bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever Outbreaks: A Worldwide Review, 1990–2018
Authors: Kim Samuel , Lee Kang Sung , Pak Gi Deok , Excler Jean-Louis , Sahastrabuddhe Sushant , Marks Florian , Kim Jerome H , Mogasale Vittal
Published: September 2019

Background

Analyses of the global spatial and temporal distribution of enteric fever outbreaks worldwide are important factors to consider in estimating the disease burden of enteric fever disease burden.

Methods

We conducted a global literature review of enteric fever outbreak data by systematically using multiple databases from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2018 and classified them by time, place, diagnostic methods, and drug susceptibility, to illustrate outbreak characteristics including spatial and temporal patterns.

Results

There were 180 940 cases in 303 identified outbreaks caused by infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) and Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A or B (S. Paratyphi). The size of outbreak ranged from 1 to 42 564. Fifty-one percent of outbreaks occurred in Asia, 15% in Africa, 14% in Oceania, and the rest in other regions. Forty-six percent of outbreaks specified confirmation by blood culture, and 82 outbreaks reported drug susceptibility, of which 54% had multidrug-resistant pathogens. Paratyphoid outbreaks were less common compared to typhoid (22 vs 281) and more prevalent in Asia than Africa. Risk factors were multifactorial, with contaminated water being the main factor.

Conclusions

Enteric fever outbreak burden remains high in endemic low- and middle-income countries and, despite its limitations, outbreak data provide valuable contemporary evidence in prioritizing resources, public health policies, and actions. This review highlights geographical locations where urgent attention is needed for enteric fever control and calls for global action to prevent and contain outbreaks.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate in African Women Receiving Treatment for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Tuberculosis: Potential Concern for Standard Dosing Frequency
Authors: Mngqibisa Rosie , Kendall Michelle A , Dooley Kelly , Wu Xingye (Shirley) , Firnhaber Cynthia , Mcilleron Helen , Robinson Jennifer , Cramer Yoninah , Rosenkranz Susan L , Roa Jhoanna , Coughlin Kristine , Mawlana Sajeeda , Badal-Faesen Sharlaa , Schnabel David , Omoz-Oarhe Ayotunde , Samaneka Wadzanai , Godfrey Catherine , Cohn Susan E ,   for the A5338 Study Team
Published: September 2019

Background

Effective contraception is critical to young women with HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB), as unintended pregnancy is associated with increased perinatal morbidity and mortality. The effects of co-administration of efavirenz and rifampicin on the pharmacokinetics of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) are unknown. We hypothesized that clearance of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) would increase when given with rifampicin and efavirenz, thus increasing risk of ovulation.

Methods

This pharmacokinetics (PK) study assessed DMPA among HIV/TB coinfected women on an efavirenz-based antiretroviral treatment and rifampicin-based TB treatment. Plasma MPA concentrations and progesterone were measured predose (MPA only) and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks after a single DMPA 150 mg intramuscular injection. The primary outcome measure, MPA concentration (<0.1 ng/mL) at week 12, was assessed using exact 95% Clopper-Pearson confidence intervals. MPA PK parameters were calculated using noncompartmental analysis.

Results

Among 42 PK-evaluable women from 5 African countries, median age was 32 years and median CD4 was 414 cells/mm3. Five women (11.9%; 95% CI, 4.0–25.6%) had MPA <0.1 ng/mL at week 12; of these, one had MPA <0.1 ng/mL at week 10. The median clearance of MPA was 19 681 L/week compared with 12 118 L/week for historical controls. There were no adverse events related to DMPA, and progesterone concentrations were <1 ng/mL for all women for the study duration.

Conclusions

DMPA, when given with rifampicin and efavirenz, was safe. MPA clearance was higher than in women with HIV not on ART, leading to subtherapeutic concentrations of MPA in 12% of women, suggesting that more frequent dosing might be needed.

Clinical Trials Registration

NCT02412436.
Prospective International Study of Incidence and Predictors of Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome and Death in People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Severe Lymphopenia
Authors: Sereti Irini , Sheikh Virginia , Shaffer Douglas , Phanuphak Nittaya , Gabriel Erin , Wang Jing , Nason Martha C , Roby Gregg , Ngeno Hellen , Kirui Fredrick , Pau Alice , Mican Joann M , Rupert Adam , Bishop Rachel , Agan Brian , Chomchey Nitiya , Teeratakulpisarn Nipat , Tansuphaswadikul Somsit , Langat Deborah , Kosgei Josphat , French Martyn , Ananworanich Jintanat , Sawe Fredrick
Published: September 2019

Background

Patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) with low CD4 counts are at high risk for immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) and death at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation.

Methods

We investigated the clinical impact of IRIS in PLWH and CD4 counts <100 cells/μL starting ART in an international, prospective study in the United States, Thailand, and Kenya. An independent review committee adjudicated IRIS events. We assessed associations between baseline biomarkers, IRIS, immune recovery at week 48, and death by week 48 with Cox models.

Results

We enrolled 506 participants (39.3% were women). Median age was 37 years, and CD4 count was 29 cells/μL. Within 6 months of ART, 97 (19.2%) participants developed IRIS and 31 (6.5%) died. Participants with lower hemoglobin at baseline were at higher IRIS risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.2; P = .004). IRIS was independently associated with increased risk of death after adjustment for known risk factors (HR, 3.2; P = .031). Being female (P = .004) and having a lower body mass index (BMI; P = .003), higher white blood cell count (P = .005), and higher D-dimer levels (P = .044) were also significantly associated with increased risk of death. Decision-tree analysis identified hemoglobin <8.5 g/dL as predictive of IRIS and C-reactive protein (CRP) >106 μg/mL and BMI <15.6 kg/m2 as predictive of death.

Conclusions

For PLWH with severe immunosuppression initiating ART, baseline low BMI and hemoglobin and high CRP and D-dimer levels may be clinically useful predictors of IRIS and death risk.
The Construction of a Majority-Voting Ensemble Based on the Interrelation and Amount of Information of Features
Authors: Aydın Fatih , Aslan Zafer
Published: September 2019

In this paper, we introduced a new ensemble learning algorithm called VIBES, which is better in terms of performance when compared to 85 machine learning algorithms in WEKA tool. This new algorithm is based on three major processes: (i) making an assumption regarding whether features are dependent on or independent of each other, (ii) computing the amount of information of features when it is assumed that they are dependent on each other and then sorting them in a descending manner based on the amount of information, (iii) speeding up the algorithm by optimizing the forward search algorithm that is used in the construction of the final hypothesis from base learner hypotheses. As a result of these processes, it has been seen in the experiments that choosing the relevant assumption can boost learning performance if features are independent of each other; considering features according to the amount of information provides high accuracy and diversity of base learner models. According to experiment results, the algorithm that has been developed has the highest average classification accuracy rate across the 33 datasets. The highest and the lowest average classification accuracy rates have been found to be 89.80 and 78.03%, respectively.
Performance in a variable world: using Jensen’s inequality to scale up from individuals to populations
Authors: Denny Mark
Published: September 2019

Body temperature affects plants’ and animals’ performance, but these effects are complicated by thermal variation through time within an individual and variation through space among individuals in a population. This review and synthesis describes how the effects of thermal variation—in both time and space—can be estimated by applying a simple, nonlinear averaging scheme. The method is first applied to the temporal variation experienced by an individual, providing an estimate of the individual’s average performance. The method is then applied to the scale-dependent thermal variation among individuals, which is modelled as a 1/f-noise phenomenon. For an individual, thermal variation reduces average performance, lowers the temperature of maximum performance (Topt) and contracts the range of viable temperatures. Thermal variation among individuals similarly reduces performance and lowers Topt, but increases the viable range of average temperatures. These results must be viewed with caution, however, because they do not take into account the time-dependent interaction between body temperature and physiological plasticity. Quantifying these interactions is perhaps the largest challenge for ecological and conservation physiologists as they attempt to predict the effects of climate change.
Ocean change within shoreline communities: from biomechanics to behaviour and beyond
Authors: Gaylord Brian , Barclay Kristina M , Jellison Brittany M , Jurgens Laura J , Ninokawa Aaron T , Rivest Emily B , Leighton Lindsey R
Published: September 2019

Humans are changing the physical properties of Earth. In marine systems, elevated carbon dioxide concentrations are driving notable shifts in temperature and seawater chemistry. Here, we consider consequences of such perturbations for organism biomechanics and linkages amongst species within communities. In particular, we examine case examples of altered morphologies and material properties, disrupted consumer–prey behaviours, and the potential for modulated positive (i.e. facilitative) interactions amongst taxa, as incurred through increasing ocean acidity and rising temperatures. We focus on intertidal rocky shores of temperate seas as model systems, acknowledging the longstanding role of these communities in deciphering ecological principles. Our survey illustrates the broad capacity for biomechanical and behavioural shifts in organisms to influence the ecology of a transforming world.
Homer's disembodied Siren, the missing player, or, what’s in Faux Rock?
Authors: Tran Han
Published: September 2019

What are the Homeric Sirens? This article argues that the non-presence of these creatures’ bodies, which has, for the most part, eluded scrutiny, equates to an absence of their promised song. In place of a singing body, Homer’s audience is told only of hushing winds, an island, blooms and sailor bones. I suggest that this entangled presentation is clarified in Siren Serenade (2010), a sculpture by the American artist, Rachel Harrison. The installation, which features a purpose-built black rock, a satellite dish, and a vinyl record with absent turntable, captures both the Sirens’ disembodied voice and the emptiness of their claim. More intriguingly, it also recasts the rock, the Sirens’ island, as disrupting epic teleology, which correlates their home with death. Instead of an endpoint, the deadly island broadcasting the never-to-be-fulfilled promise can be re-read as fitting within a broader scale and as open to lithic ontology. I substantiate this proposition with insights from Jeffrey Cohen’s work on stone, and suggest that the Sirens’ promise of vast knowledge is death only if conceived from the standpoint of the epic hero’s apprehension of immortality through song. In a lithic timescale, the disembodied voice as rock is life, albeit experienced as ‘non-human’.
Assemblage theory and the uses of classical reception: the case of Aristotle Knowsley’s Oedipus
Authors: Ward Marchella
Published: September 2019

The metaphors that we use to describe the relationships between texts often carry within them limitations on the relationships that they figure. Classical reception is perhaps the most dominant of these metaphors, structuring the way readers understand the relationships between texts. This is particularly problematic in the early modern period where it is often difficult to account for the relationships between texts using traditional models of influence (a problem that is further amplified in performance). This article uses the example of an Oedipus play written by Aristotle Knowsley sometime between 1596 and 1603 to ask whether thinking about what we more often call ‘receiving texts’ as ‘assemblages’ could offer the study of classical reception a way to confront the restrictions placed upon it by the linearity of literary history. Knowsley’s text — when it is discussed at all — is usually considered to be an amalgamation of Neville’s translation of Seneca’s Oedipus (1563) and Newton’s Thebais (1581), but this restrictive reading, based on assumptions latent in the metaphor ‘classical reception’, excludes a number of texts that participate in productive relationships with the play.
Sexual selection affects the sizes of the mammalian prostate gland and seminal vesicles
Authors: Anderson Matthew J. , Dixson Alan F .
Published: September 2019

The accessory reproductive glands of male mammals contribute the bulk of the secretions in which spermatozoa are transported to the female tract during copulation. Despite their morphological diversity, and the chemical complexity of their products, little is known about the possible effects of sexual selection upon these glands in mammals. Here we consider the seminal vesicles and prostate glands in a sample of 89 species and 60 genera representing 8 Orders of mammals. The sizes of the accessory glands are analysed in relation to body weight and testes weight. Both the seminal vesicles size and prostate size (corrected for body weight) correlate positively with relative testes size in this sample; this finding remains highly significant after application of procedures to correct for possible phylogenetic biases in the data set. The accessory reproductive glands are also significantly larger in those mammals which have large relative testes sizes, and in which the likelihood of sperm competition is greatest. These results support the hypothesis that sexual selection has played an important role in the evolution of the mammalian prostate gland and seminal vesicles.
Relative accuracy of spatial predictive models for lynx Lynx canadensis derived using logistic regression-AIC, multiple criteria evaluation and Bayesian approaches
Authors: Kang Hejun , M. Alexander Shelley
Published: September 2019

We compared probability surfaces derived using one set of environmental variables in three Geographic Information Systems (GIS) -based approaches: logistic regression and Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC), Multiple Criteria Evaluation (MCE), and Bayesian Analysis (specifically Dempster-Shafer theory). We used lynx Lynx canadensis as our focal species, and developed our environment relationship model using track data collected in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, during winters from 1997 to 2000. The accuracy of the three spatial models were compared using a contingency table method. We determined the percentage of cases in which both presence and absence points were correctly classified (overall accuracy), the failure to predict a species where it occurred (omission error) and the prediction of presence where there was absence (commission error). Our overall accuracy showed the logistic regression approach was the most accurate (74.51%). The multiple criteria evaluation was intermediate (39.22%), while the Dempster-Shafer (D-S) theory model was the poorest (29.90%). However, omission and commission error tell us a different story: logistic regression had the lowest commission error, while D-S theory produced the lowest omission error. Our results provide evidence that habitat modellers should evaluate all three error measures when ascribing confidence in their model. We suggest that for our study area at least, the logistic regression model is optimal. However, where sample size is small or the species is very rare, it may also be useful to explore and/or use a more ecologically cautious modelling approach (e.g. Dempster-Shafer) that would over-predict, protect more sites, and thereby minimize the risk of missing critical habitat in conservation plans.
Microhabitat use by white-footed mice Peromyscus leucopus in forested and old-field habitats occupied by Morrow’s honeysuckle Lonicera morrowii
Authors: Edalgo Jennifer A. , McChesney Holly M. , Love Jason P. , Anderson James T.
Published: September 2019

We quantified microhabitat use by white-footed mice Peromyscus leucopus in forest and old-field habitats occupied by Morrow’s honeysuckle Lonicera morrowii, an invasive exotic shrub imported from Japan. Microhabitat characteristics were compared between trails used by mice (n = 124) and randomly selected trails (n = 127) in 4 study plots located at Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Farmington, Pennsylvania, USA. We compared 10 microhabitat variables between used and random trails using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. Trails used by mice were statistically different from randomly selected trails in both forested plots (P < 0.008) and old-field plots (P < 0.001). In the forested plots, trails of white-footed mice were more often associated with a greater percent cover (% cover) of coarse woody debris (CWD) than were randomly selected trails. In the old-field plots, mouse trails were commonly characterized by having a lower % cover of exotic herbaceous vegetation, a greater % cover of shrubs, and a greater % cover of Morrow’s honeysuckle than randomly selected trails. Our study indicates that white-footed mice do not move randomly and prefer areas of high structural complexity, thereby showing significant microhabitat preference. The preference of white-footed mice for areas with a relatively high percent cover of Morrow’s honeysuckle could 1) be a factor in the aggressive nature of the exotic honeysuckle shrub’s spread throughout the Battlefield or 2) cause the shrub to spread even faster into adjacent areas not yet occupied by Morrow’s honeysuckle.
Canopy arthropods community within and among oak species in central Mexico
Authors: Tovar-Sanchez Efraĺn
Published: September 2019

Quercus rugosa and Q. laurina are species that presents a wide geographical distribution range in temperate forests of Mexico. Oak canopies contain a considerable portion of arthropod diversity and the arthropods fauna fulfill a wide variety of ecological roles. We examined the effect of oak species and seasonal changes on some community structure parameters (diversity, composition, similarity, biomass, rare species, and density of arthropod fauna) of canopy arthropods. In total, 40 oak canopies were fogged during rainy and dry season. A total of 614 identified arthropod morphospecies were recognized belonging to 22 orders associated with tree canopies. A separation of host tree species during both seasons, suggesting a different community structure on host plants species was demonstrated by the principal component analyses (PCA), therefore, differences between oak species results in phenotypes that structure the composition of the arthropod community. Q. laurina registered the highest densities, diversity index and number of rare species in comparison with Q. rugosa. While arthropod biomass showed an inverse pattern. Trees more close to one another (spatial distance) register a more similar canopy arthropod fauna. This study suggests that the trees of Q. laurina could act as a center of biodiversity by the accumulation of arthropod fauna with a considerable number of rare species, which presents wide ecological roles or is involved in critical processes that maintain forest ecosystems.
Population response of rodents to control with rodenticides
Authors: Shilova S.A. , Tchabovsky A.V.
Published: September 2019

We summarize theoretical approaches and practice of rodent pest control in Russia and former USSR during last 50 years. We review literature as well as original data to understand mechanisms of rodent populations recovery after chemical control campaigns in urban areas, agricultural lands and natural foci of plague. Laboratory and field experiments indicate that inherent individual variation in behavioural, physiological and life-history traits provides survival of heterogeneous mix of individuals in residual population with increased resistance to poisonous baits and high reproductive potential that leads to fast recovery of a population. In a series of field experiments with various rodent and lagomorph species (Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Meriones unguiculatus, M.meridianus, M.tamariscinus, Ochotona pallasii) we have shown that patterns of recolonization of depopulated area and mechanisms of population recovery vary among species and depend on species-specific social organization. After control territorial and group-living species demonstrated an increase in mobility and affiliative and marking behaviour and a decrease in intraspecific aggression. The rate of recolonization of treated areas was high due to redistribution of survived individuals and immigration by neighbors. Population recovered to original level due to increased breeding performance and fecundity of both survived residents and immigrants. In contrast socially-independent species exhibited minor changes in behaviour. Recolonization was mainly due to better survival and recruitment of youngs, so the rate of recolonization was low. Species-specificity of behavioural compensation mechanisms to control should be considered when developing ecologically based rodent management strategies.
Effects of stochastic food deprivation on energy budget, body mass and activity in Swiss mice
Authors: Zhao Zhijun , Cao Jing , Tian Ye , Wang Ruirui , Wang Guiying
Published: September 2019

When small animals are faced with an unpredictable food supply, they can adapt by altering different components of their energy budget such as energy intake, metabolic rate, rate of non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) or behaviour. The present study examined the effect of stochastic food deprivation (FD) on body mass, food intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR), NST and behaviour in male Swiss mice. During a period of 4 weeks’ FD, animals were fed ad libitum for a randomly assigned 4 days each week, but were deprived of food for the other 3 days. The results showed that body mass significantly dropped on FD days compared to controls. Food intake of FD mice increased significantly on ad libitum days, ensuring cumulative food intake, final body mass, fat mass, RMR and NST did not differ significantly from controls. Moreover, gastrointestinal tract mass increased in FD mice, but digestibility decreased. In general, activity was higher on deprived days, and feeding behaviour was higher on ad libitum days suggesting that Swiss mice are able to compensate for stochastic FD primarily by increasing food intake on ad libitum days, and not by reducing energy expenditure related to RMR or NST.
Detection of α2u-globulin in rat pup preputial gland by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
Authors: Ponmanickam Ponnirul , Jebamercy Gnanasekaran , Archunan Govindaraju , Kannan Soundrapandian
Published: September 2019

The α2u-globulin, a soluble protein identified in the urine and preputial gland of adult male rat is reported to be pheromone carrier. The pup preputial gland plays a significant role in chemical communication for mother-young interaction; however, the presence of a pheromone-carrying protein in the pup preputial gland has not been confirmed. Therefore, the present study was carried out to identify the α2u-globulin in the pup preputial gland by Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). The preputial glands of prepubertal rats were subjected to one-dimensional SDS-PAGE. In-gel trypsin digestion of a 18 kDa band was carried out and analyzed by MALDI-TOF. The results of a MASCOT search showed the presence of α2u-globulin in the 18 kDa band. In contrast to the report of the synthesis of this protein only in adult rats, the identification of this protein in pup preputial gland is significant. The results suggest that synthesis of α2u-globulin in the rat preputial gland starts in the prepubertal stage itself. In prepubertal rats, the preputial gland is a source of pheromone for performing anogenital licking behaviour by the mother rat. Since α2u-globulin belongs to the lipocalin (ligand carrier) family, it might carry the volatile for processing pheromonal communication in mother-pup bonding in rat.
Uropygial gland volatiles may code for olfactory information about sex, individual, and species in Bengalese finches Lonchura striata
Authors: Zhang Jian-Xu , Sun Lixing , Zuo Ming-Xue
Published: September 2019

Over-shadowed by eye-catching vocal and visual signals, chemical communication has long been overlooked in birds. This study aimed at exploring whether volatile composition of the uropygial gland secretion (UGS) of birds was associated with the information about sex, individual and species. By using dichloromethane extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we analyzed the UGS volatiles of domesticated Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata, Estrildiea) which is also known as white-rumped munias. We characterized 16 volatile molecules from the UGS, including eight n-alkanols, five diesters, an ester, an aldehyde and a fatty acid, and quantified them in terms of GC peak area percentages (relative abundances). Among these compounds, hexadecanol and octadecanol were major components in both sexes. The former was richer in males than in females and the latter richer in females than in males, suggesting that they might be male and female pheromone candidates, respectively. The high inter-individual variations, in relative abundance, of the UGS volatiles implied that these compounds might carry information about individuality. The similarity between GC profiles of the UGS and wing feather from same individuals indicates that the birds might preen the secretion to their feathers to transmit chemical cues. Additionally, by comparing with three sympatric passerine species, i. e., zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, yellow-bowed buntings Emberiza chrysophrys and rooks Corvus frugilegus, we found that the composition of C13 - C18 alkanols in the UGS might code for information about species. Our study also showed that quantitative differences (degree) of same UGS volatiles might be the key for the Bengalese finch to code for information about sex and individuality whereas both the kind and degree of UGS constituents could be utilized to code for information about species.
Food resource and temporal partitioning amongst a guild of predatory agroecosystem-inhabiting ant species
Authors: Agarwal Vivek Mohan , Rastogi Neelkamal
Published: September 2019

Prey diversity and temporal foraging patterns of six abundant. predatory ant species were investigated Seasonally in an agroecosystem with two main vegetable crops. Pheidole sp. demonstrated the highest predation success and therefore appears to be the dominant species while Tapinoma melanocephalum showed the lowest success under the natural field conditions. Investigation of prey diversity and temporal activity patterns with the null model tests of niche overlap revealed a significant overlap indicating that the activity periods and prey diversity may not be solely influenced by interactions among the co-existing ant species. However, niche partitioning in the daily peak activity periods was demonstrated during all the three seasons (summer, rainy and winter) particularly between Pheidole sp. and T. melanocephalum. Pheidole sp. exhibited a high intensity, broadly extended mono-modal foraging patterns. Camponotus compressus and C. paria showed bi-modality in their foraging activity during the rainy season and mono-modal patterns during summer and winter seasons. Pachycondyla tesserinoda, Tetramorium sp. and T. melanocephalum exhibited peak foraging artivities in the morning hours during the summer and rainy seasons. The activity profiles of C. compressus and T. melanocephalum were skewed towards late afternoon hours during the winter season indicating avoidance of foraging activity during the favourable periods when the more aggressive Pheidole sp. is active. In the sponge gourd agroccosystem, the ants captured predominantly hymenopteran, orthopteran and coleopteran insects. While Pheidole sp. hunted mainly the large orthopteran prey, other ant species captured worker ants in the sponge gourd agroecosystem. In the cauliflower agroecosystem, while other species captured prey chiefly belonging to six orders, i. e., Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Isoptera and Diptera, Pheidole sp. and P. tesserinoda were the only species to also hunt many orthopteran prey. The agroecosystem-inhabiting ant species prey on a large number and wide variety of insect herbivores as evident from the differences in the peak foraging times and the proportion of each type of prey hunted. Overall, our results indicate that the structure of agroecosystem-inhabiting ant assemblage may be influenced by a variety of factors including competition, temporal heterogeneities, prey availability and its characteristics such as size and mobility.
Characterization of the cDNA encoding a BPI/LBP homologue in venom gland of the hundred-pace snake Deinagkistrodon acutus
Authors: Hu Jianrao , Cao Mingfu , Chen Jiong
Published: September 2019

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) and LPS-binding protein (LBP) play an important role in host defence. Current evidence shows that BPI/ LBP may be widely existed in different cells and tissue types of animals. A full-length cDNA clone encoding a BPI/LBP homologue (dBPI), 1757 bp in size, was characterized in venom gland of the hundred-pace snake Deinagkistrodon acutus. Its deduced amino acid sequence of 417 residues had 13.8% - 21.5% identity to BPI like 1 (BPILl) and BPI like 3 (BPIL3) of other animals. Conserved cysteine residues which are involved in disulfide bond formation between the final strand of the N-terminal beta sheet and the long alpha helix of BPI are identified as Cysl46-Cysl83 of dBPI. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the BPI/LBP homologues formed five large clusters and dBPI was in a large cluster including BPILl and BPIL3. dBPI mRNA shows a tissue specific expression in venom gland. This is the first study to identify the cDNA encoding BPI/LBP homologues from reptiles.
Mitochondrial Pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 of Nosema bombycis: A Marker in Microsporidian evolution
Authors: Li Tian , Dang Xiaoqun , Xu Jinshan , Liu Handeng , Pan Guoqing , Zhou Zeyang
Published: September 2019

Microsporidia are a group of intracelluar eukaryotic parasites, which can infected almost all animals, including human beings. Till now, no mitochodria but mitosome, a remnant of mitochondria was discovered in this phylum. We present here the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase El (PDH, including PDHα and PDHβ) of the microsporidian Nosema bombycis, the pathogen of silkworm pébrine. Compared with PDH of microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Antonospora locustae, both subunits are conserved. The phylogeny indicated that both subunits are mitochondrial. The syntenic maps revealed the subunits organization of NbPDH is distributed in different scaffolds, similar to that of EcPDH but different with AIPDH, and the relationship between phylogeny tree and organization of PDH suggest that the AlPDH subunits organization is the ancestral style of microsporidia, and through the genome evolution, the reshuffling of the chromosome of microsporidia occurred, the adjacent style of ALPDHE1 organization changed, and the two subunits separated and located to different chromosomes in E. cuniculi. For N. bombycis and N. ceranae, they locate to different scaffolds. In order to determine NbPDH subcellular localizations, we prepared the polyclonal antibodies against NbPDH prokaryotic fusion proteins, and adopted the colloidal gold immunological electron microscopy, the expression signals of NbPDH were observed in spores however, the subcellular localization were not definited. In general, through comparison of three microsporidian PDH molecular phylogeny, subunits organization in chromosomes, localization indicated that PDH is an interesting marker in microsporidia evolution.
Perspectives: Gene expression in fisheries management
Authors: Nielsen Jennifer L. , Pavey Scott A.
Published: September 2019

Functional genes and gene expression have been connected to physiological traits linked to effective production and broodstock selection in aquaculture, selective implications of commercial fish harvest, and adaptive changes reflected in non-commercial fish populations subject to human disturbance and climate change. Gene mapping using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify functional genes, gene expression (analogue microarrays and real-time PCR), and digital sequencing technologies looking at RNA transcripts present new concepts and opportunities in support of effective and sustainable fisheries. Genomic tools have been rapidly growing in aquaculture research addressing aspects of fish health, toxicology, and early development. Genomic technologies linking effects in functional genes involved in growth, maturation and life history development have been tied to selection resulting from harvest practices. Incorporating new and ever-increasing knowledge of fish genomes is opening a different perspective on local adaptation that will prove invaluable in wild fish conservation and management. Conservation of fish stocks is rapidly incorporating research on critical adaptive responses directed at the effects of human disturbance and climate change through gene expression studies. Genomic studies of fish populations can be generally grouped into three broad categories: 1) evolutionary genomics and biodiversity; 2) adaptive physiological responses to a changing environment; and 3) adaptive behavioral genomics and life history diversity. We review current genomic research in fisheries focusing on those that use microarrays to explore differences in gene expression among phenotypes and within or across populations, information that is critically important to the conservation of fish and their relationship to humans
Habitat structure directly affects aggression in convict cichlids Archocentrus nigrofasciatus
Authors: Barley Anthony J. , Coleman Ronald M.
Published: September 2019

Aggressive behavior can be an important factor in determining how animals use and divide space and resources. Previous studies have shown that aggression in fishes can be influenced by a variety of factors, including water temperature and resource levels. In this study, we tested if the amount of habitat structure in the environment affected aggression levels in female convict cichlids Archocentrus nigrofasciatus. We performed a laboratory experiment in which we placed female convict cichlids into an aquarium with low or high amounts of habitat structure and monitored the dominant female's behavior toward the subordinate female. Aggressive behavior in convict cichlids primarily consists of chases and bites. We found that the total time the dominant female spent chasing the subordinate female was greater when there was a low amount of habitat structure as compared to when there was a high amount of habitat structure. We also found that both the average duration of a chasing bout and the number of bites directed at the subordinate fish increased when there was a low amount of structure, but the number of chases did not. These results indicate that increased habitat structural complexity decreases aggressive behavior in convict cichlids.
The role of dyadic interactions in the mixed-mating strategies of the mangrove rivulus Kryptolebias marmoratus
Authors: Luke Kelly N. , Bechler David L.
Published: September 2019

The mangrove rivulus Kryptolebias marmoratus a small cyprinodont fish native to tropical and subtropical waters from Florida to Brazil, is one of two known self-fertilizing, hermaphroditic vertebrates of which K. marmoratus displays androdioecy, a complex system of reproduction in which hermaphrodites and males are present. This study describes the behavioral repertoires observed during dyadic interactions in the laboratory. Kryptolebias marmoratus exhibited 23 distinctive acts or behaviors. Acts were divided into four categories: aggressive, submissive, neutral, and reproductive. Leading and following behaviors played important roles in the behavioral repertoires of these fish. In hermaphrodite-male dyads, males exclusively initiated the reproductive process and actively pursued hermaphrodites. When hermaphrodites were paired, there was no evidence that they behaved like other simultaneous hermaphrodites that alternate sexual roles (e.g. serranids). Hermaphrodites were extremely aggressive towards one another, and the aggressor established dominance rapidly. Male-male dyads were divided into two subdivisions based on the presence or absence of the caudal ocellus on one fish. A caudal ocellus on one male appeared to signal the possibility of a potential mating partner to males lacking it. Pairings of males without an ocellus were similar to hermaphrodite-hermaphrodite dyads in that both members of the pair were aggressive towards one another. These observations may be indicative of interactions taking place in natural communities or assemblages of fish in which both males and hermaphrodites occur and provide evidence on the role of dyadic interactions in the mixed-mating strategies.
Female and male visually based mate preferences are consistent with reproductive isolation between populations of the Lake Malawi endemic Labeotropheus fuelleborni
Authors: Pauers Michael J. , Ehlinger Timothy J. , McKinnon Jeffrey S.
Published: September 2019

Sexual selection via female mate choice is thought to have played a key role in the speciation of haplochromine cichlids, but a dominant role for visual signals in such processes has lately been called into question. In addition, the possible role of male mating preferences in haplochromine speciation has been little studied. We studied patterns of both female and male mate choice, based exclusively on visual signals, in order to evaluate potential reproductive isolation between two populations of the Lake Malawi haplochromine Labeotropheus fuelleborni. In the first experiment, females were allowed to choose between two males, one from the same population and the other allopatric with respect to the female. Females in this experiment responded more frequently to males from their own population. Similarly, the males in these trials displayed more frequently when presented with females of their own population. In the second experiment, a female was allowed to choose between two males, either both from her own population or both allopatric. In these trials, both males and females from the Katale population interacted significantly more frequently in settings in which all three individuals were from the same population (“same-population trios”), and those from the Chipoka population showed a similar trend. Thus, patterns in both male and female courtship behavior suggest that visual signals contribute to at least incipient reproductive isolation between populations of L. fuelleborni.
Differences in pectoral fin spine morphology between vocal and silent clades of catfishes (Order Siluriformes): Ecomorphological implications
Authors: Kaatz Ingrid M. , Stewart Donald J. , Rice Aaron N. , Lobel Phillip S.
Published: September 2019

Stridulatory sound-producing behavior is widespread across catfish families, but some are silent. To understand why, we compared spine morphology and ecotype of silent and vocal clades. We determined vocal ability of laboratory specimens during disturbance behavior. Vocal families had bony (not flexible or segmented) spines, well-developed anterior and/or posterior serrations, and statistically significantly longer spines. We compared morphology of the proximal end of the pectoral spine between vocal and silent species. For vocal taxa, microscopic rounded or bladed ridges or knobs were present on the dorsal process. Most silent species had reduced processes with exclusively smooth, convoluted, or honeycombed surfaces very similar to spine-locking surfaces, or they had novel surfaces (beaded, vacuolated, cobwebbed). Most callichthyids had ridges but many were silent during disturbance. All doradid, most auchenipterid and most mochokid species were vocal and had ridges or knobs. Within the Auchenipteridae, vocal species had spines with greater weight and serration development but not length. Silent auchenipterids had thin, brittle, distally segmented spines with few microscopic serrations on only one margin and a highly reduced dorsal process lacking any known vocal morphology. Silent auchenipterids are derived and pelagic, while all vocal genera are basal and benthopelagic. This is the first phylogenetic evidence for stridulation mechanism loss within catfishes. Phylogenetic mapping of vocal ability, spine condition, and ecotype revealed the repeated presence of silence and vocal taxa, short and long spines, and ecotype shifts within clades. The appearance and loss of vocal behavior and supporting morphologies may have facilitated diversification among catfishes.
Female waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index and sexual attractiveness in China
Authors: Dixson B.J. , Li Baoguo , Dixson A.F.
Published: September 2019

Men and women at Northwest University (n=751), Xi'an, China were asked to judge the attractiveness of photographs of female patients who had undergone micrograft surgery to reduce their waist-to-hip ratios (WHR). Micrograft surgery involves harvesting adipose tissue from the waist and reshaping the buttocks to produce a low WHR and an ‘hourglass’ female figure. This gynoid distribution of female body fat has been shown to correlate with measures of fertility and health. Significantly larger numbers of subjects, of both sexes, chose post-operative photographs, with lower WHRs, as more attractive than pre-operative photographs of the same women. Some patients had gained, and some had lost weight, post-operatively, with resultant changes in body mass index (BMI). However, these changes in BMI were not related to judgments of attractiveness. These results show that the hourglass female figure is rated as attractive in China, and that WHR, rather than BMI, plays a crucial role in such attractiveness judgments.
Blood is not always thicker than water: The limited effect of kin selection on human kinship in the traditional Chinese family
Authors: Sun Lixing
Published: September 2019

To examine the importance of kin selection in shaping human societies, this study analyzed the kinship system practiced in traditional China for two millennia and teased apart its underlying genetic and other, presumably cultural, components. The results demonstrate that, in the traditional patrilineal Chinese family, both genetic relatedness and the cultural factor of generation were important in determining kinship status for male agnates (genetically related relatives). For female agnates, however, only genetic relatedness was important. Another surprising finding was that the influence of gender was not as important as genetic relatedness. The most interesting finding in this study, however, was that kin selection and culture (i.e., seniority in generation and age) played vastly different roles in different lineages in the Chinese family: for collateral (indirect) agnates, genetic relatedness was the most important factor in determining their kinship status, but for lineal (direct) agnates, its importance was overridden by seniority in generation and age, a cultural factor. Several other bio-cultural factors also explained a considerable amount of variance in kinship status. Since kinship profoundly affected, and was often the foundation of, the legal and social systems in dynastic China, kin selection, while its strength may differ remarkably between lineal and collateral relatives, could act as a selective force in Chinese families.
Handedness found in a wild group of moor monkeys in the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Authors: Watanabe Kunio
Published: September 2019

Hand preference of wild moor monkeys Macaca maurus was investigated in food reaching situations at the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The frequency picking up sweet-corn grains to take into the mouth by either hand of monkeys was counted directly at the feeding ground where sweet-corn grains were scattered for monkeys. Among the 20 monkeys examined, 8 were right-handed, 8 were left-handed, and 4 were ambilateral. The results indicated the prevailed hand preference on individual level but not either trends of left- or right-hand preference on population level. The trend toward a higher proportion of left-handed monkeys found in Japanese and rhesus monkeys was not found. Some other characteristics found in moor monkeys are discussed in comparison with those previous findings in Japanese and Tibetan macaques in order to evaluate variations within the genus Macaca.
Zonal distribution and population biology of Ilyoplax frater (Brachyura: Ocypodoidea: Dotillidae) in a coastal mudflat of Pakistan
Authors: Saher Noor Us , Qureshi Naureen Aziz
Published: September 2019

Zonal distribution and population biology of Ilyoplax frater were studied in a mangrove mudflat area of Pakistan. The crabs were collected from Korangi creek through transect and quadrat method from low tide level to high tide level. Two transects were delimited in a mangrove area of Korangi creek (24°79’'N/ 67°20’E). On each transect, three 0.25 m quadrats were sampled at three tidal levels on a monthly basis during low tide periods from March 2001 to February 2002. A total of 1124 crabs were obtained, of which 482 were males and 642 were females. Density of crabs varied between 0 and 90 /m2. The density and size distribution varied and showed significant differences from low to high tide level, and were positively correlated with the percent moisture, percent organic matter and sediment grain size. The carapace width (CW) ranged from 2.5 to 11.5 mm for male and 2.5 to 11.0 mm for female and was not significantly different. The overall sex ratio did not differ significantly from the expected 1:1 throughout the year in small crabs but was significantly different in adult crabs (χ2 = 49.73) with more male crabs. Size frequency distribution showed recruitment of juvenile crabs (< 4 mm) nearly throughout the year except during June and July. Presence of ovigerous females in all months with seasonal peaks in September, October, December and May indicates seasonal continuous breeding. Weight of egg mass increases with weight of ovigerous females and show positive linear relationship. The estimated mean diameter of egg was 2.83± 0.25 μm, and the average number of eggs was 3065± 902.