Soil animal communities demonstrate simplification without homogenization along an urban gradient.

Urbanization profoundly impacts biodiversity and ecosystem function, exerting an immense ecological filter on the flora and fauna that inhabit it, oftentimes leading to simplistic and homogenous ecological communities. However, the response of soil animal communities to urbanization remains underexplored, and it is unknown whether their response to urbanization is like that of aboveground organisms. This study investigated the influence of urbanization on soil animal communities in 40 public parks along an urbanization gradient.

Analyzing golf course pesticide risk across the US and Europe-The importance of regulatory environment.

This study quantifies golf course pesticide risk in five regions across the US (Florida, East Texas, Northwest, Midwest, and Northeast) and three countries in Europe (UK, Denmark, and Norway) with the objective of determining how pesticide risk on golf courses varied as a function of climate, regulatory environment, and facility-level economic factors. The hazard quotient model was used to estimate acute pesticide risk to mammals specifically. Data from 68 golf courses are included in the study, with a minimum of at least five golf courses in each region.

A novel framework for estimating and analyzing pesticide risk on golf courses.

This study develops a framework that quantifies golf course pesticide risk, explores environmental and economic factors that may be responsible for the observed risk, develops a method to compare golf course pesticide risk to other agricultural crops and investigates how pesticide risk on golf courses can be most effectively reduced. To quantify pesticide risk, we adapt the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) and hazard quotient models for use on golf courses. The EIQ model provides an estimate of overall environmental risk, while the hazard quotient model, as applied here, provides an estimate of pesticide risk to mammals.

Inhibition of Clostridium botulinum in Model Reduced-Sodium Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Products.

The 1986 Food Research Institute-Tanaka et al. model predicts the safety of shelf-stable process cheese spread formulations using the parameters of moisture, pH, NaCl, and disodium phosphate (DSP) to inhibit toxin production by Clostridium botulinum. Although this model is very reliable for predicting safety for standard-of-identity spreads, the effects of additional factors have not been considered.

Trail following response of larval Cactoblastis cactorum to 2-acyl-1,3-cyclohexanediones.

Caterpillars of Cactoblastis cactorum secrete onto the surface of host cactuses droplets of an oily fluid that issues from the orifices of their paired mandibular glands. The fluid contains a series of 2-acyl-1,3-cyclohexanediones that, collectively, have been shown to elicit trail-following behavior from the caterpillars. This study reports the results of bioassays to determine the ability of two specific compounds, previously shown to be prominent components of the mandibular glands of pyralid caterpillars, 4-hydroxy-2-oleoyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione and 2-oleoyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione, to elicit trail-following behavior from the larvae of C.

Trail marking by larvae of the cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum.

The cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), spends most of its larval life feeding within the cladodes of Opuntia cactuses, but the gregarious caterpillars begin their life outside the plant, and in the later instars make intermittent excursions over plant surfaces to access new cladodes and to thermoregulate. The study reported here showed that when the caterpillars move en masse, they mark and follow trails that serve to keep the cohort together. Artificial trails prepared from hexane extracts of the caterpillar's paired mandibular glands were readily followed by the caterpillars.

Reciprocal keratin 18 Ser48 O-GlcNAcylation and Ser52 phosphorylation using peptide analysis.

Phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation of keratin 18 (K18) are highly dynamic and involve primarily independent K18 populations. We used in vitro phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation of wild-type, phospho-Ser52, glyco-Ser48, and Ser-to-Ala mutant 17mer peptides (K18 amino acids 40-56), which include the major K18 glycosylation (Ser48) and phosphorylation (Ser52) sites, to address whether each modification blocks the other. The glyco-K18 peptide blocks Ser52 phosphorylation by protein kinase C, an in vivo K18 kinase, while the phospho-K18 peptide blocks its O-GlcNAcylation.

Characterization of TAT-mediated transport of detachable kinase substrates.

The conjugation of peptides derived from the HIV TAT protein to membrane-impermeant molecules has gained wide acceptance as a means for intracellular delivery. Numerous studies have addressed the mechanism of uptake and kinetics of TAT translocation, but the cytosolic concentrations and bioavailability of the transported cargo have not been well-characterized. The current paper utilizes a microanalytical assay to perform quantitative single-cell measurements of the concentration and accessibility of peptide-based substrates for protein kinase B (PKB) and Ca(2+)/calmodulin-activated kinase II.

Glucoraphanin and 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin contents in seeds of 59 cultivars of broccoli, raab, kohlrabi, radish, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, and cabbage.

The importance of dietary sulforaphane in helping maintain good health continues to gain support within the health-care community and awareness among U.S. consumers.