Observations on the Interrelationships among Ants, Aphids, and Aphid Predators

Excerpt: The literature concerning the interactions of these insect groups is as interesting as it is extensive. It has generally been accepted that the relationship between ants and aphids has been one of mutualism in which ants derive all or a large part of their nutrients from aphid honeydew and perform special functions in return, primarily that of protecting aphids from their enemies. Every aspect of these associations has been covered by the excellent reviews of Nixon (1951) and Way (1963). It now appears that the nature and effectiveness of the protective value afforded the attended aphids by ants cannot be reduced to a simple statement of symbiosis. Nixon (1951) pointed out numerous situations that are responsible for fluctuations in the ant-aphid relationship. The emphasis in the present study was on the protection extended to Aphis rumicis Linn., a small aphid found on spirea shoots by the common tending ants. This restriction allowed constant surveillance of the protection supplied to a single aphid species by ants against the seasonal succession of predators. Aphid parasites were ignored in this study

Why 1,2‑quinone derivatives are more stable than their 2,3‑analogues?

In this work, we have studied the relative stability of 1,2- and 2,3-quinones. While 1,2-quinones have a closed-shell singlet ground state, the ground state for the studied 2,3-isomers is open-shell singlet, except for 2,3-naphthaquinone that has a closed-shell singlet ground state. In all cases, 1,2-quinones are more stable than their 2,3-counterparts. We analyzed the reasons for the higher stability of the 1,2-isomers through energy decomposition analysis in the framework of Kohn–Sham molecular orbital theory. The results showed that we have to trace the origin of 1,2-quinones’ enhanced stability to the more efficient bonding in the π-electron system due to more favorable overlap between the SOMOπ of the ·C4n−2H2n–CH·· and ··CH–CO–CO· fragments in the 1,2-arrangement. Furthermore, whereas 1,2-quinones present a constant trend with their elongation for all analyzed properties (geometric, energetic, and electronic), 2,3-quinone derivatives present a substantial breaking in monotonicity.European Union in the framework of European Social Fund through the Warsaw University of Technology Development Programme. O.A. S., H. S. and T.M. K

An integrative, multi-scale, genome-wide model reveals the phenotypic landscape of Escherichia coli.

Given the vast behavioral repertoire and biological complexity of even the simplest organisms, accurately predicting phenotypes in novel environments and unveiling their biological organization is a challenging endeavor. Here, we present an integrative modeling methodology that unifies under a common framework the various biological processes and their interactions across multiple layers. We trained this methodology on an extensive normalized compendium for the gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, which incorporates gene expression data for genetic and environmental perturbations, transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and metabolic pathways, as well as growth measurements. Comparison with measured growth and high-throughput data demonstrates the enhanced ability of the integrative model to predict phenotypic outcomes in various environmental and genetic conditions, even in cases where their underlying functions are under-represented in the training set. This work paves the way toward integrative techniques that extract knowledge from a variety of biological data to achieve more than the sum of their parts in the context of prediction, analysis, and redesign of biological systems

CLUSTER INITIATIVES IN EU POLICY

According to the results of literary research it is possible to univocally state thatthe geographical proximity between enterprises of a similar profile of activity facilitates theachievement of a higher level of productivity and innovativenesss. The clusters covering thespatial sphere of its location: producers, suppliers, service providers, research units,educational institutions and other units supporting a given sector became an important factorin the economic development of regions. The trend towards interaction and basing on theresources of business partners operating in a given location results from the new trends ofmanagement, among others, the school of resources in strategic management at the top withkey competences and the open innovation paradigm.cluster, innovativness, UE policy

Golf Brain: A Neuropsychological Study of Performance in Competition

Golf, as a sport, has been described by its masters as a mental game first and a technical skill second. Many players logged countless practice hours only to find suboptimal performance in tournaments; when it matters the most. I investigated the relationship between executive functioning specific to decision-making under anxious arousal and golfers’ performance under anxious arousal. I used a repeated measures design including variety of executive functioning tests to examine participants’ abilities. Participants were recruited from western Oregon including collegiate golfers and university students, and were grouped into non-golfers and golfer groups based on whether they played golf and self-reported a consistent ability to score below 80 on a golf course. A golf performance putting task that mimics tournament pressure, “Tornado task,” was the initial task. Heartrate and skin conductance data were gathered during the Tornado task and executive functioning tasks. Results showed differences between golfer and non-golfers in their physiological arousal during risk-reward decisions. The IGT-2, Color-Word, and Tower Test executive functioning measures yielded similar arousal levels between groups. Self-reported anxiety on performance did not equate with greater physiological arousal during executive functioning tasks. RMSSD appears to be a more accurate measure of physiological arousal under pressure than EDA. It is likely that golfers have more training in managing sympathetic arousal in competition, are more accustomed to risk reward situations, and take greater risks in the presence of physiological arousal. I found golfers experience less anxious arousal while taking executive functioning tasks, and take more risks in decision-making decisions yet do not outperform non-golfers. Golfers were able to manage their nervous system arousal more effectively than non-golfers

Turning Brownfields into Jobfields

A handbook for practitioners and citizens on making brownfields development work

Comparative Genomic Characterization of the Multimammate Mouse Mastomys coucha.

Mastomys are the most widespread African rodent and carriers of various diseases such as the plague or Lassa virus. In addition, mastomys have rapidly gained a large number of mammary glands. Here, we generated a genome, variome, and transcriptomes for Mastomys coucha. As mastomys diverged at similar times from mouse and rat, we demonstrate their utility as a comparative genomic tool for these commonly used animal models. Furthermore, we identified over 500 mastomys accelerated regions, often residing near important mammary developmental genes or within their exons leading to protein sequence changes. Functional characterization of a noncoding mastomys accelerated region, located in the HoxD locus, showed enhancer activity in mouse developing mammary glands. Combined, our results provide genomic resources for mastomys and highlight their potential both as a comparative genomic tool and for the identification of mammary gland number determining factors