Leaf anatomy ofDombeya andNesogordonia (Sterculiaceae), emphasizing epidermal and internal idioblasts

We studied leaf anatomy, using clearings, resin sections, and scanning electron microscopy, from mostly herbarium specimens of 123 species ofDombeya and 11 species ofNesogordonia (Sterculiaceae). Species were placed in seven idioblast categories, ranging from those without any to single and bicelled epidermal forms to multicelled nodules and single mesophyll idioblasts. Idioblast contents are possibly mucilaginous, but were not identified. In these two genera the range of foliar idioblast morphology surpasses that known previously for the entire family. Leaves are dorsiventral with mostly abaxial anomocytic stomata and typical palisade and spongy layers; paraveinal mesophyll is lacking. Miniature glandular (clavates, capitates) and nonglandular (mostly stellate) trichomes occur. Prismatic crystals predominate; epidermal prismatics and mesophyll druses are rare.     

Movements of wintering surf scoters: predator responses to different prey landscapes

The distribution of predators is widely recognized to be intimately linked to the distribution of their prey. Foraging theory suggests that predators will modify their behaviors, including movements, to optimize net energy intake when faced with variation in prey attributes or abundance. While many studies have documented changes in movement patterns of animals in response to temporal changes in food, very few have contrasted movements of a single predator species naturally occurring in dramatically different prey landscapes. We documented variation in the winter movements, foraging range size, site fidelity, and distribution patterns of a molluscivorous sea duck, the surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), in two areas of coastal British Columbia with very different shellfish prey features. Baynes Sound has extensive tidal flats with abundant clams, which are high-quality and temporally stable prey for scoters. Malaspina Inlet is a rocky fjord-like inlet where scoters consume mussels that are superabundant and easily accessible in some patches but are heavily depleted over the course of winter. We used radio telemetry to track surf scoter movements in both areas and found that in the clam habitats of Baynes Sound, surf scoters exhibited limited movement, small winter ranges, strong foraging site fidelity, and very consistent distribution patterns. By contrast, in mussel habitats in the Malaspina Inlet, surf scoters displayed more movement, larger ranges, little fidelity to specific foraging sites, and more variable distribution patterns. We conclude that features associated with the different prey types, particularly the higher depletion rates of mussels, strongly influenced seasonal space use patterns. These findings are consistent with foraging theory and confirm that predator behavior, specifically movements, is environmentally mediated.     

Abiotic factors control invasion by Argentine ants at the community scale

1. A prominent and unresolved question in ecology concerns why communities differ in their susceptibility to invasion. While studies often emphasize biotic resistance, it is less widely appreciated how the physical environment affects community vulnerability to invasion. 2. In this study we performed field experiments to test how abiotic variation directly and indirectly influences the extent to which Linepithema humile Mayr (Argentine ants) invade seasonally dry environments in southern California. 3. In controlled and replicated experiments involving drip irrigation, we demonstrate (i) that elevated levels of soil moisture increased both the abundance of Argentine ants and their ability to invade native ant communities and (ii) that cessation of irrigation caused declines in the abundance of Argentine ants and led to their withdrawal from previously occupied areas. 4. Because drip irrigation stimulated plant growth, in an additional experiment we manipulated both soil moisture and plant cover to assess the direct vs. indirect effects of added water on the abundance of L. humile. 5. Local abundance of Argentine ants increased in irrigated plots but was 38% higher in irrigated plots with plants compared to irrigated plots where plant growth was suppressed. The results of this experiment thus argue for a direct role of soil moisture in influencing Argentine ant abundance but suggest that that the indirect effects of added water may also be important. 6. Our study illustrates more generally that fine-scale variation in the physical environment can control whether communities become invaded by non-native species and suggests that an understanding of community susceptibility to invasion will be improved by a better appreciation of interactions between the biotic and abiotic environment.     

Quantitative detection of C-reactive protein using phosphocholine-labelled enzyme or microspheres

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a positive, acute-phase protein. Plasma levels rise dramatically in response to tissue injury or inflammation and fall rapidly after recovery or treatment. Antibody-based human CRP test systems do not readily detect CRP from other animals due to the species specificity of antibodies directed against human CRP. Thus, generic systems for CRP detection, based solely on the interaction between CRP and phosphocholine (PC), have been developed. PC-bovine serum albumin (PC-BSA) conjugates were produced and either labeled with horseradish peroxidase to facilitate CRP detection in a CRP enzyme-linked sorbent assay (ELSA) or coupled to carboxy-modified microspheres to facilitate the nonenzymatic, turbidimetric detection of CRP. The CRP-ELSA is a competitive assay, where the total assay time is 45 min, the assay sensitivity is 1.06 mg/L CRP, and the dynamic range of the assay is 0-500 mg/L. When PC-BSA conjugate is covalently coupled to carboxylated microspheres, agglutination occurs in the presence of CRP, the extent of which depends on the quantity of CRP present in the sample. Total assay time is 5 min with a dynamic range of 25-500 mg/L. Both assay formats are capable of accurately detecting human CRP and the CRP-ELSA can detect canine CRP as a disease state indicator.     

Quantitative Circulatory Physiology: an integrative mathematical model of human physiology for medical education

We have developed Quantitative Circulatory Physiology (QCP), a mathematical model of integrative human physiology containing over 4,000 variables of biological interactions. This model provides a teaching environment that mimics clinical problems encountered in the practice of medicine. The model structure is based on documented physiological responses within peer-reviewed literature and serves as a dynamic compendium of physiological knowledge. The model is solved using a desktop, Windows-based program, allowing students to calculate time-dependent solutions and interactively alter over 750 parameters that modify physiological function. The model can be used to understand proposed mechanisms of physiological function and the interactions among physiological variables that may not be otherwise intuitively evident. In addition to open-ended or unstructured simulations, we have developed 30 physiological simulations, including heart failure, anemia, diabetes, and hemorrhage. Additional stimulations include 29 patients in which students are challenged to diagnose the pathophysiology based on their understanding of integrative physiology. In summary, QCP allows students to examine, integrate, and understand a host of physiological factors without causing harm to patients. This model is available as a free download for Windows computers at http://physiology.umc.edu/themodelingworkshop.     

Impact of a single session of intermittent pneumatic leg compressions on skeletal muscle and isolated artery gene expression in rats

Intermittent pneumatic leg compressions (IPC) have proven to be an effective noninvasive approach for treatment of patients with claudication, but the mechanisms underlying the clinical benefits remain elusive. In the present study, a rodent model of claudication produced by bilateral ligation of the femoral artery was used to investigate the acute impact of a single session of IPC (150 min) on hemodynamics, skeletal muscle (tibialis anterior), and isolated collateral artery (perforating artery) expression of a subset of genes associated with inflammation and vascular remodeling. In addition, the effect of compression frequency (15 vs. 3 compressions/min) on the expression of these factors was studied. In ligated animals, IPC evoked an increase of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant 1 (CXCL1) mRNA (P < 0.01) and immunostaining (P < 0.05), as well as a minor increase in VEGF immunostaining in the muscle endomysium 150 min postintervention. Further, collateral arteries from these animals showed an increased expression of MCP-1 (approximately twofold, P = 0.02). These effects were most evident in the group exposed to the high-frequency protocol (15 compressions/min). In contrast, IPC in sham-operated control animals evoked a modest initial upregulation of VEGF (P = 0.01), MCP-1 (P = 0.02), and CXCL1 (P = 0.03) mRNA in the muscle without concomitant changes in protein levels. No changes in gene expression were observed in arteries isolated from sham animals. In conclusion, IPC acutely up-regulates the expression of important factors involved in vascular remodeling in the compressed muscle and collateral arteries in a model of hindlimb ischemia. These effects appear to be dependent on the compression frequency, such that a high compression frequency (15 compressions/min) evokes more consistent and robust effects compared with the frequency commonly employed clinically to treat patients with claudication (3 compressions/min).     

UV cross-linking/immunoprecipitation assay: glucocorticoid receptor-adrenergic receptor gene sequence interaction

The rat beta 1-adrenergic receptor (beta 1-AR) gene contains glucocorticoid response element (GRE) half-sites at positions -2767 and -945. In electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) experiments, neither beta 1-AR GRE half-site recognized glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) obtained from baculovirus high-level expression systems or from mammalian cells. We have developed a sensitive UV cross-linking/immunoprecipitation assay, using a 524-bp fragment containing the prototypical GRE obtained from the rat tyrosine aminotransferase promoter sequence and using antibodies recognizing mammalian GR. Using this assay, we provide evidence that rat beta 1-AR gene sequences recognize mammalian GRs expressed in mouse 3T3 cells and that the site of GR interaction does not appear to specifically contain the beta 1-AR GRE half-sites. This represents one of the first reports demonstrating the utility of a UV cross-linking/immunoprecipitation assay in the detection of mammalian GR interaction with beta 1-AR sequences, is consistent with the lack of specific DNA-GR protein complexes observed in EMSA experiments using oligonucleotide probes containing the beta 1-AR GRE half-sites, and provides evidence that mammalian GR interaction occurs at complex rate beta 1-AR gene sequences.