Quiz-style online training tool helps to learn birdsong identification and support citizen science

Citizen science is an important approach to monitoring for biodiversity conservation because it allows for data acquisition or analysis on a scale that is not possible for researchers alone. In citizen science projects, the use of online training is increasing to improve such skills. However, the effectiveness of quiz-style online training, assumed to be efficient to enhance participants’ skills, has not been evaluated adequately on species identification for citizen science biodiversity monitoring projects. Memory mechanisms in adaptive learning were hypothesized to guide the development of quiz-based online training tools for learning birdsong identification and for improving interest in birds and natural environments. To examine the hypothesis, we developed a quiz-style online training tool called TORI-TORE. We experimentally applied TORI-TORE in Fukushima, Japan, and examined its effectiveness for bird identification training using test scores and questionnaires to determine participants’ attitudes in a randomized control trial. We obtained the following key results: (1) TORI-TORE had positive effects on test scores and trainees’ attitudes toward birds. (2) Adaptive training, in which questions focused preferentially on unmastered bird species based on the answer history of individual trainees inspired by adaptive learning, unexpectedly led to lower scores and satisfaction in TORI-TORE. (3) Focusing on species that are relatively easy to remember, short lag times between training and testing, and long question intervals positively affected scores. While there is room for improvement, we expect TORI-TORE to contribute to online capacity building and to increase interest in natural environments

<症例>Tamoxifen 併用多剤化学療法 (5-Fluorouracil, Epirubicin, Cyclophosphamide) が著効を示した進行男性乳癌の1例

A 79-year old male advanced breast cancer patient with metastases in lymph nodes, bones and anterior chest wall was effectively treated by a combination of chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide), tamoxifen and minor surgery. Two months after five cycles of chemotherapy, all lymph node swellings disappeared. The main breast cancer and the chest wall metastatic nodule were resected under local anesthesia. He was maintained on tamoxifen alone and showed no lymph node recurrence during the follow up period of 20 months, suggesting good control of bone metastatic lesions.多発性鎖骨上寓, 腋窩リンパ節転移, 多発性骨転移, 胸壁転移を有する79歳男性進行乳癌症例に対し, 胸壁転移巣切除生検にて Estrogen 受容体陽性を確認したのち, Tamoxifen 併用多剤化学療法 (5-Fluorouracil, Epirubicin, Cyclophosphamide) を施行した. 化学療法5回終了後約2ヶ月ですべてのリンパ節腫脹の消失をみたため, 外来にて単純乳房切断術をおこなった. 以後 Tamoxifen のみの投与にて外来で追跡し, 化学療法終了後約20ヶ月間リンパ節再発を認めず, 骨転移巣も良好に制御された現在, 患者は全く愁訴なく元気に日常生活を送っている. 小手術と組み合わせた Tamoxifen 併用多剤化学療法が著効を示した男性進行乳癌の1例を報告した

A Wheat Homolog of MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 Acts in the Regulation of Germination[W][OA]

Among the environmental signals affecting seed development, temperature is the most influential in the formation of seed dormancy in wheat. In this study, transcriptional profiling of the effects of temperature on seed dormancy formation identified MFT as a candidate gene for seed dormancy regulation

Wheat Ym2 originated from Aegilops sharonensis and confers resistance to soil-borne Wheat yellow mosaic virus infection to the roots

International audienceWheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV) is a pathogen transmitted into its host’s roots by the soil-borne vector Polymyxa graminis . Ym1 and Ym2 genes protect the host from the significant yield losses caused by the virus, but the mechanistic basis of these resistance genes remains poorly understood. Here, it has been shown that Ym1 and Ym2 act within the root either by hindering the initial movement of WYMV from the vector into the root and/or by suppressing viral multiplication. A mechanical inoculation experiment on the leaf revealed that the presence of Ym1 reduced viral infection incidence, rather than viral titer, while that of Ym2 was ineffective in the leaf. To understand the basis of the root specificity of the Ym2 product, the gene was isolated from bread wheat using a positional cloning approach. The candidate gene encodes a CC-NBS-LRR protein and it correlated allelic variation with respect to its sequence with the host’s disease response. Ym2 (B37500) and its paralog (B35800) are found in the near-relatives, respectively, Aegilops sharonensi s and Aegilops speltoides (a close relative of the donor of bread wheat’s B genome), while both sequences, in a concatenated state, are present in several accessions of the latter species . Structural diversity in Ym2 has been generated via translocation and recombination between the two genes and enhanced by the formation of a chimeric gene resulting from an intralocus recombination event. The analysis has revealed how the Ym2 region has evolved during the polyploidization events leading to the creation of cultivated wheat