A visit to Gunung Nyiut in West Kalimantan

Almost no ornithological fieldwork has been done in the montane regions of Kalimantan in recent decades (Holmes & Burton 1987). We spent 10 days from 28 August to 6 September 1986 observing birds in Gunung Nyiut Wildlife Refuge, West Kalimantan (110(1 E, 1°N) and hope that our records . will contribute to the distributional knowledge of the avifauna of Borneo

Effects of simulated environmental changes on growth and growth form in a late snowbed population of pohlia wahlenbergii (Web. et Mohr) Andr

In a factorial field experiment we increased the temperature (OpenTop Chambers) and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium[NPK]) to simulate predicted future climate changes and studiedthe growth response of the acrocarpous bryophyte Pohliawahlenbergii (Bryaceae) in a wet snowbed environment. The speciesshows a positive growth-length response to added nutrients andincreased temperature. The stronger response to nutrientsindicates a strong limitation of nutrients in the snowbedenvironment. There was an immediate response to nutrienttreatment, whereas the temperature response was delayed. Thegrowth response shows a clear interaction between temperature andnutrients. The immediate positive growth response is interpretedas a function of the wet habitat, since water makes the addednutrients immediately available to the plants. The growth formchanged toward a more lax (loose) and desiccation-intolerant formwith added nutrients. In a climate change scenario based on theseresults we hypothesize that bryophyte response will depend on thewater availability from precipitation and from meltwater. In adrier environment we predict that bryophytes will become moreconstrained toward areas with a high continuity of meltwater,whereas increased precipitation may compensate for any changes ingrowth form, which would be positive for bryophytes

The negative acute phase response of serum transthyretin following Streptococcus suis infection in the pig

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Non-invasive assessment of in-vitro embryo quality to improve transfer success

AbstractAlthough IVF has been performed routinely for many years to help couples with fertility problems and in relation to modern breeding of farm animals, pregnancy rates after transfer to a recipient have not improved during the last decade. Early prediction of the viability of in-vitro developed embryos before the transfer to a recipient still remains challenging. Presently, the predominant non-invasive technique for selecting viable embryos is based on morphology, where parameters such as rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation as well as developmental kinetics are evaluated mostly subjectively. The simple morphological approach is, however, inadequate for the prediction of embryo quality, and several studies have focused on developing new non-invasive methods using molecular approaches based particularly on proteomics, metabolomics and most recently small non-coding RNA, including microRNA. This review outlines the potential of several non-invasive in-vitro methods based on analysis of spent embryo culture medium