How reliable are dung counts for estimating elephant numbers?

Dung counts are the most commonly used techniques for estimating elephant numbers in forests, yet there is considerable scepticism concerning their accuracy. Published accounts of dung counts show that they give estimates similar to those from other methods for vertebrates ranging in size from lizards to elephants. For ungulates, macropods and elephants there are strong correlations between estimates from dung counts and other methods. Thus, dung counts are as accurate or inaccurate as other methods for estimating vertebrate numbers, including elephants. Dung counts for elephants give estimates that are as precise as, and sometimes more precise than, those from aerial surveys of elephants. This is because the variance in dung density is usually low and results in a lower than expected variance for the final elephant estimate when combined with the variances of defecation and decay rates. Dung counts may be more appropriate than aerial surveys for monitoring small or declining elephant populations.     

Micropropagation of Dendrocalamus asper {Schult. & Schult. F.} Backer ex k. Heyne): an exotic edible bamboo

Effect of season, media type, carbon source, growth regulators and transplanting media on micropropagation of Dendrocalamus asper, an important bamboo species, was examined. The season of explant collection played an important role in axillary bud sprouting and spring (February?CApril) was found to be the best period for explant collection. Among the different media MS was found to be the best for micropropagation. Maximum numbers (4.83/explant) of shoots were initiated in MS?+?15???M BAP. For shoot multiplication, MS medium supplemented with 10???M BAP and 75???M Adenine sulfate was used. BAP was superior to KIN for both explant establishment, as well as, shoot multiplication. Optimal rooting was achieved in shoots cultured on ? strength MS medium supplemented with 5???M each of IBA and NAA. Regenerated plantlets were acclimatized and hardened in green house using dune sand and vermi-compost (3:1) with 92.34% success and transferred to the field with 100% survival rate. In the field, plants supplied with FYM along with urea showed better growth and development. Macroproliferation, plant multiplication by separating the rooted tillers of well established in vitro raised plantlets after 5 to 6?months of growth in the green house could double the multiplication rate. More than 25000 in vitro raised plants were successfully transferred to the field and no morphological variations in growth were observed, thus proving the potential of tissue culture for raising large scale plantations of D. asper.     

Population cycles can maintain foraging polymorphism

The maintenance of genetic variability in morphological traits that affect fitness is poorly understood. We present a simple Mendelian model of genetic traits affecting foraging efficiency in grazing ungulates, based on a trade-off between rates of energy extraction at low versus high levels of plant abundance. The model suggests that variation in foraging efficiency could be maintained via lottery competition arising as a direct consequence of dynamically unstable interactions between consumers and their food resources. Lottery competition is a plausible mechanism for explaining wide variability in foraging efficiency, such as that documented in unstable Soay sheep populations on the St Kilda archipelago.     

Effect of different larval rearing temperatures on the productivity (Ro) and morphology of the malaria vector Anopheles superpictus Grassi (Diptera: Culicidae) using geometric morphometrics

Temperature affects both the biology and morphology of mosquito vectors. Geometric morphometrics is a useful new tool for capturing and analyzing differences in shape and size in many morphological parameters, including wings. We have used this technique for capturing the differences in the wings of the malaria vector Anopheles superpictus, using cohorts reared at six different constant temperatures (15°, 20°, 25°, 27°, 30°, and 35° C) and also searched for potential correlations with the life tables of the species. We studied wing shape in both male and female adults, using 22 landmarks on the wing in relation to ecological parameters, including the development rate. The ecological zero was calculated as 9.93° C and the thermal constant as 296.34 day‐degrees. The rearing temperature affects egg, larval, and pupal development and also the total time from egg to adult. As rearing temperatures increased, longevity decreased in both sexes. In An. superpictus, R_o value and productivity correlated with the statistically significant gradual deformations in the wing shape related to size in both sexes. These deformations directly linked to differences in immature rearing temperatures. Analysis using PCA and UPGMA phenograms showed that although wings of females became narrower dorsoventrally as the temperature increased, they became broader in males. Comparisons of the wing landmarks indicated the medial part of the wing was most affected by larval rearing temperatures, showing relatively more deformations. Algorithmic values of the life tables were determined in correlation with the results of geometric morphometrics. Comparisons of centroid sizes in the cohorts showed that overall wing size became smaller in both sexes in response to higher rearing temperatures.     

Signaling pathways involved in thyroid hyperfunction and growth in Graves' disease.

The elucidation of the multiple signaling cascades coupled to the TSH receptor has offered new approaches in the understanding of the pathogenesis of Graves' disease. Here we review findings showing that immunoglobulins from Graves' patients are heterogeneous, bind to different epitopes and, similarly to TSH, activate different signaling pathways, including adenylyl cyclase, phospholipase C and phospholipase A2. Evidence that the multiplicity of signals correlates with the different manifestations of the disease is also summarized. We believe that the dissection of the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of Graves' disease offers the basis for developing novel therapeutical approaches to this disease.     

Alterations in catalytic activity and virus maturation produced by mutation of the conserved histidine residues of herpes simplex virus type 1 protease.

Mutant herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) viruses were constructed to characterize the roles of the conserved histidine residues (H61 and H148) of HSV-1 protease in the regulation of catalytic activity and virus maturation. Viruses containing mutations at H61 (H61V-V711, H61Y-V715, and H61A-V730) were unable to grow on Vero cells. These mutant viruses could process neither Pra to N0 nor ICP-35cd to ICP-35ef. Transmission electron microscopy studies of H61A-V730-infected Vero cells indicated that capsid maturation is arrested at a state characterized by the predominance of large symmetrical arrays of B capsids within the nucleus. Two mutations at H148 (in viruses H148A-V712 and H148E-V728) gave rise to mutant viruses that grew with a small-plaque phenotype; one of the viruses, H148E-V728, was particularly attenuated when grown at a low multiplicity of infection. The rate of processing of Pra to N0 in infected Vero cells increased in the order H148A-V712 < H148E-V728 < parental strain HSV-1-V731. The observation that H148A-V712 processes Pra to N0 and ICP-35cd to ICP-35ef, whereas H61A does not, establishes H61 as the catalytically essential conserved His assuming that HSV-1 protease, like other serine proteases, utilizes an active-site histidine residue in catalysis. Two of the mutations at H148 (viruses H148K-V729 and H148Y-V716) produced nonviable viruses. H148K-V729 processed neither Pra to N0 nor ICP-35cd to ICP-35ef, whereas H148Y-V716 processed Pra to N0 but did not process ICP-35cd to ICP-35ef. The range of phenotypes observed with the H148 mutant viruses suggests that residue 148 of the HSV-1 protease is a determinant of virus growth rate and viability because of its effects on the activity of the protease and/or the role of the protease domain in capsid assembly and DNA packaging.     

The different banding patterns produced by restriction endonuclease digestion in mitotic chromosomes of the American and European eel

The detection of three classes of C-heterochromatin by in situ restriction endonuclease digestion allowed a karyotype differentiation between the American and the European eel.