Dolphin whistles: a functional misnomer revealed by heliox breathing

Delphinids produce tonal whistles shaped by vocal learning for acoustic communication. Unlike terrestrial mammals, delphinid sound production is driven by pressurized air within a complex nasal system. It is unclear how fundamental whistle contours can be maintained across a large range of hydrostatic pressures and air sac volumes. Two opposing hypotheses propose that tonal sounds arise either from tissue vibrations or through actual whistle production from vortices stabilized by resonating nasal air volumes. Here, we use a trained bottlenose dolphin whistling in air and in heliox to test these hypotheses. The fundamental frequency contours of stereotyped whistles were unaffected by the higher sound speed in heliox. Therefore, the term whistle is a functional misnomer as dolphins actually do not whistle, but form the fundamental frequency contour of their tonal calls by pneumatically induced tissue vibrations analogous to the operation of vocal folds in terrestrial mammals and the syrinx in birds. This form of tonal sound production by nasal tissue vibrations has probably evolved in delphinids to enable impedance matching to the water, and to maintain tonal signature contours across changes in hydrostatic pressures, air density and relative nasal air volumes during dives.     

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Contact Rates in Female White-Tailed Deer

Abstract: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are important game mammals and potential reservoirs of diseases of domestic livestock; thus, diseases of deer are of great concern to wildlife managers. Contact, either direct or indirect, is necessary for disease transmission, but we know little about the ecological contexts that promote intrasexual contact among deer. Using pair-wise direct contacts estimated from Global Positioning System collar locations and joint utilization distributions (JUDs), we assessed habitats in which contacts occur to test whether direct contact rates among female white-tailed deer in different social groups differs among land-cover types. We also tested whether contact rates differed among seasons, lunar phases, and times of day. We obtained locations from 27 female deer for periods of 0.5–17 months during 2002–2006. We designated any simultaneous pair of locations for 2 deer <25 m apart as a direct contact. For each season, we used compositional analysis to compare land-cover types where 2 deer had contact to available land-cover weighted by their JUD. We used mixed-model logistic regression to test for effects of season, lunar phase, and time of day on contact rates. Contact rates during the gestation season were greater than expected from random use in forest and grassland cover, whereas contact rates during the fawning period were greater in agricultural fields than in other land-cover types. Contact rates were greatest during the rut and lowest in summer. Diel patterns of contact rates varied with season, and contact rates were elevated during full moon compared to other lunar periods. Both spatial and temporal analyses suggest that contact between female deer in different social groups occurs mainly during feeding, which highlights the potential impact of food distribution and habitat on contact rates among deer. By using methods to associate contacts and land-cover, we have created beneficial tools for more elaborate and detailed studies of disease transmission. Our methods can offer information necessary to develop spatially realistic models of disease transmission in deer.     

Survey of Campylobacter jejuni in stray cats in southern Italy

Aim: To evaluate the presence of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. in stray cats in southern Italy. Methods and Results: One hundred and thirteen animals were trapped in two different environments (urban area, harbour area) of the city of Naples. From each cat, rectal swabs were collected. The samples were processed in order to detect thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. by culture methods. The positive samples were then confirmed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 19/113 (16·8%) stray cats, whereas Campylobacter coli was not isolated. The cat data (age, environment and sex) were analysed by two statistical analyses using the C. jejuni status (positive/negative) as a dependent variable. As regards statistical regression model results, age and environment were risk factors for C. jejuni positivity. In particular, cats older than 1 year had a significantly higher risk of being positive for C. jejuni than cats aged up to 1 year (OR = 10·440; P = 0·000). Moreover, cats living in the harbour area had a significantly higher risk to be a carrier of C. jejuni than cats living in urban area (OR = 17·911; P = 0·008). Conclusion: The findings of the present survey confirm stray cats as potential carriers of C. jejuni. Significance and Impact of the Study: This is the first study on the prevalence of C. jejuni in stray cats in Europe.     

On a Romanian attempt to legislate on medically assisted human reproduction

The paper presents and briefly analyses some of the provisions of a Romanian legislative proposal which arrived at the Presidency for ratification twice, in slightly different forms, and which was rejected twice: the first time at the Presidency in October 2004, and the second at the Constitutional Court in July 2005. The proposal was finally dropped in February 2006. My intention here is to point to some of the most problematic deficiencies of the legislative document in the hope that this may assist with future debates and regulations on assisted reproduction either in Romania or elsewhere. I have isolated the features to be discussed under two headings: (1) whose are the rights to reproduce, that the document claimed to ‘acknowledge, regulate and guarantee’ and (2) what is the status of the embryo, the child and the surrogate mother?     

Cytoplasmic and Mitochondrial Creatine Kinases from the Skeletal Muscle of Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus). Molecular Cloning and Enzyme Characterization

We have amplified two cDNAs, coding for creatine kinases (CKs), from the skeletal muscle of sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus by PCR, and cloned these cDNAs into pMAL plasmid. These are the first CK cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences from cetaceans to be reported. One of the two amino acid sequences is a cytoplasmic, muscle-type isoform (MCK), while the other was identified as a sarcomeric, mitochondrial isoform (sMiCK) that included a mitochondrial targeting peptide. The amino acid sequences of sperm whale MCK and sMiCK showed 94–96% sequence identity with corresponding isoforms of mammalian CKs, and all of the key residues necessary for CK function were conserved. The phylogenetic analyses of vertebrate CKs with three independent methods (neighbor-joining, maximum-likelihood and Bayes) supported the clustering of sperm whale MCK with Bos and Sus MCKs, in agreement with the contemporary view that these groups are closely related. Sperm whale MCK and sMiCK were expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with maltose-binding protein, and the kinetic constants (K _m, K _d and k _cat) were determined for the forward reaction. Comparison of kinetic constants with those of human and mouse CKs indicated that sperm whale MCK has a comparable affinity for creatine (K _m^Cr = 9.38 mM) to that of human MCK, and the sMiCK has two times higher affinity for creatine than the human enzyme. Both the MCK and sMiCK of sperm whale display a synergistic substrate binding (K _d /K _m = 3.1–7.8) like those of other mammalian CKs.     

A conservation assessment of the freshwater crabs of southern Africa (Brachyura: Potamonautidae)

Recent taxonomic revisions of the freshwater crabs of southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) allow accurate depictions of their diversity, distribution patterns and conservation status. The southern African region is home to nineteen species of freshwater crabs all belonging to the genus Potamonautes (family Potamonautidae). These crabs show high levels of species endemism (84%) to the southern African region and to the country of South Africa (74%). The conservation status of each species is assessed using the IUCN (2003) Red List criteria, based on detailed compilations of the majority of known specimens. The results indicate that one species should be considered vulnerable, fifteen species least concern and three species data deficient. The results have been utilized by the IUCN for Red Lists, and may prove useful when developing a conservation strategy for southern Africa’s endemic freshwater crab fauna.     

Green algae in spruce forests in the north-east of European Russia

The green algal communities in podzolic soils under coniferous forest in N.E. European Russia were studied in areas that were subjected to different technogenic pollution intensities. Sixty-five green algal species belonging to 4 classes, 12 orders, 20 families and 27 genera were recorded. The algal communities in the investigated soils of the different type spruce phytocoenoses included from 15 to 38 taxa on one site. Indicator species were identified for background spruce forests (Chalmydomonas gelatinosa, Tetracystis aggregata, T. dissociata, Pseudopleurococcus botryoides, Myrmecia bisecta) and for aerotechnogenically polluted spruce forests (Actinochloris sphaerica). The results may be used for the monitoring of the ecological state of biota in soils under boreal forests of protected areas and spruce forests exposed to intense aerial technogenic pollution. Presented at the International Symposium Biology and Taxonomy of Green Algae V, Smolenice, June 26–29, 2007, Slovakia.     

未来气候变化对粤港澳地区杜鹃花适生区的影响

位于我国南方丘陵的粤港澳地区拥有丰富杜鹃花资源,长期以来受杜鹃花不适宜在高温低海拔地区进行开发利用等思想的影响,该区域野生杜鹃花的开发、保护与利用研究寥寥无几,但低海拔野生杜鹃花在气候变化下正面临较高灭绝风险。基于粤港澳地区杜鹃花属(Rhododendron)14个筛选后的野生物种229个标本点位数据,利用最大熵模型(Maxent)模拟粤港澳地区野生杜鹃花在2070年低、中、高3种温室气体排放模式(RCP2.6、RCP4.5、RCP8.5)下的适生区范围大小与方向的变化及其主导环境变量。研究发现未来粤港澳地区野生杜鹃花的适生区范围整体呈缩小趋势,且随着温室气体排放浓度的增加,即从RCP2.6到RCP8.5,越来越多杜鹃花物种适生区呈现向高纬度、高海拔方向迁移的趋势;对杜鹃花分布影响最大的变量为最冷月的最低温、温度季节性和最干月降水量。本研究通过探究气候变化对野生杜鹃花适生区范围的影响,以期为粤港澳地区野生杜鹃花的保护与开发利用提供科学指导。