This study was designed to evaluate the possible existence of masked gonadotropin binding sites in the corpus luteum of the rhesus monkey. Pretreatment of macaque luteal particulates and cells with neuraminidase increased LH binding. In vitro exposure to alcohols also enhanced LH binding to these preparations. Ethanol modulation of LH binding was a time- and temperature-dependent process. The optimal concentration of ethanol for enhancing LH uptake was inversely proportional to the incubation temperature. Longer straight-chain alcohols were more potent than ethanol in increasing LH binding. Ethanol and neuraminidase increased the number of binding sites with no affect on affinity. Moreover, the effects of ethanol and NA were additive. Since alcohols and temperature are modulators of membrane fluidity, we examined the hypothesis that the unmasking of gonadotropin binding sites may be related to changes in the fluid state of the lipid bilayer of the luteal membrane. First, membrane fluidity was estimated from the fluorescence polarization of the membrane probe diphenylhexatriene. Conditions which resulted in enhanced gonadotropin binding (1-8% ethanol, increased temperature), increased the fluidity of luteal membranes. Moreover, changes in gonadotropin binding were highly correlated (r = -0.97) with changes in membrane fluidity under these conditions. Pretreatment of luteal particulates with neuraminidase had no apparent effect on membrane fluidity. Second, gonadotropin receptors were removed from the luteal membrane by detergent solubilization, and the effects of ethanol on soluble receptors were compared to those on receptors associated with the lipid bilayer. Solubilization resulted in the recovery of 50% more gonadotropin binding sites than are available in particulate preparations of the corpus luteum; these sites displayed lower affinity for gonadotropin. Moreover, conditions which increase LH binding to luteal particulates (1-8% ethanol at 25C) decreased LH uptake by soluble receptors. The data suggest that two populations of LH binding sites are masked within the membranes of the monkey corpus luteum. The ability of two markedly different agents, alcohol and neuraminidase, to increase LH binding indicates the diverse mechanisms may modulate the masking/unmasking of gonadotropin receptors in target cell membranes. As such, changes in membrane fluidity may play an important role in this response.

No description available.

Nonnative species are reshaping global ecosystems. The success of a nonnative species hinges on both biological and cultural variables. Primates represent a minority of nonnative species but warrant research to understand ecological implications and management solutions. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recognizes three species of nonnative primates in Florida that include populations of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in Marion County, squirrel monkeys (Saimiri spp.) in Broward County, and green monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus) in Broward County. This study focused on the Dania Beach C. sabaeus population. The goals of this study were to: 1) determine the geographical origins and species of the monkeys, 2) record demographics and determine population growth rate, 3) assess the public’s perception of monkeys, and 4) understand the influence of human provisioning on the population’s behavior and biology. Public surveys and direct field observations of social groups provided baseline data to show that unlike other introduced primates (e.g., macaques in Marion County and green monkeys in the Caribbean), the Dania Beach monkey population has strong public support and is at risk of extinction within the next 100 years. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This research investigates land use change and the area of occurrence of an introduced primate species, Chlorocebus sabaeus, from 1940 until the present. Research into the importation and subsequent release of these monkeys has revealed that they were released from a failed tourist attraction in 1947. The attraction was located southeast of the Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Remote sensing techniques were utilized to examine land use change over time, create a land classification map, and create a canopy model. These data were used to better understand the area of occurrence of an introduced primate species by examining anthropogenic changes through time and measuring changes in available forest habitat. Corridors, and their transformation through the decades, were evaluated to better understand potential dispersal routes and connectivity to natural areas for colonization. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

It has been well documented that protein calorie malnutrition (PCM) gives rise to physiological and behavioral deficits. These deficits include changes in emotional, exploratory and social behaviors of the malnourished organism. In particular, previous research has demonstrated that Feci from infancy results in avoidance of and failure to initiate social interactions as well as decreased contact with the environment, which in turn, further disrupt emotional and social development. This study examined the effects of chronic protein malnutrition on the social behavior of adult rhesus macaques by experimentally testing the hypothesis that deficient monkeys, unlike normal well-fed ones, are more likely to avoid social encounters than to seek them out. In addition, the animals' social interactions were recorded and analyzed. Subjects consisted of eleven adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Five were fed a protein-deficient diet (3.0 % of total kilocalories) and six were fed adequate amounts of protein (14 % of total kilocalories) from birth. After habituation to the test apparatus, subjects were trained to perform an operant response which opened a sliding door. During training, the response allowed access to food. In the final testing, opening the door allowed access to a social partner. If the subject performed the response and released a social partner, the social behaviors of the pair was recorded for ten minutes. Each subject was given three opportunities, on three separate occasions, to release every other subject. Protein-deficient subjects habituated to the experimental apparatus and acquired a simple operant response at the same rate as the control subjects. The protein-deficient monkeys, however, failed to generalize this operant response as rapidly as the control monkeys. As predicted, protein-deficient monkeys performed an operant response allowing access to a social partner less frequently than did the control monkeys. For like-diet pairings both the control and deficient subjects released approximately 60% of their partners; however, controls were far more likely to release a dissimilar diet partner (84% probability) than were deficient subjects (39% probability). Diet condition of the releasor was a significant factor, whereas diet condition of the release was not. Variables which could confound these findings were examined. It was found that: 1. The difference between diet groups was not accounted for by proximity of home cages; 2. Sex of the animals was not a confounding factor; 3. Although body weight and diet condition were highly correlated, body weight alone did not exert an effect above and beyond that of diet condition; 4. Dominance status, although correlated with both diet condition and body weight, showed only a weak correlation with the likelihood of one subject releasing another when the effect of diet condition was partialed out. In summary, diet condition played the major determining role in the frequency of release rates. Social behavior data was collected throughout the final phase of the experiment. Both groups of animals exhibited minimal play and sexual behaviors. Protein-deficient monkeys were more submissive than their matched controls. Subjects deviated most dramatically from one another in two behavioral clusters: disturbed (defined as self-stimulatory, autistic-like behaviors) and exploratory behaviors. Deficient monkeys engaged in more disturbed behaviors, while control monkeys engaged in more exploratory behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of behavioral similarity to social isolate animals, and possible nutritional-environmental interaction leading to chronic or persistent deficits in social development.

The increase in heroin use is one factor contributing to the current opioid epidemic in the United States. There are three Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), and these include agonist (i.e. methadone and buprenorphine) and antagonist (i.e. naltrexone) therapies. Although these medications are effective for some patients, regulatory constraints for agonist therapies limit access and patient compliance for naltrexone is poor. The development of new therapies, such as immunopharmacotherapies, for the treatment of OUD is a priority for the National Institute of Drug Abuse. A heroin immunopharmacotherapy, or vaccine, produces heroin selective antibodies that bind to and sequester heroin in the periphery. One formulation of a heroin-tetanus toxoid (TT) conjugate vaccine has shown promise in preclinical studies in mice in monkeys but has not been fully assessed to determine independent variables that might impact vaccine effectiveness such as heroin route of administration, species of animal or abuse-related behavioral endpoints. Chapter II of this dissertation aimed to determine effectiveness and selectivity of the heroin-TT conjugate vaccine to alter the antinociceptive effects of subcutaneous and intravenous heroin in male and female rats. In addition, maximal vaccine effects were compared to effects of a positive control naltrexone. Vaccine effectiveness to reduce heroin antinociception was selective, but effectiveness did not depend on route of administration. Furthermore, maximum effects were less than those seen with a clinically meaningful dose of naltrexone. Combining the vaccine with naltrexone enhanced the effectiveness of naltrexone to block the antinociceptive effects of heroin. Chapter III determined vaccine effectiveness and selectivity to block heroin’s discriminative-stimulus effects in nonhuman primates and compared maximal effects produced by vaccine and naltrexone. The heroin vaccine weakly but selectively reduced the abuse-related subjective-like effects of heroin in one of two monkeys. However, chronic naltrexone treatment nonselectively antagonized the abuse-related effects of both heroin and fentanyl, and naltrexone effects were more robust than those of the vaccine. Chapter IV established a translational procedure to assess candidate medication effects on the reinforcing effectiveness of heroin in a heroin versus food choice procedure in rats. In the procedure, rats choose between a liquid food reinforcer and ascending doses of heroin in a 5-component choice procedure. Heroin versus food choice was found to be sensitive to an environmental manipulation of altering response requirement for both reinforcers. Chronic buprenorphine decreased heroin choice, consistent with its FDA-approved indication for treating OUD. Collectively, these data suggest that the current formulation of the heroin-TT conjugate vaccine may not be as effective as naltrexone at decreasing heroin use. However, one potential indication the vaccine may be useful for is as an adjunctive therapy to clinically available agonist or antagonist medications and a heroin versus food choice procedure in rodents would be one way to full assess this preclinically.

<p>There is a long-standing claim that humans and nonhuman primates share an evolutionarily ancient system of nonverbal number representation. By and large, the focus in the field has been on providing existence proofs of numerical competence in wide-ranging taxa or using individual species as models for comparisons with humans. Recent findings in numerical cognition have suggested that evidence for approximate numerical abilities in nonhuman species may indicate that humans and animals share a cognitive system for representing numerosities nonverbally. To date, little is known about the contextual and quantitative limits of that system, or how those limits differ between species. The studies presented here take a comparative, behavioral approach to characterizing species differences and similarities in the approximate number system, and the contexts that affect that system. Collectively, this set of studies provides evidence that the approximate number system evolved in primates as a malleable system in which numerical representations are accessed spontaneously and improved through training. Despite the sensitivity of the system to experience and context individual differences in sensitivity are greater than species differences suggesting that the selective pressures that constrained its evolution were early and general and that species variation in social group size and diet have less influence on the ANS. Finally my studies indicate that the ANS supports approximate arithmetic and is consistent with the idea that ANS representations evolved to allow animals to calculate the world around them.</p> / Dissertation

Humans have a tendency to engage in economically irrational behaviors such as gambling, which typically leads to long-term financial losses. While there has been much research on human gambling behavior, relatively little work has been done to explore the evolutionary origins of this behavior. To examine the adaptive pressures that may have led to this seemingly irrational behavior in humans, nonhuman primates were tested to explore their reactions to gambling type scenarios. Several experiments based on traditional human economic experiments were adapted for use with a wider variety of primate species including chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys. This allowed for testing multiple species using similar methodologies in order to make more accurate comparisons of species abilities. This series of tasks helps to elucidate risky decision-making behavior in three primate species.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-119).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-87). Print copy also available.