Release of metals from polluted sediments in a shallow lake: quantifying resuspension

The contribution of erosion of bed sediment to the load of metals leaving Lake Ketelmeer, a shallow lake in the Netherlands fed by the IJssel branch of the River Rhine, is reported. Transport of suspended matter and associated trace metals was measured using both centrifuges and sediment traps at several locations in the lake. Mass balances of suspended matter and heavy metals were calculated using data from these field measurements.Metal/scandium-ratios were used to identify the source of the suspended matter in the lake. Since the bed sediment is more polluted than the suspended sediment entering the lake, higher metal/scandium-ratios were found for bottom sediment in the lake compared with those for suspended matter entering the lake from the River IJssel. Using the metal/scadium-ratio in suspended matter from the lake, it was calculated that bottom sediments made up 43% of the suspended matter leaving the lake. This implies an erosion flux of bottom sediment of 16 g m^–2 d^–1. For cadmium, mercury, chromium and zinc, this erosion process accounts for more than 50% of the pollutant load leaving Lake Ketelmeer and entering Lake IJsselmeer.     

Subrepeats result from regional DNA sequence conservation in tandem repeats in Chironomus telomeres

Repeat units, widespread in eukaryotic genomes, are often partially or entirely built up of subrepeats. Homogenization between whole repeat units arranged in tandem usually can best be understood as a result of unequal crossing over. Such a mechanism is less plausible for maintaining similarities between subrepeats within a repeat unit when present in a regular array. In Chironomus telomeres, large blocks of tandemly repeated approximately 350 base-pair units contain two or three pairs of subrepeats with high mutual identities, embedded in linker DNA, non-repetitive within the repeat unit. Measurements of evolutionary base changes in two closely related species, Chironomus tentans and Chironomus pallidivittatus, permit us to conclude that the subrepeat arrangement is best explained as a consequence of regional sequence conservation after an earlier duplication of an ancestral half-unit.     

Temperature Dependence of [3H]Ro 15–1788 Binding to Benzodiazepine Receptors in Human Postmortem Brain Homogenates

The temperature dependence of in vitro binding of [3H]Ro 15-1788 to benzodiazepine receptors in human postmortem neocortex and neocerebellum homogenates was studied. An increase of the equilibrium dissociation constants (KD) from 1.40 nmol/L and 1.04 nmol/L at 4 degrees C to 6.10 nmol/L and 8.91 nmol/L at 37 degrees C was found for neocortex and neocerebellum, respectively. In contrast, maximal binding (Bmax) remained in the range of 30-35 fmol/mg for neocortex and 24-27 fmol/mg of tissue (wet weight) for neocerebellum at all the temperatures. The KD of 6.10 nmol/L for neocortex at 37 degrees C in vitro is of the same order as the KD of 10 nmol/L obtained by positron emission tomography for [11C]Ro 15-1788 binding to benzodiazepine receptors in the human neocortex in vivo. The differences in KD between in vitro and in vivo benzodiazepine receptor binding to human neocortex and cerebellum seem to be due at least partially to temperature differences of in vitro and in vivo studies.     

Ventricular Cerebrospinal Fluid Monoamine Transmitter and Metabolite Concentrations Reflect Human Brain Neurochemistry in Autopsy Cases

Concentrations of dopamine (DA), its metabolites 3-methoxytyramine and homovanillic acid (HVA), noradrenaline (NA), its metabolites normetanephrine (NM) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin), and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured in 14 brain regions and in CSF from the third ventricle of 27 human autopsy cases. In addition, in six cases, lumbar CSF was obtained. Monoamine concentrations were determined by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Ventricular/lumbar CSF ratios indicated persistence of rostrocaudal gradients for HVA and 5-HIAA post mortem. Ventricular CSF concentrations of DA and HVA correlated positively with striatal DA and HVA. CSF NA correlated positively with NA in hypothalamus, and CSF MHPG with levels of MHPG in hypothalamus, temporal cortex, and pons, whereas CSF NM concentration showed positive correlations with NM in striatum, pons, cingulate cortex, and olfactory tubercle. CSF 5-HT concentrations correlated positively with 5-HT in caudate nucleus, whereas the concentration of CSF 5-HIAA correlated to 5-HIAA levels in thalamus, hypothalamus, and the cortical areas. These data suggest a specific topographic origin for monoamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites in human ventricular CSF and support the contention that CSF measurements are useful indices of central monoaminergic activity in man.     

Biogenesis of peroxisomes: sequential biosynthesis of the membrane and matrix proteins in the course of hepatic regeneration

The biogenesis of peroxisomes was investigated in the model of regenerating rat liver after partial hepatectomy (PH), using analytical differential centrifugation in combination with immunoblotting and in vivo pulse labeling as well as immunoelectron microscopy. The total activity of catalase decreased sharply after PH, returning gradually over several days to normal levels. In the 16 to 32-h period the enzyme activity started to increase first in the heavy mitochondrial fraction, shifting at 28 h to the crude peroxisomal and at 32 h to the microsomal fraction, suggesting de novo formation of peroxisomes by budding or fragmentation from larger aggregates. Whereas most peroxisomal matrix proteins were reduced during the 16 to 32-h period after PH, the 26 and 70 kDa peroxisomal membrane proteins were increased. Moreover, in vivo pulse labeling studies with radioactive leucine showed significantly higher levels of specific activity in the peroxisomal membrane than in the matrix subfractions at 16 h with increasing labeling of the matrix at 32 h after PH. These findings suggest that de novo formation of peroxisomes in regenerating rat liver is initiated by the synthesis of membrane proteins and is followed by that of the matrix components.     

Interactions between bacteria-feeding nematodes and bacteria in the rape rhizosphere: effects on root exudation and distribution of bacteria

Abstract Effects of rhizosphere bacteria (RB), and rhizosphere bacteria with bacteria-feeding nematodes (RBN), on the composition of root exudate were examined after 2 weeks in gnotobiotic culture systems with rape seedlings ( Brassica napus (L.)). The amounts of low molecular weight carbohydrates and of some free amino acids, per unit root dry weight, in the exudates were lower in the RB and RBN treatments than in the axenic control (R treatment). The growth of nematodes implied a production of bacterial cells in the RBN treatment 2.6 times that in the RB treatment. The bacterial growth in the RB treatment and the bacterial growth in combination with grazing by nematodes in the RBN treatment implied 24 and 63 times as much exudation of organic carbon, respectively, as in the R treatment.
Most bacteria were attached to sand particles. The nematodes being suspension-feeders, decreased the proportion of free bacteria from 6% in the RB treatment to 2% in the RBN treatment. The numbers of attached bacteria in the RBN treratment were positively correlated with the numbers of nematodes, indicating stimulation of bacterial growth by the grazing.     

Testing Local Independence between Two Point Processes

Dependencies between two types of points in a spatial point process can be due either to a real dependence between the two types or to the dependence on common underlying variables. We propose a global test for dependence between two point processes that is valid for a wide range of models. In contrast with previously proposed methods, it is based on a number of local test statistics, which makes it possible to map the local association between the two processes. The behavior of the test is evaluated by a simulation study. It is then applied to a vegetation pattern data set from Burkina Faso.     

Alpha声学指数效应的meta分析

通过声学指数量化声音的特征反映生物的组成和生境信息,是一种高效率、低干扰的监测方式。该研究领域在近十多年来得到了快速的发展,不断有新的声学指数被提出,同时也有大量的实证研究。声学指数可分为反映录音内信息的alpha声学指数和比较不同录音之间差异的beta声学指数,其中alpha声学指数的实证研究较多。本文在汇总已有研究数据的基础上进行meta分析,关注alpha声学指数与动物多样性、生境质量、动物活跃性之间关联的方向和程度。基于文献调研,本文对8个常用的声学指数进行了总结分析:声学复杂度指数(acoustic complexity index,ACI)、声学熵指数(acoustic entropy index,H)、生物声学指数(bioacoustic index,BI)、标准化声景差异指数(normalized difference soundscape index,NDSI)、声学多样性指数(acoustic diversity index,ADI)、声学均匀度指数(acoustic evenness index,AEI)、声学丰富度指数(acoustic richness ind...