Does optimal foraging theory explain why suburban Florida scrub-jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) feed their young human-provided food?

Optimal foraging theory assumes that a forager can adequately assess the quality of its prey and predicts that parents feed their young low-quality foods only when suffering unpredicted reductions in their ability to provision. Wildland Florida scrub-jays feed their young exclusively arthropods, but suburban parents include human-provided foods in the nestling diet, with possible costs in terms of reduced growth and survival. We tested experimentally whether parents feed human-provided foods, given the apparent costs, because: 1) they do not discriminate between food types, 2) they switch to low-quality, abundant foods when natural food availability in the environment is low, or 3) they switch when the time needed to obtain natural food is high. Parents discriminated between natural and human-provided foods by showing a preference for natural foods when rearing young. When the handling time of natural foods was increased experimentally, parents in the suburban and wildland habitats switched to human-provided foods. Supplementation with natural foods increased preference for this food in both habitats. Suburban parents chose more natural foods than wildland parents, suggesting that they have a greater preference for natural foods. Regardless of preferences demonstrated at feeders, parents in both the suburbs and wildlands delivered mostly natural foods to nestlings, independent of natural food availability. Nonetheless, natural foods are likely to be scarcer in the environment than in our experimental tests. Because natural food availability is lower in the suburbs than in the wildland habitat, parents in the suburbs may be forced to switch to human-provided foods when feeding nestlings

A comprehensive overview of radioguided surgery using gamma detection probe technology

The concept of radioguided surgery, which was first developed some 60 years ago, involves the use of a radiation detection probe system for the intraoperative detection of radionuclides. The use of gamma detection probe technology in radioguided surgery has tremendously expanded and has evolved into what is now considered an established discipline within the practice of surgery, revolutionizing the surgical management of many malignancies, including breast cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer, as well as the surgical management of parathyroid disease. The impact of radioguided surgery on the surgical management of cancer patients includes providing vital and real-time information to the surgeon regarding the location and extent of disease, as well as regarding the assessment of surgical resection margins. Additionally, it has allowed the surgeon to minimize the surgical invasiveness of many diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, while still maintaining maximum benefit to the cancer patient. In the current review, we have attempted to comprehensively evaluate the history, technical aspects, and clinical applications of radioguided surgery using gamma detection probe technology