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As part of an insect resistance management plan to preserve Bt transgenic technology, annual monitoring of target pests is mandated to detect susceptibility changes to Bt toxins. Currently Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) monitoring involves investigating unexpected injury in Bt crop fields and collecting larvae from non-Bt host plants for laboratory diet bioassays to determine mortality responses to diagnostic concentrations of Bt toxins. To date, this monitoring approach has not detected any significant change from the known range of baseline susceptibility to Bt toxins, yet practical field-evolved resistance in H. zea populations and numerous occurrences of unexpected injury occur in Bt crops. In this study, we implemented a network of 73 sentinel sweet corn trials, spanning 16 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces, for monitoring changes in H. zea susceptibility to Cry and Vip3A toxins by measuring differences in ear damage and larval infestations between isogenic pairs of non-Bt and Bt hybrids over three years. This approach can monitor susceptibility changes and regional differences in other ear-feeding lepidopteran pests. Temporal changes in the field efficacy of each toxin were evidenced by comparing our current results with earlier published studies, including baseline data for each Bt trait when first commercialized. Changes in amount of ear damage showed significant increases in H. zea resistance to Cry toxins and possibly lower susceptibility to Vip3a. Our findings demonstrate that the sentinel plot approach as an in-field screen can effectively monitor phenotypic resistance and document field-evolved resistance in target pest populations, improving resistance monitoring for Bt crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article author focuses on promises that allows to convert might into right, escaping the lawless state of nature. Topics include examines that Seana Shiffrin rejects the Hobbesian view that all obligation originates in contract as she does maintain that some coerced promises enable decent forms of human interaction and that this fact explains why such promises bind.

Corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), has emerged as an injurious insect pest to hemp, Cannabis sativa L. a crop newly reintroduced to the United States. Growing hemp presents a potential alternative economic opportunity for farmers but can be challenging with a market that is unstable and just developing. One of the most notable production challenges is managing corn earworm, an insect pest that is particularly damaging when it feeds on flower buds produced in cannabinoid varieties, creating extensive bud tunneling and wounds that allow entry of pathogens that can aid development and presence of bud rot. Damage to seeds is of lesser concern in hemp cultivars grown for grain and minimal risk is associated with hemp grown for fiber. Our ability to research hemp has only recently been allowed as production was largely suspended following World War II and, as such, there has been limited opportunity to develop information for empirically-based pest management recommendations. Further complicating development of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies are regulatory challenges associated with providing registration support to add hemp to pesticide labels, as it was not formally recognized as a crop by U.S. regulatory agencies until late 2019. Research needs and challenges to develop effective IPM programs for corn earworm on hemp are discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published research shows small-to-medium effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) on reducing psychotic symptoms. Given the on-going development of CBTp interventions, the aim of this systematic review is to examine whether the effectiveness of CBTp has changed across time. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL were searched for randomized controlled trials examining CBTp interventions targeting positive and/or negative symptoms vs treatment as usual. Four meta-analyses were carried out to examine the effectiveness of CBTp for: positive symptoms; delusions; hallucinations; and negative symptoms. Four meta-regressions examined whether the effectiveness of CBTp changed across time for these groups of symptoms. A total of 28 studies (n = 2698) yielded a pooled g of -0.24 (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.32, -0.16, P < .001) favoring CBTp for positive symptoms, with nonsignificant heterogeneity (Q = 26.87, P = .47; I² =0%); 13 studies (n = 890) yielded a pooled g of -0.36 (95% CI -0.59, -0.13, P = .002) for delusions, with substantial heterogeneity (Q = 31.99, P = .001; I² =62%); 16 studies (n = 849) yielded a pooled g of -0.26 (95% CI -0.42, -0.11, P < .001) for hallucinations, with nonsignificant heterogeneity (Q = 18.10, P = .26; I² =17%); 19 studies (n = 1761) yielded a pooled g of -0.22 (95% CI -0.33, -0.12, P < .001) for negative symptoms, with nonsignificant heterogeneity (Q = 20.32, P = .32, I² =11%). Meta-regressions indicated a significant effect of year on the effectiveness of CBTp only for delusions (F[1, 11] = 5.99, P = .032; R² = 0.594); methodological quality did not effect this finding. Findings indicate small-to-medium effects of CBTp for psychotic symptoms, with increasing effectiveness across time for delusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exercise recommendations for those who have Marfan syndrome or other genetic predisposition for thoracic aortic disease remain controversial and at times ambiguous. There are no outcomes studies to help guide recommendations. In this review, we examine the guidelines regarding exercise and inherited aortic conditions, the theoretical reasoning and circumstantial evidence that support the guidelines, as well as the knowledge gaps that continue to exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obligations we owe to those with whom we share a valuable relationship (like friendship) cannot be reduced to the obligations we owe to others simply as fellow persons (e.g. the duty to reciprocate benefits received). Wallace suggests that this is because such valuable relationships are loving relationships. I instead propose that it is because, unlike general moral obligations, such valuable relationships (and their constitutive obligations) serve our normative interests. Part of what makes friendship good for us is that it involves bonds of loyalty. Our lives go better if we are bound to others in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the evidence for changes in the structure and function of the brain in subjects at high risk of schizophrenia for genetic reasons during the genesis of the disorder. We first highlight the structural and functional abnormalities in schizophrenia and whether any similar or lesser abnormalities are apparent in unaffected relatives. There is good evidence for subtle abnormalities of hippocampal and ventricle volume in relatives that are not as marked as the deficits in schizophrenia. In addition, the functional imaging literature suggests that prefrontal cortex function may deteriorate in those at risk who go on to develop the disorder. We then review the findings from longitudinal imaging studies of those at high risk, particularly the Edinburgh High-Risk Study, which report gray matter density reductions in medial and lateral temporal lobe because people develop schizophrenia, as well as functional abnormalities which precede onset. We conclude by quoting our own and others’ imaging studies of the associations of genetic and other risk factors for schizophrenia, including stressful life events and cannabis use, which provide mechanistic examples of how these changes may be brought about. Overall, the literature supports the view that there are measurable changes in brain structure and function during the genesis of the disorder, which provide opportunities for early detection and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An invalid promise is one whose breach does not wrong the promisee. I describe two different accounts of why duress and deception invalidate promises. According to the fault account duress and deception invalidate a promise just when it was wrong for the promisee to induce the promisor to promise in that way. According to the injury account, duress and deception invalidate a promise just when by inducing the promise in that way the promisee wrongs the promisor. I demonstrate that the injury account is superior. I then argue that in this respect promising is like any exercise of a normative power. I conclude by distinguishing two theories of promissory obligation, a widely held view which I call the information interest theory and an alternative which I call the authority interest theory. I argue that the points established earlier support the authority interest theory over its rival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the ability of akratic agent to control his action. Control of mental lives; Epistemic akrasia.

The structure indices of a one-dimensional system are an important set of invariants. In this paper we examine a generalization of this concept to multidimensional linear systems, which corresponds to the algebraic concept of a Hilbert series. We use the standard theory of the Hilbert series to explain some of the previous ID system-theoretic results. We discuss the computation of nD structure indices from an initial condition set, and the invariants which can be derived from these indices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Carcinogenesis involves the accumulation of genetic changes within a single cell. Tumor promotion functions in the initial clonal expansion of an initiated cell but is generally not considered to influence later stages. To investigate whether tumor promotion can influence later stages of carcinogenesis we developed a two-hit 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (D) protocol designed to enrich for keratinocytes that contain at least two D-induced genetic alterations. FVB/N mice were initiated with D and promoted with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (T) or treated with acetone (A) vehicle for 6 weeks. At 7 weeks after the start of promotion, but before visible papilloma development, groups of mice were treated with a second dose of D or A and 1 week later T promotion was resumed. D/T/A/T mice developed 2.8 papillomas/mouse and D/A/D/T mice demonstrated an additive tumor response and developed 5.8 papillomas/mouse. Importantly, D/T/D/T mice developed 12.4 papillomas/mouse, thereby demonstrating a synergistic tumor response compared with D/A/D/T and D/T/A/T mice. D/T/D/T papillomas exhibited increases in suprabasal S phase cells and keratin 13 expression when compared with D/T/A/T papillomas. D/T/D/T mice developed squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) 10 weeks earlier than D/T/A/T mice and demonstrated a 96% malignancy incidence and 1.71 SCC/mouse compared with D/T/A/T mice, which demonstrated a 28% malignancy incidence and 0.32 SCC/mouse. Greater than 90% of D/T/A/T and D/T/D/T papillomas and SCCs contained mutant Ha-ras, while a normal Ha-ras allele persisted in all cases, indicating that a gene other than the remaining normal allele of Ha-ras was a target gene for the second D hit. These data demonstrate that: (i) promotion between the first and second hits has a profound outcome on carcinogenesis, presumably by increasing the probability that a second hit will occur in a previously initiated cell; (ii) continued promotion after the second hit is required for full expression of malignancy; (iii) the classic initiation–promotion protocol can be extended to a multihit, multistage model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many physical examples of repetitive, or multipass, processes are subjected to dynamic interaction between successive outputs or pass profiles. This so-called interpass smoothing can severely distort the previous pass profile and therefore must be accounted for in any stability analysis. Failure to do this will, in most cases of practical interest, lead to totally incorrect stability conclusion. In this paper, the total variation of a signal, a well known concept in a number of areas, is used to develop the basis of a rigorous stability theory for one linear subclass where the interpass smoothing is modelled by an integral operator. it is also shown that this theory leads to computable bounds on expected system performance under certain classes of input signals. The key point is that elementary tools of functional analysis (coupled with the total variation of a signal) lead, in contrast to other approaches where only existence-type results can be obtained, to computationally feasible stability tests and performance bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents an essay which focuses on levels of explanation and vocabulary used by physicists, biologists, psychologists, and economists. It informs about the importance of physics, reductionism and explanatory pervasion. It further informs about macrophysical law and macrophysical explanation of Newtonian dynamics.

Although the reproductive ecology of marine turtles has been the subject of numerous long-range studies, the reproductive physiology of these unique animals is little known. Recently, however, preliminary anatomical and endocrinological studies have provided a good basis on which to begin to attempt to explain several of their unusual biological systems. New findings related to the anatomy of and are presented. The female, although having a very massive pair of simultaneously functioning ovaries, appears in most ways very similar to other chelonians. Corpora hemorrhagica, corpora lutea and corpora atretica from active ovaries are briefly described. Ovulation coincides with a luteinizing hormone and progesterone surge. Sperm are probably stored for the season after a single mating period which appears to occur prior to the first ovulation. Males may also cycle and mating as well as nesting are seen as more or less seasonal. The seasonality could be controlled in part by melatonin or other endocrines from the sea turtle's massive pineal complex. A hypothetical model for reproduction is presented in hopes of stimulating interest in physiological approaches to the study of marine turtle reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports findings of a postal survey of 205 couples belonging to the National Association for the Childless, whose infertility had been attributed to the male partner. Spontaneous resolution was seldom reported, but 36 couples had become parents by donor insemination (DI) and 28 through adoption. Almost a third of respondents had managed to resolve their childlessness. Although reasons for rejecting DI or preferring other options were offered by 60 couples, 125 had taken active steps towards it. Most of the 80 couples who had been counselled had found this helpful. Regardless of counselling, of the 76 couples who had considered whether or not to tell their children of their mode of conception, 56 (74%) stated that they had no intention of doing so. Quantitative indices from two self-report scales confirm that male infertility is commonly a source of distress, especially for the female partner. However, the data also suggest that this is not necessarily associated with chronic marital discord. Couples who had already decided for or against DI reported less distress than others. The need for mutual support may well be enhanced until the couple's quest for a child has been either achieved or abandoned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The histopathology of the olfactory mucosal lesion associated with ip adminstration of 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (dichlobenil) and 3,3′-iminodipropionitrile (IDPN) has been well documented. Whether there is an olfactory deflicit associted with the partial loss of the olfactory mucosa (localized around the dorsal medial meatus of the nasal cavity) has yet to be determined. Dichlobenil (100 mg/kg) or IDPN (200 mg/kg) was administered ip to adult male Long-evans rats previously trained in an olfactory task to find a food pellet buried in approximately 7.5 cm of beding in a 0.61×1.2×0.61-m Plexiglass chamber. As a positive control, another group received 300 mg/kg ip of 1-methyl-2-mercaptoimidazole (methimazole), a dosing regimen which destroys nearly all of the olfactory mucosa. All three compounds caused a transient increase in the mean latency to find the pellet, with the magnitude of the effect positively correlated with the extent of the olfactory lesion. In order to determine whether theses deficits resulted from olfactory dysfunction or impaired cognitive function (a deficit previously attributed to IDPN exposure), another group of rats was dosed as above and tested in another spatial memory task, the Morris water maze (MWM), which is less dependent upon olfactory function. No performance deficit was detected in the MWM. These data suggest the transient olfactory deficit in the dichlobenil-, IDPN-, and methimazole-treated rats is attributable to defective olfactory function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]