Chickadees Faced with Unpredictable Food Increase Fat Reserves but Certain Components of Their Immune Function Decline

In winter, temperate resident birds are often faced with periodic low natural food availability. This reduction or unpredictability in resource availability might then have a negative impact on immune function, given that immune system support is highly resource dependent. We investigated the balance between energetic and immune management in captive black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilus) by manipulating the predictability of resources. The control group received food ad lib. every day, while the experimental group received a reduced amount of food on random days and food ad lib. on all other days. We measured two key metrics of energetic management (body and fat mass) as well as a suite of immune system components. Compared with control birds, experimental birds maintained significantly higher total body and fat mass, had lower acute phase protein concentrations, and had decreased body temperature and lost more body mass during the fever response following injection with lipopolysaccharides. Interestingly, birds in both groups had similar levels of complement lysis, delayed-type hypersensitivity response (phytohemagglutinin), and primary antibody production (keyhole limpet hemocyanin). This experiment demonstrates that black-capped chickadees strategically increase their fat mass in response to decreased food availability and that this might allow the birds to maintain most of the immune system unaltered, except some of the most costly immune components

Chickadees faced with unpredictable food increase fat reserves but certain components of their immune function decline

In winter, temperate resident birds are often faced with periodic low natural food availability. This reduction or unpredictability in resource availability might then have a negative impact on immune function, given that immune system support is highly resource dependent. We investigated the balance between energetic and immune management in captive black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilus) by manipulating the predictability of resources. The control group received food ad lib. every day, while the experimental group received a reduced amount of food on random days and food ad lib. on all other days. We measured two key metrics of energetic management (body and fat mass) as well as a suite of immune system components. Compared with control birds, experimental birds maintained significantly higher total body and fat mass, had lower acute phase protein concentrations, and had decreased body temperature and lost more body mass during the fever response following injection with lipopolysaccharides. Interestingly, birds in both groups had similar levels of complement lysis, delayed-type hypersensitivity response (phytohemagglutinin), and primary antibody production (keyhole limpet hemocyanin). This experiment demonstrates that black-capped chickadees strategically increase their fat mass in response to decreased food availability and that this might allow the birds to maintain most of the immune system unaltered, except some of the most costly immune components

Crystal-melt differential behaviour during magma ascent in dykes: insights from 2-D numerical modelling

We
 present
 the
 results
 of
 2D
 numerical
 models
 of
 flow
 in
 a
 two-phase
 medium,
 composed
 by
 crystals
 carried
 by
 a
 viscous
 melt,
 subject
 to
 a
 vertical
 pressure gradient condition.
These simulations of magma migration in a vertical
 dyke
 show
 that
 presence
 of
 crystals
 and
 their
 proportion
 perturb
 the
 flow
 velocity.
As shown in previous analytical studies,
the presence of crystals leads to
 a
 significant
 drop
 in
 vertical
 velocity.
 However
 in
 our
 case,
 this
 global
 displacement
 is
 accompanied
 neither
 by
 obvious
 crystal
 rotation
 nor
 by
 a
 significant
 horizontal
 displacement
 of
 crystals
 towards
 the
 dyke
 centre.
 Moreover,
 our
 results
 show
 that
 separation
 between
 crystal
 and
 melt
 occurs
 under
 certain
 conditions,
 which
 can
 lead
 to
 geochemical
 differentiation
 of
 magmas
 during
 their
 ascent.
 We
 provide,
 through
 a
 quantitative
 parametric
 study,
the
 range
 of 
values 
leading 
to
 crystal-melt 
segregation
 and
 compare 
the
 obtained differentiation rates to natural observations.
 Consequently, our results
 have
 fundamental
 implications
 regarding
 the
 causes
 of
 geochemical
 heterogeneities
 in
 magmatic
 suites.
 They
 provide
 constrains
 on
 differentiation
 processes
 during
 ascent,
 which
 is
 often
 neglected
 in
 comparison
 with
 the
 two
 classical
 end-members
 (i.e.,
 source-related
 processes
 vs.
 emplacement-related processes differentiation

MULTIPLE USES OF A 3D POINT CLOUD: THE CASTLE OF FRANCHIMONT (PROVINCE OF LIÈGE, BELGIUM)

This paper presents the identified obstacles, needs and selected solutions for the study of the medieval castle of Franchimont, located in the province of Liège (Belgium). After taking into account the requirements from all the disciplines at work as well as the problems that would have to be tackled, the creation of a 3D point cloud was decided. This solution would be able to deal with the characteristics and needs of a research involving building archaeology and related fields. The decision was made in order to manage all of the available data and to provide a common working tool for every involved cultural heritage actor. To achieve this, the elaboration of an Archaeological Information System based on 3D point clouds as a common virtual workspace is being taken into consideration

Dating the exhumation of a metamorphic dome: geological evidence for pre-Eocene unroofing of the Nigde Massif (Central Anatolia, Turkey)

The timing of exhumation of metamorphic rocks and granitoids of the Nigde metamorphic dome, at the southern tip of the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex, is a matter of debate. According to some authors, the metamorphic rocks are overlain nonconformably by a sedimentary sequence of late Maastrichtian to Late Palaeocene age. In contrast, other authors recently argued that the Nigde dome represents an extensional core complex of Oligocene-Early Miocene age, finally unroofed during late Miocene times. On the one hand, the results Of Our study contradict the latter interpretation. A sedimentary sequence of earliest Eocene to early Middle Eocene age nonconformably overlies the high-grade rocks of the Nigde dome on its southeastern flank. Pebbles from the metamorphic rocks are ubiquitous in the conglomerates of this sequence. As a result, the Nigde metamorphic rocks must have reached the surface before Eocene times. or at the very beginning of the Eocene at the latest. The Uckapth granite, whose crystallization age has been inferred to be Early Miocene, has intruded the metamorphic complex during exhumation. The granite is also found as pebbles within the conglomerates of the Eocene sedimentary sequence and, thus, is actually older than the Eocene. Apatite fission track dates of 12-11 Ma across the Nigde dome do not indicate that the metamorphic rocks were still on their way to the surface at that time; instead, they must reflect a later event, which is most probably heating during late Neogene magmatism. Lastly, there is no ductile-then-brittle extensional detachment in the two areas where it has been invoked, that is, on the western and southern flanks of the dome. An extensional detachment nevertheless exists at the top of the Nidge dome, best documented in its northern part, where the detachment fault superposes a superficial unit made up of massive ophiolitic rocks onto the high-grade metamorphic sequence. Field evidence indicates that this detachment developed before Eocene times. Oil the other hand, our observations do not confirm the nonconformity of the sedimentary sequence dated as late Maastrichtian-Late Palaeocene onto the Nigde high-grade rocks. Field relations show either a tectonic contact between the two, or the direct nonconformity of the Eocene sediments onto the metamorphic rocks. The lack of coarse clasts originating from the Nigde high-grade rocks within the Maastrichtian-Palacocene sequence further suggests that the metamorphic dome did not reach the surface before Late Palaeocene times. These results compare well with available data from the northwestern part of the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex, suggesting that exhumation has been broadly synchronous on the scale of the massif, as a result of an episode of high magnitude extension that affected the region in Campanian to Palaeocene times

Computing techniques for spatio-temporal data in archaeology and cultural heritage\u2014introduction

Brief introduction to the Workshop on Computing Techniques for Spatio-Temporal Data in Archaeology And Cultural Heritag

TOWARDS A NORMALISED 3D GEOVISUALISATION: THE VIEWPOINT MANAGEMENT

This paper deals with the viewpoint management in 3D environments considering an allocentric environment. The recent advances in computer sciences and the growing number of affordable remote sensors lead to impressive improvements in the 3D visualisation. Despite some research relating to the analysis of visual variables used in 3D environments, we notice that it lacks a real standardisation of 3D representation rules. In this paper we study the “viewpoint” as being the first considered parameter for a normalised visualisation of 3D data. Unlike in a 2D environment, the viewing direction is not only fixed in a top down direction in 3D. A non-optimal camera location means a poor 3D representation in terms of relayed information. Based on this statement we propose a model based on the analysis of the computational display pixels that determines a viewpoint maximising the relayed information according to one kind of query. We developed an OpenGL prototype working on screen pixels that allows to determine the optimal camera location based on a screen pixels colour algorithm. The viewpoint management constitutes a first step towards a normalised 3D geovisualisation

SMART POINT CLOUD: DEFINITION AND REMAINING CHALLENGES

Dealing with coloured point cloud acquired from terrestrial laser scanner, this paper identifies remaining challenges for a new data structure: the smart point cloud. This concept arises with the statement that massive and discretized spatial information from active remote sensing technology is often underused due to data mining limitations. The generalisation of point cloud data associated with the heterogeneity and temporality of such datasets is the main issue regarding structure, segmentation, classification, and interaction for an immediate understanding. We propose to use both point cloud properties and human knowledge through machine learning to rapidly extract pertinent information, using user-centered information (smart data) rather than raw data. A review of feature detection, machine learning frameworks and database systems indexed both for mining queries and data visualisation is studied. Based on existing approaches, we propose a new 3-block flexible framework around device expertise, analytic expertise and domain base reflexion. This contribution serves as the first step for the realisation of a comprehensive smart point cloud data structure

The volcaniclastic series from the Luang Prabang Basin, Laos: A witness of a triassic magmatic arc?

The paleogeographic evolution of South East Asia (SEA) during the early Mesozoic is still poorly understood and a number of models have recently been put forward to account for the geodynamic evolution of SEA. The Luang Prabang Basin (north Laos), located in the core of a "paleogeographic jigsaw" in SEA, recorded a long lasting volcanism that spanned for ~ 35 my from the earliest Triassic up to Late Triassic as evidenced by combined stratigraphic and geochronological (U-Pb/zircon) analyses performed on both volcanic and volcaniclastic series. The volcanic rocks are arc tholeiites and calk-alkaline andesites to dacites. The volcaniclastic rocks contain, in part, volcaniclasts produced contemporaneously with sedimentation. Both the volcanic and volcaniclastic series display geochemical features characteristic of a subduction related volcanism. Therefore, the Luang Prabang Basin documents a magmatic arc in a good agreement with the recent recognition of neighboring ophiolitic rocks in the Luang Prabang area. Following a passive margin setting that prevailed from the late Carboniferous to the late Permian, an active margin then initiated along the western margin of the Indochina Block. This active magmatic arc developed as the result of an east-dipping subduction below the Indochina Block during most of the Triassic, at least from ca. 250 to 215 Ma. Subsequently, this oceanic subduction episode must have been followed by a continental collision of the Indochina Block with the eastern Simao Block, at a period that remains to be defined