A contribution to the knowledge of Bactrocera oleae (GMEL) in Tras-os-Montes region (northeastern Portugal): phenology, losses and control

Severe damage is caused by the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae (Gmel)) in the Trás-osMontes region. In order to develop a control strategy, two olive groves for oil production ("Cobrançosa" and "Verdeal") and one for table olive ("Negrinha de Freixo") were assessed ( 1993-1996). The insect phenology, yield losses and fruit infestation were evaluated. The insect's peak flight period occurred during the first half of October. Severe yield losses due to the pest occurred in 1995, reaching 19 % of the total harvest. It is concluded that earlier harvesting (second half of September) can avoid substantial losses because the main period of infestation in all years occurred in October

Consumer Shopping Behaviors and In-Store Expenditure Decisions

The authors study the effect that consumers’ adopted shopping patterns have on their responsiveness to pricing activity of retailers. Two important dimensions of shopping behavior — inclination to switch stores and preference for a particular retail price format (every day low price (EDLP) or promotional price (HILO)) are hypothesized to systematically affect the responsiveness of in-store expenditure decisions to changes in prices. In particular, store loyal households should be more responsive to changes in prices when deciding how much to buy in a given store. Similarly, the household shopping in a HILO format (where price variability is greater) should be more responsive. These hypotheses are developed and then tested using a joint model of store choice and in-store expenditure which accounts for potential interdependence between these decisions. The findings attest to the ability of consumers to exploit variation in the environment: When constrained on one dimension (e.g., by shopping in only one store), consumers exhibit flexibility on another (e.g., by adjusting expenditures in response to price changes). If afforded the opportunity to be flexible (e.g., through variable prices at a HILO store), consumers take advantage of this. These aspects of shopping behavior interact in a theoretically interesting, but counter-intuitive way: the expenditure decisions of HILO switching consumers turn out to be the least responsive to changes in prices at a particular store. These shoppers exploit advertised price differences and move among stores. This responsiveness in the store choice decision means they have less incentive to exhibit flexibility in their expenditure decisions at a given store. The authors present estimates from a series of models calibrated on a scanner panel data set which captures store choices and expenditure receipts, and find all hypotheses to be supported

Validation of a Novel, Sensitive, and Specific Urine-Based Test for Recurrence Surveillance of Patients With Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer in a Comprehensive Multicenter Study

Bladder cancer (BC), the most frequent malignancy of the urinary system, is ranked the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide. Of all newly diagnosed patients with BC, 70–75% will present disease confined to the mucosa or submucosa, the non-muscle-invasive BC (NMIBC) subtype. Of those, approximately 70% will recur after transurethral resection (TUR). Due to high rate of recurrence, patients are submitted to an intensive follow-up program maintained throughout many years, or even throughout life, resulting in an expensive follow-up, with cystoscopy being the most cost-effective procedure for NMIBC screening. Currently, the gold standard procedure for detection and follow-up of NMIBC is based on the association of cystoscopy and urine cytology. As cystoscopy is a very invasive approach, over the years, many different noninvasive assays (both based in serum and urine samples) have been developed in order to search genetic and protein alterations related to the development, progression, and recurrence of BC. TERT promoter mutations and FGFR3 hotspot mutations are the most frequent somatic alterations in BC and constitute the most reliable biomarkers for BC. Based on these, we developed an ultra-sensitive, urine-based assay called Uromonitor®, capable of detecting trace amounts of TERT promoter (c.1-124C > T and c.1-146C > T) and FGFR3 (p.R248C and p.S249C) hotspot mutations, in tumor cells exfoliated to urine samples. Cells present in urine were concentrated by the filtration of urine through filters where tumor cells are trapped and stored until analysis, presenting long-term stability. Detection of the alterations was achieved through a custom-made, robust, and highly sensitive multiplex competitive allele-specific discrimination PCR allowing clear interpretation of results. In this study, we validate a test for NMIBC recurrence detection, using for technical validation a total of 331 urine samples and 41 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of the primary tumor and recurrence lesions from a large cluster of urology centers. In the clinical validation, we used 185 samples to assess sensitivity/specificity in the detection of NMIBC recurrence vs. cystoscopy/cytology and in a smaller cohort its potential as a primary diagnostic tool for NMIBC. Our results show this test to be highly sensitive (73.5%) and specific (93.2%) in detecting recurrence of BC in patients under surveillance of NMIBC.This study was supported by FCT (“Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology”) through a PhD grant to RB (SFRH/ BD/111321/2015). Further funding was obtained from the project “Advancing cancer research: from basic knowledge to application” NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000029: “Projetos Estruturados de I & D & I,” funded by Norte 2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. This article is a result of the project PTDC/MED-ONC/31438/2017 (The Other Faces of Telomerase: Looking beyond Tumor Immortalization), supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI) and by Portuguese funds through FCT. Further funding by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation— COMPETE 2020, and Portuguese national funds via FCT, under project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016390:CANCEL STEM

Multiple controls affect arsenite oxidase gene expression in Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both the speciation and toxicity of arsenic are affected by bacterial transformations, i.e. oxidation, reduction or methylation. These transformations have a major impact on environmental contamination and more particularly on arsenic contamination of drinking water. <it>Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans </it>has been isolated from an arsenic- contaminated environment and has developed various mechanisms for coping with arsenic, including the oxidation of As(III) to As(V) as a detoxification mechanism.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, a differential transcriptome analysis was used to identify genes, including arsenite oxidase encoding genes, involved in the response of <it>H. arsenicoxydans </it>to As(III). To get insight into the molecular mechanisms of this enzyme activity, a Tn<it>5 </it>transposon mutagenesis was performed. Transposon insertions resulting in a lack of arsenite oxidase activity disrupted <it>aoxR </it>and <it>aoxS </it>genes, showing that the <it>aox </it>operon transcription is regulated by the AoxRS two-component system. Remarkably, transposon insertions were also identified in <it>rpoN </it>coding for the alternative N sigma factor (σ⁵⁴) of RNA polymerase and in <it>dnaJ </it>coding for the Hsp70 co-chaperone. Western blotting with anti-AoxB antibodies and quantitative RT-PCR experiments allowed us to demonstrate that the <it>rpoN </it>and <it>dnaJ </it>gene products are involved in the control of arsenite oxidase gene expression. Finally, the transcriptional start site of the <it>aoxAB </it>operon was determined using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and a putative -12/-24 σ⁵⁴-dependent promoter motif was identified upstream of <it>aoxAB </it>coding sequences.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results reveal the existence of novel molecular regulatory processes governing arsenite oxidase expression in <it>H. arsenicoxydans</it>. These data are summarized in a model that functionally integrates arsenite oxidation in the adaptive response to As(III) in this microorganism.</p

Variability in the Incidence of miRNAs and Genes in Fragile Sites and the Role of Repeats and CpG Islands in the Distribution of Genetic Material

Background Chromosomal fragile sites are heritable specific loci especially prone to breakage. Some of them are associated with human genetic disorders and several studies have demonstrated their importance in genome instability in cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs responsible of post-transcriptional gene regulation and their involvement in several diseases such as cancer has been widely demonstrated. The altered expression of miRNAs is sometimes due to chromosomal rearrangements and epigenetic events, thus it is essential to study miRNAs in the context of their genomic locations, in order to find significant correlations between their aberrant expression and the phenotype. Principal Findings Here we use statistical models to study the incidence of human miRNA genes on fragile sites and their association with cancer-specific translocation breakpoints, repetitive elements, and CpG islands. Our results show that, on average, fragile sites are denser in miRNAs and also in protein coding genes. However, the distribution of miRNAs and protein coding genes in fragile versus non-fragile sites depends on chromosome. We find also a positive correlation between fragility and repeats, and between miRNAs and CpG islands. Conclusion Our results show that the relationship between site fragility and miRNA density is far more complex than previously thought. For example, we find that protein coding genes seem to be following similar patterns as miRNAs, if considered their overall distribution. However, once we allow for differences at the chromosome level in our statistical analysis, we find that distribution of miRNA and protein coding genes in fragile sites is very different from that of miRNA. This is a novel result that we believe may help discover new potential correlations between the localization of miRNAs and their crucial role in biological processes and in the development of diseases