Capuchin (Cebus apella) Tool Use in a Captive Naturalistic Environment

Captive tufted capuchins are proficient at both tool use and manufacture. However, their capacity to comprehend cause-effect relationships as they relate to tool use is a subject of debate. An ability to conceptualize task requirements in assessing the appropriateness of potential tools would be essential to efficient tool use in the wild. Observations of tool use among free-ranging populations of Cebus are extremely limited, and the importance of this behavior to capuchin feeding ecology is unclear. I tested tufted capuchins' ability to conceive solutions to a probing task in a naturalistic captive setting. Three out of 5 participants demonstrated an ability to consistently make and use tools selected from a wide variety of natural materials within a forest exhibit. Over 98% (N = 140) of the tools that they modified enabled them to successfully acquire food rewards. It is likely that wild Cebus apella shares this ability, and that tool use occurs under a highly specific set of natural conditions.     

Genetic basis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United Kingdom: a systematic analysis of predisposing mutations and allelic variation in the PRNP gene

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a transmissible neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of aggregates of a cellular protein, PrP, in the brain. In both human and animals, genetic alterations to the gene encoding PrP (PRNP in human) modulate susceptiblity to CJD. The recent epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the UK has raised the possibility of transmission from animal produce to humans. To provide a baseline against which to assess possible risk factors, we have determined the frequencies of predisposing mutations and allelic variants in PRNP and their relative contributions to disease. Systematic PRNP genotype analysis was performed on suspected CJD cases referred to the National Surveillance Unit in the UK over the period 1990–1993. Inspection of 120 candidate cases revealed 67 patients with definite and probable CJD, based on clinical and neuropathological criteria. No PRNP mutations were detected in any of the remaining 53 patients assessed as “non-CJD”. A disease-associated mutation in the PRNP gene was identified in nine (13.4%) definite and probable cases of CJD, a reliable estimate of the incidence of PRNP-related inherited CJD based on a prospective epidemiological series. Within the group of sporadic CJD patients (lacking PRNP mutations), we confirmed that the genotype distribution with respect to the common methionine/valine (Met/Val) polymorphism at codon 129 within PRNP was significantly different from the normal Caucasian population. The incidence of Met homozygosity at this site was more than doubled and correlated with increased susceptibility to the development of sporadic CJD. Unlike other recent studies, Val homozygosity was also confirmed to be a significant risk factor in sporadic CJD, with the relative risks for the three genotypes Met/Met:Val/Val:Met/Val being 11:4:1. Received: 18 December 1995 / Revised: 19 January 1996     

Glycine prevention of cold ischemic injury in isolated hepatocytes

Isolated hepatocytes suspended in a liver preservation solution (University of Wisconsin (UW) solution) and exposed to cold (5 degrees C) ischemia lose viability (LDH release) after 3 (76.5 +/- 2.6% extracellular LDH) and 4 days (90.3 +/- 5.7% extracellular LDH) storage when rewarmed (37 degrees C) in Krebs-Henseleit buffer. However, if 3 mM glycine is added to Krebs-Henseleit buffer the loss of LDH on rewarming was suppressed (% LDH = 24.4 +/- 2.2% and 33.2 +/- 3.0%, at 3 and 4 days, respectively). The protection by glycine could also be obtained by storing the hepatocytes in the UW solution containing 15 mM glycine and rewarming in the absence of glycine in Krebs-Henseleit buffer. There did not appear to be a relationship between the protection by glycine and glutathione concentration of the hepatocytes as shown by the lack of effect of a glutathione synthetase inhibitor (butathionine sulfoximine) on the protective effects of glycine. Other amino acids did not provide protection to hepatocytes exposed to cold ischemia. The mechanism of action of glycine is not known, but this compound may be important in improving cold storage of livers for transplantation.