9 CFR 309.9 - Swine erysipelas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Swine erysipelas. 309.9 Section 309.9... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.9 Swine erysipelas. All hogs plainly showing on ante-mortem inspection that they are affected with acute swine erysipelas shall be identified as U.S. Condemned and...

9 CFR 352.10 - Ante-mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... to loading on the transport vehicle. (7) The transport of intact exotic animal carcasses to an... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Ante-mortem inspection. 352.10 Section 352.10 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE...

9 CFR 309.6 - Epithelioma of the eye.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Epithelioma of the eye. 309.6 Section 309.6 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.6 Epithelioma of the eye. Any animal found on ante-mortem inspection...

9 CFR 309.6 - Epithelioma of the eye.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Epithelioma of the eye. 309.6 Section 309.6 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.6 Epithelioma of the eye. Any animal found on ante-mortem inspection...

9 CFR 309.6 - Epithelioma of the eye.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Epithelioma of the eye. 309.6 Section 309.6 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.6 Epithelioma of the eye. Any animal found on ante-mortem inspection...

9 CFR 381.72 - Segregation of suspects on ante mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Segregation of suspects on ante mortem inspection. 381.72 Section 381.72 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND...

Skeletal idiopathic osteosclerosis helps to perform personal identification of unknown decedents: A novel contribution from anatomical variants through CT scan.

PubMed

De Angelis, D; Gibelli, D; Palazzo, E; Sconfienza, L; Obertova, Z; Cattaneo, C

2016-07-01

Personal identification consists of the comparison of ante-mortem information from a missing person with post-mortem data obtained from an unidentified corpse. Such procedure is based on the assessment of individualizing features which may help in providing a conclusive identification between ante-mortem and post-mortem material. Anatomical variants may provide important clues to correctly identify human remains. Areas of idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO), or dense bone islands (DBIs) characterized by radiopaque areas of dense, trabeculated, non-inflamed vital bone represent one of these, potentially individualizing, anatomical features. This study presents a case where the finding of DBI was crucial for a positive identification through CT-scan. A decomposed body was found in an apartment in June 2014 in advanced decomposition and no dental records were available to perform a comparison for positive identification. Genetic tests were not applicable because of the lack of relatives in a direct line. The analysis of the only ante-mortem documentation, a CT-scan to the deceased dating back to August 2009, showed the presence of three DBIs within the trabecular bone of the proximal portion of the right femur. The same bony district was removed from the corpse during the autopsy and analysed by CT-scan, which verified the presence of the same features. Forensic practitioners should therefore be aware of the great importance of anatomical bone variants, such as dense bone islands for identification purposes, and the importance of advanced radiological technique for addressing the individualizing potential of such variants. We propose that anatomical variants of the human skeleton should be considered as being "primary identification characteristics" similar to dental status, fingerprints and DNA. Copyright © 2016 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

9 CFR 309.6 - Epithelioma of the eye.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Epithelioma of the eye. 309.6 Section... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.6 Epithelioma of the eye. Any animal found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with epithelioma of the eye and the orbital region in which the eye has been destroyed...

9 CFR 309.6 - Epithelioma of the eye.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Epithelioma of the eye. 309.6 Section... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.6 Epithelioma of the eye. Any animal found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with epithelioma of the eye and the orbital region in which the eye has been destroyed...

Ante mortem identification of BSE from serum using infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitt, Jürgen; Lasch, Peter; Beekes, Michael; Udelhoven, Thomas; Eiden, Michael; Fabian, Heinz; Petrich, Wolfgang H.; Naumann, Dieter

2004-07-01

In our former studies a diagnostic approach for the detection of transmissible spongiform encephalopaties (TSE) based on FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with artificial neural networks was described, based on a controlled animal study with terminally ill Syrian hamsters and control animals. As a consequence of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis in Europe, the development of a disgnostic ante mortem test for cattle has become a matter of great scientific importance and public interest. Since 1986 more than 180,000 clinical cases of BSE have been observed in the UK alone. Most of these cases were confirmed by post mortem examination of brain tissue. However, BSE-related risk assessment and risk-management would greatly benefit from ante mortem testing on living animals. For example, a serum-based test could allow for screening of the cattle population, thus, even a BSE eradication program would be conceivable. Here we report on a novel method for ante mortem BSE testing, which combines infrared spectroscopy of serum samples with multivariate pattern recognition analysis. A classification algorithm was trained using infrared spectra of sera from more than 800 animals from a field study (including BSE positive, healthy controls and animals suffering from viral or bacterial infections). In two validation studies sensitivities of 85% and 87% and specificities of 84% and 91% were achieved, respectively. The combination of classification algorithms increased sensitivity and specificity to 96% and 92%, respectively.

9 CFR 314.7 - Carcasses of livestock condemned on ante-mortem inspection not to pass through edible product areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Carcasses of livestock condemned on... DISPOSAL OF CONDEMNED OR OTHER INEDIBLE PRODUCTS AT OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS § 314.7 Carcasses of livestock condemned on ante-mortem inspection not to pass through edible product areas. Carcasses of livestock which...

DNA identification of human remains in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI): An efficient sampling method for muscle, bone, bone marrow and teeth.

PubMed

de Boer, Hans H; Maat, George J R; Kadarmo, D Aji; Widodo, Putut T; Kloosterman, Ate D; Kal, Arnoud J

2018-06-04

In disaster victim identification (DVI), DNA profiling is considered to be one of the most reliable and efficient means to identify bodies or separated body parts. This requires a post mortem DNA sample, and an ante mortem DNA sample of the presumed victim or their biological relative(s). Usually the collection of an adequate ante mortem sample is technically simple, but the acquisition of a good quality post mortem sample under unfavourable DVI circumstances is complicated due to the variable degree of preservation of the human remains and the high risk of DNA (cross) contamination. This paper provides the community with an efficient method to collect post-mortem DNA samples from muscle, bone, bone marrow and teeth, with a minimal risk of contamination. Our method has been applied in a recent, challenging DVI operation (i.e. the identification of the 298 victims of the MH17 airplane crash in 2014). 98,2% of the collected PM samples provided the DVI team with highly informative DNA genotyping results without the risk of contamination and consequent mistyping the victim's DNA. Moreover, the method is easy, cheap and quick. This paper provides the DVI community with a step-wise instructions with recommendations for the type of tissue to be sampled and the site of excision (preferably the upper leg). Although initially designed for DVI purposes, the method is also suited for the identification of individual victims. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental evaluation of rigor mortis. VII. Effect of ante- and post-mortem electrocution on the evolution of rigor mortis.

PubMed

Krompecher, T; Bergerioux, C

1988-01-01

The influence of electrocution on the evolution of rigor mortis was studied on rats. Our experiments showed that: (1) Electrocution hastens the onset of rigor mortis. After an electrocution of 90 s, a complete rigor develops already 1 h post-mortem (p.m.) compared to 5 h p.m. for the controls. (2) Electrocution hastens the passing of rigor mortis. After an electrocution of 90 s, the first significant decrease occurs at 3 h p.m. (8 h p.m. in the controls). (3) These modifications in rigor mortis evolution are less pronounced in the limbs not directly touched by the electric current. (4) In case of post-mortem electrocution, the changes are slightly less pronounced, the resistance is higher and the absorbed energy is lower as compared with the ante-mortem electrocution cases. The results are completed by two practical observations on human electrocution cases.

Information management and ante-mortem inspection procedures for the emerging diseases control: Experiences acquired in the epidemiological surveillance of bluetongue and lumpy skin disease.

PubMed

Corradini, Alessandra; Trevisani, Marcello; Dosa, Geremia; Padovani, Anna

2018-03-31

The spread of exotic, emerging and reemerging diseases, has become, in the last years, one of the most important threats to the animal productions and public health, representing a new challenge for the European Community. In a global-market framework, where trade and contacts between countries are simplified, effective and well-developed surveillance systems are necessary. Multiple factors are, in fact, associated with the emergence of new, known or exotic diseases in this new economic panorama and for these reasons controls on animal imports, traceability and timeliness detection of infected animals should be considered the basis of a sound surveillance. In this work, we focused our attention on the management of Bluetongue and on the risk of introduction of the Lumpy Skin Disease in Italy, in order to describe the national and European surveillance systems for these diseases. In particular, we underlined the crucial role of information that reach the Official Veterinarian at the slaughterhouse concerning the epidemiological situation of the sending countries. Information that are important for the management of the ante-mortem inspection and for increasing the awareness of the Veterinary Inspectors of their role in the surveillance.

Establishing post mortem criteria for the metabolic syndrome: an autopsy based cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Christensen, Martin Roest; Bugge, Anne; Malik, Mariam Elmegaard; Thomsen, Jørgen Lange; Lynnerup, Niels; Rungby, Jørgen; Banner, Jytte

2018-01-01

Individuals who suffer from mental illness are more prone to obesity and related co-morbidities, including the metabolic syndrome. Autopsies provide an outstanding platform for the macroscopic, microscopic and molecular-biological investigation of diseases. Autopsy-based findings may assist in the investigation of the metabolic syndrome. To utilise the vast information that an autopsy encompasses to elucidate the pathophysiology behind the syndrome further, we aimed to both develop and evaluate a method for the post mortem definition of the metabolic syndrome. Based on the nationwide Danish SURVIVE study of deceased mentally ill, we established a set of post mortem criteria for each of the harmonized criteria of the metabolic syndrome. We based the post mortem (PM) evaluation on information from the police reports and the data collected at autopsy, such as anthropometric measurements and biochemical and toxicological analyses (PM information). We compared our PM evaluation with the data from the Danish health registries [ante mortem (AM) information, considered the gold standard] from each individual. The study included 443 deceased individuals (272 male and 171 female) with a mean age of 50.4 (± 15.5) years and a median (interquartile range) post mortem interval of 114 (84-156) hours. We found no significant difference when defining the metabolic syndrome from the PM information in comparison to the AM information ( P  = 0.175). The PM evaluation yielded a high specificity (0.93) and a moderate sensitivity (0.63) with a moderate level of agreement compared to the AM evaluation (Cohen's κ = 0.51). Neither age nor post mortem interval affected the final results. Our model of a PM definition of the metabolic syndrome proved reliable when compared to the AM information. We believe that an appropriate estimate of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome can be established post mortem. However, while neither the PM nor the AM information is exhaustive in terms of defining an individual's health status, a superlative estimate may be obtained by combining the PM and the AM information. With this model, we open up the possibility of utilising autopsy data for future studies of the metabolic syndrome.

Information management and ante-mortem inspection procedures for the emerging diseases control: Experiences acquired in the epidemiological surveillance of bluetongue and lumpy skin disease

PubMed Central

Corradini, Alessandra; Trevisani, Marcello; Dosa, Geremia; Padovani, Anna

2018-01-01

The spread of exotic, emerging and reemerging diseases, has become, in the last years, one of the most important threats to the animal productions and public health, representing a new challenge for the European Community. In a global-market framework, where trade and contacts between countries are simplified, effective and well-developed surveillance systems are necessary. Multiple factors are, in fact, associated with the emergence of new, known or exotic diseases in this new economic panorama and for these reasons controls on animal imports, traceability and timeliness detection of infected animals should be considered the basis of a sound surveillance. In this work, we focused our attention on the management of Bluetongue and on the risk of introduction of the Lumpy Skin Disease in Italy, in order to describe the national and European surveillance systems for these diseases. In particular, we underlined the crucial role of information that reach the Official Veterinarian at the slaughterhouse concerning the epidemiological situation of the sending countries. Information that are important for the management of the ante-mortem inspection and for increasing the awareness of the Veterinary Inspectors of their role in the surveillance. PMID:29732326

[Odontological contribution to the identification of concentration camp physician Josef Mengele].

PubMed

Endris, R

1985-01-01

The body which had been exhumed from a graveyard in Embú (Brazil) on June 6th was investigated by forensic experts. The comparison of the post-mortem dental findings and jaw bones with ante-mortem data of Josef Mengele, physician of the concentration camp of Auschwitz, makes evident, that there is positive identity by high probability.

A new disaster victim identification management strategy targeting "near identification-threshold" cases: Experiences from the Boxing Day tsunami.

PubMed

Wright, Kirsty; Mundorff, Amy; Chaseling, Janet; Forrest, Alexander; Maguire, Christopher; Crane, Denis I

2015-05-01

The international disaster victim identification (DVI) response to the Boxing Day tsunami, led by the Royal Thai Police in Phuket, Thailand, was one of the largest and most complex in DVI history. Referred to as the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification operation, the group comprised a multi-national, multi-agency, and multi-disciplinary team. The traditional DVI approach proved successful in identifying a large number of victims quickly. However, the team struggled to identify certain victims due to incomplete or poor quality ante-mortem and post-mortem data. In response to these challenges, a new 'near-threshold' DVI management strategy was implemented to target presumptive identifications and improve operational efficiency. The strategy was implemented by the DNA Team, therefore DNA kinship matches that just failed to reach the reporting threshold of 99.9% were prioritized, however the same approach could be taken by targeting, for example, cases with partial fingerprint matches. The presumptive DNA identifications were progressively filtered through the Investigation, Dental and Fingerprint Teams to add additional information necessary to either strengthen or conclusively exclude the identification. Over a five-month period 111 victims from ten countries were identified using this targeted approach. The new identifications comprised 87 adults, 24 children and included 97 Thai locals. New data from the Fingerprint Team established nearly 60% of the total near-threshold identifications and the combined DNA/Physical method was responsible for over 30%. Implementing the new strategy, targeting near-threshold cases, had positive management implications. The process initiated additional ante-mortem information collections, and established a much-needed, distinct "end-point" for unresolved cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exhumation following incorrect identification. A case report.

PubMed

Phillips, V M; Thompson, I O

1992-06-01

The exhumation of two victims of a light aircraft accident was performed in February 1991 at Oudtshoorn, Cape. The exhumation was ordered by the magistrate on request of the parents of one of the victims who suspected that their son had been wrongly identified at the postmortem examination. At the pre-burial autopsy all the victims were positively identified, but the identity of two of the victims was subsequently reconsidered and reversed because one of them wore a silver bracelet. Burial then took place. The exhumation was ordered one month after the accident at which stage the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. Oral autopsies were performed on each of the victims, the jaws were radiographed and postmortem dental records drawn up. Dental records were obtained from the dentists who treated them and the information from these records was used to draw up ante-mortem dental records. A comparison between the postmortem and ante-mortem records showed that the victims were incorrectly identified and reburial in the correct graves was subsquently carried out. This case again emphasies the importance of dental identification in cases of severe burning, multilation or decomposition in order to avoid mistaken identity and incorrect burial in the future.

[Tuberculosis in cattle - surprisingly re-emerging or continuously present?].

PubMed

Moser, I; Köhler, H; Menge, C

2014-01-01

Tuberculosis in cattle, caused by Mycobacterium (M.) bovis/M. caprae, is globally one of the most important zoonotic diseases in cattle. It was widespread in Germany until the second half of the 20th century. Due to the effective control and eradication campaigns in Germany, the epidemic was almost eradicated. Consequently, Germany was regarded as essentially tuberculosis free since the end of 1961 (West) and the end of 1978 (East). By declaring the unified Germany "officially free of tuberculosis" (OTF) in 1996, freedom from tuberculosis was officially ratified by the European Commission. The prerequisite was the detection of tuberculosis in less than 0.1% of the cattle holdings per year in Germany. This status has been steadily maintained hitherto, thus resulting in some loss of awareness of bovine tuberculosis by veterinarians, farmers and the public over many decades. After 1996, the number of notified outbreaks had been on average less than 10 per 200,000 cattle holdings per year for many years. It was the year 2008 when the numbers increased. Based in part on subsequently enhanced ante mortem testing efforts, 46 outbreaks were notified in 2013. Bavaria and Lower Saxony were the federal states with the highest number of cases. Consequently, the national tuberculosis regulation was revised in 2009, 2012 and 2013 to form the basis for a modification of tuberculosis surveillance. Regionally, an improvement of the control strategy was considered necessary. In addition to the traditionally applied examination and detection methods of the tuberculin skin test (ante mortem) and bacteriological culture (post mortem), the gamma-interferon-release assay (ante mortem) and the molecular detection of the causative pathogen (post mortem) were introduced into the official collection of recommended methods. Consequently, the diagnostic procedure of tuberculosis has been accelerated. However, in many cases the increase in the range of available test systems did not increase the ease in the interpretation of results.

Risk factors for failure to detect bovine tuberculosis in cattle from infected herds across Northern Ireland (2004-2010).

PubMed

Lahuerta-Marin, Angela; McNair, James; Skuce, Robin; McBride, Stewart; Allen, Michelle; Strain, Sam A J; Menzies, Fraser D; McDowell, Stanley J W; Byrne, Andrew W

2016-08-01

Correctly identifying animals that are truly infected with a pathogen using ante-mortem tests is the cornerstone of any disease eradication programme. Failure to identify all infected animals will impede the progress towards controlling and eradicating disease and may also have unforeseen consequences when specific prevention measures are in place to avoid animal-to-animal transmission. In the case of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), the screening ante-mortem test, the Single Comparative Intradermal Tuberculin Test (SCITT), can exhibit moderate sensitivity which can result in a "hidden burden" of infection residing within the population. Using an animal-level dataset relating to the disclosure of infected cattle with Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bTB within infected herds in Northern Ireland, we investigated what factors influenced the probability of an animal being a false-negative when truly infected (using post-mortem (PM) microbiological culture confirmation results to assess infection status). We found that different risk factors affected the probability of a test-negative outcome on infected animals depending on the ante-mortem test or their combination (SICTT and/or interferon gamma (IFN-ɣ) testing). Using multivariable models, SCITT disclosure performance varied significantly by age, location (region), and production type. The IFN-ɣ tests were significantly affected by region or season, but these effects depended on the cut-off used during interpretation of the test which affected the tests characteristics. Parallel use of SCITT and IFN-ɣ tests resulted in the least number of false-negatives, and their disclosure was affected by season and age-class. Understanding the factors that lead to the non-disclosure of infected animals is essential to optimise large-scale bTB disease eradication programmes. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

DVI missions in the Carribean-the practical aspects of disaster victim identification.

PubMed

Winskog, Calle

2012-06-01

Human trafficking of young men from Africa to Europe is a crime with often devastating consequences. The African continent loses members of the younger generation and many die during the attempt to reach their destinations. The identification of these victims is often difficult, however the structured and by now well-established procedures utilizing standard disaster victim identification protocols provide a reliable and functional approach. The logistics involved are straightforward, and one of the many functions of the team leader is to monitor and control the flow of cases through the system. The importance of ante mortem data for the purposes of identification is clear-no ante mortem data means no identification. Two different missions conducted in the Caribbean are described to illustrate particular difficulties that may occur.

9 CFR 381.70 - Ante mortem inspection; when required; extent.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION..., and the FSIS veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained; or (2) In low volume establishments, when...

9 CFR 381.70 - Ante mortem inspection; when required; extent.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION..., and the FSIS veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained; or (2) In low volume establishments, when...

9 CFR 381.70 - Ante mortem inspection; when required; extent.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION..., and the FSIS veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained; or (2) In low volume establishments, when...

9 CFR 381.70 - Ante mortem inspection; when required; extent.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION..., and the FSIS veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained; or (2) In low volume establishments, when...

9 CFR 352.4 - Application for ante-mortem inspection service in the field.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION EXOTIC ANIMALS AND HORSES; VOLUNTARY INSPECTION Exotic...

9 CFR 381.70 - Ante mortem inspection; when required; extent.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION..., and the FSIS veterinary medical officer cannot be obtained; or (2) In low volume establishments, when...

9 CFR 381.71 - Condemnation on ante mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... slaughter an injured ratite at night or Sunday or a holiday, and the Agency veterinary medical officer...

9 CFR 381.71 - Condemnation on ante mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... slaughter an injured ratite at night or Sunday or a holiday, and the Agency veterinary medical officer...

9 CFR 381.71 - Condemnation on ante mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... slaughter an injured ratite at night or Sunday or a holiday, and the Agency veterinary medical officer...

9 CFR 381.71 - Condemnation on ante mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... slaughter an injured ratite at night or Sunday or a holiday, and the Agency veterinary medical officer...

9 CFR 381.71 - Condemnation on ante mortem inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... slaughter an injured ratite at night or Sunday or a holiday, and the Agency veterinary medical officer...

Ex-vivo MR Volumetry of Human Brain Hemispheres

PubMed Central

Kotrotsou, Aikaterini; Bennett, David A.; Schneider, Julie A.; Dawe, Robert J.; Golak, Tom; Leurgans, Sue E.; Yu, Lei; Arfanakis, Konstantinos

2013-01-01

Purpose The aims of this work were to: a) develop an approach for ex-vivo MR volumetry of human brain hemispheres that does not contaminate the results of histopathological examination, b) longitudinally assess regional brain volumes postmortem, and c) investigate the relationship between MR volumetric measurements performed in-vivo and ex-vivo. Methods An approach for ex-vivo MR volumetry of human brain hemispheres was developed. Five hemispheres from elderly subjects were imaged ex-vivo longitudinally. All datasets were segmented. The longitudinal behavior of volumes measured ex-vivo was assessed. The relationship between in-vivo and ex-vivo volumetric measurements was investigated in seven elderly subjects imaged both ante-mortem and postmortem. Results The presented approach for ex-vivo MR volumetry did not contaminate the results of histopathological examination. For a period of 6 months postmortem, within-subject volume variation across time points was substantially smaller than inter-subject volume variation. A close linear correspondence was detected between in-vivo and ex-vivo volumetric measurements. Conclusion Regional brain volumes measured with the presented approach for ex-vivo MR volumetry remain relatively unchanged for a period of 6 months postmortem. Furthermore, the linear relationship between in-vivo and ex-vivo MR volumetric measurements suggests that the presented approach captures information linked to ante-mortem macrostructural brain characteristics. PMID:23440751

Use of the Rigor Mortis Process as a Tool for Better Understanding of Skeletal Muscle Physiology: Effect of the Ante-Mortem Stress on the Progression of Rigor Mortis in Brook Charr (Salvelinus fontinalis).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diouf, Boucar; Rioux, Pierre

1999-01-01

Presents the rigor mortis process in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) as a tool for better understanding skeletal muscle metabolism. Describes an activity that demonstrates how rigor mortis is related to the post-mortem decrease of muscular glycogen and ATP, how glycogen degradation produces lactic acid that lowers muscle pH, and how…

Cerebral cysticercosis in a cat.

PubMed

Schwan, E V; de Scally, M P; van Rensburg, C L; Durand, D T

2002-12-01

The metacestode of Taenia solium, Cysticercus cellulosae, was recovered from the brain of a cat showing central nervous clinical signs ante mortem. This is the first record of cerebral cysticercosis in a cat in South Africa.

Outdoor post-mortem bite injuries by Tapinoma nigerrimum (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) on a human corpse: Case report.

PubMed

Bonacci, Teresa; Vercillo, Vannio

2015-07-01

Ants are among the insects that colonize exposed human and animal corpses during the early stage of decomposition. In Calabria, Italy (as well as in other countries), Formicidae have been observed preying on immature stages of Diptera and other insects, as well as causing irregular scalloped areas of superficial skin loss on human corpses and animal carcasses. We present a case of injuries on a human corpse caused by ant feeding. The macroscopic appearance is described and the results of a histochemical investigation of the skin lesions caused by worker ants are reported for the first time. The investigation was carried out on the fresh corpse of a 53-year-old man discovered in a rural area of Cosenza province (Calabria, southern Italy). Numerous irregular areas of superficial skin loss caused by the ant Tapinoma nigerrimum (Nylander 1856) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) were observed on the body surface, inflicted very early in the post-mortem period. Because the classification of lesions is of crucial importance for forensic investigations, the macroscopic appearance and distribution pattern of the lesions on the corpse are illustrated. The histochemical investigation of the damaged skin explains, for the first time, the mechanism of production of the lesions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

9 CFR 309.1 - Ante-mortem inspection in pens of official establishments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION... the establishment where they are to be slaughtered or dressed or in which edible products are handled...

DNA analysis in Disaster Victim Identification.

PubMed

Montelius, Kerstin; Lindblom, Bertil

2012-06-01

DNA profiling and matching is one of the primary methods to identify missing persons in a disaster, as defined by the Interpol Disaster Victim Identification Guide. The process to identify a victim by DNA includes: the collection of the best possible ante-mortem (AM) samples, the choice of post-mortem (PM) samples, DNA-analysis, matching and statistical weighting of the genetic relationship or match. Each disaster has its own scenario, and each scenario defines its own methods for identification of the deceased.

Patterned postmortem ant abrasions outlining clothing and body position after death.

PubMed

Byard, Roger W; Heath, Karen J

2014-08-01

Analysis of a series of cases where post mortem lesions had been caused by ant activity demonstrated two types of specific lesions, the first associated with clothing, and the second with the position of the body of the decedent. The first type of injury consisted of areas of abraded parchmented skin with well-defined straight edges that marked the perimeter of clothing. The second lesion consisted of circular abraded injuries that outlined the junction between the body and the surface that it was resting on, essentially tracing the outline of the point of contact. In both situations ants had been unable to gain access to skin beneath elasticized clothing or parts of the body pressed against the floor or ground. This had resulted in a visual record of the edge of clothing and the position of parts of the body after death. This information may be important if clothing has been removed prior to autopsy or if lividity is minimal. These unique lesions also show that not all insect predation on bodies obscures information. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Current ante-mortem techniques for diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis.

PubMed

Bezos, Javier; Casal, Carmen; Romero, Beatriz; Schroeder, Bjoern; Hardegger, Roland; Raeber, Alex J; López, Lissette; Rueda, Paloma; Domínguez, Lucas

2014-10-01

Bovine tuberculosis (TB), mainly caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is a zoonotic disease with implications for Public Health and having an economic impact due to decreased production and limitations to the trade. Bovine TB is subjected to official eradication campaigns mainly based on a test and slaughter policy using diagnostic assays based on the cell-mediated immune response as the intradermal tuberculin test and the gamma-interferon (IFN-γ) assay. Moreover, several diagnostic assays based on the detection of specific antibodies (Abs) have been developed in the last few years with the aim of complementing the current diagnostic techniques in the near future. This review provides an overview of the current ante-mortem diagnostic tools for diagnosis of bovine TB regarding historical background, methodologies and sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) obtained in previous studies under different epidemiological situations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implications of Genital Mutilation at Autopsy.

PubMed

Byard, Roger W

2017-07-01

Given the potential significance of mutilation of the external genitalia in medicolegal fatalities, a review of the literature was undertaken to identify subcategories. Such mutilations may have been sustained sometime before death, around the time of death, or after death. The most common type of ante mortem genital mutilations involves cultural practices such as male circumcision. Less common male mutilations such as subincisions are tribally based. Female genital mutilation is found particularly in African, Middle Eastern, or Asian populations. Self-inflicted genital injuries are most common in males and may be related to attempts at suicide, or to self-harming practices. The latter have a strong association with psychiatric illnesses. Postmortem injuries may arise from animal predation or deliberate mutilation of a corpse. The latter may be associated with ante mortem genital injuries in sadistic homicides. The range of possible causes of genital mutilations in forensic cases necessitates extremely careful evaluation. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Effect of ante-mortem hypoxia on the physicochemical and functional properties of white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) muscle stored on ice.

PubMed

García-Sifuentes, Celia Olivia; Pacheco-Aguilar, Ramón; Scheuren-Acevedo, Susana María; Carvallo-Ruiz, Gisela; Garcia-Sanchez, Guillermina; Gollas-Galván, Teresa; Hernández-López, Jorge

2013-06-01

The effect of ante-mortem hypoxia on the physicochemical and functional properties of raw and cooked white shrimp was studied. Hue angle was greater (p ≤ 0.05) for stressed raw shrimp compared to control (greener color); whereas a lower angle was detected for cooked stressed shrimp (redder/orange coloration). In addition, hue angle increased (p ≤ 0.05) over the ice storage period for control and stressed shrimp (raw and/or cooked). Muscle hardness and shear force showed no differences when comparing control and stressed shrimp (raw and/or cooked). However, during ice storage, shear force increased (p ≤ 0.05) by 22% and 9% for control and stressed raw shrimp, respectively; in contrast, shear force and muscle hardness decreased for cooked shrimp (p ≤ 0.05). Control showed more (p ≤ 0.05) elasticity than stressed cooked shrimp. Stressed raw shrimp showed a water holding capacity 10.8% lower (p ≤ 0.05) than control. However, during the storage, water holding capacity increased (p ≤ 0.05) reaching similar values to control after day 4. Muscle protein solubility of stressed shrimp was 31% lower than control; however, no differences (p > 0.05) were observed after the second day. The thermal stability of myosin (T max) showed differences (p ≤ 0.05) among control and stressed shrimp, whereas no differences for ΔH were observed. Results showed the influence of ante-mortem hypoxia on the physicochemical and functional properties of white shrimp muscle.

Primary pure choriocarcinoma of the liver.

PubMed

Fernández Alonso, J; Sáez, C; Pérez, P; Montaño, A; Japón, M A

1992-04-01

We report a pure choriocarcinoma of the liver studied at necropsy. The tumour was diagnosed ante-mortem and treated by chemotherapy with no satisfactory response. Previous cases of hepatic choriocarcinoma are reviewed and criteria to diagnose this extragonadal neoplasm are recommended.

Clinicopathologic and 11C-Pittsburgh compound B implications of Thal amyloid phase across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum

PubMed Central

Lowe, Val J.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Liesinger, Amanda M.; Cannon, Ashley; Przybelski, Scott A.; Rawal, Bhupendra; Parisi, Joseph E.; Petersen, Ronald C.; Kantarci, Kejal; Ross, Owen A.; Duara, Ranjan; Knopman, David S.; Jack, Clifford R.; Dickson, Dennis W.

2015-01-01

Thal amyloid phase, which describes the pattern of progressive amyloid-β plaque deposition in Alzheimer’s disease, was incorporated into the latest National Institute of Ageing – Alzheimer’s Association neuropathologic assessment guidelines. Amyloid biomarkers (positron emission tomography and cerebrospinal fluid) were included in clinical diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease dementia published by the National Institute of Ageing – Alzheimer’s Association and the International Work group. Our first goal was to evaluate the correspondence of Thal amyloid phase to Braak tangle stage and ante-mortem clinical characteristics in a large autopsy cohort. Second, we examined the relevance of Thal amyloid phase in a prospectively-followed autopsied cohort who underwent ante-mortem 11C-Pittsburgh compound B imaging; using the large autopsy cohort to broaden our perspective of 11C-Pittsburgh compound B results. The Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Brain Bank case series (n = 3618) was selected regardless of ante-mortem clinical diagnosis and neuropathologic co-morbidities, and all assigned Thal amyloid phase and Braak tangle stage using thioflavin-S fluorescent microscopy. 11C-Pittsburgh compound B studies from Mayo Clinic Rochester were available for 35 participants scanned within 2 years of death. Cortical 11C-Pittsburgh compound B values were calculated as a standard uptake value ratio normalized to cerebellum grey/white matter. In the high likelihood Alzheimer’s disease brain bank cohort (n = 1375), cases with lower Thal amyloid phases were older at death, had a lower Braak tangle stage, and were less frequently APOE-ε4 positive. Regression modelling in these Alzheimer’s disease cases, showed that Braak tangle stage, but not Thal amyloid phase predicted age at onset, disease duration, and final Mini-Mental State Examination score. In contrast, Thal amyloid phase, but not Braak tangle stage or cerebral amyloid angiopathy predicted 11C-Pittsburgh compound B standard uptake value ratio. In the 35 cases with ante-mortem amyloid imaging, a transition between Thal amyloid phases 1 to 2 seemed to correspond to 11C-Pittsburgh compound B standard uptake value ratio of 1.4, which when using our pipeline is the cut-off point for detection of clear amyloid-positivity regardless of clinical diagnosis. Alzheimer’s disease cases who were older and were APOE-ε4 negative tended to have lower amyloid phases. Although Thal amyloid phase predicted clinical characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease patients, the pre-mortem clinical status was driven by Braak tangle stage. Thal amyloid phase correlated best with 11C-Pittsburgh compound B values, but not Braak tangle stage or cerebral amyloid angiopathy. The 11C-Pittsburgh compound B cut-off point value of 1.4 was approximately equivalent to a Thal amyloid phase of 1–2. PMID:25805643

Current food chain information provides insufficient information for modern meat inspection of pigs.

PubMed

Felin, Elina; Jukola, Elias; Raulo, Saara; Heinonen, Jaakko; Fredriksson-Ahomaa, Maria

2016-05-01

Meat inspection now incorporates a more risk-based approach for protecting human health against meat-borne biological hazards. Official post-mortem meat inspection of pigs has shifted to visual meat inspection. The official veterinarian decides on additional post-mortem inspection procedures, such as incisions and palpations. The decision is based on declarations in the food chain information (FCI), ante-mortem inspection and post-mortem inspection. However, a smooth slaughter and inspection process is essential. Therefore, one should be able to assess prior to slaughter which pigs are suitable for visual meat inspection only, and which need more profound inspection procedures. This study evaluates the usability of the FCI provided by pig producers and considered the possibility for risk ranking of incoming slaughter batches according to the previous meat inspection data and the current FCI. Eighty-five slaughter batches comprising 8954 fattening pigs were randomly selected at a slaughterhouse that receives animals from across Finland. The mortality rate, the FCI and the meat inspection results for each batch were obtained. The current FCI alone provided insufficient and inaccurate information for risk ranking purposes for meat inspection. The partial condemnation rate for a batch was best predicted by the partial condemnation rate calculated for all the pigs sent for slaughter from the same holding in the previous year (p<0.001) and by prior information on cough declared in the current FCI (p=0.02) statement. Training and information to producers are needed to make the FCI reporting procedures more accurate. Historical meat inspection data on pigs slaughtered from the same holdings and well-chosen symptoms/signs for reporting, should be included in the FCI to facilitate the allocation of pigs for visual inspection. The introduced simple scoring system can be easily used for additional information for directing batches to appropriate meat inspection procedures. To control the main biological public health hazards related to pork, serological surveillance should be done and the information obtained from analyses should be used as part of the FCI. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differential Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Preservation in Post-Mortem Teeth with Implications for Forensic and Ancient DNA Studies

PubMed Central

Higgins, Denice; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Kaidonis, John; Townsend, Grant; Austin, Jeremy J.

2015-01-01

Major advances in genetic analysis of skeletal remains have been made over the last decade, primarily due to improvements in post-DNA-extraction techniques. Despite this, a key challenge for DNA analysis of skeletal remains is the limited yield of DNA recovered from these poorly preserved samples. Enhanced DNA recovery by improved sampling and extraction techniques would allow further advancements. However, little is known about the post-mortem kinetics of DNA degradation and whether the rate of degradation varies between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA or across different skeletal tissues. This knowledge, along with information regarding ante-mortem DNA distribution within skeletal elements, would inform sampling protocols facilitating development of improved extraction processes. Here we present a combined genetic and histological examination of DNA content and rates of DNA degradation in the different tooth tissues of 150 human molars over short-medium post-mortem intervals. DNA was extracted from coronal dentine, root dentine, cementum and pulp of 114 teeth via a silica column method and the remaining 36 teeth were examined histologically. Real time quantification assays based on two nuclear DNA fragments (67 bp and 156 bp) and one mitochondrial DNA fragment (77 bp) showed nuclear and mitochondrial DNA degraded exponentially, but at different rates, depending on post-mortem interval and soil temperature. In contrast to previous studies, we identified differential survival of nuclear and mtDNA in different tooth tissues. Futhermore histological examination showed pulp and dentine were rapidly affected by loss of structural integrity, and pulp was completely destroyed in a relatively short time period. Conversely, cementum showed little structural change over the same time period. Finally, we confirm that targeted sampling of cementum from teeth buried for up to 16 months can provide a reliable source of nuclear DNA for STR-based genotyping using standard extraction methods, without the need for specialised equipment or large-volume demineralisation steps. PMID:25992635

9 CFR 381.74 - Poultry suspected of having biological residues.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Poultry suspected of having biological... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION REGULATIONS Ante Mortem...

Virtual animation of victim-specific 3D models obtained from CT scans for forensic reconstructions: Living and dead subjects.

PubMed

Villa, C; Olsen, K B; Hansen, S H

2017-09-01

Post-mortem CT scanning (PMCT) has been introduced at several forensic medical institutions many years ago and has proved to be a useful tool. 3D models of bones, skin, internal organs and bullet paths can rapidly be generated using post-processing software. These 3D models reflect the individual physiognomics and can be used to create whole-body 3D virtual animations. In such way, virtual reconstructions of the probable ante-mortem postures of victims can be constructed and contribute to understand the sequence of events. This procedure is demonstrated in two victims of gunshot injuries. Case #1 was a man showing three perforating gunshot wounds, who died due to the injuries of the incident. Whole-body PMCT was performed and 3D reconstructions of bones, relevant internal organs and bullet paths were generated. Using 3ds Max software and a human anatomy 3D model, a virtual animated body was built and probable ante-mortem postures visualized. Case #2 was a man presenting three perforating gunshot wounds, who survived the incident: one in the left arm and two in the thorax. Only CT scans of the thorax, abdomen and the injured arm were provided by the hospital. Therefore, a whole-body 3D model reflecting the anatomical proportions of the patient was made combining the actual bones of the victim with those obtained from the human anatomy 3D model. The resulted 3D model was used for the animation process. Several probable postures were also visualized in this case. It has be shown that in Case #1 the lesions and the bullet path were not consistent with an upright standing position; instead, the victim was slightly bent forward, i.e. he was sitting or running when he was shot. In Case #2, one of the bullets could have passed through the arm and continued into the thorax. In conclusion, specialized 3D modelling and animation techniques allow for the reconstruction of ante-mortem postures based on both PMCT and clinical CT. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Food safety concerns regarding paratuberculosis.

PubMed

Collins, Michael T

2011-11-01

Both ante mortem and post mortem contamination of foods of animal origin commonly occurs. Food manufacturing practices fail to reliably kill Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) due to its innate resistance to heat and other physical factors. While medical science does not agree on the human health consequences of MAP exposure, this potentially zoonotic pathogen is found in a significant proportion of people with a disease bearing marked similarity to Johne’s disease (ie, Crohn’s disease). Control of MAP infections in farm animals to mitigate the risk of human exposure is one additional reason for on-farm measures to control Johne’s disease.

9 CFR 309.14 - Brucellosis-reactor goats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Brucellosis-reactor goats. 309.14 Section 309.14 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.14 Brucellosis-reactor goats. Goats which have...

9 CFR 309.14 - Brucellosis-reactor goats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Brucellosis-reactor goats. 309.14 Section 309.14 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.14 Brucellosis-reactor goats. Goats which have...

9 CFR 309.14 - Brucellosis-reactor goats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Brucellosis-reactor goats. 309.14... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.14 Brucellosis-reactor goats. Goats which have reacted to a test for brucellosis shall not be slaughtered in an official establishment. ...

9 CFR 309.14 - Brucellosis-reactor goats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Brucellosis-reactor goats. 309.14... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.14 Brucellosis-reactor goats. Goats which have reacted to a test for brucellosis shall not be slaughtered in an official establishment. ...

9 CFR 309.14 - Brucellosis-reactor goats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Brucellosis-reactor goats. 309.14... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.14 Brucellosis-reactor goats. Goats which have reacted to a test for brucellosis shall not be slaughtered in an official establishment. ...

9 CFR 352.19 - Ante-mortem inspection and applicable requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... and parts of carcasses, or horse meat food products shall be those in § 312.3 of this subchapter. [71... OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION EXOTIC ANIMALS AND HORSES; VOLUNTARY INSPECTION Horses...

9 CFR 309.11 - Vaccine livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Vaccine livestock. 309.11 Section 309.11 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.11 Vaccine livestock. Vaccine livestock with unhealed lesions of...

9 CFR 309.11 - Vaccine livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Vaccine livestock. 309.11 Section 309.11 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.11 Vaccine livestock. Vaccine livestock with unhealed lesions of...

9 CFR 309.11 - Vaccine livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Vaccine livestock. 309.11 Section 309.11 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.11 Vaccine livestock. Vaccine livestock with unhealed lesions of...

9 CFR 309.11 - Vaccine livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Vaccine livestock. 309.11 Section 309.11 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.11 Vaccine livestock. Vaccine livestock with unhealed lesions of...

9 CFR 309.11 - Vaccine livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Vaccine livestock. 309.11 Section 309.11 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.11 Vaccine livestock. Vaccine livestock with unhealed lesions of...

Prevalence of liver fluke infection in Irish horses and assessment of a serological test for diagnosis of equine fasciolosis.

PubMed

Quigley, A; Sekiya, M; Egan, S; Wolfe, A; Negredo, C; Mulcahy, G

2017-03-01

There is little information on the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica infection in the horse population in Ireland or the potential impact of fluke infection on animal health. To investigate F. hepatica infection in the Irish horse population and to assess the diagnostic potential of an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the F. hepatica recombinant cathepsin L1 (CL1) antigen. Cross-sectional abattoir survey of horses for liver fluke status. Animals (n = 200) were examined at an abattoir between May 2013 and April 2014. Horses were graded ante mortem for body condition score. Blood and faeces were collected and livers were examined post mortem by gross morphology. A cohort (n = 35) of livers were also examined histologically. Haematology and blood biochemistry, including serum liver enzyme activities, were measured and faeces were sedimented for egg counts. Serum was assayed by indirect ELISA using a recombinant CL1. The prevalence of liver fluke infection was 9.5%. There was no correlation between liver fluke status and time of year, breed classification, age group, sex, body condition score, ante mortem assessment, strongyle infection status, serum liver enzyme activities or CL1 concentration. A comparison of the CL1 ELISA in horse sera compared with a reference standard diagnosis showed high specificity of 95.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 91.5-98.0%), but low sensitivity of 42.1% (95% CI 20.2-66.5%). This study is limited by its nature as an abattoir study, the relatively small number of animals examined (n = 200), and the absence of a known negative group of horses. Blood biomarkers are not good indicators of liver fluke infection and the CL1 ELISA is not a sensitive tool for diagnosis of fluke infection in the horse. The prevalence of F. hepatica in horses indicates that further research is required to assess the potential impact of liver fluke on equine liver health. © 2016 EVJ Ltd.

Assessment of the stability of mephedrone in ante-mortem and post-mortem blood specimens.

PubMed

Busardò, Francesco Paolo; Kyriakou, Chrystalla; Tittarelli, Roberta; Mannocchi, Giulio; Pantano, Flaminia; Santurro, Alessandro; Zaami, Simona; Baglìo, Giovanni

2015-11-01

The aim of this work is to test the stability of mephedrone added to whole blood collected from alive and dead mephedrone free-users and stored at three different temperatures (-20, +4 and +20°C) with and without preservatives up to 6 months, trying to establish the best storage condition in order to reduce possible analyte loss/degradation during the storage period. Different sources of blood were obtained as follow: 10 samples of blood came from 10 alive mephedrone free-users (mean age 34±15.8 years old) (Group 1), whereas 10 post mortem blood samples were obtained from 10 cadavers, in which the post mortem interval was between 24 and 36h (Group 2). The cause of death in post mortem cases (mean age 45±14.2 years old) was not drug related. Pools of blood were spiked with mephedrone at the concentration of 1mg/L and 1mL aliquots were transferred in 2mL Eppendorf capped tubes with and without preservatives as follow: with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) 3%; with sodium fluoride/potassium oxalate (NaF/KOx) 1.67%/0.2%, respectively; without preservatives. All samples were stored at three different temperatures: -20°C, 4°C and 20°C and extracted and analyzed in duplicate by GC-MS according to a previously published method by Dickson et al., every other day during the first month and then weekly up to 6 months. our study allow us to affirm that -20°C is the best storage temperature for mephedrone stability in ante-mortem and post-mortem blood samples in comparison to the other two tested temperatures (+4 and +20°C), showing higher values in both groups in samples stored with and without preservatives (p<0.0001). The comparison of Group 1 (samples coming from alive subjects) and Group 2 (post-mortem samples) highlights a better stability of mephedrone in Group 1 (p<0.001) at all tested storage conditions. Finally, the analysis of blood specimens stored with and without preservatives in both groups suggests that specimens stored with NaF/KOx maintain mephedrone stability better than those stored with EDTA (p<0.001) and those stored without preservatives (p<0.0001), therefore, we strongly recommend in order to maintain the highest mephedrone stability in blood, to store specimens at -20°C adding NaF/KOx as preservative. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

9 CFR 310.21 - Carcasses suspected of containing sulfa and antibiotic residues; sampling frequency; disposition...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... treatment in any part of the digestive tract. (7) Veterinary medical officer. An inspector of the Program... noncertified calves, as determined by the veterinary medical officer during ante-mortem inspection, will be...

9 CFR 310.21 - Carcasses suspected of containing sulfa and antibiotic residues; sampling frequency; disposition...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... treatment in any part of the digestive tract. (7) Veterinary medical officer. An inspector of the Program... noncertified calves, as determined by the veterinary medical officer during ante-mortem inspection, will be...

9 CFR 310.21 - Carcasses suspected of containing sulfa and antibiotic residues; sampling frequency; disposition...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... treatment in any part of the digestive tract. (7) Veterinary medical officer. An inspector of the Program... noncertified calves, as determined by the veterinary medical officer during ante-mortem inspection, will be...

9 CFR 310.21 - Carcasses suspected of containing sulfa and antibiotic residues; sampling frequency; disposition...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... treatment in any part of the digestive tract. (7) Veterinary medical officer. An inspector of the Program... noncertified calves, as determined by the veterinary medical officer during ante-mortem inspection, will be...

9 CFR 354.124 - Quarantine of diseased rabbits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Quarantine of diseased rabbits. 354.124 Section 354.124 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... Procedures; Ante-Mortem Inspections § 354.124 Quarantine of diseased rabbits. If live rabbits, which are...

9 CFR 354.124 - Quarantine of diseased rabbits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Quarantine of diseased rabbits. 354.124 Section 354.124 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... Procedures; Ante-Mortem Inspections § 354.124 Quarantine of diseased rabbits. If live rabbits, which are...

9 CFR 354.124 - Quarantine of diseased rabbits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Quarantine of diseased rabbits. 354.124 Section 354.124 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... Procedures; Ante-Mortem Inspections § 354.124 Quarantine of diseased rabbits. If live rabbits, which are...

9 CFR 309.15 - Vesicular diseases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Vesicular diseases. 309.15 Section 309... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.15 Vesicular diseases. (a) Immediate notification shall be given by... any livestock is found to be affected with a vesicular disease. (b) No livestock under quarantine by...

9 CFR 309.15 - Vesicular diseases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Vesicular diseases. 309.15 Section 309... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.15 Vesicular diseases. (a) Immediate notification shall be given by... any livestock is found to be affected with a vesicular disease. (b) No livestock under quarantine by...

9 CFR 309.15 - Vesicular diseases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Vesicular diseases. 309.15 Section 309... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.15 Vesicular diseases. (a) Immediate notification shall be given by... any livestock is found to be affected with a vesicular disease. (b) No livestock under quarantine by...

9 CFR 309.15 - Vesicular diseases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Vesicular diseases. 309.15 Section 309... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.15 Vesicular diseases. (a) Immediate notification shall be given by... any livestock is found to be affected with a vesicular disease. (b) No livestock under quarantine by...

9 CFR 309.15 - Vesicular diseases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Vesicular diseases. 309.15 Section 309... CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.15 Vesicular diseases. (a) Immediate notification shall be given by... any livestock is found to be affected with a vesicular disease. (b) No livestock under quarantine by...

9 CFR 309.17 - Livestock used for research.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Livestock used for research. 309.17... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.17 Livestock used for research. (a) No livestock used in any research investigation involving an experimental biological product, drug, or chemical...

9 CFR 309.17 - Livestock used for research.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Livestock used for research. 309.17... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.17 Livestock used for research. (a) No livestock used in any research investigation involving an experimental biological product, drug, or chemical...

Antibody Responses of Cervids (Cervus elaphus) following Experimental Mycobacterium bovis Infection and the Implications for Immunodiagnosis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Captive and free-ranging wildlife are implicated in the maintenance and transmission of bovine tuberculosis (TB) and therefore pose a significant obstacle to eradication of the disease from domestic livestock. The current ante-mortem diagnostic method, the intradermal tuberculin skin test, has seri...

Determination of penicillin G in heavy sow urine using immunochromatographic assay and microbial inhibition swab tests

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Introduction: Penicillin is a commonly used antibiotic in food animals. Unfortunately, violative penicillin residues in animal carcasses are sometimes identified by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Ante-mortem matrices such as urine could prove valuable for predicting possible violativ...

9 CFR 310.21 - Carcasses suspected of containing sulfa and antibiotic residues; sampling frequency; disposition...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION AND VOLUNTARY... treatment in any part of the digestive tract. (7) Veterinary medical officer. An inspector of the Program... noncertified calves, as determined by the veterinary medical officer during ante-mortem inspection, will be...

Sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever-like skin disease in a free-ranging bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), Alberta, Canada

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF)-like clinical disease was diagnosed in a free-ranging bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in Alberta, Canada. Ante-mortem observations and gross pathology included muscle atrophy, marked weight loss and focally extensive alopecia with chronic crusting hyperkeratotosis and...

Poisoning: fact or fiction?

PubMed

Flanagan, Robert J

2012-01-01

Analytical toxicology is a complex discipline. Simply detecting a poison in a biological sample does not necessarily mean that the individual from whom the sample was obtained had been poisoned. An analysis can prove exposure and perhaps give an indication of the magnitude of exposure, but the results have to be placed in proper context. Even if sampling was ante-mortem an analysis does not necessarily prove the effects that the drug or poison had on the victim immediately before or at the time of sampling. Tolerance is one big issue, the mechanism of exposure (how the drug got into the body) is another, and of course with post-mortem work there are always additional considerations such as site of sample collection and the possibility of post-mortem change in analyte concentration. There are also questions of quality and reliability, and whether a particular analysis and the interpretation placed upon the result are appropriate in a particular case.

9 CFR 311.3 - Hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... kidneys and the lymph nodes which resemble lesions of hog cholera, they shall be regarded as those of hog... kidneys and lymph nodes of carcasses of hogs which appeared normal on ante-mortem inspection, further..., characteristic lesions of hog cholera are found in some organ or tissue in addition to those in the kidneys or in...

9 CFR 311.3 - Hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... kidneys and the lymph nodes which resemble lesions of hog cholera, they shall be regarded as those of hog... kidneys and lymph nodes of carcasses of hogs which appeared normal on ante-mortem inspection, further..., characteristic lesions of hog cholera are found in some organ or tissue in addition to those in the kidneys or in...

9 CFR 352.9 - Report of inspection work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Report of inspection work. 352.9 Section 352.9 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... inspection work. Reports of the work of inspection carried on within the field ante-mortem inspection area of...

9 CFR 309.8 - Cattle affected with anasarca and generalized edema.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... generalized edema. 309.8 Section 309.8 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE... anasarca and generalized edema. All cattle found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with anasarca in advanced stages and characterized by an extensive and generalized edema shall be identified as U.S...

9 CFR 309.8 - Cattle affected with anasarca and generalized edema.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... generalized edema. 309.8 Section 309.8 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE... anasarca and generalized edema. All cattle found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with anasarca in advanced stages and characterized by an extensive and generalized edema shall be identified as U.S...

Diagnostic accuracy and limitations of post-mortem MRI for neurological abnormalities in fetuses and children.

PubMed

Arthurs, O J; Thayyil, S; Pauliah, S S; Jacques, T S; Chong, W K; Gunny, R; Saunders, D; Addison, S; Lally, P; Cady, E; Jones, R; Norman, W; Scott, R; Robertson, N J; Wade, A; Chitty, L; Taylor, A M; Sebire, N J

2015-08-01

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of non-invasive cerebral post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMRI) specifically for cerebral and neurological abnormalities in a series of fetuses and children, compared to conventional autopsy. Institutional ethics approval and parental consent was obtained. Pre-autopsy cerebral PMMRI was performed in a sequential prospective cohort (n = 400) of fetuses (n = 277; 185 ≤ 24 weeks and 92 > 24 weeks gestation) and children <16 years (n = 123) of age. PMMRI and conventional autopsy findings were reported blinded and independently of each other. Cerebral PMMRI had sensitivities and specificities (95% confidence interval) of 88.4% (75.5 to 94.9), and 95.2% (92.1 to 97.1), respectively, for cerebral malformations; 100% (83.9 to 100), and 99.1% (97.2 to 99.7) for major intracranial bleeds; and 87.5% (80.1 to 92.4) and 74.1% (68 to 79.4) for overall brain pathology. Formal neuropathological examination was non-diagnostic due to maceration/autolysis in 43/277 (16%) fetuses; of these, cerebral PMMRI imaging provided clinically important information in 23 (53%). The sensitivity of PMMRI for detecting significant ante-mortem ischaemic injury was only 68% (48.4 to 82.8) overall. PMMRI is an accurate investigational technique for identifying significant neuropathology in fetuses and children, and may provide important information even in cases where autolysis prevents formal neuropathological examination; however, PMMRI is less sensitive at detecting hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury, and may not detect rarer disorders not encountered in this study. Copyright © 2015 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Collection of biological samples in forensic toxicology.

PubMed

Dinis-Oliveira, R J; Carvalho, F; Duarte, J A; Remião, F; Marques, A; Santos, A; Magalhães, T

2010-09-01

Forensic toxicology is the study and practice of the application of toxicology to the purposes of the law. The relevance of any finding is determined, in the first instance, by the nature and integrity of the specimen(s) submitted for analysis. This means that there are several specific challenges to select and collect specimens for ante-mortem and post-mortem toxicology investigation. Post-mortem specimens may be numerous and can endow some special difficulties compared to clinical specimens, namely those resulting from autolytic and putrefactive changes. Storage stability is also an important issue to be considered during the pre-analytic phase, since its consideration should facilitate the assessment of sample quality and the analytical result obtained from that sample. The knowledge on degradation mechanisms and methods to increase storage stability may enable the forensic toxicologist to circumvent possible difficulties. Therefore, advantages and limitations of specimen preservation procedures are thoroughfully discussed in this review. Presently, harmonized protocols for sampling in suspected intoxications would have obvious utility. In the present article an overview is given on sampling procedures for routinely collected specimens as well as on alternative specimens that may provide additional information on the route and timing of exposure to a specific xenobiotic. Last, but not least, a discussion on possible bias that can influence the interpretation of toxicological results is provided. This comprehensive review article is intented as a significant help for forensic toxicologists to accomplish their frequently overwhelming mission.

The distribution and redistribution of fentanyl & norfentanyl in post mortem samples.

PubMed

Chatterton, C N; Scott-Ham, M

2018-03-01

This article compares 249 post mortem case reports that were positive for fentanyl/norfentanyl. All the cases were submitted to, and analyzed by, the toxicology department of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This study highlights the varied distribution of fentanyl in the body after death as a result of misadventure, i.e., these are accidental drug overdose cases as opposed to a study of analytical data resulting from fentanyl use/administration in a clinical environment and/or death as a result of suicide. Post mortem samples were collected from more than one anatomical site and analyzed for fentanyl and norfentanyl using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Ante-mortem samples were available in 4 of these cases and were also analyzed. Post mortem mean blood fentanyl concentrations were found to be 13.2ng/mL (femoral), 19.1ng/mL (iliac) and 42.0ng/mL (subclavian). For norfentanyl the mean concentrations were 4.6ng/mL (femoral), 4.6ng/mL (iliac) and 7.4ng/mL (subclavian). Mean vitreous fentanyl and norfentanyl concentrations were 10.8ng/mL and 3.5ng/mL respectively. Mean liver fentanyl and norfentanyl concentrations were found to be 185.5ng/g and 18.8ng/g respectively. This study demonstrates the importance of multi-site sample collection and subsequent analysis for a thorough post mortem toxicological investigation. The study also highlights the risks and limitations associated with the interpretation of post mortem analytical results concerning fentanyl. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

9 CFR 309.3 - Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.3 Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock. (a) Livestock found to be dead or in a dying condition on the premises of...

9 CFR 309.3 - Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.3 Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock. (a) Livestock found to be dead or in a dying condition on the premises of...

9 CFR 309.3 - Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.3 Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock. (a) Livestock found to be dead or in a dying condition on the premises of...

9 CFR 309.3 - Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.3 Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock. (a) Livestock found to be dead or in a dying condition on the premises of...

9 CFR 309.3 - Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.3 Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased and similar livestock. (a) Livestock found to be dead or in a dying condition on the premises of...

9 CFR 309.5 - Swine; disposal because of hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Swine; disposal because of hog cholera... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.5 Swine; disposal because of hog cholera. (a) All swine found by an inspector to be affected with hog cholera shall be identified as U.S. Condemned and...

9 CFR 309.5 - Swine; disposal because of hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Swine; disposal because of hog cholera... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.5 Swine; disposal because of hog cholera. (a) All swine found by an inspector to be affected with hog cholera shall be identified as U.S. Condemned and...

9 CFR 309.5 - Swine; disposal because of hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Swine; disposal because of hog cholera... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.5 Swine; disposal because of hog cholera. (a) All swine found by an inspector to be affected with hog cholera shall be identified as U.S. Condemned and...

9 CFR 309.5 - Swine; disposal because of hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Swine; disposal because of hog cholera... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.5 Swine; disposal because of hog cholera. (a) All swine found by an inspector to be affected with hog cholera shall be identified as U.S. Condemned and...

9 CFR 309.5 - Swine; disposal because of hog cholera.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Swine; disposal because of hog cholera... INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION § 309.5 Swine; disposal because of hog cholera. (a) All swine found by an inspector to be affected with hog cholera shall be identified as U.S. Condemned and...

9 CFR 309.7 - Livestock affected with anthrax; cleaning and disinfection of infected livestock pens and driveways.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Livestock affected with anthrax... INSPECTION § 309.7 Livestock affected with anthrax; cleaning and disinfection of infected livestock pens and driveways. (a) Any livestock found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with anthrax shall be identified...

9 CFR 309.7 - Livestock affected with anthrax; cleaning and disinfection of infected livestock pens and driveways.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Livestock affected with anthrax... INSPECTION § 309.7 Livestock affected with anthrax; cleaning and disinfection of infected livestock pens and driveways. (a) Any livestock found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with anthrax shall be identified...

9 CFR 309.7 - Livestock affected with anthrax; cleaning and disinfection of infected livestock pens and driveways.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Livestock affected with anthrax... INSPECTION § 309.7 Livestock affected with anthrax; cleaning and disinfection of infected livestock pens and driveways. (a) Any livestock found on ante-mortem inspection to be affected with anthrax shall be identified...

Methodology and preliminary results of a systematic literature review of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis.

PubMed

Downs, Sara H; Parry, Jessica E; Upton, Paul A; Broughan, Jennifer M; Goodchild, Anthony V; Nuñez-Garcia, Javier; Greiner, Matthias; Abernethy, Darrell A; Cameron, Angus R; Cook, Alasdair J; de la Rua-Domenech, Ricardo; Gunn, Jane; Pritchard, Elizabeth; Rhodes, Shelley; Rolfe, Simon; Sharp, Michael; Vordermeier, H Martin; Watson, Eamon; Welsh, Michael; Whelan, Adam O; Woolliams, John A; More, Simon J; Clifton-Hadley, Richard S

2018-05-01

A systematic review was conducted to identify studies with data for statistical meta-analyses of sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Members of a working group (WG) developed and tested search criteria and developed a standardised two-stage review process, to identify primary studies with numerator and denominator data for test performance and an agreed range of covariate data. No limits were applied to year, language, region or type of test in initial searches of electronic databases. In stage 1, titles and available abstracts were reviewed. References that complied with stage 1 selection criteria were reviewed in entirety and agreed data were extracted from references that complied with stage 2 selection criteria. At stage 1, 9782 references were reviewed and 261 (2.6%) passed through to stage 2 where 215 English language references were each randomly allocated to two of 18 WG reviewers and 46 references in other languages were allocated to native speakers. Agreement regarding eligibility between reviewers of the same reference at stage 2 was moderate (Kappa statistic = 0.51) and a resolution procedure was conducted. Only 119 references (published 1934-2009) were identified with eligible performance estimates for one or more of 14 different diagnostic test types; despite a comprehensive search strategy and the global impact of bTB. Searches of electronic databases for diagnostic test performance data were found to be nonspecific with regard to identifying references with diagnostic test Se or Sp data. Guidelines for the content of abstracts to research papers reporting diagnostic test performance are presented. The results of meta-analyses of the sensitivity and specificity of the tests, and of an evaluation of the methodological quality of the source references, are presented in accompanying papers (Nuñez-Garcia et al., 2017; Downs et al., 2017). Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Necrotizing fasciitis: case series and review of the literature on clinical and medico-legal diagnostic challenges.

PubMed

Fais, Paolo; Viero, Alessia; Viel, Guido; Giordano, Renzo; Raniero, Dario; Kusstatscher, Stefano; Giraudo, Chiara; Cecchetto, Giovanni; Montisci, Massimo

2018-04-07

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a life-threatening infection of soft tissues spreading along the fasciae to the surrounding musculature, subcutaneous fat and overlying skin areas that can rapidly lead to septic shock and death. Due to the pandemic increase of medical malpractice lawsuits, above all in Western countries, the forensic pathologist is frequently asked to investigate post-mortem cases of NF in order to determine the cause of death and to identify any related negligence and/or medical error. Herein, we review the medical literature dealing with cases of NF in a post-mortem setting, present a case series of seven NF fatalities and discuss the main ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic challenges of both clinical and forensic interests. In particular, we address the following issues: (1) origin of soft tissue infections, (2) micro-organisms involved, (3) time of progression of the infection to NF, (4) clinical and histological staging of NF and (5) pros and cons of clinical and laboratory scores, specific forensic issues related to the reconstruction of the ideal medical conduct and the evaluation of the causal value/link of any eventual medical error.

Collection of post mortem data: DVI protocols and quality assurance.

PubMed

Kvaal, Sigrid I

2006-05-15

In many countries forensic odontologists are members of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team. As part of their post mortem (PM) tasks work on the incident site may include securing and preserving the dental material and evidence before transport to the mortuary. In the autopsy room the main aim is to register the PM dental status. Photographs and radiographs are essential documentations in addition to a conventional registration of the dental status. Abbreviations in the registration may be used if agreed with the ante mortem (AM) team. Dental age estimation may be an aid in the sorting process and especially in victims without previous dental treatment. Interpol has a form set as part of their DVI manual. Forensic odontologists working in pairs and checking each other will act as quality assurance (QA) as suggested by International Organization for Forensic Odonto-Stomatology (IOFOS). Direct entry into the computer program as part of the registration in the autopsy room may save time and manpower.

Distribution of kerosene components in rats following dermal exposure.

PubMed

Tsujino, Y; Hieda, Y; Kimura, K; Eto, H; Yakabe, T; Takayama, K; Dekio, S

2002-08-01

The systemic distribution of kerosene components in blood and tissues was analysed in rats following dermal exposure. Four types of trimethylbenzenes (TMBs) and aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHCs) with carbon numbers 9-16 (C(9)-C(16)) were analysed as major kerosene components by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The kerosene components were detected in blood and all tissues after a small piece of cotton soaked with kerosene was applied to the abdominal skin. The amounts of TMBs detected were higher than those of AHCs. Greater increases in TMB levels were found in adipose tissue in an exposure duration-dependent manner. The amounts of TMBs detected were only at trace levels following post-mortem dermal exposure to kerosene. These findings suggest that kerosene components were absorbed percutaneously and distributed to various organs via the blood circulation. Post-mortem or ante-mortem exposure to kerosene could be distinguished when the exposure duration was relatively long. Adipose tissue would seem to be the most useful for estimating the degree of kerosene exposure.

[Forensic entomology exemplified by a homicide. A combined stain and postmortem time analysis].

PubMed

Benecke, M; Seifert, B

1999-01-01

The combined analysis of both ant and blow fly evidence recovered from a corpse, and from the boot of a suspect, suggested that an assumed scenario in a high profile murder case was likely to be true. The ants (Lasius fuliginous) were used as classical crime scene stains that linked the suspect to the scene. Blow fly maggots (Calliphora spec.) helped to determine the post mortem interval (PMI) with the calculated PMI overlapping with the assumed time of the killing. In the trial, the results of the medico-legal analysis of the insects was understood to be crucial scientific evidence, and the suspect was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

A Training Program in Breast Cancer Research Using NMR Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-07-01

to explore the application NMR molecular imaging techniques developed in this program in detection of amyloid plaques in the Alzheimer diseased mouse...one is to utilize the molecular imaging technique to exploit new application in imaging of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer disease. A abridge of each...matched, non-demented elderly suggests that volumetric studies of ante-mortem neuroimages may provide an early marker of AD in aging populations. In

Meta-analyses of the sensitivity and specificity of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis in the UK and Ireland.

PubMed

Nuñez-Garcia, Javier; Downs, Sara H; Parry, Jessica E; Abernethy, Darrell A; Broughan, Jennifer M; Cameron, Angus R; Cook, Alasdair J; de la Rua-Domenech, Ricardo; Goodchild, Anthony V; Gunn, Jane; More, Simon J; Rhodes, Shelley; Rolfe, Simon; Sharp, Michael; Upton, Paul A; Vordermeier, H Martin; Watson, Eamon; Welsh, Michael; Whelan, Adam O; Woolliams, John A; Clifton-Hadley, Richard S; Greiner, Matthias

2018-05-01

Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle is a global health problem and eradication of the disease requires accurate estimates of diagnostic test performance to optimize their efficiency. The objective of this study was, through statistical meta-analyses, to obtain estimates of sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp), for 14 different ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bTB in cattle. Using data from a systematic review of the scientific literature (published 1934-2009) diagnostic Se and Sp were estimated using Bayesian logistic regression models adjusting for confounding factors. Random effect terms were used to account for unexplained heterogeneity. Parameters in the models were implemented using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), and posterior distributions for the diagnostic parameters with adjustment for covariates (confounding factors) were obtained using the inverse logit function. Estimates for Se and/or Sp of the tuberculin skin tests and the IFN-γ blood test were compared with estimates published 2010-2015. Median Se for the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin skin (SICCT) test (standard interpretation) was 0.50 and Bayesian credible intervals (CrI) were wide (95% CrI 0.26, 0.78). Median Sp for the SICCT test was 1.00 (95% CrI 0.99, 1.00). Estimates for the IFN-γ blood test Bovine Purified Protein Derivative (PPD)-Avian PPD and Early Secreted Antigen target 6 and Culture Filtrate Protein 10 (ESAT-6/CFP10) ESAT6/CFP10 were 0.67 (95% CrI 0.49, 0.82) and 0.78 (95% CrI 0.60, 0.90) respectively for Se, and 0.98 (95% CrI 0.96, 0.99) and 0.99 (95% CrI 0.99, 1.00) for Sp. The study provides an overview of the accuracy of a range of contemporary diagnostic tests for bTB in cattle. Better understanding of diagnostic test performance is essential for the design of effective control strategies and their evaluation. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Role of forensic odontologist in post mortem person identification

PubMed Central

Pramod, Jahagirdar B.; Marya, Anand; Sharma, Vidhii

2012-01-01

The natural teeth are the most durable organs in the bodies of vertebrates, and humankind's understanding of their own past and evolution relies heavily upon remnant dental evidence found as fossils. The use of features unique to the human dentition as an aid to personal identification is widely accepted within the forensic field. Comparative dental identifications play a major role in identifying the victims of violence, disaster or other mass tragedies. The comparison of ante-mortem and postmortem dental records to determine human identity has long been established. Indeed, it is still a major identification method in criminal investigations, mass disasters, grossly decomposed or traumatized bodies, and in other situations where visual identification is neither possible nor desirable. This article has comprehensively described some of the methods, and additional factors aiding in postmortem person identification. PMID:23559914

Awareness of forensic odontology among dentists in Australia; are they keeping forensically valuable dental records?

PubMed

Al-Azri, Abdul Rahman; Harford, Jane; James, Helen

2015-03-30

Forensic odontologists provide an important service to the community by identifying unknown deceased people, allowing both legal outcomes and family closure. Non-visual identification may be achieved by comparison of post-mortem data with ante-mortem dental records provided by oral health practitioners. Success is dependent largely on the accuracy and adequacy of data in the dental records. An online self-administered questionnaire evaluated Australian dentists' knowledge and behaviours relevant to forensic odontology. Reported record keeping practices were assessed for detail, legibility, accessibility and retention. Behaviours were classified according to the frequency of response. Dentists reported overall reasonable awareness of the major applications of forensic odontology. Personal information and details of restorative treatment were recorded at high levels, while tooth anomalies, photography, additional patient details and denture marking were recorded inadequately. Legible tooth coding was reported at a high level, while other key legibility practices were recorded inadequately. Few of the behaviours related to retention or to maximise accessibility were recorded at a high level. Australian dentists have high expectations of the forensic value of their dental records; however many practices that would enhance the diagnostic, medico-legal and forensic value of dental records are not routinely applied. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Interobserver agreement for post mortem renal histopathology and diagnosis of acute tubular necrosis in critically ill patients.

PubMed

Glassford, Neil J; Skene, Alison; Guardiola, Maria B; Chan, Matthew J; Bagshaw, Sean M; Bellomo, Rinaldo; Solez, Kim

2017-12-01

The renal histopathology of critically ill patients dying with acute kidney injury (AKI) in intensive care units of high income countries remains uncertain. Retrospective observational assessment of interobserver agreement in the reporting of renal post mortem histopathology, and the ability of pathologists blinded to the clinical context to independently identify the presence of pre-mortem AKI from digital images of histological sections from 34 critically ill patients dying in teaching hospitals in Australia and Canada. We identified a heterogeneous cohort with a median age of 65 years (interquartile range [IQR], 56.5-77), APACHE II score of 27 (IQR, 19-33), and sepsis as the most common admission diagnosis (12/34; 35%). The most common proximate causes of death were cardiovascular (19/34; 56%) and respiratory (7/34; 21%) failure. AKI was common, with 23 patients (68%) developing RIFLE-F AKI, and 21 patients (62%) receiving renal replacement therapy. Structured reporting for tubular inflammation showed excellent agreement (kappa = 1), but no other subdomain demonstrated better than moderate agreement (kappa < 0.6). Only fair agreement (55.9% of cases; kappa = 0.23) was demonstrated on the diagnosis of moderate to severe acute tubular necrosis (ATN). Pathologist A predicted RIFLE-I or worse AKI with the diagnosis of ATN, with an overall accuracy of 61.8%; pathologist B predicted AKI with an accuracy of 35.3%. Post mortem assessment of the renal histopathology in critically ill patients is neither robust nor reproducible; independent pathologists agree poorly on the diagnosis of ATN, and their structural assessment appears dissociated from ante-mortem renal function.

Membranous glomerulonephritis associated with enterococcal endocarditis.

PubMed

Iida, H; Mizumura, Y; Uraoka, T; Takata, M; Sugimoto, T; Miwa, A; Yamagishi, T

1985-01-01

An autopsy case of membranous glomerulonephritis associated with enterococcal endocarditis was reported. Although enterococcal antigen was not identified in glomerular deposits, the eluate from the patient's renal tissue was shown to specifically recombine with cells of the enterococcus isolated from his own ante mortem blood. Hypocomplementemia, circulating immune complexes and antienterococcal antibodies were also observed. These findings suggest that enterococcus-related immune complexes played a role in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis associated with enterococcal endocarditis in this patient.

Dental indicators of adaptation in the Sahara Desert during the Late Holocene.

PubMed

Nikita, E; Mattingly, D; Lahr, M M

2014-10-01

The present paper examines dental diseases and linear enamel hypoplasia among the Garamantes, a Late Holocene Saharan population, and aims to draw conclusions about nutrition and adaptation to a hyper-arid environment. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Garamantian diet included animal protein and local, Mediterranean and Near Eastern plants. Moreoever, although the Garamantes had developed urban centres, the size of these was not large enough to allow for particularly unhygienic conditions to appear. The above archaeological findings were partly corroborated by the current bioarchaeological study. At an intra-population level, the Garamantes showed limited sex differences in dental disease prevalence, while all dental conditions increased in frequency with age, as expected. At an inter-population level, the frequency of all dental conditions was comparable to that found among other North African groups, with the exception of ante-mortem tooth loss. The low frequency of most dental conditions is an indication that the Garamantian diet was overall balanced, while the high frequency of ante-mortem tooth loss may be related to factors such as oral hygiene, food preparation or eating mode, which cannot be controlled for osteologically. Finally, the low frequency of enamel hypoplasia suggests either that the Sahara did not inflict particular stresses on the population, or, more likely, that the Garamantes had developed effective mechanisms for coping with their natural environment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Dental Evidence in Forensic Identification - An Overview, Methodology and Present Status.

PubMed

Krishan, Kewal; Kanchan, Tanuj; Garg, Arun K

2015-01-01

Forensic odontology is primarily concerned with the use of teeth and oral structures for identification in a legal context. Various forensic odontology techniques help in the identification of the human remains in incidents such as terrorists' attacks, airplane, train and road accidents, fires, mass murders, and natural disasters such as tsunamis, earth quakes and floods, etc. (Disaster Victim Identification-DVI). Dental structures are the hardest and well protected structures in the body. These structures resist decomposition and high temperatures and are among the last ones to disintegrate after death. The principal basis of the dental identification lies in the fact that no two oral cavities are alike and the teeth are unique to an individual. The dental evidence of the deceased recovered from the scene of crime/occurrence is compared with the ante-mortem records for identification. Dental features such as tooth morphology, variations in shape and size, restorations, pathologies, missing tooth, wear patterns, crowding of the teeth, colour and position of the tooth, rotations and other peculiar dental anomalies give every individual a unique identity. In absence of ante-mortem dental records for comparison, the teeth can help in the determination of age, sex, race/ethnicity, habits, occupations, etc. which can give further clues regarding the identity of the individuals. This piece of writing gives an overview of dental evidence, its use in forensic identification and its limitations.

Dental Evidence in Forensic Identification – An Overview, Methodology and Present Status

PubMed Central

Krishan, Kewal; Kanchan, Tanuj; Garg, Arun K

2015-01-01

Forensic odontology is primarily concerned with the use of teeth and oral structures for identification in a legal context. Various forensic odontology techniques help in the identification of the human remains in incidents such as terrorists’ attacks, airplane, train and road accidents, fires, mass murders, and natural disasters such as tsunamis, earth quakes and floods, etc. (Disaster Victim Identification-DVI). Dental structures are the hardest and well protected structures in the body. These structures resist decomposition and high temperatures and are among the last ones to disintegrate after death. The principal basis of the dental identification lies in the fact that no two oral cavities are alike and the teeth are unique to an individual. The dental evidence of the deceased recovered from the scene of crime/occurrence is compared with the ante-mortem records for identification. Dental features such as tooth morphology, variations in shape and size, restorations, pathologies, missing tooth, wear patterns, crowding of the teeth, colour and position of the tooth, rotations and other peculiar dental anomalies give every individual a unique identity. In absence of ante-mortem dental records for comparison, the teeth can help in the determination of age, sex, race/ethnicity, habits, occupations, etc. which can give further clues regarding the identity of the individuals. This piece of writing gives an overview of dental evidence, its use in forensic identification and its limitations. PMID:26312096

The toxicological significance of post-mortem drug concentrations in bile.

PubMed

Ferner, Robin E; Aronson, Jeffrey K

2018-01-01

Some authors have proposed that post-mortem drug concentrations in bile are useful in estimating concentrations in blood. Both The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) and the US Federal Aviation Administration recommend that samples of bile should be obtained in some circumstances. Furthermore, standard toxicological texts compare blood and bile concentrations, implying that concentrations in bile are of forensic value. To review the evidence on simultaneous measurements of blood and bile drug concentrations reported in the medical literature. We made a systematic search of EMBASE 1980-2016 using the search terms ("bile/" OR "exp drug bile level/concentration/") AND "drug blood level/concentration/", PubMed 1975-2017 for ("bile[tw]" OR "biliary[tw]") AND ("concentration[tw]" OR "concentrations[tw]" OR "level[tw]" OR "levels[tw]") AND "post-mortem[tw]" and also MEDLINE 1990-2016 for information on drugs whose biliary concentrations were mentioned in standard textbooks. The search was limited to human studies without language restrictions. We also examined recent reviews, indexes of relevant journals and citations in Web of Science and Google Scholar. We calculated the bile:blood concentration ratio. The searches together yielded 1031 titles with abstracts. We scanned titles and abstracts for relevance and retrieved 230, of which 161 were considered further. We excluded 49 papers because: the paper reported only one case (30 references); the data referred only to a metabolite (1); the work was published before 1980 (3); the information concerned only samples taken during life (10); or the paper referred to a toxin or unusual recreational drug (5). The remaining 112 papers provided data for analysis, with at least two observations for each of 58 drugs. Bile:blood concentration ratios: Median bile:blood concentration ratios varied from 0.18 (range 0.058-0.32) for dextromoramide to 520 (range 0.62-43,000) for buprenorphine. Median bile concentrations exceeded blood concentrations by one order of magnitude for several drugs, including dihydrocodeine, quetiapine and sildenafil; and by two orders of magnitude of for buprenorphine, colchicine and 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), among others. The minimum and maximum values for the ratio differed by a factor of three or more in three-quarters of the cases where data were available and by a factor of 10 or more for over half of the analytes. The data were difficult to find. Medline does not explicitly index the term "drug bile concentration". It may well be that other reports exist, although they would not alter our major conclusion. Many of the papers that contributed data failed to specify the source of the blood samples or the post-mortem interval, so that no judgment was possible regarding post-mortem redistribution in whole blood or bile. For most drugs, there are wide ranges of bile:blood concentration ratios, which means that bile and blood concentrations are generally poorly correlated. Bile concentration measurements cannot readily be used to establish post-mortem blood concentrations; nor can they be extrapolated to ante-mortem concentrations. However, because drug concentrations in bile often exceed those in blood, bile may allow qualitative identification of drugs present, even when the blood concentration is below the limit of detection.

Immunohistochemical Detection of a Unique Protein within Cells of Snakes Having Inclusion Body Disease, a World-Wide Disease Seen in Members of the Families Boidae and Pythonidae

PubMed Central

Chang, Li-Wen; Fu, Ann; Wozniak, Edward; Chow, Marjorie; Duke, Diane G.; Green, Linda; Kelley, Karen; Hernandez, Jorge A.; Jacobson, Elliott R.

2013-01-01

Inclusion body disease (IBD) is a worldwide disease in captive boa constrictors (boa constrictor) and occasionally in other snakes of the families Boidae and Pythonidae. The exact causative agent(s) and pathogenesis are not yet fully understood. Currently, diagnosis of IBD is based on the light microscopic identification of eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in hematoxylin and eosin stained tissues or blood smears. An antigenically unique 68 KDa protein was identified within the IBD inclusion bodies, called IBD protein. A validated immuno-based ante-mortem diagnostic test is needed for screening snakes that are at risk of having IBD. In this study, despite difficulties in solubilizing semi-purified inclusion bodies, utilizing hybridoma technology a mouse anti-IBD protein monoclonal antibody (MAB) was produced. The antigenic specificity of the antibody was confirmed and validated by western blots, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immuno-transmission electron microscopy, and immunohistochemical staining. Paraffin embedded tissues of IBD positive and negative boa constrictors (n=94) collected from 1990 to 2011 were tested with immunohistochemical staining. In boa constrictors, the anti-IBDP MAB had a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 100% in detecting IBD. The antibody also cross-reacted with IBD inclusion bodies in carpet pythons (Morelia spilota) and a ball python (python regius). This validated antibody can serve as a tool for the development of ante-mortem immunodiagnostic tests for IBD. PMID:24340066

Immunohistochemical detection of a unique protein within cells of snakes having inclusion body disease, a world-wide disease seen in members of the families Boidae and Pythonidae.

PubMed

Chang, Li-Wen; Fu, Ann; Wozniak, Edward; Chow, Marjorie; Duke, Diane G; Green, Linda; Kelley, Karen; Hernandez, Jorge A; Jacobson, Elliott R

2013-01-01

Inclusion body disease (IBD) is a worldwide disease in captive boa constrictors (boa constrictor) and occasionally in other snakes of the families Boidae and Pythonidae. The exact causative agent(s) and pathogenesis are not yet fully understood. Currently, diagnosis of IBD is based on the light microscopic identification of eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in hematoxylin and eosin stained tissues or blood smears. An antigenically unique 68 KDa protein was identified within the IBD inclusion bodies, called IBD protein. A validated immuno-based ante-mortem diagnostic test is needed for screening snakes that are at risk of having IBD. In this study, despite difficulties in solubilizing semi-purified inclusion bodies, utilizing hybridoma technology a mouse anti-IBD protein monoclonal antibody (MAB) was produced. The antigenic specificity of the antibody was confirmed and validated by western blots, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immuno-transmission electron microscopy, and immunohistochemical staining. Paraffin embedded tissues of IBD positive and negative boa constrictors (n=94) collected from 1990 to 2011 were tested with immunohistochemical staining. In boa constrictors, the anti-IBDP MAB had a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 100% in detecting IBD. The antibody also cross-reacted with IBD inclusion bodies in carpet pythons (Morelia spilota) and a ball python (python regius). This validated antibody can serve as a tool for the development of ante-mortem immunodiagnostic tests for IBD.

Evaluation of Two Models of Non-Penetrating Captive Bolt Devices for On-Farm Euthanasia of Turkeys

PubMed Central

Woolcott, Caitlin R.; Torrey, Stephanie; Serpa, Lilia; Schwean-Lardner, Karen; Widowski, Tina M.

2018-01-01

Simple Summary Animal care guidelines for livestock and poultry require farms to have euthanasia plans in place for birds that are sick, injured, or unable to access feed and water. Killing methods considered to be humane are those that induce rapid insensibility (stun) and result in brain death leading to irreversible respiratory and cardiac arrest. Therefore, the evaluation of the effectiveness of a killing method generally focuses on measures of insensibility and brain death. Non-penetrating captive bolt devices are intended to deliver sufficient force and energy to the head to result in immediate insensibility and brain death without penetrating the skin. We evaluated the effectiveness of two models of non-penetrating captive bolt devices when applied by stock people to different sizes and ages of turkeys, using signs of insensibility corroborated by ante- and post- mortem evaluation of brain damage. Both non-penetrating captive bolt devices used in this study were found to be highly effective at inducing immediate insensibility and would be appropriate for on-farm euthanasia of turkeys of various ages and size. Abstract On-farm euthanasia is a critical welfare issue in the poultry industry and can be particularly difficult to perform on mature turkeys due to their size. We evaluated the efficacy of two commercially available non-penetrating captive bolt devices, the Zephyr-EXL and the Turkey Euthanasia Device (TED), on 253 turkeys at three stages of production: 4–5, 10, and 15–20 weeks of age. Effectiveness of each device was measured using both ante- and post-mortem measures. Application of the Zephyr-EXL resulted in a greater success rate (immediate abolishment of brainstem reflexes) compared to the TED (97.6% vs. 89.3%, p = 0.0145). Times to last movement (p = 0.102) and cardiac arrest (p = 0.164) did not differ between devices. Ante- and post-mortem measures of trauma and hemorrhage were highly correlated. Skull fractures and gross subdural hemorrhage (SDH) were present in 100% of birds euthanized with both the Zephyr-EXL and TED devices. Gross SDH scores were greater in birds killed with the Zephyr-EXL than the TED (p < 0.001). Microscopic SDH scores indicated moderate to severe hemorrhage in 92% of turkeys for the Zephyr-EXL and 96% of turkeys for the TED, with no difference between devices (p = 0.844). Overall, both devices were highly effective inducing immediate insensibility through traumatic brain injury and are reliable, single-step methods for on-farm euthanasia of turkeys. PMID:29558419

Post-mortem detection of gasoline residues in lung tissue and heart blood of fire victims.

PubMed

Pahor, Kevin; Olson, Greg; Forbes, Shari L

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether gasoline residues could be detected post-mortem in lung tissue and heart blood of fire victims. The lungs and heart blood were investigated to determine whether they were suitable samples for collection and could be collected without contamination during an autopsy. Three sets of test subjects (pig carcasses) were investigated under two different fire scenarios. Test subjects 1 were anaesthetized following animal ethics approval, inhaled gasoline vapours for a short period and then euthanized. The carcasses were clothed and placed in a house where additional gasoline was poured onto the carcass post-mortem in one fire, but not in the other. Test subjects 2 did not inhale gasoline, were clothed and placed in the house and had gasoline poured onto them in both fires. Test subjects 3 were clothed but had no exposure to gasoline either ante- or post-mortem. Following controlled burns and suppression with water, the carcasses were collected, and their lungs and heart blood were excised at a necropsy. The headspace from the samples was analysed using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Gasoline was identified in the lungs and heart blood from the subjects that were exposed to gasoline vapours prior to death (test subjects 1). All other samples were negative for gasoline residues. These results suggest that it is useful to analyse for volatile ignitable liquids in lung tissue and blood as it may help to determine whether a victim was alive and inhaling gases at the time of a fire.

The Helderberg air disaster--forensic odontological investigations.

PubMed

Ligthelm, A J

1994-06-01

A Boeing 747-224B Combi of the South African Airways, the "Helderberg", crashed into the sea near Mauritius on 28 November 1987. All 159 people on board died and dental tissues were present in only eight of the 15 lots of human remains recovered. Ante-mortem dental records were collected by a team in Johannesburg while the post-mortem examinations were conducted in Mauritius. The special circumstances surrounding an accident at sea resulted in the low number of bodies available for identification procedures. Of the eight remains which included dental tissues, five were identified by means of simple dental restorations, advanced dentistry, anatomical features of teeth and stages of development of teeth. One of the victims was identified by a process of exclusion and radiographic evidence played a decisive role in the identification process. (J Forensic Odontostomatol 1994; 12: 15-18) The variety of record-keeping styles and abbreviations used in different countries posed a major problem during the process and it is concluded that international standardization in record-keeping requires urgent attention.

Study on the criteria for assessing skull-face correspondence in craniofacial superimposition.

PubMed

Ibáñez, Oscar; Valsecchi, Andrea; Cavalli, Fabio; Huete, María Isabel; Campomanes-Alvarez, Blanca Rosario; Campomanes-Alvarez, Carmen; Vicente, Ricardo; Navega, David; Ross, Ann; Wilkinson, Caroline; Jankauskas, Rimantas; Imaizumi, Kazuhiko; Hardiman, Rita; Jayaprakash, Paul Thomas; Ruiz, Elena; Molinero, Francisco; Lestón, Patricio; Veselovskaya, Elizaveta; Abramov, Alexey; Steyn, Maryna; Cardoso, Joao; Humpire, Daniel; Lusnig, Luca; Gibelli, Daniele; Mazzarelli, Debora; Gaudio, Daniel; Collini, Federica; Damas, Sergio

2016-11-01

Craniofacial superimposition has the potential to be used as an identification method when other traditional biological techniques are not applicable due to insufficient quality or absence of ante-mortem and post-mortem data. Despite having been used in many countries as a method of inclusion and exclusion for over a century it lacks standards. Thus, the purpose of this research is to provide forensic practitioners with standard criteria for analysing skull-face relationships. Thirty-seven experts from 16 different institutions participated in this study, which consisted of evaluating 65 criteria for assessing skull-face anatomical consistency on a sample of 24 different skull-face superimpositions. An unbiased statistical analysis established the most objective and discriminative criteria. Results did not show strong associations, however, important insights to address lack of standards were provided. In addition, a novel methodology for understanding and standardizing identification methods based on the observation of morphological patterns has been proposed. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review of the use of clozapine levels to guide treatment and determine cause of death.

PubMed

Stark, Anne; Scott, James

2012-09-01

To review the literature to examine the use of clozapine levels to (i) guide therapy and prevent toxicity in clinical care and (ii) determine cause of death in post-mortem examination of patients who were treated with clozapine. MEDLINE was searched in December 2010 using the following keywords: 'clozapine levels', 'clozapine and toxicity', 'clozapine and death', 'clozapine and mortality' and 'post-mortem redistribution'. Data was also collected from the 2010 MIMS Annual. The literature reported significant variation in clozapine levels attained with any given dose, and considerable variability in the clinical response achieved at any given clozapine level. The lowest effective clozapine levels ranged from 250 to 550 µg/L, while the recommended upper limit to prevent toxicity varied from 600 to 2000 µg/L. There was minimal correlation between clozapine levels and side effects, with the exception of sedation, hypotension and seizure activity. The risk of seizures increased with plasma clozapine levels greater than 600 µg/L or rapid upward titration. In addition to prescribed dose, there are many factors that influence plasma clozapine levels. After death, the process of post-mortem drug redistribution resulted in 3.00 to 4.89 times increases in clozapine levels in central blood vessels and 1.5 fold increases in peripheral vessels compared to ante-mortem levels. The exact range of clozapine levels that corresponds to toxicity remains unclear. However, levels between 350 µg/L and 1000 µg/L achieved with gradual upward titration are more likely to be effective and less likely to cause toxicity. Ongoing clozapine level monitoring is indicated, especially when (i) prescribing higher doses (> 600 mg/day) of clozapine, (ii) there has been a change in a patient's concomitant pharmacotherapy or cigarette use and (iii) there has been a suboptimal response to treatment. The use of post-mortem clozapine levels to determine clozapine toxicity as a cause of death is unreliable.

Evaluation of the diffusion of Mn, Fe, Ba and Pb in Middle Ages human teeth by synchrotron microprobe X-ray fluorescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho, M. L.; Marques, A. F.; Marques, J. P.; Casaca, C.

2007-07-01

Human teeth from the Middle Ages have been analysed using a synchrotron microprobe evaluating Mn, Fe, Ba and Pb diffusion from the soil into the tooth structure. It is apparent that post-mortem teeth of ancient populations are influenced by the endogenous environment. The diffusion pattern of some elements can give information both for archaeological purposes and diagenesis processes affecting the apatite ante-mortem elemental content. An X-ray fluorescence set-up with microprobe capabilities, 100 μm of spatial resolution and energy of 18 keV, installed at LURE synchrotron (France) was used. Line scans were performed along the several regions of the teeth, in steps of 100 to 1000 μm. Ba is much enriched in ancient teeth when compared to recent ones, where this element is almost non-existent. Furthermore, the concentration profiles show increased levels of this element close to the external enamel region, reaching values up to 200 μg g - 1 decreasing in dentine and achieving a steady level in the inner dentine and root. Pb concentration profiles show strongly increased levels of this element close to the external enamel region (20 μg g - 1 ), decreasing strongly to the inner part of the dentine (0.5 μg g - 1 ) contrarily to the normal situation in modern citizens where the highest concentrations for Pb are in the inner root dentine. This behaviour suggests post-mortem uptake from the soil; the presence of elevated levels of Pb can be explained by the fact that this burial place was a car park for more than 20 years. The distribution of Mn and Fe follow very similar patterns and both are very much enriched especially in the outer surfaces in contact with the soil, showing strong contamination from the soil.

Computer vision and soft computing for automatic skull-face overlay in craniofacial superimposition.

PubMed

Campomanes-Álvarez, B Rosario; Ibáñez, O; Navarro, F; Alemán, I; Botella, M; Damas, S; Cordón, O

2014-12-01

Craniofacial superimposition can provide evidence to support that some human skeletal remains belong or not to a missing person. It involves the process of overlaying a skull with a number of ante mortem images of an individual and the analysis of their morphological correspondence. Within the craniofacial superimposition process, the skull-face overlay stage just focuses on achieving the best possible overlay of the skull and a single ante mortem image of the suspect. Although craniofacial superimposition has been in use for over a century, skull-face overlay is still applied by means of a trial-and-error approach without an automatic method. Practitioners finish the process once they consider that a good enough overlay has been attained. Hence, skull-face overlay is a very challenging, subjective, error prone, and time consuming part of the whole process. Though the numerical assessment of the method quality has not been achieved yet, computer vision and soft computing arise as powerful tools to automate it, dramatically reducing the time taken by the expert and obtaining an unbiased overlay result. In this manuscript, we justify and analyze the use of these techniques to properly model the skull-face overlay problem. We also present the automatic technical procedure we have developed using these computational methods and show the four overlays obtained in two craniofacial superimposition cases. This automatic procedure can be thus considered as a tool to aid forensic anthropologists to develop the skull-face overlay, automating and avoiding subjectivity of the most tedious task within craniofacial superimposition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Papillary necrosis with invasive fungal infections: a case series of 29 patients

PubMed Central

Gupta, Krishan L.; Muthukumar, Thangamani; Joshi, Kusum; Chakrbarti, Arunaloke; Kohli, Harbir S.; Jha, Vivekanand; Sakhuja, Vinay

2013-01-01

Background Renal papillary necrosis (RPN) is associated with a number of comorbid conditions. However, it has been rarely reported in patients with fungal infections of the kidney. Methods We analyzed medical records of our hospital for the last two decades and identified 29 patients with fungal infections and RPN. Results Among the 29 patients, there were 24 men and 5 women. The median (range) age at presentation was 31.2 years (2 days–73 years). Three patients (10%) were kidney transplant recipients. The remaining had varied co-existing medical conditions that included diabetes mellitus in 16 (55%) and septicemia in 4 (14%). Clinical features at presentation were fever and oliguric kidney failure in 17 patients and loin pain accompanied by passage of fleshy material per urethra in 11 (38%). Diagnosis was made ante-mortem in 17 (59%) patients. Twenty patients (69%) had infection limited to the kidneys, while in the rest, it was disseminated. Kidney involvement was bilateral in 17 patients (59%). Urinalysis showed pyuria in 23 (79%) and microhematuria in 8 (28%) patients. Fungal infections included candidiasis (69%), aspergillosis (21%) and zygomycosis (10%). Of the 17 patients in whom the diagnoses was made ante-mortem, 12 survived and 5 died. Overall mortality was observed in 48% of cases. Conclusions We herein report a series of patients with RPN associated with fungal infections of the kidney. Presentation varies from asymptomatic urinary tract infection to severe kidney failure with poor outcome. High index of suspicion is necessary to reduce the associated high mortality in these patients. PMID:27293566

Postmortem diagnosis and toxicological validation of illicit substance use

PubMed Central

Lehrmann, E; Afanador, ZR; Deep-Soboslay, A; Gallegos, G; Darwin, WD; Lowe, RH; Barnes, AJ; Huestis, MA; Cadet, JL; Herman, MM; Hyde, TM; Kleinman, JE; Freed, WJ

2008-01-01

The present study examines the diagnostic challenges of identifying ante-mortem illicit substance use in human postmortem cases. Substance use, assessed by clinical case history reviews, structured next-of-kin interviews, by general toxicology of blood, urine, and/or brain, and by scalp hair testing, identified 33 cocaine, 29 cannabis, 10 phencyclidine and 9 opioid cases. Case history identified 42% cocaine, 76% cannabis, 10% phencyclidine, and 33% opioid cases. Next-of-kin interviews identified almost twice as many cocaine and cannabis cases as Medical Examiner (ME) case histories, and were crucial in establishing a detailed lifetime substance use history. Toxicology identified 91% cocaine, 68% cannabis, 80% phencyclidine, and 100% opioid cases, with hair testing increasing detection for all drug classes. A cocaine or cannabis use history was corroborated by general toxicology with 50% and 32% sensitivity, respectively, and with 82% and 64% sensitivity by hair testing. Hair testing corroborated a positive general toxicology for cocaine and cannabis with 91% and 100% sensitivity, respectively. Case history corroborated hair toxicology with 38% sensitivity for cocaine and 79% sensitivity for cannabis, suggesting that both case history and general toxicology underestimated cocaine use. Identifying ante-mortem substance use in human postmortem cases are key considerations in case diagnosis and for characterization of disorder-specific changes in neurobiology. The sensitivity and specificity of substance use assessments increased when ME case history was supplemented with structured next-of-kin interviews to establish a detailed lifetime substance use history, while comprehensive toxicology, and hair testing in particular, increased detection of recent illicit substance use. PMID:18201295

[Legal aspects of post-mortem radiology in the Netherlands].

PubMed

Venderink, W; Dute, J C J

2016-01-01

In the Netherlands, the application of post-mortem radiology (virtual autopsy) is on the rise. Contrary to conventional autopsy, with post-mortem radiology the body remains intact. There is uncertainty concerning the legal admissibility of post-mortem radiology, since the Dutch Corpse Disposal Act does not contain any specific regulations for this technique. Autopsy and post-mortem radiology differ significantly from a technical aspect, but these differences do not have far-reaching legal consequences from a legal perspective. Even though the body remains intact during post-mortem radiology, the bodily integrity of a deceased person is breached if it would be applied without previously obtained consent. This permission can only be obtained after the relatives are fully informed about the proposed activity. In this respect, it is not relevant which technique is used, be it post-mortem radiology or autopsy. Therefore, the other legal conditions for post-mortem radiology are essentially identical to those for autopsy.

Comparison of HIV-1 pol and env sequences of blood, CSF, brain and spleen isolates collected ante-mortem and post-mortem.

PubMed

Caragounis, E-C; Gisslén, M; Lindh, M; Nordborg, C; Westergren, S; Hagberg, L; Svennerholm, B

2008-02-01

HIV-1 infects the central nervous system (CNS) early in the course of infection. However, it is not known to what extent the virus evolves independently within the CNS and whether the HIV-RNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) reflects the viral population replicating within the brain parenchyma or the systemic infection. The aim of this study was to investigate HIV-1 evolution in the CNS and the origin of HIV-1 in CSF. Longitudinally derived paired blood and CSF samples and post-mortem samples from CSF, brain and spleen were collected over a period of up to 63 months from three HIV-1 infected men receiving antiretroviral treatment and presenting with symptoms of AIDS dementia complex (ADC). Phylogenetic analyses of HIV-1 V3, reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease sequences from patient isolates suggest compartmentalization with distinct viral strains in blood, CSF and brain. We found a different pattern of RT and accessory protease mutations in the systemic infection compared to the CNS. We conclude that HIV-1 may to some extent evolve independently in the CNS and the viral population in CSF mainly reflects the infection in the brain parenchyma in patients with ADC. This is of importance in understanding HIV pathogenesis and can have implications on treatment of HIV-1 patients.

EQUIFAT: A novel scoring system for the semi-quantitative evaluation of regional adipose tissues in Equidae.

PubMed

Morrison, Philippa K; Harris, Patricia A; Maltin, Charlotte A; Grove-White, Dai; Argo, Caroline McG

2017-01-01

Anatomically distinct adipose tissues represent variable risks to metabolic health in man and some other mammals. Quantitative-imaging of internal adipose depots is problematic in large animals and associations between regional adiposity and health are poorly understood. This study aimed to develop and test a semi-quantitative system (EQUIFAT) which could be applied to regional adipose tissues. Anatomically-defined, photographic images of adipose depots (omental, mesenteric, epicardial, rump) were collected from 38 animals immediately post-mortem. Images were ranked and depot-specific descriptors were developed (1 = no fat visible; 5 = excessive fat present). Nuchal-crest and ventro-abdominal-retroperitoneal adipose depot depths (cm) were transformed to categorical 5 point scores. The repeatability and reliability of EQUIFAT was independently tested by 24 observers. When half scores were permitted, inter-observer agreement was substantial (average κw: mesenteric, 0.79; omental, 0.79; rump 0.61) or moderate (average κw; epicardial, 0.60). Intra-observer repeatability was tested by 8 observers on 2 occasions. Kappa analysis indicated perfect (omental and mesenteric) and substantial agreement (epicardial and rump) between attempts. A further 207 animals were evaluated ante-mortem (age, height, breed-type, gender, body condition score [BCS]) and again immediately post-mortem (EQUIFAT scores, carcass weight). Multivariable, random effect linear regression models were fitted (breed as random effect; BCS as outcome variable). Only height, carcass weight, omental and retroperitoneal EQUIFAT scores remained as explanatory variables in the final model. The EQUIFAT scores developed here demonstrate clear functional differences between regional adipose depots and future studies could be directed towards describing associations between adiposity and disease risk in surgical and post-mortem situations.

EQUIFAT: A novel scoring system for the semi-quantitative evaluation of regional adipose tissues in Equidae

PubMed Central

Morrison, Philippa K.; Harris, Patricia A.; Maltin, Charlotte A.; Grove-White, Dai; Argo, Caroline McG.

2017-01-01

Anatomically distinct adipose tissues represent variable risks to metabolic health in man and some other mammals. Quantitative-imaging of internal adipose depots is problematic in large animals and associations between regional adiposity and health are poorly understood. This study aimed to develop and test a semi-quantitative system (EQUIFAT) which could be applied to regional adipose tissues. Anatomically-defined, photographic images of adipose depots (omental, mesenteric, epicardial, rump) were collected from 38 animals immediately post-mortem. Images were ranked and depot-specific descriptors were developed (1 = no fat visible; 5 = excessive fat present). Nuchal-crest and ventro-abdominal-retroperitoneal adipose depot depths (cm) were transformed to categorical 5 point scores. The repeatability and reliability of EQUIFAT was independently tested by 24 observers. When half scores were permitted, inter-observer agreement was substantial (average κw: mesenteric, 0.79; omental, 0.79; rump 0.61) or moderate (average κw; epicardial, 0.60). Intra-observer repeatability was tested by 8 observers on 2 occasions. Kappa analysis indicated perfect (omental and mesenteric) and substantial agreement (epicardial and rump) between attempts. A further 207 animals were evaluated ante-mortem (age, height, breed-type, gender, body condition score [BCS]) and again immediately post-mortem (EQUIFAT scores, carcass weight). Multivariable, random effect linear regression models were fitted (breed as random effect; BCS as outcome variable). Only height, carcass weight, omental and retroperitoneal EQUIFAT scores remained as explanatory variables in the final model. The EQUIFAT scores developed here demonstrate clear functional differences between regional adipose depots and future studies could be directed towards describing associations between adiposity and disease risk in surgical and post-mortem situations. PMID:28296956

Application of European standards for health and quality control of game meat on game ranches in South Africa.

PubMed

Van der Merwe, M; Jooste, P J; Hoffman, L C

2011-09-01

The health and quality compliance of game carcasses (n = 295) intended for the South African export market and aspiring to comply with the strict hygiene requirements of the European Union were compared with game carcasses (n = 330) available for the local market and currently not subjected to meat safety legislation. Samples were collected in similar seasons and geographical areas in South Africa from 2006 to 2009. Aerobic plate counts (APC) of the heart blood verified that both groups possessed similar ante mortem bacterial status. For health compliance APC, tests for Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus were performed on the carcasses. Surfaces of the local carcasses were swabbed using the European Enviro-biotrace sponge technique at 3 and 72 h post mortem. Unskinned but eviscerated export carcasses in the abattoir were skinned and sampled by incision using a corkborer 72 h post mortem. Temperature and pH readings were recorded at 3 and 72 h post mortem from the longissimus dorsi muscle and the readings at 3 h differed (P = 0.035). Temperatures at 72 h were lower for export than local carcasses (P < 0.001) because of earlier introduction and maintenance of the cold chain. The pH readings also differed between groups at 3 and 72 h (P < 0.001). APC results for the local group exceeded the maximum permissible count (< 10(5)). S. aureus results showed differences (P < 0.001), with readings from the local group being higher. The same tendency was exhibited for E. coli (P = 0.008). Imposition of hygiene guidelines for game ranchers producing meat for the local market is therefore recommended.

Post-mortem findings in southern right whales Eubalaena australis at Península Valdés, Argentina, 2003-2012.

PubMed

McAloose, Denise; Rago, M Virginia; Di Martino, Matías; Chirife, Andrea; Olson, Sarah H; Beltramino, Lucas; Pozzi, Luciana M; Musmeci, Luciana; La Sala, Luciano; Mohamed, Nadia; Sala, Juan Emilio; Bandieri, Lucas; Andrejuk, Julian; Tomaszewicz, Ania; Seimon, Tracie; Sironi, Mariano; Samartino, Luis E; Rowntree, Victoria; Uhart, Marcela M

2016-04-12

Between 2003 and 2012, 605 southern right whales (SRW; Eubalaena australis) were found dead along the shores of Península Valdés (PV), Argentina. These deaths included alarmingly high annual losses between 2007 and 2012, a peak number of deaths (116) in 2012, and a significant number of deaths across years in calves-of-the-year (544 of 605 [89.9%]; average = 60.4 yr(-1)). Post-mortem examination and pathogen testing were performed on 212 whales; 208 (98.1%) were calves-of-the-year and 48.0% of these were newborns or neonates. A known or probable cause of death was established in only a small number (6.6%) of cases. These included ship strike in a juvenile and blunt trauma or lacerations (n = 5), pneumonia (n = 4), myocarditis (n = 2), meningitis (n = 1), or myocarditis and meningitis (n = 1) in calves. Ante-mortem gull parasitism was the most common gross finding. It was associated with systemic disease in a single 1-2 mo old calf. Immunohistochemical labeling for canine distemper virus, Toxoplasma gondii and Brucella spp., and PCR for cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV), influenza A, and apicomplexan protozoa were negative on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung and brain samples from a subset of whales; PCR for Brucella spp. was positive in a newborn/neonate with pneumonia. Skin samples from whales with gull parasitism were PCR negative for CeMV, poxvirus, and papillomavirus. This is the first long-term study to investigate and summarize notable post-mortem findings in the PV SRW population. Consistent, significant findings within or between years to explain the majority of deaths and those in high-mortality years remain to be identified.

Fatal intoxication with 3-methyl-N-methylcathinone (3-MMC) and 5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-APB).

PubMed

Adamowicz, Piotr; Zuba, Dariusz; Byrska, Bogumiła

2014-12-01

The emergence of a large number of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) in recent years poses a serious problem to clinical and forensic toxicologists. Here we report a patient who administrated ca. 500mg of 3-MMC (3-methyl-N-methylcathinone) and 400mg of 5-APB (5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran) in combination with 80g of ethyl alcohol. The clinical manifestations included agitation, seizures, hypertension, tachycardia, hyperthermia and bradycardia. The patient did not recover and died around 4h after the use of drugs. The cause of death was acute cardiovascular collapse that occurred following mixed intoxication with NPSs and alcohol. Toxicological analysis of post-mortem blood revealed 3-MMC and 5-APB in concentrations of 1.6μg/mL and 5.6μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the serum alcohol concentration was 1.4g/L in ante-mortem sample collected 1h after admission to the hospital. This is the first report on blood concentration of 3-MMC and 5-APB in fatal intoxication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incorporation of Radio Frequency Identification Tag in Dentures to Facilitate Recognition and Forensic Human Identification

PubMed Central

Nuzzolese, E; Marcario, V; Di Vella, G

2010-01-01

Forensic identification using odontology is based on the comparison of ante-mortem and post mortem dental records. The insertion of a radio frequency identification (RFId) tag into dentures could be used as an aid to identify decomposed bodies, by storing personal identification data in a small transponder that can be radio-transmitted to a reader connected to a computer. A small passive, 12 x 2,1 mm, read-only RFId-tag was incorporated into the manufacture of three trial complete upper dentures and tested for a signal. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the feasibility of manufacturing such a dental prosthesis, the technical protocols for its implantation in the denture resin and its working principles. Future research and tests are required in order to verify human compatibility of the tagged denture and also to evaluate any potential deterioration in strength when subjected to high temperatures, or for damage resulting from everyday wear and tear. It should also be able to withstand the extreme conditions resulting from major accidents or mass disasters and procedures used to perform a forensic identification. PMID:20657641

A fast and reliable method for GHB quantitation in whole blood by GC-MS/MS (TQD) for forensic purposes.

PubMed

Castro, André L; Tarelho, Sónia; Dias, Mário; Reis, Flávio; Teixeira, Helena M

2016-02-05

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous compound with a story of clinical use since the 1960s. However, due to its secondary effects, it has become a controlled substance, entering the illicit market. A fully validated, sensitive and reproducible method for the quantification of GHB by methanolic precipitation and GC-MS/MS (TQD) in whole blood is presented. Using 100μL of whole blood, obtained results included a LOD and LLOQ of 0.1mg/L and a recovery of 86% in a working range between 0.1 and 100mg/L. This method is sensitive and specific to detect the presence of GHB in small amounts of whole blood (both ante-mortem or post-mortem), and is, to the authors' knowledge, the first GC-MS-MS TQD method that uses different precursor ions and product ions for the identification of GHB and GHB-D6 (internal standard). Hence, this method may be especially useful for the study of endogenous values in this biological sample. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Concluding remarks

USGS Publications Warehouse

van den Brink, Nico W.; Elliott, John E.; Shore, Richard F.; Rattner, Barnett A.

2018-01-01

Rodents are known to affect human society globally in various adverse ways, resulting in a widespread demand for their continuous control. Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) have been, and currently remain, the cornerstone of rodent control throughout the world. Although alternative control methods exist, they are generally less effective. ARs work by affecting vitamin K metabolism, thereby preventing the activation of blood clotting factors and eventual coagulopathy. Since ARs are non-selective, their undoubted benefits for rodent control have to be balanced against the environmental risks that these compounds pose. Although they have been used for decades, pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic data are mainly available for laboratory mammals and have concentrated on acute effects. Limited information is available on chronic exposure scenarios and for wildlife species. Important gaps exist in our understanding of the large inter- and intra-species differences in sensitivity to ARs, especially for non-target species, and in our knowledge about the occurrence and importance of sub-lethal effects in wildlife. It is clear that mere presence of AR residues in the body tissues may not indicate the occurrence of effects, although unequivocal assessment of effects under field conditions is difficult. Ante-mortem symptoms, like lethargy, subdued behaviour and unresponsiveness are generally not very specific as is true for more generic post-mortem observations (e.g. pallor of the mucous membranes or occurrence of haemorrhages). It is only by combining ante or post-mortem data with information on exposure that effects in the field may be confirmed. We do know however that a wide variety of non-target species are directly exposed to ARs. Secondary exposure in predators is also widespread although there is limited information on whether this exposure causes actual effects. Exposure is driven by ecological factors and is context specific with respect to spatial habitat configuration and bait placement. Another key factor that affects the interaction between ARs and wildlife is the development of resistance in target species. The development of resistance has resulted in higher use of SGARs, thereby increasing the potential of non-target and secondary exposure. AR use has increasingly become more strictly regulated, increasing the need for alternatives. Alternatives are available, including non-anticoagulant rodenticides, but these may also pose significant risk to environmental organisms, humans and pets. There are also various mitigation measures that can be implemented when using ARs, including bait protection, pulsed baiting at the onset of infestation, restricting use by non-professionals, and avoiding use in areas of high non-target density. Reduction in secondary exposure may result from e.g. non-chemical control, habitat management, and, in agricultural habitats, the use of lure crops and supplemental feeding. Such Integrated Pest Management (IPM) may not only reduce non-target exposure but also benefit resistance management. Barriers to adopt IPM approaches however, include the perception that they do not work or too slowly and are more laborious, expensive and time consuming. It is therefore important that the expectations of stakeholders are considered and managed. Nevertheless, further development of alternatives and IPM measures is essential, so the key research priority related to rodent control may ultimately be to address the lack of scientific assessment of the effectiveness of both specific AR mitigation measures and of IPM approaches to rodent control.

Was it poisoning?

PubMed

Flanagan, R J

The aim of post-mortem toxicology is to help establish the role that drugs or other poisons played in a death, or in events immediately before death. If self-poisoning is suspected then the diagnosis may be straightforward and all that may be required is confirmation of the agents involved. If the cause of death is not immediately obvious, however, then suspicion of possible poisoning is of course crucial. Blood sampling (needle aspiration, peripheral vein, e.g. femoral, ideally after proximal ligation) before opening the body, minimises the risk of sample contamination with, for example, gut contents or urine. The site of blood sampling should always be recorded. Other specimens (stomach contents, urine, liver, vitreous humor) may also be valuable and may be needed to corroborate unexpected or unusual findings in the absence of other evidence. The availability of ante-mortem specimens should not preclude post-mortem sampling. Appropriate sample preservation, transport, and storage are mandatory. Interpretation of post-mortem toxicology must take into account what is known of the clinical pharmacology, including pharmacokinetics, and toxicology of the agent(s) in question, the circumstances under which death occurred including the possible mechanism(s) of exposure, and other factors such as the sample(s) analysed and the analytical methods used. It was thought that concentrations of poisons measured in blood obtained at autopsy reflected the situation peri-mortem. However, we now know that changes may occur in the composition of body fluids, even peripheral blood, after death. Such changes are likely to be greater with centrally-acting drugs such as clozapine with large volumes of distribution, and may perhaps be minimised by prompt refrigeration of the body and performing the autopsy quickly. Better training in analytical toxicology is needed for pathologists and others who may be called upon to interpret toxicological data for the Courts. Undue reliance on quantitative results is likely to confuse sooner rather than later, especially in the case of centrally-acting drugs such as opioids and clozapine. Remember that the question is normally "was it poisoning?" or "was it an overdose?"--and not--"is it a fatal level"?

Sea otter dental enamel is highly resistant to chipping due to its microstructure

PubMed Central

Ziscovici, Charles; Lucas, Peter W.; Constantino, Paul J.; Bromage, Timothy G.; van Casteren, Adam

2014-01-01

Dental enamel is prone to damage by chipping with large hard objects at forces that depend on chip size and enamel toughness. Experiments on modern human teeth have suggested that some ante-mortem chips on fossil hominin enamel were produced by bite forces near physiological maxima. Here, we show that equivalent chips in sea otter enamel require even higher forces than human enamel. Increased fracture resistance correlates with more intense enamel prism decussation, often seen also in some fossil hominins. It is possible therefore that enamel chips in such hominins may have formed at even greater forces than currently envisaged. PMID:25319817

Ants detect but do not discriminate diseased workers within their nest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclerc, Jean-Baptiste; Detrain, Claire

2016-08-01

Social insects have evolved an array of individual and social behaviours that limit pathogen entrance and spread within the colony. The detection of ectoparasites or of fungal spores on a nestmate body triggers their removal by allogrooming and appears as a primary component of social prophylaxis. However, in the case of fungal infection, one may wonder whether ant workers are able to detect, discriminate and keep at bay diseased nestmates that have no spores over their cuticle but which constitute a latent sanitary risk due to post-mortem corpse sporulation. Here, we investigate the ability of Myrmica rubra workers to detect and discriminate a healthy from a diseased nestmate infected by the entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae. During dyadic encounters in a neutral location, workers were more aggressive towards isolated sick nestmates on the 3rd post-infection day. However, no such detection or discrimination of fungus-infected nestmates occurred in a social context inside the nest or at the nest entrance. Gatekeepers never actively rejected incoming diseased nestmates that rather spontaneously isolated themselves outside the nest. Our study reveals that ant workers may detect health-dependent cues and that their `acceptance level' of sick nestmates is tunable depending on the social context. This raises questions about possible trade-offs between a social closure to pathogens and risks of erroneous rejection of healthy nestmates. Social isolation of moribund ants also appears as a widespread prophylactic strategy of social insects allowing them to reduce exposure to pathogens and to spare costs associated with the management of infected individuals.

Evaluation of 1,5-anhydro-d-glucitol in clinical and forensic urine samples.

PubMed

Sydow, Konrad; Wiedfeld, Christopher; Musshoff, Frank; Madea, Burkhard; Tschoepe, Diethelm; Stratmann, Bernd; Hess, Cornelius

2018-06-01

Because of the lack of characteristic morphological findings post mortem diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and identification of diabetic coma can be complicated. 1,5-Anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG), the 1-deoxy form of glucose, competes with glucose for renal reabsorption. Therefore low serum concentrations of 1,5-AG, reflect hyperglycemic excursions over the prior 1-2 weeks in diabetic patients. Next to clinical applications determination of 1,5-AG can also be used in forensic analysis. To investigate the elimination of 1,5-AG, a liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for the determination of 1,5-AG and creatinine in urine was developed and validated according to international guidelines. To evaluate ante mortem concentrations of 1,5-AG spot urine samples of 30 healthy subjects, 46 type 1 and 46 type 2 diabetic patients were analyzed. 1,5-AG urine concentrations of diabetic patients were significantly (p<0.001) lower (mean: 1.54μg/ml, n=92) compared to concentrations of healthy subjects (mean: 4.76μg/ml, n=30) which led to the idea that 1,5-AG urine concentrations post mortem might help in the interpretation of a diabetic coma post mortem. Urine of 47 deceased non-diabetics, 37 deceased diabetic and 9 cases of diabetic coma were measured. Comparison of blood and urine 1,5-AG concentrations in clinic samples (linear, R 2 =0.13) and forensic samples (linear, R 2 =0.02) showed no correlation. Urinary levels of 1,5-AG in deceased diabetic (mean 6.9μg/ml) and in non-diabetic patients (mean 6.3μg/ml) did not show a significant difference (p=0.752). However, urinary 1,5-AG concentrations in deceased due to diabetic coma (mean: 1.7μg/ml) were significantly lower than in non-diabetic (mean: 6.3μg/ml, p=0.039) and lower than in diabetic cases (mean: 4.7μg/ml, p=0.058). The determination of a reliable cut-off for the differentiation of diabetic to diabetic coma cases was not possible. Normalization of urinary 1,5-AG concentrations with the respective creatinine concentrations did not show any gain of information. In clinical (serum) and forensic blood samples a significant difference between all groups could be detected (p<0.05). Comparison of blood and urine 1,5-AG concentrations in clinical samples (linear, R 2 =0.13) and forensic samples (linear, R 2 =0.02) showed no correlation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"King hit" fatalities in Australia, 2000-2012: the role of alcohol and other drugs.

PubMed

Pilgrim, Jennifer Lucinda; Gerostamoulos, Dimitri; Drummer, Olaf Heino

2014-02-01

"King hits" are when a single blow to the head causes a victim to fall to the ground unconscious, either from the punch itself or the impact between the head and the ground. This can result in fatal skull fractures and subdural hematomas. This study aimed to establish the prevalence of king hit deaths in Australia and determine the involvement of drugs in these violent fatalities. The National Coronial Information System was used to retrieve all cases involving a king hit within Australia between 2000 and 2012. 90 cases were identified with a median age of 33 years (range 15-78). There were 4 females. Most cases occurred in the state of New South Wales (n=28), followed by Victoria and Queensland (24 cases each), at a hotel or pub before 3a.m. Toxicology reports were available in 68 cases. Of these, 53 cases involved the use of alcohol or other drugs (other than those used in hospital treatment). Forty-nine cases (73%) involved the use of alcohol, with a median alcohol concentration of 0.144g/100mL and 0.191g/100mL in ante-mortem and post-mortem specimens, respectively. Illicit drugs were detected in 10 cases of which most involved cannabis. Other pharmaceutical drugs were detected in 3 cases. Assaults are an ongoing problem in Australia and king hits form a large group of these substance-related and often unprovoked attacks. Importantly, this study indicated that alcohol intoxication increases the risk of victimization, not just aggressive offending. This reiterates the serious consequences of alcohol-fueled violence in Australia. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sea otter dental enamel is highly resistant to chipping due to its microstructure.

PubMed

Ziscovici, Charles; Lucas, Peter W; Constantino, Paul J; Bromage, Timothy G; van Casteren, Adam

2014-10-01

Dental enamel is prone to damage by chipping with large hard objects at forces that depend on chip size and enamel toughness. Experiments on modern human teeth have suggested that some ante-mortem chips on fossil hominin enamel were produced by bite forces near physiological maxima. Here, we show that equivalent chips in sea otter enamel require even higher forces than human enamel. Increased fracture resistance correlates with more intense enamel prism decussation, often seen also in some fossil hominins. It is possible therefore that enamel chips in such hominins may have formed at even greater forces than currently envisaged. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Mycobacterium bovis infections in domesticated non-bovine mammalian species. Part 2: A review of diagnostic methods.

PubMed

Broughan, J M; Crawshaw, T R; Downs, S H; Brewer, J; Clifton-Hadley, R S

2013-11-01

Despite the large host range of Mycobacterium bovis, ante-mortem diagnostic tests for the infection mostly lack sensitivity/specificity and/or remain unvalidated in non-bovine species. The epidemiology and importance of M. bovis infection in these species are discussed in the first part of this two-part review. This second part focuses on the diagnostic options available to identify infected species such as sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and camelids, and highlights the significant challenges posed, both in establishing estimates of disease prevalence and in controlling infections in these species, in the absence of fully validated tests. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Virological and serological findings in dogs with naturally occurring distemper.

PubMed

Elia, Gabriella; Camero, Michele; Losurdo, Michele; Lucente, Maria Stella; Larocca, Vittorio; Martella, Vito; Decaro, Nicola; Buonavoglia, Canio

2015-03-01

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is the cause of a severe and highly contagious disease in dogs. The unpredictable and variable course of CDV-related disease may hamper correct diagnosis of infection and makes it crucial the collection of samples suitable for laboratory confirmation. In the present study we were able to follow the disease in two dogs infected naturally, collecting different biological matrices during the entire period of infection. By real time RT-PCR, viral RNA was detected and quantified, suggesting that urine and rectal swabs would be useful for ante-mortem diagnosis of distemper in dogs, regardless of the clinical stage and form of the illness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel screening method for 64 new psychoactive substances and 5 amphetamines in blood by LC-MS/MS and application to real cases.

PubMed

Vaiano, Fabio; Busardò, Francesco P; Palumbo, Diego; Kyriakou, Chrystalla; Fioravanti, Alessia; Catalani, Valeria; Mari, Francesco; Bertol, Elisabetta

2016-09-10

Identification and quantification of new psychoactive substances (NPS), both in biological and non-biological samples, represent a hard challenge for forensic toxicologists. NPS are increasingly emerging on illegal drug market. Many cases of co-consumption of NPS and other substances have also been reported. Hence, the development of analytical methods aiming at the detection of a broad-spectrum of compounds (NPS and "traditional" drugs) could be helpful. In this paper, a fully validated screening method in blood for the simultaneous detection of 69 substances, including 64 NPS (28 synthetic cannabinoids, 19 synthetic cathinones, 5 phenethylamines, 3 indanes, 2 piperazines, 2 tryptamines, 2 phencyclidine, methoxetamine, ketamine and its metabolite) and 5 amphetamines (amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, MDA, 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine - MDEA-) by a dynamic multiple reaction monitoring analysis through liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is described. This method is very fast, easy to perform and cheap as it only requires the deproteinization of 200μL of blood sample with acetonitrile. The chromatographic separation is achieved with a C18 column. The analysis is very sensitive, with limits of quantification ranging from 0.1 to 0.5ng/mL. The method is linear from 1 to 100ng/mL and the coefficient of determination (R(2)) was always above 0.9900. Precision and accuracy were acceptable at any quality control level and recovery efficiency range was 72-110%. Matrix effects did not negatively affect the analytical sensitivity. This method was successfully applied to three real cases, allowing identification and quantification of: mephedrone and methamphetamine (post-mortem); ketamine, MDMA and MDA (post-mortem); AB-FUBINACA (ante-mortem). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of a selection of anti-epileptic drugs and two active metabolites in whole blood by reversed phase UPLC-MS/MS and some examples of application of the method in forensic toxicology cases.

PubMed

Karinen, Ritva; Vindenes, Vigdis; Hasvold, Inger; Olsen, Kirsten Midtbøen; Christophersen, Asbjørg S; Øiestad, Elisabeth

2015-07-01

Quantitative determination of anti-epileptic drug concentrations is of great importance in forensic toxicology cases. Although the drugs are not usually abused, they are important post-mortem cases where the question of both lack of compliance and accidental or deliberate poisoning might be raised. In addition these drugs can be relevant for driving under the influence cases. A reversed phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed for the quantitative analysis of the anti-epileptic compounds carbamazepine, carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide, gabapentin, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, 10-OH-carbazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, pregabalin, and topiramate in whole blood, using 0.1 mL sample volume with methaqualone as internal standard. Sample preparation was a simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile and methanol. The diluted supernatant was directly injected into the chromatographic system. Separation was performed on an Acquity UPLC® BEH Phenyl column with gradient elution and a mildly alkaline mobile phase. The mass spectrometric detection was performed in positive ion mode, except for phenobarbital, and multiple reaction monitoring was used for drug quantification. The limits of quantification for the different anti-epileptic drugs varied from 0.064 to 1.26 mg/L in blood, within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviations from 2.2 to 14.7% except for phenobarbital. Between-day variation for phenobarbital was 20.4% at the concentration level of 3.5 mg/L. The biases for all compounds were within ±17.5%. The recoveries ranged between 85 and 120%. The corrected matrix effects were 88-106% and 84-110% in ante-mortem and post-mortem whole blood samples, respectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nonbacterial Thrombotic Endocarditis in a Patient with Bowel Infarction due to Mesenteric Vein Thrombosis.

PubMed

Kim, Hyue Mee; Kim, Hack-Lyoung; Lee, Hak Seung; Jung, Ji-Hyun; Kim, Chee Hae; Oh, Sooyeon; Kim, Jung Ho; Zo, Joo-Hee

2014-05-01

Ante mortem cases of venous thrombosis in patients with nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) have not yet been reported. We describe a rare case of NBTE in a patient with mesenteric vein thrombosis. A healthy 37-year-old man with abdominal pain and fever underwent emergency small bowel resection due to bowel ischemia resulting from mesenteric vein thrombosis. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed multiple mobile masses attached to the anterior leaflet of the mitral valves and their chordae tendineae. On suspicion of infective endocarditis, the cardiac masses were excised through open-heart surgery. However, pathologic reviews were compatible with NBTE. The patient was stable after the cardiac surgery and was treated with warfarin. Laboratory and imaging findings regarding his hypercoagulable condition were all negative.

Implementation of a method to visualize noise-induced hearing loss in mass stranded cetaceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morell, Maria; Brownlow, Andrew; McGovern, Barry; Raverty, Stephen A.; Shadwick, Robert E.; André, Michel

2017-02-01

Assessment of the impact of noise over-exposure in stranded cetaceans is challenging, as the lesions that lead to hearing loss occur at the cellular level and inner ear cells are very sensitive to autolysis. Distinguishing ante-mortem pathology from post-mortem change has been a major constraint in diagnosing potential impact. Here, we outline a methodology applicable to the detection of noise-induced hearing loss in stranded cetaceans. Inner ears from two mass strandings of long-finned pilot whales in Scotland were processed for scanning electron microscopy observation. In one case, a juvenile animal, whose ears were fixed within 4 hours of death, revealed that many sensory cells at the apex of the cochlear spiral were missing. In this case, the absence of outer hair cells would be compatible with overexposure to underwater noise, affecting the region which transduces the lowest frequencies of the pilot whales hearing spectrum. Perfusion of cochlea with fixative greatly improved preservation and enabled diagnostic imaging of the organ of Corti, even 30 hours after death. This finding supports adopting a routine protocol to detect the pathological legacy of noise overexposure in mass stranded cetaceans as a key to understanding the complex processes and implications that lie behind such stranding events.

Congestion and communication in confined ant traffic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gravish, Nick; Gold, Gregory; Zangwill, Andrew; Goodisman, Michael A. D.; Goldman, Daniel I.

2014-03-01

Many social animals move and communicate within confined spaces. In subterranean fire ants Solenopsis invicta, mobility within crowded nest tunnels is important for resource and information transport. Within confined tunnels, communication and traffic flow are at odds: trafficking ants communicate through tactile interactions while stopped, yet ants that stop to communicate impose physical obstacles on the traffic. We monitor the bi-directional flow of fire ant workers in laboratory tunnels of varied diameter D. The persistence time of communicating ant aggregations, τ, increases approximately linearly with the number of participating ants, n. The sensitivity of traffic flow increases as D decreases and diverges at a minimum diameter, Dc. A cellular automata model incorporating minimal traffic features--excluded volume and communication duration--reproduces features of the experiment. From the model we identify a competition between information transfer and the need to maintain jam-free traffic flow. We show that by balancing information transfer and traffic flow demands, an optimum group strategy exists which maximizes information throughput. We acknowledge funding from NSF PoLS #0957659 and #PHY-1205878.

Combining sky and earth: desert ants (Melophorus bagoti) show weighted integration of celestial and terrestrial cues.

PubMed

Legge, Eric L G; Wystrach, Antoine; Spetch, Marcia L; Cheng, Ken

2014-12-01

Insects typically use celestial sources of directional information for path integration, and terrestrial panoramic information for view-based navigation. Here we set celestial and terrestrial sources of directional information in conflict for homing desert ants (Melophorus bagoti). In the first experiment, ants learned to navigate out of a round experimental arena with a distinctive artificial panorama. On crucial tests, we rotated the arena to create a conflict between the artificial panorama and celestial information. In a second experiment, ants at a feeder in their natural visually-cluttered habitat were displaced prior to their homing journey so that the dictates of path integration (feeder to nest direction) based on a celestial compass conflicted with the dictates of view-based navigation (release point to nest direction) based on the natural terrestrial panorama. In both experiments, ants generally headed in a direction intermediate to the dictates of celestial and terrestrial information. In the second experiment, the ants put more weight on the terrestrial cues when they provided better directional information. We conclude that desert ants weight and integrate the dictates of celestial and terrestrial information in determining their initial heading, even when the two directional cues are highly discrepant. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Uninformed sacrifice: Evidence against long-range alarm transmission in foraging ants exposed to localized abduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tejera, F.; Reyes, A.; Altshuler, E.

2016-07-01

It is well established that danger information can be transmitted by ants through relatively small distances, provoking either a state of alarm when they move away from potentially dangerous stimulus, or charge toward it aggressively. There is almost no knowledge if danger information can be transmitted along large distances. In this paper, we abduct leaf cutting ants of the species Atta insularis while they forage in their natural environment at a certain point of the foraging line, so ants make a "U" turn to escape from the danger zone and go back to the nest. Our results strongly suggest that those ants do not transmit "danger information" to other nestmates marching towards the abduction area. The individualistic behavior of the ants returning from the danger zone results in a depression of the foraging activity due to the systematic sacrifice of non-informed individuals.

Honey Ants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, John R.

1984-01-01

Provides background information on honey ants. These ants are found in dry or desert regions of North America, Africa, and Australia. Also provides a list of activities using local species of ants. (JN)

Looking and homing: how displaced ants decide where to go.

PubMed

Zeil, Jochen; Narendra, Ajay; Stürzl, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

We caught solitary foragers of the Australian Jack Jumper ant, Myrmecia croslandi, and released them in three compass directions at distances of 10 and 15 m from the nest at locations they have never been before. We recorded the head orientation and the movements of ants within a radius of 20 cm from the release point and, in some cases, tracked their subsequent paths with a differential GPS. We find that upon surfacing from their transport vials onto a release platform, most ants move into the home direction after looking around briefly. The ants use a systematic scanning procedure, consisting of saccadic head and body rotations that sweep gaze across the scene with an average angular velocity of 90° s(-1) and intermittent changes in turning direction. By mapping the ants' gaze directions onto the local panorama, we find that neither the ants' gaze nor their decisions to change turning direction are clearly associated with salient or significant features in the scene. Instead, the ants look most frequently in the home direction and start walking fast when doing so. Displaced ants can thus identify home direction with little translation, but exclusively through rotational scanning. We discuss the navigational information content of the ants' habitat and how the insects' behaviour informs us about how they may acquire and retrieve that information.

On the problem of solving the optimization for continuous space based on information distribution function of ant colony algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Min, Huang; Na, Cai

2017-06-01

These years, ant colony algorithm has been widely used in solving the domain of discrete space optimization, while the research on solving the continuous space optimization was relatively little. Based on the original optimization for continuous space, the article proposes the improved ant colony algorithm which is used to Solve the optimization for continuous space, so as to overcome the ant colony algorithm’s disadvantages of searching for a long time in continuous space. The article improves the solving way for the total amount of information of each interval and the due number of ants. The article also introduces a function of changes with the increase of the number of iterations in order to enhance the convergence rate of the improved ant colony algorithm. The simulation results show that compared with the result in literature[5], the suggested improved ant colony algorithm that based on the information distribution function has a better convergence performance. Thus, the article provides a new feasible and effective method for ant colony algorithm to solve this kind of problem.

Optic flow odometry operates independently of stride integration in carried ants.

PubMed

Pfeffer, Sarah E; Wittlinger, Matthias

2016-09-09

Cataglyphis desert ants are impressive navigators. When the foragers roam the desert, they employ path integration. For these ants, distance estimation is one key challenge. Distance information was thought to be provided by optic flow (OF)-that is, image motion experienced during travel-but this idea was abandoned when stride integration was discovered as an odometer mechanism in ants. We show that ants transported by nest mates are capable of measuring travel distance exclusively by the use of OF cues. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the information gained from the optic flowmeter cannot be transferred to the stride integrator. Our results suggest a dual information channel that allows the ants to measure distances by strides and OF cues, although both systems operate independently and in a redundant manner. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Backtracking behaviour in lost ants: an additional strategy in their navigational toolkit

PubMed Central

Wystrach, Antoine; Schwarz, Sebastian; Baniel, Alice; Cheng, Ken

2013-01-01

Ants use multiple sources of information to navigate, but do not integrate all this information into a unified representation of the world. Rather, the available information appears to serve three distinct main navigational systems: path integration, systematic search and the use of learnt information—mainly via vision. Here, we report on an additional behaviour that suggests a supplemental system in the ant's navigational toolkit: ‘backtracking’. Homing ants, having almost reached their nest but, suddenly displaced to unfamiliar areas, did not show the characteristic undirected headings of systematic searches. Instead, these ants backtracked in the compass direction opposite to the path that they had just travelled. The ecological function of this behaviour is clear as we show it increases the chances of returning to familiar terrain. Importantly, the mechanistic implications of this behaviour stress an extra level of cognitive complexity in ant navigation. Our results imply: (i) the presence of a type of ‘memory of the current trip’ allowing lost ants to take into account the familiar view recently experienced, and (ii) direct sharing of information across different navigational systems. We propose a revised architecture of the ant's navigational toolkit illustrating how the different systems may interact to produce adaptive behaviours. PMID:23966644

Vector navigation in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis: celestial compass cues are essential for the proper use of distance information.

PubMed

Sommer, Stefan; Wehner, Rüdiger

2005-10-01

Foraging desert ants navigate primarily by path integration. They continually update homing direction and distance by employing a celestial compass and an odometer. Here we address the question of whether information about travel distance is correctly used in the absence of directional information. By using linear channels that were partly covered to exclude celestial compass cues, we were able to test the distance component of the path-integration process while suppressing the directional information. Our results suggest that the path integrator cannot process the distance information accumulated by the odometer while ants are deprived of celestial compass information. Hence, during path integration directional cues are a prerequisite for the proper use of travel-distance information by ants.

Cytopathology in the post mortem room.

PubMed Central

Walker, E; Going, J J

1994-01-01

AIM--To demonstrate the role of cytopathology in examining tumours found at post mortem examination. METHODS--Tumour deposits were found in 25 hospital necropsies. Cytological diagnosis made at the time of necropsy was compared with subsequent paraffin wax embedded histological sections. RESULTS--In 19 out of 20 cases with no previous histological diagnosis, cytology at the time of necropsy provided rapid and accurate assessment of tumour type. Subsequent histological examination of formalin fixed material merely refined the diagnosis in some cases. In the remaining five cases in which tumour type was known, cytological examination of deposits found at necropsy provided extra information that was useful for compiling a provisional report. CONCLUSIONS--Rapid cytological examination of tumours found during post mortem examinations provides accurate relevant information which can be used to produce a more comprehensive provisional necropsy report. The technique has advantages over frozen section histology and can provide useful cytological experience for histopathology trainees. Images PMID:7962623

Late stillbirth post mortem examination in New Zealand: Maternal decision-making.

PubMed

Cronin, Robin S; Li, Minglan; Wise, Michelle; Bradford, Billie; Culling, Vicki; Zuccollo, Jane; Thompson, John M D; Mitchell, Edwin A; McCowan, Lesley M E

2018-03-05

For parents who experience stillbirth, knowing the cause of their baby's death is important. A post mortem examination is the gold standard investigation, but little is known about what may influence parents' decisions to accept or decline. We aimed to identify factors influencing maternal decision-making about post mortem examination after late stillbirth. In the New Zealand Multicentre Stillbirth Study, 169 women with singleton pregnancies, no known abnormality at recruitment, and late stillbirth (≥28weeks gestation), from seven health regions were interviewed within six weeks of birth. The purpose of this paper was to explore factors related to post mortem examination decision-making and the reasons for declining. We asked women if they would make the same decision again. Maternal decision to decline a post mortem (70/169, 41.4%) was more common among women of Māori (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.99 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.70-14.64) and Pacific (aOR 3.94 95% CI 1.47-10.54) ethnicity compared to European, and parity two or more (aOR 2.95 95% CI 1.14-7.62) compared to primiparous. The main reason for declining was that women 'did not want baby to be cut'. Ten percent (7/70) who declined said they would not make this decision again. No woman who consented regretted her decision. Ethnic differences observed in women's post mortem decision-making should be further explored in future studies. Providing information of the effect of post mortem on the baby's body and the possible emotional benefits of a post mortem may assist women faced with this decision in the future. © 2018 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Contact rate modulates foraging efficiency in leaf cutting ants.

PubMed

Bouchebti, S; Ferrere, S; Vittori, K; Latil, G; Dussutour, A; Fourcassié, V

2015-12-21

Lane segregation is rarely observed in animals that move in bidirectional flows. Consequently, these animals generally experience a high rate of head-on collisions during their journeys. Although these collisions have a cost (each collision induces a delay resulting in a decrease of individual speed), they could also have a benefit by promoting information transfer between individuals. Here we explore the impact of head-on collisions in leaf-cutting ants moving on foraging trails by artificially decreasing the rate of head-on collisions between individuals. We show that head-on collisions do not influence the rate of recruitment in these ants but do influence foraging efficiency, i.e. the proportion of ants returning to the nest with a leaf fragment. Surprisingly, both unladen and laden ants returning to the nest participate in the modulation of foraging efficiency: foraging efficiency decreases when the rate of contacts with both nestbound laden or unladen ants decreases. These results suggest that outgoing ants are able to collect information from inbound ants even when these latter do not carry any leaf fragment and that this information can influence their foraging decisions when reaching the end of the trail.

A locally-blazed ant trail achieves efficient collective navigation despite limited information

PubMed Central

Fonio, Ehud; Heyman, Yael; Boczkowski, Lucas; Gelblum, Aviram; Kosowski, Adrian; Korman, Amos; Feinerman, Ofer

2016-01-01

Any organism faces sensory and cognitive limitations which may result in maladaptive decisions. Such limitations are prominent in the context of groups where the relevant information at the individual level may not coincide with collective requirements. Here, we study the navigational decisions exhibited by Paratrechina longicornis ants as they cooperatively transport a large food item. These decisions hinge on the perception of individuals which often restricts them from providing the group with reliable directional information. We find that, to achieve efficient navigation despite partial and even misleading information, these ants employ a locally-blazed trail. This trail significantly deviates from the classical notion of an ant trail: First, instead of systematically marking the full path, ants mark short segments originating at the load. Second, the carrying team constantly loses the guiding trail. We experimentally and theoretically show that the locally-blazed trail optimally and robustly exploits useful knowledge while avoiding the pitfalls of misleading information. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20185.001 PMID:27815944

Ocelli contribute to the encoding of celestial compass information in the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti.

PubMed

Schwarz, Sebastian; Albert, Laurence; Wystrach, Antoine; Cheng, Ken

2011-03-15

Many animal species, including some social hymenoptera, use the visual system for navigation. Although the insect compound eyes have been well studied, less is known about the second visual system in some insects, the ocelli. Here we demonstrate navigational functions of the ocelli in the visually guided Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti. These ants are known to rely on both visual landmark learning and path integration. We conducted experiments to reveal the role of ocelli in the perception and use of celestial compass information and landmark guidance. Ants with directional information from their path integration system were tested with covered compound eyes and open ocelli on an unfamiliar test field where only celestial compass cues were available for homing. These full-vector ants, using only their ocelli for visual information, oriented significantly towards the fictive nest on the test field, indicating the use of celestial compass information that is presumably based on polarised skylight, the sun's position or the colour gradient of the sky. Ants without any directional information from their path-integration system (zero-vector) were tested, also with covered compound eyes and open ocelli, on a familiar training field where they have to use the surrounding panorama to home. These ants failed to orient significantly in the homeward direction. Together, our results demonstrated that M. bagoti could perceive and process celestial compass information for directional orientation with their ocelli. In contrast, the ocelli do not seem to contribute to terrestrial landmark-based navigation in M. bagoti.

Infection of army ant pupae by two new parasitoid mites (Mesostigmata: Uropodina).

PubMed

Brückner, Adrian; Klompen, Hans; Bruce, Andrew Iain; Hashim, Rosli; von Beeren, Christoph

2017-01-01

A great variety of parasites and parasitoids exploit ant societies. Among them are the Mesostigmata mites, a particularly common and diverse group of ant-associated arthropods. While parasitism is ubiquitous in Mesostigmata, parasitoidism has only been described in the genus Macrodinychus . Yet information about the basic biology of most Macrodinychus species is lacking. Out of 24 formally described species, information about basic life-history traits is only available for three species. Here we formally describe two new Macrodinychus species, i.e. Macrodinychus hilpertae and Macrodinychus derbyensis . In both species, immature stages developed as ecto-parasitoids on ant pupae of the South-East Asian army ant Leptogenys distinguenda . By piercing the developing ant with their chelicera, the mites apparently suck ant hemolymph, ultimately killing host individuals. We compare infection rates among all studied Macrodinychus species and discuss possible host countermeasures against parasitoidism. The cryptic lifestyle of living inside ant nests has certainly hampered the scientific discovery of Macrodinychus mites and we expect that many more macrodinychid species await scientific discovery and description.

Ant colony clustering with fitness perception and pheromone diffusion for community detection in complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Junzhong; Song, Xiangjing; Liu, Chunnian; Zhang, Xiuzhen

2013-08-01

Community structure detection in complex networks has been intensively investigated in recent years. In this paper, we propose an adaptive approach based on ant colony clustering to discover communities in a complex network. The focus of the method is the clustering process of an ant colony in a virtual grid, where each ant represents a node in the complex network. During the ant colony search, the method uses a new fitness function to percept local environment and employs a pheromone diffusion model as a global information feedback mechanism to realize information exchange among ants. A significant advantage of our method is that the locations in the grid environment and the connections of the complex network structure are simultaneously taken into account in ants moving. Experimental results on computer-generated and real-world networks show the capability of our method to successfully detect community structures.

Trace elements distribution and post-mortem intake in human bones from Middle Age by total reflection X-ray fluorescence*1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho, M. L.; Marques, A. F.; Lima, M. T.; Reus, U.

2004-08-01

The purpose of the present work is to investigate the suitability of TXRF technique to study the distribution of trace elements along human bones of the 13th century, to conclude about environmental conditions and dietary habits of old populations and to study the uptake of some elements from the surrounding soil. In this work, we used TXRF to quantify and to make profiles of the elements through long bones. Two femur bones, one from a man and another from a woman, buried in the same grave were cross-sectioned in four different points at a distance of 1 cm. Microsamples of each section were taken at a distance of 1 mm from each other. Quantitative analysis was performed for Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr, Ba and Pb. Very high concentrations of Mn and Fe were obtained in the whole analysed samples, reaching values higher than 2% in some samples of trabecular tissue, very much alike to the concentrations in the burial soil. A sharp decrease for both elements was observed in cortical tissue. Zn and Sr present steady concentration levels in both kinds of bone tissues. Pb and Cu show very low concentrations in the inner tissue of cortical bone. However, these concentrations increase in the regions in contact to trabecular tissue and external surface in contact with the soil, where high levels of both elements were found. We suggest that contamination from the surrounding soil exists for Mn and Fe in the whole bone tissue. Pb can be both from post-mortem and ante-mortem origin. Inner compact tissue might represent in vivo accumulation and trabecular one corresponds to uptake during burial. The steady levels of Sr and Zn together with soil concentration lower levels for these elements may allow us to conclude that they are originated from in vivo incorporation in the hydroxyapatite bone matrix.

Fire ants

MedlinePlus

... a fire ant delivers a harmful substance, called venom, into your skin. This article is for information ... in the United States. Poisonous Ingredient Fire ant venom contains a chemical called piperidine. Where Found Fire ...

Definition of purified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay antigens from the culture filtrate protein of Mycobacterium bovis by proteomic analysis.

PubMed

Cho, Yun Sang; Lee, Sang-Eun; Ko, Young Joon; Cho, Donghee; Lee, Hyang Shim; Hwang, Inyeong; Nam, Hyangmi; Heo, Eunjung; Kim, Jong Man; Jung, Sukchan

2009-01-01

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed as the ancillary diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis at ante-mortem to overcome the disadvantages of intradermal skin test. In this study, the antigenic proteins were purified, applied to bTB ELISA, and identified through proteomic analysis. Culture filtrate protein of Mycobacterium bovis was fractionated by MonoQ column chromatography, and examined the antigenicity by immunoblotting. The antigenic 20 kDa protein was in-gel digested and identified the antigenome by LTQ mass spectrometer and peptide match fingerprinting, which were MPB64, MPB70, MPB83, Fas, Smc, Nrp, RpoC, Transposase, LeuA, and MtbE. The 20 kDa protein exhibited the highest antigenicity to bTB positive cattle in ELISA and would be useful for bTB serological diagnosis.

Impact of freezing and thawing on the quality of meat: review.

PubMed

Leygonie, Coleen; Britz, Trevor J; Hoffman, Louwrens C

2012-06-01

This comprehensive review describes the effects of freezing and thawing on the physical quality parameters of meat. The formation of ice crystals during freezing damages the ultrastructure and concentrates the solutes in the meat which, in turn, leads to alterations in the biochemical reactions that occur at the cellular level and influence the physical quality parameters of the meat. The quality parameters that were evaluated are moisture loss, protein denaturation, lipid and protein oxidation, colour, pH, shear force and microbial spoilage. Additionally mechanisms employed to mitigate the effects of freezing and thawing were also reviewed. These include the use of novel methods of freezing and thawing, ante and post mortem antifreeze protein inclusion and vitamin E supplementation, brine injection and modified atmospheric packaging. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ex Ante Research Explored: Numbers, Types and Use of Ex Ante Policy Studies by the Dutch Government

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haarhuis, Carolien Maria Klein; Smit, Monika

2017-01-01

Ex ante research can contribute to evidence-informed policies. In this article, we explore numbers and types of ex ante studies as well as their use. First, we took stock of a potentially wide range of ex ante studies published by the Dutch government between 2005 and 2011, applying a systematic approach. Though unevenly distributed across…

Zoonoses: a potential obstacle to the growing wildlife industry of Namibia

PubMed Central

Magwedere, Kudakwashe; Hemberger, Maria Y.; Hoffman, Louw C.; Dziva, Francis

2012-01-01

Zoonoses, which account for approximately 75% of emerging human infectious diseases worldwide, pose a re-emerging threat to public health. With an ever-increasing interrelationship between humans, livestock and wildlife species, the threat to human health will rise to unprecedented levels. Wildlife species contribute to the majority of emerging diseases; therefore, there is an urgent need to define control systems of zoonoses of wildlife origin but very little information exists. In this review, we examine prevalent zoonotic infections reported in Namibia between 1990 and 2009 and assess their potential impact on the growing wildlife industry. A wide spectrum of zoonotic diseases was confirmed in both livestock and wildlife species, with rabies and anthrax cases being over-represented and also showing the widest species distribution. Whilst vaccination and ante-mortem inspection against these diseases may curb infected livestock species from entering the human food chain, such practices are difficult to implement in free-ranging wildlife species. In this context, there is a need to improve existing control measures and/or develop novel and better interventional strategies to reduce the threat of this re-emerging global problem. This review provides the basis for initiating a multidisciplinary evidence-based approach to control zoonoses in countries with thriving wildlife and game farming. PMID:23077724

Ant groups optimally amplify the effect of transiently informed individuals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelblum, Aviram; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Ghosh, Abhijit; Gov, Nir; Feinerman, Ofer

2015-07-01

To cooperatively transport a large load, it is important that carriers conform in their efforts and align their forces. A downside of behavioural conformism is that it may decrease the group's responsiveness to external information. Combining experiment and theory, we show how ants optimize collective transport. On the single-ant scale, optimization stems from decision rules that balance individuality and compliance. Macroscopically, these rules poise the system at the transition between random walk and ballistic motion where the collective response to the steering of a single informed ant is maximized. We relate this peak in response to the divergence of susceptibility at a phase transition. Our theoretical models predict that the ant-load system can be transitioned through the critical point of this mesoscopic system by varying its size; we present experiments supporting these predictions. Our findings show that efficient group-level processes can arise from transient amplification of individual-based knowledge.

Ant groups optimally amplify the effect of transiently informed individuals

PubMed Central

Gelblum, Aviram; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Ghosh, Abhijit; Gov, Nir; Feinerman, Ofer

2015-01-01

To cooperatively transport a large load, it is important that carriers conform in their efforts and align their forces. A downside of behavioural conformism is that it may decrease the group's responsiveness to external information. Combining experiment and theory, we show how ants optimize collective transport. On the single-ant scale, optimization stems from decision rules that balance individuality and compliance. Macroscopically, these rules poise the system at the transition between random walk and ballistic motion where the collective response to the steering of a single informed ant is maximized. We relate this peak in response to the divergence of susceptibility at a phase transition. Our theoretical models predict that the ant-load system can be transitioned through the critical point of this mesoscopic system by varying its size; we present experiments supporting these predictions. Our findings show that efficient group-level processes can arise from transient amplification of individual-based knowledge. PMID:26218613

Neuromodulation of Nestmate Recognition Decisions by Pavement Ants.

PubMed

Bubak, Andrew N; Yaeger, Jazmine D W; Renner, Kenneth J; Swallow, John G; Greene, Michael J

2016-01-01

Ant colonies are distributed systems that are regulated in a non-hierarchical manner. Without a central authority, individuals inform their decisions by comparing information in local cues to a set of inherent behavioral rules. Individual behavioral decisions collectively change colony behavior and lead to self-organization capable of solving complex problems such as the decision to engage in aggressive societal conflicts with neighbors. Despite the relevance to colony fitness, the mechanisms that drive individual decisions leading to cooperative behavior are not well understood. Here we show how sensory information, both tactile and chemical, and social context-isolation, nestmate interaction, or fighting non-nestmates-affects brain monoamine levels in pavement ants (Tetramorium caespitum). Our results provide evidence that changes in octopamine and serotonin in the brains of individuals are sufficient to alter the decision by pavement ants to be aggressive towards non-nestmate ants whereas increased brain levels of dopamine correlate to physical fighting. We propose a model in which the changes in brain states of many workers collectively lead to the self-organization of societal aggression between neighboring colonies of pavement ants.

Neuromodulation of Nestmate Recognition Decisions by Pavement Ants

PubMed Central

Bubak, Andrew N.; Yaeger, Jazmine D. W.; Renner, Kenneth J.; Swallow, John G.; Greene, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Ant colonies are distributed systems that are regulated in a non-hierarchical manner. Without a central authority, individuals inform their decisions by comparing information in local cues to a set of inherent behavioral rules. Individual behavioral decisions collectively change colony behavior and lead to self-organization capable of solving complex problems such as the decision to engage in aggressive societal conflicts with neighbors. Despite the relevance to colony fitness, the mechanisms that drive individual decisions leading to cooperative behavior are not well understood. Here we show how sensory information, both tactile and chemical, and social context—isolation, nestmate interaction, or fighting non-nestmates—affects brain monoamine levels in pavement ants (Tetramorium caespitum). Our results provide evidence that changes in octopamine and serotonin in the brains of individuals are sufficient to alter the decision by pavement ants to be aggressive towards non-nestmate ants whereas increased brain levels of dopamine correlate to physical fighting. We propose a model in which the changes in brain states of many workers collectively lead to the self-organization of societal aggression between neighboring colonies of pavement ants. PMID:27846261

Evidence for widespread, severe brain copper deficiency in Alzheimer's dementia.

PubMed

Xu, Jingshu; Church, Stephanie J; Patassini, Stefano; Begley, Paul; Waldvogel, Henry J; Curtis, Maurice A; Faull, Richard L M; Unwin, Richard D; Cooper, Garth J S

2017-08-16

Datasets comprising simultaneous measurements of many essential metals in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain are sparse, and available studies are not entirely in agreement. To further elucidate this matter, we employed inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometry to measure post-mortem levels of 8 essential metals and selenium, in 7 brain regions from 9 cases with AD (neuropathological severity Braak IV-VI), and 13 controls who had normal ante-mortem mental function and no evidence of brain disease. Of the regions studied, three undergo severe neuronal damage in AD (hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and middle-temporal gyrus); three are less-severely affected (sensory cortex, motor cortex and cingulate gyrus); and one (cerebellum) is relatively spared. Metal concentrations in the controls differed among brain regions, and AD-associated perturbations in most metals occurred in only a few: regions more severely affected by neurodegeneration generally showed alterations in more metals, and cerebellum displayed a distinctive pattern. By contrast, copper levels were substantively decreased in all AD-brain regions, to 52.8-70.2% of corresponding control values, consistent with pan-cerebral copper deficiency. This copper deficiency could be pathogenic in AD, since levels are lowered to values approximating those in Menkes' disease, an X-linked recessive disorder where brain-copper deficiency is the accepted cause of severe brain damage. Our study reinforces others reporting deficient brain copper in AD, and indicates that interventions aimed at safely and effectively elevating brain copper could provide a new experimental-therapeutic approach.

Forensic considerations when dealing with incinerated human dental remains.

PubMed

Reesu, Gowri Vijay; Augustine, Jeyaseelan; Urs, Aadithya B

2015-01-01

Establishing the human dental identification process relies upon sufficient post-mortem data being recovered to allow for a meaningful comparison with ante-mortem records of the deceased person. Teeth are the most indestructible components of the human body and are structurally unique in their composition. They possess the highest resistance to most environmental effects like fire, desiccation, decomposition and prolonged immersion. In most natural as well as man-made disasters, teeth may provide the only means of positive identification of an otherwise unrecognizable body. It is imperative that dental evidence should not be destroyed through erroneous handling until appropriate radiographs, photographs, or impressions can be fabricated. Proper methods of physical stabilization of incinerated human dental remains should be followed. The maintenance of integrity of extremely fragile structures is crucial to the successful confirmation of identity. In such situations, the forensic dentist must stabilise these teeth before the fragile remains are transported to the mortuary to ensure preservation of possibly vital identification evidence. Thus, while dealing with any incinerated dental remains, a systematic approach must be followed through each stage of evaluation of incinerated dental remains to prevent the loss of potential dental evidence. This paper presents a composite review of various studies on incinerated human dental remains and discusses their impact on the process of human identification and suggests a step by step approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Mapping the navigational knowledge of individually foraging ants, Myrmecia croslandi

PubMed Central

Narendra, Ajay; Gourmaud, Sarah; Zeil, Jochen

2013-01-01

Ants are efficient navigators, guided by path integration and visual landmarks. Path integration is the primary strategy in landmark-poor habitats, but landmarks are readily used when available. The landmark panorama provides reliable information about heading direction, routes and specific location. Visual memories for guidance are often acquired along routes or near to significant places. Over what area can such locally acquired memories provide information for reaching a place? This question is unusually approachable in the solitary foraging Australian jack jumper ant, since individual foragers typically travel to one or two nest-specific foraging trees. We find that within 10 m from the nest, ants both with and without home vector information available from path integration return directly to the nest from all compass directions, after briefly scanning the panorama. By reconstructing panoramic views within the successful homing range, we show that in the open woodland habitat of these ants, snapshot memories acquired close to the nest provide sufficient navigational information to determine nest-directed heading direction over a surprisingly large area, including areas that animals may have not visited previously. PMID:23804615

The interactions of ants with their biotic environment.

PubMed

Chomicki, Guillaume; Renner, Susanne S

2017-03-15

This s pecial feature results from the symposium 'Ants 2016: ant interactions with their biotic environments' held in Munich in May 2016 and deals with the interactions between ants and other insects, plants, microbes and fungi, studied at micro- and macroevolutionary levels with a wide range of approaches, from field ecology to next-generation sequencing, chemical ecology and molecular genetics. In this paper, we review key aspects of these biotic interactions to provide background information for the papers of this s pecial feature After listing the major types of biotic interactions that ants engage in, we present a brief overview of ant/ant communication, ant/plant interactions, ant/fungus symbioses, and recent insights about ants and their endosymbionts. Using a large molecular clock-dated Formicidae phylogeny, we map the evolutionary origins of different ant clades' interactions with plants, fungi and hemiptera. Ants' biotic interactions provide ideal systems to address fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions about mutualism, coevolution, adaptation and animal communication. © 2017 The Author(s).

The interactions of ants with their biotic environment

PubMed Central

Renner, Susanne S.

2017-01-01

This special feature results from the symposium ‘Ants 2016: ant interactions with their biotic environments’ held in Munich in May 2016 and deals with the interactions between ants and other insects, plants, microbes and fungi, studied at micro- and macroevolutionary levels with a wide range of approaches, from field ecology to next-generation sequencing, chemical ecology and molecular genetics. In this paper, we review key aspects of these biotic interactions to provide background information for the papers of this special feature. After listing the major types of biotic interactions that ants engage in, we present a brief overview of ant/ant communication, ant/plant interactions, ant/fungus symbioses, and recent insights about ants and their endosymbionts. Using a large molecular clock-dated Formicidae phylogeny, we map the evolutionary origins of different ant clades' interactions with plants, fungi and hemiptera. Ants' biotic interactions provide ideal systems to address fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions about mutualism, coevolution, adaptation and animal communication. PMID:28298352

Consuming fire ants reduces northern bobwhite survival and weight gain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Myers, P.E.; Allen, Craig R.; Birge, Hannah E.

2014-01-01

Northern bobwhite quail, Colinus virginianus (L.) (Galliformes: Odontophoridae), population declines are well documented, but pinpointing the reasons for these decreases has proven elusive. Bobwhite population declines are attributed primarily to loss of habitat and land use changes. This, however, does not entirely explain population declines in areas intensively managed for bobwhites. Although previous research demonstrates the negative impact of red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on northern bobwhites, the mechanisms underlying this effect are largely unknown. To meet the protein demands of early growth and development, bobwhite chicks predominantly consume small insects, of which ants are a substantial proportion. Fire ants alter ant community dynamics by often reducing native ant diversity and abundance while concurrently increasing the abundance of individuals. Fire ants have negative effects on chicks, but they are also a large potential protein source, making it difficult to disentangle their net effect on bobwhite chicks. To help investigate these effects, we conducted a laboratory experiment to understand (1) whether or not bobwhites consume fire ants, and (2) how the benefits of this consumption compare to the deleterious impacts of bobwhite chick exposure to fire ants. Sixty bobwhite chicks were separated into two groups of 30; one group was provided with starter feed only and the second group was provided with feed and fire ants. Bobwhite chicks were observed feeding on fire ants. Chicks that fed on fire ants had reduced survival and weight gain. Our results show that, while fire ants increase potential food sources for northern bobwhite, their net effect on bobwhite chicks is deleterious. This information will help inform land managers and commercial bobwhite rearing operations.

Primary lymphoma of the central nervous system and HTLV-I infection.

PubMed

Calderón, Enrique J; Japón, Miguel A; Chinchón, Isidoro; Soriano, Vicente; Capote, Francisco J

2002-01-01

Only a few cases of AIDS-related primary lymphomas of the central nervous system (CNS) show a T-cell phenotype. We have recently studied two intravenous drug users with HIV infection who had primary CNS T-cell lymphomas. In both cases, the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for HTLV gave a positive result. In the first case, study by western-blot (WB) and specific PCR confirmed the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection and serological study by EIA for HTLV of his mother was negative. In the second case, analysis of ante-mortem serum samples by two different WBs showed an indeterminate pattern suggestive of HTLV-I infection, but adequate samples for PCR were not available. We speculate about the possibility that the horizontal transmission of HTLV-I infection could have facilitated the devepolment of a primary CNS T-cell lymphoma in these HIV patients, although they cannot be strictly considered as ATLL cases.

Potential for rapid antibody detection to identify tuberculous cattle with non-reactive tuberculin skin test results.

PubMed

Waters, W Ray; Vordermeier, H Martin; Rhodes, Shelley; Khatri, Bhagwati; Palmer, Mitchell V; Maggioli, Mayara F; Thacker, Tyler C; Nelson, Jeffrey T; Thomsen, Bruce V; Robbe-Austerman, Suelee; Bravo Garcia, Doris M; Schoenbaum, Mark A; Camacho, Mark S; Ray, Jean S; Esfandiari, Javan; Lambotte, Paul; Greenwald, Rena; Grandison, Adrian; Sikar-Gang, Alina; Lyashchenko, Konstantin P

2017-06-07

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) control programs generally rely on the tuberculin skin test (TST) for ante-mortem detection of Mycobacterium bovis-infected cattle. Present findings demonstrate that a rapid antibody test based on Dual-Path Platform (DPP ® ) technology, when applied 1-3 weeks after TST, detected 9 of 11 and 34 of 52 TST non-reactive yet M. bovis-infected cattle from the US and GB, respectively. The specificity of the assay ranged from 98.9% (n = 92, US) to 96.0% (n = 50, GB) with samples from TB-free herds. Multi-antigen print immunoassay (MAPIA) revealed the presence of antibodies to multiple antigens of M. bovis in sera from TST non-reactors diagnosed with TB. Thus, use of serologic assays in series with TST can identify a significant number of TST non-reactive tuberculous cattle for more efficient removal from TB-affected herds.

Factors influencing the flavour of game meat: A review.

PubMed

Neethling, J; Hoffman, L C; Muller, M

2016-03-01

Flavour is a very important attribute contributing to the sensory quality of meat and meat products. Although the sensory quality of meat includes orthonasal and retronasal aroma, taste, as well as appearance, juiciness and other textural attributes, the focus of this review is primarily on flavour. The influence of species, age, gender, muscle anatomical location, diet, harvesting conditions, ageing of meat, packaging and storage, as well as cooking method on the flavour of game meat are discussed. Very little research is available on the factors influencing the flavour of the meat derived from wild and free-living game species. The aim of this literature review is thus to discuss the key ante- and post-mortem factors that influence the flavour of game meat, with specific focus on wild and free-living South African game species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Private information alone can trigger trapping of ant colonies in local feeding optima.

PubMed

Czaczkes, Tomer J; Salmane, Anete K; Klampfleuthner, Felicia A M; Heinze, Jürgen

2016-03-01

Ant colonies are famous for using trail pheromones to make collective decisions. Trail pheromone systems are characterised by positive feedback, which results in rapid collective decision making. However, in an iconic experiment, ants were shown to become 'trapped' in exploiting a poor food source, if it was discovered earlier. This has conventionally been explained by the established pheromone trail becoming too strong for new trails to compete. However, many social insects have a well-developed memory, and private information often overrules conflicting social information. Thus, route memory could also explain this collective 'trapping' effect. Here, we disentangled the effects of social and private information in two 'trapping' experiments: one in which ants were presented with a good and a poor food source, and one in which ants were presented with a long and a short path to the same food source. We found that private information is sufficient to trigger trapping in selecting the poorer of two food sources, and may be sufficient to cause it altogether. Memories did not trigger trapping in the shortest path experiment, probably because sufficiently detailed memories did not form. The fact that collective decisions can be triggered by private information alone may require other collective patterns previously attributed solely to social information use to be reconsidered. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Looking and homing: how displaced ants decide where to go

PubMed Central

Zeil, Jochen; Narendra, Ajay; Stürzl, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

We caught solitary foragers of the Australian Jack Jumper ant, Myrmecia croslandi, and released them in three compass directions at distances of 10 and 15 m from the nest at locations they have never been before. We recorded the head orientation and the movements of ants within a radius of 20 cm from the release point and, in some cases, tracked their subsequent paths with a differential GPS. We find that upon surfacing from their transport vials onto a release platform, most ants move into the home direction after looking around briefly. The ants use a systematic scanning procedure, consisting of saccadic head and body rotations that sweep gaze across the scene with an average angular velocity of 90° s−1 and intermittent changes in turning direction. By mapping the ants’ gaze directions onto the local panorama, we find that neither the ants’ gaze nor their decisions to change turning direction are clearly associated with salient or significant features in the scene. Instead, the ants look most frequently in the home direction and start walking fast when doing so. Displaced ants can thus identify home direction with little translation, but exclusively through rotational scanning. We discuss the navigational information content of the ants’ habitat and how the insects’ behaviour informs us about how they may acquire and retrieve that information. PMID:24395961

Leaf beetles are ant-nest beetles: the curious life of the juvenile stages of case-bearers (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Although some species of Cryptocephalinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) have been documented with ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for almost 200 years, information on this association is fragmentary. This contribution synthesizes scattered literature to determine the patterns in ant host use. Some degr...

Desert ants achieve reliable recruitment across noisy interactions

PubMed Central

Razin, Nitzan; Eckmann, Jean-Pierre; Feinerman, Ofer

2013-01-01

We study how desert ants, Cataglyphis niger, a species that lacks pheromone-based recruitment mechanisms, inform each other about the presence of food. Our results are based on automated tracking that allows us to collect a large database of ant trajectories and interactions. We find that interactions affect an ant's speed within the nest. Fast ants tend to slow down, whereas slow ones increase their speed when encountering a faster ant. Faster ants tend to exit the nest more frequently than slower ones. So, if an ant gains enough speed through encounters with others, then she tends to leave the nest and look for food. On the other hand, we find that the probability for her to leave the nest depends only on her speed, but not on whether she had recently interacted with a recruiter that has found the food. This suggests a recruitment system in which ants communicate their state by very simple interactions. Based on this assumption, we estimate the information-theoretical channel capacity of the ants’ pairwise interactions. We find that the response to the speed of an interacting nest-mate is very noisy. The question is then how random interactions with ants within the nest can be distinguished from those interactions with a recruiter who has found food. Our measurements and model suggest that this distinction does not depend on reliable communication but on behavioural differences between ants that have found the food and those that have not. Recruiters retain high speeds throughout the experiment, regardless of the ants they interact with; non-recruiters communicate with a limited number of nest-mates and adjust their speed following these interactions. These simple rules lead to the formation of a bistable switch on the level of the group that allows the distinction between recruitment and random noise in the nest. A consequence of the mechanism we propose is a negative effect of ant density on exit rates and recruitment success. This is, indeed, confirmed by our measurements. PMID:23486172

Ecosystem engineering of harvester ants: effects on vegetation in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gosselin, Elyce N; Holbrook, Joseph D.; Huggler, Katey; Brown, Emily; Vierling, Kerri T.; Arkle, Robert; Pilliod, David S.

2016-01-01

Harvester ants are influential in many ecosystems because they distribute and consume seeds, remove vegetation, and redistribute soil particles and nutrients. Understanding the interaction between harvester ants and plant communities is important for management and restoration efforts, particularly in systems altered by fire and invasive species such as the sagebrush-steppe. Our objective was to evaluate how vegetation cover changed as a function of distance from Owyhee harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex salinus) nests within a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. We sampled 105 harvester ant nests within southern Idaho, USA, that occurred in different habitats: annual grassland, perennial grassland, and native shrubland. The influence of Owyhee harvester ants on vegetation was larger at the edge of ant nests, but the relationship was inconsistent among plant species. Percent cover was positively associated with distance from harvester ant nests for plant species that were considered undesirable food sources and were densely distributed. However, percent cover was negatively associated with distance-from-nests for patchily distributed and desirable plant species. For some plant species, there was no change in cover associated with distance-from-nests. Total vegetation cover was associated with distance-from-nests in the shrubland habitat but not in the 2 grasslands. The dominant plant species in the shrubland habitat was a densely distributed shrub (winterfat, Krascheninnikovia lanata) that was defoliated by harvester ants. Our results suggest that Owyhee harvester ants increase spatial heterogeneity in plant communities through plant clearing, but the direction and magnitude of effect will likely be contingent on the dominant vegetation groups. This information may inform future management and plant restoration efforts in sagebrush-steppe by directly considering the islands of influence associated with harvester ant engineering.

Rapid Decision-Making with Side-Specific Perceptual Discrimination in Ants

PubMed Central

Stroeymeyt, Nathalie; Guerrieri, Fernando J.; van Zweden, Jelle S.; d'Ettorre, Patrizia

2010-01-01

Background Timely decision making is crucial for survival and reproduction. Organisms often face a speed-accuracy trade-off, as fully informed, accurate decisions require time-consuming gathering and treatment of information. Optimal strategies for decision-making should therefore vary depending on the context. In mammals, there is mounting evidence that multiple systems of perceptual discrimination based on different neural circuits emphasize either fast responses or accurate treatment of stimuli depending on the context. Methodology/Principal Findings We used the ant Camponotus aethiops to test the prediction that fast information processing achieved through direct neural pathways should be favored in situations where quick reactions are adaptive. Social insects discriminate readily between harmless group-members and dangerous strangers using easily accessible cuticular hydrocarbons as nestmate recognition cues. We show that i) tethered ants display rapid aggressive reactions upon presentation of non-nestmate odor (120 to 160 ms); ii) ants' aggressiveness towards non-nestmates can be specifically reduced by exposure to non-nestmate odor only, showing that social interactions are not required to alter responses towards non-nestmates; iii) decision-making by ants does not require information transfer between brain hemispheres, but relies on side-specific decision rules. Conclusions/Significance Our results strongly suggest that first-order olfactory processing centers (up to the antennal lobes) are likely to play a key role in ant nestmate recognition. We hypothesize that the coarse level of discrimination achieved in the antennal lobes early in odor processing provides enough information to determine appropriate behavioral responses towards non-nestmates. This asks for a reappraisal of the mechanisms underlying social recognition in insects. PMID:20808782

Landmark memories are more robust when acquired at the nest site than en route: experiments in desert ants.

PubMed

Bisch-Knaden, Sonja; Wehner, Rüdiger

2003-03-01

Foraging desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, encounter different sequences of visual landmarks while navigating by path integration. This paper explores the question whether the storage of landmark information depends on the context in which the landmarks are learned during an ant's foraging journey. Two experimental set-ups were designed in which the ants experienced an artificial landmark panorama that was placed either around the nest entrance (nest marks) or along the vector route leading straight towards the feeder (route marks). The two training paradigms resulted in pronounced differences in the storage characteristics of the acquired landmark information: memory traces of nest marks were much more robust against extinction and/or suppression than those of route marks. In functional terms, this result is in accord with the observation that desert ants encounter new route marks during every foraging run but always pass the same landmarks when approaching the nest entrance.

AntBot: Anti-pollution peer-to-peer botnets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Guanhua; Eidenbenz, Stephan; Ha, Duc T

2009-01-01

Botnets, which are responsible for many email sparnming and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks in the current Internet, have emerged as one of most severe cyber-threats in recent years. To evade detection and improve resistance against countermeasures, botnets have evolved from the first generation that relies on IRC chat channels to deliver commands to the current generation that uses highly resilient P2P (Peer-to-Peer) protocols to spread their C&C (Command and Control) information. It is, however, revealed that P2P botnets, although relieved from the single point of failure that IRC botnets suffer, can be easily disrupted using pollution-based mitigation schemesmore » [15]. In this paper, we play the devil's advocate and propose a new type of hypothetical botnets called AntBot, which aim to propagate their C&C information to individual bots even though there exists an adversary that persistently pollutes keys used by seized bots to search the command information. The key idea of AntBot is a tree-like structure that bots use to deliver the command so that captured bots reveal only limited information. To evaluate effectiveness of AntBot against pollution-based mitigation in a virtual environment, we develop a distributed P2P botnet simulator. Using extensive experiments, we demonstrate that AntBot operates resiliently against pollution-based mitigation. We further present a few potential defense schemes that could effectively disrupt AntBot operations.« less

Insect navigation: do ants live in the now?

PubMed

Graham, Paul; Mangan, Michael

2015-03-01

Visual navigation is a critical behaviour for many animals, and it has been particularly well studied in ants. Decades of ant navigation research have uncovered many ways in which efficient navigation can be implemented in small brains. For example, ants show us how visual information can drive navigation via procedural rather than map-like instructions. Two recent behavioural observations highlight interesting adaptive ways in which ants implement visual guidance. Firstly, it has been shown that the systematic nest searches of ants can be biased by recent experience of familiar scenes. Secondly, ants have been observed to show temporary periods of confusion when asked to repeat a route segment, even if that route segment is very familiar. Taken together, these results indicate that the navigational decisions of ants take into account their recent experiences as well as the currently perceived environment. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Absence of jamming in ant trails: feedback control of self-propulsion and noise.

PubMed

Chaudhuri, Debasish; Nagar, Apoorva

2015-01-01

We present a model of ant traffic considering individual ants as self-propelled particles undergoing single-file motion on a one-dimensional trail. Recent experiments on unidirectional ant traffic in well-formed natural trails showed that the collective velocity of ants remains approximately unchanged, leading to the absence of jamming even at very high densities [John et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 108001 (2009)]. Assuming a feedback control mechanism of self-propulsion force generated by each ant using information about the distance from the ant in front, our model captures all the main features observed in the experiment. The distance headway distribution shows a maximum corresponding to separations within clusters. The position of this maximum remains independent of average number density. We find a non-equilibrium first-order transition, with the formation of an infinite cluster at a threshold density where all the ants in the system suddenly become part of a single cluster.

Dental x-ray image segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Said, Eyad; Fahmy, Gamal F.; Nassar, Diaa; Ammar, Hany

2004-08-01

Law enforcement agencies have been exploiting biometric identifiers for decades as key tools in forensic identification. With the evolution in information technology and the huge volume of cases that need to be investigated by forensic specialists, it has become important to automate forensic identification systems. While, ante mortem (AM) identification, that is identification prior to death, is usually possible through comparison of many biometric identifiers, postmortem (PM) identification, that is identification after death, is impossible using behavioral biometrics (e.g. speech, gait). Moreover, under severe circumstances, such as those encountered in mass disasters (e.g. airplane crashers) or if identification is being attempted more than a couple of weeks postmortem, under such circumstances, most physiological biometrics may not be employed for identification, because of the decay of soft tissues of the body to unidentifiable states. Therefore, a postmortem biometric identifier has to resist the early decay that affects body tissues. Because of their survivability and diversity, the best candidates for postmortem biometric identification are the dental features. In this paper we present an over view about an automated dental identification system for Missing and Unidentified Persons. This dental identification system can be used by both law enforcement and security agencies in both forensic and biometric identification. We will also present techniques for dental segmentation of X-ray images. These techniques address the problem of identifying each individual tooth and how the contours of each tooth are extracted.

Speed versus accuracy in decision-making ants: expediting politics and policy implementation.

PubMed

Franks, Nigel R; Dechaume-Moncharmont, François-Xavier; Hanmore, Emma; Reynolds, Jocelyn K

2009-03-27

Compromises between speed and accuracy are seemingly inevitable in decision-making when accuracy depends on time-consuming information gathering. In collective decision-making, such compromises are especially likely because information is shared to determine corporate policy. This political process will also take time. Speed-accuracy trade-offs occur among house-hunting rock ants, Temnothorax albipennis. A key aspect of their decision-making is quorum sensing in a potential new nest. Finding a sufficient number of nest-mates, i.e. a quorum threshold (QT), in a potential nest site indicates that many ants find it suitable. Quorum sensing collates information. However, the QT is also used as a switch, from recruitment of nest-mates to their new home by slow tandem running, to recruitment by carrying, which is three times faster. Although tandem running is slow, it effectively enables one successful ant to lead and teach another the route between the nests. Tandem running creates positive feedback; more and more ants are shown the way, as tandem followers become, in turn, tandem leaders. The resulting corps of trained ants can then quickly carry their nest-mates; but carried ants do not learn the route. Therefore, the QT seems to set both the amount of information gathered and the speed of the emigration. Low QTs might cause more errors and a slower emigration--the worst possible outcome. This possible paradox of quick decisions leading to slow implementation might be resolved if the ants could deploy another positive-feedback recruitment process when they have used a low QT. Reverse tandem runs occur after carrying has begun and lead ants back from the new nest to the old one. Here we show experimentally that reverse tandem runs can bring lost scouts into an active role in emigrations and can help to maintain high-speed emigrations. Thus, in rock ants, although quick decision-making and rapid implementation of choices are initially in opposition, a third recruitment method can restore rapid implementation after a snap decision. This work reveals a principle of widespread importance: the dynamics of collective decision-making (i.e. the politics) and the dynamics of policy implementation are sometimes intertwined, and only by analysing the mechanisms of both can we understand certain forms of adaptive organization.

Targeted post-mortem computed tomography cardiac angiography: proof of concept.

PubMed

Saunders, Sarah L; Morgan, Bruno; Raj, Vimal; Robinson, Claire E; Rutty, Guy N

2011-07-01

With the increasing use and availability of multi-detector computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in autopsy practice, there has been an international push towards the development of the so-called near virtual autopsy. However, currently, a significant obstacle to the consideration as to whether or not near virtual autopsies could one day replace the conventional invasive autopsy is the failure of post-mortem imaging to yield detailed information concerning the coronary arteries. To date, a cost-effective, practical solution to allow high throughput imaging has not been presented within the forensic literature. We present a proof of concept paper describing a simple, quick, cost-effective, manual, targeted in situ post-mortem cardiac angiography method using a minimally invasive approach, to be used with multi-detector computed tomography for high throughput cadaveric imaging which can be used in permanent or temporary mortuaries.

Looking for new biomarkers of skin wound vitality with a cytokine-based multiplex assay: preliminary study.

PubMed

Peyron, Pierre-Antoine; Baccino, Éric; Nagot, Nicolas; Lehmann, Sylvain; Delaby, Constance

2017-02-01

Determination of skin wound vitality is an important issue in forensic practice. No reliable biomarker currently exists. Quantification of inflammatory cytokines in injured skin with MSD ® technology is an innovative and promising approach. This preliminary study aims to develop a protocol for the preparation and the analysis of skin samples. Samples from ante mortem wounds, post mortem wounds, and intact skin ("control samples") were taken from corpses at the autopsy. After an optimization of the pre-analytical protocol had been performed in terms of skin homogeneisation and proteic extraction, the concentration of TNF-α was measured in each sample with the MSD ® approach. Then five other cytokines of interest (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IFN-γ) were simultaneously quantified with a MSD ® multiplex assay. The optimal pre-analytical conditions consist in a proteic extraction from a 6 mm diameter skin sample, in a PBS buffer with triton 0,05%. Our results show the linearity and the reproductibility of the TNF-α quantification with MSD ® , and an inter- and intra-individual variability of the concentrations of proteins. The MSD ® multiplex assay is likely to detect differential skin concentrations for each cytokine of interest. This preliminary study was used to develop and optimize the pre-analytical and analytical conditions of the MSD ® method using injured and healthy skin samples, for the purpose of looking for and identifying the cytokine, or the set of cytokines, that may be biomarkers of skin wound vitality.

When navigating wood ants use the centre of mass of a shape to extract directional information from a panoramic skyline.

PubMed

Woodgate, Joseph L; Buehlmann, Cornelia; Collett, Thomas S

2016-06-01

Bees and ants can control their direction of travel within a familiar landscape using the information available in the surrounding visual scene. To learn more about the visual cues that contribute to this directional control, we have examined how wood ants obtain direction from a single shape that is presented in an otherwise uniform panorama. Earlier experiments revealed that when an ant's goal is aligned with a point within a prominent shape, the ant is guided by a global property of the shape: it learns the relative areas of the shape that lie to its left and right when facing the goal and sets its path by keeping the proportions at the memorised value. This strategy cannot be applied when the direction of the goal lies outside the shape. To see whether a different global feature of the shape might guide ants under these conditions, we trained ants to follow a direction to a point outside a single shape and then analysed their direction of travel when they were presented with different shapes. The tests indicate that ants learn the retinal position of the centre of mass of the training shape when facing the goal and can then guide themselves by placing the centre of mass of training and test shapes in this learnt position. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Can we infer post mortem interval on the basis of decomposition rate? A case from a Portuguese cemetery.

PubMed

Ferreira, M Teresa; Cunha, Eugénia

2013-03-10

Post mortem interval estimation is crucial in forensic sciences for both positive identification and reconstruction of perimortem events. However, reliable dating of skeletonized remains poses a scientific challenge since human remains decomposition involves a set of complex and highly variable processes. Many of the difficulties in determining post mortem interval and/or the permanence of a body in a specific environment relates with the lack of systematic observations and research in human body decomposition modalities in different environments. In March 2006, in order to solve a problem of misidentification, a team of the South Branch of Portuguese National Institute of Legal Medicine carried out the exhumation of 25 identified individuals buried for almost five years in the same cemetery plot. Even though all individuals shared similar post mortem intervals, they presented different stages of decomposition. In order to analyze the post mortem factors associated with the different stages of decomposition displayed by the 25 exhumed individuals, the stages of decomposition were scored. Information regarding age at death and sex of the individuals were gathered and recorded as well as data in the cause of death and grave and coffin characteristics. Although the observed distinct decay stages may be explained by the burial conditions, namely by the micro taphonomic environments, individual endogenous factors also play an important role on differential decomposition as witnessed by the present case. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dutch guideline for clinical foetal-neonatal and paediatric post-mortem radiology, including a review of literature.

PubMed

Sonnemans, L J P; Vester, M E M; Kolsteren, E E M; Erwich, J J H M; Nikkels, P G J; Kint, P A M; van Rijn, R R; Klein, W M

2018-06-01

Clinical post-mortem radiology is a relatively new field of expertise and not common practice in most hospitals yet. With the declining numbers of autopsies and increasing demand for quality control of clinical care, post-mortem radiology can offer a solution, or at least be complementary. A working group consisting of radiologists, pathologists and other clinical medical specialists reviewed and evaluated the literature on the diagnostic value of post-mortem conventional radiography (CR), ultrasonography, computed tomography (PMCT), magnetic resonance imaging (PMMRI), and minimally invasive autopsy (MIA). Evidence tables were built and subsequently a Dutch national evidence-based guideline for post-mortem radiology was developed. We present this evaluation of the radiological modalities in a clinical post-mortem setting, including MIA, as well as the recently published Dutch guidelines for post-mortem radiology in foetuses, neonates, and children. In general, for post-mortem radiology modalities, PMMRI is the modality of choice in foetuses, neonates, and infants, whereas PMCT is advised in older children. There is a limited role for post-mortem CR and ultrasonography. In most cases, conventional autopsy will remain the diagnostic method of choice. Based on a literature review and clinical expertise, an evidence-based guideline was developed for post-mortem radiology of foetal, neonatal, and paediatric patients. What is Known: • Post-mortem investigations serve as a quality check for the provided health care and are important for reliable epidemiological registration. • Post-mortem radiology, sometimes combined with minimally invasive techniques, is considered as an adjunct or alternative to autopsy. What is New: • We present the Dutch guidelines for post-mortem radiology in foetuses, neonates and children. • Autopsy remains the reference standard, however minimal invasive autopsy with a skeletal survey, post-mortem computed tomography, or post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging can be complementary thereof.

The polarization compass dominates over idiothetic cues in path integration of desert ants.

PubMed

Lebhardt, Fleur; Koch, Julja; Ronacher, Bernhard

2012-02-01

Desert ants, Cataglyphis, use the sky's pattern of polarized light as a compass reference for navigation. However, they do not fully exploit the complexity of this pattern, rather - as proposed previously - they assess their walking direction by means of an approximate solution based on a simplified internal template. Approximate rules are error-prone. We therefore asked whether the ants use additional cues to improve the accuracy of directional decisions, and focused on 'idiothetic' cues, i.e. cues based on information from proprioceptors. We trained ants in a channel system that was covered with a polarization filter, providing only a single e-vector direction as a directional 'celestial' cue. Then we observed their homebound runs on a test field, allowing full view of the sky. In crucial experiments, the ants were exposed to a cue conflict, in which sky compass and idiothetic information disagreed, by training them in a straight channel that provided a change in e-vector direction. The results indicated that the polarization information completely dominates over idiothetic cues. Two path segments with different e-vector orientations are combined linearly to a summed home vector. Our data provide additional evidence that Cataglyphis uses a simplified internal template to derive directional information from the sky's polarization pattern.

9 CFR 381.76 - Post-mortem inspection, when required; extent; traditional, Streamlined Inspection System (SIS...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Post-mortem inspection, when required... INSPECTION REGULATIONS Post Mortem Inspection; Disposition of Carcasses and Parts § 381.76 Post-mortem...) Inspection System and the New Turkey Inspection (NTI) System; rate of inspection. (a) A post-mortem...

9 CFR 381.76 - Post-mortem inspection, when required; extent; traditional, Streamlined Inspection System (SIS...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Post-mortem inspection, when required... INSPECTION REGULATIONS Post Mortem Inspection; Disposition of Carcasses and Parts § 381.76 Post-mortem...) Inspection System and the New Turkey Inspection (NTI) System; rate of inspection. (a) A post-mortem...

9 CFR 381.76 - Post-mortem inspection, when required; extent; traditional, Streamlined Inspection System (SIS...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Post-mortem inspection, when required... INSPECTION REGULATIONS Post Mortem Inspection; Disposition of Carcasses and Parts § 381.76 Post-mortem...) Inspection System and the New Turkey Inspection (NTI) System; rate of inspection. (a) A post-mortem...

9 CFR 381.76 - Post-mortem inspection, when required; extent; traditional, Streamlined Inspection System (SIS...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Post-mortem inspection, when required... INSPECTION REGULATIONS Post Mortem Inspection; Disposition of Carcasses and Parts § 381.76 Post-mortem...) Inspection System and the New Turkey Inspection (NTI) System; rate of inspection. (a) A post-mortem...

Family and community concerns about post-mortem needle biopsies in a Muslim society

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Post-mortem needle biopsies have been used in resource-poor settings to determine cause of death and there is interest in using them in Bangladesh. However, we did not know how families and communities would perceive this procedure or how they would decide whether or not to consent to a post-mortem needle biopsy. The goal of this study was to better understand family and community concerns and decision-making about post-mortem needle biopsies in this low-income, predominantly Muslim country in order to design an informed consent process. Methods We conducted 16 group discussions with family members of persons who died during an outbreak of Nipah virus illness during 2004-2008 and 11 key informant interviews with their community and religious leaders. Qualitative researchers first described the post-mortem needle biopsy procedure and asked participants whether they would have agreed to this procedure during the outbreak. Researchers probed participants about the circumstances under which the procedure would be acceptable, if any, their concerns about the procedure, and how they would decide whether or not to consent to the procedure. Results Overall, most participants agreed that post-mortem needle biopsies would be acceptable in some situations, particularly if they benefitted society. This procedure was deemed more acceptable than full autopsy because it would not require major delays in burial or remove organs, and did not require cutting or stitching of the body. It could be performed before the ritual bathing of the body in either the community or hospital setting. However, before consent would be granted for such a procedure, the research team must gain the trust of the family and community which could be difficult. Although consent may only be provided by the guardians of the body, decisions about consent for the procedure would involve extended family and community and religious leaders. Conclusions The possible acceptability of this procedure during outbreaks represents an important opportunity to better characterize cause of death in Bangladesh which could lead to improved public health interventions to prevent these deaths. Obstacles for research teams will include engaging all major stakeholders in decision-making and quickly building a trusting relationship with the family and community, which will be difficult given the short window of time prior to the ritual bathing of the body. PMID:21668979

Distributed nestmate recognition in ants.

PubMed

Esponda, Fernando; Gordon, Deborah M

2015-05-07

We propose a distributed model of nestmate recognition, analogous to the one used by the vertebrate immune system, in which colony response results from the diverse reactions of many ants. The model describes how individual behaviour produces colony response to non-nestmates. No single ant knows the odour identity of the colony. Instead, colony identity is defined collectively by all the ants in the colony. Each ant responds to the odour of other ants by reference to its own unique decision boundary, which is a result of its experience of encounters with other ants. Each ant thus recognizes a particular set of chemical profiles as being those of non-nestmates. This model predicts, as experimental results have shown, that the outcome of behavioural assays is likely to be variable, that it depends on the number of ants tested, that response to non-nestmates changes over time and that it changes in response to the experience of individual ants. A distributed system allows a colony to identify non-nestmates without requiring that all individuals have the same complete information and helps to facilitate the tracking of changes in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, because only a subset of ants must respond to provide an adequate response.

Navigation in wood ants Formica japonica: context dependent use of landmarks.

PubMed

Fukushi, Tsukasa; Wehner, Rüdiger

2004-09-01

Wood ants Formica japonica can steer their outbound (foraging) and inbound (homing) courses without using celestial compass information, by relying exclusively on landmark cues. This is shown by training ants to run back and forth between the nest and an artificial feeder, and later displacing the trained ants either from the nest (when starting their foraging runs: outbound full-vector ants) or from the feeder (when starting their home runs: inbound full-vector ants) to various nearby release sites. In addition, ants that have already completed their foraging and homing runs are displaced after arrival either at the feeder (outbound zero-vector ants) or at the nest (inbound zero-vector ants), respectively, to the very same release sites. Upon release, the full-vector ants steer their straight courses by referring to panoramic landmark cues, while the zero-vector ants presented with the very same visual scenery immediately search for local landmark cues defining their final goal. Hence, it depends on the context, in this case on the state of the forager's round-trip cycle, what visual cues are picked out from a given set of landmarks and used for navigation.

The effect of individual variation on the structure and function of interaction networks in harvester ants

PubMed Central

Pinter-Wollman, Noa; Wollman, Roy; Guetz, Adam; Holmes, Susan; Gordon, Deborah M.

2011-01-01

Social insects exhibit coordinated behaviour without central control. Local interactions among individuals determine their behaviour and regulate the activity of the colony. Harvester ants are recruited for outside work, using networks of brief antennal contacts, in the nest chamber closest to the nest exit: the entrance chamber. Here, we combine empirical observations, image analysis and computer simulations to investigate the structure and function of the interaction network in the entrance chamber. Ant interactions were distributed heterogeneously in the chamber, with an interaction hot-spot at the entrance leading further into the nest. The distribution of the total interactions per ant followed a right-skewed distribution, indicating the presence of highly connected individuals. Numbers of ant encounters observed positively correlated with the duration of observation. Individuals varied in interaction frequency, even after accounting for the duration of observation. An ant's interaction frequency was explained by its path shape and location within the entrance chamber. Computer simulations demonstrate that variation among individuals in connectivity accelerates information flow to an extent equivalent to an increase in the total number of interactions. Individual variation in connectivity, arising from variation among ants in location and spatial behaviour, creates interaction centres, which may expedite information flow. PMID:21490001

Evaluation of the attention network test using vibrotactile stimulations.

PubMed

Salzer, Yael; Oron-Gilad, Tal; Henik, Avishai

2015-06-01

We report a vibrotactile version of the attention network test (ANT)-the tactile ANT (T-ANT). It has been questioned whether attentional components are modality specific or not. The T-ANT explores alertness, orienting, cognitive control, and their relationships, similar to its visual counterpart, in the tactile modality. The unique features of the T-ANT are in utilizing stimuli on a single plane-the torso-and replacing the original imperative flanker task with a tactile Simon task. Subjects wore a waist belt mounted with two vibrotactile stimulators situated on the back and positioned to the right and left of the spinal column. They responded by pressing keys with their right or left hand in reaction to the type of vibrotactile stimulation (pulsed/continuous signal). On a single trial, an alerting tone was followed by a short tactile (informative/noninformative) peripheral cue and an imperative tactile Simon task target. The T-ANT was compared with a variant of the ANT in which the flanker task was replaced with a visual Simon task. Experimental data showed effects of orienting over control only when the peripheral cues were informative. In contrast to the visual task, interactions between alertness and control or alertness and orienting were not found in the tactile task. A possible rationale for these results is discussed. The T-ANT allows examination of attentional processes among patients with tactile attentional deficits and patients with eyesight deficits who cannot take part in visual tasks. Technological advancement would enable implementation of the T-ANT in brain-imaging studies.

Vision for navigation: What can we learn from ants?

PubMed

Graham, Paul; Philippides, Andrew

2017-09-01

The visual systems of all animals are used to provide information that can guide behaviour. In some cases insects demonstrate particularly impressive visually-guided behaviour and then we might reasonably ask how the low-resolution vision and limited neural resources of insects are tuned to particular behavioural strategies. Such questions are of interest to both biologists and to engineers seeking to emulate insect-level performance with lightweight hardware. One behaviour that insects share with many animals is the use of learnt visual information for navigation. Desert ants, in particular, are expert visual navigators. Across their foraging life, ants can learn long idiosyncratic foraging routes. What's more, these routes are learnt quickly and the visual cues that define them can be implemented for guidance independently of other social or personal information. Here we review the style of visual navigation in solitary foraging ants and consider the physiological mechanisms that underpin it. Our perspective is to consider that robust navigation comes from the optimal interaction between behavioural strategy, visual mechanisms and neural hardware. We consider each of these in turn, highlighting the value of ant-like mechanisms in biomimetic endeavours. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal cue integration in ants.

PubMed

Wystrach, Antoine; Mangan, Michael; Webb, Barbara

2015-10-07

In situations with redundant or competing sensory information, humans have been shown to perform cue integration, weighting different cues according to their certainty in a quantifiably optimal manner. Ants have been shown to merge the directional information available from their path integration (PI) and visual memory, but as yet it is not clear that they do so in a way that reflects the relative certainty of the cues. In this study, we manipulate the variance of the PI home vector by allowing ants (Cataglyphis velox) to run different distances and testing their directional choice when the PI vector direction is put in competition with visual memory. Ants show progressively stronger weighting of their PI direction as PI length increases. The weighting is quantitatively predicted by modelling the expected directional variance of home vectors of different lengths and assuming optimal cue integration. However, a subsequent experiment suggests ants may not actually compute an internal estimate of the PI certainty, but are using the PI home vector length as a proxy. © 2015 The Author(s).

The significance of direct sunlight and polarized skylight in the ant's celestial system of navigation.

PubMed

Wehner, Rüdiger; Müller, Martin

2006-08-15

As textbook knowledge has it, bees and ants use polarized skylight as a backup cue whenever the main compass cue, the sun, is obscured by clouds. Here we show, by employing a unique experimental paradigm, that the celestial compass system of desert ants, Cataglyphis, relies predominantly on polarized skylight. If ants experience only parts of the polarization pattern during training but the full pattern in a subsequent test situation, they systematically deviate from their true homeward courses, with the systematics depending on what parts of the skylight patterns have been presented during training. This "signature" of the polarization compass remains unaltered, even if the ants can simultaneously experience the sun, which, if presented alone, enables the ants to select their true homeward courses. Information provided by direct sunlight and polarized skylight is picked up by different parts of the ant's compound eyes and is channeled into two rather separate systems of navigation.

Composite collective decision-making

PubMed Central

Czaczkes, Tomer J.; Czaczkes, Benjamin; Iglhaut, Carolin; Heinze, Jürgen

2015-01-01

Individual animals are adept at making decisions and have cognitive abilities, such as memory, which allow them to hone their decisions. Social animals can also share information. This allows social animals to make adaptive group-level decisions. Both individual and collective decision-making systems also have drawbacks and limitations, and while both are well studied, the interaction between them is still poorly understood. Here, we study how individual and collective decision-making interact during ant foraging. We first gathered empirical data on memory-based foraging persistence in the ant Lasius niger. We used these data to create an agent-based model where ants may use social information (trail pheromones), private information (memories) or both to make foraging decisions. The combined use of social and private information by individuals results in greater efficiency at the group level than when either information source was used alone. The modelled ants couple consensus decision-making, allowing them to quickly exploit high-quality food sources, and combined decision-making, allowing different individuals to specialize in exploiting different resource patches. Such a composite collective decision-making system reaps the benefits of both its constituent parts. Exploiting such insights into composite collective decision-making may lead to improved decision-making algorithms. PMID:26019155

Ant-like task allocation and recruitment in cooperative robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krieger, Michael J. B.; Billeter, Jean-Bernard; Keller, Laurent

2000-08-01

One of the greatest challenges in robotics is to create machines that are able to interact with unpredictable environments in real time. A possible solution may be to use swarms of robots behaving in a self-organized manner, similar to workers in an ant colony. Efficient mechanisms of division of labour, in particular series-parallel operation and transfer of information among group members, are key components of the tremendous ecological success of ants. Here we show that the general principles regulating division of labour in ant colonies indeed allow the design of flexible, robust and effective robotic systems. Groups of robots using ant-inspired algorithms of decentralized control techniques foraged more efficiently and maintained higher levels of group energy than single robots. But the benefits of group living decreased in larger groups, most probably because of interference during foraging. Intriguingly, a similar relationship between group size and efficiency has been documented in social insects. Moreover, when food items were clustered, groups where robots could recruit other robots in an ant-like manner were more efficient than groups without information transfer, suggesting that group dynamics of swarms of robots may follow rules similar to those governing social insects.

The role of post-mortem investigations in determining the cause of sudden unexpected death in infancy.

PubMed

Weber, M A; Ashworth, M T; Risdon, R A; Hartley, J C; Malone, M; Sebire, N J

2008-12-01

Several autopsy protocols have been suggested for investigating sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI). The aim of this study is to provide data on the utility of such post-mortem investigations from a large paediatric autopsy series to inform future policy. Retrospective analysis of >1500 consecutive post-mortem examinations carried out by specialist paediatric pathologists at a single centre during a 10-year period according to a common autopsy protocol that included the use of detailed ancillary investigations. SUDI was defined as the sudden unexpected death of an infant aged from 7 to 365 days. All data capture and cause of death classification were carried out according to defined criteria. Of 1516 paediatric post-mortem examinations, 546 presented as SUDI. In 202 infants (37%), death was explained by the autopsy findings. The other 344 cases (63%) remained unexplained. Of the explained deaths, over half (58%) were infective, most commonly due to pneumonia (22%). The component of the post-mortem examination that primarily determined the final cause of death was histological examination in 92 infants (46%), macroscopic examination in 61 (30%), microbiological investigations in 38 (19%) and clinical history in 10 (5%). This constitutes the largest single-institution autopsy study of SUDI. Ten years on from the Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy (CESDI) SUDI studies, the ascertainment of a cause of death at autopsy has improved. However, with almost two thirds of SUDI remaining unexplained, alternative and/or additional diagnostic techniques are required to improve detection rates of identifiable causes of death at autopsy.

Screening and Confirmatory Analyses of Flunixin in Tissues and Bodily Fluids after Intravenous or Intramuscular Administration to Cull Dairy Cows with or without Lipopolysaccharide Challenge.

PubMed

Shelver, Weilin L; Smith, David J; Tell, Lisa A; Baynes, Ronald E; Schroeder, J W; Riviere, Jim E

2016-01-13

Twenty cull dairy cows (645 ± 83 kg) were treated with 2.2 mg/kg bw flunixin by intravenous (IV) or intramuscular (IM) administration with, or without, exposure to lipopolysaccharide in a two factor balanced design. The usefulness of screening assays to identify violative flunixin levels in a variety of easily accessible ante-mortem fluids in cattle was explored. Two animals with violative flunixin liver residue and/or violative 5-hydroxy flunixin milk residues were correctly identified by a flunixin liver ELISA screen. Oral fluid did not produce anticipated flunixin concentration profiles using ELISA determination. One cow that had liver and milk violative residues, and one cow that had a milk violation at the prescribed withdrawal period were correctly identified by flunixin milk lateral flow analyses. The ratio of urinary flunixin and 5-hydroxy flunixin may be useful for predicting disruption of metabolism caused by disease or other factors potentially leading to violative liver flunixin residues.

The diagnosis of Echinococcus granulosus in dogs.

PubMed

Varcasia, A; Garippa, G; Scala, A

2004-12-01

The problem of diagnosing Echinococcus granulosus in dogs has still only been partially resolved, even after the advent of biotechnology. The eggs of taeniid Cestoda are extremely similar, and thus identification by microscopic examination of the faeces is risky and non-specific. For this reason, Echinococcus granulosus was traditionally diagnosed in dogs ante mortem after an arecoline hydrobromate purge. The faeces were examined macro and microscopically to establish if the adult tapeworm or its proglottids were present. Although this method is 100% specific, it is bio-hazardous and time-consuming, requires trained personnel, and its sensitivity varies. In the 1990s copro-antigens were discovered and characterised. These are released by the adult worm in the faeces. This made it possible to use enzyme-linked immune-adsorbent assay (ELISA) for in vitam diagnosis of Echinococcus granulosus. In recent years several PCR protocols have been published on the identification of Echinococcus granulosus DNA from eggs or from adult parasites and new ways of diagnosing this cestode have been developed.

Depletion of penicillin G residues in heavy sows after intramuscular injection. Part II: application of kidney inhibition swab tests.

PubMed

Shelver, Weilin L; Lupton, Sara J; Newman, David J; Larsen, Steven; Smith, David J

2014-07-30

Sows (n = 126; 228 ± 30.1 kg) were administered daily IM doses of penicillin G procaine (33 000 IU/kg bw; 5× the label dose) for 3 consecutive days using three different administration patterns. Within treatment, six sows each were slaughtered on withdrawal day 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 32, and 39. Tissues (injection site, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle) or body fluids (serum and urine) were screened for penicillin G using the KIS test, recently adopted by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. The IM administration patterns had no discernible effect on penicillin G depletion. Residues were depleted more rapidly from liver and skeletal muscle and more slowly from kidney and urine. Kidney was the most sensitive and suitable tissue for detecting penicillin G residues on-site, with two positive results after a 39-day withdrawal period. Urine was the most suitable ante-mortem surrogate to predict the results of kidney tests.

THE ROLE OF FORENSIC DENTIST FOLLOWING MASS DISASTER

PubMed Central

Kolude, B.; Adeyemi, B.F.; Taiwo, J.O.; Sigbeku, O.F.; Eze, U.O.

2010-01-01

This review article focuses on mass disaster situations that may arise from natural or manmade circumstances and the significant role of forensic dental personnel in human identification following such occurrences. The various forensic dental modalities of identification that include matching techniques, postmortem profiling, genetic fingerprinting, dental fossil assessment and dental biometrics with digital subtraction were considered. The varying extent of use of forensic dental techniques and the resulting positive impact on human identification were considered. The importance of preparation by way of special training for forensic dental personnel, mock disaster rehearsal, and use of modern day technology was stressed. The need for international standardization of identification through the use of Interpol Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) for ms was further emphasized. Recommendations for improved human identification in Nigerian situation include reform of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), incorporation of dental care in primary health care to facilitate proper ante mortem database of the populace and commencement of identification at site of disaster. PMID:25161478

Conditional Use of Social and Private Information Guides House-Hunting Ants

PubMed Central

Cronin, Adam L.

2013-01-01

Social animals can use both social and private information to guide decision making. While social information can be relatively economical to acquire, it can lead to maladaptive information cascades if attention to environmental cues is supplanted by unconditional copying. Ants frequently employ pheromone trails, a form of social information, to guide collective processes, and this can include consensus decisions made when choosing a place to live. In this study, I examine how house-hunting ants balance social and private information when these information sources conflict to different degrees. Social information, in the form of pre-established pheromone trails, strongly influenced the decision process in choices between equivalent nests, and lead to a reduced relocation time. When trails lead to non-preferred types of nest, however, social information had less influence when this preference was weak and no influence when the preference was strong. These results suggest that social information is vetted against private information during the house-hunting process in this species. Private information is favoured in cases of conflict and this may help insure colonies against costly wrong decisions. PMID:23741364

Conditional use of social and private information guides house-hunting ants.

PubMed

Cronin, Adam L

2013-01-01

Social animals can use both social and private information to guide decision making. While social information can be relatively economical to acquire, it can lead to maladaptive information cascades if attention to environmental cues is supplanted by unconditional copying. Ants frequently employ pheromone trails, a form of social information, to guide collective processes, and this can include consensus decisions made when choosing a place to live. In this study, I examine how house-hunting ants balance social and private information when these information sources conflict to different degrees. Social information, in the form of pre-established pheromone trails, strongly influenced the decision process in choices between equivalent nests, and lead to a reduced relocation time. When trails lead to non-preferred types of nest, however, social information had less influence when this preference was weak and no influence when the preference was strong. These results suggest that social information is vetted against private information during the house-hunting process in this species. Private information is favoured in cases of conflict and this may help insure colonies against costly wrong decisions.

Time-Ordered Networks Reveal Limitations to Information Flow in Ant Colonies

PubMed Central

Blonder, Benjamin; Dornhaus, Anna

2011-01-01

Background An important function of many complex networks is to inhibit or promote the transmission of disease, resources, or information between individuals. However, little is known about how the temporal dynamics of individual-level interactions affect these networks and constrain their function. Ant colonies are a model comparative system for understanding general principles linking individual-level interactions to network-level functions because interactions among individuals enable integration of multiple sources of information to collectively make decisions, and allocate tasks and resources. Methodology/Findings Here we show how the temporal and spatial dynamics of such individual interactions provide upper bounds to rates of colony-level information flow in the ant Temnothorax rugatulus. We develop a general framework for analyzing dynamic networks and a mathematical model that predicts how information flow scales with individual mobility and group size. Conclusions/Significance Using thousands of time-stamped interactions between uniquely marked ants in four colonies of a range of sizes, we demonstrate that observed maximum rates of information flow are always slower than predicted, and are constrained by regulation of individual mobility and contact rate. By accounting for the ordering and timing of interactions, we can resolve important difficulties with network sampling frequency and duration, enabling a broader understanding of interaction network functioning across systems and scales. PMID:21625450

Teaching post-mortem external examination in undergraduate medical education--the formal and the informal curriculum.

PubMed

Anders, Sven; Fischer-Bruegge, Dorothee; Fabian, Merle; Raupach, Tobias; Petersen-Ewert, Corinna; Harendza, Sigrid

2011-07-15

In undergraduate medical education, the training of post-mortem external examination on dead bodies might evoke strong emotional reactions in medical students that could counteract the intended learning goals. We evaluated student perception of a forensic medicine course, their perceived learning outcome (via self-assessment) and possible tutor-dependent influences on the overall evaluation of the course by a questionnaire-based survey among 150 medical students in Hamburg, Germany. The majority of students identified post-mortem external examination as an important learning objective in undergraduate medical education and did not feel that the dignity of the deceased was offended by the course procedures. After the course, more than 70% of the students felt able to perform an external examination and to fill in a death certificate. Respectful behavior of course tutors towards the deceased entailed better overall course ratings by students (p<0.001). Our findings highlight the importance of factors such as clearly defined learning goals and course standardization (formal curriculum) as well as tutor behavior (informal curriculum) in undergraduate education in forensic medicine. Furthermore, we suggest embedding teaching in forensic medicine in longitudinal curricula on death and dying and on the health consequences of interpersonal violence. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Ants Use Vision When Homing Backward.

PubMed

Schwarz, Sebastian; Mangan, Michael; Zeil, Jochen; Webb, Barbara; Wystrach, Antoine

2017-02-06

Ants can navigate over long distances between their nest and food sites using visual cues [1, 2]. Recent studies show that this capacity is undiminished when walking backward while dragging a heavy food item [3-5]. This challenges the idea that ants use egocentric visual memories of the scene for guidance [1, 2, 6]. Can ants use their visual memories of the terrestrial cues when going backward? Our results suggest that ants do not adjust their direction of travel based on the perceived scene while going backward. Instead, they maintain a straight direction using their celestial compass. This direction can be dictated by their path integrator [5] but can also be set using terrestrial visual cues after a forward peek. If the food item is too heavy to enable body rotations, ants moving backward drop their food on occasion, rotate and walk a few steps forward, return to the food, and drag it backward in a now-corrected direction defined by terrestrial cues. Furthermore, we show that ants can maintain their direction of travel independently of their body orientation. It thus appears that egocentric retinal alignment is required for visual scene recognition, but ants can translate this acquired directional information into a holonomic frame of reference, which enables them to decouple their travel direction from their body orientation and hence navigate backward. This reveals substantial flexibility and communication between different types of navigational information: from terrestrial to celestial cues and from egocentric to holonomic directional memories. VIDEO ABSTRACT. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Pathogenicity of frog virus 3-like virus in red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) at two environmental temperatures.

PubMed

Allender, M C; Mitchell, M A; Torres, T; Sekowska, J; Driskell, E A

2013-01-01

Ranaviral disease has affected several species of reptiles, but disease progression and mortality in relation to environmental temperature has yet to be determined. In this study, two separate trials challenged adult female red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) with a ranavirus (frog virus 3-like virus; FV3) isolate at environmental temperatures of 22 °C (n = 4) and 28 °C (n = 4). The mortality rates in the turtles in the 22 °C and 28 °C trials were 100% and 50%, respectively. Median survival time for turtles exposed to FV3 at 22 °C was 24 days, while it was 30 days in the group kept at 28 °C. Consistent microscopical lesions were observed only in the group inoculated at 22 °C and included fibrinoid necrosis of vessels in the spleen, vascular and sinusoidal thrombi in the liver, necrotizing myositis and a mild heterophilic interstitial pneumonia. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction, targeting a conserved portion of the major capsid protein, was able to detect virus copies in whole blood, oral and cloacal swabs, tongue, skeletal muscle, lung, heart, liver, spleen, ovary and kidney. Viral copy number in ante-mortem clinical samples was non-significantly highest in whole blood, while kidney had the highest viral copy number in post-mortem samples. All samples had higher virus copy number in turtles exposed to FV3 at 22 °C compared with 28 °C. This study determined that environmental temperature affects the survival and disease progression in ranavirus-infected red-eared slider turtles, which will aid in managing animals in a clinical or free-ranging setting. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of 32 cathinone derivatives and other designer drugs in serum by comprehensive LC-QQQ-MS/MS analysis.

PubMed

Swortwood, Madeleine J; Boland, Diane M; DeCaprio, Anthony P

2013-02-01

Recently, clandestine drug lab operators have attempted to bypass controlled substances laws and regulations with "designer" compounds chemically and pharmacologically similar to controlled substances. For example, "bath salts" have erupted onto the scene as "legal highs" containing cathinone analogs that have produced severe side effects in users worldwide. These products have sparked concern among law enforcement agencies, and emergency bans have been placed on the sale of such items. Despite the increasing number of designer drugs available, there are few comprehensive screening techniques for their detection and quantification in biological specimens. The liquid chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LC-QQQ-MS/MS) method presented here encompasses over thirty important compounds within the phenethylamine, tryptamine, and piperazine designer drug classes. Analytes were determined by LC-QQQ-MS/MS in the multiple-reaction monitoring mode after mixed-mode solid-phase extraction. The bioanalytical method was fully validated according to recommended international guidelines. The assay was selective for all analytes with acceptable accuracy and precision. Limits of quantification were in the range of 1-10 ng/mL for each compound with limits of detection near 10 pg/mL. In order to evaluate its applicability in a forensic toxicological setting, the validated method was used to analyze post-mortem specimens from two cases that were suspected of containing designer drugs. The method was able to identify and quantify seven of these compounds at concentrations as low as 11 ng/mL. The method should have wide applicability for rapid screening of important new drugs of abuse at high sensitivity in both post- and ante-mortem forensic analysis.

Importation of beef from countries infected with foot and mouth disease: a review of risk mitigation measures.

PubMed

Sutmoller, P

2001-12-01

Risk mitigation measures to reduce the risks associated with importing beef from countries affected by foot and mouth disease (FMD) consist of controls at the farm of origin, inspection of slaughterhouses and maturation and deboning of carcasses. This assessment evaluates the effect of these measures on the mitigation of the risks presented by meat from cattle with FMD, for each of the different stages of the disease. The four disease stages considered are the incubation period, the period of clinical signs, convalescence and the carrier stage. Efficient animal health systems, disease surveillance, and ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection of all cattle effectively reduce the risk of FMD transmission from cattle slaughtered during the period of clinical signs or convalescence. These measures fail if the cattle are slaughtered during the incubation period, because of the absence of clinical signs. Cattle in this stage of the infection are likely to be viraemic, with FMD virus present in the skeletal muscles. Maturation of the carcasses of viraemic cattle reduces the risk of virus presence in the beef. In addition, deboning and removal of the principal lymph nodes and large blood vessels eliminate a source of FMD contamination of the beef. However, the slaughter of viraemic cattle creates an additional hazard of gross environmental viral contamination of the slaughterhouse facilities. Therefore, the maturation process may create a false sense of security, and the emphasis should instead be placed on disease surveillance within the infected zone and on the farms of origin, to prevent the slaughter of herds that are incubating FMD. Cattle slaughtered during the carrier stage do not pose a risk for the international beef trade.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heintz, P; Heintz, B; Sandoval, D

Purpose: Computerized radiation therapy treatment planning is performed on almost all patients today. However it is seldom used for laboratory irradiations. The first objective is to assess whether modern radiation therapy treatment planning (RTP) systems accurately predict the subject dose by comparing in vivo and decedent dose measurements to calculated doses. The other objective is determine the importance of using a RTP system for laboratory irradiations. Methods: 5 MOSFET radiation dosimeters were placed enterically in each subject (2 sedated Rhesus Macaques) to measure the absorbed dose at 5 levels (carina, lung, heart, liver and rectum) during whole body irradiation. Themore » subjects were treated with large opposed lateral fields and extended distances to cover the entire subject using a Varian 600C linac. CT simulation was performed ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM). To compare AM and PM doses, calculation points were placed at the location of each dosimeter in the treatment plan. The measured results were compared to the results using Varian Eclipse and Prowess Panther RTP systems. Results: The Varian and Prowess treatment planning system agreed to within in +1.5% for both subjects. However there were significant differences between the measured and calculated doses. For both animals the calculated central axis dose was higher than prescribed by 3–5%. This was caused in part by inaccurate measurement of animal thickness at the time of irradiation. For one subject the doses ranged from 4% to 7% high and the other subject the doses ranged 7% to 14% high when compared to the RTP doses. Conclusions: Our results suggest that using proper CT RTP system can more accurately deliver the prescribed dose to laboratory subjects. It also shows that there is significant dose variation in such subjects when inhomogeneities are not considered in the planning process.« less

Rabies viral encephalitis: clinical determinants in diagnosis with special reference to paralytic form.

PubMed

Gadre, Girish; Satishchandra, P; Mahadevan, Anita; Suja, M S; Madhusudana, S N; Sundaram, C; Shankar, S K

2010-07-01

Rabies is an important public health problem in developing countries such as India where an alarmingly high incidence of the infection is reported every year despite the availability of highly effective, potent and safe vaccines. In clinical practice, diagnosis of the furious (encephalitic) form of rabies poses little difficulty. In contrast, the paralytic form poses a diagnostic dilemma, to distinguish it from Guillain-Barré syndrome. The problem is further compounded in the absence of a history of dog bite, clinical features resembling a psychiatric syndrome. The present study analysed the spectrum of neurological manifestations in 47 cases of rabies encephalitis (34 paralytic, six encephalitic, and seven psychiatric manifestations) from two hospitals in south India, confirmed at post-mortem by demonstration of a viral antigen in the brain. A history of dog bite was elicited in 33 patients and fox bite in one. Twenty-two patients received postexposure prophylaxis. The incubation period ranged from 7 days to 4 years. Clinical features were analysed, looking for any clinical pointers that provide clues to a diagnosis of paralytic rabies. Fever, distal paresthaesias, fasciculation, alteration in sensorium, rapid progression of symptoms and pleocytosis in cerebrospinal fluid should alert the neurologist to consider rabies encephalomyelitis. Detection of the viral antigen in the corneal smear and a skin biopsy from the nape of the neck had limited usefulness in the ante-mortem diagnosis. Although a few clinical signs may help indicate rabies encephalomyelitis antemortem, confirmation requires neuropathological/neurovirological assistance. The preponderance of atypical/paralytic cases in this series suggests that neurologists and psychiatrists need to have a high index of clinical suspicion, particularly in the absence of a history of dog bite.

Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure and toxicosis in four species of birds of prey in Massachusetts, USA, 2012-2016, in relation to use of rodenticides by pest management professionals.

PubMed

Murray, Maureen

2017-10-01

Restrictions on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) in the United States, which were partially implemented in 2011, prohibit the sale of SGAR products through general consumer outlets to minimize use by non-professional or non-agricultural applicators. This study analyzed liver tissue from four species of birds of prey admitted to a wildlife clinic in Massachusetts, USA, from 2012-2016 for residues of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Ninety-four birds were analyzed; 16 were symptomatic for AR toxicosis, and 78 asymptomatic. Ninety-six percent of all birds tested were positive for SGARs: 100% of those diagnosed with AR toxicosis ante-mortem and/or post-mortem and 95% of subclinically exposed birds. Brodifacoum was found in 95% of all birds. Sixty-six percent of all birds contained residues of two or more SGARs. A significant increase in exposures to multiple SGARs occurred in later years in the study. Pesticide use reports (PURs) filed with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources were reviewed to determine the frequency of use of different ARs by pest management professionals (PMPs) across five years. This study finds that the three SGARs favored by PMPs-bromadiolone, difethialone, brodifacoum-were present in combination in the majority of birds, with increases in multiple exposures driven by increased detections of bromadiolone and difethialone. Continued monitoring of AR residues in nontarget species following full implementation of sales and packaging restrictions in the US is needed in order to elucidate the role of PMP use of SGARs in wildlife exposures and to evaluate the effectiveness of current mitigation measures.

Ants adjust their pheromone deposition to a changing environment and their probability of making errors

PubMed Central

Czaczkes, Tomer J.; Heinze, Jürgen

2015-01-01

Animals must contend with an ever-changing environment. Social animals, especially eusocial insects such as ants and bees, rely heavily on communication for their success. However, in a changing environment, communicated information can become rapidly outdated. This is a particular problem for pheromone trail using ants, as once deposited pheromones cannot be removed. Here, we study the response of ant foragers to an environmental change. Ants were trained to one feeder location, and the feeder was then moved to a different location. We found that ants responded to an environmental change by strongly upregulating pheromone deposition immediately after experiencing the change. This may help maintain the colony's foraging flexibility, and allow multiple food locations to be exploited simultaneously. Our treatment also caused uncertainty in the foragers, by making their memories less reliable. Ants which had made an error but eventually found the food source upregulated pheromone deposition when returning to the nest. Intriguingly, ants on their way towards the food source downregulated pheromone deposition if they were going to make an error. This may suggest that individual ants can measure the reliability of their own memories and respond appropriately. PMID:26063845

An ant colony based algorithm for overlapping community detection in complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xu; Liu, Yanheng; Zhang, Jindong; Liu, Tuming; Zhang, Di

2015-06-01

Community detection is of great importance to understand the structures and functions of networks. Overlap is a significant feature of networks and overlapping community detection has attracted an increasing attention. Many algorithms have been presented to detect overlapping communities. In this paper, we present an ant colony based overlapping community detection algorithm which mainly includes ants' location initialization, ants' movement and post processing phases. An ants' location initialization strategy is designed to identify initial location of ants and initialize label list stored in each node. During the ants' movement phase, the entire ants move according to the transition probability matrix, and a new heuristic information computation approach is redefined to measure similarity between two nodes. Every node keeps a label list through the cooperation made by ants until a termination criterion is reached. A post processing phase is executed on the label list to get final overlapping community structure naturally. We illustrate the capability of our algorithm by making experiments on both synthetic networks and real world networks. The results demonstrate that our algorithm will have better performance in finding overlapping communities and overlapping nodes in synthetic datasets and real world datasets comparing with state-of-the-art algorithms.

The Role of Anterior Nuclei of the Thalamus: A Subcortical Gate in Memory Processing: An Intracerebral Recording Study.

PubMed

Štillová, Klára; Jurák, Pavel; Chládek, Jan; Chrastina, Jan; Halámek, Josef; Bočková, Martina; Goldemundová, Sabina; Říha, Ivo; Rektor, Ivan

2015-01-01

To study the involvement of the anterior nuclei of the thalamus (ANT) as compared to the involvement of the hippocampus in the processes of encoding and recognition during visual and verbal memory tasks. We studied intracerebral recordings in patients with pharmacoresistent epilepsy who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ANT with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the ANT and compared the results with epilepsy surgery candidates with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the hippocampus. We recorded the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the visual and verbal memory encoding and recognition tasks. P300-like potentials were recorded in the hippocampus by visual and verbal memory encoding and recognition tasks and in the ANT by the visual encoding and visual and verbal recognition tasks. No significant ERPs were recorded during the verbal encoding task in the ANT. In the visual and verbal recognition tasks, the P300-like potentials in the ANT preceded the P300-like potentials in the hippocampus. The ANT is a structure in the memory pathway that processes memory information before the hippocampus. We suggest that the ANT has a specific role in memory processes, especially memory recognition, and that memory disturbance should be considered in patients with ANT-DBS and in patients with ANT lesions. ANT is well positioned to serve as a subcortical gate for memory processing in cortical structures.

Composite collective decision-making.

PubMed

Czaczkes, Tomer J; Czaczkes, Benjamin; Iglhaut, Carolin; Heinze, Jürgen

2015-06-22

Individual animals are adept at making decisions and have cognitive abilities, such as memory, which allow them to hone their decisions. Social animals can also share information. This allows social animals to make adaptive group-level decisions. Both individual and collective decision-making systems also have drawbacks and limitations, and while both are well studied, the interaction between them is still poorly understood. Here, we study how individual and collective decision-making interact during ant foraging. We first gathered empirical data on memory-based foraging persistence in the ant Lasius niger. We used these data to create an agent-based model where ants may use social information (trail pheromones), private information (memories) or both to make foraging decisions. The combined use of social and private information by individuals results in greater efficiency at the group level than when either information source was used alone. The modelled ants couple consensus decision-making, allowing them to quickly exploit high-quality food sources, and combined decision-making, allowing different individuals to specialize in exploiting different resource patches. Such a composite collective decision-making system reaps the benefits of both its constituent parts. Exploiting such insights into composite collective decision-making may lead to improved decision-making algorithms. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Polarised skylight and the landmark panorama provide night-active bull ants with compass information during route following.

PubMed

Reid, Samuel F; Narendra, Ajay; Hemmi, Jan M; Zeil, Jochen

2011-02-01

Navigating animals are known to use a number of celestial and terrestrial compass cues that allow them to determine and control their direction of travel. Which of the cues dominate appears to depend on their salience. Here we show that night-active bull ants attend to both the pattern of polarised skylight and the landmark panorama in their familiar habitat. When the two directional cues are in conflict, ants choose a compromise direction. However, landmark guidance appears to be the primary mechanism of navigation used by forager ants, with those cues in the direction of heading having the greatest influence on navigation. Different colonies respond to the removal of these cues to different degrees, depending on the directional information provided by the local landmark panorama. Interestingly, other parts of the surrounding panorama also influence foraging speed and accuracy, suggesting that they too play a role in navigation.

Pig producer perspectives on the use of meat inspection as an animal health and welfare diagnostic tool in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

PubMed

Devitt, Catherine; Boyle, Laura; Teixeira, D L; O'Connell, N E; Hawe, M; Hanlon, Alison

2015-01-01

Currently, there is growing interest in developing ante and post mortem meat inspection (MI) to incorporate measures of pig health and welfare for use as a diagnostic tool on pig farms. However, the success of the development of the MI process requires stakeholder engagement with the process. Knowledge gaps and issues of trust can undermine the effective exchange and utilisation of information across the supply chain. A social science research methodology was employed to establish stakeholder perspectives towards the development of MI to include measures of pig health and welfare. In this paper the findings of semi-structured telephone interviews with 18 pig producers from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are presented. Producers recognised the benefit of the utilisation of MI data as a health and welfare diagnostic tool. This acknowledgment, however, was undermined for some by dissatisfaction with the current system of MI information feedback, by trust and fairness concerns, and by concerns regarding the extent to which data would be used in the producers' interests. Tolerance of certain animal welfare issues may also have a negative impact on how producers viewed the potential of MI data. The private veterinary practitioner was viewed as playing a vital role in assisting them with the interpretation of MI data for herd health planning. The development of positive relationships based on trust, commitment and satisfaction across the supply chain may help build a positive environment for the effective utilisation of MI data in improving pig health and welfare. The utilisation of MI as a diagnostic tool would benefit from the development of a communication strategy aimed at building positive relationships between stakeholders in the pig industry.

Egg-laying butterflies distinguish predaceous ants by sight.

PubMed

Sendoya, Sebastián F; Freitas, André V L; Oliveira, Paulo S

2009-07-01

Information about predation risks is critical for herbivorous insects, and natural selection favors their ability to detect predators before oviposition and to select enemy-free foliage when offspring mortality risk is high. Food plants are selected by ovipositing butterflies, and offspring survival frequently varies among plants because of variation in the presence of predators. Eunica bechina butterflies oviposit on Caryocar brasiliense, an ant-defended plant. Experiments with dried Camponotus and Cephalotes ants pinned to leaves revealed that butterflies use ant size and form as visual cues to avoid ovipositing on plant parts occupied by ants more likely to kill larval offspring. Presence of sap-sucking bugs did not affect butterfly oviposition. This is the first demonstration that visual recognition of predators can mediate egg-laying decisions by an insect herbivore and that an insect will discriminate among different species of potential predators. This unusual behavioral capability permits specialization on a risky, ant-defended food plant.

Preserved brains from the Spanish Civil War mass grave (1936) at La Pedraja1, Burgos, Spain.

PubMed

Serrulla, Fernando; Herrasti, Lourdes; Navarro, Carmen; Cascallana, Jose Luis; Bermejo, Ana Maria; Marquez-Grant, Nicholas; Etxeberria, Francisco

2016-12-01

During the excavation of the Spanish Civil War mass grave at La Pedraja (Burgos, Spain), 104 individuals were found interred within it, 45 of which displayed brains that were preserved but dehydrated and reduced in size. This exceptional finding has resulted in the formation of a multidisciplinary team, with the aim of obtaining as much information as possible and to primarily understand the taphonomic phenomena that has led to the preservation of these brains. The following types of analyses were undertaken on three of these brains: macroscopy, histology, radiology, chemical-toxicology, genetics, chemical analysis of the soil and 3D modelling for stereolithography. The historical context was considered, plus all archaeological and other forensic data provided by the investigation of the mass grave. The results of the analyses on these morphologically identifiable human brains confirmed the presence of nerve structures, fatty acids, and in one case ante-mortem evidence for an intracranial haemorrhage. The fatty acid profile corresponds to the process of saponification. Therefore, the interpretation is that the preservation of these brains at the mass grave of La Pedraja was due to the saponification process, which was influenced by the manner and cause of death, the chemical composition of the brain, the physicochemical properties of the soil and the meteorological conditions at the time. Copyright © 2016 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Missing people, migrants, identification and human rights.

PubMed

Nuzzolese, E

2012-11-30

The increasing volume and complexities of migratory flow has led to a range of problems such as human rights issues, public health, disease and border control, and also the regulatory processes. As result of war or internal conflicts missing person cases and management have to be regarded as a worldwide issue. On the other hand, even in peace, the issue of a missing person is still relevant. In 2007 the Italian Ministry of Interior nominated an extraordinary commissar in order to analyse and assess the total number of unidentified recovered bodies and verify the extent of the phenomena of missing persons, reported as 24,912 people in Italy (updated 31 December 2011). Of these 15,632 persons are of foreigner nationalities and are still missing. The census of the unidentified bodies revealed a total of 832 cases recovered in Italy since the year 1974. These bodies/human remains received a regular autopsy and were buried as 'corpse without name". In Italy judicial autopsy is performed to establish cause of death and identity, but odontology and dental radiology is rarely employed in identification cases. Nevertheless, odontologists can substantiate the identification through the 'biological profile' providing further information that can narrow the search to a smaller number of missing individuals even when no ante mortem dental data are available. The forensic dental community should put greater emphasis on the role of the forensic odontology as a tool for humanitarian action of unidentified individuals and best practise in human identification.

Small vessel disease, neurovascular regulation and cognitive impairment: post-mortem studies reveal a complex relationship, still poorly understood.

PubMed

Love, Seth; Miners, J Scott

2017-07-15

The contribution of vascular disease to cognitive impairment is under-recognized and the pathogenesis is poorly understood. This information gap has multiple causes, including a lack of post-mortem validation of clinical diagnoses of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) or vascular dementia (VaD), the exclusion of cases with concomitant neurodegenerative disease when diagnosing VCI/VaD, and a lack of standardization of neuropathological assessment protocols for vascular disease. Other contributors include a focus on end-stage destructive lesions to the exclusion of more subtle types of diffuse brain injury, on structural abnormalities of arteries and arterioles to the exclusion of non-structural abnormalities and capillary damage, and the use of post-mortem sampling strategies that are biased towards the identification of neurodegenerative pathologies. Recent studies have demonstrated the value of detailed neuropathology in characterizing vascular contributions to cognitive impairment (e.g. in diabetes), and highlight the importance of diffuse white matter changes, capillary damage and vasoregulatory abnormalities in VCI/VaD. The use of standardized, evidence-based post-mortem assessment protocols and the inclusion of biochemical as well as morphological methods in neuropathological studies should improve the accuracy of determination of the contribution of vascular disease to cognitive impairment and clarify the relative contribution of different pathogenic processes to the tissue damage. © 2017 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Heterospecific eavesdropping in ant-following birds of the Neotropics is a learned behaviour.

PubMed

Pollock, Henry S; Martínez, Ari E; Kelley, J Patrick; Touchton, Janeene M; Tarwater, Corey E

2017-10-25

Animals eavesdrop on other species to obtain information about their environments. Heterospecific eavesdropping can yield tangible fitness benefits by providing valuable information about food resources and predator presence. The ability to eavesdrop may therefore be under strong selection, although extensive research on alarm-calling in avian mixed-species flocks has found only limited evidence that close association with another species could select for innate signal recognition. Nevertheless, very little is known about the evolution of eavesdropping behaviour and the mechanism of heterospecific signal recognition, particularly in other ecological contexts, such as foraging. To understand whether heterospecific eavesdropping was an innate or learned behaviour in a foraging context, we studied heterospecific signal recognition in ant-following birds of the Neotropics, which eavesdrop on vocalizations of obligate ant-following species to locate and recruit to swarms of the army ant Eciton burchellii , a profitable food resource. We used a playback experiment to compare recruitment of ant-following birds to vocalizations of two obligate species at a mainland site (where both species are present) and a nearby island site (where one species remains whereas the other went extinct approx. 40 years ago). We found that ant-following birds recruited strongly to playbacks of the obligate species present at both island and mainland sites, but the island birds did not recruit to playbacks of the absent obligate species. Our results strongly suggest that (i) ant-following birds learn to recognize heterospecific vocalizations from ecological experience and (ii) island birds no longer recognize the locally extinct obligate species after eight generations of absence from the island. Although learning appears to be the mechanism of heterospecific signal recognition in ant-following birds, more experimental tests are needed to fully understand the evolution of eavesdropping behaviour. © 2017 The Author(s).

The Role of Anterior Nuclei of the Thalamus: A Subcortical Gate in Memory Processing: An Intracerebral Recording Study

PubMed Central

Štillová, Klára; Jurák, Pavel; Chládek, Jan; Chrastina, Jan; Halámek, Josef; Bočková, Martina; Goldemundová, Sabina; Říha, Ivo; Rektor, Ivan

2015-01-01

Objective To study the involvement of the anterior nuclei of the thalamus (ANT) as compared to the involvement of the hippocampus in the processes of encoding and recognition during visual and verbal memory tasks. Methods We studied intracerebral recordings in patients with pharmacoresistent epilepsy who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ANT with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the ANT and compared the results with epilepsy surgery candidates with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the hippocampus. We recorded the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the visual and verbal memory encoding and recognition tasks. Results P300-like potentials were recorded in the hippocampus by visual and verbal memory encoding and recognition tasks and in the ANT by the visual encoding and visual and verbal recognition tasks. No significant ERPs were recorded during the verbal encoding task in the ANT. In the visual and verbal recognition tasks, the P300-like potentials in the ANT preceded the P300-like potentials in the hippocampus. Conclusions The ANT is a structure in the memory pathway that processes memory information before the hippocampus. We suggest that the ANT has a specific role in memory processes, especially memory recognition, and that memory disturbance should be considered in patients with ANT-DBS and in patients with ANT lesions. ANT is well positioned to serve as a subcortical gate for memory processing in cortical structures. PMID:26529407

Ants adjust their pheromone deposition to a changing environment and their probability of making errors.

PubMed

Czaczkes, Tomer J; Heinze, Jürgen

2015-07-07

Animals must contend with an ever-changing environment. Social animals, especially eusocial insects such as ants and bees, rely heavily on communication for their success. However, in a changing environment, communicated information can become rapidly outdated. This is a particular problem for pheromone trail using ants, as once deposited pheromones cannot be removed. Here, we study the response of ant foragers to an environmental change. Ants were trained to one feeder location, and the feeder was then moved to a different location. We found that ants responded to an environmental change by strongly upregulating pheromone deposition immediately after experiencing the change. This may help maintain the colony's foraging flexibility, and allow multiple food locations to be exploited simultaneously. Our treatment also caused uncertainty in the foragers, by making their memories less reliable. Ants which had made an error but eventually found the food source upregulated pheromone deposition when returning to the nest. Intriguingly, ants on their way towards the food source downregulated pheromone deposition if they were going to make an error. This may suggest that individual ants can measure the reliability of their own memories and respond appropriately. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

ANTS: Exploring the Solar System with an Autonomous Nanotechnology Swarm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, P. E.; Curtis, S.; Rilee, M.; Truszkowski, W.; Marr, G.

2002-01-01

ANTS (Autonomous Nano-Technology Swarm), a NASA advanced mission concept, calls for a large (1000 member) swarm of pico-class (1 kg) totally autonomous spacecraft to prospect the asteroid belt. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Individual-Based Ant-Plant Networks: Diurnal-Nocturnal Structure and Species-Area Relationship

PubMed Central

Dáttilo, Wesley; Fagundes, Roberth; Gurka, Carlos A. Q.; Silva, Mara S. A.; Vieira, Marisa C. L.; Izzo, Thiago J.; Díaz-Castelazo, Cecília; Del-Claro, Kleber; Rico-Gray, Victor

2014-01-01

Despite the importance and increasing knowledge of ecological networks, sampling effort and intrapopulation variation has been widely overlooked. Using continuous daily sampling of ants visiting three plant species in the Brazilian Neotropical savanna, we evaluated for the first time the topological structure over 24 h and species-area relationships (based on the number of extrafloral nectaries available) in individual-based ant-plant networks. We observed that diurnal and nocturnal ant-plant networks exhibited the same pattern of interactions: a nested and non-modular pattern and an average level of network specialization. Despite the high similarity in the ants’ composition between the two collection periods, ant species found in the central core of highly interacting species totally changed between diurnal and nocturnal sampling for all plant species. In other words, this “night-turnover” suggests that the ecological dynamics of these ant-plant interactions can be temporally partitioned (day and night) at a small spatial scale. Thus, it is possible that in some cases processes shaping mutualistic networks formed by protective ants and plants may be underestimated by diurnal sampling alone. Moreover, we did not observe any effect of the number of extrafloral nectaries on ant richness and their foraging on such plants in any of the studied ant-plant networks. We hypothesize that competitively superior ants could monopolize individual plants and allow the coexistence of only a few other ant species, however, other alternative hypotheses are also discussed. Thus, sampling period and species-area relationship produces basic information that increases our confidence in how individual-based ant-plant networks are structured, and the need to consider nocturnal records in ant-plant network sampling design so as to decrease inappropriate inferences. PMID:24918750

[The post-mortal right of privacy].

PubMed

Jansen, Christoph

2008-01-01

Regarding the post-mortal right of privacy a distinction must be made between post-mortal protection of the personality, the post-mortal duty of confidentiality and the problems associated with the necessity to consent to a clinical post-mortem. The post-mortal protection of the personality both grants the post-mortal right to respect for privacy, which can be asserted by rights holder, and entitles to claim damages resulting from breach of any proprietary elements of the right to post-mortal privacy. The post-mortal duty of confidentiality protects against the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information about the patient even after his death. The physician has to decide whether the consent of the deceased may be presumed; however, he/she has to state the reasons why, due to medical confidentiality, he/she feels unable to disclose such information. Basically, the consent for clinical post-mortem can be effectively declared by way of a refusal clause in the hospital admission contract.

[Post-mortem examination prior to cremation--an instrument to verify the quality of medical post-mortems and uncover non-natural deaths?].

PubMed

Germerott, Tanja; Todt, Melanie; Bode-Jänisch, Stefanie; Albrecht, Knut; Breitmeier, Dirk

2012-01-01

The external post-mortem examination, its deficient quality and possible causes have been the subject of numerous political and professional discussions. The external post-mortem examination is the basis for the decision whether further criminal investigations are required to clarify the cause of death. It is thus an essential instrument to ensure legal certainty. Before cremation, a second external post-mortem examination is performed by a public medical officer to make sure that errors of the first post-mortem are corrected. In the present study, cases were retrospectively analyzed in which a forensic autopsy had been ordered on the basis of the results of the post-mortem examination performed before cremation. The entries on the death certificate regarding the manner and cause of death were compared with the autopsy results. Between 1998 and 2007, 387 autopsies were ordered after external examination before cremation. In 55 cases (14.2%), the autopsy revealed a non-natural death, although a natural death had been attested on the death certificate. In descending order, a wrong manner of death was attested by clinicians, general practitioners and emergency physicians. With regard to the place where the first external post-mortem had been performed the lowest error rate was seen in nursing homes. Concerning the cause of death, discrepancies between the first post-mortem and autopsy were found in 59.4% of the cases. In this respect, general practitioners and clinicians were ranking first, whereas in nursing homes the cause of death was wrongly assessed in over 70% of cases. At present, the medical post-mortem does not meet the required quality standards, especially with regard to legal certainty. Determination of the cause of death on the basis of the external post-mortem examination is a challenging task even for the experienced medical examiner. As to the categorization of the manner of death it has to be stated that non-natural deaths are often not recognized or that the possibility to certify a death as unclear is not sufficiently used. As a result, it seems important to demand intensive, qualified, additional training in external post-mortem examinations for physicians.

Negative feedback in ants: crowding results in less trail pheromone deposition

PubMed Central

Czaczkes, Tomer J.; Grüter, Christoph; Ratnieks, Francis L. W.

2013-01-01

Crowding in human transport networks reduces efficiency. Efficiency can be increased by appropriate control mechanisms, which are often imposed externally. Ant colonies also have distribution networks to feeding sites outside the nest and can experience crowding. However, ants do not have external controllers or leaders. Here, we report a self-organized negative feedback mechanism, based on local information, which downregulates the production of recruitment signals in crowded parts of a network by Lasius niger ants. We controlled crowding by manipulating trail width and the number of ants on a trail, and observed a 5.6-fold reduction in the number of ants depositing trail pheromone from least to most crowded conditions. We also simulated crowding by placing glass beads covered in nest-mate cuticular hydrocarbons on the trail. After 10 bead encounters over 20 cm, forager ants were 45 per cent less likely to deposit pheromone. The mechanism of negative feedback reported here is unusual in that it acts by downregulating the production of a positive feedback signal, rather than by direct inhibition or the production of an inhibitory signal. PMID:23365196

Interactions of the polarization and the sun compass in path integration of desert ants.

PubMed

Lebhardt, Fleur; Ronacher, Bernhard

2014-08-01

Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, perform large-scale foraging trips in their featureless habitat using path integration as their main navigation tool. To determine their walking direction they use primarily celestial cues, the sky's polarization pattern and the sun position. To examine the relative importance of these two celestial cues, we performed cue conflict experiments. We manipulated the polarization pattern experienced by the ants during their outbound foraging excursions, reducing it to a single electric field (e-)vector direction with a linear polarization filter. The simultaneous view of the sun created situations in which the directional information of the sun and the polarization compass disagreed. The heading directions of the homebound runs recorded on a test field with full view of the natural sky demonstrate that none of both compasses completely dominated over the other. Rather the ants seemed to compute an intermediate homing direction to which both compass systems contributed roughly equally. Direct sunlight and polarized light are detected in different regions of the ant's compound eye, suggesting two separate pathways for obtaining directional information. In the experimental paradigm applied here, these two pathways seem to feed into the path integrator with similar weights.

Visual navigation in desert ants Cataglyphis fortis: are snapshots coupled to a celestial system of reference?

PubMed

Akesson, Susanne; Wehner, Rüdiger

2002-07-01

Central-place foraging insects such as desert ants of the genus Cataglyphis use both path integration and landmarks to navigate during foraging excursions. The use of landmark information and a celestial system of reference for nest location was investigated by training desert ants returning from an artificial feeder to find the nest at one of four alternative positions located asymmetrically inside a four-cylinder landmark array. The cylindrical landmarks were all of the same size and arranged in a square, with the nest located in the southeast corner. When released from the compass direction experienced during training (southeast), the ants searched most intensely at the fictive nest position. When instead released from any of the three alternative directions of approach (southwest, northwest or northeast), the same individuals instead searched at two of the four alternative positions by initiating their search at the position closest to the direction of approach when entering the landmark square and then returning to the position at which snapshot, current landmark image and celestial reference information were in register. The results show that, in the ants' visual snapshot memory, a memorized landmark scene can temporarily be decoupled from a memorized celestial system of reference.

Experimental evaluation of rigor mortis. V. Effect of various temperatures on the evolution of rigor mortis.

PubMed

Krompecher, T

1981-01-01

Objective measurements were carried out to study the evolution of rigor mortis on rats at various temperatures. Our experiments showed that: (1) at 6 degrees C rigor mortis reaches full development between 48 and 60 hours post mortem, and is resolved at 168 hours post mortem; (2) at 24 degrees C rigor mortis reaches full development at 5 hours post mortem, and is resolved at 16 hours post mortem; (3) at 37 degrees C rigor mortis reaches full development at 3 hours post mortem, and is resolved at 6 hours post mortem; (4) the intensity of rigor mortis grows with increase in temperature (difference between values obtained at 24 degrees C and 37 degrees C); and (5) and 6 degrees C a "cold rigidity" was found, in addition to and independent of rigor mortis.

The effects of ant nests on soil fertility and plant performance: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Farji-Brener, Alejandro G; Werenkraut, Victoria

2017-07-01

Ants are recognized as one of the major sources of soil disturbance world-wide. However, this view is largely based on isolated studies and qualitative reviews. Here, for the first time, we quantitatively determined whether ant nests affect soil fertility and plant performance, and identified the possible sources of variation of these effects. Using Bayesian mixed-models meta-analysis, we tested the hypotheses that ant effects on soil fertility and plant performance depend on the substrate sampled, ant feeding type, latitude, habitat and the plant response variable measured. Ant nests showed higher nutrient and cation content than adjacent non-nest soil samples, but similar pH. Nutrient content was higher in ant refuse materials than in nest soils. The fertilizer effect of ant nests was also higher in dry habitats than in grasslands or savannas. Cation content was higher in nests of plant-feeding ants than in nests of omnivorous species, and lower in nests from agro-ecosystems than in nests from any other habitat. Plants showed higher green/root biomass and fitness on ant nests soils than in adjacent, non-nest sites; but plant density and diversity were unaffected by the presence of ant nests. Root growth was particularly higher in refuse materials than in ant nest soils, in leaf-cutting ant nests and in deserts habitats. Our results confirm the major role of ant nests in influencing soil fertility and vegetation patterns and provide information about the factors that mediate these effects. First, ant nests improve soil fertility mainly through the accumulation of refuse materials. Thus, different refuse dump locations (external or in underground nest chambers) could benefit different vegetation life-forms. Second, ant nests could increase plant diversity at larger spatial scales only if the identity of favoured plants changes along environmental gradients (i.e. enhancing β-diversity). Third, ant species that feed on plants play a relevant role fertilizing soils, which may balance their known influence as primary consumers. Fourth, the effects of ant nests as fertility islands are larger in arid lands, possibly because fertility is intrinsically lower in these habitats. Overall, this study provide novel and quantitative evidence confirming that ant nests are key soil modifiers, emphasizing their role as ecological engineers. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

Alcohol and premature death in Estonian men: a study of forensic autopsies using novel biomarkers and proxy informants

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Alcohol makes an important contribution to premature mortality in many countries in Eastern Europe, including Estonia. However, the full extent of its impact, and the mechanisms underlying it, are challenging issues to research. We describe the design and initial findings of a study aimed at investigating the association of alcohol with mortality in a large series of forensic autopsies of working-age men in Estonia. Methods 1299 male deaths aged 25-54 years were subject to forensic autopsy in 2008-2009. The routine autopsy protocol was augmented by a more systematic inspection of organs, drug testing, assay of liver enzymes and novel biomarkers of alcohol consumption (EtG, EtS and PEth), together with proxy interviews with next of kin for deaths among men who lived in or close to a major town. Results 595 augmented autopsies were performed. Of these, 66% were from external causes (26% suicide, 25% poisoning). 17% were attributed to circulatory system diseases and 7% to alcoholic liver disease. Blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of ≥ 0.2 mg/g were found for 55% of deaths. Interviews were conducted with proxy informants for 61% of the subjects who had resided in towns. Of these, 28% were reported in the previous year to have been daily or almost daily drinkers and 10% had drunk non-beverage alcohols. Blood ethanol and the liver enzyme GGT were only associated with daily drinking. However, the novel biomarkers showed a more graded response with recent consumption. In contrast, the liver enzymes AST and ALT were largely uninformative because of post-mortem changes. The presence of extremely high PEth concentrations in some samples also suggested post-mortem formation. Conclusion We have shown the feasibility of deploying an extended research protocol within the setting of routine forensic autopsies that offer scope to deepen our understanding of the alcohol-related burden of premature mortality. The most unique feature of the study is the information on a wide range of informative alcohol biomarkers, several of which have not been used previously in this sort of post-mortem research study. We have demonstrated, for the first time, the epidemiological value and validity of these novel alcohol biomarkers in post-mortem samples. PMID:22369510

Acquisition and expression of memories of distance and direction in navigating wood ants.

PubMed

Fernandes, A Sofia D; Philippides, Andrew; Collett, Tom S; Niven, Jeremy E

2015-11-01

Wood ants, like other central place foragers, rely on route memories to guide them to and from a reliable food source. They use visual memories of the surrounding scene and probably compass information to control their direction. Do they also remember the length of their route and do they link memories of direction and distance? To answer these questions, we trained wood ant (Formica rufa) foragers in a channel to perform either a single short foraging route or two foraging routes in opposite directions. By shifting the starting position of the route within the channel, but keeping the direction and distance fixed, we tried to ensure that the ants would rely upon vector memories rather than visual memories to decide when to stop. The homeward memories that the ants formed were revealed by placing fed or unfed ants directly into a channel and assessing the direction and distance that they walked without prior performance of the food-ward leg of the journey. This procedure prevented the distance and direction walked being affected by a home vector derived from path integration. Ants that were unfed walked in the feeder direction. Fed ants walked in the opposite direction for a distance related to the separation between start and feeder. Vector memories of a return route can thus be primed by the ants' feeding state and expressed even when the ants have not performed the food-ward route. Tests on ants that have acquired two routes indicate that memories of the direction and distance of the return routes are linked, suggesting that they may be encoded by a common neural population within the ant brain. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Can communication disruption of red imported fire ants reduce foraging success

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Invasive pest ants often coordinate resource retrieval and colony expansion through the use of recruitment pheromones for information sharing to optimise their foraging; we argue that the potential for disruption of trail pheromone communication deserves investigation as a new and benign ecologicall...

Adverse events, toxicity and post-mortem data on duloxetine: case reports and literature survey.

PubMed

Vey, Eric L; Kovelman, Inna

2010-05-01

Duloxetine, a dual acting norepinephrine serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is a relatively new pharmacologic agent utilized in the treatment of depression, as well as diabetic neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and female stress urinary incontinence. This expanding scope of usage will inevitably lead to its eventual appearance during routine post-mortem toxicologic assays. Currently there is a paucity of post-mortem toxicologic data concerning duloxetine. The current report provides six additional case reports of post-mortem duloxetine levels, along with a review of duloxetine's pharmacokinetics, and the toxicologic manifestations which have been reported in the literature. The post-mortem levels reported, including the highest level recorded to date, are integrated with previously published reports to generate a foundation for a nascent guide to the interpretation of post-mortem duloxetine levels that could be encountered during routine post-mortem toxicologic analyses, and establish a basis upon which the establishment of toxic and lethal thresholds for this compound can be further elucidated with greater clarity. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Bacteria may contribute to distant species recognition in ant-aphid mutualistic relationships.

PubMed

Fischer, Christophe Y; Detrain, Claire; Thonart, Philippe; Haubruge, Eric; Francis, Frédéric; Verheggen, François J; Lognay, Georges C

2017-04-01

Mutualistic interactions between ant and aphid species have been the subject of considerable historical and contemporary investigations, the primary benefits being cleaning and protection for the aphids and carbohydrate-rich honeydew for the ants. Questions remained, however, as to the volatile semiochemical factor influencing this relationship. A recent study highlighted the role of bacterial honeydew volatile compounds in ant attraction. Here, ant's ability to distantly discriminate 2 aphid species was investigated based on bacterial honeydew semiochemicals emissions using a two-way olfactometer. Both the mutualistic aphid Aphis fabae L. and the nonmyrmecophilous aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris were found to be attractive for the ant Lasius niger L. The level of attraction was similar in both assays (control vs. one of the aphid species). However, when given a choice between these 2 aphid species, ants showed a significant preference for Aphis fabae. Honeydew volatiles, mostly from bacterial origins, are known to be a key element in ant attraction. Using the same olfactometry protocol, the relative attractiveness of volatiles emitted by honeydews collected from each aphid species and by bacteria isolated from each honeydew was investigated. Again, ants significantly preferred volatiles released by Aphis fabae honeydew and bacteria. This information suggests that microbial honeydew volatiles enable ants to distantly discriminate aphid species. These results strengthen the interest of studying the occurrence and potential impact of microorganisms in insect symbioses. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Emergent oscillations assist obstacle negotiation during ant cooperative transport.

PubMed

Gelblum, Aviram; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Gov, Nir S; Feinerman, Ofer

2016-12-20

Collective motion by animal groups is affected by internal interactions, external constraints, and the influx of information. A quantitative understanding of how these different factors give rise to different modes of collective motion is, at present, lacking. Here, we study how ants that cooperatively transport a large food item react to an obstacle blocking their path. Combining experiments with a statistical physics model of mechanically coupled active agents, we show that the constraint induces a deterministic collective oscillatory mode that facilitates obstacle circumvention. We provide direct experimental evidence, backed by theory, that this motion is an emergent group effect that does not require any behavioral changes at the individual level. We trace these relaxation oscillations to the interplay between two forces; informed ants pull the load toward the nest whereas uninformed ants contribute to the motion's persistence along the tangential direction. The model's predictions that oscillations appear above a critical system size, that the group can spontaneously transition into its ordered phase, and that the system can exhibit complete rotations are all verified experimentally. We expect that similar oscillatory modes emerge in collective motion scenarios where the structure of the environment imposes conflicts between individually held information and the group's tendency for cohesiveness.

A multilevel ant colony optimization algorithm for classical and isothermic DNA sequencing by hybridization with multiplicity information available.

PubMed

Kwarciak, Kamil; Radom, Marcin; Formanowicz, Piotr

2016-04-01

The classical sequencing by hybridization takes into account a binary information about sequence composition. A given element from an oligonucleotide library is or is not a part of the target sequence. However, the DNA chip technology has been developed and it enables to receive a partial information about multiplicity of each oligonucleotide the analyzed sequence consist of. Currently, it is not possible to assess the exact data of such type but even partial information should be very useful. Two realistic multiplicity information models are taken into consideration in this paper. The first one, called "one and many" assumes that it is possible to obtain information if a given oligonucleotide occurs in a reconstructed sequence once or more than once. According to the second model, called "one, two and many", one is able to receive from biochemical experiment information if a given oligonucleotide is present in an analyzed sequence once, twice or at least three times. An ant colony optimization algorithm has been implemented to verify the above models and to compare with existing algorithms for sequencing by hybridization which utilize the additional information. The proposed algorithm solves the problem with any kind of hybridization errors. Computational experiment results confirm that using even the partial information about multiplicity leads to increased quality of reconstructed sequences. Moreover, they also show that the more precise model enables to obtain better solutions and the ant colony optimization algorithm outperforms the existing ones. Test data sets and the proposed ant colony optimization algorithm are available on: http://bioserver.cs.put.poznan.pl/download/ACO4mSBH.zip. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Desert ants learn vibration and magnetic landmarks.

PubMed

Buehlmann, Cornelia; Hansson, Bill S; Knaden, Markus

2012-01-01

The desert ants Cataglyphis navigate not only by path integration but also by using visual and olfactory landmarks to pinpoint the nest entrance. Here we show that Cataglyphis noda can additionally use magnetic and vibrational landmarks as nest-defining cues. The magnetic field may typically provide directional rather than positional information, and vibrational signals so far have been shown to be involved in social behavior. Thus it remains questionable if magnetic and vibration landmarks are usually provided by the ants' habitat as nest-defining cues. However, our results point to the flexibility of the ants' navigational system, which even makes use of cues that are probably most often sensed in a different context.

Do leaf-cutter ants Atta colombica obtain their magnetic sensors from soil?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

How animals sense, process and use magnetic information has remained largely elusive. In insects, ferromagnetic particles are candidates for a magnetic sensor. Recent studies suggest that ferromagnetic minerals from soil can be incorporated into the antennae of the migratory ant Pachycondola margina...

[Research Progress of Carrion-breeding Phorid Flies for Post-mortem Interval Estimation in Forensic Medicine].

PubMed

Li, L; Feng, D X; Wu, J

2016-10-01

It is a difficult problem of forensic medicine to accurately estimate the post-mortem interval. Entomological approach has been regarded as an effective way to estimate the post-mortem interval. The developmental biology of carrion-breeding flies has an important position at the post-mortem interval estimation. Phorid flies are tiny and occur as the main or even the only insect evidence in relatively enclosed environments. This paper reviews the research progress of carrion-breeding phorid flies for estimating post-mortem interval in forensic medicine which includes their roles, species identification and age determination of immatures. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.

How do field of view and resolution affect the information content of panoramic scenes for visual navigation? A computational investigation.

PubMed

Wystrach, Antoine; Dewar, Alex; Philippides, Andrew; Graham, Paul

2016-02-01

The visual systems of animals have to provide information to guide behaviour and the informational requirements of an animal's behavioural repertoire are often reflected in its sensory system. For insects, this is often evident in the optical array of the compound eye. One behaviour that insects share with many animals is the use of learnt visual information for navigation. As ants are expert visual navigators it may be that their vision is optimised for navigation. Here we take a computational approach in asking how the details of the optical array influence the informational content of scenes used in simple view matching strategies for orientation. We find that robust orientation is best achieved with low-resolution visual information and a large field of view, similar to the optical properties seen for many ant species. A lower resolution allows for a trade-off between specificity and generalisation for stored views. Additionally, our simulations show that orientation performance increases if different portions of the visual field are considered as discrete visual sensors, each giving an independent directional estimate. This suggests that ants might benefit by processing information from their two eyes independently.

Application of contrast media in post-mortem imaging (CT and MRI).

PubMed

Grabherr, Silke; Grimm, Jochen; Baumann, Pia; Mangin, Patrice

2015-09-01

The application of contrast media in post-mortem radiology differs from clinical approaches in living patients. Post-mortem changes in the vascular system and the absence of blood flow lead to specific problems that have to be considered for the performance of post-mortem angiography. In addition, interpreting the images is challenging due to technique-related and post-mortem artefacts that have to be known and that are specific for each applied technique. Although the idea of injecting contrast media is old, classic methods are not simply transferable to modern radiological techniques in forensic medicine, as they are mostly dedicated to single-organ studies or applicable only shortly after death. With the introduction of modern imaging techniques, such as post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) and post-mortem magnetic resonance (PMMR), to forensic death investigations, intensive research started to explore their advantages and limitations compared to conventional autopsy. PMCT has already become a routine investigation in several centres, and different techniques have been developed to better visualise the vascular system and organ parenchyma in PMCT. In contrast, the use of PMMR is still limited due to practical issues, and research is now starting in the field of PMMR angiography. This article gives an overview of the problems in post-mortem contrast media application, the various classic and modern techniques, and the issues to consider by using different media.

ACUPS (adenocarcinoma of unknown primary site): a clinical and cost benefit analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamilton, C.S.; Langlands, A.O.

1987-10-01

A retrospective review of 287 patients with a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma unknown primary site was performed. These patients represented 2.9% of the new referrals to the Westmead Department of Radiation Oncology between the years 1979 and 1985. Age, sex, and survival characteristics of the study population are presented. Tissue biopsy procedures are reviewed and the uniform necessity of open biopsy is questioned in the light of recent advances in FNA (fine needle aspirate) techniques. A semi-quantitative analysis of the monetary cost of the investigation of these patients has been performed. This has been correlated with the objective and symptomatic benefitmore » accrued by the patient population. A higher incidence of speculative, low-yield investigations has been demonstrated for those patients referred from general medical and surgical units. Ante-mortem identification of the primary site remains the exception rather than the rule in this and other series. This fact, coupled with an inability of therapeutic intervention to alter the natural history of the disease means the cost and toxicity of investigation and treatment of these patients must influence approaches to their management.« less

The safety significance of aircraft accident post mortem findings.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1969-10-01

A review of post mortem examinations obtained in 1968 of pilot victims of general aviation aircraft accidents reveals that 51 percent of the pilot victims were studied by pathologists. The post mortem examination population above was taken from 687 p...

Cytogenetic data on the threatened leafcutter ant Atta robusta Borgmeier, 1939 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini).

PubMed

Barros, Luísa Antônia Campos; Aguiar, Hilton Jeferson Alves Cardoso de; Teixeira, Gisele Amaro; Mariano, Cléa Dos Santos Ferreira; Teixeira, Marcos da Cunha; Delabie, Jacques Hubert Charles; Pompolo, Silvia das Graças

2015-10-01

The karyotype of the threatened ant species Atta robusta is described so as to establish the evolutionary relationships of this taxon with other leafcutter ants. Standard Giemsa staining, C-banding, NOR banding, fluorochromes CMA3/DAPI, Hsc-FA technique and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) using 18S rDNA probe were conducted on a population from Aracruz, state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, allowing for comparisons with data available on Atta and other fungus-growing ant species. The diploid chromosome number observed for A. robusta was 2n=22, and the karyotypic formula was 18m+2sm+2st. Heterochromatic blocks were observed in the centromeric region of most chromosomes, where one pair of metacentric chromosomes is characterized by a GC-rich heterochromatic band in the interstitial region of its long arm. The detection of 18S rDNA using FISH confirmed the presence of single NOR for A. robusta. This is the first report of rDNA 18S detection using FISH for leafcutter ants. The cytogenetic results of this study confirm the information available for Atta and allow us to confirm the conserved chromosome number, morphology and banding pattern within the genus for the taxa studied to date, which included species from three out of the four groups of Atta indicated by molecular data. The accumulation of cytogenetic data on fungus-growing ants enhances the understanding of the genomic evolutionary patterns of Atta, since it belongs to a group of recent origin between the most well studied ants. Cytogenetic data does not indicate restrictions in relocation or reintroduction in areas where populations were extinct due to the conserved karyotype. This study allows for cytogenetic comparison of A. robusta with other ants of Atta, emphasizing the importance of chromosomal information for species conservation. Copyright © 2015 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Evidence of niche shift and global invasion potential of the tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Analysis of an invasive species’ niche shift between native and introduced ranges, along with potential distribution maps, can provide valuable information about its invasive potential. The tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva, is a rapidly emerging and economically important invasive species in the so...

South Africa: Durban's ante-natal clinic environment and its impact on a woman's choice to test for HIV during pregnancy.

PubMed

Groves, Allison K; Eyakuze, Cynthia

2010-10-01

Informed consent, counselling and confidentiality are key tenets of a human rights approach to HIV testing. In this article, based on an oral poster presentation at AIDS 2010, Allison K. Groves and Cynthia Eyakuze discuss the results of a study on HIV testing of women in ante-natal clinics in Durban, South Africa and how communication about testing may undermine the practice of obtaining informed consent.

Communicating with families about post-mortems: practice guidance.

PubMed

Henderson, Nicola

2006-02-01

In January 2001 the Chief Medical Officer announced the Public Inquiry (Redfern Report) into post-mortem practice at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool. It was expected that this inquiry report would influence post-mortem practice in general and communication with parents in particular and in May 2003 a code of practice for clinical staff was produced by the Department of Health (DH) (2003a). This article discusses the code of practice Families and Post Mortems and explores the relevance of these recommendations to neonatal and children's nurses.

USE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM TO INVESTIGATE MERCURY LEVELS IN CORRELATION WITH POSTMORTEM FINDINGS OF ASPERGILLUS INDUCED LESIONS IN THE COMMON LOON (GAVIA IMMER) IN THE NORTHEASTERN USA

EPA Science Inventory

This study employed the Geographic Information System (GIS) to correlate total mercury levels in liver tissue with post-mortem findings of aspergillosis in common loons (Gavia immer) in the northeast United States of America (USA). Aspergillosis is an opportunistic fungal infecti...

Post-mortem clinical pharmacology

PubMed Central

Ferner, R E

2008-01-01

Clinical pharmacology assumes that deductions can be made about the concentrations of drugs from a knowledge of the pharmacokinetic parameters in an individual; and that the effects are related to the measured concentration. Post-mortem changes render the assumptions of clinical pharmacology largely invalid, and make the interpretation of concentrations measured in post-mortem samples difficult or impossible. Qualitative tests can show the presence of substances that were not present in life, and can fail to detect substances that led to death. Quantitative analysis is subject to error in itself, and because post-mortem concentrations vary in largely unpredictable ways with the site and time of sampling, as a result of the phenomenon of post-mortem redistribution. Consequently, compilations of ‘lethal concentrations’ are misleading. There is a lack of adequate studies of the true relationship between fatal events and the concentrations that can be measured subsequently, but without such studies, clinical pharmacologists and others should be wary of interpreting post-mortem measurements. PMID:18637886

Developing 3D microscopy with CLARITY on human brain tissue: Towards a tool for informing and validating MRI-based histology.

PubMed

Morawski, Markus; Kirilina, Evgeniya; Scherf, Nico; Jäger, Carsten; Reimann, Katja; Trampel, Robert; Gavriilidis, Filippos; Geyer, Stefan; Biedermann, Bernd; Arendt, Thomas; Weiskopf, Nikolaus

2017-11-28

Recent breakthroughs in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enabled quantitative relaxometry and diffusion-weighted imaging with sub-millimeter resolution. Combined with biophysical models of MR contrast the emerging methods promise in vivo mapping of cyto- and myelo-architectonics, i.e., in vivo histology using MRI (hMRI) in humans. The hMRI methods require histological reference data for model building and validation. This is currently provided by MRI on post mortem human brain tissue in combination with classical histology on sections. However, this well established approach is limited to qualitative 2D information, while a systematic validation of hMRI requires quantitative 3D information on macroscopic voxels. We present a promising histological method based on optical 3D imaging combined with a tissue clearing method, Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide-hybridized Rigid Imaging compatible Tissue hYdrogel (CLARITY), adapted for hMRI validation. Adapting CLARITY to the needs of hMRI is challenging due to poor antibody penetration into large sample volumes and high opacity of aged post mortem human brain tissue. In a pilot experiment we achieved transparency of up to 8 mm-thick and immunohistochemical staining of up to 5 mm-thick post mortem brain tissue by a combination of active and passive clearing, prolonged clearing and staining times. We combined 3D optical imaging of the cleared samples with tailored image processing methods. We demonstrated the feasibility for quantification of neuron density, fiber orientation distribution and cell type classification within a volume with size similar to a typical MRI voxel. The presented combination of MRI, 3D optical microscopy and image processing is a promising tool for validation of MRI-based microstructure estimates. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New fossil ants in French Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrichot, Vincent; Nel, André; Néraudeau, Didier; Lacau, Sébastien; Guyot, Thierry

2008-02-01

Recent studies on the ant phylogeny are mainly based on the molecular analyses of extant subfamilies and do not include the extinct, only Cretaceous subfamily Sphecomyrminae. However, the latter is of major importance for ant relationships, as it is considered the most basal subfamily. Therefore, each new discovery of a Mesozoic ant is of high interest for improving our understanding of their early history and basal relationships. In this paper, a new sphecomyrmine ant, allied to the Burmese amber genus Haidomyrmex, is described from mid-Cretaceous amber of France as Haidomyrmodes mammuthus gen. and sp. n. The diagnosis of the tribe Haidomyrmecini is emended based on the new type material, which includes a gyne (alate female) and two incomplete workers. The genus Sphecomyrmodes, hitherto known by a single species from Burmese amber, is also reported and a new species described as S. occidentalis sp. n. after two workers remarkably preserved in a single piece of Early Cenomanian French amber. The new fossils provide additional information on early ant diversity and relationships and demonstrate that the monophyly of the Sphecomyrminae, as currently defined, is still weakly supported.

Building a pipeline to discover and validate novel therapeutic targets and lead compounds for Alzheimer's disease

PubMed Central

Bennett, David A.; Yu, Lei; De Jager, Philip L.

2014-01-01

Cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other causes are major public health problems worldwide. With changing demographics, the number of persons with dementia will increase rapidly. The treatment and prevention of AD and other dementias, therefore, is an urgent unmet need. There have been considerable advances in understanding the biology of many age-related disorders that cause dementia. Gains in understanding AD have led to the development of ante-mortem biomarkers of traditional neuropathology and the conduct of several phase III interventions in the amyloid-β cascade early in the disease process. Many other intervention strategies are in various stages of development. However, efforts to date have met with limited success. A recent National Institute on Aging Research Summit led to a number of requests for applications. One was to establish multi-disciplinary teams of investigators who use systems biology approaches and stem cell technology to identify a new generation of AD targets. We were recently awarded one of three such grants to build a pipeline that integrates epidemiology, systems biology, and stem cell technology to discover and validate novel therapeutic targets and lead compounds for AD treatment and prevention. Here we describe the two cohorts that provide the data and biospecimens being exploited for our pipeline and describe the available unique datasets. Second, we present evidence in support of a chronic disease model of AD that informs our choice of phenotypes as the target outcome. Third, we provide an overview of our approach. Finally, we present the details of our planned drug discovery pipeline. PMID:24508835

Red imported fire ant impacts on wildlife: A decade of research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig R.; Epperson, D.M.; Garmestani, A.S.

2004-01-01

The negative impacts of biological invasion are economically and ecologically significant and, while incompletely quantified, they are clearly substantial. Ants (family Formicidae) are an important, although often overlooked, component of many terrestrial ecosystems. Six species of ants are especially striking in their global ability to invade, and their impacts. This paper focuses on the impacts of the most destructive of those species, the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), and focuses on impacts on native vertebrates. Red imported fire ants often become the dominant ant species in infested areas outside of their native range due to their aggressive foraging behavior, high reproductive capability and lack of predators and/or other strong competitors. The evidence suggests that mammals, birds and herpetofauna are vulnerable to negative impacts from fire ants, and some species are more likely to experience negative population-level impacts than other species. Assessing the ecological impacts of fire ants on wild animal populations is logistically difficult, and very few studies have combined replicated experimental manipulation with adequate spatial (>10 ha) and temporal (>1 y) scale. Thus, most studies have been observational, opportunistic, small-scale or 'natural' experiments. However, significant research, including an increase in experimental and mechanistic investigations, has occurred during the past decade, and this has led to information that can lead to better management of potentially affected species.

Emergent oscillations assist obstacle negotiation during ant cooperative transport

PubMed Central

Gelblum, Aviram; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Gov, Nir S.; Feinerman, Ofer

2016-01-01

Collective motion by animal groups is affected by internal interactions, external constraints, and the influx of information. A quantitative understanding of how these different factors give rise to different modes of collective motion is, at present, lacking. Here, we study how ants that cooperatively transport a large food item react to an obstacle blocking their path. Combining experiments with a statistical physics model of mechanically coupled active agents, we show that the constraint induces a deterministic collective oscillatory mode that facilitates obstacle circumvention. We provide direct experimental evidence, backed by theory, that this motion is an emergent group effect that does not require any behavioral changes at the individual level. We trace these relaxation oscillations to the interplay between two forces; informed ants pull the load toward the nest whereas uninformed ants contribute to the motion’s persistence along the tangential direction. The model’s predictions that oscillations appear above a critical system size, that the group can spontaneously transition into its ordered phase, and that the system can exhibit complete rotations are all verified experimentally. We expect that similar oscillatory modes emerge in collective motion scenarios where the structure of the environment imposes conflicts between individually held information and the group’s tendency for cohesiveness. PMID:27930304

[Obligation to report occupational diseases. Importance of external post-mortem examinations before cremation].

PubMed

Verhoff, M A; Risse, M; Alles, J-U; Müller, K-M; Stachetzki, U

2004-05-01

The practical use of the legally required documentation of occupational diseases is demonstrated by a case of asbestos-related pleural mesothelioma. During the mandatory inquest before cremation, information of manifest pleural mesothelioma had been relayed to the widow of the patient, and an investigation for a possible occupational disease was performed. Reconstruction of the case showed that in the course of 3 months at least 13 physicians had been involved in in-hospital as well as ambulatory therapeutic measures. Until death, none of them informed the trade association about a suspected occupational disease in accordance with BK 4105 of the codex of occupational diseases, although the diagnosis of manifest pleural mesothelioma had been histologically confirmed already 10 weeks prior to the death of the patient. This case demonstrates obvious and evident deficiencies in applying the Code of Social Law VII, which requires physicians to report occupational diseases. In addition, it shows the importance of the post-mortem examination as a control function before cremation.

Portraying the Dead.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruby, Jay

1989-01-01

Explores custom of post-mortem photography. Describes practice of post-mortem photography in 19th century America and traces changes in post-mortem photography in the 20th century. Discusses value of photographs in mourning process and suggests more thorough examination of the place of death-related photographs in grief management. (Author/NB)

Pushing the dead into the next reproductive frontier: post mortem gamete retrieval under the uniform anatomical gift act.

PubMed

Spielman, Bethany

2009-01-01

In re Matter of Daniel Thomas Christy authorized post mortem gamete retrieval under the most recent revision of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. This article recommends that the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws explicitly address the issue of post mortem gamete retrieval for reproductive purposes; that legislators specify whether their states will follow the Christy ruling; and that ethics committees and consultants prepare for the questions about human identity and self determination that post mortem gamete retrieval raises.

[Post-mortem microbiology analysis].

PubMed

Fernández-Rodríguez, Amparo; Alberola, Juan; Cohen, Marta Cecilia

2013-12-01

Post-mortem microbiology is useful in both clinical and forensic autopsies, and allows a suspected infection to be confirmed. Indeed, it is routinely applied to donor studies in the clinical setting, as well as in sudden and unexpected death in the forensic field. Implementation of specific sampling techniques in autopsy can minimize the possibility of contamination, making interpretation of the results easier. Specific interpretation criteria for post-mortem cultures, the use of molecular diagnosis, and its fusion with molecular biology and histopathology have led to post-mortem microbiology playing a major role in autopsy. Multidisciplinary work involving microbiologists, pathologists, and forensic physicians will help to improve the achievements of post-mortem microbiology, prevent infectious diseases, and contribute to a healthier population. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Fidelity-Based Ant Colony Algorithm with Q-learning of Quantum System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Qin; Guo, Ying; Tu, Yifeng; Zhang, Hang

2018-03-01

Quantum ant colony algorithm (ACA) has potential applications in quantum information processing, such as solutions of traveling salesman problem, zero-one knapsack problem, robot route planning problem, and so on. To shorten the search time of the ACA, we suggest the fidelity-based ant colony algorithm (FACA) for the control of quantum system. Motivated by structure of the Q-learning algorithm, we demonstrate the combination of a FACA with the Q-learning algorithm and suggest the design of a fidelity-based ant colony algorithm with the Q-learning to improve the performance of the FACA in a spin-1/2 quantum system. The numeric simulation results show that the FACA with the Q-learning can efficiently avoid trapping into local optimal policies and increase the speed of convergence process of quantum system.

Fidelity-Based Ant Colony Algorithm with Q-learning of Quantum System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Qin; Guo, Ying; Tu, Yifeng; Zhang, Hang

2017-12-01

Quantum ant colony algorithm (ACA) has potential applications in quantum information processing, such as solutions of traveling salesman problem, zero-one knapsack problem, robot route planning problem, and so on. To shorten the search time of the ACA, we suggest the fidelity-based ant colony algorithm (FACA) for the control of quantum system. Motivated by structure of the Q-learning algorithm, we demonstrate the combination of a FACA with the Q-learning algorithm and suggest the design of a fidelity-based ant colony algorithm with the Q-learning to improve the performance of the FACA in a spin-1/2 quantum system. The numeric simulation results show that the FACA with the Q-learning can efficiently avoid trapping into local optimal policies and increase the speed of convergence process of quantum system.

A new navigational mechanism mediated by ant ocelli.

PubMed

Schwarz, Sebastian; Wystrach, Antoine; Cheng, Ken

2011-12-23

Many animals rely on path integration for navigation and desert ants are the champions. On leaving the nest, ants continuously integrate their distance and direction of travel so that they always know their current distance and direction from the nest and can take a direct path to home. Distance information originates from a step-counter and directional information is based on a celestial compass. So far, it has been assumed that the directional information obtained from ocelli contribute to a single global path integrator, together with directional information from the dorsal rim area (DRA) of the compound eyes and distance information from the step-counter. Here, we show that ocelli mediate a distinct compass from that mediated by the compound eyes. After travelling a two-leg outbound route, untreated foragers headed towards the nest direction, showing that both legs of the route had been integrated. In contrast, foragers with covered compound eyes but uncovered ocelli steered in the direction opposite to the last leg of the outbound route. Our findings suggest that, unlike the DRA, ocelli cannot by themselves mediate path integration. Instead, ocelli mediate a distinct directional system, which buffers the most recent leg of a journey.

42 CFR 35.16 - Autopsies and other post-mortem operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Autopsies and other post-mortem operations. 35.16 Section 35.16 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICAL CARE AND EXAMINATIONS HOSPITAL AND STATION MANAGEMENT General § 35.16 Autopsies and other post-mortem...

42 CFR 35.16 - Autopsies and other post-mortem operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Autopsies and other post-mortem operations. 35.16 Section 35.16 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICAL CARE AND EXAMINATIONS HOSPITAL AND STATION MANAGEMENT General § 35.16 Autopsies and other post-mortem...

42 CFR 35.16 - Autopsies and other post-mortem operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Autopsies and other post-mortem operations. 35.16 Section 35.16 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICAL CARE AND EXAMINATIONS HOSPITAL AND STATION MANAGEMENT General § 35.16 Autopsies and other post-mortem...

42 CFR 35.16 - Autopsies and other post-mortem operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Autopsies and other post-mortem operations. 35.16 Section 35.16 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICAL CARE AND EXAMINATIONS HOSPITAL AND STATION MANAGEMENT General § 35.16 Autopsies and other post-mortem...

42 CFR 35.16 - Autopsies and other post-mortem operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Autopsies and other post-mortem operations. 35.16 Section 35.16 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICAL CARE AND EXAMINATIONS HOSPITAL AND STATION MANAGEMENT General § 35.16 Autopsies and other post-mortem...

[External post-mortem examination].

PubMed

Hartwig, S

2016-09-01

The external post-mortem examination in Germany is a non-delegable medical duty for determination of death, identity of the deceased, cause of death, manner of death, time of death and notifiable infectious diseases. Within the framework of rescue service missions the physician is limited to ascertaining that death has occurred. The determination of death must be reliable and is automatically followed by a complete external post-mortem examination of the body, if necessary by another physician. The certain signs of death are livor mortis, rigor mortis and putrefaction. Reliable features for the occurrence of death are injuries which are not compatible with life and brain death. The external post-mortem examination is the basis for the decision on whether further criminal investigations are necessary. The external post-mortem examination and the accompanying death certification must always be meticulously carried out.

Structure and formation of ant transportation networks

PubMed Central

Latty, Tanya; Ramsch, Kai; Ito, Kentaro; Nakagaki, Toshiyuki; Sumpter, David J. T.; Middendorf, Martin; Beekman, Madeleine

2011-01-01

Many biological systems use extensive networks for the transport of resources and information. Ants are no exception. How do biological systems achieve efficient transportation networks in the absence of centralized control and without global knowledge of the environment? Here, we address this question by studying the formation and properties of inter-nest transportation networks in the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). We find that the formation of inter-nest networks depends on the number of ants involved in the construction process. When the number of ants is sufficient and networks do form, they tend to have short total length but a low level of robustness. These networks are topologically similar to either minimum spanning trees or Steiner networks. The process of network formation involves an initial construction of multiple links followed by a pruning process that reduces the number of trails. Our study thus illuminates the conditions under and the process by which minimal biological transport networks can be constructed. PMID:21288958

The significance of direct sunlight and polarized skylight in the ant’s celestial system of navigation

PubMed Central

Wehner, Rüdiger; Müller, Martin

2006-01-01

As textbook knowledge has it, bees and ants use polarized skylight as a backup cue whenever the main compass cue, the sun, is obscured by clouds. Here we show, by employing a unique experimental paradigm, that the celestial compass system of desert ants, Cataglyphis, relies predominantly on polarized skylight. If ants experience only parts of the polarization pattern during training but the full pattern in a subsequent test situation, they systematically deviate from their true homeward courses, with the systematics depending on what parts of the skylight patterns have been presented during training. This “signature” of the polarization compass remains unaltered, even if the ants can simultaneously experience the sun, which, if presented alone, enables the ants to select their true homeward courses. Information provided by direct sunlight and polarized skylight is picked up by different parts of the ant’s compound eyes and is channeled into two rather separate systems of navigation. PMID:16888039

An Engineered orco Mutation Produces Aberrant Social Behavior and Defective Neural Development in Ants.

PubMed

Yan, Hua; Opachaloemphan, Comzit; Mancini, Giacomo; Yang, Huan; Gallitto, Matthew; Mlejnek, Jakub; Leibholz, Alexandra; Haight, Kevin; Ghaninia, Majid; Huo, Lucy; Perry, Michael; Slone, Jesse; Zhou, Xiaofan; Traficante, Maria; Penick, Clint A; Dolezal, Kelly; Gokhale, Kaustubh; Stevens, Kelsey; Fetter-Pruneda, Ingrid; Bonasio, Roberto; Zwiebel, Laurence J; Berger, Shelley L; Liebig, Jürgen; Reinberg, Danny; Desplan, Claude

2017-08-10

Ants exhibit cooperative behaviors and advanced forms of sociality that depend on pheromone-mediated communication. Odorant receptor neurons (ORNs) express specific odorant receptors (ORs) encoded by a dramatically expanded gene family in ants. In most eusocial insects, only the queen can transmit genetic information, restricting genetic studies. In contrast, workers in Harpegnathos saltator ants can be converted into gamergates (pseudoqueens) that can found entire colonies. This feature facilitated CRISPR-Cas9 generation of germline mutations in orco, the gene that encodes the obligate co-receptor of all ORs. orco mutations should significantly impact olfaction. We demonstrate striking functions of Orco in odorant perception, reproductive physiology, and social behavior plasticity. Surprisingly, unlike in other insects, loss of OR functionality also dramatically impairs development of the antennal lobe to which ORNs project. Therefore, the development of genetics in Harpegnathos establishes this ant species as a model organism to study the complexity of eusociality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Flavour chemistry of chicken meat: a review.

PubMed

Jayasena, Dinesh D; Ahn, Dong Uk; Nam, Ki Chang; Jo, Cheorun

2013-05-01

Flavour comprises mainly of taste and aroma and is involved in consumers' meat-buying behavior and preferences. Chicken meat flavour is supposed to be affected by a number of ante- and post-mortem factors, including breed, diet, post-mortem ageing, method of cooking, etc. Additionally, chicken meat is more susceptible to quality deterioration mainly due to lipid oxidation with resulting off-flavours. Therefore, the intent of this paper is to highlight the mechanisms and chemical compounds responsible for chicken meat flavour and off-flavour development to help producers in producing the most flavourful and consistent product possible. Chicken meat flavour is thermally derived and the Maillard reaction, thermal degradation of lipids, and interaction between these 2 reactions are mainly responsible for the generation of flavour and aroma compounds. The reaction of cysteine and sugar can lead to characteristic meat flavour specially for chicken and pork. Volatile compounds including 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furfurylthiol, methionol, 2,4,5-trimethyl-thiazole, nonanol, 2-trans-nonenal, and other compounds have been identified as important for the flavour of chicken. However 2-methyl-3-furanthiol is considered as the most vital chemical compound for chicken flavour development. In addition, a large number of heterocyclic compounds are formed when higher temperature and low moisture conditions are used during certain cooking methods of chicken meat such as roasting, grilling, frying or pressure cooking compared to boiled chicken meat. Major volatile compounds responsible for fried chicken are 3,5-dimethyl-1,2,4-trithiolanes, 2,4,6-trimethylperhydro-1,3,5-dithiazines, 3,5-diisobutyl-1,2,4-trithiolane, 3-methyl-5-butyl-1,2,4-trithiolane, 3-methyl-5-pentyl-1,2,4-trithiolane, 2,4-decadienal and trans-4,5-epoxy-trans-2-decenal. Alkylpyrazines were reported in the flavours of fried chicken and roasted chicken but not in chicken broth. The main reason for flavour deterioration and formation of undesirable "warmed over flavour" in chicken meat products are supposed to be the lack of α-tocopherol in chicken meat.

Stridulations Reveal Cryptic Speciation in Neotropical Sympatric Ants

PubMed Central

Ferreira, Ronara Souza; Poteaux, Chantal; Delabie, Jacques Hubert Charles; Fresneau, Dominique; Rybak, Fanny

2010-01-01

The taxonomic challenge posed by cryptic species underlines the importance of using multiple criteria in species delimitation. In the current paper we tested the use of acoustic analysis as a tool to assess the real diversity in a cryptic species complex of Neotropical ants. In order to understand the potential of acoustics and to improve consistency in the conclusions by comparing different approaches, phylogenetic relationships of all the morphs considered were assessed by the analysis of a fragment of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b. We observed that each of the cryptic morph studied presents a morphologically distinct stridulatory organ and that all sympatric morphs produce distinctive stridulations. This is the first evidence of such a degree of specialization in the acoustic organ and signals in ants, which suggests that stridulations may be among the cues used by these ants during inter-specific interactions. Mitochondrial DNA variation corroborated the acoustic differences observed, confirming acoustics as a helpful tool to determine cryptic species in this group of ants, and possibly in stridulating ants in general. Congruent morphological, acoustic and genetic results constitute sufficient evidence to propose each morph studied here as a valid new species, suggesting that P. apicalis is a complex of at least 6 to 9 species, even if they present different levels of divergence. Finally, our results highlight that ant stridulations may be much more informative than hitherto thought, as much for ant communication as for integrative taxonomists. PMID:21203529

Collective strategy for obstacle navigation during cooperative transport by ants.

PubMed

McCreery, Helen F; Dix, Zachary A; Breed, Michael D; Nagpal, Radhika

2016-11-01

Group cohesion and consensus have primarily been studied in the context of discrete decisions, but some group tasks require making serial decisions that build on one another. We examine such collective problem solving by studying obstacle navigation during cooperative transport in ants. In cooperative transport, ants work together to move a large object back to their nest. We blocked cooperative transport groups of Paratrechina longicornis with obstacles of varying complexity, analyzing groups' trajectories to infer what kind of strategy the ants employed. Simple strategies require little information, but more challenging, robust strategies succeed with a wider range of obstacles. We found that transport groups use a stochastic strategy that leads to efficient navigation around simple obstacles, and still succeeds at difficult obstacles. While groups navigating obstacles preferentially move directly toward the nest, they change their behavior over time; the longer the ants are obstructed, the more likely they are to move away from the nest. This increases the chance of finding a path around the obstacle. Groups rapidly changed directions and rarely stalled during navigation, indicating that these ants maintain consensus even when the nest direction is blocked. Although some decisions were aided by the arrival of new ants, at many key points, direction changes were initiated within the group, with no apparent external cause. This ant species is highly effective at navigating complex environments, and implements a flexible strategy that works for both simple and more complex obstacles. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

The View from the Trees: Nocturnal Bull Ants, Myrmecia midas, Use the Surrounding Panorama While Descending from Trees

PubMed Central

Freas, Cody A.; Wystrach, Antione; Narendra, Ajay; Cheng, Ken

2018-01-01

Solitary foraging ants commonly use visual cues from their environment for navigation. Foragers are known to store visual scenes from the surrounding panorama for later guidance to known resources and to return successfully back to the nest. Several ant species travel not only on the ground, but also climb trees to locate resources. The navigational information that guides animals back home during their descent, while their body is perpendicular to the ground, is largely unknown. Here, we investigate in a nocturnal ant, Myrmecia midas, whether foragers travelling down a tree use visual information to return home. These ants establish nests at the base of a tree on which they forage and in addition, they also forage on nearby trees. We collected foragers and placed them on the trunk of the nest tree or a foraging tree in multiple compass directions. Regardless of the displacement location, upon release ants immediately moved to the side of the trunk facing the nest during their descent. When ants were released on non-foraging trees near the nest, displaced foragers again travelled around the tree to the side facing the nest. All the displaced foragers reached the correct side of the tree well before reaching the ground. However, when the terrestrial cues around the tree were blocked, foragers were unable to orient correctly, suggesting that the surrounding panorama is critical to successful orientation on the tree. Through analysis of panoramic pictures, we show that views acquired at the base of the foraging tree nest can provide reliable nest-ward orientation up to 1.75 m above the ground. We discuss, how animals descending from trees compare their current scene to a memorised scene and report on the similarities in visually guided behaviour while navigating on the ground and descending from trees. PMID:29422880

The View from the Trees: Nocturnal Bull Ants, Myrmecia midas, Use the Surrounding Panorama While Descending from Trees.

PubMed

Freas, Cody A; Wystrach, Antione; Narendra, Ajay; Cheng, Ken

2018-01-01

Solitary foraging ants commonly use visual cues from their environment for navigation. Foragers are known to store visual scenes from the surrounding panorama for later guidance to known resources and to return successfully back to the nest. Several ant species travel not only on the ground, but also climb trees to locate resources. The navigational information that guides animals back home during their descent, while their body is perpendicular to the ground, is largely unknown. Here, we investigate in a nocturnal ant, Myrmecia midas , whether foragers travelling down a tree use visual information to return home. These ants establish nests at the base of a tree on which they forage and in addition, they also forage on nearby trees. We collected foragers and placed them on the trunk of the nest tree or a foraging tree in multiple compass directions. Regardless of the displacement location, upon release ants immediately moved to the side of the trunk facing the nest during their descent. When ants were released on non-foraging trees near the nest, displaced foragers again travelled around the tree to the side facing the nest. All the displaced foragers reached the correct side of the tree well before reaching the ground. However, when the terrestrial cues around the tree were blocked, foragers were unable to orient correctly, suggesting that the surrounding panorama is critical to successful orientation on the tree. Through analysis of panoramic pictures, we show that views acquired at the base of the foraging tree nest can provide reliable nest-ward orientation up to 1.75 m above the ground. We discuss, how animals descending from trees compare their current scene to a memorised scene and report on the similarities in visually guided behaviour while navigating on the ground and descending from trees.

Subtle changes in the landmark panorama disrupt visual navigation in a nocturnal bull ant

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The ability of ants to navigate when the visual landmark information is altered has often been tested by creating large and artificial discrepancies in their visual environment. Here, we had an opportunity to slightly modify the natural visual environment around the nest of the nocturnal bull ant Myrmecia pyriformis. We achieved this by felling three dead trees, two located along the typical route followed by the foragers of that particular nest and one in a direction perpendicular to their foraging direction. An image difference analysis showed that the change in the overall panorama following the removal of these trees was relatively little. We filmed the behaviour of ants close to the nest and tracked their entire paths, both before and after the trees were removed. We found that immediately after the trees were removed, ants walked slower and were less directed. Their foraging success decreased and they looked around more, including turning back to look towards the nest. We document how their behaviour changed over subsequent nights and discuss how the ants may detect and respond to a modified visual environment in the evening twilight period. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Vision in dim light’. PMID:28193813

Informing Ex Ante Event Studies with Macro-Econometric Evidence on the Structural and Policy Impacts of Terrorism.

PubMed

Nassios, Jason; Giesecke, James A

2018-04-01

Economic consequence analysis is one of many inputs to terrorism contingency planning. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are being used more frequently in these analyses, in part because of their capacity to accommodate high levels of event-specific detail. In modeling the potential economic effects of a hypothetical terrorist event, two broad sets of shocks are required: (1) physical impacts on observable variables (e.g., asset damage); (2) behavioral impacts on unobservable variables (e.g., investor uncertainty). Assembling shocks describing the physical impacts of a terrorist incident is relatively straightforward, since estimates are either readily available or plausibly inferred. However, assembling shocks describing behavioral impacts is more difficult. Values for behavioral variables (e.g., required rates of return) are typically inferred or estimated by indirect means. Generally, this has been achieved via reference to extraneous literature or ex ante surveys. This article explores a new method. We elucidate the magnitude of CGE-relevant structural shifts implicit in econometric evidence on terrorist incidents, with a view to informing future ex ante event assessments. Ex post econometric studies of terrorism by Blomberg et al. yield macro econometric equations that describe the response of observable economic variables (e.g., GDP growth) to terrorist incidents. We use these equations to determine estimates for relevant (unobservable) structural and policy variables impacted by terrorist incidents, using a CGE model of the United States. This allows us to: (i) compare values for these shifts with input assumptions in earlier ex ante CGE studies; and (ii) discuss how future ex ante studies can be informed by our analysis. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Qualification of serological infectious disease assays for the screening of samples from deceased tissue donors.

PubMed

Kitchen, A D; Newham, J A

2011-05-01

Whilst some of the assays used for serological screening of post-mortem blood samples from deceased tissue donors in some countries have been specifically validated by the manufacturer for this purpose, a significant number of those currently in use globally have not. Although specificity has previously been considered a problem in the screening of such samples, we believe that ensuring sensitivity is more important. The aim of this study was to validate a broader range of assays for the screening of post-mortem blood samples from deceased tissue donors. Six microplate immunoassays currently in use within National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) for the screening of blood, tissue and stem cell donations were included. Representative samples from confirmed positive donors were titrated in screen negative post-mortem samples in parallel with normal pooled negative serum to determine if there was any inhibition with the post-mortem samples. There were no significant differences seen (P < 0.005) between the dilution curves obtained for the positive samples diluted in post-mortem samples and normal pooled sera. Although small numbers of samples were studied, it can be surmised that the post-mortem blood samples from deceased tissue donors, collected according to United Kingdom guidelines, are a suitable substrate for the assays evaluated. No diminution of reactivity was seen when dilution with sera from deceased donors was compared to dilution using pooled serum from live donors. In the absence of genuine low titre positive post-mortem samples, the use of samples spiked with various levels of target material provides a means of qualifying serological screening assays used by NHSBT for the screening of post-mortem blood samples from deceased tissue donors.

Rigor mortis at the myocardium investigated by post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Bonzon, Jérôme; Schön, Corinna A; Schwendener, Nicole; Zech, Wolf-Dieter; Kara, Levent; Persson, Anders; Jackowski, Christian

2015-12-01

Post-mortem cardiac MR exams present with different contraction appearances of the left ventricle in cardiac short axis images. It was hypothesized that the grade of post-mortem contraction may be related to the post-mortem interval (PMI) or cause of death and a phenomenon caused by internal rigor mortis that may give further insights in the circumstances of death. The cardiac contraction grade was investigated in 71 post-mortem cardiac MR exams (mean age at death 52 y, range 12-89 y; 48 males, 23 females). In cardiac short axis images the left ventricular lumen volume as well as the left ventricular myocardial volume were assessed by manual segmentation. The quotient of both (LVQ) represents the grade of myocardial contraction. LVQ was correlated to the PMI, sex, age, cardiac weight, body mass and height, cause of death and pericardial tamponade when present. In cardiac causes of death a separate correlation was investigated for acute myocardial infarction cases and arrhythmic deaths. LVQ values ranged from 1.99 (maximum dilatation) to 42.91 (maximum contraction) with a mean of 15.13. LVQ decreased slightly with increasing PMI, however without significant correlation. Pericardial tamponade positively correlated with higher LVQ values. Variables such as sex, age, body mass and height, cardiac weight and cause of death did not correlate with LVQ values. There was no difference in LVQ values for myocardial infarction without tamponade and arrhythmic deaths. Based on the observation in our investigated cases, the phenomenon of post-mortem myocardial contraction cannot be explained by the influence of the investigated variables, except for pericardial tamponade cases. Further research addressing post-mortem myocardial contraction has to focus on other, less obvious factors, which may influence the early post-mortem phase too. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variation in bull beef quality due to ultimate muscle pH is correlated to endopeptidase and small heat shock protein levels.

PubMed

Pulford, D J; Dobbie, P; Fraga Vazquez, S; Fraser-Smith, E; Frost, D A; Morris, C A

2009-09-01

This study set out to determine if ultimate pH (pH(u)) affected the performance of intracellular small heat shock protein and endopeptidase dynamics in muscle during beef ageing. Longissimus dorsi muscles from 39 Angus or Limousin×Angus bulls were examined to see if pH(u) achieved at 22h post mortem (rigor) affected tenderness and water holding capacity of beef. Samples were segregated into three pH(u) groups termed high (pH>6.3), intermediate (5.73 days post mortem for intermediate pH(u) beef. High levels of alpha β-crystallin (aβC) at 22h post mortem coincided with delayed muscle protein degradation for low pH(u) beef. Our results support the hypothesis that aβC shields myofibrils and buffers against endopeptidase degradation of beef structure during ageing.

Differences in sampling techniques on total post-mortem tryptase.

PubMed

Tse, R; Garland, J; Kesha, K; Elstub, H; Cala, A D; Ahn, Y; Stables, S; Palmiere, C

2018-05-01

The measurement of mast cell tryptase is commonly used to support the diagnosis of anaphylaxis. In the post-mortem setting, the literature recommends sampling from peripheral blood sources (femoral blood) but does not specify the exact sampling technique. Sampling techniques vary between pathologists, and it is unclear whether different sampling techniques have any impact on post-mortem tryptase levels. The aim of this study is to compare the difference in femoral total post-mortem tryptase levels between two sampling techniques. A 6-month retrospective study comparing femoral total post-mortem tryptase levels between (1) aspirating femoral vessels with a needle and syringe prior to evisceration and (2) femoral vein cut down during evisceration. Twenty cases were identified, with three cases excluded from analysis. There was a statistically significant difference (paired t test, p < 0.05) between mean post-mortem tryptase by aspiration (10.87 ug/L) and by cut down (14.15 ug/L). The mean difference between the two methods was 3.28 ug/L (median, 1.4 ug/L; min, - 6.1 ug/L; max, 16.5 ug/L; 95% CI, 0.001-6.564 ug/L). Femoral total post-mortem tryptase is significantly different, albeit by a small amount, between the two sampling methods. The clinical significance of this finding and what factors may contribute to it are unclear. When requesting post-mortem tryptase, the pathologist should consider documenting the exact blood collection site and method used for collection. In addition, blood samples acquired by different techniques should not be mixed together and should be analyzed separately if possible.

The Role of Celestial Compass Information in Cataglyphis Ants during Learning Walks and for Neuroplasticity in the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies

PubMed Central

Grob, Robin; Fleischmann, Pauline N.; Grübel, Kornelia; Wehner, Rüdiger; Rössler, Wolfgang

2017-01-01

Central place foragers are faced with the challenge to learn the position of their nest entrance in its surroundings, in order to find their way back home every time they go out to search for food. To acquire navigational information at the beginning of their foraging career, Cataglyphis noda performs learning walks during the transition from interior worker to forager. These small loops around the nest entrance are repeatedly interrupted by strikingly accurate back turns during which the ants stop and precisely gaze back to the nest entrance—presumably to learn the landmark panorama of the nest surroundings. However, as at this point the complete navigational toolkit is not yet available, the ants are in need of a reference system for the compass component of the path integrator to align their nest entrance-directed gazes. In order to find this directional reference system, we systematically manipulated the skylight information received by ants during learning walks in their natural habitat, as it has been previously suggested that the celestial compass, as part of the path integrator, might provide such a reference system. High-speed video analyses of distinct learning walk elements revealed that even exclusion from the skylight polarization pattern, UV-light spectrum and the position of the sun did not alter the accuracy of the look back to the nest behavior. We therefore conclude that C. noda uses a different reference system to initially align their gaze directions. However, a comparison of neuroanatomical changes in the central complex and the mushroom bodies before and after learning walks revealed that exposure to UV light together with a naturally changing polarization pattern was essential to induce neuroplasticity in these high-order sensory integration centers of the ant brain. This suggests a crucial role of celestial information, in particular a changing polarization pattern, in initially calibrating the celestial compass system. PMID:29184487

The Role of Celestial Compass Information in Cataglyphis Ants during Learning Walks and for Neuroplasticity in the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies.

PubMed

Grob, Robin; Fleischmann, Pauline N; Grübel, Kornelia; Wehner, Rüdiger; Rössler, Wolfgang

2017-01-01

Central place foragers are faced with the challenge to learn the position of their nest entrance in its surroundings, in order to find their way back home every time they go out to search for food. To acquire navigational information at the beginning of their foraging career, Cataglyphis noda performs learning walks during the transition from interior worker to forager. These small loops around the nest entrance are repeatedly interrupted by strikingly accurate back turns during which the ants stop and precisely gaze back to the nest entrance-presumably to learn the landmark panorama of the nest surroundings. However, as at this point the complete navigational toolkit is not yet available, the ants are in need of a reference system for the compass component of the path integrator to align their nest entrance-directed gazes. In order to find this directional reference system, we systematically manipulated the skylight information received by ants during learning walks in their natural habitat, as it has been previously suggested that the celestial compass, as part of the path integrator, might provide such a reference system. High-speed video analyses of distinct learning walk elements revealed that even exclusion from the skylight polarization pattern, UV-light spectrum and the position of the sun did not alter the accuracy of the look back to the nest behavior. We therefore conclude that C. noda uses a different reference system to initially align their gaze directions. However, a comparison of neuroanatomical changes in the central complex and the mushroom bodies before and after learning walks revealed that exposure to UV light together with a naturally changing polarization pattern was essential to induce neuroplasticity in these high-order sensory integration centers of the ant brain. This suggests a crucial role of celestial information, in particular a changing polarization pattern, in initially calibrating the celestial compass system.

Ants determine their next move at rest: motor planning and causality in complex systems.

PubMed

Hunt, Edmund R; Baddeley, Roland J; Worley, Alan; Sendova-Franks, Ana B; Franks, Nigel R

2016-01-01

To find useful work to do for their colony, individual eusocial animals have to move, somehow staying attentive to relevant social information. Recent research on individual Temnothorax albipennis ants moving inside their colony's nest found a power-law relationship between a movement's duration and its average speed; and a universal speed profile for movements showing that they mostly fluctuate around a constant average speed. From this predictability it was inferred that movement durations are somehow determined before the movement itself. Here, we find similar results in lone T. albipennis ants exploring a large arena outside the nest, both when the arena is clean and when it contains chemical information left by previous nest-mates. This implies that these movement characteristics originate from the same individual neural and/or physiological mechanism(s), operating without immediate regard to social influences. However, the presence of pheromones and/or other cues was found to affect the inter-event speed correlations. Hence we suggest that ants' motor planning results in intermittent response to the social environment: movement duration is adjusted in response to social information only between movements, not during them. This environmentally flexible, intermittently responsive movement behaviour points towards a spatially allocated division of labour in this species. It also prompts more general questions on collective animal movement and the role of intermittent causation from higher to lower organizational levels in the stability of complex systems.

Innate colour preference, individual learning and memory retention in the ant Camponotus blandus.

PubMed

Yilmaz, Ayse; Dyer, Adrian G; Rössler, Wolfgang; Spaethe, Johannes

2017-09-15

Ants are a well-characterized insect model for the study of visual learning and orientation, but the extent to which colour vision is involved in these tasks remains unknown. We investigated the colour preference, learning and memory retention of Camponotus blandus foragers under controlled laboratory conditions. Our results show that C. blandus foragers exhibit a strong innate preference for ultraviolet (UV, 365 nm) over blue (450 nm) and green (528 nm) wavelengths. The ants can learn to discriminate 365 nm from either 528 nm or 450 nm, independent of intensity changes. However, they fail to discriminate between 450 nm and 528 nm. Modelling of putative colour spaces involving different numbers of photoreceptor types revealed that colour discrimination performance of individual ants is best explained by dichromacy, comprising a short-wavelength (UV) receptor with peak sensitivity at about 360 nm, and a long-wavelength receptor with peak sensitivity between 470 nm and 560 nm. Foragers trained to discriminate blue or green from UV light are able to retain the learned colour information in an early mid-term (e-MTM), late mid-term (l-MTM), early long-term (e-LTM) and late long-term (l-LTM) memory from where it can be retrieved after 1 h, 12 h, 24 h, 3 days and 7 days after training, indicating that colour learning may induce different memory phases in ants. Overall, our results show that ants can use chromatic information in a way that should promote efficient foraging in complex natural environments. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

An adaptive grid algorithm for 3-D GIS landform optimization based on improved ant algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Chenhan; Meng, Lingkui; Deng, Shijun

2005-07-01

The key technique of 3-D GIS is to realize quick and high-quality 3-D visualization, in which 3-D roaming system based on landform plays an important role. However how to increase efficiency of 3-D roaming engine and process a large amount of landform data is a key problem in 3-D landform roaming system and improper process of the problem would result in tremendous consumption of system resources. Therefore it has become the key of 3-D roaming system design that how to realize high-speed process of distributed data for landform DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and high-speed distributed modulation of various 3-D landform data resources. In the paper we improved the basic ant algorithm and designed the modulation strategy of 3-D GIS landform resources based on the improved ant algorithm. By initially hypothetic road weights σi , the change of the information factors in the original algorithm would transform from ˜τj to ∆τj+σi and the weights was decided by 3-D computative capacity of various nodes in network environment. So during the course of initial phase of task assignment, increasing the resource information factors of high task-accomplishing rate and decreasing ones of low accomplishing rate would make load accomplishing rate approach the same value as quickly as possible, then in the later process of task assignment, the load balanced ability of the system was further improved. Experimental results show by improving ant algorithm, our system not only decreases many disadvantage of the traditional ant algorithm, but also like ants looking for food effectively distributes the complicated landform algorithm to many computers to process cooperatively and gains a satisfying search result.

[18F]FDDNP PET in Tauopathies: Correlation to post mortem Pathology in a Case of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villegas, Brendon Josef

This investigation of [18F]FDDNP was conducted in an effort to confirm the presence of disease in a patient with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and to correlate the ante mortem PET scan results to the post mortem pathology. The immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent staining of Paired Helical Filamentous (PHF) tau (AT8) and Amyloid Beta (6F/3D) misfolded proteins demonstrated a widespread deposition in the cortical and subcortical nuclei, the white matter, cerebellar white matter and the medulla oblongata. The in vitro autoradiography demonstrated a neocortical signal comprised of well-delineated amyloid beta in the nucleated layers I/II and hyperphosphorylated tau in the deeper layers III through VI. The autoradiography was well correlated with the immunohistochemical staining in adjacent tissue slides. The binding of the parametric [ 18F]FDDNP distribution volume ratio (DVR) correlated well (Spearman's rho = 0.962, p = .004) with the deposition of tau but not with the presence of amyloid beta (Spearman's rho = -0.829, p = .041). The [ 18F]FDDNP DVR signal appears to be primarily due to the large amount of bound hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) and the amyloid beta negligibly contributes to the total signal. Unlabeled FDDNP was shown to bind to tau in the form of globose tangles in the rostral ventromedial medulla as confirmed with both Thioflavin S and PHF-tau Immunofluorescence. The binding of [18F]FDDNP to the human neuroanatomy was investigated in two cohorts of distinct tauopathies and compared to the binding in two tau-negative cohorts against control patients. A cohort of PSP patients (n = 12) with a mean age of 63.8 years and a cohort of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) patients (n = 14) with a mean age of 58.1 years are both characterized by the presence of various degrees of tau pathology in their brains. The cohort of Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients (n = 16) with a mean age of 63.2 years is initially characterized by clinical symptoms similar to PSP [18F]FDDNP is able to differentiate between PD and PSP with statistical significance (p < .05) in the striatum; particularly within the caudate nucleus. The Huntington's Disease (HD) patients (n = 15) with a mean age of 36.8 years display motor degeneration from a loss of striatal medium spiny neurons with no presence of amyloid beta or p-tau. It has further been demonstrated with statistical certainty that CTE is discernible from control patients in the amygdala, the midbrain, the caudate nucleus and the anterior cingulate gyrus (p < .05). On the other hand, the HD and PD cohort were both found to have decreased binding of [18F]FDDNP binding in caudate nucleus when compared to all the control patients (p < .05). In the tauopathy cases studied, [18F]FDDNP has successfully demonstrated its differential capability to discriminate between PSP, CTE and PD. The [18F]FDDNP DVR signal in the cases of PSP and CTE closely correlated with hyperphosphorylated tau deposition, as confirmed by the post mortem autopsy of a case with PSP.

ACOustic: A Nature-Inspired Exploration Indicator for Ant Colony Optimization.

PubMed

Sagban, Rafid; Ku-Mahamud, Ku Ruhana; Abu Bakar, Muhamad Shahbani

2015-01-01

A statistical machine learning indicator, ACOustic, is proposed to evaluate the exploration behavior in the iterations of ant colony optimization algorithms. This idea is inspired by the behavior of some parasites in their mimicry to the queens' acoustics of their ant hosts. The parasites' reaction results from their ability to indicate the state of penetration. The proposed indicator solves the problem of robustness that results from the difference of magnitudes in the distance's matrix, especially when combinatorial optimization problems with rugged fitness landscape are applied. The performance of the proposed indicator is evaluated against the existing indicators in six variants of ant colony optimization algorithms. Instances for travelling salesman problem and quadratic assignment problem are used in the experimental evaluation. The analytical results showed that the proposed indicator is more informative and more robust.

How do ants make sense of gravity? A Boltzmann Walker analysis of Lasius niger trajectories on various inclines.

PubMed

Khuong, Anaïs; Lecheval, Valentin; Fournier, Richard; Blanco, Stéphane; Weitz, Sébastian; Bezian, Jean-Jacques; Gautrais, Jacques

2013-01-01

The goal of this study is to describe accurately how the directional information given by support inclinations affects the ant Lasius niger motion in terms of a behavioral decision. To this end, we have tracked the spontaneous motion of 345 ants walking on a 0.5×0.5 m plane canvas, which was tilted with 5 various inclinations by [Formula: see text] rad ([Formula: see text] data points). At the population scale, support inclination favors dispersal along uphill and downhill directions. An ant's decision making process is modeled using a version of the Boltzmann Walker model, which describes an ant's random walk as a series of straight segments separated by reorientation events, and was extended to take directional influence into account. From the data segmented accordingly ([Formula: see text] segments), this extension allows us to test separately how average speed, segments lengths and reorientation decisions are affected by support inclination and current walking direction of the ant. We found that support inclination had a major effect on average speed, which appeared approximately three times slower on the [Formula: see text] incline. However, we found no effect of the walking direction on speed. Contrastingly, we found that ants tend to walk longer in the same direction when they move uphill or downhill, and also that they preferentially adopt new uphill or downhill headings at turning points. We conclude that ants continuously adapt their decision making about where to go, and how long to persist in the same direction, depending on how they are aligned with the line of maximum declivity gradient. Hence, their behavioral decision process appears to combine klinokinesis with geomenotaxis. The extended Boltzmann Walker model parameterized by these effects gives a fair account of the directional dispersal of ants on inclines.

A Keystone Ant Species Provides Robust Biological Control of the Coffee Berry Borer Under Varying Pest Densities.

PubMed

Morris, Jonathan R; Vandermeer, John; Perfecto, Ivette

2015-01-01

Species' functional traits are an important part of the ecological complexity that determines the provisioning of ecosystem services. In biological pest control, predator response to pest density variation is a dynamic trait that impacts the provision of this service in agroecosystems. When pest populations fluctuate, farmers relying on biocontrol services need to know how natural enemies respond to these changes. Here we test the effect of variation in coffee berry borer (CBB) density on the biocontrol efficiency of a keystone ant species (Azteca sericeasur) in a coffee agroecosystem. We performed exclosure experiments to measure the infestation rate of CBB released on coffee branches in the presence and absence of ants at four different CBB density levels. We measured infestation rate as the number of CBB bored into fruits after 24 hours, quantified biocontrol efficiency (BCE) as the proportion of infesting CBB removed by ants, and estimated functional response from ant attack rates, measured as the difference in CBB infestation between branches. Infestation rates of CBB on branches with ants were significantly lower (71%-82%) than on those without ants across all density levels. Additionally, biocontrol efficiency was generally high and did not significantly vary across pest density treatments. Furthermore, ant attack rates increased linearly with increasing CBB density, suggesting a Type I functional response. These results demonstrate that ants can provide robust biological control of CBB, despite variation in pest density, and that the response of predators to pest density variation is an important factor in the provision of biocontrol services. Considering how natural enemies respond to changes in pest densities will allow for more accurate biocontrol predictions and better-informed management of this ecosystem service in agroecosystems.

A Keystone Ant Species Provides Robust Biological Control of the Coffee Berry Borer Under Varying Pest Densities

PubMed Central

Morris, Jonathan R.; Vandermeer, John; Perfecto, Ivette

2015-01-01

Species’ functional traits are an important part of the ecological complexity that determines the provisioning of ecosystem services. In biological pest control, predator response to pest density variation is a dynamic trait that impacts the provision of this service in agroecosystems. When pest populations fluctuate, farmers relying on biocontrol services need to know how natural enemies respond to these changes. Here we test the effect of variation in coffee berry borer (CBB) density on the biocontrol efficiency of a keystone ant species (Azteca sericeasur) in a coffee agroecosystem. We performed exclosure experiments to measure the infestation rate of CBB released on coffee branches in the presence and absence of ants at four different CBB density levels. We measured infestation rate as the number of CBB bored into fruits after 24 hours, quantified biocontrol efficiency (BCE) as the proportion of infesting CBB removed by ants, and estimated functional response from ant attack rates, measured as the difference in CBB infestation between branches. Infestation rates of CBB on branches with ants were significantly lower (71%-82%) than on those without ants across all density levels. Additionally, biocontrol efficiency was generally high and did not significantly vary across pest density treatments. Furthermore, ant attack rates increased linearly with increasing CBB density, suggesting a Type I functional response. These results demonstrate that ants can provide robust biological control of CBB, despite variation in pest density, and that the response of predators to pest density variation is an important factor in the provision of biocontrol services. Considering how natural enemies respond to changes in pest densities will allow for more accurate biocontrol predictions and better-informed management of this ecosystem service in agroecosystems. PMID:26562676

How Do Ants Make Sense of Gravity? A Boltzmann Walker Analysis of Lasius niger Trajectories on Various Inclines

PubMed Central

Khuong, Anaïs; Lecheval, Valentin; Fournier, Richard; Blanco, Stéphane; Weitz, Sébastian; Bezian, Jean-Jacques; Gautrais, Jacques

2013-01-01

The goal of this study is to describe accurately how the directional information given by support inclinations affects the ant Lasius niger motion in terms of a behavioral decision. To this end, we have tracked the spontaneous motion of 345 ants walking on a 0.5×0.5 m plane canvas, which was tilted with 5 various inclinations by rad ( data points). At the population scale, support inclination favors dispersal along uphill and downhill directions. An ant's decision making process is modeled using a version of the Boltzmann Walker model, which describes an ant's random walk as a series of straight segments separated by reorientation events, and was extended to take directional influence into account. From the data segmented accordingly ( segments), this extension allows us to test separately how average speed, segments lengths and reorientation decisions are affected by support inclination and current walking direction of the ant. We found that support inclination had a major effect on average speed, which appeared approximately three times slower on the incline. However, we found no effect of the walking direction on speed. Contrastingly, we found that ants tend to walk longer in the same direction when they move uphill or downhill, and also that they preferentially adopt new uphill or downhill headings at turning points. We conclude that ants continuously adapt their decision making about where to go, and how long to persist in the same direction, depending on how they are aligned with the line of maximum declivity gradient. Hence, their behavioral decision process appears to combine klinokinesis with geomenotaxis. The extended Boltzmann Walker model parameterized by these effects gives a fair account of the directional dispersal of ants on inclines. PMID:24204636

The Effect of Trail Pheromone and Path Confinement on Learning of Complex Routes in the Ant Lasius niger

PubMed Central

Czaczkes, Tomer J.; Weichselgartner, Tobias; Bernadou, Abel; Heinze, Jürgen

2016-01-01

Route learning is key to the survival of many central place foragers, such as bees and many ants. For ants which lay pheromone trails, the presence of a trail may act as an important source of information about whether an error has been made. The presence of trail pheromone has been demonstrated to support route learning, and the effect of pheromones on route choice have been reported to persist even after the pheromones have been removed. This could be explained in two ways: the pheromone may constrain the ants onto the correct route, thus preventing errors and aiding learning. Alternatively, the pheromones may act as a ‘reassurance’, signalling that the learner is on the right path and that learning the path is worthwhile. Here, we disentangle pheromone presence from route confinement in order to test these hypotheses, using the ant Lasius niger as a model. Unexpectedly, we did not find any evidence that pheromones support route learning. Indeed, there was no evidence that ants confined to the correct route learned at all. Thus, while we cannot support the ‘reassurance’ hypothesis, we can rule out the ‘confinement’ hypothesis. Other findings, such as a reduction in pheromone deposition in the presence of trail pheromones, are remarkably consistent with previous experiments. As previously reported, ants which make errors on their outward journey upregulate pheromone deposition on their return. Surprisingly, ants which would go on to make an error down-regulate pheromone deposition on their outward journey, hinting at a capacity for ants to gauge the quality of their own memories. PMID:26959996

Aspectos ecologicos, toxicologicos y agricolas de la hormiga brasileña Solenopsis invicta

Treesearch

J. A. Torres

1990-01-01

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta recently invaded in Puerto Rico. Its presence has created great alarm among farmers and the public. This work reviews the ecology of this ant in the United States, Brazil and Puerto Rico in order to clarify some misconceptions. Information is provided to separate Solenopsis invicta from S. geminata. Colony foundation, caste...

Bi-stability in cooperative transport by ants in the presence of obstacles

PubMed Central

Pinkoviezky, Itai; Feinerman, Ofer

2018-01-01

To cooperatively carry large food items to the nest, individual ants conform their efforts and coordinate their motion. Throughout this expedition, collective motion is driven both by internal interactions between the carrying ants and a response to newly arrived informed ants that orient the cargo towards the nest. During the transport process, the carrying group must overcome obstacles that block their path to the nest. Here, we investigate the dynamics of cooperative transport, when the motion of the ants is frustrated by a linear obstacle that obstructs the motion of the cargo. The obstacle contains a narrow opening that serves as the only available passage to the nest, and through which single ants can pass but not with the cargo. We provide an analytical model for the ant-cargo system in the constrained environment that predicts a bi-stable dynamic behavior between an oscillatory mode of motion along the obstacle and a convergent mode of motion near the opening. Using both experiments and simulations, we show how for small cargo sizes, the system exhibits spontaneous transitions between these two modes of motion due to fluctuations in the applied force on the cargo. The bi-stability provides two possible problem solving strategies for overcoming the obstacle, either by attempting to pass through the opening, or take large excursions to circumvent the obstacle. PMID:29746457

Bi-stability in cooperative transport by ants in the presence of obstacles.

PubMed

Ron, Jonathan E; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Feinerman, Ofer; Gov, Nir S

2018-05-01

To cooperatively carry large food items to the nest, individual ants conform their efforts and coordinate their motion. Throughout this expedition, collective motion is driven both by internal interactions between the carrying ants and a response to newly arrived informed ants that orient the cargo towards the nest. During the transport process, the carrying group must overcome obstacles that block their path to the nest. Here, we investigate the dynamics of cooperative transport, when the motion of the ants is frustrated by a linear obstacle that obstructs the motion of the cargo. The obstacle contains a narrow opening that serves as the only available passage to the nest, and through which single ants can pass but not with the cargo. We provide an analytical model for the ant-cargo system in the constrained environment that predicts a bi-stable dynamic behavior between an oscillatory mode of motion along the obstacle and a convergent mode of motion near the opening. Using both experiments and simulations, we show how for small cargo sizes, the system exhibits spontaneous transitions between these two modes of motion due to fluctuations in the applied force on the cargo. The bi-stability provides two possible problem solving strategies for overcoming the obstacle, either by attempting to pass through the opening, or take large excursions to circumvent the obstacle.

Ultrasonographic findings in goats with contagious caprine pleuropneumonia caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae.

PubMed

Tharwat, Mohamed; Al-Sobayil, Fahd

2017-08-22

In goats, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is a cause of major economic losses in Africa, Asia and in the Middle East. There is no information emphasising the importance of diagnostic ultrasound in goats with CCPP caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp). This study was designed to describe the ultrasonographic findings in goats with CCPP caused by Mccp and to correlate ultrasonographic with post-mortem findings. To this end, 55 goats with CCPP were examined. Twenty-five healthy adult goats were used as a control group. Major clinical findings included harried, painful respiration, dyspnoea and mouth breathing. On ultrasonography, a liver-like echotexture was imaged in 13 goats. Upon post-mortem examination, all 13 goats exhibited unilateral pulmonary consolidation. Seven goats had a unilateral hypoechoic pleural effusion. At necropsy, the related lung was consolidated and the pleural fluid appeared turbid and greenish. Pleural abscessiation detected in five goats was confirmed post-mortem. Twenty-eight goats had a bright, fibrinous matrix extending over the chest wall containing numerous anechoic fluid pockets with medial displacement and compression of lung tissue. Echogenic tags imaged floating in the fluid were found upon post-mortem examination to be fibrin. In two goats, a consolidated right parenchyma was imaged together with hypoechoic pericardial effusions with echogenic tags covering the epicardium. At necropsy, the right lung was consolidated in three goats and fibrin threads were found covering the epicardium and pericardium. In goats with CCPP, the extension and the severity of the pulmonary changes could not be verified with clinical certainty in most cases, whereas this was possible most of the time with sonography, thus making the prognosis easier. Ultrasonographic examination of the pleurae and the lungs helped in the detection of various lesions.

The importance of post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) in confrontation with conventional forensic autopsy of victims of motorcycle accidents.

PubMed

Moskała, Artur; Woźniak, Krzysztof; Kluza, Piotr; Romaszko, Karol; Lopatin, Oleksij

2016-01-01

Since traffic accidents are an important problem in forensic medicine, there is a constant search for new solutions to help with an investigation process in such cases. In recent years there was a rapid development of post-mortem imaging techniques, especially post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT). In our work we concentrated on a potential advantage of PMCT in cases of motorcycle accident fatalities. The results of forensic autopsy were compared with combined results of the autopsy and PMCT to check in which areas use of these two techniques gives statistically important increase in number of findings. The hypothesis was confirmed in case of pneumothorax and fractures of skull, spine, clavicle, scapula, lower leg bones. As for majority of other bone fractures locations and brain injures there were single cases with pathologies visible only in PMCT, but too few to reach expected level of p-value. In case of injuries of solid organs and soft tissues statistical analysis did not confirmed any advantage of unenhanced PMCT use. On the whole it has been shown that PMCT used as an adjunct to forensic autopsy can cause an increase in information about vitally important regions in case of motorcycle accident fatalities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Placement of attine ant-associated Pseudonocardia in a global Pseudonocardia phylogeny (Pseudonocardiaceae, Actinomycetales): a test of two symbiont-association models

PubMed Central

Mueller, Ulrich G.; Ishak, Heather; Lee, Jung C.; Sen, Ruchira; Gutell, Robin R.

2010-01-01

We reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships within the bacterial genus Pseudonocardia to evaluate two models explaining how and why Pseudonocardia bacteria colonize the microbial communities on the integument of fungus-gardening ant species (Attini, Formicidae). The traditional Coevolution-Codivergence model views the integument-colonizing Pseudonocardia as mutualistic microbes that are largely vertically transmitted between ant generations and that supply antibiotics that specifically suppress the garden pathogen Escovopsis. The more recent Acquisition model views Pseudonocardia as part of a larger integumental microbe community that frequently colonizes the ant integument from environmental sources (e.g., soil, plant material). Under this latter model, ant-associated Pseudonocardia may have diverse ecological roles on the ant integument (possibly ranging from pathogenic, to commensal, to mutualistic) and are not necessarily related to Escovopsis suppression. We test distinct predictions of these two models regarding the phylogenetic proximity of ant-associated and environmental Pseudonocardia. We amassed 16S-rRNA gene sequence information for 87 attine-associated and 238 environmental Pseudonocardia, aligned the sequences with the help of RNA secondary structure modeling, and reconstructed phylogenetic relationships using a maximum-likelihood approach. We present 16S-rRNA secondary structure models of representative Pseudonocardia species to improve sequence alignments and identify sequencing errors. Our phylogenetic analyses reveal close affinities and even identical sequence matches between environmental Pseudonocardia and ant-associated Pseudonocardia, as well as nesting of environmental Pseudonocardia in subgroups that were previously thought to be specialized to associate only with attine ants. The great majority of ant associated Pseudonocardia are closely related to autotrophic Pseudonocardia and are placed in a large subgroup of Pseudonocardia that is known essentially only from cultured isolates (rather than cloned 16S sequences). The preponderance of the known ant-associated Pseudonocardia in this latter clade of culturable lineages may not necessarily reflect abundance of these Pseudonocardia types on the ants, but isolation biases when screening for Pseudonocardia (e.g., preferential isolation of autotrophic Pseudonocardia with minimum-nutrient media). The accumulated phylogenetic patterns and the possibility of isolation biases in previous work further erode support for the traditional Coevolution-Codivergence model and calls for continued revision of our understanding how and why Pseudonocardia colonize the microbial communities on the integument of fungus-gardening ant species. PMID:20333466

Placement of attine ant-associated Pseudonocardia in a global Pseudonocardia phylogeny (Pseudonocardiaceae, Actinomycetales): a test of two symbiont-association models.

PubMed

Mueller, Ulrich G; Ishak, Heather; Lee, Jung C; Sen, Ruchira; Gutell, Robin R

2010-08-01

We reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships within the bacterial genus Pseudonocardia to evaluate two models explaining how and why Pseudonocardia bacteria colonize the microbial communities on the integument of fungus-gardening ant species (Attini, Formicidae). The traditional Coevolution-Codivergence model views the integument-colonizing Pseudonocardia as mutualistic microbes that are largely vertically transmitted between ant generations and that supply antibiotics that specifically suppress the garden pathogen Escovopsis. The more recent Acquisition model views Pseudonocardia as part of a larger integumental microbe community that frequently colonizes the ant integument from environmental sources (e.g., soil, plant material). Under this latter model, ant-associated Pseudonocardia may have diverse ecological roles on the ant integument (possibly ranging from pathogenic, to commensal, to mutualistic) and are not necessarily related to Escovopsis suppression. We test distinct predictions of these two models regarding the phylogenetic proximity of ant-associated and environmental Pseudonocardia. We amassed 16S-rRNA gene sequence information for 87 attine-associated and 238 environmental Pseudonocardia, aligned the sequences with the help of RNA secondary structure modeling, and reconstructed phylogenetic relationships using a maximum-likelihood approach. We present 16S-rRNA secondary structure models of representative Pseudonocardia species to improve sequence alignments and identify sequencing errors. Our phylogenetic analyses reveal close affinities and even identical sequence matches between environmental Pseudonocardia and ant-associated Pseudonocardia, as well as nesting of environmental Pseudonocardia in subgroups that were previously thought to be specialized to associate only with attine ants. The great majority of ant-associated Pseudonocardia are closely related to autotrophic Pseudonocardia and are placed in a large subgroup of Pseudonocardia that is known essentially only from cultured isolates (rather than cloned 16S sequences). The preponderance of the known ant-associated Pseudonocardia in this latter clade of culturable lineages may not necessarily reflect abundance of these Pseudonocardia types on the ants, but isolation biases when screening for Pseudonocardia (e.g., preferential isolation of autotrophic Pseudonocardia with minimum-nutrient media). The accumulated phylogenetic patterns and the possibility of isolation biases in previous work further erode support for the traditional Coevolution-Codivergence model and calls for continued revision of our understanding how and why Pseudonocardia colonize the microbial communities on the integument of fungus-gardening ant species.

Chronology of histological changes after band ligation of esophageal varices in humans.

PubMed

Polski, J M; Brunt, E M; Saeed, Z A

2001-05-01

While the histological effects of endoscopic sclerotherapy in humans have been extensively described, the effects of endoscopic ligation have been reported in only two cases. The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the chronological sequence of histological changes after ligation of esophageal varices. Autopsy specimens from six patients who received ligation of varices from nine hours to 22 months ante-mortem were evaluated for gross and microscopic changes. Early after ligation, the appearance was that of a polyp with its base compressed by the band. Variceal thrombosis was seen on day 2. Varying degrees of ischemic necrosis of the polyp were present on days 0-5. If the bands did not remain in situ for two days (premature loss), necrosis of the polyp and dilated variceal vessels were seen. On day 22, superficial ulcers were observed. After complete healing, fibrosis was seen in the submucosa. The changes seen in the present study are similar to those described in animals. The delay in ulcer healing, compared with the gross changes reported during follow-up endoscopic examinations, may be related to the severity of the underlying illness and the compromised immune status of patients in the present series.

Material Enactments of Identities and Learning in Everyday Community Practices: Implications for Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aberton, Helen

2012-01-01

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in applying actor-network theory (ANT) to educational research and analysis. This article presents an account of how an ANT analysis of socio-material practices with a focus on objects can bring informal learning and identity formation to view. It is based on a doctoral study of the everyday…

The contribution of red wood ants to soil C and N pools and CO2 emissions in subalpine forests

Treesearch

Anita C. Risch; Martin F. Jurgensen; Martin Schutz; Deborah S. Page-Dumroese

2005-01-01

Little information is available regarding red wood ant (RWA; Formica rufa group) impacts on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in forest ecosystems. We found that RWA mound density (number per ha) was linked to forest tree species composition, slope aspect, and canopy closure. The size of RWA mounds was positively correlated with successional...

The Anatomy of Amnesia: Neurohistological Analysis of Three New Cases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gold, Jeffrey J.; Squire, Larry R.

2006-01-01

The most useful information about the anatomy of human memory comes from cases where there has been extensive neuropsychological testing followed by detailed post-mortem neurohistological analysis. To our knowledge, only eight such cases have been reported (four with medial temporal lobe damage and four with diencephalic damage). Here we present…

[Level of information of students at the University of Regensburg concerning organ donation and transplantation--informed or not informed consent in organ donation?].

PubMed

Banas, B; Bleyer, B; Eckert, M; Gruber, H; Pfirstinger, J; Schaller, O; Dietl, B

2013-04-01

As a result of the actual amendment of the German transplantation law, every citizen will be regularly asked by health insurance companies about his attitude towards post-mortem organ donation--without the obligation to decide. The aim is to increase the willingness of donations as well as the availability of organs. Therefore, we investigated the level of information of students at the University of Regensburg and their agreement to organ transplantation regarding an informed consent. Using an interdisciplinary developed questionnaire (Medicine, Theology, Educational Science) the level of information concerning process and possibilities of organ donation, the possession of an organ donor card, as well as the active or passive consent to donate organs was investigated. Out of 1225 respondents 31.5% had an organ donor card, 49.1% wanted to donate organs, 32.1% were unsure. 98% generally favoured organ donation. However, serious information deficits about brain death were identified: 37.4% did not know that brain death is a prerequisite for a post-mortem organ donation, 18% thought brain death is reversible, 52.7% were not aware of the necessity of intensive medical care. Furthermore, providing information about other potential donor organs including lungs, pancreas, small intestine, and tissue is required. Health insurance companies and responsible authorities need to close the identified gaps in knowledge in order to achieve "informed" consent with organ donation, which might increase the availability and number of donor organs. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Ant trophallactic networks: simultaneous measurement of interaction patterns and food dissemination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenwald, Efrat; Segre, Enrico; Feinerman, Ofer

2015-07-01

Eusocial societies and ants, in particular, maintain tight nutritional regulation at both individual and collective levels. The mechanisms that underlie this control are far from trivial since, in these distributed systems, information about the global supply and demand is not available to any single individual. Here we present a novel technique for non-intervening frequent measurement of the food load of all individuals in an ant colony, including during trophallactic events in which food is transferred by mouth-to-mouth feeding. Ants are imaged using a dual camera setup that produces both barcode-based identification and fluorescence measurement of labeled food. This system provides detailed measurements that enable one to quantitatively study the adaptive food distribution network. To demonstrate the capabilities of our method, we present sample observations that were unattainable using previous techniques, and could provide insight into the mechanisms underlying food exchange.

Aphid Alarm Pheromone as a Cue for Ants to Locate Aphid Partners

PubMed Central

Verheggen, François J.; Diez, Lise; Sablon, Ludovic; Fischer, Christophe; Bartram, Stefan; Haubruge, Eric; Detrain, Claire

2012-01-01

The mutualistic relationships that occur between myrmecophilous aphids and ants are based on the rich food supply that honeydew represents for ants and on the protection they provide against aphid natural enemies. While aphid predators and parasitoids actively forage for oviposition sites by using aphid semiochemicals, scouts of aphid-tending ant species would also benefit from locating honeydew resources by orienting toward aphid pheromone sources. The present study aims to provide additional information on the use of Aphis fabae alarm pheromone, i.e. (E)-β-farnesene (EβF), by ant scouts. The perception and behavioral impact of EβF on Lasius niger were investigated using electroantennography and two bio-assays measuring their attraction and orientation towards aphid semiochemicals. Pronounced electrical depolarizations were observed from L. niger scout antennae to stimulations of A. fabae alarm pheromone, while other sesquiterpenes elicited weak or no responses. L. niger scouts were significantly attracted toward EβF in a four-arm olfactometer, as well as in an two-choice bioassay. These laboratory results suggest for the first time that low amounts of aphid alarm pheromone can be used by L. niger scouts as a cue indicating the presence of aphid colonies and could therefore mediate the aphid-ant partnership in the field. PMID:22870255

Visual Navigation during Colony Emigration by the Ant Temnothorax rugatulus

PubMed Central

Bowens, Sean R.; Glatt, Daniel P.; Pratt, Stephen C.

2013-01-01

Many ants rely on both visual cues and self-generated chemical signals for navigation, but their relative importance varies across species and context. We evaluated the roles of both modalities during colony emigration by Temnothorax rugatulus. Colonies were induced to move from an old nest in the center of an arena to a new nest at the arena edge. In the midst of the emigration the arena floor was rotated 60°around the old nest entrance, thus displacing any substrate-bound odor cues while leaving visual cues unchanged. This manipulation had no effect on orientation, suggesting little influence of substrate cues on navigation. When this rotation was accompanied by the blocking of most visual cues, the ants became highly disoriented, suggesting that they did not fall back on substrate cues even when deprived of visual information. Finally, when the substrate was left in place but the visual surround was rotated, the ants' subsequent headings were strongly rotated in the same direction, showing a clear role for visual navigation. Combined with earlier studies, these results suggest that chemical signals deposited by Temnothorax ants serve more for marking of familiar territory than for orientation. The ants instead navigate visually, showing the importance of this modality even for species with small eyes and coarse visual acuity. PMID:23671713

Gaseous templates in ant nests.

PubMed

Cox, M D; Blanchard, G B

2000-05-21

We apply a diffusion model to the atmosphere of ant nests. With particular reference to carbon dioxide (CO2), we explore analytically and numerically the spatial and temporal patterns of brood- or worker-produced gases in nests. The maximum concentration within a typical one-chamber ant nest with approximately 200 ants can reach 12.5 times atmospheric concentration, reaching 95% of equilibrium concentrations within 15 min. Maximum concentration increases with increasing number of ants in the nest (or production rate of the gas), distance between the centre of the nest ants and the nest entrance, entrance length, wall thickness, and with decreasing entrance width, wall permeability and diffusion coefficient. The nest can be divided into three qualitatively distinct regions according to the shape of the gradient: a plateau of high concentration in the back half of the nest; an intermediate region of increasingly steep gradient towards the entrance; and a steep linear gradient in the entrance tunnel. These regions are robust to changes in gas concentrations, but vary with changes in nest architecture. The pattern of diffusing gases contains information about position and orientation relative to gas sources and sinks, and about colony state, including colony size, activity state and aspects of nest architecture. We discuss how this diffusion pattern may act as a "dynamic template", providing local cues which trigger behavioural acts appropriate to colony needs, which in turn may feed back to changes in the gas template. In particular, wall building occurs along lines of similar concentration for a variety of nest geometries; there is surprising convergence between the period of cycles of synchronously active ants and the time taken for CO2 levels to equilibrate; and the qualitatively distinct regions of the "dynamic template" correspond to regions occupied by different groups of ants.

Bertrand and Cournot oligopolies when rivals' costs are unknown

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Flávio

2010-10-01

We study Bertrand and Cournot oligopoly models with incomplete information about rivals' costs, where the uncertainty is given by a uniform distribution. We compute the Bayesian-Nash equilibrium of both games, the ex-ante expected profits and the ex-post profits of each firm. We see that, in the price competition, even though only one firm produces in equilibrium, all firms have a positive ex-ante expected profit.

Navigational Efficiency of Nocturnal Myrmecia Ants Suffers at Low Light Levels

PubMed Central

Narendra, Ajay; Reid, Samuel F.; Raderschall, Chloé A.

2013-01-01

Insects face the challenge of navigating to specific goals in both bright sun-lit and dim-lit environments. Both diurnal and nocturnal insects use quite similar navigation strategies. This is despite the signal-to-noise ratio of the navigational cues being poor at low light conditions. To better understand the evolution of nocturnal life, we investigated the navigational efficiency of a nocturnal ant, Myrmecia pyriformis, at different light levels. Workers of M. pyriformis leave the nest individually in a narrow light-window in the evening twilight to forage on nest-specific Eucalyptus trees. The majority of foragers return to the nest in the morning twilight, while few attempt to return to the nest throughout the night. We found that as light levels dropped, ants paused for longer, walked more slowly, the success in finding the nest reduced and their paths became less straight. We found that in both bright and dark conditions ants relied predominantly on visual landmark information for navigation and that landmark guidance became less reliable at low light conditions. It is perhaps due to the poor navigational efficiency at low light levels that the majority of foragers restrict navigational tasks to the twilight periods, where sufficient navigational information is still available. PMID:23484052

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McKinnon, Archibald D.; Thompson, Seth R.; Doroshchuk, Ruslan A.

mart grid technologies are transforming the electric power grid into a grid with bi-directional flows of both power and information. Operating millions of new smart meters and smart appliances will significantly impact electric distribution systems resulting in greater efficiency. However, the scale of the grid and the new types of information transmitted will potentially introduce several security risks that cannot be addressed by traditional, centralized security techniques. We propose a new bio-inspired cyber security approach. Social insects, such as ants and bees, have developed complex-adaptive systems that emerge from the collective application of simple, light-weight behaviors. The Digital Ants frameworkmore » is a bio-inspired framework that uses mobile light-weight agents. Sensors within the framework use digital pheromones to communicate with each other and to alert each other of possible cyber security issues. All communication and coordination is both localized and decentralized thereby allowing the framework to scale across the large numbers of devices that will exist in the smart grid. Furthermore, the sensors are light-weight and therefore suitable for implementation on devices with limited computational resources. This paper will provide a brief overview of the Digital Ants framework and then present results from test bed-based demonstrations that show that Digital Ants can identify a cyber attack scenario against smart meter deployments.« less

Human Provenancing: It's Elemental…

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meier-Augenstein, Wolfram; Kemp

2009-04-01

Forensic science already uses a variety of methods often in combination to determine a deceased person's identity if neither personal effects nor next of kin (or close friends) can positively identify the victim. While disciplines such as forensic anthropology are able to work from a blank canvass as it were and can provide information on age, gender and ethnical grouping, techniques such as DNA profiling do rely on finding a match either in a database or a comparative sample presumed to be an ante-mortem sample of the victim or from a putative relation. Chances for either to succeed would be greatly enhanced if information gained from a forensic anthropological examination and, circumstances permitting a facial reconstruction could be linked to another technique that can work from a blank canvass or at least does not require comparison to a subject specific database. With the help of isotope ratio mass spectrometry even the very atoms from which a body is made can be used to say something about a person that will help to focus human identification using traditional techniques such as DNA, fingerprints and odontology. Stable isotope fingerprinting works on the basis that almost all chemical elements and in particular the so-called light elements such as carbon (C) that comprise most of the human body occur naturally in different forms, namely isotopes. 2H isotope abundance values recorded by the human body through food and drink ultimately reflect averaged isotopic composition of precipitation or ground water. Stable isotope analysis of 2H isotopic composition in different human tissue such as hair, nails, bone and teeth enables us to construct a time resolved isotopic profile or ‘fingerprint' that may not necessarily permit direct identification of a murder victim or mass disaster victim but in conjunction with forensic anthropological information will provide sufficient intelligence to construct a profile for intelligence lead identification stating where a victim was from (point of origin), how old they were, what their ‘life style' was and even if and where they had recently travelled. Data from several criminal investigations are presented to illustrate potential and limitation of stable isotope analysis of human tissue in aid of victim identification.

Compass cues used by a nocturnal bull ant, Myrmecia midas.

PubMed

Freas, Cody A; Narendra, Ajay; Cheng, Ken

2017-05-01

Ants use both terrestrial landmarks and celestial cues to navigate to and from their nest location. These cues persist even as light levels drop during the twilight/night. Here, we determined the compass cues used by a nocturnal bull ant, Myrmecia midas , in which the majority of individuals begin foraging during the evening twilight period. Myrmecia midas foragers with vectors of ≤5   m when displaced to unfamiliar locations did not follow the home vector, but instead showed random heading directions. Foragers with larger home vectors (≥10   m) oriented towards the fictive nest, indicating a possible increase in cue strength with vector length. When the ants were displaced locally to create a conflict between the home direction indicated by the path integrator and terrestrial landmarks, foragers oriented using landmark information exclusively and ignored any accumulated home vector regardless of vector length. When the visual landmarks at the local displacement site were blocked, foragers were unable to orient to the nest direction and their heading directions were randomly distributed. Myrmecia midas ants typically nest at the base of the tree and some individuals forage on the same tree. Foragers collected on the nest tree during evening twilight were unable to orient towards the nest after small lateral displacements away from the nest. This suggests the possibility of high tree fidelity and an inability to extrapolate landmark compass cues from information collected on the tree and at the nest site to close displacement sites. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

The dynamics of ant mosaics in tropical rainforests characterized using the Self-Organizing Map algorithm.

PubMed

Dejean, Alain; Azémar, Frédéric; Céréghino, Régis; Leponce, Maurice; Corbara, Bruno; Orivel, Jérôme; Compin, Arthur

2016-08-01

Ants, the most abundant taxa among canopy-dwelling animals in tropical rainforests, are mostly represented by territorially dominant arboreal ants (TDAs) whose territories are distributed in a mosaic pattern (arboreal ant mosaics). Large TDA colonies regulate insect herbivores, with implications for forestry and agronomy. What generates these mosaics in vegetal formations, which are dynamic, still needs to be better understood. So, from empirical research based on 3 Cameroonian tree species (Lophira alata, Ochnaceae; Anthocleista vogelii, Gentianaceae; and Barteria fistulosa, Passifloraceae), we used the Self-Organizing Map (SOM, neural network) to illustrate the succession of TDAs as their host trees grow and age. The SOM separated the trees by species and by size for L. alata, which can reach 60 m in height and live several centuries. An ontogenic succession of TDAs from sapling to mature trees is shown, and some ecological traits are highlighted for certain TDAs. Also, because the SOM permits the analysis of data with many zeroes with no effect of outliers on the overall scatterplot distributions, we obtained ecological information on rare species. Finally, the SOM permitted us to show that functional groups cannot be selected at the genus level as congeneric species can have very different ecological niches, something particularly true for Crematogaster spp., which include a species specifically associated with B. fistulosa, nondominant species and TDAs. Therefore, the SOM permitted the complex relationships between TDAs and their growing host trees to be analyzed, while also providing new information on the ecological traits of the ant species involved. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Toxicity of formic acid to red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren.

PubMed

Chen, Jian; Rashid, Tahir; Feng, Guolei

2012-10-01

Ants often compete with other ants for resources. Although formic acid is a common defensive chemical of formicine ants, it does not occur in any other subfamilies in Formicidae. No information on toxicity of formic acid to red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, is available. This study examined its contact and fumigation toxicity to S. invicta in the laboratory. In a contact toxicity bioassay, 24 h LD50 values of formic acid for workers ranged from 124.54 to 197.71 µg ant(-1) . Female alates and queens were much less sensitive to formic acid than workers. At a concentration of 271.72 µg ant(-1) , which killed 81.09 ± 16.04% of workers, the 24 h mortality was up to 39.64% for female alates and 38.89% for queens. In fumigation bioassays, 24 h LC50 values ranged from 0.26 to 0.50 µg mL(-1) for workers, 0.32 µg mL(-1) for male alates and 0.70 µg mL(-1) for female alates. Complete mortality (100%) in queens occurred 24 h after they had been exposed to 1.57 µg mL(-1) of formic acid. At a concentration of 2.09 µg mL(-1) , KT50 values ranged from 23.03 to 43.85 min for workers, from 37.84 to 58.37 min for male alates, from 86.06 to 121.05 min for female alates and from 68.00 to 85.92 min for queens. When applied topically, formic acid was significantly less toxic than bifenthrin to red imported fire ants. Although its fumigation toxicity was lower than that of dichlorvos, formic acid had about an order of magnitude higher toxicity to S. invicta than to other insects studied so far. It may be worth investigating the use of formic acid for managing imported fire ants. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Characterisation of the metabolome of ocular tissues and post-mortem changes in the rat retina.

PubMed

Tan, Shi Z; Mullard, Graham; Hollywood, Katherine A; Dunn, Warwick B; Bishop, Paul N

2016-08-01

Time-dependent post-mortem biochemical changes have been demonstrated in donor cornea and vitreous, but there have been no published studies to date that objectively measure post-mortem changes in the retinal metabolome over time. The aim of the study was firstly, to investigate post-mortem, time-dependent changes in the rat retinal metabolome and secondly, to compare the metabolite composition of healthy rat ocular tissues. To study post-mortem changes in the rat retinal metabolome, globes were enucleated and stored at 4 °C and sampled at 0, 2, 4, 8, 24 and 48 h post-mortem. To study the metabolite composition of rat ocular tissues, eyes were dissected immediately after culling to isolate the cornea, lens, vitreous and retina, prior to storing at -80 °C. Tissue extracts were subjected to Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). Generally, the metabolic composition of the retina was stable for 8 h post-mortem when eyes were stored at 4 °C, but showed increasing changes thereafter. However, some more rapid changes were observed such as increases in TCA cycle metabolites after 2 h post-mortem, whereas some metabolites such as fatty acids only showed decreases in concentration from 24 h. A total of 42 metabolites were identified across the ocular tissues by GC-MS (MSI level 1) and 2782 metabolites were annotated by UHPLC-MS (MSI level 2) according to MSI reporting standards. Many of the metabolites detected were common to all of the tissues but some metabolites showed partitioning between different ocular structures with 655, 297, 93 and 13 metabolites being uniquely detected in the retina, lens, cornea and vitreous respectively. Only a small percentage (1.6%) of metabolites found in the vitreous were only detected in the retina and not other tissues. In conclusion, mass spectrometry-based techniques have been used for the first time to compare the metabolic composition of different ocular tissues. The metabolite composition of the retina stored at 4 °C post-mortem is mostly stable for at least 8 h. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrative mouse and human mRNA studies using WGCNA nominates novel candidate genes involved in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Malki, Karim; Tosto, Maria Grazia; Jumabhoy, Irfan; Lourdusamy, Anbarasu; Sluyter, Frans; Craig, Ian; Uher, Rudolf; McGuffin, Peter; Schalkwyk, Leonard C

2013-12-01

This study aims to identify novel genes associated with major depressive disorder and pharmacological treatment response using animal and human mRNA studies. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis was used to uncover genes associated with stress factors in mice and to inform mRNA probe set selection in a post-mortem study of depression. A total of 171 genes were found to be differentially regulated in response to both early and late stress protocols in a mouse study. Ten human genes, orthologous to mouse genes differentially expressed by stress, were also found to be dysregulated in depressed cases in a human post-mortem brain study from the Stanley Foundation Brain Collection. Several novel genes associated with depression were uncovered, including NOVA1 and USP9X. Moreover, we found further evidence in support of hippocampal neurogenesis and peripheral inflammation in major depressive disorder.

Autism Post-Mortem Neuroinformatic Resource: The Autism Tissue Program (ATP) Informatics Portal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brimacombe, Michael B.; Pickett, Richard; Pickett, Jane

2007-01-01

The Autism Tissue Program (ATP) was established to oversee and manage brain donations related to neurological research in autism. The ATP Informatics Portal (www.atpportal.org) is an integrated data access system based on Oracle technology, developed to provide access for researchers to information on this rare tissue resource. It also permits…

The social life of the dead: The role of post-mortem examinations in medical student socialisation.

PubMed

Goodwin, Dawn; Machin, Laura; Taylor, Adam

2016-07-01

Dissection has held a privileged position in medical education although the professional values it inculcates have been subject to intense debate. Claims vary from it generating a dehumanising level of emotional detachment, to promotion of rational and dispassionate decision-making, even to being a positive vehicle for ethical education. Social scientists have positioned dissection as a critical experience in the emotional socialisation of medical students. However, curricular revision has provoked debate about the style and quantity of anatomy teaching thus threatening this 'rite of passage' of medical students. Consequently, some UK medical schools do not employ dissection at all. In its place, observation of post-mortem examinations - a long established, if underutilised, practice - has re-emerged in an attempt to recoup aspects of anatomical knowledge that are arguably lost when dissection is omitted. Bodies for post-mortem examinations and bodies for dissection, however, have striking differences, meaning that post-mortem examinations and dissection cannot be considered comparable opportunities to learn anatomy. In this article, we explore the distinctions between dissection and post-mortem examinations. In particular, we focus on the absence of a discourse of consent, concerns about bodily integrity, how the body's shifting ontology, between object and person, disrupts students' attempts to distance themselves, and how the observation of post-mortem examinations features in the emotional socialisation of medical students. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information processing speed and attention in multiple sclerosis: Reconsidering the Attention Network Test (ANT).

PubMed

Roth, Alexandra K; Denney, Douglas R; Lynch, Sharon G

2015-01-01

The Attention Network Test (ANT) assesses attention in terms of discrepancies between response times to items that differ in the burden they place on some facet of attention. However, simple arithmetic difference scores commonly used to capture these discrepancies fail to provide adequate control for information processing speed, leading to distorted findings when patient and control groups differ markedly in the speed with which they process and respond to stimulus information. This study examined attention networks in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using simple difference scores, proportional scores, and residualized scores that control for processing speed through statistical regression. Patients with relapsing-remitting (N = 20) or secondary progressive (N = 20) MS and healthy controls (N = 40) of similar age, education, and gender completed the ANT. Substantial differences between patients and controls were found on all measures of processing speed. Patients exhibited difficulties in the executive control network, but only when difference scores were considered. When deficits in information processing speed were adequately controlled using proportional or residualized score, deficits in the alerting network emerged. The effect sizes for these deficits were notably smaller than those for overall information processing speed and were also limited to patients with secondary progressive MS. Deficits in processing speed are more prominent in MS than those involving attention, and when the former are properly accounted for, differences in the latter are confined to the alerting network.

The research of autonomous obstacle avoidance of mobile robot based on multi-sensor integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Ming; Han, Baoling

2016-11-01

The object of this study is the bionic quadruped mobile robot. The study has proposed a system design plan for mobile robot obstacle avoidance with the binocular stereo visual sensor and the self-control 3D Lidar integrated with modified ant colony optimization path planning to realize the reconstruction of the environmental map. Because the working condition of a mobile robot is complex, the result of the 3D reconstruction with a single binocular sensor is undesirable when feature points are few and the light condition is poor. Therefore, this system integrates the stereo vision sensor blumblebee2 and the Lidar sensor together to detect the cloud information of 3D points of environmental obstacles. This paper proposes the sensor information fusion technology to rebuild the environment map. Firstly, according to the Lidar data and visual data on obstacle detection respectively, and then consider two methods respectively to detect the distribution of obstacles. Finally fusing the data to get the more complete, more accurate distribution of obstacles in the scene. Then the thesis introduces ant colony algorithm. It has analyzed advantages and disadvantages of the ant colony optimization and its formation cause deeply, and then improved the system with the help of the ant colony optimization to increase the rate of convergence and precision of the algorithm in robot path planning. Such improvements and integrations overcome the shortcomings of the ant colony optimization like involving into the local optimal solution easily, slow search speed and poor search results. This experiment deals with images and programs the motor drive under the compiling environment of Matlab and Visual Studio and establishes the visual 2.5D grid map. Finally it plans a global path for the mobile robot according to the ant colony algorithm. The feasibility and effectiveness of the system are confirmed by ROS and simulation platform of Linux.

Targeted research to improve invasive species management: yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes in Samoa.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Benjamin D; Auina, Saronna; Stanley, Margaret C

2014-01-01

Lack of biological knowledge of invasive species is recognised as a major factor contributing to eradication failure. Management needs to be informed by a site-specific understanding of the invasion system. Here, we describe targeted research designed to inform the potential eradication of the invasive yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes on Nu'utele island, Samoa. First, we assessed the ant's impacts on invertebrate biodiversity by comparing invertebrate communities between infested and uninfested sites. Second, we investigated the timing of production of sexuals and seasonal variation of worker abundance and nest density. Third, we investigated whether an association existed between A. gracilipes and carbohydrate sources. Within the infested area there were few other ants larger than A. gracilipes, as well as fewer spiders and crabs, indicating that A. gracilipes is indeed a significant conservation concern. The timing of male reproduction appears to be consistent with places elsewhere in the world, but queen reproduction was outside of the known reproductive period for this species in the region, indicating that the timing of treatment regimes used elsewhere are not appropriate for Samoa. Worker abundance and nest density were among the highest recorded in the world, being greater in May than in October. These abundance and nest density data form baselines for quantifying treatment efficacy and set sampling densities for post-treatment assessments. The number of plants and insects capable of providing a carbohydrate supply to ants were greatest where A. gracilipes was present, but it is not clear if this association is causal. Regardless, indirectly controlling ant abundance by controlling carbohydrate supply appears to be promising avenue for research. The type of targeted, site-specific research such as that described here should be an integral part of any eradication program for invasive species to design knowledge-based treatment protocols and determine assessment benchmarks to achieve eradication.

Entedoninae wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae) associated with ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in tropical America, with new species and notes on their biology

PubMed Central

Hansson, Christer; Lachaud, Jean-Paul; Pérez-Lachaud, Gabriela

2011-01-01

Abstract Three new species of Eulophidae associated, or presumed to be associated with ants are described: two species of Horismenus Walker and one species of Microdonophagus Schauff. Information on the biology is also included. The two Horismenus species are from Chiapas, Mexico. Horismenus myrmecophagus sp. n. is known only from females and is a gregarious endoparasitoid in larvae of the weaver ant Camponotus sp. ca. textor. The parasitoids pupate inside the host larva, and an average of 6.7 individuals develops per host. This is the second time a species of genus Horismenus is found parasitizing the brood of a formicine ant of genus Camponotus. Horismenus microdonophagus sp. n. is described from both males and females, and is a gregarious endoparasitoid attacking the larvae of Microdon sp. (Diptera: Syrphidae), a predator on ant brood found in nests of Camponotus sp. ca. textor. The new species of Microdonophagus, Microdonophagus tertius, is from Costa Rica, and known only from the female. Nothing is known about its biology but since another species in same genus, Microdonophagus woodleyi Schauff, is associated with ants through its host, Microdon larva (with same biology as Horismenus microdonophagus), it is possible that also Microdonophagus tertius has this association. A new distributional record for Microdonophagus woodleyi is also reported, extending its distribution from Panama and Colombia to Brazil. PMID:22140342

Ant assemblage (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in three wind farms in the State of Paraná, Brazil.

PubMed

Lutinski, J A; Baucke, L; Filtro, M; Busato, M A; Knakiewicz, A C; Garcia, F R M

2017-03-01

The transformation of natural habitats into areas destined to agriculture or projects of energy production has generated a growing concern about the impact on biological diversity. Thus, this study evaluated the diversity of ants in agroecosystems in the area of direct influence of three wind farms in the municipality of Marmeleiro, State of Paraná and examined the association of occurrences with sampling periods. To this end, four samplings were conducted in 2013, one per season. Pitfalls, Malaise trap and Net sweep were used. The assemblages were characterized and compared using richness and number of occurrences of ants. Chao 2 estimates were calculated and a comparison (rarefaction analysis) of the assemblages was performed. The association of the species with the samples was evaluated by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Altogether, there were 1,576 occurrences of ants, totaling 55 species. The obtained estimate indicated that richness may be up to 35% higher. Our study adds important information about richness and occurrence of ants in a region poorly analyzed for this group. Most of all, it presents a survey of species occurring in agricultural ecosystems that may serve as a parameter for future evaluations when wind farms are installed.

Transmission Electron Microscope In Situ Straining Technique to Directly Observe Defects and Interfaces During Deformation in Magnesium

DOE PAGES

Morrow, Benjamin M.; Cerreta, E. K.; McCabe, R. J.; ...

2015-05-14

In-situ straining was used to study deformation behavior of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) metals.Twinning and dislocation motion, both essential to plasticity in hcp materials, were observed.Typically, these processes are characterized post-mortem by examining remnant microstructural features after straining has occurred. By imposing deformation during imaging, direct observation of active deformation mechanisms is possible. This work focuses on straining of structural metals in a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and a recently developed technique that utilizes familiar procedures and equipment to increase ease of experiments. In-situ straining in a TEM presents several advantages over conventional post-mortem characterization, most notably time-resolution of deformation andmore » streamlined identification of active deformation mechanisms. Drawbacks to the technique and applicability to other studies are also addressed. In-situ straining is used to study twin boundary motion in hcp magnesium. A {101¯2} twin was observed during tensile and compressive loading. Twin-dislocation interactions are directly observed. Notably, dislocations are observed to remain mobile, even after multiple interactions with twin boundaries, a result which suggests that Basinki’s dislocation transformation mechanism by twinning is not present in hcp metals. The coupling of in-situ straining with traditional post-mortem characterization yields more detailed information about material behavior during deformation than either technique alone.« less

Dramatic Differences in Gut Bacterial Densities Correlate with Diet and Habitat in Rainforest Ants.

PubMed

Sanders, Jon G; Lukasik, Piotr; Frederickson, Megan E; Russell, Jacob A; Koga, Ryuichi; Knight, Rob; Pierce, Naomi E

2017-10-01

Abundance is a key parameter in microbial ecology, and important to estimates of potential metabolite flux, impacts of dispersal, and sensitivity of samples to technical biases such as laboratory contamination. However, modern amplicon-based sequencing techniques by themselves typically provide no information about the absolute abundance of microbes. Here, we use fluorescence microscopy and quantitative polymerase chain reaction as independent estimates of microbial abundance to test the hypothesis that microbial symbionts have enabled ants to dominate tropical rainforest canopies by facilitating herbivorous diets, and compare these methods to microbial diversity profiles from 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Through a systematic survey of ants from a lowland tropical forest, we show that the density of gut microbiota varies across several orders of magnitude among ant lineages, with median individuals from many genera only marginally above detection limits. Supporting the hypothesis that microbial symbiosis is important to dominance in the canopy, we find that the abundance of gut bacteria is positively correlated with stable isotope proxies of herbivory among canopy-dwelling ants, but not among ground-dwelling ants. Notably, these broad findings are much more evident in the quantitative data than in the 16S rRNA sequencing data. Our results provide quantitative context to the potential role of bacteria in facilitating the ants' dominance of the tropical rainforest canopy, and have broad implications for the interpretation of sequence-based surveys of microbial diversity. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Investigation of Post-mortem Tissue Effects Using Long-time Decorrelation Ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csány, Gergely; Balogh, Lajos; Gyöngy, Miklós

Decorrelation ultrasound is being increasingly used to investigate long-term biological phenomena. In the current work, ultrasound image sequences of mice who did not survive anesthesia (in a separate investigation) were analyzed and post-mortem tissue effects were observed via decorrelation calculation. A method was developed to obtain a quantitative parameter characterizing the rate of decorrelation. The results show that ultrasound decorrelation imaging is an effective method of observing post-mortem tissue effects and point to further studies elucidating the mechanism behind these effects.

Fire Ant Decapitating Fly Cooperative Release Programs (1994–2008): Two Pseudacteon Species, P. tricuspis and P. curvatus, Rapidly Expand Across Imported Fire Ant Populations in the Southeastern United States

PubMed Central

Callcott, Anne-Marie A.; Porter, Sanford D.; Weeks, Ronald D.; “Fudd” Graham, L. C.; Johnson, Seth J.; Gilbert, Lawrence E.

2011-01-01

Natural enemies of the imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren S. richteri Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and their hybrid, include a suite of more than 20 fire ant decapitating phorid flies from South America in the genus Pseudacteon. Over the past 12 years, many researchers and associates have cooperated in introducing several species as classical or self-sustaining biological control agents in the United States. As a result, two species of flies, Pseudacteon tricuspis Borgmeier and P. curvatus Borgmeier (Diptera: Phoridae), are well established across large areas of the southeastern United States. Whereas many researchers have published local and state information about the establishment and spread of these flies, here distribution data from both published and unpublished sources has been compiled for the entire United States with the goal of presenting confirmed and probable distributions as of the fall of 2008. Documented rates of expansion were also used to predict the distribution of these flies three years later in the fall of 2011. In the fall of 2008, eleven years after the first successful release, we estimate that P. tricuspis covered about 50% of the fire ant quarantined area and that it will occur in almost 65% of the quarantine area by 2011. Complete coverage of the fire ant quarantined area will be delayed or limited by this species' slow rate of spread and frequent failure to establish in more northerly portions of the fire ant range and also, perhaps, by its preference for red imported fire ants (S. invicta). Eight years after the first successful release of P. curvatus, two biotypes of this species (one biotype occurring predominantly in the black and hybrid imported fire ants and the other occurring in red imported fire ants) covered almost 60% of the fire ant quarantined area. We estimate these two biotypes will cover almost 90% of the quarantine area by 2011 and 100% by 2012 or 2013. Strategic selection of several distributional gaps for future releases will accelerate complete coverage of quarantine areas. However, some gaps may be best used for the release of additional species of decapitating flies because establishment rates may be higher in areas without competing species. PMID:21526930

Predatory birds and ants partition caterpillar prey by body size and diet breadth.

PubMed

Singer, Michael S; Clark, Robert E; Lichter-Marck, Issac H; Johnson, Emily R; Mooney, Kailen A

2017-10-01

The effects of predator assemblages on herbivores are predicted to depend critically on predator-predator interactions and the extent to which predators partition prey resources. The role of prey heterogeneity in generating such multiple predator effects has received limited attention. Vertebrate and arthropod insectivores constitute two co-dominant predatory taxa in many ecosystems, and the emergent properties of their joint effects on insect herbivores inform theory on multiple predator effects as well as biological control of insect herbivores. Here we use a large-scale factorial manipulation to assess the extent to which birds and ants engage in antagonistic predator-predator interactions and the consequences of heterogeneity in herbivore body size and diet breadth (i.e. the diversity of host plants used) for prey partitioning. We excluded birds and reduced ant density (by 60%) in the canopies of eight northeastern USA deciduous tree species during two consecutive years and measured the community composition and traits of lepidopteran larvae (caterpillars). Birds did not affect ant density, implying limited intraguild predation between these taxa in this system. Birds preyed selectively upon large-bodied caterpillars (reducing mean caterpillar length by 12%) and ants preyed selectively upon small-bodied caterpillars (increasing mean caterpillar length by 6%). Birds and ants also partitioned caterpillar prey by diet breadth. Birds reduced the frequency dietary generalist caterpillars by 24%, while ants had no effect. In contrast, ants reduced the frequency of dietary specialists by 20%, while birds had no effect, but these effects were non-additive; under bird exclusion, ants had no detectable effect, while in the presence of birds, they reduced the frequency of specialists by 40%. As a likely result of prey partitioning by body size and diet breadth, the combined effects of birds and ants on total caterpillar density were additive, with birds and ants reducing caterpillar density by 44% and 20% respectively. These results show evidence for the role of prey heterogeneity in driving functional complementarity among predators and enhanced top-down control. Heterogeneity in herbivore body size and diet breadth, as well as other prey traits, may represent key predictors of the strength of top-down control from predator communities. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

Self-organized structures in a superorganism: do ants “behave” like molecules?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Detrain, Claire; Deneubourg, Jean-Louis

2006-09-01

While the striking structures (e.g. nest architecture, trail networks) of insect societies may seem familiar to many of us, the understanding of pattern formation still constitutes a challenging problem. Over the last two decades, self-organization has dramatically changed our view on how collective decision-making and structures may emerge out of a population of ant workers having each their own individuality as well as a limited access to information. A variety of collective behaviour spontaneously outcome from multiple interactions between nestmates, even when there is no directing influence imposed by an external template, a pacemaker or a leader. By focussing this review on foraging structures, we show that ant societies display some properties which are usually considered in physico-chemical systems, as typical signatures of self-organization. We detail the key role played by feed-back loops, fluctuations, number of interacting units and sensitivity to environmental factors in the emergence of a structured collective behaviour. Nonetheless, going beyond simple analogies with non-living self-organized patterns, we stress on the specificities of social structures made of complex living units of which the biological features have been selected throughout the evolution depending on their adaptive value. In particular, we consider the ability of each ant individual to process information about environmental and social parameters, to accordingly tune its interactions with nestmates and ultimately to determine the final pattern emerging at the collective level. We emphasize on the parsimony and simplicity of behavioural rules at the individual level which allow an efficient processing of information, energy and matter within the whole colony.

The role of ultraviolet colour in the assessment of mimetic accuracy between Batesian mimics and their models: a case study using ant-mimicking spiders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corcobado, Guadalupe; Herberstein, Marie E.; Pekár, Stano

2016-12-01

The use of ultraviolet (UV) cues for intra- and inter-specific communication is common in many animal species. Still, the role of UV signals under some predator-prey contexts, such as Batesian mimicry, is not clear. Batesian mimicry is a defensive strategy by which a palatable species (the mimic) resembles an unpalatable or noxious species (the model) to avoid predation. This strategy has evolved independently in many different taxa that are predated by species capable of UV perception. Moreover, there is considerable variation in how accurately Batesian mimics resemble their models across species. Our aim was to investigate how UV colour contributed to mimetic accuracy using several ant-mimicking spider species as a case study. We measured the reflectance spectrum (300-700 nm) for several species of mimics and models, and we tested whether they differ in visible and UV colour. We modelled whether two different predators could discriminate between mimics and models using colour information. We found that generally, ant-mimicking spiders differed significantly from their ant models in UV colour and that information from the visible range of light cannot be extrapolated into the UV. Our modelling suggested that wasps should be able to discriminate between mimics and models combining information from visible and the UV light, whereas birds may not discriminate between them. Thus, we show that UV colour can influence mimic accuracy and we discuss its potential role in Batesian mimicry. We conclude that colour, especially in the UV range, should be taken into account when measuring mimetic accuracy.

Groups have a larger cognitive capacity than individuals.

PubMed

Sasaki, Takao; Pratt, Stephen C

2012-10-09

Increasing the number of options can paradoxically lead to worse decisions, a phenomenon known as cognitive overload [1]. This happens when an individual decision-maker attempts to digest information exceeding its processing capacity. Highly integrated groups, such as social insect colonies, make consensus decisions that combine the efforts of many members, suggesting that these groups can overcome individual limitations [2-4]. Here we report that an ant colony choosing a new nest site is less vulnerable to cognitive overload than an isolated ant making this decision on her own. We traced this improvement to differences in individual behavior. In whole colonies, each ant assesses only a small subset of available sites, and the colony combines their efforts to thoroughly explore all options. An isolated ant, on the other hand, must personally assess a larger number of sites to approach the same level of option coverage. By sharing the burden of assessment, the colony avoids overtaxing the abilities of its members. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time to address the problem of post-mortem procurement of organs for transplantation occurring without proper pre-mortem consent.

PubMed

Garwood-Gowers, Austen

2013-09-01

Current cadaveric organ transplant systems allow individuals to be classified as donors after death where they registered wishes in favour of this prior to death. However, systems for registering wishes pertaining to donation fall woefully short of securing proper consent. Furthermore, even jurisdictions which technically require consent to be obtained in order to treat an individual as a donor, allow that consent to be given by next of kin after death in circumstances where there is no evidence of the individual having refused prior to death. This article explores these and related issues with current systems from the perspectives of health law norms, ethics and human rights. It concludes that proper pre-mortem consent ought to be a pre-requisite for post-mortem organ transplantation.

Effects of tea polyphenols on the post-mortem integrity of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) fillet proteins.

PubMed

Zhao, Jin; Lv, Weijin; Wang, Jinlin; Li, Jianrong; Liu, Xiaoxiang; Zhu, Junli

2013-12-01

Tea polyphenols (TP) are known to be important for the post-mortem deterioration of fish muscle and can enhance food quality. To shed light on the influence of TP on the status of large yellow croaker muscle proteins, control and treated fillets (0.1% TP, 0.2% TP and 0.3% TP, w/v) were analysed periodically for myofibrillar protein functional properties (Ca(2+)-ATPase activity, surface hydrophobicity, total sulfhydryl content, emulsion stability index and rheological behaviour). Degradation of the myofibrillar protein myosin could be clearly observed; several proteins were also observed to vary in abundance following post-mortem storage for 25 days. The present study offers new evidence that TP have an effective impact on muscle protein integrity post-mortem. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Moving in Dim Light: Behavioral and Visual Adaptations in Nocturnal Ants.

PubMed

Narendra, Ajay; Kamhi, J Frances; Ogawa, Yuri

2017-11-01

Visual navigation is a benchmark information processing task that can be used to identify the consequence of being active in dim-light environments. Visual navigational information that animals use during the day includes celestial cues such as the sun or the pattern of polarized skylight and terrestrial cues such as the entire panorama, canopy pattern, or significant salient features in the landscape. At night, some of these navigational cues are either unavailable or are significantly dimmer or less conspicuous than during the day. Even under these circumstances, animals navigate between locations of importance. Ants are a tractable system for studying navigation during day and night because the fine scale movement of individual animals can be recorded in high spatial and temporal detail. Ant species range from being strictly diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal. In addition, a number of species have the ability to change from a day- to a night-active lifestyle owing to environmental demands. Ants also offer an opportunity to identify the evolution of sensory structures for discrete temporal niches not only between species but also within a single species. Their unique caste system with an exclusive pedestrian mode of locomotion in workers and an exclusive life on the wing in males allows us to disentangle sensory adaptations that cater for different lifestyles. In this article, we review the visual navigational abilities of nocturnal ants and identify the optical and physiological adaptations they have evolved for being efficient visual navigators in dim-light. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

CrossTalk. The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 26, Number 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

ANTS) mission that may be used to explore the asteroid belt. Basically, the mission entails 1,000 two-pound autonomous space vehicles that will be...be used to collect data from asteroids that will be periodically transmitted back to earth. For autonomous operation, the ANTS will need to...priory information. In other words, these indicators are used to support any one of a number of situation assessments that have been predeter- mined

Severe malaria - a case of fatal Plasmodium knowlesi infection with post-mortem findings: a case report

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Zoonotic malaria caused by Plasmodium knowlesi is an important, but newly recognized, human pathogen. For the first time, post-mortem findings from a fatal case of knowlesi malaria are reported here. Case presentation A formerly healthy 40 year-old male became symptomatic 10 days after spending time in the jungle of North Borneo. Four days later, he presented to hospital in a state of collapse and died within two hours. He was hyponatraemic and had elevated blood urea, potassium, lactate dehydrogenase and amino transferase values; he was also thrombocytopenic and eosinophilic. Dengue haemorrhagic shock was suspected and a post-mortem examination performed. Investigations for dengue virus were negative. Blood for malaria parasites indicated hyperparasitaemia and single species P. knowlesi infection was confirmed by nested-PCR. Macroscopic pathology of the brain and endocardium showed multiple petechial haemorrhages, the liver and spleen were enlarged and lungs had features consistent with ARDS. Microscopic pathology showed sequestration of pigmented parasitized red blood cells in the vessels of the cerebrum, cerebellum, heart and kidney without evidence of chronic inflammatory reaction in the brain or any other organ examined. Brain sections were negative for intracellular adhesion molecule-1. The spleen and liver had abundant pigment containing macrophages and parasitized red blood cells. The kidney had evidence of acute tubular necrosis and endothelial cells in heart sections were prominent. Conclusions The overall picture in this case was one of systemic malaria infection that fit the WHO classification for severe malaria. Post-mortem findings in this case were unexpectedly similar to those that define fatal falciparum malaria, including cerebral pathology. There were important differences including the absence of coma despite petechial haemorrhages and parasite sequestration in the brain. These results suggest that further study of knowlesi malaria will aid the interpretation of, often conflicting, information on malaria pathophysiology in humans. PMID:20064229

Statistical evaluation of time-dependent metabolite concentrations: estimation of post-mortem intervals based on in situ 1H-MRS of the brain.

PubMed

Scheurer, Eva; Ith, Michael; Dietrich, Daniel; Kreis, Roland; Hüsler, Jürg; Dirnhofer, Richard; Boesch, Chris

2005-05-01

Knowledge of the time interval from death (post-mortem interval, PMI) has an enormous legal, criminological and psychological impact. Aiming to find an objective method for the determination of PMIs in forensic medicine, 1H-MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used in a sheep head model to follow changes in brain metabolite concentrations after death. Following the characterization of newly observed metabolites (Ith et al., Magn. Reson. Med. 2002; 5: 915-920), the full set of acquired spectra was analyzed statistically to provide a quantitative estimation of PMIs with their respective confidence limits. In a first step, analytical mathematical functions are proposed to describe the time courses of 10 metabolites in the decomposing brain up to 3 weeks post-mortem. Subsequently, the inverted functions are used to predict PMIs based on the measured metabolite concentrations. Individual PMIs calculated from five different metabolites are then pooled, being weighted by their inverse variances. The predicted PMIs from all individual examinations in the sheep model are compared with known true times. In addition, four human cases with forensically estimated PMIs are compared with predictions based on single in situ MRS measurements. Interpretation of the individual sheep examinations gave a good correlation up to 250 h post-mortem, demonstrating that the predicted PMIs are consistent with the data used to generate the model. Comparison of the estimated PMIs with the forensically determined PMIs in the four human cases shows an adequate correlation. Current PMI estimations based on forensic methods typically suffer from uncertainties in the order of days to weeks without mathematically defined confidence information. In turn, a single 1H-MRS measurement of brain tissue in situ results in PMIs with defined and favorable confidence intervals in the range of hours, thus offering a quantitative and objective method for the determination of PMIs. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Feasibility and validation of virtual autopsy for dental identification using the Interpol dental codes.

PubMed

Franco, Ademir; Thevissen, Patrick; Coudyzer, Walter; Develter, Wim; Van de Voorde, Wim; Oyen, Raymond; Vandermeulen, Dirk; Jacobs, Reinhilde; Willems, Guy

2013-05-01

Virtual autopsy is a medical imaging technique, using full body computed tomography (CT), allowing for a noninvasive and permanent observation of all body parts. For dental identification clinically and radiologically observed ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) oral identifiers are compared. The study aimed to verify if a PM dental charting can be performed on virtual reconstructions of full-body CT's using the Interpol dental codes. A sample of 103 PM full-body CT's was collected from the forensic autopsy files of the Department of Forensic Medicine University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Belgium. For validation purposes, 3 of these bodies underwent a complete dental autopsy, a dental radiological and a full-body CT examination. The bodies were scanned in a Siemens Definition Flash CT Scanner (Siemens Medical Solutions, Germany). The images were examined on 8- and 12-bit screen resolution as three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions and as axial, coronal and sagittal slices. InSpace(®) (Siemens Medical Solutions, Germany) software was used for 3D reconstruction. The dental identifiers were charted on pink PM Interpol forms (F1, F2), using the related dental codes. Optimal dental charting was obtained by combining observations on 3D reconstructions and CT slices. It was not feasible to differentiate between different kinds of dental restoration materials. The 12-bit resolution enabled to collect more detailed evidences, mainly related to positions within a tooth. Oral identifiers, not implemented in the Interpol dental coding were observed. Amongst these, the observed (3D) morphological features of dental and maxillofacial structures are important identifiers. The latter can become particularly more relevant towards the future, not only because of the inherent spatial features, yet also because of the increasing preventive dental treatment, and the decreasing application of dental restorations. In conclusion, PM full-body CT examinations need to be implemented in the PM dental charting protocols and the Interpol dental codes should be adapted accordingly. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Echinococcus multilocularis Detection in Live Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) Using a Combination of Laparoscopy and Abdominal Ultrasound under Field Conditions

PubMed Central

Gottstein, Bruno; Cracknell, John; Schwab, Gerhard; Rosell, Frank

2015-01-01

Echinococcus multilocularis is an important pathogenic zoonotic parasite of health concern, though absent in the United Kingdom. Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) may act as a rare intermediate host, and so unscreened wild caught individuals may pose a potential risk of introducing this parasite to disease-free countries through translocation programs. There is currently no single definitive ante-mortem diagnostic test in intermediate hosts. An effective non-lethal diagnostic, feasible under field condition would be helpful to minimise parasite establishment risk, where indiscriminate culling is to be avoided. This study screened live beavers (captive, n = 18 or wild-trapped in Scotland, n = 12) and beaver cadavers (wild Scotland, n = 4 or Bavaria, n = 11), for the presence of E. multilocularis. Ultrasonography in combination with minimally invasive surgical examination of the abdomen by laparoscopy was viable under field conditions for real-time evaluation in beavers. Laparoscopy alone does not allow the operator to visualize the parenchyma of organs such as the liver, or inside the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract, hence the advantage of its combination with abdominal ultrasonography. All live beavers and Scottish cadavers were largely unremarkable in their haematology and serum biochemistry with no values suspicious for liver pathology or potentially indicative of E. multilocularis infection. This correlated well with ultrasound, laparoscopy, and immunoblotting, which were unremarkable in these individuals. Two wild Bavarian individuals were suspected E. multilocularis positive at post-mortem, through the presence of hepatic cysts. Sensitivity and specificity of a combination of laparoscopy and abdominal ultrasonography in the detection of parasitic liver cyst lesions was 100% in the subset of cadavers (95%Confidence Intervals 34.24–100%, and 86.7–100% respectively). For abdominal ultrasonography alone sensitivity was only 50% (95%CI 9.5–90.6%), with specificity being 100% (95%CI 79.2–100%). For laparoscopy alone sensitivity was 100% (95% CI 34.2–100%), with specificity also being 100% (95% CI 77.2–100%). Further immunoblotting, PCR and histopathological examination revealed one individual positive for E. multilocularis, whilst the other individual was positive for Taenia martis. PMID:26167927

Flavour Chemistry of Chicken Meat: A Review

PubMed Central

Jayasena, Dinesh D.; Ahn, Dong Uk; Nam, Ki Chang; Jo, Cheorun

2013-01-01

Flavour comprises mainly of taste and aroma and is involved in consumers’ meat-buying behavior and preferences. Chicken meat flavour is supposed to be affected by a number of ante- and post-mortem factors, including breed, diet, post-mortem ageing, method of cooking, etc. Additionally, chicken meat is more susceptible to quality deterioration mainly due to lipid oxidation with resulting off-flavours. Therefore, the intent of this paper is to highlight the mechanisms and chemical compounds responsible for chicken meat flavour and off-flavour development to help producers in producing the most flavourful and consistent product possible. Chicken meat flavour is thermally derived and the Maillard reaction, thermal degradation of lipids, and interaction between these 2 reactions are mainly responsible for the generation of flavour and aroma compounds. The reaction of cysteine and sugar can lead to characteristic meat flavour specially for chicken and pork. Volatile compounds including 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furfurylthiol, methionol, 2,4,5-trimethyl-thiazole, nonanol, 2-trans-nonenal, and other compounds have been identified as important for the flavour of chicken. However 2-methyl-3-furanthiol is considered as the most vital chemical compound for chicken flavour development. In addition, a large number of heterocyclic compounds are formed when higher temperature and low moisture conditions are used during certain cooking methods of chicken meat such as roasting, grilling, frying or pressure cooking compared to boiled chicken meat. Major volatile compounds responsible for fried chicken are 3,5-dimethyl-1,2,4-trithiolanes, 2,4,6-trimethylperhydro-1,3,5-dithiazines, 3,5-diisobutyl-1,2,4-trithiolane, 3-methyl-5-butyl-1,2,4-trithiolane, 3-methyl-5-pentyl-1,2,4-trithiolane, 2,4-decadienal and trans-4,5-epoxy-trans-2-decenal. Alkylpyrazines were reported in the flavours of fried chicken and roasted chicken but not in chicken broth. The main reason for flavour deterioration and formation of undesirable “warmed over flavour” in chicken meat products are supposed to be the lack of α-tocopherol in chicken meat. PMID:25049846

Stigmergic construction and topochemical information shape ant nest architecture

PubMed Central

Khuong, Anaïs; Gautrais, Jacques; Perna, Andrea; Sbaï, Chaker; Combe, Maud; Kuntz, Pascale; Jost, Christian; Theraulaz, Guy

2016-01-01

The nests of social insects are not only impressive because of their sheer complexity but also because they are built from individuals whose work is not centrally coordinated. A key question is how groups of insects coordinate their building actions. Here, we use a combination of experimental and modeling approaches to investigate nest construction in the ant Lasius niger. We quantify the construction dynamics and the 3D structures built by ants. Then, we characterize individual behaviors and the interactions of ants with the structures they build. We show that two main interactions are involved in the coordination of building actions: (i) a stigmergic-based interaction that controls the amplification of depositions at some locations and is attributable to a pheromone added by ants to the building material; and (ii) a template-based interaction in which ants use their body size as a cue to control the height at which they start to build a roof from existing pillars. We then develop a 3D stochastic model based on these individual behaviors to analyze the effect of pheromone presence and strength on construction dynamics. We show that the model can quantitatively reproduce key features of construction dynamics, including a large-scale pattern of regularly spaced pillars, the formation and merging of caps over the pillars, and the remodeling of built structures. Finally, our model suggests that the lifetime of the pheromone is a highly influential parameter that controls the growth and form of nest architecture. PMID:26787857

Species-specific differences in the fine structure of learning walk elements in Cataglyphis ants.

PubMed

Fleischmann, Pauline N; Grob, Robin; Wehner, Rüdiger; Rössler, Wolfgang

2017-07-01

Cataglyphis desert ants are famous navigators. Like all central place foragers, they are confronted with the challenge to return home, i.e. relocate an inconspicuous nest entrance in the ground, after their extensive foraging trips. When leaving the underground nest for the first time, desert ants perform a striking behavior, so-called learning walks that are well structured. However, it is still unclear how the ants initially acquire the information needed for sky- and landmark-based navigation, in particular how they calibrate their compass system at the beginning of their foraging careers. Using high-speed video analyses, we show that different Cataglyphis species include different types of characteristic turns in their learning walks. Pirouettes are full or partial rotations (tight turns about the vertical body axis) during which the ants frequently stop and gaze back in the direction of the nest entrance during the longest stopping phases. In contrast, voltes are small walked circles without directed stopping phases. Interestingly, only Cataglyphis ant species living in a cluttered, and therefore visually rich, environment (i.e. C. noda and C. aenescens in southern Greece) perform both voltes and pirouettes. They look back to the nest entrance during pirouettes, most probably to take snapshots of the surroundings. In contrast, C. fortis inhabiting featureless saltpans in Tunisia perform only voltes and do not stop during these turns to gaze back at the nest - even if a set of artificial landmarks surrounds the nest entrance. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Clinical consequences of toxic envenomations by Hymenoptera.

PubMed

Schmidt, Justin O

2018-05-19

Many familiar Hymenoptera are brightly colored and can sting painfully-thus, their threat and clinical importance may be exaggerated. Most stinging insects only sting to defend themselves or their colonies from predators. The clinical nature of Hymenoptera envenomations contrasts that of other venomous animals, including other arthropods, primarily because allergic reaction, not direct intoxication, is the usual main concern. This review focuses mainly on the clinical features of direct toxicity to Hymenoptera envenomations, which can induce a high incidence of acute renal failure, liver failure, multiple organ failures, and death. Toxic mass envenomations by honeybees usually entail many hundreds or more stings per victim. In contrast to honeybee toxic envenomations, hornet sting envenomations can be clinically threatening with only 20-200 stings needed to cause kidney and other organ failures. Many lethal envenomations by honeybees occur in rural areas in the New World and Africa and are not recorded or documented. In contrast, deaths by hornets occur mainly to Asia. The most frequent and important envenomating taxa are honeybees, hornets, yellowjacket wasps, paper wasps, fire ants, and jack jumper ants. Occasional envenomating taxa include bumblebees, bullet ants, harvester ants, solitary wasps, solitary bees, and various ants of lesser clinical importance. Envenomations by Hymenoptera usually can be avoided if one considers that bees, wasps and ants "view" us as potential threats or predators, and that with information about the biology of stinging Hymenoptera, humans can minimize adverse incidents. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatiotemporal resource distribution and foraging strategies of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

PubMed Central

Lanan, Michele

2014-01-01

The distribution of food resources in space and time is likely to be an important factor governing the type of foraging strategy used by ants. However, no previous systematic attempt has been made to determine whether spatiotemporal resource distribution is in fact correlated with foraging strategy across the ants. In this analysis, I present data compiled from the literature on the foraging strategy and food resource use of 402 species of ants from across the phylogenetic tree. By categorizing the distribution of resources reported in these studies in terms of size relative to colony size, spatial distribution relative to colony foraging range, frequency of occurrence in time relative to worker life span, and depletability (i.e., whether the colony can cause a change in resource frequency), I demonstrate that different foraging strategies are indeed associated with specific spatiotemporal resource attributes. The general patterns I describe here can therefore be used as a framework to inform predictions in future studies of ant foraging behavior. No differences were found between resources collected via short-term recruitment strategies (group recruitment, short-term trails, and volatile recruitment), whereas different resource distributions were associated with solitary foraging, trunk trails, long-term trail networks, group raiding, and raiding. In many cases, ant species use a combination of different foraging strategies to collect diverse resources. It is useful to consider these foraging strategies not as separate options but as modular parts of the total foraging effort of a colony. PMID:25525497

Stigmergic construction and topochemical information shape ant nest architecture.

PubMed

Khuong, Anaïs; Gautrais, Jacques; Perna, Andrea; Sbaï, Chaker; Combe, Maud; Kuntz, Pascale; Jost, Christian; Theraulaz, Guy

2016-02-02

The nests of social insects are not only impressive because of their sheer complexity but also because they are built from individuals whose work is not centrally coordinated. A key question is how groups of insects coordinate their building actions. Here, we use a combination of experimental and modeling approaches to investigate nest construction in the ant Lasius niger. We quantify the construction dynamics and the 3D structures built by ants. Then, we characterize individual behaviors and the interactions of ants with the structures they build. We show that two main interactions are involved in the coordination of building actions: (i) a stigmergic-based interaction that controls the amplification of depositions at some locations and is attributable to a pheromone added by ants to the building material; and (ii) a template-based interaction in which ants use their body size as a cue to control the height at which they start to build a roof from existing pillars. We then develop a 3D stochastic model based on these individual behaviors to analyze the effect of pheromone presence and strength on construction dynamics. We show that the model can quantitatively reproduce key features of construction dynamics, including a large-scale pattern of regularly spaced pillars, the formation and merging of caps over the pillars, and the remodeling of built structures. Finally, our model suggests that the lifetime of the pheromone is a highly influential parameter that controls the growth and form of nest architecture.

Adaptive Bio-Inspired Wireless Network Routing for Planetary Surface Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alena, Richard I.; Lee, Charles

2004-01-01

Wireless mobile networks suffer connectivity loss when used in a terrain that has hills, and valleys when line of sight is interrupted or range is exceeded. To resolve this problem and achieve acceptable network performance, we have designed an adaptive, configurable, hybrid system to automatically route network packets along the best path between multiple geographically dispersed modules. This is very useful in planetary surface exploration, especially for ad-hoc mobile networks, where computational devices take an active part in creating a network infrastructure, and can actually be used to route data dynamically and even store data for later transmission between networks. Using inspiration from biological systems, this research proposes to use ant trail algorithms with multi-layered information maps (topographic maps, RF coverage maps) to determine the best route through ad-hoc network at real time. The determination of best route is a complex one, and requires research into the appropriate metrics, best method to identify the best path, optimizing traffic capacity, network performance, reliability, processing capabilities and cost. Real ants are capable of finding the shortest path from their nest to a food source without visual sensing through the use of pheromones. They are also able to adapt to changes in the environment using subtle clues. To use ant trail algorithms, we need to define the probability function. The artificial ant is, in this case, a software agent that moves from node to node on a network graph. The function to calculate the fitness (evaluate the better path) includes: length of the network edge, the coverage index, topology graph index, and pheromone trail left behind by other ant agents. Each agent modifies the environment in two different ways: 1) Local trail updating: As the ant moves between nodes it updates the amount of pheromone on the edge; and 2) Global trail updating: When all ants have completed a tour the ant that found the shortest route updates the edges in its path.

Post-mortem redistribution of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") in the rabbit. Part I: experimental approach after in vivo intravenous infusion.

PubMed

De Letter, Els A; Clauwaert, Karine M; Belpaire, Frans M; Lambert, Willy E; Van Bocxlaer, Jan F; Piette, Michel H A

2002-08-01

Post-mortem redistribution is known to influence blood and tissue levels of various drugs. An animal model was used in an attempt to elucidate this problem for the amphetamine analogue, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Rabbits received 1 mg/kg MDMA intravenously (iv) and were killed 2 h later in order to simulate the state of complete distribution in the body. MDMA and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) concentrations were determined in blood, urine, bile, vitreous humour, and various tissues (eye globe walls, brain, cardiac muscle, lungs, liver, kidneys, iliopsoas muscle and adipose tissue) using a high pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure with fluorescence detection. In the first group (control group, sampling immediately post mortem) considerable MDMA concentrations were found in the brain and both lungs. In addition, our data indicate the elimination of MDMA by hepatic biotransformation and excretion via the bile. When the animals were preserved either 24 or 72 h post mortem (second group), an increase of MDMA and MDA levels in the liver and the eye globe walls was noticed. In the lungs, on the other hand, they tended to decline as a function of increasing post-mortem interval. MDMA levels in cardiac and iliopsoas muscle were fairly comparable and remained stable up to 72 h after death. In the third group, ligation of the large vessels around the heart took place immediately post mortem, but significant differences in blood and tissue MDMA concentrations between rabbits of group 2 and 3 could not be demonstrated. We therefore conclude that post-mortem redistribution of MDMA at the cellular level (viz. by pure diffusion gradient from higher to lower concentrations) is more important than its redistribution via the vascular pathway. Finally, MDA levels were relatively low in all samples, thus indicating that this is not a major metabolite in the rabbit, at least within the first 2 h after administration.

From Metaphors to Formalism: A Heuristic Approach to Holistic Assessments of Ecosystem Health.

PubMed

Fock, Heino O; Kraus, Gerd

2016-01-01

Environmental policies employ metaphoric objectives such as ecosystem health, resilience and sustainable provision of ecosystem services, which influence corresponding sustainability assessments by means of normative settings such as assumptions on system description, indicator selection, aggregation of information and target setting. A heuristic approach is developed for sustainability assessments to avoid ambiguity and applications to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and OSPAR assessments are presented. For MSFD, nineteen different assessment procedures have been proposed, but at present no agreed assessment procedure is available. The heuristic assessment framework is a functional-holistic approach comprising an ex-ante/ex-post assessment framework with specifically defined normative and systemic dimensions (EAEPNS). The outer normative dimension defines the ex-ante/ex-post framework, of which the latter branch delivers one measure of ecosystem health based on indicators and the former allows to account for the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability (social, economic, ecological) in terms of modeling approaches. For MSFD, the ex-ante/ex-post framework replaces the current distinction between assessments based on pressure and state descriptors. The ex-ante and the ex-post branch each comprise an inner normative and a systemic dimension. The inner normative dimension in the ex-post branch considers additive utility models and likelihood functions to standardize variables normalized with Bayesian modeling. Likelihood functions allow precautionary target setting. The ex-post systemic dimension considers a posteriori indicator selection by means of analysis of indicator space to avoid redundant indicator information as opposed to a priori indicator selection in deconstructive-structural approaches. Indicator information is expressed in terms of ecosystem variability by means of multivariate analysis procedures. The application to the OSPAR assessment for the southern North Sea showed, that with the selected 36 indicators 48% of ecosystem variability could be explained. Tools for the ex-ante branch are risk and ecosystem models with the capability to analyze trade-offs, generating model output for each of the pressure chains to allow for a phasing-out of human pressures. The Bayesian measure of ecosystem health is sensitive to trends in environmental features, but robust to ecosystem variability in line with state space models. The combination of the ex-ante and ex-post branch is essential to evaluate ecosystem resilience and to adopt adaptive management. Based on requirements of the heuristic approach, three possible developments of this concept can be envisioned, i.e. a governance driven approach built upon participatory processes, a science driven functional-holistic approach requiring extensive monitoring to analyze complete ecosystem variability, and an approach with emphasis on ex-ante modeling and ex-post assessment of well-studied subsystems.

From Metaphors to Formalism: A Heuristic Approach to Holistic Assessments of Ecosystem Health

PubMed Central

Kraus, Gerd

2016-01-01

Environmental policies employ metaphoric objectives such as ecosystem health, resilience and sustainable provision of ecosystem services, which influence corresponding sustainability assessments by means of normative settings such as assumptions on system description, indicator selection, aggregation of information and target setting. A heuristic approach is developed for sustainability assessments to avoid ambiguity and applications to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and OSPAR assessments are presented. For MSFD, nineteen different assessment procedures have been proposed, but at present no agreed assessment procedure is available. The heuristic assessment framework is a functional-holistic approach comprising an ex-ante/ex-post assessment framework with specifically defined normative and systemic dimensions (EAEPNS). The outer normative dimension defines the ex-ante/ex-post framework, of which the latter branch delivers one measure of ecosystem health based on indicators and the former allows to account for the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability (social, economic, ecological) in terms of modeling approaches. For MSFD, the ex-ante/ex-post framework replaces the current distinction between assessments based on pressure and state descriptors. The ex-ante and the ex-post branch each comprise an inner normative and a systemic dimension. The inner normative dimension in the ex-post branch considers additive utility models and likelihood functions to standardize variables normalized with Bayesian modeling. Likelihood functions allow precautionary target setting. The ex-post systemic dimension considers a posteriori indicator selection by means of analysis of indicator space to avoid redundant indicator information as opposed to a priori indicator selection in deconstructive-structural approaches. Indicator information is expressed in terms of ecosystem variability by means of multivariate analysis procedures. The application to the OSPAR assessment for the southern North Sea showed, that with the selected 36 indicators 48% of ecosystem variability could be explained. Tools for the ex-ante branch are risk and ecosystem models with the capability to analyze trade-offs, generating model output for each of the pressure chains to allow for a phasing-out of human pressures. The Bayesian measure of ecosystem health is sensitive to trends in environmental features, but robust to ecosystem variability in line with state space models. The combination of the ex-ante and ex-post branch is essential to evaluate ecosystem resilience and to adopt adaptive management. Based on requirements of the heuristic approach, three possible developments of this concept can be envisioned, i.e. a governance driven approach built upon participatory processes, a science driven functional-holistic approach requiring extensive monitoring to analyze complete ecosystem variability, and an approach with emphasis on ex-ante modeling and ex-post assessment of well-studied subsystems. PMID:27509185

Venous air embolism: An under-recognised entity in blunt-force trauma and the importance of radiology.

PubMed

du Plessis, Marna; du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine

2017-04-01

Air embolism (AE) is considered a rare event and can be either iatrogenic or traumatic. Various post-mortem methods to detect AE exist, of which radiology is preferred. The presence of air in the heart can be demonstrated using special dissection techniques where the heart is opened under water or by needle puncture from a water-filled syringe. Three cases of blunt-force head injury are presented herein, with AE being diagnosed by conventional radiography using a Lodox Statscan® full-body digital X-ray machine in all cases. This case series demonstrates that AE due to blunt-force trauma to the head and sinuses might be under-recognised in the forensic post-mortem setting. It also highlights the importance of radiology in diagnosing AE post-mortem, especially where the results of post-mortem techniques might be unsatisfactory.

Dating human skeletal remains: investigating the viability of measuring the equilibrium between 210Po and 210Pb as a means of estimating the post-mortem interval.

PubMed

Swift, B

1998-11-30

Estimating the post-mortem interval in skeletal remains is a notoriously difficult task; forensic pathologists often rely heavily upon experience in recognising morphological appearances. Previous techniques have involved measuring physical or chemical changes within the hydroxyapatite matrix, radiocarbon dating and 90Sr dating, though no individual test has been advocated. Within this paper it is proposed that measuring the equilibrium between two naturally occurring radio-isotopes, 210Po and 210Pb, and comparison with post-mortem examination samples would produce a new method of dating human skeletal remains. Possible limitations exist, notably the effect of diagenesis, time limitations and relative cost, though this technique could provide a relatively accurate means of determining the post-mortem interval. It is therefore proposed that a large study be undertaken to provide a calibration scale against which bones uncovered can be dated.

Polarization-Sensitive Interneurons in the Optic Lobe of the Desert Ant Cataglyphis bicolor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labhart, Thomas

Desert ants, Cataglyphis bicolor (Hymenoptera), navigate by using compass information provided by skylight polarization. In this study, electrophysiological recordings were made from polarization-sensitive interneurons (POL-neurons) in the optic lobe of Cataglyphis. The POL-neurons exhibit a characteristic polarization opponency. They receive monochromatic input from the UV receptors of the specialized dorsal rim area of the compound eye. Both polarization opponency and monochromacy are features also found in the POL-neurons of crickets (Orthoptera).

Multi-object model-based multi-atlas segmentation for rodent brains using dense discrete correspondences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Joohwi; Kim, Sun Hyung; Styner, Martin

2016-03-01

The delineation of rodent brain structures is challenging due to low-contrast multiple cortical and subcortical organs that are closely interfacing to each other. Atlas-based segmentation has been widely employed due to its ability to delineate multiple organs at the same time via image registration. The use of multiple atlases and subsequent label fusion techniques has further improved the robustness and accuracy of atlas-based segmentation. However, the accuracy of atlas-based segmentation is still prone to registration errors; for example, the segmentation of in vivo MR images can be less accurate and robust against image artifacts than the segmentation of post mortem images. In order to improve the accuracy and robustness of atlas-based segmentation, we propose a multi-object, model-based, multi-atlas segmentation method. We first establish spatial correspondences across atlases using a set of dense pseudo-landmark particles. We build a multi-object point distribution model using those particles in order to capture inter- and intra- subject variation among brain structures. The segmentation is obtained by fitting the model into a subject image, followed by label fusion process. Our result shows that the proposed method resulted in greater accuracy than comparable segmentation methods, including a widely used ANTs registration tool.

Dental enamel defects in German medieval and early-modern-age populations.

PubMed

Lang, J; Birkenbeil, S; Bock, S; Heinrich-Weltzien, R; Kromeyer-Hauschild, K

2016-11-01

Aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and type of developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in a medieval and an early-modern-age population from Thuringia, Germany. Sixty-six skeletons subdivided into 31 single burials (12 th /13 th c.) and 35 individuals buried in groups (15 th /16 th c.) were examined. DDE were classified on 1,246 teeth according to the DDE index. Molar-incisor-hypomineralisation (MIH), a special type of DDE, was recorded according to the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD) criteria. DDE was found in 89.4% of the individuals (single burials 90.3% and group burials 88.6%). Hypoplastic pits were the most frequent defect in primary teeth and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) in permanent teeth. 13 individuals (24.1%) showed at least one hypomineralised permanent tooth, 12.2% had MIH on at least one first permanent molar and 10.0% in permanent incisors. Second primary molars were affected in 8.0% of the children and juveniles. No individual suffered from affected molars and incisors in combination. Endogenous factors like nutritional deficiencies and health problems in early childhood could have been aetiological reasons of DDE and MIH. The frequency of DDE and MIH might have been masked by extended carious lesions, dental wear and ante-mortem tooth loss.

Reconstructing Ancient Egyptian Diet through Bone Elemental Analysis Using LIBS (Qubbet el Hawa Cemetery)

PubMed Central

Al-Khafif, Ghada Darwish; El-Banna, Rokia

2015-01-01

One of the most important advantages of LIBS that make it suitable for the analysis of archeological materials is that it is a quasi-nondestructive technique. Archeological mandibles excavated from Qubbet el Hawa Cemetery, Aswan, were subjected to elemental analysis in order to reconstruct the dietary patterns of the middle class of the Aswan population throughout three successive eras: the First Intermediate Period (FIP), the Middle Kingdom (MK), and the Second Intermediate Period (SIP). The bone Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios were significantly correlated, so the Sr/Ca ratios are considered to represent the ante-mortem values. It was suggested that the significantly low FIP Sr/Ca compared to that of both the MK and the SIP was attributed to the consumption of unusual sorts of food and imported cereals during years of famine, while the MK Sr/Ca was considered to represent the amelioration of climatic, social, economic, and political conditions in this era of state socialism. The SIP Sr/Ca, which is nearly the same as that of the MK, was considered to be the reflection of the continuity of the individualism respect and state socialism and a reflection of agriculture conditions amelioration under the reign of the 17th Dynasty in Upper Egypt. PMID:26345727

Earliest evidence of dental caries manipulation in the Late Upper Palaeolithic

PubMed Central

Oxilia, Gregorio; Peresani, Marco; Romandini, Matteo; Matteucci, Chiara; Spiteri, Cynthianne Debono; Henry, Amanda G.; Schulz, Dieter; Archer, Will; Crezzini, Jacopo; Boschin, Francesco; Boscato, Paolo; Jaouen, Klervia; Dogandzic, Tamara; Broglio, Alberto; Moggi-Cecchi, Jacopo; Fiorenza, Luca; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Kullmer, Ottmar; Benazzi, Stefano

2015-01-01

Prehistoric dental treatments were extremely rare, and the few documented cases are known from the Neolithic, when the adoption of early farming culture caused an increase of carious lesions. Here we report the earliest evidence of dental caries intervention on a Late Upper Palaeolithic modern human specimen (Villabruna) from a burial in Northern Italy. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy we show the presence of striations deriving from the manipulation of a large occlusal carious cavity of the lower right third molar. The striations have a “V”-shaped transverse section and several parallel micro-scratches at their base, as typically displayed by cutmarks on teeth. Based on in vitro experimental replication and a complete functional reconstruction of the Villabruna dental arches, we confirm that the identified striations and the associated extensive enamel chipping on the mesial wall of the cavity were produced ante-mortem by pointed flint tools during scratching and levering activities. The Villabruna specimen is therefore the oldest known evidence of dental caries intervention, suggesting at least some knowledge of disease treatment well before the Neolithic. This study suggests that primitive forms of carious treatment in human evolution entail an adaptation of the well-known toothpicking for levering and scratching rather than drilling practices. PMID:26179739

Histopathological Muscle Findings May Be Essential for a Definitive Diagnosis of Suspected Sharp Trauma Associated with Ship Strikes in Stranded Cetaceans

PubMed Central

Sierra, Eva; Fernández, Antonio; Espinosa de los Monteros, Antonio; Arbelo, Manuel; Díaz-Delgado, Josué; Andrada, Marisa; Herráez, Pedro

2014-01-01

Ship strikes are a major issue for the conservation of may cetacean species. Certain gross and microscopic criteria have been previously reported for establishing a diagnosis of death due to ship strikes in these animals. However, some ship-strike injuries may be masked by advanced carcass decomposition and may be undetectable due to restricted access to the animals. In this report we describe histopathological muscular findings in 13 cetaceans with sharp trauma from ship strikes as the cause of death. Skeletal muscle samples were taken from the incision site and from the main locomotor muscle, the longissimus dorsi, in areas not directly affected by the sharp injury. The microscopic findings in tissues from both sites mainly consisted of haemorrhages; oedema; flocculent, granular or/and hyalinised segmentary degeneration; contraction band necrosis; and discoid degeneration or fragmentation of myofibres. We propose that skeletal muscle histopathology provides evidence of ante-mortem injuries even if the sample was taken elsewhere in the carcass and not only within or adjacent to the sharp trauma site and despite the advanced decomposition of some of the carcasses. This method helps to establish the diagnosis of ship strike as the cause of death. PMID:24551162

A Pilot Study Exploring the Use of Breath Analysis to Differentiate Healthy Cattle from Cattle Experimentally Infected with Mycobacterium bovis

PubMed Central

Ellis, Christine K.; Stahl, Randal S.; Nol, Pauline; Waters, W. Ray; Palmer, Mitchell V.; Rhyan, Jack C.; VerCauteren, Kurt C.; McCollum, Matthew; Salman, M. D.

2014-01-01

Bovine tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is a zoonotic disease of international public health importance. Ante-mortem surveillance is essential for control; however, current surveillance tests are hampered by limitations affecting ease of use or quality of results. There is an emerging interest in human and veterinary medicine in diagnosing disease via identification of volatile organic compounds produced by pathogens and host-pathogen interactions. The objective of this pilot study was to explore application of existing human breath collection and analysis methodologies to cattle as a means to identify M. bovis infection through detection of unique volatile organic compounds or changes in the volatile organic compound profiles present in breath. Breath samples from 23 male Holstein calves (7 non-infected and 16 M. bovis-infected) were collected onto commercially available sorbent cartridges using a mask system at 90 days post-inoculation with M. bovis. Samples were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and chromatographic data were analyzed using standard analytical chemical and metabolomic analyses, principle components analysis, and a linear discriminant algorithm. The findings provide proof of concept that breath-derived volatile organic compound analysis can be used to differentiate between healthy and M. bovis-infected cattle. PMID:24586655

EEG in Sarcoidosis Patients Without Neurological Findings.

PubMed

Bilgin Topçuoğlu, Özgür; Kavas, Murat; Öztaş, Selahattin; Arınç, Sibel; Afşar, Gülgün; Saraç, Sema; Midi, İpek

2017-01-01

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease affecting nervous system in 5% to 10% of patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is accepted as the most sensitive method for detecting neurosarcoidosis. However, the most common findings in MRI are the nonspecific white matter lesions, which may be unrelated to sarcoidosis and can occur because of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and other inflammatory or infectious disorders, as well. Autopsy studies report more frequent neurological involvement than the ante mortem studies. The aim of this study is to assess electroencephalography (EEG) in sarcoidosis patients without neurological findings in order to display asymptomatic neurological dysfunction. We performed EEG on 30 sarcoidosis patients without diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis or prior neurological comorbidities. Fourteen patients (46.7%) showed intermittant focal and/or generalized slowings while awake and not mentally activated. Seven (50%) of these 14 patients with EEG slowings had nonspecific white matter changes while the other half showed EEG slowings in the absence of MRI changes. We conclude that EEG slowings, when normal variants (psychomotor variant, temporal theta of elderly, frontal theta waves) are eliminated, may be an indicator of dysfunction in brain activity even in the absence of MRI findings. Hence, EEG may contribute toward detecting asymptomatic neurological dysfunction or probable future neurological involvement in sarcoidosis patients. © EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society (ECNS) 2016.

The prevalence of periodontal disease in a Romano-British population c. 200-400 AD

PubMed Central

Raitapuro-Murray, T.; Molleson, T. I.; Hughes, F. J.

2014-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of moderate to severe periodontitis in an ancient British cohort c. 200-400 AD. Design Observational study to assess periodontal and other oral disease parameters. Setting Natural History Museum, London. Subjects and methods 303 skulls from a Romano-British burial site in Poundbury, Dorset were examined for evidence of dental disease. Main outcome measures The primary outcome measure was presence of moderate to severe periodontitis. Secondary outcomes included: amount of horizontal bone loss; prevalence of ante-mortem tooth loss; and presence of other dental pathologies. Results The overall prevalence of moderate to severe periodontitis was just greater than 5%. The prevalence rate remained nearly constant between ages 20 to 60, after which it rose to around 10%. The number of affected teeth increased with age. Horizontal bone loss was generally minor. Caries was seen in around 50% of the cohort, and evidence of pulpal and apical pathology was seen in around 25%. Conclusions The prevalence of moderate to severe periodontitis was markedly decreased when compared to the prevalence in modern populations, underlining the potential importance of risk factors such as smoking and diabetes in determining susceptibility to progressive periodontitis in modern populations. PMID:25342357

Dead in the water--are we killing the hospital autopsy with poor consent practices?

PubMed

Henry, Jaimie; Nicholas, Nick

2012-07-01

It is now a recognized fact that the practice of conducting a consent (or hospital) post-mortem examination is in decline. There have been many reasons put forth to explain this demise, but the quality of the consenting process is frequently cited as having a high impact. This article focuses on consent practices for post-mortem examinations in England and Wales, and considers if our consent techniques are adversely affecting post-mortem examination uptake. We examine the regulatory compliance of trusts with their statutory obligations by analyzing the Human Tissue Authority's compliance and inspection reports. We further analyze 21 publicly available NHS Trust policies on post-mortem examination consent procedures, and consider whether these are fit for the purpose of meeting the dual needs of clinicians and the bereaved. Despite more Human Tissue Authority inspections, there is a disproportionate rise in enforcement actions, with up to 48% of sampled Trusts exhibiting shortcomings in their legal duties. Additionally, only 52.4% of sampled trusts follow the Human Tissue Authority best-practice model, with 23.8% having no documented procedures. Despite the well founded evidence base for best-practice models, consent practices for post-mortem examinations remains poor and is likely to have a gross adverse effect on the rate of post-mortem examinations. We recommend that NHS Trusts rigorously review their protocols and introduce a team-approach between clinicians and trained bereavement staff in core-consent teams, as the Human Tissue Authority suggests, whilst at the same time placing a strong emphasis on education for junior and senior colleagues alike.

Survival and re-operation rates after neurosurgical procedures in Scotland: implications for targeted surveillance of sub-clinical variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

PubMed

Bird, Sheila M; Merrall, Elizabeth L C; Ward, Hester J T; Will, Robert G

2009-01-01

To assess the feasibility of post-mortem surveillance for subclinical variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) at least 5 years after neurosurgical procedures. Using Scottish record linkage, we estimated 5-year survival and re-operation rates after 4 neurosurgical procedures performed during 1993-2001 and identified as high or medium risk for transmitting vCJD: [B] drainage of extra- or subdural haematoma, [E] primary or revisional decompression operations and [H] creation of other ventricular shunts were classified as high risk; [C] operations on cerebral aneurysm (clipping) were classified as medium risk. Fatality rate at 1 year depended strongly on procedure, weakly or not at all on sex and era, and increased with age. Procedure rates differed by sex. The rate of subsequent neurosurgical operations was highest for procedure [H] (sole: 21%; multiple: 28%). Each year, the UK has a new cohort of some 5,000 5-year survivors after a high- or medium-risk neurosurgical procedure, whose subsequent annual mortality is at least 3%. Even if half the surviving 5-year survivors of neurosurgery since 1996 gave consent-in-life for vCJD-informative testing at post-mortem, there would be too few relevant post-mortems in 2008-2010 (around 1,600) for 'nil detections' to exclude a 1 in 1,000 subclinical vCJD rate. Autopsy surveillance beyond 2010, or among 5-year survivors of non-neurosurgical at-risk operations, would be needed. (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Ethical considerations in forensic genetics research on tissue samples collected post-mortem in Cape Town, South Africa.

PubMed

Heathfield, Laura J; Maistry, Sairita; Martin, Lorna J; Ramesar, Raj; de Vries, Jantina

2017-11-29

The use of tissue collected at a forensic post-mortem for forensic genetics research purposes remains of ethical concern as the process involves obtaining informed consent from grieving family members. Two forensic genetics research studies using tissue collected from a forensic post-mortem were recently initiated at our institution and were the first of their kind to be conducted in Cape Town, South Africa. This article discusses some of the ethical challenges that were encountered in these research projects. Among these challenges was the adaptation of research workflows to fit in with an exceptionally busy service delivery that is operating with limited resources. Whilst seeking guidance from the literature regarding research on deceased populations, it was noted that next of kin of decedents are not formally recognised as a vulnerable group in the existing ethical and legal frameworks in South Africa. The authors recommend that research in the forensic mortuary setting is approached using guidance for vulnerable groups, and the benefit to risk standard needs to be strongly justified. Lastly, when planning forensic genetics research, consideration must be given to the potential of uncovering incidental findings, funding to validate these findings and the feedback of results to family members; the latter of which is recommended to occur through a genetic counsellor. It is hoped that these experiences will contribute towards a formal framework for conducting forensic genetic research in medico-legal mortuaries in South Africa.

The Effect of Diet and Opponent Size on Aggressive Interactions Involving Caribbean Crazy Ants (Nylanderia fulva)

PubMed Central

Horn, Katherine C.; Eubanks, Micky D.; Siemann, Evan

2013-01-01

Biotic interactions are often important in the establishment and spread of invasive species. In particular, competition between introduced and native species can strongly influence the distribution and spread of exotic species and in some cases competition among introduced species can be important. The Caribbean crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva, was recently introduced to the Gulf Coast of Texas, and appears to be spreading inland. It has been hypothesized that competition with the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, may be an important factor in the spread of crazy ants. We investigated the potential of interspecific competition among these two introduced ants by measuring interspecific aggression between Caribbean crazy ant workers and workers of Solenopsis invicta. Specifically, we examined the effect of body size and diet on individual-level aggressive interactions among crazy ant workers and fire ants. We found that differences in diet did not alter interactions between crazy ant workers from different nests, but carbohydrate level did play an important role in antagonistic interactions with fire ants: crazy ants on low sugar diets were more aggressive and less likely to be killed in aggressive encounters with fire ants. We found that large fire ants engaged in fewer fights with crazy ants than small fire ants, but fire ant size affected neither fire ant nor crazy ant mortality. Overall, crazy ants experienced higher mortality than fire ants after aggressive encounters. Our findings suggest that fire ant workers might outcompete crazy ant workers on an individual level, providing some biotic resistance to crazy ant range expansion. However, this resistance may be overcome by crazy ants that have a restricted sugar intake, which may occur when crazy ants are excluded from resources by fire ants. PMID:23776702

Financing long-term care: ex ante, ex post or both?

PubMed

Costa-Font, Joan; Courbage, Christophe; Swartz, Katherine

2015-03-01

This paper attempts to examine the heterogeneity in the public financing of long-term care (LTC) and the wide-ranging instruments in place to finance LTC services. We distinguish and classify the institutional responses to the need for LTC financing as ex ante (occurring prior to when the need arises, such as insurance) and ex post (occurring after the need arises, such as public sector and family financing). Then, we examine country-specific data to ascertain whether the two types of financing are complements or substitutes. Finally, we examine exploratory cross-national data on public expenditure determinants, specifically economic, demographic and social determinants. We show that although both ex ante and ex post mechanisms exist in all countries with advanced industrial economies and despite the fact that instruments are different across countries, ex ante and ex post instruments are largely substitutes for each other. Expenditure estimates to date indicate that the public financing of LTC is highly sensitive to a country's income, ageing of the population and the availability of informal caregiving. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Post-mortem diagnosis of chronic Chagas's disease comparative evaluation of three serological tests on pericardial fluid.

PubMed

Lopes, E R; Chapadeiro, E; Batista, S M; Cunha, J G; Rocha, A; Miziara, L; Ribeiro, J U; Patto, R J

1978-01-01

In an attempt to improve the post-mortem diagnosis of Chagas's disease the authors performed haemagglutination tests (HAT), fluorescent Trypanosoma cruzi antibody tests (FAT), and complement fixation tests (CFT) on the pericardial fluid obtained at autopsy of 50 individuals with Chagas's heart disease, and 93 patients in whom this disease was not thought to be present. The results demonstrate that all three tests are efficient for the post-mortem diagnosis of Chagas's disease but suggest that their combined use would detect more cases than would one isolated reaction only.

Changes of microbial spoilage, lipid-protein oxidation and physicochemical properties during post mortem refrigerated storage of goat meat.

PubMed

Sabow, Azad Behnan; Sazili, Awis Qurni; Aghwan, Zeiad Amjad; Zulkifli, Idrus; Goh, Yong Meng; Ab Kadir, Mohd Zainal Abidin; Nakyinsige, Khadijah; Kaka, Ubedullah; Adeyemi, Kazeem Dauda

2016-06-01

Examined was the effect of post mortem refrigerated storage on microbial spoilage, lipid-protein oxidation and physicochemical traits of goat meat. Seven Boer bucks were slaughtered, eviscerated and aged for 24 h. The Longissimus lumborum (LL) and Semitendinosus (ST) muscles were excised and subjected to 13 days post mortem refrigerated storage. The pH, lipid and protein oxidation, tenderness, color and drip loss were determined in LL while microbiological analysis was performed on ST. Bacterial counts generally increased with increasing aging time and the limit for fresh meat was reached at day 14 post mortem. Significant differences were observed in malondialdehyde (MDA) content at day 7 of storage. The thiol concentration significantly reduced as aging time increased. The band intensities of myosin heavy chain (MHC) and troponin-T significantly decreased as storage progressed, while actin remained relatively stable. After 14 days of aging, tenderness showed significant improvement while muscle pH and drip loss reduced with increase in storage time. Samples aged for 14 days had higher lightness (P < 0.05) and lower (P < 0.05) yellowness and redness. Post mortem refrigerated storage influenced oxidative and microbial stability and physico-chemical properties of goat meat. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

External foam and the post-mortem period in freshwater drowning; results from a retrospective study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

PubMed

Reijnen, G; Buster, M C; Vos, P J E; Reijnders, U J L

2017-11-01

Determining the time of death of bodies recovered from water can be difficult. A feature of drowning is the presence of external foam. This study describes the presence of external foam in relation to the post-mortem period. The study utilizes a database of death reports dated between January 2011 and July 2016. For bodies recovered from fresh water, the presence or absence of external foam was noted. In this study, 112 death reports are included. Of these reports, 18 mentioned external foam, which account for 16.1% of the entire study population. In the population with a post-mortem period of less than 24 h, external foam was detected in 27.7% of cases. All 18 incidents with external foam had an estimated post-mortem period of less than 24 h. In our study, external foam was only present in freshwater drowning cases with a post-mortem period of less than 24 h. Based on this finding, the presence of external foam may be useful as an additional indicator when estimating the time of death in freshwater drowning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Multi-phase post-mortem CT-angiography: a pathologic correlation study on cardiovascular sudden death

PubMed Central

Turillazzi, Emanuela; Frati, Paola; Pascale, Natascha; Pomara, Cristoforo; Grilli, Giampaolo; Viola, Rocco Valerio; Fineschi, Vittorio

2016-01-01

Multi-phase post-mortem CT-angiography (MPMCTA) has the great potential to increase the quality of the post-mortem investigation, especially in the area of sudden death; however, its role as routine complement to the pathology toolbox is still questioned as it needs to be further standardized. The aim of this study is to investigate the contribution of MPMCTA in cases of sudden unexplained death in adults and in particular in sudden cardiovascular death. Sixty-eight sudden unexpected deaths of adults were investigated at our institution between 2012 and 2013. Ten cases underwent MPMCTA and autopsy and were included in the study. Before the angiographic step by complete filling of the vascular system, prior to any manipulation of the body, a non-contrast CT-scan was carried out. Image reconstructions were performed on a CT workstation (Vitrea) and two radiologists experienced with post mortem imaging interpreted the MPMCTA findings. In all 10 cases, we could state a good correlation between combination of post-mortem CT and MPMCTA and autopsy procedures, confirming a high diagnostic sensitivity. With this case series we want to illustrate the advantages offered by performing MPMCTA when facing a sudden death, regardless of specific suspicion for acute coronary syndrome or other vascular or ischemic disease. PMID:27928228

Socioeconomic impact assessment in ex ante evaluations: a case study on the rural development programs of the European Union.

PubMed

Vidueira, Pablo; Díaz-Puente, José M; Rivera, María

2014-08-01

Ex ante impact assessment has become a fundamental tool for effective program management, and thus, a compulsory task when establishing a new program in the European Union (EU). This article aims to analyze benefits from ex ante impact assessment, methodologies followed, and difficulties encountered. This is done through the case study on the rural development programs (RDPs) in the EU. Results regarding methodologies are then contrasted with the international context in order to provide solid insights to evaluators and program managing authorities facing ex ante impact assessment. All European RDPs from the period 2007 through 2013 (a total of 88) and their corresponding available ex ante evaluations (a total of 70) were analyzed focusing on the socioeconomic impact assessment. Only 46.6% of the regions provide quantified impact estimations on socioeconomic impacts in spite of it being a compulsory task demanded by the European Commission (EC). Recommended methods by the EC are mostly used, but there is a lack of mixed method approaches since qualitative methods are used in substitution of quantitative ones. Two main difficulties argued were the complexity of program impacts and the lack of needed program information. Qualitative approaches on their own have been found as not suitable for ex ante impact assessment, while quantitative approaches-such as microsimulation models-provide a good approximation to actual impacts. However, time and budgetary constraints make that quantitative and mixed methods should be mainly applied on the most relevant impacts for the program success. © The Author(s) 2014.

Ant- and Ant-Colony-Inspired ALife Visual Art.

PubMed

Greenfield, Gary; Machado, Penousal

2015-01-01

Ant- and ant-colony-inspired ALife art is characterized by the artistic exploration of the emerging collective behavior of computational agents, developed using ants as a metaphor. We present a chronology that documents the emergence and history of such visual art, contextualize ant- and ant-colony-inspired art within generative art practices, and consider how it relates to other ALife art. We survey many of the algorithms that artists have used in this genre, address some of their aims, and explore the relationships between ant- and ant-colony-inspired art and research on ant and ant colony behavior.

Fire Ant Bites

MedlinePlus

... Board Certification Grand Rounds Resident Awards AOCD Residency Leadership Award A.P. Ulbrich Resident Research Award Daniel Koprince Award Resident Research Paper Award Sponsors Corporate Members Exhibitors Information for Corporate ...

[Determination of death and post-mortem examination on the high seas].

PubMed

Buschmann, Claas T; Tsokos, Michael

2009-01-01

Usually death has to be determined by a physician. Deaths on board of ocean-going vessels confront the crew with special challenges, as on the high seas--especially in the container and cargo ship business--often no physician will be available and death has to be determined by medical laymen such as the captain or the medical officer. To document the determination of death, a "Provisional Certificate of Death on the High Seas" is presented. Moreover, an algorithm "Provisional Post-Mortem Examination on the High Seas" is presented to document the results and the practical performance of the external post-mortem examination by medical laymen on a ship. With the help of concrete procedural instructions medical laymen on board of sea-going vessels are to be enabled to determine the death of a human being beyond doubt, to perform a preliminary external post-mortem examination and to store the corpse according to forensic requirements until the ship reaches a port and the body is delivered to the harbour physician.

Variability in individual activity bursts improves ant foraging success.

PubMed

Campos, Daniel; Bartumeus, Frederic; Méndez, Vicenç; Andrade, José S; Espadaler, Xavier

2016-12-01

Using experimental and computational methods, we study the role of behavioural variability in activity bursts (or temporal activity patterns) for individual and collective regulation of foraging in A. senilis ants. First, foraging experiments were carried out under special conditions (low densities of ants and food and absence of external cues or stimuli) where individual-based strategies are most prevalent. By using marked individuals and recording all foraging trajectories, we were then able to precisely quantify behavioural variability among individuals. Our main conclusions are that (i) variability of ant trajectories (turning angles, speed, etc.) is low compared with variability of temporal activity profiles, and (ii) this variability seems to be driven by plasticity of individual behaviour through time, rather than the presence of fixed behavioural stereotypes or specialists within the group. The statistical measures obtained from these experimental foraging patterns are then used to build a general agent-based model (ABM) which includes the most relevant properties of ant foraging under natural conditions, including recruitment through pheromone communication. Using the ABM, we are able to provide computational evidence that the characteristics of individual variability observed in our experiments can provide a functional advantage (in terms of foraging success) to the group; thus, we propose the biological basis underpinning our observations. Altogether, our study reveals the potential utility of experiments under simplified (laboratory) conditions for understanding information-gathering in biological systems. © 2016 The Author(s).

Ant-Plant Interaction in a Tropical Savanna: May the Network Structure Vary over Time and Influence on the Outcomes of Associations?

PubMed Central

Lange, Denise; Del-Claro, Kleber

2014-01-01

Plant-animal interactions occur in a community context of dynamic and complex ecological interactive networks. The understanding of who interacts with whom is a basic information, but the outcomes of interactions among associates are fundamental to draw valid conclusions about the functional structure of the network. Ecological networks studies in general gave little importance to know the true outcomes of interactions and how they may change over time. We evaluate the dynamic of an interaction network between ants and plants with extrafloral nectaries, by verifying the temporal variation in structure and outcomes of mutualism for the plant community (leaf herbivory). To reach this goal, we used two tools: bipartite network analysis and experimental manipulation. The networks exhibited the same general pattern as other mutualistic networks: nestedness, asymmetry and low specialization and this pattern was maintained over time, but with internal changes (species degree, connectance and ant abundance). These changes influenced the protection effectiveness of plants by ants, which varied over time. Our study shows that interaction networks between ants and plants are dynamic over time, and that these alterations affect the outcomes of mutualisms. In addition, our study proposes that the set of single systems that shape ecological networks can be manipulated for a greater understanding of the entire system. PMID:25141007

Persistence of pollination mutualisms in the presence of ants.

PubMed

Wang, Yuanshi; Wang, Shikun

2015-01-01

This paper considers plant-pollinator-ant systems in which the plant-pollinator interaction is mutualistic but ants have both positive and negative effects on plants. The ants also interfere with pollinators by preventing them from accessing plants. While a Beddington-DeAngelis (BD) formula can describe the plant-pollinator interaction, the formula is extended in this paper to characterize the pollination mutualism under the ant interference. Then, a plant-pollinator-ant system with the extended BD functional response is discussed, and global dynamics of the model demonstrate the mechanisms by which pollination mutualism can persist in the presence of ants. When the ant interference is strong, it can result in extinction of pollinators. Moreover, if the ants depend on pollination mutualism for survival, the strong interference could drive pollinators into extinction, which consequently lead to extinction of the ants themselves. When the ant interference is weak, a cooperation between plant-ant and plant-pollinator mutualisms could occur, which promotes survival of both ants and pollinators, especially in the case that ants (respectively, pollinators) cannot survive in the absence of pollinators (respectively, ants). Even when the level of ant interference remains invariant, varying ants' negative effect on plants can result in survival/extinction of both ants and pollinators. Therefore, our results provide an explanation for the persistence of pollination mutualism when there exist ants.

Posthumous Reproduction (PHR) in Israel: Policy Rationales Versus Lay People's Concerns, a Preliminary Study.

PubMed

Hashiloni-Dolev, Yael

2015-12-01

Israeli policy concerning PHR has been decided upon in an expertocratic manner, leaving the voice of the public unheard. Based on 26 semi-structured in-depth interviews with 13 Jewish-Israeli young couples, this preliminary study provides the first empirical data regarding lay attitudes toward PHR in Israel. Findings suggest major dissimilarities between the policy and lay people's wishes and rationales. While policy is built on the "presumed wish" assumption, supposing all men living in a loving relationship wish to have their partner carry their child post-mortem, this was empirically unsupported. However, the findings suggest that many interviewees were willing to defer to their surviving spouse's wishes to have their post-mortem child, sometimes even against their own wish, indicating a support for presumed consent. Respecting the wishes of the dead, a dominant argument in the bioethical discussion in Israel and beyond, was mainly irrelevant to informants, whereas interviewees considered the future child's welfare, a concern overlooked by Israeli policy. Likewise, while posthumous grandparenthood is on the rise in Israel, it clearly contradicts the wishes of the majority of this study's informants. Nonetheless, existing policy is not expected to raise any opposition, due to the extreme liberalism of the participants and their support of reproductive autonomy.

Structural and molecular basis for resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics by the adenylyltransferase ANT(2″)-Ia.

PubMed

Cox, Georgina; Stogios, Peter J; Savchenko, Alexei; Wright, Gerard D

2015-01-06

The aminoglycosides are highly effective broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents. However, their efficacy is diminished due to enzyme-mediated covalent modification, which reduces affinity of the drug for the target ribosome. One of the most prevalent aminoglycoside resistance enzymes in Gram-negative pathogens is the adenylyltransferase ANT(2″)-Ia, which confers resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, and kanamycin. Despite the importance of this enzyme in drug resistance, its structure and molecular mechanism have been elusive. This study describes the structural and mechanistic basis for adenylylation of aminoglycosides by the ANT(2″)-Ia enzyme. ANT(2″)-Ia confers resistance by magnesium-dependent transfer of a nucleoside monophosphate (AMP) to the 2″-hydroxyl of aminoglycoside substrates containing a 2-deoxystreptamine core. The catalyzed reaction follows a direct AMP transfer mechanism from ATP to the substrate antibiotic. Central to catalysis is the coordination of two Mg(2+) ions, positioning of the modifiable substrate ring, and the presence of a catalytic base (Asp86). Comparative structural analysis revealed that ANT(2″)-Ia has a two-domain structure with an N-terminal active-site architecture that is conserved among other antibiotic nucleotidyltransferases, including Lnu(A), LinB, ANT(4')-Ia, ANT(4″)-Ib, and ANT(6)-Ia. There is also similarity between the nucleotidyltransferase fold of ANT(2″)-Ia and DNA polymerase β. This similarity is consistent with evolution from a common ancestor, with the nucleotidyltransferase fold having adapted for activity against chemically distinct molecules. IMPORTANCE  : To successfully manage the threat associated with multidrug-resistant infectious diseases, innovative therapeutic strategies need to be developed. One such approach involves the enhancement or potentiation of existing antibiotics against resistant strains of bacteria. The reduction in clinical usefulness of the aminoglycosides is a particular problem among Gram-negative human pathogens, since there are very few therapeutic options for infections caused by these organisms. In order to successfully circumvent or inhibit the activity of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes, and to thus rejuvenate the activity of the aminoglycoside antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens, structural and mechanistic information is crucial. This study reveals the structure of a clinically prevalent aminoglycoside resistance enzyme [ANT(2″)-Ia] and depicts the molecular basis underlying modification of antibiotic substrates. Combined, these findings provide the groundwork for the development of broad-spectrum inhibitors against antibiotic nucleotidyltransferases. Copyright © 2015 Cox et al.

Structural and Molecular Basis for Resistance to Aminoglycoside Antibiotics by the Adenylyltransferase ANT(2″)-Ia

PubMed Central

Cox, Georgina; Stogios, Peter J.; Savchenko, Alexei

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT   The aminoglycosides are highly effective broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents. However, their efficacy is diminished due to enzyme-mediated covalent modification, which reduces affinity of the drug for the target ribosome. One of the most prevalent aminoglycoside resistance enzymes in Gram-negative pathogens is the adenylyltransferase ANT(2″)-Ia, which confers resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, and kanamycin. Despite the importance of this enzyme in drug resistance, its structure and molecular mechanism have been elusive. This study describes the structural and mechanistic basis for adenylylation of aminoglycosides by the ANT(2″)-Ia enzyme. ANT(2″)-Ia confers resistance by magnesium-dependent transfer of a nucleoside monophosphate (AMP) to the 2″-hydroxyl of aminoglycoside substrates containing a 2-deoxystreptamine core. The catalyzed reaction follows a direct AMP transfer mechanism from ATP to the substrate antibiotic. Central to catalysis is the coordination of two Mg2+ ions, positioning of the modifiable substrate ring, and the presence of a catalytic base (Asp86). Comparative structural analysis revealed that ANT(2″)-Ia has a two-domain structure with an N-terminal active-site architecture that is conserved among other antibiotic nucleotidyltransferases, including Lnu(A), LinB, ANT(4′)-Ia, ANT(4″)-Ib, and ANT(6)-Ia. There is also similarity between the nucleotidyltransferase fold of ANT(2″)-Ia and DNA polymerase β. This similarity is consistent with evolution from a common ancestor, with the nucleotidyltransferase fold having adapted for activity against chemically distinct molecules. Importance   To successfully manage the threat associated with multidrug-resistant infectious diseases, innovative therapeutic strategies need to be developed. One such approach involves the enhancement or potentiation of existing antibiotics against resistant strains of bacteria. The reduction in clinical usefulness of the aminoglycosides is a particular problem among Gram-negative human pathogens, since there are very few therapeutic options for infections caused by these organisms. In order to successfully circumvent or inhibit the activity of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes, and to thus rejuvenate the activity of the aminoglycoside antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens, structural and mechanistic information is crucial. This study reveals the structure of a clinically prevalent aminoglycoside resistance enzyme [ANT(2″)-Ia] and depicts the molecular basis underlying modification of antibiotic substrates. Combined, these findings provide the groundwork for the development of broad-spectrum inhibitors against antibiotic nucleotidyltransferases. PMID:25564464

The GÉANT network: addressing current and future needs of the HEP community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capone, Vincenzo; Usman, Mian

2015-12-01

The GÉANT infrastructure is the backbone that serves the scientific communities in Europe for their data movement needs and their access to international research and education networks. Using the extensive fibre footprint and infrastructure in Europe the GÉANT network delivers a portfolio of services aimed to best fit the specific needs of the users, including Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure, end-to-end performance monitoring, advanced network services (dynamic circuits, L2-L3VPN, MD-VPN). This talk will outline the factors that help the GÉANT network to respond to the needs of the High Energy Physics community, both in Europe and worldwide. The Pan-European network provides the connectivity between 40 European national research and education networks. In addition, GÉANT also connects the European NRENs to the R&E networks in other world region and has reach to over 110 NREN worldwide, making GÉANT the best connected Research and Education network, with its multiple intercontinental links to different continents e.g. North and South America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The High Energy Physics computational needs have always had (and will keep having) a leading role among the scientific user groups of the GÉANT network: the LHCONE overlay network has been built, in collaboration with the other big world REN, specifically to address the peculiar needs of the LHC data movement. Recently, as a result of a series of coordinated efforts, the LHCONE network has been expanded to the Asia-Pacific area, and is going to include some of the main regional R&E network in the area. The LHC community is not the only one that is actively using a distributed computing model (hence the need for a high-performance network); new communities are arising, as BELLE II. GÉANT is deeply involved also with the BELLE II Experiment, to provide full support to their distributed computing model, along with a perfSONAR-based network monitoring system. GÉANT has also coordinated the setup of the network infrastructure to perform the BELLE II Trans-Atlantic Data Challenge, and has been active on helping the BELLE II community to sort out their end-to-end performance issues. In this talk we will provide information about the current GÉANT network architecture and of the international connectivity, along with the upcoming upgrades and the planned and foreseeable improvements. We will also describe the implementation of the solutions provided to support the LHC and BELLE II experiments.

The Design and Development of a Post-Mortem Room Complex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborne, A. D.

1977-01-01

The design of a post-mortem room complex to serve the needs of three separate organizations on the campus of the University of Bristol's Veterinary Field Station is described. Comments are made on disadvantages that have become apparent during eight years of use. (Author/LBH)

Measurement of cerebral biomarkers proving traumatic brain injuries in post-mortem body fluids.

PubMed

Ondruschka, Benjamin; Sieber, Monique; Kirsten, Holger; Franke, Heike; Dressler, Jan

2018-05-05

Until now, it is impossible to identify a fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI) before post-mortem radiological investigations or an autopsy take place. It would be preferable to have an additional diagnostic tool like post-mortem biochemistry to get greater insight into the pathological pathways and survival times after sustaining TBI. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples of 84 autopsy cases were collected from forensic autopsies with post-mortem intervals (PMI) of up to 148 h. The cases were categorized into a fatal TBI case group (n=42) and non-TBI controls (n=42). The values of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) were analyzed by means of quantitative chemiluminescent multiplex immunoassays. The main results indicate that the usage of liquid samples with good macroscopic quality is more relevant for meaningful biomarker analyses than the length of the PMI. All three proteins were shown to differentiate TBI fatalities from the controls in CSF. In serum, only GFAP could be shown to be able to identify TBI cases. This study is the first approach to measure the three proteins together in CSF and serum in autopsy cases. Determined threshold values may differentiate between fatal TBI and control cases. The presented results emphasize the possible use of post-mortem biochemistry as a supplemental tool in everyday forensic routine.

Caspase inhibitors increase the rate of recovery of neural stem/progenitor cells from post-mortem rat brains stored at room temperature.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Atsuko; Yamada, Chikako; Tani, Miho; Hirano, Shun-ichiro; Tokumoto, Yasuhito; Miyake, Jun

2009-06-01

To match the demand of regenerative medicine for nerve system, collection of stem cells from the post-mortem body is one of the most practical ways. In this study, the storage condition of the post-mortem body was examined. We prepared neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) from post-mortem rat brains stored at different temperatures. When brains were stored at 4 degrees C, for one week, we were able to obtain neurospheres (a spheroid body containing NSPCs) by stimulation of cells with epidermal growth factor (EGF). Incremental increases in storage temperature decreased the rate of appearance of neurospheres. Within 48 h at 15 degrees C, 24 h at 25 degrees C, in both condition, we were able to recover NSPCs from post-mortem rat brains. At 15 degrees C, 90% of neurosphere-forming activity was lost within 24 h. However, even after 24 h at 25 degrees C, 2% neurosphere-forming activity remained. After 6 h of death, there was very little difference between the rates of NSPC recovery at 4 degrees C and 25 degrees C. Addition of caspase inhibitors to both the rat brain storage solution and the NSPC culture medium increased the rate of neurosphere-forming activity. In particular, an inhibitor of caspase-8 activity increased the NSPC recovery rate approximately three-fold, with no accompanying detrimental effects on neural differentiation in vitro.

Aphid egg protection by ants: a novel aspect of the mutualism between the tree-feeding aphid Stomaphis hirukawai and its attendant ant Lasius productus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuura, Kenji; Yashiro, Toshihisa

2006-10-01

Aphids often form mutualistic associations with ants, in which the aphids provide the ants with honeydew and the ants defend the aphids from predators. In this paper, we report aphid egg protection by ants as a novel aspect of the deeply interdependent relationship between a tree-feeding aphid and its attendant ant. The ant Lasius productus harbours oviparous females, males, and eggs of the hinoki cypress-feeding aphid Stomaphis hirukawai in its nests in winter. We investigated the behaviour of ants kept with aphid eggs in petri dishes to examine whether the ants recognise the aphid eggs and tend them or only provide a refuge for the aphids. Workers carried almost all of the aphid eggs into the nest within 24 h. The ants indiscriminately tended aphid eggs collected from their own colonies and those from other ant colonies. The ants cleaned the eggs and piled them up in the nest, and egg tending by ants dramatically increased aphid egg survival rates. Starving the ants showed no significant effect on aphid egg survivorship. Without ants, aphid eggs were rapidly killed by fungi. These results suggested that grooming by the ants protected the aphid eggs, at least, against pathogenic fungi. This hygienic service afforded by the ants seems indispensable for egg survival of these aphids in an environment rich in potentially pathogenic microorganisms.

Aphid egg protection by ants: a novel aspect of the mutualism between the tree-feeding aphid Stomaphis hirukawai and its attendant ant Lasius productus.

PubMed

Matsuura, Kenji; Yashiro, Toshihisa

2006-10-01

Aphids often form mutualistic associations with ants, in which the aphids provide the ants with honeydew and the ants defend the aphids from predators. In this paper, we report aphid egg protection by ants as a novel aspect of the deeply interdependent relationship between a tree-feeding aphid and its attendant ant. The ant Lasius productus harbours oviparous females, males, and eggs of the hinoki cypress-feeding aphid Stomaphis hirukawai in its nests in winter. We investigated the behaviour of ants kept with aphid eggs in petri dishes to examine whether the ants recognise the aphid eggs and tend them or only provide a refuge for the aphids. Workers carried almost all of the aphid eggs into the nest within 24 h. The ants indiscriminately tended aphid eggs collected from their own colonies and those from other ant colonies. The ants cleaned the eggs and piled them up in the nest, and egg tending by ants dramatically increased aphid egg survival rates. Starving the ants showed no significant effect on aphid egg survivorship. Without ants, aphid eggs were rapidly killed by fungi. These results suggested that grooming by the ants protected the aphid eggs, at least, against pathogenic fungi. This hygienic service afforded by the ants seems indispensable for egg survival of these aphids in an environment rich in potentially pathogenic microorganisms.

Ants learn to rely on more informative attributes during decision-making.

PubMed

Sasaki, Takao; Pratt, Stephen C

2013-01-01

Evolutionary theory predicts that animals act to maximize their fitness when choosing among a set of options, such as what to eat or where to live. Making the best choice is challenging when options vary in multiple attributes, and animals have evolved a variety of heuristics to simplify the task. Many of these involve ranking or weighting attributes according to their importance. Because the importance of attributes can vary across time and place, animals might benefit by adjusting weights accordingly. Here, we show that colonies of the ant Temnothorax rugatulus use their experience during nest site selection to increase weights on more informative nest attributes. These ants choose their rock crevice nests on the basis of multiple features. After exposure to an environment where only one attribute differentiated options, colonies increased their reliance on this attribute relative to a second attribute. Although many species show experience-based changes in selectivity based on a single feature, this is the first evidence in animals for adaptive changes in the weighting of multiple attributes. These results show that animal collectives, like individuals, change decision-making strategies according to experience. We discuss how these colony-level changes might emerge from individual behaviour.

Integration of ultra-high field MRI and histology for connectome based research of brain disorders

PubMed Central

Yang, Shan; Yang, Zhengyi; Fischer, Karin; Zhong, Kai; Stadler, Jörg; Godenschweger, Frank; Steiner, Johann; Heinze, Hans-Jochen; Bernstein, Hans-Gert; Bogerts, Bernhard; Mawrin, Christian; Reutens, David C.; Speck, Oliver; Walter, Martin

2013-01-01

Ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) became increasingly relevant for in vivo neuroscientific research because of improved spatial resolutions. However, this is still the unchallenged domain of histological studies, which long played an important role in the investigation of neuropsychiatric disorders. While the field of biological psychiatry strongly advanced on macroscopic levels, current developments are rediscovering the richness of immunohistological information when attempting a multi-level systematic approach to brain function and dysfunction. For most studies, histology sections lost information on three-dimensional reconstructions. Translating histological sections to 3D-volumes would thus not only allow for multi-stain and multi-subject alignment in post mortem data, but also provide a crucial step in big data initiatives involving the network analyses currently performed with in vivo MRI. We therefore investigated potential pitfalls during integration of MR and histological information where no additional blockface information is available. We demonstrated that strengths and requirements from both methods can be effectively combined at a spatial resolution of 200 μm. However, the success of this approach is heavily dependent on choices of hardware, sequence and reconstruction. We provide a fully automated pipeline that optimizes histological 3D reconstructions, providing a potentially powerful solution not only for primary human post mortem research institutions in neuropsychiatric research, but also to help alleviate the massive workloads in neuroanatomical atlas initiatives. We further demonstrate (for the first time) the feasibility and quality of ultra-high spatial resolution (150 μm isotopic) imaging of the entire human brain MRI at 7T, offering new opportunities for analyses on MR-derived information. PMID:24098272

Ant-lepidopteran associations along African forest edges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dejean, Alain; Azémar, Frédéric; Libert, Michel; Compin, Arthur; Hérault, Bruno; Orivel, Jérôme; Bouyer, Thierry; Corbara, Bruno

2017-02-01

Working along forest edges, we aimed to determine how some caterpillars can co-exist with territorially dominant arboreal ants (TDAAs) in tropical Africa. We recorded caterpillars from 22 lepidopteran species living in the presence of five TDAA species. Among the defoliator and/or nectarivorous caterpillars that live on tree foliage, the Pyralidae and Nymphalidae use their silk to protect themselves from ant attacks. The Notodontidae and lycaenid Polyommatinae and Theclinae live in direct contact with ants; the Theclinae even reward ants with abundant secretions from their Newcomer gland. Lichen feeders (lycaenid; Poritiinae), protected by long bristles, also live among ants. Some lycaenid Miletinae caterpillars feed on ant-attended membracids, including in the shelters where the ants attend them; Lachnocnema caterpillars use their forelegs to obtain trophallaxis from their host ants. Caterpillars from other species live inside weaver ant nests. Those of the genus Euliphyra (Miletinae) feed on ant prey and brood and can obtain trophallaxis, while those from an Eberidae species only prey on host ant eggs. Eublemma albifascia (Erebidae) caterpillars use their thoracic legs to obtain trophallaxis and trophic eggs from ants. Through transfer bioassays of last instars, we noted that herbivorous caterpillars living in contact with ants were always accepted by alien conspecific ants; this is likely due to an intrinsic appeasing odor. Yet, caterpillars living in ant shelters or ant nests probably acquire cues from their host colonies because they were considered aliens and killed. We conclude that co-evolution with ants occurred similarly in the Heterocera and Rhopalocera.

Sensitivity and feeding efficiency of the black garden ant Lasius niger to sugar resources.

PubMed

Detrain, Claire; Prieur, Jacques

2014-05-01

Carbohydrate sources such as plant exudates, nectar and honeydew represent the main source of energy for many ant species and contribute towards maintaining their mutualistic relationships with plants or aphid colonies. Here we characterise the sensitivity, feeding response curve and food intake efficiency of the aphid tending ant, Lasius niger for major sugars found in nectar, honeydew and insect haemolymph (i.e. fructose, glucose, sucrose, melezitose and trehalose). We found that sucrose concentrations - ranging from 0.1 to 2.5 M - triggered food acceptance by L.niger workers with their food intake efficiency being enhanced by sugar concentrations of 1M or higher at which points energy intake was maximised. The range of sucrose concentrations that elicit a feeding response by L. niger scouts thus overlaps with that of natural sugar resources. The response curves of feeding acceptance by scouts consistently increased with sugar concentration, except for trehalose which was disregarded by the ants. Ants are highly sensitive to sucrose and melezitose exhibiting low response thresholds. Sucrose, fructose and glucose share a same potential to act as phagostimulants as they had similar half feeding efficiency concentration values when expressed as the energetic content of sugar solution. Aphid-biosynthezised melezitose generated the highest sensitivity and phagostimulant potential. The feeding behavior of ants appears to be primarily regulated by the energy content of the food solution for the main sugars present in nectar and honeydew. However, feeding by scouts is also influenced by the informative value of individual sugars when it serves as a cue for the presence of aphid partners such as the aphid-biosynthesised melezitose. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Residual susceptibility of the red imported fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to four agricultural insecticides.

PubMed

Seagraves, Michael P; McPherson, Robert M

2003-06-01

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, is an abundant predator in cropping systems throughout its range. It has been documented to be an important predator of numerous crop pests, as well as being an agricultural pest itself. Information on the impact of insecticides on natural enemies such as fire ants is necessary for the integration of biological and chemical control tactics in an effective pest management program. Therefore, a residual vial bioassay was developed to determine the concentration-mortality responses of S. invicta workers to four commonly used insecticides: acephate, chlorpyrifos, methomyl and lambda-cyhalothrin. Fire ant workers showed a mortality response to serial dilutions to all four chemicals. Methomyl (LC50 0.04 microg/vial, fiducial limits 0.03-0.06) was the most toxic, followed by chlorpyrifos (LC50 0.11 microg/vial, fiducial limits 0.07-0.17) and acephate (LC50 0.76 microg/vial, fiducial limits 0.50-1.04). Of the chemicals assayed, it took a much higher concentration of lambda-cyhalothrin (LC50 2.30 microg/vial, fiducial limits 1.57-3.59) to kill 50% of the workers compared with the other three chemicals. The results of this study demonstrate the wide range in responses of fire ants to four insecticides that are labeled and commonly used on numerous agricultural crops throughout the United States. These results further suggest the possibility of using a discriminating dose of lambda-cyhalothrin to control the target pest species while conserving fire ants in the agricultural systems in which their predatory behavior is beneficial to the integrated pest management program.

Breaking the cipher: ant eavesdropping on the variational trail pheromone of its termite prey

PubMed Central

Wen, Xiao-Lan

2017-01-01

Predators may eavesdrop on their prey using innate signals of varying nature. In regards to social prey, most of the prey signals are derived from social communication and may therefore be highly complex. The most efficient predators select signals that provide the highest benefits. Here, we showed the use of eusocial prey signals by the termite-raiding ant Odontoponera transversa. O. transversa selected the trail pheromone of termites as kairomone in several species of fungus-growing termites (Termitidae: Macrotermitinae: Odontotermes yunnanensis, Macrotermes yunnanensis, Ancistrotermes dimorphus). The most commonly predated termite, O. yunnanensis, was able to regulate the trail pheromone component ratios during its foraging activity. The ratio of the two trail pheromone compounds was correlated with the number of termites in the foraging party. (3Z)-Dodec-3-en-1-ol (DOE) was the dominant trail pheromone component in the initial foraging stages when fewer termites were present. Once a trail was established, (3Z,6Z)-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol (DDE) became the major recruitment component in the trail pheromone and enabled mass recruitment of nest-mates to the food source. Although the ants could perceive both components, they revealed stronger behavioural responses to the recruitment component, DDE, than to the common major component, DOE. In other words, the ants use the trail pheromone information as an indication of suitable prey abundance, and regulate their behavioural responses based on the changing trail pheromone component. The eavesdropping behaviour in ants therefore leads to an arms race between predator and prey where the species specific production of trail pheromones in termites is targeted by predatory ant species. PMID:28446695

Breaking the cipher: ant eavesdropping on the variational trail pheromone of its termite prey.

PubMed

Wen, Xiao-Lan; Wen, Ping; Dahlsjö, Cecilia A L; Sillam-Dussès, David; Šobotník, Jan

2017-04-26

Predators may eavesdrop on their prey using innate signals of varying nature. In regards to social prey, most of the prey signals are derived from social communication and may therefore be highly complex. The most efficient predators select signals that provide the highest benefits. Here, we showed the use of eusocial prey signals by the termite-raiding ant Odontoponera transversa O. transversa selected the trail pheromone of termites as kairomone in several species of fungus-growing termites (Termitidae: Macrotermitinae: Odontotermes yunnanensis , Macrotermes yunnanensis , Ancistrotermes dimorphus ). The most commonly predated termite, O. yunnanensis, was able to regulate the trail pheromone component ratios during its foraging activity. The ratio of the two trail pheromone compounds was correlated with the number of termites in the foraging party. (3 Z )-Dodec-3-en-1-ol (DOE) was the dominant trail pheromone component in the initial foraging stages when fewer termites were present. Once a trail was established, (3 Z,6Z )-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol (DDE) became the major recruitment component in the trail pheromone and enabled mass recruitment of nest-mates to the food source. Although the ants could perceive both components, they revealed stronger behavioural responses to the recruitment component, DDE, than to the common major component, DOE. In other words, the ants use the trail pheromone information as an indication of suitable prey abundance, and regulate their behavioural responses based on the changing trail pheromone component. The eavesdropping behaviour in ants therefore leads to an arms race between predator and prey where the species specific production of trail pheromones in termites is targeted by predatory ant species. © 2017 The Author(s).

Collective choice in ants: the role of protein and carbohydrates ratios.

PubMed

Arganda, S; Nicolis, S C; Perochain, A; Péchabadens, C; Latil, G; Dussutour, A

2014-10-01

In a foraging context, social insects make collective decisions from individuals responding to local information. When faced with foods varying in quality, ants are known to be able to select the best food source using pheromone trails. Until now, studies investigating collective decisions have focused on single nutrients, mostly carbohydrates. In the environment, the foods available are a complex mixture and are composed of various nutrients, available in different forms. In this paper, we explore the effect of protein to carbohydrate ratio on ants' ability to detect and choose between foods with different protein characteristics (free amino acids or whole proteins). In a two-choice set up, Argentine ants Linepithema humile were presented with two artificial foods containing either whole protein or amino acids in two different dietary conditions: high protein food or high carbohydrate food. At the collective level, when ants were faced with high carbohydrate foods, they did not show a preference between free amino acids or whole proteins, while a preference for free amino acids emerged when choosing between high protein foods. At the individual level, the probability of feeding was higher for high carbohydrates food and for foods containing free amino acids. Two mathematical models were developed to evaluate the importance of feeding probability in collective food selection. A first model in which a forager deposits pheromone only after feeding, and a second model in which a forager always deposits pheromone, but with greater intensity after feeding. Both models were able to predict free amino acid selection, however the second one was better able to reproduce the experimental results suggesting that modulating trail strength according to feeding probability is likely the mechanism explaining amino acid preference at a collective level in Argentine ants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Macroevolutionary assembly of ant/plant symbioses: Pseudomyrmex ants and their ant-housing plants in the Neotropics

PubMed Central

Chomicki, Guillaume; Ward, Philip S.; Renner, Susanne S.

2015-01-01

Symbioses include some of the clearest cases of coevolution, but their origin, loss or reassembly with different partners can rarely be inferred. Here we use ant/plant symbioses involving three plant clades to investigate the evolution of symbioses. We generated phylogenies for the big-eyed arboreal ants (Pseudomyrmecinae), including 72% of their 286 species, as well as for five of their plant host groups, in each case sampling more than 61% of the species. We show that the ant-housing Vachellia (Mimosoideae) clade and its ants co-diversified for the past 5 Ma, with some species additionally colonized by younger plant-nesting ant species, some parasitic. An apparent co-radiation of ants and Tachigali (Caesalpinioideae) was followed by waves of colonization by the same ant clade, and subsequent occupation by a younger ant group. Wide crown and stem age differences between the ant-housing genus Triplaris (Polygonaceae) and its obligate ant inhabitants, and stochastic trait mapping, indicate that its domatium evolved earlier than the ants now occupying it, suggesting previous symbioses that dissolved. Parasitic ant species evolved from generalists, not from mutualists, and are younger than the mutualistic systems they parasitize. Our study illuminates the macroevolutionary assembly of ant/plant symbioses, which has been highly dynamic, even in very specialized systems. PMID:26582029

Various chemical strategies to deceive ants in three Arhopala species (lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) exploiting Macaranga myrmecophytes.

PubMed

Inui, Yoko; Shimizu-Kaya, Usun; Okubo, Tadahiro; Yamsaki, Eri; Itioka, Takao

2015-01-01

Macaranga myrmecophytes (ant-plants) are generally well protected from herbivore attacks by their symbiotic ants (plant-ants). However, larvae of Arhopala (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) species survive and develop on specific Macaranga ant-plant species without being attacked by the plant-ants of their host species. We hypothesized that Arhopala larvae chemically mimic or camouflage themselves with the ants on their host plant so that the larvae are accepted by the plant-ant species of their host. Chemical analyses of cuticular hydrocarbons showed that chemical congruency varied among Arhopala species; A. dajagaka matched well the host plant-ants, A. amphimuta did not match, and unexpectedly, A. zylda lacked hydrocarbons. Behaviorally, the larvae and dummies coated with cuticular chemicals of A. dajagaka were well attended by the plant-ants, especially by those of the host. A. amphimuta was often attacked by all plant-ants except for the host plant-ants toward the larvae, and those of A. zylda were ignored by all plant-ants. Our results suggested that conspicuous variations exist in the chemical strategies used by the myrmecophilous butterflies that allow them to avoid ant attack and be accepted by the plant-ant colonies.

Various Chemical Strategies to Deceive Ants in Three Arhopala Species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Exploiting Macaranga Myrmecophytes

PubMed Central

Inui, Yoko; Shimizu-kaya, Usun; Okubo, Tadahiro; Yamsaki, Eri; Itioka, Takao

2015-01-01

Macaranga myrmecophytes (ant-plants) are generally well protected from herbivore attacks by their symbiotic ants (plant-ants). However, larvae of Arhopala (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) species survive and develop on specific Macaranga ant-plant species without being attacked by the plant-ants of their host species. We hypothesized that Arhopala larvae chemically mimic or camouflage themselves with the ants on their host plant so that the larvae are accepted by the plant-ant species of their host. Chemical analyses of cuticular hydrocarbons showed that chemical congruency varied among Arhopala species; A. dajagaka matched well the host plant-ants, A. amphimuta did not match, and unexpectedly, A. zylda lacked hydrocarbons. Behaviorally, the larvae and dummies coated with cuticular chemicals of A. dajagaka were well attended by the plant-ants, especially by those of the host. A. amphimuta was often attacked by all plant-ants except for the host plant-ants toward the larvae, and those of A. zylda were ignored by all plant-ants. Our results suggested that conspicuous variations exist in the chemical strategies used by the myrmecophilous butterflies that allow them to avoid ant attack and be accepted by the plant-ant colonies. PMID:25853675

Ant-caterpillar antagonism at the community level: interhabitat variation of tritrophic interactions in a neotropical savanna.

PubMed

Sendoya, Sebastián F; Oliveira, Paulo S

2015-03-01

Ant foraging on foliage can substantially affect how phytophagous insects use host plants and represents a high predation risk for caterpillars, which are important folivores. Ant-plant-herbivore interactions are especially pervasive in cerrado savanna due to continuous ant visitation to liquid food sources on foliage (extrafloral nectaries, insect honeydew). While searching for liquid rewards on plants, aggressive ants frequently attack or kill insect herbivores, decreasing their numbers. Because ants vary in diet and aggressiveness, their effect on herbivores also varies. Additionally, the differential occurrence of ant attractants (plant and insect exudates) on foliage produces variable levels of ant foraging within local floras and among localities. Here, we investigate how variation of ant communities and of traits among host plant species (presence or absence of ant attractants) can change the effect of carnivores (predatory ants) on herbivore communities (caterpillars) in a cerrado savanna landscape. We sampled caterpillars and foliage-foraging ants in four cerrado localities (70-460 km apart). We found that: (i) caterpillar infestation was negatively related with ant visitation to plants; (ii) this relationship depended on local ant abundance and species composition, and on local preference by ants for plants with liquid attractants; (iii) this was not related to local plant richness or plant size; (iv) the relationship between the presence of ant attractants and caterpillar abundance varied among sites from negative to neutral; and (v) caterpillars feeding on plants with ant attractants are more resistant to ant predation than those feeding on plants lacking attractants. Liquid food on foliage mediates host plant quality for lepidopterans by promoting generalized ant-caterpillar antagonism. Our study in cerrado shows that the negative effects of generalist predatory ants on herbivores are detectable at a community level, affecting patterns of abundance and host plant use by lepidopterans. The magnitude of ant-induced effects on caterpillar occurrence across the cerrado landscape may depend on how ants use plants locally and how they respond to liquid food on plants at different habitats. This study enhances the relevance of plant-ant and ant-herbivore interactions in cerrado and highlights the importance of a tritrophic perspective in this ant-rich environment. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2014 British Ecological Society.

Dynamics of an ant-plant-pollinator model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yuanshi; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Nathaniel Holland, J.

2015-03-01

In this paper, we consider plant-pollinator-ant systems in which plant-pollinator interaction and plant-ant interaction are both mutualistic, but there also exists interference of pollinators by ants. The plant-pollinator interaction can be described by a Beddington-DeAngelis formula, so we extend the formula to characterize plant-pollinator mutualisms, including the interference by ants, and form a plant-pollinator-ant model. Using dynamical systems theory, we show uniform persistence of the model. Moreover, we demonstrate conditions under which boundary equilibria are globally asymptotically stable. The dynamics exhibit mechanisms by which the three species could coexist when ants interfere with pollinators. We define a threshold in ant interference. When ant interference is strong, it can drive plant-pollinator mutualisms to extinction. Furthermore, if the ants depend on pollination mutualism for their persistence, then sufficiently strong ant interference could lead to their own extinction as well. Yet, when ant interference is weak, plant-ant and plant-pollinator mutualisms can promote the persistence of one another.

Ant-seed mutualisms: Can red imported fire ants sour the relationship?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zettler, J.A.; Spira, T.P.; Allen, Craig R.

2001-01-01

Invasion by the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has had negative impacts on individual animal and plant species, but little is known about how S. invicta affects complex mutualistic relationships. In some eastern forests of North America, 30% of herbaceous species have ant-dispersed seeds. We conducted experiments to determine if fire ants are attracted to seeds of these plant species and assessed the amount of scarification or damage that results from handling by fire ants. Fire ants removed nearly 100% of seeds of the ant-dispersed plants Trillium undulatum, T. discolor, T. catesbaei, Viola rotundifolia, and Sanguinaria canadensis. In recovered seeds fed to ant colonies, fire ants scarified 80% of S. canadensis seeds and destroyed 86% of V. rotundifolia seeds. Our study is the first to document that red imported fire ants are attracted to and remove seeds of species adapted for ant dispersal. Moreover, fire ants might damage these seeds and discard them in sites unfavorable for germination and seedling establishment. ?? 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of tending ants in host plant selection and egg parasitism of two facultative myrmecophilous butterflies.

PubMed

Bächtold, Alexandra; Alves-Silva, Estevão; Kaminski, Lucas A; Del-Claro, Kleber

2014-11-01

Ovipositing adult females of myrmecophilous lycaenids are expected to select plants based on ant presence in order to maximize the survivorship of immature stages. Usually, larvae feed ants with honey-like solutions and, in turn, ants ward off parasitoids. Nonetheless, a rarely investigated approach is whether ant partners can also extend their protective behavior towards lycaenids eggs. Here, we investigated the ant-related oviposition pattern of Allosmaitia strophius and Rekoa marius; then, we compared egg parasitism according to the presence of ants. Lycaenid oviposition and egg parasitism (in percent) were experimentally compared in ant-present and ant-excluded treatments. The study plant, Heteropterys byrsonimifolia, is an extrafloral nectaried shrub which supports several ant species. We sampled 280 eggs, of which 39.65 % belonged to A. strophius and 60.35 % to R. marius. Both lycaenids eggs were significantly more abundant on branches with ants, especially those with Camponotus crassus and Camponotus blandus, two ant species known to attend to lycaenids. A. strophius and R. marius parasitism was 4.5- and 2.4-fold higher, respectively, in ant-present treatments, but the results were not statistically significant. Our study shows that ant-mediated host plant selection in lycaenids might be much more widespread than previously thought, and not restricted to obligate myrmecophilous species. Tending ants may be inefficient bodyguards of lycaenid eggs, because unlike larvae which release sugared liquids, eggs do not offer obvious rewards to ants. Ants can ward off parasitoids of larvae, as observed elsewhere, but our findings show that positive ant-lycaenid interactions are conditional and depend on immature ontogeny.

Microorganisms transported by ants induce changes in floral nectar composition of an ant-pollinated plant.

PubMed

de Vega, Clara; Herrera, Carlos M

2013-04-01

Interactions between plants and ants abound in nature and have significant consequences for ecosystem functioning. Recently, it has been suggested that nectar-foraging ants transport microorganisms to flowers; more specifically, they transport yeasts, which can potentially consume sugars and alter nectar composition. Therefore, ants could indirectly change nectar sugar profile, an important floral feature involved in the plant-pollinator mutualism. But this novel role for ants has never been tested. We here investigate the effects of nectarivorous ants and their associated yeasts on the floral nectar sugar composition of an ant-pollinated plant. Differences in the nectar sugar composition of ant-excluded and ant-visited flowers were examined in 278 samples by using high-performance liquid-chromatography. The importance of the genetic identity and density of ant-transported basidiomycetous and ascomycetous yeasts on the variation of nectar traits was also evaluated. Ant visitation had significant effects on nectar sugar composition. The nectar of ant-visited flowers contained significantly more fructose, more glucose, and less sucrose than the nectar of ant-excluded flowers, but these effects were context dependent. Nectar changes were correlated with the density of yeast cells in nectar. The magnitude of the effects of ant-transported ascomycetes was much higher than that of basiodiomycetes. Ants and their associated yeasts induce changes in nectar sugar traits, reducing the chemical control of the plant over this important floral trait. The potential relevance of this new role for ants as indirect nectar modifiers is a rich topic for future research into the ecology of ant-flower interactions.

Plant defense, herbivory, and the growth of Cordia alliodora trees and their symbiotic Azteca ant colonies.

PubMed

Pringle, Elizabeth G; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Gordon, Deborah M

2012-11-01

The effects of herbivory on plant fitness are integrated over a plant's lifetime, mediated by ontogenetic changes in plant defense, tolerance, and herbivore pressure. In symbiotic ant-plant mutualisms, plants provide nesting space and food for ants, and ants defend plants against herbivores. The benefit to the plant of sustaining the growth of symbiotic ant colonies depends on whether defense by the growing ant colony outpaces the plant's growth in defendable area and associated herbivore pressure. These relationships were investigated in the symbiotic mutualism between Cordia alliodora trees and Azteca pittieri ants in a Mexican tropical dry forest. As ant colonies grew, worker production remained constant relative to ant-colony size. As trees grew, leaf production increased relative to tree size. Moreover, larger trees hosted lower densities of ants, suggesting that ant-colony growth did not keep pace with tree growth. On leaves with ants experimentally excluded, herbivory per unit leaf area increased exponentially with tree size, indicating that larger trees experienced higher herbivore pressure per leaf area than smaller trees. Even with ant defense, herbivory increased with tree size. Therefore, although larger trees had larger ant colonies, ant density was lower in larger trees, and the ant colonies did not provide sufficient defense to compensate for the higher herbivore pressure in larger trees. These results suggest that in this system the tree can decrease herbivory by promoting ant-colony growth, i.e., sustaining space and food investment in ants, as long as the tree continues to grow.

Fire Ant Allergy

MedlinePlus

... a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis (an-a-fi-LAK-sis). Symptoms of anaphylaxis typically involve more ... Immunology 555 East Wells Street Suite 1100, Milwaukee , WI 53202-3823 (414) 272-6071 Additional Contact Information ...

The Ants Have It!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daugherty, Belinda

2001-01-01

Uses the GEMS guide, "Ants at Home Underground", to explore the life of ants and teach about them in a classroom setting. The activity applies students' knowledge of ants and students learn about ant colonies, what ants eat, and how they live. (SAH)

The role of ant-tended extrafloral nectaries in the protection and benefit of a Neotropical rainforest tree.

PubMed

de la Fuente, Marie Ann S; Marquis, Robert J

1999-02-01

One possible function of extrafloral nectaries is to attract insects, particularly ants, which defend plants from herbivores. We determined whether ants visiting saplings of the tree Stryphnodendronmicrostachyum (Leguminosae) provide protection (decreased plant damage due to ant molestation or killing of herbivores) and benefit (increased plant growth and reproduction associated with ant presence) to the plant. We compared ant and herbivore abundance, herbivore damage and growth of ant-visited plants and ant-excluded plants grown in sun and shade microhabitats of a 6-ha plantation in Costa Rica over a 7-month period. Results show that ants provided protection to plants not by reducing herbivore numbers but by molesting herbivores. Ants also reduced the incidence of pathogen attack on leaves. Protection was greater in the shade than in the sun, probably due to lower herbivore attack in the sun. Protection was also variable within sun and shade habitats, and this variability appeared to be related to variable ant visitation. Results also indicate that ant presence benefits the plant: ant-visited plants grew significantly more in height than ant-excluded plants. The cultivation of ants may serve as an important natural biological control in tropical forestry and agroforestry systems, where increased plant density can otherwise lead to increased herbivore attack.

Post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris should not be used for forensic death time diagnosis.

PubMed

Koehler, Katja; Sehner, Susanne; Riemer, Martin; Gehl, Axel; Raupach, Tobias; Anders, Sven

2018-04-18

Post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris is one of the non-temperature-based methods in forensic diagnosis of the time since death. Although several authors reported on their findings, using different measurement methods, currently used time limits are based on a single dissertation which has recently been doubted to be applicable for forensic purpose. We investigated changes in pupil-iris ratio after application of acetylcholine (n = 79) or tropicamide (n = 58) and in controls at upper and lower time limits that are suggested in the current literature, using a digital photography-based measurement method with excellent reliability. We observed "positive," "negative," and "paradox" reactions in both intervention and control conditions at all investigated post-mortem time points, suggesting spontaneous changes in pupil size to be causative for the finding. According to our observations, post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris should not be used in forensic death time estimation, as results may cause false conclusions regarding the correct time point of death and might therefore be strongly misleading.

Bacteriological evaluation of a down-draught necropsy table ventilation system.

PubMed

al-Wali, W; Kibbler, C C; McLaughlin, J E

1993-08-01

To evaluate the microbiological efficacy of a down-draught necropsy table ventilation system (which surrounds the cadaver with a "curtain" of air under continuous extraction) during post mortem procedures. Air sampling was carried out both in the presence and absence of staff and cadaver and during a full post mortem procedure, with functioning and non-functioning table air extraction. The penetration of the air "curtain" was also examined during the use of an oscillating bone saw by means of a tracer organism, Bacillus subtilis var niger, painted on to the skull. There was little difference between bacterial counts obtained in the presence of staff only, staff plus cadaver, or during a post mortem examination. With all counts obtained, however, there was a two to three-fold reduction when the ventilation was in operation compared with when the extract duct was occluded. Using the tracer organism, a two to three log reduction in counts was shown when the "curtain" was in operation during the use of the oscillating bone saw. These results suggest that the system provides potential protection for post mortem room staff against airborne infections.

Detection of mitochondrial COII DNA sequences in ant guts as a method for assessing termite predation by ants.

PubMed

Fayle, Tom M; Scholtz, Olivia; Dumbrell, Alex J; Russell, Stephen; Segar, Simon T; Eggleton, Paul

2015-01-01

Termites and ants contribute more to animal biomass in tropical rain forests than any other single group and perform vital ecosystem functions. Although ants prey on termites, at the community level the linkage between these groups is poorly understood. Thus, assessing the distribution and specificity of ant termitophagy is of considerable interest. We describe an approach for quantifying ant-termite food webs by sequencing termite DNA (cytochrome c oxidase subunit II, COII) from ant guts and apply this to a soil-dwelling ant community from tropical rain forest in Gabon. We extracted DNA from 215 ants from 15 species. Of these, 17.2 % of individuals had termite DNA in their guts, with BLAST analysis confirming the identity of 34.1 % of these termites to family level or better. Although ant species varied in detection of termite DNA, ranging from 63 % (5/7; Camponotus sp. 1) to 0 % (0/7; Ponera sp. 1), there was no evidence (with small sample sizes) for heterogeneity in termite consumption across ant taxa, and no evidence for species-specific ant-termite predation. In all three ant species with identifiable termite DNA in multiple individuals, multiple termite species were represented. Furthermore, the two termite species that were detected on multiple occasions in ant guts were in both cases found in multiple ant species, suggesting that ant-termite food webs are not strongly compartmentalised. However, two ant species were found to consume only Anoplotermes-group termites, indicating possible predatory specialisation at a higher taxonomic level. Using a laboratory feeding test, we were able to detect termite COII sequences in ant guts up to 2 h after feeding, indicating that our method only detects recent feeding events. Our data provide tentative support for the hypothesis that unspecialised termite predation by ants is widespread and highlight the use of molecular approaches for future studies of ant-termite food webs.

Ant-plant mutualism: a dietary by-product of a tropical ant's macronutrient requirements.

PubMed

Arcila Hernández, Lina M; Sanders, Jon G; Miller, Gabriel A; Ravenscraft, Alison; Frederickson, Megan E

2017-12-01

Many arboreal ants depend on myrmecophytic plants for both food and shelter; in return, these ants defend their host plants against herbivores, which are often insects. Ant-plant and other mutualisms do not necessarily involve the exchange of costly rewards or services; they may instead result from by-product benefits, or positive outcomes that do not entail a cost for one or both partners. Here, we examined whether the plant-ant Allomerus octoarticulatus pays a short-term cost to defend their host plants against herbivores, or whether plant defense is a by-product benefit of ant foraging for insect prey. Because the food offered by ant-plants is usually nitrogen-poor, arboreal ants may balance their diets by consuming insect prey or associating with microbial symbionts to acquire nitrogen, potentially shifting the costs and benefits of plant defense for the ant partner. To determine the effect of ant diet on an ant-plant mutualism, we compared the behavior, morphology, fitness, stable isotope signatures, and gaster microbiomes of A. octoarticulatus ants nesting in Cordia nodosa trees maintained for nearly a year with or without insect herbivores. At the end of the experiment, ants from herbivore exclosures preferred protein-rich baits more than ants in the control (i.e., herbivores present) treatment. Furthermore, workers in the control treatment were heavier than in the herbivore-exclusion treatment, and worker mass predicted reproductive output, suggesting that foraging for insect prey directly increased ant colony fitness. The gaster microbiome of ants was not significantly affected by the herbivore exclusion treatment. We conclude that the defensive behavior of some phytoecious ants is a by-product of their need for external protein sources; thus, the consumption of insect herbivores by ants benefits both the ant colony and the host plant. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Conflict resolution in an ant-plant interaction: Acacia constricta traits reduce ant costs to reproduction.

PubMed

Nicklen, E Fleur; Wagner, Diane

2006-05-01

Many plant species attract ants onto their foliage with food rewards or nesting space. However, ants can interfere with plant reproduction when they visit flowers. This study tests whether Acacia constricta separates visiting ant species temporally or spatially from newly opened inflorescences and pollinators. The diurnal activity patterns of ants and A. constricta pollinators peaked at different times of day, and the activity of pollinators followed the daily dehiscence of A. constricta inflorescences. In addition to being largely temporally separated, ants rarely visited open inflorescences. A floral ant repellent contributes to the spatial separation of ants and inflorescences. In a field experiment, ants of four species were given equal access to inflorescences in different developmental stages. On average, the frequency with which ants made initial, antennal contact with the floral stages did not differ, but ants significantly avoided secondary contact with newly opened inflorescences relative to buds and old inflorescences, and old inflorescences relative to buds. Ants also avoided contact with pollen alone, indicating that pollen is at least one source of the repellent. The results suggest A. constricta has effectively resolved the potential conflict between visiting ants and plant reproduction.

cDNAs from Nylanderia sp nr pubens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

7 new gene sequences were identified from workers of Rasberry crazy ant, Nylanderia sp.nr. pubens, and submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank. GenBank accession numbers are HQ636472-HQ636478. This information will provide scientists with genetic tools to study the pop...

Ant-App-DB: a smart solution for monitoring arthropods activities, experimental data management and solar calculations without GPS in behavioral field studies.

PubMed

Ahmed, Zeeshan; Zeeshan, Saman; Fleischmann, Pauline; Rössler, Wolfgang; Dandekar, Thomas

2014-01-01

Field studies on arthropod ecology and behaviour require simple and robust monitoring tools, preferably with direct access to an integrated database. We have developed and here present a database tool allowing smart-phone based monitoring of arthropods. This smart phone application provides an easy solution to collect, manage and process the data in the field which has been a very difficult task for field biologists using traditional methods. To monitor our example species, the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis, we considered behavior, nest search runs, feeding habits and path segmentations including detailed information on solar position and azimuth calculation, ant orientation and time of day. For this we established a user friendly database system integrating the Ant-App-DB with a smart phone and tablet application, combining experimental data manipulation with data management and providing solar position and timing estimations without any GPS or GIS system. Moreover, the new desktop application Dataplus allows efficient data extraction and conversion from smart phone application to personal computers, for further ecological data analysis and sharing. All features, software code and database as well as Dataplus application are made available completely free of charge and sufficiently generic to be easily adapted to other field monitoring studies on arthropods or other migratory organisms. The software applications Ant-App-DB and Dataplus described here are developed using the Android SDK, Java, XML, C# and SQLite Database.

Ant-App-DB: a smart solution for monitoring arthropods activities, experimental data management and solar calculations without GPS in behavioral field studies

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Zeeshan; Zeeshan, Saman; Fleischmann, Pauline; Rössler, Wolfgang; Dandekar, Thomas

2015-01-01

Field studies on arthropod ecology and behaviour require simple and robust monitoring tools, preferably with direct access to an integrated database. We have developed and here present a database tool allowing smart-phone based monitoring of arthropods. This smart phone application provides an easy solution to collect, manage and process the data in the field which has been a very difficult task for field biologists using traditional methods. To monitor our example species, the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis, we considered behavior, nest search runs, feeding habits and path segmentations including detailed information on solar position and azimuth calculation, ant orientation and time of day. For this we established a user friendly database system integrating the Ant-App-DB with a smart phone and tablet application, combining experimental data manipulation with data management and providing solar position and timing estimations without any GPS or GIS system. Moreover, the new desktop application Dataplus allows efficient data extraction and conversion from smart phone application to personal computers, for further ecological data analysis and sharing. All features, software code and database as well as Dataplus application are made available completely free of charge and sufficiently generic to be easily adapted to other field monitoring studies on arthropods or other migratory organisms. The software applications Ant-App-DB and Dataplus described here are developed using the Android SDK, Java, XML, C# and SQLite Database. PMID:25977753

Fire Ant Bites

MedlinePlus

... What is the FOD? Foundation Levels of Giving Governance By-Laws Committees Committee Service Conflict of Interest ... Daniel Koprince Award Resident Research Paper Award Sponsors Corporate Members Exhibitors Information for Corporate Members Publications DermLine ...

Rigor mortis development at elevated temperatures induces pale exudative turkey meat characteristics.

PubMed

McKee, S R; Sams, A R

1998-01-01

Development of rigor mortis at elevated post-mortem temperatures may contribute to turkey meat characteristics that are similar to those found in pale, soft, exudative pork. To evaluate this effect, 36 Nicholas tom turkeys were processed at 19 wk of age and placed in water at 40, 20, and 0 C immediately after evisceration. Pectoralis muscle samples were taken at 15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 4 h post-mortem and analyzed for R-value (an indirect measure of adenosine triphosphate), glycogen, pH, color, and sarcomere length. At 4 h, the remaining intact Pectoralis muscle was harvested, and aged on ice 23 h, and analyzed for drip loss, cook loss, shear values, and sarcomere length. By 15 min post-mortem, the 40 C treatment had higher R-values, which persisted through 4 h. By 1 h, the 40 C treatment pH and glycogen levels were lower than the 0 C treatment; however, they did not differ from those of the 20 C treatment. Increased L* values indicated that color became more pale by 2 h post-mortem in the 40 C treatment when compared to the 20 and 0 C treatments. Drip loss, cook loss, and shear value were increased whereas sarcomere lengths were decreased as a result of the 40 C treatment. These findings suggested that elevated post-mortem temperatures during processing resulted in acceleration of rigor mortis and biochemical changes in the muscle that produced pale, exudative meat characteristics in turkey.

Effect of cooling rate upon processing characteristics of pork meat of different glycolysis type during post mortem ageing.

PubMed

Vada, M

1977-10-01

Rapid chilling was applied to porcine longissimus dorsi muscles at 1 h post mortem in order to observe its effect on the quality of canned products prepared from those of different pH(1) values. The muscle from one side of each animal was removed from the carcase 50 minutes post mortem and divided into two longitudinal strips. One was chilled immediately to 13-15°C (1 h post mortem): the other after a further hour (2 h post mortem) acted as control. After the centre temperature had reached 10°C the muscles were stored in a refrigerator at 3-5°C. Compared with the control samples (chilled at 2 h p.m.), rapid chilling from 1 h p.m. caused an improvement in the water-holding capacity and the texture of pork meat, which had higher pH(1) values and was processed at 2, 4 and 48 h p.m. There was minimum brine retention and texture score if samples-both rapidly chilled and control-were processed at 24 h p.m. Although brine retention of PSE pork meat could not be increased even by rapid chilling, the texture of heat treated PSE pork showed an improvement during storage, which was more pronounced after ageing for 48 h, if PSE samples were chilled at 1 h p.m. Copyright © 1977. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE genes have partly overlapping functions with AINTEGUMENTA but make distinct contributions to Arabidopsis thaliana flower development

PubMed Central

Krizek, Beth A.

2015-01-01

AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) is an important regulator of Arabidopsis flower development that has overlapping functions with the related AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 (AIL6) gene in floral organ initiation, identity specification, growth, and patterning. Two other AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE (AIL) genes, AIL5 and AIL7, are expressed in developing flowers in spatial domains that partly overlap with those of ANT. Here, it is shown that AIL5 and AIL7 also act in a partially redundant manner with ANT. The results demonstrate that AIL genes exhibit unequal genetic redundancy with roles for AIL5, AIL6, and AIL7 only revealed in the absence of ANT function. ant ail5 and ant ail7 double mutant flowers show alterations in floral organ positioning and growth, sepal fusion, and reductions in petal number. In ant ail5, petals are often replaced by filaments or dramatically reduced in size. ant ail7 double mutants produce increased numbers of carpels, which have defects in valve fusion and a loss of apical tissues. The distinct phenotypes of ant ail5, ant ail7 and the previously characterized ant ail6 indicate that AIL5, AIL6, and AIL7 make unique contributions to flower development. These distinct roles are also supported by genetic analyses of ant ail triple mutants. While ant ail5 ail6 triple mutants closely resemble ant ail6 double mutants, ant ail5 ail7 triple mutants exhibit more severe deviations from the wild type than either ant ail5 or ant ail7 double mutants. Furthermore, it is shown that AIL5, AIL6, and AIL7 act in a dose dependent manners in ant and other mutant backgrounds. PMID:25956884

Multiple Ant Species Tending Lac Insect Kerria yunnanensis (Hemiptera: Kerriidae) Provide Asymmetric Protection against Parasitoids

PubMed Central

Li, Qiao; Hoffmann, Benjamin D.; Zhang, Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the effects of ant attendance on the parasitoid community and parasitism of lac insect Kerria yunnanensis aggregations in Yunnan province, China. We manipulated ant attendance to establish three treatments: (1) ant exclusion; (2) low ant attendance by several ant species; and (3) high ant attendance by Crematogaster macaoensis. Five parasitoid species were collected, with two species contributing 82.7 and 13.2% of total abundance respectively. Total parasitoid abundance was lowest in the February sample when K. yunnanensis was in its younger life stage, being significantly lower in the ant exclusion treatment. In April, all three treatments had significantly different parasitoid abundances, being highest in the ant exclusion treatment and the lowest in the high ant attendance treatment. When ants were present, there were strong negative relationships between total parasitoid abundance and ant abundance, with the relationships being dependent upon the ant species composition and abundance. The patterns of total parasitoid abundance were driven by the two most abundant parasitoid species. Parasitoid species richness did not differ among treatments or between sample times, however, multivariate analysis confirmed that overall parasitoid community structure differed significantly among treatments and between sample times, with the high ant attendance treatment differing most from the other two treatments. Interestingly the absence of ants did not result in increased parasitism from four of the five parasitoids. Ants in lac insect farming systems have a clear role for agricultural pest management. A full understanding of the asymmetric abilities of ants to influence parasitoid communities, and affect parasitism of hosts will require further experimental manipulation to assess the relative roles of 1) the abundance of each individual ant species on parasitoid access to hosts, 2) competition among parasitoids, and 3) the interaction between the first two factors. PMID:24887398

Understanding Early Post-Mortem Biochemical Processes Underlying Meat Color and pH Decline in the Longissimus thoracis Muscle of Young Blond d'Aquitaine Bulls Using Protein Biomarkers.

PubMed

Gagaoua, Mohammed; Terlouw, E M Claudia; Micol, Didier; Boudjellal, Abdelghani; Hocquette, Jean-François; Picard, Brigitte

2015-08-05

Many studies on color biochemistry and protein biomarkers were undertaken in post-mortem beef muscles after ≥24 hours. The present study was conducted on Longissimus thoracis muscles of 21 Blond d'Aquitaine young bulls to evaluate the relationships between protein biomarkers present during the early post-mortem and known to be related to tenderness and pH decline and color development. pH values at 45 min, 3 h, and 30 h post-mortem were correlated with three, seven, and six biomarkers, respectively. L*a*b* color coordinates 24 h post-mortem were correlated with nine, five, and eight protein biomarkers, respectively. Regression models included Hsp proteins and explained between 47 and 59% of the variability between individuals in pH and between 47 and 65% of the variability in L*a*b* color coordinates. Proteins correlated with pH and/or color coordinates were involved in apoptosis or had antioxidative or chaperone activities. The main results include the negative correlations between pH45 min, pH3 h, and pHu and Prdx6, which may be explained by the antioxidative and phospholipase activities of this biomarker. Similarly, inducible Hsp70-1A/B and μ-calpain were correlated with L*a*b* coordinates, due to the protective action of Hsp70-1A/B on the proteolytic activities of μ-calpain on structural proteins. Correlations existed further between MDH1, ENO3, and LDH-B and pH decline and color stability probably due to the involvement of these enzymes in the glycolytic pathway and, thus, the energy status of the cell. The present results show that research using protein indicators may increase the understanding of early post-mortem biological mechanisms involved in pH and beef color development.

Quantifying Ant Activity Using Vibration Measurements

PubMed Central

Oberst, Sebastian; Baro, Enrique Nava; Lai, Joseph C. S.; Evans, Theodore A.

2014-01-01

Ant behaviour is of great interest due to their sociality. Ant behaviour is typically observed visually, however there are many circumstances where visual observation is not possible. It may be possible to assess ant behaviour using vibration signals produced by their physical movement. We demonstrate through a series of bioassays with different stimuli that the level of activity of meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus) can be quantified using vibrations, corresponding to observations with video. We found that ants exposed to physical shaking produced the highest average vibration amplitudes followed by ants with stones to drag, then ants with neighbours, illuminated ants and ants in darkness. In addition, we devised a novel method based on wavelet decomposition to separate the vibration signal owing to the initial ant behaviour from the substrate response, which will allow signals recorded from different substrates to be compared directly. Our results indicate the potential to use vibration signals to classify some ant behaviours in situations where visual observation could be difficult. PMID:24658467

Ants at Plant Wounds: A Little-Known Trophic Interaction with Evolutionary Implications for Ant-Plant Interactions.

PubMed

Staab, Michael; Fornoff, Felix; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Blüthgen, Nico

2017-09-01

Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) allow plants to engage in mutualisms with ants, preventing herbivory in exchange for food. EFNs occur scattered throughout the plant phylogeny and likely evolved independent from herbivore-created wounds subsequently visited by ants collecting leaked sap. Records of wound-feeding ants are, however, anecdotal. By surveying 38,000 trees from 40 species, we conducted the first quantitative ecological study of this overlooked behavior. Ant-wound interactions were widespread (0.5% of tree individuals) and occurred on 23 tree species. Interaction networks were opportunistic, closely resembling ant-EFN networks. Fagaceae, a family lacking EFNs, was strongly overrepresented. For Fagaceae, ant occurrence at wounds correlated with species-level leaf damage, potentially indicating that wounds may attract mutualistic ants, which supports the hypothesis of ant-tended wounds as precursors of ant-EFN mutualisms. Given that herbivore wounds are common, wound sap as a steadily available food source might further help to explain the overwhelming abundance of ants in (sub)tropical forest canopies.

Ants and ant scent reduce bumblebee pollination of artificial flowers.

PubMed

Cembrowski, Adam R; Tan, Marcus G; Thomson, James D; Frederickson, Megan E

2014-01-01

Ants on flowers can disrupt pollination by consuming rewards or harassing pollinators, but it is difficult to disentangle the effects of these exploitative and interference forms of competition on pollinator behavior. Using highly rewarding and quickly replenishing artificial flowers that simulate male or female function, we allowed bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) to forage (1) on flowers with or without ants (Myrmica rubra) and (2) on flowers with or without ant scent cues. Bumblebees transferred significantly more pollen analogue both to and from ant-free flowers, demonstrating that interference competition with ants is sufficient to modify pollinator foraging behavior. Bees also removed significantly less pollen analogue from ant-scented flowers than from controls, making this the first study to show that bees can use ant scent to avoid harassment at flowers. Ant effects on pollinator behavior, possibly in addition to their effects on pollen viability, may contribute to the evolution of floral traits minimizing ant visitation.

Evidence that insect herbivores are deterred by ant pheromones.

PubMed Central

Offenberg, Joachim; Nielsen, Mogens Gissel; MacIntosh, Donald J; Havanon, Sopon; Aksornkoae, Sanit

2004-01-01

It is well documented that ants can protect plants against insect herbivores, but the underlying mechanisms remain almost undocumented. We propose and test the pheromone avoidance hypothesis--an indirect mechanism where insect herbivores are repelled not only by ants but also by ant pheromones. Herbivores subjected to ant predation will experience a selective advantage if they evolve mechanisms enabling them to avoid feeding within ant territories. Such a mechanism could be based on the ability to detect and evade ant pheromones. Field observations and data from the literature showed that the ant Oecophylla smaragdina distributes persistent pheromones throughout its territory. In addition, a laboratory test showed that the beetle Rhyparida wallacei, which this ant preys on, was reluctant to feed on leaves sampled within ant territories compared with leaves sampled outside territories. Thus, this study provides an example of an ant-herbivore system conforming to the pheromone avoidance hypothesis. PMID:15801596

Non-invasive examination of a skull fragment recovered from a World War Two aircraft crash site.

PubMed

Gapert, René; Rieder, Kurt

2013-09-01

The discovery of human remains dating to the time of the Second World War is a common occurrence in Europe and the Pacific regions. This case report demonstrates the analysis of a bone fragment recovered from a Luftwaffe crash site in Austria during the summer of 2007. Eye-witness statements and official reports were used to reconstruct the historical background of the case. A recovered German military identity tag helped to identify the pilot. Aircraft parts, also discovered at the crash site in 2007, aided the identification of the aircraft type and corroborated the eye-witness reports of the final moments before and during the crash. The bone was analyzed chiefly to establish its human or non-human origin and to identify from which anatomic region the fragment could have arisen. It was identified as part of a human adult skull which exhibited peri-mortem fractures and heat damage as well as post-mortem vegetation staining. The historical background information in connection with the morphological analysis led to the presumptive identification of the cranial fragment as belonging to a downed German pilot.

Experimental infection of dogs with Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii.

PubMed

Balakrishnan, Nandhakumar; Cherry, Natalie A; Linder, Keith E; Pierce, Eric; Sontakke, Neal; Hegarty, Barbara C; Bradley, Julie M; Maggi, Ricardo G; Breitschwerdt, Edward B

2013-11-15

The lack of a suitable infection model remains an important obstacle for the pathophysiological understanding of Bartonella spp. The following pilot study was designed to determine whether cell culture-grown Bartonella henselae SA2 and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype III would cause persistent bacteremia in dogs. Pre-inoculation screening established that two laboratory-raised Golden retrievers were naturally-infected with Bartonella koehlerae. Despite prior infection, one dog each was inoculated subcutaneously with 5 × 10(4)B. henselae (SA2 strain) or 3 × 10(4)B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype III. Dogs were bled weekly for serological testing and culture using Bartonella alpha proteobacteria growth medium (BAPGM) diagnostic platform. Dog 1 seroconverted to B. henselae and Dog 2 seroconverted to B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype III. Throughout the study period, Bartonella spp. DNA was neither amplified nor isolated in ante-mortem BAPGM enrichment blood cultures. B. henselae SA2 was isolated from a postmortem bone marrow from Dog 1 and B. koehlerae DNA was amplified from postmortem lung from Dog 2 following BAPGM enrichment culture. Limitations include lack of uninfected controls, a potentially suboptimal B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii inoculum and a relatively short duration of study. We conclude that following intradermal infection, sequestration of Bartonella spp. in tissues may limit diagnostic detection of these bacteria in dog blood samples. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differential abundance of muscle proteome in cultured channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) subjected to ante-mortem stressors and its impact on fillet quality.

PubMed

Ciaramella, Michael A; Nair, Mahesh N; Suman, Surendranath P; Allen, Peter J; Schilling, M Wes

2016-12-01

The effects of environmental and handling stress during catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) aquaculture were evaluated to identify the biochemical alterations they induce in the muscle proteome and their impacts on fillet quality. Temperature (25°C and 33°C) and oxygen (~2.5mg/L [L] and >5mg/L [H]) were manipulated followed by sequential socking (S) and transport (T) stress to evaluate changes in quality when fish were subjected to handling (25-H-ST; temperature-oxygen-handling), oxygen stress (25-L-ST), temperature stress (33-H-ST) and severe stress (33-L-ST). Instrumental color and texture of fillets were evaluated, and muscle proteome profile was analyzed. Fillet redness, yellowness and chroma decreased, and hue angle increased in all treatments except temperature stress (33-H-ST). Alterations in texture compared to controls were observed when oxygen levels were held high. In general, changes in the abundance of structural proteins and those involved in protein regulation and energy metabolism were identified. Rearing under hypoxic conditions demonstrated a shift in metabolism to ketogenic pathways and a suppression of the stress-induced changes as the severity of the stress increased. Increased proteolytic activity observed through the down-regulation of various structural proteins could be responsible for the alterations in color and texture. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Social isolation and delayed discovery of bodies in houses: the value of forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology and entomology in the medico-legal investigation.

PubMed

Archer, M S; Bassed, R B; Briggs, C A; Lynch, M J

2005-07-16

The bodies of socially isolated people may remain undiscovered in their own houses for prolonged periods. Occasionally the body is in situ for sufficient time to become skeletonised, or partially so. Medico-legal investigation of these cases is complicated by degradation and contamination of evidence. Thus, a multidisciplinary forensic investigation is recommended. The potential contributions of forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology and entomology are outlined here with reference to two cases that occurred in Victoria, Australia, in 2003. Forensic pathologists are often unable to determine the cause of death in skeletonised bodies, however, they may find evidence to support either a natural or unnatural mode of death, and they may describe skeletal pathology or trauma, and identify skeletal features to support radiological identification of the deceased. Anthropologists can provide supplementary evidence of skeletal trauma. Additionally, they can assess age, sex, stature and racial affiliation from skeletal remains. Odontologists can identify individuals through comparison with ante-mortem dental records; however, potential difficulties exist in identifying the treating dentist of a socially isolated person. Odontologists may also examine the teeth and oro-facial skeleton for trauma. Entomologists may estimate minimum death time and/or season of death. Entomological examination of insect remains may also confirm that a body has lain in situ for a considerable period.

Managing the identification of the mortal victims run over by a train in the Castelldefels railway accident (Barcelona).

PubMed

Barbería, Eneko; Martin-Fumadó, Carles; Galtés, Ignasi; Subirana-Domenech, Mercé; Puigbarraca-Sol, Lourdes; Vidal-Gutiérrez, Claudina; Valverde-Villarreal, Juan Luis; Castellà-García, Josep; Medallo-Muñiz, Jordi

2015-09-01

The identification of disaster victims is the formal, organized process of identifying multiple bodies after an incident with multiple victims. The appropriate management of these incidents, particularly of the bodies, is one of the most crucial aspects of disaster response and its importance has led to the evolution of the concept of Disaster Victim Management. The aim of this study is to report how the process of identifying the 12 mortal victims of a railway accident in June 2010 in Castelldefels (Barcelona) was managed. The methodology used complied with the National Protocol for medical forensic and scientific police response to mass casualty incidents. The family assistance center also served as an ante mortem (AM) office. Despite the fragmentation of the bodies, all the victims were identified satisfactorily. The main problems observed during the management of the disaster were due to the state of the bodies, which raised many doubts as to the number of fatalities. The experience prompted a proposal to establish some recommendations on limiting the number of fragments to be analyzed genetically. We would like to stress the importance of setting up a Data Integration Center which brought together all the participating institutions, and collected and supervised all the different identification reports in a single comprehensive text addressed to the competent legal authority. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of stress on haematologic response and physicochemical parameters of muscle meat in rabbits.

PubMed

Reséndiz-Cruz, V; Ramírez-Bribiesca, J E; Mota-Rojas, D; Guerrero-Legarreta, I; Cruz-Monterrosa, R G; Hernandez-Sanchez, D

2018-02-01

Ante-mortem studies of stress in rabbits are few and can potentially impact the haematologic response and physicochemical parameters of muscle meat. The aim of this study was to investigate the induction of stress by transport and simulation at two different times. Two hundred rabbits divided in a similar proportion of male and female were stressed by vehicular transportation and with motion simulation, using a vibration platform. They were divided into five groups: Control (without stress), Stress with Short Transportation (30 min), Stress with Long Transportation (60 min), Stress with Short Vibration Platform (30 min) and Stress with Long Vibration Platform (60 min). Transportation caused a decrease in the haematic potassium in both sexes (<5.2 mmol/L). The glucose and lactate concentrations increased in the transported rabbits (>219 and >61 mg/dl respectively). The differences between sexes showed that the P CO 2 in males decreased <8.5 mmHg in stress groups compared to without stress group. Glucose concentration was 61.5 mg/dl for females and 38.0 mg/dl for males (p < .01). We concluded that in rabbits induced stress by transport increased the energetic metabolites in the blood tissue. This increase did not affect the production parameters and the quality of muscle meat. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Becker muscular dystrophy-like myopathy regarded as so-called "fatty muscular dystrophy" in a pig: a case report and its diagnostic method.

PubMed

Horiuchi, Noriyuki; Aihara, Naoyuki; Mizutani, Hiroshi; Kousaka, Shinichi; Nagafuchi, Tsuneyuki; Ochiai, Mariko; Ochiai, Kazuhiko; Kobayashi, Yoshiyasu; Furuoka, Hidefumi; Asai, Tetsuo; Oishi, Koji

2014-03-01

We describe a case of human Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD)-like myopathy that was characterized by the declined stainability of dystrophin at sarcolemma in a pig and the immunostaining for dystrophin on the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue. The present case was found in a meat inspection center. The pig looked appeared healthy at the ante-mortem inspection. Muscular abnormalities were detected after carcass dressing as pale, discolored skeletal muscles with prominent fat infiltrations and considered so-called "fatty muscular dystrophy". Microscopic examination revealed following characteristics: diffused fat infiltration into the skeletal muscle and degeneration and regeneration of the remaining skeletal muscle fibers. Any lesions that were suspected of neurogenic atrophy, traumatic muscular degeneration, glycogen storage disease or other porcine muscular disorders were not observed. The immunostaining for dystrophin was conducted and confirmed to be applicable on FFPE porcine muscular tissues and revealed diminished stainability of dystrophin at the sarcolemma in the present case. Based on the histological observations and immunostaining results, the present case was diagnosed with BMD-like myopathy associated with dystrophin abnormality in a pig. Although the genetic properties were not clear, the present BMD-like myopathy implied the occurrence of dystrophinopathy in pigs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a natural case of myopathy associated with dystrophin abnormalities in a pig.

Density-mediated, context-dependent consumer-resource interactions between ants and extrafloral nectar plants.

PubMed

Chamberlain, Scott A; Holland, J Nathaniel

2008-05-01

Interspecific interactions are often mediated by the interplay between resource supply and consumer density. The supply of a resource and a consumer's density response to it may in turn yield context-dependent use of other resources. Such consumer-resource interactions occur not only for predator-prey and competitive interactions, but for mutualistic ones as well. For example, consumer-resource interactions between ants and extrafloral nectar (EFN) plants are often mutualistic, as EFN resources attract and reward ants which protect plants from herbivory. Yet, ants also commonly exploit floral resources, leading to antagonistic consumer-resource interactions by disrupting pollination and plant reproduction. EFN resources associated with mutualistic ant-plant interactions may also mediate antagonistic ant-flower interactions through the aggregative density response of ants on plants, which could either exacerbate ant-flower interactions or alternatively satiate and distract ants from floral resources. In this study, we examined how EFN resources mediate the density response of ants on senita cacti in the Sonoran Desert and their context-dependent use of floral resources. Removal of EFN resources reduced the aggregative density of ants on plants, both on hourly and daily time scales. Yet, the increased aggregative ant density on plants with EFN resources decreased rather than increased ant use of floral resources, including contacts with and time spent in flowers. Behavioral assays showed no confounding effect of floral deterrents on ant-flower interactions. Thus, ant use of floral resources depends on the supply of EFN resources, which mediates the potential for both mutualistic and antagonistic interactions by increasing the aggregative density of ants protecting plants, while concurrently distracting ants from floral resources. Nevertheless, only certain years and populations of study showed an increase in plant reproduction through herbivore protection or ant distraction from floral resources. Despite pronounced effects of EFN resources mediating the aggregative density of ants on plants and their context-dependent use of floral resources, consumer-resource interactions remained largely commensalistic.

Usefulness of fire ant genetics in insecticide efficacy trials

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Mature fire ant colonies contain an average of 80,000 worker ants. For this study, eight fire ant workers were randomly sampled from each colony. DNA fingerprints for each individual ant were generated using 21 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers that were developed from fire ant DNA by other lab...

The Preliminary Evaluation of Liquid Lubricants for Space Applications by Vacuum Tribometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, W. R., Jr.; Pepper, S. V.; Herrera-Fierro, P.; Feuchter, D.; Toddy, T. J.; Jayne, D. T.; Wheeler, D. R.; Abel, P. B.; Kingsbury, E.; Morales, W.

1994-01-01

Four different vacuum tribometers for the evaluation of liquid lubricants for space applications are described. These range from simple ball-on-flat sliders with maximum in-situ control and surface characterization to an instrument bearing apparatus having no in-situ characterization. Thus, the former provides an abundance of surface chemical information but is not particularly simulative of most triboelements. On the other hand, the instrument bearing apparatus is completely simulative, but only allows post-mortem surface chemical information. Two other devices, a four-ball apparatus and a ball-on-plate tribometer, provide varying degrees of surface chemical information and tribo-simulation. Examples of data from each device are presented.

Dead ant walking: a myrmecophilous beetle predator uses parasitoid host location cues to selectively prey on parasitized ants.

PubMed

Mathis, Kaitlyn A; Tsutsui, Neil D

2016-08-17

Myrmecophiles (i.e. organisms that associate with ants) use a variety of ecological niches and employ different strategies to survive encounters with ants. Because ants are typically excellent defenders, myrmecophiles may choose moments of weakness to take advantage of their ant associates. This hypothesis was studied in the rove beetle, Myrmedonota xipe, which associates with Azteca sericeasur ants in the presence of parasitoid flies. A combination of laboratory and field experiments show that M. xipe beetles selectively locate and prey upon parasitized ants. These parasitized ants are less aggressive towards beetles than healthy ants, allowing beetles to eat the parasitized ants alive without interruption. Moreover, behavioural assays and chemical analysis reveal that M. xipe are attracted to the ant's alarm pheromone, the same secretion used by the phorid fly parasitoids in host location. This strategy allows beetles access to an abundant but otherwise inaccessible resource, as A. sericeasur ants are typically highly aggressive. These results are the first, to our knowledge, to demonstrate a predator sharing cues with a parasitoid to gain access to an otherwise unavailable prey item. Furthermore, this work highlights the importance of studying ant-myrmecophile interactions beyond just their pairwise context. © 2016 The Author(s).

The AINTEGUMENTA genes, MdANT1 and MdANT2, are associated with the regulation of cell production during fruit growth in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Fruit growth in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is mediated by cell production and expansion. Genes involved in regulating these processes and thereby fruit growth, are not well characterized. We hypothesized that the apple homolog(s) of AINTEGUMENTA (ANT), an APETALA2–repeat containing transcription factor, regulates cell production during fruit growth in apple. Results Two ANT genes, MdANT1 and MdANT2, were isolated from apple and their expression was studied during multiple stages of fruit development. MdANT1 and MdANT2 expression was high during early fruit growth coincident with the period of cell production, rapidly declined during exit from cell production, and remained low during the rest of fruit development. The effects of increase in carbohydrate availability during fruit growth were characterized. Increase in carbohydrate availability enhanced fruit growth largely through an increase in cell production. Expression of MdANT1 and MdANT2 increased sharply by up to around 5-fold in response to an increase in carbohydrate availability. Expression of the ANT genes was compared across two apple genotypes, ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious Smoothee’ (GS), which differ in the extent of fruit growth, largely due to differences in cell production. In comparison to ‘Gala’, the larger fruit-size genotype, GS, displayed higher levels and a longer duration of MdANT1 and MdANT2 expression. Expression of the ANTs and cell cycle genes in the fruit core and cortex tissues isolated using laser capture microdissection was studied. During early fruit growth, expression of the MdANTs was higher within the cortex, the tissue that constitutes the majority of the fruit. Additionally, MdANT1 and MdANT2 expression was positively correlated with that of A- and B-type CYCLINS, B-type CYCLIN-DEPENDENT-KINASES (CDKBs) and MdDEL1. Conclusions Multiple lines of evidence from this study suggest that MdANT1 and MdANT2 regulate cell production during fruit growth in apple. ANTs may coordinate the expression of cell proliferation genes and thereby affect the competence of cells for cell production during fruit growth. Together, data from this study implicate MdANT1 and MdANT2 in the regulation of fruit growth in apple. PMID:22731507

The AINTEGUMENTA genes, MdANT1 and MdANT2, are associated with the regulation of cell production during fruit growth in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.).

PubMed

Dash, Madhumita; Malladi, Anish

2012-06-25

Fruit growth in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is mediated by cell production and expansion. Genes involved in regulating these processes and thereby fruit growth, are not well characterized. We hypothesized that the apple homolog(s) of AINTEGUMENTA (ANT), an APETALA2-repeat containing transcription factor, regulates cell production during fruit growth in apple. Two ANT genes, MdANT1 and MdANT2, were isolated from apple and their expression was studied during multiple stages of fruit development. MdANT1 and MdANT2 expression was high during early fruit growth coincident with the period of cell production, rapidly declined during exit from cell production, and remained low during the rest of fruit development. The effects of increase in carbohydrate availability during fruit growth were characterized. Increase in carbohydrate availability enhanced fruit growth largely through an increase in cell production. Expression of MdANT1 and MdANT2 increased sharply by up to around 5-fold in response to an increase in carbohydrate availability. Expression of the ANT genes was compared across two apple genotypes, 'Gala' and 'Golden Delicious Smoothee' (GS), which differ in the extent of fruit growth, largely due to differences in cell production. In comparison to 'Gala', the larger fruit-size genotype, GS, displayed higher levels and a longer duration of MdANT1 and MdANT2 expression. Expression of the ANTs and cell cycle genes in the fruit core and cortex tissues isolated using laser capture microdissection was studied. During early fruit growth, expression of the MdANTs was higher within the cortex, the tissue that constitutes the majority of the fruit. Additionally, MdANT1 and MdANT2 expression was positively correlated with that of A- and B-type CYCLINS, B-type CYCLIN-DEPENDENT-KINASES (CDKBs) and MdDEL1. Multiple lines of evidence from this study suggest that MdANT1 and MdANT2 regulate cell production during fruit growth in apple. ANTs may coordinate the expression of cell proliferation genes and thereby affect the competence of cells for cell production during fruit growth. Together, data from this study implicate MdANT1 and MdANT2 in the regulation of fruit growth in apple.

Dead ant walking: a myrmecophilous beetle predator uses parasitoid host location cues to selectively prey on parasitized ants

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Myrmecophiles (i.e. organisms that associate with ants) use a variety of ecological niches and employ different strategies to survive encounters with ants. Because ants are typically excellent defenders, myrmecophiles may choose moments of weakness to take advantage of their ant associates. This hypothesis was studied in the rove beetle, Myrmedonota xipe, which associates with Azteca sericeasur ants in the presence of parasitoid flies. A combination of laboratory and field experiments show that M. xipe beetles selectively locate and prey upon parasitized ants. These parasitized ants are less aggressive towards beetles than healthy ants, allowing beetles to eat the parasitized ants alive without interruption. Moreover, behavioural assays and chemical analysis reveal that M. xipe are attracted to the ant's alarm pheromone, the same secretion used by the phorid fly parasitoids in host location. This strategy allows beetles access to an abundant but otherwise inaccessible resource, as A. sericeasur ants are typically highly aggressive. These results are the first, to our knowledge, to demonstrate a predator sharing cues with a parasitoid to gain access to an otherwise unavailable prey item. Furthermore, this work highlights the importance of studying ant–myrmecophile interactions beyond just their pairwise context. PMID:27512148

Pericarpial nectary-visiting ants do not provide fruit protection against pre-dispersal seed predators regardless of ant species composition and resource availability

PubMed Central

Ré Jorge, Leonardo; Benitez-Vieyra, Santiago; Amorim, Felipe W.

2017-01-01

Extrafloral nectaries can occur in both vegetative and reproductive plant structures. In many Rubiaceae species in the Brazilian Cerrado, after corolla abscission, the floral nectary continues to secret nectar throughout fruit development originating post-floral pericarpial nectaries which commonly attract many ant species. The occurrence of such nectar secreting structures might be strategic for fruit protection against seed predators, as plants are expected to invest higher on more valuable and vulnerable parts. Here, we performed ant exclusion experiments to investigate whether the interaction with ants mediated by the pericarpial nectaries of Tocoyena formosa affects plant reproductive success by reducing the number of pre-dispersal seed predators. We also assessed whether ant protection was dependent on ant species composition and resource availability. Although most of the plants were visited by large and aggressive ant species, such as Ectatomma tuberculatum and species of the genus Camponotus, ants did not protect fruits against seed predators. Furthermore, the result of the interaction was neither related to ant species composition nor to the availability of resources. We suggest that these results may be related to the nature and behavior of the most important seed predators, like Hemicolpus abdominalis weevil which the exoskeleton toughness prevent it from being predated by most ant species. On the other hand, not explored factors, such as reward quality, local ant abundance, ant colony characteristics and/or the presence of alternative energetic sources could also account for variations in ant frequency, composition, and finally ant protective effects, highlighting the conditionality of facultative plant-ant mutualisms. PMID:29211790

When can social media lead financial markets?

PubMed

Zheludev, Ilya; Smith, Robert; Aste, Tomaso

2014-02-27

Social media analytics is showing promise for the prediction of financial markets. However, the true value of such data for trading is unclear due to a lack of consensus on which instruments can be predicted and how. Current approaches are based on the evaluation of message volumes and are typically assessed via retrospective (ex-post facto) evaluation of trading strategy returns. In this paper, we present instead a sentiment analysis methodology to quantify and statistically validate which assets could qualify for trading from social media analytics in an ex-ante configuration. We use sentiment analysis techniques and Information Theory measures to demonstrate that social media message sentiment can contain statistically-significant ex-ante information on the future prices of the S&P500 index and a limited set of stocks, in excess of what is achievable using solely message volumes.

When Can Social Media Lead Financial Markets?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheludev, Ilya; Smith, Robert; Aste, Tomaso

2014-02-01

Social media analytics is showing promise for the prediction of financial markets. However, the true value of such data for trading is unclear due to a lack of consensus on which instruments can be predicted and how. Current approaches are based on the evaluation of message volumes and are typically assessed via retrospective (ex-post facto) evaluation of trading strategy returns. In this paper, we present instead a sentiment analysis methodology to quantify and statistically validate which assets could qualify for trading from social media analytics in an ex-ante configuration. We use sentiment analysis techniques and Information Theory measures to demonstrate that social media message sentiment can contain statistically-significant ex-ante information on the future prices of the S&P500 index and a limited set of stocks, in excess of what is achievable using solely message volumes.

When Can Social Media Lead Financial Markets?

PubMed Central

Zheludev, Ilya; Smith, Robert; Aste, Tomaso

2014-01-01

Social media analytics is showing promise for the prediction of financial markets. However, the true value of such data for trading is unclear due to a lack of consensus on which instruments can be predicted and how. Current approaches are based on the evaluation of message volumes and are typically assessed via retrospective (ex-post facto) evaluation of trading strategy returns. In this paper, we present instead a sentiment analysis methodology to quantify and statistically validate which assets could qualify for trading from social media analytics in an ex-ante configuration. We use sentiment analysis techniques and Information Theory measures to demonstrate that social media message sentiment can contain statistically-significant ex-ante information on the future prices of the S&P500 index and a limited set of stocks, in excess of what is achievable using solely message volumes. PMID:24572909

Utilization of Anting-Anting (Acalypha indica) Leaves as Antibacterial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batubara, Irmanida; Wahyuni, Wulan Tri; Firdaus, Imam

2016-01-01

Anting-anting (Acalypha indica) plants is a species of plant having catkin type of inflorescence. This research aims to utilize anting-anting as antibacterial toward Streptococcus mutans and degradation of biofilm on teeth. Anting-anting leaves were extracted by maceration technique using methanol, chloroform, and n-hexane. Antibacterial and biofilm degradation assays were performed using microdilution technique with 96 well. n-Hexane extracts of anting-anting leaves gave the best antibacterial potency with minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration value of 500 μg/mL and exhibited good biofilm degradation activity. Fraction of F3 obtained from fractionation of n-hexane's extract with column chromatography was a potential for degradation of biofilm with IC50 value of 56.82 μg/mL. Alkaloid was suggested as antibacterial and degradation of biofilm in the active fraction.

Ant predation on herbivores through a multitrophic lens: how effects of ants on plant herbivore defense and natural enemies vary along temperature gradients.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Castañeda, G; Brehm, G; Fiedler, K; Dyer, L A

2016-04-01

Ants are keystone predators in terrestrial trophic cascades. Addressing ants' roles in multitrophic interactions across regional gradients is important for understanding mechanisms behind range limits of species. We present four hypotheses of trophic dynamics occurring when ants are rare: first, there is a shift in predator communities; second, plants decrease investments in ant attraction and increase production of secondary metabolites; third, lower herbivory at high elevations allows plants to tolerate herbivory; and fourth, distribution of ant-plants can be limited based on ant abundance. Conducting experiments on multitrophic effects of ants across elevational gradients, and incorporating these results to ecological niche modeling (ENM) will improve our knowledge of the impacts of global change on ants, trophic interactions, and biodiversity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ant nebula

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

A new Hubble Space Telescope image of a celestial object called the Ant Nebula may shed new light on the future demise of our Sun. The image is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/wfpc .

The nebula, imaged on July 20, 1997, and June 30, 1998, by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, was observed by Drs. Raghvendra Sahai and John Trauger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Bruce Balick of the University of Washington in Seattle; and Vincent Icke of Leiden University in the Netherlands. JPL designed and built the camera.

The Ant Nebula, whose technical name is Mz3, resembles the head and thorax of an ant when observed with ground-based telescopes. The new Hubble image, with 10 times the resolution revealing 100 times more detail, shows the 'ant's' body as a pair of fiery lobes protruding from a dying, Sun- like star. The Ant Nebula is located between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth in the southern constellation Norma.

The image challenges old ideas about what happens to dying stars. This observation, along with other pictures of various remnants of dying stars called planetary nebulae, shows that our Sun's fate will probably be much more interesting, complex and dramatic than astronomers previously believed.

Although the ejection of gas from the dying star in the Ant Nebula is violent, it does not show the chaos one might expect from an ordinary explosion, but instead shows symmetrical patterns. One possibility is that the central star has a closely orbiting companion whose gravitational tidal forces shape the outflowing gas. A second possibility is that as the dying star spins, its strong magnetic fields are wound up into complex shapes like spaghetti in an eggbeater. Electrically charged winds, much like those in our Sun's solar wind but millions of times denser and moving at speeds up to 1,000 kilometers per second (more than 600 miles per second) from the star, follow the twisted field lines on their way out into space.

The Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., manages space operations for the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Additional information about the Hubble Space Telescope is available at http://www.stsci.edu . More information about the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 is available at http://wfpc2.jpl.nasa.gov.

Audit of practice in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) post mortems and neuropathological findings

PubMed Central

Michalak, Zuzanna; Wright, Gabriella; Dawson, Timothy; Hilton, David; Joshi, Abhijit; Diehl, Beate; Koepp, Matthias; Lhatoo, Samden; Sander, Josemir W.; Sisodiya, Sanjay M.

2015-01-01

Aims Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is one of the leading causes of death in people with epilepsy. For classification of definite SUDEP, a post mortem (PM), including anatomical and toxicological examination, is mandatory to exclude other causes of death. We audited PM practice as well as the value of brain examination in SUDEP. Methods We reviewed 145 PM reports in SUDEP cases from four UK neuropathology centres. Data were extracted for clinical epilepsy details, circumstances of death and neuropathological findings. Results Macroscopic brain abnormalities were identified in 52% of cases. Mild brain swelling was present in 28%, and microscopic pathologies relevant to cause or effect of seizures were seen in 89%. Examination based on whole fixed brains (76.6% of all PMs), and systematic regional sampling was associated with higher detection rates of underlying pathology (P < 0.01). Information was more frequently recorded regarding circumstances of death and body position/location than clinical epilepsy history and investigations. Conclusion Our findings support the contribution of examination of the whole fixed brain in SUDEP, with high rates of detection of relevant pathology. Availability of full clinical epilepsy‐related information at the time of PM could potentially further improve detection through targeted tissue sampling. Apart from confirmation of SUDEP, complete neuropathological examination contributes to evaluation of risk factors as well as helping to direct future research into underlying causes. PMID:26300477

Experimental evidence that the introduced fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, does not competitively suppress co-occurring ants in a disturbed habitat.

PubMed

King, Joshua R; Tschinkel, Walter R

2006-11-01

1. The fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is a globally distributed invasive ant that is largely restricted to disturbed habitats in its introduced range. For more than half a century, biologists have believed its success results from superior competitive abilities relative to native ant species, as well as an escape from their natural enemies. 2. We used large volumes of hot water to kill fire ant colonies, and only fire ant colonies, on experimental plots in pastures, and found that populations and diversity of co-occurring ants did not subsequently increase. 3. These results are contrary to classical predictions and indicate that S. invicta is not a superior competitor that suppresses native ants, and that the low diversity and abundance of native ants in degraded ecosystems does not result from interaction with fire ants. Instead, other factors such as prior disturbance and recruitment limitation may be the primary limiting factors for native species in these habitats.

A Pan-Lyssavirus Taqman Real-Time RT-PCR Assay for the Detection of Highly Variable Rabies virus and Other Lyssaviruses

PubMed Central

Wadhwa, Ashutosh; Wilkins, Kimberly; Gao, Jinxin; Condori Condori, Rene Edgar; Gigante, Crystal M.; Zhao, Hui; Ma, Xiaoyue; Ellison, James A.; Greenberg, Lauren; Velasco-Villa, Andres; Orciari, Lillian

2017-01-01

Rabies, resulting from infection by Rabies virus (RABV) and related lyssaviruses, is one of the most deadly zoonotic diseases and is responsible for up to 70,000 estimated human deaths worldwide each year. Rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis of rabies is essential for timely administration of post-exposure prophylaxis in humans and control of the disease in animals. Currently, only the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) test is recommended for routine rabies diagnosis. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based diagnostic methods have been widely adapted for the diagnosis of other viral pathogens, but there is currently no widely accepted rapid real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of all lyssaviruses. In this study, we demonstrate the validation of a newly developed multiplex real-time RT-PCR assay named LN34, which uses a combination of degenerate primers and probes along with probe modifications to achieve superior coverage of the Lyssavirus genus while maintaining sensitivity and specificity. The primers and probes of the LN34 assay target the highly conserved non-coding leader region and part of the nucleoprotein (N) coding sequence of the Lyssavirus genome to maintain assay robustness. The probes were further modified by locked nucleotides to increase their melting temperature to meet the requirements for an optimal real-time RT-PCR assay. The LN34 assay was able to detect all RABV variants and other lyssaviruses in a validation panel that included representative RABV isolates from most regions of the world as well as representatives of 13 additional Lyssavirus species. The LN34 assay was successfully used for both ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnosis of over 200 clinical samples as well as field derived surveillance samples. This assay represents a major improvement over previously published rabies specific RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR assays because of its ability to universally detect RABV and other lyssaviruses, its high throughput capability and its simplicity of use, which can be quickly adapted in a laboratory to enhance the capacity of rabies molecular diagnostics. The LN34 assay provides an alternative approach for rabies diagnostics, especially in rural areas and rabies endemic regions that lack the conditions and broad experience required to run the standard DFA assay. PMID:28081126

A Pan-Lyssavirus Taqman Real-Time RT-PCR Assay for the Detection of Highly Variable Rabies virus and Other Lyssaviruses.

PubMed

Wadhwa, Ashutosh; Wilkins, Kimberly; Gao, Jinxin; Condori Condori, Rene Edgar; Gigante, Crystal M; Zhao, Hui; Ma, Xiaoyue; Ellison, James A; Greenberg, Lauren; Velasco-Villa, Andres; Orciari, Lillian; Li, Yu

2017-01-01

Rabies, resulting from infection by Rabies virus (RABV) and related lyssaviruses, is one of the most deadly zoonotic diseases and is responsible for up to 70,000 estimated human deaths worldwide each year. Rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis of rabies is essential for timely administration of post-exposure prophylaxis in humans and control of the disease in animals. Currently, only the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) test is recommended for routine rabies diagnosis. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based diagnostic methods have been widely adapted for the diagnosis of other viral pathogens, but there is currently no widely accepted rapid real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of all lyssaviruses. In this study, we demonstrate the validation of a newly developed multiplex real-time RT-PCR assay named LN34, which uses a combination of degenerate primers and probes along with probe modifications to achieve superior coverage of the Lyssavirus genus while maintaining sensitivity and specificity. The primers and probes of the LN34 assay target the highly conserved non-coding leader region and part of the nucleoprotein (N) coding sequence of the Lyssavirus genome to maintain assay robustness. The probes were further modified by locked nucleotides to increase their melting temperature to meet the requirements for an optimal real-time RT-PCR assay. The LN34 assay was able to detect all RABV variants and other lyssaviruses in a validation panel that included representative RABV isolates from most regions of the world as well as representatives of 13 additional Lyssavirus species. The LN34 assay was successfully used for both ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnosis of over 200 clinical samples as well as field derived surveillance samples. This assay represents a major improvement over previously published rabies specific RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR assays because of its ability to universally detect RABV and other lyssaviruses, its high throughput capability and its simplicity of use, which can be quickly adapted in a laboratory to enhance the capacity of rabies molecular diagnostics. The LN34 assay provides an alternative approach for rabies diagnostics, especially in rural areas and rabies endemic regions that lack the conditions and broad experience required to run the standard DFA assay.

Epidemiological and clinical features of human rabies cases in Bali 2008-2010

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Previously thought to be rabies free, Bali experienced an outbreak of animal and human rabies cases in November 2008. We describe the epidemiological and clinical data of human rabies cases occurring in the first two years of the outbreak. Methods We analysed the patient records of all rabies cases from the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, and district hospitals in Buleleng and Tabanan. A conventional reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was developed to detect the rabies virus genome in saliva, corneal swabs, and ante- and post-mortem cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Results There were 104 human rabies cases in Bali during November 2008-November 2010. Patients' mean age was 36.6 years (range 3-84 years; SD 20.7), most were male (56.7%), and originated from rural districts. Almost all (92%) cases had a history of dog bite. Only 5.8% had their wounds treated and received an anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) after the bite incident. No patients received rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). The estimated time from dog bite to the onset of signs and symptoms was 110.4 days (range 12-720 days; SD 118.2). The mean length of medical care until death was 21.8 hours (range 1-220 hours; SD 32.6). Less than 50% of patients had prodromal symptoms. The most frequent prodromal symptom was pain or paraesthesia at the bite site (37.6%). The two most common central nervous system infection signs were agitation (89.2%) and confusion (83.3%). Signs of autonomic nervous system dysfunction included hydrophobia (93.1%), hypersalivation (88.2%), and dyspnea (74.4%). On admission, 22 of 102 patients (21.6%) showed paralytic manifestations, while the rest (78.4%) showed furious rabies manifestations. The case-fatality rate was 100%. The rabies virus genome was detected in 50 of 101 patients (49.5%) with the highest detection rate from post-mortem CSF samples. Conclusions Rabies is a major public health problem in Bali. Human fatalities occur because of a lack of knowledge regarding rabies risk, the poor management of dog bites, and the limited availability of RIG. Increasing public awareness of dog bite management, increasing the availability of ARV and RIG, and implementing an island-wide dog vaccination campaign will help prevent human rabies cases. PMID:22471410

Epidemiological and clinical features of human rabies cases in Bali 2008-2010.

PubMed

Susilawathi, Ni M; Darwinata, Agus E; Dwija, Ida B N P; Budayanti, Nyoman S; Wirasandhi, Gusti A K; Subrata, Ketut; Susilarini, Ni K; Sudewi, Raka A A; Wignall, Frank S; Mahardika, Gusti N K

2012-04-02

Previously thought to be rabies free, Bali experienced an outbreak of animal and human rabies cases in November 2008. We describe the epidemiological and clinical data of human rabies cases occurring in the first two years of the outbreak. We analysed the patient records of all rabies cases from the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, and district hospitals in Buleleng and Tabanan. A conventional reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was developed to detect the rabies virus genome in saliva, corneal swabs, and ante- and post-mortem cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). There were 104 human rabies cases in Bali during November 2008-November 2010. Patients' mean age was 36.6 years (range 3-84 years; SD 20.7), most were male (56.7%), and originated from rural districts. Almost all (92%) cases had a history of dog bite. Only 5.8% had their wounds treated and received an anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) after the bite incident. No patients received rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). The estimated time from dog bite to the onset of signs and symptoms was 110.4 days (range 12-720 days; SD 118.2). The mean length of medical care until death was 21.8 hours (range 1-220 hours; SD 32.6). Less than 50% of patients had prodromal symptoms. The most frequent prodromal symptom was pain or paraesthesia at the bite site (37.6%). The two most common central nervous system infection signs were agitation (89.2%) and confusion (83.3%). Signs of autonomic nervous system dysfunction included hydrophobia (93.1%), hypersalivation (88.2%), and dyspnea (74.4%). On admission, 22 of 102 patients (21.6%) showed paralytic manifestations, while the rest (78.4%) showed furious rabies manifestations. The case-fatality rate was 100%. The rabies virus genome was detected in 50 of 101 patients (49.5%) with the highest detection rate from post-mortem CSF samples. Rabies is a major public health problem in Bali. Human fatalities occur because of a lack of knowledge regarding rabies risk, the poor management of dog bites, and the limited availability of RIG. Increasing public awareness of dog bite management, increasing the availability of ARV and RIG, and implementing an island-wide dog vaccination campaign will help prevent human rabies cases.

Complete cDNAs from Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). --GenBank accession numbers: HM130684-HM130685.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

2 new gene sequences were identified from workers of Solenopsis invicta, and submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank. GenBank accession numbers are HM130684-HM130685. This information will provide scientists with genetic tools to study the populations of this ant....