Soybean Tolerance to Soybean Aphid (\u3ci\u3eAphis glycines\u3c/i\u3e Matsumura) Herbivory

This research examined the soybean aphid tolerant soybean KS4202 and its possible role in soybean aphid management. Studies documented the stage at which the tolerance response was initially expressed, quantified the relationship between cumulative aphid-days (CADs) and yield loss, and determined economic injury levels (EILs) for the soybean aphid tolerant KS4202 soybean. At high aphid infestation levels, aphids negatively impacted yield for KS4202 and K03-4686 (susceptible) plants that were infested at V1 stage; however, KS4202 expressed tolerance to the soybean aphid at low aphid infestation levels. No significant differences in the yield parameters were detected for KS4202 when infested at any aphid infestation level; whereas K03-4686 was negatively impacted when CAD surpassed 10,000. The EILs calculated for KS4202 infested during reproductive stage soybean ranged from 826 to 3,415 aphids/plant, which were approximately 2.5-fold higher when compared to the EILs calculated for K03-4686. Studies were also conducted to document the expression of constitutive and induced defense-related genes in tolerant and susceptible soybeans in response to soybean aphid feeding. Differences in the expression of several JA-associated transcripts were observed between genotypes, suggesting that the constitutive expression of JA-associated transcripts may be important for KS4202 tolerance to soybean aphids, but not for K03-4686. The greater magnitude of PRX52, WRKY60 and PR1 induction in KS4202 relative to the susceptible genotype suggests that these transcripts may be contributing to the ability of KS4202 to tolerate high levels of oxidative stress. The use of peroxidase activity and relative expression of peroxidase transcripts as potential assays to phenotype aphid-tolerant recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were also investigated. Peroxidase basal levels were similar among the genotypes for plants at V1 and V3 stages. Overall, there was an indication that KS4202 had greater abundance of peroxidase (PRX52) than the high-yielding and susceptible genotypes in response to aphid feeding. Despite the evidence of PRX52 involvement in KS4202 tolerance, no direct relationship between PRX2 and aphid feeding was detected. The determination of EILs and identification of important mechanisms involved in plant tolerance is key for the development of successful breeding strategies and incorporation of this resistance into the IPM for soybean aphid. Advisors: Thomas E. Hunt and Tiffany M. Heng-Mos

Soybean Tolerance to Soybean Aphid (\u3ci\u3eAphis glycines\u3c/i\u3e Matsumura) Herbivory

This research examined the soybean aphid tolerant soybean KS4202 and its possible role in soybean aphid management. Studies documented the stage at which the tolerance response was initially expressed, quantified the relationship between cumulative aphid-days (CADs) and yield loss, and determined economic injury levels (EILs) for the soybean aphid tolerant KS4202 soybean. At high aphid infestation levels, aphids negatively impacted yield for KS4202 and K03-4686 (susceptible) plants that were infested at V1 stage; however, KS4202 expressed tolerance to the soybean aphid at low aphid infestation levels. No significant differences in the yield parameters were detected for KS4202 when infested at any aphid infestation level; whereas K03-4686 was negatively impacted when CAD surpassed 10,000. The EILs calculated for KS4202 infested during reproductive stage soybean ranged from 826 to 3,415 aphids/plant, which were approximately 2.5-fold higher when compared to the EILs calculated for K03-4686. Studies were also conducted to document the expression of constitutive and induced defense-related genes in tolerant and susceptible soybeans in response to soybean aphid feeding. Differences in the expression of several JA-associated transcripts were observed between genotypes, suggesting that the constitutive expression of JA-associated transcripts may be important for KS4202 tolerance to soybean aphids, but not for K03-4686. The greater magnitude of PRX52, WRKY60 and PR1 induction in KS4202 relative to the susceptible genotype suggests that these transcripts may be contributing to the ability of KS4202 to tolerate high levels of oxidative stress. The use of peroxidase activity and relative expression of peroxidase transcripts as potential assays to phenotype aphid-tolerant recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were also investigated. Peroxidase basal levels were similar among the genotypes for plants at V1 and V3 stages. Overall, there was an indication that KS4202 had greater abundance of peroxidase (PRX52) than the high-yielding and susceptible genotypes in response to aphid feeding. Despite the evidence of PRX52 involvement in KS4202 tolerance, no direct relationship between PRX2 and aphid feeding was detected. The determination of EILs and identification of important mechanisms involved in plant tolerance is key for the development of successful breeding strategies and incorporation of this resistance into the IPM for soybean aphid. Advisors: Thomas E. Hunt and Tiffany M. Heng-Mos

Digital Atlas of Tactics to Designing Sustainable Factories

For a long time, the design of factories has been profit-driven only, while their detrimental effects on the environment, perceptual-aesthetic interferences with the surroundings, and social disturbances on local communities have been largely neglected. Despite a growing attention towards these topics, literature shows that there is a fundamental knowledge and tool gap on design practices for holistically sustainable factories, and companies are often unaware of both negative and positive effects related to the impact of their sites on the landscape. This paper presents a toolkit that has been developed to support entrepreneurs and designers in devising more sustainable factories through an integrated perspective, which is the great novelty of the approach. The article focuses on one of its tools: a digital atlas of design tactics. These have been mapped in sustainable factories around the world and labelled with an ad hoc faceted classification. Each tactic is then described in an info-sheet, which feeds a web portal. There, the user is assisted in searching for the most suitable tactics and mutual links with other useful strategies. The main potentiality of the atlas is to encourage a holistic design approach by highlighting positive synergies among tactics from different field

Il bilancio ambientale come supporto decisionale al progetto esecutivo di riqualificazione

The refurbishment design is a well-known strategy to mitigate environmental impacts of the built heritage, but it is not environmentally neutral. A deep knowledge of the building is required in order to maintain the greatest amount of materials \u2013 depending on its residual technological performances \u2013 and thus containing the consumption of new resources and the production of demolition wastes. Following up existing tools, a method to analyse environmental impacts and support the design at the executive level is presented. Possible intervention alternatives are evaluated from a life cycle perspective, through the embodied energy and CO2 equ indicators, aiming at re-using as much material as possible and preferring new materials with low environmental impact

Sun-Shading Sails in Courtyards: An Italian Case Study with RayMan

Forecasts of a drastic increase in temperatures in the coming decades are driving the adoption of design strategies and solutions to improve the livability of urban environments. Increasing attention is being paid to the thermal comfort of open spaces by both designers and researchers. Nature-based solutions and man-made devices to improve the comfort of outdoor spaces during summer are spreading, but effective, easy simulation and design support tools for this purpose are still lacking, as most of the available software such as ENVI-met or RayMan cannot model such devices. As Phys-iological Equivalent Temperature (PET) is one of the most relevant and comprehensive indicators of Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC), this study aims to investigate PET variations of different artificial shading systems and propose a simplified methodology for assessing them through analytical sim-ulations with RayMan software. When modeling the shading elements, the trick adopted for this purpose is to associate different cloud densities with the shading provided by the screens, thus overcoming a gap that affects the software. The procedure is digitally tested in a covered courtyard case study in Bologna (Italy). Diverse options proposed by the designers for textile screening mate-rials have been compared, showing that these reduce by at least 1 °C the PET-gauged thermal stress. Beyond specific results, the main outcome of this study is the procedure developed to simulate sun-shading sail effects on OTC by means of RayMan, which can support designers in planning effective solutions for open space livability in summertime

Energy Transition at Home: A Survey on the Data and Practices That Lead to a Change in Household Energy Behavior

Since energy transition depends significantly on reducing the built environment’s energy needs, many regulations and incentives have been implemented globally over the last three decades. Despite some positive results, many scholars suggest that households’ behavioral change could greatly accelerate progress. People’s levels of awareness and willingness to change, as well as the provision of feedback technologies, are important factors affecting the process. In spite of the extent of this body of literature, household consumption keeps rising. Our thesis is that the subject has been investigated without considering some important correlations among factors. Therefore, this study developed a survey to investigate actual consumers’ perspectives on the topic by combining people’s awareness of energy use, interaction with metering devices, and user motivation into a coherent framework. A testing session involving 500 people was held as a validation phase for a future large-scale launch of the questionnaire. The test yielded some early outcomes on how people become more interested in changing as they gain more knowledge and are offered suggestions. However, despite their supposedly advanced knowledge as educators and students, the sample’s level of awareness was low, suggesting that a more user-centered approach is needed for wide-scale progress

Exploring the Role of Building Envelope in Reducing Energy Poverty Risk: A Case Study on Italian Social Housing

Energy poverty is a significant social, economic, and health issue which increasingly affects millions of households worldwide. Both climate change and the socio-economic crisis have aggravated this phenomenon, making families unable to keep adequate comfort conditions at home because of economic constraints and/or dwelling inefficiencies. Considering the recent inflation trends, as well as the global effort to reduce the building sector’s carbon emissions, energy retrofitting of buildings emerges as the most forward-looking strategy to cope with energy poverty risk. In the case of large building stocks, which are typical for social housing complexes across the EU, deep and fast energy retrofitting might prove challenging, especially considering the resource shortages and disruptions to occupants that may arise. Therefore, this article investigates the relationship between the envelope’s insulation ratio and the risk of energy poverty for households. To this end, diverse scenarios are defined, corresponding to progressive increases in the percentage of building envelope that is insulated. The resulting energy needs are calculated for each of them and correlated with local average incomes and relative energy expenses of households. This is tested on an Italian social housing demo case. The results confirm a predictable but not linear correlation between thermal insulation and reduced energy needs for heating, and an interesting side effect on cooling needs for scenarios that perform better in winter. As for income, energy cost has a greater effect on the energy poverty risk when monthly rent is lower, while energy prices have a major role when rent per month is higher

Exploring Energy Literacy in Italian Social Housing: A Survey of Inhabitants Preparing the Ground for Climate Transition

A low level of energy literacy can hamper the adoption of climate-responsive solutions in the built environment. This is often the case of social housing neighborhoods, where the implementation of improvement measures such as those from the EU Recovery Plan (PNRR in Italy) may become difficult because of the specific socio-cultural and economic criticalities. Here, inhabitants are more prone to misinformation as well as energy poverty. Therefore, understanding the level of knowledge and willingness to implement certain design actions at both site and building levels is of utmost importance to make the transition as effective and just as needed. The article presents a pilot survey conducted in two Italian social housing neighborhoods to assess residents’ understanding and preparedness to implement climate-responsive strategies, as well as literacy gaps about energy transition and related public fundings. This can prepare the ground for developing effective solutions to improve the livability of the built environment based on local needs and features that can be combined synergistically with financial incentives. The survey results are discussed, in addition to the upscaling potential

Yield Response of Tolerant and Susceptible Soybean to the Soybean Aphid

Soybean aphid, Aphis glycines (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is the most economically important soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] pest of North America. Multiple studies have identified soybean expressing antibiosis and/or antixenosis; however, soybean tolerance remains underexplored. Tolerance to soybean aphid injury was previously identified in soybean KS4202. This research examined the yield response of KS4202 infested with soybean aphid at specific plant stages and identified at what plant stage tolerance initiates. A preliminary study evaluated the yield parameters of the tolerant genotype at low (4000– 5500 cumulative aphid-days [CAD]) and high aphid pressure (7500–8500 CAD) at different growth stages (V1, V3, and R1). A second study compared the yield response of the tolerant and a susceptible genotype (K03-4686) at both V1 and V3 stages. In addition, low and high aphid pressure increased to 9,000 to 12,000 and 18,000 to 25,000 for V1 and V3 stages, respectively. Preliminary evaluations indicated that the yield parameters of the tolerant genotype infested at V3 and R1 were not significantly different from the respective controls. Conversely, plants were unable to compensate for of high aphid pressure at the V1 stage. In study 2, high aphid pressure negatively influenced yield of both tolerant and susceptible V1-plants infested, although the tolerant genotype compensated for low aphid pressure. Aphid pressures applied at the V3 stage did not influence the yield parameters of tolerant genotype; however, both aphid pressures were detrimental to the susceptible genotype. Tolerance in KS4202 begins as early as V3, and maintains as plants mature

Economic Injury Levels for \u3ci\u3eAphis glycines\u3c/i\u3e Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on the Soybean Aphid Tolerant KS4202 Soybean

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is an invasive species from Asia that has been the major economic insect pest of soybeans, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, since 2000. While use of soybeans expressing antibiosis and antixenosis is a well-studied strategy to manage this pest, aphid-tolerant soybeans remain underexplored. This study examined the relationship between cumulative aphid-days (CAD) and yield loss in the tolerant soybean KS4202 during two growing seasons to determine the economic injury levels (EILs) for soybean aphids on KS4202. Soybean aphid infestations were initiated during the soybean reproductive stages. A range of CAD treatments (3,000–45,000 CADs) were applied during the growing seasons. Aphid populations reached 45,000 CAD in 2011 and 38,000 CAD in 2013 in plots that were not treated with insecticides. It was estimated that the population doubling time was 9.4 d. In infested plots, soybean yield was reduced by 1.4–13.3%, equivalent to a 3.1% yield loss for every 10,000 CAD. Overall, most CAD treatments did not affect yield parameters, although CAD \u3e 39,000 caused a significant reduction in most yield parameters. The EILs calculated for KS4202 ranged from 526 to 2,050 aphids/plant, which were approximately 2.5-fold higher when compared to EILs previously calculated for susceptible soybean. The adoption of soybean aphid tolerant soybean with higher EILs may help mitigate treatment delay problems by lengthening the treatment lead-time and possibly reduce the number of insecticide applications