Chemical ‘generalists’ and behavioral ‘specialists’: a comparison of host finding by Stelidota geminata and Stelidota octomaculata

Host orientation by two nitidulid beetles was compared: Stelidota geminata (Say), which is very broad in its' host range, and Stelidota octomaculata (Say), a species whose feeding is restricted primarily to acorns. In a no-choice assay, both species responded to all food substrates offered and neither showed a significant preference among substrates (except banana versus wood fungi for S. octomaculata), or between aseptic and inoculated treatments; however, S. geminata readily displayed both phototactic flights and host-orienting flights, whereas S. octomaculata never exhibited phototactic flight and never responded to food odors by flying to the source. Furthermore, when upwind-walking response was compared, S. octomaculata walked to the source at a rate of 0.16±0.01 cm/s, which was significantly lower than that of S. geminata, with a rate of 0.54±0.02 cm/s. Turning frequency on the way to the source also differed between the two species, whereas distance traveled, number of pauses, and duration of pauses did not differ significantly. We submit that both species represent olfactory generalists, and that the restricted host range of S. octomaculata compared to S. geminata is not mediated by differences in long-range response to host odors, but rather is due to differences in other behaviors such as a reduced rate of locomotion, post-landing behavior, and possibly ecological factors.     

‘Ins’ and ‘outs’ of triple therapy

Chronic oral anticoagulant treatment is obligatory in patients (class I) with mechanical heart valves and in patients with atrial fibrillation with CHADS2 score >1. When these patients undergo percutaneous coronary intervention with placement of a stent, there is also an indication for treatment with aspirin and clopidogrel. Unfortunately, triple therapy is known to increase the bleeding risk. For this group of patients, the bottom line is to find the ideal therapy in patients with indications for both chronic anticoagulation therapy and percutaneous intervention to prevent thromboembolic complications such as stent thrombosis without increasing the risk of bleeding. (Neth Heart J 2010;18:444-50.)     

Morpho-Physiological and Antioxidant Traits of Marigold cv. ‘Sparse Petal’ and ‘Compact Petal’ as Influenced by Irrigation Intervals

The effect of irrigation intervals was studied on physiological, morphological, and antioxidant traits of two marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) cultivars in Karaj, Iran, in a split-plot experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental treatments included irrigation at three levels of I1 (irrigation interval of 3 days), I2 (irrigation interval of 5 days), and I3 (irrigation interval of 7 days) as the main plot and cultivar at two levels of V1 (cv. ‘sparse petal’) and V2 (cv. ‘compact petal’) as the sub-plot. The results based on the comparison of the means showed that the increase in irrigation interval from 3 to 7 days decreased the leaf area index, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, and net assimilation rate by 73.53, 85.76, 93.47, and 94.81%, respectively. It also decreased the flower yield, plant height, flower number, and leaf number by 71.92, 41.84, 99.31, and 58.67%, respectively. The interaction between irrigation and cultivar revealed that I3V1 had the highest total phenol content (3013.59 g gallic acid 100 g^?1 tissue) and antioxidant capacity (60.8%). It can be inferred that the treatment of I1 and cv. ‘compact petal’ give the best results for flower yield and physiological and morphological traits, and the treatment of I3 and both cultivars provide the best results for antioxidant traits in the climatic conditions of the Karaj region.

     

Structural and Narrative Reconstruction of Rural Residents’ Representations of ‘Nature’, ‘Wildlife’, and ‘Landscape’

The objective of this paper is the structural and narrative reconstruction of representations of ‘nature’, ‘wildlife’ and ‘landscape’, held by rural residents of the Dadia Forest Reserve. Data collection involved in-depth interviews. Employing a social representations’ approach, we recovered representational elements that are expected in the case of rural belief systems, such as negative dispositions towards wolves and foxes, as well as elements of an urban adherence, such as nature’s independence. Representational elements refer to visual aspects of the countryside, which seem compatible with the figurative nucleus of the rural idyll. Concerning ‘wildlife’, residents focused on vultures, which comprise the main tourist attraction of the reserve. Scientific knowledge adds to the complexity of the narrative schema, which corresponds to the representation of ‘wildlife’. Interviewees perceived the rural landscape as an interface between the natural and the human-conditioned environment. Our study shows that interviewees make no reference to environmental conservation or quality of life issues, as it could be expected according to relatively wide definitions of the term ‘environmentalism’. Environmental messages reinforced by ecotourism development seem to be recalled primarily in terms of their compatibility with the perceived economic benefit of local people. Despite ecotourism development, representational elements that diverge from a tourist version of ‘nature’, ‘wildlife’ and ‘landscape’ were not pronounced within rural belief-systems. Further interventions within the study area are needed, in order to address a variety of topics under the environmental conservation discourse and raise the environmental awareness of rural residents.     

Reading Wacquant as both ‘lumper’ and ‘splitter’

In this short response to Loïc Wacquant's ‘Marginality, Ethnicity and Penality in the Neo-liberal City’, I outline two intellectual conversations that emerge from the author's work. The first develops out of the connections that the author draws between systems of criminal justice and welfare. The second grows out of the disassociation he urges us to see between the logics and trajectories of crime, on the one hand, and criminal justice on the other. I then briefly describe how my own work has been influenced by and contributes to these two ongoing streams of research.     

‘Classical’ and ‘non-classical’ reproductive steroids in fish

Summary The nature of the steroids secreted by gonads of fish differs significantly from those of the mammals. The classical teleost steroids, oestradiol, testosterone, 11-ketotestosterone and 17,20P, have been measured in a wide variety of teleosts but do not always reflect biological activities. There is increasing evidence that teleost gonads may produce a number of non-classical steroids which may play an important role in their reproductive biology. Such products include metabolites reduced at C5 to 5 or 5, at C3 to 3 or 3, or hydroxylated at 6-, 7-, or 21. Conjugation, as either glucuronides or sulphates, may contribute either to localization of action within the gonad or to production of pheromones during the immediate pre-spawning period. Although it is often possible only to measure the steroids for which assays are readily available, it is important to recognize that there may be production of steroids that are not detected by such assays, but which nevertheless play a major role in reproductive activity. In evolutionary terms, the teleost hydroxylases probably originated in the very early fishes and show parallels with their analogues in amphibians and mammals. Gene sequencing may reveal a possible common ancestor for all vertebrate 6, 7 and 11-hydroxylases.     

Relationship between ‘early’ and ‘late’ protein induced by 20-hydroxyecdysone in imaginal wing discs ofDrosophila melanogaster

The insect moulting hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone, induces the synthesis of two groups of proteins in the imaginal wing discs ofDrosophila melanogaster. The early induced group appears about 4 h after hormone treatment, the late induced group appears about 12 h after treatment. Studies using -amanitin to inhibit mRNA synthesis during the period of hormonal treatment showed that the induction of the late proteins is dependent on mRNA synthesis and possibly the synthesis of the early proteins.     

Genetic and biochemical studies on perchloroethylene ‘in vitro’ and ‘in vivo’

Perchloroethylene (PCE) was tested in a diploid strain (D7) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in suspension tests with and without a mammalian microsomal activation system (S9) and ‘in vivo’ by the intrasanguineous host-mediated assay. In addition, enzyme alteration studies were performed in mice non-pretreated or pretreated with phenobarbital + β-naphthoflavone. PCE did not induce any genetic effect either ‘in vitro’ or ‘in vivo’. In the suspension test, PCE was more toxic without metabolic activation and less toxic with mammalian microsomal activation. The enzymatic determinations showed an increase of the aminopyrine demethylase activity and of the level of cytochrome P-450.     

Storage of abnormal oxidants ‘∑1’, ‘∑2’ and ‘∑3’ in photosynthetic water oxidases inhibited by Cl−-removal

The Cl⁻ requirement of photosynthetic O₂ evolution was studied by thermoluminescence measurements with purified Photosystem II-containing membrane particles from chloroplast thylakoids. When Cl anions had been removed from the particles either by an alkaline shock in a Cl⁻-free medium, or by treatment with SO²⁻₄, the pattern of the thermoluminescence emission after illumination with increasing numbers of flashes suggested that the oxidant storage in the water oxidase could only proceed up to the final step. The final step itself. i.e., the advance to the water-oxidizing S₄ state, apparently was blocked. An upward shift of the emission temperatures of the thermoluminescence bands was seen both in the absence and in the presence of 3-(3′,4′-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl urea, indicating that the stored oxidants had redox properties different from those of normal, Cl⁻-sufficient preparations. These properties were readily interconvertible by addition or removal of Cl⁻. We postulate that in Cl⁻-deficient water oxidases abnormal S₁, S₂ and S₃ states, symbolized as ∑₁, ∑₂ and ∑₃, respectively, are formed which are in a Cl⁻-dependent equilibrium with the corresponding normal S states. An oxidation of ∑₃ to a ∑₄ state is not possible. It is proposed that Cl⁻ controls the oxidation potential of the stored oxidants by regulating events associated with the binding and/or oxidative modification of water molecules at the water oxidase.     

Rethinking the ‘everyday’ in ‘ethnicity and everyday life’

While ‘ethnicity and everyday life’ is a familiar collocation, sociologists concerned with racism and ethnicity have not engaged very much with the extensive body of social theory that takes the ‘everyday’ as its central problematic. In this essay, I consider some of the ways in which the sociology of the everyday might be of use to those concerned with investigating ethnicity and racism. For its part, however, the sociology of the everyday has tended to be remarkably blind to the role played by racism and racialization in the modern world. It is thus no less crucial to consider how the experiences of racialized groups might help us rethink influential accounts of the everyday. To this end, I provide a discussion of pioneering texts by C. L. R. James and W. E. B. du Bois, both of whom were driven by their reflections on racism and resistance to recognize the everyday not as an unremarked context, but as, precisely, a problematic one.     

Choroidal granuloma caused by ‘Paracoccidioides brasiliensis’

A 48 year-old-female with a choroidal granuloma presented a systemic picture of paracoccidioidomycosis proven by rhinopharyngeal biopsy. The clinical picture, the differential diagnosis and the therapeutic test are discussed. This is the first time that the fluorescein angiography is described in such cases.

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Resumo Paciente de 48 anos de idade com urn granuloma de coroide apresentou quadro sistêmico de paracoccidioidomicose provado por biópsia de lesão da rinofaringe. São discutidos os aspectos clínicos, diagnósticos diferenciais e prova terapêutica. Esta é a primeira vez que se descreve a angiografia fluoresceínica num caso destes.

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This study was supported by Centro de Estudos de Oftalmologia Moacyr E. Alvaro.     

Denitration of peroxynitrite-treated proteins by ‘protein nitratases’ from rat brain and heart

Putative protein nitratases, which catalyze denitration of peroxynitrite (PN)-treated proteins, were detected in the homogenate/crude extract of rat brains and hearts. Nitratase activity was monitored by the decreased intensity of nitrotyrosine immunoreactive-bands in Western blot and increased nitrate level in dialysate of incubation mixture, which contained homogenate/crude extract, protease inhibitors and a PN-treated substrate, such as treated histone (III-S), BSA or invertase. Enhanced activity of nitratases was noted by preincubating crude extract with Ca²⁺. In addition, at least two types of nitratases may occur: type I, reductant-dependent, and type II, reductant- independent. Furthermore, upon denitration, the activity of PN-treated invertase increased to the same activity level of the untreated invertase. The overall reaction catalyzed by nitratases for denitration of nitrotyrosine residues in protein could be as follows: Protein-Tyr-NO_{_2} + H₂O Protein-Tyr-H + H⁺ + NO₃ ^–. The nitration/denitration of protein-tyrosine may be crucial in regulating signal transduction.     

Analysis of 6 VNTR loci by ‘multiplex’ PCR and automated fluorescent detection

The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify six small variable number of tandem repeat loci in two reactions (D19S20 co-amplifying with D17S5 and D1S80; D17S766 co-amplifying with D16S83 and D17S24). When coupled with fluorescent detection of the products, this provides a rapid, highly discriminating automated test. Preferential amplification of small alleles, leading to allelic dropout was found to occur in D19S20 and D16S83. Population databases are presented for Caucasians and Afro-Caribbeans at loci D19S20, D16S83 and D17S24, and for Asians at D19S20.     

Regulation of coenzyme A levels by degradation: the ‘Ins and Outs’

Coenzyme A (CoA) is the predominant acyl carrier in mammalian cells and a cofactor that plays a key role in energy and lipid metabolism. CoA and its thioesters (acyl-CoAs) regulate a multitude of metabolic processes at different levels: as substrates, allosteric modulators, and via post-translational modification of histones and other non-histone proteins. Evidence is emerging that synthesis and degradation of CoA are regulated in a manner that enables metabolic flexibility in different subcellular compartments. Degradation of CoA occurs through distinct intra- and extracellular pathways that rely on the activity of specific hydrolases. The pantetheinase enzymes specifically hydrolyze pantetheine to cysteamine and pantothenate, the last step in the extracellular degradation pathway for CoA. This reaction releases pantothenate in the bloodstream, making this CoA precursor available for cellular uptake and de novo CoA synthesis. Intracellular degradation of CoA depends on specific mitochondrial and peroxisomal Nudix hydrolases. These enzymes are also active against a subset of acyl-CoAs and play a key role in the regulation of subcellular (acyl-)CoA pools and CoA-dependent metabolic reactions. The evidence currently available indicates that the extracellular and intracellular (acyl-)CoA degradation pathways are regulated in a coordinated and opposite manner by the nutritional state and maximize the changes in the total intracellular CoA levels that support the metabolic switch between fed and fasted states in organs like the liver.The objective of this review is to update the contribution of these pathways to the regulation of metabolism, physiology and pathology and to highlight the many questions that remain open.     

An updated ‘Essex’ by ‘Forrest’ linkage map and first composite interval map of QTL underlying six soybean traits

DNA marker maps based on single populations are the basis for gene, loci and genomic analyses. Individual maps can be integrated to produce composite maps with higher marker densities if shared marker orders are consistent. However, estimates of marker order in composite maps must include sets of markers that were not polymorphic in multiple populations. Often some of the pooled markers were not codominant, or were not correctly scored. The soybean composite map was composed of data from five separate populations based on northern US germplasm but does not yet include ‘Essex’ by ‘Forrest’ recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (E × F) or any southern US soybean cultivars. The objectives were, to update the E × F map with codominant markers, to compare marker orders among this map, the Forrest physical map and the composite soybean map and to compare QTL identified by composite interval maps to the earlier interval maps. Two hundred and thirty seven markers were used to construct the core of the E × F map. The majority of marker orders were consistent between the maps. However, 19 putative marker inversions were detected on 12 of 20 linkage groups (LG). Eleven marker distance compressions were also found. The number of inverted markers ranged from 1 to 2 per LG. Thus, marker order inversions may be common in southern compared to northern US germplasm. A total of 61 QTL among 37 measures of six traits were detected by composite interval maps, interval maps and single point analysis. Seventeen of the QTL found in composite intervals had previously been detected among the 29 QTL found in simple interval maps. The genomic locations of the known QTL were more closely delimited. A genome sequencing project to compare Southern and Northern US soybean cultivars would catalog and delimit inverted regions and the associated QTL. Gene introgression in cultivar development programs would be accelerated.Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

A Sense of Belonging and Exclusion: ‘Touchability’ and ‘Untouchability’ in Tamil Nadu

In India, touch is a prime marker of status and social relations. Those who are impure are ‘untouchable’,1 The terms ‘Untouchable’ and ‘Untouchability’ have been abandoned due to the humiliating meaning these terms confer, therefore I use them in inverted commas. The politically correct and common terms today are Scheduled Castes, in short sc, or Dalits, or sometimes Harijan. I use them here synonymously. but those who are of a relatively higher purity are also, depending on the context, either ‘untouchable’ or ‘touchable’ only under certain fixed rules. In this paper, I will explore the contexts in which body contact and touch can be part of personal relations. I describe how these body contacts signify important social relations and establish community identity. Further, I will analyse how patterns of body contact on the one hand change during childhood, and on the other hand produce changes in the status of a social persona. The last point to be investigated is the meaning of touch as a sign for public representations.     

‘Neurosecretion’ by a classic cholinergic innervation apparatus

Summary Nerve terminals forming typical synapses with adrenal chromaffin tissues have been examined in the goldfish, frog (Rana pipiens), hamster and rat. Presumptive secretory inclusions present in the terminals are of two distinct types. Electron-lucent synaptic vesicles 30–50 nm in diameter are densely clustered adjacent to membrane thickenings and presumably discharge their contents into the synaptic clefts. Secretory granules (i.e. large dense-cored vesicles) 60–100 nm in diameter are more abundant in other parts of the terminals. Sites of granule exocytosis have been observed in each of the animals investigated. They are usually encountered within apparently undifferentiated areas of plasmalemma and only rarely occur within synaptic thickenings. Granule exocytosis from within synaptic terminals and chromaffin gland cells is most readily observed in specimens exposed, prior to fixation, to saline solutions containing both tannic acid, and 4-aminopyridine and/or elevated levels of K⁺. These findings show that the pattern of secretory discharge, involving both synaptic and non-synaptic release, which is widespread in invertebrate central nervous systems, is also characteristic of vertebrate, peripheral cholinergic terminals.