Entomopathogenic nematodes for biological control of codling moth

Entomopathogenic nematodes are often found naturally infecting codling moth larvae. The effect of an autumn treatment with S. feltiae on the fruit damage in the following summer was evaluated by treating 4 different apple orchards in October 2004 and 2005 at application rates of 3.75; 2 and 1.5 billion nematodes in 4000 l / ha. In three of the treated orchards, one treated with 3.75x109 nematodes/ha the other two treated with 2e9 nematode/ha, reduction in fruit damage was around 50%. In the most heavily infested orchard, which was treated with 1.5x109 nematode/ha only 33% reduction in fruit damage was achieved. Compared to previous studies, this was the first assessing the effect on the fruit damage in the summer following the treatment rather than assessing the mortality of sentinel larvae fixed to the treated tree trunks

Biological control of the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L. (Diptera, Tephriti-dae) by use of entomopathogenic nematodes: first experiences towards practi-cal implementation.

The use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) is a promising approach to control the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L.. We already demonstrated the high potential of EPN to infect larvae after leaving the cherry for pupation in the soil in laboratory and field experiments. For practice, an appli-cation technique is needed, that is both, grower- and EPN friendly. We tested a tractor mounted spray boom for treatment under the canopy area. The achieved rate of EPN in the soil met the ex-pectations. The activity of EPN in soil samples was high after application, but dropped to 60% of the initial activity within one week. Exact forecasting of larval drop from cherries is another major chal-lenge. To obtain basic data, we recorded the phenology of infestation and larval emergence on trees which were not harvested. Sequential infestation on the same cherry variety was observed and larvae dropped from individual trees for several weeks

Community-based Suicide Prevention Research in Remote On-Reserve First Nations Communities

Suicide is a complex problem linked to genetic, environmental, psychological and community factors. For the Aboriginal population more specifically, loss of culture, history of traumatic events, individual, family and community factors may also play a role in suicidal behaviour. Of particular concern is the high rate of suicide among Canadian Aboriginal youth. While the need to develop interventions to reduce suicidal behaviour for First Nations on-reserve populations is evident, there may be an element of distrust of researchers by Aboriginal communities. Furthermore, research in mental health and specifically suicide is much more sensitive than studying medical illnesses like diabetes. Clearly, this issue requires a unique and insightful approach. While numerous suicide prevention/intervention plans and guidelines have been published specifically for work involving Aboriginal people, the literature lacks a comprehensive discussion of the methodological and logistical issues faced by research teams and Aboriginal communities attempting to develop culturally-grounded and community-specific suicide prevention and intervention strategies. This paper outlines the research process, key challenges and lessons learned in a collaborative University-First Nations suicide prevention project conducted with eight north-western Manitoba First Nations communities (Canada)

Percutaneous drug penetration: Choosing candidates for transdermal development

There is currently a high level of interest in using the skin as a route for delivering drugs. One hears the questions: What are the attributes of a drug that make it a serious candidate for transdermal delivery? By what a priori analysis might one zero in on the best transdermal candidate within a family of drugs? Answers to these questions lie in understanding the molecular factors that make a drug a facile permeant of the skin. Among other properties, it must have a high absolute affinity for the skin's phases, which provide for its diffusive conduction. Other factors in evaluation are the potency of the drug and the relative efficiency of the drug's systemic presentation once it has gained access to the body. One also considers the potential for the drug to elicit adverse responses in the skin. Fortunately, parallels between the drug's ability to partition between oil and water and its ease of mass transfer across the skin can be used to ferret out a working mass transfer coefficient. If not already known, solubilities are easily experimentally deduced. The extent of first-pass metabolism by the oral route, presumed to be a known quantity, is compared with the relative amount of metabolism of the drug in the course of its diffsion through the skin, an experimentally determined quantity, in order to set the transdermal dose. These bits of information can then be used to form an early, reasonably faithful picture of the feasibility of delivering a particular drug transdermally and to make a first estimate of the size of patch required for the drug.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50213/1/430130209_ftp.pd

Chiral symmetry breaking as open string tachyon condensation

We consider a general framework to study holographically the dynamics of fundamental quarks in a confining gauge theory. Flavors are introduced by placing a set of (coincident) branes and antibranes on a background dual to a confining color theory. The spectrum contains an open string tachyon and its condensation describes the U(N_f)_L x U(N_f)_R -> U(N_f)_V symmetry breaking. By studying worldvolume gauge transformations of the flavor brane action, we obtain the QCD global anomalies and an IR condition that allows to fix the quark condensate in terms of the quark mass. We find the expected N_f^2 Goldstone bosons (for m_q=0), the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation (for m_q small) and the \eta' mass. Remarkably, the linear confinement behavior for the masses of highly excited spin-1 mesons, m_n^2 ~ n is naturally reproduced.Comment: 30 pages + 5 appendices, 2 figure

Expressions of Uroplakins in the Mouse Urinary Bladder with Cyclophosphamide-Induced Cystitis

Even though uroplakins (UPs) are believed to serve a strong protective barrier against toxic materials, cyclophosphamide (CP) causes extensive cystitis. We investigated the expression of UPs in the urothelium in CP induced mouse cystitis. A total of 27 ICR female mice received a single intraperitoneal injection of 200 mg CP/kg. Nine CP-treated mice and 6 controls were sequentially killed at 12, 24, and 72 hr post injection. Extensive cystitis and an increased vesical weight were seen. These all peaked within 12 hr post injection and they tended to decrease thereafter. The level of all the UPs mRNA, the protein expressions of UP II and III on immunoblotting study, and the expression of UP III on immunolocalization study were maximally suppressed within 12 hr; this partially recovered at 24 hr, and this completely recovered at 72 hr post CP injection. In conclusion, CP reduced the expression of UPs. The reduction of the UPs mRNA and protein was time dependent, and this peaked within 12 hr after CP injection. However, the damage was rapidly repaired within 24 hr. This study demonstrates a dynamic process, an extensive reduction and rapid recovery, for the UPs expression of the mouse urinary bladder after CP injection

“It's only sport” - the symbolic neutralization of “violence”

Within the commodified world of professional ice hockey, athletes sell their bodily performances in return for a salary. A central feature of this transaction is the very real risk of physical injury – a risk inherent within most contact sports, but particularly so within those that feature seemingly ‘violent’ confrontations between competitors, as ice hockey is widely reputed to do. Yet within the spectacle of sport, where physicality can be constructed as playful and unserious, it is possible for the consequences of such action to be concealed behind a symbolic, ludic veneer. Within this paper we explore this process with a particular focus on ice hockey spectators, for whom notions of sport violence as in some important way ‘mimetic’ of the ‘real’ enabled their propensity to both enjoy, and find moral validation through, potentially deleterious behaviours among athletes

A Significantly off-center Ni56 Distribution for the Low-Luminosity Type Ia Supernova SN 2016brx from the 100IAS survey

We present nebular-phase spectra of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2016brx, a member of the 1991bg-like subclass that lies at the faint end of the SN Ia luminosity function. Nebular spectra are available for only three other 1991bg-like SNe, and their Co line centers are all within <~ 500 km/s of each other. In contrast, the nebular Co line center of SN 2016brx is blue-shifted by >1500 km/s compared to them and by ~1200 km/s compared to the rest frame. This is a significant shift relative to the narrow nebular line velocity dispersion of <~ 2000 km/s of these SNe. The large range of nebular line shifts implies that the Ni56 in the ejecta of SN 1991bg-like events is off-center by ~1000 km/s rather than universally centrally confined as previously suggested. With the addition of SN 2016brx, the Co nebular line shapes of 1991bg-like objects appear to connect with the brighter SNe Ia that show double-peak profiles, hinting at a continuous distribution of line profiles among SNe Ia. One class of models to produce both off-center and bi-modal Ni56 distributions is collisions of white dwarfs with unequal and equal masses.Comment: Minor Changes. Accepted by MNRAS Lette

Growth in within graduate wage inequality: the role of subjects, cognitive skill dispersion and occupational concentration

UK graduate wage inequality has increased over the previous three decades. This paper demonstrates that most of the growth has occurred within degree subjects, with the largest occurring in non-STEM subjects. The paper therefore investigates two potential explanations. The first is the increase in the variance of childhood cognitive test scores amogst graduates in the same subject. This increase differs across subjects, and is again in the non-STEM subjects where the variance of test scores has increased the most, especially during the second period of rapid higher education expansion in the 1990s. The second potential explanation explored is the fall in the occupational concentration of subjects. Graduates of some subjects (like Medicine and Education) are highly concentrated into only a few jobs whereas others are much more widely dispersed. Generally, all subjects have become more widely dispersed across occupations over time, but some more so than others. The paper then shows that both of these factors have played a role in explaining growing graduate wage inequality within subjects, though the largest is by far from the widening in the variance of test scores. The path of graduate wage inequality would have been relatively flat without the accompanying increase in the variance of cognitive skills