First record of Athetis rionegrensis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) attacking soybean and new geographical report in Argentina

The genus Athetis Hübner (Lepidoptera. Noctuidae. Amphipyrinae) comprises numerous species worldwide, two of them recently reported as pests of maize in China. This work presents the first record of an Athetis species feeding on soybean in the eastern region of the province of Córdoba, Argentina. The specimens were identified as Athetis rionegrensis status rev. based on external morphology and genitalia characters for both sexes. Furthermore, additional specimens were collected in the province of La Pampa, Argentina, on October, 2021.This species was only known to be in Alto Valle, province of Río Negro, Argentina, therefore these specimens represent the first record of the species outside that province. The correct assignment of this species to the Athetis genus is confirmed. Finally, the implications of this new record are discussed.

Intracranial Lesion Detection and Artifact Characterization: Comparative Study of Susceptibility and T2*-Weighted Imaging in Dogs and Cats

Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), an MRI sequence for the detection of hemorrhage, allows differentiation of paramagnetic and diamagnetic substances based on tissue magnetic susceptibility differences. The three aims of this retrospective study included a comparison of the number of areas of signal void (ASV) between SWI and T2*-weighted imaging (T2*WI), differentiation of hemorrhage and calcification, and investigation of image deterioration by artifacts. Two hundred twelve brain MRIs, 160 dogs and 52 cats, were included. The sequences were randomized and evaluated for presence/absence and numbers of ASV and extent of artifacts causing image deterioration by a single, blinded observer. In cases with a CT scan differentiation of paramagnetic (hemorrhagic) and diamagnetic (calcification) lesions was made, SWI was performed to test correct assignment using the Hounsfield Units. Non-parametric tests were performed to compare both sequences regarding detection of ASV and the effect of artifacts on image quality. The presence of ASV was found in 37 SWI sequences and 34 T2*WI sequences with a significant increase in ASV only in dogs >5 and ≤ 15 kg in SWI. The remaining weight categories showed no significance. CT examination was available in 11 cases in which 81 ASV were found. With the use of phase images, 77 were classified as paramagnetic and none as diamagnetic. A classification was not possible in four cases. At the level of the frontal sinus, significantly more severe artifacts occurred in cats and dogs (dogs, p < 0.001; cats, p = 0.001) in SWI. The frontal sinus artifact was significantly less severe in brachycephalic than non-brachycephalic dogs in both sequences (SWI, p < 0.001; T2*WI, p < 0.001). In conclusion, with the advantages of better detection of ASV in SWI compared with T2*WI and the opportunity to differentiate between paramagnetic and diamagnetic origin in most cases, SWI is generally recommended for dogs. Frontal sinus conformation appears to be a limiting factor in image interpretation.

Die Präposition „auf” als Verkettungskomponente

The article presents the idea of examining the preposition auf ‘on’ from the generative perspective, in which the preposition is understood as an elementary unit of the mental lexicon (lexical array) without a syntactic category. The unit auf ‘on’ is treated as a phonological segment to which a corresponding syntactic category is assigned in the selected syntactic context. The syntactic processing system ensures the correct assignment through correct decoding from auf ‘on’ by concatenating various grammatical features with different functions and meanings. The article analyses the unit auf ‘on’ in terms of concatenation properties in the syntactic process of sentence generation in German.

Stability of Atrazine–Smectite Intercalates: Density Functional Theory and Experimental Study

Atrazine (A) is one of the most applied herbicides and has a negative impact on the environment and health. Density functional theory (DFT) and experimental methods were used in the study of the immobilization of atrazine in two smectites, montmorillonite (Mt) and beidellite (Bd), as well as in their organically modified structures. Four systems were examined: A-Mt and A-Bd, as well as the structures modified by tetramethylphosphonium cation (TMP), A-TMP-Mt and A-TMP-Bd. The calculations revealed a flat arrangement of the atrazine in the interlayer space of both smectites with higher stability of beidellite structures. The presence of the TMP cation increased the fixation of atrazine in both organically modified smectites. The calculated vibrational spectra allowed a detailed analysis of the overlapping bands observed in the experimental FTIR spectra and their correct assignment. Further, selected FTIR bands unambiguously assigned to atrazine and both smectites served for the estimation of the adsorbed amount of atrazine. It was shown that the adsorption capacity of both TMP-modified smectites did not increase in comparison to the adsorption capacity of unmodified smectite samples.

RNA2HLA: HLA-based quality control of RNA-seq datasets

RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) is a widely used approach for accessing the transcriptome in biomedical research. Studies frequently include multiple samples taken from the same individual at various time points or under different conditions, correct assignment of those samples to each particular participant is evidently of great importance. Here, we propose taking advantage of typing the highly polymorphic genes from the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex in order to verify the correct allocation of RNA-seq samples to individuals. We introduce RNA2HLA, a novel quality control (QC) tool for performing study-wide HLA-typing for RNA-seq data and thereby identifying the samples from the common source. RNA2HLA allows precise allocation and grouping of RNA samples based on their HLA types. Strikingly, RNA2HLA revealed wrongly assigned samples from publicly available datasets and thereby demonstrated the importance of this tool for the quality control of RNA-seq studies. In addition, our tool successfully extracts HLA alleles in four-digital resolution and can be used to perform massive HLA-typing from RNA-seq based studies, which will serve multiple research purposes beyond sample QC.

ABOUT THE RATIO OF EXPENDITURES AND BUDGET EXPENSES OF THE SUBJECT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Objective: to assess the structure of expenditure obligations of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation in conjunction with the dynamics of regional budget expenditures. Methodology: grouping of expenditure obligations with the allocation of their own competence, powers of joint management and delegated powers; establishing correspondence between groups of expenditure obligations and sections of the functional classification of expenses. Results: in the structure of expenditure obligations of the Orenburg region, more than 60% are the powers of joint management; there is a narrowing of the scope of joint jurisdiction and expansion of the own competence of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation (for the period 2016-2020, the ratio changed from 62% / 32% to 59% / 34%). Delegation of authority is about 6% annually; in 2016-2018, this volume decreased by 5%, but in 2019-2020, an annual increase of 30% is planned. The insufficiently correct assignment of some expenditure obligations to a certain group was revealed. No direct link has been established between the register of expenditure obligations and the forms of budget reporting. Due to the incomplete correlation of the amounts of expenditure obligations with the sections of the functional classification, the reliability of information on the structure of budget expenditures decreases. Scientific novelty: the author proposed to use common approaches to grouping expenditure obligations, to establish links between the register of expenditure obligations and forms of budget reporting for the correct correlation of expenditure obligations with budget expenditures, as well as with sources of financial support. Practical significance: the main conclusions and proposals can be used in the budgetary activities of the authorities to improve the quality of planning budget expenditures and fulfillment of expenditure obligations of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

The parisite–(Ce) enigma: challenges in the identification of fluorcarbonate minerals

A multi-methodological study was conducted in order to provide further insight into the structural and compositional complexity of rare earth element (REE) fluorcarbonates, with particular attention to their correct assignment to a mineral species. Polycrystals from La Pita Mine, Municipality de Maripí, Boyacá Department, Colombia, show syntaxic intergrowth of parisite–(Ce) with röntgenite–(Ce) and a phase which is assigned to B3S4 (i.e., bastnäsite-3–synchisite-4; still unnamed) fluorcarbonate. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images reveal well-ordered stacking patterns of two monoclinic polytypes of parisite–(Ce) as well as heavily disordered layer sequences with varying lattice fringe spacings. The crystal structure refinement from single crystal X-ray diffraction data – impeded by twinning, complex stacking patterns, sequential and compositional faults – indicates that the dominant parisite–(Ce) polytype M1 has space group Cc. Parisite–(Ce), the B3S4 phase and röntgenite–(Ce) show different BSE intensities from high to low. Raman spectroscopic analyses of parisite–(Ce), the B3S4 phase and röntgenite–(Ce) reveal different intensity ratios of the three symmetric CO3 stretching bands at around 1100 cm−1. We propose to non-destructively differentiate parisite–(Ce) and röntgenite–(Ce) by their 1092 cm−1 / 1081 cm−1 ν1(CO3) band height ratio.

Modelling the expected probability of correct assignment under uncertainty

When making important decisions such as choosing health insurance or a school, people are often uncertain what levels of attributes will suit their true preference. After choice, they might realize that their uncertainty resulted in a mismatch: choosing a sub-optimal alternative, while another available alternative better matches their needs. We study here the overall impact, from a central planner’s perspective, of decisions under such uncertainty. We use the representation of Voronoi tessellations to locate all individuals and alternatives in an attribute space. We provide an expression for the probability of correct match, and calculate, analytically and numerically, the average percentage of matches. We test dependence on the level of uncertainty and location. We find that the overall mismatch is considerable even for low uncertainty—a possible concern for policy makers. We further explore a commonly used practice—allocating service representatives to assist individuals’ decisions. We show that within a given budget and uncertainty level, the effective allocation is for individuals who are close to the boundary between several Voronoi cells, but are not right on the boundary.