First Identification of a Putative Sex Pheromone in a Praying Mantid

Praying mantids are models for a wide variety of behavioral, physiological, and ecological studies, and sex pheromones have been assumed to be important components of their biology. However, no mantid pheromone has ever been identified. We collected volatiles emitted by females of the mantid, Sphodromantis lineola, via solid phase microextraction (SPME). Mass spectral analysis revealed the collected volatiles to be a mixture of pentadecanal and tetradecanal. We prepared a synthetic mixture of these compounds, and found that males were both attracted to this mixture and stimulated to exhibit typical precopulatory behavior. We then examined male antennae with scanning electron microscopy, and confirmed the presence of porous antennal sensilla typical of insect pheromone receptors, i.e., that male mantids are equipped with the appropriate morphological apparatus to receive volatile chemical signals. Pheromones, in conjunction with visual and tactile cues, are thus an important feature of the reproductive biology of this, and undoubtedly other species of mantids. In addition to adding a crucial aspect of behavioral biology to our knowledge of this group, identification and synthesis of mantid pheromones may be a first step in attracting and aggregating these generalist predators for use in pest control.     

Ozonation of Drinking Water: A Design Methodology

The formation of potentially carcinogenic organic halides has been shown to result from drinking water disinfection with chlorine. xidative treatment of organic halide precursors with ozone prior to chlorination has surfaced as an attractive technique for reducing the formation of these compounds. In addition to reduction of precursor levels, preozonation has been reported to effect other beneficial results in water treatment. This paper presents design methodologies to optimize the implementation of the ozonation process for water treatment applications. Pre-design considerations common to all ozonation design processes are discussed. Subsequently, design procedures for the ozone generation and contacting systems are reviewed.     

Inverse analysis procedure to determine flow stress and friction data for finite element modeling of machining

This paper describes an inverse procedure to determine the constitutive constants and the friction conditions in the machining processes using Finite Elements (FE) simulations. In general, the FE modeling of machining processes is an effective tool to analyze the materials machinability under different cutting conditions. However, the use of reliable rheological and friction models represents the basis of a correct numerical investigation. The presented inverse procedure was based on the numerical results obtained using a commercial FE code and was developed considering a specific optimization problem, in which the objective functions that have to be minimized is the experimental/numerical error. This problem was performed by a routine developed in a commercial optimization software. In order to verify the goodness and the robustness of the methodology, it was applied on a Super Duplex Stainless Steel (SDSS) and on an Austenitic Stainless Steel (AUSS) orthogonal machining processes. This work, then, was focused on the identification of the Johnson-Cook (JC) coefficients (A,B,C, n and m) and on the calibration of a Coulomb friction model, in the specific cases of the SAF2507 SDSS and of an AISI 316 Based AUSS Alloy (AISI 316 ASBA). The identification phases were performed considering forces and temperatures experimental data, collected in two specific experimental tasks in which different orthogonal cutting tests were carried out under different cutting parameters conditions.     

Reliable indirect competitive ELISA used for a survey of ochratoxin A in green coffee from the North of Paraná State, Brazil.

The performance of an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) based on a monoclonal antibody (mAb) for ochratoxin A (OTA) detection was evaluated in a comparative study with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis using 68 freshly harvested coffee samples from the North of Paraná State, Brazil. The anti-OTA mAb showed high specificity and low cross-reactivity with OTA analogues (OTB and OTalpha), but cross-reacted with OTC. This ic-ELISA showed a detection limit of 3.75 ngg-1 sample, when compared to 0.80 ngg-1 by HPLC, with an ic-ELISA/HPLC correlation coefficient of 0.90. As regards OTA analysis of these coffee samples, natural contamination was detected in 10 samples (14.7%) by both methods, where the ic-ELISA values (range 3.9-7.3 ngg-1) were 1.1 to 1.6-fold higher than HPLC data (2.7-4.7 ngg-1). Five samples (7.4%) were OTA positive (range 0.84-1.30 ngg-1) only by HPLC assay, probably due to the higher detection limit reached by ic-ELISA. OTA was undetectable in 53 samples (77.9%) by both methods, while all positive samples (range 0.84-7.30 ngg-1) showed OTA levels lower than 8 ngg-1 (maximum limit recommended by the European Union). The matrix interference of green coffee was minimized by dilution of sample extracts before carrying out the ELISA assay. This mAb-based ic-ELISA can be effectively applied for OTA screening in coffee, because it is simple, sensitive and sample preparation is easy.     

In Vitro Simultaneous Transfer of Lipids to HDL in Coronary Artery Disease and in Statin Treatment

The exchange of lipids with cells and other lipoproteins is a crucial process in HDL metabolism and for HDL antiatherogenic function. Here, we tested a practical method to quantify the simultaneous transfer to HDL of phospholipids, free-cholesterol, esterified cholesterol and triacylglycerols and to verify the lipid transfer in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) or undergoing statin treatment. Twenty-eight control subjects without CAD, 27 with CAD and 25 CAD patients under simvastatin treatment were studied. Plasma samples were incubated with a donor nanoemulsion prepared by ultrasonication of the constituent lipids and labeled with radioactive lipids; % lipids transferred to HDL were quantified in the HDL-containing supernatant after chemical precipitation of non-HDL fractions and the nanoemulsion. The assay was precise and reproducible. Increase of temperature (4–37 °C), of incubation period (5 min to 2 h), of HDL-cholesterol concentration (33–244 mg/dL) and of mass of nanoemulsion lipids (0.075–0.3 mg/μL) resulted in increased lipid transfer from the nanoemulsion to HDL. In contrast, increasing pH (6.5–8.5) and albumin concentration (3.5–7.0 g/dL) did not affect lipid transfer. There was no difference between CAD and control non-CAD with regard to the lipid transfer, but statin treatment reduced the transfer to HDL of all four lipids. The test herein described is a valid and practical tool for exploring an important aspect of HDL metabolism.     

Software development tool for target systems and EPROM programmers within a Unix environment

A computer running under a Unix operating system is an excellent host on which to develop software for target systems which have the same type of microprocessor as the host computer. Unfortunately, facilities for preparing executable modules able to be sent to an EPROM programmer or to be loaded onto a RAM portion of target memory space are lacking in standard Unix. These facilities can be improved in any version of Unix without the need for expensive software using the set of commands presented in this paper.