Survival and mortality of grasshopper egg pods in semi-arid cereal cropping areas of northern Benin

Surveys of egg pods of agriculturally important grasshoppers were carried out in northern Benin between 1992 and 1995. Searches were made of oviposition sites under shrubs of the perennial legume Piliostigma thonningi along field margins. In 1993 and 1995, surveys were extended to include sorghum, Sorghum bicolor, and the perennial thatch grass Vetiveria nigritana. The four principal grasshopper species found at these oviposition sites were Hieroglyphus daganensis Krauss, Cataloipus fuscocoeruleipes Sjöstedt, Kraussaria angulifera (Krauss) and Tylotropidius gracilipes Brancsik comprising 86% of 4545 identified egg pods while 651 egg pods could not be identified to species level. Predation by meloid beetles (Epicauta, Mylabris and Psalydolytta spp.) varied between 0 and 50% for the four dominant grasshopper species. From 1993 and 1994 data, nymphal eclosion from egg pods damaged by meloids was significantly lower than emergence from undamaged egg pods. The hymenopterous parasitoids Scelio africanus Risbec and S. mauriticanus Risbec were reared from the four dominant grasshopper species and parasitism levels of 0.0-3.3% were recorded from these hosts. There were significant differences in nymphal emergences between parasitized and unparasitized egg pods of H. daganensi

Local Anaesthetic Flush Reduces Postoperative Pain and Haematoma Formation After Great Saphenous Vein Stripping—A Randomised Controlled Trial

AbstractObjectivesTo observe the effect of local anaesthetic flush through the great saphenous vein (GSV) tunnel on postoperative pain and haematoma formation following saphenous vein stripping operations.DesignProspective, double-blind, randomised, control trial.MethodsOne hundred patients were randomized to receive 20ml of local anaesthetic (bupivacaine 0.25%+adrenaline) or saline control flush through the GSV tunnel after stripping in a double-blind study. Visual analogue pain scores were used to measure postoperative pain daily for the 1st week, then at 3 weeks and 6 weeks. Patients were examined during the 1st, 3rd and 6th week for haematoma formation.ResultsIn the control group the median postoperative pain score was 4 (range 0–7) in the immediate postoperative period compared to a median of 1 (range 0–4) in the LA group (p<0.001). The median pain score on day-4 was 4 (range 1–6) (control) vs. 1 (range 0–3) (LA group) (p<0.001, Mann–Whitney Utest) and on day-6 it was 1 (range 0–5) (control) vs. 0 (range 0–5) (LA group) (p<0.001, Mann–Whitney). Twelve patients (24%) developed a haematoma in the GSV tunnel in the control group compared to three patients (6%) in the LA group (p=0.007).ConclusionFlushing of the GSV tunnel with bupivacaine plus adrenaline significantly reduces postoperative pain and haematoma formation in patients undergoing GSV stripping for varicose veins

Application of the scattering rate sum-rule to the interplane optical conductivity of high temperature superconductors: pseudogap and bi-layer effects

We use a recently proposed model of the interplane conductivity of high temperature superconductors to investigate the `scattering rate sum-rule' introduced by Basov and co-workers. We present a new derivation of the sum-rule. The quantal and thermal fluctuations of the order parameter which have been argued to produce the observed pseudogap behavior are shown to increase the total integrated `scattering rate' but may either increase or decrease the `quasiparticle' contribution from frequencies greater than twice the superconducting gap.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revise

Effect of photoperiod and host distribution on the horizontal transmission of Isaria fumosorosea (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) in greenhouse whitefly assessed using a novel model bioassay

A model bioassay was used to evaluate the epizootic potential and determine the horizontal transmission efficiency of Isaria fumosorosea Trinidadian strains against Trialeurodes vaporariorum pharate adults under optimum conditions (25±0.5°C, ~100% RH) at two different photoperiods. Untreated pharate adults were arranged on laminated graph paper at different distributions to simulate varying infestation levels on a leaf surface. Four potential hosts were located 7, 14 and 21 mm away from a central sporulating cadaver simulating high, medium and low infestation levels, respectively. Percent hosts colonized were recorded 7, 12, 14 and 21 days post-treatment during a 16- and 24-h photophase. After 21 days, mean percent hosts colonized at the highest, middle and lowest infestation levels were 93 and 100%, 22 and 58%, 25 and 39% under a 16- and 24-h photophase, respectively. From the results, it was concluded that the longer the photophase, the greater the percentage of hosts colonized, and as host distance increased from the central sporulating cadaver, colonization decreased. The use of this novel model bioassay technique is the first attempt to evaluate the epizootic potential and determine the horizontal transmission efficiency of I. fumosorosea Trinidadian strains under optimal environmental conditions at different photoperiods. This bioassay can be used to assess horizontal transmission efficiency for the selection of fungi being considered for commercial biopesticide development

Expansion for the solutions of the Bogomolny equations on the torus

We show that the solutions of the Bogomolny equations for the Abelian Higgs model on a two-dimensional torus, can be expanded in powers of a quantity epsilon measuring the departure of the area from the critical area. This allows a precise determination of the shape of the solutions for all magnetic fluxes and arbitrary position of the Higgs field zeroes. The expansion is carried out to 51 orders for a couple of representative cases, including the unit flux case. We analyse the behaviour of the expansion in the limit of large areas, in which case the solutions approach those on the plane. Our results suggest convergence all the way up to infinite area.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, slightly revised version as published in JHE

More on scattering of Chern-Simons vortices

I derive a general formalism for finding kinetic terms of the effective Lagrangian for slowly moving Chern-Simons vortices. Deformations of fields linear in velocities are taken into account. From the equations they must satisfy I extract the kinetic term in the limit of coincident vortices. For vortices passing one over the other there is locally the right-angle scattering. The method is based on analysis of field equations instead of action functional so it may be useful also for nonvariational equations in nonrelativistic models of Condensed Matter Physics.Comment: discussion around Eq.(45) is generalised, one more condition for the local right-angle scattering is adde

Optical symmetries and anisotropic transport in high-Tc superconductors

A simple symmetry analysis of in-plane and out-of-plane transport in a family of high temperature superconductors is presented. It is shown that generalized scaling relations exist between the low frequency electronic Raman response and the low frequency in-plane and out-of-plane conductivities in both the normal and superconducting states of the cuprates. Specifically, for both the normal and superconducting state, the temperature dependence of the low frequency $B_{1g}$ Raman slope scales with the $c-$axis conductivity, while the $B_{2g}$ Raman slope scales with the in-plane conductivity. Comparison with experiments in the normal state of Bi-2212 and Y-123 imply that the nodal transport is largely doping independent and metallic, while transport near the BZ axes is governed by a quantum critical point near doping $p\sim 0.22$ holes per CuO$_{2}$ plaquette. Important differences for La-214 are discussed. It is also shown that the $c-$ axis conductivity rise for $T\ll T_{c}$ is a consequence of partial conservation of in-plane momentum for out-of-plane transport.Comment: 16 pages, 8 Figures (3 pages added, new discussion on pseudogap and charge ordering in La214

First and Second Order Vortex Dynamics

The low energy dynamics of vortices in selfdual Abelian Higgs theory is of second order in vortex velocity and characterized by the moduli space metric. When Chern-Simons term with small coefficient is added to the theory, we show that a term linear in vortex velocity appears and can be consistently added to the second order expression. We provides an additional check of the first and second order terms by studying the angular momentum in the field theory. We briefly explore other first order term due to small background electric charge density and also the harmonic potential well for vortices given by the moment of inertia.Comment: a rev tex file, 22 pages, no figur

FGF receptor genes and breast cancer susceptibility: results from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium

Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression. Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95 confidence interval=1.02-1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2. Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2. © 2014 Cancer Research UK

A genetic locus on chromosome 2q24 predicting peripheral neuropathy risk in type 2 diabetes: Results from the ACCORD and BARI 2D studies

Genetic factors have been postulated to be involved in the etiology of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), but their identity remains mostly unknown. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic search for genetic variants influencing DPN risk using two wellcharacterized cohorts. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) testing 6.8 million single nucleotide polymorphisms was conducted among participants of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial. Included were 4,384 white case patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and prevalent or incident DPN (defined as a Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument clinical examination score &gt;2.0) and 784 white control subjects with T2D and no evidence of DPN at baseline or during follow-up. Replication of significant loci was sought among white subjects with T2D (791 DPN-positive case subjects and 158 DPNnegative control subjects) from the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation in Type 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) trial. Association between significant variants and gene expression in peripheral nerves was evaluated in the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database. A cluster of 28 SNPs on chromosome 2q24 reached GWAS significance (P &lt; 5×10-8) in ACCORD. The minor allele of the lead SNP (rs13417783,minor allele frequency = 0.14) decreased DPN odds by 36%(odds ratio [OR] 0.64, 95% CI 0.55-0.74, P = 1.9×10-9). This effect was not influenced by ACCORD treatment assignments (P for interaction = 0.6) or mediated by an association with known DPN risk factors. This locus was successfully validated in BARI 2D (OR 0.57, 95%CI 0.42-0.80,P=9×10-4; summary P=7.9×10-12). In GTEx, the minor, protective allele at this locus was associated with higher tibial nerve expression of an adjacent gene (SCN2A) coding for human voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.2 (P = 9×10-4). To conclude, we have identified and successfully validated a previously unknown locus with a powerful protective effect on the development of DPN in T2D. These results may provide novel insights into DPN pathogenesis and point to a potential target for novel interventions