Landscape simplification increases vineyard pest outbreaks and insecticide use

Diversifying agricultural landscapes may mitigate biodiversity declines and improve pest management. Yet landscapes are rarely managed to suppress pests, in part because researchers seldom measure key variables related to pest outbreaks and insecticides that drive management decisions. We used a 13‐year government database to analyse landscape effects on European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) outbreaks and insecticides across c. 400 Spanish vineyards. At harvest, we found pest outbreaks increased four‐fold in simplified, vineyard‐dominated landscapes compared to complex landscapes in which vineyards are surrounded by semi‐natural habitats. Similarly, insecticide applications doubled in vineyard‐dominated landscapes but declined in vineyards surrounded by shrubland. Importantly, pest population stochasticity would have masked these large effects if numbers of study sites and years were reduced to typical levels in landscape pest‐control studies. Our results suggest increasing landscape complexity may mitigate pest populations and insecticide applications. Habitat conservation represents an economically and environmentally sound approach for achieving sustainable grape production.     

Development of New Natural Extracts

For over the past 20 years, a remarkable development in the study and search of natural products has been observed. This is linked to a new market trend towards ecology and also due to new regulations. This could be a rupture, but also a real booster for creativity. Usually, in the flavor and fragrance field, creativity was boosted by the arrival of new synthetic molecules. Naturals remained the traditional, century‐old products, protected by secrecy and specific know‐how from each company. Regulatory restrictions or eco‐friendly certification constraints like hexane‐free processes triggered an important brainstorming in the industry. As a result, we developed new eco‐friendly processes including supercritical CO₂ extraction, allowing fresh plants to be used to obtain industrial flower extracts (Jasmine Grandiflorum, Jasmine Sambac, Orange blossom). These extracts are analyzed by GC, GC/MS, GC? O, and HPTLC techniques. New or unusual raw materials can also be explored, but the resulting extracts have to be tested for safety reasons. Some examples are described.     

中国莽人、僜人、珞巴族与门巴族Heath-Carter法体型研究

作者于2006—2007年在云南、西藏调查了中国莽人、僜人、珞巴族、门巴族体重、身高、上臂收缩围、小腿围、肱骨内外上髁间径、股骨内外上髁间径、肱三头肌位皮褶、肩胛下位皮褶、髂前上棘位皮褶和腓肠肌位皮褶10项指标值,计算了4个族群的Heath-Carter法体型值。研究结果显示: 1)在南方族群中, 莽人身矮体轻, 身体细瘦, 皮脂菲薄, 肌肉不发达。僜人身矮体轻, 身体细瘦, 男性肌肉较发达, 皮脂厚度中等。女性肌肉发达, 皮脂厚。珞巴族与门巴族均身材高, 体重大, 身体粗壮, 皮脂厚, 肌肉发达。2)门巴族男性为偏内胚层的中胚层体型, 莽人、僜人、珞巴族男性为均衡的中胚层体型。僜人、珞巴族、门巴族女性为偏中胚层的内胚层体型, 莽人女性为偏内胚层的中胚层体型。莽人、僜人、珞巴族男性具有南亚类型族群的体型特征, 门巴族男性具有北亚类型族群体型特征。莽人女性具有南亚类型族群的体型特征, 僜人、珞巴族、门巴族女性具有北亚类型族群的体型特征。     

Dexamethasone interferes with osteoblasts formation during osteogenesis through altering IGF-1-mediated angiogenesis

Dexamethasone (Dex), a synthetic glucocorticoid (GC) with long-lasting treatment effects, has been proved to exert a modulatory effect on osteoblast proliferation and differentiation during embryonic osteogenesis. However, it is still controversial if Dex exposure influences endochondral ossification and the underlying mechanism. In this study, chick embryos in vivo and preosteoblast cell cultures in vitro were utilized to investigate the effects of Dex on osteoblast formation and differentiation during the skeletal development. We first demonstrated that Dex exposure could shorten the long bones of 17-day chick embryos in vivo, and also downregulated the expressions of osteogenesis-related genes. Next, we established that Dex exposure inhibited the proliferation and viability of preosteoblasts-MC3TC-E1 cells, and the addition of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) could dramatically rescue these negative effects. On the basis of remarkable changes in the rescue experiments, we next verified the important role of angiogenesis in osteogenesis by culturing isolated embryonic phalanges in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium culture or on the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Then, we transplanted MC3T3-E1 cell masses onto the CAM. The data showed that Dex exposure reduced the vessel density within the developed cell mass, concomitantly with the downregulation of IGF-1 pathway. We verified that the inhibition of blood vessel formation caused by Dex could be rescued by IGF-1 treatment using the CAM angiogenesis model. Eventually, we demonstrated that the shortened length of the phalanges in the presence of Dex could be reversed by IGF-1 addition. In summary, these findings suggested that the inhibition of Igf-1 signal caused by Dex exposure exerts a detrimental impact on the formation of osteoblasts and angiogenesis, which consequently shortens long bones during osteogenesis.     

Biotransformation of 4‐fluoro‐N‐(1‐{2‐[(propan‐2‐yl)phenoxy]ethyl}‐8‐azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan‐3‐yl)‐benzenesulfonamide,a novel potent 5‐HT7 receptor antagonist with antidepressant‐like and anxiolytic properties: In vitro and in silico approach

The aim of the study was to investigate the metabolism of 4‐fluoro‐N‐(1‐{2‐[(propan‐2‐yl)phenoxy]ethyl}‐8‐azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan‐3‐yl)‐benzenesulfonamide (PZ‐1150), a novel 5‐HT₇ receptor antagonist with antidepressant‐like and anxiolytic properties, by the following three ways: in vitro with microsomes; in vitro employing Cunninghamella echinulata, and in silico using MetaSite. Biotransformation of PZ‐1150 with microsomes resulted in five metabolites, while transformation with C. echinulata afforded two metabolites. In both models, the predominant metabolite occurred due to hydroxylation of benzene ring. In silico data coincide with in vitro experiments, as three MetaSite metabolites matched compounds identified in microsomal samples. In human liver microsomes PZ‐1150 exhibited in vitro half‐life of 64 min, with microsomal intrinsic clearance of 54.1 μL/min/mg and intrinsic clearance of 48.7 mL/min/kg. Therefore, PZ‐1150 is predicted to be a high‐clearance agent. The study demonstrated the applicability of using microsomal model coupled with microbial model to elucidate the metabolic pathways of compounds and comparison with in silico metabolite predictions.     

鄂北高贵山珍稀濒危木本植物调查研究

本文报道了高贵山珍稀濒危重点保护木本植物21种（亚种）,其中国务院新近公布的I级重点保护植物1种,Ⅱ级重点保护植物6种,省级重点保护植物8种,其他珍稀植物6种,分析了高贵山珍稀濒危重点保护木本植物的区系特点,指出了高贵山珍稀濒危树木在湖北珍稀濒危植物保护中的重要地位,提出了保护高贵山珍稀濒危木本植物的建议和措施。     

Testing hypotheses driving genetic structure in the cooperatively breeding Brown‐headed Nuthatch Sitta pusilla

Habitat fragmentation has often been implicated in the decline of many species. For habitat specialists and/or sedentary species, loss of habitat can result in population isolation and lead to negative genetic effects. However, factors other than fragmentation can often be important and also need to be considered when assessing the genetic structure of a species. We genotyped individuals from 13 populations of the cooperatively breeding Brown‐headed Nuthatch Sitta pusilla in Florida to test three alternative hypotheses regarding the effects that habitat fragmentation might have on genetic structure. A map of potential habitat developed from recent satellite imagery suggested that Brown‐headed Nuthatch populations in southern Florida occupied smaller and more isolated habitat patches (i.e. were more fragmented) than populations in northern Florida. We also genotyped individuals from a small, isolated Brown‐headed Nuthatch population on Grand Bahama Island. We found that populations associated with more fragmented habitat in southern Florida had lower allelic richness than populations in northern Florida (P = 0.02), although there were no differences in heterozygosity. Although pairwise estimates of F_ST were low overall, values among southern populations were generally higher than northern populations. Population assignment tests identified K = 3 clusters corresponding to a northern cluster, a southern cluster and a unique population in southeast Florida; using sampling localities as prior information revealed K = 7 clusters, with greater structure only among southern Florida populations. The Bahamas population showed moderate to high differentiation compared with Florida populations. Overall, our results suggest that fragmentation could affect gene flow in Brown‐headed Nuthatch populations and is likely to become more pronounced over time.     

若尔盖人-狼冲突现状与管理研究

大中型食肉动物肇事事件导致人类与野生动物关系恶化,给生物多样性保护工作带来巨大的挑战。若尔盖湿地是我国三大湿地之一,湿地、草原分布广泛,生物多样性丰富,畜牧业发达,但近年来狼(Canis lupus)捕杀牲畜的肇事事件时有发生。为了解若尔盖野生狼肇事件的空间分布以及牧民对人-狼冲突管理的看法,本研究于2022年对若尔盖县13个乡镇83个行政村进行走访调查。结果表明：(1)多数受访者(66.0%)认为在过去5年内,若尔盖县野生狼数量有所增加;(2)狼肇事事件具有明显的空间分异性,最严重的是包座乡。包座乡临近山区,该区域牧场面积广阔、牧民饲养牲畜数量多等原因导致该镇发生狼肇事事件较多;(3)对于狼肇事,绝大多数牧民(85.0%)更希望采取经济补偿或者驱赶措施,只有少数牧民(9.4%)希望采取捕杀的措施;(4)影响牧民对狼肇事管理措施的偏好因子中,受教育程度、年龄、民族以及被杀牲畜数量有显著影响。建议加强狼种群监测管理,采取措施减少狼捕杀牲畜,优化补偿机制,缓解当地牧民与狼之间的矛盾。本研究为当前若尔盖县野生动物保护和管理决策提供了依据,对其他地区大型食肉动物与当地居民冲突管理具有借鉴意义。