1,720,964 research outputs found
Biochemical evidence of phenoloxidase activity (pro-PO system) in larvae of Allogamus auricollis (Insecta, Trichoptera)
No full text1. 1. Allogamus auricollis cell-free hemolymph proteins were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Under reducing conditions the gel pattern showed two main components (83 and 76 kDa) and some lesser bands. 2. 2. After native PAGE, a single band showed phenoloxidase activity by in situ enzymatic staining. 3. 3. Spectrophotometric analysis of the cell-free plasma fraction was carried out with substrate and PTU as inhibitor
The Expression Levels of Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) in Galleria mellonella Following Infection with the Entomopathogenic Nematode Steinernema carpocapsae and Its Symbiotic Bacteria Xenorhabdus nematophila
No full textHeat shock proteins (HSPs), particularly HSP90, play a vital role in insect responses to environmental and biotic stresses by maintaining protein stability and supporting immune defenses. This study explores HSP90 regulation in Galleria mellonella larvae following exposure to the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae and its symbiotic bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila. Exposure to live nematodes caused slight changes in HSP90 expression, while non-viable nematodes had no effect, suggesting that nematode secretions or symbiotic bacteria do not directly influence HSP90 levels. However, nematodes with altered surface properties significantly increased HSP90 expression. X. nematophila also moderately elevated HSP90 levels but this effect disappeared when weakly bound surface proteins were removed. Interestingly, under thermal stress, live nematodes reduced heat-induced HSP90 expression, whereas surface-treated nematodes enhanced it. These findings suggest that HSP90 modulation is influenced by biological control agents, highlighting a potential link between HSP90 and immune detection of invaders. This interaction may be crucial in adapting biological control strategies in response to climate change. Further research is needed to clarify HSP activation pathways, host immune interactions, and mechanisms of entomopathogen immune evasion, particularly under varying environmental temperatures, to enhance bioinsecticide efficacy
The Role of Heat Shock Proteins in Insect Stress Response, Immunity, and Climate Adaptation
No full textHeat shock proteins (HSPs) play a key role in enhancing insect resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses by preserving cellular integrity and modulating immune responses. This review summarizes the main functions of HSPs in insects, including protein stabilization, interaction with antioxidant systems, and involvement in the innate immune response. The expression of HSPs under environmental conditions reflects their evolutionary adaptation to various stressors, including thermal changes, chemical exposure, and pathogens. Future research should focus on the interaction between HSPs and other stress response systems to improve our understanding of insect adaptation. Furthermore, in the context of global climate change, HSPs emerge as a crucial resilience factor and potential biomarkers for environmental monitoring
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Susceptibility to entomopathogens and modulation of basal immunity in two insect models at different temperatures.
No full textAbstract In this work, we analysed the efficacy of different commercial bio-insecticides (Steinernema feltiae, Steinernema carpocapsae, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Bacillus thuringiensis) by valuating the mortality induced on two insect models, Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera) and Sarcophaga africa (Diptera) after exposure to different temperatures (10, 20 and 30 °C). Moreover, we investigated the effects of temperature on the basal humoral immunity of the two target insects; particularly, phenoloxidase (PO) and lysozyme activity. Our results show that G. mellonella is susceptible to all bio-insecticides at all the examined temperatures, except when infected at 10 °C with S. carpocapsae and at 30 °C with S. feltiae and B. thuringiensis. S. africa is more susceptible at 30 °C to all bioinsecticides; whereas, when infected at 10 and 20 °C, H. bacteriophora is the most efficient. Temperature modulates PO activity of both G. mellonella and S. africa, otherwise variations in lysozyme activity is observed only in G. mellonella. Except for a possible correlation between the increased lysozyme activity and the delayed Bt efficacy recorded on G. mellonella at 30 °C, a different resistance to bio-insecticides at different temperatures does not seem to be associated to variations of the host basal immunity, probably due to immunoevasive and immunodepressive strategies of these entomopathogens
Identification and quantification of the most abondant hemocytes in the pine processionary caterpillar;Thaumetopoeapityocampa (Notodontidae)
Full text linkThaumetopoeapityocampa is an important pine pest in the Mediterranean basin and central Europe. The insecte is a butterfly, whose larvae are called pine processionary caterpillars. To understand the resistance mechanism of the insect in order to proceed of its control and to diminuate their effect in nature, it was necessary to study of the immune system and reactions of the larva in different stages. The aim of our work is to identify the hemocytes formula of the caterpillar during the larval stages L2, L3, and L4, as well as the quantification of the different cells during each stage. After extraction of the hemolymph by centrifugation, the cells were placed in culture medium and then incubated. Microscopic observation has shown that prohemocytes population appear early in hemolymph, they differentiate into plasmatocytes and granulocytes during the advanced stages. However, the quantification process (THC), carried out in a Malassez counting chamber has shown that granulocytes are the most abundant cell population in the hemolymph of the insect larvae. To investigate the role of hemocytes in immune responses, we have co-incubate T. pityocampa cells with bacteria, entomopathogenic nematodes, and synthetic beads. Both humoral and cellular encapsulation processes have been observed early in larval stages, all hemocytes seem to be involved in the formation of nodules and capsules against bacteria and microbeads. At the opposite, entomopathogenic nematodes (Steinernemafeltiae) were not recognized and encapsulated, but their presence can strongly damage host hemocytes
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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