bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Male Body Size and Social Environment on the Mating Behavior of Phallichthys quadripunctatus (Pisces: Poeciliidae)
Authors: Kolluru Gita Raman , Joyner Jamie Wynne
Published: May 2010

In some poeciliid fishes, variation in male size is accompanied by differences in mating behavior. Large males are preferred by females and perform courtship displays followed by copulatory thrusts, whereas small males perform copulatory thrusts with few or no displays. This phenomenon has been described in only a few genera and little is known about mating behavior in other poeciliids. Although Phallichthys quadripunctatus males display size dimorphism that has a genetic component, mating behavior of this species has not been documented. We conducted experiments using socially experienced and socially naive males to characterize the mating behavior of this species and to evaluate potential size‐dependent differences in behavior. Males were tested with postpartum (presumably receptive) and midcycle (presumably unreceptive) females in different social environments. Whereas neither size class of P. quadripunctatus males performed courtship displays or altered behavior based on female receptivity, large males performed several reproductive behaviors more frequently than small males. This trend was repeatable and occurred in all social environments examined. Some males also attempted to mate with other males, with small males showing a greater tendency to perform this behavior than large males. The manner in which differences in reproductive activity translate into differences in reproductive success must be examined before inferring sexual selection favoring large males in P. quadripunctatus.
The Shaking Signal of the Honey Bee Informs Workers to Prepare for Greater Activity
Authors: Seeley Thomas D. , Weidenmüller Anja , Kühnholz Susanne
Published: May 2010

One of the most conspicuous activities of worker bees inside a hive is the shaking of other workers. This shaking has long been suspected to be a communication behavior, but its information content and function have until recently remained mysterious. Prior studies of the colony‐level patterns of the production of the shaking signal suggest strongly that this signal serves to arouse workers to greater activity, such as at times of good foraging. Data from our observations of individual bees bolster the hypothesis that the shaking signal informs workers to prepare for a higher level of activity. We followed foragers in a colony whose only source of ‘nectar’ was a sugar‐water feeder and discovered that when the feeder was left empty for 1–3 d and then refilled, the first bees to find the food initially produced only shaking signals upon return to the hive. It was not until they had completed several trips to the feeder that they began to produce waggle dances. Evidently, the shaking signal and the waggle dance function together to stimulate a colony's foragers to activity.
Evidence of Nasonov Scenting in Colony Defence of the Giant Honeybee Apis dorsata
Authors: Kastberger Gerald , Raspotnig Günther , Biswas Sutapa , Winder Otmar
Published: May 2010

Participation of the Nasonov scent in the defence waving behaviour of Apis dorsata is demonstrated. The Nasonov scent seems to act as a superior pheromone for the control and promotion of individual defensive reaction, synchronizing and maximizing the defensive response on colony level. The role of Nasonov scenting in defensive behaviour is discussed, being in keeping with its usual role in attraction and coordination of social behaviour, as known from A. mellifera.
Suckling and Allosuckling in Captive Fallow Deer (Dama dama, Cervidae)
Authors: Pélabon Christophe , Yoccoz Nigel G. , Ropert‐Coudert Yan , Caron Mathieu , Peirera Vincent
Published: May 2010

Suckling and allosuckling were studied in relation to the age and sex of fawns in a captive population of fallow deer (Dama dama) showing a high rate of allosuckling (73% of the suckling bouts). No difference occurred between the sexes in either the duration or frequency of suckling and allosuckling. The frequency of suckling bouts decreased rapidly during the first four weeks of life while the frequency of allosuckling bouts increased rapidly between the second and the third week and remained constant until the conclusion of the observations (11th week of life). Birth date affected allosuckling, with late‐born fawns performing fewer and shorter allosuckling bouts. The lack of a negative relationship between suckling and allosuckling frequencies failed to confirm the hypothesis that allosuckling allows fawns to complete their milk requirements on foster mothers. Both inbreeding and crowding could explain the absence of particular relationship between fawns and foster mothers.
Patch Defence in the Parasitoid Wasp Trissolcus basalis (Insecta: Scelionidae): The Time Structure of Pairwise Contests, and the ‘Waiting Game’
Authors: Field Scott A. , Calbert Greg , Keller Michael A.
Published: May 2010

Aggressive defence of host patches has been reported in many parasitoid wasps, but rarely examined in quantitative detail. One aspect of interest is that foraging female parasitoids do not simply consume resource patches, they invest offspring in them. Therefore, patch defence in parasitoids can involve not only resource defence prior to oviposition, but also postoviposition defence of offspring (maternal care). In this paper, the time‐structure and sequence of pairwise agonistic contests between females of the parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) are analysed. Three main periods were evident in contests. In the first period, both females exploited the patch with no aggression. After the initiation of fighting, they entered a ‘contest period’, during which resident and intruder roles became clearly resolved. The resident then usually guarded the patch for up to several hours before leaving. This signalled the beginning of the third period, in which the intruder returned to superparasitise the patch. During the contest period, resident behaviour initially reflected the trade‐off between exploiting fresh hosts, and defending those it had already parasitised from the intruder, which persistently returned to the patch to try and oviposit, with some success. However, when the patch became fully parasitised, both resident and intruder switched to a ‘waiting game’, in which they sat motionless for extended periods, the resident on the patch and the intruder at a distance. These stand‐offs were punctuated by occasional aggressive patrolling by the resident, and cryptic returns to the palch by the intruder. This waiting game appears to be an informational war of attrition, suggesting a conceptual basis for modelling patch‐leaving decisions using evolutionary game theory.
Vocal Quality is Correlated with Levels of Stress Hormones in Domestic Pigs
Authors: Schrader Lars , Todt Dietmar
Published: May 2010

Our study examined whether vocalizations of domestic pigs Sus scrofa domestica provide reliable cues for particular endocrine stress responses. To induce stress responses, we separated subjects individually from groupmates (SEP) and controlled potential effects of motor activity by a second treatment in which subjects were also immobilized (SEP + 1M). We analysed blood samples taken at short intervals via an indwelling catheter for titres of stress hormones to estimate endocrine stress responses. To identify behavioural responses we analysed recordings of vocalizations and non‐vocal activities. Data evaluation yielded the following results. Multi‐parametric sound analysis enabled us to distinguish four categories of vocalizations within treatments. Increasing rates of ‘squeal‐grunts’ indicated increasing plasma levels of adrenaline, whereas the rates of ‘grunts’ decreased when the levels of cortisol increased. Acoustic parameters within the vocal categories distinguished did not correlate consistently with levels of any of the measured stress hormones; thus, our results show that peripheral endocrine stress responses are accompanied by changing rates of specific types of vocalizations. These relationships remained consistent, even when subjects' motor activity was restricted. Our results suggest possible effects of central stress reactions on both the control of vocalization and the activation of endocrine stress responses.
Individual and Species Differences in Quail Calls (Coturnix c. japonica, c. c. coturnix and a Hybrid)
Authors: Collins S. A. , Goldsmith A. R.
Published: May 2010

Male European and Japanese male quail have very stereotyped calls. This study examined which parameters best discriminated between individuals, and which between the two sub‐species and a hybrid of the two (European father x Japanese mother). Recordings were made of several calls from individual Japanese, European and hybrid quail, from which sonograms were made and analyzed. We found that parameters describing the time structure of the call discriminated best between individuals. Time structure also showed the greatest differences between the two sub‐species and the hybrid. Hybrid calls were extremely variable, individual hybrids often producing more than one call type, occasionally of both sub‐species types. However, individuals could still be identified from the call parameters. In addition, we investigated responses of males to playbacks of calls from all three quail types. European and Japanese males responded most strongly, with calling, to the playbacks of the calls of their own sub‐species, intermediately to playbacks of the hybrid and least to those of the other sub‐species.
Sexual Dimorphism, Fighting Success and Mating Tactics of Male Onymacris plana Péringuey (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in the Namib Desert
Authors: Enders Margit M. , Schüle Holger , Henschel Joh R.
Published: May 2010

Sexually dimorphic characters of Onymacris plana, a dune‐living, solitary tenebrionid beetle of the Namib Desert, were tested for their roles in male‐male fighting over females. Males were smaller than females but had extraordinarily wide elytra, with great variance in this characteristic. In males, but not in females, elytra width increased with body length at an allometric scale. Male beetles were often aggressive towards each other, especially when mating or guarding females after mating or waiting for females at shady spots. Interactions were less intense when contesting over females on the open surface, where these fast‐running beetles often overran each other in their attempts to retain their positions behind females until the females retreated into the sand, where mating took place. Winners of intrasexual fights and the successful mates of females tended to have longer bodies and wider elytra than the losers. Sexual selection appears to be the best explanation of the allometric scaling of the lateral extensions of male elytra. Sexual selection may furthermore contribute to other characteristics, such as large body length and long legs, that have ecological and ecophysiological significance.
Searching Behaviour and Direction Finding of Differently Motivated Displaced Honeybees—an ‘Etho‐psychological’ Study of Release Behaviour
Authors: Schöne Hermann , Westermayr Philipp , Kühme Dietrich , Kühme Lisa , Schöne Monika , Schöne Renate
Published: May 2010

Bees were captured as they left from or arrived at a feeding place (F), or took off from the hive (H) (leave‐F, arrive‐F, and leave‐H, respectively). They were displaced and released (one or more times) at initially unfamiliar sites. In some tests, sight conditions prior to release were restricted. Searching behaviour performed prior to leaving the release site was recorded as well as the final vanishing bearing (VB). The VBs obtained are distributed in one or more clusters, depending on the type of experiment. As a rule, one of the peaks coincides with the compass bearing that bees would have selected had they not been displaced. Another peak is in accordance with a ‘fleeing’ course in the direction of the hive, probably initiated by the stress situation caused by the experimental manipulations. Prior to selecting the final course, leave‐H bees searched longer than did leave‐F or arrive‐F bees, first‐time flyers searched longer than repeaters and bees limited to sky‐vision searched longer than bees with free sight. There is a significant positive correlation between searching behaviour and scatter of vanishing bearings. Function and origins of the searching behaviour, as well as the effects of sight conditions and of repeated releases, are discussed.
Post‐conflict Behaviour of Wild Olive Baboons. I. Reconciliation, Redirection and Consolation
Authors: Castles Duncan L. , Whiten Andrew
Published: May 2010

Observations of post‐conflict interactions have provided important insights into primate social organization. In this study, the nature and determinants of post‐conflict behaviour in a troop of wild olive baboons, Papio anubis, were investigated. Reconciliation was observed among all age‐sex classes, occurring at a rate consistent with a relatively intolerant dominance style. Reconciliation was more frequent when one of the combatants carried a dependent infant but rarely followed conflicts associated with food. Neither the directionality nor the decidedness of conflicts affected conciliatory tendency. In contrast, opponents that were close kin or of similar rank reconciled more often. Olive baboons did not affiliate with non‐combatants more frequently following aggression than in control periods, although affiliation with supporters and the close kin of opponents increased. Absence of consolation follows the observed cercopithecine pattern, consistent with the hypothesis that consolation requires an ability to empathize with the victim's distress. Initiation of post‐conflict attacks on third parties was not elevated in victims of aggression. The rarity of redirection is attributed to spatial dispersion, the frequent bidirectionality of baboon aggression and regular male intervention in female conflicts, all of which appear to limit the availability of ‘safe’ targets.
The Effects of Snake Predation on Metamorphosis of Western Toads,Bufo boreas(Amphibia, Bufonidae)
Authors: Devito Jill , Chivers Douglas P. , Kiesecker Joseph M. , Marco Adolfo , Wildy Erica L. , Blaustein Andrew R.
Published: May 2010

For some anuran species, synchronous metamorphosis may function as an antipredator adaptation by swamping predators during the period of transformation. We examined the levels of synchrony of emergence from the water of metamorphosing western toads (Bufo boreas) in the presence and absence of a live snake predator, the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) in a laboratory experiment. To compare between the treatments, we measured the time to emergence from the water, the number of metamorphs emerging together, and the level of aggregation (before and during emergence) of the toads in each treatment. There was a difference between the treatments when all three factors were considered. We attributed these differences to a behavioral response in whichB. boreasemerged sooner in the presence of the predator, regardless of whether individual toads had reached the point at which they were physically better suited to the terrestrial environment than the larval environment.
The Vocal Repertoire of Barbary Macaques: A Quantitative Analysis of a Graded Signal System
Authors: Hammerschmidt Kurt , Fischer Julia
Published: May 2010

The vocal behavior of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) was studied in an outdoor enclosure at Rocamadour, France. Ad libitum recordings were made across a broad array of socioecological contexts from 92 individually identified subjects from all age—sex classes. From the recordings, 8479 calls were sampled and submitted to a Fourier transform. A custom software program was used to determine 35 acoustic parameters describing the call in terms of its frequency and time dynamics. On these parameters a cluster analysis was used to examine the acoustic morphology of the Barbary macaque vocal repertoire. The analysis revealed a highly graded structure with intergraded variations between different clusters (‘call types’). There were clear age‐related preferences in usage of different clusters, but animals of all ages were potentially able to produce the whole array of call types. The major sex difference was a differential use of certain call types in specific situations. Despite a clear sex dimorphism in body size no significant sex differences in the acoustic structure of calls in adults was found. There were no unidirectional relationships between the acoustic structure of a call and the context in which it was uttered, although call usage was more specific in some contexts than in others. The results suggest that the major factor underlying the variation in acoustic structure reflect the internal state of the caller.
Mate Choice in Female Red‐necked Pademelons, Thylogale thetis (Marsupialia: Macropodoidea)
Authors: Radford Sally L. , Croft David B. , Moss Graeme L.
Published: May 2010

Changes in the behaviour of captive female red‐necked pademelons, Thylogale thetis, before, during and after oestrus were observed relative to the location of potential male mates. A penned female was presented with four adjacent, individually caged males representing the size classes large, medium, small and subadult. The female's behaviour was videotaped for 8–9 d spanning oestrous (3 d), post‐oestrous (3 d) and normal (3 d) sessions of time. Changes in the activity, orientation and location of six penned females, relative to the caged males, were transcribed from videotape. A model of female pademelon behaviour pattern was developed. Results suggest that the females spent a significantly greater amount of time directly in front of the largest available male, relative to the other three smaller males during the oestrous period only, and that a significant proportion of this time was spent involved in active behaviours (grooming and locomotion, compared with inactive behaviours of sitting and scan/sniffing). Although there was a significant preference for females to orientate their bodies away from the location of the males, they faced the males significantly more during oestrus than any other session. Furthermore, the females faced the large male significantly more frequently than any other male. This study provides evidence for mate choice by female red‐necked pademelons.
Dual Signaling during Mating in Brown‐headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater, Family Emberizidae/Icterinae)
Authors: West Meredith J. , King Andrew P. , Freeberg Todd M.
Published: May 2010

Male brown‐headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) vocalize to females during pair formation, a period usually lasting several days. Males also vocalize to females in the seconds immediately prior to females' adopting copulatory postures. The two major classes of male vocalizations occurring during courtship and copulation are songs and flight whistles. Observations across the species' North American range suggest that the function of these two courtship vocalizations may differ geographically. Aviary observations of eastern and midwestern populations suggested, furthermore, that the precise timing of song and whistle used during copulation sequences differs, with flight whistles occurring most often after a copulatory posture but before the male mounts and the pair copulates. Such timing of the two signals suggested different proximate functions. Here, we report three experiments that addressed the communicative properties of the two signals in two midwestern populations. First, we tested females of the two populations in two playback experiments to determine copulatory responsiveness and discrimination of the two signals. We asked whether females of the two populations gave more copulatory responses to the playbacks of songs and flight whistles of males of their own population than to those of males of the other population, and whether females responded differently to songs than to whistles. In the third experiment, we observed courtship interactions among males and females from one population in a large aviary to assess the use of flight whistles in relation to courtship success. Females of both populations responded more frequently to playbacks of songs than to playbacks of flight whistles and showed reliably more responsiveness to local song variants. Thus, information in male song can be used by females to discriminate the local population. The aviary data revealed that the rate of flight whistling correlated strongly with male courtship success. Thus, the vocal antecedents to mating in midwestern cowbirds include close‐range signaling to females followed by longer range signaling, perhaps to other males and to females other than the mate. Acoustic and behavioral differences between these two signals in diverse parts of the cowbirds' range suggest that the function of ‘speciestypical’ signals such as songs or whistles may not be fixed, a conclusion in keeping with the growing evidence of vocal and social mallcability in these brood parasitic birds.
Feeding behaviour of the greenbug Schizaphis graminum on wheat plants treated with imidacloprid and/or silicon
Authors: Costa R. R. , Moraes J. C. , DaCosta R. R.
Published: May 2010

The greenbug Schizaphis graminum (Rond.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is one of the principal pests of Triticum aestivum L. and may be responsible for the injection of toxins, the transmission of viral infections and, ultimately, plant death. The aphid can be controlled by the use of selective insecticides or with the application of silicon. The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of imidacloprid and silicon on the feeding behaviour of S. graminum on wheat plants. Aphids collected from and reared on sorghum plants were maintained in a growth room at 25 ± 2°C; 12 h photoperiod. Seeds of the wheat cultivar EMBRAPA 22 were planted in plastic pots containing a commercially available soil substrate and thinned out 8 days after sowing to leave two vigorously growing seedlings in each pot. Four treatments (each replicated 25 times) were applied: (i) seeds were treated with imidacloprid (36 g/100 kg) 1 day prior to sowing; (ii) silicon (50 ml of 1% silicic acid; equivalent to a dose of 1000 kg of silicon/ha) was applied directly to the substrate 10 days after plant emergence; (iii) the described treatments with imidacloprid and silicon were applied jointly; and (iv) neither seeds nor substrate were treated (untreated controls). Electrical penetration graph assays were performed 15, 30 and 45 days after plant emergence. The results showed that wheat seed treatment with imidacloprid and/or the application of silicon to the substrate reduced both the feeding time of S. graminum and the percentage of insects that fed on phloem sap. Moreover, this study provides further support that the action of silicon may not be restricted to physical resistance (constitutive or induced) but may also involve induced plant chemical defence.
Reduction of major histocompatibility complex class I expression on bladder carcinoma following tumor antigen‐pulsed dendritic cell vaccine: Implications for immunoresistance in therapy
Authors: Li Mengqiang , Wang Huili , Xi Zhijun , Xu Enci , Jiang Xuejun , Chen Jiangying , Shi Wenzhen
Published: May 2010

Objectives:  To clarify the relationship between a decreased major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC‐I) expression on bladder tumors and decreased immunological efficacy of tumor antigen‐pulsed dendritic cell vaccine in a rat bladder carcinoma model induced by N‐methyl‐N‐nitrosourea irrigation.

Methods:  Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay was used to evaluate interferon‐gamma concentration in the serum and colorimetric lactate dehydrogenase release assay in vitro was used to test the cytotoxicity capability of T lymphocytes. MHC‐I expression on tumor cells was detected by flow cytometry and analyzed with CellQuest software.

Results:  The tumor antigen sensitized dendritic cell vaccine group showed decreased hyperplastic formations, lower pathological stages in rat bladders and more potent cytotoxicity activity (P < 0.001) than the dendritic cell vaccine group. Additionally, immunization with pulsed dendritic cell vaccine induced higher specific cytokine production of interferon‐gamma. Nevertheless, a decreased MHC‐I expression on bladder tumors was tested after immunotherapy by pulsed dendritic cell vaccine on week 15. As expected, the cytotoxic activity of T lymphocytes from rats on tumor cells with low MHC‐I expression was also decreased to 19.70 ± 4.82% as compared with tumor cells with high MHC‐I (52.10 ± 8.66%, P = 0.005).

Conclusions:  Tumor antigen sensitized dendritic cell vaccine has beneficial activity on N‐methyl‐N‐nitrosourea‐induced bladder cancer in situ in rats, but therapeutic responses are accompanied by decreased MHC‐I expression on tumors, possibly suggesting poor long‐term therapeutic outcomes.
Molecular complexity orchestrates modulation of phagosome biogenesis and escape to the cytosol of macrophages by Francisella tularensis
Authors: Asare Rexford , Abu Kwaik Yousef
Published: May 2010

Upon entry of Francisella tularensis to macrophages, the Francisella‐containing phagosome (FCP) is trafficked into an acidified late endosome‐like phagosome with limited fusion to the lysosomes followed by rapid escape into the cytosol where the organism replicates. Although the Francisella Pathogenicity Island (FPI), which encodes a type VI‐like secretion apparatus, is required for modulation of phagosome biogenesis and escape into the cytosol, the mechanisms involved are not known. To decipher the molecular bases of modulation of biogenesis of the FCP and bacterial escape into the macrophage cytosol, we have screened a comprehensive mutant library of F. tularensis ssp. novicida for their defect in proliferation within human macrophages, followed by characterization of modulation of phagosome biogenesis and bacterial escape into the cytosol. Our data show that at least 202 genes are required for intracellular proliferation within macrophages. Among the 125 most defective mutants in intracellular proliferation, we show that the FCP of at least 91 mutants colocalize persistently with the late endosomal/lysosomal marker LAMP‐1 and fail to escape into the cytosol, as determined by fluorescence‐based phagosome integrity assays and transmission electron microscopy. At least 34 genes are required for proliferation within the cytosol but do not play a detectable role in modulation of phagosome biogenesis and bacterial escape into the cytosol. Our data indicate a tremendous adaptation and metabolic reprogramming by F. tularensis to adjust to the micro‐environmental and nutritional cues within the FCP, and these adjustments play essential roles in modulation of phagosome biogenesis and escape into the cytosol of macrophages as well as proliferation in the cytosol. The plethora of the networks of genes that orchestrate F. tularensis‐mediated modulation of phagosome biogenesis, phagosomal escape and bacterial proliferation within the cytosol is novel, complex and involves an unusually large portion of the genome of an intracellular pathogen.
Molecular bases of proliferation of Francisella tularensis in arthropod vectors
Authors: Asare Rexford , Akimana Christine , Jones Snake , Abu Kwaik Yousef
Published: May 2010

Arthropod vectors are important vehicles for transmission of Francisella tularensis between mammals, but very little is known about the F. tularensis–arthropod vector interaction. Drosophila melanogaster has been recently developed as an arthropod vector model for F. tularensis. We have shown that intracellular trafficking of F. tularensis within human monocytes‐derived macrophages and D. melanogaster‐derived S2 cells is very similar. Within both evolutionarily distant host cells, the Francisella‐containing phagosome matures to a late endosome‐like phagosome with limited fusion to lysosomes followed by rapid bacterial escape into the cytosol where the bacterial proliferate. To decipher the molecular bases of intracellular proliferation of F. tularensis within arthropod‐derived cells, we screened a comprehensive library of mutants of F. tularensis ssp. novicida for their defect in intracellular proliferation within D. melanogaster‐derived S2 cells. Our data show that 394 genes, representing 22% of the genome, are required for intracellular proliferation within D. melanogaster‐derived S2 cells, including many of the Francisella Pathogenicity Island (FPI) genes that are also required for proliferation within mammalian macrophages. Functional gene classes that exhibit growth defect include metabolic (25%), FPI (2%), type IV pili (1%), transport (16%) and DNA modification (5%). Among 168 most defective mutants in intracellular proliferation in S2 cells, 80 are defective in lethality and proliferation within adult D. melanogaster. The observation that only 135 of the 394 mutants that are defective in S2 cells are also defective in human macrophages indicates that F. tularensis utilize common as well as distinct mechanisms to proliferate within mammalian and arthropod cells. Our studies will facilitate deciphering the molecular aspects of F. tularensis–arthropod vector interaction and its patho‐adaptation to infect mammals.
The 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid catabolon, a catabolic unit for degradation of biogenic amines tyramine and dopamine in Pseudomonas putida U
Authors: Arcos Mario , Olivera Elías R. , Arias Sagrario , Naharro Germán , Luengo José M.
Published: May 2010

Degradation of tyramine and dopamine by Pseudomonas putida U involves the participation of twenty one proteins organized in two coupled catabolic pathways, Tyn (tynABFEC tynG tynR tynD, 12 338 bp) and Hpa (hpaR hpaBC hpaHI hpaX hpaG1G2EDF hpaA hpaY, 12 722 bp). The Tyn pathway catalyses the conversion of tyramine and dopamine into 4‐hydroxyphenylacetic acid (4HPA) and 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (3,4HPA) respectively. Together, the Tyn and Hpa pathways constitute a complex catabolic unit (the 3,4HPA catabolon) in which 3,4HPA is the central intermediate. The genes encoding Tyn proteins are organized in four consecutive transcriptional units (tynABFEC, tynG, tynR and tynD), whereas those encoding Hpa proteins constitute consecutive operons (hpaBC, hpaG1G2EDF, hpaX, hpaHI) and three independent units (hpaA, hpaR and hpaY). Genetic engineering approaches were used to clone tyn and hpa genes and then express them, either individually or in tandem, in plasmids and/or bacterial chromosomes, resulting in recombinant bacterial strains able to eliminate tyramine and dopamine from different media. These results enlarge our biochemical and genetic knowledge of the microbial catabolic routes involved in the degradation of aromatic bioamines. Furthermore, they provide potent biotechnological tools to be used in food processing and fermentation as well as new strategies that could be used for pharmacological and gene therapeutic applications in the near future.
The effect of group‐based lifestyle interventions on risk factors and insulin resistance in subjects at risk for metabolic syndrome: the Tabaruzaka Study 1
Authors: Yamashiro T. , Nishikawa T. , Isami S. , Wei C.‐N. , Fukumoto K. , Matsuo H. , Yoshinaga T. , Kukidome D. , Motoshima H. , Matsumura T. , Ueda A. , Araki E.
Published: May 2010

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two group‐based lifestyle interventions in ameliorating the risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MS) and insulin resistance.

Methods: Ninety‐eight subjects who had at least one component of MS were randomized into standard intervention (SI) (4‐month intervention; n = 50) and extended intervention (EI) (10‐month intervention; n = 48) groups, and 39 subjects were followed up for a control group. The effects of intervention were evaluated after 10, 22 and 34 months.

Results: At month 10, the standard and EI groups showed improved body mass index (BMI) (SI, −0.28; EI, −0.47; control, −0.09), high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose and A1c and a decreased mean number of components of MS (SI, −0.37; EI, −0.51; control, 0.08). At month 34, the effects on BMI (SI, −0.66; EI, −0.60; control, −0.05) and HDL‐cholesterol were sustained for both the intervention groups. In controls, the increases in fasting plasma glucose and the mean number of components of MS from the baseline to month 34 were greater than those in the standard and EI groups. Whole body insulin sensitivity index and hepatic insulin resistance index were also improved at month 10.

Conclusions: Group‐based lifestyle intervention could be an efficient way to prevent MS. Its effects were sustainable, at least in part, for 2 years. These effects may be mediated by an improvement in insulin sensitivity.
Phylogenetic relationships of the Suidae (Mammalia, Cetartiodactyla): new insights on the relationships within Suoidea
Authors: Orliac Maeva J. , Pierre‐Olivier Antoine , Ducrocq Stephane
Published: May 2010

Orliac, M. J., Antoine, P. ‐O., Ducrocq, S. (2010). Phylogenetic relationships of the Suidae (Mammalia, Cetartiodactyla): new insights on the relationships within Suoidea. —Zoologica Scripta,39, 315–330.

In most analyses, both molecular and morphological phylogenies of the Cetartiodactyla support the monophyly of Suoidea. However, the evolutionary history of this superfamily remains poorly known primarily due to long‐lasting debates about the taxonomic content and relationships of the suoid families and subfamilies. Despite their crucial position in the reconstruction of the phylogeny of Cetartiodactyla, Suoidea themselves have received little attention in those phylogenies, and no extensive analysis of the group has been performed so far. We therefore examine the phylogeny of the Suidae through the first phylogenetic analysis of Suoidea, including recent and fossil representatives of all four putative families. The results support the monophyly of the traditional suid subfamilies and indicate the Sanitheriidae as sister taxon to the Suidae clade. The evolutionary history within Suidae reveals its complexity, with major convergences involving important morphological structures such as the auditory region or the upper male canine. Divergent signals gathered from either dental or cranio‐mandibular features are responsible for two long‐lasting unresolved issues within Suoidea: the question of the relationships between ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ peccaries remaining unsolved, as well as the position and familial status of the mid‐Tertiary tayassuidPerchoerus.
Economies of Scope through Multi‐unit Skill Systems: The Organization of Large Design Firms
Authors: Miozzo Marcela , Lehrer Mark , DeFillippi Robert , Grimshaw Damian , Ordanini Andrea
Published: May 2010

From a study of three large design firms in Italy, the UK and the USA, we derive a distinct model of how large knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS) firms organize to manage growth and realize economies in ways that differ from the organizational techniques that are familiar from scale and scope studies of large manufacturing enterprises. Case studies were compiled from interviews conducted at the three firms. Large design firms were selected as a contrasting context to Chandlerian manufacturing firms. Design firms were expected to differ from manufacturing firms in terms of strategy, organization and the overall possibilities of achieving economies of scale and scope. Our results show that competitive advantage of these large KIBS design firms derives from a particular multi‐unit skill system that enables the firms to exploit economies of scope. There are four distinctive organizational features of such KIBS firms. First, multiple business units within the firm play a dual role. These are able both to engage in inter‐unit coordination and resource sharing and to attract business independently, often with heterogeneous business models among units. Second, these firms develop formal organizational routines for involving multiple business units in client projects, thus facilitating the migration of clients' business from one unit to another. Third, there is an important role for cross‐unit strategic ‘insight’ agents. Fourth, these firms expand through the founding of specialized, even idiosyncratic, new business units (often with the important role of mastering new technological skills).
Managerial challenges in open innovation: a study of innovation intermediation in the chemical industry
Authors: Sieg Jan Henrik , Wallin Martin W. , Von Krogh Georg
Published: May 2010

The current open innovation literature needs to be complemented with work on the managerial challenges faced by companies working with an innovation intermediary to solve research and development (R&D) problems. Based on an exploratory case study design, we investigate these managerial challenges in seven chemical companies working with the same innovation intermediary. Three recurring challenges were identified in all companies: (1) enlisting internal scientists to work with the innovation intermediary; (2) selecting the right problems; and (3) formulating problems so as to enable novel solutions. Based on the knowledge management literature, we explain how these challenges arise out of scientists' different work practices in internal vs. external R&D problem solving and we identify and discuss a number of remedies to these challenges.
Stone & Rolls Ltd v Moore Stephens: An Unnecessary Tangle
Authors: Halpern David
Published: May 2010

The opinions of the minority risk creating a dangerous inroad into Salamon and Caparo. The opinions of the majority avoid that risk but reach the right result by tortuous reasoning. The answer to the case lies in a proper application of Caparo.
Reversing the ‘Tragedy’ of the Commons? Sustainable Management and the Commons Act 2006
Authors: Rodgers Christopher
Published: May 2010

The Commons Act 2006 is the first statute since the Commons Registration Act 1965 to address the problems associated with the management of common land in England and Wales. A key focus for the 2006 Act is the introduction of mechanisms for the sustainable management of common land, including self‐regulatory commons councils. This article examines the ‘sustainable’ management of common land in historical and contemporary perspective. It sets the 2006 Act, and the sustainable management of common land, in the wider context of the ongoing debate triggered by Hardin's ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and subsequent institutional and post‐institutional scholarship on common pool resource management. It uses historical and qualitative research data drawn from three case studies to demonstrate the irrelevance of Hardin's thesis in an English context, and identifies the Commons Registration Act of 1965 as the true ‘tragedy’ of the English and Welsh commons. The case studies also illustrate the challenges posed by the introduction of legal mechanisms to promote the ecologically sustainable management of the modern commons, and inform the critique of the Commons Act 2006 developed in the article.
Management history and climate as key factors driving natterjack toad population trends in Britain
Authors: McGrath A. L. , Lorenzen K.
Published: May 2010

Along with other amphibian populations in Europe and elsewhere, natterjack toad Bufo calamita populations in Britain have declined since at least 1960. Conservation management since the 1970s has aimed to halt the decline and maintain viable populations at key sites throughout the species' recent historical range. Here, we assess population trends from 1985 to 2006 at 20 British B. calamita sites and evaluate the role of active management in maintaining good conservation status. We investigated the effects of 25 climatic, site‐characteristic and conservation management variables on population trends using general linear models. In single‐variable analyses, rainfall variables showed negative relationships with population trends. Among the site characteristics, being located at the very edge of the species' range (northern Irish Sea coast) and occurrence of common toad (B. bufo) were negatively related to B. calamita population trends. Management history (populations established via translocation as opposed to native populations) had a significant positive effect; as had sites that received greater translocation releases, undergone Species Recovery Programme management, and where common toad was absent. In multiple‐variable analyses, the combined effects of management history and average pre‐breeding season rainfall accounted for inter‐site variation in population trends. The rainfall effects in single‐ and multiple‐variable analyses were strongly influenced by three sites with very high rainfall whilst no clear effect was apparent for the remaining sites. This study highlights the role of climatic factors in population decline, and the importance of conservation management in stabilizing population trends. Climate change over the next 50–100 years is predicted to have limited impacts on most B. calamita populations in Britain, but strongly positive impacts on the most threatened populations located at the very edge of species' range that will benefit from reduced precipitation. A need for active conservation management will remain for the foreseeable future.
Sexual segregation and use of water by bighorn sheep: implications for conservation
Authors: Whiting J. C. , Bowyer R. T. , Flinders J. T. , Bleich V. C. , Kie J. G.
Published: May 2010

Males and females of most dimorphic ruminants segregate outside the mating season, which may necessitate that conservation efforts focus on differential resources used by the sexes. Dimorphic bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis are one of the rarest ungulates in North America with some populations listed as endangered. Water sources are important for the persistence of populations of bighorns, especially in a changing climate. Understanding whether the sexes use different water sources could influence the conservation of this species and the habitats they occupy; however, little research exists regarding this important topic. We tested hypotheses relating to use of water sources by reintroduced male and female bighorns in Utah, USA. We investigated whether use of this resource differed across seasons by sex, and if sexes used water more during drought compared with non‐drought conditions. Bighorns used small, adjacent core areas during segregation, and males and females used different sources of water during that time. Males visited water sources used by females more during aggregation. Males and females used water sources more in summer, and males visited water sources more during rut than did females. Males and females did not use water sources more during drought compared with non‐drought conditions; however, sexes visited water sources more during the season following drought than following non‐drought conditions, indicating a time‐lag in use of this resource. Our results highlight the importance of water sources used by sexes of bighorns, and indicate that the existing criterion for distance of bighorn reintroductions from water may be inadequate for successful establishment of populations. We recommend conservationists assess availability of water sources near habitat used by male and female ungulates before conserving and manipulating habitat, siting artificial sources of water and reintroducing animals.
The Life‐history of Dromia vulgaris.
Authors: Lebour Marie V.
Published: May 2010

Summary.

We now have a good idea of the larval stages of Dromia vulgaris. It is evident from the above descriptions that the larvæ differ in almost every important point from those of the Brachyura, although the brachyuran larva has certain characters which may be derived from the Galatheidæ. Firstly, it differs in the armature of the pre‐zoea; afterwards, in the form of the carapace and spines of the zoea, antennule, antenna, in the presence of a functional swimming exopodite on the third maxillipede and in the number of setæ on the expodites of the maxillipedes, in the presence of a functional exopodite on the first leg and traces of exopodites on the second and third, in the shape and armature of the telson, and in the gills. On the other hand, it has certain features which resemble Upogebia and its relatives, particularly the antennal endopodite, the functional exopodite on the third maxillipede and the basal endopodite, the functional exopodite on the first leg, and the exopodites on legs 2 and 3. The telson also resembles that of the members of the Thalas‐sinidea except for the fact that there is no median spine. In the gills it differs much. In the armature of the pre‐zoea, the zoeal telson, carapace, functional third maxillipede, and basal endopodite, and in some other minor characters it resembles the Anomura, especially in the gills resembling the Galatheidea, but differs from the Anomura in having exopodites on the first three legs. Thus it combines characters belonging to the anomuran section of the Thalassinidea and to the Anomura. Dromia, however, with other members of the Dromiacea, has characters of its own, the antennal scale being surrounded with setæ which is unlike the Anomura and Thalassinidea, the third maxillipede being functional in the first zoea, the megalopa being spiny and shaped like the Brachyura, but the fifth legs unlike any brachyuran known, and the gills being quite different.

It seems that we must remove the Dromiacea from the Brachyura, but, as Gurney rightly says, it is difficult to place it in the Anomura, and it cannot be placed in the Thalassinidea. Apparently the best position for it in a natural classification is in a separate group and not in the direct line of descent of the Brachyura. Possibly, again referring to Gurney, the Brachyura are derived from a stem common to the Galatheidea and Dromiace.

Literature.
Studies on the Temnocephaloidea.—I. The Female Reproductive Apparatus in Caridinicola indica and Monodiscus parvus
Authors: Fernando Wilfred
Published: May 2010

Summary.

1. The reservoir of Haswell (vesicula resorbiens of Merton) is an important part of the female reproductive apparatus of Caridinicola and Monodiscus. It lies between the oviduct and the germiduct, and its rôle in these two genera differs from that in Temnocephala. Histologically it is alike in the three genera.

2. In Caridinicola the reservoir stores spermatozoa received in copulation; it receives yolk from the vitelline glands and also the egg from the germarium.

3. In Monodiscus the reservoir accommodates the egg from the germarium as in Caridinicola, but the spermatozoa are stored in a single, comparatively large receptaculum seminis found ventral to the reservoir.

4. Surplus reproductive material in Caridinicola passes out through a temporary reservoir canal, to be absorbed by the intestine. In Monodiscus, where the vitelline duct opens into the genital atrium, there is less surplus material in the reservoir, so that the reservoir conal is vestigial.

5. The receptaculum seminis is absent in Caridinicola, but is present in Monodiscus as a single vesicle, which opens into the reservoir and not into the oviduct, as in Temnocephala.

6. Comparative study shows that the reservoir is primitively a part of the oviduct (like the ootype), enlarged in this case to accommodate spermatozoa and yolk to supply the egg received from the germarium. This condition is found in Caridinicola. In Monodiscus a receptaculum seminis is cut off to contain the spermatozoa. Finally, in Temnocephala the reservoir is a vesicle which appears to be distinct from the oviduct, and the receptacula seminis open separately into the oviduct.

7. The reproductive apparatus is most primitive in Caridinicola; while Monodiscus shows an intermediate stage between that of Caridinicola and that of Temnocephala.