Oviposition Behavior of Indianmeal Moths With and Without Synthetic Pheromone

Plodia interpunctella, commonly known as the Indianmeal moth, is a pyralid moth that is a pest of stored food products (Mohandrass, 2007). While there are many known factors that influence oviposition, like food odor and type of food available (Mohandrass, 2007), the effect of extra sex pheromones is not known. We tested progeny output to see if femaleP. interpunctella will produce less progeny when there is a large dose of synthetic pheromone in the environment. Our research did not show any significant difference between the females exposed to the pheromone and those that were not exposed, in both the total number of progeny produced and weight of the progeny. This experiment is important due to the quantity of pheromone-baited traps that are a major part of pest management for P. interpunctella (Mullen, 1998). This suggests that the widespread use of this pheromone to attract and trap male P. interpunctella does not also have an additional effect on females, which would have been a hidden benefit of this method of trapping and pest control

A Battle Over Oysters: Drakes Bay Oyster Co. v. Jewell and Its Aftermath

This comment summarizes the saga of Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC), located in Point Reyes National Seashore (Seashore) in Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco. Owned and operated by the Lunny family, DBOC battled the National Park Service (NPS) in an attempt to compel the NPS to renew its special use permit (SUP). The SUP allowed DBOC to operate within Point Reyes National Seashore. This conflict pitted environmentalists against each other. Supporters of local, sustainable agriculture were on one side of the environmental debate. Traditional environmentalists, representing the other side, advocated for returning uninhabited areas to an untouched state

Insect Light: Stories

A collection of short stories. Literary fiction

Thermo-Mechanical Processing of Austenitic Steel to Mitigate Surface Related Degradation

Thermo-mechanical processing plays an important role in materials property optimization through microstructure modification, required by demanding modern materials applications. Due to the critical role of austenitic stainless steels, such as 316L, as structural components in harsh environments, e.g. in nuclear power plants, improved degradation resistance is desirable. A novel two-dimensional plane strain machining process has shown promise achieving significant grain size refinement through severe plastic deformation (SPD) and imparting large strains in the surface and subsurface regions of the substrate in various metals and alloys. The deformation process creates a heavily deformed 20 – 30 micron thick nanocrystalline surface layer with increased hardness and minimal martensite formation. Post-deformation processing annealing treatments have been applied to assess stability of the refined scale microstructures and the potential for obtaining grain boundary engineered microstructures with increased fraction of low-energy grain boundaries and altered grain boundary network structure. Varying the deformation and heat treatment process parameters, allows for development of a full understanding of the nanocrystalline layer and cross-section of the surface substrate created. Micro-characterization was performed using hardness measurements, magnetometry, x-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy to assess property and microstructural changes. This study provides a fundamental understanding of two-dimensional plane strain machining as a thermo-mechanical processing technique, which may in the future deliver capabilities for creating grain boundary engineered surface modified components, typified by a combination of grain refinement with improved grain boundary network interconnectivity attributes suitable for use in harsh environments, such as those in commercial nuclear power plants where improved resistance to irradiation stress corrosion cracking is desirable

From tunneling to photoemission: correlating two spaces

Correlating the data measured by tunneling and photoemission spectroscopies is a long-standing problem in condensed matter physics. The quasiparticle interference, recently discovered in high-Tc cuprates, reveals a possibility to solve this problem. Application of modern phase retrieval algorithms to Fourier transformed tunneling data allows to recover the distribution of the quasiparticle spectral weight in the reciprocal space of solids measured directly by photoemission. This opens a direct way to unify these two powerful techniques and may help to solve a number of problems related with space/time inhomogeneities predicted in strongly correlated electron systems.Comment: more info at http://www.imp.kiev.ua/~kord/AC-ARPES/index.htm

Phonon dispersion of Mo-stabilized γ-U measured using inelastic x-ray scattering.

We have measured the room-temperature phonon spectrum of Mo-stabilized γ-U. The dispersion curves show unusual softening near the H point, q = [1/2, 1/2, 1/2], which may derive from the metastability of the γ-U phase or from strong electron-phonon coupling. Near the zone center, the dispersion curves agree well with theory, though significant differences are observed away from the zone center. The experimental phonon density of states is shifted to higher energy compared to theory and high-temperature neutron scattering. The elastic constants of γ-UMo are similar to those of body-centered cubic elemental metals

Activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis in acute respiratory distress syndrome : A prospective pilot study

Funding Information: The study was supported by grant ZP 10/2013 from Rigas Stradins University. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Ozolina, Sarkele, Sabelnikovs, Skesters, Jaunalksne, Serova, Ievins, Bjertnaes and Vanags.Introduction: Coagulation and fibrinolysis remain sparsely addressed with regards to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We hypothesized that ARDS development might be associated with changes in plasma coagulation and fibrinolysis. Our aim was to investigate the relationships between ARDS diagnosis and plasma concentrations of tissue factor (TF), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in mechanically ventilated patients at increased risk of developing ARDS. Materials and methods: We performed an ethically approved prospective observational pilot study. Inclusion criteria were patients with PaO 2 /FiO 2 < 300 mmHg admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for mechanical ventilation for 24 h, or more, because of one or more disease conditions associated with increased risk of developing ARDS. Exclusion criteria were age below 18 years; cardiac disease. We sampled plasma prospectively and compared patients who developed ARDS with those who did not using descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis of baseline demographical and clinical data. We also analyzed plasma concentrations of TF, t-PA, and PAI-1 at inclusion (tissue) and on third (T 3 ) and seventh day (T 7 ) of the ICU stay with non-parametric statistics inclusive their sensitivity and specificity associated with the development of ARDS using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Statistical significance: p < 0.05. Results: Of 24 patients at risk, 6 developed mild ARDS and 4 of each moderate or severe ARDS, respectively, 3 ± 2 (mean ± SD) days after inclusion. Median plasma concentrations of TF and PAI-1 were significantly higher at T7 in patients with ARDS, as compared to non-ARDS. Simultaneously, we found moderate correlations between plasma concentrations of TF and PAI-1, TF and PaO 2 /FiO 2 , and positive end-expiratory pressure and TF. TF plasma concentration was associated with ARDS with 71% sensitivity and 100% specificity, a cut off level of 145 pg/ml and AUC 0.78, p = 0.02. PAI-1 displayed 64% sensitivity and 100% specificity with a cut off concentration of 117.5 pg/ml and AUC 0.77, p = 0.02. t-PA did not change significantly during the observation time. Conclusion: This pilot study showed that increased plasma concentrations of TF and PAI-1 might support ARDS diagnoses in mechanically ventilated patients after 7 days in ICU.publishersversionPeer reviewe