Global climate change is resulting in a wide range of biotic responses, including changes in diel activity and seasonal phenology patterns, range shifts polewards in each hemisphere and/or to higher elevations, and altered intensity and frequency of interactions between species in ecosystems.Oak (Thaumetopoea processionea) and pine (T. pityocampa) processionary moths (hereafter OPM and PPM, respectively) are thermophilic species that are native to central and southern Europe. The larvae of both species are gregarious and produce large silken ‘nests’ that they use to congregate when not feeding. During outbreaks, processionary caterpillars are capable of stripping foliage from theirfood plants (oak and pine trees), generating considerable economic damage. Moreover, the third to last instar caterpillars of both species produce copious hairs as a means of defence against naturalenemies, including both vertebrate and invertebrate predators, and parasitoids. These hairs contain the toxin thaumetopoein that causes strong allergic reactions when it comes into contact with humanskin or other membranes. In response to a warming climate, PPM is expanding its range northwards, while OPM outbreaks are increasing in frequency and intensity, particularly in northern Germany,the Netherlands, and southern U.K., where it was either absent or rare previously. Here, we discuss how warming and escape from co-evolved natural enemies has benefitted both species, and suggest possible strategies for biological control.
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Insect hyperparasitoids are fourth trophic level organisms that commonly occur in terrestrial food webs, yet they are relatively understudied. These top-carnivores can disrupt biological pest control by suppressing the populations of their parasitoid hosts, leading to pest outbreaks, especially in confined environments such as greenhouses where augmentative biological control is used. There is no effective eco-friendly strategy that can be used to control hyperparasitoids. Recent advances in the chemical ecology of hyperparasitoid foraging behavior have opened opportunities for manipulating these top-carnivores in such a way that biological pest control becomes more efficient. We propose various infochemical-based strategies to manage hyperparasitoids. We suggest that a push-pull strategy could be a promising approach to ‘push’ hyperparasitoids away from their parasitoid hosts and ‘pull’ them into traps. Additionally, we discuss how infochemicals can be used to develop innovative tools improving biological pest control (i) to restrict accessibility of resources (e.g. sugars and alternative hosts) to primary parasitoid only or (ii) to monitor hyperparasitoid presence in the crop for early detection. We also identify important missing information in order to control hyperparasitoids and outline what research is needed to reach this goal. Testing the efficacy of synthetic infochemicals in confined environments is a crucial step towards the implementation of chemical ecology-based approaches targeting hyperparasitoids.
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Het onderzoek in het artikel is geïnspireerd door de casus 'platooning' uit de Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge. Er is een PreScan®/Sumulink® model opgesteld met daarin twee auto's. De voorste auto volgt een vastgesteld snelheidsprofiel, de tweede auto volgt de eerste auto waarbij de tweede auto de snelheid van de eerste meet met behulp van een AIR-sensor. De besturing van het gaspedaal in beide auto's vindt plaats met Fuzzy Logic Control in plaats van met een klassieke regelaar. Concluderend mag worden gesteld dat in dit verkennend onderzoek gebleken is dat de Fuzzy Logic Control techniek in principe werkt.
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Ghanaian farmers suffer from a decline in cocoa production partly due to damages and diseases from insect pests. To increase predation by bats on insects on the cocoa plantations we installed two different types of bat boxes on 15 plantations around the village of Buoyem. Bat activity, bat species composition (numbers of insectivorous and frugivorous bats) and insect abundance were measured before and after bat box installation. Insectivorous bats were present on all ofthe sampled plantations, namelyleaf-nosed bats (Hipposideros sp.), slit-faced bats (Nycteridae sp.), horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus sp.) and vesper bats (Vespertilionidae sp.). Furthermore, no correlation between insect abundance and bat activity could be detected. The bat boxes were not occupied yet during the research period since rainy season started in the second half of the measurements and bat activity decreases with increasing precipitation which is supported by our Un dings. Additionally, the available time period between in stallation and measuring of the effects of the boxes was very short when compared to similar researches. Bats alsohave different preferences per species for size and shape of bat boxes and the number of naturally available roosting sites also influences bat box occupancy. Our results suggest that bats are abundant above cocoa plantations in Buoyem and therefore bat boxes have the potential to be ahelpful tool in insect pest control.
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Tomato varieties used at present for commercial production in Dutch glasshouses have a high density of glandular trichomes on the stem, but a very low density on the leaves. The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, and the predatory mite, Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, usually disperse from leaf to leaf via the stem, thereby incurring high risks of entrapment (and death) in the exudate of the glandular trichomes. These risks have been quantified on the tomato cv. 'Turbo' and an accession of Lycopersicon peruvianum almost free of glandular trichomes. The possible consequences for biological control are discussed and new perspectives for predator release strategies and for plant breeding are considered. © 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
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Most safety oriented organizations have established their accidents classification taking into account the magnitude of the combined adverse outcomes on humans, assets and the environment without considering the accidents‟ potential and the actual attempts of the involved persons to intervene with the accident progress. The specific research exploited a large sample of an aviation organization accident records for an11 years‟ time period and employed frequency and chi-square analyses to test a new accident classification scheme based on the distinction among the safety events with or without human intervention on the accident scene, indicating the management or not of their ultimate consequences. Furthermore, the research depicted the effectiveness of personnel strains to alleviate the accident potential outcomes and studied the contribution of time, local and complexity factors on the accident control attempt and the humans‟ positive or negative interference. The specific newly proposed accident classification successfully addressed the “controlled” or “uncontrolled” traits of the safety events studies, prior their severities consideration, and unveiled the effectiveness of personnel efforts to compensate for the adverse accident march. The portion between controlled and uncontrolled accidents in terms of the human intervention along with the effectiveness of the later may comprise a useful safety performance indicator that can be adopted by any industry sector and may be recommended through international and state safety related authorities.
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Green energy is just one of the two types of energy humanity needs, the energy for our man-made world, including cities, road networks, industries and technological systems (energy for the systems that drive out the ecology). However, a second type of energy is needed to meet our biological needs, energy from plant and or animal raw materials (from ecology). Green energy feeds the main competitor of ecology, our organistic source of energy. With the expansion of energy for unbridled technology, the imbalance between the man-made world and ecology will increase. Renewable energy is quickly running out at the expense of the ecological energy sources needed for life. It is argued that unless we control ourselves now, the imbalance between man-made (inorganic)systems and life (organic systems) will easily increase.
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Inspired by taxonomist Jack Goody’s theorizing of ‘ancient lists’ as ‘intellectual technologies’, this book analyzes listing practices in modern and contemporary formations of power, and how they operate in the installation and securing of the milieus of circulation that characterize Michel Foucault’s conception of governmentality. Propelling the list’s role in the delimitation and policing of risky and threatening elements from out of history and into a contemporary analysis of power, this work demonstrates how assemblages of computer, statistical, and list technologies first deployed by the Nazi regime continue to resonate significantly in the segmenting and constitution of a critical classification of contemporary homo sapiens: the terrorist class, or homo sacer.
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The Bio-P2G-program (Bio-Power to Gas) at the Hanze University of AppliedSciences evaluates the technologic feasibility of the biological reduction of carbondioxide with hydrogen to methane (biomethanation: 1 CO2 + 4 H2 -> CH4 + 2 H2O)Chemically, this process is known as the Sabatier reaction, but within anaerobicdigestion the biological methanation is catalyzed by a specific group ofmicroorganisms: the hydrogenotrophic methanogens.
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Wind and solar power generation will continue to grow in the energy supply of the future, but its inherent variability (intermittency) requires appropriate energy systems for storing and using power. Storage of possibly temporary excess of power as methane from hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide is a promising option. With electrolysis hydrogen gas can be generated from (renewable) power. The combination of such hydrogen with carbon dioxide results in the energy carrier methane that can be handled well and may may serve as carbon feedstock of the future. Biogas from biomass delivers both methane and carbon dioxide. Anaerobic microorganisms can make additional methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a biomethanation process that compares favourably with its chemical counterpart. Biomethanation for renewable power storage and use makes appropriate use of the existing infrastructure and knowledge base for natural gas. Addition of hydrogen to a dedicated biogas reactor after fermentation optimizes the biomethanation conditions and gives maximum flexibility. The low water solubility of hydrogen gas limits the methane production rate. The use of hollow fibers, nano-bubbles or better-tailored methane-forming microorganisms may overcome this bottleneck. Analyses of patent applications on biomethanation suggest a lot of freedom to operate. Assessment of biomethanation for economic feasibility and environmental value is extremely challenging and will require future data and experiences. Currently biomethanation is not yet economically feasible, but this may be different in the energy systems of the near future.
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