Insecticidal properties of whole meal or protein extracts of the bean seeds Phaseolus vulgaris L. on juvenile stages of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Callosobruchus maculatus is a pest that causes serious damage to Cicer arietinum (chickpea) stored seeds, but that does not develop in seeds of other legumes such as Phaseolus vulgaris or Pisum sativum. The bean seed is rich in antinutritional compounds known to inhibit the development of C. maculatus. In an integrated approach to protect stocks of Cicer arietinum against attacks of this weevil, this study had the main objective to assess the potential of using bean flours from a wild bean Vigna caracalla, four varieties of P. vulgaris, and of a crude extract from P. vulgaris lectins seed. The extraction method was chosen to extract lectin-like protein compounds. The biological effects of bean flour or protein extracts were observed on artificial seeds composed from C. arietinum flour enriched with P. vulgaris whole flour or extracts incorporated at different percentages. The antinutritional activity either of bean-seed whole meal or of lectin-like extracts was determined by the analysis of different biological parameters. Incorporation of bean flour mixed with chickpeas decreased fertility and fecundity of female C. maculatus and caused longer development times of juvenile stages. Peptide extracts of the P. vulgaris reduced fecundity and survival of C. maculatus. Keywords: Callosobruchus maculatus, Phaseolus vulgaris, Lectin-like extract, Insecticidal properties, Artificial see

Effecs of damage by wheat bug, Aelia germari [Hemiptera : Pentatomidae], on grain quality and on reproductive performance of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae [Coleoptera : curculionidae]

La punaise des céréales, Aelia germari, cause des dégâts au champ, avant la maturité du grain, qui ont pour conséquence majeure une réduction de la valeur boulangère du blé destiné à la panification. Pour tenter de mettre en évidence les modifications induites par les attaques de punaises sur la valeur nutritive du grain, un essai biologique a été réalisé sur le charançon du riz Sitophilus oryzae, qui se développe dans l'endosperme du grain. Le charançon du riz a été élevé sur des échantillons de blé du cultivar 'Manondemias', dans lesquels ont été incorporés des taux différents (0, 4, 8, et 13%) de grain attaqué par la punaise phytophage A. germari. Sur les échantillons de blé punaisé à 4, 8 ou 13%, la durée moyenne de développement de S. oryzae était plus courte que sur le grain non punaisé. Cependant, le calcul des corrélations sur les variables prises deux à deux a montré que ni l'indice de sensibilité Dobie aux attaques d'insectes, ni la descendance par femelle de charançon, ni la perte de poids du grain consécutive au développement complet de S. oryzae, n'étaient corrélés avec le pourcentage de grains punaisés dans l'échantillon. À partir d'une analyse multivariable globale, associant les propriétés physicochimiques ou rhéologiques des grains avec les paramètres décrivant la réponse biologique du charançon S. oryzae, il a été montré que le blé sans attaque apparente de punaise pouvait être associé à une longue durée de développement pour S. oryzae, un nombre plus faible de descendants, une force boulangère, une teneur en azote et un temps de chute élevés, ainsi qu'à une faible teneur en cendres et en azote assimilable du grain.The wheat bug, Aelia germari, feeds on developing wheat kernels, causing a loss in baking quality of the harvested wheat (Triticum aestivum). The possible nutritional changes in the bug-damaged kernels after the harvest were tested in a bioassay using the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae, which feeds on the kernel endosperm. The weevils were reared on baking wheat cultivar 'Manon demias', grown in Algeria, with different levels (0, 4, 8 and 13%) of wheat bug (A. germari) damaged kernels. Rice weevil reared on 4, 8 or 13% damaged wheat had a shorter development time than on wheat with no damage. However, pair-wise correlations showed that Dobie's index for susceptibility of grain for stored-products insect attack, number of progeny per female and kernel weight loss were not correlated with the percentage of damaged kernels. Using multivariate analysis, the general characteristics of high quality grain were associated with long development times for S. oryzae, low number of progeny, high baking strength, high falling number, high nitrogen, low ash content, and low assimilable nitrogen

Cross-contamination of oilseeds by insecticide residues during storage

Pesticide residues are found in oilseeds (rapeseed and sunflower) and crude oils: they are mainly organophosphate insecticides (pirimiophos-methyl, malathion when authorized) used in empty storage facilities and for direct application to stored cereal grain. Even if some secondary pests are found in stored oilseeds, French regulations do not allow use of these insecticides on stored oilseeds. These residues arise from cross-contamination from storage bins and grain handling equipment of grain stores, and not from illegal use. This uptake of insecticide residues from their storage environment by oilseeds may lead to residue contents that exceed regulatory limits. A three-year investigation in grain storage companies allowed us to follow the course of sunflower batches and rapeseed batches during storage seasons 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, from reception at the storage facility to outloading. Each of these batches was sampled at outloading, and was analyzed for insecticide residues. Traceability of oilseeds established by grain-store managers allowed us to identify cross-contamination sources. The insecticides that were most commonly detected were pirimiophos-methyl, malathion, and dichlorvos (in sunflower 2006-2007), plus chlorpyriphos-methyl and deltamethrin. Pirimiophos-methyl was the most commonly detected active substance, and caused the most cases of non-accordance with regulatory levels in rapeseed. Cross-contamination could have occurred when cereal grains were treated upon receipt, when rapeseed was also delivered, especially when treatments were done systematically to the cereal grains. For sunflower, the main cross-contamination hazard resulted from treatment of cereals at the period of receipt or at their outloading, just before sunflower seeds batches were outloaded. Another situation led to cross-contamination, but generally at a lower extent: oilseeds stored in bins that contained previously treated cereals, or loaded in empty bins with handling equipment treated before the receipt of oilseeds.Keywords: Oilseed storage, Cross-contamination, Insecticide residues, Rapeseed, Sunflowe

A systemic approach of qualitative changes in the stored wheat ecosystem: prediction of deterioration risks in unsafe storage conditions in relation to relative humidity, infestation by Sitophilus oryzae (L.), and variety influence

A multidimensional laboratory trial was carried out to identify how key overall quality traits of different common wheat varieties change during storage, to understand their interactions in the process of deterioration, and finally to reveal underlying trends of critical storage conditions that may endanger grain quality. A large set of qualitative criteria were followed on grain batches of three wheat varieties with various qualities for food processing, which were stored for 160 d at 22-23°C, under two different relative humidities (r.h.), and with or without infestation by the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae. All variables involved in quality components assessment were recorded at 42-d periods. From the Pearson’s product moment correlation matrix, it was observed that the quality traits that correlated significantly to biotic variables (insect and fungal species dynamics) were: moisture content, hL mass, seed viability, and fat acidity of extracted flour. The interactions between biotic deteriorative factors and qualitative trait changes revealed through principal component analysis (PCA) were significant between four factors explaining the major part of qualitative criteria variance: storage duration; moisture content; hidden infestation density; fungal contamination level. The rate of increase of insect population was significantly different among varieties. PCA revealed that the significant difference in qualitative deterioration pattern among the three varieties was not related to their hardness, but to a different r.h. affinity. The germination rate was the qualitative criteria the more early declining during storage. The technological properties of extracted flour from each variety were significantly affected only when insect density exceeded 1000 insects per kg, a situation only observed in hot-spots. This work highlighted the trends of variation in quality traits of wheat varieties when stored under critical conditions. It can be used in IPM approaches to predict the susceptibility of a wheat variety to insect and fungi damage during storage. Keywords: Common wheat, Variety, Qualitative change, Insect pest, Fungal spoilage, Multivariate analysi

Characterization of slow and fast phase nystagmus

A current literature review of the analog and digital process of vestibular and optical kinetic nystagmus reveals little agreement in the methods used by various labs. The strategies for detection of saccade (fast phase velocity component of nystagmus) vary between labs, and most of the process have not been evaluated and validated with a standard database. A survey was made of major vestibular labs in the U.S. that perform computer analyses of vestibular and optokinetic reflexes to stimuli, and a baseline was established from which to standardize data acquisition and analysis programs. The concept of an Error Index was employed as the criterium for evaluating the performance of the vestibular analysis software programs. The performance criterium is based on the detection of saccades and is the average of the percentages of missed detections and false detections. Evaluation of the programs produced results for lateral gaze with saccadic amplitude of one, two, three, five, and ten degrees with various signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, results were obtained for sinusoidal pursuit of 0.05, 0.10, and 0.50 Hz with saccades from one to ten degrees at various signal-to-noise ratios. Selection of the best program was made from the performance in the lateral gaze with three degrees of saccadic amplitude and in the 0.10 Hz sinusoid with three degrees of saccadic amplitude

Multivariate analysis of the temporal changes of fungal communities in unsafe storage conditions of some common wheat varieties in relation to relative humidity level and rice weevil infestation

Fungal colonization of stored grain bulks is a major threat for mycotoxin contamination and reduction in viability of grain when stored under unsafe conditions, e.g. under high r.h. and insect presence. An investigation was carried out to identify the trends of the changes in the fungal species communities during storage of wheat grain under these unsafe storage conditions. The distribution change of fungi genera was monitored on small grain samples of three wheat varieties with different kernel size and hardness (soft, medium-hard and hard), during 160 d storage at constant temperature of 22-23°C, at two r.h. levels, and with or without an infestation by the rice weevil . According to their behavioral differences related to grain water activity affinity, fungi genera were classified in three groups: i/ The hydrophilic group of field fungi (Fusarium, Geniculifera, Sepedonium, and Chrysogenum); ii/ The intermediate semi-xerophilic fungi (Alternaria, Mucor, Ulocladium, Epicoccum, and Arthrobotrys); iii/ The storage xerophilic fungi (Penicillium and Aspergillus). Temporal abundance of these three groups with grain storage time and condition was observed in weak relation with wheat variety and insect presence. The multivariate comparison of the different experimental situations revealed a difference in the susceptibility of varieties to fungal species colonization in close relationship with the final equilibrium level between ambient r.h. and grain moisture content which was observed variety-dependent. This difference was not related to grain hardness but rather to a different r.h. affinity. For one variety (Apache), the germination rate was declining more rapidly than for the two others with storage time. Any significant relation between sound and infested grain condition and the contamination rate by storage fungi could be found. The susceptibility of the three wheat varieties to critical storage conditions and fungal colonization may lead in one variety to a hot-spot formation.Keywords: Common wheat, Variety, Fungal microflora, Insect pest, Fungi abundance chang

African-American patients with cancer Talking About Clinical Trials (TACT) with oncologists during consultations: evaluating the efficacy of tailored health messages in a randomised controlled trial—the TACT study protocol

Introduction Low rates of accrual of African-American (AA) patients with cancer to therapeutic clinical trials (CTs) represent a serious and modifiable racial disparity in healthcare that impedes the development of promising cancer therapies. Suboptimal physician–patient consultation communication is a barrier to the accrual of patients with cancer of any race, but communication difficulties are compounded with AA patients. Providing tailored health messages (THM) to AA patients and their physician about CTs has the potential to improve communication, lower barriers to accrual and ameliorate health disparities. Objective (1) Demonstrate the efficacy of THM to increase patient activation as measured by direct observation. (2) Demonstrate the efficacy of THM to improve patient outcomes associated with barriers to AA participation. (3) Explore associations among preconsultation levels of: (A) trust in medical researchers, (B) knowledge and attitudes towards CTs, (C) patient-family member congruence in decision-making, and (D) involvement/information preferences, and group assignment. Methods and analysis First, using established methods, we will develop THM materials. Second, the efficacy of the intervention is determined in a 2 by 2 factorial randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of (1) providing 357 AA patients with cancer with THM with 2 different ‘depths’ of tailoring and (2) either providing feedback to oncologists about the patients\u27 trial THM or not. The primary analysis compares patient engaged communication in 4 groups preconsultation and postconsultation. Ethics and dissemination This study was approved by the Virginia Commonwealth University Institutional Review Board. To facilitate use of the THM intervention in diverse settings, we will convene ‘user groups’ at 3 major US cancer centres. To facilitate dissemination, we will post all materials and the implementation guide in publicly available locations

A Network Agent-Based Model of Ethnocentrism and Intergroup Cooperation

We present a network agent-based model of ethnocentrism and intergroup cooperation in which agents from two groups (majority and minority) change their communality (feeling of group solidarity), cooperation strategy and social ties, depending on a barrier of “likeness” (affinity). Our purpose was to study the model’s capability for describing how the mechanisms of preexisting markers (or “tags”) that can work as cues for inducing in-group bias, imitation, and reaction to non-cooperating agents, lead to ethnocentrism or intergroup cooperation and influence the formation of the network of mixed ties between agents of different groups. We explored the model’s behavior via four experiments in which we studied the combined effects of “likeness,” relative size of the minority group, degree of connectivity of the social network, game difficulty (strength) and relative frequencies of strategy revision and structural adaptation. The parameters that have a stronger influence on the emerging dominant strategies and the formation of mixed ties in the social network are the group-tag barrier, the frequency with which agents react to adverse partners, and the game difficulty. The relative size of the minority group also plays a role in increasing the percentage of mixed ties in the social network. This is consistent with the intergroup ties being dependent on the “arena” of contact (with progressively stronger barriers from e.g. workmates to close relatives), and with measures that hinder intergroup contact also hindering mutual cooperation

Global patterns of β-diversity along the phylogenetic time-scale : the role of climate and plate tectonics

Aim: We aimed to assess the relative influence of the historical and contemporary processes determining global patterns of current \u3b2-diversity. Specifically, we quantified the relative effects of contemporary climate and historical plate tectonics on \u3b2-diversity at different phylogenetic scales. Location: Global. Time Period: Contemporaneous. Major taxa studied: Mammals and birds. Methods: We analysed the current \u3b2-diversity patterns of birds and mammal assemblages at sequential depths in the phylogeny, that is, from the tips to deeper branches. This was done by slicing bird and mammal phylogenetic trees into 66 time slices of 1 Ma (from 0 to 65 Ma) and recording the branches within each slice. Using global distribution data, we defined the branches\u2019 geographical distribution as the union of the corresponding downstream species distributions. For each time slice, we (a) computed pairwise \u3b2-diversity across all the grid cells for the whole world and (b) estimated the correlation between this \u3b2-diversity matrix and contemporary climatic and geographical distances, and past geological distances, a proxy for plate tectonics. Results: Contemporary climate best explained the \u3b2-diversity of shallow branches (i.e., species). For mammals, the geographical isolation of landmasses generated by plate tectonics best explained the \u3b2-diversity of deeper branches, whereas the effect of past isolation was weaker for birds. Main conclusions: Our study shows that the relative influence of contemporary climate and plate tectonics on the \u3b2-diversity of bird and mammal assemblages varies along the phylogenetic time-scale. Our phylogenetic time-scale approach is general and flexible enough to be applied to a broad spectrum of study systems and spatial scales