Distribution and Host Plants of \u3ci\u3eCorthylus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan

(excerpt) The pitted ambrosia beetle. Corthylus punctatissimus Zimmerman, infests woody saplings and shrubs 14 mm in diameter or less. The beetle bores an entrance hole into the main stem at soil level and constructs a main gallery tunnel which generally spirals downward in the stem. Egg-niche construction is followed by inoculation of symbiotic fungi and oviposition. The main stem of the host tree wilts as a result of the girdling activity of the beetle. Finnegan (1967) described the life history of C. punctatissimus infesting Acer saccharum Marshall in Ontario and Quebec

Observations of the Habits of \u3ci\u3eCorthylus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Infesting Maple Saplings in Central Michigan

Corthylus punctatissimus, the pitted ambrosia beetle, infested and killed maple saplings that were 3-12 years of age with a basal diameter of 4-14 mm. The habits of the parental pair of adults are described. The beetles construct a spiral gallery system with about five egg niches per host. Half the brood reaches adult stage during the summer with a sex ratio of 1:1. No relationship was found between the number of niches, length of gallery system, or diameter of stem

Beacon Virtua: A Virtual Reality Simulation Detailing the Recent and Shipwreck History of Beacon Island, Western Australia

Beacon Virtua is a project to document and virtually preserve a historically significant offshore island as a virtual reality experience. In 1629, survivors of the wreck of VOC ship Batavia took refuge on Beacon Island, Western Australia, followed by a mutiny and massacre. In the 1950s the island became the base of a successful fishing industry, and in 1963 human remains from Batavia were located. The fishing community has recently been moved off the island to protect and preserve the site and allow a thorough archaeological investigation of the island. Beacon Virtua exposes users to the history of both the shipwreck survivors and the fishing community. The project uses the virtual environment development software Unity to present a simulation of the island, with 3D models of buildings and jetties, photogrammetric 3D reconstructions of graves and other features, 360° photographic panoramas, and information on the history of the island. The experience has been made available on a wide range of different platforms including via a web-page, as part of an exhibition, and on head mounted displays (VR headsets). This chapter discusses the features included in Beacon Virtua, the storytelling techniques used in the simulation, the challenges encountered and solutions used during the project

Novel experimental setup for megahertz X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell at the High Energy Density (HED) instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL)

The high-precision X-ray diffraction setup for work with diamond anvil cells (DACs) in interaction chamber 2 (IC2) of the High Energy Density instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser is described. This includes beamline optics, sample positioning and detector systems located in the multipurpose vacuum chamber. Concepts for pump-probe X-ray diffraction experiments in the DAC are described and their implementation demonstrated during the First User Community Assisted Commissioning experiment. X-ray heating and diffraction of Bi under pressure, obtained using 20 fs X-ray pulses at 17.8 keV and 2.2 MHz repetition, is illustrated through splitting of diffraction peaks, and interpreted employing finite element modeling of the sample chamber in the DAC

Fragmentation and Multifragmentation of 10.6A GeV Gold Nuclei

We present the results of a study performed on the interactions of 10.6A GeV gold nuclei in nuclear emulsions. In a minimum bias sample of 1311 interac- tions, 5260 helium nuclei and 2622 heavy fragments were observed as Au projec- tile fragments. The experimental data are analyzed with particular emphasis of target separation interactions in emulsions and study of criticalexponents. Multiplicity distributions of the fast-moving projectile fragments are inves- tigated. Charged fragment moments, conditional moments as well as two and three -body asymmetries of the fast moving projectile particles are determined in terms of the total charge remaining bound in the multiply charged projectile fragments. Some differences in the average yields of helium nuclei and heavier fragments are observed, which may be attributed to a target effect. However, two and three-body asymmetries and conditional moments indicate that the breakup mechanism of the projectile seems to be independent of target mass. We looked for evidence of critical point observable in finite nuclei by study the resulting charged fragments distributions. We have obtained the values for the critical exponents gamma, beta and tau and compare our results with those at lower energy experiment (1.0A GeV data). The values suggest that a phase transition like behavior, is observed.Comment: latex, revtex, 28 pages, 12 figures, 3tables, submitted to Europysics Journal

Sex-specific disruption of murine midbrain astrocytic and dopaminergic developmental trajectories following antenatal GC treatment

The mammalian midbrain dopaminergic systems arising in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) are critical for coping behaviours and are implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders where early life challenges comprise significant risk factors. Here, we aimed to advance our hypothesis that glucocorticoids (GCs), recognised key players in neurobiological programming, target development within these systems, with a novel focus on the astrocytic population. Mice received antenatal GC treatment (AGT) by including the synthetic GC, dexamethasone, in the mothers' drinking water on gestational days 16-19; controls received normal drinking water. Analyses of regional shapes and volumes of the adult SNc and VTA demonstrated that AGT induced long-term, dose-dependent, structural changes that were accompanied by profound effects on astrocytes (doubling/tripling of numbers and/or density). Additionally, AGT induced long-term changes in the population size and distribution of SNc/VTA dopaminergic neurons, confirming and extending our previous observations made in rats. Furthermore, glial/neuronal structural remodelling was sexually dimorphic and depended on the AGT dose and sub-region of the SNc/VTA. Investigations within the neonatal brain revealed that these long-term organisational effects of AGT depend, at least in part, on targeting perinatal processes that determine astrocyte density and programmed cell death in dopaminergic neurons. Collectively, our characterisation of enduring, AGT-induced, sex-specific cytoarchitectural disturbances suggests novel mechanistic links for the strong association between early environmental challenge (inappropriate exposure to excess GCs) and vulnerability to developing aberrant behaviours in later life, with translational implications for dopamine-associated disorders (such as schizophrenia, ADHD, autism, depression), which typically show a sex bia

26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)