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Aims Aquatic plants play an important role in freshwater ecosystems. Previous works have largely focused on the functional significance of plant above ground parts, with much less attention on the root structures of aquatic plants. In this study, we divided 21 aquatic plants (including five introduced plants) into multiple plant groups (different life forms, monocot/eudicot and introduced/native) with the goal of addressing two questions: (i) what root structures do aquatic plants exhibit, and (ii) are there differences among these plant groups? Methods Twenty-one aquatic plants belonging to four life forms (free-floating, emergent, floating-leaved and submerged) were collected at the near flowering stage from a typical macrophyte-dominated lake in the yangtze River Basin, China. The following root topological parameters were quantified: altitude (a), path length (pe), magnitude (M), mean topological length (b), topological index (TI) and normed indices qa and qb. Important Findings The root topological indices TI, qa and qb for the 21 aquatic plants were 0.724 ± 0.013, 0.290 ± 0.031 and 0.152 ± 0.024 (means ± S.E.), respectively, revealing a general pattern of dichotomous branching, except for the aquatic root of Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc., which displays herringbone branching. All three topological indices were significantly lower for monocots (TI = 0.700 ± 0.130, qa = 0.191 ± 0.149 and qb = 0.086 ± 0.236) than eudicots (TI = 0.752 ± 0.206, qa = 0.405 ± 0.569 and qb = 0.229 ± 0.393), indicating that the roots of monocots are typically more dichotomous-like than those of eudicots. Among the four life forms, the three topological indices for emergent plants (TI = 0.832 ± 0.006, qa = 0.616 ± 0.018 and qb = 0.381 ± 0.014) were significantly higher than those of the other three life forms. Overall, there was no difference between the topological indices of introduced and native aquatic plants, but the introduced species M. aquaticum and Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. had both aquatic and edaphic roots as well as unusual functions, which may help explain their strong viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Question: Are maternal urinary phenol concentrations associated with cord steroid hormone levels and anogenital distance (AGD) in male newborns?Summary Answer: High maternal urinary Bisphenol A (BPA) levels are associated with decreases in cord testosterone levels and the ratio of testosterone to estradiol in male newborns, but there was no significant association with AGD.What Is Known Already: Early life exposure to phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) is known to disrupt hormonal activities and affect reproductive development in males. However, studies on the health effects of prenatal human exposure are scarce.Study Design, Size, Duration: This was a cross-sectional study to investigate the association between maternal phenolic exposure and cord sex steroid hormones and AGD in male newborns. We recruited 100 mother-infant pairs from each of two hospitals, one in a polluted town (Guiyu) and the other in a cleaner town (Haojiang), from September 2010 to September 2011.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: One hundred and seventy eight maternal urine samples and 137 cord blood samples were available for quantification, thus 137 complete records entered into the final analysis. Of them, 77 pairs were from Guiyu, and 60 were from Haojiang. The chemical concentrations were determined by solid phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPE-GC-MS), and cord sex hormones were detected by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Neonatal anthropometric parameters including AGD were measured.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: Log2-transformed maternal urinary BPA concentration was negatively correlated with testosterone level and the ratio of testosterone to estradiol (T/E2) in male fetal cord blood after adjustment for potential confounders in linear regression models (βadjusted = -31.09 (95% CI, -53.07 to -9.11) and βadjusted = -0.08 (95% CI, -0.13 to -0.01), respectively). Moreover, compared with the lowest quartile group of BPA level, the highest group showed a significant decrease in testosterone level and T/E2 (βadjusted = -179.84 (95% CI, -333.45 to -26.24) and βadjusted = -0.37 (95% CI, -0.81 to 0.07), respectively). No significant associations between AGD or anogenital index (AGI, [AGI = AGD/birthweight (mm/kg)]) and phenolic EDCs or cord hormone levels were found.Limitations, Reasons For Caution: Results in the present study should be interpreted with caution because of its cross-sectional nature, small sample size and sampling time.Wider Implications Of the Findings: Testosterone plays an important role in sex differentiation and normal development of the fetus and newborn, and the balance between testosterone and estradiol is thought an important mediator of prostate disease. Therefore, our findings may have important implications for human reproductive health.Study Funding/competing Interests: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21377077) and Guangdong University Project for International Cooperation and Innovation Platform (2013gjhz0007). The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the effect of two sulfated triterpene saponins from Pearsonothuria graeffei, a sea cucumber, including echinoside A (EA) and holothurin A (HA) on the inhibition of dietary fat absorption and reduction of obesity in male Wistar rats. Topics include decrease in the accumulation of adipose tissue by the treatment of EA and HA, determination of high performance liquid chromatography assay for separation of absorbent material and analysis of fatty acid content in feces of rat.