Science topic

Lemur - Science topic

A genus of the family Lemuridae consisting of five species: L. catta (ring-tailed lemur), L. fulvus, L. macaco (acoumba or black lemur), L. mongoz (mongoose lemur), and L. variegatus (white lemur). Most members of this genus occur in forested areas on Madagascar and the Comoro Islands.
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I am using an ICPMS for my thesis research to study the mineral composition of lemur diets. I am testing different dilutions now (100, 1000, 5000, 10,000 and 20,000-fold) and there are always negative values in my results regardless of the dilution. Do the negative values mean the mineral is not present in the sample, the concentration of the sample is too small to detect? I have a 5 point calibration curve (1 - 0.0001).
Thanks in advance
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Negative values in ICPMS results are usually indicative of a problem with the measurement process or with the sample itself. It is possible that the concentration of the sample is too low to detect, but there may also be other factors at play, such as interference from other elements in the sample or instrument drift. It is recommended to carefully review the experimental conditions and the quality control measures to identify potential sources of error. Additionally, it may be valuable to consult with experts in the field to better understand how to interpret the results and resolve any issues that may be affecting the accuracy of the measurements.
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I have recorded behavioural data, such as incidences of aggression and grooming partners, in a troop of lemurs over three conditions.
What tests should I be using to compare the rates of aggression in the three conditions?
For the grooming partner data, I want to compare grooming between sex dyads. For instance, the frequency of male-male grooming compared to male-female grooming within each condition and then compare the average proportion of grooming between sex dyads in the three conditions. How would I do this?
Thank you in advance for your help. Apologies if this question is poorly worded, I am very new to data analysis.
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Your explanation or the dataset sounds that it will be suitable for a two-way ANOVA. Other things being fine
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I'm trying to find a source of year-by-year climate data (precipitation and temperature data) over at least a 20 year time period, which I can plug into QGIS. I want to calculate inter-year variation in these climate measures, within the geographic ranges of several lemur species on Madagascar. I've already found WorldClim which gives average annual precipitation and temperature, and intra-year variation (seasonality) in the format I want, but I can't get the inter-year data I need from there... any ideas for alternative sources?
Thanks!
Emma
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Great, thanks to all for responding and sharing these links! Will take a look
Best wishes,
Emma
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I have tested that the amount of categories representing threats to lemur conservation is different before and after the visit to a reserve. Is there a test that allows me to explore if this difference can be influenced by the kind of reserve, the presence of photos, foraging, tourists nationality or age?
thank you very much
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Dear Marika
You can use non-parametric test between the two situation i.e. before and after (using repeated measure). if you are having a large number iof variables then you can club them using MCA.
Regards
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I am trying to analyse personality of lemurs using emergence test (measurement of the latence to escape of box over 5 minutes).
I am facing difficulties to determine what kind of distribution this fits, since there are more data close to zero, and then individuals that never excaped at the end of the experiment. Clearly not a gaussian distribution, but when I log-transform and remove both extremities, it looks like one.
Do you advise to transform the data so that it fits a known distribution?
Thank you for your help.
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Thank you for your advise, I will work on it and try to have fun!
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I am currently researching endoparasites found in a species of lemur native to madagascar and how anthropogenic forest fragmentation may result in higher parasite loads. Does anybody know why there would be a higher load at the edge of a fragment compared to the core? 
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It is possible that the presence of pets (dogs etc.) accompanying those human populations in the areas surrounding the fragment edges are the source of parasites?
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I am looking into parasite loads within a species of lemur native to Madagascar and have collected over 100 samples of feces but each sample is only around 1 g, so I need to find a method to effectively analyse the samples without losing loads of eggs. Does anybody have a method that is good for analysing small samples for parasite egg counts?
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Luca - You could also try a Modified Wisconsin technique as described in this link http://plpnemweb.ucdavis.edu/nemaplex/Methods/vetparasites.htm.
It requires no special counting chamber and by using only 1 gram of feces your results would be reported as eggs per gram as opposed to the eggs per 2 or 5 grams in the procedure.  The one problem you will probably encounter is that by using a flotation technique you will miss most trematode eggs.  This could be a problem for you.
How are you saving the fecal samples you collect?  Another method you might consider would be the SAF - ether sedimentation.  It will save all parasites, including protozoa, but would be a bit more time consuming as you would have to count the entire amount of sediment to get your egg numbers.
Hope some of this helps!
Rick
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I was wondering if anyone was aware of any examples of evidence for zoonotic transmission of pathogens from lemurs to humans or vice versa?
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Hi Jan,
We should have another paper out shortly that will give you a little more information on this question. From that same epidemiology study we have some preliminary evidence showing that lemurs in disturbed regions have a higher prevalence of enterobacteria. It should be out in AJP soon!