Phenotypic matching by spot pattern potentially mediates female giraffe social associations

Animal color pattern is a phenotypic trait that may mediate assortative mixing (also known as homophily), whereby similar looking individuals have stronger social associations. Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) coat spot patterns show high variation and some spot traits appear to be heritable. Giraffes also have high visual acuity, which may facilitate intraspecific communication and recognition based on spot patterns. Giraffe groupings are dynamic, merging and splitting throughout the day, but females form long-term associations. We predicted that adult female giraffes show stronger associations with other females that have similar spot pattern traits. We quantified the spot pattern characteristics of 399 adult female Masai giraffes and determined the pattern similarity among pairs (dyads) in their social network. We then tested for an association between coat pattern similarity (spot size, shape, and orientation) and dyadic association strength, and quantified assortative mixing. The strength of social associations was positively correlated with similarity in spot shape. Our results are compatible with assortativity by coat patterns that are similar between mother and offspring, potentially reflecting an effect of relatedness on both pattern similarity and female social associations. These results offer evidence that spot pattern could function as a visual cue for intraspecific communication and kin or individual recognition in a fission-fusion species

Sawja: Static Analysis Workshop for Java

Static analysis is a powerful technique for automatic verification of programs but raises major engineering challenges when developing a full-fledged analyzer for a realistic language such as Java. This paper describes the Sawja library: a static analysis framework fully compliant with Java 6 which provides OCaml modules for efficiently manipulating Java bytecode programs. We present the main features of the library, including (i) efficient functional data-structures for representing program with implicit sharing and lazy parsing, (ii) an intermediate stack-less representation, and (iii) fast computation and manipulation of complete programs

Endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibition protects against excitotoxic neuronal injury in the rat brain.

Elevated brain glutamate with activation of neuronal glutamate receptors accompanies neurological disorders, such as epilepsy and brain trauma. However, the mechanisms by which excitotoxicity triggers neuronal injury are not fully understood. We have studied the glutamate receptor agonist kainic acid (KA) inducing seizures and excitotoxic cell death. KA caused the disintegration of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane in hippocampal neurons and ER stress with the activation of the ER proteins Bip, Chop, and caspase-12. Salubrinal, inhibiting eIF2alpha (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit alpha) dephosphorylation, significantly reduced KA-induced ER stress and neuronal death in vivo and in vitro. KA-induced rise in intracellular calcium was not affected by Salubrinal. The results show that ER responses are essential parts of excitotoxicity mediated by glutamate receptor activation and that Salubrinal decreases neuronal death in vivo. Inhibition of ER stress by small molecular compounds may be beneficial for treatment of various neuronal injuries and brain disorders

Two pup vocalization types are genetically and functionally separable in deer mice

Vocalization is a widespread vertebrate social behavior that is essential for fitness in the wild. While many vocal behaviors are highly conserved, heritable features of specific vocalization types can vary both within and between species, raising the questions of why and how some vocal behaviors evolve. Here, using new computational tools to automatically detect and cluster vocalizations into distinct acoustic categories, we compare pup isolation calls across neonatal development in eight taxa of deer mice (genusPeromyscus) and compare them to laboratory mice (C57Bl6/j strain) and free-living, wild house mice (Mus musculus musculus). Whereas bothPeromyscusandMuspups produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs),Peromyscuspups also produce a second call type with acoustic features, temporal rhythms, and developmental trajectories that are distinct from those of USVs. In deer mice, these tonal and low frequency “cries” are predominantly emitted in postnatal days one through nine, while USVs are primarily made after day nine. Using playback assays, we show that cries result in a more rapid approach byPeromyscusmothers than USVs, suggesting a role for cries in eliciting parental care early in neonatal development. Using genetic crosses between two sister species of deer mice exhibiting large, innate differences in the acoustic structure of cries and USVs, we find that variation in vocalization rate, duration, and pitch display different degrees of genetic dominance and that cry and USV features can be uncoupled in second-generation hybrids. Taken together, this work shows that vocal behavior can evolve quickly between closely related rodent species in which vocalization types, likely serving distinct functions in communication, are controlled by distinct genetic loci

Euclid: Fast two-point correlation function covariance through linear construction

We present a method for fast evaluation of the covariance matrix for a two-point galaxy correlation function (2PCF) measured with the Landy-Szalay estimator. The standard way of evaluating the covariance matrix consists in running the estimator on a large number of mock catalogs, and evaluating their sample covariance. With large random catalog sizes (random-to-data objects' ratio M >> 1) the computational cost of the standard method is dominated by that of counting the data-random and random-random pairs, while the uncertainty of the estimate is dominated by that of data-data pairs. We present a method called Linear Construction (LC), where the covariance is estimated for small random catalogs with a size of M = 1 and M = 2, and the covariance for arbitrary M is constructed as a linear combination of the two. We show that the LC covariance estimate is unbiased. We validated the method with PINOCCHIO simulations in the range r = 20-200 h(-1) Mpc. With M = 50 and with 2h(-1) Mpc bins, the theoretical speedup of the method is a factor of 14. We discuss the impact on the precision matrix and parameter estimation, and present a formula for the covariance of covariance.Peer reviewe

Assessment of the Sensitizing Potential of Processed Peanut Proteins in Brown Norway Rats: Roasting Does Not Enhance Allergenicity

Background: IgE-binding of process-modified foods or proteins is the most common method for examination of how food processing affects allergenicity of food allergens. How processing affects sensitization capacity is generally studied by administration of purified food proteins or food extracts and not allergens present in their natural food matrix. [br/] Objectives: The aim was to investigate if thermal processing increases sensitization potential of whole peanuts via the oral route. In parallel, the effect of heating on sensitization potential of the major peanut allergen Ara h 1 was assessed via the intraperitoneal route. Methods: Sensitization potential of processed peanut products and Ara h 1 was examined in Brown Norway (BN) rats by oral administration of blanched or oil-roasted peanuts or peanut butter or by intraperitoneal immunization of purified native (N-), heated (H-) or heat glycated (G-) Ara h 1. Levels of specific IgG and IgE were determined by ELISA and IgE functionality was examined by rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cell assay. [br/] Results: In rats dosed orally, roasted peanuts induced significant higher levels of specific IgE to NAra h 1 and 2 than blanched peanuts or peanut butter but with the lowest level of RBL degranulation. However, extract from roasted peanuts was found to be a superior elicitor of RBL degranulation. Process-modified Ara h 1 had similar sensitizing capacity as NAra h 1 but specific IgE reacted more readily with process-modified Ara h 1 than with native. [br/] Conclusions: Peanut products induce functional specific IgE when dosed orally to BN rats. Roasted peanuts do not have a higher sensitizing capacity than blanched peanuts. In spite of this, extract from roasted peanuts is a superior elicitor of RBL cell degranulation irrespectively of the peanut product used for sensitization. The results also suggest that new epitopes are formed or disclosed by heating Ara h 1 without glucose

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 at 1 Month After an Acute Coronary Syndrome Is Associated With Increased Risk of Major Bleeding.

BACKGROUND: Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is related to major bleeding when measured at initial presentation in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) treated with dual antiplatelet therapy. It is unknown whether follow-up measurements provide additional information. The objective of this study was to investigate whether GDF-15 measured 1 month after an ACS provides additional information beyond the baseline levels with regard to the risk of major bleeding. METHODS AND RESULTS: GDF-15 was measured at baseline and at 1 month after an ACS in 4049 patients included in the PLATelet inhibition and patient Outcomes (PLATO) trial. The association between 1-month GDF-15 level and non-coronary artery bypass grafting surgery-related major bleeding was assessed by a multivariable Cox model, adjusting for baseline GDF-15, age, anemia, impaired renal function, history of gastrointestinal bleeding, and sex. Elevated GDF-15 (>1800 ng/L) at 1 month was associated with an increased risk of non-coronary artery bypass grafting-related major bleeding (3.9% versus 1.2%; hazard ratio, 3.38; 95% CI, 1.89-6.06), independent of baseline GDF-15. Patients who had elevated GDF-15 levels at baseline and subsequent nonelevated GDF-15 at 1 month had a similar risk as patients who had nonelevated levels at both measurements. CONCLUSIONS: GDF-15 at 1 month after an ACS is related to the risk of bleeding during DAPT and provides additional information on the bleeding risk beyond baseline GDF-15 levels. GDF-15 levels may therefore be useful as part of decision support concerning long-term antithrombotic treatment in patients post-ACS. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00391872