Multiple ectoparasites infest Microcebus griseorufus at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar

The mouse lemur Microcebus griseorufus at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve and general vicinity in southwestern Madagascar were surveyed for ectoparasites as part of a year-long behavioral and ecological study. Of 249 individual mouse lemurs examined, 74 were positively identified as hosting ectoparasites. Ticks from 20 mouse lemurs and lice in a subset of two individuals captured in a 90 ha gallery forest (Parcel 1) were preserved in 70 % ethanol or EDTA and stored for analysis and for identification. Two species of Haemaphysalis ticks are represented in the sample, H. lemuris and possibly H. simplex, a tick previously reported on tenrecs, birds and rats. Synchronous development of ticks may pose a risk for vector - borne diseases at the reserve especially during the dry season. The louse represented in the sample belongs to the order Anoplura (sucking lice), and resembles Lemurpediculus verruculosus, previously reported on Microcebus rufus in eastern Madagascar.RÉSUMÉUn inventaire d’ectoparasites a été réalisé dans le cadre d’une étude de longue durée portant sur le comportement et l’écologie de Microcebus griseorufus dans trois parcelles forestières de Beza Mahafaly et ses environs. Sur les 249 microcèbes observés, 74 individus étaient infestés d’ectoparasites. La majorité de ces individus infestés, soit 97,3 % , provenait de la parcelle 1 de la réserve. Des poux et des tiques recensés sur ces animaux ont été immédiatement retirés puis préservés dans l’éthanol 70 % ou dans l’EDTA à des fins d’analyse et d’identification. Deux espèces de tiques ont été identifiées, Haemaphysalis lemuris et probablement H. simplex, cette dernière n’était préalablement connue que pour infester les tenrecs, les oiseaux et les rats. Les rongeurs jouent un rôle significatif en tant qu’hôtes pour près de la moitié des larves et des nymphes d’ixodes de tiques du monde, y compris H. simplex. Les rats sont connus pour être des porteurs d’une population importante de différentes tiques. Ils sont ainsi les hôtes avec la plus grande tolérance. Une nouvelle forme de transmission a été identifiée à Beza Mahafaly dans laquelle H. simplex et d’autres espèces de tiques ont simultanément infesté des tenrecs. Ce chevauchement de plusieurs parasites forme une sorte de réserve et favorise la transmission des agents pathogènes à travers les espèces hôtes. Les tiques immatures jouent un rôle significatif dans la transmission des maladies véhiculées par les hôtes car les nymphes ainsi infectées peuvent transmettre des pathogènes aux hôtes et aux larves engorgées. À Beza Mahafaly, le microcèbe pourrait être l’hôte des formes immatures des tiques de H. lemuris et H. simplex chez lesquelles le stade larvaire et le stade nymphal sont synchrones. Ces formes immatures de tiques se nourrissent ensemble sur des individus de microcèbes. Les poux appartiennent à l’ordre des Anoploures (poux suceurs) et ressemblent à Lemurpediculus verruculosus qui n’était connu que pour infester Microcebus rufus des forêts humides de Ranomafana.Il est possible que M. griseorufus accueille sa propre espèce de Lemurpediculus, si ce n’est le cas, il faudra admettre que la spécificité de cet arthropode serait moins limitée qu’elle ne le semblait. Pour comprendre la dynamique des parasites de la réserve, des études sur l’écologie des tiques et des poux sont recommandées afin de pouvoir contribuer effectivement à l’amélioration de la protection de la réserve

Early Holocene fauna from a new subfossil site: A first assessment from Christmas River, south central Madagascar

We report on faunal remains recovered during recent explorations at ‘Christmas River’, the only subfossil locality known from Madagascar’s south central plateau. Recovered remains of several extinct taxa date to approximately 10,000 14C years before present (BP), including crocodiles, tortoises, the elephant bird Aepyornis, the carnivoran Cryptoprocta spelea, the lemurs Archaeolemur majori, Pachylemur insignis, and Megaladapis edwardsi, and abundant remains of the dwarf hippopotamus, Hippopotamus lemerlei. The presence of southern - limited, forest - dependent species at Christmas River supports the hypothesis that forest once extended, perhaps discontinuously, across the central highlands towards the west. One theory is that sites in the north central highlands, which are higher in elevation, maintained more mesic conditions during Plio - Quaternary climate shifts than those of the lower elevation sites of the south central highlands. Thus, elevation above sea level may have acted as a filter that limited species dispersal across the island in the past. Such a scenario would explain the distinction between more humid, higher elevation, northern highland subfossil communities versus more arid, lower elevation, southern subfossil communities. Continued exploration at Christmas River thus provides a remarkable opportunity for deciphering ecological changes that have taken place in south central Madagascar during the Holocene.RÉSUMÉMadagascar est reconnue comme l’une des régions les plus sensibles du monde en ce qui concerne les menaces pesant sur sa biodiversité, et cela à cause de niveaux d’endémisme inégalés, d’une diversité variée et d’un impact humain important sur l’environnement. Suite à la colonisation par l’Homme il y a plus de 2000 ans, des extinctions de masse de la faune et un important recul forestier ont eu lieu en laissant des marques sur les écosystèmes modernes qui sont dans un état de bouleversement écologique. Certaines plantes endémiques, par exemple, ont perdu d’importantes espèces mutualistes, des animaux ont été obligés d’exploiter d’autres ressources ou habiter des endroits auxquels ils sont mal adaptés. La diversité des plantes et des animaux a diminué, est menacée ou a même complètement disparue de certaines routes de dissémination. Bien que l’Homme soit largement incriminé dans son rôle de déclencheur de ces extinctions massives, les transformations anthropiques qui ont contribué au changement du climat sont controversées. Les hautes - terres de Madagascar sont actuellement dominées par des zones herbeuses étendues qui agissent comme des barrières empêchant les mouvements de la faune de part et d’autre de l’île. Nous suggérons qu’une forêt humide plus ou moins continue devait s’étendre sur les hautes-terres. Des informations paléoécologiques des hautes - terres du Centre sud sontènécessaires pour évaluer cette hypothèse afin de démêler la contribution relative des facteurs climatiques et anthropiques dans les changements paléoécologiques de la région. Cependant, les stations de subfossiles étaient jusqu’alors inconnues dans cette région. Nous présentons ici les résultats de recherches réalisées sur les restes fauniques découverts au cours de fouilles récentes à Christmas River, la seule station de subfossiles connue des hautes - terres du Centre sud de Madagascar. Des restes de plusieurs espèces datant approximativement de 10,000 14C B.P. ont été identifiés dont des restes appartenant à des espèces de crocodile, de tortue, de l’Aepyornis, du carnivore Cryptoprocta spelea, des lémuriens Archaeolemur majori, Pachylemur insignis et Megaladapis edwardsi ainsi que de nombreux restes de l’hippopotame nain Hippopotamus lemerlei. La présence à Christmas River d’espèces sylvicoles endémiques du Sud appuie l’hypothèse de l’existence d’une forêt, certainement discontinue, mais qui s’étendait sur les hautes - terres centrales en se poursuivant vers l’ouest. Une théorie a proposé que les sites septentrionaux des hautes - terres centrales, à des altitudes plus élevées, maintenaient des conditions plus humides au cours des changements du Plio - quaternaire que les sites méridionaux de ces hautes - terres centrales. Ainsi, dans le passé, l’altitude a du agir comme un filtre qui empêchait la dispersion des espèces d’un endroit à l’autre de l’île. Un tel scénario expliquerait la distinction entre les communautés subfossiles du nord des hautes - terres qui étaient plus humides à haute altitude et les communautés subfossiles du sud aride à basse altitude. La poursuite de l’exploration à Christmas River constitue une occasion unique pour décoder les changements écologiques qui sont intervenus dans le Sud de cette région centrale de Madagascar au cours de l’Holocène

Preserving Madagascar's Natural Heritage: The Importance of Keeping the Island's Vertebrate Fossils in the Public Domain

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A pragmatic cluster randomised trial evaluating three implementation interventions

Background Implementation research is concerned with bridging the gap between evidence and practice through the study of methods to promote the uptake of research into routine practice. Good quality evidence has been summarised into guideline recommendations to show that peri-operative fasting times could be considerably shorter than patients currently experience. The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of three strategies for the implementation of recommendations about peri-operative fasting. Methods A pragmatic cluster randomised trial underpinned by the PARIHS framework was conducted during 2006 to 2009 with a national sample of UK hospitals using time series with mixed methods process evaluation and cost analysis. Hospitals were randomised to one of three interventions: standard dissemination (SD) of a guideline package, SD plus a web-based resource championed by an opinion leader, and SD plus plan-do-study-act (PDSA). The primary outcome was duration of fluid fast prior to induction of anaesthesia. Secondary outcomes included duration of food fast, patients' experiences, and stakeholders' experiences of implementation, including influences. ANOVA was used to test differences over time and interventions. Results Nineteen acute NHS hospitals participated. Across timepoints, 3,505 duration of fasting observations were recorded. No significant effect of the interventions was observed for either fluid or food fasting times. The effect size was 0.33 for the web-based intervention compared to SD alone for the change in fluid fasting and was 0.12 for PDSA compared to SD alone. The process evaluation showed different types of impact, including changes to practices, policies, and attitudes. A rich picture of the implementation challenges emerged, including inter-professional tensions and a lack of clarity for decision-making authority and responsibility. Conclusions This was a large, complex study and one of the first national randomised controlled trials conducted within acute care in implementation research. The evidence base for fasting practice was accepted by those participating in this study and the messages from it simple; however, implementation and practical challenges influenced the interventions' impact. A set of conditions for implementation emerges from the findings of this study, which are presented as theoretically transferable propositions that have international relevance. Trial registration ISRCTN18046709 - Peri-operative Implementation Study Evaluation (POISE

Teasing Apart Impacts of Human Activity and Regional Drought on Madagascar's Large Vertebrate Fauna: Insights From New Excavations at Tsimanampesotse and Antsirafaly

Madagascar experienced a major faunal turnover near the end of the first millenium CE that particularly affected terrestrial, large-bodied vertebrate species. Teasing apart the relative impacts of people and climate on this event requires a focus on regional records with good chronological control. These records may document coeval changes in rainfall, faunal composition, and human activities. Here we present new paleontological and paleoclimatological data from southwestern Madagascar, the driest part of the island today. We collected over 1500 subfossil bones from deposits at a coastal site called Antsirafaly and from both flooded and dry cave deposits at Tsimanampesotse National Park. We built a chronology of Late Holocene changes in faunal assemblages based on 65 radiocarbon-dated specimens and subfossil associations. We collected stalagmites primarily within Tsimanampesotse but also at two additional locations in southern Madagascar. These provided information regarding hydroclimate variability over the past 120,000 years. Prior research has supported a primary role for drought (rather than humans) in triggering faunal turnover at Tsimanampesotse. This is based on evidence of: (1) a large freshwater ecosystem west of what is now the hypersaline Lake Tsimanampesotse, which supported freshwater mollusks and waterfowl (including animals that could not survive on resources offered by the hypersaline lake today); (2) abundant now-extinct terrestrial vertebrates; (3) regional decline or disappearance of certain tree species; and (4) scant local human presence. Our new data allow us to document the hydroclimate of the subarid southwest during the Holocene, as well as shifts in faunal composition (including local extirpations, large-vertebrate population collapse, and the appearance of introduced species). These records affirm that climate alone cannot have produced the observed vertebrate turnover in the southwest. Human activity, including the introduction of cattle, as well as associated changes in habitat exploitation, also played an important role

Contraceptive methods and use by women aged 35 and over: A qualitative study of perspectives

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>More than 30% of the pregnancies in women aged 35 and over are unintended. This paper compares perceptions about contraceptive methods and use among women with and without an unintended pregnancy after turning age 35.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 women. They were all 35 to 49 years old, regularly menstruating, sexually active, not sterilized, not desiring a pregnancy in the near future, and at least 3 months postpartum. We purposely sampled for women who had had at least one unintended pregnancy after age 35 (n = 9) and women who did not (n = 8). We assessed partnership, views of pregnancy and motherhood, desired lifestyle, perceived advantages and disadvantages of using and obtaining currently available well-known reversible contraceptives in the U.S. ''We also assessed contraceptive methods used at any time during their reproductive years, including current method use and, if appropriate, circumstances surrounding an unintended pregnancy after age 35.'' Each interview was taped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using Grounded Theory. Analysis focused on partnership, views of pregnancy, motherhood, desired lifestyle and perceived advantages and disadvantages of various reversible contraceptive methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The women without an unintended pregnancy after age 35 were more likely to (1) use contraceptive methods that helped treat a medical condition, (2) consider pregnancy as dangerous, or (3) express concerns about the responsibilities of motherhood. The women who experienced an unintended pregnancy after age 35 were more likely to (1) report unstable partnerships, (2) perceive themselves at lower risk of pregnancy, or (3) report past experiences with unwanted contraceptive side effects. There was a greater likelihood a woman would choose a contraceptive method if it was perceived as easy to use, accessible, affordable and had minimal side effects.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Women's perspective on contraceptive use after age 35 varies. Public health messages and health providers' care can help women in this age group by reviewing their fertility risks, as well as all contraceptive methods and their associated side effects. The impact of such interventions on unintended pregnancy rates in this age group should be tested in other areas of evidence-based medicine.</p

Onset of the aerobic nitrogen cycle during the Great Oxidation Event

The rise of oxygen on the early Earth (about 2.4 billion years ago)1 caused a reorganization of marine nutrient cycles2, 3, including that of nitrogen, which is important for controlling global primary productivity. However, current geochemical records4 lack the temporal resolution to address the nature and timing of the biogeochemical response to oxygenation directly. Here we couple records of ocean redox chemistry with nitrogen isotope (15N/14N) values from approximately 2.31-billion-year-old shales5 of the Rooihoogte and Timeball Hill formations in South Africa, deposited during the early stages of the first rise in atmospheric oxygen on the Earth (the Great Oxidation Event)6. Our data fill a gap of about 400 million years in the temporal 15N/14N record4 and provide evidence for the emergence of a pervasive aerobic marine nitrogen cycle. The interpretation of our nitrogen isotope data in the context of iron speciation and carbon isotope data suggests biogeochemical cycling across a dynamic redox boundary, with primary productivity fuelled by chemoautotrophic production and a nitrogen cycle dominated by nitrogen loss processes using newly available marine oxidants. This chemostratigraphic trend constrains the onset of widespread nitrate availability associated with ocean oxygenation. The rise of marine nitrate could have allowed for the rapid diversification and proliferation of nitrate-using cyanobacteria and, potentially, eukaryotic phytoplankton

Fermi Gamma-ray Imaging of a Radio Galaxy

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected the gamma-ray glow emanating from the giant radio lobes of the radio galaxy Centaurus A. The resolved gamma-ray image shows the lobes clearly separated from the central active source. In contrast to all other active galaxies detected so far in high-energy gamma-rays, the lobe flux constitutes a considerable portion (>1/2) of the total source emission. The gamma-ray emission from the lobes is interpreted as inverse Compton scattered relic radiation from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), with additional contribution at higher energies from the infrared-to-optical extragalactic background light (EBL). These measurements provide gamma-ray constraints on the magnetic field and particle energy content in radio galaxy lobes, and a promising method to probe the cosmic relic photon fields.Comment: 27 pages, includes Supplementary Online Material; corresponding authors: C.C. Cheung, Y. Fukazawa, J. Knodlseder, L. Stawar

Community ecology of the Middle Miocene primates of La Venta, Colombia: the relationship between ecological diversity, divergence time, and phylogenetic richness

It has been suggested that the degree of ecological diversity that characterizes a primate community correlates positively with both its phylogenetic richness and the time since the members of that community diverged (Fleagle and Reed in Primate communities. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 92–115, 1999). It is therefore questionable whether or not a community with a relatively recent divergence time but high phylogenetic richness would be as ecologically variable as a community with similar phylogenetic richness but a more distant divergence time. To address this question, the ecological diversity of a fossil primate community from La Venta, Colombia, a Middle Miocene platyrrhine community with phylogenetic diversity comparable with extant platyrrhine communities but a relatively short time since divergence, was compared with that of modern Neotropical primate communities. Shearing quotients and molar lengths, which together are reliable indicators of diet, for both fossil and extant species were plotted against each other to describe the dietary “ecospace” occupied by each community. Community diversity was calculated as the area of the minimum convex polygon encompassing all community members. The diversity of the fossil community was then compared with that of extant communities to test whether the fossil community was less diverse than extant communities while taking phylogenetic richness into account. Results indicate that the La Ventan community was not significantly less ecologically diverse than modern communities, supporting the idea that ecological diversification occurred along with phylogenetic diversification early in platyrrhine evolution