The breeding biology of the greywing francolín Francolinus africanus and its implications for hunting and management

We studied the breeding biology of the greywing francolín Francolinus africanus on the Stormberg Plateau of the eastern Cape Province, South Africa during 1988–1991. Timing of breeding, nesting behaviour, clutch size, egg size, and clutch survival rates were recorded and compared with published and unpublished information from Natal, the eastern Orange Free State and south-western Cape Province. The greywing breeds during the austral summer throughout its range, with peak laying activity during August-November. However, the nesting period is contracted in the south-western Cape, where it starts about one month earlier and ends three months earlier than in the eastern Orange Free State and the eastern Cape, where laying was recorded from August to March. The greywing's breeding season is more consistently positively correlated with measures of environmental variation in the summer rainfall region than in the winter rainfall region. Flushed single birds were the best indicators of nesting sites. Clutches were incubated by hens only. Mean clutch size was 5,5 (SD = 1,2) and mean egg dimensions were 39,9 mm × 30,1 mm (SD = 1,9 and 0,9). Incubation period was 21,7 days (SD = 0,5), hatching success (the probability that eggs present at hatching time actually produced living young) was 90% and clutch survival rate (the probability that a clutch will survive 21,7 days of incubation) was 31%. Hunting seasons for the greywing should be from 15 April to 31 July in the summer rainfall region and from 1 April to 30 June in the winter rainfall region. Veld burning should cease at the end of August throughout the greywing's range so that disturbance of breeding birds is minimized

Temporal and spatial patterns of abundance and breeding activity of Namaqua sandgrouse in South Africa

We examined various measures of temporal and spatial patterns of abundance and breeding activity of Namaqua sandgrouse Pterocles namaqua (presumably mostly for P. n. furvus) in South Africa. Bird-atlas maps indicating reporting-rates and extensive-counts showed that the majority of Namaqua sandgrouse concentrate in Bushmanland, in the north-western Cape Province, from December to March. From April to July the sandgrouse move north and east of Bushmanland and apparently return to Bushmanland from August to November. This west-east movement occurs at a relatively constant rate of 30-50 km per month. Only 15% of the sandgrouse ringed at an estate within the eastern part of this species range returned the following winter. Follicle diameter and brood-patch measurements increased significantly from July to August, at the time when the majority of birds leave the estate. Belly-soaking was more prevalent in early summer in Bushmanland than in any season in the east. South African populations of Namaqua sandgrouse are partial migrants which breed primarily in early summer (October - November) in Bushmanland

Exclusive Queueing Process with Discrete Time

In a recent study [C Arita, Phys. Rev. E 80, 051119 (2009)], an extension of the M/M/1 queueing process with the excluded-volume effect as in the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) was introduced. In this paper, we consider its discrete-time version. The update scheme we take is the parallel one. A stationary-state solution is obtained in a slightly arranged matrix product form of the discrete-time open TASEP with the parallel update. We find the phase diagram for the existence of the stationary state. The critical line which separates the parameter space into the regions with and without the stationary state can be written in terms of the stationary current of the open TASEP. We calculate the average length of the system and the average number of particles

Jahn-Teller polarons and their superconductivity in a molecular conductor

We present a theoretical study of a possibility of superconductivity in a three dimensional molecular conductor in which the interaction between electrons in doubly degenerate molecular orbitals and an {\em intra}molecular vibration mode is large enough to lead to the formation of $E\otimes \beta$ Jahn-Teller small polarons. We argue that the effective polaron-polaron interaction can be attractive for material parameters realizable in molecular conductors. This interaction is the source of superconductivity in our model. On analyzing superconducting instability in the weak and strong coupling regimes of this attractive interaction, we find that superconducting transition temperatures up to 100 K are achievable in molecular conductors within this mechanism. We also find, for two particles per molecular site, a novel Mott insulating state in which a polaron singlet occupies one of the doubly degenerate orbitals on each site. Relevance of this study in the search for new molecular superconductors is pointed out.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

LCCC 1025: a phase II study of everolimus, trastuzumab, and vinorelbine to treat progressive HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases

Purpose: HER2 + breast cancer (BC) is an aggressive subtype with high rates of brain metastases (BCBM). Two-thirds of HER2 + BCBM demonstrate activation of the PI3K/mTOR pathway driving resistance to anti-HER2 therapy. This phase II study evaluated everolimus (E), a brain-permeable mTOR inhibitor, trastuzumab (T), and vinorelbine (V) in patients with HER2 + BCBM. Patients and methods: Eligible patients had progressive HER2 + BCBM. The primary endpoint was intracranial response rate (RR); secondary objectives were CNS clinical benefit rate (CBR), extracranial RR, time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS), and targeted sequencing of tumors from enrolled patients. A two-stage design distinguished intracranial RR of 5% versus 20%. Results: 32 patients were evaluable for toxicity, 26 for efficacy. Intracranial RR was 4% (1 PR). CNS CBR at 6 mos was 27%; at 3 mos 65%. Median intracranial TTP was 3.9 mos (95% CI 2.2–5). OS was 12.2 mos (95% CI 0.6–20.2). Grade 3–4 toxicities included neutropenia (41%), anemia (16%), and stomatitis (16%). Mutations in TP53 and PIK3CA were common in BCBM. Mutations in the PI3K/mTOR pathway were not associated with response. ERBB2 amplification was higher in BCBM compared to primary BC; ERBB2 amplification in the primary BC trended toward worse OS. Conclusion: While intracranial RR to ETV was low in HER2 + BCBM patients, one-third achieved CNS CBR; TTP/OS was similar to historical control. No new toxicity signals were observed. Further analysis of the genomic underpinnings of BCBM to identify tractable prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers is warranted. Clinical Trial: (NCT01305941)