Circadian Systems in Development and Photoperiodism in Japanese Quail.

Section I: The daily rhythm of plasma levels of adrenal corticol hormones (ACH) differed in phase and amplitude in Japanese quail of different ages and reproductive condition. Treatment with thiouracil accelerated and thyroxine delayed maturation of the ACH rhythm and development of the reproductive system. In contrast to the ACH rhythm, the rhythm of plasma thyroxine concentrations was similar at all ages tested. Section II: The roles of circadian rhythms in photoperiodism as they relate to adrenal cortical hormone (ACH) were examined in male Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica. Plasma ACH concentration was found to undergo circadian variations, which varied in phase with respect to the daily photoperiod depending on the length of photoperiod and condition of the reproductive system. The ACH peak occurred at light onset in sexually regressed quail maintained on LD 8:16 and at 12 and 16 hours after light onset in sexually developed quail kept on LD 8:16 or LD 16:8 respectively. In blind, sexually developed quail maintained on LD 16:8, daily injections of corticosterone for 15 days given early during the photoperiod (4 hours after light onset) induced a 40% reduction in the left testis volume (LTV) whereas injections 16 hours after light onset were ineffective. Thus, it appears that the daily rhythm of plasma concentrations of ACH and the photosensitivity rhythm are expressions of the same neural oscillation, and that injections of corticosterone at different times with respect to the photoperiod can entrain the oscillation so as to shift the photoinducible phase into or out of the light. Section III:The roles of the eyes and the daily rhythm of adrenal cortical hormone (ACH) and thyroxine in photoperiodism were examined in male Japanese quail. The reproductive system of quail developed in continuous darkness (DD) after pretreatment with LD 8:16 for 3 weeks. The reproductive system of Japanese quail raised and enucleated after 6 weeks exposure to LD 16:8 regressed initially in response to LD 8:16, but recrudesced during the next 8 months exposure to LD 8:16. Reproductively undeveloped quail raised and enucleated on LD 8:16, developed reproductively when exposed to LD 16:8 and did not regress on subsequent exposure to LD 8:16 unless treated with 0.2% 2-thiouracil in the food. . . . (Author\u27s abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of author.) UMI

Supportive organizations, work–family enrichment, and job burnout in low and high humane orientation cultures

The present study draws on the work–family and cross-national management literature to examine the relationships between Family-Supportive Organizational Perceptions (FSOP), work–family enrichment, and job burnout across five countries with different cultural backgrounds: Malaysia, New Zealand, France, Italy, and Spain. Using a combined sample of 980 employees, we find support for a partial mediation model in which FSOP is positively associated with work–family enrichment, which in turn is negatively related to job burnout. Given our focus on support, we test the moderating role of the cultural value humane orientation, that is, the extent to which a society values altruism, kindness, and compassion. The five countries in our sample offer variation in their country-level scores as determined by the GLOBE study (House et al., 2004). We found that individuals from cultures that scored higher in “as is” humane orientation (i.e., scores for actual practices) experienced lower job burnout when FSOP increased. This pattern was reversed when considering “should be” humane orientation (i.e., scores for ideal values). The implications for the work–family and the cross-national management literature, and for practice, are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Phenotyping the histopathological subtypes of non-small-cell lung carcinoma: how beneficial is radiomics?

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of radiomics in the absence of well-defined standard guidelines. Specifically, we extracted radiomics features from multicenter computed tomography (CT) images to differentiate between the four histopathological subtypes of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). In addition, the results that varied with the radiomics model were compared. We investigated the presence of the batch effects and the impact of feature harmonization on the models' performance. Moreover, the question on how the training dataset composition influenced the selected feature subsets and, consequently, the model's performance was also investigated. Therefore, through combining data from the two publicly available datasets, this study involves a total of 152 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 106 large cell carcinoma (LCC), 150 adenocarcinoma (ADC), and 58 no other specified (NOS). Through the matRadiomics tool, which is an example of Image Biomarker Standardization Initiative (IBSI) compliant software, 1781 radiomics features were extracted from each of the malignant lesions that were identified in CT images. After batch analysis and feature harmonization, which were based on the ComBat tool and were integrated in matRadiomics, the datasets (the harmonized and the non-harmonized) were given as an input to a machine learning modeling pipeline. The following steps were articulated: (i) training-set/test-set splitting (80/20); (ii) a Kruskal-Wallis analysis and LASSO linear regression for the feature selection; (iii) model training; (iv) a model validation and hyperparameter optimization; and (v) model testing. Model optimization consisted of a 5-fold cross-validated Bayesian optimization, repeated ten times (inner loop). The whole pipeline was repeated 10 times (outer loop) with six different machine learning classification algorithms. Moreover, the stability of the feature selection was evaluated. Results showed that the batch effects were present even if the voxels were resampled to an isotropic form and whether feature harmonization correctly removed them, even though the models' performances decreased. Moreover, the results showed that a low accuracy (61.41%) was reached when differentiating between the four subtypes, even though a high average area under curve (AUC) was reached (0.831). Further, a NOS subtype was classified as almost completely correct (true positive rate similar to 90%). The accuracy increased (77.25%) when only the SCC and ADC subtypes were considered, as well as when a high AUC (0.821) was obtained-although harmonization decreased the accuracy to 58%. Moreover, the features that contributed the most to models' performance were those extracted from wavelet decomposed and Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) filtered images and they belonged to the texture feature class.. In conclusion, we showed that our multicenter data were affected by batch effects, that they could significantly alter the models' performance, and that feature harmonization correctly removed them. Although wavelet features seemed to be the most informative features, an absolute subset could not be identified since it changed depending on the training/testing splitting. Moreover, performance was influenced by the chosen dataset and by the machine learning methods, which could reach a high accuracy in binary classification tasks, but could underperform in multiclass problems.It is, therefore, essential that the scientific community propose a more systematic radiomics approach, focusing on multicenter studies, with clear and solid guidelines to facilitate the translation of radiomics to clinical practice

Utilizing blockchain technology for supply chain transparency: A resource orchestration perspective

Driven by pressures from multiple stakeholders, supply chain transparency (SCT) has emerged as a phenomenon of increased interest. To address concerns about practices and processes at point of origin locations for raw materials in global supply chains, blockchain technology (BCT) has the potential to enhance SCT. Supply chain research has started to advance the field's understanding of SCT, but many questions remain, including how SCT should be conceptualized, how firms can effectively facilitate it, and the benefits of providing it, especially when BCT is utilized. The gaps suggest the need for fundamental theoretical development about the resources and capabilities underlying the development, application, and derived value of SCT. This research designed a case study around a BCT implementation project between a small artisan coffee producer and a startup BCT service provider. Using the resource orchestration perspective, the findings result in theoretical insights about how the mechanisms in structuring, bundling, and leveraging processes operate to offer SCT to stakeholders, and the value creation derived as a result

A review of the zooplankton in Singapore waters

24 pages, 1 figure, 2 tablesThe island of Singapore is located between 1°09'N¿1°29'N and 103°38'E¿104°06'E at the confluence of the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea. To date, both the marine and freshwater zooplanktons of this area are poorly studied, and availability of taxonomic identification is scarce. Moreover, most of the studies were published between the 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s. The available data are mainly qualitative, with only a few studies on zooplankton biology and ecology. Here, the literature on zooplankton communities in Singapore waters is reviewed in order to provide a baseline for future zooplankton surveys, and to better understand the aquatic ecosystems of this area. Also included are recent data obtained from a one-year plankton monitoring in 2012 from two marine stations in Singapore. The temporal variation of the plankton groups was observed in the study to be similar to what was described in some works from the 1970s. The species richness increased in these more recent studies, probably due to changes in the sampling and preservation methods. Because of these changes, comparing between data-sets is challenging; however, similarities in species richness and seasonality between a recent study and previous data-sets were evident. Finally, it is argued that continuous marine plankton monitoring would be an asset for Singapore and the regionThe authors would like to thanks the National Parks of Singapore, the DHI-NTU Research Centre for the financial support of project MadeInPlankton, where the present study is framed. The work was also supported by Elite Forsk grants nb 10-093759 and 10-094773 from the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation to GD, and by project PROTOS (CTM2009-08783) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to ACPeer Reviewe

Top-down network analysis characterizes hidden termite–termite interactions

The analysis of ecological networks is generally bottom-up, where networks are established by observing interactions between individuals. Emergent network properties have been indicated to reflect the dominant mode of interactions in communities that might be mutualistic (e.g., pollination) or antagonistic (e.g., host–parasitoid communities). Many ecological communities, however, comprise species interactions that are difficult to observe directly. Here, we propose that a comparison of the emergent properties from detail-rich reference communities with known modes of interaction can inform our understanding of detail-sparse focal communities. With this top-down approach, we consider patterns of coexistence between termite species that live as guests in mounds built by other host termite species as a case in point. Termite societies are extremely sensitive to perturbations, which precludes determining the nature of their interactions through direct observations. We perform a literature review to construct two networks representing termite mound cohabitation in a Brazilian savanna and in the tropical forest of Cameroon. We contrast the properties of these cohabitation networks with a total of 197 geographically diverse mutualistic plant–pollinator and antagonistic host–parasitoid networks. We analyze network properties for the networks, perform a principal components analysis (PCA), and compute the Mahalanobis distance of the termite networks to the cloud of mutualistic and antagonistic networks to assess the extent to which the termite networks overlap with the properties of the reference networks. Both termite networks overlap more closely with the mutualistic plant–pollinator communities than the antagonistic host–parasitoid communities, although the Brazilian community overlap with mutualistic communities is stronger. The analysis raises the hypothesis that termite–termite cohabitation networks may be overall mutualistic. More broadly, this work provides support for the argument that cryptic communities may be analyzed via comparison to well-characterized communities

Evidence of large increases in sedimentation rates due to fish trawling in submarine canyons of the Gulf of Palermo (SW Mediterranean)

Bottom trawling in submarine canyons can affect their natural sedimentation rates, but studies addressing this issue are still scarce. In the Gulf of Palermo (SW Mediterranean), bottom trawling occurs on the slope around Oreto, Arenella and Eleuterio canyons. Analyses of excess 210Pb concentrations and grain size fractions in sediment cores from their canyon axes revealed that sedimentation rates and silt contents increased in all canyons in the 1980s, due to the expansion of more powerful trawlers ( \u3e 500 HP) to deeper fishing grounds. In Eleuterio and Arenella canyons, sedimentation rates increased by an order of magnitude (0.1-1.4 cm·yr-1), whereas they increased less (0.1-0.7 cm·yr-1) in Oreto Canyon, since the enhanced trawling-derived sediment fluxes into this canyon are affected by sediment resuspension from trawling along its axis. Considering the global expansion of bottom trawling, we anticipate similar alterations in other trawled canyons, with ecological consequences that should be addressed by management strategies

Early Monitoring Response to Therapy in Patients with Brain Lesions Using the Cumulative SUV Histogram

Featured Application The study proposes a methodology to evaluate the response of patients with brain lesions to Gamma Knife treatments through the use of Positron Emission Tomography imaging. Gamma Knife treatment is an alternative to traditional brain surgery and whole-brain radiation therapy for treating cancers that are inaccessible via conventional treatments. To assess the effectiveness of Gamma Knife treatments, functional imaging can play a crucial role. The aim of this study is to evaluate new prognostic indices to perform an early assessment of treatment response to therapy using positron emission tomography imaging. The parameters currently used in nuclear medicine assessments can be affected by statistical fluctuation errors and/or cannot provide information on tumor extension and heterogeneity. To overcome these limitations, the Cumulative standardized uptake value (SUV) Histogram (CSH) and Area Under the Curve (AUC) indices were evaluated to obtain additional information on treatment response. For this purpose, the absolute level of [11C]-Methionine (MET) uptake was measured and its heterogeneity distribution within lesions was evaluated by calculating the CSH and AUC indices. CSH and AUC parameters show good agreement with patient outcomes after Gamma Knife treatments. Furthermore, no relevant correlations were found between CSH and AUC indices and those usually used in the nuclear medicine environment. CSH and AUC indices could be a useful tool for assessing patient responses to therapy