The gastric emptying of liquids was investigated in male Wistar rats (8 to 10 weeks old, 210-300 g) dehydrated by water deprivation. In this model of dehydration, weight loss, hematocrit and plasma density were significantly higher in the dehydrated animals than in the control groups after 48 and 72 h of water deprivation (P < 0.05). Three test meals (saline (N = 10), water (N = 10) and a WHO r...

In hierarchical-design experiments researchers need to test for nested effects, but sometimes parametric assumptions are violated. We show that the Kruskal-Wallis (K-W) rank test can be extended to test for such effects. Let B = b1 . . . bh be the tested effect, and A = a1 . . . ag be the effect immediately above it in the hierarchy. If one calculates separate K-W statistics for the effect B at...

Regression equations, based on scutal index (body length/scutal width), were developed to determine the duration of attachment for nymphal and adult female lxodes scapularis ticks. Feeding times were calculated for 444 nymphal and 300 female ticks submitted by bite victims between 1985 and 1989 in Westchester County, New York, an area where Lyme disease is highly endemic. Nymphs were attached f...

The reproductive phenology of seven species of Rubiaceae from the Brazilian Atlantic rain forest was compared to evaluate the occurrence of phylogenetic constraints on flowering and fruiting phenologies. Since phenological patterns can be affected by phylogenetic constraints, we expected that reproductive phenology would be similar among plants within a family or genus, occurring during the sam...