Revealing the Circadian Rhythm of Taliang Crocodile Newt(Liangshantriton taliangensis) During Breeding Migration Using a Novel Monitoring Technique

Many animals migrate during the breeding season.It is important to study the patterns of breeding migration of wild animals,especially rare and endangered species.However,current data acquisition methods are too coarse and imprecise for investigating the circadian rhythms of migrations in amphibians.Based on the frustrated total reflection image(FTRI),we developed a new device and recorded the precise migration time of an endangered salamander,Liangshantriton taliangensis.During the breeding period,a total of 33 individuals were effectively recorded.Analysis of the data indicated that the circadian rhythm of breeding migration in L.taliangensis was bimodal,and migration mainly occurred from 05:00 to 13:00(81.82%of the total migration records).The average relative activity intensity index(RAI)of breeding migration peaked in the temperature range of 14.0–16.0°C.With increased average relative air humidity,the activity intensity first increased and then decreased,reaching a peak in the humidity range of 91.0%–97.0%.These results demonstrate that our new device is a viable and accurate method for recording the migration time of target species.It is important to reveal the breeding migration pattern of L.taliangensis,which is important for the conservation of this species.Meanwhile,this new device can be used for field monitoring and conservation studies of amphibians,reptiles and other animals.

A self-made, low-cost infrared system for evaluating the sciatic functional index in mice

The sciatic functional index（SFI） is a popular parameter for peripheral nerve evaluation that relies on footprints obtained with ink and paper. Drawbacks include smearing artefacts and a lack of dynamic information during measurement. Modern applications use digitized systems that can deliver results with less analytical effort and fewer mice. However, the systems are expensive（€40,000）. This study aimed to evaluate the applicability and precision of a self-made, low-cost infrared system for evaluating SFI in mice. Mice were subjected to unilateral sciatic nerve crush injury（crush group; n = 7） and sham operation（sham group; n = 4）. They were evaluated on the day before surgery, the 2nd, 4th and 6th days after injury, and then every day up to the 23rd day after injury. We compared two SFI evaluation methods, i.e., conventional inkand-paper SFI（C-SFI） and our infrared system（I-SFI）. Our apparatus visualized footprints with totally internally reflected infrared light（950 nm） and a camera that can only detect this wavelength. Additionally we performed an analysis with the ladder beam walking test（LBWT） as a reference test. I-SFI assessment reduced the standard deviation by about 33 percent, from 11.6 to 7.8, and cut the variance around the baseline to 21 percent. The system thus requires fewer measurement repetitions and fewer animals, and cuts the cost of keeping the animals. The apparatus cost €321 to build. Our results show that the process of obtaining the SFI can be made more precise via digitization with a self-made, low-cost infrared system.

Liquid Level Sensor Based on CMFTIR Effect in Polymer Optical Fiber

The macro-bending induced optical fiber cladding modes frustrated total internal reflection effect is used to realize the liquid level probe with a simple structure of single macro-bend polymer optical fiber loop. The test results show that the extinction ratio reaches 1.06dB. ＂First bath＂ phenomenon is not obvious （about 0.8%）. The robustness of the sensor is better, and the ability of anti-pollution is stronger compared with the conventional sensors. The process of making this sensing probe is extremely easy, and the cost is very low.