Sources of variability in numbers of live births in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia).

We examined the effects of several variables on the number of live births in multiparous females in a wild population of golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia). Independent variables included the number of infants born to a female the previous breeding season, the number of infants weaned the previous breeding season, the female's age and body mass, the number of adult males and helpers in the group, and the inbreeding coefficient of the offspring. We also tested the hypothesis that trapping and chemical immobilization during pregnancy affected the number of live births. Female body mass was the only statistically significant predictor of the number of live-born infants in the current season when both first and second peaks were included. Characteristics that predicted higher numbers of infants in the first peak of a season were the number of infants born the previous season and the body mass of the female. The greater the number of infants born the previous season, the greater the number of infants born in the first peak of the current season. Factors positively correlated with the number of live births in the second peak within a season included the number of infants born the previous season, as well as the number of available helpers. Due to sample size constraints, the analysis of litters in the second peak did not include body mass of the female as a variable. Inbreeding and handling did not affect the number of live births. We found no evidence that current reproduction negatively impacts future reproduction in this species. We also found no evidence for an age-related reduction in fertility.

Food transfers in wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia.

We collected data from wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) to describe the behavior of donor and recipient during food transfers, evaluate the effect of supplemental feeding on food transfer behavior, and examine various hypotheses concerning the function of food transfers in primates. Behavioral observations were conducted on 12 groups of tamarins with young (N = 30) between the ages of 1 week and 1 year old. Results show that food transfers involve various behaviors, from steals by recipients to offers by donors; transfers mostly derive from adults and are directed at immature weaned young (between 3 and 9 months old); and that most items transferred were prey or fruits that require skill to process. Eleven percent of food transfers were preceded by an adult vocalization specific to that context, whereas 86% were preceded by conspicuous infant vocalizations and begging behavior. The most common vocalizations were loud and atonal (rasps) and broad banded frequency modulated (trills). Infants born to reintroduced parents vocalized less, whereas reintroduced adults vocalized more before transferring food than their wild counterparts. Reintroduced adults and young received more food transfers (4.4 per hr) than did wild-born adults and young (2.2 per hr). Our findings suggest that food transfer in golden lion tamarins is best understood as provisioning of young that have not fully developed foraging skills to ensure they get the necessary resources for growth and survival.

Longitudinal fecal steroid excretion in maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus).

This study used a fecal steroid monitoring technique to evaluate reproductive cycles in male (4) and female (15) maned wolves, endangered South American canids. A radiolabeled testosterone infusion on a male revealed a fast and predominantly fecal route of excretion for this steroid. Testosterone was also excreted as eight unidentified metabolites, which was not the primary form of this steroid quantified in our assays. Fecal steroid concentrations (estradiol, E2; progestins, P; testosterone, T) in males and acyclic, nonpregnant (pseudo-pregnant), and pregnant females were monitored over four breeding seasons (October-January). Significant differences were detected between longitudinal P profiles of cyclic and acyclic females during estrus, luteal phase, and after birth/end of pseudo-pregnancy. Concentrations of P were also significantly higher in pregnant, compared to nonpregnant females, from proestrus to the end of the pregnant luteal phase. Although levels of T were higher in males than in females throughout the breeding season, no cyclicity in male fecal T concentrations was detected. Values of fecal P, T, and the ratio P/T were useful for differentiating gender and detecting pregnancy in females. Similarities to available data on other canids and the management and conservation implications of these findings were discussed.

Foraging ecology and use of space in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia).

In this paper we describe the use of space and feeding ecology of seven groups of golden lion tamarins observed for a total of 2,164 hr in Poço das Antas Reserve, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Relative to habitat availability in the home ranges of these groups, lion tamarins spent more time than expected in relatively undisturbed swamp forests and less time than expected in more degraded hillside and pasture habitats. Home range area was correlated with group biomass but not group size. Golden lion tamarins fed primarily on fruits and small animal prey, but relied heavily on floral nectar during seasonal periods of relatively low fruit availability. Compared to other New World monkeys, lion tamarins used larger home range areas and exhibited longer daily path lengths than would be predicted by group biomass alone. We suggest that this pattern of foraging and use of space may be explained by the relatively greater availability of cryptic prey and their microhabitats in forests that are flooded and/or have closed canopies than in forests that are in earlier stages of succession where prey may be more susceptible to desiccation during the dry season.

[Brown-Séquard syndrome after closed injury of the cervical spine]. / Syndrome de Brown-Séquard après traumatisme fermé du rachis cervical.

The case of a Brown-Séquard syndrome at the C5 level, in a 21-year-old young man after a traffic accident is reported. Initially, the symptoms of spinal injury were concealed by those related to head and face trauma. The neurologic assessment showed a hemiplegia located in the same side as the medullar injury with a controlateral thermo-algesic anaesthesia. X-rays, CT-scan and MRI of the cervical spine confirmed the diagnosis. The treatment included the immobilization of the spine combined with i.v. methylprednisolone (bolus of 30 mg.kg-1 followed by a continuous infusion at a rate of 5 mg.kg-1.h-1 for 23 hours). The outcome was favourable. Six weeks later, the patient was again able to walk. However the thermo-algesic anaesthesia remained unchanged. This case report underlines the necessity of a careful and complete neurologic assessment of trauma patients and reminds of the possibility of occurrence of a Brown-Séquard syndrome in them.

High-performance liquid chromatography and capillary supercritical-fluid chromatography separation of vegetable carotenoids and carotenoid isomers.

Carotenoids from carrots and tomatoes were separated with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). All trans alpha- and beta-carotene were separated from their respective cis-isomers with capillary SFC. Carotenoids extracted from tomatoes included xanthophyll, lycopene and beta-carotene, while alpha- and beta-carotene were extracted from carrots. The HPLC separations were accomplished isocratically with a 25-cm column containing 5-microns ODS and methanol-acetonitrile-chloroform (47:47:6) or acetonitrile-dichloromethane (80:20). beta-Carotene cis-isomers were separated with SFC with a SB-cyanopropyl-25-polymethylsiloxane column, while alpha-carotene isomers were separated with two SB-cyanopropyl-50-polymethylsiloxane columns. Carotenoids from carrots and tomatoes were separated with a SB-phenyl-50-polymethylsiloxane column. Carbon dioxide with 1% ethanol was the SFC mobile phase. The eluent was monitored at 461 nm for HPLC and either 453 or 461 nm for SFC.

Ectoparasitic acari found on golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia) from Brazil.

Anesthetized golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia), a highly endangered species, were examined for ectoparasites by brushing the fur and swabbing the ears. Ectoparasites recovered from the fur included four species of immature ticks (Amblyomma spp.), three species of chiggers (Euschoengastia sp., Microtrombicula brennani and Speleocola tamarina), and one species of follicular mite (Rhyncoptes anastosi). Ectoparasites do not seem to be of particular significance to the health of the golden lion tamarin; this may in part result from grooming.

Reversed phase HPLC analysis of alpha- and beta-carotene from selected raw and cooked vegetables.

Traditional AOAC colorimetric procedures for carotenoid analysis are known to lack specificity and accuracy. Newer HPLC methods provide the investigator with a more precise tool for carotenoid quantification in foods and tissues. In the present studies, reverse phase HPLC was utilized to evaluate the alpha- and beta-carotene content in raw and cooked leaves of lettuce, spinach and winged bean as well as in the carrot root. The vegetables were boiled or steamed and the true retention of alpha- and beta-carotene in the cooked products was determined. Boiling for 30 minutes resulted in a 53 and 40% loss of beta-carotene from lettuce and carrots, respectively. Full retention or even an increase in beta-carotene content in boiled winged bean leaves and spinach was noted. Steaming resulted in very good retention of alpha- and beta-carotene in all vegetables (83-139% retention). Thus, although cooking procedures (especially boiling) may result in oxidative loss of carotenoids in some vegetables, heat treatment increases the chemical extractability of alpha- and beta-carotene in others. The presence of carotenoproteins in some vegetables may affect the heat stability of extractability of alpha- and beta-carotene.

Reflections on the intensive care of 106 acute cervical spinal cord injury patients in the resuscitation unit of a general traumatology centre.

This presentation deals with an 11 year survey of 106 cervical spinal cord injuries, admitted immediately after injury or during the very acute phase, to the Traumatology Resuscitation Unit of Colmar, (France). A preliminary report concerning 51 patients was published in 1979. The follow-up study concerns a further 55 cervical spinal cord injured patients admitted from January 1979 to December 1984. The emphasis of our presentation concerns the frequency of some of the main complications and their attempted prevention: the haemodynamic disturbances caused by over-hydration; the prevention of haemorrhagic stress ulcers is not only by the use of specific drugs, but mainly by immediate intravenous adequate caloric nutrition. This can be associated with, or followed as soon as possible by, an adapted caloric diet, possibly by a naso-gastric tube. For serious respiratory complications, artificial ventilation even for long periods as discussed, by nasal intubation or in some patients tracheotomy.

Genetic variation within and among lion tamarins.

The golden lion tamarin Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia, one of the rarest and most endangered of New World primates, has been the focus of an intensive research and conservation effort for two decades. During that period, managed breeding from 44 founders has brought the captive population to over 400 individuals, a number that equals or exceeds the estimated number of free-ranging golden lion tamarins. The extent of genetic variation among golden lion tamarins was estimated with an electrophoretic survey of 47 allozyme loci from 67 captive and 73 free-ranging individuals. The amount of variation was low, compared to 15 other primate species, with 4% of the loci being polymorphic (P), and with an average heterozygosity H estimate of 0.01 in these callitrichids. Electrophoretic analyses of captive and free-ranging animals (N = 31) of two allopatric morphotypes, Leontopithecus rosalia chrysopygus and L. r. chrysomelas, were similar to the L. r. rosalia findings insofar as they also revealed limited genetic polymorphism. Computation of the Nei-genetic distance measurements showed that the three morphotypes were genetically very similar, although discernible differentiation had occurred at two loci. These data are consistent with the occurrence of recent reproductive isolations of these subspecies.

Two renal tumors in cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus).

Renal tumors were found in two cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) about 1 year old. One tumor was intimately associated with the kidney and consisted of isolated ductular and tubular structures within an abundant connective tissue stroma and was diagnosed as a hamartoma of urogenital origin. The second was composed of epithelial cells arrange as alveolar structures with papillary projections, epithelium that was less differentiated into tubules and ducts, and neoplastic epithelial cells in solid sheets. The diagnosis of renal adenocarcinoma was based on the histologic features as metastasis had not occurred.