Effects of Visual Silhouette, Leaf Size and Host Species on Feeding Preference by Adult Emerald Ash Borer, \u3ci\u3eAgrilus Planipennis\u3c/i\u3e Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is an invasive species recently established in North America. In large arena bioassays, when given a choice among live green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh and artificial ash saplings that were hidden or exposed from view, beetles preferred live trees (either visible or hidden) compared to artificial trees that had similar visual silhouettes, confirming that olfactory cues are used to locate hosts. Examination of the effect of leaf size revealed that large leaves attracted more beetles than medium-sized leaves that in turn attracted more beetles than small leaves of the same age. Beetles also consumed more of the large leaves in terms of total leaf area than either medium or small leaves, but the proportion of foliage that beetles consumed relative to total available leaf area, did not differ. When newly emerged adults were fed on green and Manchurian ash, Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr., foliage in a no- choice assay, beetles that were given green ash consumed significantly more foliage compared to those that fed on Manchurian ash, but neither longevity nor beetle body weight differed. Our results suggest that while beetles might use olfactory cues to identify suitable hosts, visual cues also play a role in landing and feeding behavior. Manchurian ash might have greater nutritive value or resistance than green ash, necessitating lower consumption and therefore less damage in nature

The Enrollment Effects of Merit-Based Financial Aid: Evidence from Georgia's HOPE Scholarship

This paper examines the effects of Georgia's merit-based HOPE Scholarship on college enrollment. Introduced in 1993, the HOPE Scholarship covers tuition, fees, and book expenses for students attending Georgia public colleges, and provides a subsidy of comparable value to students attending in-state private colleges, without any income restrictions. Treating HOPE as a natural experiment, we contrast college enrollment in Georgia with those in the other member states of the Southern Regional Educational Board using IPEDS data for the period 1988-97. We estimate that the HOPE increased total freshmen enrollment by 5.9 percent, with the gains concentrated in 4-year schools. For freshmen recently graduated from high school attending 4-year colleges, two-thirds of the program effect is explained by a decrease in students leaving the state. Both white and black enrollments increased because of HOPE, with the state's historically-black institutions playing an important role. Finally, the total HOPE-induced enrollment increase represents only 15 percent freshmen scholarship recipients.Higher Education, Enrollment, HOPE, Merit-based Aid

Prevalence, Awareness and Control of Hypertension in Chennai - The Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES – 52)

Objective : To study the prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in Chennai representing Urban South India. Methods : The Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES) is one of the largest epidemiological studies on diabetes carried out in India, where 26,001 individuals aged ≥ 20 years were screened using systematic random sampling method. Every tenth subject recruited in Phase 1 of CURES was requested to participate in Phase 3 of CURES and the response rate was 2,350/26,001 or 90.4%. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed in all individuals except self-reported diabetic subjects. Anthropometric measurements and lipid estimations were done in all subjects. Hypertension was diagnosed in all subjects who were on drug treatment for hypertension or if the blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg. Results : Hypertension was present in 20% [men:23.2% vs. women:17.1%, p<0.001] of the study population. Isolated systolic hypertension (Systolic BP ≥ 140 and Diastolic BP<90 mmHg) was present in 6.6% while isolated diastolic hypertension (DBP ≥ 90 and SBP<140 mmHg) was present in 4.2% of the population. Among the elderly population (aged ≥ 60 years), 25.2% had isolated systolic hypertension. Age, body mass index, smoking, serum cholesterol and triglycerides were found to be strongly associated with hypertension. Among the total hypertensive subjects, only 32.8% were aware of their blood pressure, of these, 70.8% were under treatment and 45.9% had their blood pressure under control. Conclusion : Hypertension was present in one-fifth of this urban south Indian population and isolated systolic hypertension was more common among elderly population. Majority of hypertensive subjects still remain undetected and the control of hypertension is also inadequate. This calls for urgent prevention and control measures for hypertensio

Near-field ablation threshold of cellular samples at mid-IR wavelengths

We report the near-field ablation of material from cellulose acetate coverslips in water and my- oblast cell samples in growth media, with a spot size as small as 1.5 {\mu}m under 3 {\mu}m wavelength radiation. The power dependence of the ablation process has been studied and comparisons have been made to models of photomechanical and plasma-induced ablation. The ablation mechanism is mainly dependent on the acoustic relaxation time and optical properties of the materials. We find that for all near-field experiments, the ablation thresholds are very high, pointing to plasma-induced ablation as the dominant mechanism.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Incidence of Diabetes and Pre-diabetes in a Selected Urban South Indian Population (Cups - 19)

Abstract Objectives: Several cross-sectional studies have reported on the prevalence of diabetes in India. However, there are virtually no longitudinal population-based studies on the incidence of diabetes from India. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of diabetes and prediabetes in an urban south Indian population. Methods: The Chennai Urban Population Study [CUPS], an ongoing epidemiological study in two residential colonies in Chennai [the largest city in southern India, formerly called Madras] was launched in 1996; the baseline study was completed in 1997. Follow-up examination was performed after a mean period of 8 years. At follow-up, 501 [47.0%] subjects had moved out of this colonies and were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 564 individuals, 513 [90.9%] provided blood samples for biochemical analysis. Regression analysis was done using incident diabetes as dependant variable to identify factors associated with development of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Results: Among subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) at baseline [n=476], 64 (13.4%) developed diabetes and 48 (10.1%) developed pre-diabetes (IGT or IFG). The incidence rate of diabetes was 20.2 per 1000 person years and that of pre-diabetes was 13.1 per 1000 person years among subjects with NGT. Of the 37 individuals who were pre-diabetic at baseline, 15 (40.5%) developed diabetes [incidence rate: 64.8 per 1000 person years], 16 (43.2%) remained as pre-diabetic and 6 (16.2%) reverted to normal during the follow-up period. Regression analysis revealed obesity [Odds Ratio (OR): 2.1, p=0.001], abdominal obesity [OR: 2.23, p<0.001] and hypertension [OR: 2.57, p<0.001] to be significantly associated with incident diabetes. The Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) showed the strongest association with incident diabetes [OR: 5.14, p<0.001]. Conclusion: The study shows that the incidence of diabetes is very high among urban south Indians. While obesity, abdominal obesity and hypertension were associated with incident diabetes, IDRS was th

Bulk electronic structure of non-centrosymmetric EuTGe3 (T= Co, Ni, Rh, Ir) studied by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Non-centrosymmetric EuTGe3 (T=Co, Ni, Rh, and Ir) possesses magnetic Eu2+ ions and antiferromagnetic ordering appears at low temperatures. Transition metal substitution leads to changes of the unit cell volume and of the magnetic ordering. However, the magnetic ordering temperature does not scale with the volume change and the Eu valence is expected to remain divalent. Here we study the bulk electronic structure of non-centrosymmetric EuTGe3 (T=Co, Ni, Rh, and Ir) by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Eu 3d core level spectrum confirms the robust Eu2+ valence state against the transition metal substitution with a small contribution from Eu3+. The estimated Eu mean-valence is around 2.1 in these compounds as confirmed by multiplet calculations. In contrast, the Ge 2p spectrum shifts to higher binding energy upon changing the transition metal from 3d to 4d to 5d elements, hinting of a change in the Ge-T bonding strength. The valence bands of the different compounds are found to be well reproduced by ab initio band structure calculations

Prevalence of Fibrocalculous Pancreatic Diabetes in Chennai in South India

Fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes is a form of diabetes secondary to chronic pancreatitis found in tropical, developing countries. There is no population based data on prevalence of fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes. This paper reports on prevalence of fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes in Chennai in South India based on the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study

Electrochromic device response controlled by an in situ polymerized ionic liquid based gel electrolyte

Polymer electrolytes were synthesized by two different approaches and applied to electrochromic devices based on electrodeposited tungsten oxide (WO3) or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films as the cathode, and a Prussian blue (PB) film as the anode. The first method involved the entrapping of an ionic liquid in a polymer host (poly(methylmethacrylate) or PMMA) and the second approach relied on the in situ thermal polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA) in the hydrophobic ionic liquid, yielding a solidified transparent gel. The effect of in situ solid polymer electrolyte formation on device performance characteristics was realized in terms of a larger coloration efficiency of 119 cm2 C21 (l = 550 nm) achieved for the WO3–PB (MMA) device, as compared to a value of 54 cm2 C21 obtained for the WO3–PB (PMMA) device. Similar enhancements in electrochromic coloring efficiency, reflectance contrast, and faster switching kinetics were obtained for the PEDOT–PB (MMA) device. The strategy of introducing an electrolyte to the electrochromic device in a liquid state and then subjecting the same to gradual polymerization allows greater accessibility of the electrolyte ions to the active sites on the electrochromic electrodes and superior interfacial contact. As a consequence, larger optical contrast and faster kinetics are achieved in the MMA based devices. While PEDOT films were amorphous, PB films were semi-crystalline but only in the case of WO3; the hexagonal structure of WO3, equipped with three/four/six-coordinated voids was found to affect bleaching kinetics favorably. The performance of PMMA based electrolyte is limited by high resistance at the electrode–electrolyte interface, and a smaller number of ions available for oxidation and reduction. Large area (y10 cm 6 4 cm) devices were also fabricated using this simple wet chemistry method and their ability to color uniformly without any pinholes was demonstrated

Isolation, purification, characterization and applications of serine protease from Bacillus megaterium

Bacillus megaterium isolated from poultry farm soil was identified by standard biochemical tests and screened for the production of serine protease. Production of serine protease was done using 5 different medias by varying the type of amino acid added. The purification was done by salt precipitation, dialysis and DEAEcellulose ion exchange chromatography. The proline containing media obtained the highest fold purification out of the five different medias (leucine, lysine, proline, tryptophan and methionine cotaining media). The enzyme showedan optimal activity at the temperature 37°C and the pH 6 which are known as its optimum temperature and pH respectively. The enzyme was proved as a Mn2+ dependent serine protease as it was activated by Mn2+ ions and inhibited by PMSF. The molecular weight of the enzyme was determined by SDS-PAGE technique as around 30kDa. It showed an excellent detergent activity on the blood stains and a very good stability in presence of locally available detrgents. The enzyme acted on the keratin protein of the chicken feather and showed a degrading capacity on the protein. So it was proved that the recently studied serine protease has a keratinase activity also. From these datas I conclude that the protease isolated from Bacillus megaterium is a Mn2+ dependent serine protease which has both keratinase and detergent activity