Fast Growing,Healthy and Resident Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Two Neritic Sites in the Central and Northern Coast of Peru: Implications for Conservation

In order to enhance protection and conservation strategies for endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas), the identification of neritic habitats where this species aggregates is mandatory. Herein, we present new information about the population parameters and residence time of two neritic aggregations from 2010 to 2013; one in an upwelling dominated site (Paracas ∼14°S) and the other in an ecotone zone from upwelling to warm equatorial conditions (El Ñuro ∼4°S) in the Southeast Pacific. We predicted proportionally more adult individuals would occur in the ecotone site; whereas in the site dominated by an upwelling juvenile individuals would predominate. At El Ñuro, the population was composed by (15.3%) of juveniles, (74.9%) sub-adults, and (9.8%) adults, with an adult sex ratio of 1.16 males per female. Times of residence in the area ranged between a minimum of 121 and a maximum of 1015 days (mean 331.1 days). At Paracas the population was composed by (72%) of juveniles and (28%) sub-adults, no adults were recorded, thus supporting the development habitat hypothesis stating that throughout the neritic distribution there are sites exclusively occupied by juveniles. Residence time ranged between a minimum of 65 days and a maximum of 680 days (mean 236.1). High growth rates and body condition index values were estimated suggesting healthy individuals at both study sites. The population traits recorded at both sites suggested that conditions found in Peruvian neritic waters may contribute to the recovery of South Pacific green turtles. However, both aggregations are still at jeopardy due to pollution, bycatch and illegal catch and thus require immediate enforcing of conservation measurements.     

Pre-miR-146a (rs2910164 G>C) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Is Genetically and Functionally Associated with Leprosy

Mycobacterium leprae infects macrophages and Schwann cells inducing a gene expression program to facilitate its replication and progression to disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression and could be involved during the infection. To address the genetic influence of miRNAs in leprosy, we enrolled 1,098 individuals and conducted a case-control analysis in order to study four miRNAs genes containing single nucleotide polymorphism (miRSNP). We tested miRSNP-125a (rs12975333 G>T), miRSNP-223 (rs34952329 *>T), miRSNP-196a-2 (rs11614913 C>T) and miRSNP-146a (rs2910164 G>C). Amongst them, miRSNP-146a was the unique gene associated with risk to leprosy per se (GC OR = 1.44, p = 0.04; CC OR = 2.18, p = 0.0091). We replicated this finding showing that the C-allele was over-transmitted (p = 0.003) using a transmission-disequilibrium test. A functional analysis revealed that live M. leprae (MOI 100∶1) was able to induce miR-146a expression in THP-1 (p<0.05). Furthermore, pure neural leprosy biopsies expressed augmented levels of that miRNA as compared to biopsy samples from neuropathies not related with leprosy (p = 0.001). Interestingly, carriers of the risk variant (C-allele) produce higher levels of mature miR-146a in nerves (p = 0.04). From skin biopsies, although we observed augmented levels of miR-146a, we were not able to correlate it with a particular clinical form or neither host genotype. MiR-146a is known to modulate TNF levels, thus we assessed TNF expression (nerve biopsies) and released by peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected with BCG Moreau. In both cases lower TNF levels correlates with subjects carrying the risk C-allele, (p = 0.0453 and p = 0.0352; respectively), which is consistent with an immunomodulatory role of this miRNA in leprosy.     

Female mate choice and the potential for ornament evolution in túngara frogs Physalaemus pustulosus

The potential for ornament evolution in response to sexual selection rests on the interaction between the permissive-ness or selectivity of female preferences and the constraints on male development of signaling related traits. We investigate the former by determining how latent female preferences either exaggerate the magnitude of current traits (I.e. Elaborations) or favor novel traits (I.e. Innovations). In tungara frogs, females prefer complex mating calls (whine-chucks) to simple calls (whine only). The whine is critical for mate recognition while the chuck further enhances the attractiveness of the call. Here we use a combina-tion of synthetic and natural stimuli to examine latent female preferences. Our results show that a diversity of stimuli, including conspecific and heterospecific calls as well as predator-produced and human-made sounds, increase the attractiveness of a call when added to a whine. These stimuli do not make simple calls more attractive than a whine-chuck, however. In rare cases we found stimuli that added to the whine decrease the attractiveness of the call. Overall, females show strong preferences for both elaborations and innovations of the chuck. We argue that the emancipation of these acoustic adornments from mate recognition allows such female permissiveness, and that male constraints on signal evolution are probably more important in explaining why males evolved their specific adornment. Experimentally probing latent female preferences for stimuli out of the species' range is a useful means to gain insights about the potential of female choice to influence signal evolution and thus the astounding diversity in male sexually-selected traits.     

Animal behavior can inform conservation policy,we just need to get on with the jobor can it？

1 Conservation Behavior as an Emerging Discipline on the Brink of Success, or Unrealistic Ideal？
It seems intuitively sensible that an understanding of the behavioral characteristics of animals, such as their home ranges, diets, mating systems, and dispersal me- chanisms, may be useful to inform conservation efforts in determining, for example, suitable reintroduction areas, or the design of dispersal corridors.     

New Archaeological Evidence for an Early Human Presence at Monte Verde,Chile

Questions surrounding the chronology, place, and character of the initial human colonization of the Americas are a long-standing focus of debate. Interdisciplinary debate continues over the timing of entry, the rapidity and direction of dispersion, the variety of human responses to diverse habitats, the criteria for evaluating the validity of early sites, and the differences and similarities between colonization in North and South America. Despite recent advances in our understanding of these issues, archaeology still faces challenges in defining interdisciplinary research problems, assessing the reliability of the data, and applying new interpretative models. As the debates and challenges continue, new studies take place and previous research reexamined. Here we discuss recent exploratory excavation at and interdisciplinary data from the Monte Verde area in Chile to further our understanding of the first peopling of the Americas. New evidence of stone artifacts, faunal remains, and burned areas suggests discrete horizons of ephemeral human activity in a sandur plain setting radiocarbon and luminescence dated between at least ~18,500 and 14,500 cal BP. Based on multiple lines of evidence, including sedimentary proxies and artifact analysis, we present the probable anthropogenic origins and wider implications of this evidence. In a non-glacial cold climate environment of the south-central Andes, which is challenging for human occupation and for the preservation of hunter-gatherer sites, these horizons provide insight into an earlier context of late Pleistocene human behavior in northern Patagonia.     

Conditional use of honest signaling by a Batesian mimic

Jumping spiders (Salticidae) usually avoid ants, but some specieswithin this family single out ants as preferred prey, whileothers (especially the species in the genus Myrmarachne) areBatesian mimics of ants. Field records show that ant-eatingsalticids sometimes prey on Myrmarachne, suggesting that theunwanted attention of predators that specialize on the modelmay be an important, but poorly understood, cost of Batesianmimicry. By staging encounters in the laboratory between livingant-eating salticids and Myrmarachne, we determined that ant-eatingsalticids attack Myrmarachne. However, when Myrmarachne detectsa stalking ant-eating salticid early enough, it adopts a distinctivedisplay posture (legs almost fully extended, elevated 45°,and held out to the side 45°), and this usually deters thepredator. When Myrmarachne detects an ant-eating salticid beforestalking begins, Myrmarachne makes preemptive displays thatappear to inhibit the initiation of stalking. Using immobilelures made from dead Myrmarachne that were either in a displayposture or a nondisplay posture, we ascertained that specificallythe display posture of Myrmarachne deters the initiation ofstalking (ant-eating salticids stalked nondisplaying more oftenthan displaying lures). In another experiment, we ascertainedthat it is specifically the interjection of display posturethat deters stalking. When ant-eating salticids that had alreadybegun stalking experienced lures that switched from a nondisplayto a display posture, they stopped stalking. Although the unwantedattentions of its models' predators may be, for Myrmarachne,a hidden cost of Batesian mimicry, Myrmarachne appears to havean effective defense against these predators.     

Induction of ciliary orientation by matrix patterning and characterization of mucociliary transport

Impaired mucociliary clearance (MCC) is a key feature of many airway diseases, including asthma, bronchiectasis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, and primary ciliary dyskinesia. To improve MCC and develop new treatments for these diseases requires a thorough understanding of how mucus concentration, mucus composition, and ciliary activity affect MCC, and how different therapeutics impact this process. Although differentiated cultures of human airway epithelial cells are useful for investigations of MCC, the extent of ciliary coordination in these cultures varies, and the mechanisms controlling ciliary orientation are not completely understood. By introducing a pattern of ridges and grooves into the underlying collagen substrate, we demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that changes in the extracellular matrix can induce ciliary alignment. Remarkably, 90% of human airway epithelial cultures achieved continuous directional mucociliary transport (MCT) when grown on the patterned substrate. These cultures maintain transport for months, allowing carefully controlled investigations of MCC over a wide range of normal and pathological conditions. To characterize the system, we measured the transport of bovine submaxillary gland mucin (BSM) under several conditions. Transport of 5% BSM was significantly reduced compared with that of 2% BSM, and treatment of 5% BSM with the reducing agent tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP) reduced viscosity and increased the rate of MCT by approximately twofold. Addition of a small amount of high-molecular-weight DNA increased mucus viscosity and reduced MCT by ～75%, demonstrating that the composition of mucus, as well as the concentration, can have significant effects on MCT. Our results demonstrate that a simple patterning of the collagen substrate results in highly coordinated ciliated cultures that develop directional MCT, and can be used to investigate the mechanisms controlling the regulation of ciliary orientation. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that this method provides an improved system for studying the effects of mucus composition and therapeutic agents on MCC.     

Effect of castration and testosterone on norepinephrine storage and on the release of [3H]norepinephrine from rat vas deferens

Norepinephrine and dopamine-β-hydroxylase, used as noradrenergic vesicle markers, were found to be decreased in the rat vas deferens 10 days after castration. Five days of testosterone administration to castrated animals increased the enzyme activity over that of controls but did not modify norepinephrine content. In tissue fractions obtained by differential centrifugation, the highest activities of the noradrenergic markers appeared in the vesicular fraction of controls and in the soluble fraction of castrated animals. Testosterone reversed the effect of castration: it increased dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in the vesicular and soluble fractions, while norepinephrine increased only in the vesicular fraction. Results obtained after continuous sucrose gradient centrifugation of vesicular fractions suggested that these changes principally affected the number of light noradrenergic vesicles while testosterone increased the number of vesicles reduced by castration. Hormonal manipulations also modified some functional properties of nerve endings: norepinephrine depletion after transmural stimulation in the presence of tetraethylammonium, as well as the release of the neurotransmitter, were decreased after castration. These effects were reversed by testosterone. The results suggest a modulatory effect of testosterone on the norepinephrine storage system and on the functional properties of the adrenergic innervation of vas deferens.