Short-term dominance: stability and consequences for subsequent growth

Dominance status was determined among groups of four fish by using individuals from eight brown trout Salmo trutta populations. Subsequent growth of the fish was later recorded in larger groups. Seven months after the first set of trials, an additional set of dominance trials was performed by using the same fish. Social status affected subsequent growth; individuals having the lowest ranks grew less when compared to the higher ranking fish. Furthermore, the short term dominance hierarchy was rather stable between the two trials. This was especially the case with the lowest ranking fish, which tended to remain in the lowest position also in the second trial. The results suggest that the short term dominance trials done among few conspecifics reflect relatively well not only the subordinates' relative but also absolute social status.     

The complete cDNA and polypeptide sequences of human erythroid alpha-spectrin.

Overlapping human erythroid alpha-spectrin cDNA clones were isolated from lambda gt11 libraries constructed from cDNAs of human fetal liver and erythroid bone marrow. The composite 8001-base pair (bp) cDNA nucleotide sequence contains 187-bp 5'- and 528-bp 3'-untranslated regions and has a single long open reading frame of 7287 bp that encodes a polypeptide of 2429 residues. As previously described (Speicher, D. W., and Marchesi, V. T. (1984) Nature 311, 177-180), spectrin is composed largely of homologous 106-amino acid repeat units. From the amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA, alpha-spectrin can be divided into 22 segments. Segments 1-9 and 12-19 are homologous and can therefore be considered repeats; the average number of identical residues in pairwise comparisons of these repeats is 22 out of 106, or 21%. Of these 17 repeats, 11 are exactly 106 amino acids in length, whereas five others differ from this length by a single residue. Segments 11, 20, and 21, although less homologous, appear to be related to the more highly conserved repeat units. The very N-terminal 22 residues, segment 10, which is atypical both in length and sequence, and the C-terminal 150 residues in segment 22 appear to be unrelated to the conserved repeat units. The sequence of the erythroid alpha-spectrin polypeptide chain is compared to that of human alpha-fodrin and chicken alpha-actinin to which it is related. alpha-Spectrin is more distantly related to dystrophin.     

Sea urchin Hox genes: insights into the ancestral Hox cluster

We describe the Hox cluster in the radially symmetric sea urchin and compare our findings to what is known from clusters in bilaterally symmetric animals. Several Hox genes from the direct-developing sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma are described. CHEF gel analysis shows that the Hox genes are clustered on a < or = 300 kilobase (kb) fragment of DNA, and only a single cluster is present, as in lower chordates and other nonvertebrate metazoans. Phylogenetic analyses of sea urchin, amphioxus, Drosophila, and selected vertebrate Hox genes confirm that the H. erythrogramma genes, and others previously cloned from other sea urchins, belong to anterior, central, and posterior groups. Despite their radial body plan and lack of cephalization, echinoderms retain at least one of the anterior group Hox genes, an orthologue of Hox3. The structure of the echinoderm Hox cluster suggests that the ancestral deuterostome had a Hox cluster more similar to the current chordate cluster than was expected Sea urchins have at least three Abd-B type genes, suggesting that Abd-B expansion began before the radiation of deuterostomes.      

On the separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and ecosystem respiration: review and improved algorithm

This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods that separate net ecosystem exchange (NEE) into its major components, gross ecosystem carbon uptake (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (R_eco). In particular, we analyse the effect of the extrapolation of night‐time values of ecosystem respiration into the daytime; this is usually done with a temperature response function that is derived from long‐term data sets. For this analysis, we used 16 one‐year‐long data sets of carbon dioxide exchange measurements from European and US‐American eddy covariance networks. These sites span from the boreal to Mediterranean climates, and include deciduous and evergreen forest, scrubland and crop ecosystems. We show that the temperature sensitivity of R_eco, derived from long‐term (annual) data sets, does not reflect the short‐term temperature sensitivity that is effective when extrapolating from night‐ to daytime. Specifically, in summer active ecosystems the long‐term temperature sensitivity exceeds the short‐term sensitivity. Thus, in those ecosystems, the application of a long‐term temperature sensitivity to the extrapolation of respiration from night to day leads to a systematic overestimation of ecosystem respiration from half‐hourly to annual time‐scales, which can reach >25% for an annual budget and which consequently affects estimates of GEP. Conversely, in summer passive (Mediterranean) ecosystems, the long‐term temperature sensitivity is lower than the short‐term temperature sensitivity resulting in underestimation of annual sums of respiration. We introduce a new generic algorithm that derives a short‐term temperature sensitivity of R_eco from eddy covariance data that applies this to the extrapolation from night‐ to daytime, and that further performs a filling of data gaps that exploits both, the covariance between fluxes and meteorological drivers and the temporal structure of the fluxes. While this algorithm should give less biased estimates of GEP and R_eco, we discuss the remaining biases and recommend that eddy covariance measurements are still backed by ancillary flux measurements that can reduce the uncertainties inherent in the eddy covariance data.     

Molecular phenotyping of maternally mediated parallel adaptive divergence within Rana arvalis and Rana temporaria

When similar selection acts on the same traits in multiple species or populations, parallel evolution can result in similar phenotypic changes, yet the underlying molecular architecture of parallel phenotypic divergence can be variable. Maternal effects can influence evolution at ecological timescales and facilitate local adaptation, but their contribution to parallel adaptive divergence is unclear. In this study, we (i) tested for variation in embryonic acid tolerance in a common garden experiment and (ii) used molecular phenotyping of egg coats to investigate the molecular basis of maternally mediated parallel adaptive divergence in two amphibian species (Rana arvalis and Rana temporaria). Our results on three R. arvalis and two R. temporaria populations show that adaptive divergence in embryonic acid tolerance is mediated via maternally derived egg coats in both species. We find extensive polymorphism in egg jelly coat glycoproteins within both species and that acid‐tolerant clutches have more negatively charged egg jelly – indicating that the glycosylation status of the jelly coat proteins is under divergent selection in acidified environments, likely due to its impact on jelly water balance. Overall, these data provide evidence for parallel mechanisms of adaptive divergence in two species. Our study highlights the importance of studying intraspecific molecular variation in egg coats and, specifically, their glycoproteins, to increase understanding of underlying forces maintaining variation in jelly coats.     

1590名农村中老年人生存质量调查分析(英文)

目的:采用SF-36量表中文版评价农村中老年人生存质量,并为提高农村中老年人的生存质量和健康水平提供科学依据和建议。方法:采用随机抽样的方法,采用面对面访谈的形式,记分方法参照国际生存质量评价计划(IQOLA)的制定标准,评价其生理和心理健康状况。结果:1590名农村中老年人男性生存质量得分高于女性。经济水平对农村中老年人的生理健康的影响大于对其心理健康的影响。配偶健在的农村中老年人的各维度得分均高于无配偶者。农村中老年人的各维度得分随教育水平的升高呈升高趋势。结论:农村中老年人的生存质量与年龄成负相关,同时也受文化程度和经济水平等多个因素的影响。因而,对农村中老年人这一弱势群体应该给予更多关注。     

Latitudinal divergence in a widespread amphibian: Contrasting patterns of neutral and adaptive genomic variation

Stochastic effects from demographic processes and selection are expected to shape the distribution of genetic variation in spatially heterogeneous environments. As the amount of genetic variation is central for long‐term persistence of populations, understanding how these processes affect variation over large‐scale geographical gradients is pivotal. We investigated the distribution of neutral and putatively adaptive genetic variation, and reconstructed demographic history in the moor frog (Rana arvalis) using 136 individuals from 15 populations along a 1,700‐km latitudinal gradient from northern Germany to northern Sweden. Using double digest restriction‐site associated DNA sequencing we obtained 27,590 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and identified differentiation outliers and SNPs associated with growing season length. The populations grouped into a southern and a northern cluster, representing two phylogeographical lineages from different post‐glacial colonization routes. Hybrid index estimation and demographic model selection showed strong support for a southern and northern lineage and evidence of gene flow between regions located on each side of a contact zone. However, patterns of past gene flow over the contact zone differed between neutral and putatively adaptive SNPs. While neutral nucleotide diversity was higher along the southern than the northern part of the gradient, nucleotide diversity in differentiation outliers showed the opposite pattern, suggesting differences in the relative strength of selection and drift along the gradient. Variation associated with growing season length decreased with latitude along the southern part of the gradient, but not along the northern part where variation was lower, suggesting stronger climate‐mediated selection in the north. Outlier SNPs included loci involved in immunity and developmental processes.     

Smoking cessation and bronchial epithelial remodelling in COPD: a cross-sectional study

Background

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is associated with bronchial epithelial changes, including squamous cell metaplasia and goblet cell hyperplasia. These features are partially attributed to activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Whereas smoking cessation reduces respiratory symptoms and lung function decline in COPD, inflammation persists. We determined epithelial proliferation and composition in bronchial biopsies from current and ex-smokers with COPD, and its relation to duration of smoking cessation.

Methods

114 COPD patients were studied cross-sectionally: 99 males/15 females, age 62 ± 8 years, median 42 pack-years, no corticosteroids, current (n = 72) or ex-smokers (n = 42, median cessation duration 3.5 years), postbronchodilator FEV₁ 63 ± 9% predicted. Squamous cell metaplasia (%), goblet cell (PAS/Alcian Blue⁺) area (%), proliferating (Ki-67⁺) cell numbers (/mm basement membrane), and EGFR expression (%) were measured in intact epithelium of bronchial biopsies.

Results

Ex-smokers with COPD had significantly less epithelial squamous cell metaplasia, proliferating cell numbers, and a trend towards reduced goblet cell area than current smokers with COPD (p = 0.025, p = 0.001, p = 0.081, respectively), but no significant difference in EGFR expression. Epithelial features were not different between short-term quitters (<3.5 years) and current smokers. Long-term quitters (≥3.5 years) had less goblet cell area than both current smokers and short-term quitters (medians: 7.9% vs. 14.4%, p = 0.005; 7.9% vs. 13.5%, p = 0.008; respectively), and less proliferating cell numbers than current smokers (2.8% vs. 18.6%, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Ex-smokers with COPD had less bronchial epithelial remodelling than current smokers, which was only observed after long-term smoking cessation (>3.5 years).

Trial registration

NCT00158847