TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage with a context and an answer, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: Context: Minimal residual disease (MRD) is defined as the presence of sub-microscopic levels of leukaemia. Measurement of MRD from bone marrow at the end of induction chemotherapy (day 28) for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) can highlight a large group of patients (>40%) with an excellent (>90%) short-term event-free survival (EFS). However, follow-up in recent published trials is relatively short, raising concerns about using this result to infer the safety of further therapy reduction in the future.', 'We examined MRD data on 225 patients treated on one of three UKALL trials between 1997 and 2003 to assess the long-term (>10\u2005years follow-up) outcome of those patients who had low-risk MRD (<0.01%) at day 28.', 'Our pilot data define a cohort of 53% of children with MRD <0.01% at day 28 who have an EFS of 91% and long-term overall survival of 97%. Of 120 patients with day-28 MRD <0.01% and extended follow-up, there was one death due to treatment-related toxicity, one infectious death while in complete remission, and four relapse deaths.
Answer: The excellent outcome for childhood ALL in patients with MRD <0.01% after induction chemotherapy is sustained for more than 10 years from diagnosis. This supports the potential exploration of further reduction of therapy in this group, in an attempt to reduce treatment-related mortality and late effects.

SOLUTION: Is excellent outcome of minimal residual disease-defined low-risk patients sustained with more than 10 years follow-up : results of UK paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia trials 1997-2003?

PROBLEM: Context: Postictal inhibition (PI) is a decrease in excitability that follows an epileptic seizure and decreases probability of new seizure occurrence. PI may involve both increased inhibition and persisting elevated excitation. Our experiments tested whether shorter trains of weak stimuli are able to unmask this residual increase of excitability during the PI.', 'Four epileptic afterdischarges (ADs) were evoked by intense electrical stimulation (20 s, 8 Hz, current intensity at 5x threshold) of the neocortex in two groups (A, B) of Wistar rats. Before the first AD and during the 10-min interictal period, 8-Hz trains of four weak pulses (half of the intensity used for the AD triggering; 4P) were applied every 20 s in group B and a single pulse with similar parameters in group A.', 'The number of interictal epileptiform events evoked by 4P in the group B was significantly higher than that in the group A (evoked by single pulses) except after the second AD. Epileptic events were triggered by 4P also immediately after the AD termination.
Answer: It is apparent that weak stimulation can trigger epileptic phenomena during PI. Our results indicate that it is no longer possible to perceive PI only as persisting extreme and active inhibition. An appropriate stimulation can reveal more subtle (but important) excitatory events contributing to the functional status during the postictal period.

SOLUTION: Do short bursts of weak pulses break postictal inhibition in the neocortex of Wistar rats?

PROBLEM: Context: Urbanization can considerably impact animal ecology, evolution, and behavior. Among the new conditions that animals experience in cities is anthropogenic noise, which can limit the sound space available for animals to communicate using acoustic signals. Some urban bird species increase their song frequencies so that they can be heard above low-frequency background city noise. However, the ability to make such song modifications may be constrained by several morphological factors, including bill gape, size, and shape, thereby limiting the degree to which certain species can vocally adapt to urban settings. We examined the relationship between song characteristics and bill morphology in a species (the house finch, Haemorhous mexicanus) where both vocal performance and bill size are known to differ between city and rural animals.', 'We found that bills were longer and narrower in more disturbed, urban areas. We observed an increase in minimum song frequency of urban birds, and we also found that the upper frequency limit of songs decreased in direct relation to bill morphology.
Answer: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that birds with longer beaks and therefore longer vocal tracts sing songs with lower maximum frequencies because longer tubes have lower-frequency resonances. Thus, for the first time, we reveal dual constraints (one biotic, one abiotic) on the song frequency range of urban animals. Urban foraging pressures may additionally interact with the acoustic environment to shape bill traits and vocal performance.

SOLUTION:
Do song characteristics track bill morphology along a gradient of urbanization in house finches ( Haemorhous mexicanus )?