On the identity of Trichogramma demoraesi Nagaraja (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), with a checklist and a key to Trichogramma species associated with Erinnyis ello (L.) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) in Brazil.

Specimens collected from eggs of the cassava hornworm Erinnyis ello, originally identified as T. demoraesi, were compared with the paratype of this species. Based on morphological analysis, the specimens from E. ello actually belong to Trichogramma marandobai Brun, Moraes and Soares, 1986. Therefore, T. demoraesi is not a parasitoid of the eggs of E. ello, a major pest of cassava. The main features separating the two species, and a checklist and key to the species of Trichogramma associated with E. ello are presented.Autoria: QUERINO [i.e. SILVA], R. B. Q. da. RANYSE BARBOSA QUERINO DA SILV

Fast Optimization of Temperature Focusing in Hyperthermia Treatment of Sub-Superficial Tumors

Microwave hyperthermia aims at selectively heating cancer cells to a supra-physiological temperature. For non-superficial tumors, this can be achieved by means of an antenna array equipped with a proper cooling system (the water bolus) to avoid overheating of the skin. In patient-specific treatment planning, antenna feedings are optimized to maximize the specific absorption rate (SAR) inside the tumor, or to directly maximize the temperature there, involving a higher numerical cost. We present here a method to effect a low-complexity temperature-based planning. It arises from recognizing that SAR and temperature have shifted peaks due to thermal boundary conditions at the water bolus and for physiological effects like air flow in respiratory ducts. In our method, temperature focusing on the tumor is achieved via a SAR-based optimization of the antenna excitations, but optimizing its target to account for the cooling effects. The temperature optimization process is turned into finding a SAR peak position that maximizes the chosen temperature objective function. Application of this method to the 3D head and neck region provides a temperature coverage that is consistently better than that obtained with SAR-optimization alone, also considering uncertainties in thermal parameters. This improvement is obtained by solving the bioheat equation a reduced number of times, avoiding its inclusion in a global optimization process

A Decision Support System for Multi-Trip Vehicle Routing Problems

Emerging trends, driven by industry 4.0 and Big Data, are pushing to combine optimization techniques with Decision Support Systems (DSS). The use of DSS can reduce the risk of uncertainty of the decision-maker regarding the economic feasibility of a project and the technical design. Designing a DSS can be very hard, due to the inherent complexity of these types of systems. Therefore, monolithic software architectures are not a viable solution. This paper describes the DSS developed for an Italian company based on a micro-services architecture. In particular, the services handle geo-referenced information to solve a multi-trip vehicle routing problem with time windows. To face the problem, we follow a two-step approach. First, we generate a set of routes solving a vehicle routing problem with time windows using a metaheuristic algorithm. Second, we calculate the interval in which each route can start and end, and then combine the routes together, with an integer linear programming model, to minimize the number of used vehicles. Computational tests are conducted on real and random instances and prove the efficiency of the approach

Parasitoids of Anastrepha spp. in the Brazilian Amazon.

The database "Parasitoids of Anastrepha in the Brazilian Amazon" provides easy and accessible information on species of parasitoids of Anastrepha spp. and their geographic distribution in the Brazilian Amazon, which includes the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and Maranhão. The database was developed with free software tools, includes a map viewer using the Google Maps API and is available for public access on the Embrapa Amapá website or directly at http://parasitoid.cpafap.embrapa.br. Its data were sourced from the existing technical and scientific literature. Parasitoid species occurrence, the associated host plants and geographic distribution data were included in the database, with the respective bibliographic references. The database will be updated regularly to add newly published data. From the main page, the occurrence reports for a given parasitoid can be searched using filters. The results are presented in both table and map format, in which the geographic distribution and original bibliographic reference can be viewed. More than 400 entries were compiled, each corresponding to the occurrence of a parasitoid species in a given location. Twelve species occur in the region, including eight Braconidae [Asobara anastrephae (Muesebeck), Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), Doryctobracon brasiliensis (Szépligeti), Doryctobracon crawfordi (Viereck), Doryctobracon sp. 1, Doryctobracon sp. 2, Opius bellus Gahan, and Utetes anastrephae (Viereck)] and four Figitidae [Aganaspis nordlanderi Wharton, Aganaspis pelleranoi (Brèthes), Odontosema albinerve Kieffer, and Tropideucoila rufipes Ashmead]. Doryctobracon areolatus and O. bellus are the most abundant and widely distributed species. The plant species Spondias mombin L. (Anacardiaceae), Geissospermum argenteum Woodson (Apocynaceae) and Bellucia egensis (Mart. ex DC.) Penneys, F.A. Michelangeli, Judd and Almeda (Melastomataceae) are the most notable "multipliers" of parasitoid species

Anastrepha species and their hosts in the Brazilian Amazon.

The database "Anastrepha species and their hosts in the Brazilian Amazon" was developed aiming to compile the existing information on Anastrepha species diversity, distribution and hosts, and to make this data available in an easy and accessible manner. The database covers the Brazilian Amazon geographic area, which includes the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and Maranhão. It was developed using free software tools and includes a map viewer using the Google Maps API. The database is available for public access on the Embrapa Amapá website or directly at http://anastrepha. cpafap.embrapa.br. Its data was sourced from the existing technical and scientific literature. Species occurrence, host plants and geographic distribution data were included in the database, with the respective bibliographic references. The database will be updated regularly to add newly published data. From the main page, the occurrence reports for a given species can be searched using filters. The results are presented in both table and map format, in which the geographic distribution and original bibliographic reference can be viewed. More than 1,200 entries were compiled, each corresponding to the occurrence of a species in a given location. The database includes 71 Anastrepha species reported in the region, representing approximately 60% of all reports made for Brazil. Thirty-five of the reported species occur exclusively in the region. Anastrepha striata Schiner and Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) are the most polyphagous and most widely distributed species. Amazonas and Amapá are the states with the highest numbers of reported species (41 and 37, respectively)

High genetic diversity within and among bitter cassava cultivated in three soil types in Central Amazonia.

Bitter cassava is an important food crop that was domesticated in Amazonia. Although it is exclusively propagated by stem cuttings, cassava retained its ability of sexual reproduction. The occurrence and incorporation of sexual plants into the stock of clonal varieties contributes to the high genetic diversity observed within the crop. Despite being well adapted to nutrient deprived soils of Amazonia, ethnobotanical observations showed that communities of smallholder farmers along the middle Madeira River, in Central Amazonia, also cultivate cassava in the highly fertile soils of the floodplains and Amazonian dark earths (ADE). These farmers grow different sets of varieties in each soil type, which may also contribute to the maintenance of high levels of genetic diversity within the crop. We evaluated with 10 nuclear microsatellite markers the genetic diversity within and among some of the most commonly cultivated bitter cassava varieties grown on ADE, floodplain and Oxisols soils in the middle Madeira region. High levels of genetic diversity within varieties were observed (HO ranging from 0.495 to 0.707, and HE ranging from 0.250 to 0.460). Additionally, varieties were generally highly differentiated from each other. Although high levels of genetic diversity were previously observed in studies carried out in regions of low soil fertility in other parts of Amazonia, we identified that management of different soil types is important to the maintenance of genetically distinct stocks of varieties, which also contributes to the maintenance of the genetic diversity within the crop

Effect of crop rotation on specialization and genetic diversity of Macrophomina phaseolina.

Charcoal rot, caused by Macrophomina phaseolina, is one of the most important diseases of soybean. Genetic variability among soybean isolates has been observed but the effect of host specialization on genetic variability has not been reported. In this work, isolates from soybean, corn and sunflower were evaluated based on cross inoculations and number of microsclerotia/g of roots. The highest and lowest significant (P<0.005) production of microsclerotia was obtained in soybean (863 microsclerotia/g of roots) and sunflower (578 microsclerotia/g of roots), respectively, regardless of the origin of the isolate. Additionally, the effect of a 20-year crop rotation on genetic variability based on RAPD was studied. Eighty-nine isolates from five populations were obtained from soil samples under four crop rotation systems and an uncropped soil. Seven clusters were obtained considering a similarity level of 85%. Analysis indicated that M. phaseolina is a highly diverse species and also revealed a strong effect of the rotation system on genetic diversity. AMOVA was conducted for the RAPD data. From the total genetic variability, 21% (P<0.0001) could be explained by the differences between populations while 79% could be explained by differences within populations ( Fst = 0.2110; P<0.0001). The mean coefficient of gene differentiation (GST) estimated among the five populations indicated 27% of differentiation between populations similar to the AMOVA results where Fst= 0.2110. Total gene diversity estimated indicated high levels of variability (HT =0.3484). Results suggest that genetic differentiation of M. phaseolina can be altered by crop rotation

Análise da variabilidade genética de variedades tradicionais de arroz (Oryza sativa L.) através de marcadores moleculares microssatélites.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a variabilidade genética através de marcadores moleculares SSR em uma amostra de variedades tradicionais oriundas de coletas, conduzidas entre os anos de 1978 e 1996, em lavouras de pequenos agricultores no Brasil

Amazon network for research on fruit flies.

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Hidrogenionic potential (pH) of the attractant, trap density and control threshold for Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: tephritidae) on Hamlin oranges in São Paulo central region, Brazil

This study evaluated the effect of initial pH values of 4.5, 6.5 and 8.5 of the attractant (protein bait) Milhocina® and borax (sodium borate) in the feld, on the capture of fruit flies in McPhail traps, using 1, 2, 4 and 8 traps per hectare, in order to estimate control thresholds in a Hamlin orange grove in the central region of the state of São Paulo. The most abundant fruit fly species was Ceratitis capitata, comprising almost 99% of the fruit flies captured, of which 80% were females. The largest captures of C. capitata were found in traps baited with Milhocina® and borax at pH 8.5. Captures per trap for the four densities were similar, indicating that the population can be estimated with one trap per hectare in areas with high populations. It was found positive relationships between captures of C. capitata and the number of Hamlin oranges damaged, 2 and 3 weeks after capture. It was obtained equations that correlate captures and damage levels which can be used to estimate control thresholds. The average loss caused in Hamlin orange fruits by C. capitata was 2.5 tons per hectare or 7.5% of production.Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos: avaliar o efeito do pH inicial, 4.5; 6.5 e 8.5, do atrativo proteico Milhocina® e bórax (tetraborato de sódio) na captura de moscas-das-frutas em armadilhas McPhail; estudar densidades de armadilhas, 1; 2; 4 e 8 por hectare, para estimar níveis de controle em laranja cv. Hamlin, na região central de São Paulo. A espécie predominante, com 99% das moscas-das-frutas capturadas, foi Ceratitis capitata, sendo 80% de fêmeas. As maiores capturas de C. capitata ocorreram nas armadilhas com Milhocina® e bórax em pH 8.5. As capturas, nas 4 densidades, foram semelhantes, indicando que a população pode ser estimada com uma armadilha por hectare em áreas de altas populações. Houve relações positivas entre capturas de C. capitata e o número de frutos danificados, 2 e 3 semanas após a captura. Assim, foram obtidas equações que relacionam a captura e o dano, possibilitando estimar níveis de controle desse inseto. As perdas médias causadas por C. capitata em laranja cv. Hamlin chegaram a 2,5 toneladas de frutos por hectare ou 7,5% da produção.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio