Locust swarms and serotonin

Original article:

Anstey, M.L., Rogers, S.M., Ott, S.R., Burrows, M., & Simpson, S.J. (30 January 2009). Serotonin mediates behavioral gregarization underlying swarm formation in desert locusts. Science 323 (5914): 627-630. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1165939]

• Includes links to a longer commentary (Perspectives) and shorter commentary (ScienceNow), an author interview podcast and podcast transcript
  

You may also be interested in:

• Green Muscle, a fungal biopesticide for control of grasshoppers and locusts in Africa - chapter in "Biological control: a global perspective"
• Locust: the devastating rise and mysterious disappearance of the insect that shaped the American frontier
• Locusts - chapter in "Agrometeorology related to extreme events"
• Serotonin system- chapter in "The neuromodulators"
• Biology of aggression - serotonin addressed throughout

[Photo by niv. License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/antichrist/34263361]

Videos on Diseases with Insect Vectors

"Kill or Cure" is a series of 25-minute films on diseases faced by people living in developing nations, some of which have insect vectors. Subjects include:

• Malaria (mosquito)
  
• River blindness (black fly)
  
• Kala Anzar / Visceral Lieshmaniasis (sand fly)
• Chagas (kissing bug)
• Dengue fever (mosquito)
• Encephalitis (mosquito)
• Trachoma (flies)
  

Rockhopper.tv distributes these documentaries, and provides free streaming online access.

[Photo by James Jordan. License: Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesjordan/2612506038]

Global Research on Cocoa

GRO-Cocoa
- "Global Research On Cocoa: Working with and for farmers" - is a twice-yearly newsletter funded by the USDA and created by CABI.

All issues of the newsletter are available free online, back to issue #1 in June 2002.

CABI is "a not for profit, intergovernmental organization that improves people's lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment." They are publishers (ex: CAB Abstracts), researchers, consultants, and purveyors of microbial research services.

You may also be interested in:

• Bitter chocolate: the dark side of the world’s most seductive sweet
• Trichoderma stromaticum for management of witches’ broom of cacao in Brazil, chapter in Biological control: a global perspective
• Chocolate (video)
• The chocolate tree: a natural history of cacao
• Chocolate in Mesoamerica: a cultural history of cacao

Peace Corps Master’s program in Agronomy, Horticulture

UW-Madison offers "Peace Corps Master’s International" programs in partnership with the CALS departments of agronomy, animal sciences, forest & wildlife ecology, horticulture, life sciences communication, and urban & regional planning.

This program allows you to combine Peace Corps service with graduate studies for credit. Typical programs start with a year of classes, followed by two years in an international assignment, with a final period back on campus to complete your master's degree.

See also:

• UW-Madison ranks sixth in Peace Corps alumni volunteers

Web of Knowledge, EndNote Web maintenance

Quarterly maintenance

There will be disruptions to services during these maintenance periods:

EndNote Web - starting Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 8:00PM CST

ISI Web of Knowledge (including Web of Science, Biological Abstracts, and CAB Abstracts) - starting Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 8:00AM CST

Grants Information Collection workshops

Identifying Grants for Research & Project Funding
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:30–12noon
Thursday, March 5, 2009 1–2:30pm
Emphasis is on funding for academic pursuits.

Grants for Your Education
Friday, February 13, 2009 11:45–1:15pm
For current and future Wisconsin students of any institute of higher education interested in scholarships, fellowships and grants. Identify funding sources beyond those that are available through most offices of financial aid.

Intro to Foundation Grants for Non-Profits
Thursday, February 19, 2009 1–2:45pm
Friday, March 13, 2009 9–10:45am
Orientation to the Collection, background on the world of grantmaking, information on how to build a credible nonprofit organization, and general grantseeking tips. Suitable for staff of nonprofit organizations and UW clientele.

Foundation Directory Online
Thursday, February 19, 2009 3–4pm
Friday, March 13, 2009 11–12noon
Gain hands-on experience using this Foundation Center database.

More Info
Fee: None, FREE to all
Registration: Not required, but seating is limited
Location: Rm.436 Memorial Library (non-UW participants can get a day pass with an ID at the entrance)
Questions? Contact Nikki Busch at (608) 262-6431, or grantsinfo@library.wisc.edu

Impact Factors: "Parasites & Vectors" + "Plant Methods"

Open access publisher BioMed Central has announced that two of its journals, Parasites & Vectors and Plant Methods, have been accepted for tracking by Thomson Reuters (vendors of ISI Web of Science) and will both receive "Impact Factors" in 2010.

"Parasites & Vectors expands upon the scope of two former BioMed Central publications, Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease and Filaria Journal, both of which ceased publication in December 2007. Launched in January 2008, the journal has rapidly become an authoritative home for research in parasitology, reflected by its acceptance for tracking by Thomson Reuters from its first issue."

"Launched in 2005, Plant Methods encompasses all aspects of technological innovation in the plant sciences. The journal seeks to stimulate the development and adoption of new and improved techniques and research tools and, where appropriate, to promote consistency of methodologies for better integration of data from different laboratories."

"These journals bring to a total of 71 BioMed Central journals that are tracked by Thomson Reuters and either have or are on course to receive an Impact Factor."

[Source: KnowledgeSpeak.com]

2009 Agriculture Glossary & Thesaurus

Agricultural Thesaurus & Glossary (USDA National Agricultural Library)

Available in English and Spanish. "The 2009 edition is the 8th edition of the Agricultural Thesaurus, first released by the National Agricultural Library in 2002. Terminology associated with herbicides, forestry, and fire science was expanded this edition. The taxonomic classification of fungi was realigned based on the 2007 international collaborative work published by D.S. Hibbett in Mycological Research, “A higher-level phylogenetic classification of the Fungi”. The common and scientific names of many insects and mites were added this edition. There are 85 new definitions in Spanish and English."

Statistics:

• English Thesaurus terms = 73,194; Glossary definitions = 2,574
• Spanish Thesaurus terms = 69,118; Glossary definitions = 2,574

New words include:

• alfalfa gall midge
• corn blotch leafminer
• corn root aphid
• cranberry weevil
• cucurbit longicorn
• Cucurbita evodicarpa
• Cucurbita odorifera
• Cucurbitaria
• Cucurbitariaceae
• herbicide antagonists
• herbicide antidotes
• herbicide safeners
• honey bee mite
• inorganic herbicides
• insecticidal plants
• phenoxy herbicides
• phenoxyacetic herbicides
• phenoxybutyric herbicides
• phenoxypropionic herbicides
• phenylacetaldehyde
• phenylenediamine herbicides
• potato bean
• solanaceous treehopper
• Solanum acaule x Solanum stenotomum
• Solanum acaule x Solanum stenotomum x Solanum tuberosum
• Solanum ajanhuiri
• Solanum chaucha
• Solanum coeruleiflorum
• Solanum curtilobum
• Solanum goniocalyx
• Solanum hygrothermicum
• Solanum juzepczukii
• Solanum mamilliferum
• Solanum mammosum
• Solanum phureja subsp. hygrothermicum
• Solanum sessiliflorum
• Solanum stenotomum subsp. goniocalyx
• Solanum tenuifilamentum
• Solanum topiro
• Solanum tuberosum Ajanhuiri Group
• Solanum tuberosum Chauca Group
• Solanum tuberosum Curtilobum Group
• Solanum tuberosum Juzepczukii Group
• Solanum tuberosum Phureja Group
• Solanum tuberosum Stenotomum Group
• Solanum tuberosum x Solanum stenotomum
• Solanum x ajanhuiri
• Solanum x chaucha
• Solanum x curtilobum
• Solanum x juzepczukii
• vegetated roof covers
• vegetated roofs
• vegetation canopy
• wheat wireworm

Related tools:

• AGROVOC - "multilingual, structured and controlled vocabulary designed to cover the terminology of all subject fields in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and related domains (e.g. environment)"
  
• CAB Thesaurus - choose "Descriptors" from the drop-down menu, then click

ScienceAccelerator.gov - new & improved search

The Office of Scientific and Technical Information at the U.S. Department of Energy has added new features to ScienceAccelerator.gov, the search engine for 10 key DOE sites.

Customize Your Search

New search and retrieval features and capabilities have been added:

• automatically spell check your search terms
• e-mail your search results
• export results into your citation management software
• links to EurekAlert! Science News and Wikipedia
  
• clusters results by topic and/or by date
  

Other search and retrieval features include:

• advanced searching
• searching within a search
• sorting search results
• narrowing your search results by individually selecting items of interest

Science Accelerator helps you to find research and development reports; e-prints; science conference proceedings; DOE patents, accomplishments, project descriptions, and software; DOE-associated Nobel Prize Winners; and more.

NEW! CAB Abstracts on Web of Knowledge

New as of January 9, 2009...

Search 1000's of journals in these databases from the familiar Web of Knowledge site:

• CAB Abstracts
• Food Science & Technology Abstracts
• Medline
• Zoological Record
• Biological Abstracts
• Web of Science

CAB Abstracts (1973-present)

• Agricultural and environmental sciences
• CAB Thesaurus, CABICODES, CAB Registry Numbers
• Journals, books, conference proceedings, technical reports & more
• Backfiles coming soon
  

Food Science & Technology Abstracts (1969-present)

• Complete food manufacturing cycle, from initial market research to final packaging
• Journals, books, conference proceedings, reports, theses, patents, standards & legislation

Medline (1950-present)

• U.S. National Library of Medicine database
• Biomedicine & life sciences, bioengineering, public health, clinical care, plant & animal science
• MesH terms, CAS registry numbers, links to PubMed & NCBI databases
  

Zoological Record (1864-present)

• The world’s leading taxonomic reference & oldest continuing database of animal biology
• Determine the first appearance of an animal name; track classification changes; keep up with new & endangered species

Biological Abstracts (1969-present)

• Life sciences journal literature, with topics ranging from botany to microbiology to pharmacology
• BIOSIS indexing, MeSH terms, CAS registry numbers

Web of Science (1965-present)

• The world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts & humanities
• Journals and conference proceedings
• Cited reference searching, Author Finder, Analyze Tool identifies trends & patterns

Science teachers: Entomology training program

USDA/Agricultural Research Service FUTURE SCIENTISTS Project

This nationally recognized professional development opportunity for science teachers (grades 7-12) is offering four, 2-day summer workshops in June 2009. The focus is on insect life cycles, environmental science and ecology.

Goals:

1. To infuse excitement about cutting edge scientific research into the classroom

2. To increase use of hands-on, inquiry-based science activities

3. To make USDA/ARS labs accessible as an educational resource

Dates:

• Parlier, CA: June 18-19, 2009
• Riverside, CA: June 15-16, 2009
• Tombstone, AZ: June 9-10, 2009
• Tucson, AZ: June 11-12, 2009

Participating teachers:

1. Should work in schools within commuting distance of the USDA/ARS lab site

2. Are paid a stipend of $300

3. Are provided free insects during the school year for student research

4. During the year, select 4 students to return with them to the USDA/ARS lab in May 2010 to present the school’s research findings at a Student Research Presentation Day

Download more information:
Teacher info letter: http://www.science.tamu.edu/files/doc/letterforminiinstitute2009.doc

Tombstone Application
Tucson Application
Riverside Application
Parlier Application

This is a collaborative project between:

• USDA/Hispanic Serving Institutions National Program (HSNINP)
• Center for Mathematics & Science Education (CMSE) within the College of Science at Texas A&M University
• USDA/ARS labs nationwide

Springer to publish "Phytoparasitica" journal

"Phytoparasitica is an international journal that publishes original research contributions on the biological, chemical and molecular aspects of entomology, plant pathology, virology, nematology and weed sciences, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and other biocides."

• Steenbock Library has Phytoparasitica in print from 1973-2001 (v.1-29)


• As of 1/12/09, the former publishers offer free online access from 1996-2006 (v.24-34)

"STM publisher Springer, Germany, has announced that it will publish the journal Phytoparasitica, starting with Volume 37, Issue 1, beginning in February 2009. Backfiles of the journal to June 1973 will be available on Springer’s online information platform SpringerLink. Professor Jaacov Katan from the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Professor Benjamin Raccah from the Agricultural Research Organization at The Volcani Center in Bet Dagan, Israel, will serve as the Editors-in-chief." [Knowledgespeak.com]