The introduction of an exotic species may alter food webs within the ecosystem and significantly affect the biodiversity of indigenous species at different trophic levels. It has been postulated that recent introduction of the brown marmorated stinkbug (Halyomorpha halys (Stål)) represents an evolutionary trap for native parasitoids, as they accept H. halys egg masses as a host but produce no v...

A new interaction between insects and carnivorous plants is reported from Brazil. Larvae of the predatory flower fly Toxomerus basalis (Diptera: Syrphidae: Syrphinae) have been found scavenging on the sticky leaves of several carnivorous sundew species (Drosera, Droseraceae) in Minas Gerais and São Paulo states, SE Brazil. This syrphid apparently spends its whole larval stage feeding on prey tr...

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease was known as a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly and is characterized by dementia and severe neuronal loss in the some regions of brain such as nucleus basalis magnocellularis. It plays an important role in the brain functions such as learning and memory. Loss of cholinergic neurons of nucleus basalis magnocellularis by ibotenic acid can common...

Tetranychus kanzawai Kishida and Panonychus citri (McGregor) are two major acarine pests of the principal papaya variety in Taiwan, and they often co-occur in the same papaya screenhouses. This study measured prey acceptability, foraging schedule, short-term consumption rate, and handling time of larvae of a domesticated line of the green lacewing, Mallada basalis (Walker), in no-choice tests w...

BACKGROUND The basal forebrain is a series of nuclei that provides cholinergic input to much of the forebrain. The most posterior of these nuclei, nucleus basalis, provides cholinergic drive to neocortex and is involved in arousal and attention. The physiological properties of neurons in anterior basal forebrain nuclei, including medial septum, the diagonal band of Broca and substantia innomina...

BACKGROUND Dementia represents one of the most challenging health problems. Despite intense research, available therapies have thus far only achieved modest results. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment option for some movement disorders and is under study for psychiatric applications. Recently, diencephalic DBS revealed selective effects on memory functions, another facet of ...

Cholinergic inputs to the auditory cortex can modulate sensory processing and regulate stimulus-specific plasticity according to the behavioural state of the subject. In order to understand how acetylcholine achieves this, it is essential to elucidate the circuitry by which cholinergic inputs influence the cortex. In this study, we described the distribution of cholinergic neurons in the basal ...

Women using the progestin-only contraceptive Norplant often suffer from unpredictable bouts of breakthrough bleeding, which usually occurs from a thin atrophic endometrium. The role of cellular apoptosis in the endometrial response to Norplant has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to use immunohistochemistry to produce semi-quantitative scores for expression of the apoptos...