Interactions Among Fuel Management,Species Composition,Bark Beetles,and Climate Change and the Potential Effects on Forests of the Lake Tahoe Basin

Climate-driven increases in wildfires, drought conditions, and insect outbreaks are critical threats to forest carbon stores. In particular, bark beetles are important disturbance agents although their long-term interactions with future climate change are poorly understood. Droughts and the associated moisture deficit contribute to the onset of bark beetle outbreaks although outbreak extent and severity is dependent upon the density of host trees, wildfire, and forest management. Our objective was to estimate the effects of climate change and bark beetle outbreaks on ecosystem carbon dynamics over the next century in a western US forest. Specifically, we hypothesized that (a) bark beetle outbreaks under climate change would reduce net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) and increase uncertainty and (b) these effects could be ameliorated by fuels management. We also examined the specific tree species dynamics—competition and release—that determined NECB response to bark beetle outbreaks. Our study area was the Lake Tahoe Basin (LTB), CA and NV, USA, an area of diverse forest types encompassing steep elevation and climatic gradients and representative of mixed-conifer forests throughout the western United States. We simulated climate change, bark beetles, wildfire, and fuels management using a landscape-scale stochastic model of disturbance and succession. We simulated the period 2010–2100 using downscaled climate projections. Recurring droughts generated conditions conducive to large-scale outbreaks; the resulting large and sustained outbreaks significantly increased the probability of LTB forests becoming C sources over decadal time scales, with slower-than-anticipated landscape-scale recovery. Tree species composition was substantially altered with a reduction in functional redundancy and productivity. Results indicate heightened uncertainty due to the synergistic influences of climate change and interacting disturbances. Our results further indicate that current fuel management practices will not be effective at reducing landscape-scale outbreak mortality. Our results provide critical insights into the interaction of drivers (bark beetles, wildfire, fuel management) that increase the risk of C loss and shifting community composition if bark beetle outbreaks become more frequent.     

Has the adipokine profile an influence on the catch-up growth type in small for gestational age infants?

Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry - Infants born small for gestational age (SGA) are at increased risk of perinatal morbidity, persistent short stature, and metabolic alterations in later...     

New species of the genera Pseudallobenedenia Yamaguti, 1966 and Lagenivaginopseudobenedenia Yamaguti, 1966 (Monogenea: Capsalidae) in the Indo-Pacific

Two new capsalid species, Pseudallobenedenia arabica n. sp. from the gills of Pristipomoides filamentosus (Lutjanidae) from the Arabian Sea and Lagenivaginopseudobenedenia tinrowi n. sp. from the gills of Etelis carbunculus (Lutjanidae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean are described and illustrated. P. arabica differs from the most similar species, P. opakapaka Yamaguti, 1966, in the greater width of the body, its larger haptor and anterior adhesive discs, the form and sizes of the testes and ovary, and differences in host and locality. L. tinrowi differs from its congener, L. etelis Yamaguti, 1966, in the larger size of the body and its organs, the absence of eye-spots and Goto's glands, and differences in the arrangement of the genital organs. All of the species in these two genera differ from other capsalids by the presence of a voluminous uterus and an extremely long penis forming a loop. All species in these two genera are parasites of fishes of the family Lutjanidae and are reported from Indo-Pacific subtropical areas.     

Cefepime/amikacin in the empirical antibacterial therapy for patients with hemoblastosis of different forms]

The results of the use of cefepime (Maxipime) combination with amikacin vs ceftriaxon combination with amikacin in the treatment of 80 patients with different forms of hemoblastosis are presented. Severe infectious complications in the patients were associated with prolonged and deep neutropenia during inductive or antirelapsing chemotherapy. All the patients in the trial were from the group of high risk of infectious complications with the blood neutrophil count under 100 cells/microliter. The duration of neutropenia averaged 12 days (7 to 15). The average period of the treatment with cefepime and amikacin equaled to 13 days (8 to 16). The treatment with cefepime + amikacin was successful in 38 out of 40 patients (95%). The average period of the treatment with ceftriaxon and amikacin equaled to 14 days (7 to 18). The efficacy of the treatment with ceftriaxon + amikacin was 60% (24 patients out of 40).     

New gene assignments using a complete, characterized sheep-hamster somatic cell hybrid panel

The generation and characterization of new sheep-hamster cell hybrids is reported from the fusion of sheep white blood cells with six different hamster auxotrophs. Selection from these and previously generated cell hybrids has led to the production of a panel of 30 hybrids covering the complete sheep genome of 28 chromosomes. Over half of the cell hybrids in this panel contain single sheep chromosomes. By complementation, the following new assignments have been made using the panel: phosphoribosyl N-formylglycinamide amidotransferase (PRFGA) to sheep chromosome (chr) 11; adenylosuccinate synthetase (ADSS) to sheep chr 12; adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL) to sheep chr 3q; 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase (HMGCS) to sheep chr 16; dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) to sheep chr 5; and adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) to sheep chr 14. The gene phosphoribosylaminoinidazole-carboxamide formyltransferase/Inosinicase (PRACFT) has now been regionally assigned to chr 2q. By isozyme analysis, phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGD) was assigned to sheep chr 12, anchoring the sheep syntenic group U1 to this chromosome, and mannose phosphate isomerase (MPI) was assigned to sheep chr 18. Furthermore, the chromosomal assignment of 110 microsatellites was confirmed using this cell panel.     

Systematics within Gyps vultures: a clade at risk

Background  

Populations of the Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) have declined by over 95% within the past decade. This decline is largely due to incidental consumption of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory veterinary pharmaceutical diclofenac, commonly used to treat domestic livestock. The conservation status of other Gyps vultures in southern Asia is also of immediate concern, given the lack of knowledge regarding status of their populations and the continuing existence of taxonomic uncertainties. In this study, we assess phylogenetic relationships for all recognized species and the majority of subspecies within the genus Gyps. The continuing veterinary use of diclofenac is an unknown but potential risk to related species with similar feeding habits to Gyps bengalensis. Therefore, an accurate assessment of the phylogenetic relationships among Gyps vultures should aid in their conservation by clarifying taxonomic uncertainties, and enabling inference of their respective relatedness to susceptible G. bengalensis.     

Simulation of protein misfolding using a lattice model

The structure of the tightly bound complex of the globular myosin head with F-actin is the key to understanding important details of the mechanism of how the actin-myosin motor functions. The current notion on this complex is based on the docking of known atomic structures of constituent proteins into low-resolution electron-density maps. The atomic structure of the complex was refined by the molecular mechanics method, which consists in minimizing the energy of molecular interaction and which makes it possible to optimize not only the relative position of protein backbones as rigid bodies, but also the position of side chains on the protein interface. The structure calculated using ICM-Pro software, on the one hand, is close to the model obtained using electron microscopy; on the other hand, it ensures the best calculated interaction energy and accounts for the results of mutagenesis experiments. On the basis of the structure obtained, we can suggest the molecular mechanisms underlying the actin-activated release of ATP hydrolysis products from myosin and the decrease in the affinity of myosin for actin upon binding of nucleotides.     

Assessment and comparison of neural morphology through metrical feature extraction and analysis in neuron and neuron–glia cultures

The morphology of dissociated single cerebellar Purkinje cells obtained from wild-type P1 CD1 mice was assessed in the absence and in the presence of glia. A dedicated noninvasive technique based on optical microscopy was developed. Image processing algorithms were implemented to extract metrical features characterizing cell structure and dendritic arborization. The morphological features were analyzed in order to identify quantitative differences in Purkinje cell morphology due to interactions with astrocytes.