The ant Lasius niger shows no relationship between task efficiency and body size variation among workers

In ants, workers of different sizes may perform various tasks, even in so-called monomorphic species with relatively low body size variation. However, it is unclear if the body size diversity of monomorphic workers correlates with task efficiency, especially in stressful contingencies. Here we tested if the body size variation of workers corresponds with its efficiency in transferring pupae. Transferring brood is a pre-set behavioral response to stress, e.g. suboptimal temperature. Here we applied a laboratory experiment simulating nest damage. The study was performed on the common garden ant (Lasius niger (Linnaeus, 1758)) – a species with no distinct worker subcastes. The efficiency of workers was measured as the latency of transferring pupae from a lit part of the experimental colony to a darkened part, while the body size diversity was expressed as the within-colony coefficient of variation in head width. We did not find any significant correlation between efficiency and body size variation. Summarizing the existing studies and the present results, we propose the hypothesis that the body size diversity of L. niger may have implications for workers’ division of labor but not for their task efficiency in a stressful contingency.     

Reproductive collapse in European beech results from declining pollination efficiency in large trees

Climate warming increases tree mortality which will require sufficient reproduction to ensure population viability. However, the response of tree reproduction to climate change remains poorly understood. Warming can reduce synchrony and interannual variability of seed production (“masting breakdown”) which can increase seed predation and decrease pollination efficiency in trees. Here, using 40 years of observations of individual seed production in European beech (Fagus sylvatica), we showed that masting breakdown results in declining viable seed production over time, in contrast to the positive trend apparent in raw seed count data. Furthermore, tree size modulates the consequences of masting breakdown on viable seed production. While seed predation increased over time mainly in small trees, pollination efficiency disproportionately decreased in larger individuals. Consequently, fecundity declined over time across all size classes, but the overall effect was greatest in large trees. Our study showed that a fundamental biological relationship—correlation between tree size and viable seed production—has been reversed as the climate has warmed. That reversal has diverse consequences for forest dynamics; including for stand- and biogeographical-level dynamics of forest regeneration. The tree size effects suggest management options to increase forest resilience under changing climates.     

Effect of chronic vanadium administration in drinking water to rats

Two-month old Wistar rats of both sexes received, as sole drinking liquid, an aqueous solution of ammonium metavanadate (AMV) at a concentration of 0.01 or 0.05 mg V cm^–3 (0.2 or 1.0 mM) for a period of 4 weeks. It was calculated that the animals took up doses of 1.5 and 5–6 mg V kg body weight^–1 24 h^–1, respectively. Food and AMV solution consumption in the experimental groups was similar to food and water consumption in the control group. A statistically significant decrease of consumption of AMV solution at a concentration of 0.05 mg V cm^–3 was noted only in males. Hematological examination demonstrated a decrease in the erythrocyte count, hemoglobin level and hematocrit index. This decrease in the erythrocyte count was associated with an increased percentage of reticulocytes in the peripheral blood of the animals drinking the solution with a higher vanadium content. Biochemical analyses demonstrated a decrease of l-ascorbic acid levels in the plasma and erythrocytes of animals drinking the AMV solutions. A distinct tendency for the malonyldialdehyde level to increase in the blood was also observed. Among the enzymes examined in the erythrocytes (catalase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase and -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase [ALA-D]) only ALA-D activity was depressed.     

Empirical testing of cryoconite granulation: Role of cyanobacteria in the formation of key biogenic structure darkening glaciers in polar regions

Cryoconite, the dark sediment on the surface of glaciers, often aggregates into oval or irregular granules serving as biogeochemical factories. They reduce a glacier's albedo, act as biodiversity hotspots by supporting aerobic and anaerobic microbial communities, constitute one of the organic matter (OM) sources on glaciers, and are a feeder for micrometazoans. Although cryoconite granules have multiple roles on glaciers, their formation is poorly understood. Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous and abundant engineers of cryoconite hole ecosystems. This study tested whether cyanobacteria may be responsible for cryoconite granulation as a sole biotic element. Incubation of Greenlandic, Svalbard, and Scandinavian cyanobacteria in different nutrient availabilities and substrata for growth (distilled water alone and water with quartz powder, furnaced cryoconite without OM, or powdered rocks from glacial catchment) revealed that cyanobacteria bind mineral particles into granules. The structures formed in the experiment resembled those commonly observed in natural cryoconite holes: they contained numerous cyanobacterial filaments protruding from aggregated mineral particles. Moreover, all examined strains were confirmed to produce extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which suggests that cryoconite granulation is most likely due to EPS secretion by gliding cyanobacteria. In the presence of water as the only substrate for growth, cyanobacteria formed mostly carpet-like mats. Our data empirically prove that EPS-producing oscillatorialean cyanobacteria isolated from the diverse community of cryoconite microorganisms can form granules from mineral substrate and that the presence of the mineral substrate increases the probability of the formation of these important and complex biogeochemical microstructures on glaciers.     

Serum concentration of prolactin, gastrin and glycocholic acid in patient with peptic ulcer treated with ranitidine

In 66 patients with peptic ulcer (11 with gastric ulcer, 55 with duodenal ulcer, 19 women, 47 men) the serum concentrations of prolactin, dehydrocholic acid and gastrin were determined. The studies were repeated after treatment with ranitidine: in 50 patients after three weeks and in 40 patients after another 30 days. During the first period ranitidine 2 x 150 mg was administered, while during the second period the dose was 1 x 150 mg. The results were compared with those obtained from 120 healthy subjects. Before starting the treatment prolactin levels were significantly higher than those in the control group. During the treatment a significant decrease of the levels was observed. Similar changes of prolactin concentrations were found in the group of 39 men with duodenal ulcer isolated from the studied patients, who were compared with a group of 50 healthy men. It was not found that the development of peptic ulcer and the treatment with ranitidine exerted and effect on the changes of gastrin and dehydrocholic acid concentrations.     

Acutely administered melatonin reduces oxidative damage in lung and brain induced by hyperbaric oxygen

Pablos, Marta I., Russel J. Reiter, Jin-Ing Chuang, GenaroG. Ortiz, Juan M. Guerrero, Ewa Sewerynek, Maria T. Agapito, DanielaMelchiorri, Richard Lawrence, and Susan M. Deneke. Acutely administered melatonin reduces oxidative damage in lung and brain induced by hyperbaric oxygen. J. Appl.Physiol. 83(2): 354-358, 1997.Hyperbaric oxygenexposure rapidly induces lipid peroxidation and cellular damage in avariety of organs. In this study, we demonstrate that the exposure ofrats to 4 atmospheres of 100% oxygen for 90 min is associated withincreased levels of lipid peroxidation products [malonaldehyde(MDA) and 4-hydroxyalkenals (4-HDA)] and withchanges in the activities of two antioxidative enzymes[glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione reductase (GR)], as well as in the glutathione status in the lungs and in the brain. Products of lipid peroxidation increased after hyperbaric hyperoxia, both GPX and GR activities were decreased, and levels oftotal glutathione (reduced+oxidized) and glutathione disulfide (oxidized glutathione) increased in both lung and brain areas (cerebralcortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, striatum, and cerebellum) but not inliver. When animals were injected with melatonin (10 mg/kg) immediatelybefore the 90-min hyperbaric oxygen exposure, all measurements ofoxidative damage were prevented and were similar to those in untreatedcontrol animals. Melatonin's actions may be related to a variety ofmechanisms, some of which remain to be identified, including itsability to directly scavenge free radicals and its induction ofantioxidative enzymes via specific melatonin receptors.

     

Herbicidal activity of phosphonic,phosphinic, and phosphonous acid analogues of phenylglycine and phenylalanine

A series of phosphonic, phosphinic, and phosphonous acid analogues of phenylglycine and phenylalanine was synthesized and tested as herbicides against Lepidium sativum and Cucumis sativus. Aminobenzylphosphonic acids exhibited notable herbicidal activity and thus represent a group of the most active herbicides found among aminophosphonic acids.