(C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. (doi: 10.1063/1.3226856).”
“A series of aromatic copolyethers containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole rings and fluorene groups was prepared by nucleophilic substitution polymerization technique of 9,9-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)fluorene, 1, or of different amounts of 1 and an aromatic bisphenol, such as 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol or phenolphthalein, with 2,5′-bis(p-fluorophenyl)1,3,4-oxadiazole. The polymers were easily soluble in polar solvents like N-methylpyrrolidone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylformamide, and chloroform and can be cast from solutions into thin flexible films. They showed high thermal stability, with decomposition temperature being above

425 degrees C. The polymers exhibited a glass-transition temperature in the range of 195-295 degrees C, with a reasonable interval between glass-transition and decomposition

temperature. Electrical learn more insulating properties of some polymer films were evaluated on the basis of dielectric constant and dielectric loss ad their variation with frequency and temperature. The values of dielectric constant at 19 kHz and 20 degrees C were in the range of 3.16-3.25. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 113: 383-391, 2009″
“Microsporidiosis caused by infection with Nosema apis or Nosema ceranae has become one of the most widespread diseases of honey bees and can cause important selleckchem economic losses for beekeepers. Honey can be contaminated by spores of both species and it has been reported as a suitable matrix to study the field prevalence of other honey bee sporulated pathogens. Historical Selleck FHPI honey sample collections from the CAR laboratory (Centro Apicola Regional) were analyzed by PCR to identify the earliest instance of emergence, and to determine whether the presence of Nosema spp. in honey was linked to the spread of these microsporidia in honey bee apiaries. A total

of 240 frozen honey samples were analyzed by PCR and the results compared with rates of Nosema spp. infection in worker bee samples from different years and geographical areas. The presence of Nosema spp. in hive-stored honey from naturally infected honey bee colonies (from an experimental apiary) was also monitored, and although collected honey bees resulted in a more suitable sample to study the presence of microsporidian parasites in the colonies, a high probability of finding Nosema spp. in their hive-stored honey was observed. The first honey sample in which N. ceranae was detected dates back to the year 2000. In subsequent years, the number of samples containing N. ceranae tended to increase, as did the detection of Nosema spp. in adult worker bees. The presence of N. ceranae as early as 2000, long before generalized bee depopulation and colony losses in 2004 may be consistent with a long incubation period for nosemosis type C or related with other unknown factors. The current prevalence of nosemosis, primarily due to N.