\u3ci\u3eLibellula Flavida\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Libellulidae), a Dragonfly New to Ohio

Libellula flavida, a widespread but uncommon dragonfly of southeastern and south central North America, is now recorded from Ohio. A breeding population was discovered in an acidic fen on the site of a sandstone quarry in southern Ohio

Adaptive Prediction Error Coding in the Human Midbrain and Striatum Facilitates Behavioral Adaptation and Learning Efficiency.

Effective error-driven learning benefits from scaling of prediction errors to reward variability. Such behavioral adaptation may be facilitated by neurons coding prediction errors relative to the standard deviation (SD) of reward distributions. To investigate this hypothesis, we required participants to predict the magnitude of upcoming reward drawn from distributions with different SDs. After each prediction, participants received a reward, yielding trial-by-trial prediction errors. In line with the notion of adaptive coding, BOLD response slopes in the Substantia Nigra/Ventral Tegmental Area (SN/VTA) and ventral striatum were steeper for prediction errors occurring in distributions with smaller SDs. SN/VTA adaptation was not instantaneous but developed across trials. Adaptive prediction error coding was paralleled by behavioral adaptation, as reflected by SD-dependent changes in learning rate. Crucially, increased SN/VTA and ventral striatal adaptation was related to improved task performance. These results suggest that adaptive coding facilitates behavioral adaptation and supports efficient learning.This study was supported by the Wellcome Trust (W.S., P.C.F.), Bernard Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fund (P.C.F.) and the Niels Stensen Foundation (K.M.J.D.). We thank William Stauffer, Armin Lak and Joost Haarsma for useful discussions.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Cell Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.04.01

Minimum Information about a Neuroscience Investigation (MINI) Electrophysiology

This module represents the formalized opinion of the authors and the CARMEN consortium, which identifies the minimum information required to report the use of electrophysiology in a neuroscience study, for submission to the CARMEN system (www.carmen.org.uk).
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Nebulized antithrombin limits bacterial outgrowth and lung injury in Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia in rats

Introduction Disturbed alveolar fibrin turnover is a cardinal feature of severe pneumonia. Clinical studies suggest that natural inhibitors of coagulation exert lung-protective effects via anticoagulant and possibly also anti-inflammatory pathways. Intravenous infusion of the natural anticoagulants increases the risk of bleeding. Local administration may allow for higher treatment dosages and increased local efficacy while at the same time reducing the risk of bleeding. We evaluated the effect of nebulized anticoagulants on pulmonary coagulopathy and inflammation in a rat model of Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia. Methods In this randomized controlled in vivo laboratory study rats were challenged intratracheally with S. pneumoniae, inducing pneumonia, and randomized to treatment with normal saline (placebo), recombinant human activated protein C (rh-APC), plasma-derived antithrombin (AT), heparin or danaparoid, by means of nebulization. Results S. pneumoniae infection increased pulmonary levels of thrombin-antithrombin complexes and fibrin degradation products. All nebulized anticoagulants significantly limited pulmonary coagulopathy. None of the agents except danaparoid resulted in changes in systemic coagulopathy. Treatment with plasma-derived AT reduced outgrowth of S. pneumoniae and histopathologic damage in lungs. In vitro experiments confirmed outgrowth was reduced in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from rats treated with plasma-derived AT compared with placebo. Neutralizing of cationic components in BALF diminished the inhibitory effects on bacterial outgrowth of BALF, suggesting a role for cationic antimicrobial proteins. Conclusions Nebulization of anticoagulants attenuates pulmonary coagulopathy during S. pneumoniae pneumonia in rats while only danaparoid affects systemic coagulation. Nebulized plasma-derived AT reduces bacterial outgrowth and exerts significant lung-protective effect

Особенности конфликтогенных зон у больных невротическими расстройствами женщин

Представлены данные о различии конфликтогенных зон у женщин и мужчин, страдающих невротическими расстройствами. Показано, что выявленные особенности необходимо учитывать в диагностике и психотерапии невротических расстройств.The authors report the data about the differences in conflectogenic zones among women and men with neurotic disorders. It was shown that the revealed peculiarities should be taken into consideration in diagnosis and psychotherapy of neurotic disorders

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Geological Society of London Scientific Statement: what the geological record tells us about our present and future climate

Geology is the science of how the Earth functions and has evolved and, as such, it can contribute to our understanding of the climate system and how it responds to the addition of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere and oceans. Observations from the geological record show that atmospheric CO2 concentrations are now at their highest levels in at least the past 3 million years. Furthermore, the current speed of human-induced CO2 change and warming is nearly without precedent in the entire geological record, with the only known exception being the instantaneous, meteorite-induced event that caused the extinction of non-bird-like dinosaurs 66 million years ago. In short, whilst atmospheric CO2 concentrations have varied dramatically during the geological past due to natural processes, and have often been higher than today, the current rate of CO2 (and therefore temperature) change is unprecedented in almost the entire geological past. The geological record shows that changes in temperature and greenhouse gas concentrations have direct impacts on sea-level, the hydrological cycle, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the acidification and oxygen depletion of the oceans. Important climate phenomena, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the monsoons, which today affect the socio-economic stability and food and water security of billions of people, have varied markedly with past changes in climate. Climate reconstructions from around the globe show that climate change is not globally uniform, but tends to exhibit a consistent pattern, with changes at the poles larger than elsewhere. This polar amplification is seen in ancient warmer-than-modern time intervals like the Eocene epoch, about 50 million years ago and, more recently, in the Pliocene, about 3 million years ago. The warmest intervals of the Pliocene saw the disappearance of summer sea ice from the Arctic. The loss of ice cover during the Pliocene was one of the many rapid climate changes observed in the record, which are ften called climate tipping points. The geological record can be used to calculate a quantity called Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity, which is the amount of warming caused by a doubling of atmospheric CO2, after various processes in the climate system have reached equilibrium. Recent estimates suggest that global mean climate warms between 2.6 and 3.9°C per doubling of CO2 once all slow Earth system processes have reached equilibrium. The geological record provides powerful evidence that atmospheric CO2 concentrations drive climate change, and supports multiple lines of evidence that greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are altering the Earth’s climate. Moreover, the amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere means that Earth is committed to a certain degree of warming. As the Earth’s climate changes due to the burning of fossil fuels and changes in land-use, the planet we live on will experience further changes that will have increasingly drastic effects on human societies. An assessment of past climate changes helps to inform policy decisions regarding future climate change. Earth scientists will also have an important role to play in the delivery of any policies aimed at limiting future climate change

Information content and reward processing in the human striatum during performance of a declarative memory task

Negative feedback can signal poor performance, but it also provides information that can help learners reach the goal of task mastery. The primary aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the amount of information provided by negative feedback during a paired-associate learning task influences feedback-related processing in the caudate nucleus. To do this, we manipulated the number of response options: With two options, positive and negative feedback provide equal amounts of information, whereas with four options, positive feedback provides more information than does negative feedback. We found that positive and negative feedback activated the caudate similarly when there were two response options. With four options, the caudate’s response to negative feedback was reduced. A secondary goal was to investigate the link between brain-based measures of feedback-related processing and behavioral indices of learning. Analysis of the posttest measures showed that trials with positive feedback were associated with higher posttest confidence ratings. Additionally, when positive feedback was delivered, caudate activity was greater for trials with high than with low posttest confidence. This experiment demonstrated the context sensitivity of feedback processing and provided evidence that feedback processing in the striatum can contribute to the strengthening of the representations available within declarative memory

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts