Sieve-type pore canals in the Timiriaseviinae-A contribution to the comparative morphology and the systematics of the Limnocytheridae (Ostracoda, Crustacea).

Examination of normal pore canals, especially sieve-type pore canals, in living and fossil representatives of ten genera of the family Limnocytheridae, subfamily Timiriaseviinae, has revealed important diversity of structure. These complex pore canals have been studied via high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (the Cartographic Method) and analysed via the application of newly devised indices to assess patterns of consistency and variation in both detailed structure of individual pores and of their distribution on the calcified valve. The timiriaseviine taxa are compared with species of the genera Limnocythere, sub-family Limnocytherinae and Cyprideis (family Cytherideidae). The relationship between the living animal and its aquatic environment is discussed in the light of previous studies and of new evidence herein. The importance of normal pore canals for systematics is highlighted by the recognition and definition of the new tribe Gomphodellini Danielopol, Cabral Lord nov. tribe, subfamily Timiriaseviinae, family Limnocytheridae.

Anthropometric and behavioral patterns associated with weight maintenance after an obesity treatment in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To identify anthropometric and behavioral characteristics associated with weight maintenance after an obesity treatment. STUDY DESIGN: Adolescents (n = 72) enrolled in a 9-month obesity treatment were observed 1 and 2 years after discharge. Two groups, "successful" versus "limited or no success," were created on the basis of the differences in body mass index (BMI) z-score between inclusion and end of follow-up. Anthropometric and behavioral characteristics were compared between groups. RESULTS: Both groups showed a decrease in BMI z-score between inclusion and end of follow-up, 2.09 +/- 0.68 SD for the successful group and 0.65 +/- 0.43 SD for the group with limited or no success. Groups did not differ during treatment for any of the anthropometric characteristics considered, whereas differences clearly appeared 1 year after treatment and generally stabilized during the second year. Later adiposity rebound, trend for lower BMI in the mother, and, during follow-up, lower total energy intake, more energy at breakfast, and less snacking and television were recorded in the successful group. CONCLUSIONS: Weight loss maintenance can neither be predicted with anthropometry during treatment nor with behavioral characteristics at inclusion, but can be estimated 1 year after discharge. Early life factors should also be taken into account for predicting treatment outcome.

The early life history of tissue oxygenation in crustaceans: the strategy of the myodocopid ostracod Cylindroleberis mariae.

We studied basic principles of respiratory physiology in Cylindroleberididae, Cylindroleberis mariae Baird 1850, which are millimetre-sized crustaceans (myodocop ostracod) having a fossil record dating back to about 425 millions years ago. Facing experimental changes of O2 partial pressures in the range 2-40 kPa (normoxia is 21 kPa), C. mariae lack any regulatory mechanism to adapt their ventilatory and circulatory activity. Thus, the oxygenation status of their internal milieu must follow, as a dependent variable, the ambient oxygenation. Freely behaving C. mariae exhibit a marked diurnal activity rhythm. They are actively swimming in the water column during night, where they inspire in normoxic-normocapnic water. They are resting in self-made nests during daytime, where they are rebreathing in a confined and hypoxic environment. By analogy to extensive previous literature data, we suggest that these changes of respiratory gas content, and the associated tissue gas status, participate to the shaping of their metabolic activity and behaviour. To conclude, as Cylindroleberididae are early crustaceans exhibiting a remarkable stasis since the Palaeozoic, present data illustrates how principles of tissue oxygenation strategy can cover an impressive time scale.

How a low tissue O2 strategy could be conserved in early crustaceans: the example of the podocopid ostracods.

An adaptation strategy whereby O(2) partial pressure, P(O(2)), in the tissues is maintained within a low, narrow range of 1-3 kPa, largely independent of the inspired P(O(2)), has been reported in water- and air-breathing poikilotherms and in homeotherms. Based on the postulate that this basic cellular mechanism has been established since the early stages of evolution, it has been hypothesized that it could be the consequence of an early adaptation strategy to maintain cellular oxygenation within the same low and primitive range. To test this hypothesis we studied the basic mechanisms of oxygen regulation in podocopid ostracods, minute crustaceans that have existed on earth for at least 500 million years. Podocopids lack any regulatory mechanism for adapting their ventilation to cope with changes in water oxygenation, and instead adjust their tissue oxygenation status by migrating through the O(2) gradient to sediment layers where the P(O(2)) of the water is 3-5 kPa. Experimental manipulation of the O(2) profile induced their vertical migration to follow this precise water P(O(2)) and demonstrates the existence of a regulation strategy. This strategy must be associated with the lower P(O(2)) values within the animal's carapace valves, showing that podocopids can actively regulate their tissue P(O(2)) at constant but even lower values than the water. In conclusion, the low tissue P(O(2)) strategy could have existed in early crustaceans and, by extension, in early animals.