Insecticidal components in the meal of Crambe abyssinica.

The defatted seed meal of C. abyssinica was systematically analysed for insecticidal activity against Musca domestica and the active components were isolated and characterized. 2-(S)-1-Cyano-2-hydroxy-3-butene (SCHB) and phenylethyl cyanide (PEC) were identified as active components, whereas diacetone alcohol (DAA), which was identified in the extracts and tested, was not toxic to house flies. The presence of DAA and PEC in the extracts was confirmed by using gas chromatographic and mass-spectral (GC-MS) comparison with purchased reference compounds. 1,3-Benzodioxole-5-carboxaldehyde (piperonal, PIP) was also identified as a possible minor component, but was not tested. GC-MS analysis determined that the dichloromethane extract of defatted crambe seed meal contained SCHB and crambe oil at a ratio of 5:2, while DAA and PEC were present in trace amounts. Topical LD50values for M. domestica were calculated for SCHB, PEC, DAA, crude crambe extract, crambe oil and an artificial crambe extract composed of SCHB and crambe oil in the proportions found in the crude crambe extract. SCHB was found to be the most toxic major component of the crambe extract. Although SCHB concentration accounted for the toxicity of the artificial extract, the natural crambe extract was significantly less toxic than would be expected based on SCHB concentration alone. 2-(R)-1-Cyano-2-hydroxy-3-butene (RCHB), an enantiomer of SCHB which does not occur in crambe, was extracted from Brassica napus seed meal and tested as well. RCHB was found to be significantly less toxic to house flies than SCHB

Los Tribunales de Menores en la Argentina : Antecedentes internacionales e iniciativas nacionales (1933-1943)

Este capítulo estudia la creación de los Tribunales de Menores, a partir del análisis de los antecedentes internacionales y las iniciativas locales que intentaban avanzar sobre las limitaciones de la Ley de Patronato. Asimismo, refiere a los primeros años de actuación del Tribunal de Menores del Departamento Judicial de la Capital, en términos de los procedimientos judiciales previstos, la experticia exigida a los agentes judiciales y el énfasis puesto en el basamento moral de las actividades delictivas. En este sentido, el análisis gira en torno a la definición de políticas públicas referidas a un sector de la población infantil y juvenil, a la formación de campos especializados de intervención en materia de niños y jóvenes y a la creación de particulares instituciones del ámbito judicial. Las fuentes primarias que sustentan el análisis incluyen escritos de los expertos del ámbito judicial del período en cuestión, publicados en libros, tesis doctorales, comunicaciones a congresos y revistas especializadas; se trata de textos que permiten conocer ideas referidas a los jóvenes de los sectores populares urbanos y aquéllos involucrados en delitos. En línea con la historia intelectual, más allá de reconstruir tradiciones intelectuales o sistemas de pensamiento, el objetivo de estudiar estas fuentes se vincula con la propuesta de encontrar zonas de contacto entre las ideas sobre delincuencia y sociabilidad juveniles y concretas prácticas que construyeron el pasado de una sociedad. En suma, buscar la intersección entre una historia intelectual y una historia social de la cultura, en tanto indagación interesada por la cultura que produce una idea y por aquella que las consume o traduce.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Los Tribunales de Menores en la Argentina : Antecedentes internacionales e iniciativas nacionales (1933-1943)

Este capítulo estudia la creación de los Tribunales de Menores, a partir del análisis de los antecedentes internacionales y las iniciativas locales que intentaban avanzar sobre las limitaciones de la Ley de Patronato. Asimismo, refiere a los primeros años de actuación del Tribunal de Menores del Departamento Judicial de la Capital, en términos de los procedimientos judiciales previstos, la experticia exigida a los agentes judiciales y el énfasis puesto en el basamento moral de las actividades delictivas. En este sentido, el análisis gira en torno a la definición de políticas públicas referidas a un sector de la población infantil y juvenil, a la formación de campos especializados de intervención en materia de niños y jóvenes y a la creación de particulares instituciones del ámbito judicial. Las fuentes primarias que sustentan el análisis incluyen escritos de los expertos del ámbito judicial del período en cuestión, publicados en libros, tesis doctorales, comunicaciones a congresos y revistas especializadas; se trata de textos que permiten conocer ideas referidas a los jóvenes de los sectores populares urbanos y aquéllos involucrados en delitos. En línea con la historia intelectual, más allá de reconstruir tradiciones intelectuales o sistemas de pensamiento, el objetivo de estudiar estas fuentes se vincula con la propuesta de encontrar zonas de contacto entre las ideas sobre delincuencia y sociabilidad juveniles y concretas prácticas que construyeron el pasado de una sociedad. En suma, buscar la intersección entre una historia intelectual y una historia social de la cultura, en tanto indagación interesada por la cultura que produce una idea y por aquella que las consume o traduce.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Population structure and gene flow of Geoffroy's cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) in the Uruguayan Savanna ecoregion

Felids are among the species most threatened by habitat fragmentation resulting from land-use change. In the Uruguayan Savanna ecoregion, about 30% of natural habitats have been lost, large felids have been eradicated from most of the region, and the impact of anthropogenic threats over the smaller species that remain is unknown. To develop management strategies, it is important to enhance knowledge about species population structure and landscape connectivity, particularly when land-use change will continue and intensify in the next years. In this study, we evaluate the population structure and gene flow of Geoffroy's cat in the Uruguayan Savanna ecoregion. We generated a matrix of 11 microsatellite loci for 70 individuals. Based on Bayesian approaches we found that within the Uruguayan Savanna, Geoffroy's cat shows high levels of genetic variability and no population structure. However, we observed genetic differences between individuals from the Uruguayan Savanna and those from the contiguous ecoregion, the Argentinian Humid Pampa. Four first-generation migrants from Humid Pampa were identified in the Uruguayan Savanna, suggesting a stronger gene flow in the west-east direction. We detected a past bottleneck followed by a subsequent recovery in Geoffroy's cat populations in both ecoregions. These results lay the groundwork to understand the population dynamics and conservation status of Geoffroy's cat in the Uruguayan Savanna ecoregion, and provide baseline data to establish population monitoring.Fil: Bou, Nadia. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura.; UruguayFil: Soutullo, Álvaro. Universidad de la Republica; UruguayFil: Hernández, Daniel. Laboratorio de Control Ambiental; UruguayFil: Mannise, Natalia. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura.; UruguayFil: González, Susana. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura.; UruguayFil: Bartesaghi, Lucía. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura.; UruguayFil: Pereira, Javier Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Merino, Mariano Lisandro. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Bioinvestigaciones (Sede Junín); ArgentinaFil: Espinosa, Caroline. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Trigo, Tatiane C.. Museu de Ciencias Naturais; ArgentinaFil: Cosse, Mariana. Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura.; Urugua

Theoretical and experimental activities on opacities for a good interpretation of seismic stellar probes

Opacity calculations are basic ingredients of stellar modelling. They play a crucial role in the interpretation of acoustic modes detected by SoHO, COROT and KEPLER. In this review we present our activities on both theoretical and experimental sides. We show new calculations of opacity spectra and comparisons between eight groups who produce opacity spectra calculations in the domain where experiments are scheduled. Real differences are noticed with real astrophysical consequences when one extends helioseismology to cluster studies of different compositions. Two cases are considered presently: (1) the solar radiative zone and (2) the beta Cephei envelops. We describe how our experiments are performed and new preliminary results on nickel obtained in the campaign 2010 at LULI 2000 at Polytechnique.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, invited talk at SOHO2

Unprecedented climate extremes in South Africa and implications for maize production

This is the final version. Available on open access from IOP Publishing via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: Any data that support the findings of this study are included within the article.Maize is the most important crop grown in South Africa, but yields can be severely reduced by extreme high summer average temperatures and low precipitation, potentially adversely affecting both domestic consumption and regional food security exports. To help understand and manage climate risks to food security in Southern Africa it is essential to quantify the present-day likelihood and magnitude of climate extremes in South Africa’s maize-growing region and explore the potential for unprecedented climate conditions which would likely result in record low maize yields. We analyse a large ensemble of initialised climate model simulations, which provides almost 100 times as many plausible present-day summers as the equivalent observational dataset. We quantify the risk of unprecedented climate extremes affecting maize production in South Africa and examine the role of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. We find that the South African maize region is at risk of experiencing record-breaking hot, cold, dry or wet events under current climatic conditions. We find that the annual chance of unprecedented high temperatures in South Africa is approximately 4%, increasing to 62% during very strong El Niño years. We also find that the chance of exceeding the present day seasonal high temperature record has increased across the 1979-2018 period, being five times more likely now than it was in 1980. These extreme events could result in a record-breaking number of days above the optimum, or even the maximum, temperature for maize production, and lead to more severe floods or droughts. Under climate change scenarios, the magnitude and frequency of climate extremes is projected to increase meaning that the unprecedented extremes studied here could become commonplace in the future. This suggests that significant investment is needed to develop adaptations that manage the climate-related risks to food systems now and build resilience to the projected impacts of climate change.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

The Orbiting Astrophysical Spectrometer In Space (OASIS)

The Orbiting Astrophysical Observatory In Space (OASIS) is an Advanced Concept currently under study at NASA as a mission for the next decade. The goal of the OASIS mission is to identify a local site or sites where galactic cosmic rays (GCR) originate and are accelerated. The mission will also allow GCR data to be used to investigate how elements are made and distributed in the galaxy and to improve our understanding of supernovae and the nucleosynthesis of the heavy elements. OASIS consists of two instruments that provide complementary data on the location and nature of the source(s) through investigating the composition of ultra-heavy nuclei ( ) and the energy spectrum of electrons. In particular OASIS will measure the relative abundances in the actinide group ( ) to determine the age of the -process material in GCRs. The presence of young r-process material would indicate that GCRs are a sample of the interstellar medium in OB associations. OASIS will measure the electron spectrum to 10 TeV. The energy where this spectrum ends will tell us the distance to the nearest GCR source(s). OASIS will look for spectral features and anisotropy in the high energy electron spectrum that are expected to appear when only a few of the nearest astrophysical sources can contribute to the electron flux. Spectral features may also suggest dark matter decay products. We anticipate that these measurements will lead to the identification of the nearest cosmic ray electron source and provide a crucial test of the OB association model for the origin of GCR nuclei

Emission of volatile halogenated compounds, speciation and localization of bromine and iodine in the brown algal genome model Ectocarpus siliculosus

This study explores key features of bromine and iodine metabolism in the filamentous brown alga and genomics model Ectocarpus siliculosus. Both elements are accumulated in Ectocarpus, albeit at much lower concentration factors (2-3 orders of magnitude for iodine, and < 1 order of magnitude for bromine) than e.g. in the kelp Laminaria digitata. Iodide competitively reduces the accumulation of bromide. Both iodide and bromide are accumulated in the cell wall (apoplast) of Ectocarpus, with minor amounts of bromine also detectable in the cytosol. Ectocarpus emits a range of volatile halogenated compounds, the most prominent of which by far is methyl iodide. Interestingly, biosynthesis of this compound cannot be accounted for by vanadium haloperoxidase since the latter have not been found to catalyze direct halogenation of an unactivated methyl group or hydrocarbon so a methyl halide transferase-type production mechanism is proposed

Reciprocal influence of the p53 and the hypoxic pathways

When cells sense a decrease in oxygen availability (hypoxia), they develop adaptive responses in order to sustain this condition and survive. If hypoxia lasts too long or is too severe, the cells eventually die. Hypoxia is also known to modulate the p53 pathway, in a manner dependent or not of HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor-1), the main transcription factor activated by hypoxia. The p53 protein is a transcription factor, which is rapidly stabilised by cellular stresses and which has a major role in the cell responses to these stresses. The aim of this review is to compile what has been reported until now about the interconnection between these two important pathways. Indeed, according to the cell line, the severity and the duration of hypoxia, oxygen deficiency influences very differently p53 protein level and activity. Conversely, p53 is also described to affect HIF-1α stability, one of the two subunits of HIF-1, and HIF-1 activity. The direct and indirect interactions between HIF-1α and p53 are described as well as the involvement in this complex network of their respective ubiquitin ligases von Hippel Lindau protein and murine double minute 2. Finally, the synergistic or antagonistic effects of p53 and HIF-1 on some important cellular pathways are discussed

Earthworms Use Odor Cues to Locate and Feed on Microorganisms in Soil

Earthworms are key components of temperate soil ecosystems but key aspects of their ecology remain unexamined. Here we elucidate the role of olfactory cues in earthworm attraction to food sources and document specific chemical cues that attract Eisenia fetida to the soil fungi Geotrichum candidum. Fungi and other microorganisms are major sources of volatile emissions in soil ecosystems as well as primary food sources for earthworms, suggesting the likelihood that earthworms might profitably use olfactory cues to guide foraging behavior. Moreover, previous studies have documented earthworm movement toward microbial food sources. But, the specific olfactory cues responsible for earthworm attraction have not previously been identified. Using olfactometer assays combined with chemical analyses (GC-MS), we documented the attraction of E. fetida individuals to filtrate derived from G. candidum colonies and to two individual compounds tested in isolation: ethyl pentanoate and ethyl hexanoate. Attraction at a distance was observed when barriers prevented the worms from reaching the target stimuli, confirming the role of volatile cues. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying key trophic interactions in soil ecosystems and have potential implications for the extraction and collection of earthworms in vermiculture and other applied activities