Introduction: International conference on forest ecosystems: Ecology,conservation and sustainable management

Abstract

A pollen diagram from a small lake, Kutulahdenlampi, in northern Finland is interpreted in terms of the development of forest vegetation during the Holocene. The abundance of each of the forest taxa is considered independently by means of pollen accumulation rates (PARs), using as the reference material, long term average pollen deposition values monitored by a network of pollen traps. Particular attention is paid to the arrival of spruce and to the species in the original forests that this newcomer replaces. A model of pollen dispersal and deposition developed by Sugita is used to estimate the area around the lake that the pollen assemblage is most clearly reflecting. This relevant source area of pollen (RSAP), for the present day situations is c. 1,500 m. Pollen loadings calculated for a simulated landscape that mimics (i) that of the present day and (ii) for the situation at 8,000 BP (as deduced from the PARs) are compared with the pollen assemblages from the diagram at those points in time, and are seen to be compatible. The advantages of combining PAR and modelling to look at the spatial scale of vegetation reconstructions are discussed.     

啃食性端足类强壮藻钩虾对筼筜湖三种大型海藻的摄食选择性

为了评估啃食性端足类强壮藻钩虾Ampithoe valida对筼筜湖大型海藻群落的影响,作者在实验室内开展了强壮藻钩虾对筼筜湖三种大型海藻(绿藻石莼Ulva lactuca和根枝藻Rhizoclonium sp.、红藻细基江蓠繁枝变种Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui)的摄食实验,并分析了大型海藻的营养价值是否对强壮藻钩虾的摄食选择产生影响。结果显示,在无选择性摄食实验中,强壮藻钩虾的摄食率与海藻的干湿比和鲜藻总有机碳含量有着明显的负相关关系,这表明强壮藻钩虾有明显的补偿摄食行为,能通过增加低营养价值藻类的摄食量来满足自身代谢的需求。强壮藻钩虾对绿藻石莼和根枝藻有明显的摄食偏好,对它们的摄食率分别占总摄食率的40.6%和57.1%,而红藻细基江蓠繁枝变种则属于偶然性摄食的种类,海藻的营养价值并没有对强壮藻钩虾的摄食选择产生影响。不过,强壮藻钩虾对绿藻的摄食偏好并没有在筼筜湖形成一个以红藻占主导的大型海藻群落,这可能是由于筼筜湖超富营养化的水体使得来自强壮藻钩虾的下行控制已经无法抑制来自超富营养化的水体通过上行控制对绿藻生长的促进作用。     

不同剂量阿霉素致大鼠局灶节段硬化肾病模型的建立比较

目的探讨不同剂量阿霉素对大鼠局灶节段硬化肾病模型的影响。方法左侧肾切除加尾静脉注射不同剂量阿霉素致大鼠肾脏局灶节段性硬化,观察不同剂量阿霉素对模型大鼠成活率、24 h尿蛋白定量、血清肌酐、尿素氮、肾脏病理的影响。结果不同阿霉素注射剂量组大鼠4周、8周成活率随着注射剂量的升高呈逐渐下降趋势,且4周、8周时阿霉素注射剂量4.5～6 mg/kg组模型大鼠成活率均低于50%;8周时成活率与注射剂量呈高度显著性负相关（r=0.9045,P〈0.01）。各阿霉素注射剂量组于1周出现尿蛋白明显升高（P〈0.01）、2周出现血清肌酐明显升高（P〈0.01）、4周出现血清尿素氮明显升高（P〈0.01）,并均呈进行性增高,2周时除3 mg/kg组外,其余各组血清尿素氮较正常组高（P〈0.01,P〈0.05）;8周时各注射剂量组大鼠24 h尿蛋白定量、血清肌酐、血清尿素氮与阿霉素注射剂量呈高度显著性正相关（r=0.942 9,P〈0.01;r=0.938 4,P〈0.01;r=0.956 8,P〈0.01）。各组大鼠肾脏病理均提示肾小球出现局灶节段硬化表现,且硬化程度随注射剂量的增加而呈加重趋势。结论阿霉素尾静脉注射剂量3 mg/kg模型组大鼠死亡率低,同时大鼠肾脏病理又能表现出符合人类肾小球局灶节段硬化的改变,是较为理想的造模剂量。     

Diet of the gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus) (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) in a Brazilian cerrado: patterns of food consumption and intrapopulation variation

The diet of the gracile mouse opossum Gracilinanus microtarsus was studied in a cerrado remnant in south-eastern Brazil through the analysis of faeces sampled from adult individuals. Patterns of food resource consumption were assessed using the statistics of per cent occurrence. Intrapopulation variation in the number of food items detected in faeces as a function of relevant factors was inferred using generalized linear models. The latter statistical formalism also allowed variation in the number of food items detected in faeces to be interpreted in terms of rate ratios among levels of significant factors. Insects, spiders, snails and fruits were detected in the faeces of G. microtarsus , with insects, particularly termites, beetles and ants, being the most frequently detected food resource. These food resources were consumed in proportion to their relative abundance in the cerrado, suggesting that G . microtarsus is an opportunistic forager feeding primarily on insects. The generalized linear model identified sex, season and food resource as significant factors affecting the number of food items detected in faeces, as well as interactions between sex and season and season and food resource. Rate ratios calculated between sexes within seasons showed that the number of food items detected in the faeces of males was larger than that detected in the faeces of females in the warm-wet and cool-dry seasons. Rate ratios calculated between seasons within sexes showed different trends in the number of food items detected in faeces for each significant food resource. It is suggested that differences in the number of food items detected in faeces between sexes within season and between seasons within sexes are related to energetic requirements associated with reproduction.     

不同处理对濒危植物黄枝油杉扦插育苗的影响

黄枝油杉属珍稀濒危植物,树形高大,采种困难,母树开花结实少,种子发芽率低,繁殖速度慢。采用扦插育苗,方法简便易行,繁殖速度快。为此,针对与黄枝油杉扦插育苗成活、生长密切相关的插穗粗度、ABT生根粉浓度和施肥种类三大因素,分别进行对比试验。结果表明:插穗茎粗0.70cm用150mg/LABT生根粉溶液处理的平均成活率达95.6%;扦插成活后施用粪肥+尿素(配比为100∶0.4)的混合肥苗木生长健壮,平均抽梢长达30.8cm。方差分析和多重比较分析结果表明,插穗粗度、ABT生根粉浓度和肥料种类对黄枝油杉扦插苗木的生长影响极大。     

Enhanced absorption of millimeter wave energy in murine subcutaneous blood vessels

The aim of the present study was to determine millimeter wave (MMW) absorption by blood vessels traversing the subcutaneous fat layer of murine skin. Most calculations were performed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. We used two types of models: (1) a rectangular block of multilayer tissue with blood vessels traversing the fat layer and (2) cylindrical models with circular and elliptical cross-sections simulating the real geometry of murine limbs. We found that the specific absorption rate (SAR) in blood vessels normally traversing the fat layer achieved its maximal value at the parallel orientation of the E-field to the vessel axis. At 42 GHz exposure, the maximal SAR in small blood vessels could be more than 30 times greater than that in the skin. The SAR increased with decreasing the blood vessel diameter and increasing the fat thickness. The SAR decreased with increasing the exposure frequency. When the cylindrical or elliptical models of murine limbs were exposed to plane MMW, the greatest absorption of MMW energy occurred in blood vessels located on the lateral areas of the limb model. At these areas the maximal SAR values were comparable with or were greater than the maximal SAR on the front surface of the skin. Enhanced absorption of MMW energy by blood vessels traversing the fat layer may play a primary role in initiating MMW effects on blood cells and vasodilatation of cutaneous blood vessels.     

Phospholamban binds with differential affinity to calcium pump conformers

To investigate the mechanism of regulation of sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) by phospholamban (PLB), we expressed Cerulean-SERCA and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-PLB in adult rabbit ventricular myocytes using adenovirus vectors. SERCA and PLB were localized in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and were mobile over multiple sarcomeres on a timescale of tens of seconds. We also observed robust fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from Cerulean-SERCA to YFP-PLB. Electrical pacing of cardiac myocytes elicited cytoplasmic Ca(2+) elevations, but these increases in Ca(2+) produced only modest changes in SERCA-PLB FRET. The data suggest that the regulatory complex is not disrupted by elevations of cytosolic calcium during cardiac contraction (systole). This conclusion was also supported by parallel experiments in heterologous cells, which showed that FRET was reduced but not abolished by calcium. Thapsigargin also elicited a small decrease in PLB-SERCA binding affinity. We propose that PLB is not displaced from SERCA by high calcium during systole, and relief of functional inhibition does not require dissociation of the regulatory complex. The observed modest reduction in the affinity of the PLB-SERCA complex with Ca(2+) or thapsigargin suggests that the binding interface is altered by SERCA conformational changes. The results are consistent with multiple modes of PLB binding or alternative binding sites.     

Ceramide-dependent caspase 3 activation is prevented by coenzyme Q from plasma membrane in serum-deprived cells

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is the key factor for the activity of the eukaryotic plasma membrane electron transport chain. Consequently, CoQ is essential in the cellular response against redox changes affecting this membrane. Serum withdrawal induces a mild oxidative stress, which produces lipid peroxidation in membranes. In fact, apoptosis induced by serum withdrawal can be prevented by several antioxidants including CoQ. Also, CoQ can maintain cell growth in serum-limiting conditions, whereas plasma membrane redox system (PMRS) inhibitors such as capsaicin, which compete with CoQ, inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis. To understand how plasma membrane CoQ prevents oxidative stress-induced apoptosis we have studied the induction of apoptosis by serum withdrawal in CEM cells and its modulation by CoQ. Serum-withdrawal activates neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase), ceramide release and caspase-3-related proteases. CoQ addition to serum-free cultures inhibited a 60% N-SMase activation, an 80% ceramide release, and a 50% caspase-3 activity induced by serum deprivation. Caspase activation dependent on ceramide release since C 2 -ceramide was only able to mimic this effect in 10% foetal calf serum cultured cells but not in serum-free cultures. Also, in vitro experiments demonstrated that C 2 -ceramide and ceramide-rich lipid extracts directly activated caspase-3. Taken together, our results indicate that CoQ protects plasma membrane components and controls stress-mediated lipid signals by its participation in the PMRS.     

Fluidity,permeability and antioxidant behaviour of model membranes incorporated with α-tocopherol and vitamin E acetate

Magnetic resonance studies reveal a marked difference between the binding of α-tocopherol and that of the corresponding acetate (vitamin E acetate) with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles. This is reflected in differences in the phase-transition curves of the DPPC vesicles incorporated with the two compounds, as well as in the ¹³C relaxation times and line widths. A model for the incorporation of these molecules in lipid bilayers has been suggested. α-Tocopherol binds strongly with the lipids, possibly through a hydrogen bond formation between the hydroxyl group of the former and one of the oxygen atoms of the latter. The possibility of such a hydrogen bond formation is excluded in vitamin E acetate, which binds loosely through the normal hydrophobic interaction. The model for lipid-vitamin interaction explains the in vitro decomposition of H₂O₂ by α-tocopherol. α-Tocopherol in conjuction with H₂O₂ can also act as a free-radical scavenger in the lipid phase. The incorporation of α-tocopherol and vitamin E acetate in DPPC vesicles enhances the permeability of lipid bilayers for small molecules such as sodium ascorbate.     

温度对红点唇瓢虫实验种群的影响

在７种温度下测定了红点唇瓢虫（Ｃｈｉｌｏｃｏｒｕｓ ｋｕｗａｎａｅ Ｓｉｌｖｅｓｔｒｉ）发育速率,并求得各虫态的发育起点温度和有效积温。其发育速率与温度的关系能很好地用王如松等（１９８２）提出的模型进行拟合。由此模型估计出最低、最高临界温度和最适发育温度,分别为１０．４２－１３．０１－℃、℃３３．５３－３７．０３℃和２４．９９－３０．１２℃。卵期忍耐温度变化的能力最强。４龄幼虫最弱。温度明显地影响