Two new Lamiogethes Audisio & Cline from China (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae, Meligethinae)

Two new species of the genus Lamiogethes Audisio & Cline, 2009are described from China (Sichuan): L.forcipenissp. n.,and L.con-vexistrigosussp. n., based on a series of recently collected specimens. The new species are both likely morphologically related to L.po-tanini (Kirejtshuk, 1979) from Sichuan and to L. conjungens (Grouvelle, 1910) from Yunnan. These new species clearly differ from their related taxa by details of the body shape and color, and the distinct shape of the male and female genitalia. Both new species are likely associated as larvae with a member of the genus PhlomoidesMoench (Lamiaceae)

A new species of Meligethes Stephens from China and additional data on members of the M. chinensis species-complex (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae, Meligethinae)

Meligethes (Odontogethes) inexpectatus sp. n. is described from China, Sichuan Province. The new species is based on a female specimen previously incorrectly referred to as Meligethes scrobescens Chen, Lin, Huang & Yang, 2015, which was recently described from a series of male specimens collected in the same area. Both species belong to the taxonomically difficult species-group related to M. chinensis Kirejtshuk, 1979, including a dozen closely related species distributed throughout Nepal and SW and Central China. The true female of Meligethes scrobescens is also described, based on recently collected material from China (Hubei and Chongqing), including a series of male and female specimens. Diagnostic characters distinguishing the new species from all other known members of the M. chinensis species-group and species-complex are discussed, and their overall range distribution are depicted. Additional data on geographic distribution and larval ecology of some of the closely related species are also reported

Description of the unknown males of three Chinese Meligethes (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae, Meligethinae)

In this paper we present the description of male genitalia and additional information on taxonomy of three recently described and poorly known Chinese endemic members of the genus Meligethes Stephens, 1830, Meligethes (Odonthogethes) brassicogethoides Audisio, Sabatelli & Jelínek, 2015, M. (O.) inexpectatus Liu, Huang, Cline, Sabatelli & Audisio, 2017, and M. (O.) tricuspidatus Liu, Huang, Cline & Audisio, 2018

Dietary preferences of brachyuran crabs from Taiwan for marine or terrestrial food sources: evidence based on fatty acid trophic markers

Background Trophic interactions are key processes, which determine the ecological function and performance of organisms. Many decapod crustaceans feed on plant material as a source for essential nutrients, e.g. polyunsaturated fatty acids. Strictly herbivorous feeding appears only occasionally in marine decapods but is common in land crabs. To verify food preferences and to establish trophic markers, we studied the lipid and fatty acid composition of the midgut glands of two marine crab species (Grapsus albolineatus and Percnon affine), one semi-terrestrial species (Orisarma intermedium, formerly Sesarmops intermedius), and one terrestrial species (Geothelphusa albogilva) from Taiwan. Results All species showed a wide span of total lipid levels ranging from 4 to 42% of the dry mass (%DM) in the marine P. affine and from 3 to 25%DM in the terrestrial G. albogilva. Triacylglycerols (TAG) were the major storage lipid compound. The fatty acids 16:0, 18:1(n-9), and 20:4(n-6) prevailed in all species. Essential fatty acids such as 20:4(n-6) originated from the diet. Terrestrial species also showed relatively high amounts of 18:2(n-6), which is a trophic marker for vascular plants. The fatty acid compositions of the four species allow to clearly distinguish between marine and terrestrial herbivorous feeding due to significantly different amounts of 16:0, 18:1(n-9), and 18:2(n-6). Conclusions Based on the fatty acid composition, marine/terrestrial herbivory indices were defined and compared with regard to their resolution and differentiating capacity. These indices can help to reveal trophic preferences of unexplored species, particularly in habitats of border regions like mangrove intertidal flats and estuaries

Five new species of Lamiogethes Audisio & Cline from China (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae)

Five new species of the genus Lamiogethes Audisio & Cline are described from western, central and southern China: L. falcatus sp. n. (Sichuan), L. hastipenis sp. n. (Hubei), L. sagittalis sp. n. (Shaanxi), L. unditibiis sp. n. (Chongqing), and L. limaelytralis sp. n. (Sichuan). The first four new species appear to be morphologically related to Lamiogethes ancestor (Kirejtshuk, 1980) (comb. n.) from Central China, and allied taxa. Lamiogethes limaelytralis sp. n. appears to be more isolated, probably with relationships to the recently described L. forcipenis Liu, Huang, Cline & Audisio, 2017 and L. convexistrigosus Liu, Huang, Cline & Audisio, 2017 from Sichuan. All new species differ from other closely related taxa by details of the body shape and color, as well as the shape of the male and/or female genitalia

Worst-Case Morphs using Wasserstein ALI and Improved MIPGAN

A morph is a combination of two separate facial images and contains identity information of two different people. When used in an identity document, both people can be authenticated by a biometric Face Recognition (FR) system. Morphs can be generated using either a landmark-based approach or approaches based on deep learning such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). In a recent paper, we introduced a \emph{worst-case} upper bound on how challenging morphing attacks can be for an FR system. The closer morphs are to this upper bound, the bigger the challenge they pose to FR. We introduced an approach with which it was possible to generate morphs that approximate this upper bound for a known FR system (white box), but not for unknown (black box) FR systems. In this paper, we introduce a morph generation method that can approximate worst-case morphs even when the FR system is not known. A key contribution is that we include the goal of generating difficult morphs \emph{during} training. Our method is based on Adversarially Learned Inference (ALI) and uses concepts from Wasserstein GANs trained with Gradient Penalty, which were introduced to stabilise the training of GANs. We include these concepts to achieve similar improvement in training stability and call the resulting method Wasserstein ALI (WALI). We finetune WALI using loss functions designed specifically to improve the ability to manipulate identity information in facial images and show how it can generate morphs that are more challenging for FR systems than landmark- or GAN-based morphs. We also show how our findings can be used to improve MIPGAN, an existing StyleGAN-based morph generator

Biomechanical Effects of a Cross Connector in Sacral Fractures – A Finite Element Analysis

Background: Spinopelvic fractures and approaches of operative stabilization have been a source of controversial discussion. Biomechanical data support the benefit of a spinopelvic stabilization and minimally invasive procedures help to reduce the dissatisfying complication rate. The role of a cross connector within spinopelvic devices remains inconclusive. We aimed to analyze the effect of a cross connector in a finite element model (FE model). Study Design: A FE model of the L1-L5 spine segment with pelvis and a spinopelvic stabilization was reconstructed from patient-specific CT images. The biomechanical relevance of a cross connector in a Denis zone I (AO: 61-B2) sacrum fracture was assessed in the FE model by applying bending and twisting forces with and without a cross connector. Biomechanical outcomes from the numerical model were investigated also considering uncertainties in material properties and levels of osseointegration. Results: The designed FE model showed comparable values in range-of-motion (ROM) and stresses with reference to the literature. The superiority of the spinopelvic stabilization (L5/Os ilium) ± cross connector compared to a non-operative procedure was confirmed in all analyzed loading conditions by reduced ROM and principal stresses in the disk L5/S1, vertebral body L5 and the fracture area. By considering the combination of all loading cases, the presence of a cross connector reduced the maximum stresses in the fracture area of around 10%. This difference has been statistically validated (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The implementation of a spinopelvic stabilization (L5/Os ilium) in sacrum fractures sustained the fracture and led to enhanced biomechanical properties compared to a non-reductive procedure. While the additional cross connector did not alter the resulting ROM in L4/L5 or L5/sacrum, the reduction of the maximum stresses in the fracture area was significant. © Copyright © 2021 Gierig, Liu, Weiser, Lehmann, Wriggers, Marino and Saul

Morphological Study of the Alimentary Canal and Malpighian Tubules in the Adult of the Pollen Beetle Meligethes (Odonthogethes) chinensis (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae)

Meligethinae has entirely become strictly anthophagous, also being called "pollen beetles", with all members (similar to 700 species) of this subfamily using pollen and other floral parts as food resources for their larvae and adults. In this study, we used light, fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy (LM, FM, and SEM) to explore the fine morphological structure of the alimentary canal and Malpighian tubules of Meligethes (Odonthogethes) chinensis, a common Chinese pollen beetle associated with flowers of Rosaceae. The results show that the alimentary canal of M. (O.) chinensis is divided into three parts of foregut, midgut, and hindgut. The foregut is the shortest part and has no crop; the midgut is the widest part with numerous blunt-fingered gastric ceca; the front of the hindgut folds in a circle and then extends back to the anus. Six Malpighian tubules are attached to the colon to form a cryptonephridial system. We also provide a schematic color picture of the alimentary canal and Malpighian tubules in the hemocoelic cavity of the dissected M. (O.) chinensis. This study is the first to systematically study the general morphology of the alimentary canal and Malpighian tubules of Meligethinae, which can provide important support for subsequent anatomical and physiological studies of anthophagous beetles.Meligethes (Odonthogethes) chinensis is a highly specialized species of Nitidulidae in China that takes pollen as its main food source, and its main host plant is Rubus idaeus L. (Rosaceae). In this study, the structural morphology of the alimentary canal and Malpighian tubules of adult M. (O.) chinensis was observed under light, fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy. The alimentary canal of adult M. (O.) chinensis is divided into foregut, midgut, and hindgut. The foregut is the shortest and consists of the pharynx, esophagus, proventriculus, and cardiac valve. The midgut is a straight, distended, cylindrical, thin-walled tube. Numerous blunt-fingered gastric ceca are distributed irregularly throughout the midgut. The hindgut is subdivided into the ileum, colon, and rectum. The ileum is coiled. The colon gradually enlarges posteriorly. The rectum is thickly muscled and followed by a membranous structure. The openings of proximal Malpighian tubules are evenly inserted into the junction of the midgut and hindgut, and distal Malpighian tubules are evenly attached to the colon to form a cryptonephridial system. In this study, we also compare the structure and infer the function of the alimentary canal and Malpighian tubules among beetles, as well as discuss the evolutionary and taxonomical implications

AI-based association analysis for medical imaging using latent-space geometric confounder correction

AI has greatly enhanced medical image analysis, yet its use in epidemiological population imaging studies remains limited due to visualization challenges in non-linear models and lack of confounder control. Addressing this, we introduce an AI method emphasizing semantic feature interpretation and resilience against multiple confounders. Our approach's merits are tested in three scenarios: extracting confounder-free features from a 2D synthetic dataset; examining the association between prenatal alcohol exposure and children's facial shapes using 3D mesh data; exploring the relationship between global cognition and brain images with a 3D MRI dataset. Results confirm our method effectively reduces confounder influences, establishing less confounded associations. Additionally, it provides a unique visual representation, highlighting specific image alterations due to identified correlations.Comment: 18 pages; 7 figure

Rosaceae, Brassicaceae and pollen beetles: exploring relationships and evolution in an anthophilous beetle lineage (Nitidulidae, Meligethes-complex of genera) using an integrative approach

Background: Meligethes are pollen-beetles associated with flowers of Rosaceae as larvae. This genus currently consists of 63 known species in two subgenera, Meligethes and Odonthogethes, predominantly occurring in the eastern Palaearctic. We analyzed 74 morphological and ecological characters (169 states) of all species, as well as of 11 outgroup species from 7 Meligethinae genera (including Brassicogethes), to investigate their phylogeny. We also conducted a parallel molecular analysis on 9 Meligethes, 9 Odonthogethes, 3 Brassicogethes and 2 Meligethinus species based on DNA sequence data from mitochondrial (COI, 16S) and nuclear (CAD) genes. Results: Morphological phylogenetic reconstructions supported the monophyly of the whole genus and clades corresponding to purported subgenera Meligethes s.str. and Odonthogethes. Main species-groups were mostly confirmed, however some unresolved polytomies remained. Molecular data placed members of Brassicogethes (including 42 mostly W Palearctic species associated with Brassicaceae) as sister to Odonthogethes, with this clade being sister to Meligethes s.str. This phylogenetic scenario suggests that monophyletic Meligethes s.str., Odonthogethes and Brassicogethes should be regarded alternatively as three subgenera of a monophyletic Meligethes, or three genera in a monophyletic genus-complex, with mutually monophyletic Brassicogethes and Odonthogethes. Molecular analyses estimated the origin of this lineage at ca. 14–15 Mya from a common stem including Meligethinus. Conclusions: We hypothesize that the ancestor of Meligethes specialized on Rosaceae in the Middle Miocene (likely in Langhian Age) and subsequently radiated during Late Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene maintaining a trophic niche on this plant family. This radiation was primarily due to geographic isolation in E Asiatic mountain systems. Combined evidence from morphology, ancestral state parsimony reconstruction of host-plant associations and molecular evidence suggested that Rosoideae (Rosa spp.) represented the ancestral hosts of Meligethes s.str., followed by an independent shift of ancestral Odonthogethes (ca. 9–15 Mya) on Rubus (Rosoideae) and members of Rosaceae Spiraeoideae. Other ancestral Odonthogethes probably shifted again on the unrelated plant family Brassicaceae (maybe 8–14 Mya in S China), allowing a rapid westward radiation of the Brassicogethes clade