Investigation of Parasitic Infection in Crocodile Lizards () Using High-Throughput Sequencing.

The highly endangered crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) continues to be impacted by disease, especially in captive breeding populations. In this paper, based on high-throughput sequencing, we investigated parasitic infections in captive and wild crocodile lizard populations in the Daguishan National Nature Reserve and Guangdong Luokeng Shinisaurus crocodilurus National Nature Reserve. The results show that the overall parasitic infection rate in crocodile lizards was 33.

Identification of From the Skin Ulcer Disease of Crocodile Lizards () and Probiotics as the Control Measure.

The crocodile lizard () is an endangered ancient reptile species. Captive breeding is an important conservation measure for the potential restoration and recovery of their wild populations. However, a skin ulcer disease caused by an unknown pathogen has become a serious threat to captive breeding individuals.

Skin Microbiota Was Altered in Crocodile Lizards () With Skin Ulcer.

Skin diseases commonly affect reptiles, but their relationships to the closely related skin microbiome are not well-understood. In recent years, both the wild and captive populations of the crocodile lizard, a Class I protected endangered animal in China, have suffered serious skin diseases that hamper the rescue and release projects for their conservation. This study conducted a detailed prevalence investigation of a major dermatosis characterized by foot skin ulcer in crocodile lizards.

Impacts of maternal characteristics and temperature on juvenile survival in the crocodile lizard: Implications for conservation.

Captive breeding is an important conservation measure that may restore and enhance wild populations of rare and endangered species. Multiple anthropogenic hazards have brought the crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus crocodilurus, to the brink of extinction. We initiated a captive breeding program and quantified female reproductive traits, including reproductive timing, litter size, litter mass, and neonate size.

Nucleation Enhancement in Stereodefective Poly(l-lactide) by Free Volume Expansion Resulting from Low-Temperature Pressure CO₂ Preconditioning.

Nucleation enhancement in a highly stereodefective poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) with an optical purity of 88% by low-temperature pressure (0 and 35 °C under 2 MPa) CO₂ preconditioning was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, polarized optical microscopy (POM) as well as positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). Despite the preconditioning of the melt-quenched films for 2 h, IR results indicated that no trace of mesophase was generated and the samples remained in the glassy state. However, judging from the results of DSC, IR, and POM, when compared to the untreated sample, both the treated ones showed a significantly enhanced crystal nucleation effect, resulting in the corresponding greatly enhanced crystallization kinetics.

Cellulose-based films prepared directly from waste newspapers via an ionic liquid.

Waste newspapers, composed of cellulose (>60wt%), lignin (∼15wt%), hemicellulose (∼10wt%) and other additives, are one kind of low-cost, easily collected and abundant resources. In order to get value-added products from this waste, in this work an attempt was made to directly convert waste newspapers into cellulose-based films by employing an ionic liquid 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AmimCl) as a solvent. Most of the organic substances in this waste were dissolved quickly in AmimCl under mild conditions, and then coagulated and dried.

Transparent cellulose/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane nanocomposites with enhanced UV-shielding properties.

The solubility of eight types of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) derivatives in an ionic liquid 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AmimCl) and the dispersion of POSS in cellulose matrix were examined. Only a special POSS containing both aminophenyl and nitrophenyl groups (POSS-AN, NH2:NO2=2:6) was selected to prepare nanocomposites, because of its good solubility in AmimCl and high stability during the preparation process. POSS-AN nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed in a cellulose matrix with a size of 30-40nm, and so the resultant cellulose/POSS-AN nanocomposite films were transparent.

Highly efficient propionylation and butyralation of cellulose in an ionic liquid catalyzed by 4-dimethylminopyridine.

Using 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as the catalyst, highly efficient propionylation and butyralation of cellulose were successfully carried out in an ionic liquid 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AmimCl) under mild conditions. Cellulose propionate (CP) and cellulose butyrate (CB) with a degree of substitution (DS) in the range from 0.89 to 2.

Direct visualization of solution morphology of cellulose in ionic liquids by conventional TEM at room temperature.

Taking advantage of the negligible vapor pressure and dissolving features of ionic liquids (ILs), the solution morphology and dissolution process of cellulose in ILs have been visualized directly by conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at room temperature for the first time.

NMR spectroscopic studies of cellobiose solvation in EmimAc aimed to understand the dissolution mechanism of cellulose in ionic liquids.

The dissolution mechanism of cellulose in ionic liquids has been investigated by using cellobiose and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EmimAc) as a model system under various conditions with conventional and variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy. In DMSO-d(6) solution, NMR data of the model system clearly suggest that hydrogen bonding is formed between hydroxyls of cellobiose and both anion and cation of EmimAc. The CH(3)COO(-) anion favors the formation of hydrogen bonds with hydrogen atoms of hydroxyls, and the aromatic protons in bulky cation [Emim](+), especially the most acidic H2, prefer to associate with the oxygen atoms of hydroxyls with less steric hindrance, while after acetylation of all hydroxyls in cellobiose the interactions between cellobiose octaacetate and EmimAc become very weak, implying that hydrogen bonding is the major reason of cellobiose solvation in EmimAc.

Thermoplastic cellulose-graft-poly(L-lactide) copolymers homogeneously synthesized in an ionic liquid with 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalyst.

An effective method for grafting L-lactide (LA) from unmodified cellulose by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) in homogeneous mild conditions is presented. By using 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as an organic catalyst, cellulose-graft-poly(L-lactide) (cellulose-g-PLLA) copolymers with a molar substitution (MS(PLLA)) of PLLA in a range of 0.99-12.

Homogeneous acetylation of cellulose in a new ionic liquid.

Acetylation of cellulose has been accomplished in a new room-temperature ionic liquid, 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, in the absence of any catalysts, and cellulose acetates with a wide range of degree of substitution have been obtained directly under homogeneous reaction conditions.