Serial learning with wild card items by monkeys (Cebus apella): Implications for knowledge of ordinal position.

We investigated monkeys' knowledge of the ordinal positions of stimuli that formed a 5-item serial list, {abcde}, with wild card items ({w}) that could substitute for items in the original series. In Experiment 1, training with wild cards was given on 3-, 4-, and 5-item series. In the last of these series, the wild card substitutions created five wild card sequences, {wbcde} through {abcdw}. During the final 10 sessions of training with each of 2 different wild cards (Items {x} and {y}), the 3 Ss were able to successfully complete almost 60% of the wild card sequences. In Experiment 2, the 2 wild cards were presented on the same trial in 10 different double wild card sequences (e.g., {axcdy}). The 2 monkey Ss correctly completed about 59% of the double wild card sequences during the final 2 training sessions. The performance levels achieved on single and on double wild card sequences, although well below that observed on the baseline sequence {abcde} (90% or better), support the view that the monkeys possessed some knowledge regarding the ordinal position of each baseline item. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of ATP-induced catecholamine secretion from adrenal chromaffin cells of the guinea-pig

Two species of Echinochloa millets and their direct wild ancestor species were analyzed for proximate composition, and amino acid, calcium, and iron content. Additionally, lactate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was performed to separate and resolve prolamin polypeptide present in the wild and domesticated species. The protein, calcium, and iron content of the four species were comparable to or greater than in other major cereals. Calcium was higher in each of the wild species than their domesticated counterpart. Essential amino acid values for the three species analyzed were generally higher than the FAO/WHO standards, except for lysine. Densitometric analysis of lactate PAGE gels revealed that the domesticated species contained prolamin, polypeptides that were either absent or present in smaller amounts in the wild species. The results indicate a wide variation in the content of examined nutrients and suggest that there is opportunity for improvement in the nutritional value of the Echinochloa millets via selective crossbreeding of wild and domesticated species.     

The European mouflon, Ovis musimon

Until a couple of decades ago, the European mouflon found on the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Cyprus was considered an independent wild species and last representative of the European wild sheep. However, recent research has shown that there have not been wild sheep in Europe since the late Pleistocene. Archeological investigation in Corsica has shown that the mouflon is not a wild sheep but a primitive domestic sheep brought to the islands by farmers from the Near East and which then became wild (feral).     

The results of treating periapical periodontitis with ultraviolet irradiation of the root canal and the use of gentamycin

A serological and immunohistochemical study of African swine fever was carried out in wild boar killed in seven municipalities in the north of the province of Córdoba during two hunting seasons (1991-92 and 1992-93), when the area was affected by the disease. Fourteen of 147 wild boar analysed by ELISA and immunoblotting had antibodies to African swine fever virus. The immunohistochemical study revealed that four cases (two seropositive and two seronegative) showed immunoreactivity to the anti-VP73 monoclonal antibody. Two of the VP73+ wild boar had severe generalised haemorrhages consistent with the acute from of the disease, and another had lesions consistent with subacute African swine fever, but none of the remaining 144 animals had gross or microscopic changes suggestive of the disease. These results indicate that wild boar can suffer from African swine fever without showing clinical signs. The disease in wild boar was associated with the disease in domestic pigs. Thus, no African swine fever-positive boar were found either in one municipality with no out-breaks in domestic pigs or in three municipalities with only one outbreak in pigs during the hunting seasons and during the previous year. These results suggest that European wild boar do not play an important role as carriers of the virus of African swine fever.     

Geographic population structure and sequence divergence in the mitochondrial DNA control region of the Japanese wild boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax), with reference to those of domestic pigs

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control regions from 40 Japanese wild boars were examined by direct sequencing after amplification by PCR. From the DNA sequences obtained, we found eight haplotypes, whose differences arose via transitions. The geographical distribution of these different haplotypes indicated that wild boar populations inhabited limited areas and that there was some restricted gene flow between local populations. Eight mtDNA haplotypes from Eastern and Western domestic pigs and the Ryukyu wild boar were also analyzed as references to those from Japanese wild boars. The cluster analyses of the control-region sequences showed that those from Japanese wild boars belong to the Asian type as do those from Eastern domestic pigs and the Ryukyu wild boar, which differed from the European type (Western domestic pigs).     

Perspectives on the diagnosis, epizootiology, and control of the 1973 duck plague epizootic in wild waterfowl at Lake Andes, South Dakota

An epizootic of duck plague occurred in early 1973 in a population of 163,500 wild waterfowl, primarily mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), wintering on Lake Andes and the nearby Missouri River in southeastern South Dakota (USA). The diagnosis was based on pathologic lesions and confirmed by virus isolation. Control measures included quarantine, attempts to reduce virus contamination of the area, dispersal of waterfowl, and monitoring of wild waterfowl populations for mortality. The epizootic resulted in documented mortality of 18% and estimated mortality of 26% of the waterfowl at risk. Prompt implementation of control measures might have limited mortality to approximately 8%. Losses during the epizootic were equivalent to 0.12% of the annual mortality in the North American 1996 fall population of 80,000,000 wild ducks. The most likely sources of the infection were free-flying wild mallard or American black duck (Anas rubripes) carriers from the upper midwestern or northeastern United States. Duck plague serum neutralization antibodies were demonstrated in 31% of 395 apparently healthy mallards sampled prior to dispersal of the flock at Lake Andes, suggesting that tens of thousands of potential duck plague carriers entered the wild waterfowl populations of all four major flyways. Consequently, the absence of major epizootics of duck plague in wild waterfowl in the subsequent two decades is evidence that substantial numbers of duck plague carriers can occur in wild waterfowl populations without resulting in epizootic mortalities. The failure to isolate duck plague virus from apparently healthy mallards sampled during the epizootic raises questions concerning the validity of conclusions regarding the status of duck plague in wild waterfowl based upon negative results of random surveys conducted in the absence of epizootics.     

Mechanics of caloric stimulation in a case with a plug in the horizontal semicircular canal

Cytochrome P-450cam hydroxylates d-camphor, using molecular oxygen and reducing equivalents transferred via putidaredoxin. We constructed mutant genes in which Phe-350 of P-450cam was replaced by Leu, Tyr, or His by site-directed mutagenesis, expressed them in Escherichia coli, purified the mutant proteins, and compared their enzymic properties with those of the wild type P-450cam. NADH oxidation rate of the Tyr mutant in the reconstituted system with putidaredoxin and putidaredoxin reductase was similar to that of the wild type enzyme, while the Leu mutant and the His mutant showed 67% and 17% activity of that of the wild type, respectively. The affinities of these mutant proteins for camphor and the oxidized form of putidaredoxin were much the same as those of the wild type protein. Rate constants for the reduction reaction of P-450cam by reduced putidaredoxin, a physiological electron donor for P-450cam, of Tyr and His mutants were much the same as that of the wild type enzyme, whereas the Leu mutant showed approx. half that of the wild type. Thus, the aromatic ring of Phe-350 of P-450cam probably contributes to enhancing efficiency of the electron transfer yet does not seem to be essential for the reaction.     

The immunomodulatory activity of peptides related to the DNA contacting loop of p53 protein

Taking into account the sequence homology existing between thymopoietin II and the DNA-binding domain of p53 protein, a series of octapeptides was synthesized, related to the wild p53 type protein as well as to its mutated forms, appearing in some human tumours. The wild type octapeptide has immunostimulative activity with regard to the humoral immune response, but is inactive in the cellular immune response. The mutated peptides of p53 differ in their immunomodulatory activity from the wild type octapeptide. The Ser5 analogue of the wild peptide is a strong stimulant of the humoral immune response and enhances TNF-alpha production, while at the same time suppressing the cellular immune response. The data suggest that the mutations of p53, which favour tumour development and growth, may also change the immune activity of respective p53 fragments.     

Rats, Man . . .

Comments on the article by Richter entitled "Rats, Man, and the Welfare State" (see record 1960-02810-001). The commenter notes that in his article Richter did not indicate how hereditary and environmental factors were controlled. In comparing the hereditary survival characteristics of wild versus domesticated rats, it would be essential that the environmental influences on the survival characteristics of the wild rats should be ruled out. Another factor to be considered is that the wild state may offer a diet and other environmental influences, which in the life of a single individual would produce organic changes, accounting for some of the differences between wild and domestic rats. It would seem that the most effective way to determine the hereditary differences between wild and domestic rats would be to create a wild group, composed solely of the offspring of wild rats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The case of the salad shooters: intravenous injection of wild lettuce extract

Three young adult drug users obtained wild lettuce and valerian root, prepared a crude aqueous extract of the wild lettuce, and injected the extract i.v. One also injected an alcohol extract of the valerian root. All 3 rapidly became ill with fevers, chills, abdominal pain, flank and back pain, neck stiffness, headache, leucocytosis and mild liver function abnormalities, but recovered over the next 3 d. Various literature and internet sources claim that wild lettuce has opiate properties not demonstrated in this case.     

Kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of mutant type II DNA topoisomerases that cannot covalently cleave DNA

DNA topoisomerase II catalyzes two different chemical reactions as part of its DNA transport cycle: ATP hydrolysis and DNA breakage/religation. The coordination between these reactions was studied using mutants of yeast topoisomerase II that are unable to covalently cleave DNA. In the absence of DNA, the ATPase activities of these mutant enzymes are identical to the wild type activity. DNA binding stimulates the ATPase activity of the mutant enzymes, but with steady-state parameters different from those of the wild type enzyme. These differences were examined through DNA binding experiments and pre-steady-state ATPase assays. One mutant protein, Y782F, binds DNA with the same affinity as wild type protein. This mutant topologically traps one DNA circle in the presence of a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog under the same conditions that the wild type protein catenates two circles. Rapid chemical quench and pulse-chase ATPase experiments reveal that the mutant proteins bound to DNA have the same sequential hydrolysis reaction cycle as the wild type enzyme. Binding of ATP to the mutants is not notably impaired, but hydrolysis of the first ATP is slower than for the wild type enzyme. Models to explain these results in the context of the entire DNA topoisomerase II reaction cycle are discussed.     

Defensive behaviors of laboratory and wild Rattus norvegicus..

Examined in 2 studies, with 29 wild rats, 15 Long-Evans laboratory rats, and 11 1st-generation offspring from 3 sets of wild-trapped parents, the defensive repertoire of wild rats in a variety of situations and compared these behaviors with those of domestic rats under identical conditions. Analysis of the defensive behaviors of wild rats to an inescapable approaching threat stimulus (the experimenter) indicated a pattern of freezing to distant stimuli, giving way to vocalization, jumps, and jump attacks at shorter defensive distances. Comparisons of the defensive reactions of wild-trapped and laboratory-bred wild rats to a variety of threatening stimuli, in escapable and inescapable situations, indicated that the 2 wild strains were similar and consistently more defensive than laboratory rats to both human and conspecific threat stimuli. Results suggest that the defensive behaviors of rats have been substantially reduced during the process of domestication, with relatively little of this reduction being attributable to housing in standard laboratory conditions. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of domestication on production and perception of mallard maternal alarm calls: Developmental lag in behavioral arousal.

Conducted field and laboratory studies to assess the effects of intense genetic selection on the production and perception of the maternal alarm calls of 150 domestic (Peking) and 120 wild mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). With respect to production, the calls of wild and domestic Ss were comparable on 4 acoustic features and differed only slightly on 2 features. With respect to perception, the calls of wild and domestic hens were equally effective in promoting behavioral inhibition in wild and domestic ducklings. Although data reveal little or no effect of domestication on maternal alarm call, an unexpected effect was found regarding the domestic ducklings' behavior. Peking Ss showed a greater level of behavioral inhibition than mallards at 24 hrs of age. Further experiments indicated that the differential level of inhibition in the wild and domestic birds reflects a developmental lag in arousal consequent to domestication: 72-hr-old Peking ducklings were behaviorally more aroused than 24-hr-old Peking ducklings and were similar to 24-hr-old mallard ducklings in that respect. This appears to be the first demonstration of behavioral heterochrony, which is believed to be an important mechanism of behavioral evolution. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Morphological differentiation and nitrogen fixation in transposon generated mutants of Anabaena 7120

Mutants having partially repressed glutamine sythetase (transferase) activity and high nitrogenase activity were isolated following transposon mutagenesis. Two of these mutants M11 and M73 showed a decrease in heterocyst frequency compared with the wild type strain. The level of the enzyme nitrogenase was much higher in all the mutant strains. Nitrate and ammonia completely suppressed heterocyst differentiation and nitrogenase activity in mutants M11 and M73, but mutant M55 differentiated heterocysts and showed nitrogenase activity even in the presence of these combined inorganic nitrogen sources. Heterocyst frequency in the M55 mutant was much more than that of the wild strain. Glutamine as a nitrogen source completely suppressed differentiation of heterocysts as well as nitrogenase activity, irrespective of the presence or absence of the glutamate analogue MSX which relieved the inhibitory effect of nitrate or ammonia on heterocyst differentiation and nitrogenase activity. The level of the intracellular ammonium pool was maximal in the wild strain in all the nitrogen sources used for growth. Cultures raised with ammonium chloride gave maximum values for intracellular ammonium pool in all the mutant strains and the wild strain. Mutants showed about 55 to 60% less GS (transferase) activity than the wild strain.     

Biochemical polymorphisms in wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) captured in Oita city, Japan

The investigation of biochemical markers in wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) is thought to be useful in the efficient establishment of inbred strains with a wide range of genetic variability of wild rats. In this study, 21 marker proteins were analyzed by electrophoresis in nine wild rats captured in Oita city. It was found that eleven marker samples in six animals were heterogeneous. We further found that the investigated wild rat population possessed the interesting polymorphisms of esterase-4 (ES-4) with high frequency, which are very rare in laboratory rats.     

Antigenic and molecular characterization of wild type 1 poliovirus causing outbreaks of poliomyelitis in Albania and neighboring countries in 1996

Mass vaccination has led poliomyelitis to become a rare disease in a large part of the world, including Western Europe. However, in the past 20 years wild polioviruses imported from countries where polio is endemic have been responsible for outbreaks in otherwise polio-free European countries. We report on the characterization of poliovirus isolates from a large outbreak of poliomyelitis that occurred in Albania in 1996 and that also spread to the neighboring countries of Yugoslavia and Greece. The epidemics involved 145 subjects, mostly young adults, and caused persisting paralysis in 87 individuals and 16 deaths. The agent responsible for the outbreak was isolated from 74 patients and was identified as wild type 1 poliovirus by both immunological and molecular methods. Sequence analysis of the genome demonstrated the involvement of a single virus strain throughout the epidemics, and genotyping analysis showed 95% homology of the strain with a wild type 1 poliovirus strain isolated in Pakistan in 1995. Neutralization assays with both human sera and monoclonal antibodies were performed to analyze the antigenic structure of the epidemic strain, suggesting its peculiar antigenic characteristics. The presented data underline the current risks of outbreaks due to imported wild poliovirus and emphasize the need to improve vaccination efforts and also the need to implement surveillance in countries free of indigenous wild poliovirus.     

Polymorphism of transferrin found in the laboratory rat and wild rats in Japan

Polymorphism of the transferrin locus (Tf) was found in the laboratory rat and wild rats in Japan by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two phenotypes, "a" and "b," were distinguished in homozygotes. It is suggested that these are controlled by autosomal codominant alleles. In 10 laboratory strains, only the IS strain showed the a type. This allele found in the IS strain was broadly distributed in Japanese wild rats. It is considered to be derived from a wild rat in Japan. Linkage relationship between Tf and Alp-1 was not established.     

Detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in wild mammals of mainland Britain

This paper combines the results from a preliminary survey of occurrence of Cryptosporidium species in faecal samples from a range of wild mammal species inhabiting mainland Britain with a tabulated literature review of world-wide reports of the parasite in those British mammals. In the literature, C. parvum was reported from 11 wild mammals found in Britain and elsewhere, mainly in rodents but also in insectivores, lagomorphs and ungulates. C. muris has been reported only in wild rodents. The sample survey detected C. parvum in seven additional British species, including carnivores. Overall, 12% of 184 faecal samples tested with a genus-specific monoclonal antibody contained oocysts of C. parvum. The results further emphasise the widespread distribution of Cryptosporidium amongst wild mammals in Britain, highlight the potential for transmission between host species and warn of the possibility of direct exposure for anybody using the countryside for professional or recreational purposes (e.g. farmers and ramblers) to previously unregarded sources of infection. It seems increasingly likely that most, if not all, mammalian species can be infected with C. parvum.     

Man's strategy in domestication - a synthesis of new research trends

The minimum brain size possible in the relevant wild species and certain colour types which, because of alterations in the neurotransmitter system caused by the respective colour genes, are related to behavioural traits diverging from the wild animals norm appear to be first-rate bases for domestication either separately or in combination.