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Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that automatically extract information from digital histology images have shown great promise for improving pathological diagnosis. Prior to routine use, it is important to evaluate their predictive performance and obtain regulatory approval. This assessment requires appropriate test datasets. However, compiling such datasets is challenging and specific recommendations are missing. A committee of various stakeholders, including commercial AI developers, pathologists, and researchers, discussed key aspects and conducted extensive literature reviews on test datasets in pathology. Here, we summarize the results and derive general recommendations on compiling test datasets. We address several questions: Which and how many images are needed? How to deal with low-prevalence subsets? How can potential bias be detected? How should datasets be reported? What are the regulatory requirements in different countries? The recommendations are intended to help AI developers demonstrate the utility of their products and to help pathologists and regulatory agencies verify reported performance measures. Further research is needed to formulate criteria for sufficiently representative test datasets so that AI solutions can operate with less user intervention and better support diagnostic workflows in the future.

AbstractWe evaluated the efficacy of fipronil baits in suppressing or eliminating field colonies of Microtermes mycophagus(Desneux) (Blattodea: Termitidae) an important subterranean termite pest in Pakistan. We tested two doses (10 and 30 ppm) of fipronil in toilet paper baits, chosen from laboratory repellency tests. We monitored four colonies for foraging activity for one month before baiting, and mapped foraging territories with termites marked with Nile Blue A and agonistic tests. Before the fipronil baits were installed there were averages of 782–1938 workers and soldiers per bait station in the four colonies. After baiting, the colonies were eliminated as there were no workers per bait station, whereas the control colony had an average of 1142 workers per bait station. The three possibly eliminated colonies consumed around 47 mg of fipronil formulation (4.7 mg active ingredient) in 45–90 days. Our results suggest that baits containing fipronil could provide an economical and feasible alternative for the management of M. mycophagusin structures and buildings in Pakistan.

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate prospective and retrospective memory-coding strategies employed by rhesus monkeys and capuchin monkeys. Subjects were presented with a computerized radial arm maze analog. Monkeys used a joystick to move a cursor to touch identical stimuli spread around the screen. Once the monkeys were proficient at visiting each stimulus once, a delay was inserted into the trial (after 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 stimuli had been touched). Following the delay, monkeys were presented with a forced choice of two stimuli, one that had not yet been touched (correct) and one that had been touched (incorrect). The number of correct responses made after each delay was assessed. With the exception of one rhesus monkey, the animals did not appear to use prospective memory and instead relied heavily on retrospective memory. This result is in contrast to the previously reported results with rats, pigeons, and humans.

Learning styles in capuchin monkeys were assessed with a computerized reversal-learning task called the mediational paradigm. First, monkeys were trained to respond with 90% accuracy on a two-choice discrimination (A+B-−). Then the authors examined differences in performance on three different types of reversal trials (A-−B+, A-−C+, B+C-−), each of which offered differing predictions for performance, depending on whether the monkeys were using associative cues or rule-based strategies. Performance indicated that the monkeys mainly learned to avoid the B stimulus during training, as the A-−C+ condition produced the best performance levels. Therefore, negative stimuli showed greater control over responding after reversal and reflected a more associative rather than rule-based form of learning.

It is unknown whether animals, like humans, can employ behavioural strategies to cope with impulsivity. To examine this question, we tested whether chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) would use self-distraction as a coping strategy in a situation in which they had to continually inhibit responses to accumulating candies in order to earn a greater amount of those rewards. We tested animals in three conditions in which they were sometimes given a set of toys and were sometimes allowed physical access to the accumulating candies. Chimpanzees allowed the rewards to accumulate longer before responding when they could divert their attention to the toys, and they manipulated the toys more when the candies were physically accessible. Thus, chimpanzees engaged in self-distraction with the toys when such behaviour was most beneficial as a coping mechanism.

Drywood termites are able to assess wood size using vibratory signals, although the exact mechanism behind this assessment ability is not known. Important vibratory characteristics such as the modal frequencies of a wooden block depend on its geometry and boundary conditions; however, they are also dependent on the material characteristics of the block, such as mass, density and internal damping. We report here on choice experiments that tested the ability of the drywood termite Cryptotermes secundusto assess wooden block size using a solid wooden block paired with a composite block, the latter made of either wood and aluminium or wood and rubber. Each composite block was constructed to match mass or low-frequency vibratory modes (i.e. fundamental frequency) of the solid wooden block. The termites always chose the blocks with more wood; they moved to the solid wooden blocks usually within a day and then tunnelled further into the solid wooden block by the end of the experiment. Termites offered composite blocks of wood and rubber matched for mass were the slowest to show a preference for the solid wooden block and this preference was the least definitive of any treatment, which indicated that mass and/or damping may play a role in food assessment. This result clearly shows that the termites were not fooled by composite blocks matched for mass or frequency, which implies that they probably employ more than a single simple measure in their food assessment strategy. This implies a degree of sophistication in their ability to assess their environment hitherto unknown. The potential importance of alternative features in the vibrational signals is discussed.

Daily and seasonal changes in foraging activity of subterranean wood-feeding termites are not well known, but their subterranean habit is widely assumed to reduce the effect of the weather on their behaviour. The number of foraging Coptotermes lacteus in artificial feeding stations was examined over 24-h periods during summer and winter in temperate Australia. In summer, termites foraged disparately, with greater numbers found distant from the mounds, whereas in winter termites were clustered in very high numbers near the mounds. Daily patterns were seen in forager numbers: during summer, peaks occurred in late morning and late afternoon and troughs at dawn and noon, whereas in winter a peak occurred at noon and a trough at dawn. These patterns were associated with air and soil temperatures, which indicated that daily and seasonal weather patterns do influence subterranean wood-feeding termites. The foraging pattern is discussed with respect to predator behaviour and how the pattern might be used to infer positioning of cryptic nesting termite species.

Termites inhabit complex underground mounds of intricate stigmergic labyrinthine designs with multiple functions as nursery, food storage and refuge, while maintaining a homeostatic microclimate. Past research studied termite building activities rather than the actual material structure. Yet, prior to understanding how multi-functionality shaped termite building, a thorough grasp of submillimetre mechanistic architecture of mounds is required. Here, we identify for Nasutitermes exitiosusvia granulometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, preferential particle sizes related to coarse silts and unknown mixtures of organic/inorganic components. High-resolution micro-computed X-ray tomography and microindentation tests reveal wall patterns of filigree laminated layers and sub-millimetre porosity wrapped around a coarse-grained inner scaffold. The scaffold geometry, which is designed of a lignin-based composite and densely biocementitious stercoral mortar, resembles that of trabecula cancellous bones. Fractal dimension estimates indicate multi-scaled porosity, important for enhanced evaporative cooling and structural stability. The indentation moduli increase from the outer to the inner wall parts to values higher than those found in loose clays and which exceed locally the properties of anthropogenic cementitious materials. Termites engineer intricately layered biocementitious composites of high elasticity. The multiple-scales and porosity of the structure indicate a potential to pioneer bio-architected lightweight and high-strength materials.

Social spiders accept immigrant spiders into their kin-based groups, suggesting that spiders cannot recognise kin and may lose inclusive fitness benefits. A field and two laboratory experiments on Diaea ergandros, a social crab spider, demonstrated that younger and older instar D. ergandrosdo discriminate siblings, but potential benefits were variable and not equally distributed. First, proportional survival was greater in large groups regardless of the within-group relatedness, so accepting immigrants increases probability of group survival (although relatedness was more important among smaller groups). Second, juvenile D. ergandrosate unrelated spiders instead of siblings when starved, so immigrants might represent a food reserve in times of food shortage. Third, subadult resident, sibling females cannibalised unrelated, immigrant females and their brothers instead of immigrant males when starved, suggesting that subadult female spiders may maximise outbreeding opportunities. These benefits provide selective pressure for groups to accept immigrants, but as benefits are realised differentially, conflict and cooperation will exist within spider groups similar to that shown in other group–living taxa.

The socialDiaeaare non-territorial, periodically-social spiders that do not weave a snare web, a factor considered to be important in spider sociality. Maternal care and heritable retreats are factors common to most group living animals, including socialDiaea; suggesting that they are important factors in the evolution of spider sociality. A 4 year survey, along with field and laboratory experiments revealed that mother spiders provided crucial care in the form of a protectiveEucalyptusleaf nest and large prey for their offspring. After the mother's death, the nest was inherited and expanded by the offspring. Larger groups built larger, more protective nests, but expended less individual effort doing so, and so survived better than smaller groups.

A Dictyoceratid sponge of the genus Fasciospongia from the Philippines contains a new cytotoxic metabolite, glycinylilimaquinone (3), together with the known metabolites ilimaquinone (1) and smenospongine (2). Glycinylilimaquinone (3) was synthesized from ilimaquinone and glycine under basic conditions.

Since the monumental work of Aub and his co-workers1 on lead poisoning, all reports of cases seem dwarfed into insignificance. However, the following reasons justify the case herewith published:Good results were obtained from mobilization treatment."Deleading" resulted in a syndrome similar to tetany on two occasions, in each of which intravenous administration of calcium was immediately and spectacularly effective.The case was not associated with hypertension. REPORT OF A CASE HISTORY. —L. H., aged 48, a plumber, complained of inability to coordinate, particularly in walking. His wife said that he was mentally confused and irritable. He had worked as a plumber many years and had handled considerable red lead. He had also been in many new houses where painting was being done, and had worked a good deal with boiling lead. Therefore, there was a possibility of poisoning from the gastro-intestinal tract, or by droplets and fumes from

Of the malignant tumors occurring in the male, chorionepithelioma is considered to be rare. Some 200 cases have been recorded thus far in the entire literature. Its mode of origin is still uncertain, and many theories have been advanced to explain its presence in the male. These theories have recently been reviewed in a critical survey by Mathieu and Robertson.1 Most authors accept the hypothesis advanced by Schlagenhaufer,2 that chorionepithelioma arises in a teratoma in which some structure having the morphologic value of an included ovum had differentiated into trophoblastic epithelium. Theoretically, teratomas may occur anywhere in the body, and they have been described in such areas as the mediastinum, the abdomen, the jaw and the sacrum. If chorionepitheliomas are to be considered as developing from teratomas, they need not always arise in the testes, although the tumors usually are found in these organs.The existence in the

In 1913 Reschad and Schilling-Torgau1 reported the first case of monocytic leukemia. Two years later the second case was described by Fleischmann.2 In 1930 Dameshek3 reviewed the literature and found only ten acceptable case reports. Clough4 in 1932 brought the number up to twenty-three.On a subsequent examination of the literature a total of seventyseven reports of well established cases were found. Of these four had not been available to previous reviewers, and seventy-three have appeared since Clough's report. The addition of eight cases which have come under our observation and which are herein presented brings the total number of acceptable cases described to eighty-five. In addition to these, approximately twenty-five case reports have been rejected because of insufficient or unconvincing data.Monocytic leukemia has always been regarded as an exceedingly rare disease. However, the many case reports which have been published since interest in the

The physiologic processes of the kidney require certain constant factors. The tissue of the kidney must be normal if it is to concentrate the sodium chloride of the blood and maintain it at a constant level and if it is to maintain the nitrogenous factors of the blood at a normal level. The blood pressure must be within certain normal limits if the kidney is to secrete properly fluid and other products in solution. If the blood pressure is to be maintained at a certain level, the heart or propulsive force must be adequate, and the blood vessels must have a certain tone and consistency. The failure of any of these functions individually results in the failure of the general excretory functions of the kidney as a whole.Physicians are familiar with the pictures that result from damage to the arteries and other blood vessels of the kidneys and those

•About 25% of invasive termites have spread from urban into peri-urban, forested habitats.•Termite spread into forested habitats is slow due to long generation times and short dispersal from alate flight.•Coptotermesspp. attack and may kill living trees so will likely have the greatest ecological impacts among invasive termites.•Fast growing, pioneer tree species with low density wood are most vulnerable to termite attack.•Invasive termite effects on competing wood eating insects and predators are unknown.

Termite mounds built by representatives of the family Termitidae are among the most spectacular constructions in the animal kingdom, reaching 6–8 m in height and housing millions of individuals. Although functional aspects of these structures are well studied, their evolutionary origins remain poorly understood. Australian representatives of the termitid subfamily Nasutitermitinae display a wide variety of nesting habits, making them an ideal group for investigating the evolution of mound building. Because they feed on a variety of substrates, they also provide an opportunity to illuminate the evolution of termite diets. Here, we investigate the evolution of termitid mound building and diet, through a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of Australian Nasutitermitinae. Molecular dating analysis indicates that the subfamily has colonized Australia on three occasions over the past approximately 20 Myr. Ancestral-state reconstruction showed that mound building arose on multiple occasions and from diverse ancestral nesting habits, including arboreal and wood or soil nesting. Grass feeding appears to have evolved from wood feeding via ancestors that fed on both wood and leaf litter. Our results underscore the adaptability of termites to ancient environmental change, and provide novel examples of parallel evolution of extended phenotypes.

We developed 10 microsatellite loci in the primitive termite Mastotermes darwiniensis. The number of alleles per locus ranged from four to 15, and the expected heterozygosites spanned from 0.21 to 0.90, in a sample of 40 workers collected from the Northern Territory, Australia. We also determined that only two loci amplified in five other termite species. The low frequency of cross-amplification probably resulted from the high level of phylogenetic divergence between M. darwiniensis and the other taxa. Thus, although the loci are not widely applicable, they should prove effective in elucidating the genetic structure of M. darwiniensis populations.

Vegetated habitats contain a variety of fine-scale features that can ameliorate temperate extremes. These buffered microhabitats may be used by species to evade extreme weather and novel climates in the future. Yet, the magnitude and extent of this buffering on a global scale remains unknown. Across all tropical continents and using 36 published studies, we assessed temperature buffering from within microhabitats across various habitat strata and structures (e.g. soil, logs, epiphytes and tree holes) and compared them to non-buffered macro-scale ambient temperatures (the thermal control). Microhabitats buffered temperature by 3.9°C and reduced maximum temperatures by 3.5°C. Buffering was most pronounced in tropical lowlands where temperatures were most variable. With the expected increase in extreme weather events, microhabitats should provide species with a local layer of protection that is not captured by traditional climate assessments, which are typically derived from macro-scale temperatures (e.g. satellites). Our data illustrate the need for a next generation of predictive models that account for species' ability to move within microhabitats to exploit favourable buffered microclimates.

A comparative field study was conducted to evaluate the ability of subterranean termites to damage a set of four different plastic materials (cable sheathings) exposed below- and above-ground. Eight pest species from six countries were included, viz., Coptotermes formosanus (Shiraki) in China, Japan, and the United States; Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) in Thailand and Malaysia; Coptotermes curvignathus (Holmgren) and Coptotermes kalshoveni (Kemner) in Malaysia; Coptotermes acinaciformis (Froggatt) with two forms of the species complex and Mastotermes darwiniensis (Froggatt) in Australia; and Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) in the United States. Termite species were separated into four tiers relative to decreasing ability to damage plastics. The first tier, most damaging, included C. acinaciformis, mound-building form, and M. darwiniensis, both from tropical Australia. The second tier included C. acinaciformis, tree-nesting form, from temperate Australia and C. kalshoveni from Southeast Asia. The third tier included C. curvignathus and C. gestroi from Southeast Asia and C. formosanus from China, Japan, and the United States, whereas the fourth tier included only R. flavipes, which caused no damage. A consequence of these results is that plastics considered resistant to termite damage in some locations will not be so in others because of differences in the termite fauna, for example, resistant plastics from the United States and Japan will require further testing in Southeast Asia and Australia. However, plastics considered resistant in Australia will be resistant in all other locations.

A year-long field experiment showed that Reticulitermes flavipes attacked and used single stakes and wooden stake bundles differently in two habitats that varied in alternative forage. In both habitats, the number of termites present in single stakes and stake-bundles increased with stake resource size, and the number of larvae recorded from feeding sites was a close reflection of the number of workers attracted to a given food source. Over 12 mo, more single stakes and stake bundles were heavily attacked and abandoned in the pine woods compared with grassy clearings. Paradoxically, the number of termites present in single stakes and stake bundles was greater in the food-poor habitat (grassy clearings), yet the wood was less consumed compared with the food-rich habitat (pine woods). Use of stake bundles as nests and the slower rate of wood consumption in grassy clearings indicated that termites seemed to value food resources in relative terms, i.e., those termites with abundant alternative food resources consumed quickly and departed, whereas those lacking extra resources ate slowly and settled in. These field results confirm earlier laboratory results that showed that termites modified wood consumption rates dependent on the amount of food available to the colony as a whole. The appearance of mature (physogastric) reproductives (≫1 yr old) in stake bundles in both habitats further indicated that termites track resources and opportunistically shift colony activities and possibly territory boundaries depending on the nature of the resources and other environmental factors. Implications for managing termites with a baiting strategy are discussed.

Although mark-recapture protocols produce inaccurate population estimates of termite colonies, they might be employed to estimate a relative change in colony size. This possibility was tested using two Australian, mound-building, wood-eating, subterranean Coptotermes species. Three different toxicants delivered in baits were used to decrease (but not eliminate) colony size, and a single mark-recapture protocol was used to estimate pre- and postbaiting population sizes. For both species, the numbers of termites retrieved from bait stations varied widely, resulting in no significant differences in the numbers of termites sampled between treatments in either the preor postbaiting protocols. There were significantly fewer termites sampled in all treatments, controls included, in the postbaiting protocol compared with the pre-, suggesting a seasonal change in forager numbers. The comparison of population estimates shows a large decrease in toxicant treated colonies compared with little change in control colonies, which suggests that estimating the relative decline in population size using mark-recapture protocols might to be possible. However, the change in population estimate was due entirely to the significantly lower recapture rate in the control colonies relative to the toxicant treated colonies, as numbers of unmarked termites did not change between treatments. The population estimates should be treated with caution because low recapture rates produce dubious population estimates and, in some cases, postbaiting mark-recapture population estimates could be much greater than those at prebaiting, despite consumption of bait in sufficient quantities to cause population decline. A possible interaction between fat-stain markers and toxicants should be investigated if mark-recapture population estimates are used. Alternative methods of population change are advised, along with other indirect measures.

Colony population size of Coptotermes acinaciformis (Froggatt), a species of mound-building, wood-eating, subterranean termite from tropical Australia, was estimated using a mark–recapture protocol and by direct counts of individuals collected from mounds. The mark–recapture estimates varied widely within and between colonies (0.4–19.1 million), depending on definitions of recaptures (intensity of color), and could be 10 times larger than the direct counts (1.2–1.6 million). Assumptions of the mark–recapture protocol were shown to be violated in field and laboratory tests. Nile blue A, a fatstain marker, did not persist and was transferred by cannibalism. Marked individuals did not mix uniformly with unmarked individuals; instead, foragers displayed feeding-site fidelity. The likelihood of recapture differed between castes and instars, there was a higher recapture rate of large workers and soldiers relative to small workers. These violations would increase population estimates from mark–recapture protocols. These results agree with those found for temperate species, suggesting that the difficulties with mark–recapture protocols are not limited to 1 habitat type or species, and that mark–recapture protocols do not estimate population size accurately.

The snare web is used as a medium for communication between individuals within colonies of social spiders and has therefore been suggested as necessary for the evolution of sociality in the Araneae. The social spider Diaea socialis (Thomisidae) is an exception because it does not build a snare web. Experiments demonstrate that silk attracts all spiders and that a chemical deposited onto the silk attracts adult female spiders, suggesting that the group living of this species is mediated by a pheromone. The pheromone attracts spiders differentially: females are not attracted to juvenile silk, and it repels gravid females. The pheromone appears to be stable but volatile, is ether-soluble, and retains its viability after dissolution. Molecular-ionic masses for 7-8 different compounds were found in the range 220–281 atomic units; the pheromone may be one or a combination of several of these.