Socioeconomic technical surveys were carried out in the highland crucifer production areas of Da Lat, Vietnam to learn the potential impacts of using the multiple biological control agents Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and the parasitoids Diadegma semiclausum (Ds) and Diadromus collaris (Dc) for control of Plutella xylostella (Diamondback Moth, DBM). Ds and Dc were introduced in Vietnam in 1995 and were in widespread use by 2000. Crucifer farmers have access to as many as 16 formulated commercial products of Bt. Based on both biological parameters (parasitoid-DBM abundance) and socioeconomic performance indicators such as yield increase, pesticide cost reduction, and gross margin, the present year-long study revealed that farmers who adopted biological controls to manage DBM were able to lower their production cost by US$133–513/ha, thereby reducing their pest management costs by three times in comparison to those who relied only on the chemical pesticides. Farmers who manage DBM using Bt and practice conservation of parasitoids (Ds and Dc) can ensure sustainable crucifer production in highland production systems, reducing the potential ill effects of chemical use.

In this study, we developed a method to monitor the phosphorylation and translocation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK2) proteins after PC12 cells have been stimulated by a mitogen. The method involves the use of green fluorescent protein (GFP), capillary electrophoresis and the measurement of laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF). We showed the prescence of the non-phosphorylated GFP-ERK2 and phosphorylated GFP-ERK2 in cell lysates by CE-LIF, and then compared the phosphorylations of GFP-ERK2 and GFP-183A. Phosphorylated GFP-ERK2 was detected at 6.7min and the non-phosphorylated GFP-ERK2 at 5.3–5.5min. The results were compared with confocal laser scanning microscope imaging and western blot results, and suggest that the developed method can be used to detect other enzymatic modifications.

A study on uranium and oxygen point defects in uranium dioxide using the ab initio plane-wave pseudopotential method in the local density approximation of the density functional theoretical framework is presented. Norm conserving pseudopotentials are used to describe oxygen and uranium atoms. The uranium pseudopotential is specifically described. Its validity is ascertained thanks to a detailed structural study of uranium dioxide and of three phases of metallic uranium (fcc, bcc, and a phase). The free energies of formation of both intrinsic (Frenkel pairs and Schottky defect) and extrinsic (single vacancies or interstitials) defects are calculated. The obtained values form a reliable set of numerical data that are analyzed in the framework of the point defect model which is commonly used to assess defect concentrations in uranium dioxide and their variation with stoichiometry. From the obtained results, the ability of the point defect model to accurately reproduce defect concentrations in uranium dioxide is discussed.