Cartographic analysis of the population of amphibians,reptiles, and birds of the West Siberian plain and Altai

For the entire territory of West Siberia, including its plain and mountainous parts, two maps were constructed for populations of amphibians together with reptiles, and of birds. Communities of these classes of vertebrates differ from one another in their spatial differentiation. The differences are demonstrated for the plain and mountainous territories considered jointly and separately.     

Defatting and Clarification of Protein Hydrolysates by Using Chitosan Solutions

The possibility of the use of small amounts of chitosan for defatting and clarification of protein solutions prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis was tested. The following treatment conditions were shown to be optimal: a chitosan concentration range, from 1.0 to 1.5 gram per kilogram raw weight; pH of the precipitation medium from 8.0 to 8.5; and duration of the incubation of the protein hydrolysate solution with chitosan, less than 1 h. The hydrolysate defatting grade was found to depend on the degree of chitosan deacetylation. A possible mechanism of the chitosan-induced effects was suggested. The use of chitosan allows the mass fraction of enzyme protein hydrolysates to be reduced fourfold to fivefold.     

Reaction mechanism of surfactant‐sensitized chemiluminescence of bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophyenyl) oxalate and hydrogen peroxide induced by gold nanoparticles

The chemiluminescence (CL) of bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophyenyl) oxalate with hydrogen peroxide in the present of cationic surfactant and gold nanoparticles was studied. The CL emission was obviously enhanced in the presence of surfactant at a suitable concentration, with a synergetic catalysis effect exhibited. Different sizes of gold nanoparticles (15 and 50 nm) showed different effects on CL intensity. Mechanisms of the CL reaction and sensitization effect are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conditional Maximum Likelihood Estimation Following a Group Sequential Test

We consider estimation after a group sequential test. An estimator that is unbiased or has small bias may have substantial conditional bias (Troendle and Yu, 1999, Coburger and Wassmer, 2001). In this paper we derive the conditional maximum likelihood estimators of both the primary parameter and a secondary parameter, and investigate their properties within a conditional inference framework. The method applies to both the usual and adaptive group sequential test designs. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Pre‐copulation intervals,copulation frequencies,and initial progeny sex ratios in two biotypes of whitefly,Bemisia tabaci

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a species complex, and its systematic classification requires controlled crossing experiments among its genetic groups. Accurate information on pre‐copulation intervals, copulation frequencies, and initial frequency of egg fertilization of newly emerged adults is critical for designing procedures for collecting the virgin adults necessary for these experiments. In the literature, considerable variation is reported between B. tabaci populations, with respect to the length of the pre‐copulation interval and the initial frequency of egg fertilization. Here, we used a video‐recording method to observe continuously the copulation behaviour of the Mediterranean/Asia Minor/Africa (B biotype) and the Asia II (ZHJ1 biotype) groups of B. tabaci. We also recorded the initial frequency of egg fertilization, as determined by the sex of the progeny. When adults were caged in female–male pairs on leaves of cotton plants, the earliest copulation events occurred 2–6 h after emergence; at 12 h after emergence 56–84% of the females had copulated at least once, and nearly all (92–100%) had copulated at least once by 36 h after emergence. Both females and males copulated repeatedly. Approximately 80 and 20% of copulation events occurred during the photophase and scotophase, respectively. By 72 h post‐emergence, the females of the B and ZHJ1 biotypes had copulated on average 6.1 and 3.9 times, respectively. When adults were caged in groups on plants 1–13 h after emergence, 30–35% of the eggs deposited during this period were fertilized, and approximately 90% of females were fertilized by the end of the 13 h. Although timing of copulation differed in detail between the two genetic groups, the results demonstrate that B. tabaci adults can start to copulate as early as 2–6 h post‐emergence and the majority of females can become fertilized on the day that they emerge.     

Antimutagenic effect of garlic (Allium sativum L.) on 4NQO-induced mutagenesis in Escherichia coli WP2

Aqueous extract prepared from garlic bulbs markedly suppressed the mutagenesis in both E. coli WP2 trp- and E. coli WP2 trp- uvrA- induced by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO), but not that induced by UV. Cellular toxicity, inhibition of the expression of the Trp+ phenotype and delay of the first cell division after 4NQO treatment were not observed in the presence of the extract. Since the extract showed identical antimutagenic effects against 4NQO in both test strains but no effect on the mutagenesis of UV, it seems that the extract might act by inactivating the electrophilic group(s) of 4NQO or inhibiting its metabolic activation.     

Competition in the gradostat: the role of the communication rate

In this paper we study a mathematical model of competition between two species of microorganisms for a single limiting nutrient in a laboratory device called a gradostat. A gradostat consists of several (we consider only two) chemostats (CSTR's) connected together so that material can flow between the vessels in such a way that a nutrient gradient is established. Our model is a slightly modified version of one considered recently by Jäger et al. [3], in that the rate of exchange of material between the two vessels (the communication rate) is allowed to differ from the dilution rate. The outcome of competition turns out to be surprisingly sensitive to variation of the communication rate. We identify several coexistence regimes in parameter space and describe a method for obtaining operating diagrams for given pairs of competing microorganisms.Research supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 8521605     

Effect of surfactant-associated protein-A (SP-A) on the activity of lipid extract surfactant

The properties of natural bovine surfactant and its lipid extract have been examined with a pulsating bubble surfactometer which assesses the ability of surfactant lipids to adsorb to the air/liquid interface and reduce the surface tension to near 0 dynes/cm during dynamic compression. Studies conducted at 1 mg/ml phospholipid revealed that the surface activity (i.e., the ability to produce low surface tensions) of lipid extracts could be enhanced by incubating the sample at 37 degrees C for 120 min or by addition of CaCl2. In contrast, incubation at 37 degrees C only slightly improved the biophysical activity of natural surfactant and the addition of CaCl2 had a more modest effect than with lipid extracts. With 20 mM CaCl2, the surfactant activity of lipid extract surfactant was similar to that of natural surfactant. Incubation with EDTA reduced the biophysical activity of natural surfactant. Experiments in which increasing amounts of lipid extract were replaced by natural surfactant revealed that small amounts of natural surfactant enhanced the surfactant activity of lipid extract. The biophysical activity of lipid extract surfactant was also increased by the addition of soluble surfactant-associated protein-A (SP-A) (28-36 kDa) purified from natural bovine surfactant. These results indicate that SP-A (28-36 kDa) improves the surfactant activity of lipid extracts by enhancing the rate of adsorption and/or spreading of phospholipid at the air/liquid interface resulting in the formation of a stable lipid monolayer at lower bulk concentrations of either phospholipid or calcium.