Preliminary experiments on mechanical stretch-induced activation of skeletal muscle satellite cells in vivo

We have shown in vitro that mechanical stretch triggers activation of quiescent satellite cells of skeletal muscle to enter the cell cycle through an intracellular cascade of events including nitric oxide (NO) synthesis that results in the release of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) from its extracellular association and its subsequent presentation to signaling receptors. In order to explore the activation mechanism in vivo, stretch experiments were conducted in the living animal using our suspension model developed. This system used the weight of the hind portion of rats to stretch the inside muscles of the left hind limb suspended for a period of 0.5–2.0 h. At the end of the stretch period, the rats received an intraperitoneal injection of bromodeoxyuridine followed by immunocytochemistry for its incorporation as an index of satellite cell activation in vivo. Depending on the period of stretch, bromodeoxyuridine labeling was increased significantly over the contralateral unstretched leg or control muscle from untreated rats. A stretched muscle extract prepared from the 2 h stretched tissue by incubating it in PBS, showed the active form of HGF as revealed by immunoblotting and it could stimulate the activation of unstretched satellite cells. Also, administering NO synthase inhibitor L‐NAME prior to muscle stretch abolished the stretch activation of satellite cells. Therefore, the results from these experiments demonstrate that stretching muscle triggers NO synthesis and HGF release, which could activate satellite cells in vivo.     

Can incidental sighting data be used to elucidate habitat preferences and areas of suitable habitat for a cryptic species?

The involvement of communities in ecological studies has been shown to augment conservation efforts, especially for cryptic species. However, there is a lack of studies addressing the utility of incidental sighting records from community members in gaining knowledge on habitat preferences and distribution of suitable habitat for these organisms. This study compares preferences of the Lumholtz's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi ; LTK), a cryptic rainforest folivore in northeastern Australia, for various habitat and climatic variables derived from data collected during scientific projects to those derived from incidental sighting records using ArcGIS and Maxent. Incidental sighting records suggest that the species uses a wider range of altitudes, annual rainfalls, annual mean temperatures and vegetation types than predicted by scientific studies. Incidental records also show that the species can persist in areas of lower rainfall during the wettest month and lower minimum temperature during the coldest month. Both data place the species within a comparable range of rainfalls during the driest month, maximum temperatures of the warmest month and soil types. When using identified preferences to assess the extent and distribution of suitable habitat, incidental records predicted more areas of suitable habitat than scientific records with an overlap of up to 91% between them. The present study proves that incidental sighting records can be a valuable part of the study of cryptic species and should be considered complementarily alongside scientific studies to obtain comprehensive ecological information of a species that can assist in its conservation.     

猪繁殖与呼吸综合征的ELISA抗体检测结果分析与应用

本研究应用ELISA方法共检测25个猪场26个猪群507份血清的PRRS抗体水平,应用统计学方法分析各猪群的检测数据,结合猪群临床表现和病原污染情况的流行病学调查结果,可将猪群分为无PRRSV污染,临床健康;PRRS病毒污染,临床稳定;PRRS病毒污染,临床发病且控制困难等3种流行模式,并提出了应用猪群PRRS ELISA检测值标准差、个体检测极值及盒须图(Box-and-Whisker Plot)进行分类的具体指标和PRRS分类控制的建议。     

天山北坡草地遥感分类及其精度分析

基于遥感资料的植被类型划分能快速获得大尺度的植被覆盖变化数据。采用遥感和GIS技术,利用天山北坡典型草地2008年Landsat 5 TM遥感影像和1999年Landsat 7 ETM+全色波段数据,在对遥感影像预处理的基础上,进行了数据融合处理。根据融合影像的纹理特征进行监督分类,将研究区域的植被初步分为8种主要覆盖类型,在监督分类的基础上借助专家知识系统构建决策树,进一步将草地分为5类,包括平原荒漠、平原沙漠、低山荒漠、温性草甸和高寒草甸,最后对分类结果进行精度评价,总精度在95%以上,总Kappa系数为0.939 6,间隔9年的影像融合和决策树分类方法在研究区植被分类中具有较高的可行性。     

Validating a Time Series of Annual Grass Percent Cover in the Sagebrush Ecosystem

We mapped yearly (2000–2016) estimates of annual grass percent cover for much of the sagebrush ecosystem of the western United States using remotely sensed, climate, and geophysical data in regression-tree models. Annual grasses senesce and cure by early summer and then become beds of fine fuel that easily ignite and spread fire through rangeland systems. Our annual maps estimate the extent of these fuels and can serve as a tool to assist land managers and scientists in understanding the ecosystem’s response to weather variations, disturbances, and management. Validating the time series of annual maps is important for determining the usefulness of the data. To validate these maps, we compare Bureau of Land Management Assessment Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) data to mapped estimates and use a leave-one-out spatial assessment technique that is effective for validating maps that cover broad geographical extents. We hypothesize that the time series of annual maps exhibits high spatiotemporal variability because precipitation is highly variable in arid and semiarid environments where sagebrush is native, and invasive annual grasses respond to precipitation. The remotely sensed data that help drive our regression-tree model effectively measures annual grasses’ response to precipitation. The mean absolute error (MAE) rate varied depending on the validation data and technique used for comparison. The AIM plot data and our maps had substantial spatial incongruence, but despite this, the MAE rate for the assessment equaled 12.62%. The leave-one-out accuracy assessment had an MAE of 8.43%. We quantified bias, and bias was more substantial at higher percent cover. These annual maps can help management identify actions that may alleviate the current cycle of invasive grasses because it enables the assessment of the variability of annual grass ? percent cover distribution through space and time, as part of dynamic systems rather than static systems.     

世界草地综合顺序分类图的制作

通过对全球1961～1990年气象数据的分析与统计,将7 775个站点的气温与降水换算成草地综合顺序分类指标-＞0℃的年积温(Σθ)和湿润度(K)值,在Arc GIS平台上,配以世界行政区划图,依据综合顺序分类理论,制作世界草地综合顺序分类图.研究结果表明:可将世界陆域草地分为38类,基本符合全球气候带以及植被的分布,...     

Equine hospital data as a source for study of prevalence and heritability of osteochondrosis and palmar/plantar osseous fragments of Swedish Warmblood horses

Reasons for performing study: Disturbances in skeletal development, primarily osteochondrosis (OC) and palmar/plantar osseous fragments (POF), have been commonly reported as problems in young horses. However, there are few reports of such findings for epidemiological analyses or breeding purposes. Objectives: To evaluate equine hospital data as a possible source of information for genetic evaluations by estimating prevalence and heritability of OC in the stifle, hock and fetlock joints and of POF in the fetlock. Methods: Data on Swedish Warmblood (SWB) horses were obtained from a large equine hospital in south Sweden. Prevalences were based on radiographic examinations of 879 screened horses, mainly evaluated as part of a prepurchase examination and 3639 horses with a reported history of orthopaedic problems. For the heritability study the 2 data sources were pooled and 3199 examined horses with pedigree information were considered for the linear animal model analyses. Results: The overall prevalence of OC was 13% (stifle 9%, hock 6% and dorsal osseous fragments in fetlock [DOF] 10%) and POF 10%. The overall heritability of OC was 0.05 on the visible binomial scale. The corresponding heritabilities for OC in the stifle were 0.03, hock 0.08, DOF 0.10 and POF 0.13. These values correspond to heritabilities of 0.09–0.38 on the underlying quantitative scale. Conclusions and potential relevance: Obtained prevalences and heritabilities were in accordance with other studies, supporting the hypothesis that data regularly obtained from equine hospitals may be a valuable source in studies of inherited disorders such as OC and POF. There is a need for more standardised documentation of diagnoses and consistent recording of identity of examined horses using passports or breed databases. Compilation of results from major clinics is desired in order to cover most progenies of stallions used in a region or nation.     

海洋渔业电子地图系统软件设计与实现

系统地介绍了海洋渔业电子地图系统软件EA2000的数据模型和主要功能的设计与实现，EA2000采用了面向对象的数据模型，紧密的矢栅数据接口，以及图层－地图－图集一体化数据组织管理方法，该软件具有开放的数据输入接口，图层创作的自动化和动态交互式编辑，双向查询检索，缩放漫游与多级比例尺联动显示，动态显示，对象信息自动显示，地理信息系统渔船动态监控管理，多媒体信息插入管理，互操作等功能。     

基于关联数据融合的地表移动传感器节点

开发了具有多个相关联传感器的地表移动传感器节点;提出一种基于专家系统进行关联数据处理的几何方格面积数据融合方法,即主要采用软硬件结合的方式,利用专家系统预设的节点环境阈值与传感器实际感测的数据相结合进行关联数据处理,将数据关系转化为几何方格面积,从而实现分类分层次的数据融合.结果表明：该方法能够对多个不同类型传感器提供的相同特征数据、互补特征数据、并行特征数据、条件关联数据进行融合;与传统传感器节点相比,地表移动传感器节点感测信息的准确率更高,能量消耗更低.