Two new Phoretomorphic Siteroptes from Galleries of the Southern Pine Beetle (Acarina: Pyemotidae).

Zwei neue phoretische Arten, Siteroptes fusarii und S. trichoderma werden beschrieben. Die Gattung Pediculaster Vitzthum, 1931 und Pygmephorellus Groos & Moser, 1971, werden als Synonyme des früheren Namens Siteroptes Amerling, 1861, erklärt; denn die ersten beiden Gattungen sind errichtet auf phoretischen Formen von Arten, die als Siteroptes beschrieben sind. Obwohl beide neue Arten zusammen unter der Rinde von Pinus taeda gefunden wurden, unterschied sich ihre Lebensweise beträchtlich, und sie ernährten sich offensichtlich von verschiedenen Pilzen. Die beiden neuen Arten wurden in Laborkulturen durch den U.S. Service, Pineville, Louisiana gezüchtet. Dabei wurde entdeckt, dass es zwei verschiedene weibliche Formen für jede dieser Arten gibt und das diese nicht getrennten Gattungen angehören, wie vorher angenommen worden war.Nomenklatorische Handlungenfusarii Smiley & Moser, 1976 (Siteroptes), spec. n.trichoderma Smiley & Moser, 1976 (Siteroptes), spec. n.Two new phoretomorphic species, Siteroptes fusarii and S. trichoderma are discribed. The genera Pediculaster Vitzthum, 1931 and Pygmephorellus Groos & Moser, 1971, are synonymized unter the earlier name Siteroptes Amerling, 1861, because the first two names are based on Phoretomorphic forms of species described in Siteroptes. Specimens of the two new species were reared in laboratory culture by the U.S. Forest Service, Pineville, Louisiana. It was discovered that there were two different distinct female forms for each species and are not separate generic taxa as previously assigned.Nomenclatural Actsfusarii Smiley & Moser, 1976 (Siteroptes), spec. n.trichoderma Smiley & Moser, 1976 (Siteroptes), spec. n

Atmospheric neutron measurements with the SONTRAC science model

–The SOlar Neutron TRACking (SONTRAC) telescope was originally developed to measure the energy spectrum and incident direction of neutrons produced in solar flares, in the energy range 20 - 250 MeV. While developed primarily for solar physics, the SONTRAC detector may be employed in virtually any application requiring both energy measurement and imaging capabilities. The SONTRAC Science Model (SM) is presently being operated at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) as a ground-based instrument to investigate the energy spectrum, zenith and azimuth angle dependence of the cosmic-ray induced sea-level atmospheric neutron flux. SONTRAC measurements are based on the non-relativistic double scatter of neutrons off ambient protons within a block of scintillating fibers. Using the n-p elastic double-scatter technique, it is possible to uniquely determine the neutron’s energy and direction on an event-by-event basis. The 3D SM consists of a cube of orthogonal plastic scintillating fiber layers with 5 cm sides, read out by two CCD cameras. Two orthogonal imaging chains allow full 3D reconstruction of scattered proton tracks

Evaluation of Alternatives to Warfarin as Probes For Sudlow Site I of Human Serum Albumin Characterization by High-Performance Affinity Chromatography

Warfarin is often used as a site-specific probe for examining the binding of drugs and other solutes to Sudlow site I of human serum albumin (HSA). However, warfarin has strong binding to HSA and the two chiral forms of warfarin have slightly different binding affinities for this protein. Warfarin also undergoes a slow change in structure when present in common buffers used for binding studies. This report examined the use of four related, achiral compounds (i.e., coumarin, 7-hydroxycoumarin, 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, and 4-hydroxycoumarin) as possible alternative probes for Sudlow site I in drug binding studies. High-performance affinity chromatography and immobilized HSA columns were used to compare and evaluate the binding properties of these probe candidates. Binding for each of the tested probe candidates to HSA was found to give a good fit to a two-site model. The first group of sites had moderate-to-high affinities for the probe candidates with association equilibrium constants that ranged from 6.4 × 103 M−1 (coumarin) to 5.5 × 104 M−1 (4- hydroxycoumarin) at pH 7.4 and 37°C. The second group of weaker, and probably non-specific, binding regions, had association equilibrium constants that ranged from 3.8 × 101 M−1 (7-hydroxy-4- methylcoumarin) to 7.3 × 102 M−1 (coumarin). Competition experiments based on zonal elution indicated that all of these probe candidates competed with warfarin at their high affinity regions. Warfarin also showed competition with coumarin, 7-hydroxycoumarin and 7-hydroxy-4- methycoumarin for their weak affinity sites but appeared to not bind and or compete for all of the weak sites of 4-hydroxycoumarin. It was found from this group that 4-hydroxycoumarin was the best alternative to warfarin for examining the interactions of drugs at Sudlow site I on HSA. These results also provided information on how the major structural components of warfarin contribute to the binding of this drug at Sudlow site I

Taming the Viper: Software Upgrade for VFAUser and Viper

This report describes the procedure and properties of the software upgrade for the Vibration Performance Recorder. The upgrade will check the 20 memory cards for proper read/write operation. The upgrade was successfully installed and uploaded into the Viper and the field laptop. The memory checking routine must run overnight to complete the test, although the laptop need only be connected to the Viper unit until the downloading routine is finished. The routine has limited ability to recognize incomplete or corrupt header and footer files. The routine requires 400 Megabytes of free hard disk space. There is one minor technical flaw detailed in the conclusion

The mites (Acari) associated with bark beetles in the Koli national park in Finland

Thirty-three taxa associated with Ips typographus were identified, of which fifteen species were phoretic.The most abundant species were Insectolaelaps quadrisetus (Mesostigmata), Siculobata lentonycha (Oribata), Diapterobateshumeralis (Oribata), Ereynetes propescutulis (Prostigmata), Aetiophenax ipidarius (Prostigmata), and an unidentified speciesof Nanacarus (Astigmata). Eight species – I. quadrisetus, Proctolaelaps fiseri, Trichouropoda polytricha, Mexecheles virginiensis,A. ipidarius, E. propescutulis, Bonomoia pini, and Boletoglyphus boletophagi - and four genera - Nanacarus, Elattoma, Schwiebia,and Parawinterschmidtia – were new taxa in Finland

Antagonisms, mutualisms and commensalisms affect outbreak dynamics of the southern pine beetle

Feedback from community interactions involving mutualisms are a rarely explored mechanism for generating complex population dynamics. We examined the effects of two linked mutualisms on the population dynamics of a beetle that exhibits outbreak dynamics. One mutualism involves an obligate association between the bark beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis and two mycangial fungi. The second mutualism involves Tarsonemus mites that are phoretic on D. frontalis ( commensal ), and a blue-staining fungus, Ophiostoma minus. The presence of O. minus reduces beetle larval survival ( antagonistic ) by outcompeting beetle-mutualistic fungi within trees yet supports mite populations by acting as a nutritional mutualist. These linked interactions potentially create an interaction system with the form of an endogenous negative feedback loop. We address four hypotheses: (1) Direct negative feedback: Beetles directly increase the abundance of O. minus, which reduces per capita reproduction of beetles. (2) Indirect negative feedback: Beetles indirectly increase mite abundance, which increases O. minus, which decreases beetle reproduction. (3) The effect of O. minus on beetles depends on mites, but mite abundance is independent of beetle abundance. (4) The effect of O. minus on beetles is independent of beetle and mite abundance. High Tarsonemus and O. minus abundances were strongly correlated with the decline and eventual local extinction of beetle populations. Manipulation experiments revealed strong negative effects of O. minus on beetles, but falsified the hypothesis that horizontal transmission of O. minus generates negative feedback. Surveys of beetle populations revealed that reproductive rates of Tarsonemus, O. minus, and beetles covaried in a manner consistent with strong indirect interactions between organisms. Co-occurrence of mutualisms embedded within a community may have stabilizing effects if both mutualisms limit each other. However, delays and/ or non-linearities in the interaction systems may result in large population fluctuations. © Springer-Verlag 2005

A new genus and species of Macrochelidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) associated with the Texas leafcutting ant, Atta texana (Buckley) in Louisiana, USA

Adults and nymphs of a new genus and species of the family Macrochelidae are described from detritus cavities of the leafcutting ant, Atta texana. This new species is notable in having peritremes with no posterior loop, a series of small subterminal teeth on the fixed cheliceral digit rather than the single large tooth typical of other macrochelids and well-developed paranal cribral extensions in both the protonymph and the deutonymph, but not in adults.Keywords: Cheliceral and peritrematic morphology, Mesostigmata, Atta, Macrochelidae, Myrmecophile, CribrumKeywords: Cheliceral and peritrematic morphology, Mesostigmata, Atta, Macrochelidae, Myrmecophile, Cribru

Theory of Circle Maps and the Problem of One-Dimensional Optical Resonator with a Periodically Moving Wall

We consider the electromagnetic field in a cavity with a periodically oscillating perfectly reflecting boundary and show that the mathematical theory of circle maps leads to several physical predictions. Notably, well-known results in the theory of circle maps (which we review briefly) imply that there are intervals of parameters where the waves in the cavity get concentrated in wave packets whose energy grows exponentially. Even if these intervals are dense for typical motions of the reflecting boundary, in the complement there is a positive measure set of parameters where the energy remains bounded.Comment: 34 pages LaTeX (revtex) with eps figures, PACS: 02.30.Jr, 42.15.-i, 42.60.Da, 42.65.Y

Vertical distribution and migration of fish larvae in the NW Iberian upwelling system during the winter mixing period: implications for cross-shelf distribution

The vertical distribution and vertical migrations of fish larvae and implications for their cross-shelf distribution were investigated in the northern limit of the NE Atlantic upwelling region during the late winter mixing period of 2012. The average positive values of the upwelling index for February and March of this year were far from normal, although the average hydrographic conditions during the period of study were of downwelling and the water column was completely mixed. Fish larvae, most in the preflexion stage, were concentrated in the upper layers of the water column and their distribution was depth stratified, both day and night. However, the larval fish community was not structured in the vertical plane and fish larvae did not show significant diel vertical migration (DVM), although five species showed ontogenetic vertical migration. In regions of coastal upwelling and in the absence of DVM, the location of fish larvae in the water column is crucial for their cross-shelf distribution. Thus, the cross-shelf distribution of the six most abundant species collected in this study can be explained by the surface onshore flow associated with coastal downwelling, retaining larvae of the coastal spawning species with a relatively shallow distribution in the shelf region and transporting larvae of slope spawning species onto the shelf. The wide vertical distribution shown by larvae of the offshore spawning species could be an adaptation of these species to ensure that some larvae reach the inshore nursery areasPlan Nacional de I+D+i (CRAMERCTM2010- 21856-CO3-02), Junta de Galicia (ECOPREGA-10MMA602021PR), Principado de Asturias (GRUPIN14-144)Postprint2,044