Polychaete species captured in sediment traps moored in northwestern Mediterranean submarine canyons

Sediment traps were placed in the water column both inside and in the vicinity of three northwestern Mediterranean submarine canyons. The sediment traps with 12 rotary collectors were deployed on mooring lines 30 and 500 m above the sea floor, and were sampled fortnightly. Polychaete worms (Anelida) and hydromedusae (Cnidaria) were the most abundant zoological taxa captured. Whereas hydromedusae and three of the polychaete species were clearly planktonic organisms, 16 polychaete species were adult benthic forms without special adaptations for swimming, and sometimes also had a large biomass. Four of the 19 polychaete species are described as new species: Aricidea (Allia) longisetosa sp. nov. , Paradoneis hirsuta sp. nov. , Ophelina margaleffi sp. nov. , and Exogone (Parexogone) canyonincolae sp. nov. The rich collection of polychaetes obtained leads us to postulate that these animals are supported by a continuous flux of organic matter, and that they are adapted to the rigorous physical conditions that may occur between the seafloor and the bottom water. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 155 , 1–21.     

The land–atmosphere water flux in the tropics

Tropical vegetation is a major source of global land surface evapotranspiration, and can thus play a major role in global hydrological cycles and global atmospheric circulation. Accurate prediction of tropical evapotranspiration is critical to our understanding of these processes under changing climate. We examined the controls on evapotranspiration in tropical vegetation at 21 pan-tropical eddy covariance sites, conducted a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of 13 evapotranspiration models at these sites, and assessed the ability to scale up model estimates of evapotranspiration for the test region of Amazonia. Net radiation was the strongest determinant of evapotranspiration (mean evaporative fraction was 0.72) and explained 87% of the variance in monthly evapotranspiration across the sites. Vapor pressure deficit was the strongest residual predictor (14%), followed by normalized difference vegetation index (9%), precipitation (6%) and wind speed (4%). The radiation-based evapotranspiration models performed best overall for three reasons: (1) the vegetation was largely decoupled from atmospheric turbulent transfer (calculated from Ω decoupling factor), especially at the wetter sites; (2) the resistance-based models were hindered by difficulty in consistently characterizing canopy (and stomatal) resistance in the highly diverse vegetation; (3) the temperature-based models inadequately captured the variability in tropical evapotranspiration. We evaluated the potential to predict regional evapotranspiration for one test region: Amazonia. We estimated an Amazonia-wide evapotranspiration of 1370 mm yr⁻¹, but this value is dependent on assumptions about energy balance closure for the tropical eddy covariance sites; a lower value (1096 mm yr⁻¹) is considered in discussion on the use of flux data to validate and interpolate models.     

Economic Evaluations of Adult Male Circumcision for Prevention of Heterosexual Acquisition of HIV in Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Background

There is conclusive evidence from observational data and three randomized controlled trials that circumcised men have a significantly lower risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The aim of this study was to systematically review economic evaluations on adult male circumcision (AMC) for prevention of heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men.

Methods and Findings

Studies were identified from the following bibliographic databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), Cochrane Library (Wiley''s internet version), NHS EED and DARE Office of Health Economics HEED. The searches were conducted in November 2009. The Drummond 10-point checklist was used for methodological critique of the economic evaluations. Cost data were inflated and converted to 2008 US dollars (US$). Of 264 identified papers, only five met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The studies were published between 2006 and 2009. Most of the studies were carried out from the perspective of government healthcare payer. The time horizon ranged from 10 to 20 years. All studies reported that AMC is cost-effective. The reported cost per HIV infection averted ranged from US$174 to US$2808. The key driver of the cost-effectiveness models was circumcision efficacy.

Conclusions

All published economic evaluations offered the same conclusion that AMC is cost-effective and potentially cost-saving for prevention of heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men. On these grounds, AMC may be seen as a promising new form of strategy for prevention of HIV and should be implemented in conjunction with other evidence-based prevention methods.     

Methyl farnesoate induced ovarian maturation in the spider crab,Libinia emarginata

Summary

To overcome the problem of getting crustaceans to reproduce in captivity, eyestalk ablation or X-organ sinus gland removal is commonly utilized in commercially important species such as shrimp. We have investigated the effect of unilateral and bilateral eyestalk ablation on methyl farnesoate (MF) production by mandibular organs (MOs) and on ovarian maturation in female spider crabs Libinia emarginata, a useful model since these animals are in a terminal molt and are devoid of a functional Y-organ. Non-reproductive, over-wintering female L. emarginata were induced to be reproductive by feeding and increasing the holding temperature to stimulate the endocrine system. In addition, we removed X-organ sinus glands by eyestalk ablation either unilaterally (UEA) or bilaterally (BEA) to further stimulate MF synthesis by MOs. Endogenous MF in the hemolymph was extracted and quantified by means of HPLC and in some cases by GC/MS. Oocyte growth and egg quality were studied simultaneously to determine how they were related to MF levels found during vitellogenesis. The initial MF concentration in unablated controls was low, 0.31 ng/ml of hemolymph, and this increased (p<0.05) to about 1 ng/ml by 2 weeks, remaining at about that level for the remainder of the experiment. Eyestalk ablation significantly stimulated MF concentrations by week 1 to nearly 2 and 3.5ng/ml in the UEA (p <0.01) and BEA (p <0.001) animals, respectively. Oocytes appeared to respond to increased MF levels, as ovarian maturation was initiated from the point at which MF increased (p <0.05). Thereafter, the rate of oocyte growth was directly correlated with the extent of elevation of MF. The gonado-somatic index [(GSI) = gonad weight/body weight × 100] of controls at the start was about 1.5 and increased to 6.5 by week 4. Mature oocytes were reached at a GSI around 7. Oocyte maturation was accomplished at week 2 in BEA, week 3 in UEA, and later than week 4 in controls. After maturation, oocytes started to degrade in some ablated animals, particularly in the bilaterally ablated ones where the highest MF concentrations were observed. These data indicate that MF elevations are required for stimulating ovarian maturation in Crustacea. MF appears to accelerate gonad development during the vitellogenic process, but may be deleterious at high concentrations. These results have a significant and important application and implications for aquaculture.     

Observation of some key stages of the embryonic development of Biomphalaria straminea (Dunker, 1848) (Molluska,Planorbidae)

Summary

Biomphalaria straminea is a freshwater snail and one of the intermediate hosts of the trematode parasite which causes schistosomiasis in Brazil. The main stages of embryonic development were analyzed with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), using the fluorescent probe DiOC and Nile Red as a vital stain in in vivo preparations. In fixed preparations nuclei were stained by the Feulgen reaction or the fluorescent DNA probe, Höechst 33342. Results obtained from the analysis of embryos at the stages of early cleavage, morula, blastula, gastrula, early trocophore and veliger showed that these stages are similar to those described for Biomphalaria glabrata and Biomphalaria tenagophila. CLSM optical sections of early trochophore showed important morphological structures such as the blastopore, stomodeum and shell gland; and in early veliger, internal organs such as the esophagus, stomach and male and female ducts were also clearly identified.     

Advances in plant molecular farming

Plant molecular farming (PMF) is a new branch of plant biotechnology, where plants are engineered to produce recombinant pharmaceutical and industrial proteins in large quantities. As an emerging subdivision of the biopharmaceutical industry, PMF is still trying to gain comparable social acceptance as the already established production systems that produce these high valued proteins in microbial, yeast, or mammalian expression systems. This article reviews the various cost-effective technologies and strategies, which are being developed to improve yield and quality of the plant-derived pharmaceuticals, thereby making plant-based production system suitable alternatives to the existing systems. It also attempts to overview the different novel plant-derived pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical protein products that are at various stages of clinical development or commercialization. It then discusses the biosafety and regulatory issues, which are crucial (if strictly adhered to) to eliminating potential health and environmental risks, which in turn is necessary to earning favorable public perception, thus ensuring the success of the industry.     

Hybrid speciation in sparrows II: a role for sex chromosomes?

Homoploid hybrid speciation in animals is poorly understood, mainly because of the scarcity of well‐documented cases. Here, we present the results of a multilocus sequence analysis on the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), Spanish sparrow (P. hispaniolensis) and their proposed hybrid descendant, the Italian sparrow (P. italiae). The Italian sparrow is shown to be genetically intermediate between the house sparrow and Spanish sparrow, exhibiting genealogical discordance and a mosaic pattern of alleles derived from either of the putative parental species. The average variation on the Z chromosome was significantly reduced compared with autosomal variation in the putative parental species, the house sparrow and Spanish sparrow. Additionally, divergence between the two species was elevated on the Z chromosome relative to the autosomes. This pattern of variation and divergence is consistent with reduced introgression of Z‐linked genes and/or a faster‐Z effect (increased rate of adaptive divergence on the Z). F_ST‐outlier tests were consistent with the faster‐Z hypothesis: two of five Z‐linked loci (CHD1Z and PLAA) were identified as candidates for being subject to positive, divergent selection in the putative parental species. Interestingly, the two latter genes showed a mosaic pattern in the (hybrid) Italian sparrow; that is, the Italian sparrow was found to be fixed for Spanish sparrow alleles at CHD1Z and to mainly have house sparrow alleles at PLAA. Preliminary evidence presented in this study thus suggests that sex chromosomes may play a significant role in this case of homoploid hybrid speciation.     

Does seed germination contribute to ecological breadth and geographic range? A test with sympatric Diplusodon (Lythraceae) species from rupestrian fields

We tested the regeneration niche hypothesis by comparing the germination ecology of two sympatric Diplusodon species differing in their geographic range and microhabitat. Diplusodon orbicularis is an endemic shrub achieving high densities on sandy soils, whereas Diplusodon hirsutus has a wider geographic range and establishes on rocky outcrops. Seeds were set to germinate under constant temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35°C under 12 h light/12 h dark conditions. Light induced germination in both species, but germination under darkness was also observed. Optimum conditions for germination were 25°C/light for both species. The lack of differences in soil temperatures between rocky outcrops and sandy soils provides evidence of no temperature‐dependent microhabitat selection. Unexpectedly, germinability of the more widespread species was lower than that of the endemic congener. Higher germinability of D. orbicularis may account for higher densities when compared with D. hirsutus. Our results provide limited support for the role of germination in contributing to ecological breadth and geographic range.