Publications by authors named "A M H Macintosh"
Research into mosquito-borne illnesses faces hurdles because feeding fresh animal blood to rear female mosquitoes presents logistical, economic, and safety challenges. In this study, a shelf-stable additive (spray-dried porcine blood; SDPB) hypothesized to supply accessible hemoglobin was evaluated within an alternative meal (AM) containing whey powder and PBS for rearing the yellow fever mosquito . LC-MS/MS proteomics, microbial assays, and particle reduction techniques confirmed and characterized the functionality of hemoglobin in SDPB, while engorgement, fecundity, egg viability, and meal stability bioassays assessed AM performance.
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- Disease outbreaks pose significant risks to great apes and wildlife, and understanding social networks is crucial for predicting how diseases spread among these populations.
- The study focused on wild chimpanzees and explored how individual traits like sex and age influence their social connections and role in disease transmission.
- Results revealed that older males are more socially central, which affects their likelihood of infection, especially for highly transmissible pathogens with longer infectious periods, emphasizing the need to consider social dynamics in disease outbreak research.
Objectives: Situational Judgement Tests (SJT) are a cost-efficient method for the assessment of personal characteristics (e.g., empathy, professionalism, ethical thinking) in medical school admission.
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- Maternal behavior in primates shows significant variation and influences the behaviors of their immature offspring, but the extent of this impact is still not fully understood.
- In a study of Japanese macaques, researchers found that juveniles with mothers who frequently rejected them were more likely to engage with peers, even when mothers were absent, indicating a lasting effect of maternal rejection.
- Conversely, juveniles with more protective mothers tended to play less and interact less with others, but this influence seemed to diminish when the mother was not nearby, suggesting different dynamics between maternal rejection and protectiveness.
Article Synopsis
- - The study examines how colobus monkeys (Colobus vellerosus) adapt their behaviors regarding intergroup aggression as their population grows, focusing on who contributes to public goods like food defense and home range security.
- - Both male and female monkeys engage in group encounters to defend food resources; however, females participate more as the competition increases, highlighting their role in home range defense.
- - Despite females taking more initiative in defending social and resource stability, males still play a significant role in intergroup interactions, suggesting they might not be able to contribute more due to limited resources or time.