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The inland aquatic ecosystem in China have been largely influenced by large-scale economic activities and over-exploitation of aquatic resources. Fisheries resource enhancement and conservation activities have been carried out throughout China. These activities include establishing artificial fish habitat and hatchery, releasing juvenile fish to rivers and lakes, forbidding illegal fishing, and setting up natural reserves. The purpose of these activities is to restore the quantity of inland fisheries resources, guarantee sustainable development of fisheries, maintain biological diversity and keep an ecological balance. These activities, conducted with a variety of methods, numerous species, extensive water areas and large scale programs have played an active role in fisheries resource enhancement and conservation. As a consequence the inland water environment has been improved; the biological diversity and fish catch increased, and the social, ecological and economic benefits have been significantly improved. However, problems such as inappropriate technology and nonstandard operations continue to affect fisheries resource enhancement, conservation and ecological stability. This paper reviews the history and practice of inland fisheries resource enhancement and conservation in China, analyzes the existing problems and deficiencies in the activities, and finally make some recommendations on technology and procedures to sustain inland fisheries resources.

Rhinogobio cylindricus is an endemic freshwater fish species with relevant commercial importance in the Yangtze River, China. Nineteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed by fast isolation by AFLP of sequences containing repeats (FIASCO) protocol. The number of alleles, observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 2 to 6, from 0.3333 to 1.000 and from 0.2943 to 0.7695, respectively. Ten loci were highly informative, nine were moderately informative. Six loci significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. Two groups of couple loci exhibited significant linkage disequilibrium. These polymorphic microsatellite loci will provide useful genetic tools for population study and conservation genetics of R. cylindricus.

The hillstream fish, Glyptothorax zanaensis (Wu et al., Oceanol Limnol Sin 12:74–79, 1981) is a freshwater teleost species belonging to the order Siluriformes, endemic to Nu River and Lancang River basin. Because wild stocks of G. zanaensis have declined substantially in recent years, owing to overexploitation, pollution, illegal fishing practices and the development of hydroelectricity in the Nu River, the populations of G. zanaensis have markedly declined in recent years. We studied the mitochondrial DNA cyt b gene to assess the genetic diversity of G. zanaensis in seven tributaries of the Nu River. Seventy variable sites defined 15 haplotypes in 153 individuals. Haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity were 0.542 ± 0.014 and 0.011 ± 0.007, respectively. The Sunzu River site had the highest haplotype diversity (Hd, 0.893 ± 0.014) and nucleotide diversity ( Pi, 0.010 ± 0.012). Genetic diversity was low in the Dong River, Fengwei River and Mengtong River. Pairwise FST values ranged from 0.00 to 1.00. Significant FST values were found for Sunzu River sampled sites paired with all other populations and Mengtong river sampled site paired with the others. Furthermore, the Nanpeng River sampled site was significantly differentiated from the Luoming River, Dong River and Fengwei River sampled sites. Such knowledge is essential for developing appropriate policies for the rational management of G. zanaensis.

The hillstream catfish, Glyptothorax laosensis, is endemic to basin of Lancang River (also known as Mekong River). Genetic variation was detected within and among 8 populations of G. laosensis in Lancang River based on mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences. A total 16 nucleotides sites were detected in 1 138 bp fragment, which defined 15 haplotypes from 129 sequences. The variation level was very low, with mean h=0.299 and π=0.00032, respectively, and no variation was detected in some populations. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed no significant genetic structuring among populations. The unimodel mismatch distribution of pairwise haplotype difference and the negatively selective neutrality test (Tajima's D=2.3696, P

Leiocassis albomargintus (Rendhal) is endemic to the Yangtze River basin in China. By using the fast isolation by amplified fragment length polymorphism of sequences containing repeats protocol, we identified twelve microsatellite loci in a wild population. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 13. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.4887 to 1.000 and from 0.5025 to 0.9180, respectively. Cross-amplification was tested in related species L. tenuifurcatus and L. crassilabris.

In order to investigate the mitochondrial genome of Panthera tigris amoyensis, two South China tigers (P25 and P27) were analyzed following 15 cymt-specific primer sets. The entire mtDNA sequence was found to be 16,957 bp and 17,001 bp long for P25 and P27 respectively, and this difference in length between P25 and P27 occurred in the number of tandem repeats in the RS-3 segment of the control region. The structural characteristics of complete P. t. amoyensis mitochondrial genomes were also highly similar to those of P. uncia. Additionally, the rate of point mutation was only 0.3% and a total of 59 variable sites between P25 and P27 were found. Out of the 59 variable sites, 6 were located in 6 different tRNA genes, 6 in the 2 rRNA genes, 7 in non-coding regions (one located between tRNA-Asn and tRNA-Tyr and six in the D-loop), and 40 in 10 protein-coding genes. COI held the largest amount of variable sites (9 sites) and Cytb contained the highest variable rate (0.7%) in the complete sequences. Moreover, out of the 40 variable sites located in 10 protein-coding genes, 12 sites were nonsynonymous.

The dam constructions greatly changed the hydrologic conditions in the Yangtze River, and then significantly affected the spawning activities of indigenous river fish. Monitoring the species composition of drifting eggs during spawning season is important for protection issues. In this study, we have sampled drifting fish eggs in nine locations from 2014 to 2016. Eggs were identified using the mitochondrial cyt b gene sequence. A total of 7,933 fish eggs were sequenced successfully and blasted into the NCBI database. Thirty-nine fish species were identified, and were assigned to four families and two orders. Approximately 64% of the species identified, and 67% of the eggs, were classified in the Family Cyprinidae. Abundance and Shannon–Wiener diversity index of species were higher in the main river than in tributaries of the river. However, tributaries may be important spawning grounds for some fish species. The Jaccard’s similarity index and river-way distances among sampled stations were negatively correlated suggesting the environment shapes species composition in the sampled spawning grounds. These results showed that mitochondrial DNA sequence is a powerful and effective tool for fish egg identification in Yangtze River and these data are useful for conservation efforts.

The patterns of carbon flow in large rivers influenced by dams are still not well known. We hypothesized that spatial variation in fish assimilation of basal production sources would be affected by heterogeneity of landscape-scale hydrology within a watershed due to the impoundment. We used stable isotope analysis and Bayesian mixing models to estimate relative contributions of basal production sources to fish consumers in a tributary of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) with remarkably heterogeneous habitats between the upper and lower reaches. Model estimates indicated that riparian C3 plants were the main basal food source irrespective of reaches or feeding groups. Autochthonous algae carbon also appeared to be important as secondary carbon sources. However, the major contributive aquatic algae in the upstream were benthic algae while planktonic algae were important in the downstream, and this difference was related to their distinct hydrological characteristics. The contribution from C4 plants was comparatively less important to all fish consumers. Our results highlighted the significance of the riparian C3 carbon source to fish consumers in the TGR tributary and that the difference in landscape-scale characteristics was not enough to influence the pattern, which may be attributed to abundant standing stock of the riparian plants as well as hydrologic regimes in this river.

Known as the four famous carps in China, black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) are commercially important fish species with a high production in China. To reveal the relationships between meteorological conditions and the natural spawning behavior of these fishes, we considered six meteorological factors (including wind, rainfall, temperature, air pressure, sunshine hours and humidity) and the weather conditions in 80 spawning events. The results showed that the spawning activities were more likely to be activated in consecutive rainy days or days when weather changed drastically, while the spawning activities showed no tendency for the weather type except consecutive rainy days. Our analyses also showed that the average rainfall in the initial spawning days is higher than that in the spawning time windows (the time from the earliest spawning activity to the latest spawning activity), while other meteorological elements remained at more or less the same values in both time periods; spawning activity tended to happen in days when the average air pressure was going down or the average temperature going up, while the other meteorological elements showed no consistent tendency.

Four major species of Chinese carp, namely black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), are important economic freshwater fish varieties in China. They primarily inhabit and breed in the Yangtze River. Unfortunately, the construction and operation of the Gezhouba Dam and the Three Gorges Dam have dramatically changed the hydrodynamic conditions in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, leading to a sharp decline in the reproduction rates of these carp. The egg abundance of the four species of carp downstream from the Three Gorges Dam reached 8.35 billion in 1965, but abundance during 2005–2012 was only 0.25 billion. One of the main reasons was that the hydrodynamic conditions of the spawning ground could not meet the four species’ breeding requirements. However, due to the limitations of traditional detection tools, the spawning characteristics of these four species of carp were still unclear. In this study, the ultrasonic telemetry and a three–dimensional hydrodynamic model were utilized to build the habitat suitability index (HSI) curves for the four species of carp. The habitat suitability model was then built based on HSI curves to assess spawning habitat quantity under different flow conditions. Finally, the habitat suitability model in the Yidu spawning ground was validated using 32 groups of sampling data in 2015 and 2017. The statistical results showed that the most suitable velocity ranged from 0.78 m/s to 0.93 m/s. The most suitable water depth ranged from 14.56 m to 16.35 m, and the most suitable Froude number ranged from 0.049 to 0.129. The habitat suitability model simulation results indicated that when the discharge was between 15,000 m3/s and 21,300 m3/s, the weighted usable area (WUA) values in both the Yidu and Zhicheng spawning grounds would remain at a high level. The validation results showed that most spawning activities occurred at a high level of WUA, and that the daily spawning egg numbers increased with the WUA value. Therefore, discharges of between 15,000 m3/s and 21,300 m3/s could be recommended as ecological operation target flows. We propose a feasible ecological operation scheme by setting the initial flow at 15,000 m3/s and maintaining the daily discharge increase at 1500 m3/s for 4 days.

The development of hydroelectricity in the Nujiang River would have adverse impacts on the populations of Glyptothorax zanaensis. In order to assess the genetic diversity and differentiation of this species, we sequenced the cytochrome b gene of the mitochondria in 102 individuals of the fish collected from 6 sampling sites (Gongshan, Gudeng and Lushui in the Nujiang Prefectural District and Daojie, Mengnuo and Mucheng in the Baoshan Municipal District). A total of 87 variation sites were detected in the fragment of 1 137 bp in length, with which the 102 samples were defined as 36 haplotypes. The haplotype diversity (h) and the nucleotide diversity (pi) of total samples were 0.851+/-0.028 and 0.01356+/-0.0008, respectively. Therefore, the genetic diversity of G. zanaensis was relatively low. However, the genetic diversity of the Nujiang population was significantly higher than that of the Baoshan population. The pairwise Fst value between the populations (0.475-0.846) was higher than that within the population (0.002-0.108), which implied that the Fst value was positively related to geographic distance. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the genetic differentiation between the populations and within the populations were 53.65% and 46.35%, respectively. The fixation index (Fst value) was 0.5365, indicating that there existed significant differentiation between the Nujiang population and the Baoshan population. The phylogentic tree and networks of the haplotypes of G. zanaensis showed that there were two separate lineages: the Nujiang lineage and the Baoshan lineage. Each lineage represents at least one separated management unit, or belongs to an evolutionary significant unit. It was suggested that in the construction of hydroelectric projects the measures for protecting G. zanaensis should be adopted in fully considering the populations of G. zanaensis and the status quo of their population structure to avoid the occurrence of gene exchange among populations.

The Yangtze is the largest river in China and the third largest river in the world. Being pregnant with plentiful fish resources, it is not only the representative of the areas with biological diversity, but also a cradle of freshwater fisheries in China. In the Yangtze, at present, the fishery resources are seriously depleted; the fishery yield by fishing is significantly reduced; significant changes have occurred on the structure of fish community, with decrease in migratory fish species, reduction in the quantity of the populations of rare, peculiar and economically important fish species and increase in the number of exotic fish species, and severe trend in fish stunting. Habitat fragmentation and shrinkage, resources overexploitation, water pollution and invasion of exotic species are the main causes for threatening fish stocks in the Yangtze River. Since 1950’s, a lot of scientific researches have been conducted on biology of fishes from the Yangtze River and its fisheries to provide scientific basis for their protection. In recent years, measures such as closed spring, fish reserves, artificial enhancement & release, ecological rehabilitation, fishery management and international cooperation have played important roles. Nevertheless, researches on fishes from the Yangtze cannot adequately meet the demand for their protection. Especially, those in the aspects of population ecology of Yangtze fishes, species endangerment mechanism, ecological effects of large hydraulic projects and protection strategy are not deep enough. It is recommended that scientific researches should be conducted in comprehensive survey of Yangtze fish resources, fish endangerment mechanism, techniques in artificial enhancement and release of key species, risk assessment of exotic species, ecological rehabilitation of major fisheries functional zones, etc.

Gymnocypris przewalskii (Kessler 1876) is an endangered and state-protected rare fish species in Qinghai Lake, China. To further understand the life history and distribution of this fish, five surveys were carried out in Qinghai Lake between 2002-2006. Results of these surveys indicate that fishes were predominantly distributed about 2 m under the surface. In July, significant differences in fish density were found between surface and bottom layers (P = 0.001), and/or between middle and bottom layers (P = 0.025). Fish density was the greatest in the surface layer. In August and October, no significant differences were found between the different layers, but the bottom layer had a greater fish density. Furthermore, there were very large differences among different zones in fish distribution density. Differences in horizontal distribution were not significantly correlated to factors such as water depth and inshore distance, possibly because of very low and uniform fish density. Feeding, changes in water temperature, over-wintering and spawning appeared to influence fish distribution. Hydroacoustic estimates of G. przewalskii biomass in Qinghai Lake increased significantly between 2002 and 2006. We attribute this increase to the management measures put in place to protect this species.

The full length cDNA of a prion protein (PrP) encoding gene of guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and the corresponding genomic DNA were cloned. The cDNA was 2245 bp in length and contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 1545 bp encoding a protein of 515 amino acids, which held all typical structural characteristics of the functional PrP. The cloned genomic DNA fragment corresponding to the cDNA was 3720 bp in length, consisting of 2 introns and 2 exons. The 5′ untranslated region of cDNA originated from the 2 exons, while the ORF originated from the second exon. Although the gene was transcribed in diverse tissues including brain, eye, liver, intestine, muscle and tail, its transcript was most abundant in the brain. In addition, the transcription of the gene was enhanced by 5 salinity, implying that it was associated with the response of guppy to saline stress.

Genetic linkage maps of guppy (Poecilia reticulata) were constructed using microsatellite DNA and AFLP markers and a pseudo-testcross mapping strategy. (AC)n microsatellite DNA markers were developed and used to genotype sixty-one full-sib progenies (F1) and their two parents. Of 293 microsatellite DNA markers, 101 segregated at 1:1 or 1:1:1:1 ratios. In addition, 336 AFLP markers segregated also in F1 progenies at 1:1 ratio, which were produced using 91 primer combinations. All these markers were mapped with two linkage maps produced, one each parent. Female map included 135 markers in 22 linkage groups, covering a total of 1267.7 cM in length. Male map included 172 markers in 20 linkage groups, covering a total of 1771.2 cM in length.

The bronze gudgeon, Coreius heterodon (Bleeker), is an economically important species, which only inhabits the Yangtze River. The stock declined drastically in recent years due to dam construction, over-fishing, and pollution. Little is known about its population genetic structure. In this study, the sequences of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control regions of natural bronze gudgeon was determined for fish collected from four sites in the Yangtze River (n = 102). The molecular data were used to estimate the genetic diversity and differentiation of the bronze gudgeon. The results showed that 28 haplotypes and 22 variable sites were found, and the haplotype diversity (π) and nucleotide diversity (h) were 0.849 and 0.00257, respectively. A low level of genetic diversity exists in the bronze gudgeon. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) suggests that 98.8% of the genetic variability occurred within the populations; the site of collection had little influence on diversity. Future research should focus on investigating the genetic divergence of populations in different tributaries and using additional polymorphic markers, such as microsatellite DNA, to verify the results and improve interpretation.

In this paper, a control law for three dimensional trajectory tracking for unmanned aerial vehicles is developed. The control law is based on back stepping method. The parameters of the control law are tuned by genetic algorithm. Simulations show that the effectiveness of the control law and the parameter tuning method. The proposed control law has good performance in the presence of time-varying wind disturbances. The parameter tuning method obtains good parameters without trial-and-errors.

After spinal cord injury (SCI), disruption of blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) elicits blood cell infiltration such as neutrophils and macrophages, contributing to permanent neurological disability. Previous studies show that epidermal growth factor (EGF) produces potent neuroprotective effects in SCI models. However, little is known that whether EGF contributes to the integrity of BSCB. The present study is performed to explore the mechanism of BSCB permeability changes which are induced by EGF treatment after SCI in rats. In this study, we demonstrate that EGF administration inhibits the disruption of BSCB permeability and improves the locomotor activity in SCI model rats. Inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathways by a specific inhibitor, LY294002, suppresses EGF‐induced Rac1 activation as well as tight junction (TJ) and adherens junction (AJ) expression. Furthermore, the protective effect of EGF on BSCB is related to the activation of Rac1 both in vivo and in vitro. Blockade of Rac1 activation with Rac1 siRNA downregulates EGF‐induced TJ and AJ proteins expression in endothelial cells. Taken together, our results indicate that EGF treatment preserves BSCB integrity and improves functional recovery after SCI via PI3K‐Akt‐Rac1 signalling pathway.

Many traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors sustain neurological disability and cognitive impairments due to the lack of defined therapies to reduce TBI-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown. Exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been shown to have neuroprotective function in brain injury. The present study therefore investigates the beneficial effects of bFGF on the BBB after TBI and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we demonstrate that bFGF reduces neurofunctional deficits and preserves BBB integrity in a mouse model of TBI. bFGF suppresses RhoA and upregulates tight junction proteins, thereby mitigating BBB breakdown. In vitro, bFGF exerts a protective effect on BBB by upregulating tight junction proteins claudin-5, occludin, zonula occludens-1, p120-catenin, and β-catenin under oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD) in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). Both the in vivo and in vitro effects are related to the activation of the downstream signaling pathway, PI3K/Akt/Rac-1. Inhibition of the PI3K/Akt or Rac-1 by specific inhibitors LY294002 or si-Rac-1, respectively, partially reduces the protective effect of bFGF on BBB integrity. Overall, our results indicate that the protective role of bFGF on BBB involves the regulation of tight junction proteins and RhoA in the TBI model and OGD-induced HBMECs injury, and that activation of the PI3K/Akt /Rac-1 signaling pathway underlies these effects.

In the present study, the complete mitogenome sequence of Pseudolaubuca sinensis was determined using PCR amplificationand DNA sequencing, which contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a non-coding control region with the total length of 16,617 bp. Except for eight tRNA and ND6 genes, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand. The codon usage followed the typical vertebrate mitochondrial pattern (ATG or GTG for start codon and TAA or TAG for stop codon). There are 6 regions of gene share totaling 22 bp and 14 intergenic spacer regions totaling 66 bp. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence is useful for phylogenetic analysis and studies of population genetics of Pseudolaubuca sinensis.

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Sinobdella sinensis was reported. The circular genome is 16,540 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 control region. The overall nucleotide composition was 30.0% A, 26.5% T, 28.7% C, and 14.8% G, with an A + T bias of 56.5%. The gene composition and the structural arrangement of the S. sinensis complete mtDNA were identical to most other vertebrates. The molecular data here we presented could play a useful role to study the evolutionary relationships and population genetics of Mastacembelidae fish.

Liobagrus marginatoides is endemic to the upper Yangtze River basin in China. By using the fast isolation by amplified fragment length polymorphism of sequences containing repeats protocol, we identified eleven microsatellite loci in a wild population. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 10. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.3258 to 1.000 and from 0.6506 to 0.8712, respectively. Cross-amplification was tested in related species L. nigricauda, L. marginalus and L. kingi.

Liobagrus kingi is endemic to southwest China and listed as endangered species (IUCN 2012). Genetic diversity is necessary for conservation issue. In studying this, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of L. kingi has been obtained with PCR, which contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a non-coding control region with the total length of 16,483 bp. The gene arrangement and composition are similar to that of other vertebrates. Most of the genes are encoded on heavy strand, except for eight tRNA and ND6 genes. Just like most other vertebrates, the against bias of G has a universality in different statistical results. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of L. kingi would contribute to better understand population genetics and protect its genetic diversity.

Leptobotia rubrilaris is a threatened fish species of the Yangtze River in China. A first set of sixteen polymorphism microsatellite loci isolated from this species was characterized. The number of alleles, observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 2 to 8, 0.1667 to 1.000 and 0.1587 to 0.8342, respectively. Two loci significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. The polymorphism information content ranged from 0.148 to 0.791. Ten loci were highly informative, four were moderately informative, and two was slightly informative. These polymorphic microsatellite markers will be useful to study genetic diversity and genetic structure of L. rubrilaris for conservation and management.

The ray-finned fish Xenophysogobio boulengeri is endemic to the upper Yangtze River basin in China. By using the Fast Isolation by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism of Sequences Containing repeats protocol, we identified fourteen microsatellite loci in a wild population. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 15. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.125 to 1 and from 0.122 to 0.925, respectively. Cross-amplification was tested in related species X. nudicorpa and Gobiobotia filifer.

In this survey paper, the-state-of-the-art of the optimal structure design of Multilayer Feedforward Neural Network (MFNN) for pattern recognition is reviewed. Special emphasis is laid on the scale-limited MFNN and the internal representation and decision boundary-based design methodologies. A comprehensively comparative study of the main characteristics of each method is presented. Also, future research directions are outlined.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced apoptosis plays an important role in a range of neurological disorders, such as neurodegenerative diseases, spinal cord injury, and diabetic neuropathy. Valproate (VPA), a typical antiepileptic drug, is commonly used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and epilepsy. Recently, VPA has been reported to exert neurotrophic effects and promote neurite outgrowth, but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether VPA inhibited ER stress and promoted neuroprotection and neuronal restoration in SH-SY5Y cells and in primary rat cortical neurons, respectively, upon exposure to thapsigargin (TG). In SH-SY5Y cells, cell viability was detected by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the expression of ER stress-related apoptotic proteins such as glucose‑regulated protein (GRP78), C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), and cleaved caspase-12/-3 were analyzed with Western blot analyses and immunofluorescence assays. To explore the pathway involved in VPA-induced cell proliferation, we also examined p-AKT, GSK3β, p-JNK and MMP-9. Moreover, to detect the effect of VPA in primary cortical neurons, immunofluorescence staining of β-III tubulin and Anti-NeuN was analyzed in primary cultured neurons exposed to TG. Our results demonstrated that VPA administration improved cell viability in cells exposed to TG. In addition, VPA increased the levels of GRP78 and p-AKT and decreased the levels of ATF6, XBP-1, GSK3β, p-JNK and MMP-9. Furthermore, the levels of the ER stress-induced apoptosis response proteins CHOP, cleaved caspase-12 and cleaved caspase-3 were inhibited by VPA treatment. Meanwhile, VPA administration also increased the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax. Moreover, VPA can maintain neurite outgrowth of primary cortical neurons. Collectively, the neurotrophic effect of VPA is related to the inhibition of ER stress-induced apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells and the maintenance of neuronal growth. Collectively, our results suggested a new approach for the therapeutic function of VPA in neurological disorders and neuroprotection.

Elongate loach (Leptobotia elongate) is a threatened fish species endemic to the Yangtze River in China. A first set of 22 polymorphism microsatellite loci isolated from this species was characterized. The number of alleles, observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 2 to 12, from 0.2667 to 1.000 and from 0.2391 to 0.9011, respectively. Seven loci significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. The polymorphism information content ranged from 0.204 to 0.857. Ten loci were highly informative, 11 were moderately informative, and one was slightly informative. These polymorphic microsatellite markers will be useful for genetic monitoring of natural populations and management of breeding stocks in hatcheries.

The complete mitogenome of an endemic fish in China flat-lip gudgeon, Platysmacheilus exiguous, was determined using the polymerase chain reaction and directly sequenced with the primer walking method. The whole mitogenome was 16,604 bp in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 1 control region. It had the typical circular molecule structure of vertebrate's mitogenome. The whole base composition was estimated to be 30.77%A, 26.06%T, 26.64%C and 16.53%G with AT bias of 56.83%. The complete mitogenome of P. exiguus provides the fundamental data for conservation genetics study on this species.

In this paper, we first determined the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Squalidus argentatus, which was 16,607 bp in size and the whole base composition was estimated to be 30.48% A, 25.45% T, 27.36% C, 16.72% G with AT bias of 55.93%. The complete mitogenome comprised 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 1 control region, with the gene order and content identical to other vertebrate mitogenomes. The complete mitogenome of S. argentatus provides the valuable information for population genetics and phylogeography studies on this species.

The study assessed the effects of surgically implanted dummy ultrasonic transmitters on physiological response of bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis in April 2011. Before the surgery, 15 blood samples were extracted randomly from 195 bighead carp samples, and then the rest of the fish were divided into three groups: (1) control group, handing but no tagging, (2) sham group, surgical procedure without implantation of transmitter and (3) surgery group, surgical implantation of transmitters. In 3 h, 24 h, 7 days and 14 days after surgery, 15 fish were extracted randomly from the three groups, respectively, for sampling. Then the plasma samples were analyzed, and physiological measures of stress response (cortisol, glucose), tissue damage [alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)] and nutritional status [total protein, globulin, albumin, triglyceride, cholesterol, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)] were compared. The result showed that there was no significant difference between sham and surgery groups in 3 h, 24 h, 7 days and 14 days after surgery. When compared to the control group, there were significant increases in concentrations of plasma cortisol, glucose, ALT, AST, total protein and globulin of sham and surgery groups in 3 h after surgery. After 24 h, the levels of plasma cortisol, ALT, AST, total protein, globulin and ALP were elevated in both sham and surgery groups, whereas the levels of plasma glucose had declined to normal level and plasma albumin, cholesterol and triglyceride were significantly decreased in both sham and surgery groups. After 7 days, the levels of plasma glucose, albumin and cholesterol continued to decline, while the level of plasma ALT, globulin and ALP had declined but still remained higher for sham and surgery groups than control group; however, the plasma total protein level had returned to normal. After 14 days, there was no significant difference between the three groups. The above results showed that surgical implantation of ultrasonic transmitters had indeed caused significantly negative effects on the physiological response of bighead carp. However, all the negative influences on stress response, tissue damage and nutritional status had disappeared in 14 days after surgery, and the presence of transmitters had no significant negative impact. Therefore, the bighead carp should be temporary cultured at least 14 days for the recovery of physiological response and then released into the free water for the ultrasonic telemetry research.

Fifteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated from an enriched genomic library of Glyptothorax zanaensis. The polymorphism of these loci was tested on a population of 78 individuals captured from Nujiang River. The number of observed alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 8. The expected and observed heterozygosity values ranged from 0.578 to 0.820 and 0.623 to 1.000, respectively. Two loci significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. No significant linkage disequilibrium was detected. These microsatellite markers will be useful in studies of population genetic structure of G. zanaensis.

In the present study, the complete mitogenome sequence of Gnathopogon imberbis is determined using PCR amplification and DNA sequencing, which contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and a non-coding control region with the total length of 16,598 bp. Except for eight tRNA and ND6 genes, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the H-strand. The codon usage followed the typical vertebrate mitochondrial pattern (ATG or GTG for start codon and TAA or TAG for stop codon). The overall nucleotide composition was 30.0% A, 27.0% T, 25.8% C and 17.2% G, with an A + T bias of 57.0%. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence will be useful for phylogenetic analysis and studies of population genetics of G. imberbis.

Eleven polymorphic microsatellite loci were characterized from a wild population of Pseudobagrus truncatus, an endemic catfish to China, using the fast isolation by amplified fragment length polymorphism of sequences containing repeats protocol. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 17, with the observed and expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.5087 to 1.000, and from 0.5937 to 0.9368, respectively. Cross-amplification was also tested in closely related species. These loci could be used for future assessment of genetic variation of P. truncates.

Liobagrus nigricauda is endemic to the Yangtze River system (Ding 1994, The fishes of Sichuan province. pp. 470-78) and listed as an endangered species (IUCN 2012, Red list of threatened species. http://www.iucnredlist.org ). In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of L. nigricauda has been obtained with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a noncoding control region with the total length of 16,512 bp. The gene arrangement and composition are similar to that of other vertebrates. Most of the genes are encoded on heavy strand, except for eight tRNA and ND6 genes. Just like most other vertebrates, the bias against G has a universality in different statistics results. The mitogenome sequence of L. nigricauda would contribute to better understand population genetics and to protect its genetic diversity.

This paper addresses the problem of early identification of at-risk students, and seeks to determine modules on a given course, referred to as predictor modules, in which a student’s performance is implicitly correlated to the end-of-the-first-year performance of the student. Such predictor modules may therefore be used to predict the likelihood of a student’s year progression. A data mining project has been conducted for this study, and decision treebased predictive models have been created using various historical records of students’ grades and year progressions. The study reveals that a key predictor module exists, and the pass rate of the key predictor module can be used to predict students’ year progression rate. A set of recommendations is given based on the key predictor module identified from the management point of view in relation to improving student retention. The study also suggests that a students’ performance in a key predictor module can be directly linked to both key performance indicator and key result indicator in course management and student support.

Firstly the elements, functions and flight features of the Near-Space Vehicles (NSVs) are analyzed in this paper. Then the problems on tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) of the NSVs and the requirements of the Ground-Based Radars for NSVs objects are analyzed. Based on the deployment scheme of the future Ground-Based Radars, the optimized usage of the TT&C resources of the ground navigation area is designed and simulated to fulfill the needed accuracy information of TT&C for the flight of the NSVs under limited resources condition. Several deployment schemes are simulated and optimized in this paper. The simulation results show that through deployment optimization to existing schemes, the performances, i.e., efficiency and resource consumption, are improved.

A new computer-generated hologram (CGH) based on phase retrieval algorithm and nonlinear amplitude limiting is proposed to significantly improve the diffraction efficiency than general nonlinear amplitude limiting method. The original image is encoded into a pure phase by phase retrieval algorithm, and using parallel wave as the carrier. Then we obtain binary hologram by nonlinear amplitude limiting model. The proposed binary processing retains more information and improves the diffraction efficiency for reconstruction object. This CGH theoretical formula is derived also. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the improved method received better diffraction efficiency than the hologram getting from average nonlinear amplitude limiting model. The technique has a good prospect in the application of hologram optical information processing.

A new approach of digital audio watermarking by use of nonlinear amplitude limiting computer-generated hologram (CGH) is proposed to significantly improve the robustness than traditional CGH method. The amplitude and phase are extracted on the basis of traditional Fourier transform holography. Binary Fourier hologram was formed by nonlinear amplitude limiting algorithm when the phase information as input function and the amplitude information transferred into a bias function. The robustness of audio watermarking is much high because the binary hologram has stronger anti-interference property than the normal hologram. And because of the small amount of data in binary hologram, redundant embedding method can further improve the robustness. The CGH is embedded into audio signal by quantification technology and discrete-cosine-transform (DCT) algorithm. It can be extracted without the original audio signal and the security key provides good security. Experimental results show that the algorithm has more robustness than audio watermarking algorithm based on general CGH against common signal manipulations and attacks, such as lossy compression, re-sampling, low-pass filter, noise, and so on.

In-line image plane digital holographic microscopy method is introduced for measurements of the biological cells. After the description of the configuration of system, the experimental results on the USAF resolution target as the calibration object are presented. Biological cells are located in the system and the sizes of them are calculated by the pixel resolution relationship between different reconstruction distances. This method provides microscopy for sample measurements with variable magnifications.

Region covariance descriptor recently proposed has been approved robust and elegant to describe a region of interest, which has been applied to visual tracking. The covariance matrix enables efficient fusion of different types of features, where the spatial and statistical properties as well as their correlation are characterized. The similarity of two covariance descriptor is measured on Riemannian manifolds. Within a probabilistic framework, we integrate covariance descriptor into Monte Carlo tracking technique for visual tracking. Most existing particle filtering based tracking algorithms treat deformation parameters of the target as a vector. We have proposed a visual tracking algorithm using particle filtering on the affine group, which implements the geometric particle filter with the constraint that the system state lies in a low dimensional manifold: affine lie group. The sequential Bayesian updating consists in drawing state samples while moving on the manifold geodesics; The Region covariance is updated using a novel approach in a Riemannian space. Theoretic analysis and experimental evaluations against the tracking algorithm based on geometric particle filtering demonstrate the promise and effectiveness of this algorithm.

The past decade has seen increased international recognition of the importance of the services provided by natural ecosystems. It is unclear however whether such international awareness will lead to improved environmental management in many regions. We explore this issue by examining the specific case of fish migration and dams on the Mekong river. We determine that dams on the Mekong mainstem and major tributaries will have a major impact on the basin’s fisheries and the people who depend upon them for food and income. We find no evidence that current moves towards dam construction will stop, and consider two scenarios for the future of the fisheries and other ecosystems of the basin. We conclude that major investment is required in innovative technology to reduce the loss of ecosystem services, and alternative livelihood strategies to cope with the losses that do occur.