bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Large Aperture UWB Antenna Array for Real Beam Radar Imaging
Authors: Liao Chao-Hsiang , Chang Dau-Chyrh
Published: March 2012

The development of four-element ultra-wideband (UWB) comb taper slot antenna array with 18 cm element spacing for real beam radar imaging is described. The four-element UWB array system with optimum element spacing is analyzed by energy pattern. A wideband double ridge horn antenna is used as the transmitting antenna, the developed large aperture UWB array is used as the receiving antenna. The transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna are combined with impulse time domain measurement system to achieve real beam radar imaging. The receiving impulse signals at various positions are processed by the time delay and sum algorithm. The examples of several aluminum cans have been verified in the resolution and compared with using the UWB array as a receive antenna and the double ridge horn as a transmit antenna in the test setup. The crossrange resolution of UWB antenna array is better than wideband double ridge horn antenna because the beam width of UWB array is narrower.
Jacobi Elliptic Solutions for Nonlinear Differential Difference Equations in Mathematical Physics
Authors: Gepreel Khaled A. , Shehata A. R.
Published: March 2012

We put a direct new method to construct the rational Jacobi elliptic solutions for nonlinear differential difference equations which may be called the rational Jacobi elliptic functions method. We use the rational Jacobi elliptic function method to construct many new exact solutions for some nonlinear differential difference equations in mathematical physics via the lattice equation and the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a saturable nonlinearity. The proposed method is more effective and powerful to obtain the exact solutions for nonlinear differential difference equations.
Text‐Dependent Writer Identification for Arabic Handwriting
Authors: Al-Maadeed Somaya
Published: March 2012

This paper proposes a system for text‐dependent writer identification based on Arabic handwriting. First, a database of words was assembled and used as a test base. Next, features vectors were extracted from writers′ word images. Prior to the feature extraction process, normalization operations were applied to the word or text line under analysis. In this work, we studied the feature extraction and recognition operations of Arabic text on the identification rate of writers. Because there is no well‐known database containing Arabic handwritten words for researchers to test, we have built a new database of offline Arabic handwriting text to be used by the writer identification research community. The database of Arabic handwritten words collected from 100 writers is intended to provide training and testing sets for Arabic writer identification research. We evaluated the performance of edge‐based directional probability distributions as features, among other characteristics, in Arabic writer identification. Results suggest that longer Arabic words and phrases have higher impact on writer identification.
Predictive Factors in OCT Analysis for Visual Outcome in Exudative AMD
Authors: Gamulescu Maria-Andreea , Panagakis Georgios , Theek Carmen , Helbig Horst
Published: March 2012

Background. Reliable predictive factors for therapy outcome may enable treating physicians to counsel their patients more efficiently concerning probability of improvement or time point of discontinuation of a certain therapy.Methods. This is a retrospective analysis of 87 patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration who received three monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections. Visual acuity before initiation of intravitreal therapy and 4–6 weeks after last intravitreal injection was compared and related to the preoperative visualisation of continuity of the outer retinal layers as assessed by OCT: external limiting membrane (ELM), inner photoreceptor segments (IPS), junction between inner and outer segments (IS/OS), and outer photoreceptor segments (OPS).Results. Visual acuity increased in 40 of 87 (46.0%) patients, it remained stable in 25 (28.7%), and 22 (25.3%) patients had decreased visual acuity four to six weeks after triple intravitreal ranibizumab injections. No statistically significant predictive value could be demonstrated for grade of continuity of outer retinal layers concerning visual acuity development.Conclusions. In our series of AMD patients, grade of continuity of outer retinal layers was not a significant predictive value for visual acuity development after triple ranibizumab injections.
Inaccuracy of Death Certificate Diagnosis of Tuberculosis and Potential Underdiagnosis of TB in a Region of High HIV Prevalence
Authors: Liu Theresa T. , Wilson Douglas , Dawood Halima , Cameron D. William , Alvarez Gonzalo G.
Published: March 2012

Despite the South African antiretroviral therapy rollout, which should reduce the incidence of HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB), the number of TB-attributable deaths in KwaZuluNatal (KZN) remains high. TB is often diagnosed clinically, without microbiologic confirmation, leading to inaccurate estimates of TB-attributed deaths. This may contribute to avoidable deaths, and impact population-based TB mortality estimates.Objectives. (1) To measure the number of cases with microbiologically confirmed TB in a retrospective cohort of deceased inpatients with TB-attributed hospital deaths. (2) To estimate the rates of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB in this cohort.Results. Of 2752 deaths at EDH between September 2006 and March 2007, 403 (15%) were attributed to TB on the death certificate. 176 of the TB-attributed deaths (44%) had a specimen sent for smear or culture; only 64 (36%) had a TB diagnosis confirmed by either test. Of the 39 culture-confirmed cases, 27/39 (69%) had fully susceptible TB and 27/39 (69%) had smear-negative culture-positive TB (SNTB). Two patients had drug monoresistance, three patients had MDR-TB, and one had XDR-TB.Conclusions. Most TB-attributed deaths in this cohort were not microbiologically confirmed. Of confirmed cases, most were smear-negative, culture positive and were susceptible to all first line drugs.
Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Promotes Nasal Mucosal Mast Cell Chemotaxis in Murine Experimental Allergic Rhinitis
Authors: Ouyang Yuhui , Nakao Atsuhito , Han Demin , Zhang Luo
Published: March 2012

Background: Recent studies have shown that transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) plays an important role in the progression of allergic diseases. Methods: Mouse models of allergic rhinitis were established by ovalbumin sensitization and challenge. Immunostaining was used to analyze the expression of TGF-β1 in the mouse nasal mucosa. A chemotaxis assay was conducted to analyze the impact of TGF-β1 stimulation on migration of mast cells differentiated from mouse bone marrow cells. Chemotaxis and Western blot analysis were further applied to investigate the pathways involved in mast cell migration induced by TGF-β1 stimulation. Results: TGF-β1 expression was induced in allergic rhinitis and phosphorylated Smad2 was expressed in mast cells present in the nasal mucosa. TGF-β1 could induce migration of mast cells, but HTS466284, a TGF-β receptor 1 kinase inhibitor, inhibited this chemotactic activity. After TGF-β1 stimulation, mast cell RhoA expression was significantly increased. TGF-β1-induced mast cell chemotaxis could be inhibited by the RhoA inhibitor Tat-C3 and myosin light chain kinase inhibitor ML-7. Conclusion: TGF-β1 plays a major role in inducing the accumulation of mast cells in allergic rhinitis.
How Much Remnant Is Enough in Liver Resection?
Authors: Guglielmi Alfredo , Ruzzenente Andrea , Conci Simone , Valdegamberi Alessandro , Iacono Calogero
Published: March 2012

Background: Liver resection represents the first choice of treatment for primary and secondary liver malignancies, offering the patient the best chance of long-term survival. The extensive use of major hepatectomy increases the risk of post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF), which is associated with a high frequency of postoperative complications, mortality and increased length of hospital stay. Aims: The aim of this review is to investigate the different risk factors related to the occurrence of PHLF and to identify the limits for a safe liver resection in patients with normal liver and injured liver (cirrhosis, cholestasis, steatosis and post-chemotherapy liver injury). Methods: A literature search was undertaken in PubMed and related search engines, looking for articles relating to hepatic failure following hepatectomy in normal liver or injured liver. Results: In spite of improvements in surgical and postoperative management, the parameters determining how much liver can be resected are still largely undefined. A number of preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative factors all contribute to the likelihood of liver failure after surgery. The safe limits for liver resection can be estimated from the data of the literature for patients with normal liver and for those with different types of liver injury. Conclusions: Preoperative assessment that includes evaluation of liver volume and function of the remnant liver is a mandatory prerequisite before major hepatectomy. The critical residual liver volume for patients able to predict PHLF is mainly related to the presence of pre-existing liver disease and liver function. Among patients with normal liver, the limit for safe resection ranges from 20 to 30% future remnant liver of total liver volume. In patients with injured liver (cirrhosis, cholestasis or steatosis), preoperative assessment of the risk of PHLF should include future remnant liver volumetry and accurate liver function evaluation, including different dynamic liver function tests.
Extrahepatic versus Intrahepatic Hilar Control for Right Hepatectomy: An Updated Experience
Authors: Habib Mohammad , Cresswell A. Ben , Chandrakumaran Kandiah , Welsh Fenella K.S. , John Timothy G. , Rees Myrddin
Published: March 2012

Background: Inflow control prior to transection for right hepatectomy may be achieved either by dissection and ligation of the individual hilar structures outside of the liver (EHD) or by mass stapling of the inflow structures within the hepatic parenchyma. Our preference is for the anterior intrahepatic approach (AIA) with mass stapling, in order to minimise the risk of inadvertent injury of the left-sided inflow and to preserve as much parenchyma as possible. In this paper, we present our experience over the last 10 years and compare it with results from the EHD technique. Methods: Data for a 10-year period from 2000 to 2010 were extracted retrospectively from a prospectively collected database. Results in each group were measured by a combination of technical and oncological outcomes. Groups were compared by way of descriptive statistics and differences tested for significance by appropriate statistical means. Results: 411 right hepatectomies were performed for colorectal metastases. Of these, 242 were by AIA and 169 by EHD. Both groups were well matched in demographic terms and according to disease burden, although more extended resections were performed in the EHD group. Operative duration (433 vs. 350 min), blood loss (420 vs. 348 ml) and incidence of bile leaks (4 vs. 2) were all lower in the AIA group. All other technical and oncological outcomes were equivalent. Conclusion: The AIA approach provides equivalent morbidity, mortality and oncological outcome to the EHD dissection technique and may confer the benefits of being safer and providing greater scope to preserve hepatic parenchyma.
Laparoscopic Liver Resection in the Netherlands: How Far Are We?
Authors: Stoot Jan H.M.B. , Wong-Lun-Hing Edgar M. , Limantoro Ione , Visschers Ruben , Busch Olivier R. , Van Hillegersberg Richard , De Jong Koert M. , Rijken Arjen M. , Kazemier Geert , Olde Damink Steven W.M. , Lodewick Toine M. , Bemelmans Marc H.A. , van Dam Ronald M. , Dejong Cornelis H.C. ,   on behalf of the Dutch Liver Collaborative Group
Published: March 2012

Background: The objective of this study was to provide a systematic review on the introduction of laparoscopic liver surgery in the Netherlands, to investigate the initial experience with laparoscopic liver resections and to report on the current status of laparoscopic liver surgery in the Netherlands. Methods: A systematic literature search of laparoscopic liver resections in the Netherlands was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE. Analysis of initial experience with laparoscopic liver surgery was performed by case-control comparison of patients undergoing laparoscopic left lateral sectionectomy matched with patients undergoing the open procedure in the Netherlands between the years 2000 and 2008. Furthermore, a nationwide survey was conducted in 2011 on the current status of laparoscopic liver surgery. Results: The systematic review revealed only 6 Dutch reports on actual laparoscopic liver surgery. Matched case-control comparison showed significant differences in the length of hospital stay, blood loss and operation time. Complications did not differ significantly between the two groups (26 vs. 21%). The 2011 survey showed that 21 centers in the Netherlands performed formal liver resections and that 49 (5% of total) laparoscopic liver resections were performed in 2010. Conclusion: The systematic review revealed that very few laparoscopic liver resections were performed in the Netherlands in the previous millennium. The matched case-control comparison of laparoscopic and open left lateral resection showed a reduction in hospital length of stay with comparable morbidity. The laparoscopic technique has been slowly adopted in the Netherlands, but its popularity seems to increase in recent years.
Posthepatectomy Liver Failure
Authors: Schreckenbach Teresa , Liese Juliane , Bechstein Wolf O. , Moench Christian
Published: March 2012

Background: Posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is one of the most serious complications after liver resection and is still reported in up to 8% after liver resection. Aims: To provide an overview about the current status of risk analysis and definition of PHLF. Prevention and treatment is also discussed. Methods: A literature review was carried out on PubMed using the terms ‘liver failure’, ‘posthepatectomy’ and ‘liver surgery’ to search relevant papers. Discussion: PHLF remains a serious problem in patients undergoing major liver resection. Adequate preoperative risk assessment and an optimal postoperative treatment are essential for PHLF prevention.
Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Urethral Injuries
Authors: Pichler Renate , Fritsch Helga , Skradski Viktor , Horninger Wolfgang , Schlenck Barbara , Rehder Peter , Oswald Josef
Published: March 2012

Objective: The incidence of urethral injuries in children is rare due to the fact that the urethra is short, mobile and protected by the pubic bone. The management of urethral trauma in childhood remains controversial because of the limited expertise of most urologists. Material and Methods: We performed a literature review by searching the Medline database for articles published between 1975 and 2010 based on clinical relevance. Electronic searches were limited to the keywords ‘pediatric’, ‘urethral injury’, ‘trauma’ and ‘reconstruction’. Results: Retrograde urethrography is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of urethral injuries. The initial management should ensure drainage of the bladder either by suprapubic cystostomy or urethral realignment if possible: in complete anterior urethral disruption as well as in children with life-threatening pelvic and intra-abdominal injuries after posterior urethral injuries, a deferred repair after 3 months is necessary. Immediate primary suturing of disrupted and dislocated urethral ends should be avoided because of high complication rates. Primary repair, however, of the defect is possible in girls avoiding a 2-stage approach. Conclusion: The aim of therapy is minimizing remote damages such as urethrocutaneous fistulae, periurethral diverticulae, strictures, incontinence and impotence with different therapeutic management depending on classification of the injury and the presence of life-threatening injuries.
Familial Translocation t(6;20)(p21;p13) Resulting in Partial Trisomy 6p and Partial Monosomy 20p: Report of a New Case and Review of the Literature
Authors: Berner A.L. , Bağci S. , Wohlleber E. , Engels E. , Müller A. , Bartmann P. , Weber R.G. , Reutter H.
Published: March 2012

Carriers of completely balanced chromosomal translocations have all necessary genetic information. Nevertheless, because of the possibility of maldistribution during gametogenesis, they are at increased risk for infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth or having a child with congenital anomalies including mental retardation. As postnatal clinical reports are infrequent, prediction of clinical course for specific unbalanced karyotypes diagnosed during pregnancy remains difficult. Here, we report the 6th case of partial trisomy 6p and partial monosomy 20p due to an unbalanced adjacent-1 segregation of the rare familial translocation t(6;20)(p21;p13). We give a thorough clinical description of the present case, demonstrating broad phenotypic overlap with the 5 previously published cases reviewed here, providing important data on postnatal outcome.
Inflammation in
Circulation
Authors:   The Editors
Published: March 2012

The following articles are being highlighted as part of
Circulation's
Topic Review series. This series will summarize the most important manuscripts, as selected by the editors, published in
Circulation
and the
Circulation
subspecialty journals. The studies included in this article represent the articles related to inflammation that were published in
Circulation
in 2010 and 2011.
A Neurocomputational Approach to Prepositional Phrase Attachment Ambiguity Resolution
Authors: Nadh Kailash , Huyck Christian
Published: March 2012

A neurocomputational model based on emergent massively overlapping neural cell assemblies (CAs) for resolving prepositional phrase (PP) attachment ambiguity is described. PP attachment ambiguity is a well-studied task in natural language processing and is a case where semantics is used to determine the syntactic structure. A large network of biologically plausible fatiguing leaky integrate-and-fire neurons is trained with semantic hierarchies (obtained from WordNet) on sentences with PP attachment ambiguity extracted from the Penn Treebank corpus. During training, overlapping CAs representing semantic similarities between the component words of the ambiguous sentences emerge and then act as categorizers for novel input. The resulting average resolution accuracy of 84.56% is on par with known machine learning algorithms.
Causality, Conditional Independence, and Graphical Separation in Settable Systems
Authors: Chalak Karim , White Halbert
Published: March 2012

We study the connections between causal relations and conditional independence within the settable systems extension of the Pearl causal model (PCM). Our analysis clearly distinguishes between causal notions and probabilistic notions, and it does not formally rely on graphical representations. As a foundation, we provide definitions in terms of suitable functional dependence for direct causality and for indirect and total causality via and exclusive of a set of variables. Based on these foundations, we provide causal and stochastic conditions formally characterizing conditional dependence among random vectors of interest in structural systems by stating and proving the conditional Reichenbach principle of common cause, obtaining the classical Reichenbach principle as a corollary. We apply the conditional Reichenbach principle to show that the useful tools of d-separation and D-separation can be employed to establish conditional independence within suitably restricted settable systems analogous to Markovian PCMs.
Multiple Kernel Learning with Gaussianity Measures
Authors: Hino Hideitsu , Reyhani Nima , Murata Noboru
Published: March 2012

Kernel methods are known to be effective for nonlinear multivariate analysis. One of the main issues in the practical use of kernel methods is the selection of kernel. There have been a lot of studies on kernel selection and kernel learning. Multiple kernel learning (MKL) is one of the promising kernel optimization approaches. Kernel methods are applied to various classifiers including Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA). FDA gives the Bayes optimal classification axis if the data distribution of each class in the feature space is a gaussian with a shared covariance structure. Based on this fact, an MKL framework based on the notion of gaussianity is proposed. As a concrete implementation, an empirical characteristic function is adopted to measure gaussianity in the feature space associated with a convex combination of kernel functions, and two MKL algorithms are derived. From experimental results on some data sets, we show that the proposed kernel learning followed by FDA offers strong classification power.
Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Early China: The Changing Biographies of Lord Ling of Wei and Lady Nanzi
Authors: Milburn Olivia
Published: March 2012

Towards the end of his life, Lord Ling of Wei (r. 534-493 BCE) effectively abdicated in favor of his wife, Lady Nanzi. Such a transfer of power seems to have been unique in Zhou dynasty China, and these events were discussed at some length in ancient historical and philosophical texts. Throughout the imperial era scholars and commentators continued to study Lord Ling and Lady Nanzi, producing a considerable body of research which reflects changing attitudes to the nature of ruler's rights and authority, and which also documents responses to the couple's apparent rejection of accepted social and gender roles. Although their actions were often portrayed positively in early Chinese texts, the overwhelming majority of scholars who studied their biographies in the imperial era were hostile to the concept of a woman taking control of the government of a state. The tension between the accounts found in ancient texts and subsequent scholarship is the subject of this paper.
Liability for Suicide in Qing Law on Account of Filthy Words
Authors: MacCormack Geoffrey
Published: March 2012

This essay examines the Qing legislation enacted in the course of the eighteenth century to impose punishments on men who used 'filthy language' towards a woman, so driving her to commit suicide. In addition, the decisions of the Board of Punishments, interpreting this legislation, are discussed. Essentially, three distinct offences are to be identified: (i) tiaoxi or the use of words expressing a desire to have sexual intercourse (punished capitally), (ii) xiexia or the use of words of commonplace abuse without sexual invitation (punished with exile), and (iii) xixue or the use of words of mockery or ridicule, disclosing an intention to humiliate or shame a woman (punished capitally). Some observations are also made on the relationship between the legislation and the concept of chastity.
The Yaochi ji and three Daoist Priestess-Poets in Tang China
Authors: Jia Jinhua
Published: March 2012

This article examines the only extant compilation of Tang dynasty women's poetry, the Yaochi xinyong ji (Collection of new songs from Turquoise Pond), fragments of which have been rediscovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts in Russian library holdings. The study first discusses the compilation, contents, and poets of this collection, and then focuses on the works of three Daoist priestess-poets, Li Jilan, Yuan Chun, and Cui Zhongrong whose writings form the major part of this anthology. It investigates their poetry and reviews relevant sources to conduct a comprehensive examination of the lives and poems of the three poets, and concludes that they represented a new stage in the development of Chinese women's poetry.
An Assemblage of Salamanders in the Southern Appalachian Mountains: Competitive and Predatory Behavior
Authors: Jaeger Robert , Gabor Caitlin , Wilbur Henry
Published: March 2012

We conducted behavioral experiments to determine how competition and predation may affect an assemblage of salamanders that meet at and cross forest to aquatic ecotones. At Mountain Lake Biological Station, southwestern Virginia, USA, adults of four abundant species interact at the forest to stream ecotone. Plethodon einereus and the larger P. glutinosus inhabit the forest floor up to the edges of streams while Desmognathus fuscus and Eurycea eirrigera forage from the edges of streams onto the forest floor. Our six laboratory experiments yielded predictions as to how these species affect each others' distributions and abundances in the natural habitats. Previous studies showed that adults of P. cine reus are territorial intraspecifically and toward same-size juveniles of P. glutinosus. In our experiment, territorial residents of P. einereus did not act aggressively toward intruding adults of P. glutinosus and the latter species was neither aggressive nor predatory toward P. einereus. The two species were equally benign in a second experiment when the roles of resident and intruder were reversed. Thus, we predict that the adults of these two species do not influence each others' distributions on the forest floor.
Tick Defense Strategies in Bison: The Role of Grooming and Hair Coat
Authors: Mooring Michael , Samuel William
Published: March 2012

Grooming behaviour, and its effectiveness in controlling infestation by the winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus), was studied for plains bison (Bison bison bison) in Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada from October 1995 through June 1996. Bison had few ticks (mean, 133 ticks per animal; 0.009 ticks per cm2), particularly in comparison with smaller sympatric cervids (moose, Alees alees; elk, Cervus elaphus; and white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus), suggesting that tick defense in bison is highly effective. Bison performed grooming or grooming-like behaviours (oral grooming, scratching, rubbing, and wallowing) at a high rate during October, when winter tick larvae were blood feeding, but groomed very little from November to April, when nymphal and adult ticks predominated. Grooming in October probably removed many larval ticks while they were still unattached and traversing the body surface in search of an attachment site. Because bison groomed at the highest rate during the larval feeding period, when they were subjected to the lowest intensity of tick stimulation, grooming in bison appears to be centrally programmed rather than stimulus driven. This might be the only time ticks are vulnerable to grooming activity because bison have an extremely thick hair coat (a morphological adaptation to extreme cold), which probably serves as a physical barrier to infestation by ticks. The tightly packed mat of primary hairs at the skin surface (the highest density of primary hairs among bovids) likely forced larval ticks to traverse much of the body surface on top of the hair coat, making them vulnerable to being removed through licking and other grooming activity. Little grooming throughout late autumn and winter (November-March) corresponded to the period of coldest temperatures and snow on the ground, and was probably due to the bison's 'thermal inertia' strategy of energy conservation in which physical activity is minimized during the times of greatest cold stress, when forage is least available and of poorest quality. Newly born bison calves, 2 months old or younger, delivered 15-20 times more oral grooming per hour and 6 times more episodes per bout than did adult cows. This result is in accordance with the prediction of the body size principle of the programmed grooming hypothesis, which maintains that smaller animals should groom more frequently in order to maintain fewer ticks. Programmed grooming, which removes most larval ticks before they can attach, and the physical barrier of the dense hair coat, are proposed as the major reasons that bison host few D. albipictus.
Olfactory Recognition of Urine Signals in Dominance Fights Between Male Lobster, Homarus Americanus
Authors: Karavanich Christa , Atema Jelle
Published: March 2012

The maintenance of dominance hierarchies in the American lobster (Homarus americanus) is based on recognition of the dominant animal by the loser of a recent fight. It is hypothesized that chemical signals are the basis of this recognition. Adult male lobsters were paired for initial boxing matches between unfamiliar animals. The same pairs were re-matched for 3 more consecutive fights. In the first experiment, treatment animals had their primary olfactory receptor cells of the lateral and medial antennules lesioned before fights 2-4 and control animals received sham lesions. The durations of fights 2-4 for control pairs were significantly shorter than the durations of fights between lesioned animals. In the second experiment, male pairs were again allowed to establish a dominance relationship in a first fight. During second fights, urine release by both animals was prevented by the use of catheters in treatment animals while control pairs wore sham catheters. Again, durations of the second fights of control animals were significantly shorter than those of treatment animals. Together, these experiments indicate that urine-carried chemical signals, perceived by the antennules, reduce the duration and aggression of male dominance fights on subsequent days because the loser of the first fight backs off almost immediately when he smells the urine of the known dominant.
Effects of Food Preference on Scatter-Hoarding by Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys Merriami)
Authors: Leaver Lisa , Daly Martin
Published: March 2012

Two laboratory studies were conducted to determine whether Merriam's kangaroo rats invest greater effort in the caching of a more preferred food. As predicted, more of the preferred food was cached and yet the individual caches were smaller. The second experiment showed wider dispersion of the preferred food, and these caches were placed further away from the source. These findings imply that investment in protecting food from pilferage is adjusted in relation to the animal's evaluation of that food.
The Territory Defense Function of Song in Song Sparrows: A Test with the Speaker Occupation Design
Authors: Nowicki Stephen , Searcy William , Hughes Melissa
Published: March 2012

Territory defense is considered one of the primary functions of bird song, but this hypothesis has been directly tested in only a few cases. We used the speaker replacement method to ask whether song functions as a 'keep out' signal in song sparrows, a species for which there is considerable evidence supporting a mate attraction and stimulation function of song, but only indirect evidence that song functions as a signal to other males. We removed 11 matched pairs of male song sparrows from their territories, replacing one male of each matched pair with loudspeakers broadcasting that male's song (the 'experimental' territory) while leaving the other male's territory silent (the 'control' territory). In all cases in which encroachments or takeovers occurred, these occurred first (or solely) on the control territory of a matched pair, supporting the hypothesis that song functions in territory defense in this species. The incidence of intrusions on control territories was very low, however, posing difficulties for the interpretation of speaker replacement experiments designed to ask more specific questions about how song functions in male-male aggressive competition.
Female Choice and Inter-Sexual Competition for Female Sexual Partners in Japanese Macaques
Authors: Vasey Paul
Published: March 2012

Observations of a captive colony of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) were carried out with the goal of documenting (1) competition between males and females for female sexual partners and (2) choice of same-sex sexual partners by females, despite the presence of motivated, opposite-sex alternatives. Data were collected during 21 homosexual consorts hips involving 14 females living in a mixed-sex group of 37 individuals. Intersexual competition for female sexual partners was manifested when a sexually motivated male and female (competitors) simultaneously sought exclusive access to the same infertile or post-conception female (focus of competition). This occurred during male intrusions on female homosexual consortships and counter-challenges by female competitors against intruding males. Inter-sexual competition for female sexual partners took the form of approaches and solicitations directed at the focus of competition, as well as displacements and aggression directed at one's competitor. Females did not acquire alloparental care for their immature offspring from their same-sex consort partners. Thus, female competitors appeared to engaged in potentially risky competition for same-sex sexual partners in the absence of any obvious reproductive benefit (e.g. insemination or alloparental care). Following these interactions, females which were foci of competition chose to mount with the female competitors significantly more often than not.
Patch Defence in the Parasitoid Wasp Trissolcus Basalis: When to Begin Fighting?
Authors: Field Scott , Calbert Gregory
Published: March 2012

Foragers that exploit defendable patches are faced with a trade-off, between exploiting the patch, and defending it against competitors. In insect parasitoids, this trade-off is compounded by the fact that the host resources are not consumed, but remain in the environment after being exploited and therefore are still vulnerable to attack by competitors. The parasitoid wasp Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) exploits the egg masses of pentatomid bugs, and females are able to monopolise and defend patches of hosts. However, females usually do not begin fighting immediately, but co-exploit the patch without aggression for some time. This paper uses survival analysis to examine their decision-making rules with respect to when to begin defending a patch. The decision to begin fighting was influenced by the size of the patch, the number of offspring previously invested in the patch, the encounter rate with con specifics, and the encounter rate with unparasitised hosts. These factors reflect a balance between defending the resource and defending offspring, and highlight the increasing value of a patch to a female as she invests more offspring in it.
Behavioral Evidence for Individual Recognition in Japanese Quail
Authors: Riters Lauren , Balthazart Jacques
Published: March 2012

Two studies were performed to explore the ability of male Japanese quail to discriminate between individual females, and between individual males within a context related to reproduction. Male quail were found to spend more time in front of and looking through a window providing visual access to a female with which they were repeatedly allowed to copulate, compared to a female with which they had never been allowed to copulate. In contrast, when males were allowed to freely interact with both females, no differences were observed in consummatory measures of sexual behavior. With respect to a male's ability to discriminate between individual males, during repeated pairings between the same males, dominant males displayed an elevation in cloacal contact movements (CCM) compared to their subordinate partners. The difference in CCM between members of each pair developed over several days suggesting that the males were learning to recognize and respond to one another according to a dominance relationship. During subsequent separate pairings with both familiar (i.e. the birds previously used during the repeated pairings) and novel individuals, both subordinates and dominants were found to crouch more often in the presence of novel birds. Subordinate males were also found to peck more often at a glass partition separating them from a novel dominant compared to a familiar dominant. Male quail thus appear capable of discriminating between individual females and individual males as indicated by behavioral measures relevant to reproduction.
Inter-Specific Infanticide in South American Otariids
Authors: Cassini Marcelo
Published: March 2012

South American fur seals Arctocephalus australis and South American sea lions Otaria fiavescens breed sympatrically on several islands of the coast of Uruguay. O. fiavescens males will sometimes attack A. australis pups and shake or toss them for several minuh:s or even hours. These attacks may result in the death of the pup. I recorded 31 pup attacks at Rasa island, Uruguay, during 1996 breeding season. Most abductors were subadults, which frequently engaged in aggressive encounters with each other during the abduction. After these encounters, the largest males always retained the pups. Forty percent of the pups died during the attacks, which normally ended when the abductor abandoned the pup. Abductors did not mount or eat the pups. Attacks by Otaria males did not appear to have the function of killing Arctocephalus pups. Instead, inter-specific infanticide appeared to be a by-product of intra-sexual competition or sexual frustration of subadult males. The mothers attempted to recover the pup in 31% of the attacks. However, only one mother was able to get her pup away from the abductor. This active role of the mothers was not observed in other colonies where Otaria subadults also attack Arctocephalus pups, e.g. in Peru. This difference is probably associated with the fact that in Uruguay both species use the same islands for reproduction, while in Peru they reproduce allopatrically.
Male Starlings Sing Most in the Late Morning, Following Egg-Laying: A Strategy to Protect Their Paternity?
Authors: Pinxten Rianne , Eens Marcel
Published: March 2012

According to the 'fertility-announcement hypothesis', the song of paired males might function partly as a paternity guard strategy and partly to maximize their own extra-pair copulations (EPCs). A major prediction of this hypothesis is that males should sing most when the fertility of their mate reaches a temporal (both seasonal and diurnal) peak. We report some tests of this hypothesis from a study of monogamously paired male European starlings Stumus vulgaris. Mated males sang significantly more during the fertile period of their mate and most males even completely ceased singing after their mate's fertile period. During the ovulatory period mated males sang significantly more in the late morning (0900-1200 hours) following egg-laying, when most females may have reached peak diurnal fertility, than early in the morning (0600-0900 hours). For six females, we were able to determine precise laying times during their ovulatory period and we found that their mates had a significantly higher song rate within the insemination window (the first hour following egg-laying) than before egg-laying. Although male starlings sing most when their mate's fertility reaches a seasonal and diurnal peak, our observations suggest that post-pairing song in monogamous males does not function primarily to deter other males attempting EPCs, or to attract extra-pair mates. Our results rather suggest that post-pairing song in monogamous males is directed mainly towards their own female and functions to stimulate her to solicit copulations. This may be important in the context of sperm competition if frequent pair copulations result in a higher fertilization rate for the male when EPCs have occurred.
Computer Animations as a Tool in the Study of Mating Preferences
Authors: Künzler Reto , Bakker Theo
Published: March 2012

The study of multiple female mating preferences and multiple male signals requires correct and precise measurement of preferences. A review is given of existing preference test paradigms. Non-interactive preference tests using computer animations perfectly fulfil the demands for the study of multiple preferences for visual traits: exclusion of confounding variables, exclusion of variation within and between male pairs, great potential of experimental manipulation of single and combinations of visual traits including behaviour. We give a detailed description for the production of computer animation movies based on commercial software. Finally, we show how computer animations can be properly applied to the testing of mating preferences. In sticklebacks, female mating preferences that were tested in this way agreed with preferences that were measured with other test paradigms.
Intra- and Intersexual Functions in the Call, of a Non-Passerine Bird
Authors: Bretagnolle Vincent , Genevois Fabrice , Mougeot François
Published: March 2012

The thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri is a long-lived, monogamous and nocturnal seabird breeding in burrows in dense colonies in the southern hemisphere. Like all other Procellariiformes, this species shows delayed sexual maturity, and pair formation takes several years of active courtship. Its mating behaviour nearly exclusively relies on vocal cues. Its call is strongly sexually dimorphic. In this paper, we examine intra- and intersexual functions of call, and test whether these functions vary according to (1) the status of the recipient birds (breeding versus non breeding), and (2) the stage of pair formation. We used specifically designed playback experiments as three successive stages of the pair formation are recognized (stage 1: male and female in flight, stage 2: male on ground and female in flight and stage 3: male and female on ground). The first set of playback experiments was performed outside breeding colonies (stage 1). We found that wandering non-breeders (i.e. young birds which have still to find a partner) were strongly attracted and caught in mist nets when playback calls of both sexes were used. Conversely, breeders significantly avoided playback. Playback of male calls caught slightly more non-breeding females than did female calls, the reverse also being true. However, capture rates (i.e. number of birds caught per time unit) did not differ according to the sex of the call played-back. Thus, at the earliest stage of pair formation, wandering non-breeders of both sexes are attracted by their species-specific call, regardless of the sex of the call. The second set of experiments was performed on the breeding colonies and was aimed at testing the response of birds in flight (stage 2). Playback of male calls resulted in a significant increase of the vocal activity of flying females as well as a decrease of flying males calling activity. Playback of female calls had no detectable effects. Thus, at this stage of the pair formation process, birds do take into account the sexual information that is encoded within the call, and react according to their sex. The third set of tests was addressed to birds within their burrows (stage 3). We found that breeding birds responded far more to the calls of their own sex, remaining silent to those of the opposite sex: birds took into account the sexual information, but in a reverse sense compared to stage 2. Conversely, non-breeders occupying burrows responded more often to birds of the opposite sex. Our results therefore showed that the same signal can be used in intra- and intersexual communication, depending on the status of the signaller (its sex) and of the recipient (its sex and breeding status).
Direction of Predator Turning, a Neglected Cue to Predation Risk
Authors: Cooper, Jr William
Published: March 2012

Assessed risk for prey should depend not only on distance from a predator, but also on probability that it has been detected. If an indirectly approaching predator close enough to pose a threat suddenly turns toward prey, risk increases because the joint probability that the predator has detected and will attack is raised abruptly. I conducted field experiments on the effect of a predator turning toward prey on escape behaviour by simulating a predator, slowly approaching adult keeled earless lizards, Holbrookia propinqua, on linear paths that did not lead directly toward them, but bypassed them by various distances. At the minimum bypass distance for a path, I stopped and turned directly toward a lizard or directly away. The effect of turning varied dramatically with bypass distance. Regardless of tum direction, almost all lizards fled for very close approaches and no lizards fled for sufficiently large bypass distances. At intermediate distances a greater proportion of prey fled when I turned toward them than away from them. Possible cues used by lizards to assess risk are direction of turning per se and increased visibility of eye and facial features or other morphological correlates of orientation. Ydenberg & Dill's (1986) optimality model of escape behaviour can account for the results if prey can continually assess rapidly changing risk. By turning toward prey, an indirectly approaching predator may suddenly shift from outside to within the break-even point for risk and cost of escape, thereby eliciting flight.
Ritual als Performanz Zur Charakterisierung eines Paradigmenwechsels
Authors: Rao Ursula
Published: March 2012

The article characterizes a paradigmatic change in ritual studies in the last twenty years, by discussing the impact of the 'performative turn' in the social sciences for the analysis of ritual action and ritual efficacy. Two streams of theories are distinguished: (1) studies that re-conceptualize the relation between ritual and its social contexts, viewing it as a dynamic encounter that includes negotiation, adjustment and persuasion, and (2) studies that explore the inner dynamic of ritual and characterize the activities and media that turn ritual action into transformative performances.
Das Bild des Juden in den Märchen der Brüder Grimm
Authors: Bockwoldt Gerd
Published: March 2012

This article analyzes whether anti-Judaism, which was widespread during the German Romantic period and which was evident in organizations such as the "Christlich deutsche Tischgesellschaft" (a German Christian Society), and here especially in Achim von Arnim, also included the Brothers Grimm. One could conclude so when considering mainly the publishing history of their collection of fairy tales, which since its third edition (1837) has been appended. The same was already true for the previously published selection of tales for children (1825). However, a closer look reveals the stylistic nature of these appendixes, which provided a linguistic characterization for the tales' character types (Jew, farmer, soldier, etc.). The actual problem that the Brothers Grimm – especially Wilhelm Grimm – did not recognize and/or ignored is evident in the breaches of law as depicted in the fairy tales "Der gute Handel" and "Der Jude im Dorn." Thus, while one cannot accuse the Brothers Grimm of clear-cut anti-Judaism, one can fault them for their careless handling of problematic texts, which still causes irritation today.
A Response To Gerstenberger
Authors: Brueggemann Walter
Published: March 2012

Professor Gerstenberger has now published a reflective summary of his long preoccupation with religious questions in the Old Testament, with particular reference to sociological issues. His five-fold sociological typology that stretches from the family to the state is by now a familiar one that he has developed over time and long championed. But here he works matters out in detail. Gerstenberger has opened up new vistas of interpretive possibility that put to rest the run of monolithic and, therefore, reductionist interpretations that have long dominated the discipline of Old Testament theology. His accent on pluralism and contextualism is enormously important, and my primary response to his work is one of immense appreciation for a publication that is in many respects daringly experimental. What follows is an attempt to raise issues in a collegial way that are in the context of an overriding appreciation, with congratulations to him for what he has written.