Chemical immobilisation of a Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) with ketamine-dexmedetomidine mixture in Ladakh, India

Limited information is available regarding the ecology and conservation of the Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx in the Himalaya. We report the first rescue and chemical immobilisation of a Eurasian Lynx in Ladakh, India. A female individual was successfully immobilized intramuscularly with a mixture of ketamine Hcl and dexmedetomidine using a dose rate of 5 mg/kg body weight and 0.03 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Dexmedomidine was antagonised with atepamezole through intramuscular route. The current information on the drug mixture does not account for variations within sub-populations for intrinsic or external factors and needs dedicated studies with large sample sizes and different drug mixtures.

Elongated styloid process in a dry human skull and its relation to the Eagle’s Syndrome: case report and biometrical assessment

The purpose of the present study was to report a case of an elongated styloid process in a dry human skull and present its biometrical values. The styloid processes of the skull from an 80-year-old Brazilian female individual were inspected and 10 measures were performed bilaterally. Despite small differences between the right and left styloid processes regarding the antero-posterior and lateral-medial widths on the three thirds measured, one must highlight the considerable differences showed on the total length of the styloid process (left side: 65.94; right side: 28.90) and on the length of the sheath of the styloid process, which was of 30.01mm on the left side and it was not acquired on the right side because of its small dimensions. The paper discusses its findings from an anatomical and clinical perspectives, providing anatomical basis for a better understanding of the Eagle’s syndrome.

The male bias of a generically-intended personal pronoun in language processing

A self-paced reading experiment tested if a generically-used masculine personal pronoun leads to a male bias in online processing. We presented Dutch native speakers (N=95, 47 male) with generic statements featuring the masculine pronoun hij ‘he’ (e.g., Someone who always promises that he will really be on time, such as Ms/Mr Knoop, will sometimes be late anyway). We further presented participants with control items expressing the same meaning, but without the pronoun. Reading times were significantly higher when a female individual was given as an example (i.e., Ms Knoop in the example above) following the masculine generic pronoun hij ‘he’, but not in the control condition. This effect did not interact with participant gender. This shows that the generically-intended masculine personal pronoun leads to a male bias in online processing for male as well as female participants. Masculine personal pronouns are still commonly used for generic reference in many languages such as Dutch, but the results of this experiment refute the notion that a pronoun such as hij ‘he’ can be readily processed as gender-neutral.

Pelvis

The hominin pelvis is a remarkable structure that plays a central role in many critical biological processes, most notably bipedal locomotion and parturition. Here we describe each pelvic element from Sterkfontein and reconstruct the pelvis of the partial skeletons of Sts 14 and StW 431. Based on preserved contours, if human sexing methods can be accurately applied to australopiths, it is likely that Sts 14 represents a female individual, with the larger size, narrower greater sciatic notch of Sts 65 and StW 431 and other morphologies suggesting that these individuals were male. Some degenerative defects of the StW 431 acetabulum also suggest this may have been an older adult. This chapter also presents complete pelvic reconstructions of all of these fragmentary hipbone fossils.