Richness and Abundance of Carabidae and Staphylinidae (Coleoptera), in Northeastern Dairy Pastures Under Intensive Grazing

Dairy cattle has become popular to dairy farmers in the Northeast looking for management schemes to cut production costs. Carabidae (ground beetles) and Staphylinidae (rove beetles) are indicators of habitat disturbances, such as drainage of wetlands, or grassland for grazing animals, and their monitoring could provide one measure of ecosystem sustainability if intensive management systems expand or intensify in the future. Our objective was assess the abundance and species richness of these two beetle families under intensive grazing throughout Pennsylvania, southern New York and Vermont. We collected 4365 ground beetles (83 species) and 4,027 rove beetles (79 species) by pitfall traps in three years in Pennsylvania. Nine ground beetle species, Amara aenea, Poecilus chalcites, Pterostichus melanarius, Bembidion quadrimaculatum oppositum, Amara familiaris, Poecilus lucublandus, Agonum muelleri, Bembidion obtusum and Bembidion mimus represented 80% of the Carabidae collected. Five other species were new to Pennsylvania. Four rove beetle species, Philonthus cognatus, Meronera venustula, Amischa analis, and Philonthus various = (carbonarius), comprised 74% of the total Staphylinidae collected. Yearly distributions of the dominant species did not change significantly in the three years with A. aenea and P. cognatus being most abundant every year. A parasitic rove beetle, Aleochara tristis, was recovered for the first time in Pennsylvania and Vermont since its release in the 1960\u27s to control face fly, Musca autumnalis. Similar results were found in New York and Vermont. We collected 1,984 ground beetles (68 species). Pterostichus melanarius was most abundant. Pterostichus vernalis was detected for the first time in the United States (Vermont). It was previously reported from Montreal, Canada. We collected 843 rove beetles (45 species). Philonthus cognatus was the most abundant rove beetle. In addition, Tachinus corticinus, previously known only from Canada, was discovered for the first time in the United States in Vermont. Pastures in Pennsylvania were diverse, containing 14 species of forage plants and 17 weed species. Botanical composition was similar in New York and Vermont. Sixteen species of grasses and legumes made up 90% of the plant composition and 36 species of weeds made up the remainder. This di­verse plant ecosystem may explain the richness of ground and rove beetles in northeastern U.S. pastures because the heterogeneity in the plant population provided additional resources which can support a rich assemblage of beetles. Monitoring richness and abundance of Carabidae and Staphylinidae over three years in Pennsylvania suggests intensive grazing systems are eco­logically sustainable

Mandate-driven networking eco-system : a paradigm shift in end-to-end communications

The wireless industry is driven by key stakeholders that follow a holistic approach of "one-system-fits-all" that leads to moving network functionality of meeting stringent End-to-End (E2E) communication requirements towards the core and cloud infrastructures. This trend is limiting smaller and new players for bringing in new and novel solutions. For meeting these E2E requirements, tenants and end-users need to be active players for bringing their needs and innovations. Driving E2E communication not only in terms of quality of service (QoS) but also overall carbon footprint and spectrum efficiency from one specific community may lead to undesirable simplifications and a higher level of abstraction of other network segments may lead to sub-optimal operations. Based on this, the paper presents a paradigm shift that will enlarge the role of wireless innovation at academia, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME)'s, industries and start-ups while taking into account decentralized mandate-driven intelligence in E2E communications

Richness and Abundance of Carabidae and Staphylinidae (Coleoptera), in Northeastern Dairy Pastures Under Intensive Grazing

Dairy cattle has become popular to dairy farmers in the Northeast looking for management schemes to cut production costs. Carabidae (ground beetles) and Staphylinidae (rove beetles) are indicators of habitat disturbances, such as drainage of wetlands, or grassland for grazing animals, and their monitoring could provide one measure of ecosystem sustainability if intensive management systems expand or intensify in the future. Our objective was assess the abundance and species richness of these two beetle families under intensive grazing throughout Pennsylvania, southern New York and Vermont. We collected 4365 ground beetles (83 species) and 4,027 rove beetles (79 species) by pitfall traps in three years in Pennsylvania. Nine ground beetle species, Amara aenea, Poecilus chalcites, Pterostichus melanarius, Bembidion quadrimaculatum oppositum, Amara familiaris, Poecilus lucublandus, Agonum muelleri, Bembidion obtusum and Bembidion mimus represented 80% of the Carabidae collected. Five other species were new to Pennsylvania. Four rove beetle species, Philonthus cognatus, Meronera venustula, Amischa analis, and Philonthus various = (carbonarius), comprised 74% of the total Staphylinidae collected. Yearly distributions of the dominant species did not change significantly in the three years with A. aenea and P. cognatus being most abundant every year. A parasitic rove beetle, Aleochara tristis, was recovered for the first time in Pennsylvania and Vermont since its release in the 1960\u27s to control face fly, Musca autumnalis. Similar results were found in New York and Vermont. We collected 1,984 ground beetles (68 species). Pterostichus melanarius was most abundant. Pterostichus vernalis was detected for the first time in the United States (Vermont). It was previously reported from Montreal, Canada. We collected 843 rove beetles (45 species). Philonthus cognatus was the most abundant rove beetle. In addition, Tachinus corticinus, previously known only from Canada, was discovered for the first time in the United States in Vermont. Pastures in Pennsylvania were diverse, containing 14 species of forage plants and 17 weed species. Botanical composition was similar in New York and Vermont. Sixteen species of grasses and legumes made up 90% of the plant composition and 36 species of weeds made up the remainder. This di­verse plant ecosystem may explain the richness of ground and rove beetles in northeastern U.S. pastures because the heterogeneity in the plant population provided additional resources which can support a rich assemblage of beetles. Monitoring richness and abundance of Carabidae and Staphylinidae over three years in Pennsylvania suggests intensive grazing systems are eco­logically sustainable

A molecular tool to identify <i>Anastatus</i> parasitoids of the brown marmorated stink bug

Globally, Anastatus species (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) are associated with the invasive agricultural pest Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). In Europe, the polyphagous Anastatus bifasciatus (Geoffroy) is the most prevalent native egg parasitoid on H. halys eggs and is currently being tested as a candidate for augmentative biological control. Anastatus bifasciatus frequently displays behavior without oviposition, and induces additional host mortality through oviposition damage and host feeding that is not measured with offspring emergence. This exacerbates accurate assessment of parasitism and host impact, which is crucial for efficacy evaluation as well as for pre- and post-release risk assessment. To address this, a general Anastatus primer set amplifying a 318-bp fragment within the barcoding region of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was developed. When challenged with DNA of three Anastatus species -A. bifasciatus, Anastatus japonicus Ashmead, and Anastatus sp.-, five scelionid parasitoid species that might be encountered in the same host environments and 11 pentatomid host species, only Anastatus DNA was successfully amplified. When applied to eggs of the target host, H. halys, and an exemplary non-target host, Dendrolimus pini L. (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), subjected to host feeding, no Anastatus amplicons were produced. Eggs of the two host species containing A. bifasciatus parasitoid stages, from 1-h-old eggs to pupae, and emerged eggs yielded Anastatus fragments. Confirmation of parasitoid presence with dissections and subsequent PCRs with the developed primer pair resulted in 95% success for 1-h-old parasitoid eggs. For both host species, field-exposed sentinel emerged eggs stored dry for 6 months, 100% of the specimens produced Anastatus amplicons. This DNA-based screening method can be used in combination with conventional methods to better interpret host-parasitoid and parasitoid-parasitoid interactions. It will help address ecological questions related to an environmentally friendly approach for the control of H. halys in invaded areas

CompaGB: An open framework for genome browsers comparison

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tools to visualize and explore genomes hold a central place in genomics and the diversity of genome browsers has increased dramatically over the last few years. It often turns out to be a daunting task to compare and choose a well-adapted genome browser, as multidisciplinary knowledge is required to carry out this task and the number of tools, functionalities and features are overwhelming.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>To assist in this task, we propose a community-based framework based on two cornerstones: (i) the implementation of industry promoted software qualification method (QSOS) adapted for genome browser evaluations, and (ii) a web resource providing numerous facilities either for visualizing comparisons or performing new evaluations. We formulated 60 criteria specifically for genome browsers, and incorporated another 65 directly from QSOS's generic section. Those criteria aim to answer versatile needs, ranging from a biologist whose interest primarily lies into user-friendly and informative functionalities, a bioinformatician who wants to integrate the genome browser into a wider framework, or a computer scientist who might choose a software according to more technical features. We developed a dedicated web application to enrich the existing QSOS functionalities (weighting of criteria, user profile) with features of interest to a community-based framework: easy management of evolving data, user comments...</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The framework is available at <url>http://genome.jouy.inra.fr/CompaGB</url>. It is open to anyone who wishes to participate in the evaluations. It helps the scientific community to (1) choose a genome browser that would better fit their particular project, (2) visualize features comparatively with easily accessible formats, such as tables or radar plots and (3) perform their own evaluation against the defined criteria. To illustrate the CompaGB functionalities, we have evaluated seven genome browsers according to the implemented methodology. A summary of the features of the compared genome browsers is presented and discussed.</p

Angiotensin II type 1-receptor activating antibodies in renal-allograft rejection (authors reply inN Engl J Med. 2005 May 12;352(19):2027-8)

BACKGROUND: Antibodies against HLA antigens cause refractory allograft rejection with vasculopathy in some, but not all, patients. METHODS: We studied 33 kidney-transplant recipients who had refractory vascular rejection. Thirteen had donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies, whereas 20 did not Malignant hypertension was present in 16 of the patients without anti-HLA antibodies, 4 of whom had seizures. The remaining 17 patients had no malignant hypertension. We hypothesized that activating antibodies targeting the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor might be involved. RESULTS: Activating IgG antibodies targeting the AT1 receptor were detected in serum from all 16 patients with malignant hypertension and without anti-HLA antibodies, but in no other patients. These receptor-activating antibodies are subclass IgG1 and IgG3 antibodies that bind to two different epitopes on the second extracellular loop of the AT1 receptor. Tissue factor expression was increased in renal-biopsy specimens from patients with these antibodies. In vitro stimulation of vascular cells with an AT1-receptor-activating antibody induced phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 kinase and increased the DNA binding activity of the transcription factors activator protein 1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor-κB. The AT1 antagonist losartan blocked agonistic AT1-receptor antibody-mediated effects, and passive antibody transfer induced vasculopathy and hypertension in a rat kidney-transplantation model. CONCLUSIONS: A non-HLA, AT1-receptor-mediated pathway may contribute to refractory vascular rejection, and affected patients might benefit from removal of AT 1-receptor antibodies or from pharmacologic blockade of AT 1 receptors

Evolutionary Mechanisms of Long-Term Genome Diversification Associated With Niche Partitioning in Marine Picocyanobacteria.

Marine picocyanobacteria of the genera Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on Earth, an ecological success thought to be linked to the differential partitioning of distinct ecotypes into specific ecological niches. However, the underlying processes that governed the diversification of these microorganisms and the appearance of niche-related phenotypic traits are just starting to be elucidated. Here, by comparing 81 genomes, including 34 new Synechococcus, we explored the evolutionary processes that shaped the genomic diversity of picocyanobacteria. Time-calibration of a core-protein tree showed that gene gain/loss occurred at an unexpectedly low rate between the different lineages, with for instance 5.6 genes gained per million years (My) for the major Synechococcus lineage (sub-cluster 5.1), among which only 0.71/My have been fixed in the long term. Gene content comparisons revealed a number of candidates involved in nutrient adaptation, a large proportion of which are located in genomic islands shared between either closely or more distantly related strains, as identified using an original network construction approach. Interestingly, strains representative of the different ecotypes co-occurring in phosphorus-depleted waters (Synechococcus clades III, WPC1, and sub-cluster 5.3) were shown to display different adaptation strategies to this limitation. In contrast, we found few genes potentially involved in adaptation to temperature when comparing cold and warm thermotypes. Indeed, comparison of core protein sequences highlighted variants specific to cold thermotypes, notably involved in carotenoid biosynthesis and the oxidative stress response, revealing that long-term adaptation to thermal niches relies on amino acid substitutions rather than on gene content variation. Altogether, this study not only deciphers the respective roles of gene gains/losses and sequence variation but also uncovers numerous gene candidates likely involved in niche partitioning of two key members of the marine phytoplankton