Effects of the supply levels and ratios of nitrogen and phosphorus on seed traits of Chenopodium glaucum

全球氮沉降不仅改变土壤氮和磷的有效性, 同时也改变氮磷比例。氮磷供应量、比例及其交互作用可能会影响植物种子性状。该研究在内蒙古草原基于沙培盆栽实验种植灰绿藜(Chenopodium glaucum), 设置3个氮磷供应量水平和3个氮磷比例的正交实验来探究氮磷供应量、比例及其交互作用对灰绿藜种子性状的影响。结果发现氮磷供应量对种子氮浓度、磷浓度和萌发率影响的相对贡献(15%-24%)大于氮磷比例(3%-7%), 而种子大小只受氮磷比例的影响。同时氮磷供应量和比例之间的交互作用显著影响种子氮浓度和磷浓度。同等氮磷比例情况下, 低量养分供应提高种子氮浓度、磷浓度和萌发率。氮磷比例只有在养分匮乏的环境中才会对种子大小和萌发率产生显著影响。总之, 灰绿藜种子不同性状对氮或磷限制的敏感性不同, 同时种子性状也对养分限制表现出适应性和被动响应。     

The Amount of BCL6 in B Cells Shortly after Antigen Engagement Determines Their Representation in Subsequent Germinal Centers

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Adaptive developmental plasticity: what is it,how can we recognize it and when can it evolve?

Developmental plasticity describes situations where a specific input during an individual''s development produces a lasting alteration in phenotype. Some instances of developmental plasticity may be adaptive, meaning that the tendency to produce the phenotype conditional on having experienced the developmental input has been under positive selection. We discuss the necessary assumptions and predictions of hypotheses concerning adaptive developmental plasticity (ADP) and develop guidelines for how to test empirically whether a particular example is adaptive. Central to our analysis is the distinction between two kinds of ADP: informational, where the developmental input provides information about the future environment, and somatic state-based, where the developmental input enduringly alters some aspect of the individual''s somatic state. Both types are likely to exist in nature, but evolve under different conditions. In all cases of ADP, the expected fitness of individuals who experience the input and develop the phenotype should be higher than that of those who experience the input and do not develop the phenotype, while the expected fitness of those who do not experience the input and do not develop the phenotype should be higher than those who do not experience the input and do develop the phenotype. We describe ancillary predictions that are specific to just one of the two types of ADP and thus distinguish between them.     

Aim‐then‐shoot anemotaxis involved in the hopping approach of potato tuberworm moth Phthorimaea operculella toward a sex pheromone source

Male moths locate conspecific females by pheromone‐induced upwind flight maintained by detecting a visual flow, termed optomotor anemotaxis. Their behavioural pattern is characterized by an upwind surge in response to a pheromone stimulus and crosswind casting after odour loss, which is considered to be reset and restarted on receipt of another pheromone pulse. However, pheromone‐stimulated males of the potato tuberworm moth Phthorimaea operculella exhibit a series of short and straight intermittent flights, or hops, when moving upwind. It is unclear whether they navigate by employing the same behavioural pattern and wind detection mechanism as that used by flying moths. To analyze odour‐modulated anemotaxis in male potato tuberworm moths, a flat wind tunnel is constructed to give regular odour stimuli to an insect regardless of its location. Moths are subjected to pheromone pulses of different frequencies to test whether they show a behavioural pattern that is reset and restarted by a pheromone pulse. Moths on the ground are also subjected to crosswind shear to examine their detection of wind direction. Path analyses reveal that males surge upwind when they receive a pheromone pulse and exhibit casting by successive hops when they lose odour. This behavioural pattern appears to be similar to that of flying moths. When the direction of the airflow is switched orthogonally, males adjust their course angle accordingly when they are on the ground. It is suggested that, instead of optomotor anemotaxis, this ‘aim‐then‐shoot’ system aids the detection of wind direction, possibly by mechanosensory means.     

Ethical Considerations for Outcome‐adaptive Trial Designs: A Clinical Researcher's Perspective

In a typical comparative clinical trial the randomization scheme is fixed at the beginning of the study, and maintained throughout the course of the trial. A number of researchers have championed a randomized trial design referred to as ‘outcome‐adaptive randomization.’ In this type of trial, the likelihood of a patient being enrolled to a particular arm of the study increases or decreases as preliminary information becomes available suggesting that treatment may be superior or inferior. While the design merits of outcome‐adaptive trials have been debated, little attention has been paid to significant ethical concerns that arise in the conduct of such studies. These include loss of equipoise, lack of processes for adequate informed consent, and inequalities inherent in the research design which could lead to perceptions of injustice that may have negative implications for patients and the research enterprise. This article examines the ethical difficulties inherent in outcome‐adaptive trials.     

Testing for density dependence

Summary The robustness and sensitivity of a test for density dependence in an animal population against departures from the assumed null and alternative model is assessed via simulation. The test is shown to be nonrobust and insensitive to departures from the assumed models.     

Ecological and evolutionary implications of diet in monitor lizards

A survey of 35 species indicates that monitor lizards (Varanus) typically hunt over large areas, search in particular microhabitats, and feed frequently on a wide variety of prey, many of which are relatively small. There is ontogenetic, seasonal, and geographic variation in diet. With some exceptions, invertebrates are the predominant prey, but rare predation on vertebrates is often energetically significant. A few monitors specialize on prey types that occur as occasional items in the diet of species with more generalized diets; these include crabs, snails, orthopterans, lizards, and large mammals. For most species, prey specialization occurs via habitat selection and a variety of prey types and sizes are eaten, as expected for widely searching predators. Comparisons with other anguimorphans suggest that derived features of Varanus are associated with high body temperature and activity levels; specialized chemoreception; and rapid, skillful capture of hidden and/or potentially hard to catch prey. Occasional ingestion of moderately large prey is primitive for Varanoidca (Helodermatidae +Varanidae), accentuating a trend that is perhaps primitive for anguimorphan lizards. Reduction of very large prey prior to ingestion is a derived attribute within Varanus , seen infrequently in several larger species and commonly in V. komodoensis. This study illustrates the synthesis of comparative natural history in a phylogenetic context, a method that addresses the history of organismal change.     

Do Chaoborus larvae migrate in temporary pools?

A diurnal vertical migration of larvae of Chaoborus punctipennis (Say) was observed in shallow temporary woodland pools in East Texas. In the laboratory, in 153 cm tall columns, the larvae underwent a much greater migration than possible in the shallow pools. We hypothesize that the migratory behavior and transparent body of Chaoborus larvae may have originally evolved in such shallow water habitats. These traits enabled Chaoborus to successfully invade the quite different adaptive zone of predation in the plankton of deep lakes.     

Random root movements in weightlessness

The dynamics of root growth was studied in weightlessness. In the absence of the gravitropic reference direction during weightlessness, root movements could be controlled by spontaneous growth processes, without any corrective growth induced by the gravitropic system. If truly random of nature, the bending behavior should follow socalled 'random walk' mathematics during weightlessness. Predictions from this hypothesis were critically tested.
In a Spacelab ESA-experiment, denoted RANDOM and carried out during the IML-2 Shuttle flight in July 1994, the growth of garden cress ( Lepidium sativum ) roots was followed by time lapse photography at 1-h intervals.
The growth pattern was recorded for about 20 h. Root growth was significantly smaller in weightlessness as compared to gravity (control) conditions.
It was found that the roots performed spontaneous movements in weightlessness. The average direction of deviation of the plants consistently stayed equal to zero, despite these spontaneous movements. The average squared deviation increased linearly with time as predicted theoretically (but only for 8–10 h).
Autocorrelation calculations showed that bendings of the roots, as determined from the 1-h photographs, were uncorrelated after about a 2-h interval.
It is concluded that random processes play an important role in root growth. Predictions from a random walk hypothesis as to the growth dynamics could explain parts of the growth patterns recorded. This test of the hypothesis required microgravity conditions as provided for in a space experiment.