Duplicated female receptacle organs for traumatic insemination in the tropical bed bug Cimex hemipterus: adaptive variation or malformation?

During mating, male bed bugs (Cimicidae) pierce the female abdomen to inject sperm using their needle-like genitalia. Females evolved specialized paragenital organs (the spermalege and associated structures) to receive traumatically injected ejaculates. In Leptocimex duplicatus, the spermalege is duplicated, but the evolutionary significance of this is unclear. In Cimex hemipterus and C. lectularius, in which females normally develop a single spermalege on the right side of the abdomen, similar duplication sometimes occurs. Using these aberrant morphs (D-females) of C. hemipterus, we tested the hypothesis that both of the duplicated spermaleges are functionally competent. Scars on female abdominal exoskeletons indicated frequent misdirected piercing by male genitalia. However, the piercing sites showed a highly biased distribution towards the right side of the female body. A mating experiment showed that when the normal insemination site (the right-side spermalege) was artificially covered, females remained unfertilized. This was true even when females also had a spermalege on the left side (D-females). This result was attributed to handedness in male mating behavior. Irrespective of the observed disuse of the left-side spermalege by males for insemination, histological examination failed to detect any differences between the right-side and left-side spermaleges. Moreover, an artificial insemination experiment confirmed that spermatozoa injected into the left-side spermalege show apparently normal migration behavior to the female reproductive organs, indicating an evolutionary potential for functionally-competent duplicated spermaleges. We discuss possible mechanisms for the evolutionary maintenance of D-females and propose a plausible route to the functionally-competent duplicated spermaleges observed in L. duplicatus

CVD Method of Producing and Doping Fullerenes

Methods of producing fullerenes in large-macroscopic quantities inexpensively is disclosed without using solid carbon material such as graphite. In a preferred embodiment, fullerenes are formed by a hot filament CVD procedure. The fullerenes occur in the soot that forms as a by-product on the edges of the substrate holder. Mass spectrum of soot deposits shows lines corresponding to C60. From the typical concentrations of gaseous species in the diamond-growing CVD chamber, hydrocarbon species including CH3 or C2H2 can be the precursors for the formation of fullerenes in the CVD chamber. A method of using fullerenes to enhance the properties of rubber composites is also described

Utilization of Transportation Model for Profit Maximization for Strategic Cement Sdn Bhd

This project is entitled' Utilization of Transportation Model for profit maximization for Strategic Cement Sdn Bhd '. Transportation Model in this project is one class of linear programming which is one of the decision tool for solving problem in management science. The transportation model utilized in this project is based _on the modelling developed by Anderson et. af. . The objective of this project is to determine the optimum delivery schedule of cement from two plants of Strategic Cement Sdn Bhd to fulfill the demand of twenty three different locations/destinations in Peninsular Malaysia. The factors involved in determining the profit maximization of the company are cement selling price to the various destinations, production cost, paper bag cost, stevedoring cost, commission to distributors and transportation cost. The result generated by the Model shows that the optimum distribution pattern is following the profit or revenue maximum pattern i.e. delivery of cement to the maximum profit contribution areas. The trade-off in the Transportation Model is the unsatisfied or unfulfilled demand area or market share which will in tum affect customer satisfaction level. The current practice by Strategic Cement Sdn Bhd reveals that company is supplying to certain demand location/destination despite with lower profit margin as compared to the empirical result generated/guided by the Transportation Model. This is mainly attributed to the fact that in the real business world, other factors shall be taking into consideration besides profits , such as customer service, market share and long term business relationship.The sensitivity analysis reveals that 1% change of the variables and demand has direct effect on the profit margin and transportation schedule for the company. Management of Strategic Cement Sdn Bhd can therefore utilizes this information to control cost and delivery schedule to achieve higher profit margin

Selection, training and utilization of a sensory panel for the evaluation of lipolyzed flavor in milk

This research was an attempt to establish guidelines for selecting and training of sensory panelists for the evaluation of lipolyzed flavor in milk. Trained panelists were utilized in the evaluation of laboratory-prepared lipolyzed samples, retail samples, and laboratory-pasteurized samples. Gas chromatography and a titration procedure were used to evaluate the samples simultaneously with the sensory panelists. Lipolyzed flavors in varying intensities of laboratory-prepared lipolyzed samples were not detected by the chemical methods but the trained panelists recognized the changes in the intensities. Both sensory and chemical evaluations of retail milk samples suggested that lipolyzed flavor is not a common problem in the Knoxville, TN area. Laboratory-pasteurized milk samples were slightly lipolyzed after one day of storage and moderately lipolyzed after fifteen days of storage. Good correlation between sensory scores and free fatty acids was limited to 1-day samples. Even though the titration method provided a more accurate measurement of lipolyzed flavor, it did not sufficiently account for the variation in lipolyzed flavor as evaluated by the panelists. Difficulties in sampling and the presence of other off-flavors in the 15-day laboratory-pasteurized milk may have misled the panelists, thus confounding the results. The use of samples that resemble authentically lipolyzed flavor is important

Sorption and Degrading Parameters for Modeling Nematicide Fate in Soil

Since the ban of the traditional fumigants, DBCP and EDB, for nematode control in pineapple, there has been considerable interest in a non-volatile organosphosphorus nematicide, fenamiphos [Nemacur®, ethyl 3-methyl-4-(methylthio)phenyl (1-methylethyl) phosphoramidate]. The fate of fenamiphos is unknown in diverse field soils in Hawaii. The ability of mathematical simulation models to predict movement and persistence of fenamiphos in soils from key input parameters associated with mathematical descriptions of degradation, sorption and leaching, will aid us in designing optimum management strategies to achieve maximum efficacy and minimize environmental contamination. In view of the proposed modeling efforts, experiments were conducted to evaluate the errors and uncertainties in measurements of two important processes, sorption and degradation. Fenamiphos sorption measurements were conducted by the conventional batch method on Molokai and Pane soils under aerobic conditions. The impact on measured sorption by (1) degradation of fenamiphos during equilibration, (2) variable moisture status of soils before measurements and (3) equilibration time were evaluated. Apparent sorption and sorption corrected for degradation at both 4 and 24 hours equilibration on both soils increased in the following order: field-moist < prewetted < air-dried. Degradation of fenamiphos to fen. sulfoxide during batch equilibration occured at all moisture treatments, and the impact of degradation (45% of fenamiphos degraded) on sorption measurement was significant on the Pane soil. On the Molokai soil however, the impact was negligible because less than 20% of fenamiphos degraded. Competition of water molecules with fenamiphos for sorption sites and fenamiphos degradation during equilibration probably accounted for the differences in sorption due to pre-sorption moisture status. The percentage differences in fenamiphos sorption betweet. air-dried and field-moist soils after 24 hours equilibration were 34 % and 37% for Pane and Molokai soils, respectively. The effect of initial moisture on sorption measurements may not be of practical importance when we consider that the average coefficient of variation of fenamiphos and fen. sulfoxide sorption determined on soils obtained from nine fields was 35% and 46%, respectively. In the degradation study, the reliability of using laboratory-generated degradation rates for fenamiphos and fen. sulfoxide to predict degradation of these nematicides under field conditions was evaluated. Field and laboratory methods of determining fenamiphos degradation were compared at six locations within two cropped pineapple fields on the Oahu Dole and Del Monte plantations: the methods were compared using first-order degradation rates and the quantity of fenamiphos residue remaining at a given time. A similar comparison with fen. sulfoxide was performed on the Del Monte field. In field experiments, nematicides were applied to insitu field cores contained in aluminum cylinders (inserted into the tilled layer of pineapple beds) at six locations per field. Laboratory experiments were performed by application of 14C-labeled nematicides to soils collected from the same locations as the field tests; treated soils were incubated under controlled temperature and moisture. On the Del Monte field, the field and laboratory degradation data were fit reasonably well by first-order kinetics. First-order degradation rates determined from laboratory and field methods were similar. Fenamiphos degradation data from the Dole field generally deviated statistically from first-order kinetics; the better statistical resolution of deviations from first-order kinetics on the Dole field was largely due to q much lower overall standard error for this field. The difference, however, between laboratory and field measured fenamiphos residues on the Dole field was within a factor of 1.4. In view of the uncertainties in degradation measurements contributed from field soil variability and analytical techniques, this differrence is tolerable. Degradation rates of fenamiphos and fen. sulfoxide determined from laboratory methods are therefore considered reliable estimates for modeling persistence of these chemicals in field soils under pineapple cultivation