Response of banana cultivars to banana weevil attack

East African Highland Bananas (EAHB) (Musa AAA, 'Matooke' group) are a major staple food in the East African region. However, banana weevil (Cosmopolites sorllidus) is a major production constraint to bananas and may cause damage levels of up to 100%. Pesticides can effectively control banana weevil but these are unaffordable by resource poor farmers, besides being environmentally unfriendly. The use of resistant cultivars therefore, may be a safer longterm intervention strategy for banana weevil control. An experiment was conducted to screen all the Musa germ plasm found in Uganda for response to banana weevil, and evaluate levels of susceptibility. Weevil damage levels indicating both peripheral and inner damage were scored at ha rvest and used in two multivariate analyses. Cluster analysis grouped the cultivars into three significantly different groups; resistant, intermediate and susceptible. Most of the East African Highland 'Matooke' cultivars were more homogenous in their response to banana weevil, with most of them falling into the intermediate group. One East African Highland cultivar Nalukira (a bee r type) was grouped among the resistant cultivars while three, N aka were, Namafura, and Ndiibwa balangira, were clustered as susceptible. Principal component analysis revealed almost similar results. Gonja (AAB-plantain) was the most susceptible, while Culcutta-4 (AA-wiJd type) was the most resistant. Culcutta-4 and FHIA-03 (AABB), which showed high resistance levels may be good sources of resistance genes for genetic improvement of la nd races for resistance to banana weevil

Quantum Tunneling Effect in Oscillating Friedmann Cosmology

It is shown that the tunneling effect in quantum cosmology is possible not only at the very beginning or the very end of the evolution, but also at the moment of maximum expansion of the universe. A positive curvature expanding Friedmann universe changes its state of evolution spontaneously and completely, {\it without} any changes in the matter content, avoiding recollapse, and falling into oscillations between the nonzero values of the scale factor. On the other hand, an oscillating nonsingular universe can tunnel spontaneously to a recollapsing regime. The probability of such kind of tunneling is given explicitly. It is inversely related to the amount of nonrelativistic matter (dust), and grows from a certain fixed value to unity if the negative cosmological constant approaches zero.Comment: 18 pages Latex + 2 figures available by fax upon reques

The potential of using botanical insecticides for the control of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus(Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Crude extracts of chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach L.), mexican marigold (Tagates spp.), water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes, Martius) and Castor oil (Ricinus communis L.) were tested for their effect onweevil mortality, settling responses and oviposition in the laboratory. All extracts of the botanicals did not show significant effects on weevil mortality compared to controls. Weevil settling responses oncorms treated with extracts of botanicals compared to controls were statistically similar after 1 h and 72 h of observation. Oviposition was significantly low on corms treated with M. azedarach, Tagetes sppand R. communis compared to controls. Oviposition on corms treated with water hyacinth extracts was not statistically different from oviposition on controls. The data indicates that botanicals possess limited insecticidal properties but the potential of M. azedarach, Tagetes spp and R. communis to control the weevil through preventing oviposition needs further investigation

Effect of mulching on banana weevil movement relative to pheromone traps

Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) is a major pest in East Africa causing yield losses of up to 14 metric tonnes per hectare annually. A study was conducted in Uganda to determine the effect of mulching on banana (Musa spp. L.) weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), movement relative to pheromone-baited traps. Three treatments were used to create different mulching levels: banana without mulch (control), banana with thin mulch (< 6 cm thick), and banana with thick mulch (15 cm thick). Pheromone trapswere placed in the plots and weevil trap catches were monitored. Weevil catches in pheromone traps from both mulched and unmulched plots were generally similar. The mulching level had no effect on the ratio of males to females recaptured. The numbers of weevils captured in pheromone traps were lower than in the wet season andwas not influenced by mulch levels. Mulching levels had a limited influence on the numbers of weevils recaptured from different directions. The results generally indicate that mulching has no effect on weevil catches in pheromone traps

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure

Measurement of CP-violation asymmetries in D0 to Ks pi+ pi-

We report a measurement of time-integrated CP-violation asymmetries in the resonant substructure of the three-body decay D0 to Ks pi+ pi- using CDF II data corresponding to 6.0 invfb of integrated luminosity from Tevatron ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The charm mesons used in this analysis come from D*+(2010) to D0 pi+ and D*-(2010) to D0bar pi-, where the production flavor of the charm meson is determined by the charge of the accompanying pion. We apply a Dalitz-amplitude analysis for the description of the dynamic decay structure and use two complementary approaches, namely a full Dalitz-plot fit employing the isobar model for the contributing resonances and a model-independent bin-by-bin comparison of the D0 and D0bar Dalitz plots. We find no CP-violation effects and measure an asymmetry of ACP = (-0.05 +- 0.57 (stat) +- 0.54 (syst))% for the overall integrated CP-violation asymmetry, consistent with the standard model prediction.Comment: 15 page

Observation of the Baryonic Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-

We report the first observation of the baryonic flavor-changing neutral current decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- with 24 signal events and a statistical significance of 5.8 Gaussian standard deviations. This measurement uses ppbar collisions data sample corresponding to 6.8fb-1 at sqrt{s}=1.96TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. The total and differential branching ratios for Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- are measured. We find B(Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-) = [1.73+-0.42(stat)+-0.55(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also report the first measurement of the differential branching ratio of B_s -> phi mu+ mu- using 49 signal events. In addition, we report branching ratios for B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-, B0 -> K0 mu+ mu-, and B -> K*(892) mu+ mu- decays.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Internet Gaming Disorder Behaviors in emergent adulthood: a pilot study examining the interplay between anxiety and family cohesion

Understanding risk and protective factors associated with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been highlighted as a research priority by the American Psychiatric Association, (2013). The present study focused on the potential IGD risk effect of anxiety and the buffering role of family cohesion on this association. A sample of emerging adults all of whom were massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers (18–29 years) residing in Australia were assessed longitudinally (face-to-face: N = 61, Mage = 23.02 years, SD = 3.43) and cross-sectionally (online: N = 64, Mage = 23.34 years, SD = 3.39). IGD symptoms were assessed using the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS-SF9; Pontes & Griffiths Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.006, 2015). The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck and Steer, 1990) and the balanced family cohesion scale (BFC; Olson Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 3(1) 64–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00175.x, 2011) were applied to assess anxiety and BFC levels, respectively. Linear regressions and moderation analyses confirmed that anxiety increased IGD risk and that BFC weakened the anxiety-related IGD risk

Measurement of the Dipion Mass Spectrum in X(3872) -> J/Psi Pi+ Pi- Decays

We measure the dipion mass spectrum in X(3872)--> J/Psi Pi+ Pi- decays using 360 pb-1 of pbar-p collisions at 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector. The spectrum is fit with predictions for odd C-parity (3S1, 1P1, and 3DJ) charmonia decaying to J/Psi Pi+ Pi-, as well as even C-parity states in which the pions are from Rho0 decay. The latter case also encompasses exotic interpretations, such as a D0-D*0Bar molecule. Only the 3S1 and J/Psi Rho hypotheses are compatible with our data. Since 3S1 is untenable on other grounds, decay via J/Psi Rho is favored, which implies C=+1 for the X(3872). Models for different J/Psi-Rho angular momenta L are considered. Flexibility in the models, especially the introduction of Rho-Omega interference, enable good descriptions of our data for both L=0 and 1.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures -- Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Direct targeting of hippocampal neurons for apoptosis by glucocorticoids is reversible by mineralocorticoid receptor activation

Prova tipográfica (In Press)An important question arising from previous observations in vivo is whether glucocorticoids can directly influence neuronal survival in the hippocampus. To this end, a primary postnatal hippocampal culture system containing mature neurons and expressing both glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid (MR) receptors was developed. Results show that the GR agonist dexamethasone (DEX) targets neurons (microtubule-associated protein 2-positive cells) for death through apoptosis. GR-mediated cell death was counteracted by the MR agonist aldosterone (ALDO). Antagonism of MR with spironolactone ([7a-(acetylthio)-3-oxo-17a-pregn- 4-ene,21 carbolactone] (SPIRO)) causes a dose-dependent increase in neuronal apoptosis in the absence of DEX, indicating that nanomolar levels of corticosterone present in the culture medium, which are sufficient to activate MR, can mask the apoptotic response to DEX. Indeed, both SPIRO and another MR antagonist, oxprenoate potassium ((7a,17a)-17-Hydroxy-3-oxo-7- propylpregn-4-ene-21-carboxylic acid, potassium salt (RU28318)), accentuated DEX-induced apoptosis. These results demonstrate that GRs can act directly to induce hippocampal neuronal death and that demonstration of their full apoptotic potency depends on abolition of survival-promoting actions mediated by MR