Leptogenys is the most diverse ponerine ant genus in the world; it is widespread throughout tropical and subtropical regions and there are over 200 extant species described. Most species have ergatoid queens, and many have falcate, bowed mandibles and are specialists on isopod prey. Here, the Malagasy Leptogenys are revised with 60 species recognized, of which 40 are newly described, 18 redescr...

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is affected by dieback (DB) and decline (D) diseases causing significant losses to hazelnut production in the Eshkevarat (Guilan province, northern Iran) as the main region for hazelnut production in Iran. Although, causal agents of these disorders have remained uncertain for many years. During 2017-18, results of a survey on DB and D diseases in hazelnut...

To evaluate the inoculation effect of potassium releasing, phosphate solubilizing and nitrogen fixing bacteria on the fruit quality of tomato, an experiment based on randomized complete block design with 9 treatments and 3 replications has been conducted. In this experiment, tomato (super chief cv.) seedlings of the in the treasury cultivation with single and combined treatments of the potassiu...

phytoplankton communities play a significant role in the oceanic biological pump by forming the base of the trophic structure. increase in nutrients loading affects spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton. this study examined the phytoplankton community structure and ecological indices in relation to nutrients dynamics in both estuarine and oceanic areas of ramisi-vanga systems along...

The 101 species of Mecyclothorax Sharp known to inhabit Tahiti Island, French Polynesia are taxonomically revised, including 28 species that are newly described: Mecyclothorax claridgeiae sp. n., Mecyclothorax jeanyvesi sp. n., Mecyclothorax poria sp. n., Mecyclothorax aano sp. n., Mecyclothorax papau sp. n., Mecyclothorax manina sp. n., Mecyclothorax everardi sp. n., Mecyclothorax ramagei sp. ...

Effects of the tumor promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), on expression of pulmonary surfactant proteins, SP-A and SP-B, were determined in a human pulmonary adenocarcinoma cell line (H441-4). TPA decreased cellular SP-A content in association with decreased de novo synthesis of SP-A as assessed by [35S]methionine incorporation. Effects of TPA were time (0-72 h) and dose (IC50 ...

SP-A (surfactant protein A) is a membrane-associated SP that helps to maintain the lung in a sterile and non-inflamed state. Unlike SP-As from other mammalian species, human SP-A consists of two functional gene products: SP-A1 and SP-A2. In all the functions examined, recombinant human SP-A1 invariably exhibits lower biological activity than SP-A2. The objective of the present study was to inve...