Gene-knockdown in the honey bee mite Varroa destructor by a non-invasive approach : studies on a glutathione S-transferase

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Transcriptome analysis of the synganglion from the honey bee mite, Varroa destructor and RNAi knockdown of neural peptide targets

Acknowledgements This work was funded by BBSRC-LINK grant # BB/J01009X/1 and Vita Europe Ltd. We are grateful to the Scottish Beekeepers Association, especially Mr Phil McAnespie in supporting this work at its inception. We acknowledge partial funding from a Genesis Faraday SPARK Award, part of a Scottish Government SEEKIT project for the early part of this work. We are grateful to Prof David Evans for his advice on Varroa destructor viruses.Peer reviewedPostprin

Conditional sampling for barrier option pricing under the LT method

We develop a conditional sampling scheme for pricing knock-out barrier options under the Linear Transformations (LT) algorithm from Imai and Tan (2006). We compare our new method to an existing conditional Monte Carlo scheme from Glasserman and Staum (2001), and show that a substantial variance reduction is achieved. We extend the method to allow pricing knock-in barrier options and introduce a root-finding method to obtain a further variance reduction. The effectiveness of the new method is supported by numerical results

The problem of mitotic recombination in Neurospora

The problem of mitotic recombination in Neurospor

Isolation and characterization of Pythium spp. from South Dakota soils under commerial alfalfa production

Alfalfa is a significant crop in South Dakota that provides many different benefits for its growers. South Dakota plants the most acres of alfalfa in the United States. It is used as a protein-rich feed for livestock, a cover crop that protects against soil erosion, and a natural fertilizer because of its ability to fix nitrogen in the soil. However, alfalfa seedlings are susceptible to many diseases. Pythium root and seed rot is one disease known to have devastating effects on alfalfa field establishment and yield. Pythium species are oomycete pathogens that inhabit the soil and remain present and pathogenic as oospores. Pythium diseases of alfalfa cause reduced root systems, plant size, length, and growth rate. Pythium management is centered on fungicidal seed treatments. There have been recent reports of Pythium spp. infecting alfalfa across the world in places like Sudan and China, but current research in South Dakota is needed. In our research, we isolated Pythium spp. from Lake County South Dakota soils under commercial alfalfa production. We also characterized these isolates with a DNA sequencing analysis and evaluated the isolates for fungicide sensitivity. This summer, we will conduct a statewide Pythium disease survey and assess the collected isolates for fungicide sensitivity and pathogenicity towards various commercial lines of alfalfa. This research will provide growers with the information necessary to make educated decisions in order to increase yields and maximize their profits

A method for obtaining double mutants within single genes or gene clusters

Method for double mutants within genes or gene cluster

Optimal randomized multilevel algorithms for infinite-dimensional integration on function spaces with ANOVA-type decomposition

In this paper, we consider the infinite-dimensional integration problem on weighted reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces with norms induced by an underlying function space decomposition of ANOVA-type. The weights model the relative importance of different groups of variables. We present new randomized multilevel algorithms to tackle this integration problem and prove upper bounds for their randomized error. Furthermore, we provide in this setting the first non-trivial lower error bounds for general randomized algorithms, which, in particular, may be adaptive or non-linear. These lower bounds show that our multilevel algorithms are optimal. Our analysis refines and extends the analysis provided in [F. J. Hickernell, T. M\"uller-Gronbach, B. Niu, K. Ritter, J. Complexity 26 (2010), 229-254], and our error bounds improve substantially on the error bounds presented there. As an illustrative example, we discuss the unanchored Sobolev space and employ randomized quasi-Monte Carlo multilevel algorithms based on scrambled polynomial lattice rules.Comment: 31 pages, 0 figure

A cooking pot lit by fire

Recent research into the records of eclipses in the Chronicle of the English monk, Gervase of Canterbury, has indicated that an entry for the year 1187 C.E. may contain a description of solar prominences being visible during the total eclipse of that year. As such it is not only the earliest report of the phenomenon from England, but also reveals that a British Library manuscript contains the earliest surviving contemporary record of such an observation

Mid-Career Faculty and High Levels of Community Engagement: Intentional Reshaping of Meaningful Careers

This study examined the relationship between vital mid-career faculty and rates of participation in community engagement at three public comprehensive universities in New England.  Specifically, mid-career faculty successfully taught, rendered service within their setting, and conducted some research, but in interviews they described additional meaning and career fulfillment derived from creating and maintaining niches of community engagement focusing on social problems and change. Data from 102 faculty surveys were analyzed in the form of descriptive statistics, correlations, and t-tests.  Data from 30 face-to-face interviews with faculty—all of whom were selected for their high self-vitality ratings as well as gender, rank, and discipline—were coded and assigned themes.  There appeared to be a positive correlation between mid-career faculty who chose to participate in community engagement and high levels of vitality that may be influenced and enhanced by the engagement itself