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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

How Costly Is It For Poor Farmers To Lift Themselves Out Of Subsistence, Laure C. Dutoit, Olivier Cadot, Marcelo Olarreaga Nov 2005

How Costly Is It For Poor Farmers To Lift Themselves Out Of Subsistence, Laure C. Dutoit, Olivier Cadot, Marcelo Olarreaga

Olivier Cadot

The main objective of this paper is to provide estimates of the cost of moving out of subsistence for Madagascar's farmers. The analysis is based on a simple asset-return model of occupational choice. Estimates suggest that the entry (sunk) cost associated with moving out of subsistence can be quite large---somewhere between 124 and 153 percent of a subsistence farmer's annual production. Our results make it possible to identify farm characteristics likely to generate large gains if moved out of subsistence, yielding useful information for the targeting of trade-adjustment assistance programs.


Climatic Unpredictability And Parasitism Of Caterpillars: Implications Of Global Warming, John O. Stireman Iii, Lee A. Dyer, D. H. Janzen, M. S. Singer, J. T. Lill, R. J. Marquis, R. E. Ricklefs, G. L. Gentry, W. Hallwachs, P. D. Coley, J. A. Barone, H. F. Greeney, H. Connahs, P. Barbosa, H. C. Morais, I. R. Diniz Nov 2005

Climatic Unpredictability And Parasitism Of Caterpillars: Implications Of Global Warming, John O. Stireman Iii, Lee A. Dyer, D. H. Janzen, M. S. Singer, J. T. Lill, R. J. Marquis, R. E. Ricklefs, G. L. Gentry, W. Hallwachs, P. D. Coley, J. A. Barone, H. F. Greeney, H. Connahs, P. Barbosa, H. C. Morais, I. R. Diniz

Robert Marquis

Insect outbreaks are expected to increase in frequency and intensity with projected changes in global climate through direct effects of climate change on insect populations and through disruption of community interactions. Although there is much concern about mean changes in global climate, the impact of climatic variability itself on species interactions has been little explored. Here, we compare caterpillar–parasitoid interactions across a broad gradient of climatic variability and find that the combined data in 15 geographically dispersed databases show a decrease in levels of parasitism as climatic variability increases. The dominant contribution to this pattern by relatively specialized parasitoid wasps …


Spiroplasma Leucomae Sp. Nov., Isolated In Poland From White Satin Moth (Leucoma Salicis L.) Larvae, Marietta A. Oduori, Jerzy J. Lipa, Gail E. Gasparich Oct 2005

Spiroplasma Leucomae Sp. Nov., Isolated In Poland From White Satin Moth (Leucoma Salicis L.) Larvae, Marietta A. Oduori, Jerzy J. Lipa, Gail E. Gasparich

Gail Gasparich

Spiroplasma sp. strain SMAT, isolated in Poland from white satin moth larvae, Leucoma salicis L. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), was serologically distinct from other Spiroplasma species, groups or subgroups. Dark-field microscopy of the cells revealed the classical helical shape and subsequent transmission electron microscopy revealed cells surrounded by only a single cell membrane (lacking a cell wall). Growth of strain SMAT occurred in M1D medium at 30 °C. Strain SMAT catabolized both glucose and arginine, but did not hydrolyse urea. The G+C content of the DNA was 24±1 mol% as determined by melting temperature analysis. Serological analysis revealed a very weak cross-reactivity …


Bacterial Soft Rot Of Aloe Caused By Pectobacterium Chrysanthemi: A New Report From India, Kunal Mandal Dec 2004

Bacterial Soft Rot Of Aloe Caused By Pectobacterium Chrysanthemi: A New Report From India, Kunal Mandal

Kunal Mandal

A new leaf rot disease of Aloe barbadensis was reported for the first time in India.


Plant Ontology (Po): A Controlled Vocabulary Of Plant Structures And Growth Stages, Pankaj Jaiswal, Shulamit Avraham, Katica Ilic, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Susan Mccouch, Anuradha Pujar, Leonore Reiser, Seung Y. Rhee, Martin M. Sachs, Mary L. Schaeffer, Lincoln Stein, Peter Stevens, Leszek Vincent, Doreen Ware, Felipe Zapata Dec 2004

Plant Ontology (Po): A Controlled Vocabulary Of Plant Structures And Growth Stages, Pankaj Jaiswal, Shulamit Avraham, Katica Ilic, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Susan Mccouch, Anuradha Pujar, Leonore Reiser, Seung Y. Rhee, Martin M. Sachs, Mary L. Schaeffer, Lincoln Stein, Peter Stevens, Leszek Vincent, Doreen Ware, Felipe Zapata

Peter Stevens

The Plant Ontology Consortium (POC) (www.plantontology.org) is a collaborative effort among several plant databases and experts in plant systematics, botany and genomics. A primary goal of the POC is to develop simple yet robust and extensible controlled vocabularies that accurately reflect the biology of plant structures and developmental stages. These provide a network of vocabularies linked by relationships (ontology) to facilitate queries that cut across datasets within a database or between multiple databases. The current version of the ontology integrates diverse vocabularies used to describe Arabidopsis, maize and rice (Oryza sp.) anatomy, morphology and growth stages. Using the ontology browser, …


Spiroplasma Atrichopogonis Sp. Nov., From A Ceratopogonid Biting Midge, R. Thomas Koerber, Gail E. Gasparich, Mark F. Frana, William L. Grogan Dec 2004

Spiroplasma Atrichopogonis Sp. Nov., From A Ceratopogonid Biting Midge, R. Thomas Koerber, Gail E. Gasparich, Mark F. Frana, William L. Grogan

Gail Gasparich

Spiroplasma sp. strain GNAT3597T was isolated from the biting midge genus Atrichopogon (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). It was serologically distinct from other Spiroplasma species, groups or subgroups. Dark-field microscopy of the cells revealed the classical helical shape and subsequent transmission electron microscopy revealed cells surrounded by only a cell membrane (i.e. lacking a cell wall). Growth of strain GNAT3597T occurred in M1D medium at 30 °C. Strain GNAT3597T catabolized both glucose and arginine, but did not hydrolyse urea. The DNA G+C content of strain GNAT3597T was 29±1 mol%. Only one strain, SMCAT (Spiroplasma mirum), is serologically related to strain GNAT3597T, although the …