Ciclo annuale del fitoplancton nelle acque costiere del Parco Naturale della Maremma II. Flora e variazioni delle comunità

Abstract

Annual cycle of phytoplankton in the coastal waters of the « Parco Naturale della Maremma ». II. Flora and communities variations.—The hydrology of the marine coastal area of the Parco Naturale della Maremma and the annual cycle of phytoplankton standing crop have been examined in a preceding paper (Lenzi Grillini e Lazzara, 1978). In the present paper the species list and the main features of marine phytoplankton communities of the same area are reported as a result of an annual cycle of monthly collections effected in seven stations. The most conspicuous seasonal bloomings are due to Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve in February and to some species of the Chaetoceros gen. in November; the dinoflagellates play a minor role throughout the year, except for Gonyaulax minima Matz. with a light blooming episode in summer. The annual cycle of bottom living diatoms found in the samples appears to be very similar in its shape to the cycle of the pelagic species, as for the standing crop and for the species number. The community structure variations have been analyzed by means of diversity and dominance indexes and of species frequency diagrams. As it concerns the differences in species composition among the seven stations, the area in front of the rocky shore, with deeper and more saline waters, appears to be very homogeneous, whereas some differences have been observed in the shallow waters, in front of the sandy shore and under the influence of the Ombrone River mouth.     

Sul trasporto dei glucidi nelle piante superiori: I. — Aspetti biochimici

Abstract

CARBOHYDRATE TRANSLOCATION IN HIGHER PLANTS. I. - BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS. — The concentration of soluble sugars and of hexose phosphates and the activity of several enzymes involved in hexose activation and polysaccaride synthesis have been investigated, separately, in the phloematic tissue and in the medullar parenchyma of Cucurbita Pepo internodes.

In the phloematic tissue (including sieve tubes, companion cells and phloematic parenchyma) the concentration of free hexoses appeared of about 50% lower, and that of glucose-6-P and of sucrose of about 100% higher then in the medullar parenchyma. Consistent amounts of raffinose were found only in the phloematic tissue. Paper chromatograms of the sieve tube exudate showed the presence of raffinose and sucrose in a ratio close to unity, and no appreciable amounts of free hexoses.

Determination of enzyme activity on preparations obtained from homogenates from the two types of tissue by repeated ammonium sulfate precipitation showed in the phloematic tissue a high activity of the enzymes hexokinase, UDP-kinase, UDPG-pyrophosphorylase and inorganic pyrophosphatase. The presence in the same tissue of galactosekinase, UDP-Gal-pyrophosphorylase and UDPG-epimerase was also ascertained.

On a protein basis, the activity of UDPG-pyrophosphorylase, inorganic pyrophosphatase and hexokinase appared about 3 times higher in the phloematic tissue than in the parenchyma; while this difference between the two tissues was not so marked for phosphofructokinase, and very small for other enzymes such as ATP-ase and phosphomono-esterase.

These results suggest that the very high activity, in the phloem cells neighbouring the sieve tubes, of the enzyme system catalyzing oligopolysaccaride synthesis could be an important component of the mechanism involved in the accumulation of oligopolysaccarides in the sieve tubes, and thus in sugar translocation. A scheme is proposed according to which the ATP and UTP energy would be utilized by the phloem cells to reach and to maintein a concentration of soluble sugars consistently higher than that prevailing in the contiguous tissues.     

Rendiconti e Atti del Congresso Della Societàg Botanica Italiana a Venezia

Abstract

An investigation has been carried out on the effects of some macroelements on the growth and differentiation of carnation meristem-tip. The meristem-tips were cultured over one year period using BAKER and PHILLIPS (1962) modified medium as basal medium. Different concentration of N, P, K and S were used and their effect on the explants was scored. Variation in the K level had no effect on the growth of the meristems except in one case while P at 1/2 X, 1/4 X to 1/8 X levels considerably increased the number of plantlets obtained. N supplied as urea had an inhibiting action on the explant as two different sources of S did.     

Nuovi reperti di intersessualità nelle Cucurbitacee

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate differences in plant species composition between managed and unmanaged forests, and to assess if these difference give rise to a higher plant diversity in the unmanaged forest. Furthermore our aim is to relate forest structure to differences in plant species composition, identifying the structural attributes more strongly related to the unmanaged forest vegetation. We compared an old-growth forest and a managed highforest in the Abruzzo Lazio and Molise National Park (Central Italy). Plant species composition and diversity, deadwood components and live structure have been analyzed. We used permutational multivariate analysis of variance to test the response of species composition to management factor; furthermore, we compared species richness and beta diversity. Redundancy analysis has been used to relate plant species abundances to structural variables; the importance of dead and living wood components has been compared through variation partitioning. Plant species composition proved to be significantly different in the two sites, and the old-growth stand showed a higher plant diversity. From a structural point of view, we found differences especially in the amount and quality of deadwood, and in the diameter class distribution. These variables are also the most important in determining the old-growth stand plant species composition according to redundancy analysis. Variation partitioning confirmed the greater importance of the deadwood variables. Our results suggest that including deadwood surveys in traditional forest inventories could help in finding forests with both structural and floristic old-growth properties to be considered in conservation programmes. The imitation of natural dynamics, through the creation of gaps avoiding deadwood removal, could be an effective strategy for restoring old-growth conditions, also in terms of plant diversity.     

Determinazione spettrofotometrica dell'idrolisi dell'anelloβ-lattamico nelle penicilline

Riassunto Viene descritto un metodo spettrofotometrico per la determinazione della idrolisi-lattamica di antibiotici del gruppo delle penicilline. All'uopo sono utilizzate le proprietà cromatiche dei Cu⁺⁺ complessoni dei prodotti dell'idrolisi.

---

A method for spectrophotometric determinations of the hydrolytic cleavage of the-lactam ring in penicillins and penicillin-like antibiotics is proposed.Derivatives of penicilloic acid give Cu⁺⁺-complexes with a strong absorbance in the 255–280 mµ region. If the conditions are carefully controlled, the maxima of absorbance are proportional to the amount of hydrolyzed compounds.

---

---

Il presente lavoro é stato eseguito nell'ambito dell'attività del Centro di Studio per la Microbiologia del Suolo del C.N.R.     

Actividades diarias evaluadas mediante monitor de actividad de alta precisión en adultos mayores: resultados preliminares del Estudio IMPACT65+

Introduction

Physical activity and physical inactivity patterns can affect health status. In the elderly people, their study is relevant given the importance that they have on the morbidity and mortality.

Trasformazioni strutturali della cavicchia ossea del corno dello stambecco (Capra ibex) in rapporto al sesso ed all'età

Zusammenfassung Die Wachstums- und Umbauvorgänge am Knochen des Hornfortsatzes vom männlichen und weiblichen Steinbock (Capra ibex) wurden histologisch untersucht.Der Hornfortsatz des Männchens erreicht eine weit erheblichere Größe als der des weiblichen Tieres. Bei dem Bock beginnt das Wachstum des Fortsatzes früher, ist quantitativ intensiver und dauert während des ganzen Lebens fort, während es beim Weibchen im vierten Lebensjahr aufhört.Die Zunahme an Dicke und Länge erfolgt durch die appositionelle Tätigkeit des Periostes. Das Dickenwachstum vollzieht sich ebenso wie bei der periostalen Ossifikation der Röhrenknochen. Jedoch ist die Knochensubstanz, die sich in den verschiedenen Altersstufen bildet, verschieden. Bei jungen Tieren lagern sich Bälkchen von geflechtartigem und parallelfaserigem Knochen ab, beim erwachsenen Steinbock kompakte Schichten von parallelfaserigem Knochen. Der primäre Periostalknochen wird später zu einer kompakten Schicht von sekundärem Osteonknochen umgebaut. Der Umbau schreitet von den tiefen, der Höhlung zugewandten Teilen zur Oberfläche hin fort. Der Ersatz beginnt in den proximalen Abschnitten des Hornfortsatzes und setzt sich distalwärts fort. Der Hornfortsatz nimmt schließlich die Struktur der Substantia compacta eines Röhrenknochens an, obgleich er, im Gegensatz zu den Röhrenknochen, keinerlei Muskeleinwirkung ausgesetzt ist. Das Längenwachstum beruht auf der fortschreitenden Ablagerung von neuem, primärem Bälkchenmaterial in der Spitzengegend. Dieses Gewebe erfährt später das gleiche Schicksal wie jenes, das sich früher in den proximalen Teilen gebildet hatte.Die Wachstums- und Umbauvorgänge der Knochensubstanz sind bei beiden Geschlechtern gleichartig. Die verschiedene Größe des Hornfortsatzes von Männchen und Weibchen beruht auf quantitativen, nicht auf qualitativen Unterschieden der Knochenbildung. Innere Umbauprozesse dagegen spielen sich bei beiden Geschlechtern während des ganzen Lebens lebhaft ab. Beim Weibchen erfolgt der Ersatz des primären Periostalknochens durch sekundären Osteonknochen im Zusammenhang mit dem begrenzten appositionellen Wachstum schneller und ausgedehnter.Vergleicht man gleichaltrige Tiere, so stellt man beim Weibchen einen stärkeren Umbau des Sekundärmaterials fest; auch ist dessen Struktur komplexer. Dies hängt mit der Tatsache zusammen, daß sich die Umbauvorgänge an einem Material abspielen, das längere Zeit in situ bleibt.Unter den Faktoren, die zu einem erhöhten Umbau der Knochensubstanz, einem gewissen Überwiegen von interstitiellen Abbauerscheinungen und einer größeren strukturellen Heterogenität im Hornfortsatze des Weibchens führen, werden außer der Begrenzung des appositionellen Wachstums auch die geringere funktionelle Aktivität und das Vorkommen von Trächtigkeits- und Säugeperioden in Betracht gezogen.Außerdem wird durch die vorliegenden Untersuchungen bestätigt, was schon für anderes Material angenommen wurde, daß nämlich die aktuellen mechanischen Momente in den Umbauprozessen der osteonischen Strukturen nicht die wichtigste Rolle spielen.

---

---

Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso: contributo scientifico N° 22.     

Sul grado di accestimento delle piante di grano colpite dalla “Carie„

Abstract

We numerically analysed 154 relevés of Potentillo chrysocraspedae–Festucetum airoidis in order to review the compositional variability of these grasslands, the main eco-floristic gradients and the representativeness of the lectotype. Apart from 30 small-sized clusters composed of singular or transitional relevés (outliers), three distinctive groups of 77, 19 and 12 communities were finally retained and denominated as typical (TP), closed (CL) and open (OP) facies, as they were significantly different in terms of total species cover. The three facies are well separated but do not form distinctive clusters in the non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination space. Juncus trifidus and Agrostis rupestris are the best differential species of OP and TP, respectively, whereas the best discriminator of CL is the higher cover of F. airoides. There are no significant differences between the three facies regarding altitude. The floristic structure of CL indicates poorer but moister soils compared with the other facies. CL may represent either a post-disturbance, recovery phase following sheep overgrazing and intensive trampling, or a late seral stage. OP gathers communities that are little disturbed and mainly occur on ridges and upper, sunny slopes. Although well distinguished floristically, TP is weakly defined in terms of homotoneity and complexity of the core species assemblage. The most representative relevé of TP is poorer in character species than the relevé lectotype (5 versus 12), the latter being classified as an outlier in terms of normal specific assemblage. Such patterns may reflect the spatio-temporal heterogeneity in alpine grasslands due to uncontrolled, intensive grazing and stochastic natural disturbances.     

Valor pronóstico del diagnóstico principal en ancianos ingresados en una unidad geriátrica de agudos al alta y al año

ObjectiveTo analyse the relationship between the primary diagnosis on admission to an Acute Geriatric Unit (AGU) and the risk of hospital mortality and one year after dischargeMaterial and methodsA longitudinal study was conducted on patients admitted to the Central Hospital AGU Red Cross in Madrid in 2009. The admission diagnosis was grouped by Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). The date of death was collected from the medical charts and the National Death Index Ministry of Health report. The main outcome of study was the association between diagnoses on admission and functional impairment at discharge (measured as a loss of 10 or more points between the Barthel Index at discharge and that on admission), mortality during hospitalization, at 3 months and one year after discharge. The multivariate analysis was adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, functional and cognitive status, and serum albumin.ResultsThe study included1147 patients, with a mean age of 86.7 years (SD ± 6.7), and 66% were women. During admission, 10.1% of patients died and 36.6% had functional impairment at discharge. After discharge, 25.5% died at 3 months, and 42.2% at one year. The distribution of the primary diagnoses at admission (between parentheses hospital mortality and at year) were heart failure, 21.4% (8.1% and 37.4%), pneumonia,13.3% (12.3% and 46.4%), and aspiration pneumonia, 4.7% (27.5%, y 71%), respiratory diseases,13.3% (6.6% and 38.2%), urinary infection,10.2% (5.1% and 42.7%), and stroke (excluding AIT), 9.9% (13.3% and 46.9%). In the multivariate analysis, only admissions due to aspiration pneumonia were independently associated with increased risk of hospital mortality (odds ratio, 2.23; 95% CI = 1.13 to 44.42), and stroke with increased risk of functional impairment at discharge (odds ratio, 6.01; 95% CI = 3.42-10.57). No diagnosis was independently associated with increased risk of death at 3 months and at yearConclusionsAdmission from aspiration pneumonia carries an increased risk of death in elderly patients hospitalised for acute medical conditions. After discharge, the risk of death must be attributed to factors other than the admission diagnosis     

Schedae ad „Floram exsiccatam Austro-Hungaricam“

Ohne Zusammenfassung