Gypsy moth defoliation of oak trees has been shown to lead to increased tannin levels, which, in turn, lead to reduced gypsy moth growth and fecundity. In laboratory experiments, increased tannin levels can interfere with the transmission of a virus that is consumed by larvae on oak foliage, and high mortality rates of larvae in the field are sometimes associated with low levels of defoliation....

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Monoecious plants have the capacity to allocate resources separately to male and female functions more easily than hermaphrodites. This can be advantageous against environmental stresses such as leaf herbivory. However, studies showing effects of herbivory on male and female functions and on the interaction with the plant's pollinators are limited, particularly in tropical p...

UNLABELLED Activated protein C (APC) has cytoprotective effects on liver ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). However, it is unclear whether APC is beneficial in steatotic liver IRI. We compared the cytoprotective effects of APC in nonsteatotic and steatotic liver IRI. METHODS Mice fed either normal diets (ND mice) or high fat diets (HF mice), were treated with APC or saline (control) and were ...

BACKGROUND The aims of this study were to analyze associations of dopamine receptor genes (DRD1-5) with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and nicotine dependence (ND), and to investigate whether ND moderates genetic influences on MDD. METHODS The sample was ascertained from the Finnish Twin Cohort. Twin pairs concordant for smoking history were recruited along with their family members, as part...

introduction: the possible effect of postnatal chemically induced hypothyroidism on nadph- diaphorase containing neurons in different cortical areas of rat neonates. materials and methods: after parturition, dams divided in two groups. the control group receiving drinking water, and experimental group receiving 0.1% ptu in their drinking water. in different postnatal days (p4, p7, p10, p15, p23...

The aim of the present work is to enhance the antifouling properties of polypropylene (PP) membrane based on hydrophilicity improvement. Different contents of neat and modified nanodiamond (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 wt.%) were embedded into PP membranes. Nanodiamond nanoparticles were carboxylated by heat treatment method and the presence of carboxyl functional groups on the surface of nanopart...

Accurate yield estimation is of utmost importance for the entire grape and wine production chain, yet it remains an extremely challenging process due to high spatial temporal variability in vineyards. Recent research has focused on using image analysis vineyard estimation, with one major obstacles being degree occlusion bunches by leaves. This work uses canopy features obtained from 2D images (...

BACKGROUND The endogenous opioid system plays a significant role in alcohol dependence. The goal of the current study was to investigate regional brain mu-opioid receptor (MOR) and delta-opioid receptor (DOR) availability in recently abstinent alcohol-dependent and age-matched healthy control men and women with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. METHODS Alcohol-dependent subjects com...

The interaction between insect outbreaks and forest health or tree plantation management has been considered rarely from an experimental approach. From 1996 to 1998, we experimentally created a gypsy moth outbreak that defoliated large plots of mature hybrid poplars, Populus ×euramericana, with half of the plots fertilized in a factorial design. The trees were harvested at rotation age in 1999,...

newcastle disease (nd) is one of the most serious illnesses of chickens. live vaccines are widely used to prevent chicken from the disease all over the world. to access the effective and potentiate nd vaccine, a homogenous subpopulation from lasota strain was selected following cultivation of the virus on primary chicken embryofibroblast (cef) cells. pathogenicity indices and molecular characte...