Means and extremes: building variability into community‐level climate change experiments

Experimental studies assessing climatic effects on ecological communities have typically applied static warming treatments. Although these studies have been informative, they have usually failed to incorporate either current or predicted future, patterns of variability. Future climates are likely to include extreme events which have greater impacts on ecological systems than changes in means alone. Here, we review the studies which have used experiments to assess impacts of temperature on marine, freshwater and terrestrial communities, and classify them into a set of ‘generations’ based on how they incorporate variability. The majority of studies have failed to incorporate extreme events. In terrestrial ecosystems in particular, experimental treatments have reduced temperature variability, when most climate models predict increased variability. Marine studies have tended to not concentrate on changes in variability, likely in part because the thermal mass of oceans will moderate variation. In freshwaters, climate change experiments have a much shorter history than in the other ecosystems, and have tended to take a relatively simple approach. We propose a new ‘generation’ of climate change experiments using down‐scaled climate models which incorporate predicted changes in climatic variability, and describe a process for generating data which can be applied as experimental climate change treatments.     

Biomass estimation of orange roughy: a summary and evaluation of techniques for measuring stock size of a deep-water fish species in New Zealand

A number of techniques have been employed to measure biomass of orange roughy in New Zealand. Time series of stratified random trawl surveys in a number of areas over periods of 5–10 years have given relative abundance indices, which have been used in stock reduction analyses to estimate true biomass. This has given confident results for the Chatham Rise stock, and surveys have also shown strong trends in other regions. Acoustic surveys have been carried out on three grounds. They can give relative indices of orange roughy abundance in areas of fiat or medium sloping bottom, and have the potential for estimation of absolute biomass from a single survey. Egg production surveys have been employed on two grounds on the east coast of the North Island, where conditions of tight spawning aggregations and steep bottom topography have limited the success of other methods. Both daily fecundity reduction and annual egg production methods have been used. These have given estimates of true biomass from one-off surveys, although results are imprecise. Both unstandardized and standardized analyses of commercial catch-per-unit-effort data have given relative indices of abundance, which have formed an important part of stock assessment for several fisheries. No single technique used to measure the size of orange roughy stocks has proven ideal or appropriate in all New Zealand situations. All have advantages and disadvantages, depending on the characteristics of the fishing area and fish behaviour. For two areas, a combination of methods have been applied, which has given more confident results than those from a single technique.     

《西北植物学报》2004～2006年载文来源基本信息分析

对《西北植物学报》2004~2006年载文来源基本信息进行统计分析,表明《西北植物学报》自2004年以来,投稿量逐年增加,稿源的地区分布范围进一步扩大,所载论文第一作者具有硕士以上学位的达55%,具有副高以上职称的占30.8%,40岁以下作者占76.4%,刊发论文的作者合作率达97%,论文项目的机构协作率达57%,基金论文达91%,学报影响因子逐年提高,2006年达到0.863.说明《西北植物学报》影响范围不断扩大,载文的作者具有较深厚的学术研究底蕴和较高的研究水平,论文能及时而真实地反映我国植物学领域的研究前沿动态和研究水平,载文的学术水平和影响力得到进一步提升.     

Riboregulators in kidney development and function

The discovery of microRNAs has brought in another level of intricacy in gene regulation. These microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that have dual ability to act as repressors or inducers of gene activity. MicroRNAs have been implicated in a wide spectrum of biological processes and their expressions have been found to be dysregulated in several diseases. Recently, microRNAs have emerged as a new area of interest in renal development and pathology. MicroRNA profilings have revealed a number of microRNAs that are specific to the kidney or restricted to certain regions of the organ suggesting possible exclusive roles therein. Recently, knockout studies have shown that these riboregulators are critical for normal renal growth and functional renal system. Individual microRNAs have also been identified in renal disease models including kidney cancers, diabetic nephropathy and polycystic kidney disease. Several mechanisms of modulating microRNA activity have also been introduced in recent years. Further progress in the understanding of microRNA activity, identification of microRNA signatures in different states as well as advancement of microRNA manipulation techniques will be valuable for kidney research.     

A simple approach discriminating cardio-safe drugs from toxic ones

More than 130 FDA-approved drugs have been identified for now to prolong the QT interval and possibly lead to sudden cardiac death. Due to their toxic effect, some of these drugs have been withdrawn from the pharmaceutical market. In this study, we have formulated few rules to assess the ability to prolong QT interval and thereby discriminate between cardiotoxic and -safe drugs. These rules have clearly determined that cardio-toxic drugs are more likely to obey Lipinski rule of 5 and Oprea lead-like rule. Moreover, the cardio-toxic drugs have been found to have in common values of -0.5 to 6.5 log P, 1-5 nitrogen atoms, up to 4 oxygen atoms, 5-27 hydrophobic atoms, and 15-53 single bonds. Matthews Correlation Coefficient with the value of 0.6 was also attained and nearly 96% of the cardio-toxic drugs were successfully covered. Thus, despite the simplicity of this methodology, we have obtained interesting and informative results. The proposed set of these simple rules could be employed to infer cardio-toxicity or -safety for current and potential drugs. The present study will have important impact on decision making in the fields of drug development, molecule screening in biological assays, and other applications as well.     

Probiotics,antibiotics and the immune responses to vaccines

Orally delivered vaccines have been shown to perform poorly in developing countries. There are marked differences in the structure and the luminal environment of the gut in developing countries resulting in changes in immune and barrier function. Recent studies using newly developed technology and analytic methods have made it increasingly clear that the intestinal microbiota activate a multitude of pathways that control innate and adaptive immunity in the gut. Several hypotheses have been proposed for the underperformance of oral vaccines in developing countries, and modulation of the intestinal microbiota is now being tested in human clinical trials. Supplementation with specific strains of probiotics has been shown to have modulatory effects on intestinal and systemic immune responses in animal models and forms the basis for human studies with vaccines. However, most studies published so far that have evaluated the immune response to vaccines in children and adults have been small and results have varied by age, antigen, type of antibody response and probiotic strain. Use of anthelminthic drugs in children has been shown to possibly increase immunogenicity following oral cholera vaccination, lending further support to the rationale for modulation of the immune response to oral vaccination through the intestinal microbiome.     

湖南山茶属植物种质资源调查、收集和利用的研究

调查研究表明:湖南山茶属植物种质资源极为丰富,种类由原来的29种,增加到现在的52种,特有种由原来的4种,增加到12种,发现了湖南白山茶、小红花茶和假长果连芯茶3新种和变色小红花茶1变种。山茶属植物较为集中地分布于湖南南部和西南部,向东西扩散而逐渐减少;我们对41种进行了果实性状、种子含油率、油脂理化性质、油脂脂肪酸组成及其规律等分析,其结果表明:山茶属植物油脂含量丰富、质好,无污染,耐贮藏,是理想的食用和工业用油,具有较高经济利用价值。首次发现山茶属植物油脂中含有廿二碳烯酸。     

Climate change and amphibian declines: is there a link?

Abstract. Global climates have been changing, sometimes rapidly and dramatically, throughout the evolutionary history of amphibians. Therefore, existing amphibian species have been derived from those that have survived major climatic disturbances. Although recent global climate change has resulted in warming in many regions, temperatures in some areas to date have not changed measurably, or have even cooled. Declines of some amphibian populations have been correlated with climate events, but demonstrations of direct causal relationships need further research. Data are available indicating some indirect effect of climate change on the initiation of breeding activities of some amphibians that occur earlier than in previous springs, but the costs and benefits of these changes are just beginning to be investigated. Climate may also play an indirect role in facilitating epidemics of infectious disease. Regardless of the role that climate changes may have played in past and current amphibian declines, future shifts in climate, should they prove as dramatic as predicted, will certainly pose challenges for surviving amphibian populations and for successful recovery efforts of species that have suffered declines.     

Interventional ultrasound in pregnant macaques: embryonic/fetal applications

Similarities in developmental biology between human and nonhuman primates have resulted in the use of macaque species as models in perinatal research. Studies have frequently included invasive surgical procedures or may have required "blind" injections. Several techniques have been established in human subjects using ultrasound as a guide such as cordocentesis and fetal therapy. These techniques have been applied to the nonhuman primate laboratory setting, which significantly decreases the risk of pregnancy loss due to experimental intervention.     

Molecular biology of fruit ripening and its manipulation with antisense genes

Considerable progress in tomato molecular biology has been made over the past five years. At least 19 different mRNAs which increase in amount during tomato fruit ripening have been cloned and genes for enzymes involved in cell wall degradation (polygalacturonase and pectinesterase) and ethylene synthesis (ACC synthase) have been identified by conventional procedures. Transgenic plants have been used to identify regions of DNA flanking fruit-specific, ripening-related and ethylene-regulated genes and trans-acting factors which bind to these promoters have also been identified.Antisense genes expressed in transgenic plants have proved to be highly effective for inhibiting the specific expression of ripening-related genes. These experiments have changed our understanding of how softening occurs in tomato fruit. Antisense techniques have also been used to identify genes encoding enzymes for carotenoid biosynthesis (phytoene synthase) and ethylene biosynthesis (the ethylene-forming enzyme). The altered characteristics of fruit transformed with specific antisense genes, such as retarded ripening and resistance to splitting, may prove to be of value to fruit growers, processors and ultimately the consumer.     

The Role of Tree Gaps in Maintaining the Population Structure of a Woodland Herb: Cynoglossum virginianum L.

Abstract Tree gaps may be important habitats for the establishment and spread of understory herbs in eastern (US) deciduous forests. Data from past studies, however, have not shown any clear patterns for either species diversity or increased percent cover. The lack of clear patterns of response to gaps by herbs may be due to evolutionary differences among species or, in part, due to the fact that most studies have been short-term and long-term patterns have, therefore, not been observed. In addition, few studies have considered the responses of individual genets and/or ramets. We have been conducting a long-term study of Cynoglossum virginianum , now in its 16th year, to determine subpopulation and individuals' responses in gap and non-gap habitats. A larger percentage of individuals flowered in the gap subpopulation shortly after it was created. Seed production rates were also higher in the gap subpopulation. The long-term benefits gained by the short-term flowering response have, however, been few as all but two of the seedlings produced within a few years of gap formation have died. In addition, all of individuals that flowered and produced seeds decreased in size and most have remained in the smaller size classes. In addition, only one of the individuals in the gap subpopulation has flowered since the initial flowering response while plants in non-gap subpopulations have flowered and produced seeds throughout the study period. Gaps may only be beneficial to C. virginianum if seeds are dispersed into non-gap areas or if seeds can remain dormant in the soil until conditions are more suitable for seedling survival.     

What if Fleming had not discovered penicillin?

What would have happened had Alexander Fleming not discovered penicillin in 1928? Perhaps the obvious answer is that, someone else would have discovered penicillin during 1930s and the Oxford group, would still have purified it sometime in the early 1940s. Here, however, in this counterfactual account of the penicillin story, it is argued that without Fleming, penicillin might still be undiscovered and the antibiotic age would never have dawned. As a result, many of the recent developments in medicine, such as organ transplantation, might have been delayed or, at best, made more hazardous. Penicillin might have come onto the scene a few years later but, had Fleming overlooked the discovery, it seems certain that penicillin would not have saved countless Allied lives, during and after D-Day. Instead of having enjoyed fifty and more years of the antibiotic age, it is argued here, that we would have had to rely upon highly developed sulphonamides, so-called “supasulfas”, and other chemically-derived antibacterial drugs. Indeed, it might be the case that, even well into this new millennium, the antibiotic age has yet to dawn, and medicine is still waiting for someone to chance upon penicillin. Here we discuss what might have happened had Fleming not discovered penicillin and come to the conclusion that the medical armoury available today would have been far different and might have relied solely upon highly developed varieties of sulphonamides or similar, synthetic, non-antibiotic antibacterial agents.     

Tachykinins and the control of prolactin secretion

Tachykinins are present in the pituitary gland and in brain areas involved in the control of the secretion of pituitary hormones. Tachykinins have been demonstrated to stimulate prolactin release acting directly on the anterior pituitary gland. These peptides have also been revealed to be able to act at the hypothalamic level, interacting with neurotransmitters and neuropeptides that have the potential to affect prolactin secretion. Tachykinins seem to act by stimulating or inhibiting the release of the factors that affect prolactin secretion. Among them, tachykinins have been demonstrated to stimulate oxytocin and vasopressin release, which in turn results in prolactin release. Tachykinins also potentiated the response to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and reinforced the action of glutamate, which in turn result in prolactin release. They have also been shown to interact with serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in the control of prolactin secretion. In addition, tachykinins have been shown to inhibit GABA release, a neurotransmitter with prolactin-release inhibiting effect. This inhibition may result in an increased prolactin secretion by removal of the GABA inhibition. On the other hand, tachykinins have also been shown to stimulate dopamine release by the hypothalamus, an action that results in an inhibition of prolactin release. Dopamine is a well known inhibitor of prolactin secretion. In conclusion, although tachykinins have been shown to have a predominantly stimulatory effect on prolactin secretion, especially at the pituitary level, under some circumstances they may also exert an inhibitory influence on prolactin release, by stimulating dopamine release at the hypothalamic level.     

Development of a gas chromatography mass spectrometry assay for the two eosinophil chemotactic factors of anaphylaxis

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry has been used for over a decade for the determination of the amino acid sequences of fragment peptides derived from larger parent molecules. The majority of these fragments have from four to seven residues and several different methods of derivatization have been devised. Few reports have been published in which similar techniques have been used for the quantification of such peptides, but there is a growing list of small peptides which have been shown to have biological activity in their own right. This report is concerned with the development of a gas chromatographic mass spectrometric assay for the two eosinophil chemotactic peptides, Val-Gly-Ser-Glu and Ala-Gly-Ser-Glu, which appear to have a role to play in the course of the inflammatory process in skin disorders.     

Resistance to macrolide, lincosamide, streptogramin, ketolide, and oxazolidinone antibiotics

Macrolides have enjoyed a resurgence as new derivatives and related compounds have come to market. These newer compounds have become important in the treatment of community-acquired pneumoniae and nontuberculosis-Mycobacterium diseases. In this review, the bacterial mechanisms of resistance to the macrolide, lincosamide, streptogramin, ketolide, and oxazolidinone antibiotics, the distribution of the various acquired genes that confer resistance, as well as mutations that have been identified in clinical and laboratory strains are examined.     

Wallace P. Rowe lecture. Poxviruses of laboratory animals

Currently the subfamily Chordopoxvirinae, the poxviruses of vertebrates, is subdivided into eight genera, containing some 20-30 species; an inexact figure because the birdpox viruses have not yet been properly investigated taxonomically. I have discussed seven species belonging to three genera, all of which have caused infection and usually disease in mammals commonly used in the laboratory. The list could have been extended had I included chickens and swine as laboratory animals, for that would have meant that I would have spoken about the birdpox viruses and swinepox virus as well. However, I think I have said enough to remind you of the importance of this family of viruses to those of you concerned with laboratory animal medicine. I believe that Wally Rowe would have been interested, for every case I have described presents problems in the ecology of viruses, and like my mentor Macfarlane Burnet, Wally approached virology from an ecological point of view, whether he was thinking about the DNA provirus of retroviruses and the host chromosome, the pathogenesis of disease, or the spread of viruses in animal populations, all topics to which he made major contributions.     

Genome evolution of allopolyploids: a process of cytological and genetic diploidization

Allopolyploidy is a prominent mode of speciation in higher plants. Due to the coexistence of closely related genomes, a successful allopolyploid must have the ability to invoke and maintain diploid-like behavior, both cytologically and genetically. Recent studies on natural and synthetic allopolyploids have raised many discrepancies. Most species have displayed non-Mendelian behavior in the allopolyploids, but others have not. Some species have demonstrated rapid genome changes following allopolyploid formation, while others have conserved progenitor genomes. Some have displayed directed, non-random genome changes, whereas others have shown random changes. Some of the genomic changes have appeared in the F1 hybrids, which have been attributed to the union of gametes from different progenitors, while other changes have occurred during or after genome doubling. Although these observations provide significant novel insights into the evolution of allopolyploids, the overall mechanisms of the event are still elusive. It appears that both genetic and epigenetic operations are involved in the diploidization process of allopolyploids. Overall, genetic and epigenetic variations are often associated with the activities of repetitive sequences and transposon elements. Specifically, genomic sequence elimination and chromosome rearrangement are probably the major forces guiding cytological diploidization. Gene non-functionalization, sub-functionalization, neo-functionalization, as well as other kinds of epigenetic modifications, are likely the leading factors promoting genetic diploidization.     

Golgi analysis of tangential neurons in the lobula plate of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster</Emphasis>

The lobula plate (LP), which is the third order optic neuropil of flies, houses wide-field neurons which are exquisitely sensitive to motion. Among Diptera, motion-sensitive neurons of larger flies have been studied at the anatomical and physiological levels. However, the neurons ofDrosophila lobula plate are relatively less explored. AsDrosophila permits a genetic analysis of neural functions, we have analysed the organization of lobula plate ofDrosophila melanogaster. Neurons belonging to eight anatomical classes have been observed in the present study. Three neurons of the horizontal system (HS) have been visualized. The HS north (HSN) neuron, occupying the dorsal lobula plate is stunted in its geometry compared to that of larger flies. Associated with the HS neurons, thinner horizontal elements known as h-cells have also been visualized in the present study. Five of the six known neurons of the vertical system (VS) have been visualized. Three additional neurons in the proximal LP comparable in anatomy to VS system have been stained. We have termed them as additional VS AVS)-like neurons. Three thinner tangential cells that are comparable to VS neurons, which are elements of twin vertical system (tvs); and two cells with wide dendritic fields comparable to CH neurons of Diptera have been also observed. Neurons comparable to VS cells but with ‘tufted’ dendrites have been stained. The HSN and VS1-VS2 neurons are dorsally stunted. This is possibly due to the shape of the compound eye ofDrosophila which is reduced in the fronto-dorsal region as compared to larger flies     

Clinical proteomics of breast cancer

Despite the lifetimes that increased in breast cancers due to the the early screening programs and new therapeutic strategies, many cases still are being lost due to the metastatic relapses. For this reason, new approaches such as the proteomic techniques have currently become the prime objectives of breast cancer researches. Various omic-based techniques have been applied with increasing success to the molecular characterisation of breast tumours, which have resulted in a more detailed classification scheme and have produced clinical diagnostic tests that have been applied to both the prognosis and the prediction of outcome to the treatment. Implementation of the proteomics-based techniques is also seen as crucial if we are to develop a systems biology approach in the discovery of biomarkers of the early diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of the outcome of the breast cancer therapies. In this review, we discuss the studies that have been conducted thus far, for the discovery of diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers, and evaluate the potential of the discriminating proteins identified in this research for clinical use as breast cancer biomarkers.