Information retention during competitive interactions : siblings need to constantly repeat vocal displays

Memory is essential to adjust behaviour according to past experience. In societies where animals interact on numerous occasions, memory of previous social interactions may help optimise investment in competition. How long information about the resource holding potential and motivation to compete of conspecifics is retained depends on how fast the value of this information fades, but also on the cost and benefit of retaining information. Information retention has never been investigated in the context of interactions prevailing within the family and more specifically sibling competition. In the absence of parents, barn owl (Tyto alba) nestlings vocally compete for priority of access to the next indivisible food item brought by a parent. The finding that owlets eavesdrop on vocal interactions between siblings to adjust investment in vocalization once competing with them suggests that they memorize siblings' vocal interactions. Playback experiments showed that owlets take into account the past siblings' vocal performance that signals hunger for at least 15 min, but only if the performance was witnessed during a sufficiently long period of time (30 min). Moreover, using natural vocal exchanges in another set of individuals, we showed that sibling signalling was no more taken into account after a few minutes. This suggests that young barn owls need to continuously display their motivation to trigger siblings' withdrawal from the current competition. Repeating a vocal display may ensure its honesty. Studying the extent to which individuals retain past information is important to understand how individuals adjust their competitive investment over resources.

A civil society response on the report of the UN High-Level Panel on system-wide coherence

Abordamos el Informe del Grupo de Alto Nivel sobre la Coherencia en todo el Sistema de las Naciones Unidas («Informe del Grupo») y el proceso de reforma de las Naciones Unidas del que forma parte como grupos de la sociedad civil que tienen una larga experiencia por lo que se refiere a propugnar reformas del sistema de las Naciones Unidas.

Immunopathogenesis of Asthma and Atopic Diseases – The specific Role of a selected Panel of Genes in human T helper Cell Differentiation

T helper cell (Th) functions are crucial for proper immune defence against various intra- and extracellular pathogens. According to the specific immune responses, Th cells can be classified into subtypes, Th1 and Th2 cells being the most frequently characterized classes. Th1 and Th2 cells interact with other immune cells by regulating their functions with specific cytokine production. IFN, IL-2 and TNF- are the cytokines predominantly produced by Th1 cells whereas Th2 cells produce Th2-type cytokines, such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. Upon TCR activation and in the presence of polarizing cytokines, Th cells differentiate into effector subtypes from a common precursor cell. IFN and IL-12 are the predominant Th1 polarizing cytokines whereas IL-4 directs Th2 polarization. The cytokines mediate their effects through specific receptor signalling. The differentiation process is complex, involving various signalling molecules and routes, as well as functions of the specific transcription factors. The functions of the Th1/Th2 cells are tightly regulated; however, knowledge on human Th cell differentiation is, as yet, fairly poor. The susceptibility for many immune-mediated disorders often originates from disturbed Th cell responses. Thus, research is needed for defining the molecular mechanisms involved in the differentiation and balanced functions of the Th cells. Importantly, the new information obtained will be crucial for a better understanding of the pathogenesis of immune-mediated disorders, such as asthma or autoimmune diseases. In the first subproject of this thesis, the role of genetic polymorphisms in the human STAT6, GATA3 and STAT4 genes were investigated for asthma or atopy susceptibility in Finnish asthma families by association analysis. These genes code for key transcription factors regulating Th cell differentiation. The study resulted in the identification of a GATA3 haplotype that associated with asthma and related traits (high serum IgE level). In the second subproject, an optimized method for human primary T cell transfection and enrichment was established. The method can be utilized for functional studies for the selected genes of interest. The method was also utilized in the third subproject, which aimed at the identification of novel genes involved in early human Th cell polarization (0-48h) using genome-wide oligonucleotide arrays. As a result, numerous genes and ESTs with known or unknown functions were identified in the study. Using an shRNA knockdown approach, a panel of novel IL-4/STAT6 regulated genes were identified in the functional studies of the genes. Moreover, one of the genes, NDFIP2, with a previously uncharacterized role in the human Th differentiation, was observed to promote IFN production of the differentiated Th1 cells. Taken together, the results obtained have revealed potential new relevant candidate genes serving as a basis for further studies characterizing the detailed networks involved in the human Th cell differentiation as well as in the genetic susceptibility of Th-mediated immune disorders.

Univariate versus multivariate modeling of panel data

Panel data can be arranged into a matrix in two ways, called 'long' and 'wide' formats (LFand WF). The two formats suggest two alternative model approaches for analyzing paneldata: (i) univariate regression with varying intercept; and (ii) multivariate regression withlatent variables (a particular case of structural equation model, SEM). The present papercompares the two approaches showing in which circumstances they yield equivalent?insome cases, even numerically equal?results. We show that the univariate approach givesresults equivalent to the multivariate approach when restrictions of time invariance (inthe paper, the TI assumption) are imposed on the parameters of the multivariate model.It is shown that the restrictions implicit in the univariate approach can be assessed bychi-square difference testing of two nested multivariate models. In addition, commontests encountered in the econometric analysis of panel data, such as the Hausman test, areshown to have an equivalent representation as chi-square difference tests. Commonalitiesand differences between the univariate and multivariate approaches are illustrated usingan empirical panel data set of firms' profitability as well as a simulated panel data.

A panel data analysis of FDI and informal labor markets

The objective of this paper is to examine whether informal labor markets affect the flows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and also whether this effect is similar in developed and developing countries. With this aim, different public data sources, such as the World Bank (WB), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are used, and panel econometric models are estimated for a sample of 65 countries over a 14 year period (1996-2009). In addition, this paper uses a dynamic model as an extension of the analysis to establish whether such an effect exists and what its indicators and significance may be.

Appropriateness of therapy for active Crohn's disease: results of a multidisciplinary international expert panel-EPACT II

The increasing number of trials testing management strategies for luminal Crohn's disease (CD) has not fitted all the gaps in our knowledge and thus, in clinical. practice, many decisions for CD patients have to be taken without the benefit of high-quality evidence. Methods: A multidisciplinary European expert panel used the RAND Appropriateness Method to develop and rate explicit criteria for the management of individual patients with active, steroid-dependent (ST-D) and steroid-refractory (ST-R) CD. Results: Overall., 296 indications pertaining to mild-to-moderate, severe, ST-D, and ST-R CD were rated. In anti-TNF naive patients, budesonide and prednisone were found to be appropriate for mild-moderate CD, and infliximab (IFX) was appropriate when these had previously failed or had not been tolerated. In patients with a prior successful treatment by IFX, this drug, with or without co-administration of a thiopurine analog, was favoured. Other anti-TNFs were appropriate in the presence of intolerance or resistance to IFX. High-dose steroids, IFX or adlimumab were appropriate in severe active CD. For the 105 indications for ST-D or ST-R disease, the panel considered the thiopurine analogs, methotrexate, IFX, adalimumab, and surgery for limited resection, to be appropriate, depending on the outcome of prior therapies. Anti-TNFs were generally considered appropriate in ST-R. Conclusion: Steroids, including budesonide for mild-to-moderate CD, remain the first-line therapy for active luminal CD. Anti-TNFs, in particular IFX as shown by the amount of available evidence, remain the second-line therapy for most indications. Thiopurine analogs, methotrexate and anti-TNFs are favoured in ST-D patients and ST-R patients. (C) 2009 European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interviewer and Respondent Survey Quality Effects in a CATI Panel

Especially in panel surveys, respondent attrition, respondent learning, and interviewer experience effects play a crucial role with respect to data quality. We examine three interview survey quality indicators in the same survey in a cross sectional as well as in a longitudinal way. In the cross sectional analysis we compare data quality in the mature original sample with that in a refreshment sample, surveyed in the same wave. Because in the same wave an interviewer survey was conducted, collecting attitudes on their socio demography, survey attitudes and burden measures, we are able to consider interviewer fixed effects as well. The longitudinal analysis gives more insight in the respondent learning effects with respect to the quality indicators considered by considering the very same respondents across waves. The Swiss Household Panel, a CATI survey representative of the Swiss residential population, forms an ideal modelling database: the interviewer - respondent assignment is random, both within and across waves. This design avoids possible confusion with other effects stemming from a non-random assignment of interviewers, e.g. area effects or effects from assigning the best interviewers to the hard cases. In order to separate interviewer, respondent and wave effects, we build cross-classified multilevel models.

Global Diversity Lines-A Five-Continent Reference Panel of Sequenced Drosophila melanogaster Strains.

Reference collections of multiple Drosophila lines with accumulating collections of "omics" data have proven especially valuable for the study of population genetics and complex trait genetics. Here we present a description of a resource collection of 84 strains of Drosophila melanogaster whose genome sequences were obtained after 12 generations of full-sib inbreeding. The initial rationale for this resource was to foster development of a systems biology platform for modeling metabolic regulation by the use of natural polymorphisms as perturbations. As reference lines, they are amenable to repeated phenotypic measurements, and already a large collection of metabolic traits have been assayed. Another key feature of these strains is their widespread geographic origin, coming from Beijing, Ithaca, Netherlands, Tasmania, and Zimbabwe. After obtaining 12.5× coverage of paired-end Illumina sequence reads, SNP and indel calls were made with the GATK platform. Thorough quality control was enabled by deep sequencing one line to >100×, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms and indels were validated using ddRAD-sequencing as an orthogonal platform. In addition, a series of preliminary population genetic tests were performed with these single-nucleotide polymorphism data for assessment of data quality. We found 83 segregating inversions among the lines, and as expected these were especially abundant in the African sample. We anticipate that this will make a useful addition to the set of reference D. melanogaster strains, thanks to its geographic structuring and unusually high level of genetic diversity.

Discovery of a 29-gene panel in peripheral blood mononuclear cells for the detection of colorectal cancer and adenomas using high throughput real-time PCR.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in developed countries. Early detection of CRC leads to decreased CRC mortality. A blood-based CRC screening test is highly desirable due to limited invasiveness and high acceptance rate among patients compared to currently used fecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy. Here we describe the discovery and validation of a 29-gene panel in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for the detection of CRC and adenomatous polyps (AP). Blood samples were prospectively collected from a multicenter, case-control clinical study. First, we profiled 93 samples with 667 candidate and 3 reference genes by high throughput real-time PCR (OpenArray system). After analysis, 160 genes were retained and tested again on 51 additional samples. Low expressed and unstable genes were discarded resulting in a final dataset of 144 samples profiled with 140 genes. To define which genes, alone or in combinations had the highest potential to discriminate AP and/or CRC from controls, data were analyzed by a combination of univariate and multivariate methods. A list of 29 potentially discriminant genes was compiled and evaluated for its predictive accuracy by penalized logistic regression and bootstrap. This method discriminated AP >1cm and CRC from controls with a sensitivity of 59% and 75%, respectively, with 91% specificity. The behavior of the 29-gene panel was validated with a LightCycler 480 real-time PCR platform, commonly adopted by clinical laboratories. In this work we identified a 29-gene panel expressed in PBMC that can be used for developing a novel minimally-invasive test for accurate detection of AP and CRC using a standard real-time PCR platform.

Agent-augmented process automation system in a panel board factory

Kiristyvä kansainvälinen kilpailu pakottaa automaatiojärjestelmien valmistajat ottamaan käyttöön uusia menetelmiä, joiden avulla järjestelmien suorituskykyä ja joustavuutta saadaan parannettua. Agenttiteknologiaa on esitetty käytettäväksi olemassa olevien automaatiojärjestelmien kanssa vastaamaan automaatiolle asetettaviin uusiin haasteisiin. Agentit ovat itsenäisiä yhteisöllisiä toimijoita, jotka suorittavat niille ennalta määrättyjä tehtäviä. Ne tarjoavat yhtenäisen kehyksen kehittyneiden toimintojen toteutukselle. Agenttiteknologian avulla automaatiojärjestelmä saadaan toimimaan joustavasti ja vikasietoisesti. Tässä työssä selostetaan agenttiteknologian ajatuksia ja käsitteitä. Lisäksi selvitetään sen soveltuvuutta monimutkaisten ohjausjärjestelmien kehittämiseen ja etsitään käyttökohteita sen soveltamiselle levytehtaassa. Työssä käsitellään myös aatteita, jotka ovat johtaneet agenttiteknologian käyttöön automaatiojärjestelmissä, sekä selostetaan agenttiavusteisen esimerkkisovelluksen rakenne ja testitulokset. Tutkimuksen tuloksena löydettiin useita kohteita agenttiteknologian käytölle levytehtaassa. Esimerkkisovellus osoittaa sen sopivan hyvin kehittyneiden toimintojen toteutukseen automaatiojärjestelmissä.

Integrin-Specific Mechanoresponses to Compression and Extension Probed by Cylindrical Flat-Ended AFM Tips in Lung Cells

Cells from lung and other tissues are subjected to forces of opposing directions that are largely transmitted through integrin-mediated adhesions. How cells respond to force bidirectionality remains ill defined. To address this question, we nanofabricated flat-ended cylindrical Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) tips with ~1 µm2 cross-section area. Tips were uncoated or coated with either integrin-specific (RGD) or non-specific (RGE/BSA) molecules, brought into contact with lung epithelial cells or fibroblasts for 30 s to form focal adhesion precursors, and used to probe cell resistance to deformation in compression and extension. We found that cell resistance to compression was globally higher than to extension regardless of the tip coating. In contrast, both tip-cell adhesion strength and resistance to compression and extension were the highest when probed at integrin-specific adhesions. These integrin-specific mechanoresponses required an intact actin cytoskeleton, and were dependent on tyrosine phosphatases and Ca2+ signaling. Cell asymmetric mechanoresponse to compression and extension remained after 5 minutes of tip-cell adhesion, revealing that asymmetric resistance to force directionality is an intrinsic property of lung cells, as in most soft tissues. Our findings provide new insights on how lung cells probe the mechanochemical properties of the microenvironment, an important process for migration, repair and tissue homeostasis.