Malaysian school engages in bullfrog and turtle farming

A brief description is given of the culture methods used in the Sepang Today Aquaculture Centre, a private aquafarming training school in Malaysia, regarding American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) and the soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx sinensis). Seed production, grow-out, marketing and future potential are discussed, referring to the school s training brochures for both culture methods.

Red-Green-Blue 2D tuneable liquid crystal laser devices

In this paper, we review our recent experimental work on coherent and blue phase liquid crystal lasers.We will present results on thin-film photonic band edge lasing devices using dye-doped low molar mass liquid crystals in self-organised chiral nematic and blue phases. We show that high Q-factor lasers can be achieved in these materials and demonstrate that a single mode output with a very narrow line width can be readily achievable in well-aligned mono-domain samples. Further, we have found that the performance of the laser, i.e. the slope efficiency and the excitation threshold, are dependent upon the physical parameters of the low molar mass chiral nematic liquid crystals. Specifically, slope efficiencies greater than 60% could be achieved depending upon the materials used and the device geometry employed. We will discuss the important parameters of the liquid crystal host/dye guest materials and device configuration that are needed to achieve such high slope efficiencies. Further we demonstrate how the wavelength of the laser can be tuned using an in-plane electric field in a direction perpendicular to the helix axis via a flexoelectric mechanism as well as thermally using thermochromic effects. We will then briefly outline data on room temperature blue phase lasers and further show how liquid crystal/lenslet arrays have been used to demonstrate 2D laser emission of any desired wavelength. Finally, we present preliminary data on LED/incoherent pumping of RG liquid crystal lasers leading to a continuous wave output. © 2009 SPIE.

Printed red-green-blue liquid crystal lasers

We present printable laser devices formed by dispersing dye-doped chiral nematic liquid crystals in solution-processible polymers. Unlike current technology, this allows lasers to be formed on a wide variety of surfaces, e.g. paper, plastic, metal. © 2012 OSA.

Research roadmap for green wireline access

The paper describes different research concepts of which the combination leads to an improvement of the power consumption per subscriber in a wireline access network by 10× and the energy efficiency per transferred bit by 100×. © 2012 IEEE.

Printed red-green-blue liquid crystal lasers

We present printable laser devices formed by dispersing dye-doped chiral nematic liquid crystals in solution-processible polymers. Unlike current technology, this allows lasers to be formed on a wide variety of surfaces, e.g. paper, plastic, metal. © OSA 2012.

Immunoglobulin joining (J) chain and its expression in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis)

The immunoglobulin (Ig) joining (J) chain plays an important role in the formation of polymeric Igs and their transport into secretions. In the present study, the cDNA sequence of J chain has been cloned from the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The cDNA sequence is 2347 bp in length and contains an open reading frame of 480 bp encoding 160 aa including the signal sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence has a high degree of homology with that of an already reported turtle J chain (80.7%), and of chicken (71.3%). By using real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis, a significant up-regulation of J-chain transcripts was observed in spleen, kidney and blood of turtles injected with inactivated Aeromonas hydrophila, indicating the immune role of J chain in response to bacterial infection. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

IgM, IgD and IgY and their expression pattern in the Chinese soft-shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis

Three Ig isotypes, IgM, IgD, and IgA, were previously known in reptiles. Here, in this report we describe IgM, IgD and a novel immunoglobulin heavy-chain isotype upsilon (IgY) in Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis). The IgM and IgY constant domains are characteristically similar to their counterparts described in other vertebrates. The expression of IgM and IgD were detected at mRNA level early during embryonic development, and their expression increased during further development. However, the IgY expression was not detected in larval turtles until 90 days after hatching-out. The increase in the transcription of these three Ig molecules was analyzed by using real-time PCR in spleen, kidney and blood following the injection of inactivated Aeromonas hydrophila. The primary increase in the expression of these three Igs was observed I week after the first injection, although not statistically significant, and the second injection 2 weeks after the first injection provoked a significant increase in the expression of these Igs, revealing a pattern of primary and secondary antibody response in the turtle. The present study represents the first report on reptile IgY and the pattern of IgM, IgD and IgY transcription in reptiles. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular characterization and expression profiles in response to bacterial infection of Chinese soft-shelled turtle interleukin-8 (IL-8), the first reptilian chemokine gene

In this study, an IL-8 homologue has been cloned and identified from a reptile, Chinese soft-shelled turtle for the first time. The full-length cDNA of turtle IL-8 was 1188 bp and contained a 312 bp open reading frame (ORF) coding for a protein of 104 amino acids. The chemokine CXC domain, which contained Glu-Leu-Arg (ELR) motif and four cysteine residues, was well conserved in turtle IL-8. The 4924 bp genomic DNA of turtle IL-8 contained four exons and three introns. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the amino acid sequence of turtle IL-8 clustered together with birds. RT-PCR analysis showed that turtle IL-8 mRNA was constitutively expressed liver, spleen, kidney, heart, blood and intestine tissues of control turtles. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis further indicated that the turtle IL-8 mRNA expression was apparent in various tissues at 8 h and up-regulated significantly during 8 h-7 d after Aeromonas hydrophila infection. The present studies will help us to understand the evolution of IL-8 molecule and the inflammatory response mechanism in reptiles. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous determination of microcystin contaminations in various vertebrates (fish, turtle, duck and water bird) from a large eutrophic Chinese lake, Lake Taihu, with toxic Microcystis blooms

This is the first to conduct Simultaneous determination of microcystin (MC) contaminations in multi-groups of vertebrates (fish, turtle, duck and water bird) from Lake Taihu with Microcystis blooms. MCs (-RR, -YR, -LR) in Microcystis scum was 328 mu g g(-1) DW. MCs reached 235 mu g g(-1) DW in intestinal contents of phytoplanktivorous silver carp, but never exceeded 0.1 mu g g(-1) DW in intestinal contents of other animals. The highest MC content in liver of fish was in Carassius auratus (150 ng g(-1) DW), followed by silver carp and Culter ilishaeformis, whereas the lowest was in common carp (3 ng g(-1) DW). In livers of turtle, duck and water bird, MC content ranged from 18 to 30 ng g(-1) DW. High MC level was found in the gonad, egg yolk and egg white of Nycticorax nycticorax and Anas platyrhynchos, suggesting the potential effect of MCs on water bird and duck embryos. High MC contents were identified for the first time in the spleens of N. nycticorax and A. platyrhynchos (6.850 and 9.462 ng g(-1) DW, respectively), indicating a different organotropism of MCs in birds. Lakes with deaths of turtles or water birds in the literatures had a considerably higher MC content in both cyanobacteria and wildlife than Lake Taihu, indicating that toxicity of cyanobacteria may determine accumulation level of MCs and consequently fates of aquatic wildlife. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.