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We investigated the birds in the diet of the bird‐like noctule (Nyctalus aviator) through DNA amplification from feather remains found in faecal pellets. Our goal was to confirm whether N. aviator preys on nocturnally migratory species, as does its European relative N. lasiopterus, and to gain insight into this hunting strategy (e.g. on the wing vs. from cavities). The diversity and the characteristics of the birds found in the faecal remains indicate that in Japan N. aviator employs a similar hunting strategy on songbirds as N. lasiopterus in Iberia. Both noctules are primarily generalist insectivores that prey seasonally on songbirds of 5‐25 g body mass during their migration and probably hunt them at high altitude. Accordingly, predation on birds seems to be a strategy that appears in distant points across the Palaearctic and is not the result of local specialization. We hypothesize that the bird hunting behaviour appeared during evolution as a trophic jump from a pre‐existing hunting behaviour on the many insects that carry out seasonal nocturnal migrations in temperate zones at high altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An arbiter physical unclonable function (APUF) has exponential challenge‐response pairs and is easy to implement on field‐programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). However, modeling attacks based on machine learning have become a serious threat to APUFs. Although the modeling‐attack resistance of an MA‐APUF has been improved considerably by architecture modifications, the response generation method of an MA‐APUF results in low uniqueness. In this study, we demonstrate three design problems regarding the low uniqueness that APUF‐based strong PUFs may exhibit, and we present several foundational principles to improve the uniqueness of APUF‐based strong PUFs. In particular, an improved MA‐APUF design is implemented in an FPGA and evaluated using a well‐established experimental setup. Two types of evaluation metrics are used for evaluation and comparison. Furthermore, evolution strategies, logistic regression, and K‐junta functions are used to evaluate the security of our design. The experiment results reveal that the uniqueness of our improved MA‐APUF is 81.29% (compared with that of the MA‐APUF, 13.12%), and the prediction rate is approximately 56% (compared with that of the MA‐APUF (60%‐80%).

Abstract We report a case of early bioprosthetic valve calcification in a 76 year-old woman who had received supplementation with alfacalcidol, an analogue of vitamin D, for 3 years after her initial valve replacement. She underwent aortic valve replacement at the age of 71 and subsequently complained of shortness of breath. Ultrasonic cardiography revealed severe aortic stenosis and we performed a second aortic valve replacement with a bioprosthesis. Histopathologic and x-ray examination showed calcification on the explanted valve. She had not presented with any known risk for early bioprosthetic calcification, suggesting that vitamin D supplementation may accelerate calcification of bioprosthetic valves.

Southeast Asia includes several global biodiversity hotspots and bats account for nearly one-third of mammal species currently known in the region. While acoustic methods have become widespread in bat research, basic information is often lacking on the echolocation calls produced by Asian bat species. Since such information can aid a wide variety of research and conservation initiatives, descriptions of the calls emitted by Asian bats are fundamental. The aim of our study was to provide a standardized analysis and description of the Vietnamese bat echolocation calls. We analyzed call recordings of 87 species arranged in eight families. This constitutes 74% of the echolocating bats presently known in Vietnam and includes the first call descriptions for five taxa. Our use of an open-source software and the deposition of recordings in the ChiroVox repository will facilitate comparative studies in Asia and the information we provide represents one of the most comprehensive bioacoustic databases for Asian bats to date., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Falls among the elderly are a major societal problem. While observations of medium-distance walking using inertial sensors identified potential fall predictors, classifying individuals at risk based on single gait cycles remains elusive. This challenge stems from individual variability and step-to-step fluctuations, making accurate classification difficult., Methods: We recruited 44 participants, equally divided into high and low fall-risk groups. A smartphone secured on their second sacral spinous process recorded data during indoor walking. Features were extracted at each gait cycle from a 6-dimensional time series (tri-axial angular velocity and tri-axial acceleration) and classified using the gradient boosting decision tree algorithm., Findings: Mean accuracy across five-fold cross-validation was 0.936. "Age" was the most influential individual feature, while features related to acceleration in the gait direction held the highest total relative importance when aggregated by axis (0.5365)., Interpretation: Combining acceleration, angular velocity data, and the gradient boosting decision tree algorithm enabled accurate fall risk classification in the elderly, previously challenging due to lack of discernible features. We reveal the first-ever identification of three-dimensional pelvic motion characteristics during single gait cycles in the high-risk group. This novel method, requiring only one gait cycle, is valuable for individuals with physical limitations hindering repetitive or long-distance walking or for use in spaces with limited walking areas. Additionally, utilizing readily available smartphones instead of dedicated equipment has potential to improve gait analysis accessibility., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated the relative influences of environmental, spatial, and historical factors, including the island-specific history of land connectivity, on bat assemblages in the Japanese Archipelago. We collected bat distribution data from 1408 studies and assigned them to Japan's First Standard Grid (approximately 6400 km 2 ). Japanese bat assemblages were analyzed at two scales: the entire Japanese Archipelago comprised 16 islands and exclusively the four main islands. At first, we calculated taxonomic and functional total beta diversity ( β total ) by Jaccard pairwise dissimilarity and then divided this into turnover ( β repl ) and richness-difference ( β rich ) components. We conducted hierarchical clustering of taxonomic beta diversity to examine the influence of the two representative sea straits, Tsugaru and Tokara, which are considered biogeographical borders. Variation partitioning was conducted to evaluate the relative effects of the three factors on the beta diversity. Clustering revealed that the Tokara Strait bordered the two major clades; however, the Tsugaru Strait did not act as a biogeographical border for bats. In the variation partitioning, shared fraction between spatial and historical factors significantly explained taxonomic and functional β total and taxonomic β repl at the entire archipelago scale, but not at the four main islands scale extending only Tsugaru Strait but not Tokara Strait. Pure environmental factors significantly explained functional β total at both scales and taxonomic β total only at the four main islands scale. These results suggest that spatial and historical factors are more pronounced in biogeographical borders, primarily structuring assemblage composition at the entire archipelago scale, especially in taxonomic dimension. However, current environmental factors primarily shape the assemblage composition of Japanese bats at the main island scale. The difference in results between the two scales highlights that the primary processes governing assemblages of both dimensions depend on the quality of the dispersal barriers between terrestrial and aquatic barriers for bats., Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The hyolaryngeal apparatus generates biosonar pulses in the laryngeally echolocating bats. The cartilage and muscles comprising the hyolarynx of laryngeally echolocating bats are morphologically modified compared to those of non-bat mammals, as represented by the hypertrophied intrinsic laryngeal muscle. Despite its crucial contribution to laryngeal echolocation, how the development of the hyolarynx in bats differs from that of other mammals is poorly documented. The genus Rhinolophus is one of the most sophisticated laryngeal echolocators, with the highest pulse frequency in bats. The present study provides the first detailed description of the three-dimensional anatomy and development of the skeleton, cartilage, muscle, and innervation patterns of the hyolaryngeal apparatus in two species of rhinolophid bats using micro-computed tomography images and serial tissue sections and compares them with those of laboratory mice. Furthermore, we measured the peak frequency of the echolocation pulse in active juvenile and adult individuals to correspond to echolocation pulses with hyolaryngeal morphology at each postnatal stage., Results: We found that the sagittal crests of the cricoid cartilage separated the dorsal cricoarytenoid muscle in horseshoe bats, indicating that this unique morphology may be required to reinforce the repeated closure movement of the glottis during biosonar pulse emission. We also found that the cricothyroid muscle is ventrally hypertrophied throughout ontogeny, and that the cranial laryngeal nerve has a novel branch supplying the hypertrophied region of this muscle. Our bioacoustic analyses revealed that the peak frequency shows negative allometry against skull growth, and that the volumetric growth of all laryngeal cartilages is correlated with the pulse peak frequency., Conclusions: The unique patterns of muscle and innervation revealed in this study appear to have been obtained concomitantly with the acquisition of tracheal chambers in rhinolophids and hipposiderids, improving sound intensity during laryngeal echolocation. In addition, significant protrusion of the sagittal crest of the cricoid cartilage and the separated dorsal cricoarytenoid muscle may contribute to the sophisticated biosonar in this laryngeally echolocating lineage. Furthermore, our bioacoustic data suggested that the mineralization of these cartilages underpins the ontogeny of echolocation pulse generation. The results of the present study provide crucial insights into how the anatomy and development of the hyolaryngeal apparatus shape the acoustic diversity in bats., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Premature mortality, frequent relapse that easily leads to hospitalization, and discontinuous employment are key challenges for the treatment of schizophrenia. We evaluated risk factors for important clinical outcomes (death, hospitalization, resignation, and sick leave from work) in patients with schizophrenia in Japan., Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted for patients with schizophrenia identified in a Japanese claims database. For each outcome, the case was matched with up to four controls of the same age, sex, index year, and enrollment status (employee or dependent family). Potential risk factors were defined by prescriptions or diagnoses within 3 months prior to or in the month of the event. The association among potential risk factors and each outcome was evaluated using multivariable conditional logistic regression analysis with stepwise variable selection., Results: The number of cases and eligible patients for each outcome were 144 and 38,451 (death), 1,520 and 35,225 (hospitalization), 811 and 18,770 (resignation), and 4,590 and 18,770 (sick leave), respectively. Depression was a risk factor for death (odds ratio [OR]: 1.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12, 3.29), hospitalization (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.42), and sick leave from work (OR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.36, 1.57). Other risk factors for death were hospitalization history, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score, and prescription for laxatives. Prescriptions for hypnotics, laxatives, and anticholinergics were risk factors for hospitalization. Prescriptions for hypnotics and anticholinergics were risk factors for resignation. CCI score, prescription for hypnotics, laxatives, and antidiabetics were risk factors for sick leave from work., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that depression and some physical symptoms, such as constipation and extrapyramidal symptoms, are risk factors for important clinical outcomes in patients with schizophrenia. Attention should be paid to both depression and physical symptoms for the treatment of schizophrenia., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Many microRNAs (miRNAs) are characteristically found in cancer cells, making miRNAs promising marker biomolecules for cancer diagnosis and therapeutics. However, it is challenging to use miRNA as a cancer signature because it is difficult to convert the nucleic acid sequence information into molecular functionality. To address this challenge, we realize nucleic acid-to-small molecule converters using hairpin DNA circuits. Harnessing a Staudinger reduction as a trigger for the conversion, we constructed hybridization chain reaction (HCR) and catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) circuits that respond to oncogenic miR-21. Fluorophore and dye molecules were released in response to miR-21 through the HCR, providing fluorogenic and chromogenic readouts. Selective cytotoxicity in miR-21-abundant cells was realized by the CHA to release the anticancer drug SN-38. This would be the first example of selective activation of a small-molecule prodrug triggered by oncogenic miRNA in human living cells., (© 2023 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objective: The medial meniscus extrusion (MME) is associated with increased stress on the knee joint, which leads to cartilage degeneration. To evaluate the etiology of knee osteoarthritis, it is extremely important to create animal models of the disease that more closely resemble actual clinical conditions in terms of symptomatology, molecular biology, and histology. This study aimed to create a clinically relevant model of MME in rats., Design: Behavioral, molecular biological, and histological changes in the newly developed rat MME model were compared with those in sham and medial meniscus transection and medial collateral ligament transection (MMT) models to examine the characteristics of this model., Results: In the MME rat model, behavioral evaluation shows abnormalities in gait compared with the other 2 groups, and molecular biological evaluation of the infrapatellar synovia of rats shows that gene expression of inflammatory cytokines, matrix-degrading enzymes, and pain-related nerve growth factor was increased compared with the sham group. Furthermore, histological evaluation reveals that cartilage degeneration was the most severe in the MME group., Conclusions: The newly developed MME model reproduced the characteristic pathology of MME in clinical practice, such as severe pain, inflammation, and rapid progression of osteoarthritis. The MME model, which might more closely mimic human knee osteoarthritis (OA), could be a useful model for elucidating the pathophysiology and considering therapeutic management for knee OA., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Species of open-space bats that are relatively large, such as bats from the genus Nyctalus , are considered as high-risk species for collisions with wind turbines (WTs). However, important information on their behaviour and movement ecology, such as the locations and altitudes at which they forage, is still fragmentary, while crucial for their conservation in light of the increasing threat posed by progressing WT construction. We adopted two different methods of microphone array recordings and GPS-tracking capturing data from different spatio-temporal scales in order to gain a complementary understanding of the echolocation and movement ecology of Nyctalus aviator , the largest open-space bat in Japan. Based on microphone array recordings, we found that echolocation calls during natural foraging are adapted for fast flight in open-space optimal for aerial-hawking. In addition, we attached a GPS tag that can simultaneously monitor feeding buzz occurrence, and confirmed that foraging occurred at 300 m altitude and that the flight altitude in mountainous areas is consistent with the turbine conflict zone, suggesting that the birdlike noctule is a high-risk species in Japan. Further investigations on this species could provide valuable insights into their foraging and movement ecology, facilitating the development of a risk assessment regarding WTs., Competing Interests: We have no competing interests to declare., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Transient receptor potential families play important roles in the pathology of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. While transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is also an essential component of the pathogenesis of various arthritic conditions, its association with pain is controversial. Thus, we researched whether TRPA1 is involved in knee OA pain by in vivo patch-clamp recordings and evaluated the behavioral responses using CatWalk gait analysis and pressure application measurement (PAM). Injection of the Trpa1 agonist, allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), into the knee joint significantly increased spontaneous excitatory synaptic current (sEPSC) frequency in the substantia gelatinosa of rats with knee OA, while injection of the Trpa1 antagonist, HC-030031, significantly decreased the sEPSC. Meanwhile, AITC did not affect the sEPSC in sham rats. In the CatWalk and PAM behavioral tests, AITC significantly decreased pain thresholds, but no difference between HC-030031 and saline injections was observed. Our results indicate that Trpa1 mediates knee OA-induced pain. We demonstrated that Trpa1 is activated in the knee joints of rats with OA, and Trpa1 activity enhanced the pain caused by knee OA., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Hidenobu Tamai reports financial support was provided by 10.13039/501100001691Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI)., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: Spinal fusion surgery is often performed with pelvic fixation to prevent distal junctional kyphosis. The inclusion of spinopelvic fixation has been reported to induce progression of hip joint arthropathy in a radiographic follow-up study. However, its biomechanical mechanism has not yet been elucidated. This study aimed to compare the changes in hip joint moment before and after spinal fusion surgery., Methods: This study was an observational study and included nine patients (eight women and one man) who were scheduled to undergo spinopelvic fusion surgery. We calculated the three-dimensional external joint moments of the hip during gait, standing, and climbing stairs before and 1 year after surgery., Results: During gait, the maximum extension moment was 0.51 ± 0.29 and 0.63 ± 0.40 before and after spinopelvic fusion surgery (p = 0.011), and maximum abduction moment was 0.60 ± 0.33 and 0.83 ± 0.34 before and after surgery (p = 0.004), respectively. During standing, maximum extension moment was 0.76 ± 0.32 and 1.04 ± 0.21 before and after spinopelvic fusion surgery (p = 0.0026), and maximum abduction moment was 0.12 ± 0.20 and 0.36 ± 0.22 before and after surgery (p = 0.0005), respectively. During climbing stairs, maximum extension moment was - 0.31 ± 0.30 and - 0.48 ± 0.15 before and after spinopelvic fusion surgery (p = 0.040), and maximum abduction moment was 0.023 ± 0.18 and - 0.02 ± 0.13 before and after surgery (p = 0.038), respectively., Conclusion: This study revealed that hip joint flexion-extension and abduction-adduction moments increased after spinopelvic fixation surgery in the postures of standing, walking, and climbing stairs. The mechanism was considered to be adjacent joint disease after spinopelvic fusion surgery including sacroiliac joint fixation., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Bats have undergone one of the most drastic limb innovations in vertebrate history, associated with the evolution of powered flight. Knowledge of the genetic basis of limb organogenesis in bats has increased but little has been documented regarding the differences between limb organogenesis in bats and that of other vertebrates. We conducted embryological comparisons of the timelines of limb organogenesis in 24 bat species and 72 non-bat amniotes. In bats, the time invested for forelimb organogenesis has been considerably extended and the appearance timing of the forelimb ridge has been significantly accelerated, whereas the timing of the finger and first appearance of the claw development has been delayed, facilitating the enlargement of the manus. Furthermore, we discovered that bats initiate the development of their hindlimbs earlier than their forelimbs compared with other placentals. Bat neonates are known to be able to cling continuously with their well-developed foot to the maternal bodies or habitat substrates soon after birth. We suggest that this unique life history of neonates, which possibly coevolved with powered flight, has driven the accelerated development of the hindlimb and precocious foot.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the progression of hip pathology and risk factors after ASD surgery., Methods: This case-control study enrolled 123 patients (246 hips); seven hips underwent hip arthroplasty were excluded. We measured the center-edge (CE) angle, joint space width (JSW), and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade. We defined a CE angle˂25° as developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). We evaluated S2 alar-iliac (AI) screw loosening at final follow-up., Results: The annual decrease in the JSW was 0.31 mm up to 1 year, and 0.13 mm after 1 year (p = 0.001). KL grade progression occurred in 24 hips (10.0%; group P), while no progression occurred in 215 (90.0%; group N) hips. Nonparametric analysis between groups P and N revealed that significant differences were observed in sex, DDH, KL grade, ratio of S2AI screw fixation at baseline, and ratio of S2AI screw loosening at final follow-up. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that DDH (p = 0.018, odds ratio (OR) = 3.0, 95%CI = 1.2-7.3), baseline KL grade (p < 0.0001, OR = 37.7, 95%CI = 7.0-203.2), and S2AI screw fixation (p = 0.035, OR = 3.4, 95%CI = 1.1-10.4) were significant factors. We performed sub-analysis to elucidate the relationship between screw loosening and hip osteoarthritis in 131 hips that underwent S2AI screw fixation. Non-loosening of the S2AI screw was a significant factor for KL grade progression (p < 0.0001, OR = 8.9, 95%CI = 3.0-26.4)., Conclusion: This study identified the prevalence and risk factors for the progression of hip osteoarthritis after ASD surgery. Physicians need to pay attention to the hip joint pathology after ASD surgery., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Because the posterior wall of the aorta and left atrium are interlocked, the amplitude of motion of the aortic wall (AMAW) may reflect cardiac and vessel functions. This study examined the relationship between cardiac and vessel functions and AMAW., Methods: Patients with cardiovascular diseases or patients undergoing health examinations who visited a participating hospital and underwent echocardiography and brachial-ankle pulse-wave velocity (baPWV) examinations were registered. The correlations between echocardiographic indices, ankle-brachial index, and baPWV and AMAW on M-mode echocardiography were analyzed., Results: Overall, 184 patients were enrolled. Heart rate (r =  - 0.1587), ejection fraction (EF; r = 0.3240), wall thickness (r =  - 0.1598), peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E) to peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity ratio (e'; r =  - 0.2463), and baPWV (r =  - 0.1928) significantly correlated with AMAW. In the stratified multiple regression analysis, E/e' (standardized partial regression coefficients =  - 0.1863) and mean baPWV (standardized partial regression coefficients =  - 0.1917) in patients with an EF of ≥ 60% (n = 114) significantly correlated with AMAW. In patients with an EF of < 60% (n = 70), E/e' (standardized partial regression coefficients =  - 0.2443) significantly correlated with AMAW., Conclusion: Because E/e' correlated with AMAW in patients with an EF of < 60% or ≥ 60%, AMAW might be an indicator of left atrial pressure elevation. Moreover, because AMAW correlated with baPWV in patients with an EF of ≥ 60%, changes in the restricted left atrial volume might influence diastolic dysfunction. AMAW may be related to cardiac and vessel functions., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Although it has been recognized that the medial meniscus extrusion (MME) leads to progressive cartilage loss and osteoarthritis (OA), about 20% of cases with MME had minor symptoms and poor progression of knee OA. However, it is still unclear which patients will have minimal symptoms or will not progress to degeneration. The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of the relationship between the MME and Joint line convergence angle (JLCA) on knee stress with the finite element (FE) analysis method., Methods: The 65 year-old female was taken computer tomography (CT) from thigh to ankle. A 3-dimentional nonlinear FE model was constructed from the patient's DICOM data. We made the six models, which was different from JLCA and MME. Contact stresses on the surfaces between femoral and tibial cartilages and both side of meniscus are analyzed., Results: As the JLCA or MME increased, the stress load on the medial compartment increased. The effect of MME was stronger on the femoral side, while the effect of JLCA was stronger for the tibia and meniscus. If the JLCA was tilted valgus, the stress in the medial compartment did not increase even in the presence of MME., Conclusions: This study revealed that the MME is associated with increased a stress loading on medial compartment structures. Furthermore, this change was enhanced by the varus tilt of the JLCA. In the case of valgus alignment, the contact pressure of the medial compartment did not increase so much even if with the MME., Level of Evidence: Level V., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Adult spinal fusion surgery improves lumbar alignment and patient satisfaction. Adult spinal deformity surgery improves saggital balance not only lumbar lesion, but also at hip joint coverage. It was expected that hip joint coverage rate was improved and joint stress decreased. However, it was reported that adjacent joint disease at hip joint was induced by adult spinal fusion surgery including sacroiliac joint fixation on an X-ray study. The mechanism is still unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between lumbosacral fusion including sacroiliac joint fixation and contact stress of the hip joint., Methods: A 40-year-old woman with intact lumbar vertebrae underwent computed tomography. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model was constructed from the L4 vertebra to the femoral bone with triangular shell elements (thickness, 2 mm; size, 3 mm) for the cortical bone's outer surface and 2-mm (lumbar spine) or 3-mm (femoral bone) tetrahedral solid elements for the remaining bone. We constructed the following four models: a non-fusion model (NF), a L4-5 fusion model (L5F), a L4-S1 fusion model (S1F), and a L4-S2 alar iliac screw fixation model (S2F). A compressive load of 400 N was applied vertically to the L4 vertebra and a 10-Nm bending moment was additionally applied to the L4 vertebra to stimulate flexion, extension, left lateral bending, and axial rotation. Each model's hip joint's von Mises stress and angular motion were analyzed., Results: The hip joint's angular motion in NF, L5F, S1F, and S2F gradually increased; the S2F model presented the greatest angular motion., Conclusions: The average and maximum contact stress of the hip joint was the highest in the S2F model. Thus, lumbosacral fusion surgery with sacroiliac joint fixation placed added stress on the hip joint. We propose that this was a consequence of adjacent joint spinopelvic fixation. Lumbar-to-pelvic fixation increases the angular motion and stress at the hip joint., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that there are no relevant conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 The Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research.)

Bats emit a series of echolocation calls with an increasing repetition rate (the terminal buzz) when attempting to capture prey. This is often used as an acoustic indicator of prey-capture attempts. However, because it is directly linked to foraging efficiency, predation success is a more useful measure than predation attempts in ecological research. The characteristics of echolocation calls that consistently signify predation success across different situations have not been identified. Owing to additional influencing factors, identification of these characteristics is particularly challenging for wild bats foraging in their natural environment compared with those in flight chambers. This study documented the natural foraging behavior of wild Japanese large-footed bats (Myotis macrodactylus) using synchronized acoustic and video recordings. From the video recordings, we could assign 137 attacks to three outcome categories: prey captured (51.8%), prey dropped (29.2%) and failed attempt (19%). Based on previous indications from laboratory studies that the length of the silent interval following the terminal buzz (post-buzz pause) might reflect the prey-capture outcome, we compared post-buzz pause durations among categories of attack outcomes. The post-buzz pause was longest in the case of successful capture, suggesting that the length of the post-buzz pause is a useful acoustic indicator of predation success during natural foraging in M. macrodactylus. Our finding will advance the study of bat foraging behavior using acoustic data, including estimations of foraging efficiency and analyses of feeding habitat quality., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2022. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Background: With strong environmental and geographic filtration, vertebrates incapable of flying and swimming are often extirpated from island ecosystems. Minami-Daito Island is an oceanic island in Okinawa, Japan that harbors the Daito flying fox ( Pteropus dasymallus daitoensis ), a subspecies of the fruit bat and the only extant mammal endemic to the island. However, the skeleton of a cave-dwelling bat Rhinolophus sp. and fossil guano were briefly reported in a previous study., Methods: Here, we present evidence for the anthropogenic extirpation of two species of cave-dwelling bats ( Miniopterus sp. & Rhinolophus sp.) from Minami-Daito Island. Our goal is to reliably constrain the ages of the extirpated bat species by a multiproxy approach. Because skeletal materials did not preserve sufficient bone collagen for direct radiocarbon dating, we alternatively examined guano-like deposits based on SEM observation and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) along with stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses for possible indirect dating. We also examined stable carbon isotopes in bone apatite, assuming that an isotopic signal of C 4 plants on the bat bones links to sugarcane plantation on the island based on the historical knowledge that early human settlers quickly replaced the island's native C 3 forests with sugarcane (C 4 perennial grass) plantation from 1900 onward., Results: Our cave survey documents the remains of Miniopterus sp. from the island for the first time. Based on the unique taphonomic conditions (unpermineralized bones, disarticulated skeletons closely scattered without sediment cover, various degrees of calcite crystal growth around bones) and a radiocarbon age of a humic sample, we suggest that the maximum age constraint of Miniopterus sp. and Rhinolophus sp. is 4,640 calBP. Based on a series of analyses, we conclude that the guano-like deposits are composed not of bat guano but mainly of humic substances; however, a hydroxyapatite crust associated with bat-lying stalagmites may be derived from bat feces. Stable carbon isotope analysis of bone apatite revealed C 4 signals in various degrees, confirming that small populations of cave-dwelling bats persisted on Minami-Daito Island after 1900., Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that these populations remained rather small and did not leave many generations and that the estimated ages can be bracketed from 4,640 calBP to the post-1900 (perhaps, until the 1950s). They likely faced a continuously high mortality risk due to severe anthropogenic stresses on the island, where most of the forests were turned into sugarcane plantations within a few decades in the early 20th century. A result of hearing surveys to local residents suggests the latest remnants most likely disappeared on the island concurrently with the introduction of chemical pesticides after World War II., Competing Interests: Kazuaki Higashi is an employee of the Office Key Point, Japan., (©2022 Kimura et al.)

One mechanism for morphologically similar and sympatric species to avoid competition and facilitate coexistence is to feed on different prey items within different microhabitats. In the current study, we investigated and compared the diet of the two most common and similar-sized bat species in Japan- Murina ussuriensis (Ognev, 1913) and Myotis ikonnikovi (Ognev, 1912)-to gain more knowledge about the degree of overlap in their diet and their foraging behavior. We found that both bat species consumed prey from the orders of Lepidoptera and Diptera most frequently, while the proportion of Dipterans was higher in the diet of M . ikonnikovi . Furthermore, we found a higher prey diversity in the diet of M . ikonnikovi compared to that of M . ussuriensis that might indicate that the former is a more generalist predator than the latter. In contrast, the diet of M . ussuriensis contained many Lepidopteran families. The higher probability of prey items likely captured via gleaning to occur in the diet of M . ussuriensis in contrast to M . ikonnikovi indicates that M . ussuriensis might switch between aerial-hawking and gleaning modes of foraging behavior. We encourage further studies across various types of habitats and seasons to investigate the flexibility of the diet composition and foraging behavior of these two bat species., Competing Interests: All authors approved of the final manuscript version for publication. The authors declare no conflict of interests., (© 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: Chronic limb threatening ischaemia (CLTI) decreases life expectancy and impairs health related quality of life (HR-QOL). Revascularisation is needed to relieve ischaemia and salvage limbs. Although a major goal of CLTI treatment is maintaining QOL, little information is available about changes of HR-QOL over time after revascularisation. HR-QOL with survival after revascularisation for CLTI was assessed., Methods: The clinical database of the Surgical reconstruction versus Peripheral INtervention in pAtients with critical limb isCHemia (SPINACH), a prospective multicentre observational study, was analysed. Outcome measures were disease specific QOL per the Vascular Quality of Life (VascuQOL) questionnaire and the Short Form (SF) 36 evaluated generic QOL, which were assessed at baseline and three, 12, 24, and 36 months. The outcome measure was change of QOL from baseline. The minimally important difference (half a standard deviation from baseline) was used as the cut off point for improved, worsened, and unchanged QOL., Results: Overall QOL was improved in 61% of patients for the VascuQOL and approximately 40% for the SF-36 component summaries at three months. However, these proportion gradually decreased to 21% - 31% at three years. In contrast, the proportion of deceased patients gradually increased over the three year follow up. Multivariable analysis revealed that pre-operative non-ambulatory status was inversely associated with improved QOL for the three month VascuQOL and SF-36 mental component summary, and surgical reconstruction was positively associated with these measurements. Advanced age and renal failure were inversely associated with improved QOL for the SF-36 mental component summary and VascuQOL at one to three years., Conclusion: Revascularisation improved QOL. However, patients with non-ambulatory status exhibited a negative association with improved QOL at three months, and advanced age and renal failure limited benefits one to three years after revascularisation. Accumulating QOL data will be essential for post-revascularisation QOL estimation. Pre-operative assessment, including estimated QOL, is important in shared decision making for patient oriented outcomes in the treatment of CLTI patients., (Copyright © 2021 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Gait can be severely affected by pain, muscle weakness, and aging resulting in lameness. Despite the high incidence of lameness, there are no studies on the features that are useful for classifying lameness patterns. Therefore, we aimed to identify features of high importance for classifying population differences in lameness patterns using an inertial measurement unit mounted above the sacral region., Methods: Features computed exhaustively for multidimensional time series consisting of three-axis angular velocities and three-axis acceleration were carefully selected using the Benjamini-Yekutieli procedure, and multiclass classification was performed using LightGBM (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA). We calculated the relative importance of the features that contributed to the classification task in machine learning., Results: The most important feature was found to be the absolute value of the Fourier coefficients of the second frequency calculated by the one-dimensional discrete Fourier transform for real input. This was determined by the fast Fourier transformation algorithm using data of a single gait cycle of the yaw angular velocity of the pelvic region., Conclusions: Using an inertial measurement unit worn over the sacral region, we determined a set of features of high importance for classifying differences in lameness patterns based on different factors. This completely new set of indicators can be used to advance the understanding of lameness., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Accurate gluteus medius (GMd) volume evaluation may aid in the analysis of muscular atrophy states and help gain an improved understanding of patient recovery via rehabilitation. However, the segmentation of muscle regions in GMd images for cubic muscle volume assessment is time-consuming and labor-intensive. This study automated GMd-region segmentation from the computed tomography (CT) images of patients diagnosed with hip osteoarthritis using deep learning and evaluated the segmentation accuracy. To this end, 5250 augmented pairs of training data were obtained from five participants, and a conditional generative adversarial network was used to identify the relationships between the image pairs. Using the preserved test datasets, the results of automatic segmentation with the trained deep learning model were compared to those of manual segmentation in terms of the dice similarity coefficient (DSC), volume similarity (VS), and shape similarity (MS). As observed, the average DSC values for automatic and manual segmentations were 0.748 and 0.812, respectively, with a significant difference (p < 0.0001); the average VS values were 0.247 and 0.203, respectively, with no significant difference (p = 0.069); and the average MS values were 1.394 and 1.156, respectively, with no significant difference (p = 0.308). The GMd volumes obtained by automatic and manual segmentation were 246.2 cm3 and 282.9 cm3, respectively. The noninferiority of the DSC obtained by automatic segmentation was verified against that obtained by manual segmentation. Accordingly, the proposed GAN-based automatic GMd-segmentation technique is confirmed to be noninferior to manual segmentation. Therefore, the findings of this research confirm that the proposed method not only reduces time and effort but also facilitates accurate assessment of the cubic muscle volume., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In several primates and carnivores, pronation/supination angles of the forearm skeleton were examined, and it is thought that a larger angle is useful to acquire dexterous behaviors in feeding and/or life style, including climbing. In this study, the pronation/supination angles in Asiatic black, brown and polar bears were nondestructively examined. These specimens were classified as adult or non-adult. Three or four carcasses of each group of Asiatic black and brown bears were used for CT analysis, whereas only one adult polar bear was used. The forearms were positioned within the gantry of a CT scanner in both maximally supinated and pronated states. Extracted cross-sectional CT images of two positions were superimposed by overlapping the outlines of each ulna. The centroids of the radii were detected, and then the centroid of each radius and the midpoint of a line which connects between both ends of the surface of each radius facing the ulna, were connected by lines to measure the angle of rotation as an index of pronation/supination. In adult brown and polar bears, the angles were smaller as compared with the other groups (Asiatic black and non-adult brown bears). Asiatic black and non-adult brown bears can climb trees, whereas adult brown bears and polar bears cannot. This suggests that the pronation/supination angle is related to arboreal activity in Ursidae.

Background: How bats deviate heterochronically from other mammals remains largely unresolved, reflecting the lack of a quantitative staging framework allowing comparison among species. The standard event system (SES) is an embryonic staging system allowing quantitative detection of interspecific developmental variations. Here, the first SES-based staging system for bats, using Asian parti-colored bat (Vespertilio sinensis) is introduced. General aspects of normal embryonic development and the three-dimensional development of the bat cochlea were described for the first time. Recoding the embryonic staging tables of 18 previously reported bat species and Mus musculus into the SES system, quantitative developmental comparisons were performed., Results: It was found that limb bud development of V. sinensis is relatively late among 19 bat species and late limb development is a shared trait of vespertilionid bats. The inner ear cochlear canal forms before the semicircular canal in V. sinensis while the cochlear canal forms after the semicircular canal in non-volant mammals., Conclusions: The present approach using the SES system provides a powerful framework to detect the peculiarities of bat development. Incorporating the timing of gene expression patterns into the SES framework will further contribute to the understanding of the evolution of specialized features in bats., (© 2021 American Association of Anatomists.)