Limited host range in the idiobiont parasitoid Phymastichus coffea,a prospective biological control agent of the coffee pest Hypothenemus hampei in Hawaii

Phymastichus coffea LaSalle (Hymenoptera:Eulophidae) is an adult endoparasitoid of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera:Curculionidae:Scolytinae), which has been introduced in many coffee producing countries as a biological control agent. To determine the effectiveness of P. coffea against H. hampei and environmental safety for release in Hawaii, we investigated the host selection and parasitism response of adult females to 43 different species of Coleoptera, including 23 Scolytinae (six Hypothenemus species and 17 others), and four additional Curculionidae. Non-target testing included Hawaiian endemic, exotic and beneficial coleopteran species. Using a no-choice laboratory bioassay, we demonstrated that P. coffea was only able to parasitize the target host H. hampei and four other adventive species of Hypothenemus: H. obscurus, H. seriatus, H. birmanus and H. crudiae. Hypothenemus hampei had the highest parasitism rate and shortest parasitoid development time of the five parasitized Hypothenemus spp. Parasitism and parasitoid emergence decreased with decreasing phylogenetic relatedness of the Hypothenemus spp. to H. hampei, and the most distantly related species, H. eruditus, was not parasitized. These results suggest that the risk of harmful non-target impacts is low because there are no native species of Hypothenemus in Hawaii, and P. coffea could be safely introduced for classical biological control of H. hampei in Hawaii.

     

Sex differences in the brain: implications for explaining autism

Empathizing is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behavior of agents (usually people) by inferring their mental states and responding to these with an appropriate emotion. Systemizing is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behavior of nonagentive deterministic systems by analyzing input-operation-output relations and inferring the rules that govern such systems. At a population level, females are stronger empathizers and males are stronger systemizers. The "extreme male brain" theory posits that autism represents an extreme of the male pattern (impaired empathizing and enhanced systemizing). Here we suggest that specific aspects of autistic neuroanatomy may also be extremes of typical male neuroanatomy.     

High molecular weight glutenin subunits in some durum wheat cultivars investigated by means of mass spectrometric techniques

The primary structures of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) of 5 Triticum durum Desf. cultivars (Simeto, Svevo, Duilio, Bronte, and Sant'Agata), largely cultivated in the south of Italy, and of 13 populations of the old spring Sicilian durum wheat landrace Timilia (Triticum durum Desf.) (accession nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, SG1, SG2, and SG3) were investigated using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography/nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC/nESI-MS/MS). M(r) of the intact proteins determined by MALDI mass spectrometry showed that all the 13 populations of Timilia contained the same two HMW-GS with 75.2 kDa and 86.4 kDa, whereas the other durum wheat cultivars showed the presence of the expected HMW-GS 1By8 and 1Bx7 at 75.1 kDa and 83.1 kDa, respectively. By MALDI mass spectrometry of the tryptic digestion peptides of the isolated HMW-GS of Timilia, the 1Bx and 1By subunits were identified as the NCBInr Acc. No AAQ93629, and AAQ93633, respectively. Sequence verification for HMW-GS 1Bx and 1By both in Simeto and Timilia was obtained by MALDI mass mapping and HPLC/nESI-MSMS of the tryptic peptides. The Bx subunit of Timila presents a sequence similarity of 96% with respect to Simeto, with differences in the insertion of 3 peptides of 5, 9, and 15 amino acids, for a total insertion of 29 amino acids and 25 amino acid substitutions. These differences in the amino acidic sequence account for the determined Δm of 3294 Da between the M(r) of the 1Bx subunits in Timilia and Simeto. Sequence alignment between the two By subunits shows 10 amino acid substitutions and is consistent with the Δm of 148 Da found in the MALDI mass spectra of the intact subunits.     

The causes of piping in a set of abandoned agricultural terraces in southeast Spain

This study aims to identify some of the factors contributing to the piping process in abandoned terraces in seven sites located in the Murcia Region (southeast Spain). The local landscape has the appearance of badland geomorphology, possessing deep valleys which until the 1970s were terraced and cultivated. The terraces have now been abandoned to the piping process. The research focuses on the relationship between the size and position of pipes and the physical and geochemistry properties of the local highly dispersive marl lithology; and the extent to which the reworking of the materials for terrace cultivation has exacerbated piping erosion.Morphologically, the terracing in the stream beds has resulted in a series of gentle benches separated by steeper risers with variable ‘drop’, (riser height). A series of flat infiltration surfaces result, and because the resculpting produces a reduced bulk density infill with enhanced throughflow, infiltrating water is forced along steep hydraulic gradients to a low outfall at the base of the riser.Paralleling studies of land levelling and terrace abandonment in similar materials elsewhere, piping in the study area is shown to be closely related to the physical and chemical characteristics of the materials its sodicity and dispersive character. Considerable differences in structure, texture, mineralogical composition and material's surface crust and subsoil geochemical properties emerged from ‘site signature’ plots, and these results suggest that agricultural processes affect the dispersive character of the crust materials, presumably because agricultural activity increases the buffering effect of organic acids on the dispersed clay. This is supported by the observation that on the one site that was levelled but not used for agriculture, a stable organically-distinct crust like the abandoned agricultural sites has not formed. The changes to the material's aggregate stability and bulk density properties when terracing occurs is examined, but insufficient evidence is available from the data collected to unpick the causes of aggregate stability changes in the study plots. The way in which differences between crust and subsoil enhance infiltration is discussed, and the role of the terrace ‘drop’ in influencing hydraulic gradients and pipe development is illustrated. A possible index to describe the relationship between evacuated material volumes and the controlling parameters discussed above is tested.It is concluded that terracing which is intended as a conservation practice has, in dispersive materials, actually enhanced piping, leading to the abandonment of farming.     

饲料中添加微生态制剂能够影响仔猪的免疫力吗?

研究表明,饲料中添加微生态制剂能够使仔猪肠道内有益微生物数量增加并直接抑制病原菌的数量.     

Hydration Rates for Various Types of Mexican Maize Based on Single‐Kernel Measurements

Hydration kinetics for sound maize kernels in liquid water, determined by single‐kernel measurements for three different Mexican maize types, yielded water diffusion coefficients ordered as Celaya corn > Toluca corn > Palomero corn, at all temperatures examined. These diffusion coefficients are lower than those reported earlier for maize grains, possibly due to the fact that in the present study damaged kernels were rigorously excluded. The energies of activation determined from the Arrhenius plots were ordered as Palomero corn > Celaya corn = Toluca corn and were similar in value to those reported earlier for other maize types. Damage to the surface of the maize kernels during the hydration experiments occurs at a significant frequency. Even minor surface lacerations can strongly affect the rate of hydration of the kernels. Experiments with maize grains selectively varnished in various parts of their surface show that the entry of water into the kernels occurs predominantly through the pericarp, not through the tip cap, though the tip cap has a higher water inflow per unit area.     

GIS tools applied to the sustainable management of water resources: Application to the aquifer system 08-29

The sustainable exploitation of water resources requires planning and control methods that allow the incorporation of a great number of spatial and temporal variables. Because of its features, a Geographic Information System (GIS) seems the most suitable tool to aid in the management of available hydric resources. In this study, we have developed a specific GIS within the GESMO Project in order to better manage the 08-29 aquifer system (Mancha Oriental). This tool is intended for use by the JCRMO: Junta Central de Regantes de la Mancha Oriental (General Board of Irrigation Users of Eastern La Mancha), the organism responsible for aquifer management.This system is designed to integrate information from different sources, such as remote sensing, fieldwork data or administrative files with the cadastral subplot as a common reference. One of its functions is to expedite the control and monitoring, in real time, of the exploitation plans, which constitute the legal instrument to regulate water extractions. It will allow us to estimate the spatial and temporal distribution of water extractions needed for crops and their irrigation systems. These estimates will be highly valuable for aquifer modelling. The system also permits display of information on maps for easy handling. This visualisation allow users to more readily participate in decision-making processes.     

The importance of dietary HUFA for meagre larvae (Argyrosomus regius; Asso, 1801) and its relation with antioxidant vitamins E and C

Despite the interest of meagre (Argyrosomus regius) as a fast‐growing candidate for Mediterranean aquaculture diversification, there is a lack of information on nutrition along larval development. Importance of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) and the antioxidant vitamins E and vitamin C has not been investigated yet in this species. Six diets with two levels of HUFA (0.4% and 3% dw), two of vitamin E (1500 and 3000 mg kg^?1) and two of vitamin C (1800 and 3600 mg kg^?1) were fed to 15 dah meagre larvae. Larval growth in total length and dry body weight was significantly lowest in larvae fed diet 0.4/150/180 and showed few lipid droplets in enterocytes and hepatocytes and lower HUFA contents than the initial larvae. Increase in dietary HUFA up to 3%, significantly improved larval growth and lipid absorption and deposition. Besides, among fish fed 3% HUFA, increase in vitamin E and vitamin C significantly improved body weight, as well as total lipid, 22:6n‐3 and n‐3 fatty acids contents in the larvae. Thus, the results showed that 0.4% dietary HUFA is not enough to cover the essential fatty acid requirements of larval meagre and a high HUFA requirement in weaning diets is foreseen for this species. Besides, the results also pointed out the importance of dietary vitamin E and C to protect these essential fatty acids from oxidation, increase their contents in the larvae and promote growth, suggesting high vitamin E and C requirements in meagre larvae (higher than 1500 and 1800 mg kg^?1 for vitamin E and vitamin C respectively).     

Effect of increasing docosahexaenoic acid content in weaning diets on survival,growth and skeletal anomalies of longfin yellowtail (Seriola rivoliana,Valenciennes 1833)

Five isoproteic (54.8%) and isolipidic (24.1%) microdiets, which varied in their docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content (0.25%, 0.75%, 1.64%, 1.99% and 3.17%; dw), were manufactured to determine its effects on longfin yellowtail Seriola rivoliana larvae in terms of fish biological performance, whole body fatty acid profile and incidence of skeletal anomalies from 30 dah (11.31 ± 1.79 Total Length, TL) to 50 dah (19.80 ± 0.58 mm TL). The inclusion of dietary DHA up to 3.17% (dw) improved larval resistance to air exposure, although DHA did not significantly affect fish final growth or final survival. Indeed, high levels of dietary DHA (1.99% and 3.17%, dw) tended to increase the incidence of skeletal anomalies in S. rivoliana larvae, albeit no significant differences were observed. Furthermore, the occurrence of severe anomalies such as kyphosis and lordosis, was mainly associated to the larvae fed the highest levels of dietary DHA. In terms of survival, increasing dietary DHA levels did not significantly affect longfin yellowtail survival rate, despite a tendency for enhanced survival. The results of the present study proved that the inclusion of dietary DHA in inert diets up to a 3.17% (dw) and a DHA/EPA ratio above 3.1 increased the final survival and stress resistance in S. rivoliana larvae.