Lingual Salt Glands in Crocodylus acutus and C. johnstoni and Their Absence from Alligator mississipiensis and Caiman crocodilus

1. Lingual salt glands, secreting hyperosmotic Na/K solutions in response to methacholine, are present in Crocodylus acutus and C. johnstoni but apparently absent from the alligatorids, Alligator mississipiensis and Caiman crocodilus. 2. Both secretory rates (6-20 [micro-mol/100 g-h) and concentrations (450-600 mM Na) of glandular secretions are essentially identical in the marine/estuarine C. acutus and C. porosus and significantly higher than in the freshwater C. johnstoni (1-2 micro-mol/100 g-h; 320-420 mM Na). 3. Lingual glands in Alligator secrete isosmotic Na/K at low rates (1-2 micro-mol/100 g-h) while those of Caiman show no response to methacholine. 4. The physiological contrast between alligatorids and crocodylids is reflected in distinct differences in the superficial appearance of the tongue and lingual pores. 5. It is postulated that the alligatorid condition of low secretory capacity and isosmotic secretion reflects the primitive salivary function of lingual glands from which the salt-secreting capability in crocodylids was derived

Plasma Homeostasis and Cloacal Urine Composition in Crocodylus porosus Caught Along a Salinity Gradient

Juveniles of the Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, maintain both osmotic pressure and plasma electrolyte homeostasis along a salinity gradient from fresh water to the sea. In fresh water (FW) the cloacal urine is a clear solution rich in ammonium and bicarbonate and containing small amounts of white precipitated solids with high concentrations of calcium and magnesium. In salt water (SW) the cloacal urine has a much higher proportion of solids, cream rather than white in colour, which are the major route for excretion of potassium in addition to calcium and magnesium. Neither liquid nor solid fractions of the cloacal urine represent a major route for excretion of sodium chloride. The solids are urates and uric acid, and their production probably constitutes an important strategy for water conservation by C. porosus in SW. These data, coupled with natural history observations and the recent identification of lingual salt glands, contribute to the conclusion that C. porosus is able to live and breed in either fresh or salt water and may be as euryhaline as any reptile

Survival and Growth of Hatchling Crocodylus porosus in Saltwater Without Access to Fresh Drinking Water

It has been suggested that C. porosus select nest sites which provide a source of freshwater for hatchlings during the dry season. From a mark-recapture study, we conclude that hatchling C. porosus can survive and grow in hyperosmotic saltwater without drinking fresh water. Hence, the siting of nests is unlikely to be the consequence of a requirement by hatchlings for fresh water. Considered along with other information, our observations imply that hatchling C. porosus have functional salt glands

Quark masses and mixings in the RS1 model with a condensing 4th generation

We study the hierarchy of quark masses and mixings in a model based on a 5-dimensional spacetime with constant curvature of Randall-Sundrum type with two branes, where the Electroweak Symmetry Breaking is caused dynamically by the condensation of a 4th generation of quarks, due to underlying physics from the 5D bulk and the first KK gluons. We first study the hierarchy of quark masses and mixings that can be obtained from purely adjusting the profile localizations, finding that realistic masses are not reproduced unless non trivial hierarchies of underlying 4-fermion interactions from the bulk are included. Then we study global U(1) symmetries that can be imposed in order to obtain non-symmetric modified Fritzsch-like textures in the mass matrices that reproduce reasonably well quark masses and CKM mixings.Comment: Minor changes. Version accepted for publication in JHE

Effects of conversion of native cerrado vegetation to pasture on soil hydro-physical properties, evapotranspiration and streamflow on the Amazonian agricultural frontier

Understanding the impacts of land-use change on landscape-hydrological dynamics is one of the main challenges in the Northern Brazilian Cerrado biome, where the Amazon agricultural frontier is located. Motivated by the gap in literature assessing these impacts, we characterized the soil hydro-physical properties and quantified surface water fluxes from catchments under contrasting land-use in this region. We used data from field measurements in two headwater micro-catchments with similar physical characteristics and different land use, i.e. cerrado sensu stricto vegetation and pasture for extensive cattle ranching. We determined hydraulic and physical properties of the soils, applied ground-based remote sensing techniques to estimate evapotranspiration, and monitored streamflow from October 2012 to September 2014. Our results show significant differences in soil hydro-physical properties between the catchments, with greater bulk density and smaller total porosity in the pasture catchment. We found that evapotranspiration is smaller in the pasture (639 ± 31% mm yr-1) than in the cerrado catchment (1,004 ± 24% mm yr-1), and that streamflow from the pasture catchment is greater with runoff coefficients of 0.40 for the pasture and 0.27 for the cerrado catchment. Overall, our results confirm that conversion of cerrado vegetation to pasture causes soil hydro-physical properties deterioration, reduction in evapotranspiration reduction, and increased streamflow

Relativistic Binaries in Globular Clusters

Galactic globular clusters are old, dense star systems typically containing 10\super{4}--10\super{7} stars. As an old population of stars, globular clusters contain many collapsed and degenerate objects. As a dense population of stars, globular clusters are the scene of many interesting close dynamical interactions between stars. These dynamical interactions can alter the evolution of individual stars and can produce tight binary systems containing one or two compact objects. In this review, we discuss theoretical models of globular cluster evolution and binary evolution, techniques for simulating this evolution that leads to relativistic binaries, and current and possible future observational evidence for this population. Our discussion of globular cluster evolution will focus on the processes that boost the production of hard binary systems and the subsequent interaction of these binaries that can alter the properties of both bodies and can lead to exotic objects. Direct {\it N}-body integrations and Fokker--Planck simulations of the evolution of globular clusters that incorporate tidal interactions and lead to predictions of relativistic binary populations are also discussed. We discuss the current observational evidence for cataclysmic variables, millisecond pulsars, and low-mass X-ray binaries as well as possible future detection of relativistic binaries with gravitational radiation.Comment: 88 pages, 13 figures. Submitted update of Living Reviews articl

HIGH PREVALENCE OF Strongyloides stercoralis INFECTION AMONG THE ELDERLY IN BRAZIL

SUMMARY Little is known about the frequency of intestinal parasites in the elderly due to a lack of attention given to the occurrence of these infections among older adults. This study compares the frequency of Strongyloides stercoralis and other enteroparasites between elderly living in nursing homes (n = 100) and those noninstitutionalized (n = 100) from Uberlândia, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, associated with data of epidemiological and socio-demographic conditions. Through coproparasitological examination of both groups, enteroparasites were detected in 15 of 200 individuals examined (7.5%; CI: 5.1- 9.9). S. stercoralis was the most frequent parasite 10/200 (5%; CI: 4.2-5.8), being significantly higher in males and in individuals with autonomy for daily living activities. There were no statistical differences in the prevalence of parasites between the two groups compared. In conclusion, S. stercoralis infection was highly prevalent in elderly patients and it does not depend on whether the individual was institutionalized or not