scholarly journals Switching from mesopredator to apex predator: how do responses vary in amphibians adapted to cave living?

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raoul Manenti ◽  
Andrea Melotto ◽  
Olivier Guillaume ◽  
Gentile Francesco Ficetola ◽  
Enrico Lunghi
Keyword(s):  
Predator Recognition ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Predator Cues ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Proteus Anguinus ◽  
History Of ◽  
Behavioural Experiments

Abstract The effective detection of both prey and predators is pivotal for the survival of mesopredators. However, the condition of being a mesopredator is strongly context dependent. Here we focus on two aquatic caudate species that have colonised caves: the Pyrenean newt (Calotriton asper) and the olm (Proteus anguinus). The former maintains both surface and subterranean populations, while only cave-adapted populations of the latter exist. Both species are apex predators in underground waterbodies, while the Pyrenean newt is a mesopredator in surface waterbodies. Shifting to a higher level of the trophic web through colonising caves may promote the loss of anti-predator response against surface apex predators, and an increase in the ability to detect prey. To test these two non-exclusive hypotheses, we integrated classical behavioural characterisations with a novel approach: the assessment of lateralisation (i.e. preference for one body side exposure). Behavioural experiments were performed using laboratory-reared individuals. We performed 684 trials on 39 Pyrenean newts and eight olms. Under darkness and light conditions, we tested how exposure to different chemical cues (predatory fish, prey and unknown scent) affected individuals’ activity and lateralisation. Both cave and surface Pyrenean newts responded to predator cues, while olms did not. In Pyrenean newts, predator cues reduced the time spent in movement and time spent in lateralisation associated with hunting. Our results show that predator recognition is maintained in a species where recently separated populations inhabit environments lacking of higher predators, while such behaviour tends to be lost in populations with longer history of adaptation. Significance statement Predator recognition can be maintained in animals adapted to predator free habitats, but varies with their history of adaptation. Species that are not at the apex of the food web can become top predators if they colonise subterranean environments. We compared the behavioural responses of the olm, a strictly cave species with a long underground evolutionary history, and of the Pyrenean newt, a facultative cave species that also has stream-dwelling populations. Moreover, we integrated a classical behavioural characterisation, such as movement detection, with a novel approach: the assessment of lateralisation. While olms do not respond to external predators scent, cave-dwelling newts still recognise it. This clearly indicates that predator recognition is still maintained in species that have colonised predator-free environments more recently.

scholarly journals On processes of coloniality and decoloniality of knowledge: notions for analysing the international history of mathematics teaching

ZDM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert Schubring
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Mathematics Teaching ◽  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Local Structures ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
First Time

AbstractThe aspiration of this paper is to develop a novel approach towards investigating the socio-political history of mathematics teaching in educational systems. Traditionally, historical studies are confined to just one country, the author’s country. Broader approaches address international developments by confronting and comparing global and local aspects—revealing general patterns and more specific ‘local’ structures and characteristics. Yet, already in antiquity and medieval times, the specific characteristic of mathematics teaching, namely to operate at the crossroads of general education and vocational training, proved to be intimately tied to the functioning of the particular political system. In pre-modern times, however, a truly international pattern emerged for the first time: European powers conquered, occupied and colonised overseas regions. Given that educational systems were emerging at the same time within these states, they often transmitted elements of these structures to their colonies. This phenomenon included mathematics, and the history of its teaching is analysed here as a part of coloniality. It is shown that this was not a uniform process, and the differences between the various colonial powers are discussed. The involvement of mathematics in the process of decolonisation is addressed, as well as its role in the tension between continued coloniality and movements of decoloniality. Finally, the general framework provided for studying socio-political processes connected with establishing mathematics teaching within public educational systems is applied, in order to analyse recent coloniality practices effected by international achievement studies.

Axillary pullout syndrome: A novel approach to managing a devastating complication

Vascular ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 170853812110489
Author(s):  
Nathan W Kugler ◽  
Brian D Lewis ◽  
Michael Malinowski
Keyword(s):  
Stent Graft ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Bypass Graft ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Inpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Anastomotic Dehiscence ◽  
Open Approach ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
History Of

Objectives Axillary pullout syndrome is a complex, potentially fatal complication following axillary-femoral bypass graft creation. The re-operative nature, in addition to ongoing hemorrhage, makes for a complicated and potentially morbid repair. Methods We present the case of a 57-year-old man with history of a previous left axillary-femoral-femoral bypass who presented with acute limb-threatening ischemia as a result of bypass thrombosis managed with a right axillary-femoral bypass for limb salvage. His postoperative course was complicated by an axillary anastomotic dehiscence while recovering in inpatient rehabilitation resulting in acute, life-threatening hemorrhage. He was managed utilizing a novel hybrid approach in which a retrograde stent graft was initially placed across the anastomotic dehiscence for control of hemorrhage. He then underwent exploration, decompression, and interposition graft repair utilizing the newly placed stent graft to reinforce the redo axillary anastomosis. Results and Conclusion Compared with a traditional operative approach, the hybrid endovascular and open approach limited ongoing hemorrhage while providing a more stable platform for repair and graft revascularization. A hybrid approach to the management of axillary pullout syndrome provides a safe, effective means to the management of axillary anastomotic dehiscence while minimizing the morbidity of ongoing hemorrhage.

Can a Biology Course Rooted in the Tree of Life Overcome Student Misconceptions?

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-98
Author(s):  
John W. Doudna
Keyword(s):  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Student Comprehension ◽  
Student Misconceptions ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
History Of Evolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Biological Concepts ◽  
Biology Curriculum ◽  
Common Misconceptions

Introductory biology for nonmajors provides an opportunity to engage students with the complexity of life. In these courses, instructors also have the opportunity to experiment with course material and delivery, especially with an intent to overcome common misconceptions about biology. Fortunately, frameworks exist that can be integrated into a completely novel classroom framework: the AP biology curriculum and the tree of life. In addition, assessments are available that specifically address common misconceptions. I tested whether such a novel approach, covering the four big ideas in biology equally and structured around an accurate depiction of biodiversity as a branching history of evolution, can improve student comprehension of difficult biological concepts. In the end, I found that students improved significantly in their understanding of biology and were much less likely to have common misconceptions about difficult topics.

scholarly journals Using Fuzzy Logic in Test Case Prioritization for Regression Testing Programs with Assertions

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali M. Alakeel
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Regression Testing ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Test Case Prioritization ◽  
Software Developers ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
Supporting Tool

Program assertions have been recognized as a supporting tool during software development, testing, and maintenance. Therefore, software developers place assertions within their code in positions that are considered to be error prone or that have the potential to lead to a software crash or failure. Similar to any other software, programs with assertions must be maintained. Depending on the type of modification applied to the modified program, assertions also might have to undergo some modifications. New assertions may also be introduced in the new version of the program, while some assertions can be kept the same. This paper presents a novel approach for test case prioritization during regression testing of programs that have assertions using fuzzy logic. The main objective of this approach is to prioritize the test cases according to their estimated potential in violating a given program assertion. To develop the proposed approach, we utilize fuzzy logic techniques to estimate the effectiveness of a given test case in violating an assertion based on the history of the test cases in previous testing operations. We have conducted a case study in which the proposed approach is applied to various programs, and the results are promising compared to untreated and randomly ordered test cases.

Abstract 2917: Outcome Prediction With A Population-based Ischemic Stroke Atlas

Stroke ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wieslaw L Nowinski ◽  
Varsha Gupta ◽  
Guoyu Qian ◽  
Wojciech Ambrosius ◽  
Jie He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ischemic Stroke ◽  
Outcome Prediction ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Prediction Method ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Prediction ◽  
Predicted Values ◽  
One Year

Outcome prediction is critical in stroke patient management. We propose a novel approach combining imaging with parameters (including history, hospitalization, demographics, clinical and outcome) for a population of patients in the Probabilistic Stroke Atlas (PSA) along with prediction engine. The PSA aggregates multiplicity of data for a population of stroke patients and presents them in image format. The PSA is composed from a series of three-dimensional (3D) image volumes including scans and parameters. A cohort of over 700 ischemic stroke generally treated patients with 176 parameters per patient, and CT scan performed at admission and on day 7 was acquired. Outcome measurements were assessed up to one year after stroke onset. Cases with old infarcts, infarcts in both hemispheres, and hemorrhagic transformations were rejected. This data was post-processed to build the PSA and then the PSA was used for prediction. The infarcts were delineated on CT scans and their 3D surface models constructed and normalized. The PSA was calculated from the normalized 3D infarct models as frequency of stroke occurrence. Similar maps were calculated for the following parameters: Age; Sex; Survival; NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS); Barthel Index (BI) at 30, 90, 180, 360 days; modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 7, 30, 90, 180, 360 days; White blood cell count; C-reative protein; Glucose at emergency department; History of hypertension; and History of diabetes. The PSA was used for prediction of mRS and BI for 50 stroke subjects. For a given case to be predicted, the infarct was delineated and analyzed by the PSA mapped on the scan. The predicted values of the parameters from the PSA were compared with the actual values of the parameters measured in up to 1-year neurological follow up. The accuracy was defined as 100*(1-(actual value-predicted value)/actual value)%. The mean prediction accuracy of mRS at (7, 30, 90, 180, 360) days is (89.7, 90.7, 92.1, 87.0, 83.3)% and that for BI at (30, 90, 180, 360) days is (90.0, 95.4, 94.4, 92.2)% respectively. This novel prediction method has high prediction rates. It can be applied to any other parameters. The PSA is dynamic and its power can increase with additional cases.

Reconstructing Phylogenetic Relationships Based on Repeat Sequence Similarities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Vitales ◽  
Sònia Garcia ◽  
Steven Dodsworth
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Repeat Sequence ◽  
Combined Application ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sequence Similarities ◽  
Phylogenetic Method

AbstractA recent phylogenetic method based on genome-wide abundance of different repeat types proved to be useful in reconstructing the evolutionary history of several plant and animal groups. Here, we demonstrate that an alternative information source from the repeatome can also be employed to infer phylogenetic relationships among taxa. Specifically, this novel approach makes use of the repeat sequence similarity matrices obtained from the comparative clustering analyses of RepeatExplorer 2, which are subsequently transformed to between-taxa distance matrices. These pairwise matrices are used to construct neighbour-joining trees for each of the top most-abundant clusters and they are finally summarized in a consensus network. This methodology was tested on three groups of angiosperms and one group of insects, resulting in congruent evolutionary hypotheses compared to more standard systematic analyses based on commonly used DNA markers. We propose that the combined application of these phylogenetic approaches based on repeat abundances and repeat sequence similarities could be helpful to understand mechanisms governing genome and repeatome evolution.

Macrofossil Analysis of wood rat (Neotoma) Middens as a Key to the Quaternary Vegetational History of Arid America

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip V. Wells
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Ecological Physiology ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Pollen Rain ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Wood

Wood rat (Neotoma) deposits preserved in dry rock shelters have radiocarbon ages extending from close to the present to >40,000 BP, thus providing elaborate samples of changing vegetation during the climatic shifts of the late Pleistocene and Holocene. The established record extends geographically from Oregon and Wyoming (at 45°N) south to Baja California, Sonora, and to Tehuacan (at 18°N) in southern Mexico. Several hundred ancient middens have been uncovered, and over 130 have been radiocarbon-dated.There are about 20 extant species of Neotoma with a combined range extending from the Yukon and New England to Nicaragua and Florida. Hence, a wider application for the method seems likely, wherever dry caves favor preservation. The acquisitive rats accumulate an incredibly detailed inventory of the local flora and fauna within a small home range, measured at about 100 m or less in radius. The biomass spectrum of a modern wood rat deposit was compared with associated pollen spectra and source vegetation. The most dominant arborescent species, as determined by a quantitative study of the local vegetation, were proportionately represented in the midden, but not in the pollen rain. Less dominant species were variable in proportionality.A novel approach to the comparative ecological physiology of long-dead plants has been demonstrated with macrofossils from ancient wood rat deposits. The ratio of the stable isotopes of carbon (13C/12C) is more altered from the atmospheric proportion during CO2 fixation by C3 plants than it is by the different (PEP) carboxylating enzyme of heliophile or xerophytic, C4 or CAM plants. Mass spectrometry of the carbon of macrofossils enables the distinction to be made in the past.The desiccated, allelochemic urine, or amberat, indurates and preserves the middens by cementing the loose debris of macrofossils into a tough, coherent mass of surprising strength and rigidity, that adheres tenaciously to rock surfaces. Water softens the most indurated middens by dissolving the crystallized urine, causing them to dislodge and to fall apart; it also removes the osmotic and allelochemic deterrent to decay by fungi, or to consumption by termites, crickets, or other decomposing herbivores. A secure position in a dry rock shelter is therefore essential to preservation of the macrofossils for time periods on the order of 104 years. Attrition with time is seen in the frequency distribution of radiocarbon dates obtained on 132 Neotoma middens. The distribution is skewed toward the end of the Wisconsin glacial and the Holocene, and there is a decline in frequency with age. Cave erosion, including destructive rockfalls and new crevices that admit seepage and cause deterioration and dislodgement of the middens, is probably the main factor in the progressive attrition with increasing age.

Elucidating dingo’s ecological roles: contributions from the Pelorus Island feral goat biocontrol project

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Allen ◽  
Lee R. Allen ◽  
Michael Graham ◽  
Matt Buckman
Keyword(s):  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Goat Population ◽  
Manipulative Experiments ◽  
Ecological Roles ◽  
Important Field ◽  
Small Livestock ◽  
Introduction Experiment ◽  
Feral Goat

ABSTRACT Understanding the ecological roles of apex predators remains an important field of study. The influence of apex predators on ecosystems can be either profound or negligible in different situations, and uncertainty still exists about the ecological roles of most top-predators, including Australian dingoes. This uncertainly is maintained by a dearth of experimental evidence investigating their roles. Such evidence is indispensable if dingo management is to be evidence-based. In this report, we discuss a recent experiment where dingoes were released on to an island as vertebrate biocontrol tools intended to eradicate feral goats and restore native vegetation being threatened by the goats. The experiment was successful, and the dingoes reduced the goat population to one or perhaps two male goats within ~2 years. This predator introduction experiment elucidated dingo’s effects on small livestock, their per capita predation rates, and their invasiveness or their ability to adapt and change their environment. The experiment confirmed that dingoes have the capacity to decimate populations of small livestock species and trigger a trophic cascade by reducing herbivory on vegetation. We encourage further manipulative experiments to explore the ubiquity of these results in different contexts.

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