Plants respond to insect herbivory with responses broadly known as direct defenses, indirect defenses, and tolerance. Direct defenses include all plant traits that affect susceptibility of host plants by themselves. O...Plants respond to insect herbivory with responses broadly known as direct defenses, indirect defenses, and tolerance. Direct defenses include all plant traits that affect susceptibility of host plants by themselves. Overall categories of direct plant defenses against insect herbivores include limiting food supply, reducing nutrient value, reducing preference, disrupting physical structures, and inhibiting chemical pathways of the attacking insect. Major known defense chemicals include plant secondary metabolites, protein inhibitors of insect digestive enzymes, proteases, lectins, amino acid deaminases and oxidases. Multiple factors with additive or even synergistic impact are usually involved in defense against a specific insect species, and factors of major importance to one insect species may only be of secondary importance or not effective at all against another insect species. Extensive qualitative and quantitative high throughput analyses of temporal and spatial variations in gene expression, protein level and activity, and metabolite concentration will accelerate not only the understanding of the overall mechanisms of direct defense, but also accelerate the identification of specific targets for enhancement of plant resistance for agriculture.展开更多
AIM: To clarify the prevalence of defensive medicine and the specific defensive medicine practices among gastroenterologists in Japan. METHODS: A survey of gastroenterologists in Hiroshima, Japan, was conducted by m...AIM: To clarify the prevalence of defensive medicine and the specific defensive medicine practices among gastroenterologists in Japan. METHODS: A survey of gastroenterologists in Hiroshima, Japan, was conducted by mail in March 2006. The number of gastroenterologists reporting defensive medicine behaviors or changes in their scope of practice and the reported defensive medicine practices, i.e., assurance and avoidance behaviors, were examined. RESULTS: A total of 131 (77%) out of 171 gastroenterologists completed the survey. Three (2%) respondents were sued, and most respondents (96%) had liability insurance. Nearly all respondents (98%) reported practicing defensive medicine. Avoidance behaviors, such as avoiding certain procedures or interventions and avoiding caring for high-risk patients, were very common (96%). Seventy-five percent of respondents reported often avoiding certain procedures or interventions. However, seasoned gastroenterologists (those in practice for more than 20 years) adopted avoidance behaviors significantly less often than those in practice for less than 10 years. Assurance behaviors, i.e., supplying additional services of marginal or no medical value, were also widespread (91%). Sixty-eight percent of respondents reported that they sometimes or often referred patients to other specialists unnecessarily. CONCLUSION: Defensive medicine may be highly prevalent among gastroenterologists throughout 3apan, with potentially serious implications regarding costs, access, and both technical and interpersonal quality of care.展开更多
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into critical sectors has revealed a complex landscape of cybersecurity challenges that are unique to these advanced technologies. AI systems, with their extensive...The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into critical sectors has revealed a complex landscape of cybersecurity challenges that are unique to these advanced technologies. AI systems, with their extensive data dependencies and algorithmic complexities, are susceptible to a broad spectrum of cyber threats that can undermine their functionality and compromise their integrity. This paper provides a detailed analysis of these threats, which include data poisoning, adversarial attacks, and systemic vulnerabilities that arise from the AI’s operational and infrastructural frameworks. This paper critically examines the effectiveness of existing defensive mechanisms, such as adversarial training and threat modeling, that aim to fortify AI systems against such vulnerabilities. In response to the limitations of current approaches, this paper explores a comprehensive framework for the design and implementation of robust AI systems. This framework emphasizes the development of dynamic, adaptive security measures that can evolve in response to new and emerging cyber threats, thereby enhancing the resilience of AI systems. Furthermore, the paper addresses the ethical dimensions of AI cybersecurity, highlighting the need for strategies that not only protect systems but also preserve user privacy and ensure fairness across all operations. In addition to current strategies and ethical concerns, this paper explores future directions in AI cybersecurity.展开更多
Different concentrations of jasmonic acid(JA)and benzothiadiazole(BTH) were sprayed on 2-year-old Rosa rugosa‘Plena’ seedlings. The induced resistance of JA and BTH to Sphaerotheca pannosa(Wallr.) and the changes of...Different concentrations of jasmonic acid(JA)and benzothiadiazole(BTH) were sprayed on 2-year-old Rosa rugosa‘Plena’ seedlings. The induced resistance of JA and BTH to Sphaerotheca pannosa(Wallr.) and the changes of their related physiological indices were investigated. Results showed that JA and BTH treatments had inhibitory impacts on S. pannosa infection. The optimal concentration of JA and BTH was 0.5 mmol/L for the disease-resistance induction of the leaves, its inductive effect was up to 66.36% for BTH and 54.49% for JA. Our results confirmed that exogenous JA and BTH significantly improved R. rugose ‘Plena’ resistance to S. pannosa. When treated with JA and BTH, activities of the three defense enzymes(POD, PPO, and PAL) increased significantly.Contents of total phenolics, flavonoids, and lignin also increased significantly. It is inferred from these results that exogenous JA and BTH could improve the resistance of R.rugose ‘Plena’ to S. pannosa through enhancing activities of the defensive enzymes and accumulation of secondary metabolites in the leaves.展开更多
There is a wide range of interdisciplinary intersections between cyber security and artificial intelligence(AI). On one hand, AI technologies, such as deep learning, can be introduced into cyber security to construct ...There is a wide range of interdisciplinary intersections between cyber security and artificial intelligence(AI). On one hand, AI technologies, such as deep learning, can be introduced into cyber security to construct smart models for implementing malware classification and intrusion detection and threating intelligence sensing. On the other hand, AI models will face various cyber threats, which will disturb their sample, learning, and decisions. Thus, AI models need specific cyber security defense and protection technologies to combat adversarial machine learning, preserve privacy in machine learning, secure federated learning, etc. Based on the above two aspects, we review the intersection of AI and cyber security. First, we summarize existing research efforts in terms of combating cyber attacks using AI, including adopting traditional machine learning methods and existing deep learning solutions. Then, we analyze the counterattacks from which AI itself may suffer, dissect their characteristics, and classify the corresponding defense methods. Finally, from the aspects of constructing encrypted neural network and realizing a secure federated deep learning, we expatiate the existing research on how to build a secure AI system.展开更多
Painful stimuli elicit first-line reflexive defensive reactions and,in many cases,also evoke second-line recuperative behaviors,the latter of which reflects the sensing of tissue damage and the alleviation of sufferin...Painful stimuli elicit first-line reflexive defensive reactions and,in many cases,also evoke second-line recuperative behaviors,the latter of which reflects the sensing of tissue damage and the alleviation of suffering.The lateral parabrachial nucleus(lPBN),composed of external-(elPBN),dorsal-(dlPBN),and central/superior-subnuclei(jointly referred to as slPBN),receives sensory inputs from spinal projection neurons and plays important roles in processing affective information from external threats and body integrity disruption.However,the organizational rules of lPBN neurons that provoke diverse behaviors in response to different painful stimuli from cutaneous and deep tissues remain unclear.In this study,we used region-specific neuronal depletion or silencing approaches combined with a battery of behavioral assays to show that slPBN neurons expressing substance P receptor(NK1R)(lPBNNK1R)are crucial for driving pain-associated self-care behaviors evoked by sustained noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli applied to skin or bone/muscle,while elPBN neurons are dispensable for driving such reactions.Notably,lPBNNK1R neurons are specifically required for forming sustained somatic pain-induced negative teaching signals and aversive memory but are not necessary for fear-learning or escape behaviors elicited by external threats.Lastly,both lPBNNK1R and elPBN neurons contribute to chemical irritant-induced nocifensive reactions.Our results reveal the functional organization of parabrachial substrates that drive distinct behavioral outcomes in response to sustained pain versus external danger under physiological conditions.展开更多
Defensive behaviors induced by innate fear or Pavlovian fear conditioning are crucial for animals to avoid threats and ensure survival.The zona incerta(ZI)has been demonstrated to play important roles in fear learning...Defensive behaviors induced by innate fear or Pavlovian fear conditioning are crucial for animals to avoid threats and ensure survival.The zona incerta(ZI)has been demonstrated to play important roles in fear learning and fear memory,as well as modulating auditory-induced innate defensive behavior.However,whether the neuronal subtypes in the ZI and specific circuits can mediate the innate fear response is largely unknown.Here,we found that somatostatin(SST)-positive neurons in the rostral ZI of mice were activated by a visual innate fear stimulus.Optogenetic inhibition of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI resulted in reduced flight responses to an overhead looming stimulus.Optogenetic activation of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI induced fear-like defensive behavior including increased immobility and bradycardia.In addition,we demonstrated that manipulation of the GABAergic projections from SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI to the downstream nucleus reuniens(Re)mediated fear-like defensive behavior.Retrograde trans-synaptic tracing also revealed looming stimulus-activated neurons in the superior colliculus(SC)that projected to the Re-projecting SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI(SC-ZIrSST-Re pathway).Together,our study elucidates the function of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI and the SC-ZIrSST-Re tri-synaptic circuit in mediating the innate fear response.展开更多
Parvalbumin-positive retinal ganglion cells(PV+RGCs)are an essential subset of RGCs found in various species.However,their role in transmitting visual information remains unclear.Here,we characterized PV+RGCs in the r...Parvalbumin-positive retinal ganglion cells(PV+RGCs)are an essential subset of RGCs found in various species.However,their role in transmitting visual information remains unclear.Here,we characterized PV+RGCs in the retina and explored the functions of the PV+RGC-mediated visual pathway.By applying multiple viral tracing strategies,we investigated the downstream of PV+RGCs across the whole brain.Interestingly,we found that the PV+RGCs provided direct monosynaptic input to PV+excitatory neurons in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus(SC).Ablation or suppression of SC-projecting PV+RGCs abolished or severely impaired the flight response to looming visual stimuli in mice without affecting visual acuity.Furthermore,using transcriptome expression profiling of individual cells and immunofluorescence colocalization for RGCs,we found that PV+RGCs are predominant glutamatergic neurons.Thus,our findings indicate the critical role of PV+RGCs in an innate defensive response and suggest a non-canonical subcortical visual pathway from excitatory PV+RGCs to PV+SC neurons that regulates looming visual stimuli.These results provide a potential target for intervening and treating diseases related to this circuit,such as schizophrenia and autism.展开更多
文摘Plants respond to insect herbivory with responses broadly known as direct defenses, indirect defenses, and tolerance. Direct defenses include all plant traits that affect susceptibility of host plants by themselves. Overall categories of direct plant defenses against insect herbivores include limiting food supply, reducing nutrient value, reducing preference, disrupting physical structures, and inhibiting chemical pathways of the attacking insect. Major known defense chemicals include plant secondary metabolites, protein inhibitors of insect digestive enzymes, proteases, lectins, amino acid deaminases and oxidases. Multiple factors with additive or even synergistic impact are usually involved in defense against a specific insect species, and factors of major importance to one insect species may only be of secondary importance or not effective at all against another insect species. Extensive qualitative and quantitative high throughput analyses of temporal and spatial variations in gene expression, protein level and activity, and metabolite concentration will accelerate not only the understanding of the overall mechanisms of direct defense, but also accelerate the identification of specific targets for enhancement of plant resistance for agriculture.
文摘AIM: To clarify the prevalence of defensive medicine and the specific defensive medicine practices among gastroenterologists in Japan. METHODS: A survey of gastroenterologists in Hiroshima, Japan, was conducted by mail in March 2006. The number of gastroenterologists reporting defensive medicine behaviors or changes in their scope of practice and the reported defensive medicine practices, i.e., assurance and avoidance behaviors, were examined. RESULTS: A total of 131 (77%) out of 171 gastroenterologists completed the survey. Three (2%) respondents were sued, and most respondents (96%) had liability insurance. Nearly all respondents (98%) reported practicing defensive medicine. Avoidance behaviors, such as avoiding certain procedures or interventions and avoiding caring for high-risk patients, were very common (96%). Seventy-five percent of respondents reported often avoiding certain procedures or interventions. However, seasoned gastroenterologists (those in practice for more than 20 years) adopted avoidance behaviors significantly less often than those in practice for less than 10 years. Assurance behaviors, i.e., supplying additional services of marginal or no medical value, were also widespread (91%). Sixty-eight percent of respondents reported that they sometimes or often referred patients to other specialists unnecessarily. CONCLUSION: Defensive medicine may be highly prevalent among gastroenterologists throughout 3apan, with potentially serious implications regarding costs, access, and both technical and interpersonal quality of care.
文摘The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into critical sectors has revealed a complex landscape of cybersecurity challenges that are unique to these advanced technologies. AI systems, with their extensive data dependencies and algorithmic complexities, are susceptible to a broad spectrum of cyber threats that can undermine their functionality and compromise their integrity. This paper provides a detailed analysis of these threats, which include data poisoning, adversarial attacks, and systemic vulnerabilities that arise from the AI’s operational and infrastructural frameworks. This paper critically examines the effectiveness of existing defensive mechanisms, such as adversarial training and threat modeling, that aim to fortify AI systems against such vulnerabilities. In response to the limitations of current approaches, this paper explores a comprehensive framework for the design and implementation of robust AI systems. This framework emphasizes the development of dynamic, adaptive security measures that can evolve in response to new and emerging cyber threats, thereby enhancing the resilience of AI systems. Furthermore, the paper addresses the ethical dimensions of AI cybersecurity, highlighting the need for strategies that not only protect systems but also preserve user privacy and ensure fairness across all operations. In addition to current strategies and ethical concerns, this paper explores future directions in AI cybersecurity.
基金supported by the Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China(No.QC2014C012)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(NO.2572016CA11)
文摘Different concentrations of jasmonic acid(JA)and benzothiadiazole(BTH) were sprayed on 2-year-old Rosa rugosa‘Plena’ seedlings. The induced resistance of JA and BTH to Sphaerotheca pannosa(Wallr.) and the changes of their related physiological indices were investigated. Results showed that JA and BTH treatments had inhibitory impacts on S. pannosa infection. The optimal concentration of JA and BTH was 0.5 mmol/L for the disease-resistance induction of the leaves, its inductive effect was up to 66.36% for BTH and 54.49% for JA. Our results confirmed that exogenous JA and BTH significantly improved R. rugose ‘Plena’ resistance to S. pannosa. When treated with JA and BTH, activities of the three defense enzymes(POD, PPO, and PAL) increased significantly.Contents of total phenolics, flavonoids, and lignin also increased significantly. It is inferred from these results that exogenous JA and BTH could improve the resistance of R.rugose ‘Plena’ to S. pannosa through enhancing activities of the defensive enzymes and accumulation of secondary metabolites in the leaves.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61431008 and 61571300)
文摘There is a wide range of interdisciplinary intersections between cyber security and artificial intelligence(AI). On one hand, AI technologies, such as deep learning, can be introduced into cyber security to construct smart models for implementing malware classification and intrusion detection and threating intelligence sensing. On the other hand, AI models will face various cyber threats, which will disturb their sample, learning, and decisions. Thus, AI models need specific cyber security defense and protection technologies to combat adversarial machine learning, preserve privacy in machine learning, secure federated learning, etc. Based on the above two aspects, we review the intersection of AI and cyber security. First, we summarize existing research efforts in terms of combating cyber attacks using AI, including adopting traditional machine learning methods and existing deep learning solutions. Then, we analyze the counterattacks from which AI itself may suffer, dissect their characteristics, and classify the corresponding defense methods. Finally, from the aspects of constructing encrypted neural network and realizing a secure federated deep learning, we expatiate the existing research on how to build a secure AI system.
基金supported by the Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Drug Addiction (ZDSYS20190902093601675)CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Manipulation (2019DP173024)+2 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (82274358)Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain ScienceGuangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023B1515040009)
文摘Painful stimuli elicit first-line reflexive defensive reactions and,in many cases,also evoke second-line recuperative behaviors,the latter of which reflects the sensing of tissue damage and the alleviation of suffering.The lateral parabrachial nucleus(lPBN),composed of external-(elPBN),dorsal-(dlPBN),and central/superior-subnuclei(jointly referred to as slPBN),receives sensory inputs from spinal projection neurons and plays important roles in processing affective information from external threats and body integrity disruption.However,the organizational rules of lPBN neurons that provoke diverse behaviors in response to different painful stimuli from cutaneous and deep tissues remain unclear.In this study,we used region-specific neuronal depletion or silencing approaches combined with a battery of behavioral assays to show that slPBN neurons expressing substance P receptor(NK1R)(lPBNNK1R)are crucial for driving pain-associated self-care behaviors evoked by sustained noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli applied to skin or bone/muscle,while elPBN neurons are dispensable for driving such reactions.Notably,lPBNNK1R neurons are specifically required for forming sustained somatic pain-induced negative teaching signals and aversive memory but are not necessary for fear-learning or escape behaviors elicited by external threats.Lastly,both lPBNNK1R and elPBN neurons contribute to chemical irritant-induced nocifensive reactions.Our results reveal the functional organization of parabrachial substrates that drive distinct behavioral outcomes in response to sustained pain versus external danger under physiological conditions.
基金supported by the Science and Technology Innovation 2030-Major Project of Brain Science and Brain-like Research(2021ZD0202700,2021ZD0202702)the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province(2019B030335001,2018B030334001)+6 种基金the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82090030,82090031)the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences(2019-12M-5-057)the Ministry of Science and Technology(2019YFA0110103)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81870898)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2021FZZX001-37)the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation(LR18H090002)the Young Scientist Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82001135).
文摘Defensive behaviors induced by innate fear or Pavlovian fear conditioning are crucial for animals to avoid threats and ensure survival.The zona incerta(ZI)has been demonstrated to play important roles in fear learning and fear memory,as well as modulating auditory-induced innate defensive behavior.However,whether the neuronal subtypes in the ZI and specific circuits can mediate the innate fear response is largely unknown.Here,we found that somatostatin(SST)-positive neurons in the rostral ZI of mice were activated by a visual innate fear stimulus.Optogenetic inhibition of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI resulted in reduced flight responses to an overhead looming stimulus.Optogenetic activation of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI induced fear-like defensive behavior including increased immobility and bradycardia.In addition,we demonstrated that manipulation of the GABAergic projections from SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI to the downstream nucleus reuniens(Re)mediated fear-like defensive behavior.Retrograde trans-synaptic tracing also revealed looming stimulus-activated neurons in the superior colliculus(SC)that projected to the Re-projecting SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI(SC-ZIrSST-Re pathway).Together,our study elucidates the function of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI and the SC-ZIrSST-Re tri-synaptic circuit in mediating the innate fear response.
基金supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFE0103400)the National Nature Science Foundation of China(81470628).
文摘Parvalbumin-positive retinal ganglion cells(PV+RGCs)are an essential subset of RGCs found in various species.However,their role in transmitting visual information remains unclear.Here,we characterized PV+RGCs in the retina and explored the functions of the PV+RGC-mediated visual pathway.By applying multiple viral tracing strategies,we investigated the downstream of PV+RGCs across the whole brain.Interestingly,we found that the PV+RGCs provided direct monosynaptic input to PV+excitatory neurons in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus(SC).Ablation or suppression of SC-projecting PV+RGCs abolished or severely impaired the flight response to looming visual stimuli in mice without affecting visual acuity.Furthermore,using transcriptome expression profiling of individual cells and immunofluorescence colocalization for RGCs,we found that PV+RGCs are predominant glutamatergic neurons.Thus,our findings indicate the critical role of PV+RGCs in an innate defensive response and suggest a non-canonical subcortical visual pathway from excitatory PV+RGCs to PV+SC neurons that regulates looming visual stimuli.These results provide a potential target for intervening and treating diseases related to this circuit,such as schizophrenia and autism.