The mating season of the oriental beetle, Exomala orientalis (Waterhouse), in 1994 and 1995 at Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, NY (40 degree 45 theta N, 73 degree 28 theta W) began in the middle of ...June, peaked in the 1st wk of July, and ended in the middle of August. There were differences in the emergence schedule among fairways as well as local differences between roughs and fairway. Both sexes were most active around sunset on shorter-cut turf (i.e., fairways, greens, and tees, versus roughs), and the few individuals seen during the daylight hours were mostly males. These males were generally found perched on vegetation at the border of the fairway. Feeding was not observed, except on flowers by females devoid of mature eggs. This study confirms our observations on the pattern of activity in an earlier study conducted with the use of synthetic pheromone traps. It also explains the difficulty encountered by earlier workers in finding adults of this insect in the field. Implications of the above findings on the management of the oriental beetle are discussed.
Two voltage-activated calcium currents, a transient T-type and a PL-sustained type, have been measured in isolated, cultured white bass horizontal cells. These two voltage-activated calcium currents ...were found to be modulated by two independent second-messenger systems. Furthermore, activation of either second-messenger system led to similar changes in calcium current activity. Activation of the cyclic AMP second-messenger pathway or the sn-1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) second-messenger system resulted in a significant decrease in the amplitude of the transient current and a simultaneous large increase in the amplitude of the sustained current. Both second-messenger systems achieved their effects through protein phosphorylation. The cyclic AMP pathway resulted in the activation of protein kinase A (PKA) and the DAG pathway worked to activate protein kinase C (PKC). Two protein kinase inhibitors were analyzed in this study for their ability to inhibit second-messenger activated protein kinase activity and separate the two pathways. The peptide cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor and staurosporine were found to be nonspecific at high concentrations and inhibited both second-messenger pathways. At low concentrations however, staurosporine specifically inhibited only PKC, whereas adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase inhibitor was selective for PKA. Both second-messenger systems were activated by the neuromodulator, dopamine. Thus one agonist can initiate multiple second-messenger systems leading to similar changes in voltage-activated calcium current activity. The modulatory action on calcium currents produced by one second-messenger system added to the modulatory action resulting from activation of the other second-messenger system. The effect is to alter the magnitude of the horizontal cell calcium currents.
We conducted two studies of beliefs about laboratory and everyday thermal phenomena. The first study identified concepts of heat energy and temperature held by adolescents, adults, and scientists. We ...found a classic separation of "school" and "everyday" knowledge in each population. We conducted clinical interviews with 37 middle school students, 9 adults, and 8 chemists and physicists to obtain their predictions and explanations of real-world phenomena. Many students believed that metals "conduct," "absorb," "trap," or "hold" cold better than other materials and that aluminum foil would be better than wool or cotton as a wrapping material to keep cold objects cold. Respondents in each group held many intuitive ideas that were well established. Although scientists made more accurate predictions than students and gave theoretical definitions of terms, they too had difficulty explaining everyday phenomena. The second study investigated the impact of a middle school science curriculum designed to help students understand everyday thermal events. We found marked improvements in posttest scores and clinical interview responses as a result of instruction that built on students' intuitions. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures and 1 footnote.)
Radiation hardness of the LHCb Outer Tracker van Eijk, D.; Bachmann, S.; Bauer, Th ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
09/2012, Letnik:
685
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This paper presents results on the radiation hardness of the LHCb Outer Tracker (OT) during LHC operation in 2010 and 2011. Modules of the OT have shown to suffer from ageing effects that lead to ...gain loss, after irradiation in the laboratory. Under irradiation at moderate intensities an insulating layer is formed on the anode wire of the OT straw cells. This ageing effect is caused by contamination of the counting gas due to outgassing of the glue used in the construction of the OT modules. Two methods to monitor gain stability in the OT are presented: module scans with radioactive sources and the study of hit efficiency as a function of amplifier threshold. No gain loss is observed after receiving 1.3fb−1 of integrated luminosity corresponding to an integrated charge of 0.055C/cm in the hottest spot of the detector.
Due to the abundant usage of chemotherapy in young triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, the unbiased prognostic value of BRCA1-related biomarkers in this population remains unclear. In ...addition, whether BRCA1-related biomarkers modify the well-established prognostic value of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) is unknown. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of young, node-negative, chemotherapy-naïve TNBC patients according to BRCA1 status, taking sTILs into account.
We included 485 Dutch women diagnosed with node-negative TNBC under age 40 between 1989 and 2000. During this period, these women were considered low-risk and did not receive chemotherapy. BRCA1 status, including pathogenic germline BRCA1 mutation (gBRCA1m), somatic BRCA1 mutation (sBRCA1m), and tumor BRCA1 promoter methylation (BRCA1-PM), was assessed using DNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. sTILs were assessed according to the international guideline. Patients' outcomes were compared using Cox regression and competing risk models.
Among the 399 patients with BRCA1 status, 26.3% had a gBRCA1m, 5.3% had a sBRCA1m, 36.6% had tumor BRCA1-PM, and 31.8% had BRCA1-non-altered tumors. Compared to BRCA1-non-alteration, gBRCA1m was associated with worse overall survival (OS) from the fourth year after diagnosis (adjusted HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.18-3.75), and this association attenuated after adjustment for second primary tumors. Every 10% sTIL increment was associated with 16% higher OS (adjusted HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78-0.90) in gBRCA1m, sBRCA1m, or BRCA1-non-altered patients and 31% higher OS in tumor BRCA1-PM patients. Among the 66 patients with tumor BRCA1-PM and ≥ 50% sTILs, we observed excellent 15-year OS (97.0%; 95% CI, 92.9-100%). Conversely, among the 61 patients with gBRCA1m and < 50% sTILs, we observed poor 15-year OS (50.8%; 95% CI, 39.7-65.0%). Furthermore, gBRCA1m was associated with higher (adjusted subdistribution HR, 4.04; 95% CI, 2.29-7.13) and tumor BRCA1-PM with lower (adjusted subdistribution HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.19-0.95) incidence of second primary tumors, compared to BRCA1-non-alteration.
Although both gBRCA1m and tumor BRCA1-PM alter BRCA1 gene transcription, they are associated with different outcomes in young, node-negative, chemotherapy-naïve TNBC patients. By combining sTILs and BRCA1 status for risk classification, we were able to identify potential subgroups in this population to intensify and optimize adjuvant treatment.
Organophosphorus nerve agents are highly toxic compounds which pose a threat worldwide. These compounds induce toxicity by covalently binding to the active site serine of acetylcholinesterase, which ...results in inhibition of the enzyme. Without functional acetylcholinesterase, the levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in neuromuscular junctions rise quickly causing overstimulation of the nervous system, which will culminate in death if not treated. Current treatments rely on small molecules to interact with inhibited enzyme to disrupt the covalently bound phosphorus moiety at the active site. The most effective molecules incorporate a pyridinium oxime which acts via direct nucleophilic attack on the phosphorus to achieve reactivation of the enzyme. These compounds have limited effectiveness as the charged portion of the molecule does not allow them to cross into the central nervous system where acetylcholinesterase inhibition is most harmful. This study characterizes a small molecule reactivator that does not incorporate an oxime but is capable of reactivating nerve agent-inhibited enzyme as well as or better than current treatments in vitro. Through the use of a structure-activity relationship study and several biochemical techniques, the phenol moiety of 4-amino-2-((diethylamino)methyl)phenol (ADOC) was determined to be essential for the reactivation characteristics of this molecule, likely through an indirect water-activation mechanism. This information was then used in the design of a second-generation molecule that showed increased reactivation potential.
Two teachers-whose students were concerned about environmental injustices in their communities and eager to take action-initiated a collaboration to design freely available, customizable curriculum ...materials and a model professional development workshop. To cultivate teacher efficacy, the materials were created to respond to middle school science teachers' concerns about supporting students' emotions around social justice issues and empowering students to take action. Designing a workshop model Workshops that promote science teacher efficacy for teaching social justice augment the limited coursework and textbook resources addressing cultural diversity and racial biases in teacher education programs (Sleeter 2017). ...middle school science teachers, who mostly (80%) identify as White, value supports for guiding their students-over half of which identify as Black, Latinx, Asian, or American Indian (National Center for Education Statistics 2018).
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