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Aims/Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic potential of two simplified tests, a point‐of‐care nerve conduction device (DPNCheck™) and a coefficient of variation of R‐R intervals (CVR‐R), as an alternative to traditional nerve conduction studies for the diagnosis of diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) in patients with diabetes. Materials and Methods: Inpatients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (n = 167) were enrolled. The study population consisted of 101 men, with a mean age of 60.8 ± 14.8 years. DPN severity was assessed using traditional nerve conduction studies, and differentiated based on Baba's classification (BC). To examine the explanatory potential of variables in DPNCheck™ and CVR‐R regarding the severity of DPN according to BC, a multiple regression analysis was carried out, followed by a receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results: Based on BC, 61 participants (36.5% of the total) were categorized as having DPN severity of stage 2 or more. The multiple regression analysis yielded a predictive formula with high predictive power for DPN diagnosis (estimated severity of DPN in BC = 2.258 – 0.026 × nerve conduction velocity [m/s] – 0.594 × ln[sensory nerve action potential amplitude (μV)] + 0.528In[age(years)] – 0.178 × ln[CVR‐R], r = 0.657). The area under the curve in receiver operating characteristic analysis was 0.880. Using the optimal cutoff value for DPN with severer than stage 2, the predictive formula showed good diagnostic efficacy: sensitivity of 83.6%, specificity of 79.2%, positive predictive value of 51.7% and negative predictive value of 76.1%. Conclusions: These findings suggest that DPN diagnosis using DPNCheck™ and CVR‐R could improve diagnostic efficiency and accessibility for DPN assessment in patients with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most species of Hydrangea (Hydrangeaceae) have a flower arrangement in which several large sterile decorative flowers surround a dense cluster of small fertile flowers. These decorative flowers have been hypothesized to attract pollinators, but this has yet to be tested for this genus. To identify whether the decorative flowers have functions related to pollination success, we carried out field manipulation experiments in which we clipped or mounted decorative flowers of nine Hydrangea species, eight with and one without inherent decorative flowers, and recorded insect visits to the intact and treated inflorescences. The results showed that for most of the studied species, the presence of decorative flowers increased the frequency of visits and weakly increased the frequency of visits per unit area to inflorescences. Decorative flowers appeared to act as landing-sites for three species for which flowers represented a high proportion of the inflorescence surface area (i.e., H. scandens, H. luteovenosa, and H. macrophylla). The results suggest that the main function of decorative flowers of the studied Hydrangea species is to boost attractiveness to pollinators by increasing the inflorescence surface area, whereas the landing-site function was evident only in certain species. Key words: framed inflorescence, Hydrangea, flower dimorphism, sterile flower, visual attraction, landing-site function. La plupart des especes d'Hydrangea (Hydrangeaceae) presentent un arrangement floral dans lequel plusieurs grandes fleurs decoratives steriles entourent un groupe dense de petites fleurs fertiles. On a formule l'hypothese que ces fleurs decoratives puissent attirer les pollinisateurs, mais elle n'a pas ete verifiee encore chez ce genre. Afin de determiner si les fleurs decoratives exercent des fonctions liees au succes de la pollinisation, les auteurs ont realise des experiences sur le terrain dans lesquelles ils ont coupe ou ajoute des fleurs decoratives sur neuf especes d'Hydrangea, huit qui possedaient des fleurs decoratives inherentes et une qui en etait depourvue. Ils ont ensuite consigne les visites par les insectes des inflorescences intactes et traitees. Les resultats ont montre que pour la plupart des especes etudiees, la presence de fleurs decoratives augmentait la frequence des visites et accroissait faiblement la frequence des visites par unite de surface d'inflorescences. Les fleurs decoratives semblaient agir comme sites de reception pour trois especes chez lesquelles les fleurs representaient une forte proportion de la superficie en inflorescence (c.a.d. H. scandens, H. luteovenosa, H. macrophylla). Les resultats suggerent que la principale fonction des fleurs decoratives des especes d'Hydrangea etudiees consiste a accroitre l'attractivite pour les pollinisateurs en augmentant la superficie en inflorescences, alors que la fonction de site de reception n'etait evidente que chez certaines especes seulement. [Traduit par la Redection] Mots-cles : inflorescence entouree, Hydrangea, dimorphisme floral, fleur sterile, attraction visuelle, fonction de site de reception., Introduction In zoophilous flowering plants, the spatial and temporal aspects of floral arrangement can affect the attractiveness of inflorescences to pollinators. The number of inflorescences and their individual attractiveness (related [...]

Despite the vast diversity of phytophagous insects that feed on vascular plants (tracheophytes), insects that feed on bryophytes remain understudied. Agromyzidae, one of the most species-rich phytophagous clades in Diptera, consists mainly of leaf-mining species that feed on tracheophytes. However, a recent discovery of thallus-mining species on liverworts and hornworts within the Liriomyza group of Phytomyzinae provides an opportunity to study host shifts between tracheophytes and bryophytes. This study aimed to explore the origin and diversification of thallus-miners and estimate the pattern and timing of host shifts. Phylogenetic analysis of Phytomyzinae has revealed that the thallus-mining agromyzids formed a separate clade, which was sister to a fern pinnule-miner. The diversification of bryophyte-associated agromyzids since the Oligocene involved multiple host shifts across various bryophyte taxa. The diversification of the thallus-mining Phytoliriomyza may have occurred at the same time as the leaf-mining agromyzid flies on herbaceous plants, indicating a dynamic history of interactions between bryophytes and herbivores in angiosperms-dominated ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]