Soybean Flour and Wheat Germ Proportions in Artificial Diet and Their Effect on the Growth Rates of the Tobacco Budworm, Heliothis virescens

Soybean flour and wheat germ are the two most important protein components of wheat germ-based insect artificial diets. The effect of modifying the proportion of these two ingredients in a Noctuidae-specific diet was investigated utilizing the tobacco budworm Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), with the goal of developing a suboptimal diet that, without drastically affecting this insect's growth and reproductive rates, could manifest subtle negative effects in this insect. The original diet formula contained 2.51% protein. When the proportions of soybean flour and wheat germ were changed to 2.15% protein the net reproductive rate of the first generation was significantly lower. In the second generation, the net reproductive rate, development time, percent female survivorship, fertility, intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase and female longevity were significantly lower in both the 2.15% and 2.26% protein diets. The survival rate of immatures to the adult stage was 1% in the 2.05% protein diet in the first generation. Interestingly, females exposed to these suboptimal diets produced a significantly higher number of eggs but the survival of their larvae was significantly reduced. It is evident from these results that modifications to the protein content and the nutrient composition profile of the original wheat germ-based insect artificial formula can be used to produce subtle negative effects on the growth of tobacco budworm

A Role for the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) in Virulence and Antifungal Susceptibility in Aspergillus fumigatus

Filamentous fungi rely heavily on the secretory pathway, both for the delivery of cell wall components to the hyphal tip and the production and secretion of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes needed to support growth on polymeric substrates. Increased demand on the secretory system exerts stress on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is countered by the activation of a coordinated stress response pathway termed the unfolded protein response (UPR). To determine the contribution of the UPR to the growth and virulence of the filamentous fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, we disrupted the hacA gene, encoding the major transcriptional regulator of the UPR. The ΔhacA mutant was unable to activate the UPR in response to ER stress and was hypersensitive to agents that disrupt ER homeostasis or the cell wall. Failure to induce the UPR did not affect radial growth on rich medium at 37°C, but cell wall integrity was disrupted at 45°C, resulting in a dramatic loss in viability. The ΔhacA mutant displayed a reduced capacity for protease secretion and was growth-impaired when challenged to assimilate nutrients from complex substrates. In addition, the ΔhacA mutant exhibited increased susceptibility to current antifungal agents that disrupt the membrane or cell wall and had attenuated virulence in multiple mouse models of invasive aspergillosis. These results demonstrate the importance of ER homeostasis to the growth and virulence of A. fumigatus and suggest that targeting the UPR, either alone or in combination with other antifungal drugs, would be an effective antifungal strategy

Outcomes research in the development and evaluation of practice guidelines

BACKGROUND: Practice guidelines have been developed in response to the observation that variations exist in clinical medicine that are not related to variations in the clinical presentation and severity of the disease. Despite their widespread use, however, practice guideline evaluation lacks a rigorous scientific methodology to support its development and application. DISCUSSION: Firstly, we review the major epidemiological foundations of practice guideline development. Secondly, we propose a chronic disease epidemiological model in which practice patterns are viewed as the exposure and outcomes of interest such as quality or cost are viewed as the disease. Sources of selection, information, confounding and temporal trend bias are identified and discussed. SUMMARY: The proposed methodological framework for outcomes research to evaluate practice guidelines reflects the selection, information and confounding biases inherent in its observational nature which must be accounted for in both the design and the analysis phases of any outcomes research study

Immunological resilience and biodiversity for prevention of allergic diseases and asthma

Increase of allergic conditions has occurred at the same pace with the Great Acceleration, which stands for the rapid growth rate of human activities upon earth from 1950s. Changes of environment and lifestyle along with escalating urbanization are acknowledged as the main underlying causes. Secondary (tertiary) prevention for better disease control has advanced considerably with innovations for oral immunotherapy and effective treatment of inflammation with corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, and biological medications. Patients are less disabled than before. However, primary prevention has remained a dilemma. Factors predicting allergy and asthma risk have proven complex: Risk factors increase the risk, while protective factors counteract them. Interaction of human body with environmental biodiversity with micro-organisms and biogenic compounds as well as the central role of epigenetic adaptation in immune homeostasis have given new insight. Allergic diseases are good indicators of the twisted relation to environment. In various non-communicable diseases, the protective mode of the immune system indicates low-grade inflammation without apparent cause. Giving microbes, pro- and prebiotics, has shown some promise in prevention and treatment. The real-world public health programme in Finland (2008-2018) emphasized nature relatedness and protective factors for immunological resilience, instead of avoidance. The nationwide action mitigated the allergy burden, but in the lack of controls, primary preventive effect remains to be proven. The first results of controlled biodiversity interventions are promising. In the fast urbanizing world, new approaches are called for allergy prevention, which also has a major cost saving potential.Peer reviewe

Production of dust by massive stars at high redshift

The large amounts of dust detected in sub-millimeter galaxies and quasars at high redshift pose a challenge to galaxy formation models and theories of cosmic dust formation. At z > 6 only stars of relatively high mass (> 3 Msun) are sufficiently short-lived to be potential stellar sources of dust. This review is devoted to identifying and quantifying the most important stellar channels of rapid dust formation. We ascertain the dust production efficiency of stars in the mass range 3-40 Msun using both observed and theoretical dust yields of evolved massive stars and supernovae (SNe) and provide analytical expressions for the dust production efficiencies in various scenarios. We also address the strong sensitivity of the total dust productivity to the initial mass function. From simple considerations, we find that, in the early Universe, high-mass (> 3 Msun) asymptotic giant branch stars can only be dominant dust producers if SNe generate <~ 3 x 10^-3 Msun of dust whereas SNe prevail if they are more efficient. We address the challenges in inferring dust masses and star-formation rates from observations of high-redshift galaxies. We conclude that significant SN dust production at high redshift is likely required to reproduce current dust mass estimates, possibly coupled with rapid dust grain growth in the interstellar medium.Comment: 72 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables; to be published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Revie