Reproduction and nutritional stress are risk factors for Hendra virus infection in little red flying foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) — Proceedings B.

This is the paper that is critical to the Botanic Garden Extension project — that supplementing the nutritional resources for bats will address human health issues. Great that we have this study.

BioOne Online Journals – FRUIT CHOICE AND CALCIUM BLOCK USE BY TONGAN FRUIT BATS IN AMERICAN SAMOA.

This paper might point us at calcium supplements for female bats. Calcium limitation in ecological systems … see this:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002011

Abstract
When minerals are deficient in the diet, animals often seek out concentrated sources of essential nutrients to relieve deficiencies. In this study, we documented fruit bat (Pteropus tonganus) preference or avoidance of calcium-rich fruits and use of commercial calcium blocks to obtain additional calcium. Individual captive wild-caught bats were videotaped nightly to document food choice, and results were compared to the nutritional content of the given fruits. Low-calcium, high-sugar fruits were the most preferred by bats of both sexes. Overall, sugar appears to be the primary basis for fruit selection, but sex differences in calcium block use suggest that females also may forage to relieve calcium deficiencies incurred by pregnancy and lactation.

submittedJanuary 6, 2005; Accepted: April 19, 2005

Cellulose-Based Native and Surface Modified Fruit Peels for the Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions from Aqueous Solution: Langmuir Adsorption Isotherms – Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data (ACS Publications).

A viable and cost-effective technology was explored in this present task for removal of heavy metal ions such as Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ from aqueous solution using three fruit peels such as orange peel (OP), lemon peel (LP), and banana peel (BP). The surface of the LP and lemon peel cellulose (LPC) was chemically modified. All these adsorbents were characterized by FT-IR, BET, and SEM. The widely used Langmuir adsorption isotherms were used to describe the adsorption equilibrium process. The adsorption capacity of metal ions such as Cu2+ and Ni2+ was found to be more than that of other metal ions. Upon comparison of the adsorbents, surface modified LPC (LPCACS) was found to show enhanced adsorption activity. A comparative study of adsorption was carried out with activated carbon (AC) also from which it was inferred that the order of the adsorption capacity is as follows: LPCACS > LPC > AC > LP.

Quantitative Determination of Heavy Metal Contaminant Complexation by the Carbohydrate Polymer Chitin – Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data ACS Publications.

Chitin is a cost-efficient and nontoxic biopolymer with potential for use in heavy metal chelation from industrial wastewater. In this study we report the binding strength of chitin and the common water contaminants mercury, copper, iron, nickel, chromium, lead, zinc, cadmium, silver, and cobalt. We have found that the strongest binding takes place with mercury and weakest with cobalt with binding constants of 1.16·105 M?1 and 3.96·103 M?1, respectively. We observed that the formal charge state of the heavy metal inversely affects the binding strength. The divalent metal cation?chitin interactions are all enthalpically driven binding reactions. These results serve to benchmark industrial wastewater treatment by chitin chelation.

Brazilian Journal of Biology – Genetics of Euglossini bees (Hymenoptera) in fragments of the Atlantic Forest in the region of Viçosa, MG.

This paper examines cross-species transmission and a what is claimed to be a confirmed case of wild bat to zoo bat transmission.

Public Health Surveillance for Australian bat lyssavirus in Queensland, Australia, 2000–2001.

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In the information age we can ask: why use durable materials for ephemeral purposes? A gallery guide, an invitation – need they last for generations? Need plastic caps and containers be durable to marine conditions for decades, circulating ad nauseum thru ecosystems? Need we use machine lubricants, like PCBs, that last for centuries, mestasticizing the livers of each little Tomcod swimming thru the Hudson, collecting through the bodies of all the larger fish and into the breast milk of women, the cord-blood of newborn babies?
Although cultural ephemera is rich and important museums can archive in a variety of ways and we can design the cultural afterlife of our material artifacts. Digestion is the new medium. And information and material are not inexorably tied.

Exploring the Afterlife!
You are invited to partake in an experiment to revise this cultural habit–a collective but correctable error. We simply substitute temporal materials for the longlasting, and design how they degrade and circulate thru our socio-ecolgocial systems. We use an inexpensive, enzymatically driven high=performance biodegradation process : your digestive tract. The aggregated efforts of many of us can outperform most industrial processes… you are a digesting machine!

Your participation is solicited in the following :

The Cross(x)Species adventure club issues edible invitations so u can taste this possibility (these include some incredible tastes);

An edition of Edible Gallery Guides [EGG] for Jeremijenko’s Connected Environments Exhibition [CEE].
These have an unmistakable taste of the reverent hush that characterizes museums-certain ecumenical aftertaste. They are Proust Madeline of the museums climate-controlled white-walled quality, a taste that, if not exactly delectable is nonetheless impregnated with a rich history of cultural symbolism.

Fun to share. Preservative Peanut and Pesticide Free. Kosher, Vegan, Fairest of Trades, Organic (who’s really checking?) and absolutely edible.

I’ve started making the acquaintance of a herd of heifers on a farm I will call ‘VT Farm’. The ladies are a dynamic bunch and we are just starting to get to know each other. This interest  in profiling the individual personalities of heifers was partially inspired by the article ‘Exploring Stock Managers — Perceptions of the Human-Animal Relationship on Dairy Farms and an Association with Milk Production’ by Catherine Bertenshaw and Peter Rowlinson at the School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Newcastle University, UK which states; “On farms where cows were called by name, milk yield was 258 liters higher than on farms where this was not the case (p < 0.001).” If interested, the full article can be downloaded from: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/berg/anthroz/2009/00000022/00000001/art00006. Individual attention and interpersonal relationships are known to be paramount to human development and well being, but their being recently proven as beneficial to the bovine species raises interest in other comparative behavioral studies. As human relationships have expanded and been augmented via the internet and social networking sites, cyberpsychology has emerged. Can these investigations be applied to cows? How might cows react to virtual attention? Does the behavioral psychology of social networking have something to teach the dairy industry? Both the dairy industry and online social networking relationships straddle the line between high-tech and high-touch – what does this delicate balance mean for both humans and cows? I will investigate these questions over the coming month as I profile these cows and introduce them to the online community.

The farmers have pointed me towards a few personalities to begin profiling. Firstly there is the herd that is currently being milked for commercial milk and cheese production and then there are the cows who are taking care of the calves. The latter are kept separately and are lovingly referred to as ‘the nursery’. In the nursery I met Norma and Josie who are acting as wet nurses. The cows are mothering 5 calves between the two of them, calves who are not necessarily theirs.  Norma is an older cow, and a veteran mother. She is a Normande which are said by the North American Normande Association to “reach sexual maturity early and have good fertility, mammary conformation, mothering ability and production longevity”. Josie on the other hand is a Jersey which is one of the oldest dairy breeds, popular because of its milk and butterfat production.They have an average weight of 900 pounds, and produce more pounds of milk per pound of body weight than any other breed. Most Jerseys produce more then 13x their bodyweight in milk each time they lactate. Norma and Josie are in the nursery due to the fact that their milk has tested high in somatic cell counts. Somatic cells are white blood cells which are produced when the immune system is in overdrive due to an infection of some sort, possibly mastitis. The milk is not commercially viable when the somatic cell counts are too high and if Norma and Josie’s counts don’t drop they will have to leave the herd. In this instance the farmers are performing a type of experiment to see if rigorous suckling will lower their somatic cell counts. They will test again after this batch of calves is weened from Norma and Josie. This constant milking from calves takes quite a toll on Norma and Josie physically and they are both looking quite thin these days. Traumatic suckling syndrome? Might they benefit from an online support group of nursing mothers? Josie is now a password holding member of http://www.breastfeeding.com/forums/.