939 research outputs found

    Virtual computerclass based on Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V

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    Käesolevas bakalaureusetöös seadistatakseWindows Server 2016 Hyper-V näitel keskselt hallatav virtuaalne arvutiklass. Valminud lahenduse eesmärk on pakkuda võimekaid eelseadistatud arvuteid tudengitele nende õppetöö lihtsustamiseks. Lõputöös antakse ülevaade virtualiseerimistehnoloogiatest ja võrreldakse virtualiseerimisplatvorme VMWare ja Hyper-V. Selgitatakse lahti virtualiseerimise kasud ja probleemid ning uuritakse Windows Serveri pakutavaid virtualiseerimislahendusi Remote Desktop Services näitel

    Baseline verbal fluency performance as predictor of state anxiety during a live hand-grenade throwing exercise – A prospective study of Swedish military conscripts

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We investigated whether individual differences in baseline executive control capacity could predict state anxiety during a potentially life-threatening situation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>19 Swedish military conscripts were assessed during two measurement occasions. During a baseline measurement, data regarding performance on a letter fluency task and state anxiety were assessed. During a second measurement, performed immediately prior to participation in a live hand-grenade throwing exercise, data regarding state anxiety was assessed. All participants were male, right-handed and had fulfilled 12 years of education.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The level of state anxiety was significantly increased between the two measurement occasions (<it>p </it>< .01). Both the number of words produced (<it>β </it>= -.37; <it>p </it>< .05) and the number of perseveration made (<it>β </it>= .43; <it>p </it>< .05) on the verbal fluency task predicted, while controlling for state anxiety at baseline, the level of experienced state anxiety during the threatening situation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although more research is needed the present finding suggests that individual differences in executive control capacity might be related to emotion regulation ability during acute stressor exposure.</p

    Putative ligand binding sites of two functionally characterized bark beetle odorant receptors

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    Background: Bark beetles are major pests of conifer forests, and their behavior is primarily mediated via olfaction. Targeting the odorant receptors (ORs) may thus provide avenues towards improved pest control. Such an approach requires information on the function of ORs and their interactions with ligands, which is also essential for understanding the functional evolution of these receptors. Hence, we aimed to identify a high-quality complement of ORs from the destructive spruce bark beetle Ips typographus (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) and analyze their antennal expression and phylogenetic relationships with ORs from other beetles. Using 68 biologically relevant test compounds, we next aimed to functionally characterize ecologically important ORs, using two systems for heterologous expression. Our final aim was to gain insight into the ligand-OR interaction of the functionally characterized ORs, using a combination of computational and experimental methods. Results: We annotated 73 ORs from an antennal transcriptome of I. typographus and report the functional characterization of two ORs (ItypOR46 and ItypOR49), which are responsive to single enantiomers of the common bark beetle pheromone compounds ipsenol and ipsdienol, respectively. Their responses and antennal expression correlate with the specificities, localizations, and/or abundances of olfactory sensory neurons detecting these enantiomers. We use homology modeling and molecular docking to predict their binding sites. Our models reveal a likely binding cleft lined with residues that previously have been shown to affect the responses of insect ORs. Within this cleft, the active ligands are predicted to specifically interact with residues Tyr84 and Thr205 in ItypOR46. The suggested importance of these residues in the activation by ipsenol is experimentally supported through site-directed mutagenesis and functional testing, and hydrogen bonding appears key in pheromone binding. Conclusions: The emerging insight into ligand binding in the two characterized ItypORs has a general importance for our understanding of the molecular and functional evolution of the insect OR gene family. Due to the ecological importance of the characterized receptors and widespread use of ipsenol and ipsdienol in bark beetle chemical communication, these ORs should be evaluated for their potential use in pest control and biosensors to detect bark beetle infestations

    Dichlorvos exposure impedes extraction and amplification of DNA from insects in museum collections

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The insecticides dichlorvos, paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene have been commonly used to eradicate pest insects from natural history collections. However, it is not known how these chemicals affect the DNA of the specimens in the collections. We thus tested the effect of dichlorvos, paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene on DNA of insects (<it>Musca domestica</it>) by extracting and amplifying DNA from specimens exposed to insecticides in two different concentrations over increasing time intervals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results clearly show that dichlorvos impedes both extraction and amplification of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA after relatively short time, whereas paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene do not.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Collections treated with paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene, are better preserved concerning DNA, than those treated with dichlorvos. Non toxic pest control methods should, however, be preferred due to physical damage of specimens and putative health risks by chemicals.</p

    The Synarcual of the Little Skate, Leucoraja erinacea: Novel Development Among the Vertebrates

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    Evolutionary variation in anteroposterior patterning of the axial skeleton is a major contributor to the evolution of the vertebrate body plan, with five canonical vertebral types in tetrapods (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, caudal). However, less is known about the evolutionary origin and variation in vertebral regionalization patterns outside of tetrapods where described vertebral types range from as few as two in some chondrichthyans to eight or more in some teleost fishes. The synarcual is a specialized adaptation of the anterior axial skeleton comprising a putatively fused array of vertebral elements characteristic of jawed vertebrate (gnathostome) clades such as batoid and chimaeroid chondrichthyans where they support enlarged pectoral fins and dorsal fin spines respectively, as well as a fossil group known as the placoderms. Placoderms represent the phylogenetically most basal jawed vertebrates and the presence of a synarcual in these and chondrichthyans may suggest a conserved vertebral type for jawed vertebrates, predating the divergence of stem and crown gnathostomes. Alternatively, synarcuals may have evolved independently in these lineages, exhibiting a remarkable case of morphological convergence. In order to address this question, we investigated the early development of the cervicothoracic synarcual of an emerging model chondrichthyan: the Little skate Leucoraja erinacea. By combining x-ray computed tomography, and classical histology, we show that the skate synarcual is a complex composite element which develops from a hollow, continuous cartilaginous element devoid of any vertebral centra anterior to the pectoral girdle, and fusion/remodeling of initially distinct vertebrae posteriorly. A de novo transcriptome assembly for two developmental stages of the skate synarcual and post-synarcual axial skeletal elements supported this two-phase development, with differences in expression levels of several developmental genes, including Hox family transcription factors, which suggest anterior-posterior regionalization along the vertebral column, potentially linked to the synarcual. In addition, multiple genes related to skeletal remodeling were found to be more highly expressed at stage 33, including genes related to osteoclast activity, normally associated with removal of bone, a tissue absent in chondrichthyans. These genes are potentially related to loss of mineralization as vertebral elements are incorporated into the synarcual
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