Ultraviolet irradiances of various lamps used in animal husbandry

A variety of lamps are used in animal husbandry, but data with respect to ultraviolet irradiances from these lamps, which may be important for alleviating or preventing metabolic bone disease, are generally unavailable. This paper reports irradiances from representative lamps as well as transmission and reflective properties of various materials.     

Identification of a new subpopulation of triad junctions isolated from skeletal muscle; Morphological correlations with intact muscle

Summary It has been previously recognized that a number of protocols may cause breakage of the triad junction and separation of the constituent organelles of skeletal muscle. We now describe a fraction of triad junctions which is refractory to the known protocols for disruption. Triads were passed through a French press and the dissociated organelles were separated on a sucrose density gradient, which was assayed for PN200-110, ouabain and ryanodine binding. Ryanodine binding showed a single peak at the density of heavy terminal cisternae. On the other hand, the PN200-110 and ouabain, which are external membrane ligands, bound in two peaks: one at the free transverse tubule region and the other at the light terminal cisternae. Similarly, a two peak pattern of PN200-110 and ouabain binding was observed when triad junctions were broken by the Ca²⁺-dependent protease, calpain, which selectively hydrolyzes the junctional foot protein. The light terminal cisternae vesicles were subjected to three different procedures of junctional breakage: French press, hypertonic salt treatment, and protease digestion using calpain or trypsin. The treated membranes were then centrifuged on density gradients. Only extensive trypsin digestion caused a partial shift of ouabain activity into the free transverse tubule region. These observations suggest that the triads are a composite mixture of breakage susceptible, weak, and breakage resistant, strong, triads. Scatchard analysis of PN200-110 suggests that the transverse tubules of strong triads contain a relatively high number of dihydropyridine receptors compared to those of weak triads. Thin section electron microscopic images of the strong triads comparable to those of intact muscle are presented.     

Blue light controls solar tracking by flowers of an alpine plant

In at least 18 plant families, leaves or flowers can maintain a specific orientation with respect to diurnal movements of the sun. Previous work on heliotropic leaves has demonstrated that blue light (400–500nm) provides the cue for their tracking response. Floral heliotropism occurs in several families of arctic and alpine plants, but the spectral sensitivity of the response has not been studied previously. Moreover, no studies on the spectral sensitivity of any heliotropism have been conducted on wild plants growing in their natural habitat. Working under field conditions, we used coloured acrylic filters to determine whether heliotropism by flowers of the snow buttercup (Ranunculus adoneus) is responsive to broad-band blue or red light. Flowers were able to orient towards the sun under boxes made entirely of blue-transmitting filters and in red-transmitting boxes having a single blue side that faced the sun. In these treatments, solar tracking ability was not significantly different from that observed in adjacent control flowers. In contrast, the precision of solar orientation was significantly reduced in red-transmitting boxes and red boxes with a single blue side oriented away from the sun. In the early morning, flowers covered by red-transmitting boxes failed to orient in the direction of sunrise, suggesting that this floral response, unlike that seen in some heliotropic leaves, lacks a residual‘memory’ for previous solar movements.     

Photocontrol of the hypocotyl hook opening of Sinapis alba seedlings. Involvement of phytochrome and a high irradiance response

Baumgartner, N. and Fondeville, J. C. 1989. Photocontrol of the hypocotyl hook opening of Sinapis alba seedlings. Involvement of phytochrome and a high irradiance response.
A statistical evaluation of the hypocotyl hook opening (hook opening index) was used for measurement of the hook angle in lots of etiolated Sinapis alba L. cv. Albatros seedlings. Studies of the kinetics for hook opening were carried out in continuous fluorescent white, blue and red light (6, 15 and 40 μmol m^-2s^-1) with 2-day-old dark-grown seedlings. At the beginning of the irradiation period the photoresponse in red light was the opposite to that in blue (low photon fluences). Blue rapidly induced the hook opening (in less than 20 min), while red produced hook tightening (photon fluences up to 70 mmol m^-2), which precedes the normal progressive hook opening. For low fluences, the data were consistent with the involvement of phytochrome and a specific blue light photoreceptor. A phytochrome effect was observed in the hook opening, dependent upon a high irradiance response (HIR). This HIR (like that for the inhibition of the hypocotyl elongation) was characterized by a wavelength response curve with maxima in the blue and far-red regions of the spectrum.     

The relationship between a summer fry (0+) abundance index, derived from semi-quantitative electrofishing, and egg deposition of Atlantic salmon, in the River Bush, Northern Ireland

Atlantic salmon survival in the R. Bush (N. Ireland) from egg to summer 0+ was inversely density-dependent on egg deposition ( P <0.05). A stock-recruitment relationship derived from egg deposition and summer 0+ abundance index data was compared to that derived from adult and smolt counts based on total trapping. Fitted Ricker curves indicated maximum recruitment at around 2.35 million eggs and 2.46 million eggs for 0+ index and smolt count methods, respectively. Salmon 0+ abundance index data from semi-quantitative electrofishing could be obtained with relatively little effort, and used to derive whole-river stock-recruitment relationships on rivers where only adult count or some other estimator of parental stock is available. The derivation and expression of spawning targets from stock/recruitment relationships is discussed with reference to the R. Bush data.     

COMPARISON OF IN SITU PHOTOSYNTHETIC ACTIVITY OF EPIPHYTIC,EPIPELIC AND PLANKTONIC ALGAL COMMUNITIES IN AN OLIGOTROPHIC LAKE,SOUTHERN FINLAND1

The photosynthetic activity of different algal communities at the outer edge of an Equisetum fluviatile L. stand in an oligotrophic lake (Pääjärvi, in southern Finland) was investigated. Production by the algal communities was measured simultaneously using a modified ¹⁴C-method, and the results were related to the volume of algae and the available irradiance. The relative production rate (P/B quotient) of phytoplankton was ca. 3 × that of epiphyton and ca. 20 × that of epipelon. Epiphyton productivity remained almost constant although the algal volume varied greatly, suggesting that the surface layer of the algal community was mainly responsible for the photosynthetic activity. In the littoral area (at 1 m depth) primary production/m² of lake surface by phytoplankton, epiphyton and epipelon was similar but in the littoriprofundal area (2–4 m) phytoplankton production was twice that of epipelon. Primary productivity of epiphyton and epipelon/m² of substratum was about equal to phytoplankton productivity/m³ of water at the same irradiance. This relation provided a means of estimating the relative contributions of the different algal communities to the total algal production in the lake.     

内蒙古荒漠草原地表反照率变化特征

基于2008年全年内蒙古荒漠草原的气象观测数据对荒漠草原地表反照率的变化特征分析发现,内蒙古荒漠草原的地表反照率在晴天呈早晚高、正午前后低的U形变化特征,降水引起的土壤含水量变化将导致地表反照率减小,云对地表反照率的影响比较复杂。荒漠草原地表反照率的月平均日变化类似于晴天条件下的日变化,大多数月份呈现早晚高正午前后低的U形变化趋势,仅在1-2月份及11-12月份呈现V形。地表反照率的季节变化较为明显。在生长季,由于存在植被覆盖使得地表反照率较低;而在冬季,地表反照率较高,特别是1\,2月份,其月均值分别为0.56和0.48,甚至高于沙漠。9月份地表反照率月均值达到最小值0.230, 7、8\,9月份地表反照率接近,分别为0.236、0.232和0.230。而且在生长季,荒漠草原的地表反照率高于退化草地、农田及麦田,低于沙漠的地表反照率,但是荒漠草原的地表反照率除7-10月份明显低于沙漠地表反照率外(相差大于0.02),生长季的其它月份与沙漠相差不大。晴天地表反照率随太阳高度角的增大而减小,当太阳高度角大于40°时,地表反照率趋于稳定,其与太阳高度角呈指数关系。土壤含水量的增大会导致地表反照率的减小,地表反照率与土壤含水量呈指数或线性关系。根据地表反照率与这两个因子之间的单因子关系式,建立了内蒙古荒漠草原晴天地表反照率随太阳高度角与土壤含水量变化的双因子参数化公式,而且太阳高度角和土壤含水量两者共同解释了地表反照率变化的68%左右。该公式可以较好地模拟内蒙古荒漠草原晴天地表反照率的变化。该公式是否可以进一步耦合到天气或气候模式中,还需要借助更多代表性的观测资料的验证,但是本研究无疑对陆面模式中地表反照率更准确的参数化及模拟提供了参考依据。