A comparison of sweating responses during exercise and recovery in terms of sweating rate and body temperature

Based on the hypothesis that the relation between sweating rate and body temperature should be different during exercise and rest after exercise, we compared the sweating response during exercise and recovery at a similar body temperature. Healthy male subjects performed submaximal exercise (Experiment 1) and maximal exercise (Experiment 2) in a room at 27° C and 35% relative humidity. During exercise and recovery of 20 min after exercise, esophageal temperature (Tes), mean skin temperature, mean body temperature ( ), chest sweating rate ( ), and the frequency of sweat expulsion (F _SW) were measured. In both experiments, andF _SW were clearly higher during exercise than recovery at a similar body temperature (Tes, ). was similar during exercise and recovery, or a little less during the former, at a similarF _SW. It is concluded that the sweating rate during exercise is greater than that during recovery at the same body temperature, due to greater central sudomotor activity during exercise. The difference between the two values is thought to be related to non-thermal factors and the rate of change in mean skin temperature.     

Different trends and divergent responses to climate factors in the radial growth of Abies georgei along elevations in the central Hengduan Mountains

Climate change has been unprecedented in the last half-century. Tree growth dynamics and responses to climate warming at different elevations vary by study area due to regional diversity in site-specific climatic conditions in the central Hengduan Mountains. A. georgei is the dominant species in high-elevation montane forests in the central Hengduan Mountains. To study the response of A. georgei radial growth to climate and identify tree growth trends at different elevations, tree-ring width chronologies at four elevations across the subalpine A. georgei forest belt were built and growth-climate relationships were analyzed. The primary findings of this study were as follows: (1) radial growth rates of A. georgei decreased with elevation; (2) warming alleviated the limitation of low temperatures and abundant precipitation on tree radial growth at the highest sampling site; and (3) unlike at other elevations, the trend of trees basal area increment (BAI) at the lowest sampling site showed a significant decline over the past 20 years. This suggests the presence of an elevational inflection point, likely between 3800 m and 4000 m, where tree growth trends diverge. These results confirmed that A. georgei at higher elevation in the central Hengduan Mountains currently benefits from higher temperatures. However, the effects of drought on A. georgei at lower elevations would cause radial growth to decrease with climate warming. Therefore, it is critical to establish effective management strategies based on how A. georgei responds to climate change at various elevations.     

Factors controlling the population dynamics of the clonal helophyte Ranunculus lingua

Abstract. Two marginal and two central populations of the pseudo-annual aquatic plant Ranunculus lingua were studied over four years. The main purpose was to quantify potentially influential abiotic and biotic factors and to derive predictions about life-history differences between the populations. Variation in abundance and height of R. lingua ramets at different depths were related to water-level fluctuations, to abundance of other helophyes (emergent macrophytes), and to the occurrence of invertebrate grazing and fungal pathogens. Clear differences between marginal and central populations were shown in the depth distribution of ramet numbers and ramet heights, as well as in the dynamic patterns, where marginal populations had a higher flux of ramets. These patterns and regression analyses indicated that abiotic factors have a greater influence in marginal populations, whereas biotic factors are more important in central populations. It is suggested that marginal habitats for R. lingua would favour life-histories with a high reproductive capacity, whereas a large size of ramet would be the most important life-history feature in central habitats. This was supported by the fact that ramets in marginal populations, in spite of their smaller size, produced higher number of rhizomes than ramets in central populations. Variation in regional abundance was finally related to differences in demographic processes and dispersal potential between the populations.     

Association between barium exposed,CYP19A1 and central obesity: A cross-sectional study in rural China

Backgroundobesity is a major risk factor for many metabolic diseases such as diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the association of plasma and urinary barium concentrations, CYP19A1 gene polymorphisms, and their interaction with central obesity in a rural Chinese population.Methodsrestricted cubic spline model was used to explore the dose-response relationship between barium and the risk of developing central obesity and waist circumference; logistic regression model was used to assess the association between barium, CYP19A1 gene polymorphisms and their interaction with central obesity.Resultsthe results of the restricted cubic spline model showed that plasma barium concentration was linearly associated with the risk of developing central obesity and non-linearly associated with waist circumference. Logistic regression analysis showed that participants with Q4 plasma barium concentration exhibited a higher risk of central obesity compared to participants with Q1 barium concentration; participants carrying the rs10046-AA gene exhibited a lower risk of central obesity than those carrying the rs10046-G(GG+GA) gene; participants carrying the rs10046-GA genotype showed 1.754 times higher risk of central obesity than those carrying rs10046-GG+AA genotype. There was a significant interaction between plasma barium and CYP19A1 gene polymorphism on central obesity.Conclusionthe development of central obesity was associated with plasma barium and CYP19A1.     

Nonparametric and semiparametric estimation with sequentially truncated survival data

In observational cohort studies with complex sampling schemes, truncation arises when the time to event of interest is observed only when it falls below or exceeds another random time, that is, the truncation time. In more complex settings, observation may require a particular ordering of event times; we refer to this as sequential truncation. Estimators of the event time distribution have been developed for simple left-truncated or right-truncated data. However, these estimators may be inconsistent under sequential truncation. We propose nonparametric and semiparametric maximum likelihood estimators for the distribution of the event time of interest in the presence of sequential truncation, under two truncation models. We show the equivalence of an inverse probability weighted estimator and a product limit estimator under one of these models. We study the large sample properties of the proposed estimators and derive their asymptotic variance estimators. We evaluate the proposed methods through simulation studies and apply the methods to an Alzheimer's disease study. We have developed an R package, seqTrun , for implementation of our method.     

Forest development during 6,300–3,000 yBP (Early to Late Jomon Periods) at the Akayama Site,central Japan

Fossil wood assemblages deposited during 6.300–3.000 yBP, are studied at the Akayama Site, central Japan. Layer III containing fossil woods was divided into three subunits according to intercalating tephras, and total 3618 fossil woods were studied. In the composition, deciduous broad-leaved trees dominated, accompanied by some evergreen conifers. In the diameter distribution, nine taxa accounted for nearly 90% of individuals exceeding 10 cm in diameter. Spatial distribution of nine major and three minor taxa and that of thick individuals clarified the following points: 1)Fraxinus established a lowland forest during 5,000–4,500 yBP, accompanied byAlnus sect.Gymnothyrsus, Acer andAesculus turbinata; 2) small trees ofAlnus sect.Gymnothyrsus extensively intermingled in the lowlandFraxinus forest during 4,500–3,000 yBP; 3)Quercus sect.Prinus and Castanea crenata constituted escarpment forests during 6,300–3,000 yBP; 4)Carpinus sect.Eucarpinus became a major component during 5,000–4,500 yBP, andOstrya japonica replacedCastanea crenata during 4,500–3,000 yBP. Comparison with the other five contemporaneous fossil wood assemblages shows prevalence ofFraxinus-dominant forests during the Late to Latest Jomon Periods in the southern part of the Kanto Plain.     

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF BIOECOLOGY DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEM

In this paper, the author studies the quartic bioecology differential system:Here n and q are positive constants, l、m and p are constants. The author also proves some theorems of existence and uniqueness of limit cycles of this differential system.     

脑室内注入TRH对大鼠肝胆生化影响机理的研究

在大鼠的脑室内注入ＴＲＨ（三肽酰胺）,观察其对大鼠肝胆汁分泌的影响．实验结果表明,侧脑室内注入ＴＲＨ对胆汁分泌量有明显的增强作用,并且随ＴＲＨ剂量加大其作用逐渐增强．而且在侧脑室内注入ＴＲＨ期间,胆汁中Ｋ＋、Ｃｌ－、Ｎａ＋、ＨＣＯ３－离子的排出量亦有增加．其机理在于,侧脑室内注入ＴＲＨ,激活中枢胆碱能系统,并通过送走神经而使肝的新陈代谢发生变化．     

Characterization and distribution of bombesin binding sites in the goldfish hypothalamic feeding center and pituitary

Bombesin (BBS)/gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) binding sites were characterized and their distribution examined in the goldfish brain and pituitary by radioligand binding and autoradiography. Binding of ¹²⁵I-[Tyr⁴]-BBS-14 to tissue sections was found to be saturable, reversible, time-dependent and displaceable by BBS/GRP-like peptides. Analysis of saturable equilibrium binding revealed a one-site model fit with a K_d of 0.665 ± 0.267 nM. This binding site displayed high affinity for members of the BBS subfamily of peptides, including GRP10 (K_i; 0.292 ± 0.038 nM) and GRP27 (K_i; 2.034 ± 1.597 nM), but showed no affinity for the BBS_8–14 fragment. While an approximate 100-fold lower binding affinity was displayed by the binding site for neuromedin B (K_i; 61.5 ± 28.2 nM), litorin was highly effective in displacing radiolabeled BBS binding (K_i; 1.469 ± 0.427 nM). The localization of saturable and high affinity BBS/GRP binding sites in specific areas of the goldfish brain and pituitary generally revealed a similar anatomical distribution to BBS/GRP-like immunoreactive material reported previously by our laboratory. Quantitative densitometric analysis of radiolabeled BBS binding to brain nuclei and the pituitary revealed a moderate concentration of BBS/GRP binding sites in the hypothalamic feeding area, including the nucleus diffusus lobi inferioris, nucleus recessus lateralis, nucleus lateral tuberis, and nucleus anterior tuberis. Other brain nuclei known to influence the brain feeding center which contained a high density of BBS/GRP binding sites included nuclei of the dorsal and ventro-medial telencephalon, the preoptic hypothalamus, and the optic tectum. High densities of BBS/GRP binding sites were also localized in the dorsal cerebellum, and nucleus habenularis. In the pituitary, BBS/GRP binding sites were present in high concentration in the neurointermediate lobe, with a relatively lower density localized in the pars distalis. The present study further supports a role for BBS/GRP-like peptides in the regulation of feeding behavior and anterior pituitary hormone secretion in teleosts.     

A new species of the genusDiaphanosoma Fischer, 1850 (Crustacea: Daphniiformes: Sididae) from Central Asia and China

Diaphanosoma macrophthalma sp.nov. is described based on material (parthenogenetic females and males) obtained from a number of water bodies of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China. Intra- and interpopulation morphological variability, size range, sex structure and geographical distribution are analyzed.