Analyzing the Mass-Rearing System of the California Red Scale Parasitoid Aphytis melinus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

Results from studies to improve mass rearing production of the parasitoid Aphytis melinus De Bach (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) are presented. Parasitoid production was carried out following standard commercial procedures using an alternative host, Aspidiotus nerii Bouché (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), infesting Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne) (Cucurbitaceae), butternut squash. We found that the initial number of A. melinus adults introduced into rearing cages to start production and the scale/parasitoid ratio in those cages profoundly influenced future parasitoid production. We also observed that scale parasitism was positively correlated with the production of parasitoid adults, but this relationship was negatively correlated if > 2.6 parasitoids per d, per cm2, were used in the cages to start parasitism. Supplemental honey (provided on the squash surface) had no clear impact on parasitoid production or survival, but improved host parasitism. Approximately 47% of the host scale population on squash was parasitized, with another 43.1% of the population recorded as dead. We found that ≤ 10 host scales per cm2 on squash was an adequate density for mass production purposes

Information systems offshore outsourcing: a descriptive analysis

Purpose - The present paper has as its aim to deepen in the study of Information Systems Offshore Outsourcing, proposing three essential steps to make this decision: weighing up the advantages and risks of Offshore Outsourcing; analysing the taxonomy of this phenomenon; and determining its current geography. Design/Methodology/Approach - With that objective in mind, it was decided to base the research work on the literature about this topic and the review of reports and statistics coming from different sources (consultants, the press, public institutions, etc.). Findings - Offshore Outsourcing has grown vertiginously in recent years. Its advantages exceed even those of onshore outsourcing, though it also involves greater risks derived from the (cultural and physical) distance existing between customer and provider. Various types of services and customer-provider relationships hide under the umbrella of Offshore Outsourcing; i.e. it is not a homogeneous phenomenon. The main Offshore Outsourcing customers can be found in the USA and Europe, mainly in the UK but also in other countries such as Germany and France. As for provider firms, most of them are located in Asia −outstandingly in India but also in China and Russia. At present, there are important providers scattered in other continents as well. Originality/Value - The conclusions suggest that the range of potential Offshore Outsourcing destinations must be widened and that the search for a provider cannot be based exclusively on cost savings; other considerations such as quality, security and proximity of the provider must also be taken into consideration. That is precisely the reason why the study of new countries like Spain as Offshore Outsourcing destinations is proposed

Comparison of theoretical heat transfer model with results from experimental monitoring installed in a refurbishment with ventilated facade

One of the main points to consider when a building is renovated is the improvement of its energy efficiency, minimizing the heat loss through the enclosures and its heating consumption. Under this scope idea a ventilated facade was designed and incorporated in an educational building located in the city of Burgos (Spain). The main objective of this document is a comparison between the theoretical model of heat transfer across the building envelope separating the environment and the interior space, and the heat intake through a linear regression model with installed experimental monitoring. For this it has been necessary to carry out an exhaustive study of the thermal transmission of each one of the materials that make up the thermal envelope of the building, as well as the linear thermal bridges that can be produced before and after the renovation. In addition, thanks to the monitoring installed in the demonstrator building, the interior and exterior temperatures and the heat consumption of each of the radiators is known. In this way expected and real energy savings have been compared

Estudios de biodegracación y mineralización a elevadas concentraciones del herbicida diuron empleando cepas bacterianas degradadoras específicas en condiciones de estrés

40 páginas.-- 41 referencias.-- Trabajo fin de Master.- Máster en Biotecnología Ambiental, Industrial y Alimentaria, Universidad Pablo de OlavideTutor externo: Villaverde Capellán, J. Científico Titular CSIC y Tutor interno: Dr. D. Said Hamad Gomez Profesor Contratado Doctor, Universidad Pablo de Olavide de SevillaDe acuerdo con la FAO (1989), los pesticidas se definen como unas sustancia o mezcla de sustancias destinadas a prevenir, destruir, o controlar cualquier parásito, que pueda causar un daño, o interferir, en la producción, procesamiento, almacenamiento o marketing de alimentos. Los herbicidas se consideran pesticidas cuya finalidad es la de impedir que las malas hierbas proliferen. Desde su introducción en la década de los años 40 del siglo XX, los herbicidas sintéticos se han convertido en una herramienta indispensable para el mayor factor biótico que afecta a la agricultura, siendo la inhibición de la fotosíntesis su principal mecanismo de acción. El uso extensivo de los herbicidas como la simazina y, especialmente, la triazina, los mayormente utilizados en los primeros años, favoreció la aparición de mecanismos de resistencia ante los efectos de estos compuestos, determinándose años más tarde, que dicha resistencia se debía a la mutación del gen psbA en el cloroplasto, cambiando la serina 264 a glicina. Este hecho indujo a la síntesis de nuevos herbicidas orgánicos sintétitcos, y la aparición de nuevas estrategias para erradicar la maleza, como la de aplicar distintas combinaciones de estos, siendo triazina + fenilurea el binomio más comúnmente utilizado. Sin embargo, esta estrategia puede conducir a efectos sinérgicos o antagónicos en los organismos vivos, convirtiéndose en una amenaza potencial para el medio ambiente y para la seguridad de los seres humanos. Como consecuencia del uso extendido de los herbicidas en general, se ha producido la difusión al medio ambiente de estos compuestos, contaminando suelos y aguas subterráneasPeer Reviewe

La unificación de la ciencia natural y los límites de la mecánica clásica

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La Ley de Inteligencia colombiana en perspectiva internacional

En estas líneas solo dispongo de espacio para trazar algunas de las cuestiones que desde la perspectiva jurídica plantea esta Ley de Inteligencia. Una tendencia fuerte y constante en las últimas décadas empuja hacia la institucionalización de los servicios de inteligencia; esto es, a una reforma de sus leyes mediante su reforma o la creación de nuevos instrumentos normativos más precisos y más transparentes. Tanto en el plano internacional como en el nacional sobresale una tendencia: el uso de las nuevas tecnologías y el impacto que comporta para los derechos fundamentales de los ciudadanos, para las empresas y para los Estados. Necesidad de precisar normativamente las prioridades de los servicios de inteligencia en sus actividades destinadas a preservar la seguridad interior. Junto a la noción de 'inteligencia criminal', añadimos las de investigación criminal o delictiva y de 'actuación policial orientada por inteligencia' (Intelligence-led policing). Otra esfera de alta complejidad es la relativa a la regulación del manejo de la denominada 'información compartida'

Exploring discourse ethics for tourism transformation

The \u27critical turn\u27 in tourism is defined as a research perspective that explores social transformation in and through tourism by facing the negative impact of strategic-instrumental rationality on this activity. This work explores the features of discourse ethics that may normatively support tourism transformation, a gap that has not been thoroughly discussed in tourism research. For this purpose, the study combines the use of critical and ethical theory with an analysis of discourse ethics in tourism literature to demonstrate that the use of Habermasian discourse ethics needs to be complemented with the Apelian approach. Through these steps the work reveals the theoretical bases of discourse ethics to discuss whether understandings between stakeholders guided by strategic-instrumental rationality can be reached not only in the political sphere —Habermas—, but also in the ethical field —Apel

Elementos dinámicos de la teoría celular.

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