Parallel evolution of multiple sex-chromosome systems in the phyllostomatid bats,Carollia andChoeroniscus

Resumen Se describen los cariotipos deCarollia perspicillata, C. brevicauda, yC. castanea de Costa Rica y del Perú, y deChoeroniscus godmani de Costa Rica. La sistema de multiple cromosomas sexuales de machosXY ₁ Y ₂/hembrasXX reportado por investigadores anteriores se encontraba en todos individuos con la excepcion deC. castanea del Perú yChoeroniscus godmani de Costa Rica. Estas poblaciones se consideran de haberse mantenido la sistema primitiva de cromosomas sexualesXX/XY.     

豚鼠耳蜗基底膜的振动特性

为探讨豚鼠耳蜗基底膜的听觉机制,利用多普勒激光测振技术进行了声音在28只成年健康豚鼠耳中传递的测试实验.将豚鼠麻醉后切断头取出听泡,采用电钻暴露其耳蜗基底膜,利用多普勒激光测振仪在给定的声压级、频率的纯音激励条件下测量豚鼠外耳道耳蜗基底膜的振动速度,并测量了中耳镫骨的振动速度.结果表明,豚鼠外耳道基底膜具有频率选择特性,而且其基底膜的振动具有行波特性.     

Empirical data sets are algorithmically compressible: reply to McAllister?

James McAllister’s 2003 article, ‘Algorithmic randomness in empirical data’, claims that empirical data sets are algorithmically random, and hence incompressible. We show that this claim is mistaken. We present theoretical arguments and empirical evidence for compressibility, and discuss the matter in the framework of Minimum Message Length (MML) inference.     

Primary forests are irreplaceable for sustaining tropical biodiversity

Human-driven land-use changes increasingly threaten biodiversity, particularly in tropical forests where both species diversity and human pressures on natural environments are high. The rapid conversion of tropical forests for agriculture, timber production and other uses has generated vast, human-dominated landscapes with potentially dire consequences for tropical biodiversity. Today, few truly undisturbed tropical forests exist, whereas those degraded by repeated logging and fires, as well as secondary and plantation forests, are rapidly expanding. Here we provide a global assessment of the impact of disturbance and land conversion on biodiversity in tropical forests using a meta-analysis of 138 studies. We analysed 2,220 pairwise comparisons of biodiversity values in primary forests (with little or no human disturbance) and disturbed forests. We found that biodiversity values were substantially lower in degraded forests, but that this varied considerably by geographic region, taxonomic group, ecological metric and disturbance type. Even after partly accounting for confounding colonization and succession effects due to the composition of surrounding habitats, isolation and time since disturbance, we find that most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity. Our results clearly indicate that when it comes to maintaining tropical biodiversity, there is no substitute for primary forests.     

Sharply increased mass loss from glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Mountain glaciers and ice caps are contributing significantly to present rates of sea level rise and will continue to do so over the next century and beyond. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, located off the northwestern shore of Greenland, contains one-third of the global volume of land ice outside the ice sheets, but its contribution to sea-level change remains largely unknown. Here we show that the Canadian Arctic Archipelago has recently lost 61?±?7?gigatonnes per year (Gt?yr(-1)) of ice, contributing 0.17?±?0.02 mm?yr(-1) to sea-level rise. Our estimates are of regional mass changes for the ice caps and glaciers of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago referring to the years 2004 to 2009 and are based on three independent approaches: surface mass-budget modelling plus an estimate of ice discharge (SMB+D), repeat satellite laser altimetry (ICESat) and repeat satellite gravimetry (GRACE). All three approaches show consistent and large mass-loss estimates. Between the periods 2004-2006 and 2007-2009, the rate of mass loss sharply increased from 31?±?8?Gt?yr(-1) to 92?±?12?Gt?yr(-1) in direct response to warmer summer temperatures, to which rates of ice loss are highly sensitive (64?±?14?Gt?yr(-1) per 1?K increase). The duration of the study is too short to establish a long-term trend, but for 2007-2009, the increase in the rate of mass loss makes the Canadian Arctic Archipelago the single largest contributor to eustatic sea-level rise outside Greenland and Antarctica.     

Soil microstructure in soils of the Colorado Plateau: the role of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus

The role of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus in cold-desert soil crusts is investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Crusts from sandstone-, limestone-, and gypsum-derived soils are examined. When dry, polysaccharide sheath material from this cyanobacterium can be seen winding through and across all three types of soil surfaces, attaching to and binding soil particles together. When wet, sheaths and living filaments can be seen absorbing water, swelling and covering soil surfaces even more extensively. Addition of negatively charged material, found both as sheath material and attached clay particles, may affect cation exchange capacity of these soils as well. As a result of these observations, we propose that the presence of this cyanobacterium may significantly enhance soil stability, moisture retention, and fertility of cold-desert soils.     

Preparative separation of nucleated cells from human bone marrow

Summary A comparison has been made between the separation of nucleated cells from human bone marrow aspirates by high mol.wt polymers and the buffy coat techniques.Acknowledgment. This investigation was supported by grant DHEW 5R01 CA 19997-02, awarded by the National Cancer Institute.