Insect societies require an effective communication system to coordinate members' activities. Although eusocial species primarily use chemical communication to convey information to conspecifics, there is increasing evidence suggesting that vibroacoustic communication plays a significant role in the behavioural contexts of colony life.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cetuximab.html  In this study, we sought to determine whether stridulation can convey information in ant societies. We tested three main hypotheses using the Mediterranean ant Crematogaster scutellaris (i) stridulation informs about the emitter'caste; (ii) workers can modulate stridulation based on specific needs, such as communicating the profitability of a food resource, or (iii) behavioural contexts. We recorded the stridulations of individuals from the three castes, restrained on a substrate, and the signals emitted by foragers workers feeding on honey drops of various sizes. Signals emitted by workers and sexuates were quantitatively and qualitatively distinct as was stridulation emitted by workers on different honey drops. Comparing across the experimental setups, we demonstrated that signals emitted in different contexts (restraining vs feeding) differed in emission patterns as well as certain parameters (dominant frequency, amplitude, duration of chirp). Our findings suggest that vibrational signaling represents a flexible communication channel paralleling the well-known chemical communication system.This study compared the characteristics and mortality of new implantation of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) between tertiary and non-tertiary hospitals. From national health insurance claims data in Korea, 17,655 patients, who underwent first and new implantation of CIED between 2013 and 2017, were enrolled. Patients were categorized into the tertiary hospital group (n = 11,560) and non-tertiary hospital group (n = 6095). Clinical outcomes including in-hospital death and all-cause death were compared between the two groups using propensity-score matched analysis. Patients in non-tertiary hospitals were older and had more comorbidities than those in tertiary hospitals. The study population had a mean follow-up of 2.1 ± 1.2 years. In the propensity-score matched permanent pacemaker group (n = 5076 pairs), the incidence of in-hospital death (odds ratio [OR] 0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.43-1.32, p = 0.33) and all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR] 0.92, 95% CI 0.81-1.05, p = 0.24) were not significantly different between tertiary and non-tertiary hospitals. These findings were consistently observed in the propensity-score matched implantable cardioverter-defibrillator group (n = 992 pairs, OR for in-hospital death 1.76, 95% CI 0.51-6.02, p = 0.37; HR for all-cause death 0.95, 95% CI 0.72-1.24, p = 0.70). In patients undergoing first and new implantation of CIED in Korea, mortality was not different between tertiary and non-tertiary hospitals.The internal exposure of workers who inhale plutonium dioxide particles in nuclear facilities is a crucial matter for human protection from radiation. To determine the activity median aerodynamic diameter values at the working sites of nuclear facilities in real time, we developed a high-resolution alpha imager using a ZnS(Ag) scintillator sheet, an optical microscope, and an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device camera. Then, we designed and applied a setup to measure a plutonium dioxide particle and identify the locations of the individual alpha particles in real time. Employing a Gaussian fitting, we evaluated the average spatial resolution of the multiple alpha particles was evaluated to be 16.2 ± 2.2 μmFWHM with a zoom range of 5 ×. Also, the spatial resolution for the plutonium dioxide particle was 302.7 ± 4.6 µmFWHM due to the distance between the plutonium dioxide particle and the ZnS(Ag) scintillator. The influence of beta particles was negligible, and alpha particles were discernible in the alpha-beta particle contamination. The equivalent volume diameter of the plutonium dioxide particle was calculated from the measured count rate. These results indicate that the developed alpha imager is effective in the plutonium dioxide particle measurements at the working sites of nuclear facilities for internal exposure dose evaluation.Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorders with a poor prognosis, especially for elderly patients. Increasing evidence suggests that alterations in the non-hematopoietic microenvironment (bone marrow niche) can contribute to or initiate malignant transformation and promote disease progression. One of the key components of the bone marrow (BM) niche are BM stromal cells (BMSC) that give rise to osteoblasts and adipocytes. It has been shown that the balance between these two cell types plays an important role in the regulation of hematopoiesis. However, data on the number of BMSC and the regulation of their differentiation balance in the context of hematopoietic malignancies is scarce. We established a stringent flow cytometric protocol for the prospective isolation of a CD73+ CD105+ CD271+ BMSC subpopulation from uncultivated cryopreserved BM of MDS and AML patients as well as age-matched healthy donors. BMSC from MDS and AML patients showed a strongly reduced frequency of CFU-F (colony forming unit-fibroblast). Moreover, we found an altered phenotype and reduced replating efficiency upon passaging of BMSC from MDS and AML samples. Expression analysis of genes involved in adipo- and osteogenic differentiation as well as Wnt- and Notch-signalling pathways showed significantly reduced levels of DLK1, an early adipogenic cell fate inhibitor in MDS and AML BMSC. Matching this observation, functional analysis showed significantly increased in vitro adipogenic differentiation potential in BMSC from MDS and AML patients. Overall, our data show BMSC with a reduced CFU-F capacity, and an altered molecular and functional profile from MDS and AML patients in culture, indicating an increased adipogenic lineage potential that is likely to provide a disease-promoting microenvironment.