Native and non-native egg parasitoids associated with brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys [stål, 1855]; hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in western slovenia

Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), native to East Asia, has become a globally invasive pest, as a serious threat to agricultural production and a notorious nuisance pest in urban areas. Considerable efforts have been made so far to develop effective pest control measures to prevent crop damage. Biological control of this invasive stink bug by egg parasitoids has proven to be the most environmentally sustainable long-term solution. Knowledge of the native egg parasitoid fauna is of key importance when implementing a biological control program. Therefore, the main objective of our study was to detect egg parasitoid species associated with H. halys in the Goriška region (Western Slovenia) and to evaluate their impact on the pest population under field conditions. In the years 2019 and 2020, around 4600 H. halys eggs were collected in the wild and more than 3400 sentinel eggs were exposed to detect parasitoids in the field. Five egg-parasitoid species emerged from H. halys eggs: Anastatus bifasciatus (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae), Telenomus sp., Trissolcus basalis, Trissolcus mitsukurii (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), all of them are new records for Slovenia. The native species, An. bifasciatus, dominated in urban and suburban areas, while non-native Tr. mitsukurii prevailed in agricultural areas. Overall parasitism rates of naturally laid eggs by the parasitoid species complex in 2019 and 2020 was 3.0 and 14.4%, respectively. Rapid recruitment of native parasitoids, early detection of an effective alien parasitoid species and increasing overall parasitism rates are very encouraging results, which need to be followed and verified in future research

Trans-Neptunian Objects Found in the First Four Years of the Dark Energy Survey

We present a catalog of 316 trans-Neptunian bodies (TNOs) detected from the first four seasons ("Y4"data) of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The survey covers a contiguous 5000 deg2 of the southern sky in the grizY optical/NIR filter set, with a typical TNO in this part of the sky being targeted by 25-30 Y4 exposures. This paper focuses on the methods used to detect these objects from the ≈60,000 Y4 exposures, a process made challenging by the absence of the few-hour repeat observations employed by TNO-optimized surveys. Newly developed techniques include: transient/moving object detection by comparison of single-epoch catalogs to catalogs of "stacked"images; quantified astrometric error from atmospheric turbulence; new software for detecting TNO linkages in a temporally sparse transient catalog, and for estimating the rate of spurious linkages; use of faint stars to determine the detection efficiency versus magnitude in all exposures. Final validation of the reality of linked orbits uses a new "sub-threshold confirmation"test, wherein we demand the object be detectable in a stack of the exposures in which the orbit indicates an object should be present, but was not individually detected. This catalog contains all validated TNOs which were detected on ≥6 unique nights in the Y4 data, and is complete to r ≲ 23.3 mag with virtually no dependence on orbital properties for bound TNOs at distance 30 au 0.3 mag more depth, and arcs of >4 yr for nearly all detections. © 2020. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of rice germ supplementation on body composition, metabolic parameters, satiating capacity, and amino acid profiles in obese postmenopausal women: A randomized, controlled clinical pilot trial

Rice germ (RG) may be a safe and effective dietary supplement for obesity in menopause, considering its high protein content and considerable amounts of essential amino acids, good fatty acids, and fiber. This pilot randomized, blinded, parallel-group, placebo-controlled pilot trial investigated the effectiveness of 4-weeks RG supplementation (25 g twice a day) on body composition, as primary outcome, measured by Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA), and metabolic parameters, as secondary outcomes, like amino acid profiles and satiating capacity, in obese postmenopausal women following a tailored hypocaloric diet (25–30% less than daily energy requirements). Twenty-seven women were randomly assigned to the supplemented group (14) or placebo group (13). There was a significant interaction between time and group for body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.0001), waist (p = 0.002) and hip circumferences (p = 0.01), total protein (0.008), albumin (0.005), Homeostasis Model Assessment index score (p = 0.04), glycine (p = 0.002), glutamine (p = 0.004), and histidine (p = 0.007). Haber’s means over time showed a clearly greater feeling of satiety for the supplemented compared to the placebo group. These findings indicate that RG supplementation in addition to a tailored diet counterbalanced the metabolic changes typical of menopause, with improvements in BMI, body composition, insulin resistance, amino acid profiles, and satiety

The use of a new food-grade lecithin formulation of highly standardized ginger (Zingiber officinale) and acmella oleracea extracts for the treatment of pain and inflammation in a group of subjects with moderate knee osteoarthritis

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of a new food-grade lecithin formulation of standardized extracts of Zingiber officinale and Acmella oleracea on pain and inflammation. Patients and Methods: Pilot study with one-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design in which 50 subjects with moderate knee osteoarthritis (OA) (mean age: 62.46±8.45) were supplied for four weeks with two tablets/day. Results: Primary outcomes were 1) the evaluation of pain intensity, by a 30-day visual analogue scale (VAS) and 2) the assessment of knee function by WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis) Index and by Tegner Lysholm Knee Scoring collected at baseline, at 15 and 30 days after treatment. Secondary outcomes were 3) health-related quality of life, by the ShortForm36 (SF-36); 4) inflammation grade by C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR); and 5) body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measured at baseline and 30 days after treatment. Data showed significant effects of supplement intake for WOMAC (β=−3.27, p<0.0001), Lysholm (β=1.06, p=0.0003), CRP (β=−0.13, p=0.006), ESR (β=−3.09, p=0.004), physical activity (β=4.3, p=0.009) and fat-free mass (β=376.7, p=0.046). A significant VAS’s decrease over time was observed in both knees (left: β=−0.08, p<0.0001; right: β=−0.07, p<0.0001). Conclusion: The tested formulation seems to be effective and also free of side effects

Activity-dependent structural plasticity of perisynaptic astrocytic domains promotes excitatory synapse stability

Excitatory synapses in the CNS are highly dynamic structures that can show activity- dependent remodeling and stabilization in response to learning and memory. Synapses are enveloped with intricate processes of astrocytes known as perisynaptic astrocytic processes (PAPs). PAPs are motile structures displaying rapid actin-dependent movements and are characterized by Ca²⁺ elevations in response to neuronal activity. Despite a debated implication in synaptic plasticity, the role of both Ca²⁺ events in astrocytes and PAP morphological dynamics remain unclear.Results In the hippocampus, we found that PAPs show extensive structural plasticity that is regulated by synaptic activity through astrocytic metabotropic glutamate receptors and intracellular calcium signaling. Synaptic activation that induces long-term potentiation caused a transient PAP motility increase leading to an enhanced astrocytic coverage of the synapse. Selective activation of calcium signals in individual PAPs using exogenous metabotropic receptor expression and two-photon uncaging reproduced these effects and enhanced spine stability. In vivo imaging in the somatosensory cortex of adult mice revealed that increased neuronal activity through whisker stimulation similarly elevates PAP movement. This in vivo PAP motility correlated with spine coverage and was predictive of spine stability.Conclusions This study identifies a novel bidirectional interaction between synapses and astrocytes, in which synaptic activity and synaptic potentiation regulate PAP structural plasticity, which in turn determines the fate of the synapse. This mechanism may represent an important contribution of astrocytes to learning and memory processes