Insecticidal and Repellent Activity of Siparuna guianensis Aubl. (Negramina) against Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus

This study investigated the toxic effects of essential oils isolated from Siparuna guianensis against Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus (eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult) and Aedes albopictus (C6/36) cells. The oviposition-deterring activity, egg viability, and repellence activity in the presence of different essential oils concentrations were determined. The essential oils showed high toxicity to all developmental stages of A. aegypti and C. quinquefasciatus. Furthermore, the oils also showed high repellent activity towards the adult stage of mosquitoes (0.025 to 0.550 μg/cm2 skin conferred 100% repellence up to 120 min) and in contact with cultured insect cells (C6/36) induced death possibly by necrosis. The results presented in this work show the potential of S. guianensis essential oils for the development of an alternative and effective method for the natural control of mosquitoes in homes and urban areas.     

Pyridostigmine enhances even if it does not normalize the growth hormone responses to growth hormone-releasing hormone in patients with Cushing's disease.

Subjects with Cushing's disease have diminished growth hormone (GH) response to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). The aim of our study was to investigate the underlying mechanism of this diminished GH response in these patients using pyridostigmine (PD), an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which is reported to increase GH secretion by reducing somatostatin tone. Eight subjects with untreated Cushing's disease (caused by a pituitary adenoma) and 6 control subjects received GHRH 100 micrograms in 1 ml of saline, as intravenous bolus injection 60 min after (1) placebo (2 tablets, p.o.) or (2) PD (120 mg, p.o.). After GHRH plus placebo, the GH peak (mean +/- SEM) was significantly lower in subjects with Cushing's disease (2.4 +/- 0.5 micrograms/l) compared to control subjects (25.1 +/- 1.8 micrograms/l, p less than 0.05). After GHRH plus PD, the GH peak was significantly enhanced both in subjects with Cushing's disease (7.1 +/- 2.3 micrograms/l, p less than 0.05) and in control subjects (42.3 +/- 4.3 micrograms/l, p less than 0.05). In patients with Cushing's disease, the GH response to GHRH plus PD was lower with respect to the GH response to GHRH alone in normal subjects. We conclude that hypercortisolism may cause a decrease in central cholinergic tone which is in turn hypothesized to be responsible of an enhanced somatostatin release from the hypothalamus. However, other metabolic or central nervous system alterations may act synergistically with hypercortisolism in causing GH inhibition in patients with Cushing's disease.     

The effects of manipulation of sedimentary iron and organic matter on sediment biogeochemistry and seagrasses in a subtropical carbonate environment

The microbial metabolism of organic matter (OM) in seagrass beds can create sulfidic conditions detrimental to seagrass growth; iron (Fe) potentially has ameliorating effects through titration of the sulfides and the precipitation of iron-sulfide minerals into the sediment. In this study, the biogeochemical effects of Fe availability and its interplay with sulfur and OM on sulfide toxicity, phosphorous (P) availability, seagrass growth and community structure were tested. The availability of Fe and OM was manipulated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment arranged in a Latin square, with four replicates per treatment. The treatments included the addition of Fe, the addition of OM, the addition of both Fe and OM as well as no addition. The experiment was conducted in an oligotrophic, iron-deficient seagrass bed. Fe had an 84.5% retention efficiency in the sediments with the concentration of Fe increasing in the seagrass leaves over the course of the experiment. Porewater chemistry was significantly altered with a dramatic decrease in sulfide levels in Fe addition plots while sulfide levels increased in the OM addition treatments. Phosphorus increased in seagrass leaves collected in the Fe addition plots. Decreased sulfide stress was evidenced by heavier δ³⁴S in leaves and rhizomes from plots to which Fe was added. The OM addition negatively affected seagrass growth but increased P availability; the reduced sulfide stress in Fe added plots resulted in elevated productivity. Fe availability may be an important determinant of the impact that OM has on seagrass vitality in carbonate sediments vegetated with seagrasses.     

From individual behaviour to population pattern: weather-dependent foraging and breeding performance in black kites

The links between weather and animal behaviour in population processes have received relatively little attention. I studied the effect of weather conditions on foraging and breeding performance of a medium-sized raptor, the black kite, Milvus migrans. The frequency of prey capture attempts and their likelihood of success increased with temperature and declined with rainfall. Kites used flight styles involving a higher energy expenditure in less favourable weather. Nestling provisioning rates declined during rain spells. More kites hunted during periods of favourable weather and after periods with a high frequency of successful prey capture attempts by conspecifics; this result suggested that individuals may fine-tune their foraging effort to the expected foraging reward. Such compensatory behavioural adjustments may increase species resilience to climate change. The behaviourally mediated effects of weather on prey availability translated into population effects. Yearly weather conditions during the last stage of the prelaying period affected population-level productivity, probably through an effect on female body condition mediated by male provisioning capability and hunting yield. The predicted effects of climate change on kites may already be occurring, with progressively earlier laying and northward range expansion. These results confirm the need to pay greater attention to behaviourally mediated effects of climate on populations, particularly when individuals make compensatory adjustments that may enhance resilience to climate change. Copyright 2003 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.      

Temperature-Mediated Changes in Rates of Predator Forgetting in Woodfrog Tadpoles

Hundreds of studies have investigated the sources and nature of information that prey gather about their predators and the ways in which prey use this information to mediate their risk of predation. However, relatively little theoretical or empirical work has considered the question of how long information should be maintained and used by prey animals in making behavioural decisions. Here, we tested whether the size of the memory window associated with predator recognition could be affected by an intrinsic factor, such as size and growth rate of the prey. We maintained groups of predator-naive woodfrog, Lithobates sylvaticus, tadpoles at different temperatures for 8 days to induce differences in tadpole size. We then conditioned small and large tadpoles to recognize the odour of a predatory tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. Tadpoles were then maintained either on a high or low growth trajectory for another 8 days, after which they were tested for their response to the predator. Our results suggest that the memory window related to predator recognition of tadpoles is determined by both their size and/or growth rate at the time of learning and their subsequent growth rate post-learning.     

The "Alzheimer's disease signature": potential perspectives for novel biomarkers

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive and neurodegenerative disorder which involves multiple molecular mechanisms. Intense research during the last years has accumulated a large body of data and the search for sensitive and specific biomarkers has undergone a rapid evolution. However, the diagnosis remains problematic and the current tests do not accurately detect the process leading to neurodegeneration. Biomarkers discovery and validation are considered the key aspects to support clinical diagnosis and provide discriminatory power between different stages of the disorder. A considerable challenge is to integrate different types of data from new potent approach to reach a common interpretation and replicate the findings across studies and populations. Furthermore, long-term clinical follow-up and combined analysis of several biomarkers are among the most promising perspectives to diagnose and manage the disease. The present review will focus on the recent published data providing an updated overview of the main achievements in the genetic and biochemical research of the Alzheimer's disease. We also discuss the latest and most significant results that will help to define a specific disease signature whose validity might be clinically relevant for future AD diagnosis.     

Intestinal transport of thiamin and thiamin monophosphate in rat everted jejunal sacs: a comparative study using some potential inhibitors

Rat everted jejunal sacs were incubated for 15 and 30 min at 37 degrees C in oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit buffer, pH 7.4, containing 0.2 microM [3H]-thiamin (3H-T) or [3H]-thiamin monophosphate (3H-TMP) with and without 10 mM 1-phenylalanine (PAL) or 2.5 mM levamisole (LEV). The concentrations of 3H-T and its phosphoesters in sac wall and serosal fluid were determined by a radiometric method after electrophoretic separation. In separate experiments, thiamin pyrophosphokinase (TPKase) and thiamin pyrophosphatase (TPPase) activities were determined in mucosal scrapings, with and without PAL or LEV, by using a radiometric and a colorimetric method, respectively. 3H-TMP was transported partly unchanged by an active mechanism similarly to 3H-T, but less efficiently. During transport, 3H-TMP was also enzymatically transformed to thiamin (T) and thiamin pyrophosphate, which accumulated in the tissue. In the serosal fluid, the concentration of 3H-TMP exceeded that of 3H-T. Presence of PAL or LEV with 3H-T or 3H-TMP in the incubation medium reduced the serosal transport and the tissue content of T compounds. LEV caused a dose-dependent inhibition of TPKase without affecting TPPase, whereas PAL inhibited both activities to about the same extent. These results indicate that the transport of TMP involves a number of different processes similar to those responsible for T transport. The effects of PAL and LEV underline the importance of phosphorylation-dephosphorylation coupling.