Grouped sequential exploitation of food patches in a flock feeder,the feral pigeon

Feral and laboratory flocks of rock doves ($\text{Columba}$$\text{livia}$) show a pattern of grouped sequential exploitation when simultaneously presented with two dispersed, depleting patches of seed. This behavior contrasts with the ideal free distribution pattern shown when patches are small and concentrated. Grouped sequential exploitation consists of two phases: all pigeons first land together and feed at one patch, then leave one by one for the other patch. Departure times of individuals for the second patch are correlated with feeding rate at patch 1, which is in turn correlated with position in the dominance hierarchy. The decision to switch from patch 1 to patch 2 improves individual feeding rates in all cases, but is done slightly later than it should according to optimal foraging theory.     

An in-depth look at pressure sores using monolithic silicon pressure sensors

Three-dimensional scalar pressure distributions were measured in solid tissue near bony prominences in vitro in meat and in vivo in pigs using silicon pressure sensors. Data are in accord with previous theoretical models and indicate that pressure is three to five times higher internally near a bony prominence than it is at the skin over the prominence. Pressure sores are thus thought to begin internally; by the time they are evident at the skin, the sore has worked its way completely from bone to skin. This conclusion is in accord with previous clinical data. Future measurement of local vector forces is needed to fully characterize the force distribution in vivo.     

A Treasure Chest of Balinese Images

Book reviewed in this article:
Images of Power: Balinese Paintings Made for Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead . Hildred Geertz.     

Cardiolipin biosynthesis and remodeling enzymes are altered during development of heart failure

Cardiolipin (CL) is responsible for modulation of activities of various enzymes involved in oxidative phosphorylation. Although energy production decreases in heart failure (HF), regulation of cardiolipin during HF development is unknown. Enzymes involved in cardiac cardiolipin synthesis and remodeling were studied in spontaneously hypertensive HF (SHHF) rats, explanted hearts from human HF patients, and nonfailing Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. The biosynthetic enzymes cytidinediphosphatediacylglycerol synthetase (CDS), phosphatidylglycerolphosphate synthase (PGPS) and cardiolipin synthase (CLS) were investigated. Mitochondrial CDS activity and CDS-1 mRNA increased in HF whereas CDS-2 mRNA in SHHF and humans, not in SD rats, decreased. PGPS activity, but not mRNA, increased in SHHF. CLS activity and mRNA decreased in SHHF, but mRNA was not significantly altered in humans. Cardiolipin remodeling enzymes, monolysocardiolipin acyltransferase (MLCL AT) and tafazzin, showed variable changes during HF. MLCL AT activity increased in SHHF. Tafazzin mRNA decreased in SHHF and human HF, but not in SD rats. The gene expression of acyl-CoA: lysocardiolipin acyltransferase-1, an endoplasmic reticulum MLCL AT, remained unaltered in SHHF rats. The results provide mechanisms whereby both cardiolipin biosynthesis and remodeling are altered during HF. Increases in CDS-1, PGPS, and MLCL AT suggest compensatory mechanisms during the development of HF. Human and SD data imply that similar trends may occur in human HF, but not during nonpathological aging, consistent with previous cardiolipin studies.     

T wave changes in humans and dogs during experimental dives.

Electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis was performed in three human divers studied at 21 and 23.5 ATA while they breathed various gas mixtures containing H2 and/or He (COMEX HYDRA IX experiment) and in five dogs exposed to 91 ATA of He-O2 or He-N2-O2. In all cases, the O2 partial pressure was slightly higher than its physiological value. These human and animal studies reveal that elevated pressure of different inert gases did not change the resting heart rate or its respiratory fluctuation. However, the T wave amplitude increased in proportion to the gas density in the three divers; this was also found in four of the five dogs studied. Changes in peak T wave configurations were also observed in the dog experiments. Positional changes in QRS or T vectors cannot explain these T wave changes.