Non-volant modes of migration in terrestrial arthropods

Animal migration is often defined in terms appropriate only to the ‘to-and-fro’ movements of large, charismatic (and often vertebrate) species. However, like other important biological processes, the definition should apply over as broad a taxonomic range as possible in order to be intellectually satisfying. Here we illustrate the process of migration in insects and other terrestrial arthropods (e.g. arachnids, myriapods, and non-insect hexapods) but provide a different perspective by excluding the ‘typical’ mode of migration in insects, i.e. flapping flight. Instead, we review non-volant migratory movements, including: aerial migration by wingless species, pedestrian and waterborne migration, and phoresy. This reveals some fascinating and sometimes bizarre morphological and behavioural adaptations to facilitate movement. We also outline some innovative modelling approaches exploring the interactions between atmospheric transport processes and biological factors affecting the ‘dispersal kernels’ of wingless arthropods

The movement of small insects in the convective boundary layer: linking patterns to processes

In fine warm weather, the daytime convective atmosphere over land areas is full of small migrant insects, among them serious pests (e.g. some species of aphid), but also many beneficial species (e.g. natural enemies of pests). For many years intensive aerial trapping studies were the only way of determining the density profiles of these small insects, and for taxon-specific studies trapping is still necessary. However, if we wish to determine generic behavioural responses to air movements shown by small day-migrating insects as a whole, the combination of millimetre-wavelength ‘cloud radars’ and Doppler lidar now provides virtually ideal instrumentation. Here we examine the net vertical velocities of > 1 million insect targets, relative to the vertical motion of the air in which they are flying, as a succession of fair-weather convective cells pass over the recording site in Oklahoma, USA. The resulting velocity measurements are interpreted in terms of the flight behaviours of small insects. These behaviours are accounted for by a newly-developed Lagrangian stochastic model of weakly-flying insect movements in the convective boundary layer; a model which is consistent with classic characterisations of small insect aerial density profiles. We thereby link patterns to processes

A versatile intermediate for the synthesis of pyranoquinone antibiotics

As a result of the sophisticated detection and isolation procedures developed by Omural and others, the family of biologically active pyranoquinones continues to grow rapidly. As a consequence of their interesting structures and useful activity, several synthetic approaches have already appeared.

Synthesis of analogs of fumonisin B1

The fungus Fusarium moniliforme Sheldon is one of the most important ear rot pathogens of corn (Nyvall, 1983). The toxicity of the mold was initially discovered when an isolate of F. moniliforme from corn grown in an area of Africa with a high incidence of esophageal cancer was tested (Marasas et al., 1981)

High-altitude migration of Heteroptera in Britain

Heteroptera caught during day and night sampling at a height of 200 m above ground at Cardington, Bedfordshire, UK, during eight summers (1999, 2000, and 2002-2007) were compared to high-altitude catches made over the UK and North Sea from the 1930s to the 1950s. The height of these captures indicates that individuals were engaged in windborne migration over distances of at least several kilometres and probably tens of kilometres. This conclusion is generally supported by what is known of the species' ecologies, which reflect the view that the level of dispersiveness is associated with the exploitation of temporary habitats or resources. The seasonal timing of the heteropteran migrations is interpreted in terms of the breeding/overwintering cycles of the species concerned

Hemisphere differences and interhemispheric relations with special reference to the functions of the corpus callosum

This thesis contains reports of behavioural investigations carried out on an acallosal girl and her brain-damaged sister. These patients were compared on tasks involving tactile, auditory, and visual perception with a group of control Subjects matched for sex, I.Q. and age, as well as with normal Subjects of the same sex and age. The general aim of the experiments was (a) to investigate and compare the functions of the cerebral hemispheres and (b) to study interhemispheric relationships. Using normal Subjects as well as the acallosal patient special attention was directed towards furthering our understanding of the functions of the corpus callosum. Our results were compared with previous findings in an effort to resolve conflicting findings in the agenesis literature and to explain differences between the previously reported acallosal and surgical-bisected patients' behaviour. The acallosal was found to perform less efficiently than control Subjects on some bimanual and unimanual motor coordination tasks. This finding is consistent with earlier reports on agenesis Subjects. Some evidence was found to indicate that acallosals do not efficiently transfer learning of a tactile formboard task from one hand to the other The acallosal patient did not show an anomia of the left hand as do surgical-bisected patients. There is, however, an inefficiency in tactile cross-localization of light touch stimuli. Dichotic listening experiments used verbal stimuli to test the hypothesis that the acallosal girl would demonstrate equipotentiality of language processes in both hemispheres. Tonal patterns were similar presented dichotically. The acallosal Subject exhibited a greater right-ear advantage than the controls on the recall of digits. Studies of reaction time to a simple visual stimulus replicated findings of greater pathway differences for acallosals than for normals. Another visual perception study supported the finding that acallosals do not show interocular transfer of movement aftereffects. Tachistoscopic recognition tasks of alphabetical and facial stimuli were used on the acallosal, her sister, and normal controls. A developmental study of normals was also carried out. Thirteen year old normals and adults were found to have a left-hemisphere superiority for letters and right-hemisphere for faces. The seven and eight year olds did not show significant lateralization of either faces or letters. The acallosal showed a left visual field superiority for letters, a finding opposite to that for normals. These findings suggest that processes involved in recognition of letters and faces develop with increasing age in childhood. The acallosal Subject appears to have bilateral representation of language processes across sensory modalities in opposite hemispheres, presumably the result of compensatory development arising from lack of a corpus callosum

Precision medicine and personalized breast cancer: combination pertuzumab therapy

Trastuzumab (Herceptin), a monoclonal antibody directed against the human epidermal growth-factor receptor 2 (HER2), is the poster child for antibody-based targeted therapy in breast cancer. Pertuzumab, another humanized monoclonal antibody, binds to a different domain of HER2 and prevents the formation of HER2:HER3 dimers, which is the most potent heterodimer in the HER family. The combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab has synergistic activity, and is associated with improved clinical outcomes. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pertuzumab in combination with trastuzumab-based chemotherapy originally as first-line therapy for metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in 2012, and more recently as neoadjuvant therapy for localized disease in 2013. Pertuzumab is the first neoadjuvant drug to receive accelerated approval by the FDA based on pathological complete response as the primary end point. In this article, we review the mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, safety, and current role of pertuzumab in the management of breast cancer, as well as ongoing clinical trials and future directions regarding the utility of pertuzumab as a personalized therapeutic option for HER2-positive breast cancer. In the coming years, we anticipate increased utilization of neoadjuvant trials for drug development, biomarker discovery, and validation, and envision conduct of personalized breast cancer clinics in which therapies will be routinely selected based on genetic alterations in the tumor. Regardless of the targeted therapy combinations employed based on tumor genomic profile, trastuzumab and pertuzumab will likely continue to form the backbone of the personalized regimen for HER2-positive breast cancer

Melanotan-II reverses autistic features in a maternal immune activation mouse model of autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interactions, difficulty with communication, and repetitive behavior patterns. In humans affected by ASD, there is a male pre-disposition towards the condition with a male to female ratio of 4:1. In part due to the complex etiology of ASD including genetic and environmental interplay, there are currently no available medical therapies to improve the social deficits of ASD. Studies in rodent models and humans have shown promising therapeutic effects of oxytocin in modulating social adaptation. One pharmacological approach to stimulating oxytocinergic activity is the melanocortin receptor 4 agonist Melanotan-II (MT-II). Notably the effects of oxytocin on environmental rodent autism models has not been investigated to date. We used a maternal immune activation (MIA) mouse model of autism to assess the therapeutic potential of MT-II on autism-like features in adult male mice. The male MIA mice exhibited autism-like features including impaired social behavioral metrics, diminished vocal communication, and increased repetitive behaviors. Continuous administration of MT-II to male MIA mice over a seven-day course resulted in rescue of social behavioral metrics. Normal background C57 male mice treated with MT-II showed no significant alteration in social behavioral metrics. Additionally, there was no change in anxiety-like or repetitive behaviors following MT-II treatment of normal C57 mice, though there was significant weight loss following subacute treatment. These data demonstrate MT-II as an effective agent for improving autism-like behavioral deficits in the adult male MIA mouse model of autism