Sea level rise adaptation: emerging lessons for local policy development

Many coastal communities across the United States are beginning to plan for climate-related sea level rise. While impacts and solutions will vary with local conditions, jurisdictions which have begun this process seem to pass through three common stages when developing policy for local sea level rise adaptation: l) building awareness about local sea level rise threats, 2) undertaking analyses of local vulnerabilities, and 3) developing plans and policies to deal with these vulnerabilities. The purpose of this paper is to help advance community dialogue and further inform local decision-makers about key elements and steps for addressing climate-related sea level rise. It summarizes the results of a project the Marine Policy Institute (MPI) undertook during 2011-12 to review experiences from fourteen U.S. coastal jurisdictions representing a variety of city, county, and state efforts with sea level adaptation. There are many more initiatives underway than those reflected in this sample, but the “focus jurisdictions” were selected because of the extensive information publically available on their experiences and lessons being learned that could provide insights for coastal communities, especially in Southwest Florida.

中国早期观音座莲目的生殖器官及其系统学意义

本文对采自中国二叠纪、三叠纪地层的观音座莲目四个属的植物即：Cyathocarpus、星囊蕨属、朱氏蕨属和线囊蕨属的生殖器官进行了详细研究。探讨了这些植物在地质历史时期的演化方向，阐明了它们在整个观音座莲目系统演化中的意义。文章最后对整个观音座莲目植物（包括化石及现代类群）的系统演化运用分支分析进行了探讨。并结合新的证据对两侧对称性聚合囊的起源提出了新的假说。 在星囊蕨属的研究中共涉及五个种。研究的重点集中在聚合囊的对称性、着生方式、结构以及聚合囊的愈合程度等性状上。通过研究，文章对星囊蕨属的属征进行了修订。探讨了星囊蕨属自晚石炭世至晚侏罗世的演化趋势。但星囊蕨属不是一个自然属。对于矿化化石与压型／印痕化石关系的处理作者建议保持两套命名系统。研究还表明在压型／印痕化石中，聚合囊的着生方式是一个很难观察的特征。聚合囊的形状以及聚合囊中孢子囊的愈合程序等由于保存原因或植物不同发育时期的影响很容易发生改变。 朱氏蕨属的主要特征为生殖小羽片束羊齿型，聚合囊星囊蕨型，聚合囊在中脉的每一侧有2－3排。星囊蕨型聚合囊自晚石炭世出现至晚侏罗世灭绝存在两条演化路线。一条为星囊蕨型聚合囊自晚石炭世出现至晚侏罗世灭绝，聚合囊在中脉的每一侧始终保持一排。另一条为：星囊蕨型聚合囊在中脉每一侧的排数自二叠纪中期开始从一排增加到2－3排并伴随着生死叶形态的改变，即从栉羊齿型叶向束羊齿型叶的变化。这一演化路线最终灭绝于二叠经末期。 坚直线囊蕨的聚合囊呈两侧对称，无柄，聚合囊的基部陷入叶片组织，孢子囊在开裂前相互愈合，开裂后相互分离。研究表明本种的开裂方式是通过位于孢子囊腹面的的纵缝进行而不是通过顶端开孔。本属在演化上可能与现代合囊蕨属的起源有关，但线囊蕨属不是一个自然属。

Gardening the genome: DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

DNA methylation has two essential roles in plants and animals - defending the genome against transposons and regulating gene expression. Recent experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana have begun to address crucial questions about how DNA methylation is established and maintained. One cardinal insight has been the discovery that DNA methylation can be guided by small RNAs produced through RNA-interference pathways. Plants and mammals use a similar suite of DNA methyltransferases to propagate DNA methylation, but plants have also developed a glycosylase-based mechanism for removing DNA methylation, and there are hints that similar processes function in other organisms.

A single amino acid defines cross-species reactivity of tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) CD1d to human invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells

P>The non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecule CD1d presents lipid antigens to invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, which are an important part of the innate immune system. CD1d/iNKT systems are highly conserved in evoluti

Natural selection on EPAS1 (HIF2 alpha) associated with low hemoglobin concentration in Tibetan highlanders

By impairing both function and survival, the severe reduction in oxygen availability associated with high-altitude environments is likely to act as an agent of natural selection. We used genomic and candidate gene approaches to search for evidence of such genetic selection. First, a genome-wide allelic differentiation scan (GWADS) comparing indigenous highlanders of the Tibetan Plateau (3,200 3,500 m) with closely related lowland Han revealed a genome-wide significant divergence across eight SNPs located near EPAS1. This gene encodes the transcription factor HIF2 alpha, which stimulates production of red blood cells and thus increases the concentration of hemoglobin in blood. Second, in a separate cohort of Tibetans residing at 4,200 m, we identified 31 EPAS1 SNPs in high linkage disequilibrium that correlated significantly with hemoglobin concentration. The sex-adjusted hemoglobin concentration was, on average, 0.8 g/dL lower in the major allele homozygotes compared with the heterozygotes. These findings were replicated in a third cohort of Tibetans residing at 4,300 m. The alleles associating with lower hemoglobin concentrations were correlated with the signal from the GWADS study and were observed at greatly elevated frequencies in the Tibetan cohorts compared with the Han. High hemoglobin concentrations are a cardinal feature of chronic mountain sickness offering one plausible mechanism for selection. Alternatively, as EPAS1 is pleiotropic in its effects, selection may have operated on some other aspect of the phenotype. Whichever of these explanations is correct, the evidence for genetic selection at the EPAS1 locus from the GWADS study is supported by the replicated studies associating function with the allelic variants.

Effects of unconditioned and conditioned aversive stimuli in an intense fear conditioning paradigm on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal CA1 area in vivo

Repeated vivid recalls or flashbacks of traumatic memories and memory deficits are the cardinal features of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The underlying mechanisms are not fully understood yet. Here, we examined the effects of very strong fear conditioning (20 pairings of a light with a 1.5-mA, 0.5-s foot shock) and subsequent reexposure to the conditioning context (chamber A), a similar context (chamber B), and/or to the fear conditioned stimulus (CS) (a light) on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal CA1 area in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. The conditioning procedure resulted in very strong conditioned fear, as reflected by high levels of persistent freezing, to both the contexts and to the CS, 24 h after fear conditioning. The induction of long-term potentiation ON was blocked immediately after fear conditioning. It was still markedly impaired 24 h after fear conditioning; reexposure to the conditioning chamber A (CA) or to a similar chamber 13 (CB) did not affect the impairment. However, presentation of the CS in the CA exacerbated the impairment of LTP, whereas the CS presentation in a CB ameliorated the impairment so that LTP induction did not differ from that of control groups. The induction of long-term depression (LTD) was facilitated immediately, but not 24 h, after fear conditioning. Only reexposure to the CS in the CA, but not reexposure to either chamber A or B alone, or the CS in chamber B, 24 h after conditioning, reinstated the facilitation of LTD induction. These data demonstrate that unconditioned and conditioned aversive stimuli in an intense fear conditioning paradigm can have profound effects on hippocampal synaptic plasticity, which may aid to understand the mechanisms underlying impairments of hippocampus-dependent memory by stress or in PTSD. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.