Honeylocust Twig-gall Midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Michigan

Emergence and oviposition data were gathered for Neolasioptera brevis, a recently described pest of honeylocust. In 1984 the insects first emerged on 21 May and first oviposited on 4 June; in 1985 they first emerged on 28 April and first oviposited between 5-20 May. Average raceme length at emergence and at oviposition were 2.7 and 4.4 cm in 1984 and 2.6 and 4.8 cm in 1985. Approximate duration of the emergence period was one week. In 1985 observed oviposition wounds averaged 0.5/cm

Image processing using Android device - gas-meter value recognition

Diplomová práce se zabývá návrhem zpracování obrazu v systému Android. Volbou vývojového prostředí a jeho implementací. Pracovní postup řešení problematiky zahrnuje vytvoření aplikace a grafického uživatelského rozhraní. Text zahrnuje popis funkcionality aplikace, komunikace s fotoaparátem, uložení a načítání dat. Dále popisuje použité algoritmy a metody zpracování obrazu pro detekci hodnot plynoměru.This thesis describes the design of the image processing for Android system, consisting of the choice of the development environment and its implementation. Workflow solution to the problem involves development of the Androidapplication and it’s graphical user interface. The text includes description of the application functionality, communicationwith a camera, storing and retrieving data. It also describes used algorithms and image processing methods used for detecting values from the counter of the gas meter.

Quantification of food intake in Drosophila

Measurement of food intake in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is often necessary for studies of behaviour, nutrition and drug administration. There is no reliable and agreed method for measuring food intake of flies in undisturbed, steady state, and normal culture conditions. We report such a method, based on measurement of feeding frequency by proboscis-extension, validated by short-term measurements of food dye intake. We used the method to demonstrate that (a) female flies feed more frequently than males, (b) flies feed more often when housed in larger groups and (c) fly feeding varies at different times of the day. We also show that alterations in food intake are not induced by dietary restriction or by a null mutation of the fly insulin receptor substrate chico. In contrast, mutation of takeout increases food intake by increasing feeding frequency while mutation of ovoD increases food intake by increasing the volume of food consumed per proboscis-extension. This approach provides a practical and reliable method for quantification of food intake in Drosophila under normal, undisturbed culture conditions

Adaptations and counter-adaptations in <i>Drosophila</i> host-parasitoid interactions:Advances in the molecular mechanisms

Both hosts and parasitoids evolved a diverse array of traits and strategies for their antagonistic interactions, affecting their chances of encounter, attack and survival after parasitoid attack. This review summarizes the recent progress that has been made in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of these adaptations and counter-adaptations in various Drosophila host-parasitoid interactions. For the hosts, it focuses on the neurobiological and genetic control of strategies in Drosophila adults and larvae of avoidance or escape behaviours upon sensing the parasitoids, and the immunological defences involving diverse classes of haemocytes. For the parasitoids, it highlights their behavioural strategies in host finding, as well as the rich variety of venom components that evolved and were partially acquired through horizontal gene transfer. Recent studies revealed the mechanisms by which these venom components manipulate their parasitized hosts in exhibiting escape behaviour to avoid superparasitism, and their counter-strategies to evade or obstruct the hosts' immunological defences

C-826/18, Stichting Varkens in Nood and others v College van burgemeester en wethouders van de gemeente Echt-Susteren (Judgment of 14 January 2021) – Case Note

Stichting Varkens in Nood shows that EU law can have farreaching consequences for national administrative procedural law. With this judgment, a new element has been added to the patchwork of access to justice. Most striking, however, is the CJEU’s interpretation of the scope of the participatory rights granted by Article 6(7) of the Aarhus Convention. Stichting Varkens in Nood makes it clear that the Member States may restrict participatory rights to the ‘public concerned’ (which includes NGOs) for decisions covered by Article 6 of the Aarhus Convention. If they do, under Article 9(2) of the Aarhus Convention, they are not allowed to make access of the public concerned to justice dependent on their participation in the decision-making procedure. However, if, in environmental matters, Member State offer participatory rights to others using Article 3(5) of the Aarhus Convention, they will also have to offer them some form of access to justice. The CJEU derives this from Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention. The scope of that right is not entirely clear from Stichting Varkens in Nood. It is possible that in legal proceedings such persons may only complain about the violation of their participatory rights. What is clear is that the Member States may make the right of access to justice for such persons dependent on their participation in the decision-making procedure

Predicting enhanced absorption of light gases in polyethylene using simplified PC-SAFT and SAFT-VR

International audienceAbsorption of light gases in polyethylene (PE) is studied using two versions of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT): SAFT for chain molecules with attractive potentials of variable range (VR) and simplified perturbed-chain (PC) SAFT. Emphasis is placed on the light gases typically present during ethylene polymerisation in the gas-phase reactor (GPR) process. The two approaches are validated using experimental binary-mixture data for gas absorbed in PE, and predictions are made for mixtures of more components. For most cases studied both SAFT versions perform equally well. For the case of ternary mixtures of two gases with PE, it is predicted that the less-volatile of the two gases acts to enhance the absorption of the more-volatile gas, while the more-volatile gas inhibits the absorption of the less-volatile gas. This general behaviour is also predicted in mixtures containing more gases, such as typical reactor mixtures. The magnitude of the effect may vary considerably, depending on the relative proximity of the gas-mixture saturation pressure to the reactor pressure; for example it is predicted that the absorption of ethylene may be approximately doubled if diluent gases, propane or nitrogen, are partially or completely replaced by less-volatile butane or pentane for a reactor pressure similar to 2 MPa. In the case of a co-polymerisation reaction, it is predicted that increases in absorption of both co-monomers may be obtained in roughly equal proportion. Our findings cast light on the so-called co-monomer effect, in which substantial increases in the rate of ethylene polymerisation are observed in the presence of hexene co-monomer, while suggesting that the effect is more general and not restricted to co-monomer. For example, similar rate increases may be expected in the presence of, e.g., pentane instead of hexene, but without the change in the branch structure of the produced polymer that is inevitable when the amount of co-monomer is increased

Preparation of allophanic ester : its reactions with aromatic amines

Includes bibliographical references