Forage silica and water content control dental surface texture in guinea pigs and provide implications for dietary reconstruction

Recent studies have shown that phytoliths are softer than dental enamel but still act as abrasive agents. Thus, phytolith content should be reflected in dental wear. Because native phytoliths show lower indentation hardness than phytoliths extracted by dry ashing, we propose that the hydration state of plant tissue will also affect dental abrasion. To assess this, we performed a controlled feeding experiment with 36 adult guinea pigs, fed exclusively with three different natural forages: lucerne, timothy grass, and bamboo with distinct phytolith/silica contents (lucerne < grass < bamboo). Each forage was fed in fresh or dried state for 3 weeks. We then performed 3D surface texture analysis (3DST) on the upper fourth premolar. Generally, enamel surface roughness increased with higher forage phytolith/silica content. Additionally, fresh and dry grass feeders displayed differences in wear patterns, with those of fresh grass feeders being similar to fresh and dry lucerne (phytolith-poor) feeders, supporting previous reports that "fresh grass grazers" show less abrasion than unspecialized grazers. Our results demonstrate that not only phytolith content but also properties such as water content can significantly affect plant abrasiveness, even to such an extent that wear patterns characteristic for dietary traits (browser-grazer differences) become indistinguishable

Dust and grit matter: abrasives of different size lead to opposing dental microwear textures in experimentally fed sheep (Ovis aries)

External abrasives ingested along with the herbivore diet are considered main contributors to dental wear, though how the different sizes and concentrations of these abrasives influence wear remains unclear. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is an establishedmethod for dietary reconstructionwhich describes a tooth’s surface topography on a micrometre scale. The method has yielded conflicting results as to the effect of external abrasives. In the present study, a feeding experiment was performed on sheep (Ovis aries) fed seven diets of different abrasiveness. Our aim was to discern the individual effects of size (4, 50 and 130 μm) and concentration (0%,4% and 8% of dry matter) of abrasives on dental wear, applying DMTA to four tooth positions. Microwear textures differed between individual teeth, but surprisingly, showed no gradient along the molar tooth row, and the strongest differentiation of experimental groups was achieved when combining data of all maxillary molars. Overall, a pattern of increasing height, volume and complexity of the tooth’s microscopic surface appeared with increasing size of dietary abrasives, and when compared with the control, the small abrasive diets showed a polishing effect. The results indicate that the size of dietary abrasives is more important for dental microwear texture traces than their concentration, and that different sizes can have opposing effects on the dietary signal. The latter finding possibly explains conflicting evidence from previous experimental DMTA applications. Further exploration is required to understand whether and how microscopic traces created by abrasives translate quantitatively to tissue loss

Microwear textures associated with experimental near-natural diets suggest that seeds and hard insect body parts cause high enamel surface complexity in small mammals

In mammals, complex dental microwear textures (DMT) representing differently sized and shaped enamel lesions overlaying each other have traditionally been associated with the seeds and kernels in frugivorous diets, as well as with sclerotized insect cuticles. Recently, this notion has been challenged by field observations as well as in vitro experimental data. It remains unclear to what extent each food item contributes to the complexity level and is reflected by the surface texture of the respective tooth position along the molar tooth row. To clarify the potential of seeds and other abrasive dietary items to cause complex microwear textures, we conducted a controlled feeding experiment with rats. Six individual rats each received either a vegetable mix, a fruit mix, a seed mix, whole crickets, whole black soldier fly larvae, or whole day-old-chicks. These diets were subjected to material testing to obtain mechanical properties, such as Young’s modulus, yield strength, and food hardness (as indicated by texture profile analysis [TPA] tests). Seeds and crickets caused the highest surface complexity. The fruit mix, seed mix, and crickets caused the deepest wear features. Moreover, several diets resulted in an increasing wear gradient from the first to the second molar, suggesting that increasing bite force along the tooth row affects dental wear in rats on these diets. Mechanical properties of the diets showed different correlations with DMT obtained for the first and second molars. The first molar wear was mostly correlated with maximum TPA hardness, while the second molar wear was strongly correlated with maximum yield stress, mean TPA hardness, and maximum TPA hardness. This indicates a complex relationship between chewing mechanics, food mechanical properties, and observed DMT. Our results show that, in rats, seeds are the main cause of complex microwear textures but that hard insect body parts can also cause high complexity. However, the similarity in parameter values of surface textures resulting from seed and cricket consumption did not allow differentiation between these two diets in our experimental approach

WEB on TV: designing the user experience

The EU SEE TV-WEB project combines the traditional broadcast world with the dynamic internet web environment while focusing on the aspects of usability and user experience in order to provide the best possible experience for the elderly people, economically weak people and people living in rural areas who do not usually use personal computers and who have no possibility of an Internet connection at all. Main focus is on providing selected web based multimedia content directly over DVB-T/T2 networks with simulated local interactivity. Several real world pilot trial runs are foreseen including extensive usability and user experience evaluations

Why ruminating ungulates chew sloppily : biomechanics discern a phylogenetic pattern

Altres ajuts: "Beatriu de Pinos" 2014 - BP-A 00048There is considerable debate regarding whether mandibular morphology in ungulates primarily reflects phylogenetic affinities or adaptation to specific diet. In an effort to help resolve this debate, we use three-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) to assess the biomechanical performance of mandibles in eleven ungulate taxa with well-established but distinct dietary preferences. We found notable differences in the magnitude and the distribution of von Mises stress between Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla, with the latter displaying lower overall stress values. Additionally, within the order Artiodactyla the suborders Ruminantia and Tylopoda showed further distinctive stress patterns. Our data suggest that a strong phylogenetic signal can be detected in biomechanical performance of the ungulate mandible. In general, Perissodactyla have stiffer mandibles than Artiodactyla. This difference is more evident between Perissodactyla and ruminant species. Perissodactyla likely rely more heavily on thoroughly chewing their food upon initial ingestion, which demands higher bite forces and greater stress resistance, while ruminants shift comminution to a later state (rumination) where less mechanical effort is required by the jaw to obtain sufficient disintegration. We therefore suggest that ruminants can afford to chew sloppily regardless of ingesta, while hindgut fermenters cannot. Additionally, our data support a secondary degree of adaptation towards specific diet. We find that mandibular morphologies reflect the masticatory demands of specific ingesta within the orders Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. Of particular note, stress patterns in the white rhinoceros (C. simum) look more like those of a general grazer than like other rhinoceros' taxa. Similarly, the camelids (Tylopoda) appear to occupy an intermediate position in the stress patterns, which reflects the more ancestral ruminating system of the Tylopoda

Surface texture analysis in Toothfrax and MountainsMap® SSFA module: Different software packages, different results?

Pre-print: Calandra_etal_SSFA_PCIarchaeo_revised.pdf (figures incorporated, but additionally available as separate PDF files) Supplementary Material: Bayesian-models_PCIarchaeo_revised.pdf and Comparison-analyses_PCIarchaeo_revised.pdf See also related identifiers for the other supplementary materials. Revised version submitted to PCI Archaeology

Draft Genome Sequence of Propionisporasp. Strain 2/2-37, a New Xylan-Degrading Bacterium Isolated from a Mesophilic Biogas Reactor

Koeck DE, Maus I, Wibberg D, et al. Draft Genome Sequence of Propionisporasp. Strain 2/2-37, a New Xylan-Degrading Bacterium Isolated from a Mesophilic Biogas Reactor. Genome Announcements. 2016;4(3):e00609-16.The novel mesophilic bacterial strain Propionispora sp. 2/2-37 was isolated from an industrial-scale biogas plant. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the isolate constitutes a new subcluster within the order Selenomonadales. The 2/2-37 draft genome sequence was established and provides the genetic basis for application of this microorganism in degradation of biomass for bio-fuel production

Complete Genome Sequence of Herbinix luporumSD1D, a New Cellulose-Degrading Bacterium Isolated from a Thermophilic Biogas Reactor

Koeck DE, Maus I, Wibberg D, et al. Complete Genome Sequence of Herbinix luporumSD1D, a New Cellulose-Degrading Bacterium Isolated from a Thermophilic Biogas Reactor. Genome Announcements. 2016;4(4):e00687-16.A novel cellulolytic bacterial strain was isolated from an industrial-scale biogas plant. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the strain SD1D showed 96.4% similarity to Herbinix hemicellulosilytica T3/55T, indicating a novel species within the genus Herbinix (family Lachnospiraceae). Here, the complete genome sequence of Herbinix luporum SD1D is reported

Controlled feeding experiments with diets of different abrasiveness reveal slow development of mesowear signal in goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)

Dental mesowear is applied as a proxy to determine the general diet of mammalian herbivores based on tooth-cusp shape and occlusal relief. Low, blunt cusps are considered typical of grazers and high, sharp cusps typical of browsers. However, how internal or external abrasives impact mesowear, and the time frame the wear signature takes to develop, still need to be explored. Four different pelleted diets of increasing abrasiveness (lucerne, grass, grass and rice husks, and grass, rice husks and sand) were fed to four groups of a total of 28 adult goats in a controlled feeding experiment over a 6-month period. Tooth morphology was captured by medical CT scans at the beginning and end of the experiment. These scans, as well as the crania obtained post mortem, were scored using the mesowear method. Comparisons between diet groups showed few significant differences after 6 months, irrespective of whether CT scans or the real teeth were scored. Only when assessing the difference in signal between the beginning and the end of the experiment did relevant, significant diet-specific effects emerge. Diets containing lower phytolith content caused a more pronounced change inmesowear towards sharper cusps/higher reliefs, while the feed containing sand did not result in more extreme changes in mesowear when compared with the same feed without sand. Our experiment suggests that the formation of a stable and hence reliable mesowear signal requires more time to develop than 6 months