Postnatal growth, wing development and age estimations in the Mediterranean horseshoe bat Rhinolophus euryale (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) in Kerend cave, western Iran

Mammalia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hojjat Eghbali ◽  
Saeed Shahabi ◽  
Nargess Najafi ◽  
Robab Mehdizadeh ◽  
Shetav Yousefi ◽  
...  

Abstract We quantified postnatal changes in body mass, length of forearm, length of total gap of the fourth metacarpal-phalangeal joint and changes in wing morphology, including the wingspan, wing area, handwing length, handwing area, armwing length, armwing area, aspect ratio and wing loading in Rhinolophus euryale in a maternity roost in Kerend cave, western Iran. Mean body mass of pups increased linearly until 23 days, when they achieved 74.29% of the mean mass of adult females (11.28±0.74 g, n=12). Rates of body mass gain and forearm growth during the early stage of postnatal growth were 0.36 g/day and 1.41 mm/day, respectively. Length of epiphyseal gap increased during the first 3 weeks and subsequently followed by a linear decrease until day 70 when it closed. Wing characteristics increased linearly until the age of the first flight, after which growth rates significantly declined (all p<0.05). Wing loading decreased linearly (−0.09 Nm−2/day) until 36 days of age and thereafter increased to a maximum of 6.56±0.30 Nm−2 at 80 days of age. We compare our results with data obtained from close-related bat species, particularly Rhinolophus mehelyi previously studied in a nearby area.

Author(s):  
M.W. Maichomo ◽  
J.M. Ndungu ◽  
P.M. Ngare ◽  
I.M. Ole-Mapenay

Studies on the trypanotolerance of Orma Boran X Maasai Zebu (Orma Zebu) crossbred cattle (F1 progeny) and pure-bred Maasai Zebu contemporaries were carried out in Nguruman, south western Kenya. The two groups were monitored from birth for a period of 2 years. The incidence of trypanosomosis, parasitaemia, packed cell volume (PCV), body mass and average daily mass gain were monitored. During the study period, overall trypanosomosis incidence was low (3 %). The crossbred cattle had a higher incidence of infection (61 % vs 39 %). The mean PCV and mean mass gain for the crossbred cattle was higher than that of the Maasai Zebu. The mean calf body mass at weaning (8 months) for the Orma Zebu and Maasai Zebu was 72 kg and 64 kg, respectively, while at 18 months of age their mean body mass was 164 kg and 123 kg, respectively. During the rainy season significant differences in average daily mass gains were noted (P < 0.05). The superior mass gain of the Orma Zebu observed during the rainy season, despite higher infection rates, indicate an enhanced trypanotolerance. Moreover, the better performance of the Orma Zebu is an attribute that could be exploited in the adoption of the trypanotolerance genotype, as a sustainable trypanosomosis control strategy.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 1625-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Lazarine Poulle ◽  
Michel Crête ◽  
Jean Huot

Fat and protein reserves were estimated from body mass and the kidney and femur fat index for 135 coyotes (Canis latrans) of different ages and both sexes. These coyotes were collected in southeastern Quebec during five trapping periods between summer 1990 and autumn 1991. Coyotes were 27–28% heavier during autumn–winter than during summer: 16.0 versus 12.5 kg for males and 14.0 versus 11.0 kg for females. This mass gain consisted of 0.6–0.7 kg of protein and 1.5–2.0 kg of fat (water accounted for the balance). The mean fat percentage varied widely among individuals but did not differ according to sex or age. It varied according to trapping period and almost doubled from summer to autumn (10 versus 18%), did not change significantly from late October to late March, but then decreased from winter to summer. It appears that fat deposits accumulated by coyotes during autumn were not used progressively during the winter. However, they allowed the coyotes to survive during brief periods of food shortage. Furthermore, spring and summer seemed to be periods of relative food scarcity for coyotes, because they lost 16–17% of their protein mass from late winter to summer. Only 41% of the 39 females old enough to reproduce ovulated, but no relationship was apparent between this low fertility rate and the body composition of the females.


Author(s):  
Keisuke Fukumura ◽  
Kenshiro Shikano ◽  
Yuaki Narimatsu ◽  
Eiko Iwakoshi-Ukena ◽  
Megumi Furumitsu ◽  
...  

Abstract We recently identified a novel hypothalamic small protein, named neurosecretory protein GL (NPGL), which is involved in energy homeostasis in birds and mammals. However, whether the action of NPGL is influenced by nutritional composition remains unknown. Thus, we investigated the effect of chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of NPGL for 13 days on feeding behavior and body mass gain under a normal chow diet (NC), high-fat diet, high-sucrose diet (HSD), and medium-fat/medium-sucrose diet (MFSD) in rats. NPGL stimulated food intake of NC and MFSD, especially during the light period. By contrast, NPGL decreased body mass gain under NC and increased total white adipose tissue mass in HSD- and MFSD-fed rats. These data suggest that the effects of NPGL on feeding behavior, body mass gain, and fat accumulation depend on nutrient type. Among them, sucrose in diets seems to contribute to fat accumulation elicited by NPGL.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000313482199198
Author(s):  
Imad El Moussaoui ◽  
Etienne Van Vyve ◽  
Hubert Johanet ◽  
André Dabrowski ◽  
Arnaud Piquard ◽  
...  

Background Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is the most frequently performed bariatric procedure in the world. Our purpose was to evaluate the percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL), resolution of obesity-related comorbidities after SG, and identify predictive factors of weight loss failure. Methods A prospective cohort study of adults who underwent SG during 2014 in 7 Belgian-French centers. Their demographic, preoperative, and postoperative data were prospectively collected and analyzed statistically. Results Overall, 529 patients underwent SG, with a mean preoperative weight and body mass index (BMI) of 118.9 ± 19.9 kg and 42.9 ± 5.5 kg/m2, respectively. Body mass index significantly decreased to 32.2 kg/m2 at 5 years ( P < .001). The mean %EWL was 63.6% at 5 years. A significant reduction in dyslipidemia (28.0%-18.2%), obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS) (34.6%-25.1%), and arterial hypertension (HTN) (30.4%-21.5%) was observed after 5 years, but not for diabetes and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). At multivariate analysis, age >50 years old, BMI >50 kg/m2, and previous laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) remained independent predictors of weight loss failure. Conclusions Five years after SG, weight loss was satisfactory; the reduction of comorbidities was significant for dyslipidemia, OSAS, and HTN, but not diabetes and GERD. Age >50 years old, BMI >50 kg/m2, and previous LAGB were independent predictors of weight loss failure.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1161
Author(s):  
Lidia Delrieu ◽  
Liacine Bouaoun ◽  
Douae El Fatouhi ◽  
Elise Dumas ◽  
Anne-Deborah Bouhnik ◽  
...  

Breast cancer (BC) remains complex for women both physically and psychologically. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess the evolution of the main sequelae and treatment two and five years after diagnosis in women with early-stage breast cancer, (2) explore patterns of sequelae associated with given sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors. The current analysis was based on 654 localized BC patients enrolled in the French nationwide longitudinal survey “vie après cancer” VICAN (January–June 2010). Information about study participants was collected at enrollment, two and five years after diagnosis. Changes over time of the main sequelae were analyzed and latent class analysis was performed to identify patterns of sequelae related to BC five years after diagnosis. The mean age (±SD) of study participants at inclusion was 49.7 (±10.5) years old. Six main classes of sequelae were identified two years and five years post-diagnosis (functional, pain, esthetic, fatigue, psychological, and gynecological). A significant decrease was observed for fatigue (p = 0.03) and an increase in cognitive sequelae was reported (p = 0.03). Two latent classes were identified—functional and esthetic patterns. Substantial sequelae remain up to five years after BC diagnosis. Changes in patient care pathways are needed to identify BC patients at a high risk.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7_suppl4) ◽  
pp. 2325967121S0024
Author(s):  
Michael Kucharik ◽  
Paul Abraham ◽  
Mark Nazal ◽  
Nathan Varady ◽  
Wendy Meek ◽  
...  

Objectives: Acetabular labral tears distort the architecture of the hip and result in accelerated osteoarthritis and increases in femoroacetabular stress. Uncomplicated tears with preserved, native fibers can be fixed to acetabular bone using labral repair techniques, which have shown improved outcomes when compared to the previous gold standard, labral debridement and resection. If the tear is complex or the labrum is hypoplastic, labral reconstruction techniques can be utilized to add grafted tissue to existing, structurally intact tissue or completely replace a deficient labrum. The ultimate goal is to reconstruct the labrum to restore the labral seal and hip biomechanics. Clinical outcomes using autografts and allografts from multiple sources for segmental and whole labral reconstruction have been reported as successful. However, reconstruction using autografts has been associated with substantial donor-site morbidity. More recently, all-arthroscopic capsular autograft labral reconstruction has been proposed as a way to repair complex or irreparable tears without the downside of donor-site morbidity. Since all-arthroscopic capsular autograft labral reconstruction is a novel technique, there is limited data in the literature on patient outcomes. The purpose of this study is to report outcomes in patients who have undergone this procedure at a minimum 2-year follow-up. Methods: This is a retrospective case series of prospectively collected data on patients who underwent arthroscopic acetabular labral repair by a senior surgeon between December 2013 and May 2017. Patients who failed at least 3 months of conservative therapy and had a symptomatic labral tear on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) were designated for hip arthroscopy. The inclusion criteria for this study were adult patients age 18 or older who underwent arthroscopic labral repair with capsular autograft labral reconstruction and completion of a minimum 2-year follow-up. Intraoperatively, these patients were found to have a labrum with hypoplastic tissue (width < 5 mm), complex tearing, or frank degeneration of native tissue. Patients with lateral center edge angle (LCEA) ≤ 20° were excluded from analysis. Using the patients’ clinical visit notes with detailed history and physical exam findings, demographic and descriptive data were collected, including age, sex, laterality, body mass index (BMI), and Tönnis grade to evaluate osteoarthritis. Patients completed patient-reported outcome measures and postoperatively at 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and annually thereafter. Results: A total of 72 hips (69 patients) met inclusion criteria. No patients were excluded. The cohort consisted of 37 (51.4%) male and 35 (48.6%) female patients. The minimum follow-up was 24 months, with an average follow-up of 30.3 ± 13.2 months (range, 24-60). The mean patient age was 44.0 ± 10.4 years (range 21-64), with mean body mass index of 26.3 ± 4.3. The cohort consisted of 6 (8.3%) Tönnis grade 0, 48 (66.7%) Tönnis grade 1, and 18 (25.0%) Tönnis grade 2. Two (2.8%) progressed to total hip arthroplasty. Intraoperatively, 5 (6.9%) patients were classified as Outerbridge I, 14 (19.4%) Outerbridge II, 45 (62.5%) Outerbridge III, and 8 (11.1%) Outerbridge IV. Seventy-two (100.0%) patients had a confirmed labral tear, 34 (47.2%) isolated pincer lesion, 4 (5.6%) isolated CAM lesion, and 27 (37.5%) had both a pincer and CAM lesion. The mean of differences between preoperative and 24-month postoperative follow-up PROMs was 22.5 for mHHS, 17.4 for HOS-ADL, 32.7 for HOS-Sport, 22.9 for NAHS, 33.9 for iHOT-33. (Figure 1) The mean of differences between preoperative and final post-operative follow-up PROMs was 22.1 for mHHS, 17.6 for HOS-ADL, 33.2 for HOS-Sport, 23.3 for NAHS, and 34.2 for iHOT-33. (Table 1) Patient age and presence of femoroacetabular impingement were independently predictive of higher postoperative PROM improvements at final follow-up, whereas Tönnis grade was not. (Table 2) The proportion of patients to achieve the minimally clinically important difference (MCID), substantial clinical benefit (SCB), and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) thresholds were also calculated. (Table 3) Conclusions: In this study of 72 hips undergoing arthroscopic labral repair with capsular autograft labral reconstruction, we found excellent outcomes that exceeded the MCID thresholds in the majority of patients at an average 30.3 months follow-up. When compared to capsular reconstruction from autografts and allografts, this technique offers the potential advantages of minimized donor-site morbidity and fewer complications, respectively. [Table: see text][Table: see text][Table: see text]


Author(s):  
Yong Sul Won ◽  
Jong-Hoon Kim ◽  
Chi Young Ahn ◽  
Hyojung Lee

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has been ongoing in Korea since January 2020, there were limited transmissions during the early stages of the outbreak. In the present study, we aimed to provide a statistical characterization of COVID-19 transmissions that led to this small outbreak. We collated the individual data of the first 28 confirmed cases reported from 20 January to 10 February 2020. We estimated key epidemiological parameters such as reporting delay (i.e., time from symptom onset to confirmation), incubation period, and serial interval by fitting probability distributions to the data based on the maximum likelihood estimation. We also estimated the basic reproduction number (R0) using the renewal equation, which allows for the transmissibility to differ between imported and locally transmitted cases. There were 16 imported and 12 locally transmitted cases, and secondary transmissions per case were higher for the imported cases than the locally transmitted cases (nine vs. three cases). The mean reporting delays were estimated to be 6.76 days (95% CI: 4.53, 9.28) and 2.57 days (95% CI: 1.57, 4.23) for imported and locally transmitted cases, respectively. The mean incubation period was estimated to be 5.53 days (95% CI: 3.98, 8.09) and was shorter than the mean serial interval of 6.45 days (95% CI: 4.32, 9.65). The R0 was estimated to be 0.40 (95% CI: 0.16, 0.99), accounting for the local and imported cases. The fewer secondary cases and shorter reporting delays for the locally transmitted cases suggest that contact tracing of imported cases was effective at reducing further transmissions, which helped to keep R0 below one and the overall transmissions small.


Archaeometry ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Wilson ◽  
S. Clelland ◽  
M. A. Carter ◽  
C. Ince ◽  
C. Hall ◽  
...  

1982 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Khalifa

SummaryIn a survey of 1475 urban Moslem wives in the age group 15–49 living in the capital city of the Sudan, knowledge of birth control was reported by almost all respondents while a significant proportion had used contraception at least once. The mean age of the users was 32·8 years, their duration of marriage was 15·1 years and their mean number of surviving children was 4·6. Those who had never used contraception had a higher mean age, a longer duration of marriage and more surviving children. Most of the users had an urban residential background and belonged to the high socioeconomic class. They held favourable attitudes to family planning. Although they thought that having a large family (more than five children) was not desirable, their mean preferred family size was no different from that of the never users.The results indicate that contraception is used for the purpose of spacing births rather than limiting their ultimate number. At this early stage of contraceptive adoption in Sudan, the characteristics of the pioneer acceptors are similar to those observed in other African countries.


Mammalia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar F. Al-Sheikhly ◽  
Mukhtar K. Haba ◽  
Tamás Görföl ◽  
Gábor Csorba

AbstractBased on a cave survey, we present the first substantiated data of two bat species from Iraq. Both Mediterranean horseshoe bat (


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