1 alpha, 25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 directly induces fusion of alveolar macrophages by a mechanism involving RNA and protein synthesis, but not DNA synthesis

The results of our present study indicate that 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3[1 alpha, 25(OH)2D3] directly induces fusion of mouse alveolar macrophages without any participation of T-lymphocytes by a mechanism involving RNA and protein synthesis but not DNA synthesis. We have reported that 1 alpha, 25(OH)2D3 induces fusion of alveolar macrophages by a direct mechanism and by a spleen cell-mediated indirect mechanism [(1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 5583-5587]. Alveolar macrophages pretreated with or without anti-Thy 1.2 antibody and complement fused similarly when they were incubated with 1 alpha, 25(OH)2D3. The vitamin suppressed DNA synthesis, but it significantly enhanced RNA and protein synthesis. The 1 alpha, 25(OH)2D3-induced fusion was blocked by adding actinomycin D or cycloheximide, but not by hydroxyurea.     

Spatial distribution of dispersing animals

Summary A mathematical model for the dispersal of an animal population is presented for a system in which animals are initially released in the central region of a uniform field and migrate randomly, exerting mutually repulsive influences (population pressure) until they eventually become sedentary. The effect of the population pressure, which acts to enhance the dispersal of animals as their density becomes high, is modeled in terms of a nonlinear-diffusion equation. From this model, the density distribution of animals is obtained as a function of time and the initial number of released animals. The analysis of this function shows that the population ultimately reaches a nonzero stationary distribution which is confined to a finite region if both the sedentary effect and the population pressure are present. Our results are in good agreement with the experimental data on ant lions reported by Morisita, and we can also interpret some general features known for the spatial distribution of dispersing insects.     

Circadian Rhythm of Cardiac Output, Peripheral Vascular Resistance, and Related Variables by a Beat-to-Beat Monitoring

This study aimed to explore the 24-h patterns of stroke volume, cardiac output, and peripheral vascular resistance along with other correlated variables, such as left ventricular ejection time, ejection velocity index, thoracic fluid index, heart rate, and blood pressure. The study was performed on 12 clinically healthy subjects by means of a noninvasive beat-to-beat monitoring using the thoracic electric bioimpedance technique associated with the automated sphygmomano-metric recording. Time data series were analyzed by means of chronobiological procedures. The results documented the occurrence of a circadian rhythm for all the variables investigated, giving relevance to the beat-to-beat bioperiodicity of cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance. Temporal quantification of the investigated variables may be useful for a better insight of the chronophysiology of the cardiovascular apparatus.     

Thermoregulatory behavior and oxygen consumption of Octopus mimus paralarvae: The effect of age

Octopus mimus is an important cephalopod species in the coastal zone of Peru and Chile that is exposed to temperature variations from time to time due to El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episodes when surface temperatures can reach 24 °C, 6 °C above typical temperatures in their habitat. The relationships between temperature and food availability are important factors that determine the recruitment of juveniles into the O. mimus population. The present study was to evaluate the relationship between thermoregulatory behavior and the age of paralarvae (summer population) to determine whether changes in this behavior occur during internal yolk consumption, making larvae more vulnerable to environmental temperature change. Oxygen consumption of paralarvae when 1–4 d old was determined to establish if respiration could be used to monitor the physiological changes that occur during yolk consumption. Horizontal thermal selection (17–30 °C), critical thermal maxima (CTMax), minima (CTMin), and oxygen consumption experiments were conducted with fasting paralarvae 1–4 d old at 20 °C. Preferred temperatures were dependent on the age of O. mimus paralarvae. One day old paralarvae selected a temperature 1.1 °C (23·4 °C) higher than 2 – 4 d old paralarvae (22·3 °C). The CTMax of paralarvae increased with age with values of 31·9±1.1 °C in 1-d-olds and 33·4±0.3 to 4-d-olds. CTMin also changed with age with low values in 2-d-old paralarvae (9.1±1·3 °C) and 11·9±0·9 °C in 4-d-old animals. The temperature tolerance range of paralarvae was age-dependent (TTD=difference between CTMax and CTMin) with higher values in 2 and 3 d old paralarvae (25–26 °C) as compared to 1 d old (23·1 °C) and 4 d old animals (22.7 °C). Oxygen consumption was not affected by the age of paralarvae, suggesting that mechanisms exist that compensate their metabloism until at least 4 d of age. The temperature tolerance range of a planktonic paralarvae of octopus species is presented for the first time. This range was dependent on the age of paralarvae, and so rendered the paralarvae more vunerable to a combination of high temperature and food deprivation during first days of life. Results in the present study provide evidence that O. mimus could be under ecological pressure if a climate change causes increased or decreased temperatures into their distribution range.     

城镇化进程中居民生活消费的生态环境压力评估—— 以江苏省江阴市为例

消费问题是区域生态环境压力增大和生态环境问题产生的根本原因。提出人口环境消费的概念和理论模型,并在生态足迹理论和方法的支撑下分别计算江苏省江阴市1997～2004年城镇居民和农村居民生活消费的环境压力;采用SPSS14.0软件,分析城镇和农村居民这两类人群人均环境消费的变化规律及其影响因素,并通过建立多元线性回归预测模型,估算在城镇化快速发展的情况下江阴市人口环境消费期望值。研究表明：江阴市城镇居民人均环境消费从1997年的1.395hm^2上升到2004年的1.960hm^2,年均递增0.081hm^2;农村居民则从1997年的1.345hm^2上升到2004年的1.465hm^2,年均递增0.017hm^2。城乡居民人均环境消费与人均可支配收入、人均受教育年限、恩格尔系数、人均地区生产总值等社会经济指标呈显著线性相关。预计到2010年城乡居民人均环境消费将分别达到2.258hm^2和1.919hm^2,到2020年将分别达到2.807hm^2和2.303hm2;2010年和2020年区域生态赤字将比2004年分别增长55%和107%,给区域生态环境造成巨大压力。为有效缓解区域环境压力,论文提出合理控制区域人口规模和城镇化发展速度,大力发展生态产业,培养可持续消费观念,引导绿色、健康和环境友好型的消费模式等对策措施。     

Quantifying the potential for flow to remove the emergent aquatic macrophyte Sparganium erectum from the margins of low-energy rivers

The emergent macrophyte species Sparganium erectum occurs commonly at the margins of low- to medium- energy river systems across the northern temperate zone. It is considered as an invasive species along low-energy water courses in many parts of the US and Australia. The life-cycle and biomechanical properties of this species make it very well adapted to such environments, allowing rapid growth and sediment trapping, such that encroachment into the channel occurs as the growing season progresses. The widespread growth of species such as S. erectum is therefore of particular concern, when considering the flood risk potential of many rivers. As such, the conditions required for survival or uprooting and scouring of this plant are of interest, as are the times of the year and processes by which these plants spread to increase the size of current stands, and to form new stands. It is known that S. erectum reproduces by several vegetative methods including rhizome growth, dispersal of detached rhizomes, and relocation of entire plants. However, the mechanisms and flow conditions necessary for uprooting or scouring of entire plants, and the separation of fragments of this species, at different times of the year, are largely unknown. The aim of this paper is to model the uprooting resistance of S. erectum plants as reported by Liffen et al. (in press), and to investigate the manner by which this species is adapted to proliferate in low-energy, low-gradient streams. The results presented here show that Monte Carlo simulations using the RipRoot root-reinforcement model can be used to accurately model plant pullout forces, rhizome interconnectivity and length changes for S. erectum plants throughout the growing season. Analysis presented here also suggests that plant uprooting forces are several orders of magnitude larger than potential drag forces that could act on the S. erectum plants at the River Blackwater site modeled, and even at sites with much higher channel slopes. This result suggests that the ability of these plants to thrive in low-energy rivers, but not in higher-energy river environments, is less related to driving forces causing drag on the plants, and more related to the energy conditions controlling erosion and deposition of the fine substrate materials these plants thrive in. The critical shear stress of the fine within-vegetation material was shown here to only be exceeded by the average boundary shear stress within the vegetation, during winter months when above-ground biomass and thus Manning's n values were at their lowest. For example, during March and April average boundary shear stress was predicted to exceed critical boundary shear stress for 6% of the time. Erodibility measurements from jet-tests conducted at the River Blackwater fieldsite suggested that this excess in boundary shear stress could result in potential vertical scour of up to 0.09 m in both March and April. During the majority of the growing season sediment trapping rather than erosion dominated, with enough deposition occurring over the summer to protect all but the shallowest, weakest and least interconnected rhizomes and plants from being scoured in the winter months. The balance between erosion and deposition within stands of S. erectum in these low-energy environments therefore allows for the maintenance of established stands of vegetation, whilst still allowing for scouring of weaker S. erectum plants that can establish previously un-colonized channel margins further downstream.     

On the role of NMDA receptors in blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR)

Summary In the present study the binding of [³H]MK-801 to glutamatergic receptors of the NMDA type was compared in spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive (WKY) rats in various brain structures (including nucleus tractus solitarii) by quantitative receptor autoradiography. Additionally, blood pressure changes after treatment with the NMDA antagonist MK-801 were studied in both strains. There were no differences between SHR and WKY rats either in the level of [³H]MK-801 binding or in the hypertensive reaction to MK-801.     

Mechanical Testing of Mouse Carotid Arteries: from Newborn to Adult

The large conducting arteries in vertebrates are composed of a specialized extracellular matrix designed to provide pulse dampening and reduce the work performed by the heart. The mix of matrix proteins determines the passive mechanical properties of the arterial wall¹. When the matrix proteins are altered in development, aging, disease or injury, the arterial wall remodels, changing the mechanical properties and leading to subsequent cardiac adaptation². In normal development, the remodeling leads to a functional cardiac and cardiovascular system optimized for the needs of the adult organism. In disease, the remodeling often leads to a negative feedback cycle that can cause cardiac failure and death. By quantifying passive arterial mechanical properties in development and disease, we can begin to understand the normal remodeling process to recreate it in tissue engineering and the pathological remodeling process to test disease treatments.Mice are useful models for studying passive arterial mechanics in development and disease. They have a relatively short lifespan (mature adults by 3 months and aged adults by 2 years), so developmental³ and aging studies⁴ can be carried out over a limited time course. The advances in mouse genetics provide numerous genotypes and phenotypes to study changes in arterial mechanics with disease progression⁵ and disease treatment⁶. Mice can also be manipulated experimentally to study the effects of changes in hemodynamic parameters on the arterial remodeling process⁷. One drawback of the mouse model, especially for examining young ages, is the size of the arteries. We describe a method for passive mechanical testing of carotid arteries from mice aged 3 days to adult (approximately 90 days). We adapt a commercial myograph system to mount the arteries and perform multiple pressure or axial stretch protocols on each specimen. We discuss suitable protocols for each age, the necessary measurements and provide example data. We also include data analysis strategies for rigorous mechanical characterization of the arteries.     

Studies on survival and water balance of unfed adult Dermacentor marginatus and D. reticulatus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)

The water content, the survival time at various relative humidities(r.h.) and the critical equilibrium activity of unfed adultDermacentor marginatus and D.reticulatus ticks were investigated at a constant temperature of20 °C. It was also examined whether these ticks use liquidwaterto compensate water loss. Both Dermacentor spp. showed nosignificant differences in water content in relation to body mass. The meanwater content of D. marginatus and D.reticulatus was 54.6% and 54.7%, respectively, in females and 56.3%and 57.0%, respectively, in males. The survival time of unfed adults prolongedwith decreasing saturation deficits. On average, males survived longer thanfemales and D. marginatus ticks survived mostly longerthanD. reticulatus ticks. The 50% mortality period rangedbetween 40 d at 33% r.h. and 420 d at 95% r.h. in D.marginatus, and between 43 d at 33 r.h. and 366 d at 95% r.h. inD. reticulatus. The critical equilibrium activity of unfedadults was estimated to be 0.84 for both species and was independent of sex.When dehydrated adult D. marginatus and D.reticulatus ticks were offered liquid water, only a few slightlygained weight while most further lost weight. Liquid water was not attractivefor dehydrated or non-dehydrated ticks and drinking was not observed. Aftersubmerging in water for 2 d, most of the dehydrated ticks had gained weight.