Thermal biology and locomotor performance in Phymaturus calcogaster: are Patagonian lizards vulnerable to climate change?     

Rosa L. OBREGÓN  Jose A. SCOLARO  Nora R. IBARGÜENGOYTÍA  Marlin MEDINA 《Integrative zoology》2021,16(1):53-66

Behavioral and physiological traits of ectotherms are especially sensitive to fluctuations of environmental temperature. In particular, niche-specialist lizards are dependent on their physiological plasticity to adjust to changing environmental conditions. Lizards of the genus Phymaturus are viviparous, mainly herbivorous, and inhabit only rock promontories in the steppe environments of Patagonia and the Andes. Herein, we examine the vulnerability of the southernmost Phymaturus species to global warming: the endemic Phymaturus calcogaster, which lives in a mesic environment in eastern Patagonia. We studied body temperatures in the field (T_b), preferred body temperatures in a thermogradient (T_pref), the operative (T_e) and environmental temperatures, and the dependence of running performance on body temperature. P. calcogaster had a mean T_b (27.04°C) and a mean T_e (31.15°C) both lower than their preferred temperature (T_pref = 36.61°C) and the optimal temperature for running performance (T_o = 37.13°C). Lizard activity seems to be restraint during the early afternoon due high environmental temperatures. However, both, the high safety margin and warming tolerance suggest that the expected increase in environmental temperatures due to global warming (IPCC report in 2018) would not threaten, but indeed enhance locomotor performance in this population.  相似文献   

Adjuvant immunotherapy of feline fibrosarcoma with recombinant feline interferon-omega     

Hampel V  Schwarz B  Kempf C  Köstlin R  Schillinger U  Küchenhoff H  Fenske N  Brill T  Hirschberger J 《Journal of veterinary internal medicine / American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine》2007,21(6):1340-1346

BACKGROUND: Recombinant feline interferon-omega (rFeIFN-omega) was tested as a treatment option for cats with fibrosarcoma to assess safety and feasibility. HYPOTHESIS: Treatment with rFeIFN-omega in cats with fibrosarcoma is safe and feasible. ANIMALS: Twenty domestic cats. METHODS: In an open-labeled uncontrolled clinical trial 12 injections of 1 x 10(6) U/kg rFeIFN-omega were administered over a 5-week period: the 1st through 4th injections were given intratumorally, and the 5th through 12th injections were administered subcutaneously at the tumor excision site. Wide surgical excision of the tumors was carried out after the 4th injection and before the 5th injection of rFeIFN-omega. A Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) analysis was conducted. Flow cytometry of fibrosarcoma cells after incubation with rFeIFN-omega and recombinant feline interferon-gamma was performed to assess the biological effect of rFeIFN-omega. RESULTS: Changes in blood cell count, increases in serum aspartate-amino-transferase activity, serum bilirubin concentration, serum creatinine and serum electrolyte concentrations, weight loss, anorexia, increased body temperature, and reduced general condition were observed but were mostly minor (grade 1 and 2) and self limiting. Eosinophilia (P = .025), neutropenia (P = .021), and weight loss (P < .001) were statistically correlated with rFeIFN-omega-treatment (analysis of parameters before treatment and after 3 injections of rFeIFN-omega). Flow cytometry of 5 unrelated feline fibrosarcoma cell lines showed increased expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules (P = .026) in response to in vitro incubation with rFeIFN-omega, whereas expression of MHC class II molecules was not affected significantly. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: RFeIFN-omega for the treatment of feline fibrosarcoma is safe, well tolerated, and can be easily performed in practice. To assess the efficacy of the treatment, it should be tested in a placebo-controlled trial.  相似文献   

Canine brucellosis--a case report     

Nöckler K  Kutzer P  Reif S  Rosenberger N  Draeger A  Bahn P  Göllner C  Erlbeck C 《Berliner und Münchener tier?rztliche Wochenschrift》2003,116(9-10):368-372

Brucella (B.) canis was isolated from ejaculate of a 4-year old Korthals-Griffon male dog after occurrence of epididymitis and orchitis. Despite several trials of therapy with different antibiotics relapes occurred, with B. canis being isolated from ejaculate, blood and urine samples, respectively. Bacteriological examinations were added by serological testing over a period of about 1.5 years. During the study SAT serum titre steadily dropped from 1:200 to 1:50. By CFT, B. canis antibodies were detectable at the beginning with a titre of 1:320 and to the end of the study with titres between 1:80 and 1:160.  相似文献   

Ecological and anthropogenic niches of sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f.) forest and prospects for multiple-product forest management - a review     

Gautam  Krishna H.; Devoe  Nora N. 《Forestry》2006,79(1):81-101

Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f.) forests cover over 11 millionha in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and these forests are conventionallymanaged for timber. Recently, interest in producing multipleproducts from sal forests has increased; accordingly, a silviculturalregime for managing sal forest for multiple products is a centralconcern. Forest managers need a comprehensive scientific understandingof natural stand development processes and anthropogenic factorsaffecting sal forest when designing silvicultural regimes formultiple-product management. We review ecology and productivityplus anthropogenic niches of sal forests. Information on edaphicfactors, phenology and stand development processes (regeneration,growth characteristics, soil nutrient requirement, growth allocation,nutrient cycling, stand structure and successional stages) isimportant for designing scientific forest management of salforest; likewise, knowledge of anthropogenic factors associatedwith use of sal forest is also required for effective implementationof the recently paradigmed management efforts. Sal forest silviculturehas been evolving since the beginning of the twentieth centurymainly concentrating on timber production, though the sal forestshave always been used also for grazing and collection of fodder,fuelwood, litter and many other products. Instead of integratingthese products in sal forest management, governments have attemptedto control these additional uses through enforcing forest legislation.These attempts resulted in the persistent conflicts betweenthe interests of local people and the government, and the deterioratingcondition of sal forests. Community-based forestry in this regionemerged in response to the severe degradation of forest resources,and local people initiated protection practices and demonstratedthe success of sal forest from coppice. The coppice systemsallow managing forests with intermittent products (non-timberforest products, including fodder and litter) while producingtimber in the long term. Accordingly, a policy has been developedto manage coppice sal forest for multiple products. Managingthe sal forest for multiple products is, however, a relativelyrecent development and scientific investigations on variousaspects of multiple-product forest management need to be initiated.Ecological processes indicate good prospects of managing salforest for multiple products. The review indicates that theecological processes and anthropogenic factors form sound basisfor developing multiple-product management.  相似文献   

Development of a murine ocular posterior segment explant culture for the study of intravitreous vector delivery     

Nora Denk  Vikram Misra  Lynne S. Sandmeyer  Bianca B. Bauer  Jaswant Singh  George W. Forsyth  Bruce H. Grahn 《Canadian journal of veterinary research》2015,79(1):31-38

The objective of this study was to develop a murine retinal/choroidal/scleral explant culture system to facilitate the intravitreous delivery of vectors. Posterior segment explants from adult mice of 2 different age groups (4 wk and 15 wk) were cultured in serum-free medium for variable time periods. Tissue viability was assessed by gross morphology, cell survival quantification, activated caspase-3 expression, and immunohistochemistry. To model ocular gene therapy, explants were exposed to varying transducing units of a lentiviral vector expressing the gene for green fluorescent protein for 48 h. Explant retinal cells remained viable for approximately 1 wk, although the ganglion cell layer developed apoptosis between 4 and 7 d. Following vector infusion into the posterior segment cups, viral transduction was noted in multiple retinal layers in both age groups. An age of donor mouse influence was noted and older mice did not transduce as well as younger mice. This explant offers an easily managed posterior segment ocular culture with minimum disturbance of the tissue, and may be useful for investigating methods of enhancing retinal gene therapy under controlled conditions.  相似文献   

A comparison of three combinations of injectable anesthetics in miniature donkeys   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Nora S Matthews DVM  Dip ACVA    Tex S Taylor DVM  Dip ACVS  & Jennifer A Sullivan DVM 《Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia》2002,29(1):36-42

Objective To compare three combinations of injectable anesthetics in miniature donkeys for quality of induction, recovery, muscle relaxation, cardiopulmonary changes during anesthesia and duration of recumbency. Design Prospective, randomized experimental study. Animals Six miniature donkeys (< 90 cm in height at the withers) weighing 92–127 kg were used. Materials and methods The drug combinations were: xylazine?butorphanol?ketamine (XBK), xylazine?butorphanol?tiletamine?zolazepam (XBT) and xylazine?propofol (XP). Each miniature donkey was anesthetized with each combination at 1‐week intervals in random order. Heart and respiratory rates, indirect blood pressure and temperature were measured before and at 5‐minute intervals during recumbency. Arterial blood samples were drawn for blood‐gas analysis before and at 5, 15 and 30 minutes of anesthesia when samples could be collected. Recumbency time to sternal and time to standing were recorded and a subjective evaluation of induction, muscle relaxation and recovery were made. Results Mean recumbency time ± SD was 14.7 ± 9.4, 33.8 ± 6.3 and 14.6 ± 1.9 minutes with XBK, XBT and XP, respectively. Mean time to standing ± SD was 28.4 ± 11.3, 43.7 ± 7.2 and 26.3 ± 2.9 minutes with XBK, XBT and XP, respectively. Heart and respiratory rates and blood pressures varied from baseline but were always within normal ranges. Hemoglobin saturation, pH and PaO₂ tended to be lower with these doses of XBT and XP. Conclusions and clinical relevance Overall quality of anesthesia was poor with XBK. At the doses used this combination did not provide sufficient anesthesia compared with the combinations of XBT and XP, which appeared to provide acceptable anesthesia of short duration in miniature donkeys.  相似文献   

Determination of Ploidy Level and Nuclear DNA Content in Tunisian Populations of Atriplex halimus L.     

Kheiria Hcini  David J. Walker  Sadok Bouzid  Elena González  Nora Frayssinet  Enrique Correal 《Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution》2006,53(1):1-5

Atriplex halimus L. (Chenopodiaceae) (Saltbush) is a perennial species used as a fodder shrub for livestock in arid and semi-arid areas, particularly in North Africa. The aim of this work was to determine whether differences in ploidy level and/or nuclear DNA content exist among populations from widely-separated sites in Tunisia. We determined nuclear DNA content and chromosome numbers for populations of A. halimus from seven different locations (Gabes, Medenine, Tataouine, Monastir, Tunis, Sidi Bouzid, Kairouan). The chromosome counts showed that all the Tunisian populations, plus a population from Eraclea (Italy), were tetraploid (2n = 4x = 36) whereas a population from Cala Tarida (Spain) was diploid (2n = 2x = 18). With respect to nuclear DNA, the 2C DNA content of population Cala Tarida was estimated to be 2.41 pg. There was no significant difference among the tetraploid populations (or among plants within populations), whose 2C DNA content ranged from 4.92 to 4.97 pg.  相似文献   

Bloodthirsty hitchhikers?     

Krzywinski J  Besansky NJ 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2002,295(5557):973

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Designed protein-protein association     

Grueninger D  Treiber N  Ziegler MO  Koetter JW  Schulze MS  Schulz GE 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,319(5860):206-209

The analysis of natural contact interfaces between protein subunits and between proteins has disclosed some general rules governing their association. We have applied these rules to produce a number of novel assemblies, demonstrating that a given protein can be engineered to form contacts at various points of its surface. Symmetry plays an important role because it defines the multiplicity of a designed contact and therefore the number of required mutations. Some of the proteins needed only a single side-chain alteration in order to associate to a higher-order complex. The mobility of the buried side chains has to be taken into account. Four assemblies have been structurally elucidated. Comparisons between the designed contacts and the results will provide useful guidelines for the development of future architectures.  相似文献   

Effects of salinity, aeration and light intensity on oil globule absorption, feeding incidence, growth and survival of early-stage grouper Epinephelus coioides larvae     

Joebert Delfin  TOLEDO  Nora Blanca  CABEROY  Gerald Fontelera  QUINITIO  Casiano Hermopia  CHORESCA Jr  Heisuke  NAKAGAWA 《Fisheries Science》2002,68(3):478-483

ABSTRACT: A series of experiments were conducted to examine the effects of salinity, aeration and light intensity on oil globule absorption, feeding incidence, and growth and survival of early-stage Epinephelus coioides larvae. Newly hatched larvae were transferred to 40-L aquaria at a density of 1500 individuals/aquarium. Larvae were exposed to different levels of aeration (0 mL/min per L, 0.62 mL/min per L, 1.25 mL/min per L, 2.50 mL/min per L, or 3.75 mL/min per L); salinity (8 ppt, 16 ppt, 24 ppt, 32 ppt, or 40 ppt); and light intensity (0 lx, 120 lx, 230 lx, 500 lx, or 700 lx) for 4–6 days. Twenty larvae were sampled daily at 11:00 hours to measure for total length (TL), oil globule volume, and feeding incidence. Survival rates were determined by counting the total number of larvae remaining in each aquarium at the end of the experiment. Significantly higher survival rates ( P   <  0.05) were observed at aeration levels of 0.62 mL/min per L and 1.25 mL/min per L, at salinity levels of 16 ppt and 24 ppt, and at light intensities of 500 lx and 700 lx. The influence of aeration level, salinity and light intensity on oil globule absorption, feeding incidence, and growth and survival of early-stage grouper larvae are discussed.  相似文献