Bird fancier's lung (BFL) resulting from avian antigen exposure is a very common form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Its pathogenesis is modified by genetic polymorphisms located within the major histocompatibility complex, and also by smoking, which may decrease serum antibody response to inhaled antigen. Acute, subacute, and chronic presentations of BFL are recognized, but often overlap clinically. Continued antigen exposure in the chronic phase portends a worse prognosis. Chronic bronchitis symptoms may be part of the BFL clinical spectrum, and rhinitis may suggest an allergic component. The diagnosis of BFL is enhanced by a high index of suspicion of exposure to avian antigen, recurrent symptomatic episodes occurring 4-8 h after exposure, inspiratory "velcro" crackles on auscultation, weight loss, and positive IgG precipitins to the antigen. Characteristic findings on high-resolution computed tomography of the chest include centrilobular nodules, ground-glass opacification, and mosaicism due to air trapping. Bronchoalveolar lavage will classically show >25% lymphocytosis, a CD4/CD8 ratio of <1.0 and >1% mast cells in the acute phase. Lung biopsies, if obtained in the subacute phase of the disease, typically show loosely formed granulomas, giant cells, a lymphoplasmacytic interstitial infiltrate, and possibly some degree of fibrosis. In some patients, usual interstitial pneumonia or fibrotic non-specific interstitial pneumonia patterns may be seen on surgical biopsy. Skin testing, serological testing, and bronchial provocation tests for BFL frequently suffer from a lack of standardization. Effective treatment for BFL consists mainly of antigen avoidance, as corticosteroids likely do not alter long-term prognosis. Lung transplantation can be considered for progressive chronic disease refractory to medical measures.

A D-enantiomeric analog of the submandibular gland rat-1 tripeptide FEG (Seq: NH(3)(+)-Phe-Glu-Gly-COO(-)) called feG (Seq: NH(3)(+)-D-Phe-D-Glu-Gly-COO(-)) was examined by molecular dynamics simulations in water. Previous in vacuo simulations suggested a conformation consisting predominantly of interactions between the Phe side chain and glutamyl-carboxyl group and a carboxyl/amino termini interaction. The solvated peptide was simulated using two approaches which were compared-a single 400-ns simulation and a "simulation tree." The "tree" approach utilized 45 10-ns simulations with different conformations used as initial structures for given trajectories. We demonstrate that multiple short duration simulations are able to describe the same conformational space as that described by longer simulations. Furthermore, previously described in vacuo interactions were confirmed with amendments: the previously described head-to-tail arrangement of the amino and carboxyl termini, was not observed; the interaction between the glutamyl carboxyl and Phe side chain describes only one of a continuum of conformations present wherein the aromatic residue remains in close proximity to the glutamyl carbonyl group, and also interacts with either of the two available carboxyl groups. Finally, utilizing only two separate 10-ns trajectories, we were able to better describe the conformational space than a single 60-ns trajectory, realizing a threefold decrease in the computational complexity of the problem.

The present study was conducted to survey and evaluate the population densities of the major sucking insect pests infesting okra plants and their common associated predators and its relation with the prevailing temperature and relative humidity at Diarb-Nigm district, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt during the two summer growing seasons of 2015 and 2016. Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), Oxycarenus hyalinipennis Costa, Aphis gossypii Glover, Empoassca lybica (Bergevin) and Thrips tabaci Linde were the main sucking insect pests on okra plants. The most dominant predaceous insect species were Metasyrphus corollae (Fabricius), Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens), Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus and Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus. B. tabaci showed four peaks in the first and the fourth weeks of July and in the fourth week of August and September in the first season. In the second season, it peaked in the first week of August and September. Two peaks of activity for A. gossypii occurred in the fourth week of July and August during the first season and in the second one it peaked in the fourth week of July and third week of August. T. tabaci peaked in the fourth week of August and the second week of September during the first season. In the second season, it peaked in the fifth week of August. E. lybica peaked in the third week of July, the fourth week of August and the second week of September during 2015 growing season, while in the season of 2016 it peaked in the second week of August and the first week of September. O. hyalinipennis peaked once in the third week of October in both seasons of the study. M. corollae recorded one peak in both seasons, in the first season it was observed in the fifth week of August, while in the second one it was in the second week of August. C. carnea recorded its maximum number in the third and the fourth weeks of July during the first and second seasons of the study, respectively. C. undecimpunctata showed three peaks of activity in the fourth week of June, the second week of July and the second week of August in the first season, while in the second one it peaked in the fourth week of July. C. septempunctata recorded two peaks in the second week of July and August during the first season of the study. In the second season, it peaked in the second week of July. Temperature and relative humidity influenced the populations of B.

The present studies were carried out to survey and evaluate the population densities of some insect pests infesting rosemary plants and their associated predators during the two successive seasons of 2013 and 2014 at Abo-Kabir district , Sharkia Governorate. The obtained results are summarized as follow : Seven insect species belonging to seven families and four orders were recorded as insect pests on rosemary plants. Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), Aphis gossypii Glover, Empoasca decipiens (Paoli) and Thrips tabaci Lind. were the most dominant species and recorded 53.95, 19.01, 13.08 and 8.14 % of the total insects numbers, respectively.Bemesia tabaci showed four peaks on 1 st August , 22 nd August , 19 th September and 17 th October in the first season and on 24 th July , 21 st August , 2 nd October and 20 th November in the second one. A.gossypii had two peaks on 1 st August and 29 th August in the first season and three peaks on 7 th August , 4 th September and 25 th September in the second season .Temperature and relative humidity influenced B.tabaci populations by 4.4337 and 72.9724 % in the first and second seasons , respectively. Temperature and relative humidity affected A. gossypii population by 33.91 and 44.68 % during the two successive seasons , respectively .Five predaceous insect species belonging to five families and four orders were surveyed. Paederus alfierii (Koch), Coccinella undecimpunctata L. and Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.) were the most dominant species inhabiting rosemary plants and representing 52.12, 24.00 and 10.35% of the total number of predators, respectively.

The present work was carried out to study the efficiency of seven pesticides namely, Agreenate , Diazinone, Boma, Major, Chlorosan, Agrezole and Nasractine on the egg hatchability percentage of the cotton whitefly, B. tabaci (Genn.) under laboratory conditions on soybean plants, and evaluate the efficiency of single and double applications of the tested pesticides against the nymphal stage of whitefly, B. tabaci infesting soybean plants under filed conditions. Data showed that, the tested pesticides caused high reduction of egg hatchability percentages compared with control. The minimum hatchability percentages of egg caused by Major (4.35%), while the maximum egg hatchability percentages caused by Nasractine (54.03%) compared with control (95.52%). With respect to the efficiency of the tested pesticides against nymphal stage of B.tabaci, The results revealed that Chlorosan proved to be the highest effective compound in single and double applications, on the other hand, Agrezole was the lowest effective one in both applications. The other tested pesticides occupied in intermediate positions between the highest and the lowest compounds. In addition, all treatments showed significant increase in the average weight of 100 seeds of the treated plots as compared with control. Conclusively, it can be concluded that using the tested pesticides especially Chlorosan against whitefly, B. tabaci can reduce the crop losses in soybean plants under the Egyptian field conditions.