Interpersonal violence between 18th century Native Americans and Europeans in Ohio

During the winter of 1778-1779, a garrison of 176 individuals lived within the walls of a Revolutionary era stronghold named Ft. Laurens on the banks of the Tuscarawas River, near the present-day town of Bolivar, Ohio. At least 21 individuals were buried in the fort's cemetery during its occupation, 13 of whom were supposedly killed and scalped by Native Americans while gathering firewood and foraging horses. The purpose of this study is to build on previous work by Sciulli and Gramly ([1989] Am J. Phys. Anthropol. 80:11-24) by adding a more detailed analysis of the traumatic lesions, in order to better understand what happened to the victims. Lesions were analyzed based on type, location, and dimensions, as well as their overall pattern on the skeleton. Results indicate that multiple blows to the cranium were common. Out of 12 observable crania, the order of blows could be determined in only one case. Eleven of 12 of the observable crania from ambush victims and four of the seven nonambush victims exhibited lesions consistent with scalping. Evidence of postcranial trauma was noted on four individuals: one was an ambush victim, and the other three were killed at other times. No evidence of gunshot wounds was found.     

The statistical analysis of truncated data: application to the Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak

An outbreak of anthrax occurred in the city of Sverdlovsk in Russia in the spring of 1979. The outbreak was due to the inhalation of spores that were accidentally released from a military microbiology facility. In response to the outbreak a public health intervention was mounted that included distribution of antibiotics and vaccine. The objective of this paper is to develop and apply statistical methodology to analyse the Sverdlovsk outbreak, and in particular to estimate the incubation period of inhalational anthrax and the number of deaths that may have been prevented by the public health intervention. The data available for analysis from this common source epidemic are the incubation periods of reported deaths. The statistical problem is that incubation periods are truncated because some individuals may have had their deaths prevented by the public health interventions and thus are not included in the data. However, it is not known how many persons received the intervention or how efficacious was the intervention. A likelihood function is formulated that accounts for the effects of truncation. The likelihood is decomposed into a binomial likelihood with unknown sample size and a conditional likelihood for the incubation periods. The methods are extended to allow for a phase-in of the intervention over time. Assuming a lognormal model for the incubation period distribution, the median and mean incubation periods were estimated to be 11.0 and 14.2 days respectively. These estimates are longer than have been previously reported in the literature. The death toll from the Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak could have been about 14% larger had there not been a public health intervention; however, the confidence intervals are wide (95% CI 0-61%). The sensitivity of the results to model assumptions and the parametric model for the incubation period distribution are investigated. The results are useful for determining how long antibiotic therapy should be continued in suspected anthrax cases and also for estimating the ultimate number of deaths in a new outbreak in the absence of any public health interventions.     

Period doubling of calcium spike firing in a model of a Purkinje cell dendrite

Recordings from cerebellar Purkinje cell dendrites have revealed that in response to sustained current injection, the cell firing pattern can move from tonic firing of Ca²⁺ spikes to doublet firing and even to quadruplet firing or more complex firing. These firing patterns are not modified substantially if Na⁺ currents are blocked. We show that the experimental results can be viewed as a slow transition of the neuronal dynamics through a period-doubling bifurcation. To further support this conclusion and to understand the underlying mechanism that leads to doublet firing, we develop and study a simple, one-compartment model of Purkinje cell dendrite. The neuron can also exhibit quadruplet and chaotic firing patterns that are similar to the firing patterns that some of the Purkinje cells exhibit experimentally. The effects of parameters such as temperature, applied current, and potassium reversal potential in the model resemble their effects in experiments. The model dynamics involve three time scales. Ca²⁺- dependent K⁺ currents, with intermediate time scales, are responsible for the appearance of doublet firing, whereas a very slow hyperpolarizing current transfers the neuron from tonic to doublet firing. We use the fast-slow analysis to separate the effects of the three time scales. Fast-slow analysis of the neuronal dynamics, with the activation variable of the very slow, hyperpolarizing current considered as a parameter, reveals that the transitions occurs via a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations of the fast and intermediate subsystem as this slow variable increases. We carry out another analysis, with the Ca²⁺ concentration considered as a parameter, to investigate the conditions for the generation of doublet firing in systems with one effective variable with intermediate time scale, in which the rest state of the fast subsystem is terminated by a saddle-node bifurcation. We find that the scenario of period doubling in these systems can occur only if (1) the time scale of the intermediate variable (here, the decay rate of the calcium concentration) is slow enough in comparison with the interspike interval of the tonic firing at the transition but is not too slow and (2) there is a bistability of the fast subsystem of the spike-generating variables.     

Circadian period lengths of lipid synthesis mutants (cel,chol-1) of Neurospora show defective temperature,but intact pH-compensation

The influence of extracellular pH on the circadian sporulation rhythm of Neurospora crassa has been investigated for the mutants chol-1 and cel. Both mutants have a defect in the lipid synthesis pathway and require either choline or palmitate, respectively, as supplements for normal growth. The chol-1 and cel mutants also show an impaired temperature-compensation when growing on minimal medium. We investigated the possible correlation between loss of temperature- and pH-compensation in cel and chol-1 similar to the correlation found earlier for the frq⁷ mutant. Our results show that the cel and the chol-1 mutants, although defective in temperature-compensation have an intact pH-compensation of their circadian rhythms. At present, the products of the frq-locus are the only components of the clock that affect the sporulation rhythm of Neurospora both through pH- and temperature-compensation.     

利用荧光标记的T7噬菌体研究配体/受体的相互作用

将鸡传染性法氏囊病病毒(IBDV)衣壳蛋白VP2展示到T7噬菌体表面,以FITC标记纯化的重组噬菌体,通过荧光显微镜观察与流式细胞仪检测,研究标记噬菌体与病毒受体细胞--法氏囊B细胞的相互作用.结果展示有IBDV VP2蛋白的噬菌体经FITC标记后仍然具有与受体细胞结合的特性,荧光显微镜下可见绿色荧光,流式数据显示其平均荧光强度明显高于阴性对照,且IBDV疫苗株TAD可明显阻断其结合.由此得出结论,FITC标记与噬菌体展示技术相结合,可进行配体/受体间相互作用的研究.     

烟草青枯病危害对烟田中小型土壤动物群落的影响

为了掌握重庆植烟区烟草青枯病危害对烟田中小型土壤动物群落结构及多样性特征的影响,分别于2015年3月烟田休耕期、6月烟株旺长期和9月烟叶成熟期在重庆市彭水县进行了定点实验,调查了烟草青枯病连续成灾烟田及其对照无青枯病危害烟田中的中小型土壤动物群落。共捕获中小型土壤动物50112只,隶属于33个类群。其中,线虫、螨类和弹尾虫构成了烟田中小型土壤动物的主体,对烟田土壤动物群落特征起决定性作用。不同季节青枯病田及其对照田土壤动物整体数量表现为3月6月9月。两类烟田不同季节的土壤动物及其主要类群相对多度和密度,以及群落Margalef丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数和Simpson优势集中性指数均表现出了明显的动态变化,且出现了显著性差异(P0.05)。群落相似性分析显示,两类烟田土壤动物群落组成相似度高,但烟草青枯病危害加剧会使相似度降低。群落稳定性结果表明,6月和9月对照田稳定性均要明显大于青枯病田。螨类与弹尾虫个体数的A/C比值均为对照田大于青枯病田,且3月和6月差异显著(P0.05)。主成分分析(PCA)表明,青枯病危害对土壤动物个体数、土壤动物密度、中气门亚目、甲螨亚目、线虫、啮虫目和棘跳虫科以及螨类与弹尾虫个体数的A/C比值影响较大;而这些对青枯病危害反应敏感的土壤动物指标,可作为青枯病发生和危害程度评价的特征指标;另外,基于PCA得分的土壤样品采集点排序结果进一步指出,两类烟田土壤动物群落组成的异质性随着青枯病危害程度的加剧而加大。上述结果说明土壤动物群落组成和多样性特征与青枯病的发生和危害密切相关;在农业生产上要开展可持续和有效的烟草青枯病生物防治,应不断加强该病原菌与土壤中小型动物生态关系的基础研究。     

Antiviral Activity of Antimicrobial Lipopeptide from Bacillus subtilis fmbj Against Pseudorabies Virus, Porcine Parvovirus, Newcastle Disease Virus and Infectious Bursal Disease Virus in Vitro

Bacillus subtilis fmbj can produce lipopeptide antimicrobial substance, whose main components were surfactin and fengycin. In the study, the antiviral activity of antimicrobial lipopeptides (AMLs) from B. subtilis fmbj (CGMCC No. 0934) against Pseudorabies Virus (PRV), Porcine Parvovirus (PPV), Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) was evaluated in vitro. The AMLs represented a direct inactivation effect on cell-free virus stocks of PRV, PPV, NDV and IBDV, and it could effectively inhibit infection and replication of the NDV and IBDV, but failed to affect PRV and PPV. The AMLs were represented higher toxicity for the Porcine Kidney (PK-15) cells (50% cytotoxic concentration (CC₅₀) value was 32.87 μM) and lower for the Chicken Embryo Fibroblasts (CEF) cells (CC₅₀ value was 89.16 μM). The Selectivity index of AMLs on PRV, PPV, NDV and IBDV was 1.44, 2.23, 8.40 and 12.19, respectively.     

1,2,4-三氯苯胁迫对不同基因型水稻灌浆期生理特性及产量的影响

在盆栽土培条件下,研究了5种浓度(0、10、20、40、80 mg/kg土)的1,2,4-三氯苯(TCB)对两种基因型水稻品种宁粳1号(敏感基因型)和扬辐粳8号(耐性基因型)产量及灌浆期生理特性的影响。结果表明:TCB对两种基因型水稻产量和灌浆期生理特性的影响具有显著差异,随着TCB浓度的增加,宁粳1号的产量呈现递减趋势,而扬辐粳8号呈低浓度下产量增加高浓度下产量显著降低的趋势,在中高浓度TCB(40、80 mg/kg)处理时,宁粳1号每盆穗数,每穗粒数,结实率显著降低且降幅显著大于扬辐粳8号,两个基因型品种千粒重变化都不明显。宁粳1号株高、干物重受TCB抑制程度较明显,降幅显著大于扬辐粳8号。在低浓度TCB(20 mg/kg)处理时,宁粳1号根系活力、叶绿素含量、可溶性蛋白质含量显著降低,而扬辐粳8号有所提高。随着TCB浓度的增加,两个基因型品种叶片抗氧化酶SOD、POD、CAT活性均呈先升后降趋势,且在低浓度TCB(10 mg/kg、20mg/kg)处理时,扬辐粳8号抗氧化酶活性极显著高于宁粳1号,在高浓度TCB(80 mg/kg)TCB浓度胁迫下,宁粳1号抗氧化酶活性极显著低于对照,且降幅极显著大于扬辐粳8号,且MDA含量增幅较大,膜质过氧化程度高。总体而言,低浓度TCB对扬辐粳8号的产量和灌浆期株高、干物重、叶绿素含量、叶片蛋白质含量和抗氧化酶活性具有一定的促进作用,中高浓度TCB对宁粳1号的抑制作用显著大于扬辐粳8号,扬辐粳8号在不同浓度的TCB处理下较宁粳1号表现出较强的耐迫性和适应性。     

Termination of parental care due to small clutch size in the temperate damselfish,Chromis notata

Synopsis Reproductive behavior of the temperate damselfish, Chromis notata, was investigated on the island of Mukaishima, Japan, almost daily during the breeding season in 1982. Both males and females repeated reproductive cycles many times during the breeding season. Females had a strong tendency to spawn a whole clutch on one nest during a few hours. The average number of eggs which a male gained per reproductive cycle was estimated at 38560 (480–131100 eggs). Males ordinarily cared for eggs until just prior to hatching, but abandoned more than half of the nests with the eggs numbering less than 11568. Contribution 207 from the Mukaishima Marine Biological Station.