What does the "screening hypochromism of chromophores" actually imply?

Comments to the article of N.L. Vekshin "Screening hypochromism of chromophores in macromolecular biostructures (Biophysics, 1999. V. 44. P. 45.) are given. The incorrectness of the main propositions and results of the study is shown.     

What do simple models reveal about the population dynamics of a cooperatively breeding species?

Research on cooperatively breeding species has shown that their population dynamics differ from those of conventional breeders. Populations of cooperators are structured into groups, and group‐level Allee effects are likely common. We assess the ability of phenomenological models, lacking explicit group structure, to describe population dynamics in cooperative meerkats Suricata suricatta, and we assess potential Allee effects at the population level. Using maximum likelihood model fitting and information theoretic model selection, applied to time series data from a wild meerkat population, we find simple models that incorporate rainfall and conventional density dependence to be the most parsimonious of the models considered. Detecting no population‐level Allee effect, we conclude that explicit consideration of population structure will be key to understanding the mechanisms behind population dynamics in cooperatively breeding species.     

What can vicariance biogeographic models tell us about the distributional history of subterranean amphipods?

Because of taxonomic diversity, geographic isolation, and other considerations, subterranean groundwater amphipods would appear to make excellent candidates for biogeographic studies. Limted dispersal ability in combination with local endemism makes it likely that vicariance models will generally offer better explanations for present distribution patterns of subterranean amphipods than scenarios based on centers of origin and dispersal. Vicariance biogeography demands a knowledge of both phylogeny and area relationships, which are typically shown on biological area cladograms. To date most biogeographic studies on subterranean amphipods have been limited to cladograms of single taxonomic groups. Although useful in showing possible relationships between areas and nested subsets of taxa, these single taxon studies do not consider covariant patterns among different groups. However, in order to be fully effective, future biogeographic research will have to focus on analyses of congruence between biological area cladograms of amphipod taxa and other subterranean crustacean groups, such as isopods. To date many covariant distributions among groups of subterranean crustaceans have been recognized but not yet analyzed for congruence.     

What are we talking about when we talk about education and Chagas? A systematic review of the issue

More than 110 years has passed since the first publications on Chagas disease, and it still urges the necessity of understanding it as a complex socioenvironmental issue in which components of diverse nature converge and interact beyond the biomedical and epidemiological aspects. The current scenarios of the issue, both rural and Latin American as urban and global, demand that the education on Chagas disease include all possible contexts: where there are insect vectors and where there are not; inside and outside Latin America; in rural, periurban, and urban areas; in formal and non-formal educational environments. We consider essential the requirement of both an integral approach that overcomes the biomedical aspect to include the multidimensionality of the issue and a dialogical educational perspective that allows individuals and communities to analyze, decide, and lead contextualized prevention and promotion actions regarding their health. In this study, we surveyed, described, and critically analyzed studies approaching the link education-Chagas disease in scientific publications from the last 15 years. We aimed at contributing methodological-theoretical elements to (re)think the development of educational research and experiences that truly help facing this issue. From the electronic search of scientific literature in 6 databases, we found 426 articles, out of which we selected 25. We incorporated 10 articles from other sources to this initial corpus and performed both qualitative and quantitative analyses over the total number [35] to characterize the studied works in general, focusing on the conceptions on the Chagas disease issue and the underlying health education approaches.     

Molecular phylogeny of ciliates: What does it tell us about the evolution of the cytoskeleton and of developmental strategies?

An rRNA phylogeny of 22 species of ciliates belonging to seven of Small and Lynn's eight classes has been obtained by distance and parsimony methods. It displays good congruence with classical systematics at low taxonomic levels and several major surprises at higher levels: (1) The species analyzed group into five major branches, four of which emerge almost simultaneously: hypotrichs, oligohymenophorans, lito-stomes, and nassophoreans corresponding to four of Small and Lynn's classes. The simultaneous emergence of these groups contradicts the long accepted view that litostomes (a group with “simple”, symmetrical, apical oral apparatus) are “primitive,” while hypotrichs are “highly evolved.” (2) Heterotrichs group with a karyorelictid, together forming the first emerging branch. While this supports the view that karyorelictids may be early-emerging ciliates, it completely explodes the traditional “spirotrichs” taxon, which united heterotrichs and hypotrichs. Instead, this reinforces the concept of Postciliodesmatophora and suggests that asymmetric oral apparatuses (i.e., with distinct paroral and adoral ciliatures) may be primitive in ciliates. The global topology of the tree therefore does not fit with the classical views of ciliate evolution, from “simple” oral apparatus and stomatogenesis to “complex” ones. Instead, a rather striking agreement with the strategy adopted to construct the cortical framework was disclosed. We noted that the cytoskeletal elements used to strengthen the cell surface could be subdivided into four main types: epiplasm, filaments, continuous microtu-bules, or basal body derived fibers. These four types fitted quite well with the major evolutionary lines disclosed by the molecular phylogeny. We therefore discuss unorthodox hypotheses assuming an early explosive radiation of ciliates into a small number of major lineages differing essentially in the solution adopted to subtend the cell surface and anchor the infraciliature. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

What does the fruitless gene tell us about nature vs. nurture in the sex life of Drosophila?

The fruitless (fru) gene in Drosophila has been proposed to play a master regulator role in the formation of neural circuitries for male courtship behavior, which is typically considered to be an innate behavior composed of a fixed action pattern as generated by the central pattern generator. However, recent studies have shed light on experience-dependent changes and sensory-input-guided plasticity in courtship behavior. For example, enhanced male-male courtship, a fru mutant “hallmark,” disappears when fru-mutant males are raised in isolation. The fact that neural fru expression is induced by neural activities in the adult invites the supposition that Fru as a chromatin regulator mediates experience-dependent epigenetic modification, which underlies the neural and behavioral plasticity.     

What happens to children when they grow up? How does the human body change after the age of 18

The present study answers the question on how the human body changes in two successive decades after its final height had been reached. One hundred and three individuals (56 males and 47 females) who were followed up longitudinally by a team of scientists from birth to 18 years of age were investigated anthropometrically by 18 body measurements again when they reached the age of between 35 and 39 years. The Carter-Heath somatotype was ascertained as a part of the study. The results of the investigation at the age of 35 to 39 years were compared with the Czech Standard and with those from 18 years of age. The means of all measurements in both sexes increased with age (with the exception of stature in females). Relative measurements and indices, which were calculated only in the groups of 35-39 year-olds were all on the average greater in males than in females with the exception of relative head circumferences and pelvis width, in the pelvis width in per cent of biacromial width, in the sum of skinfolds, and in the gross percent of body fat. Males as well as females increased from the age of 18 to 35-39 as a rule in weight, muscle, bone and fat mass, which were manifested by a shift towards endomorphic and mesomorphic components of their somatotypes away from the ectomorphic one.     

What factors are responsible for the greater yield of ATP per carbon atom when fatty acids are completely oxidised to CO2 and water compared with glucose?

Some current textbooks of biochemistry present calculations which indicate that when palmitic or stearic acid is completely oxidised to CO₂ and water, more molecules of ATP are produced per carbon atom than when glucose is similarly oxidised. This greater yield of ATP is not due to ATP produced as a result of the β-oxidative process, but rather due to the increased yield of acetyl-CoA molecules produced from fatty acids (3 acetyl-CoA molecules per 6 carbon atoms) compared with that produced from glucose (2 acetyl-CoA molecules per 6 carbon atoms).     

Review and analysis of the surveys for natural enemies of Mimosa pigra: What does it tell us about surveys for broadly distributed hosts?

Mimosa pigra L. (Mimosaceae), a serious weed in Australia and Asia, has been the target of a biological control project for 25 years. This woody legume occurs naturally in all tropical American countries from Mexico to Argentina and on many Caribbean islands. In this paper, we analysed the results of surveys for natural enemies of M. pigra conducted in seven countries by several different collectors and which revealed 420 species of insects and five of fungi. We assessed the survey effort relative to the natural distribution of the host-plant to show that large areas of the natural distribution were not covered. We examined the known distribution of the natural enemies to show that most natural enemies occur over the majority of the range of the host, although the Isthmus of Panama is a barrier to many species. This indicates that few potential agents were missed. We show species accumulation curves for three sites to estimate the number of visits required to find most species at a site. Although the species accumulation curves continued to rise, even after 28 collections and 101 insects found at one site, the species utilised for biological control were found relatively early. We expect that these general conclusions (that those insects with potential for biological control are widely distributed and relatively quickly discovered) are applicable to biological control surveys of any target that occurs continuously over a wide geographic range, but possibly not to targets that occupy disjunct distributions.     

What does species richness tell us about functional trait diversity? Predictions and evidence for responses of species and functional trait diversity to land‐use change

In the conservation literature on land‐use change, it is often assumed that land‐use intensification drives species loss, driving a loss of functional trait diversity and ecosystem function. Modern research, however, does not support this cascade of loss for all natural systems. In this paper we explore the errors in this assumption and present a conceptual model taking a more mechanistic approach to the species–functional trait association in a context of land‐use change. We provide empirical support for our model's predictions demonstrating that the association of species and functional trait diversity follows various trajectories in response to land‐use change. The central premise of our model is that land‐use change impacts upon processes of community assembly, not species per se. From the model, it is clear that community context (i.e. type of disturbance, species pool size) will affect the response trajectory of the relationship between species and functional trait diversity in communities undergoing land‐use change. The maintenance of ecosystem function and of species diversity in the face of increasing land‐use change are complementary goals. The use of a more ecologically realistic model of responses of species and functional traits will improve our ability to make wise management decisions to achieve both aims in specific at‐risk systems.