Ultrastructural and developmental toxicity of potato and tomato leaf extracts to beet armyworm,Spodoptera exigua (lepidoptera: noctuidae)

Beet Armyworm, Spodoptera exigua is a herbivorous moth and a serious pest of many economically important plants, which are used as food sources. Because of rigorous standards of food quality, usage of synthetic insecticides in crop protection, against pests, is limited. Solanaceae plant extracts may be a relatively cheap source of efficient natural insecticides that can limit usage of synthetic substances. Their biological activity is not fully known. In particular, ultrastructural studies, using transmission electron microscopy, are not usual. In the present article we describe the effects of sublethal concentrations of tomato and potato leaf extracts against S. exigua. Acute lethal effects were not observed. Both extracts exerted similar effects within midgut and fat body cells. Midgut cells were not significantly altered while fat body cells showed prominent swelling of nuclear envelope and endoplasmic reticulum, vacuolization of mitochondria and fusion of fat droplets. These changes were much more intensive within groups exposed to potato than tomato extracts at highest concentration at least. Light microscopy was used to observe and document developmental alterations of S. exigua exposed to potato and tomato leaf extracts. Potato leaf extracts significantly decreased hatching success and caused morphological malformations of imagoes. Among them, malformations of wings were the most prominent. Interestingly, these effects were not observed within populations exposed to tomato extracts at highest concentration at least.     

Effect of elevated accumulation of iron in ferritin on the antioxidants content in soybean sprouts

Cultivation of soybean sprouts in abiotic stress conditions, resulted from the presence of 5–25?mM FeSO₄ in the culture media, causes a strong overexpression of ferritin. Accumulation of ferritin iron in sprouted seeds germinated in the 20?mM solution of FeSO₄ was 67 times higher than in sprouts germinated in distilled water. The cultivation conditions also influence on another antioxidant content—mainly β-carotene content, which increased 28 times (in sprouts cultured in 10?mM FeSO₄ solution) in comparison to the content in dry seeds. Obtained in stress conditions sprouted seeds contain less tocochromanoles than raw seeds. However, their total tocochromanol content was higher than in sprouted seeds cultured in distilled water in every examined concentration of Fe²⁺. A total antioxidant activity is increased only during culturing in 0–10?mM media, and it is positively correlated to the total phenolic compounds content (r?=?0.8498). We concluded that germination in high abiotic stress also causes the increase in different antioxidants content, not only in ferritin, which is directly involved in the process of iron detoxification.     

Finite satisfiability for guarded fixpoint logic

The finite satisfiability problem for guarded fixpoint logic is decidable and complete for 2ExpTime (resp. ExpTime for formulas of bounded width).     

Flavin-Dependent Enzymes in Cancer Prevention

Statistical studies have demonstrated that various agents may reduce the risk of cancer’s development. One of them is activity of flavin-dependent enzymes such as flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO)_GS-OX1, FAD-dependent 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and flavin-dependent monoamine oxidase. In the last decade, many papers concerning their structure, reaction mechanism and role in the cancer prevention were published. In our work, we provide a more in-depth analysis of flavin-dependent enzymes and their contribution to the cancer prevention. We present the actual knowledge about the glucosinolate synthesized by flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO)_GS-OX1 and its role in cancer prevention, discuss the influence of mutations in FAD-dependent 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase on the cancer risk, and describe FAD as an important cofactor for the demethylation of histons. We also present our views on the role of riboflavin supplements in the prevention against cancer.     

The influence of densification temperature and the size of powder particles on the properties of isotropic Nd-Fe-B magnets made of quenched ribbons

The influence of densification temperature and the size of powder particles on magnetization of remanence J _r , coercivity _J H _c of hot-densified Nd-Fe-B magnets made of MQP-A quenched ribbons was investigated. A connection between magnetic properties, parameters of production process and microstructure of the magnet was confirmed. It was found that the remanence of isotropic magnet depends on temperature of hot densification process but is practically independent of the size of powder particles. On the other hand, the temperature of hot densification process and the size of powder particles have a substantial influence on coercivity.     

The effect of probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, Lactobacillus paracasei LPC-37, and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM) on the availability of minerals from Dutch-type cheese

The use of probiotic cultures in the production of Dutch-type cheeses did not lead to significant changes in their chemical composition but it lowered their acidity. The availability of calcium and magnesium analyzed by in vitro enzymatic hydrolysis was 19 and 35%, respectively; the availability of phosphorus was significantly higher, at >90%. The use of probiotic cultures significantly increased the availability of calcium (~2.5%), phosphorus (~6%), and magnesium (~18%). The in vitro method supports accurate determination of the effect of the Lactobacillus spp. cultures on the availability of mineral compounds ingested with Dutch-type cheese.     

A Critical Role for the Presence of Lignocellulosic Material in the Determination of Wood Buffering Capacity

The currently used determinations of wood buffering capacity, which are based on pH-metric titrations of aqueous wood extracts, neglect the effect of lignocellulosic material and the role of its insoluble constituents. This study examined the influence of the presence of wood in a system subjected to titration. A comparison of the results obtained from pine chip extracts and chip suspensions showed that the presence of wood and the wood-to-water ratio were critical factors that affected the measurement of the wood buffering capacity. The evidence showed that the resulting determination may vary by up to six times (0.28–1.99 ml/g), depending upon the conditions of the titration. In addition, it was found that the presence of wood had a neutralizing effect over the course of prolonged pH observations.     

The effect of temperature on the changes of precipitates in low-alloy steel

Investigations on the microstructure of low-alloy steel in the as-received condition and after 70?000?h ageing at 550 and 600°C were carried out. For the recorded images of the microstructure, a quantitative analysis of precipitates was performed. On that basis, a statistical analysis of collected data was made with the aim of estimating parameters of selected theoretical statistical distribution. Then, the forecast for average precipitate diameter and standard deviation of such a distribution for the time of 100?000?h at 550 and 600°C was calculated. The obtained results of investigations confirm the possibility of using, in evaluation of degradation degree for materials in use, the forecasting methods derived from mathematical statistics.