鱼类个性测定方法研究进展

动物个性是指在不同时空条件下动物种内个体间行为的稳定差异。鱼类个性的研究历史已超过50年,但不同时期和不同研究的鱼类个性测定方法存在较大差异,缺乏一个规范的用于量化鱼类个性研究的方法论。本文作者认为,关注鱼类个性的常规测定方法,了解现有个性定义及其生态学意义,规范鱼类个性的常规实验方法是有必要的。本文所涉及的个性是指狭义上的个性,即对勇敢性、探索性、活跃性、好斗性和社会性等个性的研究方法进行综述,规范了鱼类个性的常规测定方法及注意事项,并对过往研究中鱼类个性测定方法的不足之处进行了讨论和展望。     

Design a system for measuring individual cow feed intake in commercial dairies

Monitoring individual cow feed intake is necessary for calculating the cow individual feed efficiency. The cost and maintenance time necessary for research systems make them impractical for most of the commercial producers. We developed a measurement system with producer convenience and low investment as key design criteria. The goal of this study was to design the system and validate its ability to rank cows by their feed conversion efficiency in commercial farms. The new system consisted of three principal parts: (a) a hanging weighing system, (b) a visual cow identification system and (c) an automatic cleaning system. The weighing system consisted of hanging a single load cell to provide feed mass measurements. The image-based cow identification system (replacing Radio-Frequency Identification) entailed cameras installed above the feeding area and an image processing algorithm that recognized cows by their collar numbers. The new system worked within normal farm routines: the feed supplying truck distributed the animal feed, and a tractor cleaned feed residual. To validate the accuracy and convenience of the system and to rank the cows by their efficiency, an experiment with six scales and 12 cows was conducted in a research barn, succeeded by eight-scale system in a commercial farm with 16 cows. The feed intake of each cow participating in the experiments was monitored for one month. The validation experiment showed that the system had the following specification: scales were accurate within 120 g; the visual cow identification rate was greater than 96%; feeding duration was accurate to 52 s; and routine farm practices (feed distribution, pushing, and residual removal) continued as usual. The cost for a feeding station (utilized consequently for a number of cows) was about 1 500 USD. An example of application of the system to rank cows by their efficiency under commercial conditions was shown. The system can potentially be used for ranking cows by their efficiency in commercial facilities.     

月季花瓣数量遗传分析

以‘窄叶藤本月季花’(Rosa chinensis‘Zhaiye Tengben Yuejihua’)ב月月粉’(R.chinensis‘Old Blush’)杂交群体为材料,分析其花瓣数量的分离特点,对单瓣花与重瓣花的花芽分化过程进行观察,并对花瓣、雄蕊及瓣化雄蕊进行表皮细胞超微结构的观察。结果显示:杂交群体的花瓣数量分离明显,出现从5~54片的连续变异;花瓣数量、瓣化雄蕊数量、雌蕊数量的遗传模型为2MG-AD(2对加性-显性-上位性主基因控制),雄蕊数量的遗传模型为0MG(无主基因控制);月季重瓣花形成的原因为雄蕊瓣化,重瓣花形成的关键时期为雄蕊原基形成后期,可见到雄蕊瓣化为花瓣的现象;月季瓣化雄蕊的表皮细胞形态、褶皱程度介于单瓣花花瓣和重瓣花外轮花瓣之间。     

Automatic individual calibration in fall detection – an integrative ambulatory measurement framework

The objective of the current study was to demonstrate the utility of a new integrative ambulatory measurement (IAM) framework by developing and evaluating an individual calibration function in fall detection application. Ten healthy elderly persons were involved in a laboratory study and tested in a protocol comprising various types of activities of daily living and slip-induced backward falls. Inertial measurement units attached to the trunk and thigh segments were used to measure trunk angular kinematics and thigh accelerations. The effect of individual calibration was evaluated with previously developed fall detection algorithm. The results indicated that with individual calibration, the fall detection performance achieved approximately the same level of sensitivity (100% vs. 100%) and specificity (95.25% vs. 95.65%); however, response time was significantly lower than without (249 ms vs. 255 ms). It was concluded that the automatic individual calibration using the IAM framework improves the performance of fall detection, which has a greater implication in preventing/minimising injuries associated with fall accidents.     

The Contribution of TRPV4-Mediated Calcium Signaling to Calcium Homeostasis in Endothelial Cells

A large variety of cation transport systems are involved in the regulation of calcium homeostasis in endothelial cells. The focus of the present study is to determine the contribution of nonselective cation channels from the TRP (transient receptor potential) family to cellular calcium homeostasis of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC). One member of the TRPV (vanniloid) subfamily, TRPV4, has previously been shown to be involved in cation transport induced by a large variety of stimulations including osmolarity, temperature, mechanical stress, and phosphorylation. Here, we demonstrate the existence of several TRP proteins, including TRPV4, in PAEC using RT-PCR. To test whether this channel is functional, we performed FURA-2 calcium measurements and whole-cell patch-clamp experiments. We observed the induction of large calcium signals following mechanical stress, altered extracellular temperature, and the selective TRPV4 activator 4-α -PDD. These effects were diminished in the presence of the TRPV4 inhibitor miconazole, suggesting the involvement of this channel in mediating endothelial calcium signals. The large amounts of transported calcium and the short signaling ways suggest a potentially important role of this channel in many physiological processes.     

Fabrication,Operation and Flow Visualization in Surface-acoustic-wave-driven Acoustic-counterflow Microfluidics

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can be used to drive liquids in portable microfluidic chips via the acoustic counterflow phenomenon. In this video we present the fabrication protocol for a multilayered SAW acoustic counterflow device. The device is fabricated starting from a lithium niobate (LN) substrate onto which two interdigital transducers (IDTs) and appropriate markers are patterned. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channel cast on an SU8 master mold is finally bonded on the patterned substrate. Following the fabrication procedure, we show the techniques that allow the characterization and operation of the acoustic counterflow device in order to pump fluids through the PDMS channel grid. We finally present the procedure to visualize liquid flow in the channels. The protocol is used to show on-chip fluid pumping under different flow regimes such as laminar flow and more complicated dynamics characterized by vortices and particle accumulation domains.     

重庆大豆地方资源多样性评价及群体表型特点研究

对收集于重庆市的103份大豆地方品种进行了表型遗传多样性分析,并利用主成分分析和聚类分析对其进行了群体表型特点的研究,研究结果表明,重庆地区大豆地方种质资源以灰色茸毛、黄粒、褐色脐居多,个体之间数量性状上存在较大变异。主成分分析以3个主成分反映了10个农艺性状的大部分信息,将主要农艺性状归纳成产量因子、生长势因子及籽粒因子。聚类分析将103份地方种质资源聚为6个类群, 同一地区的大部分地方品种表现较为相似,少部分地方品种差异大,品种类群间的表型分化与地理分布既有一定的联系又不绝对相关。利用这些种质选配育种亲本应关注各类群间性状差异作选择,而不能仅关注地理来源选择。     

Rapid apoplastic pH measurement in Arabidopsis leaves using a fluorescent dye

In plants, the extracellular space (apoplast) is one of the main places where exchange of molecules occurs between cells. Not only is this compartment involved in the storage of multiple metabolites and ions, including calcium and protons, but it also plays a role in the transmission of signaling molecules for cell-to-cell communication. It has recently been shown multiple times that these two aspects are linked and can influence each other. In particular, apoplast pH was shown as a primary regulator of auxin (IAA) transport in Arabidopsis thaliana. To prove the role of apoplastic pH, we have developed a protocol for apoplastic fluid extraction from Arabidopsis leaves, followed by pH determination using the 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (HPTS) fluorescent dye. This technique successfully allows one to monitor apoplastic pH variations among different plant lines and to link changes in apoplastic pH to cellular responses in the plant.     

SIMEX for correction of dietary exposure effects with Box-Cox transformed data

Modelling dietary data, and especially 24-hr dietary recall (24HDR) data, is a challenge. Ignoring the inherent measurement error (ME) leads to biased effect estimates when the association between an exposure and an outcome is investigated. We propose an adapted simulation extrapolation (SIMEX) algorithm for modelling dietary exposures. For this purpose, we exploit the ME model of the NCI method where we assume the assumption of normally distributed errors of the reported intake on the Box-Cox transformed scale and of unbiased recalls on the original scale. According to the SIMEX algorithm, remeasurements of the observed data with additional ME are generated in order to estimate the association between the level of ME and the resulting effect estimate. Subsequently, this association is extrapolated to the case of zero ME to obtain the corrected estimate. We show that the proposed method fulfils the key property of the SIMEX approach, that is, that the MSE of the generated data will converge to zero if the ME variance converges to zero. Furthermore, the method is applied to real 24HDR data of the I.Family study to correct the effects of salt and alcohol intake on blood pressure. In a simulation study, the method is compared with the NCI method resulting in effect estimates with either smaller MSE or smaller bias in certain situations. In addition, we found our method to be more informative and easier to implement. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed method is useful to promote the dissemination of ME correction methods in nutritional epidemiology.     

Interspecific allometry for sexual shape dimorphism: Macroevolution of multivariate sexual phenotypes with application to Rensch's rule

Allometric trends in the degree of sexual dimorphism with body size have long fascinated evolutionary biologists. Many male-biased clades display more prominent sexual dimorphism in larger taxa (Rensch's rule), with most examples documenting this pattern for body size dimorphism. Although sexual dimorphism in traits other than body size is equally functionally relevant, characterizing allometric patterns of sexual dimorphism in such traits is hampered by lack of an analytical framework that can accommodate multivariate phenotypes. In this article, we derive a multivariate equivalency for investigating trends in sexual dimorphism—relative to overall body size—across taxa and provide a generalized test to determine whether such allometric patterns correspond with Rensch's rule. For univariate linear traits such as body size, our approach yields equivalent results to those from standard procedures, but our test is also capable of detecting trends in multivariate datasets such as shape. Computer simulations reveal that the method displays appropriate statistical properties, and an empirical example in Mediterranean lizards provides the first demonstration of Rensch's rule in a multivariate phenotype (head shape). Our generalized procedure substantially extends the analytical toolkit for investigating macroevolutionary patterns of sexual dimorphism and seeking a better understanding of the processes that underlie them.