The triple helix of collagens - an ancient protein structure that enabled animal multicellularity and tissue evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Fidler, Aaron L; Boudko, Sergei P; Rokas, Antonis; Hudson, Billy G

2018-04-09

The cellular microenvironment, characterized by an extracellular matrix (ECM), played an essential role in the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in animals (metazoans), and in the subsequent evolution of diverse animal tissues and organs. A major ECM component are members of the collagen superfamily -comprising 28 types in vertebrates - that exist in diverse supramolecular assemblies ranging from networks to fibrils. Each assembly is characterized by a hallmark feature, a protein structure called a triple helix. A current gap in knowledge is understanding the mechanisms of how the triple helix encodes and utilizes information in building scaffolds on the outside of cells. Type IV collagen, recently revealed as the evolutionarily most ancient member of the collagen superfamily, serves as an archetype for a fresh view of fundamental structural features of a triple helix that underlie the diversity of biological activities of collagens. In this Opinion, we argue that the triple helix is a protein structure of fundamental importance in building the extracellular matrix, which enabled animal multicellularity and tissue evolution. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Developmental plasticity and the evolution of parental effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Uller, Tobias

2008-08-01

One of the outstanding challenges for evolutionary biologists is to understand how developmental plasticity can influence the evolutionary process. Developmental plasticity frequently involves parental effects, which might enable adaptive and context-dependent transgenerational transmission of phenotypic strategies. However, parent-offspring conflict will frequently result in parental effects that are suboptimal for parents, offspring or both. The fitness consequences of parental effects at evolutionary equilibrium will depend on how conflicts can be resolved by modifications of developmental processes, suggesting that proximate studies of development can inform ultimate questions. Furthermore, recent studies of plants and animals show how studies of parental effects in an ecological context provide important insights into the origin and evolution of adaptation under variable environmental conditions.

Payoff non-linearity sways the effect of mistakes on the evolution of reciprocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurokawa, Shun

2016-09-01

The existence of cooperation is considered to require explanation, and reciprocity is a potential explanatory mechanism. Animals sometimes fail to cooperate even when they attempt to do so, and a reciprocator has an Achilles' heel: it is vulnerable to error (the interaction between two reciprocators can lead to an endless vendetta.). However, the strategy favored by natural selection is determined also by its interaction with other strategies. The relationship between two reciprocators leading to a collapse of cooperation through error does not straightforwardly imply that mistakes make the conditions under which reciprocity evolves stringent. Hence, mistakes may facilitate the evolution of reciprocity. However, it has been shown through the analysis of the interaction between reciprocators and unconditional defectors that the existence of mistakes makes the conditions for reciprocators stable against invasion by an unconditional defector more stringent, which indicates that mistakes discourage the evolution of reciprocity. However, this result is based on the assumption that the effects of cooperation are additive (payoff is linear), while the game played by real animals does not always display this feature. In such cases, the result may be swayed. In this paper, we remove this assumption, reexamining whether mistakes disturb the evolution of reciprocity. Using the analysis of an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS), we show that when extra fitness costs are present in cases where mutual cooperation is established, mistakes can facilitate the evolution of reciprocity; whereas, when the effect of cooperation is additive, mistakes always disturb the evolution of reciprocity, as has been shown previously. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Epidemiology, Phylogeny, and Evolution of Emerging Enteric Picobirnaviruses of Animal Origin and Their Relationship to Human Strains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yashpal S. Malik

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Picobirnavirus (PBV which has been included in the list of viruses causing enteric infection in animals is highly versatile because of its broad host range and genetic diversity. PBVs are among the most recent and emerging small, nonenveloped viruses with a bisegmented double-stranded RNA genome, classified under a new family “Picobirnaviridae.” PBVs have also been detected from respiratory tract of pigs, but needs further close investigation for their inhabitant behavior. Though, accretion of genomic data of PBVs from different mammalian species resolved some of the ambiguity, quite a few questions and hypotheses regarding pathogenesis, persistence location, and evolution of PBVs remain unreciprocated. Evolutionary analysis reveals association of PBVs with partitiviruses especially fungi partitiviruses. Although, PBVs may have an ambiguous clinical implication, they do pose a potential public health concern in humans and control of PBVs mainly relies on nonvaccinal approach. Based upon the published data, from 1988 to date, generated from animal PBVs across the globe, this review provides information and discussion with respect to genetic analysis as well as evolution of PBVs of animal origin in relation to human strains.

Convergent evolution of chromosomal sex-determining regions in the animal and fungal kingdoms.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James A Fraser

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Sexual identity is governed by sex chromosomes in plants and animals, and by mating type (MAT loci in fungi. Comparative analysis of the MAT locus from a species cluster of the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus revealed sequential evolutionary events that fashioned this large, highly unusual region. We hypothesize that MAT evolved via four main steps, beginning with acquisition of genes into two unlinked sex-determining regions, forming independent gene clusters that then fused via chromosomal translocation. A transitional tripolar intermediate state then converted to a bipolar system via gene conversion or recombination between the linked and unlinked sex-determining regions. MAT was subsequently subjected to intra- and interallelic gene conversion and inversions that suppress recombination. These events resemble those that shaped mammalian sex chromosomes, illustrating convergent evolution in sex-determining structures in the animal and fungal kingdoms.

Comparing the Effect of Animal-Rearing Education in Japan with Conventional Animal-Assisted Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakajima, Yuka

2017-01-01

An increasing number of teachers are introducing animals into their class so that pupils foster cognitive, physiological, and social skills through their interaction with animals. Along with such an educational style termed animal-assisted education (AAE), Japanese formal education has also utilized animals for education. Japanese animal-rearing education is unique regarding the following two points: (1) it takes the form of "education through assisting animals" rather than "animals assisting education" and (2) animal rearing is embedded in formal education. While conventional AAE expects the benefit from the social support of animals, Japanese animal-rearing education expects benefit from nurturing and caring for animals. The present study aims to identify effective methods for using animals for education by highlighting the benefits of Japanese animal-rearing education. An overview of Japanese animal-rearing education is followed by a critical review of empirical studies of conventional AAE and Japanese animal-rearing education. Despite the differences in the educational styles, it was found that both systems commonly help children adapt to school. Additionally, conventional AAE were effective in enhancing cognitive and athletic ability of students and foster social skills, while Japanese animal-rearing education enhanced academic knowledge and skills and cultivated sympathy for animals and other people. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the experience of raising animals affects children's development for a long time even after children stop raising animals. In order to determine the effect of animal presence at school, however, more empirical studies with various viewpoints are necessary for both styles of education. Concerning Japanese animal-rearing education, the effects of the differences such as the amount of exposure to animals, developmental stage or character of individual children, the types of animals need to be controlled for a more sophisticated

Effective Strategies for Teaching Evolution: The Primary Evolution Project

Science.gov (United States)

Hatcher, Chris

2015-01-01

When Chris Hatcher joined the Primary Evolution Project team at the University of Reading, his goal was to find effective strategies to teach evolution in a way that keeps children engaged and enthused. Hatcher has collaborated with colleagues at the University's Institute of Education to break the evolution unit down into distinct topics and…

Comparing the Effect of Animal-Rearing Education in Japan with Conventional Animal-Assisted Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuka Nakajima

2017-06-01

Full Text Available An increasing number of teachers are introducing animals into their class so that pupils foster cognitive, physiological, and social skills through their interaction with animals. Along with such an educational style termed animal-assisted education (AAE, Japanese formal education has also utilized animals for education. Japanese animal-rearing education is unique regarding the following two points: (1 it takes the form of “education through assisting animals” rather than “animals assisting education” and (2 animal rearing is embedded in formal education. While conventional AAE expects the benefit from the social support of animals, Japanese animal-rearing education expects benefit from nurturing and caring for animals. The present study aims to identify effective methods for using animals for education by highlighting the benefits of Japanese animal-rearing education. An overview of Japanese animal-rearing education is followed by a critical review of empirical studies of conventional AAE and Japanese animal-rearing education. Despite the differences in the educational styles, it was found that both systems commonly help children adapt to school. Additionally, conventional AAE were effective in enhancing cognitive and athletic ability of students and foster social skills, while Japanese animal-rearing education enhanced academic knowledge and skills and cultivated sympathy for animals and other people. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the experience of raising animals affects children’s development for a long time even after children stop raising animals. In order to determine the effect of animal presence at school, however, more empirical studies with various viewpoints are necessary for both styles of education. Concerning Japanese animal-rearing education, the effects of the differences such as the amount of exposure to animals, developmental stage or character of individual children, the types of animals need to be

Animal evolution and atmospheric pO2: is there a link between gradual animal adaptation to terrain elevation due to Ural orogeny and survival of subsequent hypoxic periods?

Science.gov (United States)

Kurbel, Sven

2014-10-22

Considering evolution of terrestrial animals as something happening only on flat continental plains seems wrong. Many mountains have arisen and disappeared over the geologic time scale, so in all periods some areas of high altitude existed, with reduced oxygen pressure (pO2) and increased aridity. During orogeny, animal species of the raising terrain can slowly adapt to reduced oxygen levels.This review proposes that animal evolution was often driven by atmospheric oxygen availability. Transitions of insect ancestors and amphibians out of water are here interpreted as events forced by the lack of oxygen in shallow and warm water during Devonian. Hyperoxia during early Carboniferous allowed giant insects to be predators of lowlands, forcing small amphibians to move to higher terrains, unsuitable to large insects due to reduced pO2. In arid mountainous habitats, ascended animals evolved in early reptiles with more efficient lungs and improved circulation. Animals with alveolar lungs became the mammalian ancestors, while those with respiratory duct lungs developed in archosaurs. In this interpretation, limb precursors of wings and pneumatised bones might have been adaptations for moving on steep slopes.Ural mountains have risen to an estimated height of 3000 m between 318 and 251 Mya. The earliest archosaurs have been found on the European Ural side, estimated 275 Myr old. It is proposed that Ural orogeny slowly elevated several highland habitats within the modern Ural region to heights above 2500 m. Since this process took near 60 Myr, animals in these habitats fully to adapted to hypoxia.The protracted P-Tr hypoxic extinction event killed many aquatic and terrestrial animals. Devastated lowland areas were repopulated by mammaliaformes that came down from mountainous areas. Archosaurs were better adapted to very low pO2, so they were forced to descend to the sea level later when the lack of oxygen became severe. During the Triassic period, when the relative content

Convergent evolution of plant and animal embryo defences by hyperstable non-digestible storage proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasquevich, María Yanina; Dreon, Marcos Sebastián; Qiu, Jian-Wen; Mu, Huawei; Heras, Horacio

2017-11-20

Plants have evolved sophisticated embryo defences by kinetically-stable non-digestible storage proteins that lower the nutritional value of seeds, a strategy that have not been reported in animals. To further understand antinutritive defences in animals, we analysed PmPV1, massively accumulated in the eggs of the gastropod Pomacea maculata, focusing on how its structure and structural stability features affected its capacity to withstand passage through predator guts. The native protein withstands >50 min boiling and resists the denaturing detergent sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), indicating an unusually high structural stability (i.e., kinetic stability). PmPV1 is highly resistant to in vitro proteinase digestion and displays structural stability between pH 2.0-12.0 and 25-85 °C. Furthermore, PmPV1 withstands in vitro and mice digestion and is recovered unchanged in faeces, supporting an antinutritive defensive function. Subunit sequence similarities suggest a common origin and tolerance to mutations. This is the first known animal genus that, like plant seeds, lowers the nutritional value of eggs by kinetically-stable non-digestible storage proteins that survive the gut of predators unaffected. The selective pressure of the harsh gastrointestinal environment would have favoured their appearance, extending by convergent evolution the presence of plant-like hyperstable antinutritive proteins to unattended reproductive stages in animals.

Analysis of a vinculin homolog in a sponge (phylum Porifera) reveals that vertebrate-like cell adhesions emerged early in animal evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Phillip W; Pokutta, Sabine; Mitchell, Jennyfer M; Chodaparambil, Jayanth V; Clarke, D Nathaniel; Nelson, William; Weis, William I; Nichols, Scott A

2018-06-07

The evolution of cell adhesion mechanisms in animals facilitated the assembly of organized multicellular tissues. Studies in traditional animal models have revealed two predominant adhesion structures, the adherens junction (AJ) and focal adhesions (FAs), which are involved in the attachment of neighboring cells to each other and to the secreted extracellular matrix (ECM), respectively. The AJ (containing cadherins and catenins) and FAs (comprising integrins, talin, and paxillin) differ in protein composition, but both junctions contain the actin-binding protein vinculin. The near ubiquity of these structures in animals suggests that AJ and FAs evolved early, possibly coincident with multicellularity. However, a challenge to this perspective is that previous studies of sponges-a divergent animal lineage-indicate that their tissues are organized primarily by an alternative, sponge-specific cell adhesion mechanism called "aggregation factor." In this study, we examined the structure, biochemical properties, and tissue localization of a vinculin ortholog in the sponge Oscarella pearsei ( Op ). Our results indicate that Op vinculin localizes to both cell-cell and cell-ECM contacts and has biochemical and structural properties similar to those of vertebrate vinculin. We propose that Op vinculin played a role in cell adhesion and tissue organization in the last common ancestor of sponges and other animals. These findings provide compelling evidence that sponge tissues are indeed organized like epithelia in other animals and support the notion that AJ- and FA-like structures extend to the earliest periods of animal evolution. Published under license by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

The Rise and Fall of an Evolutionary Innovation: Contrasting Strategies of Venom Evolution in Ancient and Young Animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Sunagar, Kartik; Moran, Yehu

2015-10-01

Animal venoms are theorized to evolve under the significant influence of positive Darwinian selection in a chemical arms race scenario, where the evolution of venom resistance in prey and the invention of potent venom in the secreting animal exert reciprocal selection pressures. Venom research to date has mainly focused on evolutionarily younger lineages, such as snakes and cone snails, while mostly neglecting ancient clades (e.g., cnidarians, coleoids, spiders and centipedes). By examining genome, venom-gland transcriptome and sequences from the public repositories, we report the molecular evolutionary regimes of several centipede and spider toxin families, which surprisingly accumulated low-levels of sequence variations, despite their long evolutionary histories. Molecular evolutionary assessment of over 3500 nucleotide sequences from 85 toxin families spanning the breadth of the animal kingdom has unraveled a contrasting evolutionary strategy employed by ancient and evolutionarily young clades. We show that the venoms of ancient lineages remarkably evolve under the heavy constraints of negative selection, while toxin families in lineages that originated relatively recently rapidly diversify under the influence of positive selection. We propose that animal venoms mostly employ a 'two-speed' mode of evolution, where the major influence of diversifying selection accompanies the earlier stages of ecological specialization (e.g., diet and range expansion) in the evolutionary history of the species-the period of expansion, resulting in the rapid diversification of the venom arsenal, followed by longer periods of purifying selection that preserve the potent toxin pharmacopeia-the period of purification and fixation. However, species in the period of purification may re-enter the period of expansion upon experiencing a major shift in ecology or environment. Thus, we highlight for the first time the significant roles of purifying and episodic selections in shaping animal

The Rise and Fall of an Evolutionary Innovation: Contrasting Strategies of Venom Evolution in Ancient and Young Animals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kartik Sunagar

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Animal venoms are theorized to evolve under the significant influence of positive Darwinian selection in a chemical arms race scenario, where the evolution of venom resistance in prey and the invention of potent venom in the secreting animal exert reciprocal selection pressures. Venom research to date has mainly focused on evolutionarily younger lineages, such as snakes and cone snails, while mostly neglecting ancient clades (e.g., cnidarians, coleoids, spiders and centipedes. By examining genome, venom-gland transcriptome and sequences from the public repositories, we report the molecular evolutionary regimes of several centipede and spider toxin families, which surprisingly accumulated low-levels of sequence variations, despite their long evolutionary histories. Molecular evolutionary assessment of over 3500 nucleotide sequences from 85 toxin families spanning the breadth of the animal kingdom has unraveled a contrasting evolutionary strategy employed by ancient and evolutionarily young clades. We show that the venoms of ancient lineages remarkably evolve under the heavy constraints of negative selection, while toxin families in lineages that originated relatively recently rapidly diversify under the influence of positive selection. We propose that animal venoms mostly employ a 'two-speed' mode of evolution, where the major influence of diversifying selection accompanies the earlier stages of ecological specialization (e.g., diet and range expansion in the evolutionary history of the species-the period of expansion, resulting in the rapid diversification of the venom arsenal, followed by longer periods of purifying selection that preserve the potent toxin pharmacopeia-the period of purification and fixation. However, species in the period of purification may re-enter the period of expansion upon experiencing a major shift in ecology or environment. Thus, we highlight for the first time the significant roles of purifying and episodic selections

The effect of cultural interaction on cumulative cultural evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakahashi, Wataru

2014-07-07

Cultural transmission and cultural evolution are important for animals, especially for humans. I developed a new analytical model of cultural evolution, in which each newborn learns cultural traits from multiple individuals (exemplars) in parental generation, individually explores around learned cultural traits, judges the utility of known cultural traits, and adopts a mature cultural trait. Cultural evolutionary speed increases when individuals explore a wider range of cultural traits, accurately judge the skill level of cultural traits (strong direct bias), do not strongly conform to the population mean, increase the exploration range according to the variety of socially learned cultural traits (condition dependent exploration), and make smaller errors in social learning. Number of exemplars, population size, similarity of cultural traits between exemplars, and one-to-many transmission have little effect on cultural evolutionary speed. I also investigated how cultural interaction between two populations with different mean skill levels affects their cultural evolution. A population sometimes increases in skill level more if it encounters a less skilled population than if it does not encounter anyone. A less skilled population sometimes exceeds a more skilled population in skill level by cultural interaction between both populations. The appropriateness of this analytical method is confirmed by individual-based simulations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

National biosecurity approaches, plans and programmes in response to diseases in farmed aquatic animals: evolution, effectiveness and the way forward

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Håstein, T.; Binde, M.; Hine, M.

2008-01-01

The rapid increase in aquaculture production and trade, and increased attention to the negative effects of disease, are becoming stimuli for developing national biosecurity strategies for farmed fisheries, for which the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Aquatic Animal Health Code...... and Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals serve as an excellent framework. Using examples from a few countries and selected diseases, this paper provides a general overview of the development of approaches to implementing biosecurity strategies, including those emerging in the national legislation...... and eradication are also discussed. Important to the effectiveness of such strategies are provision of financial, personnel and other resources to implement them, including incentives such as indemnification or compensation in eradication programmes, and practical linkage to regulatory or government policy...

The TALE face of Hox proteins in animal evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Merabet, Samir; Galliot, Brigitte

2015-01-01

Hox genes are major regulators of embryonic development. One of their most conserved functions is to coordinate the formation of specific body structures along the anterior-posterior (AP) axis in Bilateria. This architectural role was at the basis of several morphological innovations across bilaterian evolution. In this review, we traced the origin of the Hox patterning system by considering the partnership with PBC and Meis proteins. PBC and Meis belong to the TALE-class of homeodomain-containing transcription factors and act as generic cofactors of Hox proteins for AP axis patterning in Bilateria. Recent data indicate that Hox proteins acquired the ability to interact with their TALE partners in the last common ancestor of Bilateria and Cnidaria. These interactions relied initially on a short peptide motif called hexapeptide (HX), which is present in Hox and non-Hox protein families. Remarkably, Hox proteins can also recruit the TALE cofactors by using specific PBC Interaction Motifs (SPIMs). We describe how a functional Hox/TALE patterning system emerged in eumetazoans through the acquisition of SPIMs. We anticipate that interaction flexibility could be found in other patterning systems, being at the heart of the astonishing morphological diversity observed in the animal kingdom.

Animal rights, animal minds, and human mindreading.

Science.gov (United States)

Mameli, M; Bortolotti, L

2006-02-01

Do non-human animals have rights? The answer to this question depends on whether animals have morally relevant mental properties. Mindreading is the human activity of ascribing mental states to other organisms. Current knowledge about the evolution and cognitive structure of mindreading indicates that human ascriptions of mental states to non-human animals are very inaccurate. The accuracy of human mindreading can be improved with the help of scientific studies of animal minds. However, the scientific studies do not by themselves solve the problem of how to map psychological similarities (and differences) between humans and animals onto a distinction between morally relevant and morally irrelevant mental properties. The current limitations of human mindreading-whether scientifically aided or not-have practical consequences for the rational justification of claims about which rights (if any) non-human animals should be accorded.

Measuring general animal health status: Development of an animal health barometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Depoorter, Pieter; Van Huffel, Xavier; Diricks, Herman; Imberechts, Hein; Dewulf, Jeroen; Berkvens, Dirk; Uyttendaele, Mieke

2015-03-01

The development of an animal health barometer, an instrument to measure the general health of the Belgian livestock population on a yearly basis and to monitor its evolution over time, is described. The elaboration of a set of 13 animal health indicators (AHIs) as the basis for the animal health barometer is discussed. These indicators were weighted by experts - including scientists, policy makers and agro-industrial representatives - to determine their relative weight in the barometer. The result of the barometer is expressed as a comparison with a previous year. Based on the results of the 13 AHIs, it is concluded that general animal health in Belgium shows a positive evolution since 2008. The animal health barometer provides a composite view of the status of livestock health in Belgium and is a tool to communicate in an intelligible, comprehensible manner on aspects of animal health to consumers and professional stakeholders in the animal production and food chain. Together with the food safety barometer (Baert et al., 2011. Food Res. Int. 44, 940) and the plant health barometer (Wilmart et al., 2014. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. doi: 10.1007/s10658-014-0547-x), the animal health barometer is one of the three instruments to provide a holistic view on the overall status of the safety of the food chain in Belgium. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sexual and Natural Selection Both Influence Male Genital Evolution

OpenAIRE

House, Clarissa M.; Lewis, Zenobia; Hodgson, Dave J.; Wedell, Nina; Sharma, Manmohan D.; Hunt, John; Hosken, David J.

2013-01-01

Rapid and divergent evolution of male genital morphology is a conspicuous and general pattern across internally fertilizing animals. Rapid genital evolution is thought to be the result of sexual selection, and the role of natural selection in genital evolution remains controversial. However, natural and sexual selection are believed to act antagonistically on male genital form. We conducted an experimental evolution study to investigate the combined effects of natural and sexual selection on ...

Cloned animal products in the human food chain: FDA should protect American consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Jennifer E F

2009-01-01

Animal cloning is "complex process that lets one exactly copy the genetic, or inherited, traits of an animal." In 1997, Dolly the sheep was the first animal cloned and since then "scientists have used animal cloning to breed dairy cows, beef cattle, poultry, hogs and other species of livestock." Cloned animals are highly attractive to livestock breeders because "cloning essentially produces an identical copy of an animal with superior traits." The main purpose of cloning livestock is "more focused on efficiency and economic benefits of the producer rather than the overall effect of cloning on an animal's physical and mental welfare." The focus of this article is threefold. First, the science behind animal cloning is explained and some potential uses and risks of this technology are explored. Second, FDA's historical evolution, current regulatory authority, and limitations of that authority, is described. Lastly, a new regulatory vision recognizes the realities of 21st century global markets and the dynamic evolution of scientific discovery and technology.

From the ossuary: animation and the danse macabre

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carels, Edwin

2012-01-01

abstractThe skeleton has been a key figure throughout the evolution of the animated image. Thisessay investigates how the danse macabre lies at the roots of animation, and has hence kepton reappearing as a motif throughout the evolution of the genre. The theoretical frameworkcombines film history

Animal water balance drives top-down effects in a riparian forest-implications for terrestrial trophic cascades.

Science.gov (United States)

McCluney, Kevin E; Sabo, John L

2016-08-17

Despite the clear importance of water balance to the evolution of terrestrial life, much remains unknown about the effects of animal water balance on food webs. Based on recent research suggesting animal water imbalance can increase trophic interaction strengths in cages, we hypothesized that water availability could drive top-down effects in open environments, influencing the occurrence of trophic cascades. We manipulated large spider abundance and water availability in 20 × 20 m open-air plots in a streamside forest in Arizona, USA, and measured changes in cricket and small spider abundance and leaf damage. As expected, large spiders reduced both cricket abundance and herbivory under ambient, dry conditions, but not where free water was added. When water was added (free or within moist leaves), cricket abundance was unaffected by large spiders, but spiders still altered herbivory, suggesting behavioural effects. Moreover, we found threshold-type increases in herbivory at moderately low soil moisture (between 5.5% and 7% by volume), suggesting the possibility that water balance may commonly influence top-down effects. Overall, our results point towards animal water balance as an important driver of direct and indirect species interactions and food web dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. © 2016 The Author(s).

Effects of interactions between humans and domesticated animals

OpenAIRE

Bokkers, E.A.M.

2006-01-01

Humans have many kinds of relationships with domesticated animals. To maintain relationships interactions are needed. Interactions with animals may be beneficial for humans but may also be risky. Scientific literature on effects of human¿animal relationships and interactions in a workplace, health-care and residential context has been reviewed to develop ideas about the effects farm animals can have on humans. Although there are quite a few studies, the variety of methods, the complexity of t...

Tracing Cultural Evolution Through Memetics

OpenAIRE

Tiktik Dewi Sartika

2004-01-01

Viewing human being, as a part of evolution process is still a controversial issue for some people, in fact the evolution runs. As a sociocultural entity, human being has distinctive characters in its evolution process. A Theory inherited from Darwin may have only been able to answer how a simple unit such genes evolve to such complex animal like human. Yet, how among those complex animals interact, communicate, and replicate idea in so forth formed a such self-organized sociocultural complex...

Biogeochemistry: Food for early animal evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Knoll, Andrew H.

2017-08-01

A revised timeline for when algae became ecologically important among plankton in the ancient oceans reveals a link between chemical changes in those waters and the emergence of animals in marine ecosystems. See Letter p.578

Why bacteria matter in animal development and evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraune, Sebastian; Bosch, Thomas C G

2010-07-01

While largely studied because of their harmful effects on human health, there is growing appreciation that bacteria are important partners for invertebrates and vertebrates, including man. Epithelia in metazoans do not only select their microbiota; a coevolved consortium of microbes enables both invertebrates and vertebrates to expand the range of diet supply, to shape the complex immune system and to control pathogenic bacteria. Microbes in zebrafish and mice regulate gut epithelial homeostasis. In a squid, microbes control the development of the symbiotic light organ. These discoveries point to a key role for bacteria in any metazoan existence, and imply that beneficial bacteria-host interactions should be considered an integral part of development and evolution.

Is our heart a well-designed pump? The heart along animal evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Bettex, Dominique A; Prêtre, René; Chassot, Pierre-Guy

2014-09-07

A carrier system for gases and nutrients became mandatory when primitive animals grew larger and developed different organs. The first circulatory systems are peristaltic tubes pushing slowly the haemolymph into an open vascular tree without capillaries (worms). Arthropods developed contractile bulges on the abdominal aorta assisted by accessory hearts for wings or legs and by abdominal respiratory motions. Two-chamber heart (atrium and ventricle) appeared among mollusks. Vertebrates have a multi-chamber heart and a closed circulation with capillaries. Their heart has two chambers in fishes, three chambers (two atria and one ventricle) in amphibians and reptiles, and four chambers in birds and mammals. The ventricle of reptiles is partially divided in two cavities by an interventricular septum, leaving only a communication of variable size leading to a variable shunt. Blood pressure increases progressively from 15 mmHg (worms) to 170/70 mmHg (birds) according to the increase in metabolic rate. When systemic pressure exceeds 50 mmHg, a lower pressure system appears for the circulation through gills or lungs in order to improve gas exchange. A four-chamber heart allows a complete separation of systemic and pulmonary circuits. This review describes the circulatory pumping systems used in the different classes of animals, their advantages and failures, and the way they have been modified with evolution. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2014. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Animal coloration research: why it matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Caro, Tim; Stoddard, Mary Caswell; Stuart-Fox, Devi

2017-07-05

While basic research on animal coloration is the theme of this special edition, here we highlight its applied significance for industry, innovation and society. Both the nanophotonic structures producing stunning optical effects and the colour perception mechanisms in animals are extremely diverse, having been honed over millions of years of evolution for many different purposes. Consequently, there is a wealth of opportunity for biomimetic and bioinspired applications of animal coloration research, spanning colour production, perception and function. Fundamental research on the production and perception of animal coloration is contributing to breakthroughs in the design of new materials (cosmetics, textiles, paints, optical coatings, security labels) and new technologies (cameras, sensors, optical devices, robots, biomedical implants). In addition, discoveries about the function of animal colour are influencing sport, fashion, the military and conservation. Understanding and applying knowledge of animal coloration is now a multidisciplinary exercise. Our goal here is to provide a catalyst for new ideas and collaborations between biologists studying animal coloration and researchers in other disciplines.This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Irradiation effect on animal feeds and feedstuffs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kume, Tamikazu

1983-10-01

Aiming to secure the safety of animal feeds and develop the new resources, the effect of γ-irradiation on disinfection and the changes in components were investigated. Salmonellae and coliforms contaminating in animal feeds and feedstuffs were eliminated by 0.5 -- 0.6 Mrad and 0.5 -- 0.8 Mrad, and osmophilic moulds were sterilized by 0.7 -- 0.75 Mrad. From these results, it is concluded that the dose for disinfection of animal feeds is 0.8 Mrad. The main components were hardly changed by irradiation up to 5 Mrad, and the component changes in irradiated samples could be suppressed during storage while the components in unirradiated samples were markedly changed with the growth of osmophilic moulds. Histamine and lysinoalanine, which may cause the feed poisoning, were never accumulated in feedstuffs by irradiation. The nutritional value of chick feeds was not changed by 1.0 Mrad irradiation. From these results, it is considered that no problem for wholesomeness of animal feeds occurs by irradiation. Therefore, the irradiation is effective for disinfection and keeping the nutritional value of animal feeds during storage. Irradiation promotes the recovery of proteins in the wastewater by coagulation of proteins and improves the property of coagulants due to the degradation of polysaccharides. These results indicate that irradiation is effective to develop the new resources for animal feeds. (author)

A simple frequency-scaling rule for animal communication

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Neville H.

2004-05-01

Different animals use widely different frequencies for sound communication, and it is reasonable to assume that evolution has adapted these frequencies to give greatest conspecific communication distance for a given vocal effort. Acoustic analysis shows that the optimal communication frequency is inversely proportional to about the 0.4 power of the animal's body mass. Comparison with observational data indicates that this prediction is well supported in practice. For animals of a given class, for example mammals, the maximum communication distance varies about as the 0.6 power of the animal's mass. There is, however, a wide spread of observed results because of the different emphasis placed upon vocal effort in the evolution of different animal species.

The magnitude of innovation and its evolution in social animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Arbilly, Michal; Laland, Kevin N

2017-02-08

Innovative behaviour in animals, ranging from invertebrates to humans, is increasingly recognized as an important topic for investigation by behavioural researchers. However, what constitutes an innovation remains controversial, and difficult to quantify. Drawing on a broad definition whereby any behaviour with a new component to it is an innovation, we propose a quantitative measure, which we call the magnitude of innovation , to describe the extent to which an innovative behaviour is novel. This allows us to distinguish between innovations that are a slight change to existing behaviours (low magnitude), and innovations that are substantially different (high magnitude). Using mathematical modelling and evolutionary computer simulations, we explored how aspects of social interaction, cognition and natural selection affect the frequency and magnitude of innovation. We show that high-magnitude innovations are likely to arise regularly even if the frequency of innovation is low, as long as this frequency is relatively constant, and that the selectivity of social learning and the existence of social rewards, such as prestige and royalties, are crucial for innovative behaviour to evolve. We suggest that consideration of the magnitude of innovation may prove a useful tool in the study of the evolution of cognition and of culture. © 2017 The Author(s).

Phenotypic plasticity and longevity in plants and animals: cause and effect?

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Borges, Renee M

2009-10-01

Immobile plants and immobile modular animals outlive unitary animals. This paper discusses competing but not necessarily mutually exclusive theories to explain this extreme longevity, especially from the perspective of phenotypic plasticity. Stem cell immortality, vascular autonomy, and epicormic branching are some important features of the phenotypic plasticity of plants that contribute to their longevity. Monocarpy versus polycarpy can also influence the kind of senescent processes experienced by plants. How density-dependent phenomena affecting the establishment of juveniles in these immobile organisms can influence the evolution of senescence, and consequently longevity, is reviewed and discussed. Whether climate change scenarios will favour long-lived or short-lived organisms, with their attendant levels of plasticity, is also presented.

Studying phenotypic evolution in domestic animals: a walk in the footsteps of Charles Darwin.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, L

2009-01-01

Charles Darwin used domesticated plants and animals as proof of principle for his theory on phenotypic evolution by means of natural selection. Inspired by Darwin's work, we developed an intercross between the wild boar and domestic pigs to study the genetic basis for phenotypic changes during domestication. The difference in coat color is controlled by two major loci. Dominant white color is due to two consecutive mutations in the KIT gene: a 450-kb duplication and a splice mutation. Black spotting is caused by the combined effect of two mutations in MC1R: a missense mutation for dominant black color and a 2-bp insertion leading to a frameshift. A major discovery made using this pedigree is the identification of a single-nucleotide substitution in intron 3 of the gene for insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) that is underlying a quantitative trait locus affecting muscle growth, size of the heart, and fat deposition. The mutation disrupts the interaction with a repressor and leads to threefold increased IGF2 expression in postnatal muscle. In a recent study, we have identified the IGF2 repressor, and this previously unknown protein, named ZBED6, is specific for placental mammals and derived from a domesticated DNA transposon.

Elemental magic, v.2 the technique of special effects animation

CERN Document Server

Gilland, Joseph

2012-01-01

Design beautiful, professional-level animated effects with these detailed step-by-step tutorials from former Disney animator and animated effects expert Joseph Gilland. Filled with beautiful, full-color artwork, Elemental Magic, Volume II, breaks down the animated effect process from beginning to end-including booming explosions, gusting winds, magical incantations, and raging fires. He also breaks down the process of effects ""clean-up,"" as well as timing and frame rates. The companion website includes real-time footage of the author lecturing as he animates the drawings from the

Cognitive Phenotypes and the Evolution of Animal Decisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendelson, Tamra C; Fitzpatrick, Courtney L; Hauber, Mark E; Pence, Charles H; Rodríguez, Rafael L; Safran, Rebecca J; Stern, Caitlin A; Stevens, Jeffrey R

2016-11-01

Despite the clear fitness consequences of animal decisions, the science of animal decision making in evolutionary biology is underdeveloped compared with decision science in human psychology. Specifically, the field lacks a conceptual framework that defines and describes the relevant components of a decision, leading to imprecise language and concepts. The 'judgment and decision-making' (JDM) framework in human psychology is a powerful tool for framing and understanding human decisions, and we apply it here to components of animal decisions, which we refer to as 'cognitive phenotypes'. We distinguish multiple cognitive phenotypes in the context of a JDM framework and highlight empirical approaches to characterize them as evolvable traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of interactions between humans and domesticated animals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bokkers, E.A.M.

2006-01-01

Humans have many kinds of relationships with domesticated animals. To maintain relationships interactions are needed. Interactions with animals may be beneficial for humans but may also be risky. Scientific literature on effects of human¿animal relationships and interactions in a workplace,

Large-scale trends in the evolution of gene structures within 11 animal genomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Yandell

2006-03-01

Full Text Available We have used the annotations of six animal genomes (Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Ciona intestinalis, Drosophila melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae, and Caenorhabditis elegans together with the sequences of five unannotated Drosophila genomes to survey changes in protein sequence and gene structure over a variety of timescales--from the less than 5 million years since the divergence of D. simulans and D. melanogaster to the more than 500 million years that have elapsed since the Cambrian explosion. To do so, we have developed a new open-source software library called CGL (for "Comparative Genomics Library". Our results demonstrate that change in intron-exon structure is gradual, clock-like, and largely independent of coding-sequence evolution. This means that genome annotations can be used in new ways to inform, corroborate, and test conclusions drawn from comparative genomics analyses that are based upon protein and nucleotide sequence similarities.

Ultra violet radiation : effects on animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stockdale, P.H.G.

1993-01-01

The paper deals with the evolutionary and historical events that have increased the susceptibility of certain genotypes of humanity and domestic animals to ultra violet radiation. Further it discusses the general effects of ultraviolet B (UVB) on vertebrates and then the clinical syndromes seen in such animals as a result of prolonged exposure to this form of radiation. Finally it gives anecdotal comments on evidence for changes in the immediately above types of disease and describes the need for a better recording system for these conditions so that these hypothetical changes could be effectively monitored. (author). 12 refs

Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation

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Veronesi Paola

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Science curricula and teachers should emphasize evolution in a manner commensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science. The concept of adaptation represents a first step to understand the results of natural selection. We settled an experimental project of alternative didactic to improve knowledge of organism adaptation. Students were involved and stimulated in learning processes by creative activities. To set adaptation in a historic frame, fossil records as evidence of past life and evolution were considered. Results The experimental project is schematized in nine phases: review of previous knowledge; lesson on fossils; lesson on fantastic animals; planning an imaginary world; creation of an imaginary animal; revision of the imaginary animals; adaptations of real animals; adaptations of fossil animals; and public exposition. A rubric to evaluate the student's performances is reported. The project involved professors and students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the "G. Marconi" Secondary School of First Degree (Modena, Italy. Conclusion The educational objectives of the project are in line with the National Indications of the Italian Ministry of Public Instruction: knowledge of the characteristics of living beings, the meanings of the term "adaptation", the meaning of fossils, the definition of ecosystem, and the particularity of the different biomes. At the end of the project, students will be able to grasp particular adaptations of real organisms and to deduce information about the environment in which the organism evolved. This project allows students to review previous knowledge and to form their personalities.

Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Guidetti, Roberto; Baraldi, Laura; Calzolai, Caterina; Pini, Lorenza; Veronesi, Paola; Pederzoli, Aurora

2007-01-01

Background Science curricula and teachers should emphasize evolution in a manner commensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science. The concept of adaptation represents a first step to understand the results of natural selection. We settled an experimental project of alternative didactic to improve knowledge of organism adaptation. Students were involved and stimulated in learning processes by creative activities. To set adaptation in a historic frame, fossil records as evidence of past life and evolution were considered. Results The experimental project is schematized in nine phases: review of previous knowledge; lesson on fossils; lesson on fantastic animals; planning an imaginary world; creation of an imaginary animal; revision of the imaginary animals; adaptations of real animals; adaptations of fossil animals; and public exposition. A rubric to evaluate the student's performances is reported. The project involved professors and students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the "G. Marconi" Secondary School of First Degree (Modena, Italy). Conclusion The educational objectives of the project are in line with the National Indications of the Italian Ministry of Public Instruction: knowledge of the characteristics of living beings, the meanings of the term "adaptation", the meaning of fossils, the definition of ecosystem, and the particularity of the different biomes. At the end of the project, students will be able to grasp particular adaptations of real organisms and to deduce information about the environment in which the organism evolved. This project allows students to review previous knowledge and to form their personalities. PMID:17767729

Nature vs Nurture: Effects of Learning on Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Nagrani, Nagina

In the field of Evolutionary Robotics, the design, development and application of artificial neural networks as controllers have derived their inspiration from biology. Biologists and artificial intelligence researchers are trying to understand the effects of neural network learning during the lifetime of the individuals on evolution of these individuals by qualitative and quantitative analyses. The conclusion of these analyses can help develop optimized artificial neural networks to perform any given task. The purpose of this thesis is to study the effects of learning on evolution. This has been done by applying Temporal Difference Reinforcement Learning methods to the evolution of Artificial Neural Tissue controller. The controller has been assigned the task to collect resources in a designated area in a simulated environment. The performance of the individuals is measured by the amount of resources collected. A comparison has been made between the results obtained by incorporating learning in evolution and evolution alone. The effects of learning parameters: learning rate, training period, discount rate, and policy on evolution have also been studied. It was observed that learning delays the performance of the evolving individuals over the generations. However, the non zero learning rate throughout the evolution process signifies natural selection preferring individuals possessing plasticity.

Hormonally active phytochemicals and vertebrate evolution.

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Lambert, Max R; Edwards, Thea M

2017-06-01

Living plants produce a diversity of chemicals that share structural and functional properties with vertebrate hormones. Wildlife species interact with these chemicals either through consumption of plant materials or aquatic exposure. Accumulating evidence shows that exposure to these hormonally active phytochemicals (HAPs) often has consequences for behavior, physiology, and fecundity. These fitness effects suggest there is potential for an evolutionary response by vertebrates to HAPs. Here, we explore the toxicological HAP-vertebrate relationship in an evolutionary framework and discuss the potential for vertebrates to adapt to or even co-opt the effects of plant-derived chemicals that influence fitness. We lay out several hypotheses about HAPs and provide a path forward to test whether plant-derived chemicals influence vertebrate reproduction and evolution. Studies of phytochemicals with direct impacts on vertebrate reproduction provide an obvious and compelling system for studying evolutionary toxicology. Furthermore, an understanding of whether animal populations evolve in response to HAPs could provide insightful context for the study of rapid evolution and how animals cope with chemical agents in the environment.

Effect of the animals on the soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonilla Correa, Carmen Rosa

2000-01-01

Soil is defined here in terms of opposite arbitrary frontiers more than its functions. The animals of the soil are defined in relation to their effect on the soil. The animals that live in the soil and intimately related to they are part of the soil. The animals that live on the soil make him contributions. Many animals are anphi-habitants, that is to say, they live in the soil and a one atmosphere outside of the soil. Animal exopedonics (outside of the soil) and endopedonics (inside the soil) they are considered with regard to twelve activities: blended, accumulation, formation of pores, obstruction of pores, formation and peds destruction, regulation of the erosion of the soil, regulation of the movement of air and the soil, regulation of the liter of plants, regulation of the animal liter, regulation of the cycle of nutritious, regulation of the biota and production of element special. The animals participate in numerous processes of formation of the soil and they affect the use of the same one

Noise effects on reproduction— animal experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Takigawa, H.; Sakamoto, H.; Murata, M.; Matsumura, Y.

1988-12-01

Noise effects on fetal development were observed in animals. While the copulatory function was not affected, birth rate decreased when the animals were exposed to noise. An increased number of stunted fetuses was observed when the animals were intermittently exposed. However, malformations in the fetuses increased with exposure to both intermittent and continuous noise. Two phases of hormonal change were observed in connection with noise exposure. One is the initial response phase, characterized by the increment of 11-OHCS in the adrenal gland. The other is the end phenomena phase, characterized by a disorder in central control. It is discussed that the disturbance of fetal development by exposure to noise is related to these changes in the hormonal condition.

Oxygen and animal evolution: Did a rise of atmospheric oxygen trigger the origin of animals?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mills, Daniel Brady; Canfield, Donald Eugene

2014-01-01

Recent studies challenge the classical view that the origin of animal life was primarily controlled by atmospheric oxygen levels. For example, some modern sponges, representing early-branching animals, can live under 200 times less oxygen than currently present in the atmosphere - levels commonly...... thought to have been maintained prior to their origination. Furthermore, it is increasingly argued that the earliest animals, which likely lived in low oxygen environments, played an active role in constructing the well-oxygenated conditions typical of the modern oceans. Therefore, while oxygen is still...

The Effect of Animal Dissections on Student Acquisition of Knowledge of and Attitudes toward the Animals Dissected.

Science.gov (United States)

McCollum, Terry L.

A conflict exists over the use of animals in the classroom. One aspect of this use involved the dissection of animals. Animal protection advocates report that dissections constitute abuse of the animals dissected. The advocates state that what is learned by dissection could be more effectively learned by other means. Some science educators state…

Cytogenetics in animal production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Iannuzzi

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Cytogenetics applied to domestic animals is a useful biotechnology to be applied in the genetic improvement of livestock. Indeed, it can be used to select reproducers free chromosome abnormalities which are responsible for abnormal body conformation (aneuploidy, lower fertility (balanced chromosome abnormalities or sterility (sex chromosome abnormalities. Cytogenetics may also be applied to assess environmental pollution by studying animals living in hazardous areas and using them as biological indicators (sentinels. Chromosomes also represent optimal biological structures to study the evolution among related (bovids and unrelated (bovidshumans species, especially using comparative FISH-mapping which is one of the most powerful tools to establish the correct order of loci along chromosomes. These comparisons allow us to transfer useful information from richer genomes (human to those of domestic animals. Moreover, the use of specific molecular markers and the FISH-technique on both mitotic and extended (fiber-FISH chromosomes, has heralded a new era of cytogenetics, allowing swift extension of genetic physical maps, better anchoring of both linkage and RH-maps to specific chromosome regions, and use in a variety of applications (clinical cases, embryo and sperm analyses, evolution. In this study a brief review of these fields of the animal cytogenetics is presented.

Effect of animal mixing as a stressor on biomarkers of autophagy and oxidative stress during pig muscle maturation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubio-González, A; Potes, Y; Illán-Rodríguez, D; Vega-Naredo, I; Sierra, V; Caballero, B; Fàbrega, E; Velarde, A; Dalmau, A; Oliván, M; Coto-Montes, A

2015-07-01

The objective of this work was to study the postmortem evolution of potential biomarkers of autophagy (Beclin 1, LC3-II/LC3-I ratio) and oxidative stress (total antioxidant activity, TAA; superoxide dismutase activity, SOD and catalase activity, CAT) in the Longissimus dorsi muscle of entire male ((Large White×Landrace)×Duroc) pigs subjected to different management treatments that may promote stress, such as mixing unfamiliar animals at the farm and/or during transport and lairage before slaughter. During the rearing period at the farm, five animals were never mixed after the initial formation of the experimental groups (unmixed group at the farm, UF), whereas 10 animals were subjected to a common routine of being mixed with unfamiliar animals (mixed group at the farm, MF). Furthermore, two different treatments were used during the transport and lairage before slaughter: 10 pigs were not mixed (unmixed group during transport and lairage, UTL), whereas five pigs were mixed with unfamiliar animals on the lorry and during lairage (mixed group during transport and lairage, MTL). These mixing treatments were then combined into three pre-slaughter treatments - namely, UF-UTL, MF-UTL and MF-MTL. The results show that MF-UTL and MF-MTL increased significantly the muscle antioxidant defense (TAA, SOD and CAT) at short postmortem times (4 and 8 h; Panimals, both at the farm and during transport and lairage, triggers postmortem muscle autophagy, which showed an earlier activation (higher expression of Beclin 1 and LC3-II/LC3-I ratio at 4 h postmortem followed by a decreasing pattern of this ratio along first 24 h postmortem) in the muscle tissues of animals from the MF-UTL and MF-MTL groups, as an adaptive strategy of the muscle cells for counteracting induced stress. From these results, we propose that monitoring the evolution of the main biomarkers of autophagy (Beclin 1, LC3-II/LC3-I ratio) and muscle antioxidant defense (TAA, SOD, CAT) in the muscle tissue within the

Neuropharmacologic responses of animals to extreme effects: exposure to radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikhajlichenko, P.P.; Tikhonchuk, V.S.; Ushakov, I.B.

1990-01-01

The functional state of neurochemical structures of male mice was investigated after their gamma-irradiation with 137 Cs (1.9 Gy/min) at a dose of 100 Gy. The animals were treated with the following drugs that produce selective effects on specific receptors: galanthamine, amizyl, arpenal, phenamine, phentolamine and obsidan, haloperidol, apomorphine, phenazepam, phenibut and strychnin. The results point to the development of heterologous desensibilization of receptors at early post-irradiation periods. The high effectiveness of agonists and antagonists of CNS transmitters in the nonirradiated animals and their low effectiveness in the irradiated animals and their low effectiveness in the irradiated animals may be considered as an indicator of post-radiation injury of specific receptors. These neuropharmacological interactions may obviously be modified in response to the combined effects of space flight factors

Why do we study animal toxins?

Science.gov (United States)

ZHANG, Yun

2015-01-01

Venom (toxins) is an important trait evolved along the evolutionary tree of animals. Our knowledges on venoms, such as their origins and loss, the biological relevance and the coevolutionary patterns with other organisms are greatly helpful in understanding many fundamental biological questions, i.e., the environmental adaptation and survival competition, the evolution shaped development and balance of venoms, and the sophisticated correlations among venom, immunity, body power, intelligence, their genetic basis, inherent association, as well as the cost-benefit and trade-offs of biological economy. Lethal animal envenomation can be found worldwide. However, from foe to friend, toxin studies have led lots of important discoveries and exciting avenues in deciphering and fighting human diseases, including the works awarded the Nobel Prize and lots of key clinic therapeutics. According to our survey, so far, only less than 0.1% of the toxins of the venomous animals in China have been explored. We emphasize on the similarities shared by venom and immune systems, as well as the studies of toxin knowledge-based physiological toxin-like proteins/peptides (TLPs). We propose the natural pairing hypothesis. Evolution links toxins with humans. Our mission is to find out the right natural pairings and interactions of our body elements with toxins, and with endogenous toxin-like molecules. Although, in nature, toxins may endanger human lives, but from a philosophical point of view, knowing them well is an effective way to better understand ourselves. So, this is why we study toxins. PMID:26228472

The evolution of multivariate maternal effects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bram Kuijper

2014-04-01

Full Text Available There is a growing interest in predicting the social and ecological contexts that favor the evolution of maternal effects. Most predictions focus, however, on maternal effects that affect only a single character, whereas the evolution of maternal effects is poorly understood in the presence of suites of interacting traits. To overcome this, we simulate the evolution of multivariate maternal effects (captured by the matrix M in a fluctuating environment. We find that the rate of environmental fluctuations has a substantial effect on the properties of M: in slowly changing environments, offspring are selected to have a multivariate phenotype roughly similar to the maternal phenotype, so that M is characterized by positive dominant eigenvalues; by contrast, rapidly changing environments favor Ms with dominant eigenvalues that are negative, as offspring favor a phenotype which substantially differs from the maternal phenotype. Moreover, when fluctuating selection on one maternal character is temporally delayed relative to selection on other traits, we find a striking pattern of cross-trait maternal effects in which maternal characters influence not only the same character in offspring, but also other offspring characters. Additionally, when selection on one character contains more stochastic noise relative to selection on other traits, large cross-trait maternal effects evolve from those maternal traits that experience the smallest amounts of noise. The presence of these cross-trait maternal effects shows that individual maternal effects cannot be studied in isolation, and that their study in a multivariate context may provide important insights about the nature of past selection. Our results call for more studies that measure multivariate maternal effects in wild populations.

The evolution of multivariate maternal effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuijper, Bram; Johnstone, Rufus A; Townley, Stuart

2014-04-01

There is a growing interest in predicting the social and ecological contexts that favor the evolution of maternal effects. Most predictions focus, however, on maternal effects that affect only a single character, whereas the evolution of maternal effects is poorly understood in the presence of suites of interacting traits. To overcome this, we simulate the evolution of multivariate maternal effects (captured by the matrix M) in a fluctuating environment. We find that the rate of environmental fluctuations has a substantial effect on the properties of M: in slowly changing environments, offspring are selected to have a multivariate phenotype roughly similar to the maternal phenotype, so that M is characterized by positive dominant eigenvalues; by contrast, rapidly changing environments favor Ms with dominant eigenvalues that are negative, as offspring favor a phenotype which substantially differs from the maternal phenotype. Moreover, when fluctuating selection on one maternal character is temporally delayed relative to selection on other traits, we find a striking pattern of cross-trait maternal effects in which maternal characters influence not only the same character in offspring, but also other offspring characters. Additionally, when selection on one character contains more stochastic noise relative to selection on other traits, large cross-trait maternal effects evolve from those maternal traits that experience the smallest amounts of noise. The presence of these cross-trait maternal effects shows that individual maternal effects cannot be studied in isolation, and that their study in a multivariate context may provide important insights about the nature of past selection. Our results call for more studies that measure multivariate maternal effects in wild populations.

Procoagulant snake venoms have differential effects in animal plasmas: Implications for antivenom testing in animal models.

Science.gov (United States)

Maduwage, Kalana P; Scorgie, Fiona E; Lincz, Lisa F; O'Leary, Margaret A; Isbister, Geoffrey K

2016-01-01

Animal models are used to test toxic effects of snake venoms/toxins and the antivenom required to neutralise them. However, venoms that cause clinically relevant coagulopathy in humans may have differential effects in animals. We aimed to investigate the effect of different procoagulant snake venoms on various animal plasmas. Prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were measured in seven animal plasmas (human, rabbit, cat, guinea pig, pig, cow and rat). In vitro clotting times were then used to calculate the effective concentration (EC50) in each plasma for four snake venoms with different procoagulant toxins: Pseudonaja textilis, Daboia russelli, Echis carinatus and Calloselasma rhodostoma. Compared to human, PT and aPTT were similar for rat, rabbit and pig, but double for cat and cow, while guinea pig had similar aPTT but double PT. Fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were similar for all species. Human and rabbit plasmas had the lowest EC50 for P. textilis (0.1 and 0.4 μg/ml), D. russelli (0.4 and 0.1 μg/ml), E. carinatus (0.6 and 0.1 μg/ml) venoms respectively, while cat plasma had the lowest EC50 for C. rhodostoma (11 μg/ml) venom. Cow, rat, pig and guinea pig plasmas were highly resistant to all four venoms with EC50 10-fold that of human. Different animal plasmas have varying susceptibility to procoagulant venoms, and excepting rabbits, animal models are not appropriate to test procoagulant activity. In vitro assays on human plasma should instead be adopted for this purpose. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The edge of neutral evolution in social dilemmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cremer, Jonas; Frey, Erwin [Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Theresienstrasse 37, D-80333 Muenchen (Germany); Reichenbach, Tobias [Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States)], E-mail: jonas.cremer@physik.uni-muenchen.de

2009-09-15

The functioning of animal as well as human societies fundamentally relies on cooperation. Yet, defection is often favorable for the selfish individual, and social dilemmas arise. Selection by individuals' fitness, usually the basic driving force of evolution, quickly eliminates cooperators. However, evolution is also governed by fluctuations that can be of greater importance than fitness differences, and can render evolution effectively neutral. Here, we investigate the effects of selection versus fluctuations in social dilemmas. By studying the mean extinction times of cooperators and defectors, a variable sensitive to fluctuations, we are able to identify and quantify an emerging 'edge of neutral evolution' that delineates regimes of neutral and Darwinian evolution. Our results reveal that cooperation is significantly maintained in the neutral regimes. In contrast, the classical predictions of evolutionary game theory, where defectors beat cooperators, are recovered in the Darwinian regimes. Our studies demonstrate that fluctuations can provide a surprisingly simple way to partly resolve social dilemmas. Our methods are generally applicable to estimate the role of random drift in evolutionary dynamics.

The edge of neutral evolution in social dilemmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cremer, Jonas; Frey, Erwin; Reichenbach, Tobias

2009-01-01

The functioning of animal as well as human societies fundamentally relies on cooperation. Yet, defection is often favorable for the selfish individual, and social dilemmas arise. Selection by individuals' fitness, usually the basic driving force of evolution, quickly eliminates cooperators. However, evolution is also governed by fluctuations that can be of greater importance than fitness differences, and can render evolution effectively neutral. Here, we investigate the effects of selection versus fluctuations in social dilemmas. By studying the mean extinction times of cooperators and defectors, a variable sensitive to fluctuations, we are able to identify and quantify an emerging 'edge of neutral evolution' that delineates regimes of neutral and Darwinian evolution. Our results reveal that cooperation is significantly maintained in the neutral regimes. In contrast, the classical predictions of evolutionary game theory, where defectors beat cooperators, are recovered in the Darwinian regimes. Our studies demonstrate that fluctuations can provide a surprisingly simple way to partly resolve social dilemmas. Our methods are generally applicable to estimate the role of random drift in evolutionary dynamics.

Harmful Effects of Nanoparticles on Animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Marie Exbrayat

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Since several years nanoparticles (NPs are produced by industries and used in several fields of activities. They are finally found in aquatic and terrestrial environments, where they are ingested by living organisms in which they accumulate, before being eliminated. In organisms, NPs represent foreign elements with their own physicochemical properties due to their small size. So NPs may interfere with the normal physiological mechanisms of the embryos, growing animals, and adults, and it is indispensable to understand their potentially direct or indirect harmful effects on living organisms. It has been already shown that NPs could be toxic to bacteria, algae, invertebrates, and vertebrates. In this review, several examples of recent studies are given. We will examine successively the effects of NPs on terrestrial and semiaquatic and aquatic vertebrate and invertebrate animals.

Molecular evolution of multiple-level control of heme biosynthesis pathway in animal kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Tzou, Wen-Shyong; Chu, Ying; Lin, Tzung-Yi; Hu, Chin-Hwa; Pai, Tun-Wen; Liu, Hsin-Fu; Lin, Han-Jia; Cases, Ildeofonso; Rojas, Ana; Sanchez, Mayka; You, Zong-Ye; Hsu, Ming-Wei

2014-01-01

Adaptation of enzymes in a metabolic pathway can occur not only through changes in amino acid sequences but also through variations in transcriptional activation, mRNA splicing and mRNA translation. The heme biosynthesis pathway, a linear pathway comprised of eight consecutive enzymes in animals, provides researchers with ample information for multiple types of evolutionary analyses performed with respect to the position of each enzyme in the pathway. Through bioinformatics analysis, we found that the protein-coding sequences of all enzymes in this pathway are under strong purifying selection, from cnidarians to mammals. However, loose evolutionary constraints are observed for enzymes in which self-catalysis occurs. Through comparative genomics, we found that in animals, the first intron of the enzyme-encoding genes has been co-opted for transcriptional activation of the genes in this pathway. Organisms sense the cellular content of iron, and through iron-responsive elements in the 5' untranslated regions of mRNAs and the intron-exon boundary regions of pathway genes, translational inhibition and exon choice in enzymes may be enabled, respectively. Pathway product (heme)-mediated negative feedback control can affect the transport of pathway enzymes into the mitochondria as well as the ubiquitin-mediated stability of enzymes. Remarkably, the positions of these controls on pathway activity are not ubiquitous but are biased towards the enzymes in the upstream portion of the pathway. We revealed that multiple-level controls on the activity of the heme biosynthesis pathway depend on the linear depth of the enzymes in the pathway, indicating a new strategy for discovering the molecular constraints that shape the evolution of a metabolic pathway.

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage.

Science.gov (United States)

Skelhorn, John; Rowe, Candy

2016-02-24

Camouflage is one of the most widespread forms of anti-predator defence and prevents prey individuals from being detected or correctly recognized by would-be predators. Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in both the evolution of prey camouflage patterns, and in understanding animal cognition in a more ecological context. However, these fields rarely collide, and the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage is poorly understood. Here, we review what we currently know about the role of both predator and prey cognition in the evolution of prey camouflage, outline why cognition may be an important selective pressure driving the evolution of camouflage and consider how studying the cognitive processes of animals may prove to be a useful tool to study the evolution of camouflage, and vice versa. In doing so, we highlight that we still have a lot to learn about the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage and identify a number of avenues for future research. © 2016 The Author(s).

Upper Secondary and First-Year University Students' Explanations of Animal Behaviour: To What Extent Are Tinbergen's Four Questions about Causation, Ontogeny, Function and Evolution, Represented?

Science.gov (United States)

Pinxten, Rianne; Desclée, Mathieu; Eens, Marcel

2016-01-01

In 1963, the Nobel Prize-winning ethologist Niko Tinbergen proposed a framework for the scientific study of animal behaviour by outlining four questions that should be answered to have a complete understanding: causation, ontogeny, function and evolution. At present, Tinbergen's framework is still considered the best way to guide animal…

Genomics of coloration in natural animal populations.

Science.gov (United States)

San-Jose, Luis M; Roulin, Alexandre

2017-07-05

Animal coloration has traditionally been the target of genetic and evolutionary studies. However, until very recently, the study of the genetic basis of animal coloration has been mainly restricted to model species, whereas research on non-model species has been either neglected or mainly based on candidate approaches, and thereby limited by the knowledge obtained in model species. Recent high-throughput sequencing technologies allow us to overcome previous limitations, and open new avenues to study the genetic basis of animal coloration in a broader number of species and colour traits, and to address the general relevance of different genetic structures and their implications for the evolution of colour. In this review, we highlight aspects where genome-wide studies could be of major utility to fill in the gaps in our understanding of the biology and evolution of animal coloration. The new genomic approaches have been promptly adopted to study animal coloration although substantial work is still needed to consider a larger range of species and colour traits, such as those exhibiting continuous variation or based on reflective structures. We argue that a robust advancement in the study of animal coloration will also require large efforts to validate the functional role of the genes and variants discovered using genome-wide tools.This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Toxic Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Animal Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre Beaulieu

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The present article reviews the main toxic effects of cannabis and cannabinoids in animals. Toxic effects can be separated into acute and chronic classifications. Acute toxicity studies show that it is virtually impossible to die from acute administration of marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of cannabis. Chronic toxicity involves lesions of airway and lung tissues, as well as problems of neurotoxicity, tolerance and dependence, and dysregulations in the immune and hormonal systems. Animal toxicity data, however, are difficult to extrapolate to humans.

Effects of mass loss on the evolution of massive stars. I. Main-sequence evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dearborn, D.S.P.; Blake, J.B.; Hainebach, K.L.; Schramm, D.N.

1978-01-01

The effect of mass loss on the evolution and surface composition of massive stars during main-sequence evolution are examined. While some details of the evolutionary track depend on the formula used for the mass loss, the results appear most sensitive to the total mass removed during the main-sequence lifetime. It was found that low mass-loss rates have very little effect on the evolution of a star; the track is slightly subluminous, but the lifetime is almost unaffected. High rates of mass loss lead to a hot, high-luminosity stellar model with a helium core surrounded by a hydrogen-deficient (Xapprox.0.1) envelope. The main-sequence lifetime is extended by a factor of 2--3. These models may be identified with Wolf-Rayet stars. Between these mass-loss extremes are intermediate models which appear as OBN stars on the main sequence. The mass-loss rates required for significant observable effects range from 8 x 10 -7 to 10 -5 M/sub sun/ yr -1 , depending on the initial stellar mass. It is found that observationally consistent mass-loss rates for stars with M> or =30 M/sub sun/ may be sufficiently high that these stars lose mass on a time scale more rapidly than their main-sequence core evolution time. This result implies that the helium cores resulting from the main-sequence evolution of these massive stars may all be very similar to that of a star of Mapprox.30 M/sub sun/ regardless of the zero-age mass

The evolution of cooperation by the Hankshaw effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammarlund, Sarah P; Connelly, Brian D; Dickinson, Katherine J; Kerr, Benjamin

2016-06-01

The evolution of cooperation-costly behavior that benefits others-faces one clear obstacle. Namely, cooperators are always at a competitive disadvantage relative to defectors, individuals that reap the benefits, but evade the cost of cooperation. One solution to this problem involves genetic hitchhiking, where the allele encoding cooperation becomes linked to a beneficial mutation, allowing cooperation to rise in abundance. Here, we explore hitchhiking in the context of adaptation to a stressful environment by cooperators and defectors with spatially limited dispersal. Under such conditions, clustered cooperators reach higher local densities, thereby experiencing more mutational opportunities than defectors. Thus, the allele encoding cooperation has a greater probability of hitchhiking with alleles conferring stress adaptation. We label this probabilistic enhancement the "Hankshaw effect" after the character Sissy Hankshaw, whose anomalously large thumbs made her a singularly effective hitchhiker. Using an agent-based model, we reveal a broad set of conditions that allow the evolution of cooperation through this effect. Additionally, we show that spite, a costly behavior that harms others, can evolve by the Hankshaw effect. While in an unchanging environment these costly social behaviors have transient success, in a dynamic environment, cooperation and spite can persist indefinitely. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Late radiation effects in animals surviving lethal irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dimitrov, L.A.

1974-01-01

Animals (rats, mice, dogs) survived lethal irradiation by means of prophylactic-therapeutic treatments or previously irradiated, were studied for late radiation effects: life span, cachexia and fat growing of hypophysical type, tissue or organ hypoplasia manifested by disturbed hemopoiesis, suppressed function of adrenal gland, etc., suppressed immune reactivity of the irradiated organism, atypical biochemical changes in DNA and protein metabolism, epilation, chronic dermatitis, ulcerations, reduced reproductivity or full sterility, damage of kidneys leading to nephrosclerosis, dishormonal states, cataracts, diffuse sclerotic processes, various kinds of malignant and non-malignant tumors. In these cases hemopoiesis compensated for a definite time peripheral blood composition, but during the late period it showed features of incompleteness: shorter life survival of erythrocytes and thrombocytes manifested by a decreased binding of labelled methionine in these blood elements, anemia and relative thrombocytopenia sometimes with an increased number of polychromatic erythrocytes in peripheral blood and a decreased number of reticulocytes at the same time; lymphopenia and relative leucopenia with an increased number of hypersegmented neutrophils. Decreased reproductivity and atypical biochemical changes available in the first generation of the irradiated animals showed the probable role of mutagenic factors in the emergence of some late radiation effects. A significant part of late radiation sequences were due to neuro-endocrine desintegrations which lead to a disturbed supply of the vessels and afterwards to their sclerosis. Some of the described late radiation effects were also observed in biological controls as festures of ageing while in irradiated animals they were manifested in an earlier period. After application of optimal amounts radioprotectors (AET, cysteamine, serotonin) a more marked protective effect is demonstrated in the early reactions (time survival

Animal communication and human language: An overview

OpenAIRE

Barón Birchenall , Leonardo

2016-01-01

International audience; Comparative research has proven to be a fruitful field of study on the ontogenetic and phylogenetic evolution of language, and on the cognitive capacities unique to humans or shared with other animals. The degree of continuity between components of human language and non-human animal communication systems, as well as the existence of a core factor of language, are polemic subjects at present. In this article, we offer an overview of the research on animal communication...

Biological effects of transuranium elements in experimental animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bair, W.J.

1975-01-01

Results are reported from life span studies of the biological effects of the transuranium elements ( 238 Pu, 239 Pu, 241 Am, and 242 Cm) on laboratory animals following inhalation, skin absorption, or injection in various chemical forms. The dose levels at which major biological effects have been observed in experimental animals are discussed relative to the maximum permissible lung burden of 0.016 μCi for occupational exposures. Lung cancer has been observed at dose levels equivalent to about 100 times the maximum permissible lung burden. Current experiments directed towards determining whether health effects will occur at lower levels and the mechanisms by which α emitters induce cancer are reviewed. (U.S.)

Evo-devo of non-bilaterian animals

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Emilio Lanna

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The non-bilaterian animals comprise organisms in the phyla Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora and Placozoa. These early-diverging phyla are pivotal to understanding the evolution of bilaterian animals. After the exponential increase in research in evolutionary development (evo-devo in the last two decades, these organisms are again in the spotlight of evolutionary biology. In this work, I briefly review some aspects of the developmental biology of nonbilaterians that contribute to understanding the evolution of development and of the metazoans. The evolution of the developmental genetic toolkit, embryonic polarization, the origin of gastrulation and mesodermal cells, and the origin of neural cells are discussed. The possibility that germline and stem cell lineages have the same origin is also examined. Although a considerable number of non-bilaterian species are already being investigated, the use of species belonging to different branches of non-bilaterian lineages and functional experimentation with gene manipulation in the majority of the non-bilaterian lineages will be necessary for further progress in this field.

An overview of animal science research 1945-2011 through science mapping analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Ledesma, A; Cobo, M J; Lopez-Pujalte, C; Herrera-Viedma, E

2015-12-01

The conceptual structure of the field of Animal Science (AS) research is examined by means of a longitudinal science mapping analysis. The whole of the AS research field is analysed, revealing its conceptual evolution. To this end, an automatic approach to detecting and visualizing hidden themes or topics and their evolution across a consecutive span of years was applied to AS publications of the JCR category 'Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science' during the period 1945-2011. This automatic approach was based on a coword analysis and combines performance analysis and science mapping. To observe the conceptual evolution of AS, six consecutive periods were defined: 1945-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2005 and 2006-2011. Research in AS was identified as having focused on ten main thematic areas: ANIMAL-FEEDING, SMALL-RUMINANTS, ANIMAL-REPRODUCTION, DAIRY-PRODUCTION, MEAT-QUALITY, SWINE-PRODUCTION, GENETICS-AND-ANIMAL-BREEDING, POULTRY, ANIMAL-WELFARE and GROWTH-FACTORS-AND-FATTY-ACIDS. The results show how genomic studies gain in weight and integrate with other thematic areas. The whole of AS research has become oriented towards an overall framework in which animal welfare, sustainable management and human health play a major role. All this would affect the future structure and management of livestock farming. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Residual effects of animal manures on physical and chemical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This experiment was conducted to investigate effects of animal manures on chemical composition of silage produced from Panicum maximum (Ntchisi) two - years post application. The plots were established in June 2010 during this period, animal manures from cattle dung, swine waste, poultry droppings and small ...

Evolution of glycaemia in the rat after gamma irradiation; Evolution de la glycemie chez le rat apres irradiation gamma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marble, G; Frossard, H; Breuil, L; Engler, R [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Fontenay aux Roses (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1965-07-01

The study of glycaemia variations in the rat after irradiation has made it possible to observe not only a premature hyperglycemia but also a belated hypoglycemia whose importance and subsequent evolution seem to depend on the dose given to the animal. (authors) [French] L'etude des variations de la glycemie du rat apres irradiation a permis de noter une hyperglycemie precoce mais egalement une hypoglycemie retardee dont l'amplitude et l'evolution seraient fonction de la dose delivree a l'animal. (auteurs)

The effect of sex on the repeatability of evolution in different environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lachapelle, Josianne; Colegrave, Nick

2017-04-01

The adaptive function of sex has been extensively studied, while less consideration has been given to the potential downstream consequences of sex on evolution. Here, we investigate one such potential consequence, the effect of sex on the repeatability of evolution. By affecting the repeatability of evolution, sex could have important implications for biodiversity, and for our ability to make predictions about the outcome of environmental change. We allowed asexual and sexual populations of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to evolve in novel environments and monitored both their change in fitness and variance in fitness after evolution. Sex affected the repeatability of evolution by changing the importance of the effect of selection, chance, and ancestral constraints on the outcome of the evolutionary process. In particular, the effects of sex were highly dependent on the initial genetic composition of the population and on the environment. Given the lack of a consistent effect of sex on repeatability across the environments used here, further studies to dissect in more detail the underlying reasons for these differences as well as studies in additional environments are required if we are to have a general understanding of the effects of sex on the repeatability of evolution. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Harmonisation of the use of Sacrificial Animals by Candomblé with the Protection of Animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrícia da Costa Santana

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This article has as main objective to point a way to solve the conflicts between the fundamental rights or constitutional principles, more specifically the conflict between the protection of the immaterial cultural manifestation of African matrix religion that uses animals sacrifice and the environment protection ecologically balanced with emphasis in the fauna protection. The fundamental rights are studied in their theoretical genesis and legislative evolution up to the present perspective of the constitutional treatment of the subject. In the end it is offered a technique which intends to restricts the principles and makes possible the permanence and realization of both, guaranteeing the constitutional effectiveness.

Animal Rights Activism Threatens Dissection.

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, Constance

1990-01-01

Discussed is the movement against the use of dissections in science laboratories. Examples of protests across the United States are included. Compared is the plight of using animals in a biology classroom and the demise of the teaching of evolution in some areas. (KR)

Micro RNAs in animal development.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Plasterk, R.H.A.

2006-01-01

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 22 nucleotide single-stranded noncoding RNA molecules that bind to target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and silence their expression. This Essay explores the importance of miRNAs in animal development and their possible roles in disease and evolution.

Evolution of cholinesterases in the animal kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Pezzementi, Leo; Chatonnet, Arnaud

2010-09-06

Cholinesterases emerged from a family of enzymes and proteins with adhesion properties. This family is absent in plants and expanded in multicellular animals. True cholinesterases appeared in triploblastic animals together with the cholinergic system. Lineage specific duplications resulted in two acetylcholinesterases in most hexapods and in up to four genes in nematodes. In vertebrates the duplication leading to acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is now considered to be an ancient event which occurred before the split of osteichthyes. The product of one or the other of the paralogues is responsible for the physiological hydrolysis of acetylcholine, depending on the species lineage and tissue considered. The BChE gene seems to have been lost in some fish lineages. The complete genome of amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae: cephalochordate) contains a large number of duplicated genes or pseudogenes of cholinesterases. Sequence comparison and tree constructions raise the question of considering the atypical ChE studied in this organism as a representative of ancient BChE. Thus nematodes, arthropods, annelids, molluscs, and vertebrates typically possess two paralogous genes coding for cholinesterases. The origin of the duplication(s) is discussed. The mode of attachment through alternative C-terminal coding exons seems to have evolved independently from the catalytic part of the gene. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are innate immune signaling pathways in plants and animals conserved?

Science.gov (United States)

Ausubel, Frederick M

2005-10-01

Although adaptive immunity is unique to vertebrates, the innate immune response seems to have ancient origins. Common features of innate immunity in vertebrates, invertebrate animals and plants include defined receptors for microbe-associated molecules, conserved mitogen-associated protein kinase signaling cascades and the production of antimicrobial peptides. It is commonly reported that these similarities in innate immunity represent a process of divergent evolution from an ancient unicellular eukaryote that pre-dated the divergence of the plant and animal kingdoms. However, at present, data suggest that the seemingly analogous regulatory modules used in plant and animal innate immunity are a consequence of convergent evolution and reflect inherent constraints on how an innate immune system can be constructed.

The Effect of Audio and Animation in Multimedia Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Koroghlanian, Carol; Klein, James D.

2004-01-01

This study investigated the effects of audio, animation, and spatial ability in a multimedia computer program for high school biology. Participants completed a multimedia program that presented content by way of text or audio with lean text. In addition, several instructional sequences were presented either with static illustrations or animations.…

Animal Effects from Soviet Atmospheric Nuclear Tests

Science.gov (United States)

2008-03-01

describes the effect on animal models of atmospheric nuclear weapons tests performed by the Soviet Union at the Semipalatinsk Test Site . Part I describes...understand the pathogenic mechanisms of injury and the likelihood of efficacy of proposed treatment measures. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Semipalatinsk Test Site ...the Semipalatinsk Test Site . Part 1 describes the air blast and thermal radiation effects. Part 2 covers the effects of primary (prompt) radiation and

Animal Structures and Functions, Science (Experimental): 5314.13.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, Barbara A.

This unit of instruction was designed to introduce the student to the relationship between structure and function in the animal kingdom, with emphasis given to: (1) the evolution of physiological systems in the major animal phyla, (2) the complementarity of structure and function, and (3) the concept of homeostasis. The booklet lists the relevant…

The Effect of Toxic Cyanobacteria on Human and Animal Health

Science.gov (United States)

The study of environmental health typically focuses on human populations. However, companion animals, livestock and wildlife also experience adverse health effects from environmental pollutants. Animals may experience direct exposure to pollutants unlike people in most ambient ex...

Refined control of cell stemness allowed animal evolution in the oxic realm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hammarlund, Emma U; von Stedingk, Kristoffer; Påhlman, Sven

2018-01-01

Animal diversification on Earth has long been presumed to be associated with the increasing extent of oxic niches. Here, we challenge that view. We start with the fact that hypoxia (cells continuously-and paradoxically......-regenerate animal tissue in oxygenated settings. Novel insights from tumour biology illuminate how cell stemness nevertheless can be achieved through the action of oxygen-sensing transcription factors in oxygenated, regenerating tissue. We suggest that these hypoxia-inducible transcription factors provided animals...... with unprecedented control over cell stemness that allowed them to cope with fluctuating oxygen concentrations. Thus, a refinement of the cellular hypoxia-response machinery enabled cell stemness at oxic conditions and, then, animals to evolve into the oxic realm. This view on the onset of animal diversification...

Side-effects of application of manure from AFCF treated animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vandecasteele, C.M.; Hees, M. van; Brouwer, S. de; Vandenhove, H.

1996-01-01

AFCF (ammonium-ferric-hexacyano-ferrate) is a very effective caesium binder. Mixed with the animal feed, presented in the form of salt licks or introduced into the rumenas slow release boll, this compound is an efficient countermeasure to limit the gastro-intestinal uptake of radiocaesium by farm animals and wild ruminants. Less than 1 % of the ingested AFCF is excreted in urine or secreted in milk, suggesting that it crossed the gastro-intestinal tract unabsorbed and is finally excreted in faeces together with the caesium bound in the gut. This means that AFCF from treated animals returns directly to pastures while animals are grazing or that it can be spread on fields fertilized with animal manure. Although no toxicological problems have been observed on animals given hexacyanoferrates in the recommended doses, the fate of this molecule in the environment after excretion is not well documented. Except for limited data obtained in Norway and in the CIS, practically no information is available regarding its action on the availability of Cs present in the soil, nor concerning potential side-effects of its possible degradation to cyanides and other materials with a concomitant release of bound Cs over long periods of time. (author)

Evolution of glycosaminoglycans and their glycosyltransferases: Implications for the extracellular matrices of animals and the capsules of pathogenic bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

DeAngelis, Paul L

2002-11-01

Glycosaminoglycans (linear polysaccharides with a repeating disaccharide backbone containing an amino sugar) are essential components of extracellular matrices of animals. These complex molecules play important structural, adhesion, and signaling roles in mammals. Direct detection of glycosaminoglycans has been reported in a variety of organisms, but perhaps more definitive tests for the glycosyltransferase genes should be utilized to clarify the distribution of glycosaminoglycans in metazoans. Recently, glycosyltransferases that form the hyaluronan, heparin/heparan, or chondroitin backbone were identified at the molecular level. The three types of glycosyltransferases appear to have evolved independently based on sequence comparisons and other characteristics. All metazoans appear to possess heparin/heparan. Chondroitin is found in some worms, arthropods, and higher animals. Hyaluronan is found only in two of the three main branches of chordates. The presence of several types of glycosaminoglycans in the body allows multiple communication channels and adhesion systems to operate simultaneously. Certain pathogenic bacteria produce extracellular coatings, called capsules, which are composed of glycosaminoglycans that increase their virulence during infection. The capsule helps shield the microbe from the host defenses and/or modulates host physiology. The bacterial and animal polysaccharides are chemically identical or at least very similar. Therefore, no immune response is generated, in contrast to the vast majority of capsular polymers from other bacteria. In microbial systems, it appears that in most cases functional convergent evolution of glycosaminoglycan glycosyltransferases occurred, rather than direct horizontal gene transfer from their vertebrate hosts. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Effects of Animal Venoms and Toxins on Hallmarks of Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Chaisakul, Janeyuth; Hodgson, Wayne C.; Kuruppu, Sanjaya; Prasongsook, Naiyarat

2016-01-01

Animal venoms are a cocktail of proteins and peptides, targeting vital physiological processes. Venoms have evolved to assist in the capture and digestion of prey. Key venom components often include neurotoxins, myotoxins, cardiotoxins, hematoxins and catalytic enzymes. The pharmacological activities of venom components have been investigated as a source of potential therapeutic agents. Interestingly, a number of animal toxins display profound anticancer effects. These include toxins purified from snake, bee and scorpion venoms effecting cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptotic activity and neovascularization. Indeed, the mechanism behind the anticancer effect of certain toxins is similar to that of agents currently used in chemotherapy. For example, Lebein is a snake venom disintegrin which generates anti-angiogenic effects by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF). In this review article, we highlight the biological activities of animal toxins on the multiple steps of tumour formation or hallmarks of cancer. We also discuss recent progress in the discovery of lead compounds for anticancer drug development from venom components. PMID:27471574

Effects of Amendment of Agricultural Bye Products with Animal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effects of Amendment of Agricultural Bye Products with Animal Manures on Soil ... Discovery and Innovation ... Open Access DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ... into the effectiveness of locally available agricultural by-products as source of nutrient.

Role of radiotracer in animal science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivaprasad, N.

2015-01-01

Radiotracers have been used as radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis and treatment of animal diseases in cattle and pet animals. In fact the veterinary nuclear medicine based on radiotracer as radiopharmaceuticals is established medical technique for functional studies and imaging of vital organs such as heart, lung, brain, spleen, liver, kidney etc for diagnosis as well as treatment of diseases such as cancers in animal. Besides, radiation from radioisotopes has been in use for radiation therapy of cancers in animals. The nuclear imaging using positron emitting radiotracer is gaining importance in the evolution of drug in small animals. In this respect, small animals have also contributed significantly in the development of radiopharmaceuticals particularly for biodistribution and bioscan studies. In fact, the quality control of radiopharmaceuticals in animals to test the safety is a mandatory requirement in the production of radiopharmaceuticals. In brief the animal science has contributed in various areas and facets of radiotracer techniques and its application vice versa the radiotracer techniques have contributed towards the progress of animal science. The animal science in combination with radiotracer has also contributed to the progress of other basic and applied sciences. Thus there exists a bond between radiotracer techniques and animal science. Some aspects of mutual dependence of animal science and radiotracer are elaborated

Protective effect of Iris germanica L. in β-amyloid-induced animal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Protective effect of Iris germanica L. in β-amyloid-induced animal model of alzheimer's disease. ... The day after surgery, animals in treatment groups received different doses of the aqueous extract of Iris by gavage for 30 days. Morris water maze test (MWM) was performed to assess the effects of I. germanica on learning ...

The Effect of Probiotics on Animal Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae Corcionivoschi

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The mechanisms of action of probiotic bacteria and their effect in combating digestive disorders in humans and animals has been demonstrated and supported in numerous scientific studies. Probiotic bacteria are used in a wide range of nutritional techniques in order to support the host organism during physiological strain, to reduce stress due to technology and to combat diarrheal syndromes (occurring naturally or pharmacologically induced. Based on a rich bibliographic material, this paper presents the role of probiotic bacteria to equilibrate the beneficial microbial population and in bacterial turnover by stimulating the host immune response via specific secretions (eg. bacteriocins and competitive exclusion of potentially pathogenic germs in the digestive tract (Salmonella, E. coli. In the same context, this review presents the basic studies on the effect of probiotic bacteria in health maintenance for the main species of farm animals: pigs, poultry, cattle and sheep.

Epigenetics in natural animal populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, J; Barrett, R D H

2017-09-01

Phenotypic plasticity is an important mechanism for populations to buffer themselves from environmental change. While it has long been appreciated that natural populations possess genetic variation in the extent of plasticity, a surge of recent evidence suggests that epigenetic variation could also play an important role in shaping phenotypic responses. Compared with genetic variation, epigenetic variation is more likely to have higher spontaneous rates of mutation and a more sensitive reaction to environmental inputs. In our review, we first provide an overview of recent studies on epigenetically encoded thermal plasticity in animals to illustrate environmentally-mediated epigenetic effects within and across generations. Second, we discuss the role of epigenetic effects during adaptation by exploring population epigenetics in natural animal populations. Finally, we evaluate the evolutionary potential of epigenetic variation depending on its autonomy from genetic variation and its transgenerational stability. Although many of the causal links between epigenetic variation and phenotypic plasticity remain elusive, new data has explored the role of epigenetic variation in facilitating evolution in natural populations. This recent progress in ecological epigenetics will be helpful for generating predictive models of the capacity of organisms to adapt to changing climates. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Effect of structural animal health planning on antimicrobial use and animal health variables in conventional dairy farming in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Speksnijder, David C; Graveland, Haitske; Eijck, Ineke A J M; Schepers, René W M; Heederik, Dick J J; Verheij, Theo J M; Wagenaar, Jaap A

2017-06-01

Widespread veterinary use of antimicrobials might contribute to the increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance. Despite many successful efforts to reduce veterinary antimicrobial use in the Netherlands, antimicrobial use on a substantial number of farms has remained relatively high over the past few years. Farm-specific solutions are required to further lower antimicrobial use on these farms. Reducing the burden of animal diseases at the farm level by means of a structured approach to animal health planning could be promising. This intervention study aimed to evaluate the main effects of an animal health planning program developed by an advisory team consisting of a dairy farmer, his veterinarian, and his feed adviser under the guidance of a professional facilitator. During an initial farm visit, the advisory team developed a farm-specific animal health planning program with support from the facilitator. After 1 yr, the effects of this program on animal health, production parameters, and antimicrobial use were evaluated and compared with control farms that did not have a facilitated animal health planning program. Antimicrobial use on intervention farms was significantly reduced between the start and the end of the study period; however, no significant differences in the rate of reduction between the intervention and control groups could be observed (-19% and -14%, respectively). Reduced antimicrobial use did not result in negative effects on animal health and production parameters during the study period in both groups. On intervention farms, a significant positive relationship was found between the percentage of completed action points at farm level and the percentage reduction in antimicrobial use. The level of compliance with action points and the quality of collaboration between farmer and advisers were positively associated with the accomplishment of corresponding objectives. However, the total number of objectives was negatively associated with the level

Assessing Effectiveness of a Nonhuman Animal Welfare Education Program for Primary School Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Roxanne D; Williams, Joanne M

2017-01-01

Nonhuman animal welfare education aims to promote positive relationships between children and animals and thus improve animal welfare, yet few scientific evaluations of these programs exist. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an education program developed by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) that included 4 interventions focusing on pets (companion animals), wild animals, farm animals, and general animal rescues. Knowledge, attachment to pets, and attitudes and beliefs about animal minds were assessed at pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest using a questionnaire administered to 1,217 Scottish children aged 7 to 13 years old. Results showed a significant positive impact of the program on knowledge about animals and the Scottish SPCA for all interventions. The pet and farming interventions significantly impacted children's beliefs about animal minds. There were trends toward improvements in a range of other measures. This study highlights the importance of teaching animal welfare education to children for early prevention of animal cruelty, discusses the need to base this education on theory and research to find effective change, and demonstrates how evidence-based practice can inform future education programs.

Wild Origins: The Evolving Nature of Animal Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Ifigenia

For billions of years, evolution has been the driving force behind the incredible range of biodiversity on our planet. Wild Origins is a concept plan for an exhibition at the National Zoo that uses case studies of animal behavior to explain the theory of evolution. Behaviors evolve, just as physical forms do. Understanding natural selection can help us interpret animal behavior and vice-versa. A living collection, digital media, interactives, fossils, and photographs will relay stories of social behavior, sex, navigation and migration, foraging, domestication, and relationships between different species. The informal learning opportunities visitors are offered at the zoo will create a connection with the exhibition's teaching points. Visitors will leave with an understanding and sense of wonder at the evolutionary view of life.

Ethics of animal research in human disease remediation, its institutional teaching; and alternatives to animal experimentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheluvappa, Rajkumar; Scowen, Paul; Eri, Rajaraman

2017-08-01

Animals have been used in research and teaching for a long time. However, clear ethical guidelines and pertinent legislation were instated only in the past few decades, even in developed countries with Judeo-Christian ethical roots. We compactly cover the basics of animal research ethics, ethical reviewing and compliance guidelines for animal experimentation across the developed world, "our" fundamentals of institutional animal research ethics teaching, and emerging alternatives to animal research. This treatise was meticulously constructed for scientists interested/involved in animal research. Herein, we discuss key animal ethics principles - Replacement/Reduction/Refinement. Despite similar undergirding principles across developed countries, ethical reviewing and compliance guidelines for animal experimentation vary. The chronology and evolution of mandatory institutional ethical reviewing of animal experimentation (in its pioneering nations) are summarised. This is followed by a concise rendition of the fundamentals of teaching animal research ethics in institutions. With the advent of newer methodologies in human cell-culturing, novel/emerging methods aim to minimise, if not avoid the usage of animals in experimentation. Relevant to this, we discuss key extant/emerging alternatives to animal use in research; including organs on chips, human-derived three-dimensional tissue models, human blood derivates, microdosing, and computer modelling of various hues. © 2017 The Authors. Pharmacology Research & Perspectives published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, British Pharmacological Society and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Domestication and cereal feeding developed domestic pig-type intestinal microbiota in animals of suidae.

Science.gov (United States)

Ushida, Kazunari; Tsuchida, Sayaka; Ogura, Yoshitoshi; Toyoda, Atsushi; Maruyama, Fumito

2016-06-01

Intestinal microbiota are characterized by host-specific microorganisms, which have been selected through host-microbe interactions under phylogenetic evolution and transition of feeding behavior by the host. Although many studies have focused on disease-related intestinal microbiota, the origin and evolution of host-specific intestinal microbiota have not been well elucidated. Pig is the ideal mammal model to reveal the origin and evolution of host-specific intestinal microbiota because their direct wild ancestor and close phylogenetic neighbors are available for comparison. The pig has been recognized as a Lactobacillus-type animal. We analyzed the intestinal microbiota of various animals in Suidae: domestic pigs, wild boars and Red river hogs to survey the origin and evolution of Lactobacillus-dominated intestinal microbiota by metagenomic approach and following quantitative PCR confirmation. The metagenomic datasets were separated in two clusters; the wild animal cluster being characterized by a high abundance of Bifidobacterium, whereas the domesticated (or captured) animal cluster by Lactobacillus. In addition, Enterobacteriaceae were harbored as the major family only in domestic Sus scrofa. We conclude that domestication may have induced a larger Enterobacteriaceae population in pigs, and the introduction of modern feeding system further caused the development of Lactobacillus-dominated intestinal microbiota, with genetic and geographical factors possibly having a minor impact. © 2015 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Animated Reconstruction of Forensic Animation

OpenAIRE

Hala, Albert; Unver, Ertu

1998-01-01

An animated accident display in court can be significant evidentiary tool. Computer graphics animation reconstructions which can be shown in court are cost effective, save valuable time and illustrate complex and technical issues, are realistic and can prove or disprove arguments or theories with reference to the perplexing newtonian physics involved in many accidents: this technology may well revolutionise accident reconstruction, thus enabling prosecution and defence to be more effective in...

Late radiation effects in animals surviving lethal irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dimitrov, L A

1974-01-01

Animals (rats, mice, dogs) survived lethal irradiation by means of prophylactic-therapeutic treatments or previously irradiated, were studied for late radiation effects: life span, cachexia and fat growing of hypophysical type, tissue or organ hypoplasia manifested by disturbed hemopoiesis, suppressed function of adrenal gland, etc., suppressed immune reactivity of the irradiated organism, atypical biochemical changes in DNA and protein metabolism, epilation, chronic dermatitis, ulcerations, reduced reproductivity or full sterility, damage of kidneys leading to nephrosclerosis, dishormonal states, cataracts, diffuse sclerotic processes, various kinds of malignant and non-malignant tumors. In these cases hemopoiesis compensated for a definite time peripheral blood composition, but during the late period it showed features of incompleteness: shorter life survival of erythrocytes and thrombocytes manifested by a decreased binding of labelled methionine in these blood elements, anemia and relative thrombocytopenia sometimes with an increased number of polychromatic erythrocytes in peripheral blood and a decreased number of reticulocytes at the same time; lymphopenia and relative leucopenia with an increased number of hypersegmented neutrophils. Decreased reproductivity and atypical biochemical changes available in the first generation of the irradiated animals showed the probable role of mutagenic factors in the emergency of some late radiation effects. A significant part of late radiation sequences were due to neuro-endocrine disintegrations. Some of the described late radiation effects were also observed in biological controls as features of ageing. After application of radioprotectors (AET, cysteamine, serotonin) a more marked protective effect is demonstrated in the early reactions (time survival till 30th day, DNA and protein metabolism, immune reactions) of the lethally irradiated animals.

Direct and indirect effects of wastewater use and herd environment on the occurrence of animal diseases and animal health in Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Elahi, Ehsan; Zhang, Liqin; Abid, Muhammad; Javed, Muhammad Tariq; Xinru, Han

2017-03-01

The use of wastewater for rearing domestic animals is a common phenomenon in most of the developing countries like Pakistan that face a serious shortage of freshwater resources. However, most of the literature has only focused on the indirect effects of wastewater use on animal health or productivity, and literature on the direct effects of wastewater use is rare. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of wastewater usage on the prevalence of animal diseases and animal health in Pakistan. The study is based on a household-level survey of 360 domestic water buffalo herds collected from 12 districts of Punjab Province, Pakistan. We tested the prevalence of the animal's diseases, animal's health, and wastewater-use preference with various econometric tools, such as the Poisson, negative binomial, and logistic regressions. The findings of the study show that the majority of the farmers use wastewater for buffalo bathing due to the shortage of freshwater resources. Results explore the prevalence of diseases such as clinical mastitis, tick infestation, and foot and mouth disease at the farm level significantly associated with buffalo bathing in the wastewater. Moreover, bathing in wastewater pre- and post-milking also plays a role in the occurrence of diseases. Particularly, if the buffalo's access to wastewater for bathing is within 60 min after milking, the probability of the animals being exposed to mastitis is higher. Furthermore, on investigation, a number of factors are found, such as the distance to the water source, power shortage, groundwater availability, and the education of farmers that influence farmers' behavior of letting their animals take a bath in wastewater. Moreover, the use of different preventive measures improves the animal's health.

Indirect Genetic Effects for group-housed animals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alemu, Setegn Worku

This thesis investigated social interactions in group-housed animals. The main findings of this thesis: 1) Statistical methods to estimate indirect genetic effects when interactions differ between kin vs. non-kin were developed. 2) Indirect genetic effects contribute a substantial amount...... of heritable variation for bite mark traits in group-housed min. 3) Indirect genetic effects estimation needs to take into account systematic interactions due to sex or kin for bite mark trait in group-housed min. 4) Genomic selection can be used to increase the response to selection for survival time in Brown...

Cost-effectiveness analysis: adding value to assessment of animal health welfare and production.

Science.gov (United States)

Babo Martins, S; Rushton, J

2014-12-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) has been extensively used in economic assessments in fields related to animal health, namely in human health where it provides a decision-making framework for choices about the allocation of healthcare resources. Conversely, in animal health, cost-benefit analysis has been the preferred tool for economic analysis. In this paper, the use of CEA in related areas and the role of this technique in assessments of animal health, welfare and production are reviewed. Cost-effectiveness analysis can add further value to these assessments, particularly in programmes targeting animal welfare or animal diseases with an impact on human health, where outcomes are best valued in natural effects rather than in monetary units. Importantly, CEA can be performed during programme implementation stages to assess alternative courses of action in real time.

Effects of Roads on Animal Abundance: an Empirical Review and Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lenore Fahrig

2009-06-01

Full Text Available We attempted a complete review of the empirical literature on effects of roads and traffic on animal abundance and distribution. We found 79 studies, with results for 131 species and 30 species groups. Overall, the number of documented negative effects of roads on animal abundance outnumbered the number of positive effects by a factor of 5; 114 responses were negative, 22 were positive, and 56 showed no effect. Amphibians and reptiles tended to show negative effects. Birds showed mainly negative or no effects, with a few positive effects for some small birds and for vultures. Small mammals generally showed either positive effects or no effect, mid-sized mammals showed either negative effects or no effect, and large mammals showed predominantly negative effects. We synthesized this information, along with information on species attributes, to develop a set of predictions of the conditions that lead to negative or positive effects or no effect of roads on animal abundance. Four species types are predicted to respond negatively to roads: (i species that are attracted to roads and are unable to avoid individual cars; (ii species with large movement ranges, low reproductive rates, and low natural densities; and (iii and iv small animals whose populations are not limited by road-affected predators and either (a avoid habitat near roads due to traffic disturbance or (b show no avoidance of roads or traffic disturbance and are unable to avoid oncoming cars. Two species types are predicted to respond positively to roads: (i species that are attracted to roads for an important resource (e.g., food and are able to avoid oncoming cars, and (ii species that do not avoid traffic disturbance but do avoid roads, and whose main predators show negative population-level responses to roads. Other conditions lead to weak or non-existent effects of roads and traffic on animal abundance. We identify areas where further research is needed, but we also argue that the

Study of embryotoxic effects of intranasally administred desloratadine on laboratory animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alekhina Т.А.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The study was conducted to detect possible changes in embryogenesis and negative effects of third generation antihistamine – desloratadine – after intranasal administration of 1.3 mg/m3 and 13.0 mg/m3 of the substance to laboratory animals during their prenatal period. In these circumstances, desloratadine does not cause any significant changes of embryogenesis parameters. Macroscopic examination of the fetus and placenta in animals of experimental groups did not reveal any pathology or physiological deviations from the norm. 13.0 mg/m3 concentration of the drug caused a decrease in the weight of embryos in comparison with control group of animals and physiological data, despite a well developed, without visible pathology, placenta. This neces­sitates an in-depth study of possible teratogenic effects of intranasally administred desloratadine to laboratory animals.

Challenges of influenza A viruses in humans and animals and current animal vaccines as an effective control measure

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are genetically diverse and variable pathogens that share various hosts including human, swine, and domestic poultry. Interspecies and intercontinental viral spreads make the ecology of IAV more complex. Beside endemic IAV infections, human has been exposed to pandemic and zoonotic threats from avian and swine influenza viruses. Animal health also has been threatened by high pathogenic avian influenza viruses (in domestic poultry) and reverse zoonosis (in swine). Considering its dynamic interplay between species, prevention and control against IAV should be conducted effectively in both humans and animal sectors. Vaccination is one of the most efficient tools against IAV. Numerous vaccines against animal IAVs have been developed by a variety of vaccine technologies and some of them are currently commercially available. We summarize several challenges in control of IAVs faced by human and animals and discuss IAV vaccines for animal use with those application in susceptible populations. PMID:29399575

THE EFFECT OF MASS LOSS ON THE TIDAL EVOLUTION OF EXTRASOLAR PLANET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, J. H.

2010-01-01

By combining mass loss and tidal evolution of close-in planets, we present a qualitative study on their tidal migrations. We incorporate mass loss in tidal evolution for planets with different masses and find that mass loss could interfere with tidal evolution. In an upper limit case (β = 3), a significant portion of mass may be evaporated in a long evolution timescale. Evidence of greater modification of the planets with an initial separation of about 0.1 AU than those with a = 0.15 AU can be found in this model. With the assumption of a large initial eccentricity, the planets with initial mass ≤1 M J and initial distance of about 0.1 AU could not survive. With the supposition of β = 1.1, we find that the loss process has an effect on the planets with low mass at a ∼ 0.05 AU. In both cases, the effect of evaporation on massive planets can be neglected. Also, heating efficiency and initial eccentricity have significant influence on tidal evolution. We find that even low heating efficiency and initial eccentricity have a significant effect on tidal evolution. Our analysis shows that evaporation on planets with different initial masses can accelerate (decelerate) the tidal evolution due to the increase (decrease) in tide of the planet (star). Consequently, the effect of evaporation cannot be neglected in evolutionary calculations of close-in planets. The physical parameters of HD 209458b can be fitted by our model.

Design and production of a short 2D animated film

OpenAIRE

Prusnik, Petra

2014-01-01

Design and production of a short 2D animated film The thesis aims at analysing animation, the process of creating an ani- mated film with its technical and compositional details as well as show the process of making a short 2D animated movie with Toon Boom Studio. It is composed of theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part of this thesis consists of the definition of the term "animation", a quick overview of its history and evolution, and an in-depth look into var...

Road transport of farm animals: effects of journey duration on animal welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birte Lindstrøm; Dybkjær, Lise; Herskin, Mette S

2011-01-01

Transport of farm animals gives rise to concern about their welfare. Specific attention has been given to the duration of animal transport, and maximum journey durations are used in legislation that seek to minimise any negative impact of transport on animal welfare. This paper reviews the relati...

Evolution of microRNA diversity and regulation in animals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berezikov, E.

2011-01-01

In the past decade, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been uncovered as key regulators of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The ancient origin of miRNAs, their dramatic expansion in bilaterian animals and their function in providing robustness to transcriptional programmes suggest that miRNAs

Effect of direct contact with iron on gas evolution behavior of aluminum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashizume, Shuji; Matsumoto, Junko; Banba, Tsunetaka

1998-01-01

Dry Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLW), incombustible solid LLW, generated from nuclear power stations is planed to be solidified with cement backfill in drums. The solidified dry LLW will be buried to shallow underground at Rokkasyo LLW Disposal Center. It is well known that corrosion of aluminum and hydrogen gas evolution occur in high pH environments such as mortar. Gas evolution from aluminum is likely to effect the leachability of solidified dry LLW with mortar. Though aluminum removal from dry LLW is planed, a small amount of aluminum will be actually included in dry LLW. Large effects of pH and temperature on corrosion rate of aluminum and gas evolution were recognized in our previous study. It was also found that 1.5 mole hydrogen gas evolves while 1 mole aluminum corrodes under 60degC. Actually aluminum in drums is likely to contact with carbon steel of which main element is iron. The gas evolution behavior of aluminum is expected to be affected by its direct contact with iron. Therefore, effect of direct contact with iron on gas evolution behavior of aluminum was studied. The corrosion rate of aluminum increased by contacting it with iron in simulating mortar environments. The amount of gas evolution from aluminum was reduced by contacting with iron. The reduction in gas evolution was considered to result from the change of cathode reaction from hydrogen evolution to oxygen reduction. When aluminum contacts with iron, the corrosion and gas evolution behavior of aluminum is significantly affected oxygen in environment. (author)

Effect of site-specific heterogeneous evolution on phylogenetic reconstruction: a simple evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Qiqun; Su, Zhixi; Zhong, Yang; Gu, Xun

2009-07-15

Recent studies have shown that heterogeneous evolution may mislead phylogenetic analysis, which has been neglected for a long time. We evaluate the effect of heterogeneous evolution on phylogenetic analysis, using 18 fish mitogenomic coding sequences as an example. Using the software DIVERGE, we identify 198 amino acid sites that have experienced heterogeneous evolution. After removing these sites, the rest of sites are shown to be virtually homogeneous in the evolutionary rate. There are some differences between phylogenetic trees built with heterogeneous sites ("before tree") and without heterogeneous sites ("after tree"). Our study demonstrates that for phylogenetic reconstruction, an effective approach is to identify and remove sites with heterogeneous evolution, and suggests that researchers can use the software DIVERGE to remove the influence of heterogeneous evolution before reconstructing phylogenetic trees.

Thoughts on the cultural evolution of man. Developmental imprinting and transgenerational effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Csaba, György

2007-01-01

The biological evolution of man stopped since it has been conveyed to the objects, created by man. This paper introduces the concept of "conveyed evolution". Being part of the cultural evolution, the conveyed evolution is a continuation of the biological one. There are several similarities between the laws of biological and conveyed evolution, albeit the differences are important as well. Some laws of the conveyed evolution are described here. The conveyed evolution has man-made repair mechanisms (medicine, protection of environment) which defend man from harm. Man's fragility limits the progress of conveyed evolution. However, artificial compounds or environmental pollutants which are provoked by the conveyed evolution induce chemical (hormonal) imprinting in the developmental critical periods, which is transmitted to the progeny generations (transgenerational effect). This could cause evolutionary alterations without mutation.

The what as well as the why of animal fun.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, Richard W

2015-01-05

Fun is functional: play is evolution's way of making sure animals acquire and perfect valuable skills in circumstances of relative safety. Yet precisely what animals find fun has seldom been examined for what it can potentially reveal about how they represent and think about the world. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution of swarming behavior is shaped by how predators attack

OpenAIRE

Olson, Randal S.; Knoester, David B.; Adami, Christoph

2013-01-01

Animal grouping behaviors have been widely studied due to their implications for understanding social intelligence, collective cognition, and potential applications in engineering, artificial intelligence, and robotics. An important biological aspect of these studies is discerning which selection pressures favor the evolution of grouping behavior. In the past decade, researchers have begun using evolutionary computation to study the evolutionary effects of these selection pressures in predato...

Using foresight to prepare animal health today for tomorrow's challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Norman G; Munroe, Fonda A; Empringham, R Edward; Renwick, Shane A; Van der Linden, Ingrid W M; Dunlop, James R

2011-06-01

Foresight has been introduced in Canada in the area of animal health as a process to broaden thinking about the future and inform policy development. Its initial use and evolution through projects and studies over the past decade are described, demonstrating real action in animal health. Despite positive, continuing, and exciting results in animal health policy development, foresight's widespread acceptance and use thus far have been limited. Critical components for success, drawn from the Canadian experience, are described, and recommendations are offered for further action in animal health.

New thinking: the evolution of human cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Heyes, Cecilia

2012-08-05

Humans are animals that specialize in thinking and knowing, and our extraordinary cognitive abilities have transformed every aspect of our lives. In contrast to our chimpanzee cousins and Stone Age ancestors, we are complex political, economic, scientific and artistic creatures, living in a vast range of habitats, many of which are our own creation. Research on the evolution of human cognition asks what types of thinking make us such peculiar animals, and how they have been generated by evolutionary processes. New research in this field looks deeper into the evolutionary history of human cognition, and adopts a more multi-disciplinary approach than earlier 'Evolutionary Psychology'. It is informed by comparisons between humans and a range of primate and non-primate species, and integrates findings from anthropology, archaeology, economics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, philosophy and psychology. Using these methods, recent research reveals profound commonalities, as well striking differences, between human and non-human minds, and suggests that the evolution of human cognition has been much more gradual and incremental than previously assumed. It accords crucial roles to cultural evolution, techno-social co-evolution and gene-culture co-evolution. These have produced domain-general developmental processes with extraordinary power-power that makes human cognition, and human lives, unique.

Evolution of the PWWP-domain encoding genes in the plant and animal lineages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alvarez-Venegas Raúl

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Conserved domains are recognized as the building blocks of eukaryotic proteins. Domains showing a tendency to occur in diverse combinations (‘promiscuous’ domains are involved in versatile architectures in proteins with different functions. Current models, based on global-level analyses of domain combinations in multiple genomes, have suggested that the propensity of some domains to associate with other domains in high-level architectures increases with organismal complexity. Alternative models using domain-based phylogenetic trees propose that domains have become promiscuous independently in different lineages through convergent evolution and are, thus, random with no functional or structural preferences. Here we test whether complex protein architectures have occurred by accretion from simpler systems and whether the appearance of multidomain combinations parallels organismal complexity. As a model, we analyze the modular evolution of the PWWP domain and ask whether its appearance in combinations with other domains into multidomain architectures is linked with the occurrence of more complex life-forms. Whether high-level combinations of domains are conserved and transmitted as stable units (cassettes through evolution is examined in the genomes of plant or metazoan species selected for their established position in the evolution of the respective lineages. Results Using the domain-tree approach, we analyze the evolutionary origins and distribution patterns of the promiscuous PWWP domain to understand the principles of its modular evolution and its existence in combination with other domains in higher-level protein architectures. We found that as a single module the PWWP domain occurs only in proteins with a limited, mainly, species-specific distribution. Earlier, it was suggested that domain promiscuity is a fast-changing (volatile feature shaped by natural selection and that only a few domains retain their promiscuity

World Organisation for Animal Health: strengthening Veterinary Services for effective One Health collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Corning, S

2014-08-01

To effectively reduce health risks at the animal-human-ecosystems interface, a One Health strategy is crucially important to create strong national and regional animal health systems that are well coordinated with strong public health systems. Animal diseases, particularly those caused by new and emerging zoonotic pathogens, must be effectively controlled at their source to reduce their potentially devastating impact upon both animal and human health. As the international organisation responsible for developing standards, guidelines and recommendations for animal health, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) plays an important role in minimising animal and public health risks attributable to zoonoses and other animal diseases, which can have severe consequences for global food safety and security. National Veterinary Services, which implement OIE animal health and welfare standards and other measures, are the first line of defence against these diseases, and must have the capacity to meet the core requirements necessary for their diagnosis and control. The OIE works collaboratively with the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to improve the ability of national animal and public health systems to respond to current and emerging animal health risks with public health consequences. In addition to improving and aligning national laboratory capacities in high-risk areas, the OIE collaborates on One Health-oriented projects for key diseases, establishing model frameworks which can be applied to manage other existing and emerging priority diseases. This article reviews the role and activities of the OIE in strengthening the national Veterinary Services of its Member Countries for a more effective and sustainable One Health collaboration.

Evolutive masing model, cyclic plasticity, ageing and memory effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidoroff, F.

1987-01-01

Many models are proposed for the mechanical description of the cyclic behaviour of metals and used for structure analysis under cyclic loading. Such a model must include two basic features: Dissipative behaviour on each cycle (hysteresis loop); evolution of this behaviour during the material's life (cyclic hardening or softening, aging,...). However, if both aspects are present in most existing models, the balance between them may be quite different. Many metallurgical investigations have been performed about the microstructure and its evolution during cyclic loading, and it is desirable to introduce these informations in phenomenological models. The evolutive Masing model has been proposed to combine: the accuracy of hereditary models for the description of hysteresis on each cycle, the versatility of internal variables for the state description and evolution, a sufficient microstructural basis to make the interaction easier with microstructural investigations. The purpose of the present work is to discuss this model and to compare different evolution assumptions with respect to some memory effects (cyclic hardening and softening, multilevel tests, aging). Attention is limited to uniaxial, rate independent elasto-plastic behaviour

Comparing the Effect of Animal-Rearing Education in Japan with Conventional Animal-Assisted Education

OpenAIRE

Nakajima, Yuka

2017-01-01

An increasing number of teachers are introducing animals into their class so that pupils foster cognitive, physiological, and social skills through their interaction with animals. Along with such an educational style termed animal-assisted education (AAE), Japanese formal education has also utilized animals for education. Japanese animal-rearing education is unique regarding the following two points: (1) it takes the form of “education through assisting animals” rather than “animals assisting...

Antimicrobial Resistance: Its Surveillance, Impact, and Alternative Management Strategies in Dairy Animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Chetan; Rokana, Namita; Chandra, Mudit; Singh, Brij Pal; Gulhane, Rohini Devidas; Gill, Jatinder Paul Singh; Ray, Pallab; Puniya, Anil Kumar; Panwar, Harsh

2017-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one among the most common priority areas identified by both national and international agencies, is mushrooming as a silent pandemic. The advancement in public health care through introduction of antibiotics against infectious agents is now being threatened by global development of multidrug-resistant strains. These strains are product of both continuous evolution and un-checked antimicrobial usage (AMU). Though antibiotic application in livestock has largely contributed toward health and productivity, it has also played significant role in evolution of resistant strains. Although, a significant emphasis has been given to AMR in humans, trends in animals, on other hand, are not much emphasized. Dairy farming involves surplus use of antibiotics as prophylactic and growth promoting agents. This non-therapeutic application of antibiotics, their dosage, and withdrawal period needs to be re-evaluated and rationally defined. A dairy animal also poses a serious risk of transmission of resistant strains to humans and environment. Outlining the scope of the problem is necessary for formulating and monitoring an active response to AMR. Effective and commendably connected surveillance programs at multidisciplinary level can contribute to better understand and minimize the emergence of resistance. Besides, it requires a renewed emphasis on investments into research for finding alternate, safe, cost effective, and innovative strategies, parallel to discovery of new antibiotics. Nevertheless, numerous direct or indirect novel approaches based on host-microbial interaction and molecular mechanisms of pathogens are also being developed and corroborated by researchers to combat the threat of resistance. This review places a concerted effort to club the current outline of AMU and AMR in dairy animals; ongoing global surveillance and monitoring programs; its impact at animal human interface; and strategies for combating resistance with an extensive

Antimicrobial Resistance: Its Surveillance, Impact, and Alternative Management Strategies in Dairy Animals

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Chetan; Rokana, Namita; Chandra, Mudit; Singh, Brij Pal; Gulhane, Rohini Devidas; Gill, Jatinder Paul Singh; Ray, Pallab; Puniya, Anil Kumar; Panwar, Harsh

2018-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one among the most common priority areas identified by both national and international agencies, is mushrooming as a silent pandemic. The advancement in public health care through introduction of antibiotics against infectious agents is now being threatened by global development of multidrug-resistant strains. These strains are product of both continuous evolution and un-checked antimicrobial usage (AMU). Though antibiotic application in livestock has largely contributed toward health and productivity, it has also played significant role in evolution of resistant strains. Although, a significant emphasis has been given to AMR in humans, trends in animals, on other hand, are not much emphasized. Dairy farming involves surplus use of antibiotics as prophylactic and growth promoting agents. This non-therapeutic application of antibiotics, their dosage, and withdrawal period needs to be re-evaluated and rationally defined. A dairy animal also poses a serious risk of transmission of resistant strains to humans and environment. Outlining the scope of the problem is necessary for formulating and monitoring an active response to AMR. Effective and commendably connected surveillance programs at multidisciplinary level can contribute to better understand and minimize the emergence of resistance. Besides, it requires a renewed emphasis on investments into research for finding alternate, safe, cost effective, and innovative strategies, parallel to discovery of new antibiotics. Nevertheless, numerous direct or indirect novel approaches based on host–microbial interaction and molecular mechanisms of pathogens are also being developed and corroborated by researchers to combat the threat of resistance. This review places a concerted effort to club the current outline of AMU and AMR in dairy animals; ongoing global surveillance and monitoring programs; its impact at animal human interface; and strategies for combating resistance with an extensive

Antimicrobial Resistance: Its Surveillance, Impact, and Alternative Management Strategies in Dairy Animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chetan Sharma

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Antimicrobial resistance (AMR, one among the most common priority areas identified by both national and international agencies, is mushrooming as a silent pandemic. The advancement in public health care through introduction of antibiotics against infectious agents is now being threatened by global development of multidrug-resistant strains. These strains are product of both continuous evolution and un-checked antimicrobial usage (AMU. Though antibiotic application in livestock has largely contributed toward health and productivity, it has also played significant role in evolution of resistant strains. Although, a significant emphasis has been given to AMR in humans, trends in animals, on other hand, are not much emphasized. Dairy farming involves surplus use of antibiotics as prophylactic and growth promoting agents. This non-therapeutic application of antibiotics, their dosage, and withdrawal period needs to be re-evaluated and rationally defined. A dairy animal also poses a serious risk of transmission of resistant strains to humans and environment. Outlining the scope of the problem is necessary for formulating and monitoring an active response to AMR. Effective and commendably connected surveillance programs at multidisciplinary level can contribute to better understand and minimize the emergence of resistance. Besides, it requires a renewed emphasis on investments into research for finding alternate, safe, cost effective, and innovative strategies, parallel to discovery of new antibiotics. Nevertheless, numerous direct or indirect novel approaches based on host–microbial interaction and molecular mechanisms of pathogens are also being developed and corroborated by researchers to combat the threat of resistance. This review places a concerted effort to club the current outline of AMU and AMR in dairy animals; ongoing global surveillance and monitoring programs; its impact at animal human interface; and strategies for combating resistance

COMADRE: a global database of animal demography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salguero-Gómez, R.; Jones, O.R.; Archer, C.R.; Bein, C.; de Buhr, H.; Farack, C.; Gottschalk, F.; Hartmann, A.; Henning, A.; Hoppe, G.; Römer, G.; Ruoff, T.; Sommer, V.; Wille, J.; Voigt, J; Zeh, S.; Vieregg, D.; Buckley, Y.M.; Che-Castaldo, J.; Hodgson, D.; Scheuerlein, A.; Caswell, H.; Vaupel, J.W.

2016-01-01

1. The open-data scientific philosophy is being widely adopted and proving to promote considerable progress in ecology and evolution. Open-data global data bases now exist on animal migration, species distribution, conservation status, etc. However, a gap exists for data on population dynamics

Characteristics of visual fatigue under the effect of 3D animation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yu-Shuo; Hsueh, Ya-Hsin; Tung, Kwong-Chung; Jhou, Fong-Yi; Lin, David Pei-Cheng

2015-01-01

Visual fatigue is commonly encountered in modern life. Clinical visual fatigue characteristics caused by 2-D and 3-D animations may be different, but have not been characterized in detail. This study tried to distinguish the differential effects on visual fatigue caused by 2-D and 3-D animations. A total of 23 volunteers were subjected to accommodation and vergence assessments, followed by a 40-min video game program designed to aggravate their asthenopic symptoms. The volunteers were then assessed for accommodation and vergence parameters again and directed to watch a 5-min 3-D video program, and then assessed again for the parameters. The results support that the 3-D animations caused similar characteristics in vision fatigue parameters in some specific aspects as compared to that caused by 2-D animations. Furthermore, 3-D animations may lead to more exhaustion in both ciliary and extra-ocular muscles, and such differential effects were more evident in the high demand of near vision work. The current results indicated that an arbitrary set of indexes may be promoted in the design of 3-D display or equipments.

Evolution of bright colours in animals: worlds of prohibition and oblivion [version 2; referees: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wladimir J. Alonso

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Because the ability to hide in plain sight provides a major selective advantage to both prey and predator species, the emergence of the striking colouration of some animal species (such as many coral reef fish represents an evolutionary conundrum that remains unsolved to date. Here I propose a framework by which conspicuous colours can emerge when the selective pressures for camouflage are relaxed (1 because camouflage is not essential under specific prey/predator conditions or (2 due to the impossibility of reducing the signal-to-background noise in the environment. The first case is found among non-predator-species that possess effective defences against predators (hence a “Carefree World”, such as the strong macaws’ beaks and the flight abilities of hummingbirds. The second case is found in diurnal mobile fish of coral reef communities, which swim in clear waters against highly contrasting and unpredictable background (hence an "Hyper-Visible World”. In those contexts the selective pressures that usually come secondary to camouflage (such as sexual, warning, species recognition or territorial display are free to drive the evolution of brilliant and diverse colouration. This theoretical framework can also be useful for studying the conditions that allow for conspicuousness in other sensory contexts (acoustic, chemical, electrical, etc..

Evolutive Masing model, cycling plasticity, ageing and memory effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidoroff, F.

1987-01-01

Many models are proposed for the mechanical description of the cyclic behaviour of metals and used for structure analysis under cyclic loading. The evolutive Masing model has been proposed (Fougeres, Sidoroff, Vincent and Waille 1985) to combine - the accuracy of hereditary models for the description of hysteresis on each cycle, - the versatility of internal variables for the state description and evolution, - a sufficient microstructural basis to make the interaction easier with microstructural investigations. The purpose of the present work is to discuss this model and to compare different evolution assumptions with respect to some memory effects (cyclic hardening and softening, multilevel tests, ageing). Attention is limited to uniaxial, rate independent elasto-plastic behaviour. (orig./GL)

Adaptive evolution of body size subject to indirect effect in trophic cascade system.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin; Fan, Meng; Hao, Lina

2017-09-01

Trophic cascades represent a classic example of indirect effect and are wide-spread in nature. Their ecological impact are well established, but the evolutionary consequences have received even less theoretical attention. We theoretically and numerically investigate the trait (i.e., body size of consumer) evolution in response to indirect effect in a trophic cascade system. By applying the quantitative trait evolutionary theory and the adaptive dynamic theory, we formulate and explore two different types of eco-evolutionary resource-consumer-predator trophic cascade model. First, an eco-evolutionary model incorporating the rapid evolution is formulated to investigate the effect of rapid evolution of the consumer's body size, and to explore the impact of density-mediate indirect effect on the population dynamics and trait dynamics. Next, by employing the adaptive dynamic theory, a long-term evolutionary model of consumer body size is formulated to evaluate the effect of long-term evolution on the population dynamics and the effect of trait-mediate indirect effect. Those models admit rich dynamics that has not been observed yet in empirical studies. It is found that, both in the trait-mediated and density-mediated system, the body size of consumer in predator-consumer-resource interaction (indirect effect) evolves smaller than that in consumer-resource and predator-consumer interaction (direct effect). Moreover, in the density-mediated system, we found that the evolution of consumer body size contributes to avoiding consumer extinction (i.e., evolutionary rescue). The trait-mediate and density-mediate effects may produce opposite evolutionary response. This study suggests that the trophic cascade indirect effect affects consumer evolution, highlights a more comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the intricate interplay between ecological and evolutionary force. The modeling approaches provide avenue for study on indirect effects from an evolutionary perspective

How adaptive learning affects evolution: reviewing theory on the Baldwin effect

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Sznajder, B.; Sabelis, M.W.; Egas, M.

2012-01-01

We review models of the Baldwin effect, i.e., the hypothesis that adaptive learning (i.e., learning to improve fitness) accelerates genetic evolution of the phenotype. Numerous theoretical studies scrutinized the hypothesis that a non-evolving ability of adaptive learning accelerates evolution of

Experimental palaeobiomechanics: What can engineering tell us about evolution in deep time?

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Anderson, Philip

2016-04-01

What did Tyrannosaurus rex eat? This is the sort of question that immediately bombards any palaeontologist when interacting with the general public. Even among scientists, how extinct animals moved or fed is a major objective of the palaeobiological research agenda. The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the technology and experimental methods available for collecting biomechanical data, which has greatly improved out ability to examine the function of both live and extinct animals. With new technologies and methods come new pitfalls and opportunities. In this review, I address three aspects of experimental biomechanics that exemplify the challenges and opportunities it provides for addressing deep-time problems in palaeontology. 1) Interpretation: It has never been easier to acquire large amounts of high-quality biomechanical data on extinct animals. However, the lack of behavioural information means that interpreting this data can be problematic. We will never know precisely what a dinosaur ate, but we can explore what constraints there might have been on the mechanical function of its jaws. Palaeobiomechanics defines potential function and becomes especially effective when dealing with multiple examples. 2) Comparison: Understanding the potential function of one extinct animal is interesting; however, examining mechanical features across multiple taxa allows for a greater understanding of biomechanical variation. Comparative studies help identify common trends and underlying mechanical principles which can have long reaching influences on morphological evolution. 3) Evolution: The physical principles established through comparative biomechanical studies can be utilized in phylogenetic comparative methods in order to explore evolutionary morphology across clades. Comparative evolutionary biomechanics offers potential for exploring the evolution of functional systems in deep time utilizing experimental biomechanical data.

The effects of radionuclides on animal behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagnaire, B.; Adam-Guillermin, C.; Bouron, A.; Lestaevel, P.

2011-01-01

Concomitant with the expansion of the nuclear industry, the concentrations of several pollutants, radioactive or otherwise, including uranium, caesium, cadmium and cobalt, have increased over the last few decades. These elemental pollutants do exist in the environment and are a threat to many organisms. Behavior represents the integration of all the anatomical adaptations and physiological processes that occur within an organism. Compared to other biological endpoints, the effects of pollutants on animal behavior have been the focus of only a few studies. However, behavioral changes appear to be ideal for assessing the effects of pollutants on animal populations, because behavior links physiological functions with ecological processes. The alteration of behavioral responses can have severe implications for survival of individuals and of population of some species. Behavioral disruptions may derive from several underlying mechanisms: disruption of neuro-sensorial activity and of endocrines, or oxidative and metabolic disruptions. In this review, we presented an overview of the current literature in which the effects of radioactive pollutants on behavior in humans, rodents, fish and wildlife species are addressed. When possible, we have also indicated the potential underlying mechanisms of the behavioral alterations and parameters measured. In fried, chronic uranium contamination is associated with behavior alterations and mental disorders in humans, and cognitive deficits in rats. Comparative studies on depleted and enriched uranium effects in rats showed that chemical and radiological activities of this metal induced negative effects on several behavioral parameters and also produced brain oxidative stress. Uranium exposure also modifies feeding behavior of bivalves and reproductive behavior of fish. Studies of the effects of the Chernobyl accident shows that chronic irradiation to 137 Cs induces both nervous system diseases and mental disorders in humans leading

Arthropod evolution and development: recent insights from chelicerates and myriapods.

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Leite, Daniel J; McGregor, Alistair P

2016-08-01

Research on arthropod genetics and development has added much to our understanding of animal evolution. While this work has mainly focused on insects, a growing body of research on the less studied myriapods and chelicerates is providing important new insights into arthropod genomics and development. Multiple chelicerate lineages have a high incidence of gene duplication, which is suggestive of large-scale and even whole genome duplications. Furthermore, the duplication and divergence of genes is associated with the evolution of appendage morphology and other phenotypes in chelicerates and myriapods. Recent studies of these arthropods have also helped to understand the evolution and development of segmented bodies. Further research on chelicerate and myriapod models as well as species from other orders of these subphyla has great potential to expand our understanding of the evolution of animal genomes and development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energetic and biomechanical constraints on animal migration distance.

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Hein, Andrew M; Hou, Chen; Gillooly, James F

2012-02-01

Animal migration is one of the great wonders of nature, but the factors that determine how far migrants travel remain poorly understood. We present a new quantitative model of animal migration and use it to describe the maximum migration distance of walking, swimming and flying migrants. The model combines biomechanics and metabolic scaling to show how maximum migration distance is constrained by body size for each mode of travel. The model also indicates that the number of body lengths travelled by walking and swimming migrants should be approximately invariant of body size. Data from over 200 species of migratory birds, mammals, fish, and invertebrates support the central conclusion of the model - that body size drives variation in maximum migration distance among species through its effects on metabolism and the cost of locomotion. The model provides a new tool to enhance general understanding of the ecology and evolution of migration. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Effect of users' opinion evolution on information diffusion in online social networks

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Zhu, Hengmin; Kong, Yuehan; Wei, Jing; Ma, Jing

2018-02-01

The process of topic propagation always interweaves information diffusion and opinion evolution, but most previous works studied the models of information diffusion and opinion evolution separately, and seldom focused on their interaction of each other. To shed light on the effect of users' opinion evolution on information diffusion in online social networks, we proposed a model which incorporates opinion evolution into the process of topic propagation. Several real topics propagating on Sina Microblog were collected to analyze individuals' propagation intentions, and different propagation intentions were considered in the model. The topic propagation was simulated to explore the impact of different opinion distributions and intervention with opposite opinion on information diffusion. Results show that the topic with one-sided opinions can spread faster and more widely, and intervention with opposite opinion is an effective measure to guide the topic propagation. The earlier to intervene, the more effectively the topic propagation would be guided.

Experimental animal data and modeling of late somatic effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fry, R.J.M.

1988-01-01

This section is restricted to radiation-induced life shortening and cancer and mainly to studies with external radiation. The emphasis will be on the experimental data that are available and the experimental systems that could provide the type of data with which to either formulate or test models. Genetic effects which are of concern are not discussed in this section. Experimental animal radiation studies fall into those that establish general principles and those that demonstrate mechanisms. General principles include the influence of dose, radiation quality, dose rate, fractionation, protraction and such biological factors as age and gender. The influence of these factors are considered as general principles because they are independent, at least qualitatively, of the species studied. For example, if an increase in the LET of the radiation causes an increased effectiveness in cancer induction in a mouse a comparable increase in effectiveness can be expected in humans. Thus, models, whether empirical or mechanistic, formulated from experimental animal data should be generally applicable

Using foresight to prepare animal health today for tomorrow’s challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Norman G.; Munroe, Fonda A.; Empringham, R. Edward; Renwick, Shane A.; Van der Linden, Ingrid W.M.; Dunlop, James R.

2011-01-01

Foresight has been introduced in Canada in the area of animal health as a process to broaden thinking about the future and inform policy development. Its initial use and evolution through projects and studies over the past decade are described, demonstrating real action in animal health. Despite positive, continuing, and exciting results in animal health policy development, foresight’s widespread acceptance and use thus far have been limited. Critical components for success, drawn from the Canadian experience, are described, and recommendations are offered for further action in animal health. PMID:22131576

Phanerozoic pO2 and the early evolution of terrestrial animals.

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Schachat, Sandra R; Labandeira, Conrad C; Saltzman, Matthew R; Cramer, Bradley D; Payne, Jonathan L; Boyce, C Kevin

2018-01-31

Concurrent gaps in the Late Devonian/Mississippian fossil records of insects and tetrapods (i.e. Romer's Gap) have been attributed to physiological suppression by low atmospheric p O 2 Here, updated stable isotope inputs inform a reconstruction of Phanerozoic oxygen levels that contradicts the low oxygen hypothesis (and contradicts the purported role of oxygen in the evolution of gigantic insects during the late Palaeozoic), but reconciles isotope-based calculations with other proxies, like charcoal. Furthermore, statistical analysis demonstrates that the gap between the first Devonian insect and earliest diverse insect assemblages of the Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian Stage) requires no special explanation if insects were neither diverse nor abundant prior to the evolution of wings. Rather than tracking physiological constraint, the fossil record may accurately record the transformative evolutionary impact of insect flight. © 2018 The Author(s).

Adaptation to Temporally Fluctuating Environments by the Evolution of Maternal Effects.

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Snigdhadip Dey

2016-02-01

Full Text Available All organisms live in temporally fluctuating environments. Theory predicts that the evolution of deterministic maternal effects (i.e., anticipatory maternal effects or transgenerational phenotypic plasticity underlies adaptation to environments that fluctuate in a predictably alternating fashion over maternal-offspring generations. In contrast, randomizing maternal effects (i.e., diversifying and conservative bet-hedging, are expected to evolve in response to unpredictably fluctuating environments. Although maternal effects are common, evidence for their adaptive significance is equivocal since they can easily evolve as a correlated response to maternal selection and may or may not increase the future fitness of offspring. Using the hermaphroditic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we here show that the experimental evolution of maternal glycogen provisioning underlies adaptation to a fluctuating normoxia-anoxia hatching environment by increasing embryo survival under anoxia. In strictly alternating environments, we found that hermaphrodites evolved the ability to increase embryo glycogen provisioning when they experienced normoxia and to decrease embryo glycogen provisioning when they experienced anoxia. At odds with existing theory, however, populations facing irregularly fluctuating normoxia-anoxia hatching environments failed to evolve randomizing maternal effects. Instead, adaptation in these populations may have occurred through the evolution of fitness effects that percolate over multiple generations, as they maintained considerably high expected growth rates during experimental evolution despite evolving reduced fecundity and reduced embryo survival under one or two generations of anoxia. We develop theoretical models that explain why adaptation to a wide range of patterns of environmental fluctuations hinges on the existence of deterministic maternal effects, and that such deterministic maternal effects are more likely to contribute to

A new paradigma on the plant evolution: from a natural evolution to an artificial evolution?

Science.gov (United States)

Bennici, Andrea

2005-01-01

After evidencing the great importance of plants for animals and humans in consequence of the photosynthesis, several considerations on plant evolution are made. One of the peculiar characteristics of the plant is the sessile property, due especially to the cell wall. This factor, principally, strengthened by the photosynthetic process, determined the particular developmental pattern of the plant, which is characterized by the continuous formation of new organs. The plant immobility, although negative for its survival, has been, in great part, overcome by the acquisition of the capacity of adaptation (plasticity) to the environmental stresses and changes, and the establishment of more adapted genotypes. This capacity to react to the external signals induced Trewavas to speak of "plant intelligence". The plant movement incapacity and the evolution of the sexual reproduction system were strongly correlated. In this context, the evolution of the flower in the Angiosperms has been particularly important to allow the male gamete to fertilize the immobile female gamete. Moreover, the formation of fruit and seed greatly improved the dispersal and conservation of the progeny in the environment. With the flower, mechanisms to favour the outcrossing among different individuals appeared, which are essential to increase the genetic variability and, then, the plant evolution itself. Although the Angiosperms seem highly evolved, the plant evolution is not surely finished, because many reported morpho-physiological processes may be still considered susceptible of further improvement. In the last years the relationships among humans, plants and environment are becoming closer and closer. This is due to the use of the DNA recombinant techniques with the aim to modify artificially plant characters. Therefore, the risk of a plant evolution strongly directed towards practical or commercial objectives, or "an artificial evolution", may be hypothesized.

Self-Reported Acute Health Effects and Exposure to Companion Animals.

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Krueger, W S; Hilborn, E D; Dufour, A P; Sams, E A; Wade, T J

2016-06-01

To understand the etiological burden of disease associated with acute health symptoms [e.g. gastrointestinal (GI), respiratory, dermatological], it is important to understand how common exposures influence these symptoms. Exposures to familiar and unfamiliar animals can result in a variety of health symptoms related to infection, irritation and allergy; however, few studies have examined this association in a large-scale cohort setting. Cross-sectional data collected from 50 507 participants in the United States enrolled from 2003 to 2009 were used to examine associations between animal contact and acute health symptoms during a 10-12 day period. Fixed-effects multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confident intervals (CI) for associations between animal exposures and outcomes of GI illness, respiratory illness and skin/eye symptoms. Two-thirds of the study population (63.2%) reported direct contact with animals, of which 7.7% had contact with at least one unfamiliar animal. Participants exposed to unfamiliar animals had significantly higher odds of self-reporting all three acute health symptoms, when compared to non-animal-exposed participants (GI: AOR = 1.4, CI = 1.2-1.7; respiratory: AOR = 1.5, CI = 1.2-1.8; and skin/eye: AOR = 1.9, CI = 1.6-2.3), as well as when compared to participants who only had contact with familiar animals. Specific contact with dogs, cats or pet birds was also significantly associated with at least one acute health symptom; AORs ranged from 1.1 to 1.5, when compared to participants not exposed to each animal. These results indicate that contact with animals, especially unfamiliar animals, was significantly associated with GI, respiratory and skin/eye symptoms. Such associations could be attributable to zoonotic infections and allergic reactions. Etiological models for acute health symptoms should consider contact with companion animals, particularly exposure to unfamiliar animals

Tuition vs. Intuition: Effects of Instruction on Naive Theories of Evolution

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Shtulman, Andrew; Calabi, Prassede

2013-01-01

Recent research suggests that a major obstacle to evolution understanding is an essentialist view of the biological world. The present study investigated the effects of formal biology instruction on such misconceptions. Participants (N = 291) completed an assessment of their understanding of six aspects of evolution (variation, inheritance,…

Middle cerebral artery occlusion in Macaca fascicularis: acute and chronic stroke evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Arceuil, Helen E; Duggan, Michael; He, Julian; Pryor, Johnny; de Crespigny, Alex

2006-04-01

An intravascular stroke model designed for magnetic resonance imaging was developed in Macaca fascicularis (M. fascicularis) to characterize serial stroke lesion evolution. This model produces a range of stroke lesion sizes which closely mimics human stroke evolution. This paper describes the care of animals undergoing this stroke procedure, the range of outcomes we experienced and the cause of mortality in this model. Anesthesia was induced with atropine and ketamine and maintained with isoflurane or propofol. Non-invasive blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiration rate, temperature and end tidal CO2 were monitored continuously. The stroke was created by occluding a distal branch of the middle cerebral artery. During catheter placement animals were heparinized and vasospasm was minimized using verapamil. Anesthetic induction and maintenance were smooth. Animals with small strokes showed very rapid recovery, were able to ambulate and self-feed within 2 hours of recovery. Animals with strokes of >or=4% of the hemispheric volume required lengthy observation during recovery and parenteral nutrition. Large strokes resulted in significant brain edema, herniation and brainstem compression. Intracerebral hemorrhage and or subarachnoid hemorrhage coupled with a stroke of any size was acutely fatal. In the absence of an effective acute stroke therapy, the spectrum of outcomes seen in our primate model is very similar to that observed in human stroke patients.

Evolution of homeobox genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Peter W H

2013-01-01

Many homeobox genes encode transcription factors with regulatory roles in animal and plant development. Homeobox genes are found in almost all eukaryotes, and have diversified into 11 gene classes and over 100 gene families in animal evolution, and 10 to 14 gene classes in plants. The largest group in animals is the ANTP class which includes the well-known Hox genes, plus other genes implicated in development including ParaHox (Cdx, Xlox, Gsx), Evx, Dlx, En, NK4, NK3, Msx, and Nanog. Genomic data suggest that the ANTP class diversified by extensive tandem duplication to generate a large array of genes, including an NK gene cluster and a hypothetical ProtoHox gene cluster that duplicated to generate Hox and ParaHox genes. Expression and functional data suggest that NK, Hox, and ParaHox gene clusters acquired distinct roles in patterning the mesoderm, nervous system, and gut. The PRD class is also diverse and includes Pax2/5/8, Pax3/7, Pax4/6, Gsc, Hesx, Otx, Otp, and Pitx genes. PRD genes are not generally arranged in ancient genomic clusters, although the Dux, Obox, and Rhox gene clusters arose in mammalian evolution as did several non-clustered PRD genes. Tandem duplication and genome duplication expanded the number of homeobox genes, possibly contributing to the evolution of developmental complexity, but homeobox gene loss must not be ignored. Evolutionary changes to homeobox gene expression have also been documented, including Hox gene expression patterns shifting in concert with segmental diversification in vertebrates and crustaceans, and deletion of a Pitx1 gene enhancer in pelvic-reduced sticklebacks. WIREs Dev Biol 2013, 2:31-45. doi: 10.1002/wdev.78 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

STUDY OF THE TOXIC EFFECTS OF CYPERMETHRIN IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syed Mehmood Hasan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on the toxic effects of a commercially available pesticide, cypermethrin (CM, on animals. This pesticide was administered in the form of aerosol spray through a nebulizer. The study was performed in four different groups and a constant dose of the pesticide was administered once, twice, thrice and four times a day to the respective group for a period of 30 days. The animals were then dissected to study the pesticide effects on different organs. The organs were preserved in 10% formalin. The tissues were processed by basic histopathological method and the slides were prepared for observation. The results were recorded on a performa and were quantified by a unique scoring system. It is concluded that the injurious effects to the mentioned organs were dose and frequency dependent.

Effective evolution equations from many-body quantum mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benedikter, Niels Patriz

2014-01-01

Systems of interest in physics often consist of a very large number of interacting particles. In certain physical regimes, effective non-linear evolution equations are commonly used as an approximation for making predictions about the time-evolution of such systems. Important examples are Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute Bose gases and degenerate Fermi gases. While the effective equations are well-known in physics, a rigorous justification is very difficult. However, a rigorous derivation is essential to precisely understand the range and the limits of validity and the quality of the approximation. In this thesis, we prove that the time evolution of Bose-Einstein condensates in the Gross-Pitaevskii regime can be approximated by the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, a cubic non-linear Schroedinger equation. We then turn to fermionic systems and prove that the evolution of a degenerate Fermi gas can be approximated by the time-dependent Hartree-Fock equation (TDHF) under certain assumptions on the semiclassical structure of the initial data. Finally, we extend the latter result to fermions with relativistic kinetic energy. All our results provide explicit bounds on the error as the number of particles becomes large. A crucial methodical insight on bosonic systems is that correlations can be modeled by Bogolyubov transformations. We construct initial data appropriate for the Gross-Pitaevskii regime using a Bogolyubov transformation acting on a coherent state, which amounts to studying squeezed coherent states. As a crucial insight for fermionic systems, we point out a semiclassical structure in states close to the ground state of fermions in a trap. As a convenient language for studying the dynamics of fermionic systems, we use particle-hole transformations.

Evolution of the metazoan mitochondrial replicase.

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Oliveira, Marcos T; Haukka, Jani; Kaguni, Laurie S

2015-03-03

The large number of complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences available for metazoan species makes it a good system for studying genome diversity, although little is known about the mechanisms that promote and/or are correlated with the evolution of this organellar genome. By investigating the molecular evolutionary history of the catalytic and accessory subunits of the mtDNA polymerase, pol γ, we sought to develop mechanistic insight into its function that might impact genome structure by exploring the relationships between DNA replication and animal mitochondrial genome diversity. We identified three evolutionary patterns among metazoan pol γs. First, a trend toward stabilization of both sequence and structure occurred in vertebrates, with both subunits evolving distinctly from those of other animal groups, and acquiring at least four novel structural elements, the most important of which is the HLH-3β (helix-loop-helix, 3 β-sheets) domain that allows the accessory subunit to homodimerize. Second, both subunits of arthropods and tunicates have become shorter and evolved approximately twice as rapidly as their vertebrate homologs. And third, nematodes have lost the gene for the accessory subunit, which was accompanied by the loss of its interacting domain in the catalytic subunit of pol γ, and they show the highest rate of molecular evolution among all animal taxa. These findings correlate well with the mtDNA genomic features of each group described above, and with their modes of DNA replication, although a substantive amount of biochemical work is needed to draw conclusive links regarding the latter. Describing the parallels between evolution of pol γ and metazoan mtDNA architecture may also help in understanding the processes that lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and to human disease-related phenotypes. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Radiation Recoil Effects on the Dynamical Evolution of Asteroids

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Cotto-Figueroa, Desiree

The Yarkovsky effect is a radiation recoil force that results in a semimajor axis drift in the orbit that can cause Main Belt asteroids to be delivered to powerful resonances from which they could be transported to Earth-crossing orbits. This force depends on the spin state of the object, which is modified by the YORP effect, a variation of the Yarkovsky effect that results in a torque that changes the spin rate and the obliquity. Extensive analyses of the basic behavior of the YORP effect have been previously conducted in the context of the classical spin state evolution of rigid bodies (YORP cycle). However, the YORP effect has an extreme sensitivity to the topography of the asteroids and a minor change in the shape of an aggregate asteroid can stochastically change the YORP torques. Here we present the results of the first simulations that self-consistently model the YORP effect on the spin states of dynamically evolving aggregates. For these simulations we have developed several algorithms and combined them with two codes, TACO and pkdgrav. TACO is a thermophysical asteroid code that models the surface of an asteroid using a triangular facet representation and which can compute the YORP torques. The code pkdgrav is a cosmological N-body tree code modified to simulate the dynamical evolution of asteroids represented as aggregates of spheres using gravity and collisions. The continuous changes in the shape of an aggregate result in a different evolution of the YORP torques and therefore aggregates do not evolve through the YORP cycle as a rigid body would. Instead of having a spin evolution ruled by long periods of rotational acceleration and deceleration as predicted by the classical YORP cycle, the YORP effect is self-limiting and stochastic on aggregate asteroids. We provide a statistical description of the spin state evolution which lays out the foundation for new simulations of a coupled Yarkovsky/YORP evolution. Both self-limiting YORP and to a lesser

A review of the evolution of animal colour vision and visual communication signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Osorio, D; Vorobyev, M

2008-09-01

The visual displays of animals and plants are often colourful, and colour vision allows animals to respond to these signals as they forage for food, choose mates and so-forth. This article discusses the evolutionary relationship between photoreceptor spectral sensitivities of four groups of land animals--birds, butterflies, primates and hymenopteran insects (bees and wasps)--, the colour signals that are relevant to them, and how understanding is informed by models of spectral coding and colour vision. Although the spectral sensitivities of photoreceptors are known to vary adaptively under natural selection there is little evidence that those of hymenopterans, birds and primates are specifically adapted to the reflectance spectra of food plants or animal visual signals. On the other hand, the colours of fruit, flowers and feathers may have evolved to be more discriminable for the colour vision of their natural receivers than for other groups of animals. Butterflies are unusual in that they have enjoyed a major radiation in receptor numbers and spectral sensitivities. The reasons for the radiation and diversity of butterfly colour vision remain unknown, but may include their need to find food plants and to select mates.

Evolution in response to social selection: the importance of interactive effects of traits on fitness.

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Westneat, David F

2012-03-01

Social interactions have a powerful effect on the evolutionary process. Recent attempts to synthesize models of social selection with equations for indirect genetic effects (McGlothlin et al. 2010) provide a broad theoretical base from which to study selection and evolutionary response in the context of social interactions. However, this framework concludes that social selection will lead to evolution only if the traits carried by social partners are nonrandomly associated. I suggest this conclusion is incomplete, and that traits that do not covary between social partners can nevertheless lead to evolution via interactive effects on fitness. Such effects occur when there are functional interactions between traits, and as an example I use the interplay in water striders (Gerridae) between grasping appendages carried by males and spines by females. Functional interactive effects between traits can be incorporated into both the equations for social selection and the general model of social evolution proposed by McGlothlin et al. These expanded equations would accommodate adaptive coevolution in social interactions, integrate the quantitative genetic approach to social evolution with game theoretical approaches, and stimulate some new questions about the process of social evolution. © 2011 The Author. Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

The evolution of animal societies : An exploration of the effects of population structure, life-history and behavioural plasticity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quiñones Paredes, Andres

2016-01-01

Why do animals invest time and resources in social interactions and help each other, when the natural world is driven by fierce competition? Cooperation indeed abounds in the natural world, where organisms form societies whose fabric is made by the seemingly selfless actions of individuals. In this

Investigating animal health effects of sour gas acid forming emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, W.C.

1992-01-01

The effects of sour gas well blowout emissions on livestock are reviewed. Guidelines for safe drilling operations in hydrogen sulfide environments, general hazards and characteristics of hydrogen sulfide, and guidelines for field investigation into the effects of sour gas and acid emissions on livestock are discussed. A case history involving the Ross No. 2 gas well blowout of July 1985 in Rankin County, Mississippi is presented. The blowout lasted for 72 days, and at peak discharge the 500 ppM radius was ca 3.5 miles. A cattle embryo transplant operation located one half mile from the well was affected by the blowout. Examination by a local veterinarian of the cattle demonstrated eye irritation, epiphora, nasal discharge and coughing. After one and a half months of exposure, most animals showed clinical signs of a severe dry hacking cough, epiphora, dry rales over the thoracic inlet, and a bronchial popping sound over the lateral thorax. All animals had eye irritation. Of 55 animals showing signs of respiratory distress and eye irritations, 15 were still clinically ill in May of 1986. 7 refs., 1 tab

Neuroprotective effect of transplanted human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursors in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Aharonowiz

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS is an immune mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS. A potential new therapeutic approach for MS is cell transplantation which may promote remyelination and suppress the inflammatory process. METHODS: We transplanted human embryonic stem cells (hESC-derived early multipotent neural precursors (NPs into the brain ventricles of mice induced with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE, the animal model of MS. We studied the effect of the transplanted NPs on the functional and pathological manifestations of the disease. RESULTS: Transplanted hESC-derived NPs significantly reduced the clinical signs of EAE. Histological examination showed migration of the transplanted NPs to the host white matter, however, differentiation to mature oligodendrocytes and remyelination were negligible. Time course analysis of the evolution and progression of CNS inflammation and tissue injury showed an attenuation of the inflammatory process in transplanted animals, which was correlated with the reduction of both axonal damage and demyelination. Co-culture experiments showed that hESC-derived NPs inhibited the activation and proliferation of lymph node-derived T cells in response to nonspecific polyclonal stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effect of transplantation was not related to graft or host remyelination but was mediated by an immunosuppressive neuroprotective mechanism. The attenuation of EAE by hESC-derived NPs, demonstrated here, may serve as the first step towards further developments of hESC for cell therapy in MS.

Darwinism and the cultural evolution of sports.

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De Block, Andreas; Dewitte, Siegfried

2009-01-01

This article outlines a Darwinian approach to sports that takes into account its profoundly cultural character and thereby overcomes the traditional nature-culture dichotomies in the sociology of sport. We argue that there are good reasons to view sports as culturally evolved signaling systems that serve a function similar to (biological) courtship rituals in other animals. Our approach combines the insights of evolutionary psychology, which states that biological adaptations determine the boundaries for the types of sport that are possible, and pure cultural theories, which describe the mechanism of cultural evolution without referring to sport's biological bases. Several biological and cultural factors may moderate the direct effect that signaling value has on a sport's viability or popularity. Social learning underlies many aspects of the cultural control of sports, and sports have evolved new cultural functions more-or-less unrelated to mate choice as cultural evolution itself became important in humans.

Challenging Barriers to the Evolution of the Saudi Animation Industry Life-Cycle

OpenAIRE

Alharbi, O.; Baines, E.

2015-01-01

Conference proceedings were published with the paper available on https://www.waset.org/abstracts/industrial-and-manufacturing-engineering/27685 The animation industry is one of the creative industries that have attracted recent historiographical attention. However, there has been very limited research on Saudi Arabian and wider Arabian animation industries, while there are a large number of studies that have covered this issue for North America, Europe and East Asia. The existing studies ...

Animal welfare and use of silkworm as a model animal.

Science.gov (United States)

Sekimizu, N; Paudel, A; Hamamoto, H

2012-08-01

Sacrificing model animals is required for developing effective drugs before being used in human beings. In Japan today, at least 4,210,000 mice and other mammals are sacrificed to a total of 6,140,000 per year for the purpose of medical studies. All the animals treated in Japan, including test animals, are managed under control of "Act on Welfare and Management of Animals". Under the principle of this Act, no person shall kill, injure, or inflict cruelty on animals without due cause. "Animal" addressed in the Act can be defined as a "vertebrate animal". If we can make use of invertebrate animals in testing instead of vertebrate ones, that would be a remarkable solution for the issue of animal welfare. Furthermore, there are numerous advantages of using invertebrate animal models: less space and small equipment are enough for taking care of a large number of animals and thus are cost-effective, they can be easily handled, and many biological processes and genes are conserved between mammals and invertebrates. Today, many invertebrates have been used as animal models, but silkworms have many beneficial traits compared to mammals as well as other insects. In a Genome Pharmaceutical Institute's study, we were able to achieve a lot making use of silkworms as model animals. We would like to suggest that pharmaceutical companies and institutes consider the use of the silkworm as a model animal which is efficacious both for financial value by cost cutting and ethical aspects in animals' welfare.

Chronic effects of an invasive species on an animal community.

Science.gov (United States)

Doody, J Sean; Rhind, David; Green, Brian; Castellano, Christina; McHenry, Colin; Clulow, Simon

2017-08-01

Invasive species can trigger trophic cascades in animal communities, but published cases involving their removal of top predators are extremely rare. An exception is the invasive cane toad (Rhinella marina) in Australia, which has caused severe population declines in monitor lizards, triggering trophic cascades that facilitated dramatic and sometimes unexpected increases in several prey of the predators, including smaller lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodiles, and birds. Persistence of isolated populations of these predators with a decades-long sympatry with toads suggests the possibility of recovery, but alternative explanations are possible. Confirming predator recovery requires longer-term study of populations with both baseline and immediate post-invasion densities. Previously, we quantified short-term impacts of invasive cane toads on animal communities over seven years at two sites in tropical Australia. Herein, we test the hypothesis that predators have begun to recover by repeating the study 12 yr after the initial toad invasion. The three predatory lizards that experienced 71-97% declines in the short-term study showed no sign of recovery, and indeed a worse fate: two of the three species were no longer detectable in 630 km of river surveys, suggesting local extirpation. Two mesopredators that had increased markedly in the short term due to these predator losses showed diverse responses in the medium term; a small lizard species increased by ~500%, while populations of a snake species showed little change. Our results indicate a system still in ecological turmoil, having not yet reached a "new equilibrium" more than a decade after the initial invasion; predator losses due to this toxic invasive species, and thus downstream effects, were not transient. Given that cane toads have proven too prolific to eradicate or control, we suggest that recovery of impacted predators must occur unassisted by evolutionary means: dispersal into extinction sites from

Side effects of pain and analgesia in animal experimentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jirkof, Paulin

2017-03-22

This review highlights selected effects of untreated pain and of widely used analgesics such as opioids, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and antipyretics, to illustrate the relevance of carefully planned, appropriate and controlled analgesia for greater reproducibility in animal experiments involving laboratory rodents.

Real parameter optimization by an effective differential evolution algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Wagdy Mohamed

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces an Effective Differential Evolution (EDE algorithm for solving real parameter optimization problems over continuous domain. The proposed algorithm proposes a new mutation rule based on the best and the worst individuals among the entire population of a particular generation. The mutation rule is combined with the basic mutation strategy through a linear decreasing probability rule. The proposed mutation rule is shown to promote local search capability of the basic DE and to make it faster. Furthermore, a random mutation scheme and a modified Breeder Genetic Algorithm (BGA mutation scheme are merged to avoid stagnation and/or premature convergence. Additionally, the scaling factor and crossover of DE are introduced as uniform random numbers to enrich the search behavior and to enhance the diversity of the population. The effectiveness and benefits of the proposed modifications used in EDE has been experimentally investigated. Numerical experiments on a set of bound-constrained problems have shown that the new approach is efficient, effective and robust. The comparison results between the EDE and several classical differential evolution methods and state-of-the-art parameter adaptive differential evolution variants indicate that the proposed EDE algorithm is competitive with , and in some cases superior to, other algorithms in terms of final solution quality, efficiency, convergence rate, and robustness.

COMPARING BEHAVIORAL DOSE-EFFECT CURVES FOR HUMANS AND LABORATORY ANIMALS ACUTELY EXPOSED TO TOLUENE.

Science.gov (United States)

The utility of laboratory animal data in toxicology depends upon the ability to generalize the results quantitatively to humans. To compare the acute behavioral effects of inhaled toluene in humans to those in animals, dose-effect curves were fitted by meta-analysis of published...

The evolution of cognitive mechanisms in response to cultural innovations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lotem, Arnon; Halpern, Joseph Y; Edelman, Shimon; Kolodny, Oren

2017-07-24

When humans and other animals make cultural innovations, they also change their environment, thereby imposing new selective pressures that can modify their biological traits. For example, there is evidence that dairy farming by humans favored alleles for adult lactose tolerance. Similarly, the invention of cooking possibly affected the evolution of jaw and tooth morphology. However, when it comes to cognitive traits and learning mechanisms, it is much more difficult to determine whether and how their evolution was affected by culture or by their use in cultural transmission. Here we argue that, excluding very recent cultural innovations, the assumption that culture shaped the evolution of cognition is both more parsimonious and more productive than assuming the opposite. In considering how culture shapes cognition, we suggest that a process-level model of cognitive evolution is necessary and offer such a model. The model employs relatively simple coevolving mechanisms of learning and data acquisition that jointly construct a complex network of a type previously shown to be capable of supporting a range of cognitive abilities. The evolution of cognition, and thus the effect of culture on cognitive evolution, is captured through small modifications of these coevolving learning and data-acquisition mechanisms, whose coordinated action is critical for building an effective network. We use the model to show how these mechanisms are likely to evolve in response to cultural phenomena, such as language and tool-making, which are associated with major changes in data patterns and with new computational and statistical challenges.

Effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamioka, Hiroharu; Okada, Shinpei; Tsutani, Kiichiro; Park, Hyuntae; Okuizumi, Hiroyasu; Handa, Shuichi; Oshio, Takuya; Park, Sang-Jun; Kitayuguchi, Jun; Abe, Takafumi; Honda, Takuya; Mutoh, Yoshiteru

2014-04-01

The objectives of this review were to summarize the evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Studies were eligible if they were RCTs. Studies included one treatment group in which AAT was applied. We searched the following databases from 1990 up to October 31, 2012: MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Ichushi Web, GHL, WPRIM, and PsycINFO. We also searched all Cochrane Database up to October 31, 2012. Eleven RCTs were identified, and seven studies were about "Mental and behavioral disorders". Types of animal intervention were dog, cat, dolphin, bird, cow, rabbit, ferret, and guinea pig. The RCTs conducted have been of relatively low quality. We could not perform meta-analysis because of heterogeneity. In a study environment limited to the people who like animals, AAT may be an effective treatment for mental and behavioral disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and alcohol/drug addictions, and is based on a holistic approach through interaction with animals in nature. To most effectively assess the potential benefits for AAT, it will be important for further research to utilize and describe (1) RCT methodology when appropriate, (2) reasons for non-participation, (3) intervention dose, (4) adverse effects and withdrawals, and (5) cost. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

J Maynard Smith: From Engineering to Evolution

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

ary maintenance of sexual reproduction, the evolution of social behaviours in animals, and the ... the application of Game Theory to evolutionary questions and gave us the now ... gant") although he enjoyed learning mathematics there. Indeed ...

Personality Traits: A View From the Animal Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, Alexander

2018-02-01

Given their backgrounds in classical ethology and in comparative psychology, researchers who study animal personality in biology and psychology, respectively, differ in how they measure personality, what questions they see as important, and how they address these questions. Despite these differences, both comparative psychologists and biologists embrace personality traits. By doing so, they have solved empirical and conceptual problems in animal behavior. Studies of animal personality have provided answers to questions about the evolution of human personality and have presented conceptual and empirical anomalies for sociocognitive theories. Animal personality research does not break from trait theories of personality. Instead, it enriches trait theories by conceiving of traits as not belonging to a species, but as expressed, with some modifications, across species. Broadening trait theory in this way has the potential to further enhance its ability to answer questions related to animal and human personality. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Personality published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Advances in Small Animal Imaging Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loudos, George K.

2007-01-01

The rapid growth in genetics and molecular biology combined with the development of techniques for genetically engineering small animals has led to an increased interest in in vivo laboratory animal imaging during the past few years. For this purpose, new instrumentation, data acquisition strategies, and image processing and reconstruction techniques are being developed, researched and evaluated. The aim of this article is to give a short overview of the state of the art technologies for high resolution and high sensitivity molecular imaging techniques, primarily positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The basic needs of small animal imaging will be described. The evolution in instrumentation in the past two decades, as well as the commercially available systems will be overviewed. Finally, the new trends in detector technology and preliminary results from challenging applications will be presented. For more details a number of references are provided

Effects of hazardous environments on animal performance. Final report, Mar 88-Mar 91

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murphy, M.R.

1992-03-01

Using a variety of experimental methods and procedures, animal models are used to measure the effects on performance of combat threats and countermeasures for such threats. The ultimate usefulness of such measurements in animal models will depend on extrapolations from performance changes in animals to performance changes in humans performing tasks of military relevance. This report describes several tasks in use for performance assessments in animals, and the results of experiments using these tasks to estimate performance threats from chemical warfare agents and from chemical countermeasures to these agents, as well as the efficacy of such countermeasures in reducing deleterious effects of threat agents. The use of rodents to characterize changes in neural structure and function concomitant with near-lethal exposures to chemical threat agents is also illustrated. Efforts to make rodents more closely resemble primates in their sensitivity to anticholinesterases through the use of carboxylesterase inhibitors are reported. Development of a primate model for thermal stress effects in chemical warfare defense is also described. The application of primate performance assessment techniques to the medical question of hyperbaric oxygen treatment effects on carbon monoxide toxicity is also presented.

Tumor immunology viewed from alternative animal models—the Xenopus story

Science.gov (United States)

Banach, Maureen; Robert, Jacques

2017-01-01

a) Purpose of review Nonmammalian comparative animal models are important not only to gain fundamental evolutionary understanding of the complex interactions of tumors with the immune system, but also to better predict the applicability of novel immunotherapeutic approaches to humans. After reviewing recent advances in developing alternative models, we focus on the amphibian Xenopus laevis and its usefulness in deciphering the perplexing roles of MHC class I-like molecules and innate (i)T cells in tumor immunity. b) Recent findings Experiments using MHC-defined inbred and cloned animals, tumor cell lines, effective reagents, sequenced genomes, and adapted gene editing techniques in Xenopus, have revealed that the critical involvement of class I-like molecules and iT cells in tumor immunity has been conserved during evolution. c) Summary Comparative studies with the X. laevis tumor immunity model can contribute to the development of better and more efficient cancer immunotherapies. PMID:28944105

Non unitarity effects in the time evolution of one body observables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nemes, M.C.; Toledo Piza, A.F.R. de

1982-01-01

We present a formal derivation of the exact dynamics of the one body density matrix. Its essential ingredients are shown to be: a) a mean field unitary time evolution, b) irreducible non unitary corrections to it (collision effects) and c) the time evolution of initial state correlations (which contributes to both a) and b). The qualitative importance of collision effects to the expectation value of one body operators is discussed and a quantitative study is carried out within the framework of an exactly soluble model, the non unitary contributions vary from 10% to over 100%

The evolution of juvenile animal testing for small and large molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldrick, Paul

2013-11-01

Recent formalised regulatory requirements for ensuring safe use of new drugs in children has increased the requirement, when considered relevant, to perform juvenile animal testing before commencing paediatric clinical trials. A key goal of this work is to identify or examine for a developmental or toxicity finding not seen in other toxicology testing. With our current knowledge, this paper examines what types of testing are occurring, what novel findings are being seen and their relevance in the safety evaluation process. Furthermore, trends for now and the future in the type of juvenile animal testing will be described including a need for more focused study designs and more published data on modern cross-species postnatal development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does the dilution effect generally occur in animal diseases?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huang, Zheng Y.X.; Yu, Yang; Langevelde, Van Frank; Boer, De Willem F.

2017-01-01

The dilution effect (DE) has been reported in many diseases, but its generality is still highly disputed. Most current criticisms of DE are related to animal diseases. Particularly, some critical studies argued that DE is less likely to occur in complex environments. Here our meta-analyses

The evolutionary and ecological consequences of animal social networks: emerging issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurvers, Ralf H J M; Krause, Jens; Croft, Darren P; Wilson, Alexander D M; Wolf, Max

2014-06-01

The first generation of research on animal social networks was primarily aimed at introducing the concept of social networks to the fields of animal behaviour and behavioural ecology. More recently, a diverse body of evidence has shown that social fine structure matters on a broader scale than initially expected, affecting many key ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we review this development. We discuss the effects of social network structure on evolutionary dynamics (genetic drift, fixation probabilities, and frequency-dependent selection) and social evolution (cooperation and between-individual behavioural differences). We discuss how social network structure can affect important coevolutionary processes (host-pathogen interactions and mutualisms) and population stability. We also discuss the potentially important, but poorly studied, role of social network structure on dispersal and invasion. Throughout, we highlight important areas for future research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of high plant protein cowpeas ( Vigna unguculata ) and animal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Recent trends in weight loss diets have been formulated that led to a substantial increase in protein intake. It has however been established that high protein intake impacts negatively on already compromised kidney, while its effect on a healthy kidney remains unclear. Our aim therefore was to study the effect of animal ...

Do cavies talk?: The effect of anthropomorphic books on children's knowledge about animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia A Ganea

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Many books for young children present animals in fantastical and unrealistic ways, as wearing clothes, talking and engaging in human-like activities. This research examined whether anthropomorphism in children’s books affects children’s learning and conceptions of animals, by specifically assessing the impact of depictions (a bird wearing clothes and reading a book and language (bird described as talking and as having human intentions. In Study 1, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children saw picture books featuring realistic drawings of a novel animal. Half of the children also heard factual, realistic language, while the other half heard anthropomorphized language. In Study 2, we replicated the first study using anthropomorphic illustrations of real animals. The results show that the language used to describe animals in books has an effect on children’s tendency to attribute human-like traits to animals, and that anthropomorphic storybooks affect younger children’s learning of novel facts about animals. These results indicate that anthropomorphized animals in books may not only lead to less learning but also influence children’s conceptual knowledge of animals.

Observations on the effect of flood on animals

Science.gov (United States)

Stickel, L.F.

1948-01-01

Summary. The flood plain of the Patuxent River is washed over periodically, and occasionally the entire bottomland is submerged to a depth of several feet. The effects of an unusually severe flood on the populations and home ranges of wood mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and box turtles (Terrapene carolina) were studied by means of collecting the animals before, during, and after the flood. The flood had little or no effect on the size of the populations, and individuals showed remarkable ability to remain within their home ranges despite the flood.

Challenges of Sanitary Compliance Related to Trade in Products of Animal Origin in Southern Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Magwedere, Kudakwashe; Songabe, Tembile; Dziva, Francis

2015-06-30

Irrespective of the existence of potentially pathogenic organisms carried by animals, foods of animal origin remain the prime nutrition of humans world-wide. As such, food safety continues to be a global concern primarily to safeguard public health and to promote international trade. Application of integrated risk-based quality assurance procedures on-farm and at slaughterhouses plays a crucial role in controlling hazards associated with foods of animal origin. In the present paper we examine safety assurance systems and associated value chains for foods of animal origin based on historical audit results of some Southern African countries with thriving export trade in animal products, mainly to identify areas for improvement. Among the key deficiencies identified were: i) failure to keep pace with scientific advances related to the ever-changing food supply chain; ii) lack of effective national and regional intervention strategies to curtail pathogen transmission and evolution, notably the zoonotic Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli ; and iii) a lack of effective methods to reduce contamination of foods of wildlife origin. The introduction of foods of wildlife origin for domestic consumption and export markets seriously compounds already existing conflicts in legislation governing food supply and safety. This analysis identifies gaps required to improve the safety of foods of wildlife origin.

Challenges of sanitary compliance related to trade in products of animal origin in Southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kudakwashe Magwedere

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Irrespective of the existence of potentially pathogenic organisms carried by animals, foods of animal origin remain the prime nutrition of humans world-wide. As such, food safety continues to be a global concern primarily to safeguard public health and to promote international trade. Application of integrated risk-based quality assurance procedures on-farm and at slaughterhouses plays a crucial role in controlling hazards associated with foods of animal origin. In the present paper we examine safety assurance systems and associated value chains for foods of animal origin based on historical audit results of some Southern African countries with thriving export trade in animal products, mainly to identify areas for improvement. Among the key deficiencies identified were: i failure to keep pace with scientific advances related to the ever-changing food supply chain; ii lack of effective national and regional intervention strategies to curtail pathogen transmission and evolution, notably the zoonotic Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli; and iii a lack of effective methods to reduce contamination of foods of wildlife origin. The introduction of foods of wildlife origin for domestic consumption and export markets seriously compounds already existing conflicts in legislation governing food supply and safety. This analysis identifies gaps required to improve the safety of foods of wildlife origin.

New Trends and Perspectives in the Evolution of Neurotransmitters in Microbial, Plant, and Animal Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Roshchina, Victoria V

2016-01-01

The evolutionary perspective on the universal roles of compounds known as neurotransmitters may help in the analysis of relations between all organisms in biocenosis-from microorganisms to plant and animals. This phenomenon, significant for chemosignaling and cellular endocrinology, has been important in human health and the ability to cause disease or immunity, because the "living environment" influences every organism in a biocenosis relationship (microorganism-microorganism, microorganism-plant, microorganism-animal, plant-animal, plant-plant and animal-animal). Non-nervous functions of neurotransmitters (rather "biomediators" on a cellular level) are considered in this review and ample consideration is given to similarities and differences that unite, as well as distinguish, taxonomical kingdoms.

Highly diluted medication reduces parasitemia and improves experimental infection evolution by Trypanosoma cruzi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleixo Denise

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is no published information about the use of different protocols to administer a highly diluted medication. Evaluate the effect of different protocols for treatment with biotherapic T. cruzi 17 dH (BIOTTc17dH on clinical/parasitological evolution of mice infected with T. cruzi-Y strain. Methods A blind, randomized controlled trial was performed twice, using 60 28-day-old male Swiss mice infected with T. cruzi-Y strain, in five treatment groups: CI - treated with a 7% ethanol-water solution, diluted in water (10 μL/mL ad libitum; BIOTPI - treated with BIOTTc17dH in water (10 μL/mL ad libitum during a period that started on the day of infection; BIOT4DI - treated with BIOTTc17dH in water (10 μL/mL ad libitum beginning on the 4th day of infection; BIOT4-5–6 - treated with BIOTTc17dH by gavage (0.2 mL/ animal/day on the 4th, 5th and 6th days after infection; BIOT7-8–9 - treated with BIOTTc17dH by gavage (0.2 mL/ animal/day on the 7th, 8th and 9th days after infection. We evaluated: parasitemia; total parasitemia (Ptotal; maximum peak of parasites; prepatent period (PPP - time from infection to detection of the parasite in blood; patent period (PP - period when the parasitemia can be detected in blood; clinical aspects; and mortality. Results Parasitological parameters in the BIOTPI and mainly in the BIOT4PI group showed better evolution of the infection compared to the control group (CI, with lower Ptotal, lower maximum peak of parasites, higher PPP, lower PP and longer survival times. These animals showed stable body temperature and higher weight gain and water consumption, with more animals having normal-appearing fur for longer periods. In contrast, groups BIOT4-5–6 and BIOT7-8–9 showed worse evolution of the infection compared to the control group, considering both parasitological and clinical parameters. The correlation analysis combined with the other data from this study indicated that the prepatent

Conserved domains and SINE diversity during animal evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Luchetti, Andrea; Mantovani, Barbara

2013-10-01

Eukaryotic genomes harbour a number of mobile genetic elements (MGEs); moving from one genomic location to another, they are known to impact on the host genome. Short interspersed elements (SINEs) are well-represented, non-autonomous retroelements and they are likely the most diversified MGEs. In some instances, sequence domains conserved across unrelated SINEs have been identified; remarkably, one of these, called Nin, has been conserved since the Radiata-Bilateria splitting. Here we report on two new domains: Inv, derived from Nin, identified in insects and in deuterostomes, and Pln, restricted to polyneopteran insects. The identification of Inv and Pln sequences allowed us to retrieve new SINEs, two in insects and one in a hemichordate. The diverse structural combination of the different domains in different SINE families, during metazoan evolution, offers a clearer view of SINE diversity and their frequent de novo emergence through module exchange, possibly underlying the high evolutionary success of SINEs. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[The effect of electromagnetic fields on living organisms: plants, birds and animals].

Science.gov (United States)

Rochalska, Małgorzata

2007-01-01

Electromagnetic fields, constant and alternating, are a static element of the environment. They originate from both natural and man-made sources. Depending on the type of the field, its intensity and time of activity, they exert different effects on the natural world (plants and animals). Some animals utilize magnetic field of the earth for their own purposes.

Health effects of feeding genetically modified (GM) crops to livestock animals: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vos, Clazien J; Swanenburg, Manon

2017-08-31

A large share of genetically modified (GM) crops grown worldwide is processed into livestock feed. Feed safety of GM crops is primarily based on compositional equivalence with near-isogenic cultivars and experimental trials in rodents. However, feeding studies in target animals add to the evaluation of GM crops with respect to animal health. This review aimed to evaluate the possible health effects of feeding GM crops to livestock by reviewing scientific publications on experimental studies in ruminants, pigs, and poultry in which at least one of the following health parameters was investigated: body condition score, organ weight, haematology, serum biochemistry, histopathology, clinical examination, immune response, or gastrointestinal microbiota. In most experiments, either Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) maize, Roundup Ready (RR) soybean, or both were fed to livestock animals. Significant differences (PGM crops has adverse effects on animal health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New thinking: the evolution of human cognition

OpenAIRE

Heyes, Cecilia

2012-01-01

Humans are animals that specialize in thinking and knowing, and our extraordinary cognitive abilities have transformed every aspect of our lives. In contrast to our chimpanzee cousins and Stone Age ancestors, we are complex political, economic, scientific and artistic creatures, living in a vast range of habitats, many of which are our own creation. Research on the evolution of human cognition asks what types of thinking make us such peculiar animals, and how they have been generated by evolu...

3D geospatial visualizations: Animation and motion effects on spatial objects

Science.gov (United States)

Evangelidis, Konstantinos; Papadopoulos, Theofilos; Papatheodorou, Konstantinos; Mastorokostas, Paris; Hilas, Constantinos

2018-02-01

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), in combination with high quality raster graphics provide realistic three-dimensional (3D) representations of the globe (virtual globe) and amazing navigation experience over the terrain through earth browsers. In addition, the adoption of interoperable geospatial mark-up languages (e.g. KML) and open programming libraries (Javascript) makes it also possible to create 3D spatial objects and convey on them the sensation of any type of texture by utilizing open 3D representation models (e.g. Collada). One step beyond, by employing WebGL frameworks (e.g. Cesium.js, three.js) animation and motion effects are attributed on 3D models. However, major GIS-based functionalities in combination with all the above mentioned visualization capabilities such as for example animation effects on selected areas of the terrain texture (e.g. sea waves) as well as motion effects on 3D objects moving in dynamically defined georeferenced terrain paths (e.g. the motion of an animal over a hill, or of a big fish in an ocean etc.) are not widely supported at least by open geospatial applications or development frameworks. Towards this we developed and made available to the research community, an open geospatial software application prototype that provides high level capabilities for dynamically creating user defined virtual geospatial worlds populated by selected animated and moving 3D models on user specified locations, paths and areas. At the same time, the generated code may enhance existing open visualization frameworks and programming libraries dealing with 3D simulations, with the geospatial aspect of a virtual world.

Transgenerational epigenetic effects on animal behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Per

2013-12-01

Over the last decade a shift in paradigm has occurred with respect to the interaction between environment and genes. It is now clear that animal genomes are regulated to a large extent as a result of input from environmental events and experiences, which cause short- and long-term modifications in epigenetic markings of DNA and histones. In this review, the evidence that such epigenetic modifications can affect the behaviour of animals is explored, and whether such acquired behaviour alterations can transfer across generation borders. First, the mechanisms by which experiences cause epigenetic modifications are examined. This includes, for example, methylation of cytosine in CpG positions and acetylation of histones, and studies showing that this can be modified by early experiences. Secondly, the evidence that specific modifications in the epigenome can be the cause of behaviour variation is reviewed. Thirdly, the extent to which this phenotypically active epigenetic variants can be inherited either through the germline or through reoccurring environmental conditions is examined. A particularly interesting observation is that epigenetic modifications are often linked to stress, and may possibly be mediated by steroid effects. Finally, the idea that transgenerationally stable epigenetic variants may serve as substrates for natural selection is explored, and it is speculated that they may even predispose for directed, non-random mutations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The evolution of 'bricolage'.

Science.gov (United States)

Duboule, D; Wilkins, A S

1998-02-01

The past ten years of developmental genetics have revealed that most of our genes are shared by other species throughout the animal kingdom. Consequently, animal diversity might largely rely on the differential use of the same components, either at the individual level through divergent functional recruitment, or at a more integrated level, through their participation in various genetic networks. Here, we argue that this inevitably leads to an increase in the interdependency between functions that, in turn, influences the degree to which novel variations can be tolerated. In this 'transitionist' scheme, evolution is neither inherently gradualist nor punctuated but, instead, progresses from one extreme to the other, together with the increased complexity of organisms.

Understanding of Evolution May Be Improved by Thinking about People

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Nettle

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The theory of evolution is poorly understood in the population at large, even by those with some science education. The recurrent misunderstandings can be partly attributed to failure to distinguish between processes which individual organisms undergo and those which populations undergo. They may be so pervasive because we usually explain evolutionary ideas with examples from non-human animals, and our everyday cognition about animals does not track individuals as distinct from the species to which they belong. By contrast, everyday cognition about other people tracks unique individuals as well as general properties of humans. In Study 1, I present experimental evidence that categorization by species occurs more strongly for non-human animals than for other people in 50 British university students. In Study 2, I show, in the same population, that framing evolutionary scenarios in terms of people produces fewer conceptual errors than when logically identical scenarios are framed terms of non-human animals. I conclude that public understanding of evolution might be improved if we began instruction by considering the organisms which are most familiar to us.

THE EFFECT OF USING SHORT SILENT ANIMATIONS ON EFL LEARNERS WRITING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Marashi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of short silent animations on pre-intermediate EFL learners writing. A homogenized group of 60 participants was non-randomly chosen and assigned as the control and experimental groups. Those in the control group watched five short animations with dialogue, while those in the experimental group had five short animations which were silent. The procedure lasted 10 sessions. In both groups, the participants were asked to write five writings regarding the subjects of the animations during the term and each of the writings should have contained a minimum of 90 and maximum of 140 words. The participants were provided both oral and written feedback. At the end of the instruction, a sample PET writing posttest was administered to both groups, an independent samples t-test was run on the mean scores of the two groups, and the results (t = -2.02, p = 0.037˂0.05 revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group.

Effects of Geometry and Kinematics on Animals Leaping Out of Water

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Brian; Myeong, Jihye; Virot, Emmanuel; Kim, Ho-Young; Jung, Sunghwan

2017-11-01

Leaping out of water is a phenomenon exhibited by a variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic animals, such as frogs and whales. In this study, we aim to elucidate the effects of geometric and kinematic conditions on the propulsive and drag force required for an animal to jump through the water interface. A simple mechanism was designed to measure the propulsive thrust produced by a flapping appendage. In a separate experiment to measure the opposing drag, simplified models of animals are 3D printed and fitted with pressure sensors. The model is accelerated from rest and covers a range of Re from 103 to 105. Using a high-speed camera and pressure sensors, we observed a deformation of the free surface prior to water exit, and correlated this to the drag force. Finally, we discuss a scaling law to describe the general physics which allow animals to leap out of water. NSF EAPSI.

Effect of a wildlife conservation camp experience in China on student knowledge of animals, care, propensity for environmental stewardship, and compassionate behavior toward animals

Science.gov (United States)

Bexell, Sarah M.

The goal of conservation education is positive behavior change toward animals and the environment. This study was conducted to determine whether participation in a wildlife conservation education camp was effective in positively changing 8-12 year old students': (a) knowledge of animals, (b) care about animals, (c) propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship, and (d) compassionate behavior toward animals. During the summer of 2005, 2 five-day camps were conducted at 2 zoological institutions in Chengdu, China. The camp curriculum was influenced by theory and research on the following: conservation psychology, social learning theory, empathy and moral development theory, socio-biological theory, constructivist theory, and conservation science. Camp activities were sensitive to Chinese culture and included Chinese conservation issues. Activities were designed to help children form bonds with animals and care enough about them to positively change their behavior toward animals and the environment. This mixed methods study triangulated quantitative and qualitative data from six sources to answer the following: (1) Did camp increase student knowledge of animals? (2) Did camp increase student caring about animals? (3) Did camp increase student propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship? (4) Did camp affect student compassionate behavior toward animals? A conservation stewards survey revealed significant increases on pre-post, self-report of knowledge, care, and propensity. Pre-post, rubric-scored responses to human-animal interaction vignettes indicated a significant increase in knowledge, and stable scores on care and propensity. Qualitative data from student journals, vignettes, and end-of-camp questionnaires demonstrated knowledge, caring, and propensity, and revealed the emergent theme empathy. To address question 4, instructors tallied campers' behavior toward animals using a student behavior ethogram. Occurrence of positive behaviors was

Dynamic modelling of hydrogen evolution effects in the all-vanadium redox flow battery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, A.A.; Al-Fetlawi, H.; Walsh, F.C.

2010-01-01

A model for hydrogen evolution in an all-vanadium redox flow battery is developed, coupling the dynamic conservation equations for charge, mass and momentum with a detailed description of the electrochemical reactions. Bubble formation at the negative electrode is included in the model, taking into account the attendant reduction in the liquid volume and the transfer of momentum between the gas and liquid phases, using a modified multiphase-mixture approach. Numerical simulations are compared to experimental data for different vanadium concentrations and mean linear electrolyte flow rates, demonstrating good agreement. Comparisons to simulations with negligible hydrogen evolution demonstrate the effect of gas evolution on the efficiency of the battery. The effects of reactant concentration, flow rate, applied current density and gas bubble diameter on hydrogen evolution are investigated. Significant variations in the gas volume fraction and the bubble velocity are predicted, depending on the operating conditions.

[Animal Health Law-- the National Animal Health Act and the European Animal Health Law].

Science.gov (United States)

Bätza, Hans-Joachim; Mettenleiter, Thomas

2013-01-01

The Animal Health Act that replaces the Animal Disease Act, which is currently in force, creates a regulatory framework in order to not only, as has been the case so far, control animal diseases that had already broken out, but in order to already prevent in advance possible outbreaks of animal diseases by means of preventive measures. The instruments to this effect are described here. At European level, too, the idea of prevention is set to play a greater role in the future, with the draft EU legal instrument on animal health, that has to date only been discussed at Commission level, also contributing to a simplification and easier implementation by the persons subject to law by harmonising the currently fragmented Community law. It remains to be seen when the deliberations in the Council and European Parliament will begin.

The Effect of Steps to Promote Higher Levels of Farm Animal Welfare across the EU. Societal versus Animal Scientists’ Perceptions of Animal Welfare

Science.gov (United States)

Averós, Xavier; Aparicio, Miguel A.; Ferrari, Paolo; Guy, Jonathan H.; Hubbard, Carmen; Schmid, Otto; Ilieski, Vlatko; Spoolder, Hans A. M.

2013-01-01

Simple Summary We studied different EU production standards and initiatives to determine whether there is still room or not for further animal welfare improvement, and which should be the best way to achieve it. Many of the adopted measures in these standards and initiatives are scientifically supported, but other aspects that are equally important for animal welfare are not included in any of them. Animal welfare improvement should consider, for each country, those aspects actually benefiting animals, but also the social expectations within each country. Economic constraints might explain the gap between what society demands, and what farm animals actually need. Abstract Information about animal welfare standards and initiatives from eight European countries was collected, grouped, and compared to EU welfare standards to detect those aspects beyond minimum welfare levels demanded by EU welfare legislation. Literature was reviewed to determine the scientific relevance of standards and initiatives, and those aspects going beyond minimum EU standards. Standards and initiatives were assessed to determine their strengths and weaknesses regarding animal welfare. Attitudes of stakeholders in the improvement of animal welfare were determined through a Policy Delphi exercise. Social perception of animal welfare, economic implications of upraising welfare levels, and differences between countries were considered. Literature review revealed that on-farm space allowance, climate control, and environmental enrichment are relevant for all animal categories. Experts’ assessment revealed that on-farm prevention of thermal stress, air quality, and races and passageways’ design were not sufficiently included. Stakeholders considered that housing conditions are particularly relevant regarding animal welfare, and that animal-based and farm-level indicators are fundamental to monitor the progress of animal welfare. The most notable differences between what society offers and what

Social and behavioral barriers to pathogen transmission in wild animal populations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loehle, C.S.

1988-12-31

Disease and pathogens have been studied as regulators of animal populations but not really as selective forces. The authors propose that pathogens can be major selective forces influencing social behaviors when these are successful at reducing disease transmission. The behaviors whose evolution could have been influenced by pathogen effects include group size, group isolation, mixed species flocking, migration, seasonal sociality, social avoidance, and dominance behaviors. Mate choice, mating system, and sexual selection are put in a new light when examined in terms of disease transmission. It is concluded that pathogen avoidance is a more powerful selective force than has heretofore been recognized.

The Effect of Watching Iranian Religious Animations on Religion Behavior in Adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Mojtaba Razawi Tousi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Adolescents are so much in favor of media productions and they criticize its religious notions and TV productions has a great influence on making a true attitude towards spirituality and religion so possibility of influence Iranian religious Animation on the religious behavior of audiences was studied with use the role of schools in gathering homogeneous audience. This research was done on a number of students aged 12-18 in 8 different non- governmental schools, educational region 2 in Tehran. The research analyzed the examinees in 4 test groups and 4 control groups to observe the effect of religious animation on the students' religious behavior. Using pairing t-test, one sample t-test and variance analysis (ANOVA, the research examined the effect of age, gender and religious precedent in student's behavior. The findings prove that watching religious animation strengthens their religious behavior considering gender and religious precedent.

Age and Gender Related Renal Side Effects of Cisplatin in Animal Model

Science.gov (United States)

Pezeshki, Zahra; Maleki, Maryam; Talebi, Ardeshir; Nematbakhsh, Mehdi

2017-06-25

Backgrounds: Cisplatin (CDDP) is a choice of anti-cancer drug for cancer chemotherapy with serious side effects such as nephrotoxicity. It seems that age is an important factor influencing the side effects of CDDP. This study was designed to determine the role of age and gender simultaneously in CDDP induced renal toxicity. Methods: 40 Wistar male and female rats were assigned as 6 groups in 3 different age categories (10, 16, and 20 weeks old). The single dose of CDDP (7.5 mg/kg, ip) was administrated, and a week later measurements were performed. Results: Body weight changes in male (not in female) animals aged 16 and 20 weeks were more than 10 weeks old animals (PGender difference in serum level of Cr, BUN and nitrite, and Cr-clearance were observed in animals aged10 weeks (Pgender depended, and may be different at various ages. Creative Commons Attribution License

Interpreting the Effects of Pulse Remagnetization on Animal Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschvink, J. L.; Wang, C. X.; Golash, H. N.; Hilburn, I. A.; Wu, D. A.; Crucilla, S. J.; Badal, Y. D.; Shimojo, S.

2017-12-01

Observations of geomagnetic sensitivity by migratory and homing animals have puzzled biophysicists for over 70 years. Widely dismissed as biophysically implausible due to the lack of physiological ferromagnetic materials [e.g., D.R. Griffin, 1944, 1952], clear and reproducible responses to earth-strength magnetic fields is now firmly established in organisms ranging from Bacteria, Protists, and Animals from numerous phyla, including mollusks, arthropods, and the chordates. Behavior demands sensory transduction, as external stimuli only `get into the nervous system' through sensory cells specialized to transduce the physical stimulus into a modulated stream of action potentials in neurons. Three basic biophysical mechanisms could plausibly explain the biophysical transduction of geomagnetic cues, including electrical induction, hyperfine magnetic field effects on photo-activated free radicals (the `Quantum Compass'), or receptor cells containing biologically-precipitated crystals of a ferromagnetic mineral like magnetite (Fe3O4). The definitive test of a ferromagnetic receptor is the pulse-remagnetization experiment, in which you apply a brief, unidirectional magnetic pulse of about 1 mS in duration, configured to exceed the coercive force of the SD particles and reverse the orientation of the magnetic moment wrt to the crystal axis (typically, a pulse few tens of mT is adequate). A pulse configured in this fashion can be well below the dB/dt level needed to fire a sensory nerve through the induced electric fields. The pulse produces a permanent flip in magnetization direction, the same way information is coded on magnetic tape. Magnetotactic bacteria, exposed to such a pulse, reverse their magnetic swimming directions passively. There are now over 16 peer-reviewed papers in which this experiment has been applied to animals, including birds, all of which show clear and long-lasting effects of the pulse. Such a pulse would have no lasting effect on a quantum compass

Ecological effects of aphid abundance, genotypic variation, and contemporary evolution on plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Turley, Nash E; Johnson, Marc T J

2015-07-01

Genetic variation and contemporary evolution within populations can shape the strength and nature of species interactions, but the relative importance of these forces compared to other ecological factors is unclear. We conducted a field experiment testing the effects of genotypic variation, abundance, and presence/absence of green peach aphids (Myzus persicae) on the growth, leaf nitrogen, and carbon of two plant species (Brassica napus and Solanum nigrum). Aphid genotype affected B. napus but not S. nigrum biomass explaining 20 and 7% of the total variation, respectively. Averaging across both plant species, the presence/absence of aphids had a 1.6× larger effect size (Cohen's d) than aphid genotype, and aphid abundance had the strongest negative effects on plant biomass explaining 29% of the total variation. On B. napus, aphid genotypes had different effects on leaf nitrogen depending on their abundance. Aphids did not influence leaf nitrogen in S. nigrum nor leaf carbon in either species. We conducted a second experiment in the field to test whether contemporary evolution could affect plant performance. Aphid populations evolved in as little as five generations, but the rate and direction of this evolution did not consistently vary between plant species. On one host species (B. napus), faster evolving populations had greater negative effects on host plant biomass, with aphid evolutionary rate explaining 23% of the variation in host plant biomass. Together, these results show that genetic variation and evolution in an insect herbivore can play important roles in shaping host plant ecology.

Effects of in-cascade defect clustering on near-term defect evolution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heinisch, H.L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

1997-08-01

The effects of in-cascade defect clustering on the nature of the subsequent defect population are being studied using stochastic annealing simulations applied to cascades generated in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results of the simulations illustrates the strong influence of the defect configuration existing in the primary damage state on subsequent defect evolution. The large differences in mobility and stability of vacancy and interstitial defects and the rapid one-dimensional diffusion of small, glissile interstitial loops produced directly in cascades have been shown to be significant factors affecting the evolution of the defect distribution. In recent work, the effects of initial cluster sizes appear to be extremely important.

Ecological effects and animal risk assessment of radiation pollution in Russia and former USSR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krivolutsky, D.

1995-01-01

The ecological after-effects of long-term radiation pollution, animal biodiversity changes and life-cycle assessment of model species of soil invertebrates mammals, birds, reptiles have been studied in 1968-1994 in the former USSR (Russia, Ukraine, Kazachstan). There has been observed an initial reduction of animal biodiversity community structure in Kyshtym (south Ural) and Chernobyl polluted areas and a low return to the former ecosystems. The secondary changes and side-effects for the active migrants (insects, birds, mammals) have been registered. The most valid bioindicators and biomarkers of radioactive pollution may be stable populations of reptiles, birds, earthworms, centipede, microarthropods. The radioactive soil pollution exerts the greatest impact on the permanent soil dwelling animals. As direct effects it has been seen the appreciable reduction of population density disturbance of the breeding process, degradation of species diversity community structure. In fact a soil with high level 90 Sr and a radiation 1--3 R/day containing 10-fold reduction of population soil inhabit millipedes earthworms, insect larvae, Enchytraeidae aranea. The accumulation of radionuclides by terrestrial and soil animals effects of trophic levels, zoogenical radionuclides migration have been studied in polluted ecosystems of South Ural and Chernobyl

The origins of human parasites: Exploring the evidence for endoparasitism throughout human evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Piers D

2013-09-01

It is important to determine the origins of human parasites if we are to understand the health of past populations and the effects of parasitism upon human evolution. It also helps us to understand emerging infectious diseases and the modern clinical epidemiology of parasites. This study aims to distinguish those heirloom parasites that have infected humans and their ancestors throughout their evolution in Africa from those recent souvenir species to which humans have only become exposed following contact with animals during their migration across the globe. Ten such heirloom parasites are proposed, which appear to have been spread across the globe. Six further heirlooms are noted to have limited spread due to the constraints of their life cycle. Twelve souvenir parasites of humans are described, along with their animal reservoirs. While the origins of 28 species of endoparasite have been determined, many more species require further assessment once a more systematic analysis of ancient parasites in other regions of Africa has been undertaken. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effective average action for gauge theories and exact evolution equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reuter, M.; Wetterich, C.

1993-11-01

We propose a new nonperturbative evolution equation for Yang-Mills theories. It describes the scale dependence of an effective action. The running of the nonabelian gauge coupling in arbitrary dimension is computed. (orig.)

Animated Cell Biology: A Quick and Easy Method for Making Effective, High-Quality Teaching Animations

Science.gov (United States)

O'Day, Danton H.

2006-01-01

There is accumulating evidence that animations aid learning of dynamic concepts in cell biology. However, existing animation packages are expensive and difficult to learn, and the subsequent production of even short animations can take weeks to months. Here I outline the principles and sequence of steps for producing high-quality PowerPoint…

Animal-assisted therapy with farm animals for persons with psychiatric disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bente Berget

Full Text Available Animal-assisted therapy (AAT with farm animals for humans with psychiatric disorders may reduce depression and state anxiety, and increase self-efficacy, in many participants. Social support by the farmer appears to be important. Positive effects are best documented for persons with affective disorders or clinical depression. Effects may sometimes take a long time to be detectable, but may occur earlier if the participants are encouraged to perform more complex working skills. Progress must however be individually adapted allowing for flexibility, also between days. Therapists involved with mental health show a pronounced belief in the effects of AAT with farm animals, variation being related to type of disorder, therapist's sex and his/her experience with AAT. Research is still scarce and further research is required to optimize and individually adapt the design of farm animal-assisted interventions.

Animal-assisted therapy with farm animals for persons with psychiatric disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Berget, Bente; Braastad, Bjarne O

2011-01-01

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) with farm animals for humans with psychiatric disorders may reduce depression and state anxiety, and increase self-efficacy, in many participants. Social support by the farmer appears to be important. Positive effects are best documented for persons with affective disorders or clinical depression. Effects may sometimes take a long time to be detectable, but may occur earlier if the participants are encouraged to perform more complex working skills. Progress must however be individually adapted allowing for flexibility, also between days. Therapists involved with mental health show a pronounced belief in the effects of AAT with farm animals, variation being related to type of disorder, therapist's sex and his/her experience with AAT. Research is still scarce and further research is required to optimize and individually adapt the design of farm animal-assisted interventions.

Effect of laser irradiation for healing of the skin-muscle wounds of animals

Science.gov (United States)

Lapina, Victoria A.; Veremei, Eduard I.; Pancovets, Evgeniy A.

2000-05-01

The purpose of our investigation was to study the medical effect of low-intensity laser influence on healing of skin- muscle wounds of agricultural animals. We used the laser radiation of low intensity for cub's therapy: to sucking-pigs after herniotomy and castration, to cattle cubs after skin- muscle wounds. The animals were kept under clinical observation up to their recovery. The recuperation dynamic was observed by changing of blood quotients, leukograms, sizes of inflammatory edema, general behavior of animals. The positive dynamic of blood quotients of the experimental animal groups was really higher than that in control. The analysis of wound healing after laser influence shows that wound surface of experimental group was to a great extent smaller in comparison with control group of animals. So, these facts testify about anti-inflammatory action of laser radiation, which hastens regenerative and rehabilitative processes. Analysis of the obtained experimental data has revealed the positive influence of laser irradiation on the dynamics of wound adhesion of agricultural animals.

Pharmacological Effects of Biotin in Animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Riveron-Negrete, Leticia; Fernandez-Mejia, Cristina

2017-01-01

In recent decades, it was found that vitamins affect biological functions in ways other than their long-known functions; niacin is the best example of a water-soluble vitamin known to possess multiple actions. Biotin, also known as vitamin B7 or vitamin H, is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin that serves as a covalently-bound coenzyme of carboxylases. It is now well documented that biotin has actions other than participating in classical enzyme catalysis reactions. Several lines of evidence have demonstrated that pharmacological concentrations of biotin affect glucose and lipid metabolism, hypertension, reproduction, development, and immunity. The effect of biotin on these functions is related to its actions at the transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels. The bestsupported mechanism involved in the genetic effects of biotin is the soluble guanylate cyclase/protein kinase G (PKG) signaling cascade. Although there are commercially-available products containing pharmacological concentrations of biotin, the toxic effects of biotin have been poorly studied. This review summarizes the known actions and molecular mechanisms of pharmacological doses of biotin in animals and current information regarding biotin toxicity. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

{sup 3}He retention and structural evolution in erbium tritides: Phase and aging effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, X.S., E-mail: zlxs77@163.com [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Thin Film Centre, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland (United Kingdom); Zhang, L.; Wang, W.D.; Liu, Q. [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Peng, S.M., E-mail: pengshuming@caep.cn [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Ding, W.; Long, X.G.; Cheng, G.J.; Liang, J.H. [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Fu, Y.Q. [Thin Film Centre, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2015-06-15

Highlights: • Effects of phase changes on {sup 3}He retention of Er tritide films were investigated. • The α phase in Er tritide films had no apparent effect on {sup 3}He release/retention. • Tritium content in the β phase showed significant effects on {sup 3}He retention. • Evolution of {sup 3}He in the β phase was apparently influenced by the γ phase. • Effects of phase changes on structure evolution of Er tritides were investigated. - Abstract: Effects of phase changes on {sup 3}He release/retention and crystal lattice evolution during aging of erbium (Er) tritide films were investigated using X-ray diffraction. The contents of α phase and γ phase in the Er tritide films showed significant different effects on {sup 3}He release/retention. The initial tritium stoichiometry or excess tritium atoms accommodated in the octahedral sites and the microstructure (i.e., the texture and Er{sub 2}O{sub 3} oxide inclusions) played an important role for the {sup 3}He release and the evolution of {sup 3}He bubbles in the β phase Er tritide films. In the β + γ region, evolution of {sup 3}He in the β phase was apparently influenced by the γ phase, which could result in a strongly anisotropic lattice dilation and an earlier inflection point of the expansion rate of (1 1 1) lattice parameter. A preferred occupation of {sup 3}He in basal plane of the hexagonal γ phase and the lattice expansion along the hexagonal direction were identified.

Effects of conformism on the cultural evolution of social behaviour.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas Molleman

Full Text Available Models of cultural evolution study how the distribution of cultural traits changes over time. The dynamics of cultural evolution strongly depends on the way these traits are transmitted between individuals by social learning. Two prominent forms of social learning are payoff-based learning (imitating others that have higher payoffs and conformist learning (imitating locally common behaviours. How payoff-based and conformist learning affect the cultural evolution of cooperation is currently a matter of lively debate, but few studies systematically analyse the interplay of these forms of social learning. Here we perform such a study by investigating how the interaction of payoff-based and conformist learning affects the outcome of cultural evolution in three social contexts. First, we develop a simple argument that provides insights into how the outcome of cultural evolution will change when more and more conformist learning is added to payoff-based learning. In a social dilemma (e.g. a Prisoner's Dilemma, conformism can turn cooperation into a stable equilibrium; in an evasion game (e.g. a Hawk-Dove game or a Snowdrift game conformism tends to destabilize the polymorphic equilibrium; and in a coordination game (e.g. a Stag Hunt game, conformism changes the basin of attraction of the two equilibria. Second, we analyse a stochastic event-based model, revealing that conformism increases the speed of cultural evolution towards pure equilibria. Individual-based simulations as well as the analysis of the diffusion approximation of the stochastic model by and large confirm our findings. Third, we investigate the effect of an increasing degree of conformism on cultural group selection in a group-structured population. We conclude that, in contrast to statements in the literature, conformism hinders rather than promotes the evolution of cooperation.

Effects of conformism on the cultural evolution of social behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Molleman, Lucas; Pen, Ido; Weissing, Franz J

2013-01-01

Models of cultural evolution study how the distribution of cultural traits changes over time. The dynamics of cultural evolution strongly depends on the way these traits are transmitted between individuals by social learning. Two prominent forms of social learning are payoff-based learning (imitating others that have higher payoffs) and conformist learning (imitating locally common behaviours). How payoff-based and conformist learning affect the cultural evolution of cooperation is currently a matter of lively debate, but few studies systematically analyse the interplay of these forms of social learning. Here we perform such a study by investigating how the interaction of payoff-based and conformist learning affects the outcome of cultural evolution in three social contexts. First, we develop a simple argument that provides insights into how the outcome of cultural evolution will change when more and more conformist learning is added to payoff-based learning. In a social dilemma (e.g. a Prisoner's Dilemma), conformism can turn cooperation into a stable equilibrium; in an evasion game (e.g. a Hawk-Dove game or a Snowdrift game) conformism tends to destabilize the polymorphic equilibrium; and in a coordination game (e.g. a Stag Hunt game), conformism changes the basin of attraction of the two equilibria. Second, we analyse a stochastic event-based model, revealing that conformism increases the speed of cultural evolution towards pure equilibria. Individual-based simulations as well as the analysis of the diffusion approximation of the stochastic model by and large confirm our findings. Third, we investigate the effect of an increasing degree of conformism on cultural group selection in a group-structured population. We conclude that, in contrast to statements in the literature, conformism hinders rather than promotes the evolution of cooperation.

Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on a Student with an Emotional/Behavioral Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Boe, Val Rae M.

2008-01-01

This single-subject action research project examines the effects of animal-assisted therapy on the self-esteem and classroom behaviors of a student with an emotional/behavioral disorder. An 18- year-old male attending a special education school in northeastern St. Paul participated in animal-assisted therapy research for four weeks. Quantitative…

Do cavies talk? The effect of anthropomorphic picture books on children's knowledge about animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganea, Patricia A; Canfield, Caitlin F; Simons-Ghafari, Kadria; Chou, Tommy

2014-01-01

Many books for young children present animals in fantastical and unrealistic ways, such as wearing clothes, talking and engaging in human-like activities. This research examined whether anthropomorphism in children's books affects children's learning and conceptions of animals, by specifically assessing the impact of depictions (a bird wearing clothes and reading a book) and language (bird described as talking and as having human intentions). In Study 1, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children saw picture books featuring realistic drawings of a novel animal. Half of the children also heard factual, realistic language, while the other half heard anthropomorphized language. In Study 2, we replicated the first study using anthropomorphic illustrations of real animals. The results show that the language used to describe animals in books has an effect on children's tendency to attribute human-like traits to animals, and that anthropomorphic storybooks affect younger children's learning of novel facts about animals. These results indicate that anthropomorphized animals in books may not only lead to less learning but also influence children's conceptual knowledge of animals.

The Effect of Steps to Promote Higher Levels of Farm Animal Welfare across the EU. Societal versus Animal Scientists' Perceptions of Animal Welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

Averós, Xavier; Aparicio, Miguel A; Ferrari, Paolo; Guy, Jonathan H; Hubbard, Carmen; Schmid, Otto; Ilieski, Vlatko; Spoolder, Hans A M

2013-08-14

Information about animal welfare standards and initiatives from eight European countries was collected, grouped, and compared to EU welfare standards to detect those aspects beyond minimum welfare levels demanded by EU welfare legislation. Literature was reviewed to determine the scientific relevance of standards and initiatives, and those aspects going beyond minimum EU standards. Standards and initiatives were assessed to determine their strengths and weaknesses regarding animal welfare. Attitudes of stakeholders in the improvement of animal welfare were determined through a Policy Delphi exercise. Social perception of animal welfare, economic implications of upraising welfare levels, and differences between countries were considered. Literature review revealed that on-farm space allowance, climate control, and environmental enrichment are relevant for all animal categories. Experts' assessment revealed that on-farm prevention of thermal stress, air quality, and races and passageways' design were not sufficiently included. Stakeholders considered that housing conditions are particularly relevant regarding animal welfare, and that animal-based and farm-level indicators are fundamental to monitor the progress of animal welfare. The most notable differences between what society offers and what farm animals are likely to need are related to transportation and space availability, with economic constraints being the most plausible explanation.

Comparative aspects of animal and human data on somatic effects of ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuoka, Osamu; Kobayashi, Sadayoshi

1986-10-01

This report contains presentations at the 17th Symposium organized by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, which took place in Chiba, Japan, from 11 to 12 December 1985. Unlike in the previous symposiums dealing with cellular and molecular levels, the present symposium discussed somatic effects of ionizing radiation at the organic level in conjunction with epidemiological data. This report is divided into five sections: the first is explanation for UNSCEAR's and ICRP's views of human and animal data in the current assessment of radiation health risks; the second covers comparison of epidemiological and animal experimental data on the dose-effect relationship for carcinogenesis, together with problems in epidemiological and experimental studies; the third discusses significance and problems in animal experiments on modifying factors of radiation carcinogenesis; the fourth deals with studies on carcinogenesis mechanism, aiming at elucidating their significance and potential role in the risk evaluation for humans; and the last section is a compilation of panel discussion of differences in humans and animals, giving a proposal for future research. (Namekawa, K.)

The effect of parity on morphological evolution among phrynosomatid lizards.

Science.gov (United States)

Oufiero, C E; Gartner, G E A

2014-11-01

The shift from egg laying to live-bearing is one of the most well-studied transitions in evolutionary biology. Few studies, however, have assessed the effect of this transition on morphological evolution. Here, we evaluated the effect of reproductive mode on the morphological evolution of 10 traits, among 108 species of phrynosomatid lizards. We assess whether the requirement for passing shelled eggs through the pelvic girdle has led to morphological constraints in oviparous species and whether long gestation times in viviparous species have led to constraints in locomotor morphology. We fit models to the data that vary both in their tempo (strength and rate of selection) and mode of evolution (Brownian or Ornstein-Uhlenbeck) and estimates of trait optima. We found that most traits are best fit by a generalized multipeak OU model, suggesting differing trait optima for viviparous vs. oviparous species. Additionally, rates (σ(2) ) of both pelvic girdle and forelimb trait evolution varied with parity; viviparous species had higher rates. Hindlimb traits, however, exhibited no difference in σ(2) between parity modes. In a functional context, our results suggest that the passage of shelled eggs constrains the morphology of the pelvic girdle, but we found no evidence of morphological constraint of the locomotor apparatus in viviparous species. Our results are consistent with recent lineage diversification analyses, leading to the conclusion that transitions to viviparity increase both lineage and morphological diversification. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

The anxious mouse: implications for preclinical research and animal welfare

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salomons, A.R.

2011-01-01

Anxiety is an essential emotion that is highly conserved during evolution and is present in animals and humans. Although anxiety is a biological adaptive response, anxiety disorders in humans are common and affect about 10-17% of the world population. To gain more insight in the underlying

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization and infection risks from companion animals: current perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petinaki E

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Efthimia Petinaki,1 Iris Spiliopoulou21Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Thessalia, Larissa, 2Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, GreeceAbstract: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA remains one of the most virulent human pathogens and has also recently been recognized as such in the veterinary settings. Companion animals, including dogs, cats, horses, small exotic animals, wildlife animals, and livestock, may constitute a reservoir for MRSA transmission to humans and vice versa. The evolution, emergence, and risk factors for MRSA transmission among colonized or infected animals are reviewed in the present paper, and infection control practices are discussed.Keywords: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, companion animals, close contacts

Endogenous viral elements in animal genomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aris Katzourakis

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Integration into the nuclear genome of germ line cells can lead to vertical inheritance of retroviral genes as host alleles. For other viruses, germ line integration has only rarely been documented. Nonetheless, we identified endogenous viral elements (EVEs derived from ten non-retroviral families by systematic in silico screening of animal genomes, including the first endogenous representatives of double-stranded RNA, reverse-transcribing DNA, and segmented RNA viruses, and the first endogenous DNA viruses in mammalian genomes. Phylogenetic and genomic analysis of EVEs across multiple host species revealed novel information about the origin and evolution of diverse virus groups. Furthermore, several of the elements identified here encode intact open reading frames or are expressed as mRNA. For one element in the primate lineage, we provide statistically robust evidence for exaptation. Our findings establish that genetic material derived from all known viral genome types and replication strategies can enter the animal germ line, greatly broadening the scope of paleovirological studies and indicating a more significant evolutionary role for gene flow from virus to animal genomes than has previously been recognized.

Effects of stress on alcohol drinking: a review of animal studies

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Marcelo F.; Doremus-Fitzwater, Tamara L.

2011-01-01

Rationale While stress is often proposed to play a significant role in influencing alcohol consumption, the relationship between stress and alcohol is complex and poorly understood. Over several decades, stress effects on alcohol drinking have been studied using a variety of animal models and experimental procedures, yet this large body of literature has generally produced equivocal results. Objectives This paper reviews results from animal studies in which alcohol consumption is evaluated under conditions of acute/sub-chronic stress exposure or models of chronic stress exposure. Evidence also is presented indicating that chronic intermittent alcohol exposure serves as a stressor that consequently influences drinking. Results The effects of various acute/sub-chronic stress procedures on alcohol consumption have generally been mixed, but most study outcomes suggest either no effect or decreased alcohol consumption. In contrast, most studies indicate that chronic stress, especially when administered early in development, results in elevated drinking later in adulthood. Chronic alcohol exposure constitutes a potent stressor itself, and models of chronic intermittent alcohol exposure reliably produce escalation of voluntary alcohol consumption. Conclusions A complex and dynamic interplay among a wide array of genetic, biological, and environmental factors govern stress responses, regulation of alcohol drinking, and the circumstances in which stress modulates alcohol consumption. Suggestions for future directions and new approaches are presented that may aid in developing more sensitive and valid animal models that not only better mimic the clinical situation, but also provide greater understanding of mechanisms that underlie the complexity of stress effects on alcohol drinking. PMID:21850445

The Effects of Stellar Dynamics on the Evolution of Young, Dense Stellar Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Belkus, H.; van Bever, J.; Vanbeveren, D.

In this paper, we report on first results of a project in Brussels in which we study the effects of stellar dynamics on the evolution of young dense stellar systems using 3 decades of expertise in massive-star evolution and our population (number and spectral) synthesis code. We highlight an unconventionally formed object scenario (UFO-scenario) for Wolf Rayet binaries and study the effects of a luminous blue variable-type instability wind mass-loss formalism on the formation of intermediate-mass black holes.

A theoretical model of the evolution of maternal effects under parent-offspring conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Uller, Tobias; Pen, Ido

2011-07-01

The evolution of maternal effects on offspring phenotype should depend on the extent of parent-offspring conflict and costs and constraints associated with maternal and offspring strategies. Here, we develop a model of maternal effects on offspring dispersal phenotype under parent-offspring conflict to evaluate such dependence. In the absence of evolutionary constraints and costs, offspring evolve dispersal rates from different patch types that reflect their own, rather than the maternal, optima. This result also holds true when offspring are unable to assess their own environment because the maternal phenotype provides an additional source of information. Consequently, maternal effects on offspring diapause, dispersal, and other traits that do not necessarily represent costly resource investment are more likely to maximize offspring than maternal fitness. However, when trait expression was costly, the evolutionarily stable dispersal rates tended to deviate from those under both maternal and offspring control. We use our results to (re)interpret some recent work on maternal effects and their adaptive value and provide suggestions for future work. © 2011 The Author(s). Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Effects of Wind on Virtual Plants in Animation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina L. M. Derzaph

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the Growth-Flow method for animating the effect of wind on the motion and growth of virtual plant branches and leaves. The method incorporates changes to the growth rate when a plant is exposed to winds with speeds higher than a threshold. In particular, growth rate is reduced in branch elongation, increased in the branch radius, reduced in leaf length, and increased in leaf thickness. In addition, when a plant is exposed to wind for long time periods, the branch growth angle is changed to align more closely with the wind vector. The Growth-Flow method incorporates all these effects on growth and motion due to wind in one algorithm.

Effect of four processed animal proteins in the diet on behavior in laying hens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krimpen, van M.M.; Veldkamp, T.; Binnendijk, G.P.; Veer, de R.

2011-01-01

An experiment was performed to investigate the effect of animal versus vegetable protein sources in the diet on the development of behavior in laying hens. A diet containing protein sources of only vegetable origin was compared with four diets, each containing one of four processed animal proteins

A social insect perspective on the evolution of social learning mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Leadbeater, Ellouise; Dawson, Erika H

2017-07-24

The social world offers a wealth of opportunities to learn from others, and across the animal kingdom individuals capitalize on those opportunities. Here, we explore the role of natural selection in shaping the processes that underlie social information use, using a suite of experiments on social insects as case studies. We illustrate how an associative framework can encompass complex, context-specific social learning in the insect world and beyond, and based on the hypothesis that evolution acts to modify the associative process, suggest potential pathways by which social information use could evolve to become more efficient and effective. Social insects are distant relatives of vertebrate social learners, but the research we describe highlights routes by which natural selection could coopt similar cognitive raw material across the animal kingdom.

Begetting machinery II – Evolutionärer Algorithmus und technische Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rothenhäusler, Andie

2011-10-01

Full Text Available In the 1970s and 1980s two new approaches to an evolutionary explanation of technology emerged: While a new generation of sociobiologists increasingly started to view animal and human artifacts as an ,extended phenotype’ of humankind historians and sociologists of technology found in an evolutionary genesis of technology a third way between technological determinism and a social construction of technology. This evolution of technology seemed able to explain multi-causal coherences in the genesis of technology applicably by using allegedly simple rules.

Computer-animated stimuli to measure motion sensitivity: constraints on signal design in the Jacky dragon.

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Kevin L; Rieucau, Guillaume; Burke, Darren

2017-02-01

Identifying perceptual thresholds is critical for understanding the mechanisms that underlie signal evolution. Using computer-animated stimuli, we examined visual speed sensitivity in the Jacky dragon Amphibolurus muricatus , a species that makes extensive use of rapid motor patterns in social communication. First, focal lizards were tested in discrimination trials using random-dot kinematograms displaying combinations of speed, coherence, and direction. Second, we measured subject lizards' ability to predict the appearance of a secondary reinforcer (1 of 3 different computer-generated animations of invertebrates: cricket, spider, and mite) based on the direction of movement of a field of drifting dots by following a set of behavioural responses (e.g., orienting response, latency to respond) to our virtual stimuli. We found an effect of both speed and coherence, as well as an interaction between these 2 factors on the perception of moving stimuli. Overall, our results showed that Jacky dragons have acute sensitivity to high speeds. We then employed an optic flow analysis to match the performance to ecologically relevant motion. Our results suggest that the Jacky dragon visual system may have been shaped to detect fast motion. This pre-existing sensitivity may have constrained the evolution of conspecific displays. In contrast, Jacky dragons may have difficulty in detecting the movement of ambush predators, such as snakes and of some invertebrate prey. Our study also demonstrates the potential of the computer-animated stimuli technique for conducting nonintrusive tests to explore motion range and sensitivity in a visually mediated species.

Understanding the Effects of Host Evolution and Skin Bacteria Composition on Disease Vector Choices

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-14

Distribution Unlimited UU UU UU UU 14-04-2016 1-Sep-2014 31-Dec-2015 Final Report: Understanding the effects of host evolution and skin bacteria ...S) AND ADDRESS (ES) U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 mosquito, skin, bacteria , primate REPORT...reviewed journals: Final Report: Understanding the effects of host evolution and skin bacteria composition on disease vector choices Report Title Here

Host behaviour–parasite feedback: an essential link between animal behaviour and disease ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Archie, Elizabeth A.; Craft, Meggan E.; Hawley, Dana M.; Martin, Lynn B.; Moore, Janice; White, Lauren

2016-01-01

Animal behaviour and the ecology and evolution of parasites are inextricably linked. For this reason, animal behaviourists and disease ecologists have been interested in the intersection of their respective fields for decades. Despite this interest, most research at the behaviour–disease interface focuses either on how host behaviour affects parasites or how parasites affect behaviour, with little overlap between the two. Yet, the majority of interactions between hosts and parasites are probably reciprocal, such that host behaviour feeds back on parasites and vice versa. Explicitly considering these feedbacks is essential for understanding the complex connections between animal behaviour and parasite ecology and evolution. To illustrate this point, we discuss how host behaviour–parasite feedbacks might operate and explore the consequences of feedback for studies of animal behaviour and parasites. For example, ignoring the feedback of host social structure on parasite dynamics can limit the accuracy of predictions about parasite spread. Likewise, considering feedback in studies of parasites and animal personalities may provide unique insight about the maintenance of variation in personality types. Finally, applying the feedback concept to links between host behaviour and beneficial, rather than pathogenic, microbes may shed new light on transitions between mutualism and parasitism. More generally, accounting for host behaviour–parasite feedbacks can help identify critical gaps in our understanding of how key host behaviours and parasite traits evolve and are maintained. PMID:27053751

Host behaviour-parasite feedback: an essential link between animal behaviour and disease ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ezenwa, Vanessa O; Archie, Elizabeth A; Craft, Meggan E; Hawley, Dana M; Martin, Lynn B; Moore, Janice; White, Lauren

2016-04-13

Animal behaviour and the ecology and evolution of parasites are inextricably linked. For this reason, animal behaviourists and disease ecologists have been interested in the intersection of their respective fields for decades. Despite this interest, most research at the behaviour-disease interface focuses either on how host behaviour affects parasites or how parasites affect behaviour, with little overlap between the two. Yet, the majority of interactions between hosts and parasites are probably reciprocal, such that host behaviour feeds back on parasites and vice versa. Explicitly considering these feedbacks is essential for understanding the complex connections between animal behaviour and parasite ecology and evolution. To illustrate this point, we discuss how host behaviour-parasite feedbacks might operate and explore the consequences of feedback for studies of animal behaviour and parasites. For example, ignoring the feedback of host social structure on parasite dynamics can limit the accuracy of predictions about parasite spread. Likewise, considering feedback in studies of parasites and animal personalities may provide unique insight about the maintenance of variation in personality types. Finally, applying the feedback concept to links between host behaviour and beneficial, rather than pathogenic, microbes may shed new light on transitions between mutualism and parasitism. More generally, accounting for host behaviour-parasite feedbacks can help identify critical gaps in our understanding of how key host behaviours and parasite traits evolve and are maintained. © 2016 The Author(s).

Botulinum neurotoxin type-A when utilized in animals with trigeminal sensitization induced a antinociceptive effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elcio J Piovesan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose of the study was evaluate the possible antinociceptive effect of botulinum neurotoxin type-A (BoNT/A in an experimental model of trigeminal neuralgia. Method Neuropathic pain was induced by surgical constriction of the infraorbital nerve in rats. A control group underwent a sham procedure consisting of surgical exposure of the nerve. Subgroups of each group received either BoNT/A or isotonic saline solution. The clinical response was assessed with the -20°C test. Animals that underwent nerve constriction developed sensitization; the sham group did not. Results The sensitization was reversed by BoNT/A treatment evident 24 hours following application. Pronociceptive effect was observed in the sham group following BoNT/A. Conclusion BoNT/A has an antinociceptive effect in sensitized animals and a pronociceptive effect in non-sensitized animals.

Molecular clock in neutral protein evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilke Claus O

2004-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A frequent observation in molecular evolution is that amino-acid substitution rates show an index of dispersion (that is, ratio of variance to mean substantially larger than one. This observation has been termed the overdispersed molecular clock. On the basis of in silico protein-evolution experiments, Bastolla and coworkers recently proposed an explanation for this observation: Proteins drift in neutral space, and can temporarily get trapped in regions of substantially reduced neutrality. In these regions, substitution rates are suppressed, which results in an overall substitution process that is not Poissonian. However, the simulation method of Bastolla et al. is representative only for cases in which the product of mutation rate μ and population size Ne is small. How the substitution process behaves when μNe is large is not known. Results Here, I study the behavior of the molecular clock in in silico protein evolution as a function of mutation rate and population size. I find that the index of dispersion decays with increasing μNe, and approaches 1 for large μNe . This observation can be explained with the selective pressure for mutational robustness, which is effective when μNe is large. This pressure keeps the population out of low-neutrality traps, and thus steadies the ticking of the molecular clock. Conclusions The molecular clock in neutral protein evolution can fall into two distinct regimes, a strongly overdispersed one for small μNe, and a mostly Poissonian one for large μNe. The former is relevant for the majority of organisms in the plant and animal kingdom, and the latter may be relevant for RNA viruses.

Effects of different ways of fasting in experimental animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zari Naderi Ghalenoie

2015-12-01

Full Text Available While fasting has been practiced for centuries, its beneficial effects was unknown until recently. This review tries to analyze the current literature of how fasting and intermittent fasting (IF could affect clinical pathological parameters, learning, mood and brain plasticity. The effects of different ways of fasting on metabolism and stress were also explored. Animal experiments have elucidated fasting and IF could exert positive effects on learning, mood and brain, plus metabolic functions such lowering plasma glucose and insulin level and improvement in lipid metabolism (reduced visceral fat tissue and increased plasma adiponectin level, and an increased resistance to stress. Thus, more clinical studies are necessary to test the effectiveness of fasting and IF in preventing different diseases.

Changes in Cis-regulatory Elements during Morphological Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Lee Paul

2012-10-01

Full Text Available How have animals evolved new body designs (morphological evolution? This requires explanations both for simple morphological changes, such as differences in pigmentation and hair patterns between different Drosophila populations and species, and also for more complex changes, such as differences in the forelimbs of mice and bats, and the necks of amphibians and reptiles. The genetic changes and pathways involved in these evolutionary steps require identification. Many, though not all, of these events occur by changes in cis-regulatory (enhancer elements within developmental genes. Enhancers are modular, each affecting expression in only one or a few tissues. Therefore it is possible to add, remove or alter an enhancer without producing changes in multiple tissues, and thereby avoid widespread (pleiotropic deleterious effects. Ideally, for a given step in morphological evolution it is necessary to identify (i the change in phenotype, (ii the changes in gene expression, (iii the DNA region, enhancer or otherwise, affected, (iv the mutation involved, (v the nature of the transcription or other factors that bind to this site. In practice these data are incomplete for most of the published studies upon morphological evolution. Here, the investigations are categorized according to how far these analyses have proceeded.

Effect of animal manures on soil properties, growth, nutrients status ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A comparative field study was carried out at two sites in Akure, Southwest Nigeria to determine effect of different animal manures on soil physical and chemical properties and performance of tomato (Lycopersicm esculentus Mill). Analysis of cattle (CM), goat (GM), pig (PG) and poultry (PM) manures showed that N, K, Ca ...

Dynamical effects of successive mergers on the evolution of spherical stellar systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, H.M.

1987-01-01

Numerical investigations are carried out to study the dynamical effects of high-mass stars formed out of successive mergers among tidally captured binaries on the evolution of spherical stellar systems. It is assumed that all tidally captured systems become mergers in order to maximize these effects. Stellar systems with N greater than about 10 to the 7th are susceptible to merger instability which may lead to the formation of a central black hole. It is shown that globular clusters are likely to achieve postcollapse expansion due to three-body binary heating and stellar evolution, while galactic nuclei can easily be overcome by the merger instability in the core. 25 references

Practical animal breeding as the key to an integrated view of genetics, eugenics and evolutionary theory: Arend L. Hagedoorn (1885-1953).

Science.gov (United States)

Theunissen, Bert

2014-06-01

In the history of genetics Arend Hagedoorn (1885-1953) is mainly known for the 'Hagedoorn effect', which states that part of the changes in variability that populations undergo over time are due to chance effects. Leaving this contribution aside, Hagedoorn's work has received scarcely any attention from historians. This is mainly due to the fact that Hagedoorn was an expert in animal breeding, a field that historians have only recently begun to explore. His work provides an example of how a prominent geneticist envisaged animal breeding to be reformed by the new science of heredity. Hagedoorn, a pupil of Hugo de Vries, tried to integrate his insights as a Mendelian geneticist and an animal breeding expert in a unified view of heredity, eugenics and evolution. In this paper I aim to elucidate how these fields were connected in Hagedoorn's work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of low dose ionizing radiation effect on some blood components in animal model

OpenAIRE

El-Shanshoury, H.; El-Shanshoury, G.; Abaza, A.

2016-01-01

Exposure to ionizing radiation is known to have lethal effects in blood cells. It is predicted that an individual may spend days, weeks or even months in a radiation field without becoming alarmed. The study aimed to discuss the evaluation of low dose ionizing radiation (IR) effect on some blood components in animal model. Hematological parameters were determined for 110 animal rats (divided into 8 groups) pre- and post-irradiation. An attempt to explain the blood changes resulting from both ...

Pseudomonas Exotoxin A: optimized by evolution for effective killing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta eMichalska

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Pseudomonas Exotoxin A (PE is the most toxic virulence factor of the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This review describes current knowledge about the intoxication pathways of PE. Moreover, PE represents a remarkable example for pathoadaptive evolution, how bacterial molecules have been structurally and functionally optimized under evolutionary pressure to effectively impair and kill their host cells.

Constructive anthropomorphism: a functional evolutionary approach to the study of human-like cognitive mechanisms in animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Arbilly, Michal; Lotem, Arnon

2017-10-25

Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human cognitive processes and emotional states to animals, is commonly viewed as non-scientific and potentially misleading. This is mainly because apparent similarity to humans can usually be explained by alternative, simpler mechanisms in animals, and because there is no explanatory power in analogies to human phenomena when these phenomena are not well understood. Yet, because it is also difficult to preclude real similarity and continuity in the evolution of humans' and animals' cognitive abilities, it may not be productive to completely ignore our understanding of human behaviour when thinking about animals. Here we propose that in applying a functional approach to the evolution of cognitive mechanisms, human cognition may be used to broaden our theoretical thinking and to generate testable hypotheses. Our goal is not to 'elevate' animals, but rather to find the minimal set of mechanistic principles that may explain 'advanced' cognitive abilities in humans, and consider under what conditions these mechanisms were likely to enhance fitness and to evolve in animals. We illustrate this approach, from relatively simple emotional states, to more advanced mechanisms, involved in planning and decision-making, episodic memory, metacognition, theory of mind, and consciousness. © 2017 The Author(s).

INFORMATION SOCIETY EVOLUTION AND EFFECTS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brooks, Anthony Lewis

2016-01-01

The evolution and effects of the information society can be exemplified via many threads, both in hard and soft science, according to ones’ discipline and field. In this contribution, the speaker’s three decades of applied research acts as a vehicle to demonstrate development and impact via...... commercial product, national and international projects, and industry startups (including impactful third party research investigations) form the basis for discussion. Beyond this, a wider more generic perspective reflects on product adoption that illustrate todays’ contemporary e-society tendencies where...... recent influx and uptake of consumer-targeted artificial reality products point to society’s desire for alternative sensory experiences. Posited is how aligned with this desire there is a need for new ethical considerations in research as was found in the speaker’s research at the end of the 20th century...

Brazilian law for scientific use of animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Ruy Garcia; Morales, Marcelo Marcos; Petroianu, Andy

2009-01-01

The Brazilian scientific community claimed for a definitive systematization and for comprehensive and realistic national rules, to provide guidance and regulation, instead of sanctions, so that the question of scientific research involving animals could be better contemplated. This is beginning to occur now with Law no. 11.794, sanctioned by the President of the Republic on November 8, 2008. To describe the evolution of Brazilian regimentation for scientific use of animals and to analyze Law no. 11.794. The legislation about the use of animals in teaching and in scientific research in Brazil and in Rio de Janeiro State was identified and discussed. Until now, there was no updated general and systematizing rule regarding animal vivisection and experimentation for didactic or scientific purposes. The only specific law dates back to 1979 and was not regimented. More recent laws equated the practice of scientific experiments to acts of abuse and mistreatment of animals, when alternative technology was available. Municipal laws that restricted the scientific practice of vivisection and experimentation with animals were created in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Florianopolis. With the claim and collaboration of the scientific community, the sanction of Law no. 11.794 regarding the scientific use of animals represented an invaluable advance in spite of the presence of some points that eventually may require another type of treatment. The new Law states that it will be regimented within 180 (one-hundred-and-eighty) days, when some of these points could be better elucidated.

Effect of animal manures on selected soil chemical properties (1 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effects of animal manures on selected soil properties were studied in the laboratory. Manures of Rabbit (RBM), Swine (SWM), Poultry (POM), Goat, (GTM) and Cow (COM) were added at 10, 20, 30 and 40 t/ha to an acidic Ultisol. The amended soils were incubated at 70% water holding capacity for 3 weeks.

Adaptive evolution and effective population size in wild house mice

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Phifer-Rixey, M.; Bonhomme, F.; Boursot, P.; Churchill, G. A.; Piálek, Jaroslav; Tucker, P.; Nachman, M.

2012-01-01

Roč. 29, č. 10 (2012), s. 2949-2955 ISSN 0737-4038 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA206/08/0640 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : substitution * adaptation * evolution * effective population size * house mouse Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 10.353, year: 2012

Tempo and Mode of the Evolution of Venom and Poison in Tetrapods

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Richard J. Harris

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Toxic weaponry in the form of venom and poison has evolved in most groups of animals, including all four major lineages of tetrapods. Moreover, the evolution of such traits has been linked to several key aspects of the biology of toxic animals including life-history and diversification. Despite this, attempts to investigate the macroevolutionary patterns underlying such weaponry are lacking. In this study we analyse patterns of venom and poison evolution across reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds using a suite of phylogenetic comparative methods. We find that each major lineage has a characteristic pattern of trait evolution, but mammals and reptiles evolve under a surprisingly similar regime, whilst that of amphibians appears to be particularly distinct and highly contrasting compared to other groups. Our results also suggest that the mechanism of toxin acquisition may be an important distinction in such evolutionary patterns; the evolution of biosynthesis is far less dynamic than that of sequestration of toxins from the diet. Finally, contrary to the situation in amphibians, other tetrapod groups show an association between the evolution of toxic weaponry and higher diversification rates. Taken together, our study provides the first broad-scale analysis of macroevolutionary patterns of venom and poison throughout tetrapods.

Animation & Neurocinematics*

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carpe Pérez, Inmaculada Concepción

2015-01-01

, indeed, can be considered a social/ emotional learning media, which goes beyond the limitations of live action movies. This is due to the diversity of techniques, and its visual plasticity that constructs the impossible. Animators are not real actors but more like the midwife who brings the anima...... into aliveness, which requires knowing how emotions work. Ed Hooks as an expert in training animators and actors, always remarks: “emotions tend to lead to action”. In this paper we want to argue that by producing animated films, as we watch them, cause a stronger effect, not only in our brains, but also in our...... bodies. By using animation as a learning tool we can explore the world of emotions and question beliefs, feelings and actions in order to express our voices and enhance our communication, and well-being, both, internally and with others. Animation can be the visual expression of the emotions in movement...

The evolution of mollusc shells.

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Carmel; Degnan, Bernard M

2018-05-01

Molluscan shells are externally fabricated by specialized epithelial cells on the dorsal mantle. Although a conserved set of regulatory genes appears to underlie specification of mantle progenitor cells, the genes that contribute to the formation of the mature shell are incredibly diverse. Recent comparative analyses of mantle transcriptomes and shell proteomes of gastropods and bivalves are consistent with shell diversity being underpinned by a rapidly evolving mantle secretome (suite of genes expressed in the mantle that encode secreted proteins) that is the product of (a) high rates of gene co-option into and loss from the mantle gene regulatory network, and (b) the rapid evolution of coding sequences, particular those encoding repetitive low complexity domains. Outside a few conserved genes, such as carbonic anhydrase, a so-called "biomineralization toolkit" has yet to be discovered. Despite this, a common suite of protein domains, which are often associated with the extracellular matrix and immunity, appear to have been independently and often uniquely co-opted into the mantle secretomes of different species. The evolvability of the mantle secretome provides a molecular explanation for the evolution and diversity of molluscan shells. These genomic processes are likely to underlie the evolution of other animal biominerals, including coral and echinoderm skeletons. This article is categorized under: Comparative Development and Evolution > Regulation of Organ Diversity Comparative Development and Evolution > Evolutionary Novelties. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Numerical analysis of stress effects on Frank loop evolution during irradiation in austenitic Fe-Cr-Ni alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanigawa, H.; Katoh, Y.; Kohyama, A.

1995-01-01

Effects of applied stress on early stages of interstitial type Frank loop evolution were investigated by both numerical calculation and irradiation experiments. The final objective of this research is to propose a comprehensive model of complex stress effects on microstructural evolution under various conditions. In the experimental part of this work, the microstructural analysis revealed that the differences in resolved normal stress caused those in the nucleation rates of Frank loops on {111} crystallographic family planes, and that with increasing external applied stress the total nucleation rate of Frank loops was increased. A numerical calculation was carried out primarily to evaluate the validity of models of stress effects on nucleation processes of Frank loop evolution. The calculation stands on rate equations which describe evolution of point defects, small points defect clusters and Frank loops. The rate equations of Frank loop evolution were formulated for {111} planes, considering effects of resolved normal stress to clustering processes of small point defects and growth processes of Frank loops, separately. The experimental results and the predictions from the numerical calculation qualitatively coincided well with each other. (orig.)

Selected radioisotopes in animal tissues in Nevada: 90Sr and 137Cs measurements from 1956 to 1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.D.; Andrews, V.E.

1981-04-01

Since 1956 the Animal Investigation Program (AIP) has been conducting surveillance of domestic and wild animals on and around the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and assessing the radionuclide burdens present in their tissues and any resulting pathological effects. Other AIP objectives were to investigate alleged dosage to animals, to maintain public information contacts with the off-site population, and to conduct special ad hoc investigations. Most of the radionuclide burden data and the AIP's history and evolution have been published in the annual reports of this program. Additional unpublished data were gleaned from the AIP historical files. This rather substantial body of radiological data has been reviewed and analyzed for trends with time and source of exposure. Because of the volume of data, only a summary has been included in the appendices of this report. The complete data are available in the AIP file for further study

Broadening of neutralization activity to directly block a dominant antibody-driven SARS-coronavirus evolution pathway.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhua Sui

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Phylogenetic analyses have provided strong evidence that amino acid changes in spike (S protein of animal and human SARS coronaviruses (SARS-CoVs during and between two zoonotic transfers (2002/03 and 2003/04 are the result of positive selection. While several studies support that some amino acid changes between animal and human viruses are the result of inter-species adaptation, the role of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs in driving SARS-CoV evolution, particularly during intra-species transmission, is unknown. A detailed examination of SARS-CoV infected animal and human convalescent sera could provide evidence of nAb pressure which, if found, may lead to strategies to effectively block virus evolution pathways by broadening the activity of nAbs. Here we show, by focusing on a dominant neutralization epitope, that contemporaneous- and cross-strain nAb responses against SARS-CoV spike protein exist during natural infection. In vitro immune pressure on this epitope using 2002/03 strain-specific nAb 80R recapitulated a dominant escape mutation that was present in all 2003/04 animal and human viruses. Strategies to block this nAb escape/naturally occurring evolution pathway by generating broad nAbs (BnAbs with activity against 80R escape mutants and both 2002/03 and 2003/04 strains were explored. Structure-based amino acid changes in an activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID "hot spot" in a light chain CDR (complementarity determining region alone, introduced through shuffling of naturally occurring non-immune human VL chain repertoire or by targeted mutagenesis, were successful in generating these BnAbs. These results demonstrate that nAb-mediated immune pressure is likely a driving force for positive selection during intra-species transmission of SARS-CoV. Somatic hypermutation (SHM of a single VL CDR can markedly broaden the activity of a strain-specific nAb. The strategies investigated in this study, in particular the use of structural

General constraints on the effect of gas flows in the chemical evolution of galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edmunds, M.G.

1990-01-01

The basic equations for the chemical evolution of galaxies in which the 'simple' closed box model is modified to allow any form of inflow or outflow are examined. It is found that there are quite general limiting constraints on the effects that such flows can have. Some implications for the actual chemical evolution of galaxies are discussed, and the constraints should also be useful in understanding the behaviour of detailed numerical models of galactic chemical evolution involving gas flows. (author)

Common and emerging infectious diseases in the animal shelter.

Science.gov (United States)

Pesavento, P A; Murphy, B G

2014-03-01

The beneficial role that animal shelters play is unquestionable. An estimated 3 to 4 million animals are cared for or placed in homes each year, and most shelters promote public health and support responsible pet ownership. It is, nonetheless, inevitable that shelters are prime examples of anthropogenic biological instability: even well-run shelters often house transient, displaced, and mixed populations of animals. Many of these animals have received minimal to no prior health care, and some have a history of scavenging or predation to survive. Overcrowding and poor shelter conditions further magnify these inherent risks to create individual, intraspecies, and interspecies stress and provide an environment conducive to exposure to numerous potentially collaborative pathogens. All of these factors can contribute to the evolution and emergence of new pathogens or to alterations in virulence of endemic pathogens. While it is not possible to effectively anticipate the timing or the pathogen type in emergence events, their sites of origin are less enigmatic, and pathologists and diagnosticians who work with sheltered animal populations have recognized several such events in the past decade. This article first considers the contribution of the shelter environment to canine and feline disease. This is followed by summaries of recent research on the pathogenesis of common shelter pathogens, as well as research that has led to the discovery of novel or emerging diseases and the methods that are used for their diagnosis and discovery. For the infectious agents that commonly affect sheltered dogs and cats, including canine distemper virus, canine influenza virus, Streptococcus spp, parvoviruses, feline herpesvirus, feline caliciviruses, and feline infectious peritonitis virus, we present familiar as well as newly recognized lesions associated with infection. Preliminary studies on recently discovered viruses like canine circovirus, canine bocavirus, and feline norovirus

Advances on molecular mechanism of the adaptive evolution of Chiroptera (bats).

Science.gov (United States)

Yunpeng, Liang; Li, Yu

2015-01-01

As the second biggest animal group in mammals, Chiroptera (bats) demonstrates many unique adaptive features in terms of flight, echolocation, auditory acuity, feeding habit, hibernation and immune defense, providing an excellent system for understanding the molecular basis of how organisms adapt to the living environments encountered. In this review, we summarize the researches on the molecular mechanism of the adaptive evolution of Chiroptera, especially the recent researches at the genome levels, suggesting a far more complex evolutionary pattern and functional diversity than previously thought. In the future, along with the increasing numbers of Chiroptera species genomes available, new evolutionary patterns and functional divergence will be revealed, which can promote the further understanding of this animal group and the molecular mechanism of adaptive evolution.

Psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of human-animal interactions: the possible role of oxytocin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea eBeetz

2012-07-01

Full Text Available During the last decade it has become more widely accepted that pet-ownership and animal-assistance in therapy and education may have a multitude of positive effects on humans. Here, we review the evidence from 67 original studies on human-animal interactions (HAI which met our inclusion criteria with regard to sample size, peer-review and standard scientific research design. Among the well-documented effects of HAI in humans of different ages, with and without special medical or mental health conditions are benefits for: social attention, social behavior, interpersonal interactions and mood; stress-related parameters such as cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure; self-reported fear and anxiety; and mental and physical health, especially cardiovascular diseases. Limited evidence exists for positive effects of HAI on: reduction of stress-related parameters such as epinephrine and norepinephrine; improvement of immune system functioning and pain management; increased trustworthiness of and trust towards other persons; reduced aggression; enhanced empathy and improved learning. We propose that the activation of the oxytocin system plays a key role in the majority of these reported psychological and psychophysiological effects of HAI. Oxytocin and HAI effects largely overlap, as documented by research in both, humans and animals, and first studies found that HAI affects the oxytocin system. As a common underlying mechanism, the activation of the oxytocin system does not only provide an explanation, but also allows an integrative view of the different effects of HAI.

Conceptual framework alignment between primary literature and education in animal behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Bierema, Andrea Marie-Kryger

In 1963, Tinbergen revolutionized the study of animal behaviour in his paper On aims and methods of ethology (Zeitschrift Tierpsycholgie, 20, 410-433) by revamping the conceptual framework of the discipline. His framework suggests an integration of four questions: causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. The National Research Council Committee (U.S.) on Undergraduate Biology Education to Prepare Research Scientists for the 21st Century published BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003), which suggests alignment between current research and undergraduate education. Unfortunately, alignment has been rarely studied in college biology, especially for fundamental concepts. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to determine if the conceptual framework used by animal behaviour scientists, as presented in current primary literature, aligns with what students are exposed to in undergraduate biology education. After determining the most commonly listed textbooks from randomlyselected animal behaviour syllabi, four of the most popular textbooks, as well as the course descriptions provided in the collected syllabi, underwent content analysis in order to determine the extent that each of Tinbergen's four questions is being applied in education. Mainstream animal behaviour journal articles from 2013 were also assessed via content analysis in order to evaluate the current research framework. It was discovered that over 80% of the textbook text covered only two of Tinbergen's questions (survival value and causation). The other two questions, evolution and ontogeny, were rarely described in the text. A similar trend was found in journal articles. Therefore, alignment is occurring between primary literature and education, but neither aligns with the established conceptual framework of the discipline. According to course descriptions, many instructors intend to use an integrated

Memory Effects on Movement Behavior in Animal Foraging.

Science.gov (United States)

Bracis, Chloe; Gurarie, Eliezer; Van Moorter, Bram; Goodwin, R Andrew

2015-01-01

An individual's choices are shaped by its experience, a fundamental property of behavior important to understanding complex processes. Learning and memory are observed across many taxa and can drive behaviors, including foraging behavior. To explore the conditions under which memory provides an advantage, we present a continuous-space, continuous-time model of animal movement that incorporates learning and memory. Using simulation models, we evaluate the benefit memory provides across several types of landscapes with variable-quality resources and compare the memory model within a nested hierarchy of simpler models (behavioral switching and random walk). We find that memory almost always leads to improved foraging success, but that this effect is most marked in landscapes containing sparse, contiguous patches of high-value resources that regenerate relatively fast and are located in an otherwise devoid landscape. In these cases, there is a large payoff for finding a resource patch, due to size, value, or locational difficulty. While memory-informed search is difficult to differentiate from other factors using solely movement data, our results suggest that disproportionate spatial use of higher value areas, higher consumption rates, and consumption variability all point to memory influencing the movement direction of animals in certain ecosystems.

The detrimental effects of lead on human and animal health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Abdulrazzaq Assi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Lead, a chemical element in the carbon group with symbol Pb (from Latin: Plumbum, meaning “the liquid silver” and has an atomic number 82 in the periodic table. It was the first element that was characterized by its kind of toxicity. In animal systems, lead (Pb has been incriminated in a wide spectrum of toxic effects and it is considered one of the persistent ubiquitous heavy metals. Being exposed to this metal could lead to the change of testicular functions in human beings as well as in the wildlife. The lead poising is a real threat to the public health, especially in the developing countries. Accordingly, great efforts on the part of the occupational and public health have been taken to curb the dangers of this metal. Hematopoietic, renal, reproductive, and central nervous system are among the parts of the human body and systems that are vulnerable toward the dangers following exposure to high level of Pb. In this review, we discussed the massive harmful impact that leads acetate toxicity has on the animals and the worrying fact that this harmful toxicant can be found quite easily in the environment and abundance. Highlighting its (Pb effects on various organs in the biological systems, its economic, as well as scientific importance, with the view to educate the public/professionals who work in this area. In this study, we focus on the current studies and research related to lead toxicity in animals and also to a certain extent toward human as well.

The Effects of Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius on Thermoregulation in Animal Models

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Bin Na; Do, Moon Ho; Her, You Ri

2015-01-01

We devised a study using animal models of hyperthermia and hypothermia and also attempted to accurately assess the effects of Panax ginseng (PG) and Panax quinquefolius (PQ) on body temperature using these models. In addition, we investigated the effects of PG and PQ in our animal models in high and low temperature environments. The results of our experiments show that mice with normothermia, hyperthermia, and hypothermia maintained their body temperatures after a certain period in accordance with the condition of each animal model. In our experiments of body temperature change in models of normal, low, or high room temperature, the hyperthermic model did not show any body temperature change in either the PG- or PQ-administered group. In the normal and low room temperature models, the group administered PG maintained body temperature, while the body temperature of the PQ-administered group was lower than or similar to that of the control group. In conclusion, the fact that PG increases body temperature could not be verified until now. We also showed that the effect of maintaining body temperature in the PG-administered group was superior in a hypothermia-prone low temperature environment. PMID:25709709

The advent of animals: The view from the Ediacaran

Science.gov (United States)

Droser, Mary L.; Gehling, James G.

2015-04-01

Patterns of origination and evolution of early complex life on this planet are largely interpreted from the fossils of the Precambrian soft-bodied Ediacara Biota. These fossils occur globally and represent a diverse suite of organisms living in marine environments. Although these exceptionally preserved fossil assemblages are typically difficult to reconcile with modern phyla, examination of the morphology, ecology, and taphonomy of these taxa provides keys to their relationships with modern taxa. Within the more than 30 million y range of the Ediacara Biota, fossils of these multicellular organisms demonstrate the advent of mobility, heterotrophy by multicellular animals, skeletonization, sexual reproduction, and the assembly of complex ecosystems, all of which are attributes of modern animals. This approach to these fossils, without the constraint of attempting phylogenetic reconstructions, provides a mechanism for comparing these taxa with both living and extinct animals.

The Reliability and Effectiveness of a Radar-Based Animal Detection System

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-22

This document contains data on the reliability and effectiveness of an animal detection system along U.S. Hwy 95 near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The system uses a Doppler radar to detect large mammals (e.g., deer and elk) when they approach the highway. T...

The Reliability and Effectiveness of a Radar-Based Animal Detection System

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

This document contains data on the reliability and effectiveness of an animal detection system along U.S. Hwy 95 near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The system uses a Doppler radar to detect large mammals (e.g., deer and elk) when they approach the highway. T...

EMC-effect and QCD evolution of the threequark nucleon picture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grigoryan, L.A.; Shakhbazyan, V.A.

1985-01-01

It is shown that the EMC-effect can be explained in the framework of the QCD evolution of the threequark nucleon picture. In comparing with the experimental data it is found that the effective radius of nucleon, which is in the iron nucleus, increases by 10% as compared with the free nucleon case. A comparison with experimental data in the region of 0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.65 is made

Latest animal models for anti-HIV drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sliva, Katja

2015-02-01

HIV research is limited by the fact that lentiviruses are highly species specific. The need for appropriate models to promote research has led to the development of many elaborate surrogate animal models. This review looks at the history of animal models for HIV research. Although natural animal lentivirus infections and chimeric viruses such as chimera between HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus and simian-tropic HIV are briefly discussed, the main focus is on small animal models, including the complex design of the 'humanized' mouse. The review also traces the historic evolution and milestones as well as depicting current models and future prospects for HIV research. HIV research is a complex and challenging task that is highly manpower-, money- and time-consuming. Besides factors such as hypervariability and latency, the lack of appropriate animal models that exhibit and recapitulate the entire infectious process of HIV, is one of the reasons behind the failure to eliminate the lentivirus from the human population. This obstacle has led to the exploitation and further development of many sophisticated surrogate animal models for HIV research. While there is no animal model that perfectly mirrors and mimics HIV infections in humans, there are a variety of host species and viruses that complement each other. Combining the insights from each model, and critically comparing the results obtained with data from human clinical trials should help expand our understanding of HIV pathogenesis and drive future drug development.

Reticulate Evolution and Marine Organisms: The Final Frontier?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael L. Arnold

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The role that reticulate evolution (i.e., via lateral transfer, viral recombination and/or introgressive hybridization has played in the origin and adaptation of individual taxa and even entire clades continues to be tested for all domains of life. Though falsified for some groups, the hypothesis of divergence in the face of gene flow is becoming accepted as a major facilitator of evolutionary change for many microorganisms, plants and animals. Yet, the effect of reticulate evolutionary change in certain assemblages has been doubted, either due to an actual dearth of genetic exchange among the lineages belonging to these clades or because of a lack of appropriate data to test alternative hypotheses. Marine organisms represent such an assemblage. In the past half-century, some evolutionary biologists interested in the origin and trajectory of marine organisms, particularly animals, have posited that horizontal transfer, introgression and hybrid speciation have been rare. In this review, we provide examples of such genetic exchange that have come to light largely as a result of analyses of molecular markers. Comparisons among these markers and between these loci and morphological characters have provided numerous examples of marine microorganisms, plants and animals that possess the signature of mosaic genomes.

Animal behavior and well-being symposium: Farm animal welfare assurance: science and application.

Science.gov (United States)

Rushen, J; Butterworth, A; Swanson, J C

2011-04-01

Public and consumer pressure for assurances that farm animals are raised humanely has led to a range of private and public animal welfare standards, and for methods to assess compliance with these standards. The standards usually claim to be science based, but even though researchers have developed measures of animal welfare and have tested the effects of housing and management variables on welfare within controlled laboratory settings, there are challenges in extending this research to develop on-site animal welfare standards. The standards need to be validated against a definition of welfare that has broad support and which is amenable to scientific investigation. Ensuring that such standards acknowledge scientific uncertainty is also challenging, and balanced input from all scientific disciplines dealing with animal welfare is needed. Agencies providing animal welfare audit services need to integrate these scientific standards and legal requirements into successful programs that effectively measure and objectively report compliance. On-farm assessment of animal welfare requires a combination of animal-based measures to assess the actual state of welfare and resource-based measures to identify risk factors. We illustrate this by referring to a method of assessing welfare in broiler flocks. Compliance with animal welfare standards requires buy-in from all stakeholders, and this will be best achieved by a process of inclusion in the development of pragmatic assessment methods and the development of audit programs verifying the conditions and continuous improvement of farm animal welfare.

Effects of drought on the animal population in Eritrea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woldehiwet, Z; Haywood, S; Trafford, J

1985-08-17

Most nomads in Eritrea have lost their animals due to outright starvation or diseases aggravated by malnutrition, resulting in part from drought. Animals surviving the drought itself are succumbing to infectious diseases and ecto- and endoparasites. Affected animals include camels as well as bovine and caprine populations.

Studies on the effects of ionizing radiation on the normal and diseased liver in experimental animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmoud, S.A.

1981-01-01

The experiments carried out in the present study primarily concerned with the effects of ionizing radiations on the normal and diseased liver in experimental animals (mice). Different radiation intensities and different exposure schemes were used to irradiate both healthy and schistosoma mansoni infected animals. A group of uninfected and unirradiated animals were used as controls. Follow up studies were performed every 6 weeks for 30 weeks. These included histopathological studies of the liver damage at every observation periods for all animal groups

Anaerobic animals from an ancient, anoxic ecological niche

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin William

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Tiny marine animals that complete their life cycle in the total absence of light and oxygen are reported by Roberto Danovaro and colleagues in this issue of BMC Biology. These fascinating animals are new members of the phylum Loricifera and possess mitochondria that in electron micrographs look very much like hydrogenosomes, the H2-producing mitochondria found among several unicellular eukaryotic lineages. The discovery of metazoan life in a permanently anoxic and sulphidic environment provides a glimpse of what a good part of Earth's past ecology might have been like in 'Canfield oceans', before the rise of deep marine oxygen levels and the appearance of the first large animals in the fossil record roughly 550-600 million years ago. The findings underscore the evolutionary significance of anaerobic deep sea environments and the anaerobic lifestyle among mitochondrion-bearing cells. They also testify that a fuller understanding of eukaryotic and metazoan evolution will come from the study of modern anoxic and hypoxic habitats.

Air pollution and climate change. Effects on vegetation, animals, and humans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wellburn, A.R.

1997-01-01

This is the first comprehensive review of the effects of air pollution and climate change on the biosphere. The emphasis is on the biochemical processes caused by specific pollutants in plants, animals, and humans, but global aspects of air pollution are gone into as well, e.g. greenhouse effect, acid rain, ozone depletion and forest decline. The reader is given a comprehensive outline of this interdisciplinary problem field. (orig./MG) [de

Challenges in Preparing Veterinarians for Global Animal Health: Understanding the Public Sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Hollier, Paul J; Quinn, Kaylee A; Brown, Corrie C

Understanding of global systems is essential for veterinarians seeking to work in realms outside of their national domain. In the global system, emphasis remains on the public sector, and the current curricular emphasis in developed countries is on private clinical practice for the domestic employment market. There is a resulting lack of competency at graduation for effective engagement internationally. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has created standards for public sector operations in animal health, which must be functional to allow for sustainable development. This public sector, known as the Veterinary Services, or VS, serves to control public good diseases, and once effectively built and fully operational, allows for the evolution of a functional private sector, focused on private good diseases. Until the VS is fully functional, support of private good services is non-sustainable and any efforts delivered are not long lasting. As new graduates opt for careers working in the international development sector, it is essential that they understand the OIE guidelines to help support continuing improvement. Developing global veterinarians by inserting content into the veterinary curriculum on how public systems can operate effectively could markedly increase the potential of our professional contributions globally, and particularly in the areas most in need.

Something gone awry: unsolved mysteries in the evolution of asymmetric animal genitalia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schilthuizen, M.

2013-01-01

The great diversity in genital shape and function across and within the animal phyla hamper the identification of specific evolutionary trends that stretch beyond the limits of the group under study. Asymmetry might be a trait in genital morphology that could play a unifying role in the evolutionary

Co-evolution of the brand effect and competitiveness in evolving networks

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jin-Li

2014-07-01

The principle that ‘the brand effect is attractive’ underlies the preferential attachment. Here we show that the brand effect is just one dimension of attractiveness. Another dimension is competitiveness. We firstly introduce a general framework that allows us to investigate the competitive aspect of real networks, instead of simply preferring popular nodes. Our model accurately describes the evolution of social and technological networks. The phenomenon that more competitive nodes become richer can help us to understand the evolution of many competitive systems in nature and society. In general, the paper provides an explicit analytical expression of degree distributions of the network. In particular, the model yields a nontrivial time evolution of nodes' properties and the scale-free behavior with exponents depending on the microscopic parameters characterizing the competition rules. Secondly, through theoretical analyses and numerical simulations, we reveal that our model has not only the universality for the homogeneous weighted network, but also the character for the heterogeneous weighted network. Thirdly, we also develop a model based on the profit-driven mechanism. It can better describe the observed phenomenon in enterprise cooperation networks. We show that the standard preferential attachment, the growing random graph, the initial attractiveness model, the fitness model, and weighted networks can all be seen as degenerate cases of our model.

Morphology and behaviour : functional links in development and evolution Introduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bertossa, Rinaldo C.

2011-01-01

Development and evolution of animal behaviour and morphology are frequently addressed independently, as reflected in the dichotomy of disciplines dedicated to their study distinguishing object of study (morphology versus behaviour) and perspective (ultimate versus proximate). Although traits are

Assessing the effect, on animal model, of mixture of food additives, on the water balance.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedrich, Mariola; Kuchlewska, Magdalena

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine, on the animal model, the effect of modification of diet composition and administration of selected food additives on water balance in the body. The study was conducted with 48 males and 48 females (separately for each sex) of Wistar strain rats divided into four groups. For drinking, the animals from groups I and III were receiving water, whereas the animals from groups II and IV were administered 5 ml of a solution of selected food additives (potassium nitrate - E 252, sodium nitrite - E 250, benzoic acid - E 210, sorbic acid - E 200, and monosodium glutamate - E 621). Doses of the administered food additives were computed taking into account the average intake by men, expressed per body mass unit. Having drunk the solution, the animals were provided water for drinking. The mixture of selected food additives applied in the experiment was found to facilitate water retention in the body both in the case of both male and female rats, and differences observed between the volume of ingested fluids and the volume of excreted urine were statistically significant in the animals fed the basal diet. The type of feed mixture provided to the animals affected the site of water retention - in the case of animals receiving the basal diet analyses demonstrated a significant increase in water content in the liver tissue, whereas in the animals fed the modified diet water was observed to accumulate in the vascular bed. Taking into account the fact of water retention in the vascular bed, the effects of food additives intake may be more adverse in the case of females.

Portuguese agriculture and the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions-can vegetables control livestock emissions?

Science.gov (United States)

Mourao, Paulo Reis; Domingues Martinho, Vítor

2017-07-01

One of the most serious externalities of agricultural activity relates to greenhouse gas emissions. This work tests this relationship for the Portuguese case by examining data compiled since 1961. Employing cointegration techniques and vector error correction models (VECMs), we conclude that the evolution of the most representative vegetables and fruits in Portuguese production are associated with higher controls on the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions. Reversely, the evolution of the output levels of livestock and the most representative animal production have significantly increased the level of CO 2 (carbon dioxide) reported in Portugal. We also analyze the cycle length of the long-term relationship between agricultural activity and greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, we highlight the case of synthetic fertilizers, whose values of CO 2 have quickly risen due to changes in Portuguese vegetables, fruit, and animal production levels.

Effects of animation on naming and identification across two graphic symbol sets representing verbs and prepositions.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlosser, Ralf W; Koul, Rajinder; Shane, Howard; Sorce, James; Brock, Kristofer; Harmon, Ashley; Moerlein, Dorothy; Hearn, Emilia

2014-10-01

The effects of animation on naming and identification of graphic symbols for verbs and prepositions were studied in 2 graphic symbol sets in preschoolers. Using a 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 completely randomized block design, preschoolers across three age groups were randomly assigned to combinations of symbol set (Autism Language Program [ALP] Animated Graphics or Picture Communication Symbols [PCS]), symbol format (animated or static), and word class (verbs or prepositions). Children were asked to name symbols and to identify a target symbol from an array given the spoken label. Animated symbols were more readily named than static symbols, although this was more pronounced for verbs than for prepositions. ALP symbols were named more accurately than PCS in particular with prepositions. Animation did not facilitate identification. ALP symbols for prepositions were identified better than PCS, but there was no difference for verbs. Finally, older children guessed and identified symbols more effectively than younger children. Animation improves the naming of graphic symbols for verbs. For prepositions, ALP symbols are named more accurately and are more readily identifiable than PCS. Naming and identifying symbols are learned skills that develop over time. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Radioactivity transfer to animal products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coughtrey, P.J.

1990-01-01

Information on the behaviour of strontium, caesium, ruthenium, plutonium and americium in a range of domestic animals is reviewed to form a basis for the specification of time-dependent mathematical models describing uptake, distribution and retention in various domestic animals. Transfer factors relating concentration in animal product to daily radioactivity intake are derived after 100 d continuous intake and at equilibrium. These transfer factors are compared with the available published literature and used as a basis for the derivation of feedingstuff conversion factors relating limiting concentrations in animal feedingstuffs to limiting concentrations in human foodstuffs for application to animals receiving commercial feedingstuffs after a nuclear accident. Recommended transfer factors for animal products in conditions of continuous discharge and models for application to field conditions after a nuclear accident are also presented. Transfer of caesium to animal products is more effective than that for the other elements considered here. Transfer to meat of lamb, fattening pig, and chickens is generally more effective than that for other animals and other products

Oral treatment with a rattlesnake native polypeptide crotamine efficiently inhibits the tumor growth with no potential toxicity for the host animal and with suggestive positive effects on animal metabolic profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Campeiro, Joana D; Marinovic, Marcelo P; Carapeto, Fernando Cintra; Dal Mas, Caroline; Monte, Gabriela Guilherme; Carvalho Porta, Lucas; Nering, Marcela B; Oliveira, Eduardo B; Hayashi, Mirian A F

2018-02-01

The efficacy of crotamine as antitumoral was first demonstrated by daily intraperitoneal (IP) injections of low doses of this toxin in an animal model bearing melanoma tumors. Significant inhibition of tumor growth and increased lifespan of mice bearing tumor was also noticed after 21 consecutive days of this daily IP administration of crotamine. However, due to the limited acceptance of treatments by IP route in clinical conditions, herein, we evaluated the antitumor effect of this native polypeptide employing the oral route. The efficacy of crotamine in inhibiting the melanoma growth in vivo, even after passing through the gastrointestinal tract of the animal, was confirmed here. In addition, biochemical biomarkers and also histopathological analysis showed both the absence of any potential toxic effects in tissues or organs of the animal in which the highest accumulation of crotamine is expected. Interestingly, a reduction of weight gain was observed mainly in animals with tumor treated with crotamine by IP route, but not by oral administration. Albeit, oral administered crotamine was able to significantly decrease the body weight gain of healthy animals without tumor. Taking advantage of this same experimental animal models receiving crotamine by oral route, it was possible to show metabolic changes as the increased capacity of glucose clearance, which was accompanied by a reduction of the total cholesterol, and by increased high-density lipoprotein levels, both observed mainly in the absence of tumor. Triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein were also significantly decreased, but only in the absence of tumor. Taken together, these data suggest a clear trend for metabolic positive effects and mischaracterize unhealthy condition of animals, with or without tumors, treated with crotamine for 21 days. In addition, this study confirmed the efficacy of crotamine administered by oral route as antitumor agent, which besides the additional advantage of

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Members Adapted to Wild and Domestic Animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, Kerri M; Gordon, Stephen V

2017-01-01

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) is composed of several highly genetically related species that can be broadly classified into those that are human-host adapted and those that possess the ability to propagate and transmit in a variety of wild and domesticated animals. Since the initial description of the bovine tubercle bacillus, now known as Mycobacterium bovis, by Theobald Smith in the late 1800's, isolates originating from a wide range of animal hosts have been identified and characterized as M. microti, M. pinnipedii, the Dassie bacillus, M. mungi, M. caprae, M. orygis and M. suricattae. This chapter outlines the events resulting in the identification of each of these animal-adapted species, their close genetic relationships, and how genome-based phylogenetic analyses of species-specific variation amongst MTBC members is beginning to unravel the events that resulted in the evolution of the MTBC and the observed host tropism between the human- and animal-adapted member species.

The evolution of energy costs and their effect on the competitiveness of Spanish industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arocena, P.; Diaz, A. C.

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes the role of energy costs in the Spanish manufacturing and its evolution during the period 2000-2010. We carry out a descriptive analysis to firstly, determine the share of energy expenses on total operating expenses and personnel costs, and compare it with that registered in other European countries. Secondly, we analyze the evolution of the energy expenditure in relation to the output value created throughout the decade 2000-2010 and decompose such variation into a price effect and a quantity effect. (Author)

Thioredoxin and evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, B. B.

1991-01-01

Comparisons of primary structure have revealed significant homology between the m type thioredoxins of chloroplasts and the thioredoxins from a variety of bacteria. Chloroplast thioredoxin f, by comparison, remains an enigma: certain residues are invariant with those of the other thioredoxins, but a phylogenetic relationship to bacterial or m thioredoxins seems distant. Knowledge of the evolutionary history of thioredoxin f is, nevertheless, of interest because of its role in photosynthesis. Therefore, we have attempted to gain information on the evolutionary history of chloroplast thioredoxin f, as well as m. Our goal was first to establish the utility of thioredoxin as a phylogenetic marker, and, if found suitable, to deduce the evolutionary histories of the chloroplast thioredoxins. To this end, we have constructed phylogenetic (minimal replacement) trees using computer analysis. The results show that the thioredoxins of bacteria and animals fall into distinct phylogenetic groups - the bacterial group resembling that derived from earlier 16s RNA analysis and the animal group showing a cluster consistent with known relationships. The chloroplast thioredoxins show a novel type of phylogenetic arrangement: one m type aligns with its counterpart of eukaryotic algae, cyanobacteria and other bacteria, whereas the second type (f type) tracks with animal thioredoxin. The results give new insight into the evolution of photosynthesis.

Can results from animal studies be used to estimate dose or low dose effects in humans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.M.; Eberhardt, L.L.

1981-01-01

A method has been devised to extrapolate biological equilibrium levels between animal species and subsequently to humans. Our initial premise was based on the observation that radionuclide retention is normally a function of metabolism so that direct or indirect measures could be described by a power law based on body weights of test animal species. However, we found that such interspecies comparisons ought to be based on the coefficient of the power equation rather than on the exponential parameter. The method is illustrated using retention data obtained from five non-ruminant species (including humans) that were fed radionuclides with different properties. It appears that biological equilibrium level for radionuclides in man can be estimated using data from mice, rats, and dogs. The need to extrapolate low-dose effects data obtained from small animals (usually rodents) to humans is not unique to radiation dosimetry or radiation protection problems. Therefore, some quantitative problems connected with estimating low-dose effects from other disciplines have been reviewed, both because of the concern about effects induced by the radionuclide moiety of a radiopharmaceutical and those of the nonradioactive component. The possibility of extrapolating low-dose effects calculated from animal studies to human is discussed

Can results from animal studies be used to estimate dose or low dose effects in humans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.M.; Eberhardt, L.L.

1981-01-01

We have devised a method to extrapolate biological equilibrium levels between animal species and subsequently to humans. Our initial premise was based on the observation that radionuclide retention is normally a function of metabolism so that direct or indirect measures could be described by a power law based on body weights of test animal species. However, we found that such interspecies comparisons ought to be based on the coefficient of the power equation rather than on the exponential parameter. The method is illustrated using retention data obtained from five non-ruminant species (including humans) that were fed radionuclides with different properties. It appears that biological equilibrium level for radionuclides in man can be estimated using data from mice, rats and dogs. The need to extrapolate low-dose effects data obtained from small animals (usually rodents) to humans is not unique to radiation dosimetry or radiation protection problems. Therefore, researchers have reviewed some quantitative problems connected with estimating low-dose effects from other disciplines, both because of the concern about effects induced by the radionuclide moiety of a radiopharmaceutical and those of the nonradioactive component. The possibility of extrapolating low-dose effects calculated from animal studies to humans is discussed

Multicolour Observations, Inhomogeneity & Evolution

OpenAIRE

Hellaby, Charles

2000-01-01

We propose a method of testing source evolution theories that is independent of the effects of inhomogeneity, and thus complementary to other studies of evolution. It is suitable for large scale sky surveys, and the new generation of large telescopes. In an earlier paper it was shown that basic cosmological observations - luminosity versus redshift, area distance versus redshift and number counts versus redshift - cannot separate the effects of cosmic inhomogeneity, cosmic evolution and sourc...

Intermediate filament protein evolution and protists.

Science.gov (United States)

Preisner, Harald; Habicht, Jörn; Garg, Sriram G; Gould, Sven B

2018-03-23

Metazoans evolved from a single protist lineage. While all eukaryotes share a conserved actin and tubulin-based cytoskeleton, it is commonly perceived that intermediate filaments (IFs), including lamin, vimentin or keratin among many others, are restricted to metazoans. Actin and tubulin proteins are conserved enough to be detectable across all eukaryotic genomes using standard phylogenetic methods, but IF proteins, in contrast, are notoriously difficult to identify by such means. Since the 1950s, dozens of cytoskeletal proteins in protists have been identified that seemingly do not belong to any of the IF families described for metazoans, yet, from a structural and functional perspective fit criteria that define metazoan IF proteins. Here, we briefly review IF protein discovery in metazoans and the implications this had for the definition of this protein family. We argue that the many cytoskeletal and filament-forming proteins of protists should be incorporated into a more comprehensive picture of IF evolution by aligning it with the recent identification of lamins across the phylogenetic diversity of eukaryotic supergroups. This then brings forth the question of how the diversity of IF proteins has unfolded. The evolution of IF proteins likely represents an example of convergent evolution, which, in combination with the speed with which these cytoskeletal proteins are evolving, generated their current diversity. IF proteins did not first emerge in metazoa, but in protists. Only the emergence of cytosolic IF proteins that appear to stem from a nuclear lamin is unique to animals and coincided with the emergence of true animal multicellularity. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anti-tumor effects of metformin in animal models of hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Li

Full Text Available Several studies have reported that metformin can reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC in diabetes patients. However, the direct anti-HCC effects of metformin have hardly been studied in patients, but have been extensively investigated in animal models of HCC. We therefore performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies evaluating the effects of metformin on HCC.We collected the relevant studies by searching EMBASE, Medline (OvidSP, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed Publisher, and Google Scholar. Studies were included according to the following inclusion criteria: HCC, animal study, and metformin intervention. Study quality was assessed using SYRCLE's risk of bias tool. A meta-analysis was performed for the outcome measures: tumor growth (tumor volume, weight and size, tumor number and incidence.The search resulted in 573 references, of which 13 could be included in the review and 12 included in the meta-analysis. The study characteristics of the included studies varied considerably. Two studies used rats, while the others used mice. Only one study used female animals, nine used male, and three studies didn't mention the gender of animals in their experiments. The quality of the included studies was low to moderate based on the assessment of their risk of bias. The meta-analysis showed that metformin significantly inhibited the growth of HCC tumour (SMD -2.20[-2.96,-1.43]; n=16, but no significant effect on the number of tumors (SMD-1.05[-2.13,0.03]; n=5 or the incidence of HCC was observed (RR 0.62[0.33,1.16]; n=6. To investigate the potential sources of significant heterogeneities found in outcome of tumor growth (I2=81%, subgroup analyses of scales of growth measures and of types of animal models used were performed.Metformin appears to have a direct anti-HCC effect in animal models. Although the intrinsic limitations of animal studies, this systematic review could provide an important reference for future

A method for comparison of animal and human alveolar dose and toxic effect of inhaled ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatch, G.E.; Koren, H.; Aissa, M.

1989-01-01

Present models for predicting the pulmonary toxicity of O 3 in humans from the toxic effects observed in animals rely on dosimetric measurements of O 3 mass balance and species comparisons of mechanisms that protect tissue against O 3 . The goal of the study described was to identify a method to directly compare O 3 dose and effect in animals and humans using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid markers. The feasibility of estimating O 3 dose to alveoli of animals and humans was demonstrated through assay of reaction products of 18 O-labeled O 3 in lung surfactant and macrophage pellets of rabbits. The feasibility of using lung lavage fluid protein measurements to quantify the O 3 toxic response in humans was demonstrated by the finding of significantly increased lung lavage protein in 10 subjects exposed to 0.4 ppm O 3 for 2 h with intermittent periods of heavy exercise. The validity of using the lavage protein marker to quantify the response in animals has already been established. The positive results obtained in both the 18 O 3 and the lavage protein studies reported here suggest that it should be possible to obtain a direct comparison of both alveolar dose and toxic effect of O 3 to alveoli of animals or humans

Animal welfare: an animal science approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Koknaroglu, H; Akunal, T

2013-12-01

Increasing world population and demand for animal-derived protein puts pressure on animal production to meet this demand. For this purpose animal breeding efforts were conducted to obtain the maximum yield that the genetic makeup of the animals permits. Under the influence of economics which is the driving force behind animal production, animal farming became more concentrated and controlled which resulted in rearing animals under confinement. Since more attention was given on economics and yield per animal, animal welfare and behavior were neglected. Animal welfare which can be defined as providing environmental conditions in which animals can display all their natural behaviors in nature started gaining importance in recent years. This does not necessarily mean that animals provided with good management practices would have better welfare conditions as some animals may be distressed even though they are in good environmental conditions. Consumers are willing to pay more for welfare-friendly products (e.g.: free range vs caged egg) and this will change the animal production practices in the future. Thus animal scientists will have to adapt themselves for the changing animal welfare rules and regulations that differ for farm animal species and countries. In this review paper, animal welfare is discussed from an animal science standpoint. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards informed metrics for examining the role of human-induced animal responses in tag studies on wild animals

KAUST Repository

Wilson, Rory P.; Holton, Mark; Wilson, Vianney L.; Gunner, Richard; Tysse, Brenda; Wilson, Gwendoline I; Quintana, Flavio; Duarte, Carlos M.; Scantlebury, D. Michael

2018-01-01

Two prime issues can detrimentally affect animals that have been equipped with tags; (i) the effect of the capture and restraint process and (ii) the effect of the tag itself. This work examines some of the issues surrounding quantification of tag effects on wild animals for both restrained and free-living animals. A new method to quantify stress effects based on monitoring ventilation rates in relation to activity is suggested for restrained animals which may help improve the practice of handling animals. It is also suggested that various metrics, many derived from accelerometers, can be examined in tagged wild animals to examine the change in behaviours over time with a view to having a better understanding of welfare issues, assuring the quality of recorded data and informing best practice. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Towards informed metrics for examining the role of human-induced animal responses in tag studies on wild animals

KAUST Repository

Wilson, Rory P.

2018-05-31

Two prime issues can detrimentally affect animals that have been equipped with tags; (i) the effect of the capture and restraint process and (ii) the effect of the tag itself. This work examines some of the issues surrounding quantification of tag effects on wild animals for both restrained and free-living animals. A new method to quantify stress effects based on monitoring ventilation rates in relation to activity is suggested for restrained animals which may help improve the practice of handling animals. It is also suggested that various metrics, many derived from accelerometers, can be examined in tagged wild animals to examine the change in behaviours over time with a view to having a better understanding of welfare issues, assuring the quality of recorded data and informing best practice. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

anyFish 2.0: An open-source software platform to generate and share animated fish models to study behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spencer J. Ingley

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Experimental approaches to studying behaviors based on visual signals are ubiquitous, yet these studies are limited by the difficulty of combining realistic models with the manipulation of signals in isolation. Computer animations are a promising way to break this trade-off. However, animations are often prohibitively expensive and difficult to program, thus limiting their utility in behavioral research. We present anyFish 2.0, a user-friendly platform for creating realistic animated 3D fish. anyFish 2.0 dramatically expands anyFish’s utility by allowing users to create animations of members of several groups of fish from model systems in ecology and evolution (e.g., sticklebacks, Poeciliids, and zebrafish. The visual appearance and behaviors of the model can easily be modified. We have added several features that facilitate more rapid creation of realistic behavioral sequences. anyFish 2.0  provides a powerful tool that will be of broad use in animal behavior and evolution and serves as a model for transparency, repeatability, and collaboration.

The Impact of Animal Rights on the Use of Animals for Biomedical Research, Product Testing and Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Baier, Stephen W.

1993-01-01

Clarifies the issues of animal rights as they effect animal use in research and education through an examination of the current use of animals, a historical look at animal use, and a consideration of the philosophical underpinnings of the animal rights and pro-use viewpoints. (PR)

Keeper-Animal Interactions: Differences between the Behaviour of Zoo Animals Affect Stockmanship.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Samantha J; Melfi, Vicky

2015-01-01

Stockmanship is a term used to describe the management of animals with a good stockperson someone who does this in a in a safe, effective, and low-stress manner for both the stock-keeper and animals involved. Although impacts of unfamiliar zoo visitors on animal behaviour have been extensively studied, the impact of stockmanship i.e familiar zoo keepers is a new area of research; which could reveal significant ramifications for zoo animal behaviour and welfare. It is likely that different relationships are formed dependant on the unique keeper-animal dyad (human-animal interaction, HAI). The aims of this study were to (1) investigate if unique keeper-animal dyads were formed in zoos, (2) determine whether keepers differed in their interactions towards animals regarding their attitude, animal knowledge and experience and (3) explore what factors affect keeper-animal dyads and ultimately influence animal behaviour and welfare. Eight black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), eleven Chapman's zebra (Equus burchellii), and twelve Sulawesi crested black macaques (Macaca nigra) were studied in 6 zoos across the UK and USA. Subtle cues and commands directed by keepers towards animals were identified. The animals latency to respond and the respective behavioural response (cue-response) was recorded per keeper-animal dyad (n = 93). A questionnaire was constructed following a five-point Likert Scale design to record keeper demographic information and assess the job satisfaction of keepers, their attitude towards the animals and their perceived relationship with them. There was a significant difference in the animals' latency to appropriately respond after cues and commands from different keepers, indicating unique keeper-animal dyads were formed. Stockmanship style was also different between keepers; two main components contributed equally towards this: "attitude towards the animals" and "knowledge and experience of the animals". In this novel study, data demonstrated unique dyads

Improving animal health and livestock productivity to reduce poverty.

Science.gov (United States)

Pradère, J-P

2014-12-01

This study is based on scientific publications, statistics and field observations. It shows the importance of livestock in the economy and in the risk management strategies implemented by poor farming households. A comparison of livestock performance trends with the evolution of rural poverty in developing countries indicates that growth in livestock production alone is not enough to reduce rural poverty. To help reduce poverty, sustainable production should be based on productivity gains. Prerequisites for improving productivity include better public policies, enhanced research and the reduction of animal disease risk. The study draws attention to the economic, social and environmental consequences of inadequate support for animal health and production in the least developed countries, especially those of sub-Saharan Africa.

Effect of a Brans--Dicke cosmology upon stellar evolution and the evolution of galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prather, M.J.

1976-01-01

The effect which a variable G cosmology, such as Brans-Dicke, will have on the evolution of individual stars and of galaxies composed of these stars is examined in the hope that present day observation of globular clusters or giant elliptical galaxies will provide a test for the Brans--Dicke theory. The higher value of the gravitational coupling coefficient G in the past history of various Brans--Dicke universes is studied in detail. A low density, open universe is selected for study: fractional closure density = 0.2, present Hubble constant = km/s/Mpc, stellar formation at a red-shift of 5, and the Brans--Dicke parameter omega = 6. In this universe a set of stellar evolutionary tracks is computed from the Zero-Age Main Sequence through the Giant Branch to the Horizontal Branch for approximately solar composition, (Y,Z) = (0.25, 0.02). When compared at equivalent evolutionary phases, the luminosity of individual stars is found to increase greatly with G from the ZAMS to the HB. The higher G greatly speeds up the evolutionary time scale for the main sequence, and it decreases the core mass at the helium flash, leaving the luminosity of the tip of the GB and the HB unchanged. The net effect of a higher G on a cluster of stars is to increase the apparent mass at the turn-off and to reduce the lifetimes of all the evolutionary phases from the ZAMS to the HB by the same factor. Thus, the relative number density of stars in the major phases of stellar evolution is unchanged

Horizontal Gene Transfer Contributes to the Evolution of Arthropod Herbivory.

Science.gov (United States)

Wybouw, Nicky; Pauchet, Yannick; Heckel, David G; Van Leeuwen, Thomas

2016-06-27

Within animals, evolutionary transition toward herbivory is severely limited by the hostile characteristics of plants. Arthropods have nonetheless counteracted many nutritional and defensive barriers imposed by plants and are currently considered as the most successful animal herbivores in terrestrial ecosystems. We gather a body of evidence showing that genomes of various plant feeding insects and mites possess genes whose presence can only be explained by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT is the asexual transmission of genetic information between reproductively isolated species. Although HGT is known to have great adaptive significance in prokaryotes, its impact on eukaryotic evolution remains obscure. Here, we show that laterally transferred genes into arthropods underpin many adaptations to phytophagy, including efficient assimilation and detoxification of plant produced metabolites. Horizontally acquired genes and the traits they encode often functionally diversify within arthropod recipients, enabling the colonization of more host plant species and organs. We demonstrate that HGT can drive metazoan evolution by uncovering its prominent role in the adaptations of arthropods to exploit plants. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Memory Effects on Movement Behavior in Animal Foraging

Science.gov (United States)

Bracis, Chloe; Gurarie, Eliezer; Van Moorter, Bram; Goodwin, R. Andrew

2015-01-01

An individual’s choices are shaped by its experience, a fundamental property of behavior important to understanding complex processes. Learning and memory are observed across many taxa and can drive behaviors, including foraging behavior. To explore the conditions under which memory provides an advantage, we present a continuous-space, continuous-time model of animal movement that incorporates learning and memory. Using simulation models, we evaluate the benefit memory provides across several types of landscapes with variable-quality resources and compare the memory model within a nested hierarchy of simpler models (behavioral switching and random walk). We find that memory almost always leads to improved foraging success, but that this effect is most marked in landscapes containing sparse, contiguous patches of high-value resources that regenerate relatively fast and are located in an otherwise devoid landscape. In these cases, there is a large payoff for finding a resource patch, due to size, value, or locational difficulty. While memory-informed search is difficult to differentiate from other factors using solely movement data, our results suggest that disproportionate spatial use of higher value areas, higher consumption rates, and consumption variability all point to memory influencing the movement direction of animals in certain ecosystems. PMID:26288228

Influence of animal fat substitution by vegetal fat on Mortadella-type products formulated with different hydrocolloids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erick Saldaña

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Meat has played a crucial role in human evolution and is an important component of a healthy and well-balanced diet on account of its nutritional properties, its high biological value as a source of protein, and the vitamins and minerals it supplies. We studied the effects of animal fat reduction and substitution by hydrogenated vegetal fat, sodium alginate and guar gum. Fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, color and instrumental texture as well as the sensorial difference between low, substituted-fat and the traditional formulations for mortadella-type products were analyzed. Both substitution and reduction of animal fat decreased the saturated fatty acids percentage from 40% down to 31%. A texture profile analysis showed differences between the formulations. Furthermore, lipid oxidation values were not significant for treatments as regards the type and quantity of fat used while the use of sodium alginate and guar gum reduced the amounts of liquid released after cooking. Animal fat substitution does cause, however, a difference in overall sensorial perception compared with non-substituted products. The results confirm the viability of substituting vegetal fat for animal fat.

The rhabdoviruses: biodiversity, phylogenetics, and evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzmin, I V; Novella, I S; Dietzgen, R G; Padhi, A; Rupprecht, C E

2009-07-01

Rhabdoviruses (family Rhabdoviridae) include a diversity of important pathogens of animals and plants. They share morphology and genome organization. The understanding of rhabdovirus phylogeny, ecology and evolution has progressed greatly during the last 30 years, due to enhanced surveillance and improved methodologies of molecular characterization. Along with six established genera, several phylogenetic groups at different levels were described within the Rhabdoviridae. However, comparative relationships between viral phylogeny and taxonomy remains incomplete, with multiple representatives awaiting further genetic characterization. The same is true for rhabdovirus evolution. To date, rather simplistic molecular clock models only partially describe the evolutionary dynamics of postulated viral lineages. Ongoing progress in viral evolutionary and ecological investigations will provide the platform for future studies of this diverse family.

Does aquatic foraging impact head shape evolution in snakes?

Science.gov (United States)

Segall, Marion; Cornette, Raphaël; Fabre, Anne-Claire; Godoy-Diana, Ramiro; Herrel, Anthony

2016-08-31

Evolutionary trajectories are often biased by developmental and historical factors. However, environmental factors can also impose constraints on the evolutionary trajectories of organisms leading to convergence of morphology in similar ecological contexts. The physical properties of water impose strong constraints on aquatic feeding animals by generating pressure waves that can alert prey and potentially push them away from the mouth. These hydrodynamic constraints have resulted in the independent evolution of suction feeding in most groups of secondarily aquatic tetrapods. Despite the fact that snakes cannot use suction, they have invaded the aquatic milieu many times independently. Here, we test whether the aquatic environment has constrained head shape evolution in snakes and whether shape converges on that predicted by biomechanical models. To do so, we used three-dimensional geometric morphometrics and comparative, phylogenetically informed analyses on a large sample of aquatic snake species. Our results show that aquatic snakes partially conform to our predictions and have a narrower anterior part of the head and dorsally positioned eyes and nostrils. This morphology is observed, irrespective of the phylogenetic relationships among species, suggesting that the aquatic environment does indeed drive the evolution of head shape in snakes, thus biasing the evolutionary trajectory of this group of animals. © 2016 The Author(s).

Deformation Models Tracking, Animation and Applications

CERN Document Server

Torres, Arnau; Gómez, Javier

2013-01-01

The computational modelling of deformations has been actively studied for the last thirty years. This is mainly due to its large range of applications that include computer animation, medical imaging, shape estimation, face deformation as well as other parts of the human body, and object tracking. In addition, these advances have been supported by the evolution of computer processing capabilities, enabling realism in a more sophisticated way. This book encompasses relevant works of expert researchers in the field of deformation models and their applications.  The book is divided into two main parts. The first part presents recent object deformation techniques from the point of view of computer graphics and computer animation. The second part of this book presents six works that study deformations from a computer vision point of view with a common characteristic: deformations are applied in real world applications. The primary audience for this work are researchers from different multidisciplinary fields, s...

Animal models of dementia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsson, I. Anna S.; Sandøe, Peter

2011-01-01

This chapter aims to encourage scientists and others interested in the use of animal models of disease – specifically, in the study of dementia – to engage in ethical reflection. It opens with a general discussion of the moral acceptability of animal use in research. Three ethical approaches...... are here distinguished. These serve as points of orientation in the following discussion of four more specific ethical questions: Does animal species matter? How effective is disease modelling in delivering the benefits claimed for it? What can be done to minimize potential harm to animals in research? Who...... bears responsibility for the use of animals in disease models?...

COMADRE: a global data base of animal demography.

Science.gov (United States)

Salguero-Gómez, Roberto; Jones, Owen R; Archer, C Ruth; Bein, Christoph; de Buhr, Hendrik; Farack, Claudia; Gottschalk, Fränce; Hartmann, Alexander; Henning, Anne; Hoppe, Gabriel; Römer, Gesa; Ruoff, Tara; Sommer, Veronika; Wille, Julia; Voigt, Jakob; Zeh, Stefan; Vieregg, Dirk; Buckley, Yvonne M; Che-Castaldo, Judy; Hodgson, David; Scheuerlein, Alexander; Caswell, Hal; Vaupel, James W

2016-03-01

The open-data scientific philosophy is being widely adopted and proving to promote considerable progress in ecology and evolution. Open-data global data bases now exist on animal migration, species distribution, conservation status, etc. However, a gap exists for data on population dynamics spanning the rich diversity of the animal kingdom world-wide. This information is fundamental to our understanding of the conditions that have shaped variation in animal life histories and their relationships with the environment, as well as the determinants of invasion and extinction. Matrix population models (MPMs) are among the most widely used demographic tools by animal ecologists. MPMs project population dynamics based on the reproduction, survival and development of individuals in a population over their life cycle. The outputs from MPMs have direct biological interpretations, facilitating comparisons among animal species as different as Caenorhabditis elegans, Loxodonta africana and Homo sapiens. Thousands of animal demographic records exist in the form of MPMs, but they are dispersed throughout the literature, rendering comparative analyses difficult. Here, we introduce the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database, an open-data online repository, which in its version 1.0.0 contains data on 345 species world-wide, from 402 studies with a total of 1625 population projection matrices. COMADRE also contains ancillary information (e.g. ecoregion, taxonomy, biogeography, etc.) that facilitates interpretation of the numerous demographic metrics that can be derived from its MPMs. We provide R code to some of these examples. We introduce the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database, a resource for animal demography. Its open-data nature, together with its ancillary information, will facilitate comparative analysis, as will the growing availability of databases focusing on other aspects of the rich animal diversity, and tools to query and combine them. Through future frequent updates of COMADRE, and

Convergent occurrence of the developmental hourglass in plant and animal embryogenesis?

Science.gov (United States)

Cridge, Andrew G; Dearden, Peter K; Brownfield, Lynette R

2016-04-01

The remarkable similarity of animal embryos at particular stages of development led to the proposal of a developmental hourglass. In this model, early events in development are less conserved across species but lead to a highly conserved 'phylotypic period'. Beyond this stage, the model suggests that development once again becomes less conserved, leading to the diversity of forms. Recent comparative studies of gene expression in animal groups have provided strong support for the hourglass model. How and why might such an hourglass pattern be generated? More importantly, how might early acting events in development evolve while still maintaining a later conserved stage? The discovery that an hourglass pattern may also exist in the embryogenesis of plants provides comparative data that may help us explain this phenomenon. Whether the developmental hourglass occurs in plants, and what this means for our understanding of embryogenesis in plants and animals is discussed. Models by which conserved early-acting genes might change their functional role in the evolution of gene networks, how networks buffer these changes, and how that might constrain, or confer diversity, of the body plan are also discused. Evidence of a morphological and molecular hourglass in plant and animal embryogenesis suggests convergent evolution. This convergence is likely due to developmental constraints imposed upon embryogenesis by the need to produce a viable embryo with an established body plan, controlled by the architecture of the underlying gene regulatory networks. As the body plan is largely laid down during the middle phases of embryo development in plants and animals, then it is perhaps not surprising this stage represents the narrow waist of the hourglass where the gene regulatory networks are the oldest and most robust and integrated, limiting species diversity and constraining morphological space. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of

Greenhouse Gases and Animal Agriculture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, J. (ed.) [Department of Animal Science, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido (Japan); Young, B.A. (ed.) [The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343 (Australia)

2002-07-01

Reports from interdisciplinary areas including microbiology, biochemistry, animal nutrition, agricultural engineering and economics are integrated in this proceedings. The major theme of this book is environmental preservation by controlling release of undesirable greenhouse gases to realize the sustainable development of animal agriculture. Technology exists for the effective collection of methane generated from anaerobic fermentation of animal effluent and its use as a biomass energy source. Fossil fuel consumption can be reduced and there can be increased use of locally available energy sources. In addition, promoting environmentally-conscious agriculture which does not rely on the chemical fertilizer can be realized by effective use of animal manure and compost products.

Genetic and somatic effects in animals maintained on tritiated water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carsten, A.L.; Commerford, S.L.; Cronkite, E.P.; Brooks, A.

1982-01-01

Somatic and genetic effects of the continuous ingestion of tritiated water (HTO) at concentrations of 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 μCi/ml were investigated in mice of the Hale-Stoner-Brookhaven strain. At these levels, there was no measurable somatic effect. Although genetic effects as measured by dominant lethal mutation (DLM) assay indicated a significant effect (P>0.01) on the number of viable embryos and early deaths in the 3.0 μCi/ml HTO group and on the number of viable embryos in the 1.0 μCi/ml HTO group, no genetic effects were significantly noted in the 0.3 μCi/ml HTO group. Liver cytogenetic studies showed a significant increase in the number of abnormal cells in the 3.0 μCi/ml HTO group. A reduction in bone marrow stem cells, without an attendant reduction in total marrow cellularity, was noted in the 3.0 and 1.0 μCi/ml HTO groups. There was no significant difference in any of the DLM parameters between animals maintained on 3.0 μCi/ml of HTO and animals exposed to the equivalent 137 Cs gamma dose (22 hours/day exposure). Consideration of the relative amounts and biological half lives of tritium present in the nucleus as water, DNA and histone suggests that after transient exposure to tritiated water, nearly all significant radiation damage can be attributed to tritium present in the nucleus as water. These data suggest that hazards from tritium attendant with normal reactor operation should not at this time be considered as a deterrent to the further development of fission and/or fusion reactor technology. (Namekawa, K.)

D-penicillamine exhibits a higher radioprotective effect in suckling mice than in grown-up animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oroszlan, Gy.; Lakatos, L.; Dezsi, Z.; Hatvani, I.; Pintye, E.; Karmazsin, L.; Orvostudomanyi Egyetem, Debrecen; Orvostudomanyi Egyetem, Debrecen

1982-01-01

Grown-up and suckling mice were exposed to whole-body 60 Co-irradiation of 6-10 Gy. The survival time was significantly increased in suckling animals by 3000 mg per kg body weight D-penicillamine applied intraperitoneally 60 min before irradiation, whereas the same treatment had no significant effect in grown-up animals. (L.E.)

Effects of Diet on Brain Plasticity in Animal and Human Studies: Mind the Gap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tytus Murphy

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Dietary interventions have emerged as effective environmental inducers of brain plasticity. Among these dietary interventions, we here highlight the impact of caloric restriction (CR: a consistent reduction of total daily food intake, intermittent fasting (IF, every-other-day feeding, and diet supplementation with polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs on markers of brain plasticity in animal studies. Moreover, we also discuss epidemiological and intervention studies reporting the effects of CR, IF and dietary polyphenols and PUFAs on learning, memory, and mood. In particular, we evaluate the gap in mechanistic understanding between recent findings from animal studies and those human studies reporting that these dietary factors can benefit cognition, mood, and anxiety, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease—with focus on the enhancement of structural and functional plasticity markers in the hippocampus, such as increased expression of neurotrophic factors, synaptic function and adult neurogenesis. Lastly, we discuss some of the obstacles to harnessing the promising effects of diet on brain plasticity in animal studies into effective recommendations and interventions to promote healthy brain function in humans. Together, these data reinforce the important translational concept that diet, a modifiable lifestyle factor, holds the ability to modulate brain health and function.

Size Effect on Acoustic Emission Characteristics of Coal-Rock Damage Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijie Wen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Coal-gas outburst, rock burst, and other mine dynamic disasters are closely related to the instability and failure of coal-rock. Coal-rock is the assemblies of mineral particles of varying sizes and shapes bonded together by cementing materials. The damage and rupture process of coal-rock is accompanied by acoustic emission (AE, which can be used as an effective means to monitor and predict the instability of coal-rock body. In this manuscript, considering the size effect of coal-rock, the influence of different height to diameter ratio on the acoustic emission characteristics of coal-rock damage evolution was discussed by microparticle flow PFC2D software platform. The results show that coal-rock size influences the uniaxial compressive strength, peak strain, and elastic modulus of itself; the size effect has little effect on the acoustic emission law of coal-rock damage and the effects of the size of coal-rock samples on acoustic emission characteristics are mainly reflected in three aspects: the triggering time of acoustic emission, the strain range of strong acoustic emission, and the intensity of acoustic emission; the damage evolution of coal-rock specimen can be divided into 4 stages: initial damage, stable development, accelerated development, and damage.

Co-evolution of the brand effect and competitiveness in evolving networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Jin-Li

2014-01-01

The principle that ‘the brand effect is attractive’ underlies the preferential attachment. Here we show that the brand effect is just one dimension of attractiveness. Another dimension is competitiveness. We firstly introduce a general framework that allows us to investigate the competitive aspect of real networks, instead of simply preferring popular nodes. Our model accurately describes the evolution of social and technological networks. The phenomenon that more competitive nodes become richer can help us to understand the evolution of many competitive systems in nature and society. In general, the paper provides an explicit analytical expression of degree distributions of the network. In particular, the model yields a nontrivial time evolution of nodes' properties and the scale-free behavior with exponents depending on the microscopic parameters characterizing the competition rules. Secondly, through theoretical analyses and numerical simulations, we reveal that our model has not only the universality for the homogeneous weighted network, but also the character for the heterogeneous weighted network. Thirdly, we also develop a model based on the profit-driven mechanism. It can better describe the observed phenomenon in enterprise cooperation networks. We show that the standard preferential attachment, the growing random graph, the initial attractiveness model, the fitness model, and weighted networks can all be seen as degenerate cases of our model. (general)

A Catalog of Stellar Evolution Profiles and the Effects of Variable Composition on Habitable Systems

OpenAIRE

Truitt, Amanda; Young, Patrick A.; Spacek, Alexander; Probst, Luke; Dietrich, Jeremy

2015-01-01

We present stellar evolution models for 0.5 - 1.2 \\Msol at scaled metallicities of 0.1 - 1.5 Z\\sol and O/Fe values of 0.44 - 2.28 O/Fe\\sol. The time dependent evolution of habitable zone boundaries are calculated for each stellar evolution track based on stellar mass, effective temperature, and luminosity parameterizations. The rate of change of stellar surface quantities and the surrounding habitable zone position are strong functions of all three quantities explored. The range of orbits tha...

Neurological effects of white spirit: Contribution of animal studies during a 30-year period

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Gunnar Damgård; Lund, Søren Peter; Ladefoged, Ole

2006-01-01

Numerous studies have suggested that long-term occupational exposure to white spirit may cause chronic toxic encephalopathy (WHO 1996). This review summarizes the chronic nervous system effects of white spirit in animal studies during a 30-year period. First, routine histopathology was consistently...... unable to reveal adverse peripheral or central nervous system effects after inhalation of white spirit. Second, neurobehavioural studies in animals showed no adverse effect after inhalation of white spirit with a high content of aromatics in contrast to what was found with products with a low content....... Third, white spirit with a high content of aromatics induced adverse neurochemical changes at inhalation of 400 ppm and possibly already at 100 ppm. In the studied parameters, white spirit with a low content of aromatics showed no clear adverse neurochemical effects at inhalation of 400 ppm...

A theoretical model of the evolution of maternal effects under parent-offspring conflict

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uller, Tobias; Pen, Ido

The evolution of maternal effects on offspring phenotype should depend on the extent of parent-offspring conflict and costs and constraints associated with maternal and offspring strategies. Here, we develop a model of maternal effects on offspring dispersal phenotype under parent-offspring conflict

Structural evolution of biomass char and its effect on the gasification rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fatehi, Hesameddin; Bai, Xue-Song

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A comprehensive model was developed to describe the evolution of biomass char structure. • An effectiveness factor was used to account for the intra-particle chemical and physical processes. • The effect of the structural evolution of the multi-pore structure on biomass char reactivity was analyzed. • The multi-pore model yields results in satisfactory agreement with experiments. - Abstract: The evolution of char porous structure can affect the conversion rate of the char by affecting the intra-particle transport, especially in the zone II conversion regime. A multi-pore model based on the capillary pore theory is developed to take into account different conversion rates for pores with different radii. The model is valid for biomass chars produced under relatively low heating rates, when the original beehive structure of the biomass is not destroyed during the pyrolysis stage. The contribution of different pores with different radius is taken into account using an effectiveness factor presented for each pore radius with respect to different reactions. As the char conversion proceeds, the pore enlargement increases the contribution of micro-pores; consequently the effective surface area will increase. The increase in the effective surface area leads to an increased reactivity of char during the entire conversion process. This model is used to analyze the steam gasification process of biomass char of centimeter sizes. The results from the present multi-pore model are in better agreement with experimental data than those from a corresponding single pore model. Since the multi-pore model accommodates the detailed intra-particle transport, it is a useful basis toward developing a more predictive model for biomass char gasification.

The effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation instruction: animation versus dispatcher through a cellular phone.

Science.gov (United States)

Choa, Minhong; Park, Incheol; Chung, Hyun Soo; Yoo, Sun K; Shim, Hoshik; Kim, Seungho

2008-04-01

We developed a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instruction programme using motion capture animation integrated into cellular phones. We compared the effectiveness of animation-assisted CPR instruction with dispatcher-assisted instruction in participants with no previous CPR training. This study was a single blind cluster randomized trial. Participants were allocated to either animation-assisted CPR (AA-CPR; 8 clusters, 44 participants) group or dispatcher-assisted CPR (DA-CPR; 8 clusters, 41 participants). The overall performance and time of each step of CPR cycle were recorded on a checklist by 3 assessors. The objective performances were evaluated using the Resusci Anne SkillReporter Manikin. Differences between the groups were compared using an independent t-test adjusted for the effect of clustering. The AA-CPR group had a significantly better checklist score (pCPR cycle (pCPR group. In an objective assessment of psychomotor skill, the AA-CPR group demonstrated more accurate hand positioning (68.8+/-3.6%, p=0.033) and compression rate (72.4+/-3.7%, p=0.015) than DA-CPR group. However, the accuracy of compression depth (p=0.400), ventilation volume (p=0.977) and flow rate (p=0.627) were below 30% in both groups. Audiovisual animated CPR instruction through a cellular phone resulted in better scores in checklist assessment and time interval compliance in participants without CPR skill compared to those who received CPR instructions from a dispatcher; however, the accuracy of important psychomotor skill measures was unsatisfactory in both groups.

The mystery of language evolution

OpenAIRE

Hauser, Marc D.; Yang, Charles; Berwick, Robert C.; Tattersall, Ian; Ryan, Michael J.; Watumull, Jeffrey; Chomsky, Noam; Lewontin, Richard C.

2014-01-01

Understanding the evolution of language requires evidence regarding origins and processes that led to change. In the last 40 years, there has been an explosion of research on this problem as well as a sense that considerable progress has been made. We argue instead that the richness of ideas is accompanied by a poverty of evidence, with essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved. We show that, to date, (1) studies of nonhuman animals prov...

Limits in the evolution of biological form: a theoretical morphologic perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

McGhee, George R

2015-12-06

Limits in the evolution of biological form can be empirically demonstrated by using theoretical morphospace analyses, and actual analytic examples are given for univalved ammonoid shell form, bivalved brachiopod shell form and helical bryozoan colony form. Limits in the evolution of form in these animal groups can be shown to be due to functional and developmental constraints on possible evolutionary trajectories in morphospace. Future evolutionary-limit research is needed to analyse the possible existence of temporal constraint in the evolution of biological form on Earth, and in the search for the possible existence of functional alien life forms on Titan and Triton that are developmentally impossible for Earth life.

Emotional and interactional prosody across animal communication systems: A comparative approach to the emergence of language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piera Filippi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Across a wide range of animal taxa, prosodic modulation of the voice can express emotional information and is used to coordinate vocal interactions between multiple individuals. Within a comparative approach to animal communication systems, I hypothesize that the ability for emotional and interactional prosody (EIP paved the way for the evolution of linguistic prosody - and perhaps also of music, continuing to play a vital role in the acquisition of language. In support of this hypothesis, I review three research fields: i empirical studies on the adaptive value of EIP in nonhuman primates, mammals, songbirds, anurans and insects; ii the beneficial effects of EIP in scaffolding language learning and social development in human infants; iii the cognitive relationship between linguistic prosody and the ability for music, which has often been identified as the evolutionary precursor of language.

Meat and Nicotinamide: A Causal Role in Human Evolution, History, and Demographics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian C Williams

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Hunting for meat was a critical step in all animal and human evolution. A key brain-trophic element in meat is vitamin B 3 /nicotinamide. The supply of meat and nicotinamide steadily increased from the Cambrian origin of animal predators ratcheting ever larger brains. This culminated in the 3-million-year evolution of Homo sapiens and our overall demographic success. We view human evolution, recent history, and agricultural and demographic transitions in the light of meat and nicotinamide intake. A biochemical and immunological switch is highlighted that affects fertility in the ‘de novo’ tryptophan-to-kynurenine-nicotinamide ‘immune tolerance’ pathway. Longevity relates to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide consumer pathways. High meat intake correlates with moderate fertility, high intelligence, good health, and longevity with consequent population stability, whereas low meat/high cereal intake (short of starvation correlates with high fertility, disease, and population booms and busts. Too high a meat intake and fertility falls below replacement levels. Reducing variances in meat consumption might help stabilise population growth and improve human capital.

Adaptability and evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Bateson, Patrick

2017-10-06

The capacity of organisms to respond in their own lifetimes to new challenges in their environments probably appeared early in biological evolution. At present few studies have shown how such adaptability could influence the inherited characteristics of an organism's descendants. In part, this has been because organisms have been treated as passive in evolution. Nevertheless, their effects on biological evolution are likely to have been important and, when they occurred, accelerated the pace of evolution. Ways in which this might have happened have been suggested many times since the 1870s. I review these proposals and discuss their relevance to modern thought.

Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on (Marine) Animals: Physiological Underpinnings and Evolutionary Consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Pörtner, Hans O; Gutt, Julian

2016-07-01

Understanding thermal ranges and limits of organisms becomes important in light of climate change and observed effects on ecosystems as reported by the IPCC (2014). Evolutionary adaptation to temperature is presently unable to keep animals and other organisms in place; if they can these rather follow the moving isotherms. These effects of climate change on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems have brought into focus the mechanisms by which temperature and its oscillations shape the biogeography and survival of species. For animals, the integrative concept of oxygen and capacity limited thermal tolerance (OCLTT) has successfully characterized the sublethal limits to performance and the consequences of such limits for ecosystems. Recent models illustrate how routine energy demand defines the realized niche. Steady state temperature-dependent performance profiles thus trace the thermal window and indicate a key role for aerobic metabolism, and the resulting budget of available energy (power), in defining performance under routine conditions, from growth to exercise and reproduction. Differences in the performance and productivity of marine species across latitudes relate to changes in mitochondrial density, capacity, and other features of cellular design. Comparative studies indicate how and why such mechanisms underpinning OCLTT may have developed on evolutionary timescales in different climatic zones and contributed to shaping the functional characteristics and species richness of the respective fauna. A cause-and-effect understanding emerges from considering the relationships between fluctuations in body temperature, cellular design, and performance. Such principles may also have been involved in shaping the functional characteristics of survivors in mass extinction events during earth's history; furthermore, they may provide access to understanding the evolution of endothermy in mammals and birds. Accordingly, an understanding is emerging how climate changes and

Effect of self-interaction on the evolution of cooperation in complex topologies

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yu'e.; Zhang, Zhipeng; Chang, Shuhua

2017-09-01

Self-interaction, as a significant mechanism explaining the evolution of cooperation, has attracted great attention both theoretically and experimentally. In this text, we consider a new self-interaction mechanism in the two typical pairwise models including the prisoner's dilemma and the snowdrift games, where the cooperative agents will gain extra bonus for their selfless behavior. We find that under the mechanism the collective cooperation is elevated to a very high level especially after adopting the finite population analogue of replicator dynamics for evolution. The robustness of the new mechanism is tested for different complex topologies for the prisoner's dilemma game. All the presented results demonstrate that the enhancement effects are independent of the structure of the applied spatial networks and the potential evolutionary games, and thus showing a high degree of universality. Our conclusions might shed light on the understanding of the evolution of cooperation in the real world.

21 CFR 314.610 - Approval based on evidence of effectiveness from studies in animals.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... based on evidence of effectiveness from studies in animals. (a) FDA may grant marketing approval for a... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Approval based on evidence of effectiveness from... the effectiveness of these products only when: (1) There is a reasonably well-understood...

Neuroprotective effects of estrogen in CNS injuries: insights from animal models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raghava N

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Narayan Raghava,1 Bhaskar C Das,2 Swapan K Ray1 1Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, SC, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA Abstract: Among the estrogens that are biosynthesized in the human body, 17β-estradiol (estradiol or E2 is the most common and the best estrogen for neuroprotection in animal models of the central nervous system (CNS injuries such as spinal cord injury (SCI, traumatic brain injury (TBI, and ischemic brain injury (IBI. These CNS injuries are not only serious health problems, but also enormous economic burden on the patients, their families, and the society at large. Studies from animal models of these CNS injuries provide insights into the multiple neuroprotective mechanisms of E2 and also suggest the possibility of translating the therapeutic efficacy of E2 in the treatment SCI, TBI, and IBI in humans in the near future. The pathophysiology of these injuries includes loss of motor function in the limbs, arms and their extremities, cognitive deficit, and many other serious consequences including life-threatening paralysis, infection, and even death. The potential application of E2 therapy to treat the CNS injuries may become a trend as the results are showing significant therapeutic benefits of E2 for neuroprotection when administered into the animal models of SCI, TBI, and IBI. This article describes the plausible mechanisms how E2 works with or without the involvement of estrogen receptors and provides an overview of the known neuroprotective effects of E2 in these three CNS injuries in different animal models. Because activation of estrogen receptors has profound implications in maintaining and also affecting normal physiology, there are notable impediments in translating E2 therapy to the clinics for neuroprotection in CNS injuries in humans. While E2 may not yet be the sole molecule for

Gene Expression Data from the Moon Jelly, Aurelia, Provide Insights into the Evolution of the Combinatorial Code Controlling Animal Sense Organ Development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagayasu Nakanishi

Full Text Available In Bilateria, Pax6, Six, Eya and Dach families of transcription factors underlie the development and evolution of morphologically and phyletically distinct eyes, including the compound eyes in Drosophila and the camera-type eyes in vertebrates, indicating that bilaterian eyes evolved under the strong influence of ancestral developmental gene regulation. However the conservation in eye developmental genetics deeper in the Eumetazoa, and the origin of the conserved gene regulatory apparatus controlling eye development remain unclear due to limited comparative developmental data from Cnidaria. Here we show in the eye-bearing scyphozoan cnidarian Aurelia that the ectodermal photosensory domain of the developing medusa sensory structure known as the rhopalium expresses sine oculis (so/six1/2 and eyes absent/eya, but not optix/six3/6 or pax (A&B. In addition, the so and eya co-expression domain encompasses the region of active cell proliferation, neurogenesis, and mechanoreceptor development in rhopalia. Consistent with the role of so and eya in rhopalial development, developmental transcriptome data across Aurelia life cycle stages show upregulation of so and eya, but not optix or pax (A&B, during medusa formation. Moreover, pax6 and dach are absent in the Aurelia genome, and thus are not required for eye development in Aurelia. Our data are consistent with so and eya, but not optix, pax or dach, having conserved functions in sensory structure specification across Eumetazoa. The lability of developmental components including Pax genes relative to so-eya is consistent with a model of sense organ development and evolution that involved the lineage specific modification of a combinatorial code that specifies animal sense organs.

The CCK(-like) receptor in the animal kingdom: functions, evolution and structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Staljanssens, Dorien; Azari, Elnaz Karimian; Christiaens, Olivier; Beaufays, Jérôme; Lins, Laurence; Van Camp, John; Smagghe, Guy

2011-03-01

In this review, the cholecystokinin (CCK)(-like) receptors throughout the animal kingdom are compared on the level of physiological functions, evolutionary basis and molecular structure. In vertebrates, the CCK receptor is an important member of the G-protein coupled receptors as it is involved in the regulation of many physiological functions like satiety, gastrointestinal motility, gastric acid secretion, gall bladder contraction, pancreatic secretion, panic, anxiety and memory and learning processes. A homolog for this receptor is also found in nematodes and arthropods, called CK receptor and sulfakinin (SK) receptor, respectively. These receptors seem to have evolved from a common ancestor which is probably still closely related to the nematode CK receptor. The SK receptor is more closely related to the CCK receptor and seems to have similar functions. A molecular 3D-model for the CCK receptor type 1 has been built together with the docking of the natural ligands for the CCK and SK receptors in the CCK receptor type 1. These molecular models can help to study ligand-receptor interactions, that can in turn be useful in the development of new CCK(-like) receptor agonists and antagonists with beneficial health effects in humans or potential for pest control. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global impact of Torque teno virus infection in wild and domesticated animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzin, Aldo; Mallus, Francesca; Macera, Lisa; Maggi, Fabrizio; Blois, Sylvain

2015-07-04

Infection with Torque teno viruses (TTVs) is not restricted to humans. Different domestic and wild animal species are naturally infected with species-specific TTVs worldwide. Due to the global spread of the infection, it is likely that essentially all animals are naturally infected with species-specific TTVs, and that co-evolution of TTVs with their hosts probably occurred. Although TTVs are potentially related to many diseases, the evidence of the widespread infection in healthy human and nonhuman hosts raised doubts about their pathogenic potential. Nonetheless, their role as superimposed agents of other diseases or as triggers for impairment of immune surveillance is currently under debate. The possible contribution of animal TT viruses to interspecies transmission and their role as zoonotic agents are currently topics of discussion.

Effect of four processed animal proteins in the diet on digestibility and performance in laying hens.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krimpen, van M.M.; Veldkamp, T.; Binnendijk, G.P.; Veer, de R.

2010-01-01

An experiment was performed to investigate the effect of animal vs. vegetable protein sources in the diet of laying hens on the development of hen performance. A diet containing protein sources of only vegetable origin was compared with 4 diets, each containing 1 of 4 processed animal proteins

AMYGDALIN AND ITS EFFECTS ON ANIMAL CELLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marek Halenár

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Amygdalin is a natural compound whose anticancer, anti-inflammatory activity and other medicinal benefits have been known for many years. It has been isolated in 1830 by the French chemists Robiquet and Boutron-Charlard from kernels of the bitter almond (Prunus amygdalus. It is a major component of the seeds of prunasin family plants, such as apricots, almonds, peaches, apples, and other rosaceous plants. Amygdalin is composed of two molecules of glucose, one of benzaldehyde, which induces an analgesic action, and one of hydrocyanic acid, which is an anti-neoplastic compound. It has been used as a traditional drug because of its wide range of medicinal benefits. Amygdalin can be used in medicine for preventing and treating migraine, hypertension, chronic inflammation, and other reaction source diseases. This review is focused on the effects of amygdalin on the animal system.

Bioethical Problems: Animal Welfare, Animal Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

March, B. E.

1984-01-01

Discusses various bioethical issues and problems related to animal welfare and animal rights. Areas examined include: Aristotelian views; animal welfare legislation; Darwin and evolutionary theory; animal and human behavior; and vegetarianism. A 14-point universal declaration of the rights of animals is included. (JN)

Abrupt deceleration of molecular evolution linked to the origin of arborescence in ferns.

Science.gov (United States)

Korall, Petra; Schuettpelz, Eric; Pryer, Kathleen M

2010-09-01

Molecular rate heterogeneity, whereby rates of molecular evolution vary among groups of organisms, is a well-documented phenomenon. Nonetheless, its causes are poorly understood. For animals, generation time is frequently cited because longer-lived species tend to have slower rates of molecular evolution than their shorter-lived counterparts. Although a similar pattern has been uncovered in flowering plants, using proxies such as growth form, the underlying process has remained elusive. Here, we find a deceleration of molecular evolutionary rate to be coupled with the origin of arborescence in ferns. Phylogenetic branch lengths within the “tree fern” clade are considerably shorter than those of closely related lineages, and our analyses demonstrate that this is due to a significant difference in molecular evolutionary rate. Reconstructions reveal that an abrupt rate deceleration coincided with the evolution of the long-lived tree-like habit at the base of the tree fern clade. This suggests that a generation time effect may well be ubiquitous across the green tree of life, and that the search for a responsible mechanism must focus on characteristics shared by all vascular plants. Discriminating among the possibilities will require contributions from various biological disciplines,but will be necessary for a full appreciation of molecular evolution.

Animal-free toxicology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Lisbeth E

2013-01-01

Human data on exposure and adverse effects are the most appropriate for human risk assessment, and modern toxicology focuses on human pathway analysis and the development of human biomarkers. Human biomonitoring and human placental transport studies provide necessary information for human risk...... assessment, in accordance with the legislation on chemical, medicine and food safety. Toxicology studies based on human mechanistic and exposure information can replace animal studies. These animal-free approaches can be further supplemented by new in silico methods and chemical structure......-activity relationships. The inclusion of replacement expertise in the international Three Rs centres, the ongoing exploration of alternatives to animal research, and the improvement of conditions for research animals, all imply the beginning of a paradigm shift in toxicology research toward the use of human data....

Animal toxicology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amdur, M.

1996-12-31

The chapter evaluates results of toxicological studies on experimental animals to investigate health effects of air pollutants and examines the animal data have predicted the response to human subject. Data are presented on the comparative toxicity of sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid. The animal data obtained by measurement of airway resistance in guinea pigs and of bronchial clearance of particles in donkeys predicted clearly that sulfuric acid was more irritant than sulfur dioxide. Data obtained on human subjects confirmed this prediction. These acute studies also correctly predicted the comparative toxicity of the two compounds in two year studies of monkeys. Such chronic studies are not possible in human subjects but it is a reasonable to assume that sulfuric acid would be more toxic than sulfur dioxide. Current findings in epidemiological studies certainly support this assumption.

Evolution of Planetary Ice-Ocean Systems: Effects of Salinity

Science.gov (United States)

Allu Peddinti, D.; McNamara, A. K.

2015-12-01

Planetary oceanography is enjoying renewed attention thanks to not only the detection of several exoplanetary ocean worlds but also due to the expanding family of ocean worlds within our own star system. Our solar system is now believed to host about nine ocean worlds including Earth, some dwarf planets and few moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Amongst them, Europa, like Earth is thought to have an ice Ih-liquid water system. However, the thickness of the Europan ice-ocean system is much larger than that of the Earth. The evolution of this system would determine the individual thicknesses of the ice shell and the ocean. In turn, these thicknesses can alter the course of evolution of the system. In a pure H2O system, the thickness of the ice shell would govern if heat loss occurs entirely by conduction or if the shell begins to convect as it attains a threshold thickness. This switch between conduction-convection regimes could determine the longevity of the subsurface ocean and hence define the astrobiological potential of the planetary body at any given time. In reality, however, the system is not pure water ice. The detected induced magnetic field infers a saline ocean layer. Salts are expected to act as an anti-freeze allowing a subsurface ocean to persist over long periods but the amount of salts would determine the extent of that effect. In our current study, we use geodynamic models to examine the effect of salinity on the evolution of ice-ocean system. An initial ocean with different salinities is allowed to evolve. The effect of salinity on thickness of the two layers at any time is examined. We also track how salinity controls the switch between conductive-convective modes. The study shows that for a given time period, larger salinities can maintain a thick vigorously convecting ocean while the smaller salinities behave similar to a pure H2O system leading to a thick convecting ice-shell. A range of salinities identified can potentially predict the current state

Finite element simulation of texture evolution and Swift effect in NiAl under torsion

Science.gov (United States)

Böhlke, Thomas; Glüge, Rainer; Klöden, Burghardt; Skrotzki, Werner; Bertram, Albrecht

2007-09-01

The texture evolution and the Swift effect in NiAl under torsion at 727 °C are studied by finite element simulations for two different initial textures. The material behaviour is modelled by an elastic-viscoplastic Taylor model. In order to overcome the well-known shortcomings of Taylor's approach, the texture evolution is also investigated by a representative volume element (RVE) with periodic boundary conditions and a compatible microstructure at the opposite faces of the RVE. Such a representative volume element takes into account the grain morphology and the grain interaction. The numerical results are compared with experimental data. It is shown that the modelling of a finite element based RVE leads to a better prediction of the final textures. However, the texture evolution path is not accounted for correctly. The simulated Swift effect depends much more on the initial orientation distribution than observed in experiment. Deviations between simulation and experiment may be due to continuous dynamic recrystallization.

The effects of extrinsic stress on somatic markers and behavior are dependent on animal housing conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huzard, Damien; Mumby, Dave G; Sandi, Carmen; Poirier, Guillaume L; van der Kooij, Michael A

2015-11-01

Properties of the environment play an important role in animal wellbeing and may modulate the effects of external threats. Whereas stressors can affect emotion and impair cognition, environmental enrichment may prevent the occurrence of such negative sequelae. Animals exposed to semi-natural group-housing experience a complex environment; whereas environmental enrichment might protect against stressors, a socially-enriched environment(SEE) could entail aggressive inter-male encounters with additive stress effects. In the present study, we investigated the effects of exposure to external stressors, footshocks and forced swimming, on adrenal gland and body weights as well as on behavior in rats housed under SEE or standard, non-enriched environment (NEE), conditions. We found that SEEs reduced the anxiogenic effects of stress. Moreover, SEEs improved the performance in an operant task and prevented the increase in impulsive behavior produced by external stressors on NEE animals. Whereas these findings are indicative of stress-buffering effects of SEEs, adrenal gland weights were increased while total body weights were decreased in SEE rats, suggesting that SEEs may simultaneously exacerbate physiological measurements of stress. Finally, in the SEE, total aggressive behaviors and body wounds were paradoxically reduced in animals that received external stressors in comparison to non-stressed controls. The consequences of the external stressors applied here are not uniform, varying according to the housing condition and the outcome considered. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Histological evolution of the regenerate during bone transport: an experimental study in sheep.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Pliego, Esperanza Macarena; Giráldez-Sánchez, Miguel Ángel; Mora-Macías, Juan; Reina-Romo, Esther; Domínguez, Jaime

2016-09-01

Bone transport (BT) for segmentary bone defects is a well-known technique as it enables correction with new bone formation, which is similar to the previous bone. Despite the high number of experimental studies of distraction osteogenesis in bone lengthening, the types of ossification and histological changes that occur in the regenerate of the bone transport process remain controversial. The aim of this study is to provide the complete evolution of tissues and the types of ossification in the regenerate during the different phases of bone formation after BT until the end of the remodelling period. A histological study was performed using ten adult sheep that were submitted to BT. The types of ossification as well as the evolution of different tissues in the regenerate were determined using histomorphometry and inmunohistochemical studies. The evolution of trabeculae thickness, osteoblast and osteoclast densities, relationship between collagen types and changes in vascularization were also studied. Ossification was primarily intramembranous, with some focus of endochondral ossification in isolated animals. The cell counts showed a progression of cellular activity from the periphery to the centre, presenting the same progression as the growth of bone trabeculae, whose trabeculae thickness was quadrupled at the end of remodelling. Inmunohistochemical studies confirmed the prevalence of type I collagen and the ratio of the Type I/Type II collagen ratio was found to be 2.48. The percentages of the vascularized areas were proximally higher than distally in all animals, but distal zone obtained higher rates than the central region. Bone transport regenerate exhibits a centripetal ossification model and a mixed pattern with predominance of intramembranous over endochondral ossification. The data obtained resemble partially to those found in models of bone lengthening applied to large animals. This study provides a detailed structural characterization of the newly formed

Behavioral effects of acclimatization to restraint protocol used for awake animal imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Michael D; Pira, Ashley S; Febo, Marcelo

2013-07-15

Functional MRI in awake rats involves acclimatization to restraint to minimize motion. We designed a study to examine the effects of an acclimatization protocol (5 days of restraint, 60 min per day) on the emission of 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations and performance in a forced swim test (FST). Our results showed that USV calls are reduced significantly by days 3, 4 and 5 of acclimatization. Although the rats showed less climbing activity (and more immobility) in FST on day 5 compared to the 1st day of restraint acclimatization, the difference was not detected once the animals were given a 2-week hiatus. Overall, we showed that animals adapt to the restraint over a five-day period; however, restraint may introduce confounding behavioral outcomes that may hinder the interpretation of results derived from awake rat imaging. The present data warrants further testing of the effects of MRI restraint on behavior. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Animal-Assisted Activities: Effects of Animals on Positive Emotional Display in Children in Inclusion Classrooms

OpenAIRE

Mazgaonkar, Gayatri

2017-01-01

Animals are commonly present in classrooms and may be an important tool in enhancing children’s experiences, especially in inclusion classrooms that provide integrative learning for both typically developing children and children with special needs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of animal-assisted activities on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well was typically developing (TD) children in inclusion classrooms. Ninety-nine children from 15 inclus...

Evolution of the violin: The law of effect in action.

Science.gov (United States)

Wasserman, Edward A; Cullen, Patrick

2016-01-01

As is true for most other human inventions, the origin of the violin is unknown. What is known is that this popular and versatile instrument has notably changed over the course of several hundred years. At issue is whether those evolutionary changes in the construction of the violin are the result of premeditated, intelligent design or whether they arose through a trial-and-error process. Recent scientific evidence favors the latter account. Our perspective piece puts these recent empirical findings into a comprehensive selectionist framework. According to this view, the many things we do and make--like violins--arise from a process of variation and selection which accords with the law of effect. Contrary to popular opinion, there is neither mystique nor romance in this process; it is as fundamental and ubiquitous as the law of natural selection. As with the law of natural selection in the evolution of organisms, there is staunch resistance to the role of the law of effect in the evolution of human inventions. We conclude our piece by considering several objections to our perspective. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The effectiveness of 3D animations to enhance understanding of cranial cruciate ligament rupture.

Science.gov (United States)

Clements, Dylan N; Broadhurst, Henry; Clarke, Stephen P; Farrell, Michael; Bennett, David; Mosley, John R; Mellanby, Richard J

2013-01-01

Cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture is one of the most important orthopedic diseases taught to veterinary undergraduates. The complexity of the anatomy of the canine stifle joint combined with the plethora of different surgical interventions available for the treatment of the disease means that undergraduate veterinary students often have a poor understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of CCL rupture. We designed, developed, and tested a three dimensional (3D) animation to illustrate the pertinent clinical anatomy of the stifle joint, the effects of CCL rupture, and the mechanisms by which different surgical techniques can stabilize the joint with CCL rupture. When compared with a non-animated 3D presentation, students' short-term retention of functional anatomy improved although they could not impart a better explanation of how different surgical techniques worked. More students found the animation useful than those who viewed a comparable non-animated 3D presentation. Multiple peer-review testing is required to maximize the usefulness of 3D animations during development. Free and open access to such tools should improve student learning and client understanding through wide-spread uptake and use.

Combined effect of incorporated 90Sr, alcohol, and tobacco smokes on reproduction of warm-blooded animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mashneva, N.I.

1987-01-01

Combined effect of incorporated 90 Sr, ethanol, tobacco smokes on reproduction of warm-blooded animals is studied. It is shown that chronic intake of strontium 90, ethanol and tobacco smokes suppresses the reproduction of animals. But difficulty of obtained data extrapolation to a human being is not a sufficient ground for revising existing hygienic standards for persons being in contact with ionizing radiation and habitual to alcohol and smoking. Nevertheless, they permit to set a problem on negative effect of such habits

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC CROP AND ANIMAL FARMS IN ROMANIA. COMPARATIVE EVOLUTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra MUSCĂNESCU

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The organic sector in our country, although as shown in continuous development, faces a multitude of problems: the climatic conditions of our country, characterized by periods of drought in many parts of the country, high input prices, the majority of which are imported; difficulties in identifying markets for products, reduced subsidies, standardized conditions difficult to meet, etc. The problems the sector is facing reflect in the organization of the production activity and hence the economic performance of farm production. Accordingly, the aim of this paper was to analyze on the basis of annual financial and accounting information collected in the two vegetable farms and the two animal breeding farms, their efficiency / inefficiency, and the results were compared to identify the causes of the differences obtained in the efficiency at a farm level. The results obtained reveal a higher level of return on integrated vegetable farm in a joint recovery and a high efficiency for chain integrated animal farms.

Correlations in double parton distributions. Effects of evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diehl, Markus; Keane, Shane; Kasemets, Tomas; Vrije Univ., Amsterdam

2014-01-01

We numerically investigate the impact of scale evolution on double parton distributions, which are needed to compute multiple hard scattering processes. Assuming correlations between longitudinal and transverse variables or between the parton spins to be present at a low scale, we study how they are affected by evolution to higher scales, i.e. by repeated parton emission. We find that generically evolution tends to wash out correlations, but with a speed that may be slow or fast depending on kinematics and on the type of correlation. Nontrivial parton correlations may hence persist in double parton distributions at the high scales relevant for hard scattering processes.

Animal Health Ireland: providing national leadership and coordination of non-regulatory animal health issues in Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

More, S J; Doherty, M L; Downey, L; McKenzie, K; Devitt, C; O'Flaherty, J

2011-12-01

Livestock production plays an important role in the Irish economy. Regulatory animal health issues are the responsibility of government, but until recently there has been no national coordination of non-regulatory animal health issues. This gap has recently been filled with the establishment of Animal Health Ireland (AHI), a not-for-profit, partnership-based organisation providing national leadership and coordination of non-regulatory animal health issues in Ireland. Animal Health Ireland provides benefits to livestock producers and processors by providing the knowledge, education and coordination required to establish effective control strategies, both on-farm and nationally. This paper presents a brief overview of the context for AHI, and of its establishment and initial activities. Non-regulatory animal health issues have been prioritised. A series of work programmes (each focusing on a high-priority issue) have been established. Partnership is critical to success, both for AHI as an organisation and for effective farm-level transfer of knowledge. This model for national leadership and coordination of non-regulatory animal health issues may be of relevance elsewhere.

Evolution in linear sizes and the Faraday effects in radio sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anene, G.; Ugwoke, A.C.

2001-05-01

It is still a matter of conjecture whether the observed depolarization in radio sources originate from an external Faraday screen lying in our line of sight, or is largely due to internal processes occurring within these sources. This paper argues for an external origin. By applying recent evidences from the evolution of linear sizes while allowing for selection effects, it is shown that the density parameters within radio sources do not depend on redshift, implying that the observed depolarizations is epoch independent and may therefore, be largely external in origin. We also show that the observed low correlation between λ 1/2 and linear size(D) cannot be improved much even when allowance is made for evolution in D. (author)

Androgenic signaling systems and their role in behavioral evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuxjager, Matthew J; Schuppe, Eric R

2018-06-05

Sex steroids mediate the organization and activation of masculine reproductive phenotypes in diverse vertebrate taxa. However, the effects of sex steroid action in this context vary tremendously, in that steroid action influences reproductive physiology and behavior in markedly different ways (even among closely related species). This leads to the idea that the mechanisms underlying sex steroid action similarly differ across vertebrates in a manner that supports diversification of important sexual traits. Here, we highlight the Evolutionary Potential Hypothesis as a framework for understanding how androgen-dependent reproductive behavior evolves. This idea posits that the cellular mechanisms underlying androgenic action can independently evolve within a given target tissue to adjust the hormone's functional effects. The result is a seemingly endless number of permutations in androgenic signaling pathways that can be mapped onto the incredible diversity of reproductive phenotypes. One reason this hypothesis is important is because it shifts current thinking about the evolution of steroid-dependent traits away from an emphasis on circulating steroid levels and toward a focus on molecular mechanisms of hormone action. To this end, we also provide new empirical data suggesting that certain cellular modulators of androgen action-namely, the co-factors that dynamically adjust transcritpional effects of steroid action either up or down-are also substrates on which evolution can act. We then close the review with a detailed look at a case study in the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus). Work in this tropical bird shows how androgenic signaling systems are modified in specific parts of the skeletal muscle system to enhance motor performance necessary to produce acrobatic courtship displays. Altogether, this paper seeks to develop a platform to better understand how steroid action influences the evolution of complex animal behavior. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

3D Animation Essentials

CERN Document Server

Beane, Andy

2012-01-01

The essential fundamentals of 3D animation for aspiring 3D artists 3D is everywhere--video games, movie and television special effects, mobile devices, etc. Many aspiring artists and animators have grown up with 3D and computers, and naturally gravitate to this field as their area of interest. Bringing a blend of studio and classroom experience to offer you thorough coverage of the 3D animation industry, this must-have book shows you what it takes to create compelling and realistic 3D imagery. Serves as the first step to understanding the language of 3D and computer graphics (CG)Covers 3D anim

Without it no music: cognition, biology and evolution of musicality

Science.gov (United States)

Honing, Henkjan; ten Cate, Carel; Peretz, Isabelle; Trehub, Sandra E.

2015-01-01

Musicality can be defined as a natural, spontaneously developing trait based on and constrained by biology and cognition. Music, by contrast, can be defined as a social and cultural construct based on that very musicality. One critical challenge is to delineate the constituent elements of musicality. What biological and cognitive mechanisms are essential for perceiving, appreciating and making music? Progress in understanding the evolution of music cognition depends upon adequate characterization of the constituent mechanisms of musicality and the extent to which they are present in non-human species. We argue for the importance of identifying these mechanisms and delineating their functions and developmental course, as well as suggesting effective means of studying them in human and non-human animals. It is virtually impossible to underpin the evolutionary role of musicality as a whole, but a multicomponent perspective on musicality that emphasizes its constituent capacities, development and neural cognitive specificity is an excellent starting point for a research programme aimed at illuminating the origins and evolution of musical behaviour as an autonomous trait. PMID:25646511

Lightning safety of animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, Chandima

2012-11-01

This paper addresses a concurrent multidisciplinary problem: animal safety against lightning hazards. In regions where lightning is prevalent, either seasonally or throughout the year, a considerable number of wild, captive and tame animals are injured due to lightning generated effects. The paper discusses all possible injury mechanisms, focusing mainly on animals with commercial value. A large number of cases from several countries have been analyzed. Economically and practically viable engineering solutions are proposed to address the issues related to the lightning threats discussed.

Gender Effects When Learning Manipulative Tasks from Instructional Animations and Static Presentations

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Mona; Castro-Alonso, Juan C.; Ayres, Paul; Paas, Fred

2015-01-01

Humans have an evolved embodied cognition that equips them to deal easily with the natural movements of object manipulations. Hence, learning a manipulative task is generally more effective when watching animations that show natural motions of the task, rather than equivalent static pictures. The present study was completed to explore this…

Some pregnancy-related effects of artemether in laboratory animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ejiofor, Janet I; Kwanashie, Helen O; Anuka, Joseph A

2006-01-01

Artemether, highly effective in multi-drug-resistant malaria is not routinely available for use in pregnancy due to the lack of adequate research data in animals and man. This study was therefore aimed at investigating some pregnancy-related effects of artemether. Artemether (1.5, 7.5 and 15 mg/kg i.p. daily for 7 days) did not produce changes in rat oestrous cycle. The drug did not prevent or prolong the rate of conception or parturition, cause pre-term delivery and affect litter size. Birth weight and growth rate of pups from artemether-pretreated dams were within the normal range. Artemether (48-480 microg/ml) had no agonist effect on the isolated uterine smooth muscles of both non-pregnant and pregnant rats and guinea pigs. However, the drug (24- 240 microg/ml) reduced oxytocin-induced contraction of uterine tissues concentration-dependently, particularly in pregnant uteri. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Maternal effects and the evolution of brain size in birds: overlooked developmental constraints.

Science.gov (United States)

Garamszegi, L Z; Biard, C; Eens, M; Møller, A P; Saino, N; Surai, P

2007-01-01

A central dogma for the evolution of brain size posits that the maintenance of large brains incurs developmental costs, because they need prolonged periods to grow during the early ontogeny. Such constraints are supported by the interspecific relationship between ontological differences and relative brain size in birds and mammals. Given that mothers can strongly influence the development of the offspring via maternal effects that potentially involve substances essential for growing brains, we argue that such effects may represent an important but overlooked component of developmental constraints on brain size. To demonstrate the importance of maternal effect on the evolution of brains, we investigated the interspecific relationship between relative brain size and maternal effects, as reflected by yolk testosterone, carotenoids, and vitamins A and E in a phylogenetic study of birds. Females of species with relatively large brains invested more in eggs in terms of testosterone and vitamin E than females of species with small brains. The effects of carotenoid and vitamin A levels on the evolution of relative brain size were weaker and non-significant. The association between relative brain size and yolk testosterone was curvilinear, suggesting that very high testosterone levels can be suppressive. However, at least in moderate physiological ranges, the positive relationship between components of maternal effects and relative brain size may imply one aspect of developmental costs of large brains. The relationship between vitamin E and relative brain size was weakened when we controlled for developmental mode, and thus the effect of this antioxidant may be indirect. Testosterone-enhanced neurogenesis and vitamin E-mediated defence against oxidative stress may have key functions when the brain of the embryo develops, with evolutionary consequences for relative brain size.

Animal behaviour shapes the ecological effects of ocean acidification and warming: moving from individual to community-level responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagelkerken, Ivan; Munday, Philip L

2016-03-01

Biological communities are shaped by complex interactions between organisms and their environment as well as interactions with other species. Humans are rapidly changing the marine environment through increasing greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in ocean warming and acidification. The first response by animals to environmental change is predominantly through modification of their behaviour, which in turn affects species interactions and ecological processes. Yet, many climate change studies ignore animal behaviour. Furthermore, our current knowledge of how global change alters animal behaviour is mostly restricted to single species, life phases and stressors, leading to an incomplete view of how coinciding climate stressors can affect the ecological interactions that structure biological communities. Here, we first review studies on the effects of warming and acidification on the behaviour of marine animals. We demonstrate how pervasive the effects of global change are on a wide range of critical behaviours that determine the persistence of species and their success in ecological communities. We then evaluate several approaches to studying the ecological effects of warming and acidification, and identify knowledge gaps that need to be filled, to better understand how global change will affect marine populations and communities through altered animal behaviours. Our review provides a synthesis of the far-reaching consequences that behavioural changes could have for marine ecosystems in a rapidly changing environment. Without considering the pervasive effects of climate change on animal behaviour we will limit our ability to forecast the impacts of ocean change and provide insights that can aid management strategies. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cancer is an adaptation that selects in animals against energy dissipation.

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Anthonie W J

2017-07-01

As cancer usually follows reproduction, it is generally assumed that cancer does not select. Graham has however argued that juvenile cancer, which precedes reproduction, could during evolution have implemented a "cancer selection" that resulted in novel traits that suppress this juvenile cancer; an example is protection against UV sunlight-induced cancer, required for the emergence of terrestrial animals from the sea. We modify the cancer selection mechanism to the posited "cancer adaptation" mechanism, in which juvenile mortality is enhanced through the diminished care received by juveniles from their (grand) parents when these suffer from cancer in old age. Moreover, it is posited that the cancer adaptation selects against germline "dissipative genes", genes that result in enhanced free energy dissipation. Cancer's progression is interpreted as a cascade at increasing scale of repeated amplification of energy dissipation, a cascade involving heat shock, the Warburg effect, the cytokine IL-6, tumours, and hypermetabolism. Disturbance of any physiological process must enhance energy dissipation if the animal remains functioning normally, what explains multicausality, why "everything gives you cancer". The hypothesis thus comprises two newly invoked partial processes-diminished (grand) parental care and dissipation amplification-and results in a "selection against enhanced energy dissipation" which gives during evolution the benefit of energy conservation. Due to this benefit, cancer would essentially be an adaptation, and not a genetic disease, as assumed in the "somatic mutation theory". Cancer by somatic mutations is only a side process. The cancer adaptation hypothesis is substantiated by (1) cancer's extancy, (2) the failure of the somatic mutation theory, (3) cancer's initiation by a high temperature, (4) the interpretation of cancer's progression as a thermal process, and (5) the interpretation of tumours as organs that implement thermogenesis. The hypothesis

Constrained evolution in numerical relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Matthew William

The strongest potential source of gravitational radiation for current and future detectors is the merger of binary black holes. Full numerical simulation of such mergers can provide realistic signal predictions and enhance the probability of detection. Numerical simulation of the Einstein equations, however, is fraught with difficulty. Stability even in static test cases of single black holes has proven elusive. Common to unstable simulations is the growth of constraint violations. This work examines the effect of controlling the growth of constraint violations by solving the constraints periodically during a simulation, an approach called constrained evolution. The effects of constrained evolution are contrasted with the results of unconstrained evolution, evolution where the constraints are not solved during the course of a simulation. Two different formulations of the Einstein equations are examined: the standard ADM formulation and the generalized Frittelli-Reula formulation. In most cases constrained evolution vastly improves the stability of a simulation at minimal computational cost when compared with unconstrained evolution. However, in the more demanding test cases examined, constrained evolution fails to produce simulations with long-term stability in spite of producing improvements in simulation lifetime when compared with unconstrained evolution. Constrained evolution is also examined in conjunction with a wide variety of promising numerical techniques, including mesh refinement and overlapping Cartesian and spherical computational grids. Constrained evolution in boosted black hole spacetimes is investigated using overlapping grids. Constrained evolution proves to be central to the host of innovations required in carrying out such intensive simulations.

The evolution of postpairing male mate choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Nan; Servedio, Maria R; Lloyd, Huw; Sun, Yue-Hua

2017-06-01

An increasing number of empirical studies in animals have demonstrated male mate choice. However, little is known about the evolution of postpairing male choice, specifically which occurs by differential allocation of male parental care in response to female signals. We use a population genetic model to examine whether such postpairing male mate choice can evolve when males face a trade-off between parental care and extra-pair copulations (EPCs). Specifically, we assume that males allocate more effort to providing parental care when mated to preferred (signaling) females, but they are then unable to allocate additional effort to seek EPCs. We find that both male preference and female signaling can evolve in this situation, under certain conditions. First, this evolution requires a relatively large difference in parental investment between males mated to preferred versus nonpreferred females. Second, whether male choice and female signaling alleles become fixed in a population versus cycle in their frequencies depends on the additional fecundity benefits from EPCs that are gained by choosy males. Third, less costly female signals enable both signaling and choice alleles to evolve under more relaxed conditions. Our results also provide a new insight into the evolution of sexual conflict over parental care. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Priority effects are weakened by a short, but not long, history of sympatric evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Zee, Peter C; Fukami, Tadashi

2018-01-31

Priority effects, or the effects of species arrival history on local species abundances, have been documented in a range of taxa. However, factors determining the extent to which priority effects affect community assembly remain unclear. Using laboratory populations of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens , we examined whether shared evolutionary history affected the strength of priority effects. We hypothesized that sympatric evolution of populations belonging to the same guild would lead to niche differentiation, resulting in phenotypic complementarity that weakens priority effects. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that priority effects tended to be weaker in sympatrically evolved pairs of immigrating populations than in allopatrically evolved pairs. Furthermore, priority effects were weaker under higher phenotypic complementarity. However, these patterns were observed only in populations with a relatively short history of sympatric evolution, and disappeared when populations had evolved together for a long time. Together, our results suggest that the evolutionary history of organismal traits may dictate the strength of priority effects and, consequently, the extent of historical contingency in the assembly of ecological communities. © 2018 The Author(s).

Effects of the thermal environment on animal production in the tropics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertshaw, D.

1986-01-01

The problems of heat stress in animal production can be solved by an interdisciplinary approach whereby the engineer, animal scientist and animal physiologist can all interact. By understanding the principles associated with heat flow between an animal and its environment it is possible to predict the potential success of an animal production system. This review analyses the nature of the thermal environment and the way in which it can affect production. Methods for alleviating heat stress are also described. (author)

Applications of Animal Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Effects of Chronic Exercise on Emotionality in Rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Tharp, Gerald D.

The psychological effects of exercise training are difficult to study in humans, but analogous emotionality changes in animals can be studied using simple measurements employed in emergence and open-field tests. The basis of these tests is that animals that are more emotional are more fearful when placed in a novel situation and will exhibit less…

Synergistic effects of fire and elephants on arboreal animals in an African savanna.

Science.gov (United States)

Pringle, Robert M; Kimuyu, Duncan M; Sensenig, Ryan L; Palmer, Todd M; Riginos, Corinna; Veblen, Kari E; Young, Truman P

2015-11-01

Disturbance is a crucial determinant of animal abundance, distribution and community structure in many ecosystems, but the ways in which multiple disturbance types interact remain poorly understood. The effects of multiple-disturbance interactions can be additive, subadditive or super-additive (synergistic). Synergistic effects in particular can accelerate ecological change; thus, characterizing such synergies, the conditions under which they arise, and how long they persist has been identified as a major goal of ecology. We factorially manipulated two principal sources of disturbance in African savannas, fire and elephants, and measured their independent and interactive effects on the numerically dominant vertebrate (the arboreal gekkonid lizard Lygodactylus keniensis) and invertebrate (a guild of symbiotic Acacia ants) animal species in a semi-arid Kenyan savanna. Elephant exclusion alone (minus fire) had negligible effects on gecko density. Fire alone (minus elephants) had negligible effects on gecko density after 4 months, but increased gecko density twofold after 16 months, likely because the decay of fire-damaged woody biomass created refuges and nest sites for geckos. In the presence of elephants, fire increased gecko density nearly threefold within 4 months of the experimental burn; this occurred because fire increased the incidence of elephant damage to trees, which in turn improved microhabitat quality for geckos. However, this synergistic positive effect of fire and elephants attenuated over the ensuing year, such that only the main effect of fire was evident after 16 months. Fire also altered the structure of symbiotic plant-ant assemblages occupying the dominant tree species (Acacia drepanolobium); this influenced gecko habitat selection but did not explain the synergistic effect of fire and elephants. However, fire-driven shifts in plant-ant occupancy may have indirectly mediated this effect by increasing trees' susceptibility to elephant damage. Our

Antidepressive and anxiolytic effects of ayahuasca: a systematic literature review of animal and human studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Dos Santos, Rafael G; Osório, Flávia L; Crippa, José Alexandre S; Hallak, Jaime E C

2016-03-01

To conduct a systematic literature review of animal and human studies reporting anxiolytic or antidepressive effects of ayahuasca or some of its isolated alkaloids (dimethyltryptamine, harmine, tetrahydroharmine, and harmaline). Papers published until 3 April 2015 were retrieved from the PubMed, LILACS and SciELO databases following a comprehensive search strategy and using a predetermined set of criteria for article selection. Five hundred and fourteen studies were identified, of which 21 met the established criteria. Studies in animals have shown anxiolytic and antidepressive effects of ayahuasca, harmine, and harmaline, and experimental studies in humans and mental health assessments of experienced ayahuasca consumers also suggest that ayahuasca is associated with reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms. A pilot study reported rapid antidepressive effects of a single ayahuasca dose in six patients with recurrent depression. Considering the need for new drugs that produce fewer adverse effects and are more effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptomatology, the described effects of ayahuasca and its alkaloids should be further investigated.

Low-Resolution Vision-at the Hub of Eye Evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Dan-E; Bok, Michael J

2017-11-01

Simple roles for photoreception are likely to have preceded more demanding ones such as vision. The driving force behind this evolution is the improvement and elaboration of animal behaviors using photoreceptor input. Because the basic role for all senses aimed at the external world is to guide behavior, we argue here that understanding this "behavioral drive" is essential for unraveling the evolutionary past of the senses. Photoreception serves many different types of behavior, from simple shadow responses to visual communication. Based on minimum performance requirements for different types of tasks, photoreceptors have been argued to have evolved from non-directional receptors, via directional receptors, to low-resolution vision, and finally to high-resolution vision. Through this sequence, the performance requirements on the photoreceptors have gradually changed from broad to narrow angular sensitivity, from slow to fast response, and from low to high contrast sensitivity during the evolution from simple to more advanced and demanding behaviors. New behaviors would only evolve if their sensory performance requirements to some degree overlap with the requirements of already existing behaviors. This need for sensory "performance continuity" must have determined the order by which behaviors have evolved and thus been an important factor guiding animal evolution. Naturally, new behaviors are most likely to evolve from already existing behaviors with similar neural processing needs and similar motor responses, pointing to "neural continuity" as another guiding factor in sensory evolution. Here we use these principles to derive an evolutionary tree for behaviors driven by photoreceptor input. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Animal damage management handbook.

Science.gov (United States)

Hugh C. Black

1994-01-01

This handbook treats animal damage management (ADM) in the West in relation to forest, range, and recreation resources; predator management is not addressed. It provides a comprehensive reference of safe, effective, and practical methods for managing animal damage on National Forest System lands. Supporting information is included in references after each chapter and...

The evolution of teaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Fogarty, L; Strimling, P; Laland, K N

2011-10-01

Teaching, alongside imitation, is widely thought to underlie the success of humanity by allowing high-fidelity transmission of information, skills, and technology between individuals, facilitating both cumulative knowledge gain and normative culture. Yet, it remains a mystery why teaching should be widespread in human societies but extremely rare in other animals. We explore the evolution of teaching using simple genetic models in which a single tutor transmits adaptive information to a related pupil at a cost. Teaching is expected to evolve where its costs are outweighed by the inclusive fitness benefits that result from the tutor's relatives being more likely to acquire the valuable information. We find that teaching is not favored where the pupil can easily acquire the information on its own, or through copying others, or for difficult to learn traits, where teachers typically do not possess the information to pass on to relatives. This leads to a narrow range of traits for which teaching would be efficacious, which helps to explain the rarity of teaching in nature, its unusual distribution, and its highly specific nature. Further models that allow for cumulative cultural knowledge gain suggest that teaching evolved in humans because cumulative culture renders otherwise difficult-to-acquire valuable information available to teach. © 2011 The Author(s). Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Animal experimentation in forensic sciences: How far have we come?

Science.gov (United States)

Cattaneo, C; Maderna, E; Rendinelli, A; Gibelli, D

2015-09-01

In the third millennium where ethical, ethological and cultural evolution seem to be leading more and more towards an inter-species society, the issue of animal experimentation is a moral dilemma. Speaking from a self-interested human perspective, avoiding all animal testing where human disease and therapy are concerned may be very difficult or even impossible; such testing may not be so easily justifiable when suffering-or killing-of non human animals is inflicted for forensic research. In order to verify how forensic scientists are evolving in this ethical issue, we undertook a systematic review of the current literature. We investigated the frequency of animal experimentation in forensic studies in the past 15 years and trends in publication in the main forensic science journals. Types of species, lesions inflicted, manner of sedation or anesthesia and euthanasia were examined in a total of 404 articles reviewed, among which 279 (69.1%) concerned studies involving animals sacrificed exclusively for the sake of the experiment. Killing still frequently includes painful methods such as blunt trauma, electrocution, mechanical asphyxia, hypothermia, and even exsanguination; of all these animals, apparently only 60.8% were anesthetized. The most recent call for a severe reduction if not a total halt to the use of animals in forensic sciences was made by Bernard Knight in 1992. In fact the principle of reduction and replacement, frequently respected in clinical research, must be considered the basis for forensic science research needing animals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chewing on the trees: Constraints and adaptation in the evolution of the primate mandible.

Science.gov (United States)

Meloro, Carlo; Cáceres, Nilton Carlos; Carotenuto, Francesco; Sponchiado, Jonas; Melo, Geruza Leal; Passaro, Federico; Raia, Pasquale

2015-07-01

Chewing on different food types is a demanding biological function. The classic assumption in studying the shape of feeding apparatuses is that animals are what they eat, meaning that adaptation to different food items accounts for most of their interspecific variation. Yet, a growing body of evidence points against this concept. We use the primate mandible as a model structure to investigate the complex interplay among shape, size, diet, and phylogeny. We find a weak but significant impact of diet on mandible shape variation in primates as a whole but not in anthropoids and catarrhines as tested in isolation. These clades mainly exhibit allometric shape changes, which are unrelated to diet. Diet is an important factor in the diversification of strepsirrhines and platyrrhines and a phylogenetic signal is detected in all primate clades. Peaks in morphological disparity occur during the Oligocene (between 37 and 25 Ma) supporting the notion that an adaptive radiation characterized the evolution of South American monkeys. In all primate clades, the evolution of mandible size is faster than its shape pointing to a strong effect of allometry on ecomorphological diversification in this group. © 2015 The Author(s). Evolution © 2015 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Master of Puppets: An Animation-by-Demonstration Computer Puppetry Authoring Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Yaoyuan; Mousas, Christos

2018-03-01

This paper presents Master of Puppets (MOP), an animation-by-demonstration framework that allows users to control the motion of virtual characters (puppets) in real time. In the first step, the user is asked to perform the necessary actions that correspond to the character's motions. The user's actions are recorded, and a hidden Markov model is used to learn the temporal profile of the actions. During the runtime of the framework, the user controls the motions of the virtual character based on the specified activities. The advantage of the MOP framework is that it recognizes and follows the progress of the user's actions in real time. Based on the forward algorithm, the method predicts the evolution of the user's actions, which corresponds to the evolution of the character's motion. This method treats characters as puppets that can perform only one motion at a time. This means that combinations of motion segments (motion synthesis), as well as the interpolation of individual motion sequences, are not provided as functionalities. By implementing the framework and presenting several computer puppetry scenarios, its efficiency and flexibility in animating virtual characters is demonstrated.

The effect of proteins from animal source foods on heme iron bioavailability in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Pizarro, Fernando; Olivares, Manuel; Valenzuela, Carolina; Brito, Alex; Weinborn, Valerie; Flores, Sebastián; Arredondo, Miguel

2016-04-01

Forty-five women (35-45 year) were randomly assigned to three iron (Fe) absorption sub-studies, which measured the effects of dietary animal proteins on the absorption of heme Fe. Study 1 was focused on heme, red blood cell concentrate (RBCC), hemoglobin (Hb), RBCC+beef meat; study 2 on heme, heme+fish, chicken, and beef; and study 3 on heme and heme+purified animal protein (casein, collagen, albumin). Study 1: the bioavailability of heme Fe from Hb was similar to heme only (∼13.0%). RBCC (25.0%) and RBCC+beef (21.3%) were found to be increased 2- and 1.6-fold, respectively, when compared with heme alone (pProteins from animal source foods and their digestion products did not enhance heme Fe absorption. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Becoming Sheep, Becoming Animal..

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grum, Charlotte; Svabo, Connie

reading of a particular historical subject and to explore the messy constituents of the very categories of women and animals. In general she is occupied with how to animate and perform the intra-active entanglement of subjectivity and materiality.The “Becoming Sheep” project produced a variety of visual......-acting and becoming with the heath habitat, the other by-passing human and non-human animals, the changing weather and their fluctuating biological needs. She wanted to explore the discursive and material effects of a site specific human-nonhuman animal intra-action, to challenge the gendered and anthropocentric...... practice.Continuing explorations of how to undo authorship, activate multiple subject positions and animate the very resources through which we practice and continuously become, for this conference artist Charlotte Grum has invited Connie Svabo, Associate Professor in Performance-Design at Roskilde...

Environmental enrichment in farm, zoo, companion and experimental animals

OpenAIRE

Vučinić Marijana

2009-01-01

The paper deals with environmental enrichment for domestic animals at farms, animals in zoos, experimental animals and pet animals. Also, the paper defines and describes different strategies of environmental enrichment. Environmental enrichment is a simple and effective mean of prevention of boredom, behavioral disorders as well as an effective mean of improving animal welfare in farm, zoo, companion and experimental animals. Different items and materials may be used for environmental enrichm...

Effects of Phase Transformations and Dynamic Material Strength on Hydrodynamic Instability Evolution in Metals

Science.gov (United States)

Opie, Saul

Hydrodynamic phenomena such as the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instabilities can be described by exponential/linear growth of surface perturbations at a bimaterial interface when subjected to constant/impulsive acceleration. A challenge in designing systems to mitigate or exploit these effects is the lack of accurate material models at large dynamic strain rates and pressures. In particular, little stress-strain constitutive information at large strain rates and pressures is available for transient material phases formed at high pressures, and the continuum effect the phase transformation process has on the instability evolution. In this work, a phase-aware isotropic strength model is developed and partially validated with a novel RM-based instability experiment in addition to existing data from the literature. With the validated material model additional simulations are performed to provide insight into to the role that robust material constitutive behavior (e.g., pressure, temperature, rate dependence) has on RM instability and how RM instability experiments can be used to characterize and validated expected material behavior. For phase aware materials, particularly iron in this work, the simulations predict a strong dependence on the Atwood number that single phase materials do not have. At Atwood numbers close to unity, and pressures in the high pressure stability region, the high pressure phase dominates the RM evolution. However, at Atwood numbers close to negative one, the RM evolution is only weakly affected by the high-pressure phase even for shocks well above the phase transformation threshold. In addition to RM evolution this work looks at the closely related shock front perturbation evolution. Existing analytical models for isentropic processes in gases and liquids are modified for metal equation of states and plastic behavior for the first time. It is found that the presence of a volume collapsing phase transformation with increased

Contribution to the WWER-440 Gd-assembly evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cudrnak, P.; Darilek, P.; Necas, V.

2009-01-01

Development activities, presented in the paper, contribute to the evolution of gadolinium fuel for the WWER-440 reactors. Short overview of existing and already proposed Gd-assemblies is given. Two new assembly types with improved features are described. Multiplication coefficients and pin power peaking factors of all mentioned gadolinium assemblies are compared. Animations of power distribution behaviour in selected Gd-assemblies are shown. (Authors)

Using the ferret as an animal model for investigating influenza antiviral effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ding Yuan Oh

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The concern of the emergence of a pandemic influenza virus has sparked an increased effort towards the development and testing of novel influenza antivirals. Central to this is the animal model of influenza infection, which has played an important role in understanding treatment effectiveness and the effect of antivirals on host immune responses. Among the different animal models of influenza, ferrets can be considered the most suitable for antiviral studies as they display most of the human-like symptoms following influenza infections, they can be infected with human influenza virus without prior viral adaptation and have the ability to transmit influenza virus efficiently between one another. However, an accurate assessment of the effectiveness of an antiviral treatment in ferrets is dependent on three major experimental considerations encompassing firstly, the volume and titre of virus, and the route of viral inoculation. Secondly, the route and dose of drug administration, and lastly, the different methods used to assess clinical symptoms, viral shedding kinetics and host immune responses in the ferrets. A good understanding of these areas is necessary to achieve data that can accurately inform the human use of influenza antivirals. In this review, we discuss the current progress and the challenges faced in these three major areas when using the ferret model to measure influenza antiviral effectiveness.

An Investigation of the Effects of Different Types of Activities during Pauses in a Segmented Instructional Animation

Science.gov (United States)

Cheon, Jongpil; Chung, Sungwon; Crooks, Steven M.; Song, Jaeki; Kim, Jeakyeong

2014-01-01

Since the complex and transient information in instructional animations requires more cognitive resources, the segmenting principle has been proposed to reduce cognitive overload by providing smaller chunks with pauses between segments. This study examined the effects of different types of activities during pauses in a segmented animation. Four…

Evaluation of Religious Animations in the IRIB

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nematoallah Moussa Pour

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Religious education has an elevated status and a great value in Iranian religious society. Using different methods and instruments to realize this goal has been always considered by those involved in education. At the present time, television is an effective means for communicating with social groups. One of those groups is children who can be exposed to messages by animations. The effectiveness of animation is a function of the manner in which it has been produced. Therefore, we can ask whether psychological principles have been observed in the production of religious animations for children. This article, written for evaluating religious animations used in the television, aims at identifying sixteen principles governing the production of animations for children. To do this, the authors referred to authentic sources in psychology and media studies after gathering data and composing them, managed to identify the principles governing the production of animation. The numbers of these principles have been applied to the production of animations, a checklist was prepared and the data were extracted from analyzing two religious animations, two domestic non-religious animations and two foreign non-religious animations. Non-religious animations were analyzed to make possible the suggested that the producers of religious animations pay special attention to do this point.

The evolution of ethylene signaling in plant chemical ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Groen, Simon C; Whiteman, Noah K

2014-07-01

Ethylene is a key hormone in plant development, mediating plant responses to abiotic environmental stress, and interactions with attackers and mutualists. Here, we provide a synthesis of the role of ethylene in the context of plant ecology and evolution, and a prospectus for future research in this area. We focus on the regulatory function of ethylene in multi-organismal interactions. In general, plant interactions with different types of organisms lead to reduced or enhanced levels of ethylene. This in turn affects not only the plant's response to the interacting organism at hand, but also to other organisms in the community. These community-level effects become observable as enhanced or diminished relationships with future commensals, and systemic resistance or susceptibility to secondary attackers. Ongoing comparative genomic and phenotypic analyses continue to shed light on these interactions. These studies have revealed that plants and interacting organisms from separate kingdoms of life have independently evolved the ability to produce, perceive, and respond to ethylene. This signature of convergent evolution of ethylene signaling at the phenotypic level highlights the central role ethylene metabolism and signaling plays in plant interactions with microbes and animals.

Deposition, translocation and effects of transuranic particles inhaled by experimental animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craig, D.K.; Ballou, J.E.; Dagle, G.E.; Mahlum, D.D.; Park, J.F.; Sanders, C.L.; Sikov, M.R.; Stuart, B.O.

1977-01-01

Inhalation exposure constitutes the most likely route of entrance for transuranics into the body. Cancer is the most likely consequence of exposure, but several thousand workers have been exposed during the last 30 yrs without, so far, evidence of exposure-related effects. Several soluble and insoluble transuranic compounds have been studied in rodents and dogs, either alone or combined with exposure to other materials (e.g., PuO/sub 2/--UO/sub 2/ fuel and Na). These studies have provided a wide variety of spatial and temporal dose distribution patterns in the lung. The distribution and total initial deposition in the respiratory tract is a function of the physical characteristics of the inhaled aerosols (size distribution, shape, hygroscopicity) and of the morphology and physiology of the animal. Translocation rates, organ and tissue distribution and excretion in urine and feces, are a function of the physicochemical characteristics of the deposited material (solubility, specific activity, chemical compound, etc.). Differences in rate of translocation of the solubilized material, primarily to the liver and bone, determines the radiation dose to the various tissues involved. Insoluble particles of plutonium dioxide are transferred to the thoracic lymph nodes, which may be functionally destroyed as a consequence. Radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis are the main causes of death in animals with cumulative radiation doses to the lung of a few thousand rads. The most significant long-term effect of inhaled transuranic compounds in animals is the development of lung and bone tumors. The main type of lung tumor in both dog and rat is the bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (adenocarcinoma). However, tumor type is a function of radiation dose and dose-distribution at high doses. Bone ranks next to lung as the tissue developing the most tumors following inhalation of transuranics

Deposition, translocation, and effects of transuranic particles inhaled by experimental animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craig, D.K.; Ballou, J.E.; Dagle, G.E.; Mahlum, D.D.; Park, J.F.; Sanders, C.L.; Sikov, M.R.; Stuart, B.O.

1977-01-01

Inhalation exposure constitutes the most likely route of entrance for transuranics into the body. Cancer is the most likely consequence of exposure, but several thousand workers have been exposed during the last 30 yrs without, so far, evidence of exposure-related effects. Several soluble and insoluble transuranic compounds have been studied in rodents and dogs, either alone or combined with exposure to other materials (e.g., PuO 2 --UO 2 fuel and Na). These studies have provided a wide variety of spatial and temporal dose distribution patterns in the lung. The distribution and total initial deposition in the respiratory tract is a function of the physical characteristics of the inhaled aerosols (size distribution, shape, hygroscopicity) and of the morphology and physiology of the animal. Translocation rates, organ and tissue distribution and excretion in urine and feces, are a function of the physicochemical characteristics of the deposited material (solubility, specific activity, chemical compound, etc.). Differences in rate of translocation of the solubilized material, primarily to the liver and bone, determines the radiation dose to the various tissues involved. Insoluble particles of plutonium dioxide are transferred to the thoracic lymph nodes, which may be functionally destroyed as a consequence. Radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis are the main causes of death in animals with cumulative radiation doses to the lung of a few thousand rads. The most significant long-term effect of inhaled transuranic compounds in animals is the development of lung and bone tumors. The main type of lung tumor in both dog and rat is the bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (adenocarcinoma). However, tumor type is a function of radiation dose and dose-distribution at high doses. Bone ranks next to lung as the tissue developing the most tumors following inhalation of transuranics

Does rapid evolution matter? Measuring the rate of contemporary evolution and its impacts on ecological dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellner, Stephen P; Geber, Monica A; Hairston, Nelson G

2011-06-01

Rapid contemporary evolution due to natural selection is common in the wild, but it remains uncertain whether its effects are an essential component of community and ecosystem structure and function. Previously we showed how to partition change in a population, community or ecosystem property into contributions from environmental and trait change, when trait change is entirely caused by evolution (Hairston et al. 2005). However, when substantial non-heritable trait change occurs (e.g. due to phenotypic plasticity or change in population structure) that approach can mis-estimate both contributions. Here, we demonstrate how to disentangle ecological impacts of evolution vs. non-heritable trait change by combining our previous approach with the Price Equation. This yields a three-way partitioning into effects of evolution, non-heritable phenotypic change and environment. We extend the approach to cases where ecological consequences of trait change are mediated through interspecific interactions. We analyse empirical examples involving fish, birds and zooplankton, finding that the proportional contribution of rapid evolution varies widely (even among different ecological properties affected by the same trait), and that rapid evolution can be important when it acts to oppose and mitigate phenotypic effects of environmental change. Paradoxically, rapid evolution may be most important when it is least evident. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Bony cranial ornamentation linked to rapid evolution of gigantic theropod dinosaurs

Science.gov (United States)

Gates, Terry A.; Organ, Chris; Zanno, Lindsay E.

2016-09-01

Exaggerated cranial structures such as crests and horns, hereafter referred to collectively as ornaments, are pervasive across animal species. These structures perform vital roles in visual communication and physical interactions within and between species. Yet the origin and influence of ornamentation on speciation and ecology across macroevolutionary time scales remains poorly understood for virtually all animals. Here, we explore correlative evolution of osseous cranial ornaments with large body size in theropod dinosaurs using a phylogenetic comparative framework. We find that body size evolved directionally toward phyletic giantism an order of magnitude faster in theropod species possessing ornaments compared with unadorned lineages. In addition, we find a body mass threshold below which bony cranial ornaments do not originate. Maniraptoriform dinosaurs generally lack osseous cranial ornaments despite repeatedly crossing this body size threshold. Our study provides novel, quantitative support for a shift in selective pressures on socio-sexual display mechanisms in theropods coincident with the evolution of pennaceous feathers.

Convergence of Domain Architecture, Structure, and Ligand Affinity in Animal and Plant RNA-Binding Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Raquel; Manny, Austin; Kolaczkowski, Oralia; Kolaczkowski, Bryan

2017-06-01

Reconstruction of ancestral protein sequences using phylogenetic methods is a powerful technique for directly examining the evolution of molecular function. Although ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) is itself very efficient, downstream functional, and structural studies necessary to characterize when and how changes in molecular function occurred are often costly and time-consuming, currently limiting ASR studies to examining a relatively small number of discrete functional shifts. As a result, we have very little direct information about how molecular function evolves across large protein families. Here we develop an approach combining ASR with structure and function prediction to efficiently examine the evolution of ligand affinity across a large family of double-stranded RNA binding proteins (DRBs) spanning animals and plants. We find that the characteristic domain architecture of DRBs-consisting of 2-3 tandem double-stranded RNA binding motifs (dsrms)-arose independently in early animal and plant lineages. The affinity with which individual dsrms bind double-stranded RNA appears to have increased and decreased often across both animal and plant phylogenies, primarily through convergent structural mechanisms involving RNA-contact residues within the β1-β2 loop and a small region of α2. These studies provide some of the first direct information about how protein function evolves across large gene families and suggest that changes in molecular function may occur often and unassociated with major phylogenetic events, such as gene or domain duplications. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Animal-assisted intervention in dementia: effects on quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordgren, Lena; Engström, Gabriella

2014-02-01

There is a need to develop nonpharmacological treatments and methods which can serve as alternatives or complements to medications in dementia care. Previous research indicates that animal-assisted intervention (AAI) can be beneficial. The purpose of the present pilot project was to evaluate effects of AAI on quality of life (QoL) in people with dementia in four Swedish nursing homes. A pretest/posttest research design was used. Twenty people (12 women, 8 men; aged 58 to 88) were included. Nine people completed the intervention which comprised 10 training sessions with a certified therapy dog team. QoL improved in the expected direction after the intervention (p = .035). Even though the effects of AAI may not be discernible over longer periods of time, there are still immediate effects which can promote better QoL for people living with dementia diseases.

[Animal experimentation, animal welfare and scientific research].

Science.gov (United States)

Tal, H

2013-10-01

Hundreds of thousands of laboratory animals are being used every year for scientific experiments held in Israel, mostly mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a few sheep, cattle, pigs, cats, dogs, and even a few dozen monkeys. In addition to the animals sacrificed to promote scientific research, millions of animals slain every year for other purposes such as meat and fine leather fashion industries. While opening a front against all is an impossible and perhaps an unjustified task, the state of Israel enacted the Animal Welfare (Animal Experimentation) Law (1994). The law aims to regulate scientific animal experiments and to find the appropriate balance between the need to continue to perform animal experiments for the advancement of research and medicine, and at the same time to avoid unnecessary trials and minimize animal suffering. Among other issues the law deals with the phylogenetic scale according to which experimental animals should be selected, experiments for teaching and practicing, and experiments for the cosmetic industry. This article discusses bioethics considerations in animal experiments as well as the criticism on the scientific validity of such experiments. It further deals with the vitality of animal studies and the moral and legal obligation to prevent suffering from laboratory animals.

Animal mdels for the study of the effects of spaceflight on the immune system

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnenfeld, G.

Animal models have been used extensively to study the effects of spaceflight on the immune system. The rat has been the animal used most extensively, but some studies have also been carried out utilizing mice and rhesus monkeys. Hindlimb unloading of rats and mice is a ground-based model that has been utilized to determine the effects of spaceflight-type conditions on the immune systems. The results using this model have shown that hindlimb unloading results in alterations of functional rodent immune responses, including cytokine production, blastogenesis of leukocytes, response of bone marrow cells to colony stimulating factors, neutrophil activity, and resistance to infection. Distribution of leukocyte subtypes was not affected by hindlimb unloading. Studies on rats flown in space have demonstrated that exposure to spaceflight results in alterations in cytokine production, alterations in the ability of bone marrow cells to respond to colony stimulating factors, alterations in leukocyte subset distribution, and alterations in natural killer cell function. When pregnant rats were flown in space, although the immune responses of the pregnant mothers were altered by exposure to spaceflight, no effects of spaceflight on the immune responses of the offspring were observed. In one study, rhesus monkeys were flown in space and their immune status was evaluated upon their return to earth. Results of that study showed alterations in the ability of monkey immune cells to produce cytokines, express cytokine receptors, and respond to colony stimulating factor. Therefore, it is clear that exposure to spaceflight results in alterations in immune responses of the test animals. These changes are similar to those observed for humans that have flown in space, and demonstrate that the animal models are appropriate for studying the effects of spaceflight on the immune system. Although use of the hindlimb unloading model on the ground has indicated that exposure to the model also

Bacteriophage therapy for safeguarding animal and human health: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwari, Ruchi; Dhama, Kuldeep; Kumar, Amit; Rahal, Anu; Kapoor, Sanjay

2014-02-01

Since the discovery of bacteriophages at the beginning of the 19th century their contribution to bacterial evolution and ecology and use in a variety of applications in biotechnology and medicine has been recognized and understood. Bacteriophages are natural bacterial killers, proven as best biocontrol agents due to their ability to lyse host bacterial cells specifically thereby helping in disease prevention and control. The requirement of such therapeutic approach is straight away required in view of the global emergence of Multidrug Resistant (MDR) strains of bacteria and rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics in both animals and humans along with increasing food safety concerns including of residual antibiotic toxicities. Phage typing is a popular tool to differentiate bacterial isolates and to identify and characterize outbreak-associated strains of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia and Listeria. Numerous methods viz. plaque morphology, ultracentrifugation in the density gradient of CsCl2, and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) have been found to be effective in detection of various phages. Bacteriophages have been isolated and recovered from samples of animal waste products of different livestock farms. High titer cocktails of broad spectrum lytic bacteriophages are usually used for clinical trial for assessing their therapeutic efficacy against antibiotic unresponsive infections in different animals. Bacteriophage therapy also helps to fight various bacterial infections of poultry viz. colibacillosis, salmonellosis and listeriosis. Moreover, the utility of phages concerning biosafety has raised the importance to explore and popularize the therapeutic dimension of this promising novel therapy which forms the topic of discussion of the present review.

The evolution of tail weaponization in amniotes.

Science.gov (United States)

Arbour, Victoria M; Zanno, Lindsay E

2018-01-31

Weaponry, for the purpose of intraspecific combat or predator defence, is one of the most widespread animal adaptations, yet the selective pressures and constraints governing its phenotypic diversity and skeletal regionalization are not well understood. Here, we investigate the evolution of tail weaponry in amniotes, a rare form of weaponry that nonetheless evolved independently among a broad spectrum of life including mammals, turtles and dinosaurs. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we test for links between morphology, ecology and behaviour in extant amniotes known to use the tail as a weapon, and in extinct taxa bearing osseous tail armaments. We find robust ecological and morphological correlates of both tail lashing behaviour and bony tail weaponry, including large body size, body armour and herbivory, suggesting these life-history parameters factor into the evolution of antipredator behaviours and tail armaments. We suggest that the evolution of tail weaponry is rare because large, armoured herbivores are uncommon in extant terrestrial faunas, as they have been throughout evolutionary history. © 2018 The Author(s).

Public outreach: (R)evolution by the lakeside

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

Why do the planets revolve around the Sun? Has genetic science shaken Darwin's theories to their foundations? Are viruses the champions of evolution? Is progress a form of tradition? On 8 and 9 July, Geneva's Science History Museum is inviting you to a Science Night on the theme of 'Evolution, revolution'. The Sixth Science Night will host some 60 stands and offer workshops for children, guided tours, exhibitions and shows. Anticipating the (r)evolutions from the LHC, CERN will also be taking part in the event. The future accelerator promises to deliver scientific advances and may even turn our understanding of the infinitesimally small on its head. However, the LHC has already led to technological breakthroughs. The Laboratory's stand will put a special emphasis on the part played by CERN in the computing revolution, from the Web to the Computing Grid. Computer animations will be used to explain these technologies which have spin-offs well beyond the field of particle physics that are of benefit to the whol...

Is there adaptation of the exocrine pancreas in wild animal? The case of the Roe Deer

OpenAIRE

Guilloteau, Paul; Vitari, Francesca; Meuth, Valérie Metzinger-Le; Le Normand, Laurence; Romé, Véronique; Savary, Gérard; Delaby, Luc; Domeneghini, Cinzia; Morisset, Jean

2012-01-01

Abstract Background Physiology of the exocrine pancreas has been well studied in domestic and in laboratory animals as well as in humans. However, it remains quite unknown in wildlife mammals. Roe deer and cattle (including calf) belong to different families but have a common ancestor. This work aimed to evaluate in the Roe deer, the adaptation to diet of the exocrine pancreatic functions and regulations related to animal evolution and domestication. Results Forty bovine were distributed into...

Cepheid evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, S.A.

1984-05-01

A review of the phases of stellar evolution relevant to Cepheid variables of both Types I and II is presented. Type I Cepheids arise as a result of normal post-main sequence evolutionary behavior of many stars in the intermediate to massive range of stellar masses. In contrast, Type II Cepheids generally originate from low-mass stars of low metalicity which are undergoing post core helium-burning evolution. Despite great progress in the past two decades, uncertainties still remain in such areas as how to best model convective overshoot, semiconvection, stellar atmospheres, rotation, and binary evolution as well as uncertainties in important physical parameters such as the nuclear reaction rates, opacity, and mass loss rates. The potential effect of these uncertainties on stellar evolution models is discussed. Finally, comparisons between theoretical predictions and observations of Cepheid variables are presented for a number of cases. The results of these comparisons show both areas of agreement and disagreement with the latter result providing incentive for further research

Cardiovascular Imaging: What Have We Learned From Animal Models?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnoldo eSantos

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Cardiovascular imaging has become an indispensable tool for patient diagnosis and follow up. Probably the wide clinical applications of imaging are due to the possibility of a detailed and high quality description and quantification of cardiovascular system structure and function. Also phenomena that involve complex physiological mechanisms and biochemical pathways, such as inflammation and ischemia, can be visualized in a nondestructive way. The widespread use and evolution of imaging would not have been possible without animal studies. Animal models have allowed for instance, i the technical development of different imaging tools, ii to test hypothesis generated from human studies and finally, iii to evaluate the translational relevance assessment of in vitro and ex-vivo results. In this review, we will critically describe the contribution of animal models to the use of biomedical imaging in cardiovascular medicine. We will discuss the characteristics of the most frequent models used in/for imaging studies. We will cover the major findings of animal studies focused in the cardiovascular use of the repeatedly used imaging techniques in clinical practice and experimental studies. We will also describe the physiological findings and/or learning processes for imaging applications coming from models of the most common cardiovascular diseases. In these diseases, imaging research using animals has allowed the study of aspects such as: ventricular size, shape, global function and wall thickening, local myocardial function, myocardial perfusion, metabolism and energetic assessment, infarct quantification, vascular lesion characterization, myocardial fiber structure, and myocardial calcium uptake. Finally we will discuss the limitations and future of imaging research with animal models.

Effect of PdS on Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution of Nanostructured CdS under Visible Light Irradiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingyun Chen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available To investigate the effect of PdS as a cocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, nanostructured PdS/CdS were prepared by an in situ coprecipitation and hydrothermal method, respectively. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD, UV-visible absorption spectra, and photoluminescence spectra (PL. With PdS highly dispersed in the CdS nanostructures, the photoactivity was evaluated by hydrogen evolution from aqueous solution containing Na2S/Na2SO3 as sacrificial reagents under visible light irradiation. When the concentration of PdS was 1% by weight, PdS/CdS, prepared by the in situ coprecipitation, showed the highest photocatalytic activity, while that prepared by hydrothermal method showed the most stability for hydrogen evolution. The effect of highly dispersed PdS on the photoactivity was discussed.

Correlated evolution of herbivory and food chemical discrimination in iguanian and ambush foraging lizards

OpenAIRE

William E. Cooper

2003-01-01

To efficiently locate and assess foods, animal sensory capacities and behavioral discriminations based on them must be appropriate for the diet and method of hunting. In lizards, actively foraging insectivores identify animal prey using lingually sampled chemical cues, but ambush foragers do not. Among plant eaters derived from active foragers, plant chemical discrimination is added to prey chemical discrimination, resulting in correlated evolution of plant diet and plant chemical discriminat...

The analgesic effect of tramadol in animal models of neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, Kumi; Umehara, Masato; Homan, Takashi; Okamoto, Ken; Oka, Michiko; Oyama, Tatsuya

2014-03-06

(±)-Tramadol hydrochloride (tramadol) is a widely used analgesic for the treatment of cancer pain and chronic pain. Although many animal studies have shown antinociceptive effects of tramadol in both acute and chronic pain, little is known about the effect of tramadol in putative animal models of fibromyalgia. In this study, we compared the antiallodynic effects of oral administration of tramadol in two kinds of rat chronic pain models, neuropathic pain induced by partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSL) and reserpine-induced myalgia (RIM). In PSL rats, the threshold for responses induced by tactile stimulation with von Frey filaments was significantly decreased seven days after the operation, suggesting that the operation induced tactile allodynia. Orally administered tramadol showed a potent and dose-dependent antiallodynic effect on PSL-induced allodynia. In RIM rats, the threshold was significantly decreased five days after reserpine treatment. Orally administered tramadol also attenuated reserpine-induced tactile allodynia. To explore the mechanism of the antiallodynic effect of tramadol in RIM rats, we investigated the effect of the opioid antagonist naloxone on the tramadol-induced analgesic effect in these rats. The effect of tramadol was partially antagonized by naloxone, suggesting that the opioid receptor is involved at least in part in the antiallodynic effect of tramadol in RIM rats. These data indicate that orally administered tramadol produced improvement in both PSL rats and RIM rats at similar doses and provide evidence that the opioid system is partly involved in the analgesic effect of tramadol in RIM rats. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate variability and the energetic pathways of evolution: the origin of endothermy in mammals and birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Portner, Hans O

2004-01-01

Large-scale climate oscillations in earth's history have influenced the directions of evolution, last but not least, through mass extinction events. This analysis tries to identify some unifying forces behind the course of evolution that favored an increase in organismic complexity and performance, paralleled by an increase in energy turnover, and finally led to endothermy. The analysis builds on the recent concept of oxygen-limited thermal tolerance and on the hypothesis that unifying principles exist in the temperature-dependent biochemical design of the eukaryotic cell in animals. The comparison of extant water-breathing and air-breathing animal species from various climates provides a cause-and-effect understanding of the trade-offs and constraints in thermal adaptation and their energetic consequences. It is hypothesized that the high costs of functional adaptation to fluctuating temperatures, especially in the cold (cold eurythermy), cause an increase in energy turnover and, at the same time, mobility and agility. These costs are associated with elevated mitochondrial capacities at minimized levels of activation enthalpies for proton leakage. Cold eurythermy is seen as a precondition for the survival of evolutionary crises elicited by repeated cooling events during extreme climate fluctuations. The costs of cold eurythermy appear as the single most important reason why metazoan evolution led to life forms with high energy turnover. They also explain why dinosaurs were able to live in subpolar climates. Finally, they give insight into the pathways, benefits, and trade-offs involved in the evolution of constant, elevated body temperature maintained by endothermy. Eurythermy, which encompasses cold tolerance, is thus hypothesized to be the "missing link" between ectothermy and endothermy. Body temperatures between 32 degrees and 42 degrees C in mammals and birds then result from trade-offs between the limiting capacities of ventilation and circulation and the

Binary evolution and observational constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loore, C. de

1984-01-01

The evolution of close binaries is discussed in connection with problems concerning mass and angular momentum losses. Theoretical and observational evidence for outflow of matter, leaving the system during evolution is given: statistics on total masses and mass ratios, effects of the accretion of the mass gaining component, the presence of streams, disks, rings, circumstellar envelopes, period changes, abundance changes in the atmosphere. The effects of outflowing matter on the evolution is outlined, and estimates of the fraction of matter expelled by the loser, and leaving the system, are given. The various time scales involved with evolution and observation are compared. Examples of non conservative evolution are discussed. Problems related to contact phases, on mass and energy losses, in connection with entropy changes are briefly analysed. For advanced stages the disruption probabilities for supernova explosions are examined. A global picture is given for the evolution of massive close binaries, from ZAMS, through WR phases, X-ray phases, leading to runaway pulsars or to a binary pulsar and later to a millisecond pulsar. (Auth.)

The Animal Kingdom Is Also a Bioengineering Field: Exploring the Art and Science of Vetinary Medicine [Retrospectroscope].

Science.gov (United States)

Valentinuzzi, Max E

2017-01-01

Medical science developed in tandem with the evolution of biological species and their associated diseases. Because of the close interaction between humans and other animals, even those in the wild, taking care of the former also means caring for the latter. Several scientific forerunners delved into animals' anatomical and physiological secrets in their quest to better understand animal biology and functions, thereby laying the foundation for animal medicine. Here, I briefly explore the long and complex road that led to the current state of veterinary science and provide a few examples of its present standing. (Contributions from the ancient world and eastern countries are not considered, as they represent a different area of interest.).

Greenhouse effect: Evolution of scientific message and its transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braicovich, L.; Amman, F.; Pavia Univ.

1991-01-01

The greenhouse effect, not anymore confined to scientific journals, is becoming a policy issue and, possibly, a nightmare in public opinion. In this analysis of the evolution of the scientific message and its transfer to policy makers and public opinion, the paper first considers, in general terms, the more recent trends in related research activity and in the transfer processes of the results. Then, a more detailed examination is made of the progress achieved in the years 1989-1990 through scientific research in various aspects of the greenhouse effect. It is confirmed that, for the time being, the scientific results leave many important points unresolved; policy decisions on the matter cannot therefore rely on present scientific knowledge as if it were firmly established

The Effects of Predator Evolution and Genetic Variation on Predator-Prey Population-Level Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortez, Michael H; Patel, Swati

2017-07-01

This paper explores how predator evolution and the magnitude of predator genetic variation alter the population-level dynamics of predator-prey systems. We do this by analyzing a general eco-evolutionary predator-prey model using four methods: Method 1 identifies how eco-evolutionary feedbacks alter system stability in the fast and slow evolution limits; Method 2 identifies how the amount of standing predator genetic variation alters system stability; Method 3 identifies how the phase lags in predator-prey cycles depend on the amount of genetic variation; and Method 4 determines conditions for different cycle shapes in the fast and slow evolution limits using geometric singular perturbation theory. With these four methods, we identify the conditions under which predator evolution alters system stability and shapes of predator-prey cycles, and how those effect depend on the amount of genetic variation in the predator population. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method and the relations between the four methods. This work shows how the four methods can be used in tandem to make general predictions about eco-evolutionary dynamics and feedbacks.

Teaching genetics prior to teaching evolution improves evolution understanding but not acceptance

Science.gov (United States)

Mead, Rebecca; Hejmadi, Momna

2017-01-01

What is the best way to teach evolution? As microevolution may be configured as a branch of genetics, it being a short conceptual leap from understanding the concepts of mutation and alleles (i.e., genetics) to allele frequency change (i.e., evolution), we hypothesised that learning genetics prior to evolution might improve student understanding of evolution. In the UK, genetics and evolution are typically taught to 14- to 16-y-old secondary school students as separate topics with few links, in no particular order and sometimes with a large time span between. Here, then, we report the results of a large trial into teaching order of evolution and genetics. We modified extant questionnaires to ascertain students’ understanding of evolution and genetics along with acceptance of evolution. Students were assessed prior to teaching, immediately post teaching and again after several months. Teachers were not instructed what to teach, just to teach in a given order. Regardless of order, teaching increased understanding and acceptance, with robust signs of longer-term retention. Importantly, teaching genetics before teaching evolution has a significant (p Teaching genetics first additionally had positive effects on genetics understanding, by increasing knowledge. These results suggest a simple, minimally disruptive, zero-cost intervention to improve evolution understanding: teach genetics first. This same alteration does not, however, result in a significantly increased acceptance of evolution, which reflects a weak correlation between knowledge and acceptance of evolution. Qualitative focus group data highlights the role of authority figures in determination of acceptance. PMID:28542179

Teaching genetics prior to teaching evolution improves evolution understanding but not acceptance.

Science.gov (United States)

Mead, Rebecca; Hejmadi, Momna; Hurst, Laurence D

2017-05-01

What is the best way to teach evolution? As microevolution may be configured as a branch of genetics, it being a short conceptual leap from understanding the concepts of mutation and alleles (i.e., genetics) to allele frequency change (i.e., evolution), we hypothesised that learning genetics prior to evolution might improve student understanding of evolution. In the UK, genetics and evolution are typically taught to 14- to 16-y-old secondary school students as separate topics with few links, in no particular order and sometimes with a large time span between. Here, then, we report the results of a large trial into teaching order of evolution and genetics. We modified extant questionnaires to ascertain students' understanding of evolution and genetics along with acceptance of evolution. Students were assessed prior to teaching, immediately post teaching and again after several months. Teachers were not instructed what to teach, just to teach in a given order. Regardless of order, teaching increased understanding and acceptance, with robust signs of longer-term retention. Importantly, teaching genetics before teaching evolution has a significant (p genetics was taught first. Teaching genetics first additionally had positive effects on genetics understanding, by increasing knowledge. These results suggest a simple, minimally disruptive, zero-cost intervention to improve evolution understanding: teach genetics first. This same alteration does not, however, result in a significantly increased acceptance of evolution, which reflects a weak correlation between knowledge and acceptance of evolution. Qualitative focus group data highlights the role of authority figures in determination of acceptance.

Antidepressive and anxiolytic effects of ayahuasca: a systematic literature review of animal and human studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael G. dos Santos

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To conduct a systematic literature review of animal and human studies reporting anxiolytic or antidepressive effects of ayahuasca or some of its isolated alkaloids (dimethyltryptamine, harmine, tetrahydroharmine, and harmaline. Methods: Papers published until 3 April 2015 were retrieved from the PubMed, LILACS and SciELO databases following a comprehensive search strategy and using a predetermined set of criteria for article selection. Results: Five hundred and fourteen studies were identified, of which 21 met the established criteria. Studies in animals have shown anxiolytic and antidepressive effects of ayahuasca, harmine, and harmaline, and experimental studies in humans and mental health assessments of experienced ayahuasca consumers also suggest that ayahuasca is associated with reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms. A pilot study reported rapid antidepressive effects of a single ayahuasca dose in six patients with recurrent depression. Conclusion: Considering the need for new drugs that produce fewer adverse effects and are more effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptomatology, the described effects of ayahuasca and its alkaloids should be further investigated.

Combining collective, MSW, and turbulence effects in supernova neutrino flavor evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Lund, Tina; Kneller, James P.

2013-07-01

In order to decode the neutrino burst signal from a Galactic core-collapse supernova (ccSN) and reveal the complicated inner workings of the explosion we need a thorough understanding of the neutrino flavor evolution from the proto-neutron star outwards. The flavor content of the signal evolves due to both neutrino collective effects and matter effects which can lead to a highly interesting interplay and distinctive spectral features. In this paper we investigate the supernova neutrino flavor evolution in three different progenitors and include collective flavor effects, the evolution of the Mikheyev, Smirnov & Wolfenstein (MSW) conversion due to the shock wave passage through the star, and the impact of turbulence. We consider both normal and inverted neutrino mass hierarchies and a value of θ13 close to the current experimental measurements. In the Oxygen-Neon-Magnesium (ONeMg) supernova we find that the impact of turbulence is both brief and slight during a window of 1-2 seconds post bounce. This is because the shock races through the star extremely quickly and the turbulence amplitude is expected to be small, less than 10%, since these stars do not require multidimensional physics to explode. Thus the spectral features of collective and shock effects in the neutrino signals from Oxygen-Neon-Magnesium supernovae may be almost turbulence free making them the easiest to interpret. For the more massive progenitors we again find that small amplitude turbulence, up to 10%, leads to a minimal modification of the signal, and the emerging neutrino spectra retain both collective and MSW features. However, when larger amounts of turbulence is added, 30% and 50%, which is justified by the requirement of multidimensional physics in order to make these stars explode, the features of collective and shock wave effects in the high (H) density resonance channel are almost completely obscured at late times. Yet at the same time we find the other mixing channels—the low (L

Long-lasting effects of maternal separation on an animal model of post-traumatic stress disorder: effects on memory and hippocampal oxidative stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, Luisa A; Alvares, Lucas O; Noschang, Cristie; Engelke, Douglas; Andreazza, Ana C; Gonçalves, Carlos Alberto S; Quillfeldt, Jorge A; Dalmaz, Carla

2012-04-01

Adverse early life events, such as periodic maternal separation, may alter the normal pattern of brain development and subsequently the vulnerability to a variety of mental disorders in adulthood. Patients with a history of early adversities show higher frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study was undertaken to verify if repeated long-term separation of pups from dams would affect memory and oxidative stress parameters after exposure to an animal model of PTSD. Nests of Wistar rats were divided into intact and subjected to maternal separation (incubator at 32°C, 3 h/day) during post-natal days 1-10. When adults, the animals were subdivided into exposed or not to a PTSD model consisting of exposure to inescapable footshock, followed by situational reminders. One month after exposure to the shock, the animals were exposed to a memory task (Morris water maze) and another month later animals were sacrificed and DNA breaks and antioxidant enzymes activities were measured in the hippocampus. Rats exposed to shock or maternal separation plus shock showed long-lasting effects on spatial memory, spending more time in the opposite quadrant of the water maze. This effect was higher in animals subjected to both maternal separation and shock. Both shock and maternal separation induced a higher score of DNA breaks in the hippocampus. No differences were observed on antioxidant enzymes activities. In conclusion, periodic maternal separation may increase the susceptibility to the effects of a stressor applied in adulthood on performance in the water maze. Increased DNA breaks in hippocampus was induced by both, maternal separation and exposure to shock.

Effect of 3D animation videos over 2D video projections in periodontal health education among dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhulipalla, Ravindranath; Marella, Yamuna; Katuri, Kishore Kumar; Nagamani, Penupothu; Talada, Kishore; Kakarlapudi, Anusha

2015-01-01

There is limited evidence about the distinguished effect of 3D oral health education videos over conventional 2 dimensional projections in improving oral health knowledge. This randomized controlled trial was done to test the effect of 3 dimensional oral health educational videos among first year dental students. 80 first year dental students were enrolled and divided into two groups (test and control). In the test group, 3D animation and in the control group, regular 2D video projections pertaining to periodontal anatomy, etiology, presenting conditions, preventive measures and treatment of periodontal problems were shown. Effect of 3D animation was evaluated by using a questionnaire consisting of 10 multiple choice questions given to all participants at baseline, immediately after and 1month after the intervention. Clinical parameters like Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI), and Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (OHI-S) were measured at baseline and 1 month follow up. A significant difference in the post intervention knowledge scores was found between the groups as assessed by unpaired t-test (p3D animation videos are more effective over 2D videos in periodontal disease education and knowledge recall. The application of 3D animation results also demonstrate a better visual comprehension for students and greater health care outcomes.

How Can a Multimodal Approach to Primate Communication Help Us Understand the Evolution of Communication?

OpenAIRE

Bridget M. Waller; Katja Liebal; Anne M. Burrows; Katie. E. Slocombe

2013-01-01

Scientists studying the communication of non-human animals are often aiming to better understand the evolution of human communication, including human language. Some scientists take a phylogenetic perspective, where the goal is to trace the evolutionary history of communicative traits, while others take a functional perspective, where the goal is to understand the selection pressures underpinning specific traits. Both perspectives are necessary to fully understand the evolution of communicati...

Numerical analysis of stress effects on Frank loop evolution during irradiation in austenitic Fe&z.sbnd;Cr&z.sbnd;Ni alloy

Science.gov (United States)

Tanigawa, Hiroyasu; Katoh, Yutai; Kohyama, Akira

1995-08-01

Effects of applied stress on early stages of interstitial type Frank loop evolution were investigated by both numerical calculation and irradiation experiments. The final objective of this research is to propose a comprehensive model of complex stress effects on microstructural evolution under various conditions. In the experimental part of this work, the microstructural analysis revealed that the differences in resolved normal stress caused those in the nucleation rates of Frank loops on {111} crystallographic family planes, and that with increasing external applied stress the total nucleation rate of Frank loops was increased. A numerical calculation was carried out primarily to evaluate the validity of models of stress effects on nucleation processes of Frank loop evolution. The calculation stands on rate equuations which describe evolution of point defects, small points defect clusters and Frank loops. The rate equations of Frank loop evolution were formulated for {111} planes, considering effects of resolved normal stress to clustering processes of small point defects and growth processes of Frank loops, separately. The experimental results and the predictions from the numerical calculation qualitatively coincided well with each other.

The animal sensorimotor organization: a challenge for the environmental complexity thesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Keijzer, Fred; Arnellos, Argyris

2017-01-01

Godfrey-Smith's environmental complexity thesis (ECT) is most often applied to multicellular animals and the complexity of their macroscopic environments to explain how cognition evolved. We think that the ECT may be less suited to explain the origins of the animal bodily organization, including this organization's potentiality for dealing with complex macroscopic environments. We argue that acquiring the fundamental sensorimotor features of the animal body may be better explained as a consequence of dealing with internal bodily-rather than environmental complexity. To press and elucidate this option, we develop the notion of an animal sensorimotor organization (ASMO) that derives from an internal coordination account for the evolution of early nervous systems. The ASMO notion is a reply to the question how a collection of single cells can become integrated such that the resulting multicellular organization becomes sensitive to and can manipulate macroscopic features of both the animal body and its environment. In this account, epithelial contractile tissues play the central role in the organization behind complex animal bodies. In this paper, we relate the ASMO concept to recent work on epithelia, which provides empirical evidence that supports central assumptions behind the ASMO notion. Second, we discuss to what extent the notion applies to basic animal architectures, exemplified by sponges and jellyfish. We conclude that the features exhibited by the ASMO are plausibly explained by internal constraints acting on and within this multicellular organization, providing a challenge for the role the ECT plays in this context.

Risk assessment and cost-effectiveness of animal health certification methods for livestock export in Somalia.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight-Jones, T J D; Njeumi, F; Elsawalhy, A; Wabacha, J; Rushton, J

2014-03-01

Livestock export is vital to the Somali economy. To protect Somali livestock exports from costly import bans used to control the international spread of disease, better certification of livestock health status is required. We performed quantitative risk assessment and cost-effectiveness analysis on different health certification protocols for Somali livestock exports for six transboundary diseases. Examining stock at regional markets alone without port inspection and quarantine was inexpensive but was ineffective for all but contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia and peste des petits ruminants. While extended pre-export quarantine improves detection of infections that cause clinical disease, if biosecurity is suboptimal quarantine provides an opportunity for transmission and increased risk. Clinical examination, laboratory screening and vaccination of animals for key diseases before entry to the quarantine station reduced the risk of an exported animal being infected. If vaccination could be reliably performed weeks before arrival at quarantine its effect would be greatly enhanced. The optimal certification method depends on the disease. Laboratory diagnostic testing was particularly important for detecting infections with limited clinical signs in male animals (only males are exported); for Rift Valley fever (RVF) the probability of detection was 99% or 0% with and without testing. Based on our findings animal inspection and certification at regional markets combined with quarantine inspection and certification would reduce the risk of exporting infected animals and enhance disease control at the regional level. This is especially so for key priority diseases, that is RVF, foot-and-mouth disease and Brucellosis. Increased data collection and testing should be applied at point of production and export. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Animal studies on growth and development.

Science.gov (United States)

Lerchl, Alexander

2011-12-01

Despite the fact that no plausible biological mechanism has yet been identified how electromagnetic fields below recommended exposure limits could negatively affect health of animals or humans, many experiments have been performed in various animal species, mainly mice and rats, to investigate the possible effects on growth and development. While older studies often suffered from sub-optimal exposure conditions, recent investigations, using sophisticated exposure devices and thus preventing thermal effects, have been performed without these limitations. In principle, two types of studies can be addressed: those which have investigated the carcinogenic or co-carcinogenic effects of exposure in developing animals, and those which have been done in developing animals without the focus on carcinogenic or co-carcinogenic effects. In both areas, the vast majority of publications did not show adverse effects. The largest study so far has been done in normal mice which have been chronically exposed to UMTS signals up to 1.3 W/kg SAR, thus 16 times higher than the whole-body exposure limit for humans. Even after four generations, no systematic or dose-dependent alterations in development or fertility could be found, supporting the view that negative effects on humans are very unlikely. Ongoing experiments in our laboratory investigate the effects of head-only exposure in rats (up to 10 W/kg local SAR) which are exposed from 14 days of age daily for 2 h. A battery of behavioral tests is performed in young, adult, and pre-senile animals. The results will help to clarify possible effects of exposure on brain development. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relative biological effectiveness and radiation weighting factors in the context of animals and plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higley, K.A.; Kocher, D.C.; Real, A.G.; Chambers, D.B.

2012-01-01

Radiation weighting factors have long been employed to modify absorbed dose as part of the process of evaluating radiological impact to humans. Their use represents an acknowledgement of the fundamental difference in energy deposition patterns of charged and uncharged particles, and how this can translate into varying degrees of biological impact. Weighting factors used in human radiation protection are derived from a variety of endpoints taken from in-vitro experiments that include human and animal cell lines, as well as in-vivo experiments with animals. Nonetheless, the application of radiation weighting factors in the context of dose assessment of animals and plants is not without some controversy. Specifically, radiation protection of biota has largely focused on limiting deterministic effects, such as reduced reproductive fitness. Consequently, the application of conventional stochastic-based radiation weighting factors (when used for human protection) appears inappropriate. While based on research, radiation weighting factors represent the parsing of extensive laboratory studies on relative biological effectiveness. These studies demonstrate that the magnitude of a biological effect depends not just on dose, but also on other factors including the rate at which the dose is delivered, the type and energy of the radiation delivering the dose, and, most importantly, the endpoint under consideration. This article discusses the efforts taken to develop a logical, transparent, and defensible approach to establishing radiation weighting factors for use in assessing impact to non-human biota, and the challenges found in differentiating stochastic from deterministic impacts.

[The psychiatric aspects of animal assisted therapy].