岭南粤东北地区晚第四纪红土与棕黄色沉积物的古气候转变记录

通过对南岭以南的粤东北地区河流沿岸晚第四纪地质调查, 并主要以对临江地层剖面为代表的红土与棕黄色粉砂的时代、主氧化物——SiO₂, Al₂O₃, TOFE(Fe₂O₃+FeO)和CIA值反映的古环境的研究结果认为, 该地主要分布于一级阶地的红土属末次间冰期(距今132~73 ka)湿热的类似于现代热带北缘季风气候环境背景下形成的网纹红土; 上覆棕黄色粉砂层主要是末次冰期(距今73~11 ka)暖温带季风气候环境的堆积, 其中的风成砂——LJ3层位代表了其时气候恶化的极端时期. 这一看法与前人对岭南及其以东的大量的古生物指示的古生态的研究结果颇为吻合. 由此表明, 粤东北甚至整个岭南地区从末次间冰期到末次冰期、从红土为嗣后的棕黄色粉砂沉积替代(甚至从大熊猫-剑齿象动物群演替为澎湖动物群), 生物气候带确实经历了一场大规模的急剧的古地理环境变迁, 这一研究可为全球变化影响下的中国低纬区域万年尺度的环境响应提供一个重要的地质学实证.     

What is the environment in environmental health research? Perspectives from the ethics of science

Environmental health research produces scientific knowledge about environmental hazards crucial for public health and environmental justice movements that seek to prevent or reduce exposure to these hazards. The environment in environmental health research is conceptualized as the range of possible social, biological, chemical, and/or physical hazards or risks to human health, some of which merit study due to factors such as their probability and severity, the feasibility of their remediation, and injustice in their distribution. This paper explores the ethics of identifying the relevant environment for environmental health research, as judgments involved in defining an environmental hazard or risk, judgments of that hazard or risk's probability, severity, and/or injustice, as well as the feasibility of its remediation, all ought to appeal to non-epistemic as well as epistemic values. I illustrate by discussing the case of environmental lead, a housing-related hazard that remains unjustly distributed by race and class and is particularly dangerous to children. Examining a controversy in environmental health research ethics where researchers tested multiple levels of lead abatement in lead-contaminated households, I argue that the broader perspective on the ethics of environmental health research provided in the first part of this paper may have helped prevent this controversy.     

New bisexual form of Cavernocypris subterranea (Wolf, 1920) (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from Idaho

Males of Cavernocypris subterranea were found for the first time in an Idaho spring. The bisexual form is described on soft body parts and valves. The genus Cavernocypris now includes 2 bisexual and 1 parthenogenteic species.     

Second nesting record and northward advance of the Great-tailed Grackle ( Quiscalus mexicanus ) in Nevada

The second nesting record for the Great - tailed Grackle ( Quiscalus mexicanus ) in Nevada is reported from the central part of the state approximately 240 km north of the previous record. Since 1912 this species has undergone a dramatic northward extension of its previous range in the United States, presumably as a result of increased agricultural irrigation in areas that were previously desert or short - grass prairie.         

New records and range extensions of species of Dipogon (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) in Colorado

Four species of Dipogon are recorded from Colorado for the first time. These are hurdi Evans, pulchripennis (Cresson), graenicheri Banks, and brevis (Cresson). All are inhabitants of wooded areas and are believed to nest in cavities in trees. Notes are presented on habitat and prey of these 4 species and of the recently described species kiowa Evans.     

The effects of varied densities on the growth and emigration of adult cutthroat trout and brook trout in fenced stream enclosures

We evaluated the effects of various density treatments on adult fish growth and emigration rates between Bonneville cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki utah and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis in stream enclosures in Beaver Creek, Idaho. We used 3 density treatments (low, ambient, and high fish densities) to evaluate density-related effects and to ensure a response. Intraspecific ambient-density tests using cutthroat trout only were also performed. Results indicated an absence of cage effects in the stream enclosures and no differences in fish growth between ambient-density stream-enclosure fish and free-range fish. Brook trout outgrew and moved less than cutthroat trout in the stream enclosures, especially as density increased. In all 3 density treatments, brook trout gained more weight than cutthroat trout, with brook trout gaining weight in each density treatment and cutthroat trout losing weight at the highest density. At high densities, cutthroat trout attempted to emigrate more frequently than brook trout in sympatry and allopatry. We observed a negative correlation between growth and emigration for interspecific cutthroat trout, indicating a possible competitive response due to the presence of brook trout. We observed similar responses for weight and emigration in trials of allopatric cutthroat trout, indicating strong intraspecific effects as density increased. While cutthroat trout showed a response to experimental manipulation with brook trout at different densities, there has been long-term coexistence between these species in Beaver Creek. This system presents a unique opportunity to study the mechanisms that lead cutthroat trout to coexist with rather than be replaced by nonnative brook trout.     

Occurence and effect of Chrysomyxa pirolata cone rust on Picea pungens in Utah

In a rare 1969 epidemic, spruce cone rust caused by Chrysomyxa pirolata infected 40 – 100 percent of trees and 20 – 67 percent of cones on riparian Colorado blue spruce on plots located in a 2200 – 2400 m elevational zone in Huntington Canyon of central Utah. Uredinial and telial sporulation on Pyrola spp. began in mid - June, a time closely correlated with opening of pistillate spruce cones. Come phenology and host habitat, as influenced by elevation, are apparently important factors in the restricted niche of the cone rust fungus in Utah. Several preceding consecutive years with extended periods of spring and fall moisture were associated with occurrence of the epidemic, although no cause - and - effect relationship was established. Weather records indicate that these events are infrequent in this climatic zone, and there was no detectable recurrence of cone rust for at least 9 years following 1969. Outwardly normal seeds developed in diseased cones, but seed germinability was reduced by 25 percent. Aecial spore masses between cone scales, cone resinosis, and distortion of cone scales prevented seed dispersal to the extent that the seed crop was effectually destroyed.     

Wnt and lithium: a common destiny in the therapy of nervous system pathologies?

Wnt signaling is required for neurogenesis, the fate of neural progenitors, the formation of neuronal circuits during development, neuron positioning and polarization, axon and dendrite development and finally for synaptogenesis. This signaling pathway is also implicated in the generation and differentiation of glial cells. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of action of Wnt signaling pathways and their implication in the development and correct functioning of the nervous system. We also illustrate how a dysregulated Wnt pathway could lead to psychiatric, neurodegenerative and demyelinating pathologies. Lithium, used for the treatment of bipolar disease, inhibits GSK3β, a central enzyme of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Thus, lithium could, to some extent, mimic Wnt pathway. We highlight the possible dialogue between lithium therapy and modulation of Wnt pathway in the treatment of the diseases of the nervous system.