Resurvey of the Pentatomoidea (Heteroptera) of the La Rue-Pine Hills Research Natural Area in Union County, Illinois

A resurvey of the Pentatomoidea of the La Rue-Pine Hills Research Natural Area was conducted from September 1992 to June 1995 and the results compared with those of an earlier survey by McPherson and Mohlenbrock (1976). Sampling during the resurvey was limited to the 17 collecting sites of the earlier survey, thus permitting comparisons of the flora and fauna in the two studies. Notes were taken on the times of occurrence of adult and immature stages and on the food plants. Of the 49 pentatomoid species and subspecies included in the original survey, 36 were collected during the resurvey. Of the 13 not collected, 12 were rare and one, Holcostethus limbolarius (Stål), was relatively common during the original survey. Two additional species, Galgupha ovalis Hussey and Corimelaena obscura McPherson and Sailer, were added to the list, the latter because it was described as new subsequent to the original survey. The most noticeable change in the vegetation that accounted for differences in pentatomoid diversity and abundance was the marked reduction in abundance of common mullein, Verbascum thapsus L. The resurvey showed that 11 of the 17 sites had changed in character and plant composition, seven because of woody invasion and four because of the influence of exotic and invasive species; the remaining six had changed little. Exotic plant species have become an increasingly prominent component of the vegetative communities

Notes on the Life Histories of \u3ci\u3eAcrosternum Hilare\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eCosmopepla Bimaculata\u3c/i\u3e (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in Southern Illinois

The life histories of Acrosternum hilare and Cosmopepla bimaculata were studied in southern Illinois from May 1972 to September 1974 and from September 1992 to June 1995. Both species were bivoltine, overwintered as adults, and became active in early spring. The subsequent generations were characterized by marked overlapping of the nymphal instars. No active adults were found after early November

On the potential use of radar-derived information in operational numerical weather prediction

Estimates of requirements likely to be levied on a new observing system for mesoscale meteonology are given. Potential observing systems for mesoscale numerical weather prediction are discussed. Thermodynamic profiler radiometers, infrared radiometer atmospheric sounders, Doppler radar wind profilers and surveillance radar, and moisture profilers are among the instruments described

Optimization of miRNA-seq data preprocessing.

The past two decades of microRNA (miRNA) research has solidified the role of these small non-coding RNAs as key regulators of many biological processes and promising biomarkers for disease. The concurrent development in high-throughput profiling technology has further advanced our understanding of the impact of their dysregulation on a global scale. Currently, next-generation sequencing is the platform of choice for the discovery and quantification of miRNAs. Despite this, there is no clear consensus on how the data should be preprocessed before conducting downstream analyses. Often overlooked, data preprocessing is an essential step in data analysis: the presence of unreliable features and noise can affect the conclusions drawn from downstream analyses. Using a spike-in dilution study, we evaluated the effects of several general-purpose aligners (BWA, Bowtie, Bowtie 2 and Novoalign), and normalization methods (counts-per-million, total count scaling, upper quartile scaling, Trimmed Mean of M, DESeq, linear regression, cyclic loess and quantile) with respect to the final miRNA count data distribution, variance, bias and accuracy of differential expression analysis. We make practical recommendations on the optimal preprocessing methods for the extraction and interpretation of miRNA count data from small RNA-sequencing experiments

Ultrahigh harmonics from laser-assisted ion-atom collisions

We present a theoretical analysis of high-order harmonic generation from ion-atom collisions in the presence of linearly polarized intense laser pulses. Photons with frequencies significantly higher than in standard atomic high-harmonic generation are emitted. These harmonics are due to two different mechanisms: (i) collisional electron capture and subsequent laser-driven transfer of an electron between projectile and target atom; (ii) reflection of a laser-driven electron from the projectile leading to recombination at the parent atom.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

A New Generation Gap? Some thoughts on the consequences of increasingly early ICT first contact

One possible consequence of ICT’s rapid rise will be a new ‘generation gap’ arising from differing perceptions of the learning technologies. The nature, causes and consequences of this gap are of interest to educational practitioners and policymakers. This paper uses data from an ongoing project together with a synopsis of research to describe the ICT-based generation gap that currently exists between students and their teachers and parents. It is argued that this gap may exist between students differing in age by as little as five years. Results from a related project exploring Networked Information and Communication Literacy Skills (NICLS), are used to introduce a discussion on the nature of any skills gap that must be addressed in the light of this generation gap

Exome sequencing identifies nonsegregating nonsense ATM and PALB2 variants in familial pancreatic cancer.

We sequenced 11 germline exomes from five families with familial pancreatic cancer (FPC). One proband had a germline nonsense variant in ATM with somatic loss of the variant allele. Another proband had a nonsense variant in PALB2 with somatic loss of the variant allele. Both variants were absent in a relative with FPC. These findings question the causal mechanisms of ATM and PALB2 in these families and highlight challenges in identifying the causes of familial cancer syndromes using exome sequencing

ISOWN: accurate somatic mutation identification in the absence of normal tissue controls.

BackgroundA key step in cancer genome analysis is the identification of somatic mutations in the tumor. This is typically done by comparing the genome of the tumor to the reference genome sequence derived from a normal tissue taken from the same donor. However, there are a variety of common scenarios in which matched normal tissue is not available for comparison.ResultsIn this work, we describe an algorithm to distinguish somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in next-generation sequencing data from germline polymorphisms in the absence of normal samples using a machine learning approach. Our algorithm was evaluated using a family of supervised learning classifications across six different cancer types and ~1600 samples, including cell lines, fresh frozen tissues, and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues; we tested our algorithm with both deep targeted and whole-exome sequencing data. Our algorithm correctly classified between 95 and 98% of somatic mutations with F1-measure ranges from 75.9 to 98.6% depending on the tumor type. We have released the algorithm as a software package called ISOWN (Identification of SOmatic mutations Without matching Normal tissues).ConclusionsIn this work, we describe the development, implementation, and validation of ISOWN, an accurate algorithm for predicting somatic mutations in cancer tissues in the absence of matching normal tissues. ISOWN is available as Open Source under Apache License 2.0 from https://github.com/ikalatskaya/ISOWN

Treatment resistant depression in primary care: Co-constructing difficult encounters

Many patients with depression do not recover despite medication or therapy. Individuals with treatment resistant depression often have co-morbid anxiety, personality difficulties and drug or alcohol misuse and have been characterised as difficult, heartsink or problem personalities by general practitioners. Yet critical studies of interaction in medical settings suggest that the context may have a role in constructing the patient. A total of 12 audio-recorded routine consultations were analysed following guidelines for qualitative analysis of medical discourse. The interpretation focused on ways in which the context and structure of primary care consultations in a UK setting construct difficult encounters, which may lead to patients with treatment resistant depression being seen as difficult to manage in various ways. Three overarching observations were that presentation of multiple problems in multiple domains clash with the consultation format; that patients? atypically high level of activity in a time-limited setting prevents patient-centred work; that the question and answer format restricts multifaceted discussions of social and emotional problems, preventing shared understandings emerging. However, although interactions appear uneasy, they are repaired and may be moderately palliative. Suggestions are made for re-orienting general practitioner work with treatment resistant depression towards long-term goal setting outside of the traditional consultation structure in order to develop shared understandings

AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF SOYBEAN STINK BUG CONTROL ALTERNATIVES FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Methyl parathion or Penncap M (an encapsulated methyl parathion) are used extensively throughout the United States for controlling stink bug pests in soybeans, Glycine Max (L.) Merrill. However, this insecticide is highly toxic to mammals, birds, and non-target arthropods, and thus is less environmentally sound than other insecticides. For environmental and human health considerations, investigating alternative insecticides for control is desired. For this investigation, research based on field experimental data from Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana during the 1988 and 1989 growing seasons were employed. Results indicate that alternative, currently available, and less toxic insecticides may reduce producer costs, increase yield, and improve soybean quality. These alternative insecticides include Scout (tralomethrin), Karate (lambda-cyhalothrin), Orthene (acephate), and Baythroid (cyfluthrin). In terms of improved profits these alternative insecticides may dominate methyl parathion or encapsulated methyl parathion.Crop Production/Industries,