Spatio-temporal variations in the diet and stable isotope composition of the Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi Marini, 1933 of the continental shelf of southeastern Brazil

The feeding ecology of Merluccius hubbsi was investigated in 2 regions of SE Brazil. The major food sources for the hakes were fish, crustaceans, and squid. In the upwelling system of Cabo Frio, the diet was very similar in the summers of 2001/2002 and spring 2002; fish were the most important prey followed by crustaceans. In Ubatuba, euphausiids were an important prey during the winter 2001 (100 m), while in the summer 2002, fish and amphipods predominated in the diet in the shallower site (40 m) and squid in the deeper site (100 m). The hakes showed temporal differences in stable isotope signatures in both regions, while C:N ratios varied only in Cabo Frio. delta(15)N and delta(13)C (bulk and corrected for lipid content) increased with fish length, which seems to be related to the increasing importance of fish and decreasing importance of euphausiids and amphipods in the diet of larger hakes. The mean trophic level of 3.7 for M. hubbsi was estimated using delta(15)N of bivalves as baseline and the fractionation of 3.4aEuro degrees between trophic levels.

Programming peculiarities in two cochlear implant users with superficial siderosis of the central nervous system

To report the audiological outcomes of cochlear implantation in two patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss secondary to superficial siderosis of the CNS and discuss some programming peculiarities that were found in these cases. Retrospective review. Data concerning clinical presentation, diagnosis and audiological assessment pre- and post-implantation were collected of two patients with superficial siderosis of the CNS. Both patients showed good hearing thresholds but variable speech perception outcomes. One patient did not achieve open-set speech recognition, but the other achieved 70% speech recognition in quiet. Electrical compound action potentials could not be elicited in either patient. Map parameters showed the need for increased charge. Electrode impedances showed high longitudinal variability. The implants were fairly beneficial in restoring hearing and improving communication abilities although many reprogramming sessions have been required. The hurdle in programming was the need of frequent adjustments due to the physiologic variations in electrical discharges and neural conduction, besides the changes in the impedances. Patients diagnosed with superficial siderosis may achieve limited results in speech perception scores due to both cochlear and retrocochlear reasons. Careful counseling about the results must be given to the patients and their families before the cochlear implantation indication.

Underlying Event measurements in pp collisions at root s=0.9 and 7 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC

We present measurements of Underlying Event observables in pp collisions at root s = 0 : 9 and 7 TeV. The analysis is performed as a function of the highest charged-particle transverse momentum p(T),L-T in the event. Different regions are defined with respect to the azimuthal direction of the leading (highest transverse momentum) track: Toward, Transverse and Away. The Toward and Away regions collect the fragmentation products of the hardest partonic interaction. The Transverse region is expected to be most sensitive to the Underlying Event activity. The study is performed with charged particles above three different p(T) thresholds: 0.15, 0.5 and 1.0 GeV/c. In the Transverse region we observe an increase in the multiplicity of a factor 2-3 between the lower and higher collision energies, depending on the track p(T) threshold considered. Data are compared to PYTHIA 6.4, PYTHIA 8.1 and PHOJET. On average, all models considered underestimate the multiplicity and summed p(T) in the Transverse region by about 10-30%.

Enzyme replacement prevents enamel defects in hypophosphatasia mice

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is the inborn error of metabolism characterized by deficiency of alkaline phosphatase activity, leading to rickets or osteomalacia and to dental defects. HPP occurs from loss-of-function mutations within the gene that encodes the tissue-nonspecific isozyme of alkaline phosphatase (TNAP). TNAP knockout (Alpl-/-, aka Akp2-/-) mice closely phenocopy infantile HPP, including the rickets, vitamin B6-responsive seizures, improper dentin mineralization, and lack of acellular cementum. Here, we report that lack of TNAP in Alpl-/- mice also causes severe enamel defects, which are preventable by enzyme replacement with mineral-targeted TNAP (ENB-0040). Immunohistochemistry was used to map the spatiotemporal expression of TNAP in the tissues of the developing enamel organ of healthy mouse molars and incisors. We found strong, stage-specific expression of TNAP in ameloblasts. In the Alpl-/- mice, histological, mu CT, and scanning electron microscopy analysis showed reduced mineralization and disrupted organization of the rods and inter-rod structures in enamel of both the molars and incisors. All of these abnormalities were prevented in mice receiving from birth daily subcutaneous injections of mineral-targeting, human TNAP at 8.2?mg/kg/day for up to 44 days. These data reveal an important role for TNAP in enamel mineralization and demonstrate the efficacy of mineral-targeted TNAP to prevent enamel defects in HPP. (C) 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Costs and benefits of temporary brood desertion in a Neotropical harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones)

Brood desertion is a life history strategy that allows parents to minimize costs related to parental care and increase their future fecundity. The harvestman Neosadocus maximus is an interesting model organism to study costs and benefits of temporary brood desertion because females abandon their clutches periodically and keep adding eggs to their clutches for some weeks. In this study, we tested if temporary brood desertion (a) imposes a cost to caring females by increasing the risk of egg predation and (b) offers a benefit to caring females by increasing fecundity as a result of increased foraging opportunities. With intensive field observations followed by a model selection approach, we showed that the proportion of consumed eggs was very low during the day and it was not influenced by the frequency of brood desertion. The proportion of consumed eggs was higher at night and it was negatively related to the frequency of brood desertion. However, frequent brood desertion did not result in higher fecundity, measured both as the number of eggs added to the current clutch and the probability of laying a second clutch over the course of the reproductive season. Considering that harvestmen are sensitive to dehydration, brood desertion during the day may attenuate the physiological stress of remaining exposed on the vegetation. Moreover, since brood desertion is higher during the day, when egg predation pressure is lower, caring females could be adjusting their maternal effort to the temporal variation in predation risk, which is regarded as the main cost of brood desertion in ectotherms.

MOOGLE: a metamodel-based model search engine

Models are becoming increasingly important in the software development process. As a consequence, the number of models being used is increasing, and so is the need for efficient mechanisms to search them. Various existing search engines could be used for this purpose, but they lack features to properly search models, mainly because they are strongly focused on text-based search. This paper presents Moogle, a model search engine that uses metamodeling information to create richer search indexes and to allow more complex queries to be performed. The paper also presents the results of an evaluation of Moogle, which showed that the metamodel information improves the accuracy of the search.

Measurement of prompt J/psi and beauty hadron production cross sections at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

The ALICE experiment at the LHC has studied J/psi production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV through its electron pair decay on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity L-int = 5.6 nb(-1). The fraction of J/psi from the decay of long-lived beauty hadrons was determined for J/psi candidates with transverse momentum p(t) > 1,3 GeV/c and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9. The cross section for prompt J/psi mesons, i.e. directly produced J/psi and prompt decays of heavier charmonium states such as the psi(2S) and chi(c) resonances, is sigma(prompt J/psi) (p(t) > 1.3 GeV/c, vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9) = 8.3 +/- 0.8(stat.) +/- 1.1 (syst.)(-1.4)(+1.5) (syst. pol.) mu b. The cross section for the production of b-hadrons decaying to J/psi with p(t) > 1.3 GeV/c and vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9 is a sigma(J/psi <- hB) (p(t) > 1.3 GeV/c, vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9) = 1.46 +/- 0.38 (stat.)(-0.32)(+0.26) (syst.) mu b. The results are compared to QCD model predictions. The shape of the p(t) and y distributions of b-quarks predicted by perturbative QCD model calculations are used to extrapolate the measured cross section to derive the b (b) over bar pair total cross section and d sigma/dy at mid-rapidity.