Daily torpor: When heart and brain go cold - Nonlinear cardiac dynamics in the seasonal heterothermic Djungarian hamster

Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) acclimated to short photoperiod display episodes of spontaneous daily torpor with metabolic rate depressed by ∼70%, body temperature (

Winter activity of a population of greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)

Activity patterns of a greater horseshoe bats Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were investigated at caves in Cheddar (south-west England) during the hibernation season. An ultrasound detector and datalogger were used to monitor and record the number of echolocation calls in a single cave. Activity of R. ferrumequinum remained largely nocturnal throughout winter, and the mean time of activity over 24 hours was 88 to 369 minutes (1.47 to 6.15 hours) after sunset. There was an increase in diurnal activity from late May to early June, probably because bats remained active after foraging at dawn towards the end of the hibernation season. Visits to the cave did not increase bat activity. Cave air temperature reflected external climatic temperature, although there was variation in cave temperature and its range within and across caves. Individual R. ferrumequinum are usually dispersed in caves in regions where temperature fluctuations correlate with climatic variations in temperature. There was a positive correlation between the number of daily bat passes monitored by the bat detector and datalogger (= daily activity) and cave temperature. Nocturnal activity may sometimes be associated with winter feeding. Neither date nor barometric pressure had a significant effect on daily activity. Activity patterns largely reflected the findings from individual R. ferrumequinum studied by telemetry (Park, 1998), in that bat activity increased with cave and climatic temperatures, and the temporal pattern of activity remained consistently nocturnal throughout winter, starting at dusk

Thermoregulation and heterothermy in some of the smaller flying foxes (Megachiroptera) of New Guinea

Body temperature, heterothermy, oxygen consumption, heart rate, and evaporative water loss were studied in four species of flying foxes (Megachiroptera), Dobsonia minor, Nyctimene major, Nyctimene albiventer , and Paranyctimene raptor , from the vicinity of Madang on the north coast of New Guinea.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47105/1/359_2004_Article_BF00297716.pd

Wing pathology of white-nose syndrome in bats suggests life-threatening disruption of physiology

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is causing unprecedented declines in several species of North American bats. The characteristic lesions of WNS are caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, which erodes and replaces the living skin of bats while they hibernate. It is unknown how this infection kills the bats. We review here the unique physiological importance of wings to hibernating bats in relation to the damage caused by G. destructans and propose that mortality is caused by catastrophic disruption of wing-dependent physiological functions. Mechanisms of disease associated with G. destructans seem specific to hibernating bats and are most analogous to disease caused by chytrid fungus in amphibians

Resistance to EMI in the Netherlands

Internationalization policies, as a response to globalization, have led many universities to offer English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes. Yet the introduction of EMI programmes is controversial. This chapter documents a public controversy about EMI programmes in the Netherlands. Specifically, we consider two issues, the quality of education offered through EMI and the effect of EMI on cultural identity. We relate the opinions concerning quality and identity to the perceptions gained from one crucial group of stakeholders, EMI students themselves. The public debate and the students tend to diverge on the issue of quality but converge on cultural identity. We argue that neither group is harmonious but each contains various subgroups with contrasting opinions. Moreover, language is only one among many factors affecting both quality and identity