808 research outputs found

    The type specimens and type localities of the orangutans, genus Pongo Lacépède, 1799 (Primates: Hominidae)

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    peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=tnah20Uncertain type localities undermine orangutan nomenclature. Bequeathed to the British Museum, the holotype of Pongo pygmaeus, according to Hans Sloane’s catalogue, came from Borneo and died in China. The historical evidence makes Banjarmasin its most probable type locality. William Montgomerie, Assistant Surgeon at Singapore from 1819-1827, and Senior Surgeon from 1832, supplied the holotype of Simia morio. In 1836 an adult female orangutan reached Singapore alive from Pontianak, Borneo. The holotypes of S. morio, S. hendrikzii, S. straussii and P[ithecus] owenii probably had the same origin, as pirate attacks endangered visits to other Bornean coasts. Absent from Brunei and north Sarawak, Malaysia, throughout the Holocene, orangutans occur there only as Pleistocene subfossils at Niah. Pan vetus (the Piltdown mandible) probably came from Paku, Sarawak. We identify Pongo borneo Lacépède, 1799 as an objective senior synonym of P. wurmbii Tiedemann, 1808, correcting its type locality from Sukadana to near Pontianak. This is the earliest name for the western subspecies (previously thought nominotypical) unless Pithecus curtus, probably from the Sadong River, Sarawak, represents a separate subspecies. If so, the name Pongo borneo would transfer to the southern population west of the Kahayan River, genetically distinguished at species level from the Sumatran orangutan, P. abelii.This is an original manuscript / preprint of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Natural History on 20 July 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00222933.2016.1190414NHM Repositor

    Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows

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    Pasture access can benefit dairy cows’ behavior, health, and welfare, but herds are increasingly housed indoors full-time. Recent infrared thermal-imaging (thermography) studies suggest that higher eye temperatures may be a physiological indicator of chronic stress. We, therefore, hypothesized that, compared to cows with pasture access, cows housed indoors full-time would have higher eye temperatures. In a two-phase crossover experiment, 29 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows experienced 18 days of overnight pasture access and 18 days of full-time indoor housing. We measured each animal’s eye temperature 16 times (eight/phase). During Phase One, cows with pasture access had higher eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time (contrary to our hypothesis). However, during Phase Two, cows with pasture access had lower eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time. It is, therefore, unclear whether eye temperature reflected disparities in dairy cow welfare between different housing treatments

    miR-21 Promotes Fibrogenesis in Peritoneal Dialysis.

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    Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a life-saving form of renal replacement therapy for those with end-stage kidney disease. Mesothelial cells (MCs) line the peritoneal cavity and help define peritoneal response to treatment-associated injury, a major reason for treatment failure. miRNAs are important regulators, but their roles in peritoneal fibrosis are largely unknown. In this study, miR-21 was one of the most abundant miRNAs in primary MCs, and was up-regulated by the profibrotic cytokine transforming growth factor-β1 and in PD effluent-derived MCs exhibiting mesenchymal phenotypic change. Increased miR-21 was found in peritoneal membrane biopsy specimens from PD patients compared to healthy controls (PD biocompatible, 5.86×, P = 0.0001; PD conventional, 7.09×, P < 0.0001, n = 11 per group). In PD effluent from a cohort of 230 patients, miR-21 was higher in those receiving the therapy long-term compared to new starters (n = 230, miR-21 3.26×, P = 0.001) and associated with icodextrin use (R = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.20-0.84), peritonitis count (R = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.29), and dialysate cytokines. miR-21 down-regulated programmed cell death 4 and programmed cell death 4 protein was decreased in peritoneal membrane biopsy specimens from PD patients compared to healthy controls. New miR-21 targets were identified that may be important during PD fibrogenesis. These data identify miR-21 as an important effector of fibrosis in the peritoneal membrane, and a promising biomarker in the dialysis effluent for membrane change in patients receiving PD

    Measuring every particle's size from three-dimensional imaging experiments

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    Often experimentalists study colloidal suspensions that are nominally monodisperse. In reality these samples have a polydispersity of 4-10%. At the level of an individual particle, the consequences of this polydispersity are unknown as it is difficult to measure an individual particle size from microscopy. We propose a general method to estimate individual particle radii within a moderately concentrated colloidal suspension observed with confocal microscopy. We confirm the validity of our method by numerical simulations of four major systems: random close packing, colloidal gels, nominally monodisperse dense samples, and nominally binary dense samples. We then apply our method to experimental data, and demonstrate the utility of this method with results from four case studies. In the first, we demonstrate that we can recover the full particle size distribution {\it in situ}. In the second, we show that accounting for particle size leads to more accurate structural information in a random close packed sample. In the third, we show that crystal nucleation occurs in locally monodisperse regions. In the fourth, we show that particle mobility in a dense sample is correlated to the local volume fraction.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

    Infrared light excites cells by changing their electrical capacitance

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    Optical stimulation has enabled important advances in the study of brain function and other biological processes, and holds promise for medical applications ranging from hearing restoration to cardiac pace making. In particular, pulsed laser stimulation using infrared wavelengths >1.5 ÎĽm has therapeutic potential based on its ability to directly stimulate nerves and muscles without any genetic or chemical pre-treatment. However, the mechanism of infrared stimulation has been a mystery, hindering its path to the clinic. Here we show that infrared light excites cells through a novel, highly general electrostatic mechanism. Infrared pulses are absorbed by water, producing a rapid local increase in temperature. This heating reversibly alters the electrical capacitance of the plasma membrane, depolarizing the target cell. This mechanism is fully reversible and requires only the most basic properties of cell membranes. Our findings underscore the generality of pulsed infrared stimulation and its medical potential
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