Evolutionary Relationships of Courtship Songs in the Parasitic Wasp Genus, Cotesia (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Acoustic signals play an important role in premating isolation based on sexual selection within many taxa. Many male parasitic wasps produce characteristic courtship songs used by females in mate selection. In Cotesia (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), courtship songs are generated by wing fanning with repetitive pulses in stereotypical patterns. Our objectives were to sample the diversity of courtship songs within Cotesia and to identify underlying patterns of differentiation. We compared songs among 12 of ca. 80 Cotesia species in North America, including ten species that have not been recorded previously. For Cotesia congregata, we compared songs of wasps originating from six different host-foodplant sources, two of which are considered incipient species. Songs of emergent males from wild caterpillar hosts in five different families were recorded, and pattern, frequency, and duration of song elements analyzed. Principal component analysis converted the seven elements characterized into four uncorrelated components used in a hierarchical cluster analysis and grouped species by similarity of song structure. Species songs varied significantly in duration of repeating pulse and buzz elements and/or in fundamental frequency. Cluster analysis resolved similar species groups in agreement with the most recent molecular phylogeny for Cotesia spp., indicating the potential for using courtship songs as a predictor of genetic relatedness. Courtship song analysis may aid in identifying closely related cryptic species that overlap spatially, and provide insight into the evolution of this highly diverse and agriculturally important taxon

Investigation of pre- and post-zygotic reproductive barriers between two host-plant complex races of the parasitic wasp Cotesia congregata (Say) [Hymenoptera: Braconidae]

Investigations of host-associated differentiation of parasitoids have largely focused on the degree of molecular genetic differentiation, but a true test of species status must examine the mating patterns of differentiated populations to determine if they can interbreed in the wild and produce viable offspring. We examined possible mechanisms of isolation between two genetically distinct host-plant complex races of the braconid, Cotesia congregata, originating from hosts on tobacco and catalpa. We compared male responses to female pheromones, elements of male acoustic courtship signals, and breeding success between the two races. Males responded to pheromones from both sources and male courtship signals showed only subtle differences, suggesting that factors other than courtship behavior may be involved in isolation of the two races. However, nearly 90% of females from one hybrid cross failed to produce offspring, leading to post-zygotic isolation. Development time, emerged brood size, and sex ratios between the races also differed

From Railways to Radiators: How Support Teams Can Use Special Interests to Promote Success Among Individuals with Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is currently being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children (Katz, Malow, & Reynolds, 2016). According to the DSM-V a diagnosis of autism carries with it two identifying characteristics: 1. consistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across more than one context; 2. restricted, repetitive interests that are evident through highly fixated odd interests. Children with autism can have difficulty finding ways to incorporate these highly-fixated interests into their daily lives. Research indicated that when individuals on the spectrum can incorporate their fixations into daily interactions and routines their self-esteem, social connections, career opportunities, independence, and quality of life drastically improve (“Students with Autism,” 2016). The research methods that were used to discover this concept were scholarly articles, memoirs, educational websites, and textbooks. The focus of this article is to inform the reader about the many ways in which special interests can be used to increase positive experiences for individuals on the spectrum. By educating support teams (i.e. parents, special education teachers, general education teachers, counselors, and advocates) on how to incorporate an individual’s special interests into daily routines and interactions, we are creating positive learning environments that will facilitate the individual’s quality of life

The Effects of Logging, Fire and Blowdown on Colorado Subalpine Forest Soil

Disturbance ecology is a growing field within ecology, and while studies of individual and discrete disturbances are increasing in number, there is a paucity of studies on the ecological effects of disturbance interactions. The goal of this project was to analyze how fire, blowdown and logging affect nitrogen cycling and other critical soil properties both independently and when they occur in rapid succession. The study site was located in the Routt National Forest where the forest sustained the largest windthrow ever recorded in the Southern Rocky Mountains in 1997. Of the 10,000 hectares affected by the blowdown, 935 were subsequently salvaged logged from 1998-2001. In 2002, portions of the intact, logged and blowdown were burned by the Hinman fire leaving a matrix of both individually and multiply disturbed sites. From 2005-2009 soil samples were acquired from intact, burned, blowdown, logged, burned logged, and burned blowdown and analyzed for available ammonium and nitrate; nitrification and mineralization potential; total extractable phosphorous; and percent calcium, potassium and magnesium. Multiple analysis of variance was used to evaluate how the different disturbance combinations affected the soil properties evaluated in this study. The main effects of blowdown and logging disturbances showed that the treatment type significantly affected the soil’s total phosphorous, ammonification potential and available nitrate. Evaluation of the effects of burned versus non-burned sites showed that burning significantly affected total extractable phosphorous, bulk density, soil organic matter content, available nitrate and ammonium, and C, N, Ca and Mg content. Analyzing the interaction of the main effects of treatment and burning demonstrated that disturbance interactions do not have a synergistic effect in degrading soil properties. Instead, the reduction of fuel in the logged plots appeared to lower the fire intensity and preserved many soil properties to levels found in the undisturbed sample plots. Continued studies on the effect of disturbance interactions are critical for providing managers with the appropriate tools to manage forest landscapes after disturbances

FORFIS: A forest fire firefighting simulation tool for education and research

We present a forest fire firefighting simulation tool named FORFIS that is implemented in Python. Unlike other existing software, we focus on a user-friendly software interface with an easy-to-modify software engine. Our tool is published under GNU GPLv3 license and comes with a GUI as well as additional output functionality. The used wildfire model is based on the well-established approach by cellular automata in two variants - a rectangular and a hexagonal cell decomposition of the wildfire area. The model takes wind into account. In addition, our tool allows the user to easily include a customized firefighting strategy for the firefighting agents.Comment: 5 figure

Status Assessment of Golden-winged Warblers and Bewick\u27s Wrens in Virginia

The Appalachian Mountains of Virginia have long been considered population strongholds for Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) and Appalachian Bewick’s Wrens (Thryomanes bewickii altus). However, both of these species have undergone dramatic population declines in Virginia and throughout the greater Appalachian region including the general belief that Bewick’s Wrens are extirpated from this state. Reasons for the decline of these species may be many, but the most common explanations point to the loss and degradation of early successional breeding habitat. Golden-winged Warblers and Bewick’s Wrens use shrubby, early successional habitats for breeding such as idle vegetated areas, forest clear-cuts, alder swamps, utility right-ofways (ROWs), and others. Several forces have worked together to cause the recent decline in early successional shrublands including direct losses caused by human development, re-forestation of farmland, fire suppression, and changes in agricultural and forestry practices. In addition, Golden-winged Warblers may be declining because of competition for breeding habitat and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers. Bluewinged Warblers have been expanding their range eastward and into higher elevations that were once occupied exclusively by Golden-winged Warblers. There has been no systematic study on the overall distribution and population status of these species in Virginia. The objectives of this study were to assess the relative distribution and basic habitat use for Golden-winged Warblers and Bewick’s Wrens and to determine the amount of geographic and habitat overlap between Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers. We systematically surveyed for the presence of these three species across 40 counties in Virginia’s Appalachian Plateau, Ridge and Valley, and Blue Ridge physiographic provinces. Surveys consisted of 11-minute point counts aided by the use of recorded species playback. This effort resulted in the survey of 932 points at 863 different shrub patches. We detected 56 Golden-winged Warblers within 37 patches across only 11 counties. Highland county supported the overwhelmingly greatest number of Golden-winged Warblers with 28 birds observed in 18 patches. A total of 92 Bluewinged Warblers were detected in 62 different habitat patches across 18 counties. Bluewinged Warblers were detected in all but one county where Golden-winged Warblers occurred. The two species distributions overlapped in elevation but differed somewhat in habitat use. Golden-winged Warbler used idle farm/pastureland and forest clear-cuts at a greater rate than expected by chance and used utility ROWs, shrubby wetlands, and other shrub patches less frequently than expected. Blue-winged Warblers showed the opposite pattern for most of these habitat types. Hybrid warblers were detected infrequently but found within 7 counties. We did not detect any Bewick’s Wrens during surveys. Comparing our data with historical records indicates that Golden-winged Warblers are continuing to decline in Virginia and are being replaced by Blue-winged Warblers in order of abundance. The overall low number of Golden-winged Warbler detections may provide justification for regulatory protection and highlights the importance for their conservation. Geographical and habitat use patterns of Goldenwinged Warblers from this study provide guidance for proactive management

The Parasitic Wasp, Cotesia congregata (Say), Consists of Two Incipient Species Isolated by Asymmetric Reproductive Incompatibility and Hybrid Inability to Overcome Host Defenses

Parasitic wasps are highly diverse and play a major role in suppression of herbivorous insect pest populations. Several previously identified species of parasitic wasps have been found to be complexes of cryptic species resulting from adaptations to specific hosts or host foodplants. Cotesia congregata (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), which has long served as a model system for host-parasitoid interactions, can be used for investigating the process of diversification among sympatric populations that differ in host and host foodplant usage. Two incipient species of C. congregata have been identified in the USA mid-Atlantic region, “MsT wasps” originate from Manduca sexta (L.) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) on tobacco and “CcC wasps” originate from Ceratomia catalpae (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) on catalpa. Both wasp sources can develop in either host species. Hybrids resulting from MsT♂xCcC♀ crosses are fertile, whereas hybrids from CcC♂xMsT♀ crosses are typically sterile. In this study, we compared relative expression in vivo of seven C. congregata bracovirus (CcBV) genes among MsT and CcC parental and hybrid crosses. Also, we established hybrid crosses between MsT and CcC wasps and four additional host foodplant sources of C. congregata. Patterns of relative expression in vivo of MsT and CcC CcBV genes differed; a few were not expressed in hosts parasitized by CcC wasps. Overall, relative expression of CcBV genes from MsT and CcC wasps did not differ with respect to the host species parasitized. Low or absent expression of CcBV genes was found in hosts parasitized by sterile hybrids. For the most part, the other four host-foodplant wasp sources were reproductively compatible with either MsT or CcC wasps and hybrid crosses with the alternative wasp source were asymmetrically sterile. Crosses involving CcC males or MsT females produced sterile hybrids that lacked mature ovaries. Cumulatively, results indicate that C. congregata is composed of two sympatric incipient species that can utilize multiple host species rather than several host-associated races or cryptic species

Development of a polymer endovascular prosthesis and its implantation in porcine arteries

A polyethylene-terephthalate braided mesh stent has been developed for application in the (coronary) arterial tree. In vitro measurements showed that the radial pressure delivered by this device was in the same range as that of a stainless steel stent. Hysteresis-like behavior, however, occurred after constraining the polyester stent for a period of only 15 minutes on a delivery system for percutaneous implantation. This implies that the polymer stent must be mounted on this delivery system immediately before the placement procedure, and that either a diameter in the unconstrained condition must be selected, which is considerably larger than the diameter of the target vessel, or stent expansion has to be enhanced by balloon expansion. Taking into account the results obtained during the in vitro studies, we investigated the angiographic patency and histologic features after implantation of this polyester stent in peripheral arteries of pigs. In four animals eight stents were placed. Except for heparin during the implantation procedure only, antithrombotic or antiplatelet drugs were not administered. After 4 weeks repeat angiography was performed. Angiography revealed that five of the six correctly placed stents were patent. At autopsy, two additional patent stents proved to be located in the aortic bifurcation, probably due to failure of the delivery system. Quantitative assessment showed that the mean luminal diameters of the site of stent placement were 3.3 +/- 0.2 mm before, 3.2 +/- 0.2 mm immediately after, and 3.1 +/- 0.3 mm at 4 weeks after implantation. Histology demonstrated an inflammatory reaction of variable severity around the stent fibers. Quantitative histologic measurements showed that the thickness of the neointima was 114 +/- 38 mum after 4 weeks. In conclusion, polyester stents can be constructed with mechanical properties similar to stainless steel stents. Hysteresis-like behavior of polyester stents, however, influences the selection of the nominal stent diameter as well as the forces exerted to the vessel wall. After implantation in porcine peripheral arteries, five of six correctly placed stents were patent at 4 weeks. The extent of neointimal proliferation was similar to that observed after placement of metal stents in swine, despite the presence of a more pronounced inflammatory reaction

Ketamine for pain management

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Towards progressive regulatory approaches for agricultural applications of animal biotechnology.

Traditional breeding techniques, applied incrementally over thousands of years, have yielded huge benefits in the characteristics of agricultural animals. This is a result of significant, measurable changes to the genomes of those animal species and breeds. Genome editing techniques may now be applied to achieve targeted DNA sequence alterations, with the potential to affect traits of interest to production of agricultural animals in just one generation. New opportunities arise to improve characteristics difficult to achieve or not amenable to traditional breeding, including disease resistance, and traits that can improve animal welfare, reduce environmental impact, or mitigate impacts of climate change. Countries and supranational institutions are in the process of defining regulatory approaches for genome edited animals and can benefit from sharing approaches and experiences to institute progressive policies in which regulatory oversight is scaled to the particular level of risk involved. To facilitate information sharing and discussion on animal biotechnology, an international community of researchers, developers, breeders, regulators, and communicators recently held a series of seven virtual workshop sessions on applications of biotechnology for animal agriculture, food and environmental safety assessment, regulatory approaches, and market and consumer acceptance. In this report, we summarize the topics presented in the workshop sessions, as well as discussions coming out of the breakout sessions. This is framed within the context of past and recent scientific and regulatory developments. This is a pivotal moment for determination of regulatory approaches and establishment of trust across the innovation through-chain, from researchers, developers, regulators, breeders, farmers through to consumers