First U.S. records of Amorbia concavana (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Amorbia concavana (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is reported in Florida, USA. Male and female specimens are figured, and new host records are given. The species is compared to other Nearctic species of Amorbia Clemens. Florida specimens are more similar to Cuban than to Central American material with respect to male genitalia

Sufetula Walker in Florida (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

The two species of Sufetula Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) occurring in Florida are reviewed based on adult specimens. Sufetula carbonalis n. sp. is described, Sufetula diminutalis (Walker) is diagnosed, and they are differentiated from related Caribbean species and similar sympatric Crambidae. Both are occasional root pests of ornamental palms. Unusual structural characters suggest that Sufetula is misclassified in Spilomelinae

DIY Cell Incubator

The purpose of creating a cell Incubator is for the development of cell and tissue production in laboratory settings. Large scale research projects and the medical community grow cells for various reasons, including experiments and creating tissue for patients. However, they cannot simply depend on growing cells in a petri dish that sit on a rack at room temperature. To grow heathy cells in the fastest way possible, they use cell incubators. Cell incubators create an atmosphere within the incubation bay that is designed to promote cell growth. The three main components that need to be constantly regulated, using a feedback process, are temperature, humidity, and pressure of carbon dioxide. For optimal cell growth, the incubation bay needs to create an environment with controllable and accurate temperature, humidity, and a C02 concentration. Budget is a very large factor with any biomedical company or research university. Being able to purchase extremely expensive lab equipment oftentimes presents many obstacles. Most large and expensive incubators that can house a moderate amount of cell samples can exceed the price range of $5000 [1]. In addition, the incubator is completely enclosed which often advantageous, but this means that there cannot be any extra measuring equipment placed into the incubator with it. However, this project creates a cell incubator that is for the smaller scale use. This would have a smaller incubating bay, but would, in turn, be cheaper to produce and have the capabilities powering an electronic microscope to observe the cells while in the incubation bay. Thus, the incubator would be more accessible to a larger audience that would not otherwise have access to a large-scale cell incubation. Also, the DIY-nature of the incubator allows for more flexibility with how the cells are incubated during the experiment

An analysis of the personal-social problems considered important by the junior-high-school adolescent according to sex, age, intelligence quotient and bilingualism

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston Universit

The molecular basis for central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumour development

PhD ThesisCentral nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumours (CNS-PNETs) are highly aggressive tumours with similar histopathological features to other intracranial PNETs (medulloblastomas). These two tumours have accordingly been treated using unified approaches, but CNS-PNETs have a dismal prognosis. Few studies have investigated the genetic features of CNS-PNETs. The molecular basis of CNS-PNET was therefore investigated in a cohort containing CNS-PNETs from children (n=33) and adults (n=5), to aid improvements in disease classification and treatment. The common medulloblastoma molecular defects were investigated in CNS-PNETs, and showed RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation is a frequent event (18/22, 82%), and MYC family gene amplification occurs in a subgroup (MYCN: 3/25 (12%), MYCC: 0/25 (0%)). In contrast and in distinction to medulloblastoma, chromosome 17p loss is not a common feature (2/23, 9%), whilst p53 pathway signalling appears to play a major role (20/22, 91%), and associated with TP53 mutations (4/22, 18%). Aberrant Wnt signalling was identified in 2 cases (2/22, 9%) and coupled with CTNNB1 mutation in a single case. IDH1 mutations (2/25, 8%) however, appear to occur in adult but not childhood CNS-PNETs or medulloblastoma. Subsequent genome-wide investigations of the CNS-PNET DNA methylome aimed at a wider characterisation of the molecular features of CNS-PNETs and its relationships to other childhood tumours identified CNS-PNETs as a heterogenous disease group without defined sub-clusters, which were predominantly distinct from medulloblastomas, but exhibited overlap with high-grade gliomas. A panel of 76 tumour-specific methylation events were identified as disease markers. The combination of either RASSF1A hypermethylation or HLA-DPB1 hypomethylation discerned normal brain from CNS-PNET in 94% of cases (64/68). In addition, hypermethylation of TAL1, MAP3K1 and IGFBP1 is associated with non-infant disease. In conclusion, this study has shown CNS-PNETs are a heterogenous group of tumours that are molecularly distinct from medulloblastomas, and has implicated developmental pathways and genetic events in their tumorigenesis. The associations between molecular events identified and clinical features warrant further investigation to aid classification and treatment advancements.North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund (NECCR), Clic Sargent and the Samantha Dickinson Brain Tumour Trust (SDBTT