Persistence of native fishes in small streams of the urbanized San Francisco Estuary,California: acknowledging the role of urban streams in native fish conservation

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Computer simulations of homeward-migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon: is compass orientation a sufficient direction-finding mechanism in the north-east Pacific Ocean?

Computer simulations were used to investigate whether compass orientation is a sufficient guidance mechanism for sockeye salmon migrating to the Fraser River from their ocean foraging grounds in the north-east Pacific Ocean. Daily surface ocean currents, simulated by the ocean surface current simulations (OSCURS) model, were used to test the influence of currents on the return oceanic migration of Fraser River sockeye salmon. High seas tagging and coastal recover data of Fraser River sockeye salmon were used for the migration simulations. Surface currents were shown to increase the speed of the homeward-migrating sockeye salmon, as well as to deflect the fish in a north-eastward direction. In spite of ocean currents, all Fraser River sockeye salmon were able to reach their destination with a fixed direction and bioenergetically efficient swimming speed when migration was delayed until the last month at sea. Compass orientation alone was shown to be a sufficient direction-finding mechanism for Fraser River sockeye salmon.     

Multiple striate keratotomy: a treatment for corneal erosions caused by epithelial basement membrane disease

Objective To study the efficacy of multiple striate keratotomy for the treatment of persistent corneal erosions suspected to be caused by primary corneal epithelial basement membrane disease.
Design A retrospective study.
Animals 16 dogs, three cats and one Australian dingo.
Procedure A technique called multiple striate keratotomy was used to treat twenty animals suffering from persistent corneal erosions.
Results All persistent corneal erosions healed with only one treatment. Most cases healed within 2 weeks. One case developed a second erosion in the same eye but in a different position to the original erosion.
Conclusions Multiple striate keratotomy is a safe, effective and well tolerated technique for the treatment of persistent corneal erosions thought to be caused by corneal epithelial basement membrane disease.     

Extensive resection and anastomosis of the descending (small) colon in a mare following strangulation by a mesenteric lipoma

A 17-year-old Quarter Horse, Arabian crossbred mare presented with a history of having had abdominal pain for 2 d. At surgery there was 2.6 m of descending colon strangulated within the pedicle of a mesenteric lipoma. The lipoma was resected and the descending colon appeared viable so was replaced, and the mare recovered from anaesthesia. Post-operatively, the mare failed to stabilise so was taken back to surgery. There was 2 m of infarcted descending colon which was resected and anastomosed. A drain and stainless steel stay sutures were incorporated into the ventral suture line. Post-operatively the ventral wound became infected but was resolved with therapy. The diagnosis, surgical and post-operative management and outcome are discussed.     

Eye diseases in Siberian husky dogs

A full ophthalmic examination was performed on 40 Siberian husky dogs using direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy, gonloscopy and nasolacrimal cannulation. Eight (20%) of the dogs were found to have distichia, 10 (25%) had excessive medial caruncular hairs, 8 (20%) had absence, displacement, or narrowing of the nasolacrimal puncta, 2 (5%) had bilateral corneal crystalline opacities, and 2 (5%) had unilateral areas of lateral corneal lipidosis. Fifty percent of the dogs had some abnormality of the iridocorneal (drainage) angle. However, in only one of these was the deformity severe enough to require glaucoma prophylaxis. An association between blue iris colour and malformation of the iridocorneal angle was noted.     

Dicoumarol toxicity in cattle associated with ingestion of silage containing sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum)

A diagnosis of dicoumarol toxicity in a herd of Friesian cattle was made following investigation of the deaths of three mature cows and eleven yearling heifers. Affected stock had been fed wrapped, bailed silage containing approximately 90% sweet vernal grass ( Anthoxanthum odoratum ). Sweet vernal grass contains coumarin, which can be converted to dicoumarol, a vitamin K antagonist, through the action of moulds. Most deaths were preceded by lethargy, severe anaemia and subcutaneous and internal haemorrhage. Dicoumarol toxicosis was suspected based on clinical signs, necropsy findings and prolonged prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times. Dicoumarol analysis of blood from affected animals and silage confirmed the diagnosis.     

High-frequency skywave radar measurements of hurricane anita

We tracked and monitored hurricane Anita over a 5-day period by using the SRI-operated Wide Aperture Research Facility (WARF) high-frequency skywave radar. The WARF-derived positions for Anita agreed to within +/- 19 kilometers of the coincident temporal positions along the National Hurricane Center's smooth track. Hurricane Anita passed near the open ocean-moored buoy EB-71 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and measurements of wind direction, wind speed, and significant wave height made during this period at the WARF and in situ at the buoy showed agreement of 7 degrees , 0.4 meter per second, and 0.5 meter, respectively. The WARF estimates of longshore coastal surface currents showed good agreement with measurements made at a moored current meter.     

A yeast gene that is essential for release from glucose repression encodes a protein kinase

The SNF1 gene plays a central role in carbon catabolite repression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, namely that SNF1 function is required for expression of glucose-repressible genes. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned SNF1 gene was determined, and the predicted amino acid sequence shows that SNF1 encodes a 72,040-dalton polypeptide that has significant homology to the conserved catalytic domain of mammalian protein kinases. Specific antisera were prepared and used to identify the SNF1 protein. The protein was shown to transfer phosphate from adenosine triphosphate to serine and threonine residues in an in vitro autophosphorylation reaction. These findings indicate that SNF1 encodes a protein kinase and suggest that protein phosphorylation plays a critical role in regulation by carbon catabolite repression in eukaryotic cells.     

Lodestone Compass: Chinese or Olmec Primacy?: Multidisciplinary analysis of an Olmec hematite artifact from San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mexico

Considering the unique morphology (purposefully shaped polished bar with a groove) and composition (magnetic mineral with magnetic moment vector in the floating plane) of M-160, and acknowledging that the Olmec were a sophisticated people who possessed advanced knowledge and skill in working iron ore minerals, I would suggest for consideration that the Early Formative artifact M-160 was probably manufactured and used as what I have called a zeroth-order compass, if not a first-order compass. The data I have presented in this article support this hypothesis, although they are not sufficient to prove it. That M-160 could be used today as a geomagnetically directed pointer is undeniable. The original whole bar may indeed have pointed close to magnetic north-south. The groove functions well as a sighting mark, and the slight angle it makes with the axis of the bar appears to be the result of calibration rather than accident. A negative supporting argument is that M-160 looks utilitarian rather than decorative, and no function for the object other than that of a compass pointer has been suggested by anyone who has examined it critically. Whether such a pointer would have been used to point to something astronomical (zeroth-order compass) or to geomagnetic north-south (first-order compass) is entirely open to speculation. The observation of the family of Olmec site alignments 8 degrees west of north is a curiosity in its own right, and the possibility that these alignments have an astronomical or geomagnetic origin should be explored. I also believe that it is constructive to compare the first millennium Chinese, who used the lodestone compass for geomancy, with the Gulf Coast Olmec since both were agrarian-terrestrial societies. The Olmec's apparent concern with orientation and skillful use of magnetic minerals also stimulates one to draw cross-cultural parallels. The evidence and analysis offered in this article provide a basis for hypotheses of parallel cultural developments in China and the Olmec New World. If the Olmec did discover the geomagnetic orienting properties of lodestone, as did the Han Chinese, it is most reasonable to speculate that they would have used their compass for comparable geomantic purposes. It should, however, be recognized that the Olmec claim, if documented, predates the Chinese discovery of the geomagnetic lodestone compass by more than a millennium. At present, M-160 is a unique artifact and San Lorenzo a unique site: "The first civilized center of Mesoamerica and probably of the New World" (19, p. 89). Further documentation of the Olmec claim must await the discovery of similar artifacts in museums, private collections, or as yet undiscovered Olmec sites. I would welcome communications from anyone possessing information relating to such artifacts. Regardless of shape, purposefully grooved and highly polished specimens of magnetic minerals are of particular interest. It would also be useful for the archeologist excavating Olmec burials and offerings to carefully note their alignments and consider them in a geomantic context. In addition to the discovery of supporting artifacts, establishment of Olmec primacy of the lodestone compass depends on the acquisition of the archeomagnetic data for the Early Formative period. I appeal to archeologists who find good archeomagnetic samples (burned hearths and post-holes) from the Formative periods to convey this information to R. DuBois of the University of Oklahoma. In a few years, the archeomagnetic data should be available for the last three millennia and the possibilities are very exciting.