Visualizing sound emission of elephant vocalizations: evidence for two rumble production types

Recent comparative data reveal that formant frequencies are cues to body size in animals, due to a close relationship between formant frequency spacing, vocal tract length and overall body size. Accordingly, intriguing morphological adaptations to elongate the vocal tract in order to lower formants occur in several species, with the size exaggeration hypothesis being proposed to justify most of these observations. While the elephant trunk is strongly implicated to account for the low formants of elephant rumbles, it is unknown whether elephants emit these vocalizations exclusively through the trunk, or whether the mouth is also involved in rumble production. In this study we used a sound visualization method (an acoustic camera) to record rumbles of five captive African elephants during spatial separation and subsequent bonding situations. Our results showed that the female elephants in our analysis produced two distinct types of rumble vocalizations based on vocal path differences: a nasally- and an orally-emitted rumble. Interestingly, nasal rumbles predominated during contact calling, whereas oral rumbles were mainly produced in bonding situations. In addition, nasal and oral rumbles varied considerably in their acoustic structure. In particular, the values of the first two formants reflected the estimated lengths of the vocal paths, corresponding to a vocal tract length of around 2 meters for nasal, and around 0.7 meters for oral rumbles. These results suggest that African elephants may be switching vocal paths to actively vary vocal tract length (with considerable variation in formants) according to context, and call for further research investigating the function of formant modulation in elephant vocalizations. Furthermore, by confirming the use of the elephant trunk in long distance rumble production, our findings provide an explanation for the extremely low formants in these calls, and may also indicate that formant lowering functions to increase call propagation distances in this species'

Improving Information on Maternal Medication Use by Linking Prescription Data to Congenital Anomaly Registers: A EUROmediCAT Study

Research on associations between medication use during pregnancy and congenital anomalies is significative for assessing the safe use of a medicine in pregnancy. Congenital anomaly (CA) registries do not have optimal information on medicine exposure, in contrast to prescription databases. Linkage of prescription databases to the CA registries is a potentially effective method of obtaining accurate information on medicine use in pregnancies and the risk of congenital anomalies. We linked data from primary care and prescription databases to five European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT) CA registries. The linkage was evaluated by looking at linkage rate, characteristics of linked and non-linked cases, first trimester exposure rates for six groups of medicines according to the prescription data and information on medication use registered in the CA databases, and agreement of exposure. Of the 52,619 cases registered in the CA databases, 26,552 could be linked. The linkage rate varied between registries over time and by type of birth. The first trimester exposure rates and the agreements between the databases varied for the different medicine groups. Information on anti-epileptic drugs and insulins and analogue medicine use recorded by CA registries was of good quality. For selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, anti-asthmatics, antibacterials for systemic use, and gonadotropins and other ovulation stimulants, the recorded information was less complete. Linkage of primary care or prescription databases to CA registries improved the quality of information on maternal use of medicines in pregnancy, especially for medicine groups that are less fully registered in CA registries

Metabolomics demonstrates divergent responses of two Eucalyptus species to water stress

Past studies of water stress in Eucalyptus spp. generally highlighted the role of fewer than five “important” metabolites, whereas recent metabolomic studies on other genera have shown tens of compounds are affected. There are currently no metabolite profiling data for responses of stress-tolerant species to water stress. We used GC–MS metabolite profiling to examine the response of leaf metabolites to a long (2 month) and severe (Ψpredawn < −2 MPa) water stress in two species of the perennial tree genus Eucalyptus (the mesic Eucalyptus pauciflora and the semi-arid Eucalyptus dumosa). Polar metabolites in leaves were analysed by GC–MS and inorganic ions by capillary electrophoresis. Pressure–volume curves and metabolite measurements showed that water stress led to more negative osmotic potential and increased total osmotically active solutes in leaves of both species. Water stress affected around 30–40% of measured metabolites in E. dumosa and 10–15% in E. pauciflora. There were many metabolites that were affected in E. dumosa but not E. pauciflora, and some that had opposite responses in the two species. For example, in E. dumosa there were increases in five acyclic sugar alcohols and four low-abundance carbohydrates that were unaffected by water stress in E. pauciflora. Re-watering increased osmotic potential and decreased total osmotically active solutes in E. pauciflora, whereas in E. dumosa re-watering led to further decreases in osmotic potential and increases in total osmotically active solutes. This experiment has added several extra dimensions to previous targeted analyses of water stress responses in Eucalyptus, and highlights that even species that are closely related (e.g. congeners) may respond differently to water stress and re-waterin

Volitional exaggeration of body size through fundamental and formant frequency modulation in humans

Several mammalian species scale their voice fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequencies in competitive and mating contexts, reducing vocal tract and laryngeal allometry thereby exaggerating apparent body size. Although humans’ rare capacity to volitionally modulate these same frequencies is thought to subserve articulated speech, the potential function of voice frequency modulation in human nonverbal communication remains largely unexplored. Here, the voices of 167 men and women from Canada, Cuba, and Poland were recorded in a baseline condition and while volitionally imitating a physically small and large body size. Modulation of F0, formant spacing (∆F), and apparent vocal tract length (VTL) were measured using Praat. Our results indicate that men and women spontaneously and systemically increased VTL and decreased F0 to imitate a large body size, and reduced VTL and increased F0 to imitate small size. These voice modulations did not differ substantially across cultures, indicating potentially universal sound-size correspondences or anatomical and biomechanical constraints on voice modulation. In each culture, men generally modulated their voices (particularly formants) more than did women. This latter finding could help to explain sexual dimorphism in F0 and formants that is currently unaccounted for by sexual dimorphism in human vocal anatomy and body size

Sex- and age-specific trends in mortality from suicide and undetermined death in Germany 1991–2002

BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, significant downward linear time trends in suicide mortality were observed in most Western countries. To date, it is not established whether those favourable time trends developed homogeneously for sex and age groups and how they were affected by the number of undetermined deaths. METHODS: Data on suicide mortality and undetermined death from 1991 to 2002 in Germany were obtained from the German Federal Statistical Office. For each year, the age-standardised suicide rate (SR), undetermined death rate (UDR) and total rate (SR+UDR) was calculated by direct standardisation separately for men and women. Time trends were analyzed by Poisson regression estimating the average annual percentage change (AAPC) of the rates for sex and four age groups (15–24, 25–44, 45–74, ≥ 75 years). RESULTS: A significant decline of the SR was observed in all age groups but was less pronounced among the younger ages, particularly among men aged 15–24 years (AAPC -0.7%, p = 0.041). The SR in the oldest male age group (≥ 75 years) declined much stronger (AAPC -3.5%, p < 0.001). In women, the AAPC of the SR ranged from -1.7% to -4.6%. The average annual percentage changes in the age groups 25 – 74 years did not differ substantially for SR and SR+UDR. In contrast, due to an increase of undetermined deaths for subjects ≥ 75 years, time trends in this age group were affected by the number of undetermined deaths, especially in women. CONCLUSION: Observing downward trends in suicide mortality with lower declines for younger subjects, prevention strategies should focus in particular on younger subjects

The bashful and the boastful : prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic Societies

The creation and maintenance of influential leaders and authorities is one of the key themes of archaeological and historical enquiry. However the social dynamics of authorities and leaders in the Mesolithic remains a largely unexplored area of study. The role and influence of authorities can be remarkably different in different situations yet they exist in all societies and in almost all social contexts from playgrounds to parliaments. Here we explore the literature on the dynamics of authority creation, maintenance and contestation in egalitarian societies, and discuss the implications for our interpretation and understanding of the formation of authorities and leaders and changing social relationships within the Mesolithic

Comparative Study of Monoclonal and Recombinant Antibody-Based Immunoassays for Fungicide Analysis in Fruit juices

[EN] A comparative study of the analytical performance of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), based on monoclonal and recombinant antibodies, for the determination of fungicide residues in fruit juices has been carried out. To this aim, three murine hybridoma cell lines secreting specific monoclonal antibodies against (RS)-2-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)propyl-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl ether (tetraconazole), 2-(4-triazolyl)benzimidazole (thiabendazole), and (RS)-1-(beta-allyloxy-2,4-dichlorophenylethyl)imidazole (imazalil) were used as a source of immunoglobulin gene fragments for the production of single-chain variable fragment (scFv) and fusion scFv-pIII recombinant antibodies in Escherichia coli. Selected recombinant antibodies displayed cross-reactivity profiles very similar to those of the parent monoclonal antibodies. Imazalil and tetraconazole recombinant antibodies showed one order of magnitude lower affinity than their respective monoclonal antibodies, whereas the thiabendazole recombinant antibodies showed an affinity similar to that of their parent monoclonal antibody. On the other hand, scFv-pIII fusion fragments showed similar analytical properties as, and occasionally better than, scFv recombinant antibodies. Finally, ELISAs developed from each antibody type showed similar analytical performance when applied to the analysis of the target fungicides in fruit juices.This work was funded by Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (MEC, Spain, Project AGL2002-03266). E. P. was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship from Conselleria d'Educacio (Generalitat Valenciana, Spain).Moreno Tamarit, MJ.; Plana Andani, E.; Manclus Ciscar, JJ.; Montoya Baides, Á. (2014). Comparative Study of Monoclonal and Recombinant Antibody-Based Immunoassays for Fungicide Analysis in Fruit juices. Food Analytical Methods. 7(2):481-489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-013-9655-zS48148972Abad A, Manclús JJ, Moreno M, Montoya A (2001) J AOAC Int 84:1–6Alcocer MJC, Doyen C, Lee HA, Morgan MRA (2000) J Agric Food Chem 48:4053–4059Brichta J, Vesela H, Franek M (2003) Vet Med 48:237–247Brichta J, Hnilova M, Viskovic T (2005) Vet Med 50:231–252Charlton K, Harris WJ, Potter AJ (2001) Biosens Bioelec 16:639–646EU Pesticide Database (2013) Pesticide EU-MRLs. http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm . Accessed Jan 2013Ferrer C, Martínez-Bueno MJ, Lozano A, Fernández-Alba AR (2011) Talanta 83:1552–1561Garret SD, Appleford DJA, Wyatt GM, Lee HA, Morgan MRA (1997) J Agric Food Chem 45:4183–4189Graham BM, Porter AJ, Harris WJ (1995) J Chem Technol Biotech 63:279–289Hiemstra M, de Kok A (2007) J Chromatog A 1154:3–25Kipriyanov SM, Moldenhauer G, Little M (1997) J Immunol Meth 200:69–77Kramer K, Hock B (2007) Recombinant antibodies for agrochemicals: Evolutionary optimization. In: Kennedy IR, Solomon KR, Gee SJ, Crossan AN, Wang S, Sánchez-Bayo F (eds) Rational environmental management of agrochemicals: Risk assessment, monitoring, and remedial action. ACS Symposium Series, vol. 966, pp 155−170Krebber A, Bornhauser S, Burmester J, Honegger A, Willuda J, Bosshard HR, Plückthun A (1997) J Immunol Meth 201:35–55Leong SSJ, Chen WN (2008) Chem Engin Sci 63:1401–1414Li T, Zhang Q, Liu Y, Chen D, Hu B, Blake DA, Liu F (2006) J Agric Food Chem 54:9085–9091Manclús JJ, Moreno M, Plana E, Montoya A (2008) J Agric Food Chem 56:8790–8800Markus V, Janne L, Urpo L (2011) Trends Anal Chem 30:219–226Mersmann M, Schmidt A, Tesar M, Schöneberg A, Welschof M, Kipriyanov S, Terness P, Little M, Pfizenmaier K, Moosmayer D (1998) J Immunol Meth 220:51–58Moreno M, Plana E, Montoya A, Caputo P, Manclús JJ (2007) Food Addit Contam 24:704–712Morozova VS, Levashova AI, Eremin SA (2005) J Anal Chem 60:202–217Nishi K, Imajuku Y, Nakata M, Ohde K, Miyake S, Morimune K, Kawata M, Ohkawa H (2003) J Pest Sci 28:301–309Nishi K, Ishiuchi M, Morimune K, Ohkawa H (2005) J Agric Food Chem 53:5096–5104Scholthof KB, Whang G, Karu AE (1997) J Agric Food Chem 45:1509–1517Sheedy C, MacKenzie CR, Hall JC (2007) Biotech Adv 25:25333–25352Tout NL, Yau KYF, Trevors JT, Lee H, Hall JC (2001) J Agric Food Chem 49:3628–3637Webb SR, Lee H, Hall JC (1997) J Agric Food Chem 45:535–541Yau KYF, Tout NL, Trevors JT, Lee H, Hall JC (1998) J Agric Food Chem 46:4457–4463Yoshioka N, Akiyama Y, Matsuoka T, Mitsuhashi T (2010) Food Control 21:212–21

Factors associated with low fitness in adolescents – A mixed methods study

Background: Fitness and physical activity are important for cardiovascular and mental health but activity and fitness levels are declining especially in adolescents and among girls. This study examines clustering of factors associated with low fitness in adolescents in order to best target public health interventions for young people. Methods: 1147 children were assessed for fitness, had blood samples, anthropometric measures and all data were linked with routine electronic data to examine educational achievement, deprivation and health service usage. Factors associated with fitness were examined using logistic regression, conditional trees and data mining cluster analysis. Focus groups were conducted with children in a deprived school to examine barriers and facilitators to activity for children in a deprived community. Results: Unfit adolescents are more likely to be deprived, female, have obesity in the family and not achieve in education. There were 3 main clusters for risk of future heart disease/diabetes (high cholesterol/insulin); children at low risk (not obese, fit, achieving in education), children ‘visibly at risk’ (overweight, unfit, many hospital/GP visits) and ‘invisibly at risk’ (unfit but not overweight, failing in academic achievement). Qualitative findings show barriers to physical activity include cost, poor access to activity, lack of core physical literacy skills and limited family support. Conclusions: Low fitness in the non-obese child can reveal a hidden group who have high risk factors for heart disease and diabetes but may not be identified as they are normal weight. In deprived communities low fitness is associated with non-achievement in education but in non-deprived communities low fitness is associated with female gender. Interventions need to target deprived families and schools in deprived areas with community wide campaigns

Low Frequency Groans Indicate Larger and More Dominant Fallow Deer (Dama dama) Males

Background: Models of honest advertisement predict that sexually selected calls should signal male quality. In most vertebrates, high quality males have larger body sizes that determine higher social status and in turn higher reproductive success. Previous research has emphasised the importance of vocal tract resonances or formant frequencies of calls as cues to body size in mammals. However, the role of the acoustic features of vocalisations as cues to other quality-related phenotypic characteristics of callers has rarely been investigated. Methodology/Principal Findings: We examined whether the acoustic structure of fallow deer groans provides reliable information on the quality of the caller, by exploring the relationships between male quality (body size, dominance rank, and mating success) and the frequency components of calls (fundamental frequency, formant frequencies, and formant dispersion). We found that body size was not related to the fundamental frequency of groans, whereas larger males produced groans with lower formant frequencies and lower formant dispersion. Groans of high-ranking males were characterised by lower minimum fundamental frequencies and to a lesser extent, by lower formant dispersions. Dominance rank was the factor most strongly related to mating success, with higher-ranking males having higher mating success. The minimum fundamental frequency and the minimum formant dispersion were indirectly related to male mating success (through dominance rank). Conclusion/Significance: Our study is the first to show that sexually selected vocalisations can signal social dominance in mammals other than primates, and reveals that independent acoustic components encode accurate information on different phenotypic aspects of male quality