Carbohydrate preferences of mammalian cells.

Carbohydrate preferences of mammalian cells can be utilized to biochemically distinguish between different cell lines. Ninety-three carbohydrates were examined of which (a) 15 supported cell proliferation and (b) 42 were toxic or growth inhibitory. The present investigation has employed an enzymatic system to eliminate trace glucose levels from reagents and glucose generated by serum enzymes.     

Functional heterogeneity among the T-derived lymphocytes of the mouse. IV. Nature of spontaneously induced suppressor cells.

When spleen cells are cultured for 4 days in the presence of fetal bovine serum, T-cells are generated which nonspecifically suppress the humoral responses of non-precultured cells to a variety of antigens. These T cells can be generated from both short-lived, sessile T1 cells and long-lived, recirculating T2 cells, and thus appear similar to suppressor T cells activated by concanavalin A.     

Analysis of compressive creep behavior of the vertebral unit subjected to a uniform axial loading using exact parametric solution equations of Kelvin-solid models--Part II. Rhesus monkey intervertebral joints

The simulation of long-term creep response behavior, observed on 54 Rhesus monkey intervertebral joints subjected to a constant axial compressive stress, is attempted by two- and three-parameter-solid models utilizing the Burns- Kaleps 'exact analysis scheme'. Model parameters identified by the analysis of each specimen's experimental strain data were optimized via a computer program and the mechanical properties (Young's moduli and the viscosity coefficient) appropriate to each model were calculated for individual spinal segments. Simulation results for the two-parameter-solid (one- Kelvin -unit) model demonstrate its general ineptness in predicting the observed strain-time behavior of normal spinal sements . The three-parameter-solid model yielded excellent results in the simulation of observed spinal segment compressive creep phenomena. It produced an average error between the model predicted and experimental strain values that ranged from a low of 0.4000% to a high of 3.290% for the 54 Rhesus monkey intervertebral joints, with a collective average error for all specimens of only 1.363%.     

Analysis of compressive creep behavior of the vertebral unit subjected to a uniform axial loading using exact parametric solution equations of Kelvin-solid models--Part I. Human intervertebral joints

The creep response phenomena observed on 47 human intervertebral discs subjected to a constant axial compressive stress was analytically studied by two-, three- and four-parameter-solid models employing the Burns- Kaleps 'exact analysis scheme'. The mechanical properties (Young's moduli and viscosity coefficients) associated with each model were calculated for each of the 47 disks, with superior results obtained for the latter two models. Results for the two-parameter-solid model suggest its possible usefulness in simulating creep response that is characteristic of disk degeneration. Results for the three- and four-parameter-solid models were excellent, with an average error for the model predicted strain, epsilon(ti)cal, values from the experimentally measured, epsilon(ti)exp, values of 2.314% for the former model and 4.446% for the latter model on the 47 human spinal segments analyzed. The three-parameter-solid model was most sensitive in its predictability of strain behavior for ti greater than 1 min; whereas the four-parameter-solid model demonstrated greater simulation sensitivity in the 0 less than ti less than or equal to 1 min range.     

Advancing ecological risk assessment on genetically engineered breeding stacks with combined insect-resistance traits

Transgenic Research - To inform the ecological risk assessment (ERA) of a transgenic crop with multiple insecticidal traits combined by conventional breeding (breeding stack), a comparative field...     

Long‐term persistence of wildlife populations in a pastoral area

Facilitating coexistence between people and wildlife is a major conservation challenge in East Africa. Some conservation models aim to balance the needs of people and wildlife, but the effectiveness of these models is rarely assessed. Using a case‐study approach, we assessed the ecological performance of a pastoral area in northern Tanzania (Manyara Ranch) and established a long‐term wildlife population monitoring program (carried out intermittently from 2003 to 2008 and regularly from 2011 to 2019) embedded in a distance sampling framework. By comparing density estimates of the road transect‐based long‐term monitoring to estimates derived from systematically distributed transects, we found that the bias associated with nonrandom placement of transects was nonsignificant. Overall, cattle and sheep and goat reached the greatest densities and several wildlife species occurred at densities similar (zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, Kirk's dik‐dik) or possibly even greater (giraffe, eland, lesser kudu, Grant's gazelle, Thomson's gazelle) than in adjacent national parks in the same ecosystem. Generalized linear mixed models suggested that most wildlife species (8 out of 14) reached greatest densities during the dry season, that wildlife population densities either remained constant or increased over the 17‐year period, and that herbivorous livestock species remained constant, while domestic dog population decreased over time. Cross‐species correlations did not provide evidence for interference competition between grazing or mixed livestock species and wildlife species but indicate possible negative relationships between domestic dog and warthog populations. Overall, wildlife and livestock populations in Manyara Ranch appear to coexist over the 17‐year span. Most likely, this is facilitated by existing connectivity to adjacent protected areas, effective anti‐poaching efforts, spatio‐temporal grazing restrictions, favorable environmental conditions of the ranch, and spatial heterogeneity of surface water and habitats. This long‐term case study illustrates the potential of rangelands to simultaneously support wildlife conservation and human livelihood goals if livestock grazing is restricted in space, time, and numbers.     

小麦倒春寒研究现状与进展

由于全球气候变暖,近年来小麦低温灾害事件频发,尤其是拔节-孕穗期的倒春寒灾害已成为制约小麦产量和品质的重要因素之一。本文综述了小麦倒春寒灾害的发生特点(鉴定与分级、时空特征),倒春寒对小麦生理特性(叶片、茎秆、穗部、根系)和产量、质量的影响,总结了抗倒春寒小麦育种、倒春寒危害的分子生物学机制及灾害的监测预警与风险评估等方面的研究进展,并从小麦抗倒春寒遗传基础、倒春寒危害小麦评价体系和防控技术体系等方面进行了展望,以期为抗倒春寒小麦品种的遗传改良和栽培调控新措施的建立提供理论依据。     

小麦族植物的分类现状及主要存在的问题

小麦族(Triticeae)是禾本科、早熟禾亚科中一个有重要经济价值、以多年生植物占优势的族,族内绝大多数种类是重要的粮食作物和畜牧业上的优良牧草,饲用价值极高,有些种类具有耐寒、耐旱、耐碱等特性,是农牧业上良种繁育、牧草利用的重要基因资源。但该族同时又是分类学上的一个疑难族,各学者对族内系统分类意见不一、争议颇大,尤其在族的界限、族下类群划分以及类群演化关系上问题较多,至今尚未解决。查阅了国内外分类学文献,探讨其分类差异以及存在问题,为充分开发利用中国丰富的小麦族植物资源提供理论依据。