Reexamination of sectional classification in far easternEuphorbia subgenusEsula (Euphorbiaceae) using morphological and phenolic data

Reexamining the classification proposed by Hurusawa, the phylogeny of Far EasternEuphorbia subgenusEsula was analyzed using thirteen morphological and seventeen phenolic compound data. These data were analyzed independently and in combination using PAUP under the assumptions of Fitch parsimony. Ten species, comprised of three sections and five subsections within Far EasternEuphorbia subg.Esula and one outgroup from subg.Chamaesyce, were used as terminal taxa. The phylogenetic results did not support the sectional classifications within subg.Esula proposed by Hurusawa. SectionDecussatae was nested in the paraphyletic sectEsula in all of the analyses, and the relationship of sectHelioscopiae was equivocal among data sets. The disagreement of data sets over the placement ofEuphorbia ebracteolata is probably due to a hybrid origin of the species and missing phenolic data forE. pallasii. A sister-group relationship of the Korean endemicE. fauriei with the widespreadE. pekinensis was strongly supported by the morphological and phenolic data.     

Phylogenetic evidence for the evolution of ecological specialization in Timema walking‐sticks

We used phylogenetic and ecological information to study the evolution of host‐plant specialization and colour polymorphism in the genus Timema, which comprises 14 species of walking‐sticks that are subject to strong selection for cryptic coloration on their host‐plants. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that this genus consists of three main lineages. Two of the lineages include highly generalized basal species and relatively specialized distal species, and one of the lineages comprises four specialized species. We tested for phylogenetic conservatism in the traits studied via randomizing host‐plant use, and the four basic Timema colour patterns, across the tips of the phylogeny, and determining if the observed number of inferred changes was significantly low compared to the distribution of numbers of inferred changes expected under the null model. This analysis showed that (1) host‐plant use has evolved nonrandomly, such that more closely related species tend to use similar sets of hosts and (2) colour pattern evolution exhibits considerable lability. Inference of ancestral states using maximum parsimony, under four models for the relative ease of gain and loss of plant hosts or colour morphs, showed that (1) for all models with gains of host‐plants even marginally more difficult than losses, and for most optimizations with gains and losses equally difficult, the ancestral Timema were generalized, feeding on the chaparral plants Ceanothus and Adenostoma and possibly other taxa, and (2) for all models with gains of colour morphs more difficult than losses, the ancestral Timema were polymorphic for colour pattern. Generation of null distributions of inferred ancestral states showed that the maximum‐parsimony inference of host‐plant generalization was most robust for the most speciose of the three main Timema lineages. Ancestral states were also inferred using maximum likelihood, after recoding host‐plant use and colour polymorphism as dichotomous characters. Likelihood analyses provided some support for inference of generalization in host‐plant use at ancestral nodes of the two lineages exhibiting mixtures of generalists and specialists, although levels of uncertainty were high. By contrast, likelihood analysis did not estimate ancestral colour morph patterns with any confidence, due to inferred rates of change that were high with respect to speciation rates. Information from biogeography, floristic history and the timing of diversification of the genus are compatible with patterns of inferred ancestral host‐plant use. Diversification in the genus Timema appears to engender three main processes: (1) increased specialization via loss of host‐plants, (2) retention of the same, single, host‐plant and (3) shifts to novel hosts to which lineages were ‘preadapted’ in colour pattern. Our evidence suggests that the radiation of this genus has involved multiple evolutionary transitions from individual‐level specialization (multiple‐niche polymorphism) to population‐level and species‐level specialization. Ecological studies of Timema suggest that such transitions are driven by diversifying selection for crypsis. This paper provides the first phylogeny‐based evidence for the macroevolutionary importance of predation by generalist natural enemies in the evolution of specialization.     

Long‐term survival and diversification of an endemic Melitaea species in mountains of Iran and adjacent areas

Disjunct distribution patterns regularly resulted in the separation of different genetic lineages in glacial refugia. Recent patterns of survival and expansion have been often revealed by climatic niche modelling. We used the combination of genetic markers, geometric morphometry and climatic niche modelling to clear up the taxonomy and reconstruct the potential range of an endemic Iranian, taxonomically disputed Melitaea species in climatically different epochs. Our results show that this species (Melitaea abbas Gross and Ebert 1975, comb. n. = M. zagrosi Tóth and Varga syn. nova) is clearly separated from all taxa of the Melitaea phoebe species group and only occurs in Iran and Azerbaijan but were also predicted for some adjacent regions. Molecular markers and distribution modelling show consistently that this species should have had a long‐term survival in this area, and its range could have been slightly larger during the last glacial maximum than currently. Based on the studied molecular markers, three main groups in M. abbas can be recognized: those of steppic area of Azerbaijan, western Iran and northeastern Iran. Each group is characterized by own mitochondrial haplotypes, but also a high level of genetic diversity appears in the central part of the distribution area (Zagros Mts.).     

Asian Herpetological Research Instructions for Authors

Asian Herpetological Research （AHR）, an international journal, is published quarterly by the Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences （CIB）, and Science Press in cooperation with the Asiatic Herpetological Research Society （AHRS）. The scope of the journal includes all contemporary herpetological research areas including taxonomy, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, evolution, zoogeography, physiology, ecology, toxicology and conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles.     

贝伐珠单抗联合化疗二线及以上治疗晚期非鳞型非小细胞肺癌的临床观察

目的：考察贝伐珠单抗联合化疗二线及以上治疗晚期非鳞型非小细胞肺癌的疗效和安全性。方法：28 例经病理组织学或细胞学证实的晚期非鳞型非小细胞肺癌患者接受贝伐珠单抗联合化疗的二线及以上治疗,其间,贝伐珠单抗所用剂量为7.5 mg ? kg -1,在化疗第1 d 静滴给予;化疗方案包括培美曲塞加或不加铂类、白蛋白结合型紫杉醇加或不加铂类及替吉奥以及吉西他滨/ 紫杉醇/ 多西紫杉醇加或不加铂类。各治疗方案每3 周为1 个周期,持续4 个周期,然后维持治疗,直至受试者不能耐受或疾病进展。按RECIST 1.1 版评价疗效,按NCI-CTC 4.0版评价不良反应。结果：28 例受试者中,无完全缓解病例,部分缓解11 例(39.3％ ),稳定16 例（57.1％ ),进展1 例(3.6％ );客观缓解率为39.3％ (11/28),疾病控制率为96.4％ (27/28);中位无进展生存期为5 个月,中位总生存期为10 个月。亚组数据分析可见,贝伐珠单抗联合化疗各方案亚组中,培美曲塞方案受试者的中位无进展生存期为6 个月,疗效最好,较其他各方案亚组有统计学差异（P=0.028）。安全性数据分析显示,与贝伐珠单抗相关的主要不良反应有Ⅰ ~ Ⅲ度高血压以及Ⅰ / Ⅱ度蛋白尿/ 出血/ 发热。结论：贝伐珠单抗联合化疗用于二线及以上治疗晚期非鳞型非小细胞肺癌的疗效较单纯化疗有一定改善,且毒副反应可耐受,对经济上可以接受的患者值得推荐使用。     

Vascular-homing peptides for targeted drug delivery and molecular imaging: Meeting the clinical challenges

The vasculature of each organ expresses distinct molecular signatures critically influenced by the pathological status. The heterogeneous profile of the vascular beds has been successfully unveiled by the in vivo phage display, a high-throughput tool for mapping normal, diseased, and tumor vasculature. Specific challenges of this growing field are targeted therapies against cancer and cardiovascular diseases, as well as novel bioimaging diagnostic tools. Tumor vasculature-homing peptides have been extensively evaluated in several preclinical and clinical studies both as targeted-therapy and diagnosis. To date, results from several Phase I and II trials have been reported and many other trials are currently ongoing or recruiting patients. In this review, advances in the identification of novel peptide ligands and their corresponding receptors on tumor endothelium through the in vivo phage display technology are discussed. Emphasis is given to recent findings in the clinical setting of vascular-homing peptides selected by in vivo phage display for the treatment of advanced malignancies and their altered vascular beds.     

Ailadinium reticulatum gen. et sp. nov. (Dinophyceae), a New Thecate,Marine, Sand‐Dwelling Dinoflagellate from the Northern Red Sea

A new photosynthetic, sand‐dwelling marine dinoflagellate, Ailadinium reticulatum gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Jordanian coast in the Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea, based on detailed morphological and molecular data. A. reticulatum is a large (53–61 μm long and 38–48 μm wide), dorsoventrally compressed species, with the epitheca smaller than the hypotheca. The theca of this new species is thick and peculiarly ornamented with round to polygonal depressions forming a foveate‐reticulate thecal surface structure. The Kofoidian thecal tabulation is APC (Po, cp), 4′, 2a, 6′′, 6c, 4s, 6′′′, 1p, 1′′′′ or alternatively it can be interpreted as APC, 4′, 2a, 6′′, 6c, 4s, 6′′′, 2′′′′. The plate pattern of A. reticulatum is noticeably different from described dinoflagellate genera. Phylogenetic analyses based on the SSU and LSU rDNA genes did not show any supported affinities with currently known thecate dinoflagellates.