Abstract: Historically, reports of insectivory in family Pteropodidae have largely been anecdotal and thought to be an incidental corollary of flying-foxes feeding on plant products. More recent direct observations of flying-foxes catching and consuming insects, as well as advances in techniques that increase our ability to detect dietary items, suggest that this behaviour may be deliberate and more common than previously thought. Usually, multiple insects are consumed, but it appears that flying-foxes hunt and eat them one at a time. However, we have collected and photographed oral ejecta pellets under trees with high flying-fox activity, some containing evidence of multiple masticated insects. Further genetic analysis proved that these pellets came from Grey-headed Flying-foxes Pteropus poliocephalus. We propose that flying-foxes use an array of insect feeding strategies, most likely in response to variation in insect abundance and activity, as well as abiotic factors such as light and temperature.

Abstract: Artificial lab manipulation of LD cycles has enabled simulations of the disruptive conditions found in modern human societies, such as jet-lag, night-work and light at night. New techniques using animal models have been developed, and these can greatly improve our understanding of circadian disruption. Some of these techniques, such as in vivo bioluminescence assays, require minimum external light. This requirement is challenging because the usual lighting protocols applied in circadian desynchronization experiments rely on considerable light input. Here, we present a novel LD regimen that can disrupt circadian rhythms with little light per day, based on computer simulations of a model limit-cycle oscillator. The model predicts that a single light pulse per day has the potential to disturb rhythmicity when pulse times are randomly distributed within an interval. Counterintuitively, the rhythm still preserves an underlying 24-h periodicity when this interval is as large as 14 h, indicating that day/night cues are still detectable. Only when pulses are spread throughout the whole 24-h day does the rhythm lose any day-to-day period correlation. In addition, the model also reveals that stronger pulses of brighter light should exacerbate the disrupting effects. We propose the use of this LD schedule-which would be compatible with the requirements of in vivo bioluminescence assays-to help understand circadian disruption and associated illnesses.

Abstract: Lighting technology is rapidly advancing toward shorter wavelength illuminations that offer energy-efficient properties. Along with this advantage, the increased use of such illuminations also poses some health challenges, particularly breast cancer progression. Here, we evaluated the effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) of 4 different spectral compositions (500-595 nm) at 350 Lux on melatonin suppression by measuring its urine metabolite 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, global DNA methylation, tumor growth, metastases formation, and urinary corticosterone levels in 4T1 breast cancer cell-inoculated female BALB/c mice. The results revealed an inverse dose-dependent relationship between wavelength and melatonin suppression. Short wavelength increased tumor growth, promoted lung metastases formation, and advanced DNA hypomethylation, while long wavelength lessened these effects. Melatonin treatment counteracted these effects and resulted in reduced cancer burden. The wavelength suppression threshold for melatonin-induced tumor growth was 500 nm. These results suggest that short wavelength increases cancer burden by inducing aberrant DNA methylation mediated by the suppression of melatonin. Additionally, melatonin suppression and global DNA methylation are suggested as promising biomarkers for early diagnosis and therapy of breast cancer. Finally, ALAN may manifest other physiological responses such as stress responses that may challenge the survival fitness of the animal under natural environments.