Osteomyelitis associated with Nocardiopsis composta in a dog

We report the first detection of Nocardiopsis composta in association with osteomyelitis in a young male miniature Australian shepherd dog. Findings included suppurative osteomyelitis containing intralesional Fite’s acid fast bacilli, aerobic culture of branching Gram-positive rods, and positive identification via phenotypic analysis and 16S rDNA sequencing.     

木质颗粒燃料——可再生的清洁能源

木质颗粒燃料是一种可再生、清洁和成本稳定的燃料,可由农作物秸秆、木、竹加工剩余物及普通的废旧木料等可再生的物质制成,北美和欧洲正在大量使用.本文介绍了木质颗粒燃料产业的发展现状,产品特点、用途和制造工艺,并分析了这种燃料在我国的发展前景.     

Inbreeding Effects on Hatchery and Growout Performance of Pacific White Shrimp, Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei

In animal breeding programs, selection coupled with a narrow genetic base can cause high levels of inbreeding to occur rapidly (in one or two generations). Although the effects of inbreeding have been studied extensively in terrestrial animals and to a lesser extent in aquaculture species, little is known about the effects of inbreeding on penaeid shrimp. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of inbreeding on hatchery and growout performance of the Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei. The experiment was conducted over 2 yr, and data from two successive generations (G₂ and G₃) of inbred (sibling–sibling mating) and outbred families were analyzed. There were 11 inbred and 12 outbred families in G₂ and 9 inbred and 10 outbred families in G₃. Inbreeding coefficients (F) for outbred and inbred families were 0.00 and 0.25, respectively, for G₂ and 0.00 and 0.375, respectively, for G₃. Growth rates for outbreds and inbreds were similar in both G₂ and G₃. Hatch rate for inbred families was 33.1% lower than for outbred families in G₂ and 47.1% lower in G₃. Inbreeding depression (IBD) (relative change in phenotype per 0.1 increase in F) ± 95% CI for hatch rate was ?12.3 ± 10.1%. Hatchery survival for inbred families was 31.4% lower than for outbred families in G₂ and 38.8% lower in G₃. IBD for hatchery survival was ?11.0 ± 5.7%. Growout survival was 1.9% lower for inbred families than for outbred families in G₂ and 19.6% lower in G₃. IBD for growout survival was ?3.8 ± 2.9%. There was also a significant linear relationship between IBD estimates for survival traits and mean outbred survival. At high outbred survival, IBD was low (e.g., growout survival in G₂), but IBD appeared to become more severe when outbred survival was lower. This suggests that stress (related to environment and/or life stage) may worsen IBD for survival traits. Results also indicate that moderate to high levels of inbreeding (>10%) should be avoided in commercial shrimp hatcheries because the cumulative effect of IBD on hatch rate and hatchery survival will significantly reduce postlarvae production. Thus, IBD can be significant enough to justify the use of inbreeding as a germplasm protection strategy (under certain scenarios) for genetic improvement programs.     

DNA-functionalized nanotube membranes with single-base mismatch selectivity

We describe synthetic membranes in which the molecular recognition chemistry used to accomplish selective permeation is DNA hybridization. These membranes contain template-synthesized gold nanotubes with inside diameters of 12 nanometers, and a "transporter" DNA-hairpin molecule is attached to the inside walls of these nanotubes. These DNA-functionalized nanotube membranes selectively recognize and transport the DNA strand that is complementary to the transporter strand, relative to DNA strands that are not complementary to the transporter. Under optimal conditions, single-base mismatch transport selectivity can be obtained.     

A comparison of trenched plot techniques for partitioning soil respiration

Partitioning the soil surface CO₂ flux (R_S) flux is an important step in understanding ecosystem-level carbon cycling, given that R_S is poorly constrained and its source components may have different sensitivities to climate change. Trenched plots are an inexpensive but labor-intensive method of separating the R_S flux into its root (autotrophic) and soil (heterotrophic) components. This study tested if various methods of plant suppression in trenched plots affected R_S fluxes, quantified the R_S response to soil temperature and moisture changes, and estimated the heterotrophic contribution to R_S. It was performed in a boreal black spruce (Picea mariana) plantation, using a randomized complete block design, during the 2007 and 2008 growing seasons. Trenched plots had significantly lower R_S than control plots, with differences appearing ∼100 days after trenching; spatial variability doubled immediately after trenching but then declined throughout the experiment. Most trenching treatments had significantly lower (by ∼0.5 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹) R_S than the controls, and there was no significant difference in R_S among the various trenching treatments. Soil temperature at 2 cm explained more R_S variability than did 10-cm temperature or soil moisture. Temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) declined in the control plots from ∼2.6 (at 5 °C) to ∼1.6 (at 15 °C); trenched plots values were higher, from 3.1 at 5 °C to 1.9 at 15 °C. We estimated R_S for the study period to be 241 ± 40 g C m⁻², with live roots contributing 64% of R_S after accounting for fine root decay, and 293 g C m⁻² for the entire year. These findings suggest that laborious hand weeding of trenched plot vegetation may be replaced by other methods, facilitating future studies of this large and poorly-understood carbon flux.