Striped plateau lizards (Sceloporus virgatus) do not adjust foraging position or boldness in response to the plant odorant 2-E-hexenal

Striped plateau lizards (Sceloporus virgatus) have been shown to respond in captivity to the green leaf volatile 2-E-hexenal, which is released by plants in response to insect herbivory. While in some other systems green leaf volatiles serve as a prey-detection mechanism for insectivores, we found that S. virgatus did not alter its position or boldness in response to 2-E-hexenal in the field

Wildfire as a natural stressor and its effect on female phenotype and ornament development

Controlled low-intensity fires are commonly used in ecosystem management for both habitat restoration and wildfire management. Animals in those ecosystems may respond to fire by shifting energy allocation away from reproduction and growth, and toward maintenance. Stress-induced shifts in energy allocation may affect the expression of condition-dependent sexual signals, which are sensitive to energetic and physiological trade-offs mediated by glucocorticoids. Here, we examine the effect of fire on ornament expression, corticosterone, and other phenotypic traits in a population of striped plateau lizards, Sceloporus virgatus, affected by the Horseshoe 2 Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA. The condition-dependent female ornament was significantly smaller the month following the fire than 2 years prior and was both smaller and less orange on the burned site relative to a nearby unburned site. These patterns are similar to those found in a previous experimental study examining the response of the ornament to corticosterone manipulations. Yet, in the current study, corticosterone levels were not different in lizards on the burned and unburned sites. Perhaps glucocorticoid levels already returned to baseline, or do not adequately track environmental change. Females tended to be smaller and lighter on the burned site than the unburned site; however, the year after the fire, body condition was higher for females on the burned site, indicating a rapid recovery and potential long-term benefits in response to low-intensity fires in this fire-adapted ecosystem. We found that the lizards adjusted energy allocation away from sexual signaling and growth in response to low-intensity fires. As fires and fire management are likely to increase in response to changing fire regimes across the globe, it will be important to consider behavioral and physiological responses of impacted species, as well as population-, community-, and ecosystem-level responses

Examining egg surface morphology and microbial content of Sceloporus virgatus eggshells

Eggs laid by the Sceloporus virgatus lizard are exposed to a variety of potentially protective microorganisms when passed through the cloaca, the opening at the end of both the reproductive and digestive tracts. Past data have indicated that eggs dissected out of the female before passing through the cloaca often have decreased hatching success, potentially due to the lack of protective bacteria on the dissected eggshell surface. This study examined the microorganisms found on both laid and dissected eggs at 0 weeks of incubation, as well as microbial and fungal content on the eggshells after 3 weeks of incubation in a non-sterile environment. The eggshells were swabbed and plated onto media to observe any visible growth at 0 and 3 weeks of incubation. The morphology of the eggshells was also studied with scanning electron microscopy to determine visual differences in microbial and fungal content between the eggs. A lesser proportion of dissected eggs exhibited microbial growth at 0 weeks of incubation, while at 3 weeks of incubation fungal growth was found on mainly dissected eggs. The results support the claim that laid eggs passed through the cloaca may be exposed to microorganisms that are protective against fungi in the incubation environment

The graphical presentation of lead isotope data for environmental source apportionment

Lead isotope ratios are widely used to identify original sources of Pb in the environment. Such source apportionment depends on the ability to distinguish potential sources on the basis of their isotopic composition. However, almost all terrestrial Pb is co-linear in some of the plots i.e. <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>208</sup>Pb versus <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>207</sup>Pb and <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb versus <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>207</sup>Pb commonly presented in the literature. These diagrams are unable to distinguish more than two sources of environmental Pb. Linear trends in such plots are an inevitable consequence of the co-linearity of terrestrial leads and should not be taken necessarily to indicate simple binary mixing of sources. A more reliable test for multiple source mixing can be obtained from plots involving <sup>206</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb, <sup>207</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb and <sup>208</sup>Pb/<sup>204</sup>Pb and therefore requires measurements of the minor <sup>204</sup>Pb isotope

The interface between morphology and action planning: a comparison of two species of New World monkeys

Recent research with several species of nonhuman primates suggests sophisticated motor-planning abilities observed in human adults may be ubiquitous among primates. However, there is considerable variability in the extent to which these abilities are expressed across primate species. In the present experiment, we explore whether the variability in the expression of anticipatory motor-planning abilities may be attributed to cognitive differences (such as tool use abilities) or whether they may be due to the consequences of morphological differences (such as being able to deploy a precision grasp). We compared two species of New World monkeys that differ in their tool use abilities and manual dexterity: squirrel monkeys, Saimiri sciureus (less dexterous with little evidence for tool use) and tufted capuchins, Sapajus apella (more dexterous and known tool users). The monkeys were presented with baited cups in an untrained food extraction task. Consistent with the morphological constraint hypothesis, squirrel monkeys frequently showed second-order motor planning by inverting their grasp when picking up an inverted cup, while capuchins frequently deployed canonical upright grasping postures. Findings suggest that the lack of ability for precision grasping may elicit more consistent second-order motor planning, as the squirrel monkeys (and other species that have shown a high rate of second-order planning) have fewer means of compensating for inefficient initial postures. Thus, the interface between morphology and motor planning likely represents an important factor for understanding both the ontogenetic and phylogenetic origins of sophisticated motor-planning abilities

Children with ADD/ADHD: Survey results provide insights into effective optometric vision management of this special population

Optometric management of ADDI/DHD children is being done in both the primary vision care practice as well as the vision therapy and pediatric care practice. This is a special population which may pose unique examination or treatment challenges to the general practitioner. The role of the optometrist in the vision care of ADD/ADHD children is explored through an e-mail survey sent via the internet. The survey emphasized the elicitation of clinical pearls from optometrists currently working with this special population regarding their views and experiences on successful examination and management of the ADD/ADHD patient. Certain challenges presented by the process of medical diagnoses and pharmacological treatment of ADD/ADHD is explored. The goal is to enlighten the general practitioner about some of the issues surrounding this often misunderstood condition and provide a collection of clinical advice and optometric viewpoints which will assist the general practitioner in his or her optometric care of this population

Predatory lizards perceive plant-derived volatile odorants

Many lizards are olfactory foragers and prey upon herbivorous arthropods, yet their responses to common herbivore-associated plant volatiles remain unknown. As such, their role in mediating plant indirect defenses also remains largely obscured. In this paper, we use a cotton-swab odor presentation assay to ask whether lizards respond to two arthropod-associated plant-derived volatile compounds: 2-(E)-hexenal and hexanoic acid. We studied the response of two lizard species, Sceloporus virgatusand Aspidoscelis exsanguis, because they differ substantially in their foraging behavior. We found that the actively foraging A. exsanguisresponded strongly to hexanoic acid, whereas the ambush foraging S. virgatus responded to 2-(E)-hexenal—an herbivore-associated plant volatile involved in indirect defense against herbivores. These findings indicate that S. virgatus may contribute to plant indirect defense and that a species\u27 response to specific odorants is linked with foraging mode. Future studies can elucidate how lizards use various compounds to locate prey and how these responses impact plant-herbivore interactions

The 2016 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference, Shared Decision Making in the Emergency Department: Development of a Policy-relevant Patient-centered Research Agenda Diagnostic Testing Breakout Session Report.

Diagnostic testing is an integral component of patient evaluation in the emergency department (ED). Emergency clinicians frequently use diagnostic testing to more confidently exclude worst-case diagnoses rather than to determine the most likely etiology for a presenting complaint. Increased utilization of diagnostic testing has not been associated with reductions in disease-related mortality but has led to increased overall healthcare costs and other unintended consequences (e.g., incidental findings requiring further workup, unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation or potentially nephrotoxic contrast). Shared decision making (SDM) presents an opportunity for clinicians to discuss the benefits and harms associated with diagnostic testing with patients to more closely tailor testing to patient risk. This article introduces the challenges and opportunities associated with incorporating SDM into emergency care by summarizing the conclusions of the diagnostic testing group at the 2016 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on SDM. Three primary domains emerged: 1) characteristics of a condition or test appropriate for SDM, 2) critical elements of and potential barriers to SDM discussions on diagnostic testing, and 3) financial aspects of SDM applied to diagnostic testing. The most critical research questions to improve engagement of patients in their acute care diagnostic decisions were determined by consensus

Detecting the Most Distant (z>7) Objects with ALMA

Detecting and studying objects at the highest redshifts, out to the end of Cosmic Reionization at z>7, is clearly a key science goal of ALMA. ALMA will in principle be able to detect objects in this redshift range both from high-J (J>7) CO transitions and emission from ionized carbon, [CII], which is one of the main cooling lines of the ISM. ALMA will even be able to resolve this emission for individual targets, which will be one of the few ways to determine dynamical masses for systems in the Epoch of Reionization. We discuss some of the current problems regarding the detection and characterization of objects at high redshifts and how ALMA will eliminate most (but not all) of them.Comment: to appear in Astrophysics and Space Science, "Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics", ed. R. Bachille

Molecular and atomic line surveys of galaxies I: the dense, star-forming phase as a beacon

We predict the space density of molecular gas reservoirs in the Universe, and place a lower limit on the number counts of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) molecular and [CII] atomic emission lines in blind redshift surveys in the submillimeter-centimeter spectral regime. Our model uses: (a) recently available HCN Spectral Line Energy Distributions (SLEDs) of local Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs, L_IR>10^11 L_sun), (b) a value for epsilon=SFR/M_dense(H_2) provided by new developments in the study of star formation feedback on the interstellar medium and (c) a model for the evolution of the infrared luminosity density. Minimal 'emergent' CO SLEDs from the dense gas reservoirs expected in all star-forming systems in the Universe are then computed from the HCN SLEDs since warm, HCN-bright gas will necessarily be CO-bright, with the dense star-forming gas phase setting an obvious minimum to the total molecular gas mass of any star-forming galaxy. We include [CII] as the most important of the far-infrared cooling lines. Optimal blind surveys with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) could potentially detect very distant (z~10-12) [CII] emitters in the >ULIRG galaxy class at a rate of ~0.1-1 per hour (although this prediction is strongly dependent on the star formation and enrichment history at this early epoch), whereas the (high-frequency) Square Kilometer Array (SKA) will be capable of blindly detecting z>3 low-J CO emitters at a rate of ~40-70 per hour. The [CII] line holds special promise for the detection of metal-poor systems with extensive reservoirs of CO-dark molecular gas where detection rates with ALMA can reach up to 2-7 per hour in Bands 4-6.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap