The structure of 180° supernumerary limbs and a hypothesis of their formation

The results of a detailed analysis of 100 supernumerary limbs generated by 180° ipsilateral rotation (on the same limb stump) of regeneration blastemas is presented. The limbs were analyzed in terms of their position of origin, frequency, cartilage structure by Victoria blue staining, and muscle structure by serial sections. Single, double, or triple supernumeraries can be produced at no unique position of origin, although the posterodorsal quadrant was preferred. Four classes of supernumerary limbs were generated by such operations—normal; double dorsal or double ventral; part normal/part mirror imaged; part normal/part inverted in approximately equal frequencies. After amputation of these supernumeraries the same muscle patterns are faithfully regenerated. A hypothesis to explain the production of these abnormal limbs is proposed based on the observed phenomenon of fusion of supernumerary blastemata, but their regenerative behaviour presents problems for current models of pattern formation. Similar results have been obtained with developing limb buds and the relation between development and regeneration is discussed.     

Transforming Milk in a Global Economy

Large-scale milk production and consumption historically have been localized to Europe and countries with large European-derived populations. However, global patterns have now shifted, with dramatic increases in milk consumption in Asian countries and flat or declining consumption in European and European-derived countries. Efforts to market it around the world emphasize milk's positive effects on child growth, and, by extension, the individual and national benefits that derive from that growth. At the same time, milk has newly emerged in milk promotions in the United States as food that facilitates weight loss. Milk has been able to achieve a global presence and continuing relevance in populations in which its consumption has been declining by continually transforming and repositioning itself as a "special" food with properties able to alleviate the health concerns seen as most salient at the time.     

滇南及滇东南胶孔菌复合群的分类地理研究

报道了我国滇南及滇东南热带、亚热带胶孔菌复合群众路线属６种,其中瘤丝牛肝菌Ｆｉｌｏｂｏｌｅｔｕｓ ｖｅｒｒｕｃｕｌｏｓｕｓ Ｐ．Ｇ．Ｌｉｕ和滇丝牛肝菌Ｆ．ｙｕｎｎａｎｅｎｓｉｓ Ｐ．Ｇ．Ｌｉｕ是新种,紫兰小菇Ｍｙｃｅｎａ ｖｉｏｌａｃｅｌｌａ（Ｓｐｅｑ．）Ｓｉｎｇ。是我国新纪录种;新种附有拉丁文描术和插图,新纪录和附有形态解剖图。本文所引证标本均存放于中国科学院昆明植物研究所隐花植物标本馆（ＨＫＡ     

The effect of Agonoscena targionii (Licht.) (Homoptera: Psylloidea) on seed production by Pistacia terebinthus L.

This study investigated the potential negative effect that psyllids may have on the production of viable seeds in Pistacia terebinthus, a wild plant species with a circummediterranean distribution. Manipulative experiments, involving the application of insecticide, showed that the reduction in fruit maturation is rather low, not exceeding 10%. This is mainly due to other factors that determine seed inviability. Such factors include those intrinsic to the plant, such as parthenocarpy and seed abortion, and extrinsic to it, such as seed predation by chalcidoid wasps. There is much variation in the frequency of psyllids per plant; such variation appears uncorrelated with variables decribing plant size, fecundity, and distance to fruiting conspecifics. No consistency in the incidence of psyllids on a given individual plant was found between years.     

鄂东南地区下侏罗统武昌组的双壳类化石

湖北蒲圻车埠和大冶金山店下侏罗统武昌组的双壳类化石可划分为２个组合,武昌组中部Ｑｉｙａｎｇｉａ－Ａｐｓｅｕｄｏｃａｒｄｉｎｉａ组合和武昌组上部Ｈｕｂｅｒｉｃｏｎｃｈａ－Ｋｉｊａ（Ｗｕｃｈａｎｇｅｌｌａ）组合,前者时代为早侏罗世中晚期;后者暂归于早侏罗世最晚期。文中描述２新属１新亚属以及１５新种。     

Management of land/inland water ecotones: needs for regional approaches to achieve sustainable ecological systems

Evidence suggests that the boundaries between rivers, floodplain wetlands, and adjacent upland communities are among the most important components of landscapes. In a landscape context, floodplain wetlands and their ecotones are important transition zones between uplands and aquatic ecosystems. Management of wetland patches and ecotones to achieve sustainable ecosystems requires action on a broad scale, giving consideration to all factors affecting wetlands and the drainage basins of which they are a part. In northeastern United States, a struggle to identify new sources of water has focussed attention on the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems.     

Mapping the information landscape of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Strategy

The strategy of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration identifies three pathways for action for overcoming six global barriers thought to hamper upscaling. We evaluated 6,023 peer-reviewed and gray literature papers published over the last two decades to map the information landscape underlying the barriers and associated pathways for action across world regions, terrestrial ecosystem types, restorative interventions and their outcomes. Overall, the literature addressed more the financial and legislative barriers than the technical and research-related ones, supporting the view that social, economic and political factors hamper scaling up ecosystem restoration. Latin America, Africa, and North America were the most prominent regions in the literature, yet differed in the number of publications addressing each barrier. An overwhelming number of publications focused on forests (78%), while grasslands (6%), drylands (3%), and mangroves (2%) received less attention. Across the three pathways for action, the action lines on (1) promoting long-term ecosystem restoration actions and monitoring and (2) education on restoration were the most underrepresented in the literature. In general, restorative interventions assessed rendered positive outcomes except those of a political, legislative or financial nature which reported negative or inconclusive outcomes. Our indicative assessment reveals critical information gaps on barriers, pathways, and types of restorative interventions across world regions, particularly related to specific social issues such as education for ecosystem restoration. Finally, we call for refining “strength of evidence” assessment frameworks that can systematically appraise, synthesize and integrate information on traditional and practitioner knowledge as two essential components for improving decision-making in ecosystem restoration.     

鄂东南早白垩世灵乡群孢粉组合

本文根据从大冶灵乡-陈重山剖面的中部、灵乡狮子山东侧采坑和鄂城太和1孔的相当层位中所获得的孢粉组合(共67属120余种,其中新种9个,新联合2个),认为灵乡群孢粉组合属于 Classopollis、Psophosphaera-Cicatricosisporites、Schizaeoisporites-没有或极个别的出现被子植物花粉的组合类型,其地质时代应为早白垩世早期-中期(凡兰吟期-巴列姆期)。并推测鄂东南地区当时的气候属于偏干旱的热带-亚热带型。     

Studies on the mode of action of calciferol: Biological activity of 1α,24R,25-trihydroxyvitamin D3 in the chick

The biological activity of 1α,24R,25-trihydroxyvitamin D₃ [1α,24R,25(OH)₃D₃] was elevated in comparison to the hormonally active form of vitamin D₃, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ [1α,25(OH)₂D₃], in the rachitic chick in terms of its ability to (a) stimulate intestinal calcium absorption, (b) mobilize bone calcium, (c) induce intestinal calcium binding protein, (d) modulate the level of enzyme activity of the renal 25-OH-D₃-1-hydroxylase system, and (e) interact with the intestinal cystosol-chromatin receptor system for the 1α,25(OH)₂D₃ receptor system. In each of these assays, the relative ratio of activity of 1α,24R,25(OH)₃D₃ to 1α,25(OH)₂D₃was (a) 25–50, (b) ca. 20, (c) 10, (d) 50, and (e) 36%, respectively.     

Dipole moments of random coil polypeptides

The Rotational Isomeric States model is applied to calculate dipole moments of polypeptides of the twenty natural α-amino acids in the random coil state. Dipole moments of each repeat unit (μ_i), are evaluated using a quantum mechanics procedure. Dipole moment ratios ($\text{D}{}_{\mathrm{x}}\text{=}\text{〈μ}{}^2\text{〉}\text{x}\text{μ}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^2\text{,}\text{x = number of repeat units}$) of homopolypeptides are calculated and extrapolated to x →?. With a few exceptions, D_? = 0.36 ± 0.1. Ten actual proteins and three enzymes are also studied; their dipole ratios (D_x′ =〈μ〉/x) range from 7.34 to 10.57 in 10^?59 C² m² (6.6–9.5 D²). Diffferences in the values of D_x′ are due mainly to the different contributions, μ_i, of the amino acid residues contained in each polymer, whereas the sequence of amino acids has a very minor effect.