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Goulard R, Heinze S, Webb B. Emergent spatial goals in an integrative model of the insect central complex. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011480. [PMID: 38109465 PMCID: PMC10760860 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The insect central complex appears to encode and process spatial information through vector manipulation. Here, we draw on recent insights into circuit structure to fuse previous models of sensory-guided navigation, path integration and vector memory. Specifically, we propose that the allocentric encoding of location provided by path integration creates a spatially stable anchor for converging sensory signals that is relevant in multiple behavioural contexts. The allocentric reference frame given by path integration transforms a goal direction into a goal location and we demonstrate through modelling that it can enhance approach of a sensory target in noisy, cluttered environments or with temporally sparse stimuli. We further show the same circuit can improve performance in the more complex navigational task of route following. The model suggests specific functional roles for circuit elements of the central complex that helps explain their high preservation across insect species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Goulard
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Stanley Heinze
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Barbara Webb
- Institute for Perception, Action, and Behaviour, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Buehlmann C, Dell-Cronin S, Diyalagoda Pathirannahelage A, Goulard R, Webb B, Niven JE, Graham P. Impact of central complex lesions on innate and learnt visual navigation in ants. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2023:10.1007/s00359-023-01613-1. [PMID: 36790487 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01613-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Wood ants are excellent navigators, using a combination of innate and learnt navigational strategies to travel between their nest and feeding sites. Visual navigation in ants has been studied extensively, however, we have little direct evidence for the underlying neural mechanisms. Here, we perform lateralized mechanical lesions in the central complex (CX) of wood ants, a midline structure known to allow an insect to keep track of the direction of sensory cues relative to its own orientation and to control movement. We lesioned two groups of ants and observed their behaviour in an arena with a large visual landmark present. The first group of ants were naïve and when intact such ants show a clear innate attraction to the conspicuous landmark. The second group of ants were trained to aim to a food location to the side of the landmark. The general heading of naïve ants towards a visual cue was not altered by the lesions, but the heading of ants trained to a landmark adjacent food position was affected. Thus, CX lesions had a specific impact on learnt visual guidance. We also observed that lateralised lesions altered the fine details of turning with lesioned ants spending less time turning to the side ipsilateral of the lesion. The results confirm the role of the CX in turn control and highlight its important role in the implementation of learnt behaviours that rely on information from other brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Roman Goulard
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK.,Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden
| | - Barbara Webb
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK
| | - Jeremy E Niven
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Paul Graham
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK
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Goulard R, Buehlmann C, Niven JE, Graham P, Webb B. A unified mechanism for innate and learned visual landmark guidance in the insect central complex. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009383. [PMID: 34555013 PMCID: PMC8491911 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 10/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects can navigate efficiently in both novel and familiar environments, and this requires flexiblity in how they are guided by sensory cues. A prominent landmark, for example, can elicit strong innate behaviours (attraction or menotaxis) but can also be used, after learning, as a specific directional cue as part of a navigation memory. However, the mechanisms that allow both pathways to co-exist, interact or override each other are largely unknown. Here we propose a model for the behavioural integration of innate and learned guidance based on the neuroanatomy of the central complex (CX), adapted to control landmark guided behaviours. We consider a reward signal provided either by an innate attraction to landmarks or a long-term visual memory in the mushroom bodies (MB) that modulates the formation of a local vector memory in the CX. Using an operant strategy for a simulated agent exploring a simple world containing a single visual cue, we show how the generated short-term memory can support both innate and learned steering behaviour. In addition, we show how this architecture is consistent with the observed effects of unilateral MB lesions in ants that cause a reversion to innate behaviour. We suggest the formation of a directional memory in the CX can be interpreted as transforming rewarding (positive or negative) sensory signals into a mapping of the environment that describes the geometrical attractiveness (or repulsion). We discuss how this scheme might represent an ideal way to combine multisensory information gathered during the exploration of an environment and support optimal cue integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Goulard
- Institute for Perception, Action, and Behaviour, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Cornelia Buehlmann
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Falmer, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Jeremy E. Niven
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Falmer, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Graham
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Falmer, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Barbara Webb
- Institute for Perception, Action, and Behaviour, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Goulard R, Buehlmann C, Niven JE, Graham P, Webb B. A motion compensation treadmill for untethered wood ants ( Formica rufa): evidence for transfer of orientation memories from free-walking training. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 223:223/24/jeb228601. [PMID: 33443039 PMCID: PMC7774907 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.228601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The natural scale of insect navigation during foraging makes it challenging to study under controlled conditions. Virtual reality and trackball setups have offered experimental control over visual environments while studying tethered insects, but potential limitations and confounds introduced by tethering motivates the development of alternative untethered solutions. In this paper, we validate the use of a motion compensator (or ‘treadmill’) to study visually driven behaviour of freely moving wood ants (Formica rufa). We show how this setup allows naturalistic walking behaviour and preserves foraging motivation over long time frames. Furthermore, we show that ants are able to transfer associative and navigational memories from classical maze and arena contexts to our treadmill. Thus, we demonstrate the possibility to study navigational behaviour over ecologically relevant durations (and virtual distances) in precisely controlled environments, bridging the gap between natural and highly controlled laboratory experiments. Summary: We have developed and validated a motion compensating treadmill for wood ants which opens new perspectives to study insect navigation behaviour in a fully controlled manner over ecologically relevant durations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Goulard
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, UK
| | | | - Jeremy E Niven
- University of Sussex, School of Life Sciences, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Paul Graham
- University of Sussex, School of Life Sciences, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Barbara Webb
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, UK
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Buehlmann C, Wozniak B, Goulard R, Webb B, Graham P, Niven JE. Mushroom Bodies Are Required for Learned Visual Navigation, but Not for Innate Visual Behavior, in Ants. Curr Biol 2020; 30:3438-3443.e2. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Goulard R, Verbe A, Vercher JL, Viollet S. Role of the light source position in freely falling hoverflies' stabilization performances. Biol Lett 2019; 14:rsbl.2018.0051. [PMID: 29794004 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The stabilization of plummeting hoverflies was filmed and analysed in terms of their wingbeat initiation times as well as the crash and stabilization rates. The flies experienced near-weightlessness for a period of time that depended on their ability to counteract the free fall by triggering their wingbeats. In this paradigm, hoverflies' flight stabilization strategies were investigated here for the first time under two different positions of the light source (overhead and bottom lighting). The crash rates were higher in bottom lighting conditions than with top lighting. In addition, adding a texture to the walls reduced the crash rates only in the overhead lighting condition. The position of the lighting also significantly affected both the stabilization rates and the time taken by the flies to stabilize, which decreased and increased under bottom lighting conditions, respectively, whereas textured walls increased the stabilization rates under both lighting conditions. These results support the idea that flies may mainly base their flight control strategy on visual cues and particularly that the light distribution in the visual field may provide reliable, efficient cues for estimating their orientation with respect to an allocentric reference frame. In addition, the finding that the hoverflies' optic flow-based motion detection ability is affected by the position of the light source in their visual field suggests the occurrence of interactions between movement perception and this visual vertical perception process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Goulard
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, Marseille 13009, France
| | - Anna Verbe
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, Marseille 13009, France
| | | | - Stéphane Viollet
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, Marseille 13009, France
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Sabella Acedo T, Goulard R, Nunes de Gouvea V, Sabella Acedo T, de Souza Floriano Machado de Vasconcellos G, Roberto Leme P, Saran Netto A, da Luz e Silva S. 66 Effect of essential oil and exogenous enzyme on performance and carcass traits of finishing cattle fed different roughage sources. J Anim Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/jas/sky404.866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - R Goulard
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - P Roberto Leme
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - A Saran Netto
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - S da Luz e Silva
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Sabella Acedo T, Goulard R, Nunes de Gouvea V, Sabella Acedo T, de Souza Floriano Machado de Vasconcellos G, Roberto Leme P, Saran Netto A, da Luz e Silva S. PSXIV-24 Effect of essential oils and exogenous enzyme on adaptation period of cattle fed different roughage sources. J Anim Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/jas/sky404.966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - R Goulard
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - T Sabella Acedo
- DSM Produtos Nutricionais Brasil S.A.,Jaguare, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - P Roberto Leme
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Pirassununga, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - A Saran Netto
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Pirassununga, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - S da Luz e Silva
- University of São Paulo,Pirassununga, SP, Brazil – College of Animal Science and Food Engineering,Pirassununga, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Goulard R, Vercher JL, Viollet S. Modeling visual-based pitch, lift and speed control strategies in hoverflies. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1005894. [PMID: 29361632 PMCID: PMC5780187 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To avoid crashing onto the floor, a free falling fly needs to trigger its wingbeats quickly and control the orientation of its thrust accurately and swiftly to stabilize its pitch and hence its speed. Behavioural data have suggested that the vertical optic flow produced by the fall and crossing the visual field plays a key role in this anti-crash response. Free fall behavior analyses have also suggested that flying insect may not rely on graviception to stabilize their flight. Based on these two assumptions, we have developed a model which accounts for hoverflies´ position and pitch orientation recorded in 3D with a fast stereo camera during experimental free falls. Our dynamic model shows that optic flow-based control combined with closed-loop control of the pitch suffice to stabilize the flight properly. In addition, our model sheds a new light on the visual-based feedback control of fly´s pitch, lift and thrust. Since graviceptive cues are possibly not used by flying insects, the use of a vertical reference to control the pitch is discussed, based on the results obtained on a complete dynamic model of a virtual fly falling in a textured corridor. This model would provide a useful tool for understanding more clearly how insects may or not estimate their absolute attitude. On the basis of vision-based feedback control of optic flow occurring during insects’ flight, we developed a dynamic model that accounts for the pitch orientation and speed in plummeting flies. We compared the hoverflies’ responses with our model and showed that an optic-flow based control strategy can be used to correct the initial pitch misorientation caused by the free fall situation. To complete the model, we combined the closed-loop control of the vertical optic flow with an additional feedback control loop based on the value of the absolute pitch orientation. The need for this measurement to stabilize the pitch orientation raises the question as whether this is also the case in dipterans. After ruling out the possibility that insects may use gravity acceleration cues to control their flight, for which no experimental evidence has been found so far, we discussed the three main sensory processes possibly involved in in their ability to control their attitude. Our model provides a useful tool for studying the various sensory processes possibly involved in dipterans’ flight stabilization abilities as well as the interactions between these processes.
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Goulard R, Vercher JL, Viollet S. To crash or not to crash: how do hoverflies cope with free-fall situations and weightlessness? J Exp Biol 2016; 219:2497-503. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.141150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Insects’ aptitude to perform hovering, automatic landing and tracking tasks involves accurately controlling their head and body roll and pitch movements, but how this attitude control depends on an internal estimation of gravity orientation is still an open question. Gravity perception in flying insects has mainly been studied in terms of grounded animals' tactile orientation responses, but it has not yet been established whether hoverflies use gravity perception cues to detect a nearly weightless state at an early stage. Ground-based microgravity simulators provide biologists with useful tools for studying the effects of changes in gravity. However, in view of the cost and the complexity of these set-ups, an alternative Earth-based free-fall procedure was developed with which flying insects can be briefly exposed to microgravity under various visual conditions. Hoverflies frequently initiated wingbeats in response to an imposed free fall in all the conditions tested, but managed to avoid crashing only in variably structured visual environments, and only episodically in darkness. Our results reveal that the crash-avoidance performance of these insects in various visual environments suggests the existence of a multisensory control system based mainly on vision rather than gravity perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Goulard
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Institute of Movement Science, UMR 7287, Marseille 13288, France
| | - Jean-Louis Vercher
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Institute of Movement Science, UMR 7287, Marseille 13288, France
| | - Stéphane Viollet
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Institute of Movement Science, UMR 7287, Marseille 13288, France
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Goulard R, Julien-Laferriere A, Fleuriet J, Vercher JL, Viollet S. Behavioural evidence for a visual and proprioceptive control of head roll in hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 218:3777-87. [PMID: 26486370 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.127043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2015] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The ability of hoverflies to control their head orientation with respect to their body contributes importantly to their agility and their autonomous navigation abilities. Many tasks performed by this insect during flight, especially while hovering, involve a head stabilization reflex. This reflex, which is mediated by multisensory channels, prevents the visual processing from being disturbed by motion blur and maintains a consistent perception of the visual environment. The so-called dorsal light response (DLR) is another head control reflex, which makes insects sensitive to the brightest part of the visual field. In this study, we experimentally validate and quantify the control loop driving the head roll with respect to the horizon in hoverflies. The new approach developed here consisted of using an upside-down horizon in a body roll paradigm. In this unusual configuration, tethered flying hoverflies surprisingly no longer use purely vision-based control for head stabilization. These results shed new light on the role of neck proprioceptor organs in head and body stabilization with respect to the horizon. Based on the responses obtained with male and female hoverflies, an improved model was then developed in which the output signals delivered by the neck proprioceptor organs are combined with the visual error in the estimated position of the body roll. An internal estimation of the body roll angle with respect to the horizon might explain the extremely accurate flight performances achieved by some hovering insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Goulard
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, Marseille 13009, France
| | - Alice Julien-Laferriere
- INRIA and Université de Lyon, Lyon 69000, France CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, Villeurbanne 69622, France
| | - Jérome Fleuriet
- Washington National Primate Research Center and Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | | | - Stéphane Viollet
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM UMR 7287, Marseille 13009, France
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Goulard R, Emmerman PJ, Santoro RJ, Semerjian HG. THREE-DIMENSIONAL DIAGNOSTICS OF TRANSPORT PHENOMENA. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1983. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1983.tb19493.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Abstract
Several aspects of the behavior of Fredholm integral equations are examined in this paper. It is shown that collocation methods are better in general than least squares methods in linear approaches. The amplification of random noise inherent to the numerical inversion of the equation puts an upper limit to the information content of an ill-conditioned system. An estimation based on the magnitude of SNR is proposed for a system that lacks statistical information to determine the information content and to reconstruct the solution profile. To reduce the numerical instability of matrix inversion, some specific kernel transformations are discussed. Illustrative examples are given and compared to results of other approaches. An alternative linear approach that orthonormalizes the kernels-is also proposed. The linear approach was then employed in solving the radiative transfer equation with temperature-independent kernels. The necessary variable separation in linear inversions was examined. Iteration refinement was found necessary to accommodate the strong nonlinearity of high temperature sensing.
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Wang JY, Goulard R. Information content in remote sensing: comments. Appl Opt 1974; 13:2467-2468. [PMID: 20134714 DOI: 10.1364/ao.13.002467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
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