寒武纪早期帽状动物壳体Lathamellids类的微细构造及其系统分类

帽状动物壳体 lathamellids 类化石包括 Lathamella caeca, Lathamella sp. nov. 以及 Lathamella symmetrica sp. nov. 三种,目前仅发现于四川峨嵋麦地坪下寒武统麦地坪组上段地层,它们皆以磷质内核方式保存.通过内核化石表面所复制的原始壳体微细构造印痕的研究表明,易漏螺类壳体为双层结构:内层——纤晶层,外层——棱柱层;其壳体原始成分可能为文石质.据上述现象推断,lathamellids 并非为磷质无绞纲腕足类,相反,而与软体动物更为接近,但其在壳腔内具—纵向中突,主要位于壳顶附近,很难与已知的任何一类软体动物直接对比,可能为一类独特的、已经绝灭了的软体动物的1个早期分支.     

CO2 efflux from a Mediterranean semi-arid forest soil. I. Seasonality and effects of stoniness

We studied the seasonality of total soil CO₂efflux and labeled C-CO₂ released from ¹⁴Clabeled straw incubated in the H horizon of asemi-arid Mediterranean forest soil. Fieldmeasurements were carried out over 520 days in aseries of reconstructed soil profiles with and withouta gravel layer below the H horizon. We monitored soilclimate and related this to soil CO₂ efflux.Seasonal variations in soil CO₂ efflux in asemiarid Mediterranean forest were mainly related tochanges in soil temperature. In spite of drought, highrespiration rates were observed in mid summer. Highsoil CO₂ efflux in hot and dry episodes wasattributed to increases in soil biological activity.The minimum soil CO₂ efflux occurred in latesummer also under dry conditions, probably related toa decrease in soil biological activity in deephorizons. Biological activity in organic layers waslimited by water potential () in summer and bytemperature in winter. Rewetting a dry soil resultedin large increases in soil CO₂ efflux only at hightemperatures. These large increases represented asignificant contribution to the decomposition oforganic matter in the uppermost horizons. Soilbiological activity in the uppermost horizons was moresensitive to changes in soil and hence tosummer rainstorms than the bulk soil microbialactivity. The presence of a layer of gravel improvedboth moisture and temperature conditions for thedecomposition of organic matter. As a result, soilCO₂ efflux increased in soils containing rockfragments. These effects were especially large for theorganic layers.     

Giardia duodenalis cysteine proteases cleave proteinase-activated receptor-2 to regulate intestinal goblet cell mucin gene expression

Giardia duodenalis cysteine proteases have been identified as key virulence factors and have been implicated in alterations to intestinal goblet cell activity and mucus production during Giardia infection. The present findings demonstrate a novel mechanism by which Giardia cysteine proteases modulate goblet cell activity via cleavage and activation of protease-activated receptor 2. Giardia duodenalis (assemblage A) increased MUC2 mucin gene expression in human colonic epithelial cells in a manner dependent upon both protease-activated receptor 2 activation and Giardia cysteine protease activity. Protease-activated receptor 2 cleavage within the N-terminal activation domain by Giardia proteases was confirmed using a nano-luciferase tagged recombinant protease-activated receptor 2. In keeping with these observations, the synthetic protease-activated receptor 2-activating peptide 2fLIGRLO-amide increased Muc2 gene expression in a time-dependent manner. Calcium chelation and inhibition of the ERK1/2 mitogen activated protein kinase pathway inhibited Muc2 upregulation during Giardia infection, consistent with canonical protease-activated receptor 2 signaling pathways. Giardia cysteine proteases cleaved both recombinant protease-activated receptor 1 and protease-activated receptor 2 within their extracellular activation domains with isolate-dependent efficiency that correlated with the production of cysteine protease activity. Protease-activated receptors represent a novel target for Giardia cysteine proteases, and these findings demonstrate that protease-activated receptor 2 can regulate mucin gene expression in intestinal goblet cells.     

Drastic Layer‐Number‐Dependent Activity Enhancement in Photocatalytic H2 Evolution over nMoS2/CdS (n ≥ 1) Under Visible Light

Exploiting noble‐metal‐free cocatalysts is of huge interest for photocatalytic water splitting using solar energy. As an efficient cocatalyst in photocatalysis, MoS₂ is shown promise as a low‐cost alternative to Pt for hydrogen evolution. Here we report a systematical study on controlled synthesis of MoS₂ with layer number ranging from ≈1 to 112 and their activities for photocatalytic H₂ evolution over commercial CdS. A drastic increase in photocatalytic H₂ evolution is observed with decreasing MoS₂ layer number. Particularly for the single‐layer (SL) MoS₂, the SL‐MoS₂/CdS sample reaches a high H₂ generation rate of ≈2.01 × 10^?3m h^?1 in Na₂S–Na₂SO₃ solutions and ≈2.59 × 10^?3m h^?1 in lactic acid solutions, corresponding to an apparent quantum efficiency of 30.2% and 38.4% at 420 nm, respectively. In addition to the more exposed edges and unsaturated active S atoms, valence band–XPS and Mott–Schottky plots analysis indicate that the SL MoS₂ has the more negative conduction band energy level than the H⁺/H₂ potential, facilitating the hydrogen reduction.     

Electrical energy production from forest detritus in a forested wetland using microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has shown great potential for harvesting energy from waste organic materials. Here, we explored the potential of MFC‐based electricity generation from forest detritus, a large untapped biomass pool. Electricity generation from in situ MFCs and relevant environmental parameters (i.e., carbon sources and concentrations, temperature, water depth) in a seasonally flooded freshwater cypress‐tupelo wetland were monitored intensively for two flooding periods. Current outputs ranged from 0 to 1.27 mA (mean of 0.40 mA for flooding period) and were highly sensitive to environmental changes, showing seasonal and diel dependences. Excluding the influence of heavy storms, drought, or wetland icing, current output was highly temperature‐dependent dielly. Seasonally, current output gradually increased in the first 3–4 months (limited by temperature) and decreased slightly during the last 1–2 months (probably limited by carbon and nutrients) of both flooding periods. Litter extract of baldcypress (Taxodium distictum) with lower C/N ratio and aromatic content showed greater stable current outputs (0.57 mA) based on 50 mg l^?1 biological oxygen demand compared to extracts of water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), suggesting that the current output of in situ MFCs could depend on the vegetation within a wetland. Our study highlights the potential application of MFC in generating green and sustainable electricity from forest biomass for powering remote sensors in wetland ecosystems.     

骨碎补科植物叶表皮特征及其系统学意义

基于骨碎补科(Davalliaceae)植物属的界定和属下等级的划分一直存在较大争议,本研究首次对骨碎补科6属39种(秦仁昌系统)植物的叶表皮进行了扫描电镜观察。结果显示,骨碎补科有9种类型的角质层,其中,阴石蕨属(Humata)的角质层有密集的孔状凹陷结构;Wibelia条纹突起较厚,排列整齐且细密紧致;广义钻毛蕨属(Davallodes)内存在多种角质层类型,需要在属下进一步细分。本研究还根据角质层特征讨论了骨碎补科与一些近缘种类的关系。角质层特征是骨碎补科内种属分类的重要依据,而保卫细胞形状和气孔密度,均不能用来界定骨碎补科的属和种。本研究按角质层分类的结果与Kato和Tsutsumi的分子系统学分类观点一致。     

Long-term effects of nitrogen deposition on vegetation in a deciduous forest near Munich,Germany

Question: What are the main reasons for changes in the spatial distribution of vegetation types during the last four decades? Location: Isolated small deciduous forest; surrounded by farmland in the northeast of Munich (Germany). Methods: Based on sequential vegetation mapping from the last four decades the spatial development of the vegetation was analysed. Additionally, environmental parameters (soil parameters, PAR, N-deposition) have been analysed to describe the different vegetation types. Results: By linking the vegetation types to environmental parameters, it was possible to identify N-deposition as the most important factor for the changes. In the 1960s to 1980s the replacement of vegetation types adapted to N-poor conditions by N-rich vegetation was very fast. A vegetation type containing species signifying soil impoverishment vanished totally, another vegetation type indicating nutrient poor conditions decreased dramatically. However, since 1985 up to now the decrease of N-poor vegetation types has slowed, but is still ongoing. As a reason for the decreased rate of replacement, we stressed changes in the vertical structure: From 1961 to 1985 both N-deposition as well as changes in vertical vegetation structure seem to be important. Since 1985 up to now only minor changes in vertical structure could be found; changes are mainly due to N-availability. Conclusion: In this paper, the limitations of different methods to detect vegetation changes are discussed. We focus on the potentials of historical vegetation data and vegetation maps. It is shown that valuable information on N-induced vegetation changes can be retrieved from historical vegetation data.     

Origin of 33 kDa protein of vitelline membrane of quail egg: Immunological studies

The inner layer of vitelline membrane is an investment of avian ovum at the time of ovulation, but its formation is poorly understood. In order to elucidate the origin of the inner layer of vitelline membrane, a 33 kDa protein, one of the components of the inner layer, was purified from quail eggs and polyclonal antibody was raised against this protein. The tissue distribution of protein interacted with the antibody was studied by Western blotting technique. No immunoreactive component could be observed in extracts of liver, kidney, heart, lung, small intestine, brain, infundibulum, albumen-secreting region of oviduct, uterus, and wall of small white follicles. The intensive band was detected in the granulosa layer, which was isolated from the large preovulatory follicles as a monolayer of granulosa cells sandwiched between the inner layer of vitelline membrane and the basal lamina. The granulosa cells isolated from the granulosa layer also reacted with this antibody. Theca layer had no immunoreactive components. The position of the band of the 33 kDa protein on SDS-PAGE was sifted to higher molecular weight in follicular tissues as compared with that in the laid eggs, indicating that the structural change of the protein occurs after ovulation. These studies indicate that the material reactive to the antibody raised against a 33 kDa protein of quail vitelline membrane is synthesized by the granulosa cells.