Within-Family Environment and Cross-Fostering Stress Affect Behavior and Physiology in Wild Cavies (Cavia aperea)

Kraus S, Trillmich F, Günther A. Within-Family Environment and Cross-Fostering Stress Affect Behavior and Physiology in Wild Cavies (Cavia aperea). Frontiers in Psychology. 2020;11: 178.Stability of personality traits is well-documented for a wide variety of animals. However, previous results also suggest that behavioral phenotypes are plastic during early ontogeny and can be adaptively shaped to the social environment. In cavies (Cavia aperea), it has already been documented that the size at birth relative to siblings (size rank) greatly influences various behavioral and physiological traits that last at least until independence. The aim of the current study was (1) to investigate if behavioral and physiological differences between pups of the same litter persist until after independence and influence development long-lasting, (2) to determine the potential plasticity in response to changes in the early within-family environment by cross-fostering pups either to the same, a lower, or a higher size rank in a foster-family. We measured three behavioral traits (number of interactions with a novel object, distance moved in an open field, struggle docility) and two physiological traits (resting metabolic rate and basal cortisol levels). We predicted that cross-fostering into a litter where pups occupy the same size rank would not change the expression of traits. Cross-fostering to a different size rank should not influence the expression of traits if repeatability measures indicate low plasticity. Alternatively, if the traits are plastic, animals should adjust trait expression to fit with the size rank occupied in the foster litter. Initial differences in struggle docility, distance moved in an open field and in baseline cortisol concentration between pups of different size-ranks did not remain stable beyond independence. In addition, we found remarkable plasticity of the measured traits in response to cross-fostering to the same, a smaller or larger size-rank, suggesting that differences between pups are more the result of social constraints leading to adaptive shaping of individual phenotypes within a family. We also found a significant influence of the cross-fostering procedure itself. Cross-fostered individuals were less bold, grew slower and showed elevated resting metabolic rates. This finding suggests a cautious interpretation of previous cross-fostering studies and stresses the need for proper control groups to reliably separate the effect of cross-fostering per se from those induced by an experimental treatment. Introductio

Tellurringe als Elektronenpaardonoren in Clusterverbindungen und Koordinationspolymeren

Durch diese Arbeit konnten einerseits neuartige sowie bereits bekannte molekulare Tellurringe in Clusterverbindungen und quasi-eindimensionalen Koordinationspolymeren erhalten werden. Die Stabilisierung der zyklischen, homonuklearen Einheiten erfolgt dabei stets durch die Koordination an elektronenreiche Übergangsmetallatome, wobei die koordinierenden Telluratome gegenüber diesen als Zwei-Elektronendonoren fungieren. Die molekularen Clusterverbindungen [M(Te10)](TeX4)2(TeX3)2 (M = Rh, Ir X = Cl, Br) sowie [Ru2(Te10)](TeI4)2(TeI2)2 beinhalten eine übergangsmetallstabilisierte, neutrale Te10-Einheit, wobei jedes Übergangsmetallatom zusätzlich zwei terminale Halogenidotelluratliganden koordiniert. Im neuartigen, zehngliedrigen (Te04Te+0,54Te2)-Fragment finden sich zwei nahezu linear umgebende Telluratome, die als "Tellurbrücke", zwei gefaltete Te4-Ringe zur Vervollständigung der tricyclo[5.1.1.13;5]-Einheit koordinieren. Die Bindungssituation der nahezu linearen Te3-Sequenzen im homonuklearen Fragment sowie die [X-Te-X]-Sequenzen der Halogenidotelluratliganden lassen sich mit 3c4e-Bindungen verstehen. Anhand quantenchemischer Rechnungen konnte die Mehrzentrenbindung sowie die Aussage eines übergangsmetallstabilisierten Fragments bestätigt werden. In den inkommensurabel modulierten Kristallstrukturen (M2Te14I12)(TeI4) Te2I2) (M = Rh, Ir) existieren hingegen zweifach positiv geladene (M2Te14I12)2+-Cluster (M = Rh, Ir) neben nahezu planaren Schichten bestehend aus (TeI4)2--Gruppen und (Te2I2) Molekülen. Das (Te+I2I2) Molekül konnte anhand quantenchemischer Rechnungen als stabiles Molekül in der Gasphase bestätigt werden und stellt ein schweres Homologes des S2Cl2 dar. Die quaternäre Verbindung (Ir2Te14Br12)2(InBr4)2 enthält ebenfalls einen zweifach positiv geladenen Cluster, {[Ir3+2(Te0)4(Te+0,5)4(Te-)2]Te2+2Br-6)2}2+, dessen Ladung durch zwei einfach negativ geladene (In3+Br4)--Gruppen ausgeglichen wird sowie einem neutralen Cluster, [Ir3+2(Te0)4(Te3.-)2](Te2+2Br-6)2, mit einem Te3.--Radikalanion, dessen Existenz mittels ESR-Spektroskopie nachgewiesen wurde. Die aus diskreten Molekülen aufgebaute Verbindung [Ru2(Te6)]TeBr3)4(TeBr2)2 kann je nach Betrachtungsweise entweder als Te6-Ring, der durch zwei (Ru2+Te2+3Br-8)-Kappen umgeben ist oder als [Ru2Te6]4+-Heterokuban, welcher zusätzlich mit Bromidotelluratliganden koordiniert ist, beschrieben werden. In den Kristallstrukturen der ternären Koordinationspolymere [M(Te6)]X3 (M = Rh, Ir; X = Cl, Br, I) verlaufen entlang der c-Achse lineare, positiv geladene [M(Te6)]3+-Ketten (M = Rh,Ir), in denen abwechselnd ein ektronenreiches Übergangsmetallatom und sechsgliedrige Tellurringe koordinativ gebunden sind, wodurch eine hoch symmetrische Anordnung realisiert wird. Dabei zeigt sich aufgrund der starken Bindung an die Übergangsmetallatome eine erhebliche Ringspannung im Vergleich zu den bekannten sechsgliedrigen Tellureinheiten. Isolierte Halogenidionen, welche sich in der Ebene der Übergangsmetallatome befinden, dienen einerseits zum Ladungsausgleich der positiv geladenen Ketten und verbrücken andererseits innerhalb eines Stranges benachbarte Te6-Ringe. Im Koordinationspolymer [Ru(Te8)]Cl2 konnte ein neutraler Te8-Ring mit einer bislang für achtgliedrige Chalkogenmoleküle unbekannten Konformation röntgenographisch nachgewiesen werden. Die Abweichung von der bevorzugten Kronenform, ist wiederum ein E ekt der starken Bindung zwischen den Telluratomen und den Rutheniumatomen. In den linearen, positiv geladenen [Ru(Te8)]2+-Strängen binden 3+3 Telluratome an zwei benachbarte Rutheniumatome. Isolierte Chlorid-Ionen, die zwischen den positiven Strängen eingelagert sind, dienen in der Kristallstruktur zum Ladungsausgleich. Das quaternäre Koordinationspolymer [Ru(Te9)](InCl4)2 beinhaltet eine neuartige, zyklische Te9-Einheit, welche die Vielfalt der tellurreichen Ringstrukturen erweitert. Analog zum ternären Koordinationspolymer [Ru(Te8)]Cl2 gliedert sich die Kristallstruktur in [Ru(Te9)]2+-Stränge, die entlang der c-Achse verlaufen, und dem komplexen Anion (InCl4)-. Ein besonders interessantes Strukturmerkmal der positiv geladenen Stränge stellt das käfigartige Fragment [Ru-(Te9)-Ru] dar, dessen hexazyklischer Aufbau aus kondensierten Fünfringen den isolierten Undecapniktiden Pn113- (Pn = P, As, Sb) topologisch äquivalent ist. Für einen genaueren Einblick in die chemische Bindung der tellurreichen Koordinationspolymere [Rh(Te6)]Cl3, [Ru(Te8)]Cl2 und [Ru(Te9)](InCl4)2 wurden quantenchemische Rechnungen durchgeführt. Eine topologische Analyse der Elektronendichte und des Elektronenlokalisierbarkeitsindikators (ELI-D) an koordinierenden und freien Tellurmolekülen sollte zu detaillierten Aussagen über Gründe der extremen Ringspannung aufgrund der Koordination führen. Zusammenfassend kann feststellt werden, dass die Verzerrung der Tellurringe in den Koordinationspolymeren einerseits der gerichteten Bindung zu den Übergangsmetallatomen geschuldet ist und andererseits um Platz für die sich abstoßenden freien Elektronenpaare zu bekommen. Für weitere Arbeiten könnten zunächst einerseits die Untersuchungen zur Löslichkeit der Clusterverbindung Re4Q4(TeCl2)4Cl8 (Q = S, Se, Te) in organischen Lösungsmitteln als Ausgangspunkt für die Austauschreaktionen der terminalen Halogenidotelluratliganden durch neue verbrückenden Gruppen von Interesse sein. Andererseits kann auch innerhalb des untersuchten Systems, durch Variation der Eduktzusammensetzung, neuartige Tellurmoleküle erwartet sowie die bereits erworbenen Erkenntnisse zur Übertragung auf das leichtere Homologon Selen genutzt werden

Influx of multidrug-resistant organisms by country-to-country transfer of patients

Background: Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) are a worldwide problem. International migration and travel facilitate the spread of MDRO. Therefore the goal of our study was to assess the risk of influx of MDRO from patients transferred to one of Central Europe’s largest hospitals from abroad. Methods: A mono-centre study was conducted. All patients transferred from other countries were screened; additional data was collected on comorbidities, etc. Presence of carbapenemases of multidrug-resistant Gram-negatives was confirmed by PCR. The association between length of stay, being colonized and/or infected by a MDRO, country of origin, diagnosis and other factors was assessed by binomial regression analyses. Results: From 2012 to 2013, one fifth of all patients were colonized with MDRO (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [4.1 %], Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci [2.9 %], multidrug-resistant Gram-negatives [12.8 %] and extensively drug-resistant Gram-negatives [3.4 %]). The Gram-negatives carried a variety of carbapenemases including OXA, VIM, KPC and NDM. The length of stay was significantly prolonged by 77.2 % in patients colonized with a MDRO, compared to those not colonized (p<0.0001). Conclusions: Country-to-Country transfer of patients to European hospitals represents a high risk of introduction of MDRO and infection control specialists should endorse containment and screening measures

Does Animal Personality Affect Movement in Habitat Corridors? Experiments with Common Voles (Microtus arvalis) using Different Corridor Widths.

Kowalski GJ, Grimm V, Herde A, Günther A, Eccard JA. Does Animal Personality Affect Movement in Habitat Corridors? Experiments with Common Voles (Microtus arvalis) using Different Corridor Widths. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI. 2019;9(6): 291.Animal personality may affect an animal's mobility in a given landscape, influencing its propensity to take risks in an unknown environment. We investigated the mobility of translocated common voles in two corridor systems 60 m in length and differing in width (1 m and 3 m). Voles were behaviorally phenotyped in repeated open field and barrier tests. Observed behavioral traits were highly repeatable and described by a continuous personality score. Subsequently, animals were tracked via an automated very high frequency (VHF) telemetry radio tracking system to monitor their movement patterns in the corridor system. Although personality did not explain movement patterns, corridor width determined the amount of time spent in the habitat corridor. Voles in the narrow corridor system entered the corridor faster and spent less time in the corridor than animals in the wide corridor. Thus, landscape features seem to affect movement patterns more strongly than personality. Meanwhile, site characteristics, such as corridor width, could prove to be highly important when designing corridors for conservation, with narrow corridors facilitating faster movement through landscapes than wider corridors

Synthetic antimicrobial and LPS-neutralising peptides suppress inflammatory and immune responses in skin cells and promote keratinocyte migration

The stagnation in the development of new antibiotics and the concomitant high increase of resistant bacteria emphasize the urgent need for new therapeutic options. Antimicrobial peptides are promising agents for the treatment of bacterial infections and recent studies indicate that Pep19-2.5, a synthetic anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) peptide (SALP), efficiently neutralises pathogenicity factors of Gram-negative (LPS) and Gram-positive (lipoprotein/-peptide, LP) bacteria and protects against sepsis. Here, we investigated the potential of Pep19-2.5 and the structurally related compound Pep19-4LF for their therapeutic application in bacterial skin infections. SALPs inhibited LP-induced phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and p38 MAPK and reduced cytokine release and gene expression in primary human keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts. In LPS-stimulated human monocyte-derived dendritic cells and Langerhans-like cells, the peptides blocked IL-6 secretion, downregulated expression of maturation markers and inhibited dendritic cell migration. Both SALPs showed a low cytotoxicity in all investigated cell types. Furthermore, SALPs markedly promoted cell migration via EGFR transactivation and ERK1/2 phosphorylation and accelerated artificial wound closure in keratinocytes. Peptide-induced keratinocyte migration was mediated by purinergic receptors and metalloproteases. In contrast, SALPs did not affect proliferation of keratinocytes. Conclusively, our data suggest a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with acute and chronic skin infections

Recruitment kinetics of DNA repair proteins Mdc1 and Rad52 but not 53BP1 depend on damage complexity.

The recruitment kinetics of double-strand break (DSB) signaling and repair proteins Mdc1, 53BP1 and Rad52 into radiation-induced foci was studied by live-cell fluorescence microscopy after ion microirradiation. To investigate the influence of damage density and complexity on recruitment kinetics, which cannot be done by UV laser irradiation used in former studies, we utilized 43 MeV carbon ions with high linear energy transfer per ion (LET = 370 keV/µm) to create a large fraction of clustered DSBs, thus forming complex DNA damage, and 20 MeV protons with low LET (LET = 2.6 keV/µm) to create mainly isolated DSBs. Kinetics for all three proteins was characterized by a time lag period T(0) after irradiation, during which no foci are formed. Subsequently, the proteins accumulate into foci with characteristic mean recruitment times τ(1). Mdc1 accumulates faster (T(0) = 17 ± 2 s, τ(1) = 98 ± 11 s) than 53BP1 (T(0) = 77 ± 7 s, τ(1) = 310 ± 60 s) after high LET irradiation. However, recruitment of Mdc1 slows down (T(0) = 73 ± 16 s, τ(1) = 1050 ± 270 s) after low LET irradiation. The recruitment kinetics of Rad52 is slower than that of Mdc1, but exhibits the same dependence on LET. In contrast, the mean recruitment time τ(1) of 53BP1 remains almost constant when varying LET. Comparison to literature data on Mdc1 recruitment after UV laser irradiation shows that this rather resembles recruitment after high than low LET ionizing radiation. So this work shows that damage quality has a large influence on repair processes and has to be considered when comparing different studies

Разработка агрегатора данных о погоде и прогнозов погоды

Nowadays we frequently can't say which clothes weshould wear tomorrow. The problem is that there is no weather forecast service which can provide us exact weather forecast even for tomorrow, needless to say about further future. Main purpose of this work is to design system that will predict which weather forecast service should be used today to know weather for tomorrow. Authors suggest to evaluate forecasting value of temperature relying on statistics. They describe steps which they need to pass to achieve the purpose. As a result authors want to develop software which can provide weather forecast with higher probability than all existing services

Sex differences in life history, behavior, and physiology along a slow-fast continuum: a meta-analysis

Tarka M, Günther A, Niemelae PT, Nakagawa S, Noble DWA. Sex differences in life history, behavior, and physiology along a slow-fast continuum: a meta-analysis. BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY. 2018;72(8): UNSP 132.The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts that behavior and physiology covary with life history. Evidence for such covariation is contradictory, possibly because systematic sources of variation (e.g. sex) have been neglected. Sexes often experience different selection pressures leading to sex-specific allocation between reproduction and self-maintenance, facilitating divergence in life-history. Sex-specific differences in means and possibly variances may therefore play a key role in the POLS framework. We investigate whether sexes differ in means and variances along the fast-slow pace-of-life continuum for life history and physiological and behavioral traits. In addition, we test whether social and environmental characteristics such as breeding strategy, mating system, and study environment explain heterogeneity between the sexes. Using meta-analytic methods, we found that populations with a polygynous mating system or for studies conducted on wild populations, males had a faster pace-of-life for developmental life-history traits (e.g., growth rate), behavior, and physiology. In contrast, adult life-history traits (e.g., lifespan) were shifted towards faster pace-of-life in females, deviating from the other trait categories. Phenotypic variances were similar between the sexes across trait categories and were not affected by mating system or study environment. Breeding strategy did not influence sex differences in variances or means. We discuss our results in the light of sex-specific selection that might drive sex-specific differences in pace-of-life and ultimately POLS

Организация пожарной безопасности мест хранения техники в ремонтных подразделениях вооруженных сил Российской Федерации

Проблему организацию противопожарной защиты мест обслуживания и ремонта ВВТ в войсковых частях необходимо решать комплексно, обращая внимание на реализацию противопожарных требований согласно строительных норм и правил пожарной безопасности, а также на организацию тушения пожара в случае его возникновения.The problem of organization of fire protection of the military service and maintenance sites in military units must be addressed in a comprehensive manner, paying attention to the implementation of fire safety requirements in accordance with building codes and fire safety rules, and also on the organization of fire extinguishing in the event of its occurrence

Urban Emotions – Tools of Integrating People’s Perception into Urban Planning

This paper introduces the research field “Urban Emotions” – an interdisciplinary approach combining not only spatial planning and (geo-) informatics, but also computer linguistics and sensor technology methods. A new set of methods will be formed for the area of urban and spatial planning, resulting in a fundamental change of the understanding of planning. One of the main objectives is the involvement of citizens into planning processes. Therefore, new techniques are developed to collect and analyse data on the emotional perception of space and provide it to the people and also planners. Not only the human perception in the context of the city, and the combination with human sensory processes are contents of this paper, but also the critical discussion of these effects to privacy issues. Based on the topics “mental maps” and psychogeography in combination with the field of digital emotional urban tagging, the potential of integrating objectively quantified emotions in the context of citizen participation will be explained. In the following, partly established and partly experimental methods for collecting and analysing “Urban Emotions” will be introduced. Based on two studies, the possibilities of transfering these methodsinto the planning praxis will be shown on the one hand and on the other hand the potential for further development for other disciplines will be more evident