Social Eavesdropping in Zebrafish: Tuning of Attention to Social Interactions

Group living animals may eavesdrop on signalling interactions between conspecifics in order to collect adaptively relevant information obtained from others, without incurring in the costs of first-hand information acquisition. This ability (aka social eavesdropping) is expected to impact Darwinian fitness, and hence predicts the evolution of cognitive processes that enable social animals to use public information available in the environment. These adaptive specializations in cognition may have evolved both at the level of learning and memory mechanisms, and at the level of input mechanisms, such as attention, which select the information that is available for learning. Here we used zebrafish to test if attention in a social species is tuned to the exchange of information between conspecifics. Our results show that zebrafish are more attentive towards interacting (i.e. fighting) than towards non-interacting pairs of conspecifics, with the exposure to fighting not increasing activity or stress levels. Moreover, using video playbacks to manipulate form features of the fighting fish, we show that during the assessment phase of the fight, bystanders' attention is more driven by form features of the interacting opponents; whereas during the post-resolution phase, it is driven by biological movement features of the dominant fish chasing the subordinate fish.FCT fellowship: (SFRH/BD/33280/2007), Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme

Social dominance modulates eavesdropping in zebrafish

Group living animals may eavesdrop on signalling interactions between conspecifics and integrate it with their own past social experience in order to optimize the use of relevant information from others. However, little is known about this interplay between public (eavesdropped) and private social information. To investigate it, we first manipulated the dominance status of bystander zebrafish. Next, we either allowed or prevented bystanders from observing a fight. Finally, we assessed their behaviour towards the winners and losers of the interaction, using a custom-made video-tracking system and directional analysis. We found that only dominant bystanders who had seen the fight revealed a significant increase in directional focus (a measure of attention) towards the losers of the fights. Furthermore, our results indicate that information about the fighters' acquired status was collected from the signalling interaction itself and not from post-interaction status cues, which implies the existence of individual recognition in zebrafish. Thus, we show for the first time that zebrafish, a highly social model organism, eavesdrop on conspecific agonistic interactions and that this process is modulated by the eavesdroppers' dominance status. We suggest that this type of integration of public and private information may be ubiquitous in social learning processes.FCT PhD fellowship: (SFRH/BD/33280/2007), Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme

Brain transcriptomic response to social eavesdropping in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Public information is widely available at low cost to animals living in social groups. For instance, bystanders may eavesdrop on signaling interactions between conspecifics and use it to adapt their subsequent behavior towards the observed individuals. This social eavesdropping ability is expected to require specialized mechanisms such as social attention, which selects social information available for learning. To begin exploring the genetic basis of social eavesdropping, we used a previously established attention paradigm in the lab to study the brain gene expression profile of male zebrafish (Danio rerio) in relation to the attention they paid towards conspecifics involved or not involved in agonistic interactions. Microarray gene chips were used to characterize their brain transcriptomes based on differential expression of single genes and gene sets. These analyses were complemented by promoter regionbased techniques. Using data from both approaches, we further drafted protein interaction networks. Our results suggest that attentiveness towards conspecifics, whether interacting or not, activates pathways linked to neuronal plasticity and memory formation. The network analyses suggested that fos and jun are key players on this response, and that npas4a, nr4a1 and egr4 may also play an important role. Furthermore, specifically observing fighting interactions further triggered pathways associated to a change in the alertness status (dnajb5) and to other genes related to memory formation (btg2, npas4b), which suggests that the acquisition of eavesdropped information about social relationships activates specific processes on top of those already activated just by observing conspecifics.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Transcription networks of the different behavioral groups.

<p>Networks consisting of DE genes and enriched transcription factors TF for the behavioral groups: (A) bystanders to interacting conspecifics (BIC); (B) bystanders attentive to non-interacting conspecifics (BANIC); and (C) bystanders inattentive to non-interacting conspecifics (BINIC). The thickness of the edges correspond to the confidence score of the genes’ association, yellow nodes indicate up-regulated DE genes, blue nodes indicate down-regulated DE genes, orange nodes indicates TF motifs mainly associated with up-regulated DE genes, and purple indicates TF motifs mainly associated with down-regulated DE genes.</p

Behavioral paradigm and selected behavioral groups for transcriptomic analysis.

<p>(A) Schematics of experimental treatments bystanders to interacting conspecifics (magenta), bystanders to non-interacting conspecifics (lime); and isolated fish (blue). ROI in light grey. (B) Schematic of the subject fish’s mean resultant directional vector composed by the vector’s length <i>R</i>, mean angle α (0° opposite and 180° directed towards the stimulus) and <i>R</i> projected onto 180° (<i>Rproj</i>). (C) Clustering analysis of all focal fish from the experimental treatments using time spent in ROI and <i>Rproj</i>. Cluster A–strongly attentive profile; cluster B–weakly attentive profile. (D) Linear histograms and 2D heatmaps of time spent in each position of the arena (left), and polar directional histograms (right) of one individual per behavioral group (for complete set of samples, see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0145801#pone.0145801.s001" target="_blank">S1 Fig</a>). Heatmaps are scaled from maximum relative value (red) to minimum relative value (dark blue). Linear and polar histograms represented in arbitrary scale. (E) Scatter plots of selected fish from the four behavioral groups [bystanders to interacting conspecifics (BIC, magenta), bystanders attentive to non-interacting conspecifics (BANIC, green), bystanders inattentive to non-interacting conspecifcs (BINIC, lime), and isolated fish (ISOL, blue) for time in ROI (left), <i>Rproj</i> (center) and mean resultant directional vectors (right).</p

Changes in gene expression in the brain of bystander zebrafish.

<p>(A) Venn diagram showing DE genes between behavioral groups (BIC, bystanders to interacting conspecifics; BANIC, bystanders attentive to non-interacting conspecifics; and BINIC, bystanders inattentive to non-interacting conspecifics), and the reference group (ISOL, isolated fish) (up-regulated = ▴; down-regulated = ▾). (B) Hierarchical clustering of the individuals from each selected behavior group (columns) and of DE genes (lines). Heatmap represents normalized gene expression levels (blue = low expression, yellow = high-expression).</p

Transcription factor motifs enriched in differentially expressed genes for behavioral groups.

<p>(A) Single motifs enriched in at least one of the behavioral groups (BIC, bystanders to interacting conspecifics; BANIC, bystanders attentive to non-interacting conspecifics; or BINIC, bystanders inattentive to non-interacting conspecifics). (B) Pairs of motifs involving GATA2 enriched in BIC and/or BANIC. (C) Pairs of motifs involving TAL1::GATA1 enriched in BIC and/or BANIC. Associations found in each behavior group can be strongest with genes up-regulated (orange) or down-regulated (purple). Grey cells indicate no significance of associations to any group of differentially expressed genes. Significance was calculated using uncorrected (<i>P</i>) and corrected (FDR) <i>P</i>-values.</p

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research