Cross-cultural perspectives on physician and lay models of the common cold

We compare physicians and laypeople within and across cultures, focusing on similarities and differences across samples, to determine whether cultural differences or lay-professional differences have a greater effect on explanatory models of the common cold. Data on explanatory models for the common cold were collected from physicians and laypeople in South Texas and Guadalajara, Mexico. Structured interview materials were developed on the basis of open-ended interviews with samples of lay informants at each locale. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from each sample on causes, symptoms, and treatments for the common cold. Consensus analysis was used to estimate the cultural beliefs for each sample. Instead of systematic differences between samples based on nationality or level of professional training, all four samples largely shared a single-explanatory model of the common cold, with some differences on subthemes, such as the role of hot and cold forces in the etiology of the common cold. An evaluation of our findings indicates that, although there has been conjecture about whether cultural or lay-professional differences are of greater importance in understanding variation in explanatory models of disease and illness, systematic data collected on community and professional beliefs indicate that such differences may be a function of the specific illness. Further generalizations about lay-professional differences need to be based on detailed data for a variety of illnesses, to discern patterns that may be present. Finally, a systematic approach indicates that agreement across individual explanatory models is sufficient to allow for a community-level explanatory model of the common cold.     

Fruit diet of Alouatta guariba and Brachyteles arachnoides in Southeastern Brazil: comparison of fruit type, color, and seed size

Fruit is an important food resource for neotropical primates. In this study I compare the fruit diet of sympatric brown howlers (Alouatta guariba) and southern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides). Feeding behavior was studied over 12 months and fruit species consumed were identified and assigned to the categories fruit type, fruit color, and seed size. Observed-fruit feeding records were compared with expected records determined from local availability of the fruit of the tree species. I also determined dietary overlap. Fruit consumption occupied 8 and 12% of the feeding time of A. guariba and B. arachnoides, respectively. Fruit from eight tree species were consumed by the former and fruit from twenty-two species by the latter. Patterns of fruit selection of A. guariba and B. arachnoides varied widely. Although howlers and muriquis converge behaviorally by selecting fruit with common attributes (fleshy/unprotected, violet and brown/black-colored), unlike A. guariba, B. arachnoides fed on immature seeds of fleshy/protected and dry fruit. Large seeds were ingested, and defecated intact, by B. arachnoides only. There was little overlap of fruit diet even within categories that had been selected by both, suggesting that dietary divergence is occurring at the interspecific level. Different resource exploitation probably mediates the coexistence of A. guariba and B. arachnoides in low diversity, semideciduous forests, where the environment imposes narrow limits on primate food choices.     

Revision of some parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea sensu lato) from the Florissant locality,United States

The types of the parasitic wasps described in the families Proctotrupidae, Diapriidae, and Scelionidae (Hymenoptera) from the Upper Eocene Florissant locality (Colorado, United States) are revised. All the specimens are shown to belong to the family Proctotrupidae, representing the genera Oxyserphus, Mischoserphus, Nothoserphus, and Palaeoteleia. The known species are redescribed and two new species, Mischoserphus bruesi sp. nov. and Nothoserphus rasnitsyni sp. nov., are described. A new combination, Oxyserphus exhumatus (Brues, 1910), comb. nov., and a new synonymy, Paramesius defectus Brues, 1910, syn. nov. = Oxyserphus exhumatus (Brues, 1910), are established.     

Taxonomy, biostratigraphy and paleoecology of Cenomanian and Turonian ostracodes from the Western Interior Basin, Southwest Utah, USA

Cenomanian-Turonian ostracodes are reported from the western Colorado Plateau (Western Interior Basin) in the United States. Fifteen genera and twenty species are illustrated, six of which are new: Cytheromorphaperornata nov. sp., Looneyellaleckiei nov. sp., Asciocythereposterangulata nov. sp., Asciocytherearizonensis nov. sp., Cytheropteronclavifragilis nov. sp. and Hourcqiadakotaensis nov. sp. Three ostracode interval zones are proposed that broadly correspond to the existing late Cenomanian through to Middle Turonian Ammonite-zones of Kauffman et al. (1993). Paleoenvironments range from estuarine to coastal plain.     

The Monstering of Tamarisk: How Scientists made a Plant into a Problem

Dispersal of biota by humans is a hallmark of civilization, but the results are often unforeseen and sometimes costly. Like kudzu vine in the American South, some examples become the stuff of regional folklore. In recent decades, “invasion biology,” conservation-motivated scientists and their allies have focused largely on the most negative outcomes and often promoted the perception that introduced species are monsters. However, cases of monstering by scientists preceded the rise of popular environmentalism. The story of tamarisk (Tamarix spp.), flowering trees and shrubs imported to New England sometime before 1818, provides an example of scientific “monstering” and shows how slaying the monster, rather than allaying its impacts, became a goal in itself. Tamarisks’ drought and salt tolerance suggested usefulness for both coastal and inland erosion control, and politicians as well as academic and agency scientists promoted planting them in the southern Great Plains and Southwest. But when erosion control efforts in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas became entangled with water shortages, economic development during the Depression and copper mining for national defense during World War Two, federal hydrologists moved quickly to recast tamarisks as water-wasting foreign monsters. Demonstrating significant water salvage was difficult and became subsidiary to focusing on ways to eradicate the plants, and a federal interagency effort devoted specifically to the latter purpose was organized and continued until it, in turn, conflicted with regional environmental concerns in the late 1960s.     

Avifauna response to hurricanes: regional changes in community similarity

Global climate models predict increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events such as hurricanes, which may abruptly alter ecological processes in forests and thus affect avian diversity. Developing appropriate conservation measures necessitates identifying patterns of avifauna response to hurricanes. We sought to answer two questions: (1) does avian diversity, measured as community similarity, abundance, and species richness, change in areas affected by hurricane compared with unaffected areas, and (2) what factors are associated with the change(s) in avian diversity? We used North American Breeding Bird Survey data, hurricane track information, and a time series of Landsat images in a repeated measures framework to answer these questions. Our results show a decrease in community similarity in the first posthurricane breeding season for all species as a group, and for species that nest in the midstory and canopy. We also found significant effects of hurricanes on abundance for species that breed in urban and woodland habitats, but not on the richness of any guild. In total, hurricanes produced regional changes in community similarity largely without significant loss of richness or overall avian abundance. We identified several potential mechanisms for these changes in avian diversity, including hurricane‐induced changes in forest habitat and the use of refugia by birds displaced from hurricane‐damaged forests. The prospect of increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes is not likely to invoke a conservation crisis for birds provided we maintain sufficient forest habitat so that avifauna can respond to hurricanes by shifting to areas of suitable habitat.     

Efficacy of a fipronil bait in reducing the number of fleas (Oropsylla spp.) infesting wild black‐tailed prairie dogs

Bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis) is a deadly zoonosis with black‐tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) as a reservoir host in the United States. Systemic insecticides are a promising means of controlling the vectors, Oropsylla spp. fleas, infesting these prairie dogs, subsequently disrupting the Y. pestis cycle. The objective of this study was to conduct a field trial evaluating the efficacy of a grain rodent bait containing fipronil (0.005%) against fleas infesting prairie dogs. The study was performed in Larimer County, CO, where bait was applied to a treatment area containing a dense prairie dog population, three times over a three‐week period. Prairie dogs were captured and combed for fleas during four study periods (pre‐, mid‐, 1^st post‐, and 2^nd post‐treatment). Results indicated the use of bait containing fipronil significantly reduced flea burden. The bait containing fipronil was determined to reduce the mean number of fleas per prairie dog >95% for a minimum of 52 days post‐initial treatment application and 31 days post‐final treatment application. These results suggest the potential for this form of treatment to reduce flea population density on prairie dogs, and subsequently plague transmission, among mammalian hosts across the United States and beyond.     

Role of epidermal stem cells in repair of partial-thickness burn injury after using Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) histological and immunohistochemical study

Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO^®) is widely used topical agent applied on skin burn. This study investigated the effect of MEBO topical application on activation and proliferation of epidermal stem cells through the immunohistochemical localization of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) as a known marker expressed in epidermal stem cells. Biopsies from normal skin and burn wounds were taken from 21 patients with partial thickness burn 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after treatment with MEBO. Tissue sections were prepared for histological study and for CK19 immunohistochemical localization. In control skin, only few cells showed a positive CK19 immune-reaction. Burned skin showed necrosis of full thickness epidermis that extended to dermis. Gradual regeneration of skin accompanied with an enhancement in CK19 immune-reactivity was noted 4, 7, 14 and 21 days after treatment with MEBO. On day 28, a complete regeneration of skin was observed with a return of CK19 immune-reactivity to the basal pattern again. In conclusion, the enhancement of epidermal stem cell marker CK19 after treatment of partial thickness burn injuries with MEBO suggested the role of MEBO in promoting epidermal stem cell activation and proliferation during burn wound healing.     

Biotechnological challenges of bioartificial kidney engineering

With the world-wide increase of patients with renal failure, the development of functional renal replacement therapies have gained significant interest and novel technologies are rapidly evolving. Currently used renal replacement therapies insufficiently remove accumulating waste products, resulting in the uremic syndrome. A more preferred treatment option is kidney transplantation, but the shortage of donor organs and the increasing number of patients waiting for a transplant warrant the development of novel technologies. The bioartificial kidney (BAK) is such promising biotechnological approach to replace essential renal functions together with the active secretion of waste products. The development of the BAK requires a multidisciplinary approach and evolves at the intersection of regenerative medicine and renal replacement therapy. Here we provide a concise review embracing a compact historical overview of bioartificial kidney development and highlighting the current state-of-the-art, including implementation of living-membranes and the relevance of extracellular matrices. We focus further on the choice of relevant renal epithelial cell lines versus the use of stem cells and co-cultures that need to be implemented in a suitable device. Moreover, the future of the BAK in regenerative nephrology is discussed.