Marine and estuarine ecosystem and habitat classification

The Ecological Society of America and NOAA's Offices of Habitat Conservation and Protected Resources sponsored a workshop to develop a national marine and estuarine ecosystem classification system. Among the 22 people involved were scientists who had developed various regional classification systems and managers from NOAA and other federal agencies who might ultimately use this system for conservation and management. The objectives were to: (1) review existing global and regional classification systems; (2) develop the framework of a national classification system; and (3) propose a plan to expand the framework into a comprehensive classification system. Although there has been progress in the development of marine classifications in recent years, these have been either regionally focused (e.g., Pacific islands) or restricted to specific habitats (e.g., wetlands; deep seafloor). Participants in the workshop looked for commonalties across existing classification systems and tried to link these using broad scale factors important to ecosystem structure and function.

Synopsis of researcher meeting -- Bottlenose Dolphin Health & Risk Assessment Project, February 22-24, 2005

A meeting was convened on February 22-24, 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina to bring together researchers collaborating on the Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project to review and discuss preliminary health-related findings from captured dolphins during 2003 and 2004 in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), FL and Charleston (CHS), SC. Over 30 researchers with diverse research expertise representing government, academic and marine institutions participated in the 2-1/2 day meeting. The Bottlenose Dolphin HERA Project is a comprehensive, integrated, multi-disciplinary research program designed to assess environmental and anthropogenic stressors, as well as the health and long-term viability of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Standardized and comprehensive protocols are being used to evaluate dolphin health in the coastal ecosystems in the IRL and CHS. The Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project was initiated in 2003 by Dr. Patricia Fair at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service/Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and Dr. Gregory Bossart at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution under NMFS Scientific Research Permit No. 998-1678-00 issued to Dr. Bossart. Towards this end, this study focuses on developing tools and techniques to better identify health threats to these dolphins, and to develop links to possible environmental stressors. Thus, the primary objective of the Dolphin HERA Project is to measure the overall health and as well as the potential health hazards for dolphin populations in the two sites by performing screening-level risk assessments using standardized methods. The screening-level assessment involves capture, sampling and release activities during which physical examinations are performed on dolphins and a suite of nonlethal morphologic and clinicopathologic parameters, to be used to develop indices of dolphin health, are collected. Thus far, standardized health assessments have been performed on 155 dolphins during capture-release studies conducted in Years 2003 and 2004 at the two sites. A major collaboration has been established involving numerous individuals and institutions, which provide the project with a broad assessment capability toward accomplishing the goals and objectives of this project.

探索一种监测典型草原草场退化的新方法--结合群落样方调查资料和卫星遥感数据（TM）

大范围、实时、准确地监测典型草原地区草场退化或健康状况对于草原生态系统的保育、农牧业的可持续性发展具有非常重要的意义。比起传统的群落学研究方法，遥感技术对于监测大尺度的植被状况具有无可争议的优越性，并且已经被广泛引入监测植被覆盖变化的研究中。本项研究系统地分析、综述了过去用非遥感手段对放牧和草场退化的关注和研究，介绍了遥感技术应用于植被研究的理论基础、主要途径（植被指数）、有关领域的研究进展。特别是本文提出草场退化状况或整体健康状况可以由基干相互独立的层面表示，而过去监测植被变化主要依赖的NDVI等植被指数只能监测草原植被的个别层面（总量层）。 本文以草场放牧退化比较典型的内蒙古锡林河流域为研究对象，在进行了大量的野外样方调查的基础上，提出一种结合群落样方调查和遥感技术的监测草场健康状况的新方法。本文引入主成份分析方法（PCA），从包含12个反映群落各方面信息的变量中提取出3个有特定生态学意义的主成份，并进一步对其进行分析组合，得出一个能比较敏感、全面反映群落健康状况的新指标-草场健康指数（GHI）。 从6波段的植被光谱反射数据中比较理想地提取出2个主成份：可见光因子和红外光因子。表征群落总量、放牧退化的主成份和GHI与样方光谱反射值有相当的相关性，由此得到GHI与可光、红外光因子的回归模型。 应用此模型到卫星遥感数据（TM），得到GHI影像，并与同一数据的NDVI影像作对比研究，发现GHI在反映放牧等人为干扰对草原植被的影响效应方面比NDVI有明显的优点。此外，GHI影像对植被分布格局，特别是斑块结构有更好的显示效果。应用GHI到历史TM数据，对所研究地域的植被覆盖变化、农牧业的变迁模式等进行了定性研究。研究还发现有较长放牧史的过度放牧区的植被类型没有沿牧压梯度的规律性分布，而是呈随机斑块分布模式。

Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Pacific Climate (PACLIM) Workshop, Asilomar, California - April 19-22, 1994 [appendices]

The appendices include the workshop agenda, a list of poster presentations, and a list of attendees.

La plataforma submarina y la costa atlántica Argentina durante los últimos 22.000 años

La glaciaciones ocurridas en la región expusieron en diferente grado la actual plataforma continental Argentina (océano Atlántico sudoccidental). Este trabajo de divulgación científica da a conocer un modelo de evolución paleogeográfica de las costas de la Pampa y la Patagonia, y brinda la posibilidad de localizar temporalmente la formación de los principales rasgos costeros del extremo sur de América del sur. Se incluyen además otras lecturas sugeridas relacionadas al tema.

大蹼铃蟾抗菌肽22 对膀胱癌细胞株HLA-ABC以及DR表达影响的对照实验研究

　目的　探讨大蹼铃蟾抗菌肽22 (Maximin22) 对膀胱癌 细胞株HLA2DR 及HLA2ABC 表达的影响, 并与TNF2α、 IFN2α进行比较。方法　采用肿瘤细胞培养方法,流式细胞 仪检测各实验样品对膀胱癌细胞株T24 、BIU287 、SCaBER 的HLA2DR 及HLA2ABC 表达的影响。结果　Maximin22 对 不同的膀胱癌细胞株在小剂量下即有抑制作用,并呈剂量相 关性,各实验样品未见对各膀胱癌细胞株的HLA2DR 表达 有影响,Maximin22 、TNF2α对HLA2ABC 的表达均无影响; IFN2α则对HLA2ABC 的表达有上调作用。结论　Maximin2 2 、TNF2α抗癌机制与提高肿瘤细胞HLA2DR、ABC 的表达无 关, IFN2α可通过提高肿瘤细胞HLA2ABC 的表达提高T 细 胞对膀胱肿瘤的识别杀伤能力。

Isolation and preliminary characterization of a 22-kDa protein with trypsin inhibitory activity from toad Bufo andrewsi skin

A novel trypsin inhibitor termed BATI was purified to homogeneity from the skin extracts of toad Bufo andrewsi by successive ion-exchange, gel-filtration and reverse-phase chromatography. BATI is basic single chain glycoprotein, with apparent molecular weight of 22 kDa in SDS-PAGE. BATI is a thermal stable competitive inhibitor and effectively inhibits trypsin's catalytic activity on peptide substrate with the inhibitor constant (K-i) value of 14 nM and shows no inhibitory effect on chymotrypsin, thrombin and elastase. The N-terminal sequence of BATI is EKDSITD, which shows no similarity with other known trypsin inhibitors. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.