Non-Target Feeding by Galerucella Calmariensis on Sandbar Willow (Salix Interior) in Illinois

Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria L., is an introduced Eurasian perennial herb that has been in North America since the early 1800s (Thompson et al. 1987). Purple loosestrife has been considered a serious threat to the integrity of North American wetlands (Thompson et al. 1987, Blossey et al. 2001a). L. salicaria has been the target of a significant North American project using biological control to combat it (Malecki et al. 1993, Blossey et al. 2001a)

Arthropods Associated With Purple Loosestrife in Illinois Wetlands

We estimated and described the arthropod fauna on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) plants in northeastern Illinois wetlands. A total of 1063 individual arthropods were collected—930 insects and 133 arachnids. The av- erage number of arthropods ranged from 19.00 to 86.75 individuals per loos- estrife plants of a single root crown. We collected individuals from twenty-five families representing 8 orders of insects. Miridae, Anthocoridae, Lygaeidae, Cicadellidae, and Aphididae were each represented by at least 50 individuals. Three orders and ten families were found that had not been previously reported as occurring on purple loosestrife, but many of these taxa were represented by only a few individuals

Non-Target Feeding by Galerucella Calmariensis on Sandbar Willow (Salix Interior) in Illinois

Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria L., is an introduced Eurasian perennial herb that has been in North America since the early 1800s (Thompson et al. 1987). Purple loosestrife has been considered a serious threat to the integrity of North American wetlands (Thompson et al. 1987, Blossey et al. 2001a). L. salicaria has been the target of a significant North American project using biological control to combat it (Malecki et al. 1993, Blossey et al. 2001a)

Arthropods Associated With Purple Loosestrife in Illinois Wetlands

We estimated and described the arthropod fauna on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) plants in northeastern Illinois wetlands. A total of 1063 individual arthropods were collected—930 insects and 133 arachnids. The av- erage number of arthropods ranged from 19.00 to 86.75 individuals per loos- estrife plants of a single root crown. We collected individuals from twenty-five families representing 8 orders of insects. Miridae, Anthocoridae, Lygaeidae, Cicadellidae, and Aphididae were each represented by at least 50 individuals. Three orders and ten families were found that had not been previously reported as occurring on purple loosestrife, but many of these taxa were represented by only a few individuals

Investigating Sub-Spine Actin Dynamics in Rat Hippocampal Neurons with Super-Resolution Optical Imaging

Morphological changes in dendritic spines represent an important mechanism for synaptic plasticity which is postulated to underlie the vital cognitive phenomena of learning and memory. These morphological changes are driven by the dynamic actin cytoskeleton that is present in dendritic spines. The study of actin dynamics in these spines traditionally has been hindered by the small size of the spine. In this study, we utilize a photo-activation localization microscopy (PALM)–based single-molecule tracking technique to analyze F-actin movements with ∼30-nm resolution in cultured hippocampal neurons. We were able to observe the kinematic (physical motion of actin filaments, i.e., retrograde flow) and kinetic (F-actin turn-over) dynamics of F-actin at the single-filament level in dendritic spines. We found that F-actin in dendritic spines exhibits highly heterogeneous kinematic dynamics at the individual filament level, with simultaneous actin flows in both retrograde and anterograde directions. At the ensemble level, movements of filaments integrate into a net retrograde flow of ∼138 nm/min. These results suggest a weakly polarized F-actin network that consists of mostly short filaments in dendritic spines

The ATLAS Data Acquisition and High-Level Trigger: Concept, Design and Status

The Trigger and Data Acquisition system (TDAQ) of the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is based on a multi-level selection process and a hierarchical acquisition tree. The system, consisting of a combination of custom electronics and commercial products from the computing and telecommunication industry, is required to provide an online selection power of 105 and a total throughput in the range of Terabit/sec. This paper introduces the basic system requirements and concepts, describes the architecture of the system, discusses the basic measurements supporting the validity of the design and reports on the actual status of construction and installation

The ATLAS trigger - high-level trigger commissioning and operation during early data taking

The ATLAS experiment is one of the two general-purpose experiments due to start operation soon at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC will collide protons at a centre of mass energy of 14~TeV, with a bunch-crossing rate of 40~MHz. The ATLAS three-level trigger will reduce this input rate to match the foreseen offline storage capability of 100-200~Hz. This paper gives an overview of the ATLAS High Level Trigger focusing on the system design and its innovative features. We then present the ATLAS trigger strategy for the initial phase of LHC exploitation. Finally, we report on the valuable experience acquired through in-situ commissioning of the system where simulated events were used to exercise the trigger chain. In particular we show critical quantities such as event processing times, measured in a large-scale HLT farm using a complex trigger menu

Performance of the final Event Builder for the ATLAS Experiment

Event data from proton-proton collisions at the LHC will be selected by the ATLAS experiment in a three level trigger system, which reduces the initial bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz at its first two trigger levels (LVL1+LVL2) to ~3 kHz. At this rate the Event-Builder collects the data from all Read-Out system PCs (ROSs) and provides fully assembled events to the the Event-Filter (EF), which is the third level trigger, to achieve a further rate reduction to ~200 Hz for permanent storage. The Event-Builder is based on a farm of O(100) PCs, interconnected via Gigabit Ethernet to O(150) ROSs. These PCs run Linux and multi-threaded software applications implemented in C++. All the ROSs and one third of the Event-Builder PCs are already installed and commissioned. We report on performance tests on this initial system, which show promising results to reach the final data throughput required for the ATLAS experiment

El potencial de los depredadores generalistas para control biológico

9 p.Para diseñar estrategias de control de plagas, se tiene que entender los factores que influyen en la población de plagas. Las poblaciones de plagas usualmente no son suficientemente altas para causar daños económicos, por eso no requieren ninguna intervención. Dentro de las razones por las cuales la población de plagas no alcanza altos niveles están los efectos de los enemigos naturales, como los artrópodos depredadores. Grandes cantidades de especies de depredadores aparecen en los cultivos, pero muchas de ellas son visitantes temporales; sólo unas pocas son encontradas regularmente. ¿Por qué vemos las mismas especies de depredadores constantemente? Puede ser que haya diferencias en la fisiología o el comportamiento entre las especies que pueden mantener sus poblaciones y aquellas que sólo son transitorias

Prospects for biological control of teasels, Dipsacus spp., a new target in the United States

Two closely related teasels (Dipsacales: Dipsacaceae, Dipsacus spp.) of European origin have become invasive weeds in the United States. Common teasel (Dipsacus fullonum L.) and cutleaf teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus L.) have likely been in North America for more than two centuries, having been introduced along with cultivated teasel [D. sativus (L.) Honckney], an obsolete crop plant. There are few records of American insects or pathogens attacking Dipsacus spp. Invasive teasels have recently begun to spread rapidly throughout much of their current range, for reasons that are not yet known. Common and/or cut-leaf teasel have been listed as noxious in Wve US states and as invasive in 12 other states and four national parks. Because the family Dipsacaceae is an exclusively Old World family, classical biological control is an important component of the overall management strategy of this weed in the US. Field surveys for natural enemies of D. fullonum and D. laciniatus in their native ranges and literature reviews of natural enemies of plants in the family Dipsacaceae have yielded 102 species of insects in six orders, as well as 27 fungi from 10 orders, three mites, one nematode, and two viruses. Due to the biennial nature of these weeds, a strategy to assign highest priority to biological control candidates attacking Wrst-year (rosette) plants has been established. Candidates selected for further study based on this strategy include Chromatomyia ramosa (Hendel) (Diptera: Agromyzidae), Longitarsus strigicollis Wollaston (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Epitrimerus knautiae Liro (Acarina: Eriophyiidae), Euphydryas desfontainii (Godart) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Erysiphe knautiae Duby (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae), and Sphaerotheca dipsacearum (Tul. and C. Tul.) (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae)