Activity Budget and Postural Behaviors in Orangutans on Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island for Assessing Captive Great Ape Welfare.

Assessments of the welfare status of captive and semi-captive animals often compare how their expression of natural behaviors differs from that of free-ranging conspecifics. From December 2015-2016, we recorded and analyzed the activity budget and postural behaviors of three orangutans in Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island (BMOUI) to evaluate their welfare status. The orangutans' activity budget was dominated by resting (60%), feeding (13%), playing (14%), and moving (9%).

Functional differentiations in evolutionary reservoir computing networks.

We propose an extended reservoir computer that shows the functional differentiation of neurons. The reservoir computer is developed to enable changing of the internal reservoir using evolutionary dynamics, and we call it an evolutionary reservoir computer. To develop neuronal units to show specificity, depending on the input information, the internal dynamics should be controlled to produce contracting dynamics after expanding dynamics.

Agent-based simulation for reconstructing social structure by observing collective movements with special reference to single-file movement.

Understanding social organization is fundamental for the analysis of animal societies. In this study, animal single-file movement data-serialized order movements generated by simple bottom-up rules of collective movements-are informative and effective observations for the reconstruction of animal social structures using agent-based models. For simulation, artificial 2-dimensional spatial distributions were prepared with the simple assumption of clustered structures of a group.

[The Elucidation of Informational Basis of Functional Differentiations in Terms of a Theory of Constrained Self-Organization].

Focusing on the developmental process of the brain, we propose a neural network model of functional differentiation including functional parcellation. We explain the emerging process of functional elements, of the system through the constraints, which act on the whole network system. We explain several kinds of differentiation, such as the differentiation of neuronal cells, functional modules, and the sensory neurons, thereby proposing three hypotheses.

Intraspecific macroscopic digestive anatomy of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), including a comparison of frozen and formalin-stored specimens.

Digestive tract measurements are often considered species specific, but little information exists on the degree to which they change during ontogeny within a species. Additionally, access to anatomical material from nondomestic species is often limited, with fixed tissues possibly representing the only available source, though the degree to which this material is representative in terms of dimensions and weight is debatable. In the present study, the macroscopic anatomy of the digestive tract (length of intestinal sections, and tissue weights of stomach and intestines) of 58 Lemur catta [ranging in age from 1 month (neonates) to 25 years], which had been stored frozen (n = 27) or fixed in formalin (n = 31), was quantified.

Factors influencing riverine utilization patterns in two sympatric macaques.

Many species of terrestrial animals, including primates, live in varied association with the aquatic (e.g., riverine or coastal) environment.

Reproductive seasonality in primates: patterns, concepts and unsolved questions.

Primates, like other mammals, exhibit an annual reproductive pattern that ranges from strictly seasonal breeding to giving birth in all months of the year, but factors mediating this variation are not fully understood. We applied both a categorical description and quantitative measures of the birth peak breadth based on daily observations in zoos to characterise reproductive seasonality in 141 primate species with an average of 941 birth events per species. Absolute day length at the beginning of the mating season in seasonally reproducing species was not correlated between populations from natural habitats and zoos.

Large male proboscis monkeys have larger noses but smaller canines.

The uniquely enlarged noses of male proboscis monkeys are prominent adornments, and a sexually selected male trait. A recent study showed significant correlations among nose, body, and testis sizes and clear associations between nose size and the number of females in a male's harem. However, to date, the analyses of other common male traits, i.

Isolation and Characterization of Antimicrobial-Resistant from Retail Meats from Roadside Butcheries in Uganda.

Retail meats are one of the main routes for spreading antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) from livestock to humans through the food chain. In African countries, retail meats are often sold at roadside butcheries without chilling or refrigeration. Retail meats in those butcheries are suspected to be contaminated by ARB, but it was not clear.

Fermentation Ability of Gut Microbiota of Wild Japanese Macaques in the Highland and Lowland Yakushima: In Vitro Fermentation Assay and Genetic Analyses.

Wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata Blyth) living in the highland and lowland areas of Yakushima are known to have different diets, with highland individuals consuming more leaves. We aim to clarify whether and how these differences in diet are also reflected by gut microbial composition and fermentation ability. Therefore, we conduct an in vitro fermentation assay using fresh feces from macaques as inoculum and dry leaf powder of Eurya japonica Thunb.

Primates Can Be a Rallying Symbol to Promote Tropical Forest Restoration.

With 60% of all primate species now threatened with extinction and many species only persisting in small populations in forest fragments, conservation action is urgently needed. But what type of action? Here we argue that restoration of primate habitat will be an essential component of strategies aimed at conserving primates and preventing the extinctions that may occur before the end of the century and propose that primates can act as flagship species for restoration efforts. To do this we gathered a team of academics from around the world with experience in restoration so that we could provide examples of why primate restoration ecology is needed, outline how primates can act as flagship species for restoration efforts of tropical forest, review what little is known about how primate populations respond to restoration efforts, and make specific recommendations of the next steps needed to make restoration of primate populations successful.

A mathematical model for neuronal differentiation in terms of an evolved dynamical system.

We attempted to create a mathematical model for neuronal differentiation. The present study was performed within the framework of self-organization with constraints by looking for an optimized informational unit. We treated networks of individual dynamical system units with an external input, which was provided by coupled one-dimensional maps with possible forms of unidirectionally feed-forward network, random network, small-world network, and fully-connected network.

The diet and feeding behavior of the black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) in the Kalinzu Forest, Uganda.

One of the goals for primate feeding ecology is to understand the factors that affect inter- and intra-specific variations. Therefore, a detailed description of basic feeding ecology in as many populations as possible is necessary and warrants further understanding. The black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) or guereza is widely distributed in Africa and is one of the well-studied colobines in terms of their feeding; they demonstrate considerable variation in their diets in response to local conditions.

Constrained chaos in three-module neural network enables to execute multiple tasks simultaneously.

Constrained chaos introduced into a three-module neural network having feedforward inter-module structure could have potential abilities to execute multiple tasks simultaneously. Each module consists of a large number of binary state (±1) neurons. The entire activity pattern (neuron state) is updated by recurrent rule under certain external input to the first module and input to post-module from pre-module.

Games academics play and their consequences: how authorship, -index and journal impact factors are shaping the future of academia.

Research is a highly competitive profession where evaluation plays a central role; journals are ranked and individuals are evaluated based on their publication number, the number of times they are cited and their -index. Yet such evaluations are often done in inappropriate ways that are damaging to individual careers, particularly for young scholars, and to the profession. Furthermore, as with all indices, people can play games to better their scores.

Mathematical structures for epilepsy: High-frequency oscillation and interictal epileptic slow (red slow).

In the present study, we attempted to characterize two characteristic features within the dynamic behavior of wideband electrocorticography data, which were recorded as the brain waves of epilepsy, comprising high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) and interictal epileptic slow (red slow). The results of power spectrum and nonlinear time series analysis indicate that, on one hand, HFOs at epileptic focus are characterized by one-dimensional dynamical systems in ictal onset time segments at an epileptic focus for two patients' datasets; on the other hand, an interictal epileptic slow is characterized by the residue of power spectrum. The results suggest that the degree of freedom of the brain dynamics during epileptic seizure with HFO degenerates to low-dimensional dynamics; hence, the interictal epileptic slow as the precursors of the seizure onset can be detected simply from interictal brain wave data for the dataset of one patient.

Colobine forestomach anatomy and diet.

Colobine monkeys have complex, multichambered, foregut-fermenting stomachs with either three ("tripartite") or four ("quadripartite," adding the praesaccus) chambers where a commensal microbiome digests plant cell walls and possibly detoxifies defensive plant chemicals. Although different potential functions for the praesaccus have been suggested, little evidence exists to support any of the proposed functions. To address the issue of the function of the praesaccus, we collated literature data on diet and compared tripartite and quadripartite species.

A natural point mutation in the bitter taste receptor TAS2R16 causes inverse agonism of arbutin in lemur gustation.

Bitter taste enables the detection of potentially harmful substances and is mediated by bitter taste receptors, TAS2Rs, in vertebrates. Few antagonists and inverse agonists of TAS2Rs have been identified, especially natural compounds. TAS2R16s in humans, apes and Old World monkeys (Catarrhini, Anthropoidea) recognize β-glucoside analogues as specific agonists.

Retention marker excretion suggests incomplete digesta mixing across the order primates.

The digestive tract of animals, and the patterns how passage markers are excreted from them, have been fruitfully compared to chemical reactor models from engineering science. An important characteristic of idealized reactor models is the smoothness of the curves plotting marker concentrations in outflow (i.e.

Genomic Analyses of Bifidobacterium moukalabense Reveal Adaptations to Frugivore/Folivore Feeding Behavior.

Despite the essential role of in health-promoting gut bacteria in humans, little is known about their functions in wild animals, especially non-human primates. It is difficult to determine in vivo the function of Bifidobacterium in wild animals due to the limited accessibility of studying target animals in natural conditions. However, the genomic characteristics of obtained from the feces of wild animals can provide insight into their functionality in the gut.

The feeding ecology and dietary overlap in two sympatric primate species, the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) and dusky langur (Trachypithecus obscurus obscurus), in Malaysia.

Knowledge about the feeding ecology and dietary overlap of sympatric primates is essential for understanding how animals avoid or reduce interspecific competition. From April 2014 to March 2015, we investigated the feeding ecologies of two sympatric primates, a hindgut fermenter, the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) and a foregut fermenter, the dusky langur (Trachypithecus obscurus obscurus), in a mixed landscape consisting of urban and agro-forested areas and forest fragments in Malaysia. We collected a total of 5570 and 4029 of feeding records for M.

Phenotypic and genotypic analyses of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in livestock in Uganda.

Antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) in livestock are a global public health concern, not only because they prolong infectious diseases but also they can be transferred from animals to humans via the food chain. Here, we studied ARB in livestock at commercial and subsistence farms (n = 13) in Wakiso and Mpigi districts, Uganda. We enquired from the farmers about the type and the purpose of antimicrobial agents they have used to treat their livestock.

Visualization of the Intrinsic Reaction Coordinate and Global Reaction Route Map by Classical Multidimensional Scaling.

A classical multidimensional scaling (CMDS) method is employed to visualize an intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) and a global reaction route map consisting of the equilibrium minima and transition state structures connected by the IRC network. As demonstrations, the method was applied to the IRCs of the intramolecular proton transfer in malonaldehyde and the S2 reaction of OH + CHF → CHOH + F, which are both well described by two principal coordinates. Next, the method was applied to the global reaction route map of the Au cluster; the resulting map shows appropriate positions of five minima and 14 transition states in a reduced 2- or 3-dimensional coordinate space successfully.