Hematology and Plasma Chemistry as Indicators of Health and Ecological Status In Beluga Whales, Delphinapterus Leucas

The capture of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, for instrumentation or tagging afforded the opportunity to collect blood, which was analyzed to evaluate the animals' health and gain information on basic physiological systems. Here, we report on hematological and plasma chemical constituents in samples obtained from 183 belugas, 55 of which were handled during attempts to apply tracking instruments. The other 128 samples were either drawn from live belugas captured for exhibit in zoological parks or research or obtained from the fresh carcasses of whales taken by Inuit hunters. The data span a 15-year period beginning in 1983 and represent various beluga stocks in the Canadian Arctic. The majority of the specimens were collected during the summer or estuarine phase of the belugas' annual cycle. Comparisons by age group, sex, stock, season, and year revealed significant differences in most of the cellular and chemical constituents examined. These results demonstrate some of the variability that might be encountered when examining a "random" selection of belugas at a particular location and time. Immature-sized whales had higher leucocyte counts, electrolyte concentrations, enzyme activity, total protein, albumin, hemoglobin, and some metabolites than older animals. Sex alone was associated with few hematological and plasma chemical differences. Seasonal variation in thyroid hormone activity was linked to marked environmental changes associated with the transition from cold oceanic waters to relatively warm estuaries. Two belugas recaptured 19 and 24 days after instrumentation showed changes in leucocyte counts, hematocrit, and a variety of plasma chemical constituents, some of which indicate inflammation and a likely physiological response to handling and tagging stresses.On a profité du fait qu'on capturait des bélougas, Delphinapterus leucas, en vue de les équiper d'instruments ou de les marquer, pour prélever des échantillons de sang qu'on a ensuite analysés afin d'évaluer l'état de santé des individus et de collecter de l'information sur leurs grands systèmes physiologiques. Nous présentons ici un rapport sur les constituants hématologiques et chimiques du plasma dans des échantillons provenant de 183 bélougas, dont 55 ont été manipulés au cours de tentatives visant à les équiper d'instruments de poursuite. Les 128 autres échantillons ont été obtenus soit de bélougas vivants capturés en vue d'être placés dans des zoos ou pour la recherche, soit de carcasses fraîches de baleines prises par les chasseurs inuits. Les données couvrent une période de 15 ans, commençant en 1983, et représentent divers stocks de bélougas de l'océan Arctique canadien. La plupart des spécimens ont été recueillis durant l'été ou durant la phase estuarienne du cycle annuel du bélouga. Des comparaisons par groupe d'âge, sexe, stock, saison et année ont révélé des différences marquées dans la plupart des constituants cellulaires et chimiques examinés. Ces résultats font ressortir une certaine variabilité à laquelle on peut s'attendre quand on étudie un échantillon "aléatoire" de bélougas pris à un endroit et à un moment donnés. Par rapport à des individus plus âgés, les baleines qui n'avaient pas atteint leur taille adulte avaient un compte de globules blancs plus élevé, de même qu'une plus forte concentration d'électrolytes, une plus grande activité enzymatique, et un taux plus fort d'albumine, d'hémoglobine et de certains métabolites. Le sexe seul n'était associé qu'à quelques différences hématologiques et chimiques du plasma. Une variation saisonnière de l'activité des hormones thyroïdiennes était liée à des changements nets du milieu correspondant à la transition des eaux froides océaniques aux estuaires relativement chauds. Deux bélougas recapturés 19 et 24 jours après avoir été équipés d'instruments montraient des changements dans le compte de globules blancs, dans l'hématocrite et dans divers constituants chimiques du plasma, dont certains révèlent une inflammation et probablement une réaction physiologique au stress dû à la manipulation et au marquage

Charmed meson decay constants in three-flavor lattice QCD

We present the first lattice QCD calculation with realistic sea quark content of the D^+ meson decay constant f_{D^+}. We use the MILC Collaboration's publicly available ensembles of lattice gauge fields, which have a quark sea with two flavors (up and down) much lighter than a third (strange). We obtain f_{D^+} = 201 +/- 3 +/- 17 MeV, where the errors are statistical and a combination of systematic errors. We also obtain f_{D_s} = 249 +/- 3 +/- 16 MeV for the D_s meson.Comment: note added on recent CLEO measurement; PRL versio

Two-Year Pulmonary Safety and Efficacy of Inhaled Human Insulin (Exubera) in Adult Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 2-year pulmonary safety of inhaled human insulin (Exubera [EXU]) in 635 nonsmoking adults with type 2 diabetes

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Kahler-Einstein metrics emerging from free fermions and statistical mechanics

We propose a statistical mechanical derivation of Kahler-Einstein metrics, i.e. solutions to Einstein's vacuum field equations in Euclidean signature (with a cosmological constant) on a compact Kahler manifold X. The microscopic theory is given by a canonical free fermion gas on X whose one-particle states are pluricanonical holomorphic sections on X (coinciding with higher spin states in the case of a Riemann surface). A heuristic, but hopefully physically illuminating, argument for the convergence in the thermodynamical (large N) limit is given, based on a recent mathematically rigorous result about exponentially small fluctuations of Slater determinants. Relations to effective bosonization and the Yau-Tian-Donaldson program in Kahler geometry are pointed out. The precise mathematical details will be investigated elsewhere.Comment: v1: 22 pages v2: 25 pages. The relation to quantum gravity has been further developed by working over the moduli space of all complex structures. Relations to Donaldson's program pointed out. References adde

The Use of Unusual Psychological Theories in Psychobiography: A Case Study and Discussion

This chapter argues for the use of ‘unusual’ theories in psychobiographical research through the presentation of a case study using such a theory. Historically, psychobiographical research has predominantly made use of the work of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theorists and developmental theorists, while more recent psychobiographical approaches have preferred more modern, empirically based. However, over reliance on a few theories within psychobiographical research creates the possibility for narrow explanations of complex lives. Given the proliferation of theoretical modes in psychology the current use of theory barely scratches the surface of available explanatory paradigms. This chapter argues for the value of casting the explanatory net wider, and for the inclusion of more psychological theories in psychobiographical work. Using a psychobiographical case study, the chapter illustrates how a ‘forgotten’ psychological theory (script theory, based on the work of Tomkins) can serve as an extremely useful explanatory paradigm for a complex religious figure. The case study focuses on Gordon Hinckley (b. 1910, d. 2008), the fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormon Church), who remains a prominent figure in contemporary Mormonism and played a key role in the rapid growth and increasingly positive public profile of the Religion throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Using Tomkins’ script theory in conjunction with a psychobiographical method and the analysis of data gathered from published speeches, this study explores Hinckley’s personality structure and identifies three core psychological scripts