Nesting biology and food habits of the endangered Sakalava Rail Amaurornis olivieri in the Mandrozo Protected Area,western Madagascar§

We studied the nesting biology and food habits of the endangered and endemic Sakalava Rail Amaurornis olivieri from July to November 2015 in the Mandrozo Protected Area, western Madagascar. Three nesting pairs were observed and their nests were constructed in a dense mat of reeds Phragmites mauritianus and averaged 56.7 ± 15.3 cm above the water (n = 3 nests). Nests were built by both adults and it took 3 d on average to complete a nest (n = 2 nests). Thirteen matings were observed and lasted 4.1 s on average (n = 2 pairs). Average clutch size was three eggs (n = 2 nests). Both sexes incubated; the incubation period was 15–17 d (n = 2 nests). Both male and female participated in brooding and feeding the young, which remained for 3 d in the nest and became independent of their parents at 45 d of age. Based on 194 identified food items, the Sakalava Rail’s diet was composed of invertebrates: spiders (53.1%), insects (32%), crustaceans (10.8%) and molluscs (4.1%). The home ranges of two radio-tagged individuals were 0.95 and 1.98 ha.     

Effect of tetrahydrobiopterin and exercise training on endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in SHR

We examined whether the improvement of impaired NO-dependent vasorelaxation by exercise training could be mediated through a BH₄-dependent mechanism. Male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR, n?=?20) and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY, n?=?20) were trained (Tr) for 9 weeks on a treadmill and compared to age-matched sedentary animals (Sed). Endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation (EDV) was assessed with acetylcholine by measuring isometric tension in rings of femoral artery precontracted with 10^?5?M phenylephrine. EDV was impaired in SHR-Sed as compared to WKY-Sed (p?=?0.02). Training alone improved EDV in both WKY (p?=?0.01) and SHR (p?=?0.0001). Moreover, EDV was not different in trained SHR than in trained WKY (p?=?0.934). Pretreatment of rings with L-NAME (50 μM) cancelled the difference in ACh-induced relaxation between all groups, suggesting that NO pathway is involved in these differences. The presence of 10^?5?M BH₄ in the organ bath significantly improved EDV for sedentary SHR (p?=?0.030) but not WKY group (p?=?0.815). Exercise training turned the beneficial effect of BH₄ on SHR to impairment of ACh-induced vasorelaxation in both SHR-Tr (p?=?0.01) and WKY-Tr groups (p?=?0.04). These results suggest that beneficial effect of exercise training on endothelial function is due partly to a BH₄-dependent mechanism in established hypertension.     

The entomogenous nematode Neoaplectana bibionis as a biological control agent of Agrotis segetum in lettuce

Biological control of the soil-inhabitating larvae (cutworms) of Agrotis segetum Schiff. using the entomogenous nematode Neoaplectana bibionis Bovien was investigated under field conditions. Cutworms were introduced to plots planted with lettuce, Lactuca sativa L. After planting and infection with cutworms the plots were treated with either N. bibionis, the insecticide endosulfan or water. The trials were sited on locations with loamy and sandy soil. Adequate control of cutworms was obtained using 2.5×10⁵ nematodes/m² on sandy soil and 1×10⁶ nematodes/m² on loamy soil. Effects of these treatments with nematodes were equal to the effect of endosulfan.

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Neoaplectana bibionis ein entomophager nematode zur biologischen bekämpfung von Agrotis segetum an salat

Zusammenfassung Unter Freilandbedingungen wurde die biologische Bekämpfung von Erdraupen (Agrotis segetum Schiff., Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) mit dem entomophagen Nematoden Neoaplectana bibionis Bovien geprüft. Mit Salat bepflanzte Parzellen wurden mit Erdraupen besetzt. Anschliessend wurde auf die Parzellen N. bibionis, das Insektizid Endosulfan oder Wasser ausgebracht. Die Versuche wurden in Gebieten mit lehmigen und sandigen Böden durchgeführt. Für eine ausreichende Bekämpfung der Erdraupen waren auf dem sandigen Boden 2.5×10⁵ Nematoden/m² und auf dem lehmigen Boden 1×10⁶ Nematoden/m² erforderlich. Die Wirkung dieser Behandlungen entsprach der mit Endosulfan.

     

Selective and Efficient Neural Coding of Communication Signals Depends on Early Acoustic and Social Environment

Previous research has shown that postnatal exposure to simple, synthetic sounds can affect the sound representation in the auditory cortex as reflected by changes in the tonotopic map or other relatively simple tuning properties, such as AM tuning. However, their functional implications for neural processing in the generation of ethologically-based perception remain unexplored. Here we examined the effects of noise-rearing and social isolation on the neural processing of communication sounds such as species-specific song, in the primary auditory cortex analog of adult zebra finches. Our electrophysiological recordings reveal that neural tuning to simple frequency-based synthetic sounds is initially established in all the laminae independent of patterned acoustic experience; however, we provide the first evidence that early exposure to patterned sound statistics, such as those found in native sounds, is required for the subsequent emergence of neural selectivity for complex vocalizations and for shaping neural spiking precision in superficial and deep cortical laminae, and for creating efficient neural representations of song and a less redundant ensemble code in all the laminae. Our study also provides the first causal evidence for ‘sparse coding’, such that when the statistics of the stimuli were changed during rearing, as in noise-rearing, that the sparse or optimal representation for species-specific vocalizations disappeared. Taken together, these results imply that a layer-specific differential development of the auditory cortex requires patterned acoustic input, and a specialized and robust sensory representation of complex communication sounds in the auditory cortex requires a rich acoustic and social environment.     

Exploring genome-wide DNA methylation profiles altered in hepatocellular carcinoma using Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChips

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence has increased in the US and also has one of the fastest growing death rates of any cancer. The purpose of the current study was to discover novel genome-wide aberrant DNA methylation patterns in HCC tumors that are predominantly HCV-related. Infinium HumanMethylation 450K BeadChip arrays were used to examine genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in 66 pairs of HCC tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues. After Bonferroni adjustment, a total of 130,512 CpG sites significantly differed in methylation level in tumor compared with non-tumor tissues, with 28,017 CpG sites hypermethylated and 102,495 hypomethylated in tumor tissues. Absolute tumor/non-tumor methylation differences ≥ 20% were found in 24.9% of the hypermethylated and 43.1% of the hypomethylated CpG sites; almost 10,000 CpG sites have ≥ 30% DNA methylation differences. Most (60.1%) significantly hypermethylated CpG sites are located in CpG islands, with 21.6% in CpG shores and 3.6% in shelves. In contrast, only a small proportion (8.2%) of significantly hypomethylated CpG sites are situated in islands, while most are found in open sea (60.2%), shore (17.3%) or shelf (14.3%) regions. A total of 2,568 significant CpG sites (2,441 hypermethylated and 127 hypomethylated) covering 589 genes are located within 684 differentially methylated regions defined as regions with at least two significant CpG sites displaying > 20% methylation differences in the same direction within 250-bp. The top 500 significant CpG sites can significantly distinguish HCC tumor from adjacent tissues with one misclassification. Within adjacent non-tumor tissues, we also identified 75 CpG sites significantly associated with gender, 228 with HCV infection, 17,207 with cirrhosis, and 56 with both HCV infection and cirrhosis after multiple comparisons adjustment. Aberrant DNA methylation profiles across the genome were identified in tumor tissues from US HCC cases that are predominantly related to HCV infection. These results demonstrate the significance of aberrant DNA methylation in HCC tumorigenesis.