Novel Environmental Enrichment May Provide a Tool for Rapid Assessment of Animal Personality: A Case Study With Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Powell ◽  
Joseph T. Svoke
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
haibo shen ◽  
Caiwu Li ◽  
Ming He ◽  
Yan Huang ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a threatened endemic Chinese species and a flagship species of national and global conservation concern. Life history theory proposes that reproduction and immunity can be mutually constraining and interrelated. Knowledge of immunity changes of male giant pandas during the breeding season is limited.Results: Here, we researched peripheral blood gene expression profiles associated with immunity. Thirteen captive giant pandas, ranging from 9 to 11 years old, were divided into two groups based on their reproductive status. We identified 318 up-regulated DEGs and 43 down-regulated DEGs, which were enriched in 87 GO terms and 6 KEGG pathways. Additionally, we obtained 45 immune-related genes with altered expression, mostly up-regulated, and identified four hub genes HSPA4, SUGT1, SOD1, and IL1B in PPI analysis. These 45 genes were related to pattern recognition receptors, autophagy, peroxisome, proteasome, natural killer cell, antigen processing and presentation. SUGT1 and IL1B were related to pattern recognition receptors. HSP90AA1 was the most up-regulated gene and is a member of heat shock protein 90 family. HSP90 contributes to the translocation of extracellular antigen. KLRD1 encodes CD94, whose complex is an inhibitor of the cytotoxic activity of NK cells, was down-regulated. IGIP, which has the capability of inducing IgA production by B cells, was down-regulated, suggesting low concentration of IgA in male giant pandas. Our results suggest that most immune-related genes were up-regulated and more related to innate immune than adaptive immune. Conclusions: Our results indicated that breeding male giant pandas presented an immunoenhancement in innate immunity, enhanced antigen presentation and processing in cellular immunity compared to non-breeding males. The humoral immunity of male giant pandas may show a tendency to decrease during the breeding season. This study will provide a foundation for further studies of immunity and reproduction in male giant pandas.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 831-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jalal NAKHAEI ◽  
Mahdi BITARAFAN ◽  
Shahin LALE AREFI ◽  
Oleg KAPLIŃSKI

Accidental and intentional explosions are incidents often destroying buildings and leaving casualties. As a re­sult of these blasts all over the world, demand of safe constructions with less vulnerability to explosions is rising. A large number of office buildings are built each year in many countries, housing large numbers of staff and clients, and due to specific nature and function, activities and services, these buildings are usually centrally located. Their architectural form being vital, therefore the article attempts, firstly, to present indices depicting the building form from the viewpoint of vulnerability to explosion. Secondly, the article presents such indexes as: capability to reduce blast effects, economic factors, simplicity of implementation, relationship among spaces in the crisis condition, and creating the least unusable space. The model of rapid assessment of vulnerability of office buildings forms to blast, SMART (simple multi attribute ranking technique) procedure is used and, applying the SWARA method, the weight of each major index and sub-index is arrived at. The model presented in the paper shows the assessment systems using figures between zero and a hundred, and four levels of vulnerability: weak, medium, good and excellent. The closer the figure to a hundred, the lower the vulnerability of the office building forms to blast. Swiss Re Tower case study was presented in the article rating of vul­nerability of this building against explosion. It was found to be equal to 62.11%, and its standing was at medium level.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e0159738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian-Pei Guan ◽  
Jacob R. Owens ◽  
Ming-Hao Gong ◽  
Gang Liu ◽  
Zhi-Yun Ouyang ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (10) ◽  
pp. 1596-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Yuan ◽  
Dingzhen Liu ◽  
Lixing Sun ◽  
Rongping Wei ◽  
Guiquan Zhang ◽  
...  

Anogenital gland secretions play a major role in chemical communication by giant pandas, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David, 1869). We analyzed 45 samples of anogenital gland secretions collected from 24 captive pandas (5 male adults, 6 female adults, 6 male subadults, and 7 female subadults) by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The secretions contained over 95 compounds. Based on 56 common compounds (relative abundances >0.1%) shared by more than three individuals, we identified steroids, long-chain fatty acids, fatty-acid esters, aldehydes, alkanes, alkenes, amines, terpenes, and furans. The chemical composition of each secretion was individual-specific. Although none of these individual compounds was age- or sex-specific, the relative abundances of several compounds differed between males and females and between adults and subadults. This result shows that information about sex and age could be coded in analog form. Information about age but not gender could also be digitally coded by the presence or absence of some of the 56 compounds, in addition to the analog coding.


2018 ◽  
pp. 8-11
Author(s):  
Todd W. Thomsen

Head injury is often associated with other serious trauma. Clinical decision rules such as the Canadian CT Head Rule can guide clinicians in the judicious use of neuroimaging, which can then guide the appropriate course of treatment. Rapid assessment of patients requiring neurosurgical intervention is critical, as is appropriate management of blood pressure and hypoxia. This chapter considers a case study of blunt head injury with loss of consciousness of a skier in the backcountry, The author addresses patient history, physical exam, differential diagnoses, clinical course, and key management steps. The patient’s condition relative to the Canadian CT Head Rule is specifically discussed.


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