Percentage of importance indice-production unknown: loss and solution sources identification on system

Indices are used to help on decision-making. This study aims to develop and test an index, which can determine the loss (e.g., herbivorous insects) and solution (e.g., natural enemies) sources. They will be classified according to their importance regarding the ability to damage or to reduce the source of damage to the system when the final production is unknown. Acacia auriculiformis (Fabales: Fabaceae), a non-native pioneer species in Brazil with fast growth and rusticity, is used in restoration programs, and it is adequate to evaluate a new index. The formula was: Percentage of the Importance Indice-Production Unknown (% I.I.-PU) = [(ks1 x c1 x ds1)/Σ (ks1 x c1 x ds1) + (ks2 x c2 x ds2) + (ksn x cn x dsn)] x 100. The loss sources Aethalion reticulatum L., 1767 (Hemiptera: Aethalionidae), Aleyrodidae (Hemiptera), Stereoma anchoralis Lacordaire, 1848 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), and Tettigoniidae, and solution sources Uspachus sp. (Araneae: Salticidae), Salticidae (Araneae), and Pseudomyrmex termitarius (Smith, 1877) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) showed the highest % I.I.-PU on leaves of A. auriculiformis saplings. The number of Diabrotica speciosa Germar, 1824 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was reduced per number of Salticidae; that of A. reticulatum that of Uspachus sp.; and that of Cephalocoema sp. (Orthoptera: Proscopiidae) that of P. termitarius on A. auriculiformis saplings. However, the number of Aleyrodidae was increased per number of Cephalotes sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and that of A. reticulatum that of Brachymyrmex sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on A. auriculiformis saplings. The A. reticulatum damage was reduced per number of Uspachus sp., but the Aleyrodidae damage was increased per number of Cephalotes sp., totaling 23.81% of increase by insect damages on A. auriculiformis saplings. Here I show and test the % I.I.-PU. It is an new index that can detect the loss or solution sources on a system when production is unknown. It can be applied in some knowledge areas.

Challenging the sustainability of urban beekeeping using evidence from Swiss cities

Urban beekeeping is booming, heightening awareness of pollinator importance but also raising concerns that its fast growth might exceed existing resources and negatively impact urban biodiversity. To evaluate the magnitude of urban beekeeping growth and its sustainability, we analysed data on beehives and available resources in 14 Swiss cities in 2012–2018 and modelled the sustainability of urban beekeeping under different scenarios of available floral resources and existing carrying capacities. We found large increases in hives numbers across all cities from an average 6.48 hives per km2 (3139 hives in total) in 2012 to an average 10.14 hives per km2 (9370 in total) in 2018 and observed that available resources are insufficient to maintain present densities of beehives, which currently are unsustainable.

In Vitro Amphidiploid Induction of A Distant Hybrid Populus Simonii × P. Euphratica Cv. ‘Xiaohuyang-2’ and its Effect on Plant Morphology and Anatomy

In plants, highly gametic sterility of distant hybrids usually restricts their utilization in breeding programs. Amphidiploid induction produced by somatic chromosome doubling of distant hybrids can effectively restore their gametic fertility. In this study, nodal-segment and leaf explants of a distant hybrid Populus simonii × P. euphratica cv. ‘Xiaohuyang-2’ were used to induce chromosome doubling with colchicine in vitro. Although chromosome doubling of the nodal-segment explants only produced mixoploids, the treatments of leaf explants on adventitious bud regeneration medium successfully produced 4 amphidiploids, which might be attributed to the direct organogenesis of the adventitious buds on the leaf explants. The highest amphidiploid induction frequency was 16.7%. Both the explant survival rate and polyploidization frequency were significantly affected by colchicine concentration and exposure time. The amphidiploid plants were significantly differed from the diploid and mixoploid plants on morphological and anatomical characteristics. They had larger, thicker, and greener leaves than the diploids and mixoploids. The changes of stomatal features also accompanied with increase of ploidy level. The induced amphidiploid plants of the distant hybrid ‘Xiaohuyang-2’ are expected to play important roles in breeding programs of Populus in future, which can be used as a bridge parent with ability of unreduced gamete formation to cross with fast-growth germplasms to produce triploids pyramiding desirable traits of fast growth, easy cutting propagation, and salt and drought tolerances.

FROM INDUSTRY TO TOURISM: THE CASE OF LX FACTORY IN THE ALCÂNTARA DISTRICT (LISBON)

In the past few years Lisbon has been through many changes, most of them related to the tourism growth. Alcântara is one of the neighbourhoods that became popular, once an industrial area that is presently experiencing a process of urban regeneration. Alcântara is probably the best district of Lisbon to recall the industrial era. At the same time, it has all the services that it needs to welcome visitors: diversity of tourist supplies; a vibrant image, trendy, but also authentic; a barycentric position between two well-known quarters (Baixa and Belém); a good accessibility, still being strengthened; a fast growth in accommodation supply. Arguably, an important role in the tourist development of Alcântara is played by the LX Factory, a former industrial area of around 23.000 m2, where important companies were located. LX Factory is considered a successful experiment of reconversion of an industrial space into a multifunctional complex, which still preserves the former factory atmosphere, although according to a contemporary formula. The LX Factory was inaugurated in 2008. It hosts design offices, art ateliers, start-ups, shops, restaurants, cafés, night clubs, co-working spaces, and even a hostel. It also hosts cultural activities, concerts, workshops, and a Sunday market of vintage and biological products. A previous research (Zarrilli et al., 2019) showed that LX Factory is by far the main tourist attractor of Alcântara. In this contribution, we will try to deeper investigate what we may call the LX Factory phenomenon, in terms of tourist image, flows, motivations and assessments. At this aim, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of shop owners located in its facilities. Conclusions allow us to understand LX Factory main issues from the shop owners’ perspective, regarding the commercial activity, the current image, the people who visit it, and their opinion about the neighbourhood.

Two New Sexual Talaromyces Species Discovered in Estuary Soil in China

In the survey of mycobiota of mudflats in China, two new sexually reproducing Talaromyces sect. Talaromyces species were discovered and studied using a polyphasic approach. These species are named here Talaromyces haitouensis (ex-type AS3.160101T) and Talaromyces zhenhaiensis (ex-type AS3.16102T). Morphologically, T. haitouensis is distinguished by moderate growth, green-yellow gymnothecia, orange-brown mycelium, and echinulate ellipsoidal ascospores. T. zhenhaiensis is characterized by fast growth, absence of sporulation, cream yellow to naphthalene yellow gymnothecia and mycelium, and smooth-walled ellipsoidal ascospores with one equatorial ridge. The two novelties are further confirmed by phylogenetic analyses based on either individual sequences of BenA, CaM, Rpb2, and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 or the concatenated BenA-CaM-Rpb2 sequences.

Italian economy faces tougher challenges in 2022

Significance This fast growth will more than offset the impact of the pandemic, which pulled down real output by 8.9% in 2020. Nevertheless, there are significant downside risks associated with inflation, monetary policy and political uncertainty. Impacts Italy faces higher borrowing costs in the new year as the ECB gradually tightens its ultra-loose monetary policy. If the winter is cold and Russian energy supplies run short, Italy will have to tap its strategic reserves to slow the growth of prices. Skilled labour shortages, weak productivity and inefficient public bureaucracy will weigh on medium-to-long-term growth.

Confirmation and variability of the Allee effect in Dictyostelium discoideum cell populations,possible role of chemical signaling within cell clusters

In studies of the unicellular eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum, many have anecdotally observed that cell dilution below a certain "threshold density” causes cells to undergo a period of slow growth (lag). However, little is documented about the slow growth phase and the reason for different growth dynamics below and above this threshold density. In this paper, we extend and correct our earlier work to report an extensive set of experiments, including the use of new cell counting technology, that set this slow-to-fast growth transition on a much firmer biological basis. We show that dilution below a certain density (around 10E4 cells/ml) causes cells to grow slower on average and exhibit a large degree of variability: sometimes a sample does not lag at all, while sometimes it takes many moderate density cell cycle times to recover back to fast growth. We perform conditioned media experiments to demonstrate that a chemical signal mediates this endogenous phenomenon. Finally, we argue that while simple models involving fluid transport of signal molecules or cluster-based signaling explain typical behavior, they do not capture the high degree of variability between samples but nevertheless favor an intra-cluster mechanism.

An Overview of the Mexican Blueberry Industry

Blueberries are a healthy source of antioxidants and vitamins. Global demand and production have been increasing rapidly over the last decade. This publication provides an overview of the Mexican blueberry industry in terms of production, price, trade, and cultural practices. It also sheds light on factors that have contributed to the fast growth of the blueberry industry in Mexico.

Isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantitation-Based Proteomics Analysis Provides a New Perspective Into Unsynchronized Growth in Kuruma Shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus)

Unsynchronized growth is a common phenomenon in farmed crustaceans. The underlying molecular mechanism of unsynchronized growth of crustaceans is unclear. In this study, a comparative proteomic analysis focusing on growth differences was performed using kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus, an economic crustacean species, as the model. The study analyzed kuruma shrimp at fast growth stage and steady growth stage from both fast growth group and slow growth group by an Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomic analysis method. A total of 1,720 proteins, including 12,291 peptides, were identified. Fifty-two and 70 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified in the fast growth stage and steady growth stage, respectively. Interestingly, 10 DEPs, including 14-3-3-epsilon-like, GPI, GPD1, MHC-1a, and MHC-1b, were presented in both growth stages. In addition, all these 10 DEPs shared the same expression tendency at these two growth stages. The results indicated that these 10 DEPs are potential growth biomarkers of M. japonicus. Proteins associated with faster growth of M. japonicus may promote cell growth and inhibit cell apoptosis through the Hippo signaling pathway. The fast growth group of M. japonicus may also achieve growth superiority by activating multiple related metabolic pathways, including glycolysis, glycerophospholipid metabolism and Citrate cycle. The present study provides a new perspective to explore the molecular mechanism of unsynchronized growth in crustacean species.