南瓜组培根根系分泌物的化感效应研究

使用组织培养技术、生物测试法及室内分析相结合的方法研究了南瓜组培根在不同生长时期与不同营养谐迫下(利用正交设计调节标准B₅培养基中的大量元素、微量元素、有机质和激素)根分泌物对南瓜、萝卜和小麦3种受体的种子萌发及幼苗生长的化感作用.结果表明,南瓜具有自毒作用,南瓜组培根根系分泌物对受体幼苗生长的抑制作用呈现出高抑低促的作用表型;南瓜组培根根系分泌物产生化感作用的活性与南瓜组培根生长速度有关,南瓜组培根根系分泌物的生长抑制活性以15～17d即生长速度指数末期为最高,21d生物量最大时的南瓜组培根根系分泌物的生长抑制活性最低;营养元素的改变明显影响了南瓜根系分泌物的产生,并通过筛选出能诱导南瓜组培根对受体具有强烈抑制作用的大量元素、微量元素、维生素和激素种类和含量的最优化组合,为研究南瓜化感作用营养胁迫机理提供依据.     

抗菌肽抗肿瘤作用的研究进展

抗菌肽是生物体抵御外界病原体侵袭时产生的一类保守的小分子多肽,是生物体内先天免疫防御机制的重要组分。抗菌肽可以选择性杀伤肿瘤细胞,而对正常细胞损害较小,已作为化、放疗药物潜在的替代品被广泛研究和开发。从抗菌肽对不同肿瘤细胞选择性作用机制、抗菌肽药物设计的发展及应用前景等方面进行综述。     

Estimating single gene effects on quantitative traits

Summary Experimental designs for measuring the effects of single loci on quantitative traits are compared for statistical properties. The designs tested are single population, combined strains, multiple strains, diallel of strains, and co-isogenic strains. Testing was done by simulating population genotypic and phenotypic arrays. Statistical properties measured are type I error, power, bias and efficiency. The relative ranking of designs is consistent for all properties and over eight conditions examined. The co-isogenic design is superior, followed closely by the single population method. The other three designs are similar in ability, with the diallel design somewhat superior. Based on its good statistical performance and wide feasibility, the single population method is recommended. The diallel method provides the most information on genetic components of variation.     

Confidence regions for treatment effects in subgroups in biomarker stratified designs

Subgroup analysis has important applications in the analysis of controlled clinical trials. Sometimes the result of the overall group fails to demonstrate that the new treatment is better than the control therapy, but for a subgroup of patients, the treatment benefit may exist; or sometimes, the new treatment is better for the overall group but not for a subgroup. Hence we are interested in constructing a simultaneous confidence interval for the difference of the treatment effects in a subgroup and the overall group. Subgroups are usually formed on the basis of a predictive biomarker such as age, sex, or some genetic marker. While, for example, age can be detected precisely, it is often only possible to detect the biomarker status with a certain probability. Because patients detected with a positive or negative biomarker may not be truly biomarker positive or negative, responses in the subgroups depend on the treatment therapy as well as on the sensitivity and specificity of the assay used in detecting the biomarkers. In this work, we show how (approximate) simultaneous confidence intervals and confidence ellipsoid for the treatment effects in subgroups can be found for biomarker stratified clinical trials using a normal framework with normally distributed or binary data. We show that these intervals maintain the nominal confidence level via simulations.     

Positional effects of monofluorinated phenylalanines on histone acetyltransferase stability and activity

To explore the impact of global incorporation of fluorinated aromatic amino acids on protein function, we investigated the effects of three monofluorinated phenylalanine analogs para-fluorophenylalanine (pFF), meta-fluorophenylalanine (mFF), and ortho-fluorophenylalanine (oFF) on the stability and enzymatic activity of the histone acetyltransferase (HAT), tGCN5. We selected this set of fluorinated amino acids because they bear the same size and overall polarity but alter in side chain shape and dipole direction. Our experiments showed that among three fluorinated amino acids, the global incorporation of pFF affords the smallest perturbation to the structure and function of tGCN5.     

Long-term effects of climate and phosphorus fertilisation on serpentine vegetation

The long-term effects of phosphorus fertilisation and climate on serpentine plant communities in Tuscany, central Italy have been investigated by using data from a 12 year before-after control-impact (BACI) experiment. Using the point quadrat method, data on plant communities were collected in June of each year from 1994 to 2005 in eight 2 × 2 m plots, four fertilised with phosphorus and four used as controls. Climatic data were obtained from a nearby meteorological station and summarised in 24 variables. Phosphorus addition significantly affected vegetation cover of both vascular and cryptogamic vegetation but did not influence species richness. The effects on species composition were clear but not marked, and consisted in promoting the abundance of some species already present in the community but not leading to the colonisation of other species. Interannual climate differences affected vegetation cover in the fertilised plots but not in the control ones, while climate affected the species richness values of different/various life-forms in both groups of plots, with more evident effects in the fertilised one. The effects of climate on plant community composition were weak once both the variability among individual plots and the successional dynamics were subtracted from the variance in species composition.     

Interaction effects of fish, nutrients, mixing and sediments on autotrophic picoplankton and algal composition

1. We examined the effects of nutrients, turbulent mixing, mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis Baird and Girard and sediments on algal composition, algal biomass and autotrophic picoplankton (APP) abundance in a 6-week experiment of factorial design in twenty-four 5-m³ outdoor mesocosms during late autumn 1995.
2. Turbulent mixing decreased surface temperature and increased turbidity, which also was increased by the addition of sediments. Total algal biomass was significantly enhanced by nutrients and mixing, and decreased by the sediment treatment. In the mixing × nutrient treatment, algal biomass increased more than expected from the individual effects, while the fish × mixing and mixing × sediment treatments increased algal biomass less than expected.
3.  Cryptomonas (cryptomonad) blooms were observed in the unmixed, high nutrient treatment; Synedra (diatom) blooms were observed in the high nutrient, high sediment treatment; Ulothrix (green algae) blooms were observed in the mixed, high nutrient, low sediment treatment.
4. Eukaryotic APP abundances were increased by sediment addition and by turbulent mixing, and increased synergistically by mixing × sediment and mixing × nutrient interactions. Prokaryotic APP abundances were decreased by nutrient enhancement and by a mixing × nutrient interaction. There were no main effects of fish on APP abundance, but fish were involved in some of the two–way interactions.
5. The large number of significant interaction effects indicates that APP and other phytoplankton are regulated by a complex set of interdependent factors which should be considered simultaneously in studies of phytoplankton population dynamics and community composition.     

Divergent effects of lure on multi-species camera-trap detections and quality of photos

The use of attractants to increase detection of target species, such as carnivores, in camera trap studies must be tested for its effectiveness and be carefully planned, as it can lead to misleading comparisons among species. We analyzed a five-year multi-species camera trap dataset of lured and control stations in a protected area in the Amazon rainforest. We aimed to identify the lure effect on a wider range of species and assess whether its use is an efficient strategy to increase the number and the quality of carnivore records. From the 14 vertebrate species analyzed, we found that the use of lures had a negligible effect on nine species, and did not improve the number of records or the detection probability of the carnivores. On the other hand, lured stations attracted omnivores and scavengers (common opossum, black-and-white tegu, and turkey vulture) while had the opposite effect on potential prey species (Black-capped capuchin and Northern Amazon squirrel). We detected a stronger effect of the lure when considering the number of records (relative abundance models) than the probability of detection (occupancy models). The lure increased the proportion of high-quality photos, suitable for individual recognition of jaguars, but only for the first weeks, when the lure was fresh. Therefore, we suggest that the sardine and egg-based lures should be refreshed every-two weeks to ensure greater effectiveness in the quality of photos for jaguar individualization. However, it is important to consider that lure renewing will imply a significant increase in field-related costs and it’s likely to bias other species studies. Thus, we advise that lures should only be used if researchers are certain that the focus is only to increase carnivore data at the expense of using non-target species. Camera traps survey design must be carefully planned a priori and the cost-benefit of lure use and refreshment should be weighed in the study context.     

The effects of creatine supplementation on high-intensity exercise performance in elite performers

The aim of this research was to determine whether creatine supplementation at a dose of 20 g · day⁻¹, given in 4 × 6-g doses (5 g creatine monohydrate and 1 g glucose) for 5 days, was effective in improving kayak ergometer performances of different durations. Sixteen male subjects with the following characteristics [mean (SEM)]: age 21 (1.2) years, height 170.2 (1.7) cm, weight 75.3 (2.3) kg, Σ8 skinfolds 59.3 (2.6) mm, and maximal oxygen consumption 67.1 ± (4.3) ml · kg · min⁻¹, undertook three maximal kayak ergometer tests of 90, 150 and 300 s duration on a wind-braked kayak ergometer (CON). Two groups were then randomly formed, with one group taking the supplement (SUP) while the other took a placebo (PLAC). No pre-test differences existed between the SUP and the PLAC groups in any of the variables measured. After supplementation each group then repeated the same kayak ergometer tests as performed previously and after a 4-week “washout period” the groups took either the PLAC or SUP for another 5 days and then completed the final tests. The SUP group completed significantly more work than either the CON or PLAC groups in all of the tests (90 s, P < 0.01; 150 s, P < 0.001; 300 s, P < 0.05). Body mass remained stable throughout the test period in both the CON and PLAC groups, but both were significantly less than the SUP body mass of 77.3 (1.0) kg (P < 0.01). The results of this work indicate that creatine supplementation can significantly increase the amount of work accomplished during kayak ergometer performance at durations ranging from 90 to 300 s. Accepted: 8 January 1998     

片断化森林的边缘效应与自然保护区的设计管理

森林片断化引起了森林边缘物理环境与生物的变化。从森林边缘向林内,光辐射,温度、湿度、风等因素发生改变,这些反过 边缘上和边缘附近的生物产生极其重要的影响。有些研究表明,生物与非生物存在明显的边缘－核心的变化梯度,而有些则没有,除了影响边缘效应的客观因素（如边缘的取向、地势、年龄等）外,主观因素对这缘效应也有影响。边缘对生物与非生物的影响因片断化森林的面积、形状以及与其他森林片连接程度的不同而不同,     

Quantifying allosteric effects in proteins

In allosteric regulation, protein activity is altered when ligand binding causes changes in the protein conformational distribution. Little is known about which aspects of protein design lead to effective allosteric regulation, however. To increase understanding of the relation between protein structure and allosteric effects, we have developed theoretical tools to quantify the influence of protein-ligand interactions on probability distributions of reaction rates and protein conformations. We define the rate divergence, Dk, and the allosteric potential, Dx, as the Kullback-Leibler divergence between either the reaction-rate distributions or protein conformational distributions with and without the ligand bound. We then define Dx as the change in the conformational distribution of the combined protein/ligand system, derive Dx in the harmonic approximation, and identify contributions from 3 separate terms: the first term, D[stackxomega], results from changes in the eigenvalue spectrum; the second term, D[stackxDeltax], results from changes in the mean conformation; and the third term, Dxv, corresponds to changes in the eigenvectors. Using normal modes analysis, we have calculated these terms for a natural interaction between lysozyme and the ligand tri-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and compared them with calculations for a large number of simulated random interactions. The comparison shows that interactions in the known binding-site are associated with large values of Dxv. The results motivate using allosteric potential calculations to predict functional binding sites on proteins, and suggest the possibility that, in Nature, effective ligand interactions occur at intrinsic control points at which binding induces a relatively large change in the protein conformational distribution.     

Pooling biospecimens and limits of detection: effects on ROC curve analysis

Frequently, epidemiological studies deal with two restrictions in the evaluation of biomarkers: cost and instrument sensitivity. Costs can hamper the evaluation of the effectiveness of new biomarkers. In addition, many assays are affected by a limit of detection (LOD), depending on the instrument sensitivity. Two common strategies used to cut costs include taking a random sample of the available samples and pooling biospecimens. We compare the two sampling strategies when an LOD effect exists. These strategies are compared by examining the efficiency of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, specifically the estimation of the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for normally distributed markers. We propose and examine a method to estimate AUC when dealing with data from pooled and unpooled samples where an LOD is in effect. In conclusion, pooling is the most efficient cost-cutting strategy when the LOD affects less than 50% of the data. However, when much more than 50% of the data are affected, utilization of the pooling design is not recommended.     

Nest architecture and traffic flow: large potential effects from small structural features

1. Research on human pedestrian dynamics predicts that seemingly small architectural features of the surroundings can have large effects on the behaviour of crowds and the flow of pedestrian traffic, particularly when a crowd is panicked. This theoretical framework might usefully be applied to the study of collective movement within subterranean nests of social insects. 2. We examined the rate of egress from artificial nests by alarmed Linepithema humile ants. In accord with model predictions, but counter to intuition, we found that a partially obstructed exit enhanced the average rate of escape from the nest. 3. The study of traffic flows in subterranean nests is almost non‐existent, but it would be worth studying the effect of nest design elements on collective movements, given the great variety of nest forms among ants and termites.