Legislation to foster and support the insect industry: something for Malaysia to ponder

Insect as food and feed has become a global topic of interest as an alternative to protein source. Prediction of food scarcity in the future has also bringing the subject on its importance. Many countries have developed the insect industry yet the legal framework concerning it is still at infancy stage and even uncertain. In Malaysia, as of today, the legislation on insect is scattered with no specific legislation. In this regards the existing Malaysia’s legislations only cater for the danger of certain insect such as the Destruction of Disease-Bearing Insects Act 1975 [Act 154]. We explores the need for a structured legislation to foster and support the insect industry in Malaysia. The methodoly used was by exploring the South Korean Act on Fosterage and Support of the Insect Industry as suggestions for Malaysia to consider. Result suggests that Malaysia should have a legislation of its own to regulate the insect industry. The future of insect as food and feed holds a huge potential which Malaysia should not missed out

Description of two new species of Dicranomyia (Erostrata) crane fly (Diptera, Limoniidae) from Korea, with remarks on DNA barcoding and updated taxonomic key

Two new crane fly species, Dicranomyia (Erostrata) jejuensis sp. nov. and D. (E.) koreana sp. nov., from Korea are described on the basis of morphology and mitochondrial COI sequences. DNA barcode sequences for other four D. (Erostrata) species from Korea are also provided for the first time. The identification key for all known D. (Erostrata) species is presented

A study on Biosorptive Removal of Cd from Wastewater using Chironomid Larvae (Diptera: Chironomidae)

Cadmium (Cd) has caused serious public health problem due to its toxic nature. It is necessary to find a cost-effective method to dispose of wastewater containing Cd. Chironomid larvae as an alternative to conventional adsorbents were applied to remove Cd from wastewater. The sorption studies of Cd were carried out using laboratory-reared Glyptotendipes tokunagai (Diptera: Chironomidae) larvae. Kinetic and sorption capacity of chironomid larvae for Cd were determined by means of controlled experiments in a batch system. It was observed that removal efficiency of Cd was largely concentration dependent and more effective in lower concentration. At equilibrium, Cd was removed up to roughly 53 %. The sorption kinetics were found to conform to the pseudo-first-order kinetic model with a good correlation. Equilibrium sorption data were best fitted to the both Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models owing to their correlation coefficient R2 values greater than 0.99. Considering the values obtained from isotherm constants 1/n and r, it is confirmed that Cd is sorbed favorably by chironomid larvae. With its relatively high removal capability for Cd, Chironomid larvae have enormous potential for application in wastewater treatment technologies.Â

The Hornless Australian Burrowing Mayfly Ulmerophlebia (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae)

The hornless Australian burrowing mayfly genus Ulmerophlebia Demoulin (Leptophlebiidae) is revised based on comprehensive examinations of adult and larval material collected throughout Australia. Two new species [Ulmerophlebia deani n. sp. and U. minuta n. sp.] and three named species [U. annulata (Harker), U. mjobergi (Ulmer) and U. pipinna Suter] are included. The larva of U. deani can be distinguished by the moderately developed apicomedial expansion of gills and W-shaped markings on the abdominal terga. The male adult of U. minuta can be easily distinguished by the greatly reduced penes. Descriptions, diagnoses, line-drawings of key characters, material and distributional data, taxonomic remarks and adult and larval keys are provided

Tunable colors of chiral liquid crystal displays

Abstract We report a method of the color variation in the reflective CLC displays depending on thermodynamically and the electric field switching. The reflective wavelength can be thermodynamically switched to reflect green from a cell initially reflecting a red color. Afterwards, the reflective wavelength can be electrically switched to reflect blue color. It is found that continuous decrease of the pitch is mainly originated from the dopant solubility below the critical temperature and stepwise decrease of the pitch is dominantly affected by the thermodynamic property above the critical temperature. The blue color change is a result of the compression to the helical pitches in planar layers in response to the applied voltage

Actin Cytoskeleton and Golgi Involvement in Barley stripe mosaic virus Movement and Cell Wall Localization of Triple Gene Block Proteins.

Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) induces massive actin filament thickening at the infection front of infected Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. To determine the mechanisms leading to actin remodeling, fluorescent protein fusions of the BSMV triple gene block (TGB) proteins were coexpressed in cells with the actin marker DsRed: Talin. TGB ectopic expression experiments revealed that TGB3 is a major elicitor of filament thickening, that TGB2 resulted in formation of intermediate DsRed:Talin filaments, and that TGB1 alone had no obvious effects on actin filament structure. Latrunculin B (LatB) treatments retarded BSMV cell-to-cell movement, disrupted actin filament organization, and dramatically decreased the proportion of paired TGB3 foci appearing at the cell wall (CW). BSMV infection of transgenic plants tagged with GFP-KDEL exhibited membrane proliferation and vesicle formation that were especially evident around the nucleus. Similar membrane proliferation occurred in plants expressing TGB2 and/or TGB3, and DsRed: Talin fluorescence in these plants colocalized with the ER vesicles. TGB3 also associated with the Golgi apparatus and overlapped with cortical vesicles appearing at the cell periphery. Brefeldin A treatments disrupted Golgi and also altered vesicles at the CW, but failed to interfere with TGB CW localization. Our results indicate that actin cytoskeleton interactions are important in BSMV cell-to-cell movement and for CW localization of TGB3

Effects of Rating Training on Inter-Rater Consistency for Developing a Dental Hygiene Clinical Rater Qualification System

We tried to develop itemized evaluation criteria and a clinical rater qualification system through rating training of inter-rater consistency for experienced clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene clinical educators. A total of 15 clinical dental hygienists with 1-year careers participated as clinical examination candidates, while 5 dental hygienists with 3-year educations and clinical careers or longer participated as clinical raters. They all took the clinical examination as examinees. The results were compared, and the consistency of competence was measured. The comparison of clinical competence between candidates and clinical raters showed that the candidate group's mean clinical competence ranged from 2.96 to 3.55 on a 5-point system in a total of 3 instruments (Probe, Explorer, Curet), while the clinical rater group's mean clinical competence ranged from 4.05 to 4.29. There was a higher inter-rater consistency after education of raters in the following 4 items: Probe, Explorer, Curet, and insertion on distal surface. The mean score distribution of clinical raters ranged from 75% to 100%, which was more uniform in the competence to detect an artificial calculus than that of candidates (25% to 100%). According to the above results, there was a necessity in the operating clinical rater qualification system for comprehensive dental hygiene clinicians. Furthermore, in order to execute the clinical rater qualification system, it will be necessary to keep conducting a series of studies on educational content, time, frequency, and educator level

A DNA barcode library of the beetle reference collection (Insecta: Coleoptera) in the National Science Museum, Korea

AbstractColeoptera is a group of insects that are most diverse among insect resources. Although used as indicator species and applied in developing new drugs, it is difficult to identify them quickly. Since the development of a method using mitochondrial DNA information for identification, studies have been conducted in Korea to swiftly and accurately identify species. The National Science Museum of Korea (NSMK) has been collecting and morphologically identifying domestic reference insects since 2013, and building a database of DNA barcodes with digital images. The NSMK completed construction of a database of digital images and DNA barcodes of 60 beetle species in the Korean National Research Information System. A total of 179 specimens and 60 species were used for the analysis, and the averages of intraspecific and interspecific variations were 0.70±0.45% and 26.34±6.01%, respectively, with variation rates ranging from 0% to 1.45% and 9.83% to 56.23%, respectively

Neuro-inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide causes cognitive impairment through enhancement of beta-amyloid generation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by extensive loss of neurons in the brain of AD patients. Intracellular accumulation of beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ) has also shown to occur in AD. Neuro-inflammation has been known to play a role in the pathogenesis of AD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, we investigated neuro-inflammation and amyloidogenesis and memory impairment following the systemic inflammation generated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) using immunohistochemistry, ELISA, behavioral tests and Western blotting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Intraperitoneal injection of LPS, (250 μg/kg) induced memory impairment determined by passive avoidance and water maze tests in mice. Repeated injection of LPS (250 μg/kg, 3 or 7 times) resulted in an accumulation of Aβ_1–42in the hippocampus and cerebralcortex of mice brains through increased β- and γ-secretase activities accompanied with the increased expression of amyloid precursor protein (APP), 99-residue carboxy-terminal fragment of APP (C99) and generation of Aβ_1–42as well as activation of astrocytes <it>in vivo</it>. 3 weeks of pretreatment of sulindac sulfide (3.75 and 7.5 mg/kg, orally), an anti-inflammatory agent, suppressed the LPS-induced amyloidogenesis, memory dysfunction as well as neuronal cell death <it>in vivo</it>. Sulindac sulfide (12.5–50 μM) also suppressed LPS (1 μg/ml)-induced amyloidogenesis in cultured neurons and astrocytes <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that neuro-inflammatory reaction could contribute to AD pathology, and anti-inflammatory agent could be useful for the prevention of AD.</p