Radar And Visual Observations Of Autumnal (Southward) Shorebird Migration On Guam

Several species of shorebirds migrate between eastern Asia and the southern Pacific islands, Australia, and New Zealand. Observations made from Guam (13°25′N, 144°45′E) during autumn 1983 indicate that a significant number of birds take a direct route over the western Pacific Ocean. Radar observations and ground counts of migrants on Guam showed two periods of autumnal migratory activity. The first, largely adult birds, was in August and September. The second, largely juveniles, was in late September and October. Radar indicated that large numbers of birds passed over the island to the south with no evidence of compensation for drift by the easterly winds. Comparison of radar and ground observations on Guam showed that only a small subset of migrants stop on the island, suggesting that some species may make nonstop flights between eastern Asia and the South Pacific

Bird Migration Through A Mountain Pass Studied With High Resolution Radar, Ceilometers, And Census

Autumnal migration was studied with high-resolution radar, ceilometer, and daily census in the area of Franconia Notch, a major pass in the northern Appalachian Mountains. Under synoptic conditions favorable for migration, broadfront movements of migrants toward the south passed over the mountains, often above a temperature inversion. Birds at lower elevations appeared to be influenced by local topography. Birds moving southwest were concentrated along the face of the mountain range. Birds appeared to deviate their flights to follow local topography through the pass. Specific migratory behavior was not associated with species or species groups. Under synoptic conditions unfavorable for southward migration, multimodal movements probably associated with local flights were as dense as the southward migrations described above. Avian migrants reacting to local terrain may result in concentrations of migrants over ridge summits or other topographic features

Persistence Through Peril: Episodes of College Life and Academic Endurance in the Civil War South

Editors Eric R. Platt and Holly A. Foster compiled a series of essays about southern institutions of higher education\u27s disruptions and persistence in the face of war that resonate in today\u27s COVID disrupted world of higher education

Radiotelemetry Of Heart Rates From Free-Ranging Gulls

A lightweight radiotelemetry system with a range of 80 km was used to monitor heart rate from free-ranging Herring Gulls on flights of up to 20 km. Heart rate varied from 130 beats/min in a resting bird to 625 beats/min for sustained flight. Soaring birds showed rates similar to those of birds sitting quietly on the ground. Simultaneous records of telemetered heart rate and intraspecific conflict on the nesting island revealed that cardiac acceleration preceded overt visual communication. Intensely aggressive behavior was accompanied by heart rates approaching those of sustained flight. Heart rate as a measure of metabolic cost indicates that the gull\u27s behavioral adaptations for long-distance flight, food location and intraspecific communication result in major energy savings

Comprehensive profiling of zebrafish hepatic proximal promoter CpG island methylation and its modification during chemical carcinogenesis

Background\ud DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism associated with regulation of gene expression and it is modulated during chemical carcinogenesis. The zebrafish is increasingly employed as a human disease model; however there is a lack of information on DNA methylation in zebrafish and during fish tumorigenesis. \ud \ud Results\ud A novel CpG island tiling array containing 44,000 probes, in combination with immunoprecipitation of methylated DNA, was used to achieve the first comprehensive methylation profiling of normal adult zebrafish liver. DNA methylation alterations were detected in zebrafish liver tumors induced by the environmental carcinogen 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene. Genes significantly hypomethylated in tumors were associated particularly with proliferation, glycolysis, transcription, cell cycle, apoptosis, growth and metastasis. Hypermethylated genes included those associated with anti-angiogenesis and cellular adhesion. Of 49 genes that were altered in expression within tumors, and which also had appropriate CpG islands and were co-represented on the tiling array, approximately 45% showed significant changes in both gene expression and methylation. \ud \ud Conclusion\ud The functional pathways containing differentially methylated genes in zebrafish hepatocellular carcinoma have also been reported to be aberrantly methylated during tumorigenesis in humans. These findings increase the confidence in the use of zebrafish as a model for human cancer in addition to providing the first comprehensive mapping of DNA methylation in the normal adult zebrafish liver. \ud \u

History of Woodland Caribou in Montana

Within the contiguous U.S., woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) were historically a resident of mature, deep-snow forests of northwest Montana, north Idaho and northeast Washington.  Because of habitat changes, predation, and unregulated hunting, numbers dwindled to remnant populations or even extinction throughout their distribution within the U.S. By the 1950s, any caribou that might be observed in Montana were considered transitory from either southern British Columbia or North Idaho, where remnant populations still remain.  In this paper, we review historical and current records of woodland caribou in Montana, discuss their biological requirements and legal status, and offer comments on future recovery efforts

Eotaxin and the attraction of eosinophils to the asthmatic lung

Eosinophilic leukocytes accumulate in high numbers in the lungs of asthmatic patients, and are believed to be important in the pathogenisis of asthma. A potent eosinophil chemoattractant is produced in the asthmatic lung. This small protein, the chemokine eotaxin, is synthesized by a number of different cell types, and is stimulated by interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, which are produced by T-helper (Th)2 lymphocytes. Low molecular weight compounds have been developed that can block the eotaxin receptor C-C chemokine receptor (CCR)3, and prevent stimulation by eotaxin. This provides the potential for orally available drugs that can prevent eosinophil recruitment into the lung and the associated damage and dysfunction