Pereskia marcanoi,a new species of Cactaceae from Hispaniola

Pereskia marcanoi is newly described from the rocky hillsides of Cerro San Francisco (Bánica), western Dominican Republic. With three other species from Hispaniola and Cuba, this new taxon forms a unique group of functionally dioeciousPereskia species native to the West Indies. Some important diagnostic characters of the members of this group are contrasted in key form.     

Regulation of cell survival and death during Flavivirus infections

Flaviviruses, ss(+) RNA viruses, include many of mankind's most important pathogens. Their pathogenicity derives from their ability to infect many types of cells including neurons, to replicate, and eventually to kill the cells. Flaviviruses can activate tumor necrosis factor α and both intrinsic(Bax-mediated) and extrinsic pathways to apoptosis. Thus they can use many approaches for activating these pathways. Infection can lead to necrosis if viral load is extremely high or to other types of cell death if routes to apoptosis are blocked. Dengue and Japanese Encephalitis Virus can also activate autophagy. In this case the autophagy temporarily spares the infected cell, allowing a longer period of reproduction for the virus, and the autophagy further protects the cell against other stresses such as those caused by reactive oxygen species. Several of the viral proteins have been shown to induce apoptosis or autophagy on their own, independent of the presence of other viral proteins. Given the versatility of these viruses to adapt to and manipulate the metabolism, and thus to control the survival of, the infected cells, we need to understand much better how the specific viral proteins affect the pathways to apoptosis and autophagy. Only in this manner will we be able to minimize the pathology that they cause.     

A Landscape-based Model for Predicting <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycobacterium ulcerans</Emphasis> Infection (Buruli Ulcer Disease) Presence in Benin,West Africa

Mycobacterium ulcerans infection (Buruli ulcer [BU] disease) is an emerging tropical disease that causes severe morbidity in many communities, especially those in close proximity to aquatic environments. Research and control efforts are severely hampered by the paucity of data regarding the ecology of this disease; for example, the vectors and modes of transmission remain unknown. It is hypothesized that BU presence is associated with altered landscapes that perturb aquatic ecosystems; however, this has yet to be quantified over large spatial scales. We quantified relationships between land use/land cover (LULC) characteristics surrounding individual villages and BU presence in Benin, West Africa. We also examined the effects of other village-level characteristics which we hypothesized to affect BU presence, such as village distance to the nearest river. We found that as the percent urban land use in a 50-km buffer surrounding a village increased, the probability of BU presence decreased. Conversely, as the percent agricultural land use in a 20-km buffer surrounding a village increased, the probability of BU presence increased. Landscape-based models had predictive ability when predicting BU presence using validation data sets from Benin and Ghana, West Africa. Our analyses suggest that relatively small amounts of urbanization are associated with a decrease in the probability of BU presence, and we hypothesize that this is due to the increased availability of pumped water in urban environments. Our models provide an initial approach to predicting the probability of BU presence over large spatial scales in Benin and Ghana, using readily available land use data.     

First results of a study of the feeding habits of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Synodontis</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">comoensis</Emphasis> (Siluriformes: Mochokidae) in a West African river (Comoé River,Comoé National Park,Côte d’Ivoire)

The feeding habits of Synodontis comoensis (Siluriformes, Mochokidae) have been studied for the first time. Specimens caught in the Comoé River (Comoé National Park, Côte d’Ivoire) had fed on different types of food including insects (Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Hymenoptera, and Isoptera), molluscs (gastropods and bivalves), oligochaetes, and macrophytes. The food items most frequently found in the stomach contents were chironomid larvae, oligochaetes, vegetable detritus, fruit, and gastropods. Correlation studies based on the index of preponderance of food items revealed noticeable variation in S. comoensis diet composition with fish size and season. Preferred food items of young fish were oligochaetes in the rainy season and vegetable detritus in the dry season. Food items preferred by larger fish were fruit and gastropods in the rainy season and chironomid larvae in the dry season.     

Declining Wild Mushroom Recognition and Usage in Burkina Faso

Declining Wild Mushroom Recognition and Usage in Burkina Faso. Ethnomycological investigation was carried out in Burkina Faso, West Africa, using standardized interviews focused on 40 representative mushroom species assembled in a traveling herbarium (photographs plus preserved specimens). A total of 540 informants from 18 localities representing three main ethnic groups—Mòosé, Bobo, and Gouin—were interviewed, though the bulk of those interviewed were Mòosé (or Mossi) from the more populous central region of the country. Among the study species, as many as 24 were considered edible by the different ethnic groups; a few medicinal uses also were noted. The edibility of a common Chlorophyllum species is confirmed for the three ethnic groups. Mushroom nomenclature is not well developed in any of the three groups as evidenced by the fact that many mushrooms, including some common edible species, do not appear to have specific local names, but are instead simply referred to by a general term for “mushroom.” Preliminary observations about inter–ethnic variation in recognition, naming, and appreciation of mushrooms are noted. Older people recognized many more mushroom species than did younger people, and women appeared to be slightly more knowledgeable about mushrooms than men. The most important finding is that the gathering and consumption of wild edible mushrooms seems to be dying out in Burkina Faso, especially in the central part of the country, apparently because of declining mushroom populations resulting from disappearing forest habitats. NOTE TO VENDOR: In place of the corresponding author, send proof to this paper’s editor, David Aroro, maxfun @cruzio.com     

Comparability of a regional and state survey: effects on fish IBI assessment for West Virginia,U.S.A.

Probability-based survey designs are now being investigated to allow condition to be assessed for a discrete population of watershed management units and to infer probability of impairment to other unsampled watersheds. Results can be used to focus further monitoring and restoration efforts. Fish community data and index of biotic integrity (IBI) development were compared between the 1993 and 1998 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (EMAP-MAIA) survey and a West Virginia Regional EMAP (WV REMAP) survey conducted in 2001–2002. Both designs were based on probability surveys, but the EMAP design treated streams as a continuous linear network comprising an infinite population of points, while the REMAP design used a discrete set of watershed outlets as defined by 12-digit Hydrologic Cataloging Units (HUC12) as the sample population. The comparability of the watershed-based WV REMAP survey design results with the linear network-based EMAP-MAIA survey results for West Virginia was affected by the different size range of watershed areas included in each target population. Once similar watershed area ranges were considered by narrowing the size range included in the West Virginia EMAP-MAIA data set, virtually identical cumulative distribution functions for fish IBI scores were obtained. The reduced variability in reference conditions obtained by applying a restricted range of watershed areas allowed us to detect and correct for ecoregional differences in fish IBI metrics and scores, after excluding the biogeographically distinct Potomac River drainage basin located in the Central Appalachian Ridge and Valley Ecoregion. Handling editor: K. Martens     

Comparison of non-linear growth models to describe the growth curve in West African Dwarf sheep

The objectives of this study were to compare the goodness of fit of four non-linear growth models, i.e. Brody, Gompertz, Logistic and Von Bertalanffy, in West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. A total of 5274 monthly weight records from birth up to 180 days of age from 889 lambs, collected during 2001 to 2004 in Betecoucou breeding farm in Benin were used. In the preliminary analysis, the General Linear Model Procedure of the Statistical Analysis Systems Institute was applied to the dataset to identify the significant effects of the sex of lamb (male and female), type of birth (single and twin), season of birth (rainy season and dry season), parity of dam (1, 2 and 3) and year of birth (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004) on the observed birth weight and monthly weight up to 6 months of age. The models parameters (A, B and k), coefficient of determination (R²), mean square error (MSE) were calculated using language of technical computing package Matlab®, 2006. The mean values of A, B and k were substituted into each model to calculate the corresponding Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC). Among the four growth functions, the Brody model has been selected for its accuracy of fit according to the higher R², lower MSE and AIC. Finally, the parameters A, B and k were adjusted in Matlab®, 2006 for the sex of lamb, year of birth, season of birth, birth type and the parity of ewe, providing a specific slope of the Brody growth curve. The results of this study suggest that Brody model can be useful for WAD sheep breeding in Betecoucou farm conditions through growth monitoring.     

Development of 10 microsatellite loci for Yellow-billed Magpies (Pica nuttalli) and corvid ecology and West Nile virus studies

We developed 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci for Yellow-billed Magpies (Pica nuttalli). The primers were tested across a population of 57 Central California Yellow-billed Magpies and displayed an average of 3.9 alleles per locus. Forty-one American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) from California were polymorphic for seven of the loci with an average of 2.9 alleles per locus. One additional microsatellite-containing locus displayed diagnostic allele sizes and may be useful to distinguish between the two species. These corvid specific microsatellites will aid ecological studies of the population-level effects of diseases, such as West Nile virus.     

Phylogeny and biogeography of Caribbean mammals

Vicariance and dispersal hypotheses have been proposed over the last two hundred years to explain the distribution, diversity, and faunal composition of the Caribbean biota. Despite great advances in understanding the geological history of the region, recent biogeographical reviews have not used historical biogeographical methods. In this paper I review the taxonomy, distribution and phylogeny of all Cenozoic Caribbean non‐volant mammals and four bat lineages, and present reconciled trees for available phylogenies. Dates available from the fossil record and hypotheses of divergence based on molecular phylogenetic studies are also included in general assessments of fit between proposed geological models and Caribbean mammal diversification. The evidence posited in mammalian phylogenies does not add to the argument of dispersal vs. vicariance. One previously unidentified temporal pattern, the colonization of the Caribbean by South American mammals between the Palaeocene and the Middle Miocene, accounts for the distribution and phylogeny of the majority of lineages studied. Choloepodine and megalocnine sloths, hystricognath rodents, and primates all arrived during this window of colonization. Of these, megalocnine sloths, hystricognath rodents, Brachyphylla and allied bats, Stenodermatina bats, and primates fit the pattern of divergence from the mainland implied by the Gaarlandia hypothesis. Sloths, rodents and primates also roughly fit the timing of arrival to the Caribbean implied by Gaarlandia. The remaining taxa show contradictory dates of divergence according to molecular clock estimates, and no taxa fit the predicted timing and pattern of divergence among Antillean landmasses under the Gaarlandia model. Choloepodine sloths, murid rodents, insectivorans, mormoopids, and natalids show patterns of divergence from the mainland that are inconsistent with the Gaarlandia hypothesis and seem to require taxon‐specific biogeographical explanations. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 81 , 373–394.     

中国西北地区古代人群头骨的欧洲人种特征

位于中国西北部的新疆、甘肃、青海、宁夏是东亚与欧洲交汇的地区。一般认为生活在这一区域的古代人群与欧洲人群发生过融合或基因交流。但学术界对欧洲人群进入中国, 与中国古代人群发生混合与基因交流的时间、可能的扩散路线, 以及对中国现代人群形成的影响等具体细节还不是很清楚。本文对3800-1200年前生活在新疆、青海、宁夏, 以及河南安阳殷墟11个古代人群头骨呈现的欧洲人种特征进行了检测, 结果表明: 1)至少在2000-3000年前, "西方基因"已经在我国多个地区人群中存在; 2)这些"西方基因"是经由新疆向东流向内地的; 3)考古学和形态学上的证据显示欧洲人种的人群大规模地向东扩展在汉代之前的地理界限大致是在新疆的东部和甘肃的西部之间。本文所示的欧洲人种特征的出现情况, 并不受这种地理和时代的制约。