Sediment load variability in response to climate and land use changes in a Carpathian catchment (Raba River,Poland)

Journal of Soils and Sediments - This study analyzes the variability of sediment loads under variant climate change and land use scenarios in a Carpathian catchment with a dam reservoir. The areas...     

Honey as the Potential Natural Source of Cholinesterase Inhibitors in Alzheimer’s Disease

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized, among others by abnormal levels of acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase in...     

Herbicidal activity of phosphonic and phosphinic acid analogues of glutamic and aspartic acids

Phosphonic and phosphinic acid analogues of glutamic and aspartic acids were synthesized and screened for herbicidal activity on Lepidium sativum L. Depending on the chemical structure, they exhibited significant or moderate herbicidal activity against L. sativum roots (with some representatives being equipotent with phosphinothricin), while their influence on shoot growth was negligible. Cucumis sativus L. appeared to be more tolerant to these analogues. The origin of this selectivity remains to be determined.     

Normal electrocardiographic and echocardiographic (M-mode and two-dimensional) values in Polish Landrace pigs

Background

Swine are recognized animal models of human cardiovascular diseases. Normal values of cardiac morphology and function have been published for swine but for smaller number of pigs and not for swine whose weights ranged up 100 kg. In order to improve the value of results of an investigation on cardiac morphology and function in swine when such data are extrapolated to humans, the aim of this study was to document electrocardiographic and echocardiographic measures of cardiac morphology and function in swine. The study comprised 170 single and repeated measurements that were made in 132 healthy domestic swine (Sus domesticus) whose weights ranged between 20-160 kg and were used as controls in three different experiments. All electrocardiographic and echocardiographic measurements in all swine were done under general anaesthesia.

Results

Statistically significant correlations were found between body weight and heart rate (HR), the duration of the P-wave, the duration of the QRS interval, the duration of the QT interval, and the corrected QT ratio (QTc). Since body weight was positively correlated with age, statistically significant correlations were also found between age and HR, the duration of the P-wave, the duration of the QRS interval, the duration of the QT interval, and the QTc. We found that the thickness of the left ventricular wall and the internal diameter of the left ventricle increased with age and body weight. We also found positive trends between body weight and ejection fraction and body weight and fractional shortening. We also found a positive relationship between age, body weight, and the ratio of the left ventricular internal diameter to its wall thickness, as well as the relative left atrial size.

Conclusion

Many electro- and echocardiographic measures of cardiac morphology and function of healthy swine are related to their body weight. When the electro- and echocardiographic measures of domestic swine and humans are compared, the most comparable electrocardiographic values are those that were determined in swine whose body weights are not greater than 70 kg. In contrast, the most comparable echocardiographic measures are those that were determined in swine with a body weight of 40–110 kg.     

Rearing of coregonid fishes (Coregonidae) in illuminated lake cages: IV. Gonad development in whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.) under conditions of cage culture

The paper presents the results of observations on gonad development in whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.) in the fourth year of culture in illuminated like cages. Whitefish ovaries attained stage III of maturity. Stage IV of maturity was attained by only a few individual females. Disturbances in the development of the ovary were observed, consisting of asynchronous growth of the oocytes, their partial resorption, and delayed trophoplasmatic growth. Development of male gonads was also disturbed. Different males matured at different times, and their testes were in different stages of maturity. Fishes did not attain sexual maturity by the end of the fourth year of cage culture, so that no spawning could have taken place.     

增施氮肥和地面管理对酸樱桃园土壤营养状况的影响

在一个连续进行了 ８年Ｎ肥定位试验的酸樱桃园，调查了每年施用 Ｎ６０ ｋｇ· ｈｍ~(－２)和行间生草制对土壤营养状况的影响。结果表明：在肥沃土壤里ＮＨ_４~＋是速效Ｎ的主要存在形式，而ＮＯ_３~－的含量很低。生草地土壤中含有较多的 ＮＨ_４~－，而清耕带土壤中含有较多的 ＮＯ_３~－。施肥增加土壤速效 Ｎ的含量。土壤 ＮＯ_３~－的季节性变化表明 ５至 ６月份土壤中 ＮＯ_３~－的含量高，而花前和 ７月份土壤中 ＮＯ_３~－含量低。 Ｐ、Ｋ在清耕带 １０ ｃｍ以下土壤的含量低于生草地土壤，但在 ０～ １０ｃｍ土层中Ｋ的含量高于生草地。Ｐ的含量不受影响。施Ｎ减少了土壤Ｐ、Ｋ的含量。土壤中Ｍｇ的含量分布均匀，不受施Ｎ和地面管理制度的影响。     

Analysis of downy mildew data on field pea: an empirical comparison of two logistic models

In the years 2002–2005, special trials concerning the level of infection of pea varieties by downy mildew were performed in Poland. In these trials, the large number of varieties were tested in many locations (environments), separately on reach and light soils. Obtained trial data are unique because of the large scale of the performed investigations and also for the fact that all the observations were made by the same observer. In a paper, two methods of statistical analysis of such (ordered) data are compared.

Several models have been proposed for the statistical interpretation of ordinal data. One of the most popular is the cumulative-type fixed logistic model. In the present work, using two field pea data sets, we considered whether adding random effects to the simple logistic model can improve inference. It was investigated whether there is any difference between the decisions concerning varieties resulting from the simple logistic model and the proposed mixed logistic model. The two models were also compared in terms of goodness of fit. According to two applied goodness-of-fit statistics, the mixed model performed better in all the cases. Statistical analysis (what is important for practical agriculture) enabled identification of the most resistant and the most susceptible variety from the analyzed set of cultivars.     

Septin-mediated plant cell invasion by the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae

To cause rice blast disease, the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae develops a pressurized dome-shaped cell called an appressorium, which physically ruptures the leaf cuticle to gain entry to plant tissue. Here, we report that a toroidal F-actin network assembles in the appressorium by means of four septin guanosine triphosphatases, which polymerize into a dynamic, hetero-oligomeric ring. Septins scaffold F-actin, via the ezrin-radixin-moesin protein Tea1, and phosphatidylinositide interactions at the appressorium plasma membrane. The septin ring assembles in a Cdc42- and Chm1-dependent manner and forms a diffusion barrier to localize the inverse-bin-amphiphysin-RVS-domain protein Rvs167 and the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein Las17 at the point of penetration. Septins thereby provide the cortical rigidity and membrane curvature necessary for protrusion of a rigid penetration peg to breach the leaf surface.