Bearded capuchin monkeys` and a human`s efficiency at cracking palm nuts with stone tools: field experiments

Wild bearded capuchins, Cebus libidinosus, in Fazenda Boa Vista, Brazil crack tough palm nuts using hammer stones. We analysed the contribution of intrinsic factors (body weight, behaviour), size of the nuts and the anvil surface (flat or pit) to the efficiency of cracking. We provided capuchins with local palm nuts and a single hammer stone at an anvil. From video we scored the capuchins` position and actions with the nut prior to each strike, and outcomes of each strike. The most efficient capuchin opened 15 nuts per 100 strikes (6.6 strikes per nut). The least efficient capuchin that succeeded in opening a nut opened 1.32 nuts per 100 strikes (more than 75 strikes per nut). Body weight and diameter of the nut best predicted whether a capuchin would crack a nut on a given strike. All the capuchins consistently placed nuts into pits. To provide an independent analysis of the effect of placing the nut into a pit, we filmed an adult human cracking nuts on the same anvil using the same stone. The human displaced the nut on proportionally fewer strikes when he placed it into a pit rather than on a flat surface. Thus the capuchins placed the nut in a more effective location on the anvil to crack it. Nut cracking as practised by bearded capuchins is a striking example of a plastic behaviour where costs and benefits vary enormously across individuals, and where efficiency requires years to attain. (C) 2009 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Enhanced Tool-Kit of Two Groups of Wild Bearded Capuchin Monkeys in the Caatinga: Tool Making, Associative Use, and Secondary Tools

The use of stones to crack open encapsulated fruit is widespread among wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) inhabiting savanna-like environments. Some populations in Serra da Capivara National Park (Piaui, Brazil), though, exhibit a seemingly broader toolkit, using wooden sticks as probes, and employing stone tools for a variety of purposes. Over the course of 701.5 hr of visual contact of two wild capuchin groups we recorded 677 tool use episodes. Five hundred and seventeen of these involved the use of stones, and 160 involved the use of sticks (or other plant parts) as probes to access water, arthropods, or the contents of insects` nests. Stones were mostly used as ""hammers""-not only to open fruit or seeds, or smash other food items, but also to break dead wood, conglomerate rock, or cement in search of arthropods, to dislodge bigger stones, and to pulverize embedded quartz pebbles (licking, sniffing, or rubbing the body with the powder produced). Stones also were used in a ""hammer-like"" fashion to loosen the soil for digging out roots and arthropods, and sometimes as ""hoes"" to pull the loosened soil. In a few cases, we observed the re-utilization of stone tools for different purposes (N = 3), or the combined use of two tools-stones and sticks (N = 4) or two stones (N = 5), as sequential or associative tools. On three occasions, the monkeys used smaller stones to loosen bigger quartz pebbles embedded in conglomerate rock, which were subsequently used as tools. These could be considered the first reports of secondary tool use by wild capuchin monkeys. Am. J. Primatol. 71:242-251, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Selection of Effective Stone Tools by Wild Bearded Capuchin Monkeys

Appreciation of objects` affordances and planning is a hallmark of human technology. Archeological evidence suggests that Pliocene hominins selected raw material for tool making [1, 2]. Stone pounding has been considered a precursor to tool making [3, 4], and tool use by living primates provides insight into the origins of material selection by human ancestors. No study has experimentally investigated selectivity of stone tools in wild animals, although chimpanzees appear to select stones according to properties of different nut species [5, 6]. We recently discovered that wild capuchins with terrestrial habits [7] use hammers to crack open nuts on anvils [8-10]. As for chimpanzees, examination of anvil sites suggests stone selectivity [11], but indirect evidence cannot prove it. Here, we demonstrate that capuchins, which last shared a common ancestor with humans 35 million years ago, faced with stones differing in functional features (friability and weight) choose, transport, and use the effective stone to crack nuts. Moreover, when weight cannot be judged by visual attributes, capuchins act to gain information to guide their selection. Thus, planning actions and intentional selection of tools is within the ken of monkeys and similar to the tool activities of hominins and apes.

A Logical Descriptor for Regular Languages via Stone Duality

In this paper we introduce a class of descriptors for regular languages arising from an application of the Stone duality between finite Boolean algebras and finite sets. These descriptors, called classical fortresses, are object specified in classical propositional logic and capable to accept exactly regular languages. To prove this, we show that the languages accepted by classical fortresses and deterministic finite automata coincide. Classical fortresses, besides being propositional descriptors for regular languages, also turn out to be an efficient tool for providing alternative and intuitive proofs for the closure properties of regular languages.

Palabra y construcción de la identidad en Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

En Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, texto inaugural del ciclo novelístico de J. K. Rowling, aparecen diversos elementos y situaciones que inscriben el relato dentro del género bildungsroman (o novela de formación) y que a su vez son constitutivos del monomito estudiado por Joseph Campbell. Dentro de ese marco, el presente trabajo analizará la función que desempeña la palabra en el desarrollo del protagonista de la novela. Se sostendrá que la adquisición y el dominio pleno de una palabra permiten construir la subjetividad del personaje, quien valiéndose de esta herramienta se volverá capaz de disipar sus inquietudes frente a lo desconocido y al peso de la voz popular. El estudio se centrará en el nombre del antagonista, Lord Voldemort, su influencia en la saga y en cuán importante es que Harry sea capaz de nombrarlo por ese apelativo. Para este abordaje se utilizarán algunos conceptos de diversas disciplinas que nos permitirán advertir la injerencia de la palabra en la novela seminal de esta serie literaria y en el tránsito del personaje por la compleja senda del héroe

Palabra y construcción de la identidad en Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

En Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, texto inaugural del ciclo novelístico de J. K. Rowling, aparecen diversos elementos y situaciones que inscriben el relato dentro del género bildungsroman (o novela de formación) y que a su vez son constitutivos del monomito estudiado por Joseph Campbell. Dentro de ese marco, el presente trabajo analizará la función que desempeña la palabra en el desarrollo del protagonista de la novela. Se sostendrá que la adquisición y el dominio pleno de una palabra permiten construir la subjetividad del personaje, quien valiéndose de esta herramienta se volverá capaz de disipar sus inquietudes frente a lo desconocido y al peso de la voz popular. El estudio se centrará en el nombre del antagonista, Lord Voldemort, su influencia en la saga y en cuán importante es que Harry sea capaz de nombrarlo por ese apelativo. Para este abordaje se utilizarán algunos conceptos de diversas disciplinas que nos permitirán advertir la injerencia de la palabra en la novela seminal de esta serie literaria y en el tránsito del personaje por la compleja senda del héroe

Palabra y construcción de la identidad en Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

En Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, texto inaugural del ciclo novelístico de J. K. Rowling, aparecen diversos elementos y situaciones que inscriben el relato dentro del género bildungsroman (o novela de formación) y que a su vez son constitutivos del monomito estudiado por Joseph Campbell. Dentro de ese marco, el presente trabajo analizará la función que desempeña la palabra en el desarrollo del protagonista de la novela. Se sostendrá que la adquisición y el dominio pleno de una palabra permiten construir la subjetividad del personaje, quien valiéndose de esta herramienta se volverá capaz de disipar sus inquietudes frente a lo desconocido y al peso de la voz popular. El estudio se centrará en el nombre del antagonista, Lord Voldemort, su influencia en la saga y en cuán importante es que Harry sea capaz de nombrarlo por ese apelativo. Para este abordaje se utilizarán algunos conceptos de diversas disciplinas que nos permitirán advertir la injerencia de la palabra en la novela seminal de esta serie literaria y en el tránsito del personaje por la compleja senda del héroe

Digital image processing techniques as a tool for evaluating and mapping patinas on granite monuments

Monument conservation is related to the interaction between the original petrological parameters of the rock and external factors in the area where the building is sited, such as weather conditions, pollution, and so on. Depending on the environmental conditions and the characteristics of the materials used, different types of weathering predominate. In all, the appearance of surface crusts constitutes a first stage, whose origin can often be traced to the properties of the material itself. In the present study, different colours of “patinas” were distinguished by defining the threshold levels of greys associated with “pathology” in the histogram. These data were compared to background information and other parameters, such as mineralogical composition, porosity, and so on, as well as other visual signs of deterioration. The result is a map of the pathologies associated with “cover films” on monuments, which generate images by relating colour characteristics to desired properties or zones of interest.

Bruise Simulation in Peach Grading Lines as a tool for designing Improvement Strategies.

The Physical Properties Laboratory (LPF) has been working on the improvement of fruit and vegetable grading lines since 1992'. The experience shows that the improvement of grading lines for decreasing mechanical damages has to be approached from two viewpoints: 1) machinery aggressiveness, and 2) fruit susceptibility. Machinery aggressiveness can be characterized as impact probability for different impact intensities assessed by means of electronic fruits (IS-100) 2,5 . On the other hand, bruise susceptibility can be determined using different laboratory tests. A recent study from LPF4 shows that damage may arise differently in pome and in stone fruits, since: a) pome fruits are mainly stress-susceptible, while stone fruits appear to be more deformation-susceptible, and b) bruise size may be a good predictor for bruise susceptibility in pome fruits while for stone fruits bruise probability is the most relevant characteristic of bruise susceptibility. Also, this study indicates the feasibility of predicting bruise probability using several mechanical and load characterization parameters. Despite the efforts to establish damage thresholds in peachess, no simulation models are currently available for predicting bruise occurrence in grading lines.

Potential misidentification of in situ archaeological tool-residues: starch and conidia

Microscopic identification of organic residues in situ on the surface of archaeological artefacts is an established procedure. Where soil components morphologically similar to use-residue types exist within the soil, however, there remains the possibility that these components may be misidentified as authentic residues. The present study investigates common soil components known as conidia, fungal spores which may be mistaken for starch grains. Conidia may exhibit the rotating extinction cross under cross-polarised light commonly diagnostic of starch, and may be morphologically indistinguishable from small starch grains, particularly at the limits of microscope resolution. Conidia were observed on stone and ceramic archaeological artefacts from Honduras, Palau and New Caledonia, as well as experimental artefacts from Papua New Guinea. The findings act as a caution that in situ analysis of residues, and especially of those less than 5 mu m in size, may be subject to misidentification. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early and mid Holocene tool-use and processing of taro (Colocasia esculenta), yam (Dioscorea sp.) and other plants at Kuk Swamp in the highlands of Papua New Guinea

Recent multidisciplinary investigations document an independent emergence of agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. In this paper we report preliminary usewear analysis and details of prehistoric use of stone tools for processing starchy food and other plants at Kuk Swamp. Morphological diagnostics for starch granules are reported for two potentially significant economic species, taro (Colocasia esculenta) and yam (Dioscorea sp.), following comparisons between prehistoric and botanical reference specimens. Usewear and residue analyses of starch granules indicate that both these species were processed on the wetland margin during the early and mid Holocene. We argue that processing of taro and yam commences by at least 10,200 calibrated years before present (cal BP), although the taro and yam starch granules do not permit us to distinguish between wild or cultivated forms. From at least 6950 to 6440 cal BP the processing of taro, yam and other plants indicates that they are likely to have been integrated into cultivation practices on the wetland edge.

A Rosetta Stone For Nature's Benefits To People.

After a long incubation period, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is now underway. Underpinning all its activities is the IPBES Conceptual Framework (CF), a simplified model of the interactions between nature and people. Drawing on the legacy of previous large-scale environmental assessments, the CF goes further in explicitly embracing different disciplines and knowledge systems (including indigenous and local knowledge) in the co-construction of assessments of the state of the world's biodiversity and the benefits it provides to humans. The CF can be thought of as a kind of Rosetta Stone that highlights commonalities between diverse value sets and seeks to facilitate crossdisciplinary and crosscultural understanding. We argue that the CF will contribute to the increasing trend towards interdisciplinarity in understanding and managing the environment. Rather than displacing disciplinary science, however, we believe that the CF will provide new contexts of discovery and policy applications for it.

Sim-xl: A Powerful And User-friendly Tool For Peptide Cross-linking Analysis.

Chemical cross-linking has emerged as a powerful approach for the structural characterization of proteins and protein complexes. However, the correct identification of covalently linked (cross-linked or XL) peptides analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry is still an open challenge. Here we present SIM-XL, a software tool that can analyze data generated through commonly used cross-linkers (e.g., BS3/DSS). Our software introduces a new paradigm for search-space reduction, which ultimately accounts for its increase in speed and sensitivity. Moreover, our search engine is the first to capitalize on reporter ions for selecting tandem mass spectra derived from cross-linked peptides. It also makes available a 2D interaction map and a spectrum-annotation tool unmatched by any of its kind. We show SIM-XL to be more sensitive and faster than a competing tool when analyzing a data set obtained from the human HSP90. The software is freely available for academic use at http://patternlabforproteomics.org/sim-xl. A video demonstrating the tool is available at http://patternlabforproteomics.org/sim-xl/video. SIM-XL is the first tool to support XL data in the mzIdentML format; all data are thus available from the ProteomeXchange consortium (identifier PXD001677).

Accuracy of stone casts obtained by different impression materials

Several impression materials are available in the Brazilian marketplace to be used in oral rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of different impression materials used for fixed partial dentures following the manufacturers' instructions. A master model representing a partially edentulous mandibular right hemi-arch segment whose teeth were prepared to receive full crowns was used. Custom trays were prepared with auto-polymerizing acrylic resin and impressions were performed with a dental surveyor, standardizing the path of insertion and removal of the tray. Alginate and elastomeric materials were used and stone casts were obtained after the impressions. For the silicones, impression techniques were also compared. To determine the impression materials' accuracy, digital photographs of the master model and of the stone casts were taken and the discrepancies between them were measured. The data were subjected to analysis of variance and Duncan's complementary test. Polyether and addition silicone following the single-phase technique were statistically different from alginate, condensation silicone and addition silicone following the double-mix technique (p < .05), presenting smaller discrepancies. However, condensation silicone was similar (p > .05) to alginate and addition silicone following the double-mix technique, but different from polysulfide. The results led to the conclusion that different impression materials and techniques influenced the stone casts' accuracy in a way that polyether, polysulfide and addition silicone following the single-phase technique were more accurate than the other materials.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE): a powerful tool to characterize humic acid (HA)

The present study evaluates the possibility of eliminating the purification steps involved in the characterization of HA by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). The HAs of various sources were analyzed, showing different electropherograms by CZE, which depend on the charge and size of HA. The data suggest that the purification of the sample is not necessary to characterize HAs. Based on the results, CZE showed to be a promising tool to characterize HA of different origins without the purification step of the sample.