Astruppilegaard9628

The leafminer fly, Liriomyza trifolii, is an invasive pest of vegetable and horticultural crops in China. In this study, a microinjection method based on dsRNA was developed for RNA interference (RNAi) in L. trifolii using genes encoding vacuolar-ATPase (V-ATPase). Expression analysis indicated that V-ATPase B and V-ATPase D were more highly expressed in L. trifolii adults than in larvae or pupae. Microinjection experiments with dsV-ATPase B and dsV-ATPase D were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of RNAi in L. trifolii adults. Expression analysis indicated that microinjection with 100 ng dsV-ATPase B or dsV-ATPase led to a significant reduction in V-ATPase transcripts as compared to that of the dsGFP control (dsRNA specific to green fluorescent protein). Furthermore, lower dsRNA concentrations were also effective in reducing the expression of target genes when delivered by microinjection. Mortality was significantly higher in dsV-ATPase B- and dsV-ATPase D-treated insects than in controls injected with dsGFP. The successful deployment of RNAi in L. trifolii will facilitate functional analyses of vital genes in this economically-important pest and may ultimately result in new control strategies.Particle receivers are one of the candidates for the next generation of CSP plants, whose goal is to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) to 0.05 $/kWh. This paper presents a techno-economic analysis to study if a CSP system with free-falling particle receiver can achieve this goal. The plant analyzed integrates two ground-based bins to store the excess energy and a supercritical CO2 cycle to generate electricity. The model used for the analysis presents several upgrades to previous particle systems models in order to increase its fidelity, accuracy, and representativeness of an actual system. The main upgrades are the addition of off-design conditions during the annual simulations in all the components and an improved receiver model validated against CFD simulations. The size of the main components is optimized to obtain the system configuration with minimum LCOE. The results show that particle CSP systems can reduce the LCOE to 0.056 $/kWh if the configuration is composed of 1.61 × 106 m2 of heliostats, a 250 m high tower with a 537 m2 falling particle curtain, and 16 h thermal energy storage.People are always susceptible to a loss of stability in urban floodwaters that leads to serious casualties. Thus, the safety criterion for the instability of people in floodwaters must be determined. In this study, the hydrodynamic criterion of the instability of people in floodwaters in terms of the incipient velocity and water depth is derived using the probability method based on Shannon entropy theory. The derived model can characterize variations in the incipient velocity of people in floodwaters with respect to the inundating water depth. Furthermore, a comparison with seven experimental datasets available in the literature shows the validity of the proposed entropy-based model considering data scattering. A sensitivity analysis of the derived model to some of the incorporated parameters was performed, and the qualitative results are in accordance with our understanding of the physical mechanism of the instability of people in floodwaters. Taking the physical parameters (height and mass) of Chinese adults and children as a representative example, this study also showed the vulnerability degree of Chinese adults and children subject to floodwaters. These findings could provide a reference for administrators and stakeholders for flood hazard mitigation and flood strategy management. This study shows that an entropy-based method could be a valuable addition to existing deterministic models for characterizing the instability criterion of people in an urban flooding event.Our ambulatory assessment study explores the impact of the weather on the mental well-being of people with increased susceptibility. Participants with hay fever (n = 28) were assessed three times a day over a period of two weeks. Self-reported assessments covered different indicators of mental well-being, including momentary affect, subjective health as well as symptom burden. DZNeP in vivo Based on tracked time stamps and location information, the data was matched with concurrent observation data from weather stations. We applied multilevel analysis to identify the main effects of selected environmental parameters (temperature, precipitation, wind power, sunshine duration and relative humidity) on all indicators of subjective well-being. Results confirm the main effects of sunshine duration, relative humidity and temperature on momentary affect as well as of sunshine duration, relative humidity and precipitation on subjective health and symptom burden. However, influences of environmental parameters on momentary affect were quite small and do not differ from effects documented in previous research in healthy samples with non-increased susceptibility.Concrete and wood are commonly used to manufacture artificial reefs (ARs) worldwide for marine resource enhancement and habitat restoration. Although microbial biofilms play an important role in marine ecosystems, the microbial communities that colonize concrete and wooden ARs and their temporal succession have rarely been studied. In this study, the temporal succession of the microbial communities on concrete and wooden AR blocks and the driving factors were investigated. The composition of the microbial communities underwent successive shifts over time among the six dominant phyla, the relative abundances of Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Gracilibacteria significantly decreased in wood, as did that of Cyanobacteria in concrete. Operational taxonomic units (OTU) richness and Shannon index were significantly higher in concrete than in wood. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination placed the microbial communities in two distinct clusters corresponding to the two substrate materials. The macrobenthic compositions of concrete and wood were broadly similar and shifted over time, especially in the first five weeks. The Shannon index of the microbial communities in concrete and wood increased significantly with the organism coverage. The results provide fundamental data on microbial community succession during the initial deployment of ARs and contribute to understanding the ecological effects of ARs.