PURPOSE Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), one of the most powerful imaging techniques available, usually requires the use of an on-demand designed contrast agent to fully exploit its potential. The blood kinetics of the contrast agent represent an important factor that needs to be considered depending on the objective of the medical examination. For particulate contrast agents, such as superpar...

flab gene was targeted by using multiplex qPCR according to a previous described protocol (1). For quality control of qPCRs, we included positive and negative controls. Sequences of qPCR products were analyzed and compared with sequences available in GenBank. Overall preva-lences were 1.50% for B. miyamotoi, 3.42% for A. phago-cytophilum, and 5.34% for Candidatus N. mikurensis. Prevalences of e...

Coastal forests can increase the resilience of seaside communities against natural disasters. These also provide other benefits, including food and an avenue for economic growth. The Dakenggu community in Suao, Yilan (Taiwan), is adjacent to a coastal forest with area nearly 114,000 m2. Artificial plantation has been performed locally this since 1977 prevent loss beaches. was estimated through ...

Taxa involving three bisexually reproducing ploidy levels make green toads a unique amphibian system. We put a cytogenetic dataset from Central Asia in a molecular framework and apply phylogenetic and demographic methods to data from the entire Palearctic range. We study the mitochondrial relationships of diploids to infer their phylogeography and the maternal ancestry of polyploids. Control re...

Between September and November 1991, 12 Owen Stanley skinks, Papuascincus stanleyanus (Booulenger) were collected from various localities on Papua New Guinea and examined for coccidians. Six (50%) were found to harbour four eimerians that we describe here as new. Oocysts of Eimeria burseyi sp. n. were elongate to ellipsoidal with a bilayered wall and measured (length x width, L x W) 36.0 x 24.0...

Many animals undergo migrations that depend on a range of biotic or abiotic factors provoking daily, seasonal or annual movement of individuals and/or populations. Temperate amphibians frequently have their life cycles dominated by annual temperature fluctuations, but in the tropics it is often presumed that distinct rainy seasons will influence amphibians more than small changes in temperature...