Microsatellites from the vairone Leuciscus souffia (Pisces: Cyprinidae) and their application to closely related species

Eleven microsatellites were isolated from the vairone Leuciscus souffia (Risso 1826), an endangered fish that inhabits river systems in and around the Alps in Europe. The level of genetic diversity was assessed in 29 individuals of the subspecies L. s. souffia, and their variability was further estimated in seven individuals of a different subspecies, L. s. muticellus. Eight of these microsatellite loci were also applied to seven closely related cyprinid species. Availability of the reported microsatellite loci will facilitate the investigation of population genetic structure of these species with applications for the development of conservation strategies and phylogeographical approaches.     

Serial Subcultivation of Giardia lamblia in Keister's Modified TYI-S-33 Medium Containing Ultroser G

ABSTRACT. The ability of Giardia strains of the duodenalis type to grow in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 medium varies with serum lot. Recently, strains of Giardia including MR4, WB, and Human-1-Portland, have been cultivated in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 medium containing the serum substitute Ultroser G and have been cultured serially at least 40 times. An optimal concentration of 8% Ultroser G promotes maximal growth in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 medium for all three strains. This concentration of Ultroser G will produce a two-log increase in the number of trophozoites in approximately three days post-inoculation. Generation times for the trophozoites ranging from 6 to 11 h have been achieved in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 containing 10% adult bovine serum and from 8 to 13 h in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 with 8% Ultroser G. Despite the excellent growth of Giardia strains in medium containing Ultroser G, the maximum trophozoite density is only about half of that achieved in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 medium supplemented with 10% adult bovine serum. Comparisons of trophozoites grown with serum or the serum substitute reveal no discernable differences in morphology and motility. Additionally, these strains have been successfully cryopreserved and revived in Keister's modified TYI-S-33 medium supplemented with Ultroser G. Because Ultroser G is a characterized mixture of six main groups of ingredients (growth factors, adhesion factors, mineral trace elements, hormones, binding proteins, and vitamins), the variability in cell proliferation that may occur when changing serum lots should be minimized when using this product.     

Delay and failure in treatment seeking after first onset of mental disorders in the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative

Data are presented on patterns of failure and delay in making initial treatment contact after first onset of a mental disorder in 15 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO)''s World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. Representative face-to-face household surveys were conducted among 76,012 respondents aged 18 and older in Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, People''s Republic of China (Beijing and Shanghai), Spain, and the United States. The WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to assess lifetime DSM-IV anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. Ages of onset for individual disorders and ages of first treatment contact for each disorder were used to calculate the extent of failure and delay in initial help seeking. The proportion of lifetime cases making treatment contact in the year of disorder onset ranged from 0.8 to 36.4% for anxiety disorders, from 6.0 to 52.1% for mood disorders, and from 0.9 to 18.6% for substance use disorders. By 50 years, the proportion of lifetime cases making treatment contact ranged from 15.2 to 95.0% for anxiety disorders, from 7.9 to 98.6% for mood disorders, and from 19.8 to 86.1% for substance use disorders. Median delays among cases eventually making contact ranged from 3.0 to 30.0 years for anxiety disorders, from 1.0 to 14.0 years for mood disorders, and from 6.0 to 18.0 years for substance use disorders. Failure and delays in treatment seeking were generally greater in developing countries, older cohorts, men, and cases with earlier ages of onset. These results show that failure and delays in initial help seeking are pervasive problems worldwide. Interventions to ensure prompt initial treatment contacts are needed to reduce the global burdens and hazards of untreated mental disorders.     

Volcanic explosive eruptions of the Vesuvio decrease tree-ring growth but not photosynthetic rates in the surrounding forests

Volcanic eruptions impact the global and the hemispheric climate, but it is still unknown how and to what degree they force the climate system and in particular the global carbon cycle. In this paper, the relationships between individual eruptions (reconstructed for the past using written records), tree primary productivity (estimated using ring widths), photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance (assessed by carbon and oxygen isotope data) are investigated, to understand the impact of volcanic eruptions on net primary production. Data from a mixed stand of Fagus sylvatica L. and Acer pseudoplatanus L. located in the area of the Vesuvio volcanic complex (Southern Italy) showed a significant decrease in ring width following each eruption. Isotope analyses indicate a change in climatic conditions after such events. Specifically, the lower oxygen isotope ratio in the tree‐ring cellulose strongly suggests an increase in relative humidity and a decrease in temperature, with the latter resulting in a strong limitation to tree‐ring growth. The carbon isotope ratio was only moderately but not significantly reduced in the years of volcanic eruption, suggesting no major changes in C fixation rates. This work is a case study on the effects of volcanic eruptions resulting in strong climatic changes on the local scale. This is an opportunity to explore the process and causal relationships between climatic changes and the response of the vegetation. Thus, we propose here a realistic model scenario, from which we can extrapolate to global scales and improve our interpretations of results of global studies.     

Convergence of fish communities from the littoral zone of reservoirs

1. Understanding factors that regulate the assembly of communities is a main focus of ecology. Human‐engineered habitats, such as reservoirs, may provide insight into these assembly processes because they represent novel habitats that are subjected to colonization by fishes from the surrounding river basin or transported by humans. By contrasting community similarity within and among reservoirs from different drainage basins to nearby stream communities, we can test the relative constraints of reservoir habitats and regional species pools in determining species composition of reservoirs. 2. We used a large spatial database that included intensive collections from 143 stream and 28 reservoir sites within three major river basins in the Great Plains, U.S.A., to compare patterns of species diversity and community structure between streams and reservoirs and to characterize variation in fish community structure within and among major drainage basins. We expected reservoir fish faunas to reflect the regional species pool, but would be more homogeneous that stream communities because similar species are stocked and thrive in reservoirs (e.g. planktivores and piscivores), and they lack obligate stream organisms that are not shared among regional species pools. 3. We found that fish communities from reservoirs were a subset of fishes collected from streams and dominant taxa had ecological traits that would be favoured in lentic environments. Although there were regional differences in reservoir fish communities, species richness, patterns of rank abundance and community structure in reservoir communities were more homogonous across three major drainage basins than for stream communities. 4. The general pattern of convergence of reservoir fish community structure suggests their assembly is constrained by local factors such as habitat and biotic interactions, and facilitated by the introduction of species among basins. Because there is a reciprocal transfer of biota between reservoirs and streams, understanding factors structuring both habitats is necessary to evaluate the long‐term dynamics of impounded river networks.     

The importance of hatching from resting eggs for population dynamics and genetic composition of Daphnia in a deep reservoir

1. Cyclical parthenogens, organisms switching between sexual and asexual mode of reproduction, are common in aquatic habitats. In permanent waterbodies with year‐round persistence of populations, the relevance of sexually produced resting eggs for population dynamics and structure is still largely unexplored. 2. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of recruitment from resting eggs to Daphnia spp. in a deep dimictic reservoir with overwintering populations (Saidenbach Reservoir, Germany). We linked field studies on Daphnia population dynamics, hatching rates and diapausing egg abundances in the sediment with allozyme analysis of the genetic variability of both the pelagic population and hatchlings from resting eggs. 3. We found higher hatching rates at intermediate depths (10–18 m), although highest diapausing egg abundances were found in the deeper parts of the reservoir. From the extensive field data, we calculated a population budget for the main basin of the reservoir, which showed that hatched daphnids accounted for <1% of the total abundance and explained only a tiny fraction of population growth. 4. The genetic composition (MultiLocus Genotypes, MLG) of the pelagic population was relatively stable throughout the stratified period with up to five among 39 detected MLGs attaining frequencies >5% per date. From 11 MLGs differentiated among hatched daphnids, three were recovered in the pelagic population in perceptible, albeit low frequencies (1–4%). 5. We conclude that the contribution of hatched animals to the spring population dynamics is negligible in situations with an overwintering population present and will only become relevant if densities are extremely low. In this type of system, the significance of the resting egg bank is presumably mainly related to the maintenance of genetic diversity.     

Woodland Caribou Extirpation and Anthropogenic Landscape Disturbance in Ontario

Abstract: The decline of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) has been attributed to anthropogenic landscape disturbances, but critical distance thresholds and time lags between disturbance and extirpation are unknown. Using a database of caribou presence and extirpation for northern Ontario, Canada, geo-coded to 10 times 10-km cells, we constructed logistic regression models to predict caribou extirpation based on distance to the nearest of each of 9 disturbance types: forest cutovers, fires, roads, utility corridors, mines, pits and quarries, lakes, trails, and rail lines. We used Akaike's Information Criterion to select parsimonious models and Receiver-Operating Characteristic curves to derive optimal thresholds. To deal with the effects of spatial autocorrelation on estimates of model significance, we used subsampling and restricted randomizations. Forest cutovers were the best predictor of caribou occupancy, with a tolerance threshold of 13 km to nearest cutover and a time lag of 2 decades between disturbance by cutting and caribou extirpation. Management of woodland caribou should incorporate buffers around habitat and requires long-term monitoring of range occupancy.     

Bioethanol production from sugarcane and emissions of greenhouse gases – known and unknowns

Bioethanol production from sugarcane is discussed as an alternative energy source to reduce dependencies of regional economies on fossil fuels. Even though bioethanol production from sugarcane is considered to be a beneficial and cost‐effective greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategy, it is still a matter of controversy due to insufficient information on the total GHG balance of this system. Aside from the necessity to account for the impact of land use change (LUC), soil N₂O emissions during sugarcane production and emissions of GHG due to preharvest burning may significantly impact the GHG balance. Based on a thorough literature review, we show that direct N₂O emissions from sugarcane fields due to nitrogen (N) fertilization result in an emission factor of 3.87±1.16% which is much higher than suggested by IPCC (1%). N₂O emissions from N fertilization accounted for 40% of the total GHG emissions from ethanol–sugarcane production, with an additional 17% from trash burning. If LUC‐related GHG emissions are considered, the total GHG balance turns negative mainly due to vegetation carbon losses. Our study also shows that major gaps in knowledge still exist about GHG sources related to agricultural management during sugarcane production, e.g. effects of irrigation, vinasse and filter cake application. Therefore, more studies are needed to assess if bioethanol from sugarcane is a viable option to reduce energy‐related GHG emissions.