Many insects masquerade as parts of plants, such as bark or leaves, or mimic poisonous organisms in order to defend themselves against predators. However, recent studies indicate that plants may mimic insects and other arthropods to deter herbivores. Here, I report visually similar white structures of plants and arthropods in Japan and suggest they are part of a mimicry complex. Young shoots covered with white trichomes or waxy substances may mimic wax-producing insects, such as woolly aphids, coccids and caterpillars, potentially resulting in reduced herbivory. Since wax-producing insects would reduce plant quality and quantity, be distasteful and attract natural enemies, herbivorous insects and mammals may avoid such white shoots. Furthermore, fungus-infected insects, gregarious braconid cocoons, spider egg sacs and froth made by froghopper nymphs or blasticotomid sawfly larvae are also conspicuously white and impose risks for herbivorous insects. Thus, these white structures may be mimicry models for white shoots and are likely to be part of a defensive mimicry complex. Although this study focuses on defence against herbivores, there are simultaneous physiological roles for white colouration that will not be discussed in depth here., Kazuo Yamazaki., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This article analyses recent developments in Croatian housing finance to update the established account of housing finance and peripheral financialisation in Eastern Europe that is based on the boom-bust cycle of the 2000s and early-to-mid 2010s. During the bust stage of that cycle, changes in regulation and in the behaviour of debtors and creditors resulted in deleveraging and a shift away from the risky and exploitative lending practices characteristic of peripheral housing finance. However, new increases in household debt and housing prices since 2016–17, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, seem to have reversed these trends. While a boom-bust cycle of similar scope and modality to the first one is unlikely to be repeated, peripheral forms of housing finance have persisted to some degree.
High incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism was reported in patients with COVID-19. In this study, we focused on analysis of thrombophilic mutations performed without a standard DNA extraction step. In one hundred of COVID-19 positive outpatients, real-time PCR for Leiden mutation in the FV gene and G20210A mutation in the FII gene was carried out from DNA extracts and modified whole blood samples, and their cycle threshold (Ct) values were evaluated. In the extracts, healthy homozygotes (wt/wt), heterozygotes (M/wt), and homozygous carriers of Leiden mutation (M/M) provided median Ct values of 18.5, 19.4/22.0, and 20.9. In the whole blood, Ct values were 25.3 (wt/wt), 24.8/27.2 (M/wt), and 26.9 (M/M). Median Ct values for G20210A in the extracts were 19.6 for homozygotes (wt/wt), and 19.7/20.4 for heterozygous carriers. The whole blood samples provided Ct values of 23.9 in healthy homozygotes and 26.3/27.2 in heterozygotes for G20210A mutation. No homozygous subjects for G20210A and no double heterozygotes (for Leiden and G20210A mutations) were found. Despite significant differences in the Ct values, genotyping showed complete result concordance of the DNA extracts and the whole blood samples. The integrity and amplificability of DNA molecules in the whole blood samples during 28 days of deep freezing, interrupted by four cycles of thawing, did not significantly change. In conclusion, we demonstrated a new protocol for the detection of the thrombophilic mutations via real-time PCR on the modified whole blood of COVID-19 positive patients. The blood modification was reliable, easy, cheap, and saving costs and turnaround time of the whole laboratory process.
In this paper we present the first insight about the impact of the COVID epidemic on the pri-mary housing market in Poland, with a focus on Warsaw which is the largest market. We ex-plain the structural features that allowed the market to return to pre-shock levels after the pandemic shock. Contrary, after the 2007-2008 global financial crisis the negative consequences lasted for several years. This time a sharp monetary policy and fiscal intervention was carried out. Moreover, the developer sector is much more mature, has expanded its production capaci-ties. We show empirically that the monopolistic competition of developers allowed them to restrict excessive demand that was observed before the COVID broke out. In this way they were able to increase prices despite the economic problems. Another important structural change was the increased housing demand, mainly for investment housing, which was fi-nanced predominantly with cash and contributed to the development of the rental market. We approximate the investment demand, which was generated by private households that pur-chased flats for rental, with the help of a simple demand and supply model.
In Thailand, Anopheles (Cellia) epiroticus Linton et Harbach (Diptera: Culicidae) is the secondary vector of human malaria along coastal regions. While there are some studies of phenotypic variability and population structure of A. epiroticus, more information on morphological variation would enhance epidemiological understanding of medically important mosquito vectors. This research examined morphological variation at three different distances from coastlines of Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand, using landmark-based geometric morphometrics. Wing shape of A. epiroticus was significantly different in the area 0.2 km away from the sea compared to areas 2 and 4 km away from the sea (p < 0.05). Phenotypic variability in wing shape is associated with distance from the sea. Morphological variations in the area closest to the sea were most pronounced, showing a relationship between A. epiroticus and the ecosystem that affects wing geometry. These results provide important information to understand morphological variation of A. epiroticus in coastal areas., Tanawat Chaiphongpachara and Sedthapong Laojun., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A detection dog and handler team were used to recover scats in areas newly colonized by wolves outside the Alpine mountains of France between October 2018 and May 2019. Survey areas were classified as occupied by a resident wolf pack (WP) or dispersers (no-WP). The efficiency of monitoring by a targeted dog-handler team was compared to opportunistic monitoring by trained observers. Use of the detection dog allowed up to 99.6% time savings relative to monitoring by trained observers. Wolf scats found by the dog represented 82.1% of genetically confirmed samples in the 12 sample units (each being 10 × 10 km) monitored by both trained observers and the dog-handler team. Occupancy modelling was used to estimate wolf detection probabilities. Ten kilometres of survey with the dog were required to reach a 98% detection probability in WP territories and 20 km to reach 96% in no-WP areas. By contrast, two years of opportunistic monitoring by trained observers were required to obtain a 90% and 76% probability of detecting wolves in WP and no-WP areas, respectively. The use of the detection dog via dog-team surveys greatly increased the collection of viable samples for genetic analysis and individual genotype identification. Our study offers further confirmation that dog-handler teams can be very effective at locating scats from target carnivores, to supplement or complement human search efforts.
Social wasps are often considered as nuisance pests in urban environments and are often controlled by using traps. The majority of commercially produced traps for catching wasps have yellow as the dominant colour around the trap entrance. However, the observations on the function of yellow as an attractant for wasps are controversial. The efficiency of yellow, compared with green striped (N = 15) and yellow and green striped beer traps (N = 15) was evaluated. According to the results, yellow does not have a specific role as an attractant for wasps of the genera Vespula Linnaeus and Dolichovespula (Rohwer). For wasps, it may be the bait that is the major lure and it might be sufficient on its own for both control and monitoring purposes.
Contamination of Enterocytozoon bieneusi Desportes, Charpentier, Galian, Bernard, Cochand-Priollet, Laverne, Ravisse, et Modigliani, 1985 in water sources may cause outbreaks of microsporidiosis. To examine the occurrence of E. bieneusi, 108 raw wastewater samples were collected from three wastewater treated plants in Zhengzhou, China. In total, 46 samples were PCR positive for E. bieneusi. A total of 15 ITS genotypes was identified, including ten known genotypes (D, BEB6, I, J, PigEbIX, PigEBITS5, EbpA, Peru6, Peru8, Type IV) and five novel genotypes (HNWW1, HNWW2, HNWW3, HNWW4, HNWW5). Nine genotypes belonged to a known zoonotic group (group 1) and the other genotypes belonged to potential zoonotic group (group 2). Most of the genotypes had been identified in wildlife or domestic animals in former reports in Zhengzhou. The occurrence of E. bieneusi in wastewater was probably related to the rainfall day before sampling. Of 36 sampling days, 20 days had rainfall on the previous day and 16 days had none. As many as 43 of 60 samples were found to be E. bieneusi-positive in the 20 days which had rainfall on the previous day. Only three of 48 samples were found to be E. bieneusi-positive in the 16 days without rainfall the day before. The significant difference of the occurrence of E. bieneusi was observed between wet days and dry days by t-test (43/60 vs 3/48, p < 0.01). This indicates that the occurrence of E. bieneusi in wastewater in Zhengzhou mainly originated from animals and was probably related to rainfall the day before sample collection. Given the zoonotic genotypes detected in wastewater, animal faeces should be treated appropriately before being drained into the water source., Jianbin Ye, Ji Yan, Jia Xu, Ke Ma, Xuepeng Yang., and Obsahuje bibliografii