Prospects of semi-cultivating the edible weaver and Oecophylla smaragdina

Keywords: entomophagy, edible insects, Formicidae, global food security, agricultural revolution, Lao PDR An increased use of edible insects as human food and animal feed is a viable means to feed the growing human population and to tackle sustainability issues of the food production systems. The semi-cultivation of the edible weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Southeast Asia can assure a sustainably supply of the highly favoured queen brood; reduce the environmental costs and financial inputs associated with non-biological pest control methods; increase the agricultural productivity of plantations; and trigger a sustainable diversification of agricultural produce. This thesis explores the sustainable increase of the availability, predictability, and productivity of O. smaragdina colonies. Because the procurement of edible insects has been facilitated throughout history, a detailed account was made of the indigenous knowledge of O. smaragdina and the harvesting practices. This revealed that the queen, the vital organ of the colony, is not known to the collectors, and that the collectors refrain from removing large numbers of worker ants. The investigation of the location and external characteristics of the queen nest suggests that this nest is ignored by the collectors because it is small and therefore could only yield a very small amount of queen brood. This study provides an easy way to identify the queen nest and as such facilitates the introduction and long-term establishment of colonies in designated areas (e.g., plantation, home garden). This thesis also suggests that the location of the queen nest within the colony’s territory is a structural adaptation that serves her protection, and shows the behavioural mechanisms (i.e., warning by worker ants, queen evacuation from her nest, and function of the retinue) that are involved to protect the queen from predators. A harvesting experiment was also conducted to investigate the resilience of a colony to harvesting its queen brood. This experiment showed that worker ant mortality can be very high and negatively affect subsequent brood production. Harvesting methodologies and techniques must thus be developed that avoid the loss of large numbers of worker ants. This thesis concludes that indigenous knowledge and modern science can benefit from working together to accomplish the semi-cultivation of O. smaragdina, but they require the support of governing bodies in the developed world and the developing world. Directions for future research are given. This includes the development of outdoor artificial weaver ant nests, analogous to artificial wasp and bee nests. Such a development can accelerate advances in our understanding of O. smaragdina, and, when well designed, can facilitate the queen brood harvest. </p

Woodland in a fluvio-lacustrine environment on the dry Mongolian Plateau during the late Paleocene: Evidence from the mammal bearing Subeng section (Inner Mongolia, PR China)

In the understanding of the global faunal turnover during the Paleocene-Eocene transition, an important role has been attributed to the Asian continent, although the Asian fossil record for this period is still incomplete. Here we present a multidisciplinary study of the Subeng section (Inner Mongolia, P.R. China), integrating sedimentological, stratigraphical and diverse palaeontological data, in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and to enhance the understanding of the late Paleocene communities that once thrived on the Mongolian Plateau. The Subeng section starts with the Maastrichtian Iren Dabasu Formation directly covered by the late Paleocene Nomogen Formation. This Nomogen Formation is composed of typical lacustrine deposits at the base, covered by fluvio-lacustrine deposits at the top. Both types of deposits provided rich ostracod and charophyte assemblages, closest to those of the Naran Member, Naran Bulak Formation of Mongolia. Palynomorphs from the lake sediments suggest a local flora at Subeng more wooded and closed than reported from elsewhere in this region. The fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Nomogen Formation have yielded a vertebrate fauna especially rich in mammals. The mammal fauna from Subeng is close to that from Bayan Ulan and typical for the Gashatan Asian Land Mammal Age. The presence of reworked pedogenic carbonate nodules and mud aggregates suggests an at least seasonally dry regional climate. Combined sedimentological and palaeontological data suggest the late Paleocene Nomogen Formation at Subeng was an isolated woodland in a fluvio-lacustrine environment, representing a locally humid environment on the semi-arid Mongolian Plateau. The mammal fauna reflects these differences and shows a number of relatives to mammals from the more humid northeastern Chinese biotic province as well as some North American immigrants. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security

This book draws on a wide range of scientific research on the contribution that insects make to ecosystems, diets, food security and livelihoods in both developed and developing countries

Nondestructive monitoring of ageing of Alkali resistant Glass fiber reinforced cement (GRC)

Glass fiber reinforced cement (GRC) is a composite material made of portland cement mortar and alkali resistant (AR) fibers. AR fibers are added to portland cement to give the material additional flexural strength and toughness. However, ageing deteriorates the fibers and as a result the improvement in the mechanical properties resulted from the fiber addition disappears as the structure becomes old. The aim of this paper is monitoring GRC ageing by nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. Two different NDE techniques (1) nonlinear impact resonant acoustic spectroscopy analysis and (2) propagating ultrasonic guided waves are used for this purpose. Both techniques revealed a reduction of the nonlinear behavior in the GRC material with ageing. Specimens are then loaded to failure to obtain their strength and stiffness. Compared to the un-aged specimens, the aged specimens are found to exhibit more linear behavior, have more stiffness but less toughness. Finally, undisturbed fragments on the fracture surface from mechanical tests are inspected under the electron microscope, to understand the fundamental mechanisms that cause the change in the GRC behavior with ageing.The authors want to acknowledge the financial support of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion MICINN, Spain, and FEDER funding (Ondacem Project: BIA 2010-19933) and BES-2011-044624. Also thanks to PAID-02-11 Program from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Eiras Fernández, JN.; Kundu, T.; Bonilla Salvador, MM.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2013). Nondestructive monitoring of ageing of Alkali resistant Glass fiber reinforced cement (GRC). Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation - NDT and E International. 32:300-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-013-0183-yS30031432Bentur, A., Fibre, M.S.: Reinforced Cementitious Composites, 2nd edn. Taylor and Francis, New York (2007)Purnell, P., Short, N.R., Page, C.L.: A static fatigue model for the durability of glass fibre reinforced cement. J. Mater. Sci. 36(22), 5385–5390 (2001)Ferreira, J.G., Branco, F.A.: Structural application of GRC in telecommunication towers. Constr. Build. Mater. 21(1), 19–28 (2007)Bentur, A., Ben-Bassat, M., Schneider, D.: Durability of glass-fiber-reinforced cements with different alkali-resistant glass fibers. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 68(4), 203–208 (1985)Cheng, J., Liang, W., Hu, Y., Chen, Q., Frischat, G.H.: Development of a new alkali resistant coating. J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 27(3), 309–313 (2003)Liang, W., Cheng, J., Hu, Y., Luo, H.: Improved properties of GRC composites using commercial E-glass fibers with new coatings. Mater. Res. Bull. 37(4), 641–646 (2002)Payá, J., Bonilla, M., Borrachero, M.V., Monzó, J., Peris-Mora, E., Lalinde, L.F.: Reusing fly ash in glass fibre reinforced cement: a new generation of high-quality GRC composites. Waste Manag. 27(10), 1416–1421 (2007)Zhang, Y., Sun, W., Shang, L., Pan, G.: The effect of high content of fly ash on the properties of glass fiber reinforced cementitious composites. Cem. Concr. Res. 27(12), 1885–1891 (1997)Purnell, P., Short, N., Page, C.: Super-critical carbonation of glass-fibre reinforced cement. Part 1: mechanical testing and chemical analysis. Composites, Part A, Appl. Sci. Manuf. 32(12), 1777–1787 (2001)EN 1170-8:2008. Test method for glass-fibre reinforced cement. Cyclic weathering type testPurnell, P.: Interpretation of climatic temperature variations for accelerated ageing models. J. Mater. Sci. 39(1), 113–118 (2004)Enfedaque, A., Sánchez Paradela, L., Sánchez-Gálvez, V.: An alternative methodology to predict aging effects on the mechanical properties of glass fiber reinforced cements (GRC). Constr. Build. Mater. 27(1), 425–431 (2012)Litherland, K.L., Maguire, P., Proctor, B.A.: A test method for the strength of glass fibres in cement. Int. J. Cem. Compos. Lightweight Concr. 6(1), 39–45 (1984)Itterbeeck, P., Cuypers, H., Orlowsky, J., Wastiels, J.: Evaluation of the strand in cement (SIC) test for GRCs with improved durability. Mater. Struct. 41(6), 1109–1116 (2007)Guyer, R.A., Johnson, P.A.: Nonlinear mesoscopic elasticity: evidence for a new class of materials. Phys. Today 52, 30 (1999)Johnson, P.A.: Nonequilibrium nonlinear dynamics in solids: state of the art. In: Delsanto, P.P. (ed.) Universality of Nonclassical Nonlinearity, pp. 49–69. Springer, New York (2006)Guyer, R.A., McCall, K.R., Boitnott, G.N.: Hysteresis, discrete memory, and nonlinear wave propagation in rock: a new paradigm. Phys. Rev. Lett. 74(17), 3491–3494 (1995)Mayergoyz, I.D.: Mathematical Models of Hysteresis and Their Applications. Academic Press, New York (2003)Van Den Abeele, K.E.A., Carmeliet, J., Ten Cate, J.A., Johnson, P.A.: Nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy (NEWS) techniques to discern material damage, part II: single-mode nonlinear resonance acoustic spectroscopy. Res. Nondestruct. Eval. 12(1), 31–42 (2000)Chen, J., Jayapalan, A.R., Kim, J.Y., Kurtis, K.E., Jacobs, L.J.: Rapid evaluation of alkali–silica reactivity of aggregates using a nonlinear resonance spectroscopy technique. Cem. Concr. Res. 40(6), 914–923 (2010)Leśnicki, K.J., Kim, J.Y., Kurtis, K.E., Jacobs, L.J.: Characterization of ASR damage in concrete using nonlinear impact resonance acoustic spectroscopy technique. Nondestruct. Test. Eval. Int. 44(8), 721–727 (2011)Bouchaala, F., Payan, C., Garnier, V., Balayssac, J.P.: Carbonation assessment in concrete by nonlinear ultrasound. Cem. Concr. Res. 41(5), 557–559 (2011)Eiras, J.N., Popovics, J.S., Borrachero, M.V., Monzó, J., Payá, J.: Nonlinear impact resonant acoustic spectroscopy to discern mechanical damage in cement based materials. In: 15th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics, Porto, Portugal (2012)Kundu, T.: Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation: Engineering and Biological Material Characterization. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2004)Kundu, T.: Ultrasonic and Electromagnetic NDE for Structure and Material Characterization—Engineering and Biomedical Applications. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2012)Dutta, D., Sohn, H., Harries, K.A., Rizzo, P.: A nonlinear acoustic technique for crack detection in metallic structures. Struct. Health Monit. 8(3), 251–262 (2009)Aymerich, F., Staszewski, W.J.: Impact damage detection in composite laminates using nonlinear acoustics. Composites, Part A, Appl. Sci. Manuf. 41(9), 1084–1092 (2010)EN 1170-1:1998. Precast concrete products. Test method for glass-fibre reinforced cement. 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First Evidence of Reproductive Adaptation to “Island Effect” of a Dwarf Cretaceous Romanian Titanosaur, with Embryonic Integument In Ovo

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages of Romania are famous for geographically endemic dwarfed dinosaur taxa. We report the first complete egg clutches of a dwarf lithostrotian titanosaur, from Toteşti, Romania, and its reproductive adaptation to the “island effect”.</p> <h3>Methodology/Findings</h3><p>The egg clutches were discovered in sequential sedimentary layers of the Maastrichtian Sânpetru Formation, Toteşti. The occurrence of 11 homogenous clutches in successive strata suggests philopatry by the same dinosaur species, which laid clutches averaging four ∼12 cm diameters eggs. The eggs and eggshells display numerous characters shared with the positively identified material from egg-bearing level 4 of the Auca Mahuevo (Patagonia, Argentina) nemegtosaurid lithostrotian nesting site. Microscopic embryonic integument with bacterial evidences was recovered in one egg. The millimeter-size embryonic integument displays micron size dermal papillae implying an early embryological stage at the time of death, likely corresponding to early organogenesis before the skeleton formation.</p> <h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3><p>The shared oological characters between the Haţeg specimens and their mainland relatives suggest a highly conservative reproductive template, while the nest decrease in egg numbers per clutch may reflect an adaptive trait to a smaller body size due to the “island effect”. The combined presence of the lithostrotian egg and its embryo in the Early Cretaceous Gobi coupled with the oological similarities between the Haţeg and Auca Mahuevo oological material evidence that several titanosaur species migrated from Gondwana through the Haţeg Island before or during the Aptian/Albian. It also suggests that this island might have had episodic land bridges with the rest of the European archipelago and Asia deep into the Cretaceous.</p> </div

A New Saurolophine Dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of Far Eastern Russia

Background: Four main dinosaur sites have been investigated in latest Cretaceous deposits from the Amur/Heilongjiang Region: Jiayin and Wulaga in China (Yuliangze Formation), Blagoveschensk and Kundur in Russia (Udurchukan Formation). More than 90% of the bones discovered in these localities belong to hollow-crested lambeosaurine saurolophids, but flat-headed saurolophines are also represented: Kerberosaurus manakini at Blagoveschensk and Wulagasaurus dongi at Wulaga. Methodology/Principal Findings: Herein we describe a new saurolophine dinosaur, Kundurosaurus nagornyi gen. et sp. nov. from the Udurchukan Formation (Maastrichtian) of Kundur, represented by disarticulated cranial and postcranial material. This new taxon is diagnosed by four autapomorphies. Conclusions/Significance: A phylogenetic analysis of saurolophines indicates that Kundurosaurus nagornyi is nested within a rather robust clade including Edmontosaurus spp. Saurolophus spp. and Prosaurolophus maximus, possibly as a sister-taxon for Kerberosaurus manakini also from the Udurchukan Formation of Far Eastern Russia. The high diversity and mosaic distribution of Maastrichtian hadrosaurid faunas in the Amur-Heilongjiang region are the result of a complex palaeogeographical history and imply that many independent hadrosaurid lineages dispersed without any problem between western America and eastern Asia at the end of the Cretaceous. © 2012 Godefroit et al.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe