Effect of high temperatures and ash on germination of ten species from gorse shrubland

Seeds of ten species of Cistaceae, Ericaceae and Poaceae were examinated to compare their responses to high temperatures and ash, simulating the direct effect of fire on germination. A variable response to these factors between families and within species from the same family was detected.In Cistaceae, heat treatment pre-sowing stimulated germination. In Ericaceae, germination was stimulated by thermic shock, but a wide range of response was detected (between all four species), from Erica ciliari, very sensitive, to Daboecia cantabrica and Calluna vulgaris which showed no significant response. The range of reaction shown by the species of this family suggest that the size of the seeds is directly related to the difference in response, at least in species with a similar structure. In Poaceae, germination was not found to be dependent upon thermic shock.The effect of ash varies in magnitude. Although it decreased the germination percentage in all species, in Avenula marginata (Poaceae) the effect was not statistically significant, whilst in Ericaceae, particularly in those showing the highest levels of germination in the control (C. vulgaris and E. umbellata), the effect is to inhibit germination completely. In respect to the effect of ash the families could be arranged in the order Ericaceae>Cistaceae>Poaceae.Complex interactions between various dormancy types and seed size could explain these results. In species which depend on physical dormancy temperature has an important role. When other dormancy type is dominant in the control of germination, the medium characteristics could have a relevant role on seed response. In addition, the seed-size could determine the threshold of tolerance to temperature.     

Topical Reappraisal of Molecular Pharmacological Approaches to Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetes Mellitus Angiopathy

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a frequent medical problem, affecting more than 4% of the population in most countries. In the context of diabetes, the vascular endothelium can play a crucial pathophysiological role. If a healthy endothelium—which is a dynamic endocrine organ with autocrine and paracrine activity—regulates vascular tone and permeability and assures a proper balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis, and vasodilation and vasoconstriction, then, in contrast, a dysfunctional endothelium has received increasing attention as a potential contributor to the pathogenesis of vascular disease in diabetes. Hyperglycemia is indicated to be the major causative factor in the development of endothelial dysfunction. Furthermore, many shreds of evidence suggest that the progression of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes is parallel to the advancement of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis. To present the state-of-the-art data regarding endothelial dysfunction in diabetic micro- and macroangiopathy, we constructed this literature review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We interrogated five medical databases: Elsevier, PubMed, PMC, PEDro, and ISI Web of Science.     

Weakened Resilience in Parenting Self-Efficacy in Pregnant Women Who Were Abused in Childhood: An Experimental Test

This study tested experimentally whether the combination of a history of childhood abuse and confrontation with difficult infant temperament is associated with negative changes in parenting self-efficacy. First-time pregnant women (N = 243) participated in the Adult Attachment Interview, which was used to assess the occurrence of abuse by parents in childhood and unresolved representations, and completed a task asking them to respond to infant cries. Sixty of the 243 participants (25%) experienced childhood abuse, mostly physical or sexual. The task simulated infant temperamental difficulty by manipulating soothing success in order to reflect an easy-to-soothe (80% soothing success) and a difficult-to-soothe infant (20% soothing success). Both after baseline and after each of the two stimulus series women assessed their parenting self-efficacy. Women who reported childhood abuse did not differ from women who reported no childhood abuse in parenting self-efficacy at baseline or in response to the easy-to-soothe infant (relative to baseline), but decreased more in parenting self-efficacy following the difficult-to-soothe infant. Effects did not vary according to resolution of trauma. These findings suggest that in response to infant temperamental difficulty, women who experienced childhood abuse may more easily lose confidence in their parenting abilities, which underlines the importance of preparing at-risk women for the possible challenges that come along with parenthood.     

Unexpected spatial stability of water chemistry in headwater stream networks

Understanding how water and solutes enter and propagate through freshwater landscapes in the Anthropocene is critical to protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems and ensuring human water security. However, high hydrochemical variability in headwater streams, where most carbon and nutrients enter river networks, has hindered effective modelling and management. We developed an analytical framework informed by landscape ecology and catchment hydrology to quantify spatiotemporal variability across scales, which we tested in 56 headwater catchments, sampled periodically over 12 years in western France. Unexpectedly, temporal variability in dissolved carbon, nutrients and major ions was preserved moving downstream and spatial patterns of water chemistry were stable on annual to decadal timescales, partly because of synchronous variation in solute concentrations. These findings suggest that while concentration and flux cannot be extrapolated among subcatchments, periodic sampling of headwaters provides valuable information about solute sources and subcatchment resilience to disturbance.     

Few cultured rat primary sensory neurons express a tolbutamide-sensitive K+ current

The response of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to metabolic inhibition is known to involve calcium-activated K⁺ channels; in most neuronal types ATP-sensitive K⁺ channels (K_ATP) also contribute, but this is not yet established in the DRG. We have investigated the presence of a K_ATP current using whole-cell recordings from rat DRG neurons, classifying the neurons functionally by their "current signature" (Petruska et al, J Neurophysiol 84: 2365–2379, 2000). We clearly identified a K_ATP current in only 1 out of 62 neurons, probably a nociceptor. The current was activated by cyanide (2 mM NaCN) and was sensitive to 100 μM tolbutamide; the relation between reversal potential and external K⁺ concentration indicated it was a K⁺ current. In a further two neurons, cyanide activated a K⁺ current that was only partially blocked by tolbutamide, which may also be an atypical K_ATP current. We conclude that K_ATP channels are expressed in normal DRG, but in very few neurons and only in nociceptors.     

Simple sensitive and simultaneous high-performance liquid chromatography method of glucoconjugated and non-glucoconjugated porphyrins and chlorins using near infra-red fluorescence detection

This paper reports, for the first time, a reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of seven glucoconjugated and non-glucoconjugated porphyrins and chlorins, using near infra-red fluorescence detection. Chromatographic separation was performed on nucleosil-CN analytical column using an isocratic acetonitrile-0.1% (w/v) TFA at pH 1.8 (55:45, v/v) as mobile phase. Wavelength gradient was employed for sensitive detection, porphyrins derivates were monitored at lambda(exc) = 440 nm and lambda(emi) = 680 nm; and chlorins derivates at lambda(exc) = 420 nm, lambda(emi) = 650 nm. The method was validated and applied to monitor the biodegradation of a tri glucoconjugated chlorin derivative, TPC(glu)3, in spiked samples of human serum.     

The bloodsucking biting midges of Argentina (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

A key is presented for the identification of the adults of 54 species of bloodsucking ceratopogonids, 51 of which are known inhabitants of Argentina, and Culicoides uruguayensis Ronderos, C. pifanoi Ortiz, and C. trilineatus Fox, which are known to occur in bordering Uruguay and Paraguay. Wing photographs are provided of females of the 45 species of Culicoides. Three new species of Culicoides Latreille from Northeastern Argentina are described and illustrated: C. austroparaensis Spinelli, C. bachmanni Spinelli, and C. williamsi Spinelli. The following six species are recorded for the first time from Argentina and/or bordering localities in Paraguay: Leptoconops brasiliensis (Lutz), C. gabaldoni Ortiz, C. ginesi Ortiz, C. pifanoi Ortiz, C. pseudocrescentis Tavares and Luna Dias, and C. trilineatus; and C. estevezae Ronderos and Spinelli is newly recorded from Misiones province of Argentina. C. lopesi Barretto is excluded from the Argentinean ceratopogonid fauna.     

Characteristics of wines made by Saccharomyces mutants which produce a polygalacturonase under wine-making conditions

Wines by yeast mutants producing polygalacturonase in high glucose concentration, from Saccharomyces wine-making strains, had higher filterability and more concentrated anthocyanin contents than that of their parent strains. These results suggest that the clarification process was improved at a lower cost by the low viscosity and that high-quality wines result from the increase in the anthocyanin contents.     

Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Martín García Island, Argentina

Nearly 230 species of biting midges have been recorded or described from Argentina; 38 of them are known from the Buenos Aires province and only one is cited from Martín García Island. This paper presents the results raised from six collecting trips which took place on the island during spring 2005, summer 2006 and autumn 2009. Diverse sampling sites including permanent and temporary aquatic environments were chosen, most of the ten sampling sites were ponds of diverse origin, some of these environments were covered with floating vegetation as Lemna gibba, Lemna minuscule, Salvinia biloba, Salvinia minima, Azolla filiculoides, Limnobium laevigatum, Pistia stratiotes, Spirodela intermedia, Wolffiella oblonga and Wolffia columbiana. Other sites were placed in urban and suburban areas. Adults were collected with sweep nets at sunrise and sunset and with light traps at intervals of four to five hours at night, depending on electricity availability on the island. Larvae and pupae were collected with different implements depending on characteristics of each surveyed aquatic habitat. In free standing water, they were captured with small sieves or hand pipettes and micropipettes, flotation techniques were utilized for sampling vegetated areas, free and rooted floating hydrophytes were extracted for removing insects among them. Thirteen species of Ceratopogonidae were collected, three of Atrichopogon Kieffer, three of Forcipomyia Meigen, two of Dasyhelea Kieffer, four of Culicoides Latreille, and one of Bezzia Kieffer, all representing new records from the island.