We define a material pattern as a particular arrangement of material elements in space. We then make an effort to categorize the developmental strategies that underlie the emergence of multicellular patterns. These strategies are divided into three broad categories according to whether cell position influences or is influenced by cell fate. In that category of strategies in which cell fate infl...

Shigella flexnerii and Escherichia coli were the most frequent Gram-negative bacteria found in the mouth cavity and cloacae of the turtles Podocnemis expansa and P. unifilis on beaches in the National Park of Araguaia, Brazil. Reptiles are known as Salmonella carriers, despite rarely isolated in these turtles.

Phenotypic sexual dimorphism seems to be rare in the Ramphastidae family, except in Pteroglossus viridis and in the genus Selenidera. Many breeders of wild birds believe that specimens of Ramphastos toco can be sexed using bill characteristics. In this study, various discriminant phenotypic variables were analyzed in birds which were sexed cytogenetically. Fifty-one specimens of R. toco and 20 ...

Cecal cultures taken over a 1-year period from 600 turkeys at a poultry processing plant were all positive for Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni. Swabs of the cloaca and fresh feces were likewise all positive. Of 33 freshly dressed turkey carcases, 94% were positive before chilling in tanks of chlorinated ice and water; 34% of 83 carcasses were still positive after overnight soaking in the tank...

The health status of goshawk chicks (Accipiter gentilis) from the nests in the vicinity of Wrocław was evaluated. The research was conducted in spring 2001. Each nest was inspected three times at different phases of the reproduction period and the protocol included: the counting of eggs in each nest, clinical examination of chicks, collecting swabs from the crop and cloaca, blood and litter sam...

A frequently hypothesized but poorly studied cost of multiple mating in birds is that exposure to pathogenic sexually transmitted microbes (STM's) can lower reproductive success. Conversely, female birds may benefit from high frequencies of copulation and multiple copulation partners if they receive cloacal inoculations of beneficial STM's that can either protect them against future encounters ...