Conservation of two predator species for biological control ofChrysophtharta bimaculata (Col.: Chrysomelidae) in tasmanian forests

Chrysophtharta bimaculata (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a major defoliator of regeneration eucalypt trees in Tasmania causing a significant reduction in height and diameter increment of trees which reduces wood volume per hectare. A study to conserve and enhance the efficiency of coccinellid species chieflyCleobora mellyi (Mulsant) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and the cantharid,Chauliognathus pulchellus (Macleay) (Coleoptera: Cantharidae), for the biological control ofC. bimaculata was conducted in young regeneration forests in southern Tasmania from 1991–92. Cantharid adults and coccinellid adults and larvae feed onC. bimaculata eggs and, to a lesser extent, young larvae. The study found that coccinellids were more active throughout the egg and early (1^st and 2^nd) stage ofC. bimaculata. The cantharid, however was active only during the egg stage of the prey and then disappeared from the plantation. The coccinellids were therefore the most useful predators, but their population declined when the prey reached the 3^rd and 4^th stages. As shortage of food may account for this decline, supplementary food was provided in the form of sucrose sprays or sugar granules at a feeding station. This resulted in the retention of both predators and particularly the coccinellids and enhanced their efficacy.     

Present and future needs for algae and algal products

A review of the present needs, mainly for production of phycocolloids and food condiments, is given. Supply and demand vary from balanced, in some, to disproportionate in other fields. World-wide shortage of agarophytes contrasts with huge, unexploited beds of brown seaweeds.In future, partly conflicting trends will decide the needs for algae and algal products. Growth in the human population, pollution, overexploitation of land and lack of freshwater will encourage use of seaweeds. Modern biotechnology will favour this development, but will also be a serious threat to industrial exploitation of seaweeds. Future uses of marine algae will be decisively influenced by the effort put into and the results coming out of seaweed research.     

What Are the Health Risks of Eating Red Meat,and How Should We Assess Them?

This paper discusses possible mechanisms that might lead to misinterpretations of collected data and makes new evidence-based medicine (EBM) recommendations to oppose the previously accepted preventive measures, or treatment options. It is focused on the danger of the “red meat” consumption, and the question whether eating pungent food is good or bad for our health and finally whether the “bad luck” concept of getting several cancer types is valid or not. These three topics got and still have significant media attention. Several mechanisms are proposed as possible causes of these apparent conflicts. Some of them have already been recognized but sadly remained less known to medical readers and also to the general population. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/owjoRXrNShA .     

苋菜红在银基汞膜电极上伏安特性的研究

本文讨论了不同条件下苋菜红在银基汞膜电极上的伏安行为.发现在 pH=4时,苋菜红在-0,24V 处有很灵敏的检出信号,在此条件下,汞膜电极有良好的再现性和使用寿命;在10-100ppb 范围内,还原电流与浓度呈良好的线性关系.     

Egg cluster size variation in relation to the larval food abundance inLuehdorfia puziloi (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Mean egg cluster size of Luehdorfia puziloi yessoensis varied among habitats. The mean egg cluster size tended to be large when abundance of the larval food leaves expressed as the fresh weight of leaves per unit area at a given habitat was high. Since this variation was observed among closely located study plots (butterflies can easily move between study plots), the egg cluster size variation among habitats is likely to be a result of flexible response by females to varying food abundance for larvae.     

The seasonal dynamics of Copidodiaptomus numidicus (Gurney, 1909) and Thermocyclops dybowskii (Lande, 1890) in Castelo-do-Bode Reservoir

We investigated the population dynamics of Copidodiaptomus numidicus (Copepoda: Calanoida) and Thermocyclops dybowskii (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) in Castelo-do-Bode Reservoir (Portugal). Both species in the reservoir were regulated mainly by food availability during the summers of 1993 and 1994. C. numidicus was always more abundant than T. dybowskii in the reservoir. C. numidicus produced two generations during the sampling period of both years whereas T. dybowskii produced two and three generations in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Because of high temperatures and low rainfall in 1994, the reservoir was more eutrophic than in 1993. Higher clutch size and a higher percentage of ovigerous females suggest that both species were benefiting from better feeding conditions in 1994. Despite this, population growth was reduced in 1994 relatively to 1993. Vertebrate predation and predation by copepods seem to have been minor factors in explaining this decline. However, the presence of Mesostoma sp. in the reservoir may have contributed to the reduction of both copepod populations during specific periods in 1994 although the calanoid was more affected than the cyclopoid by this predation.     

A hybrid anaerobic solid-liquid bioreactor for food waste digestion

A hybrid anaerobic solid-liquid (HASL) bioreactor is an enhanced two-phase anaerobic system, that consists of a solid waste reactor as the acidification reactor and a wastewater reactor, i.e. an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor as the methanogenic reactor. Food waste digestion in HASL bioreactors with pre-acidification and HASL operation stages was investigated in two separate runs. After 8 days of pre-acidification in Run A and 4 days in Run B, total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations in the leachates of both acidification reactors were similar. During HASL operation stage, TVFA and COD removal in the methanogenic phase were 77–100% and 75–95%, respectively. Some 99% of the total methane generated was from the methanogenic phase with a content of 68–70% methane. At the end of operation, about 59–60% of the added volatile solids (VS) were removed with a methane yield of 0.25 l g^–1 VS.     

Survival costs of reproduction vary with age in North American red squirrels

The costs of reproduction are expected to be higher under unfavourable conditions, so that breeding in years of low food supply should have important costs. In addition, the costs of reproduction may be contingent on the age of individuals, and young growing and old senescent individuals should suffer higher costs than the prime-age ones. We tested these predictions by investigating the costs of reproduction as a function of food availability and age in female North American red squirrels using the long-term data on survival and reproduction. We found that the costs of reproduction were independent of food supply, and we did not detect any trade-off between the current and future reproduction. We also did not detect any survival cost of reproduction for the prime-age females, but found evidence for survival costs in yearlings and old (6 years or above) females with successfully breeding individuals having a lower chance of survival compared with unsuccessful or non-breeding ones. These results supported our prediction that the costs of reproduction depended on the age of female red squirrels and were higher in young growing and old senescent individuals. Our study also indicated that, in contrast to large herbivores, heterogeneity in individual quality and viability selection in red squirrels do not affect the study of trade-offs and of the age variation in life-history traits.