Mediterranean hay meadow communities: diversity and dynamics in mountain areas throughout the Iberian Central Range (Spain)

This paper reports a phytosociological study on managed hay meadow communities in the main mountains of the Spanish Central Range. Multivariate techniques (Cluster analysis and CA-ordination) were applied in the classification of the relevés and ordination of vegetation units and species. Clusters were related to the following associations: Agrostio castellanae–Arrhenatheretum bulbosi, Festuco amplae–Cynosuretum cristati, and F. amplae–Agrostietum castellanae. The scattergram suggested that the dynamic patterns between communities are associated with soil nutrient content and moisture. We propose a new subassociation: F. amplae–A. castellanae gaudinietosum fragilis that includes Salmantincensean Agrostis castellana communities growing in regions with lower supramediterranean thermotype.     

Ultrasound induced strain cytoskeleton rearrangement: An experimental and simulation study

Cytoskeleton and specially actin filaments are responsible for mechanical modulation of cellular behavior. These structures could be fluidized in response to transient mechanical cues. Ultrasound devices have been widely used in medicine which their generated ultrasonic waves could disrupt/fluidize actin filaments in cytoskeleton and thus could affect cellular organization. Present research aims at revealing the mechanism of fluidization caused by ultrasound induced strains. First, a numerical simulation was performed to reveal the effect of oscillating ultrasonic pressure on induced deformation in the cell with respect to different cell geometries and exposure conditions. The model revealed that higher pressure and frequencies induce higher levels of strain in the cell. The results also showed that spread cells are more exposed to cytomechanical remodeling due to higher level of ultrasound induced deformations but also the effect of harmonic excitation decreases with spreading. Furthermore, strain values found to be less in the nucleus comparing the value in the cytoplasm, but still these strains can affect the behavior of the cell through mechanotransduction mechanisms. Then, different experimental ultrasound protocols were used to evaluate their effects on cell viability and actin cytoskeleton distribution. Results of Live/Dead assay indicated that high pressure and duration of the exposure had negative effects on the viability of C2C12 cells, while the viability ratio still remained above 85%. In addition, actin fluorescent staining showed that high levels of filament disruption could occur with increasing the pressure. The results of this study shed light on cellular response to mechanical stimuli applied by ultrasonic waves.     

What is needed to make low-density lipoprotein transport in human aorta computational models suitable to explore links to atherosclerosis? Impact of initial and inflow boundary conditions

Personalized computational hemodynamics (CH) is a promising tool to clarify/predict the link between low density lipoproteins (LDL) transport in aorta, disturbed shear and atherogenesis. However, CH uses simplifying assumptions that represent sources of uncertainty. In particular, modelling blood-side to wall LDL transfer is challenged by the cumbersomeness of protocols needed to obtain reliable LDL concentration profile estimations. This paucity of data is limiting the establishment of rigorous CH protocols able to balance the trade-offs among the variety of in vivo data to be acquired, and the accuracy required by biological/clinical applications.In this study, we analyze the impact of LDL concentration initialization (initial conditions, ICs) and inflow boundary conditions (BCs) on CH models of LDL blood-to-wall transfer in aorta. Technically, in an image-based model of human aorta, two different inflow BCs are generated imposing subject-specific inflow 3D PC-MRI measured or idealized (flat) velocity profiles. For each simulated BC, four different ICs for LDL concentration are applied, imposing as IC the LDL distribution resulting from steady-state simulations with average conditions, or constant LDL concentration values.Based on CH results, we conclude that: (1) the imposition of realistic 3D velocity profiles as inflow BC reduces the uncertainty affecting the representation of LDL transfer; (2) different LDL concentration ICs lead to markedly different patterns of LDL transfer.Given that it is not possible to verify in vivo the proper LDL concentration initialization to be applied, we suggest to carefully set and unambiguously declare the imposed BCs and LDL concentration IC when modelling LDL transfer in aorta, in order to obtain reproducible and ultimately comparable results among different laboratories.     

Palatal implant surgery effectiveness in treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: A numerical method with 3D patient-specific geometries

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects a large percentage of the population and is increasingly recognized as a major global health problem. One surgical procedure for OSA is to implant polyethylene (PET) material into the soft palate, but its efficacy remains to be discussed. In this study, we provide input to this topic based on numerical simulations. Three 3 dimensional (3D) soft palate finite element models including mouth-close and mouth-open cases were created based on three patient-specific computed tomography (CT) images. A simplified material modeling approach with the Neo-Hookean material model was applied, and nonlinear geometry was accounted for. Young’s modulus for the implant material was obtained from uniaxial tests, and the PET implant pillars were inserted to the 3D soft palate model. With the finite element model, we designed different surgical schemes and investigated their efficacy with respect to avoiding the soft palate collapse. Several pillar schemes were tested, including different placement directions, different placement positions, different settings for the radius and the array parameters of the implant pillars, and different Young’s moduli for the pillars. Based on our simulation results, the longitudinal-direction implant surgery improved the stiffness of the soft palate to a small degree, and implanting in the transverse direction was evaluated to be a good choice for improving the existing surgical scheme. In addition, the Young’s modulus of the polyethylene material implants has an influence on the reinforcement efficacy of the soft palate.     

芍药品种的数量分类研究

将数量分类方法应用于芍药品种的分类。选取了５６个性状,对６０个品种进行烽量分类,结果表明,由于组成花朵的单花数量不同,芍药品种首先分成了单花类和台阁花类两大类,有２朵花乃至数朵花叠合构成台阁花类。由于花瓣来源不同,各类中的芍药品种又分成了两个亚类;以花瓣自然增多为主形成的千层亚类和以雄蕊瓣化为主形成的楼子亚类,最后由于花部基本结构的差异及重瓣程度不同将艾药品咱分成了１４个花型。对芍药品种的因子分析     

Impacts of environmental scenarios on chlorophyll-a in the management of shallow, eutrophic lakes following biomanipulation: An application of a numerical model

Accurate prediction of species changes in lake ecosystems following biomanipulation measures is of paramount importance in view of water quality management. The temporal variation of phytoplankton biomass as chlorophyll-a and transparency as Secchi depth measurements are studied in the Lake Bleiswijkse Zoom, The Netherlands, with a comprehensive structural dynamic model. In the formulation of the biological model, phytoplankton as several species, zooplankton, detritus, planktivores and benthivores, and piscivores are considered to be major contributing state variables for the model. The primary goal of this paper is to describe the possible impacts of several environmental scenarios on chlorophyll-a biomass qualitatively as it would help lake and environmental managers and relevant authorities elucidate the processes of eutrophication and biomanipulation in a broad way. Some of the scenarios that have been studied by this model are: (1) The effect of fixed stoichiometry in terms of internal nitrogen and phosphorus that are tied up within algal cells; (2) the effects of external phosphorus limitation; (3) light limitation and external nitrogen limitation on algal growth; (4) probable consequences that have taken place within the chlorophyll-a biomass due to change in biomasses of various aquatic organisms; and (5) possible changes of chlorophyll-a biomass due to higher temperatures caused by global warming.     

核素迁移的二维非平衡吸附数值模式研究

为了进一步研究核素在孔隙介质中的迁移规律,本文将水动力弥散方程与核素在孔隙介质中非平衡吸附关系式相耦合,建立了非平衡吸附数值模式,并给出了非平衡吸附数值模式中吸附解吸速率参数的获取方法．为了检验所建模式与编制的程序的正确性,利用试验场（８５）Ｓｒ迁移的野外试验资料进行了计算,并与核素迁移平衡吸附数值模式的计算结果进行了对比．结果表明,二维非平衡吸附核素迁移数值模式能够更好地描述核素迁移实际．     

典型草原区鹰隼类密度对啮齿动物密度的数值响应

捕食者与猎物的关系是动物生态学研究的热点之一,捕食者应对猎物密度的变化往往呈现出特定的数值响应特征。为研究典型草原区鹰隼类对其猎物——啮齿动物密度变化的数值响应关系,于2005年7月在内蒙古自治区锡林郭勒盟阿巴嘎旗白音图嘎苏木选取15个实验样地,采用标准夹线法调查了啮齿类密度,同时采用目视方法调查了鹰隼类密度。本次实验共捕获鼠类2 675只,主要为布氏田鼠(Lasiopodomys brandtii),观察到鹰隼类活动450只次。回归分析结果表明,鼠类密度和鹰隼类密度的数值反应关系符合S型曲线,可用Gompertz方程W=22.765 e-3.735 e-0.078 t来拟合,拟合优度R2达0.984,表明鼠类密度对鹰隼类密度有显著影响,验证了Holling所提出的脊椎动物捕食者和猎物数量关系属于S型反应曲线的观点。从本文的结果看,鹰隼类数量对鼠类数量的反应可分为三个阶段:(1)平缓期,随着鼠类密度的逐渐增加,鹰隼类活动频次增长非常缓慢;(2)快速反应期,当鼠类密度达到5只/hm2时,鹰隼类活动频次随鼠类密度的增加迅速增长,期间出现一个增长拐点值;(3)稳定平台期,当鼠类的密度达到40只/hm2左右时,鼠类密度虽然继续增加,但鹰隼类活动频次保持稳定,不再增加。本研究可为草原鼠害的天敌控制方法提供参考。     

Triangular node for Transmission-Line Modeling (TLM) applied to bio-heat transfer

Transmission-Line Modeling (TLM) is a numerical method used to solve complex and time-domain bio-heat transfer problems. In TLM, rectangles are used to discretize two-dimensional problems. The drawback in using rectangular shapes is that instead of refining only the domain of interest, a large additional domain will also be refined in the x and y axes, which results in increased computational time and memory space. In this paper, we developed a triangular node for TLM applied to bio-heat transfer that does not have the drawback associated with the rectangular nodes. The model includes heat source, blood perfusion (advection), boundary conditions and initial conditions. The boundary conditions could be adiabatic, temperature, heat flux, or convection. A matrix equation for TLM, which simplifies the solution of time-domain problems or solves steady-state problems, was also developed. The predicted results were compared against results obtained from the solution of a simplified two-dimensional problem, and they agreed within 1% for a mesh length of triangular faces of 59 µm±9 µm (mean±standard deviation) and a time step of 1 ms.