Host/parasite interactions between Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Thelohania solenopsae (Microsporida: Thelohaniidae)

Thelohania solenopsae Knell, Allen and Hazard is a microsporidian pathogen that infects the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren. This five part study examined the effects that T. solenopsae has on constructs of colony fitness in field mounds and adoption rates, how T. solenopsae spores are affected by different stable temperatures. This study also examined the effects on T. solenopsae spores due to centrifugation out of the host cell, pH of the solution the spores are kept, and food classes that could be ingested by S. invicta. For the first study, a total of 29 colonies were collected, 16 infected, and 13 uninfected. The study concluded significantly lower brood production in uninfected field colonies when compared to infected field colonies. Additionally, the total number of queens per colony is significantly greater in T. solenopsae infected mounds with 35.4ñ31.9 queens for infected mounds and 15.5ñ11.2 queens for uninfected mounds, demonstrating a possible host response to parasite infection. In the study examining stable temperature effects on T. solenopsae spore growth and spore type, a stable temperature of 31ðC induced greater production of binucleate free spores in worker S. invicta. There was an overall decrease of T. solenopsae octospores at 16ðC, 26ðC and 31ðC. The studies concerning extraction of T. solenopsae spores, and inclusion in food infusions demonstrated viable spore recovery after centrifugation, verified by using Calcofluor M2R and Sytox Green dual staining. This study demonstrated significant decreases in spore viability over a 10 week period. The study concerning pH demonstrated significant effects of differing pH parameters with the best viable spore recovery at pH 4 and no spore recovery at pH 1 and pH 2. The least viable spore recovery occurred at pH 6 and pH 12 after 24 hours of emersion verified by using Calcofluor M2R and Sytox Green dual staining

Book Reviews

Professor Hicks has done for a few great lawyers and \u27a few great books what it is hoped he may do for many more lawyers and many more books. Out of his full and intimate knowledge of the literature of our profession he has gathered and presented to us in most entertaining fashion the human as well as the intellectual and professional characteristics of a full half dozen men, each of whom holds a somewhat unique place in the development of Anglo-Saxon law

SP742 Camphor Shot Borer: A New Nursery and Landscape Pest in Tennessee

Tennessee State University/UT Extension joint publicatio

Frontal-subcortical circuitry in social attachment and relationships: A cross-sectional fMRI ALE meta-analysis

Researchers have explored the concept of attachment in multiple ways, from animal studies examining imprinting to abnormal attachment in psychopathology. However, until recently, few have considered how neural circuitry develops the effective social bonds that are subsequently replicated in relationships across the lifespan. This current cross-sectional study undertook a fMRI Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analyses to examine the neurocircuitry that governs emotional and behavioural functions critical for building effective social relationships in children and adults. Results suggest that dissociable dorsal cognitive ("cool") and ventral - affective ("hot") frontal-subcortical circuits (FSC) work together to govern social relationships, with repeated social consequences leading to potentially adaptive - or maladaptive - relationships that can become routinized in the cerebellum. Implications for forming stable, functional, social bonds are considered, followed by recommendations for those who struggle with cool and hot FSC functioning that can hinder the development of adaptive prosocial relationships

A search for p-modes and other variability in the binary system 85 Pegasi using MOST photometry

Context: Asteroseismology has great potential for the study of metal-poor stars due to its sensitivity to determine stellar ages. Aims: Our goal was to detect p-mode oscillations in the metal-poor sub-dwarf 85 Peg A and to search for other variability on longer timescales. Methods: We have obtained continuous high-precision photometry of the binary system 85 Pegasi with the MOST space telescope in two seasons (2005 & 2007). Furthermore, we redetermined vsini for 85 Peg A using high resolution spectra obtained through the ESO archive, and used photometric spot modeling to interpret long periodic variations. Results: Our frequency analysis yields no convincing evidence for p-modes significantly above a noise level of 4 ppm. Using simulated p-mode patterns we provide upper RMS amplitude limits for 85 Peg A. The light curve shows evidence for variability with a period of about 11 d and this periodicity is also seen in the follow up run in 2007; however, as different methods to remove instrumental trends in the 2005 run yield vastly different results, the exact shape and periodicity of the 2005 variability remain uncertain. Our re-determined vsini value for 85 Peg A is comparable to previous studies and we provide realistic uncertainties for this parameter. Using these values in combination with simple photometric spot models we are able to reconstruct the observed variations. Conclusions: The null-detection of p-modes in 85 Peg A is consistent with theoretical values for pulsation amplitudes in this star. The detected long-periodic variation must await confirmation by further observations with similar or better precision and long-term stability. If the 11 d periodicity is real, rotational modulation of surface features on one of the components is the most likely explanation.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Short-Run Adjustment Opportunities for Oklahoma Panhandle Farmers

The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Holocene pollen records from the central Arctic Foothills, northern Alaska: testing the role of substrate in the response of tundra to climate change

1   To explore the role of edaphic controls in the response of arctic tundra to climate change, we analysed Holocene pollen records from lakes in northern Alaska located on glaciated surfaces with contrasting soil texture, topography and tundra communities. Using indicator taxa, pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and multivariate comparison of fossil and modern pollen assemblages, we reconstructed the vegetational changes at Upper Capsule Lake (Sagavanirktok surface) and Red Green Lake (Itkillik II surface) in response to increased effective moisture between the early and middle Holocene. 2   In the Red Green record, low PARs and the continuous presence of taxa indicative of prostrate-shrub tundra (PST; Equisetum , Polypodiaceae, Thalictrum and Rosaceae) indicate that the vegetation resembled PST throughout the Holocene. During the warm, dry early Holocene (11 300–10 000 cal years BP), PST also occurred on Sagavanirktok surfaces, as evidenced by PST indicators (Bryidae, Polypodiaceae, Equisetum and Rosaceae) in this interval of the Upper Capsule record. However, PARs increased, suggesting increased vegetation cover, PST taxa declined and taxa indicative of dwarf-shrub tundra (DST; Rubus chamaemorus and Lycopodium annotinum ) increased between 10 000 and 7500 cal years BP. 3   We hypothesize that between the early and middle Holocene the fine-textured soils and smooth topography of Sagavanirktok surfaces led to increased soil moisture, greater vegetation cover, permafrost aggradation, anoxic and acidic soil conditions, slower decomposition and the development of a thick organic layer. In contrast, soil moisture remained low on the better-drained Itkillik II surface, and vegetational changes were minor. 4   Landscape-scale substrate variations have an effect on how tundra responds to climate change, suggesting that the response of arctic ecosystems to future variability may be spatially heterogeneous. Journal of Ecology (2003) 91 , 1034–1048Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73204/1/j.1365-2745.2003.00833.x.pd