Orangulas: effect of scheduled visual enrichment on behavioral and endocrine aspects of a captive orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

Captivity may have adverse effects on captive great apes, as they spend much more of their time engaged in foraging and other activities in the wild. Enrichment interventions have the potential to alleviate the adverse effects of captivity by introducing novel stimuli. In orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), interactive digital enrichment has proven effective at engaging users out of their own free will, in exchange for nothing but the experience. This article reports the results of scheduled visual enrichment in the form of “orangulas”—one-hour long videos of footage consisting mainly of open spaces in different environments, with which the pongid participant could engage at free will. The efficacy of the orangulas were measured with both behavioural and endocrine measurements, concluding that scheduled visual enrichment has the potential to improve the welfare of captive orangutans by providing novel stimuli in the context of largely stable environments

On the brink between extinction and persistence

The nature of size fluctuations is crucial in forecasting future population persistence, independently of whether the variability stems from external forces or from the dynamics of the population renewal process. The risk of intercepting zero is highly dependent on the way the variance of the population size relates to its mean. The minimum population size required for a population not to go extinct can be determined by a scaling equation relating the variance to the arithmetic mean. By the use of a derived expression for the harmonic mean defined by the parameters of the scaling equation we show how it is possible to separate the domains of persistence from those of extinction and to facilitate the identification of populations on the brink of extinction

Near to short wave infrared light generation through AlGaAs-on-insulator nanoantennas

AlGaAs-on-insulator (AlGaAs-OI) has recently emerged as a promising platform for nonlinear optics at the nanoscale. Among the most remarkable outcomes, second-harmonic generation (SHG) in the visible/near infrared spectral region has been demonstrated in AlGaAs-OI nanoantennas (NAs). In order to extend the nonlinear frequency generation towards the short wave infrared window, in this work we propose and demonstrate via numerical simulations difference frequency generation (DFG) in AlGaAs-OI NAs. The NA geometry is finely adjusted in order to obtain simultaneous optical resonances at the pump, signal and idler wavelengths, which results in an efficient DFG with conversion efficiencies up to 0.01%. Our investigation includes the study of the robustness against random variations of the NA geometry that may occur at fabrication stage. Overall, these outcomes identify what we believe to be a new potential and yet unexplored application of AlGaAs-OI NAs as compact devices for the generation and control of the radiation pattern in the near to short infrared spectral region

Microsecond Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Involved in the Oxidative Stress Response

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are abundant in cells and have central roles in protein-protein interaction networks. Interactions between the IDP Prothymosin alpha (ProTα) and the Neh2 domain of Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), with a common binding partner, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(Keap1), are essential for regulating cellular response to oxidative stress. Misregulation of this pathway can lead to neurodegenerative diseases, premature aging and cancer. In order to understand the mechanisms these two disordered proteins employ to bind to Keap1, we performed extensive 0.5–1.0 microsecond atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and isothermal titration calorimetry experiments to investigate the structure/dynamics of free-state ProTα and Neh2 and their thermodynamics of bindings. The results show that in their free states, both ProTα and Neh2 have propensities to form bound-state-like β-turn structures but to different extents. We also found that, for both proteins, residues outside the Keap1-binding motifs may play important roles in stabilizing the bound-state-like structures. Based on our findings, we propose that the binding of disordered ProTα and Neh2 to Keap1 occurs synergistically via preformed structural elements (PSEs) and coupled folding and binding, with a heavy bias towards PSEs, particularly for Neh2. Our results provide insights into the molecular mechanisms Neh2 and ProTα bind to Keap1, information that is useful for developing therapeutics to enhance the oxidative stress response

Atlantic salmon populations invaded by farmed escapees: quantifying genetic introgression with a Bayesian approach and SNPs

Background Many native Atlantic salmon populations have been invaded by domesticated escapees for three decades or longer. However, thus far, the cumulative level of gene-flow that has occurred from farmed to wild salmon has not been reported for any native Atlantic salmon population. The aim of the present study was to investigate temporal genetic stability in native populations, and, quantify gene-flow from farmed salmon that caused genetic changes where they were observed. This was achieved by genotyping historical and contemporary samples from 20 populations covering all of Norway with recently identified single nucleotide polymorphism markers that are collectively diagnostic for farmed and wild salmon. These analyses were combined with analysis of farmed salmon and implementation of Approximate Bayesian computation based simulations. Results Five of the populations displayed statistically significant temporal genetic changes. All five of these populations became more similar to a pool of farmed fish with time, strongly suggesting introgression of farmed fish as the primary cause. The remaining 15 populations displayed weak or non-significant temporal genetic changes. Estimated introgression of farmed fish ranged from 2-47% per population using approximate Bayesian computation. Thus, some populations exhibited high degrees of farmed salmon introgression while others were more or less unaffected. The observed frequency of escapees in each population was moderately correlated with estimated introgression per population R2 = 0.47 P < 0.001. Genetic isolation by distance existed within the historical and contemporary data sets, however, the among-population level of divergence decreased with time. Conclusions This is the first study to quantify cumulative introgression of farmed salmon in any native Atlantic salmon population. The estimations demonstrate that the level of introgression has been population-specific, and that the level of introgression is not solely predicted by the frequency of escapees observed in the population. However, some populations have been strongly admixed with farmed salmon, and these data provide policy makers with unique information to address this situation

Fuzzy complex formation between the intrinsically disordered prothymosin α and the Kelch domain of Keap1 involved in the oxidative stress response.

Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) is an inhibitor of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a key transcription factor for cytoprotective gene activation in the oxidative stress response. Under unstressed conditions, Keap1 interacts with Nrf2 in the cytoplasm via its Kelch domain and suppresses the transcriptional activity of Nrf2. During oxidative stress, Nrf2 is released from Keap1 and is translocated into the nucleus, where it interacts with the small Maf protein to initiate gene transcription. Prothymosin α (ProTα), an intrinsically disordered protein, also interacts with the Kelch domain of Keap1 and mediates the import of Keap1 into the nucleus to inhibit Nrf2 activity. To gain a molecular basis understanding of the oxidative stress response mechanism, we have characterized the interaction between ProTα and the Kelch domain of Keap1 by using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry, peptide array analysis, site-directed mutagenesis, and molecular dynamic simulations. The results of nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift mapping, amide hydrogen exchange, and spin relaxation measurements revealed that ProTα retains a high level of flexibility, even in the bound state with Kelch. This finding is in agreement with the observations from the molecular dynamic simulations of the ProTα-Kelch complex. Mutational analysis of ProTα, guided by peptide array data and isothermal titration calorimetry, further pinpointed that the region (38)NANEENGE(45) of ProTα is crucial for the interaction with the Kelch domain, while the flanking residues play relatively minor roles in the affinity of binding

Integrated Generation of High-dimensional Entangled Photon States and Their Coherent Control

We demonstrate the generation of high-dimensional entangled photon pairs with a Hilbert-space dimensionality larger than 100 from an on-chip nonlinear microcavity, and introduce a coherent control scheme using standard telecommunications components

Surface Periodic Poling in Lithium Niobate and Lithium Tantalate

Periodic Poling of Lithium Niobate crystals (PPLN) by means of electric field has revealed the best technique for finely tailoring PPLN structures and parameters, which play a central role in many current researches in the field of nonlinear integrated optics. Besides the most studied technique of bulk poling, recently a novel technique where domain inversion occurs just in a surface layer using photoresist or silica masks has been devised and studied. This surface periodic poling (SPP) approach is best suited when light is confined in a thin surface guiding layer or stripe, as in the case of optical waveguide devices. Also, we found that SPP respect to bulk poling offers two orders of magnitude reduction on the scale of periodicity, so that even nanostructures can be obtained provided an high resolution holographic mask writing technique is adopted. We were able to demonstrate 200 nm domain size, and also good compatibility with alpha-phase proton exchange channel waveguide fabrication. Our first experiments on Lithium Tantalate have also shown that the SPP technology appears to be applicable to this crystal (SPPLT), whose properties can allow to overcome limitations such as optical damage or UV absorption still present in PPLN devices. Finally, the issue of SPP compatibility with proton exchange waveguide fabrication will be addresse

Epidemiology of Toxoplasma and CMV serology and of GBS colonization in pregnancy and neonatal outcome in a Sicilian population

Background: Aim of our study is to analyze the immunological status in pregnancy for two main TORCH agents, Toxoplasma and Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and the results of group B streptococcus (GBS) screening, assessing the risk for congenital infection in a population from Palermo, Italy. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of all inborn live newborns who were born in our division during 2012, gathering information about the mother, the pregnancy and neonatal hospitalization at birth. Whenever data were available, we categorized the serologic status of the mothers for Toxoplasma and CMV. We also considered the results of rectal and vaginal swabs for GBS. We compared the results in Italian and immigrant mothers. The neonatal outcome was evaluated in all cases at risk. Results: Prevalence of anti-Toxo IgG antibodies was 17.97%, and was significantly higher in immigrant women (30% vs 16.4% in Italian women; p = 0.0008). Prevalence of anti-CMV IgG antibodies was 65.87%. Again, it was significantly higher in immigrant women (91.4% vs 62.5%, p = 3.31e-08). We compared those data with a previous study performed in our hospital in 2005-2006, and found that the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma and anti-CMV antibodies in our population has remained stable, both in the immigrant and in the local population. Seroconversion rates and neonatal infections were rare: no seroconversions were observed for Toxoplasma, 4 seroconversions for CMV. One neonatal Toxoplasma infection and two neonatal CMV infections were documented. In some cases with dubious patterns or probable persistence of IgM, we performed additional tests and follow-up. Vaginal and rectal swabs were positive for GBS in 7.98% of cases, with no significant difference between the Italian and the immigrant population. No GBS neonatal sepsis was documented. Conclusions: The prevalence of Toxoplasma IgG antibodies in pregnant women was low in our population, if compared with European countries and with other parts of Italy, and is significantly higher in immigrant women. The prevalence of CMV IgG antibodies was intermediate if compared to other countries, and it was higher in immigrant women. GBS positivity was low, and comparable in Italian and immigrant mothers. Neonatal infection was rare for all these agents