A sisters’ story: comparative phylogeography and taxonomy of Hierophis viridiflavus and H. gemonensis (Serpentes,Colubridae)

We used a multidisciplinary approach to infer the taxonomy and historical biogeography of Hierophis viridiflavus and H. gemonensis, performing molecular analyses of mitochondrial (16S, Cyt‐b, ND4) and nuclear markers (PRLR), a landmark‐based morphometric study and a cytogenetic analysis. Our data distinguished three main groups in the studied species, corresponding to H. gemonensis and to two monophyletic clades (E and W) within H. viridiflavus. Clades E and W display a significant genetic (about 4% for Cyt‐b and ND4) and morphological divergence and a different morphology of the W sex chromosome (submetacentric in clade E and telocentric in clade W). Taking into account the existing divergence, these clades appear to represent independent phylogenetic units, deserving elevation to species status. Specific names should be H. viridiflavus (Lacépède, 1789) and H. carbonarius (Bonaparte 1833) for clades W and E, respectively. The phylogeography of the studied species is only partially concordant with a general pattern of ‘southern richness and northern purity’ of genetic diversity, whereas H. gemonensis exhibits high genetic diversity at low latitudes (especially in the Peloponnese), H. carbonarius shows a number of different haplotypes both at low (along the southern Italian Apennines and in Sicily) and high latitudes in Italy. Furthermore, a relaxed clock model hypothesizes the differentiation between H. gemonensis and H. viridiflavus sensu lato at about 7 Mya, in the Messinian. Subsequently, the speciation involving H. viridiflavus sensu stricto and H. carbonarius took place in the Quaternary, probably as a result of Pleistocene climatic oscillations. Furthermore, our results are consistent with the existence of several ‘refugia within refugia’ in Italy and in the Balkans and depict the major cladogenesis as allopatric events, mainly driven by paleoclimatic and geographical factors.     

Grain number determination in durum wheat as affected by drought stress: An analysis at spike and spikelet level

Yield studies show that increases in grain yield are always accompanied by an increase in grain number and, hence, further increases in yield potential may require additional improvements in grain number. The improvement of modern durum wheat was mainly based on the introduction of semidwarf genes. A 2‐year field drought stress experiment, concerning two different genotype groups (landraces vs modern cultivars), was carried out under a rainout shelter in order (a) to assess the effect of water deficit on floret dynamics and grain number determination, (b) to explore the relationship between plant water status with grain number per spike and its components (i.e., spikelets per spike, fertile florets per spikelet and grain set) and (c) to quantify the importance of several plant traits in determining the final number of grains per spike and fertile florets per spike when the main source of variation is water availability. Compared to control (well irrigated), grain number per spike was reduced, depending on year, genotype and water availability level, by 12.4–58.7% and this reduction was evident almost in all spikelet positions along the spike. Although there were some doubts in the past about the increased sensitivity of semidwarf cultivars to drought stress, they were not confirmed from our results. In most of the cases, the variation in plant water status (by means of water potential index [WPI]) during floret primordia phase (FPP) explained most of the variance in grain number per spike, fertile florets per spikelet, grain set and fertile spikelets per spike. In general, increasing water stress intensity decreased grain number per spike by an average rate of 13.5 and 9.4 grains per 0.2 MPa decrease in WPI, in modern cultivars and landraces, respectively. However, seasonal and genotypic effects were evident by modifying the slopes of the linear regressions between WPI and the studied plant traits. Commonality analysis revealed that the number of fertile florets per spikelet was the best predictor of grain number per spike, indicating that there is still much space for further improvement for this trait in landraces. However, this trait has been clearly improved in modern cultivars, especially at the basal and central spikelets. Although the number of spikelets per spike was the best unique predictor of the number of grains per spike in modern cultivars, grain set presented the highest total effect.     

Vasopressin analog (DDAVP) facilitates concept learning in human males

The effects of desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) were studied in normal males. Subjects were given 60μg of DDAVP, a placebo, or no treatment and were given several behavioral tests. DDAVP enhanced learning of all problems on a concept shift task but had no effect on visual memory, anxiety, blood pressure or heart rate. It was suggested that DDAVP may influence memory via its actions on attention.     

Failure of posttrial administration of vasopressin analogue (DDAVP) to influence memory in healthy, young, male volunteers

The effects of intranasal treatment with DDAVP on healthy, male volunteers was assessed. Subjects were asked to learn prose passages and then were given either 60 μg of DDAVP or saline in a double-blind procedure. Subjects were then asked to recall the passages after a 24-h delay. Treatment had no effect on recall of passages. This suggests that treatment with vasopressin affects acquisition rather than consolidation of newly learned information.     

A chassis exchange terminal to reduce truck congestion at container terminals

Truck congestion for container terminals seems to be a worldwide unwanted phenomenon. In this paper we present and analyze a chassis exchange terminal concept to reduce the congestion. The terminal works as a kind of extended gate of a group of traditional container terminals. During the night containers are collected from these container terminals using chassis (or trailers). In daytime these containers on chassis are then collected and exchanged with export containers also on chassis. By exchanging the chassis we avoid extra handling of containers. As connecting and disconnecting to a chassis can be done in a short time, the chassis exchange terminal increases handling capacity substantially during peak hours. In this paper we analyze the concept for the Maasvlakte container terminals in Rotterdam. We investigate both the effect on waiting time, as well as the environmental effects.     

The structure of the 2[4Fe–4S] ferredoxin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 1.32-Å resolution: comparison with other high-resolution structures of ferredoxins and contributing structural features to reduction potential values

The structure of the 2[4Fe–4S] ferredoxin (PaFd) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which belongs to the Allochromatium vinosum (Alvin) subfamily, has been determined by X-ray crystallography at 1.32-Å resolution, which is the highest up to now for a member of this subfamily of Fds. The main structural features of PaFd are similar to those of AlvinFd. However, the significantly higher resolution of the PaFd structure makes possible a reliable comparison with available high-resolution structures of [4Fe–4S]-containing Fds, in an effort to rationalize the unusual electrochemical properties of Alvin-like Fds. Three major factors contributing to the reduction potential values of [4Fe–4S]^2+/+ clusters of Fds, namely, the surface accessibility of the clusters, the N–H···S hydrogen-bonding network, and the volume of the cavities hosting the clusters, are extensively discussed. The volume of the cavities is introduced in the present work for the first time, and can in part explain the very negative potential of cluster I of Alvin-like Fds.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.