Crucial role of ultraviolet light for desert ants in determining direction from the terrestrial panorama

Ants use the panoramic skyline in part to determine a direction of travel. A theoretically elegant way to define where terrestrial objects meet the sky is to use an opponent-process channel contrasting green wavelengths of light with ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths. Compared with the sky, terrestrial objects reflect relatively more green wavelengths. Using such an opponent-process channel gains constancy in the face of changes in overall illumination level. We tested the use of UV wavelengths in desert ants by using a plastic that filtered out most of the energy below 400 nm. Ants, Melophorus bagoti, were trained to home with an artificial skyline provided by an arena (experiment 1) or with the natural panorama (experiment 2). On a test, a homing ant was captured just before she entered her nest, and then brought back to a replicate arena (experiment 1) or the starting point (the feeder, experiment 2) and released. Blocking UV light led to deteriorations in orientation in both experiments. When the artificial skyline was changed from opaque to transparent UV-blocking plastic (experiment 3) on the other hand, the ants were still oriented. We conclude that UV wavelengths play a crucial role in determining direction based on the terrestrial surround.10 page(s

Characterisation Report of the Travelling Standard B5503

Abstract not availableJRC.I-Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (Ispra

Classifying Oligometastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

An oligometastatic cancer state was first postulated in the 1990s by Hellman and Weichselbaum and described limited metastatic spread to a single or few sites of disease. It was hypothesized that this metastatic entity falls along a continuum of the natural history of cancer progression from a localized primary tumor to widespread metastases. Support for oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has since been provided by multiple retrospective studies and then prospective randomized trials demonstrating better survival in this patient population after aggressive consolidative treatment. However, the lack of a universal definition of oligometastatic NSCLC has hindered a comparison between different studies and prevented well-defined recommendations for local consolidative treatment in this patient population. Attempts have been made to establish a common definition for use in clinical management and for the identification of inclusion criteria for future trials. In this review, we seek to summarize the current definitions of oligometastatic NSCLC based on recent expert consensus statements, previous randomized trials, and current treatment guidelines and to highlight the continued variability in current practice.</jats:p

Classifying Oligometastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

An oligometastatic cancer state was first postulated in the 1990s by Hellman and Weichselbaum and described limited metastatic spread to a single or few sites of disease. It was hypothesized that this metastatic entity falls along a continuum of the natural history of cancer progression from a localized primary tumor to widespread metastases. Support for oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has since been provided by multiple retrospective studies and then prospective randomized trials demonstrating better survival in this patient population after aggressive consolidative treatment. However, the lack of a universal definition of oligometastatic NSCLC has hindered a comparison between different studies and prevented well-defined recommendations for local consolidative treatment in this patient population. Attempts have been made to establish a common definition for use in clinical management and for the identification of inclusion criteria for future trials. In this review, we seek to summarize the current definitions of oligometastatic NSCLC based on recent expert consensus statements, previous randomized trials, and current treatment guidelines and to highlight the continued variability in current practice