Effects of the host and parasitoid densities on the quality production of Trichogramma chilonis on lepidopterous (Sitotroga cereallela and Corcyra cephalonica) eggs

Abstract The present study was conducted for efficient and quality production of the stingless wasp, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii with respect to rearing host and parasitoid densities of the angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cereallela (Olivier) and the rice meal moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) on its biology. For host density, percentage parasitism and adult longevity was the highest at 20 eggs whereas emergence was the highest from 10 eggs of S. cereallela while of C. cephalonica percentage parasitism and emergence was the highest at 10 eggs. For parasitoid density, parasitism was the highest at 5 pairs of T. chilonis. Percentage of emergence and longevity remained similar among all the 5 treatments. It is concluded that S. cereallela eggs more suitable as compare to C. cephalonica eggs for mass and quality rearing of parasitoid, T. chilonis

Assessment of Growth Inhibition of Eugenol-Loaded Nano-Emulsions against Beneficial Bifidobacterium sp. along with Resistant Escherichia coli Using Flow Cytometry

The intestinal tract microbiota influences many aspects of the dietary components on colon health and during enteric infections, thus, playing a pivotal role in the colon health. Therefore, the eugenol (EU) nano-emulsion effective concentration reported in our previous study against cancer cells should be explored for safety against beneficial microbes. We evaluated the sensitivity of Bifidobacterium breve and B. adolescentis against EU-loaded nano-emulsions at 0, 300, 600 and 900 µm, which were effective against colon and liver cancer cells. Both B. breve and B. adolescentis showed comparable growth ranges to the control group at 300 and 600 µm, as evident from the plate count experimental results. However, at 900 µm, a slight growth variation was revealed with respect to the control group. The real-time inhibition determination through flow cytometry showed B. breve viable, sublethal cells (99.49 and 0.51%) and B. adolescentis (95.59 and 0.15%) at 900 µm, suggesting slight inhibition even at the highest tested concentration. Flow cytometry proved to be a suitable quantitative approach that has revealed separate live, dead, and susceptible cells upon treatment with EU nano-emulsion against Escherichia coli. Similarly, in the case of B. breve and B. adolescentis, the cells showed only live cells that qualitatively suggest EU nano-emulsion safety. To judge the viability of these sublethal populations of B. breve and B. adolescentis, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy was carried out, revealing no peak shift for proteins, lipids, DNA and carbohydrates at 900 µm EU nano-emulsion compared to the control. On the other hand, EU-loaded nano-emulsions (900 µm)-treated E. coli showed a clear peak shift for a membrane protein, lipids, DNA and carbohydrates. This study provides insights to utilize plant phenols as safe medicines as well as dietary supplements

Affective interpersonal touch in close relationships: a cross-cultural perspective

Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch

Effects of the host and parasitoid densities on the quality production of Trichogramma chilonis on lepidopterous (Sitotroga cereallela and Corcyra cephalonica) eggs

The present study was conducted for efficient and quality production of the stingless wasp, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii with respect to rearing host and parasitoid densities of the angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cereallela (Olivier) and the rice meal moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) on its biology. For host density,percentage parasitism and adult longevity was the highest at 20 eggs whereas emergence was the highest from 10 eggs of S. cereallela while of C. cephalonica percentage parasitism and emergence was the highest at 10 eggs. For parasitoid density, parasitism was the highest at 5 pairs of T. chilonis. Percentage of emergence and longevity remained similar among all the 5 treatments. It is concluded that S. cereallela eggs more suitable as compare to C. cephalonica eggs for mass and quality rearing of parasitoid, T. chilonis

ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT LEADING TO LEARNING OUTCOMES: INTERCEDING EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL, PARENTS, AND SCHOOL-LEVEL FACTORS

Believing specifically in terms of learning and its outcomes, this study extended the literature on student engagement as a factor of academic success. Taken together, the study also explored the cluster of factors mediating the relationship of student engagement to learning outcomes. A sample of 454 students aged 13-15 years from public elementary schools provided data on self reported measures of school engagement, individual, parent, and school-level factors. Students' final-term scores were used as learning outcomes. This study contributed several findings; (1) significant positive impact of student engagement was found on learning outcomes, (2)  from individual-level factors; academic motivation, academic scholastic competence, and social self-esteem, (3) from parent factors; parent involvement (4) and from school-level factors; academic climate, social climate, teacher likeability, peer victimization, and school satisfaction were found significant mediating factors for the impact of student engagement on learning outcomes. Findings are useful for parents, teachers, and school policy makers to make students more engaged with the school activities for the positive learning outcomes

Role of temperature and hosts (Sitotroga cereallela and Corcyra cephalonica) egg age on the quality production of Trichogramma chilonis

The present study was conducted for efficient and quality production of the stingless wasp, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii with respect to rearing temperature and host egg age of the angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cereallela (Olivier) and the rice meal moth, Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) on its biology. Maximum parasitism was observed 95.7 and 84.3% at 28 C degree, while minimum parasitism was 61.3 and 39.6% at 32 C degree on S. cereallela and C. cephalonica eggs, respectively. The most favorable temperature was 28 oC on which maximum parasitism and adult emergence were obtained from S. cereallela eggs. Maximum parasitism was observed 97.4 and 79.4% in 2 h old, while minimum parasitism was 24.6 and 17.3% in 72 h old eggs of S. cereallela and C. cephalonica eggs, respectively. Parasitism by T. chilonis decreased with increasing host eggs age. Maximum adult T. chilonis emergence was 98.2% in 2 h old eggs, while minimum emergence was 21.5% on 72 h old eggs of S. cereallela. Adult T. chilonis longevity on the host eggs of different ages of female wasp was non-significantly different to each other except the 2 and 12 h old eggs which were significantly different from rest of the treatments in both hosts' eggs of different ages. Maximum female longevity was 4.0 d on 2 h fresh eggs C. cephalonica, while minimum was 3.0 d on 24-48 h old S. cereallela eggs. The female ratio for different host eggs age was almost non-significant to each other except 2 h old eggs with maximum number of female (64). The results showed that T. chilonis preferred young eggs when offered older eggs, simultaneously

Optimization of Regeneration and <i>Agrobacterium</i>-Mediated Transformation Protocols for Bi and Multilocular Varieties of <i>Brassica rapa</i>

The regeneration of the high-yielding multilocular types has not been attempted, although successful regeneration and transformation in brassica have been done. Here, we report efficient regeneration and transformation protocols for two B. rapa genotypes; UAF11 and Toria. The B. rapa cv UAF11 is a multilocular, non-shattering, and high-yielding genotype, while Toria is the bilocular type. For UAF11 8 shoots and for Toria 7 shoots, explants were observed on MS supplemented with 3 mg/L BAP + 0.4 mg/L NAA + 0.01 mg/L GA3 + 5 mg/L AgNO3 + 0.75 mg/L Potassium Iodide (KI), MS salt supplemented with 1 mg/L IBA and 0.37 mg/L KI produced an equal number of roots (3) in UAF11 and Toria. For the establishment of transformation protocols, Agrobacterium-mediated floral dip transformation was attempted using different induction media, infection time, and flower stages. The induction medium III yielded a maximum of 7.2% transformants on half-opened flowers and 5.2% transformants on fully opened flowers in UAF11 and Toria, respectively, with 15 min of inoculation. This study would provide the basis for the improvement of tissue culture and transformation protocols in multilocular and bilocular Brassica genotypes

Herb and Plant-derived Supplements in Poultry Nutrition

Modern poultry industry faces the everlasting challenge of the growing demand for high-quality, low-priced food without compromising general hygiene, health, and welfare standards. To exploit optimal growth potential, antibioticsupplemented feeds were implemented in the past decades. But later on, alternative strategies to trigger the productive characteristics of birds were proposed, including the use of phytochemicals. Phytobiotics are herbs and their derivatives, endowed with many beneficial effects. Herbs and their products enhance feed intake by mitigating intestinal damage, strengthening intestinal integrity, compensating nutritional needs for local and general immune response, reducing the concentration of pathogenic microflora, and preventing local inflammatory response. This form of feed manipulation recently gained interest in the poultry sector due to the lack of side effects, immune system modulation boosting, and stress tolerance. On the other hand, several types of research highlighted the potentially harmful effects of some herbs and their metabolites. This raised concerns among consumers about their safety and implications as feed supplements or medicines. This chapter will provide insights into phytobiotics, their role in immunity and growth, and the possible risks of herbal supplemented feeds in the poultry sector