Some phytoseiid mites from the South Pacific, with descriptions of new species and a definition of the Amblyseius largoensis species group.

Species of Phytoseiidae collected in Fiji, Vanuatu (New Hebrides) and New Caledonia in 1979 and Cook Islands in 1981 are listed. Amblyseius fijiensis n. sp. and A. herbicoloides n. sp. belong to the largoensis species group, which, as defined, comprises 9 species, 7 of which are Known only from the Southern Hemisphere. Amblyseius (Indoseiulus) hebridensis n. sp. is also described

Suitability of the spider mite Tetranychus evansi as prey for phytoseiulus persimilis.

Experiments conducted to evaluate the suitability of T. evansi as a source of food for P. persimilis revealed that the primary factor responsible for the low oviposition rate and vurvivorship of the predator when fed T. evansi was the low amount of food ingested. P. persimilis detected and initiated feeding on T. evansi equaly as well as on T. urticae. However, a feeding depressant was apparently responsible for a longer time spent by P. persimilis feeding on eggs of T. evansi than on eggs of T. urticae. Eggs of the former prey were totally consumed only occasionally. The depressant effect influenced subsequent feeding on T. urticae, increasing the time requered for consomption and the number of partially consumed eggs for at least 3 days

A comparative study of lesions caused by different parasitic stages of Boophilus Microplus (Canestrini) in the skins of naturally infested taurine and zebuine hosts. The correlation of tick resistence with mast cell counts in the host's skin

Biópsias de pele lesada por larvas, ninfas e fêmeas engurgitadas de Boophilus microplus foram colhidas de cinco Bos taurus da raça Holandesa e de cinco Bos indicus da raça Gir, adquiridos na mesma propriedade, com aproximadamente 23 meses de idade, e colocados em convivência no mesmo pasto durante 90 dias que precederam este ensaio. O grau de susceptibilidade ao ácaro foi estimado previamente, sendo os zebuínos cerca de 15 vezes mais resistentes que os taurinos. As biópsias foram colhidas de modo que o parasito ficasse localizado no centro do fragmento de pele. Essas peças foram fixadas em formalina a 10% durante 24 h e processadas pelos métodos usuais em histologia seguindo-se a coloração pela técnica da Hematoxilin-Eosin ou do “tricrômico” de Masson. Não foram constatadas diferenças morfológicas que pudessem ser relacionadas aos diferentes graus de resistência ao parasito entre os taurinos e zebuinos. Biópsias foram colhidas de zonas não lesadas, na região da virilha dos cinco taurinos e dos cinco zebuínos, fixadas em subacetato de chumbo a 1% em solução de etanol 50%, contendo 1% de ácido acético, por 24 h. A seguir os fragmentos foram processados pelas técnicas usuais em histologia e corados pelo método do azul de toluidina 0,1%. Os mastócitos foram contados comparativamente em 80 campos microscópicos, em aumento de 100 vezes. Os resultados mostram que os zebuínos tem mais que o dobro do número de mastócitos dérmicos quando comparado com o encontrado nos taurinos. Esses resultados sugerem que os mastócitos dérmicos possam, pelo menos em parte, participar dos mecanismos de resistência dos bovinos ao Boophilus microplus.Biopsies of skin injuries caused by larvae, nymphs, unengorged and engorged females of Boophilus microplus were collected from five Bos taurus and five Bos indicus steers, which had been bom on the same ranch, aged about 23 months and had been grazing together in the same pasture during the preceding 90 days. Their susceptibilities to the tick had been previously estimated, being the taurine animals around fifteen times as susceptible as the zebuine ones. The biopsies were made in such a manner that the mouth pieces were in the center of the skin fragments. These were immersed for 24 hours in 10% formalin, then processed through usual histopathological techniques and stained either by the haematoxilin-eosin or by Masson’s “trichromic” procedures. No morphological differences were found capable of explaining the higher tick susceptibility observed for the taurine hosts as compared to the zebuine’s. Biopsies from non parasitized skin from the groin region of five B. taurus and five B. indicus steers were fixed in 1% lead subacetate, plus 50% ethanol, plus 1% acetic acid, for 24 hours, which they were histologically processed and stained in 0.1 % toluidin blue. The mast cells were comparatively counted in 80 microscope fields per sample with 100 diameters of magnification and the counts averaged more than twice as high in the zebuine than in the taurine host’s skins. These results strongly suggest that mast cells participate as important elements in the bovine host’s resistance to the cattle tick

Building analytical three-field cosmological models

A difficult task to deal with is the analytical treatment of models composed by three real scalar fields, once their equations of motion are in general coupled and hard to be integrated. In order to overcome this problem we introduce a methodology to construct three-field models based on the so-called "extension method". The fundamental idea of the procedure is to combine three one-field systems in a non-trivial way, to construct an effective three scalar field model. An interesting scenario where the method can be implemented is within inflationary models, where the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian is coupled with the scalar field Lagrangian. We exemplify how a new model constructed from our method can lead to non-trivial behaviors for cosmological parameters.Comment: 11 pages, and 3 figures, updated version published in EPJ

Cosmological scenarios from multiquintessence

In this work we derive and analyse cosmological scenarios coming from multi-component scalar field models. We consider a direct sum of a sine-Gordon with a Z2 model, and also a combination of those with a BNRT model. Moreover, we work with a modified version of the BNRT model, which breaks the Z2 x Z2 symmetry of the original BNRT potential, coupled with the sine-Gordon and with the standard Z2 models. We show that our approach can be straightforwardly elevated to $N$ fields. All the computations are made analytically and some parameters restriction is put forward in order to get in touch with complete and realistic cosmological scenarios

Measuring the Charged Particle Multiplicity with ALICE

The charged particle multiplicity distribution is one of the first measurements that ALICE will be able to perform. The knowledge of this basic property at a new energy is needed to configure Monte Carlo generators correctly with the aim of understanding the background of other, especially rare, processes including new physics. It allows to study the scaling behaviour and to verify model predictions. The unfolding of the measurement is a non-trivial task due to the finite precision and acceptance of the detector. Solutions are based on chi2 minimization or iteratively using Bayes' theorem. Both approaches to unfold the spectrum are presented. Furthermore, the capabilities of the SPD fast OR trigger are shown that enable physics at very high multiplicities.Comment: Proceedings of poster presentation at Quark Matter 2008, 20th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions in Jaipur, India; to be published in Indian Journal of Physics; 4 pages, 4 figure

Assessment of rubber tree panels under crowns resistant to South American leaf blight.

The objective of this work was to assess the performance of panel clones under crowns resistant to South American leaf blight (Microcyclus ulei). The experiment was carried out with 18 panel clones crown?budded with Hevea pauciflora x H. guianensis, in a Xanthic Ferralsol (Oxisol) in Manaus, AM, Brazil. The following parameters were evaluated: dry rubber yield, plant nutritional status, and anatomical and physiological characteristics of the latex vessels. In the first three years of evaluation, the panel clones IAN 2878, IAN 2903, CNS AM 7905, CNS AM 7905 P1, and PB 28/59 showed the highest dry rubber yield potential, while the clones IAN 6158, IAN 6590, and IAN 6515 should not be recommended for crown budding. Higher potassium and copper foliar content in panel clones were associated to an increase in dry rubber yield. The simultaneous evaluation of anatomical and physiological characteristics of latex is fundamental for the selection of panel clones in the Amazon region. Crown budding is an efficient technology for South American leaf blight management in endemic regions. Avaliação de painéis sob copas de seringueira resistentes ao mal?das?folhas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de clones de painéis enxertados com copas resistentes ao mal?das?folhas (Microcyclus ulei). O experimento foi realizado com 18 clones de painéis enxertados com copas Hevea pauciflora x H. guianensis, em Latossolo Amarelo distrófico, em Manaus, AM. Foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros: produtividade de borracha seca, estado nutricional das plantas e características anatômicas e fisiológicas dos vasos laticíferos. Nos três primeiros anos de avaliação, os clones de painel IAN 2878, IAN 2903, CNS AM 7905, CNS AM 7905 P1 e PB 28/59 apresentaram os maiores potenciais de produção de borracha seca, enquanto que os clones IAN 6158, IAN 6590, and IAN 6515 não devem ser recomendados para enxertia de copa. Maior conteúdo foliar de potássio e de cobre nos clones de painéis esteve associado a maiores produções de borracha seca. A avaliação simultânea de características anatômicas e fisiológicas dos vasos laticíferos é fundamental para seleção de clones de painéis na Região Amazônica. A enxertia de copa é uma tecnologia eficiente para o manejo do mal?das?folhas, em regiões endêmicas