Cryptophytes: An emerging algal group in the rapidly changing Antarctic Peninsula marine environments

The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a climatically sensitive region where foundational changes at the basis of the food web have been recorded; cryptophytes are gradually outgrowing diatoms together with a decreased size spectrum of the phytoplankton community. Based on a 11-year (2008–2018) in-situ dataset, we demonstrate a strong coupling between biomass accumulation of cryptophytes, summer upper ocean stability, and the mixed layer depth. Our results shed light on the environmental conditions favoring the cryptophyte success in coastal regions of the WAP, especially during situations of shallower mixed layers associated with lower diatom biomass, which evidences a clear competition or niche segregation between diatoms and cryptophytes. We also unravel the cryptophyte photo-physiological niche by exploring its capacity to thrive under high light stress normally found in confined stratified upper layers. Such conditions are becoming more frequent in the Antarctic coastal waters and will likely have significant future implications at various levels of the marine food web. The competitive advantage of cryptophytes in environments with significant light level fluctuations was supported by laboratory experiments that revealed a high flexibility of cryptophytes to grow in different light conditions driven by a fast photo-regulating response. All tested physiological parameters support the hypothesis that cryptophytes are highly flexible regarding their growing light conditions and extremely efficient in rapidly photo-regulating changes to environmental light levels. This plasticity would give them a competitive advantage in exploiting an ecological niche where light levels fluctuate quickly. These findings provide new insights on niche separation between diatoms and cryptophytes, which is vital for a thorough understanding of the WAP marine ecosystem.     

中国优质水果资源的分布与适宜生态环境

根据农业部在80年代两次组织评选出的全国189个优质水果产地的生态环境资料,用微型电子计算机系统建立数据库,统计分析柑桔、苹果和梨优质产品的构成比例、产区分布地域及其适宜的环境指标和主栽品种的生态适应性,为果树良种区域化栽培与选育提供依据。     

Augmentation of antitumor immunity in regional lymph nodes by local immunotherapy

We have previously reported that the antitumor effect of OK-432, a streptococcal preparation, is markedly augmented when injected intratumorally together with fibrinogen (OK-432/fbg) [1]. In order to elucidate the effects of this immunotherapy on regional lymph nodes (RLN), we carried out both morphological and functional analyses of the RLN from colonic cancer patients treated with OK-432/ fbg. Computer-aided morphometry revealed that the maximal cross-sectional areas and the broadest diameters of the RLN were significantly greater (p<0.01) in patients who had undergone local immunotherapy than in patients who had not. The component structures of RLN, such as sinus, follicle and paracortex, were all enlarged in the OK-432/fbg-treated patients, and necrosis of metastatic tumors was observed. RLN lymphocytes recovered from OK-432/fbg treated patients showed elevated reactivity to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and the stimulation index was clearly higher than that of control patients. Flow cytometric analysis revealed a predominance of T-cells, especially CD4 subsets, and higher positivity for both CD25 and HLA-DR. Furthermore, RLN lymphocytes killed more effectively K562 and Daudi cells in the patients who had had immunotherapy. These results suggest that the effect of local immunotherapy with OK-432/fbg is not restricted to the site of injection but extends to the lymph nodes, and contributes to tumor regression through the augmentation of cellular immunity.Abbreviations RLN regional lymph node(s) - OK-432/fbg OK-432/fibrinogen solution - PHA phytohemagglutinin - NK natural killer - LAK lymphocyte activated killer     

超声引导下神经阻滞麻醉联合全身麻醉对股骨头置换老年患者麻醉效果及术后认知功能的影响

摘要 目的：研究超声引导神经阻滞麻醉联合全身麻醉对股骨头置换老年患者的麻醉效果及对术后认知功能的影响。方法：选取2019年1月至2021年12月期间我院收治的150例拟行股骨头置换术的老年患者,随机分为对照组和观察组,各75例。对照组患者行常规全身麻醉,观察组在对照组的基础上行超声引导下神经阻滞麻醉,比较两组患者的血流动力学指标,拔管时间、苏醒时间和复苏室停留时间,苏醒后疼痛,术后认知功能及不良反应的发生率。结果：观察组患者各时间点的心率（HR）和平均动脉压（MAP）均较对照组低（P＜0.05）。观察组拔管时间、苏醒时间和复苏室停留时间均较对照组短（P＜0.05）。观察组患者术后视觉模拟评分（VAS）均低于同一时间点的对照组（P＜0.05）。与对照组相比,观察组患者术后1 h、12 h和24 h的简易智力状态检查（MMSE）评分均较高（P＜0.05）,观察组术后1 h、12 h和24 h术后认知功能障碍（POCD）发生率较对照组低（P＜0.05）。两组患者不良反应发生率无差异（P＞0.05）。结论：超声引导神经阻滞麻醉可稳定血流动力学,缩短拔管、苏醒及复苏室停留时间,减轻术后疼痛,改善术后认知功能,减少POCD的发生,值得临床推广。     

不同剂量右美托咪定联合超声引导下多点髂筋膜间隙阻滞在老年全髋关节置换术中的应用效果分析

摘要 目的：探讨超声引导下多点髂筋膜间隙阻滞联合不同剂量右美托咪定在老年全髋关节置换术（THA）中的应用效果。方法：选取2019年11月-2022年12月北京积水潭医院贵州医院择期行THA的老年患者120例,按照随机数字表法分为A组（n=40）、B组（n=40）、C组（n=40）,三组均接受超声引导下多点髂筋膜间隙阻滞治疗,在此基础上,A组、B组、C组分别给予0.5 μg/kg、1.0 μg/kg、1.5 μg/kg右美托咪定注射液。对比三组临床指标、血流动力学指标、应激反应指标、脑神经损伤情况,观察三组围术期间不良反应发生情况。结果：B组、C组的阻滞消退时间、拔管时间长于A组,首次下床时间短于A组（P<0.05）。B组、C组的阻滞消退时间、拔管时间、首次下床时间对比无差异（P>0.05）。三组麻醉诱导后即刻（T1）~手术结束时（T3）时间点心率（HR）、平均动脉压（MAP）升高后降低（P<0.05）。B组、C组的T1~T3时间点HR、MAP均低于A组,且B组低于C组（P<0.05）。三组T3时间点皮质醇（Cor）、白介素-6（IL-6）、肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）升高（P<0.05）。B组、C组的T3时间点Cor、IL-6、TNF-α均低于A组,且B组低于C组（P<0.05）。B组、C组的T3时间点中枢神经特异性蛋白（S100β）均低于A组,且B组低于C组（P<0.05）。B组、C组的T3时间点脑源性神经生长因子（BDNF）均高于A组,且B组高于C组（P<0.05）。三组不良反应发生率组间对比无差异（P>0.05）。结论：超声引导下多点髂筋膜间隙阻滞联合1.0 μg/kg右美托咪定在THA中具有更好的麻醉效果,可缩短首次下床时间,减轻机体应激反应、血流动力学波动以及脑部神经损伤。     

A Wuchiapingian (Late Permian) brachiopod fauna from an exotic block in the Indus–Tsangpo suture zone, southern Tibet, and its palaeobiogeographical and tectonic implications

A brachiopod fauna including 19 species of 17 genera from an exotic block in the Indus–Tsangpo suture zone in southern Tibet is described and illustrated. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Martinia elegans and two new taxa: Jinomarginifera lhazeensis gen. et sp. nov. and Zhejiangospirifer giganteus sp. nov. The fauna is closely comparable with those from the middle and upper parts of the Wargal Formation and the Chhidru Formation in the Salt Range of Pakistan, the Chitichun Limestone in southern Tibet, and the Basleo area of West Timor, and these correlations suggest a Wuchiapingian age. The fauna exhibits substantial links with both peri–Gondwanan and Cathaysian faunas, which may imply that it is a seamount biota originally located in the southern margin of the Neotethys during the Late Permian, and was later (in the early Cenozoic) displaced and became sandwiched into younger marine deposits in the collision process between India and Eurasia.     

Influence of Androgenicity on Adipocytes and Precursor Cells in Female Rats

We examined the effects of overexposure of testosterone (T) on fat cell morphology and adipocyte precursor pools in inguinal and retroperitoneal fat depots of ovariectomized rats. In both tissues peripubertal T decreased weights without affecting adipocyte mean cell size or the size distribution profiles, but adipocyte number was decreased by 65% in the inguinal and by 38% in the retroperitoneal depots. Immunofluorescent flow cytometry utilizing a specific antibody to rat adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase was used to quantify regional precursor cell populations. T sharply reduced the percentages of differentiated and undifferentiated preadipocytes in the inguinal depot, from 43.2 ± 5.3 to 23.5 ± 2.1% and from 57.7 ± 4.0 to 43.6 ± 5.3%, respectively, with a concomitant increase in fibroblasts from 1.6 to 32.9%. On the other hand, T had no effect on retroperitoneal preadipocyte pools. Perinatal andro-genization exacerbated the decline in the inguinal weight (1.4 ± 0.1 vs. 2.2 ± 0.1g) but otherwise did not influence the actions of peripubertal T. Androgens may thus act in a tissue-specific manner to regulate fat cell growth potential in the femoral region in the female.     

Inward rectifier potassium channels in plants differ from their animal counterparts in response to voltage and channel modulators

We have investigated the electrophysiological basis of potassium inward rectification of the KAT1 gene product from Arabidopsis thaliana expressed in Xenopus oocytes and of functionally related K⁺ channels in the plasma membrane of guard and root cells from Vicia faba and Zea mays. The whole-cell currents passed by these channels activate, following steps to membrane potentials more negative than –100 mV, with half activation times of tens of milliseconds. This voltage dependence was unaffected by the removal of cytoplasmic magnesium. Consequently, unlike inward rectifier channels of animals, inward rectification of plant potassium channels is an intrinsic property of the channel protein itself. We also found that the activation kinetics of KAT1 were modulated by external pH. Decreasing the pH in the range 8.5 to 4.5 hastened activation and shifted the steady state activation curve by 19 mV per pH unit. This indicates that the activity of these K⁺ channels and the activity of the plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase may not only be coordinated by membrane potential but also by pH. The instantaneous current-voltage relationship, on the other hand, did not depend on pH, indicating that H⁺ do not block the channel. In addition to sensitivity towards protons, the channels showed a high affinity voltage dependent block in the presence of cesium, but were less sensitive to barium. Recordings from membrane patches of KAT1 injected oocytes in symmetric, Mg²⁺-free, 100 mM-K⁺, solutions allowed measurements of the current-voltage relation of single open KAT1 channels with a unitary conductance of 5 pS. We conclude that the inward rectification of the currents mediated by the KAT1 gene product, or the related endogenous channels of plant cells, results from voltage-modulated structural changes within the channel proteins. The voltage-sensing or the gating-structures appear to interact with a titratable acidic residue exposed to the extracellular medium. Correspondence to: R. Hedrich     

TCEN-49, a monoclonal antibody that identifies a central body antigen in the planarian Dugesia (Girardia) tigrina. Implications for pattern formation and positional signalling mechanisms

We have produced monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against antigens of the freshwater planarian Dugesia (G.) tigrina (Girard) using standard protocols. One of these mAbs, TCEN-49, detects an antigen (TCEN-49Ag) present in most cells of the central area of the body, including the pharynx. Labelled cells seem more related by position than by lineage, suggesting that TCEN-49Ag is involved somehow in the expression of central body positional identity. The spatial and temporal changes in TCEN-49Ag expression during growth/degrowth and regeneration have been monitored and the implications of these results are discussed.     

Characterization of the phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C-released form of rat osseous plate alkaline phosphatase and its possible significance on endochondral ossification

S-2-(3 aminopropylamino) ethylphosphorothioic acid (WR-2721) shown to surpass radical scavenging thiols in their radioprotective efficacy in cancer-type diseases has been tested for its protective potential in the reperfused heart. We investigated the radical scavenger properties of the compound in a radical generating systemin vitro as well as in isolated rat hearts subjected to 30 min ischaemia and 30 min reperfusion with the electron-paramagnetic resonance spin trap technique. The action on high-energy phosphates is observed by means of phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy while its influence on left ventricular systolic segmental length change (SSLC) during 60 min reperfusion following 60 min regional ischaemia was assessed with a fibreoptic system in anaesthetized open-chest rats. WR-2721 (0.1 mM) reduced the vascular concentration of radical adduct in isolated hearts by up to 78% (275±84% of pre-ischaemic baseline values vs 1260±413%, p<0.05) between 5 and 12.5 min reperfusion. This was accompanied by a reduction of the left ventricular end diastolic pressure to pre-ischaemic values at 30 min of reperfusion (9±6 mmHg vs 42±8 mmHg in the absence of WR-2721, p<0.02). An accelerated recovery of creatine phosphate levels (78±5% of pre-ischaemia values vs 41±5% within 60 min reperfusion; p<0.05) was observed under similar conditions with NMR-spectroscopy, although the post-ischaemic tissue content of adenosine triphosphate was not affected. The administration of WR-2721 (0.5 mmol/kg body weight) ledin situ to an accelerated restoration of contractile activity in the post-ligated left ventricular area reflected by the post-ischaemic recovery of SSLC (64±10% of pre-ischaemic values compared with 27±6% in control animals 60 min following reperfusion; p<0.02). The present data confirm an effective reduction in the exposure of the reperfused heart to endogenously released free radicals by WR-2721, a partial preservation of high-energy phosphates and an improvement in post-ischaemic contractility and encourage further investigation of such favourable action in injured myocardium.