How big is it really? Assessing the efficacy of indirect estimates of body size in Asian elephants

Information on an organism’s body size is pivotal in understanding its life history and fitness, as well as helping inform conservation measures. However, for many species, particularly large-bodied wild animals, taking accurate body size measurements can be a challenge. Various means to estimate body size have been employed, from more direct methods such as using photogrammetry to obtain height or length measurements, to indirect prediction of weight using other body morphometrics or even the size of dung boli. It is often unclear how accurate these measures are because they cannot be compared to objective measures. Here, we investigate how well existing estimation equations predict the actual body weight of Asian elephants Elephas maximus, using body measurements (height, chest girth, length, foot circumference and neck circumference) taken directly from a large population of semi-captive animals in Myanmar (n = 404). We then define new and better fitting formulas to predict body weight in Myanmar elephants from these readily available measures. We also investigate whether the important parameters height and chest girth can be estimated from photographs (n = 151). Our results show considerable variation in the ability of existing estimation equations to predict weight, and that the equations proposed in this paper predict weight better in almost all circumstances. We also find that measurements from standardised photographs reflect body height and chest girth after applying minor adjustments. Our results have implications for size estimation of large wild animals in the field, as well as for management in captive settings.</p

How Big Is It Really? Assessing the Efficacy of Indirect Estimates of Body Size in Asian Elephants.

Information on an organism's body size is pivotal in understanding its life history and fitness, as well as helping inform conservation measures. However, for many species, particularly large-bodied wild animals, taking accurate body size measurements can be a challenge. Various means to estimate body size have been employed, from more direct methods such as using photogrammetry to obtain height or length measurements, to indirect prediction of weight using other body morphometrics or even the size of dung boli. It is often unclear how accurate these measures are because they cannot be compared to objective measures. Here, we investigate how well existing estimation equations predict the actual body weight of Asian elephants Elephas maximus, using body measurements (height, chest girth, length, foot circumference and neck circumference) taken directly from a large population of semi-captive animals in Myanmar (n = 404). We then define new and better fitting formulas to predict body weight in Myanmar elephants from these readily available measures. We also investigate whether the important parameters height and chest girth can be estimated from photographs (n = 151). Our results show considerable variation in the ability of existing estimation equations to predict weight, and that the equations proposed in this paper predict weight better in almost all circumstances. We also find that measurements from standardised photographs reflect body height and chest girth after applying minor adjustments. Our results have implications for size estimation of large wild animals in the field, as well as for management in captive settings.VL received funding from the European Research Council and Leverhulme Trust for this study. HSM received a Natural Environmental Research Council PhD studentship, and post-doctoral funding from the Leverhulme Trust, Society in Science—Branco Weiss Fellowship and a Drapers' Company Junior Research Fellowship

In Vitro Regeneration of Selected Rice Genotypes (Oryza sativa L.) through Anther Culture

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops in the world. Anther culture, one of the double hap-loid techniques, is simple and efficient for rice breeding. The present study was carried out to evaluate callus induction ability of the selected rice genotypes on the media supplemented with two different car-bon sources and to investigate suitable Benzylaminopurine (BAP) concentrations on plant regeneration of anther-derived calli. The selected 19 rice genotypes (14 indica and 5 tropical japonica) were used in the experiment. Anthers of each genotype were cultured on Chu (N6) medium supplemented with two types of carbon sources (4% maltose and 4% sucrose), 2mg.L-1 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.5 mg.L-1 kinetin for callus induction. Anther-derived calli were transferred to Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with (0, 0.5, 1) mg.L-1 BAP, 1 mg.L-1 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 1 mg.L-1 l kinetin for regeneration. The seventeen out of 19 rice genotypes produced callus on media supplemented with maltose while only 13 genotypes produced callus on media supplemented with sucrose due to genotype dependency. Tropical japonica had more callus induction from anther than indica among the tested genotypes. Callus induction varied from 0 to 19.22%. Paw San Taung Pyan Hmwe (tropical japonica) had the highest callus induction (19.22%) among the tested all. Yebaw Sein depicted the highest callus induction (6.78%) among the tested indica rice genotypes. Plant regeneration from callus varied from 0 to 25.15%. In tropical japonica genotypes, Bay Kyar Taung Pyan gave the highest value (25.15%) in green plants regeneration, while Hnan Kar gave the highest value (13.33%) among indica genotypes. In this experiment, both MS media supplemented with 0.5mg.L-1 BAP and 1mg.L-1 BAP showed maximum green plant regeneration although maximum green spot formation oc-curred only on media supplemented with 1mg.L-1 BAP

Prevalence and Genetic Characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus argenteus Isolates Harboring Panton-Valentine Leukocidin, Enterotoxins, and TSST-1 Genes from Food Handlers in Myanmar

Asymptomatic carriers of toxigenic Staphylococcus aureus are potential source of diseases, including food poisoning. Toxigenic potential and genetic traits of colonizing S. aureus were investigated for 563 healthy food handlers in Myanmar. Carriage of S. aureus was found in 110 individuals (19.5%), and a total of 144 S. aureus isolates were recovered from nasal cavities (110 isolates) and hands (34 isolates). Panton-Valentine leucocidin genes (pvl) were detected in 18 isolates (12.5%), among which 11 isolates were classified into coa-VIa, agr type III, and ST1930 (CC96) that had been also detected in pvl-positive clinical isolates in Myanmar. A pvl-positive, ST2250 nasal isolate was identified as S. argenteus, a novel coagulase-positive staphylococcus species. Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) gene was detected in five pvl-negative isolates. All of the 144 isolates harbored at least one of the 21 enterotoxin(-like) gene(s). The most prevalent enterotoxin(-like) gene was selw (98%), followed by selx (97%), sei (28%), sely (28%), sem (26%), sel (24%), and sea and sec (22% each). Considerable genetic diversity with five groups was detected for selw. The present study revealed the relatively high rate of pvl, as well as the wide distribution of enterotoxin(-like) genes among colonizing S. aureus in Myanmar

Effect of GSTP1 polymorphism on efficacy and safety of cyclophosphamide aggressive therapy in lupus nephropathy patients

Background Lupus nephritis (LN) occurs in up to 60% of adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is a predictor of poor survival. Cyclophosphamide (CYC) is regarded as the most effective immunosuppressive medication to improve survival for patients with LN. Objective This prospective hospital-based study was conducted to identify the effect of glutathione S transferase Pi-1 (GSTP1) genotypes on the efficacy and safety of CYC aggressive therapy. Methods We enrolled SLE nephropathy patients admitted to the Department of Rheumatology of the 500-bed Yangon Specialty Hospital (YSH), Yangon, Myanmar, who received CYC aggressive therapy for 6 months according to treatment guidelines for SLE patients with renal involvement. The frequencies of I/I, I/V and V/V GSTP1 genotypes were determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The efficacy of CYC aggressive therapy between LN patients with wild GSTP1 (I/I) and those with polymorphic GSTP1 (I/V or V/V) genotypes was evaluated by comparing 24-h urinary protein levels and assessing the remission rates at 3 and 6 months after initiation of CYC. CYC-related myelotoxicity was assessed by reviewing complete blood picture results on the 10th day after CYC treatment. Results In total, 95 eligible patients were recruited. The frequencies of I/I, I/V and V/V GSTP1 genotypes were 54.7, 41.1 and 4.2%, respectively. At 3 and 6 months after CYC treatment, mean 24-h urinary protein had significantly decreased from baseline in both wild and polymorphic genotype groups (p &lt; 0.001). No significant differences were seen between the wild and polymorphic genotype groups with regard to changes in 24-h urinary protein levels, remission at 3 and 6 months or myelotoxicity. Conclusion CYC aggressive therapy had similar efficacy and caused no significant differences in myelotoxicity in wild GSTP1 (I/I) and polymorphic GSTP1 (I/V or V/V) genotypes in patients treated according to YSH guidelines for SLE patients with renal involvement.</p

Elephant weight and height measures

Data used to produce weight for age and height for age curve

Data from: Distinguishing between determinate and indeterminate growth in a long-lived mammal

Background: The growth strategy of a species influences many key aspects of its life-history. Animals can either grow indeterminately (throughout life), or grow determinately, ceasing at maturity. In mammals, continued weight gain after maturity is clearly distinguishable from continued skeletal growth (indeterminate growth). Elephants represent an interesting candidate for studying growth because of their large size, long life and sexual dimorphism. Objective measures of their weight, height and age, however, are rare. Results: We investigate evidence for indeterminate growth in the Asian elephant Elephas maximus using a longitudinal dataset from a semi-captive population. We fit growth curves to weight and height measurements, assess sex differences in growth, and test for indeterminate growth by comparing the asymptotes for height and weight curves. Our results show no evidence for indeterminate growth in the Asian elephant; neither sex increases in height throughout life, with the majority of height growth completed by the age of 15 years in females and 21 years in males. Females show a similar pattern with weight, whereas males continue to gain weight until over age 50. Neither sex shows any declines in weight with age. Conclusions: These results have implications for understanding mammalian life-history, which could include sex-specific differences in trade-offs between size and reproductive investment