68Ga-DOTANOC and 18F-DOPA PET/CT: a site-specific approach to the imaging of parangliomas of the head and neck and of the abdomen

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Plastic responses of some life history traits and cellular components of body size in Aphidius ervi as related to the age of its host Acyrthosiphon pisum

Phenotypic plasticity of wing size and shape has been evaluated in Aphidius ervi developing in its host, Acyrthosiphon pisum, parasitized at seven different ages. The parasitoid wing size was used as an estimator of both whole body size and its cellular composition. No size difference was observed in A. ervi adults emerged from aphids 1, 2 or 3 days old at parasitization. Body size then increased in A. ervi emerged from hosts older at parasitization. Body size values as related to host age at parasitization were achieved by adjusting developmental time, developmental rate or both. Parasitoids of similar size, but developed in hosts parasitized at different ages, had different wing cellular composition, while the increase of parasitoid body size was related to a general increase in both cell area and cell number. These results seem to suggest a trade-off between adult size and developmental time, at least for parasitoids developed at the two extremes of host ages at parasitization, and that A. ervi can reach the same adult size via different trajectories, adapting its ontogenetic processes. Wing shape was typical for all the different parasitoid classes considered and differed strongly between males and females, independent of their size. Parasitoid males (haploids) and females (diploids) did not differ in either cell area or cell number, suggesting a possible sex-determined dosage compensation in somatic tissue endoreplication

Prey abundance and intraguild predation between Adalia bipunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Macrolophus pygmaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur (Hemiptera: Miridae) and Adalia bipunctata (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are two predatory insects commonly used as biological control agents. In order to determine the incidence with which both species attack and eat each other [Intraguild predation (IGP)], the direction and symmetry of the interaction between A. bipunctata and M. pygmaeus were characterized. In addition, whether the intensity of IGP between these two predators increased when the number of extraguild prey Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) decreased, was also determined. Unidirectional sensu stricto IGP between A. bipunctata and M. pygmaeus was recorded: when IGP occurred, A. bipunctata was always the IG predator that killed and ate M. pygmaeus, the IG prey. However, the intensity of IGP was a function of the abundance of the extraguild prey, A. pisum, since IGP increased when the number of extraguild prey decreased. These results are discussed in terms of theoretical models that predict stability and the outcome of using natural enemies to control pests

Plastic responses of some life history traits and cellular components of body size in Aphidius ervi as related to the age of its host Acyrthosiphon pisum

Phenotypic plasticity of wing size and shape has been evaluated in Aphidius ervi developing in its host, Acyrthosiphon pisum, parasitized at seven different ages. The parasitoid wing size was used as an estimator of both whole body size and its cellular composition. No size difference was observed in A. ervi adults emerged from aphids 1, 2 or 3 days old at parasitization. Body size then increased in A. ervi emerged from hosts older at parasitization. Body size values as related to host age at parasitization were achieved by adjusting developmental time, developmental rate or both. Parasitoids of similar size, but developed in hosts parasitized at different ages, had different wing cellular composition, while the increase of parasitoid body size was related to a general increase in both cell area and cell number. These results seem to suggest a trade-off between adult size and developmental time, at least for parasitoids developed at the two extremes of host ages at parasitization, and that A. ervi can reach the same adult size via different trajectories, adapting its ontogenetic processes. Wing shape was typical for all the different parasitoid classes considered and differed strongly between males and females, independent of their size. Parasitoid males (haploids) and females (diploids) did not differ in either cell area or cell number, suggesting a possible sex-determined dosage compensation in somatic tissue endoreplication

Effetti diretti di shock termici su due specie afidiche (Acyrthosiphon pisum e Macrosiphum euphorbiae) e sull’imenottero parassitoide Aphidius ervi

La capacità degli organismi viventi di rispondere ai cambiamenti climatici e gli aspetti genetici interessati a queste risposte hanno enormi implicazioni pratiche in settori come la selvicoltura e l’agricoltura. Nel presente studio sono stati indagati gli effetti diretti di uno stress termico (esposizione per 30 minuti alla temperatura di 40°C) sulla sopravvivenza di mummie e parassitoidi adulti di Aphidius ervi e sulla sopravvivenza e fecondità in due distinte specie di afidi (Acyrthosiphon pisum e Macrosiphum euphorbiae, entrambe ospiti di A. ervi) La sopravvivenza di M. euphorbiae in seguito allo shock termico applicato è del tutto simile a quella di A. pisum (80% circa). A 24 ore dal trattamento, la capacità riproduttiva degli afidi sopravvissuti risulta essere simile al controllo per A. pisum, mentre in M. euphorbiae è ridotta del 60% circa. A 48 ore dallo shock termico non si registrano differenze di produttività tra controlli e afidi sperimentali sopravvissuti. La sopravvivenza delle femmine adulte di A. ervi è decisamente più bassa rispetto a quella dei due afidi: alla temperatura di 40°C la sopravvivenza degli adulti è del 20% circa, mentre alla stessa temperatura la sopravvivenza delle mummie è del 89% circa

The age of tomato plants affects the development of Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas, 1878) (Hemiptera) colonies

We tested the hypothesis that the intensity and duration of Macrosiphum euphorbiae infestations in tomato depend on both the age (phenological stage) of the host plant and the initial number of aphids present in the colony. We compared the effects of three initial levels of infestation and two phenological stages of the plant (pre-flowering and flowering stages) on infestation curves. The position of the infestation peak over time was significantly affected by the plant phenological phase. Populations of M. euphorbiae reached the highest peak of abundance on plants infested at the pre-flowering stage compared to those subsequently infested. Within a phenological phase, the maximum abundance also varied according to the initial aphid density on the plant. The implications concerning the management of the pest in the field are briefly discusse

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Muon reconstruction performance of the ATLAS detector in proton–proton collision data at √s = 13 TeV

This article documents the performance of the ATLAS muon identification and reconstruction using the LHC dataset recorded at √s = 13 TeV in 2015. Using a large sample of J/ψ→μμ and Z→μμ decays from 3.2 fb−1 of pp collision data, measurements of the reconstruction efficiency, as well as of the momentum scale and resolution, are presented and compared to Monte Carlo simulations. The reconstruction efficiency is measured to be close to 99% over most of the covered phase space (|η| 2.2, the pT resolution for muons from Z→μμ decays is 2.9 % while the precision of the momentum scale for low-pT muons from J/ψ→μμ decays is about 0.2%