Evaluation of the difference in the development of stored insect pests on organic litter: Poster

On July 2017 in a warehouse of pet food shop in Italy an infestation of Oryzaephilus surinamensis was found on a pallet of organic litter, near an infested pallet of dog’s pasta. In order to investigate the origin of the infestation, and to support the risk assessment by the pest control operator, one test was conducted at Agroblu Laboratory of Applied Entomology (LEAA) to observe the feasibility of development of O. surinamensis, Plodia interpunctella and Tribolium confusum, in a substrate of 2,5 g of organic litter and to compare it to a balanced diet substrate. The results showed that only T. confusum was able to develop with no statistical difference both on the breeding diet and the organic litter.On July 2017 in a warehouse of pet food shop in Italy an infestation of Oryzaephilus surinamensis was found on a pallet of organic litter, near an infested pallet of dog’s pasta. In order to investigate the origin of the infestation, and to support the risk assessment by the pest control operator, one test was conducted at Agroblu Laboratory of Applied Entomology (LEAA) to observe the feasibility of development of O. surinamensis, Plodia interpunctella and Tribolium confusum, in a substrate of 2,5 g of organic litter and to compare it to a balanced diet substrate. The results showed that only T. confusum was able to develop with no statistical difference both on the breeding diet and the organic litter

Evaluation of the attractiveness of an organic litter compared to breeding substrate: Poster

In a pet shop warehouse, stored food pest insects can develop in various preserved animal feeds (dog’s pasta, puffed rice, kibble). However, there is another commodity that is rarely considered, such as the organic litter which is composed of bran, flours and other residues of the screening of corn that may result attractive to the same pest insects. The purpose of this laboratory test was to evaluate the attractiveness of organic litters on Plodia interpunctella, Tribolium confusum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis in comparison with breeding substrate. The results confirmed that the test insects were attracted by the breeding substrate rather than by the organic litter.In a pet shop warehouse, stored food pest insects can develop in various preserved animal feeds (dog’s pasta, puffed rice, kibble). However, there is another commodity that is rarely considered, such as the organic litter which is composed of bran, flours and other residues of the screening of corn that may result attractive to the same pest insects. The purpose of this laboratory test was to evaluate the attractiveness of organic litters on Plodia interpunctella, Tribolium confusum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis in comparison with breeding substrate. The results confirmed that the test insects were attracted by the breeding substrate rather than by the organic litter

Biocidal efficacy of nitrogen (anoxic atmosphere) applied in operational condition to stored hazelnuts against pest insects at different stages of development.: Poster

Recently, a test was conducted in Italy for the evaluation of the biocidal efficacy of Nitrogen saturation (anoxic conditions). One application was carried out in a controlled atmosphere cell of a logistic center specialized in receiving, storing and shipping foodstuffs. The cell, circa 3682 m3 volume, with capacity of 752 big bags of fresh shelled hazelnuts on 4 height levels was saturated with Nitrogen (99,9%) and maintained at 15-18°C for 21 days. Five test species of insects Plodia interpunctella, Cadra cautella, Corcyra cephalonica, Tribolium confusum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis were observed at different development stages (egg, larva, adult). The target species were sorted in special biotest and inserted in the big bags to simulate an infestation. At the end of the exposure period the biotests were collected and analyzed. The treatment resulted sufficient to achieve a total control on eggs of Lepidoptera test species only. This result confirmed and integrates the available information in literature that showed the need of a longer minimum exposure period for total control of common stored pest insects.Recently, a test was conducted in Italy for the evaluation of the biocidal efficacy of Nitrogen saturation (anoxic conditions). One application was carried out in a controlled atmosphere cell of a logistic center specialized in receiving, storing and shipping foodstuffs. The cell, circa 3682 m3 volume, with capacity of 752 big bags of fresh shelled hazelnuts on 4 height levels was saturated with Nitrogen (99,9%) and maintained at 15-18°C for 21 days. Five test species of insects Plodia interpunctella, Cadra cautella, Corcyra cephalonica, Tribolium confusum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis were observed at different development stages (egg, larva, adult). The target species were sorted in special biotest and inserted in the big bags to simulate an infestation. At the end of the exposure period the biotests were collected and analyzed. The treatment resulted sufficient to achieve a total control on eggs of Lepidoptera test species only. This result confirmed and integrates the available information in literature that showed the need of a longer minimum exposure period for total control of common stored pest insects

The genetic architecture of membranous nephropathy and its potential to improve non-invasive diagnosis

Membranous Nephropathy (MN) is a rare autoimmune cause of kidney failure. Here we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for primary MN in 3,782 cases and 9,038 controls of East Asian and European ancestries. We discover two previously unreported loci, NFKB1 (rs230540, OR = 1.25, P = 3.4 × 10−12) and IRF4 (rs9405192, OR = 1.29, P = 1.4 × 10−14), fine-map the PLA2R1 locus (rs17831251, OR = 2.25, P = 4.7 × 10−103) and report ancestry-specific effects of three classical HLA alleles: DRB1*1501 in East Asians (OR = 3.81, P = 2.0 × 10−49), DQA1*0501 in Europeans (OR = 2.88, P = 5.7 × 10−93), and DRB1*0301 in both ethnicities (OR = 3.50, P = 9.2 × 10−23 and OR = 3.39, P = 5.2 × 10−82, respectively). GWAS loci explain 32% of disease risk in East Asians and 25% in Europeans, and correctly re-classify 20–37% of the cases in validation cohorts that are antibody-negative by the serum anti-PLA2R ELISA diagnostic test. Our findings highlight an unusual genetic architecture of MN, with four loci and their interactions accounting for nearly one-third of the disease risk

The genetic architecture of membranous nephropathy and its potential to improve non-invasive diagnosis

Membranous Nephropathy (MN) is a rare autoimmune cause of kidney failure. Here we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for primary MN in 3,782 cases and 9,038 controls of East Asian and European ancestries. We discover two previously unreported loci, NFKB1 (rs230540, OR = 1.25, P = 3.4 × 10-12) and IRF4 (rs9405192, OR = 1.29, P = 1.4 × 10-14), fine-map the PLA2R1 locus (rs17831251, OR = 2.25, P = 4.7 × 10-103) and report ancestry-specific effects of three classical HLA alleles: DRB1*1501 in East Asians (OR = 3.81, P = 2.0 × 10-49), DQA1*0501 in Europeans (OR = 2.88, P = 5.7 × 10-93), and DRB1*0301 in both ethnicities (OR = 3.50, P = 9.2 × 10-23 and OR = 3.39, P = 5.2 × 10-82, respectively). GWAS loci explain 32% of disease risk in East Asians and 25% in Europeans, and correctly re-classify 20-37% of the cases in validation cohorts that are antibody-negative by the serum anti-PLA2R ELISA diagnostic test. Our findings highlight an unusual genetic architecture of MN, with four loci and their interactions accounting for nearly one-third of the disease risk

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services

Feature-Based Analysis of the Effects of Packet Delay on Networked Musical Interactions

Networked Music Performance (NMP) is a mediated interactional modality with a tremendous potential impact on professional and amateur musicians, as it enables real-time interaction from remote locations. One of the known limiting factors of distributed networked performances is the impact of the unavoidable packet delay and jitter introduced by IP networks, which make it difficult to keep a stable tempo during the performance. This paper investigates the tolerance of remotely interacting musicians towards adverse network conditions. We do so for various musical instruments and music genres, as a function of rhythmic complexity and tempo. In order to conduct this analysis, we implemented a testbed for psycho-acoustic analysis emulating the behavior of a real IP network in terms of variable transmission delay and jitter, and we quantitatively evaluated the impact of such parameters on the trend of the tempo maintained during the performance and on the perceptual quality of the musical interactio

Hot Electrons and Reliability in HEMTs

The renovated interest in the study of hot carrier phenomena in III-V FET devices originates from two main motivations: (i) the quest for higher on- state and off-state device breakdown voltages, which limit the maximum operating voltage of the devices; (ii) the need for an improved understanding of reliability problems due to hot carrier effects, which may lead to parametric degradation or burn-out phenomena. For III-V devices, the relevance of these phenomena, which were already well known for Si MOSFETs, was recognized at the beginning of this decade [1],[2]; in the following years, specific electrical measurements and electroluminescence techniques have been implemented and applied to the experimental characterization of hot carrier phenomena in MESFETs and HEMTs [3],[4]; standard reliability "life" tests have been modified in order to include "hot-electron" tests [5]; complex physical models have been developed in order to take into account impact-ionization phenomena and related effects [6]

Pulsed measurements and circuit modeling of a new breakdown mechanism of MESFETs and HEMTs

We measured the on-state breakdown of HEMTs in a nondestructive way using the Transmission Line Pulse technique reaching very high values of gate current density (30 mA/mm). On the basis of the experimental observations, we developed a new model for on-state breakdown of HEMTs, suitable for SPICE simulations, which is capable of predicting the breakdown curves. We have shown that a parasitic bipolar action can give rise in HEMTs to a new form of breakdown, which is accurately modeled by the SPICE equivalent circuit. The model not only predicts IG, but consistently describes ID up to breakdown level