Thermal habitat use and growth in young-of-the-year Arctic charr from proximal fluvial and lacustrine populations in Labrador,Canada

Predicted increases in temperature associated with climate change are expected to have consequences for fish, in particular for Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, a cold-adapted fish species. Despite differences in predicted hydroecological responses to climate change in fluvial and lacustrine environments, little is known of whether fluvial and lacustrine Arctic charr populations may respond differently to increasing temperatures. In order to compare growth and thermal habitat use between habitat types, otolith-inferred average water temperatures estimated from whole otoliths and fork lengths at capture were measured for young-of-the-year (YOY) Arctic charr obtained from two proximal fluvial and lacustrine sites in Labrador, Canada. Otolith-inferred average experienced water temperatures were not significantly correlated with air temperatures at both sites, suggestive of behavioural thermoregulation by YOY. The majority of Kogluktokoluk Brook (fluvial) YOY were found using water temperatures consistent with laboratory determined preferred temperatures for juvenile Arctic charr, whereas most Tom's Pond (lacustrine) YOY were found using temperatures ranging between preferred temperatures and optimal temperatures for growth. There was no consistent difference between mean water temperatures used between YOY from the two sites. Otolith-inferred average experienced water temperatures were only correlated to fork lengths in Tom's Pond YOY. The lack of correlation in Kogluktokoluk Brook YOY is argued to reflect resource partitioning occurring as a result of territoriality known to occur among stream salmonids. The limited range of temperatures used by fluvial YOY in this study, particularly the lack of cooler temperatures, also suggests that fluvial YOY may face barriers to thermal refugia, and as a result may be particularly vulnerable to climate change.     

Perspectives on environmental risk assessment

Risk is by no means a simple concept. Natural variability and definitional problems with the concept of probability complicate the measurement and use of risk as an analytical tool. Variability requires that risk assessment methods separate natural from total risk when attempting to estimate anthropogenic risk. Failure to do so results in the over estimation of anthropogenic risk and the eventual loss of credibility for risk assessment methodologies. The common frequentist approach to probability is not consistent with anything but a modelling approach to risk assessment. When combined with its ability to account for natural variability, incorporate laboratory-assay data and offer complete statistical and experimental control, modelling is a promising approach to risk assessment. Modelling, however, is not without its drawbacks. Initialization bias can result in the over, or under, estimation of both natural and anthropogenic risk. Furthermore, model estimates are time dependent. The convergence of natural and anthropogenic risk poses problems for modelling-based risk assessment and requires clear statements as to the importance of the time dimension in risk assessment. When combined, the drawbacks to modelling-based risk assessment argue that risk should never be stated as a scalar quantity. Instead, modelling-based risk assessment should provide estimates of the complete range of risk measures (total, natural, and anthropogenic) as well as indications of convergence time. Only then can the modelling-based approach be viewed as the most appropriate means of carrying out scientifically credible risk assessment.     

Unusual growth pattern in the Frasnian alveolitids (Tabulata) from the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland)

Abstract: Growth periodicity is a phenomenon occurring in fossil and modern corals. The most apparent feature is growth banding, and environmental changes are broadly accepted as controls on this phenomenon. If environment controls the growth, then all corallites within a colony should repeat the same growth pattern, as individuals are clones and must have shared the same environment. A study on several species of Alveolitidae (Anthozoa, Tabulata) from the Late Devonian (Early Frasnian) of the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland) shows that the growth pattern varies between neighbouring individuals within the same corallum. This contradicts observations of closely related Favositida as demonstrated on Pachyfavosites sp. from the Givetian of Avesnois, France, where neighbouring individuals repeat the same pattern. Therefore, environmental control on growth rhythm in Alveolitidae can be excluded; the causes of differences between individuals remain unknown.     

Plant regeneration from protoplasts of Dimorphotheca and Rudbeckia

Protoplasts were isolated from leaves, shoots, cotyledons, ray florets and callus cultures of Dimorphotheca aurantiaca (syn. D. sinuata) (Cape Marigold, Star of the Veldt) and Rudbeckia hirta, R. laciniata and R. purpurea; species of ornamental value. For Dimorphotheca, plants were regenerated from protoplasts of all sources apart from the ray floret, whilst for the Rudbeckia species, although protoplast division was induced in most cases, only leaf mesophyll protoplasts of R. hirta c.v. Marmalade gave plants. The establishment of plant regeneration for these ornamental species, from protoplasts, now provides a basis for their somatic hybridisation.Abbreviations BAP 6-benzylaminopurine - IAA indole-3-acetic acid - NAA naphthaleneacetic acid - K kinetin - GA₃ gibberellic acid - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962) - f.wt. fresh weight     

The development of early host response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection is critically dependent on myeloid differentiation factor 88 in mice

Toll-like receptors (TLR) induce distinct patterns of host responses through myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)-dependent and/or -independent pathways, depending on the nature of the pathogen. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a cause of serious lung infection in immunocompromised individuals and cystic fibrosis patients. The role of the TLR-MyD88 pathway in P. aeruginosa-induced lung infection in vivo was examined in this study. MyD88-/- mice demonstrated an impaired clearance of P. aeruginosa from the lung. Little or no neutrophil recruitment was observed in the airways of MyD88-/- mice following P. aeruginosa lung infection. This observation was associated with a reduced production of inflammatory mediators that affect neutrophil recruitment, including macrophage-inflammatory protein-2, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-1beta in the airways of MyD88-/- mice. Similarly, MyD88-/- mice showed inhibited NF-kappaB activation in the lung following P. aeruginosa infection. Interestingly, P. aeruginosa infection induced a 7.5-fold increase of TLR2 mRNA expression in the lungs of MyD88+/+ mice. Furthermore, host responses to P. aeruginosa lung infection in TLR2-/- and TLR4 mutant mice were partially inhibited compared with the responses of respective control mice. Taken together, our results indicate that the MyD88-dependent pathway is essential for the development of early host responses to P. aeruginosa infection, leading to the clearance of this bacterium, and that TLR2 and TLR4 are involved in this process.     

The changing role of veterinary expertise in the food chain

This paper analyses how the changing governance of animal health has impacted upon veterinary expertise and its role in providing public health benefits. It argues that the social sciences can play an important role in understanding the nature of these changes, but also that their ideas and methods are, in part, responsible for them. The paper begins by examining how veterinary expertise came to be crucial to the regulation of the food chain in the twentieth century. The relationship between the veterinary profession and the state proved mutually beneficial, allowing the state to address the problems of animal health, and the veterinary profession to become identified as central to public health and food supply. However, this relationship has been gradually eroded by the application of neoliberal management techniques to the governance of animal health. This paper traces the impact of these techniques that have caused widespread unease within and beyond the veterinary profession about the consequences for its role in maintaining the public good of animal health. In conclusion, this paper suggests that the development of the social sciences in relation to animal health could contribute more helpfully to further changes in veterinary expertise.