<Emphasis Type="Italic">Octodon degus</Emphasis>, a new model to study the agonist and plexus-induced response in the urinary bladder

Urinary bladder function consists in the storage and controlled voiding of urine. Translational studies require animal models that match human characteristics, such as Octodon degus, a diurnal rodent. This study aims to characterize the contractility of the detrusor muscle and the morphology and code of the vesical plexus from O. degus. Body temperature was measured by an intra-abdominal sensor, the contractility of detrusor strips was evaluated by isometric tension recording, and the vesical plexus was studied by electrical field stimulation (EFS) and immunofluorescence. The animals showed a diurnal chronotype as judged from core temperature. The myogenic contractile response of the detrusor muscle to increasing doses of KCl reached its maximum (31.04 mN/mm²) at 60 mM. In the case of cumulative dose–response of bethanecol, the maximum response (37.42 mN/mm²) was reached at 3.2 × 10^?4 M. The response to ATP was clearly smaller (3.8 mN/mm²). The pharmacological dissection of the EFS-induced contraction identified ACh and sensory fibers as the main contributors to this response. The neurons of the vesical plexus were located mainly in the trigone area, grouped in big and small ganglia. Out of them, 48.1 % of the neurons were nitrergic and 62.7 % cholinergic. Our results show functional and morphological similarities between the urinary bladder of O. degus and that of humans.     

VE和L-肌肽对大菱鲆幼鱼生长、抗氧化、非特异性免疫及血清生化指标的影响

实验以大菱鲆（Scophthalmus maximus）幼鱼[（14.00±0.02）g]为研究对象，采用2×4双因素设计，设2个VE水平（0和75 mg/kg）和4个L-肌肽水平（0、50、100和200 mg/kg），研究VE和L-肌肽对其生长、抗氧化、非特异性免疫及血清生化指标的影响。实验共分8组，每组3个重复，每个重复46尾鱼，实验周期为8周。结果显示:（1）在饲料中添加75 mg/kg VE显著提高了大菱鲆幼鱼增重率（WGR）和特定生长率（SGR）（P < 0.05），L-肌肽添加量≤100 mg/kg对实验鱼生长性能无显著影响（P>0.05），添加量为200 mg/kg时鱼体WGR、SGR和蛋白质效率（PER）显著降低，饲料系数（FCR）显著升高（P < 0.05）；（2）VE和L-肌肽对血清谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-PX）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性和丙二醛（MDA）含量及肝脏总抗氧化能力（T-AOC）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性和MDA含量均具有显著的交互作用（P < 0.05），在VE 75 mg/kg水平下，L-肌肽添加量为50和100 mg/kg时血清GSH-PX活性最高，L-肌肽添加量为100和200 mg/kg时血清CAT活性最高且与添加量为50 mg/kg差异不显著（P>0.05），添加100 mg/kg肝脏T-AOC和SOD活性达到最高且50 mg/kg组的SOD与100 mg/kg组差异不显著（P>0.05），主效应结果显示，VE显著提高了血清T-AOC、SOD及肝脏CAT活性（P < 0.05），L-肌肽显著提高了血清T-AOC（P < 0.05）；（3）VE和L-肌肽对血清补体C3和LZM活性交互作用显著，在75 mg/kg VE水平下，L-肌肽添加量为50 mg/kg时，补体C3水平最高（P < 0.05），主效应显示，VE和L-肌肽对血清总蛋白（TP）影响均不显著（P>0.05）；（4）添加VE显著降低了血清总胆固醇（TCHO）和甘油三酯（TG）含量（P < 0.05），添加L-肌肽显著降低了血清TG含量，且在L-肌肽50 mg/kg时达到最低。综合考虑大菱鲆幼鱼[（14.00-39.43）g]的生长性能、抗氧化性能、非特异性免疫及血清生化指标得出，在实验配方条件下（鱼油70 g/kg，大豆卵磷脂10 g/kg），添加VE 75 mg/kg时，L-肌肽的适宜添加量为50 mg/kg。     

Does the Neighborhood Area of Residence Influence Non-Attendance in an Urban Mammography Screening Program? A Multilevel Study in a Swedish City

MethodsWe analyze all women invited to mammography screening in 2005–09, residing in the city of Malmö, Sweden. Information regarding mammography screening attendance was linked to data on area of residence, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics available from Statistics Sweden. The influence of individual and neighborhood factors was assessed by multilevel logistic regression analysis with 29,901 women nested within 212 neighborhoods.ResultsThe prevalence of non-attendance among women was 18.3%. After adjusting for individual characteristics, the prevalence in the 212 neighborhoods was 3.6%. Neighborhood of residence had little influence on non-attendance. The multilevel analysis indicates that 8.4% of the total individual differences in the propensity of non-attendance were at the neighborhood level. However, when adjusting for specific individual characteristics this general contextual effect decreased to 1.8%. This minor effect was explained by the sociodemographic characteristic of the neighborhoods. The discriminatory accuracy of classifying women according to their non-attendance was 0.747 when considering only individual level variables, and 0.760 after including neighborhood level as a random effect.ConclusionOur results suggest that neighborhoods of residence in Malmö, Sweden (as defined by small-area market statistics (SAMS) areas) do not condition women’s participation in population based mammography screening. Thus, interventions should be directed to the whole city and target women with a higher risk of non-attendance.     

长白山针阔混交林不同演替阶段群落系统发育和功能性状结构

群落构建一直是生态学研究的热点,基于系统发育和功能性状量化生境过滤、竞争排斥以及随机过程在群落构建中的作用,能够深入理解群落构建机制。本研究以长白山针阔混交林不同演替阶段的3个5.2 hm~2样地(次生杨桦林、次生针阔混交林、原始椴树红松林)为平台,基于被子植物分类系统Ⅲ(Angiosperm Classification System,APGⅢ)构建的系统发育树和7个关键功能性状(叶面积、比叶面积、叶片厚度、叶片氮含量、叶片磷含量、氮磷比、最大树高),结合环境数据,分析不同演替阶段群落系统发育和功能性状结构。研究表明:(1)各演替阶段7个植物功能性状都表现出显著的系统发育信号,表明植物功能性状受系统发育历史影响;(2)系统发育和功能性状结构在不同演替阶段和不同径级均为非随机状态。随着演替的推进群落系统发育和功能性状结构由聚集走向发散;随着径级的增加,系统发育和功能性状结构的聚集程度减小,表明随着演替阶段的进行和径级增大,竞争性排斥的作用逐渐明显;(3)各演替阶段系统发育和功能性状的周转都为非随机且不同因子对两者的解释力度存在差异。演替早期空间距离的解释力度小于环境距离,说明生境过滤在群落构建中的重要性,而在演替后期空间距离的解释力度大于环境距离,验证了扩散限制在群落构建中的重要性。     

豫东平原聚落景观格局变化

中国的快速城镇化必然导致聚落景观格局的变化,但目前相关研究对平原地区关注相对较少。文中选取豫东平原地区的开封、商丘、周口市,运用GIS空间分析方法和ENVI遥感影像处理技术,对该地区1972、2015年市域中观尺度上的聚落规模、聚落景观空间变化特征进行分析。结果显示:(1)在聚落发展过程中,1972—2015年聚落斑块数量有所减少,聚落规模逐渐扩张,市域内最大聚落斑块扩张相对更为明显;对聚落斑块扩张强度的分析发现,城市市辖区及周边乡镇聚落扩张强度相对较高。(2)地区内聚落斑块空间分布表现出聚集分布特征,但该时期聚集程度有所减弱;两个年份聚落核密度分布格局大致相似,局部地区存在多核扩散现象,市域尺度上的核密度分布存在地区差异。(3)对斑块形状指数的分析发现,研究区狭长或曲折聚落斑块在空间上分散布局,整体上区域内聚落形状趋于规则。(4)随着距河流、道路距离的增加,聚落斑块总面积和数量有所减少,且道路对聚落分布仅在一定范围内存在较大影响,距中心城市0—6km范围内聚落受中心城区发展辐射影响较大。本文的分析可为平原地区聚落景观的优化布局和聚落用地的集约化发展提供一定的参考。     

采用稳定碳同位素法分析白羊草在不同干旱胁迫下的水分利用效率

本研究以黄土高原乡土草种白羊草(Bothriochloa ischaemum(L.)Keng.)为研究对象,采用盆栽控制实验,比较白羊草在3个水分处理(CK80%FC、MS60%FC和SS 40%FC)下的生物量积累和分配模式、瞬时水分利用效率(WUE)、不同部位(新叶、老叶、茎、细根、粗根)的稳定碳同位素组成(δ~(13)C)和碳同位素分辨率(Δ~(13)C)及其相互关系,以及干旱胁迫下影响水分利用效率的主导环境因子。结果表明:1)重度干旱胁迫显著降低植物整体生物量,显著增加根冠比和细根生物量比例;2)随着干旱胁迫加剧,白羊草各器官的δ~(13)C均呈上升趋势,Δ~(13)C呈减小趋势,SS处理不同器官δ~(13)C和Δ~(13)C没有显著差异,CK和MS处理的各器官δ~(13)C均值表现分别为细根粗根老叶新叶茎、细根新叶老叶粗根茎,CK和MS处理Δ~(13)C的值总体呈根叶茎。3)新叶的δ~(13)CNL和Δ~(13)CNL与WUE的相关系数均最大,说明利用稳定碳同位素方法测定白羊草水分利用效率具有可行性。4)不同水分处理的WUE的主导影响因子不同,CK、MS、SS水分处理WUE分别受到叶面温度、大气水汽压亏缺和空气温度的影响最大。为采用稳定碳同位素方法指示白羊草水分利用效率可行性及阐明植物的胁迫响应机制提供理论依据。     

Phenotypic Buffering in a Monogenean: Canalization and Developmental Stability in Shape and Size of the Haptoral Anchors of Ligophorus cephali (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae)

Phenotypic variation results from the balance between sources of variation and counteracting regulatory mechanisms. Canalization and developmental stability are two such mechanisms, acting at two different levels of regulation. The issue of whether or not they act concurrently as a common developmental buffering capacity has been subject to debate. We used geometric morphometrics to quantify the mechanisms that guarantee phenotypic constancy in the haptoral anchors of Ligophorus cephali. Canalization and developmental stability were appraised by estimating inter- and intra-individual variation, respectively, in size and shape of dorsal and ventral anchors. The latter variation was estimated as fluctuating asymmetry (FA) between anchor pairs. The general-buffering-capacity hypothesis was tested by two different methods based on correlations and Principal Components Analyses of the different components of size and shape variation. Evidence for FA in the dorsal and ventral anchors in both shape and size was found. Our analyses supported the hypothesis of a general developmental buffering capacity. The evidence was more compelling for shape than for size and, particularly, for the ventral anchors than for the dorsal ones. These results are in line with previous studies of dactylogyrids suggesting that ventral anchors secure a firmer, more permanent attachment, whereas dorsal anchors are more mobile. Because fixation to the host is crucial for survival in ectoparasites, we suggest that homeostatic development of the ventral anchors has been promoted to ensure the morphological constancy required for efficient attachment. Geometric morphometrics can be readily applied to other host-monogenean models, affording not only to disentangle the effects of canalization and developmental stability, as shown herein, but to further partition the environmental and genetic components of the former.     

氨氮对中华小长臂虾的急性毒性及非特异性免疫指标的影响

采用生物毒性实验方法研究了氨氮对中华小长臂虾的急性毒性作用, 结果表明: 在温度为(18±1)℃, pH为7.3±0.1条件下, 氨氮对中华小长臂虾24h、48h、72h、96h 的半致死浓度(LC₅₀)分别为565.47、371.16、291.16和272.50 mg/L, 安全浓度为 27.25 mg/L。转化为非离子氨的LC₅₀分别为3.74、2.45、1.93 和1.80 mg/L, 安全浓度为0.18 mg/L。根据96h 的LC₅₀和安全浓度按照等差数列设置5个氨氮浓度梯度, 分别60、100、140、180和220 mg/L, 研究氨氮胁迫对中华小长臂虾非特异性免疫指标的影响。结果显示: 在24h时, 除了220 mg/L的肌肉组织, 中华小长臂虾肝胰腺和肌肉中的超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性显著性高于对照组, 并具有明显的剂量效应, 在48—96h均回落到正常水平; 在24h时, 中华小长臂虾氨氮处理组中肝胰腺的酸性磷酸酶(ACP)与对照组未发生显著变化, 而碱性磷酸酶(AKP)则显著高于对照组, 在48—96h两者的140、180和220 mg/L处理组均显著低于对照组; 除了140 mg/L 处理组的ACP活性外, 肌肉中的ACP和AKP活性从24h开始就出现了显著性下降, 始终低于对照组。研究获得了氨氮对中华小长臂虾的急性毒性结果和在高氨氮胁迫下非特异性免疫指标的变化规律, 发现中华小长臂虾对氨氮具有较强的耐受性, 但高浓度的氨氮会对中华小长臂虾的免疫酶活性产生抑制作用, 研究结果可为中华小长臂虾健康养殖发展提供科学依据。