Effects of provisioning on the activity budget and foraging strategies of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) in the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China.

Provisioning can significantly affect the ranging patterns, foraging strategies, and time budget of wild primates. In this study, we document for the first time, the effects of provisioning on the activity budget and foraging effort in an Asian colobine. Over 3-years, we used an instantaneous scanning method at 10-min intervals to collect data on the activity budget of a semiprovisioned breeding band (SPB) of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) (42-70 individuals) at Xiangguqing (Tacheng), Yunnan, China. We then compared the effects of provisioning in our study band with published data on a sympatric wild nonprovisioned breeding band (NPB) of R. bieti (ca. 360 monkeys) at the same field site. The SPB spent 25.6% of their daytime feeding, 17.1% traveling, 46.9% resting, and 10.3% socializing. In comparison, the NPB devoted more time to feeding (34.9%) and socializing (14.1%), less time to resting (31.3%), and was characterized by a greater foraging effort (1.74 versus 0.96, foraging effort = (feeding + traveling)/resting; see Methods). There was no difference between bands in the proportion of their activity budget devoted to traveling (15.7% vs. 17.1%). In addition, the SPB exhibited a more consistent activity budget and foraging effort across all seasons of the year compared to the NPB. These findings suggest that the distribution, availability, and productivity of naturally occurring feeding sites is a major determinant of the behavioral strategies and activity budget of R. bieti. Finally, a comparison of our results with data on six nonprovisioned R. bieti bands indicates that caution must be raised in meta-analyses or intraspecific comparisons of primate behavioral ecology that contain data generated from both provisioned and nonprovisioned groups.

Clinical analysis on 2 cases of acute thallium poisoning with combined treatment using blood purification and sodium dimercaptosulfonate / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features,treatment methods and prognosis of acute thallium poisoning.METHODS: The clinical data of 2 cases of acute thallium poisoning were analyzed retrospectively to observe its clinical features,therapeutic effect of blood purification and sodium dimercaptosulfonate,and prognosis.RESULTS: The typical triads of clinical features of the two cases of acute thallium poisoning were gastroenteritis,polyneuropathy and alopecia.Before treatment,the blood thallium level was 200.6 and 712.7 μg/L and the urine thallium level was 5 206.4 and 11050.2 μg/24 h respectively.After the combined treatment using blood purification and sodium dimercaptosulfonate,the blood thallium decreased to 31.6 and 14.6 μg/L and the urine thallium decreased to 175.2 and 265.3 μg/24 h.The two patients had a good prognosis.The result of re-examination showed that blood thallium was 7.9 and 0.6 μg/L and the urine thallium was 31.5 and 5.5 μg/24 h respectively in 2 and 5 months later.CONCLUSION: The combined treatment using blood purification and sodium dimercaptosulfonate is effective for acute thallium poisoning therapy.