A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE ELBOW JOINTS IN 5 SPECIES OF CHINESE MACAQUES

In this paper, we report the findings of a comparative study of the elbow joints of five species of macaque that inhabit China: Macaca assamensis, M. arctoides, M. mulatta, M. thibetana and M. nemestrina. Results of multivariate analyses of size-related variables and indices of the elbow joint suggested that the breadths of the ventral aspect of the trochlea and of the medial epicondyle of the humerus as well as indices describing the head of the radius are important factors for discriminating these species. The elbow joint of M. arctoides was most similar to that of M. thibetana, no doubt reflecting recency of common ancestry and similarity in terrestrial locomotion. The structures of the elbow joints in M. nemestrina and assamensis seemed more adapted to arboreal quadrupedalism. The elbow joint of M. mulatta, however, appears intermediate between the most terrestrial and the most arboreal forms.

SCALING OF LIMB PROPORTIONS AND LIMB BONE DIAMETERS IN 3 SPECIES OF CHINESE SNUB-NOSED LANGURS (GENUS RHINOPITHECUS)

In this study, aspects of the structural mechanics of the upper and lower limbs of the three Chinese species of Rhinopithecus were examined. Linear regression and reduced major axis (RMA) analyses of natural log-transformed data were used to examine the dimensions of limb bones and other relationships to body size and locomotion. The results of this study suggest that: (1) the allometry exponents of the lengths of long limbs deviate from isometry, being moderately negative, while the shaft diameters (both sagittal and transverse) show significantly positive allometry; (2) the sagittal diameters of the tibia and ulna show extremely significantly positive allometry - the relative enlargement of the sagittal, as opposed to transverse, diameters of these bones suggests that the distal segments of the fore- and hindlimbs of Rhinopithecus experience high bending stresses during locomotion; (3) observations of Rhinopithecus species in the field indicate that all species engage in energetic leaping during arboreal locomotion. The limbs experience rapid and dramatic decelerations upon completion of a leap. We suggest that these occasional decelerations produce high bending stresses in the distal limb segments and so account for the hypertrophy of the sagittal diameters of the ulna and tibia.

Mandibular variation among Chinese macaques

In order to clarify the degree to which mandibular variation among Chinese macaques results from functional adaptation and phylogenetic inertia, 13 mandibular variables were analyzed by bivariate and multivariate techniques. The results indicate, not surprisingly, that the main differences in the mandible are associated with size. The study further implies that the variation between species is not closely associated with differences in functional adaptation even though the dietary and related differences are large compared to the situation in other macaques. The great variety in diet and related factors among Chinese macaques may not have yet resulted in a significant variation in the mandible. This may be because their radiation in Asia, though involving considerably greater differences in habitat, climate, and so on, has occurred more recently than for other macaque species in Southeast Asia. Mandibular variation between these species, therefore, is likely to be more closely tied to their immediate prior phylogenetic history. For example, the two stump-tailed macaques are closely similar and are also closely similar to the Assam species. Function in the mandible in these species is quite different. The results, therefore, seem to support the hypothesis that these three macaque species should be placed in a single species-group (sinica) as proposed by Delson [1980], Pan [1998], and Pan et al. [1998]. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The Phylogenetic Relationships of the Chinese and Vietnamese Waterfall frogs of the genus Amolops

Ranid frogs of the genus Amolops occur in Southeast Asia and are typically found near waterfalls. Their phylogenetic relationships have not been resolved. We include 2,213 aligned nucleotide sites of the 12S, 16S and tRNA(val) gene regions of the mitochondrial DNA genome from 43 individuals of Chinese and Vietnamese Amotops, Huia, Hylarana, Meristogenys, Odorrana and Rana. The outgroup species were from the genera Chaparana, Limnonectes, Nanorana, and Paa. The data were analyzed within the framework of a refutationist philosophy using maximum parsimony. Four clades of waterfall frogs were resolved. Meristogenys was not resolved as the sister group to either Huia nor Amolops. The hypothesis Of evolutionary relationships placed Amolops chapaensis and Huia nasica in the genus Odorrana.

A policy dimension required for technology roadmapping: Learning from the emergence of Chinese wind turbine industry

Innovation policies play an important role throughout the development process of emerging industries in China. Existing policy and industry studies view the emergence process as a black-box, and fail to understand the impacts of policy to the process along which it varies. This paper aims to develop a multi-dimensional roadmapping tool to better analyse the dynamics between policy and industrial growth for new industries in China. Through reviewing the emergence process of Chinese wind turbine industry, this paper elaborates how policy and other factors influence the emergence of this industry along this path. Further, this paper generalises some Chinese specifics for the policy-industry dynamics. As a practical output, this study proposes a roadmapping framework that generalises some patterns of policy-industry interactions for the emergence process of new industries in China. This paper will be of interest to policy makers, strategists, investors and industrial experts. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Onychostoma virgulatum, a new species of cyprinid fish (Pisces: Teleostei) from southern Anhui Province, South China

Onychostoma virgulatum, new species, is described from the Qiupu River, a tributary on the Southern bank of the lower Yangtze River at Shitai County, southern Anhui Province, South China. It shares with O. fusiforme and O. meridionale the presence of a longitudinal dark brown stripe extending along the lateral line, a character separating them from all other congeners of the moderate-mouth group diagnosed by having a slightly arched or nearly transverse mouth opening (with the extremities slightly curved posteriorly), its width being equal to or slightly less than the width of head at this same point, and a short postlabial groove extending along half of the length of the lateral margin of the lower jaw. Onychostoma virgulatum differs from both in the presence of two pairs of barbels in adults, from O. fusiforme in the body depth, caudal-peduncle depth, and position of pelvic and anal fins, and from O. meridionale in the structure of the last simple dorsal-fin ray.

Species identification of Chinese sturgeon using acoustic descriptors and ascertaining their spatial distribution in the spawning ground of Gezhouba Dam

This study has developed an improved subjective approach of classification in conjunction with Step wise DFA analysis to discriminate Chinese sturgeon signals from other targets. The results showed that all together 25 Chinese sturgeon echo-signals were detected in the spawning ground of Gezhouba Dam during the last 3 years, and the identification accuracy reached 90.9%. In Stepwise DFA, 24 out of 67 variables were applied in discrimination and identification. PCA combined with DFA was then used to ensure the significance of the 24 variables and detailed the identification pattern. The results indicated that we can discriminate Chinese sturgeon from other fish species and noise using certain descriptors such as the behaviour variables, echo characteristics and acoustic cross-section characteristics. However, identification of Chinese sturgeon from sediments is more difficult and needs a total of 24 variables. This is due to the limited knowledge about the acoustic-scattering properties of the substrate regions. Based on identified Chinese sturgeon individuals, 18 individuals were distributed in the region between the site of Gezhouba Dam and Miaozui reach, with a surface area of about 3.4 km(2). Seven individuals were distributed in the region between Miaozui and Yanshouba reach, with a surface area of about 13 km(2).

Effect of water temperature on the growth performance and digestive enzyme activities of Chinese longsnout catfish (Leiocassis longirostris Gunther)

The present study was carried out to investigate the influence of water temperature on the growth performance and digestive enzyme (pepsin, trypsin and lipase) activities of Chinese longsnout catfish. Triplicate groups of Chinese longsnout catfish (35.6 +/- 0.48 g, mean +/- SE) were reared at different water temperatures (20, 24, 28 and 32 degrees C). The feeding rate (FR), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency ratio (FER) were significantly affected by water temperatures and regression relationships between water temperature and FI, SGR as well as FER were expressed as FR=-0.016T2+0.91T-10.88 (n=12, R2=0.8752), SGR=-0.026T2+1.39T-17.29 (n=12, R2=0.7599) and FER=-0.013T2+0.70T-8.43 (n=12, R2=0.7272). Based on these, the optimum temperatures for FR, SGR and FER were 27.66, 26.69 and 26.44 degrees C respectively. The specific activities of digestive enzymes at 24 or 28 degrees C were significantly higher than that at 20 or 32 degrees C. In addition, there was a significant linear regression between FR or SGR and specific activities of pepsin and lipase, which indicated that pepsin and lipase played important roles in regulating growth through nutrient digestion in Chinese longsnout catfish.

Isolation of Y- and X-linked SCAR markers in yellow catfish and application in the production of all-male populations

P>Sex controls have been performed in some farmed fish species because of significant growth differences between females and males. In yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), adult males are three times larger than female adults. In this study, six Y- and X-linked amplified fragment length polymorphism fragments were screened by sex-genotype pool bulked segregant analysis and individual screening. Interestingly, sequence analysis identified two pairs of allelic genes, Pf33 and Pf62. Furthermore, the cloned flanking sequences revealed several Y- and X-specific polymorphisms, and four Y-linked or X-linked sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) primer pairs were designed and converted into Y- and X-linked SCAR markers. Consequently, these markers were successfully used to identify genetic sex and YY super-males, and applied to all-male population production. Thus, we developed a novel and simple technique to help commercial production of YY super-males and all-male populations in the yellow catfish.