A Laboratory method for estimating survival of tobacco whitefly nymphs after insecticide treatment,based on honeydew excretion

A quick and easy method for estimating the number of surviving nymphs of the tobacco whitefly (TWF),Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), after spray applications was developed in the laboratory. The method is based on the number of honeydew droplets ejected by TWF immatures during 30 minutes. Since the nymphs ofB. tabaci feed on the lower leaf surfaces, the honeydew excreted falls downward. In this study infested cotton leaves were placed with their lower side up, forcing the nymphs to eject the honeydew droplet upwards. Inverted plastic petri dish covers were placed over infested cotton leaves and after 30 minutes the droplets deposited on the inner side of each cover were counted and the average number of droplets per nymph was calculated. To estimate the number of live nymphs on an infested cotton leaf, the number of droplets ejected during 30 minutes was divided by the average number of droplets per nymph (factor of 1.23).     

Development of Specific PCR Primers for Identification and Detection of Rhizopycnis vagum

Rhizopycnis vagum is a recently described coelomycete known to belong to the complex of root rot pathogens contributing to vine decline of cucurbits in several parts of the world. However, the fungus has also been reported to infect tomato, and as an endophytic associate of mycorrhizal roots of wild, asymptomatic Pinus halepensis and Rosmarinus officinalis plants in Italy. To accelerate epidemiological and ecological investigations on this fungus, a PCR primer pair was developed. Primers Rv1-F and Rv1-R were designed, based on alignment of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2), which amplified a 396-bp fragment from all R. vagum isolates tested, including isolates pathogenic to melons and endophytic isolates from mycorrhizae. Specificity of the primer pair was verified both in silico (BLAST searches using each primer string as a query) and in PCR assays, where the primers failed to amplify DNA from any isolate of fungi taxonomically related to R. vagum (e.g. Massarina walkeri and Stagonospora spp.) and other vine decline and common soilborne pathogens (e.g. Monasporascus cannonballus, Acremonium cucurbitacearum, Fusarium spp. and Rhizoctonia solani). Under optimum conditions, detectable amplification of the specific sequence required 0.05 pg of target DNA. Amplification of the expected 369-bp fragment was also obtained from DNA root extracts of nearly asymptomatic Cucumis melo plants inoculated with R. vagum under greenhouse conditions.     

Influence of prior determination of baseline minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane on the effect of ketamine on MAC in dogs

The objective of this study was to determine if prior measurement of the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane influences the effect of ketamine on the MAC of isoflurane in dogs. Eight mixed-breed dogs were studied on 2 occasions. Anesthesia was induced and maintained using isoflurane. In group 1 the effect of ketamine on isoflurane MAC was determined after initially finding the baseline isoflurane MAC. In group 2, the effect of ketamine on isoflurane MAC was determined without previous measure of the baseline isoflurane MAC. In both groups, MAC was determined again 30 min after stopping the CRI of ketamine. Plasma ketamine concentrations were measured during MAC determinations.In group 1, baseline MAC (mean ± SD: 1.18 ± 0.14%) was decreased by ketamine (0.88 ± 0.14%; P < 0.05). The MAC after stopping ketamine was similar (1.09 ± 0.16%) to baseline MAC and higher than with ketamine (P < 0.05). In group 2, the MAC with ketamine (0.79 ± 0.11%) was also increased after stopping ketamine (1.10 ± 0.17%; P < 0.05). The MAC values with ketamine were different between groups (P < 0.05). Ketamine plasma concentrations were similar between groups during the events of MAC determination.The MAC of isoflurane during the CRI of ketamine yielded different results when methods of same day (group-1) versus separate days (group-2) are used, despite similar plasma ketamine concentrations with both methods. However, because the magnitude of this difference was less than 10%, either method of determining MAC is deemed acceptable for research purposes.     

Hearing sounds,understanding actions: action representation in mirror neurons

Many object-related actions can be recognized by their sound. We found neurons in monkey premotor cortex that discharge when the animal performs a specific action and when it hears the related sound. Most of the neurons also discharge when the monkey observes the same action. These audiovisual mirror neurons code actions independently of whether these actions are performed, heard, or seen. This discovery in the monkey homolog of Broca's area might shed light on the origin of language: audiovisual mirror neurons code abstract contents-the meaning of actions-and have the auditory access typical of human language to these contents.     

Collapse of a degenerate Fermi gas

A degenerate gas of identical fermions is brought to collapse by the interaction with a Bose-Einstein condensate. We used an atomic mixture of fermionic potassium-40 and bosonic rubidium-87, in which the strong interspecies attraction leads to an instability above a critical number of particles. The observed phenomenon suggests a direction for manipulating fermion-fermion interactions on the route to superfluidity.     

A combined protocol with piroxicam,chemotherapy, and whole pelvic irradiation with simultaneous boost volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy for muscle-invasive canine urinary transitional cell carcinoma: First clinical experience

The aims of this pilot study were to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of high-dose hypofractionated volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) applied to whole pelvic region radiotherapy (WPRT) with multilevel simultaneous integrated boost (MLSIB) combined with piroxicam and chemotherapy for the treatment of canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the lower urinary tract with muscle invasion TCC. Twelve dogs were enrolled, according to stage, in two groups: group 1, TCC confined to the urinary tract; group 2, TCC with metastasis. The planning target volume dose was tailored from 36 to 42 Gy in 6 fractions. All dogs were prescribed piroxicam and radiosensitizing carboplatin, and six received chemotherapy after radiotherapy. Serial follow-ups with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were performed. Disease control and toxicity effects were evaluated according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors and Veterinary Radiation Therapy Oncology Group criteria. The treatment was well tolerated, and no high-grade side effects were reported. The median overall survival times for groups 1 and 2 were 1,230 and 150 days, respectively. A considerable percentage of patients in group1 (50%) were still alive at the time of writing this paper, and a longer follow-up could enable a more accurate survival analysis. This preliminary analysis shows that VMAT applied to the WPRT with MLSIB is an effective and safe option for dogs with lower urinary TCC, although the presence of metastases worsens the prognosis.     

Isolation of novel microsatellite loci in Orchesella villosa (Arthropoda, Collembola)

An experimental procedure using biotin-labelled probes and streptavidin-bound magnetic beads (FIASCO) was used to produce a microsatellite-enriched library for the collembolan Orchesella villosa. PCR primers were successfully constructed for seven loci containing, respectively, five pure, one interrupted, and one compound dinucleotide microsatellite repeats. As a preliminary test of their variability, we investigated 15 individuals from 5 locations inside a dismissed mining area in southern Tuscany. All microsatellite loci showed high levels of polymorphism. The mean number of different alleles at each locus across populations was 10.1 and observed heterozygosity per locus was 0.13–0.86. Only 2 out of the 7 loci appeared to be in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The potential application of these loci to test the effects of environmental contamination on the genetic structure of exposed populations is discussed.     

Rock fragments in soil support a different microbial community from the fine earth

Two sandstone-derived soils under pure stands of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) were studied to determine if the fine earth (<2 mm material) and two size-classes of porous rock fragments (>2 mm material) supported different microbial communities. Samples from three soil horizons (A, Bw, and BC) were analysed under both optical and scanning electron microscopes. Small stones (2-10 mm in average diameter) appeared more altered than larger ones (40-60 mm) and the effects of weathering became more obvious with shallower depth. In both soils, numerous hyphae and other living forms were observed on the surface of the stones from the A and Bw horizons; this contrasted with the stones from the BC horizon, which showed little or no colonisation. The microbial community of each fraction was characterised using Biolog-Community Level Physiological Profiles (CLPP) and phospholipid fatty acid analyses (PLFA) for samples in the A and B horizons. Significant potential microbial activity (C source utilisation) was associated with rock fragments, from the A horizon and, to a lesser extent, the B, although this was lower than for the equivalent fine earth fraction. The microbial colonisation of the stones appeared inversely related with their size and sampling depth. The PLFA analysis showed not only quantitative differences in the microbial biomass between horizons and size-fractions but also highlighted that the communities differed between soils, horizons (for the sole beech soil) and fractions. These findings demonstrate that by considering rock fragments as a microbiologically inert fraction and discarding them before analysis, as usually is done, can lead to an incomplete picture of both the total amount and, perhaps more importantly, the structure of soil microbial community.