The Na'vi are overall humanoid in their anatomy, though they also possess feline features such as flat, bifurcated noses, large, round eyes, pointed ears that can move independently, and a long, prehensile tail used for gripping and balance. The neck is long and body slender, with a narrow, elongated waist and wide shoulders that create a V-shaped upper back. Despite their thin proportions, their musculature is sharply defined and they have roughly four times the strength of a human in peak physical condition. The Na'vi use their superior strength, agility, and uncanny sense of balance to scale trees, rocks, and other obstacles with ease. In the unlikely case of a fall, they usually escape unharmed, as their bones are reinforced with a type of naturally occurring carbon fiber. Distinctly separating them from humans, native Na'vi possess only four digits on each hand and foot, including an opposable thumb and thumb toe.
red feline on the cross avi
The Na'vi live across various biomes of Pandora in territorial clan societies. They have an egalitarian social organization built around hunting, foraging, and handicraft that is centralized by the worship of Eywa, whom they perceive as an all-encompassing goddess who protects the balance of life on the moon. Following the will of Eywa, the Na'vi strive to live in perfect harmony with their environment, taking only the resources required for their survival. Although each Na'vi clan has its own culture with rich history, art, music, and code of dress, all Na'vi are centralized by the Three Laws of Eywa, or the "Na'vi Way":[9]
These laws give strict boundaries for what is appropriate in Na'vi society and explain much of their lack of technological development. Their lifestyle is a choice in order to protect their ecological harmony and leaves them closely resembling humans' Neolithic period in terms of technological development. With this in mind, the Na'vi do occasionally display a level of advanced technology. They possess crossbows for example, a weapon not developed until the 4th-6th century by humans. The Tawkami clan have also developed a sophisticated form of chemistry and the Anurai clan practice astronomy.[10] The Na'vi also subscribe to several cultural concepts in addition to their laws, such as seeing, a philosophy centered around learning to experience things as if encountering them for the first time and understand others without bias or judgement, and uturu, a custom that dictates that refuge must be provided to all weary travelers who seek it.[11]
The Na'vi language is almost entirely oral, although the Na'vi also utilize sign language and body gestures to communicate. The common Na'vi tongue has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years; although dialects of Na'vi exist, they are all unmistakably variants of the same root. Theories as to why the Na'vi language has remained so consistent vary and point to the Na'vi's oral storytelling traditions, their early domestication of flying mounts allowing them to travel quickly, and the Pandoran neural network, which allows clans to stay connected to one another across vast distances. Na'vi brain structure and memory is also proposed to play a part in this phenomenon.
One of the most famous Na'vi legend tells of the adventures of Omatikaya clan members Entu and Ralu, along with Tsyal of the Tawkami clan. These three youngsters set out on a quest across Pandora and the various Na'vi clans to save the Tree of Souls from the threat of an erupting volcano. Entu, with the help of the artifacts borrowed from various clans, became the first Na'vi to ride the deadly winged toruk, gaining the title of Toruk Makto, uniting all of the clans, and saving his people. Generations later, the tale of Toruk Makto is still sung and influences the actions of a new generation of Na'vi. Since this event, only six other Na'vi have become Toruk Makto, including Jake Sully and Neytiri's great-great-grandfather.
'"Not only are domestic cats not native to the United States and, thus, not a natural part of the environment, their predatory impacts can be substantial," Sizemore observed. "Kays et al. (2020) identified that the impact of pet cats is actually 4-10 times greater than native predators, due in part to the incredibly high density of cats. Across the United States, outdoor cats are estimated to kill 2.4 billion birds every year." As a result, "domestic cats have already contributed to the extinction of 63 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles, and domestic cats are the top source of direct, human-caused bird mortality in the United States."
"The human-cat relationship further complicates ecological interactions like the transmission of zoonotic disease," Herrera noted. "While a human would never knowingly open their doors to a rabid raccoon, owners of indoor-outdoor cats routinely allow their cats to engage in activities where they might contract rabies, then welcome them back into their homes at the end of the day." Notably, cats can harbor SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Epidemiologists know that the more inter-species crossover a virus has, the more opportunities it has to mutate. SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have originated in bats and pangolins before jumping to humans.
Previous publications regarding feeding of PB diets to carnivorous cats have focused either on the content of some essential nutrients in PB cat food or on measurement of some indicators of nutrient status in the blood of cats fed PB diets for at least 1 year [18,19,20,21]. Results from these studies have varied, with dietary nutrient insufficiencies documented [18, 19, 21], but no adverse health or nutritional outcomes detected [20, 21]. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that feeding PB diets to cats may predispose them to health disorders, including lower urinary tract diseases [21, 22]. Other studies have investigated the motivations and attitudes of cat owners towards feeding their cat, finding that meat-abstainers were the only ones who fed their cats PB diets, and that their impetus to do so was based largely on ethics or morality [17, 20, 23]. Currently, only one study investigating owner perception of health in cats fed PB has been published [20]. The objective of this study was to survey a wide sample of cat owners in order to describe beliefs and practices regarding cat health and nutrition and compare between owners of cats fed PB or meat-based [MB] diets. It was hypothesized that resources used for feline nutrition and factors influencing dietary decisions would differ between owners feeding cats PB or MB diets and that there would be a higher prevalence of health disorders among cats fed PB diets. In particular, it was hypothesized that more cats fed PB diets would be reported to have lower urinary tract disorders as compared to cats fed MB diets.
In addition to concerns for health disorders related to inappropriate protein and amino acid provision, concerns regarding the carbohydrate content of PB diets have also been raised. Carbohydrates have been suggested by some to contribute to feline obesity [37, 38]. The proportion of cats reported by the owner to be overweight in this study was in close agreement with the proportion reported to be overweight by the largest USA-based survey of pet owners [26]. Interestingly, BCS were reportedly more ideal and less overweight in cats fed PB than MB diets. The current body of evidence points towards imbalanced energy intake versus expenditure as being the predominant cause of obesity, as opposed to intake of any single macronutrient, though fat, being the most energy-dense and lipogenic nutrient, is of more concern than carbohydrates as a predisposing factor for feline obesity [39,40,41]. For a recent review of the role of carbohydrates in feline nutrition, see Verbrugghe and Hesta, 2017 [42]. It is possible that PB foods fed to cats may have lower dietary fat than MB diets, and likely that the higher fibre levels in plant ingredients versus meat ingredients may reduce energy density, help to regulate glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, and thus be protective against obesity, as has been demonstrated in humans [43,44,45,46]. Similarly, though diets with high levels of carbohydrates have been postulated to contribute to faecal abnormalities in cats [42, 47], with high levels of digestible carbohydrates and soluble fibres potentially causing diarrhoea and high levels of insoluble fibres potentially contributing to constipation, no difference in FS was attributable to a PB compared with a MB diet. Body and faecal condition are two health markers pet owners can easily keep track of at home. Similarly, hair condition, behaviour and activity levels are also commonly considered by pet owners and veterinarians alike to be general indicators of health.
All analyses were performed using Stata/IC 15.1 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas, USA) statistical software package. Descriptive statistics included frequency (n) and percentage (%) presented for most data (type of pets, location and time of cat acquisition, breed, indoor/outdoor management, hunting activity, diet and supplementation, motivators for selection of cat food, resources for information about feline nutrition) [72]. Frequency and percentage were also used within category for data collected using Likert scales and for ranked data. Mean and standard deviation were presented for normally distributed data (cat age, duration of cat ownership, duration of feeding (measured in years), and lifespan of previous cats) [73]. Median and range were presented for ordinal data (BCS, FS) and count data (number of cats kept, number of health disorders per cat).
To keep from being eaten by a modern-day witch (Deborah Harry, Videodrome), a young paperboy weaves three twisted stories to distract her. In "Lot 249," a vengeful college student (Steve Buscemi, Fargo) resuscitates an evil mummy to teach unsuspecting student bodies (Julianne Moore, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Christian Slater, Mr. Robot) a lesson in terror. Then, "Cat From Hell" is a furry black feline who cannot be killed ... he may have nine lives, but those who cross his path are not so lucky. Finally, in "Lover's Vow," a stone gargoyle comes to life ... to commit murder. In this classic cult favorite, fear comes in threes. 2ff7e9595c
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