Seasonal, discharge-driven patterns of mayfly assemblages in an intermittent Neotropical stream

1. Streams in the seasonal wet and dry tropics have highly dynamic discharge regimes. Our study stream, located in mid-western Brazil, drains into the Pantanal, South America's largest wetlands, and is characterized by frequent spates in the rainy season and several weeks of interrupted flow in the dry season.
2. In order to understand how these seasonal flow patterns influence the aquatic fauna, floating litter was studied because: (i) this habitat is exposed to the current, and thus is likely to be most affected abiotically and biotically by changes in flow; and (ii) this habitat is abundant in unaltered tropical streams. Studies were conducted in a third- and a fourth-order reach. Mayflies were chosen as study organisms because they were frequent and species-rich on floating litter, and because they should to be responsive to changes in current velocity.
3. In the course of 15 months, covering one rainy and two dry seasons, mayflies showed pronounced seasonal patterns at family and genus level, which were evidently driven by discharge. Two periods of high mayfly densities were observed in the course of one year. One maximum coincided with the peak of the rainy season, the other with the peak of the dry season, and both were distinct in faunistic composition. At high current velocities the leptophlebiid Farrodes sp. was dominant and Leptohyphes sp., Acerpenna sp. and Paracloeodes sp. were frequent. In the dry season, when the river was reduced to isolated standing waters, 86–93% of all mayflies were Caenis sp.
4. Altogether sixteen mayfly genera from the families Baetidae, Caenidae, Leptohyphidae, Leptophlebiidae and Oligoneuriidae were recorded. Two genera are new to science, the baetid Aturbina was recently described (among others, from material from our study river), Acerpenna and Paracloeodes are new records for South America, and Miroculis and Terpides are recorded for the first time south of the Amazon.     

The Metabolism of 3-Indolylacetic Acid in Plant Tissues3

The nature of metabolic products of 3–indolylacetic acid(IAA) extracted from potato tuber disks treated with aeratedIAA solution has been investigated. Two major products, knownat first as ‘V’ and ‘P’ in these studieshave been isolated and ‘V’ has been identified as3-indolylacetylaspartic acid (IacAsp). The rapid uptake of IAA is inhibitited by metabolic poisonssuch as 10^–3 M. cyanide. The maximum mean internal concentrationexceeds the external concentration well–aerated cultures.The mean internal concentration, however only remains for aperiod and then falls off rapidly as a result of extrusion ofabsorbed IAA into the external solution. This extrusion is notinhibited by 10^-3 cyanide; when the mean internal IAA concentrationis 150 µ mol/ml. and the localized IAA concentration musttherefore exceed this value. We conclude therefore that theIAA concentration in the sites where it has accumulated exceedsthe concentration of IAA outside. Uptake of IAA and also its further conversion are inhibitedby indolylacetonitrile and promoted by aspartate, but this promotionis not associated with any gain in amount of indolylacetylaspartate(IacAsp). The data suggest that IacAsp may be formed in tissue from ‘boundIAA’ rather then free IAA. The ‘accelerator ’ found in potato and beans whichhas similar R_F to IAcAsp has been shown definity to be someother substance or substances and not IAcAsp as was at firstthought possible.     

Optimization of Boron and Neutron Delivery for Neutron Capture Therapy

A number of groups in the United States have received funding that will permit evaluation of the clinical efficacy of the neutron capture therapy (NCT) procedure. Various reactors are being modified to allow the construction of an epithermal neutron beam. At the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR), the patient irradiation facility is being modified to produce an optimized epithermal neutron beam. An 80-cm-thick Al-D₂O mixture (184 g/cm², 25% D₂O by volume) is being installed in the shutter assembly. One-dimensional calculations indicate that this configuration should provide an epithermal neutron flux density of ～1 × 10⁹ n/cm²/sec at 3 MW and a concomitant fast neutron dose rate of ～2 × 10^?11 rad per epithermal neutron (assuming a homogeneous Al-D₂O mixture). The actual geometry will be an inhomogeneous array of D₂O and Al layers producing parameters somewhat less favorable than those listed above; experimental verification is in progress. Significant gains have recently been made in selectively targeting B to melanoma with various melanaffinic compounds, including p-boronophenylalanine, and with boronated porphyrins that may be applicable to a variety of tumors. Neutron capture radiographs have been obtained with the above compounds, and efforts have been made to quantitate boron uptake in growing and quiescent or necrotic regions of tumor via double-labeling techniques obtained with tritiated thymidine. A correlation between therapeutic efficacy and the ability to deliver boron to viable areas of tumor has been observed.     

'Integrative taxonomy' then and now: a response to Dayrat (2005)

Deep misunderstandings still besiege taxonomy after more than 200 years of fruitful output. It has been asserted in this journal that taxonomy should be integrative and conform to a series of restrictive guidelines. We show that taxonomy has been integrative for most of its history although, in our sense, integrative does not mean the indiscriminate pooling of any source of data. The guidelines proposed are not founded in good scientific rationale and can have, if followed, a detrimental effect not only on taxonomy, but also on biology as a whole.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 93 , 211–216.     

Response of in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes to temperature

Air temperatures of greater than 35 °C are frequently encountered in groundnut‐growing regions, especially in the semi‐arid tropics. Such extreme temperatures are likely to increase in frequency under future predicted climates. High air temperatures result in failure of peg and pod set due to lower pollen viability. The response of pollen germination and pollen tube growth to temperature was quantified in order to identify differences in pollen tolerance to temperature among 21 groundnut genotypes. Plants were grown from sowing to harvest in a poly‐tunnel under an optimum temperature of 28/22 °C (day/night). Pollen was collected at anther dehiscence and was exposed to temperatures from 10° to 47·5 °C at 2·5 °C intervals. The results showed that a modified bilinear model most accurately described the response to temperature of percentage pollen germination and maximum pollen tube length. Genotypes were found to range from most tolerant to most susceptible based on both pollen characters and membrane thermostability. Mean cardinal temperatures (T_min, T_opt and T_max) averaged over 21 genotypes were 14·1, 30·1 and 43·0 °C for percentage pollen germination and 14·6, 34·4 and 43·4 °C for maximum pollen tube length. The genotypes 55‐437, ICG 1236, TMV 2 and ICGS 11 can be grouped as tolerant to high temperature and genotypes Kadiri 3, ICGV 92116 and ICGV 92118 as susceptible genotypes, based on the cardinal temperatures. The principal component analysis identified maximum percentage pollen germination and pollen tube length of the genotypes, and T_max for the two processes as the most important pollen parameters in describing a genotypic tolerance to high temperature. The T_min and T_opt for pollen germination and tube growth, rate of pollen tube growth were less predictive in discriminating genotypes for high temperature tolerance. Genotypic differences in heat tolerance‐based on pollen response were poorly related (R² = 0·334, P = 0·006) to relative injury as determined by membrane thermostability.     

Diversity of den sites used by pine martens Martes martes: a response to the scarcity of arboreal cavities?

• 1 We compiled a sample of 370 pine marten dens to test the hypothesis that a scarcity of sites leads to the use of suboptimal structures.
• 2 The sample was influenced by detection methods. Radio-tracking revealed cryptic dens but few natal dens; chance encounters revealed dens in buildings and other man-made structures. A total of 82.8% of natal dens were detected by chance encounters.
• 3 Most dens were associated with trees (44.3%), rocks (27.6%) and buildings (13.8%). The natal den subsample comprised buildings (44.3%), trees (22.8%), other man-made structures (17.1%) and rocks (14.3%). A total of 69.6% of dens were elevated and typically in structures offering limited shelter. Only 9.8% of all dens were in elevated tree cavities.
• 4 This diversity of dens reflects a scarcity of arboreal cavities. The alternative structures are suboptimal in terms of energetic costs and risks of predation, and this may limit breeding success in some populations.