Bats are able to maintain long-term social relationships despite the high fission-fusion dynamics of their groups

Elephants, dolphins, as well as some carnivores and primates maintain social links despite their frequent splitting and merging in groups of variable composition, a phenomenon known as fission-fusion. Information on the dynamics of social links and interactions among individuals is of high importance to the understanding of the evolution of animal sociality, including that of humans. However, detailed long-term data on such dynamics in wild mammals with fully known demography and kin structures are scarce. Applying a weighted network analysis on 20,500 individual roosting observations over 5 years, we show that in two wild Bechstein's bat colonies with high fission-fusion dynamics, individuals of different age, size, reproductive status and relatedness maintain long-term social relationships. In the larger colony, we detected two stable subunits, each comprising bats from several family lineages. Links between these subunits were mainly maintained by older bats and persisted over all years. Moreover, we show that the full details of the social structure become apparent only when large datasets are used. The stable multi-level social structures in Bechstein's bat colonies resemble that of elephants, dolphins and some primates. Our findings thus may shed new light on the link between social complexity and social cognition in mammals.     

An ANN-GA model based promoter prediction in Arabidopsis thaliana using tilling microarray data

Identification of promoter region is an important part of gene annotation. Identification of promoters in eukaryotes is important as promoters modulate various metabolic functions and cellular stress responses. In this work, a novel approach utilizing intensity values of tilling microarray data for a model eukaryotic plant Arabidopsis thaliana, was used to specify promoter region from non-promoter region. A feed-forward back propagation neural network model supported by genetic algorithm was employed to predict the class of data with a window size of 41. A dataset comprising of 2992 data vectors representing both promoter and non-promoter regions, chosen randomly from probe intensity vectors for whole genome of Arabidopsis thaliana generated through tilling microarray technique was used. The classifier model shows prediction accuracy of 69.73% and 65.36% on training and validation sets, respectively. Further, a concept of distance based class membership was used to validate reliability of classifier, which showed promising results. The study shows the usability of micro-array probe intensities to predict the promoter regions in eukaryotic genomes.     

圈养林麝粪便类固醇激素保存时效性研究

用非损伤性采样方法对圈养林麝在三个条件:1)未处理,2)90%甲醇,3)0.9%抗生素,15个时间梯度下(20℃)的粪便中类固醇激素及其代谢物的保存时间及方法进行了比较,结果表明:林麝粪便在室温下(20℃),孕酮及其代谢物48 h有明显的上升趋势;雌二醇、睾酮和皮质醇及其代谢物在18 h均出现显著变化;对比抗生素保存,用甲醇保存是一种较好的保存林麝粪便类固醇激素的方法;然而不同激素用甲醇保存的时间不同,孕酮不宜超过1个月,皮质醇不宜超过半个月,睾酮则不宜超过10天,而雌二醇可以保存2个月之久.     

Gamma神经振荡产生机制及其功能研究进展

Gamma神经振荡的频率在30～100 Hz之间,存在于动物和人类大脑的多个区域,如丘脑、体感皮层以及海马等部位,在各个尺度水平上都可被检测到.抑制性中间神经元组成的神经网络是产生此高频节律性活动的主要条件之一.皮层的gamma神经振荡与丘脑-皮层系统有关.Gamma神经振荡具有易化突触可塑性和调节神经网络的作用,主要参与感觉特征绑定、选择性注意以及记忆等高级功能.     

帽儿山地区落叶松人工林CO2通量特征及对林分碳收支的影响

2008年,采用涡度协方差法测定了黑龙江省尚志市帽儿山地区落叶松人工林的CO₂通量,并于生长季(5—10月)不同月份测定了落叶松叶片光合日变化.结果表明: 不同时间段环境因子变化对落叶松人工林净生态系统交换量的影响存在差异,下午(12:00—24:00) 的净生态系统交换量对其饱和蒸汽压亏缺的变化反应较上午(0:00—12:00)迟钝;上午光能利用效率为0.6284 mol·mol^-1,是下午的1.14倍;随温度上升,上午净生态系统交换量的增幅是下午的1.5倍(气温>15 ℃).这种差异使落叶松林净碳交换量的88%在上午完成,而下午仅完成净碳交换量的12％;上、下午生态系统生产力分别占全天的60%和40%,上午叶片的光合能力为下午的3倍.落叶松人工林全年净生态系统交换量在263～264 g C·m^-2,生态系统呼吸在718～725 g C·m^-2,总初级生产力在981～989 g C·m^-2.     

具有约束条件的变分不等式的可行的增广拉格朗日方法

采用增广拉格朗日方法求解了具有约束条件的变分不等式问题,并证明了这一方法的全局收敛性．运用增广拉格朗日方法和非精确的半光滑牛顿法求解了具有约束条件的变分不等式的一类子问题．我们给出了四个数值算例以说明这一方法的可行性．     

提高生物课堂教学有效性——新课程背景下探究教学法的灵活运用

新课程的实施需要运用探究教学法,广大高中生物教师对这一教法的运用还在摸索之中。通过拟从探究教学法的运用,对提高高中生物课堂教学有效性的作用,提出实践性的教学建议。     

Multimodel inference in ecology and evolution: challenges and solutions

Information theoretic approaches and model averaging are increasing in popularity, but this approach can be difficult to apply to the realistic, complex models that typify many ecological and evolutionary analyses. This is especially true for those researchers without a formal background in information theory. Here, we highlight a number of practical obstacles to model averaging complex models. Although not meant to be an exhaustive review, we identify several important issues with tentative solutions where they exist (e.g. dealing with collinearity amongst predictors; how to compute model-averaged parameters) and highlight areas for future research where solutions are not clear (e.g. when to use random intercepts or slopes; which information criteria to use when random factors are involved). We also provide a worked example of a mixed model analysis of inbreeding depression in a wild population. By providing an overview of these issues, we hope that this approach will become more accessible to those investigating any process where multiple variables impact an evolutionary or ecological response.     

Horizontally acquired DAP pathway as a unit of self-regulation

In this study, we report the acquisition of the diaminopimelic acid (DAP) pathway of lysine biosynthesis in choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and investigate how this pathway is incorporated and regulated in the established metabolic network. Our data show that all major genes related to the DAP pathway in Monosiga were acquired from bacteria and algae. Although an endogenous lysC exists in Monosiga, the newly acquired lysC is fused to lysA and used specifically for lysine biosynthesis. In addition, these acquired genes encode two key rate-limiting enzymes, thus conferring Monosiga a self-regulated unit with ability to generate lysine. Our data suggest that a newly acquired metabolic capability can be added to the recipient organism without disturbing the previously established metabolic network. This finding also implies that the biochemical system of the recipient organism may determine the type and function of genes to be acquired.     

亚甲基蓝/光化学法辅助治疗慢性牙周炎对牙龈卟啉单胞菌的影响

目的研究亚甲基蓝/光化学法辅助治疗慢性牙周炎对牙龈卟啉单胞菌(Porphyromonas gingivalis,Pg)检出率的变化。方法经伦理委员会同意后,本研究拟筛选出45例慢性牙周炎患者(每位患者经过详细牙周检查及X线检查后确认为牙周炎,有4个以上≥5 mm的牙周袋并分布在2个以上口腔区域),随机分3组:其中A组在SRP之后接受1次PERIOWAVE光化学治疗,B组在SRP后接受1次PERIOWAVE治疗以及在6周后再一次接受光化学治疗,而SRP组仅接受SRP治疗,各组患者取治疗前后相同4个位点龈下菌斑,聚合酶链式反应(Poly-merase chain reaction,PCR)检测Pg,观察Pg菌的检出率,采用卡方检验,并计算χ2值。结果 SRP组、A组、B组3组各组治疗后均较治疗前检出率降低(P<0.001),A组与SRP组治疗后比较差异无统计学意义[A组:40%(24/60),SRP组:45%(27/60),χ2=1.4815,P>0.05],B组与SRP治疗后比较检出率降低[SRP组:45%(27/60),B组:20%(12/60)χ2=8.547,P<0.01];B组与A组治疗后比较检出率降低[A组:40%(24/60),B组:20%(12/60),χ2=5.7143,P<0.05]。结论亚甲基蓝/光化学法辅助治疗慢性牙周炎后牙龈卟啉单胞菌的检出率较治疗前降低;结合临床试验结果,尚可认为2次激光疗效较1次激光好。