Insecticidal Activity and Synergistic Combinations of Ten Different Bt Toxins against Mythimna separata (Walker)

The oriental armyworm (OAW), Mythimna separata (Walker), is a destructive pest of agricultural crops in Asia and Australia. Commercialized Bt crops have performed very well against their target pests

The Human and Non-human Interconnectedness in Three Chinese Contemporary Artists

Today, we live in an era known as the Anthropo cene. The interconnectedness between humans and other living entities and environments is an essential part of the theme of the Anthropocene and a central concern in contemporary culture and art. Through the emphasis of the role of non human agents, new materialism and posthuman ism radically problematize the binaries of sub ject/object, human/nonhuman, cultural/natural, and mind/body, and challenge the superiority of the human. Although both Chinese and Western scholars widely acknowledge that Chinese tradi tional culture and art are deeply based on less anthropocentric modes of thinking, the contem porary Chinese artists’ expression of the in…

Transcriptional Control of Quality Differences in the Lipid-Based Cuticle Barrier in Drosophila suzukii and Drosophila melanogaster

Cuticle barrier efficiency in insects depends largely on cuticular lipids. To learn about the evolution of cuticle barrier function, we compared the basic properties of the cuticle inward and outward barrier function in adults of the fruit flies Drosophila suzukii and Drosophila melanogaster that live on fruits sharing a similar habitat. At low air humidity, D. suzukii flies desiccate faster than D. melanogaster flies. We observed a general trend indicating that in this respect males are less robust than females in both species. Xenobiotics penetration occurs at lower temperatures in D. suzukii than in D. melanogaster. Likewise, D. suzukii flies are more susceptible to contact insecticides …

The Art for the Disabled Scheme: Enhance Limb-disabled Students’ Social Inclusion through Integration of Art and Charity

This paper explored how a small group of limb-disabled students enhanced their social inclusion through participation in the Art for the Disabled Scheme, a long-term project aiming to help disabled young people through the integration of extracurricular art instruction and philanthropy. This research was conducted using qualitative case study method. The findings revealed the multiple benefits the disabled students reaped regarding their social inclusion enhancement: financial and material supports; mental well-being improvement; promotion for personal development; positive self and group identity building; and social development. The findings also demonstrated that the successful combinati…

Dysfunction of Oskyddad causes Harlequin-type ichthyosis-like defects in Drosophila melanogaster.

Prevention of desiccation is a constant challenge for terrestrial organisms. Land insects have an extracellular coat, the cuticle, that plays a major role in protection against exaggerated water loss. Here, we report that the ABC transporter Oskyddad (Osy)—a human ABCA12 paralog—contributes to the waterproof barrier function of the cuticle in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. We show that the reduction or elimination of Osy function provokes rapid desiccation. Osy is also involved in defining the inward barrier against xenobiotics penetration. Consistently, the amounts of cuticular hydrocarbons that are involved in cuticle impermeability decrease markedly when Osy activity is reduced. …

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study (Intensive Care Medicine, (2021), 47, 2, (160-169), 10.1007/s00134-020-06234-9)

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The members of the ESICM Trials Group Collaborators were not shown in the article but only in the ESM. The full list of collaborators is shown below. The original article has been corrected.

The Rapid Evolution of Resistance to Vip3Aa Insecticidal Protein in Mythimna separata (Walker) Is Not Related to Altered Binding to Midgut Receptors

Laboratory selection for resistance of field populations is a well-known and useful tool to understand the potential of insect populations to evolve resistance to insecticides. It provides us with estimates of the frequency of resistance alleles and allows us to study the mechanisms by which insects developed resistance to shed light on the mode of action and optimize resistance management strategies. Here, a field population of Mythimna separata was subjected to laboratory selection with either Vip3Aa, Cry1Ab, or Cry1F insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis. The population rapidly evolved resistance to Vip3Aa reaching, after eight generations, a level of >3061-fold resistance…

Empagliflozin Induces White Adipocyte Browning and Modulates Mitochondrial Dynamics in KK Cg-Ay/J Mice and Mouse Adipocytes

Background: White adipose tissue (WAT) browning is a promising target for obesity prevention and treatment. Empagliflozin has emerged as an agent with weight-loss potential in clinical and in vivo studies, but the mechanisms underlying its effect are not fully understood. Here, we investigated whether empagliflozin could induce WAT browning and mitochondrial alterations in KK Cg-Ay/J (KKAy) mice, and explored the mechanisms of its effects.Methods: Eight-week-old male KKAy mice were administered empagliflozin or saline for 8 weeks and compared with control C57BL/6J mice. Mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated in the presence or absence of empagliflozin. Mitochondrial biosynthesis, dynamics, a…

Dysfunction of Torr causes a Harlequin-type ichthyosis-like phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster

AbstractPrevention of desiccation is a constant challenge for terrestrial organisms. Land insects have an extracellular coat, the cuticle, that plays a major role in protection against exaggerated water loss. Here, we report that the ABC transporter Torr - a human ABCA12 paralog - contributes to the waterproof barrier function of the cuticle in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. We show that the reduction or elimination of Torr function provokes rapid desiccation. Torr is also involved in defining the inward barrier against xenobiotics penetration. Consistently, the amounts of cuticular hydrocarbons that are involved in cuticle impermeability decrease markedly when Torr activity is redu…

Benefit-oriented socially engaged art : two cases of social work experiment. [Lectio praecursoria]

Benefit-oriented socially engaged art : two cases of social work experiment

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition) 1

Contains fulltext : 232759.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to…

Autophagy

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide…

From Beijing Besieged by Waste to Plastic China : A Conversation with Artist Wang Jiuliang

Wang Jiuliang is a Chinese photographer and video artist based in Beijing. Since 2008, he has been focusing on the issue of waste. From 2008 to 2013 he investigated more than 460 landfills around Beijing and made a 76-minute documentary film, Beijing Besieged by Waste, which attracted extensive media attention in China and abroad. Wang Jiulaing won a Gold Award as Outstanding Artist of the Year at the 2009 Lianzhou International Photography Festival. Since 2014, Wang Jiuliang launched an investigation on imported plastic wastes in China. In November 2016, Plastic China was awarded the 2016 IDFA Special Jury Award for First Appearance. He is regarded not only as an artist, but also as a soci…

The Collapsing World Landscape : A Conversation with Artist Shang Yang

Taking landscape as the source of his work; Chinese artist Shang Yang’s real interest is to express his concern about the relationship between humans and the environment. Shang Yang has anchored his art to China’s environmental problems since the early 1990s. He has depicted the collapse of the landscape, and the pathology of the declining environments in contemporary China. As a leading artist in the country, his art plays an important role in Chinese contemporary art history. In 2013, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award of AAC (Award of Art China).

Going Home : A Conversation with Artist Mu Ge

In 2004, noticing the scale of the demolition, displacement and relocation of the Three Gorges Project, Chinese photographer Mu Ge started to focus on the living conditions of ordinary people in the Three Gorges region. His photographic series Going Home was nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2011 and selected as a Juror’s Pick for the 2012 Daylight Photo Awards. Since 2013, he has been working on Behind the Wall, a new series that takes the destruction of the environment and the people’s survival situation under the background of mass urbanization and industrialization in northern China as the main concern. Mu Ge’s work has been shown in many exhibitions.

Pursuit for the Tao through the Silkworm: A Conversation with Liang Shaoji

The Chinese artist Liang Shaoji has been working intensively with silkworms for almost 30 years. His abundant art practices under the Nature Series have become a unique phenomenon in Chinese contemporary art. Liang was awarded the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA) in 2002 and the Prince Claus Award in 2009. In this conversation, he discusses how he has transformed the life process of the silkworm into an artistic language to explore the relationship between human beings and non-human life. He also articulated the association between the Nature Series and philosophy, history and culture, highlighting the integrity of ecology and culture, an idea which has traditionally been highly valued…