Capillary plexuses form during both vasculogenesis and angiogenesis and are remodeled into mature vessel types and patterns which are delicately orchestrated with the sizes and shapes of other tissues and organs. We isolated a zebrafish mutation named prp (for persistent plexus) that causes persistent formation of vascular plexuses in the caudal fins and consequent mispatterning of bony fin rays and the fin shape. Detailed analyses revealed that the prp mutation causes a significant reduction in the size and dramatic structural defects in collagen II-rich extracellular matrices called actinotrichia of both embryonic finfolds and adult fins. prp was mapped to chromosome 19 and found to encode the zebrafish collagen9α1 (col9α1) gene which is abundantly expressed in developing finfolds. A point mutation resulting in a leucine-to-histidine change was detected in the thrombospondin domain of the col9α1 gene in prp. Morpholino-mediated knockdown of col9α1 phenocopied the prp small-finfold phenotype in wild-type embryos, and an injection of plasmids containing the col9α1 cDNA into prp embryos locally restored the finfold size. Furthermore, we found that osteoblasts in prp mutants were mispatterned apparently following the abnormal vascular plexus pattern, demonstrating that blood vessels play an important role in the patterning of bony rays in zebrafish caudal fins.
In the past three decades, the number of zebrafish laboratories has significantly increased in Taiwan. The Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility (TZCF), a government-funded core facility, was launched to serve this growing community. The Core Facility was built on two sites, one located at the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI, called Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility at NHRI or TZeNH) and the other is located at the Academia Sinica (Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility at AS a.k.a. TZCAS). The total surface area of the TZCF is about 180 m(2) encompassing 2880 fish tanks. Each site has a separate quarantine room and centralized water recirculating systems, monitoring key water parameters. To prevent diseases, three main strategies have been implemented: (1) imported fish must be quarantined; (2) only bleached embryos are introduced into the main facilities; and (3) working practices were implemented to minimize pathogen transfer between stocks and facilities. Currently, there is no health program in place; however, a fourth measure for the health program, specific regular pathogen tests, is being planned. In March 2015, the TZCF at NHRI has been AAALAC accredited. It is our goal to ensure that we provide "disease-free" fish and embryos to the Taiwanese research community.
<p>It is always tricky to definite deep-seated or massive scale landslide investigation and monitoring. The scars could map from a high-resolution digital elevation model. However, the activity or sliding depth is merely difficult to define before installing a monitoring system. Lantai potential landslide area is selected for testing and demonstrating newly developed scientific investigation and monitoring techniques. Possible landslide scars have mapped from airborne lidar data, which provided a reference area for DInSAR analysis. More than ten years of DInSAR analysis shows an active/fast-moving area. The sliding plane and geological structure defined from customized earthquake stations and UAV LiDAR following with field verification. The background noise detection can define potential sliding planes from various precipitation events or earthquakes. GPS/leveling stations are installed to monitor ground deformation and verification from DInSAR results providing single point information to the whole area. The drilling holes&#8217; depth is determined from earthquake stations analysis result, geological data, and sliding model from preliminary numerical analysis. Resistivity poles are installed at two holes from 100m beneath the ground surface with connected poles between these two holes to form a window shape monitoring system. The window shape Resistivity Image Profiling system can measure continuously providing not only geological structure variance and groundwater passing this window. New developed optical-fiber water pressure gauges are installed at different depths to verified groundwater pressure and water flow. The deformation system including extensometer, MEMS inclinometer, In-Plane Inclinometer, and Shape Acceleration Array are installed to provide direct displacements from the ground surface to underground. The sliding threshold is thus defined with various measurements from different monitoring methods and with different scales.</p>
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