The toxicity of cadmium and zinc at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 100 microg/l was investigated against the activity of Diplostomum spathaceum (Rudolphi, 1819) cercariae. Over a 24 h exposure period a significant reduction in cercarial activity occurred in solutions of cadmium, zinc, and a mixture of cadmium and zinc at all concentrations. Reduced cercarial activity also occurred in all to...

Parasitoid development, parasitoid-induced host mortality and parasitoid progeny emergence were determined at five constant temperatures for Muscidifurax raptor Girault and Sanders, Muscidifurax zaraptor Kogan and Legner, Spalangia cameroni Perkins and Spalangia endius Walker using pupae of the house fly, Musca domestica L., as hosts. At temperatures of 20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees C the median de...

This year has marked the introduction of changes throughout Acta Crystallographica Section F, including a new appointment at the top of editorial board. It has also represented a watershed in the evolution of the journal with the provision of several new tools for authors. In an earlier editorial we noted the introduction of an enhanced figure tool, but there also appeared, without fanfare, the...

There is growing interest in biological control as a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to control pest insects. Aphids are among the most detrimental agricultural pests worldwide, and parasitoid wasps are frequently employed for their control. The use of asexual parasitoids may improve the effectiveness of biological control because only females kill hosts and because asexual populat...

2008 has brought us the first fruits from genomewide association studies (GWASs), an unbiased and comprehensive approach to identify common risk alleles for complex diseases of adulthood. By genotyping 310 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in over 1700 intracranial aneurysm (IA) cases and 7400 controls from Finland and the Netherlands, a multinational team of investigators recently ide...