Status and conservation of lion-tailed macaque and other arboreal mammals in tropical rainforests of Sringeri forest range, Western ghats, Karnataka, India

The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), an endangered primate species, was surveyed in the tropical rainforests of Sringeri in the state of Karnataka, south India. A total of 10 groups and a solitary adult male were found in approximately 90 square kilometers of rainforest. The other sympatric arboreal mammals found included common langurs, bonnet macaques and Malabar giant squirrels. The liontailed macaques are sympatric with other primates and giant squirrels in the undisturbed core areas. More towards the human habitations and disturbed areas, the lion-tailed macaques are absent and the forest is occupied by commensal species. The habitat features and the population structure indicate that this region is a potential area for maintaining a biologically viable population of lion-tailed macaques. However, a number of factors such as extraction of fuel wood, collection of minor forest produce, grazing by domestic livestock and plantation of commercial tree species are causing a serious threat to the habitat. The effect of habitat degradation on arboreal wildlife is discussed and the steps are suggested to minimize the effect of human disturbance on habitat

From Surveillance to Witnessing: Revanche, Red Road, and the Anti-Revenge Film

This essay examines recent European art films that reinterpret the revenge plot and radically challenge the possibility of legitimized violence. I argue that what I term “anti-revenge” films, in particular Andrea Arnold’s Red Road (2006), and Götz Spielmann’s Revanche (2008), frustrate the desire for vengeance (both the protagonist’s and the spectator’s), replacing violent spectacle with uneasy engagement that inhibits revenge, gesturing instead toward the possibility, however remote, of forgiveness. In both films prolonged surveillance, surveillance ostensibly in the service of retribution, inadvertently becomes a means for ethical engagement that actually prohibits violence. In their failure to conform to generic conventions and their depiction of the collapse of the retributive drive, these films challenge the moral legitimacy of revenge, substituting uneasy, often inconclusive moments of potential forgiveness for violent spectacle

The complex TIE between macrophages and angiogenesis

Macrophages are primarily known as phagocytic immune cells, but they also play a role in diverse processes, such as morphogenesis, homeostasis and regeneration. In this review, we discuss the influence of macrophages on angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation from the pre-existing vasculature. Macrophages play crucial roles at each step of the angiogenic cascade, starting from new blood vessel sprouting to the remodelling of the vascular plexus and vessel maturation. Macrophages form promising targets for both pro- and anti-angiogenic treatments. However, to target macrophages, we will first need to understand the mechanisms that control the functional plasticity of macrophages during each of the steps of the angiogenic cascade. Here, we review recent insights in this topic. Special attention will be given to the TIE2-expressing macrophage (TEM), which is a subtype of highly angiogenic macrophages that is able to influence angiogenesis via the angiopoietin-TIE pathway

A proposal for a coordinated effort for the determination of brainwide neuroanatomical connectivity in model organisms at a mesoscopic scale

In this era of complete genomes, our knowledge of neuroanatomical circuitry remains surprisingly sparse. Such knowledge is however critical both for basic and clinical research into brain function. Here we advocate for a concerted effort to fill this gap, through systematic, experimental mapping of neural circuits at a mesoscopic scale of resolution suitable for comprehensive, brain-wide coverage, using injections of tracers or viral vectors. We detail the scientific and medical rationale and briefly review existing knowledge and experimental techniques. We define a set of desiderata, including brain-wide coverage; validated and extensible experimental techniques suitable for standardization and automation; centralized, open access data repository; compatibility with existing resources, and tractability with current informatics technology. We discuss a hypothetical but tractable plan for mouse, additional efforts for the macaque, and technique development for human. We estimate that the mouse connectivity project could be completed within five years with a comparatively modest budget.Comment: 41 page

The pancreas anatomy conditions the origin and properties of resident macrophages

We examine the features, origin, turnover, and gene expression of pancreatic macrophages under steady state. The data distinguish macrophages within distinct intrapancreatic microenvironments and suggest how macrophage phenotype is imprinted by the local milieu. Macrophages in islets of Langerhans and in the interacinar stroma are distinct in origin and phenotypic properties. In islets, macrophages are the only myeloid cells: they derive from definitive hematopoiesis, exchange to a minimum with blood cells, have a low level of self-replication, and depend on CSF-1. They express Il1b and Tnfa transcripts, indicating classical activation, M1, under steady state. The interacinar stroma contains two macrophage subsets. One is derived from primitive hematopoiesis, with no interchange by blood cells and alternative, M2, activation profile, whereas the second is derived from definitive hematopoiesis and exchanges with circulating myeloid cells but also shows an alternative activation profile. Complete replacement of islet and stromal macrophages by donor stem cells occurred after lethal irradiation with identical profiles as observed under steady state. The extraordinary plasticity of macrophages within the pancreatic organ and the distinct features imprinted by their anatomical localization sets the base for examining these cells in pathological conditions

J/ψ\psi suppression in In-In collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon

The NA60 experiment has studied J/$\psi$ production in Indium-Indium collisions at 158 A$\cdot$GeV. In this paper we present an updated set of results obtained with the complete set of available statistics and an improved alignment of the vertex tracker. The centrality dependence of the J/$\psi$ production, obtained with an analysis technique based only on the J/$\psi$ sample, indicates that a suppression beyond that induced by nuclear absorption is present in In-In collisions, setting in at $\sim$80 participant nucleons. A first study of the systematic errors related with this measurement is discussed. We also present preliminary results on the J/$\psi$ azimuthal distributions.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of Hard Probes 2006 International Conferenc

A Dual Infection Pseudorabies Virus Conditional Reporter Approach to Identify Projections to Collateralized Neurons in Complex Neural Circuits

Replication and transneuronal transport of pseudorabies virus (PRV) are widely used to define the organization of neural circuits in rodent brain. Here we report a dual infection approach that highlights connections to neurons that collateralize within complex networks. The method combines Cre recombinase (Cre) expression from a PRV recombinant (PRV-267) and Cre-dependent reporter gene expression from a second infecting strain of PRV (PRV-263). PRV-267 expresses both Cre and a monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP) fused to viral capsid protein VP26 (VP26-mRFP) that accumulates in infected cell nuclei. PRV-263 carries a Brainbow cassette and expresses a red (dTomato) reporter that fills the cytoplasm. However, in the presence of Cre, the dTomato gene is recombined from the cassette, eliminating expression of the red reporter and liberating expression of either yellow (EYFP) or cyan (mCerulean) cytoplasmic reporters. We conducted proof-of-principle experiments using a well-characterized model in which separate injection of recombinant viruses into the left and right kidneys produces infection of neurons in the renal preautonomic network. Neurons dedicated to one kidney expressed the unique reporters characteristic of PRV-263 (cytoplasmic dTomato) or PRV-267 (nuclear VP26-mRFP). Dual infected neurons expressed VP26-mRFP and the cyan or yellow cytoplasmic reporters activated by Cre-mediated recombination of the Brainbow cassette. Differential expression of cyan or yellow reporters in neurons lacking VP26-mRFP provided a unique marker of neurons synaptically connected to dual infected neurons, a synaptic relationship that cannot be distinguished using other dual infection tracing approaches. These data demonstrate Cre-enabled conditional reporter expression in polysynaptic circuits that permits the identification of collateralized neurons and their presynaptic partners

Poplar GTL1 Is a Ca2+/Calmodulin-Binding Transcription Factor that Functions in Plant Water Use Efficiency and Drought Tolerance

Diminishing global fresh water availability has focused research to elucidate mechanisms of water use in poplar, an economically important species. A GT-2 family trihelix transcription factor that is a determinant of water use efficiency (WUE), PtaGTL1 (GT-2 like 1), was identified in Populus tremula × P. alba (clone 717-IB4). Like other GT-2 family members, PtaGTL1 contains both N- and C-terminal trihelix DNA binding domains. PtaGTL1 expression, driven by the Arabidopsis thaliana AtGTL1 promoter, suppressed the higher WUE and drought tolerance phenotypes of an Arabidopsis GTL1 loss-of-function mutation (gtl1-4). Genetic suppression of gtl1-4 was associated with increased stomatal density due to repression of Arabidopsis STOMATAL DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION1 (AtSDD1), a negative regulator of stomatal development. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) indicated that a PtaGTL1 C-terminal DNA trihelix binding fragment (PtaGTL1-C) interacted with an AtSDD1 promoter fragment containing the GT3 box (GGTAAA), and this GT3 box was necessary for binding. PtaGTL1-C also interacted with a PtaSDD1 promoter fragment via the GT2 box (GGTAAT). PtaSDD1 encodes a protein with 60% primary sequence identity with AtSDD1. In vitro molecular interaction assays were used to determine that Ca2+-loaded calmodulin (CaM) binds to PtaGTL1-C, which was predicted to have a CaM-interaction domain in the first helix of the C-terminal trihelix DNA binding domain. These results indicate that, in Arabidopsis and poplar, GTL1 and SDD1 are fundamental components of stomatal lineage. In addition, PtaGTL1 is a Ca2+-CaM binding protein, which infers a mechanism by which environmental stimuli can induce Ca2+ signatures that would modulate stomatal development and regulate plant water use

Evolution of Sex-Specific Traits through Changes in HOX-Dependent doublesex Expression

Analysis in Drosophila suggests that evolutionary changes in the spatial regulation of the transcription factor doublesex play a key role in the origin, diversification, and loss of sex-specific structures