神经生长因子治疗急性颅脑损伤的效果及对患者神经功能的影响

目的:研究神经生长因子在急性颅脑损伤中的治疗效果及对神经功能的影响。方法:选取2014年8月至2015年7月本院收治的82例急性颅脑损伤患者,随机分为观察组和对照组,每组41例。对照组采取常规对症治疗,观察组在对照组基础上采用神经生长因子治疗。观察并比较两组患者治疗前后血清S100β,白介素-6(IL-6),髓鞘碱性蛋白(MBP)及神经元特异性烯醇化酶(NSE)水平的变化情况以及临床疗效。结果:观察组总有效率高于对照组,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。与治疗前比较,两组患者治疗后血清S100β及IL-6水平均降低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);与对照组比较,观察组患者治疗后血清S100β及IL-6水平较低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);与治疗前比较,两组患者治疗后血清MBP及NSE水平均降低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);与对照组比较,观察组患者治疗后血清MBP及NSE水平较低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:神经生长因子治疗急性颅脑损伤的效果显著,能够改善患者免疫功能和神经功能,值得临床推广应用。     

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。     

Environmentally induced morphological variation in the Barnacle Goose,Branta leucopsis

The environmental conditions to which juvenile barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) were exposed during growth were found to affect their body size at fledging as well as their final adult body size. Small juveniles showed compensatory growth from the time of fledging up to one year of age, but this did not fully compensate the differences in body size that were established before fledging. The variation in protein content in plants eaten during growth could probably explain the observed body size differences, sometimes of more than 10%, between different categories of adult geese. Our results imply that one cannot infer selection on morphological characters from differences between samples of adult birds from different localities or from different cohorts within a population, without first showing that environmental conditions during growth do not affect the development of the characters under study.     

Divergent growth of Norway spruce on Babia Góra Mountain in the western Carpathians

Growth divergence – i.e. the expression of divergent growth trends of neighboring trees – has certain implications for dendrochronological research, for instance in the context of climate reconstructions but also in terms of estimating net ecosystem productivity. Thus, understanding the underlying mechanisms is essential to extend our fundamental dendroecological knowledge. In this context, the Picea genus plays an important role since several of its species were reported to exhibit growth divergence. Here, we investigate a well sampled Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) data set for growth divergence comprising ring-width and Blue Intensity measurements from seven sites on Babia Góra Mountain, at the border between Poland and Slovakia. By means of Principal Component Gradient Analysis, inter-series correlations, and climate growth relationships, we are able to show that I) Norway spruce on Babia Góra expressed growth divergence since the 1970s, II) the definition of groups increased the strength of population signals and the stability of climate-growth relationships, and III) Blue Intensity appeared as a more robust proxy for environmental conditions. We discuss soil heterogeneity, genetics, and air pollution as possible underlying mechanisms, thereby indicating further research avenues to obtain a better understanding of growth divergence.