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Introduction: Sclerotherapy is a commonly utilized treatment approach for venous malformations. Absolute ethanol is renowned for its remarkable efficacy as a potent sclerosants, but it is potentially associated with severe complications. Foam sclerotherapy is considered superior to liquid sclerotherapy owing to its heightened efficacy and diminished incidence of complications. Thus, our objective was to devise an ethanol foam sclerosant that delivers exceptional efficacy while mitigating complications. Methods: In the first set of experiments, we identified the suitable range of ethanol concentrations for sclerotherapy through human umbilical vein endothelial cell proliferation assays and blood clotting experiments. Next, the surfactants polysorbate 80, egg yolk lecithin, and hyaluronic acid were added to create stable ethanol foam, with their ratios meticulously optimized. Results: The optimal concentration range of ethanol was determined to be 30-60%. Eventually, a 48% ethanol foam was successfully produced with excellent stability. Other than ethanol, the formulation included 5 x 10-3 g/mL polysorbate 80, 10-2 g/mL egg yolk lecithin, and 0.04 mL/mL hyaluronic acid. Discussion: The novel ethanol foam produced here could be a promising candidate for the treatment of venous malformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen‐bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) are emerging porous materials that show high structural flexibility, mild synthetic conditions, good solution processability, easy healing and regeneration, and good recyclability. Although these properties give them many potential multifunctional applications, their frameworks are unstable due to the presence of only weak and reversible hydrogen bonds. In this work, the development history and synthesis methods of HOFs are reviewed, and categorize their structural design concepts and strategies to improve their stability. More importantly, due to the significant potential of the latest HOF‐related research for addressing energy and environmental issues, this work discusses the latest advances in the methods of energy storage and conversion, energy substance generation and isolation, environmental detection and isolation, degradation and transformation, and biological applications. Furthermore, a discussion of the coupling orientation of HOF in the cross‐cutting fields of energy and environment is presented for the first time. Finally, current challenges, opportunities, and strategies for the development of HOFs to advance their energy and environmental applications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consuming one of the largest amount of electricity, the chlor‐alkali industry supplies basic chemicals for society, which mainly consists of two reactions, hydrogen evolution (HER) and chlorine evolution reaction (CER). Till now, the state‐of‐the‐art catalyst applied in this field is still the dimensional stable anode (DSA), which consumes a large amount of noble metal of Ru and Ir. It is thus necessary to develop new types of catalysts. In this study, an organocatalyst anchored on the single‐atom support (SAS) is put forward. It exhibits high catalytic efficiency towards both HER and CER with an overpotential of 21 mV and 20 mV at 10 mA cm−2. With this catalyst on both electrodes, the energy consumption is cut down by 1.2 % compared with the commercial system under industrial conditions. Based on this novel catalyst and the high activity, the mechanism of modifying non‐covalent interaction is demonstrated to be reliable for the catalyst's design. This work not only provides efficient catalysts for the chlor‐alkali industry but also points out that the SACs can also act as support, providing new twists for the development of SACs and organic molecules in the next step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performances of functional polymers are enhanced by designing the structures in different hierarchies, such as monomers, polymers, secondary structures, and nanoscale morphologies. In the present work, an amorphous conjugated polymer network was designed and synthesized to obtain a metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an efficient manner. A prediction model for the catalytic performance, i.e. overpotential for HER, was constructed using machine learning on small data based on the literature. The straightforward linear prediction model assisted in the design of the network polymer containing quinone and heteroaromatic moieties. The simultaneous multiple reactions of benzoquinone (BQ) and benzoxazole (BO) formed the amorphous conjugated polymer network at 200 °C. After the morphology control, the BQ–BO polymer showed an overpotential of 230 mV for the electrochemical HER at 10 mA cm−2, which is one of the highest performances in the metal-free electrocatalysts synthesized at low temperatures. Moreover, we found that the amorphous conjugated polymer networks showed specific hydration behavior in aqueous media. The results indicate that designing an amorphous conjugated polymer network coupled with machine learning is a potential approach for the development of functional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery storage systems are an important key element for a successful energy transition. Increasingly, the focus is also on the sustainability analysis of the various energy storage technologies. In particular, the vanadium flow battery (VFB) is mentioned as a promising day storage technology. Nevertheless, its high cost and environmental impacts are attributed to its electrolyte. It is assumed that this issue can be addressed through reprocessing and reuse. The aim of this study is to provide, for the first time in the literature, information on the process design and the potential emissions of the treatment of end‐of‐life (EoL) vanadium electrolyte with various critical impurities, in order to be able to validly estimate the total emissions of VFB with recycled electrolyte. Four different scenarios are considered, combining treatment steps for electrolyte with different critical contaminations, revealing detailed mass and energy balances. The life cycle assessment provides valuable results for the sustainability assessment of the EoL vanadium electrolyte and the entire VFB system. The treatment of the electrolyte leads to significantly lower CO2 emissions (−79.2% to −99.8%) compared to the primary electrolyte and must be taken into account in future when assessing the sustainability of the VFB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learned vocal signals of birds provide one of the most comprehensive sources of evidence for culture in animals. Such vocal signals often vary spatially and temporally. Signal variation can be driven by direct factors such as cultural drift and selection or by indirect factors such as changes in the environment, which may affect morphology and therefore acoustic capability. In this study we analysed flight and excitement calls of several call types of the Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra and other crossbill species. Calls were recorded between 1962 and 2019 across the Palaearctic region. We measured acoustic similarity within flight and excitement calls and modelled the size of the effect attributed to temporal and geographical distance. Geographical distance between different sampling locations explained less call variation compared with temporal distance, and temporal variation within the excitement calls was smaller than in the flight calls. We conclude that calls of most call types of Red, Scottish and Parrot Crossbill are an example of cultural evolution. We suggest that excitement calls are less modifiable because they can serve better in dangerous situations when they are stable in time and space. In addition, we found no clear support for increasing or decreasing flight call similarity of call types while or after being in contact, as found in another study from North America. The reasons for the cultural evolution in calls of Palaearctic crossbills remain unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPRs) shown by gold nanorods (AuNRs) has several applications in photocatalysis, sensing, and biomedicine. The combination of AuNRs with Polydopamine (PDA) shells results in a strong photo‐thermal effect, making them appealing nanomaterials for biomedical applications. However, the precise roles and relative contributions of plasmonic effects in gold, and light‐to‐heat conversion in PDA are still debated. Herein, a hybrid nanoplatform made by an AuNR core surrounded by a polydopamine (PDA) shell is synthesized, and its photocatalytic behavior is studied. Synthesis is based on a seed‐mediated growth followed by the further self‐polymerization of dopamine hydrochloride (DA) on the surface of the AuNRs, and the effect of the thickness of the PDA shell on the plasmon response of the composite is the main examined parameter. Photocatalytic performance is tested toward Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G), with the nanocomposites achieving better performance than bare AuNRs and bare PDA nanoparticles. The degradation of 54% of Rh6G initial concentration is achieved within 60 min of irradiation with a catalyst concentration of 7.4 µg mL−1. Photodegradation kinetics, time‐resolved spectroscopy, and finite‐element‐method simulations of plasmons show that AuNRs plasmons, coupled with the low thermal conductivity of PDA, provide slow thermalization, while enhancing the charge carrier transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As 3D‐printing is becoming increasingly accessible, its application towards more sustainable and flexible design strategies for chemical processes also grows substantially. Redox‐flow batteries (RFBs) are recognized as one of the possible next generation energy storage solutions, owing to the inherent decoupling of power and energy, yet the capital costs involved produce a high barrier to enter the field. Here, we demonstrate a full digital blueprint for printing one's own RFB, that can enable more (organic chemistry) contributions to the field. At the time of writing, the combined costs of only the RFB cell total around 60 €, which is less than commercially available RFB cells by a great margin. The cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy and potentiostatic cycling experiments exemplified by the K4[FeII(CN)6]|K3[FeIII(CN)6] redox‐pair for aqueous, and ferrocene|ferrocenium for organic electrolytes, validate the stability of the technical lab‐scale design and provides benchmark values for reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escape theories predict that animals remaining motionless after being detected by a predator are less successful in predation avoidance because it simply allows the predator to come closer. Nonetheless, even in such a situation, some animals often remain motionless for a while before escaping. We hypothesized that this non-immediate escape response increases the survivorship of the prey by distracting the predator's attention to another nearby prey that indifferently comes into the visual field of the predator that is carefully and inconspicuously approaching the former prey. Staged encounter experiments using frogs and snakes as prey and predator, respectively, yielded the results that support this hypothesis. Considering the density of frogs in the field, this phenomenon is feasible under natural conditions. Therefore, remaining motionless after being detected by predator could be an effective choice for prey to avoid predation under a certain condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite remarkable progress in drug discovery strategies, significant challenges are still remaining in translating new insights into clinical applications. Scientists are devising creative approaches to bridge the gap between scientific and translational research. Metabolomics is a unique field among other omics techniques for identifying novel metabolites and biomarkers. Fortunately, characterization and quantification of metabolites are becoming faster due to the progress in the field of orthogonal analytical techniques. This review detailed the advancement in the progress of sample preparation, and data processing techniques including data mining tools, database, and their quality control (QC). Advances in data processing tools make it easier to acquire unbiased data that includes a diverse set of metabolites. In addition, novel breakthroughs including, miniaturization as well as their integration with other devices, metabolite array technology, and crystalline sponge-based method have led to faster, more efficient, cost-effective, and holistic metabolomic analysis. The use of cutting-edge techniques to identify the human metabolite, including biomarkers has proven to be advantageous in terms of early disease identification, tracking the progression of illness, and possibility of personalized treatments. This review addressed the constraints of current metabolomics research, which are impeding the facilitation of translation of research from bench to bedside. Nevertheless, the possible way out from such constraints and future direction of translational metabolomics has been conferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cation–π interaction is one of the most important noncovalent interactions found in biosystems, which has attracted great interests for the engineering of functional materials. In this work, one‐step assembly of super‐hydrophilic coatings via surface modification with polyphenols and cations is reported based on cation–π interactions. Hydrophilicity of surface coatings is tunable by the variation of cations based on the different affinity between polyphenols and cations. Copper meshes coated with tannic acid and tetramethylammonium demonstrate super‐hydrophilicity and high stability due to the strong cation–π interaction between catechol/pyrogallol and cations. The super‐hydrophilic coatings show high oil breakthrough pressure, self‐cleaning, and anti‐fogging properties, which can efficiently separate the mixture of oil and water. This study provides an avenue to explore the cation–π interactions for super‐hydrophilic coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of fluorescent heterocyclic compounds bearing s-triazine and cyclotriphosphazene scaffolds for researching the structure–property relationship and high-efficiency amine sensing is still challenging. Herein, we prepared two polypodal aldehyde-based flexible organic compounds based on triazine and cyclotriphosphazene units (TRIPOD and HAPCP). Moreover, two hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks, namely HOF-TRIPOD and HOF-HAPCP, with different photophysical properties and structural packing modes were obtained. In addition, the fluorescence response of the two molecules to aliphatic amine was studied, in which they all showed good selectivity and an obvious fluorescence enhancement effect to ethylenediamine. The utilization of these fluorescent molecules as a sensor platform material could be applied for ethylenediamine detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peroxidases and laccases are oxidative enzymes involved in physiological processes in plants, covering responses to biotic and abiotic stress as well as biosynthesis of health-promoting specialized metabolites. Although they are thought to be involved in the biosynthesis of (+)-pinoresinol, a comprehensive investigation of this class of enzymes has not yet been conducted in the emerging oil crop sesame and no information is available regarding the potential (+)-pinoresinol synthase genes in this crop. In the present study, we conducted a pan-genome-wide identification of peroxidase and laccase genes coupled with transcriptome profiling of diverse sesame varieties. A total of 83 and 48 genes have been identified as coding for sesame peroxidase and laccase genes, respectively. Based on their protein domain and Arabidopsis thaliana genes used as baits, the genes were classified into nine and seven groups of peroxidase and laccase genes, respectively. The expression of the genes was evaluated using dynamic transcriptome sequencing data from six sesame varieties, including one elite cultivar, white vs black seed varieties, and high vs low oil content varieties. Two peroxidase genes (SiPOD52 and SiPOD63) and two laccase genes (SiLAC1 and SiLAC39), well conserved within the sesame pan-genome and exhibiting consistent expression patterns within sesame varieties matching the kinetic of (+)-pinoresinol accumulation in seeds, were identified as potential (+)-pinoresinol synthase genes. Cis-acting elements of the candidate genes revealed their potential involvement in development, hormonal signaling, and response to light and other abiotic triggers. Transcription factor enrichment analysis of promoter regions showed the predominance of MYB binding sequences. The findings from this study pave the way for lignans-oriented engineering of sesame with wide potential applications in food, health and medicinal domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consuming one of the largest amount of electricity, the chlor-alkali industry supplies basic chemicals for society, which mainly consists of two reactions, hydrogen evolution (HER) and chlorine evolution reaction (CER). Till now, the state-of-the-art catalyst applied in this field is still the dimensional stable anode (DSA), which consumes a large amount of noble metal of Ru and Ir. It is thus necessary to develop new types of catalysts. In this study, an organocatalyst anchored on the single-atom support (SAS) is put forward. It exhibits high catalytic efficiency towards both HER and CER with an overpotential of 21 mV and 20 mV at 10 mA cm -2 . With this catalyst on both electrodes, the energy consumption is cut down by 1.2 % compared with the commercial system under industrial conditions. Based on this novel catalyst and the high activity, the mechanism of modifying non-covalent interaction is demonstrated to be reliable for the catalyst's design. This work not only provides efficient catalysts for the chlor-alkali industry but also points out that the SACs can also act as support, providing new twists for the development of SACs and organic molecules in the next step., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Hydrogen energy is considered as promising renewable resource and desirable alternative to fossil fuels for future energy supply. Hydrogen production from electrocatalytic water splitting is a green and key approach for hydrogen energy development and application, and the effective electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with low cost is the focus of ongoing research. Currently, noble metals‐based materials are the most effective and durable electrocatalysts for HER, while the high cost and low reserves greatly hinder their commercial applications. Recently, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with interesting properties, such as the tunability of metal cation and interlayer anions, the adjustability of the thickness and spacing for the layers, low cost, and memory effect, have emerged as excellent electrocatalysts to enhance HER performance. Herein, the principal mechanisms and some key parameters for HER are firstly briefly introduced. Afterwards, the structural features and characteristics of LDHs are provided, and the typical design strategies to improve the HER activity of binary and ternary LDHs‐based catalysts are analyzed and discussed. In addition, the relationship between the morphology, structure, composition and involved electronic effects are focused and emphasized. Finally, the challenges and prospects of LDHs‐based catalysts for enhanced HER performance are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontology is a newer field relative to other areas of dentistry. Remarkable progress has been made in recent years in periodontology in terms of both research and clinical applications, with researchers worldwide now focusing on periodontology. With recent advances in mass spectrometry technology, metabolomics research is now widely conducted in various research fields. Metabolomics, which is also termed metabolomic analysis, is a technology that enables the comprehensive analysis of small-molecule metabolites in living organisms. With the development of metabolite analysis, methods using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry, etc. have progressed, making it possible to analyze a wider range of metabolites and to detect metabolites at lower concentrations. Metabolomics is widely used for research in the food, plant, microbial, and medical fields. This paper provides an introduction to metabolomic analysis and a review of the increasing applications of metabolomic analysis in periodontal disease research using mass spectrometry technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Vocal diversity might reflect the social organization and sustain the coexistence of cryptic species in sympatry. To test the extent to which vocal behaviour separates sympatric, cryptic species of a bat radiation, we compared vocalizations of genetically confirmed Carollia castanea , Carollia sowelli and Carollia perspicillata emitted by intraspecific dyads of identified individuals during corresponding physical interference interactions at the perch. Video analysis revealed a similar behaviour and interaction time across species. A sonagram-based visual classification of vocalization syllables of uninterrupted frequency–time contour discriminated 21 syllable classes. Class usage and distribution of the four shared classes differed across species. Carollia sowelli emitted the lowest number of classes in total and per interaction across species and displayed a limited number of syllable compositions in bouts. Discriminant analyses of syllables of a common, shared class provided evidence for species distinctiveness and individual-specific signatures. In general, sex did not account for data variability. The present vocalizations combine syllables reported from aggressive and submissive contexts in C. perspicillata and might express experienced ambivalence during interference at the perch. The diversity of vocal behaviour across congeners is discussed as arising from different ecological pressures during allopatric speciation and as an indicator of differences in species social organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is an important infectious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, with significant morbidity and mortality. Current diagnostic algorithms are based on identifying toxin by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and toxin gene by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in patients with diarrhea. EIA's sensitivity is poor, and PCR, although highly sensitive and specific, cannot differentiate infection from colonization. An ideal test that incorporates microbial factors, host factors, and host-microbe interaction might characterize true infection, and assess prognosis and recurrence. The study of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has the potential to be an ideal diagnostic test. The presence of VOCs accounts for the characteristic odor of stool in CDI but their presence in breath and plasma has not been studied yet. A cross-sectional proof-of-concept study analyzing VOCs using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) was done on breath, stool, and plasma of patients with clinical features and positive PCR for CDI (cases) and compared with patients with clinical features but a negative PCR (control). Our results showed that VOC patterns in breath, stool, and plasma, had good accuracy [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) 93%, 86%, and 91%, respectively] for identifying patients with CDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small population of ancient murrelets (Synthliboramphus antiquus) nests and breeds on vertical sea cliffs in Teuri Island, Japan. Although this small population is at high risk of extinction, practical conservation plans were not established owing to the lack of basic data, for example, ecological and genetic information. Here, mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite analyses were performed on ancient murrelets collected in the Teuri and Aleutian breeding populations, as well as on wintering individuals in Japan and museum specimens. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that the Teuri population shared haplotypes with the Aleutian population, but not with the British Columbian and the Kamchatka populations from a previous study. Microsatellite analysis revealed high gene flow between the Teuri and Aleutian breeding populations. There was no evidence of loss of genetic diversity in the Teuri population. Museum specimens possessed some unique alleles not found in the more recent samples. Our results suggest that strategies for the conservation of Teuri and Aleutian populations should be managed separately from those designed for breeding populations in the eastern Pacific region, at the very least. For conservation of the Teuri population, we do not recommend captive breeding because of gene flow between Teuri and Aleutian populations, but protection of nesting habitats and monitoring of demographic indexes would be more effective for maintaining their genetic diversity and population size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing surge in demand for sustainable energy technologies with little to no environmental impacts calls for the exploration of advanced energy storage materials. Inspiration from nature is undoubtedly a promising approach to comply with environmental legislations. Herein, we describe a facile and green electrosynthesis approach to fabricate a polydopamine (PDA) nanofilm supported on oxygen-functionalized carbon cloth (FCC). The surface functionalization of carbon cloth facilitates the PDA nanofilm adhesion and endows the as-prepared PDA-FCC electrode with excellent flexibility, good electrical conductance (22.6 mS), and outstanding wettability to the aqueous electrolyte. Owing to these merits, the PDA-FCC electrode delivers a favorable capacitance of 626 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 (617 mF cm−2 at 2.2 mA cm−2, and 1296 mF cm−3 at 5.3 mA cm−3), in which the catechol, amine, and imine moieties of PDA are responsible for its excellent pseudocapacitive behavior. The symmetric all-solid-state flexible PDA-FCC‖‖PDA-FCC device covers almost the entire thermodynamic stability window of aqueous electrolytes (1.2 V), delivers a high specific energy of 11.7 W h kg−1, superb specific power of up to 6.4 kW kg−1, and excellent flexibility along with outstanding cycling stability (81% retention of the initial capacitance after 10 000 cycles). These performance characteristics are in part due to the binder-free PDA biopolymer film that adopts the inherent texture of the carbon cloth, enabling the pores to play the role of temporary ion-buffering reservoirs that facilitate effective mass transport. This new approach to fabricate electrodes from green sources is considered an important step toward environmentally-benign energy storage technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dihexyl phthalate (DHP) is one of the most commonly used phthalate esters in various plastic and consumer products. Human are inevitably exposed to DHPs. Although several animal and human experiments have revealed that DHP can cause multiple toxicities, few studies have previously assessed the effects of DHP exposure by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) analysis combine with molecular biology methods on human cells. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of DHP on human cell metabolism by systems biology methods. In this study, U2OS cancer cells were treated with 10 μM DHP for metabolomics analysis and apoptosis analysis at indicate time. Metabolomic study of the metabolic changes caused by DHP in U2OS cells was performed for the first time using integrative liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐Q‐TOF‐MS). To investigate the possible reason of fatty acids level altered by DHP, we measured some key fatty acid synthesis and oxidation‐related enzyme expression levels by quantitative real‐time PCR (Q‐PCR). Apoptotic cells were analyzed by flow cytometry and apoptosis‐related gene expressions were measured by Q‐PCR. 2′,7′‐Dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH‐DA) staining was used to evaluate ROS content. Partial least squares‐discriminate analysis (PLS‐DA) clearly showed that significant differences in metabolic profiles were observed in U2OS cells exposed to DHP compared with controls. A total of 58 putative metabolites in electrospray ionization source (ESI) + mode and 32 putative metabolites in ESI‐mode were detected, the majority of the differential metabolites being lipids and lipid‐like molecules. Among them, the altered fatty acids level corresponded to expression levels of genes encoding enzymes related to fatty acids synthesis and oxidation. Moreover, DHP induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, promoted cell apoptosis and inflammation, and resulted in a significant increase in apoptosis and inflammation‐related gene expression levels compared with controls. In summary, our results suggested that metabolomics combined with molecular bioanalysis methods could be an efficient tool to assess toxic effects, which contribute to explore the possible cytotoxicity mechanisms of DHP, and provide a basis for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical hydrogen storage combines the evolution, oxidation, and storage of hydrides from aqueous electrolytes and ionic liquids, but presently requires palladium or rare‐earth metals to achieve significant power capacities. Here hydrogen electrosorption in amine‐activated polydopamine is shown. The organic heterogeneous amine‐hydride yields a gravimetric hydrogen density of 0.44%, corresponding to a 80% hydride‐per‐monomer content, and offers similar reaction kinetics as for palladium and related systems. An initial stability test of 100 electrosorption cycles that demonstrates resilience in acidic media with a tendency for increased capacity over time is included. In situ vibronic amine‐hydride fingerprints corroborate the reversibility and stability of the conversion process and highlight the merits of amine‐activated polydopamines as a heterogeneous organic hydrogen storage system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bowerbirds in New Guinea and Australia include species that build the largest and perhaps most elaborately decorated constructions outside of humans. The males use these courtship bowers, along with their displays, to attract females. In these species, the mating system is polygynous and the females alone incubate and feed the nestlings. The bowerbirds also include 10 species of the socially monogamous catbirds in which the male participates in most aspects of raising the young. How the bower-building behavior evolved has remained poorly understood, as no comprehensive phylogeny exists for the family. It has been assumed that the monogamous catbird clade is sister to all polygynous species. We here test this hypothesis using a newly developed pipeline for obtaining homologous alignments of thousands of exonic and intronic regions from genomic data to build a phylogeny. Our well-supported species tree shows that the polygynous, bower-building species are not monophyletic. The result suggests either that bower-building behavior is an ancestral condition in the family that was secondarily lost in the catbirds, or that it has arisen in parallel in two lineages of bowerbirds. We favor the latter hypothesis based on an ancestral character reconstruction showing that polygyny but not bower-building is ancestral in bowerbirds, and on the observation that Scenopoeetes dentirostris , the sister species to one of the bower-building clades, does not build a proper bower but constructs a court for male display. This species is also sexually monomorphic in plumage despite having a polygynous mating system. We argue that the relatively stable tropical and subtropical forest environment in combination with low predator pressure and rich food access (mostly fruit) facilitated the evolution of these unique life-history traits. [Adaptive radiation; bowerbirds; mating system, sexual selection; whole genome sequencing.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birdsongs often contain two simultaneous, harmonically unrelated sounds; however, little is known of the function of this two-voice phenomenon. We hypothesized that it contributes to increases in song speed and note repertoire, which are important song characteristics in sexual selection. We analyzed six song variables in Japanese tits (Parus minor) and found positive correlations between all possible pairs of the proportion in length of two-voice vocalization, note rate, and note type repertoire, which is consistent with our hypothesis. This finding is a first step towards determining the function of two-voice vocalization in song communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When predator and prey animals face each other, preemptive actions by both sides are considered to mediate successful capture or escape. However, in spite of the general presumption, some animals, such as predatory snakes and their frog prey, occasionally remain motionless or move slowly for a while before striking or escaping, respectively. To clarify the possible advantages of this behaviour, we examined interactions between Japanese Four-lined Ratsnakes (Elaphe quadrivirgata (H. Boie, 1826)) and Black-spotted Pond Frogs (Pelophylax nigromaculatus (Hallowell, 1861)), focusing especially on kinematic features of strike behaviour of snakes and flight behaviour of frogs in close quarters. Staged encounter experiments and field observations revealed that counteractions against an opponent’s preemptive actions are effective for both snakes and frogs until a certain distance because they are hardly able to change their trajectories once they initiate strike or escape behaviours. Snakes and frogs also appropriately switched their behaviour from waiting for the opponent’s action to taking preemptive action at this threshold distance. These results suggested the occurrence of a game of patience between snakes and frogs in which they wait for the opponent’s action to achieve effective countermeasures. Our study provides new insights for predicting optimal decisionmaking by predators and prey and will contribute to a better understanding of their strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acoustic structure of birdsongs is determined by ecological and social factors. Moreover, the founder effect can occur when a few colonizers bring a small subset of the song diversity from a source population to a newly established population, generating the acoustic features of its songs. Around 2000, the Japanese bush warbler ( Cettia diphone ) naturally colonized Minami-Daito, an oceanic island in the northwest Pacific. This raises the question of whether the songs in this population have changed through adaptation to the insular environment or maintained the features of songs in the mainland population. In this study, the acoustic characteristics of Japanese bush warbler songs on Minami-Daito Island at present (i.e., approximately 20 years after colonization) were compared with the songs of conspecifics on the mainland and another island. The acoustic structure of one of two basic song types on this island did not differ from that on the mainland. The other song type had a simpler structure on the island than on the mainland. Analyses of intonation structure showed that a certain pattern of frequency increase and decrease among sound elements was rare (< 10%) on the mainland but dominant on the island. The song characteristics substantially overlapped between the island and the mainland, and have not changed on the island since its colonization. These results suggest that the song characteristics on Minami-Daito Island can be explained by the founder effect. The songs on this island may change adaptively over a long period. Continuous investigation to follow the changes is required.

Objectives Biologic treatment has recently revolutionized the management of RA. Despite this success, ∼30–40% of the patients undergoing biologic treatment respond insufficiently. The aim of this study was to identify several specific reliable metabolites for predicting the response of RA patients to TNF-α inhibitors (TNFi) and abatacept (ABT), using capillary electrophoresis-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CE-TOFMS). Methods We collected serum from RA patients with moderate or high disease activity prior to biologic treatment, and obtained the serum metabolomic profiles of these samples using CE-TOFMS. The patients' response was determined 12 weeks after starting biologic treatment, according to the EULAR response criteria. We compared the metabolites between the response and non-response patient groups and analysed their discriminative ability. Results Among 43 total patients, 14 of 26 patients in the TNFi group and 6 of 17 patients in the ABT group responded to the biologic treatment. Of the metabolites separated by CE-TOFMS, 196 were identified as known substances. Using an orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis, we identified five metabolites as potential predictors of TNFi responders and three as predictors of ABT responders. Receiver operating characteristic analyses for multiple biomarkers revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.941, with a sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 100% for TNFi, and an AUC of 0.985, with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 90.9% for ABT. Conclusion By metabolomic analysis, we identified serum biomarkers that have a high ability to predict the response of RA patients to TNFi or ABT treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of song structure characteristics in the passeriform can be used as a powerful index in determining the taxonomical status of species of genus or subspecies of a species. Black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) and red-headed bunting (E. bruniceps) meet in a hybrid zone southeast of the Caspian Sea, Iran, and produce hybrid bunting individuals. This phenomenon, which creates these hybrid individuals may originate from the fact that there is a high similarity in the male song of the two species which may cause females to make a mistake in identifying the species they choose to mate with. This study was conducted to investigate the similarities and differences of the male songs of these two species by downloading their songs from the open-access online repository Xeno-Canto. Thirty audio files were selected for analysis in the warbleR software. The spectrograms and principal components were extracted according to the offered functions of this package. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed no clustering of signals detected by this technique as well as overlap in some of the sound characteristics of the two species. The results of the present study revealed that despite the evolution of plumage and morphometric differences between the two species, the mechanism of reproductive isolation between them (including the development of acoustic signals to correctly identify males and females of each species and exclude other species individuals) was still incomplete which may cause gene flow and consequently hybridization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report resistivity measurements under pressure for Kondo-lattice ferromagnet CeRh6Ge4, and present that a quantum ferromagnetic (FM) phase transition is easily achieved. In most clean metallic ferromagnets, a quantum critical point (QCP) at zero field is avoided by changing the FM transition to a discontinuous transition or to an antiferromagnetic transition. In CeRh6Ge4, to the contrary, the Curie temperature of 2.5K decreases continuously as increasing pressure without any clear signature that the transition changes to first order. The obvious non Fermi liquid behavior is observed in the vicinity of the quantum FM phase transition. The experimental data do not contradict a picture in which CeRh6Ge4 shows the FM QCP at zero field. Band structure calculation suggests the unusual electronic state of CeRh6Ge4 among Ce-based Kondo lattices. CeRh6Ge4 deserves further investigations and will be a key material to understand the matter of the FM QCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]