Rates of evolution: effects of time and temporal scaling

Rates of morphological evolution documented in laboratory selection experiments, historical colonization events, and the fossil record are inversely related to the interval of time over which they are measured. This inverse relationship is an artifact of comparing a narrow range of morphological variation over a wide range of time intervals, and it is also a product of time averaging. Rates measured over different intervals of time must be scaled against interval length before they can be compared.     

Total intravenous feeding of calves.

Total intravenous feeding was accomplished for 5 clinically normal calves and for 1 calf with atresia coli. During the trials, which lasted 8 to 14 days (mean of 12 days), calves were not permitted to ingest any food or water. Body weight and state of hydration remained essentially constant. Plasma protein content decreased, but there were only minor changes in other physiologic measures. Calves were clinically normal at the conclusion of the trials.     

Diagnosis of myeloid leukosis induced by a recombinant avian leukosis virus in commercial white leghorn egg laying flocks

Commercial white leghorn egg layer flocks being used to produce fertile eggs for human vaccine production exhibited dramatically low peaks in egg production, two to four times higher than normal weekly mortality, and high numbers of cull, nonlaying birds after the onset of sexual maturity. These lower production characteristics could not be associated with management-related problems. Gross lesions of cull and fresh dead birds necropsied showed approximately 60% lacked ovarian activity and had lesions of a bacterial bursitis or synovitis, whereas the other 40% had tumors of the viscera but not of the bursa of Fabricius. Histologic examination of tumor-containing tissues showed lesions typical of myelocytomatosis. The diagnosis of myeloid leukosis was confirmed by the isolation of a recombinant avian leukosis virus (ALV) containing the LTR of subgroup J and the envelope of subgroup B ALV. A positive polymerase chain reaction with primers specific for the 3' untranslated region LTR confirmed the presence of LTR of ALV-J. The source of infection with this recombinant ALV was not determined; however, it is likely that commingling of the day-old egg-type chicks with ALV-J-infected meat-type chicks in a common hatchery had contributed to this outbreak.     

Plasma protein levels as potential marker traits for resistance to furunculosis

Abstract. The feasibility of including individual records on correlated traits in a family selection programme which aims to increase resistance to furunculosis in Atlantic salmon was studied; markers were selected because of their potential role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Fibrinogen and α₂-antiplasmin both show genetic variation; both are correlated with survival after challenge with Aeromonas salmonicida , the correlation being 0·44 and 0·37 ( P < 0·05), respectively, and it is possible to measure both on a large scale at low costs. Contrary to α₂-antiplasmin, fibrinogen was negatively correlated with survival due to furunculosis within the 10 most resistant families and within the 10 most susceptible families in contrast to an overall positive correlation. This inconsistency could be attributable to the presence of different allelic phases in different families, and of major linked loci influencing survival and fibrinogen levels. Thus, only α₂-antiplasmin fulfils the requirements for a marker trait for resistance to the disease suitable for individual selection at the population level, whereas the use of fibrinogen would be restricted to within family selection. The full statistical model explained 51% of the variation in resistance to furunculosis, and α₂-antiplasmin contributed 15% to this variation when considered as a separate entity. Thus, the additional gain from including individual records on α₂-antiplasmin in a family selection programme could be significant.     

The fall, recovery, orbit, and composition of the Tagish Lake meteorite: a new type of carbonaceous chondrite

The preatmospheric mass of the Tagish Lake meteoroid was about 200,000 kilograms. Its calculated orbit indicates affinity to the Apollo asteroids with a semimajor axis in the middle of the asteroid belt, consistent with a linkage to low-albedo C, D, and P type asteroids. The mineralogy, oxygen isotope, and bulk chemical composition of recovered samples of the Tagish Lake meteorite are intermediate between CM and CI meteorites. These data suggest that the Tagish Lake meteorite may be one of the most primitive solar system materials yet studied.     

Evaluation of AQUI-STM (efficacy and minimum toxic concentration) as a fish anaesthetic/sedative for public aquaculture in the United States

A preliminary evaluation of efficacy and minimum toxic concentration of AQUI-S^TM, a fish anaesthetic/sedative, was determined in two size classes of six species of fish important to US public aquaculture (bluegill, channel catfish, lake trout, rainbow trout, walleye and yellow perch). In addition, efficacy and minimum toxic concentration were determined in juvenile–young adult (fish aged 1 year or older) rainbow trout acclimated to water at 7°C, 12°C and 17°C. Testing concentrations were based on determinations made with range-finding studies for both efficacy and minimum toxic concentration. Most of the tested juvenile–young adult fish species were induced in 3 min or less at a nominal AQUI-S^TM concentration of 20 mg L^–1. In juvenile–young adult fish, the minimum toxic concentration was at least 2.5 times the selected efficacious concentration. Three out of five species of fry–fingerlings (1.25–12.5 cm in length and < 1 year old) were induced in ≤ 4.1 min at a nominal concentration of 20 mg L^–1 AQUI-S^TM, with the other two species requiring nominal concentrations of 25 and 35 mg L^–1 for similar times of induction. Recovery times were ≤ 7.3 min for all species in the two size classes. In fry–fingerlings, the minimum toxic concentration was at least 1.4 times the selected efficacious concentration. There appeared to be little relationship between size of fish and concentrations or times to induction, recovery times and minimum toxic concentration. The times required for induction and for recovery were increased in rainbow trout as the acclimation temperature was reduced.     

基于改进Bayes抠图算法的麦穗小穗自动计数方法

小麦产量评估需人工获取田间单位面积的麦穗数和麦穗小穗数，往往耗时耗力。为了实现高效、自动地麦穗小穗计数，提出一种基于改进Bayes抠图算法的麦穗小穗自动计数方法。该方法首先利用改进Bayes抠图算法对获取地自然生长条件下的麦穗图像进行抠图，将麦穗从自然背景中分割出来。然后对该图像进行平滑滤波和二值化，运用迭代极限腐蚀运算对二值化图像进行腐蚀处理，去除麦穗图像中的麦芒，分离出麦穗上每个单独的麦穗小穗。再运用面积滤波滤除掉面积过小的区域，对剩余区域的黑洞进行填充，由此每个单独的麦穗小穗形成一个单独的连通区域，最后对连通区域进行标记和计数，完成麦穗小穗的自动计数。使用4个小麦品种的麦穗图像对麦穗上的小穗进行计数验证，结果表明，该方法在识别4个品种田间麦穗单幅图像中小穗数量的平均计数精度达到94.53%，平均相对误差为5.47%，对比已有麦穗小穗自动计数方法，计数精度显著提高，这对于小麦在线产量预估具有重要意义。