Elephant cognition in primate perspective

On many of the staple measures of comparative psychology, elephants show no obvious differences from other mammals, such as primates: discrimination learning, memory, spontaneous tool use, etc. However, a range of more naturalistic measures have recently suggested that elephant cognition may be rather different. Wild elephants sub-categorize humans into groups, independently making this classification on the basis of scent or colour. In number discrimination, elephants show no effects of absolute magnitude or relative size disparity in making number judgements. In the social realm, elephants show empathy into the problems faced by others, and give hints of special abilities in cooperation, vocal imitation and perhaps teaching. Field data suggest that the elephant’s vaunted reputation for memory may have a factual basis, in two ways. Elephants’ ability to remember large-scale space over long periods suggests good cognitive mapping skills. Elephants’ skill in keeping track of the current locations of many family members implies that working memory may be unusually developed, consistent with the laboratory finding that their quantity judgements do not show the usual magnitude effects.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Are Killer Bees Good for Coffee? The Contribution of a Paper\u27s Title and Other Factors to Its Future Citations

How can the title of a paper affect its subsequent number of citations? We compared the citation rate of 5941 papers published in the journal Biological Conservation from 1968 to 2012 in relation to: paper length; title length; number of authors; paper age; presence of punctuation (colons, commas or question marks); geographic and taxonomic breadth; the word ‘method’; and the type of manuscript (article, review). The total number of citations increased in more recently published papers and thus we corrected citation rate (average number of citations per year since publication) by publication age. As expected, review papers had, on average, twice the number of citations compared to other types of articles. Papers with the greatest geographic or taxonomic breadth were cited up to twice as frequently as narrowly focused papers. Titles phrased as questions, shorter titles, and papers with more authors had slightly higher numbers of citations. However, overall, we found that the included parameters explained only 12% of the variability in citation rate. This suggests that finding a good title is necessary, but that other factors are more important to construct a well-cited paper. We suggest that to become highly cited, a primary requirement is that papers need to advance the science significantly and be useful to readers

Western Juniper Field Guide: Asking the Right Questions to Select Appropriate Management Actions

Strong evidence indicates that western juniper has significantly expanded its range since the late 1800s by encroaching into landscapes once dominated by shrubs and herbaceous vegetation (fig. 1). Woodland expansion affects soil resources, plant community structure and composition, water, nutrient and fire cycles, forage production, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity. Goals of juniper management include an attempt to restore ecosystem function and a more balanced plant community that includes shrubs, grasses, and forbs, and to increase ecosystem resilience to disturbances. Developing a management strategy can be a difficult task due to uncertainty about how vegetation, soils, hydrologic function, and wildlife will respond to treatments. When developing a management strategy, the first and possibly most important step towards success is asking the right questions. Identifying the attributes of the area to be treated and selecting the right treatments to be applied are of utmost importance. One must ask questions addressing the kind of site (that is, potential natural vegetation, soils, etc.), the current state of the site (that is, successional, hydrologic, etc.), what components need to be restored, how the management unit fits in with the overall landscape mosaic, and the long-term goals and objectives for the area or region. Keep in mind sagebrush-steppe vegetation is dynamic and management strategies must take into account multi-decade time frames. This guide provides a set of tools that will help field biologists, land managers, and private landowners conduct rapid qualitative field assessments that address the kind of site and its current state. These tools include a list of questions to be addressed and a series of photographs, keys, tables, and figures to help evaluate a site. Conducting this assessment will help prioritize sites to be treated, select the best treatment, and predict outcomes. Success of a juniper management program may be greatly enhanced if an interdisciplinary team of local managers and resource specialists, who are experienced with vegetation, fuels, soils, hydrology, wildlife, and economic and sociological aspects of the local resource, use this guide to aid their decision-making

Sensitivities of Key Parameters in the Preparation of Silver/Silver Chloride Electrodes Used in Harned Cell Measurements of pH

A questionnaire was completed by fourteen world leading national metrology institutes to study the influence of several variables in the preparation of Ag/AgCl electrodes on the accuracy of Harned cell measurements of pH. The performance of each institute in the last decade has been assessed based on their results in eight key comparisons, organized by the Bureau International des Poids et Measures Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance, involving the measurement of pH of phosphate, phthalate, carbonate, borate and tetroxalate buffer solutions. The performance of each laboratory has been correlated to the results of the questionnaire to determine the critical parameters in the preparation of Ag/AgCl electrodes and their sensitivities with respect to the accuracy of pH measurement. This study reveals that the parameters most closely correlated to performance in comparisons are area of electrode wire exposed to the electrolyte, diameter and porosity of the Ag sphere prior to anodisation, amount of Ag converted to AgCl during anodisation, stability times employed for electrodes to reach equilibrium in solution prior to measurement, electrode rejection criteria employed and purity of reagents

Geology and geochronology of the Tana Basin, Ethiopia : LIP volcanism, super eruptions and Eocene-Oligocene environmental change

This work was supported by NERC Grants NE/D012996/1 and NER/B/S/2002/00540 and NIGFSC IP/1024/0508.New geological and geochronological data define four episodes of volcanism for the Lake Tana region in the northern Ethiopian portion of the Afro–Arabian Large Igneous Province (LIP): pre-31 Ma flood basalt that yielded a single 40Ar/39Ar age of 34.05 ± 0.54/0.56 Ma; thick and extensive felsic ignimbrites and rhyolites (minimum volume of 2-3 x 103km3) erupted between 31.108 ± 0.020/0.041 Ma and 30.844 ± 0.027/0.046 Ma (U–Pb CA-ID-TIMS zircon ages); mafic volcanism bracketed by 40Ar/39Ar ages of 28.90 ± 0.12/0.14 Ma and 23.75 ± 0.02/0.04 Ma; and localised scoraceous basalt with an 40Ar/39Ar age of 0.033 ± 0.005/0.005 Ma. The felsic volcanism was the product of super eruptions that created a 60–80 km diameter caldera marked by km-scale caldera-collapse fault blocks and a steep-sided basin filled with a minimum of 180 m of sediment and the present-day Lake Tana. These new data enable mapping, with a finer resolution than previously possible, Afro–Arabian LIP volcanism onto the timeline of the Eocene–Oligocene transition and show that neither the mafic nor silicic volcanism coincides directly with perturbations in the geochemical records that span that transition. Our results reinforce the view that it is not the development of a LIP alone but its rate of effusion that contributes to inducing global-scale environmental change.PostprintPeer reviewe

Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma and Its Ligands in the Treatment of Hematological Malignancies

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a multifunctional transcription factor with important regulatory roles in inflammation, cellular growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. PPARγ is expressed in a variety of immune cells as well as in numerous leukemias and lymphomas. Here, we review recent studies that provide new insights into the mechanisms by which PPARγ ligands influence hematological malignant cell growth, differentiation, and survival. Understanding the diverse properties of PPARγ ligands is crucial for the development of new therapeutic approaches for hematological malignancies

Sensitivities of a Standard Test Method for the Determination of the pHe of Bioethanol and Suggestions for Improvement

An assessment of the sensitivities of the critical parameters in the ASTM D6423 documentary standard method for the measurement of pHe in (bio)ethanol has been undertaken. Repeatability of measurements made using the same glass electrode and reproducibility between different glass electrodes have been identified as the main contributors to the uncertainty of the values produced. Strategies to reduce the uncertainty of the measurement have been identified and tested. Both increasing the time after which the pHe measurement is made following immersion in the sample, and rinsing the glass electrode with ethanol prior to immersion in the sample, have been shown to be effective in reducing the uncertainty of the numerical value produced. However, it is acknowledged that the values produced using these modified approaches may not be directly compared with those obtained using the documentary ASTM method since pHe is defined operationally by the process used to measure it

Draft genome sequence of the strawberry anthracnose pathogen colletotrichum fructicola

Colletotrichum fructicola is a causal agent of strawberry anthracnose and a major economic pathogen of horticultural and ornamental crops worldwide. Here, we present an annotated draft genome sequence for a C. fructicola isolate previously used for transcriptomic analysis. The assembly totals 58.0 Mb in 477 contigs with 18,143 predicted genes

Correlations of behavioral deficits with brain pathology assessed through longitudinal MRI and histopathology in the HdhQ150/Q150 mouse model of huntington's disease

A variety of mouse models have been developed that express mutant huntingtin (mHTT) leading to aggregates and inclusions that model the molecular pathology observed in Huntington's disease. Here we show that although homozygous HdhQ150 knock-in mice developed motor impairments (rotarod, locomotor activity, grip strength) by 36 weeks of age, cognitive dysfunction (swimming T maze, fear conditioning, odor discrimination, social interaction) was not evident by 94 weeks. Concomitant to behavioral assessments, T2-weighted MRI volume measurements indicated a slower striatal growth with a significant difference between wild type (WT) and HdhQ150 mice being present even at 15 weeks. Indeed, MRI indicated significant volumetric changes prior to the emergence of the "clinical horizon" of motor impairments at 36 weeks of age. A striatal decrease of 27% was observed over 94 weeks with cortex (12%) and hippocampus (21%) also indicating significant atrophy. A hypothesis-free analysis using tensor-based morphometry highlighted further regions undergoing atrophy by contrasting brain growth and regional neurodegeneration. Histology revealed the widespread presence of mHTT aggregates and cellular inclusions. However, there was little evidence of correlations between these outcome measures, potentially indicating that other factors are important in the causal cascade linking the molecular pathology to the emergence of behavioral impairments. In conclusion, the HdhQ150 mouse model replicates many aspects of the human condition, including an extended pre-manifest period prior to the emergence of motor impairments