A novel formulation technology for baculoviruses protects biopesticide from degradation by ultraviolet radiation

Biopesticides are biological pest control agents that are viewed as safer alternatives to the synthetic chemicals that dominate the global insecticide market. A major constraint on the wider adoption of biopesticides is their susceptibility to the ultraviolet (UV: 290–400 nm) radiation in sunlight, which limits their persistence and efficacy. Here, we describe a novel formulation technology for biopesticides in which the active ingredient (baculovirus) is micro-encapsulated in an ENTOSTAT wax combined with a UV absorbant (titanium dioxide, TiO2). Importantly, this capsule protects the sensitive viral DNA from degrading in sunlight, but dissolves in the alkaline insect gut to release the virus, which then infects and kills the pest. We show, using simulated sunlight, in both laboratory bioassays and trials on cabbage and tomato plants, that this can extend the efficacy of the biopesticide well beyond the few hours of existing virus formulations, potentially increasing the spray interval and/or reducing the need for high application rates. The new formulation has a shelf-life at 30 °C of at least 6 months, which is comparable to standard commercial biopesticides and has no phytotoxic effect on the host plants. Taken together, these findings suggest that the new formulation technology could reduce the costs and increase the efficacy of baculovirus biopesticides, with the potential to make them commercially competitive alternatives to synthetic chemicals

Skin sodium is increased in male patients with multiple sclerosis and related animal models.

Novel MRI techniques allow a noninvasive quantification of tissue sodium and reveal the skin as a prominent compartment of sodium storage in health and disease. Since multiple sclerosis (MS) immunopathology is initiated in the periphery and increased sodium concentrations induce proinflammatory immune cells, the skin represents a promising compartment linking high sodium concentrations and MS immunopathology. We used a 7-T sodium MRI (23Na-MRI) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to investigate the skin sodium content in two mouse models of MS. We additionally performed 3-T 23Na-MRI of calf skin and muscles in 29 male relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients and 29 matched healthy controls. Demographic and clinical information was collected from interviews, and disease activity was assessed by expanded disability status scale scoring. 23Na-MRI and chemical analysis demonstrated a significantly increased sodium content in the skin during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis independent of active immunization. In male patients with RRMS, 23Na-MRI demonstrated a higher sodium signal in the area of the skin compared to age- and biological sex-matched healthy controls with higher sodium, predicting future disease activity in cranial MRI. In both studies, the sodium enrichment was specific to the skin, as we found no alterations of sodium signals in the muscle or other tissues. Our data add to the recently identified importance of the skin as a storage compartment of sodium and may further represent an important organ for future investigations on salt as a proinflammatory agent driving autoimmune neuroinflammation such as that in MS

Knowledge Sharing in a Coopetition Project Team: An Institutional Logics Perspective

Cooperation between firms is often addressed from the perspective of relationship organizing; however, we know little about people’s working-level engagement in collective action during interfirm projects. Focusing on cooperation between rival firms (coopetition), this paper explores how knowledge can be shared among participants. We conduct a case study of a joint-project team composed of staff from rival firms. Using the principles of grounded theory, we identify four distinct modes of knowledge sharing. By interpreting these modes in terms of temporalities and influential social structures, we develop an understanding of how individual engagement promotes knowledge sharing in an inter-firm coopetitive project. The study reexamines emerging orientations (cooperation and competition) according to institutional logics (market, corporation, and community) and temporalities. It also offers insight into the management of inter-organizational projects that are viewed as temporary organizations