A user's guide to the encyclopedia of DNA elements (ENCODE).

The mission of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project is to enable the scientific and medical communities to interpret the human genome sequence and apply it to understand human biology and improve health. The ENCODE Consortium is integrating multiple technologies and approaches in a collective effort to discover and define the functional elements encoded in the human genome, including genes, transcripts, and transcriptional regulatory regions, together with their attendant chromatin states and DNA methylation patterns. In the process, standards to ensure high-quality data have been implemented, and novel algorithms have been developed to facilitate analysis. Data and derived results are made available through a freely accessible database. Here we provide an overview of the project and the resources it is generating and illustrate the application of ENCODE data to interpret the human genome.

Addendum to Annual Report of the Iowa Department of Revenue FY2007

Addendum to Annual Report of the Iowa Department of Revenue FY2007. Comparison to prior years. Local option tax distributions.

Key to the adults of the most common forensic species of Diptera in South America

Flies (Diptera, blow flies, house flies, flesh flies, horse flies, cattle flies, deer flies, midges and mosquitoes) are among the four megadiverse insect orders. Several species quickly colonize human cadavers and are potentially useful in forensic studies. One of the major problems with carrion fly identification is the lack of taxonomists or available keys that can identify even the most common species sometimes resulting in erroneous identification. Here we present a key to the adults of 12 families of Diptera whose species are found on carrion, including human corpses. Also, a summary for the most common families of forensic importance in South America, along with a key to the most common species of Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Fanniidae and to the genera of Sarcophagidae are provided. Drawings of the most important characters for identification are also included.

Vector competence of Culex quinquefasciatus Say, 1823 exposed to different densities of microfilariae of Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy, 1856)

The metropolitan region of Recife, Brazil is endemic for Dirofilaria immitis and has an environment favorable to the development of Culex quinquefasciatus. The goal of this study was to evaluate the vector competence of the Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population for D. immitis transmission. A total of 2,104 females of Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population were exposed to different densities of D. immitis microfilariae blood meals, ranging from 1,820 to 2,900 mf/ml of blood, in a natural membrane apparatus. The results showed a variation between 92.3% and 98.8% of females fed. The exposure of the Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population to different densities of microfilariae did not influence the mortality of the mosquitoes. Infective larvae from D. immitis were observed in the Malpighian tubules beginning on the 12th day, whereas larvae were observed in the head and proboscis beginning on the 13th day following infection. The vector efficiency index (VEI) presented by the mosquitoes ranged from 7.8 to 56.5. The data demonstrates that the Cx. quinquefasciatus RECIFE population has great potential for the transmission of D. immitis, as it allowed the development of the filarid until the infectious stage at the different densities of microfilariae to which it was exposed.

Rate of convergence of a particle method to the solution of the Mc Kean-Vlasov's equation

This paper studies the rate of convergence of an appropriatediscretization scheme of the solution of the Mc Kean-Vlasovequation introduced by Bossy and Talay. More specifically,we consider approximations of the distribution and of thedensity of the solution of the stochastic differentialequation associated to the Mc Kean - Vlasov equation. Thescheme adopted here is a mixed one: Euler/weakly interactingparticle system. If $n$ is the number of weakly interactingparticles and $h$ is the uniform step in the timediscretization, we prove that the rate of convergence of thedistribution functions of the approximating sequence in the $L^1(\Omega\times \Bbb R)$ norm and in the sup norm is of theorder of $\frac 1{\sqrt n} + h $, while for the densities is ofthe order $ h +\frac 1 {\sqrt {nh}}$. This result is obtainedby carefully employing techniques of Malliavin Calculus.

Agreed upon procedures for the City of Garber for the year ended June 30, 2007

Agreed upon procedures for the City of Garber for the year ended June 30, 2007

A new species of Seira Lubbock (Collembola, Entomobryidae), with a key to the species of Paraíba, Brazil

A new species of Entomobryidae of the genus Seira Lubbock, S. paraibensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated. The type locality of the species is the municipality of Areia, state of Paraíba, Brazil. The species was found inhabiting the Atlantic forest litter and top soil environment. S. paraibensis sp. nov. resembles S. pseudoannulata in many morphological features. This is the sixth species of the genus found and described in Paraiba so far. A key with the 11 species of Seira registered so far in Paraíba is provided. Also a list with all species of the genus from Brazil is presented.

Report of Recommendations to the University of Northern Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Report on the University of Northern Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2007

Exposure of a single host (Chrysomya megacephala) (Calliphoridae) to different quantities of female parasitoids (Nasonia vitripennis) (Pteromalidae)

The aim of this study was to verify the duration of the development period, number of parasitoids produced per pupa, parasitism rate and sex ratio of Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae), when they were exposed to a single host: Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera, Calliphoridae). One pupa was exposed in glass tubes to different numbers of female parasitoids (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11) during 48 h. Twenty replications/treatment were used, under controlled conditions (T= 27 °C day/ 25 °C night, 60 ± 10% RH). Statistical analysis of the data was made using the ANOVA test and the "a posteriori" comparisons were made using the Tukey-HSD test (both tests with a significance level of 5%). The duration of the development period was longer in treatments where a higher density of females per host was used. When five females per host were used, the mean number of parasitoids that emerged per pupa was higher. The data showed a tendency to a decrease in the amount of parasitoids emerged per host, especially of female, when used high quantities of female per host. Higher parasitism rates were observed in the 3:1 and 5:1 treatments and an increase in the percentage of unviable pupae was observed, probably due to an increase of female densities in the treatments, possibly a consequence of superparasitism.

Report of Recommendations to the Board of Regents for the year ended June 30, 2007

Report of the Board of Regents for the year ended June 30, 2007

A Hull and White formula for a general stochastic volatility jump-diffusion model with applications to the study of the short-time behavior of the implied volatility

In this paper, generalizing results in Alòs, León and Vives (2007b), we see that the dependence of jumps in the volatility under a jump-diffusion stochastic volatility model, has no effect on the short-time behaviour of the at-the-money implied volatility skew, although the corresponding Hull and White formula depends on the jumps. Towards this end, we use Malliavin calculus techniques for Lévy processes based on Løkka (2004), Petrou (2006), and Solé, Utzet and Vives (2007).

Ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) associated to arboreal nests of Nasutitermes spp: (Isoptera, Termitidae) in a cacao plantation in southeastern Bahia, Brazil

Ants are among the most common arthropods that colonize termite nests. The aim of this study was to identify the ant fauna associated to termite nests found in a cacao plantation in the county of Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil, with emphasis on the fauna that uses the nests as foraging and/or nesting environment. For this purpose, 34 active, decadent and abandoned nests of Nasutitermes corniger, N. ephratae and Nasutitermes sp., with different volumes and degrees of activity, were dissected. A total of 54 ant species, belonging to 23 genera and five subfamilies, was found in the constructions. The active, decadent and abandoned termite nests presented, respectively, six, eight and 48 ant species. Crematogaster acuta and Ectatomma tuberculatum were the most frequent species in the active and decadent nests, respectively, while the most frequent species in the abandoned nests were Solenopsis pollux, Thaumatomyrmex contumax and Thaumatomyrmex sp. Twenty-six ant species had true colonies within the termitaria. The Formicidae species richness in the nests was inversely related to the degree of termite activity in the nests. The occurrence of living, decadent or abandoned termitaria of Nasutitermes spp. in cacao plantations foments the heterogeneity of habitats available in the plantations and favors the maintenance of high diversity of organisms that use obligatory or opportunistically this substrate.

Contributions to the knowledge of Banasa Stål (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae): Banasa chaca Thomas

Contributions to the knowledge of Banasa Stål (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae): Banasa chaca Thomas. The male of Banasa chaca Thomas is described with emphasis on external and internal genitalia and the female internal genitalia is described. Banasa chaca is newly recorded from Buenos Aires Province (Argentina).