Animal Matter Research Articles

The melioidosis agent Burkholderia pseudomallei and related opportunistic pathogens detected in faecal matter of wildlife and livestock in northern Australia.

The Darwin region in northern Australia has experienced rapid population growth in recent years, and with it, an increased incidence of melioidosis. Previous studies in Darwin have associated the environmental presence of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, with anthropogenic land usage and proximity to animals. In our study, we estimated the occurrence of B. pseudomallei and Burkholderia spp. relatives in faecal matter of wildlife, livestock and domestic animals in the Darwin region. A total of 357 faecal samples were collected and bacteria isolated through culture and direct DNA extraction after enrichment in selective media. Identification of B. pseudomallei, B. ubonensis, and other Burkholderia spp. was carried out using TTS1, Bu550, and recA BUR3-BUR4 quantitative PCR assays, respectively. B. pseudomallei was detected in seven faecal samples from wallabies and a chicken. B. cepacia complex spp. and Pandoraea spp. were cultured from wallaby faecal samples, and B. cenocepacia and B. cepacia were also isolated from livestock animals. Various bacteria isolated in this study represent opportunistic human pathogens, raising the possibility that faecal shedding contributes to the expanding geographical distribution of not just B. pseudomallei but other Burkholderiaceae that can cause human disease.

Slaughterhouses Fungal Burden Assessment: A Contribution for the Pursuit of a Better Assessment Strategy.

In slaughterhouses, the biological risk is present not only from the direct or indirect contact with animal matter, but also from the exposure to bioaerosols. Fungal contamination was already reported from the floors and walls of slaughterhouses. This study intends to assess fungal contamination by cultural and molecular methods in poultry, swine/bovine and large animal slaughterhouses. Air samples were collected through an impaction method, while surface samples were collected by the swabbing method and subjected to further macro- and micro-scopic observations. In addition, we collected air samples using the impinger method in order to perform real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) amplification of genes from specific fungal species, namely A. flavus, A. fumigatus and A. ochraceus complexes. Poultry and swine/bovine slaughterhouses presented each two sampling sites that surpass the guideline of 150 CFU/m3. Scopulariopsis candida was the most frequently isolated (59.5%) in poultry slaughterhouse air; Cladosporium sp. (45.7%) in the swine/bovine slaughterhouse; and Penicillium sp. (80.8%) in the large animal slaughterhouse. Molecular tools successfully amplified DNA from the A. fumigatus complex in six sampling sites where the presence of this fungal species was not identified by conventional methods. This study besides suggesting the indicators that are representative of harmful fungal contamination, also indicates a strategy as a protocol to ensure a proper characterization of fungal occupational exposure.

Diet composition of freshwater crab, Potamon koolooense Rathbun, 1904 from hillstream of Uttarakhand

The present study was carried out to study the diet composition of freshwater crab, P. koolooense in hillstream Khoh of Uttarakhand during November, 2013 to October, 2014. Total 105 crab samples were used for the study, 35 male and 47 female were found with food in their stomach while rest of the 23 had empty stomachs. The carapace length (CL) ranged from 12mm to 49mm, carapace width (CW) from 15mm to 59mm and total weight (TW) from 2.08g to 60.12g. Stomach content analysis of the animal showed that the diet of the animal composed of animal matter, plant matter, algae, fungi, debris and unidentified materials. Animal matter ranged from (3.27-11.93%), plant matter (4.37-14.44%), algae (1.73-6.15%), fungi (0.17-1.43%), debris (28.18-40.47%) and unidentified materials (36.46-50.05%) in males while in the female animal matter ranged from (3.09-12.34%), plant matter (4.45-12.73%), algae (1.03-7.61%), fungi (0.02-3.34%), debris (23.18-43.34%) and unidentified (30.31-51.04%). Unidentified materials recorded maximum and fungi recorded minimum in both the sexes of Potamon koolooense. A significant difference was observed at p<0.05 between food groups- algae and unidentified matter in both sexes. This is the first report, to key out and quantifies the dietary items and feeding habits of crab in Uttarakhand which would be helpful in interpreting the ecological niche of the animal in mountain stream communities.

Beyond the Surface: Where Cultural Contexts and Scientific Analyses Meet in Museum Conservation of West African Power Association Helmet Masks

AbstractHow should museum conservators balance respect for objects created within secrecy contexts with concern for technical understanding and preservation? As described in this article, West African power association leaders draw on guarded knowledge to construct masks and other objects from a variety of animal, vegetal, and mineral matter. The works feature accumulations of diverse materials but often enter museum collections with scant or inaccurate records of the specific matter used in the objects’ making. Conservators charged with the objects’ care confront contradictions stemming from a professional commitment to identify materials intended to remain unknown and to conserve objects never designed to endure in perpetuity as finished forms. In this study, we identify and respond to North American museum conservators’ and collections staff's desire for culturally informed guidelines for handling West African power association objects. We combine conservation‐based scientific research with art–historical field and archival research to explore possibilities for studying the materially and culturally sensitive objects. We specifically focus on x‐radiography and plant fiber identifications of two West African power association helmet masks presently in a museum collection as a case study for ethical decision making during conservation treatments.

Three new species of Oxysarcodexia Townsend (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)from the Colombian Andes.

Three new species of Oxysarcodexia Townsend (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) from the Colombian Andes are described based on male specimens collected using decaying animal matter as bait: Oxysarcodexia catica sp. n., O. laclaricola sp. n., and O. liliarum sp. n. The straight and narrow cercal prong with an acute apex, and the juxta enlarged distally and folded backwards of O. catica sp. n. resemble these structures in O. fraterna Lopes, O. peruviana (Lopes) and O. vittata (Walker). The shape of the cercus of O. laclaricola sp. n. is similar to that of O. floricola Lopes, whereas its vesica is similar in shape to that of O. cyaniforceps (Hall). Oxysarcodexia liliarum sp. n. resembles O. favorabilis (Lopes) in the inflorescence-like phallus and enlarged juxta. The postero-distal phallic enlargement of O. catica sp. n. and O. liliarum sp. n. support the inclusion of these species in the so-called "Xarcophaga group" (sensu Lopes).

Editorial: Scents that Matter-from Olfactory Stimuli to Genes, Behaviors and Beyond.

Editorial: Scents that Matter-from Olfactory Stimuli to Genes, Behaviors and Beyond.

Apoptosis in the Ovine Fetal Brain Following Placental Embolization and Intermittent Umbilical Cord Occlusion.

The purpose of this study was to compare the regional distribution of apoptotic cells in the near term ovine fetal brain caused by prolonged moderate hypoxia, as seen in placental insufficiency, and intermittent severe hypoxia, as seen in umbilical cord compression, which may then contribute to adverse neurodevelopment in the postnatal life. We hypothesized that apoptosis in the fetal brain will be increased in response to both prolonged moderate hypoxia and intermittent severe hypoxia. Twenty-one near term (126-127 days) sheep were divided into 3 groups: control (CON; n = 7), placental embolization (EMB; n = 7), and umbilical cord occlusion (UCO; n = 8). The EMB group had microsphere injections into the umbilical arterial circulation until the oxygen content was at 50% of baseline value. The UCO group had complete cord occlusion for 2 minutes every hour, 6 times a day for 2 consecutive days. At 4 pm on day 2, the animals were euthanized; fetal brains were fixed and prepared for apoptosis staining using the terminal uridine deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay method. In the cerebellar white matter, there was a 3-fold increase in the number of TUNEL positive cells per 1000 cells in both EMB and UCO animals as compared to CON (P = .017). There was also a significant increase in the frontal cortical grey matter (layers 1-3) in EMB animals as compared to CON (P = .014). As such, apoptosis in the near term fetal sheep brain is altered with both sustained moderate hypoxia and intermittent severe hypoxia in the latter part of pregnancy, with potential for long-term neurological sequelae.

Moths, Photographs, and Emigrants: The Capacity for Transmigration in the Work of W. G. Sebald

And since the heaviest stone that melancholy can throw at a man is to tell him he is at the end of his nature, Browne scrutinizes that which has for any sign of the capacity for transmigration he has so often observed in caterpillars and moths. That purple piece of silĶ he refers to, then, in the um of Patroclus-what does it mean?-W. G. Sebald, The Rings of Satum (1995)Silk is a theme that weaves throughout W. G. Sebald's photograph-lined book The Rings of SaturnHowever the specificity of its ritual uses in funerary practice arises but twice in the phototextual narrative of a walking tour through the East Anglian countryside of England, at the conclusion of the first and last sections of the book. The purple funerary silk and black mourning ribbons described in these sections remain outstanding because they draw the reader's attention to how this inimitable material has been employed historically to facilitate the passage of human souls into the afterlife. For millennia, Sebald's narrator points out, humans have harvested raw silk from the cocoons spun by the Bombyx mori (silkworm) to undergo metamorphosis into a moth, effectively curtailing that very process of transformation. In this way, one species' transmigration is sacrificed to facilitate that of another. On the final pages of The Rings of Saturn, the author offers a photograph of the sericulture industry in early-twentieth-century India during British colonial rule. The faded black-and-white photograph shows three young men attending to countless cocoons attached to spiral-shaped wooden frames; the cocoons are silkworms that will soon be harvested for their silk (figure l).2The capacity for defined most simply as the ability to traverse boundaries both geopolitical as well as between life states, is treated at length in Sebald's third work of prose fiction and emerges as one of his exemplary methods for transmitting violent histories resistant to representation. In this essay, I argue that Sebald employs transmigration both thematically and methodologically to address the ethical challenges of representing catastrophe in a manner that preserves the reader's capacity for remembrance and reflection. Moths, photographs, and emigrants populate Sebald's works of historical fiction, appearing both textually within the narrative as well as in the form of photographic reproductions that interrupt the printed page. These three entities share the capacity for transmigration and become interchangeable with one another. For instance, an account of the metamorphosis of moths reads as a description of the photographic process, just as the recovery of an old photographic portrait becomes a metaphor for the return of a forgotten emigrant across time and space, and the harvesting of silkworm moths in a Nazi-era pedagogical film emerges as a thinly veiled allegory of the Holocaust.The topic of transmigration arises in the first of The Rings of Saturn's ten sections through the figure of the Norwich polymath Sir Thomas Browne. Trained as a physician and the son of a silk merchant, Browne's treatises cover a broad range of subjects: the geometrical patterns to be found in animate and inanimate nature, including the quincunx; the physiological mutations among living creatures; and the nature of time and human mortality, and in turn how cultural beliefs about the subject have played out in funerary practices. The topic of transmigration arises in the context of his study of the latter. Declaring that there is no antidote against the opium of time, Browne remains fascinated nonetheless by those rare examples of animate and inanimate matter that have escaped annihilation (R, 26). Indeed, the themes of mortality, obsolescence, and passage recur throughout Sebald's melancholic account of a pilgrimage through the Norfolk region of England.Among those entities exhibiting this mysterious capacity for transmigration, Browne identifies caterpillars and moths. …

Usage of Nest Materials by House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Along an Urban to Rural Gradient in Coimbatore, India.

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a widely distributed bird species found throughout the world. Being a species which has close association with humans, they chiefly nest on man-made structures. Here we describe the materials used by the house sparrow for making nests along an urban to rural gradient. For the current study, we selected the Coimbatore to Anaikatty road (State Highway-164), a 27 km inter-state highway, which traverses along an urban core to rural outstretch of Coimbatore. Of the 30 nests observed, 15 nests were from the rural, 8 were from the suburban, and 7 were from the urban areas. The nests had two distinct layers, specifically the structural layer and the inner lining. In the current study, we identified 11 plant species, 2 types of animal matter, and 6 types of anthropogenic matter, including plastic pieces and fine rope. The amount of anthropogenic materials in the nest formation varied along the gradients. The usage of anthropogenic materials was high in urban areas (p<0.05) whereas it did not differ at the sub-urban regions (p>0.05). A gradual decrease in the usage of plant matter towards the urban area was noticed (p<0.05). This study explicitly documents the links between nest material usage along an urban to rural gradient, in a human associated bird.

English

AbstractCambarus chasmodactylus is restricted to the New River drainage of the Central Appalachians. Female crayfish display cyclic reproductive states, but the ecological implications of this cycle have yet to be assessed. Female C. chasmodactylus were collected from Anthony Creek, West Virginia during the summer months to investigate food habits. Stomach content frequencies were obtained for four broad categories. Food items were identified to the lowest taxonomic level applicable. Feeding spectra were used to assess the importance of prey items. Generalized linear models were used to assess the effects of season, body size, and reproductive state on broad food categories, amount of food consumed, and the frequency of the most abundant prey item. The most food was consumed during June and the least in August. Organic detritus was consumed most frequently and reached its highest frequency in late summer. Animal matter was consumed more frequently by larger animals. Snails were the most predominate animal ingested, showing lower frequencies in June and September in comparison to August and October. Results indicate New River crayfish are feeding generalists and food habits changed with season. There is indication that body size and reproductive state may have a direct or indirect link to food habits.

Reproductive state and rank influence patterns of meat consumption in wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)

An increase in faunivory is a consistent component of human evolutionary models. Animal matter is energy- and nutrient-dense and can provide macronutrients, minerals, and vitamins that are limited or absent in plant foods. For female humans and other omnivorous primates, faunivory may be of particular importance during the costly periods of pregnancy and early lactation. Yet, because animal prey is often monopolizable, access to fauna among group-living primates may be mediated by social factors such as rank. Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) across Africa habitually consume insects and/or vertebrates. However, no published studies have examined patterns of female chimpanzee faunivory during pregnancy and early lactation relative to non-reproductive periods, or by females of different rank. In this study, we assessed the influence of reproductive state and dominance rank on the consumption of fauna (meat and insects) by female chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Using observational data collected over 38 years, we tested (a) whether faunivory varied by reproductive state, and (b) if high-ranking females spent more time consuming fauna than lower-ranking females. In single-factor models, pregnant females consumed more meat than lactating and baseline (meaning not pregnant and not in early lactation) females, and high-ranking females consumed more meat than lower-ranking females. A two-factor analysis of a subset of well-sampled females identified an interaction between rank and reproductive state: lower-ranking females consumed more meat during pregnancy than lower-ranking lactating and baseline females did. High-ranking females did not significantly differ in meat consumption between reproductive states. We found no relationships between rank or reproductive state with insectivory. We conclude that, unlike insectivory, meat consumption by female chimpanzees is mediated by both reproductive state and social rank. We outline possible mechanisms for these patterns, relate our findings to meat-eating patterns in women from well-studied hunter-gatherer societies, and discuss potential avenues for future research.

Formation of amino acids from NH3 /NO2, CO2 and H2O: implications for the prebiotic origin of biomolecules.

The search for the conditions which must have prevailed in the long-distant past during the conversion of inanimate matter into animate matter is a fascinating area of research and it continues to draw the attention of the scientific community. The initiation of life on this planet must have been preceded by the development of biomolecules, amongst which amino acids have unique importance. Formation of amino acids under a certain set of conditions is shown in the present experiments. Solutions of ammonium carboxylates or the mixture of two such salts were prepared in 3:6.9:0.1 (v/v/v) acetonitrile/water/formic acid at a concentration of 50 μM. The studies were performed using a quadrupole time-of-flight (QqTOF) mass spectrometer. The formation of different amino acids was detected with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Here, we show the formation of amino acids when a solution of ammonium salts was injected into an electrospray ionization (ESI)-QqTOF-MS instrument. The ammonium salts were the source of NH3 and CO2 and H2 O was available in the medium. It seems that the combination of NH3 , CO2 , and H2 O leads to the formation of amino acids. Further to the literature reports of formation of amino acids under the reduced atmosphere represented by gases such as NH3 , CH4 , H2 and H2 O, here we demonstrate the formation of amino acids by the combination of NH3 /NO2 , CO2 and water vapours in the ESI source of the mass spectrometer.

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF &lt;i&gt;Cichlasoma amazonarum &lt;/i&gt; (Teleostei, Cichlidae) IN THE CENTRAL AMAZON LAKES, BRAZIL.

The diet of the cichlid Cichlasoma amazonarum was investigated through an analysis of 270 gastric contents obtained from monthly samples collected from five lakes located in the Central Brazilian Amazon, throughout the year of 2012. The composition of the diet was assessed using the methods of frequency of occurrence and relative dominance (frequency of biomass), which were combined in the Alimentary Importance Index (AIi) in accordance with the hydrological cycle’s extreme periods of drought and high waters. The intestinal coefficient was investigated to demonstrate the feeding tendencies of the species. The breadth and diversity of the trophic niche were also compared for these periods. The intestinal coefficient for the species (0.95), combined with the results of the analysis of food content, showed a species that demonstrates carnivorous/insectivorous habits. During the high water season, the diet is composed of unidentified animal matter, unidentified larvae and insects; and in the drought season, plant matter, unidentified animal matter and insects. Although there was no significant difference in dietary diversity between seasonal extremes, the analysis of the breadth of the trophic niche characterises the species as feeding specialists.

Changes in Photoanodes during Solar Water Oxidation, the Wet Part of Artificial Photosynthesis

Combination of animate matter with inanimate matter poses a difficult task for materials engineers, but opens up new horizons for scientists. I present the case where the iron oxide photoanode for photoelectrochemical solar water splitting is functionalized with C-phycocyanin, a protein known from blue green algae which has a light harvesting complex - one important structural motif in natural photosynthesis. The low cost and abundant mineral has a number of positive properties that make it suitable as a photoanode in photoelectrochemical cells (PEC). However, some deficiencies in its electronic structure prevent it from outperforming its costly and less abundant competitors in terms of quantum efficiency and photocurrent. Further functionalization of hematite with phycocyanin, i.e. coating and covalent cross linking, causes a doubling of the photocurrent. Detailed structural and spectroscopic analysis shows that it is the chromophore porphyrin in the phycocyanin which survives harsh pH conditions and provides also a light funnelling effect, which in the end makes an enhanced photocurrent. Our operando combination of PEC water splitting with soft x-ray spectroscopy provided new insight in the interaction of DC bias and photo-excitation with iron oxide. Anodization of hematite at bias potentials from 300 to 700 mV during illumination forms at least two new pre-edge structures in the O1s NEXAFS spectra, which can be assigned to eg spin up symmetry transitions in the O2p CTB and in the Fe3d-type UHB. We find a parallel evolution of the relative spectral weight of these transitions with the photocurrent vs. DC bias, strongly supporting that two types of electron holes are contributing to the historically suggested two types of photocurrent in hematite. The experiment was carried out entirely in situ during x-ray spectroscopy and strongly supports previous speculations that the electronic structure of the surface, and not only the short hole diffusion length in the bulk, may impede the performance of hematite photo-anodes. Meanwhile, we have made progress with probing also bio-organic motifs and hybrids with spectroscopy methods. [1] D.K. Bora, A. Braun, E.C. Constable, “In rust we trust”. Hematite - the prospective inorganic backbone for artificial photosynthesis, Energy Environ. Sci.6, 407 (2013). [2] A. Braun, K. Sivula, D. K. Bora, J. Zhu, L. Zhang, M. Grätzel, J. Guo, E. C. Constable, Direct observation of two electron holes in hematite during photo-electrochemical water splitting, J. Phys. Chem. C 116 (23) 16870 (2012).

An Investigation of Soil Volume Changes at Four Dimensional Points of Peat Soil Sample in Parit Nipah and Pontian

Peat soils occur in many countries and formed naturally through the decomposition of plant and animal matter. These soils are known as a very problematic soft soil due to its low bearing capacity and high compressibility. These two main factors may be based on the characteristics of the soil itself. This study is focused on its physical properties and shrinkage measurement. It is also to investigate the shrinkage measurement that obtained from the diameter at four dimensional points and bar linear shrinkage method for both location peat sample. There are varies method that can be used in order to obtain a full description of the shrinkage behavior of peat. The sample was taken from two different locations which are Parit Nipah and Pontian. Linear shrinkage method is used to determine the soil shrinkage from linear measurements on a bar mould with disturbed soil that passing 0.425mm sieve. However, this method was modified by using undisturbed sample to compare the result with bar linear shrinkage method and the measurement was obtained by the reduction of its diameter at four points of the sample. Linear shrinkage values obtained from Parit Nipah and Pontian by following British Standard method are 34.77% and 33.09% respectively while modified linear method gives the value of 35.25% for Parit Nipah and 32.85% for Pontian. Modified method shows that peat soil from both locations shrinks in irregular shape due to Point C of Parit Nipah and Pontian peat sample has the smallest diameter compared to other points within 24 hours oven-dried. It also shows that Parit Nipah peat soil has a higher percentage of linear shrinkage for both method instead of Pontian peat soil. The linear shrinkage values that obtained from bar linear shrinkage and modified linear shrinkage gives smaller different values which is nearly same for both method.

English

A study on reproductive and feeding ecology of rodents was conducted in agricultural areas of some selected kebeles (the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia) of Sekoru district from February 2014 to December 2014. Rodents were captured by snap trapping using rat traps. During the whole study period, four rodent species, namely, Rattus rattus, Mastomys natalensis, Arvicanthis dembeensis and Lemniscomys barbarus were identified from a total of 326 rodents captured in 1320 trap nights. The proportion of male and female individuals captured was not different from a 1:1 ratio. Scrotal males and perforate females were captured throughout the study period though reproduction was seasonal. Breeding started in the later part of the rainy season and declined at the beginning of the dry season. The average number of embryo counted per pregnant females was 5.57±1.09, 8.65±1.80, 6.38.±1.70 and 4.00 ± 1.41 for R. rattus, M. natalensis, L. barbarus and A. dembeensis, respectively. The food items identified during the stomach content analysis were grouped into leaves, seeds, animal matter and unrecognized food item. There was no variation in the type of food item identified among the four rodent species. Some variations were observed in the proportion of the different food items consumed by the four rodent species in different trapping sessions. Awareness creation and the need of rodent pest control in all growth stage of crops and after harvest were recommended. Key words: Arvicanthis, breeding, feeding, Lemniscomys, Mastomys, Rattus, Sekoru.

Depth segregation and diet disparity revealed by stable isotope analyses in sympatric herbivorous cichlids in Lake Tanganyika.

BackgroundLake Tanganyika in the African Great Rift Valley is known as a site of adaptive radiation in cichlid fishes. Diverse herbivorous fishes coexist on a rocky littoral of the lake. Herbivorous cichlids have acquired multiple feeding ecomorphs, including grazer, browser, scraper, and scooper, and are segregated by dietary niche. Within each ecomorph, however, multiple species apparently coexist sympatrically on a rocky slope. Previous observations of their behavior show that these cichlid species inhabit discrete depths separated by only a few meters. In this paper, using carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotope ratios as markers, we followed the nutritional uptake of cichlid fishes from periphyton in their feeding territories at various depths.Resultsδ15N of fish muscles varied among cichlid ecomorphs; this was significantly lower in grazers than in browsers and scoopers, although δ15N levels in periphyton within territories did not differ among territorial species. This suggests that grazers depend more directly on primary production of periphyton, while others ingest animal matter from higher trophic levels. With respect to δ13C, only plankton eaters exhibited lower values, suggesting that these fishes depend on production of phytoplankton, while the others depend on production of periphyton. Irrespective of cichlid ecomorph, δ13C of periphyton correlated significantly with habitat depth, and decreased as habitat depth became deeper. δ13C in territorial fish muscles was significantly related to that of periphyton within their territories, regardless of cichlid ecomorph, which suggests that these herbivorous cichlids depend on primary production of periphyton within their territories.ConclusionsCarbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios varied among ecomorphs and among cichlid species in the same ecomorphs sympatrically inhabiting a littoral area of Lake Tanganyika, suggesting that these cichlids are segregated by nutrient source due to varying dependency on periphyton in different ecomorphs (especially between grazers and browsers), and due to segregation of species of the same ecomorph by feeding depth, grazers and browsers in particular.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40851-015-0016-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Vulnerability, Equality, and Animals

The sameness logic inherent in many legal quests for equal treatment is objectionable for the differences that it suppresses. Scholars working in various critical orientations (such as queer, feminist, and critical race theories) have discussed how various equality-based campaigns for disadvantaged groups operate according to their own exclusionary premises. While this critique of equality advocacy's adverse effects on other Others is diverse and important, it leaves unexamined how non-humans are Othered by anthropocentric equality claims. Arguments about why animals matter typically measure animals against human metrics of ethical worth such as whether or not they possess a sufficient capacity to reason, suffer, emote, use language, make tools, or exhibit some other trait presumed to define what it means to be human. Post-humanist critiques can thus fortify, similar to the human equality discourses above, the very norms they seek to destabilize and displace. To properly impugn legal and other inequalities, equality campaigns on both sides of the human–non-human divide must abandon their visions of conventional humanity and the sameness logic that sustains them. I argue that vulnerability discourse is a better alternative to equality discourse to advance animals' interests in the law because it does not rely on the concept of equality to stake its claim. Vulnerability discourse, which focuses on the dependence that embodiment engenders, thus has a better chance of respecting difference and avoiding the problematic sameness logic and other anthropocentric premises that block juridical attention from seeing full interests and experiences of injustice that animals can have.

White matter injury and microglia/macrophage polarization are strongly linked with age-related long-term deficits in neurological function after stroke

Most of the successes in experimental models of stroke have not translated well to the clinic. One potential reason for this failure is that stroke mainly afflicts the elderly and the majority of experimental stroke studies rely on data gathered from young adult animals. Therefore, in the present study we established a reliable, reproducible model of stroke with low mortality in aged (18month) male mice and contrasted their pathophysiological changes with those in young (2month) animals. To this end, mice were subjected to permanent tandem occlusion of the left distal middle cerebral artery (dMCAO) with ipsilateral common carotid artery occlusion (CCAO). Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was evaluated repeatedly during and after stroke. Reduction of CBF was more dramatic and sustained in aged mice. Aged mice exhibited more severe long-term sensorimotor deficits, as manifested by deterioration of performance in the Rotarod and hanging wire tests up to 35d after stroke. Aged mice also exhibited significantly worse long-term cognitive deficits after stroke, as measured by the Morris water maze test. Consistent with these behavioral observations, brain infarct size and neuronal tissue loss after dMCAO were significantly larger in aged mice at 2d and 14d, respectively. The young versus aged difference in neuronal tissue loss, however, did not persist until 35d after dMCAO. In contrast to the transient difference in neuronal tissue loss, we found significant and long lasting deterioration of white matter in aged animals, as revealed by the loss of myelin basic protein (MBP) staining in the striatum at 35d after dMCAO. We further examined the expression of M1 (CD16/CD32) and M2 (CD206) markers in Iba-1+ microglia by double immunofluorescent staining. In both young and aged mice, the expression of M2 markers peaked around 7d after stroke whereas the expression of M1 markers peaked around 14d after stroke, suggesting a progressive M2-to-M1 phenotype shift in both groups. However, aged mice exhibited significantly reduced M2 polarization compared to young adults. Remarkably, we discovered a strong positive correlation between favorable neurological outcomes after dMCAO and MBP levels or the number of M2 microglia/macrophages. In conclusion, our studies suggest that the distal MCAO stroke model consistently results in ischemic brain injury with long-term behavioral deficits, and is therefore suitable for the evaluation of long-term stroke outcomes. Furthermore, aged mice exhibit deterioration of functional outcomes after stroke and this deterioration is linked to white matter damage and reductions in M2 microglia/macrophage polarization.

Food sources and trophic relationships of three decapod crustaceans: insights from gut contents and stable isotope analyses

Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis), freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium nipponensis) and red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) are important culture species in China and have world-wide introduced distributions. The trophic role of these three decapods has not been compared within a system although they consume plants, animals, and detritus and often co-occur in freshwater ponds. A combination of stable isotope measurements and gut content analysis was used to determine the main food sources and trophic niche of three benthic decapods, in commercial crab ponds around Lake Gucheng, China. Observation of the gut contents reflected a variety of prey items ingested by three decapods. Macrophytes made up the highest contribution to the volume of their gut contents, followed by forage fish, corn and mollusks. Stable isotope analysis supported a stronger relationship between crayfish and vegetable matter than with animal matter, while both crab and shrimp were the opposite. An isotopic mixing model indicated that about 60% of crab and shrimp production originated from animal matter, while only 40% of crayfish production was ascribed to consumption of animal matter. Although results from the mixing model corroborate the gut content findings in most cases, stable isotope results showed that three decapods obtained more energy for growth from animal matter than what would be estimated if gut analysis was used alone. Estimates of niche overlap indices indicated a high degree of dietary overlap among the three decapods examined, suggesting that shrimp and crayfish density should be controlled if considering economic benefits of pond aquaculture.