The spread of adventive Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead, 1904) populations in North America is anticipated to increase biological control of Halyomorpha halys (Stål; Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), the brown ...marmorated stink bug. In an agricultural context, biological control will succeed if it can be integrated in an environment with insecticide applications. We investigated T. japonicus compatibility with nine conventional and organic insecticides commonly used in integrated pest management in perennial crops. Through evaluating mortality and longevity in field and laboratory trials, we determined that T. japonicus fares poorly when exposed to residues of neonicotinoids and pyrethroids. Spinosad resulted in the highest percentage of T. japonicus mortality, 100% in the laboratory and 97% in a field trial. The anthranilic diamide, chlorantraniliprole, had the lowest lethality, with no differences compared to an untreated control. Trissolcus japonicus survived insecticide applications in hazelnut orchards, and over 50% of wasps remained alive after contact with the anthranilic diamides, chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole, the biopesticide Chromobacterium, and an untreated control. Our results indicate that T. japonicus is unlikely to survive and parasitize H. halys in settings that coincide with broad-spectrum insecticide application. Future T. japonicus redistributions could continue in orchards treated with anthranilic diamides and Chromobacterium. As H. halys is a landscape-level pest, orchards may also benefit from biological control if T. japonicus are released in unsprayed areas adjacent to agriculture and in urban sites.
An efficient catalytic asymmetric aza-Henry reaction under phase transfer conditions is presented. The method is based on the reaction of the respective nitroalkane with α-amido sulfones effected by ...CsOH·H2O base in toluene as solvent and in the presence of cinchone-derived ammonium catalysts. This direct aza-Henry reaction presents as interesting features its validity for both nonenolizable and enolizable aldehyde-derived azomethines and the tolerance of nitroalkanes, other than nitromethane, for the production of β-nitroamines. The synthetic value of the methodology described is demonstrated by providing (a) a direct route for the asymmetric synthesis of differently substituted 1,2-diamines and (b) a new asymmetric synthesis of γ-amino α,β-unsaturated esters through a catalytic, highly enantioselective formal addition of functionalized alkenyl groups to azomethines. Finally, a preferred TS that nicely fits the observed enantioselectivity has been identified. Most remarkable, an unusual hydrogen bond pattern for the catalyst-nitrocompound-imine complex is predicted, where the catalyst OH group interacts with the NO2 group of the nitrocompound.
Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary stenosis (ToF/PS), the most common form of cyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD), develop adverse right ventricular (RV) remodeling, leading to late ...heart failure and arrhythmia. We recently demonstrated that overactive β-adrenergic receptor signaling inhibits cardiomyocyte division in ToF/PS infants, providing a conceptual basis for the hypothesis that treatment with the β-adrenergic receptor blocker, propranolol, early in life would increase cardiomyocyte division. No data are available in ToF/PS infants on the efficacy of propranolol as a possible novel therapeutic option to increase cardiomyocyte division and potentially reduce adverse RV remodeling.
Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we will evaluate the effect of propranolol administration on reactivating cardiomyocyte proliferation to prevent adverse RV remodeling in 40 infants with ToF/PS. Propranolol administration (1 mg/kg po QID) will begin at 1 month of age and last until surgical repair. The primary endpoint is cardiomyocyte division, quantified after 15N-thymidine administration with Multi-isotope Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) analysis of resected myocardial specimens. The secondary endpoints are changes in RV myocardial and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.
This trial will be the first study in humans to assess whether cardiomyocyte proliferation can be pharmacologically increased. If successful, the results could introduce a paradigm shift in the management of patients with ToF/PS from a purely surgical approach, to synergistic medical and surgical management. It will provide the basis for future multi-center randomized controlled trials of propranolol administration in infants with ToF/PS and other types of CHD with RV hypertension.
Clinical trial registration: The trial protocol was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04713657).
•Design of clinical trial to induce heart muscle cell (cardiomyocyte) proliferation in infants with tetralogy of Fallot.•New approach using 15N-thymidine administration to label generated cardiomyocytes.•Multi-isotope Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) as readout on resected pieces of myocardium.•Positive result could introduce a new concept of increasing cardiomyocyte division with β-blocker administration
The lower Muge valley, a tributary of the lower Tagus River (Portugal), features an important archaeological record of Mesolithic shell midden sites. Archaeological research has long assumed that ...tidally influenced valley floor environments in the immediate locality of the sites provided a rich food resource, attracting Mesolithic settlement. To date there has been little attempt to use palaeoenvironmental records to reconstruct Holocene floodplain evolution in the Lower Tagus valley. The cultivated freshwater lower Muge floodplain is locally underlain by ∼11
m of homogeneous fine-grained sediments and peat, comprising buried floodplain environments contemporary with Mesolithic occupation (∼6200–4800
cal
BC). Pollen and foraminifera analyses demonstrate that fine-grained deposition, forced by sea-level rise, commenced ∼6200
cal
BC in an estuarine setting. The lower Muge floodplain experienced maximum tidal influence ∼5800–5500
cal
BC. Subsequently, sediment supply rates overtook the decreasing rate of sea-level rise and fluvial environments expanded. The pollen record may suggest regional desiccation from ∼5000
cal
BC. Estuarine environments disappeared suddenly ∼3800
cal
BC when freshwater wetlands were established. Although the initiation of Mesolithic settlement is shown to coincide with the beginning of tidal influence, site abandonment does not match with any major environmental change. Sea-level still stand (∼2600
cal
BC) has been linked to valley floor stabilisation and soil formation. Alder floodplain woodland developed prior to ∼230
cal
BC and was cleared, probably during Roman times, for agriculture. Renewed deposition after ∼230
cal
BC may relate to internal mechanisms or to human impact upon the catchment vegetation.
