological evolution of the Mediterranean region is largely the result of the Tertiary collision of the African and Eurasian Plates, but also a mosaic of migrating island arcs, fragmenting tectonic belts, and extending back‐arc basins. Such complex paleogeography has resulted in a ‘reticulate’ biogeographical history, in which Mediterranean biotas repeatedly fragmented and merged as dispersal barriers appeared and disappeared through time. In this study, dispersal‐vicariance analysis (DIVA) is used to assess the relative role played by dispersal and vicariance in shaping distribution patterns in the beetle subfamily Pachydeminae Reitter, 1902 (Scarabaeoidea), an example of east–west Mediterranean disjunction. Location The Mediterranean region, including North Africa, the western Mediterranean, Balkans–Anatolia, Middle East, Caucasus, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia. Methods A phylogenetic hypothesis of the Palearctic genera of Pachydeminae in conjunction with distributional data was analysed using DIVA. This method reconstructs the ancestral distribution in a given phylogeny based on the vicariance model, while allowing dispersal and extinction to occur. Unlike other methods, DIVA does not enforce area relationships to conform to a hierarchical ‘area cladogram’, so it can be used to reconstruct ‘reticulate’ biogeographical scenarios. Results Optimal reconstructions, requiring 23 dispersal events, suggest that the ancestor of Pachydeminae was originally present in the south‐east Mediterranean region. Basal splitting within the subfamily was caused by vicariance events related to the late Tertiary collision of the African microplates Apulia and Arabia with Eurasia, and the resultant arise of successive dispersal barriers (e.g. the Red Sea, the Zagros Mountains). Subsequent diversification in Pachydeminae involved multiple speciation events within the Middle East and Iran–Afghanistan regions, which gave rise to the least speciose genera of Pachydeminae (e.g. Otoclinius Brenske, 1896). Finally, the presence of Pachydeminae in the western Mediterranean region seems to be the result of a recent dispersal event. The ancestor of the Iberian genera Ceramida Baraud, 1987 and Elaphocera Gené, 1836 probably dispersed from the Middle East to the Iberian Peninsula across North Africa and the Gibraltar Strait during the ‘Messinian salinity crisis’ at the end of the Miocene. Main conclusions Although the basal diversification of Pachydeminae around the Mediterranean appears to be related to vicariance events linked to the geological formation of the Mediterranean Basin, dispersal has also played a very important role. Nearly 38% of the speciation events in the phylogeny resulted from dispersal to a new area followed by allopatric speciation between lineages. Relationships between western and eastern Mediterranean disjuncts are usually explained by dispersal through Central Europe. The biogeographical history of the Pachydeminae corroborates other biogeographical studies that consider North Africa to be an alternative dispersal route by which Mediterranean taxa could have achieved circum‐Mediterranean distributions.