The Pattern of Behaviour of Rabbit Pups in the Nest.

Domestic rabbit pups (22 litters of 6 pups each) were raised in plexiglass nest boxes, and their behaviour was studied under various experimental conditions during the first 14 days of life. 1. Rabbit pups show a stereotyped pattern of behaviour closely associated with the once daily nursing visit of the doe until they start to leave the nest on day 13. 2. One to two hours before nursing pups group tightly together and become exposed from the nest material. In young litters these behaviours appear to improve access to the doe's belly and to shorten the time the doe spends in the nest. 3. Rabbit pups are unusual in that they display a vigorous burst of post-nursing activi- ty, i.e. simultaneous urination followed by digging and burrowing around the nest. This activity is triggered by the nursing act and appears to contribute to thermoregulatory effi- ciency as an insulating cover is quickly regained. 4. Within about 30 minutes pups reaggregate and remain well covered until the next nursing time. 5. The anticipatory uncovering appears to represent a circadian rhythm, and not to be simply due to hunger, as demonstrated in isolated litters deprived of one nursing. 6. Presumably the less time wild does spend in the nursery burrow the less chance there is of predators trapping them or finding the young. The ability of the pups to anticipate the nursing and the their thermoregulatory self-sufficiency may contribute to shortening the time rabbit does must spend in the nest

Proper Minor-Closed Classes of Graphs have Assouad-Nagata Dimension 2

Asymptotic dimension and Assouad-Nagata dimension are measures of the large-scale shape of a class of graphs. Bonamy et al. [J. Eur. Math. Society] showed that any proper minor-closed class has asymptotic dimension 2, dropping to 1 only if the treewidth is bounded. We improve this result by showing it also holds for the stricter Assouad-Nagata dimension. We also characterise when subdivision-closed classes of graphs have bounded Assouad-Nagata dimension.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figur

Model-based Most Specific Concepts in Description Logics with Value Restrictions

Non-standard inferences are particularly useful in the bottom-up construction of ontologies in description logics. One of the more common non-standard reasoning tasks is the most specific concept (msc) for an ABox-individual. In this paper we present similar non-standard reasoning task: most specific concepts for models (model-mscs). We show that, although they look similar to ABox-mscs their computational behaviour can be different. We present constructions for model-mscs in FL₀ and FLE with cyclic TBoxes and for ALC∪∗ with acyclic TBoxes. Since subsumption in FLE with cyclic TBoxes has not been examined previously, we present a characterization of subsumption and give a construction for the least common subsumer in this setting

Collaborative Research: Functional and Genomic Analysis of Polysymbiosis in the Wood-boring Bivalve Lyrodus pedicellatus

Each day massive quantities of wood and woody plant materials enter the oceans, providing resources upon which a large variety of marine organisms depend. However, the biological communities supported by marine wood are only poorly understood. Globally, the most important consumers of marine wood are wood-boring bivalves of the family Teredinidae (shipworms, primarily found above 150 m) and Pholadidae (subfamily Xylophagainae, primarily found in the deep sea, 150-8000 m). These clams depend on intracellular endosymbiotic bacteria (endocytobionts) to help them consume a substrate (lignocellulose) that cannot be utilized by most other animals. Two functions have been proposed for symbionts of wood-boring bivalves; 1) production of enzymes to facilitate lignocellulose digestion (xylotrophy) and 2) nitrogen fixation (diazotrophy) to supplement the host.s nitrogen-deficient diet. The purpose of the proposed research is to explore the physiological ecology of symbiotic xylotrophy in shipworms using molecular, biochemical and microbiological techniques. Three questions are foremost in this investigation; 1) What genetic variation occurs in symbiont populations within and between host species? 2) What is the quantitative contribution of symbionts to lignocellulose digestion and nitrogen fixation? and 3) What physical and biochemical mechanisms are involved in transfer of nutrients and enzymes between host and symbiont compartments

An Investigation of the Evolution of Autotrophic Endosymbioses in Bivalves By Comparative Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Host and Symbiont rRNA Sequences

Symbiotic associations between animals and bacteria are extremely diverse and commonplace in nature. In fact, it is difficult to find examples of animal species whose existence is not profoundly influenced by symbiotic associations with bacteria. For example, mitochondria (the structures within human cells that generate the energy for metabolic processes) are thought to have arisen from ancient bacteria that long ago formed a symbiotic association with the ancestor of all living animals. The support provided for this project will allow investigation of a type of symbiosis commonly found in clams and worms from deep-sea hydrothermal vents (marine hot springs) that can be used as a model system for studying the questions of how bacterial symbioses become established and what role they may play in the creation of new animal and bacterial species. This will be accomplished by comparing the primary DNA sequence (genetic code) of genes which are found in both symbionts and hosts. Computer analysis will be used to generate family trees demonstrating the relationships among symbionts and hosts. Comparison of the branching patterns of host and symbiont trees should reveal the point(s) in the lineages these hosts and symbionts first became associated and what impact their association has had on the diversification of the partner species. This understanding will lay the historical and conceptual foundation upon which future studies of the physiology and ecology of animal bacterial associations will be built. Symbiotic associations ranging from enteric bacteria in the human gut to nitrogen fixing bacteria associated with plant roots or luminous light organs in deep-sea fish provide a broad range of benefits to their hosts. Consequently, symbioses between bacteria and animals are critically important to our ecosystems, agriculture and health. This study will provide an experimental model system to address major questions about how bacterial/host symbioses came to exist and what role they have played in the history of life on earth

Manejo del pastoreo en pastizales de zonas áridas y semiáridas

La concepción actual de la respuesta del pastizal al disturbio por defoliación sugiere que el objetivo primario de manejo del pastoreo en cada sitio ecológico es preservar la comunidad vegetal deseable, evitando cambios indeseables e irreversibles en la estructura y funcionamiento del mismo. En consonancia, la planificación de manejo del pastoreo debería estar enfocada principalmente en el control de la carga animal, los periodos de utiización y descanso, e indicadores de riesgo inminente de cambios indeseables. La carga animal debería poseer la flexibilidad necesaria para poder amoldarla al patrón, variabilidad e imprevisibilidad del régimen hídrico local. La duración del periodo de pastoreo debería regularse en forma tal de evitar el consumo temprano del rebrote y de asegurar el mantenimiento de un nivel mínimo de biomasa residual, mientras que la duración del periodo de descanso debería permitir la recuperación del área foliar removida por el ganado. Complementariamente, el monitoreo de indicadores de riesgo tales como pérdida de vigor y disminución del tamaño de gramíneas perennes palatables, aumento en abundancia de especies anuales, establecimiento de especies indeseables (leñosas, gramíneas perennes de baja palatabilidad), incremento en tamaño y conectividad de parches con suelo desnudo, pérdida de estabilidad en agregados de suelo, etc., debería alertar sobre la necesidad de implementar acciones de manejo preventivas con el fin de impedir la ocurrencia de cambios indeseables e irreversibles en la estructura y funcionamiento del pastizal. El análisis e interpretación de la bibliografía revisada sugiere que el manejo adaptativo del pastoreo es imprescindible para la utilización sostenible de pastizales de zonas áridas y semiáridas.Fil: Distel, Roberto Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Conicet - Bahia Blanca. Centro Rec.nat.renovables de Zona Semiarida(i); Argentina

An automated system for hydrostatic body fat determination including correction for incomplete exhalation

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3631182

Composition and Function of a Novel Consortial Endosymbiosis in the Shipworm Lyrodus pedicellatus

Enormous quantities of wood and other woody plant materials(including leaves, bark, shoots, stems and nuts) are produced annually inthe environment. In fact, cellulose, the major component of woodymaterials, is thought to be the most abundant biological material on earth.This remarkably strong and enduring molecule is a polymer of glucose(sugar) linked by a type of chemical bond that makes it indigestible tomost living organisms. Therefore, this rich source of food energy isavailable to only a few animals (e.g., termites and ruminants) that candigest cellulose with the aid of microbes living in their guts.Surprisingly, some marine animals can also digest wood. The mostimportant group is the wood-boring clams, commonly known as shipworms. Unlike termites and ruminants, these animals lack microorganisms in their gut.Instead they harbor enormous numbers of symbiotic bacteria inside the cellsof their gills. These bacteria fall into at least four closely relatedfamilies based on DNA analyses. The PIs have proposed that these bacteriaproduce cellulolytic enzymes that are transported from the gills to thegut. The purpose of this investigation is to explore the diversity anddistribution of symbiont types in the shipworm gills, to determine if eachsymbiont type contributes different cellulolytic enzymes, and to discoverhow the host uses these bacterial products to exploit cellulose as a foodsource. These investigations should result in the discovery of newcellulolytic enzymes that may have industrial applications in such areas aspaper and textile processing and fuel (ethanol) production via biomassconversion of agricultural wastes. These efforts will also help the PIs tounderstand the physiology of symbiotic bacterial infections that arebeneficial rather than harmful to their hosts