Mikania micrantha (bitter vine).

M. micrantha is a fast growing vine, native to Central and South America. It was intentionally introduced into a number of countries and has since become a major weed in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and is still extending its range. However, it has not yet been recorded in Africa. Once established, M. micrantha can quickly smother other vegetation, including native trees, plantation species and agricultural crops, killing plants and/or decreasing yield and biodiversity. In Nepal, the vulnerable greater one-horned rhinoceros is under threat as M. micrantha outcompetes plant species on which it browses. Control of this species is difficult as it produces are large number of seed, can readily shoot from runners and suckers and can regenerate from stem fragments. This species has been the target of a biological programme in many countries.

In Vivo and In Vitro Genome-Wide Profiling of RNA Secondary Structures Reveals Key Regulatory Features in Plasmodium falciparum

It is widely accepted that the structure of RNA plays important roles in a number of biological processes, such as polyadenylation, splicing, and catalytic functions. Dynamic changes in RNA structure are able to regulate the gene expression programme and can be used as a highly specific and subtle mechanism for governing cellular processes. However, the nature of most RNA secondary structures in Plasmodium falciparum has not been determined. To investigate the genome-wide RNA secondary structural features at single-nucleotide resolution in P. falciparum, we applied a novel high-throughput method utilizing the chemical modification of RNA structures to characterize these structures. Structural data from parasites are in close agreement with the known 18S ribosomal RNA secondary structures of P. falciparum and can help to predict the in vivo RNA secondary structure of a total of 3,396 transcripts in the ring-stage and trophozoite-stage developmental cycles. By parallel analysis of RNA structures in vivo and in vitro during the Plasmodium parasite ring-stage and trophozoite-stage intraerythrocytic developmental cycles, we identified some key regulatory features. Recent studies have established that the RNA structure is a ubiquitous and fundamental regulator of gene expression. Our study indicate that there is a critical connection between RNA secondary structure and mRNA abundance during the complex biological programme of P. falciparum. This work presents a useful framework and important results, which may facilitate further research investigating the interactions between RNA secondary structure and the complex biological programme in P. falciparum. The RNA secondary structure characterized in this study has potential applications and important implications regarding the identification of RNA structural elements, which are important for parasite infection and elucidating host-parasite interactions and parasites in the environment.

Den Sinn der Sinne erschließen

According to Cassirer, humanity is defined by the activity of the spirit. In other places, he attempts to explain the transition from ›life‹ to ›spirit‹, but this proj- ect seems hampered by his taking spirit to be a phenomenon of consciousness. Plessner’s »aesthesiology« opens up an alternative route. He discloses the mean- ing of ›spirit‹ or ›understanding‹ by an inquiry concerning the work of the senses in the context of behavior. This paper shows that for Plessner behavior is closely related to its environment while at the same time not restricted to a biological programme.

Body Mass Index, Underweight and Overweight in Children 3 to 5 Years of Age from Skopje/ Индекс На Телесната Тежина, Неисхранетост И Прекумерна Исхранетост Кај Деца На 3–5 Години Од Скопје

The aim of this research is to present body mass index (BMI) data in children 3-5 years of age from Skopje and provide the information on the prevalence of different categories of nutritional status during the early childhood. Material and methods: The study included 420 preschool children (210 boys and 210 girls). Stature and body weight were measured, and the BMI value was calculated. Twelve anthropometric parameters were measured using standard equipment and measurement technique according to the International Biological Programme. Results: The majority of anthropometrical parameters have shown significant age and sex specific differences in favor of male subjects. Values at the 50th percentile in our male subjects aged 3, 4 and 5 years for the weight-for-age index were 19 kg, 19.1 and 21 kg, respectively whereas in the female subjects the corresponding values were 16.8 kg, 20 kg and 21 kg. The height-for-age index values corresponding to the 50th percentile showed slightly higher values in our male subjects (100 cm, 109.5 cm and 116 cm) than those in our female subjects (102 cm, 108.5 cm and 116 cm). The values of 50th percentile of BMI in our males subjects were 18.1 kg/m², 16.2 kg/m² and 16 kg/m² whereas in our females were 16.5 kg/m², 16.7 kg/m² and 16.4 kg/m². Conclusion: These results show that underweight is a health problem of the rising generation in Skopje and needs to be considered along with the problem of overweight. It is recommended that the detected values could be applied for evaluation of deviations in growth and nutritional status in children aged 3-5.

Nutrients efficiency for biomass production of spruce and Beech

The paper assesses the major contribution of Prof Ing Emil Klimo, DrSc, done as part of research into geobiochemical cycle within the International Biological Programme and the Man and Biosphere scheme. It also explain findings of studying beech and spruce ecosystems. It is noted that spruce can make better use of stock of nutrients on the oligotrophic soils to generate biomass compare with beech. As a result, spruce is much more efficient at rather poor sites, even when it grows outside its natural range.

Somatotype of Top-Level Serbian Rhythmic Gymnasts

Body size and build influence performance in many sports, especially in those belonging to the group of female aesthetic sports (rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, and figure skating). These sports pose high specific demands upon the functional, energy, motor and psychological capacities of athletes, but also upon the size, body build and composition of the performers, particularly of the top-level female athletes. The study of the top athletes (rhythmic gymnasts, in this case) may provide valuable information on the morphological requirements for achieving success in this sport. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to analyze the somatotype of 40 Serbian top-level rhythmic gymnasts, aged 13.04±2.79, and to form the five age group categories. The anthropometric variables included body height, body mass, the selected diameters, girths and skinfolds, and the Heath-Carter anthropometric somatotype. All of the anthropometric data were collected according to International Biological Programme, and then processed in the Somatotype 1.2. The applied analysis of variance indicated an increase in endomorphic component with age. The obtained results show that the balanced ectomorph is a dominant somatotype, being similar for all of the athletes that took part in the research (3.54-3.24-4.5). These results are in line with the ones obtained in previous studies.

Long-term depression: a cell biological view

Recent studies of the molecular mechanisms of long-term depression (LTD) suggest a crucial role for the signalling pathways of apoptosis (programmed cell death) in the weakening and elimination of synapses and dendritic spines. With this backdrop, we suggest that LTD can be considered as the electrophysiological aspect of a larger cell biological programme of synapse involution, which uses localized apoptotic mechanisms to sculpt synapses and circuits without causing cell death.

The Shortgrass Steppe: The Region and Research Sites

The central grassland region of North America (Fig. 1.1) is the largest contiguous grassland environment on earth. Prior to European settlement, it was a vast, treeless area characterized by dense head-high grasses in the wet eastern portion, and very short sparse grasses in the dry west. As settlers swept across the area, they replaced native grasslands with croplands, most intensively in the east, and less so in the west (Fig. 1.2). The most drought-prone and least productive areas have survived as native grasslands, and the shortgrass steppe occupies the warmest, driest, least productive locations. James Michener (1974) provided an apt description of the harshness of the shortgrass region in his book Centennial:… It is not a hospitable land, like that farther east in Kansas or back near the Appalachians. It is mean and gravelly and hard to work. It lacks an adequate topsoil for plowing. It is devoid of trees or easy shelter. A family could wander for weeks and never 4 nd enough wood to build a house. (p. 64)… The objective of this chapter is to introduce the shortgrass steppe (Fig. 1.3) and its record of ecological research. First we present an ecological history of the shortgrass steppe since the Tertiary, and provide the geographic and climatic context for the region. Second we describe the major research sites, and the history of the three major entities or programs that have shaped much of the science done in the shortgrass steppe: the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)–Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the International Biological Programme (IBP), and the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program. Grasses have been an important component of the shortgrass steppe of North America since the Miocene (5–24 million years ago) (Axelrod, 1985; Stebbins, 1981). Before that, during the Paleocene and Eocene (34–65 million years ago), the vegetation was a mixture of temperate and tropical mesophytic forests. Two causes have been proposed as explanations for this ancient change from forest to grassland. First, global temperatures decreased rapidly during the Oligocene (24–34 million years ago), creating conditions for a drier climate. These drier conditions, combined with a renewal of the uplift of the Rocky Mountains that had begun during the Paleocene, left the Great Plains in a rain shadow.