Carnivory in Adult Female Eumenid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) and Its Effect on Egg Production

Seventy captive adult female wasps of the eumenid genera Ancistrocerus and Euodynerus were observed to feed on multiple prey items. It was shown experimentally that E. foraminatus females that fed on prey had significantly larger egg volumes than adult wasps deprived of prey

Methods for Artificial Rearing of Solitary Eumenid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae)

Solitary eumenid wasps of the genera Ancistrocerus and Euodynerus can be reared in small cages. Laboratory-reared larvae of the spruce budworm caterpillars, Choristoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera: Torlricidae) are suitable prey

Persuasion in Higher Education: Recruitment of High Ability Students

Recruiting high ability students to institutions of higher education varies from university to university and is one of the most important variables for the continuing of successful colleges. This study focused on the variables that were most important to the current cohort of high ability freshmen at the University of Southern Mississippi. The aim of this study was to identify attitudinal and normative communicative components that are most effective for recruiting high ability students to the University of Southern Mississippi. By surveying this cohort of students, and using the Theory of Reasoned Action as a tool in creating questions for the surveys, the researcher was able to identify best practices to adapt persuasive messages to ensure that the goal of recruiting high ability students is reached. The sample population of these high quality students was gathered quantitatively according to the Theory of Reasoned Action and prior research that had already been conducted. As a result, the study contributes to the field of communication by identifying major forms of persuasive communication. Further, it provides insight for the Admissions office so that they can adapt their persuasive communication forms for recruiting students of high ability to USM

The “Reality” of Southwest: A Content Analysis of Managing Organizational Impression Tactics During a Season of ‘Airline’

Reality television captures audience’s attention through the “reality” experience and is produced to either entertain or to somehow educate. In 2003, the Americanbased Arts & Entertainment Channel set out to copy the British reality show ‘Airline.’ The show’s focus was a British international airline carrier who had allowed cameras to roam freely capturing the hairy experiences of travelers. Southwest is the main character in the American version of ‘Airline’ and the experience continues to pay off for the airline in terms of positive public relations. In order to investigate how such a seemingly negative portrayal of travel produces positive public perceptions of the organization, this study examined the show in light of Mohamed, Gardner, and Paolillo’s 1999 A Taxonomy of Organizational Impression Management. A content analysis was conducted to evaluate employees’ impression management tactics during both positive and problematic situations throughout the 18 episodes of the first season. The results indicate that the assertive tactics are consistently more effective in accomplishing and maintaining passenger satisfaction, and that defensive tactics should be used sparingly and only in situations where the organization needs to assert or maintain control of the situation at hand or its reputation

Purification and analysis of human muc reporter proteins

Abstract only availableExocrine mucous glycoproteins are a family of multifunctional heavily glycosylated, anionic macromolecules that typically possess a high serine/threonine content. The size and complexity of these glycoprotein molecules, while physiologically beneficial, prohibits direct analysis of small-to-moderate changes within the side-chain oligosaccharides. These polydispersed molecules have a protein core encoded by muc-genes, which possess multiple repeats within their sequences. To assist in developing a method to study these complex molecules, a reporter-DNA construct, for eventual eukaryotic expression, consisting of an IgK secretory leader sequence, two polyHis regions, two HSV and one myc antigenic sites was synthesized. This construct was then utilized by incorporating two separate muc repeat-sequence units; one consisting of muc-2/muc-2 and one possessing muc-2/muc-4 (i.e., amuc2c and amuc24c, respectively). DNA plasmids pET28-amuc2c and pET28-amuc24c were transformed into the bacterial strain Ecoli BL21DE3. Expressed proteins from transformants were isolated and purified, and then analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS. Mass+H+ (avg) of 16306.2 Da and 17062.8 Da for amuc2c and amuc24c, respectively, were observed. MS and MS/MS analysis of the tryptic digests of these expressed proteins also confirmed their respective sequences. To test the efficacy of possible coexpression of fluorescent protein transfection markers with the muc-constructs in eukaryotic cells, preliminary transfections of fluorescent DNA plasmids pEGFPc1 (green, cytoplasmic), pDSRed2-N1 (red, secretory-IgK), pEYFP-Golgi (yellow) and pECFP-Golgi (cyan) into MATLyLu cells (rat prostate cancer) are being performed. The successful conclusion of these ongoing studies will result in the expression of a small, glycated, and secreted muc-protein from transfected human intestional and respiratory cells in vitro that also are producing muc-related macromolecules. These posttranslationally modified amuc2c and amuc24c reporter proteins can then be analyzed, in detail, by contemporary methods. They will be employed as tools to help provide an insight into the changes that occur in the posttranslational modifications of macromolecular glycoproteins in human disease, such as cystic fibrosis

A Critical Assessment of the Effects of Bt Transgenic Plants on Parasitoids

The ecological safety of transgenic insecticidal plants expressing crystal proteins (Cry toxins) from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) continues to be debated. Much of the debate has focused on nontarget organisms, especially predators and parasitoids that help control populations of pest insects in many crops. Although many studies have been conducted on predators, few reports have examined parasitoids but some of them have reported negative impacts. None of the previous reports were able to clearly characterize the cause of the negative impact. In order to provide a critical assessment, we used a novel paradigm consisting of a strain of the insect pest, Plutella xylostella (herbivore), resistant to Cry1C and allowed it to feed on Bt plants and then become parasitized by Diadegma insulare, an important endoparasitoid of P. xylostella. Our results indicated that the parasitoid was exposed to a biologically active form of the Cy1C protein while in the host but was not harmed by such exposure. Parallel studies conducted with several commonly used insecticides indicated they significantly reduced parasitism rates on strains of P. xylostella resistant to these insecticides. These results provide the first clear evidence of the lack of hazard to a parasitoid by a Bt plant, compared to traditional insecticides, and describe a test to rigorously evaluate the risks Bt plants pose to predators and parasitoids

Is organizational justice climate at the workplace associated with individual-level quality of care and organizational affective commitment?:A multi-level, cross-sectional study on dentistry in Sweden

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate whether organizational justice climate at the workplace level is associated with individual staff members’ perceptions of carequality and affective commitment to the workplace.Methods The study adopts a cross-sectional multi-level design. Data were collected using an electronic survey and a response rate of 75% was obtained. Organizational justice climate and affective commitment to the workplace were measured by items from Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and quality of care by three self-developed items. Non-managerial staff working at dental clinics with at least five respondents (n = 900 from 68 units) was included in analyses. A set of Level-2 random intercept models were built to predict individual-level organizational affective commitment and perceived quality of care from unit-level organizational justice climate, controlling for potential confoundingby group size, gender, age, and occupation.Results The results of the empty model showed substantial between-unit variation for both affective commitment (ICC-1 = 0.17) and quality of care (ICC-1 = 0.12). The overall results showed that the shared perception of organizational justice climate at the clinical unit level was significantly associated with perceived quality of care and affective commitment to the organization (p < 0.001).Conclusions Organizational justice climate at work unit level explained all variation in affective commitment among dental clinics and was associated with both the individualstaff members’ affective commitment and perceived quality of care. These findings suggest a potential for that addressing organizational justice climate may be a way to promote quality of care and enhancing affective commitment. However, longitudinal studies are needed to support causality in the examined relationships. Intervention research is also recommended to probe the effectiveness of actions increasingunit-level organizational justice climate and test their impact on quality of care and affective commitment