Resistance status of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae to selected acaricides on strawberries.

The carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, are serious pests of strawberries and many other horticultural crops. Control of these pests has been heavily dependent upon chemical acaricides. Objectives of this study were to determine the resistance status of these two pest species to commonly used acaricides on strawberries in a year-round intensive horticultural production region. LC90 of abamectin for adult carmine spider mites was 4% whereas that for adult twospotted spider mites was 24% of the top label rate. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 0.5%, 0.5%, 1.4% and 83% of their respective highest label rates for carmine spider mite eggs, 0.7%, 2.7%, 12.1% and 347% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 4.6%, 11.1%, 310% and 62% of their respective highest label rates for twospotted spider mite eggs, 3%, 13%, 432,214% and 15% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. Our results suggest that T. cinnabarinus have developed resistance to bifenazate and that the T. urticae have developed resistance to hexythiazox. These results strongly emphasize the need to develop resistance management strategies in the region

Quantification of the Effects of Low Dose Radiation and its Impact on Cardiovascular Risks

This work describes an algorithm developed to quantify the effects of low dose radiation on the cardiac endothelial cells with the final objective of inferring how radiation may potentially initiate cardiovascular disease in post radiotherapy-treated patients. The effects are investigated by using an in-vitro co-culture cellular matrix, consisting of endothelial cells on a base of fibroblasts, which in time begin to form capillary (tubular) like structures. A range of radiation doses (0.2-16 Gray (Gy)) was applied to different samples and the effects observed. The automatic segmentation is validated against a set of manual segmented images with satisfactory results presenting a correct classification of 0.93; classification is the measure of comparison between two sets of images, specified as a number from 0 to 1, whereby 1 denotes 100% similarity whilst 0 refers to 0% similarity. Measurements related to geometrical parameters were further obtained. It was found during the course of this project, the largest observable change in endothelial cell structure was found after exposure to 0.2 Grays of radiation

Targeted expression profiling reveals distinct stages of early canine fibroblast reprogramming are regulated by 2-oxoglutarate hydroxylases

Background: Ectopic expression of a defined set of transcription factors allows the reprogramming of mammalian somatic cells to pluripotency. Despite continuous progress in primate and rodent reprogramming, limited attention has been paid to cell reprogramming in domestic and companion species. Previous studies attempting to reprogram canine cells have mostly assessed a small number of presumptive canine induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines for generic pluripotency attributes. However, why canine cell reprogramming remains extremely inefficient is poorly understood. Methods: To better characterize the initial steps of pluripotency induction in canine somatic cells, we optimized an experimental system where canine fetal fibroblasts (cFFs) are transduced with the Yamanaka reprogramming factors by Sendai virus vectors. We use quantitative PCR arrays to measure the expression of 80 target genes at various stages of canine cell reprogramming. We ask how cFF reprogramming is influenced by small molecules affecting the epigenomic modification 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, specifically L-ascorbic acid and retinoic acid (AA/RA). Results: We found that the expression and catalytic output of a class of 2-oxoglutarate-dependent (2-OG) hydroxylases, known as ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes, can be modulated in canine cells treated with AA/RA. We further show that AA/RA treatment induces TET1 expression and facilitates early canine reprogramming, evidenced by upregulation of epithelial and pluripotency markers. Using a chemical inhibitor of 2-OG hydroxylases, we demonstrate that 2-OG hydroxylase activity regulates the expression of a subset of genes involved in mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) and pluripotency in early canine reprogramming. We identify a set of transcription factors depleted in maturing reprogramming intermediates compared to pluripotent canine embryonic stem cells. Conclusions: Our findings highlight 2-OG hydroxylases have evolutionarily conserved and divergent functions regulating the early reprogramming of canine somatic cells and show reprogramming conditions can be rationally optimized for the generation of maturing canine iPSC

Phytotherapy for the treatment of Glioblastoma: a review

Background: Phytotherapy; the study of extracts of natural origin in the treatment of disease, has scarcely been applied in the management of GBM. A body of literature exists studying in-vitro, the use of natural extracts against GBM cells. Given persisting poor prognoses, we evaluated, through systematic literature-review the therapeutic potential of naturally sourced extracts in-vivo. Methods: Using OVID, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched with compound search term. Abstracts and full-texts were double-screened by independent reviewers. Results: Nine hundred and eighty-seven articles, excluding duplicated were screened, leading to the inclusion of 14. Amongst murine studies, Ashwagandha, Coptis Chinensis and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi in unprocessed forms, produced significant reductions in tumour volume. Amongst human studies, Perrilyl alcohol, derived from Lavender, reduced angiogenic cytokines in 31% of subjects, halted 6 month disease progression in 48.2% of subjects, and improved mean survival by 4.9 months in separate studies, respectively. Conclusion: Although cursory, current trends in literature demonstrate the value of inhaled Lavender extract in the treatment of GBM, offering tangible clinical benefit to patients receiving conventional treatments. Furthermore, the administration of 8, discrete extracts in mice to produce significant responses in survival and tumour volume, suggest there is further scope for study. Although additional safety tests are required, currently, phytotherapeutics are the crossover to clinical translation, and additional trials are warranted to expound upon thus far promising results

Confining and hoop stresses in ring-confined thin-walled concrete-filled steel tube columns

Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns are now widely adopted in many structures due to the superior behaviour provided by composite action. However, this composite action is limited because of the different dilation properties of the constitutive materials at the early elastic stage. Furthermore, due to inelastic outward buckling of the steel tube, CFST columns may suffer serious degradation of the steel confinement. To overcome these problems, external confinement in the form of rings has been recently studied, and test results have shown that such provision can improve the strength, elastic stiffness, ductility and interface bonding of CFST columns. In the work reported in this paper, as a continuation of a previous study of ring-confined CFST columns, ten concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubes were fabricated and tested under uniaxial compression. The main parameters examined were the concrete cylinder strength, the steel tube thickness and the ring spacing. The test results show that external rings are highly effective in improving the uniaxial behaviour of CFST columns. Based on the experimental hoop–axial strain relationships and Prandtl–Reuss theory for the steel tube, the true structural behaviour of unconfined and ring-confined CFST columns, such as the steel–concrete interface bonding condition, the behaviour of the steel tube and core concrete as well as the confining mechanisms, were explored

Strutural Damage Induced by Pyritic Shale

The Evangelical Hospital located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania has experienced distress in the form of cracked floor slabs and displaced structural steel due to swelling of the underlying fill material and natural bedrock formation. The bedrock consisted of black, pyritic, calcareous shale from the Marcellus Formation of the Hamilton Group (Devonian Age). The fill materials beneath the cracked concrete floor slabs consisted of the weathered shale fragments from this formation. Although mitigating the structural distress has been attempted, the building continued to experience problems relating to the swelling of the underlying bedrock materials. The expansion of the shale could be attributed to the oxidation of the pyrite, which produced sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid, in turn, reacted with the calcium carbonate (calcite) in the shale partings producing the mineral gypsum. Since gypsum has approximately twice the molar volume of calcite, the result is an expansion or swelling of the shale. Various laboratory tests were conducted on the shale in an attempt to simulate the swelling processes. The failures and successes of the laboratory testing have given new directions for additional research to further educate Geotechnical Engineers unfamiliar with the expansive nature of pyritic shale

Thermal emission spectroscopy of the middle atmosphere

The general objective of this research is to obtain, via remote sensing, simultaneous measurements of the vertical distributions of stratospheric temperature, ozone, and trace constituents that participate in the catalytic destruction of ozone (NO(sub y): NO, NO2, NO3, HNO3, ClONO2, N2O5, HNO4; Cl(sub x): HOCl), and the source gases for the catalytic cycles (H2O, CH4, N2O, CF2Cl2, CFCl3, CCl4, CH3Cl, CHF2Cl, etc.). Data are collected during a complete diurnal cycle in order to test our present understanding of ozone chemistry and its associate catalytic cycles. The instrumentation employed is an emission-mode, balloon-borne, liquid-nitrogen-cooled Michelson interferometer-spectrometer (SIRIS), covering the mid-infrared range with a spectral resolution of 0.020 cm(exp -1). Cryogenic cooling combined with the use of extrinsic silicon photoconductor detectors allows the detection of weak emission features of stratospheric gaseous species. Vertical distributions of these species are inferred from scans of the thermal emission of the limb in a sequence of elevation angles. The fourth SIRIS balloon flight was carried out from Palestine, Texas on September 15-16, 1986 with 9 hours of nighttime data (40 km). High quality data with spectral resolution 0.022 cm(exp -1), were obtained for numerous limb sequences. Fifteen stratospheric species have been identified to date from this flight: five species from the NO(sub y) family (HNO3, NO2, NO, ClONO2, N2O5), plus CO2, O3, H2O, N2O, CH4, CCl3F, CCl2F2, CHF2Cl, CF4, and CCl4. The nighttime values of N2O5, ClONO2, and total odd nitrogen have been measured for the first time, and compared to model results. Analysis of the diurnal variation of N2O5 within the 1984 and 1986 data sets, and of the 1984 ClONO2 measurements, were presented in the literature. The demonstrated ability of SIRIS to measure all the major NO(sub y) species, and therefore to determine the partitioning of the nitrogen family over a continuous diurnal cycle, is a powerful tool in the verification and improvement of photochemical modeling

Tall Fescue Expressed Sequence Tag and Simple Sequence Repeats: Important Resources for Grass Species

Expressed sequence tag (EST) databases have been growing exponentially. The simple sequence repeat (SSR) has become one of the most useful molecular marker systems in plant breeding and is widely used in cultivar fingerprinting, genetic diversity assessment, molecular mapping and marker-assisted selection. ESTs are a potential source for SSRs. The EST-SSR markers are of high quality and have versatile applications in molecular breeding (Bughrara et al., 2003; Saha et al., 2004 a, b, c). Here, we present an overview of our efforts to develop SSRs from tall fescue ESTs and their application for the genetic improvement of forage and turf grass species