Polyploidy in Asteraceae of the xerophytic scrub of the Ecological Reserve of the Pedregal of San Angel,Mexico City

Asteraceae species diversity is high in the xerophytic scrub of the Ecological Reserve of the Pedregal of San Angel (REPSA), located in the southern part of the Basin of the Valley of Mexico. Here we determined whether the frequency of polyploidy is high in the reserve, given the enhanced ability of polyploids to colonize new habitats. In addition, we compared the frequency of polyploidy in Asteraceae in the reserve with the frequency in three oceanic archipelagos and two continental areas in Mexico. This was done to see how the ‘virtual’ island of the open lava flow in the reserve compares with volcanic islands at different distances from source areas. Chromosome numbers for 75 species of Asteraceae were obtained from published literature. Based on the possession of three or more basic chromosome sets in a nucleus, 33% were polyploids. If taxa with haploid chromosome numbers of n ≥ 14 or n ≥ 11 were considered to be polyploids, the proportion of polyploids rose to 57 and 75%, respectively. When using a phylogenetic approach, the highest percentage of polyploids (84%) was obtained and it could be inferred whether they are palaeo‐ or neopolyploids; thus, we consider that this criterion better reflects the events of polyploidy in Asteraceae. A high frequency of polyploid species in Asteraceae in REPSA suggests that polyploids may have contributed to the species diversity and the vegetation structure of the xerophytic scrub of this reserve. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 173 , 211–229.     

Serial determination of CEA and CA 15.3 in breast cancer follow-up: An assessment of their diagnostic accuracy for the detection of tumour recurrences

We studied the diagnostic accuracy of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15.3 (CA 15.3) in detecting breast cancer recurrence. Biomarker follow-up determinations, made over 900 patients, were related to local–regional or distant recurrence using statistical models for longitudinal data. The diagnostic accuracy was quantified in terms of sensitivity, specificity and Youden index. The biomarkers were poorly predictive of local–regional recurrence. As for distant recurrence, the best diagnostic accuracy was obtained considering the two biomarkers jointly and combining two positivity criteria: a value above the normal limit or a difference between two consecutive measurements greater than the critical difference for at least one biomarker. A third criterion, based on within-patient comparison between follow-up determinations and a baseline, failed to improve the above result. CEA and CA 15.3 might play a role in patient monitoring during follow-up for the search of distant recurrence.     

Microbial Biomass-C in Reclaimed Soil of the Rhineland (Germany) and the North Bohemian Lignite Mining Areas (Czech Republic): Measured and Predicted Values

This article compares reclaimed soils in the Rhineland lignite mining area, Germany (RA) and in the north Bohemian brown coal basin, Czech Republic (NBB). Because of highly significant differences of physical and chemical characteristics (RA was characterized by lower content of sand, clay, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen) between both analyzed areas, the content of microbial biomass carbon (C_MB) differs significantly (p < 0.01): RA: 241.17 ± 96.50 μg C/g dry soil; NBB: 424.42 ± 136.23 μg C/g. Extracellular microbial carbon (C_EX) was also significantly higher in RA than NBB. The measured C_MB values from both mining areas were verified using two empirical mathematical models. Because our former model (used for evaluation of NBB) did not fit soils with low organic carbon content (0.10–0.80%), a new model was proposed. For evaluation of RA reclaimed sites the measured, model‐predicted, and calculated values were used. The best site in RA was Dürwiss Deponie (site 18 near Eschweiler), reclaimed in 1965 and characterized by good soil physical parameters (sand 4%, silt 77%, and clay 19%). In NBB undisturbed soils were the best, together with the site of Ú?ín (site 2 near Ústí and Labem), reclaimed in 1964, where high‐quality reclamation management resulted in high biological activity. According to biological criteria, the best management practice in NBB was use of high‐quality loam overlaying montmorillonite clayey subsoil. In RA direct reclamation of high‐quality loess with low content of sand also gave good results.     

肠癌湿热内蕴证量化辨证标准的研究

目的：建立肠癌湿热内蕴证辨证量化标准。方法：在对311例肠癌患者进行临床流行病学调查的基础上,组织专家组对其进行辨证,根据各相关中医症状在湿热内蕴证组和非湿热内蕴证组中出现状况的差异对这些症状进行赋分;根据专家辩证的结果,应用ROC（receiver operating characteristic curve）曲线的方法选择最佳诊断阈值从而建立量化辨证标准;以专家组统一辨证作为＂金标准＂对建立的量化标准进行回顾性检验;结果：我们结合专家意见,分析了所有可能与湿热内蕴证相关的中医症状,确定身重等20个中医症状为肠癌湿热内蕴证的候选相关因素;经列联表分析,尿黄、黄疸等5项中医症状在湿热内蕴证和非湿热内蕴证中出现的差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,将这5项中医症状作为logistic回归分析的变量进行筛选,最后确定尿黄、黄疸、苔黄、厚、腻为肠癌湿热内蕴证的相关中医症状;应用条件概率方法换算,这五个症状的赋分为9、9、8、8、9;经ROC方法分析,确定量化辨证标准为≥9分;回顾性检验的敏感度、特异度、准确度均在75%以上,阳性似然比4.32;结论：建立的量化标准的特点是：①较符合肠癌的临床特点;②符合中医辨证的临床实际;③数理统计方法的运用比较合理。     

RIFLE标准在高容量血液滤过治疗MODS患者疗效的评价

目的:探讨不同肾功能损害时期行高容量血液滤过(HVHF)治疗对多器官功能障碍综合征(MODS)疗效的影响。方法:采用RIFLE标准,将入选的MODS患者按急性肾损伤(AKI)分为AKIⅠ期(A组)、AKIⅡ期(B组)、AKIⅢ期(C组),以不同AKI分期作为HVHF治疗的时机,对比分析不同时期行HVHF治疗MODS患者的死亡率、平均重症监护病房(JCU)院时间(T1)、平均机械通气时间(T2)、平均连续血液滤过治疗时间(T3),并将HVHF治疗前和治疗24h后的APACHEⅡ评分、SOFA评分、血浆白介素-6(IL-6)、氧合指数、血浆肌酐(Cr)、平均动脉压(MAP)等结果进行比较。结果:1、AKIⅢ期患者死亡率显著高于AKⅡ期和AKIⅡ期患者(P<0.01);AKIⅡ期患者T1、T2和T3显著高于AKIⅠ期患者(P<0.01);2、与AKIⅠ期和AKIⅡ期患者比较,AKIⅢ期患者HVHF治疗前APACHEⅡ评分、SOFA评分、IL-6和Cr均显著增高(P<0.05);AKIⅡ期患者HVHF治疗前血浆IL-6显著高于AKIⅠ期患者(P<0.01);3、与HVHF治疗前比较,三组患者HVHF治疗24 h后IL-6、氧合指数、Cr和MAP均显著改善(P<0.01);AKIⅢ期患者治疗后的IL-6仍显著高于AKIⅠ期和AKIⅡ期患者;AKIⅠ期和AKIⅡ期患者HVHF治疗24h后APACHEⅡ评分、SOFA评分显著降低(P<0.01),AKIⅢ期患者治疗前后APACHEⅡ评分和SOFA评分变化无显著统计学差异。结论:RIFLE标准及IL-6对判断预后有指导意义;AKIⅠ期和Ⅱ期行HVHF可明显改善MODS的预后,而AKI I期行HVHF的疗效更好。     

二点委夜蛾卵巢发育分级及在预测预报中的应用

对室内饲养的二点委夜蛾Athelis lepigone(Moschler)雌成虫分时段进行解剖,观察其卵巢的结构及发育进程。结果显示二点委夜蛾具有1对卵巢,各由4个卵巢小管组成。发育进程可分为5个阶段:透明期、卵黄沉积期、成熟待产期、产卵盛期和产卵末期。河北省石家庄地区2011年7月下旬至8月上旬田间卵巢发育的监测结果显示,Ⅰ级卵巢在整个发生期所占比例较高,Ⅳ级卵巢所占比例较低,推测其下一代幼虫的发生量将较低,并与田间调查结果吻合,因此卵巢解剖分级法可以用于二点委夜蛾的预测预报工作。     

Evaluation of criteria for bioreactor comparison and operation standardization for mammalian cell culture

Development of bioprocesses with mammalian cell culture deals with different bioreactor types and scales. The bioreactors might be intended for generation of cell inoculum and production, research, process development, validation, or transfer purposes. During these activities, not only the difficulty of up and downscaling might lead to failure of consistency in cell growth, but also the use of different bioreactor geometries and operation conditions. In such cases, criteria for bioreactor design and process transfer should be carefully evaluated in order to select appropriate cultivation parameters. In this work, power input, mixing time, impeller tip speed, and Reynolds number have been compared systematically for the cultivation of the human cell line AGE1.HN within three partner laboratories using five different bioreactor systems. Proper operation ranges for the bioreactors were identified using the maximal cell‐specific growth rate (μ_max) as indicator. Common optimum values for process transfer criteria were found in these geometrically different bioreactors, in which deviations of μ_max between cultivation systems can be importantly reduced. The data obtained in this work are used for process standardization and comparability of results obtained in different bioreactor systems, i.e. to guarantee lab‐to‐lab consistency for systems biology approaches using mammalian cells.     

Assessing the Relative Sensitivity of Aquatic Organisms to Divalent Metals and Their Representation in Toxicity Datasets Compared to Natural Aquatic Communities

We compared the composition and richness of acute and chronic toxicity datasets for Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn to several natural aquatic communities. The richness of acute datasets was reasonably representative, with the largest toxicity datasets containing a higher number of genera than some natural aquatic communities. Acute datasets also had a reasonably diverse composition compared to natural aquatic communities, although insects were under-represented and cladocerans over-represented. Given this robustness, we suggest manipulation of large acute datasets (Cd, Cu, Zn) to account for site-specific differences in aquatic community composition can be accomplished with confidence and that this will not result in under-protection of sensitive taxa. In contrast, the chronic datasets were not representative of natural aquatic communities in terms of composition or richness. Chronic dataset richness is an order of magnitude less than natural aquatic communities. Chronic datasets have minimal representation of insects, whereas cladocera and salmonids are grossly over-represented in some cases. Further, no real patterns in the relative sensitivity of genera groups can be discerned with such limited data. As a result, we conclude there is considerable uncertainty regarding how biases in genera representation may lead to under- or over-protection of aquatic communities on a chronic basis. Given this, manipulation of chronic datasets to better reflect site-specific aquatic communities is not recommended without additional chronic testing using a wider diversity of aquatic genera.     

General rate equations and rejection criteria for the rapid equilibrium carrier model of cotransport

It is demonstrated that under fixed activator conditions the general flux equation for the rapid equilibrium carrier model of cotransport can be written entirely in terms of five independent kinetic constants. Thus the kinetic parameters from any experiment carried out under the same activator conditions must necessarily be expressible in terms of these five constants. These predicted relationships between experimental kinetic parameters provide rejection criteria for the model, a number of which are derived here. Generalization of the treatment to the case where a competitive substrate is present on both sides of the membrane is also given.     

The effect of heat on photosynthesis, dark respiration and cellular ultrastructure of the arctic-alpine psychrophyte Ranunculus glacialis

Effects of high temperatures on the leaves of Ranunculus glacialis were studied in plants taken from sites located between 2400-2550 m in the Central Alps. Changes in CO2 exchange rates, in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence, and cellular ultrastructure were investigated during and after an experimental heat exposure. The earliest heat stress effect was inactivation of the net photosynthetic rate at 38-39 °C. Between 40-42 °C, disorders appeared in the photosynthetic apparatus and in the tonoplast. Heat shock granules were observed at 42 °C in chloroplasts, and at 44 °C also in mitochondria. In this temperature range, the dark respiration rate was reversibly enhanced, and an increased number of polyribosomes indicated repair after the primary injury. Above 44 °C, the degradation progress entered the phase of chronic impairment leading to irreversible damage at 45-46 °C. An unusually wide temperature range from the start of reversible photosynthetic inhibition to incipient necrosis indicated a pronounced heat sensitivity, particularly in cellular functions, of this arctic-alpine species. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.