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Secular trend in body weight is an indicator of environmental adaptation and changes in nutrition and health over time. In this study, we examined body weight of Macaca mulatta from Cayo Santiago to investigate how body weight changed in past 80 years. Rhesus macaques were introduced from India to the Caribbean island in 1938, and the colony history was characterized by fluctuations in resource provisioning, population dynamics, and medical care, in addition to acclimation. We collated body weight data of 921 females and 1202 males born between 1938 and 2009, collected by researchers between 1956 and 2014. All subjects were categorised by sex, partitioned into five period cohorts based on colony conditions at the time of their birth (1938-55, 1956-68, 1969-74, 1975-83, 1984-2009), and body weights for each cohort were calculated at different age-intervals (yearly from 0-1 to 5-6, then 6-10 and 11-15). Results revealed that overall, males and females alike, in early age-intervals (0-4 years), the 1938-55 cohort had the lightest body weight, while in the young adulthood age-intervals (6-10 years) the 1969-74 cohort had the heaviest body weight. This latter cohort experienced low population densities, unlike subsequent generations (1975-83), and a protein increase in provisioning relative to previousmore »generations (1956-68). However, the most recent cohort (1984-2009) displayed the lowest mean body weights across almost all age-intervals, despite them receiving a tetanus vaccine (hence longer expectancy), annual population culling and regular provisioning. Further investigation is warranted to differentiate the effects of different environmental factors on the Cayo Santiago colony.« less

Abstract We present panchromatic observations and modeling of calcium-strong supernovae (SNe) 2021gno in the star-forming host-galaxy NGC 4165 and 2021inl in the outskirts of elliptical galaxy NGC 4923, both monitored through the Young Supernova Experiment transient survey. The light curves of both, SNe show two peaks, the former peak being derived from shock cooling emission (SCE) and/or shock interaction with circumstellar material (CSM). The primary peak in SN 2021gno is coincident with luminous, rapidly decaying X-ray emission ( L x = 5 × 10 41 erg s −1 ) detected by Swift-XRT at δ t = 1 day after explosion, this observation being the second-ever detection of X-rays from a calcium-strong transient. We interpret the X-ray emission in the context of shock interaction with CSM that extends to r < 3 × 10 14 cm. Based on X-ray modeling, we calculate a CSM mass M CSM = (0.3−1.6) × 10 −3 M ⊙ and density n = (1−4) × 10 10 cm −3 . Radio nondetections indicate a low-density environment at larger radii ( r > 10 16 cm) and mass-loss rate of M ̇ < 10 − 4 M ⊙ yr −1 . SCE modeling of both primary light-curvemore »peaks indicates an extended-progenitor envelope mass M e = 0.02−0.05 M ⊙ and radius R e = 30−230 R ⊙ . The explosion properties suggest progenitor systems containing either a low-mass massive star or a white dwarf (WD), the former being unlikely given the lack of local star formation. Furthermore, the environments of both SNe are consistent with low-mass hybrid He/C/O WD + C/O WD mergers.« less

ABSTRACT We present observations of SN 2020fqv, a Virgo-cluster type II core-collapse supernova (CCSN) with a high temporal resolution light curve from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) covering the time of explosion; ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) starting 3.3 d post-explosion; ground-based spectroscopic observations starting 1.1 d post-explosion; along with extensive photometric observations. Massive stars have complicated mass-loss histories leading up to their death as CCSNe, creating circumstellar medium (CSM) with which the SNe interact. Observations during the first few days post-explosion can provide important information about the mass-loss rate during the late stages of stellar evolution. Model fits to the quasi-bolometric light curve of SN 2020fqv reveal  0.23 M⊙ of CSM confined within  1450 R⊙ (1014 cm) from its progenitor star. Early spectra (<4 d post-explosion), both from HST and ground-based observatories, show emission features from high-ionization metal species from the outer, optically thin part of this CSM. We find that the CSM is consistent with an eruption caused by the injection of ∼5 × 1046 erg into the stellar envelope ∼300 d pre-explosion, potentially from a nuclear burning instability at the onset of oxygen burning. Light-curve fitting, nebular spectroscopy, and pre-explosion HST imaging consistently point to a red supergiant (RSG)more »progenitor with $M_{\rm ZAMS}\approx 13.5\!-\!15 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, typical for SN II progenitor stars. This finding demonstrates that a typical RSG, like the progenitor of SN 2020fqv, has a complicated mass-loss history immediately before core collapse.« less

Primate models are important for understanding human conditions, especially in studies of ageing, pathology, adaptation, and evolution. However, how to integrate data from multiple disciplines and render them compatible with each other for datamining and in-depth study is always challenging. In a long-term project, we have started a collaborative research endeavor to examine the health history of a free-ranging rhesus macaque colony at Cayo Santiago, and build a knowledge model for anthropological and biomedical/translational studies of the effects of environment and genetics on bone development, aging, and pathologies. This paper discusses the conceptual design as well as the prototyping of this model and related graphical user interfaces, and how these will help future scientific queries and studies.

Understanding factors affecting tooth wear in primates is of interest because as teeth wear, their chewing efficiency can change—in some species positively and in others negatively. It is well known that teeth wear with age, but relationships between sex and tooth wear and between body size and tooth wear are less well understood. Here we analyze molar wear scores from a cross-sectional sample of 212 Cayo Santiago rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) adults examined in 1985. Because males are generally larger than females --potentially processing more food over their lifetimes--we hypothesized that with age included in an ordinal logistic regression model, males would exhibit significantly greater wear than females. We further hypothesized that males of larger body mass would exhibit greater wear than males of smaller body mass. Finally, because many of the females were pregnant or lactating at the time of dental examination, we hypothesized that there would be no relationship between body mass and wear in females. We found that with age included in ordinal logistic regression models, males had significantly more worn molars than females, larger males had more worn molars than smaller males, and that for females, molar wear was not significantly related to body mass. Thesemore »results suggest that over the life course, animals with larger body sizes (males vs. females and larger vs. smaller males) may accumulate more wear than those with smaller body sizes. Future analyses to be conducted on the Cayo Santiago monkeys’ skeletal remains will further evaluate this possibility. Funding Sources: The Cayo Santiago colony is supported by NIH 5P40OD012217. This project is supported by NSF grants to DG-S., LK., MZ, and QW (NSF #1926528, 1926481, 1926402, and 1926601).« less