Both larval and adult Colorado potato beetles, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), were distasteful to young domestic chickens when offered alternately with palatable mealworms. All chicks in trials ...using Colorado potato beetle larvae pecked at the first larva offered, whereas only 70% pecked at the second and 47% at the third, suggesting aversive learning based on distastefulness. Mealworms coated with homogenized Colorado potato beetle larvae were not rejected. Chicks force-fed freshly homogenized Colorado potato beetle larvae gained less weight than controls, although the difference was significant only at a medium dose (three larvae per chick per day). Chicks offered adult beetles continued to peck at most of them during the course of a single trial, but the same chicks pecked at fewer in two subsequent trials, which again suggests aversive learning based on distastefulness. Adult beetles without elytra were three times as likely as intact beetles to be eaten by naive chicks, and thus the elytra are probably the source of much of the unpalatability of adult beetles.
The LISA Pathfinder interferometry- hardware and system testing 2 Abstract. Preparations for the LISA Pathfinder mission have reached an exciting stage. Tests of the engineering model (EM) of the ...optical metrology system (OMS) have recently been completed at the Albert Einstein Institute, Hannover, and flight model (FM) tests are now underway. Significantly, they represent the first complete integration and testing of the space-qualified hardware and are the first tests on an optical system level. The results and test procedures of these campaigns will be utilised directly in the ground-based flight hardware tests, and subsequently during in-flight operations. In addition, they allow valuable testing of the data analysis methods using the MATLAB based LTP data analysis (LTPDA) toolbox. This paper presents an overview of the results from the EM test campaign that was successfully completed in December 2009. The LISA Pathfinder interferometry- hardware and system testing 3
New high-spatial-resolution polarization images of the BN–KL region of OMC-1 from 1.25–3.6 μm are presented. At the longer wavelengths these show a centro-symmetric polarization vector pattern, ...centered mainly on IRc2, and high degrees of polarization across the nebula, confirming that the diffuse nebulosity is dominated by the scattering of radiation, mainly from IRc2. Degrees of polarization, position angles and magnitudes are given for the observable IRc sources; these are discussed. The Hubble relation has been used to determine the extinction along the line-of-sight to 1Rc2, which is found to be > 9 mag at 2.2 μm and 6 mag at 3.6 μm. Color maps show that the nebula becomes bluer with increasing angular distance from IRc2, consistent with decreasing levels of extinction away from the star. Percentage polarization values increase with wavelength for most regions of the nebula and this is interpreted as due to the presence of grains substantially larger than those found in the diffuse ISM. Modeling of the observed 2.2-μm polarization values across the northwestern outflow is consistent with the outflow geometry being a parabolic cavity, with the scattering of radiation taking place preferentially from the surface of this cavity. In this model the outflow is inclined by no more than 30 ° from the plane-of-the-sky.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with decreased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the brain region that regulates working memory and preparation and selection ...of fear responses. We investigated gene expression profiles in DLPFC Brodmann area (BA) 46 of postmortem patients with (n=6) and without PTSD (n=6) using human mitochondria-focused cDNA microarrays. Our study revealed PTSD-specific expression fingerprints of 800 informative mitochondria-focused genes across all of these 12 BA46 samples, and 119 (+/->1.25, p<0.05) and 42 (+/->1.60, p<0.05) dysregulated genes between the PTSD and control samples. Quantitative RT-PCR validated the microarray results. These fingerprints can essentially distinguish the PTSD DLPFC BA46 brains from controls. Of the 119 dysregulated genes (+/-> or =125%, p<0.05), the highest percentages were associated with mitochondrial dysfunction (4.8%, p=6.61 x 10(-6)), oxidative phosphorylation (3.8%, p=9.04 x 10(-4)), cell survival-apoptosis (25.2%, p<0.05) and neurological diseases (23.5%, p<0.05). Fifty (50) dysregulated genes were present in the molecular networks that are known to be involved in neuronal function-survival and contain 7 targets for neuropsychiatric drugs. Thirty (30) of the dysregulated genes are associated with a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Our results indicate mitochondrial dysfunction in the PTSD DLPFC BA46 and provide the expression fingerprints that may ultimately serve as biomarkers for PTSD diagnosis and the drugs and molecular targets that may prove useful for development of remedies for prevention and treatment of PTSD.
More than half of transplanted beta-cells undergo apoptotic cell death triggered by nonimmunological factors within a few days after transplantation. To investigate the dynamic hypoxic responses in ...early transplanted islets, syngeneic islets were transplanted under the kidney capsule of balb/c mice. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) was strongly expressed at post-transplant day (POD) 1, increased on POD 3, and gradually diminished on POD 14. Insulin secretion decreased on POD 3 in association with a significant increase of HIF-1alpha-related beta-cell death, which can be suppressed by short-term hyperbaric oxygen therapy. On POD 7, apoptosis was not further activated by continually produced HIF-1alpha. In contrast, improvement of nerve growth factor and duodenal homeobox factor-1 (PDx-1) production resulted in islet graft recovery and remodeling. In addition, significant activation of vascular endothelial growth factor in islet grafts on POD 7 correlated with development of massive newly formed microvessels, whose maturation is advanced on POD 14 with gradual diminution of HIF-1alpha. We conclude that (1) transplanted islets strongly express HIF-1alpha in association with beta-cell death and decreased insulin production until adequate revascularization is established and (2) early suppression of HIF-1alpha results in less beta-cell death thereby minimizing early graft failure.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Recent measurements in a p(62)Be(36) neutron therapy beam have shown that the quality of the in-phantom beam changes with depth. This variation can be ascribed to the presence of a relatively large ...low-energy neutron component emanating from the neutron source. As part of the pre-clinical calibration programme at a newly commissioned neutron therapy facility, radiobiological and microdosimetric observations were made to determine the magnitude of this effect on a p(66)Be(40) beam and to evaluate the hardening effect of a hydrogenous filter. The reported data identify a correlation between the two assays and quantify a linear relationship between y* and filter thicknesses less than or equal to 6 cm. Using the data obtained in the study, a filter thickness was selected to comply with clinical requirements. By employing lineal energy spectra, it is demonstrated that subtle changes in beam quality may be quantified in a reproducible manner without resorting to time-consuming radiobiological studies.
Infrared images of the Galactic Centre with 2.25 arcsec resolution have been obtained at wavelengths of 1.64 μm (H), 2.2 μm (K), 3.8 μm (L') and 4.8 μm (M). From these we have measured positions, ...magnitudes and colours for 35 sources. The observed sources can be divided into two classes: those whose colours are typical of reddened stars and those with much redder colours which dominate at 3.8 and 4.8 μm whose infrared radiation is due to dust emission. Several of the latter sources are detected at K and have H–K colours much redder than those of the stars, indicating the presence of hot dust (T ∼ 1000 K). If these sources are heated by embedded stars, the stars are too faint to be observed directly in the near-infrared. Polarization measurements for a number of the brighter sources have been made at J, H, and K. Most of the sources with stellar colours show wavelength dependence typical of interstellar polarization with polarizations at K of about 6 per cent. IRS 16 is included in this group and shows no evidence for any intrinsic linear or circular polarization. IRS 1 shows significant intrinsic polarization at K which we attribute to emission from aligned grains. IRS 7 shows unusual wavelength dependence indicating significant intrinsic polarization which may arise from dust scattering in a circumstellar shell. IRS 7 has a small circular polarization which can be explained as due to the action of interstellar birefringence on its intrinsic polarization.
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the role of the humoral immune response in the production of arthritis in mice immunized with the chlamydial agent of mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) ...(Chlamydia trachomatis biovar). Mice were made B cell deficient (BCD) by treatment with rabbit antiserum to murine IgM. Control mice included animals treated similarly with normal rabbit serum or phosphate-buffered saline. Male mice were immunized with MoPn inactivated with ultraviolet irradiation while female mice were immunized by genital tract infection with viable chlamydiae. Arthritis was elicited in all mice by intra-articular inoculation of inactivated MoPn. When knee joints were examined for pathologic changes at varying times after challenge, a marked enhancement of the arthritis was observed in both male and female BCD mice when compared with controls at all time points. These data indicated that the humoral immune response is not essential for the production of arthritic disease in this model but may have some role in the modulation of the process in immunologically intact animals. Persistence of chlamydial antigen in joint tissue of BCD mice suggested that antibody may play a role in the elimination of antigen, thus decreasing the stimulus for the development of cell-mediated immunologic injury. Regulatory role for T suppressor cells cannot be ruled out however, because B cell deficient mice have been shown to lack certain T suppressor cell subsets.
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