Egg parasitoid exploitation of plant volatiles induced by single or concurrent attack of a zoophytophagous predator and an invasive phytophagous pest

Zoophytophagous insect predators can induce physiological responses in plants by activating defence signalling pathways, but whether plants can respond to facultative phytophagy by recruiting natural enemies remains to be investigated. In Y-tube olfactometer bioassays, using a system including a Vicia faba plant, the zoophytophagous predator Podisus maculiventris and the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi, we first demonstrated that T. podisi females are attracted by broad bean plants damaged by feeding activity of P. maculiventris and on which host egg masses had been laid, while they are not attracted by undamaged plants or plants damaged by feeding activity alone. In a second experiment, we evaluated the impact of the invasive phytophagous pest Halyomorpha halys on this plant volatile-mediated tritrophic communication. Results showed that the invasive herbivorous adults do not induce plants to recruit the native egg parasitoid, but they can disrupt the local infochemical network. In fact, T. podisi females are not attracted by volatiles emitted by plants damaged by H. halys feeding alone or combined with oviposition activity, nor are they attracted by plants concurrently infested by P. maculiventris and H. halys, indicating the specificity in the parasitoid response and the ability of the invasive herbivore in interrupting the semiochemical communication between plants and native egg parasitoids. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study showing that zoophytophagous predator attacks induce indirect plant defences similarly to those defence strategies adopted by plants as a consequence of single or concurrent infestations of herbivorous insects

Posterior Subtalar Dislocation

A subtalar dislocation of the foot is an uncommon injury, and cases of posterior subtalar dislocation are even rarer. This injury is characterized by a simultaneous dislocation of talocalcaneal and talonavicular joints while tibiotalar and calcaneocuboid articulations remain intact. Subtalar dislocation is commonly accompanied by fractures of the malleoli, talus, or fifth metatarsal and by a rotational component of the subtalar joint. Subtalar dislocation can occur in any direction and produces significant deformity. This article presents a case of pure posterior subtalar dislocation in an 80-year-old man who presented with pain and deformity in his left ankle following a motorcycle accident. Radiographs demonstrated dislocation of both the talonavicular and talocalcaneal joints. The calcaneus was displaced posteriorly without medial or lateral displacement. No rotational component of the calcaneus was noted, suggesting the trauma was in pure hyperplantar flexion. We hypothesize that pure hyperplantar flexion could lead to a progressive subtalar ligament weakening that may result in a complete ligament rupture if the plantar flexion force is prolonged. This could be observed in the presence of good bone quality and if the force is applied distally at the navicular bone

Pseudomonas aeruginosa LptE is crucial for LptD assembly, cell envelope integrity, antibiotic resistance and virulence

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an essential structural component of the outer membrane (OM) of most Gram-negative bacteria. In the model organism Escherichia coli, LPS transport to the OM requires seven essential proteins (LptABCDEFG) that form a continuous bridge across the cell envelope. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa the recently-demonstrated essentiality of LptD and LptH, the P. aeruginosa LptA homologue, confirmed the crucial role of the Lpt system and, thus, of LPS in OM biogenesis in this species. Surprisingly, independent high-throughput transposon mutagenesis studies identified viable P. aeruginosa insertion mutants in the lptE gene, suggesting that it might be dispensable for bacterial growth. To test this hypothesis, we generated an lptE conditional mutant in P. aeruginosa PAO1. LptE depletion only slightly impairs P. aeruginosa growth in vitro. Conversely, LptE is important for cell envelope stability, antibiotic resistance and virulence in an insect model. Interestingly, the maturation and OM localization of LPS is only marginally affected in LptE-depleted cells, while the levels of the OM component LptD are strongly reduced. This suggests that P. aeruginosa LptE might not be directly involved in LPS transport, although it is clearly essential for the maturation and/or stability of LptD. While poor functionality of LptD caused by LptE depletion is somehow tolerated by P. aeruginosa, this has a high cost in terms of cell integrity, drug resistance and virulence, highlighting LptE function(s) as an interesting target to weaken P. aeruginosa defenses and reduce its infectivity

TTF-1/p63-positive poorly differentiated NSCLC: A histogenetic hypothesis from the basal reserve cell of the terminal respiratory unit

TTF-1 is expressed in the alveolar epithelium and in the basal cells of distal terminal bronchioles. It is considered the most sensitive and specific marker to define the adenocarcinoma arising from the terminal respiratory unit (TRU). TTF-1, CK7, CK5/6, p63 and p40 are useful for typifying the majority of non-small-cell lung cancers, with TTF and CK7 being typically expressed in adenocarcinomas and the latter three being expressed in squamous cell carcinoma. As tumors with coexpression of both TTF-1 and p63 in the same cells are rare, we describe different cases that coexpress them, suggesting a histogenetic hypothesis of their origin. We report 10 cases of poorly differentiated non-small-cell lung carcinoma (PD-NSCLC). Immunohistochemistry was performed by using TTF-1, p63, p40 (∆Np63), CK5/6 and CK7. EGFR and BRAF gene mutational analysis was performed by using real-time PCR. All the cases showed coexpression of p63 and TTF-1. Six of them showing CK7+ and CK5/6− immunostaining were diagnosed as “TTF-1+ p63+ adenocarcinoma”. The other cases of PD-NSCLC, despite the positivity for CK5/6, were diagnosed as “adenocarcinoma, solid variant”, in keeping with the presence of TTF-1 expression and p40 negativity. A “wild type” genotype of EGFR was evidenced in all cases. TTF1 stained positively the alveolar epithelium and the basal reserve cells of TRU, with the latter also being positive for p63. The coexpression of p63 and TTF-1 could suggest the origin from the basal reserve cells of TRU and represent the capability to differentiate towards different histogenetic lines. More aggressive clinical and morphological features could characterize these “basal-type tumors” like those in the better known “basal-like” cancer of the breast

Microcephaly and macrocephaly. A study on anthropometric and clinical data from 308 subjects

Head circumference is the auxological parameter that most correlates with developmental anomalies in childhood. Head circumference (HC) two standard deviations (SD) below or above the mean defines microcephaly and macrocephaly, respectively. The aim of this retrospective study was to explore anthropometric parameters and clinical characteristics among subjects with abnormalities in HC who had been referred for developmental assessment. One hundred and sixty four subjects with microcephaly and 144 subjects with macrocephaly were enrolled from birth to 18 months of age. Head circumference at birth and the association with variables related to maternal health status, gestational age, growth pattern, brain imaging and clinical characteristics were analyzed. In some cases, an etiological diagnosis was made. In the two considered conditions, we found different anthropometric and clinical associations, some of which were statistically significant, with implications for ongoing neurodevelopmental surveillance

Electrostatics promotes molecular crowding and selects the aggregation pathway in fibril-forming protein solutions

The role of intermolecular interaction in fibril-forming protein solutions and its relation with molecular conformation are crucial aspects for the control and inhibition of amyloid structures. Here, we study the fibril formation and the protein-protein interactions for two proteins at acidic pH, lysozyme and α-chymotrypsinogen. By using light scattering experiments and the Kirkwood-Buff integral approach, we show how concentration fluctuations are damped even at moderate protein concentrations by the dominant long-ranged electrostatic repulsion, which determines an effective crowded environment. In denaturing conditions, electrostatic repulsion keeps the monomeric solution in a thermodynamically metastable state, which is escaped through kinetically populated conformational sub-states. This explains how electrostatics acts as a gatekeeper in selecting a specific aggregation pathway

Investigación sobre un pasteurizador de túnel para las aceitunas de mesa “Nocellara del Belice” procesadas mediante el “Método Castelvetrano”

The influence of pasteurization temperature and time of treatment on the flesh firmness and the evolution of microbial communities was studied for table olives Cv. Nocellara del Belice, packed in glass jars and processed with a tunnel pasteurizer. The experiment was first carried out on the laboratory level in order to select the optimal combination of pasteurization time/temperature so as to obtain the proper balance between the consistency of the pulp and the microbiological quality of the final product. Pasteurization at industrial scale was then carried out in a tunnel pasteurizer applying the treatment at 75 °C for 8 min in the thermal center of the jars. Besides flesh firmness and microbial evolutions, the pH, total titratable acidity (TTA) and color were evaluated for the table olives during storage at 6, 12 and 15 months from packing. The table olives showed a high stability and acceptable flesh firmness for the entire period under observation. Specifically, olive pulp texture decreased during the storage period, but the softening was most evident in the deeper layers of the pulp. The results indicated that the storage period should not exceed 6 months. Although the hygiene is preserved, after this period the firmness might not be acceptable to consumers.En el presente trabajo se estudió la influencia de la temperatura y del tiempo de pasteurización en la firmeza de la pulpa y la evolución de las comunidades microbianas para la aceituna de mesa “Nocellara del Belice” procesadas con un pasteurizador de túnel. El experimento se llevó a cabo preliminarmente a nivel de laboratorio con el fin de seleccionar la combinación óptima de tiempo/temperatura de pasteurización para obtener el compromiso adecuado entre la consistencia de la pulpa y la calidad microbiológica del producto final. A continuación se llevó a cabo la pasteurización en escala industrial dentro de un pasteurizador de túnel aplicando el tratamiento a 75 ° C durante 8 minutos. Fueron evaluados pH, acidez total titulable (ATT) y el color para las aceitunas de mesa durante el almacenamiento a los 6, 12 y 15 meses de envasado. Las aceitunas de mesa mostraron una alta estabilidad y una firmeza de pulpa aceptable para todo el período de observación; en particular, la textura de pulpa disminuyó durante el período de almacenamiento, pero el ablandamiento fue más evidente en las capas más profundas de la pulpa. Los resultados indicaron que el período de almacenamiento no debe ser superior a 6 meses

Long-Range and Short-Range Structure of Proton-Conducting Y:BaZrO3

Yttrium-doped barium zirconate (BZY) is the most promising candidate for proton-conducting ceramics and has been extensively studied in recent years. The detailed features of the crystal structure, both short-range and long-range, as well as the crystal chemistry driving the doping process, are largely unknown. We use very high resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) to resolve the crystal structure, which is very slightly tetragonally distorted in BZY, while the local environment around Zr4+ and Y3+ is probed with extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and the symmetry and vibrations are investigated by using Raman spectroscopy. It is found that barium zirconate shows some degree of local deviation from the cubic arystotype even if undoped, which upon substitution by the perceptibly larger Y3+, playing the role of a rigid inclusion, is further increased. This distortion is one limiting factor concerning the Y3+ solubility. The effects are correlated to the proton conduction properties of BZY