Coffee volatiles induced after mechanical injury and beetle herbivory attract the coffee berry borer and two of its parasitoids

The coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), is the most important insect pest of coffee worldwide. In this study, we used headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to sample and identify volatile compounds from Robusta coffee berries, Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner, infested with CBB and with mechanical damage. Furthermore, we evaluated the behavioral responses of the CBB and two of its parasitoids, Prorops nasuta Waterstone and Phymastichus coffea LaSalle, to three selected coffee volatile compounds in a Y-tube olfactometer. We found in the effluvia of red coffee berry compounds not previously reported for this coffee species. Our results show that Robusta coffee berries release induced volatiles either by insect herbivory or by mechanical damage. Small amount of butyl acetate, unknown compound 2, α-longipinene, longiborneol and longiborneol acetate are produced only in infested coffee berries fruits. Quantitatively, nine compounds account for the difference between healthy berries, infested, or mechanically damaged berries. Trans-ocimene, 4,8-dimethyl-3,7-nonadien-2-ol, α-copaene and kaurene increased amount levels in infested berries, while amount of methyl salicylate and linalool increased in mechanically damaged coffee berries. The olfactometric bioassays showed that CBB females and its two parasitoids were attracted to methyl salicylate. In addition, H. hampei and P. nasuta were attracted to linalool, and P. nasuta and P. coffea were attracted to trans-ocimene.     

Automated Entire Thrombus Density Measurements for Robust and Comprehensive Thrombus Characterization in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose

In acute ischemic stroke (AIS) management, CT-based thrombus density has been associated with treatment success. However, currently used thrombus measurements are prone to inter-observer variability and oversimplify the heterogeneous thrombus composition. Our aim was first to introduce an automated method to assess the entire thrombus density and then to compare the measured entire thrombus density with respect to current standard manual measurements.

Materials and Method

In 135 AIS patients, the density distribution of the entire thrombus was determined. Density distributions were described using medians, interquartile ranges (IQR), kurtosis, and skewedness. Differences between the median of entire thrombus measurements and commonly applied manual measurements using 3 regions of interest were determined using linear regression.

Results

Density distributions varied considerably with medians ranging from 20.0 to 62.8 HU and IQRs ranging from 9.3 to 55.8 HU. The average median of the thrombus density distributions (43.5 ± 10.2 HU) was lower than the manual assessment (49.6 ± 8.0 HU) (p<0.05). The difference between manual measurements and median density of entire thrombus decreased with increasing density (r = 0.64; p<0.05), revealing relatively higher manual measurements for low density thrombi such that manual density measurement tend overestimates the real thrombus density.

Conclusions

Automatic measurements of the full thrombus expose a wide variety of thrombi density distribution, which is not grasped with currently used manual measurement. Furthermore, discrimination of low and high density thrombi is improved with the automated method.     

Effects of light and temperature on seed germination of cacti of Brazilian ecosystems

Environmental factors are used by plants as spatio‐temporal indicators of favorable conditions for seed germination. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of light and temperature on seed germination of 30 taxa of Cactaceae occurring in northeastern Brazil and to evaluate whether fluctuations in temperature are capable of altering light sensitivity. The seeds were tested for germination under two light conditions (12 h photoperiod and continuous darkness) and 10 temperature treatments: eight constant temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45°C) and two alternating temperatures (30/20°C and 35/25°C). The species studied showed two photoblastic responses. All cacti from the Cactoideae subfamily (22 taxa) were classified as positive photoblastic (i.e., no germination in darkness), regardless of the temperature treatment used. Likewise, temperature fluctuation did not alter the seed sensitivity to light. On the other hand, the species of the Opuntioideae (five taxa) and Pereskioideae (three taxa) subfamilies are indifferent to light (i.e., germinated both in the presence and absence of light). The cacti from the areas of Caatinga and Cerrado showed an optimal germination temperature of 30°C, while the species from Atlantic Forest and Restinga areas showed an optimal germination temperature of 25°C.     

The association of feeding behaviour with the resistance and tolerance to parasites in recently diverged sticklebacks

Divergent natural selection regimes can contribute to adaptive population divergence, but can be sensitive to human‐mediated environmental change. Nutrient loading of aquatic ecosystems, for example, might modify selection pressures by altering the abundance and distribution of resources and the prevalence and infectivity of parasites. Here, we used a mesocosm experiment to test for interactive effects of nutrient loading and parasitism on host condition and feeding ecology. Specifically, we investigated whether the common fish parasite Gyrodactylus sp. differentially affected recently diverged lake and stream ecotypes of three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We found that the stream ecotype had a higher resistance to Gyrodactylus sp. infections than the lake ecotype, and that both ecotypes experienced a cost of parasitism, indicated by negative relationships between parasite load and both stomach fullness and body condition. Overall, our results suggest that in the early stages of adaptive population divergence of hosts, parasites can affect host resistance, body condition and diet.