Preferred Zones Research Articles

Toxicity of Essential Oil from Artemisia herba-alba (Asso.) against Two Insect Pests of Stored Products

This study aimed to examine the insecticide properties of Artemisia herba-alba essential oil (EO) against two main insect pests of stored products Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus zeamais. The toxicity of EO was tested using contact and fumigant bioassays. Repellent activity was also studied using the preference zone method on filter paper. Using GC/MS analysis, the major compounds were, respectively, camphor (23.61%), α-thujone (13.67%), chrysanthenone (11.21%), 1,8-cineole (10%) and β-thujone (7.65%). In both insects, the toxicity tests applied showed a significant increase in the percentage of mortality according to the doses tested (p ≤ 0.05). Moreover, the probit analysis exposed lower values of doses and lethal concentrations (LD50, LD90, LC50, and LC90), which justified the toxic effect of EO on the two insects. In addition, EO caused a significant repulsion after 1 h and 2 h of exposure. The results obtained suggest that A. herba-alba EO can be an excellent alternative to chemical insecticides in the conservation of stored products.

Development of Sub-County Cancer Reporting Zones in Delaware and Example Use Case for Targeted Interventions.

To describe the Delaware Cancer Registry (DCR)'s participation in the National Cancer Institute (NCI)/North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) Zone Design Project to create sub-county geographic areas ("zones") for use in cancer reporting and geospatial analysis. DCR and other stakeholders reviewed up to ten unique zone configurations for each of Delaware's three counties. The zone configurations were created using AZTool and were set to optimize three objectives: create zones that have a minimum and target population of 50,000; are homogenous based on the variables of percent minority, percent below poverty, and percent urban; and are as compact as possible. The DCR sent a survey to stakeholders to provide input on their preferred zone configuration for each county. Following the final selection of zones, the DCR utilized the geographies for calculating overall and late-stage breast cancer incidence statistics and created choropleth maps to visualize the rates by quintiles. The final selections resulted in a total of 15 zones for Delaware, with three in Kent County, nine in New Castle County, and three in Sussex County. The zones ranged in population size from 54,013 to 67,693 people. Zones with higher late-stage breast cancer incidence rates included those near the areas of Wilmington, Middletown, and between Milford and Georgetown. Comparing results of overall breast cancer incidence rates by zone with late-stage rates by zone, there were areas that had lower relative overall breast cancer incidence rates but were relatively higher for late-stage rates by zones or vice versa. Aggregating census tracts into zones allows for reporting reliable cancer rates at sub-county levels, which is instrumental in conveying meaningful information about regional cancer trends to stakeholders and the public. Delaware will be able to utilize zone-level cancer information to provide targeted interventions and outreach initiatives.

ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT DATA FROM GPS-MONITORED LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOGS (LGDS) AT TWO SHEEPFOLDS IN THE NORTH-WESTERN MARAMURES LAND, ROMANIA USING THE KERNEL DENSITY ESTIMATION METHOD. IMPLICATIONS FOR OUTDOOR TOURISM

The Carpathians and other mountainous regions around the world are renowned for their specific landscapes shaped by pastoralism, a millennia-old traditional and sustainable economic system. In Romania, this traditional occupation has an established place within the Romanian culture. In an environment where large predators are present, the livestock owners and shepherds have traditionally relied, and still do, on livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) to protect the flock against carnivores or theft, therefore, the dogs are perceived as an integral component of the traditional pastoral system. However, from late April until the end of September, many outdoor recreational activities like hiking, mountain trail running, or biking overlap with the pastoral calendar, creating a potential for conflict between two, very different categories of landscape users, with recurring incidents happening over the years. In this study, a winter GPS monitoring campaign was proposed, between November 2023 and January 2024 that used GPS professional collars to track the movements of two livestock guardian dogs stationed at two sheepfolds located at their winter bases in the hills at the foot of Ignis Mountains (part of the Romanian northern Carpathians) from northwestern Maramureș Land, Romania. The campaign generated point-based spatiotemporal data processed and analyzed in M. Excel and QGIS using Kernel density estimation as the main method to generate metrics and identify potential clusters of LGD activity in their usual environment. The results highlight high observational clusters near the winter folds but also lower observational clusters in areas situated hundreds of meters distance around the main compound, in certain locations. Although temporally limited, the results have the potential to help the understanding of the animal's preferred zone of habitation and substantiate future win-win cohabitation solutions that minimize conflictual encounters between the shepherds and their guardian dogs on one side, as primary land users, and outdoor recreationists as other landscape users.

Causal thinking: Uncovering hidden assumptions and interpretations of statistical analysis in building science

Causal thinking emphasizes the understanding of asymmetric causal relationships between variables, requiring us to specify which variable is the cause (independent variable) and which is the effect (dependent variable). Reversing the causal relationship direction can lead to profoundly different assumptions and interpretations. We demonstrate this by comparing two linear regression approaches used in thermal comfort research: Approach (a), which regresses thermal sensation votes (y-axis) on indoor temperature (x-axis); Approach (b), which does the reverse, regressing indoor temperature (y-axis) on thermal sensation votes (x-axis). From a correlational perspective, they may appear interchangeable, but causal thinking reveals substantial and practical differences between them. Approach (a) represents occupants’ thermal sensations as responses to indoor temperature. In contrast, Approach (b), rooted in adaptive comfort theory, suggests that thermal sensations can trigger behavioral changes, which in turn alter indoor temperature. Using the same data, we found that two approaches lead to different neutral temperatures and comfort zones. Approach (b) leads to what we call a ‘preferred zone’, which is 10 °C narrower than the conventionally derived comfort zone using Approach (a). We hypothesize that the ‘preferred zone’ might be interpreted as thermal conditions that occupants are likely to choose when they have significant control over their personal and environmental thermal settings. This finding has important implications for occupant comfort and building energy efficiency. We highlight the importance of integrating causal thinking into correlation-based statistical methods, which have been prevalent in building science research, especially given the increasing volume of data in the built environment.

Active longitudes and the structure of the large-scale magnetic field at solar minimum

We have studied deep minima of 11-year solar activity cycles 13–14, 14–15, 22–23, 23–24, 24–25, using the RGO and USAF/NOAA sunspot group catalogs. All of them have a large number of spotless days. Nonetheless, active longitudes as preferred zones, where sunspots occur, appear at this solar cycle phase. Analysis of synoptic maps and WSO daily magnetograms reflecting the structure of a weak large-scale field shows a non-axisymmetric component of the solar magnetic field. At solar minimum in the structure of the large-scale magnetic field, there are regions of the magnetic field of positive and negative polarity elongated along the meridian and crossing the equator. The most pronounced of them are located in the zone of active longitudes and are often connected with the polar magnetic fields.
 We discuss the possible nature of the meridional structures of the large-scale field during solar minimum. This might be due to giant convection cells with a banana cell structure.

Активные долготы и структура крупномасштабного магнитного поля в минимуме солнечной активности

We have studied deep minima of 11-year solar activity cycles 13–14, 14–15, 22–23, 23–24, 24–25, using the RGO and USAF/NOAA sunspot group catalogs. All of them have a large number of spotless days. Nonetheless, active longitudes as preferred zones, where sunspots occur, appear at this solar cycle phase. Analysis of synoptic maps and WSO daily magnetograms reflecting the structure of a weak large-scale field shows a non-axisymmetric component of the solar magnetic field. At solar minimum in the structure of the large-scale magnetic field, there are regions of the magnetic field of positive and negative polarity elongated along the meridian and crossing the equator. The most pronounced of them are located in the zone of active longitudes and are often connected with the polar magnetic fields.
 We discuss the possible nature of the meridional structures of the large-scale field during solar minimum. This might be due to giant convection cells with a banana cell structure.

Investigation of loaded contact characteristics of planetary roller screw mechanism based on influence coefficient method and machine learning

The performance of the planetary roller screw mechanism (PRSM) is directly determined by the mechanical behavior of the loaded contact. The traditional method based on a finite element modeling to describe the loaded contact characteristics (LCCs) is computationally expensive, while the use of Hertzian contact theory and the thread connection model results in a loss of computational accuracy. As a solution, this study aims to develop a semi-analytic modeling technique that can predict the LCCs of PRSM accurately and efficiently. To achieve this, the study first establishes a mathematical model using the spatial coordinate transformation theory to accurately describe the thread surface. The potential contact area is discretely divided using the differential geometry principle. Then, the linear deformation and nonlinear deformation are matched using node interpolation technique to obtain the accurate compliance of the potential contact area. Finally, the contact forces for all activated contact points are derived by a nonlinear iterative algorithm based on the influence coefficient method. The performance of the proposed model is verified by numerical examples. Further, the sensitivity weights of the geometric parameters to the LCCs are identified utilizing machine learning, and a preferred zone is also constructed to optimize these parameters. This study provides a valuable tool for evaluating and improving the LCCs of PRSM in engineering practice.

A Second-Harmonic Suppression Method Based on Differentiated-Capacitance Design for Input-Parallel Output-Series DAB Fed Single-Phase VSI

In the single-phase voltage source inverter (VSI), the instantaneous output power pulsates at twice the line frequency, generating second-harmonic voltage in dc bus. Bulky electrolytic capacitors or additional auxiliary circuits are used in traditional methods, which inevitably limit the system lifetime, efficiency, and power density. In this article, the input-parallel output-series (IPOS) dual active bridge (DAB) with differentiated-capacitance design is adopted as the front-end dc–dc stage. The pulsating power is compensated by the energy gap that the differentiated output capacitors release. The small-signal model of the IPOS DAB fed VSI is built, and based on which, the voltage-complementary algorithm is proposed. Then, the preferred zone and optimization scheme of the main circuit parameters are designed according to the quantitative analysis of the suppressing effect. Furthermore, a 625-W IPOS DAB fed VSI design example is presented and tested. The experimental result shows that at least seven times the capacitance requirements can be reduced without any additional components, and the power quality of both the input current and the output voltage is well guaranteed.

Understanding Social Spaces in Tourist Villages through Space Syntax Analysis: Cases of Villages in Huizhou, China

The development of tourism in historical villages has a certain impact on the native environment, which leads to visitors occupying community public spaces relatively frequently. The design of rural public spaces, especially in relation to the street network’s spatial configuration, significantly affects how villagers interact with one another. This research investigated the influence of street network space on the regional social interaction preferences of rural community populations by applying space syntax theory. Three typical villages in southern Anhui, China, were the subject of an observation analysis of social behaviors and pedestrian volumes on street networks. Using a segment model, it was possible to determine seven spatial configuration attributes of streets, including depth to the village entrance (DtoE), connectivity, curvature, the normalized angle choice (NACH) and integration (NAIN) with two radii. A considerable joint effect of street spatial type and spatial layout attributes on the regional social interaction preferences of rural community populations was found by MANOVA and stepwise regression analysis. The sampled community tends to engage in social activities in branch streets, and the pedestrian volume contained 67.1% of all the observed people in the street networks. Streets’ spatial attributes with lower NACH or NAIN levels (less usability or accessibility) and higher DtoE or curvature levels (more privacy or deformation) have greater influences on community pedestrian volumes. Regarding street type, the in-between space was found to have the most significant effect on the pedestrian volume of the branch streets, which are the preferred zones of community populations in the context of social activities.

Correction to 'Can female guppies learn to like male colours? A test of the role of associative learning in originating sexual preferences'.

Open AccessMoreSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Cite this article Herdegen-Radwan M. 2022Correction to ‘Can female guppies learn to like male colours? A test of the role of associative learning in originating sexual preferences’Proc. R. Soc. B.2892022072220220722http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0722SectionOpen AccessCorrectionCorrection to ‘Can female guppies learn to like male colours? A test of the role of associative learning in originating sexual preferences’ M. Herdegen-Radwan M. Herdegen-Radwan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6593-3256 Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author M. Herdegen-Radwan M. Herdegen-Radwan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6593-3256 Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Published:27 April 2022https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0722This article corrects the followingResearch ArticleCan female guppies learn to like male colours? A test of the role of associative learning in originating sexual preferenceshttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0212 Magdalena Herdegen-Radwan volume 289issue 1972Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences06 April 2022Proc. R. Soc. B289, 20220212. (Published online; 6 April 2022). (doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.0212)Block effect in models presented in tables 1–3 was entered incorrectly. Corrected tables are presented below. The results and conclusions of the paper were not affected by these changes. Table 1. LMM testing female preferences for SC simulated males. The response variable was the proportion of time spent by the female in the orange male's preference zone. The significant term is in italics. Collapse termestimates.e.d.f.tp-valuefixed effectsintercept0.040.81114.70.050.962female treatment (orange)1.080.37116.62.940.004female size (small)0.650.37116.81.780.077block 2−1.200.45116.9−2.660.009block 3−0.460.45115.7−1.030.303repeat−0.320.37115.2−0.860.390male side0.220.37118.10.580.564preference before0.140.58119.40.240.811random effectsvariances.d.female ID: (Intercept)0.00000.0000aquarium: block (intercept)0.00000.0000male model: (intercept)0.09390.3066residual4.02662.0067Table 2. LMM testing female preferences for MC simulated males. The response variable was the proportion of time spent by the female in the orange-dominant male's preference zone. The significant term is in italics. Collapse termestimates.e.d.f.tp-valuefixed effectsintercept0.290.12111.62.530.013female treatment (orange)0.110.60113.41.910.058female size (small)−0.010.60113.3−0.110.909block 50.120.07113.01.600.112block 6−0.110.14112.5−0.810.420repeat0.070.06112.21.190.238male side0.000.06114.10.000.996random effectsvariances.d.female id: (intercept)0.00000.0000aquarium: block (intercept)0.00000.0000male model: (intercept)0.00120.0347residual0.10610.3257Table 3. GLMM testing the reproductive success of experimental males with experimental females, with female size as covariate. The response variable was the proportion of offspring in a brood that were sired by the orange-dominant male. The significant term is in italics. Collapse termestimates.e.zp-valuefixed effectsintercept8.2110.760.760.445female treatment (orange)−18.667.39−2.520.012female size−0.750.94−0.800.424block 50.9810.480.090.925block 6−1.1810.82−0.110.913random effectsvariances.d.aquarium: block (intercept)201.514.2With this, the correct values of the respective t and z statistics and p-value for the treatment effects are also replacing those reported in the text of the paper.AcknowledgementsI thank Lechosław Kuczyński for spotting this error.Footnotes© 2022 The Authors.Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. Previous Article VIEW FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD PDF FiguresRelatedReferencesDetailsRelated articlesCan female guppies learn to like male colours? A test of the role of associative learning in originating sexual preferences06 April 2022Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences This Issue27 April 2022Volume 289Issue 1973 Article InformationDOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0722PubMed:35473387Published by:Royal SocietyOnline ISSN:1471-2954History: Manuscript received14/04/2022Manuscript accepted19/04/2022Published online27/04/2022Published in print27/04/2022 License:© 2022 The Authors.Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. Citations and impact Subjectsbehaviour Large datasets are available through Proceedings B's partnership with Dryad

A study of Flickingeria angulata (Blume) A.D.Hawkes and host trees (Phorophytes) at Wilis Mountain, Ponorogo, East Java, Indonesia

Flickingeria angulata (Blume) A.D.Hawkes is one of the species of orchids found in natural habitats in Wilis Mountain, Ponorogo, East Java. This study was aimed to explore, document, and analyze the diversity of Flickingeria angulata at a natural forest area in Wilis Mountain. The method used is an exploratory method by exploring the forest area in the study site. All data of Flickingeria angulata was recorded including its number, host trees and zone at the host tree where this orchid is attached. The result shows that orchid epiphytic F. angulata was found in 6 host tree species, with the two most important species being Pinus merkusii and Schima wallichii. Zone three (bottom part of the branches) was noted as the most preferred zone at host trees to be attached by Flickingeria angulata. Evaluation of these orchid species in natural habitats needs to be done at the same location to determine the impact of climate change.

Influence of seasonality and sex on the behavioral thermoregulation of the crab Neohelice granulata

Behavioral thermoregulation is a strategy often used by many ectotherms to deal with the increase in ambient temperature. Animals that live in the intertidal zone can emerge from the water to cool their body temperature in the aerial environment. The objective of this work was verify if thermoregulatory behavior of the crab Neohelice granulata is influenced by seasonality and sex, and if it is correlated with preferred temperatures.We also check if this emerging behavior is correlated with the crab's preferred temperature. Males and females of N. granulata were recorded for one hour in two different experiments for two periods (autumn/winter and summer). In the first experiment, we observed the behavior of crabs that were allowed to freely move within an open arena that was divided into aerial and aquatic areas in which the air temperature was close to the water temperature (20°C, 23°C, 26°C, 29°C). Animals collected in winter and summer increased the time spent in emersion proportionally to the increase in temperature. In the second experiment, we submitted the crabs to a horizontal temperature gradient divided into three zones (cold (16–23°C), intermediate (24–26°C), and hot (27–30°C)), in which the crabs maintained submerged, then we evaluated their preferred zone. Surprisingly, females and males collected in summer preferred lower temperatures than those collected in winter. Therefore, seasonality influences the behavioral profile of thermoregulation of N. granulata, but both males and females collected in winter and summer presented the same behavioral profile.

Do Birds of a Feather Always Flock Together? Assessing Differences in Group and Individual Zoo Enclosure Usage by Comparing Commonly Available Methods

Data on zoo enclosure usage provide meaningful evaluation of husbandry and welfare but for social species, group-level data may not capture individual occupancy preferences. Determining zone occupancy using group data may give an inaccurate assessment of enclosure suitability for each individual. We compared three formulae (traditional and modified Spread of Participation Index and Electivity Index) to determine how estimations of space usage compare between individuals and their group overall. Two flamingo flocks at two zoos were sampled with enclosures separated into discrete zones. Counts of where each bird in the flock was located at each minute of sampling were compared against the number of minutes that randomly selected individual flamingos spent in each zone. Overall, there was little difference in preferred zone occupancy when flock data were compared to individual data. Group data suggested that flamingos were more consistent in their enclosure usage, with individual data showing wider overall usage of enclosures. Individual Electivity Index (EI) values suggested zone underuse whereas group EI suggested zone overuse. As a proxy for welfare measurement, we recommend both group-level and individual monitoring of space use to provide a complete picture of how individuals within a social group occupy their space and choose where to be.

Natural Convection Modeling in a Solar Tower

Objectives: We present in this study a modeling of thermal laminar convection airflow in a solar tower. Methods: To formulate with precision, the boundary conditions of the solar chimney model chosen, the Cartesian equations are transformed into hyperbolic coordinates. An orthogonal grid is elaborated. It then makes it possible to draw up the diagrams of physique and calculation fields. The computer code uses the heat equation, the vorticity, and the stream function formalism as the boundary conditions for pressure are difficult to set. We use the Boussinesq approximation, which consists in considering that the density (r) of the fluid varies only in the term of the gravity forces, whose variations with temperature, assumed to be linear, generate natural convection. These variations are then translated into an equation of state which relates density to temperature. The system of dimensionless equations is solved by using an intégro-interpolation method referring to finite differences scheme. Findings: The solutions obtained from the dimensionless equations enabled us to determine the space evolution parameters (temperatures and velocities) in the tower according to the Rayleigh number. The fluid temperature and velocity evolution in the collector increase when one moves in the direction of radius decrease. The fluid temperature evolution in the chimney showed that the highest temperature is located at the chimney base while we obtained a parabolic profile of the transverse temperature distribution within the chimney. Finally, the evolution of the fluid velocity in the chimney showed that there was a preferred zone for turbine installation. Novelty : The use of dimensionless geometric parameters is unique and in general, the approach adopted in this paper differs from that encountered in the literature.

The Influence of Bilayer Graphene on the Structure of Electrodeposited Pd and CuCl Nanostructures

Pd was deposited on bilayer graphene to study how the interaction between the two affects the structure and strain of the metal. Pd was deposited through surface limited redox replacement using Cu as the sacrificial metal. The use of HCl as the electrolyte in the CuSO4 solution produced a prominent Cu UPD peak, facilitating the deposition. Two structures were found to be produced as a result of the deposition, nanoparticles and films. EELS confirmed that the particles were composed of Pd while the films were composed of Cu, and both contained Cl. Based on the lattices of the two structures imaged using STEM and their behavior under the beam, it was determined that the particles were pure Pd while the films were CuCl. The particles and films seemed to orient along a preferred zone axis, [110] for the Pd and [111] for the CuCl, and the particles and films which showed these preferred orientations also aligned in xy-space and possessed a slight tensile strain, a 1.5% tensile strain in the [001] direction for the Pd, and an isotropic 4.5% tensile strain for the CuCl. A lattice expansion is atypical for metallic nanoparticles, which, along with the consistency of orientation, indicates that the graphene exerts some influence on the two materials, although further study is needed to understand the mechanism behind this influence. The presence of Cl on the nanoparticles indicates that the release of Cl from PdCl2 is the rate limiting step during the reduction reaction.

Detection and Prevention of Malware in Android Operating System

The Internet is not safe anymore, malware can be discovered anywhere on the Internet. The risk of malware has increased also due to the increasing popularity and use of Smartphones and their underlying cost-free applications. With its great market share, the Android operating system has become a prime target for malware developers. When an Android phone is injected with a malware, it may result in compromising the privacy of the user by stealing sensitive and private information like contacts, ids, passwords, photos, call records, and so on. Compared to any other Android-based application category, games are the most preferred zone for attackers, due to the high interest of users in game applications. When an end user downloads a game, which is injected with malicious code, user data is infected without bringing in the knowledge of the user. Though, there still are not sufficient protection mechanisms or guidelines stated for end user against Android malware, this study offers a novel approach to detect Android malware in order to ensure the safe usage of Android applications. The advantage of this approach is its ability to utilize Android manifest files for the detection of malware. The availability of manifest file in every Android application makes this approach applicable to all Android applications. It can also be considered as a lightweight method for malware detection, and its efficiency is experimentally confirmed by testing and comparing the results of 50 Android games samples. Experiments are carried out using the Android Package Kit (APK) tools, and based on the experiments, different kinds of malware identification and prevention guidelines have been proposed for the safe and secure usage of the Android operating system.

Is Legal Harmonization Always Better? The Counter‐Case of Utility Models

Policy makers and international institutions have long maintained that the global business environment is best supported when countries harmonize by adopting substantially uniform legal structures. This is particularly true in the context of intellectual property rights. When such national systems are similar, we believe that investment is undergirded and market participation is facilitated. However, this assumption may be incorrect in some cases. Marginal disharmony in certain intellectual property rights may provide countries space for experimentation while not impeding effective management of global intellectual property portfolios at the firm level. As evidence, we look to the utility model. This long‐standing form of invention right is conspicuously and surprisingly unstandardized across the world, yet our analysis, using PATSTAT data, reveals that firms are able to negotiate this disharmony effectively. We employ a novel empirical method that tracks U.S.‐priority patents to establish that firms use utility models to optimize their overall appropriability needs by region. Our study finds evidence that a firm may choose standard patent protection in one region and utility model protection in another, even though standard patent protection is available in both settings. We propose that a “zone of appropriability preference” exists when utility models and standard patents overlap, and this zone provides important strategic opportunities to firms with global intellectual property portfolios. Our study thus provides an important counter‐case for harmonization of national intellectual property laws. As a result, we suggest that such efforts be undertaken with more caution; in some cases, harmonization may do more harm than good.

Neuropharmacological investigation, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography analysis, and in silico studies of Phyla nodiflora.

The increasing burden of neurological disorders is becoming a worldwide health challenge and researchers are continuously struggling to cure them by utilizing the miraculous medicinal properties of plants. The crude methanolic extract of whole herb of Phyla nodiflora (Pn.Cr) was subjected to phytochemical, antioxidant and neuropharmacological assessment. The Pn.Cr was initially exposed to the in vitro examination for phytocomposition through ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). The Sprague Dawley rats were chronically administered with various doses (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) of Pn.Cr for one month with subsequent exposure to neurobehavioral and biochemical experimentation. The Pn.Cr exhibited a dose-dependent anxiolytic effect (P < 0.05 in comparison to control) as rats preferred central, illuminated and open arm zones in open field (OFT), light/dark (L/D) and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. Likewise, scopolamine-induced amnesia was noticeably reversed with P < 0.05 by Pn.Cr as animals showed improved spontaneous alternation, discrimination index and shorter escape latencies in Y-maze, novel object recognition (NOR) and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. Subsequently, in vivo enzymatic assays depicted the reduced acetylcholinesterase and malondialdehyde levels. The levels of oxidative stress combating enzymes (glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) were increased in a dose-dependent style. The UHPLC detected 22 phytocompounds were further investigated in silico studied to predict the interaction of blood-brain barrier (BBB) crossing phytocompounds with human acetylcholinesterase. The four BBB crossing phytocompounds belonging to flavonoids, chalcones and alkaloids showed possible interaction with the target enzyme. We found that the phytocompounds owned by Pn.Cr might be playing multiple roles in modulation of different pathways to hinder the pathophysiology of neurological disorders including anxiety and Alzheimer's disease.

Transcriptome-wide changes associated with the reproductive behaviour of male guppies exposed to 17α-ethinyl estradiol.

Although many pharmaceutical compounds (and their metabolites) can induce harmful impacts at the molecular, physiological and behavioural levels, their underlying mechanistic associations have remained largely unexplored. Here, we utilized RNA-Seq to build a whole brain transcriptome profile to examine the impact of a common endocrine disrupting pharmaceutical (17α-ethinyl estradiol, EE2) on reproductive behaviour in wild guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Specifically, we annotated 16,791 coding transcripts in whole brain tissue in relation to the courtship behaviour (i.e. sigmoid display) of EE2 exposed (at environmentally relevant concentration of 8ng/L for 28-days) and unexposed guppies. Further, we obtained 10,960 assembled transcripts matching in the non-coding orthologous genomes. Behavioural responses were assessed using a standard mate choice experiment, which allowed us to disentangle chemical cues from visual cues. We found that a high proportion of the RNAseq reads aligned back to our de novo assembled transcriptome with 80.59% mapping rate. Behavioural experiments showed that when males were presented only with female visual cues, there was a significant interaction between male treatment and female treatment in the time spent in the preference zone. This is one of the first studies to show that transcriptome-wide changes are associated with the reproductive behaviour of fish: EE2 exposed male guppies that performed high levels of courtship had a gene profile that deviated the most from the other treatment groups, while both non-courting EE2 and control males had similar gene signatures. Using Gene Ontology pathway analysis, our study shows that EE2-exposed males had gene transcripts enriched for pathways associated with altered immunity, starvation, altered metabolism and spermatogenesis. Our study demonstrates that multiple gene networks orchestrate courting behaviour, emphasizing the importance of investigating impacts of pharmaceuticals on gene networks instead of single genes.

Influence of Interface Proximity on Precipitation Thermodynamics

The formation of coherent precipitates is often accompanied by large elastic mismatch stresses, which suppress phase separation. We discuss the presence of interfaces as a mechanism for stress relaxation, which can lead to preferred zones of precipitation. In particular, we discuss the proximity of free surfaces and shear-coupled grain boundaries, for which we can obtain a substantial local energy reduction and predict the influence on the local precipitation thermodynamics. The latter case is accompanied by morphological changes of the grain boundary, which are less suitable for large-scale descriptions. For that purpose, we develop an effective description through an elastic softening inside the grain boundary and map the microscopic grain boundary relaxation to a mesoscopic elastic and phase field model, which also allows generalizing the description to multi-phase situations.