National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures

Most people hold beliefs about personality characteristics typical of members of their own and others' cultures. These perceptions of national character may be generalizations from personal experience, stereotypes with a "kernel of truth," or inaccurate stereotypes. We obtained national character ratings of 3989 people from 49 cultures and compared them with the average personality scores of culture members assessed by observer ratings and self-reports. National character ratings were reliable but did not converge with assessed traits. Perceptions of national character thus appear to be unfounded stereotypes that may serve the function of maintaining a national identity.     

Ivermectin effects on motor coordination and contractions of isolated rat diaphragm

Ivermectin, the antiparasitic drug from the macrocyclic lactones class raises attention due to its high efficiency against nematodes and arthropods and very specific toxic and side effects that it may produce in host. Dominant clinical symptoms of adverse effects and toxicity of ivermectin in animals are tremor, ataxia, CNS depression and coma which often results in mortality. In our study increasing intravenous doses of ivermectin, (6 or more times higher than therapeutic dose: 1.25, 2.5, 3.75, 5.0, 6.25 and 7.5 mg/kg), caused dose-dependent disturbance of motor coordination in treated rats. The median effective dose (ED50) that was able to impair the rota-rod performance in rats treated 3 min before testing was 2.52 mg/kg. This effect weakens over time, while in the rats treated 60 min before the rota-rod test, ED50 of ivermectin was 4.21 mg/kg. Whereas, all tested doses of ivermectin did not cause any other clinical symptoms of toxicity. Ivermectin has no effect on the contractions of isolated diaphragm caused by the EFS, which effectively blocked mecamylamine (100 μM) and pancuronium (1 and 2 μM). Effect on motor coordination is the first detectable clinical symptom of ivermectin toxicity and apparently is a result of its central effects.     

The combined effects of multiple diseases and climatic conditions on thousand kernel weight losses in winter wheat

Thousand kernel weight (TKW) is a yield component associated with grain quality. It is reported in the literature that TKW is significantly influenced by varieties, agro-ecological conditions and disease indices, but the influence of their interactions on TKW loss has rarely been taken into consideration. The main objective of this study was to examine the combined effects of multiple diseases and climatic conditions on TKW losses in winter wheat. Leaf rust, powdery mildew, and Septoria tritici blotch were considered biotic predictor variables in regression models explaining TKW losses. Monthly averages of temperature, relative humidity and total rainfall in May and June in the 2006–2013 growing seasons were used as abiotic predictor variables. The results of this study indicated a significant low positive correlation between yield loss and TKW loss in the two varieties. TKW losses were less influenced by leaf rust, powdery mildew, and Septoria tritici blotch than yield losses. The significant influence of the interaction between variety and the environmental conditions on TKW loss was confirmed from the general linear model function. The results of this study indicated that factors influencing yield and yield component losses are part of the complex environment, and the relationship between them should be investigated with respect to their interactions.     

The dynamics of introduction of alien scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) into Croatia

In recent years, several species of alien scale insects have arrived and spread rapidly through European and Mediterranean countries. One hundred and twenty‐nine species of alien scale insects have so far been recorded in Europe. This paper presents a list of alien scale insect species for Croatia, comprising 56 species from 8 different families. Four of them are new records for Croatia: Aonidiella taxus Leonardi, 1906, Ichnaspis longirostris (Signoret, 1882), Phoenicococcus marlatii (Cockerell, 1899) and Spilococcus mammillariae (Bouche, 1844). The majority of species recorded belong to the following families: Diaspididae (28 species), Coccidae (12 species), Pseudococcidae (10 species), Eriococcidae (two species). The scale insect families Dactylopidae, Margarodidae, Ortheziidae and Pheniococcidae comprised only one recorded alien species each. During the time frame covered in the review (from the beginning of the 20th century until 2015), the majority of alien scale insect species (23) were registered in the period from 2000 to 2015. Data on the origin of introduced alien scale insects shows that the majority of the species originate from Asia (22 species), followed by North America (6 species), Africa, Australia and Central America (5 species each) and South America (4 species), with 9 species being of unknown origin.     

Sublethal effects of a synthetic pyrethroid,deltamethrin, on the glycemia,the lipemia,and the gut alkaline phosphatases of honeybees

A sublethal dose (0.1 pmol per honeybee, i.e., approx. 0.9 pmol/g body wt) of the synthetic pyrethroid, deltamethrin, was injected intrathoracically into the hemocoel of emerging bees and the biochemical effects were determined over a period of 3 hr. The variations in hemolymph concentrations of trehalose, glucose, phospholipid, steroid, and diacylglycerol were limited, but large variations were observed for other lipids. Mono- and triacylglycerols increased dramatically 1.5 hr after injections; then a peak of free fatty acid appeared at the same time (3 hr) as the monoacylglycerols reached their maximum and the triacylglycerols started to decrease. Atypical forms of triacylglycerols accumulated from 1.5 hr to a maximum level 2 hr after injection. Then, after 3 hr, the concentrations of regular fatty acids, monoacylglycerols, and atypical triacylglycerols returned to normal while longer-chain fatty acids and different forms of ceride simultaneously appeared. The gut alkaline phosphatase parameters (V_M, K, and Hill coefficient) also showed large variations 1.5 and 2 hr after injection, indicating an initial inhibition phase followed by superimposed induction and inhibition mechanisms. These data are discussed according to the hemolymph-lipid transport scheme from the biosynthetic to the utilization sites. Hormone release associated to mitochondrial alteration could be responsible for the observed effects.     

Precipitation chemistry and atmospheric processes in the forested part of Croatia

The influence of mesoscale weather patterns on the chemical composition of daily precipitation samples is analysed. The data of pH, sulphur from sulphates and total nitrogen are analysed for two rural sites: Plitvice station in forested part of Central Croatia (1981 to 1990) and Puntijarka suburban station on the mountain near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia (1982–1991). The two prevailing weather types in precipitation days are selected and the comparison of chemical composition of precipitation is made for each of them. The frequency distributions of pH, sulphur and nitrogen show that concentration of major ions in precipitation apparently depends on the regional scale weather type. It is shown that the seasonal variation of deposition is related to the seasonal variation in precipitation amount. In both weather types Plitvice receives more pollution than Puntijarka that is closer to urban and industrial pollution sources. Both locations are under the prevailing influence of regional pollution sources.