Search

Functional responses describe foraging rates across prey densities and underlie many fundamental ecological processes. Most functional response knowledge comes from simplified lab experiments, but we do not know whether these experiments accurately represent foraging in nature. In addition, the difficulty of conducting multispecies functional response experiments means that it is unclear whether interaction strengths are weakened in the presence of multiple prey types. We developed a novel method to estimate wild predators' foraging rates from metabarcoding data and use this method to present functional responses for wild wolf spiders foraging on 27 prey families. These field functional responses were considerably reduced compared to lab functional responses. We further find that foraging is sometimes increased in the presence of other prey types, contrary to expectations. Our novel method for estimating field foraging rates will allow researchers to determine functional responses for wild predators and address long‐standing questions about foraging in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe musculoskeletal diseases, such as those associated with congenital or traumatic events, that result in missing limbs may compromise the fitness and survival of free‐living felids. Here we report the space use of four amputee individuals from three felid species captured from 2017 to 2022 in Missouri (USA), Toledo and Badajoz (Spain), and Suitai Khairkhan Mountain (Mongolia). We describe home ranges and daily travel distances post‐release of free‐living felids that had either suffered a traumatic amputation or following a surgical amputation. We compared these data with those reported in the literature for felids without amputations. Forelimb or hindlimb amputation did not affect the hunting, mating, or territory patrolling behavior of any of the individuals. However, we recorded significant differences in the daily movement before and after the traumatic event of the Iberian lynx forelimb amputee. We attribute this difference to the physical impairment, although we consider other variables that may have played a role. Nevertheless, all animals appeared to cope well with their limb loss, showing home ranges and daily distances within those recorded for their sex and species. Unless amputee felids represent a threat to domestic livestock or humans, our data suggest these individuals may remain free‐living as they contribute to local population persistence and appear to maintain good general health and welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of warming on ecological communities emerge from a range of potentially asymmetric impacts on individual physiology and development. Understanding these responses, however, is limited by our ability to connect mechanisms or emergent patterns across the many processes that drive variation in demography. Further complicating this understanding is the gain or loss of predators to many communities, which may interact with changes in temperature to drive community change. Here we conducted a factorial warming and predation experiment to test generalized predictions about responses to warming. We used microcosms with a range of protists, rotifers, and a gastrotrich, with and without the predator Actinosphaerium, to assess changes in diversity, body size, function, and composition in response to warming. We find that community respiration and predator:prey biovolume ratios peak at intermediate temperatures, while species richness declined with temperature. We also found that overall biomass increased with species richness, driven by the effect of temperature on richness. There was little evidence of an interaction between predation and temperature change, likely because the predator was mostly limited to the intermediate temperatures. Overall, our results suggest that general predictions about community change are still challenging to make but may benefit by considering multiple dimensions of community patterns in an integrated way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Packed cell volume (PCV) is important for assessing a patient's health status. Some blood gas analyzers measure hematocrit, and the agreement with PCV varies among different analyzers. Objectives: We aimed to determine the agreement between PCV measured by microcentrifugation and hematocrit measured by the Cobas b121 blood gas analyzer in dogs, cats, and horses. Methods: Whole blood samples for PCV and blood gas analysis were collected in lithium‐heparin syringes and analyzed within 10 min of collection. Agreement and association between the PCV and Cobas b121 generated hematocrit were assessed by the Bland–Altman method, Pearson's correlation, Deming regression analysis, and paired t tests. A total allowable error of 10% was used for the analysis. Results: This study included 45 dogs, 45 cats, and 33 horses. The respective mean ± SD (minimum‐maximum) of PCVs and hematocrits were: dogs, 34.9 ± 9.9% (9.0–55.0) and 32.5 ± 8.8% (10.4–50.6); cats, 29.0 ± 9.6% (11.0–51.0) and 26.9 ± 9.3% (10.2–50.9); horses, 34.2 ± 6.5% (24.0–47.0) and 34.1 ± 6.0% (22.5–46.1). There were no significant differences between the methods. The bias ± SD was: dogs, −2.4 ± 2.6%; cats, −2.2 ± 2.3%; horses, −0.1 ± 2.4%. Pearson's correlation coefficients were > 0.90 for all species (P < 0.0001). In 60%, 49%, and 85% of the samples for dogs, cats, and horses, respectively, the percentage differences between the methods were within 10%. Conclusions: The Cobas b121 blood gas analyzer provided accurate estimates of PCVs in horses. However, in dogs and cats, there was a large frequency of unacceptable differences between the methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niche differentiation and intraguild predation (IGP) can allow ecologically similar species to coexist, although it is unclear which coexistence mechanism predominates in consumer communities. Until now, a limited ability to quantify diets from metabarcoding data has precluded the use of sequencing data to determine the relative importance of these mechanisms.Here, we pair a recent metabarcoding quantification approach with stable isotope analysis to examine diet composition in a wolf spider community.We compare the prevalence of resource partitioning and IGP in these spiders and test whether factors that influence foraging performance, including individual identity, morphology, prey community and environmental conditions, can explain variation in diet composition and IGP.Extensive IGP is likely the primary coexistence mechanism in this community, and other factors to which foraging variation is often attributed do not explain diet composition and IGP here. Rather, IGP increases as prey diversity decreases.Foragers are driven to IGP where resource niches are limited. We highlight the need to examine how drivers of predator–prey interaction strengths translate into foraging in natural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence suggests that there is a spontaneous preference for numerical, compared to non‐numerical (e.g., cumulative surface area), information. However, given a paucity of research on the perception of non‐numerical magnitudes, it is unclear whether this preference reflects a specific bias towards number, or a general bias towards the more perceptually discriminable dimension (i.e., number). Here, we found that when the number and area of visual dot displays were matched in mathematical ratio, number was more perceptually discriminable than area in both adults and children. Moreover, both adults and children preferentially categorized these ratio‐matched stimuli based on number, consistent with previous work. However, when number and area were matched in perceptual discriminability, a different pattern of results emerged. In particular, children preferentially categorized stimuli based on area, suggesting that children's previously observed number bias may be due to a mismatch in the perceptual discriminability of number and area, not an intrinsic salience of number. Interestingly, adults continued to categorize the displays on the basis of number. Altogether, these findings suggest a dominant role for area during childhood, refuting the claim that number is inherently and uniquely salient. Yet they also reveal an increased salience of number that emerges over development. Potential explanations for this developmental shift are discussed. Research Highlights: Previous work found that children and adults spontaneously categorized dot array stimuli by number, over other magnitudes (e.g., area), suggesting number is uniquely salient.However, here we found that when number and area were matched by ratio, as in prior work, number was significantly more perceptually discriminable than area.When number and area were made equally discriminable ('perceptually‐matched'), children, contra adults, spontaneously categorized stimuli by area over number (and other non‐numerical magnitudes).These findings suggest that area may be uniquely salient early in childhood, with the previously‐observed number bias not emerging until later in development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The maintenance of snakes in captivity for venom extraction and antivenom production is essential due to the high incidence of snake envenomation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Hematology and biochemistry are valuable in the laboratory evaluation of these animals, which indirectly improves their health and welfare. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the reference intervals for hematologic and plasma biochemistry variables in Bothrops pubescens snakes kept in captivity and to examine sex variation. Methods: Blood samples from 20 healthy B pubescens snakes were collected for hematologic and biochemistry evaluations and compared between sexes. The sample analysis consisted of a complete blood count using manual methods previously described, and blood cell morphology evaluation. Plasma biochemistry consisted of albumin, uric acid, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase, and total plasma protein measurements. Results: Hematologic and biochemical variables were demonstrated to be different when compared with previously published values. A difference between the sexes was not observed for B pubescens. Conclusions: Given that many illnesses can lead to laboratory alterations, knowledge about the reference intervals of healthy captive animals is essential to evaluate the health status and correct management of these snakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary metabarcoding—the process of taxonomic identification of food species from DNA in consumer guts or faeces—has been rapidly adopted by ecologists to gain insights into biocontrol, invasive species and the structure of food webs. However, an outstanding issue with metabarcoding is the semi‐quantitative nature of the data it provides: because metabarcoding is likely to produce false negatives for some prey more often than for other prey, we cannot infer relative frequencies of prey in the diet. To correct for this, we can adjust detected prey frequencies using DNA detectability half‐lives unique to each predator–prey combination. Because the feeding experiments required to deduce these half‐lives are time‐ and resource‐intensive, our ability to weight the frequency of observations using their detectability has thus far been limited to systems with just a few prey. Here, we present a meta‐analysis of 24 spider prey DNA half‐lives and show that these half‐lives are predictable given predator and prey mass, predator family, digestion temperature and DNA amplicon length. We further provide a new technique for weighting observations with half‐lives, which allows not just for the ranking of prey in the diet, but reveals the proportion of the diet each prey comprises. Lastly, we apply this method to published dietary metabarcoding data to calculate half‐lives and proportion of the predator's diet for 35 prey families, demonstrating that this technique can generate improved understanding of diets in real, diverse systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: It is debated whether the inhibition of glucagon secretion by glucose results from direct effects of glucose on the α‐cell (intrinsic regulation) or by paracrine effects exerted by beta‐ or delta‐cell products. Methods: To study this in a more physiological model than isolated islets, we perfused isolated rat pancreases and measured glucagon, insulin and somatostatin secretion in response to graded increases in perfusate glucose concentration (from 3.5 to 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 mmol/L) as well as glucagon responses to blockage/activation of insulin/GABA/somatostatin signalling with or without addition of glucose. Results: Glucagon secretion was reduced by about 50% (compared to baseline secretion at 3.5 mmol/L) within minutes after increasing glucose from 4 to 5 mmol/L (P <.01, n = 13). Insulin secretion was increased minimally, but significantly, compared to baseline (3.5 mmol/L) at 4 mmol/L, whereas somatostatin secretion was not significantly increased from baseline until 7 mmol/L. Hereafter secretion of both increased gradually up to 12 mmol/L glucose. Neither recombinant insulin (1 µmol/L), GABA (300 µmol/L) or the insulin‐receptor antagonist S961 (at 1 µmol/L) affected basal (3.5 mmol/L) or glucose‐induced (5.0 mmol/L) attenuation of glucagon secretion (n = 7‐8). Somatostatin‐14 attenuated glucagon secretion by ~ 95%, and blockage of somatostatin‐receptor (SSTR)‐2 or combined blockage of SSTR‐2, −3 and −5 by specific antagonists increased glucagon output (at 3.5 mmol/L glucose) and prevented glucose‐induced (from 3.5 to 5.0 mmol/L) suppression of secretion. Conclusion: Somatostatin is a powerful and tonic inhibitor of glucagon secretion from the rat pancreas and is required for glucose to inhibit glucagon secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional responses describe how consumer foraging rates change with resource density. Despite extensive research looking at the factors underlying foraging interactions, there remains ongoing controversy about how temperature and body size control the functional response parameters space clearance (or attack) rate and handling time. Here, we investigate the effects of temperature, consumer mass, and resource mass using the largest compilation of functional responses yet assembled. This compilation contains 2,083 functional response curves covering a wide range of foragers and prey types, environmental conditions, and habitats. After accounting for experimental arena size, dimensionality of the foraging interaction, and consumer taxon, we find that both space clearance rate and handling time are optimized at intermediate temperatures (a unimodal rather than monotonic response), suggesting that the response to global climate change depends on the location of the consumer's current temperature relative to the optimum. We further confirm that functional responses are higher and steeper for large consumers and small resources, and models using consumer and resource masses separately outperformed models using consumer:resource mass ratios, suggesting that consumer and resource body mass act independently to set interaction strengths. Lastly, we show that the extent to which foraging is affected by temperature or mass depends on the taxonomic identity of the consumer and the dimensionality of the consumer–resource interaction. We thus argue that although overall body size and temperature effects can be identified, they are not universal, and therefore food web and community modeling approaches could be improved by considering taxonomic identity along with body size and unimodal temperature effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of climate change—such as increased temperature variability and novel predators—rarely happen in isolation, but it is unclear how organisms cope with multiple stressors simultaneously. To explore this, we grew replicate Paramecium caudatum populations in either constant or variable temperatures and exposed half to predation. We then fit thermal performance curves (TPCs) of intrinsic growth rate (rmax) for each replicate population (N = 12) across seven temperatures (10°C–38°C). TPCs of P. caudatum exposed to both temperature variability and predation responded only to one or the other (but not both), resulting in unpredictable outcomes. These changes in TPCs were accompanied by changes in cell morphology. Although cell volume was conserved across treatments, cells became narrower in response to temperature variability and rounder in response to predation. Our findings suggest that predation and temperature variability produce conflicting pressures on both thermal performance and cell morphology. Lastly, we found a strong correlation between changes in cell morphology and TPC parameters in response to predation, suggesting that responses to opposing selective pressures could be constrained by trade‐offs. Our results shed new light on how environmental and ecological pressures interact to elicit changes in characteristics at both the individual and population levels. We further suggest that morphological responses to interactive environmental forces may modulate population‐level responses, making prediction of long‐term responses to environmental change challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Metabolism is the fundamental process that powers life. Understanding what drives metabolism is therefore critical to our understanding of the ecology and behaviour of organisms in nature. 2. Metabolic rate generally scales with body size according to a power law. However, considerable unexplained variation in metabolic rate remains after accounting for body mass with scaling functions. 3. We measured resting metabolic rates (oxygen consumption) of 227 field‐caught wolf spiders. Then, we tested for effects of body mass, species, and body condition on metabolic rate. 4. Metabolic rate scales with body mass to the 0.85 power in these wolf spiders, and there are metabolic rate differences between species. After accounting for these factors, residual variation in metabolic rate is related to spider body condition (abdomen:cephalothorax ratio). Spiders with better body condition consume more oxygen. 5. These results indicate that recent foraging history is an important determinant of metabolic rate, suggesting that although body mass and taxonomic identity are important, other factors can provide helpful insights into metabolic rate variation in ecological communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Functional response studies are often used to determine the suitability of predators as biocontrol agents. Ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are often used for the control of crop pests such as aphids. However, most functional response studies on coccinellids compare a limited number of species at different life stages, temperatures or sexes. A large‐scale comparison of ladybird beetle functional responses is needed to evaluate the utility of these species as potential biocontrol predators and to understand the traits that influence the interaction strength between ladybird beetles and their prey. We compiled 158 ladybird beetle functional responses from 30 studies and tested for effects of taxa, traits, temperature and arena size on functional response parameters using linear mixed‐effects models. Our results show that functional response parameters (handling time and space clearance rate) are affected by predator stage, predator mass, prey type, temperature and arena size. Although complicated by interaction terms, space clearance rate generally increased with predator size, temperature and predator stage, while handling time decreased with predator size, temperature and predator stage. Coleopteran prey induced the highest handling times. Our results also show that experimental arena size has a large, consistent effect on space clearance rate. Arena size is more important in determining foraging rates at low prey densities than any other factor considered here, including predator mass and temperature. Efforts to use laboratory‐based functional response experiments to evaluate the efficacy of biocontrol predators are therefore confounded by the choice of arena size. Synthesis and applications. In addition to confirming known body mass and temperature effects, our study reveals previously unclear age‐related effects and the importance of prey types, which can be used to optimize biocontrol programmes. The arena size effect is unexpected and problematic because failure to account for arena size precludes accurate comparison of biocontrol predator effectiveness. We suggest managers and biocontrol practitioners re‐evaluate the efficacy of candidate biocontrol predators, perhaps by statistically controlling for arena size to minimize the influence of this widely unconsidered factor on functional response estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of evidence suggests that non-symbolic representations of number, which humans share with nonhuman animals, are functionally related to uniquely human mathematical thought. Other research suggesting that numerical and non-numerical magnitudes not only share analog format but also form part of a general magnitude system raises questions about whether the non-symbolic basis of mathematical thinking is unique to numerical magnitude. Here we examined this issue in 5- and 6-year-old children using comparison tasks of non-symbolic number arrays and cumulative area as well as standardized tests of math competence. One set of findings revealed that scores on both magnitude comparison tasks were modulated by ratio, consistent with shared analog format. Moreover, scores on these tasks were moderately correlated, suggesting overlap in the precision of numerical and non-numerical magnitudes, as expected under a general magnitude system. Another set of findings revealed that the precision of both types of magnitude contributed shared and unique variance to the same math measures (e.g. calculation and geometry), after accounting for age and verbal competence. These findings argue against an exclusive role for non-symbolic number in supporting early mathematical understanding. Moreover, they suggest that mathematical understanding may be rooted in a general system of magnitude representation that is not specific to numerical magnitude but that also encompasses non-numerical magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chewing impairment has been observed in elders with Alzheimer's disease ( AD); however, it is unknown whether oral rehabilitation can improve their masticatory function. This study evaluated the influence of new removable prostheses on chewing function of patients with AD. Participants using removable dentures were divided into two groups: patients with mild AD (77·2 ± 5·8 years, n = 16) and controls (76·0 ± 4·4, n = 16). All participants received general dental treatment and new total and/or partial removable prostheses. After 2 months of adaptation to the new dentures, chewing was evaluated by the following parameters: masticatory cycle time ( CT), cycle velocity ( CV), and opening ( OA) and closing mandibular angles ( CA), registered by a kinesiographic device. Maximum bite force ( MBF) was assessed using a strain sensor. Evaluations were performed at baseline and after insertion of the new prostheses. A mixed model ( α = 5%) was used for within- and between-subject analyses. After insertion of new prostheses, CT was reduced, and CV and MBF were increased in both groups ( P < 0·05). There were no changes in OA or CA ( P > 0·05). Compared to controls, elders with AD showed higher CT and reduced MBF and CV both at baseline and after insertion of new prostheses ( P < 0·05). However, OA and CA did not differ between groups ( P > 0·05). Insertion of new removable prostheses improved masticatory function in elders with and without AD, but patients with mild AD still had reduced chewing parameters compared to controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is surprising that there are inconsistent findings of transitive inference ( TI) in young infants given that non-linguistic species succeed on TI tests. To conclusively test for TI in infants, we developed a task within the social domain, with which infants are known to show sophistication. We familiarized 10- to 13-month-olds ( M = 11.53 months) to a video of two dominance interactions between three puppets (bear > elephant; hippo > bear) consistent with a dominance hierarchy (hippo > bear > elephant; where '>' denotes greater dominance). Infants then viewed interactions between the two puppets that had not interacted during familiarization. These interactions were either congruent (hippo > elephant) or incongruent (elephant > hippo) with the inferred hierarchy. Consistent with TI, infants looked longer to incongruent than congruent displays. Control conditions ruled out the possibility that infants' expectations were based on stable behaviors specific to individual puppets rather than their inferred transitive dominance relations. We suggest that TI may be supported by phylogenetically ancient mechanisms of ordinal representation and visuospatial processing that come online early in human development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objects on a collision course with an observer produce a specific pattern of optical expansion on the retina known as looming, which in theory exactly specifies the time-to-collision ( TTC) of approaching objects. It was recently demonstrated that the affective content of looming stimuli influences perceived TTC, with threatening objects judged as approaching sooner than non-threatening objects. Here, the neural mechanisms by which perceived threat modulates spatiotemporal perception were investigated. Participants judged the TTC of threatening (snakes, spiders) or non-threatening (butterflies, rabbits) stimuli, which expanded in size at a rate indicating one of five TTCs. Visual-evoked potentials ( VEPs) and oscillatory neural responses measured with electroencephalography were analysed. The arrival time of threatening stimuli was underestimated compared with non-threatening stimuli, though an interaction suggested that this underestimation was not constant across TTCs. Further, both speed of approach and threat modulated both VEPs and oscillatory responses. Speed of approach modulated the N1 parietal and oscillations in the beta band. Threat modulated several VEP components (P1, N1 frontal, N1 occipital, early posterior negativity and late positive potential) and oscillations in the alpha and high gamma band. The results for the high gamma band suggest an interaction between these two factors. Previous evidence suggests that looming stimuli activate sensorimotor areas, even in the absence of an intended action. The current results show that threat disrupts the synchronization over the sensorimotor areas that are likely activated by the presentation of a looming stimulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional responses, the relationships between consumer foraging rate and resource (prey) density, provide key insights into consumer–resource interactions while also being a major driver of population dynamics and food web structure. We present a global database of 2598 standardized functional responses and parameters extracted from the published literature. We refit the functional responses with a Type II model using standardized methods and report the fitted parameters along with data on experimental conditions, consumer and resource taxonomy and type, as well as the habitat and dimensionality of the foraging interaction. The consumer and resource species covered here are taxonomically diverse, from protozoans filtering algae to wasps parasitizing moth larvae to wolves hunting moose. The FoRAGE (Functional Responses from Around the Globe in all Ecosystems) database (doi: 10.5063/DB807S) is a living data set that will be updated periodically as new functional responses are published. Data are released under a CC‐By‐NC‐SA license, and credit should be given to this paper when referring to this specific version of the data release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial cognition plays an essential role in everyday functioning and provides a foundation for successful performance in scientific and technological fields. Reasoning about space involves processing information about distance, angles, and direction. Starting from infancy, children display sensitivity to these spatial properties, although their initial skills are quite limited. Subsequent development during early childhood and through the elementary school years involves gradual improvement in the use of individual frames of reference (i.e., egocentric and allocentric), as well as in the ability to flexibly combine different types of spatial information. Similarly, there is a relatively long progression from the starting points, when infants and young children display sensitivity to distance and form simple spatial categories, to more mature spatial competence when older children and adults integrate distance and categorical information hierarchically. Such developments are associated with both the maturation of specific brain regions and accumulating experience, including interactions with the physical world and the acquisition of cultural tools. In particular, the mastery of symbolic spatial representations, such as maps and models, significantly augments basic spatial capabilities. While growing evidence implicates both biological and experiential factors in the development of spatial cognition, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the developmental process requires further investigation of how such factors interact to produce organisms that function competently in their environments. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:349-362. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1171 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When geometric and non-geometric information are both available for specifying location, men have been shown to rely more heavily on geometry compared to women. To shed insight on the nature and developmental origins of this sex difference, we examined how 18- to 24-month-olds represented the geometry of a surrounding (rectangular) space when direct non-geometric information (i.e. a beacon) was also available for localizing a hidden object. Children were tested on a disorientation task with multiple phases. Across experiments, boys relied more heavily than girls on geometry to guide localization, as indicated by their errors during the initial phase of the task, and by their search choices following transformations that left only geometry available, or that, under limited conditions, created a conflict between beacon and geometry. Analyses of search times suggested that girls, like boys, had encoded geometry, and testing in a square space ruled out explanations concerned with motivational and methodological variables. Taken together, the findings provide evidence for an early sex difference in the weighting of geometry. This sex difference, we suggest, reflects subtle variation in how boys and girls approach the problem of combining multiple sources of location information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence that, from an early age, humans are sensitive to spatial information such as simple landmarks and the size of objects. This study concerns the ability to represent a particular kind of spatial information, namely, the geometry of an enclosed layout - an ability present in older children, adults, and nonhuman animals (e.g., Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996). Using a looking-time procedure, 4.5- to 6.5-month-olds were tested on whether they could distinguish among the corners of an isosceles triangle. On each trial, the target corner was marked by a red dot. The stimulus (triangle with dot) appeared from different orientations across trials, ensuring that only cues related to the triangle itself could be used to differentiate the corners. When orientations were highly variable, infants discriminated the unique corner (i.e., the corner with the smaller angle and two equal-length sides) from a nonunique corner; they could not discriminate between the two nonunique corners. With less variable orientations, however, infants did discriminate between the nonunique corners of the isosceles triangle. Implications for how infants represent geometric cues are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both animals and human toddlers can find an object in a rectangular enclosure after they have been disoriented. They use geometric cues (relative lengths of walls) to discriminate among different corners (e.g. long wall to the left, short to the right). It has been claimed that this ability is ‘modular’, i.e. exclusively geometric. The present study demonstrates that the ability toddlers exhibit is a more general one, namely, an ability to discriminate relative quantity. Using a square enclosure, we show that toddlers use the relative sizes of the figures on different walls to characterize different corners. We also show that they do not use simple non-relative features to distinguish different corners. Possible reasons for differences in the ability to use relative versus non-relative cues are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Helicobacter pylori clarithromycin resistance is increasing worldwide and different mutations are involved in its mechanisms. Recently, molecular methods have been proposed to assess these mutations. Aim To assess prevalence of primary clarithromycin resistance in two Italian areas, and the distribution of involved mutations, by using a novel method for real-time polymerase chain reaction. Methods Two hundred and thirty-two H. pylori-positive patients undergoing oesophagogastroduodenoscopy in two Italian towns (Rome, centre Italy; Foggia, south Italy) were enrolled. Helicobacter pylori infection was detected by histology, rapid urease and urea breath tests. Clarithromycin resistance was assessed by TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction on paraffin-embedded antral biopsies. Results Primary clarithromycin resistance was detected in 62 (26.7%) patients. Its prevalence did not differ between the two areas (31.5%, centre vs. 23.3%, south; P = 0.17) and between non-ulcer dyspepsia and peptic ulcer patients (28.4% vs. 20.7%, P = 0.2). The A2143G point mutation was detected in 35 (56.4%) patients, A2142G in 14 (22.6%), A2142C in eight (12.9%), whilst a double mutation (A2143G plus A2142C or A2142G) was present in the remaining five (8.1%) cases. Conclusions Our study found that primary clarithromycin resistance is highly prevalent in both central and southern Italy, and that A2143G is the most frequent point mutation involved in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional skin hypoplasia has been described in several genetic syndromes, including focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH), microphthalmia with linear skin defects (MLS), oculocerebrocutaneous syndrome (OCCS), and terminal osseous dysplasia and pigmentary defects (TODP). All but OCCS have been reported to follow an X-linked inheritance pattern. We describe a 14-year-old girl with clinical features overlapping with these disorders. She had mild mental retardation, macrocephaly, microphthalmia, right-sided morning glory optic disc anomaly, palmar and lip pits, and polysyndactyly. A swirling pattern of skin hypopigmentation, papular hypopigmented and herniated skin lesions reminiscent of FDH most prominent over her face, head, hands, and feet was evident. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed polymicrogyria (most severely in the perisylvian and mesial frontal regions), enlarged left lateral ventricle, partial agenesis of the corpus callosum, and optic nerve tumor on the right. Dermatopathologic examination of the skin lesions was consistent with basaloid follicular hamartomas. The skin and digit anomalies observed overlap with FDH, but polymicrogyria, basaloid follicular hamartomas, optic nerve tumor, and morning glory anomaly have not previously been described in FDH. Skin defects in MLS are linear and the eyes typically have sclerocornea. Polymicrogyria has been described in OCCS, but not in any of the other three syndromes. The limb anomalies in TODP are reductions rather than polysyndactyly. Skin defects are localized to the face, and digital fibromas usually occur. While significant overlap exists between all four of the syndromes discussed, we believe that the constellation of anomalies observed in this girl most likely comprises a newly recognized syndrome. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn (SFNN) is an uncommon self-limiting panniculitis. Lesions may be fluctuant and spontaneously drain. Here we report a technique to rapidly confirm the diagnosis of SFNN when fluctuance exists via a touch preparation that demonstrates the characteristic histologic features of this condition. The material can be collected by fine needle aspirate, from draining fluctuant lesions, or if biopsy if performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how a previously reported simple culture technique could be utilized to detect the presence of pemphigus antibodies when it is suspected that autoantibodies may be interfering with their detection. The case reported demonstrates how, despite a positive direct IF on involved skin, a negative indirect IF for pemphigus antibodies may still be obtained. An indirect IF test may be negative for the following reasons: very low amounts of circulating pemphigus antibody found in cases of early disease or those in remission, the prozone phenomenon, species and/or organ substrate specificity or the phenomenon of autoantibody interference.

Accumulating evidence suggests that different magnitudes (e.g., number, size, and duration) are spatialized in the mind according to a common left–right metric, consistent with a generalized system for representing magnitude. A previous study conducted by two of us (Holmes & Lourenco,) provided evidence that this metric extends to the processing of emotional magnitude, or the intensity of emotion expressed in faces. Recently, however, Pitt and Casasanto () showed that the earlier effects may have been driven by a left–right mapping of mouth size rather than emotional magnitude, and they found no evidence for an emotional magnitude mapping when using words as stimuli. Here, we report two new experiments that further examine these conclusions. In Experiment 1, using face stimuli with mouths occluded, we replicate the original finding: Less emotional faces were associated with the left and more emotional faces with the right. However, we also find that people can reliably infer the sizes of the occluded mouths, and that these inferred mouth sizes can explain the observed left–right mapping. In Experiment 2, we show that comparative judgments of emotional words yield a left–right mapping of emotional magnitude not attributable to stimulus confounds. Based on these findings, we concur with Pitt and Casasanto that faces pose challenges for isolating the forces driving spatialization, but we suggest that emotional magnitude, when assessed using unconfounded stimuli in a sufficiently sensitive task, may indeed be spatialized as originally proposed. Suggestions for further research on the spatialization of emotional magnitude are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is general agreement that humans represent numerical, spatial, and temporal magnitudes from early in development. However, there is disagreement about whether different magnitudes converge within a general magnitude system and whether this system supports behavioral demonstrations of cross‐magnitude interactions at different developmental time points. Using a longitudinal design, we found a relation between children's cross‐magnitude interactions assessed at two developmental time points with different behavioral measures. More specifically, stronger cross‐magnitude interactions in infancy (M = 9.3 months) predicted a stronger cross‐magnitude congruity effect at preschool age (M = 44.2 months), even when controlling for performance on measures of inhibitory control, analogical reasoning, and verbal competence at preschool age. The results suggest a common mechanism for cross‐magnitude interactions at different points in development as well as stability of the underlying individual differences. We argue that this mechanism reflects a nonverbal general magnitude system that is operational early in life and that displays continuity from infancy to preschool age. Cross‐magnitude interactions in infancy predicted a congruity effect between numerical and spatial magnitudes at preschool age, not accounted for by individual differences in verbal competence, analogical reasoning, or inhibitory control. This result suggests the existence of a nonverbal general magnitude system that represents numerical and non‐numerical magnitudes and that displays continuity from infancy to preschool age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings from diverse fields of study, including neuroscience, psychology, zoology, and sociology, demonstrate that human and non‐human primates maintain a representation of the space immediately surrounding the body, known as peripersonal space (PPS). However, progress in this field has been hampered by the lack of an agreed upon definition of PPS. Since the beginning of its formal study, scientists have argued that PPS plays a crucial role in both defensive and non‐defensive actions. Yet consensus is lacking about the cognitive and neural instantiation of these functions. In particular, researchers have begun to ask whether a single, unified system of spatial‐attentional resources supports both the defensive and non‐defensive functions of PPS or, rather, whether there are multiple, independent systems. Moreover, there are open questions about the specificity of PPS. For example: Does PPS dissociate from other well‐known phenomena such as personal space and the body schema? Finally, emerging research has brought attention to important questions about individual differences in the flexibility of PPS and the distribution of PPS in front compared to behind the body. In this advanced review, we shed light on questions about the nature of PPS, offering answers when the research permits or providing recommendations for achieving answers in future research. In so doing, we lay the groundwork for a comprehensive definition of PPS. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of CognitionPsychology > AttentionPsychology > Perception and PsychophysicsNeuroscience > Plasticity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel) has revolutionized the treatment of patients affected by mantle cell lymphomas. In this prospective, observational multicentre study, we evaluated 106 patients, with longitudinal brexu-cel kinetics in peripheral blood monitored in 61 of them. Clinical outcomes and toxicities are consistent with previous real-world evidence studies. Notably, beyond established poor prognostic factors-such as blastoid variant and elevated lactate dehydrogenase-Bruton tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (BTKi) refractoriness and platelet count emerged as significant predictors of survival. Specifically, the 1-year overall survival was 56% in BTKi-refractory patients compared to 92% in BTKi-relapsed patients (p = 0.0001). Our study also demonstrated that in-vivo monitoring of brexu-cel expansion is feasible and correlates with progression-free survival and toxicities. Progression-free survival at 1 year was 74% in patients categorized as strong expanders, based on brexu-cel peak concentration, versus 54% in poor expanders (p = 0.02). Furthermore, in-vivo expansion helped identify a high-risk group of non-responders, those with progressive or stable disease at the 90-day post-infusion evaluation (OR = 4.7, 95% CI = 1.1-34, p = 0.04) characterized by dismal outcomes. When integrated with other clinical factors, monitoring brexu-cel expansion could assist in recognizing patients at high risk of early relapse., (© 2024 The Author(s). British Journal of Haematology published by British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

We report a case of a patient with complete sternal destruction after cardiac surgery, who underwent total sternal replacement with sternal allograft, titanium bars, and screws., (© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Although the stomach is the most frequent site of intestinal lymphomas, few data are available on both clinical endoscopic presentation of gastric lymphoma and possible differences between low-grade and high-grade lymphomas., Methods: Clinical, histological and endoscopic records of consecutive patients with primary low-grade or high-grade lymphoma diagnosed were retrieved. Symptoms were categorized as 'alarm' or 'not alarm'. The endoscopic findings were classified as 'normal' or 'abnormal'., Results: Overall, 144 patients with primary gastric lymphoma were detected, including 74 low-grade and 70 high-grade lymphoma. Alarm symptoms, particularly persistent vomiting and weight loss, were more frequently present in patients with high-grade lymphoma than in those with low-grade lymphoma (54% vs. 28%; P = 0.002). Low-grade lymphomas presented as 'normal' appearing mucosa (20% vs. 0%; P = 0.0004) or petechial haemorrhage in the fundus (9% vs. 0%; P = 0.02) more frequently than high-grade lymphomas, being also more often confined to the antrum (47% vs. 27%, P = 0.03) and associated with Helicobacter pylori infection (88% vs. 52%, P < 0.0001). On the contrary, high-grade lymphomas presented more commonly as ulcerative type (70% vs. 52%; P = 0.03), being also more frequently diagnosed in stage >I when compared with low-grade lymphomas (70% vs. 21%, P < 0.0001)., Conclusions: The overall prevalence of alarm symptoms is quite low and may be absent in more than 70% of patients with low-grade lymphoma.

Regional skin hypoplasia has been described in several genetic syndromes, including focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH), microphthalmia with linear skin defects (MLS), oculocerebrocutaneous syndrome (OCCS), and terminal osseous dysplasia and pigmentary defects (TODP). All but OCCS have been reported to follow an X-linked inheritance pattern. We describe a 14-year-old girl with clinical features overlapping with these disorders. She had mild mental retardation, macrocephaly, microphthalmia, right-sided morning glory optic disc anomaly, palmar and lip pits, and polysyndactyly. A swirling pattern of skin hypopigmentation, papular hypopigmented and herniated skin lesions reminiscent of FDH most prominent over her face, head, hands, and feet was evident. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed polymicrogyria (most severely in the perisylvian and mesial frontal regions), enlarged left lateral ventricle, partial agenesis of the corpus callosum, and optic nerve tumor on the right. Dermatopathologic examination of the skin lesions was consistent with basaloid follicular hamartomas. The skin and digit anomalies observed overlap with FDH, but polymicrogyria, basaloid follicular hamartomas, optic nerve tumor, and morning glory anomaly have not previously been described in FDH. Skin defects in MLS are linear and the eyes typically have sclerocornea. Polymicrogyria has been described in OCCS, but not in any of the other three syndromes. The limb anomalies in TODP are reductions rather than polysyndactyly. Skin defects are localized to the face, and digital fibromas usually occur. While significant overlap exists between all four of the syndromes discussed, we believe that the constellation of anomalies observed in this girl most likely comprises a newly recognized syndrome., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)