Cloning and expression of the cDNA encoding rat granulocyte colony-stimulating factor

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) acts on precursor hematopoietic cells to control the production and maintenance of neutrophils. Recombinant G-CSF (re-G-CSF)is used clinically to treat patients with neutropenia and has greatly reduced the infection risk associated with bone marrow transplantation. Cyclic hematopoiesis, a stem cell defect characterized by severe recurrent neutropenia, occurs in man and grey collie dogs, and can be treated by administration of re-G-CSF. Availability of the rat G-CSF cDNA would benefit the use of rats as models of gene therapy for the treatment of cyclic hematopoiesis. In preliminary rat experiments, retroviral-mediated expression of canine G-CSF caused neutralizing antibody formation which precluded long-term increases in neutrophil counts. To overcome this problem we cloned the rat G-CSF cDNA from RNA isolated from skin fibroblasts. The rat G-CSF sequence shared a high degree of identity in both the coding and non-coding regions with both the murine G-CSF (85%) and human G-CSF (74%). The signal peptides of murine and human G-CSF both contained 30 amino acids (aa), whereas the deduced signal sequence for rat G-CSF possessed 21 aa. A retrovirus encoding the rat G-CSF cDNA synthesized bioactive G-CSF from transduced vascular smooth muscle cells.

A method for rearing immature stages of Apis melifera outside the colony (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

The objective this work is to define an effective method for following the development of immatures of Apis mellifera from metamorphosis to the emergence of the adult, under conditions allowing the application of diverse treatments. The results showed the best method to be when broods with 5th instar larvae and prepupae were maintained in incubators with the temperature and humidity controlled at 34°C and 65 to 70% respectively.

Enzymes in the hypopharyngeal gland extracts from workers of Scaptotrigona postica (Hymenoptera, Apinae, Meliponini) related to food storing in the colony

This study reports on research of enzymes produced by the hypopharyngeal glands, which are related to food storing in the colony, from gland extracts from nurse and forager workers of S. postica. Only the presence of the saccharase was detected in the extracts from the glands of forager workers. The results were compared to the enzymatic content of similar extracts of A. mellifera taking into account the behavioral differences among the two species.

Patterns of honey storage in nests of the neotropical paper wasp Polistes simillimus Zikán, 1951 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

This study describes, for the first time, the occurrence of two patterns of honey storage in nests of the paper wasp Polistes simillimus. During the period of January of 1997 to September of 2000 we visited 262 colonies of P. simillimus, found at several places in States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, in the southeast region of Brazil. Only in 2.67% of the colonies of P. simillimus searched presented the behavior of honey storage. Two of these colonies were in the pre-emergency phase, two in the post-emergency and three in decline. The results suggest that the honey storage can be correlated with the number of present individuals in the colony, because the colonies in decline, with larger number of individuals, presented many more cells occupied with honey than the nests in pre and post-emergency. There was not a pattern for the distribution of the cells with honey in the nests in decline. The honey storage in the colonies in pre and post-emergency of P. simillimus, suggests a strategy to increase success of foraging activity in the function of parental care. Already for the colonies in decline, this strategy seems to be associated with the individuals' survival in the aggregation, since the wasps are awaiting the passage of the unfavorable climatic conditions for the dispersion and foundation of new colonies.

Influence of the colony cycle on physiological and morphological caste variation in the perennial neotropical swarm-founding social wasp, Protonectarina sylveirae (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Epiponini)

This paper describes the influence of the colony cycle on caste differences in Protonectarina sylveirae. Despite invariably keeping the main aspects of the conspicuous dimorphism between the castes, it is shown that: 1- queen-worker differences varied according to the progress of the colony cycle, 2- queens in pre-emergence colonies were smaller than those in male-producing ones, 3- workers were larger in pre-emergence than in other colony stages, 4- at particular steps of the colony cycle, non-inseminated ovary-developed queens and workers were detected. The size of the spermatheca differed between inseminated and non-inseminated queens with the highest values appearing in those bearing the most developed kind of ovary development. Differences between inseminated and non-inseminated queens were found in tergites III and IV, ovarian development and amount of fatty tissues. Because tergite size relates to gaster size, this character may be an important stimulus for selection of larger queens in the course of the colony cycle.

On Nonlinear Dynamics and Control of A Particular Portal Frame Foundation Model, Excited by a Non-Ideal Motor

The nonlinear dynamic response and a nonlinear control method of a particular portal frame foundation for an unbalanced rotating machine with limited power (non-ideal motor) are examined. Numerical simulations are performed for a set of control parameters (depending on the voltage of the motor) related to the static and dynamic characteristics of the motor. The interaction of the structure with the excitation source may lead to the occurrence of interesting phenomena during the forward passage through the several resonance states of the systems. A mathematical model having two degrees of freedom simplifies the non-ideal system. The study of controlling steady-state vibrations of the non-ideal system is based on the saturation phenomenon due to internal resonance.

Electrophoretical Protein Profile in Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera; Apidae) Hypopharyngeal Glands under Juvenile Hormone Effect When the Colony is Grown in the Absence of Brood

Twelve-day-old and 25-day-old Apis mellifera workers were treated or not treated with juvenile hormone at the moment of emergence and reared in the colony without brood. Having the brood interference apart, the hormone effect on the hypopharyngeal glands protein expression was determined through the electrophoretical protein profiles of the both groups of bees. In those conditions, the hormone induced changes that were different from the control. Protein bands of 66 and 48 kDa were intensified in the 12-day-old bees, whereas band of 42 kDa was reduced in the 25-day-old bees. That indicated a different effect of the juvenile hormone in the function of bee aging, which promoted a glandular protein activation in the young bees and, in contrast, an inhibitory action in the 25-day-old bees workers.

Note about the first swarming in a laboratory colony of Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

A laboratory rearing of Coptotermes gestroi which swarmed from the reared colony is described.

Efficacy of ultrasonic, electric and manual toothbrushes in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances

Objective: This crossover study compared the efficacy of an ultrasonic toothbrush for the reduction of plaque, gingival inflammation, and levels of Streptococcus mutans, in relation to an electric and a manual toothbrush. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one patients with orthodontic appliances were divided into three groups. All patients were evaluated by a periodontist and samples of saliva were collected for quantification of S mutans. The patients received their first brushes with appropriate instructions. For each crossover leg, patients used each toothbrush for a period of 30 days. At the end of each washout period, participants received a periodontal evaluation and new samples of saliva were collected. After 15 days of using their own toothbrushes, patients received the next toothbrushes in the experimental sequence. Results: The ultrasonic brush group presented significant improvement in the reduction of visible plaque on the buccal surfaces (-6.36%, P = .007). The counts of S mutans decreased in the electric (2.04 × 105 to 1.36 × 105 colony-forming units [CFU]/mL) and ultrasonic (2.98 × 105 to 1.84 × 105 CFU/mL) groups. There were no statistical differences among the three brushes for the clinical and microbiological parameters evaluated. Conclusions: This study did not demonstrate that the ultrasonic toothbrush was better in reducing gingival inflammation in adolescent orthodontic patients, but plaque scores were lowered on buccal surfaces of teeth with orthodontic brackets. In addition, S mutans counts were markedly decreased in the electric and ultrasonic groups, which should be related to a reduced risk of oral disease. © 2006 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.

An evaluation of the productivity of mischocyttarus drewseni in a semi-urban environment (Hymenoptera: Polistinae)

The biology and productivity of Myschocytarus drewseni were studied in semi urban conditions at Rio Claro, S P - Brazil. We observed 51 nest foundations, of which 24 (47%) were destroyed or predated, 13 (25.5 %) were abandoned and 14 (27.5%) completed the cycle. The life-span of colonies ranged from 44-427 days with a mean of 216.7 ± 140.6 days, producing 8-390 cells with a mean of 125.7 ± 137.9 cells, and 2-303 adults with a mean of 89.4 ± 110.36 adults. We observed a maximum of 3 utilizations/cell. This showed that the species presents asynchronous foundation and abandoningoccurs throughout the year. Also, the chance of a colony utilizing the same cells two or three times for adult production is highly dependent on the colony size/age, and the relation between them is positive, meaning that there is a greater chance of cell re-utilization in larger/older colonies.

Foraging activity of Protopolybia exigua (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in different phases of the colony cycle, at an area in the region of the Médio São Francisco River, Bahia, Brazil

In this work, the foraging activity of Protopolybia exigua (de Saussure) was studied, aiming to verify the amplitude of the foraging time, the relation between the physical factors of weather (temperature, relative air humidity, luminosity and wind speed) and the daily activity of searching for resources, as well as to analyze the influence of the colony development phases and the number of individuals (adults and immatures) engaged in such activity. The study was carried out in two areas of the city of Bom Jesus da Lapa, Bahia, Brazil, during the period from January to June 2006, when the observation of 12 colonies of P. exigua was performed. The results revealed this species presented an amplitude of activity of almost 13 hours. There was an average of 44.4 nest exits and 37.6 returns a day by the nest workers and the Returns with Resources Index for this species was 93.5%. The foraging activity increased as of 10:01, and became more intense, with the peak from 1:01 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., when the highest temperatures (°C) and the lowest values of relative air humidity (%) were observed. The colonies that had a larger number of larvae presented a higher average number of trips to the field per hour (10.94) and the number of females in the colony tends to induce foraging activity. There were no differences between the numbers of nest exits by the workers regarding the three phases of colony development.

Classification of petroleum well drilling operations with a hybrid particle swarm/ant colony algorithm

This paper describes an investigation of the hybrid PSO/ACO algorithm to classify automatically the well drilling operation stages. The method feasibility is demonstrated by its application to real mud-logging dataset. The results are compared with bio-inspired methods, and rule induction and decision tree algorithms for data mining. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Foraging behavior and colony cycle of agelaia vicina (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Epiponini)

The neotropical Agelaia vicina has the largest nest built among social wasps, yet little is known about nest construction, growth and structure. In this work, the development of two nests of A. vicina was followed. Studies were done through analysis of images to estimate the growth of nests. The material collected below the nests was examined to estimate colony productivity. Nests were collected to analyze their architecture and structure. Colony cycle was similar in the two colonies. Colonies increase in size throughout the dry season and into the rainy season, with a sudden drop in production at the end of the rainy season. The colonies doubled in size in about six months.

Barbados: public-private sector partnership

Includes bibliography

Job creation in Latin America in the 1990s: the foundation for social policy

Includes bibliography