Plant invasion and fragmentation indirectly and contrastingly affect native plants and grassland arthropods.

Plant invasion and habitat fragmentation have a detrimental effect on biodiversity in nearly all types of ecosystems. We compared the direct and indirect effects of the invasion of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) on biodiversity patterns in different-sized Hungarian forest-steppe fragments. We assessed vegetation structure, measured temperature and soil moisture, and studied organisms with different ecological roles in invaded and non-invaded sites of fragments: plants, bees, butterflies, flower-visiting wasps, flies, true bugs, and spiders.

Contribution of cultural heritage values to steppe conservation on ancient burial mounds of Eurasia.

Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. We used a data set containing more than 1000 records on localities, land cover, protection status, and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (kurgans); we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth.

Agricultural spider decline: long-term trends under constant management conditions.

There is widespread evidence for a worldwide trend of insect decline, but we have much fewer data about recent temporal trends in other arthropod groups, including spiders. Spiders can be hypothesised to similarly decline because of trophic dependence on insects and being equally sensitive to local and global environmental changes. Background trends in arthropod populations can be verified if we decouple large-scale environmental transitions, such as climate change, from local factors.

Urbanization decreases species richness, and increases abundance in dry climates whereas decreases in wet climates: A global meta-analysis.

Soil invertebrates have an essential role in decomposition, nutrient turnover and soil structure formation, all of which are strongly threatened by urbanization. Sealing, compaction by trampling and pollution destroy and degrade city soils and potentially damage soil-living invertebrates. The existing literature on how urbanization affects soil invertebrates is inconsistent, presenting both negative and positive effects.

Biologia Futura: landscape perspectives on farmland biodiversity conservation.

European nature conservation has a strong focus on farmland harbouring threatened species that mainly co-occur with traditional agriculture shaped way before the green revolution. Increased land-use intensity in agriculture has caused an alarming decline in farmland biodiversity during the last century. How can a landscape perspective contribute to fostering our understanding on causes and consequences of farmland biodiversity decline and improving the effectiveness of conservation measures? To answer these questions, we discuss the importance of landscape compositional and configurational heterogeneity, understanding ecological mechanisms determining how landscape structure affects farmland biodiversity and considering the interplay of farmland biodiversity and ecosystem service conservation.

Winter-Active Spider Fauna is Affected by Plantation Forest Type.

Plantations of non-native trees for commercial use are common practice in Europe. They are known to have severe ecological impacts on arthropod fauna by altering microclimatic conditions and reducing microhabitat diversity. However, the effect of plantation tree species on winter-active fauna is relatively unknown.

The former Iron Curtain still drives biodiversity-profit trade-offs in German agriculture.

Agricultural intensification drives biodiversity loss and shapes farmers' profit, but the role of legacy effects and detailed quantification of ecological-economic trade-offs are largely unknown. In Europe during the 1950s, the Eastern communist bloc switched to large-scale farming by forced collectivization of small farms, while the West kept small-scale private farming. Here we show that large-scale agriculture in East Germany reduced biodiversity, which has been maintained in West Germany due to >70% longer field edges than those in the East.

Sparse trees and shrubs confers a high biodiversity to pastures: Case study on spiders from Transylvania.

The integration of food production and biodiversity conservation represents a key challenge for sustainability. Several studies suggest that even small structural elements in the landscape can make a substantial contribution to the overall biodiversity value of the agricultural landscapes. Pastures can have high biodiversity potential.

Physiological and molecular responses to heavy metal stresses suggest different detoxification mechanism of Populus deltoides and P. x canadensis.

Plants have divergent defense mechanisms against the harmful effects of heavy metals present in excess in soils and groundwaters. Poplars (Populus spp.) are widely cultivated because of their rapid growth and high biomass production, and members of the genus are increasingly used as experimental model organisms of trees and for phytoremediation purposes.

[Pharmacological prophylaxis of vestibulo-autonomous syndrome (motion sickness) in model investigations].

The authors summarize results of multiyear investigations at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of induced motion sickness and development of prophylactic medicaments representing various classes of biologically active substances (choline blocking agents, sympathomimetics, antihistamines etc.) prescribed singularly or in an combination based on the knowledge of MS-provoking inter-receptor interactions and therapeutic effects of drugs.

The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster.

The fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most intensively studied organisms in biology and serves as a model system for the investigation of many developmental and cellular processes common to higher eukaryotes, including humans. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of nearly all of the approximately 120-megabase euchromatic portion of the Drosophila genome using a whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategy supported by extensive clone-based sequence and a high-quality bacterial artificial chromosome physical map. Efforts are under way to close the remaining gaps; however, the sequence is of sufficient accuracy and contiguity to be declared substantially complete and to support an initial analysis of genome structure and preliminary gene annotation and interpretation.

Comparative genomics of the eukaryotes.

A comparative analysis of the genomes of Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae-and the proteins they are predicted to encode-was undertaken in the context of cellular, developmental, and evolutionary processes. The nonredundant protein sets of flies and worms are similar in size and are only twice that of yeast, but different gene families are expanded in each genome, and the multidomain proteins and signaling pathways of the fly and worm are far more complex than those of yeast. The fly has orthologs to 177 of the 289 human disease genes examined and provides the foundation for rapid analysis of some of the basic processes involved in human disease.

An exploration of the sequence of a 2.9-Mb region of the genome of Drosophila melanogaster: the Adh region.

A contiguous sequence of nearly 3 Mb from the genome of Drosophila melanogaster has been sequenced from a series of overlapping P1 and BAC clones. This region covers 69 chromosome polytene bands on chromosome arm 2L, including the genetically well-characterized "Adh region." A computational analysis of the sequence predicts 218 protein-coding genes, 11 tRNAs, and 17 transposable element sequences.

[The Jupiter-2 slow-rotation system].

The experience of space missions shows that functional disorders in crewmembers on the type of space motion sickness (SMS) may develop on the initial stage of flight. Longer exposure in micro-g causes a wide range of debilitative changes in the vital body systems. Artificial gravity produced by spacecraft rotation might be a universal tool to counteract the impacts of prolonged microgravity on the human body.

Interactions between megakaryocytes and sinus wall. An ultrastructural study on bone marrow tissue in primary (essential) thrombocythemia.

An ultrastructural study was performed on bone marrow tissue in primary (essential) thrombocythemia to evaluate possible interactions between megakaryocytes and sinusoids. In addition to a preferential localization of megakaryocytes in the subendothelial space, two different kinds of cytoplasmic processes could be discriminated penetrating the sinus wall. Serial sections disclosed that megakaryocytes developed multiple pseudopod-like plump projections derived from their peripheral zone and devoid of organelles.

[Human equilibrium under conditions of rotation with different levels of increased weightiness].

This paper discusses the gravity (of up to 2 g) effect on the upright stability of 16 test subjects exposed either to centrifugation or to artificially increased body weight (with uniformly distributed loading). During centrifugation the stabilographic parameters increased significantly at every gravity level. In the experiments with artificially increased body weight the area of the vector stabilograms also increased significantly.

[Effectiveness of the preparation Gavinton in preventing motion sickness].

The effectiveness of the Hungarian drug kavinton used to prevent motion sickness was assessed. During the study 8 motion sickness susceptible test subjects were kept in a chamber rotating at a rate of 6 rpm for 5 hours. The effectiveness of the drug taken regularly during the exposure was compared with that of scopolamine and placebo taken as a single dose.

[Human tolerance to rotation at different levels of increased gravitation].

The effects of acceleration of different value (up to 2 g) on the level of motion sickness, vestibular and postural reactions to rotation were studied. The experiments were carried out in a centrifuge equipped with a cabin that could be mounted at a different distance from the axis of rotation. Three experimental runs were conducted with a rate of rotation of 15.