Fish-line Entanglement of Nesting Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

We give a detailed account of monofilament entanglement in nesting material of a gravid female Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) which resulted in death. Such incidents substantiate the hazards of anthropogenic materials and the need to dispose of them with due diligence

Density and distribution on enset root mealybugs on enset

The enset root mealybug (Cataenococcus ensete Williams and Matile-Ferrero) has become the most important insect pest of enset (Ensete ventricosum) in southern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution and density of enset root mealybugs on enset plants. The distribution of the enset root mealybug on enset roots and corms of the ‘Genticha’ clone was studied in 2005 on farmers’ field at Yirgachefe, southern Ethiopia. An average of 87 adult enset root mealybugs were collected from roots and corms per plant. Themajority of the mealybugs inhabited the roots (79%), while 21% was found on the corms. About 99% of the mealybugs were found in the upper 40 cm soil layer. In addition, about 90% of the mealybugs were collected within a 60 cm radius from the plants. The majority of the mealybugs (59%) were found on the upper half of the corm. About 63% of all mealybugs were collected from the corm and on the roots within a 20 cm radius from the corm. Both root and shoot fresh weight had a negative correlation (r2 = 0.58 and 0.92, respectively) with the ensetroot mealybug population density

The investigation of particle acceleration in colliding-wind massive binaries with SIMBOL-X

An increasing number of early-type (O and Wolf-Rayet) colliding wind binaries (CWBs) is known to accelerate particles up to relativistic energies. In this context, non-thermal emission processes such as inverse Compton (IC) scattering are expected to produce a high energy spectrum, in addition to the strong thermal emission from the shock-heated plasma. SIMBOL-X will be the ideal observatory to investigate the hard X-ray spectrum (above 10 keV) of these systems, i.e. where it is no longer dominated by the thermal emission. Such observations are strongly needed to constrain the models aimed at understanding the physics of particle acceleration in CWB. Such systems are important laboratories for investigating the underlying physics of particle acceleration at high Mach number shocks, and probe a different region of parameter space than studies of supernova remnants.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the workshop "Simbol-X: the hard X-ray universe in focus", held in Bologna, Italy (14-16 May 2007

Spatial and temporal distribution of insect vectors of Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum and their activity across banana cultivars grown in Rwanda.

Insect vectors of Xanthomonas campestris pv musacearum (Xcm) have played a major role in long distance and plant to plant transmission of Xanthomonas wilt of banana (XW). The prevalence of insects has been reported to vary in space and time. Some banana cultivars have also been reported to attract more insect vectors of Xcm than others. The present study was conducted to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of insect vectors of Xcm and assess their activity across banana cultivars grown in Rwanda. The study was carried out in four banana growing areas of Rwanda selected on the basis of their altitude (i.e.Low, Medium and High). The Kivu Lake Border region was selected as a fourth site due to the high prevalence of XW. Insects were sampled in the four annual seasons (short dry, short rainy, long dry and long rainy) and at different times of the day. During sampling of insects, the incidence of XW-male bud infection was also recorded. Collected insects were immediately sorted into taxonomic groups and conserved in vials containing 70% ethanol for further identification to genus and species level. Five insect specimens in each taxon were put aside for the isolation of Xcm on their external body parts. There was a high prevalence of fruit flies, honey bees and other flies (in other families than Drosophilidae and Tephritidae) compared with wasps, ants and beetles. More insects were recorded in the low altitude area and during the long rainy season. These findings correlated with the observed high incidence of XW in the wet seasons. Incidence of floral infections was higher in the low altitudes declining with the increase in altitude, correlating with the decline in insect activity as altitude increased. The activity of insects on banana male buds varied among banana cultivars, with more activity on beer (AAA-East African Highland (EAH) and ABB types) and dessert banana cultivars compared with cooking or mixed use cultivars. Among the cooking types only ‘Injagi’ and its clone sets ‘Barabeshya’ and ‘Incakara’ attracted large insect populations. Banana cultivars ‘Nkazikamwe’ (cooking AAA-EAH), ‘Impura’ (beer AAAEAH) and ‘Ikinyangurube’ (dessert AAA) possessed persistent male bracts and neuter flowers and were less attractive to flower visitors. These cultivars could be promoted in areas prone to insect vector infections. Timely and proper de-budding should be emphasized with special attention during the rainy seasons and for banana cultivars with non-persistent male buds

Variation in nectar volume and sugar content in male flowers of Musa cultivars grown in Rwanda and their non-effect on the numbers of visiting key diurnal insect vectors of banana Xanthomonas wilt

Insects are a major mode of banana Xanthomonas wilt (XW) spread. High insect activity has been blamed for the high XW incidence in ‘Kayinja’ (ABB-genome) dominated banana landscapes across east and central Africa. ‘Kayinja’ male bud nectar composition reportedly contributes to high insect activity. The variation in nectar composition with agro-ecological zones and banana cultivars and its influence on the number of visiting insects in Rwanda were assessed. Three male buds were collected per cultivar for nectar extraction and analysis using a high performance liquid chromatography. Nectar volume and sugar concentrations varied (P<0.001) across 27 banana cultivars, annual seasons and agro-ecological zone. The highest nectar volume was recorded among the East African highland cooking cultivars (AAA-genome) in the high altitude site and the short-heavy rainy season. Nectar contained three sugars: glucose, fructose and sucrose, though hexose (glucose and fructose) was dominant. The three sugars varied significantly (P<0.001) within each cultivar. The total nectar-sugar concentration ranged from 2.3–32%, with the highest among dessert cultivars ‘Kamaramasenge’ (AAB-genome) and ‘Gisukari’ (AAA-genome). No strong correlation occurred between insect population and total nectar sugar concentration or nectar volume. Insect populations were rather influenced by the weather conditions, the long rainy season characterized by moderate well distributed rainfall recording the highest insect populations as compared to the short rainy season (with heavy rainfall) and the dry seasons

Targets for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

The completion of the human genome sequence provides unique opportunities to identify new molecular targets for a variety of diseased conditions, especially for neoplastic diseases. Breast cancer is an ideal disease for the implementation of the recently developed, sophisticated genomic technologies, which permit the study of expression of many genes or proteins simultaneously, an approach known as molecular profiling. This approach is considered a major step forward in the development of new drugs that are more effective and less toxic than the current generation of antitumor agents. In this paper, we briefly review the current and future genomics technologies, such as DNA microarrays and proteomics techniques, and their use in the identification of new molecular targets for the treatment of breast cancer. We also discuss the challenge associated with the development of bioinformatics tools to analyze the massive number of data points generated by these technologies. Proof of principle is now emerging, demonstrating that selective agents against abnormal or mutated gene products can indeed be useful in the treatment of cancer. However, despite heavy investment in genomics research by the pharmaceutical industry, the full impact of genomics on drug discovery has yet to be fully demonstrated

Banana Xanthomonas wilt in Ethiopia: Occurrence and insect vector transmission

Bacterial wilt caused by Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum (Xvm) is an important disease of enset and banana in south and south-western Ethiopia where, the diversity of the insect fauna on banana inflorescences was unknown and the role of insects as vectors of the disease had not been studied. The objectives of this study wereto assess the occurrence of bacterial wilt and male bud infection, the diversity of insect families in banana plantations and the presence of the bacteria on insects collected from diseased inflorescences in south and southwestern Ethiopia. Surveys were carried out and insects were collected from three different zones in 2005. The diversity and richness of the insect families was assessed across sites and genotypes and comparisons were made using the Shannon Diversity Index and the Jack knife estimator, respectively. Correlations were made betweenthe abundance and incidence of insects with the incidence of male bud infection on ‘Pisang Awak’ plants. A wide range of insect families were recorded and they varied according to banana genotype and altitude. The Drosophilidae and Apinae families were most frequently recorded across sites and genotypes. The ‘Wendo’ variety (AAACavendish group) had the highest diversity and richness of insect families within and across sites. In contrast to the Kembata Tembaro and Bench Maji zones, severe and widespread male bud infection of banana was found in Kaffa, where there was a high diversity of insects on the ‘Pisang Awak’ and ‘Abesha muz’ plants. The incidenceof male bud infection on ‘Pisang Awak’ plants was highly correlated with the incidence of insects (R2 = 0.964). The incidence of male bud infection however depends on the floral morphology and altitude. Artificial inoculation with Xvm ooze on fresh male bract and flower scars resulted in infections on ‘Pisang Awak’ and ‘Abesha muz’ plants, but the ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ plants with persistent bracts and flowers remained healthy. Few male bud infections were observed at altitudes above 1,700 masl. Xvm was isolated from Apinae, Lonchaeidae, Muscidae,Tephritidae and Vespidae insect families. Lonchaeidae (Silba spp.) were frequently observed on banana bract and flower scars and could thus be an important insect vector of Xvm in Ethiopia

Non-thermal radio emission from O-type stars. IV. Cyg OB2 No. 8A

We study the non-thermal radio emission of the binary Cyg OB2 No. 8A, to see if it is variable and if that variability is locked to the orbital phase. We investigate if the synchrotron emission generated in the colliding-wind region of this binary can explain the observations and we verify that our proposed model is compatible with the X-ray data. We use both new and archive radio data from the Very Large Array (VLA) to construct a light curve as a function of orbital phase. We also present new X-ray data that allow us to improve the X-ray light curve. We develop a numerical model for the colliding-wind region and the synchrotron emission it generates. The model also includes free-free absorption and emission due to the stellar winds of both stars. In this way we construct artificial radio light curves and compare them with the observed one. The observed radio fluxes show phase-locked variability. Our model can explain this variability because the synchrotron emitting region is not completely hidden by the free-free absorption. In order to obtain a better agreement for the phases of minimum and maximum flux we need to use stellar wind parameters for the binary components which are somewhat different from typical values for single stars. We verify that the change in stellar parameters does not influence the interpretation of the X-ray light curve. Our model has trouble explaining the observed radio spectral index. This could indicate the presence of clumping or porosity in the stellar wind, which - through its influence on both the Razin effect and the free-free absorption - can considerably influence the spectral index. Non-thermal radio emitters could therefore open a valuable pathway to investigate the difficult issue of clumping in stellar winds.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted by A&