All-optical formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate for applications in scanning electron microscopy

We report on the production of a F=1 spinor condensate of 87Rb atoms in a single beam optical dipole trap formed by a focused CO2 laser. The condensate is produced 13mm below the tip of a scanning electron microscope employing standard all-optical techniques. The condensate fraction contains up to 100,000 atoms and we achieve a duty cycle of less than 10s.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Schuldig landschap. Over de toeristische aantrekkingskracht van Baantjer, Wallander en Inspector Morse

De opnamelokaties van tv-detectives genieten een toenemende populariteit onder toeristen. In dit artikel wordt, op basis van een tekstuele analyse van ‘Baantjer’, ‘Inspector Morse’ en ‘Wallander’, onderzocht welke inhoudelijke kenmerken van deze tv-detectives mogelijk als ‘trigger’ fungeren. Uit de analyse blijkt dat plaats en beweging een centrale rol vervullen binnen de narratieve structuur van dit genre. Door zelf de lokaties te bezoeken, kunnen toeristen het spoor nalopen van hun geliefde detective om aldaar, vanuit een veilige positie, tijdelijk op te gaan in het schemergebied tussen fictie en werkelijkheid

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Integrating Plant Essential Oils and Kaolin for the Sustainable Management of Thrips and Tomato Spotted Wilt on Tomato

Thrips-vectored Tomato spotted wilt virus is one of the most devastating pest complexes affecting tomato in the southern United States and elsewhere. Field trials were conducted over 2 years to determine the effects of volatile plant essential oils and kaolin-based particle films on the incidence of tomato spotted wilt and population dynamics of Frankliniella spp. thrips. The essential oils, geraniol (a monoterpene constituent of various plant essential oils), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) oil, and tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolii) oil, were compared with a standard insecticide treatment and an untreated control. All treatments were applied with and without kaolin, in a 5 × 2 factorial design. Although the treatments did not clearly affect the abundance of vector species, there were treatment differences in the incidence of tomato spotted wilt. When combined with kaolin, the three essential oils reduced tomato spotted wilt incidence by 32 to 51% in 2005 and by 6 to 25% in 2006 compared with the control. In both years, tea tree oil plus kaolin reduced tomato spotted wilt as well as the standard insecticide treatments. Overall, kaolin significantly increased yield by over 26% compared to treatments without kaolin. When applied with kaolin, the three essential oils produced yields similar to the insecticide standard. Therefore, naturally occurring products, such as essential oils and kaolin, could be used successfully to reduce insecticide use on tomatoes

Life history traits of Blaptostethus pallescens (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), a candidate for use in augmentative biological control in Egypt

Blaptostethus pallescens Poppius (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is an abundant native predator in mango orchards and other cropping systems in Egypt. To determine suitable mass-rearing conditions for this little-studied species, we assessed some of its biological characteristics. Testing its thermal response at three constant temperatures (20, 25, 30 °C), showed that immature development time and adult longevity decreased with increasing temperature. Reproductive success of individual females was greatest when reared at 25 °C (84.3 ± 3.1 eggs) rather than at 20 °C (46.6 ± 2.0 eggs) or 30 °C (65.2 ± 2.5 eggs). Although B. pallescens reared at 25 °C had a significantly higher net reproductive rate (R 0), which may be attributed to their relatively rapid development and high fecundity, we argue that 30 °C seems to be more convenient for rearing B. pallescens, as mean generation time (T) and doubling time (DT) are clearly shorter, thus more individuals could be reared per unit of time at 30 °C. Mating significantly reduced male and female longevity, as unmated adults lived 25–45 % longer than mated individuals did. Unmated females did not lay eggs, suggesting that mating is a prerequisite for egg maturation. Adult males and females performed best, in terms of longevity, when fed Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs instead of non-prey diets. However, diets of plant sap or pollen could sustain adults in times of limited egg availability. Because its biology is similar to that of other subtropical anthocorids already reared for augmentative releases, B. pallescens may be amenable to mass-rearing using already established techniques. Therefore, B. pallescens could be used to improve augmentative biological control in crops such as mango or maize in Egypt where it already naturally occurs, and therefore would not engender concerns over non-target effects that an exotic, generalist biological control agent would

Development, consumption rates and reproductive biology of Orius albidipennis reared on various prey

The predatory bug Orius albidipennis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) has tremendous potential as a biological control agent, especially in its native range around the Mediterranean Basin and East Africa. The need to exploit native biological control agents is growing in importance as concerns over the introduction of non-native species continue to increase. However, little is known of the effects of different prey on development and reproduction of O. albidipennis compared with other species of Orius. Therefore, we compared the development, survival, reproductive biology, and prey consumption of O. albidipennis when fed eggs of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, Tetranychus urticae Koch, and Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), and larvae of Gynaikothrips ficorum (Marchal), under laboratory of 26 ± 1°C, 60 ± 10% RH and 16L:8D photoperiod. Individuals were reared from the neonate stage until death on one of the four prey types. The type of prey had profound effects on all measured performance traits. The highest survival rate was recorded for nymphs that were fed on E. kuehniella eggs, while the lowest survival rate was observed for those fed on T. vaporariorum eggs. The shortest nymphal period was recorded for nymphs fed on E. kuehniella eggs, while the longest was measured for those fed on T. urticae eggs. During the nymphal period, O. albidipennis consumed significantly more eggs of T. urticae than other prey types, whereas the lowest number of consumed prey were eggs of E. kuehniella. Adult females and males consumed significantly more T. urticae eggs than other types of prey. However, Orius albidipennis females showed the highest fecundity when fed on E. kuehniella eggs, and the lowest when fed on T. vaporariorum eggs. Adult females and males that fed on G. ficorum larvae had significantly longer life spans compared with those fed other prey. Because of their relatively rapid development and high fecundity, O. albidipennis fed E. kuehniella eggs had a significantly higher net reproductive rate (Ro) and intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) than O. albidipennis fed other prey types. Overall, eggs of E. kuehniella were the most suitable diet for nymphs and adults of O. albidipennis. Although less suitable, O. albidipennis could survive and reproduce on the other prey types, which is a favourable attribute in biological control agents. These results on the effect of different prey types on development and reproduction of O. albidipennis will also contribute to the development of mass rearing programs for biological control agents in developing countries, such as Egypt