Although the dinosaurian hypothesis of bird origins is widely accepted, debate remains about how the ancestor of birds first learned to fly. Here we provide new evidence suggesting that basal dromaeosaurid dinosaurs were four-winged animals and probably could glide, representing an intermediate stage towards the active, flapping-flight stage. The new discovery conforms to the predictions of early hypotheses that proavians passed through a tetrapteryx stage.

• Radiomics analysis of pre-CRT multiparameter MR images could predict pCR in patients with LARC. • Proposed radiomics signature from joint T2-w, ADC and cT1-w images showed better predictive performance than individual signatures. • Most of the clinical characteristics were unable to predict pCR.

The findings suggest structural disconnections in the anterior cingulum in patients with schizophrenia.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can non-invasively examine the molecular diffusion of water in vivo and directly reflects the anatomical integrity of neural fibers in white matter. Fractional anisotropy (FA) can be calculated from DTI data, and utilized to evaluate white matter integrity. DTI was performed on 30 patients with schizophrenia and 19 healthy controls, and their FA values were subsequently measured in multiple brain regions. Statistical analyses revealed that FA values were decreased in the anterior cingulum of schizophrenia subjects. There were no significant differences between patients and controls in any other regions. This study supports the hypothesis that schizophrenia is associated with abnormal white matter integrity of the anterior cingulum.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern-recognition receptors and have a critical role in both innate and adaptive responses to tissue injury. Our previous study showed that wound healing was impaired in TLR3-deficient mice. In this study, we investigated the capacity of the TLR3 agonist polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid (poly(I:C)) to promote the healing of skin wounds in humans and mice. We found that topical application with poly(I:C) accelerated the closure of wounds in patients with laser plastic surgery. In a mouse model, topical application of poly(I:C) markedly enhanced re-epithelialization, granulation, and neovascularization required for wound closure. Further studies revealed that poly(I:C) treatment resulted in enhanced recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages in association with upregulation of a chemokine, macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2/ CXCL2), in the wounds. The effect of poly(I:C) was abolished in TLR3-deficient mice or by treatment with MIP-2/ CXCL2-neutralizing antibodies. These results suggest a potential therapeutic value of the TLR3 activator poly(I:C) for wound healing.