Phytoplankton and bacterioplankton production in a reed-covered water body

Between 1996 and 1998 phytoplanktonic primary production and bacterioplankton production were measured monthly at five sampling stations in the lower Kis-Balaton reservoir. The open water area of the reservoir was rich in phytoplankton and had hypertrophic characteristics, but inside the reed stand (80% of the surface area) phytoplankton biomass and production were substantially (30–50 times) lower. The algal removal efficiency of the lower Kis-Balaton reservoir was 96%. The reservoir had a considerably smaller effect on bacterioplankton removal than on the phytoplankton. The decrease of biomass and production of bacterioplankton in the through-flowing water was approximately 60%. Inside the reed stand the biomass and the production of planktonic bacteria exceeded that of the phytoplankton by several times, suggesting that the release of biodegradable dissolved organic (humic) substances from macrophytes stimulated the metabolism of bacterioplankton. The significant reduction of phytoplankton inside the dense reed stand was primarily the result of the shading effect of the reeds. In the open water area a shading experiment demonstrated that a 1-week residence period for planktonic algae in the reed-covered area was sufficient for their complete elimination. The decomposition of planktonic algae, reed material and the lack of primary production inside the reed stand created oxygen-deficient and phosphorus-rich conditions during the vegetative period. These results suggest that reed-covered water bodies can effectively retain suspended solids and planktonic algae, but because of decomposition processes they cannot retain biologically-available phosphorus.     

Ordination or typology — The search for a stable classification of running water communities

Data on chironomid communities from 42 running water sites in Europe are analyzed by DCA and TWINSPAN methods. The sites are well separated in mountain or northern sites and lowland sites. The DCA method appears robust with respect to different levels in identification of the material. Typological classifications seem more stable and better suited for partial modifications and extensions.     

Construction of a typology for distribution of body mass by body segments in men using the main component method

The method of morphotype construction based on the principle components is described. The morphotype system has been constructed for the main circumferences of a man's body including the size index of diametrical dimensions and the character of trunk-limbs distribution of the body mass. According to the second index it is possible to determine the following variants: the centripetal one with the trunk circumferences predominance over the limbs circumferences and the inverted combination-centrifugal type. The geographical regularity values of the morphological indexes for some ethnoterritorial groups of the USSR has been shown.     

A novel aspect of NADPH production in ageing Penicillium chrysogenum

NADPH is involved in many basically important anabolic processes. For a long time, pentose phosphate pathway (PPS) was regarded as the most important source of NADPH in fungi. Here we present evidence of a metabolic switch to an alternative NADPH-producing pathway in ageing Penicillium chrysogenum cultures, which involves NADP+ -specific isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP+ -ID) rather than PPS enzymes. Considering the main biochemical functions of NADPH, we propose that NADP+ -ID could have deep impact on many physiological processes switched on glucose deprivation including proteinase production or penicillin biosynthesis. We also demonstrate that although the alternative pathway was inferior to PPS when the fungus was grown on well-utilisable carbon sources yet it could have an important role in fatty acid biosynthesis as well as in the maintenance of high intracellular NADPH/NADP+ ratios.     

The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology

Recent progress in the study of aquatic food-cycle relationships invites a reappraisal of certain ecological tenets. Quantitative productivity data provide a basis for enunciating certain trophic principles, which, when applied to a series of successional stages, shed new light on the dynamics of ecological succession. From “The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology” by R. L. Lindeman.Ecology, Vol. 23, pp. 399–418 (1942).     

The turnover of body water as an indicator of health

Water homeostasis is essential for healthy living. Body water turnover, meaning the replacement of body water that is lost in a given period of time, has been examined in a number of previous studies, and a review of their results has yielded the following findings. Children up to 15 years of age show higher body water turnover than adults, although it is not clear how the aging process influences body water. Among people of similar age, the rate of body water turnover seems to be higher in those who exercise than in those who are sedentary. Therefore we hypothesized that healthy individuals have a higher body water turnover than unhealthy individuals whose metabolic balance, as indicated by water turnover, has broken down, and that a prolonged condition of excessively slow body water turnover may be associated with a lower level of metabolism. If so, body water turnover can be an indicator of human health. However, there is a paucity of information regarding water turnover rates in individuals with various physical characteristics. This study indicates the need for further investigation of body water turnover levels associated with significant changes in physiological condition and metabolic state.     

Fruiting body production in basidiomycetes

Mushroom cultivation presents an economically important biotechnological industry that has markedly expanded all over the world in the past few decades. Mushrooms serve as delicacies for human consumption and as nutriceuticals, as “food that also cures”. Mushrooms, the fruiting bodies of basidiomycetous fungi, contain substances of various kinds that are highly valued as medicines, flavourings and perfumes. Nevertheless, the biological potential of mushrooms is probably far from exploited. A major problem up to now is that only a few species can be induced to fruit in culture. Our current knowledge on the biological processes of fruiting body initiation and development is limited and arises mostly from studies of selected model organisms that are accessible to molecular genetics. A better understanding of the developmental processes underlying fruiting in these model organisms is expected to help mushroom cultivation of other basidiomycetes in the future. Received: 17 January 2000 / Received revision: 7 March 2000 / Accepted: 3 April 2000     

The value of structural features in tropical forest typology

A pro forma is presented which is based on selected physiognomic–structural features of tropical forest vegetation. It was designed to facilitate collection of data by non-botanists, and the occurrence of features was assessed either by presence/absence or on a four-point scale. Data were collected in a mixture of rain forests and sclerophyll forests in North Queensland and New Guinea, and analysed by an agglomerative polythetic method to provide a classification of sites. The structural classification of the simple forests (regrowth rain forests, forests under extreme limiting conditions and eucalypt woodlands) was unsatisfactory, and floristic differentiation is necessary. However, the structural classification of the complex forests, and of mature forest vegetation over a wide environmental range, produced meaningful site-groupings below the subformation level. The method of structural analysis is rapid and relatively inexpensive, and shows most promise in complex tropical vegetation for which floristic data are not usually available.     

Assessing functional typology involving water quality, physical features and macrophytes in a Normandy river

To carry out a functional typology of a Normandy watercourse, three compartments (water quality, physical features and macrophytes) were studied in 74 stations. The data were analysed with multidimensional methods: Principal Component Analysis (P C.A.), Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (H.C.A.) andMultiple Factor Analysis (M.F.A.). P.C.A. analysis of the 3 compartments ordered significant variables as following:

stream order, water velocity and light

conductivity, pollution parameters as opposited to mineralisation ones

upstream/downstream, sciaphilous/heliophilous, rheophilous, ditch species.

All the compartments showed a longitudinal zonation pattern which characterised the first axis of M.F.A.. The second factor of M.F.A. was mainlydue to water quality and macrophytes, and the third one to physical features and macrophytes: macrophytes appeared to be reliable ecological integrators of the spatial and functional heterogeneity. Four clusters obtained in H.C.A. defined functional parts of the watercourse. This example of typology, and the relationships identified between the 3 compartments, assessed the intereslt of macrophytes for characterisingwatercourses, and diagnosing their equilibrium.     

Mastalgia and total body water.

Total body water (TBW) was measured early and late in a menstrual cycle in 56 women, 39 of whom had breast pain. The remainder were asymphtomatic controls. Most women did not conform to the traditional view that there is a premenstrual increase in TBW. In some TBW decreased, while in others there was no change from the early cycle measurement. No TBW pattern correlated with any syndromes of breast pain or with any psychoneurotic profile.     

Syntaxonomic typology of Greek habitats

A review of the vegetation of Greece, following the hierarchical system of four main syntaxonomic levels (association, alliance, order, class) is presented and the correspondence of the high-ranked syntaxa with the Habitat Types included in Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC has been prepared. The syntaxonomic list of the vegetation units of Greece (up to alliance level) is composed of 41 classes, 56 orders, and 91 alliances. Of the 226 Habitat Types listed in Annex I of Directive 92/43/EEC, 111 different Habitat Types are present in Greece, of which 26 are Priority Types. The establishment of a syntaxonomic typology for the Habitat Types recorded in Greece is essential for the sake of vegetation mapping and nature conservation. A habitat coding system, as applied in Spain, is proposed for Greece for mapping purposes. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A02DO015 00007     

A typology of Nietzsche's biology

Friedrich Nietzsche's will to power, and the philosophical ediface built on this foundation, is formulated on a biologicism that is indebted to a particular post-Darwinian vision of the organism. Of the various models that attempt to formulate a comprehensive organismal biology, Nietzsche unknowingly grasped that of Elie Metchnikoff, who authored the theoretical foundation of modern immunology. Metchnikoff regarded the organism as a disharmonious entity, in constant inner strife between competing cellular activities. Immune functions were responsible for mediating harmonization, which however remains an elusive ideal. This view of the organism posited an ever-changing, self-defining entity striving for self-actualization while in ceaseless inner struggle as well as in competition with the environment. The theory is no less than an epistemological response of how to establish the subject-object relation in a construct where the subject's boundaries are dialectical and evolving. The similarity of the philosophical positions of Nietzsche and Metchnikoff regarding the Self offers rich resonance in current attempts to formulate a biomedical language appropriate to address the issues raised by these problems.