An Optimized Small-Scale Rearing System to Support Embryonic Microinjection Protocols for Western Corn Rootworm, .

Western corn rootworm (WCR), a major pest of corn, has been reared in laboratories since the 1960s. While established rearing methods are appropriate for maintaining WCR colonies, they are not optimal for performing germline transformation or CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing. Here we report the development of an optimized rearing system for use in WCR functional genomics research, specifically the development of a system that facilitates the collection of preblastoderm embryos for microinjection as well as gathering large larvae and pupae for downstream phenotypic screening.

How Rearing Systems for Various Species of Flies Benefit Humanity.

Flies (Diptera) have played a prominent role in human history, and several fly species are reared at different scales and for different beneficial purposes worldwide. Here, we review the historical importance of fly rearing as a foundation for insect rearing science and technology and synthesize information on the uses and rearing diets of more than 50 fly species in the families Asilidae, Calliphoridae, Coelopidae, Drosophilidae, Ephydridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae, Stratiomyidae, Syrphidae, Tachinidae, Tephritidae, and Tipulidae. We report more than 10 uses and applications of reared flies to the well-being and progress of humanity.

COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Access and Vaccination Coverage Among Children Aged 5-11 Years - United States, November 2021-January 2022.

On October 29, 2021, the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric COVID-19 vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization for children aged 5-11 years in the United States. For a successful immunization program, both access to and uptake of the vaccine are needed. Fifteen million doses were initially made available to pediatric providers to ensure the broadest possible access for the estimated 28 million eligible children aged 5-11 years, especially those in high social vulnerability index (SVI) communities.

Optimization of a Diet for the Greater Wax Moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Using Full Factorial and Mixture Design.

Diet optimization is an important process to increase the efficiency of rearing insects and can be used to develop high-quality insects with specific fitness and life-history traits. Galleria mellonella (L.), the greater wax moth, is widely used in research, microbiology assays, as pet food, and host for biological control agents.

feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph.

The parasitic mite is the greatest single driver of the global honey bee health decline. Better understanding of the association of this parasite and its host is critical to developing sustainable management practices. Our work shows that this parasite is not consuming hemolymph, as has been the accepted view, but damages host bees by consuming fat body, a tissue roughly analogous to the mammalian liver.

Prevalence of hiatal hernia in the morbidly obese.

Background: Morbidly obese patients commonly have gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) and associated hiatal hernias. As such, some surgeons routinely perform a concomitant hiatal hernia repair during bariatric surgery. However, the intraoperative inspection for a hiatal hernia based on laparoscopic visualization can be misleading.

Vision rehabilitation for visual-vestibular dysfunction: the role of the neuro-optometrist.

Introduction: This article discusses, in a clinically relevant format, the importance of including a neuro-optometrist as a member of the management team for patients with balance disorders.

Purpose: To review the importance of vision and visual processing for maintaining a sense of balance and equilibrium and the role of the neuro-optometrist in the overall rehabilitation of patients with balance disorders

Summary: Dizziness, balance problems and the sensation that the space world is moving (vertigo) are one of the most commonly reported problems in general medical practice. Persons with a central nervous system injury or other idiopathic causes of visual processing problems or who have functional vision problems that are not adequately managed, often experience extreme difficulty with balance and movement, as well as with their perception of space.

Low-dose and standard computed tomography scans yield equivalent stone measurements.

Objective: To ascertain the reliability of low-dose computed tomography (CT) compared with standard CT in the determination of stone size, density, and skin-to-stone distance (SSD).

Materials And Methods: A total of 10 patients seen in the emergency room within a mean of 23 days (range 0-51) underwent both conventional CT and low-dose CT for the same stone. The radiation dose reduction was calculated according to the patient's body mass index.

CT evaluation of placental abruption in pregnant trauma patients.

The purpose of the study was to assess the possibility of placental injury detection on computed tomography (CT) in pregnant trauma patients. The images and dictated reports of 44 CT scans of pregnant women who presented to the University of California Irvine Medical Center (UCIMC) from 2003 to 2008 for traumatic abdominal conditions were reviewed for placental abruption. Performances of original dictated reports, an untrained reviewer, and a trained reviewer (who was trained on 22 non-traumatic scans) were compared.

Retrocecal appendix location and perforation at presentation.

Retrocecal appendicitis has been theorized to follow a more insidious course than other anatomic variants. To determine the influence of retrocecal anatomy on clinical course of appendicitis, 200 adult patients treated at a major university medical center with the diagnosis of appendicitis from 2001 to 2004 were retrospectively studied. Computed tomography (CT) scans of adult patients with an ultimate diagnosis of appendicitis were analyzed to determine an association between retrocecal appendix and perforation of the appendix at presentation.

Accurate diagnosis of infarction of omentum and appendices epiploicae by computed tomography.

Segmental infarction of the omentum and epiploic appendages presents with acute abdominal findings that may be confused with a surgical illness. Computed tomography, however, demonstrates a consistent and well-recognized pattern that allows safe, nonoperative treatment. Infarction of omental or mesenteric fat may present clinically as localized peritonitis, mimicking appendicitis, diverticulitis, or cholecystitis.

Iatrogenic venous air embolism during contrast enhanced computed tomography: a report of two cases.

Venous air embolism (VAE) is a known complication of venous access procedures such as contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT). Although a massive VAE can be fatal, most iatrogenic VAE cases during CECT involve a few milliliters of air and are asymptomatic. We report two cases of massive and nonfatal VAE during CECT.

Optimizing the patient positioning for PICC line tip determination.

Central venous catheters (CVCs) are used for both emergent and long-term vascular access for the infusion of numerous therapeutic agents such as chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition, antibiotics, and analgesics, as well as for temporary hemodialysis or hemoperfusion. Current standard of care dictates that CVC insertion should be followed by an immediate chest radiograph to confirm appropriate position. Radiographic confirmation of central venous line placement is important because it is not possible to determine CVC tip position clinically.

Superior mesenteric artery syndrome involving the duodenum and jejunum.

Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction involving the duodenum. Diagnosis is based on clinical suspicion with radiologic confirmation. We report an unusual presentation of the SMA syndrome involving both the duodenum and jejunum initially not recognized on contrast-enhanced CT.

Deliberately added and "cryptic" antioxidants in three artificial diets for insects.

Characteristics of both deliberately added and "cryptic" antioxidants were assayed from hydrophilic and lipophilic extracts from artificial diets for plant bugs, lepidopteran larvae, and green lacewings. Cryptic antioxidants are defined as substances naturally existing in diet ingredients but not deliberately added because of their antioxidant potential. Diets were tested after 1) being freshly produced, 2) stored for 48 h at 4 degrees C, or 3) held for 48 h under rearing room conditions at 27 degrees C.

Management of traumatic abdominal wall hernia.

Traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) can occur after blunt trauma and can be classified into low- or high-energy injuries. Low energy injuries occur after impact on a small blunt object. High-energy injuries are sustained during motor vehicle accidents or automobile versus pedestrian accidents.

Insect feeding mobilizes a unique plant defense protease that disrupts the peritrophic matrix of caterpillars.

Plants frequently respond to herbivorous insect attack by synthesizing defense proteins that deter insect feeding and prevent additional herbivory. Maize (Zea mays L.) lines, resistant to feeding by a number of lepidopteran species, rapidly mobilize a unique 33-kDa cysteine protease in response to caterpillar feeding.

Effect of antifungal agents on biological fitness of Lygus hesperus (Heteroptera: Miridae).

Artificial diets have become important components of rearing systems for insects that are used for research purposes and in commercial production. Because the rearing conditions for insects also provide ideal settings for mold growth, antifungal additives are often used to reduce diet contamination. However, the antifungal agents must not only be effective in mold suppression, they must also be safe to the target insects of the rearing programs.

Molecular cloning and partial characterization of a trypsin-like protein in salivary glands of Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae).

Trypsin-like enzymes from the salivary gland complex (SGC) of Lygus hesperus Knight were partially purified by preparative isoelectric focusing (IEF). Enzyme active against Nalpha-benzoyl-L-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BApNA) focused at approximately pH 10 during IEF. This alkaline fraction gave a single activity band when analyzed with casein zymograms.