A re-evaluation of the metric diversity within Homo erectus

Previous work by several researchers has suggested that the cranial sample from Zhoukoudian possesses a unique metric pattern relative to the African and Asian specimens assigned to Homo erectus. The current study readdresses this issue with an expanded fossil sample and a larger and more comprehensive set of cranial measurements. To test the patterns present in the assemblage, canonical variates analysis was performed using a covariance matrix generated from the Howells data set. From this, interindividual Mahalanobis distances were computed for the fossils. Random expectation statistics were then used to measure statistical significance of the Mahalanobis distances. The results show that the Zhoukoudian hominids exhibit a unique metric pattern not shared by the African and Indonesian crania sampled. In these tests the Hexian calvaria resembled the African and Indonesian specimens and differed significantly from the craniometric pattern seen in the Zhoukoudian fossils. The Zhoukoudian specimens are characterized by a wide midvault and relatively narrow occipital and frontal bones, while the African and Indonesian crania (including Hexian) have relatively broad frontal and occipital dimensions compared to their midvaults. These results do not suggest that a multiple-species scenario is necessary to encompass the variation present in the sample. Based on the current evidence it is more probable that this variation reflects polytypism influenced by environmental adaptation and/or genetic drift.     

鱼类群落多样性研究的理论与方法

我国水域面积巨大,生物多样性居世界第三。然而因水体污染、水生植被破坏、湖泊围垦、江湖阻隔、过度捕捞等因素影响,目前我国许多水体的鱼类群落多样性不断下降,水生生态系统功能逐渐退化。通过鱼类群落多样性的相关研究,可在群落水平上反映水域生态系统结构与功能对生态环境变化的响应。为此,综述了鱼类群落研究中水下观察、蹦网、罩网、刺网、电捕、拖网、围网、定置张网等各种采样方法的特点,测度鱼类群落多样性的各种指数类型,距岸距离、水生植物、水深、底质、溶氧、温度、盐度等环境因子对鱼类群落多样性的影响,以及鱼类群落多样性与生态系统功能间的关系,旨在为鱼类群落多样性的研究提供理论参考,推动渔业生产与环境保护的协调发展。     

Disturbance regimes in North Queensland rainforests: A re-evaluation of their relationship to species richness and diversity

Changes in tree species richness and diversity after logging and natural disturbance on small rainforest plots in north Queensland were studied by Nicholson et al. (1988). They found logging had enhanced richness and diversity, which declined in its absence. A re-evaluation of their data, especially those on the predisturbance condition of these plots, indicates that their conclusions are untenable.     

A structure-based database of antibody variable domain diversity

The diversity of natural antibodies is limited by the genetic mechanisms that engender diversity and the functional requirements of antigen binding. Using an in vitro-evolved autonomous heavy chain variable domain (V(H)H-RIG), we have investigated the limits of structurally-tolerated diversity in the three complementarity-determining regions and a fourth loop within the third framework region. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of the V(H)H-RIG domain at 1.9A resolution and used it to guide the design of phage-displayed libraries encompassing the four loops. The libraries were subjected to selections for structural stability, and a database of structurally-tolerated sequences was compiled from the sequences of approximately 1000 unique clones. The results reveal that all four loops accommodate significantly greater diversity than is observed in nature. Thus, it appears that most sequence biases in the natural immune repertoire arise from factors other than structural constraints and, consequently, it should be possible to enhance the functions of antibodies significantly through in vitro evolution.     

On the generation of diversity in archipelagos: a re-evaluation of the Quinn-Harrison 'saturation index'

Aim Quinn & Harrison (1988; Oecologia, 75, 132) suggested that several small, isolated islands generally bore a higher diversity than fewer (or single) larger islands. They proposed a method by which the cumulative diversity of islands arranged small-to-large (‘STOL’) and large-to-small (‘LTOS’) could be used to identify how island area and species distributions interact to produce the system-wide or ensemble diversity. From these curves, an ‘index of saturation’ (SI) was calculated to summarize the way in which diversity is generated on a given archipelago. Unfortunately, the method did not allow statistical judgements to be made. Our paper considers the reliability of the Quinn-Harrison approach, especially in light of the inconsistency of its implications compared with ‘nestedness’ analyses. Location Three example data sets are used: reptiles from the archipelagos of the Sea of Cortéz, breeding land-birds from the Canary Islands, and stream invertebrates occupying rocks in the Steavenson River of central Victoria, Australia. Methods We refine the Quinn-Harrison technique to produce a method by which the difference between the STOL and LTOS cumulative diversity curves can be gauged statistically (the ξ statistic). We also propose an alternative statistic (η)—which we believe to be more intuitive—that preferentially weights species occurring on few patches and that can be statistically assessed by using Monte Carlo simulation. Results The basic Quinn-Harrison technique is not reliable for diagnosing whether systems are characterized by STOL or LTOS patterns. The three example data sets provide the range of options for faunal-diversity generation (STOL overlies LTOS, LTOS overlies STOL, and coincident). However, statistical analyses indicate that the patterns all are generated by the rarer species occupying larger islands. The results of the revised ξ statistic and especially the η statistic are consistent with this deduction, which in turn relate well with faunal-nestedness analyses. Main conclusions There was a contradiction between the Quinn-Harrison analyses, which suggested that most rarer taxa occurred in impoverished, smaller islands, and results of nestedness analyses, which indicated that the rarer taxa occurred on more speciose, larger islands. The resolution to this dilemma is that the Quinn-Harrison diagram and saturation index are so flawed that they yield unreliable results vis a vis the generation of diversity on archipelagos.     

A re-evaluation of marine nematode productivity

Nematodes are the most abundant multicellular animals in marine sediments but their role in the benthos has not been properly quantified yet. In nearly all energy-flow budgets of marine systems their annual production P is given as about nine times their mean biomass B and their part in the total energy-flow is consequently estimated as anywhere between 3 and 30% of the total (carbon) input in the benthic system. Our laboratory experiments demonstrate that nematode productivity is much higher than P/B 9 per year and may reach values of over 60 for bacterial grazers. To obtain more reliable estimates for field populations we propose a regression equation relating egg-to-egg development time T_min to temperature (t) and adult female weight (W in µg wet weight):log T_min = 2.202–0.0461 t + 0.627 log W. When multiplied by the constant biomass turnover per generation (P/B)_gen = 3, development rate 1/T_min is a good predictor of daily P/B. This method was applied to two series of field data. A rather stable community from a sublittoral mud in the North Sea had an annual P/B = 20. A less stable Aufwuchs community from Sargassum in Japan had an annual P/B = 58.     

A re-evaluation of cytoplasmic gelsolin localization

Gelsolin is a 90,000-mol-wt Ca2+-binding, actin-associated protein that can nucleate actin filament growth, sever filaments, and cap barbed filament ends. Brevin is a closely related 92,000-mol-wt plasma protein with similar properties. Gelsolin has been reported to be localized on actin filaments in stress fibers, in cardiac and skeletal muscle I-bands, and in cellular regions where actin filaments are known to be concentrated. Previous localization studies have used sera or antibody preparations that contain brevin. Using purified brevin-free IgG and IgA monoclonal antibodies or affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies for gelsolin and brevin, we find no preferential stress fiber staining in cultured human fibroblasts or I-band staining in isolated rabbit skeletal muscle sarcomeres. Cardiac muscle frozen sections show no pronounced I-band staining, except in local areas where brevin may have penetrated from adjacent blood vessels. Spreading platelets show endogenous gelsolin localized at the cell periphery, in the central cytoplasmic mass and on thin fibers that radiate from the central cytoplasm. Addition of 3-30 micrograms/ml of brevin to the antibodies restores intense stress fiber and I-band staining. We see no evidence for large-scale severing and removal of filaments in stress fibers in formaldehyde-fixed, acetone-permeabilized cells even at brevin concentrations of 30 micrograms/ml. The added brevin or brevin antibody complex binds to actin filaments and is detected by the fluorescently tagged secondary antibody. Brevin binding occurs in either Ca2+ or EGTA, but is slightly more intense in EGTA suggesting some severing and filament removal may occur in Ca2+. The I-band staining is limited to the region where actin and myosin do not overlap. In addition, brevin does not appear to bind at the Z-line. A comparison of cells double-labeled with fluorescein-phallotoxin, exogenous brevin, and a monoclonal antibody, detected with a rhodamine-labeled secondary antibody, shows almost complete co-localization of F-actin with the brevin-gelsolin-binding sites. A major exception is in the area of the adhesion plaque. A quantitative comparison of the fluorescein-rhodamine fluorescence intensities along a stress fiber and into the adhesion plaque shows that the fluorescein signal, associated with F-actin, increases while the rhodamine signal decreases. We infer that exogenous brevin or endogenous gelsolin can bind to and potentially sever most actin filaments, but that actin-associated proteins in the adhesion plaque can prevent binding and severing.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Microtubule-organizing centres: a re-evaluation

The number, length, distribution and polarity of microtubules are largely controlled by microtubule-organizing centres, which nucleate and anchor microtubule minus ends in a process that requires gamma-tubulin. Here we discuss recent evidence indicating that gamma-tubulin-dependent formation of new microtubules is not restricted to conventional microtubule-organizing centres. These findings suggest that the spatio-temporal control of microtubule nucleation is more complex than previously thought, leading us to a re-evaluation of the concept of the microtubule-organizing center.     

A re-evaluation of biomedical named entity-term relations

Text mining can support the interpretation of the enormous quantity of textual data produced in biomedical field. Recent developments in biomedical text mining include advances in the reliability of the recognition of named entities (NEs) such as specific genes and proteins, as well as movement toward richer representations of the associations of NEs. We argue that this shift in representation should be accompanied by the adoption of a more detailed model of the relations holding between NEs and other relevant domain terms. As a step toward this goal, we study NE-term relations with the aim of defining a detailed, broadly applicable set of relation types based on accepted domain standard concepts for use in corpus annotation and domain information extraction approaches.