Filamentous organisms in benign and malignant gastric cytology brushings

Review of 143 gastric brushing specimens from two centres in patients with a subsequent histological diagnosis on biopsy or gastrectomy specimens revealed filamentous organisms (FOs) in a large number of benign and malignant gastric brushings. The presence of FOs in significant numbers of brushings of benign gastric lesions contradicts the previously reported strong association of FOs with only gastric carcinoma, and questions the importance of finding these organisms in gastric brushing and biopsy material.     

Impact of microorganisms,humidity, and temperature on the enantioselective degradation of imazethapyr in two soils

Imazethapyr (IM) is a chiral herbicide composed of an (−)‐R‐enantiomer and an (+)‐S‐enantiomer with differential herbicidal activity. In this study, the effects of microbial organisms, humidity, and temperature on the selective degradation of the (−)‐R‐ and (+)‐S‐enantiomers of IM were determined in silty loam (SL) and clay loam (CL) soil with different pH values. The (−)‐R‐enantiomer of IM was preferentially degraded in two soils under different microorganism, humidity, and temperature conditions. The average half‐lives of R‐IM ranged from 43 to 66.1 days and were significantly shorter (P <  0.05) than those of S‐IM, which ranged from 51.4 to 79.8 days. The enantiomer fraction (EF = (+)‐S‐enantiomer/((−)‐R‐enantiomer + (+)‐S‐enantiomer)) values were used to describe the enantioselectivity of degradation of IM were >0.5 (P <  0.05) in two unsterilized soils under different humidity and temperature conditions. The highest EF values were observed at unsterilized CL soil samples under 50% maximum water‐holding capacity (MWHC) and 25 °C environmental conditions. The EF values of the IM enantiomers were significantly higher (P <  0.05) in CL soils (higher pH = 5.81) and were 0.581 (unsterilized) and 0.575 (50% MWHC; 25 °C) compared with those recorded in SL soil (lower pH = 4.85). In addition, this study revealed that microbial organisms preferentially utilized the more herbicidal active IM enantiomer.     

Colony growth responses of the Caribbean octocoral, Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae, to harvesting

Abstract. Colonies of the branching Caribbean gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae were subjected to partial mortality at 2 sites in the Bahamas to study how colony growth responds to disturbances such as harvesting, grazing, and storm damage. Colonies were clipped so that either 4 branches or 10 branches remained. Growth rates of branches were then monitored over 1 year and compared with nearby unclipped colonies. No significant differences were found between branch extension rates among the 3 treatments. Extension rates of newly formed branches were significantly greater in all treatments than among branches present at the start of the experiment. Per capita branching rates were greater on the more severely clipped colonies and were smallest on control colonies. The absolute number of branches that became mother branches did not differ among treatments. Colonies clipped so that 4 and 10 branches remained had the same average number of mother branches per colony, and there was no significant difference between treatments in the average number of new branches formed on the colonies. Per capita branching rates were significantly different among treatments only because the relative proportion of branches that became mother branches was higher in colonies with four branches than in treatments with more initial branches. Total growth (cumulative growth on all branches) was not significantly different between the 2 clipped treatments. Many of the control colonies suffered extensive damage, which may have obscured the comparison of clipped and unclipped treatments; however, within the range of these clipping treatments, differing levels of partial mortality did not lead to different recovery rates. The lack of treatment effects is particularly relevant to assessing the effects of harvest techniques on the recovery and productivity of harvested, naturally occurring, colonies.     

Genome‐enabled development of DNA markers for ecology,evolution and conservation

Molecular markers have become a fundamental piece of modern biology’s toolkit. In the last decade, new genomic resources from model organisms and advances in DNA sequencing technology have altered the way that these tools are developed, alleviating the marker limitation that researchers previously faced and opening new areas of research for studies of non‐model organisms. This availability of markers is directly responsible for advances in several areas of research, including fine‐scaled estimation of population structure and demography, the inference of species phylogenies, and the examination of detailed selective pressures in non‐model organisms. This review summarizes methods for the development of large numbers of DNA markers in non‐model organisms, the challenges encountered when utilizing different methods, and new research applications resulting from these advances.     

Types of cell death and methods of their detection in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The occurrence of programmed cell death in unicellular organisms is a subject that arouses great interest of theoreticians and experimental scientists. Already found evolutionarily conserved genes and metabolic pathways confirmed its existence in yeast, protozoa and even bacteria. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, at least three main types of death are distinguished: apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy. Their classification suggested by the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death initially based on the morphological characteristics has now been extended to include the measurable biochemical characteristics. Several laboratory methods previously used to detect the types of cell death of higher eucaryotes and later developed and successfully used for the analysis of yeast cells are here critically reviewed. Their advantages and limitations are described.     

2013年北太平洋公海渔场柔鱼体内典型放射性核素分析及风险评估

为了解福岛核泄漏放射性核素对北太平洋公海渔场的后续性污染影响情况,于2013年8—11月在北太平洋公海渔场(40°—44° N、145°—160° E)采集柔鱼样品,利用超低本底HPGe γ 谱仪分析5种放射性核素.结果表明: ¹³⁴Cs和^110mAg未检测出高于本底值的比活度,而²¹⁰Pb、¹³⁷Cs和⁴⁰K均有检出.其中²¹⁰Pb在柔鱼体的比活度范围为0.99～7.60 Bq·kg^-1,¹³⁷Cs的比活度范围为最低检测限～0.37 Bq·kg^-1,⁴⁰K的比活度范围为46.00～107.00 Bq·kg^-1.²¹⁰Pb核素含量在柔鱼250～300 mm胴长组分布最高;在200～250和>400 mm胴长组中最低.¹³⁷Cs含量在柔鱼200～250 mm胴长组中最高;在250～300和350～400 mm胴长组较低.⁴⁰K核素含量在柔鱼250～300 mm胴长组中最高,在150～200 mm胴长组最低,总体分布比较均匀.3种核素在柔鱼的不同组织中含量不同,但均在内脏中含量最高.通过风险评估发现,北太平洋公海渔场所有检测的海洋生物的放射性核素含量值与基准值的熵值均未超过1,说明目前核辐射对该海域渔业资源的影响暂无大风险.研究可为福岛核事故对海洋环境生态影响及公众健康危害评估提供理论依据.     

反硝化除磷戈登氏菌属的富集及其菌剂制备

【背景】投加微生物菌剂是强化生物处理效能的重要手段,反硝化是污水脱氮除磷的关键步骤,但目前对于反硝化微生物菌剂相关的研究报道较少。【目的】驯化高效反硝化聚磷菌菌剂,并对系统进行生物强化。【方法】采用两阶段法快速富集反硝化聚磷菌,筛选高效脱氮除磷功能菌株NC1-1并进行鉴定,以NC1-1为菌种来源制备干粉菌剂,研究菌剂强化A²SBR系统污水处理效果。【结果】历经36 d后反硝化聚磷菌富集成功,菌株NC1-1经鉴定属于戈登氏菌属,其脱氮除磷率分别为89.46%和91.68%。麦麸、玉米粉配比为85%:15%、NC1-1投菌量为20 mL、发酵液用量20 mL的条件下成功制得干粉菌剂,干粉菌剂最佳投加量为10%的A²SBR系统总磷（total phosphorus,TP）和NO₃^--N去除率比未投加菌剂的A²SBR系统提高12.06%和11.52%。【结论】菌剂NC1-1的投加使A²SBR系统的污染物去除效能进一步提高,研究结果为进一步研究反硝化聚磷菌菌剂提供了...     

Trace Metal Mixture Toxicity in Aquatic Organism Reviewed from a Biotoxicity Perspective

Biotoxicity of individual metals is well investigated but that of metal mixture, an environmental reality, in the developing metal mixture, is relatively obscure. Experimental evidences had shown that this mixture could give rise to combined effects that were different from the effect of metals one by one. This review provides an overview of recent research on metal mixture toxicity and the methods employed to predict their toxic combined effects. The two established reference models, the concentration-addition model and the independent-addition model, were used for evaluating the combined effect from the biological activities of the metal mixtures. While the reference models had provided reasonable tools for analyzing the combined effects, the actual predictions for binary metal mixtures showed often somewhat less than additive combined effects compared to what has been observed. As the metal bioavailability is oriented by several environmental factors as well as the toxicodynamics of metals is highly compound-specific, the non-interactive combined effects may be confused with different processes of the interactions. Thus, for improving the predictability of combined effects in metal mixture toxicity, numerous qualitative and quantitative analysis are required for the processes governing the toxicokinetics and dynamics of metals in aquatic organisms.