A new cave-dwelling blind loach, Triplophysa erythraea sp. nov. (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae), from Hunan Province, China.

A new blind loach species, Triplophysa erythraea sp. nov., from a karst cave in Hunan Province, central south China, is described based on morphology and cyt b gene sequencing. It can be distinguished from other species of Triplophysa by the following combination of characters: eyes absent; body scaleless and colorless; caudal-fin 17; maxillary barbel longest; fins transparent, compressed pectoral-fin reaching 2/3 distance between pectoral-fin and pelvic-fin origins; pelvic-fin and dorsal-fin origins relative; posterior chamber of airbladder well developed, long, oval, and dissociative.

[Research perspectives and achievements in taxonomy and distribution of bats in China].

Chinese chiropterologists have made significant improvements into research on bat taxonomy and distribution. Overall, scholars recorded 6 new species of bats, alongside 11 species recorded species in the Chinese Mainland and 4 new bat species of Murina in Taiwan. Chinese chiropterologists intensively cooperated with the international experts on bats, and adopted several new, multidisciplinary methods to carry out their studies. Likewise, in China, an increased awareness of bat conservation has been growing. While publications on Chiroptera are continuing to increase increased in China, the methodology of these studies remains to be further developed in hopes of revealing the new and cryptic bat species. Considering the vast territory of China and the migrational habit of bats, we expect that with more refined methodology, more new species of bats and their distributions may be uncovered in the near future. Concurrently, it is important to reexamine the known species by the new taxonomic methods and fauna analysis through which the distribution and subdivision of bats can be updated. Additionally, an international platform for exchanging information of bats needs to be established to enhance the academic cooperation for bat researches. It is highly possible that China will soon become an important research center on taxonomy, distribution, phylogenetics and diversity evolution of Chiroptera, especially as Chinese researchers continues create new knowledge for bats at the α, ß and γ taxonomic levels.

[Diagnosis of chronic enteritis of alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) based on visible-near infrared reflectance spectra of feces].

A new method was put forward to diagnose chronic enteritis of alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) by visible-near infrared reflectance spectra of feces. A total of 125 feces samples, including 70 samples from healthy individuals (healthy samples) and 55 samples from chronic enteritis sufferers (diseased samples), were collected in Xinglongshan musk deer farm, Gansu province. The spectral scan was carried out in the darkroom (temperature 18 degrees C-22 degrees C, humidity 22%-25% and halogen lamp as a sole light source) with an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectrometer. All the samples were divided randomly into two groups, one with 95 samples as the calibration set, and another with 30 samples as the validation set. The samples data were pretreated by the methods of S. Golay smoothing and first derivative. The pretreated spectra were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA), and the top 6 principal components, which were computed by PCA and accounted for 95.16% variation of the original spectral information, were used for modeling as the new variables. The data of the calibration set were used to build models for diagnosing the chronic enteritis of alpine musk deer by means of back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN-BP), fuzzy pattern recognition, Fisher linear discriminant and Bayes stepwise discriminant, respectively. The predicted outcomes of the 30 unknown samples in validation set showed that the accuracy was 86.7% by themethod of Fisher linear discriminant, 90% by fuzzy pattern recognition and ANN-BP model, and 93.3% by stepwise discrimination. Further analysis found that all misdiagnosed samples were derived from the healthy samples, which were treated as disease samples, and the detection rates of diseased samples were 100% by the four different methods. The results indicated that it was feasible to diagnose the chronic enteritis of alpine musk deer by visible-near infrared reflectance spectra of feces as a rapid and non-contact way, and the PCA combined with Bayes stepwise discriminant was a preferred method.

[Purity measurement of hybrid rice seed Yixiang 725 with visible-near infrared reflectance spectra].

A rapid and non-invasive method was put forward to measure the purity of hybrid rice seed by visible-near infrared reflectance spectra. Ninety hybrid rice seed samples (Yixiang 725) with the purity of 90%-99% were collected using a FieldSpec 3 visible-near infrared spectometer. All samples were divided randomly into two groups, one group with 75 samples used as calibrated set, and the other with 15 samples used as validated set. Based on the spectra in the range of 380-2 400 nm, the regression model was established using the PLS (partial least square), and different spectra pretreatment methods were compared. The study showed that spectra information can be extracted thoroughly by the pretreatment method of first derivative combined with standard normal variate, with the SEC (standard error of calibration) of 0.002 5, SEP (standard error of prediction) of 0.006 6, and determination coefficients of 0.988 4 (calibration set) and 0.922 7 (validation set) respectively. The spectra, which were pretreated with the method of first derivative combined standard normal variate, were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA). The top 20 principal components, which were computed by PCA and accounted for 86.09% variation of the original spectral information, were used to build BP-ANN model for measuring the purity of hybrid rice seed as the new variables. The study showed that the SEC and SEP of BP-ANN model were 0.001 7 and 0.006 1, and the determination coefficients of that were 0.995 2 (calibration set) and 0.936 9 (validation set) respectively. Therefore, the predictive power of BP-ANN model was better than that of PLS model. Results indicated that it was feasible to measure the purity of the hybrid rice seed by visible-near reflectance spectra as a rapid and non-contact way, and PCA combined with BP-ANN was a preferred method.

[Theoretical model for rocky desertification control in karst area].

Based on the basic principles of restoration ecology, the trigger-action model for rocky desertification control was proposed, i. e. , the ability that an ecosystem enables itself to develop was called dominant force, and the interfering factor resulting in the deviation of the climax of ecological succession from its preconcerted status was called trigger factor. The ultimate status of ecological succession was determined by the interaction of dominant force and trigger factor. Rocky desertification was the result of serious malignant triggers, and its control was the process of benign triggers in using the ecological restoration method of artificial designs to activate the natural designing ability of an ecosystem. The ecosystem of Karst rocky desertification in Fenghuang County with restoration measures was taken as a case to test the model, and the results showed that the restoration measures based on trigger-action model markedly improved the physical and chemical properties of soil and increased the diversity of plant. There was a benign trigger between the restoration measures and the Karst area. The rationality of the trigger-action model was primarily tested by the results in practice.

[A family with familial dysalbuminaemic hyperthyroxinaemia].

OBJECTIVE: To report a family of familial dysalbuminaemic hyperthyroxinaemia(FDH). METHODS: Four members, including the female proband, mother, daughter and brother, went through the measurement of thyroid hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Electrophoretic analysis of the patient's serum proteins was carried out after the patient's serum being incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled thyroxine(T4), The point mutation of Alb gene was determined in all members. RESULTS: The measurements of thyroid hormane and TSH showed that in three members (the proband, her mother and her daughter), the total thyroxine(TT4) serum level was high, the total triiodothyronine(TT3), FT4, FT3 and TSH serum levels were normal. And the enhanced albumin binding of fluorescenced T4 by electrophoresis showed a mutation transition 653 G-->A on DNA coding region of albumin. But in the proband's brother, the thyroid function and the results of electrophoresis of thyroxine-binding protein and determination of albumin gene were normal. CONCLUSION: A family with FDH in China is firstly reported here, a mutation at albumin gene DNA coding region 653G-->A causing enhanced albumin binding of T4 results in high T4 level.