Effects of spirodiclofen on the reproductive potential of two-spotted spider mite (Acari: Tetranychidae) ovipositing females

A laboratory bioassay was conducted to evaluate the effects of spirodiclofen on the survival and reproduction of young and mated females of two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). The females were sprayed with a series of acaricide concentrations (96, 48, 24, 12, and 6 mg/l) 24-30 h after adult emergence, i.e., at the age most likely to exhibit dispersal behavior and close to their reproductive maximum. The proportions of T. urticae females that survived treatment without symptoms of poisoning were concentration-dependent, ranging between 0.41 and 0.88 (0.96 in the control). With the exception of females that survived 6 mg/l, fecundity of the treated female mites was strongly affected during the exposure, compared to the control. The mean daily fecundity (EL) and mean daily fertility (EH) of surviving females, transferred daily to new leaf disks over the following five days, significantly decreased as spirodiclofen concentrations increased. In treatments with 6 mg/l and 12 mg/l, only the latter concentration significantly reduced both EL and EH, compared to the control. In females that survived 24 mg/l and 48 mg/l, these life history parameters were reduced by over 90%, while treatment with 96 mg/l completely terminated egg-laying. The treated females lived for a significantly shorter time than untreated ones, with the exception of females that survived 6 mg/l. Compared to the control females, gross fecundity (GL) and gross fertility (GH) of the treated females were strongly reduced on the first and second day; from the third day onward, females treated with the lowest concentrations achieved marked recovery, their GL and GH going even above the values in the control. However, net fecundity (NL) and net fertility (NH) of all treated females decreased considerably throughout the trial, indicating that survival rates of these females were lower, compared to the control. Calculated as total sums of gross and net daily schedules within five days, fecundity and fertility significantly decreased as spirodiclofen concentration increased. The two lowest concentrations failed to achieve a significant reduction of GL, while GH, NL, and NH were significantly lower than control values starting with the females treated with 6 mg/L. A high percentage of unhatched eggs, especially during the initial two days after treatment (35-100%), further contributed to the significant reduction in fertility of the females treated with spirodiclofen. All concentrations of spirodiclofen significantly reduced the instantaneous rate of increase. Regression analysis showed a linear population decline with increased acaricide concentrations (y = 1.13 - 0.24x; R2 = 0.91, p < 0.05)

Significance of survivin immunoreactivity and morphometric analysis of HPV-induced cervical dysplasia

Genomic integration of high-risk human papilloma virus in the nucleus of cervical epithelial mucosal cells leads to epithelial dysplasia. The aim of this study was to determine the relevance of correlation between epithelial survivin expression and the degree of human papilloma virus (HPV)-induced cervical epithelial dysplasia, and to establish the significance of morphometric analysis of the nuclear area in the assessment of the degree of cervical dysplasia. This retrospective study included 99 women with primary, previously untreated lesions, and colposcopic findings indicating dysplasia, in whom a cytological test by Papanicolaou method was interpreted according to the Bethesda criteria as lowgrade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), and atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS). We performed human papilloma virus (HPV) typing by PCR for evidence of viruse types 16, 18, 31, 33. After biopsy of the cervical mucosa, we performed hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) and Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) staining, and immunohistochemical and morphometric analysis of tissue samples. The control group consisted of 12 women without dysplasia and without a verified infection of cervical high-risk HPV. A high statistical correlation between the degree of dysplasia and expression of survivin was found in patients with different types of cervical dysplasia (p = 0.003). We observed a high statistical difference between the area of nuclei at different degrees of cervical dysplasias (p = 0.000). The high-grade cervical dysplasia had a more than 2-fold higher level of ranking in comparison to low-grade dysplasia, and a more than 10-fold higher ranking than the control group without cervical dysplasia

Sensitivity of gypsy moth neurosecretory neurons to acute thermal stress

In gypsy moth caterpillars exposed to a temperature of 35°C (for 1, 12 and 24 h and caterpillars that were exposed to elevated temperature for 12 h and were allowed to recover for 12 h at 23°C), changes in the brain protein profiles and morphometric characteristics of A1’ medial and L2 lateral protocerebral neurosecretory neurons were analyzed. In all groups, protein bands with a molecular mass corresponding to that of members of heat-shock protein families were detected, indicating that acute exposure to this temperature likely induced the synthesis of HSP. Increased morphometric parameters of A1’ neurons and the large amount of neurosecretory material in the neuron body implicate that the temperature of 35°C is not in the temperature range that exerts stimulatory effects on growth and survival. Changes in the morphometric characteristics of L2 neurosecretory neurons from the lateral part of the protocerebrum, and retention of neurosecretory material in their cytoplasm indicate a low level of secretion

HV/HR-CMOS sensors for the ATLAS upgrade—concepts and test chip results

In order to extend its discovery potential, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will have a major upgrade (Phase II Upgrade) scheduled for 2022. The LHC after the upgrade, called High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), will operate at a nominal leveled instantaneous luminosity of 5× 1034 cm−2 s−1, more than twice the expected Phase I . The new Inner Tracker needs to cope with this extremely high luminosity. Therefore it requires higher granularity, reduced material budget and increased radiation hardness of all components. A new pixel detector based on High Voltage CMOS (HVCMOS) technology targeting the upgraded ATLAS pixel detector is under study. The main advantages of the HVCMOS technology are its potential for low material budget, use of possible cheaper interconnection technologies, reduced pixel size and lower cost with respect to traditional hybrid pixel detector. Several first prototypes were produced and characterized within ATLAS upgrade R&D effort, to explore the performance and radiation hardness of this technology. In this paper, an overview of the HVCMOS sensor concepts is given. Laboratory tests and irradiation tests of two technologies, HVCMOS AMS and HVCMOS GF, are also given

Research Proposal for an Experiment to Search for the Decay {\mu} -> eee

We propose an experiment (Mu3e) to search for the lepton flavour violating decay mu+ -> e+e-e+. We aim for an ultimate sensitivity of one in 10^16 mu-decays, four orders of magnitude better than previous searches. This sensitivity is made possible by exploiting modern silicon pixel detectors providing high spatial resolution and hodoscopes using scintillating fibres and tiles providing precise timing information at high particle rates.Comment: Research proposal submitted to the Paul Scherrer Institute Research Committee for Particle Physics at the Ring Cyclotron, 104 page

MuPix7 - A fast monolithic HV-CMOS pixel chip for Mu3e

The MuPix7 chip is a monolithic HV-CMOS pixel chip, thinned down to 50 \mu m. It provides continuous self-triggered, non-shuttered readout at rates up to 30 Mhits/chip of 3x3 mm^2 active area and a pixel size of 103x80 \mu m^2. The hit efficiency depends on the chosen working point. Settings with a power consumption of 300 mW/cm^2 allow for a hit efficiency >99.5%. A time resolution of 14.2 ns (Gaussian sigma) is achieved. Latest results from 2016 test beam campaigns are shown.Comment: Proceedingsfor the PIXEL2016 conference, submitted to JINST A dangling reference has been removed from this version, no other change

Biogenic amines in protocerebral A2 neurosecretory neurons of Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera:Lymantriidae): Response to trophic stress

The number, morphometric parameters and amount of aminergic neurosecretory product of protocerebral A2 neurosecretory neurons were investigated in the fifth instar of Lymantria dispar caterpillars, following a suitable or unsuitable trophic regime. Caterpillars originated from two populations (Quercus rubra or Robinia pseudoacacia forest) and were differently adapted to trophic stress, i.e. feeding on locust tree leaves - unsuitable host plant. The number of neurosecretory neurons was higher in the caterpillars originated from Robinia population than in Quercus population, regardless of feeding. A2 neurosecretory neurons, nuclei and their nucleoli were larger in caterpillars fed with unsuitable leaves in both populations. There was more aminergic product in the A2 neurosecretory neurons of the caterpillars fed with unsuitable leaves independently of population origin