Effect Of Orius insidiosus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) And Spinosad (Conserve®) On Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), Populations In Transvaal Daisy Flowers

Western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is a major insect pest of greenhouse-grown horticultural crops. Greenhouse producers typically apply insecticides to suppress WFT populations. However, continual reliance on insecticides can lead to the development of resistant in WFT populations. The insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), is a commercially available predatory bug of WFT that offers an alternative to using insecticides for WFT suppression. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of one or two O. insidiosus adults compared to spray applications of the standard insecticide, spinosad (Conserve®) in suppressing WFT adult populations in transvaal daisy (Gerbera jamesonii), cut-flowers under greenhouse conditions. Percent adult WFT mortality was significantly lower when one or two O. insidiosus adults were released into the flowers (mean range: 32 to 34%; n=747), compared to the untreated and water control (8 to 9%; n=431). The highest percent mortality of WFT adults was associated with the spinosad (Conserve®) treatment (100%; n= 203)

Transcriptional inhibition of type I collagen gene expression in scleroderma fibroblasts by the antineoplastic drug ecteinascidin 743.

We previously showed that COL1A1 expression is up-regulated at the transcriptional level in systemic sclerosis (SSc) fibroblasts and that the CCAAT-binding factor (CBF) is involved in this increased expression. Ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743) is a chemotherapeutic agent that binds with sequence specificity to the minor groove of DNA and inhibits CBF-mediated transcriptional activation of numerous genes. Therefore, we examined the effects of ET-743 on the increased COL1A1 expression in SSc fibroblasts. The drug caused a potent and dose-dependent inhibition of type I collagen biosynthesis, which reached 70-90% at 700 pM without affecting cell viability. The same drug concentration caused 60-80% reduction in COL1A1 mRNA levels. The stability of the corresponding transcripts was not affected. In vitro nuclear transcription assays demonstrated a 54% down-regulation of COL1A1 transcription. Transient transfections with COL1A1 promoter constructs containing the specific CBF binding sequence into SSc cells previously treated with 700 pM ET-743 failed to show an effect on COL1A1 promoter activity. Furthermore, ET-743 did not affect the binding of CBF or Sp1 transcription factors to their cognate COL1A1 elements. However, treatment with 700 pM ET-743 of stably transfected NIH 3T3 cells expressing a human type II procollagen gene under the control of the human COL1A1 promoter caused a greater than 50% reduction in the production of type II procollagen and a similar decrease in the corresponding type II procollagen transcripts. These results indicate that ET-743 is a potent inhibitor of COL1A1 transcription. However, this effect cannot be explained by a direct effect on CBF binding to the COL1A1 promoter. Although the exact mechanisms responsible for the transcriptional inhibition of COL1A1 by ET-743 are not apparent, our observations suggest that the drug may be an effective agent to decrease collagen overproduction in SSc and other fibrotic diseases

1861-08-14 Letter from A.K. Herrick [Mirick?] to Governor Washburn denouncing the petition from the 2nd Regiment officers

https://digitalmaine.com/cw_me_2nd_regiment_corr/1096/thumbnail.jp

High Altitude Ozone Research Balloon

In order to create a mission model of the high altitude ozone research balloon (HAORB) several options for flight preparation, altitude control, flight termination, and payload recovery were considered. After the optimal launch date and location for two separate HAORB flights were calculated, a method for reducing the heat transfer from solar and infrared radiation was designed and analytically tested. This provided the most important advantage of the HAORB over conventional balloons, i.e., its improved flight duration. Comparisons of different parachute configurations were made, and a design best suited for the HAORB's needs was determined to provide for payload recovery after flight termination. In an effort to avoid possible payload damage, a landing system was also developed

Etching silicon by SF₆ in a continuous and pulsed power helicon reactor

The etch rate of silicon by SF₆ in a helicon reactor has been measured along with simultaneous actinometric measurements of the concentration of atomic fluorine in the gas phase for a variety of gas flow rates resulting in pressures in the mTorr range. A bias rf power was applied to the substrate to investigate the effect of ion energy on the etch rate. The etch rate was found to be proportional to the fluorine concentration and independent of the bias for the higher gas flow rates. However, at lower flow rates, the situation was more complicated and no simple model can explain the measurements.Measurements of the etch rate were also made in the afterglow of a repetitively pulsed discharge so that the directed ion energy would be reduced to the thermal motion after the rapid collapse of the plasma potential. A simple model was developed to explain the temporal etching phenomena in terms of the lifetime of the atomic fluorine

The classical dynamics of two-electron atoms near the triple collision

The classical dynamics of two electrons in the Coulomb potential of an attractive nucleus is chaotic in large parts of the high-dimensional phase space. Quantum spectra of two-electron atoms, however, exhibit structures which clearly hint at the existence of approximate symmetries in this system. In a recent paper,(Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 054302 (2004)), we presented a study of the dynamics near the triple collision as a first step towards uncovering the hidden regularity in the classical dynamics of two electron atoms. The non-regularisable triple collision singularity is a main source of chaos in three body Coulomb problems. Here, we will give a more detailed account of our findings based on a study of the global structure of the stable and unstable manifolds of the triple collision.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figure

Defect filtering for thermal expansion induced dislocations in III-V lasers on silicon

Epitaxially integrated III-V semiconductor lasers for silicon photonics have the potential to dramatically transform information networks, but currently, dislocations limit performance and reliability even in defect tolerant InAs quantum dot (QD) based lasers. Despite being below critical thickness, QD layers in these devices contain previously unexplained misfit dislocations, which facilitate non-radiative recombination. We demonstrate here that these misfit dislocations form during post-growth cooldown due to the combined effects of (1) thermal-expansion mismatch between the III-V layers and silicon and (2) precipitate and alloy hardening in the active region. By incorporating an additional sub-critical thickness, indium-alloyed misfit dislocation trapping layer, we leverage these mechanical hardening effects to our advantage, successfully displacing 95% of misfit dislocations from the QD layer in model structures. Unlike conventional dislocation mitigation strategies, the trapping layer reduces neither the number of threading dislocations nor the number of misfit dislocations. It simply shifts the position of misfit dislocations away from the QD layer, reducing the defects' impact on luminescence. In full lasers, adding a misfit dislocation trapping layer both above and below the QD active region displaces misfit dislocations and substantially improves performance: we measure a twofold reduction in lasing threshold currents and a greater than threefold increase in output power. Our results suggest that devices employing both traditional threading dislocation reduction techniques and optimized misfit dislocation trapping layers may finally lead to fully integrated, commercially viable silicon-based photonic integrated circuits.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure