Gates & Delvare (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) is an important biological control agent of the erythrina gall wasp (EGW),
Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), an invasive species likely originating in eastern ...Africa that is a threat to
trees in Hawaii and worldwide. Thousands of
trees in Hawaii have succumbed to EGW since 2005 and died within a few years of infestation. The endemic wiliwili tree,
, an important component of Hawaii's dry forests and one of few deciduous native trees, were severely impacted by this wasp. Early during the invasion by EGW it became evident that the endemic species may be driven to extinction, and exploration programs for natural enemies of the EGW started in December 2005. East Africa was selected as the starting point for natural enemy exploration owing to high native
species richness. Several gall formers were found in Tanzania and a putative color variant type of
was detected in association with three ectoparasitoids. During January 2006, the dominant parasitoid of this gall former was introduced to Hawaii and described as the new species,
. It was found in Ghana and South Africa attacking other gall wasp species on
.
was a voracious ectoparasitoid feeding as a predator on 1-5 adjacent EGW immatures to complete its development. Host specificity studies that included seven nontarget gall-forming species showed no evidence of attraction or parasitism by this parasitoid. Mean ± SEM longevity of host-deprived females (40.4 ± 2.2 days) was significantly higher than males (20.5 ± 1.1 days). Host feeding enhanced longevity of ovipositing females (51.3 ± 1.5 days). Female
is synovigenic, with high egg-maturation rate. Peak fecundity (105-239 offspring/female), host feeding biology, short life cycle (18.4 ± 0.1 days), and synchronization with the host were additional desirable attributes of this species. The parasitoid was approved for field release in Hawaii in November 2008. A total of 3998 wasps were distributed on six Hawaiian Islands, with establishment in less than a year. Impacts on high density infestations of EGW were sufficient to prevent tree deaths. Limited rates of parasitism on low-density galled leaves, flowers, and seedpods necessitated the consideration for releasing a second parasitoid,
Prinsloo & Kelly (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). We report on the reproductive characteristics and host specificity of
that could be of importance for classical biocontrol programs in areas with an EGW problem.
Ionic liquid based lubricants offer potential to reduce the sliding friction and wear of ferrous bearing surfaces such as those used in cutting and machining processes. In this study, two types of ...promising additives were investigated: (1) diprotic bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium palmitate (DPA) ionic liquid crystal and (2) a 0.1 wt% dispersion of nanodiamonds (ND) in DPA. Both have been used at 1 wt% concentration in aqueous lubricants. Those were Water+DPA, and Water+DPA+ND. The stability of the dispersions has been studied by dynamic light scattering, finding that the interaction between the additives and water changes particle size distribution. Glass-against-steel optical interferometry using water film alone indicated that the film thickness decreased with number of sliding strokes and that in turn increased the friction coefficient. By comparison, Water+DPA and Water+DPA+ND showed lower friction coefficients and increased film thickness. In steel-steel pin-on-disk contacts lubricated only by water, electrical resistance increases at speeds higher than 100 mm/s. DPA and DPA+ND additives displace the electrical resistance increase to lower sliding speed, around 10 mm/s. The additives reduced the coefficients of sliding friction up to 82%, and wear rates of AISI 316L disks by more than two orders of magnitude. The combination of the palmitate ionic liquid crystal and nanodiamonds in Water+DPA+ND gave the lowest wear rates. The wear mechanism and surface analysis associated with these results are discussed.
•Palmitate ionic liquid and nanodiamonds improve the tribological performance of water.•Dynamic light scattering results show interactions between the additives.•The additives increase film thickness and reduce coefficients of friction.•The combination of nanodiamonds and palmitate presents the best antiwear performance.
The stinging nettle caterpillar,
(syn.
)
(Lepidoptera: Limacodidae), is a serious invasive pest of agricultural products and a health hazard on the Hawaiian Islands first discovered in 2001. Nursery ...workers and homeowners have been stung by the caterpillars while handling their plants, especially rhapis palms (
sp.). Throughout its invaded range, it causes widespread damage, including the many cultivated and native palm species that have grown in Hawaii. Larvae contain urticating hairs that secrete a toxin, causing painful skin swelling and irritation on contact. Horticulture and nursery products impacted by the limacodid pest are estimated at $84.3 million (2018 value). Suppression efforts with pesticides and lure traps were ineffective, and the moth population continued to spread to major Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Oahu). The introduction of specific biological control agents from the native region was thought to be the long-term solution for this invasive pest. Initial exploration in Indonesia and Thailand resulted in the introduction of a pupal ectoparasitoid,
sp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae), that was not specific. The oriental wasp,
Lin (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Eulophinae), idiobiont gregarious ectoparasitoid of the stinging nettle caterpillar, was introduced from Taiwan in 2004 for host specificity studies and biocontrol in Hawaii. Host range testing showed the parasitoid attacked only limacodid species, and it was approved for field release in 2010. The parasitoid identity, host specificity under containment facility conditions, reproductive performance, and colonization on the major infested sites were assessed. A total of 13,379 parasitoids were colonized on 162 release sites on four Hawaiian Islands. Evaluations were conducted using field surveys of larvae, pupal counts, and male lure traps. Field parasitism was thoroughly investigated on Oahu Island, averaging 18.9 ± 5.6% of 3923 collected larvae during 2010-2023. The numbers of male moths caught/trap/month were significantly reduced on Oahu Island (
< 0.05). Recently, the hyperparasitoid,
Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Entedoninae), was detected, reducing the efficiency of
in the field. The mean hyperparasitism of
pupae was 27.3 ± 7.6% on Oahu Island. There was no detailed biological assessment for
or its field evaluation available in scientific literature. Results were discussed regarding the potential use of
in biocontrol elsewhere if the stinging nettle caterpillar was invaded in the future.
Automatic interpretation of EEG has been faced with significant difficulties because of continuous fluctuation of the background activity, occurrence of paroxysmal activities, contamination with ...artifacts, and use of different electrode montages. Therefore, the previous attempts of automatic EEG interpretation have focused on a certain feature of EEG such as the background activity and paroxysmal abnormalities. The primary purpose of this study is to establish a computer-assisted, off-line system for automatic comprehensive interpretation of EEG, which takes into account all features of the adult waking EEG and provides the results in a written form. First, we extracted features of EEGer’s visual inspection to quantitatively score the background activity, and the parameters for each frequency band were selected. Automatic detection of artifacts and spikes and automatic judgment of vigilance and attention level of subjects were incorporated into the system. The results of this system were shown to be in good conformity with the results of visual inspection of the same records by EEGers in healthy subjects as well as in patients with brain disorders including epilepsy. This system can be used as a supplementary tool for EEGer’s visual inspection, and its modified form can be applied for training EEGers and EEG technicians.
Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling seed longevity in rice were identified using 98 backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from a cross between a japonica variety Nipponbare and an indica ...variety Kasalath. Seeds of each BIL were kept for 12 months at 30 degrees C in dry conditions to promote loss of viability. To measure seed longevity, we performed an additional aging-processing treatment for 2 months at 30 degrees C maintaining seeds at 15% moisture content. We measured the germination percent of these treated seeds at 25 degrees C for 7 days as the degree of seed longevity. The germination of BILs ranged from 0 to 100% with continuous variation. Three putative QTLs for seed longevity, qLG-2, qLG-4 and qLG-9, were detected on chromosome 2, 4 and 9, respectively. Kasalath alleles increased the seed longevity at these QTLs. The QTL with the largest effect, qLG-9, explained 59.5% of total phenotypic variation in BILs. The other two QTLs, qLG-2 and qLG-4, explained 13.4 and 11.6% of the total phenotypic variation, respectively. We also verified the effect of the Kasalath allele of qLG-9 using chromosome segment substitution lines. Furthermore, QTLs for seed dormancy were identified on chromosomes 1, 3, 5, 7 and 11. Based on the comparison of the chromosomal location of QTLs for seed longevity and seed dormancy, these traits seem to be controlled by different genetic factors.
Passive vibration isolators are desired to have both high static stiffness to support large static load and low local stiffness to reduce the displacement transmissibility at frequencies greater than ...resonance. Utilization of a vertical buckled beam as a spring component is one way to realize such a stiffness characteristic since it exhibits a smaller ratio of local stiffness to static stiffness than that of a linear spring. This paper investigates the behaviour of a vibration isolator using inclined beams as well as vertical ones and examines the effect of beam inclination for the purpose of improving the isolation performance. The experimental system investigated has an isolated mass which is supported by a combination of two types of beams: buckled beams and constraining beams. The buckled beams can be inclined from the vertical by attachment devices, and the constraining beams are employed to prevent off-axis motion of the isolated mass. The results demonstrate that the inclination of the buckled beams reduces the resonance frequency and improves the displacement transmissibility at frequencies greater than resonance.
Most automatic spike detection systems in the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) focused on the characteristics of "spike." However, the characteristics of "false positives" (FPs) have not been fully ...studied. In this paper, we proposed a system that contains a series of algorithms to eliminate FPs and a template method to confirm spikes. The system used large area context available on 49 channels from two common montages. The impact of slow-waves after spikes was taken into consideration, as well as the information from single channel, multichannel, and whole recording. Two types of FPs were identified in this paper. The ones from typical artifacts were identified by analysis of background EEG activities, and the ones from other EEG activities were declared by spatial and temporal characteristics of spike activities. Finally, a multichannel template method was used to assess the performance of the proposed system. The system was evaluated using 17 routine EEG recordings. Spike activities were observed in six of them. Effective multichannel templates were extracted from four recordings containing frequent spikes. The least selectivity was 92.6% and the most false positive rate was 0.26 min -1 . Proposed algorithms for elimination of FPs are also suitable for other algorithms to enhance performance since most FPs can be identified while few true spikes are eliminated.
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