Oviposition behavior of the mimosa webworm Homadaula anisocentra Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)

Oviposition preference studies evaluated the response of female mimosa webworms, Homadaula anisocentra Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) to chemical and tactile stimuli. Mimosa, Albizzia julibrissin Durazzini and honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos L. trees were utilized. A search for mimosa webworm eggs on honeylocust trees was conducted in four geographic areas. Females emerging from overwintering pupae in June showed an oviposition preference for mature foliage. The petiole and rachis were preferred over leaflets as oviposition sites. This was substantiated in laboratory studies, in which females laid more eggs on mature (over six weeks old) than on fresh (less than two weeks old) leaves from both hosts. From field observations and laboratory experiments, it was found that females preferentially oviposited on larval webbing when it was present. It was concluded that females were responding to a pheromone(s) associated with larval silk. Partial and complete ablation of the flagella demonstrated that the pheromone(s) was perceived by the antennae via contact chemoreception;Larval webbing rinsed with polar solvents eliminated or reduced oviposition on webbing. Rinsing webbing with a non-polar solvent had little effect on oviposition. Six-week-old webbing, rinsed or non-rinsed, was oviposited on as readily as was two-day-old webbing. The pheromone(s) most probably is a highly polar, non-volatile molecule. Extracts of larval mandibular and labial glands, webbing, silk, and macerated honeylocust leaves were pipetted onto various substrates. Oviposition was not elicited on any substrate or solvent combination. The pheromone probably is degraded or inactivated by polar solvents

Marital conflict, mother-son interaction, and sons' aggression with peers

The purpose of this research was to examine whether boys' aggression towards peers would be predicted by parental marital conflict and negative mother-son interaction. While previous investigations had linked marital conflict with mother-son negativity, and mother-son negativity with son's aggression towards peers, this project sought to extend earlier work by linking all three constructs simultaneously. Subjects were 107 mother-son pairs recruited from a local school system. Sons ranged in age from 7-10. Mothers were both married (n=84) and divorced (n=23). Marital conflict was measured through mothers' responses to a marital conflict questionnaire, while mother-son negativity was measured through the observation and coding of mother-son interaction, during a structured interactional task. Sons' teachers responded to a questionnaire assessing the sons' aggression within the peer context. A proposed path model and ANOVA were both tested, not only for the entire sample, but also separately for married and divorced subjects. While none of the path models or ANOVA's reached significance, it is noted that path model results were markedly different for the married vs. divorced subjects

Partial reinforcement and resistance to extinction

Schoenfeld (1950) proposed that manipulations of rates of reinforcement have two conflicting effects on resistance to extinction. Leaner schedules reinforce behavior less frequently, which results in less resistance to extinction. But leaner schedules also reinforce more different movements, or response forms, resulting in increased resistance to extinction. Experiment 1 tested whether partial schedules indeed maintain a wider range of response forms. In a multiple schedule, pigeons' sequences of 6 keypecks were partially reinforced in one context and continuously reinforced in a second context. Partial schedules tended to maintain a wider range of response forms than continuous schedules, but produced responding that was less resistant to extinction, suggesting that if the reinforcement of a wider range of response forms enhanced resistance, that effect was weaker than a conflicting effect of less frequent reinforcement. Two additional experiments tested the effects in extinction of the reinforcement of a wider range of response forms in the absence of differences in rates of reinforcement. In Experiment 2, a multiple schedule was arranged; in one context, 6-peck sequences were reinforced only if they differed in form (sequence) from the previously-reinforced sequence. In the other, redundant 6-peck sequences could be reinforced. Responding was more resistant to extinction when variability in form was require

Operationalizing item difficulty modeling in a medical certification context

This research study modeled item difficulty in general pediatric test items using content, cognitive complexity, linguistic, and text-based variables. The research first presents an introduction which addresses the current shortcomings found in item development and alternative methods such as principled assessment design which aim to address those shortcomings. Next, a review of the literature is presented which addresses traditional item development, item development using cognitive demands, item difficulty modeling, and the Coh-Metrix (Grasser et al., 2004) linguistic tool. The methods section outlines how content, cognitive, linguistic, and text-based variables were defined and coded using both subject matter experts (SMEs) and Coh-Metrix web-based software. The methods section goes on to outline the backward multiple regression analysis which was conducted to determine the proportion of variance in Rasch item difficulty accounted for by the defined variables and a study which can be used to demonstrate the impact of the current findings on examinee ability calibration. The results of the study demonstrate an operationalizable process for determining item difficulty variables. The results also found that Rasch item difficulty was significantly predicted by five item difficulty variables which accounted for .324 variance in Rasch item difficulty. The research concludes with a discussion of the findings, including steps that can be taken in future studies to build upon the current research and results

A national survey of athletic training educators' academic role strain, role orientation, and intent to leave

"Research in allied health education indicates faculty experience varying levels of role strain between academic responsibilities and clinical practice. How athletic training (AT) faculty prioritize their work and the impact on role strain and intent to leave had not been reported previously. The purposes of this investigation were to determine the degree of role strain experienced by full-time athletic training educators affiliated with accredited entry-level programs, to identify the leading components of role strain, and to examine the relationships between personal, employment and institutional characteristics, academic role orientation, academic role strain, and intent to leave. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional descriptive design to administer a web-based survey. A total of 250 full-time faculty members, solicited from a national database participated in this study, yielding a 26 % response rate. Respondents completed six questionnaires: personal, employment and institutional questionnaires, the Academic Role Orientation (ARO) Scale, the Academic Role Strain Scale - Athletic Training Educator (RSS-ATE) version, and a series of intent to leave questions. The ARO delineates eight work orientations emphasizing teaching, research, and/or service. The RSS-ATE contains 55-items measuring total role strain and 7 subscales: role incongruity, inter role conflict, inter-sender role conflict, intra-sender role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and role incompetence. Athletic training faculty reported moderate role strain in comparison to previous reports among collegiate athletic trainers and nursing faculty. Role overload and inter-sender role conflict were the leading components of role strain. Significant relationships were found among the personal, employment, and institutional variables and role strain. Both ideal and actual role orientations as well as role orientation incongruity with supervisors, colleagues, and the institution had a significant impact on total role strain and subscale scores. Individuals with the highest total role strain scores reported a greater frequency of considering leaving their current institution, leaving the profession, and leaving higher education. Strategies for addressing role strain, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are presented. Future research exploring the role strain and role orientations of athletic training faculty should be conducted to determine their relationship on other outcomes such as job satisfaction, productivity, and turnover."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Smoking and Selected DNA Repair Gene Polymorphisms in Controls: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

When the case-only study design is used to estimate statistical interaction between genetic (G) and environmental (E) exposures, G and E must be independent in the underlying population, or the case-only estimate of interaction (COR) will be biased. Few studies have examined the occurrence of G-E association in published control group data

Life-Expectancy Disparities Among Adults With HIV in the United States and Canada: The Impact of a Reduction in Drug- and Alcohol-Related Deaths Using the Lives Saved Simulation Model.

Improvements in life expectancy among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) receiving antiretroviral treatment in the United States and Canada might differ among key populations. Given the difference in substance use among key populations and the current opioid epidemic, drug- and alcohol-related deaths might be contributing to the disparities in life expectancy. We sought to estimate life expectancy at age 20 years in key populations (and their comparison groups) in 3 time periods (2004-2007, 2008-2011, and 2012-2015) and the potential increase in expected life expectancy with a simulated 20% reduction in drug- and alcohol-related deaths using the novel Lives Saved Simulation model. Among 92,289 PLWH, life expectancy increased in all key populations and comparison groups from 2004-2007 to 2012-2015. Disparities in survival of approximately a decade persisted among black versus white men who have sex with men and people with (vs. without) a history of injection drug use. A 20% reduction in drug- and alcohol-related mortality would have the greatest life-expectancy benefit for black men who have sex with men, white women, and people with a history of injection drug use. Our findings suggest that preventing drug- and alcohol-related deaths among PLWH could narrow disparities in life expectancy among some key populations, but other causes of death must be addressed to further narrow the disparities

Stratospheric aerosol radiative forcing simulated by the chemistry climate model EMAC using Aerosol CCI satellite data

This paper presents decadal simulations of stratospheric and tropospheric aerosol and its radiative effects by the chemistry general circulation model EMAC constrained with satellite observations in the framework of the ESA Aerosol CCI project such as GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars) and (A)ATSR ((Advanced) Along Track Scanning Radiometer) on the ENVISAT (European Environmental Satellite), IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) on MetOp (Meteorological Operational Satellite), and, additionally, OSIRIS (Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imaging System). In contrast to most other studies, the extinctions and optical depths from the model are compared to the observations at the original wavelengths of the satellite instruments covering the range from the UV (ultraviolet) to terrestrial IR (infrared). This avoids conversion artifacts and provides additional constraints for model aerosol and interpretation of the observations. MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) SO2 limb measurements are used to identify plumes of more than 200 volcanic eruptions. These three-dimensional SO2 plumes are added to the model SO2 at the eruption times. The interannual variability in aerosol extinction in the lower stratosphere, and of stratospheric aerosol radiative forcing at the tropopause, is dominated by the volcanoes. To explain the seasonal cycle of the GOMOS and OSIRIS observations, desert dust simulated by a new approach and transported to the lowermost stratosphere by the Asian summer monsoon and tropical convection turns out to be essential. This also applies to the radiative heating by aerosol in the lowermost stratosphere. The existence of wet dust aerosol in the lowermost stratosphere is indicated by the patterns of the wavelength dependence of extinction in observations and simulations. Additional comparison with (A)ATSR total aerosol optical depth at different wavelengths and IASI dust optical depth demonstrates that the model is able to represent stratospheric as well as tropospheric aerosol consistently.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Glycan shifting on hepatitis C virus (HCV) E2 glycoprotein is a mechanism for escape from broadly neutralizing antibodies

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Glycan shielding has been proposed to be a mechanism by which HCV masks broadly neutralizing epitopes on its viral glycoproteins. However, the role of altered glycosylation in HCV resistance to broadly neutralizing antibodies is not fully understood. Here, we have generated potent HCV neutralizing antibodies hu5B3.v3 and MRCT10.v362 that, similar to the previously described AP33 and HCV1, bind to a highly conserved linear epitope on E2. We utilize a combination of in vitro resistance selections using the cell culture infectious HCV and structural analyses to identify mechanisms of HCV resistance to hu5B3.v3 and MRCT10.v362. Ultra deep sequencing from in vitro HCV resistance selection studies identified resistance mutations at asparagine N417 (N417S, N417T and N417G) as early as 5 days post treatment. Comparison of the glycosylation status of soluble versions of the E2 glycoprotein containing the respective resistance mutations revealed a glycosylation shift from N417 to N415 in the N417S and N417T E2 proteins. The N417G E2 variant was glycosylated neither at residue 415 nor at residue 417 and remained sensitive to MRCT10.v362. Structural analyses of the E2 epitope bound to hu5B3.v3 Fab and MRCT10.v362 Fab using X-ray crystallography confirmed that residue N415 is buried within the antibody–peptide interface. Thus, in addition to previously described mutations at N415 that abrogate the β-hairpin structure of this E2 linear epitope, we identify a second escape mechanism, termed glycan shifting, that decreases the efficacy of broadly neutralizing HCV antibodies