The purpose of the present study is to test whether chemically extracted acellular nerve segments can be used to repair the sciatic nerve gap. Fifteen canines were divided into acellular nerve allografting group (ANG, six canines), autografting group (AG, six canines), and fresh nerve allografting group (FNG, three canines). The sciatic nerves on the right side of the animals were exposed, and 5-cm-long segments of the nerves were removed from the midthigh level and replaced by the three types of grafts. At 6 months after grafting, all animals in the ANG and AG had similar patterns of right posterior limb gait cycle and right ankle movements. Moreover, the animals in the ANG and AG had similar nerve regeneration, with dense regeneration fibers in the distal tibial nerves and obvious motor end plates in the target muscle. But in FNG, the area surrounding the graft was scarred as the result of inflammation, and there was a brown central area where there was little nerve regeneration. All of the above shows that chemical acellular nerve allografting can be used to repair a gap as long as 5 cm in the continuity of the sciatic nerve in canines and has similar effects to autografting.

Describing feeding habits of cetaceans is crucial to understanding their feeding strategies and conservation status. Here, both morphological and molecular techniques were employed to identify the stomach contents of 122 finless porpoises (Neophocaena spp.) in the East China Sea for insight into their short-term feeding habits, and stable isotopes of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N were used to analyze prey resource use and trophic position as a manifestation of their long-term feeding habits. In total, 33 prey species consisting of 19 teleosts, seven crustaceans, five cephalopods, and two gastropods were identified. In both short- and long-term analyses, teleosts represented primary prey, cephalopods and crustaceans were secondary prey, and gastropods were occasional prey; but the primary prey species composition differs between the short- and long-term diets. The composition of stomach contents showed sexual and age-related variation. This finding is supported by stable isotopic analyses, which indicated the separation of trophic position of adult males, adult females, and young males. In general, finless porpoises prey on species that are primarily caught by fisheries.