Effect of temperature on growth and bioenergetics of a tropical moth

1. 1.|Larval development and metamorphosis of Achaea junta were prolonged at 22°C, compared to 27, 32 and 35°C.

2. 2.|Overall rates of consumption, assimilation, production and metabolism of the larvae increased with temperature.

3. 3.|Efficiencies of assimilation and conversion of the digested food were significantly altered by life stage and temperature.

4. 4.|About 60% of the pupal energy was transferred to the imago at the tested temperatures.

Rhythms in the biting behaviour of a mosquito Armigeres subalbatus

Summary The biting cycle of Armigeres subalbatus is distinctly crepuscular, exhibiting two peaks of activity, a smaller one at dawn and a larger one at dusk. The biting cycle is entrained to natural light-dark cycles and the time interval from dawn to dawn or dusk to dusk peaks is exactly 24 h and from dawn to dusk or dusk to dawn is about 12 h measured at 50% level. This rhythm manifests itself day after day without any marked qualitative change.The rate of change of light intensity may determine the onset of crepuscular biting. The sudden increase (up to ca. 17 lx) or decrease (down to ca. 4 lx) in the intensity of ambient light at the time of sunrise or sunset coincides with the peak of the biting activity.The density of the population of the host-seeking females fluctuates in relation to the phases of the moon, increasing with the full moon phase and decreasing with the new moon phase.Even though the density of the population is greater outdoors than indoors both at ground levels and in the first floor, the peak of activity occurs at the same time in all the places. A vertical stratification of biting activity was also noticed.     

Diosgenin attenuates vascular calcification in chronic renal failure rats

Vascular calcification due to elevated phosphate levels is the major contributor of cardiovascular dysfunction. The oxidative stress and gene expression events modulate the transdifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells into osteogenic phenotype. This present study intends to evaluate the dose-dependent effect of diosgenin, an antioxidant on high phosphate induced vascular calcification in adenine-induced chronic renal failure rats. High phosphate environment causes elevated calcium accumulation with related histological changes and alkaline phosphatase activity in aorta. Further it downregulates the activity of enzymatic antioxidants and elevates the level of lipid peroxidative markers. Moreover, the renal failure leads to reduced nitric oxide production. But, treatment with diosgenin at a dose of 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg given via oral gavages causes reversion of all the above events in a dose-dependent manner. The highest dose has shown more potential activity than other two doses, which has the ability to protect the alteration of liver markers and red blood cell antioxidant system without any adverse effects and it does not alter the kidney associated changes too. Finally, the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study strongly supports its ability to protect the macromolecules from oxidative stress. All the above evidences show that diosgenin has overall benefits against renal failure-induced vascular calcification-associated oxidative stress.     

Patterns of emergence,import of egg energy and energy export via emerging dragonfly populations in a tropical pond

The most abundant dragonflies Brachythemis contaminata, Orthetrum sabina, Diplacodes trivialis, Pantala flavescens and Trithemis festiva in the tropical pond Idumban emerged from November to April during the years 1973,1974 and 1975. The date of initiation of emergence of all the species was synchronized and tied to the events following the north west monsoon in November. During the seasons '73–74 and '74–75, as many as 10,693 and 7,910 adults emerged; females outnumbered the males in all the 5 species; male populations of B. contaminata, O. sabina, D. trivialis, P. flavescens and T. festiva represented 47, 48, 46, 49 and 44% during the '73–74 season, 48, 48, 46, 46 and 49% during the '74–75 season, respectively. The adult dragonflies equivalent to 2,442 Kcal emerged from the Pond during the season '73–74. Of this, B. contaminata contributed 30%, D. trivialis 7%, O. sabina 12%, P. flavescens 23% and T. festiva 28%. For the season '74–75, the dragonflies equivalent to 1,602 Kcal emerged from the Pond and the contribution was in the following order: B. contaminata: 31%, O. sabina: 8%, D. trivialis: 13%, P. flavescens: 27% and T. festiva: 21%. Import of energy due to inoculation of B. contaminata eggs into the Pond Idumban was 73 Kcal/ year and the output from the Pond via emerging B. contaminata population alone amounted to 620 Kcal/ year; the net energy loss from the Pond was 548 Kcal/ year. During either season, as much as 99.7% of B. contaminata eggs failed to attain adulthood due to infertility (5.8%), unhatchability (12%) and predation during the egg and nymphal stages (82.5%). During the study, the GPP of the Pond was 26,073 Kcal/m²/ year, and output of energy through emergence of 5 dragonfly species amounted to 0.0045 Kcal/m²/year, i.e. 0.00002% of the GPP is lost through the emerging carnivorous odonates; comparable values available for the emerging detritivorous chironomids, herbivorous dipterans and mayflies fall between 1.0 and 0.1%.     

The stability and oncogenic function of LIN28A are regulated by USP28

RNA-binding protein LIN28A is often highly expressed in human malignant tumors and is involved in tumor metastasis and poor prognosis. Knowledge about post-translational regulatory mechanisms governing LIN28A protein stability and function is scarce. Here, we investigated the role of ubiquitination and deubiquitination on LIN28A protein stability and report that LIN28A protein undergoes ubiquitination. Ubiquitin-specific protease 28 (USP28), a deubiquitinating enzyme, interacts with and stabilizes LIN28A protein to extend its half-life. USP28, through its deubiquitinating activity, antagonizes LIN28A protein turnover by reversing its proteasomal degradation. Our study describes the consequential impacts of USP28-mediated stabilization of LIN28A protein on enhancing cancer cell viability, migration and ultimately augmenting LIN28A-mediated tumor progression. Overall, our data suggest that a synergistic, combinatorial approach of targeting LIN28A with USP28 would contribute to effective cancer therapeutics.