Body temperatures in two brazilian primates

O ciclo de temperatura corpórea diário do saguí Callithrix jacchus (4 o) tem uma amplitude de 4,3ºC, cêrca de 2 vêzes a observada em outros primatas e mais elevada em qualquer outro mamífero. O máximo foi às 9,30 horas (39,7 mais ou menos 0,98º) e o mínimo foi às 1,30 horas (35,4 mais ou menos 0,4º

Mesons and Flavor on the Conifold

We explore the addition of fundamental matter to the Klebanov-Witten field theory. We add probe D7-branes to the ${\cal N}=1$ theory obtained from placing D3-branes at the tip of the conifold and compute the meson spectrum for the scalar mesons. In the UV limit of massless quarks we find the exact dimensions of the associated operators, which exhibit a simple scaling in the large-charge limit. For the case of massive quarks we compute the spectrum of scalar mesons numerically.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, v2: typos fixe

Observations on Food Consumption and Preference in Four Alaskan Mammals

Contains report of a study made during Oct.-Nov. in Wisconsin where animals captured two months earlier in Alaska, were maintained in captivity. Alaskan ground squirrels, Dawson red-back voles, Alaskan collared lemmings and pikas were fed both fresh and dry food and their water intake, caloric intake and food preferences studied. There was little agreement among the various species in food preference; caloric intake was in general greater per weight unit in small than in large animals. Simple food consumption values are shown to be a fairly reliable measure of metabolic requirements and output in wild animals. The lemmings' catholic taste is noted as a factor favorable for survival in rigorous environment. For other papers from this study see Arctic Bibliography No. 26500-26501

Enhancement in corneal permeability of riboflavin using calcium sequestering compounds

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, ethylenediamine-N,N′-disuccinic acid and ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid are polyaminocarboxylic acids that are able to sequester metal ions. Calcium is implicated in maintenance of intercellular matrix, zonula occludens (tight junctions) and zonula adherens of epithelium and endothelium cells. Corneal epithelium is impervious to many aqueous formulations due to it being lipophilic, whereby transcellular drug transit is resisted, whilst tight junctions restrict access via the paracellular route. Research has shown that integrity of tight junctions breaks down through loss of Ca2+ for endothelial and epithelial cells. This study investigates different Ca2+ sequestering compounds and their effect on corneal permeability of riboflavin at physiological pH. Riboflavin is a topically administered ocular drug applied during UV-induced corneal cross-linking for the treatment of keratoconus

Spatial ecology of the critically endangered Fijian crested iguana, Brachylophus vitiensis, in an extremely dense population: implications for conservation

The Critically Endangered Fijian crested iguana, Brachylophus vitiensis, occurs at extreme density at only one location, with estimates of >10,000 iguanas living on the 70 hectare island of Yadua Taba in Fiji. We conducted a mark and recapture study over two wet seasons, investigating the spatial ecology and intraspecific interactions of the strictly arboreal Fijian crested iguana. This species exhibits moderate male-biased sexual size dimorphism, which has been linked in other lizard species to territoriality, aggression and larger male home ranges. We found that male Fijian crested iguanas exhibit high injury levels, indicative of frequent aggressive interactions. We did not find support for larger home range size in adult males relative to adult females, however male and female residents were larger than roaming individuals. Males with established home ranges also had larger femoral pores relative to body size than roaming males. Home range areas were small in comparison to those of other iguana species, and we speculate that the extreme population density impacts considerably on the spatial ecology of this population. There was extensive home range overlap within and between sexes. Intersexual overlap was greater than intrasexual overlap for both sexes, and continuing male-female pairings were observed among residents. Our results suggest that the extreme population density necessitates extensive home range overlap even though the underlying predictors of territoriality, such as male biased sexual size dimorphism and high aggression levels, remain. Our findings should be factored in to conservation management efforts for this species, particularly in captive breeding and translocation programs.This work was supported by the International Iguana Foundation, the Australian National University (field work grant), the Federation of Australian Women (Georgina Sweet fellowship), the Ecological Society of Australia (student research award) and the Taronga Foundation

Recent developments on the role of epigenetics in obesity and metabolic disease

The increased prevalence of obesity and related comorbidities is a major public health problem. While genetic factors undoubtedly play a role in determining individual susceptibility to weight gain and obesity, the identified genetic variants only explain part of the variation. This has led to growing interest in understanding the potential role of epigenetics as a mediator of gene-environment interactions underlying the development of obesity and its associated comorbidities. Initial evidence in support of a role of epigenetics in obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was mainly provided by animal studies, which reported epigenetic changes in key metabolically important tissues following high-fat feeding and epigenetic differences between lean and obese animals and by human studies which showed epigenetic changes in obesity and T2DM candidate genes in obese/diabetic individuals. More recently, advances in epigenetic methodologies and the reduced cost of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) have led to a rapid expansion of studies in human populations. These studies have also reported epigenetic differences between obese/T2DM adults and healthy controls and epigenetic changes in association with nutritional, weight loss, and exercise interventions. There is also increasing evidence from both human and animal studies that the relationship between perinatal nutritional exposures and later risk of obesity and T2DM may be mediated by epigenetic changes in the offspring. The aim of this review is to summarize the most recent developments in this rapidly moving field, with a particular focus on human EWAS and studies investigating the impact of nutritional and lifestyle factors (both pre- and postnatal) on the epigenome and their relationship to metabolic health outcomes. The difficulties in distinguishing consequence from causality in these studies and the critical role of animal models for testing causal relationships and providing insight into underlying mechanisms are also addressed. In summary, the area of epigenetics and metabolic health has seen rapid developments in a short space of time. While the outcomes to date are promising, studies are ongoing, and the next decade promises to be a time of productive research into the complex interactions between the genome, epigenome, and environment as they relate to metabolic disease.Susan J. van Dijk, Ross L. Tellam, Janna L. Morrison, Beverly S. Muhlhausler, and Peter L. Mollo

Mapping the Galactic Halo with blue horizontal branch stars from the 2dF quasar redshift survey

We use 666 blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars from the 2Qz redshift survey to map the Galactic halo in four dimensions (position, distance and velocity). We find that the halo extends to at least 100 kpc in Galactocentric distance, and obeys a single power-law density profile of index ~-2.5 in two different directions separated by 150 degrees on the sky. This suggests that the halo is spherical. Our map shows no large kinematically coherent structures (streams, clouds or plumes) and appears homogeneous. However, we find that at least 20% of the stars in the halo reside in substructures and that these substructures are dynamically young. The velocity dispersion profile of the halo appears to increase towards large radii while the stellar velocity distribution is non Gaussian beyond 60 kpc. We argue that the outer halo consists of a multitude of low luminosity overlapping tidal streams from recently accreted objects.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Requires emulateapj to proces

Effect of H on the crystalline and magnetic structures of the YCo3-H(D) system. I. YCo3 from neutron powder diffraction and first-principles calculations

This paper reports investigations into the influence of hydrogen on the magnetic properties of the YCo3-H system. We report results on the magnetic structure and magnetic transitions of YCo3 using a combination of neutron powder diffraction measurements and first-principles full potential augmented plane wave + local orbital calculations under the generalized gradient approximation. The ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic structures are examined on an equal footing. However, we identify that, no matter which structure is used as the starting point, the neutron diffraction data always refines down to the ferrimagnetic structure with the Co2 atoms having antiparallel spins. In the ab initio calculations, the inclusion of spin-orbit coupling is found to be important in the prediction of the correct magnetic ground state. Here, the results suggest that, for zero external field and sufficiently low temperatures, the spin arrangement of YCo3 is ferrimagnetic rather than ferromagnetic as previously believed. The fixed spin moment calculation technique has been employed to understand the two successive field-induced magnetic transitions observed in previous magnetization measurements under increasing ultrahigh magnetic fields. We find that the magnetic transitions start from the ferrimagnetic phase �0.61�B/Co� and terminate with the ferromagnetic phase �1.16�B/Co�, while the spin on the Co2 atoms progressively changes from antiparallel ferrimagnetic to paramagnetic and then to ferromagnetic. Our neutron diffraction measurements, ab initio calculations, and the high field magnetization measurements are thus entirely self-consistent

The Heat is On: Exploring User Behaviour in a Multisensory Virtual Environment for Fire Evacuation

Understanding validity of user behaviour in Virtual Environments (VEs) is critical as they are increasingly being used for serious Health and Safety applications such as predicting human behaviour and training in hazardous situations. This paper presents a comparative study exploring user behaviour in VE-based fire evacuation and investigates whether this is affected by the addition of thermal and olfactory simulation. Participants (N=43) were exposed to a virtual fire in an office building. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of participant attitudes and behaviours found deviations from those we would expect in real life (e.g. pre-evacuation actions), but also valid behaviours like fire avoidance. Potentially important differences were found between multisensory and audiovisual-only conditions (e.g. perceived urgency). We conclude VEs have significant potential in safety-related applications, and that multimodality may afford additional uses in this context, but the identified limitations of behavioural validity must be carefully considered to avoid misapplication of the technology.Comment: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing System