Surface-bottom relationships in the Gulf of Salerno (Tyrrhenian Sea) over the last 34 kyr: Compositional data analysis of palaeontological proxies and geochemical evidence

The palaeontological, geochemical and mineralogical records of core GNS84-C106 were analysed in order to reconstruct palaeohydrological changes and palaeoproductivity patterns in the Gulf of Salerno for the last 34 kyr. This approach, including compositional analysis of planktonic and benthic assemblages, gave an insight into the relationships between continental, sea surface and bottom environmental changes. The main source of variability of planktonic and benthic assemblages is related respectively to sea surface temperature and palaeobathymetry. Interrelated changes in surface salinity, nutrients, density gradient in the water column and organic fluxes at the bottom act as a secondary factor controlling the composition of both planktonic and benthic assemblages. The highest palaeoproductivity rates were reached during an interval spanning from late glacial to Middle Holocene, in conditions of enhanced continental run-off. During the Early and Middle Holocene, reduced surface salinity and density stratification were also coupled with the development of a deep chlorophyll maximum and enhanced flux or organic matter at the bottom. From about 6.5 kyr B.P. onward, a sharp reduction in palaeoproductivity took place, coupled with an increase in surface salinities.     

A new species of Mimulus endemic to copper mines in California

MACNAIR, M. R., 1989. A new species of Mimulus endemic to copper mines in California . The distribution and morphology of Mimulus cupriphilus , a new species restricted to two small copper mines in Calaveras County, California, is described. A comparison of flowers collected in the wild of M. guttatus and the new taxon shows that they differ considerably. These two species and three other species from the M. guttatus complex, M. nasutus, M. laciniatus and M. nudatus were grown in a glasshouse and compared. The five species were all clearly distinct. The distribution of M. cupriphilus is consistent with it having evolved comparatively recently on one or both of the two copper mines on which it is found.     

黄腹角雉的巢址选择

１９９１￣１９９３年,在浙江省乌岩岭自然保护区对黄腹角雉的巢址选择进行了研究。野外工作共发现黄腹角雉巢１５个,其中８０％位于人工柳杉林中,营果树以柳杉为主,占７３．３％。主成分分析表明,影响黄腹角雉巢址选择的主要因素有４种,依次为：营巢树因素（包括营巢树的高度、胸径、巢位高度和巢上方的植被盖度）、地形因素（包括坡向和坡度）、海拔因素和位置因素。     

Effect of zinc fertilization on the mineral nutrition of rices differing in tolerance to zinc deficiency

Summary The effects of four Zn levels on the electrochemical and chemical properties of the soil solution, and on the growth and mineral nutrition of two rice varieties (IR26 and IR34) differing in tolerance to Zn deficiency were studied in the greenhouse using Zn-deficient soils from two locations. A similar experiment was conducted in culture solution to check how Zn addition affects translocation of other nutrients.In both soil and culture solution, plant Zn concentrations alone was not enough to account for varietal tolerance to Zn deficiency. Comparison of nutrient to Zn and shoot to root ratios of nutrients was more useful in determining the possible mechanism of varietal tolerance. IR 34 appeared to tolerate the disorder due to its lower Zn requirement, more efficient Zn translocation and ability to maintain lower Fe/Zn, Cu/Zn, Mg/Zn and P/Zn ratios in the shoot than the more susceptible variety, IR26. This was shown to be due to decreased translocation of Fe, Mg and P to shoots and decreased absorption of Cu by the root in IR34 in culture solution studies. Adding Zn further reduces translocation or absorption of these nutrients and depending on the nutrient supply of the soil, could cause deficiencies or mineral imbalances, especially of Fe, Cu, and P.These observed varietal differences regarding Zn requirement and the interaction of Zn with absorption and translocation of plant nutrients necessitates revision of recommendations for Zn fertilization. There is an inevitable need for Zn application in severely Zn-deficient soils regardless of rice variety. But on marginally Zn-deficient soils especially those low in Fe, Cu, or P, Zn fertilization is not advisable when resistant rice varieties are used.     

Mechanism of salt tolerance in wild rice (Oryza coarctata Roxb)

Summary Oryza coarctata, a highly salt-resistant wild rice species, is commonly found on the banks of coastal rivers in India. This species can also withstand saline water (20 to 40 dSm⁻¹ E.C) submergence for quite a long period. It was revealed thatO. coarctata has some special unicellular salt hairs (trichomes) on the adaxial surface of the leaves, by which they efficiently maintain a low concentration of toxic salts in the plant tissue. Sodium and chloride were the dominant ions in the excreted material but they also excrete potassium, magnesium and calcium. With the increase in soil salinity sodium, magnesium and chloride excretion increased.O. coarctata maintained the optimum mineral concentration in its tissues. Maximum accumulation of potassium was observed in the leaves. With the increase in salt stress total biomass production and osmotic potential increased over control but there was no change in the moisture percentage of leaves.     

Initial Characterization of Micafungin Pulmonary Delivery via Two Different Nebulizers and Multivariate Data Analysis of Aerosol Mass Distribution Profiles

Pharmaceutical aerosols have been targeted to the lungs for the treatment of asthma and pulmonary infectious diseases successfully. Micafungin (Astellas Pharma US, Deerfield, IL, USA) has been shown to be an effective antifungal agent when administrated intravenously. Pulmonary delivery of micafungin has not previously been reported. In the present pilot study, we characterize the performance of two nebulizers and their potential for delivering micafungin to the lungs as well as the use of multivariate data analysis for mass distribution profile comparison. The concentration of micafungin sodium increased by 21% when delivered by the Acorn II nebulizer and by 20% when delivered by the LC Plus nebulizer, respectively, from the first to the second sampling period. The Acorn II nebulizer delivered a fine particle fraction FPF_5.8 (%<5.8 μm) of 92.5 ± 0.8 and FPF_3.3 (%<3.3 μm) of 82.3 ± 2.1 during the first sampling period. For the LC Plus nebulizer, FPF_5.8 was 92.3 ± 0.1 and FPF_3.3 was 67.0 ± 0.7 during the first sampling period. The mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) increased from 1.67 ± 0.05 to 1.77 ± 0.04 μm (Acorn II nebulizer) and from 2.09 ± 0.01 to 2.20 ± 0.01 μm (Pari LC Plus nebulizer) from the first to the second sampling periods. These changes in MMAD were statistically significant by paired t test. Multivariate data analysis showed that this could be explained systematically by greater drug deposition on stages with larger cutoff sizes and reduced drug deposition on stages with smaller cutoff sizes rather than multimodal deposition or other anomalies in size distribution.     

Assessment of copper and lipid profile in obese children and adolescents

The aim of this study was to assess erythrocyte and plasma copper concentrations and correlate them with the lipid profile of overweight and obese children and adolescents. The study was performed with 15 over-weight and 30 obese children and adolescents, and the results were compared to the control group (21), aged 6–16 yr. Anthropometric assessment was carried out using body mass index (BMI). Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride serum levels were investigated. Erythrocyte and plasma copper levels were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Greater alterations in the lipid profile were observed in HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, with distinctions according to gender. The plasma copper concentrations in the overweight and obese male groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (p=0.0006). Negative correlations between plasma copper and total cholesterol (r=−0.54) and LDL cholesterol (r=−0.59) were observed in the obese male group. There was no statistical difference in copper erythrocyte concentrations. The obesity associated to disorders in lipid metabolism predisposes to changes in copper plasma concentrations, but there was no alteration in intracellular reserves, which suggests an important homeostatic control to compensate for plasma oscillations and metabolic alterations of the disease.     

Isochores,GC3 and mutation biases in the human genome

In this work we re-examined the hypothesis that the variation in GC content in the human genome is due to different regional mutational biases. For this purpose we inferred the mutational pattern by using mutation databases that are available for many genes associated with human genetic diseases. The assumption of this approach is that such mutations reflect the actual frequency distribution of mutations as they arise in the population. Four classes of genes, classified according to their GC₃ level, were included in this study: GC₃-poor genes (GC₃<45%), genes with intermediate GC₃ content (45%3<60%), GC₃-rich genes (60%3<75%) and very GC₃-rich genes (GC₃>75%). Our results show that most genes are under AT mutational biases, with very little variation compared to the expectations of neutral GC level. It is noteworthy that the mutational patterns in the GC₃-rich genes do not appear to account for their GC₃-richness. Instead, GC₃-rich and very GC₃-rich genes exhibit patterns of mutations that yield expectations of neutral GC₃ content that are much lower than their actual GC₃.     

On the relationship between sample plot size and beta diversity in boreal coniferous forests

Nested sample plots of three sizes (16, 1, and 1/16 sq. m) from three different studies of Norwegian coniferous forests have been subjected to DCA ordination using the same choice of options. At each sample plot size, species quantities are recorded as frequency in 16 subplots. Beta diversity, measured as length of the first DCA axis, invariably increased upon lowering of sample plot size. The same applied to the eigenvalues of the axes. This is explained as a consequence of the weakening of structure in the data matrices when the fine-grained patterns of the vegetation are emphasized.     

The Balkan wet grassland vegetation: a prerequisite to better understanding of European habitat diversity

The knowledge of broad-scale floristic variation in wet grasslands, which are endangered throughout Europe, is still limited and some regions have remained unexplored so far. In addition, hitherto published phytosociological studies were concentrated at the national level and therefore national vegetation classifications are not consistent with each other. In order to overcome these shortcomings of traditional phytosociology, we gathered original data from Bulgaria and analysed them together with the data from Central Europe. We further analysed major compositional gradients within Bulgarian wet grasslands and changes in species richness along them. We sampled 164 wet grassland vegetation plots throughout Bulgaria. We further prepared a restricted data set of wet grasslands from Central-European phytosociological databases. Both data sets were merged and classified by modified TWINSPAN. Four distinct vegetation types were differentiated. Even if they correspond with traditional alliances, which are primarily drawn as geographically defined units in Western and Central Europe (sub-Mediterranean Trifolion resupinati, sub-continental Deschampsion cespitosae and Molinion caeruleae and sub-oceanic Calthion palustris), they all occur in Bulgaria. When more precise classification was applied, two types of sub-Mediterranean wet grasslands and one high-altitude type of Calthion grasslands were detected solely in Bulgaria. DCA analysis showed that altitude is a dominant gradient controlling variation in Balkan wet grasslands. The second DCA axis was interpreted as the gradient of nutrient availability. Species richness shows skewed-unimodal trends along both major gradients, with the highest species richness in intermittently wet nutrient-limited grasslands. Tukey post-hoc test of altitudinal differences amongst vegetation types is significant for all pairs of clusters, suggesting that altitudinal differentiation is responsible for co-occurrence of nearly all European types of wet grasslands in Bulgaria. Our results suggest that (1) climate is an important factor for the diversity of wet grasslands; (2) Balkan vegetation of middle altitudes matches with that of Central Europe, whereas that of the lowest altitudes corresponds rather to the sub-Mediterranean region and high mountains are specific; (3) upward shift of Central-European vegetation types in southern Europe, so often described in forest vegetation is also evident for grassland vegetation and (4) the high diversity of Balkan vegetation is determined by a diverse relief enabling confluence of habitats possessing different climatic conditions.     

Bayesian multilevel modelling of compositional data for simultaneous inferences on Allele compositions and inbreeding coefficients

Sample data from a number of sub-populations are often investigated in order to integrate the findings of different research studies on a particular area. In case of compositional samples, like the allele frequencies collected at a single locus in different surveys, the data are independent multinomial vectors. Each multinomial distribution depends on a specific probability vector, that is, the unknown relative composition of the sub-population. A Bayesian hierarchy approach is proposed here to model the variability of the sub-composition vectors around a common mean with possibly different scales. The common mean can be seen as the relative composition of the aggregated population. Scale parameters are well known in Biology as the Wright's inbreeding coefficients. The method presented here extends some previous work by assuming less prior knowledge on the subject and constraints on the model. A relatively simple Monte Carlo algorithm is described to perform joint inferences on general and local compositions and inbreeding coefficients. The method is applied on two case studies. The first one is based on DNA samples from ten Italian regions at the loci TH01 and FES, obtained from a database currently used for forensic identification, in which inbreeding assessments can be crucial. The second application is based on a set of colour-blind sample rates in North-East Indian populations collected by Choudhury (1994). The Author found some controversial results from the classical test for comparing proportions. A clearer picture, instead, is obtained by the current Bayesian approach.