The temporal organisation of the feeding behaviour of four species of wallaby: examining chronobiological and homeostatic influences

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Lentle ◽  
I. D. Hume ◽  
K. J. Stafford ◽  
M. Kennedy ◽  
B. P. Springett ◽  
...  

We studied the temporal distribution of feeding events of tammar wallabies, parma wallabies, brush-tailed rock-wallabies and swamp wallabies by infrared video-recording of captive animals maintained in a 12 : 12 light : dark cycle with constant temperature, and by radio-microphone surveillance of free-ranging animals on Kawau Island, New Zealand. Analyses of mean time spent feeding per 20-min period for tammar and parma wallabies showed significant circadian variation in both captive and free-ranging animals but not in captive or free-ranging brush-tailed rock wallabies or swamp wallabies. While there was no significant difference in the extent of circadian variation of feeding rate between tammar and parma wallabies there were significant differences according to the type of food being fed. Thus, circadian variation in feeding rate was greater in both species when standing sward was fed. None of the survivorship curves of the interfeed intervals of either captive or free-ranging animals showed a discontinuity suggestive of organisation of feed events into meals. There were bicrepuscular peaks of feed-event density in both captive and free-ranging tammar and parma wallabies. There was a similar bicrepuscular distribution of feed-event density in free-ranging brush-tailed rock-wallabies but a more uniform temporal distribution of this parameter in captive specimens. There was a more uniform circadian distribution of feed-event density in a single captive and a single free-ranging swamp wallaby. Thus the circadian incidence of the feeding events of tammar and parma wallabies were more resistant to changes in the incidence of stochastic environmental variables such as predation whereas those of bush-tailed rock-wallabies and swamp wallabies were more susceptible to changes in these stimuli.

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-272
Author(s):  
Areej A. Mohammed ◽  
Aisha F. Bonaama ◽  
Souad A. M. Moftah ◽  
Ameerah T. Ramadhan ◽  
Abdulsalam M. A. Bolhaj ◽  
...  

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of two different doses of oxytocin on weight. Adult male rabbits (15) were weighed and provided with food twice daily for 3 weeks to determine the amount of food consumed daily and the time spent feeding by each rabbit.  After 3 weeks the rabbits were weighed and divided randomly into 3groups: the control group, the low dose group, and the high dose group. The animals were injected daily for 3 weeks. During that time the amount of food consumed and the time spent feeding in both periods were determined. After the end of the treatment period the rabbits were weighed, and sacrificed. The results of this study showed that before treatment the rabbits consumed more food in the evening period than they did in the afternoon period. The mean time spent feeding in the evening period was slightly higher than that spent in the afternoon period; however, this difference was not statistically significant. After treatment, there was still significant difference between the means of the consumed food in the afternoon and the evening period for the control group. The mean amounts of food consumed in both periods by the treated groups were slightly reduced, but this reduction was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the mean time spent feeding in the evening period was slightly higher than that of the afternoon period for the 3 groups; however, these differences were not significant. The mean weight of the control group was slightly increased after treatment with the hormone; and the mean weights of the treated groups were slightly reduced after treatment. However, changes in body weighs were not statistically significant.


Trauma ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146040862094972
Author(s):  
Ahmed Fadulelmola ◽  
Rob Gregory ◽  
Gavin Gordon ◽  
Fiona Smith ◽  
Andrew Jennings

Introduction: A novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has caused a fatal global pandemic which particularly affects the elderly and those with comorbidities. Hip fractures affect elderly populations, necessitate hospital admissions and place this group at particular risk from COVID-19 infection. This study investigates the effect of COVID-19 infection on 30-day hip fracture mortality. Method: Data related to 75 adult hip fractures admitted to two units during March and April 2020 were reviewed. The mean age was 83.5 years (range 65–98 years), and most (53, 70.7%) were women. The primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality associated with COVID-19 infection. Results: The COVID-19 infection rate was 26.7% (20 patients), with a significant difference in the 30-day mortality rate in the COVID-19-positive group (10/20, 50%) compared to the COVID-19-negative group (4/55, 7.3%), with mean time to death of 19.8 days (95% confidence interval: 17.0–22.5). The mean time from admission to surgery was 43.1 h and 38.3 h, in COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-negative groups, respectively. All COVID-19-positive patients had shown symptoms of fever and cough, and all 10 cases who died were hypoxic. Seven (35%) cases had radiological lung findings consistent of viral pneumonitis which resulted in mortality (70% of mortality). 30% ( n = 6) contracted the COVID-19 infection in the community, and 70% ( n = 14) developed symptoms after hospital admission. Conclusion: Hip fractures associated with COVID-19 infection have a high 30-day mortality. COVID-19 testing and chest X-ray for patients presenting with hip fractures help in early planning of high-risk surgeries and allow counselling of the patients and family using realistic prognosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussein Soffar ◽  
Mohamed F. Alsawy

Abstract Background Neuronavigation is a very beneficial tool in modern neurosurgical practice. However, the neuronavigation is not available in most of the hospitals in our country raising the question about its importance in localizing the calvarial extra-axial lesions and to what extent it is safe to operate without it. Methods We studied twenty patients with calvarial extra-axial lesions who underwent surgical interventions. All lesions were preoperatively located with both neuronavigation and the usual linear measurements. Both methods were compared regarding the time consumed to localize the tumor and the accuracy of each method to anticipate the actual center of the tumor. Results The mean error of distance between the planned center of the tumor and the actual was 6.50 ± 1.762 mm in conventional method, whereas the error was 3.85 ± 1.309 mm in IGS method. Much more time was consumed during the neuronavigation method including booting, registration, and positioning. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean time passed in the conventional method and IGS method (2.05 ± 0.826, 24.90 ± 1.334, respectively), P-value < 0.001. Conclusion In the setting of limited resources, the linear measurement localization method seems to have an accepted accuracy in the localization of calvarial extra-axial lesions and it saves more time than neuronavigation method.


Author(s):  
Maria E. Currie ◽  
Ana Luisa Trejos ◽  
Reiza Rayman ◽  
Michael W.A. Chu ◽  
Rajni Patel ◽  
...  

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of three-dimensional (3D) binocular, stereoscopic, and two-dimensional (2D) monocular visualization on robotics-assisted mitral valve annuloplasty versus conventional techniques in an ex vivo animal model. In addition, we sought to determine whether these effects were consistent between novices and experts in robotics-assisted cardiac surgery. Methods A cardiac surgery test-bed was constructed to measure forces applied during mitral valve annuloplasty. Sutures were passed through the porcine mitral valve annulus by the participants with different levels of experience in robotics-assisted surgery and tied in place using both robotics-assisted and conventional surgery techniques. Results The mean time for both the experts and the novices using 3D visualization was significantly less than that required using 2D vision (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the maximum force applied by the novices to the mitral valve during suturing (P = 0.7) and suture tying (P = 0.6) using either 2D or 3D visualization. The mean time required and forces applied by both the experts and the novices were significantly less using the conventional surgical technique than when using the robotic system with either 2D or 3D vision (P < 0.001). Conclusions Despite high-quality binocular images, both the experts and the novices applied significantly more force to the cardiac tissue during 3D robotics-assisted mitral valve annuloplasty than during conventional open mitral valve annuloplasty. This finding suggests that 3D visualization does not fully compensate for the absence of haptic feedback in robotics-assisted cardiac surgery.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.K. Bashirullah ◽  
M.T. Diaz

AbstractThe qualitative and quantitative parameters of temporal distribution ofCucullanus tripapillatusandCucullanus chrysophrydesin the intestine ofOrthopristis ruberin the Caribbean Sea on the north of Margarita Island, Venezuela were analysed. A total of 540 fish were collected at random from the catch of commercial trawlers during 1982–83 and 1992–93. Both species ofCucullanuswere found throughout the year; prevalence and mean intensity ofC. tripapillatuswere higher than that ofC. chrysophrydes. A significant difference was found in infection between the two years of sampling. Female worms were more abundant than male in both years. Both species exhibited pronounced prevalence and maturity in September and March of each year, indicating seasonality. The patterns of occurrence of the two species ofCucullanusinO. ruberdid not change in the 10-year interval but the host size and number of parasites declined, which may be due to over-exploitation of definitive fish hosts.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullatif Alyaqout ◽  
T. Edwin Chow ◽  
Alexander Savelyev

Abstract The primary objectives of this study are to 1) assess the quality of each volunteered geographic information (VGI) data modality (text, pictures, and videos), and 2) evaluate the quality of multiple VGI data sources, especially the multimedia that include pictures and videos, against synthesized water depth (WD) derived from remote sensing (RS) and authoritative data (e.g. stream gauges and depth grids). The availability of VGI, such as social media and crowdsourced data, empowered the researchers to monitor and model floods in near-real-time by integrating multi-sourced data available. Nevertheless, the quality of VGI sources and its reliability for flood monitoring (e.g. WD) is not well understood and validated by empirical data. Moreover, existing literature focuses mostly on text messages but not the multimedia nature of VGI. Therefore, this study measures the differences in synthesized WD from VGI modalities in terms of (1) spatial and (2) temporal variations, (3) against WD derived from RS, and (4) against authoritative data including (a) stream gauges and (b) depth grids. The results of the study show that there are significant differences in terms of spatial and temporal distribution of VGI modalities. Regarding VGI and RS comparison, the results show that there is a significant difference in WD between VGI and RS. In terms of VGI and authoritative data comparison, the analysis revealed that there is no significant difference in WD between VGI and stream gauges, while there is a significant difference between the depth grids and VGI.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1

Background and objective: Ileal conduit for urinary diversion can be completed using either end-to-end handsewn or stapled anastomosis. This study aimed to compare stepled and handsewn anastomosis methods in terms of complications, hospitalization and cost. Materials and methods: Forty-three patients were included in the hand-sewn and 44 patients in the stapler group. After creating an ileal conduit, continuity of the loop was achieved either with handsewn or stapler method. Patients' demographic data, time to onset of bowel movement, time to transit to oral intake, time to removal of the drain, perioperative and postoperative complications, mortality and total costs were retrospectively recorded and compared between the two groups. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the mean to the onset of bowel movements (p = 0.51) and the mean time to transit to oral intake (p = 0.23). The mean time to removal of the drain was significantly lower in the stapler group (p = 0.023). Perioperative complications were seen in eight patients in the handsewn group, while none of the patients in the stapler group developed perioperative complication (p = 0.003). Postoperative complications were similar between both groups (p = 0.75). The duration of hospitalization was statistically significantly lower in the stapler group (p = 0.004) and the mean total cost was statistically significantly more advantageous (p < 0.001). Conclusion: No significant difference was found between stapler and handsewn anastomosis techniques in terms of postoperative complications. On the other hand, hospitalization and total cost were in favour of stapler technique, showing that this technique can be used safely.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 663 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. H. Ellis ◽  
B. J. Sullivan ◽  
A. T. Lisle ◽  
F. N. Carrick

Faecal pellets were collected under trees used by free-ranging koalas in south-western, central and south-eastern Queensland to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of pellets with respect to the activity of koalas. Deposition of faecal pellets by koalas was analysed according to the time of day at which the tree was occupied. For free-ranging koalas, 47% of daily faecal pellet output was recovered using a collection mat of 8 × 8 m placed under a day-roost tree. The best predictor of pellet production was the presence of a koala in a tree between 1800 hours and midnight. For other periods, there was no relationship between period of tree occupancy and faecal pellet recovery. There was a significant relationship between the average length of tree occupancy and the time of day that a koala entered a tree.


2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Moncayo-Estrada ◽  
Owen T Lind ◽  
Carlos Escalera-Gallardo

Significant reductions in the water volume of shallow lakes impose a restriction on species segregation promoting more interactions in the trophic relationships. The diets of three closely related zooplanktivorous silversides belonging to the Atherinopsidae species flock of lake Chapala , Mexico, were analyzed at two sites (Chirostoma jordani, C. labarcae, and C. consocium). Diets were described in critical shallow (August 2000) and volume recovery conditions (August 2005). Diets included mainly cladocerans (Bosmina, Ceriodaphnia, and Daphnia) and copepods (Cyclops). A significant difference in diets was detected when comparing years (MRPP analysis, A = 0.22, p < 0.0001) and sites at different years (MRPP analysis, A = 0.17, p = 0.004). According to niche breadth mean values, species were classified as specialized and intermediate feeders. In shallow conditions, the small range of niche breadth (1.72 to 3.64) and high diet overlap values (D = 0.64, L = 8.62) indicated a high potential for interspecific exploitative interaction. When the lake volume recovered, an increase in the niche breadth range (1.04 to 4.96) and low niche overlap values (D = 0.53, L = 2.32) indicated a reduction of the species interaction. The Mann-Whitney U-test supported this pattern by showing a significant difference between years for niche overlap (p = 0.006). The increased interaction during the low volume suggests alternative segregation in life-history variations and other niche dimensions such as spatial or temporal distribution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 442-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celiana Figueiredo Viana ◽  
Márcia Pradella-Hallinan ◽  
Abrahão Augusto Juviniano Quadros ◽  
Luis Fabiano Marin ◽  
Acary Souza Bulle Oliveira

ObjectiveIt was to evaluate the degree of fatigue in patients with paralytic poliomyelitis (PP) and with post-polio syndrome (PPS), and correlate it with parameters of sleep and the circadian cycle.MethodsThirty patients, 17 female (56.7%), participated in the study: they answered the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale and performed a nocturnal polysomnographic study. Eleven had PP (mean age±standard deviation of 47.9±6.4 years), and 19 had PPS (mean age±standard deviation of 46.4±5.6 years).ResultsOur study showed that fatigue was worse in the afternoon in the PP Group and had a progressive increase throughout the day in the PPS Group. We also observed compromised quality of sleep in both groups, but no statically significant difference was found in the sleep parameters measured by polysomnography.ConclusionFatigue has a well-defined circadian variation, especially in PPS Group. Poor sleep quality is associated with fatigue and, therefore, sleep disturbances should be evaluated and treated in this group of PPS.


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