Analyzing the Mass-Rearing System of the California Red Scale Parasitoid Aphytis melinus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

Results from studies to improve mass rearing production of the parasitoid Aphytis melinus De Bach (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) are presented. Parasitoid production was carried out following standard commercial procedures using an alternative host, Aspidiotus nerii Bouché (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), infesting Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne) (Cucurbitaceae), butternut squash. We found that the initial number of A. melinus adults introduced into rearing cages to start production and the scale/parasitoid ratio in those cages profoundly influenced future parasitoid production. We also observed that scale parasitism was positively correlated with the production of parasitoid adults, but this relationship was negatively correlated if > 2.6 parasitoids per d, per cm2, were used in the cages to start parasitism. Supplemental honey (provided on the squash surface) had no clear impact on parasitoid production or survival, but improved host parasitism. Approximately 47% of the host scale population on squash was parasitized, with another 43.1% of the population recorded as dead. We found that ≤ 10 host scales per cm2 on squash was an adequate density for mass production purposes

Influence of minimalist footwear on knee and ankle loads during the squash lunge

Squash is associated with a high incidence of knee and ankle joint injuries. The aim of this work was to examine the effects of squash specific, running shoes and minimalist footwear on knee and ankle loads during the lunge movement in squash players. Twelve male squash players performed lunge movements whilst wearing squash specific, running shoes and minimalist footwear. The loads experienced by the knee and ankle joints were calculated. Patellofemoral forces were significantly greater in running shoes (5.10 B.W) compared to minimalist footwear (4.29 B.W). Achille tendon forces were significantly larger in the minimalist footwear (3.10 B.W) compared to the running shoes (2.64 B.W) and squash specific footwear (2.88 B.W). This shows that whilst minimalist footwear may reduce the incidence of knee pathologies in squash players corresponding increases in ankle loading may induce an injury risk at this joint

Physiological correlates of performance in international-standard squash players

Tactical, technical and fitness factors are important for success in elite squash. While tactical and endurance fitness aspects have been explored, altered demands that have resulted from rule changes and absence of specific tests of high-intensity exercise capabilities have prevented identification of elements of fitness that correlate with performance in elite-standard players. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between test scores and player rank in such players. With institutional ethics approval, 31 players from the England Squash performance programme participated (11 women and 20 men, mean±SD body mass 62.4±5.5 kg and 73.1±7.5 kg respectively). After habituation, participants completed countermovement and drop-jump tests, squash-specific tests of change-of-direction speed and multiple-sprint ability and the multistage fitness test in one test session. Short recoveries were allowed between tests. World rank at the time of testing was obtained from the Professional Squash Association website. In men, change-of-direction speed (??=?0.59, p?=?0.02, n?=?14) multiple-sprint ability (??=?0.78, p<0.01, n?=?13) and fastest sprint from the multiple-sprint test (??=?0.86, p<0.01, n?=?13) correlated with world rank. In women, only fastest repetition from the multiple-sprint test correlated with world rank (??=?0.65, p?=?0.04, n?=?10). Measures of high-intensity exercise capability correlated with world rank in elite-standard men and women players. Endurance capability did not relate to rank in either the men or women. The results suggest that high-intensity, variable-direction exercise capabilities are important for success in elite squash

SQUASH: Simple QoS-Aware High-Performance Memory Scheduler for Heterogeneous Systems with Hardware Accelerators

Modern SoCs integrate multiple CPU cores and Hardware Accelerators (HWAs) that share the same main memory system, causing interference among memory requests from different agents. The result of this interference, if not controlled well, is missed deadlines for HWAs and low CPU performance. State-of-the-art mechanisms designed for CPU-GPU systems strive to meet a target frame rate for GPUs by prioritizing the GPU close to the time when it has to complete a frame. We observe two major problems when such an approach is adapted to a heterogeneous CPU-HWA system. First, HWAs miss deadlines because they are prioritized only close to their deadlines. Second, such an approach does not consider the diverse memory access characteristics of different applications running on CPUs and HWAs, leading to low performance for latency-sensitive CPU applications and deadline misses for some HWAs, including GPUs. In this paper, we propose a Simple Quality of service Aware memory Scheduler for Heterogeneous systems (SQUASH), that overcomes these problems using three key ideas, with the goal of meeting deadlines of HWAs while providing high CPU performance. First, SQUASH prioritizes a HWA when it is not on track to meet its deadline any time during a deadline period. Second, SQUASH prioritizes HWAs over memory-intensive CPU applications based on the observation that the performance of memory-intensive applications is not sensitive to memory latency. Third, SQUASH treats short-deadline HWAs differently as they are more likely to miss their deadlines and schedules their requests based on worst-case memory access time estimates. Extensive evaluations across a wide variety of different workloads and systems show that SQUASH achieves significantly better CPU performance than the best previous scheduler while always meeting the deadlines for all HWAs, including GPUs, thereby largely improving frame rates

Validity of a squash-specific test of change-of-direction speed

Purpose: We examined the validity and reproducibility of a squash-specific test designed to assess change-of-direction speed. Methods: 10 male squash and 10 male association-football and rugby-union players completed the Illinois agility run (IAR) and a squash change-of-direction-speed test (SCODS) on separate days. Tests were repeated after 24 h to assess reproducibility. The best time from three attempts was recorded in each trial. Results: Performance times on the IAR (TE 0.27 s, 1.8%, 90% CI 0.21 to 0.37 s; LOA −0.12 s ± 0.74; LPR slope 1, intercept −2.8) and SCODS (TE 0.18 s, 1.5%, 90% CI 0.14 to 0.24 s; LOA 0.05 s ± 0.49; LPR slope 0.95, intercept 0.5) were reproducible. There were no statistically significant differences in performance time between squash (14.75 ± 0.66 s) and nonsquash players (14.79 ± 0.41 s) on the IAR. Squash players (10.90 ± 0.44 s) outperformed nonsquash players (12.20 ± 0.34 s) on the SCODS (P < .01). Squash player rank significantly correlated with SCODS performance time (Spearman’s ρ = 0.77, P < .01), but not IAR performance time (Spearman’s ρ = 0.43, P = .21). Conclusions: The results suggest that the SCODS test is a better measure of sport-specific capability than an equivalent nonspecific field test and that it is a valid and reliable tool for talent identification and athlete tracking

Non-supersymmetric infrared perturbations to the warped deformed conifold

We analyze properties of non-supersymmetric isometry-preserving perturbations to the infrared region of the warped deformed conifold, i.e. the Klebanov Strassler solution. We discuss both perturbations that "squash" the geometry, so that the internal space is no longer conformally Calabi-Yau, and perturbations that do not squash the geometry. Among the perturbations that we discuss is the solution that describes the linearized near-tip backreaction of a smeared collection of anti-D3-branes positioned in the deep infrared. Such a configuration is a candidate gravity dual of a non-supersymmetric state in a large-rank cascading gauge theory. Although anti-D3-branes do not directly couple to the 3-form flux, we argue that, due to the presence of the background imaginary self-dual flux, anti-D3-branes in the Klebanov-Strassler geometry necessarily produce singular non-imaginary self-dual flux. Moreover, since conformally Calabi-Yau geometries cannot be supported by non-imaginary self-dual flux, the anti-D3-branes squash the geometry as our explicit solution shows. We also briefly discuss supersymmetry-breaking perturbations at large radii and the effect of the non-supersymmetric perturbations on the gravitino mass.Comment: 42 pages, references added, typos and minor errors corrected, discussion of boundary conditions extended. Version to appear in NP

Effects of squash leaf trichome exudates and honey on adult feeding, survival, and fecundity of the squash bug (Heteroptera: Coreidae) egg parasitoid Gryon pennsylvanicum (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)

Citation: Olson, D., & Nechols, J. Effects of Squash Leaf Trichome Exudates and Honey on Adult Feeding, Survival, and Fecundity of the Squash Bug (Heteroptera: Coreidae) Egg Parasitoid Gryon pennsylvanicum (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). Environmental Entomology, 24(2), 454-458. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/24.2.454A laboratory experiment was conducted to determine whether leaf exudates could be used as a source of adult nutrition for the squash bug, Auasa tristis (De Geer), egg parasitoid, Gryon pennsylvanicum (Ashmead), and to compare adult and progeny fitness traits when female Wasps were provided with squash leaves, a standard honey diet, a combination of leaves and honey, or water only Results showed that fecundity, progeny developmental rates, and progeny survival did not differ significantly when females were exposed to different dietary sources. Adult longevity was shorter on squash leaves without honey than on leaves with honey or the honey-only diet. However, reproductive fitness was not reduced because oviposition had been completed before death of the adult females. When only water was provided, parasitoid females lived only a few days. Observations showed that squash leaves have two kinds of trichomes (hair-like and peg-like), both of which produce droplets that are fed on by both sexes of G. pennsylvanicum. Nutrient analyses revealed that exudates from the hair-like trichomes are composed predominantly of monosaccharides (mainly glucose and galactose), and that the peg-like trichomes produce glucose and some protein. Thus, these trichomes appear to serve as extrafloral nectaries and may provide an important energy source for augmentatively released G. pennsylvanicum

Effects of oral creatine supplementation on high intensity, intermittent exercise performance in competitive squash players

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of oral creatine supplementation on high intensity, intermittent exercise performance in competitive squash players. Nine squash players (mean ± SEM V˙O2max = 61.9 ± 2.1ml · kg-1 · min-1; body mass = 73 ± 3 kg) performed an on-court “ghosting” routine that involved 10 sets of 2 repetitions of simulated positional play, each set interspersed with 30 s passive recovery. A double blind, crossover design was utilised whereby experimental and control groups supplemented 4 times daily for 5 d with 0.075 g · kg-1 body mass of creatine monohydrate and maltodextrine, respectively, and a 4 wk washout period separated the crossover of treatments. The experimental group improved mean set sprint time by 3.2 ± 0.8 % over and above the changes noted for the control group (P = 0.004 and 95 % Cl = 1.4 to 5.1 %). Sets 2 to 10 were completed in a significantly shorter time following creatine supplementation compared to the placebo condition (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these data support existing evidence that creatine supplementation improves high intensity, intermittent exercise performance. In addition, the present study provides new evidence that oral creatine supplementation improves exercise performance in competitive squash players

From creation to consolidation: a novel framework for memory processing

Long after playing squash, your brain continues to process the events that occurred during the game, thereby improving your game, and more generally, enhancing adaptive behavior. Understanding these mysterious processes may require novel theories

Effects of shoes on kinetics and kinematics of the squash forward lunge in male players

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.Squash is associated with a high incidence of chronic injuries. Currently there is a trend in many sports for players to select minimalist footwear. The aim of the current investigation was to examine the effects of squashspecific, running shoes and minimalist footwear on the kinetics and 3-D kinematics of the lunge movement in squash players. Twelve male squash players performed lunge movements whilst wearing minimalist, running shoe and squash-specific footwear. 3-D kinematics of the lower extremities were measured using an eightcamera motion analysis system alongside kinetic and tibial acceleration information which were obtained using a force platform and an accelerometer. Differences between footwear were examined using one-way repeated measures ANOVA. The results show firstly that loading rate parameters were significantly greater in the minimalist (average = 85.36B.W/s and instantaneous = 179.09B.W/s) footwear in relation to the squashspecific (average = 38.66 B.W/s and instantaneous = 50.73B.W/s) and running footwear (average = 37.62B.W/s and instantaneous = 48.14B.W/s). In addition, tibial acceleration parameters were also significantly greater in the minimalist (peak tibial acceleration = 8.45 g and tibial acceleration slope = 422.28g/s) footwear in relation to the squash-specific (peak tibial acceleration = 4.33 g and tibial acceleration slope = 182.57g/s) and running footwear (peak tibial acceleration = 4.81 g and tibial acceleration slope = 226.72g/s). The significant increase in impact loading in the minimalist footwear therefore suggests this type of shoe may place squash players at an increased risk of developing impact-related chronic injuries.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio