Biogeography of milkweed butterflies (Nymphalidae: Danainae) and mimetic patterns on tropical Paciflc archipelagos

Distributions of danaine butterfly species and associated mimetic patterns were compared among fifteen archipelagos of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and within five major archipelagos (the Bismarcks, Fiji, East and West Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu). Using both simple and stepwise linear regression analysis, variation in the total number of danaine species and number of mimetic patterns was assessed with respect to island size, isolation and elevation. Relative to interarchipelago distributions, the distribution of danaine species and number of mimetic patterns on islands within archipelagos exhibited less dependence upon interisland distance and island area. Geographical features influencing the number of mimetic patterns were similar to those of danaines as a whole. Analysis of residuals from stepwise linear regression suggested that factors influencing danaine distributions were different from those for non-danaine butterflies. This result is consistent with the hypothesis of enhancement of danaine species establishment through Müllerian mimicry, although other factors such as host plant availability and similar habitat use may also be important.     

New perspectives on the “Proto-cromagnons” from Israel

The present paper deals with the two identifiedHomo sapiens groups in the Middle Palaeolithic from the Near East, the Neandertals and the Modern Humans. Their main morphological characteristics are discussed, comparing also both populations, one with another, as well as with the European Neandertals or Predmost III. The data confirm the presence in the Levant of Near Eastern Neandertal and Modern Human lineages from at least 150 Ky., relating the most ancient documents, respectively, to Tabun I and Zuttiyeh individuals. The coexistence of both human groups, having the same cultural background, along the whole Middle Palaeolithic is demonstrated, while the possibility of interbreeding is not excluded.     

武汉东湖水生植被及其恢复途径探讨

１９９２～１９９３年对武汉东湖三个主要湖区（郭郑湖、汤林湖和牛巢湖）水生植被的调查表明,该湖区共有水生植物３２种,优势种为大茨藻、狐尾藻、苦草和菱。金鱼藻呈不断扩大的趋势。植被类型可分为１１个群丛,植被面积约为０．６５ｋｍ￣２,总生物量为１２３６．３９ｔ（湿重）,植被带状分布仅见于汤林湖北部和其他部分湖汊。汤林湖和牛巢湖水生植被正处于自然恢复演替阶段。     

DEFORMATIVE DISEASE IN IRIDAEA LAMINARIOIDES (RHODOPHYTA): GALL DEVELOMENT ASSOCIATED WITH AN ENDOPHYTIC CYANOBACTERIUM1

This study is the first report of an algal disease, developed in close association with an endophytic organism, documented for the southeastern Pacific. We describe a disease affecting wild populations of the red alga Iridaea laminarioides Bory in central Chile, characterized by gall development on the surface of sporophytic, cystocarpic, and immature thalli. These abnormal growths result in severe morphological alterations of the affected thalli. Diseased fronds display an aggregated spatial distribution and occur throughout the year, with a maximum in summer followed by a decline in winter. The presence of galls was not associated with broken or torn fronds. Although causality has not been unequivocally demonstrated, our field and laboratory observations indicate a strong association of the galls with infections by an endophytic cyanobacterium, probably belonging to the genus Pleurocapsa.     

Gelidiaceae (Rhodophyta) in Bahía de Banderas,Western Pacific,México

We present the results of a floristic study of intertidal species of Gelidiaceae collected in ten localities in the Bahía de Banderas region. The study area is within an extensive overlapping transitional zone between the tropical and subtropical regions of the Mexican Pacific coast. Species of the genera Gelidium and Pterocladia were found, G. microdentatum and G. pusillum being the most abundant and widely distributed in the Bay. The local and Mexican Pacific distribution for each species is given. The number of species found in this study is compared with the numbers reported in the literature for the Mexican Pacific.     

Ecological compensation of the impacts of a road. Preliminary method for the A50 road link (Eindhoven-Oss, The Netherlands)

After years of efforts to avoid or reduce the impact of infrastructure projects on nature, the principle of ecological compensation has been incorporated in Dutch governmental policy. Ecological compensation aims to recover those ecological functions and natural values that still remain affected after maximum effort has been made to reduce the impact of the intervention (mitigation). The accepted aim of current policy is thus no-net-loss of area and quality by means of mitigative and compensatory measures. As part of the planning process for construction of a stretch of road in The Netherlands, viz., the A50 road link in the province of North Brabant, a Nature Compensation Plan (NCP) was required to be drawn up. This work has recently been completed by the Regional Directorate of Public Works and Water Management, the initiator of the intervention. The NCP, initially presented as a Draft Plan, was drawn up by the Regional Directorate using a preliminary method designed by the Centre of Environmental Science of Leiden University for deriving compensatory measures. After an opportunity for public comment, the Draft Plan was revised to form a Final NCP. This article describes, firstly, the preliminary method for deriving ecological compensatory measures. The method starts by quantifying the effects of habitat loss, habitat disturbance (by changes in noise emissions, in the water table and in outdoor recreational patterns), barrier action and fauna casualties. Following mitigation of impacts on nature, compensation for non-mitigable effects focuses successively on area size, derived from the impacts on breeding birds, and on area quality, derived from the habitat requirements of the vegetation and fauna groups affected by the road. Guidelines for identifying appropriate locations for compensation are also formulated. Secondly, the compensation method is applied to calculate the mitigative and compensatory measures for the A50 trajectory between Eindhoven and Oss. Thirdly, two comparisons are made: the Draft NCP is compared with the results of the preliminary method, and the Draft and the Final NCP are compared with one another in order to identify the role of the interest groups that played a major role in commenting on the Draft Plan. Finally, realization of the compensatory measures and development of the preliminary method itself are discussed. On the basis of the experience with the A50 case study, a more robust compensation method for road projects is to be developed.     

Indo-West Pacific patterns of genetic differentiation in the high-dispersal starfish Linckia laevigata

Genetic variation in four natural populations of the starfish Linckia laevigata from the Indo-West Pacific was examined using restriction fragment analysis of a portion of the mtDNA including the control region. Digestion with seven restriction enzymes identified 47 haplotypes in a sample of 326 individuals. Samples collected from reef sites within each location were not significantly differentiated based on Φ_ST or spatial distribution of haplotypes, indicating that dispersal is high over short to moderate distances. Evidence of gene flow is further supported by the low divergence among haplotypes and the lack of any clear geographical structuring among different haplotypes in the gene phylogeny. However, analysis of molecular variance ( AMOVA ), Φ_ST and contingency χ² analyses of the spatial distribution of haplotypes demonstrate the presence of significant broad scale population genetic structure among the four widespread locations examined. RFLP data are consistent with high gene flow between the Philippines and Western Australia and moderate gene flow between the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Fiji, but only limited gene flow between either the Philippines or Western Australia and either the GBR or Fiji. The presence of mtDNA structure contrasts with previous allozyme data which suggest that dispersal among widely separated locations is equivalent to dispersal among populations within the highly connected GBR studies. This discordance between patterns of gene flow inferred from these two markers cannot be fully accounted for by differences in effective population size for mtDNA. This might suggest that while mtDNA variation may represent contemporary patterns of gene flow, allozyme variation among populations is yet to reach equilibrium between drift and migration over the range surveyed.     

东亚大都市学生头型的比较研究

为了研讨居住区域的气候条件和社会经济环境对头型的影响,采用国际通用的人体测量法,调查测量了东亚三个国家四个集团３４７２名６－１７岁学生的头长和头宽,经统计学处理求得其平均值、头指数,回归方程,并作性差和地区差检验,其结果表明：中国大连学生为特圆头型,菲律宾马尼拉学生为圆头型,地理位置在大连和马尼拉之间的日本东京的学生的头型也位于二者之间,生活富裕集团的头长和头宽明显大于生活贫穷集团的学生,但头型二     

Phosphorylation of the androgen receptor by a nuclear cAMP-independent protein kinase

The androgen receptor was purified from rat ventral prostate. The purified receptor migrated as a single band of mol. wt. 87000 on SDS-polyacrylamide gels, had a kd for R-1881 (17 beta-hydroxy-17 alpha-methyl-estra-4,9,11-trien-3-one) binding as 6 nM, and sedimentation coefficient of 4.5 S. Phosphorylation of the purified receptor was studied by incubating it with [gamma-32P]ATP in the presence of several purified protein kinases including cAMP-dependent protein kinase, and four cAMP-independent protein kinases (which were active towards substrates such as phosvitin and casein). Phosphorylation of the 87000 mol. wt. androgen receptor protein occurred only in the presence of a nuclear cAMP-independent protein kinase (of the N2 type). No auto-phosphorylation of the receptor was detected. The results indicate that the androgen receptor is a phosphoprotein. Further, phosphorylation of the androgen receptor by only a specific nuclear cAMP-independent protein kinase may be important in determining the dynamics of its function.     

Histone synthesis is not coupled to the replication of adenovirus DNA

Histone synthesis decreases approximately in parallel with the decrease in cellular DNA synthesis when KB cell monolayers are productively infected with adenovirus type 2 and does not occur in coordination with the later surge of viral DNA synthesis. The synthesis of histones is not, therefore, required for all replicative DNA synthesis in the nuclei of mammalian cells.