The intensification of agriculture has resulted in changes to mowing techniques. Slow manual cutting gave wild animals time to move to safer habitat patches and left hiding places for them. With the arrival of much faster mowing machinery this is no longer the case. To date, there are few ways of measuring direct mortality of new mowing capabilities on wildlife. In our study we aimed to answer whether a search dog, previously trained to find carcasses, could be used to assess mowing mortality of various species in different vegetation types in Hungary. Working with a handler, a carcass-trained dog fitted with a GPS surveyed several habitats post-mowing. All the animal remains detected were identified and recorded. 149 killed individuals were detected on 12 land parcels studied (158.2 carcasses/100 ha). The most affected vertebrate group was the reptiles (57%), all with protected status in Hungary, followed by mammals (30%) and birds (6%). Reptiles were predominantly represented by lizards, while rodents were the most common mammals found (91% and 70%, respectively). The dog also found dead brown hares, pheasants and roe deer (11% of all carcasses), which has implications for local wildlife managers. There was no statistical difference in the density of dead individuals between grassy meadows and leguminous vegetation, or in those found in the morning or afternoon. The mortality rate was not associated with the area of the mowed field. Our findings suggest that this is a viable use of carcass detection dogs. We recommend additional work of this kind to reveal the fatal impacts of new, faster mowing practices on wildlife living in agricultural landscapes to help mitigate conservation and game management conflicts.
The localisation and distribution of the serotoninergic nerve elements was studied for the first time in the flatworm Chimaericola leptogaster (Leuckart, 1830) using immunocytochemical methodology and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The musculature was investigated by histochemical staining of actin filaments; scanning electron microscopy was used to identify the sensory structures on the worm's surface. Uniciliated, bi-ciliated and multiciliated sensory endings have been described on the worm's surface. The morphological data demonstrate the presence of circular, longitudinal and diagonal muscles that comprise the musculature of C. leptogaster in the anterior, median and posterior body regions. Well-developed radial and circular muscle fibres were also observed surrounding the genital pore, two vaginae and in clumps of the haptor. The study revealed the presence of biogenic amine, serotonin, in the central and peripheral nervous systems of C. leptogaster: in the neurons and fibres of the cephalic ganglia and ventral nerve cord, in the innervation of reproductive system compartments. The localised sites of the serotoninergic elements point to important roles of serotonin in monogenean reproductive processes and, possibly, in the regulation of muscle function., Natalya V. Mochalova, Nadezhda B. Terenina, Larisa G. Poddubnaya, Valery A. Yashin, Andrei V. Kuchin, Natalya D. Kreshchenko., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The theory of generalized topologies was introduced by Á. Császár (2002). In the literature, some authors have introduced and studied generalized topologies and some generalized topologies via generalized topological spaces due to Á. Császár. Also, the notions of mixed constructions based on two generalized topologies were introduced and investigated by Á. Császár (2009). The main aim of this paper is to introduce and study further new generalized topologies called µ C 12 via mixed constructions based on two generalized topologies µ1 and µ2 on a nonempty set X and also generalized topologies called µC and µ C ∗ for a generalized topological space (X, µ).
The utility of inter simple sequence repeat-PCR (ISSR-PCR) assay in the genetic characterisation and elucidation of the phylogenetic relationship of different microsporidian isolates infecting tropical tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury, is demonstrated. A total of 22 different microsporidians collected from the diseased tasar silkworms from Jharkhand state of India were analysed using morphological characters and ISSR-PCR. Observations spores under phase contrast microscope revealed oval to elongate in shape with length ranging from 3.8 μm to 5.1 μm and width from 2.6 μm to 3.3 μm. All the microsporidian isolates except MIJ-1gC showed gonadal infection and transovarial transmission in infected tasar silkworms. Fourteen out of 20 ISSR primers tested generated reproducible profiles and yielded a total of 281 fragments, of which 273 were polymorphic (97%). The degree of banding pattern was used to evaluate genetic distances and for phylogenetic analysis. The results demonstrated that ISSR analysis may be a useful and efficient tool for taxonomical grouping and phylogenetic classification of different microsporidians in general., Wazid Hassan, B. Surendra Nath., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A parasitic nematode from the stomach of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica Temminck et Schlegel in western Japan, previously identified as Heliconema longissimum (Ortlepp, 1922), was morphologically re-examined and compared with the previous descriptions. In addition, the third-stage larva of this nematode is described, based on the specimens of encapsuled larvae found in musculature of two crabs, Hemigrapsus sp. and Perisesarma bidens (De Haan), caught from the upper-intertidal zone of the same locality. As a result of the morphological observation, seven pairs of postcloacal papillae in adult males are confirmed. This matches with the character of H. longissimum, but the shape of the fifth postcloacal papillae differs between the present material and H. longissimum; the former possesses pedunculate papillae in the fifth pair whereas the latter has sessile papillae. Since the pedunculate papillae can be found in the original description and the syntype specimens of H. anguillae Yamaguti, 1935 that has been synonymised with H. longissimum, we thus here resurrect H. anguillae as an accepted species. For the life-cycle of the present nematode, littoral crabs, including the two infected species, are likely to be the source of infections for Japanese eels, acting as intermediate hosts., Hirotaka Katahira, Kazuya Nagasawa., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The faeces of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus), and the domestic cat, Felis catus (Linnaeus), can be responsible for spreading eggs of Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 and oocysts of Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) into the environment. The accidental ingestion of these eggs or oocysts, through consumption of raw fruits or vegetables grown in or in contact with contaminated soil, can lead to alveolar echinococcosis (AE) or toxoplasmosis in humans. The present study provides a quantitative assessment of the faecal deposition by foxes and cats in kitchen gardens where fruits and vegetables are grown and its consequences for zoonosis transmission. The density of definitive host faeces is considered as one of the main factors in infection risk for intermediate hosts. The density of fox and cat faeces, as well as the prevalence of both AE and toxoplasmosis in rodent populations (contaminated by ingestion of eggs or oocysts), were compared within and outside kitchen gardens. Our results showed that the mean density of fox faeces did not significantly differ between kitchen gardens and habitat edges (0.29 ± 0.04 faeces/m2 vs 0.22 ± 0.02 faeces/m2), the latter being known as an area of high fox faeceal densities. The density of cat faeces was significantly higher within the kitchen garden than outside (0.86 ± 0.22 faeces/m2 vs 0.04 ± 0.02 faeces/m2). The sampled kitchen gardens might therefore be considered as possible hotspots for both fox and cat defecation. Of the 130 rodents trapped, 14% were infected by at least one species of fox or cat intestinal parasite. These rodents were significantly more often infected when they were exposed to a kitchen garden. These results suggest that the deposit of fox and cat faeces in kitchen gardens would significantly impact the risk of human exposure to E. multilocularis and T. gondii. and should be prevented using effective means., Matthieu Bastien, Amélie Vaniscotte, Benoit Combes, Gérald Umhang, Estelle Germain, Valentin Gouley, Alice Pierlet, Thomas Quintaine, Marie-Amélie Forin-Wiart, Isabelle Villena, Dominique Aubert, Franck Boué, Marie-Lazarine Poulle., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In this paper we study the hypersurfaces $M^n$ given as connected compact regular fibers of a differentiable map $f: \mathbb R^{n+1} \rightarrow \mathbb R$, in the cases in which $f$ has finitely many nondegenerate critical points in the unbounded component of $\mathbb R^{n+1} - M^n$.
Host responses against skin inhabiting monogeneans are commonly obserÇetHtflfthe responsible immune mechanisms in the fish skin are insufficiently described. Based on recent knowledge of fish immunity and skin response mechanisms in mammals a model for the skin immunity in fish to monogcnean infections is proposed. Important cellular components of the model are the epithelial cells, the mucous cells and leucocytes. The release of cytokines, e.g. IL-1, following mechanical or chemical injury of the epithelial cells, initiates a series of events leading to decrease of the ectoparasite population. Cytokines (e.g. IL-1, TNF, INF) are suggested to affect secretions from mucous cell and attract neutrophils and macrophages. Leukotrienes are probably involved in the inflammatory reactions. The subsequent production of humoral substances (among others complement factors and peptides) could be responsible for the antiparasitic response in the later stages of infection. Although non-specific factors dominate the response, the involvement of specific antibodies and lymphocytes cannot be excluded.
The biology of sialic acids has been an object of interest in many models of acquired and inherited skeletal muscle pathology. The present study focuses on the sialylation changes in mouse skeletal muscle after invasion by the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis (Owen, 1835). Asynchronous infection with T. spiralis was induced in mice that were sacrificed at different time points of the muscle phase of the disease. The amounts of free sialic acid, sialylated glycoproteins and total sialyltransferase activity were quantified. Histochemistry with lectins specific for sialic acid was performed in order to localise distribution of sialylated glycoconjugates and to clarify the type of linkage of the sialic acid residues on the carbohydrate chains. Elevated intracellular accumulation of α-2,3- and α-2,6-sialylated glycoconjugates was found only within the affected sarcoplasm of muscle fibres invaded by the parasite. The levels of free and protein-bound sialic acid were increased and the total sialyltransferase activity was also elevated in the skeletal muscle tissue of animals with trichinellosis. We suggest that the biological significance of this phenomenon might be associated with securing integrity of the newly formed nurse cell within the surrounding healthy skeletal muscle tissue. The increased sialylation might inhibit the affected muscle cell contractility through decreased membrane ion gating, helping the parasite accommodation process., Rositsa Milcheva, Dimitar Ivanov, Ivan Iliev, Russy Russev, Svetlozara Petkova, Pavel Babál., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Adult flies of the genus Stomoxys Geoffroy, 1762 (Diptera: Muscidae), especially S. pullus Austen, 1909, S. uruma Shinonaga et Kano, 1966 and S. indicus Picard, 1908, are morphologically similar and sometimes difficult to distinguish when using external morphological characteristics. These species may act as vectors and/or potential vectors of many pathogens (virus, bacteria and protozoa). Their correct identification is important to target the vectors involved in the transmission of the pathogens and also helps in the fly control program.The aim of the present study was to distinguish three species which are difficult to separate using traditional diagnostic characters for species of Stomoxys such as colour patterns and body proportions. Modern morphometrics, both landmark and outline-based, was used to access wing geometry of S. pullus, S. uruma and S. indicus. A total of 198 and 190 wing pictures were analysed for landmark- and outline-based approaches, respectively. Wing shape was able to separate species and sexes of the three Stomoxys flies with highly significant difference of Mahalanobis distances. The cross-validated classification scores ranged from 76% to 100% for landmark and 77% to 96% for outline-based morphometrics. The geometry of wing features appears to be a very useful, low-cost tool to distinguish among the vectors S. pullus, S. uruma and S. indicus. and Tanasak Changbunjong, Suchada Sumruayphol, Thekhawet Weluwanarak, Jiraporn Ruangsittichai, Jean-Pierre Dujardin.