Seasonal fluctuations in sand temperature: effects on the incubation period and mortality of loggerhead sea turtle (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Caretta</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">caretta</Emphasis>) pre-emergent hatchlings in Minabe,Japan

Incubation period, hatching success, and emergence percentage in loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests were quantified during the 1993 and 1995 nesting seasons and following incubation seasons in Minabe, Wakayama, Japan. Sand and nest temperatures were also monitored. Over the seasons, daily mean sand temperature at nest depth fluctuated between 18.0°C and 33.3°C, with a steep increase in the second week of July and a peak in late August. Temperatures inside the nest chambers were a few degrees above those of the surrounding sand at the end of incubation. The incubation period ranged from 46 to 82 days. A significant negative correlation was found between mean sand temperature and incubation period. The relationship conformed to the day-degree concept. There was no significant seasonal trend in hatching success, but many pre-emergent hatchlings were found dead in most of the clutches during the warmest part of the season. Emergence percentage was correlated with mean sand temperature calculated for 4 days before emergence, suggesting that mortality may be due to heat. This heat-related mortality is considered to be a common phenomenon at our study site, because the peak in emergences coincides with the peak in high temperatures. These temperature effects on hatchling mortality must be taken into account in estimates of hatchling sex ratios. Because sand temperatures already exceed the optimal thermal range for incubation, this population is vulnerable to even small temperature increases resulting from global warming.     

Funipuncture for fetocide in late termination of pregnancy

The most widely used method for fetocide in late termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormalities (TOPFA) consists of injecting of potassium chloride (KCl) into the fetal heart and is likely to be painful after 22 weeks of gestation. We studied ten consecutive women undergoing TOPFA between 22 and 38 weeks. This technique for fetocide consisted of a single umbilical vein puncture under ultrasound guidance with injections of sufentanil 5 µg followed by KCl 2 g. No electrocardiographic modifications could be observed and maternal plasma potassium levels did not show any significant variation throughout the procedure. Fetal umbilical phlebotomy for fetal analgesia followed by fetocide therefore appears to be a safe procedure for the mother and allows the fetus to die without pain when late termination of pregnancy (TOP) is indicated. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis of the fragile X syndrome by use of linked polymorphic markers

Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of familial mental retardation. The most common mutation is expansion of a triplet (CGG)_n repeat in the 5′ untranslated region of the FMR1 gene on Xq27.3. The expansion is refractory to PCR due to preferential amplification of the smaller allele in heterozygous cells and the high GC content of the repeat and surrounding sequences. Direct detection of the normal parental alleles in preimplantation embryos has been used for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of this disorder. However, this approach is only suitable for approximately 63% of couples due to the heterozygosity of the repeat in the normal population. As an alternative we investigated the use of polymorphic markers flanking the mutation to track the normal and premutation carrying maternal chromosomes in preimplantation embryos. Using a panel of 11 polymorphisms, six (CA)_n repeats and five single nucleotide polymorphisms, diagnosis was developed for 90% of referred couples. Multiplex amplification of informative markers was tested in 300 single buccal cells from interested couples with efficiency and allele drop out (ADO) rates ranging from 69% to 96% and 6% to 18%, respectively. Use of this approach is accurate and applicable to a larger number of patients at risk of transmitting fragile X to their offspring. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prenatal diagnosis of a 45,X male with a SRY-bearing chromosome 21

Male phenotype associated with a 45,X karyotype is an infrequent finding. We present a case diagnosed prenatally on amniocentesis performed for maternal age. The male phenotype was associated with a translocation of a distal part of Yp including the pseudoautosomal SHOX gene and SRY gene on the short arm of a chromosome 21. By DNA analysis we could show that the X chromosome was of maternal origin and that the breakpoint was in interval 3 of the Y chromosome. Mechanisms and genetic counselling are discussed based on a review of published cases of 45,X and XX males. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of vitamin A in the haematotoxicity of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) in the rat.

The haematotoxicity of technical hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (1000 ppm) was investigated in male albino rats fed with diet free of vitamin A or containing vitamin A at 2000 or 10(5) I.U./kg. Assessment of HCH-induced haematotoxicity at the end of the 7 weeks feeding period was done on the basis of haemoglobin content, total count of red blood cells and white blood cells and the differential counts of the white blood cells as well as by parameters such as packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin content, prothrombin time and clotting time. In the rats fed with vitamin A-free diet containing HCH, significant reductions were noticed in the total white blood cells count, clotting time and prothrombin time indicating severe haematotoxicity. Differential count of the white blood cells of these rats revealed a non-significant reduction in the lymphocyte count. The only indication of haematotoxicity caused by hexachlorocyclohexane in the vitamin A supplemented rats was a slight but statistically significant reduction of the total count of white blood cells. These results demonstrate that the haematotoxicity of hexachlorocyclohexane in the rats is enhanced by vitamin A-deficiency and its supplementation particularly in excess but not at hypervitaminotic level is protective against the toxicity.     

Postfledging Dispersal of White-crowned Pigeons: Implications for Conservation of Deciduous Seasonal Forests in the Florida Keys

From 1988 to 1991, we studied the postfledging dispersal of 31 radio-tagged White-crowned Pigeons ( Columba leucocephala ) from three natal keys in Florida Bay. Immature birds dispersed from the natal keys at 26–45 days after batching, and most young dispersed more than 20 km during the first 10 days postdispersal. Dispersing birds flew either north to the Florida mainland or east to northeast to the mainline Florida Keys. On the mainland, immature birds fed nearly exclusively within Everglades National Park or an adjacent state wildlife management area. On the mainline keys, White-crowned Pigeons selectively used 5.01–20 ha forest fragments (p < 0.10) during the first 72 hours postdispersal. After this period, dispersing birds showed no preference among fragment size classes but used deciduous seasonal forests more frequently than suburban habitat(p < 0.10). The spatial pattern of dispersal on the mainline keys suggests that, during the first 72 hours postdispersal. White-crowned Pigeons are not able to reach northern Key Largo, where 69% of the deciduous seasonal forests are protected in state or federal ownership. Protection of large forest fragments, especially on southern Key Largo, should be a priority for maintaining populations of White-crowned Pigeons. These forests provide a series of "stepping stones" that enable dispersing immature White-crowned Pigeons to fly to more distant areas where habitat availability is less restricted. This species is threatened in Florida and may play an important role in maintaining plant species diversity in the seasonal deciduous forests of south Florida by dispersing seeds of at least 37 species of trees and shrubs. Protection of sufficient habitat to allow successful postfledging dispersal of this important seed disperser will also protect the ecosystem's biodiversity.     

An experimental investigation of explanations for inconsistencies in responses to second offers in double referenda

This paper demonstrates the potential for induced preference experiments to test previously unverified explanations of observed behavior in contingent valuation surveys. The NOAA Panel on Contingent Valuation called for experimental evidence on potential biases in the double referendum format. We test Carson, Groves, and Machina's (Incentives and informational properties of preference questions, Plenary address to the European Association of Resource and Environmental Economists, Oslo, Norway, June 1999) simple cost uncertainty and weighted averaging explanations of inconsistent responses to follow-up offers in such double referenda against a baseline of certainty and truthful preference revelation. The results find evidence to support the Weighted Average hypothesis. Results regarding the cost uncertainty hypothesis are more ambiguous and merit further investigation.     

DNA sequence evidence for speciation,paraphyly and a Mesozoic dispersal of cancellothyridid articulate brachiopods

Because the classification of extant and fossil articulate brachiopods is based largely upon shell characters observable in fossils, it identifies morphotaxa whose biological status can, in practice, best be inferred from estimates of genetic divergence. Allozyme polymorphism and restriction fragment length polymorphism of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA RFLP) have been used to show that nuclear and mitochondrial genetic divergence between samples of the cancellothyridid brachiopods Terebratulina septentrionalis from Canada and T. retusa from Europe is compatible with biological speciation, but the genetic distances obtained were biased by methodological limitations. Here, we report estimates of divergence in 12S rDNA mitochondrial sequences within and between samples of these brachiopods. The sequence-based genetic distance between these samples (5.98ǂ.07% SE) is at least 10 times greater than within them and, since they also differ in a complex life-history trait, their species status is considered to be securely established. Divergence levels between 12S rDNA genes of three other cancellothyridids, T. unguicula from Alaska, T. crossei from near Japan, and Cancellothyris hedleyi from near Australia are higher than between the two North Atlantic species, and the mean nucleotide distance between all these cancellothyrids is similar to the mean distance between species of Littorina (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Sequences of both 12S and 16S genes from cancellothyridids and other short-looped brachiopod species show neither saturation nor lineage-specific rate differences and, when analysed with different outgroups, either separately or together, yield one unexpected, but well-supported, tree with Alaskan T. unguicula basal and C. hedleyi nested within Terebratulina, i.e. these genera are paraphyletic. A geologically dated divergence between Antarctic and New Zealand species of the short-looped brachiopod Liothyrella is used to calibrate the rate of 12S divergence at ca. 0.1% per million years (MY), and this rate is used to infer that T. septentrionalis and T. retusa have been diverging for ca. 60 MY and that they and T. unguicula have been diverging from their last common ancestor for ca. 100 MY. This indicates a Mesozoic origin for the present-day distribution of cancellothyridids and the basal position of T. unguicula suggests a possible North Pacific centre of origin, with separate Atlantic and Pacific radiations. The inclusion of Cancellothyris within Terebratulina also shows that adult shell characters such as umbo, foramen and symphytium shape, whilst probably indispensible for the practical classification of fossils, are not reliable guides to genealogy.