888 research outputs found
A role for nonapeptides and dopamine in nest-building behaviour
Full text linkDuring nest building in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), several regions in the social behaviour network and the dopaminergic reward system, two neural circuits involved in social behaviour, appear to be active in male and female nest-building finches. As the nonapeptides mesotocin and vasotocin, and the neurotransmitter dopamine, play important roles in avian social behaviour, we tested the hypothesis that mesotocinergic-vasotocinergic and dopaminergic neuronal populations in the social behaviour network and dopaminergic reward system, respectively, are active during nest building. We combined immunohistochemistry for Fos (an indirect marker of neuronal activity) and arginine vasotocin, mesotocin, or tyrosine hydroxylase on brain tissue from nest-building and non-nest-building male and female zebra finches and compared Fos immunoreactivity in these neuronal populations with the variation in nest-building behaviour. Fos immunoreactivity in all three types of neuronal populations increased with some aspect of nest building: (1) higher immunoreactivity in a mesotocinergic neuronal population of nest-building finches compared to controls; (2) increased immunoreactivity in the vasotocinergic neuronal populations the more material picked up by nest-building males and the more time a male spent in the nest with his mate, and (3) increased immunoreactivity in a dopaminergic neuronal population the longer a male nest-building finch spent in the nest with his mate. Together these findings provide evidence for a role of the mesotocinergic-vasotocinergic and dopaminergic systems in avian nest building. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</p
Great Tit Distribution Map All Data
No full textThis excel file contains all the data used in the following paper: "Distribution and abundance of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors throughout the brain of the great tit (Parus major)." by Rebecca A. Senft, Simone L. Meddle and Alexander T. Baugh
The sheets have titles describing their contents. The first is the distribution map for glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor expression in all regions of the brain in one female great tit, color-coded for expression level. The second contains the information for mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid expression in the hippocampus and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus across our population of 25 individual great tits. Tables to the right break this information down by individual bird (instead of by image). The third sheet includes mean expression for the population, as well as some demographic variables
From neurons to nests : nest-building behaviour as a model in behavioural and comparative neuroscience
Full text linkThis work was supported by funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/ I019502/1 to SDH and SLM) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (grant number PGSD3-409582-2011 to ZJH) and Roslin Institute Strategic Grant funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (SLM).Despite centuries of observing the nest building of most extant bird species, we know surprisingly little about how birds build nests and, specifically, how the avian brain controls nest building. Here, we argue that nest building in birds may be a useful model behaviour in which to study how the brain controls behaviour. Specifically, we argue that nest building as a behavioural model provides a unique opportunity to study not only the mechanisms through which the brain controls behaviour within individuals of a single species but also how evolution may have shaped the brain to produce interspecific variation in nestbuilding behaviour. In this review, we outline the questions in both behavioural and comparative neuroscience that nest building could be used to address, summarize recent findings regarding the neurobiology of nest building in labreared zebra finches and across species building different nest structures, and suggest some future directions for the neurobiology of nest building.Peer reviewe
Modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of an Arctic-breeding polygynandrous songbird, the Smith's longspur, Calcarius pictus
No full textTo successfully reproduce in the Arctic, birds must modulate their neuroendocrine and behavioural systems. These adjustments include an attenuation of the stress responsiveness of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to external stimuli and a behavioural insensitivity to high corticosterone (B) levels. The HPA axis was examined in free-living territorial polygynandrous Smith's longspurs (Calcarius pictus) that migrate to breed on the Arctic tundra. Basal and stress-induced B levels were measured through the breeding season and were found to be significantly lower in females compared with males. This was not a consequence of adrenal insensitivity, because intrajugular injections of adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH) enhanced B release in incubating females. In males the adrenocortical response to stress was significantly attenuated during the parental phase compared with arrival at the breeding ground. In contrast to temperate passerines, there was no significant decrease in male territorial aggressive behaviour when B was experimentally elevated, suggesting a behavioural insensitivity to glucocorticoids. This mechanism is hypothesized to increase reproductive success by preventing interruptions to parental care during transient deleterious environmental perturbations, which are often experienced in the short Arctic breeding season. Modulation of the HPA axis in this species in relation to life-history stage, lifetime reproductive success and the polygynandrous mating system is discussed
Microlinices benthovus Simone 2014
No full textbenthovus, Microlinices Simone, 2014 Microlinices benthovus Simone, 2014: 575–578 (figs 6A–J, 7A–H, 11A–C). Gastropoda, Naticidae Paratypes (22 spc): MZSP 105269. Paratypes 1 (15 spc): MZSP 105270. Paratypes 2 (16 spc): MZSP 105271. Paratypes 3 (7 spc): MZSP 105272. Localities: Brazil, Espírito Santo, off Itaúnas, Abrolhos Slope, 18°59' S, 37°50' W, MD55 sta. DC 73, 637 m depth, 27 May 1987; 1) 19°00' S, 37°48' W, MD55 sta. DC72, 950– 1050 m, 27 May 1987; 2) off Regência, 19°40' S, 37°48' W, MD55 sta. CB77, 790– 940 m depth, 27 May 1987; 3) off Itaúnas, Abrolhos Slope, 19°01' S, 37°47' W, MD55 sta. CB79, 1500–1575 m depth, 28 May 1987. Collectors: P. Bouchet, J.H. Leal and B. Métivier. Preservation: Dry. Remarks: Former MNHN, Paris. The catalogue number MZSP 105250 is mentioned twice in Simone’s (2014) paper, among the paratypes of M. ibitingus Simone, 2014 and M. benthovus. This duplicity was a mistake by the author: the latter is an erroneous designation and should be disregarded. The only valid paratype lots for M. benthovus are the ones shown above.Published as part of Cavallari, Daniel C., Dornellas, Ana Paula S. & Simone, Luiz Ricardo L., 2016, Second annotated list of type specimens of molluscs deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, pp. 1-59 in European Journal of Taxonomy 213 on page 10, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2016.213, http://zenodo.org/record/384012
Problematiche dell’indotto Fiat di Cassino: proposte per la valorizzazione delle PMI e il rilancio del territorio. Un modello di intervento per rilanciare il sistema
No full textGATTI M., GATTI C., PROIETTI L., SIMONE C., Problematiche dell’indotto Fiat di Cassino: proposte per la valorizzazione delle PMI e il rilancio del territorio. Un modello di intervento per rilanciare il sistema produttivo di Cassino, Bic Notes – Quaderni di Bic Lazio, Numero Speciale, 2006, 9-152
Volume senza attribuzioni ai singoli AutoriM. CATS, CATS C., L. Proietti, SIMONE C. Issues industries Fiat Cassino: proposals for the development of SMEs and the revitalization of the area. A model of intervention to revive the productive system of Cassino, Bic Notes - Papers Bic Lazio, Special Issue, 2006 9-152 Volume without attribution to individual author
A comparative study of form and theology in the works of Flannery O'Connor and Simone Weil
Full text linkIn this comparative study of the form and theology of Flannery O'Connor and Simone Weil I interrogate how Weil's philosophical writings and her theology illuminate O'Connor's use of both narrative and non-fictional forms, and her Catholicism. The Introduction analyses how Weil's concept of superposed reading provides a new method of approaching both O'Connor, her writings, and O'Connor
studies, and focuses on how such apparently different women interconnect. Chapter One explores how both Weil and O'Connor attempt to write their theologies on the
souls of their readers yet are each subject to constraints imposed by form. Weil's concept of locating equilibrium between incommensurates is discussed, and her
distinctively philosophical approach to fictions and fictionality is used to investigate O'Connor's notion of prophetic fictions and the writer's role. Chapter Two assesses how both writers revivify Christian paradoxes. Weil's monstrous concept of affiiction, and O'Connor's use of the grotesque genre to jolt secular man into an
awareness of the sacred are scrutinised. Chapter Three studies how both writers consider an encounter between God and man is possible through the action of grace. My Conclusion interrogates how Weil's work can deepen our understanding of O'Connor's writings, and examines how successful O'Connor is at realising a truly
Christian literature. I conclude that despite being a writer of powerful fictions, O'Connor can not be totally successful in her mission as writer-prophet because
ultimately fiction escapes orthodoxy
Mounting behaviour in finishing pigs: Stable individual differences are not due to dominance or stage of sexual development
No full textEvery year around 100 million male piglets are castrated in the EU, usually without anaesthesia or post-operative analgesia. This surgical intervention is painful and stressful. Several main players within the pig industry have voluntarily agreed to end the practice of surgical pig castration in the EU by 2018. One alternative to castration is entire male pig production. However, entire males behave differently than castrates, for example, by performing more mounting behaviour, which is suggested to be a welfare problem.
The aim of our study was to develop a comprehensive ethogram of different types of mounting and to investigate properties, causes and consequences of mounting behaviour in finishing pigs.
The study included 80 entire male and 80 female pigs from two farrowing batches born six weeks apart. Mixed sex and single-sex housing of pigs are both common in pig farming, so to ensure our study was representative, the 160 pigs were assigned to social groups of 20 in three treatments: entire male pigs only (MM, 2 groups, n = 40), entire females only (FF, 2 groups, n = 40) and entire males and females mixed together (MF, 4 groups, n = 80). Measurements took place during the final six weeks before slaughter (between 63.5 and 105.5 kg). Observations of mounting behaviour on 12 days per batch suggested that: (i) males mounted more than females, (ii) within sex, there was no effect of treatment on the amount of mounting (although the statistical power of the study to detect these effects was low), and (iii) there were individual differences in mounting that were stable over time (within sex).
Classification of mounting into different categories revealed that sexual mounting was most common overall and in males but only rare in females. Compared to other types of mounting (e.g. caused by crowding or during a fight), sexual mounts lasted longer and provoked more screaming by the recipient. There were no relationships between mounting behaviour on the one hand and dominance rank in food competition tests, the circulating levels of sex hormones (oestradiol, testosterone and progesterone) at the end of the study, the health scores (lameness and scratches) or weight gain on the other hand. The stable individual differences of mounting over time suggest that mounting behaviour is a trait of the individual rather than the appearance of random outbreaks. However, these differences in mounting cannot be explained by dominance behaviour or by differences in sex hormone concentrations that could indicate the onset of puberty.
Mounting behaviour and in particular sexual mounting provoked high pitched screaming of the recipients indicating that mounting is a welfare problem. For the welfare assessment of entire male pig production the performance of mounting behaviour should be considered. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Data from: Distribution and abundance of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors throughout the brain of the great tit Parus major
No full textThe glucocorticoid stress response, regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, enables individuals to cope with stressors through transcriptional effects in cells expressing the appropriate receptors. The two receptors that bind glucocorticoids—the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR)—are present in a variety of vertebrate tissues, but their expression in the brain is especially important. Neural receptor patterns have the potential to integrate multiple behavioral and physiological traits simultaneously, including self-regulation of glucocorticoid secretion through negative feedback processes. In the present work, we quantified the expression of GR and MR mRNA throughout the brain of a female great tit (Parus major), creating a distribution map encompassing 48 regions. This map, the first of its kind for P. major, demonstrated a widespread but not ubiquitous distribution of both receptor types. In the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) and the hippocampus (HP)—the two brain regions that we sampled from a total of 25 birds, we found high GR mRNA expression in the former and, unexpectedly, low MR mRNA in the latter. We examined the covariation of MR and GR levels in these two regions and found a strong, positive relationship between MR in the PVN and MR in the HP and a similar trend for GR across these two regions. This correlation supports the idea that hormone pleiotropy may constrain an individual's behavioral and physiological phenotype. In the female song system, we found moderate GR in hyperstriatum ventrale, pars caudalis (HVC), and moderate MR in robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA). Understanding intra- and interspecific patterns of glucocorticoid receptor expression can inform us about the behavioral processes (e.g. song learning) that may be sensitive to stress and stimulate future hypotheses concerning the relationships between receptor expression, circulating hormone concentrations and performance traits under selection, including behavior.Senft, Rebecca A.; Meddle, Simone L.; Baugh, Alexander T. (2017), Data from: Distribution and abundance of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors throughout the brain of the great tit Parus major, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kh6f
A novel design for an RF MEMS resistive switch on PCB substrate
No full textCopyright @ 2008 Stimulation Action on MEM
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