Fibrin Degradation Products and Ovarian Tumours

Fibrin degradation products (F.D.P.) were determined in the serum of 163 women in whom ovarian tumours had been suspected on palpation at gynaecological examination and who were afterwards examined by laparoscopy or subjected to laparotomy. F.D.P. were found in the serum (0·5-30 mg/100 ml) of 23 (72%) out of 32 patients with malignant tumours. Of 131 patients with benign findings F.D.P. (traces to 2 mg/100 ml) were found in six (4·5%), and in most of these the occurrence of F.D.P. could be explained on other clinical grounds. The findings suggest that the examination of F.D.P. in suspected malignant ovarian tumour may be of diagnostic value.Determination of F.D.P. in malignant ascitic fluid showed very high values, ranging between 40 and 350 mg/ 100 ml. This argues for the occurrence of F.D.P. in the blood being due to an extravascular breakdown of fibrin caused by tumour cells, but they may also be due to thromboplastic and fibrinolytic agents from the tumour entering the blood stream.     

Productivity of high-latitude lakes: climate effect inferred from altitude gradient

Climate change is predicted to be dramatic at high latitudes. Still, climate impact on high latitude lake ecosystems is poorly understood. We studied 15 subarctic lakes located in a climate gradient comprising an air temperature difference of about 6°C. We show that lake water productivity varied by one order of magnitude along the temperature gradient. This variation was mainly caused by variations in the length of the ice‐free period and, more importantly, in the supply of organic carbon and inorganic nutrients, which followed differences in terrestrial vegetation cover along the gradient. The results imply that warming will have rapid effects on the productivity of high latitude lakes, by prolongation of ice‐free periods. However, a more pronounced consequence will be a delayed stimulation of the productivity following upon changes of the lakes terrestrial surroundings and subsequent increasing input of elements that stimulate the production of lake biota.     

Long-term decline and recent recovery of Fucus populations along the rocky shores of southeast Sweden, Baltic Sea

The Fucus populations on rocky shores along 300 km of the coastal waters of southeast Sweden in the Baltic proper have been studied since 1984 at a number of fixed sites as part of monitoring programmes. This paper describes changes in distribution and abundance of F. vesiculosus and F. serratus during the period 1984–2001. Sheltered sites showed a consistent temporal and spatial pattern of Fucus spp. distribution over a coastline of 300 kilometres. The depth penetration and abundance of Fucus spp. increased during the 1980s. Around 1990 the development reversed as a consequence of grazing and in 1997 many sites were almost devoid of Fucus spp. Since 1998 both abundance and depth penetration have increased again, possibly as a result of local measures against eutrophication. Exposed sites, on the other hand, lost their Fucus populations at the beginning of the 1990s, and they have not recovered. Extended field studies lead us to deduce that the fixed sites referred to above were representative of the Fucus populations in the area investigated. Major declines, both at sheltered and exposed sites, are attributed to grazing by the isopod Idotea baltica. The populations of I. baltica may have been favoured by the continuing eutrophication of the Baltic, a series of mild winters in the 1990s, and a contemporary decline in some potential predators.     

Forecasting Environmental Responses to Restoration of Rivers Used as Log Floatways: An Interdisciplinary Challenge

Log floating in the 19th to mid 20th centuries has profoundly changed the environmental conditions in many northern river systems of the world. Regulation of flow by dams, straightening and narrowing of channels by various piers and wing dams, and homogenization of bed structure are some of the major impacts. As a result, the conditions for many riverine organisms have been altered. Removing physical constructions and returning boulders to the channels can potentially restore conditions for these organisms. Here we describe the history of log driving, review its impact on physical and biological conditions and processes, and predict the responses to restoration. Reviewing the literature on comparable restoration efforts and building upon this knowledge, using boreal Swedish rivers as an example, we address the last point. We hypothesize that restoration measures will make rivers wider and more sinuous, and provide rougher bottoms, thus improving land-water interactions and increasing the retention capacity of water, sediment, organic matter and nutrients. The geomorphic and hydraulic/hydrologic alterations are supposed to favor production, diversity, migration and reproduction of riparian and aquatic organisms. The response rates are likely to vary according to the types of processes and organisms. Some habitat components, such as beds of very large boulders and bedrock outcrops, and availability of sediment and large woody debris are believed to be extremely difficult to restore. Monitoring and evaluation at several scales are needed to test our predictions.     

Testican-1 is dispensable for mouse development.

Testicans are proteoglycans belonging to the BM-40/SPARC/osteonectin family of extracellular calcium-binding proteins. Testican-1 is strongly expressed in the brain and has been reported to modulate neuronal attachment and matrix metalloproteinase activation. Characterization of the mouse testican-1 gene (Ticn1), consisting of 12 exons out of which exon 3 is alternatively spliced, allowed the construction of a gene targeting construct. Mice deficient in testican-1 showed no obvious morphological or behavioral abnormalities, were fertile, and had normal life spans. Despite the fact that neither of the testican-1 homologues expressed in the brain, testican-2, testican-3 and SC1/hevin, showed an increased expression in Ticn1 null mice, these results, together with those from other gene targetings, indicate extensive functional redundancy among brain proteoglycans.     

Absorption of zinc and retention of calcium: Dose-dependent inhibition by phytate

The dose-dependent inhibitory effect of sodium phytate (myo-inositol-hexaphosphate) on absorption of zinc and retention of calcium was studied in man. No systematic study of this dose-response effect has been reported to this time. Forty subjects were served meals containing white wheat rolls without/with additions of phytate. Ten subjects were given test meals containing one or two of the studied levels of phytate and in addition all subjects were served meals to which no phytate was added. The zinc content was 3.1 mg (47 micromol) and the calcium content 266 mg (6.6 mmol). The rolls were labelled extrinsically with radioisotopes, 65Zn and 47Ca, and whole-body retention of both minerals was measured. Totally 105 meals were served, 36 meals in which no phytate was added and 9-10 meals on each level of phytate. The zinc absorption in meals to which either 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 140, 175 or 250 mg of phytate-P (0, 134, 269, 403, 538, 753, 941 or 1344 micromol phytate) had been added was 22%, 16%, 14%, 11%, 7%, 7%, 7% and 6%, respectively (mean values). The addition of 50 mg phytate-P or more significantly decreased zinc absorption (p=0.01) as compared to absorption from the test meals with no added phytate. The calcium retention at day 7 in the same meals was 31%, 28%, 27%, 26%, 22%, 19%, 14% and 11% (mean values). The addition of 100 mg phytate-P or more significantly decreased calcium retention (p=0.03) compared to the test meals with no added phytate. It was concluded that the inhibitory effect of phytate on the absorption of zinc and the retention of calcium was dose dependent.     

Effects of a transient oxic period on mineralization of organic matter to CH4 and CO2 in anoxic peat incubations

Rates of organic matter mineralization in peatlands, and hence production of the greenhouse gases CH₄ and CO₂, are highly dependent on the distribution of oxygen in the peat. Using laboratory incubations of peat, we investigated the sensitivity of the anoxic production of CH₄ and CO₂ to a transient oxic period of a few weeks’ duration. Production rates during 3 successive anoxic periods were compared with rates in samples incubated in the presence of oxygen during the second period. In surface peat (5–10‐cm depth), with an initially high level of CH₄ production, oxic conditions during period 2 did not result in a lower potential CH₄ production rate during period 3, although production was delayed ～1 week. In permanently anoxic, deep peat (50–55‐cm depth) with a comparatively low initial production of CH₄, oxic conditions during period 2 resulted in zero production of CH₄ during period 3. Thus, the methanogens in surface peal—but not in deep peat—remained viable after several weeks of oxic conditions. In contrast to CH₄ production, the oxic period had a negligible effect on anoxic CO₂ production during period 3, in surface as well as deep peat. In both surface and deep peat, CO₂ production was several times higher under oxic than under anoxic conditions. However, for the first 2 weeks of oxic conditions, CO₂ production in the deep peat was very low. Still, deep peat obviously contained facultative microorganisms that, after a relatively short period, were able to maintain a considerably higher rate of organic matter mineralization under oxic than under anoxic conditions.     

Dispersal,fragmentation, and isolation shape the phylogeography of the European lineages of Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) ripartii (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

Polyommatus ripartii is a biogeographically and taxonomically poorly understood species of butterfly with a scattered distribution in Europe. Recently, it has been shown that this species includes several European endemic and localized taxa (galloi, exuberans, agenjoi) that were previously considered species and even protected, a result that poses further questions about the processes that led to its current distribution. We analysed mitochondrial DNA and the morphology of P. ripartii specimens to study the phylogeography of European populations. Three genetically differentiated but apparently synmorphic lineages occur in Europe that could be considered evolutionarily significant units for conservation. Their strongly fragmented and counterintuitive distribution seems to be the result of multiple range expansions and contractions along Pleistocene climatic oscillations. Remarkably, based on the 79 specimens studied, these genetic lineages do not seem to extensively coexist in the distributional mosaic, a phenomenon most evident in the Iberian Peninsula. One of the important gaps in the European distribution of P. ripartii is reduced by the discovery of new Croatian populations, which also facilitate a better understanding of the biogeography of the species. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109 , 817‐829.     

Morphological and molecular species delimitation within the Holarctic Ilybius angustior complex with a focus on Beringia (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

A fourth species of the Holarctic Ilybius angustior complex, Ilybius minakawai n. sp., is described from the Island of Sakhalin in the Russian far east. Male genitalia are diagnostic within this species complex, although from body size and shape the new species cannot be separated from I. churchillensis Wallis from north Alaska and the Canadian low arctic. The small and narrow body characteristic of these two species represents an extreme of the cold climate form of the widespread I. angustior (Gyllenhal). Low variation within the studied large ribosomal and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial genes suggest that speciation events within the I. angustior-complex are fairly recent. In combination with known geographical ranges, the low genetic variation within this species complex suggest speciation within Pleistocene refugia including Beringia.