Dopamine Gates Visual Signals in Monkey Prefrontal Cortex Neurons

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The Legal Regulation of Floats and Gliders—In Quest of a New Regime?

This article analyzes the legal status of unmanned instruments (particularly, floats and gliders) for observation purposes in the ocean environment. These new kinds of instruments are being deployed by the thousands into the oceans, not the least as part of the Argo Project of the International Oceanographic Commission. Their uncontrolled drifting has raised legal questions, especially when such instruments enter waters subject to the jurisdiction of foreign states. The authors argue that the current international legal framework is insufficient to address the pertinent issues, and that a new legal regime is needed.     

The significance of mycotoxins in the framework of assessing workplace related risks

Mycotoxins are fungal metabolite which may in some cases exhibit a high health hazard potential. Mycotoxins can show carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic, teratogenic or immunotoxic effects. Mycotoxin exposure in the workplace may occur through inhalation and skin contact,e.g. during occupational handling of organic matter such as livestock feed, food products, or waste. Various studies suggest that both acute and chronic effects can occur, depending at least on the exposure level. The magnitude of the potential health risks associated with a respiratory or dermal intake of mycotoxins has largely remained unclear to date. However, according to the directive 2000/54/EC on biological agents and the corresponding German Biological Agents Ordinance, employers are also required to consider the potential hazards posed by toxic effects of biological agents when assessing workplace risks. The aim of this article, therefore, is to present some basis information that should facilitate an evaluation of the significance of mycotoxins in the context of assessing workplace risks. It also provides suggestions for occupational health and safety measures.     

Effects of serial anesthesia using ketamine or ketamine/medetomidine on hematology and serum biochemistry values in rhesus macaques (Macaca Mulatta)

Background  This study aimed at determining the cumulative effect of daily anesthesia, using two drug regimens, over hematological and biochemical parameters.
Methods  Blood samples were obtained from rhesus monkeys 20 minutes after intramuscular administration of ketamine or ketamine/medetomidine combination for three consecutive days and results were evaluated to determine their effect on hematological and serum biochemistry values. Statistical significance of drug, day, and interaction of these two variables were evaluated.
Results  Drug effect resulted in a dramatic increase of aspartate aminotransferase and creatine kinase values. Day effect resulted in decreases of RBC, HCT, Hgb, and alkaline phosphatase but an increase of other biochemical parameters evaluated. The drug/day interaction effect was found to be –significant for RBC, platelets, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and creatine kinase values.
Conclusion  The results of our study suggest a cumulative effect of serial anesthesia and should be an important consideration when interpreting hematology and serum biochemistry in rhesus macaques.     

Gross intestinal morphometry and allometry in primates

Although it is generally assumed that among mammals and within mammal groups, those species that rely on diets consisting of greater amounts of plant fiber have larger gastrointestinal tracts (GIT), statistical evidence for this simple claim is largely lacking. We compiled a dataset on the length of the small intestine, caecum, and colon in 42 strepsirrhine, platyrrhine, and catarrhine primate species, using specimens with known body mass (BM). We tested the scaling of intestine length with BM, and whether dietary proxies (percentage of leaves and a diet quality index) were significant covariates in these scaling relationships, using two sets of models: one that did not account for the phylogenetic structure of the data, and one that did. Intestine length mainly scaled geometrically at exponents that included 0.33 in the confidence interval; Strepsirrhini exhibited particularly long caeca, while those of Catarrhini were comparatively short. Diet proxies were only significant for the colon and the total large intestine (but not for the small intestine or the caecum), and only in conventional statistics (but not when accounting for phylogeny), indicating the pattern occurred across but not within clades. Compared to terrestrial Carnivora, primates have similar small intestine lengths, but longer large intestines. The data on intestine lengths presented here corroborate recent results on GIT complexity, suggesting that diet, as currently described, does not exhaustively explain GIT anatomy within primate clades.