Direct and indirect effects of nitrogen deposition on species composition change in calcareous grasslands

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been identified as a major threat to biodiversity, but field surveys of its effects have rarely focussed on sites which are actively managed to maintain characteristic species. We analysed permanent quadrat data from 106 plots in nature reserves on calcareous grassland sites in the United Kingdom collected during a survey between 1990 and 1993 and compared the data with the results from resurvey of 48 of these plots between 2006 and 2009. N deposition showed no significant spatial association with species richness, species diversity, or the frequency of species adapted to low nutrient conditions in the 1990–1993 dataset. However, temporal analysis showed that N deposition was significantly associated with changes in Shannon diversity and evenness. In plots with high rates of N deposition, there was a decrease in species diversity and evenness, a decline in the frequency of characteristic calcareous grassland species, and a lower number of rare and scarce species. As all sites had active management to maintain a high diversity and characteristic species, our results imply that even focussed management on nature conservation objectives cannot prevent adverse effects of high rates of N deposition. Structural equation modelling was used to compare different causal mechanisms to explain the observed effects. For change in Shannon diversity, direct effects of N deposition were the dominant mechanism and there was an independent effect of change in grazing intensity. In contrast, for change in herb species number, indirect effects on soil acidity, linked to both N and S deposition, were more important than direct effects of N deposition.     

尿液转流在尿道下裂术后复杂性尿瘘术中的应用

目的:评价尿液转流在修复尿道下裂术后复杂性尿瘘术中的作用。方法:将40例尿道下裂术后复杂性尿瘘患者随机分为尿液转流组和非尿液转流组两组进行比较。结果:尿液转流组:25例患者术后尿道皮肤瘘复发两例,手术成功率99.2%。非尿液转流组:15例患者中有6例(40%)发生尿瘘复发。结论:尿道下裂术后复杂性尿瘘修复术中应用尿液转流有较好的效果。     

Physical illness in patients with severe mental disorders. II. Barriers to care, monitoring and treatment guidelines, plus recommendations at the system and individual level

Physical disorders are, compared to the general population, more prevalent in people with severe mental illness (SMI). Although this excess morbidity and mortality is largely due to modifiable lifestyle risk factors, the screening and assessment of physical health aspects remains poor, even in developed countries. Moreover, specific patient, provider, treatment and system factors act as barriers to the recognition and to the management of physical diseases in people with SMI. Psychiatrists can play a pivotal role in the improvement of the physical health of these patients by expanding their task from clinical psychiatric care to the monitoring and treatment of crucial physical parameters. At a system level, actions are not easy to realize, especially for developing countries. However, at an individual level, even simple and very basic monitoring and treatment actions, undertaken by the treating clinician, can already improve the problem of suboptimal medical care in this population. Adhering to monitoring and treatment guidelines will result in a substantial enhancement of physical health outcomes. Furthermore, psychiatrists can help educate and motivate people with SMI to address their suboptimal lifestyle, including smoking, unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. The adoption of the recommendations presented in this paper across health care systems throughout the world will contribute to a significant improvement in the medical and related psychiatric health outcomes of patients with SMI.     

A snail prefers native over exotic freshwater plants: implications for the enemy release hypotheses

1. One of the most popular single‐factor hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the naturalization and spread of introduced species is the enemy release hypothesis (ERH). Most studies have considered how specialist consumers might affect the success of exotics, but the importance of generalist herbivores has received little attention 2. In this study, we compared the palatability of native and exotic freshwater plants in both phylogenetic pairings and in region‐wide assays, using a generalist consumer (the pond snail Radix swinhoei). 3. Our study indicated that, when plants were paired by taxonomic relatedness, the snail preferred native over exotic freshwater plants by a 2 : 1 ratio. The snail also preferred native over exotic plants when tested across 20 native and seven exotic species found growing in Liangzi Lake. 4. Snails consumed more biomass of native than exotic plants, providing support for the ERH and suggesting that exotic species have a potential advantage in most lakes of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, thus helping their invasion.     

Studies of Unequal Cleavage in Molluscs: I. Nuclear Behavior and Anchorage of a Spindle Pole to Cortex as Revealed by Isolation Technique

Unequal division of the eggs of Spisula solidissima was studied by isolating the nuclear elements. The isolation technique consists mainly of the use of Na-lauryl sulphate with occasional inverting of the container of alcohol-fixed eggs. The procedure was applied to the following stages. (1) germinal vesicles, (2) 1st maturation division, showing anchorage of a spindle pole to the cortex, (3) 2nd meiosis, (4) pronuclear encouter, (5) metaphase, (6) shifting of the metaphase spindle to one side of the cell and a contact with the cortex, (7) ana- and telophase of the 1st division.
Migration and "anchorage" of the spindle to the cortex by one pole is a common phenomenon in unequal divisions of polar body formation and of egg cleavage.     

Conservation of Aquatic Insects: Worldwide Crisis or Localized Threats?

An overview is presented on the current worldwide status ofaquatic insect conservation. Despite extensive habitat destructionor modification, aquatic insects as a whole do not appear tohave suffered as great a proportional loss of species over thelast century as members of other groups. In North America, forexample, only 204 species are considered at risk out of a totalfauna of over 10,000 species, and no species has been documentedas having gone extinct. Even so, aquatic insect diversity issubject to a broad spectrum of threats, including chemical pollutionof waters from industry and agriculture, physical destructionof habitat from impoundments or drainage, and introduction ofalien aquatic biota, primarily sport or aquarium fishes. Adequatelegislation exists in the United States and Europe to provideprotection to aquatic insect taxa at risk, but the implementationof this legislation is often hampered by a lack of taxonomicand distributional knowledge, and by a concentration of recoveryefforts on more highly visible vertebrate taxa. The case ofthe Ash Meadows Naucorid, the only aquatic species currentlyprotected under the Endangered Species Act, is examined in detail.It is concluded that the listing of this species has had nodiscernable effect in halting its population decline, partlydue to the fact that recovery efforts for endangered fisheshave proven deleterious to the insect. It is recommended thatfuture listing efforts be conducted in the context of nationalbiological surveys, and that an ecosystem rather than singlespecies approach be applied to aquatic conservation efforts.