Survivorship after flowering and flowering synchronicity of three cultivated Strobilanthes flexicaulis individuals from Iriomote Island,Japan

Strobilanthes flexicaulis in Iriomote Island, Japan, is a monocarpic perennial plant, which is thought to be an intermediate evolutionary state from a polycarpic perennial plant to a periodical mass-flowering plant. It remains unclear whether the intermediate reproductive traits are altered by cutting propagation or disbudding treatment (flower bud removal). To evaluate whether these traits are affected by such treatments, three individuals of S. flexicaulis from Iriomote Island were cultivated, and their flowering patterns and survivorship were observed. The monocarpic trait seemed to have been altered into a polycarpic trait by cultivation. The disbudding treatment was not related to the survivorship. The initiation of flowering was synchronized, but the termination of the second flowering period was variable among the three individuals and between the treatments. S. flexicaulis on Iriomote Island seemed to have individual variation in reproductive traits. This variation may result in their intermediate evolutionary state.     

Neovasipyridones A, B and C: Metabolites related to neovasinin, a phytotoxin of the fungus, Neocosmospora vasinfecta

Three new metabolites, neovasipyridones A, B and C, were isolated from the phytopathogenic fungus Neocosmospora vasinfecta NHL2298, and their structures elucidated by spectroscopic methods. The biosynthetic relationship between the neovasipyridones and neovasinin, a phytotoxin of this fungus, is discussed.     

A multicenter non-randomized,uncontrolled single arm trial for evaluation of the efficacy and the safety of the treatment with favipiravir for patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a bunyavirus infection with high mortality. Favipiravir has shown effectiveness in preventing and treating SFTS virus (SFTSV) infection in animal models. A multicenter non-randomized, uncontrolled single arm trial was conducted to collect data on the safety and the effectiveness of favipiravir in treatment of SFTS patients. All participants received favipiravir orally (first-day loading dose of 1800 mg twice a day followed by 800 mg twice a day for 7–14 days in total). SFTSV RT-PCR and biochemistry tests were performed at designated time points. Outcomes were 28-day mortality, clinical improvement, viral load evolution, and adverse events (AEs). Twenty-six patients were enrolled, of whom 23 were analyzed. Four of these 23 patients died of multi-organ failure within one week (28-day mortality rate: 17.3%). Oral favipiravir was well tolerated in the surviving patients. AEs (abnormal hepatic function and insomnia) occurred in about 20% of the patients. Clinical symptoms improved in all patients who survived from a median of day 2 to day10. SFTSV RNA levels in the patients who died were significantly higher than those in the survivors (p = 0.0029). No viral genomes were detectable in the surviving patients a median of 8 days after favipiravir administration. The 28-day mortality rate in this study was lower than those of the previous studies in Japan. The high frequency of hepatic dysfunction as an AE was observed. However, it was unclear whether this was merely a side effect of favipiravir, because liver disorders are commonly seen in SFTS patients. The results of this trial support the effectiveness of favipiravir for patients with SFTS.     

A gaze bias with coarse spatial indexing during a gambling task

Researchers have used eye-tracking methods to infer cognitive processes during decision making in choice tasks involving visual materials. Gaze likelihood analysis has shown a cascading effect, suggestive of a causal role for the gaze in preference formation during evaluative decision making. According to the gaze bias hypothesis, the gaze serves to build commitment gradually towards a choice. Here, we applied gaze likelihood analysis in a two-choice version of the well-known Iowa Gambling Task. This task requires active learning of the value of different choice options. As such, it does not involve visual preference formation, but choice optimization through learning. In Experiment 1 we asked subjects to choose between two decks with different payoff structures, and to give their responses using mouse clicks. Two groups of subjects were exposed to stable versus varying outcome contingencies. The analysis revealed a pronounced gaze bias towards the chosen stimuli in both groups of subjects, plateauing at more than 400 ms before the choice. The early plateauing suggested that the gaze effect partially reflected eye-hand coordination. In Experiment 2 we asked subjects to give responses using a key press. The results again showed a clear gaze bias towards the chosen deck, this time without any influence from eye-hand coordination. In both experiments, there was a clear gaze bias towards the choice even though the gaze fixations did not narrowly focus on the spatial positions of choice options. Taken together, the data suggested a role for gaze in coarse spatial indexing during non-perceptual decision making.