Role of VOCs from Brassica oleracea in host location processes of Bagrada hilaris: electrophysiological and behavioral studies

The Painted bug, Bagrada hilaris Burmeister is an herbivorous insect native of Asia and Africa, invasive in Southern Europe and North America where it causes major damage on various vegetable crops mainly belonging to Brassicaceae family. Young plants at cotyledon stage of B. oleracea are particularly attractant and susceptible to B. hilaris feeding activity. To elucidate the main volatile organic compounds (VOCs) involved in the attraction of B. hilaris individuals toward the host plant B. oleracea, laboratory experiments were carried out using vertical Y-shaped olfactometer and electroantennographic techniques (EAG). Both adults and late nymphal instars were used in these experiments. Olf…

Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), fitofago dannoso al cappero sull'isola di Pantelleria: biologia e mezzi di controllo

Energy assessment of a dish-Stirling system powering a reverse osmosis plant for seawater desalination

Water scarcity in many regions of the world and the global demographic growth make the desalination of seawater and/or brackish an effective solution to meet the growing demand for freshwater. Nowadays, reverse osmosis has the largest share of the global installed desalination capacity. The impelling need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been pushing the search for sustainable technologies to produce the electricity needed to power reverse osmosis plants. Among solar technologies, little attention has been paid to the possibility of powering reverse osmosis with electricity from the dish-Stirling concentrator. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper assesses the energy-saving potential…