Ageing effect on grooming activity in langur male bands (Semnopithecus entellus) in and around Jodhpur (India)

The study is based on grooming activity in different age class members of Semnopithecus entellus entellus all-male bands (AMB). All males seem to reach a peak in grooming frequency during and immediately following puberty and it is suggested that this peak corresponds to a period of establishing coalition bonds. High grooming rates may also be found in young adults who are actively and assertively challenging higher-ranking individuals. Finally, some old males exhibit paternalistic behavior toward young (generally pre-pubertal) males, which includes grooming, co-feeding and active defense by the older male. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis than grooming is an instrumental behaviour analogous to human gift exchange, which can be “used” by an individual for his ultimate benefit

Ecology and conservation of golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan

At north-west of India there is dry, semi arid region called as The Great Indian Thar desert. It lies between 24o and 35o 5’ N latitude and 70o 7’ and 76o 2’ E. Mammals of Thar desert includes the wolf (Canis lupus), the stripped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena), golden Jackal (Canis aureus), the Indian desert fox (Vulpes v. pusilla), wild bore (Susscrofaspc.), black buck (Antilo pecervicapra), blue bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus), chinkara (Gazella benneti), Hanuman langur (Semenopithecus entellus) etc. Golden Jackal is unique in distribution, occurrence, and survives at different environmental conditions in India including the hot desert. Present study has been carried out at Phitkasni village, situated south-east of Jodhpur city. Large population of golden Jackal has observed and data of their homerange, territory, inter-specific relation, conflict with human and mortality has been studied. It is concluded that regular monitoring and proper conservation management is needed in this area so Jackal and other carnivore like wolf, desert fox and hyena can also be conserved

Study of the impact of tourists and local visitors / feeders on free-ranging Hanuman langur population in and around Jodhpur, Rajasthan (India)

The Jodhpur city of Rajasthan has many tourist places where Hanuman langurs habitually feed on the food given by the visitors to them. The interactions were studied between Hanuman langurs and the visitors in and around Jodhpur by means of interviewing the visitors and direct observations of the behaviour of Hanuman langurs and visitors. Most (82.2%) of the observed interactions involved the presence of food; only in 17.8% of the interactions we observed langurs threatening or chasing the visitors. Some differences, however, emerged between what the visitors reported in the interviews and what we observed. Most respondents (76.1%) reported in the interviews that hostile interactions were started by monkeys, whereas analysis of the direct interactions showed that 47.3% of such interactions were initiated by visitors and only 39.6% by Hanuman langurs. Moreover, 83.9% of the visitors affirm them to feed Hanuman langurs, while 70.2% of them report having seen other visitors feeding them. On the basis of the above results, it would be beneficial to establish an educational program, providing information about the behaviour of Hanuman langurs and the consequences that feeding them could have on their behaviour and on their interactions with visitors

Genetic Variability, Diversity and Interrelationship for Twelve Grain Minerals in 122 Commercial Pearl Millet Cultivars in India

Pearl millet contributes to the major source of dietary calories and essential micronutrients intake among rural populations in certain regions of India as its grains are more nutritious than other cereals. The aims of this investigation were to profile cultivar nutrition, diversity and interrelationship for grain minerals (Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, S, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Mo and Ni) among 122 pearl millet hybrids and open-pollinated varieties in India. Trials were evaluated in randomized complete block design with three replications at two locations (Patancheru and Mandor) representing two major cultivation zones. The grain minerals in cultivars exhibited two- to- four-fold variation. Positive and significant correlations were noted among different minerals. A higher magnitude of positive and significant association between Fe and Zn (r = 0.71, P\0.01) and with other minerals suggested the existence of greater genetic potential for the concurrent improvement of Fe and Zn without lowering the other grain minerals in pearl millet. The first two principal components accounted for 49% of variation. Euclidian distancebased cluster analysis grouped the 122 cultivars into seven clusters. Cluster I had higher mean for Fe (56 mg kg-1) and Zn (49 mg kg-1), in which ICTP 8203, Ajeet 38, Sanjivani 222,PAC 903 and 86 M86 were identified as rich sources of iron, zinc and calcium with considerable levels of other nutrients. About 65% of cultivars for iron and 100% of cultivars for zinc have met the minimum standards set forth by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. This indicates the feasibility of breeding nutrient-rich hybrids with competitive yields through mainstreaming in future

SOPHIE velocimetry of Kepler transit candidates XVII. The physical properties of giant exoplanets within 400 days of period

While giant extrasolar planets have been studied for more than two decades now, there are still some open questions such as their dominant formation and migration process, as well as their atmospheric evolution in different stellar environments. In this paper, we study a sample of giant transiting exoplanets detected by the Kepler telescope with orbital periods up to 400 days. We first defined a sample of 129 giant-planet candidates that we followed up with the SOPHIE spectrograph (OHP, France) in a 6-year radial velocity campaign. This allow us to unveil the nature of these candidates and to measure a false-positive rate of 54.6 +/- 6.5 % for giant-planet candidates orbiting within 400 days of period. Based on a sample of confirmed or likely planets, we then derive the occurrence rates of giant planets in different ranges of orbital periods. The overall occurrence rate of giant planets within 400 days is 4.6 +/- 0.6 %. We recover, for the first time in the Kepler data, the different populations of giant planets reported by radial velocity surveys. Comparing these rates with other yields, we find that the occurrence rate of giant planets is lower only for hot jupiters but not for the longer period planets. We also derive a first measurement on the occurrence rate of brown dwarfs in the brown-dwarf desert with a value of 0.29 +/- 0.17 %. Finally, we discuss the physical properties of the giant planets in our sample. We confirm that giant planets receiving a moderate irradiation are not inflated but we find that they are in average smaller than predicted by formation and evolution models. In this regime of low-irradiated giant planets, we find a possible correlation between their bulk density and the Iron abundance of the host star, which needs more detections to be confirmed.Comment: To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The SDSS-III APOGEE Radial Velocity Survey of M dwarfs I: Description of Survey and Science Goals

We are carrying out a large ancillary program with the SDSS-III, using the fiber-fed multi-object NIR APOGEE spectrograph, to obtain high-resolution H-band spectra of more than 1200 M dwarfs. These observations are used to measure spectroscopic rotational velocities, radial velocities, physical stellar parameters, and variability of the target stars. Here, we describe the target selection for this survey and results from the first year of scientific observations based on spectra that is publicly available in the SDSS-III DR10 data release. As part of this paper we present RVs and vsini of over 200 M dwarfs, with a vsini precision of ~2 km/s and a measurement floor at vsini = 4 km/s. This survey significantly increases the number of M dwarfs studied for vsini and RV variability (at ~100-200 m/s), and will advance the target selection for planned RV and photometric searches for low mass exoplanets around M dwarfs, such as HPF, CARMENES, and TESS. Multiple epochs of radial velocity observations enable us to identify short period binaries, and AO imaging of a subset of stars enables the detection of possible stellar companions at larger separations. The high-resolution H-band APOGEE spectra provide the opportunity to measure physical stellar parameters such as effective temperatures and metallicities for many of these stars. At the culmination of this survey, we will have obtained multi-epoch spectra and RVs for over 1400 stars spanning spectral types of M0-L0, providing the largest set of NIR M dwarf spectra at high resolution, and more than doubling the number of known spectroscopic vsini values for M dwarfs. Furthermore, by modeling telluric lines to correct for small instrumental radial velocity shifts, we hope to achieve a relative velocity precision floor of 50 m/s for bright M dwarfs. We present preliminary results of this telluric modeling technique in this paper.Comment: Submitted to Astronomical Journa

The SDSS-III APOGEE Radial Velocity Survey Of M Dwarfs. I. Description Of The Survey And Science Goals

We are carrying out a large ancillary program with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, SDSS-III, using the fiber-fed multi-object near-infrared APOGEE spectrograph, to obtain high-resolution H-band spectra of more than 1200 M dwarfs. These observations will be used to measure spectroscopic rotational velocities, radial velocities, physical stellar parameters, and variability of the target stars. Here, we describe the target selection for this survey, as well as results from the first year of scientific observations based on spectra that will be publicly available in the SDSS-III DR 10 data release. As part of this paper we present radial velocities and rotational velocities of over 200 M dwarfs, with a v sin i precision of similar to 2 km s(-1) a measurement floor at v sin i = 4 km s(-1). This survey significantly increases the number of M dwarfs studied for rotational velocities and radial velocity variability (at similar to 100-200 m s(-1)), and will inform and advance the target selection for planned radial velocity and photometric searches for low-mass exoplanets around M dwarfs, such as the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, CARMENES, and TESS. Multiple epochs of radial velocity observations enable us to identify short period binaries, and adaptive optics imaging of a subset of stars enables the detection of possible stellar companions at larger separations. The high-resolution APOGEE spectra, covering the entire H band, provide the opportunity to measure physical stellar parameters such as effective temperatures and metallicities for many of these stars. At the culmination of this survey, we will have obtained multi-epoch spectra and radial velocities for over 1400 stars spanning the spectral range M0-L0, providing the largest set of near-infrared M dwarf spectra at high resolution, and more than doubling the number of known spectroscopic a sin i values for M dwarfs. Furthermore, by modeling telluric lines to correct for small instrumental radial velocity shifts, we hope to achieve a relative velocity precision floor of 50 m s(-1) for bright M dwarfs. With three or more epochs, this precision is adequate to detect substellar companions, including giant planets with short orbital periods, and flag them for higher-cadence followup. We present preliminary, and promising, results of this telluric modeling technique in this paper.Center for Exoplanets and Habitable WorldsPennsylvania State UniversityEberly College of SciencePennsylvania Space Grant ConsortiumNSF AST 1006676, AST 1126413National Science FoundationNational Aeronautics and Space Administration NNX-08AE38A, NNX13AB03GAlfred P. Sloan FoundationU.S. Department of Energy Oce of ScienceUniversity of ArizonaBrazilian Participation GroupBrookhaven National LaboratoryUniversity of CambridgeCarnegie Mellon UniversityUniversity of FloridaFrench Participation GroupGerman Participation GroupHarvard UniversityInstituto de Astrosica de CanariasMichigan State/Notre Dame/JINA Participation GroupJohns Hopkins UniversityLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryMax Planck Institute for AstrophysicsMax Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial PhysicsNew Mexico State UniversityNew York UniversityOhio State UniversityUniversity of PortsmouthPrinceton UniversitySpanish Participation GroupUniversity of TokyoUniversity of UtahVanderbilt UniversityUniversity of VirginiaUniversity of WashingtonYale UniversityMcDonald Observator

Understanding the radio relic emission in the galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745: Spectral analysis

Radio relics are diffuse, extended synchrotron sources that originate from shock fronts generated during cluster mergers. The massive merging galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 hosts one of the more complex relics known to date. We present upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope band 3 (300-500 MHz) and band 4 (550-850 MHz) observations. These new observations, combined with published VLA and the new LOFAR HBA data, allow us to carry out a detailed, high spatial resolution spectral analysis of the relic over a broad range of frequencies. The integrated spectrum of the relic closely follows a power law between 144 MHz and 5.5 GHz with a mean spectral slope αâ€., =â€., -1.16†±â€ 0.03. Despite the complex morphology of this relic, its subregions and the other isolated filaments also follow power-law behaviors, and show similar spectral slopes. Assuming diffusive shock acceleration, we estimated a dominant Mach number of ∼3.7 for the shocks that make up the relic. A comparison with recent numerical simulations suggests that in the case of radio relics, the slopes of the integrated radio spectra are determined by the Mach number of the accelerating shock, with α nearly constant, namely between -1.13 and -1.17, for Mach numbers 3.5†-†4.0. The spectral shapes inferred from spatially resolved regions show curvature, we speculate that the relic is inclined along the line of sight. The locus of points in the simulated color-color plots changes significantly with the relic viewing angle. We conclude that projection effects and inhomogeneities in the shock Mach number dominate the observed spectral properties of the relic in this complex system. Based on the new observations we raise the possibility that the relic and a narrow-angle-tailed radio galaxy are two different structures projected along the same line of sight

Powerful AGN jets and unbalanced cooling in the hot atmosphere of IC 4296

We present new Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA, 1.5 GHz) radio data for the giant elliptical galaxy IC 4296, supported by archival radio, X-ray (Chandra, XMM-Newton) and optical (SOAR, HST) observations. The galaxy hosts powerful radio jets piercing through the inner hot X-ray emitting atmosphere, depositing most of the energy into the ambient intra-cluster medium (ICM). Whereas the radio surface brightness of the A configuration image is consistent with a Fanaroff-Riley Class I (FR I) system, the D configuration image shows two bright, relative to the central region, large (~160 kpc diameter), well-defined lobes, previously reported by Killeen et al., at a projected distance r~>230 kpc. The XMM-Newton image reveals an X-ray cavity associated with one of the radio lobes. The total enthalpy of the radio lobes is ~7x10^59 erg and the mechanical power output of the jets is ~10^44 erg/s. The jets are mildly curved and possibly re-brightened by the relative motion of the galaxy and the ICM. The lobes display sharp edges, suggesting the presence of bow shocks, which would indicate that they are expanding supersonically. The central entropy and cooling time of the X-ray gas are unusually low and the nucleus hosts a warm H\alpha+[NII] nebula and a cold molecular CO disk. Because most of the energy of the jets is deposited far from the nucleus, the atmosphere of the galaxy continues to cool, apparently feeding the central supermassive black hole and powering the jet activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA