Malathion Resistance in Larvae of Some Southern Minnesota Populations of the Indianmeal Moth,\u3ci\u3e Plodia Interpunctella\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Infesting Bulk-Stored Shelled Corn

Larvae of 21 field collected populations of the Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella, infesting stored shelled corn in southern Minnesota were tested for their susceptibility to malathion in the laboratory. A population that was a composite of the 21 populations and a malathion susceptible population were also tested for their susceptibility to malathion, pirimiphos-methyl and chlorpyrifos-methyl. Comparison of the LDso values of the field populations with the malathion susceptible population indicated that the field populations were ca. 33- to 625-fold resistant to malathion. The composite field population was ca. 243-fold resistant to malathion, and this population was 3.2-fold cross-resistant to pirimiphos-methyl, but was highly susceptible to chlorpyrifos-methyl

Comparative effects of jatropha seedcake, chicken and kraal manures on selected soil properties, growth and yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

A field trial was conducted to evaluate the comparative effects of jatropha seedcake, chicken and kraal manures on selected soil properties, growth and yield of tomato in Zambia during the cropping season of 2012-13. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates and six treatments, namely- jatropha seedcake (5.0 t ha-1), chicken manure (5.0 t ha-1), kraal manure (5.0 t ha-1), jatropha seedcake (2.5 t ha-1) + chicken manure (2.5 t ha-1), jatropha seedcake (2.5 t ha-1) + kraal manure (2.5 t ha-1) and control (0.0 t ha-1) was used. Soil total N, P, K, Ca, Mg, SOM, soil pH, bulk density, plant height, number of branches, number of fruits plant-1, and mean fruit weight effects were subsequently monitored. Organic manures significantly increased total N, available P, exchangeable K, Ca, Mg, SOM, soil pH, plant height, number of branches, number of fruits, mean fruit weight and yield of tomato compared to the control. Organic manures also significantly reduced soil bulk density compared to the control. Among the organic amendments treated alone, jatropha seedcake gave the highest yield of 28.62 t ha-1 compared to chicken manure (28.20 t ha-1) and kraal manure (27.50 t ha-1). Maximum yield benefits came from a mixture of jatropha seedcake + chicken manure (29.60 t ha-1)and jatropha seedcake + kraal manure (29.00 t ha- 1) which could have been due to balanced proportions of major nutrients required for tomato growth. Jatropha seedcake mostly performed favourably the same or better than chicken and kraal manures in many aspects.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 8 (1): 1-6, June, 201

The dopaminergic midbrain participates in human episodic memory formation: Evidence from genetic imaging

Recent data from animal studies raise the possibility that dopaminergic neuromodulation promotes the encoding of novel stimuli. We investigated a possible role for the dopaminergic midbrain in human episodic memory by measuring how polymorphisms in dopamine clearance pathways affect encoding-related brain activity (functional magnetic resonance imaging) in an episodic memory task. In 51 young, healthy adults, successful episodic encoding was associated with activation of the substantia nigra. This midbrain activation was modulated by a functional variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene. Despite no differences in memory performance between genotype groups, carriers of the (low expressing) 9-repeat allele of the DAT1 VNTR showed relatively higher midbrain activation when compared with subjects homozygous for the 10-repeat allele, who express DAT1 at higher levels. The catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) Val108/158Met polymorphism, which is known to modulate enzyme activity, affected encoding-related activity in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and in occipital brain regions but not in the midbrain. Moreover, subjects homozygous for the (low activity) Met allele showed stronger functional coupling between the PFC and the hippocampus during encoding. Our finding that genetic variations in the dopamine clearance pathways affect encoding-related activation patterns in midbrain and PFC provides strong support for a role of dopaminergic neuromodulation in human episodic memory formation. It also supports the hypothesis of anatomically and functionally distinct roles for DAT1 and COMT in dopamine metabolism, with DAT1 modulating rapid, phasic midbrain activity and COMT being particularly involved in prefrontal dopamine clearance

An overview on the small heat shock proteins

In the last 25 years, a huge amount of literature has been accumulated describing the cell’s response to different kinds of environmental stress conditions, such as high temperatures, altered pH, exposure of the cell to toxins, starvation, oxygen, and water deprivation, among others. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are one of the main expressed products of the cell in response to stresses. HSPs can be classified into six structurally conserved classes according to their molecular weight namely, HSP100, HSP90, HSP70, HSP60, small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) and ubiquitin (8.5 kDa). In eukaryotes, different heat shock genes are expressed uncoordinatedly, whereas in prokaryote, heat shock genes form a regulon and appear simultaneously. sHSPs are associated with nuclei, cytoskeleton and membranes. They bind partially to denatured proteins, preventing irreversible protein aggregation during stress. In animals, only one sHSP gene has been located in yeast cells, ten in mammalian, two in birds and four genes have been found in Drosophila. However, in plants more than 20 sHSPs have been reported and they can be divided into 6 classes, of which, 3 classes (CI, CII and CIII) are in the cytosole or in the nucleus and the other three (CIV, CV and CVI) in the plastids, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Mitochondrial and chloroplast sHSPs protect electron transport chain. During development in animals, sHSP genes are normally regulated at late neurula and early tailbud stage and in plants during pollen development, seed maturation, seed imbibition and germination. Transcriptional regulation of sHSPs depends on particular activation of heat shock factors (HSF) which recognize the highly conserved heat-shock elements (HSEs). After the heat stress has been released, the sHSPs are quite stable, suggesting that sHSPs may be important for recovery as well

The Association between Vitamin D Receptor Expression and Prolonged Overall Survival in Breast Cancer.

Summary In this study, we analyzed vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression and survival in a breast cancer patient cohort of 82 breast cancer patients. Immunohistochemical analysis was possible in 91.5% of the patients (75/82). Staining was evaluated using the semi-quantitative assay according to Remmele and Stegner (immunoreactivity score [IRS]). IRS 0–1 was negative/very low, IRS 2–4 was moderate to high, and IRS 6–12 was high. Statistical analysis was performed by Spearman’s correlation test (p<0.05 significant). Overall survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier estimations. Only 6 patients had a negative IRS. Moderate IRS values were present in 20 patients. Most of the patients had a high IRS (49). For survival analysis, data were dichotomized (IRS 0–4: negative to moderate and IRS 6–12: high VDR expression). In univariate analysis, VDR expression showed significant differences in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Patients with high IRS scores showed significantly better PFS and OS than patients with moderate/negative IRS scores for VDR expression. Tumor size was significantly correlated to PFS. When analyzed separately, the three different IRS groups showed significant differences in VDR expression. The present data suggest that VDR expression in breast cancer tissue may be of clinical significance, and the results provide evidence that VDR may be a factor with prognostic relevance. (J Histochem Cytochem 60:121–129, 2012). Keywords: breast cancer, vitamin D receptor, immunohistochemistry, prognosi

Media outlets and their moguls: why concentrated individual or family ownership is bad for editorial independence

This article investigates the levels of owner influence in 211 different print and broadcast outlets in 32 different European media markets. Drawing on the literature from industrial organisation, it sets out reasons why we should expect greater levels of influence where ownership of individual outlets is concentrated; where it is concentrated in the hands of individuals or families; and where ownership groups own multiple outlets in the same media market. Conversely, we should expect lower levels of influence where ownership is dispersed between transnational companies. The articles uses original data on the ownership structures of these outlets, and combines it with reliable expert judgments as to the level of owner influence in each of the outlets. These hypotheses are tested and confirmed in a multilevel regression model of owner influence. The findings are relevant for policy on ownership limits in the media, and for the debate over transnational versus local control of media

Stable isotope relationships between apatite phosphate (δ18O), structural carbonate (δ18O, δ13C), and collagen (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) in modern human dentine

Rationale The use of multi‐isotopic analysis (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, and δ34S values) of modern human body tissues for provenancing of unknown individuals in forensics is increasing. Tooth dentine develops during childhood and adolescence, therefore providing geographical information from that period of life. Tooth apatite δ18O values are commonly used for the reconstruction of drinking water values, and H–C–N–S isotope ratios in collagen supply additional information about the composition of diet. We tested if dentine collagen δ2H values provide similar information to apatite δ18O values with a proof‐of‐concept study. Methods Tooth samples were taken from modern‐day individuals born in different regions of the world. Apatite and collagen were prepared from dentine. Stable isotope analyses were performed on apatite phosphate oxygen (δ18Ophos); oxygen and carbon of the structural carbonate (δ18Ocarb, δ13Ccarb); and hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur of the collagen (δ2Hcoll, δ13Ccoll, δ15N, δ34S). Results δ18Ophos, δ18Ocarb, and δ2Hcoll values are highly correlated in modern human dentine. There are significant relationships of δ18O values in the apatite fraction and δ2H values in the collagen fraction with local δ18O and δ2H precipitation values, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficients indicate no direct relationship between δ15N values and the isotope ratios of any other element. Weak relationships exist between collagen δ34S values and δ18Ocarb or δ18Ophos values. Conclusions The highly significant correlation of δ18Ophos, δ18Ocarb, and δ2Hcoll values in the modern human dentine implies that measurement of δ2H values in collagen or δ18O values in bioapatite will provide reliable information about the climate at the person's whereabouts

The method of fundamental solutions for problems in static thermo-elasticity with incomplete boundary data

An inverse problem in static thermo-elasticity is investigated. The aim is to reconstruct the unspecified boundary data, as well as the temperature and displacement inside a body from over-specified boundary data measured on an accessible portion of its boundary. The problem is linear but ill-posed. The uniqueness of the solution is established but the continuous dependence on the input data is violated. In order to reconstruct a stable and accurate solution, the method of fundamental solutions is combined with Tikhonov regularization where the regularization parameter is selected based on the L-curve criterion. Numerical results are presented in both two and three dimensions showing the feasibility and ease of implementation of the proposed technique

An enhancement of optimized detection rule of security monitoring and control for detection of cyberthreat in location-based mobile system

A lot of mobile applications which provided location information by using a location-based service are being developed recently.For instance, a smart phone would find my location and destination by running a program using a GPS chip in a device. However,the information leakage and the crime thatmisused the leaked information caused by the cyberattack ofmobile information systemoccurred. So the interest and importance of information security are increasing. Also the number of users who has used mobiledevices in Korea is increasing, and the security of mobile devices is becoming more important. Snort detection system has beenused to detect and handle cyberattacks but the policy of Snort detection system is applied differently for each of the different kindsof equipment. It is expected that the security of mobile information system would be improved and information leakage would beblocked by selecting options through optimization of Snort detection policy to protect users who are using location-based servicein mobile information system environment in this paper