Study on morphological characteristics of the ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and their host-plants posibility in Joensuu, Finland

The survey of the ladybird beetles population was conducted in Joensuu area, Finland, over a period of three years from mid- May 2010 to mid-August 2013. All the specimens of the coccinellid ladybird beetles were collected from five major localities: City centre, Linnunlahti, Karsikko, Utra and Pilkko areas. In the family Coccinellidae, 16 species belonging to 10 genera were found in our experiment time. Most of ladybird’s common host–plant was Rosa rugosa and also other different species of plants. All the host-plants were growing naturally in the local ecosystem of the experimental area. Out of the 16 species of ladybird beetles from Joensuu, there were two species (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Chilocorus stigma) reported for the first time from North Karelia and is therefore, a new addition to the ladybird beetles fauna of Finland

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO, catecholase) activity during germination and early seedling growth of Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.)

Mature seeds of the legume Astragalus cicer L. form a homogeneous seed pool in size and weight. They occur either brown coloured or yellow coloured. They reveal an expressed dormancy but they germinate readily after mechanical scarification. Time span of germination and early seedling development under defined conditions were followed and compared to the activity and potential activation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO, catecholase). The yellow seeds developed without difficulties, but on the brown coloured seeds in the course of germination hyphal growth was visible which was linked with the death of the seedlings. Quantitative experiments with the yellow seeds revealed that scarified seeds formed more than 98 % of seedlings within seven days. There was no difference of germination rate between dark and daylight incubations. The polyphenol oxidase of the seeds occurs in two forms, a preformed testa localized enzyme and an induced PPO activity of the seedling. The initially high activity of the testa related PPO (1.32 μM O2/h x g fresh weight) decreases during the first days after germination, the activity of the seedling related PPO becomes detectable four to five days after onset of germination. After seven days the activity in roots is about 3.6 μM O2/h x g fresh weight. The cotyledons reveal 2.3 and the hypocotyl 1.9 μM O2/h x g fresh weight, respectively.There is an indication that autoinhibitory components interfere with the germination process. The importance of the polyphenol oxidase as a component of the plants’ protection system during germination is discussed

Vigor, vitality and seed dormancy of Avena sativa cultivars in a long-term experiment

Vigor, vitality and seed dormancy of 14 Finnish cultivars of Avena sativa in room temperature were studied in a 22-year laboratory experiment. These parameters were studied by measuring morphological and physical characteristics of seeds and by basic germination and enzymatic tests 1, 4, 6, 11, 16, 21 and 22 years after seed harvesting in 1989. Methylene blue, Congo red and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TZ) tests were used to estimate seed quality and changes in vitality over time. Seed vitality clearly decreased in all cultivars during the experiment. The mean vitality declined from 96.3% (one year after harvest) to zero at the end. Vitality according to the TZ test was higher than indicated by the basic germination test. The mean vitality loss was 4.6% per year, but there were clear differences between cultivars. The decrease in vitality correlated with loss in seed weight. Clear signs of deepening dormancy were observed. Seed age is an important factor infl uencing vitality and dormancy. Vitality loss of seeds led to deep dormancy. The appearance, water uptake and imbibition of the seeds remained normal until the end. Ageing, vitality loss and dormancy are concluded to be expressions of genes. It is possible that in the future electronic simulation methods will be developed that will enable accurate estimation of oat seed quality without laboratory tests

PArallel, Robust, Interface Simulator (PARIS)

Paris (PArallel, Robust, Interface Simulator) is a finite volume code for simulations of immiscible multifluid or multiphase flows. It is based on the "one-fluid" formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations where different fluids are treated as one material with variable properties, and surface tension is added as a singular interface force. The fluid equations are solved on a regular structured staggered grid using an explicit projection method with a first-order or second-order time integration scheme. The interface separating the different fluids is tracked by a Front-Tracking (FT) method, where the interface is represented by connected marker points, or by a Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method, where the marker function is advected directly on the fixed grid. Paris is written in Fortran95/2002 and parallelized using MPI and domain decomposition. It is based on several earlier FT or VOF codes such as Ftc3D, Surfer or Gerris. These codes and similar ones, as well as Paris, have been used to simulate a wide range of multifluid and multiphase flows

Ectopic Cushing' syndrome caused by a neuroendocrine carcinoma of the mesentery

BACKGROUND: ACTH overproduction within the pituitary gland or ectopically leads to hypercortisolism. Here, we report the first case of Cushing' syndrome caused by an ectopic ACTH-secreting neuroendocrine carcinoma of the mesentery. Moreover, diagnostic procedures and pitfalls associated with ectopic ACTH-secreting tumors are demonstrated and discussed. CASE PRESENTATION: A 41 year-old man presented with clinical features and biochemical tests suggestive of ectopic Cushing's syndrome. First, subtotal thyroidectomy was performed without remission of hypercortisolism, because an octreotide scan showed increased activity in the left thyroid gland and an ultrasound revealed nodules in both thyroid lobes one of which was autonomous. In addition, the patient had a 3 mm hypoenhancing lesion of the neurohypophysis and a 1 cm large adrenal tumor. Surgical removal of the pituitary lesion within the posterior lobe did not improve hypercortisolism and we continued to treat the patient with metyrapone to block cortisol production. At 18-months follow-up from initial presentation, we detected an ACTH-producing neuroendocrine carcinoma of the mesentery by using a combination of octreotide scan, computed tomography scan, and positron emission tomography. Intraoperatively, use of a gamma probe after administration of radiolabeled (111)In-pentetreotide helped identify the mesenteric neuroendocrine tumor. After removal of this carcinoma, the patient improved clinically. Laboratory testing confirmed remission of hypercortisolism. An octreotide scan 7 months after surgery showed normal results. CONCLUSION: This case underscores the diagnostic challenge in identifying an ectopic ACTH-producing tumor and the pluripotency of cells, in this case of mesenteric cells that can start producing and secreting ACTH. It thereby helps elucidate the pathogenesis of neuroendocrine tumors. This case also suggests that patients with ectopic Cushing's syndrome and an octreotide scan positive in atypical locations may benefit from explorative radioguided surgery using (111)In-pentetreotide and a gamma probe

Differential profiling of lacrimal cytokines in patients suffering from thyroid-associated orbitopathy.

The aim was to investigate the levels of cytokines and soluble IL-6R in the tears of patients with thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) disease. Schirmer's test was adopted to collect tears from TAO patients (N = 20, 17 women, mean age (±SD): 46.0 years (±13.4)) and healthy subjects (N = 18, 10 women, 45.4 years (±18.7)). Lacrimal cytokines and soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R) were measured using a 10-plex panel (Meso Scale Discovery Company) and Invitrogen Human sIL-6R Elisa kit, respectively. Tear levels of IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-6 and TNF-α appeared significantly higher in TAO patients than in healthy subjects. Interestingly, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IL-8 levels increased in tears whatever the form of TAO whereas IL-13, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in inflammatory TAO patients, meaning with a clinical score activity (CAS) ≥ 3, compared to controls. Furthermore, only 3 cytokines were strongly positively correlated with CAS (IL-13 Spearman coeff. r: 0.703, p = 0.0005; IL-6 r: 0.553, p = 0.011; IL-8 r: 0.618, p = 0.004, respectively). Finally, tobacco use disturbed the levels of several cytokines, especially in patient suffering of TAO. The differential profile of lacrimal cytokines could be useful for the diagnosis of TAO patients. Nevertheless, the tobacco use of these patients should be taken into account in the interpretation of the cytokine levels

Ladybird beetles Adalia bipunctata l. interaction with legume bean Phaseolus species is dependent on life needs

Two-spots ladybird beetle (Adalia bipunctata) needs support from the plants species of legumes family common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and lima bean (P. lunatus) for completing their life circle. This interaction serves the need in terms of food, shelter, host-plant suitability and mutualism. This study investigated the interaction and different behavioural activity between the domestic ladybird and global plant species. Ladybird interacted with both bean species and showed intensive activity on the plants studied. Dualistic eating habits and their behavioral activity with Phaseolus species plants are new finding in this study. Results exhibited that, selected plant species are extremely important for Adalia bipunctata in context of their local ecosystems. It is suggested that interaction between domestic ladybird and global bean plants is extremely important for both types of organisms in the context of their local ecosystems

Canopy behavior of three milkvetch [Astagalus] species in acclimation to a new habitat

Empirical data on functional growth dynamics are extremely limited for herbaceous plants and do not exist for milkvetch (Astragalus) species, although they are essential to an understanding a plant's ability to acclimate to a new habitat, which we need to know in order to predict its performance in future climate scenarios. The paper examines how species spread to a habitat in which they do not initially occur. It presents results on changes in growth, canopy behavior, competition ability and morphological traits of Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.), Sweet milkvetch (Astragalus glycyphyllos L.) and Russian milkvetch (Astragalus falcatus Lam.) from a ten-year experiment. They successfully acclimated to a new habitat and presented clearly similar growth dynamics and similar strategies for establishing and maintaining populations. Developmental and reductional perennial phases were noted. The developmental phase showed slow and fast subphases. Canopy cover area peaked at the height of the developmental phase. Morphological parameters measured from parts of plants growing outside the experimental plot were greater than for plants growing inside it. Milkvetch species are good competitors. Unlike invasive species, their expansion strategy is not colonization-oriented. The data suggest that systematic and evolutionary studies on these species should pay attention to morphological changes

Phenomena, biometrics and canopy behavior of prickly comfrey (Symphytum asperum Lep. Boraginaceae) in a long-term experiment

Annual and interannual phenomena and canopy behavior of prickly comfrey (Symphytum asperum Lep.) were studied in a 10-year experiment with 25 measurement sessions during the growing season. The results confirm the importance of long-term experiments in studying plant phenomena, biometrics and behavior. Prickly comfrey produced a green canopy each year and growth started very early in spring. Maximum plant height was less than 160 cm. Annual phenomena (growth initiation, seedling phase, flower phase, seed phase, senescent phase), interannual phenomena (initiation and youth, reproduction, new generation formation, plant death) and two population cycles (colonization and expansion) were measured. The duration of annual development up to canopy death can be expressed as x+2x+3x+2x, where x is initial growth. The genetic structure and activity of prickly comfrey promotes generative development of the species. Its age can be measured over a single and several vegetation generations. The ability to change the angle of vertical stem growth after 9 weeks can be considered a functional behavior of prickly comfrey and part of its life strategy. The differences between the organs in the upper and lower parts are very considerable and should be taken into account in morphological descriptions of this species. The upper and lower stems and leaves showed differential growth. Both stem and leaves were densely setose. Old leaves were 3.8 times longer, 4 times broader and 2.4 times thicker than young leaves. Hairs were on average 3 times longer on old than on young leaves. Flowers had contact with pollinators making relatively long visits to them