乡村生态学概论

城市生态学已逐渐发展成一门受众人肯定的生态学分支学科,但乡村生态学未引起广泛重视。本文定义乡村生态学为研究村落形态、结构、行为及其与环境本底统一体客观存在的生态学分支科学。村落是以一定年龄结构、一定数量人口或人群为基本特征,以户为组成单位,以土地为经营对象,以相应的生物(牲畜和作物)为主要价值资源的人类聚居的空间单元。村落除具空间和生命涵义外,还直接联系地理位置、地形地势、气候、土壤和植被等景观要素与资源参数;同时,它还与历史传统、社会习俗等多方面复杂因素有关。乡村生态学的意义在于揭示村落与所有这些相关因素的关系,并用以指导乡村建设。     

离心法与细胞显微操作法对内皮细胞-白细胞黏附特性的初步研究

将哮喘病理血清与在体外培养的大鼠肺内皮细胞共同孵育,分别用离心法和显微操纵技术对细胞黏附进行体外研究。离心结果显示,病理血清刺激下的内皮细胞比正常情况更易与白细胞发生黏附。离心力高到一定程度可以解离部分黏附。从进一步的细胞显微操纵实验看病理血清刺激内皮细胞的功能状态,影响内皮细胞与白细胞发生黏附     

秦岭南坡森林有蹄类群落组成与垂直分布特征

野生动植物种群和生物多样性的垂直分布模式是生态学研究中的重要问题,而目前对于大型兽类的垂直分布模式却了解较少。本研究以秦岭南坡森林生态系统中的有蹄类动物为对象,使用相机陷阱调查技术（camera-trapping）,系统的调查了研究区域内大中型兽类的分布情况。我们将研究区域按300 m垂直间隔划分为5个海拔段,分别计算各海拔段内目标物种的相对多度指数（Relative Abundance Index, RAI）和物种丰富度（species richness）,研究有蹄类动物群落的组成和垂直分布特征。2008年3~12月,共调查123个有效位点,在4 307个有效相机工作日中共记录到7种森林有蹄类动物。其中,羚牛（Budorcas taxicolor）为秦岭南坡有蹄类动物群落中的优势物种（平均RAI = 110.66）,种群数量最多;其次是野猪（RAI = 28.25）和斑羚（RAI = 25.10）;林麝（Moschus berezovskii）则是群落中种群数量最少的物种（RAI = 1.33）。在本研究所涉及的海拔梯度内,各物种种群数量的垂直分布模式为：羚牛和林麝为单峰型,种群数量在中间海拔段存在一个峰值,两侧递减;斑羚（Naemorhedus goral）为单调递增型（R2 = 0.84）,种群数量大体随着海拔梯度的升高而增加;小麂（Muntiacus reevesi）（R2 = 0.94）和鬣羚（Capricornis sumatraensis）（R2 = 0.79）为单调递减型,种群数量随着海拔梯度的升高而减少;野猪（Sus scrofa）和毛冠鹿（Elaphodus cephalophus）为复合型,分布模式较为复杂。整个有蹄类群落的物种丰富度的垂直分布表现为中峰模式,在1 700~2 300 m的中等海拔段最高,符合中域效应假说的预测。     

DHFR silence alleviated the development of liver fibrosis by affecting the crosstalk between hepatic stellate cells and macrophages

Liver fibrogenesis is a dynamic cellular and tissue process which has the potential to progress into cirrhosis of even liver cancer and liver failure. The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is the central event underlying liver fibrosis. Besides, hepatic macrophages have been proposed as potential targets in combatting fibrosis. As for the relationship between HSCs and hepatic macrophages in liver fibrosis, it is generally considered that macrophages promoted liver fibrosis via activating HSCs. However, whether activated HSCs could in turn affect macrophage polarization has rarely been studied. In this study, mRNAs with significant differences were explored using exosomal RNA-sequencing of activated Lx-2 cells and normal RNA-sequencing of DHFR loss-of-function Lx-2 cell models. Cell functional experiments in both Lx-2 cells and macrophages animal model experiments were performed. The results basically confirmed exosomes secreted from activated HSCs could promote M1 polarization of macrophages further. Exosome harbouring DHFR played an important role in this process. DHFR silence in HSCs could decrease Lx-2 activation and M1 polarization of M0 macrophages and then alleviate the development of liver fibrosis both in vitro and vivo. Our work brought a new insight that exosomal DHFR derived from HSCs had a crucial role in crosstalk between HSCs activation and macrophage polarization, which may be a potential therapeutic target in liver fibrosis.     

Outcomes among children and adults at risk of severe dengue in Sri Lanka: Opportunity for outpatient case management in countries with high disease burden

BackgroundHealthcare systems in dengue-endemic countries are often overburdened due to the high number of patients hospitalized according to dengue management guidelines. We systematically evaluated clinical outcomes in a large cohort of patients hospitalized with acute dengue to support triaging of patients to ambulatory versus inpatient management in the future.Methods/Principal findingsFrom June 2017- December 2018, we conducted surveillance among children and adults with fever within the prior 7 days who were hospitalized at the largest tertiary-care (1,800 bed) hospital in the Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Patients who developed platelet count ≤100,000/μL (threshold for hospital admission in Sri Lanka) and who met at least two clinical criteria consistent with dengue were eligible for enrollment. We confirmed acute dengue by testing sera collected at enrollment for dengue NS1 antigen or IgM antibodies. We defined primary outcomes as per the 1997 and 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) classification criteria: dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF; WHO 1997), dengue shock syndrome (DSS; WHO 1997), and severe dengue (WHO 2009). Overall, 1064 patients were confirmed as having acute dengue: 318 (17.4%) by NS1 rapid antigen testing and 746 (40.7%) by IgM antibody testing. Of these 1064 patients, 994 (93.4%) were adults ≥18 years and 704 (66.2%) were male. The majority (56, 80%) of children and more than half of adults (544, 54.7%) developed DHF during hospitalization, while 6 (8.6%) children and 22 (2.2%) adults developed DSS. Overall, 10 (14.3%) children and 113 (11.4%) adults developed severe dengue. A total of 2 (0.2%) patients died during hospitalization.ConclusionsOne-half of patients hospitalized with acute dengue progressed to develop DHF and a very small number developed DSS or severe dengue. Developing an algorithm for triaging patients to ambulatory versus inpatient management should be the future goal to optimize utilization of healthcare resources in dengue-endemic countries.     

Local Steric Hindrance for CO2 Electroreduction at a Thermodynamic Potential and Wide Working Window

To improve the energy-conversion efficiency and adaptability between a CO₂ electroreduction system and intermittent renewable energy, small onset potentials, and wide working windows are highly important. Here, three indium metal–organic frameworks (In-MOFs) have been projected using different ligands to adjust the local steric hindrance and electronic structure of In nodes, manipulating the whole workflow of CO₂ during electroreduction including local CO₂ transport, adsorption, activation, hydrogenation, and product desorption. Significantly, a CO₂ electroreduction to formate process promoted by 2,5-TDC In-MOF shows an onset potential of −0.1 V versus RHE around the therymodynamic potential, over 90% FE_foramte in a wide current-density window from 0.1 to 0.9 A cm⁻². Driven by solar cells, the system displays a high solar-to-chemical efficiency of 17.39%. In depth mechanism study indicates that the local CO₂ transport and adsorption of all In-MOFs are thermodynamically and kinetically favorable, while the energy barrier of potential-determine step (*HCOOH desorption) is the lowest for 2,5-TDC In-MOF.     

Synthesis of a water-stable CsPbBr3 perovskite for selective detection of mercury ion in water

By using the method of low-temperature crystallization, CsPbBr₃ perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) coated with trifluoroacetyl lysine (Tfa-Lys) and oleamine (Olam) were synthesized in aqueous solution. The structure of the CsPbBr₃ PNCs was characterized by many methods, such as ultraviolet (UV)-visible absorption spectrophotometer, fluorescence spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. The fluorescence emission of the CsPbBr₃ PNCs is stable in water for about 1 day at room temperature. It was also found that the fluorescence of the PNCs could be obviously and selectively quenched after the addition of mercury ion (Hg²⁺), allowing a visual detection of Hg²⁺ by the naked eye under UV light illumination. The fluorescence quenching rate (I₀/I) has a good linear relationship with the addition of Hg²⁺ in the concentration range 0.075 to 1.5 mg/L, with a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.997, and limit of detection of 0.046 mg/L. The fluorescence quenching mechanism of the PNCs was determined by the fluorescence lifetime and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the PNCs. Overall, the synthesis method for CsPbBr₃ PNCs is simple and rapid, and the as-prepared PNCs are stable in water that could be conveniently used for selective detection of Hg²⁺ in the water environment.