ALBERT

Description: Individuals may vary consistently in their architectural makeup of the constructions they build, which might have tremendous implications for their ecology and fitness. In particular, the relationship between individual differences in architectural constructions and behavior (i.e., animal personalities) is largely unexplored. Individual black widow spiders, Latrodectus hesperus , build a 3D cobweb made up of distinctive components serving to support foraging (gumfooted lines) or antipredator protection (structural lines). To explore the relationship between individual differences in behavior and architectural constructions, we quantified 1) the level of consistent individual variation in several elements of web structure and 2) the level of consistent individual variation in foraging behavior and its relationship with web structure. We controlled for condition-dependent or environmental effects by satiating all spiders prior to assays and maintaining them in standardized conditions. Spiders exhibited consistent differences in the number of gumfooted lines they built for capturing preys and overall web weight, but not in the number of structural lines. Individuals also varied consistently in their tendency to attack a prey cue, despite all spiders being satiated. Finally, spiders producing more gumfooted lines exhibited a higher tendency to attack the prey cue. Our results suggest that the architectural constructions may impact the expression of individual behavioral differences (or animal personalities) and suggest that individual behavior and extended phenotype may be part of alternative foraging strategies in L. hesperus .

Description: Architectural constructions allow animals to modify their environment in order to improve their reproductive success. Constructions also modulate the expression of individual behavior, ultimately affecting the presence and importance of animal personality within populations. The exact impact of constructions on personality is seldom investigated. We quantified experimentally the impact of web characteristics on individual foraging behavior in the Western black widow spider ( Latrodectus hesperus ). We assayed aggressiveness toward a prey cue, and boldness while individuals resided on their own web versus after being translocated onto webs built by con-specifics. We quantified the importance of individual differences in aggressiveness and boldness while accounting for differences in web characteristics. We tested for relationships between web building, aggressiveness, and boldness. Web characteristics affected spider aggressiveness and interacted with individual web-building behavior to explain up to a fifth of the variation in foraging aggression, but did not affect spider boldness. Even after accounting for web characteristics, individuals still exhibited important differences in aggressiveness. We detected no relationship between an individual’s aggressiveness behavioral type and the characteristics of the web it built. Surprisingly, web characteristics impacted aggressiveness differently from one individual to the next. Hence the effect of web characteristics on foraging behavior might depend on condition or past experience. Webs contributed mostly to the variation in aggressiveness within-individuals. Variation in web building behavior might affect the amount of consistent differences in foraging, mating, and anti-predator behavior among individuals and needs to be accounted for when quantifying individual variation in behavior in spiders.

Description: In order to reduce toxicity in elderly patients with newly diagnosed APL, since 3/1997 the Italian cooperative group GIMEMA evaluated an amended AIDA protocol for patients aged 〉 60 years, consisting of the same induction with ATRA and Idarubicin but only 1st consolidation course (Idarubicin + Cytarabine), followed by 2 years maintenance with ATRA alone. Up to now, 56 patients (25 males and 31 females, median age 66.2 years, 46 with PS 0-1 and 10 with PS 2) are fully evaluable. At onset, according to GIMEMA-PETHEMA risk score, 18 were low-risk(32.5%), 31 intermediate risk (55%) and 7 high risk (12.5%). After induction treatment, 54 patients (96.4%) achieved CR and 2 (3.6%) died from haemorrhage (1) and infection (1). ATRA syndrome was documented in 5 patients (9.3%): 13/56 patients (23.2%) showed during induction other toxicities (WHO 3 – 4) not related to ATRA. After CR achievement, 2 patients died in CR from haemorrhage (1) and infection (1) and 52 received the consolidation course: on the whole, during consolidation 4 patients (7.6%) had a toxicity WHO 3 – 4 and 2 of them (3.8%) died from haemorrhage (1) and infection (1). The remaining 50 patients started maintenance treatment: up to now, 12 patients (22.2%) relapsed, after a median time from morphological CR of 19 months (range 7 – 86). Overall survival (OS) was 76.1% and 73.3% at 3 and 5 years, respectively. Disease free survival (DFS) was 64.5% and 61.3% at 3 and 5 years, respectively. At the univariate analysis, PS =2 (p=0.0019), WBC count 〉 3 x 109 /l (p=0.018) and male gender (p=0.03) had a bad prognostic impact on DFS, while only PS=2 (p=0.05) did it on OS. Age, PLTS count, WBC count 〉 10 x 109 /l, and risk score did not affect both OS and DFS. At the multivariate analysis on DFS, only PS =2 retained prognostic significance (HR = 3.8). In conclusion, the amended GIMEMA protocol has shown to be effective and safe in elderly APL patients, as the rate of death in CR was reduced when compared with previous results in not amended GIMEMA LAP AIDA 0493: however, to face with a relapse rate 〉 20%, future strategies might be designed which exploit the use of more targeted approaches including combinations of ATRA, arsenic trioxide, and anti-CD33 monoclonal antibodies.