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An investigation was made on the biomass- and energy allocation in 1-4 year old Eucalyptus urophyllaxEucalyptus tereticornis plantations at Beipo Forest Farm of Suixi County in Guangdong Province. Stand age had significant effects on the retained biomass of the plantations (P<0.01). The biomass was in the range of 10.61-147.28 t·hm-2. Both the total biomass and the biomass of above- and belowground components increased with increasing stand age. The proportions of leaf , branch and bark biomass to total biomass decreased with year, while that of stem biomass was in reverse. The biomass allocation of the components in 1- and 2- year-old plantations decreased in order of stem>branch>bark>root>leaf, and that in 3- and 4-year-old plantations was in order of stem>root>branch>bark>leaf. The mean ash content (AC) of the five components at different stand ages ranged from 0.47% to 5.91%, being the highest in bark and the lowest in stem. The mean gross caloric value (GCV) and ash free caloric value (AFCV) of different components ranged from 17.33 to 20.60 kJ·g-1 and from 18.42 to 21.59 kJ·g-1 respectively. Of all the components, leaf had the highest GVC and AFCV, while bark had the lowest ones. Stand age had significant effects on the GVC of branch, stem, and bark, and on the AFCV of leaf, stem, and bark (P<0.05), but the effects on the GVC of leaf and root, the AFCV of branch and root, and the GVC and AFCV of individual trees were not significant (P>0.05). The retained energy of 1-4-year-old plantations ranged from 199.98 to 2837.20 GJ·hm-2, with significant differences among the stand ages (P<0.01). The retained energy of various components and plantations increased with stand age, and the energy allocation of various components had the same trend as biomass allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of exposure to atrazine on meiosis and spermatogenesis in adult male mice., Methods: We divided 16 adult male Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) mice into a solvent control and an atrazine exposure group of an equal number and intraperitoneally injected with solvent dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and atrazine at 100 mg/kg/d, respectively. After 4 weeks of treatment, we obtained the body and testis weights of the mice, observed the changes in the testicular histomorphology, examined the cell apoptosis in the testis tissue, and determined the expressions of meiosis-related key genes in the spermatocytes by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR., Results: Compared with the controls, the mice treated with atrazine showed significantly less increase in the body weight (［11.2 ± 0.17］ vs ［8.29 ± 0.51］ g, P < 0.05) and testis weight (［0.28 ± 0.01］ vs ［0.24 ± 0.01］ g, P < 0.05), loosely arranged and thinned lumens of seminiferous tubules, disordered arrangement and reduced number of spermatogenic cells, decreased sperm concentration (［2.36 ± 0.14］ vs ［0.90 ± 0.12］ ×10⁶/ml, P < 0.01) and increased percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm in the epididymis tail (［8.60 ± 1.07］% vs ［18.02 ± 1.71］%, P < 0.05), elevated apoptosis rate of spermatocytes, and down-regulated the expressions of SCP1, SCP3 and Rad51 mRNA in the spermatocytes (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: Atrazine can reduce spermatogenesis in male mice by damaging testicular morphology, increasing the apoptosis of spermatocytes and down-regulating the expressions of meiosis-related genes in the spermatocytes.

An investigation was made on the biomass- and energy allocation in 1-4-year-old Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus tereticornis plantations at Beipo Forest Farm of Suixi County in Guangdong Province. Stand age had significant effects on the retained biomass of the plantations (P < 0.01). The biomass was in the range of 10.61-147.28 t x hm(-2). Both the total biomass and the biomass of above- and belowground components increased with increasing stand age. The proportions of leaf-, branch- and bark biomass to total biomass decreased with year, while that of stem biomass was in reverse. The biomass allocation of the components in 1- and 2-year-old plantations decreased in order of stem > branch > bark > root > leaf, and that in 3- and 4 -year-old plantations was in order of stem > root > branch > bark > leaf. The mean ash content (AC) of the five components at different stand ages ranged from 0.47% to 5.91%, being the highest in bark and the lowest in stem. The mean gross caloric value (GCV) and ash free caloric value (AFCV) of different components ranged from 17.33 to 20. 60 kJ x g(-1) and from 18.42 to 21.59 kJ x g(-1) respectively. Of all the components, leaf had the highest GVC and AFCV, while bark had the lowest ones. Stand age had significant effects on the GVC of branch, stem, and bark, and on the AFCV of leaf, stem, and bark (P < 0.05), but the effects on the GVC of leaf and root, the AFCV of branch and root, and the GVC and AFCV of individual trees were not significant (P > 0.05). The retained energy of 1-4-year-old plantations ranged from 199.98 to 2837.20 GJ x hm(-2), with significant differences among the stand ages (P < 0.01). The retained energy of various components and plantations increased with stand age, and the energy allocation of various components had the same trend as biomass allocation.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of 9Tc(m)-HL91 imaging in prediction of 34 radiotherapy sensitivity of naqsopharyngeal cancer( NPC) and its relationship with prognosis., Methods: patients with NPC confirmed by pathology, staging from II-IVa, underwent 99Tc(m)-HL91 SPECT imaging one week before radiotherapy. 18 of them received adjuvant chemotherapy. The hypoxia in primary nasopharyngeal lesions and cervical lymph node metastases were calculated semi-quantitatively, and compared with clinical findings in medium-term therapy at 4 months and 1 year post therapy., Results: (1) There was no significant relationship between the total preliminary curative effect of adjuvant chemotherapy and the degree of nasopharyngeal lesion hypoxia (T/Mu, gamma = -0.394, P = 0.145; T/ Ce gamma = -0.510, P = 0.052). But there was a significant difference between the partial curative effect group and significant curative effect group. (2) The degree of NPC regression in the medium-term radiotherapy group was negatively correlated with the degree of hypoxia (T/Mu, gamma = -0.602; T/Ce, gamma = -0.643, P < 0.01). (3) 23 patients had good local control except one case with lung and bone metastasis 4 months post-therapy. The lesions disappeared or not developed in 6 patients (T/Mu 1.30 +/- 0.23, T/Ce 3.61 +/- 0.84). Two patients at stage III and IVa relapsed (T/Mu were 1.40 and 1.27, respectively; T/Ce were 4.10 and 3.85, respectively), there was no significant difference. (4) The degree of lymph node hypoxia had no correlation with the curative effect on medium-term radiotherapy., Conclusion: 99 Tc(m)-HL91 hypoxia imaging may predict sensitivity to radiotherapy in patients with NPC, with a potential help to carry out individual therapy. However, further investigation is needed to ascertain whether it could predict the long-time curative effect on NPC radiotherapy.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical therapeutic value of (188)Re-HEDP combined with pamidronate in breast cancer with bone metastasis., Methods: Forty-eight patients with breast cancer with multi-bone metastases were randomly divided into three groups:15 patients received (188)Re-HEDP (group A), 15 patients received pamidronate (group B) and 18 patients were treated by (188)Re-HEDP plus pamidronate (group C)., Results: The overall pain relief rate was 73.3%, 80.0%, 100.0% in groups A, B and C. The response rate of bone metastasis was 40.0%, 33.3%, 66.7% in groups A, B and C respectively. The therapeutic effect of group C was better than those of groups A and B (P < 0.05), without any significance in the difference (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: The therapeutic effect of (188)Re-HEDP combined with pamidronate for breast cancer with bone metastasis is remarkable in bone pain relief and bone metastasis control, which is better than either (188)Re-HEDP or pamidronate alone.