Selection of a Trichogramma species (Hym., Trichogrammatidae) for the biological control of the potato moth Phthorimaea operculella (Lep., Gelechiidae) by host-parasitism behavioral study

Currently, the “potato tuberworm”, Phthorimaea operculella, and the “Guatemalan potato moth”, Tecia solanivora (Lep.: Gelechiidae) are the two pests of the greatest economic importance in Spanish potato crops. For this reason, the potential as biological control agent of two egg parasitoid species –Tri- chogramma achaeae and T. cacoeciae (Hym.: Trichogrammatidae)– of the pest species P. operculella has been studied, under laboratory conditions. Three groups of trials have been carried out: “non-choice” test, “choice” test, and study of parasitic behavior. In all the trials the eggs of the pest specie were compared with the rearing host of the parasitoids: Ephestia kuehniella. In the results, “no choice” test, T. achaeae parasitized significantly more eggs of both species than T. cacoeciae. Thus, total egg mortality in P. operculella was 92.78 ± 13.47% by T. achaeae versus 70.88 ± 15.11% by T. cacoeciae. In turn, in the “choice” test, it was found that adult females of both parasitoid species preferred P. operculella eggs (β2 = 0.58 ± 0.10 y β2 = 0.61 ± 0.17 para T. achaeae y T. cacoeciae, respectively). Finally, in the parasitic behavior test, it was found that T. cacoeciae showed significantly shorter host searching times and shorter host handling times than T. achaeae. Both Trichogramma species seem to be good candidates as biological control agents of P. operculella, which must be subsequently confirmed by field and warehouse trials

Sib cannibalism can be adaptive for kin

Sib cannibalism seems to be paradoxical behaviour, since it decreases the survival rate of the closest relative juveniles, so the rate of sib cannibalism changes the demography of the cannibal phenotype. In the general kin demographic selection model presented here, the long-term growth rate of a phenotype is determined by a Leslie matrix that depends on the life history strategy, and a uniform density-dependent selection process takes place, keeping the total population size at the level of the carrying capacity. Using this model, where different phenotypes are described by different Leslie matrices, we point out that the phenotype optimizing the phenotypic long-term growth rate will select out any other optimizing phenotype. We find that sib cannibalism is adaptive if the sib cannibal can decrease its developmental time, and the shorter development time can increase the rate of survival from sib cannibal juvenile to adult, and also when sib cannibalism increases fecundity in the adult stage. Cannibalism between the closest relatives can be considered as a mutualistic kin strategy when the benefit of cannibalism is greater than the cost of it

Do Development and Diet Determine the Degree of Cannibalism in Insects? To Eat or Not to Eat Conspecifics

Cannibalism in insects plays an important role in ecological relationships. Nonetheless, it has not been studied as extensively as in other arthropods groups (e.g., Arachnida). From a theoretical point of view, cannibalism has an impact on the development of more realistic stage-structure mathematical models. Additionally, it has a practical application for biological pest control, both in mass-rearing and out in the field through inoculative releases. In this paper, the cannibalistic behavior of two species of predatory bugs was studied under laboratory conditions—one of them a generalist predator (strictly carnivorous), Nabis pseudoferus, and the other a true omnivore (zoophytophagous), Nesidiocoris tenuis—and compared with the intraguild predation (IGP) behavior. The results showed that cannibalism in N. pseudoferus was prevalent in all the developmental stages studied, whereas in N. tenuis, cannibalism was rarely observed, and it was restricted mainly to the first three nymphal stages. Cannibalism and intraguild predation had no linear relationship with the di erent cannibal–prey size ratios, as evaluated by the mortality rates and survival times, although there were variations in cannibalism between stages, especially for N. pseudoferus. The mathematical model’s implications are presented and discussed

Selection of predatory mites for the biological control of Potato Tuber Moth instored potatoes

Worldwide, the potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is one of the most severe pests a ecting potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), whether in open-air crops or during tuber storage. This work examines the potential control of this pest by two species of predatory mites, Macrocheles robustulus (Berlese) and Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese), on pest eggs under laboratory conditions. In the two first assays, the acceptance rate of the pest eggs was assessed for each predatory mite. Then, in a third assay, the functional response of B. tarsalis was studied. The results showed that Macrocheles robustulus did not prey on the pest eggs (number of eggs surviving = 4.33 0.38), whereas B. tarsalis did (number of eggs surviving = 0.5 0.5). Likewise, B. tarsalis showed a type II functional response when it killed the eggs. The results showed the potential use of Blattisocius tarsalis as a biological control agent of P. operculella in potato under storage conditions

Photosynthesis Inhibiting E ects of Pesticides on Sweet Pepper Leaves

Although a large number of pesticides of di erent compositions are regularly used in agriculture, the impact of pesticides on the physiology of field crops is not well understood. Pesticides can produce negative e ects on crop physiology—especially on photosynthesis—leading to a potential decrease in both the growth and the yield of crops. To investigate these potential e ects in greenhouse sweet peppers, the e ect of 20 insecticides and 2 fungicides (each sprayed with a wetting agent) on the photosynthesis of sweet pepper leaves was analyzed. Among these pesticides, nine caused significant reductions in photosynthetic activity. The e ects were observed in distinctive ways—either as a transitory drop of the photosynthetic-rate values, which was observed at two hours after the treatment and was found to have recovered after 24 h, or as a sustained reduction of these values, which remained substantial over a number of days. The results of this study suggest that the production of a crop may substantially benefit when the frequent use of pesticides can be substituted with alternative pest control methods (e.g., biological control). Our results advocate further investigation of the potential impact of pesticides, either alone or in combination, on the photosynthesis of crop plants

MANTICORE II: IP Network as a Service Pilots at HEAnet, NORDUnet and RedIRIS

MANTICORE II follows the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) paradigm to enable National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) and other e-infrastructure providers to enhance their service portfolio by building and piloting the deployment of tools to provide infrastructure resources and IP networks as a service to virtual research communities. MANTICORE II is carrying out the following activities: * Robust and modular implementation of IaaS management tools. * Pilot software deployment and evaluation at HEAnet, NORDUnet and RedIRIS. * Design and implement a simple yet powerful graphical interface for the IP Network Service. * Study and simulate mechanisms to implement an infrastructure marketplace. * Study business models and use cases for commercial services based on MANTICORE II principles.Postprint (published version

Phytoplankton across Tropical and Subtropical Regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans

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Effectiveness of a strategy that uses educational games to implement clinical practice guidelines among Spanish residents of family and community medicine (e-EDUCAGUIA project):A clinical trial by clusters

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias FIS Grant Number PI11/0477 ISCIII.-REDISSEC Proyecto RD12/0001/0012 AND FEDER Funding.Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed with the aim of helping health professionals, patients, and caregivers make decisions about their health care, using the best available evidence. In many cases, incorporation of these recommendations into clinical practice also implies a need for changes in routine clinical practice. Using educational games as a strategy for implementing recommendations among health professionals has been demonstrated to be effective in some studies; however, evidence is still scarce. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a teaching strategy for the implementation of CPGs using educational games (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) to improve knowledge and skills related to clinical decision-making by residents in family medicine. The primary objective will be evaluated at 1 and 6months after the intervention. The secondary objectives are to identify barriers and facilitators for the use of guidelines by residents of family medicine and to describe the educational strategies used by Spanish teaching units of family and community medicine to encourage implementation of CPGs. Methods/design: We propose a multicenter clinical trial with randomized allocation by clusters of family and community medicine teaching units in Spain. The sample size will be 394 residents (197 in each group), with the teaching units as the randomization unit and the residents comprising the analysis unit. For the intervention, both groups will receive an initial 1-h session on clinical practice guideline use and the usual dissemination strategy by e-mail. The intervention group (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) strategy will consist of educational games with hypothetical clinical scenarios in a virtual environment. The primary outcome will be the score obtained by the residents on evaluation questionnaires for each clinical practice guideline. Other included variables will be the sociodemographic and training variables of the residents and the teaching unit characteristics. The statistical analysis will consist of a descriptive analysis of variables and a baseline comparison of both groups. For the primary outcome analysis, an average score comparison of hypothetical scenario questionnaires between the EDUCAGUIA intervention group and the control group will be performed at 1 and 6months post-intervention, using 95% confidence intervals. A linear multilevel regression will be used to adjust the model. Discussion: The identification of effective teaching strategies will facilitate the incorporation of available knowledge into clinical practice that could eventually improve patient outcomes. The inclusion of information technologies as teaching tools permits greater learning autonomy and allows deeper instructor participation in the monitoring and supervision of residents. The long-term impact of this strategy is unknown; however, because it is aimed at professionals undergoing training and it addresses prevalent health problems, a small effect can be of great relevance. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02210442.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality