The status of the genera Euparagonimus Chen, 1963 and Pagumogonimus Chen, 1963 relative to Paragonimus Braun, 1899 was investigated using DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (CO1) gene (partial) and the nuclear ribosomal DNA second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2). In the phylogenetic trees constructed, the genus Pagumogonimus is clearly not monophyletic and therefore not a natural taxon. Indeed, the type species of Pagumogonimus,P. skrjabini from China, is very closely related to Paragonimus miyazakii from Japan. The status of Euparagonimus is less obvious. Euparagonimus cenocopiosus lies distant from other lungflukes included in the analysis. It can be placed as sister to Paragonimus in some analyses and falls within the genus in others. A recently published morphological study placed E. cenocopiosus within the genus Paragonimus and probably this is where it should remain.

Fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) full-mutation expansion causes fragile X syndrome. Trans-generational fragile X syndrome transmission can be avoided by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). We describe a robust PGD strategy that can be applied to virtually any couple at risk of transmitting fragile X syndrome. This novel strategy utilises whole-genome amplification, followed by triplet-primed polymerase chain reaction (TP-PCR) for robust detection of expanded FMR1 alleles, in parallel with linked multi-marker haplotype analysis of 13 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers located within 1 Mb of the FMR1 CGG repeat, and the AMELX/Y dimorphism for gender identification. The assay was optimised and validated on single lymphoblasts isolated from fragile X reference cell lines, and applied to a simulated PGD case and a clinical in vitro fertilisation (IVF)-PGD case. In the simulated PGD case, definitive diagnosis of the expected results was achieved for all ‘embryos’. In the clinical IVF-PGD case, delivery of a healthy baby girl was achieved after transfer of an expansion-negative blastocyst. FMR1 TP-PCR reliably detects presence of expansion mutations and obviates reliance on informative normal alleles for determining expansion status in female embryos. Together with multi-marker haplotyping and gender determination, misdiagnosis and diagnostic ambiguity due to allele dropout is minimised, and couple-specific assay customisation can be avoided.

Nosemosis is a disease of adult honey bees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), caused by two described species of Microsporidia: Nosema ceranae Fries and Nosema apis Zander. The epidemiology of N. apis is well understood; however, little is known about N. ceranae in Canadian apiaries. The following study aimed to determine the seasonal patterns of N. ceranae and N. apis in European honey bees in a Québec, Canada, apiary. Honey bees from six hives were sampled from 2008 to 2010 and the amount of spores quantified by both microscopic spore counts and duplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results demonstrated that duplex qPCR was the most sensitive technique and was able to detect N. ceranae in samples confirmed negative for microscopic spore counts and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection. Results show that N. ceranae is the more prevalent parasite and was present in 75% of collections as single or mixed infections in the sampled apiary. The prevalence of N. apis was lower representing 29.7% throughout the 3 years of the study, and by 2010 was present only as mixed infections. Seasonal patterns of N. apis were consistent with previously published data with peaks in spring and autumn months, while N. ceranae peak infections varied throughout the 3-year study.

Measurements are presented of the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling of nontoxic lead-free multiferroic composites 0.4CoFe2O4-0.6[0.948(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-0.052LiSbO3]. The composites are found to exhibit an interesting dielectric response under a dc magnetic bias field. The positive magnetodielectric behavior and its strong frequency dependence in the composite could be related to magnetoresistance and the Maxwell-Wagner effect. The ME effects are strongly dependent on the driving field frequency and dc magnetic bias field. The frequency and magnetic field dependence of direct and converse ME coefficients are related to the relative dielectric constant and the variation in the piezomagnetic coupling with magnetic field, respectively. In addition, the dependence of direct and converse ME coefficients on frequency and magnetic field is quite similar in this multiferroic particulate composite.

Under field conditions, the cabbage butterfly, Pieris melete, displays a pupal summer diapause in response to relatively low daily temperatures and gradually increasing day-length during spring and a pupal winter diapause in response to the progressively shorter day-length. To determine whether photoperiod is ‘more’ important than temperature in the determination of summer and winter diapause, or vice versa, the effects of naturally changing day-length and temperature on the initiation of summer and winter diapause were systematically investigated under field conditions for five successive years. Field results showed that the incidence of summer diapause significantly declined with the naturally increasing temperature in spring and summer generations. Path coefficient analysis showed that the effect of temperature was much greater than photoperiod in the determination of summer diapause. In autumn, the incidence of diapause was extremely low when larvae developed under gradually shortening day-length and high temperatures. The incidence of winter diapause increased to 60–90% or higher with gradually shortening day-length combined with temperatures between 20.0°C and 22.0°C. Decreasing day-length played a more important role in the determination of winter diapause induction than temperature. The eco-adaptive significance of changing day-length and temperature in the determination of summer and winter diapause was discussed.

The flight distance, flight time and individual flight activities of males and females of Dendroctonus armandi were recorded during 96-h flight trials using a flight mill system. The body weight, glucose, glycogen and lipid content of four treatments (naturally emerged, starved, phloem-fed and water-fed) were compared among pre-flight, post-flight and unflown controls. There was no significant difference between males and females in total flight distance and flight time in a given 24-h period. The flight distance and flight time of females showed a significant linear decline as the tethered flying continued, but the sustained flight ability of females was better than that of males. The females had higher glycogen and lipid content than the males; however, there was no significant difference between both sexes in glucose content. Water-feeding and phloem-feeding had significant effects on longevity, survival days and flight potential of D. armandi, which resulted in longer feeding days, poorer flight potential and lower energy substrate content. Our results demonstrate that flight distances in general do not differ between water-fed and starved individuals, whereas phloem-fed females and males fly better than water-fed and starved individuals.

Egg cells of Torenia fournieri were isolated from embryo sacs 1 day after anthesis using enzymatic digestion or mechanical dissection. About 5% of the egg cells and zygotes (2–3 from 50 ovules) could be mechanically dissected within 2 h. When 0.1% cellulase and 0.1% pectinase were added to the mannitol isolation solution, about 18% of the egg cells (8–10 from 50 ovules) could be isolated within 2 h. The egg cells isolated by mechanical dissection could be used for in vitro fertilization studies without any of the potentially deleterious effects of the enzymes on the plasma membrane of egg cell. The egg cells isolated using enzymatic digestion could be used in the study of the molecular biology of female gamete because more egg cells could be isolated with this technique. Using enzymatic digestion, over 10 zygotes from 50 ovules (over 20%) were isolated from the pollinated ovules. Coupled with our successful isolation of mature sperm cells, the isolation of egg cells of T. fournieri will make in vitro fertilization possible in a dicotyledon plant.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown by electroless Ni-P plated on silicon substrate in a microwave heating chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system with methane gas at 700 °C. The CNTs grown on Ni–P catalyst showed random orientation and small diameter around 15–30 nm. Field emission test results indicated that the Ni–P catalyzed-CNTs exhibited excellent field emission properties. The turn-on field was about 0.56 V/μm with an emission current density 10 μA/cm2 and the threshold field was 4.4 V/μm with an emission current density 10 mA/cm2. These excellent field emission properties may be attributed to the random orientation and small diameter of CNTs.

Adaptive gait planning is an important aspect in the development of control systems for multi-legged robots traversing on rough terrain. The problem of adaptive gait generation can be viewed as one of finding a sequence of suitable foothold on rough terrain so that legged systems maintain static stability and motion continuity. Due to the limit of static stability, deadlock situation may occur in the process of searching for a suitable foothold, if terrain contains a large number of forbidden zones. In this paper, an improved method for adaptive gait planning is presented by active compensation of stability margin, through center of gravity (CG) adjustment in the longitudinal axis and/or body translation in the lateral direction. An algorithm for the proposed method is developed and embedded in a computer program. Simulation results show that the method provides legged machines with a much larger terrain adaptivity and better deadlock-avoidance ability.

Chiral nematic copolymers based on optically active cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, (R)-(+)- and (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine, and (+)- and (−)- isopinocampheol were synthesized and characterized for the investigations of thermotropic and optical properties. Although helical sense does not appear to correlate with the sign of [α]D of the precursor chiral compound as suggested by the observations of cholesteryl and dihydrocholesteryl copolymers, the inversion of chirality in the pendant group, (R)-(+)- vs (S)-(−)-1-phenylethylamine, does lead to the opposite handedness in the resultant helical structure. To better understand the structure-property relationships involving helical sense and twisting power, systematic studies of the roles played by both nematogenic and chiral structures as well as other structural features of the comonomers should be conducted.

Electron-beam and sputter-deposited Ta silicides on GaAs were annealed in an As2 overpressure ambient to temperatures as high as 920°C for 20mim. The films were then characterized with RBS, cross-sectional TEM and both electron and x-ray diffraction. The morphology of sputtered TaSi2/GaAs interfaces did not change, however, some interaction was detected at electron-beam deposited GaAs/silicide interfaces. Arsenic in-diffusion was detected at temperatures above 800°C and it was found to be dependent on the stoichiometry of the films. Arsenic diffusion into Si-rich electron-beam and sputter deposited films was low, whereas significantly more As diffused into the Ta-rich silicide. Some indium (3×l015atoms/cm2), from the InAs used as the source of As2overpressure, was observed to accumulate at all GaAs/silicide interfaces at temperatures above 800°C.