Morphogenetic experiments in facial asymmetry: the nasal cavity

An experiment was designed to test the response of the nasal cavity and associated structures to maxillary deformity. Forty young M. mulatta were surgically produced in 20 animals, and the small maxillary segments moved medialward. Intrapair observation tests were applied to selected measurements and indices of symmetry relationships. Deformity of the surgically undisturbed nasal septum occurred in response to the maxillary deformation. The lateral walls were moved medially with the maxilla, but in six months symmetry relationships were similar to those found in the control animals. The lateral walls of the nasal cavity appeared to be relatively independent of the shape and position of the tooth carrying part of the maxilla. The development and use of primate models can contribute to understanding the extent of the adaptational response systems in facial morphogenesis.     

Disinfection and hygiene in the field of food of animal origin

The cleaning/disinfection procedure should minimize the usually high number of microorganisms (10⁷–10⁸ cm²) on surfaces to reasonably low levels of about one log per cm². Aseptic conditions are normally not achieved.Most commerical disinfectants are mixed preparations. The agents used in disinfectants should not provoke changes, neither in chemical pattern, nor in sensoric properties of the food. They should not be the cause for deposition of unhealthy residues or for corrosive influences on premises. The efficacy must be warranted. The disinfection should include bactericidal, fungicidal and possibly virucidal activities with only minimal static effects. The efficacy should be based on a short-term effect even at lower temperatures (about 10°C).Mostly in use are QACs, amphoteric surfactants and biguanides which are combined in many variations. Aldehydes in mixtures are used very seldomly and only in small amounts due to sensoric, corrosive or toxicological reactions. Alcohols are suitable for quick applications but they are flammable. Organic acids and peroxygens will deliver no residues but may be aggressive to tools and man. Alkylamines will have higher static effects and chlorine active compounds will suffer from protein load and pH deviations.In daily practice the efficacy has to be proved by microbiological monitoring, e.g. by cultural or, indirectly, by bioluminescence-techniques (with or without somatic ATP).Residue levels will remain low on premises if the disinfection is performed correctly, in adequate concentrations and with fresh water rinsing in sufficient amounts (about 8 liters per m²).     

Governability Assessment for Fisheries and Coastal Systems: A Reality Check

In this article we argue that in order to understand why some governance systems deliver while others do not, we need to assess contributions and limitations of governability. Here, governability refers to a measure of how governable a particular fisheries and coastal system is. Such a system is always comprised of two parts: a system-to-be-governed and a governing system. Governability also depends on the interactions between these two systems. We provide key variables that must be assessed in order to determine governability related to these systems and their interactions. A governability assessment framework is proposed here to suggest that governance performance can only be judged from what is in the potential of the governing system, given the limitations of the governabiltiy of the system-to-be governed, the governing system itself, and their interactions. Such an assessment helps identify what exactly governing systems can and should do in order to enhance their performance.     

Degradation of xenobiotic compounds in situ: Capabilities and limits

Abstract: Exploiting microorganisms for remediation of waste sites is a promising alternative to groundwater pumping and above ground treatment. The objective of in situ bioremediation is to stimulate the growth of indigenous or introduced microorganisms in regions of subsurface contamination, and thus to provide direct contact between microorganisms and the dissolved and sorbed contaminants for biotransformation. Subsurface microorganisms detected at a former manufactured gas plant site contaminated with coal tars mineralized significant amounts of naphthalene (8–43%) and phenanthrene (3–31%) in sediment-water microcosms incubated for 4 weeks under aerobic conditions. Evidence was obtained for naphthalene mineralization (8–13%) in the absence of oxygen in field samples. These data suggest that biodegradation of these compounds is occurring at the site, and the prospects are good for enhancing this biodegradation. Additional batch studies demonstrated that sorption of naphthalene onto aquifer materials reduced the extent and rate of biodegradation, indicating that desorption rate was controlling the biodegradation performance.     

Impact of genomic selection of AI dairy sires on their likely utilization and methods to estimate fertility: a paradigm shift

Breeding of dairy cattle is undergoing a paradigm shift to genomic selection of potential sires and dams. This undoubtedly will affect how bulls are managed in an artificial insemination (AI) center and impact methods to estimate their ‘fertility'. Our goal is to help decision-makers understand the contents of a straw of semen, current estimates of sire fertility, and how estimates might evolve in a genomic era. Sire fertility is estimated from outcome (pregnant or not) after 300 to > 2,000 inseminations and reported in units (U) as a sire's deviation from a population (> 500 bulls) average pregnancy rate (PR). Too often users do not recognize that imprecision of an estimate encompasses a 3-U range, or more. ‘True fertility' of the sire whose semen is inseminated influences outcome far less than ‘true fertility' of each female and a myriad of microenvironment and management factors. Further, AI centers discard substandard collections and intentionally adjust number of sperm per straw so that differences in pregnancy rates achieved by different sires are minimized! For > 80% of Holstein bulls, estimated ‘sire conception rates' are within a 5.4-U range. In the future, most sires will be 15 to 40 mo old and services will accumulate at > 1,000/mo. Estimated sire conception rates still will be a deviation from the population mean, but should be based on records for the most recent 6 or 12 mo, rather than 48 or 60 mo. Repeated ‘snap shots' every 2 mo would allow AI centers to adjust number of sperm per AI straw from genomic-sires in a timely manner, to maintain high pregnancy rates, and to meet market demands with sires producing ∼40% as many sperm as mature ‘proven sires' of yesteryear.     

Modes de sélection et contraintes en Europe centrale prénéanderthalienne

The Microlithic industries of lower Palaeolithic central Europe have been speculated to be a result of raw material availability and therefore natural constraints. However, on some sites such as Bilzingsleben and Vertessz?ll?s, raw material constraints do not apply. Clearly here has been a positive selection for small-scale tools that must have different explanations. The seemingly stable pattern of forms unrelated to raw material properties, leads to the inference that early hominin societies possessed and transmitted over generations, a defined set of behavioural norms. The paper argues that patterns of choice can be isolated within lower Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages that are distinct from patterns of ecological restraint.     

Functional richness: Overview of indices and underlying concepts

Functional richness, currently defined as the amount of niche space occupied by the species within a community, is one of the three major components of functional diversity. Different indices have been developed in order to quantify this component. However, the range of indices available for assessing functional richness, often mathematically complex and based on different rationales, can cause confusion for field ecologists and lead to misinterpretation of the results obtained. In this context, we have provided the first study exclusively focused on the comparison of the definitions, advantages and drawbacks of a large set of functional richness indices. The first part of this work is focused on four indices (FD_P&G, FRic, TOP and N-hypervolumes indices) that are currently the most commonly used for assessing functional richness. We have completed our study by including recently developed indices that enable us to take into account the intraspecific trait variability (i.e. FRim index and TDP framework), because there is currently a growing scientific consensus regarding the necessity of including this aspect in the assessment of the functional diversity of communities.We demonstrate that although authors have argued that their index describes the functional richness, each of them describes only part of it, and this part may strongly differ from one index to another. Rather than advocating the general use of a single index and/or systematically avoiding others, our study highlights the need for selecting indices in close relation with the context, the available data and the aims of each study. Such a strategy is an essential preliminary step for preventing misunderstanding and artefactual controversies. Along these lines, we propose some guidelines to help users in selecting the most appropriate indices according both to the facet of functional richness on which they wish to focus and to the characteristics of the available data.