Ancient noncoding elements conserved in the human genome

Cartilaginous fishes represent the living group of jawed vertebrates that diverged from the common ancestor of human and teleost fish lineages about 530 million years ago. We generated approximately 1.4x genome sequence coverage for a cartilaginous fish, the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii), and compared this genome with the human genome to identify conserved noncoding elements (CNEs). The elephant shark sequence revealed twice as many CNEs as were identified by whole-genome comparisons between teleost fishes and human. The ancient vertebrate-specific CNEs in the elephant shark and human genomes are likely to play key regulatory roles in vertebrate gene expression.     

Trade‐offs in triple‐bottom‐line outcomes when recovering fisheries

Almost all environmental management comes at an economic cost that may not be borne equitably by all stakeholders. Here, we investigate how heterogeneity in catch and profits among fishers influences the trade‐off among the triple‐bottom‐line objectives of recovering a fish population, maximizing its economic value and distributing restrictions equitably across fishers. As a case‐study, we examine management reform of an ecologically and economically important coral reef fishery operating within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Using a simulation model, we find that total profitability of the fishing industry is 40% lower if recovery plans are equitable when compared to the most economically efficient plan. However, efficient recovery plans were typically highly inequitable because they required some fishers to cease fishing. Equity was defined according to different norms, and the efficiency loss was greatest when catch losses were shared equally across fishers rather than in proportion to their historical catch. We then varied key social, economic and biological parameters to identify cases when equity and efficient recovery would trade‐off most strongly. Recovery plans could be both efficient and equitable when heterogeneity in fisher's catches and individual catch efficiencies was lower. If fishers were homogenous then equitable plans could have maximal economic efficiency. These results emphasize the importance of considering heterogeneity in individual fishers when designing recovery plans. Recovery plans that are inequitable may often fail to gain stakeholder support, so in fisheries with high heterogeneity we should temper our expectations for marked increases in profits.     

Principles for Sustainable Governance of the Oceans

Pressures being exerted on the ocean ecosystems through overfishing, pollution, and environmental and climate change are increasing. Six core principles are proposed to guide governance and use of ocean resources and to promote sustainability. Examples of governance structures that embody these principles are given.     

The structure of the upper atmosphere of mars: In situ accelerometer measurements from mars global surveyor

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) z-axis accelerometer has obtained over 200 vertical structures of thermospheric density, temperature, and pressure, ranging from 110 to 170 kilometers, compared to only three previous such vertical structures. In November 1997, a regional dust storm in the Southern Hemisphere triggered an unexpectedly large thermospheric response at mid-northern latitudes, increasing the altitude of thermospheric pressure surfaces there by as much as 8 kilometers and indicating a strong global thermospheric response to a regional dust storm. Throughout the MGS mission, thermospheric density bulges have been detected on opposite sides of the planet near 90 degreesE and 90 degreesW, in the vicinity of maximum terrain heights. This wave 2 pattern may be caused by topographically-forced planetary waves propagating up from the lower atmosphere.     

Comparison of tiletamine-zolazepam-ketamine and tiletamine-zolazepam-ketamine-xylazine anaesthesia in sheep

Summary The anaesthetic effects of intravenous tiletamine-zolazepam 6.6 mg/kg-ketamine 6.6 mg/kg (TK) and tiletamine-zolazepam 6.6 mg/kg-ketamine 6.6 mg/kg-xylazine 0.11 mg/kg (TKX) were evaluated in six wethers. Heart rate, respiration rate, arterial blood pressure, and the electrocardiogram were monitored during anaesthesia. Analgesia was tested by electrical stimulation in the left flank. Atropine (0.03 mg/kg) was given intramuscularly before induction, but after recording of baseline heart rate and respiratory rate. The duration of analgesia was 28.7 ± 6.9 min with TK and 82.8 ± 26.6 min with TKX. Heart rate increased significantly within 5 min after TK or TKX administration. Respiratory rate remained unchanged after TK administration, but increased significantly from 5 to 45 min after TKX administration. Arterial blood pressure decreased significantly at 15 min with TK and 30 min with TKX. Sheep remained recumbent for 201 min with TK and 166 min with TKX. All recovered uneventfully. We conclude that either TK or TKX may be used for anaesthetising sheep.     

Susceptibility of mulesing wounds to oviposition and strike development by the Australian sheep blowfly Lucilia caprina

The age and/or physical condition of mulesing wounds had a significant effect on both the oviposition response of L. cuprina and the ability of the wound to support a strike. Up to 48 h after mulesing, untreated wounds elicited a strong oviposition response in contrast with chemically treated wounds, although subsequent larval development was negligible. Seven to 9-day-old wounds, however, regardless of the wound treatment, were highly attractive oviposition sites, which subsequently developed into strikes; the D3 formulation of Defiance*S, however, significantly depressed strike development and shows promise as a mules wound treatment. A marked improvement in the wound healing 14 to 16 d after mulesing coincided with a significant decrease in oviposition. Only those sheep whose wound scabs remained broken, exposing pus and raw tissue, attracted oviposition; subsequent development of the eggs into strikes was negligible.     

Vesicles Cytoplasmic Injection: An Efficient Technique to Produce Porcine Transgene‐Expressing Embryos

The use of vesicles co‐incubated with plasmids showed to improve the efficiency of cytoplasmic injection of transgenes in cattle. Here, this technique was tested as a simplified alternative for transgenes delivery in porcine zygotes. To this aim, cytoplasmic injection of the plasmid alone was compared to the injection with plasmids co‐incubated with vesicles both in diploid parthenogenic and IVF zygotes. The plasmid pcx‐egfp was injected circular (CP) at 3, 30 and 300 ng/μl and linear (LP) at 30 ng/μl. The experimental groups using parthenogenetic zygotes were as follows: CP naked at 3 ng/μl (N = 105), 30 ng/μl (N = 95) and 300 ng/μl (N = 65); Sham (N = 105); control not injected (N = 223); LP naked at 30 ng/μl (N = 78); LP vesicles (N = 115) and Sham vesicles (N = 59). For IVF zygotes: LP naked (N = 44) LP vesicles (N = 94), Sham (N = 59) and control (N = 79). Cleavage, blastocyst and GFP+ rates were analysed by Fisher's test (p < 0.05). The parthenogenic CP naked group showed lower cleavage respect to control (p < 0.05). The highest concentration of plasmids to allow development to blastocyst stage was 30 ng/μl. There were no differences in DNA fragmentation between groups. The parthenogenic LP naked group resulted in high GFP rates (46%) and also allowed the production of GFP blastocysts (33%). The cytoplasmic injection with LP vesicles into parthenogenic zygotes allowed 100% GFP blastocysts. Injected IVF showed higher cleavage rates than control (p < 0.05). In IVF zygotes, only the use of vesicles produced GFP blastocysts. The use of vesicles co‐incubated with plasmids improves the transgene expression efficiency for cytoplasmic injection in porcine zygotes and constitutes a simple technique for easy delivery of plasmids.     

Evaluation of Cheetah and Leopard Spermatozoa Developmental Capability after Interspecific ICSI with Domestic Cat Oocytes

The ICSI procedure is potentially of great value for felids, and it has not been extensively studied in these species. The objectives of this work were to determine the best conditions for ICSI in the domestic cat (DC) to generate interspecific embryos by injecting cheetah (Ch) and leopard (Leo) spermatozoa. Firstly, DC oocytes were matured with insulin–transferrin–selenium (ITS) or without it (MM) and cultured using atmospheric (21%) or low (5%) oxygen tension after ICSI. The group ITS‐5%O₂ showed the highest blastocyst rate (p < 0.05), 20.9% vs 8.7%, 7% and 6.5%, for MM‐21%O₂, MM‐5%O₂ and ITS‐21%O₂, respectively. The best conditions were used to generate the interspecific embryos, together with ionomycin activation (Io) after ICSI. Interspecific embryos resulted in high rates of blastocysts that were not positively affected by Io activation: 32.6% vs 21% for Ch and Ch‐Io, 9.8% vs 21% for Leo and Leo‐Io, and 20% vs 17.4% for DC and DC‐Io. We also evaluated DNA‐fragmented nuclei of experiment 1 and 2 blastocysts, using TUNEL assay. The fragmented nucleus proportion was higher in the ITS‐5%O₂ group, 67.6%. Surprisingly, interspecific blastocysts showed the lowest fragmented nucleus proportion: 27% and 29.9% for Ch and Leo, respectively. We concluded that ITS and 5%O₂ improve blastocyst formation in DC, although with a concomitant increase in DNA fragmentation. Most importantly, cheetah and leopard spermatozoa were able to generate blastocysts without artificial activation, which suggests that developmental capacity of wild felid spermatozoa can be evaluated by interspecific ICSI. This technique should be used to assist wild felid reproduction.     

一起仔猪水肿病的诊疗

2003年10月,我县某养猪专业户自繁自养的9头70日龄仔猪,突然发生一种以头部水肿、共济失调、惊厥和麻痹为特征的疫病,经临床检查、剖检变化、实验室检验确诊为仔猪水肿病.