A Symmetrical Diester as the Sex Attractant Pheromone of the North American Click Beetle Parallelostethus attenuatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Hexanoic acid, 1-octanol, 1,8-octanediol, octyl hexanoate, 1,8-octanediol monohexanoate, and 1,8-octanediol dihexanoate were identified in headspace volatiles collected from the crushed abdomen of a female click beetle of the species Parallelostethus attenuatus (Say) (Elaterinae, tribe Elaterini). In field trials carried out in Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, adult male beetles were strongly attracted to 1,8-octanediol dihexanoate alone. Blends of the dihexanoate with one or more of the other compounds proved to be less attractive than the dihexanoate alone, suggesting that the pheromone of this species may consist of a single compound. The symmetrical diester structure of the pheromone is a novel natural product and appears to be structurally unique among insect pheromones.

     

Evaluation of Vapor Pressure and Ultra-High Vacuum Tribological Properties of Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids are a class of salts that incorporate polyatomic anions and cations. These materials are typically viscous fluids at room temperature. The fluids are generally characterized as possessing negligible vapor pressures under ambient conditions. These beneficial properties have led us to study the effectiveness of ionic liquids containing both organic cations and anions for use as lubricants with space applications. This article presents vapor pressure measurements for four ionic liquids as well as friction coefficient data from a spiral orbit tribometer in the boundary lubrication regime under simulated space conditions using stainless steel tribocouples. In addition, we present the first tribological data on mixed ionic liquids and an ionic liquid additive. Postmortem infrared and Raman analyses of the balls and races indicates that the major degradation pathway for these organic ionic liquids is similar to those of other carbon-based liquid lubricants; that is, deterioration of the organic structure into amorphous graphitic carbon. The coefficients of friction and lifetimes of these lubricants are comparable to or better than those of several commonly used space oils.     

Circadian preference and facial emotion recognition among rehabilitation inpatients.

Objective: Examined the role of circadian preference on facial emotion recognition among rehabilitation inpatients. Design: 47 patients with stroke and 24 patients with orthopedic diagnoses were screened for circadian preference and assessed at preferred and nonpreferred times of day on a computerized task of facial emotion recognition. Results: Disproportionate effects of time of day, relative to individual circadian preference, were found among persons with stroke-related cognitive impairment, compared with orthopedic patients, on facial emotion recognition. These differences were independent of differences in visual perception, subjective mood, or sleepiness. Conclusions: The circadian preference effect can be understood in terms of cognitive reserve. Among persons with acquired brain injury, the ability to access cognitive reserve appears to be affected by environmental variables (e.g., time of day), suggesting an additional component to existing models of reserve. Limited ability to recognize facial emotional expression in this population may present behavioral, occupational, and interpersonal challenges to community reintegration poststroke. Understanding this time-of-day effect adds to existing knowledge of factors affecting successful postacute outcomes in stroke rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drosophila engrailed can substitute for mouse Engrailed1 function in mid-hindbrain, but not limb development

The Engrailed-1 gene, En1, a murine homologue of the Drosophila homeobox gene engrailed (en), is required for midbrain and cerebellum development and dorsal/ventral patterning of the limbs. In Drosophila, en is involved in regulating a number of key patterning processes including segmentation of the epidermis. An important question is whether, during evolution, the biochemical properties of En proteins have been conserved, revealing a common underlying molecular mechanism to their diverse developmental activities. To address this question, we have replaced the coding sequences of En1 with Drosophila en. Mice expressing Drosophila en in place of En1 have a near complete rescue of the lethal En1 mutant brain defect and most skeletal abnormalities. In contrast, expression of Drosophila en in the embryonic limbs of En1 mutants does not lead to repression of Wnt7a in the embryonic ventral ectoderm or full rescue of the embryonic dorsal/ventral patterning defects. Furthermore, neither En2 nor en rescue the postnatal limb abnormalities that develop in rare En1 null mutants that survive. These studies demonstrate that the biochemical activity utilized in mouse to mediate brain development has been retained by Engrailed proteins across the phyla, and indicate that during evolution vertebrate En proteins have acquired two unique functions during embryonic and postnatal limb development and that only En1 can function postnatally.     

Expression of dentin sialoprotein (DSP) and other molecular determinants by a new cell line from dental papillae, MDPC-23

The purpose of this study was to characterize the molecular expression of a spontaneously immortalized and cloned cell line (MDPC-23) derived from 18-19 day CD-I fetal mouse molar dental papillae to determine if these cells were odontoblast-like. Western blots showed that a protein band, at approximately 105 kDa, reacting positively with anti-DSP antibodies and co-migrating with mouse DSP, was present in lysates of cells from passages 7, 37 and 77, in serum-free conditioned medium from passage 37 cells, and in mouse dentin extract. A minor band at 55 kDa was also apparent in cell lysates. Using a cDNA probe for a 486bp mouse DSP coding sequence, DSP or DSP-PP mRNA expression was detected by Northern analysis as well as Southern analysis after RT-PCR in all three passages. It was also shown that in these cells 1,25 (OH)2 vitamin D3 upregulated both osteopontin and osteocalcin mRNA, and dexamethasone downregulated alkaline phosphatase and alpha2(I) collagen mRNA. Thus, MDPC-23 cells express proteins which are common to mineralizing tissue. The expression of DSP and DSP-PP strongly suggests that this cell line is from the odontoblast lineage.     

Interspecific Cross-Attraction between the South American Cerambycid Beetles <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cotyclytus curvatus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Megacyllene acuta</Emphasis> is Averted by Minor Pheromone Components

During field screening trials conducted in Brazil in 2015, adults of both sexes of the cerambycid beetles Cotyclytus curvatus (Germar) and Megacyllene acuta (Germar) (subfamily Cerambycinae, tribe Clytini) were significantly attracted to racemic 3-hydroxyhexan-2-one and racemic 2-methylbutan-1-ol, chemicals which previously have been identified as male-produced aggregation-sex pheromones of a number of cerambycid species endemic to other continents. Subsequent analyses of samples of beetle-produced volatiles revealed that males of C. curvatus sex-specifically produce only (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one, whereas males of M. acuta produce the same compound along with lesser amounts of (2S,3S)-2,3-hexanediol and (S)-2-methylbutan-1-ol. Follow-up field trials showed that both sexes of both species were attracted to synthetic reconstructions of their respective pheromones, confirming that males produce aggregation-sex pheromones. The minor pheromone components of M. acuta, (S)-2-methylbutan-1-ol and (2S,3S)-2,3-hexanediol, synergized attraction of that species, but antagonized attraction of C. curvatus to (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one. Beetles of other cerambycine species also were attracted in significant numbers, including Chrysoprasis linearis Bates, Cotyclytus dorsalis (Laporte & Gory), and Megacyllene falsa (Chevrolat). Our results provide further evidence that 3-hydroxyhexan-2-one is a major component of attractant pheromones of numerous cerambycine species world-wide. Our results also highlight our increasing understanding of the crucial role of minor pheromone components in imparting species specificity to cerambycid pheromone blends, as is known to occur in numerous species in other insect families.