Evaluation of WIAMan Technology Demonstrator Biofidelity Relative to Sub-Injurious PMHS Response in Simulated Under-body Blast Events.

Three laboratory simulated sub-injurious under-body blast (UBB) test conditions were conducted with whole-body Post Mortem Human Surrogates (PMHS) and the Warrior Assessment Injury Manikin (WIAMan) Technology Demonstrator (TD) to establish and assess UBB biofidelity of the WIAMan TD. Test conditions included a rigid floor and rigid seat with independently varied pulses. On the floor, peak velocities of 4 m/s and 6 m/s were applied with a 5 ms time to peak (TTP). The seat peak velocity was 4 m/s with varied TTP of 5 and 10 ms. Tests were conducted with and without personal protective equipment (PPE). PMHS response data was compiled into preliminary biofidelity response corridors (BRCs), which served as evaluation metrics for the WIAMan TD. Each WIAMan TD response was evaluated against the PMHS preliminary BRC for the loading and unloading phase of the signal time history using Correlation Analysis (CORA) software to assign a numerical score between 0 and 1. A weighted average of all responses was calculated to determine body region and whole body biofidelity scores for each test condition. The WIAMan TD received UBB biofidelity scores of 0.62 in Condition A, 0.59 in Condition B, and 0.63 in Condition C, putting it in the fair category (0.44-0.65). Body region responses with scores below a rating of good (0.65-0.84) indicate potential focus areas for the next generation of the WIAMan design.

Fungicide contamination reduces beneficial fungi in bee bread based on an area-wide field study in honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies.

Fermentation by fungi converts stored pollen into bee bread that is fed to honey bee larvae, Apis mellifera, so the diversity of fungi in bee bread may be related to its food value. To explore the relationship between fungicide exposure and bee bread fungi, samples of bee bread collected from bee colonies pollinating orchards from 7 locations over 2 years were analyzed for fungicide residues and fungus composition. There were detectable levels of fungicides from regions that were sprayed before bloom. An organic orchard had the highest quantity and variety of fungicides, likely due to the presence of treated orchards within bees' flight range. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus, and Cladosporium (beneficial fungi) were the primary fungal isolates found, regardless of habitat differences. There was some variation in fungal components amongst colonies, even within the same apiary. The variable components were Absidia, Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Bipolaris, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Mucor, Nigrospora, Paecilomyces, Scopulariopsis, and Trichoderma. The number of fungal isolates was reduced as an effect of fungicide contamination. Aspergillus abundance was particularly affected by increased fungicide levels, as indicated by Simpson's diversity index. Bee bread showing fungicide contamination originated from colonies, many of which showed chalkbrood symptoms.

Water conservation features of ova of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, has destroyed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in North America since first identified in Detroit in 2002. With species of ash distributed throughout North America, it is easy to speculate the extinction of all susceptible species of ash on the continent given a lack of physical, environmental, or climactic barrier for dispersal of the insect. We investigated water balance characteristics of emerald ash borer ova by using gravimetric methods in an effort to measure their response to heat- and water-stress and explore possible influences this stress may have on the ecology and physiology of the ovum. We also explored the possible water balance benefit of a peculiar, "clustering," oviposition behavior, as well as the difference in responses to stress between ova from a laboratory colony and ova from two wild populations. We found no evidence of water vapor absorption as a water balance strategy; rather enhanced water retention, resistance to desiccation, and viability with low water content were important survival strategies for these ova. Surface lipids resist thermal breakdown as indicated by ova having no detectable critical transition temperature, maintaining their water-proofing function as temperature rises. The observed "clustering" behavior had no desiccation-avoidance benefit and ova from the wild populations behaved almost identically to the ova from the lab colony, although the lab ova were slightly larger and more sensitive to dehydration. Given this new information, there appears to be no heat- or water-stress barriers for the dispersal of this devastating pest at the ovum stage.

Thermal Inactivation of L-Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase from Escherichia coli.

The rate of thermal inactivation of glutamate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.15) from Escherichia coli was determined in terms of the z value and thermodynamic parameters. The enzyme was inactivated at a faster rate than E. coli when heated at food process temperatures in buffer.

Evaluation of Inhibitors for Rapid Enumeration of Psychrotrophic Bacteria.

Two inhibitors of the 17 tested inhibited growth of gram positive bacteria without causing inhibition of gram negative bacteria. These were crystal violet at 2 mg/1 and neotetrazolium chloride at 2 mg/1. In addition, basic fuchsin at 6 mg/1 produced only marginal reduction in counts of gram negative bacteria. These inhibitors might find further use in developing a test for psychrotrophic bacteria in the presence of non-psychrotrophic bacteria.