A Biologically Active Analog of the Sex Pheromone of the Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis.

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) (EAB), is an invasive species causing unprecedented levels of mortality to ash trees in its introduced range. The female-produced sex pheromone of EAB has been shown to contain the macrocyclic lactone (3Z)-dodecen-12-olide. This compound and its geometrical isomer, (3E)-dodecen-12-olide, have been demonstrated previously to be EAG active and, in combination with a host-derived green leaf volatile, (3Z)-hexenol, to be attractive to male EAB in green prism traps deployed in the ash tree canopy. In the current study, we show that the saturated analog, dodecan-12-olide, is similarly active, eliciting an antennal response and significant attraction of EAB in both olfactometer and trapping bioassays in green traps with (3Z)-hexenol. Conformational modeling of the three lactones reveals that their energies and shapes are very similar, suggesting they might share a common receptor in EAB antennae. These findings provide new insight into the pheromone ecology of this species, highlighting the apparent plasticity in response of adults to the pheromone and its analog. Both of the unsaturated isomers are costly to synthesize, involving multistep, low-yielding processes. The saturated analog can be made cheaply, in high yield, and on large scale via Mitsunobu esterification of a saturated ω-hydroxy acid or more simply by Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of commercially available cyclododecanone. The analog can thus provide an inexpensive option as a lure for detection surveys as well as for possible mitigation purposes, such as mating disruption.

Extending patient care office hours: what factors are important to consider?

BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians are feeling increasing pressure to see more ambulatory patients each day, and most practices are considering expanded hours. The goal of this study was to identify factors that physicians and office personnel felt were important to consider when deciding whether to extend patient care office hours. METHODS: We used a qualitative descriptive study design with focus groups to elicit responses from office personnel. We recorded and transcribed unstructured interviews and used an editing style of data analysis to identify important factors. We then categorized the factors and compared them with the transcripts to identify which personnel groups considered each category of factors important. RESULTS: Eight categories of factors emerged from the focus group discussions. Some factors were common to more than one category. The most important categories were: defining the purpose of this schedule change (addressing specific office needs); impact on the quality of resident education; disruption of complex office schedules; and impact on time outside the office, and the potential disruption of the balance between personal and professional commitments. CONCLUSIONS: A broad spectrum of office-specific characteristics and personal considerations has to be considered when deciding whether to extend office hours. These factors are interdependent, and their importance varies among office personnel groups. The factors can be considered in a systematic fashion, however, providing a practice with useful, objective data on which to base its decision.

Adults' beliefs about the determinants of successful dietary change.

This study, using a random survey technique was designed to assess the number of changes people were making to their diet and what factors they considered would most influence them to make a dietary change. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents claimed to be making changes to their diet, and the most common changes such as reducing fat, salt and sugar and increasing fibre, were in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. In addition, 79.3 per cent of respondents indicated that suffering from a serious illness and thinking a dietary change might aid recovery would have a strong effect on their decision to change diets. Conversely, less than 10 per cent of all respondents indicated that speaking to a family member or friend, or information in the media would have a strong effect on them deciding to change their diet. With regard to the maintenance of dietary change, respondents indicated that experiencing the positive effects of dietary change on their health and well-being was the most important factor, while other important factors were liking the taste-texture of the new foods in the diet, having strong support from a spouse or partner and having a strong wish to change. Those in higher educational or occupational groups indicated the above factors to be more important than those in lower occupational and educational groups. The latter were more concerned with such factors as the cost and ease of preparing new foods in the diet, having few stresses at home and the support of friends and workmates. These results suggest that the design and implementation of dietary change programs should be targeted to specific groups in the community.

The systemic view of violence: an ethical perspective.

Systems theory has been critiqued by a number of feminist writers who felt that it did not adequately address the issues of violence and male domination in families. This essay argues that systems theory describes the world from an "exogenic" perspective--the scientific world of nature, which is intrinsically amoral. In the exogenic world all causality is circular, as nature maintains a system that has survived for billions of years. Bateson found "mind" to be within the system of nature, implying that mind must also be amoral. However, most people view the world from an "endogenic" perspective, a personal construction of reality molded by the environment in which they live, and which inevitably incorporates morality. Humans believe that violence is wrong, not for intellectual reasons, but for moral reasons. Implications for therapy are presented. A postmodern or constructivist position is taken as a way to acknowledge the influence of relationships on problems and definitions of problems, while allowing for a moral or legal consensus to pervade the therapeutic enterprise.

Using the componential method to train mentally retarded individuals to solve analogies.

The applicability of the componential method developed by Sternberg (1977a) to the study of the processes used by mentally retarded subjects to solve analogies was examined in two experiments. In both experiments, prior training was found to improve performance and enhance maintenance of that performance level over time. In Experiment 1, however, subjects experienced difficulty in using "precued" analogy terms, the means by which separate estimates of the processes used to solve the analogies were made using the componential method. In Experiment 2, use of an alternative method of presenting the analogies significantly increased the use of these terms by the subjects, which, in turn, improved the applicability of the componential method to the data obtained from the subjects. This alternative method, however, also increased the overall difficulty level of the task.

Reversible inhibition of aggregation-related cohesivity in Dictyostelium discoideum by diffusible metabolites.

Evidence presented elsewhere (G.B. Williams, E.M. Elder, and M. Sussman 1984, Dev. Biol. 105, 377-388) indicates that NH3 and certain carboxylic acids including propionate, succinate, and acetate modulate the cAMP relay in Dictyostelium discoideum. The former appears to act as a cAMP accumulation inhibitor, the latter as cAMP release inhibitors. The cohesive properties of aggregation competent cells have been assayed quantitatively in the presence of these modulators. The following results were obtained: (1) At pH 7.5, EDTA-resistant cohesivity was greatly inhibited by NH4C within the concentration range tested (30-3.8 mM). Even at the higher concentrations the effect was not immediate but required ca. 10 min for full expression. At the lower concentrations, the inhibitory level was only slightly reduced but the time for full expression progressively increased. At pH 6.5, the level of inhibition was marginal, indicating that NH3 is the active molecular species. By themselves, neither ambient pH nor ionic strength appeared to affect cohesive performance within the ranges employed. The inhibition was immediately and completely reversed upon removal of NH4Cl or a shift of ambient pH from 7.5 to 6.5. The presence of cycloheximide did not affect the recovery of cohesivity after NH4Cl removal. (2) The presence of 15 mM succinate, propionate, or acetate also reduced cell cohesivity. The timing and extent of the inhibition were identical at pH 7.5 and 6.5. The inhibition was expressed immediately and was reversible. Each of the acids acted synergistically with NH4Cl. The relative potencies of these metabolites acting singly or in combination as inhibitors of cohesivity corresponded roughly to their potencies as modulators of the cAMP relay (Williams et al., 1984). (3) The sensitivity to the metabolites was stage specific, being maximal during and shortly after aggregation and disappearing abruptly at 11-12 hr. This corresponds to the time at which this cohesive system, responsible for the end-to-end cell associations evident during aggregation (H. Beug, G. Gerisch, S. Kempff, V. Riedel, and G. Cremer, 1970, Exp. Cell. Res. 63, 147-158) is supplanted by a newly arisen, serologically and genetically distinct system which thereafter maintains the integrity of the aggregate (C. Steinemann and R.W. Parish, 1980, Nature (London) 286, 721-724; D.K. Wilcox and M. Sussman, 1981, Dev. Biol. 82, 102-112, and Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78, 358-362; C.L. Saxe III and M. Sussman, 1982, Cell 29, 755-759). The activities of the metabolites, detailed above, are discussed in relation to their previously demonstrated activities as morphogens.