Landscape change has great, yet infrequently measured, potential to influence the susceptibility of natural systems to invasive species impacts. We quantified attack by an invasive biological control weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus) on native thistles in relation to two types of landscape change: agricultural intensification and invasion by an exotic thistle, Carduus nutans, the original target of ...

The insect Rhinocyllus conicus Froehlich is a flowerhead weevil deliberately introduced into the United States for the biological control of invasive exotic thistles in the genus Carduus. This study documents the course and magnitude of the weevil population expansion onto nontarget host plants. No weevils were reared from either Platte thistle, Cirsium canescens Nuttall, or wavyleaf thistle, C...

Increased production of reactive oxygen species has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and enhanced endogenous antioxidants have been proposed as a mechanism for regulating redox balance. Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is a transcriptional regulator of phase II antioxidant enzymes, and activation of Nrf2 has been suggested to be an important...

The thistle-infesting fruit fly Tephritis conura Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) forms host races on the melancholy thistle, Cirsium hetewphyllum (L.) Hill (Asterales: Asteraceae) and the cabbage thistle, Cirsium olemceum (L.). Scop. Previous research indicates that the host shift occurred from C. hetewphyllum to C. oleraceum. In this paper we address whether the host shift involved physiological a...

Six different types of bacteria (five strains of lactic acid bacterium and one strain of coliform) isolated from 35-day-old Serra cheese were assayed for proteolytic and lipolytic activities on milk agar and tributyrin agar, respectively. Peptidase and lipase activities were further studied via analytical assaying of free amino acids by spectrophotometry and of free fatty acids by HPLC in in vi...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of chronic renal disease exceeds 10% in industrialized societies. Oxidative damage is thought to be one of the main mechanisms involved in nearly all chronic renal pathologies. OBJECTIVE We aimed to use the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) method and a sequential multisolvent extraction process to compare the in vitro antioxidant capacity of 55 medicinal her...

The accurate recognition of weeds on crops supports the spot application herbicides, high economic effect and reduction pesticide pressure agrocenoses. We consider approach based quantitative spectral characteristics plant objects to be most appropriate for development methods herbicides. made test plots with different species composition cultivated weed plants experimental fields scientific cr...

The role of neo-angiogenesis in prostate cancer (PCA) growth and metastasis is well established, but the development of effective and non-toxic pharmacological inhibitors of angiogenesis remains an unaccomplished goal. In this regard, targeting aberrant angiogenesis through non-toxic phytochemicals could be an attractive angiopreventive strategy against PCA. The rationale of the present study w...