Rats Generate Vibrissal Sensory Evidence until Boundary Crossing Triggers a Decision

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A modest proposal for restoration ecology

Restoration ecology struggles to mitigate human‐caused ecological damage. Non‐native species are a particular challenge. This article describes two restoration attempts following introduced species in California and then makes a radical culling proposal. Environmental regulations, legal protections, and restoration projects are necessary to preserve ecosystem services, but such policies are often unpopular. Restorers often struggle when public opinion opposes evidence‐based practice, and this occurs particularly when the interventions involve killing mammals. Therefore, restoration efforts may benefit from more attention to how individuals perceive the acceptability of environmental policies and how to communicate policy options effectively for individuals to make informed decisions. Restoration ecology can follow the recent shift of medicine away from imperatives and toward informed patient choice. Restoration projects may benefit from recent advances in psychology and communication that help individuals make policy decisions that align with their personal values.     

Resolving Cell Fate Decisions during Somatic Cell Reprogramming by Single-Cell RNA-Seq

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A Longitudinal Study of Decision Making in the Process of Acquiring a Dog

To prevent potential problems in the relationship between people and their dogs, it is important to engage in a thoughtful decision-making process with regard to acquiring a dog. To map the most important elements in the decision-making process, a social cognitive model was applied using seven psychological constructs: perceived advantages of having a dog; perceived disadvantages; the social norm; self-efficacy; optimism; expected commitment; and the intention to acquire a dog. People who were planning to acquire a dog within one year were asked to fill in an online questionnaire and another one 14 months later. The social cognitive constructs were operationalized in the baseline questionnaire, and in the follow-up participants were asked to report whether they had actually acquired a dog during the 14-month interval. The sample (n?=?588) largely consisted of females (88%) and those who had a high level of education (64%). The mean age of the participants was 40.9 years. The data showed significant relations among the decision-making variables, and significant differences between demographic variables related to these. In univariate longitudinal analyses, several social cognitive variables significantly predicted acquiring a dog in the 14-month period. When intention to acquire a dog was entered into the multivariate model, it remained the only predictor (OR = 2.16, p?<?0.001); the model explained 33% of the variance in acquiring a dog. It was possible to assess the main constructs that play a role in decision making regarding acquiring a dog: Most baseline measures were related to actual later behavior, also when taking into account all changes in other internal and external factors that may have taken place. Insight into the decision-making process makes it possible to intervene in it for the good of people, dogs, and their relationships.     

Neuronal KGB-1 JNK MAPK signaling regulates the dauer developmental decision in response to environmental stress in Caenorhabditis elegans

In response to stressful growth conditions of high population density, food scarcity, and elevated temperature, young larvae of nematode Caenorhabditis elegans can enter a developmentally arrested stage called dauer that is characterized by dramatic anatomic and metabolic remodeling. Genetic analysis of dauer formation of C. elegans has served as an experimental paradigm for the identification and characterization of conserved neuroendocrine signaling pathways. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a conserved c-Jun N-terminal Kinase-like mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway that is required for dauer formation in response to environmental stressors. We observed that loss-of-function mutations in the MLK-1-MEK-1-KGB-1 MAPK pathway suppress dauer entry. A loss-of-function mutation in the VHP-1 MAPK phosphatase, a negative regulator of KGB-1 signaling, results in constitutive dauer formation, which is dependent on the presence of dauer pheromone but independent of diminished food levels or elevated temperatures. Our data suggest that the KGB-1 pathway acts in the sensory neurons, in parallel to established insulin and TGF-β signaling pathways, to transduce the dauer-inducing environmental cues of diminished food levels and elevated temperature.     

外来入侵植物凤眼莲遥感监测方法研究

【目的】凤眼莲作为我国典型的外来入侵物种之一,其大规模入侵对水生生态系统破坏严重。目前在不同生境下开展的凤眼莲遥感监测方法研究精度有所不同。本研究对比了不同分类方法,拟筛选出适合我国南方地区凤眼莲的分类方法。【方法】基于Sentinel-2、Landsat8 OLI多光谱影像,选择最大似然和支持向量机监督分类、决策树分类以及植被指数阈值分类方法分别对海南省5个水库的凤眼莲遥感分类,依据无人机可见光影像目视结果对不同方法的分类精度进行评价。【结果】基于凤眼莲时相特征的决策树分类精度最高,总体精度达到90%以上;在基于光谱特征的分类方法中,最大似然监督分类的用户精度为77.88%、制图精度为72.44%,支持向量机分类的用户精度和制图精度分别达到87.00%和84.48%。【结论】基于时相特征与光谱特征的决策树分类方法精度高于仅基于光谱特征的监督分类方法,简单植被指数阈值方法难以区分不同生境内的凤眼莲,研究结果可为我国南方地区凤眼莲遥感监测与预警提供依据。     

From NMR chemical shifts to amino acid types: Investigation of the predictive power carried by nuclei

An approach to automatic prediction of the amino acid type from NMR chemical shift values of its nuclei is presented here, in the frame of a model to calculate the probability of an amino acid type given the set of chemical shifts. The method relies on systematic use of all chemical shift values contained in the BioMagResBank (BMRB). Two programs were designed, one (BMRB stats) for extracting statistical chemical shift parameters from the BMRB and another one (RESCUE2) for computing the probabilities of each amino acid type, given a set of chemical shifts. The Bayesian prediction scheme presented here is compared to other methods already proposed: PROTYP RESCUE and PLATON and is found to be more sensitive and more specific. Using this scheme, we tested various sets of nuclei. The two nuclei carrying the most information are C(beta) and H(beta), in agreement with observations made in Grzesiek and Bax, 1993. Based on four nuclei: H(beta), C(beta), C(alpha) and C', it is possible to increase correct predictions to a rate of more than 75%. Taking into account the correlations between the nuclei chemical shifts has only a slight impact on the percentage of correct predictions: indeed, the largest correlation coefficients display similar features on all amino acids.     

Conspecific pilferage but not presence affects Merriam's kangaroo rat cache strategy

We investigated the effects of pilferage on caching behaviorin the Merriam's kangaroo rat by manipulating two factors associatedwith pilferage: the presence of a conspecific, and the opportunityfor pilferage. In one experiment we assessed animals in either"Stealer" or "Victim" roles and measured changes in caching,space use, and behavior after caches were pilfered. Victimsshifted from a majority scatter-hoarding to a majority larder-hoardingstrategy after their caches were pilfered by the Stealer. InExperiment 2, we measured changes after exposure to a conspecificwhen there was no pilferage, with or without prior exposureto pilferage from Experiment 1. Merriam's kangaroo rats werevigilant when a conspecific was present, but did not changecache strategy. Prior exposure did not have any major effecton caching or behavior. Food storage is an economic decisionthat is often made by a solitary forager. Our results suggestthat social competition nonetheless influences such economic decisions, even in a nonsocial forager.