Effect of pyramiding Bt and CpTI genes on resistance of cotton to Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under laboratory and field conditions

Transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) varieties, adapted to China, have been bred that express two genes for resistance to insects. the Cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bt), and a trypsin inhibitor gene from cowpea (CpTI). Effectiveness of the double gene modification in conferring resistance to cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), was studied in laboratory and field experiments. In each experiment, performance of Bt+CpTI cotton was compared with Bt cotton and to a conventional nontransgenic variety. Larval survival was lower on both types of transgenic variety, compared with the conventional cotton. Survival of first-, second-, and third-stage larvae was lower on Bt+CpTI cotton than on Bt cotton. Plant structures differed in level of resistance, and these differences were similar on Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton. Likewise, seasonal trends in level of resistance in different plant structures were similar in Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton. Both types of transgenic cotton interfered with development of sixth-stage larvae to adults, and no offspring was produced by H. armigera that fed on Bt or Bt+CpTI cotton from the sixth stage onward. First-, second-, and third-stage larvae spent significantly less time feeding on transgenic cotton than on conventional cotton, and the reduction in feeding time was significantly greater on Bt+CpTI cotton than on Bt cotton. Food conversion efficiency was lower on transgenic varieties than on conventional cotton, but there was no significant difference between Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton. In 3-yr field experimentation, bollworm densities were greatly suppressed on transgenic as compared with conventional cotton, but no significant differences between Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton were found. Overall, the results from laboratory work indicate that introduction of the CpTI gene in Bt cotton raises some components of resistance in cotton against H. armigera, but enhanced control of H. armigera under field conditions, due to expression of the CpTI gene, was not demonstrate

Abelian Hidden Sectors at a GeV

We discuss mechanisms for naturally generating GeV-scale hidden sectors in the context of weak-scale supersymmetry. Such low mass scales can arise when hidden sectors are more weakly coupled to supersymmetry breaking than the visible sector, as happens when supersymmetry breaking is communicated to the visible sector by gauge interactions under which the hidden sector is uncharged, or if the hidden sector is sequestered from gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. We study these mechanisms in detail in the context of gauge and gaugino mediation, and present specific models of Abelian GeV-scale hidden sectors. In particular, we discuss kinetic mixing of a U(1)_x gauge force with hypercharge, singlets or bi-fundamentals which couple to both sectors, and additional loop effects. Finally, we investigate the possible relevance of such sectors for dark matter phenomenology, as well as for low- and high-energy collider searches.Comment: 43 pages, no figures; v2: to match JHEP versio

Associations between personal apparent temperature exposures and asthma symptoms in children with asthma

Ambient temperature and relative humidity can affect asthma symptoms. Apparent temperature is a measure of temperature perceived by humans that takes into account the effect of humidity. However, the potential link between personal exposures to apparent temperature and asthma symptoms has not been investigated. We conducted a panel study of 37 asthmatic children, aged 5–11 years, during an early spring season (average daily ambient temperature: 14C, range: 7–18C). Asthma symptoms were measured 4 times for each participant with a 2-week interval between consecutive measurements using the Childhood Asthma-Control Test (C-ACT). Average, minimum, and maximum personal apparent temperature exposures, apparent temperature exposure variability (TV), and average ambient temperature were calculated for the 12 hours, 24 hours, week, and 2 weeks prior to each visit. We found that a 10C lower in 1-week and 2-week average & minimum personal apparent temperature exposures, TV, and average ambient temperature exposures were significantly associated with lower total C-ACT scores by up to 2.2, 1.4, 3.3, and 1.4 points, respectively, indicating worsened asthma symptoms. Our results support that personal apparent temperature exposure is potentially a stronger driver than ambient temperature exposures for the variability in asthma symptom scores. Maintaining a proper personal apparent temperature exposure could be an effective strategy for personalized asthma management. Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose

Evolution of cosmic superstring networks: a numerical simulation

We study the formation and evolution of an interconnected string network in large-scale field-theory numerical simulations, both in flat spacetime and in expanding universe. The network consists of gauge U(1) strings of two different kinds and their bound states, arising due to an attractive interaction potential. We find that the network shows no tendency to ``freeze'' and appears to approach a scaling regime, with all characteristic lengths growing linearly with time. Bound strings constitute only a small fraction of the total string length in the network.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures; Minor changes; Matches published versio

Measurement of (anti)deuteron and (anti)proton production in DIS at HERA

The first observation of (anti)deuterons in deep inelastic scattering at HERA has been made with the ZEUS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 300--318 GeV using an integrated luminosity of 120 pb-1. The measurement was performed in the central rapidity region for transverse momentum per unit of mass in the range 0.3<p_T/M<0.7. The particle rates have been extracted and interpreted in terms of the coalescence model. The (anti)deuteron production yield is smaller than the (anti)proton yield by approximately three orders of magnitude, consistent with the world measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, submitted to Nucl. Phys.

The yields of r-process elements and chemical evolution of the Galaxy

The supernova yields of r-process elements are obtained as a function of the mass of their progenitor stars from the abundance patterns of extremely metal-poor stars on the left-side [Ba/Mg]-[Mg/H] boundary with a procedure proposed by Tsujimoto and Shigeyama. The ejected masses of r-process elements associated with stars of progenitor mass $M_{ms}\leq18M_{\odot}$ are infertile sources and the SNe II with 20$M_{\odot}\leq M_{ms}\leq 40M_{\odot}$are the dominant source of r-process nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The ratio of these stars 20$M_{\odot}\leq M_{ms}\leq40M_{\odot}$ with compared to the all massive stars is about $\sim$18%. In this paper, we present a simple model that describes a star's [r/Fe] in terms of the nucleosynthesis yields of r-process elements and the number of SN II explosions. Combined the r-process yields obtained by our procedure with the scatter model of the Galactic halo, the observed abundance patterns of the metal-poor stars can be well reproducedComment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Forward jet production in deep inelastic ep scattering and low-x parton dynamics at HERA

Differential inclusive jet cross sections in neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector. Three phase-space regions have been selected in order to study parton dynamics where the effects of BFKL evolution might be present. The measurements have been compared to the predictions of leading-logarithm parton shower Monte Carlo models and fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations. In the forward region, QCD calculations at order alpha_s^1 underestimate the data up to an order of magnitude at low x. An improved description of the data in this region is obtained by including QCD corrections at order alpha_s^2, which account for the lowest-order t-channel gluon-exchange diagrams, highlighting the importance of such terms in parton dynamics at low x.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure

Quantum Dots and Wires to improve Enzymes-Based Electrochemical Bio- sensing

An investigation on nano-structured electrodes to detect different metabolites is proposed in this paper. Three different metabolites are considered: glucose, lactate, and cholesterol. The direct detection of hydrogen peroxide is also considered since it does not involve any enzyme. The metabolites and the peroxide were detected by using screen-printed electrodes modified by using multi-walled carbon nanotubes. In all cases, improvements of orders of magnitude were registered both on detection sensitivity and on detection limit. A close comparison with data recently published in literature has shown the existence of an inverse linear correlation between detection sensitivity and detection limit when sensor performances improve due to nano- structured materials. This inverse linear relationship seems to be a general law as it is here demonstrated for all the considered detections on glucose, lactate, cholesterol, and hydrogen peroxide

The preparation of HEMA-MPC films for ocular drug delivery

There is a need to prolong drug residence time using a biocompatible formulation in the subconjunctival space after surgery to treat glaucoma. Drug releasing discs were prepared with 2-(hydroxyethyl)methacrylate (HEMA) and 2-methacryloyl-oxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC). The ratio of bound water (Wb) to free water (Wf) ratio increased from 1:0.3 to 1:6.8 with increasing MPC (0 to 50%, w/w). The optimal balance between water content, SR and mechanical strength were obtained with 10% MPC (w/w) hydrogels. Water-alcohol mixtures were examined to facilitate loading of poorly soluble drugs, and they showed greater hydrogel swelling than either water or alcohol alone. The SR was 1.2 ± 0.02 and 3.3 ± 0.1 for water and water:ethanol (1:1) respectively. HEMA-MPC (10%) discs were loaded with dexamethasone using either water:ethanol (1:1) or methanol alone. Drug release was examined in an outflow rig model that mimics the subconjunctival space in the eye. Dexamethasone loading increased from 0.3 to 1.9 mg/disc when the solvent was changed from water:ethanol (1:1) to methanol with the dexamethasone half-life (t½) increasing from 1.9 to 9.7 days respectively. These encouraging results indicate that HEMA-MPC hydrogels have the potential to sustain the residence time of a drug in the subconjunctival space of the eye