FIRST REPORT OF CANINE MYIASIS WITH SHEEP NASAL BOT FLY, Oestrus ovis, IN SLOVENIA

First larval stage (L1) of Oestrus ovis was recovered by flushing of the nasal cavity during rhinoscopy in an urban living dog. The dog was taken to the Small animal clinic after an acute onset of sneezing and bilateral nasal discharge. In Europe, there are sporadic reports of nasal myiasis in dogs caused by sheep bot flies, and the overall prevalence of O. ovis is high in Mediterranean countries. Because of its habitat expansion due to climate change, it should be considered as a differential diagnosis when an animal patient presents with signs of rhinitis in areas bordering the Mediterranean climate. This is the first report of a dog infested by sheep nasal bot fly in Slovenia.Key words: Oestrus ovis; sheep bot fly; nasal myiasis; dog; climate changesPRVI PRIMER PASJE MIAZE Z OVČJIM NOSNIM ZOLJEM, Oestrus ovis, V SLOVENIJIIzvleček: Med rinoskopijo in spiranjem nosne votline, smo pri psu, ki živi v urbanem okolju, ugotovili ličinke prve stopnje (L1) zajedavca Oestrus ovis. Lastniki so psa pripeljali na Kliniko za male živali po akutnem izbruhu kihanja in bilateralnega nosnega izcedka. V Evropi so dokumentirani sporadični primeri nosne miaze pri psih zaradi ovčjega nosnega zolja, O. ovis, in skupna prevalenca ovčjega zajedavca je v mediteranskih državah visoka. Zaradi klimatskih sprememb, se habitat nosnih zoljev čedalje bolj širi, za kar je pomembno O. ovis vključiti v seznam diferencialnih diagnoz pri pacientih s kliničnimi znaki rinitisa tudi na področjih, ki mejijo na mediteransko klimo. To je prvi opisan primer infestacije psa z ovčjim nosnim zoljem v Sloveniji.Ključne besede: Oestrus ovis; ovčja nosni zolj; nosna miaza; pes; podnebne spremembe

Biomimetic Architecture Towards Bio Inspired Adaptive Envelopes: In Case of Plant Inspired Concept Generation

In recent decades, the value of architecture become more due to its importance for reducing detrimental effects on the environment and natural capital. To minimize the building's impact on the environment, architectural designs should be highly incorporated into the environment rather than behaving as a separate element focused on a single issue. To address this problem, different methods and design approaches have been introduced. However, exploring the natural solutions for survival can provide invaluable data which can address the human-caused problems. Throughout decades, nature has been survived and evolved. Biological solutions due to their adaptability and multi-functionality are great source of inspiration. This article with help of content analysis method aims to review the concept of biomimetic design in architecture. And proposes plant-inspired solutions for envelope design which can play significant role on buildings’ energy efficiency. Thus, the plant-inspired concepts to be integrated on adaptive envelopes were studied. And a framework for concept generation introduced. Furthermore, a case study on an existing building envelope in the Mediterranean climate region presented and two plant-inspired techniques proposed and conceptually applied.

The Strong Precipitation of the Dry Warm Front Cyclone in Syria and Its Prediction by Data Mining Modeling

The Eastern inland of Syria has a Mediterranean climate in the north and a tropical desert climate in the south, which results in a dry south and wet north climate feature, especially in winter. The circulation dynamics analysis of 16 winter strong precipitation events shows that the key system is the dry and warm front cyclone. In most cases (81–100% of the 16 cases), the moisture content in the northern part of the cyclone is higher than that in the southern part (influenced by the Mediterranean climate zone). The humidity in the middle layer is higher than that near the surface (uplifting of the dry warm front), and the thickness of the wet layer and the vertical ascending layer obviously expands upward (as shown by the satellite cloud top reflection). These characteristics lead to the moisture thermodynamic instability in the eastern part of the cyclone (dry and warm air at low level and wet and cold air at upper level). The cyclone flow transports momentum to the local humid layer of the Mediterranean climate belt and then causes unstable conditions and strong rainfall. Considering the limitations of the Syrian ground station network, the NCEP/CFSR global reanalysis data and MODIS aqua-3 cloud parameter data are used to build a multi-source factor index of winter precipitation from 2002 to 2016. A decision tree prediction model is then established and the factors index is constructed into tree shapes by the nodes and branches through calculating rules of information entropy. The suitable tree shape models are adjusted and selected by an automated training and testing process. The forecast model can classify rainfall with a forecast accuracy of more than 90% for strong rainfall over 30 mm.

Combination of Models to Generate the First PAR Maps for Spain

This work addresses the development of a PAR model in the entire territory of mainland Spain. Thus, a specific model is developed for each location of the study field. The new PAR model consists of a combination of the estimates of two previous models that had unequal performances in different climates. In fact, one of them showed better results with Mediterranean climate, whereas the other obtained better results under oceanic climate. Interestingly, the new PAR model showed similar performance when validated at seven stations in mainland Spain with Mediterranean or oceanic climate. Furthermore, all validation slopes ranged from 0.99 to 1.00; the intercepts were less than 3.70 μmol m−2 s−1; the R2 were greater than 0.988, while MBE was closer to zero percent than −0.39%; and RMSE were less than 6.21%. The estimates of the PAR model introduced in this work were then used to develop PAR maps over mainland Spain that represent daily PAR averages of each month and a full year at all locations in the study field.

Performance Analysis and Optimisation of a Solar On-Grid Air Conditioner

Solar-powered air conditioners offer a high potential for energy-efficient cooling with a high economic feasibility. They can significantly reduce the energy consumption in the building sector, which is essential to meet the greater ambition of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% in the EU by 2050. This paper presents a computational model development capable of simulating the behaviour of a photovoltaic-assisted heat pump in different locations and working conditions. In addition, this model has been used to optimise a solar on-grid air conditioning system. The generated model has been validated with experimental data obtained in a real facility for a whole summer of operation (more than 100 tested days) in a Mediterranean climate (Alicante, Spain). According to the simulation results, the average Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of the system is 16.0, 10.7 and 7.8 in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, respectively. The optimisation analysis has proven that the severity of the climatic region increases the costs as well as the optimum PV power to drive the AC unit. The obtained values for the the PV power and the annualised cost are 400 W and 506.2 € for Barcelona, 900 W and 536.7 € for Madrid, and 1300 W and 564.7 € for Seville. The annualised cost and the CO2 emission levels are higher for the conventional system (no PV panels) than for the solar on-grid system, regardless of the installed PV power. This difference can be up to 66.64 € (10.55%) and 112.94 kg CO2 (64.83%) per summer season in the case of Seville.