Protocol to obtain long movement trajectories of leaders and followers in ant tandem runs.

Tandem running in ants is a sophisticated form of communication. Precise measurement of movement coordination by the tandem pair can shed light on social interactions. Here, we describe an integrative approach to obtain long movement trajectories of a specific tandem pair within a crowd of ants.

Functional and mechanistic diversity in ant tandem communication.

Communication is fundamental to the organization of animal societies, often resulting in the convergent evolution of similar social behavior across lineages. However, this similarity may conceal underlying functional and mechanistic differences. Here we combined network and information-theoretic analysis to quantify how tandem recruitment is distinguishable between two ant genera, and .

Resilience of native ant community against invasion of exotic ants after anthropogenic disturbances of forest habitats.

The positive association between disturbances and biological invasions is a widely observed ecological pattern in the Anthropocene. Such patterns have been hypothesized to be driven by the superior competitive ability of invaders or by modified environments, as well as by the interaction of these factors. An experimental study that tests these hypotheses is usually less feasible, especially in protected nature areas.

Individual experience influences reconstruction of division of labour under colony disturbance in a queenless ant species.

Background: Division of labour (DOL) is ubiquitous across biological hierarchies. In eusocial insects, DOL is often characterized by age-related task allocation, but workers can flexibly change their tasks, allowing for DOL reconstruction in fluctuating environments. Behavioural change driven by individual experience is regarded as a key to understanding this task flexibility.

The build-up of dominance hierarchies in eusocial insects.

Reproductive division of labour is a hallmark of eusocial insects. However, its stability can often be hampered by the potential for reproduction by otherwise sterile nest-mates. Dominance hierarchy has a crucial role in some species in regulating which individuals reproduce.

Worker-dependent gut symbiosis in an ant.

The hallmark of eusocial insects, honeybees, ants, and termites, is division of labor between reproductive and non-reproductive worker castes. In addition, environmental adaption and ecological dominance are also underpinned by symbiotic associations with beneficial microorganisms. Microbial symbionts are generally considered to be maintained in an insect colony in two alternative ways: shared among all colony members or inherited only by a specific caste.

NFAT indicates nucleocytoplasmic damped oscillation via its feedback modulator.

Cell signaling and the following gene regulation are tightly regulated to keep homeostasis. NF-κB is a famous key transcription factor for inflammatory cell regulations that obtain a closed feedback loop with IκB. Similarly, we show here, NFAT is also tightly regulated via its downstream target, down syndrome critical region (DSCR)-1.

Expressions of conventional vitellogenin and vitellogenin-like A in worker brains are associated with a nursing task in a ponerine ant.

In eusocial insect colonies, non-reproductive workers often perform different tasks. Tasks of an individual worker are shifted depending on various factors, e.g.

Male neotenic reproductives accelerate additional differentiation of female reproductives by lowering JH titer in termites.

Eusocial insects exhibit reproductive division of labor, in which only a fraction of colony members differentiate into reproductives. In termites, reproductives of both sexes are present in a colony and constantly engaged in reproduction. It has been suggested that the sex ratio of reproductives is maintained by social interactions.

FANTOM5 transcriptome catalog of cellular states based on Semantic MediaWiki.

The Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome project (FANTOM5) mapped transcription start sites (TSSs) and measured their activities in a diverse range of biological samples. The FANTOM5 project generated a large data set; including detailed information about the profiled samples, the uncovered TSSs at high base-pair resolution on the genome, their transcriptional initiation activities, and further information of transcriptional regulation. Data sets to explore transcriptome in individual cellular states encoded in the mammalian genomes have been enriched by a series of additional analysis, based on the raw experimental data, along with the progress of the research activities.

Expansion of presoldier cuticle contributes to head elongation during soldier differentiation in termites.

In termites, the soldier caste possesses morphological features suitable for colony defence, despite some exceptions. Soldiers are differentiated via two moultings through a presoldier stage with dramatic morphogenesis. While a number of morphological modifications are known to occur during the presoldier moult, growth and morphogenesis seem to continue even after the moult.

Gateways to the FANTOM5 promoter level mammalian expression atlas.

The FANTOM5 project investigates transcription initiation activities in more than 1,000 human and mouse primary cells, cell lines and tissues using CAGE. Based on manual curation of sample information and development of an ontology for sample classification, we assemble the resulting data into a centralized data resource (http://fantom.gsc.

Social dominance and reproductive differentiation mediated by dopaminergic signaling in a queenless ant.

In social Hymenoptera with no morphological caste, a dominant female becomes an egg layer, whereas subordinates become sterile helpers. The physiological mechanism that links dominance rank and fecundity is an essential part of the emergence of sterile females, which reflects the primitive phase of eusociality. Recent studies suggest that brain biogenic amines are correlated with the ranks in dominance hierarchy.

Global network structure of dominance hierarchy of ant workers.

Dominance hierarchy among animals is widespread in various species and believed to serve to regulate resource allocation within an animal group. Unlike small groups, however, detection and quantification of linear hierarchy in large groups of animals are a difficult task. Here, we analyse aggression-based dominance hierarchies formed by worker ants in Diacamma sp.

Clinicopathological factors predicting R0 resection and long-term survival after esophagectomy in patients with T4 esophageal cancer undergoing induction chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy.

Purpose: To identify clinicopathological factors predicting R0 resection and long-term survival after esophagectomy in patients with T4 esophageal cancer following induction chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: Of 48 patients with T4 esophageal cancer who underwent induction treatment, 30 underwent R0 esophagectomy. The factors predicting R0 resection and prognostic indicators were assessed in the 48 and 30 patients, respectively, using univariate and multivariate analyses.

A promoter-level mammalian expression atlas.

Regulated transcription controls the diversity, developmental pathways and spatial organization of the hundreds of cell types that make up a mammal. Using single-molecule cDNA sequencing, we mapped transcription start sites (TSSs) and their usage in human and mouse primary cells, cell lines and tissues to produce a comprehensive overview of mammalian gene expression across the human body. We find that few genes are truly 'housekeeping', whereas many mammalian promoters are composite entities composed of several closely separated TSSs, with independent cell-type-specific expression profiles.

Prognostic significance of simultaneous presence of histological and immunohistochemical metastasis to lymph nodes in patients with esophageal cancer.

Purpose: Presence of simultaneous pathological and immunohistochemical nodal metastasis (pNM and iNM, respectively) and/or other clinical factors may be reliable prognostic predictors of survival in esophageal cancer patients who have undergone multidisciplinary treatment.

Methods: Univariate and multivariate analysis of the data collected from 77 patients who had undergone R0 esophagectomy was performed to determine the significance of presence of iNM or pNM, presence of simultaneous pNM, and other clinical factors as prognostic indicators in patients who had (n = 40) and had not (n = 37) undergone preoperative treatment.

Results: Presence of pNM was found to be a significant prognostic predictor in patients who had undergone preoperative treatment, presence of iNM in patients who had not undergone preoperative treatment, and presence of simultaneous pNM and iNM in both patient groups.

Clinical and oncological effects of triplet chemotherapy followed by radical esophagectomy for resectable esophageal cancer associated with unfavorable prognostic factors.

Purposes: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the survival of patients undergoing R0 resection after triplet chemotherapy for resectable esophageal cancer with unfavorable prognostic factors (Category 3) would be similar to that of patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer without such factors (Category 1).

Methods: Patients with Category 3 tumors were assigned to receive triplet chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin and nedaplatin (FAN) followed by radical esophagectomy. The outcomes of the bimodality treatment for Category 3 patients (n = 25) were compared with those of Category 1 patients (n = 41) in a prospective cohort study.

Induction chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy followed by radical esophagectomy for T4 esophageal cancer: results of a prospective cohort study.

Background: We hypothesized that the survival rate of patients undergoing R0 esophagectomy after induction chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for unresectable T4 esophageal cancer (URT4) would be similar to that of patients undergoing esophagectomy for immediately resectable esophageal cancer with no unfavorable prognostic factors (RNU).

Methods: Between April 2002 and June 2012, 87 of 283 patients with esophageal cancer who presented at the University Hospital of the Ryukyus were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Tumors were classified as RNU and URT4 in 44 and 43 of the 87 patients, respectively.

Acute phlegmonous esophagitis as a rare but threatening complication of chemoradiotherapy: report of a case.

Phlegmonous infection involving the digestive tract has been reported to have a poor prognosis. However, the pathogenesis and clinical features of acute phlegmonous esophagitis have remained unclear due to the rarity of the disease. We herein report a case of acute phlegmonous esophagitis that showed a fulminant course during chemoradiotherapy for uterine cancer.

Radical radiotherapy for superficial esophageal cancer: impact of clinical N stage on survival.

Aim: To retrospectively analyze the results of radical radiotherapy for patients with superficial esophageal cancer (SEC).

Patients And Methods: Forty-eight patients with SEC were reviewed. The median dose of external beam radiotherapy was 66 Gy (range, 30 to 70 Gy).