Farmers’ ethno-ecological knowledge of vegetable pests and pesticidal plant use in Malawi and Zambia

While pests are a major constraint in vegetable production in many parts of Southern Africa, little is known about farmers’ knowledge and management practices. A survey was conducted among 168 and 91 vegetable farmers in Northern Malawi and Eastern Zambia, respectively, to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes and traditional management practices in tomato and crucifers (brassica). All respondents in Malawi and Zambia reported pest damage on tomato and crucifers, and 75% had used synthetic pesticides. The use of pesticidal plants, cultural practices and resistant varieties constituted a smaller portion of the pest control options in both crucifers and tomato. Over 70% of the respondents were aware of pesticidal plants, and more female (75%) than male (55%) respondents reported using them. While over 20 different plant species were mentioned by respondents, Tephrosia vogelii accounted for 61 and 53% of the pesticidal species known to respondents in Malawi and Zambia, respectively. Farmers with small landholdings were more inclined to use pesticidal plants than those with medium and large landholding highlighting the importance of this management alternative for poor farmers. Most respondents were willing to cultivate pesticidal plants, which indicate that farmers understand the potential value of these plants in pest management

Success in periodontology: An evolutive concept

AimThe purpose of this editorial was to discuss a definition of success after periodontal therapy based on the retention of natural dentition.Materials and MethodsBased on topic and relevance, references were collected and then divided into four categories: (a) the influence of available therapeutic techniques on the definition of hopeless teeth, (b) the longâ term rate of tooth loss during supportive periodontal therapy, (c) the duration of time that the treatment outcomes may be considered stable and (d) patientsâ perception and satisfaction of periodontal therapy.ResultsPeriodontal therapy can change the prognosis of hopeless teeth, making them maintainable in the long term. The rate of tooth loss can be minimized in a way that a period of 10 years or more is needed to evaluate further periodontal breakdown. In addition, patientsâ perception and satisfaction of the treatment should be considered as the main therapeutic endpoints of the provided periodontal therapy.ConclusionsDefinition of success is linked to the available therapeutic tools. Due to the recent advancement of treatment modalities, periodontally hopeless teeth can now be treated and maintained for a long period of time with health, function and patient satisfaction.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150541/1/jcpe13150.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150541/2/jcpe13150_am.pd

Triplet repeats form secondary structures that escape DNA repair in yeast

Several human neurodegenerative diseases result from expansion of CTG/CAG or CGG/CCG triplet repeats. The finding that single-stranded CNG repeats form hairpin-like structures in vitro has led to the hypothesis that DNA secondary structure formation is an important component of the expansion mechanism. We show that single-stranded DNA loops containing 10 CTG/CAG or CGG/CCG repeats are inefficiently repaired during meiotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Comparisons of the repair of DNA loops with palindromic and nonpalindromic sequences suggest that this inefficient repair reflects the ability of these sequences to form hairpin structures in vivo

On the Metric Dimension of Cartesian Products of Graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G resolves G if every vertex is uniquely determined by its vector of distances to the vertices in S. The metric dimension of G is the minimum cardinality of a resolving set of G. This paper studies the metric dimension of cartesian products G*H. We prove that the metric dimension of G*G is tied in a strong sense to the minimum order of a so-called doubly resolving set in G. Using bounds on the order of doubly resolving sets, we establish bounds on G*H for many examples of G and H. One of our main results is a family of graphs G with bounded metric dimension for which the metric dimension of G*G is unbounded

Nonrandom Distribution of Interhomolog Recombination Events Induced by Breakage of a Dicentric Chromosome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Dicentric chromosomes undergo breakage in mitosis, resulting in chromosome deletions, duplications, and translocations. In this study, we map chromosome break sites of dicentrics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by a mitotic recombination assay. The assay uses a diploid strain in which one homolog has a conditional centromere in addition to a wild-type centromere, and the other homolog has only the wild-type centromere; the conditional centromere is inactive when cells are grown in galactose and is activated when the cells are switched to glucose. In addition, the two homologs are distinguishable by multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Under conditions in which the conditional centromere is activated, the functionally dicentric chromosome undergoes double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) that can be repaired by mitotic recombination with the homolog. Such recombination events often lead to loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of SNPs that are centromere distal to the crossover. Using a PCR-based assay, we determined the position of LOH in multiple independent recombination events to a resolution of ∼4 kb. This analysis shows that dicentric chromosomes have recombination breakpoints that are broadly distributed between the two centromeres, although there is a clustering of breakpoints within 10 kb of the conditional centromere

Gene Copy-Number Variation in Haploid and Diploid Strains of the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The increasing ability to sequence and compare multiple individual genomes within a species has highlighted the fact that copy-number variation (CNV) is a substantial and underappreciated source of genetic diversity. Chromosome-scale mutations occur at rates orders of magnitude higher than base substitutions, yet our understanding of the mechanisms leading to CNVs has been lagging. We examined CNV in a region of chromosome 5 (chr5) in haploid and diploid strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We optimized a CNV detection assay based on a reporter cassette containing the SFA1 and CUP1 genes that confer gene dosage-dependent tolerance to formaldehyde and copper, respectively. This optimized reporter allowed the selection of low-order gene amplification events, going from one copy to two copies in haploids and from two to three copies in diploids. In haploid strains, most events involved tandem segmental duplications mediated by nonallelic homologous recombination between flanking direct repeats, primarily Ty1 elements. In diploids, most events involved the formation of a recurrent nonreciprocal translocation between a chr5 Ty1 element and another Ty1 repeat on chr13. In addition to amplification events, a subset of clones displaying elevated resistance to formaldehyde had point mutations within the SFA1 coding sequence. These mutations were all dominant and are proposed to result in hyperactive forms of the formaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme

High-Resolution Genome-Wide Analysis of Irradiated (UV and -Rays) Diploid Yeast Cells Reveals a High Frequency of Genomic Loss of Heterozygosity (LOH) Events

In diploid eukaryotes, repair of double-stranded DNA breaks by homologous recombination often leads to loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Most previous studies of mitotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have focused on a single chromosome or a single region of one chromosome at which LOH events can be selected. In this study, we used two techniques (single-nucleotide polymorphism microarrays and high-throughput DNA sequencing) to examine genome-wide LOH in a diploid yeast strain at a resolution averaging 1 kb. We examined both selected LOH events on chromosome V and unselected events throughout the genome in untreated cells and in cells treated with either γ-radiation or ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Our analysis shows the following: (1) spontaneous and damage-induced mitotic gene conversion tracts are more than three times larger than meiotic conversion tracts, and conversion tracts associated with crossovers are usually longer and more complex than those unassociated with crossovers; (2) most of the crossovers and conversions reflect the repair of two sister chromatids broken at the same position; and (3) both UV and γ-radiation efficiently induce LOH at doses of radiation that cause no significant loss of viability. Using high-throughput DNA sequencing, we also detected new mutations induced by γ-rays and UV. To our knowledge, our study represents the first high-resolution genome-wide analysis of DNA damage-induced LOH events performed in any eukaryote

The influence of chalk grasslands on butterfly phenology and ecology

The influence of large-scale variables such as climate change on phenology has received a great deal of research attention. However, local environmental factors also play a key role in determining the timing of species life cycles. Using the meadow brown butterfly Maniola jurtina as an example, we investigate how a specific habitat type, lowland calcareous grassland, can affect the timing of flight dates. Although protracted flight periods have previously been reported in populations on chalk grassland sites in the south of England, no attempt has yet been made to quantify this at a national level, or to assess links with population genetics and drought tolerance. Using data from 539 sites across the UK, these differences in phenology are quantified, and M. jurtina phenology is found to be strongly associated with both site geology and topography, independent of levels of abundance. Further investigation into aspects of M. jurtina ecology at a subset of sites finds no genetic structuring or drought tolerance associated with these same site conditions

An examination of intentions of recommending fitness centers by user members

The goal of this study was to examine what experiences members have with fitness centers that influence their intentions for recommendation. After item generation and content validity, as well as a pilot test, a survey was conducted among members of five different clubs (n=1750). The questionnaire included measures of service quality attributes, accessibility, well-being in life, well-being in a club, and intentions to recommend a fitness center. Results using a structural equation model provide evidence that only service quality attributes and well-being in a club have positive effect on intentions of users to recommend it. Well-being in life has a negative effect on the intentions for recommendation, while accessibility shows no predictive effect. These findings suggest implications for the management of a club, such as the need to create a pleasant environment and to provide a personalized service directed towards the members’ goals in order to improve well-being in a club and contribute to increase the intentions to recommend the fitness centers to others.O objetivo deste estudo foi examinar como as experiências de usuários de centros de atividade física interferem nas intenções em recomendar serviços. Depois de gerar itens e validar o conteúdo, aplicou-se um pré-teste, o questionário final foi aplicado a sócios de cinco clubes de fitness (n=1.750). O questionário incluiu atributos da qualidade do serviço, acessibilidade, bem-estar na vida, bem-estar no clube e intenção de recomendar. O modelo de equações estruturais mostrou que apenas os atributos da qualidade do serviço e bem-estar no clube têm um efeito positivo sobre as intenções de recomendar. O bem-estar na vida tem um efeito negativo sobre as intenções para recomendar, enquanto que a acessibilidade não mostra nenhum efeito preditivo. Estas conclusões sugerem a necessidade de criar um ambiente agradável nos clubes e de oferecer um serviço personalizado para os objetivos dos sócios, a fim de melhorar o bem-estar no clube e contribuir para a intenção de recomendar o ginásio. Palavras-chave: intenção de recomendar, atributos da qualSin financiación0.191 SJR (2014) Q3, posición 172/231 Health (social science), 1027/1811 Medicine (miscellaneous); Q4, 112/128 Sports scienceUE

Novel Association of ABO Histo-Blood Group Antigen with Soluble ICAM-1: Results of a Genome-Wide Association Study of 6,578 Women

While circulating levels of soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (sICAM-1) have been associated with diverse conditions including myocardial infarction, stroke, malaria, and diabetes, comprehensive analysis of the common genetic determinants of sICAM-1 is not available. In a genome-wide association study conducted among 6,578 participants in the Women's Genome Health Study, we find that three SNPs at the ICAM1 (19p13.2) locus (rs1799969, rs5498 and rs281437) are non-redundantly associated with plasma sICAM-1 concentrations at a genome-wide significance level (P<5×10−8), thus extending prior results from linkage and candidate gene studies. We also find that a single SNP (rs507666, P = 5.1×10−29) at the ABO (9q34.2) locus is highly correlated with sICAM-1 concentrations. The novel association at the ABO locus provides evidence for a previously unknown regulatory role of histo-blood group antigens in inflammatory adhesion processes