Lysine Requirements of Rats of Various Body Weights

The lysine requirements of rats of various body weights were estimated using the feeding and isotope tests.

The regression equation obtained by the feeding test was Y= 1.03 – 0.58 log X. Where Y is lysine percentage of the diet and X is the mean of initial and final body weights (g) of rats achieving optimal growth gains during the feeding period.

The regression equation obtained by the isotope test was 7=0.90 – 0.49 log X, where Y and X are lysine percentage in the diet and body weights (g) of rats achieving optimal growth gains at the injection time respectively.     

An application case of ecological indicator values (Zeigerwerte) calculated with a simple algorithmic approach

Abstract

The vegetation of the study site near Rome (Castelporziano Estate), where different woodland types occur, was analysed on the basis of ecological indicator values (Zeigerwerte) for light, temperature, continentality of climate, soil moisture, soil pH and nitrogen. Indicator values were estimated with Hill's reprediction algorithm for the flora of Central-Southern Italy relying on a database of 4,207 original relevés representing a balanced survey of the vegetation of this and surrounding areas. It was possible to obtain indicator values for an important fraction of the Italian Mediterranean flora. Results are ecologically reasonable, and it was possible to find strong correlation between the recalculated values and a few environmental variables. These correlations were not significant in an analogous test with subjectively derived scores of Ellenberg indicator values.     

New syntaxa for the prodrome of Italian vegetation

The aim of this study is to provide new syntaxa for the Italian vegetation checklist. For the class Rhamno–Prunetea which includes the class Paliuretea the new alliance Rhamno saxatilis–Paliurion spinae-christi is described, that is included in the order Paliuretalia spinae-christi with a central-western Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean distribution. Otherwise, the more thermophilous Paliurus spina-christi vegetation is included in the new suballiance named as Oleo sylvestris–Paliurenion spinae-christi within the alliance Oleo–Ceratonion of the class Quercetea ilicis. For the class Trifolio–Geranietea medii, a new alliance named Hyperico calabricae–Asphodelion macrocarpi is proposed here.     

Plant and lichen colonization in an asbestos mine: Spontaneous bioattenuation limits air dispersion of fibres

Abstract

Plant and lichen phytosociological studies describe the different dynamic stages of colonization. This approach has been applied to the Balangero asbestos mine, the most important of Western Europe up to 1990, which is a potential source for the air-dispersion of carcinogenic fibres. Vegetation relevés and maps have shown that plants and lichens develop spontaneously on the asbestos-rich substrates. Early colonization stages with low-covering hyperaccumulators, such as Thlaspi sylvium and Minuartia laricifolia, and with Thymus alpestris and T. cfr. humifusus, are followed, some decades later, by mature plant communities, which completely cover the asbestos-rich debris, thereby limiting the dispersion of fibres. Lichen colonization, even when limited to low covering early stages with pioneer crustose species, such as Scoliciosporum umbrinum and Candelariella vitellina, and young foliose thalli of Xanthoparmelia tinctina, is important whenever asbestos veins are exposed on serpentinite blocks and walls. Plants and lichens can be considered as bioattenuation (spontaneous bioremediation) agents in ecological recovery.     

Aroid scarabs in the genus Peltonotus Burmeister (Coleoptera,Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae): key to species and new distributional data

The southeast Asian scarab beetle genus Peltonotus Burmeister (Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae, Cyclocephalini) is reviewed. New country records for Peltonotus morio Burmeister (Myanmar and Vietnam), Peltonotus nasutus Arrow (southern China and Cambodia), and Peltonotus favonius Jameson and Wada (Myanmar) are reported, including a new record in the Palearctic/Sino-Japanese biogeographic region. The first female specimen of Peltonotus favonius is described. Biological associations with aroid inflorescences are reviewed, and human consumption of Peltonotus beetles is reported. A key to all species, paralectotype designations for Peltonotus nasutus, diagnoses, and distributions using dynamic mapping tools are included.     

Rinvenimenti Floristici Marchigiani

Summary

The author communicates the list of taxa not commonly occurring in the “Marche”, which he has collected in localities not yet mentioned in the bibliography of that area. The list includes also several species more or less widely cultivated in that zone.     

Circamensal Rhythms in Physical Performance

The eumenorrheic menstrual cycle represents a clear inherent biological rhythm that might interact with both physical performance, and/or the physiological response to performance. The predominant hormonal fluctuations throughout the cycle are in the ovarian steroids oestrogen and progesterone. Progesterone has both a thermogenic and ventilatory effect leading to a potential increase in minute ventilation and body temperature during exercise. Oestrogen has been linked to fluctuations in blood flow and heart rate via a vasodilatory mechanism, plus potential variation in muscle strength. If these hormones do indeed influence physical performance, or the physiological response to performance, female athletes might choose to manipulate the cycle through an endogenous hormonal mechanism. Furthermore, researchers utilizing a female population must control for these fluctuations in their research design.