Recent studies have revealed diverse patterns of cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) induced by Wolbachia in the two spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). The mechanism of CI consists of two steps: modification (mod) of sperm of infected males and the rescue (resc) of these chromosomes by Wolbachia in the egg, which results in female embryonic mortality (FM), male development (MD) or no CI. Our study reports that Wolbachia infections were highly prevalent infecting all T. urticae populations from various crops in 14 commercial greenhouses in Korea, with two Wolbachia strains expressing distinctive phenotypic effects on hosts. Analyses for wsp gene sequences obtained from collected mite populations revealed all sequences were categorized into two groups (group W1 and W2) discriminated by three diagnostic nucleotides while all Wolbachia strains belonged to the subgroup Ori in Wolbachia supergroup B. Host plants of each mite population were also generally correlated this grouping. Various mating experiments with two mite populations from each group showed that CI patterns and host plants of the mite populations were completely matched with the grouping; no CI (mod(-)resc(+)) for group W1 and mixed pattern of FM and MD (mod(+)resc(+)) for group W2. No distinct changes in fecundity or sex ratio due to Wolbachia infections were observed in four mite populations regardless of Wolbachia grouping. Our study suggests a potential correlation between phenotypic effect of Wolbachia infection and its genetic diversity associated with host plants in Korean mite populations.

Thrips palmi Karny, melon thrips was introduced and first recorded in 1993 in Korea. This species has become a serious pest of vegetable and ornamental crops. The CLIMEX simulation was applied to T. palmi to predict its potential geographic distribution in Korea under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 climate change scenario. In the CLIMEX simulation, the ecoclimatic index was calculated, and compared in each simulated year and each simulated location. The map comparisons show good agreements between simulated and present distributions of T. palmi, indicating that the CLIMEX model has promising potential for prediction of future distributions of this species in Korea. In the near future, until the year 2020, all the western and eastern parts of Korea show favorable to marginal suitability for T. palmi populations in the fields. After the year 2040, potential distributions shift from no persistence to favorable for establishment and persistence from coastal to interior regions of the Korean peninsula, except for a north-eastern interior region which is the northernmost part of a high mountainous (Baekdu-Daegan) area in Korea. Based on the simulation results, the geographical distribution of T. palmi will expand over its current weather restrictions in the near future under a severe climate change scenario. Thus, pest management measures and strategies should be re-evaluated in Korea, and should include further studies on interspecific competition and ecosystem changes due to climate changes.

The thalamus has been implicated in fear extinction, yet the role of the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) in this process remains unclear. Here, in mice, we show that the rostroventral part of the TRN (TRNrv) is critically involved in the extinction of tone-dependent fear memory. Optogenetic excitation of TRNrv neurons during extinction learning dramatically facilitated, whereas the inhibition disrupted, the fear extinction. Single unit recordings demonstrated that TRNrv neurons selectively respond to conditioned stimuli but not to neutral stimuli. TRNrv neurons suppressed the spiking activity of the medial part of the dorsal midline thalamus (dMTm), and a blockade of this inhibitory pathway disrupted fear extinction. Finally, we found that the suppression of dMTm projections to the central amygdala promotes fear extinction, and TRNrv neurons have direct connections to this pathway. Our results uncover a previously unknown function of the TRN and delineate the neural circuit for thalamic control of fear memory.

The spatial distribution of the count of adult greenhouse whiteflies, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), on yellow sticky traps was analyzed using Taylor's power law and spatial autocorrelation statistics in the cherry tomato greenhouses from 1998-1999. Samples were collected weekly using a cylindrically shaped yellow sticky trap placed in a 5 by 8 grid covering 0.10-0.15 ha in each of five cherry tomato greenhouses. Taylor's (1961) power law indicated that counts of T. vaporariorum on traps were aggregated within greenhouses. Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that trap catches were similar (positively autocorrelated) to a distance of 12.5 m, and then dissimilar (negatively autocorrelated) at >12.5 m. Autocorrelation-lag plots showed a globally significant spatial relation in 34 of 57 sample-weeks according to Bonferroni's approximation. The presence of this spatial relation was not related to the changes of mean density. Trap counts at the second lag distance (12.5-25 m) showed little spatial autocorrelation and tended to be the most spatially independent. A fixed-precision-level sequential sampling plan was developed using the parameters from Taylor's power law. The presence of spatial dependency in data sets degraded the sampling plan's precision relative to performance in data sets lacking significant spatial autocorrelation. Therefore, to obtain an unbiased mean density of T. vaporariorum per greenhouse, sticky traps should be placed at least >12.5 m apart to ensure that they are spatially independent.

No abstract

The monogamy inequality in terms of the concurrence, called the Coffman-Kundu-Wootters inequality [Phys. Rev. A 61, 052306 (2000)], and its generalization [T.J. Osborne and F. Verstraete, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 220503 (2006)] hold on general n-qubit states including mixed ones. In this paper, we consider the monogamy inequalities in terms of the fully entangled fraction and the teleportation fidelity. We show that the monogamy inequalities do not hold on general mixed states, while the inequalities hold on n-qubit pure states.PACS numbers: 03.67. Mn, 03.65.Ud, 03.67.Hk Entanglement is a crucial one of several quantum mechanical phenomena, which provide us with various quantum information processing such as quantum computation superior to any classical computation and perfectly secure quantum communication. On this account, over the last three decades, a lot of research works on entanglement have been significantly developed. However, there still exist quite a few unsolved problems and interesting aspects related to entanglement, especially multipartite entanglement.In order to understand entanglement more effectively, quantum information scientists have considered the socalled entanglement measure as a tool to quantify the degree of entanglement. Among several entanglement measures, there is a simple form of entanglement measure, called the concurrence [1], which is defined as follows: For a given pure state |φ 12 in 2 ⊗ d quantum system (d ≥ 2), the concurrence C is defined as C(|φ 12 φ|) = 2(1 − trρ 2 1 ) = 2 √ det ρ 1 , where ρ 1 = tr 2 |φ 12 φ|, and for a given mixed state ρ 12 ,where the minimum is taken over its all possible decompositions,The concurrence has been considered as one of the most important measures of entanglement, since the computable formula for the entanglement of formation in the two-qubit system can be derived from the explicit formula for the concurrence in the two-qubit system, and various properties about entanglement can be seen by virtue of the concurrence.One of those interesting properties about multipartite entanglement is the monogamy of entanglement, which can be seen by the monogamy inequality in terms of the concurrence as follows: For a given n-qubit pure states |Ψ 12···n and its reduced density operators ρ 1j ,where C 1(2···n) = C(|Ψ 1(2···n) Ψ|) and C 1j = C(ρ 1j ). The inequality is called the Coffman-Kundu-Wootters inequality [2] when n = 3, and its generalization to multiqubit states was recently proved by Osborne and Verstraete [3] as well. The monogamy inequality tells us that if one particle P in a multipartite quantum system is entangled with another particle Q as much as entanglement between P and the other particles, then P cannot be entangled with any other particles except Q.There are several useful applications of entanglement, among which a practical one is teleportation [4]. Since teleportation is to send quantum information through a classical channel assisted by entanglement, the teleportation capability essentially depends on the degree of the entanglemen...

We report a reliable chronic heart failure model in sheep using sequential ligation of the homonymous artery and its diagonal branch. After a left anterior thoracotomy in Corridale sheep, the homonymous artery was ligated at a point approximately 40% of the distance from the apex to the base of the heart, and after 1 hour, the diagonal vessel was ligated at a point at the same level. Hemodynamic measurements were done preligation, 30 minutes after the homonymous artery ligation, and 1 hour after diagonal branch ligation. The electrocardiograms were obtained as needed, and cardiac function was also evaluated with ultrasonography. After a predetermined interval (2 months for five animals and 3 months for two animals), the animals were reevaluated in the same way as before, and were killed for postmortem examination of their hearts. All seven animals survived the experimental procedures. Statistically significant decreases in systemic arterial blood pressure and cardiac output and increases in pulmonary artery capillary wedge pressure were observed 1 hour after sequential ligation of the homonymous artery and its diagonal branch. Untrasonographic analyses demonstrated variable degrees of anteroseptal dyskinesia and akinesia in all animals. The data from animals at 2 months after coronary artery ligation showed significant increases in central venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, and pulmonary artery capillary wedge pressure. Left ventricular enddiastolic dimension and left ventricular end-systolic dimension on ultrasonographic studies were also increased. Electrocardiography showed severe ST elevation immediately after the ligation and pathologic Q waves were found at 2 months after ligation. The thin walled infarcted areas with chamber enlargement were clearly seen in the hearts removed at 2 and 3 months after ligation. In conclusion, we could achieve a reliable ovine model of chronic heart failure using a simple concept of sequential ligation of the homonymous and diagonal arteries. This animal model was comparable to the clinical situation.

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate the sublethal effects of fenpyroximate and pyridaben on life-table parameters of two predatory mites species, Neoseiulus (= Amblyseius) womersleyi and Phytoseiulus persimilis. In these assays, young adult females were treated with three sublethal concentrations of each acaricide. The life-table parameters were calculated at each acaricide concentration, and compared using bootstrap procedures. For each acaricide, the LC(50) estimates for both species were similar, yet the two species exhibited completely different susceptibility when the population growth rate was used as the endpoint. Exposure to both acaricides reduced the net reproduction rate (R (o)) in a concentration-dependent manner and their EC(50)s were equivalent to less than LC(7). Two different scales of population-level endpoints were estimated to compare the total effect between the species and treatments: the first endpoint values were based on the net reproductive rate (fecundity λ) and the second endpoint values incorporated the mean egg hatchability into the net reproductive rate (vitality λ). The fecundity λ decreased in a concentration-dependent manner for both acaricide treatments, but the vitality λ decreased abruptly after treatment of N. womersleyi with pyridaben. The change in the patterns of λ revealed that the acaricide effects at the population level strongly depended on the life-history characteristics of the predatory mite species and the chemical mode of action. When the total effects of the two acaricides on N. womersleyi and P. persimilis were considered, fenpyroximate was found to be the most compatible acaricide for the augmentative release of N. womersleyi after treatment.