Bayesian Nonparametric Modeling for Comparison of Single-Neuron Firing Intensities

Summary .  We propose a fully inferential model-based approach to the problem of comparing the firing patterns of a neuron recorded under two distinct experimental conditions. The methodology is based on nonhomogeneous Poisson process models for the firing times of each condition with flexible nonparametric mixture prior models for the corresponding intensity functions. We demonstrate posterior inferences from a global analysis, which may be used to compare the two conditions over the entire experimental time window, as well as from a pointwise analysis at selected time points to detect local deviations of firing patterns from one condition to another. We apply our method on two neurons recorded from the primary motor cortex area of a monkey's brain while performing a sequence of reaching tasks.     

Predation as the primary selective force in recurrent evolution of gigantism in Poecilozonites land snails in Quaternary Bermuda

During the last half million years, pulses of gigantism in the anagenetic lineage of land snails of the subgenus Poecilozonites on Bermuda were correlated with glacial periods when lower sea level resulted in an island nearly an order of magnitude larger than at present. During those periods, the island was colonized by large vertebrate predators that created selection pressure for large size and rapid growth in the snails. Extreme reduction in land area from rising seas, along with changes in ecological conditions at the onset of interglacial episodes, marked extinction events for large predators, after which snails reverted to much smaller size. The giant snails were identical in morphology during the last two glacials when the predators included a large flightless rail Rallus recessus (marine isotope stages (MIS) 4-2) and a crane Grus latipes and a duck Anas pachysceles (MIS 6). In a preceding glacial period (MIS 10), when the fauna also included the tortoise Hesperotestudo bermudae, the snails were not only large, but the shells were much thicker, presumably to prevent crushing by tortoises. Evolution of Poecilozonites provides an outstanding example of dramatic morphological change in response to environmental pressures in the absence of cladogenesis.     

GRF-induced feeding: Evidence for protein selectivity and opiate involvement

Growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) is a hypothalamic peptide named for its ability to induce release of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary. GRF also acts as a neurotransmitter in the suprachiasmatic nucleus/medial preoptic area (SCN/MPOA) to stimulate food intake. The purpose of this series of experiments was to explore the nature of GRF-induced feeding, with a particular emphasis on macronutrient selectivity, and to examine the role of opiate activity in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Chow intake stimulated by GRF microinjection (1 pmol/0.5 μl) into the SCN/MPOA was blocked by injection of methyl-naltrexone (3 μg/0.5 μl) into the PVN. In animals habituated to macronutrient diets (Teklad, WI), GRF preferentially stimulated intake of protein at 2 and 4 h postinjection, whereas it had no effect on carbohydrate intake. Further, this effect was blocked by injection of naloxone (40 nmol/0.5 μl) into the PVN. Microinjection of morphine (0, 1, 10, and 17 μg/0.5 μl) into the PVN also specifically stimulated protein intake at 2 and 4 h postinjection. These results suggest that feeding derived from GRF actions in the SCN/MPOA is macronutrient selective, and is dependent on PVN opiate activity for expression.     

Mammals as prey: Estimating ingestible size

Most mammals have deformable bodies, making it difficult to measure the size of living or freshly killed ones accurately. Because small rodents are common prey of many snakes, and because nearly all snakes swallow their prey whole, we explored four methods for determining the ingestible size (the smallest cross‐sectional area that the largest part of the rodent can be made into without breaking bones or dislocating joints) of 100 intact rodents, including 50 Musmusculus and 50 Rattus norvegicus. Cross‐sectional areas derived from maximal height and width of specimens at rest or the same specimens wrapped snout to pelvic girdle are roughly 1.5× higher than areas calculated either by the height and width of the same specimens rolled into cylinders or by volumetric displacement. Rolling rodents into cylinders reduces cross‐sectional area by straightening the vertebral column, lengthening the abdominal cavity, elevating the sternum, compressing the thoracic cavity, and protracting the shoulder joint, that is, changes similar to those seen in rodents eaten by snakes. Reduced major axis regression of the smallest attainable cross‐sectional area, y, on mass, x, shows that y (in log mm²) approximates 1.53x (in log grams)^0.69 for rats and 1.63x^0.64 for mice. Our results suggest that visual cues provided by live rodents might lead most predators, like snakes, to overestimate ingestible size and hence rarely attack prey too large to ingest. J. Morphol. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Biogeography of the Limacoidea sensu lato (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora): vicariance events and long-distance dispersal

Aim Reconstruction of the historical biogeography of the Limacoidea sensu lato (including the Staffordiidae, Dyakiidae, Gastrodontoidea, Parmacelloidea, Zonitidae, Helicarionoidea and Limacoidea). Evaluation of the relative importance of dispersal and its consequences. Location World‐wide. Methods Weighted ancestral area analysis. Results The ancestral areas of the individual clades have been delimited using weighted ancestral area analysis and a sequence of possible vicariance and dispersal events has been suggested. The results of the ancestral area analysis have tentatively been correlated with Cretaceous and Tertiary palaeogeography. The widely overlapping distribution patterns of several families of the Limacoidea testify to extensive dispersal events. Dispersal capacity of land snails is correlated with body size. The significant negative correlation between body size and distribution area size corroborates the importance of passive dispersal for the evolution of the distribution patterns. Main conclusions The existence of extensive dispersal events of poor active dispersers like land snails diminishes the importance of recent distribution patterns for the reconstruction of palaeogeography. On the other hand, dispersal ensures that biogeographical data reflect the geographical configurations at a given time and renders the use of palaeobiogeographic data for the reconstruction of palaeogeographic configurations of the respective age possible.     

喀斯特地区农村劳动力转移对生态恢复的影响及其区域差异——基于酉阳和沿河的农户调查数据

喀斯特地区的生态恢复对于促进国土空间的生态修复、实现区域生态安全具有重要意义。基于酉阳县和沿河县的383份农户调查数据，从微观的农户尺度运用Tobit模型分析喀斯特地区农村劳动力转移对生态恢复的影响，并关注其对酉阳县和沿河县生态恢复的影响差异。研究结果表明：①研究区劳动力转移现象明显，47.67%的农村劳动力发生了转移；②研究区生态恢复情况总体较好，酉阳县的生态恢复好于沿河县；③农村劳动力转移通过农业劳动力的流失效应和非农收入的替代效应促进了喀斯特地区的生态恢复；④劳动力转移的程度不同，对生态恢复的作用强度也不同。沿河相对滞后的劳动力转移程度，使得其生态恢复稍弱于酉阳。为促进喀斯特地区生态恢复，政府应有序引导农村劳动力向非农就业转移，提高转移农户的非农化程度。     

Field surveys on cooling effects of vegetation in an urban area

1. 1. Three kinds of field survey on different scales were carried out in Fukuoka City in summer to examine the relationship between the quantity of vegetation and air temperature.

2. 2. The field of the largerst scale measurement is across the city.

3. 3. Several parks and shrines of various sizes in the city were selected as other measurement areas.

4. 4. The most detailed measurements are carried out in a park with an area of 1.25 ha located in a down town area of the city.

5. 5. Though the amount of vegetation is expressed in a unique way in each survey, it is clearly found that the greener it is, the lower is the air temperature.