New records of the genus Eilicrinia Hübner, 1823 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Croatia

New records of the genus Eilicrinia Hübner, 1823 in Croatia are presented and the previous literature records are summarized. Eilicrinia cordiaria (Hübner, 1790) has been recorded in Croatia after an apparent absence of 36 years at six new localities. The species has a scattered distribution in the country, with historical records originating from both Mediterranean and Continental regions while recent reports are limited to northern Croatia, mostly around the rivers Drava and Mura. For Eilicrinia trinotata (Metzner, 1845) the first record from Croatia is presented, from Bansko hill in Baranja region. Both species can be considered as scarce in Croatia and further studies are needed in order to assess their status and distribution.

Diastereoselective Formation of Trans-HC(O)SH through Hydrogenation of OCS on Interstellar Dust Grains

With the presence of evermore complex S-bearing molecules being detected lately, studies of their chemical formation routes need to keep up the pace to rationalize observations, suggest new candidates for detection, and provide input for chemical evolution models. In this paper, we theoretically characterize the hydrogenation channels of OCS on top of amorphous solid water (ASW) as an interstellar dust grain analog in molecular clouds. Our results show that the significant reaction outcome is trans-HC(O)SH, a recently detected prebiotic molecule toward G+0.693. The reaction is diastereoselective, explaining the apparent absence of the cis isomer in astronomical observations. We found that the reaction proceeds through a highly localized radical intermediate (cis-OCSH), which could be essential in the formation of other sulfur-bearing complex organic molecules due to its slow isomerization dynamics on top of ASW.

An Active Inference Model of Conscious Access with and without Report

Cognitive theories of consciousness, such as global workspace theory and higher-order theories, posit that frontoparietal circuits play a crucial role in conscious access. However, recent studies using no-report paradigms have posed a challenge to cognitive theories by demonstrating conscious accessibility in the apparent absence of prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. To address this challenge, this paper presents a computational model of conscious access, based upon active inference, that treats working memory gating as a cognitive action. We simulate a visual masking task and show that late P3b-like event-related potentials (ERPs), and increased PFC activity, are induced by the working memory demands of report. When reporting demands are removed, these late ERPs vanish and PFC activity is reduced. These results therefore reproduce, and potentially explain, results from no-report paradigms. However, even without reporting demands, our model shows that simulated PFC activity on visible stimulus trials still crosses the threshold for reportability – maintaining the link between PFC and conscious access. Therefore, our simulations show that evidence provided by no-report paradigms does not necessarily contradict cognitive theories of consciousness.

Homeostatic regulation of NREM sleep, but not REM sleep, in Australian magpies

Study Objectives We explore NREM and REM sleep homeostasis in Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen tyrannica). We predicted that magpies would recover lost sleep by spending more time in NREM and REM sleep, and by engaging in more intense NREM sleep as indicated by increased slow-wave activity (SWA). Methods Continuous 72-h recordings of EEG, EMG and tri-axial accelerometry, along with EEG spectral analyses, were performed on wild-caught Australian magpies housed in indoor aviaries. Australian magpies were subjected to two protocols of night-time sleep deprivation: full 12-h night (n = 8) and first 6-h half of the night (n = 5), which were preceded by a 36-h baseline recording and followed by a 24-h recovery period. Results Australian magpies recovered lost NREM sleep by sleeping more, with increased NREM sleep consolidation, and increased SWA during recovery sleep. Following 12-h of night-time sleep loss, magpies also showed reduced SWA the following night after napping more during the recovery day. Surprisingly, the magpies did not recover any lost REM sleep. Conclusions Only NREM sleep is homeostatically regulated in Australian magpies with the level of SWA reflecting prior sleep/wake history. The significance of emerging patterns on the apparent absence of REM sleep homeostasis, now observed in multiple species, remains unclear.

Porous or non-porous? The challenge of studying unusual placoid sensilla of Megaphragma wasps (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae) with electron microscopy

Extreme miniaturization implies a high degree of optimization, rendering the retention of non-functional organs almost impossible. Two unique non-porous placoid sensilla on the antennae of females of Megaphragma were described in the literature. Placoid sensilla in Hymenoptera have an olfactory function and always bear pores; the apparent absence of pores therefore raises the questions whether such sensilla are functional in Megaphragma and whether their surface sculpture had been sufficiently well examined. We examined in detail the external microsculpture and internal ultrastructure of the placoid sensilla using Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy with various types of sputtering and show that these sensilla actually have a porous cuticle and are innervated by 11 or 12 neurons with branched cilia, which is typical of olfactory sensilla. Comparison of various methods of electron microscopy allows us to conclude that for an accurate determination of the morphofunctional types of sensilla, especially in miniature insects, it is necessary to study both the internal ultrastructure of the sensilla and their external morphology using carefully selected scanning electron microscopy methods.

Valores jurídicos en la Regulación Penal de la Competencia Desleal en Ecuador

In all areas of the legal world there are higher aspirations, which represent legal values to be protected, like the justice, the common good and legal security stand out. The present work was proposed to analyze if the Ecuadorian Legislator, in its process of construction and promulgation of the criminal law regulating against the unfair competition, incorporated these three values into it. Regrettably, the results show an apparent absence of the three legal values in criminal law, leaving legal operators at a disadvantage in view of the need to control this type of crime and society, awaiting compliance. Through an exercise of legal hermeneutics, the study starts from a real problem in the Ecuadorian legal system of the criminal law against of the unfair competition, which demands to be discussed in the search for the State to take the necessary measures to solve this problem.

The extracellular contractile injection system is enriched in environmental microbes and associates with numerous toxins

The extracellular Contractile Injection System (eCIS) is a toxin-delivery particle that evolved from a bacteriophage tail. Four eCISs have previously been shown to mediate interactions between bacteria and their invertebrate hosts. Here, we identify eCIS loci in 1,249 bacterial and archaeal genomes and reveal an enrichment of these loci in environmental microbes and their apparent absence from mammalian pathogens. We show that 13 eCIS-associated toxin genes from diverse microbes can inhibit the growth of bacteria and/or yeast. We identify immunity genes that protect bacteria from self-intoxication, further supporting an antibacterial role for some eCISs. We also identify previously undescribed eCIS core genes, including a conserved eCIS transcriptional regulator. Finally, we present our data through an extensive eCIS repository, termed eCIStem. Our findings support eCIS as a toxin-delivery system that is widespread among environmental prokaryotes and likely mediates antagonistic interactions with eukaryotes and other prokaryotes.

The Peculiar Idea of Respect for a Capacity

Richard Dean examines the popular strategy of developing a system of moral duties based on respect for some capacity possessed by all persons. Dean argues that not only is there a deep ambiguity in the concept of a “capacity,” as either a mere potential or as a developed and stable ability or characteristic, but that several prominent moral theories based on respect for a capacity trade problematically on this ambiguity. Dean suggests that the prevalence of this mistake, and the apparent absence of theories that avoid it, is evidence that such a strategy for developing moral theories is not viable.

‘The Restful Place’

Addressing the apparent absence of vernacular literary criticism in early Tudor culture, this chapter argues that a nascent poetics lies within the period’s lyric poetry itself. The critical lexicon that laces this lyric poetry shows poets beginning to theorize literature in spatial, geometric, or formal terms. Recalling the place logic of Henrician pedagogy and the blurring of boundaries between poetic invention and critical judgement, the poetry of Wyatt, Surrey, and their early Tudor acolytes ventures a rudimentary theory of poetic composition as the constraining of memory into form. Responding to the Italian commentary tradition that locates Petrarch’s poems in allusive relation to other poems, early Tudor lyric gestures to an intertextual model of how to read texts in a network of remembered literary ‘places’. As imitation fuses into commentary, external places of criticism are constrained internally within Henrician poetry itself.