A statistical test that supports a human/chimpanzee clade based on noncoding DNA sequence data

Using the aligned DNA sequence data of Miyamoto et al. and Maeda et al., all noncoding genetic material, and a simple statistical test, we show that a Homo/Pan clade is supported at approximately the 3% level of significance. The method accommodates polymorphism and different evolutionary rates for different sites. All assumptions on which the statistical study is based are made explicit. (See the Note added in proof, which--adding recently published data--improves the significance level to about 1%.      

Reflooding the Faguibine floodplain system,northern Mali: potential benefits and challenges

The Faguibine system, northern Mali, consists of a series of interconnected floodplains of which the flooded surface area declined from about 1 000 km² in the late 19th century to only some 90 km² in 2010. Flood extent depends on the height of the Niger River flood peak at Diré. Satellite imagery analysis indicated that a phase shift may have occurred in the year 2000, probably as a delayed consequence of the Sahelian drought of the 1970s compounded by the collapse of societal controls on water use during recent civil conflict. An economic evaluation of the system in 2011 showed US$100 000 per year of net income per flooded km² in Lake Faguibine, allowing vulnerable people to practise recession agriculture, to fish and to graze livestock. An intensive investment phase, combined with an approach of rebuilding local governance systems and environmental management capacity, could yield net benefits to the user communities of the order of ten times the maintenance costs, contributing to human well-being. The system is currently threatened by the building of the Fomi Dam in Guinea and by the planned expansion of irrigation upstream. There is also a risk of the return of a prolonged drought linked to the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation index.     

Zerumbone induced apoptosis in liver cancer cells via modulation of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio

Background  

Zerumbone is a cytotoxic component isolated from Zingiber zerumbet Smith, a herbal plant which is also known as lempoyang. This new anticancer bioactive compound from Z. zerumbet was investigated for its activity and mechanism in human liver cancer cell lines.     

Morphological Study of Digestive Cycle in Bloodsucking Biting Midges of Genus Cu1icoides

Changes in the midgut of biting midges Culicoides punctatus (Mg.) and C. grisescens (Edw.) in the course of digestion of the single blood portion were studied using methods of light and electron microscopy. Essential differences are shown in structure of intestinal epithelial cells of young non-fed females and adult individuals completing each digestive cycle. Blood digestion in adult females of both species takes about 3.5–4.0 days and is not accompanied by formation of blood thrombus. Formation of the peritrophic membrane occurs at the period of 12 h to 2.5 days after blood-feeding and is associated with secretory activity of cells of the posterior part of midgut. Functions of secretion, absorption, and transport of substances are performed by all cells of intestinal epithelium and to the great extent are overlapped in time. Peculiarities of structural organization of digestion in midges in comparison with other blood-sucking insects are discussed.__________Translated from Zhurnal Evolyutsionnoi Biokhimii i Fiziologii, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2005, pp. 176–185.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Filimonova.     

Present-day and mid-Holocene biomes reconstructed from pollen and plant macrofossil data from the former Soviet Union and Mongolia

Fossil pollen data supplemented by tree macrofossil records were used to reconstruct the vegetation of the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia at 6000 years. Pollen spectra were assigned to biomes using the plant-functional-type method developed by Prentice et al . (1996). Surface pollen data and a modern vegetation map provided a test of the method. This is the first time such a broad-scale vegetation reconstruction for the greater part of northern Eurasia has been attempted with objective techniques. The new results confirm previous regional palaeoenvironmental studies of the mid-Holocene while providing a comprehensive synopsis and firmer conclusions. West of the Ural Mountains temperate deciduous forest extended both northward and southward from its modern range. The northern limits of cool mixed and cool conifer forests were also further north than present. Taiga was reduced in European Russia, but was extended into Yakutia where now there is cold deciduous forest. The northern limit of taiga was extended (as shown by increased Picea pollen percentages, and by tree macrofossil records north of the present-day forest limit) but tundra was still present in north-eastern Siberia. The boundary between forest and steppe in the continental interior did not shift substantially, and dry conditions similar to present existed in western Mongolia and north of the Aral Sea.     

耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌在动物流行病学中的研究进展

葡萄球菌是动物中重要的机会性病原体,耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）因其多药耐药的特征日益成为动物和公众健康的主要威胁。由于动物与动物及人畜间存在相互传染的风险,在控制MRSA感染的整个体系中,分析MRSA在动物中的流行显得尤为重要。     

中国岩黄芪属(豆科)植物资料增补

根据对标本的研究及文献资料的整理,证实了西伯利亚岩黄芪在中国的分布;山竹岩黄芪在新疆的分布新记录。另外,还报道了地中海岩黄芪在陕西的栽培记录。