Generic Concept of the Phytoseiids (Acari: Phytoseiidae) according to Athias-Henriot

The economic importance of the Phytoseiidae motivated many scientists to work on the systematics of this family. One of them was the French acarologist Claire Athias-Henriot. In her first work, she tackled the question of supraspecific groupings within this family from an evolutionistic point of view, and suggested a system for numbering dorsal shield setae, that could be applied to both hypotrichous and holotrichous forms. She also looked for other characters, such as the ratios of the distance between the insertions of some setae on dorsal and sternal shields, the presence of macrosetae on legs, and the length/width ratio of the ventrianal shield. Following Dosse (1957; 1958) who used the shape of the insemination apparatus (spermatheca) for taxonomic purposes, she also adopted this character to define genera, initially without giving it a particular weight. Meanwhile, she also studied other gamasids, and in 1966 considered the insemination apparatus as the main character for distinguishing families of Gamasida. She distinguished the Phytoseiidae within the Laelapoidea (sic), by the type of insemination apparatus and the dorsal hypotrichy. In 1966, she adopted Lindquist and Evans (1965) chaetotactic nomenclature system in her "Contribution \ue0 l\u2019\ue9tude des Amblyseius pal\ue9arctiques (Acariens anactinotriches, Phytoseiidae)". In 1967, she advanced the hypothesis that the insemination apparatus was best for defining phylogenetic relationships because it was less subject to hereditary modifications than external body parts that are in direct contact with the environment. One year later, Athias-Henriot published an exhaustive study on the insemination apparatus of Laelapoidea stating the taxonomic importance of this structure. She also studied adenotaxy and sigillotaxy in order to find characters to define natural lineages. In 1975, she studied the dorsal organotaxy of Amblyseiini in order to define species characters. Two years later she redefined the genus Cydnodromus emphasizing both the importance of the insemination apparatus and the evolution of solenostome gv3. In 1978 and 1981, while describing respectively the new genera Dictydionotus and Pegodromus, Athias-Henriot considered the insemination apparatus and the other characters as having the same weight. In 1983, Ragusa and Athias-Henriot redescribed the genus Neoseiulus; in this case the insemination apparatus was considered as the main character for the definition of the genus, with a series of other (related) characters

Phytoseiid Mites (Parasitiformes, Phytoseiidae) of Lesvos Island (Greece) with a Description of a New Species

Έχουν γίνει δειγματοληψείες των ακάρεων της οικογένειας Phytoseiidae από διάφορα καλλιεργούμενα και αυτοφυή φυτά στο νησί της Λέσβου. Βρέθηκαν συνολικά είκοσι τρία είδη ακάρεων της παραπάνω οικογένειας. Τα πιο άφθονα ήταν τα εξής: Phytoseius jinitimus Ribaga sensu Denmark (30%), Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) και Typhlodromus psyllakisi Swirski and Ragusa (26%), Typhlodromus athenas Swirski and Ragusa (19%), Typhlodromus cryptus Athias-Henriot, και Typhlodromus intercalaris Livshitz and Kuznetsov (15%). Περιγράφεται και σχεδιάζεται, επίσης, ένα νέο είδος, Typhlodromus sapphicus sp. n., που βρέθηκε σε φΰλλα φλαμουριάς (Tilia sp.).A survey of phytoseiid mites associated with crops and wild plants on Lesvos Island was conducted. Of twenty three species collected the most abundant were the following: Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga sensu Denmark (30%), Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) and Typhlodromus psyllakisi Swirski and Ragusa (26%), Typhlodromus athenas Swirski and Ragusa (19%), Typhlodromus cryptus Athias-Henriot, and Typhlodromus intercalaris Livshitz and Kuznetsov (15%). A new species, Typhlodromus sapphicus sp. n., collected on Tilia sp. is also described

New records of phytoseiid mites from italy, with description of a new species and a redescription of other two (Parasitiformes, phytoseiidae)

The Italian phytoseiid fauna consists of 91 valid species. Eighteen of them were described as new species from materials collected in various Italian localities. In the present paper we report nine new records from the Italian fauna and describe the new species, Neoseiulus mediterraneus belonging to the subfamily Amblyseiinae. Complementary descriptions of two rare species, namely: Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) singularis and Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) knisleyi, were also added

Predation of Typhlodromus longilaterus Athias-Henriot (Parasitiformes, Phytoseiidae) females on eggs and juveniles of the tetranychid mites Tetranychus urticae (Koch) and Panonychus citri (McGregor) (Acariformes, Tetranychidae)

Typhlodromus longilaterus is a generalist phytoseiid mite described by Athias-Henriot in 1957 and commonly found in Israel on spontaneous herbaceous plants. As very little is known about this species, the present study reports preliminary results on the predation capacity of phytoseiid females on eggs and juveniles of two tetranychid mites very common in the Mediterranean area, Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus citri. After 24 hours the phytoseiid females preyed on 15% of offered eggs of both tetranychids, while the prey ratio was higher on T. urticae eggs after this period (33.4% and 33.5% vs 20.8% and 16.2% after 2 and 3 days for T. urticae and P. citri respectively). The phytoseiid showed its preference also for nymphs of T. urticae preying on 44-50% of nymphs offered, while the predation range was lower on nymphs of P. citri (from 30.3 to 36.3%)

Identification of DC thermal steady-state differential inductance of ferrite power inductors

In this paper, we propose a method for the identification of the differential inductance of saturable ferrite inductors adopted in DC–DC converters, considering the influence of the operating temperature. The inductor temperature rise is caused mainly by its losses, neglecting the heating contribution by the other components forming the converter layout. When the ohmic losses caused by the average current represent the principal portion of the inductor power losses, the steady-state temperature of the component can be related to the average current value. Under this assumption, usual for saturable inductors in DC–DC converters, the presented experimental setup and characterization method allow identifying a DC thermal steady-state differential inductance profile of a ferrite inductor. The curve is obtained from experimental measurements of the inductor voltage and current waveforms, at different average current values, that lead the component to operate from the linear region of the magnetization curve up to the saturation. The obtained inductance profile can be adopted to simulate the current waveform of a saturable inductor in a DC–DC converter, providing accurate results under a wide range of switching frequency, input voltage, duty cycle, and out-put current values

Developing Expert Systems for Small Business: An Application for Selecting a Legal Form of Organization

The success and value to clients of small business counseling programs such as those offered by Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs ) and Small Business Institutes (SBls) are directly related to the ai1ailability and quality of expert advice. This article provides an overview and it explores the possibilities for PC-based expert system development with particular attention to o s1nall business application. A proof-of-concept SBDC advisory system is described. It provides expert-based advice for selecting a legal form of business organization. Issues of client usability and liability are raised. Conclusions show that the use of expert systems for s1nall business consulting offers an expanded potential for relieving already overworked consulting staff members, for offering clients quality advice, and for providing a method of training less experienced  consultants

Pan-Cancer Analysis Identifies MNX1 and Associated Antisense Transcripts as Biomarkers for Cancer

The identification of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is a major objective in improving clinical outcomes in cancer, which has been facilitated by the availability of high-throughput gene expression data. A growing interest in non-coding genomic regions has identified dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in several malignancies, suggesting a potential use as biomarkers. In this study, we leveraged data from large-scale sequencing projects to uncover the expression patterns of the MNX1 gene and its associated lncRNAs MNX1-AS1 and MNX1-AS2 in solid tumours. Despite many reports describing MNX1 overexpression in several cancers, limited studies exist on MNX1-AS1 and MNX1-AS2 and their potential as biomarkers. By employing clustering methods to visualise multi-gene relationships, we identified a discriminative power of the three genes in distinguishing tumour vs. normal samples in several cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and reproductive systems, as well as in discerning oesophageal and testicular cancer histological subtypes. Notably, the expressions of MNX1 and its antisenses also correlated with clinical features and endpoints, uncovering previously unreported associations. This work highlights the advantages of using combinatory expression patterns of non-coding transcripts of differentially expressed genes as clinical evaluators and identifies MNX1, MNX1-AS1, and MNX1-AS2 expressions as robust candidate biomarkers for clinical applicationsD.R. is the recipient of a Kidscan funded PhD studentship and partly supported by Brunel University Londo