Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a debilitating, progressive eye disease faced by nearly 15% of the population aged 75 and over and is the single largest cause of legal blindness in the U.S. This condition is caused by a partial breakdown of the retinal pigment epithelium and results in damage to the macula (the portion of the retina responsible for central vision). Because it impairs ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Knowledge of host factors affecting plant-nematode interactions is scarce. Here, relevant interaction phenotypes between a nodulating model host, Lotus japonicus, and the endoparasitic root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita are assessed via a genetic screen. METHODS Within an alpha experimental design, 4-week-old replicate plants from 60 L. japonicus ecotypes were inocul...

This 6-wk study was conducted to determine the effects of probiotic (Enterococcus faecium DSM 7134) supplementation of different energy and nutrient density diets on performance, egg quality, excreta microflora, excreta noxious gas emission, and serum cholesterol concentrations in laying hens. A total of 432 Hy-Line brown layers (40 wk old) were allotted into 4 dietary treatments with 2 levels ...

Egg parasitoids of the exotic invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), were investigated using lab-reared fresh (live) and frozen (killed) lab-reared sentinel egg masses deployed for 72h on foliage in three habitats-woods, orchard, and soybean field-in Maryland, USA, in summer 2014. Four native hymenopteran species, Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Scelionidae), Trissolcus euschi...

Real-time PCR of Amblyomma imitator tick egg masses obtained in Nuevo Leon State, Mexico, identified a Rickettsia species. Sequence analyses of 17-kD common antigen and outer membrane protein A and B gene fragments showed to it to be R. rickettsii, which suggested a potential new vector for this bacterium.

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of chromium-methionine (CrMet) and vitamin C (VC) on performance, immune response, and stress status of laying hens subjected to high stocking density. A total of 360 Hy-Line W-36 leghorn hens (at 26 wk old) were used in a 2×3×2 factorial arrangement that had 2 cage densities (5 and 7 hens per cage), 3 Cr le...

When the available statistical information is imperfect, it is dangerous to follow standard optimisation procedures to construct an optimal portfolio, which usually leads to a strong concentration of the weights on very few assets. We propose a new way, based on gener-alised entropies, to ensure a minimal degree of diversiication.

E. E. Del Valle, P. Lax, J. Rondán Dueñas, and M. E. Doucet. 2013. Effects of insect cadavers infected by Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema diaprepesi on Meloidogyne incognita parasitism in pepper and summer squash plants. Cien. Inv. Agr. 40(1):109-118. The effects of insect cadavers infected with three isolates of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and one isolate of Steinernema diaprep...