The Indris have got rhythm! Timing and pitch variation of a primate song examined between sexes and age classes

A crucial, common feature of speech and music is that they show non-random structures over time. It is an open question which of the other species share rhythmic abilities with humans, but in most cases the lack of knowledge about their behavioral displays prevents further studies. Indris are the only lemurs who sing. They produce loud howling cries that can be heard at several kilometers, in which all members of a group usually sing. We tested whether overlapping and turn-taking during the songs followed a precise pattern by analysing the temporal structure of the individuals' contribution to the song. We found that both dominants (males and females) and non-dominants influenced the onset timing one another. We have found that the dominant male and the dominant female in a group overlapped each other more frequently than they did with the non-dominants. We then focused on the temporal and frequency structure of particular phrases occurring during the song. Our results show that males and females have dimorphic inter-onset intervals during the phrases. Moreover, median frequencies of the unit emitted in the phrases also differ between the sexes, with males showing higher frequencies when compared to females. We have not found an effect of age on the temporal and spectral structure of the phrases. These results indicate that singing in indris has a high behavioral flexibility and varies according to social and individual factors. The flexible spectral structure of the phrases given during the song may underlie perceptual abilities that are relatively unknown in other non-human primates, such as the ability to recognize particular pitch patterns

Respiratory distress and perinatal lethality in Nedd4-2-deficient mice

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is essential for sodium homoeostasis in many epithelia. ENaC activity is required for lung fluid clearance in newborn animals and for maintenance of blood volume and blood pressure in adults. In vitro studies show that the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2 ubiquitinates ENaC to regulate its cell surface expression. Here we show that knockout of Nedd4-2 in mice leads to increased ENaC expression and activity in embryonic lung. This increased ENaC activity is the likely reason for premature fetal lung fluid clearance in Nedd4-2−/− animals, resulting in a failure to inflate lungs and perinatal lethality. A small percentage of Nedd4-2−/− animals survive up to 22 days, and these animals also show increased ENaC expression and develop lethal sterile inflammation of the lung. Thus, we provide critical in vivo evidence that Nedd4-2 is essential for correct regulation of ENaC expression, fetal and postnatal lung function and animal survival

Global Retail Chains and Poor Farmers: Evidence from Madagascar

Global retail companies ('supfirmarkets' have an increasing influence on developing countries, through foreign investments and/or through the imposition of their private standards. The impact on developing countries and poverty is often assessed as negative. In this paper we show the opposite, based on an analysis of primary data collected to measure the impact of supfirmarkets on small contract firmers in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. Almost 10,000 firmers in the Highlands of Madagascar produce vegetables for supfirmarkets in Europe. In this global supply chain, small firmers?micro-contracts are combined with extensive firm assistance and supervision programs to fulfill complex quality requirements and phyto-sanitary standards of supfirmarkets. Small firmers that participate in these contracts have higher welfare, more income stability and shorter lean periods. We also find significant effects on improved technology adoption, better resource management and spillovers on the productivity of the staple crop rice. The small but emerging modern retail sector in Madagascar does not (yet) deliver these benefits as they do not (yet) request the same high standards for their supplies

Antiviral TRIMs: friend or foe in autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease?

The concept that viral sensing systems, via their ability to drive pro-inflammatory cytokine and interferon production, contribute to the development of autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease is supported by a wide range of clinical and experimental observations. Recently, the tripartite motif-containing proteins (TRIMs) have emerged as having key roles in antiviral immunity — either as viral restriction factors or as regulators of pathways downstream of viral RNA and DNA sensors, and the inflammasome. Given their involvement in these pathways, we propose that TRIM proteins contribute to the development and pathology of autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditions, thus making them potential novel targets for therapeutic manipulation

Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning

Territorial, socially monogamous species actively defend their home range against conspecifics to maintain exclusive access to resources such as food or mates. Primates use scent marks and loud calls to signal territory occupancy and limit the risk of intergroup encounters, maximizing their energetic balance. Indri indri is a little-studied territorial, socially monogamous singing primate living in family groups. The groups announce territory occupancy with long-distance calls, and actively defend their territories from conspecific intruders. This work includes data collected in three forests in Madagascar on 16 indri groups over up to 5 years. We aimed (1) to estimate the extent of territories using minimum convex polygon (MCP), implementing minimum sampling effort requirements; (2) to quantify territorial exclusivity, measuring the overlap between territories; and (3) to evaluate the intergroup encounter rate and to quantify the dynamics of group encounters. Our results showed that indris range evenly within exclusive small territories with no or little overlap. Intergroup encounters are rare (0.05 encounters per day), and are located on the periphery of the territories. Disputes were mostly solved with vocal confrontation and only in 13% of the cases ended in physical fights. This frame underlines a cost–benefit explanation of territoriality, favouring a strategy that efficiently limits overlap and avoids costly intergroup encounters. We hypothesize that territorial behaviour in indri is related to mate-guarding strategy and that vocal behaviour plays a fundamental role in regulating intergroup spacing dynamics