Grabežljiva stjenica Rhynocoris fuscipes (FABRICIUS) učinkovito potinula zaraženost mahuna Cajanus cajan od štetnika Helicoverpa armigera (HÜBNER), Nezara viridula (L.) i Riptortus clavatus Thunberg u kavezima u polju

Rhynocoris fuscipes effectively suppressed the infestation of Helicoverpa armigera, Nezara viridula and Riptortus clavatus in pigeonpea field cages. Reduced pod and flower damages were observed in R. fuscipes released field cages. R. fuscipes release significantly enhanced the yield of healthy pods (grains). Field observations suggested this predator\u27s pest suppression and grain damage reduction efficacy.Predator Rhynocoris fuscipes učinkovito je potisnuo zarazu vrstama Helicoverpa armigera, Nezara viridula i Riptortus clavatus u poljskim kavezima. Zapaženo je smanjenje šteta na mahunama i cvjetovima biljke kajan (Cajanus cajan) u kavezima u koje su ispušteni R. fuscipes. Prisutnost predatora signifikantno je povećala prirod zdravih mahuna i zrna. Poljski pokusi ukazuju na učinak predatora na smanjenje zaraze štetnicima i sniženje šteta

Ponovni opis, biologija, životni ciklus, ponašanje i ekotip Sphedanolestes minusculus Bergroth (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Sphedanolestes minusculus Bergroth lays pale yellow eggs in batches. Eggs are glued to each other and to the substratum with cementing material. The average number of eggs per female was 63.33 ± 21.77. The eggs hatch in 7.80 ± 0.41 days. The average developmental period from I instar to V instar was 48.43 ± 7.39days. The longevity of the male (80.16 ± 5.23) was shorter (96.77 ± 11.88) than that of the female. The preoviposition period was 12.55 ± 3.43 days and the male and female sex ratio was 1: 1.5. The innate capacity of natural increase (rc) was 0.061 with a gross reproduction rate (mx) of 91.671 females per female. Mean length of generation (Tc) was 76.310 days. Redescriptions of adult and descriptions of egg and nymphal instars are given with illustrations. Predatory and mating behaviour exhibited sequential events as in other reduviids. Prey-deprived predators took less time to approach, capture and pin the prey. Individuals of S. minusculus collected from three different ecological and geomorphological habitats viz., Olavakod tropical rainforest, Sunkankadai scrub jungle and Aralvaimozhi semiarid zone exhibited pronounced diversities in their oviposition pattern, hatchability, incubation and stadial periods, nymphal mortality, adult longevity and sex ratio. These diversities are considered a specially adapted biological function collectively called ecotypism.Sphedanolestes minusculus Bergroth polaže blijedo žuta jaja u gomilicama. Jaja su ljepljivom tvari slijepljena međusobno kao i za podlogu. Srednja vrijednost broja jaja po ženki je bila 63,33 ± 21,77. Ličinke su se izvalile u 7,80 ± 0,41 dana. Srednja vrijednost razvojnog perioda od I do V stadija bila je 48,43 ± 7.39 dana. Dužina života mužjaka (80,16 ± 5,23) bila je kraća (96,77 ± 11,88) nego ženki. Preovipozicija jaja je trajala 12,55 ± 3.43 dana a omjer između mužjaka i ženki je bio 1:1,5. Urođen, svojstven kapacitet prirodnog porasta (rc) je bio 0,061 s maksimalnim omjerom reprodukcije (mx) od 91,671 ženki. Prosječna dužina života jedne generacije (Tc) bila je 76, 310 dana. Ponovo su opisani odrasli, a na novo jaja i ličinački stadiji prikazani slikama. Složeno predatorsko ponašanje i ponašanje tijekom parenja slijedilo je pravilan tok kao kod drugih vrsta porodice Reduviidae. Ovi predatori su brzi u lovu i pridržavanju ulova. Jedinke Sphedanolestes minusculus su bile sakupljane u tri različita ekološka i geomorfološka staništa: Olavakod - tropska kišna šuma, Sunkankadai - guštara đungle i Aralvaimozhi - semiaridna zona. Opisane su različitosti u: njihovim ovipozicijskim uzorcima, izlijeganju jaja, vremenu inkubacije, trajanju razvojnih stadija, ličinačkoj smrtnosti, dužini života odraslih, te omjeru spolova. Te razlike u opisanim karakteristikama smatraju se posebno prilagođenim biološkim funkcijama koje zajednički nazivamo ekotip

BIOLOGIJA, PONAŠANJE I ODNOS ŽRTVA - PREDATOR U VRSTE Sphedanolestes Variabilis Distant (INSECTA: HEMIPTERA: REDUVIIDAE: HARPACTORINAE), POTENCIJALNOGA PREDATORA ŠTETNIKA IZ REDA LEPIDOPTERA

Sphedanolestes variabilis Distant laid light brown colour eggs singly as well as in small clusters of 5 to 10 eggs. The incubation period was 6.92±0.29 days. The stadial durations of I,II,III,IV and V instar nymphs were 6.83±0.58, 6.83±0.94, 6.58±1.56, 8.42±2.68 and 8.67±2.23 and 19.67±3.44 days respectively. Adult males and females lived for 93.83±13.04 and 102.83±12.69 days and their sex ratio was 1: 1 (male and female). The sequential acts of predation as well as that of mating conform to these of other harpactorine reduviids. S. variabilis exhibited Holling\u27s type II functional response as indicated by the positive correlation obtained between the prey density and the number of prey killed by the predator. The attack ratio decreased as the prey density was increased. A negative correlation was obtained between the searching time and the prey density.Sphedanolestes variabilis Distant odlaže jaja svijetlosmeđe boje pojedinačno ili u skupinama od 5 do 10 jaja. Inkubacijsko razdoblje traje 6,92 ± 0,29 dana. Razvojni stadiji I., II., III., IV. i V. faze nimfe jesu 6,83 ± 0,58, 6,83 ± 0,94, 6,58 ± 1,56, 8,42 ± 2,68 i 8,67 ± 2,23 i 19,67 ± 3,44 dana. Odrasli mužjaci i ženke živjeli su 93,83 ± 13,04 i 102,83 ± 12,69 dana, a omjer spolova bio je 1:1 (muški i ženski). Prema predatorstvu i parenju ta je vrsta u skladu s drugim vrstama iz porodice Readuviidae. Da bi se opisao odnos žrtva-plijen, korišten je model Holling tip II., koji je pokazao pozitivnu korelaciju između gustoće plijena i broja plijena ubijenih od predatora. Omjer napada smanjen je kako je gustoća plijena bila povećana. Negativna korelacija dobivena je između vremena pronalaska plijena i gustoće plijena

Novel ageing-biomarker discovery using data-intensive technologies

Ageing is accompanied by many visible characteristics. Other biological and physiological markers are also well-described e.g. loss of circulating sex hormones and increased inflammatory cytokines. Biomarkers for healthy ageing studies are presently predicated on existing knowledge of ageing traits. The increasing availability of data-intensive methods enables deep-analysis of biological samples for novel biomarkers. We have adopted two discrete approaches in MARK-AGE Work Package 7 for biomarker discovery; (1) microarray analyses and/or proteomics in cell systems e.g. endothelial progenitor cells or T cell ageing including a stress model; and (2) investigation of cellular material and plasma directly from tightly-defined proband subsets of different ages using proteomic, transcriptomic and miR array. The first approach provided longitudinal insight into endothelial progenitor and T cell ageing.This review describes the strategy and use of hypothesis-free, data-intensive approaches to explore cellular proteins, miR, mRNA and plasma proteins as healthy ageing biomarkers, using ageing models and directly within samples from adults of different ages. It considers the challenges associated with integrating multiple models and pilot studies as rational biomarkers for a large cohort study. From this approach, a number of high-throughput methods were developed to evaluate novel, putative biomarkers of ageing in the MARK-AGE cohort

Development of admixture mapping panels for African Americans from commercial high-density SNP arrays

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Admixture mapping is a powerful approach for identifying genetic variants involved in human disease that exploits the unique genomic structure in recently admixed populations. To use existing published panels of ancestry-informative markers (AIMs) for admixture mapping, markers have to be genotyped <it>de novo </it>for each admixed study sample and samples representing the ancestral parental populations. The increased availability of dense marker data on commercial chips has made it feasible to develop panels wherein the markers need not be predetermined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We developed two panels of AIMs (~2,000 markers each) based on the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 for admixture mapping with African American samples. These two AIM panels had good map power that was higher than that of a denser panel of ~20,000 random markers as well as other published panels of AIMs. As a test case, we applied the panels in an admixture mapping study of hypertension in African Americans in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Developing marker panels for admixture mapping from existing genome-wide genotype data offers two major advantages: (1) no <it>de novo </it>genotyping needs to be done, thereby saving costs, and (2) markers can be filtered for various quality measures and replacement markers (to minimize gaps) can be selected at no additional cost. Panels of carefully selected AIMs have two major advantages over panels of random markers: (1) the map power from sparser panels of AIMs is higher than that of ~10-fold denser panels of random markers, and (2) clusters can be labeled based on information from the parental populations. With current technology, chip-based genome-wide genotyping is less expensive than genotyping ~20,000 random markers. The major advantage of using random markers is the absence of ascertainment effects resulting from the process of selecting markers. The ability to develop marker panels informative for ancestry from SNP chip genotype data provides a fresh opportunity to conduct admixture mapping for disease genes in admixed populations when genome-wide association data exist or are planned.</p

Integrated approach of the citizen’s role in relation to the public services

The paper achieves an integrated, interdisciplinary approach of the citizens’ roles related to public service providers. The contemporary public service development awards multiple roles to the citizen, interacting with the activities of design, decision-making, production, delivery or assessment, specific for various stages of the life cycle of the public services. Such an approach substantiates the public marketing strategies and it integrates aspects concerning service delivery in the private secto

Maternal self-efficacy and 1–5-year-old children's brushing habits

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73681/1/j.1600-0528.2007.00313.x.pd

Deficient Plakophilin-1 Expression Due to a Mutation in PKP1 Causes Ectodermal Dysplasia-Skin Fragility Syndrome in Chesapeake Bay Retriever Dogs

In humans, congenital and hereditary skin diseases associated with epidermal cell-cell separation (acantholysis) are very rare, and spontaneous animal models of these diseases are exceptional. Our objectives are to report a novel congenital acantholytic dermatosis that developed in Chesapeake Bay retriever dogs. Nine affected puppies in four different litters were born to eight closely related clinically normal dogs. The disease transmission was consistent with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Clinical signs occurred immediately after birth with superficial epidermal layers sloughing upon pressure. At three month of age, dogs exhibited recurrent superficial skin sloughing and erosions at areas of friction and mucocutaneous junctions; their coat was also finer than normal and there were patches of partial hair loss. At birth, histopathology revealed severe suprabasal acantholysis, which became less severe with ageing. Electron microscopy demonstrated a reduced number of partially formed desmosomes with detached and aggregated keratin intermediate filaments. Immunostaining for desmosomal adhesion molecules revealed a complete lack of staining for plakophilin-1 and anomalies in the distribution of desmoplakin and keratins 10 and 14. Sequencing revealed a homozygous splice donor site mutation within the first intron of PKP1 resulting in a premature stop codon, thereby explaining the inability to detect plakophilin-1 in the skin. Altogether, the clinical and pathological findings, along with the PKP1 mutation, were consistent with the diagnosis of ectodermal dysplasia-skin fragility syndrome with plakophilin-1 deficiency. This is the first occurrence of ectodermal dysplasia-skin fragility syndrome in an animal species. Controlled mating of carrier dogs would yield puppies that could, in theory, be tested for gene therapy of this rare but severe skin disease of children

ZRANB3 is an African-specific type 2 diabetes locus associated with beta-cell mass and insulin response.

Genome analysis of diverse human populations has contributed to the identification of novel genomic loci for diseases of major clinical and public health impact. Here, we report a genome-wide analysis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in sub-Saharan Africans, an understudied ancestral group. We analyze ~18 million autosomal SNPs in 5,231 individuals from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. We identify a previously-unreported genome-wide significant locus: ZRANB3 (Zinc Finger RANBP2-Type Containing 3, lead SNP p = 2.831 × 10-9). Knockdown or genomic knockout of the zebrafish ortholog results in reduction in pancreatic β-cell number which we demonstrate to be due to increased apoptosis in islets. siRNA transfection of murine Zranb3 in MIN6 β-cells results in impaired insulin secretion in response to high glucose, implicating Zranb3 in β-cell functional response to high glucose conditions. We also show transferability in our study of 32 established T2D loci. Our findings advance understanding of the genetics of T2D in non-European ancestry populations