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African mole-rats are strictly subterranean mammals that live in extensive burrow systems. High humidity levels in the burrows prevent mole-rats from thermoregulating using evaporative cooling. However, the relatively stable environment of the burrows promotes moderate temperatures and small daily temperature fluctuations. Mole-rats therefore display a relatively wide range of thermoregulation ...

Urinary gonadal steroid concentrations were measured and compared in the summer and winter for both the Cape mole-rat (Georychus capensis) and the Natal mole-rat (Cryptomys hottentotus natalensis). The Cape mole-rat breeds seasonally, with sexual activity and pregnancy recorded during the winter months in the southern hemisphere. Despite the fact that it has a distinct breeding season, the seas...

The mole (Talpa europaea; Insectivora) and the mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi; Rodentia) both have degenerated eyes as a convergent adaptation to subterranean life. The rudimentary eye lenses of these blind mammals no longer function in a visual process. The crystallin genes, which display a lens-specific expression pattern, were studied in these blind mammals and in related species with normal ey...

Two sialic acids were isolated from the jelly coat of the eggs of the sea urchin Pseudocentrotus depressus. Both were subjected to chemical assay, thin layer chromatography, infrared absorption study, and enzymatic treatment. The results indicate that one of the sialic acids is identical with N-glycolylneuraminic acid. The other sialic acid is a completely new type and was deduced to be N-aceto...

In this research study, methanol synthesis catalysts were manufactured with various mole ratios of metal carbonates (zinc, copper and aluminum carbonate) and ammonium hydrogen carbonate via a green solid-state method that employed a ball mill apparatus. Some parameters for the catalyst preparation, such as Al mole percent, Cu/Zn mole ratio, rotations milling speeds and aging time, were optimize...

Protective effect of Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MoLE) against radiation-induced lipid peroxidation has been investigated. Swiss albino mice, selected from an inbred colony, were administered with MoLE (300 mg/kg body wt) for 15 days before exposing to a single dose of 5 Gy 60Co-gamma radiation. After treatments, animals were necropsied at different post irradiation intervals (days 1, 7 and ...

MOTIVATION The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is an exceptionally long-lived and cancer-resistant rodent native to East Africa. Although its genome was previously sequenced, here we report a new assembly sequenced by us with substantially higher N50 values for scaffolds and contigs. RESULTS We analyzed the annotation of this new improved assembly and identified candidate genomic adapt...

The Mashona mole rat, Cryptomys darlingi, is a social, subterranean African rodent that is rarely, if ever, exposed to light, and that exhibits a regressed visual system. This study investigated locomotor activity patterns of Mashona mole rats (n=12) under different light cycles. Activity was measured using either infrared captors (n=8) or running wheels (n=4). The mole rats entrained their act...