沙地云杉幼苗根表土体中NPK的梯度分布

采用水平根和垂直根两种处理方法对6年生沙地云杉幼苗进行栽培实验,应用分层取样方法对幼苗根表不同距离土体进行取样,并测定不同层次土体中速效N、速效P、速效K的含量。结果表明,在沙地云杉根表不同距离的土体中,速效N、P、K呈现有规律的梯度分布,即在根表近距离土体中营养元素由于根系的吸附作用而含量较高,同时根系生命活动对营养元素的大量消耗又使得营养元素随即出现严重的亏缺区,再向外延伸营养元素含量又逐渐上升而达到土壤本底值,在水平根处理中,由于沙地云杉对N、P、K吸收和利用的强度不同,亏缺区出现的位置不同,速效N和速效K的亏缺区出现在距离根表1cm处;速效P出现在距离根表0．5cm处,在垂直根处理中,速效N、速效P、速效K的梯度变化与水平根处理的相似速效N和速效K亏缺区出现在距离根表大约1cm处,而速效P在根表附近土壤中的含量始终少于根表远处,说明沙地云杉幼苗对速效P的吸收和利用强度大,速效P可能成为沙地云杉生长发育的限制因子。因此,在沙地云杉引种栽培时,应该选择含P丰富的土壤,或者对林地适当施用一些P肥。     

Growth models of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) on two volcanic mountains in the French Massif Central

Silver birch woodlands of two volcanic mountains (altitude 850 m and 1450 m) were studied in order to establish a growth model of birch. Height, radial increment and crown width were measured on both sites taking into account two situations: isolated birch or birch within a stand. For the latter case two categories were sampled considering the competition status of the tree: birch suffering the most severe competition (suppressed tree) were distinguished from trees facing the lowest competition (dominant tree). Measures of competition were also made using plots where each tree was located by its coordinates and its height, trunk circumference and crown width recorded. Examination of radial growth curves showed similar patterns for the two sites for the same category of tree. Radial growth was always inferior for the site located at the highest altitude but tree lifespan was about two-fold longer. Radial increment data were used to calculate circumference as function of tree age. Models predicting circumference with time were then established for each category of tree (dominant, suppressed or isolated) using Chapman–Richards'model. Height and crown width models were produced using circumference as the predictor. Competition indices based on vertical or horizontal angles weighted by the distance were calculated for birches in stands. Indices using vertical angles appeared to be more resistant and robust to characterize local competition. Competition index was then associated with the parameters of Chapman-Richards' growth circumference model for the two sites and models predicting the circumference from the age of the tree and its competition index are proposed.     

低覆盖度下两种行带式固沙林内风速流场和防风效果

研究在风速为10m/s和15m/s的风洞实验条件下,覆盖度为20%和25%的单行一带和两行一带模式乔木固沙林内的水平和垂直空间的风速变化情况,达到对两种不同模式的风速流场和防风效果进行比较分析的目的。通过分析得出:两种配置模式都形成了风影区和风速加速区相互组合的复杂的水平流场结构。两种模式对垂直空间风速影响相近,根据对不同高度风速的不同影响划分为微变化层(20-35 cm)、显著变化层(6-12 cm)和稳定变化层(0.4-3 cm)层次,两种模式在这几个层次风速表现出相同的变化规律。两行一带模式在第一带前降低水平空间风速的效果低于单行一带模式,第一带后高于后者。降低垂直空间风速规律为:对0.4-50 cm高度的风速均有一定的降低作用,0.4-12 cm高度的风速的降低效果较显著,且两行一带模式降低近地表(0.4 cm)风速的效果要高于单行一带模式。     

游离龈移植术后龈瓣收缩效果的临床研究

目的:评估游离龈移植术后3月内龈瓣在垂直向、水平向宽度改变并计算其表面积的收缩情况。方法:选取23例Miller Ⅲ类牙龈退缩患者,因下颌前牙区颊侧角化龈宽度不足(2 mm)行游离龈移植术。分别比较基线、术后1和3月游离龈瓣水平向及垂直向宽度的改变并计算龈瓣表面积的收缩情况。结果:经游离龈移植术的23例患者术区游离龈全部成活,牙龈无红肿,附着龈宽度可达3-5 mm。基线处、术后1月、3月水平向龈瓣宽度分别为9.83±1.7、8.97±1.5、8.48±1.65 mm;基线水平、术后1月、3月垂直向龈瓣宽度分别为4.02±0.61、3.61±0.67、3.24±0.67 mm。与基线时比较,术后1月、3月水平向、垂直向龈瓣宽度、龈瓣表面积均明显降低,差异均具有显著差异(P0.05)。结论:游离龈移植术可增加牙龈退缩患者的附着龈宽度,术后龈瓣存在水平向和垂直向收缩,且垂直向更明显。此外,龈瓣收缩存在个体差异。     

Dystocia in relationship to size and shape of pelvic opening in Holstein heifers

One hundred twenty-seven Holstein heifers were measured prior to calving to obtain 1) heart girth and 2) the horizontal and vertical pelvic measurement, from which pelvic area was calculated. Dystocia scores were assigned at birth, and the heart girth of the calf and sex of the calf were recorded. There was no difference in the level of dystocia noted in heifers with different pelvic sizes. The major cause of dystocia was size of the calf. A greater proportion of the larger calves was bulls (29% vs 20%). The shape of the pelvic opening may affect dystocia through increased calf size.

Ninety-three pregnant heifers were measured on two or more occasions at approximately 60-day intervals to obtain 1) the heart girth and 2) the horizontal and vertical measurements, from which pelvic area was calculated. These measurements were used to determine heifer growth. The heifer's heart girth grew at a rate of 0.066 cm per day of gestation with a corresponding increase in pelvic area of 2.25 cm² per cm of heart girth, or 0.312 cm per day of gestation.     

The visual system of the honeybee (Apis mellifera): the maximum length of the orientation detector

Bees were trained to discriminate between two or more black bars and similar bars at right angles, presented on a vertical surface. The positions of the bars were shifted every 5 min to prevent their locations being used as cues. The experiments exploit the fact that bees do not discriminate the global orientation of a straight line of small black squares that are individually resolved, because the local responses to equal lengths of edges at right angles cancel out, and each square has no residual orientation cue. The experiments measure the resolution of this effect by control of the width of the gaps between the squares. At the limit the unit orientation detectors cannot span the gaps. Training with vertical or with horizontal bars in separate experiments, and testing with vertical or horizontal lines of squares, shows that the vertical gaps in horizontal rows are detected with better resolution than horizontal gaps in vertical rows. The results show that unit orientation detectors span not more than 3 ommatidia.     

Do body and fin form affect the abilities of fish to stabilize swimming during maneuvers through vertical and horizontal tubes?

Goldfish, Carassius auratus, silver dollar, Metynnis hypsauchen, and angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare were induced to swim through narrow vertical and horizontal tubes ranging in length from 0 to 20 cm (approximately 0 to 3 times total fish length, FL). The ability to stabilize the body while negotiating these confined spaces was quantified as (1) the minimum width of vertical (w_v) and horizontal (w_h) tubes traversed, where width is the smaller cross-sectional dimension of the tube, (2) the ratio w_v/w_h, and (3) transit speed through the tubes. Tube width was expressed as relative width, obtained by dividing tube width by fish length. Minimum relative widths traversed increased from 0.15 to 0.19 in the order silver dollar > angelfish > goldfish for vertical tubes and from 0.17 to 0.18 in the order goldfish=silver dollar > angelfish for horizontal tubes. w_v/w_h increased from 0.91 to 1.10 in the order silver dollar=angelfish > goldfish. Minimum tube widths generally increased with tube length for vertical tubes. Although significant differences in relative minimum widths among species were found, these were small. In contrast, for horizontal tubes, there was no significant effect of tube length on minimum tube width for any species. Large differences were found in transit speed. Transit speed generally decreased as the tube length increased. The slope of the relationship between transit speed and tube length varied among species generally increasing from – 0.41 to – 1.16 for horizontal tubes in the order goldfish > silver dollar > angelfish and from – 0.42 to – 1.07 in the order silver dollar > goldfish > angelfish for vertical tubes. As a result, goldfish usually took longest to traverse tubes of zero length but the shortest time to traverse the longest tubes. In contrast, angelfish traversed short tubes in the least time and long tubes in the greatest time. Deeper bodied angelfish swam slowly and traversed tubes with difficulty because they required experience during each trial to replace median and paired fin with body and caudal fin swimming. According to our data, goldfish were best able to swim in confined spaces.     

Development of facies and C/O-isotopes in transects through the Ludlow of Gotland: Evidence for global and local influences on a shallow-marine environment

Summary The Silurian of Gotland is characterized by repeated changes in depositional facies development. The deposition of uniform sequences of micritic limestones and marls was interrupted four times by the growth of reef complexes and the formation of expanded carbonate platforms. Coinciding with these, often abrupt, facies changes extinction events occurred which predominantly affected nektonic and planktonic organisms. Ratios of carbon- and oxygen-isotopes covary with the facies development. Periods in which the deposition of limestonemarl alternations prevailed are characterized by relatively low C- and O-isotope values. During periods of enhanced reef growth isotope values are high. For these changes,Bickert et al. (1997) assume climatic changes between humid “H-periods”, with estuarine circulation systems and cutrophic surface waters with decreased salinity in marginal seas, and arid “A-periods”, with an antiestuarine circulation and oligotrophic, stronger saline surface waters. In order to separate local and regional influences on the isotopic development from the global trend, the interactions between facies formation and isotope record have to be clarified. For this purpose, the patterns of isotope values in the upper part of the Silurian sequence on Gotland (upper Wenlock —upper Ludlow) has been determined and stratigraphically correlated along four transects through different facies areas. Facies formation during this time interval was investigated by differentiation and mapping of twelve facies complexes in the southern part of Gotland. These include shelf areas, reef complexes with patch reefs and biostromes, backreef facies, and marginal-marine deposits. The good correspondence between the carbon-isotope records of the four transects suggests that local environmental conditions in the different facies areas did not influence the δ¹³C values. Therefore, a supra-regional or even global mechanism for the C-isotope variations is likely. In contrast to carbon istopes, the oxygen-isotope values of the four transects generally show parallel trends, but higher variabilities and in parts distinctly deviating developments with a trend to more negative values. These are interpreted as an effect of local warming in small shallow-water areas which developed during arid periods in reef complexes and backreef areas. The boundaries between A-periods and H-periods, as defined by δ¹³C values, which are interpreted as isochrones, can be mapped. From the upper Homerian to the Pridolian six parastratigraphic isotope zones are defined which only partly match the stratigraphic division ofHede (1942, 1960). The isotope stratigraphy results in an improved correlation between the shallow and marginal-marine areas in the eastern part of Gotland and the uniform shelf areas at the west coast of the island. Furthermore, a detailed relationship between the development of carbon and oxygen isotope ratios, the carbonate facies formation, and the succession of palaeontological events could be observed. At the transition from H-periods to A-periods, major extinction events occurred prior to the first increase of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values. Extinction events affected conodonts, graptolites, acritarchs, chitinozoans, and vertebrates and resulted in impoverished nektonic and planktonic communities. The reef-building benthos was less affected. Parallel to a first slight increase of isotope values, facies began to change, and reefs developed in suitable locations. The subsequent rapid increase of C- and O-isotope values occurred contemporarily with strong facies changes and a short-term drop of sea-level. Oligotrophic conditions in the later stages of A-periods led to strong reef growth and to an expansion of carbonate platforms. The transitions from A-periods to H-periods were more gradual. The δ¹³C values decreased slowly, but reef growth continued. Later the reefs retreated and were covered by the prograding depositional facies of shelf areas. The diversity of planktonic and nektonic communities increased again. The close relationship between facies formation, palaeontological events and isotope records in the Silurian suggests common steering mechanisms but gives no indication of the causes for the repeated extincion events related to H-period/A-period transitions. Especially the observation, that strong extinctions occurred prior to changes of isotope values and facies, points to causes that left no signals in the geological record. Hypothetical causes like collapse of trophical nets, anoxias, or cooling events are not evident in the sediment record or do not fit into the regular succession of period transitions.     

Determination of human brain weight in vivo by skull measurements

The length, width as well as the axial, sagittal and transversal circumferences of the skull were measured before autopsy in 112 cadavers. The brain was weighed immediately after removal. A residual analysis of the correlations between skull measurements and the true brain weight was carried out, resulting in the formula: brain weight, g = (21.8 x axial circumference, cm) + (13.9 x transversal circumference, cm) + (2.105 x length x width, cm) - 890. The mean brain weight as calculated by this formula was within 1.5% of the true weight in the male and within 0.08% in the female cadavers examined.     

Horizontal transmission of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill

1 Factors influencing horizontal transmission of the entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana in the Colorado potato beetle (CPB) were examined through a series of laboratory studies. 2 Cadaver density, cadaver life stage, ambient temperature and conidial density were the factors manipulated. 3 Mortality and sporulation of burrowing CPB prepupae both increased significantly with increased sporulating second‐instar cadaver density on the soil surface. 4 Mortality rates were significantly higher when prepupae were released into laboratory arenas containing third‐instar cadavers compared to second‐instar cadavers. 5 Mortality and sporulation decreased significantly as temperature increased from 15 °C to 30 °C, however, no temperature‐dependent behavioural response by prepupae could be identified as a potential cause. 6 An 86.1% decrease in conidial density per cadaver had no significant effect on mortality or sporulation of prepupae, indicating that this level of environmental degradation of cadavers may not significantly reduce the probability of horizontal transmission.     

Spatial distribution of nematodes in polar desert soils of Antarctica

The vertical and horizontal distribution of nematodes in polar desert soils was investigated at two field sites in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Soil samples were collected from horizontal (2-m interval) and vertical (depths of 0–2.5 cm, 2.5–5 cm, 5–10 cm, 10–20 cm) grids on the north and south shores of Lake Hoare, and nematodes were extracted, identified to genus and lifecycle stage, and enumerated. Nematodes occurred primarily at depths between 2.5 and 10 cm in the soil profile, and were less abundant at the surface (0–2.5 cm) and at 10–20 cm. Distribution along the horiz ontal grid was patchy. This aggregation may indicate favorable microhabitat sites for nematode growth and reproduction, and provide information about the potential influence of environmental parameters on nematode distribution and population structure in Antarctic soils.     

松嫩平原羊草草甸草原主要植物种群能量积累和分配

在松嫩平原羊草草甸草原,羊草、拂子茅、碱茅和虎尾草各器官热值的季节变化呈波动型,但总的规律是穗＞叶＞茎＞立枯体．4种植物种群地上部能量现存量的季节变化均呈单峰曲线,能量积累量为羊草＞拂子茅＞虎尾草＞碱茅．能量增长率一般呈双峰曲线,第一次峰值出现在抽穗期,第二次在种子成熟期,生长末期出现负值．地上部能量的水平分布规律,不同生育期在各器官中的分配比率不同．4种植物种群能量的垂直分布规律相似,即地上部能量的垂直空间分配格局基本上呈塔形,最大值出现在10-30cm空间内．地下部能量垂直结构由地表至土壤深层呈典型的倒塔形,最大值在0-10cm层．地下部的能量现存量约为地上部的3-4倍。     

Body surface area of Africans: a study based on direct measurements of Nigerian males

Direct measurement of body surface area (Ab) was made on 20 male adult Nigerians of African descent by coating and planimetry. The results were compared with estimated Ab values obtained using six widely accepted height and weight prediction equations. The results show that existing formulas do not predict surface areas of our subjects accurately. Measured Ab values of our subjects were 6-22% greater than predicted values obtained from non-African nomograms. Using these results, we computed new variables for height and weight formulas that accurately predict the surface area of Africans. The closest fit to measured values is given by the equation Ab(m2) = 0.001315 x Height 1.2139 (cm) x weight 0.2620 (kg) +/- 0.04815 (SEE). The new variables are significantly different from those of existing equations. Our height variable is several times greater than the weight variable and reflects a greater importance of height than weight in determining the surface area of Africans than is the case with Caucasians.     

Does vertical disparity scale the perception of stereoscopic depth?

It has been suggested that a measure of the gradients of vertical disparity over a surface may scale the mapping between horizontal disparity and perceived depth. We have investigated this possibility by obtaining estimates of the depth within stereograms that simulated two apposed fronto-parallel planes placed at different distances from an observer. The gradients of vertical disparity in a stereogram were set to simulate those appropriate to a viewing distance of 12.5 cm, 25 cm, 50 cm or 100 cm, whereas the distance specified by vergence and accommodative cues was always fixed at 50 cm. Judgements of the perceived depth between the two planes were uninfluenced by changes in the gradients of vertical disparity. It thus seems that the human visual system does not employ vertical disparity as a scaling parameter in stereoscopic depth judgements.     

Small-field, binocular neurons in the superficial layers of the frog optic tectum

Binocular neurons with receptive fields about 5 degrees across were recorded just beneath the pia. Most of them responded to dark stimuli in the lower half of their receptive field and to light stimuli above. There was almost no vertical disparity between the left and right fields and the modal value of the horizontal disparity of the population of cells was 1.7 degrees. Because frogs do not verge their eyes it is possible to calculate at what distance the receptive fields through the two eyes are superimposed. This calculation suggests that the neurons are tuned to detect features in the external world about 50 cm away. This is too far for the neurons to be involved in the frog's everyday distance vision. It is more likely that they are concerned with assessing the vertical position of a horizontal surface.     

A geostatistical analysis of small-scale spatial variability in bacterial abundance and community structure in salt marsh creek bank sediments

Small-scale variations in bacterial abundance and community structure were examined in salt marsh sediments from Virginia's eastern shore. Samples were collected at 5 cm intervals (horizontally) along a 50 cm elevation gradient, over a 215 cm horizontal transect. For each sample, bacterial abundance was determined using acridine orange direct counts and community structure was analyzed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting of whole-community DNA extracts. A geostatistical analysis was used to determine the degree of spatial autocorrelation among the samples, for each variable and each direction (horizontal and vertical). The proportion of variance in bacterial abundance that could be accounted for by the spatial model was quite high (vertical: 60%, horizontal: 73%); significant autocorrelation was found among samples separated by 25 cm in the vertical direction and up to 115 cm horizontally. In contrast, most of the variability in community structure was not accounted for by simply considering the spatial separation of samples (vertical: 11%, horizontal: 22%), and must reflect variability from other parameters (e.g., variation at other spatial scales, experimental error, or environmental heterogeneity). Microbial community patch size based upon overall similarity in community structure varied between 17 cm (vertical) and 35 cm (horizontal). Overall, variability due to horizontal position (distance from the creek bank) was much smaller than that due to vertical position (elevation) for both community properties assayed. This suggests that processes more correlated with elevation (e.g., drainage and redox potential) vary at a smaller scale (therefore producing smaller patch sizes) than processes controlled by distance from the creek bank.     

Nitrogen transformation in two subsurface infiltration systems at pilot scale

Nitrogen removal and transformations were studied in two pilot-scale combinations of a special configuration of a subsurface wastewater infiltration system with vertical flow named symbiotic treatment^®. Both pilot-scale combinations operated in parallel and each one consists of four stages in series, one of them with a vertical distribution of stages and the other one with a horizontal distribution. The main differences between them were the separation between stages (presence (the horizontal distribution)/absence (the vertical distribution) of filtration between steps), the hydraulic load (0.113 m³/m² h and 0.082 m³/m² h for the horizontal and the vertical distribution, respectively) and the depth of the soil filters (1 m each stage in the horizontal distribution whereas the depths in the vertical distribution ranges from 20 cm to 40 cm). Results of both configurations showed elevated dissolved oxygen concentration, and high removal of organic matter and total suspended solids (with mean removal values of 96% for COD for both plants and 90% and 98% for TSS for the vertical and the horizontal distribution, respectively). High total Kjeldahl nitrogen removals were obtained in both configurations (mean removals of 70% and 90% for the vertical and the horizontal distribution, respectively). Whereas the nitrification potential was higher in the configuration with horizontal distribution which includes pumping and filtering between stages and higher depth of the soil filters, both tested configurations showed promise for nitrification of wastewater, ammonia nitrogen was efficiently transformed to nitrate.     

聚四氟乙烯对温带臭虫爬行能力的影响

温带臭虫Cimex lectularius L.是一种重要的卫生害虫,严重影响人们的生活和健康。目前有关该虫的防治措施主要以喷洒化学杀虫剂为主,而杀虫剂的使用不当极易导致该虫抗药性的产生或进一步加重,还将对人身安全构成极大的威胁。因此,探索高效、安全的防治方法成为当前温带臭虫防治过程中亟待解决的问题。本研究在实验室条件下采用行为观察法评估了高分子聚合物-聚四氟乙烯对温带臭虫垂直和水平爬行能力的影响。结果表明,随着聚四氟乙烯涂层宽度的增加,温带臭虫的垂直攀爬能力逐渐降低,当涂层宽度为6 cm时可100%阻隔温带臭虫垂直攀爬,且涂层的持效期可达112 d以上。而聚四氟乙烯涂层无法阻止温带臭虫的水平扩散。研究结果可为温带臭虫的高效、安全物理预防提供理论依据和技术支持。     

Maintenance of the shore-level size gradient in the marine snail Tegula funebralis (A. Adams): Importance of behavioral responses to light and sea star predators

The intertidal gastropod, Tegula funebralis (A. Adams) exhibits a shore-level size gradient with mean shell size increasing in a down-shore direction. Snails transferred to zones where they do not usually occur migrated back towards their original zone, thus re-establishing a size gradient and implying differential movement among size classes. Both large (≥2.1 cm shell width) and small (≤ 1.77 cm) snails were photonegative on a horizontal surface and geonegative in the laboratory; there were no statistical differences between size classes. Light, however, inhibited upward, or caused downward, movement of large snails on vertical surfaces. Small snails were unaffected, ranging higher on illuminated vertical surfaces than large snails. Both sizes exhibited similar distributions in the dark. In an experimental chamber providing both emersed and immersed surfaces, T. funebralis established vertical size gradients when the chamber was illuminated from above. It is suggested that light is an important factor in the formation and maintenance of Tegula's shore-level size gradient.In response to water-borne chemicals derived from the sea star Pisaster ochraceus (Brandt), large snails moved up vertical surfaces in greater proportion than small. In response to contact with the predator, large snails moved away faster than small and individuals collected from crevices in the field moved away slower than those collected from open rock faces. Although predation may select for a size gradient in Tegulafunebralis, it is unlikely that responses to predatory sea stars directly and proximally cause or maintain them over the short term.     

Modelling Beauveria bassiana horizontal transmission

1 We modelled horizontal transmission of Beauveria bassiana in Colorado potato beetle (CPB) between larval cadavers and soil inhabiting prepupae. 2 The rate of disease transmission, based on the probability of a prepupa contacting sporulating cadavers on the soil surface, is a non‐linear function of cadaver density and also dependent upon temperature. 3 The spatial pattern of cadavers is needed to estimate prepupal contacts with cadavers. Observational field studies determined Johnson distributions to model the spatial pattern of cadavers and prepupae in the field. The model also implicitly incorporates within‐field larval spatial pattern into estimates of field‐level horizontal transmission. 4 Potential for horizontal transmission is higher in simulations using weather data from the warmer year of 1995, than in simulations of the cooler growing season of 1993. 5 Simulations of CPB populations under northern Maine climatic conditions recorded in 1993 and 1995 suggest that horizontal transmission can range from 3 to 24% depending upon the timing of primary infection of larvae in the field. 6 Two simulated sequential applications of B. bassiana targeted at peak first instars resulted in maximum horizontal infection in both years. 7 Sensitivity analysis suggests that horizontal transmission is most sensitive to changes in the proportion of cadavers that sporulate and least sensitive to changes in the time between larval death and the onset of cadaver sporulation. 8 Field validation of the model indicates good prediction of one measure of horizontal infection, the proportion of prepupae which eventually sporulated after being released in controlled field experiments.