Does training of respiratory muscles affect exercise performance in healthy subjects?

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A new aphid subspecies on the endemic Cyprus cedar Cedrus brevifolia: Cinara cedri brevifoliae ssp.n. (Aphididae Lachninae)

A subspecies of Cinara cedri Mimeur, C. cedri brevifoliae ssp.n., is described from apterous viviparous females. The authors report on the discovery of this new taxon in Cyprus on the endemic cedar Cedrus brevifolia (Hooker fil.) Henry, suggesting that the aphid is co-endemic with its host conifer. Morphological evaluation is provided in order to support this conclusion and a key to separate the Cedar Cinara species is given. Moreover, new insights on the distribution of C. cedri in the Mediterranean area were gained by molecular analysis. Gene sequences were deposited in Genbank and the type specimens located in the collection (A.B.) of CREA-Research Center for Agrobiology and Pedology, Florence, Italy

First record in Cyprus of Cinara (Cinara) cedri Mimeur (Aphididae Lachninae) on Cedrus brevifolia (Hooker fil.) Henry.

The Authors report on the discovery in South Cyprus of the aphid Cinara (Cinara) cedri Mimeur collected on the endemic cedar, Cedrus brevifolia (Hooker fil.) Henry. This is the first record of the lacnid in Cyprus. The ecological aspects of the cedar and its interaction with the related aphid species are discussed. The Authors suggest the hypothesis that the aphid may be co-endemic with its host conifer since it shows significant morphological differences compared with specimens from other European regions. The question whether the Cyprus cedar aphid can be injurious or not to its host plant is debated as well. The exact taxonomic position of this lacnid is currently under investigation

FIRST INTERCEPTION OF TRICHOFERUS CAMPESTRIS (FALDERMANN, 1835) (COLEOPTERA CERAMBYCIDAE CERAMBYCINAE) IN ITALY

The Velvet Longhorned Beetle Trichoferus campestris (Faldermann, 1835) was intercepted for the first time in Italy, in the Naples harbour, during monitoring activities at entry points carried out in the context of the national project ASPROPI. T. campestris is widely polyphagous and able to colonize several woody species in both agricultural and forest environments. Moreover timber and solid wood items can be equally attractive to this pest. This additional report, in an area where other alien insect species had been identified in the past, emphasises how the national monitoring network represents a key element of the alert system designed to quickly counter the accidental introduction and spreading of exotic insect pests

An effective method for Graphosoma lineatum (L.) long-term rearing.

A simple and time-saving technique for an effective and continuous rearing of Graphosoma lineatum (L.) (Heteroptera Pentatomidae), an alternative host for Trissolcus spp. and Ooencyrtus spp. production, was set for entomological research and maintained for a long period. Insects were maintained in containers as rearing units; 100x35x35cm cages hosted adults; 40x30x30cm cages hosted nymphs. Graphosoma lineatum was fed on seeds of Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Anethum graveolens L. and Pimpinella anisum L. Moreover, potted young plants of F. vulgare were also used as additional food source. Water for insects and plants was provided by small automatic irrigation systems. When each colony cage reached the density of 100 adult couples, the number of oviposited batches was followed up for 12 weeks. Batches laid per cage were approximately one hundred per week. Therefore the overall weekly production of six adult cages was about 8400 eggs. This technique was plain and cost effective, allowing a constant egg production throughout the year.

SEARCHING FOR NATIVE EGG-PARASITOIDS OF THE INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES HALYOMORPHA HALYS STÅL (HETEROPTERA PENTATOMIDAE) IN SOUTHERN EUROPE

Halyomorpha halys is an invasive species, originating from East Asia, which was accidentally introduced in some areas of North America and Europe, where severe damages to different vegetable crops and fruit plants were recorded. Several studies in different countries focused on the possibility to apply biological control by means of egg- parasitoids. The main egg-parasitoids in the original area are unfortunately non-specific and thus the application of classical biological control is questionable. On the other hand, the possibility of using augmentative biological control by native egg-parasitoids able to exploit the new host is an interesting possibility in both Europe and the USA. In a preliminary assay, frozen egg masses of H. halys were exposed in the field in Central Italy. Results showed that some eggs were exploited by parasitoids belonging to the species Anastatus bifasciatus and Ooencyrtus telenomicida. Therefore, different native egg-parasitoids species widespread in Europe were tested in the laboratory in order to explore their ability to parasitize H. halys eggs. To this end, no-choice tests were carried out in climatic chambers (26°C, 70%RH, 16:8 L:D) in order to evaluate the parasitization potential of females collected in the wild. Conducted tests pointed out that A. bifasciatus and especially O. telenomicida may be potential candidates for the biological control of H. halys. In particular, O. telenomicida was able to parasitize the 35.56% of the exposed host eggs in the lab tests. New adults successfully emerged from the 22.92% of the eggs, and on the whole, this egg-parasitoid caused a significant hatching reduction of the H. halys eggs (more than 70%). Conversely, Telenomus chloropus and Ooencyrtus pityocampae were less promising species as biocontrol agents of this agricultural pest. Preliminary trials in pear orchards consisting of field releases of laboratory-reared specimens of O. telenomicida, one of the potential candidates for biological control, showed that this parasitoid is actually able to discover egg masses of H. halys (sentinel frozen egg masses) and to successfully parasitize them

The effects of short-term cold storage on the survival of the endoparasitoid Ooencyrtus pityocampae Mercet (Hymenoptera Encyrtidae).

In the Mediterranean basin the Pine Processionary Moth (PPM), Thaumetopoea pityocampa is often responsi­ble for damaging coniferous stands. The parthenogenetic thelytochous Ooencyrtus pityocampae because of its host location strategy and capacity to develop on alternative hosts plays a key role in the control of PPM. In the context of biological control, storage at low temperatures of parasitoids proved to be effective in improving their mass rearing for field release. Unfortunately, cold storage is often associated with high mortality even above the freezing tempera­ture. Therefore, the present work focused on O. pityocampae juvenile stages submitted to 10-days storage at 15°C and then transferred to 26°C and 30°C until adult hatching. Two different hatching temperatures were used to test the hypothesis whether the speeding of O. pityocampae development could affect its survival and synchronization of emer­gencies. After the treatment, adult emergence percentage, adult emergence time and synchronization of emergencies were evaluated. Results showed that all life stages successfully survived the thermal regime.Nonetheless, pupae because of their high emergence rates and synchronization of adult hatching appeared to be the best stage for short time storage

Effects of Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann (Heteroptera Coreidae) egg age on the indigenous parasitoid Ooencyrtus pityocampae Mercet (Hymenoptera Encyrtidae)

Leptoglossus occidentalis is a Nearctic polyphagous coreid capable to feed on cones and seeds of many coniferous plants. In Italy this pest threatens pine nut commercial production and represents a serious concern in protected areas where control by chemicals is restricted. For this reason, new strategies of biological control against L. occidentalis are under investigation. Ooencyrtus pityocampae, an indigenous egg parasitoid of the lepidopter Thaumetopoea pityocampae was recently found to parasitize L. occidentalis eggs. However low parasitization rates in the field were reported. Host egg age is often regarded as a key element in determining host acceptance and parasitoid capacity to exploit host eggs. Therefore, in the current work, the effects of host egg age on parasitization O. pityocampae were evaluated by exposing eggs ranging in age from < 24h to within a day of hatching. O. pityocampae. Results showed that number of parasitized eggs and sex ratio were not significantly influenced by the age of the host eggs. In contrast, female development time resulted to be longer in older eggs. O. pityocampae appeared to be not only flexible to adapt to the new host but also cable to efficiently exploit L. occidentalis eggs containing fully developed nymphs

Pleural mesothelioma risk in the construction industry: a case-control study in Italy, 2000-2018

Objectives Workers in the construction industry have been exposed to asbestos in various occupations. In Italy, a National Mesothelioma Registry has been implemented more than 20 years ago. Using cases selected from this registry and exploiting existing control data sets, we estimated relative risks for pleural mesothelioma (PM) among construction workers. DesignCase-control study. SettingCases from the National Mesothelioma Registry (2000-2018), controls from three previous case-control studies. MethodsWe selected male PM incident cases diagnosed in 2000-2018. Population controls were taken from three studies performed in six Italian regions within two periods (2002-2004 and 2012-2016). Age-adjusted and period-adjusted unconditional logistic regression models were fitted to estimate odds ratios (OR) for occupations in the construction industry. We followed two approaches, one (primary) excluding and the other (secondary) including subjects employed in other non-construction blue collar occupations for &gt;5 years. For both approaches, we performed an overall analysis including all cases and, given the incomplete temporal and geographic overlap of cases and controls, three time or/and space restricted sensitivity analyses. ResultsThe whole data set included 15 592 cases and 2210 controls. With the primary approach (4797 cases and 1085 controls), OR was 3.64 (2181 cases) for subjects ever employed in construction. We found elevated risks for blue-collar occupations (1993 cases, OR 4.52), including bricklayers (988 cases, OR 7.05), general construction workers (320 cases, OR 4.66), plumbers and pipe fitters (305 cases, OR 9.13), painters (104 cases, OR 2.17) and several others. Sensitivity analyses yielded very similar findings. Using the secondary approach, we observed similar patterns, but ORs were remarkably lower. ConclusionsWe found markedly increased PM risks for most occupations in the construction industry. These findings are relevant for compensation of subjects affected with mesothelioma in the construction industry