Birth seasonality and interbirth interval of captive Rhinopithecus bieti

This study, which is based on 10 years of birth records, shows that black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) in captivity display marked birth seasonality. The birth season starts in December and ends in June, with a peak from March to May

Reproductive seasonality and maturity of male Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis in captivity: A case study based on the hormone evidence

To provide hormone evidence on reproductive seasonality and maturity of the Yangtze finless porpoise, the authors monitored the monthly variations of serum reproductive hormones of a male Yangtze finless porpoise in captivity via radioimmunoassay from 1997 to 2003. It was demonstrated that the immature animal had a serum T level of 28-101ngdL -1 (6552ngdL -1 ), reached puberty with the serum T concentration ranging between 250 and 590ngdL -1 (390130ngdL -1 ), and attained reproductive maturity when the serum T level went beyond 1120180ngdL -1 in the breeding season. The body length growth of the animal showed a pattern similar to the serum T variations during its adolescent period from the age of 4 to 6 years. Moreover, the serum T concentration of the male porpoise exhibited significant seasonal variations, indicating that its breeding season may start as early as March and end as late as September.

心理咨询师的心理需要及相关因素的研究

The aim of this research is to explore the tendency of needs and its influential factors in counselors at present time．Three studies were carried out: study 1 was to find out the tendency of needs and the structure of needs in counselors. Study 2 was to compare the needs between counselors and non-counselors, in which 64 subjects were students majored in psychology but they don’t want to counsel.Study 3 was to initially explore the relationships between the tendency of needs and its influential factors. Studies of the 1 and 3 selected 123 counselors. It was found that: 1. The results of EPPS in counselors: according to comparison between original marks, the number of subjects who range first from high to low was: introspection，change，dominance，nurse，order，succor，affinity=autonomy，achievement，endurance，heterosexuality，deference，aggression=exhibition=abasement ; according to means of original marks, the tendency of needs from high to low was: introspection，achievement，nurse，autonomy，change，succor，endurance，dominance，order，affinity，aggression，exhibition，deference，abasement，heterosexuality. The lower one of the counselors were needs of aggression, exhibition，deference，abasement and heterosexuality，the high one are introspection，nurse and change．The most difference was achievement need. 2. Dilemmas had no significantly different effect on the needs of counselors, but sexuality and age affect them in some factors. There were significant differences in the factors of deference, exhibition and nurse among different ages. Counselors married had higher tendency of obedience, autonomy, introspection, nurse and endurance than those unmarried. 3. The results of EPPS in non-counselors: according to comparison between original marks, the number of subjects who range first from high to low was: endurance，order，change=dominance，autonomy= introspection=nurse，affinity，succor，aggression，achievement，heterosexuality，exhibition=abasement，deference; according to original marks’means, the tendency of needs from high to low was: nurse，endurance，achievement，order，introspection，change，autonomy，dominance，affinity，succor，aggression，exhibition，abasement，deference，heterosexuality. The lower one of the counselors were needs of aggression, exhibition，deference，abasement and heterosexuality，the high one were introspection，nurse and change．The most difference was achievement need. 4. There were significant differences in the needs of abasement and introspection between counselors and non-counselors. Male counselors and non-counselors had significant differences in the factor of abasement. Female counselors had higher tendency of succor needs. 5. The differences of childhood traumas and positive life events were not significant. The positive and negative life events themselves had no significant differences, but negative life events had marginal significant difference between the two groups. 6. The marks of counselors were lower than non-counselors in the factors of neuroticism. 7. Counselors and trainees had no significant differences among other needs、childhood traumas、life events、personality and coping styles except in the deference need. 8. The result of multiple estimation of EPQ , CTQ and EPPS were related．Many specific life events were related with the tendency of many needs. As shown in the research, children’s traumas, characteristic and life events may affect needs chiefly. 9. There were close relation between characteristic and childhood traumas in counselors. Especially the subjects with more childhood traumas had higher tendency of psychoticism, neuroticism and introvision. There were few persons with much high scores on the Childhood traumas in the subjects．Their personality characteristics indicate high extrovision and low psychoticism．Their childhood traumas may affect the shape of sound personality． Conclusion: 1. The most important tendency of needs were introspection，nurse and change． 2. The differences of childhood traumas and life events were not significant between counselors and non-counselors. The marks of counselors were higher than non-counselors in the factors of introspection, but lower in the factor of neuroticism． 3. The main influential factors in counselors of needs were childhood traumas、characteristic and life events.

Seasonality of mating and birth in wild black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) at Xiaochangdu, Tibet

Data on mating and birth seasonality were recorded in wild black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) at Xiaochangdu in the Honglaxueshan National Nature Reserve, Tibet. This represents one of the harshest habitats utilized by any nonhuman p

Mitochondrial DNA variation in cattle of South China: origin and introgression

Ten restriction endonucleases were used to investigate the mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (mtDNA RFLP) of 11 native cattle breeds and one cultivated cattle breed in South China. Twenty-three restriction morphs were detected, which can be sorted into five haplotypes, A phylogenetic tree of the haplotypes was constructed by using the 'upgma' method. Our study showed that haplotype I and II are identical to the zebu (Bos indicus) and taurine (Bos taurus) haplotypes, respectively. Zebu and taurine were the two major origins of cattle populations in South China, and the zebu probably had more influence on the native cattle population than taurine did. Haplotype III is identical to haplotype I of yak (Bos grunniens), which was only detected in the Diqing cattle breed. Haplotype IV was detected for the first time. This haplotype, found only in Dehong cattle, might be from an independent domestication event, probably from another Bos indicus population. Divergence of haplotypes I and IV occurred about 268,000-535 000 years ago, much earlier than the 10,000-year history of cattle husbandry. Our results also suggest a secondary introgression of mtDNA from yak to Diqing cattle.

Genome-wide SNP and haplotype analyses reveal a rich history underlying dog domestication

Advances in genome technology have facilitated a new understanding of the historical and genetic processes crucial to rapid phenotypic evolution under domestication(1,2). To understand the process of dog diversification better, we conducted an extensive genome-wide survey of more than 48,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms in dogs and their wild progenitor, the grey wolf. Here we show that dog breeds share a higher proportion of multi-locus haplotypes unique to grey wolves from the Middle East, indicating that they are a dominant source of genetic diversity for dogs rather than wolves from east Asia, as suggested by mitochondrial DNA sequence data(3). Furthermore, we find a surprising correspondence between genetic and phenotypic/functional breed groupings but there are exceptions that suggest phenotypic diversification depended in part on the repeated crossing of individuals with novel phenotypes. Our results show that Middle Eastern wolves were a critical source of genome diversity, although interbreeding with local wolf populations clearly occurred elsewhere in the early history of specific lineages. More recently, the evolution of modern dog breeds seems to have been an iterative process that drew on a limited genetic toolkit to create remarkable phenotypic diversity.

Seasonal variations in the activity budget of Nomascus concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China: Effects of diet and temperature

We studied seasonal variation in the activity budget of a habituated group of Nomascus concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China from March 2005 to April 2006 via scan sampling at 5-min intervals. The study site is near the northern extreme of the distribution of hylobatids, at high altitude with extreme seasonality of temperature and rainfall. During the day, feeding manifested a bimodal pattern of high activity levels in mid-morning and mid-afternoon, whereas resting reached a peak at midday, with proportionally less time used for traveling. Annually, the group spent an average of 40.0% of the time resting, 35.1% feeding, 19.9% traveling, 2.6% singing, 1.2% playing, and 1.3% in other activities. The proportion of time allocated to activities showed significant monthly variations and was influenced by the diet and temperature. Gibbons increased traveling and playing time and decreased feeding time when they ate more fruit, and they decreased traveling, singing, and playing time and increased feeding time when they ate more leaves. Moreover, when the temperature was low, the gibbons decreased time traveling and increased time resting. In summary, black-crested gibbons employed high-effort activities when they ate more fruit and energy-conservation patterns when they ate more leaves and in low temperature. Behavioral data from the site are particularly useful in understanding gibbon behavioral adaptations to different sets of ecological conditions.

Genetic relationship of Chinese and Japanese gamecocks revealed by mtDNA sequence variation

Cockfighting has a very long history dating back to as early as 2500 years ago in China. Cockfighting was intertwined with human cultural traditions, helped disperse chickens across the world, and influenced the subsequent breed selection. Therefore, trac

Matrilineal Components and Genetic Relationship of Silkies from China and Japan

Silkie is a famous black-bone chicken breed with beautiful silky feather. The unique medical property of this chicken was recorded in Chinese traditional medicine dictionary about 700 years ago. In this study, we analyzed the mtDNA D-loop sequence variation of 26 Bairong Silkies from Fujian Province, China, together with 100 reported Silkie mtDNAs from China and Japan, and studied their matrilineal components and genetic relationship. A total of 21 haplotypes were detected, which could be assigned to six haplogroups (A-E, G). Among them, haplogroups D and G were exclusively presented in Japanese Silkies and Chinese Silkies, respectively. Chinese Silkies had higher frequency of lineages belonging to haplogroups A, B, and E, and lower frequency of haplogroup C than Japanese Silkies. For the four Chinese Silkie populations, most of samples of Taihe, Chengdu, and Hubei Silkies were grouped in haplogroups A, B, and C, whereas most of Bairong Silkies were grouped in haplogroup E. Five haplotypes were shared by Japanese and Chinese Silkies. The genetic diversity of each Silkie population varied, but the overall diversity of Chinese Silkies was similar to that of Japanese Silkies. Taken together, our results confirmed the genetic connection between Chinese and Japanese Silkies, but also clearly showed that the matrilineal genetic structures of Chinese and Japanese Silkies had some differences.

Characterization of the porcine differentially expressed PDK4 gene and association with meat quality

To investigate the differential expression of genes in the skeletal muscle between Yorkshire and Chinese indigenous breed Meishan pigs, suppression subtractive hybridization was carried out and many genes were proved to be expressed significantly different in the two breeds. One gene highly expressed in Meishan but lowly expressed in Yorkshire specific library, shared strong homology with human pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4). Using semi-quantity and quantity PCR, We confirmed its differential expression between the two breeds. Temporal and spatial expression analysis indicated that porcine PDK4 gene is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and the highest in neonatal pigs. Complete cDNA cloning and sequence analysis revealed that porcine PDK4 gene contains an open reading frame of 1,221 bp. The deduced amino acid sequence showed conservation in evolution. A G/A mutation in intron 9 was identified and association analysis showed that it was significantly associated with intramuscular fat, muscle water content.

Different tolerances and responses to low temperature and darkness between waterbloom forming cyanobacterium Microcystis and a green alga Scenedesmus

The dynamics of planktonic cyanobacteria in eutrophicated freshwaters play an important role in formation of annual summer blooms, yet overwintering mechanisms of these water bloom forming cyanobacteria remain unknown. The responses to darkness and low temperature of three strains (unicellular Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-905, colonial M. aeruginosa FACHB-938, and a green alga Scenedesmus quadricauda FACHB-45) were investigated in the present study. After a 30-day incubation under darkness and low temperature, cell morphology, cell numbers, chlorophyll a, photosynthetic activity (ETRmax and I-k), and malodialdehyde (MDA) content exhibited significant changes in Scenedesmus. In contrast, Microcystis aeruginosa cells did not change markedly in morphology, chlorophyll a, photosynthetic activity, and MDA content. The stress caused by low temperature and darkness resulted in an increase of the antioxidative enzyme-catalase (CAT) in all three strains. When the three strains re-grew under routine cultivated condition subjected to darkness and low temperature, specific growth rate of Scenedesmus was lower than that of Microcystis. Flow cytometry (FCM) examination indicated that two distinct types of metabolic response to darkness and low temperature existed in the three strains. The results from the present study reveal that the cyanobacterium Microcystis, especially colonial Microcystis, has greater endurance and adaptation ability to the stress of darkness and low temperature than the green alga Scenedesmus.

Seasonal dynamics and distribution of the digenean Phyllodistomum pawlovskii (Trematoda : Gorgoderidae) in the bullhead catfish, Pseudobagrus fulvidraco, in a lake of China

Seasonal population dynamics of the digenean Phyllodistomum pawlovskii in the urinary bladder of the bullhead catfish, Pseudobagrus fulvidraco, were investigated in Liangzi Lake in the flood plain of the Yangtze River in China from February 2001 to July 2002. The overall prevalence of the parasite was high, 41.5% (n = 1,476), while the mean abundance was relatively low, 1.24 +/- 2.11. The parasite exhibited evident seasonality in changes of prevalence and abundance. In brief, prevalence and abundance were very low in midwinter (January), but increased and remained relatively high in other seasons and months. The distribution pattern of this parasite in the fish was overdispersed, with a variance to mean ratio > 1, but its frequency distribution could not be described by the negative binomial model. There were positive correlations between the number of the parasites per fish and the age and length of the fish; a peaked age-parasite abundance curve was not detected in the parasite-host association. It is suggested that the parasite P. pawlovskii has little effect on the population structure of the bullhead catfish.

A non-linear perturbation model considering catchment wetness and its application in river flow forecasting

A non-linear perturbation model for river flow forecasting is developed, based on consideration of catchment wetness using an antecedent precipitation index (API). Catchment seasonality, of the form accounted for in the linear perturbation model (the LPM), and non-linear behaviour both in the runoff generation mechanism and in the flow routing processes are represented by a constrained nan-linear model, the NLPM-API. A total of ten catchments, across a range of climatic conditions and catchment area magnitudes, located in China and in other countries, were selected for testing daily rainfall-runoff forecasting with this model. It was found that the NLPM-API model was significantly more efficient than the original linear perturbation model (the LPM). However, restric tion of explicit nan-linearity to the runoff generation process, in the simpler LPM-API form of the model, did not produce a significantly lower value of the efficiency in flood forecasting, in terms of the model efficiency index R-2. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.