Effect of woodstack structure on invertebrate abundance and diversity

Reduced quantities of dead wood in managed forests have resulted in a reduction in the abundance and diversity of saproxylic invertebrates to the extent that many are now considered red list species. To mitigate against this loss, one conservation measure is the provision of dead wood, in the form of piles of chopped logs, i.e. ‘woodstacks’. The heterogeneity and volume of dead wood habitat is considered to be an important component of habitat suitability. However, the value of different woodstack types to invertebrate conservation has rarely been quantified and there is little consensus on how to best to survey the invertebrate fauna of woodstacks. This study used both sticky traps and pitfall traps to sample the invertebrate fauna of three types of sycamore woodstack. Woodstacks were made from 10 logs, 20 logs and 10 scorched logs plus a control woodstack made of unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) plastic piping and observed over a 4-week period. A total of 1446 invertebrates from 16 orders, including 127 Coleoptera, were caught during the sampling period. A generalized linear model was used to analyse invertebrate abundance between woodstack and between trap types, and diversity was determined using Shannon diversity indices and analysed using a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The woodstack type had no effect on the abundance of invertebrates. However, Shannon diversity was highest on the scorched woodstacks, with little difference between the 10 and 20 log stacks and the control uPVC woodstacks. However, closer inspection of orders revealed the uPVC woodstacks to have the lowest abundance and diversity of Coleoptera. This study suggests that constructing woodstacks can provide suitable habitat for a variety of invertebrates. However, these invertebrates may have simply used the structures for shelter and the true value with saproxylic invertebrates could not be measured in this 4-week study. To fully appreciate the conservation value of woodstacks will require longer term studies that examine how and when saproxylic invertebrates use dead and decaying wood

Oviposition and Development of Emerald Ash Borer \u3ci\u3e(Agrilus Planipennis)\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) on Hosts and Potential Hosts in No-Choice Bioassays

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Bupres- tidae) is an invasive phloem-feeding pest native to Asia. It was first identified in North America in 2002 and has killed millions of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees in southeast Michigan and Essex County, Ontario. Since then, additional populations have been discovered across Michigan and in areas of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In Asia, A. planipennis reportedly colonizes other genera, including species of Juglans, Pterocarya and Ulmus. In North America, attacks on non-ash species have not been observed but there is concern about host switching as ash mortality progresses. From 2003 to 2005, we evaluated A. planipennis oviposition and larval development on 4 North American ash species: green ash (F. pennsylvanica Marshall), white ash (F. americana L.), black ash (F. nigra Marshall), blue ash (F. quadrangulata Michaux), and 6 potential alternate hosts including privet (Ligustrum and Forestiera spp.), Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulate (Blumb) Hara), American elm (Ulmus americana L.), black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), hickory (Carya ovata (Miller) K. Koch) and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis L.). In no- choice tests using cut branches in cages, female A. planipennis oviposited on all species tested. Larvae on green ash, white ash, black ash, blue ash and privet developed to the second instar before branches desiccated. Larvae attempted to feed on some black walnut, Japanese tree lilac, American elm and hackberry branches but died as first instars. There were no feeding attempts on hickory branches. We also conducted no-choice tests by placing adult A. planipennis in cages that encircled the lower 1 m of the trunk of live green ash, white ash, black walnut and Japanese tree lilac nursery trees. High densities of larvae developed on green ash and white ash nursery trees but there was no evidence of any larval survival, feeding, or development on the Japanese tree lilac or black walnut nursery trees

Oviposition and Development of Emerald Ash Borer \u3ci\u3e(Agrilus Planipennis)\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) on Hosts and Potential Hosts in No-Choice Bioassays

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Bupres- tidae) is an invasive phloem-feeding pest native to Asia. It was first identified in North America in 2002 and has killed millions of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees in southeast Michigan and Essex County, Ontario. Since then, additional populations have been discovered across Michigan and in areas of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In Asia, A. planipennis reportedly colonizes other genera, including species of Juglans, Pterocarya and Ulmus. In North America, attacks on non-ash species have not been observed but there is concern about host switching as ash mortality progresses. From 2003 to 2005, we evaluated A. planipennis oviposition and larval development on 4 North American ash species: green ash (F. pennsylvanica Marshall), white ash (F. americana L.), black ash (F. nigra Marshall), blue ash (F. quadrangulata Michaux), and 6 potential alternate hosts including privet (Ligustrum and Forestiera spp.), Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulate (Blumb) Hara), American elm (Ulmus americana L.), black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), hickory (Carya ovata (Miller) K. Koch) and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis L.). In no- choice tests using cut branches in cages, female A. planipennis oviposited on all species tested. Larvae on green ash, white ash, black ash, blue ash and privet developed to the second instar before branches desiccated. Larvae attempted to feed on some black walnut, Japanese tree lilac, American elm and hackberry branches but died as first instars. There were no feeding attempts on hickory branches. We also conducted no-choice tests by placing adult A. planipennis in cages that encircled the lower 1 m of the trunk of live green ash, white ash, black walnut and Japanese tree lilac nursery trees. High densities of larvae developed on green ash and white ash nursery trees but there was no evidence of any larval survival, feeding, or development on the Japanese tree lilac or black walnut nursery trees

Redetermination of (E)-N,N′-bis­(4-bromo­phen­yl)formamidine

In comprison with the previous structural study [Anulewicz et al. (1991 ▶). Pol. J. Chem. 65, 465–471], for which only the coordinates of all non-H atoms and of some H atoms were reported, the current redetermination of the title compound, C13H10Br2N2, additionally reports anisotropic displacement parameters for all non-H atoms and the coordinates of all H atoms, accompanied by higher accuracy of the geometric parameters. Two independent half-mol­ecules are present in the asymmetric unit, which are completed by a twofold rotation axis as symmetry element. In the crystal, inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into dimers. Linear chains parallel to [102] are formed by inter­molecular Br⋯Br inter­actions of 3.4328 (7) Å between two Br atoms of adjacent mol­ecules. The dihedral angles between the benzene rings are 50.05 (15) and 75.61 (11)° in the two independent molecules. Owing to the twofold symmetry of the mol­ecules, H atoms attached to the N atoms are only half-occupied, leading to them being disordered over two positions of equal occupancy

The Biology and Ecology of the Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis, in China

The biology, ecology, and life cycle of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), were studied using regular inspection in the forest and observations in the laboratory. Results indicated that A. planipennis are mostly univoltine in Tianjin, China. They overwintered individually as mature larvae in shallow chambers excavated in the outer sapwood. In late July, some full-grown larvae began to build overwintering chambers, and all larvae entered the sapwood for dormancy by early November. A. planipennis pupated in the overwintering chamber from early April to mid May the following year, and the average pupal duration was about 20 days. In late April, some newly eclosed adults could be found in the pupal cells, but they had not yet emerged from the tree. Adults began to emerge in early May, with peak flight occurring in mid May. The average longevity of adults was about 21 days and the adult stage lasted through early July. The adults fed on ash foliage as a source of nutrition. Mating was usually conducted and completed on the leaf or trunk surfaces of ash trees. Oviposition began in mid May and eggs hatched on average in 15.7 days. The first instar larvae appeared in early June. The larval stage lasted about 300 days to complete an entire generation. The emerald ash borer had four larval instars on velvet ash, Fraxinus velutina (Scrophulariales: Oleaceae). The major natural control factors of A. planipennis were also investigated, and preliminary suggestions for its integrated management are proposed

Tissue-Specific Transcriptomics of the Exotic Invasive Insect Pest Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)

BACKGROUND: The insect midgut and fat body represent major tissue interfaces that deal with several important physiological functions including digestion, detoxification and immune response. The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), is an exotic invasive insect pest that has killed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) primarily in the Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada. However, despite its high impact status little knowledge exists for A. planipennis at the molecular level. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Newer-generation Roche-454 pyrosequencing was used to obtain 126,185 reads for the midgut and 240,848 reads for the fat body, which were assembled into 25,173 and 37,661 high quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for the midgut and the fat body of A. planipennis larvae, respectively. Among these ESTs, 36% of the midgut and 38% of the fat body sequences showed similarity to proteins in the GenBank nr database. A high number of the midgut sequences contained chitin-binding peritrophin (248)and trypsin (98) domains; while the fat body sequences showed high occurrence of cytochrome P450s (85) and protein kinase (123) domains. Further, the midgut transcriptome of A. planipennis revealed putative microbial transcripts encoding for cell-wall degrading enzymes such as polygalacturonases and endoglucanases. A significant number of SNPs (137 in midgut and 347 in fat body) and microsatellite loci (317 in midgut and 571 in fat body) were predicted in the A. planipennis transcripts. An initial assessment of cytochrome P450s belonging to various CYP clades revealed distinct expression patterns at the tissue level. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge this study is one of the first to illuminate tissue-specific gene expression in an invasive insect of high ecological and economic consequence. These findings will lay the foundation for future gene expression and functional studies in A. planipennis

Transcriptomic Signatures of Ash (Fraxinus spp.) Phloem

Ash (Fraxinus spp.) is a dominant tree species throughout urban and forested landscapes of North America (NA). The rapid invasion of NA by emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), a wood-boring beetle endemic to Eastern Asia, has resulted in the death of millions of ash trees and threatens billions more. Larvae feed primarily on phloem tissue, which girdles and kills the tree. While NA ash species including black (F. nigra), green (F. pennsylvannica) and white (F. americana) are highly susceptible, the Asian species Manchurian ash (F. mandshurica) is resistant to A. planipennis perhaps due to their co-evolutionary history. Little is known about the molecular genetics of ash. Hence, we undertook a functional genomics approach to identify the repertoire of genes expressed in ash phloem.Using 454 pyrosequencing we obtained 58,673 high quality ash sequences from pooled phloem samples of green, white, black, blue and Manchurian ash. Intriguingly, 45% of the deduced proteins were not significantly similar to any sequences in the GenBank non-redundant database. KEGG analysis of the ash sequences revealed a high occurrence of defense related genes. Expression analysis of early regulators potentially involved in plant defense (i.e. transcription factors, calcium dependent protein kinases and a lipoxygenase 3) revealed higher mRNA levels in resistant ash compared to susceptible ash species. Lastly, we predicted a total of 1,272 single nucleotide polymorphisms and 980 microsatellite loci, among which seven microsatellite loci showed polymorphism between different ash species.The current transcriptomic data provide an invaluable resource for understanding the genetic make-up of ash phloem, the target tissue of A. planipennis. These data along with future functional studies could lead to the identification/characterization of defense genes involved in resistance of ash to A. planipennis, and in future ash breeding programs for marker development

Technological conversion of Ni-based superalloys working in extreme conditions

Istotą procesu konwersji w obszarze przemysłu metalowego jest wprowadzenie innowacyjnych pod względem materiałowym i technologicznym odlewanych komponentów w produkowanych maszynach i urządzeniach w miejsce tradycyjnych elementów kutych, spawanych, często wytwarzanych drogą obróbki mechanicznej, łączonych mechanicznie w bardziej złożone komponenty. Powszechnie wiadomo, że technologie odlewania, w przeciwieństwie do innych wymienionych powyżej technik formowania metalu, pozwalają nadać metalowi dowolny i nieraz najbardziej skomplikowany kształt – co daje możliwość wykonania odlewów zintegrowanych – niezbędnych elementów nowoczesnych maszyn i urządzeń. Powszechnie stosowane elementy metalowe wykonane technikami kucia czy też tłoczenia są zazwyczaj łączone (integrowane) dzięki stosowaniu technik spawania lub innych technik łączenia metali. Oznacza to niemal w każdym przypadku znaczną masę całego elementu, mniejszą jego sztywność, niską odporność na pracę w warunkach wysokiej temperatury, zmieniających się obciążeń, a także niższą odporność na zużycie ścierne. Z pomocą w tym przypadku przychodzą technologie odlewnicze, które mają do dyspozycji lekkie, wytrzymałe, odporne na wysokie temperatury i zmęczenie cieplne różnego rodzaju stopy odlewnicze. Jednocześnie przy wykorzystaniu nowoczesnych technik formowania jest możliwe tworzenie odlewów o bardzo złożonych i skomplikowanych kształtach, które jako jeden zintegrowany element w urządzeniu jest w stanie zastąpić kompleks innych elementów metalowych połączonych różnymi technikami. Takie rozwiązanie zapewni optymalizację właściwości użytkowych końcowego urządzenia. Naturalnym, oczywistym i zasadnym jest, że nie każdy metalowy element konstrukcyjny maszyny czy urządzenia powinien być zastępowany zintegrowanym elementem odlewanym. Toteż wykonanie konwersji powinno zostać poprzedzone szczegółowym procesem badawczo-aplikacyjnym ukierunkowanym na techniczną i ekonomiczną opłacalność takiej konwersji. Obecny poziom techniki odlewniczej pozwala na realizację konwersji odlewanych metalowych komponentów istotnych dla budowy maszyn stosowanych w rolnictwie, budownictwie, energetyce i eksploatacji bogactw naturalnych.The essence of the conversion process is the introduction of innovative in terms of materials and technology of cast parts, as components of manufactured machines and equipment in place of the traditional elements forged, welded, mechanically assembled parts. It is well known that the technology of casting, in contrast to other metal forming, mentioned above techniques will make it possible to give to metal even the most complicated shape – which gives the possibility to make integrated castings – essential elements of modern machines and equipment. Commonly used metal elements made by forging techniques have to be integrated by the use of welding techniques, or other metal joining techniques. This means that in almost every case a significant increase in weight of the entire item, low resistance to work in high temperature conditions, lower abrasion resistance. With the help to solve that case there are foundry technologies that are at the disposal of lightweight, durable, resistant to high temperatures and thermal fatigue different types of metal material. At the same time using modern molding techniques it is possible to create an integrated casting component, which, as an element of the device is able to replace complex combined different techniques other metal parts. This will ensure the optimization of the performance of the final device. It is natural and obvious that not every piece of metal construction machine or equipment will be possible to replace by an integrated casting part. Therefore, the performing of conversion process should be preceded by a detailed study, research and application-oriented process towards the technical and economic viability of such a conversion. The current level of technology allows the realization of the conversion of cast metal components essential for construction machinery used in agriculture, construction, power generation and exploitation of natural resources

The women' level of fear during the physiological and pathological pregnancy.

WSTĘP: Negatywne emocje, takie jak lęk mają zły wpływ na zdrowie psychiczne i fizyczne kobiety ciężarnej. Długotrwałe odczuwanie lęku przez ciężarną może doprowadzić do nieprawidłowości w przebiegu ciąży. Bardzo ważnym jest, aby poznać czynniki, które powodują wzrost poziomu lęku u kobiet ciężarnych.CEL PRACY: Celem bada była ocena poziomu lęku u kobiet w fizjologicznym i patologicznym przebiegu ciąży.MATERIAŁ I METODA: W badaniu wzięło udział 140 kobiet ciężarnych, które były użytkowniczkami mediów społecznościowych. Badanie zostało przeprowadzone za pomocą metody sondażu diagnostycznego. Zastosowano autorski anonimowy kwestionariusz ankiety oraz do badania wykorzystano Skalę Depresji, Lęku i Stresu (DASS).WYNIKI: U 43% ankietowanych nie wystąpiły żadne choroby. Nasilenie lęku u kobiet nie chorujących w trakcie ciąży wynosiło 1,5 punktów, u kobiet mających różne problemy zdrowotne poziom lęku wynosił średnio 4,7 punktów. Analiza za pomocą testu t Studenta wykazała, że omawiane różnicę są istotne statystycznie (p < 0,001).WNIOSKI: U kobiet badanych, u których stwierdzono choroby współistniejące w czasie ciąży występuje wyższy poziom leku niż u ciężarnych w ciąży fizjologicznej.INTRODUCTION: Negative emotions such as anxiety have a bad effect on mental healthand physical pregnant woman. Prolonged anxiety by a pregnant woman can lead to pregnancy irregularities. It is very important to know the factors that cause anxiety levels in pregnant women.AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the level of anxiety in physiological womenand pathological course of pregnancy.MATERIAL AND METHODS: 140 pregnant women who were social media users took part in the study. The study was conducted using the diagnostic survey method. The author's anonymous questionnaire was used and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used for the study.RESULTS: 43% of respondents did not experience any disease. The severity of anxiety in women not suffering during pregnancy was 1.5 points, in women with various health problems the level of anxiety was 4.7 points on average. Analysis using the Student's t test showed that the difference is statistically significant (p <0.001).CONCLUSION: Examined women who had comorbidities during pregnancy had a higher drug level than pregnant women in physiological pregnancy