Animals regularly use information from others to shape their decisions. Yet, determining how changes in social structure affect information flow and social learning strategies has remained challenging. We manipulated the social structure of a large community of wild songbirds by controlling which individuals could feed together at automated feeding stations (selective feeders). We then provided...

Termites play important roles in organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil structure in tropical rain forests. When forests are replaced by agriculture, termite species richness, abundance, and function often decline. We compared the termite assemblage of a primary forest site with that of a low plant diversity, palm-based agroforest (five plant species) and a high plant diversit...

BACKGROUND Clinical-grade human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) ideally should be derived and maintained in xeno-free culture conditions using defined chemicals or materials of human origin. This will reduce the possibility of xeno-derived pathogenic infection and/or unfavorable immune reaction in clinical application. The present study therefore aimed to derive autogenic feeders from hESCs and ev...

This paper presents FEEDERS(1), an access scheme for sharing, in TDMA(2) mode, the capacity of a satellite channel among a number of stations, on the basis of user demand. This scheme and its companion, DRIFS(3) [14], result from a study carried out by the authors on distributedcontrol protocols for geostationary satellite access. Both protocols derive from the FODA/IBEA(4) centralised-control ...

Here, we show that the consequences of deficient micronutrient (beta-carotene) intake during larval stages of Manduca sexta are carried across metamorphosis, affecting adult behaviour. Our manipulation of larval diet allowed us to examine how developmental plasticity impacts the interplay between visual and olfactory inputs on adult foraging behaviour. Larvae of M. sexta were reared on natural ...

Trophectoderm cells are the foremost embryonic cells to differentiate with prospective stem-cell properties. In the current study, we aimed at improving the current approach for trophoblast culture by using granulosa cells as feeders. Porcine granulosa cells (PGCs) compared to the conventional mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were used to grow trophectoderm cells from hatched bovine blastocys...

Conventional distribution system supplies loads radially, and often relies on tied adjacent feeders to provide alternative supply during outage. This results in customer outages of varying duration while the fault is located and isolated and restored, which can be very costly to the impacted customers. This paper describes one unique distribution automation scheme implemented in BC Hydro which ...

Chlordecone is a persistent organochlorine pesticide used in the banana fields of the French West Indies from 1972 to 1993. Three marine habitats (mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs) of two study sites located downstream contaminated rivers were chosen to evaluate the level of contamination of marine food webs. On each habitat, the food chain collected included suspended organic matter, p...

The seston represents a highly dilute food source to potential consumers. Consequently, 3 general properties may be expected of sessile filter feeders: (1) high retention efficiency; (2) possession of a low-energy pump system in active filter feeders; and (3) consumption of seston fractions in proportion to availability (i.e. opportunistic feeding). Whereas the first 2 properties have been well...

Chrysomelid leaf beetles use chemical defenses to overcome predatory attack and microbial infestation. Larvae of Chrysomela lapponica that feed on willow sequester plant-derived salicin and other leaf alcohol glucosides, which are modified in their defensive glands to bioactive compounds. Salicin is converted into salicylaldehyde by a consecutive action of a β-glucosidase and salicyl alcohol ox...