Microscale Thermophoresis (MST) as a Tool to Study Binding Interactions of Oxygen-Sensitive Biohybrids.

Microscale thermophoresis (MST) is a technique used to measure the strength of molecular interactions. MST is a -based technique that monitors the change in fluorescence associated with the movement of fluorescent-labeled molecules in response to a temperature gradient triggered by an IR LASER. MST has advantages over other approaches for examining molecular interactions, such as isothermal titration calorimetry, nuclear magnetic resonance, biolayer interferometry, and surface plasmon resonance, requiring a small sample size that does not need to be immobilized and a high-sensitivity fluorescence detection.

Lack of reinforcement is hard to "bear": Assessing judgment bias in grizzly bears ().

Cognitive biases reveal underlying affective state by indicating optimism and pessimism. This methodology may permit assessment of positive welfare in animals that have few validated positive welfare indicators, such as bears. Our goal was to validate a judgment bias test for assessing optimism in brown bears, using a touchscreen.

Numerical Investigation of Odor-Guided Navigation in Flying Insects: Impact of Turbulence, Wingbeat-Induced Flow, and Schmidt Number on Odor Plume Structures.

Odor-guided navigation is fundamental to the survival and reproductive success of many flying insects. Despite its biological importance, the mechanics of how insects sense and interpret odor plumes in the presence of complex flow fields remain poorly understood. This study employs numerical simulations to investigate the influence of turbulence, wingbeat-induced flow, and Schmidt number on the structure and perception of odor plumes by flying insects.

Cryo-annealing of Photoreduced CdS Quantum Dot-Nitrogenase MoFe Protein Complexes Reveals the Kinetic Stability of the E(2N2H) Intermediate.

A critical step in the mechanism of N reduction to 2NH catalyzed by the enzyme nitrogenase is the reaction of the four-electron/four-proton reduced intermediate state of the active-site FeMo-cofactor (E(4H)). This state is a junction in the catalytic mechanism, either relaxing by the reaction of a metal bound Fe-hydride with a proton forming H or going forward with N binding coupled to the reductive elimination () of two Fe-hydrides as H to form the E(2N2H) state. E(2N2H) can relax to E(4H) by the oxidative addition () of H and release of N or can be further reduced in a series of catalytic steps to release 2NH.

Differential gene expression of Asian citrus psyllids infected with ' Liberibacter asiaticus' reveals hyper-susceptibility to invasion by instar fourth-fifth and teneral adult stages.

The bacterial pathogen Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) is the causal agent of citrus greening disease. This unusual plant pathogenic bacterium also infects its psyllid host, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). To investigate gene expression profiles with a focus on genes involved in infection and circulation within the psyllid host of CLas, RNA-seq libraries were constructed from CLas-infected and CLas-free ACP representing the five different developmental stages, namely, nymphal instars 1-2, 3, and 4-5, and teneral and mature adults.

Urinary oxytocin and cortisol concentrations vary by group type in male western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in North American zoos.

Evaluating how primates in human care function within their social environment is important for understanding and optimizing their management and welfare. The neuroendocrine hormone oxytocin is associated with affiliation and bonding, suggesting it can be used to evaluate the affiliative nature of social groupings. When paired with cortisol concentrations, social stressors can simultaneously be assessed, providing a more complete picture of primate social environments than if measuring either hormone independently.

A comparison of odor plume-tracking behavior of walking and flying insects in different turbulent environments.

Many animals locate food, mates and territories by following plumes of attractive odors. There are clear differences in the structure of this plume-tracking behavior depending on whether an animal is flying, swimming, walking or crawling. These differences could arise from different control rules used by the central nervous system during these different modes of locomotion or one set of rules interacting with the different environments while walking on the surface versus flying or swimming.

Evaluating changes in salivary oxytocin and cortisol following positive reinforcement training in two adult male western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

Positive reinforcement training (PRT) is associated with increases in species-typical behavior and decreases in stereotypic and abnormal behavior in participating animals. Physiological changes following PRT, for example, increases in oxytocin (OXT) and/or decreases in cortisol (CORT), may facilitate these behavioral changes. This study evaluated salivary OXT and salivary CORT concentrations in two adult male western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) following PRT with their primary animal care staff.

Extracellular ATP Shapes a Defense-Related Transcriptome Both Independently and along with Other Defense Signaling Pathways.

ATP is not only an essential metabolite of cellular biochemistry but also acts as a signal in the extracellular milieu. In plants, extracellular ATP is monitored by the purinergic receptor P2K1. Recent studies have revealed that extracellular ATP acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern in plants, and its signaling through P2K1 is important for mounting an effective defense response against various pathogenic microorganisms.

Validating the use of a commercial enzyme immunoassay to measure oxytocin in unextracted urine and saliva of the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

The neuroendocrine hormone oxytocin, which is an important physiological driver of social behavior and bonding, is increasingly being measured in conjunction with behavior to better understand primate sociality. To date no data are available on oxytocin concentrations within the genus Gorilla; however, as a result of their close genetic relatedness to humans, and tolerance-based social system, Gorilla represents an important group of study. The purpose of this study was to validate the measurement of urinary and salivary oxytocin in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to help facilitate future study of the interaction between oxytocin and behavior within the subspecies.

Optomotor steering and flight control requires a specific sub-section of the compound eye in the hawkmoth, .

While tracking odor plumes, male hawkmoths use optic flow cues to stabilize their flight movements with respect to their environment. We studied the responses of freely flying moths tracking odor plumes in a laboratory wind tunnel and tethered moths in an optomotor flight simulator to determine the locations on the compound eye on which critical optic flow cues are detected. In these behavioral experiments, we occluded specific regions of the compound eye and systematically examined the moths' behavior for specific deficits in optic flow processing.

A work-for-food enrichment program increases exploration and decreases stereotypies in four species of bears.

Zoo-housed bears are prone to exhibiting stereotypic behaviors, generally considered indicators of negative welfare. We explored the effects of a variable-time feeding enrichment schedule on behavioral indicators of welfare in four bear species at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. We distributed the diets of eight bears in one of five enrichment items, for two consecutive days each, and monitored behavior throughout the day.

One antenna, two antennae, big antennae, small: total antennae length, not bilateral symmetry, predicts odor-tracking performance in the American cockroach Periplaneta americana.

Determining the location of a particular stimulus is often crucial to an animal's survival. One way to determine the local distribution of an odor is to make simultaneous comparisons across multiple sensors. If the sensors detect differences in the distribution of an odor in space, the animal can then steer toward the source.

Spatial memory-based behaviors for locating sources of odor plumes.

Background: Many animals must locate odorant point sources during key behaviors such as reproduction, foraging and habitat selection. Cues from such sources are typically distributed as air- or water-borne chemical plumes, characterized by high intermittency due to environmental turbulence and episodically rapid changes in position and orientation during wind or current shifts. Well-known examples of such behaviors include male moths, which have physiological and behavioral specializations for locating the sources of pheromone plumes emitted by females.

Religion, health and confidentiality: an exploratory review of the role of chaplains.

Chaplaincy has traditionally been considered a profession highly respectful of confidentiality. Nevertheless, given increasing professional collaboration within health and welfare contexts, plus the requirements of intervention reporting and the ease of technological data sharing, it is possible that confidentiality may be sacrificed for the sake of expediency. This exploratory review considers the literature relating to the role of chaplaincy and confidentiality that suggests a number of principles which should be considered by chaplaincy associations/organizations to ensure appropriate professional practice and the holistic health and well-being of patients/clients.

Odor tracking flight of male Manduca sexta moths along plumes of different cross-sectional area.

Males of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, track wind-borne plumes of female sex pheromone by flying upwind, while continuously turning from side-to-side and changing altitude. Their characteristic "zigzagging" trajectory has long been thought to result from the interaction of two mechanisms, an odor-modulated orientation to wind and a built-in central nervous system turning program. An interesting and as of yet unanswered question about this tracking behavior is how the cross-section of an odor plume or its clean-air "edges" affects moths' odor tracking behavior.

Neuroecology: avoiding the unpleasant experience of being the uninvited guest.

The navigation system of the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis helps it avoid the lethal mistake of entering the wrong nest by suppressing its attraction to nest odors until it is near its home.

The role of vision in odor-plume tracking by walking and flying insects.

The walking paths of male cockroaches, Periplaneta americana, tracking point-source plumes of female pheromone often appear similar in structure to those observed from flying male moths. Flying moths use visual-flow-field feedback of their movements to control steering and speed over the ground and to detect the wind speed and direction while tracking plumes of odors. Walking insects are also known to use flow field cues to steer their trajectories.

Egomotion estimation with optic flow and air velocity sensors.

We develop a method that allows a flyer to estimate its own motion (egomotion), the wind velocity, ground slope, and flight height using only inputs from onboard optic flow and air velocity sensors. Our artificial algorithm demonstrates how it could be possible for flying insects to determine their absolute egomotion using their available sensors, namely their eyes and wind sensitive hairs and antennae. Although many behaviors can be performed by only knowing the direction of travel, behavioral experiments indicate that odor tracking insects are able to estimate the wind direction and control their absolute egomotion (i.

Three-dimensional characterization of the wind-borne pheromone tracking behavior of male hawkmoths, Manduca sexta.

We studied the relationship between vertical and lateral movements during free flight odor plume tracking by male moths, Manduca sexta, in a wind tunnel with the "horizon" set at different altitudes. Three-dimensional recordings revealed that the plume tracking males generated roughly equivalent movements vertically and laterally regardless of horizon height. We hypothesized that the moths' tracks would be narrower in the vertical plane when they were presented with visual patterns on the tunnel's side walls.

Effects of altering flow and odor information on plume tracking behavior in walking cockroaches, Periplaneta americana (L.).

Animals using odor plumes to locate resources are activated to track these plumes by the presence of an attractive odor, and typically steer toward the source using directional cues from the flowing air or water bearing the odor. We challenged freely walking virgin male cockroaches, Periplaneta americana, to track plumes of airborne female pheromone and then video-recorded and analyzed their responses as the odor plume and wind were independently manipulated. Plume tracking males that experienced the total loss of directional air flow halfway to the odor source showed little change in their performance, and 100% were able to quickly locate the pheromone source.

Navigational strategies used by insects to find distant, wind-borne sources of odor.

Insects locate many resources important to survival by tracking along wind-borne odor plumes to their source. It is well known that plumes are patchy distributions of high concentration packets of odor interspersed with clean air, not smooth Gaussian distributions of odor intensity. This realization has been crucial to our understanding of plume-tracking behavior, because insect locomotory movements and sensory processing typically take place in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds, permitting them to respond to the rapid changes in odor concentration they experience in plumes.