Differences in hair density of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata) with locality and age

The hair density of free-ranging Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata) living in three different areas was investigated. The Japanese monkeys had thicker hair than other macaques. The hair density in the Japanese monkeys varied with locality: the northern monkeys had thicker hair than the southern ones. The density did not vary markedly with age up to 3 years of age, but then decreased gradually up to adult age (≧7 years old). The remarkable growth of the trunk suggested that the total number of hairs increased with age, especially during the period as a juvenile.     

Climatic adaptation and species status in the lawn ground cricket

Summary The cricket tentatively identified as Pteronemobius taprobanensis shows a saw-toothed pattern of variation in adult size along the latitudinal gradient of the Japanese Islands. A slight but abrupt increase in adult size at about 28° N indicates the replacement of the subtropical form by the temperate one. The body size of the latter slightly decreases north to about 33° N, then conspicuously increases to about 39° N and again decreases to the northern extreme. This pattern of variation seems to be related to the local adjustment of nymphal development by means of the photoperiodic response and genetic variation, since the adult size varies as a function of the duration of nymphal development. Multiple regression analysis of the variance between local populations reared at various photoperiods suggests, however, that the decrease in body size due to selection for shorter development in cooler climates is to a certain extent counteracted by selection for a higher rate of growth. The latter component of climatic selection is possibly due to greater egg production by larger-sized females within the shorter reproductive season. This hypothesis may also account for the divergence in size between the two climatic forms of this nominal species.Contribution No. 74 from the Laboratory of Entomology, Hirosaki University     

Wetland loss dynamics in southwestern Barataria basin,Louisiana (USA), 1945–1985

We determined spatial associations of wetland loss rates in a 950-km² study area in the southwestern Barataria basin of Louisiana's Mississippi River delta plain for four intervals spanning 40 years, 1945–1985. A geographic information system was used to analyze spatial and temporal changes.Annual wetland loss rates increased over the 40 years; the rate of increase in annual rates accelerated through 1980 and then began to decelerate. The average annual rate of wetland loss for the entire study area increased from 0.2%/yr during 1945–1956, to 1.2%/yr for 1956–1969, 1.9%/yr for 1969–1980, and 2.0%/yr for 1980–1985. Wetland loss was not uniform throughout the study area. Eight sub-areas were identified as having different densities and/or causes of loss. Processes implicated in the differing loss rates include sea level rise, shoreline erosion, accelerated subsidence along natural levees, canal modification of hydrologic flows, interference of dredged material with sheet flow, and saltwater intrusion. In some areas, several processes are believed to operate together to induce wetland degradation and wetland loss.     

Changes in body proportions of Japanese medical students between 1961 and 1986

Since 1945, the Japanese physique has changed a great deal. Physical examinations of medical students at Kyushu University have been carried out on an annual basis since 1939. We investigated changes in body proportions using data on 813 medical students examined from 1961 to 1986. During these 26 years, standing height has increased by 4.69 cm, arm length by 2.58 cm, and sitting height by 0.79 cm. Thus, the Japanese have grown taller and their extremities are longer, yet the trunk has not changed significantly. This study also shows a 10-year delay in increase in length of the upper extremities.     

The effects of food sources on Japanese monkey home range size and location, and population dynamics

The effects of supplemental feeding by tourists on wild Japanese monkey's home range size and location, and troop size and composition were studied for two monkey troops, Troop A and Troop B, living along the Irohazaka loop road, Nikko National Park, central Japan. Changes were documented based on data gathered from 1982 to 1996 by the use of radio telemetry. Troop A's home range size shrank and changed from separate winter and summer ranges to a single, year-round home range, with its core located in a high elevation area where supplemental feeding by tourists was heavy. Troop B's home range also shrank and shifted to a lower elevation where supplemental feeding by tourists was heavy. Troop A's population size increased between the winters of 1983–1984 and 1990–1991 in conjunction with an increase in human encounter rates, and then decreased. Troop B's size increased until the winter of 1993–1994, and then decreased. The instability of troop size between 1993 and 1996 may be explained by documented factors such as a decrease in the adult sex ratio, an increase in the infant-female ratio, and an increase in juvenile mortality and/or emigration, all of which may have been influenced by supplemental feeding by tourists.     

Secondary metabolite biosynthesis: the first century

An account of work on the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites up to 1965 is presented. The earliest suggestions for three of the four major pathways were speculative; for the isoprene rule, hypotheses date to 1877, for the polyketide rule to 1907, and for a role for amino acids in alkaloid biosynthesis to 1910. The fourth major pathway based on intermediates of the shikimic acid pathway has a much shorter history because shikimic acid itself was only identified as a primary metabolite in 1951. In addition to speculation, biomimetic syntheses were carried out in which chemists attempted to duplicate possible biosynthetic pathways in vitro. The classic example was Robinson's synthesis of tropinone in 1917. Direct examination of secondary metabolite biosynthesis was possible with the use of the isotopic tracer technique. This methodology, applied extensively to primary metabolism beginning in 1935 and to secondary metabolism from about 1950, was facilitated by the increasing availability of the 14C isotope. With the use of isotopes as tracers, the broad outlines of secondary metabolite biosynthesis, reviewed here, were established in the period 1950 to 1965.     

Relationship of Foraminifera and thecamoebian distributions to sediments contaminated by pulp mill effluent: Saguenay Fiord, Quebec, Canada

Gravity cores and grab samples collected in the Saguenay Fiord between 1976 and 1988 contain the record of a 20th century benthic marine environment contaminated primarily by organic matter discharges from several local pulp and paper mills.Spiroplectammina biformis is the dominant arenaceous species. Its living percent abundance decreases between 1982 and 1988 as a consequence of the apparent recolonization of the upper reaches of the fiord by several arenaceous taxa, the most important beingTextularia earlandi. Cassidulina reniforme, the dominant living calcareous species, shows about a three fold increase in relative abundance over the six year interval. Grab sample observations also suggest a recolonization of some formerly barren benthic environments near the head of the fiord by foraminiferal species between 1982 and 1988. This recolonization may reflect the combined effect of government regulations imposed on local industrial polluters in the early 1970's and the capping of a large area of contaminated sediment by a layer of clay that was transported to the basin at the head of the fiord as the result of a catastrophic landslide in 1971.X-radiographs of core sections from a basin at the head of the fiord show sharp laminations that reflect both the absence of bioturbators and the seasonal variation of fluvial depositional processes. Organic waste deposition from pulp and paper mill outfalls first increased around 1910 and shows a first order inverse relationship to benthonic foraminiferal assemblage diversity. The presence of only allochthonous thecamoebian and reworked planktonic Foraminifera tests in many benthonic Foraminifera-barren core intervals supports the idea that common indigenous estuarine species such asSpiroplectammina biformis were excluded from these areas at certain times as a consequence of pollution “stress” rather than having been removed from the sediment record as a result of post-depositional diagenetic effects. However, future studies of estuarine pollution history based on proxy foraminiferal data from cores must give greater emphasis to distinguishing ecological stress responses from diagenetic process (i.e. test dissolution effects) since both mechanisms can be reflected in the proxy pollution “signal” in a similar way.     

New times for biology: nerve cultures and the advent of cellular life in vitro

This article is about the beginnings of tissue culture—the culture of living, reproducing cells of complex organisms outside the body. It argues that Ross Harrison’s experiments in nerve culture between 1907 and 1910 should be viewed as part of a larger shift in early twentieth-century laboratory practice from in vivo to in vitro experimentation. Via a focus on the temporality of experiment—contrasting the live object of Harrison’s investigation with the static object of histological representations—this article details the production of a new and surprising form of life, cellular life in vitro. Tissue culture, developed from Harrison’s experiments, was greeted with great surprise and disbelief, despite Harrison’s protestations that he had merely juxtaposed extant techniques. An analysis of these initial reactions to tissue culture illuminates the extent to which cells living visibly outside of the body in glass broke with in vivo practices and assumptions of the hiddenness and interiority of certain processes of growth and change.     

Fishery of Lake Ladoga — past, present and future

The post-war fishery of Lake Ladoga can be divided according to its catch level into four periods. In the years 1945–1954 the total annual catch increased, and reached the level of 4000 tonnes. In this period the fish stocks that had increased during the war years were intensively exploited. However, this fishery was not in balance with the stocks during the period 1955–1963. As a consequence, the catch decreased drastically, being sometimes less than 2000 tonnes.Controlling the fishery restored the abundance of whitefish Coregonus lavaretus (L.) and zander Stizostedion lucioperca (L.). This increased the total annual catch to about 5500 tonnes in 1964–1989. However, the fishery control measures have not been sufficient to achieve the conservation of salmon Salmo solar L. m. sebago, brown trout Salmo trutta L. and the migratory lake whitefish stocks.A decrease in the total fish catch has been observed since 1990. This decrease may be related to the deterioration of the environment of Lake Ladoga, caused by anthropogenic factors. The unfavourable state of the ecosystem has led to decline of the whitefish stocks and, especially during the last few years, to drastical decline of zander.Acute problems, to be faced in the near future, are connected with the hatchery maintenance of several river-spawning stocks, e.g. salmon, brown trout and migratory whitefish, because the existing fish hatcheries are insufficient in capacity and technically outdated.     

Cyclicity and synchrony of historical outbreaks of the beech caterpillar,Quadricalcarifera punctatella (Motschulsky) in Japan

Historical records of the incidence of defoliation caused by the beech caterpillar,Quadricalcarifera punctatella (Motschulsky) in northern Japanese prefectures from 1910–1993 were used to characterize the cyclicity and synchrony of outbreaks. Cyclicity and synchrony were quantified using standard Box-Jenkins time series methods as well as spectral analysis and simple Markov models. Statistical analysis of these records indicated the presence of quasi-periodic behavior with 8–11 yr between outbreaks. Outbreaks tended to occur synchronously among different prefectures, though the onset of outbreaks was typically lagged. This study illustrates the use of specific statistical methods for characterizing cyclicity and synchrony from crude records of the presence/absence of outbreaks.     

Age- and sex-related differences in zinc and lead levels in human hair

The hair of 1518 healthy subjects between newborn and 70 yr old living in Linfen city and the surrounding rural area in Shanxi province, North China, was analyzed by means of a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer method in order to determine the concentrations of zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb). The collected samples were subdivided on the basis of age, sex, and place of residence (urban and rural). In female hair, the contents of Zn were higher than in male, but the hair Pb concentrations of males were slightly higher than those of females. Age seems to have a different influence on the two elements. The maximum amount of hair Zn was found generally in newborns. From the baby group (<1 yr) to the puberty group (15–19 yr), Zn levels in hair increased with age, and then Zn levels decreased with age from the puberty group to elderly group (61–70 yr). The hair Pb levels were the lowest in newborns, increased with age from newborn to infant (1–2 yr), and then decreased with age from infant to the elderly. It was shown that the hair Pb and Zn levels were inversely related in various age groups, suggesting that there is possibly antagonism between Pb and Zn in the human body. The results also showed the hair Pb levels of subjects living in the urban area, except for newborns, were higher than those of subjects residing in the rural area. However, no difference between the hair Zn contents of the populations residing in urban and rural areas.     

Blood lead level distribution by by age group in Japanese

Blood lead levels of 634 healthy Japanese (422 males and 212 females), aged 0–87, living in the Kyushu and Okinawa Islands, were determined by the colorimetric dithizone method and atomic absorption spectrometry. The lead level in the atmospheric environment was not extremely high; it was below 1 μg/m³ in most of the places examined. The differences in the geometric means of blood lead levels between 0–5 yr and other age groups were statistically significant (P<0.01). The blood lead levels of Japanese seem to increase in late teens and then decrease slowly to a steady state. The accumulation of lead taken from food was calculated by assuming the amount of lead from food corresponds to the caloric intake recommended for each Japanese age group (e.g., assuming 150 μg/2700 kcal for boys in late teens). Lead concentration in the air was assumed to be 1 μg/m³. The pattern of lead accumulation in blood by age was similar to the theoretical curve for the accumulated total amount of lead obtained by simulation. The fact probably indicates that blood lead levels in Japanese are dependent on lead in daily foods rather than on lead in the atmospheric environment.     

The effect of different preservation methods on the carbon content of megacyclops gigas

The effect of various preservation methods on the carbon content of the copepod Megacyclops gigas was studied using the carbon content of living animals as a control. No differences were found between animals dried at –20, +60, or +105°C, but in all cases the carbon content was slightly lower than that found in living animals. Chemical preservation with formaldehyde and acid Lugol's solution rapidly resulted in about 35% loss of carbon. Freezing at –20°C in water caused less marked but significant loss of carbon, whereas freezing in dilute formaldehyde yielded values agreeing with those of living animals.     

Morphological studies ofMacaca fuscata: VI. Somatometry

Measurements of various parts of the head and body and weighing the body were carried out on about 170 adult Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) and the results are noted with separate statistics for respective local groups. Intraspecific comparisons in the Japanese monkey and interspecific comparisons in macaques are discussed from the somatometrical point of view. Among macaques, the Japanese monkey has a comparatively large body, a very short tail, relatively wide biacromial and biiliac breadths, and markedly la ge intermembral and intercrural indices. The Japanese monkey itself shows various local variations. The most conspicuous difference is to be found between the so-called Yaku monkey living on Yaku islet (Yakushima), south of Kyushu, and the monkeys living in other parts of Japan, and, therefore, it is understandable that the Yaku monkey has been distinguished as a subspecies (M. f. yakui) of the Japanese monkey. The Yaku monkey has a somewhat small body, a relatively large head, wide hips, and slender hands and feet.     

Review of the genus Hartemita Cameron, 1910 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cardiochilinae), with the description of six new species from Vietnam

The Oriental and East Palaearctic genus Hartemita Cameron, 1910 (Braconidae: Cardiochilinae) is recorded for the first time from Vietnam. Sixteen species of the genus Hartemita are currently recognized from Oriental and East Palaearctic regions. One species is newly recorded for Vietnam, Hartemita singaporensis (Mao, 1945)and six new species from Vietnam are described and illustrated: Hartemita coffeanasp. n., Hartemita daklakasp. n., Hartemita khuatbaolinhaesp. n., Hartemita similissp. n., Hartemita maculatasp. n. and Hartemita vietnamicasp. n. A key to species of the genus Hartemita Cameron is included.     

Characterizing critical rules at the 'edge of chaos'

This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the 'edge of chaos' phenomenon. This is an important concept in some strands of work on complex systems, but exactly what it means remains unclear. Broadly, it may be seen as a region between rigid order and chaos. In cellular automata which show the edge of chaos phenomenon, this is indicated by the occurrence of smooth transitions in certain variables, such as the average Shannonian entropy, where generally one finds sudden jumps. The abrupt jump is between an ordered realm and a chaotic one, so the smoothness of a transition holds out the promise of the existence of a realm between order and chaos. Since living systems may also be described as lying between order and chaos, then the edge of chaos may be the key to understanding the form of organization which characterizes life. The smooth transitions in 2-D cellular automata were therefore investigated in detail to see whether it is possible to characterize the cellular automata rules which give rise to them. It was found that the transitions were smoother the less that there was a marked jump in the number of rule table entries applied. But, the bare fact of this correspondence does not reveal the cause of the smoothness. Further work was therefore carried out to try to understand more about what led to the smooth behaviour. However in two further studies in which 'smooth rules' were slightly altered and in which the dominant parts of a 'smooth rule' were imposed on other rules, it was found that the rules which led to a smooth transition were very sensitive to small changes. A change of less than 0.05% of the rule table entries of a 'smooth rule' was more than likely to lead to an abrupt rather than smooth transition. This suggests that it may prove difficult to understand what it is about the rules which leads to the edge of chaos.     

Plasma cholesterol levels in free-ranging macaques compared with captive macaques and humans

Plasma total cholesterol in free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) on Koshima islet and in free-ranging long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) at Pangandaran in Indonesia was found to occur at very low levels compared with captive macaques and humans. Although total cholesterol levels in captive macaques were lower than humans, differences in HDL cholesterol levels were only small. In both sexes of wild and captive Japanese macaques, total cholesterol levels decreased from birth through to young adulthood but then increased in adult females of the captive group. In contrast, the value for adult females of the wild troop remained at a low level. Low TCH levels in adult females of the wild Japanese macaque troop may be due to a low energy intake and may have caused a delay in the onset of sexual maturation. Plasma TCH levels increased with the addition of 0.1% dietary cholesterol over six weeks in captive long-tailed macaques. That the cholesterol value after six weeks was dependent on cholesterol levels prior to supplementation indicates that captive macaques are slightly saturated with cholesterol.     

Female productivity and mortality in early-20th-century Taiwan

In late-Qing-dynasty Taiwan (1870-1895), female infanticide and general neglect killed over 15% of young girls. During the early years of Japanese rule (1895-1915), female infanticide was almost completely eliminated and the treatment of girls improved. This paper argues that the increase in the willingness to raise daughters was due to an increase in adult female productivity. Under Japanese rule, female seclusion decreased, female labor market participation greatly increased and the custom of foot-binding was ended. These changes increased the expected value of raising a daughter relative to raising a son.     

Fire deficits have increased drought sensitivity in dry conifer forests: Fire frequency and tree‐ring carbon isotope evidence from Central Oregon

A century of fire suppression across the Western United States has led to more crowded forests and increased competition for resources. Studies of forest thinning or stand conditions after mortality events have provided indirect evidence for how competition can promote drought stress and predispose forests to severe fire and/or bark beetle outbreaks. Here, we demonstrate linkages between fire deficits and increasing drought stress through analyses of annually resolved tree‐ring growth, fire scars, and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ¹³C) across a dry mixed‐conifer forest landscape. Fire deficits across the study area have increased the sensitivity of leaf gas exchange to drought stress over the past >100 years. Since 1910, stand basal area in these forests has more than doubled and fire‐return intervals have increased from 25 to 140 years. Meanwhile, the portion of interannual variation in tree‐ring Δ¹³C explained by the Palmer Drought Severity Index has more than doubled in ca. 300–500‐year‐old Pinus ponderosa as well as in fire‐intolerant, ca. 90–190‐year‐old Abies grandis. Drought stress has increased in stands with a basal area of ≥25 m²/ha in 1910, as indicated by negative temporal Δ¹³C trends, whereas stands with basal area ≤25 m²/ha in 1910, due to frequent or intense wildfire activity in decades beforehand, were initially buffered from increased drought stress and have benefited more from rising ambient carbon dioxide concentrations, [CO₂], as demonstrated by positive temporal Δ¹³C trends. Furthermore, the average Δ¹³C response across all P. ponderosa since 1830 indicates that photosynthetic assimilation rates and stomatal conductance have been reduced by ~10% and ~20%, respectively, compared to expected trends due to increasing [CO₂]. Although disturbance legacies contribute to local‐scale intensity of drought stress, fire deficits have reduced drought resistance of mixed‐conifer forests and made them more susceptible to challenges by pests and pathogens and other disturbances.     

Pharmacological analysis of the cortical neuronal cytoskeletal protective efficacy of the calpain inhibitor SNJ‐1945 in a mouse traumatic brain injury model

The efficacy of the amphipathic ketoamide calpain inhibitor SNJ‐1945 in attenuating calpain‐mediated degradation of the neuronal cytoskeletal protein α‐spectrin was examined in the controlled cortical impact (CCI) traumatic brain injury (TBI) model in male CF‐1 mice. Using a single early (15 min after CCI‐TBI) i.p. bolus administration of SNJ‐1945 (6.25, 12.5, 25, or 50‐mg/kg), we identified the most effective dose on α‐spectrin degradation in the cortical tissue of mice at its 24 h peak after severe CCI‐TBI. We then investigated the effects of a pharmacokinetically optimized regimen by examining multiple treatment paradigms that varied in dose and duration of treatment. Finally, using the most effective treatment regimen, the therapeutic window of α‐spectrin degradation attenuation was assessed by delaying treatment from 15 min to 1 or 3 h post‐injury. The effect of SNJ‐1945 on α‐spectrin degradation exhibited a U‐shaped dose–response curve when treatment was initiated 15 min post‐TBI. The most effective 12.5 mg/kg dose of SNJ‐1945 significantly reduced α‐spectrin degradation by ~60% in cortical tissue. Repeated dosing of SNJ‐1945 beginning with a 12.5 mg/kg dose did not achieve a more robust effect compared with a single bolus treatment, and the required treatment initiation was less than 1 h. Although calpain has been firmly established to play a major role in post‐traumatic secondary neurodegeneration, these data suggest that even brain and cell‐permeable calpain inhibitors, when administered alone, do not show sufficient cytoskeletal protective efficacy or a practical therapeutic window in a mouse model of severe TBI. Such conclusions need to be verified in the human clinical situation.