Comparison of methods for the analysis of dissolved urea in seawater

A comparison between the diacetyl monoxime and urease methods for measuring dissolved concentrations of urea in seawater was conducted in artificial seawater, phytoplankton-culture filtrate and both natural and ureaspiked field samples from coastal and oceanic enviroments during 1984. The urease technique underestimated urea concentrations in unbuffered photoplankton-culture filtrate as a result of the inhibition of the urease enzyme, causing the incomplete hydrolysis of urea in these samples. Factors responsible for inhibiting urease included pH, seawater ions, and possibly extracellular metabolites produced in unialgal cultures. Seawater type and time of sample collection were important variables affecting urea measurement by the urease method, and recovery of internal standards ranged from 40 to 100%. Increasing the heating time of the urease assay, or the concentration of urease added to the seawater samples increased the amount of urea determined by the urease method. However, measured values were still less than the concentration of the urea internal standards. The diacetyl monoxime method was suitable for urea determinations in all the seawater samples we examined; it was easily automated, and the results were accurate and reproducible. This modified technique is recommended for measuring disolved concentrations of urea in seawater.     

Prenatal and presymptomatic diagnosis of the marfan syndrome using fluorescence pcr and an automated sequencer

The Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder characterized by skeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular abnormalities. Defects in fibrillin, an elastin-associated microfibrillar protein, are now known to cause MFS. Since the discovery of fibrillin as the gene responsible for MFS, requests for prenatal and presymptomatic diagnosis have become common-place. Here we report the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using fluorescence labelled primers and an automated sequencer, to establish linkage data for “molecular diagnosis”. The mistaken clinical diagnosis of MFS based on the appearance of a common cardiovascular manifestation, mitral valve prolapse, and a positive family history is also discussed.     

Prenatal diagnosis and investigation of a fetus with chondrodysplasia punctata,ichthyosis, and Kallmann syndrome due to an Xp deletion

We report the prenatal diagnosis of a male fetus with X-linked recessive chondrodysplasia punctata (CDPX), steroid sulphatase (STS) deficiency, X-linked Kallmann syndrome (KAL), and a chromosome deletion at Xp22.31. Biochemical analysis of bone from this case indicates that CDPX is not a defect of vitamin K metabolism. Immunocytochemical study of the brain suggests that KAL is a defect in neuronal migration.     

Examination of hydroxamate-siderophore production by neritic eukaryotic marine phytoplankton

Species of neritic eukaryotic marine phytoplankton were investigated during 1982 for hydroxamate-type siderophore production under iron-sufficient and iron-deficient culture conditions. Three of the 5 Prorocentrum species examined produced siderophores. Prorocentrin, the extracellular hydroxamate-type siderophore isolated from P. minimum, was also produced by P. mariae-lebouriae and P. gracile. P. maximum and P. micans grew poorly in iron-deficient medium and did not produce intracellular or extracellular hydroxamate-type siderophores. Thalassiosira pseudonana and Dunaliella tertiolecta produced extracellular siderophores under iron-deficient conditions, but siderophore production was not detected in the other two species, Skeletonema costatum and Olisthodiscus luteus. Each species which produced extracellular Csaky-positive hydroxamate showed a similar pattern of production. Under iron-sufficient conditions there was no measurable siderophore found either intracellularly or extracellularly. Under iron-deficient culture conditions hydroxamate-type siderophore was produced 1 to 2 d after the cessation of growth in the stationary phase. Production was over a short period of time (1 to 2 d) and the siderophore did not remain in the medium. The rate of siderophore disappearance from the medium was similar to the rate of production. Each species which produced siderophores showed an increase in in vivo fluorescence coincidental with the disappearance of the extracellular siderophore from the culture medium. There was no corresponding increase in in vivo fluorescence in iron-sufficient cultures. It is suggested that in vivo fluorescence may be used as a screening procedure for determining hydroxamate-type siderophore production in eukaryotic phytoplankton. An hypothesis on the iron uptake mechanism is proposed.     

An Age-Structured Demographic Model for the Endangered Stephens' Kangaroo Rat

Effective conservation of endangered species often is hampered by inadequate knowledge of demography. We extracted information on survival and fecundity from an 18-month, live-trapping study of Dipodomys stephensi , and from this we developed an age-structured demographic model to assess population viability. Adult Stephens' kangaroo rats persisted longer than juveniles, and adult females persisted longer than adult males. Disappearance rates were high in the first months after initial capture. Thereafter, the fraction of animals persisting decreased slowly and in an approximately linear fashion on a semilogarithmic scale, suggesting age-independent mortality factors such as predation. Juvenile persistence did not differ substantially between two years of strikingly different rainfall. Onset of breeding followed the start of winter rains. Length of the breeding season, average number of litters per female, and the fraction of first-year females breeding were much greater in the year of higher rainfall. We propose a birth-pulse demographic model for D. stephensi that distinguishes juvenile and adult age classes. Temporal environmental variation can be modeled adequately with a constant survivorship schedule and variable fecundity determined by yearly precipitation. Several issues should be resolved, however, before conservation decisions are based on the model. Better estimates of juvenile survivorship are critical, the quantitative relationship between precipitation and fecundity must be determined, and the potential for density dependence and source-sink population dynamics must be evaluated.     

Magpies' tails: damage as an indicator of quality

Quality-indicating sexually selected traits may have their honesty maintained by their costs or by an inherent “revealing” nature. Long tails in birds are usually considered to be costly “handicaps”, but may have additional potential as revealing indicators through the incidence of breakage. Magpies Pica pica with unbroken and less abraded tails paired earlier, but did not nest or fledge young earlier than pairs with tails in poorer condition. Pairs mated assortatively by tail quality, and magpies with very broken tails remained unmated. Pairs in which both members had almost undamaged tails fledged more offspring than pairs with poorer tails. Tail quality did not correlate with the extent of any habitat type in the territory. Tail damage thus honestly indicated a magpie's reproductive potential, and the data are consistent with its having a role in mate choice, as a revealing element of tail morphology. Received: 28 March 1996 / Accepted after revision: 9 December 1996     

广东省耕地分等中的土壤肥力评价指标体系

土壤肥力评价是耕地分等的基础及重要组成部分。土壤肥力评价的关键是评价指标体系的确定，指标的选择原则主要有主导性原则、稳定性原则、差异性原则、分层次控制原则、定量分析与定性分析相结合原则。指标分值和权重的确定方法主要是模糊评价法和层次分析法，但必须依据土壤学的研究成果和生产实践经验。     

Response and resilience of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> to sudden dieback

We measured an array of biophysical and spectral variables to evaluate the response and recovery of Spartina alterniflora to a sudden dieback event in spring and summer 2004 within a low marsh in coastal Virginia, USA. S. alterniflora is a foundation species, whose loss decreases ecosystem services and potentiates ecosystem state change. Long-term records of the potential environmental drivers of dieback such as precipitation and tidal inundation did not evidence any particular anomalies, although Hurricane Isabel in fall 2003 may have been related to dieback. Transects were established across the interface between the dieback area and apparently healthy areas of marsh. Plant condition was classified based on ground cover within transects as dieback, intermediate and healthy. Numerous characteristics of S. alterniflora culms within each condition class were assessed including biomass, morphology and spectral attributes associated with photosynthetic pigments. Plants demonstrated evidence of stress in 2004 and 2005 beyond areas of obvious dieback and resilience at a multi-year scale. Resilience of the plants was evident in recovery of ground cover and biomass largely within 3 y, although a small remnant of dieback persisted for 8 y. Culms surviving within the dieback and areas of intermediate impact had modified morphological traits and spectral response that reflected stress. These morphometric and spectral differences among plant cover condition classes serve as guidelines for monitoring of dieback initiation, effects and subsequent recovery. Although a number of environmental and biotic parameters were assessed relative to causation, the reason for this particular dieback remains largely unknown, however.