Acceptability and suitability of Tuta absoluta eggs from irradiated parents to parasitism by Trichogramma nerudai and Trichogramma pretiosum (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

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Effects of temperature on the development,performance and fitness of the corn leafhopper Dalbulus maidis (DeLong) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae): implications on its distribution under climate change

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Acoustic sequences in non‐human animals: a tutorial review and prospectus

Animal acoustic communication often takes the form of complex sequences, made up of multiple distinct acoustic units. Apart from the well‐known example of birdsong, other animals such as insects, amphibians, and mammals (including bats, rodents, primates, and cetaceans) also generate complex acoustic sequences. Occasionally, such as with birdsong, the adaptive role of these sequences seems clear (e.g. mate attraction and territorial defence). More often however, researchers have only begun to characterise – let alone understand – the significance and meaning of acoustic sequences. Hypotheses abound, but there is little agreement as to how sequences should be defined and analysed. Our review aims to outline suitable methods for testing these hypotheses, and to describe the major limitations to our current and near‐future knowledge on questions of acoustic sequences. This review and prospectus is the result of a collaborative effort between 43 scientists from the fields of animal behaviour, ecology and evolution, signal processing, machine learning, quantitative linguistics, and information theory, who gathered for a 2013 workshop entitled, ‘Analysing vocal sequences in animals’. Our goal is to present not just a review of the state of the art, but to propose a methodological framework that summarises what we suggest are the best practices for research in this field, across taxa and across disciplines. We also provide a tutorial‐style introduction to some of the most promising algorithmic approaches for analysing sequences. We divide our review into three sections: identifying the distinct units of an acoustic sequence, describing the different ways that information can be contained within a sequence, and analysing the structure of that sequence. Each of these sections is further subdivided to address the key questions and approaches in that area. We propose a uniform, systematic, and comprehensive approach to studying sequences, with the goal of clarifying research terms used in different fields, and facilitating collaboration and comparative studies. Allowing greater interdisciplinary collaboration will facilitate the investigation of many important questions in the evolution of communication and sociality.     

Absence of Tau triggers age‐dependent sciatic nerve morphofunctional deficits and motor impairment

Dementia is the cardinal feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the clinical symptoms of this disorder also include a marked loss of motor function. Tau abnormal hyperphosphorylation and malfunction are well‐established key events in AD neuropathology but the impact of the loss of normal Tau function in neuronal degeneration and subsequent behavioral deficits is still debated. While Tau reduction has been increasingly suggested as therapeutic strategy against neurodegeneration, particularly in AD, there is controversial evidence about whether loss of Tau progressively impacts on motor function arguing about damage of CNS motor components. Using a variety of motor‐related tests, we herein provide evidence of an age‐dependent motor impairment in Tau?/? animals that is accompanied by ultrastructural and functional impairments of the efferent fibers that convey motor‐related information. Specifically, we show that the sciatic nerve of old (17–22‐months) Tau?/? mice displays increased degenerating myelinated fibers and diminished conduction properties, as compared to age‐matched wild‐type (Tau+/+) littermates and younger (4–6 months) Tau?/? and Tau+/+ mice. In addition, the sciatic nerves of Tau?/? mice exhibit a progressive hypomyelination (assessed by g‐ratio) specifically affecting large‐diameter, motor‐related axons in old animals. These findings suggest that loss of Tau protein may progressively impact on peripheral motor system.     

Unintended irradiation of internal mammary chain – Is that enough?

Aim

To evaluate the unintentional coverage of the internal mammary chain (IMC) with tangential fields irradiation to the breast, and its relation with the type of surgery employed.

Background

The dose distribution in regions adjacent to the treatment targets (mammary gland or chest wall), with incidental irradiation of the IMC, could translate into clinical benefit, due to the proximity of these regions.

Materials and methods

One hundred and twelve consecutive conformal radiotherapy plans were correlating the average dose to the IMC with the type of surgery employed, the extent of disease and the irradiation techniques.

Results

The mean doses to IMC after modified radical mastectomy (MRM), modified radical mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (MRM + R), and breast conservative surgery (BCS) were 30.34 Gy, 30.26 Gy, and 18.67 Gy, respectively. Significant differences were identified between patients who underwent MRM or MRM + R over BCS (p = 0.01 and 0.003, respectively), but not between MRM and MRM + R (p = 0.88). Mean doses to IMC were greater in patients with T3–T4 tumors when compared with more initial stages (≤T2) (p = 0.0096). The lymph node involvement also correlated with higher average doses to IMC (node positive: 26.1 Gy × node negative: 17.8 Gy, p = 0.0017).

Conclusions

The moderate dose level to the IMC in the unintentional irradiation scenario seems to be insufficient to treat the subclinical disease, although it could have an impact in patients undergoing mastectomy.     

Defining the identity of mouse embryonic dermal fibroblasts

Embryonic dermal fibroblasts in the skin have the exceptional ability to initiate hair follicle morphogenesis and contribute to scarless wound healing. Activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is critical for dermal fibroblast fate selection and hair follicle induction. In humans, mutations in Wnt pathway components and target genes lead to congenital focal dermal hypoplasias with diminished hair. The gene expression signature of embryonic dermal fibroblasts during differentiation and its dependence on Wnt signaling is unknown. Here we applied Shannon entropy analysis to identify the gene expression signature of mouse embryonic dermal fibroblasts. We used available human DNase‐seq and histone modification ChiP‐seq data on various cell‐types to demonstrate that genes in the fibroblast cell identity signature can be epigenetically repressed in other cell‐types. We found a subset of the signature genes whose expression is dependent on Wnt/β‐catenin activity in vivo. With our approach, we have defined and validated a statistically derived gene expression signature that may mediate dermal fibroblast identity and function in development and disease. genesis 54:415–430, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Coupling solid phase microextraction to complementary separation platforms for metabotyping of <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> metabolome in response to natural antibacterial agents

Introduction

Essential oils are known to possess antimicrobial activity; thus, their use has played an important role over the years in medicine and for food preservation purposes.

Objective

The effect of clove oil and its major constituents as bactericidal agents on the global metabolic profiling of E. coli bacteria was assessed by means of metabolic alterations, using solid phase microextraction (SPME) as a sample preparation method coupled to complementary analytical platforms.

Method

E. Coli cultures treated with clove oil and its major individual components were sampled by HS-SPME-GCxGC-ToF/MS and SPME-UPLC–MS. Full factorial design was applied in order to estimate the most effective antibacterial agent towards E. coli. Central composite design and factorial design were applied to investigate parameters influencing metabolite coverage and efficiency by SPME.

Results

The metabolic profile, including 500 metabolites identified by LC–MS and 789 components detected by GCxGC-ToF/MS, 125 of which were identified as dysregulated metabolites, revealed changes in the metabolome provoked by the antibacterial activity of clove oil, and in particular its major constituent eugenol. Analyses of individual components selected using orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis showed a neat differentiation between control samples in comparison to treated samples in various sets of metabolic pathways.

Conclusions

The combination of a sample preparation method capable of providing cleaner extracts coupled to different analytical platforms was successful in uncovering changes in metabolic pathways associated with lipids biodegradation, changes in the TCA cycle, amino acids, and enzyme inhibitors in response to antibacterial treatment.