Creating a public understanding of the biology of the Babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) within a caring zoo environment.

Studies of the anatomy, behaviour, physiology, and veterinary medicine of the babirusa have contributed to our understanding of the biology of the animal. The first part of this paper seeks to illustrate by means of examples how studies of the babirusa are currently being carried out. The second part addresses the topic of reporting the results of research studies. The information generated by research can often be translated into ideas and suggestions for the improvement of zoo practice with respect to enclosure design, nutrition, reproduction and veterinary care. However, it is more important that the next step is also addressed, namely the knowledgeable and interesting display of information to the general public

Group Structure and Behaviour of Babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) in Northern Sulawesi

Studies were carried out at two ‘salt-licks’ in lowland tropical forest on North Sulawesi, Indonesia. During 60 days of observation 586 sightings of babirusa were made comprising 161 of adult males, 155 of adult females, 11 adults of unknown sex, 78 of subadult males, 53 of subadult females and 34 subadults of indeterminate sex; juveniles were observed 94 times, 19 males, 12 females and 63 of unknown sex. We saw 226 groups ranging in size from one to eight animals (median = 2). Almost half the sightings were of solitary animals, usually adult males. Bachelor groups of four or more babirusa were never seen. Adult females were rarely seen without company, often both juveniles and subadults being sighted together with them. There were never more than three adult females in a group. There were about twice as many family groups without adult males as there were with males. Agonistic behaviour between males was confined to ‘threat at a distance’, ‘nose in the air’, ‘head under jaw submission’ and ‘front half supported’ behaviours. There were fewer incidents of female-female agonistic behaviour, but in two, the dominant female chased her inferior off the ‘salt-lick’

Rural Teachers\u27 Cultural and Epistemic Shifts in STEM Teaching and Learning

This article focuses on the ways in which integrated curriculum can improve STEM teaching and learning within rural spaces. Using a design-based research approach, this study focuses on rural teachers\u27 experiences of professional learning and development training as they learn to engage computing and maker technologies in their elementary classrooms as tools for teaching students about difficult histories of immigration, migration, and forced relocation across the United States

First observations on Moluccan Babirusa (Babyrousa babirussa). A translation from a recently rediscovered 1770 book that describes the Babirusa on Buru Island

Surprisingly little is known about the Moluccan Babirusa Babyrousa babirussa despite the fact that this animal was first described by Europeans in 1582 (Macdonald et al., 2016). Most of the research on the biology of the animals of the genus Babyrousa has been conducted on animals from, or descended from those on, the island of Sulawesi, where Babyrousa celebensis occurs (Macdonald, 2017). A recently rediscovered book (Anonymous, 1770), published by Jan Monterre in 1770 and republished in Afrikaans as Anonymous 2011, contains information about this poorly known Babirusa; the chapter on the ‘BabiRoesa, VarkensHert’ was compiled by an unknown author, and as acknowledged, is largely derived from the book by Valentijn (1726). The latter has been said to contain the observations collected by Georg Everhard Rumphius for his unpublished books ‘concerning Land, Airand Sea animals of these islands’ (Beekman, 1999). The general quality and accuracy of the observations in the manuscript indicate that the original author was wellinformed, and this gives a sense of reliability to this historical information. Importantly, this 246 year old book chapter provides us with a glimpse of a past when apparently the Moluccan Babirusa was still very common

Food preparation behaviour of babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis)

Food preparation behaviour of sand-contaminated food articles by two zoo-based Sulawesi babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis) was observed and recorded as video imaging data at Bali Zoo, Indonesia during an observation period of six days in July 2012. In earlier preliminary studies of four animals, comprising two mother-infant pairs, three animals held pieces of cut sweet potatoes in the mouth, carried them to a neighbouring water trough, dropped or dipped them in the water, and then began eating. This behaviour was repeated at almost every feeding time. To characterise and elucidate this food preparation behaviour further, and within the management constraints of a zoo environment, experiments with various test feeds were designed; the dipping of food articles into water was video-recorded on 37 occasions. This behaviour by the babirusa was related to (1) deliberate sandcontamination of the surface of the food; (2) deliberate provision of large-sized pieces of food, and (3) the supply of large amounts of food at one time. The distance of the water source from the food seemed to play a role in the expression of the ‘food washing’ behaviour, with short (1.5 m) distances preferred over longer (6 m) distances. The frequency of this type of babirusa food preparation behaviour was higher during the second half of a feeding period

CD11c depletion severely disrupts Th2 induction and development in vivo

Although dendritic cells (DCs) are adept initiators of CD4+ T cell responses, their fundamental importance in this regard in Th2 settings remains to be demonstrated. We have used CD11c–diphtheria toxin (DTx) receptor mice to deplete CD11c+ cells during the priming stage of the CD4+ Th2 response against the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni. DTx treatment significantly depleted CD11c+ DCs from all tissues tested, with 70–80% efficacy. Even this incomplete depletion resulted in dramatically impaired CD4+ T cell production of Th2 cytokines, altering the balance of the immune response and causing a shift toward IFN-γ production. In contrast, basophil depletion using Mar-1 antibody had no measurable effect on Th2 induction in this system. These data underline the vital role that CD11c+ antigen-presenting cells can play in orchestrating Th2 development against helminth infection in vivo, a response that is ordinarily balanced so as to prevent the potentially damaging production of inflammatory cytokines

Do contaminants originating from state-of-the-art treated wastewater impact the ecological quality of surface waters?

Since the 1980s, advances in wastewater treatment technology have led to considerably improved surface water quality in the urban areas of many high income countries. However, trace concentrations of organic wastewater-associated contaminants may still pose a key environmental hazard impairing the ecological quality of surface waters. To identify key impact factors, we analyzed the effects of a wide range of anthropogenic and environmental variables on the aquatic macroinvertebrate community. We assessed ecological water quality at 26 sampling sites in four urban German lowland river systems with a 0–100% load of state-of-the-art biological activated sludge treated wastewater. The chemical analysis suite comprised 12 organic contaminants (five phosphor organic flame retardants, two musk fragrances, bisphenol A, nonylphenol, octylphenol, diethyltoluamide, terbutryn), 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and 12 heavy metals. Non-metric multidimensional scaling identified organic contaminants that are mainly wastewater-associated (i.e., phosphor organic flame retardants, musk fragrances, and diethyltoluamide) as a major impact variable on macroinvertebrate species composition. The structural degradation of streams was also identified as a significant factor. Multiple linear regression models revealed a significant impact of organic contaminants on invertebrate populations, in particular on Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera species. Spearman rank correlation analyses confirmed wastewater-associated organic contaminants as the most significant variable negatively impacting the biodiversity of sensitive macroinvertebrate species. In addition to increased aquatic pollution with organic contaminants, a greater wastewater fraction was accompanied by a slight decrease in oxygen concentration and an increase in salinity. This study highlights the importance of reducing the wastewater-associated impact on surface waters. For aquatic ecosystems in urban areas this would lead to: (i) improvement of the ecological integrity, (ii) reduction of biodiversity loss, and (iii) faster achievement of objectives of legislative requirements, e.g., the European Water Framework Directive

Retrospective evaluation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 68 dogs

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of clinical data on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in dogs. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To investigate signalment, clinical signs, diagnostic findings, and survival in dogs with HCM. ANIMALS: Sixty-eight client-owned dogs. METHODS: Retrospective multicenter study. Medical records were searched between 2003 and 2015. The diagnosis of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy was made by echocardiographic examination. RESULTS: Three hundred and forty-five dogs with LV hypertrophy were identified, of which 277 were excluded. The remaining 68 dogs were 0.3 to 14 years old and predominantly <10 kg (85%), and without a sex predilection. Twenty-four % were Shih Tzu and 24% terrier breeds. Most (80%) had a systolic heart murmur. Owner-determined exercise intolerance (37%) and syncope (18%) were most commonly reported signs. The majority (84%) of dogs had symmetrical LV hypertrophy, whereas asymmetrical septal and LV free wall hypertrophy was observed in 9% and 6% of dogs, respectively. Isolated basal interventricular septal hypertrophy was not observed. Commonly recorded were systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (60%) and LV diastolic dysfunction (89% of dogs where diastolic function was evaluated). Six dogs died unexpectedly, and 3 developed congestive heart failure. Known survival times were between 1 day and 114 months after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in dogs should be considered as a differential diagnosis if LV hypertrophy is identified. Small breed dogs are overrepresented, and it is uncommon for dogs with HCM to develop CHF although sudden death can occur