Female-biased Dispersal of the Emei Moustache Toad (Leptobrachium boringii) under Local Resource Competition

Dispersal is an important area of ecological and evolutionary research.Although many studies have been conducted in mammals and birds,dispersal pattern in amphibians is still unclear.To verify dispersal patterns of amphibians,an endangered species the Emei Moustache Toad(Leptobrachium boringii)was selected.In this study,we analyzed six genetic parameters:inbreeding coefficient(F_(IS)),gene diversity(H_S),the mean of corrected assignment index(mAI_C),the variance of corrected assignment index(vAI_C),relatedness(r)for all three years together and each year separately based on eight highly polymorphic microsatellite loci.Data in totaled across years and each year for 581 individuals captured during 2013–2015 revealed a significant female-biased dispersal pattern.Significantly higher F_(IS) and H_S in females,and lower mAI_C and r for each year separately in females support that L.boringii displays femalebiased dispersal,although r for the total dataset and vAI_C tests did not show significant differences between the sexes.Female-biased dispersal patterns may be explained by the local resource competition hypothesis.

Population Size, Genetic Diversity and Molecular Evidence of a Recent Population Bottleneck in Hynobius chinensis, an Endangered Salamander Species

Severe population declines can reduce species to small populations, offering permissive conditions for deleterious processes. For example, following such events, species can become prone to inbreeding and genetic drift which can lead to a loss of genetic diversity and evolutionary potentials. Hynobius chinensis is a poorly studied very rare and declining endangered amphibian species endemic to China in Changyang County. We investigated adult census population size by monitoring breeding populations from 2015 to 2018, developed microsatellite markers from the transcriptome and used them to investigate genetic diversity, and a population bottleneck in this species. We found H. chinensis in 4 different localities in a total area of 2.18 km^2 and estimated the overall adult census population size at 386–404 individuals. The adult census size（mean ± SE） per breeding pond ranged from 44 ± 6 to 141 ± 8 individuals and appeared smaller than that reported in closely related species in undisturbed habitats. We developed and characterized 13 microsatellite markers in total. Analysis of data at 7 loci（N = 118） in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium gathered from the largest population showed that genetic diversity level was low. The average number of alleles per locus was 2.14. The observed and expected heterozygosities averaged 0.38 and 0.40, respectively. The inbreeding coefficient was –0.06. All tests performed to investigate a population bottleneck, i.e. The Garza-Williamson test, Heterozygosity excess test, Mode shift test of allele frequency, and effective population size estimates detected a population bottleneck. The contemporary and the historical effective population sizes were estimated at 36 and 234 individuals, respectively. We argue that as bottleneck effects, the studied population may have become prone to genetic drift and inbreeding, losing microsatellite alleles and heterozygosity. Our results suggest that populations of H. chinensismay have been extirpated in the study area.

加芪合剂对荷瘤小鼠放射治疗的辅助作用(英文)

Objective:The aim was to study the assistant radiotherapeutic effect of Jiaqi Mixture (JQM) on Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) mice.Methods:The EAC-cancer model was made up with Kunming mice.The tumor-bearing mice were treated with whole body exposure (8 Gy) and intragastric administration of JQM,and the changes of tumor weight,the total number of white blood cells (WBC) and immune system were observed.Results:The average tumor weight,WBC,spleen coefficient,the stimulation index (SI) of Con A and LPS and the natural killing (NK) cell activity of mice decreased in some degree after radiotherapy,but the average tumor weight decreased more obviously in radiotherapy + medicine groups (compared with tumor control group,P < 0.05);and the other above indexes were much higher in radiotherapy + medicine groups than those in radiotherapy groups (P < 0.05-0.01).Conclusion:It was suggested that JQM can enhance the effect of radiation therapy and protect the normal immune system caused by radiation therapy.

A Review of the Engineering Role of Burrowing Animals: Implication of Chinese Pangolin as an Ecosystem Engineer

Ecosystem engineers are organisms that alter the distribution of resources in the environment by creating,modifying,maintaining and/or destroying the habitat.They can affect the structure and function of the whole ecosystem furthermore.Burrowing engineers are an important group in ecosystem engineers as they play a critical role in soil translocation and habitat creation in various types of environment.However,few researchers have systematically summarized and analyzed the studies of burrowing engineers.We reviewing the existing ecological studies of burrowing engineer about their interaction with habitat through five directions:(1)soil turnover;(2)changing soil physicochemical properties;(3)changing plant community structure;(4)providing limited resources for commensal animals;and/or(5)affecting animal communities.The Chinese pangolin(Manis pentadactyla)is a typical example of burrowing mammals,in part(5),we focus on the interspecific relationships among burrow commensal species of Chinese pangolin.The engineering effects vary with environmental gradient,literature indicates that burrowing engineer play a stronger role in habitat transformation in the tropical and subtropical areas.The most common experiment method is comparative measurements(include different spatial and temporal scale),manipulative experiment is relatively few.We found that most of the engineering effects had positive feedback to the local ecosystem,increased plant abundance and resilience,increased biodiversity and consequently improved ecosystem functioning.With the global background of dramatic climate change and biodiversity loss in recent decades,we recommend future studies should improving knowledge of long-term engineering effects on population scale and landscape scale,exploring ecological cascades through trophic and engineering pathways,to better understand the attribute of the burrowing behavior of engineers to restore ecosystems and habitat creation.The review is presented as an aid to systematically expound the engineering effect of burrowing animals in the ecosystem,and provided new ideas and advice for planning and implementing conservation management.

Relationship between Renying pulse augmentation index and Cunkou pulse condition in different blood pressure groups

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between Renying pulse (carotid) augmentation index (AI) and Cunkou pulse condition in different blood pressure groups, and the clinical significance of Renying and Cunkou pulse parameters to reflect vascular function.METHODS:Eighty-sixpatients with essential hypertension (EH) and 52 individuals with normal blood pressure(control group) between September 2010 and January 2012 were included in thisstudy.Renying pulse AI was examined by a new diagnostic tool(ALOKA ProSound Alpha 10) — wave intensity (WI) that is calculated as the product of the derivatives of the simultaneously recorded blood pressure changes(dP/dt) and blood-flow-velocity changes(dU/dt), while Cunkou pulse condition was detected by DDMX-100 Pulse Apparatus inboth EH and control groups. A multifactorial correlation analysis was performed for data analysis.RESULTS: After adjustingfor potentialconfoundingvariables,intheEHgroup,AIwaspositivelycorrelated with t5, w2/t(rt5=0.225, P<0.05; rw2/t=0.230, P<0.05)and negatively correlated with h5,h5/h1 and w2(rh5=﹣0.393,P<0.01;rh5/h1=﹣0.444,P<0.01;rw2=﹣0.389,P<0.01). In the control group, AI was positively correlated with t3, t4, t5 and w1(rt3=0.595, P<0.01; rt4=0.292, P<0.05; rt5=0.318, P<0.05; rw1=0.541, P<0.01)and negatively correlated with h1,h2,h3,AdandA(rh1=﹣0.368,P<0.05;rh2=﹣0.330,P<0.05;rh3=﹣0.327, P<0.05; rAd=﹣0.322, P<0.05; rA=﹣0.410, P<0.01). In the total sample group(EH plus control group, n=138), AI was positively correlated with t, t5, w1 and w2/t(rt=0.257,P<0.01;rt5=0.266,P<0.01;rw1=0.184,P<0.05; rw2/t=0.210, P<0.05) and negatively correlated with h5, h5/h1, w2 and Ad(rh5=﹣0.230, P<0.01; rh5/h1=﹣0.218, P<0.05; rw2=﹣0.267, P<0.01; rAd=﹣0.246,P<0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis was carried out to model the relationship(F=7.887, P<0.001).CONCLUSION:Renying pulse AI can effectively predict arterial stiffness in synchrony with the manifestations of Cunkou pulse in elderly patients with hypertension. Cunkou pulse apparatus is a valuable tool for evaluating AI in clinical practice. The close correlations reported above reflect the holistic concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine.