Immunocytochemical demonstration of vimentin in astrocytes and ependymal cells of developing and adult mouse nervous system

The occurrence of vimentin, a specific intermediate filament protein, has been studied by immunoflourescence microscopy in tissue of adult and embryonic brain as well as in cell cultures from nervous tissue. By double imminofluorescence labeling, the distribution of vimentin has been compared with that of subunit proteins of other types of intermediate filaments (glial fibrillary acidic [GFA] protein, neurofilament protein, prekeratin) and other cell-type specific markers (fibronectin, tetanus toxin receptor, 04 antigen). In adult brain tissue, vimentin is found not only in fibroblasts and cells of larger blood vessels but also in ependymal cells and astrocytes. In embryonic brain tissue, vimentin is detectable as early as embryonic day 11, the earliest stage tested, and is located in radial fibers spanning the neural tube, in ventricular cells, and in blood vessels. At all stages tested, oligodendrocytes and neurons do not express detectable amounts of vimentin. In primary cultures of early postnatal mouse cerebellum, a coincident location of vimentin and GFA protein is seen in astrocytes, and both types of filament proteins are included in the perinuclear aggregates formed upon exposure of the cells to colcemid. In cerebellar cell cultures of embryonic-day-13 mice, vimentin is seen in various cell types of epithelioid or fibroblastlike morphology but is absent from cells expressing tetanus toxin receptors. Among these embryonic, vimentin-positive cells, a certain cell type reacting neither with tetanus toxin nor with antibodies to fibronectin or GFA protein has been tentatively identified as precursor to more mature astrocytes. The results show that, in the neuroectoderm, vimentin is a specific marker for astrocytes and ependymal cells. It is expressed in the mouse in astrocytes and glial precursors well before the onset of GFA protein expression and might therefore serve as an early marker of glial differentiation. Our results show that vimentin and GFA protein coexist in one cell type not only in primary cultures in vitro but also in the intact tissue in situ.     

正常人左心室功能指标的参考值及其预计公式的初步研究报告*

目的: 当前评估左心室容量和功能仍常用正常值范围,个体化分析也仅使用体表面积进行校正。尚缺少个体化因素相关的大样本参考值和预计公式。方法: 本研究纳入美国加州洛杉矶县南湾地区1200名健康志愿者,其中男807女393,年龄20岁-94岁,心脏CT造影（CTA）,经过高精度三维成像技术处理,计算左心室容积在收缩和舒张过程中的连续动态变化,测定左心室（LV）容量和功能指标：舒张末期容积（EDV)、收缩末期容积(ESV)、每搏输出量(SV)、射血分数(EF)和心输出量(CO)。将以上指标与一般特征指标进行多因素相关分析,以探索正常人预计值计算公式。结果: 男性除LVEF小于女性外（P<0.001）,其余各指标均大于女性（P<0.001）。多元线性回归分析提示, 性别、年龄、身高和体质量均为EDV、ESV、SV的独立影响因子(P<0.001); 而CO仅受年龄、性别、体质量显著影响(P<0.001),但与身高无关(P>0.05)。CO的预测公式CO (L·min^-1)= 6.963+0.446(Male) -0.037×年龄(yr)+0.013×体质量(kg)。结论: 性别、年龄、身高、体质量均影响左心室容量和功能,建立预测值计算公式,对心血管疾病的无创评估和个体化精准医疗具有重要参考价值。     

Exo-glycosidases Activities in Artemisia sphaerocephalaMucilaginous Achene Germination Process

白沙蒿粘液瘦果萌发中聚糖内切水解酶的活动特性 黄振英4* Daphne J.OSBORNE ²      

Invertebrate diet of the Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis [undulata] macqueenii in Abu Dhabi from calibrated faecal analysis

The ecology of the Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis [undulata] macqueenii is poorly known and populations are declining due to hunting and habitat loss. As wintering populations in Abu Dhabi may be limited by habitat and food, we studied the diet using calibrated faecal analysis. Prey were categorized into 16 groups and fed to captive birds under controlled conditions. We calculated the recovery rates of prey following digestion and identified consistent fragments for each group. Wild Houbara Bustard faeces were collected and examined for key fragments, and initial prey intake was calibrated. Plant remains were identified and their contribution was estimated. Fewer than 28% faeces contained >50% plant material by volume and only 12% contained 95% or more. Numerically, the most important prey were: ants (64%), large nocturnal tenebrionids (14.5%), small climbing tenebrionids (12%) and diurnal tenebrionids. However, the Tenebrionidae contributed 97% of the animal biomass. The relative proportions of prey in the diet were similar to relative abundance as assessed by pitfall trapping. Estimates of the energetic value of the prey suggested that on average Houbara Bustards must consume around 670 desert invertebrates/day to meet energy needs. The effort required to catch these prey may vary at least ten-fold seasonally. On average plants could provide a further 6.4–14% energy but more work is needed on this. Whether Houbara Bustards wintering in Abu Dhabi are prey-limited depends on prey densities and renewal rates which remain unknown.     

The representation of root processes in models addressing the responses of vegetation to global change

The representation of root activity in models is here confined to considerations of applications assessing the impacts of changes in climate or atmospheric [CO₂]. Approaches to modelling roots can be classified into four major types: models in which roots are not considered, models in which there is an interplay between only selected above-ground and below-ground processes, models in which growth allocation to all parts of the plants depends on the availability and matching of the capture of external resources, and models with explicit treatments of root growth, architecture and resource capture. All models seem effective in describing the major root activities of water and nutrient uptake, because these processes are highly correlated, particularly at large scales and with slow or equilibrium dynamics. Allocation models can be effective in providing a deeper, perhaps contrary, understanding of the dynamic underpinning to observations made only above ground. The complex and explicit treatment of roots can be achieved only in small-scale highly studied systems because of the requirements for many initialized variables to run the models.     

Response of wild C4 crop progenitors to subambient CO2 highlights a possible role in the origin of agriculture

The synchronous origin of agriculture in at least four independent climatic regions at the end of the last glacial period (c10 kyr bp ) points to a global limitation for crop domestication. One hypothesis proposes that a rapid carbon dioxide (CO₂) increase from 18 Pa to ～27 Pa during deglaciation caused significant increases in the growth rates of wild crop progenitors, thereby removing a productivity barrier to their successful domestication. However, early C₄ crops present a challenge to this hypothesis, because they were among the first domesticates, but have a carbon‐concentrating mechanism that offsets the limitation of photosynthesis by CO₂. We investigated the CO₂‐limitation hypothesis using the wild progenitors of five C₄ founder crops from four independent centres of domestication. Plants were grown in controlled environment chambers at glacial (18 Pa), postglacial (28 Pa) and current ambient (38 Pa) CO₂ levels, and photosynthesis, transpiration and biomass were measured. An increase in CO₂ from glacial to postglacial levels caused a significant gain in vegetative biomass of up to 40%, but the equivalent rise in CO₂ from postglacial to modern levels generally had no effect on biomass. Investigation into the underlying mechanisms showed C₄ photosynthesis to be limited more by glacial than postglacial CO₂ levels, matching theoretical expectations. Moreover, the increase in CO₂ from glacial to postglacial levels caused a reduction in the transpiration rate via decreases in stomatal conductance of ～35%. In combination, these physiological changes conferred a large improvement in water‐use efficiency at the postglacial CO₂ partial pressure compared with the glacial level. Our data, therefore, provide experimental support for the CO₂‐limitation hypothesis, suggesting that these key physiological changes could have greatly enhanced the productivity of wild crop progenitors after deglaciation.     

The effects of vegetation removal by grass carp and herbicides on the water chemistry of four Florida lakes

SUMMARY.

• 1 Four lakes in central Florida each received a different weed control treatment consisting of herbicide and/or different stocking ratios of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella Val.).
• 2 Submersed vegetation was eliminated by grass carp within 6 months In Lake Orienta and within 14 months in Clear Lake. Because Little Lake Fairview, treated with herbicide and a smaller stocking ratio of grass carp, retained abundant vegetation levels over the first two study years, grass carp which had been introduced initially were replaced with a greater number of fish at the beginning of the third year. Submersed vegetation was subsequently eliminated in this lake within LO months. Aquatic vegetation was reduced but not eliminated in Lake Mann which was treated with herbicide only.
• 3 Where macrophytes were removed there tended to be increased bottom dissolved oxygen, higher and more stable total alkalinity values, increased turbidity, lowered transparency, higher specific conductivity and increased chlorophyll levels. Significant increases in pH were probably due to low water levels resulting from a severe drought rather than weed control. Low water also affected specific conductivity. Annual means for nutrients did not differ significantly between years in the four lakes.

     

Habitat characteristics predict occupancy patterns of the endangered amphibian Litoria raniformis in flow‐regulated flood plain wetlands

Identification of habitat features that are strongly associated with the occurrence of threatened species is important in terms of predicting impacts of habitat change and identifying key habitats for conservation. In this paper, we apply habitat‐based statistical models to predict occupancy patterns of the endangered southern bell frog (Litoria raniformis) across inland New South Wales (Australia). Litoria raniformis previously occupied a wide range of natural and man‐made waterbodies across a large geographic range, including flood plain wetlands, oxbow lagoons, irrigation canals and rice bays. Alteration of natural flooding regimes has affected a large proportion of habitats within the historical range of Litoria raniformis, but it is not clear how these changes have influenced habitat occupancy patterns. Fifty‐two waterbodies were surveyed for presence/absence of Litoria raniformis in 2001 and 2004. Stepwise logistic regression models were generated to select a subset of variables that best predicted occupancy. Using three predictor variables, vacant and occupied habitats could be predicted with an accuracy of 90% and 70%, respectively. The predictor variables were: the interaction between wetland hydrology and complexity of aquatic vegetation, complexity of fringing vegetation and water temperature. While this study demonstrated that a range of waterbody types were occupied by Litoria raniformis, these habitats shared common hydrological conditions and vegetation characteristics. Altered flooding regimes and reductions in the complexity of aquatic and fringing vegetation are likely to increase the probability of localized extinctions of Litoria raniformis populations.