Signs Of Use Research Articles

Relationships between social behaviour and mounting activity of Zebu cattle ( Bos indicus)

To identify which of the behavioural signs occurring around oestrus might be relevant for improving oestrous detection and to identify a possible pattern among these signs for use in predicting mounting behaviour in Bos indicus, a herd of 18 Brahman cows were continuously observed for 40 days. Social activity was recorded and participants were characterized as either performers or receivers. These two categories were further subdivided into the following activities: licking (grooming), smelling the genital area, threatening, butting, following, attempting to mount and mounting. Oestrus was defined as the period of sexual activity including at least two mounts (allowing to be mounted) limited by ≥4 h of sexual inactivity. A total of 21 oestrous periods were observed from 13 animals. From a total of 6173 behavioural episodes observed, no consistency was found in their sequence or its relation preceding or following mounting activity. Butting was the most common ( P < 0.01) behaviour preceding a mount (32%) or an attempt to mount (42%). Cows during oestrus increased agonistic and non-agonistic behaviours. Among the latter, mounts and attempts to mount were the most common. During this period, licking and butting increased two times and 13 times ( P < 0.05), respectively. No specific pattern of oestrous signs could be established. However, an increase in frequency and preceding mounting value of butting was observed, and it is concluded that butting could contribute to oestrous detection efficiency, calling for the attention of the observer toward those cows displaying this behaviour.

Signs in Use: An Introduction to Semiotics (review)

Signs in Use: An Introduction to Semiotics (review)

Reply to the comment by Lindenmayer et al. on "Economics of a nest-box program for the conservation of an endangered species: a re-appraisal"

Spring et al. (2001) and Lindenmayer et al. (2002) discuss the use of nest boxes to conserve Leadbeater’s possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri McCoy) populations, which are predicted to decline by 90% over the next 40 years because of a shortage of tree cavities (Smith et al. 1985). As a consequence of past fires, most notably a wildfire in 1939, more than 80% of the forests inhabited by the possum are ecologically young regeneration containing few living trees with cavities (Macfarlane et al. 1995; van der Ree and Loyn 2002). Given that trees possessing cavities suitable as den sites for the possum are typically at least 190 years old (Smith and Lindenmayer 1988), it will be more than a century before adequate replacement cavities develop. However, the possum still inhabits many sites, denning in cavities within dead trees that were killed by the 1939 fire but remained standing (typically referred to as “snags”) (Lindenmayer et al. 1991). We share the concerns of Lindenmayer et al. (2002) about current rates and methods of timber harvesting and its impact on the abundance of tree cavities within Leadbeater’s possum’s range. However, they fail to discuss another key factor contributing to the scarcity of tree hollows: snag collapse. Over the past decade, snags have been collapsing at about 4% per annum, a result of damage sustained during the 1939 wildfire and subsequent decay (Lindenmayer et al. 1990, 1997). Snag decay and collapse is predicted to continue, irrespective of habitat protection measures or the extent of timber harvesting. Another large fire during the next century could further exacerbate this situation. This means that habitat protection in reserves, while a necessary and essential conservation strategy to ensure the development and provision of tree cavities in the long term (i.e., >100 years), will not prevent the imminent hollow scarcity that threatens Leadbeater’s possum. Hence, habitat protection alone is unlikely to avert the serious population decline that the possum is predicted to undergo in the short term. This is a key point that was not acknowledged by Lindenmayer et al. (2002) and one that can only be addressed by finding a more immediate means of increasing den site availability for the species. At Yellingbo, we installed 150 nest boxes and subsequently monitored them between 1995 and 2002. During this time, 29 different Leadbeater’s possum colonies used the boxes (one colony for every 5.4 nest boxes installed). Boxes were initially spaced at 100-m intervals in a survey phase (i.e., to locate colonies). Then, to maximize occupancy, several additional boxes were positioned in the territories of the colonies that had been located. Over the 7-year period that the 150 nest boxes have been monitored, 113 (75%) show signs of use by Leadbeater’s possum (i.e., either nesting material or animals were observed). This value increases to 85% if we exclude those nest boxes positioned in forest types not occupied by the species at Yellingbo. Of the 29 colonies detected, 17 (59%) were observed denning in the nest boxes on more than five occasions and 10 (34%) were recorded on more than 15 occasions, indicating that colonies continued to occupy nest boxes on a regular basis over time. These nest box occupancy results are markedly different from those reported by Lindenmayer et al. (2002). The objectives of a nest-box project will determine the study design that is adopted (e.g., placement strategies). Lindenmayer et al. (2002) examined the nest-box preferences of several different species by installing boxes of two different size classes at two different heights. In the case of our research, which investigated Leadbeater’s possums’ population dynamics, we relied on nest boxes as a capture technique and thus attempted to maximize occupancy through time by concentrating boxes around established possum colonies. Given the differing aims, it is not particularly surprising that the two studies have recorded very different results. The significant point is that the Yellingbo work demonstrates that high rates of occupancy can be achieved for this species. We would also emphasize that a project deliberately setting out to install nest boxes as a conservation measure would

Performance-enhancing: substances and their use among adolescent athletes.

1. Jason J. Koch, MD* 1. *Southdale Pediatrics, Edina, MN After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. List the names and actions of performance-enhancing substances. 2. Describe the signs and symptoms of anabolic steroid use. 3. Describe the signs and symptoms of growth hormone use. 4. Characterize the adverse effects of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances. 5. Describe the clinical changes seen in patients using anabolic steroids and growth hormone. Pediatricians see many adolescent patients who present for sports physical examinations, camp physical examinations, or immunizations. One area of concern in the health of these patients should be the use of performance-enhancing substances (PES), which may be better known as ergogenic aids or performance-enhancing drugs. The use of these agents has grown significantly among athletes to help performance and among nonathletes to improve appearance. Use of substances such as anabolic steroids, creatine, and dietary supplements is widespread among adolescents and is related to numerous pressures to excel in academics, at home, and on the athletic field. To be prepared to discuss PES with our patients, we should know the names of the substances, how they are believed to work, and problems associated with their use. We should be aware of the current epidemiology, prevalence, and popular attitudes. We also should know the clinical aspects of PES, including symptoms and signs of use and abuse as well as the science behind the chemicals and the studies that have been published. Finally, we should understand our role in the management of patients using these substances and how we can act as educators, spokespersons, and advocates for child athletes. PES have been present as long as there has been human competition. Aztec athletes and warriors ate human hearts to give them strength in battle and competition. Ancient Greek Olympians used special mushrooms they believed gave them added power. In the 1800s, European cyclists used …

Evaluation of diagonal earlobe crease as a marker of coronary artery disease: the use of this sign in pre‐operative assessment*

In this study, we examined the usefulness of the earlobe crease sign as a marker of coronary artery disease in the pre‐operative assessment of patients. We were interested in evaluating this sign for use in emergency patients. We investigated 530 patients, aged &gt; 40 years, undergoing elective surgery. If the electrocardiogram was abnormal or the patient reported symptoms suggesting coronary artery disease, further cardiac examinations were performed. Patients who demonstrated evidence of coronary artery disease in the additional investigations or had a clear history of coronary artery disease were classified as the abnormal coronary group. Other patients with no history and/or normal investigations were classified as the normal coronary group. The assessment of earlobe crease sign was performed prior to anaesthesia, and the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of this sign were calculated. We found that the sensitivity and specificity was high regardless of age, except for specificity in patients &gt; 70 years old. The data suggest that the earlobe crease sign may be a useful marker for the presence of coronary artery disease in patients undergoing emergency operations in which little or no history and investigations are available. However, more work is required to assess the use of this sign in other ethnic groups.

Operational criteria for the classification of chronic alcoholics: identification of Wernicke's encephalopathy.

OBJECTIVES: To establish better operational criteria for the diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy. Current criteria for diagnosing Wernicke's encephalopathy require the presence of three clinical signs (oculomotor abnormalities, cerebellar dysfunction, and...

ONE ROLE, TWO CONTRASTING TREATMENTS: ASSESSING THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF OBJECTS

"ONE ROLE, TWO CONTRASTING TREATMENTS: ASSESSING THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF OBJECTS." Studies in Conservation, 41(sup2), p. 8

Culture in Early Aboriginal Australia

On the basis of recent archaeological evidence it seems that humans first entered the Australian continent about 60,000 years ago. These first ocean-going mariners had a high level of technological and economic skill, and had spread right across Australia into a wide variety of environments by about 35,000 years ago. Pigment showing clear signs of use occurs in almost all Australia's oldest known occupation sites, and evidence of self-awareness such as necklaces and beads has been found in several Pleistocene rock shelters. Rituals were carried out in connection with disposal of the dead, for at Lake Mungo there is a 25,000-year-old cremation, and ochre was scattered onto the corpse in a 30,000-year-old inhumation. Complex symbolic behaviour is attested at least 40,000 years ago by petroglyphs in the Olary district, and other evidence suggests a similar antiquity for rock paintings. The special focus of this article is cognitive archaeology, the study of past ways of thought as derived from material remains, particularly the development of early Australian artistic systems.

A simple hospital triaging system for infants with acute illness.

To determine the simplest combination of symptoms and signs for use as a triaging procedure in young infants presenting to hospital, and to compare this with the 'Baby Check' system. Six hundred and eighty-two babies were assessed when presenting with acute illness to a children's hospital emergency department. Results of analysis were compared to the results of the Baby Check system, which was derived from the data on the same babies. The presence of at least one of the following markers: drowsiness on examination, significant chest wall recession, generalized pallor, a history of feeding less than 50% or decreased activity, had a sensitivity of 91%, a specificity of 72%, a positive predictive value of 29% and a negative predictive value of 98% when predicting the need for intervention in hospital. The 'Baby Check' system with a score of 13 or more had a sensitivity of 95%, a specificity of 70%, a positive predictive value of 28% and a negative predictive value of 99%. Less common but predictive markers such as bile-stained vomiting, respiratory grunt, apnoea and convulsions add further to the sensitivity. Based on this data set, if historical variables alone (the presence of either drowsiness, difficult breathing, being more pale than usual, feeding less than 50% or decreased activity) were used (as in telephone screening) 92% of babies needing treatment in hospital would be identified. A simple five-marker system is almost as powerful as the 19-marker Baby Check system and provides a useful basis for a triaging system and educational guidelines when assessing sick babies.

Symbol signs for regulatory, warning and roadworks applications : Cairney, P.T.Australian Road Research, 1986, 16.2, 105–116

Alternative versions of symbol signs for regulatory, warning and roadworks applications were tested using a procedure based on the method specified in as2342. Participants were shown coloured slides of the signs, one at a time, in a group setting, and asked to write down the meaning of sign, along with any driving action it implied. The meanings were explained at the end of the session. Participants were tested for recall of the meanings one week later. At least one of the symbolic versions was satisfactory by the as2342 criteria for all the referents tested. The existing symbol components of the no entry, no u turn, two way traffic and no right turn were adequately recalled, as was a slightly modified version of the keep left sign. The addition of pedestrian figures aided appropriate interpretation of a speed limit sign intended for local traffic precincts, and alternatives suggested for stop sign ahead and give way sign ahead proved no better than the recently adopted versions. Several signs for use at roadworks were also tested. The value of retaining the recall test as means of detecting signs which give rise to persistent misinterpretation is discussed, although its use as the sole criterion is questioned (a).

Harem Social Organization in Cave Roosting Artibeus jamaicensis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Harem Social Organization in Cave Roosting Artibeus jamaicensis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Vegetation associated with kakapo (Strigops habroptilusGray) in Sinbad Gully, Fiordland, New Zealand

Abstract The kakapo, a flightless, nocturnal, browsing parrot, is now known only from a few birds in the Milford Sound area where the forests are mostly unmodified by introduced browsing mammals. In February 1975 three male birds had courtship territories at 600–900m altitude in the head of Sinbad Gully, where sleep slopes, waterfalls, and avalanches largely determine the vegetation pattern. The three courtship territories comprised track and bowl systems in ridge-crest silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii) forest. A garden territory or “kakapo garden” is described; it is a scrub-covered debris fan, floristically very rich particularly with berry-bearing shrubs, where kakapo seem to feed. Nearby areas of forest and scrub, which show no sign of use by kakapo, may not be used by the birds because of lack of food or shelter.

Duplex Nest Construction by Hooded Oriole Circumvents Cowbird Parasitism

On about 24 January 1970, Thomas Young collected an old nest (MLZ NE-574) of the Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) that he found suspended from a splintered beam of the overhanging eave of a house in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California. He brought this nest to me at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology. The nest is seemingly unique for this oriole in that it has two approximately equal-sized nest chambers and foundations interwoven side-by-side and suspended by a single group of strands attached to a splinter of the roof beam. The nest, as reported for the Hooded Oriole by many authors, is woven entirely from fibers of the Washington palm (Washingtonia filifera) and is sparsely lined with other plant fibers and down. The unusual nest site has been reported once before by Bent (U.S. Natl. Mus., Bull. 211:228, 1958). Usually the nests are suspended from palm fronds. One compartment of the present specimen contains an egg of the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater obscurus) and otherwise shows no sign of use. The other compartment has a thicker lining and the outer rim flattened and thickly clotted with a mass of dried defecation, indicating that young were raised in it by the orioles. It is thought that the used second nest represents an unusually complete extension of the tendency shown by many birds to make a new nest lining when interfered with by an external agent, such as a parasitic bird's egg. Friedmann (U.S. Natl. Mus., Bull. 233:36, 1963) summarizes the few instances of reported parasitism of the Hooded Oriole by this cowbird. This oriole is not included in his list (ibid, p. 183) of 29 species of birds that have been known to avoid nest parasitism by burying the eggs of the cowbird beneath new nest linings. Among the 29 is the Baltimore Oriole (I. galbula). There are no previously known instances of the duplex construction as a means of circumventing parasitism. Dr. Friedmann (pers. comm.) knows of no other similar cases. I am grateful to Mr. Young for permission to publish this note.

Note on Le Moustier Flints from Acton, West Drayton and Iver

I am exhibiting a number of flakes and implements, which appear to be of Le Moustier date, from Acton on the Taplow Terrace, and West Drayton and Iver on the Boyn Hill Terrace.The Acton specimens are from the immediate vicinity of the working floor discovered by the late Mr. Allen Brown some forty years ago. During recent excavations in Creffield Road, I picked out of the brick-earth, thrown up from a depth of 4 to 6½ feet, seventy humanly struck flints. Forty-six are unpatinated, fresh-looking and unabraded, twenty have a bluey-white patination, amongst which are several with slightly dulled edges, and four are light-ochreous. The freshness of the cortex on several of the unpatinated flints suggests that some of the raw material was derived directly from the chalk. The majority are simple flakes and spalls. The remainder consists of eighteen small Levallois flakes, varying in size from 2 by 1½ to 3½ by 2¼ inches, one small tortoise core, a small flattish core with flaking on one face at right angles to that on the other, a flint pebble which has been used as a hammerstone, one small point and two exceptional pieces. One of these is a fairly typical graver (bee de flûte) with bluey-white patination (Fig. 1); the other may be described as a busked graver, it is made from a thickish external flake and is unpatinated (Fig. 2). A few of the flakes shew slight signs of use.

Research Items

A SURVIVAL OF THE “THAMES PICK.”—Man for September contains a note by Mrs. M. E. Cunnington on a “Thames Pick” found on a ledge or shelf in the chalk side of a pit-dwelling in Casterley Camp, Wilts. The flint is of a pale bluish-grey, the unground sharp nose shows no sign of use, and the whole surface is sharp and rough to the touch as if newly made, as it must have been when buried in the pit. The “Thames Pick ” type of implement is usually held to be of late palæolithic or early neolithic date. In the present instance, however, it is recorded that it was found with three skeletons, two adult and one of a child, and under one of these were the remains of an iron brooch with a spiral spring of La Ttae type, and under the child's skeleton was a second fragment of iron which was possibly the bow of another brooch. Pottery of a poor quality was also found which, taken in conjunction with the flint implement, might have led to an attribution to the Neolithic Age had it not been for the presence of iron. It is, however, clear from this find that implements of this type continued to be manufactured in Britain until well into the Iron Age.

A Flint Factory Site at Little Somborne, Hants

This site lies in the parish of Little Somborne, Hants, to the west of Turnpike Copse and just south of the Stockbridge-Winchester road. The ground rises steeply from the road to form a ridge about 300 O.D. and then gradually sinks towards Fox Heath Copse. Just below the crest of this ridge, the plough brings to the surface many large blocks of flint where a stratum outcrops. These blocks are the raw material from which the tools were made and the picks found were probably used to extract them. Large rough flakes are very numerous. Many of them show trimmed butts. This site extends for about 2 acres, and in this area are found picks, choppers, large cores, hammer stones, anvil stones, borers, end scrapers, and rarely a large horseshoe scraper, but no arrow heads or polished axes. The tools are patinated a blue-white or blue-grey; but the quality of the flint is so bad, there are so many quartz, chertz and calcedonic inclusions, that the patination is often patchy and unequal and sometimes varies in colour in different parts of the same flake scar. There is not much lustre. Iron staining and at times iron incrustation, found chiefly on the aretes, is very marked and there are numerous quicksilver spots of polish. The edges of these tools are sharp and show very little signs of use. What signs there are may be due to accidental damage by the plough.

A Hoard of Samian Ware from Pompeii

During a visit to Naples in June, 1913, I was permitted by the courtesy of Professor Spinazzola, the distinguished Director of the National Museum, to examine a number of decorated bowls of Samian ware obviously of south Gallic style, preserved in the ‘magazzini’ of the museum. Professor Spinazzola most kindly afforded me every facility for their study, and consented to their publication. Seventy-six of these bowls bore, in addition to the inventory-number, the date 1882, and a subsequent reference to three passages in the Notizie degli Scavi made it possible to identify ninety bowls in all as belonging to a group found together at Pompeii. The circumstances of the discovery were as follows: the ninety bowls were found on 4th October, 1881, in the ‘tablinum’ of house 9, insula 5, region viii (ii). They were arranged in order in a wooden box, of which some charred fragments remained, together with thirty-seven earthenware lamps said to have shewn no sign of use. Of these lamps twenty-four bear the stamp STROBILI; six, COMVNIS; four, ECHIO; two, FORTIS; and one is uninscribed. Side by side with this box were found two others, containing red powder, either pounded brick or red earth, the use of which I do not know.

An Achill Island Tumulus

On the southern shore of Achill Island, Co. Mayo, between the cathedral rocks of Menawn and the village of Keel, lies Keel strand, a flat grass-grown plain of blown sand, some few feet above high water mark. Rather nearer to the village of Keel than to the rocks of Menawn the sand is being gradually removed by the wind, leaving a low cliff three to four feet in height facing the sea, the high water mark when I was there in September, 1911, being some three to four hundred yards away from the cliff.A few yards nearer the sea than the cliff, numerous fossil or semi-fossil bones were exposed, almost all, as far as I could tell, being of horse with a few of pig, together with a quantity of shells evidently forming a kitchen midden. A few pebbles amongst the shells showed signs of use as hammer stones. At about the same distance from the sea as the midden, and at a short distance from it, was a low mound of sand and pebbles about 27 feet in diameter, rising about 18 inches above the surrounding sand. In the centre was a boulder standing upon end, but too heavy for me to move, and there were indications that a ring of stones surrounded the mound, but the sand drift made it impossible to ascertain this positively.