The introduction ofMimorista pulchellalis [Lepidoptera: Pyraustidae] into South Africa for the biological control of jointed cactus,Opuntia aurantiaca. 2. Field evaluation

The mothMimorista pulchellalis was monitored over 2 years after liberation in a jointed cactus (Opuntia aurantiaca) infestation in South Africa. Moth and cactus densities were estimated using a system of randomly-assigned quadrats and the impact of the moth on the cactus population quantified. Moths appeared adapted to survive on the etiolated form of jointed cactus plants, killing approximately 1% of the increment in small plants annually. Large plants were also attacked but damage was negligible. The moths occurred in low numbers throughout the study period and generally went through 3 generations in a year.

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Résumé La pyraleMimorista pulchellalis a été surveillée durant les deux années qui suivirent sa libération dans une infestation de figuier de Barbarie en Afrique du Sud. Les densités de pyrale et de cactus ont été estimées en utilisant un système de quadrats distribués au hasard et l'impact de la pyrale sur la population de cactus a été quantifiée. Les pyrales semblaient adaptées à survivre sur la forme étiolée des plants de cactus tuant approximativement 1% de l'accroissement annuel des petits plants. Les gros plants étaient aussi attaqués, mais les dégats étaient négligeables. La pyrale existait en faibles nombres durant toute la période d'étude et elle présentait généralement 3 générations par an.

     

Low serum interleukin-6 levels as a predictive marker of recurrence in patients with hepatitis B virus related hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent curative treatment

BackgroundWe aimed to investigate the use of novel serum biomarkers for predicting the recurrence and survival of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatic resection or radiofrequency ablation (RFA).MethodsOne hundred and five patients with HBV-related HCC, who fulfilled the Milan criteria without vascular invasion and underwent hepatic resection or RFA, were followed-up for a median duration of 52 months. Pretreatment serum concentrations of 16 cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured by using a Luminex 200 system. The measured serum cytokines and several clinical factors were analyzed retrospectively.ResultsUnivariate analysis showed that patients with lower pretreatment serum levels of IL-10, IL-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and tumor necrosis factor-α had significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) than those with higher levels. Multivariate analysis revealed that a low serum IL-6 level (⩽33.00 pg/mL; hazard ratio [HR] = 5.39; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.27–22.93; P = 0.022), low platelet count (<100 × 10⁹/L; HR = 2.23; 95% CI = 1.28–3.89; P = 0.005), and low serum albumin level (⩽3.5 g/L; HR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.28–3.97; P = 0.005) had a negative prognostic impact on DFS. In the analysis for overall survival, a low serum platelet level (<100 × 10⁹/L; HR = 2.80; 95% CI = 1.31–5.99; P = 0.008) and multiple tumor (⩾2; HR = 4.05; 95% CI = 1.56–10.48; P = 0.004) showed a negative prognostic impact on the overall survival.ConclusionA low serum IL-6 level is, in addition to low platelet count and low serum albumin level, an independent prognostic factor for DFS in patients with HBV-related early HCC who underwent hepatic resection or RFA with curative intention.     

Contingent valuation and biodiversity: measuring the user surplus of Kenyan protected areas

The financial returns to Kenyan tourism demonstrate the importance of the country's tourist potential to its economic development. Protected areas and their inhabitants are the principal focus of the tourist industry, the nations's main foreign exchange earner, and a source of wonder and value for a global population of non-users. It might be expected that such assets would be accorded some degree of security with sufficient funding to safeguard current and potential economic benefits. Yet park use is haphazard, and there is frequently little coincidence between those that benefit and those that pay for the continued existence of such areas. Growing economic and demographic pressures which threaten to swamp protected areas only emphasize the implicit subsidy currently paid by Kenyans to support conservation for the benefit of the world at large. In this climate the case for conservation depends on the measurement and capture of economic benefits. Using a contingent valuation survey of expressed preference this study estimates the consumer surplus attached to current non-consumptive use of protected areas by foreign visitors at some $450 million per annum. This sum alone is more than double the best available estimate of opportunity cost and appears to justify current resource use. The estimate is additional to current financial returns from tourism and makes no allowance for other direct and indirect benefits and potential returns from consumptive uses. Measured consumer surplus contains some margin of willingness to pay that could be captured through the current fee structure. Moreover, park fees represent the most accessible market mechanism to finance revenue sharing and additional park investment before potential recourse to emerging global market institutions.     

Regulating Ecosystem Services of forests in ten Italian Metropolitan Cities: Air quality improvement by PM10 and O3 removal

Urban and periurban forests, which are integrated within the concept of Green Infrastructure, provide important Ecosystem Services, including air purification. In this study, we quantified the Ecosystem Service of particulate matter (PM₁₀) and Ozone (O₃) removal from urban and periurban forests in ten metropolitan cities in Italy, and its total monetary value. In order to gain a better understanding of how Ecosystem Services can be regulated on a wider scale, the vegetation ecosystem types were grouped into Physiognomic-Structural Categories of Vegetation according to morphofunctional criteria. The pollution removal was mapped using a remote sensing and GIS approach, by applying a deposition model and a stomatal flux model. We estimated, for the ten metropolitan cities, an overall pollution abatement of 7150 Mg of PM₁₀ and 30,014 Mg of O₃ in the year 2003, which was an extremely hot year. Our findings indicate that structural characteristics (i.e. Leaf Area Index) and functional diversity, linked to stomatal conductance, exert a marked influence on the provision of the regulating Ecosystem Services, whose total monetary value was estimated to be equal to 47 and 297 million USD for PM₁₀ and O₃ removal, respectively. This study represent the first national-scale assessment of the Ecosystem Services of air pollution removal in Europe, thus providing information that may be useful to stakeholders to manage Green Infrastructure more efficiently.     

Strategies for rapid assessment of fungal diversity

The problems of estimating fungal diversity are considerable, due especially to the large numbers of species even in small study sites, only a small proportion of which are adequately characterized, and the lack of trained staff and appropriate identification manuals. These difficulties are multiplied in the tropics. Strategies for providing preliminary assessments of fungal diversity which can be carried out within short time-frames are discussed, which will allow initial site valuations to be made for conservation purposes. The necessity of identifying all species discovered is considered, and the need emphasized for strictly defined sampling protocols which allow proper comparison between sites. The advantages and disadvantages of preliminary diversity analyses involving different taxonomic and ecological groups, fungus/plant associations, spatial sampling, soil and litter analysis, molecular methods and indirect assessment are considered.     

Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, Interleukins-12(p40), 6, and 10 levels in cerebrospinal fluid and outcome prediction in Ossimi sheep with encephalitic listeriosis

Encephalitic listeriosis in sheep is a life-threatening disease. However, little is known about the cytokine response and their predictive value in this disease. The aim of present study was to assess the prognostic significance of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukin-12(p40) (IL-12 p40), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin 10 (IL-10) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in sheep with encephalitic listeriosis. Fifty-nine ewes in 14 flocks were diagnosed clinically as having listeriosis. CSF was collected and subjected to bacteriological examination and estimation of selected cytokines. Twenty-eight ewes were confirmed to be infected with Listeria monocytogenes. Based on antimicrobial sensitivity test, sheep were treated and the outcome was recorded as survivors (n = 10) and non-survivors (n = 18). Cutoff points for CSF cytokines were determined by Receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC). Association between levels of CSF cytokines and outcome of listeriosis was assessed by logistic regression. TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-12(p40) levels as well as TNF-α/IL-10 ratio were significantly higher in non-survivors than survivors (p = 0.002, 0.0021, 0.0033, and 0.001, respectively). However, IL-10 level was significantly lower in non-survivors than survivors (p = 0.0058). ROC analysis revealed that IL-6 and TNF-α/IL-10 ratio had the highest AUC values (0.98, 0.984, respectively). Final multivariate logistic regression model showed that TNF-α/IL-10 ratio was the only variable that has predictive value for mortality in diseased sheep (p: 0.001; OR: 7.2; 95% CI: 5.7–9.8). TNF-α showed a positive correlation with IL-12β (r = 0.917) and IL-6 (r = 0.965). IL-12 (p40) showed also a positive correlation with IL-6 (r = 0.906). However, IL-10 showed a negative correlation with TNF-α (r = −0.915), IL-12(p40) (r = −0.790), and IL-6 (r = −0.902). In conclusion, TNF-α/IL-10 ratio may provide predictive information about outcome of encephalitic listeriosis in sheep.     

急性髓系白血病患者NF-κB p65和β-Catenin蛋白表达的临床研究

目的探讨NF-κB p65和β-catenin在急性髓系白血病(AML)患者中表达的临床意义及判断预后价值.方法 28例患者均进行6个以上疗程的化疗,应用免疫组织化学SABC法和图像分析系统对AML患者治疗前后骨髓细胞NF-κB p65和β-catenin进行了检测.结果 NF-κB p65和β-catenin在AML患者骨髓单个核细胞的胞质和胞核中表达,完全缓解和部分缓解患者在化疗后二者表达明显降低(P<0.05),未缓解组治疗前后无明显变化.结论 NF-κB p65和β-catenin表达与AML患者的化疗效果及预后有直接的联系,NF-κB p65和β-catenin共同表达情况可作为预测AML患者化疗敏感性的指标.     

髋臼粉碎性骨折治疗方法的选择与预后探讨

目的:研究髋臼粉碎性骨折采用骨牵引与手术治疗的疗效的比较。方法:将118例髋臼粉碎骨折患者分为骨牵引组(74例)和手术组(44例),分别进行比较。结果:骨牵引组解剖复位10例(13.5%)、满意复位26例(35.1%),自我感觉优8例(10.8%)、良24例(32.4%);手术组解剖复位9例(40.9%)、满意复位12例(54.5%),自我感觉优7例(31.8%))、良9例(40.9%)。结论:手术治疗髋臼粉碎性骨折疗效明显优于骨牵引。     

Describing Values in Relation to Choices in LCA (7 pp)

Intention, Goal, Scope, Background It has gained growing acceptance in recent years that there are values in LCA, and several authors have discussed how value orientations can influence LCA models and results. The aim of this article is to continue this discussion and to focus on value choices in LCA. Objectives To find a way of describing value orientations in relation to choices in LCA. Methods This objective has been pursued in this paper by investigating the relationship between values and traditional science, exploring the concept of values, investigating the relationship between values and choice, and suggesting a way to describe the value base for specific choices in LCA. Results and Discussion Research on how to improve the environmental performance of products resembles peace research in that it aims to achieve a certain value-laden situation in society. The epistemological basis for peace research also seems to apply to LCA research. The term value has many meanings. There are several classification methods for values and I claim that one is more suitable for choices in LCA than the others. The correlation between values and choice is not straightforward, and values can only partially explain choices. Conclusions Describing the value base for choices in LCA increases the consistency and transparency of the value choices and offers a means of justifying them. Recommendations and Outlook It is recommended that the value base is described in terms of 1) what is included in the concern for the environment 2) how tradeoffs are made and 3) how uncertainty is handled.     

CyclinE和p27蛋白在骨肉瘤中的表达及临床意义

目的探讨CyclinE和p27在骨肉瘤中表达及临床意义。方法检测108例骨肉瘤石蜡包埋组织中CyclinE和p27蛋白表达水平,统计分析其与患者临床病理因素和预后之间的关系。结果骨肉瘤组织中CyclinE的阳性率为68．52％,p27的阳性率为26．85％;CyclinE和p27蛋白表达水平与骨肉瘤病理分级、软组织浸润、远处转移、Enneking分期及患者整体生存期有关（P〈0．05）;CyclinE蛋白阳性组骨肉瘤患者5年存活率显著低于阴性组;而p27蛋白阳性组患者5年存活率显著高于阴性组（P〈0．05）。Cox多因素分析提示软组织浸润及远处转移状态、病理分级、Enneking外科分期、CyclinE和p27蛋白表达水平是影响骨肉瘤患者预后的独立危险因素（P〈0．05）。结论CyclinE和p27蛋白表达水平是判断骨肉瘤患者预后的新指标,联合检测CyclinE和p27蛋白表达水平对骨肉瘤的进展、预后判断有重要意义。