First record of the bug Thaumastocoris peregrinus in Greece

Το Αυστραλιανό έντομο Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpineto et Dellapè (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) αναφέρεται πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα. To έντομο απομυζά τα φύλλα του ευκαλύπτου. Η προσβολή των φύλλων και οι ωομάζες βρέθηκαν σε αρκετές περιοχές της χώρας. Το εισβλητικό αυτό είδος έχει αναφερθεί επίσης από την Πορτογαλία, Ισπανία και Ιταλία. Αν και στην Ελλάδα δεν υπάρχουν πλέον φυτείες ευκαλύπτου (με εξαίρεση τις πειραματικές φυτείες), το έντομο αποτελεί σοβαρό παράσιτο αυτών των δένδρων σε παρόδια βλάστηση και σε αστικά πάρκα. Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζονται όλες οι περιοχές αναζήτησης του εντόμου και οι αναφορές παρουσίας / απουσίας. Επίσης παρουσιάζονται φωτογραφίες μερικών βιολογικών σταδίων του εντόμου.The Australian bug species Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpineto et Dellapè (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) is reported for the first time in Greece. This is a sap-sucking consumer (mesophyll feeder) of Eucalyptus spp. foliage. Feeding damage and the egg batches of the insect were found in several locations in 2016. This invasive species recently has been recorded from Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Although in Greece there are no currently forest plantations of eucalypts (experimental plantations exempted), this insect is a serious pest of these trees in roadside verges and city parks

Dynamic Compaction in Loose Granular Deposits; A Comparison Between Results from Conventional and Recent Improvement Methods

This study presents the results of dynamic compaction in loose, saturated granular deposits. The dynamic compaction operations were conducted by (a) the conventional method of Falling Weight Treatment (a.k.a. Deep Dynamic Compaction - DDC) and (b) the more recent Rapid Impact Compaction (RIC) method. The results of either soil improvement method are being presented, normalized and compared side by side in regards to the resulting soil improvement characteristics as well as the degree of efficiency with varying depth and location. Last, but not least, the improved mean soil compressibility parameters are validated through an embankment surcharge test

Computation by measurements: a unifying picture

The ability to perform a universal set of quantum operations based solely on static resources and measurements presents us with a strikingly novel viewpoint for thinking about quantum computation and its powers. We consider the two major models for doing quantum computation by measurements that have hitherto appeared in the literature and show that they are conceptually closely related by demonstrating a systematic local mapping between them. This way we effectively unify the two models, showing that they make use of interchangeable primitives. With the tools developed for this mapping, we then construct more resource-effective methods for performing computation within both models and propose schemes for the construction of arbitrary graph states employing two-qubit measurements alone.Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures, REVTeX

A Multi-Level Mathematical Model of the CO Catalytic Conversion Process

This paper presents a three-level modelling approach to the catalytic carbon monoxide oxidation in a temperature range between 400 K – 800 K. The first level involves the description of the chemical kinetics for the exothermic reactions on the catalyst surface. The second level models the thermal and hydrodynamic processes in the boundary diffusion layer between the catalyst surface and the reactive stream. Finally, the third modelling level focuses on the representation of the hydrodynamic and thermal properties for the bulk multi-component gas flow at various gas velocity and temperature ranges. The dynamic behaviour of the reactive system has been studied through simulated runs

Crystallization and X-ray diffraction analysis of the DNA-remodelling protein DnaD from Bacillus subtilis

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the two domains of DnaD from B. subtilis is reported

Universal trend of the information entropy of a fermion in a mean field

We calculate the information entropy of single-particle states in position-space $S_{r}$ and momentum-space $S_{k}$ for a nucleon in a nucleus, a $\Lambda$ particle in a hypernucleus and an electron in an atomic cluster. It is seen that $S_{r}$ and $S_{k}$ obey the same approximate functional form as functions of the number of particles, $S_{r}$ ({\rm or} $S_{k}) = a+bN^{1/3}$ in all of the above many-body systems in position- and momentum- space separately. The net information content $S_{r}+S_{k}$ is a slowly varying function of $N$ of the same form as above. The entropy sum $S_{r}+S_{k}$ is invariant to uniform scaling of coordinates and a characteristic of the single-particle states of a specific system. The order of single-particle states according to $S_r +S_k$ is the same as their classification according to energy keeping the quantum number $n$ constant. The spin-orbit splitting is reproduced correctly. It is also seen that $S_{r}+S_{k}$ enhances with excitation of a fermion in a quantum-mechanical system. Finally, we establish a relationship of $S_r +S_k$ with the energy of the corresponding single-particle state i.e. $S_r +S_k = k \ln (\mu E +\nu)$. This relation holds for all the systems under consideration.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 6 figure

Problematising international placements as a site of intercultural learning

This paper theorises some of the learning outcomes of a three-year project concerning student learning in international social work placements in Malaysia. The problematic issue of promoting cultural and intercultural competence through such placements is examined, where overlapping hegemonies are discussed in terms of isomorphism of social work models, that of the nation state, together with those relating to professional values and knowledge, and the tyrannies of received ideas. A critical discussion of cultural competence as the rationale for international placements is discussed in terms of the development of the graduating social worker as a self-reflexive practitioner. The development of sustainable international partnerships able to support student placement and the issue of non-symmetrical reciprocation, typical of wide socio-economic differentials across global regions, is additionally discussed