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The article discusses the status and conservation of the fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus, in China. The fishing cat is much bigger than the size of a large domestic cat with its deep-chested body and short legs. The species has a broad but discontinuous distribution in Asia and is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List due to population declines. In terms of habitat, the cats are associated with wetlands and they usually feed on birds, rodents, insects, frogs, molluscs and crustaceans. Its biggest threat is destruction of wetlands and mangrove habitats. Hunting is prohibited in several Asian countries, including China.

The article discusses the status and conservation of the marbled cat, Pardofelis marmorata, in China. The marbled cat is almost the same size of a domestic cat. In terms of habitat, the species is associated with moist and mixed deciduous-evergreen tropical forest. Knowledge about the cat's diet is limited but they seen stalking birds. They also feed on rats, squirrel, birds and frogs and predates on poultry. They are potentially threatened by habitat destruction due to forest use and logging, as well as hunting and killing due to predation on poultry. The species is included in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I and hunting is prohibited in several Asian countries.

The article discusses the status and conservation of the jungle cat, Felis chaus, in China. The jungle cat is larger and lankier than domestic cats. They have wide geographic distribution ranging from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq and China. The species usually feeds on small rodents like rats, mice, gerbis and ground squirrels, as well as birds, lagomoprhs, reptiles and amphibians. The jungle cat is listed as a Class II protected species in China ad hunting them is prohibited in the country.

The article discusses the status and conservation of the Asian wildcat, Felis silvestris ornata, in China. The Asian wildcat is typically associated with scrub desert and inhabits halophytic vegetation and extensive clay valleys with lakes and isolated rows of sandy mounds and river basins. They usually prey on small vertebrates. with a preference on rodents like ground squirrels, gerbils and jerboas. They also feed on birds, reptiles and insects. Potential threats include hunting, illegal importation and habitat loss.

The article discusses the status and conservation of the Asiatic golden cat in China. The Asiatic golden cat, Catopuma temmincki, is much larger that the size of a domestic cat and its features has similarities with the African golden cat. The species typically inhabit tropical and sub-tropical moist evergreen forest, mixed evergreen hill forest and dry deciduous forests. They are also found in shrub land, grassland and open, rocky areas. These cats prey on rodents, snakes, lizards and birds. Potential threats include habitat loss, deforestation and hunting. In China, the species are protected by prohibiting hunting in 1988 under the Law of Wildlife Protection.

Rheology and the study of viscoelastic materials are an integral part of engineering and the study of biophysical systems. Tissue rheology is even used in the study of cancer and other diseases. However, the cost of a rheometer is feasible only for colleges, universities, and research laboratories. Even if a rheometer can be purchased, it is bulky and delicately calibrated, limiting its usefulness to the laboratory itself. The design presented here is less than a tenth of the cost of a professional rheometer. The design is also portable, making it the ideal solution to introduce viscoelasticity to high school students as well as for use in the field for obtaining rheological data.

Background: In many cooperatively breeding vertebrates, subordinates assist a dominant pair to raise the dominants' offspring. Previously, it has been suggested that subordinates may help in payment for continued residency on the territory (the 'pay-to-stay hypothesis'), but payment might also be reciprocated or might allow subordinates access to reproductive opportunities., Methodology/principal Findings: We measured dominant and subordinate female alloparental brood care and reproductive success in four separate experiments and show that unrelated female dominant and subordinate cichlid fish care for each other's broods (alloparental brood care), but that there is no evidence for reciprocal 'altruism' (no correlation between alloparental care received and given). Instead, subordinate females appear to pay with alloparental care for own direct reproduction., Conclusions/significance: Our results suggest subordinate females pay with alloparental care to ensure access to the breeding substrate and thereby increase their opportunities to lay their own clutches. Subordinates' eggs are laid, on average, five days after the dominant female has produced her first brood. We suggest that immediate reproductive benefits need to be considered in tests of the pay-to-stay hypothesis.

Individuals within groups of cooperatively breeding species may partition reproduction, with the dominant pair often taking the largest share. The dominant's ability to reproductively control subordinates may depend on differences in competitive ability, due to, e.g. body size differences, but may also depend on the number of same-sex competitors inside the group. We tested experimentally whether subordinates reproduce more when these subordinates are large or when a second subordinate of the same sex need to be controlled by the dominants, using the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher. Dominant pairs were assisted by a large and a small unrelated subordinate; sexes of these fish were varied in a full-factorial design (giving four treatments). Dominant males lost significantly more parentage to the large subordinate male when a small subordinate male was also present, compared to when a small subordinate female was present. However, subordinate paternity was generally low and did not significantly curb total dominant male reproductive output, which was more affected by the sizes and numbers of reproductive females present inside his group. Dominant female maternity, clutch sizes and total output did not depend on the treatments. Subordinate-subordinate reproduction was virtually absent (one out of 874 offspring). Female subordinates were more likely to provide care for their own broods. In contrast, male subordinates did not adjust their level of care to their parentage. Variability in female subordinate alloparental brood care was particularly high, with females showing more care than males in general. We also detected effects of growth rate and food ration on parentage independent of the treatments, most notably: (i) a trade-off between dominant male growth rate and paternity; (ii) a decrease in dominant male paternity with increasing food ration; (iii) a positive effect of growth rate on paternity in small males. We conclude that dominant males should be sensitive to the number and sizes of subordinate males present in their group, particularly when these subordinates are not helpful or grow fast, and food is plentiful. Dominant females should be less sensitive, because female subordinates do not appear to impose reproductive costs and can be helpful through alloparental brood care.