上海和雅安两地不同育幼方式大熊猫幼仔生长发育的初步研究

上海作为典型的低海拔地区,气候、环境等条件均与大熊猫Ailuropoda melanoleuca栖息地存在很大差异。为了研究在上海出生并生活的大熊猫幼仔的生长发育情况,以及与四川雅安的大熊猫幼仔生长发育是否存在差异,本文比较分析了上海、雅安两地大熊猫幼仔在母兽哺育、人工辅助育幼2种育幼方式下的体质量、体尺和其他器官的生长发育情况,并采用Chapman生长模型模拟了两地大熊猫幼仔的生长曲线。研究发现:上海大熊猫幼仔40 d、60 d和70 d的体质量显著大于四川雅安大熊猫幼仔(P <0. 05);母兽哺育的大熊猫幼仔40 d、60 d和70 d的体质量显著大于人工辅助育幼的大熊猫幼仔(P <0. 05);雄性大熊猫幼仔40 d、60 d、70 d和100 d的体质量显著大于雌性大熊猫幼仔(P <0. 05)。整体而言,大熊猫幼仔的体长增长最快,其次为腹围,尾长最慢。母兽哺育大熊猫幼仔的体尺数据稍高于人工辅助育幼,与海拔无关;而相同育幼方式下,高、低海拔组幼仔体尺之间的差异无明显规律。Chapman生长模型很好地模拟了上海和雅安两地大熊猫幼仔0～120 d的生长曲线,但2条曲线在拐点日龄、拐点体质量、最大生长率均存在一些差异。通过对两地大熊猫幼仔生长发育的差异研究,为上海地区繁育大熊猫提供了科学依据。     

大熊猫超轻初生幼仔人工哺育初探

大熊猫是存活率较低的动物之一 ,究其原因可能与其幼仔初生体重较轻有关 ,特别是与绝大多数哺乳动物相比 ,其幼仔初生重与母兽体重差异极大 ,约为母兽体重的千分之一 [1] ,加之大熊猫育幼行为高度特化 ,其幼仔存活更为不易。自 1 990年采用人工辅助育幼方式繁殖成活大熊猫双胞胎以来 ,人工圈养条件下 ,大熊猫的育幼方式概括起来有如下 4种 :1 )大熊猫母兽自行哺育 ,这是自 1 963年至今最常用的方式 ;2 )人工辅助大熊猫母兽育幼 [2 ] ,现已存活 5对双胞胎 [3] ;3)用大熊猫初乳与羊乳混合喂养 ,全人工育幼 [4 ,5] ,目前已育成 2只大熊猫 [5] ;…     

圈养大熊猫母兽成功哺育双胞胎成活初探

圈养大熊猫产下双胞胎后,母兽一般难以同时哺育二仔。2003年,圈养大熊猫母兽“梅梅”同时哺育双胞胎成活,本文对该首例哺育双胞胎成活的原因进行了初步分析,认为满足母兽的营养需求、适宜的育幼环境及人工护理,特别是“梅梅”的母性好、有丰富的育幼经验、食欲强、泌乳充足等在同时哺育双胞胎成活中起着重要作用,同时对“梅梅”哺育的双胞胎与其哺育的另两只单胎幼仔的体重增长情况进行了比较,为圈养大熊猫成功哺育双胞胎,增加幼仔成活率,提供了有关借鉴信息和资料。     

大熊猫超轻初生幼仔的成功哺育

大熊猫初生幼仔体重较轻,仅为正常母体体重的千分之一,平均144.9±40.59 g(张志和和魏辅文,2006).初生体重在70 g以下的幼仔,常被称之为超轻体重幼仔,初生体重超轻、身体瘦弱活动无力,产后无叫声或叫声小是其主要特点.对于体重超轻初生幼仔的育幼,目前有1993年对一例初生体重为61 g的幼仔,在产后两周内采用胃导管喂母初乳、之后采取人工与母兽交替哺育的方法养育存活以及2000年对一只58 g幼仔进行全人工育幼存活7 d的报道(钟顺龙和何光昕,1997,侯蓉等,2000).2006年成都大熊猫繁育研究基地的一只雌性大熊猫产下一对双胞胎,其中一仔初生体重仅51 g,经人工辅助哺育存活,该幼仔是圈养条件下育成的初生体重最轻的大熊猫.现将该例的育幼情况报道于后,以供参考.     

圈养大熊猫同时哺育双胞胎行为观察

2003 年,圈养大熊猫“梅梅”首例哺育成活一胎二仔,通过对其近半年的育幼行为观察,结果发现:1) 母兽主要以同时衔2 仔、同时衔和抱2 仔二种方式将幼仔抱入怀中哺育;60 d 内, 育幼姿势以坐位为主,倦卧其次, 其它姿势更少, 其中坐位随日龄增加逐渐减少, 倦卧变化不大。2) 母兽活动时间在产仔当天最多, 之后显著下降并维持在35.2 ± 0.6% 的低水平, 47 d 后再缓慢上升到108 d 后的54.8 ± 0.9% 。3) 双胞胎幼仔间哺乳的日均次数和时间无显著差异。4) 7 d 内2 幼仔“仔在母身上” 的时间占100%, 21 ～ 23 d 后显著减少, 而“母体盖仔”、“仔在母身边”和“母仔自然分离”的时间显著增加, 但“母体盖仔” 的时间在32 d 左右后又显著减少;双胞胎分别在与母兽的此四种位置变化的时间上无显著差异。5) 母兽的活动、幼仔哺乳日均次数、“母仔自然分离”在全天的日均时间分布有峰、谷变化。6) 随幼仔活动能力的逐渐增强,幼仔离“育幼窝”的距离也逐渐增加,双胞胎幼仔离“育幼窝”的远近也有差别。7)母兽分别与其雄性双胞胎幼仔玩耍的时间有显著差异,而两幼仔自玩的时间无差异,此两双胞胎自玩和一起玩耍所用时间远大于分别与母兽玩耍的时间。该研究丰富了大熊猫育幼行为内容,并为以后的大熊猫双胞胎育幼提供了可供参考的行为资料。     

首例圈养大熊猫产后出血的治疗及初生幼仔长途运输初探

中国保护大熊猫研究中心雅安碧峰峡基地的一只雌性大熊猫分娩后发生产后出血,采取促进子宫收缩、减少出血、利用抗菌素药物防止感染的原则对母兽进行治疗,4d后恢复正常。治疗期间取出两只初生幼仔,利用自制人工保温箱将幼仔成功地从雅安长途运回卧龙进行人工育幼;并对母兽进行育幼行为培训以保持母性行为,母兽康复后主动接受幼仔成功哺育成活。     

大熊猫母兽可根据幼仔的尖叫声辨别自己的后代

研究表明,群居哺乳动物具备通过叫声进行母幼识别的机制,而有关独栖动物的母幼识别机制鲜有研究。大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)是典型的独栖动物,原始森林是保持野生大熊猫种群数量可持续发展的必要条件,其中的大型古树提供的育幼巢穴对大熊猫幼仔的存活至关重要。但是,近年来大型古树因受人为干扰而急剧减少,致使野生成年雌性大熊猫活动领域的重叠增大,在育幼期产仔大熊猫母兽对育幼巢穴的利用产生了竞争。大熊猫幼仔的体重约为成年大熊猫的0.1%,幼仔需要母兽高度关怀才能存活和成长。叫声是0-45日龄大熊猫幼仔向其母兽传递生理需求或所处状态的主要方式。然而,母兽能否根据幼仔的叫声识别自己的后代,目前尚无定论。本研究以274条大熊猫幼仔的尖叫声为例,首先对其进行个体独特性分析,然后通过叫声回放以及母兽对所回放的两种叫声的行为反应,验证大熊猫母兽能否辨别出其亲生幼仔。结果发现,尖叫声的17个声学参数中有14个具有潜在的个体判别能力(PIC>1);进一步的判别分析结果显示,基于这17个声学参数,78.5%的尖叫声被正确分配到对应的幼仔;叫声回放实验的结果显示,母兽在行为上更倾向其亲生幼...     

圈养大熊猫初生幼仔声音通讯行为研究

对很多动物来说,特别是刚出生的、视觉、身体运动能力等发育不健全的幼体,声音信号的识别与传递是其种群长期续存的重要保障。由于大熊猫Ailuropoda melanoleuca新生幼仔不具备自主移动能力且双眼紧闭,主要依靠声音与母体进行交流,因此,利用Shure VP89M指向性麦克风和Tascam DR-100MKII录音设备对0～45 d大熊猫幼仔的声音进行采集,在Adobe audition 3.0内对采集的信息进行分析,同时,利用焦点动物取样法对哺乳期雌性大熊猫的行为进行详细记录。研究结果发现,1)大熊猫幼仔的声音主要为Squawk、Squall和Croak。Squall基频值(1 160.96 Hz±224.99 Hz)和主频值(2 239.94 Hz±742.73 Hz)最高,Squawk的基频值(820.53 Hz±160.45 Hz)和主频值(931.98 Hz±435.12 Hz)次之,而Croak的基频值(728.74 Hz±120.34 Hz)和主频值(735.92 Hz±138.48 Hz)最低;2)幼仔发出叫声后,母兽的回应率和行为类型均随叫声类型不同而不同:母兽对幼仔叫声的回应率为62%,其中Squall的回应率最高(67.4%),回应的行为以舔仔为主;其次是Croak(59.0%),以舔仔为主;而Squawk最低(57.8%),以叼仔为主。大熊猫幼仔初期仅仅依赖声音与母体交流,在充分了解其声音特征的基础上,掌握幼仔与母兽间的互动行为,有助于更深入了解圈养大熊猫的育幼行为,为育幼过程中的人工干预提供科学依据。     

人工辅助大熊猫母兽哺乳幼仔研究

2004年大熊猫母兽“蜀庆”(谱系号480)产仔后,虽能抱仔保温但不会哺乳幼仔,经人工辅助让幼仔吃上母乳,幼仔生长发育良好。本文报道了160天内幼仔吮乳的情况,收集了幼仔日吮乳次数、吮乳时间分布、日吮乳量及其与体重的关系等资料。结果表明:1)人工辅助母兽哺乳是解决性情温顺、母性好、有乳汁,但不会哺乳的母兽哺乳幼仔问题的方法;2)大熊猫幼仔每日吮乳次数由1~6前6天的12次左右,逐渐减少并固定在48天后的2次左右;80天内,幼仔吮乳时间在每日的平均分布有4个高峰时间段和4个低谷时间段;3)0~35天间,幼仔日吮乳量(y)与日龄(x)的关系可用公式y=6.2228 x+11.184(R2=0.9258)表示,日吮乳量随日龄增长而呈直线增加,35天后幼仔日吮乳量随日龄增长波动上升;4)幼仔日吮乳量与体重比在1~19天为30.22±1.31%,处于整个育幼期的高水平,之后逐渐下降,95天后稳定在3.92±0.10%的低水平。     

卧龙圈养大熊猫母兽带仔野化培训

对卧龙圈养大熊猫进行母兽带仔野化培训．初步建立了大熊猫初生幼仔到半岁幼兽的野化培训方法;建立了大熊猫幼仔与研究者的隔离方法,避免了培训个体对人和人工饲养环境的依赖;探索了提高圈养大熊猫活力的新方法;初步证明了带仔野化培训的科学性和合理性。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.