The Influence of Reproductive Experience on Milk Energy Output and Lactation Performance in the Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)

Although evidence from domestic and laboratory species suggests that reproductive experience plays a critical role in the development of aspects of lactation performance, whether reproductive experience may have a significant influence on milk energy transfer to neonates in wild populations has not been directly investigated. We compared maternal energy expenditures and pup growth and energy deposition over the course of lactation between primiparous and fully-grown, multiparous grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) females to test whether reproductive experience has a significant influence on lactation performance. Although there was no difference between primiparous females in milk composition and, thus, milk energy content at either early or peak lactation primiparous females had a significantly lower daily milk energy output than multiparous females indicating a reduced physiological capacity for milk secretion

The Precursors and Products of Justice Climates: Group Leader Antecedents and Employee Attitudinal Consequences

Drawing on the organizational justice, organizational climate, leadership and personality, and social comparison theory literatures, we develop hypotheses about the effects of leader personality on the development of three types of justice climates (e.g., procedural, interpersonal, and informational), and the moderating effects of these climates on individual level justice- attitude relationships. Largely consistent with the theoretically-derived hypotheses, the results showed that leader (a) agreeableness was positively related to procedural, interpersonal and informational justice climates, (b) conscientiousness was positively related to a procedural justice climate, and (c) neuroticism was negatively related to all three types of justice climates. Further, consistent with social comparison theory, multilevel data analyses revealed that the relationship between individual justice perceptions and job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, commitment) was moderated by justice climate such that the relationships were stronger when justice climate was high

The Economics of 1.5°C Climate Change

The economic case for limiting warming to 1.5°C is unclear, due to manifold uncertainties. However, it cannot be ruled out that the 1.5°C target passes a cost-benefit test. Costs are almost certainly high: The median global carbon price in 1.5°C scenarios implemented by various energy models is more than US$100 per metric ton of CO2 in 2020, for example. Benefits estimates range from much lower than this to much higher. Some of these uncertainties may reduce in the future, raising the question of how to hedge in the near term. Maintaining an option on limiting warming to 1.5°C means targeting it now. Setting off with higher emissions will make 1.5°C unattainable quickly without recourse to expensive large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR), or solar radiation management (SRM), which can be cheap but poses ambiguous risks society seems unwilling to take. Carbon pricing could reduce mitigation costs substantially compared with ramping up the current patchwork of regulatory instruments. Nonetheless, a mix of policies is justified and technology-specific approaches may be required. It is particularly important to step up mitigation finance to developing countries, where emissions abatement is relatively cheap

Infektionsabwehr und lymphatischer Rachenring

Foraging behaviours used by two female Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) were documented during controlled feeding trials. During these trials the seals were presented with prey either free-floating in open water or concealed within a mobile ball or a static box feeding device. When targeting free-floating prey both subjects primarily used raptorial biting in combination with suction, which was used to draw prey to within range of the teeth. When targeting prey concealed within either the mobile or static feeding device, the seals were able to use suction to draw out prey items that could not be reached by biting. Suction was followed by lateral water expulsion, where water drawn into the mouth along with the prey item was purged via the sides of the mouth. Vibrissae were used to explore the surface of the feeding devices, especially when locating the openings in which the prey items had been hidden. The mobile ball device was also manipulated by pushing it with the muzzle to knock out concealed prey, which was not possible when using the static feeding device. To knock prey out of this static device one seal used targeted bubble blowing, where a focused stream of bubbles was blown out of the nose into the openings in the device. Once captured in the jaws, prey items were manipulated and re-oriented using further mouth movements or chews so that they could be swallowed head first. While most items were swallowed whole underwater, some were instead taken to the surface and held in the teeth, while being vigorously shaken to break them into smaller pieces before swallowing. The behavioural flexibility displayed by Australian fur seals likely assists in capturing and consuming the extremely wide range of prey types that are targeted in the wild, during both benthic and epipelagic foraging

First Evidence for Adoption in California Sea Lions

Demographic parameters such as birth and death rates determine the persistence of populations. Understanding the mechanisms that influence these rates is essential to developing effective management strategies. Alloparental behavior, or the care of non-filial young, has been documented in many species and has been shown to influence offspring survival. However, the role of alloparental behavior in maintaining population viability has not been previously studied. Here, we provide the first evidence for adoption in California sea lions and show that adoption potentially works to maintain a high survival rate of young and may ultimately contribute to population persistence. Alloparental behavior should have a positive effect on the population growth rate when the sum of the effects on fitness for the alloparent and beneficiary is positive

Estimating total body water content in suckling and lactating llamas (Lama glama) by isotope dilution

Total body water (TBW) in 17 suckling and six lactating llamas was estimated from isotope dilution at three different post natum and lactation stages using both 18O and deuterium oxide (D2O). In total, 69 TBW measurements were undertaken. While TBW in lactating dams, expressed in kilogram, remained stable during the three measurement periods (91.8 ± 15.0 kg), the body water fraction (TBW expressed in percent of body mass) increased slightly (P = 0.042) from 62.9% to 65.8%. In contrast, TBW (kilogram) in suckling llamas increased significantly (P < 0.001) with age and decreased slightly when expressed as a percentage of body mass (P = 0.016). Relating TBW to body mass across all animals yielded a highly significant regression equation (TBW in kilogram = 2.633 + 0.623 body mass in kilogram, P < 0.001, n = 69) explaining 99.5% of the variation. The water fraction instead decreased in a curve linear fashion with increasing body mass (TBW in percent of body mass = 88.23 body mass in kilogram−0.064, P < 0.001, R2 = 0.460). The present results on TBW can serve as reference values for suckling and lactating llamas, e.g., for the evaluation of fluid losses during disease. Additionally, the established regression equations can be used to predict TBW from body mass, providing that the body masses fall inside the range of masses used to derive the equations

Initial Medical Attention on Patients with Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Detection of early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is commonly believed to be incidental. Understanding the reasons that caused initial detection of these patients is important for early diagnosis. However, these reasons are not well studied.We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients diagnosed with stage I or II NSCLC between 2000 and 2009 at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Information on suggestive LC-symptoms or other reasons that caused detection were extracted from patients' medical records. We applied univariate and multivariate analyses to evaluate the association of suggestive LC-symptoms with tumor size and patient survival.Of the 1396 early stage LC patients, 733 (52.5%) presented with suggestive LC-symptoms as chief complaint. 347 (24.9%) and 287 (20.6%) were diagnosed because of regular check-ups and evaluations for other diseases, respectively. The proportion of suggestive LC-symptom-caused detection had a linear relationship with the tumor size (correlation 0.96; with p<.0001). After age, gender, race, smoking status, therapy, and stage adjustment, the symptom-caused detection showed no significant difference in overall and LC-specific survival when compared with the other (non-symptom-caused) detection.Symptoms suggestive of LC are the number one reason that led to detection in early NSCLC. They were also associated with tumor size at diagnosis, suggesting early stage LC patients are developing symptoms. Presence of symptoms in early stages did not compromise survival. A symptom-based alerting system or guidelines may be worth of further study to benefit NSCLC high risk individuals

Failure patterns and survival outcomes in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC): a 15 year comparison of 448 non-Hispanic black and white women

Purpose: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a distinct subtype of breast cancer with unique pathologic, molecular and clinical behavior. It occurs more frequently in young blacks and has been reported to have a shorter disease-free interval. We undertook this study to analyze the demographic characteristics, failure patterns, and survival outcomes in this disease. Methods: A total of 448 non-Hispanic black and white women were identified over a 15 year period from 1996 to 2011. Demographic and clinical information including age, race, menopausal status, stage, tumor characteristics, and treatments were collected. Fisher’s exact test and multivariable Cox regression were used to compare failure patterns and survival outcomes between races. Results: 49 % (n = 223) were black. 59 % patients were between 41 and 60 years, with 18 % ≤40 years. 57 % were premenopausal and 89 % had grade 3 tumors. Stage II (47 %) was most frequent stage at diagnosis followed by stage III (28 %). 32 % had lymphovascular invasion. Adjusting for age, stage, and grade, there was no difference in survival outcomes (OS, DFS, LFFS, and DFFS) between the two races. 62 (14 %) patients failed locally either in ipsilateral breast or chest wall, and 19 (4 %) failed in the regional lymphatics. Lung (18 %) was the most frequent distant failure site with <12 % each failing in brain, liver and bones. Conclusion: Failure patterns and survival outcomes did not differ by race in this large collection of TNBC cases. Lung was the predominate site of distant failure followed by brain, bone, and liver. Few patients failed in the regional lymphatics

Jellyfish Support High Energy Intake of Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea): Video Evidence from Animal-Borne Cameras

The endangered leatherback turtle is a large, highly migratory marine predator that inexplicably relies upon a diet of low-energy gelatinous zooplankton. The location of these prey may be predictable at large oceanographic scales, given that leatherback turtles perform long distance migrations (1000s of km) from nesting beaches to high latitude foraging grounds. However, little is known about the profitability of this migration and foraging strategy. We used GPS location data and video from animal-borne cameras to examine how prey characteristics (i.e., prey size, prey type, prey encounter rate) correlate with the daytime foraging behavior of leatherbacks (n = 19) in shelf waters off Cape Breton Island, NS, Canada, during August and September. Video was recorded continuously, averaged 1:53 h per turtle (range 0:08–3:38 h), and documented a total of 601 prey captures. Lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) was the dominant prey (83–100%), but moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) were also consumed. Turtles approached and attacked most jellyfish within the camera's field of view and appeared to consume prey completely. There was no significant relationship between encounter rate and dive duration (p = 0.74, linear mixed-effects models). Handling time increased with prey size regardless of prey species (p = 0.0001). Estimates of energy intake averaged 66,018 kJ•d−1 but were as high as 167,797 kJ•d−1 corresponding to turtles consuming an average of 330 kg wet mass•d−1 (up to 840 kg•d−1) or approximately 261 (up to 664) jellyfish•d-1. Assuming our turtles averaged 455 kg body mass, they consumed an average of 73% of their body mass•d−1 equating to an average energy intake of 3–7 times their daily metabolic requirements, depending on estimates used. This study provides evidence that feeding tactics used by leatherbacks in Atlantic Canadian waters are highly profitable and our results are consistent with estimates of mass gain prior to southward migration