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Aggressive communication between territory defenders and intruders in a glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens ) colony was analyzed using 453 aggressive interactions (strings) recorded on video tape. Special attention was given to the role of the intruder in each interaction. Based on these analyses, the display we named Slouch was described both posturally and functionally. It was concluded the chief differences between Upright and Slouch intruders was the degree of threat conveyed by each display to the territory defender. Intruders using Slouch were more site tenacious, they conveyed a greater level of threat than did Upright intruders, and consequently were able to remain longer in a territory.

Aggressive communication between territory defenders and intruders in a glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) colony was analyzed using 453 aggressive interactions (strings) recorded on video tape. Special attention was given to the role of the intruder in each interaction. Based on these analyses, the display we named Slouch was described both posturally and functionally. Slouch posture was used almost exclusively by intruders. Each string analyzed was placed in one of two categories, defined by intruder behavior. The category called \"Upright\" was characterized by intruders using only Upright postures. The second category, called \"Slouch\", was characterized by intruders that used both Upright and Slouch postures. Analyses were performed separately but identically on strings from each category. Conclusions were based on comparisons of results from the two categories. Interactions in both categories were initiated by an intruder entering a territory. Territory owners responded to intruder entry and effected intruder exit in a virtually identical fashion in both categories. This indicated differences between Slouch and Upright categories were derived from differences occurring during the interim between intruder entry and prior to intruder exit. The interim period in Slouch category interactions was temporally more protracted than in Upright category interactions. However, total behavior frequency was approximately equal in both categories. These data indicated pauses were occurring in the intermediate segments of the lengthier Slouch strings. Pauses during the interim corresponded with episodes of intruder Slouch and subsequent defender responses. Intruders used Slouch independent of preceding defender behaviors. Whereas the behaviors of territory defenders tended to be predictably associated with specific behaviors of Upright intruders, responses to intruders using Slouch were characterized by a variety of non-associated behaviors. This lack of predictability was judged to result from tenacious intruder adherence to Slouch regardless of defender response, and resulted in creating the long pauses in Slouch strings. This is a likely indicator of a more threatening intruder. Previous experimental work has shown that Upright intruders approaching a defender are responded to as being more threatening than those remaining stationary or moving away. An analysis of interactions in which both Upright intruders and those using Slouch approached the defender revealed almost identical defender responses. Furthermore, intruders using Slouch approached territory defenders more frequently than did Upright intruders, and responded classically less frequently to defender Mew-Choke display than did Upright intruders. Both characteristics are indicative of a higher level of tenacity (or threat) among intruders using Slouch. Differences observed in the two categories of strings were interpreted as being intruder specific, since these differences were based on the use or lack of use of Slouch display by intruders. Furthermore, the fact that territory defenders responded to initial entry of intruders in both categories in the same fashion was used to rule out differences as being defender specific. The observed differences appeared to result from a single factor-the seeming inability of territory owners to rapidly displace intruders using Slouch display. It was concluded the chief differences between Upright and Slouch intruders was the degree of threat conveyed by each display to the territory defender. Intruders using Slouch were more site tenacious, they conveyed a greater level of threat than did Upright intruders, and consequently were able to remain longer in a territory.

Excess adiposity is a reversible etiologic risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea. In this trial, tirzepatide reduced the apnea–hypopnea index of participants with obstructive sleep apnea and obesity.

The objective of this experiment was to quantify intakes, duodenal flows, and ruminal apparent synthesis (AS) of B-vitamins in lactating dairy cows fed diets varying in forage and nonfiber carbohydrate (NFC) contents. Eight (4 primiparous and 4 multiparous) ruminally and duodenally cannulated Holstein cows were assigned to 4 dietary treatments in a replicated 21-d period, 4×4 Latin square design with a 2×2 factorial treatment arrangement. Diets, fed as TMR, contained (DM basis) 2 levels of forage (35 and 60%) and 2 levels of NFC (30 and 40%). The forage portion of the diets contained 50% corn silage, 33% alfalfa hay, and 17% grass hay. Soybean hulls and beet pulp (2:1) and corn meal and ground barley (2:1) were included to achieve desired NFC concentrations. No supplemental B-vitamins were fed. B-vitamin AS was calculated as the amount of a specific B-vitamin flowing to the duodenum minus its daily orts-corrected intake. Dry matter and organic matter intakes were higher for cows fed the 35% forage diets and the 40% NFC diets. Increasing dietary forage content decreased ruminal AS of pyridoxine, folic acid, and B12. Increasing dietary NFC content increased ruminal AS of nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, niacin, pyridoxal, B6, and folic acid but decreased AS of B12. Across diets, amounts of B-vitamins synthesized were highest for niacin, followed by riboflavin, B12, thiamin, B6, and folic acid. Biotin AS values were negative for all diets, suggesting either no ruminal synthesis or that destruction by ruminal microflora was greater than synthesis. B-vitamin intake, duodenal flow, and ruminal synthesis are influenced by dietary forage and NFC contents.

The New York State Mesonet (NYSM) is a network of 126 standard environmental monitoring stations deployed statewide with an average spacing of 27 km. The primary goal of the NYSM is to provide high-quality weather data at high spatial and temporal scales to improve atmospheric monitoring and prediction, especially for extreme weather events. As compared with other statewide networks, the NYSM faced considerable deployment obstacles with New York’s complex terrain, forests, and very rural and urban areas; its wide range of weather extremes; and its harsh winter conditions. To overcome these challenges, the NYSM adopted a number of innovations unique among statewide monitoring systems, including 1) strict adherence to international siting standards and metadata documentation; 2) a hardened system design to facilitate continued operations during extreme, high-impact weather; 3) a station design optimized to monitor winter weather conditions; and 4) a camera installed at every site to aid situational awareness. The network was completed in spring of 2018 and provides data and products to a variety of sectors including weather monitoring and forecasting, emergency management, agriculture, transportation, utilities, and education. This paper focuses on the standard network of the NYSM and reviews the network siting, site configuration, sensors, site communications and power, network operations and maintenance, data quality control, and dissemination. A few example analyses are shown that highlight the benefits of the NYSM.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an important chronic, asthma-associated pathogen that is increasingly antibiotic-resistant. These bacteria have highly reduced genomes and lack a cell wall and numerous other antibiotic targets. They form biofilm towers after prolonged growth both axenically and on tissue culture cells. The biofilm towers have features associated with chronic infection: they are highly resistant to erythromycin and have substantially increased resistance to complement, although they are sensitive to a combination of the two. This work sought to characterize the profile of agents that could eradicate M. pneumoniae biofilm towers. Biofilm towers were found to provide no defense against H 2 O 2 , an M. pneumoniae virulence factor whose production is severely attenuated during biofilm tower growth. Checkerboard assays revealed that dual combinations of erythromycin, moxifloxacin, and doxycycline acted synergistically against two strains of M. pneumoniae . Crystal violet assays suggested that pairs of these agents, when used at clinically relevant concentrations, had substantial efficacy against pre-formed biofilm towers, but scanning electron microscopy revealed that the eradication of biofilm towers was even more complete than crystal violet assays indicated. Although the use of fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines in children, who are the most frequently infected population, is not preferred over macrolides due to potential side effects, this work shows that synergistic interactions among therapeutic agents provide potential clinical paths to substantially reducing or eradicating M. pneumoniae biofilms, thereby decreasing morbidity. Furthermore, the sensitivity to H 2 O 2 suggests that small-molecule therapeutics may also be suitable for biofilm clearance.

Deletions in IKZF1 are found in ~15% of children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). There is strong evidence for the poor prognosis of IKZF1 deletions affecting exons 4–7 and exons 1–8, but evidence for the remaining 33% of cases harboring other variants of IKZF1 deletions is lacking. In an international multicenter study we analyzed the prognostic value of these rare variants in a case–control design. Each IKZF1- deleted case was matched to three IKZF1 wild-type controls based on cytogenetic subtype, treatment protocol, risk stratification arm, white blood cell count and age. Hazard ratios for the prognostic impact of rare IKZF1 deletions on event-free survival were calculated by matched pair Cox regression. Matched pair analysis for all 134 cases with rare IKZF1 deletions together revealed a poor prognosis ( P <0.001) that was evident in each risk stratification arm. Rare variant types with the most unfavorable event-free survival were DEL 2–7 ( P =0.03), DEL 2–8 ( P =0.002) and DEL-Other ( P <0.001). The prognosis of each type of rare variant was equal or worse compared with the well-known major DEL 4–7 and DEL 1–8 IKZF1 deletion variants. We therefore conclude that all variants of rare IKZF1 deletions are associated with an unfavorable prognosis in pediatric BCP-ALL.

In a phase 3 clinical trial involving previously treated patients with advanced renal-cell carcinoma, progression-free survival was significantly longer with the VEGF receptor inhibitor cabozantinib than with everolimus (7.4 months vs. 3.8 months). Renal-cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer, with more than 330,000 cases diagnosed and more than 140,000 deaths attributed to it worldwide every year. 1 Approximately one third of patients present with metastatic disease at diagnosis, 2 and in about one third of treated patients with localized disease, the disease will relapse. 3 – 5 Inactivation of the von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) tumor-suppressor protein characterizes clear-cell tumors, the predominant histologic subtype in patients with renal-cell carcinoma, and results in the up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production. 6 , 7 Antiangiogenic drugs that target VEGF (bevacizumab) and its receptors (sunitinib, sorafenib, pazopanib, and . . .

Effective immunity requires a large, diverse naive T cell repertoire circulating among lymphoid organs in search of antigen. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and its receptor S1PR1 contribute by both directing T cell migration and supporting T cell survival. Here, we addressed how S1P enables T cell survival and the implications for patients treated with S1PR1 antagonists. We found that S1PR1 limited apoptosis by maintaining the appropriate balance of BCL2 family members via restraint of JNK activity. Interestingly, the same residues of S1PR1 that enable receptor internalization were required to prevent this proapoptotic cascade. Findings in mice were recapitulated in ulcerative colitis patients treated with the S1PR1 antagonist ozanimod, and the loss of naive T cells limited B cell responses. Our findings highlighted an effect of S1PR1 antagonists on the ability to mount immune responses within lymph nodes, beyond their effect on lymph node egress, and suggested both limitations and additional uses of this important class of drugs.