Разработка метода количественного определения воды в сотовых панелях самолетов методом ИК термографии

Проведено моделирование и экспериментальные исследования по тепловому контролю воды в авиационных сотовых панелях. Рассмотрены случаи разного расположения воды внутри ячеек и разного количества воды. Показана возможность количественной оценки скрытой воды при двухстороннем и одностороннем доступе к объекту контроля. Разработан и реализован алгоритм количественной оценки массы воды для конкретной сотовой панели.Modelling and experimental activities of TNDT jf aviation honeycomb panels are conducted. The cases of various amount and location of water ingress are considered. The possibility of quantitative evaluation of hidden water with one and two side control is illustrated. The algoritm of quantitative evaluation of hidden water content is realized

Low doses of a neonicotinoid insecticide modify pheromone response thresholds of central but not peripheral olfactory neurons in a pest insect

Insect pest management relies mainly on neurotoxic insecticides, including neonicotinoids, leaving residues in the environment. There is now evidence that low doses of insecticides can have positive effects on pest insects by enhancing various life traits. Because pest insects often rely on sex pheromones for reproduction, and olfactory synaptic transmission is cholinergic, neonicotinoid residues could modify chemical communication. We recently showed that treatments with different sublethal doses of clothianidin could either enhance or decrease behavioural sex pheromone responses in the male moth, Agrotis ipsilon. We investigated now effects of the behaviourally active clothianidin doses on the sensitivity of the peripheral and central olfactory system. We show with extracellular recordings that both tested clothianidin doses do not influence pheromone responses in olfactory receptor neurons. Similarly, in vivo optical imaging does not reveal any changes in glomerular response intensities to the sex pheromone after clothianidin treatments. The sensitivity of intracellularly recorded antennal lobe output neurons, however, is upregulated by a lethal dose 20 times and downregulated by a dose 10 times lower than the lethal dose 0. This correlates with the changes of behavioural responses after clothianidin treatment and suggests the antennal lobe as neural substrate involved in clothianidin-induced behavioural changes

Unexpected effects of low doses of a neonicotinoid insecticide on behavioral responses to sex pheromone in a pest insect

In moths, which include many agricultural pest species, males are attracted by female-emitted sex pheromones. Although integrated pest management strategies are increasingly developed, most insect pest treatments rely on widespread use of neurotoxic chemicals, including neonicotinoid insecticides. Residual accumulation of low concentrations of these insecticides in the environment is known to be harmful to beneficial insects such as honey bees. This environmental stress probably acts as an "info-disruptor" by modifying the chemical communication system, and therefore decreases chances of reproduction in target insects that largely rely on olfactory communication. However, low doses of pollutants could on the contrary induce adaptive processes in the olfactory pathway, thus enhancing reproduction. Here we tested the effects of acute oral treatments with different low doses of the neonicotinoid clothianidin on the behavioral responses to sex pheromone in the moth Agrotis ipsilon using wind tunnel experiments. We show that low doses of clothianidin induce a biphasic effect on pheromone-guided behavior. Surprisingly, we found a hormetic-like effect, improving orientation behavior at the LD20 dose corresponding to 10 ng clothianidin. On the contrary, a negative effect, disturbing orientation behavior, was elicited by a treatment with a dose below the LD0 dose corresponding to 0.25 ng clothianidin. No clothianidin effect was observed on behavioral responses to plant odor. Our results indicate that risk assessment has to include unexpected effects of residues on the life history traits of pest insects, which could then lead to their adaptation to environmental stress

Differential Interactions of Sex Pheromone and Plant Odour in the Olfactory Pathway of a Male Moth

Most animals rely on olfaction to find sexual partners, food or a habitat. The olfactory system faces the challenge of extracting meaningful information from a noisy odorous environment. In most moth species, males respond to sex pheromone emitted by females in an environment with abundant plant volatiles. Plant odours could either facilitate the localization of females (females calling on host plants), mask the female pheromone or they could be neutral without any effect on the pheromone. Here we studied how mixtures of a behaviourally-attractive floral odour, heptanal, and the sex pheromone are encoded at different levels of the olfactory pathway in males of the noctuid moth Agrotis ipsilon. In addition, we asked how interactions between the two odorants change as a function of the males' mating status. We investigated mixture detection in both the pheromone-specific and in the general odorant pathway. We used a) recordings from individual sensilla to study responses of olfactory receptor neurons, b) in vivo calcium imaging with a bath-applied dye to characterize the global input response in the primary olfactory centre, the antennal lobe and c) intracellular recordings of antennal lobe output neurons, projection neurons, in virgin and newly-mated males. Our results show that heptanal reduces pheromone sensitivity at the peripheral and central olfactory level independently of the mating status. Contrarily, heptanal-responding olfactory receptor neurons are not influenced by pheromone in a mixture, although some post-mating modulation occurs at the input of the sexually isomorphic ordinary glomeruli, where general odours are processed within the antennal lobe. The results are discussed in the context of mate localization

Applying behavioural theory to the challenge of sustainable development: using hairdressers as diffusers of more sustainable hair-care practices

The challenges presented by sustainable development are broadly accepted, yet resource use increases unabated. It is increasingly acknowledged that while technical solutions may play a part, a key issue is behaviour change. In response to this there has been a plethora of studies into how behaviour change can be enabled, predominantly from psychological and sociological perspectives. This has resulted in a substantial body of knowledge into the factors that drive behaviour change and how they can be manipulated to achieve desired social goals. In this paper we describe a study that draws on this body of knowledge to design an intervention to drive behaviour change across the hairdressing sector, and by the process of diffusion, across the vast social networks of this occupational group to influence domestic hair-care practices. The intervention was successful: hairdressers indicated positive intentions to adopt more sustainable practices within their salons and pass them onto their customers. The customer survey (N=776) confirms this: customers surveyed after their hairdresser attended the Green-Salon-Makeover intervention were significantly more likely to report that environmental issues had been considered in their salon visit and that they themselves would consider such issues in their hair-care practices at home than customers who were surveyed before the intervention

Brief Exposure to Sensory Cues Elicits Stimulus-Nonspecific General Sensitization in an Insect

The effect of repeated exposure to sensory stimuli, with or without reward is well known to induce stimulus-specific modifications of behaviour, described as different forms of learning. In recent studies we showed that a brief single pre-exposure to the female-produced sex pheromone or even a predator sound can increase the behavioural and central nervous responses to this pheromone in males of the noctuid moth Spodoptera littoralis. To investigate if this increase in sensitivity might be restricted to the pheromone system or is a form of general sensitization, we studied here if a brief pre-exposure to stimuli of different modalities can reciprocally change behavioural and physiological responses to olfactory and gustatory stimuli. Olfactory and gustatory pre-exposure and subsequent behavioural tests were carried out to reveal possible intra- and cross-modal effects. Attraction to pheromone, monitored with a locomotion compensator, increased after exposure to olfactory and gustatory stimuli. Behavioural responses to sucrose, investigated using the proboscis extension reflex, increased equally after pre-exposure to olfactory and gustatory cues. Pheromone-specific neurons in the brain and antennal gustatory neurons did, however, not change their sensitivity after sucrose exposure. The observed intra- and reciprocal cross-modal effects of pre-exposure may represent a new form of stimulus-nonspecific general sensitization originating from modifications at higher sensory processing levels